logo
episode-header-image
Jun 2025
1h 7m

Rise of Nero

History Hit
About this episode
tail spinning
Up next
Yesterday
The Last Days of Pompeii
In 79 AD, life in Pompeii unfolded beneath the shadow of a tremoring Mount Vesuvius. Streets bustled, businesses thrived, and merchants built fortunes, unaware disaster was hours away. But what happened when that disaster struck? How did these ordinary Roman citizens seek to surv ... Show More
1h 6m
Apr 23
The First Tools
What if the first technology was just a stone?Tristan Hughes and Dr. Emma Finestone travel back over 3 million years to Africa, where early hominins began shaping stone tools that transformed survival, diet, and behaviour. From the earliest finds to the widespread tool making ind ... Show More
46 m
Apr 19
Athens vs Persia: The Legend of Themistocles
A legend of the great Greek city of Athens, Themistocles rose from obscurity to save ancient Greece and helped shape one of the greatest naval powers in history. Yet his story ends in exile, condemned as a traitor and serving the very empire he once defeated: Persia.In this episo ... Show More
54m 15s
Recommended Episodes
Jan 2025
Emperor Nero
Emperor Nero was one of the most reviled and controversial leaders of Ancient Rome. To some, his reign was a breath of fresh air after his unpopular predecessor, and his failings had no more to do with him, than with the unstable infrastructure of Roman government. And yet to oth ... Show More
54m 58s
Sep 2025
History's Worst F*ckboys: Emperor Nero
Where does Emperor Nero fit in the pantheon of history's worst f*ckboys?Does he measure up against the likes of previous episodes on Charles II or Raphael? Is he the worst of the lot? And what strange sex games did he like to play?Helping Kate getting to know the awful Emperor Ne ... Show More
44m 47s
Aug 2025
Molière: Satire, Scandal & the Stage
Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Professor Jan Clarke to explore the life, legend, and legacy of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin — better known as Molière. From his audacious rejection of bourgeois expectations to his controversial plays that rattled the Catholic Church and deligh ... Show More
49m 38s
Sep 2025
After 1066: The Harrying of the North
Dr. Eleanor Janega unravels the blood-soaked aftermath of the Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest of England. Joined by Professor Levi Roach, Eleanor delves into the harrowing campaign, known as the Harrying of the North, where William the Conqueror brutally suppressed the ... Show More
51m 47s
Oct 2025
Alexander the Great, with Mary Beard
No one was like him, terrible were his crimes… Where was Alexander the Great born, and who were his parents? What drove him to go beyond the Aegean empire he had already carved out for himself, and conquer lands beyond the limits of the Greek world? Why did Alexander eventually t ... Show More
10m 52s
Apr 2025
History's Worst F*ckboys: Casanova
<p>Can you imagine being SO smooth-talking and seductive your surname becomes an actual noun in the dictionary to describe someone who has a reputation for being an expert at in the sack?</p><br><p>Well today we’re going to be talking about a man who was just that…Giacamo Casanov ... Show More
28m 41s
Feb 2025
Rome's most scandalous emperors
How cruel was Caligula? How depraved was Tiberius? And how monstrous was Nero? The dark reputations of these emperors owe a great deal to the Roman writer Suetonius, whose 121 AD work Lives of the Caesars offered intimate portraits of 12 rulers of Rome – from Julius Caesar to Dom ... Show More
29m 39s
Oct 2025
Julius Caesar, with Mary Beard
What is the main difference between Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great? When did Julius Caesar become one of the major players of the Roman Republic? What was the true nature of Caesar’s relationship with Cleopatra? How did he manage to defeat his enemies to become Dictator of ... Show More
11m 18s
Sep 2025
King Arthur
How have tales of King Arthur evolved over centuries and why have they exerted such an enduring cultural appeal on countless generations?Matt Lewis delves into the legend of King Arthur, guided by Dr. Mary Bateman. Together they explore the evolution of Arthur's myth from ancient ... Show More
58m 44s
Sep 2025
Ballads of Love and Death
In this enchanting episode, Dr. Eleanor Janega dissolves the boundaries between history, folklore, and music to explore the haunting world of medieval ballads. Joined by author Amy Jeffs, illustrator Gwen Burns and composer/singer Natalie Brice, Eleanor uncovers the timeless stor ... Show More
1h 1m