Vol 3 Ep 29 - BATTLE - The Battle of Cannae (...

Three million years ago, our ancestors were walking upright across the African landscape, leaving footprints that still survive today. They were not human, yet they were no longer simply ape-like creatures either. In this episode, we follow the clues left by Lucy, the Laetoli Foo ...  Show more

1565 - A tiny island stood between one of history’s greatest empires and its ambitions in the Mediterranean. Outnumbered, isolated, and facing seemingly impossible odds, a brotherhood of warrior monks prepared for a confrontation that would test courage, endurance, and faith to t ...  Show more

How did Hannibal achieve the remarkable feat of crossing the Alps with his army, and elephants? How many of his men survived the treacherous journey? Was it worth sacrificing so much of his army in order to fight the Romans in Italy? And, what unfolded during the first great clas ...  Show more

How did the Battle of Cannae - one of the most important battles of all time for Ancient Rome, with a whole Empire at stake, and a reputation that had reverberated across the centuries - in 216 BC, unfold? What brilliant tactics did Hannibal adopt in order to overcome the Roman k ...  Show more

Why did Hannibal choose to cross the Alps with his elephants in 218 BC, when invading Rome? Was it a brilliant stratagem or a military disaster? What was the secret to the Roman Republic’s growing military success at this time? And, why did Carthage, under Hannibal’s formidable g ...  Show more

It was perhaps Hannibal’s greatest gamble — after years of victories, not least his famed trek across the snow-capped Alps, could he strike at Rome itself?

In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr. Louis Rawlings to explore the dramatic years a ...