Show 70 - Twilight of the Aesir II

The stage is set for an in-person showdown between Alexander and Persia's Great King. The resulting Battle of Issus, although often ignored by Hollywood, is one of the most important battles in all ancient history. It gets its due here. 

Attacking the largest empire the world had ever seen is a huge endeavor at any age, but try doing it at 21. Alexander, fusing the qualities of a Napoleon with a gladiator, aims for immortality. The Persians are just in his way. 

This shows looks at the arrival of one of the most fearsome and notorious warriors in Irish history – the Vikings. These Scandinavians have been caricatured throughout the centuries as marauding maniacs a somewhat undeserved reputation. However in this episode they don’t exact ...

Across the eighth and ninth centuries, Britain and Ireland were targeted by a series of brutal Vikings raids. But that wasn’t the end of the story. In the 11th century, they were in the firing line once again – as further Viking naval expeditions were launched from Scandinavia. M ...  Show more

793 - 1035 - Glorious literature tells us that the Vikings were savage raiders who sailed the seas and plundered from others.  This episode investigates what we do know about the Vikings and their history and whether those preconceptions are completely fair.

Vikings have long been depicted as that stereotype of the hairy, nameless warrior, leaping ashore from his longboat, ready to terrorise a hapless local population in a northern European country. But there were also seers, artisans, travellers, and writers, too whose stories ca ...