The battle of Salamis was the defining naval conflict of the ancient Greek world. Occurring in the wake of the Greek defeat at Thermopylae, the allied Hellenic fleet lined up in the narrow strait between mainland Attica and the nearby island of...

Thermopylae. The title is synonymous with a bygone age of glory, bravery and defiance. It is an event entirely pivotal to the Spartan story and indeed, of this podcast as well. The events at the hot gates were one of the few natural places a ch...

In the third installment of my Greco-Persian war series we take a look at the Interbellum. The years between Marathon and Thermopylae.  A pivotal decade for both Greek and Persian alike.Alliances were an incredibly shaky propositio...

Second up for my Greco-Persian war series is the Battle of Marathon, fought in 490 BCE. The first time in living and recorded memory that a foreign invader attempted such a thing in Greece. Joining me to discuss the events is author and...

EPISODE 35 A TALE OF TWO TYRANTSThe Greco-Persian wars were a series of truly tectonic engagements fought during the first half of the 5th century BCE. On one side was a lose coalition of free Greek cities versus the autocratic behemoth...

EPISODE 34 THE HISTORY OF PERSIA WITH TREVOR CULLEYThe Persian empire constituted the greatest threat to Greek independence the individual city-states had yet faced. Indeed, it was a threat of such dire concern that its degree wasn't&nb...

EPISODE 33 CLEOMENEAN SPARTACleomenes the first sat upon the Agiad throne of Sparta from around 520 to 490 BCE. Although his downfall just preceded the advent of the Greco-Persian wars, his reign was nonetheless pivotal to ultimate Gree...

EPISODE 32 EMBASSIES AND ENEMIESBy the middle of the 6th century, Sparta was, through her alliances, the most powerful military force Hellas had yet seen. There was just one thorn in their side, one pressing issue that hadn't bee...

EPISODE 31 A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWNLikely by around 550 BCE, Sparta had the most powerful military in ancient Greece. They used that to their favour and created a coalition of Peloponnesian cities all bound to Sparta through unequal treati...

EPISODE 30 A SUMMARY OF LYCURGAN SPARTA WITH PROFESSOR PAUL CARTLEDGEOver the past half a century no one has done more to forward the field of ancient Spartan research than Professor Paul Cartledge. His gravitas and authority on the top...

EPISODE 29 CASTES OF SPARTAThis time around I take a look at the various castes and sub-castes within Spartan society.  What we see in popular culture is but the tip of the iceberg, those mighty red cloaked warriors bestriding batt...

EPISODE 28 THE BRONZE LIE WITH MYKE COLEI had the honour, pride and privilege of sitting down with author Myke Cole for this instalment of the Spartan History Podcast.His recently released book, the Bronze Lie: Shattering the my...

EPISODE 27 HEAVY METAL SPARTANS WITH DR JEREMY SWISTWe're shifting gears a little with this episode as I'm joined by Dr Jeremy Swist, lecturer and classicist at Brandeis University in Massachusetts. Dr Swist is an expert in the ...

EPISODE 26: THE SPARTAN REGIME WITH PROFESSOR PAUL RAHEAuthor, classicist and historian Professor Paul Rahe was kind enough to sit down with your host for this instalment of Spartan History Podcast.Paul has authored several book...

EPISODE 25: SPARTIATESWelcome back folks to the Spartan History Podcast. Stepping back into the solo format to once again put another facet of pre-classical Sparta under the microscope. This time it is the ruling class, the Homoioi or S...

EPISODE 24: PART 2 OF A COLABRORATION WITH CASTING THROUGH ANCIENT GREECE PODCAST.For something a little different this month's release is part 2 of a collaboration podcast I was fortunate enough to record with Mark from Casting Through...

EPISODE 23 : HOPLITES AND THE SPARTAN WAR MACHINEThis time around folks it is my great honour to have Professor Paul Bardunias as my guest on the show. Paul is a co-author of the book 'Hoplites at War: A comprehensive analysis of heavy ...

Hello again dear listeners, this month we're back with episode 22, Raising Spartans. The treatment of Spartan children by their society has often been sensationalised by modern depiction, but these conceptions started in the ancient wor...

EPISODE 21 GOVERNING SPARTANSWelcome back folks and to the first of what will be a series of episodes designed to explain the different facets of the Spartan world in the lead up to the Greco-Persian wars.This time its the gover...

EPISODE 20 THE SPARTAN YOKEHappy new year folks, welcome back to the Spartan History Podcast, the only podcast called the Spartan History Podcast. We're turning 20 with the release of this episode and I couldn't be more pleased to be ba...

EPISODE 19 THE EXPANSION OF SPARTAThe time has come to let Sparta out of the box, so to speak. Trapped as I've kept it since this series began, my aim was to explain the myths and early traditions of this city before moving on to it's i...

EPISODE 18 JASON AND THE GOLDEN FLEECE, PART 4.Welcome back to the Spartan History Podcast, the agenda for this episode will be the conclusion to my retelling of Apollonius of Rhodes' Argonautica.With the challenge set for them ...

EPISODE 17, APOLLO'S FAITHFUL.Welcome back to Spartan History Podcast, we're back on the Spartan narrative this time and taking a look at the early religious practices of the city's inhabitants.Although often understated, the Sp...

EPISODE 16, JASON AND THE GOLDEN FLEECE  PART 3.Welcome back to the Spartan History Podcast, this time around we'll be working through part 3 of my retelling of the Golden Fleece myth. Apollonius begins book 3 of the Argona...

EPISODE 15, LYCURGUS, THE WOLF WORKER.Welcome back to the Spartan History Podcast, this time we return to the Spartan narrative and sink our teeth into the most mercurial being of their legend, Lycurgus.A liminal figure, stridin...