HistoryExtra
type: channel
link: https://www.historyextra.com
description: Home of Britain’s bestselling history magazine and award-winning podcast
date: 2026-04-11T12:31:04.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: The Huns terrorised Rome's frontiers – but wanted to keep the ancient empire alive
items: Inside a Roman villa: luxury life in ancient Britain
items: Meet the rebels who destroyed an ancient Roman legion with guerrilla warfare
items: Pompeii | Podcast series
items: Europe's Muslim history
items: Attila the Hun: life of the week
items: The devastating Jewish revolt against the Roman empire
items: The ancient Romans knew the power of entertainment as propaganda – here's the proof
items: Is this the best routine to boost your health? Yes, according to an ancient Roman intellectual
items: Have archaeologists just found proof of ancient Carthage's legendary anti-Roman war weapon?

The Huns terrorised Rome's frontiers – but wanted to keep the ancient empire alive
type: item
date: 2026-04-11T12:30:28.000Z
creator: James Osborne
subject: General ancient history
subject: Period
subject: Roman
subject: Discover / Apple News
description: Feared as savage invaders, the Huns posed a serious threat to Rome – but their goal wasn’t conquest, or Roman annihilation
encoded: To the Romans of the late 4th and 5th centuries AD, the threat posed by the Huns was akin to a nightmare made real. They were lightning fast, brutally violent, and as culturally unfamiliar as any people the Romans had ever encountered. They seemed to emerge suddenly from beyond the empire’s frontiers, bringing with them destruction and fear. Roman writers described them in vivid, unsettling terms, presenting them as the ultimate barbarians. The arrival of the Huns on the frontier of the Roman empire coincided with a period historians often describe as the ‘Migration Period’ – a time of large-scale population movements across Europe, in which multiple groups were displaced and resettled, or otherwise pushed into Roman territory. Yet for all the alarm they caused, the Huns didn’t want to destroy the Roman empire. They wanted to exploit it. The reasons why reveal as much about Rome’s internal condition, as about the Huns themselves. Who were the Huns? The Huns were part of a broader pattern of migration and movement across Eurasia in late antiquity. “They’re one of a series of non-Roman groups migrating, we assume, from Eastern Asia, possibly away from the Chinese Empire,” explains archaeologist Miles Russell, while discussing the life of Atilla the Hun on the HistoryExtra podcast. Their precise origins remain debated, but many historians link them to steppe nomadic traditions that stretched across Central Asia, where highly mobile horse-based societies had long dominated. Unlike settled agricultural societies based around static farming and protected settlements, they were very itinerant. Listen now | From the Mongols to the Huns: the nomads who dominated Eurasia “They fight predominantly on horseback,” Russell says. This fighting style was a key factor in their military effectiveness. Their speed and flexibility made them difficult for Roman forces, accustomed to more structured warfare, to counter. Hunnic warriors were particularly known for their use of composite b…

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Inside a Roman villa: luxury life in ancient Britain
type: item
date: 2026-04-03T09:57:50.000Z
creator: Kev Lochun
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Roman
subject: Tudor
description: HistoryExtra’s Rachel Dinning and Kev Lochun introduce the underfloor heating, fine mosaics and elegant rooms of Chedworth Roman Villa in Gloucestershire, that reveal the surprising luxury of life in Roman Britain
encoded: Step into one of the grandest Roman homes ever discovered in Britain, and explore the secret luxuries of Roman Britain, as we head inside Chedworth Roman Villa in Gloucestershire, now in the care of the National Trust. HistoryExtra’s Rachel Dinning and Kev Lochun introduce the underfloor heating, fine mosaics and elegant rooms that reveal the surprising luxury of life in Roman Britain. You’ll hear how this countryside retreat functioned, who lived here, and what it tells us about wealth, identity and culture under Roman rule. With thanks to all at Chedworth Roman Villa View Green Video on the source website

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Meet the rebels who destroyed an ancient Roman legion with guerrilla warfare
type: item
date: 2026-04-01T11:39:43.000Z
creator: James Osborne
subject: General ancient history
subject: Period
subject: Roman
subject: Discover / Apple News
description: In theory, putting down the rebels of the First Jewish Revolt should have been easy for the mighty Roman empire. But strategic mistakes and complacency meant that the reality was very different
encoded: In AD 66, a Roman army marching through the hills west of Jerusalem was ambushed and largely destroyed. For an empire that prided itself on military discipline and dominance, the loss was quite remarkable. Roman legions were symbols of imperial authority, consisting of around 5,000 heavily trained infantry soldiers, supported by cavalry and auxiliary units. They represented the core of ancient Rome’s military power. To see one shattered by provincial rebels was, as historian Professor Barry Strauss notes, “a tremendous humiliation for Rome. It’s bad for business to have provincials destroying a legion”. The disaster took place during the early stages of what would become the First Jewish Revolt – a major uprising by Jewish groups in the Roman province of Judea against Roman rule, driven by political tensions and religious conflict. It was a struggle that would eventually draw in tens of thousands of Roman troops. But the defeat itself wasn’t an isolated accident. It exposed a deeper problem in the way Rome governed its empire. Ancient Rome’s blind spot At its height, the Roman empire controlled vast territories and populations with relatively limited military resources. “The Romans had a relatively small army – about 300,000 men – to control an empire stretching roughly 3,000 miles with a population of perhaps 50 million people,” Strauss explains, speaking on the HistoryExtra podcast about the Jewish-Roman wars. This made Rome heavily dependent on its military strength, yes, but also on administrative efficiency. This meant that Rome relied heavily on cooperation from local populations, particularly local elites who could help maintain order. There was also an underlying assumption that Roman rule would ultimately be accepted – whether through force, cultural attraction, or political advantage. That assumption was often misplaced. Read more | The overshadowed ancient empire that rivalled Rome with maritime might and an iron fist “Rome underestimated the Jewish revol…

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Pompeii | Podcast series
type: item
date: 2026-04-01T10:00:12.000Z
creator: Kev Lochun
subject: Period
subject: Roman
description: In AD 79, Pompeii and Herculaneum were obliterated by the eruption of Vesuvius, buried and preserved under metres of volcanic ash. Discover more in this podcast series with Dr Jess Venner
encoded: Kev Lochun speaks to Dr Jess Venner, historian of the ancient world, to explore what life was like in towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum prior to their destruction, what really happened on the fateful day Vesuvius erupted – with the help of an eyewitness – and how the buried city came to be an archeological marvel.

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Europe's Muslim history
type: item
date: 2026-04-01T09:22:13.000Z
creator: Danny Bird
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Roman
description: Tharik Hussain reveals Islam's little known but remarkable role in Europe's history, stretching back more than 1,000 years
encoded: <p data-monday-block-type="1" data-monday-block-content='[{"attributes":{"color":"var(--color-bright-blue)"},"insert":"From the magnificence of the Alhambra to the forgotten resting places of the Prophet Muhammad’s own relatives, Islam has long been a part of Europe’s history. Danny Bird speaks to Tharik Hussain about this continent-spanning saga, exploring Islam’s rich legacy within Europe and the reasons it is often overlooked today."}]' data-inline-monday="true">From the magnificence of the Alhambra to the forgotten resting places of the Prophet Muhammad’s own relatives, Islam has long been a part of Europe’s history. Danny Bird speaks to Tharik Hussain about this continent-spanning saga, exploring Islam’s rich legacy within Europe and the reasons it is often overlooked today.

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Attila the Hun: life of the week
type: item
date: 2026-03-31T08:45:47.000Z
creator: Spencer Mizen
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Roman
subject: Life of the week (podcast series)
description: Few historical figures have reputations quite as diabolical as that of Attila the Hun. Miles Russell explains Attila's astonishing life and legacy.
encoded: Few historical figures have reputations quite as diabolical as that of Attila the Hun. This nomadic leader pitched up on the edge of the Roman empire in the fifth century AD, and spread terror and chaos so effectively that he came to be dubbed the ‘Scourge of God’. But was he really all that bad? Miles Russell talks to Spencer Mizen about Attila's astonishing life and legacy.

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The devastating Jewish revolt against the Roman empire
type: item
date: 2026-03-18T08:00:18.000Z
creator: James Osborne
subject: General ancient history
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Roman
description: Barry Strauss reflects on the Jewish-Roman wars, exploring the roots – and legacy – of the conflict
encoded: It was under the rule of the infamous emperor Nero that the Great Revolt, the first of the Jewish-Roman wars, began, sparking many decades of continuous conflict. Speaking to James Osborne, historian and author Barry Strauss traces the story, following the the fate of the Jewish rebels and the legacy of the conflict.

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The ancient Romans knew the power of entertainment as propaganda – here's the proof
type: item
date: 2026-03-14T10:35:05.000Z
creator: Serafina Kenny
subject: Ancient Greece
subject: General ancient history
subject: Period
subject: Roman
subject: Discover / Apple News
description: In ancient Rome, putting on theatrical plays was not just a form of entertainment – it became a powerful tool of propaganda
encoded: Lysistrata by Aristophanes; Antigone by Sophocles; Medea by Euripides. Each is a play from ancient Greece, still performed on stages across the world today. Roman plays, on the other hand, are much less common. “We might think of theatre today as belonging to the cultural sphere, but in ancient Rome, it belonged to an incredibly political sphere,” says Dr Jessica Clarke, a research associate at the Institute of Classical Studies at the University of London and the author of A New History of Ancient Roman Theatre, speaking on the HistoryExtra podcast. “Entertainment is never neutral,” she says, but in ancient Rome, the theatre was explicitly political. “In Rome they didn't have independent theatres, so they didn’t have shows put on outside of politically controlled events.” This fact, she says, means that plays from ancient Rome have failed to remain as relevant as their Greek equivalents. The history of ancient Roman theatre Roman theatre hadn’t always been so overtly political; early Roman theatre was a “hodgepodge” of traditions and practices from previous empires and different areas of modern-day Italy, Clarke says. The ancient historian Livy, who Clarke says is the main source of information we have on the origins of Roman theatre, draws a "very neat line from actors arriving from Etruria to Roman theatre," Clarke says. While Etruscan performances did influence what would become Roman theatre, there’s more likely a “complicated web” of things that became the Roman theatrical tradition, including Greek plays translated into Latin and farcical plays from Campania in southern Italy. Read more | Meet the people the ancient Romans and Greeks desperately tried to hide In general, “Rome tended to absorb cultural influences, rather than inventing its own,” she adds – but it certainly gave theatre its own cultural significance. Theatrical shows would be put on at all kinds of events in Roman culture, including religious festivals, the triumphant returns of Roman generals…

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Is this the best routine to boost your health? Yes, according to an ancient Roman intellectual
type: item
date: 2026-03-07T10:35:13.000Z
creator: James Osborne
subject: General ancient history
subject: Period
subject: Roman
subject: Discover / Apple News
description: Pliny the Elder was an intellectual powerhouse of ancient Rome. Though not a physician, in describing the ideal daily routine of a Roman gentleman he revealed how the ancient elite believed health could be improved
encoded: In the first century AD, the Bay of Naples was fringed by villas belonging to ancient Rome’s political and military elite. The slopes of Mount Vesuvius rose above lush orchards and gardens, while trading ships came in and out of the harbour, bringing exotic imports. This was one of the most fashionable regions of the Roman empire – a retreat for senators, generals and imperial officials with vast reserves of political power and private wealth. Pliny the Elder lived here in the final years of his life. A senior Roman official, he had been a cavalry commander in his youth, later a provincial administrator, and eventually commander of the fleet stationed at Misenum (now Miseno, in the north-west of the Bay of Naples). Born around AD 23, he lived through the reigns of emperors such as Claudius, Nero and Vespasian, at a time when Rome governed vast territories stretching from Britain to north Africa and the near east. Alongside his public duties, he was an impressive scholar. According to his nephew, Pliny the Younger, he read and dictated notes almost constantly, wrote while travelling, and had books read aloud to him as he ate. His greatest work, Natural History, filled 37 volumes. It was an encyclopaedic attempt to catalogue all aspects of life and the natural world: astronomy, geography, zoology, botany, mineralogy, art and medicine. “He literally said: ‘I want to cover everything in the world’,” explains Dr Jess Venner, speaking on the HistoryExtra podcast. “It was ambitious, and he did pretty well.” The work survives today as one of the largest single texts to survive from antiquity, preserving fragments of earlier Greek and Roman science that might otherwise have been lost. That ambition shaped his thinking about health, including his views on exercise. “He’s very specific about what he likes to do in a day,” says Venner. By the first century AD, Roman notions of health rested on a sophisticated Greek-derived system, especially the Hippocratic tradition and Galen’…

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Have archaeologists just found proof of ancient Carthage's legendary anti-Roman war weapon?
type: item
date: 2026-02-27T10:46:21.000Z
creator: James Osborne
subject: General ancient history
subject: Period
subject: Roman
subject: Discover / Apple News
description: During the Second Punic War, the famous Carthaginian general Hannibal led his forces to numerous victories. But did he really take war elephants across the Alps?
encoded: The Punic Wars – and the Second Punic War (218–201 BC) specifically – were a definitive chapter in the history of the ancient world. Fought between the formidable Mediterranean power of Carthage and the upstart Roman Republic, the conflict ultimately saw the balance of power shift decisively away from the Carthaginians and towards the Romans. Had Rome fallen, Carthage would have retained its influence, and Roman civilisation may never have grown out of its infancy. Instead, the Romans won. Rome’s destruction of Carthage in 146 BC, at the end of the Third Punic War, eliminated its greatest rival. In victory, they took hold of the ancient Mediterranean, using it as a springboard for imperial expansion across Europe, North Africa and the Near East. It wasn’t until the invasions associated with Attila the Hun centuries later that Rome would again face such an existential threat. But that’s not to say that Roman victory was inevitable. During the apogee of the war, the Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca inflicted a series of devastating defeats on Roman armies. At Cannae in 216 BC, perhaps 50,000 Roman soldiers died in a single day – one of the worst military disasters in Roman history – while earlier victories at Trebia (218 BC) and Lake Trasimene (217 BC) had already demonstrated Hannibal’s military genius. Read more | Long before the ancient Roman empire, a rival superpower looked set for supremacy His most audacious, move, however, was none of these. Marching from Carthaginian territories in Iberia – modern-day Spain – Hannibal led an expeditionary force through southern Gaul and across the Alps, where he traversed the imposing mountainous slopes with a vast army that included war elephants. It was a force that arrived at the gates of Rome, pushing for a Roman surrender. It’s an astonishing story that underlines Hannibal’s determination, and most of all, his astounding logistical capabilities. But for all its fame, did it really happen? While many historians and arc…

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