Ancient History

The Ancient period began with the construction of the first pyramids and ended with the fall of the Roman Empire. Though these civilisations have crumbled, they laid the foundations of the world as we know it today. The dramatic events and towering figures of the past, like Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great, continue to fascinate, much as they did a millennia ago.

RAMSES THE GREAT: KING OF ANCIENT EGYPT - The face of an actor portraying Ramses next to a the face of a statue of Ramses

Ramses The Great: King of Ancient Egypt
Empire Builders on Sky HISTORY

Empire Builders
Two ancient warriors fight in front of a large mountain

Clash of Ancient Warriors
Cursed Treasures

Cursed Treasures
Photo of the Pre-hispanic art from Mexico

4 predictions the Mayan calendar got right (and one it didn’t)
Painting of Mary Magdalene kneeling before Jesus after his resurrection

8 facts you didn’t know about Mary Magdalene
Bas-Relief of Pharaoh Thutmose III smiting and killing Canaanite enemies at the Battle of Megiddo on the Seventh Pylon in Karnak Temple

4 legendary battles from Ancient Egypt
Statue of Plato in front of the Academy of Athens

How Plato’s grave was finally found
Statue of Thutmose III

4 strongest warrior pharaohs from Ancient Egypt
Painting of Ptolemy II Philadelphus talking with Jewish scholars in the library of Alexandria

The tragedy of the Great Library of Alexandria
A marble relief from around the 1st or 2nd century showing two female gladiators fighting

Gladiatrix: Female gladiators in Ancient Rome
A 16th century mural depicting Jesus (C) in King Herod's (L) court

King Herod: The infamous child killer
A bust statue of Vespasian

5 strangest deaths of Roman emperors
A long passage inside the Great Pyramid in Giza

Is there an underground city beneath the pyramids?
A young archaeologist works on an archaeological site

The mystery of stone tools discovered in China
A number of flat-topped pyramids in Sudan

Why does Sudan have so many pyramids?
Egypt's Valley of the Queens

The biggest discovery from Ancient Egypt since Tutankhamun?
Dr Meredith Brand holding a book inside a museum

Archaeologist explores the secrets of Egypt's pyramids
A selfie of Tony McMahon inside an Egyptian tunnel

An investigative historian cracks Ancient Egypt's Cosmic Code
Bradley Walsh looms over the Great Pyramids and lifts one up with his finger

'I needed to find the truth' – Bradley Walsh on Egypt’s Cosmic Code
The Great Sphinx of Giza

Why was the Sphinx created?

Edit image of three pyramids with lights emanating from the tips into the night sky

What is the Cosmic Code?
Bradley Walsh wearing an Indiana Jones-style fedora with his arms folded

8 surprising facts about Bradley Walsh
Camels walk in front of the three pyramids in the Giza Pyramid Complex

5 pyramid conspiracy theories debunked
Skara Brae, a stone-built Neolithic settlement in Scotland

Skara Brae: The prehistoric settlement older than Stonehenge
The Bent Pyramid in Dahshur, Egypt

3 lesser-known Egyptian pyramids
The statue of Ramses II Illuminated at night in the temple of Luxor

10 ancient facts about Ramses the Great
A painting that depicts horses being used in the Battle of Friedland in 1807

Galloping through time: How horses shaped history