Of the six children of Germanicus, Agrippina the Younger is the last woman standing.

With their brother Caligula dead, the two remaining Germanicus children--Julia Livilla and Agrippina--are called home from exile.

Wish you had a holiday all about feasting, drinking, the upending of the social order, blood sacrifices, the harvest, pranks, novelty gifts, honouring a god who devoured his kids, and the returning sun? Don’t we all??? Welcome to Saturnalia.

Now the family of Germanicus is in charge. They're the sharks. And the sharks have to keep swimming.

Close your eyes and imagine a loving family. Devoted parents and six children: three happy brothers and three happy sisters. The father, Germanicus, is a war hero—beloved by the people, and next in line for the throne. Life is good. Life is perfect. But nothing good can ever stay.

In Ancient Rome, poison assassins were in high demand—and one of the most notorious was a woman named Locusta the Poisoner.

Communities all over the ancient world had a problem: their dead wouldn't stay in the ground.

In this episode, we cover five female military commanders—powerful allies and enemies of the ancient Greeks and Romans.

Think the Amazons of Greek myth were mythical? Think again. The Greeks based their Amazons on the real-life warrior women next door.

We take a look at some of the more well-known Amazon myths of ancient Greece--and the mystery of their meaning in context.

We're taking a break. We'll be back September 13, and have we got some stories to tell you then.

In 450 AD, the Imperial Princess Honoria--daughter of Galla Placidia--was desperate to escape her arranged marriage. So she made an indecent proposal--to Attila the Hun.

Born enemies, the love of Ataulf and Galla Placidia is marked by tragedy—but in its time, it burned hot enough to reshape an Empire.

On August 24, 410 AD, Alaric and the Visigoths sacked the city of Rome. Before he sacked it, he starved it. Before that, he went toe to toe with the Roman Empire for fifteen years—uniting disparate tribes, holding a people together, and achieving more against Rome than any barbarian leader before him.

In this episode, the epic story of the elephant of war continues.

We call upon you now to bear witness to an epic story: that of the awesome and great-hearted elephant of war.

In this episode, it's Roman Emperors behaving badly--and Praetorian Prefects behaving even worse.

The Praetorian Guard was the elite military unit tasked with protecting the Emperors of Rome. Except when they held the assassin's blade themselves.

Some child emperors became tyrants. Others were taken advantage of by stronger regents and family members--frequently with tragic results.

In ancient Rome, being made Emperor could be a death sentence. What became of children who were raised to the role?

Did the Mongols really kill 1.3 million people in a single day? How does civilization devolve in a city under siege when the food runs out? What really went down during the sack of Troy--and what clues did ancient writers leave us?

How would you survive an ancient siege?

A new podcast is coming--one that looks at the mythology and real-life experience of the ancient world, from the eyes of two avid storytellers.