Fall of Babylon

Fall of Babylon

Author: History Hit November 2, 2025 Duration: 47:59

The year is 539 BC. The greatest city of the ancient world has fallen. Babylon has opened it's gates to a new conqueror: the mighty Persian king Cyrus the Great.


In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined once again by friend of the show Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones to uncover the dramatic fall of Babylon and the ascent of Persia’s Achaemenid empire. From the final decades of Babylonian rule to Cyrus’ blood-stained triumph and the city’s remarkable survival under a new regime, they discover how one of history’s most iconic capitals lost its crown - a seismic chapter in the tumultuous story of the Ancient Near East.


Watch this episode on our NEW YouTube channel: @TheAncientsPodcast


MORE

The Walls of Babylon

Cyrus the Great


Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan, the producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.


Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. 


You can take part in our listener survey here:

https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.


Hosted by Tristan Hughes, The Ancients digs into the distant past, one specific theme at a time. This isn't a sweeping lecture but a series of focused conversations. Each episode brings you directly into dialogue with leading historians and archaeologists, who share the latest research and perspectives on the ancient world. The scope is vast, moving from the mysteries of Neolithic Britain all the way through to the complex events surrounding the Fall of Rome. You might find yourself immersed in the details of a single archaeological discovery one week and exploring the broader political currents of an empire the next. Produced by History Hit, this podcast benefits from the same depth and quality that defines their other award-winning series. With new episodes arriving every Sunday and Thursday, there's always a fresh journey into antiquity waiting. For anyone with a curiosity about where we came from, this podcast serves as a reliable and engaging guide, making the remote past feel immediate and vividly real.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

The Ancients
Podcast Episodes
The First Arabians [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:58
What can ancient DNA tell us about the first homo sapiens to arrive in Arabia over 50,000 years ago? Tristan Hughes is joined by Prof. Pierre Zalloua to delve into the groundbreaking advances in ancient DNA research that…
How to Survive on Hadrian’s Wall [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:10:35
Step into the daily lives of those stationed along Hadrian's Wall, from Roman soldiers to civilians. Tristan Hughes and Dr. Francis Macintosh are your guides to explore the routines, duties, and unique cultural identitie…
Medea: Maligned Sorceress or Heartless Murderer? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:36
She helped Jason win the Golden Fleece, betrayed her own family, and became one of the most feared figures in Greek myth. Medea’s name has echoed through the ancient world for over two millennia, a byword for passion and…
Fall of Sparta [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:14:04
How did Sparta, the most feared military state in ancient Greece, fall from grace in a single generation?In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr Roel Konijnendijk and Dr Owen Rees to chronicle Spa…
Rise of Christianity [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:07:02
How did a persecuted minority religion rise to be embraced and enforced by mighty Roman Emperors?Tristan Hughes is joined by Professor Peter Heather to chart the dramatic rise of Christianity, exploring how Emperors such…
The First Life on Earth [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:22:19
Today we’re going back to the beginning – no Romans, Celts, Egyptians or Macedonians in sight. Billions of years of prehistory as we look at the emergence of life on Earth. From the rise of the earliest microscopic membr…
The Ice Age [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:24
Think of the Ice Age and tales of ferocious sabre-toothed tigers and giant megafauna likely spring to mind - but what do we know about prehistoric human culture 25,000 years ago and how people survived a perilous landsca…
The Minoan Labyrinth [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:05
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey immerses players in the mythology of Ancient Greece. In particular, they can walk in the footsteps of Theseus through the Labyrinth and come face to face with the mythical Minotaur. Commonly asso…
Emperor Diocletian and the Great Persecution [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:51
How did a humble Balkan soldier ascend to the heights of Roman power?Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr. David Gwynn to explore the tumultuous reign of Emperor Diocletian and the significant reforms that pulled the Roman Emp…
Paestum: Ancient Greeks in Italy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:17
The story of ancient Italy is so much more than just Rome. In this special episode, we're shining a light on the extraordinary site of Paestum in southern Italy, home to some of the greatest ancient Greek temples from an…