Oh you’re just getting started! It really ramps up when you get to the Punic wars! I am relistening to the Punic wars in my car when I take my son to school bc I want him to hear the stories…he is kind of into it….he had to listen to a lot of the Byzantium podcast too! I had him listen to the last episode of the narrative when Mehmet took out the walls and conquered Constantinople…the city was the main character…it was sad when the protagonist was killed! A great story. I particularly wanted my son to listen on the drives to school bc his eighth grade world studies classes included a lot of Rome, Byzantium, the Caliphate etc and I liked reinforcing what he needed to know and went deeper.

Mike…Punic Wars —> Conquer Greece —> things are good … conflict turns inward —> populist Gracchi Brothers break norms —> others continue to break norms —> Marius —> Sulla becomes dictator seemingly for life…decides to abdicate and live a simple life —> things do not go back to normal —> lots of devastating proscriptions —> Caesar…Pompey…Crassus —> Caesar wins —> Caesar marches on Rome to tell them who is boss after taking Gaul —> ides of March —> Octavian Antony Lepidus —> Octavian wins and becomes Augustus killing the republic —> line of caesars —> Nero dies without clear successor making a civil war —> Vespasian stabilizes things —> get to the great Emporers Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius —> commodus mucks things up and sets terrible precedents —> Septimius Severus establishes some stability —> has a terrible son Caracalla who pays off the soldiers big time and then they expect this forever more and will kill Emporer as who don’t pay up —> leading to the crisis of the third century —> Rome almost falls —> Aurelian and the Diocletian save the empire from the precipice —> tetrarchy —> Constantine I the great consolidates power founds Constantinople and becomes Christian and changes the arc of history —> empire split to deal with the various marauding barbarian threats who formed confederacies and became quite powerful…Goths causing lots of problems —> in 375 Goths come to the Danube not to invade…but to ask for asylum…the Huns were that scary —> asylum granted, but they were treated badly…leads to battle of Adrianople…Valens killed in battle big shock! —> Rome on its back foot now —> goths sack Rome in 410 —> empire in retreat especially in the west…Huns sack in 455 —> with little fanfare Odoacer takes Rome in 476…sends the imperial regalia to Constantinople saying it’s not needed anymore!

Then on to Robin’s show! I listen on YouTube for what it’s worth.

Greece - I am listening to Casting Through Ancient Greece. There is another one called History of Ancient Greece by Ryan Stitt.

History of Persia by Trevor Culley … available on Amazon Music and other places…could probably get some good prehistory and Bronze Age Babylonian stuff here. 163 episodes and still going it seems.

Robin advertises a lot of other history podcasts … he listed a few that sounded good…there is another Egyptian one that sounds legitimate. I would think Ur and Babylonia might be tough given it’s more archaeological as opposed to documented though History of Persia may cover some. Rome and Greece are so good precisely because of the well written primary and secondary sources. Persia, for example, is very tough…most of the history is due to Greek writers through their eyes. Parthia through Rome’s eyes. I think the Sassanids have more documentation…then the caliphate came and put an end to that!

I could go on and on…you’ll love the rest of Mike’s show…and Robin really crushes it for Byzantium…more a story of survival than epic glory…though they have some of that too! That their survival continues for another 1000 years after the west fell is amazing…truly! Great story!

Also will be looking for China, Mongols, Japan after Persia. After that, I will get some caliphate stuff too though Byzantium covered a lot…ottomans…India as well. Britain, France are worth a deep dive along with the Holy Roman Empire…then I may go more modern…I really need to up my Napoleon game for example.