Fall of Civilizations Podcast

Far in the distance, three colossal shapes tower over the desert horizon… In this episode, we travel to the Nile Valley, and tell the story of one of the most iconic cultures ever produced by humankind – the civilizations of ancient Egypt. I want to show how this series of related cultures grew up in the floodplains of their great river, and built some of the most enduring and

Buried beneath the city streets of the Tunisian capital of Tunis, an ancient city lies forgotten... In this episode, we look at one of the most dramatic stories to come down to us from the ancient world: the rise and fall of the empire of Carthage. Find out how this city rose out of the Phoenician states of the Eastern Mediterranean, and set out on voyages of discovery and settleme

In the lowlands of Burma lie the remains of thousands of crumbling temples... In this episode, we tell one of the most colourful stories of civilizational survival: the story of the Bagan Empire of Myanmar. Find out how this kingdom rose up in the Irrawaddy river valley of central Myanmar, and built one of the most remarkable series of monuments to have survived from the medieval w

In the deserts of Jordan, a city lies hidden for centuries in a valley of rose-red stone... In this episode, we look at one of the most peculiar stories of civilizational survival to come down to us from the ancient world, the story of the Nabataeans. Find out how these once humble traders rose to become masters of the desert sands, and to defy empires. And discover what happened t

On the rocky banks of South India's Tungabhadra River, an enormous ruined city lies crumbling... In this episode, we look at the Vijayanagara Empire of Southern India, a civilization that has all but faded from memory in many parts of the world. Find out how this remarkable society rose up out of an age of conflict and fragmentation, how it built one of the largest and most impress

In the lowlands of Northern Iraq, a series of enormous cities lies crumbling in ruins... In this episode, find out about one of the most remarkable ancient civilizations: the society known today as the neo-Assyrian Empire. Discover how the Assyrians built their empire out of the ashes of the Bronze Age, and built an empire of iron that lasted for centuries. Explore the extraordinar

High up on the craggy peaks of the Urubamba Canyon, a lost city lies wreathed in cloud... In this episode, we explore the mountains of the Andes, and tell the story of the Inca Empire. Find out how these mountain people built the largest empire in the Western Hemipshere, in one of the toughest terrains on earth. With Inca poetry, Quechuan hymns and authentic Andean instruments, dis

On the outskirts of modern Istanbul, a line of ancient walls lies crumbling into the earth... In this episode, we look at one of history’s most incredible stories of survival - the thousand-year epic of the Byzantine Empire. Find out how this civilization suffered the loss of its Western half, and continued the unbroken legacy of Rome right through the middle ages. Hear about how

A city in ruins. A dynasty in tatters. An empire in ashes... This episode, we look at the remarkable story of the first empire of ancient China, the Han dynasty. With ancient Chinese poetry, songs and folk music, we look back at the first empire's rise, its remarkable technological advances, and its first, tentative attempts to make contact with the empires of the west. Finally, we

Beneath the busy streets of Mexico City, a buried god lies waiting to be discovered... This episode, we look back at the age of the Aztecs. Learn how this society grew from nothing to create one of the world's largest cities in the middle of a lake. Discover Aztec riddles, poetry and songs, as well as the bloody ritual of the flower wars. And hear the remarkable story of how this t