We’re between issues of the magazine this month so Murray suggested as the new war movie Dunkirk has been released why not try and look for similar examples in the ancient world of turning a Defeat into Victory.

Joining me is Jasper Oorthuys, Murray Dahm and Marc De Santis.

In this episode the team are looking at volume 11, issue two “On the cusp of Empire: The Romans Unify Italy”.

"Before building an empire, the Romans first had to unify the various cultures already living on their doorstep."

If you want to be involved with the podcast why not become a patreon? Before each show is recorded we put the call out for listener input, those contributions hopefully help make the show better for everyone. Our patrons always provide some top notch talking points for us to discuss. You can find the show at patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast.

You may or may not be aware Ancient Warfare has a sister publication Medieval Warfare which Angus also helps produce the podcast for… You can find more information on the magazine at medieval-warfare.com.

Peter, the host, recently recorded an episode discussing with Michael Livingston and Kelly DeVries which Medieval battle that would like to witness?

We thought it was a great idea so we've stolen it for this episode of the ancient warfare podcast.

Angus, Jasper, Murray and Marc discuss the Battles of Mylae, Marathon, the Teutoburg forest, Alesia, Gaugamela, Zama and Scythed Chariots.

A thank you to all our patrons who made suggestions for the show. After we finished recording we realised we'd forgotten to mention the Illiad so we've recorded a "extra" only available to those who support us via patreon.

With Jasper back in the editors chair at Ancient Warfare Magazine he joins regulars Marc DeSantis and Mark McCaffery to discuss Archers in the Ancient World (issue XI.1).

Throughout antiquity, the bow played an important role in warfare, from Assyria and Egypt to Greece and Rome. Heavy infantry and cavalry often got the glory, but archers on foot and horseback often played an important role on the battlefield.

We fielded a lot of listeners questions, many from patrons of the show who support us via patreon. For more information on how you can help us produce the show go to patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast.

One of our Patreon supporters suggested for an "extra" we might look at documentary series, such as Barbarians Rising, and the problems of factual programming falling into the same traps that Hollywood feature films fall into.

So after we finished talking about the year of the four Emperors I put the question to the team, curiously Lindsay Powell is actually one of the historians featured in Barbarians Rising.

We hope you enjoy the discussion.

Angus is joined by Josho Brouwers, Murray Dahm, Mark McCaffery, Marc De Santis and a welcome back to Lindsay Powell.

After the suicide of Emperor Nero, four usurpers struggled for control of Rome, plunging the Empire into chaos.

In this episode we look at AD69 the Year of the Four Emperors. Angus is joined by Josho Brouwers, Murray Dahm, Mark McCaffery, Marc De Santis and a welcome back to Lindsay Powell.

In this episode the team investigate Ridley Scott's movie Gladiator.

In this episode we’re looking at volume X, issue 5 “The Empires of Persia at War”.

Angus is joined by I’m joined by Josho Brouwers, Murray Dahm, Mark McCaffery, Marc DeSantis and Sean Manning.

Medes, Persians or Achaemenids? Ancient sources rarely cared to differentiate them. Their tribes united and became kingdoms, and their kingdoms turned into empires. Some of the most decisive chapters of ancient warfare were written when their ever-changing borders brought them face-to-face with the great western powers.

We’ve always promised ourselves we would record some extra podcasts. As we’ve caught with the magazine release we thought it was time for such an episode… So we decided to look at the Chariot Race in Ben-Hur.

Angus, Josho, Murray, Marc and Mark were joined by David Reinke who ,with Graham Sumner, writes the film articles for Ancient Warfare Magazine… It proved to be a marathon recording, and we were terrible at staying on topic of the Chariot race… I hope you enjoy us wandering round the subject...

"Once people began to live in settled villages, they started to identify themselves not just based on their language and culture, but also on where they lived. Farmers became, to a lesser or larger extent, tied to the soil. As villages grew into cities and cities became the centres of larger city-states, kingdoms, and even empires, it became ever more important to define territories in a visible way, and to defend them whenever necessary."

We're discussing Ancient Warfare Magazine volume X, issue Wars at the edge of empires.

If you've enjoyed the podcast over the years why not show your support and help us improve the podcast by becoming a Patron of the show via Patreon.

In this episode we’re looking at Volume 10, issue 3: Rome vs Poisonous Pontus: The Mithridatic Wars, 88BC - 63 BC

Don’t forget if you missed the issue you can pick up your copy from ancient-warfare.com. Better still why not subscribe! That way you’ll be fully versed in the subject before you listen to the podcast! I’m joined by stalwarts of the podcast Josho Bouwers, Murray Dahm, Mark MaCaffery and Marc de Santis.

In this episode we look at Ancient Warfare Magazine Vol X, issue 2 "Wars in Hellenistic Egypt: Kingdom of the Ptolemies".

We have a big group of guests with usuals Josho, Murray, Mark and Lindsay, also joining us is Marc de Santis and Seán Hußmann.

In this episode Angus is joined by Josho Brouwers, Murray Dahm, Mark McCaffery, Owen Rees and Roel Konijnendijk.

We’re looking at Ancient Warfare Magazine Volume X issue 1, Conflict between Sparta and Athens: The Archidamian War. Don’t forget if you want to send in any questions for the team you can find us on Facebook either The History Network or Ancient Warfare Magazine.

A long and lively discussion of Ancient Warfare Magazine IX.6 "The Aftermath of Battle".

"When we think about warfare in the ancient world, the first thing that probably pops into mind are images of men, clad in armour, fighting each other. Battle usually draws a lot of attention, and there have been many heated discussions about the nature and mechanics of combat. By comparison, there is often less interest in what happens after battle has been decided and the dust has settled. But the aftermath of conflict is no less interesting than the fight itself, as this issue of Ancient Warfare magazine will demonstrate."

Angus is joined by Josho Brouwers, Murray Dahm, Lindsay Powell, Mark McCaffery and Cezary Kucewicz.

In this episode we’ll be looking at Ancient Warfare Magazine volume 9, issue 5 “At the point of a Sarissa: Warriors of the Hellenistic age”

To discuss the topic Angus is joined by Josho Browuers, Murray Dahm and Marc de Santis.

"The First Punic War (264 to 241 BC ) was the longest uninterrupted war in antiquity and the beginning of a series of military conflicts between Carthage and Rome. During the struggle, these ancient powers fought for the control of Sicily, a strategic point in the central Mediterranean. In the end, Rome was victorious and Carthage lost Sicily."

In this episode we look at Volume 9, issue 4 “The First Punic War”.

To discuss the topic Angus is joined by Josho Browuers, Murray Dahm, Lindsay Powell, Mark McCaffery and Marc De Santis.

Angus is joined by Josho Brouwers, Murray Dahm, Mark McCaffery, Steven Weingartner and Sean Manning.

They discuss Ancient Warfare Magazine volume IX, issue 3 "The Hittites and their Successors".

"Anatolia juts out from Asia and forms an important gateway to Europe. Essentially a large peninsula, it borders Syria in the south, Mesopotamia in the east, and the Aegean in the west. Over the course of time, it has been the home of a remarkable number of different peoples, speaking a great variety of different languages. In the second millennium BC , a powerful kingdom arose whose leaders rubbed shoulders with mighty rulers from other parts of the Near East: the kingdom of the Hittites." More

In this episode Angus is joined Josho Browers, Murray Dahm, Mark MacCaffery, Owen Rees and Roel Konijnendijk.

We look at Ancient Warfare Magazine IX.2 The ascendancy of Thebes.

"The women of Sparta screamed at the sight of the flames that raged just across from the bridge over the Eurotas. Their men were in a panic, rushing to prepare and defend the unwalled city. Fighting had broken out in the nearby village of Amyclae. Lacedaemonians were falling to the earth, dead. The soil of Sparta had been invaded for the first time in centuries. The mightiest warriors of Greece were at the mercy of a new order in the Hellenic world. Thebes had finally ascended to its place of power and control. All it needed to do was learn from the mistakes that Sparta had made."

In this episode of the Ancient Warfare Magazine podcast Angus, Josho, Lindsay and Mark discuss volume 9, issue 1 "The end of empire: the fall of Rome"

"On 4 September AD 476, the Western Roman Empire came to an end. No great battle was fought, no great foreign invasion force marched upon the capital, nor was there an iconic enemy in the shape of a second Hannibal who annihilated Rome’s armies and broke down the emperor’s gates. Odoacer of the Germanic Sciri tribe and military commander in Rome’s employ, simply marched into the city of Ravenna after being proclaimed king by his troops, and dethroned the last Roman Emperor in the West."

In this episode Angus is joined by regulars Josho, Murray, Lindsay, Mark and with special guest Owen Rees. Its a lively discussion looking at Ancient Warfare Magazine volume, VIII issue 6 "The Roman conquest of Greece"

"From the northern rivers and plains of Macedon to the southern heart of the peninsula – amongst whose ragged mountains and plateaux nestled the venerable poleis of old Greece – countless kingdoms, city-states, leagues, and tribes struggled by turns for supremacy and survival in a flux of ever-changing alliances. Into this world, already ancient before their arrival, crashed the youthful republic of Rome that, although relatively unknown at the outset, eventually came to dominate a region once so fiercely independent."

In this episode Angus is joined by Josh Brouwers, Lindsay Powell, Mark McCaffery and Joseph Hall. We look at Ancient Warfare Magazine volume VIII, issue 5 "Rebellion against the Empire: The Jewish-Roman wars"

"It is well known that in the opening statement of his Jewish War, Flavius Josephus imitates the fifth-century BC Athenian Thucydides when he says that “the war of the Jews against the Romans is not only the greatest of the wars of our own time, but so far as accounts have reached us, nearly of all whichever broke out between cities or nations”."

In this episode Angus is joined by Josho Brouwers, Mark McCaffery and Marc DeSantis.

We look at Ancient Warfare Magazine volume 8, issue 4 "The ancient world's fragile giant: the Seleucid Empire at war".

"Seleucus, who eventually acquired the epithet ‘Nicator’ was not a prime candidate to succeed to the largest share of Alexander the Great’s empire when the king died in Babylon in 323 BC. He certainly held some rank in Alexander’s chain of command, but he was not a member of the inner circle, and a host of men had greater claim to rule. As things turned out, this was a good thing for Seleucus, as an early start in the age of the successors usually meant an early end."

In this episode we look at Ancient Warfare Magazine VIII.3 "Swift as the wind across the plains". Angus is joined by Josho Brouwers, Murray Dahm, Lindsay Powell, Mark McCaffery and Owen Rees.

"Cimmerians. Sarmatians. Scythians. Horsemen of the steppes. They emerged from the fog of prehistory around the eighth century BC. Semi-nomadic, they dominated the Pontic Steppes for a millennium. Over centuries, pressure from one steppe people against another kicked off great migratory patterns. The mobile, agile and ferocious horsemen became a scourge upon their more civilized neighbours to the south. Other migrations took them west into Central and Western Europe and east as far as Mongolia."

In this episode we look at Ancient Warfare Magazine VIII.2 "War, trade and adventure: struggles of the Ionian Greeks". Angus is joined by Josho Brouwers, Murray Dahm, Lindsay Powell, Mark McCaffery and Cezary Kucewicz.

"The ancient Greeks originally divided themselves into four major tribes, namely the Dorians, Aeolians, Achaeans, and Ionians. Each of these tribes also spoke a distinct dialect (Doric, Aeolic, Ionic), apart from the Achaeans, who used a form of Doric. The Athenians believed themselves to be the original Ionians and spoke a variant dialect called Attic. The focus of this issue is on the Ionian Greeks. Outside of Attica, Ionians lived on the island of Euboea, on the Cyclades, and in colonies settled in the central part of the west coast of Asia Minor, as well as on the islands off its coast, such as Chios and Samos."

Angus Wallace (from the History Network) is joined by Josho Brouwers, Lindsay Powell, Mark McCaffery and Murray Dahm to look at Ancient Warfare Magazine Volume 8, Issue 1. Deserters, defectors, traitors: Betrayal in the ancient world.

"The ancient world had its fair share of brave and courageous men, who stayed the course despite profound adversity or who seemed to laugh in the face of death. However, our sources also include accounts of people who – out of fear, for personal gain, or some combination of these and other factors – decided to betray their friends, their country, or their principles."