Matthew Blair and I discuss the uses and abuses of ancient myth and history in comic books.

In this episode, Dr. Federica Nicolardi and I discuss the challenges of reading the scrolls charred and buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD.

Elizabeth Macaulay and I discuss New York's neo-antique architecture.

Dr. Athalia Pyzer, medical expert, discusses modern medicine's debt to its classical roots. Topics include the use of leeches and maggots in modern surgery, different schools of medical practice, the discovery of aspirin from ancient remedies, ancient prescriptions for wound healing, and the risks and limitations of ancient surgery.

Michael Carter and I discuss the rules and rituals that governed the lives - and deaths - of Rome's gladiators.

Roger Crowley and I discuss the Ottoman siege of Constantinople in 1453.

Sue Alcock and I discuss the fate of Greece after its conquest by Rome.

Kyle Harper and I discuss how climate and disease shaped Roman history.

Nico Roymans and I discuss Rome's frontier on the lower Rhine, in what is now the Netherlands.

David Breeze and I discuss the Roman frontiers, with a special emphasis on Hadrian's Wall.