I made a whole BBC TV series (2020) about the remarkable resilience of the people of Iran and their culture over centuries of threat and callous rule. You can watch it right here: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

In Sinners they reference the West African griots and I was like “I know what they are! I listened to @fallofcivilizations.com episode on the Songhai Empire!”

They’re telling me a great empire will be destroyed if I attack Persia. Even the oracles who don’t like me very much, very nasty, they all said to me, “Sir, it’s one of the great empires, and it’ll be destroyed. And all because you attacked Persia.” That’s what they’re telling me.

The Multangular Tower - one of the corner-towers from the legionary fortress at York (Eboracum). The smaller stones in the lower half are Roman, the upper portion dates to the medieval period. 📸 My own. #RomanFortThursday #RomanBritain #York

How to make perfume in 1230 BCE in the heartland of ancient Assyria. First, you need to mix cane with cleansed water from the palace well of the city of Aššur (pronounced Ashur). Second, you need to pour this mixture into a special vessel before adding...

the last podcast recorded by humans will be the final episode of @fallofcivilizations.com. the title will simply be "Modernity" and the first half an hour will be Paul talking about different soil topographies

Your periodic reminder that you can start learning ancient Greek right now, free of charge!

One thing I’ve learned from listening to quite a few @fallofcivilizations.com podcast episodes is that an empire will have a good thing going for literally centuries until one a random first born son fucks it all up for everyone.

Episode 20 is now available with video! With maps, reenactments and beautiful aerial footage, find out how the world of Achaemenid Persian empire rose, flourished and finally fell.

For Patrons I've finally put together a members-only RSS feed and dedicated Spotify channel, meaning that if you subscribe to Fall of Civs you can listen completely ad-free on any podcasting app you like. Find it below: RSS: www.patreon.com/collection/1... Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/5gqNqAC...

Life on Rome’s northern frontier: a 1,900-year-old military memo in which a Roman soldier records the combat tactics of the Britons, who he refers to as ‘Brittunculi’ — ‘wretched Brits’! 😳 From Vindolanda, Northumberland, 📷 by me #RomanFortThursday #Archaeology

Cried over Aeschylus at the airport ✅

I guess I now have to do a thread on shoes in ancient Mesopotamia in response to this (which happens to be from one of my favourite accounts). I’m not an archaeologist, nor do I really know anything about shoes, but let’s go on this journey together.

Since Christmas is coming up, we're doing another limited run of signed Fall of Civilizations books! I can write a dedication to whoever you like, so it's the perfect gift for a Fall of Civs fan in your life... Hurry as I'm afraid supply is limited! LINK: www.welbooks.co.uk/shop/p/fall-...

I'll be at the Folkestone Book Festival next week talking about Fall of Civilizations, my book and why societies rise and fall. Come and join me! www.creativefolkestone.org.uk/whats-on/pau...

Happiness is… A new episode of @fallofcivilizations.com drops!

⛰️🏔️ Episode 20 is now live! 🏔️⛰️ In this episode, we look at the amazing story of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Find out how the world's largest empire rose, flourished, and finally fell in ash and flame. YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRYd... Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/6AeH...

⛰️🏔️ Episode 20 is now available for all subscribers! 🏔️⛰️ In this episode, we look at the amazing story of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. With readings in Old Persian and Ancient Greek, find out how the world's largest empire rose, flourished, and finally fell in ash and flame.

Sitting down today to record for Fall of Civilizations Episode 20!

Really proud Fall of Civilizations has been named a Waterstones paperback of the year. Get it at your local Waterstones! LINK: www.waterstones.com/book/fall-of...

Some of the most remarkable lost artefacts from the ancient world were the titanic wrecks of the Nemi ships, built for a Roman emperor. In their first-century heyday they held gardens, palaces and baths in a floating wonderland. But barely a decade after their recovery, they were lost forever.

For #RomanSiteSaturday let's go to my favourite #Roman site: the temple complex of #Baalbek, located in the Bekaa Valley, #Lebanon. The breathtaking site contains some of the largest Roman temples ever built. The so-called....🧵1/2 📷 Rami Rizk 🏺 #archaeology

The remains of the south west turret of Aesica Roman Fort (Great Chesters) on Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland. The fort was built in around AD 128, the ninth fort built along the line of the Wall. 📸 My own. #AdoorableThursday #RomanBritain #HadriansWall #Northumberland

Excavations at Rome ahead of a new subway route have found a Roman-era street preserved nearly as well as parts of Pompeii, some walls still with remains of plaster!

Beauty of wild flowers next to stones in the ruins of the Roman city of Valeria. Cuenca.

On a hill in Tuscany, the spectacular Castello di Sammezzano was originally constructed in Moorish style in 1605 as a private palazzo, later used as 365-room luxury hotel, then abandoned for a number of years until recent eye-boggling restorations

It's hilarious. 3rd C authors look back to the glory days of Marcus Aurelius. Marcus Aurelius looks back to the glory days of Trajan. People in Trajan's day look back to Cicero. Cicero looks back to Cato the Elder. Cato looks back beyond them all. And none of them are happy in their own time.

All murdered—for within the hollow crown That rounds the mortal temples of a king Keeps Death his court

For God’s sake let us sit upon the ground And tell sad stories of the death of kings: How some have been depos’d, some slain in war, Some haunted by the ghosts they have deposed, Some poisoned by their wives, some sleeping kill’d,

According to @fallofcivspod.bsky.social one of Genghis Khan’s sons used this strategy

'...most people experienced the fall of the Roman Empire as, “One day a bridge collapsed, and no one came to fix it.”'

I believe this means the sun will set over the entirety of the British Empire tonight for the first time in several hundred years. Chagos is the dot below India on this map. Sunset in the Pitcairns (dot in the Pacific) will happen ~40 minutes before sunrise in Akrotiri and Dhekelia (dot on Cyprus).

☀️We're giving away 5 special edition mugs, plus a free copy of the Sunday Times bestseller Fall of Civilizations! ☀️ To enter, just repost this and follow the publisher @duckworthbooks.bsky.social! Giveaway closes at midnight on Friday 23rd May. Good luck!

In this superb 2,000 year-old mosaic from Palestrina in Italy, men and women relax on cushioned benches in a latticed bower, drinking, reading and playing music in celebration of a flooding Nile, as a passing boatman gathers lotus blossoms www.smb.museum/en/museums-i...

I enjoyed chatting to Flint Dibble about history, the Fall of Civilizations, and some of our mutual annoyances in the field. Catch it on YouTube at 7pm BST tonight.

I'll be in Oxford tomorrow talking to @moudhy.bsky.social about history and Fall of Civilizations and signing books. Come join us! Date: 22 apr • 17:30 Location: 48-51 Broad Street, Oxford, OX1 3BQ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/moudhy-al-...

The brilliant bookshop.org are doing a promo where can now get the Fall of Civs book at 15% discount when checking out using promo code FALL15. If you don't know them, they share their revenue with local bookshops. Bezos seething! uk.bookshop.org/p/books/fall...

Basically yes

Really proud that Fall of Civilizations came in at number 6 on the Sunday Times bestseller list today! Thank you so much to everyone who pre-ordered and helped spread the word.

I'm going to be at Hatchards bookshop tomorrow in London, talking about the release of the Fall of Civilizations book. Come join me! Date: 10 apr • 18:30 Location: 187 Piccadilly, London, W1J 9LE

Really and truly, if I could communicate anything about history it's that genuine dumbasses can be key historical agents, and that has pretty massive implications for how we make sense of the past and present both.

April 7th is the last day that custom dedications will be available, so don't miss out! Great for birthdays, Christmas etc for the Fall of Civs fan in your life...

If you'd like a signed special edition, you can still get one from West End Lane Books, with custom dedications available:

Today is release day of the Fall of Civilizations paperback! I was in London today signing copies in Daunts, Foyles and Waterstones around the city.

Episode 19 is now available on YouTube! With state-of-the-art drone photography, original reenactments, Mongolian folk music and CGI recreations, find out how the world's largest land empire rose and fell, and left the modern world in its wake.