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Our dear friend Liv (from Let's Talk About Myths, Baby!) wrote a book, Greek Mythology: the Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes Handbook. And it’s already a bestseller in Canada and a #1 new release on Amazon!! We just had to celebrate by dropping an extra bonus episode where we interview Liv about her book like super serious professionals.At least, that’s how this episode starts.For the past year, we’ve teamed up with Liv to bring a series of drunken myth retellings to both of our Patreon channels. We decided to bring a tipsy myth to our main feed in the second half of this episode. So settle in, pop open a beverage of choice, and get ready for a drunken retelling of Arachne.Continue the fun by signing up to our Patreon channel! https://www.patreon.com/ancienthistoryfangirl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hadrian was the Roman emperor who commissioned Hadrian’s Wall--and he probably had a hand in designing it. But the Wall was only a very small part of Hadrian's life, and it’s not the only massive building project that comes down to us today from his reign.This week, Liv Albert from Let's Talk About Myths, Baby! joins us to talk about how Hadrian combined his obsession with architecture and his passion for all things Greek to transform the city of Athens.Get ad-free episodes here: https://www.patreon.com/ancienthistoryfangirl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Pictish Beast is a mysterious animal carved on Pictish standing stones. Nobody knows what kind of animal it is. But it must have been really important to the Picts, as over 40% of animals carved into their stones are the Pictish Beast.Is it an elephant? Is it a kelpie? Is it an ancient prehistoric monster the likes of which no living person has ever seen? What is it??In this episode, Genn and Jenny spend roughly an hour debating what, exactly, the Pictish Beast might have been. We state our cases, lay out our supporting facts, get really opinionated, and knock back a few drinks along the way.Get ad-free episodes here: https://www.patreon.com/ancienthistoryfangirl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Picts burst onto the Romano-British scene as terrifying Celtic pirates, overwhelming Hadrian’s Wall from the north, sweeping in from the sea to ravage and burn Romano-British settlements as the power of the Roman Empire slowly receded.In the centuries after Rome faded, they were the true Kings in the North—building a powerful kingdom in the northernmost highlands that lasted more than 600 years. Until, around 900 AD, they disappeared from the record. They simply vanished.Who were the Picts—and what became of them? In this episode, we’re going to find out.Get ad-free episodes here: https://www.patreon.com/ancienthistoryfangirl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By the end of the 300s, the soldiers on Hadrian's Wall were hungry, they were under-equipped, and they hadn't been paid in years. Even so, many stayed at their posts--even as the Roman Empire lost its grip on Britain entirely.Find out how the fall of Rome looked from the view of Hadrian's Wall--and what became of those stationed there, holding the frontiers of an empire as it swiftly crumbled around them.Get ad-free episodes here: https://www.patreon.com/ancienthistoryfangirl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The living at Hadrian's Wall wasn't as austere as you might think for those stationed there--especially in the beginning. Merchants flocked from all over the Empire to sell their wares to soldiers with regular paychecks.But conditions changed drastically in the decades and centuries after Hadrian died. New Emperors--Antoninus Pius, Diocletian, Septimius Severus, and others--would all leave their mark on the Wall and its territory.This week, we’re going to talk about what became of the Wall—and those who lived there—after Hadrian’s death. Get ad-free episodes here: https://www.patreon.com/ancienthistoryfangirl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What was life like on Hadrian's Wall? This week, we're going to explore the living conditions along the Wall--at the forts and the milecastles, in the officers' quarters and soldiers' barracks, and in the bustling civilian towns that sprang up around the military encampments.There's a treasure trove of archaeology at forts along the Wall--especially at Vindolanda, where fragile artifacts are perfectly preserved in deep anaerobic soil.Find out what we've managed to piece together about life on the Wall from the well-preserved clothes, footwear, weapons, tools, jewelry, bodies, and the fort commander's private stash of mail.Get ad-free episodes here: https://www.patreon.com/ancienthistoryfangirl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hadrian’s Wall is a jaw-dropping engineering achievement stretching 73 miles across hundred-foot-high escarpments and rushing rivers, its earthworks dug deep into unforgiving igneous bedrock.It’s the largest Roman artifact in existence, and yet we still have no idea why it was built. It’s barely mentioned in the ancient sources, but in its rise and fall, you can trace the rise and fall of Roman Britain as a whole. This is the epic story we’re going to tell you: the story of Hadrian’s Wall.Get ad-free episodes here: https://www.patreon.com/ancienthistoryfangirl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we’re taking a deep dive into Welsh mythology from a queer, feminist perspective with the phenomenally talented Welsh artist Mari Catrin Phillips of MythsnTits.Join us as we get acquainted with the women of the Mabinogion.Check out MythsnTits: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MariCatrinPhillipsGet ad-free episodes here: https://www.patreon.com/ancienthistoryfangirl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you know anything about Mithras, you might have the impression that he was kind of a proto-Jesus. Turns out that’s wrong.Think of this as less of a seasonal episode, and more of a seasonal myth-busting episode. Get ready for the epic story of a bull-slaughtering, mushroom-tripping, light-bringing, Emperor-pee-drinking, hierarchy-maintaining, Smurf-hat-wearing cosmic warrior. Get ad-free episodes here: https://www.patreon.com/ancienthistoryfangirl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Morrigan has many names: Badb, the scald-crow. Red-haired Macha. Nevin of the battle-frenzy. Fea; the deathly. Be Neit; the Woman of Battle.But first and foremost, the Morrigan was a goddess of war. And to understand her, you have to understand her battlefield. Join us as we get to know the Morrigan—and explore the bloody waters in which she swam. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In our last episode, we alluded to the fact that there were female as well as male Druids in the Celtic iron age. But if the picture of male Druids is spotty, the picture of female Druids is more mysterious still.We decided to delve into Celtic culture, myth, and archaeology to see what we could uncover about female Druids in the ancient world.Get ad-free episodes here: https://www.patreon.com/ancienthistoryfangirl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Julius Caesar conquered Gaul, the Druids suffered a swift and catastrophic loss of status and position. Persecuted and demonized by later Emperors, many fled to Britain, where Roman influence didn’t reach.But eventually, the Romans followed. The Druids were driven to the island of Anglesey— the last stronghold of Druidic life and learning. From there, they incited rebellion among Welsh tribes, firing up a fierce resistance.Until finally, standing on the last stretch of beach on the last island refuge, the Druids made a heroic final stand against the Roman invaders.Get ad-free episodes here: https://www.patreon.com/ancienthistoryfangirl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What tales kept people from thousands of years ago up at night?This Halloween, Ancient History Fangirl teams up with Liv Albert from Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby! to delve into spooky stories from the ancient world that will send a shiver up your spine—tales of shrieking Banshees, deathly Furies, and the terrors of Samhain.So spread some salt over your threshold. Settle into your favorite chair. Pour yourself a drink to take the chill from your bones. And if there’s a knock on your door, whatever you do—don’t answer it.Get ad-free episodes here: https://www.patreon.com/ancienthistoryfangirl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ancient History Fangirl is taking a break. We'll be busy getting ready for Season 6--which we're really psyched about.Listen in as we discuss highlights of the previous season, our big plans for Season 6, and some other important developments.Get ad-free episodes here: https://www.patreon.com/ancienthistoryfangirl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More than 1,800 years after Spartacus fought for his freedom, another rebel leader spearheaded the most successful slave revolt in history: the Haitian Revolution. That leader was a man named Toussaint L’Ouverture.This week, we invited Mike Duncan of The History of Rome and Revolutions to help us compare these two revolutionaries and discuss what advice Toussaint L'Ouverture might have had for Spartacus.Get ad-free episodes here: https://www.patreon.com/ancienthistoryfangirl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Crixus is dead. Spartacus has given up on crossing the Alps. And he has a new enemy: a man with endless money, endless resources, and a lot to prove.Nobody asked for more Crassus. Not Spartacus, not the Roman Senate, and not the hundred thousand people following Spartacus to a better life. But in this episode, that’s exactly what everyone is going to get.In this episode, Spartacus faces off against the Roman Republic’s richest man, sine missione: to the death. No quarter given; no mercy shown. Only one can emerge from this conflict alive.Get ad-free episodes here: https://www.patreon.com/ancienthistoryfangirl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After defeating Glaber on the slopes of Mt. Vesuvius, Spartacus and his rebels enjoyed a glorious Italian summer—taming wild ponies for their infantry, attracting new recruits, and raiding in the rich Italian farmlands.But all good summers come to an end. The Roman Senate continued to send more experienced generals against Spartacus--even as he struggled to reign in his followers' worst instincts toward violence. And meanwhile, Rome’s foreign wars were winding down. The clock was ticking.     Get ad-free episodes here: https://www.patreon.com/ancienthistoryfangirl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In our last episode, Spartacus and his compatriots broke out of the ludus and began their rebellion. Spurred on by the Dionysian prophecies of his lover, the Thracian Lady, Spartacus’ legend grew. But the Roman Senate was not going to let his army rampage unchecked—and soon Spartacus would face troubles without and tribal conflicts within. It all came to a head on the slopes of Mt. Vesuvius.Get ad-free episodes here: https://www.patreon.com/ancienthistoryfangirl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The story of Spartacus is the story of the Roman Republic at a crossroads.In the 70s BC, the city of Rome was a powderkeg, the peninsula was wracked with starvation and violence, the Mediterranean was crawling with pirates, and two major wars raged overseas.This was the state of affairs when Spartacus rebelled. Join us as we explore the volatile conditions that allowed a hero to rise.Get ad-free episodes here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices