Roman History in a Nutshell: The Pyrrhic Wars – The Battle of Heraclea, 280 BCE

Covering the build up to and cause of the Pyrrhic wars. With Roman influence spreading they were bound to bump up against the greater greek world, magna graecia, sooner or later. The city of Tarentum would be the trigger and they would ask King Pyrrhus of Epirus for help – putting Rome in conflict with the Hellenic Kingdoms for the first time. The Battle of Heraclea would be the first major battle, resulting in a loss for Rome, but significant casualties for Pyrrhus.

Bad History: Presentism

What is presentism, why do people complain about it, and what can we do to understand the past better?

Bad History: Great Men!

What is Great Man theory and why do we care?

Bad History: Did Rome Ever Actually Fall?

It’s self-evident, right? We’re not Romans so at some point or other the Roman Empire must have fallen. I mean people don’t speak Latin anymore – well, not outside of law, medicine, biology, classics, the Catholic clergy and students of Roman history anyway – and they don’t have Roman baths anymore – well, outside of

Bad History: One Damn Thing

Myth: History is just one damn thing after another. Fact: Uh…kind of? But also not. It’s complicated. Let us explain. One of the great things about history is that it’s so popular. Walk into pretty much anywhere and you’ll see books about history, articles someone shared on Facebook, podcasts, movies, TV shows, TV channels, you

Bad History: Boudica and Bullshit Nationalism

I didn’t know Boudica. Did you?

Introducing: Bad History

History is a weird subject. You do it at school and you sort of go through a mishmash of the Egyptians and the Romans and the medieval times, until you skip forward to the Tudors and then the Victorians and finally World War 2 – unless maybe you skip back again and do World War