The British History Podcast

My name is Jamie, and this show is a chronological retelling of the story of Britain, from its very earliest days when prehistoric man shared the island with Giant Deer and massive earth grinding glaciers… all the way to the dawn of the Second World War. This show focuses upon the people, the drama, and […]

A whirlwind tour of the 70,000 years of the history of Britain, taking us through pre-historic Britain and landing us finally at the eve of Julius Caesar’s invasions of Britannia. You will learn about the early beginnings of England, Scotland, and Wales while also getting a sense of what ice age Britain was like. For […]

56 BCE to 55 BCE. Julius Caesar is coming to Britain, and he’s bringing his friends. He claimed that he wanted to punish the Celtic warriors from Britain for interferring with his Gallic wars, but modern scholars suspect that he was simply trying to bolster his resume. Whatever the case, one of the most famous […]

55 BCE. Julius Caesar with the 7th and 10th Legions are trying to subjugate the Britons. The key word here is “trying.” The celts of Britain aren’t going down without a fight and it seems that the elements are on their side. This episode you’re going to learn about one of the worst days of […]

54 BCE. Julius Caesar is returning to Britain. And Cassivellaunus isn’t excited about it. However, this time Caesar is bringing over 800 ships with him. This isn’t a minor expedition, Caesar is coming in force. This is a clash of titans and we will see if the Celtic warrior culture and it’s focus on heroic […]

We are rocking through about 100 years of history… from about 54 BCE to 42 CE, and we will cover the events that eventually lead to the Roman Occupation of Britannia. The major characters of this episode will be…. Octavius Augustus – the First Emperor of Rome Caligula – one of Rome’s more colorful Emperors. […]

This episode covers the invasion of Britannia in 42 CE by emperor Claudius. The major characters we’ll be talking about today are… Emperor Claudius – Emperor of Rome and man in need of a serious PR campaign. Aulus Plautius – His General, and the man tasked with invading Britannia. Vespasian – Leader of the Second […]

This episode will cover the years 42 to 54 CE The main characters will be… Caractacus, leader of the British resistance and exiled king of the Catuvellauni. Aulus Plautius, the general who took Britannia for Emperor Claudius Publius Ostorius Scapula, a Roman governor of Britannia Cartimandua, Queen of the Brigante and Venutius, King of the […]

This episode covers the years 54 CE to 60 CE and the major characters are… Cartimandua, Queen of the Brigantes and unhappy wife Venutius, King of the Brigantes and unhappy Husband and Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, governor of Britannia… and probably unhappy as well. There is a new Emperor ruling over Rome. What impact will this […]

This episode focuses upon the year 60 and the story of the queen of the Iceni. Rome’s chickens are coming home to roost. After nearly 20 years of conflict and domination, things are hitting a fever pitch in the first of two episodes that will cover one of Britain’s most famous warleaders, the woman who […]

60 CE Having burned several cities to the ground, Boudica and her army of enraged Britons are a seemingly unstoppable force. However, Governor Suetonius has returned from the West, and has marshalled his forces. It was a conflict is so famous that even Tacitus wrote of it… and only one general would come out on […]

70 CE to 78 CE. This episode we’ll be talking about how awful life under Roman Rule was in the first century, the year of the four emperors, and the events that lead up to Agricola. (History of Britain, History of England, History of Wales, History of Scotland, Celtic History, Roman History) Support the Show

We’re going to talk about the governorship of Agricola, the Scots, the Irish, and I’m going to say “isthmus” an unreasonable number of times! Here’s a map of Agricola’s advance. HOWEVER the dates listed are the later of the two dates I mention in the podcast. Many historians think that these dates should be one […]

Ok, I’ll be the first to admit this one is a little confusing. After all, the whole mystery is more than a little confusing. So here is a list of the bits of evidence we’re talking about. The Ninth was nearly destroyed in a night assault by the Caledonians during Agricola’s northern campaign. The last […]

Have you ever wanted to know about Hadrian’s Wall? Have you ever wondered what life was like there, how it was constructed, or even just the basic question of “what exactly is Hadrian’s Wall?” Then this is the podcast for you! (History of Britain, History of England, History of Wales, History of Scotland, Celtic History, […]

So it’s my birthday this weekend, and so I’m not doing one of my gigantic episodes. However, I thought I’d give you all a present (especially since we now have 500 members on the facebook page) and give you a sneak peak at the members-only content I’m putting together. So here’s the first part of […]

Rome is going to start expanding her borders. Why? Because why not? Well, it’s actually a little more complicated than that, and we’re going to get into it in this episode. Consequently, Emperor Antoninus will build his own wall in Britain far beyond Emperor Hadrian’s Wall. These Romans were nothing if not competitive. We will […]

Today we’ve got Antoninus, Marcus Aurelias, Russell Crowe… we’ve got it all! And Members, check your email. You should have a link for how to get your Members-Only episode! A bust of Marcus Aurelias from the MET in NYC. (History of Britain, History of England, History of Wales, History of Scotland, Celtic History, Roman History) […]

Ok, this one is pretty heavy on Roman intrigue. But it’s necessary to get us to the all the fun stuff in the next one. And besides, while much of what occurs in this episode is on the continent, it is still heavily influenced by the legions in Britannia. So it still counts as British […]

The family of Severus brings their own particular brand of family bonding to the shores of our island. Busts of Caracalla, kept at the MET in NYC, where he’s showing his winning personality. (History of Britain, History of England, History of Wales, History of Scotland, Celtic History, Roman History) Support the Show

Someone turn on the light! (History of Britain, History of England, History of Wales, History of Scotland, Celtic History, Roman History) Alright, we are entering the third century. And as we enter it, we cannot help but have the feeling that a profound change has come to the Roman Empire. We will see run away […]

(History of Britain, History of England, History of Wales, History of Scotland, Celtic History, Roman History) Support the Show

Things are changing rather quickly on our little island. (History of Britain, History of England, History of Wales, History of Scotland, Celtic History, Roman History) So the Gallic Empire has been defeated and now Britannia was back within the folds of Rome. That was probably more than a little disheartening for the Romano-British. Once again, […]

This time Carausius is going to try his hand at this empire thing and see if he can do better than Albinus and Postumus. (History of Britain, History of England, History of Wales, History of Scotland, Celtic History, Roman History) Lets talk about Diocletian really quick. Diocletian had claimed that he was divinely appointed by […]

Next week we will return to the tale of Carausius and his British Empire, but today is our 25th episode and so I’ll be answering questions submitted by listeners! (I can’t believe it’s already been 25 episodes). Support the Show

I’m back and so is Carausius! Here we go! (History of Britain, History of England, History of Wales, History of Scotland, Celtic History, Roman History) Support the Show

Constantius, throwing caution to the wind, follows in the footsteps of Severus. The featured image here is a bust of Constantius… And I thought I had a big nose. (History of Britain, History of England, History of Wales, History of Scotland, Celtic History, Roman History) Support the Show

Oh yeah, we’ve got a real love affair going on here. (History of Britain, History of England, History of Wales, History of Scotland, Celtic History, Roman History) Support the Show

Our luck could only hold out so long. And now Britannia is getting a taste of what the rest of the Empire had already come to know. Here’s a bust of Constantius II. (History of Britain, History of England, History of Wales, History of Scotland, Celtic History, Roman History) Support the Show

Things in Britannia just keep getting worse! (History of Britain, History of England, History of Wales, History of Scotland, Celtic History, Roman History) Support the Show