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It's The Enchance on History Hit. I'm Tristan Hughes, your host. And this is an episode that many of you have been clamoring for, both in recent polls that

we've released on Spotify and in emails that you've sent to me.

A regular request for an Ancients episode over the last year has been The Thracians.

Now, I'm very excited to say that that is what we're covering

today. The Thracians were a culture that's lived in Eastern Europe, largely in what is today

Bulgaria. We hear a lot about them from the ancient Greeks, with whom the Thracians had a lot of

contact throughout ancient history. They feature in Greek mythology.

They are mentioned in Homer's epic poem, the Iliad,

with a particular Thracian king siding with the Trojans during the Trojan War.

Indeed, the Thracians are linked to many of the biggest names from Greek and Roman history.

Spartacus, the world's most famous gladiator who led a revolt against the Romans,

well, he was a Thracian.

Now, the Thracians are an extraordinary ancient people, often overlooked compared to the

Greeks and Romans, and yet archaeology is revealing a lot about them and how they lived.

Today we're going to shine the ancient spot's light on the Thracians

and give you a taster of just how interesting they are. Our guest today is Dr. Zosha Archbaud,

senior lecturer at the University of Liverpool and an expert on the Thracians and their archaeology.

We cover everything from Thracian expertise as cavalrymen and the strange weapons some of them wielded,

like this large bladed weapon called the one fire, to great archaeological treasures of thrones,

...