Sistory History

Welcome to our first fun facts bonus episode.

We've gathered together the weird & wonderful titbits from season 4 and packaged them into a neat 10-minute episode for you. Perfect for a coffee break or quick stroll to the shops. (Well, as long as exploding toilets float your boat...)

Music credit goes to our resident composer Alice Morgan. You can find Alice on Instagram - missalicekeys.

Finally, if you like what you hear today then please don´t be shy! Feel free to like, rate, subscribe and share, as this helps new listeners to find us.

Blue sky: @sistoryhistory.bskysocial
Instagram: sistoryhistory
Email: [email protected]
Web: Sistory History | sensory history and podcast

© 2026 by Sistory History

Welcome to the season 4 finale!

And we end with a heady mix of flutes, treasure and animal excrement. Plus a puzzling fixation on elephants, courtesy of Pompey & Caesar, and a truly impressive amount of dining furniture...

Join us for a sensory dive into that very Roman celebration - the military triumph.

In this episode we´re joined by these fabulous fellows:

Plutarch, "Parallel Lives", Life of Marcellus 22.1-4

Livy, "History of Rome", extracts from 34.52

Suetonius, "Life of Julius Caesar", 37.1-2

Plutarch, "Life of Aemilius Paullus", extracts from 32.1-34.7

Thank you for your company this season - we hope you´ll join us for the next.

Music credit goes to our resident composers: Phil Russell & Alice Morgan. You can find Alice on Instagram - missalicekeys.

Finally, if you like what you hear today then please don´t be shy! Feel free to like, rate, subscribe and share, as this helps new listeners to find us.

Blue sky: @sistoryhistory.bskysocial
Instagram: sistoryhistory
Email: [email protected]
Web: Sistory History | sensory history and podcast

© 2026 by Sistory History

Welcome to season 4, episode 5!

How clean was your regular Roman? How often did they bathe? Did they have proper toilets, and is that rumour about the sponge on the stick really true? Join us as we explore the story of water in Ancient Rome. As well as the inevitable toilet-based anecdotes, we can promise you fabulous fountains, healthful hydrotherapy and remarkable rivers (albeit with some questionable qualities...).

Our sources for today are:

Petronius, "Satyricon", 47

Seneca the Younger, "Epistulae Morales", book 86, sections 8-9 & 11-12 (On Scipio´s Villa)

Pliny the Younger, "Letters", extracts from 5.6

Pliny the Elder, "Natural History", book 31, section 6

Music credit goes to our resident composers: Phil Russell & Alice Morgan. You can find Alice on Instagram - missalicekeys.

Finally, if you like what you hear today then please don´t be shy! Feel free to like, rate, subscribe and share, as this helps new listeners to find us.

Blue sky: @sistoryhistory.bskysocial
Instagram: sistoryhistory
Email: [email protected]
Web: Sistory History | sensory history and podcast

© 2026 by Sistory History

Welcome to season 4, episode 4!

Ever wonder what used to happen at Ancient Roman weddings? Well, wonder no longer...we´re here to enlighten you! Some of the things we´ll talk about will be very familiar - flowers, veils, priests, wine, even the odd rude joke. Some will be not so familiar... And here we´re in the realms of sacrificial sheep, omens-a-plenty and excessive walnut throwing.

We reveal all, with the help of these very illustrious wedding guests:

Seneca the Younger (maybe), "Octavia", Act IV from lines 693

Plutarch, "Roman Questions", 29

Gaius, "Institutiones", section 112

Catullus, extracts from "Poems", 61

Music credit goes to our resident composers: Phil Russell & Alice Morgan. You can find Alice on Instagram - missalicekeys.

Finally, if you like what you hear today then please don´t be shy! Feel free to like, rate, subscribe and share, as this helps new listeners to find us.

Blue sky: @sistoryhistory.bskysocial
Instagram: sistoryhistory
Email: [email protected]
Web: Sistory History | sensory history and podcast

© 2026 by Sistory History

Drinking games with a twist, speeches and ribbons. All the elements required for a fabulous party!

To celebrate the festive season, we bring you a special episode from the archives, all about the Ancient Greek symposium. Full of revelry, plus a few cautionary tales to help you keep it classy this Christmas...

Our sources are:
Plato, Symposium, 212d-213b
Xenophon, Symposium, 1.3-1.4
Plato, Symposium, 214a-d
Plato, Symposium, 176a-c

And here's a link for some extra reading:

Debauchery in ancient Athens - Why would someone want to go to a symposium? - Ancient

Music credit goes to our resident composers: Phil Russell & Alice Morgan. You can find Alice on Instagram - missalicekeys.

Finally, if you like what you hear today then please don´t be shy! Feel free to like, rate, subscribe and share, as this helps new listeners to find us.

Blue sky: @sistoryhistory.bskysocial
Instagram: sistoryhistory
Email: [email protected]
Web: Sistory History | sensory history and podcast

© 2025 by Sistory History