Echoes of History

Anno 117: Pax Romana presents a different side of the Roman Empire - a multicultural world where people from diverse backgrounds lived side by side, and the necessities of everyday life are essential to success as a player. Matt Lewis is joined by Dr Anne Chen, Associate Professor of Art History and Culture at Bard College, to explore what archaeology can tell us about daily life in the Roman Empire.

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Everyone knows the great achievements of Sir Isaac Newton. Or do they? Assassin's Creed Gold focuses not on the first half of Newton's career, describing gravity and the fundamental laws of physics, but on the second half of his life, working at the Royal Mint in London. This responsibility included chasing down counterfeiters. One man in particular would became his nemesis - the Professor Moriarty to Newton's Sherlock Holmes.

T...

Assassin’s Creed Unity offers a stunning recreation of 18th century Paris, which in modern times is the home of Ubisoft. How did this setting affect the developers’ work? Did this personal connection make things easier or harder? And how did the developers approach the intense history of the French Revolution, which is still an emotive period for many people?

Dr Holly Nielsen is joined by Ubisoft resident historian and Assassin'...

Vinland, the mysterious place that may be somewhere in North America, and that players of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla can explore in The Last Chapter, as a grand finale to the epic story. And story is the key word, because our evidence for Vikings in America comes from Norse sagas. What exactly do they tell us about Vinland and the Vikings in America? And how much can we trust these sources for historical fact?

To help Matt Lewis ...

Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia transports us to the tense atmosphere of World War One as Russia made the difficult transition from an imperial state to a socialist republic.

But what was it like for the ordinary person on the streets of Moscow, or in the wheatfields of Kursk? Did they passionately pursue the political shifts that were underway? Or did they just fear the threat - and the fact - of violence while they looked for ...

Assassin’s Creed Shadows recreates everyday life in Japan during the Sengoku jidai - the Warring States period - and highlights how reality doesn’t always align with pop culture perceptions of samurai as a noble elite.

Matt Lewis spoke to Dr Kate Kitagawa and Professor Eric Rath to answer the question, what was it really like to live as a samurai? From weapons to worship and family to food, they reveal a more pragmatic view of t...

Historians Review & Ubisoft Developer Interview with Maxime Durand

In Assassin’s Creed Origins players can do what no tour group today can do: clamber all over and inside the monuments of Ancient Egypt, from the Sphinx to Cleopatra's Palace, from the temple at Karnak to the Great Pyramids.

In this episode, Matt Lewis and Dr Holly Nielsen review the game's adaptation of history, before interviewing Ubisoft resident histori...

Ezio Auditore, the hero of Assassin’s Creed II, Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood and Assassin’s Creed Revelations, travels from Venice to the Ottoman Empire.

For centuries, these two rivals in the Mediterranean were at war in one way or another. Today, Dr Gemma Masson returns to help Matt Lewis cover the key events that form the tense backdrop to Ezio’s adventures in the east.

Echoes of History is a Ubisoft podcast, brought to yo...

You’ve probably heard of Herodotus, and in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey you’ll have met the man himself. Variously called the Father of History and the Father of Lies, what do we know about the real Herodotus, and what do his writings reveal about life in the ancient world?

To answer all this and more, Matt Lewis is joined by Justin Marozzi - journalist, historian, travel writer and author of The Man Who Invented History: Travels wi...

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate transports us to the action-packed streets of London in 1868. Players set out on a quest to liberate the city from the grip of the criminal underworld. But they don’t do it alone. Supplying them with a healthy amount of ingenious gadgets to defeat their enemies, is none other than Alexander Graham Bell - best known as the inventor of the telephone.

Dr Holly Nielsen speaks to Brian Wood, curator at the ...

Anno 117: Pax Romana is set in the year when the Roman Empire expanded to its greatest extent in all its history; and saw the death of Trajan, who is counted amongst the Five Good Emperors. Trajan was a general first and his military victories made him a mighty leader. But he couldn’t have won anything without the Roman Army, and the men who filled its ranks. While Trajan was getting all the glory, what was life like for the o...

In the new game Anno 117: Pax Romana, the Emperor has appointed you as governor, tasked with developing new provinces in the Empire.

It’s tempting to think of the Roman Empire as, well, Roman. But by its very nature the Empire consisted of people from a diverse range of cultures, with their own languages, traditions and architecture. How did the Romans keep this hodge-podge of territories together? And how much of what we think ...

In the new game Anno 117: Pax Romana, the Emperor has appointed you as governor, tasked with developing new provinces in the Empire. The game is set in a big year for Rome: it marked the moment the Roman Empire expanded the furthest in all its history, and saw the death of Trajan, who is counted amongst the Five Good Emperors. 

But why was Trajan so popular? You’ve probably heard of Trajan’s Column, which celebrates his mil...

In the new game Anno 117: Pax Romana, the Emperor has appointed you as governor, tasked with developing provinces in the Roman-based Latium region and Celtic-inspired Albion. The game is set in a big year for Rome: it marked the moment the Roman Empire expanded the furthest in all its history, and saw the death of Trajan, who is counted amongst the Five Good Emperors. 

As the video game’s title indicates, this era was known...

Ubisoft Developer Interview with Raphael Lacoste

For nearly two decades, the Assassin’s Creed video games have transported players to worlds of the past. From the hot sands of the medieval Middle East to the frozen Arctic of 18th century Canada; the variety of periods, people and places of the past that have been built from scratch, in detail, is immense. But video games are also meant to entertain, and there are gaps in our kno...

The heart of the Assassin’s Creed franchise is the deadly rivalry between the brotherhoods of Assassins and Templars. These were real groups in history, whose power and influence in their lifetimes matched the longevity of their reputations. But how much of what we know of the two organisations is myth, and what is reality?

To help separate fact from fiction, Matt Lewis is joined by Dr Steve Tibble, author of Assassins and Templ...

The first Assassin's Creed game puts players in the thick of the Siege of Acre during the Third Crusade. We can climb its battlements and fight in the shadow of its mighty walls. In this episode, Dr Nicolas Morton from Nottingham Trent University returns to help Matt Lewis explore how the confluence of cultures in the Holy Land produced unique features to Crusader Castles, and what methods could be used to overcome their defences, ...

The very first Assassin's Creed video game takes us back to the Third Crusade, and the Kingdom of Jerusalem. As Saladin's Islamic armies tried to reconquer the Holy Land, the Christian rulers of Jerusalem faced as many threats from within as without - perhaps none moreso than Sybilla and Isabella, women who ruled in a men’s world.

Matt Lewis is joined by Katherine Pangonis to help understand how these women rose to power - and h...

Ubisoft Developer Interview with James Nadiger

Assassin’s Creed Rogue lets players explore the frozen world of the Arctic coastline of North America. Players inhabit the memories of Shay Cormac, an Irish Assassin who switches sides to join the Templars, against the backdrop of the Seven Years’ War, or as its American theatre is known, the French-Indian War.

Dr Holly Nielsen is joined by James Nadiger, scriptwriter on Assassin...