Cheers Rowsdower!
I can recommend
the History of Rome podcast by Mike Duncan for a rollercoaster through the ancient world upon Roman tracks. Follow that up with
Byzantine History (there is a great lecture series out there, but it's for whatever reason lacking several videos when I checked just now),
Byzantine Emperors Series by Thersites, and
Byzantium: The Lost Empire by John Romer. Every documentary by Romer is worth searching out and seeing.
Because the ancient Mediterranean world conquered and encapsulated in the Roman empire didn't just die in the 400s, but lived on through harrowing times and times of reconquest in the eastern Roman empire right up to
1453.
One rather remarkable easy-going way to get to know the ancient world a bit in some form is through the
Europa Barbarorum mods to Total War games
Rome I and
Medieval II. Both through images and by reading all descriptions. A hassle to install at first, but there are tutorials and people to ask, and it will be worth it once it's up and running!