Explore every episode of the podcast History of Persia

We're taking a break from the historical narrative to focus on a mythological one: the life and times of Orpheus the Bard, from his many origin stories to the travels of the Argonauts to his eventual journey to the underworld.

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Like any good king, Antiochus I Soter had a royal family, and as his reign comes to an end, it's time to talk about them, from his brother in Anatolia to troublesome sons and wide ranging in-laws. He's in his Seleucid Era.

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After losing a large piece of the eastern empire to Chandragupta Maurya, the Seleucids didn't just ignore their eastern neighbors. In the later decades of Seleucus' reign, Megasthenes established diplomatic ties between the two eastern kingdoms. In the generations that followed, diplomacy and trade helped to stabilize both the Maurya and the Seleucids.

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A grab bag episode to cover Seleukid politics in the last decade or so of Antiochus Soter's reign. We've got temples, cities, and rebellion. What more could you ask for?

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No sooner had Antiochus I defeated the new-found Galatians in Anatolia, than war erupted in the south. Magas, brother of Ptolemy II and self-declared King of Cyrene, formed a marriage alliance with Antiochus before fighting a war of succession against his brother, dragging the Seleucid Empire along for the ride.

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After sweeping through the Balkans with their kin, three tribes of Gauls in Thrace drew the attention of the embattled Nicomeides of Bithynia as potential allies in his war against a Seleucid-backed opponent. The Gauls crossed the Bosporus and swept through Nicomeides enemies with ease before turning their sites on the war torn regions of Seleucid Anatolia.

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Intelligent Speech 2025 is coming! The event will feature a gathering of excellent history podcasters THIS SATURDAY. That’s FEBRUARY 8, 2025 at 10:00am US Eastern Time for an all day event featuring presentations, panels, and live Q&A with a ton of history podcasts. If that doesn’t convince you, this episode is last year’s History of Persia Presentation. Get those tickets ASAP!!!

Get tickets to Intelligent Speech February 8, 2025!

https://intelligentspeechonline.com/

Featuring:

Derek - The Hellenistic Age

https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/

Umberto - So You Think You Can Rule Persia

https://soyouthinkyoucanrulepersia.wordpress.com/

Bry - Pontifacts

https://pontifacts.podbean.com/

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Intelligent Speech 2025 is coming! The event will feature a gathering of excellent history podcasters THIS SATURDAY. That's FEBRUARY 8, 2025 at 10:00am US Eastern Time for an all day event featuring presentations, panels, and live Q&A with a ton of history podcasts. If that doesn't convince you, this episode is last year's History of Persia Presentation. Get those tickets ASAP!!!

Get tickets to Intelligent Speech February 8, 2025!

https://intelligentspeechonline.com/

Video Version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHp9g9cg5to&ab_channel=IntelligentSpeechOnline

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Antiochus I succeeded his father Seleucus in 281 BCE, and he was immediately plunged into a series of revolts, invasion, and crises in every direction. Ptolemy II was seizing land. The reconquest of the northern dynasts was horribly mismanaged, and as a cherry on top, Gauls suddenly invaded Greece.

Get tickets to Intelligent Speech February 8, 2025!

https://intelligentspeechonline.com/

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By the time Seleucus Nicator was murdered, he had reunited much of Alexander the Great's Empire, but the northern and southwestern edges of the imperial map were rapidly filling in with new, smaller kingdoms and confederations. From Chorasmia to the Cimmerian Bosporus, and from Bithynia to the Nabataean Arabs, this episode gives a brief overview of the smaller successors to Alexander and Darius.

History of Saqartvelo-Georgia

https://thegrandembassy-shop.fourthwall.com/

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9 Kings of Macedon, 8 A-names, 7 warring states, 6 kingdoms, 5 marriage pacts, 4 dead successors, 3 Ptolemies, 2 wars of succession, and 1 Victor all in one episode. The age of the diadochoi ends with a bang.

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According to tradition, the prophet Zoroaster died at 77 years and 40 days old on Khorshed Dae AKA December 26 (depending on who you ask). Let's talk about it.

Cardinal Numbers Podcast https://www.popeularhistory.com/episodes/cardinal-numbers

Zoroastrian numerology https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-85prx-1475d46

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Today, we explore the family of King Seleucus I from his grandfather to his sons and daughters, including one of history's first uses of the she's only his step-mom excuse.

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Today, we step back from the narrative to see what kind of empire Seleucus was actually running here.

Ian Mladjov's Maps https://sites.google.com/a/umich.edu/imladjov/maps

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The Wars of the Diadochoi did not end in 301 BCE, but their Fourth War finished with a dramatic turning point in the Battle of Ipsus as Antigonus and Demetrius faced off against Seleucus, Lysimachus, and Pleistarchus.

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After reclaiming Babylon, King Seleucus began consolidating his power over the upper satrapies, but even as he worked to reclaim the Iranian east, the Mauryan Empire began pushing out of India and across the mountains of Gandhara.

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While Macedon was consolidating and collapsing in the west, a new empire was on the rise in the east. Chandragupta Maurya and his teacher, Chanakya, were busy overthrowing the Nanda Dynasty and expanding their new kingdom to become one of the great powers of Indian history.

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Cyrus the Great Day is an unofficial holiday in modern Iran, marking the anniversary of Cyrus the Great's conquest of Babylon and celebrating the origins of the Iranian state. It has also been the center of controversy, revolt, and secular ambitions within the Islamic Republic for most of the last decade.

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After the death of Alexander IV, the former friends and generals of Alexander the Great held their breath, waiting almost a year to resume their wars. The Fourth War of the Diadochoi saw them claim their royal titles as the Successors as Cassander, Ptolemy, and Demetrius battled for dominance.

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History of Persia dips its toes into the infamous Ancient Greek mystery cults to explore their role in Hellenistic religious life and what exactly makes them so mysterious anyway. Secret rituals, week long parties, and ancient drugs feature in the Eleusinian Mysteries.

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Shortly before the end of the Third War of the Diadochoi, Seleucus set out with a small army to retake his satrapy in Babylon. After several years of neglect by Antigonus Monophthalmus, Seleucus retook the region easily. Before long he held all of the Upper Satrapies against Antigonus, but by the end of the Babylonian War, events in Macedon sundered the empire of Alexander the Great.

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No sooner did the Second War of the Diadochoi end, than the Third began when Antiognus Monophthalmus attempted to seize control of the whole empire. Ptolemy, Seleucus, Cassander, and Lysander rallied against their former comrade as war spread from Palestine to Greece to Thrace.

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Alright. I'm moving house. Covid is ravaging my Secret Wars guest list. It's 104* F and I can't turn off my AC to record History of Persia. So we're trying a new thing tonight. Hope y'all like mythical pirate anarchism because that's what I have on hand.

While Cassander and Polyphercon fought for the regency of Macedon, Antigonus Monophthalmus and Eumenes of Cardia fought for supremacy in the Upper Satrapies. The initially reluctant Peithon and Seleucus joined Antigonus to defeat the traitor Eumenes, and in the process, turn Antigonus into the most powerful man in the empire.

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With the sudden death of Antipater, the Empire of Alexander the Great is thrown into chaos once again as the late regent's son, Cassander forges and alliance to seize the reigns of power. Antigonus is hunting Eumenes. Polyphercon struggles in Greece. Ptolemy and Egypt are just quietly expanding, and titanic figures of ancient history are washed away.

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Within just two years of Alexander the Great's death, the conqueror's empire shattered into civil war as Perdiccas threatened the most powerful nobles in the empire to solidify his own power as regent. Together with Eumenes, Alkestas, and a host of loyalists generals, the Perdiccid faction faced down Antipater, Antigonus, Craterus, and Ptolemy. It was the First War of the Diadochi, the First War of the Successors.

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History of Persia is back as we enter the Hellenistic Age. From a veterans' revolt in Bactria to the Lamian War in Greece, Perdiccas became the new regent of Alexander the Great's Empire in a chaotic time of shifting allegiances.

The Hellenistic Age Podcast https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/

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I sat down for a chat with Derek from the Hellenistic Age Podcast (@HellenisticPod) so he could explain the basics of Hellenism and this new era that emerged in the aftermath of Alexander the Great's conquests.

The Hellenistic Age Podcast https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/

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Very important announcements and updates about History of Persia and America: Secret Wars. Please visit our new fundraising page at HoPfulMedia.com.co !

Patrons look for a special update just for you posting imminently!

New subscribers use code ALEXANDER to get 1 month free when you sign up before July 31, 2024

New annual subscribers use code GIZISTAG to get the first 2 months free before July 31, 2024

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Last time, we got up to speed on what was going on in the Near East in the centuries before the Persians showed up. What we didn't cover, was who exactly are these "Persians," and what were they doing while their future empire was being taken over by the Assyrians. This time, we figure that out as we follow some steppe nomads called the Proto-Indo-Europeans on their 3000-ish year journey to becoming the Persians.

Remastered - Here we go, episode 1! Now, as much as I want to get to Persian history, we should probably know at least a little bit about the world before the Persians got there, so this is you lightspeed tour of the Near East, from about 1200 BCE to 616 BCE. Maps for everything are available on the website.

Trevor and Aurora from Swords, Sorcery, and Socialism found the perfect crossover episode with Creation by Gore Vidal: a historical fiction novel set in the 5th Century BCE that follows a fictional descendant of Zoroaster on his worldwide journey to understand the mysteries of the universe.

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Trevor and Aurora from Swords, Sorcery, and Socialism found the perfect crossover episode with Creation by Gore Vidal: a historical fiction novel set in the 5th Century BCE that follows a fictional descendant of Zoroaster on his worldwide journey to understand the mysteries of the universe.

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This is audio from the live event with Sariel and Umberto from So You Think You Can Rule Persia last year. I wrote a wildly over complicated Choose Your Own Adventure script about alternate histories if Cyrus the Younger defeated Artaxerxes II.

So You Think You Can Rule Persia

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You, the listeners of this very podcast, are phenomenal, thoughtful, inquisitive people. So I have done my very best to answer your many, many questions about the Achaemenid Persian Empire, Alexander the Great, and myself.

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History of the Celts

r/AskHistorians post about supply lines

Patreon RSS feed instructions

Persian Music by ItShowTimeMusic

The Complete Fragments of Ctesias of Cnidus by Andrew Nichols

Ctesias' History of Persia: Tales of the Orient by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones and James Robson

You, the listeners of this very podcast, are phenomenal, thoughtful, inquisitive people. So I have done my very best to answer your many, many questions about the Achaemenid Persian Empire, Alexander the Great, and myself.

Patreon | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

r/AskHistorians post about supply lines

Patreon RSS feed instructions

Persian Music by ItShowTimeMusic

The Complete Fragments of Ctesias of Cnidus by Andrew Nichols

Ctesias' History of Persia: Tales of the Orient by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones and James Robson

A new Hellenistic Age is dawning in the History of Persia, and with it come new Hellenistic gods and beliefs. Everyone is at least vaguely familiar with Greek mythology, but before we go any further, we should all be on the same page.

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Trevor is joined by Roberto Toro and Brendan Foster (@foster_writing) of The History of Saqartvelo Georgia (@History_Georgia) and Tsar Power (@TsarPowerPod) podcasts to discuss the post war occupation of Trieste and how tensions with Yugoslavia almost started World War III less than a year after World War II.

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Goldstein - Trieste, October 1945 to January 1947

Jenning - Flashpoint Trieste: The First Battle of the Cold War

Allock - Border and Territorial Disputes

Rogers Churchill and Slany - Foreign Relations of the United States, 1946, Eastern Europe...

Winston Churchill - "Iron Curtain" Speech

Dinardo - Glimpse of an Old World Order? Reconsidering the Trieste Crisis of 1945

Morrison - Eastern Europe and the West

NYT - Attack on U.S. Airplane; Patterson says shooting down of Americans was 'Wicked' and...

NYT - Text of 2 U.s. Notes Answer Yugoslavia; His Plane Downed

The Sydney Morning Herald Friday 23 August 1946

Trevor is joined by Roberto Toro and Brendan Foster (@foster_writing) of The History of Saqartvelo Georgia (@History_Georgia) and Tsar Power (@TsarPowerPod) podcasts to discuss the post war occupation of Trieste and how tensions with Yugoslavia almost started World War III less than a year after World War II.

Patreon | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Goldstein - Trieste, October 1945 to January 1947

Jenning - Flashpoint Trieste: The First Battle of the Cold War

Allock - Border and Territorial Disputes

Rogers Churchill and Slany - Foreign Relations of the United States, 1946, Eastern Europe...

Winston Churchill - "Iron Curtain" Speech

Dinardo - Glimpse of an Old World Order? Reconsidering the Trieste Crisis of 1945

Morrison - Eastern Europe and the West

NYT - Attack on U.S. Airplane; Patterson says shooting down of Americans was 'Wicked' and...

NYT - Text of 2 U.s. Notes Answer Yugoslavia; His Plane Downed

The Sydney Morning Herald Friday 23 August 1946

Nowruz Mubarak! To celebrate the year 1394/2413/3762, I killed The Accursed Alexander of Rome, and covered the aftermath.

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For part 2, Trevor is joined by Asha (@Herbo_Anarchist) of the “Swords, Sorcery, and Socialism” podcast (@SwordsNSocPod) to explain Secret Wars and discuss the first ever war fought by the United States’ armed forces after gaining independence: a border dispute between Georgia and the Muskogee (Creek) Confederacy from 1785-1790.

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Saunt – A New Order of Things: Property, Power, and the Transformation of the Creek Indians, 1733-1816

Scurry – The Oconee War Parts 1-3

Smith – History of the Georgia Militia, 1783-1861

Chappell – Georgia History Stories

Coulter – Elijah Clarke’s Foreign Intrigues and the “Trans-Oconee Republic”

Haynes – Patrolling the Border: Theft and Violence on the Creek-Georgia Frontier, 1770-1796

Kokomoor – Let Us Try to Make Each Other Happy, and Not Wretched”: the Creek-Georgian Frontier

Kokomoor – Creeks, Federalists, and the Idea of Coexistence in the Early Republic

Scurry – A Considerable Tract of Country

Alexander the Great had many relationships, both romantic and familial. From mother and father, Olympias and Philip, to a vast array of step-mothers and siblings to at least four romantic and sexual partners, the Macedonian royal family was as vast as it was confusing and controversial.

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For the very first episode of America: Secret Wars, Trevor is joined by Asha (@HerboAnarchist) of the “Swords, Sorcery, and Socialism” podcast to explain Secret Wars and discuss the first ever war fought by the United States’ armed forces after gaining independence: a border dispute between Georgia and the Muskogee (Creek) Confederacy from 1785-1790.

Patreon | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Saunt – A New Order of Things: Property, Power, and the Transformation of the Creek Indians, 1733-1816

Scurry – The Oconee War Parts 1-3

Smith – History of the Georgia Militia, 1783-1861

Chappell – Georgia History Stories

Coulter – Elijah Clarke’s Foreign Intrigues and the “Trans-Oconee Republic”

Haynes – Patrolling the Border: Theft and Violence on the Creek-Georgia Frontier, 1770-1796

Kokomoor – Let Us Try to Make Each Other Happy, and Not Wretched”: the Creek-Georgian Frontier

Kokomoor – Creeks, Federalists, and the Idea of Coexistence in the Early Republic

Scurry – A Considerable Tract of Country

A massive announcement episode to explain my new podcast: America - Secret Wars, some news about the History of Persia, and Alexander the Great's coinage.

Listen to America: Secret Wars

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In 323 BCE, Alexander the Great was preparing for future campaigns. Some sources say that Alexander wanted to defeat Carthage. Others say Alexander planned to attack Rome, but the most likely candidate was actually Alexander's planned Arabian campaign.

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In 324 BCE, Alexander the Great took his first real break from war since he became king. At Susa, he orchestrated the mass marriage of his highest officers with Iranian noblewomen and honored the war heroes of his recent campaigns. Alexander faced another mutiny at Opis before heading to Ecbatana, where his closest companion, Hephaestion, died suddenly of an unknown illness, throwing the king into a deep depression.

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While Alexander the Great crossed Gedrosia, Nearchus sailed from the Indus to explore the Arabian Sea and chart the coast of the Macedonian Empire. They faced obstacles, became pirates, and fought seas monsters before even reaching the Persian Gulf.

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After the Battle of the Hydaspes, Alexander the Great began moving south through the Indus River Valley, battling the Mallians before nearly dying during the siege of their capital city. When he recovered, the Macedonians began to move west for their homeward journey, leaving only Nearchus' fleet and a few small garrisons behind.

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After subduing Bactria, Alexander the Great invaded India. The crossing through the Hindu Kush was heavily contested by various mountain peoples. The Macedonians conquered each opponent before facing of with King Porus in the Battle of the Hydaspes River.

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We return to Alexander the Great in Bactria and Sogdiana, fresh off his final defeat of the Achaemenids but suddenly faced with rebellion, treason, and... love?

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