65: The Peace of Callias
The treaty known as the Peace of Callias supposedly ended the second Greco-Persian War with a formal agreement between Athens and Persia. However, its very existence is the topic of intense historical...
26 Feb 202234min
64: Fight to the End
The city of Memphis spent almost five years under siege from 459-454 BCE, as the rebel Pharaoh Inaros tried to take the Egyptian capital and oust the Persian government with the aid of the Athenians. ...
8 Feb 202235min
63: The Little Pharaoh That Could(n't)
After Artaxerxes I came to power in 465 BCE, a minor rebellion broke out in western Egypt led by the would-be Pharaoh Inaros II. Inaros quickly came to a stalemate with the local satrap, but in 460 BC...
13 Jan 202233min
62: Death In Quick Succession
In late 465 BCE, Xerxes I - the King of Kings - was murdered in his sleep by his own captain of the guard, Artabanus the Hyrcanian. Artabanus and a group of highly placed conspirators chose their vict...
10 Dec 202144min
Elamite Teaser
It completely slipped my mind that the next episode would be due out on Thanksgiving Day. I've got family sleeping in my office this week so that's not happening, but I didn't want to leave you comple...
25 Nov 202120min
61: Blood on the Eurymedon
Most of the decade following the first offensive Greek campaigns against Xerxes' forces are lost to us. There are hints at great battles and rapid Athenian expansion, but almost nothing is certain unt...
10 Nov 202144min
60: Given Against The Demons
The Vendidad is a strange and unique document. It's one part mythology, one part law code, and one part ritual manual. A collection of phrases and verses from a partly remembered oral tradition were c...
25 Okt 202140min
59: Holy War
Early in Xerxes' reign, an infamous and dramatic story of religious conflict was inscribed at Persepolis. When Xerxes became king he put down a rebellion, but in the process encountered a community de...
18 Sep 202142min
