History of Persia

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

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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.

Download

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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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In a new recurring episode format, it's time to meet the neighbors, specifically the Nanda Dynasty of India. Of course, India's been here the whole time, but before Alexander the Great campaigns there in person, I should explain a bit about what was going on across the Indus River.

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After the conquests of Alexander the Great, the history of the Achaemenids slipped into legend, myth, and obscurity. By the 6th Century CE, the likes of Cyrus the Great, Darius the Great, Xerxes, and Artaxerxes had been all but forgotten in Iran. Instead, the Sassanid Persian Empire remembered the stories of great heroes from the Avesta, occupying the equivalent of the Achaemenids' place in history.

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In the centuries following Alexander the Great's conquest of the Persian Empire, Iranian cultural memory changed and shifted, often in strange and unexpected ways. Alexandros Megas ton Makedon was remembered as Gizistag Iskandar-i Rhomiyag - the Accursed Alexander of Rome.

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Join me at the Intelligent Speech Conference this Saturday, November 4 at 10am est. Here's last year's presentation before you come hear me talk about Communes, Cults, and Caliphs.

Get your tickets at https://intelligentspeechonline.com

Use promo code PERSIA

In the final weeks of 331 BCE, Alexander the Great took Babylon, Susa, and Persepolis almost entirely unopposed. By May 330, he had claimed Ecbatana as well and sent Darius III fleeing toward Bactria, but discontent was growing in both armies, and ultimately Artaxerxes V, rather than Darius, would lead Achaemenid Persia's final stand.

IntelligentSpeechOnline.com

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After Darius III's defeat at Gaugamela, Alexander the Great tore through the Persian capitals, taking Babylon and Susa without a fight, and only stalling on his way to Persepolis during the Battle of the Persian Gates. The Macedonians reveled, Persepolis burned, and King Darius fled, ceding Ecbatana to the conqueror.

IntelligentSpeechOnline.com

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Alexander the Great and Darius III square off in the Battle of Gaugamela, the Macedonians' first strike to take a Persian capital in Babylonia.

IntelligentSpeechOnline.com

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Following his victory at Tyre, Alexander proceeded to take Egypt without much of a fight, but while he was there, the Macedonian Monarch did some minor administrative work like establishing the city of Alexandria and getting himself proclaimed Son of Zeus-Ammon. Meanwhile, Darius III was bracing for his next grand battle with the invaders.

IntelligentSpeechOnline.com

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Find the full episode at Patreon.com/HistoryOfPersia

After the Battle of Issus, Alexander the Great and the Macedonian invasion force began working their way down the western coast of the Persian Empire while Parmenion raced through inland Syria. City after city surrendered without a fight until the Siege of Tyre, one of the most difficult battles in Alexander's career.

IntelligentSpeechOnline.com

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While Darius III gathered his forces in the east, Alexander was busy with the Siege of Halicarnassus, one of the most brutal encounters in Alexander the Great's career. Then Darius arrived, and east and west faced off in the Battle of Issus.

IntelligentSpeechOnline.com

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In 334 BCE, Alexander the Great crossed into Asia to begin his invasion of the Persian Empire. Reluctant to intervene, Darius III left matters to his Satraps, dooming them in the Battle of the Granicus. So it begins.

IntelligentSpeechOnline.com

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It's time to turn back the clock - just a bit - and see what King Philip II of Macedon was doing over in eastern Europe while the Persians were busy with Egypt, rebels, and succession crises in the mid-4th Century BCE.

IntelligentSpeechOnline.com

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Patron Exclusive Bonus Episode on the storytelling of Ctesias

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Darius III was handpicked by Bagoas the Elder to succeed Artaxerxes IV, but Bagoas realized his mistake too late. Darius was no puppet king. He seized the reigns and set to work stabilizing the Persian Empire, bringing them back from the brink of annihilation.

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Eunuchs and priestesses feature prominently in tales of lust, schemes, and curses to the fascination of the Classical sources. In the last major culture episode for the Achaemenids, it's time to talk about those who fell outside of the Empire's sex and gender norms. 

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After conquering Egypt, Artaxerxes III got to work ruling his empire. New buildings rose on the Persepolis terrace. Overly ambitious Macedonians had to be managed. A host of young princes needed to be trained, but wait... does this wine taste off to you, Bagoas?

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I discuss the religious calendars of Zoroastrianism, past and present, along with the Sirozah prayers for each day of the month.

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EPISODE 100! To celebrate, I'm ranking the top 10 Achaemenid kings. You won't believe number 2!

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The Achaemenid Empire has a strange and complex history with enslavement. Today we separate fact and fiction both ancient and modern to discuss forced labor under Achaemenid rule.

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Even after disarming the western satraps, Artaxerxes III had his hands full in the west. It was time to retake Egypt, but that was easier said than done.

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The Khaleeli Collection of Aramaic Documents from Achaemenid Bactria are an incredible and unique collection of Achaemenid records first revealed in 2012. They provide an otherwise impossible glimpse to Achaemenid rule in the northeastern provinces.

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The epic tale of the greatest wife guy of antiquity.

The final years of Artaxerxes II were filled with turmoil and sadness, but when his son Ochus rose to power as Artaxerxes III, the Persian Empire entered a new age. The new Artaxerxes set out to repair and remake the empire as his own.

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As we approach the end of Artaxerxes II, it's time to talk about his gods. All of a sudden, Anahita and Mithra began appearing alongside Ahura Mazda in royal inscriptions, but it turns out it may not have been so sudden after all.

2022 Holiday Special: Mithra and Mehregan

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We continue the Biblical stories of Artaxerxes' reign with the arrival of Nehemiah, the new governor of Judea who's here to put Jerusalem back together again.

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Now we go back in time to the seventh year of Artaxerxes, and we'll explore the history Ezra the Scribe as he compiled an official Jewish Torah on the Great King's orders.

Patreon Bonus 26: The Good Book

Patreon Bonus 27: Names and Dates

Moment.co/HistoryOfPersia – Live Event Tickets Now!

So You Think You Can Rule Persia

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It's time to take a step back and see what the royal family was up to in the decades following Cunaxa. Artaxerxes II married his daughters, meaning its time to discuss the controversial subject of Xwedodah. Then, it's on to a bloody conflict in the shadows as the royal princes battle for their succession rights.

Moment.co/HistoryOfPersia – Live Event Tickets Now!

So You Think You Can Rule Persia

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The Cambyses Romance

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So You Think You Can Rule Persia

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After years of quietly building up their strength, Ariobarzanes and Datames rebellion was out in the open, but unbeknownst to them, not all of their supposed allies were ready to abandon the Empire. Meanwhile, Greece and Egypt were both on the verge of war once again.

Moment.co/HistoryOfPersia - Live Event Tickets Now!

So You Think You Can Rule Persia

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As his generals struggled against Egypt, Artaxerxes dealt with their failures harshly - so harshly that his newest commander in the west rejected the Empire altogether. Fearing for his life whether he invaded Egypt or not, Datames quietly raised the rebel and tried to take all of Anatolia with him.

With Greece and Cyprus once again at peace, it was time for the Persian Empire to pursue its war against Egypt once again. A new pharaoh takes the throne. Iphikrates attempts to reinvent the Greek soldier. Datames is on the rise. Artaxerxes is ascendant, and the King's Peace is left in the hand of his new Greek vassals.

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In 386 BCE, The Greco-Persian Wars finally came to an end when Artaxerxes II settled the Corinthian War by forcing the Greeks to accept The Kings Peace. For Persia, that was just the tip of the iceberg. With Greece settled, the western Satraps turned their attention to Cyprus, bringing King Evagoras of Salamis to heal in preperation for the long awaited invasion of Egypt.

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In 393 BCE, a Persian army landed in Greece and captured territory, marking the most successful invasion of Greek territory in a century. From there, the Aegean erupted into a quagmire of competing allegiances and revolts.

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An unexpected announcement episode to explain some of the changes that come with a new hosting platform, and how Persepolis' workforce may or may not have been paid in silver coinage.

History of Persia on YouTube

Swords, Sorcery, and Socialism

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Xenophon's Cyropedia is a political treatise pretending to be a historical fiction novel pretending to be a biography of Cyrus the Great.

The Spartan Invasion of Anatolia continues. The incompetent Thibron was replaced first by Derkylidas, then by the Spartan King Agesilaus himself. Agesilaus' successes led to the final downfall of Tissaphernes, only to be completely undone with the arrival of Persia's newest ally: Athens.

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We continue following the 10,000 mercenaries, straight into the Spartan Invasion of the Persian Empire. What? You thought the Greeks stopped caring just because Cyrus dead?

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The long awaited march of the 10,000 Greek mercenaries from Cyrus the Younger's forces back toward Greece has begun.

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A preview of Bonus episode 30, a review of Persians: Age of the Great Kings on Patreon.com/HistoryOfPersia

Introducing HoPful Media, an overarching brand name that doesn't mean much now but might in the future. Plus a minisode about Greek coinage circulating in the Achaemenid Empire.

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Jashn-e Mehregan mubarak everyone! This year's roving holiday special is all about the traditional Feast of Mithra and the yazata it honors. Grab some sharbat, maybe a bowl of pistachios, and settle in for festivities ancient and modern with a healthy side of all of Mithra's awesome and badass jobs in the cosmos.

Vulgar History - Listen Now!

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We follow the Spartan general, Clearchus, as he was taken into captivity in Babylon before following the royal court off to the building projects and border disputes of Artaxerxes II's empire.

The Alexander Standard -Listen Now!

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In the last 8 days, at time of posting,  the country of Iran has been rocked by a nationwide uprising in response to the brutal murder of Zhina (Mahsa) Amini, a 22 year old Kurdish woman from the city of Saqqez who was living in Tehran. She was beaten into a coma by the Gasht-e Ershad, the Iranian morality police, and died in custody shortly after on September 16, 2022. Her crime? Being in public without a Hijab.

This is my small contribution to that. As a platform innately connected to Iran and its history, I want to express the History of Persia Podcast’s unequivocal support for all those resisting oppression and theocracy in Iran. Beyond simply lending my voice to the international chorus cheering them on, I also hope that I can at least provide some exposure for the regime’s violence and the resistance against it by directing my listeners and social media followers toward sources of information.

My ongoing Twitter thread

The Federation of Anarchism Era

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Outro music: "Bella Ciao" translated in Farsi by Daniela Sepehri

Find her on Facebook | Bella Ciao Video

The Revolutions Podcast anarchism episodes:

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After the battle of Cunaxa, both sides were left to deal with the fallout. In Babylon, Artaxerxes II and his supporters celebrated victory and punished treason. In the detritus of the battlefield, Cyrus the Younger's supporters were left to pick up the pieces and start their long walk home.

Tsar Power Podcast - Listen Now!

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After 6 months on the road, Cyrus the Younger and Artaxerxes II face off to decide who will be King of Kings, deciding the course of Achaemenid History forever after. 

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In 401 BCE, Cyrus the Younger set out with an army of supporters and mercenaries to defeat his brother, Artaxerxes II, and claim the Persian throne for himself. But first they had to get there.

Grand Dukes of the West

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Cyrus the Younger returned to Sardis as Karanos in 404 BCE, still nursing dreams of becoming king. Over the next three years he quietly built up an army of mercenaries and prepared his subjects for war, gathering them under false pretenses to march against his brother, King Artaxerxes II.

So You Think You Can Rule Persia? - Listen Now!

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In 404 BCE, Darius II died. The king's death sparked fierce but quiet competition for the throne between the supporters of Cyrus the Younger and Darius's chosen heir, Arsakes. Arsakes did become King Artaxerxes II, but not without having to settle this conflict.

Warlords of History Podcast

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A collection of early Zoroastrian prayers to the various Yazatas, the Yashts are some of the only surviving sources that provide a detailed window into the more polytheistic aspects of ancient Iran. As a bonus, they partially stem from myths and legends as told in the Achaemenid period.

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A bit of an update on why I said I was back on track and then immediately jumped off the track. History of Saqartvelo Georgia Episode: https://historyofsaqartvelo.com/alt-home/episodes/episodes-ep-21/

King of the World: The Life of Cyrus the Great by Matt Waters is a new biography of the first Persian King of Kings from Oxford University Press. I was fortunate enough to receive an advanced PDF copy to review. In short, it's an excellent introduction to both the life of Cyrus and Achaemenid Studies as a field. Almost all shortcomings are more the product of the subject rather than the biographer. For more, give it a listen.

Order King of the World from Amazon

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The Achaemenid capital city at Persepolis wasn't really much of a city in the traditional sense, but that doesn't mean it was just a palace. A Persepolis Metropolitan Area stretched at least 5km out in every direction, and there have been some exciting finds there as well. We'll also look at the area surrounding the other Persian palace cities.

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Breaking News! The History of Persia Podcast now has merch, swag, gear, and other physical items to show off how much you like ancient Persia and this podcast.

Plus, there's one last group of coins from the Achaemenid Empire that I want to talk about.

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Cyrus the Younger obviously graduated early, but what exactly did he learn in ancient Persian school? Hunting, fitness, soldiery, science, and religion amongst many other things in a complex noble educational system.

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No, the other one. In Egypt. The best source of information on events Egypt under Darius II comes from the letters of the Jewish diaspora community in southern Egypt and their temple on the island of Elephantine. They also tell the story of a dramatic confrontation between the Jews and their Egyptian neighbors that ended in forced reconciliation.

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In 408 BCE, Darius II decided the Ionian War called for more drastic, teenage measures. He sent the 16 year old Prince Cyrus to rule western Anatolia as Karanos, a supreme military authority. Cyrus did everything in his power to enable his new Spartan allies' victory against Athens.

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Despite their defeat in Sicily, the tales of Athenian demise in 413 BCE were greatly exaggerated. In 411, Athens and Sparta began to clash again and protracted tug-of-war in the Aegean even as Athens itself was seized by political upheavals.

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Darius II's reign in Anatolia saw the Persian reconquest of Ionia and the Greek cities of west Asia. This was only accomplished with the aid of a surprising ally: Sparta and the Peloponnesian League.

Persepolis Reimagined by Getty.edu

Bonus Episode: Athens Under Artaxerxes on Patreon

Bonus Episode: Athenian War Under Artaxerxes on Patreon

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The reign of Darius II was chaotic. It is impossible to cover everything, everywhere, all at once. So today, we're covering the interior of the empire as it was racked by civil war and rebellion for the better part of 20 years.

Bonus Episode: Armenia I

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After 41 years on the throne, Artaxerxes I died in December 424 BCE. Much of his family had passed away over the decades, but he probably didn't expect his only legitimate heir to follow close behind him. Nevertheless, two bastard sons saw this as their time to shine.

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Any discussion of Achaemenid religion is bound to be fascinating, but that discussion isn't bound to Zoroastrianism. This one's abut all the other gods worshipped in Persia itself.

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At just over 40 years on the throne, Artaxerxes I was the second-longest reigning Achaemenid king. This is an episode for all of the little things and less detailed stories that played out in that time. From a new status quo in the west to dramatic building projects in the east, Artaxerxes was a busy guy.

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The story of the Megabyzid family conveniently flows from a solid recap of the story so far straight into the next major event in Achaemenid history: the very first satrap's revolt, complete with Greek mercenaries and royal family drama.

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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 debate. Despite this, hostilities did cease in 449 BCE, so something must have happened, right?

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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. When Persian reinforcements arrived, the rebellion was swept aside with apparent ease. Inaros was captured and Athens was sent reeling, only to make one final attempt on Persian territory in Cyprus.

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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 BCE the Egyptian rebel reached out to Athens for aid. The Athenians came in force, broke the stalemate, killed the satrap (and Artaxerxes' uncle), and joined Inaros as he marched on Memphis.

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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 victim's third son, Artaxerxes to be their puppet on the throne and moved to secure their coup. Unbeknownst to them, Artaxerxes was not easily manipulated. When the conspirators turned on one another, the Achaemenid Empire plunged headfirst into the age of Artaxerxes with a new round of civil wars.

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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 completely hanging. Fortunately, there might be some pre-Persian history that catches your interest over on The Oldest Stories.

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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 until the Battle of the Eurymedon. In the mid-460s BCE, the Persian fleet had recovered enough to stage a renewed offensive, but the Athenian general Kimon had advanced warning. He commanded a fleet from Athens' Delian League and made a preemptive strike in southern Anatolia, where he destroyed the fleet and routed the Persian army. This battle at the mouth of the Eurymedon River once again changed the direction of Persia's war with Athens, effectively kicking Persian military power out of the Aegean for decades to come.

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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 composed at point A, strung together at point B, and written down at point C, all seemingly centuries apart. Dogs are great. Tortoises are not. Otters are the best. Flies are the worst. Strap in, and Do. Not. Hurt. The Water Dogs.

Head to HistoryOfPersiaPodcast.com for some pictures of my sacred "house dog."

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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 dedicated to a god or gods he considered false and immoral. As consequence he destroyed their sanctuary and worshiped Ahura Mazda in their place.

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As the reign of another king draw's toward a close, it's time to look at the royal family. Xerxes' household was like a microcosm of early Achaemenid history. His mother, Atossa, drew a direct connection back to Cyrus, his uncles, cousins, and siblings were woven into the political scene of his reign. Herodotus' catalog of Persian commander's is also a catalog of the Great King's family, and many of them held positions of power as Satraps across the empire. The royal family is also an opportunity to look forward, and introduce the next generation of kings, satraps, generals, and rebels.

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It's time to return to the imperial heartland and tour the "city" that Xerxes' built. The foundations may have been laid by Darius, but Xerxes was the one who turned Persepolis from a construction project into a shining palace complex in the Iranian plateau.

Join me on The Oldest Stories podcast starting September 8, 2021!

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As the war with the Greeks drags on into obscurity, it is time to investigate what was happening inside the empire under Xerxes. In the far west, most territories slipped from Persian control completely. The Mediterranean coastal region was reconfigured and given a new leadership class to carry on the war against Athens. In the royal court, Xerxes dealt with infamous court drama and intrigue, while in Babylon the daily minutia of government wore on and dealt with economic crises.

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After the Persian defeat at Mycale, the stories of the Greco-Persian war get less dramatic, but the war itself did not come to an end. Late 479 BCE saw the beginning of Greek offensives in Persian territory, which continued long after the Spartans pulled out of the war in 478. The third year of war between Xerxes and Athens saw the foundation of the Delian League, which could continue to lead Greek attacks on Persian cities for years to come.

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Supposedly on the same day as the Battle of Plataea, another battle was unfolding at the foot of Mount Mycale (modern Mount Dilek). The Greek fleet agreed to aid Samian rebels against Persia and sailed all the way to mainland Anatolia to fight the Persian fleet. Still recovering from Salamis, the Persians opted to turn the confrontation into a land battle, but the new general, Tigranes, and his men were overwhelmed and even more of the fleet was destroyed by Greek hands.

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After a year of relative success, the Persian occupation of northern Greece received its second massive defeat. For the first time, the Hellenic League managed to field the full might of a Greek army against the occupation force commanded by Mardonius. They clashed repeatedly in the plains surrounding the small town of Plataea until their maneuvers drew both sides into a decisive and bloody confrontation.

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I sat down with Dr. Sean Manning, author of the new book: Armed Force in the Teispid-Achaemenid Empire: Past Approaches, Future Prospects to discuss the military might of the Persian Empire (and why it's so hard to find anything written about it). That includes both the academic nuances of which sources deserve primacy, and ever exciting topics of arms, armor, and tactics.

Dr. Manning's research represents an invaluable resource for anyone trying to engage with the military history of Achaemenid Persia - especially when we try to disentangle it from the Greek Wars.

Armed Force in the Teispid-Achaemenid Empire: Past Approaches, Future Prospects

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At the end of 480 BCE, there was a lull in the conflict between the Greeks and Persians, but not a stop. The Peloponnesians went home. The Athenians raided the Aegean. Xerxes took most of his troops back to Lydia while Mardonius stayed in Greece, and Artabazos lead a Persian army back from Lydia to Thrace. All of them had their own adventures along the way.

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September 480 BCE marked the high point for the Persian army in Greece. Athens was the smoldering campfire at the heart of the Persian army's camp. The Greek army had retreated all the way to Corinth and their fleet was in limbo with the Athenian refugees on Salamis. After some deliberation, Xerxes sent his navy to clear out the Greek ships only for the land and sea themselves to turn against the Great King.

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I sat down with an interview with Uzume Wijnsma, a researcher and PhD candidate at the University of Leiden, whose research has proved invaluable to the podcast on a few occasions. Her research focuses on Egyptian and Babylonian resistance to Achaemenid rule, and she is part of the Persia & Babylonia project at Leiden.

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Thank you all so much! The AMA Episode was a great success and I look forward to the next 50 episodes of the History of Persia. This episode has everything: the ancient world in color, beard fashion, video games, book reviews, time travel, and of course me trying to piece together something to say about provinces we don't actually know much about. Links below in order of appearance:

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It's that somewhat random time of year again, where I set aside a bit of time to celebrate a holiday that intersects with our narrative. This year that means Purim, the Jewish celebration of the Book of Esther. Esther tells the story of a Jewish woman turned Achaemenid queen in the court of Ahasuerus (maybe Xerxes, maybe an Artaxerxes, probably a bit of both). Esther and her cousin Mordecai have to foil the genocidal plans of the King's vizier Haman to save their people, and the result is today's festivities.

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Late in the summer of 480 BCE, the Persian invasion force under King Xerxes came to blows with the Greek Allies for the first time. The famous twin battles at Thermopylae and Artemisium played out surrounded by a series of smaller sacks and skirmishes. After three days of fighting, the Greek attempt to block the Persians in narrow passes failed and the Persian army pushed south, conquering Phocis, Boeotia, and ultimately: Attica and Athens. By the end of September 480, Xerxes nominally controlled all of Greece north of the Peloponnese. 

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Before launching into the actual warfare between the Persian Empire and Greek city states, it's worth examining how the Greeks prepared for war. Athens prepared by building a navy, everyone prepared by planning to deploy their armies, and we'll explore the whole history of the famous "300" Spartans.

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Season's Greetings, Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Shab-e Yalda Mubarak, or a pleasant solstice festival of your choice. This is not a holiday episode, but a fundraising announcement to tell you about some new features that will appear on the podcast, HistoryOfPersiaPodcast.com, and Patreon going into 2021. Just like last time, I hate to just ask for money, so I've included a mini-episode about Persian coinage.

From 484-481 BCE, Xerxes directed his subjects to prepare for war in Greece. This didn't just mean assembling soldiers and ships, but also preparing the infrastructure of the western empire to receive one of the largest armies ever assembled. 200,000 soldiers from across the Persian empire converged on the Hellespont in the spring of 480 and began the march to Hellas.

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Catalog of Nations from Herodotus

In 486 BCE, Darius the Great died while Egypt was in revolt. Over the following years, Xerxes put his empire back in order. First in Egypt, then twice in Babylon, the new king defeated rebel kings. The traditional nobility of the two most ancient and prestigious satrapies in the empire were punished, and Xerxes asserted himself as the King of Kings.

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In 486 BCE, Darius the Great died and passed the Persian Empire on to his son, Xerxes. With plans to invade Greece in development, and Egypt in open revolt, the Achaemenid house had to pause and deal with the succession. Darius became the first king entombed at Naqsh e Rostam while Xerxes competed with his elder half-brother for power.

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This is the second part of the two-part discussion on the life and times of Zoroaster. This time, I discuss the Zoroastrian conception of reality and how it is portrayed in the Gathas as well as the legacy of Zarathustra in Zoroastrianism, Iran, and Europe.

Zoroastrianism: An Introduction by Jenny Rose

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By audience demand, we're headed back in time. Before wrapping up the reign of Darius, it's time to look back to the bronze age and talk about Zarathustra Spitama, the prophet more often known in the west as Zoroaster. This is the first of a two part series on the life and teachings of Zoroaster, as presented in the Gathas - 5 hymns to Ahura Mazda believed to be composed by Zoroaster himself.

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Darius the Great is one of Persia's most infamous kings for many reasons. An illegitimate heir who reunified the empire. The king of the first war with Greece. Conqueror of territory at the far reaches of Persian control. He was many things. He was also a reformer and an administrator who oversaw the implementation of new systems of taxation, record keeping, and political organization. Those reforms formed the basis of Persian governance for centuries to come, and may be his longest lasting legacy.

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To round out our series on Darius' royal family, it's only fair to talk about the men of the family. After all, like it or not, the narrative will follow them going forward. Grandpa Arsames, the fascinating Hystaspes, and all of Darius' brothers, sons, and cousins get their own time in the spotlight. Then, it's time to prepare for the competition to become the Greatest.

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There were many Duksis (royal women) in Darius' household, and there would be many more in future generations of the Achaemenid family, but three women in particular standout above the rest. Most famously we know of Atossa, daughter of Cyrus and mother of Xerxes, from our Greek sources. Thanks to the documents of the Persepolis Fortification Archive we also know about the remarkable wealth and influence of Artystone and Irdabama as Persian women in the early 5th century BCE.

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Our sources for Achaemenid history are clearly biased towards the stories of men in the ancient world, but we actually know a lot about Achaemenid women. To fully understand the whole royal family, it's time to get a better understanding of the role Royal Women - the Duksish - played in Persian society.

Nearly a decade after Aristagoras first went into revolt, and longer since the Athenians had reneged on their offerings of earth and water, the Persian Army came to take Darius' revenge on Athens. For the first time, a Persian army landed on the Greek mainland. They made their camp on an unremarkable open plain that would soon be seared into Greek history forever: Marathon.

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Even once the Ionian cities themselves were defeated, the consequences of their Revolt were ongoing. In 492 BCE, a new general, Mardonius, took to the field to settle matters in the Balkans. Two years later, the Persians turned their sites on Athens and Eretria in retribution for the aid they sent to the Ionians. In 490, Artaphernes and Datis launched the first Persian invasion of mainland Greece.

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Even with Miletus defeated, the other rebel cities in shambles, Cyprus under control, and their armies victorious, the Persians had not heard the last of Ionian resistance. While the Greek rebels were fighting against the Persian Empire, the deposed tyrant Histiaeus was making plans to try and carve out a new niche for himself in Persian territory.

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It is a dark time for the Ionian Revolt. Although Sardis has been destroyed, Persian troops have driven the Rebel forces from Aeolis and pursued them across Anatolia.

Facing the renewed Persian Fleet, a group of Greek cities led by Dionysius of Phocaea has established a new plan on the nearby island of Lade.

The Persian satrap Artaphernes, ready to end this rebellion, has dispatched the army and the navy to retake Miletus....

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While three Persian land armies were spreading out over western Anatolia to contain and defeat the Ionian Greek rebels and their allies, a fourth army was headed to the island of Cyprus. The Cypriot King of Salamis, Onesilos had usurped his brother's throne and incited his neighbors to rebellion. In our first "Battle of Salamis" the Persians retake the strange and strategic island.

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This time I have something a little different. In place of a regular narrative episode this week, I have my recent interview with Dr. Michael Bonner, author of the new book: The Last Empire of Iran. This jumps far ahead of our current point in the narrative story, all the way to the Sassanid Persian Empire of the 4th-8th centuries CE.

Dr. Bonner and I discussed the origins, sources, conflicts, and fall of Iran's last pre-Islamic dynasty.

The Last Empire of Iran by Michael Bonner

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After the shocking attack on Sardis, many more Greek cities joined the Ionian Revolt, despite Persian victory at Ephesus. In 497 BCE, three land campaigns were launched by three Persian generals: Daurises, Hymaies, and Otanes. After a series of lightning victories in early 497, the campaigns began set in to prolonged fighting. Two of the Persian generals were dead by 496, but the Ionians were still losing. Fresh revolts in the Troad and Caria were dealt serious defeats, and Aristagoras of Miletus, once the ringleader of the Ionians, fled into exile.

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To prepare ourselves for their role in the coming wars between Persian the Greek city states, I'm explaining the history and politics of Archaic Athens, from their first adoption of oligarchy rather than monarchy, down through the adoption of democracy, the Peisistratid tyrants, and the final restoration of democracy by Cleisthenes. At the end of that long process, the Athenians and their Eretrian allies joined forces with the Ionian Greek cities of Anatolia in their revolt against the Persian Empire. In 498 BCE, the Greek army set out from Ephesus in a lightning raid to attack, and ultimately destroy, the Lydian capital at Sardis. 

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At the end of the 6th century BCE, a group of exiled aristocrats from the island of Naxos inadvertently set off a chain of events that would eventually lead to such famous battles as Marathon, Thermopylae, and Salamis. They asked the Milesian Tyrant, Aristagoras, to help them retake their home island after being kicked out. Aristagoras went to the Satrap of Lydia, who in turn asked Darius the Great. When Darius gave the go ahead, a Persian fleet invaded, and subsequently retreated from Naxos. Out of money and out of options Aristagoras and the rest of the Ionian Greeks in western Anatolia began hatching a plan to launch an Ionian Revolt against the Persian Empire.

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To celebrate the Persian New Year's festival of Nowruz, check out the 2nd Sort-of Annual Holiday Special, exploring the New Year's celebrations of the Achaemenid Empire. Called Navasarda at that time, many of the traditions associated with the modern holiday were still developing during the Achaemenid period. The origins and original purpose of the holiday season are hazy and changed and developed as Iranian society evolved over centuries.

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This time it's just one episode for a different kind of tour. Explore the early phases of construction at Susa and Persepolis under Darius the Great. The grand Apadana audience halls with their splendid columns. The lavishly decorated palaces built to house Darius throughout the year. The famous works of art and architecture that define the middle Achaemenid period are featured in this episode.

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It's the final stage of the tour! Our trip through the Persian Empire wraps up with three central provinces of the empire, located in western Iran. This time it's Susiana, Media, and Parsa itself. We'll traverse everything from rundown ancient kingdoms, hostile mountain tribes, royal capitals, and one of the wonders of the ancient world. For some of them, we won't even have to leave the same city. These are the provinces that ruled and defined the Achaemenid Persian Empire. 

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The tour of the Persian Empire continues. This time I'm going through the empire within the empire to dissect Assyria and Babylonia. Within these two satrapies, there were many important administrative districts and geographic divisions including Judea, Palestine, Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Akkad in addition to Assyria and Babylon themselves. With hindsight's 20/20 this was obviously one the most important parts of the empire, and we'll go through it in detail. 

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Oldest Stories

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Today is the one year anniversary of launching the History of Persia podcast. Thank you all so much for your support and interest this past year!

The tour of the Persian Empire continues, this time covering the western Satrapies. I'm exploring the details and histories of the Persian provinces starting with Armenia and moving counter clockwise, through Anatolia and Europe, over the Mediterranean, North Africa, Arabia, and Assyria. Based on the maps of Ian Mladjov. 

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With the Persian Empire at its greatest ever extent, it's time to start a tour of the empire. We're travelling east, out of Parsa, and following the excellent maps of Ian Mladjov counter-clockwise through the eastern provinces. From Karmana to India, to the steppe to Parthia and everywhere in between, to examine the little bit of information we have about the Persian east.

Happy Holidays Everyone! In place of a regular episode this week, we have the first annual History of Persia Holiday Special. Regardless of what holidays you're celebrating, or not, I have a surprise topic to cover by audience request this week. Please enjoy!

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Interesting topic? Check out Anthrochef's History of Food.

It's finally time to talk about the famous Behistun Inscription, commissioned by Darius to commemorate his victories over "Gaumata" and the rebel kings he faced from 522 - 518 BCE. It is part propaganda, part epic, part origin story, and part religious creed, declaring Darius' position over his hard-won empire. I go through the inscription step by step and give some of the history of the site beyond Darius. 

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Behistun Text

With most of the Persian Empire firmly under his control in 519 BCE, Darius the Great set off to earn that title by conquering surrounding territories and spreading Achaemenid territory to its greatest ever extent. He pushed the boundaries of the known world and established an empire that stretched that spanned nearly 4,000 miles from North Africa to the Indus River Valley.

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Picking right back up in the late summer of 521 BCE, I'm talking about the rest of the rebellions against Darius. That's the last three campaigns against the Liar Kings from the Behistun Inscription, the strangely absent rebellion in Egypt, and the other rebels that were excluded from the famous monument before concluding with personal betrayal for the new King of Kings.

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No sooner was Bardiya dead, than the newly minted King Darius had to turn his attention on rebellious subjects. One satrapy after the next went into revolt at the end of 522 BCE, and Darius spent most of his first year on the throne directing his armies from place to place to try and hold the empire together. This time, I'm talking about Darius, the calendar, and the rebellious liar kings who sundered the Persian Empire.

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After all that business with Gaumata that Magos, I figured we had time to keep talking about magi. This episode explores the religious developments and beliefs in Persia during the Achaemenid period. I'm focusing on Zoroastrianism, but also discussing how naming a religion like that for the ancient Persians is harder than it might seem.

522 BCE was a crazy year for the Persian Empire. That was the year that Bardiya - or maybe Gaumata - seized power. He overturned his brother and ruled the empire to try and save it. He halted rebellion and made peace with the nobility. However, nobody can usurp the throne or be a reformer without making a few enemies, and Darius became a lethal enemy to Bardiya.

In 522 BCE, the Persian Empire sat on the edge of Chaos. Between March and September of that year, 3 men sat on the Persian throne, and according to the official royal history one of those kings was actually impersonated by a couple of magi. This episode is the first to really question who the Magi were. This episode also discusses the many theories of what really happened that year. 

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Aspects of History and Epic in Ancient Iran: From Gaumāta to Wahnām

The story of Polykrates, the Tyrant of Samos, intersects repeatedly with the history of the Persian empire during his life. From his rise to power in the vacuum left when Miletus was conquered, to his alliance with Egypt against the Persians, and finally to his death on the orders of a Satrap. His story feeds directly into the history around Oroites, the Satrap of Sparda (the kingdom formerly known as Lydia). Oroites tried to seize some power for himself in events that prepare our narrative for the chaotic years following Cambyses' death.

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Hello everyone! I've got some announcements, updates, and news about the show for you, and as a little bonus for listening to my fundraising spiel, there's a mini-episode on the history of the world's first coinage at the end. Thank you everybody!

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The story of Cambyses isn't just the conquest of Egypt, but also the dark side of it. According to Herodotus Cambyses was a mad king, driven to paranoia and acts of terrible violence while he was Egypt. The Greek Historian, as well as the Behistun Inscription, tell how Cambyses II murdered his family members and drove his own empire into open revolt. This episode describes the Persian tragedy of the King of King's fall into madness.

In 525 BCE, the Persian army crossed into Egypt, in what seems to have been the culmination of years of antagonism between the the new empire and the last great kingdom of the Near East. To accomplish his task, the new King of Kings, Cambyses, mustered all his resources. He assembled a huge land army, constructed Persia's first navy, and formed alliances from the Greek islands in the Aegean to tribal kings in Arabia. Over the following three years, he established and consolidated Persian rule over the kingdom of the two lands, bringing one of the oldest civilizations in the world under Persian domination.

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In preparation for Cambyses' invasion of Egypt, we're covering the early Persian armies. These are the armies that helped Cyrus the Great conquer the known world. They started as troops levied from Persia and Media, but grew to incorporate every facet of the empire and built on the history of Near Eastern warfare to form a disciplined and organized system.