Podcasts about agrigentum

Content warning for discussion of genocide Episode music can be found here: https://uppbeat.io/track/paulo-kalazzi/heros-time Day 4 will take a deep dive into the Punic Wars and the Sacking of Carthage. The Fall of Carthage is widely considered to be the first recorded genocide in history and we will be looking at the hows the why and the whos of it all. Episode Notes below: Hey, Hi, Hello, this is the History Wizard and welcome back for Day 4 of Have a Day w/ The History Wizard. Thank you to everyone who tuned in for Day 3 last week, and especially thank you to everyone who rated and/or reviewed the podcast. I hope you all learned something last week and I hope the same for this week. This week we're going to be going all the way back to the purported origins of my field of study. This week we're going to be discussing History's first genocide… probably. Remember that genocide require intent to destroy a specific group of people, and the destruction of Carthage during the Third Punic war is the first time in history that was can demonstrate that intent, at least so far. As always we are not going to be diving right into the event itself. All history exists within specific cultural, national, and ethnic contexts. Genocide moreso than any other type of event. No nation just wakes up one day and suddenly decides to go on a mass murder spree. So what caused Rome and Carthage, two states that had been allies and friends for hundreds of years to suddenly fight three wars against each other and ultimately, in the case of Rome, wipe Carthage off the map? Following the Pyrrhic War and throughout the middle of the 3rd century BCE Rome and Carthage because the two preeminent powers of the Mediterranean. During this time Carthage would come to dominate southern Spain, much of the coastal regions of North Africa, the Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia, and the western half of Sicily, in a military and commercial empire. Whereas Rome had subjugated almost the entirety of the Italian peninsula and finally driven the last Greek colonies off of the mainland. In 265 BCE a group of Italian mercenaries called the Mamertines appealed to both Carthage and Rome for aid after they had seized the city of Messana on the island of Sicily (modern day Messina) from the Kingdom of Syracuse. Carthage immediately entered the war, but on the side of Hiero II the King of Syracuse. The Romans, as Romans are wont to do, debated for a while about this. They didn't really want to go to war to support people who had stolen a city from its rightful owner, and as Carthage had already entered on Syracuse's side, entering the war at the Mamertine's request could lead to a war with Carthage. However,  Appius Claudius Caudex filled his fellow senator heads, as well as the heads of the general assembly, with thoughts of booty and plunder. Many of the senators were already arguing that there was a strategic and monetary advantage to gaining a foothold on Sicily. The First Punic War officially began when the first Roman sandal made landfall in 264 BCE. By the way, in case you're wondering why it's called the Punic war, and not the Carthaginian War, Punicus was a term the Romans used to refer to the people of Carthage, hearkening back to their Phonecian origins. When the Romans landed Messana was under siege by the combined forces of the Carthaginians and the armies of Syracuse. Sources are unclear as to why, but first the Syracusans and then the Carthiginians withdrew from the siege. Rome's armies, under the command of Caudex marched south and put Syracuse under siege, but having only brought two legions with them they did not have the forces or supplies for a protracted siege.  Immediately this war was looking to be a bad idea for Rome, as Carthage had nearly overwhelming naval superiority at the beginning of the war. Indeed it is somewhat shocking, at face value, that Rome was able to win the First Punic War as the majority of the 23 year long war was fought on, or very near the water. To try and counter the Carthiginians naval prowess the Romans introduces a device called a corvus to their ships. The corvus was a 4 foot wide and 36 foot long bridge that was attached to the front mast of a Roman quinquereme. It has a large, hooked spike attached to the underside of the front of the bridge and was used to attach Roman ships to Carthiginian ones and allow for swift boarding of enemy vessels. While the corvus did have some measure of success it made Roman ships very front heavy, made them far less maneuverable, and in heavy seas were practically useless. Now, Sicily was a nightmare for an attacking force. Its hilly and remarkably rugged terrain made moving large bodies of troops very difficult. The ground of Sicily heavily favored the defender. In fact, in 23 years of fighting on the island, only two full scale pitched battles were fought.The Battle of Agrigentum in 262, which was a Roman victory, and the Battle of Panormus, which was also a Roman victory. Agrigentum was a particularly interesting case. Both Roman consuls at the time  Quintus Mamilius Vitulus and Lucius Postumius Megellus were in the field with 40,000 Roman soldiers.  A large army has an even larger stomach though, and the consuls had two major problems. First, because of Carthage's naval superiority it was exceedingly difficult to keep their forces supplied by sea. And to compound those issues, neither consul had experience moving around armies of this size. So after seizing Agrirentum, right around harvest season. The consuls dispersed their men to the fields in order to harvest as much food as the possible could. And, of course, that was the moment that Hannibal Grisco (a different Hannibal than the one famous for marching elephants over the Alps) attacked the Roman forces. Rome's forces would rally after this initial assault and rout the Carthiginian forces before besieging and capturing the city, selling 25,000 people into slavery. The war was less direct after Agrigentum for a few years. Rome made failed attempts in Corsica, Sardinia, and Northern Africa. For several years the war followed a pretty simple pattern. Rome was superior on land. Carthage was superior at sea, and sieges sucked for everyone. In 265 BCE Rome gained two new consuls Marcus Atilius Regulus and Lucius Manlius Vulso Longus. Both men, frustrated by the stalemate that was raging on Sicily decided to take the fight to Africa itself. After a series of relatively quick sieges of Aspis and Adys Rome had taken the city of Tunis, this put them only 10 miles away from Carthage itself. Carthage tried to sue for peace, but the terms that Regulus offered were so harsh that Carthage decided to fight on. Rome would actually suffer one of its largest defeats at Tunis, though it wouldn't come from a Carthiginian general. Rome lost to a Spartan mercenary commander Xanthippus. In 255 BC Xanthippus led an army of 12,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry and 100 elephants against the Romans and defeated them at the Battle of Tunis. Rome would lose much of its fleet and tens of thousands of allied soldiers in various storms around the Mediterranean. There was even a time, following the Battle of Phintias, that it looked like things were finally turning around for Carthage. However, by 248 Carthage only had control over two cities on the island, Lilybaeum and Drepana and both nations' coffers were nearly emptied. Carthage tried to get a 2000 talent (approximately 52,000 kilograms of silver)  loan from Ptolemaic Egypt, but was denied. Rome turned to its wealthiest private citizens. Asking them each to build a single quinquereme and promising repayments from the reparations they would make Carthage pay after the war. It should also bear mentioning that Rome lost about 17% of its fighting age men over the course of this war.  The consuls who finished off the war were Gaius Lutatius Catulus and Quintus Valerius Falto (Rome elected new consuls yearly). These two consuls defeated the last of Carthages fleet in the Battle of Aegates Island. After this battle was finished Rome continued to put pressure on Lilybaeum and Drepana until Carthage decided to sue for peace. The Treaty of Lutatius was signed and brought the First Punic War to its end: Carthage evacuated Sicily, handed over all prisoners taken during the war, and paid an indemnity of 3,200 talents over ten years. This wouldn't end Carthages' woes though. In 237 BC Carthage prepared an expedition to recover the island of Sardinia, which had been lost to the rebels (mostly foreign soldiers they were unable to pay fully after the war) In a fit of cruelty, the Romans stated they considered this an act of war. Their peace terms were the ceding of Sardinia and Corsica and the payment of an additional 1,200-talent indemnity. Weakened by 30 years of war, Carthage agreed rather than enter into a conflict with Rome again; the additional payment and the renunciation of Sardinia and Corsica were added to the treaty as a codicil. The tensions caused by THIS particular bit of tomfuckery would be one of the major determining factors in the start of the Second Punic War. The mark that the First Punic War made on history cannot be understated. It was not only the longest Rman war to date, but it was the most devastating maritime war of the ancient world. Over the course of it Rome built over 1000 ships and would use the skills they learned and honed in this war to rule the seas, virtually uncontested for the next 600 years. Following the First Punic War Carthage turned its eyes to the North. They knew they would need to expand their power base and accrue a much greater store of wealth if they were ever going to stand on equal footing with Rome again. The Italian Peninsula and the surrounding island were off limits, so they turned to Iberia. They would meet Rome again in Iberia, but in 226 the two powers signed the Treaty of Ebro, fixing the River Ebro as the border between the two empires. It's likely that Rome had no intention of maintaining the terms of this treaty as some few years after they established an alliance with the city of Saguntum, a city which existed within the Carthiginian sphere of influence. Hannibal (yes, that one, with the Elephants) saw this as an act of aggression from Rome and besieged the city of Saguntum, eventually seizing it after 8 months of siege. Rome sent Quintus Fabius Maximus to the Carthage senate with peremptory demands. When these were rejected, as Rome knew they would be, war was declared in the spring of 218 BC. The Second Punic War would last for 17 years and would, again, end in victory for Rome. The war got off to somewhat of an odd start. Both Rome and Carthage planned to invade the other, but neither side seemed to really know what the others were doing or where they would be. It's likely, given the way the previous war had gone, that Rome expected a naval attack from Carthage, and so they remained in the south putting together their plan to invade Africa again. Hannibal though had a different plan. He intended to swing up through Iberia, starting in modern Cartagena, cross the Alps, which he did in 15 days, and sweep down on Rome from the North. He successfully crossed the Alps with 20,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry, and an unknown number of elephants (he'd left Iberia with 37 of them, but it's unclear how many survived the crossing.) Hannibal then proceeded to dog walk the Roman army around Italy for the next two years. The only challenge he really faced was from Quintus Fabius Maximus, nicknamed Cuncator (the Delayer) by his contemporaries for his adoption of the Fabian Strategy. Well, his creation really. The strategy is named after him. The Fabian strategy employs hit and run tactics and seeks to avoid pitched battle. Fabian hoped to use this harrying tactic to enter into a battle of attrition, hoping that Hannibal would run out of supplies and be forced to leave or surrender. In 216 Rome elected two new consuls Gaius Terentius Varro, who advocated pursuing a more aggressive war strategy, and Lucius Aemilius Paullus, who advocated a strategy somewhere between Fabius's and that suggested by Varro. The Senate also authorized the raising of a double sized army, some 86,000 men. The largest Roman army in history at that point. Varro and Paullus lost most of their army in Rome's greatest military disaster, the Battle of Cannae. Some 67,500 Roman troops died in this one battle. This was almost the end for Rome. They almost lost the whole war in that one Battle. Hannibal was supported by Gaulish and Spanish mercenaries, he was up against military incompetents, and he was about to be joined by the King of Macedonia as an ally. In 215 Phillip V launched the First Macedonian War. It was time for Rome to bring back the one man who had stood a chance against Hannibal. It was time to bring back Fabius. Fabius became consul again in 215 BC and was re-elected in 214 BC. Rome, now more desperate than they'd been in a long time also drastically reduced its standards for soldiers. Enrolling slaves, criminals and those who did not meet the usual property qualification. By early 215 BC they were fielding at least 12 legions; by 214 BC 18; and by 213 BC 22. By 212 BC the full complement of the legions deployed would have been in excess of 100,000 men, plus, as always, a similar number of allied troops. The majority were deployed in southern Italy in field armies of approximately 20,000 men each. This was insufficient to challenge Hannibal's army in open battle, but sufficient to force him to concentrate his forces and to hamper his movements. For 11 years after the Battle of Cannae, the war was raged across Southern Italy in a constant give and take as Carthage captured Roman cities, only for them to be recaptured. The fighting in Italy was fierce and seemed to be going mostly in Hannibal's favor, but Italy was not the only theatre of this war. The Iberian Theatre could best be described a a holding action for the first several years. As Rome sought to hold Carthiginian forces in Iberia and prevent them from reinforcing Hannibal by crossing the alps again (although Hannibal's brother Hasdrupal was able to cross the Alps with 35,000 additional troops).  Scipio Africanus was ultimately successful in Iberia, clearing it of Carthiginian control. He almost lost control of the region when the Iberian leaders sought to fight against the Romans who they had just fought with against the armies of Carthage. They'd expected Rome to leave after defeating Carthage here, but Rome wouldn't give up land it held and sent Claudius Nero over to stabilize the situation. This left Iberia under Roman control and Italy fighting for its life against Hannibal and Hasdrubal. In a move of some desperation and no little boldness Rome decided to finally launch its invasion of Africa in 204 BCE led by the famed Scipio Africanus, and after defeating Carthage in two major battles, Carthage elected to sue for peace and recall Hannibal and his brothers from Italy.  Rome and Carthage entered into peace negotiations. The Roman Senate ratified a draft treaty, but because of mistrust and a surge in confidence when Hannibal arrived from Italy, Carthage decided to take one last stab at achieving victory. Thus did the Battle of Zarna begin. Hannibal tried to use a charge of 80 elephants to break Rome's lines, but Rome was able to turn the charge back and the elephants wound up devastating their own forces. The new peace treaty dictated by Rome stripped Carthage of all of its overseas territories and some of its African ones. An indemnity of 10,000 talents of silver was to be paid over 50 years and hostages were taken. Carthage was forbidden to possess war elephants and its fleet was restricted to ten warships. It was prohibited from waging war outside Africa and in Africa only with Rome's permission. And so there would be peace for 50 years. Sort of, but not really. Carthage finished paying off their indemnity in 151, 50 years after the end of the Second Punic War and was, once again, economically prosperous. They were, really, no military threat to Rome anymore, but many Roman senators refused to believe that. Most famous of which was the senator Marcus Porcius Cato, also known as Cato the Censor. Cato had been part of an assembly sent to Carthage in around 153 BCE and notes how wealthy and prosperous it seemed. He was famous for ending all of his speeches before the senate with the phrase Ceterum (autem) censeo Carthaginem esse delendam ("Furthermore, I consider that Carthage must be destroyed"), which is often shortened to merely Carthago delenda est (Carthage must fall). In 149 BCE Rome sent its armies to Carthage, under the pretext of a punitive expedition because Carthage was allegedly engaging in illicit military operations. The Third Punic War, which lasted for a mere three years, really only had the one major engagement. That being the Siege of Carthage, which would eventually be led by Scipio Aemilianus, the adoptive grandson of Scipio Africanus. Initially Carthage tried to surrender and, indeed, surrendered all of their weapons. But Rome would not be swayed by this. They wanted Carthage destroyed, and ultimately it would be. The early years of the siege saw little success. Carthage was a hard city to besiege, and it still had some allies in the region. So in addition to contending with the city itself, Roman forces needed to be on guard for allied towns and cities who would try to come to Carthage's aid. After 3 years though it would end in a single week of some of the most horrific slaughter of the ancient world. In Spring of 146 Scipio launched a full scale adult on the harbor area and successfully breached the walls of Carthage. Over six days, the Romans systematically worked their way through the residential part of the city, killing everyone they encountered and setting the buildings behind them on fire. The city was razed to the ground, over 700,000 people were killed, including women and children, and some 50,000 survivors were sold into slavery. The next part of the story that you might know, if you know this story at all, is that Scipio then proceeded to salt the earth around Carthage so that nothing would ever grow there again. This story is almost certainly apocryphal. Which is fancy historian speak for “full of shit”. There are no ancient sources for this event. The salting story entered the academic literature in Bertrand Hallward's article in the first edition of the Cambridge Ancient History (1930), and was widely accepted as factual. What IS factual though is that Rome committed genocide in sacking Carthage. There was a clear and deliberate plan to destroy every single vestige of the people of Carthage, either through mass slaughter or slavery. There was clear intent to destroy planned and carried out by the duly elected leader of Rome and its armies. It literally doesn't get any more clear than this. Intent was vocally demonstrated by Cato and physically carried out by Scipio. That's it for this week my friend. Thank you for coming with me on this educational foray into the past. We've got some more reviews to read for this week, so let's jump right into them. *Read Reviews* Have a Day! w/ The History Wizard is brought to you by me, The History Wizard. PLease remember to rate, review, and subscribe to Have a Day! On your pod catcher of choice. The more you do, the more people will be able to listen and learn along with you. Thank you for sticking around until the end and, as always, Have a Day.

2022-02-26 Office of Readings Saturday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Hymn Antiphon: Let us praise the Lord for his mercy and for the wonderful things he has done for men. Psalm 107 Antiphon: Men have seen the works of God, the marvels he has done. Psalm 107 Antiphon: Those who love the Lord will see and rejoice; they will understand his loving kindness Psalm 107 First reading: Eccl 11:7-12:14 Responsory: Ps 71:17, 9; Ps 16:11 Second reading: From a commentary on Ecclesiastes by St. Gregory of Agrigentum, bishop Responsory: Ps 34:4, 6; Col 1:12-13 Presentation of the Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) from The Liturgy of the Hours (Four Volumes) (c) 1975, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. The texts of Biblical Readings are reproduced from the New American Bible © 1975

Friday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Hymn Antiphon: I am worn out with crying, with longing for my God. Psalm 69 Antiphon: I needed food and they gave me gall; I was parched with thirst and they gave me vinegar. Psalm 69 Antiphon: Seek the Lord, and you will live. Psalm 69 First reading: Eccl 8:5-9:10 Responsory: 1 Cor 2:9-10; Eccl 8:17 Second reading: From a commentary on Ecclesiastes by St. Gregory of Agrigentum, bishop Responsory: Ps 16:8-9, 5 Presentation of the Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) from The Liturgy of the Hours (Four Volumes) (c) 1975, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. The texts of Biblical Readings are reproduced from the New American Bible © 1975

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Welcome to Episode Eighteen of Lucretius Today.I am your host Cassius, and together with my panelists from the EpicureanFriends.com forum, we'll walk you through the six books of Lucretius' poem, and discuss how Epicurean philosophy can apply to you today. Be aware that none of us are professional philosophers, and everyone here is a self-taught Epicurean. We encourage you to study Epicurus for yourself, and we suggest the best place to start is the book, "Epicurus and His Philosophy" by Canadian professor Norman DeWitt.Before we start with today's episode let me remind you of our three ground rules.First: Our aim is to go back to the original text to bring you an accurate presentation of classical Epicurean philosophy as the ancient Epicureans understood it, not simply repeat for you what passes for conventional wisdom about Epicurus today.Second: We won't be talking about Epicurus from the point of view of modern political perspectives. Epicurus must be understood on his own, and not in terms of competitive schools which may seem similar to Epicurus, but are fundamentally different and incompatible, such as Stoicism, Humanism, Buddhism, Taoism, Atheism, and Marxism.Third: We will be approaching Lucretius exactly as he intended, with the goal of understanding the fundamental nature of the universe as the essential base of Epicurean philosophy. From this perspective you will see that , Epicurus taught neither the pursuit of luxury nor the pursuit of simple living, but the pursuit of pleasure, using feeling as the guide to life, and not supernatural gods, idealism, or virtue ethics. As important as anything else, Epicurus taught that there is no life after death, and that any happiness we will ever have must come in THIS life, which is why it is so important not to waste time in confusion.Remember that our podcast home page is LucretiusToday.com, where you can download a free copy of the versions of the poem we are reading, and our home for discussion of Lucretius and all other aspects of Epicurean philosophy is Epicureanfriends.comNow for today in this Episode 18, we will discuss how just as things are not formed of a single element such as fire, divine or otherwise, all things are also not simply formed from the four classical elements (earth, air, fire, and water).Daniel Brown 1743 Edition:[713] And so do those who doubt the first elements of things, and to produce all beings, join the air to fire, the earth to water, or believe that from all four all beings are produced, and spring from air, and water, earth and fire. The chief of these we rank Empedocles of Agrigentum, born in Sicily, the island famed for its three promontories, whose sides the Ionian sea flows all around, with mighty windings, from whose coast the sea, by a narrow Frith, divides the bounds of Italy. Here is the fierce Charybdis, here Aetna roars, and threatens loud to suck in flames of vengeance, with greater force to belch them out again, burst from his jaws, and throw the flashing fire high as the sky. This island, though renowned by men for many things, and worth their sight, rich in the best advantages of life, by mighty men defended, yet produced nothing more glorious than this one great man, nothing more venerable, admired, and dear. Besides his verse, that from his soul divine flows sweetly, so clearly proves, and so explains the noble secrets he has found, he seems scarce born of human race, but from the gods.[735] Yet he, with others inferior note we named before, remarkably, by great degrees, and much below him, though these have succeeded well in their search, and many things have found as if inspired, and have pronounced their oracles (from the most close recesses of their souls) much more divine, and founded more on reason than Pythia, sacred prophetess, from Tripod, or from Apollo's laurel ever spoke. Yet they have made sad havoc, when they search into the principles of things and fell with this great man's mistakes together with him.[743] And first, because, denying there is void in bodies, they admit of motion, and allow that things are soft or rare; as the air, the sun, the fire, the earth, the creatures, fruits, and yet will mix no empty space in the contexture of bodies that are formed.[747] And then they set no bounds to bodies being divided, nor will admit an end to blows that break their frame; nor will they grant that such a thing as least is found in bodies, when we plainly see that every being has a part, a point that utmost lies, and obvious to our sense, which is the least of all; and thence conclude, that utmost point is that same least in things too small to be discovered by the sight.[754] Besides, these men make their principles of things consist in soft seeds, which we see are born, and altogether mortal in their frame; if so, the whole of things must have returned to nothing, and be again from thence restored; how distant both from truth you have heard before. And then such seeds are many times at war among themselves, and poison to each other, and so will perish in the attack, or fly scattered, as in a tempest we observe the thunder, and the showers and wind disperse.[764] Lastly, if all things from four elements are formed, and into them are finally dissolved, why should they rather the first principles of things be called, than things the principles of them? For they are produced alternately, are ever changing their form and their whole nature mutually into each other; but if by chance you think the body of the fire and earth is joined, that air is joined to water, and this united, each element preserves its nature still entire; nothing from seeds like these could have been formed, not men, nor things inanimate, as trees: for every element in this various heap of matter, ever changing, would display its proper nature still; you'd see air mixed with the earth, and fire and water joined. But the first principles whence things are formed should be in nature close and undiscerned, that nothing might appear which should oppose or jar, and thus prevent the compound body from being uniform, and make it consist of parts dissimilar, confused and void.[782] Besides, philosophers like these derive their transmutation from celestial fire; and first, they make this fire change to air, from air is water formed, the earth from water; and then again, from earth these elements return, first water, then the air, then last the fire. Nor do these constant changes ever cease among themselves, but still proceed from heaven to earth, from earth to stars, that light the world. But the first seeds of things must by no means be thus disposed; for something immutable must needs remain, lest things should utterly to nothing be reduced: For whatsoever suffers change, by passing over the bounds of its first nature, dies, and is no more what it first was. Those elements therefore, which, as we said above, admit of change, must needs consist of other seeds which never can change at all, lest things should utterly to nothing be reduced: Then rather say, there are some certain principles in nature which are the seeds of fire, suppose, and some of these being taken away, or else by adding more, by changing of their order or their motion, they compose the air, and so all other beings may be produced by changes such as these.[803] But you say, that common fact does clearly show that all things grow and rise into the air and are supported by the earth; and unless the season, in happy time, indulges rain, and shakes the trees with driving showers, unless the sun, on his part, cherishes and gives his heat, nor fruits, nor trees, nor creatures could increase. 'Tis true, but these are not first seeds; and we likewise, unless dry food and kindly juice preserve our bodies, they must perish, and every spark of life, out of our nerves and bones, must be extinct. We are upheld, no doubt, and nourished by certain means; and other things are staid by certain others; for many common principles of many things are mixed in each. And therefore, the various kinds of things we find supported in a different manner; but yet it much concerns with what, and in what order, these first seeds unite, and what motion they give and take among themselves; for the same seeds compose heaven, earth, the sea, the rivers, and the sun, the same compose the creatures, fruits, and trees, they differ only as they are moved by others, and as their mixture differs in themselves.[823] So, in these lines of mine, the many letters you see are common to the make and form of many words; and yet, you must confess, the verses and the words are much unlike in sense and sound: Such is the force of letters, by change of order only. But the first seeds of things being more, must needs admit of changes more different; from whence proceeds that great variety of things we see produced.

Tijdens deze aflevering bespreken we de eerste grote slag tussen Rome en Carthago tijdens de slag om Agrigentum. We zien hoe de Romeinen aan de rand van de afgrond komen door een tekort aan voedsel en andere benodigdheden. We zien generaal Hanno en Hannibal Gisco die het de Romeinen behoorlijk lastig maken en we maken voor het eerst kennis met de befaamde en beruchte Numidische cavalerie. (262 v. Chr.)Hier vind je een link naar de website.Hier vind je een link naar de Facebookpagina.

Second reading From a commentary on Ecclesiastes by Saint Gregory of Agrigentum, bishop Approach the Lord and receive his light In the words of Ecclesiastes: Light itself is delightful,and it is a great boon for the eye to have sight of the sun. Devoid of light, the world would be without beauty and life would be lifeless. That was why Moses, who saw God, said in anticipation: And God saw the light and said that it was good. To reflect on the true and eternal light is even more fitting for us. This light is Christ who enlightens every man who comes into the world, the savior and redeemer of the world. He is the one who became man and sank to the very depths of the human condition. As David said: Sing to God a hymn to his name, make a highway for him who rises to the west. His name is the Lord, rejoice before him! This light he called delightful and foretold that it would be good to see the sun of glory. In the days of his incarnation, he said: I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in darkness but will possess the light of life. On another occasion he said: This is the judgment: the light has come into the world. Sunlight, then, is a symbol. What we see with our eyes foretells the coming of the Sun of Justice. He was a most delightful light for those who were worthy to be instructed by him personally. He was also a radiance to those who saw him with their bodily eyes when he lived on earth as a man among men. It was not just any man they saw, for he was true God. He made the blind see, the lame walk, and the deaf hear. He cleansed the lepers, and by a simple command he raised the dead back to life. Now it is our supreme delight to behold him and contemplate his divine splendor with the eyes of our spirit. When we participate in and associate with that beauty, we are enlightened and adorned and this is our delight. We take delight in being saturated with the sweetness of the Spirit, in being clothed in holiness, in achieving wisdom. Finally we are filled with a joy that comes from God and endures through all the days of our earthly life. In the wise words of Ecclesiastes: A man may live for many years, but he will experience happiness throughout his days. For all who gaze upon the Sun of Justice, he is their supreme delight. David spoke of them: Let them be joyful before God and be jubilant with joy. Indeed he even said: Rejoice in the Lord, you who are just, for praise befits those who are upright.

Second reading: From a commentary on Ecclesiastes by Saint Gregory of Agrigentum, bishop Exult, my soul, in the Lord Come, eat your bread in gladness and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for your works have been pleasing to God. If we would interpret this text in its obvious and ordinary sense, it would be correct to call it a righteous exhortation, in which Ecclesiastes counsels us to embrace a simple way of life and to be led by doctrines which involve a genuine faith in God. Then we may eat our bread in gladness and drink our wine with a cheerful heart. We will not fall into slanderous speech nor be involved in anything devious; rather we should think that which is right, and, insofar as we can, we should help the poor and destitute with mercy and generosity, truly dedicated to those pursuits and good deeds which please God. But a spiritual interpretation of the text leads us to a loftier meaning and teaches us to take this as the heavenly and mystical bread, which has come down from heaven, bringing life to the world, and to drink a spiritual wine with a cheerful heart, that wine which flowed from the side of the true vine at the moment of his saving passion. Of this the Gospel of our salvation says: When Jesus had taken bread and had blessed it, he said to his holy disciples and apostles, Take, eat; this is my body which is broken for you for the forgiveness of sins; and in like manner, he took the cup and said, All of you, drink of this: this is my blood of the new covenant, which will be shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. For whoever eats of this bread and drinks this mystical wine enjoys true happiness and rejoices, exclaiming: You have put gladness into my heart. Indeed, I think this is the bread and this is the wine that is referred to in the book of Proverbs by God’s subsistent Wisdom, Christ our Savior, saying: Come, eat my bread and drink the wine I have mixed for you, hereby referring to our mystical sharing in the Word. For those worthy to receive this are ever clothed in the works of light, which shine like a bright light as the Lord says in the Gospel: Let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven. And, indeed, oil appears to flow continually over their heads, the oil that is the Spirit of truth, guarding and preserving them from all the harm of sin.

Welcome back to The Emancipation Podcast Station - the place to hear about history researched and retold through the eyes of Middle school and HS students.   600 BCE - 600 CE Second-Wave Civilizations   Ancient Persia: 600 BCE -  Gabe - Ancient persia or the achaemenid persia which was called this because the ruler cyrus’s great great grandfather's name was achaemenid and he started as a small independant city under the medes for protection and then cyrus got in an argument with his grandfather Astyages and won taking over persia he then established a system by capturing and relocating and adding a power over every city by accomplishing this he claimed the name Cyrus the great Audrey - The Persians didn’t actually use the name “Persian”, instead they called themselves Aryans. They called where they lived Aran (there are other variations of the name) which make the modern version of the name, Iran, probably more accurate. This is similar to how the Greeks referred to their homeland as Hellas, while the name Greece was a Latin idea. Ben - Cyrus, the ruler of Persia then proceeded to conquer various empires such as the Median empire, the Lydian empire in around 540 BCE, and he eventually got his hands on the neo-babylonian empire in 539 BCE. But while Cyrus’s son Cambyses II is out trying to take hold of egypt and libya, another person comes along claiming to be bardiya, Cyrus’s second son. So Cambyses has to rush back to Persia to make sure the throne is not taken from him but dies on the way there. No one really knows how Cambyses or Cyrus died specifically though. (BTW note for other people, shahanshah is pronounced shaw-on-shaw) Ella - Cyrus was a military commander but he realized that he needed the regions he conquered to stay in good economic order if he wanted them to provide him with economic tribute revenues. To achieve his goals he left rulers in the areas that he conquered after he conquered them. Skylar - Persia was one of the greatest empire and civilization in the world. The Achaemenid empire at its peak had about 50 million people. Thats half of the people that were in the world at that time, according to historians. The Achaemenid Dynasty/empire ends when Greece unifies under Philip of Macedon in early to mid century bce. Alexander the Great wanted to mix their cultures but he dies so they split again. Emma - In ancient Mesopotamia when they conquered a nation they would break up their political and cultural systems so that they wouldn’t be a threat. Though when Cyrus came into power he switched it, allowing those he conquered to keep their separate societies in a tributary state. While it seemed like he was being kind, he most likely was trying to keep their loyalty. - Ethan - As Cambyses died in 522 BCE, he was succeeded by a general titled “Darius”. Darius claimed that he was slightly related to Cambyses II but many other people challenged Darius’s throneship. This resulted, in some places, rebellion against the Achaemenids. Darius soon made himself to be the clear ruler Persia and re established rule of the rebels. He also reorganized the empire into satrapies, and for each satrapy there would be a satrap. 600 CE Classical Greece:  Gabe - If you didnt know its called Classical Greece and Ancient Persia because Persia was in the Ancient Era and Greece is in the Classical era so Classical Greece cities were built between mountains in valleys and on coastal plain so by the sea there was a time somewhere around 1200 bce they were in this war called the trojan war there's a story of a huge horse called the trojan horse it was in these wars so in this war this guy named homer he said that people came from the sea while they were having the trojan war and they were attacking them and driving them off the coast so they built these city states called polis which were like fortified cities so the people could have protection Audrey - The Greek Peninsula has been settled by humans for thousands of years, but an important part of Greek history starts when the Mycenaean Empire falls and the Greek Dark Ages begin. It is called the “Dark Ages” because there really aren’t many historical records from that point in time, and that was around 1100-800 BC. The major events happened in the exiting of the Greek Dark Ages, and this is when things that Ancient Greece is really known for began, like the Oracle at Delphi and the Olympic Games. (if someone wants to explain these) Ben - The difference between sparta and athens was that in sparta social status wasn’t decided based on how much money you had or how smart you were, it was about your military ranking. The spartans political system was unique in that it had two kings that were from different families that ruled. But on the lower side of the political rankings was the helots. Helots were like slaves but had more freedom, helots still had families but they had to work for the state and couldn’t really do anything else. Helots were still considered owned but they were owned by the state. Helots were collected from the villages sparta pillaged. Emma - Greece’s structure was was pretty different from other societies at the time. While the desperate colonies(?) all recognized the “mother” city-state, they were all independent for the majority of the time. Their shared religion and culture was what gave them all a sense of unity. Ella - Ancient Greece was made up of many independent city states because of Greeces complicated geography. All of these communities were separated by mountains, hills, and water. Greece wasn't a unified nation, instead it was a bunch of connected communities that shared religion and beliefs. - Ethan - The kings of Sparta were priests of Zeus and they were included in a gerousia, or council of elders, which was the highest court of Sparta. Also, there was an executive committee consisting of 5 ephors which were chosen by the people, of the people. Skylar - The name Greece is not what people that live in Greece call it. They call it Hellas. Nowadays they don’t call it Greece and back in the “Ancient Greece” days they didn’t say Greece they said Hellas. The word Hellas comes from Hellen, viewed as the progenitor. The Hellastic people are the people that live in Greece. In late 6th century BCE Athens was the dominant economic power. Athens was full of wealth as silver was just founded in the mountains around the area. Athens had an amazing trading system with other Greek city-states. Trading with other city-states was super  important to Athens because it didn’t have the agricultural conditions to supply enough grain for its population. A series of laws were written and put in place by a statesman named Draco around 621 BCE. They didn’t stay too long because they were super harsh. Another man named Solon was called to change the laws, he created a series of laws that equalized political power. Hunter- Ancient Greece consisted of over hundreds of different independent city-states, somewhat due to the geography of Greece. Greece communities were separated by mountains, hills, and water. Rather than one large nation, Ancient Greece was more like a system of communities with a shared language and religion that sometimes led to a common sense of belonging.    600 BCE - 600 CE The rise and fall of empires:  Gabe - I'm going to start by saying an empire is a small city or state that claims a large amount of land which is usually broke up into provinces  empires rise and fall for different reasons they usually expand through military conquest which is how the romans the persians and the Maurya empire in india expanded but they progressed in different ways the Maurya empire political sabotage and religious conversion so the people turn against their own country Audrey - An empire forms when a ruler, that already controls some territory, gains control of more territory for whatever reason, and that could be from military tactics, a weak neighboring area or really anything like that. Once the ruler has that territory under their control, they gain land and people. With the power they now have, this ruler could tax the people for their own wealth and/or use them for a better army. The empire could then keep expanding in this way until it collapsed. Ben - After the fall of the Qin dynasty the Han empire began to rise because of all the power that was up for grabs. The Han dynasty began in 206 BCE. They revived the way of Confucianism to unite the people and give them more reasons to fight and become a larger empire. Han china started to fall in 2nd century CE and eventually reached its demise in 220 CE, it mainly fell because of a religious divide between the people and the natural disasters that caused food shortages which snowballed into a bad economy. Ella - Empires all grow for different reasons whether its strong military, political sabotage, or religious conversation, but the Romans were not out to conquer territory. They did get involved in several wars but after they defeated their enemies they would offer their victims a small amount of citizenship in return for loyalty to the Roman empire.    Emma - There are also several different factors that can lead to the fall of an empire. Each of these factors will usually reflect those that led to the rise of the empire. Things such as a economic collapse, the weakening of military forces, or the death/assassination of a leader are common causes of a fall. - Ethan - A common example of an empire falling is Persia. The Achaemenid empire had internal issues already but had structure still. In 334 BCE Alexander attacked and in 4 years general Darius the Third lied dead. He was actually killed by one of his own generals and when the throne lied empty Alexander took the reins. Skylar - The rise of empires is great everyone’s all happy, then usually right when everything gets normal, the empire falls for different reasons. Rather it’s they have no more money, they get taken over by another empire, or another reason. The Roman empire took hundreds of years to create. They had weak neighbors so it was easy for them to take over that area. Hunter-The fall of an empire can be because of an outbreak of war and rebellion, when an empire falls so does its military for a few months to years in which leaves them wide open for follow up attacks. Normally however when an empire is defeated it is overrun by the kingdom/empire that attacked. 600 BCE - 600 CE Empire of Alexander the Great:  Gabe - Alexander the great was kind of an i want everything kind of guy no but wherever he went he conquered very good at military strategy lets skip a little real quick after he died his successors made a coin with him on it with horns which were marking him as a deity which means he was a huge role model you could say a symbol of power he was the man people looked up to he was actually only 5 to round 5’8 but that was normal for them because they didn't eat as much meat as other empires. Audrey - Alexander III, better known as Alexander the Great, was 20 years old when his extremely short reign began, lasting only 12 years. For how short his reign was, Alexander was very successful, especially when it came to conquering. Just like his reign, Alexander’s life was very short, ending in 323 BC when he was only 32 years old. Some people say he died from alcohol poisoning, some say it was from direct poisoning, but it is likely that he could have died because of a disease. Ella - A man known as Philip of Macedon came to power in 359 BC. His father had previously been the king of Macedon. Both of his older brother died which left him to be a regent for his infant nephew. He eventually possessed full power and ended up taking over a large majority of Greek city-states. He went on to almost unify all of them. Ben - Philip is later killed at his daughter’s wedding, by his royal bodyguard Pausanias in 336 BCE at the capital of macedonia, Aegae. This caused his son alexander to take control of the large kingdom that philip left behind. The one who assassinated tried to run away to his associates outside but tripped on a vine and got killed by philips. bodyguards Emma - Shortly after his father’s death, Alexander was crowned king and he eliminated any potential threats to his rule. The Greek city-states were now under his control. He then began his conquest of the Persian Empire which his father Philip had been planning before his untimely demise. Skylar - in 5th century BCE Greece started with the Persian invasion and ended with Peloponnesian war. Alexander the Great was one of the most powerful conquers in human history. Alexander the Great started off by taking control over his father’s empire after his death. Alexander wanted to do what his father wanted to do before he died, which was conquer the persian empire. So he put one of his generals, Antipater in charger of Greece. Alexander leads his troops on the greatest adventures of all time. Alexander won the battle at Granicus river, then Issus, Darius the third tries to negotiate but Alexander kept saying no, he wants to be the king of Asia. Eventually darius and alexander meet at Guagamela and alexander wins again. Darius’ empire was falling and what making the falling more official is when alexander takes his troops to Achaemenid, which is the capital of Persepolis and alexander defeats them once again. - Ethan - After Alexander’s father’s death, Alexander started focusing on India. He won some battles before he made it to the Ganges River. He planned to cross the Ganges to get to the rest of India. His tired troops decided that it was to much work and that they were already tired so they refused to go. In the end they turned home, and in 323 BCE, Alexander died to, what was most likely, disease.  Hunter- In the Kingdom of Thrace, during the reign of Lysimachus- a successor of Alexander the Great who lived from 361 BCE to 323 BCE, a coin was issued. The coin had Alexander’s face with ram horns on each side of his crown, the ram horns were a symbol of an Egyption God known as Amun or Zeus, who is often combined with Amun- from whom Alexander claimed descent. Flanked with these horns, Alexander had the reputation of a Deity.     600 BCE - 600 CE Rise of Rome: 600 BCE -  Gabe - the Rome empire came to power when  a group of noblemen were like ok the king sucks he's out and so they kicked him out and made the two consuls which were two people which were pretty close to a king except one could veto the others actions this was so one person could not be oh so powerful They also split the people into plebeians and patricians which were plebeians being common folk and patricians being people of noble blood This was the roman republic    Audrey - Legend has it, Rome was named after Romulus, one of twin brothers that are abandoned and raised by a “she-wolf”. Eventually, Romulus kills Remus (his twin brother) and becomes the first king of Rome. Other historians now think that it was the other way around, that the city of rome needed a founding story, and the whole thing was just that, a story. Ben - Rome was founded in 753 BCE (even though it’s mostly a myth and most believe in was founded a little later). Rome then founds the Rome Republic, a state in central rome, making them a little more influential in 509 BCE. Then much later than that the Punic wars happened between Rome and Carthage and consisted of three wars. The first war took place from 264-241 BCE, the second from 218-201 BCE, and the third from 149-146 BCE. in total it lasted from 264 to 146. Rome ended up winning and destroying and conquering Carthage. Ella - The Romans did not plan to build an empire but it came upon them as they ran into conflict with the surrounding city-states, kingdoms, and empires. They had to find a way to use the territories they conquered.  Most of the places the Romans conquered were allowed to keep the political and cultural ways they had, the only requirement was that they provide soldiers for the Roman Empire. Emma - The politics of Rome reflected the structure of their society; it too was divided into the two social classes, patricians and plebeians. Those in the upper class were allowed to hold political office, and then become a senator, but those of the lower class were not. However, the plebeians were able gain more political influence over time. - Ethan - The political system of Rome was mainly based on military rank/power. The “Comitia Centuriata” which was named for the century, was pretty much a group of 100 soldiers. Although, this 100 person unit was the base amount of people, it was not always exact in real situations. Skylar - I’m going to talk about the Punic wars that went on between Rome and Carthage. The Punic wars consist of three major battles, The first one lasted 23 years, from 264 BCE-241 BCE. It was at Agrigentum it was over the island of Sicily. Rome wins most smaller battles. Then Carthage leaves. Rome wanted Carthage to pay them for the damages. Rome built a stronger navy. 240 to 248 BCE there was a Mercenary war. The second Punic war was between 218-201 BCE. The third and final war was between 149-146 BCE where Rome basically destroys Carthage, ending a 700 year long war. 8.Hunter- Rome went from a city in the middle of the italy peninsula to one of the strongest empires in history. 600 CE From Roman Republic to Roman Empire:  Gabe - in 27 bce a guy named augustus caesar came and was like nope im the ruler “emperor” so basically the king and he started an autocratic government which is where he was the guy who called all the shots he didn't expand rome much in his time but he did do some things that changed the political and economic structure of rome      Audrey - Gaius Julius Caesar’s life really marked the transition between the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, even though, in his lifetime, Rome was still a republic and never actually considered an empire. The reason I say this is the unofficial time that the transition occurred is, that at the time of Julius Caesar, the Roman Republic’s structure very much resembled the structure of an empire, so it kind of seems like it already switched. Ben - Julius Caesar then illegally crosses the rubicon and most of rome’s senators choose to move over to greece. This causes a sort of civil war between rome and greece. After Julius crosses the rubicon the senators send a popular general Pompey to go fight with his soldiers but they decide to retreat because they thought julius’s army was unbeatable. Then the other senators also retreat, giving julius control of rome again. But it would be only a matter of time before the senators return to try and retake rome. Ella - Julius Caesar was assassinated, and in his will he stated that his nephew Octavian would be his adopted son. Too other men Antony and Lepidus were big supporters of Caesars and they got together with Octavian to form a triumvirate, which was known as the second triumvirate. Unlike the first triumvirate which was between Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus, this triumvirate had legal backing. These three men gained lots of power over the Roman republic. Emma -  The power he gained was not limited to the prolonged time in which he held office. A major part of it was that he now had complete control over the military, unlike before when the elected consuls served as commanders. He was also now the high priest, or Pontifex Maximus, and in charge of the census for taxation. He kept these powers by acting like they were still separate offices that could be held by someone else.  - Ethan - Roman money/currency wasn’t exactly economy based but politically based as well. Julius Caesar was the first emperor to put his face on currency and since then emperors of Rome have done this. Before Caesar, only deceased Romans and Roman gods were on currency. This strengthened the connection of the emperor and the economy while popularizing the current emperor. These emperors used this systems to popularize the next candidate they favored. Skylar - The Roman Empire began in 27 BCE when Augustus became the main ruler. Augustus is Julius Caesar’s adopted son. He never took the name king or emperor preferred to call himself princeps, first citizen, or primus inter pares. Augustus never expanded the territory because it was already as big as it could possibly get. 8.Hunter- The Roman Republic was a small city in Italy, after a large military growth and a gaining of power over many neighboring countries the Roman Republic quickly grew to the Roman Empire. 600 BCE - 600 CE The Roman Empire: Audrey - Pax Romana is a name that a two hundred year long time period is often referred to as, and it means “Roman Peace”. This name came from the time when Octavian was emperor, which was from 27 BCE to 180 CE. It was a relatively good time for the Roman Empire, even though there was still quite a bit of conflict it was really a pretty peaceful time hence the name. Gabe - it was a good time for the roman empire augustus caesar or Octavian had complete control over the military which was one of the ways he became the emperor But the romans liked the belief of having military governments temporary which is why He took control as a stand in governor of one of the provinces where the majority of roman legions were stationed giving him control over the military while still looking like he’s doing a favor for the people        Ella - Nero was a really bad guy. He was known for the fire in 64AD that a large amount of Romans died in. People think Nero started the fire to make room for a palace. Aside of that, he killed a lot of people including his own mom. He was also known for persecuting christians. Sometimes he would dip them in oil and set them on fire for a source of light in his garden.   Ben - After a few different anti-christian ruler come along, a new emperor decides to embrace christianity and his name was constantine. He was the first christian emperor and he even got baptised. Constantine also moves the capital more east and renames it to Constantinople. - Ethan - Augustus was followed by Tiberius who was Augustus’s step-son. Both had relatively long careers as emperors. Augustus had a career lasting close to 40 years while Tiberius had a 24 year long career. Caligula, one of Augustus’s great nephews, was viewed as a sadist. While he was emperor for a while he was quickly assassinated, he had a lot of people killed during his term of about 4 years.  Emma - After the Julio Claudian Dynasty of Rome came the Flavian Dynasty. This dynasty began in 69 AD when Vespasian was made emperor by the senate after the defeat of Vitellius. He ruled for ten years until 79 AD when he died. He was then succeeded by his oldest son, Titus. This marked the first emperor of Rome to be followed by his own son. He ruled for only two years, until 81 AD when he died from an illness. His rule was then followed by his brother Domitian who held the position from 81 to 96 AD. This dynasty was known for building the colosseum and the destruction of the second temple in Jerusalem. Skylar - One of the most important pieces from Augustan, Rome is the Ara Pacis, Ara Pacis means altar of peace. Augustus was the first emperor of Rome. The Ara Pacis was basically rebuilt from the fragments they found, some from the 17th century, but most were from the 20th century. The altar was used for sacrifices. This Altar has a political and spiritual meaning. 8.Hunter- The Roman Empire was an extremely powerful empire capturing Jerusalem, Cannan, and i believe nearly one hundred other provinces. 600 BCE - 600 CE Ancient and Imperial China: Audrey - The Shang Dynasty ended in 1046 BCE, when the Zhou (pronounced jo) Dynasty defeated the last Shang emperor, Di Xin, in the Battle of Muye. Historical records show that Di Xin had become a corrupt ruler, and the Zhous said they could only overthrow him because of the Mandate of Heaven which is an idea that if a ruler became incapable or corrupt the a guiding force in the universe would throw them out and replace them. Gabe - Zhou empire did not last long though because the provinces were giving their support to the governor basically of their providence instead of the zhou emperor so slowly the states became more powerful than the emperor himself hence the warring states period      3.Ella - The Zhou Dynasty collapsed at a slow pace over hundreds of years. As this happened, rulers of the surrounding areas gained more power than the king. This was the beginning of a period that was known as the Warring State period, which lasted from about 475 BC to 221 BC. Nearby, Qin, a western state, conquered its surrounding states and established their own dynasty. Ben - The Qin dynasty began to rise to it’s empire state in 221 BCE. The founder was Qin Shi Huang, a legalist (legalist is when law is enforced very strictly) that hated freedom of expression and freedom in general. A historian quoted him once about how he hates historians and wants all non-state historians that wrote history before Qin dynasty to be burned. “[Historians] hold it a mark of fame to defy the ruler, regard it as lofty to take a dissenting stance, and they lead the lesser officials in fabricating slander. If behavior such as this is not prohibited, then in upper circles the authority of the ruler will be compromised, and in lower ones, cliques will form. Therefore it should be prohibited. I therefore request that all records of the historians other than those of the state of Qin be burned.” - Ethan - Many differing beliefs are made vocal during this time period. 3 of which are Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism. Confucianism, created by Confucius, was based on reform of the status, class, and hierarchy systems. Legalism is more based off of strict laws and harsh punishments. Daoism is more of lawless following what they believe is right at the time. Emma - Confucius, or Kongzi which means Master Kong. His teachings were almost entirely based around morality and having a personal sense of right and wrong. He wasn’t really teaching specific rules of what was good or bad, rather teaching people be conscious of the intent behind their actions. Skylar - During the Warring States period in China from 475-221 BCE China was divided into seven competing nations. The fiefs were gaining more importance as the Zhou dynasty was ending and were becoming states. One of the 7 states were Qin. the other 6 states were Chu, Zhou, Wei, Han, Yan, and Qi. The first leader of Qin was King Zheng, later on he became Qin Shi Huangdi, he would also go on to be the first leader of the Qin dynasty. People say that the Qin dynasty ended the warring states period but it was really when Qin conquested the other states. 8. 600 BCE - 600 CE Early Judaism: Audrey - Judaism stands out to historians because the Jews were monotheists, meaning they believed and worshiped only one God. This made the Jews unique to most other societies which were polytheistic and worshiped multiple Gods. Gabe - The jews lived in the kingdoms of israel and judah the assyrians conquered these two empires and then the babylonians which was called the babylonian exile which sent allot of the jews out of these kingdoms 3 . Ella - In the Hebrew bible, It talks about Abraham moving from the city of Ur to Canaan with his family. It is Questionable whether  the Ur they are talking about was the Sumatran city in lower Mesopotamia or a Ur in Upper Mesopotamia. Ben - One of the most important jewish prophets was Moses. Moses was born at a time where the emperor was killing off every boy that is born because of his fear that if they grew too strong they would overtake him. To hide Moses from the emperor’s forces his mother put him in a basket and let him float down the river. The emperor/pharaoh’s daughter finds moses and raises him into the royal family, moses one day is enraged by a slaver beating a jewish slave and kills the slavemaster and retreats out of the city in fear of punishment. He goes to Mount Sinai but the Lord tells him to go back and free every Jewish slave. So he goes back and frees them and splits the red sea to escape. He brings the people back to the mountain where he receives the ten commandments. They then travel for 40 years and he reestablishes the jewish people in Canaan. - Ethan - Jews lived under Roman rulers while still being allowed their own traditions. There was some Jewish revolting but mainly they were crushed every time. Soon after the Romans renamed Judea into Syria Palaestina. This destroyed the connection of the Jews to the land. Skylar - Abraham is one of the significant patriarchs, the other two are Jacob and Isaac. Abraham’s first son is called Ishmael. He had Ishmael with his wife sarah’s servant because they didn’t think they could have kids. Ishmael is viewed as the progenitor, the patriarch for the arab people. According to biblical accounts Isaac was born when Sarah was in her 90s and Abraham was around 100 years old. Emma - Abraham’s son Isaac was the second significant patriarch. He was the first one of the three to inherit the covenant that his father Abraham had received. Later in his life he married Rebekah who gave birth to their twin sons Jacob and Esau, Jacob being the last of the three patriarchs.   That’s all the time we have for today. THank for joining us outside of the box that is learning.

Welcome back to The Emancipation Podcast Station - the place to hear about history researched and retold through the eyes of Middle school and HS students.   600 BCE - 600 CE Second-Wave Civilizations   Ancient Persia: 600 BCE -  Gabe - Ancient persia or the achaemenid persia which was called this because the ruler cyrus’s great great grandfather's name was achaemenid and he started as a small independant city under the medes for protection and then cyrus got in an argument with his grandfather Astyages and won taking over persia he then established a system by capturing and relocating and adding a power over every city by accomplishing this he claimed the name Cyrus the great Audrey - The Persians didn’t actually use the name “Persian”, instead they called themselves Aryans. They called where they lived Aran (there are other variations of the name) which make the modern version of the name, Iran, probably more accurate. This is similar to how the Greeks referred to their homeland as Hellas, while the name Greece was a Latin idea. Ben - Cyrus, the ruler of Persia then proceeded to conquer various empires such as the Median empire, the Lydian empire in around 540 BCE, and he eventually got his hands on the neo-babylonian empire in 539 BCE. But while Cyrus’s son Cambyses II is out trying to take hold of egypt and libya, another person comes along claiming to be bardiya, Cyrus’s second son. So Cambyses has to rush back to Persia to make sure the throne is not taken from him but dies on the way there. No one really knows how Cambyses or Cyrus died specifically though. (BTW note for other people, shahanshah is pronounced shaw-on-shaw) Ella - Cyrus was a military commander but he realized that he needed the regions he conquered to stay in good economic order if he wanted them to provide him with economic tribute revenues. To achieve his goals he left rulers in the areas that he conquered after he conquered them. Skylar - Persia was one of the greatest empire and civilization in the world. The Achaemenid empire at its peak had about 50 million people. Thats half of the people that were in the world at that time, according to historians. The Achaemenid Dynasty/empire ends when Greece unifies under Philip of Macedon in early to mid century bce. Alexander the Great wanted to mix their cultures but he dies so they split again. Emma - In ancient Mesopotamia when they conquered a nation they would break up their political and cultural systems so that they wouldn’t be a threat. Though when Cyrus came into power he switched it, allowing those he conquered to keep their separate societies in a tributary state. While it seemed like he was being kind, he most likely was trying to keep their loyalty. - Ethan - As Cambyses died in 522 BCE, he was succeeded by a general titled “Darius”. Darius claimed that he was slightly related to Cambyses II but many other people challenged Darius’s throneship. This resulted, in some places, rebellion against the Achaemenids. Darius soon made himself to be the clear ruler Persia and re established rule of the rebels. He also reorganized the empire into satrapies, and for each satrapy there would be a satrap. 600 CE Classical Greece:  Gabe - If you didnt know its called Classical Greece and Ancient Persia because Persia was in the Ancient Era and Greece is in the Classical era so Classical Greece cities were built between mountains in valleys and on coastal plain so by the sea there was a time somewhere around 1200 bce they were in this war called the trojan war there's a story of a huge horse called the trojan horse it was in these wars so in this war this guy named homer he said that people came from the sea while they were having the trojan war and they were attacking them and driving them off the coast so they built these city states called polis which were like fortified cities so the people could have protection Audrey - The Greek Peninsula has been settled by humans for thousands of years, but an important part of Greek history starts when the Mycenaean Empire falls and the Greek Dark Ages begin. It is called the “Dark Ages” because there really aren’t many historical records from that point in time, and that was around 1100-800 BC. The major events happened in the exiting of the Greek Dark Ages, and this is when things that Ancient Greece is really known for began, like the Oracle at Delphi and the Olympic Games. (if someone wants to explain these) Ben - The difference between sparta and athens was that in sparta social status wasn’t decided based on how much money you had or how smart you were, it was about your military ranking. The spartans political system was unique in that it had two kings that were from different families that ruled. But on the lower side of the political rankings was the helots. Helots were like slaves but had more freedom, helots still had families but they had to work for the state and couldn’t really do anything else. Helots were still considered owned but they were owned by the state. Helots were collected from the villages sparta pillaged. Emma - Greece’s structure was was pretty different from other societies at the time. While the desperate colonies(?) all recognized the “mother” city-state, they were all independent for the majority of the time. Their shared religion and culture was what gave them all a sense of unity. Ella - Ancient Greece was made up of many independent city states because of Greeces complicated geography. All of these communities were separated by mountains, hills, and water. Greece wasn't a unified nation, instead it was a bunch of connected communities that shared religion and beliefs. - Ethan - The kings of Sparta were priests of Zeus and they were included in a gerousia, or council of elders, which was the highest court of Sparta. Also, there was an executive committee consisting of 5 ephors which were chosen by the people, of the people. Skylar - The name Greece is not what people that live in Greece call it. They call it Hellas. Nowadays they don’t call it Greece and back in the “Ancient Greece” days they didn’t say Greece they said Hellas. The word Hellas comes from Hellen, viewed as the progenitor. The Hellastic people are the people that live in Greece. In late 6th century BCE Athens was the dominant economic power. Athens was full of wealth as silver was just founded in the mountains around the area. Athens had an amazing trading system with other Greek city-states. Trading with other city-states was super  important to Athens because it didn’t have the agricultural conditions to supply enough grain for its population. A series of laws were written and put in place by a statesman named Draco around 621 BCE. They didn’t stay too long because they were super harsh. Another man named Solon was called to change the laws, he created a series of laws that equalized political power. Hunter- Ancient Greece consisted of over hundreds of different independent city-states, somewhat due to the geography of Greece. Greece communities were separated by mountains, hills, and water. Rather than one large nation, Ancient Greece was more like a system of communities with a shared language and religion that sometimes led to a common sense of belonging.    600 BCE - 600 CE The rise and fall of empires:  Gabe - I'm going to start by saying an empire is a small city or state that claims a large amount of land which is usually broke up into provinces  empires rise and fall for different reasons they usually expand through military conquest which is how the romans the persians and the Maurya empire in india expanded but they progressed in different ways the Maurya empire political sabotage and religious conversion so the people turn against their own country Audrey - An empire forms when a ruler, that already controls some territory, gains control of more territory for whatever reason, and that could be from military tactics, a weak neighboring area or really anything like that. Once the ruler has that territory under their control, they gain land and people. With the power they now have, this ruler could tax the people for their own wealth and/or use them for a better army. The empire could then keep expanding in this way until it collapsed. Ben - After the fall of the Qin dynasty the Han empire began to rise because of all the power that was up for grabs. The Han dynasty began in 206 BCE. They revived the way of Confucianism to unite the people and give them more reasons to fight and become a larger empire. Han china started to fall in 2nd century CE and eventually reached its demise in 220 CE, it mainly fell because of a religious divide between the people and the natural disasters that caused food shortages which snowballed into a bad economy. Ella - Empires all grow for different reasons whether its strong military, political sabotage, or religious conversation, but the Romans were not out to conquer territory. They did get involved in several wars but after they defeated their enemies they would offer their victims a small amount of citizenship in return for loyalty to the Roman empire.    Emma - There are also several different factors that can lead to the fall of an empire. Each of these factors will usually reflect those that led to the rise of the empire. Things such as a economic collapse, the weakening of military forces, or the death/assassination of a leader are common causes of a fall. - Ethan - A common example of an empire falling is Persia. The Achaemenid empire had internal issues already but had structure still. In 334 BCE Alexander attacked and in 4 years general Darius the Third lied dead. He was actually killed by one of his own generals and when the throne lied empty Alexander took the reins. Skylar - The rise of empires is great everyone’s all happy, then usually right when everything gets normal, the empire falls for different reasons. Rather it’s they have no more money, they get taken over by another empire, or another reason. The Roman empire took hundreds of years to create. They had weak neighbors so it was easy for them to take over that area. Hunter-The fall of an empire can be because of an outbreak of war and rebellion, when an empire falls so does its military for a few months to years in which leaves them wide open for follow up attacks. Normally however when an empire is defeated it is overrun by the kingdom/empire that attacked. 600 BCE - 600 CE Empire of Alexander the Great:  Gabe - Alexander the great was kind of an i want everything kind of guy no but wherever he went he conquered very good at military strategy lets skip a little real quick after he died his successors made a coin with him on it with horns which were marking him as a deity which means he was a huge role model you could say a symbol of power he was the man people looked up to he was actually only 5 to round 5’8 but that was normal for them because they didn't eat as much meat as other empires. Audrey - Alexander III, better known as Alexander the Great, was 20 years old when his extremely short reign began, lasting only 12 years. For how short his reign was, Alexander was very successful, especially when it came to conquering. Just like his reign, Alexander’s life was very short, ending in 323 BC when he was only 32 years old. Some people say he died from alcohol poisoning, some say it was from direct poisoning, but it is likely that he could have died because of a disease. Ella - A man known as Philip of Macedon came to power in 359 BC. His father had previously been the king of Macedon. Both of his older brother died which left him to be a regent for his infant nephew. He eventually possessed full power and ended up taking over a large majority of Greek city-states. He went on to almost unify all of them. Ben - Philip is later killed at his daughter’s wedding, by his royal bodyguard Pausanias in 336 BCE at the capital of macedonia, Aegae. This caused his son alexander to take control of the large kingdom that philip left behind. The one who assassinated tried to run away to his associates outside but tripped on a vine and got killed by philips. bodyguards Emma - Shortly after his father’s death, Alexander was crowned king and he eliminated any potential threats to his rule. The Greek city-states were now under his control. He then began his conquest of the Persian Empire which his father Philip had been planning before his untimely demise. Skylar - in 5th century BCE Greece started with the Persian invasion and ended with Peloponnesian war. Alexander the Great was one of the most powerful conquers in human history. Alexander the Great started off by taking control over his father’s empire after his death. Alexander wanted to do what his father wanted to do before he died, which was conquer the persian empire. So he put one of his generals, Antipater in charger of Greece. Alexander leads his troops on the greatest adventures of all time. Alexander won the battle at Granicus river, then Issus, Darius the third tries to negotiate but Alexander kept saying no, he wants to be the king of Asia. Eventually darius and alexander meet at Guagamela and alexander wins again. Darius’ empire was falling and what making the falling more official is when alexander takes his troops to Achaemenid, which is the capital of Persepolis and alexander defeats them once again. - Ethan - After Alexander’s father’s death, Alexander started focusing on India. He won some battles before he made it to the Ganges River. He planned to cross the Ganges to get to the rest of India. His tired troops decided that it was to much work and that they were already tired so they refused to go. In the end they turned home, and in 323 BCE, Alexander died to, what was most likely, disease.  Hunter- In the Kingdom of Thrace, during the reign of Lysimachus- a successor of Alexander the Great who lived from 361 BCE to 323 BCE, a coin was issued. The coin had Alexander’s face with ram horns on each side of his crown, the ram horns were a symbol of an Egyption God known as Amun or Zeus, who is often combined with Amun- from whom Alexander claimed descent. Flanked with these horns, Alexander had the reputation of a Deity.     600 BCE - 600 CE Rise of Rome: 600 BCE -  Gabe - the Rome empire came to power when  a group of noblemen were like ok the king sucks he's out and so they kicked him out and made the two consuls which were two people which were pretty close to a king except one could veto the others actions this was so one person could not be oh so powerful They also split the people into plebeians and patricians which were plebeians being common folk and patricians being people of noble blood This was the roman republic    Audrey - Legend has it, Rome was named after Romulus, one of twin brothers that are abandoned and raised by a “she-wolf”. Eventually, Romulus kills Remus (his twin brother) and becomes the first king of Rome. Other historians now think that it was the other way around, that the city of rome needed a founding story, and the whole thing was just that, a story. Ben - Rome was founded in 753 BCE (even though it’s mostly a myth and most believe in was founded a little later). Rome then founds the Rome Republic, a state in central rome, making them a little more influential in 509 BCE. Then much later than that the Punic wars happened between Rome and Carthage and consisted of three wars. The first war took place from 264-241 BCE, the second from 218-201 BCE, and the third from 149-146 BCE. in total it lasted from 264 to 146. Rome ended up winning and destroying and conquering Carthage. Ella - The Romans did not plan to build an empire but it came upon them as they ran into conflict with the surrounding city-states, kingdoms, and empires. They had to find a way to use the territories they conquered.  Most of the places the Romans conquered were allowed to keep the political and cultural ways they had, the only requirement was that they provide soldiers for the Roman Empire. Emma - The politics of Rome reflected the structure of their society; it too was divided into the two social classes, patricians and plebeians. Those in the upper class were allowed to hold political office, and then become a senator, but those of the lower class were not. However, the plebeians were able gain more political influence over time. - Ethan - The political system of Rome was mainly based on military rank/power. The “Comitia Centuriata” which was named for the century, was pretty much a group of 100 soldiers. Although, this 100 person unit was the base amount of people, it was not always exact in real situations. Skylar - I’m going to talk about the Punic wars that went on between Rome and Carthage. The Punic wars consist of three major battles, The first one lasted 23 years, from 264 BCE-241 BCE. It was at Agrigentum it was over the island of Sicily. Rome wins most smaller battles. Then Carthage leaves. Rome wanted Carthage to pay them for the damages. Rome built a stronger navy. 240 to 248 BCE there was a Mercenary war. The second Punic war was between 218-201 BCE. The third and final war was between 149-146 BCE where Rome basically destroys Carthage, ending a 700 year long war. 8.Hunter- Rome went from a city in the middle of the italy peninsula to one of the strongest empires in history. 600 CE From Roman Republic to Roman Empire:  Gabe - in 27 bce a guy named augustus caesar came and was like nope im the ruler “emperor” so basically the king and he started an autocratic government which is where he was the guy who called all the shots he didn't expand rome much in his time but he did do some things that changed the political and economic structure of rome      Audrey - Gaius Julius Caesar’s life really marked the transition between the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, even though, in his lifetime, Rome was still a republic and never actually considered an empire. The reason I say this is the unofficial time that the transition occurred is, that at the time of Julius Caesar, the Roman Republic’s structure very much resembled the structure of an empire, so it kind of seems like it already switched. Ben - Julius Caesar then illegally crosses the rubicon and most of rome’s senators choose to move over to greece. This causes a sort of civil war between rome and greece. After Julius crosses the rubicon the senators send a popular general Pompey to go fight with his soldiers but they decide to retreat because they thought julius’s army was unbeatable. Then the other senators also retreat, giving julius control of rome again. But it would be only a matter of time before the senators return to try and retake rome. Ella - Julius Caesar was assassinated, and in his will he stated that his nephew Octavian would be his adopted son. Too other men Antony and Lepidus were big supporters of Caesars and they got together with Octavian to form a triumvirate, which was known as the second triumvirate. Unlike the first triumvirate which was between Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus, this triumvirate had legal backing. These three men gained lots of power over the Roman republic. Emma -  The power he gained was not limited to the prolonged time in which he held office. A major part of it was that he now had complete control over the military, unlike before when the elected consuls served as commanders. He was also now the high priest, or Pontifex Maximus, and in charge of the census for taxation. He kept these powers by acting like they were still separate offices that could be held by someone else.  - Ethan - Roman money/currency wasn’t exactly economy based but politically based as well. Julius Caesar was the first emperor to put his face on currency and since then emperors of Rome have done this. Before Caesar, only deceased Romans and Roman gods were on currency. This strengthened the connection of the emperor and the economy while popularizing the current emperor. These emperors used this systems to popularize the next candidate they favored. Skylar - The Roman Empire began in 27 BCE when Augustus became the main ruler. Augustus is Julius Caesar’s adopted son. He never took the name king or emperor preferred to call himself princeps, first citizen, or primus inter pares. Augustus never expanded the territory because it was already as big as it could possibly get. 8.Hunter- The Roman Republic was a small city in Italy, after a large military growth and a gaining of power over many neighboring countries the Roman Republic quickly grew to the Roman Empire. 600 BCE - 600 CE The Roman Empire: Audrey - Pax Romana is a name that a two hundred year long time period is often referred to as, and it means “Roman Peace”. This name came from the time when Octavian was emperor, which was from 27 BCE to 180 CE. It was a relatively good time for the Roman Empire, even though there was still quite a bit of conflict it was really a pretty peaceful time hence the name. Gabe - it was a good time for the roman empire augustus caesar or Octavian had complete control over the military which was one of the ways he became the emperor But the romans liked the belief of having military governments temporary which is why He took control as a stand in governor of one of the provinces where the majority of roman legions were stationed giving him control over the military while still looking like he’s doing a favor for the people        Ella - Nero was a really bad guy. He was known for the fire in 64AD that a large amount of Romans died in. People think Nero started the fire to make room for a palace. Aside of that, he killed a lot of people including his own mom. He was also known for persecuting christians. Sometimes he would dip them in oil and set them on fire for a source of light in his garden.   Ben - After a few different anti-christian ruler come along, a new emperor decides to embrace christianity and his name was constantine. He was the first christian emperor and he even got baptised. Constantine also moves the capital more east and renames it to Constantinople. - Ethan - Augustus was followed by Tiberius who was Augustus’s step-son. Both had relatively long careers as emperors. Augustus had a career lasting close to 40 years while Tiberius had a 24 year long career. Caligula, one of Augustus’s great nephews, was viewed as a sadist. While he was emperor for a while he was quickly assassinated, he had a lot of people killed during his term of about 4 years.  Emma - After the Julio Claudian Dynasty of Rome came the Flavian Dynasty. This dynasty began in 69 AD when Vespasian was made emperor by the senate after the defeat of Vitellius. He ruled for ten years until 79 AD when he died. He was then succeeded by his oldest son, Titus. This marked the first emperor of Rome to be followed by his own son. He ruled for only two years, until 81 AD when he died from an illness. His rule was then followed by his brother Domitian who held the position from 81 to 96 AD. This dynasty was known for building the colosseum and the destruction of the second temple in Jerusalem. Skylar - One of the most important pieces from Augustan, Rome is the Ara Pacis, Ara Pacis means altar of peace. Augustus was the first emperor of Rome. The Ara Pacis was basically rebuilt from the fragments they found, some from the 17th century, but most were from the 20th century. The altar was used for sacrifices. This Altar has a political and spiritual meaning. 8.Hunter- The Roman Empire was an extremely powerful empire capturing Jerusalem, Cannan, and i believe nearly one hundred other provinces. 600 BCE - 600 CE Ancient and Imperial China: Audrey - The Shang Dynasty ended in 1046 BCE, when the Zhou (pronounced jo) Dynasty defeated the last Shang emperor, Di Xin, in the Battle of Muye. Historical records show that Di Xin had become a corrupt ruler, and the Zhous said they could only overthrow him because of the Mandate of Heaven which is an idea that if a ruler became incapable or corrupt the a guiding force in the universe would throw them out and replace them. Gabe - Zhou empire did not last long though because the provinces were giving their support to the governor basically of their providence instead of the zhou emperor so slowly the states became more powerful than the emperor himself hence the warring states period      3.Ella - The Zhou Dynasty collapsed at a slow pace over hundreds of years. As this happened, rulers of the surrounding areas gained more power than the king. This was the beginning of a period that was known as the Warring State period, which lasted from about 475 BC to 221 BC. Nearby, Qin, a western state, conquered its surrounding states and established their own dynasty. Ben - The Qin dynasty began to rise to it’s empire state in 221 BCE. The founder was Qin Shi Huang, a legalist (legalist is when law is enforced very strictly) that hated freedom of expression and freedom in general. A historian quoted him once about how he hates historians and wants all non-state historians that wrote history before Qin dynasty to be burned. “[Historians] hold it a mark of fame to defy the ruler, regard it as lofty to take a dissenting stance, and they lead the lesser officials in fabricating slander. If behavior such as this is not prohibited, then in upper circles the authority of the ruler will be compromised, and in lower ones, cliques will form. Therefore it should be prohibited. I therefore request that all records of the historians other than those of the state of Qin be burned.” - Ethan - Many differing beliefs are made vocal during this time period. 3 of which are Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism. Confucianism, created by Confucius, was based on reform of the status, class, and hierarchy systems. Legalism is more based off of strict laws and harsh punishments. Daoism is more of lawless following what they believe is right at the time. Emma - Confucius, or Kongzi which means Master Kong. His teachings were almost entirely based around morality and having a personal sense of right and wrong. He wasn’t really teaching specific rules of what was good or bad, rather teaching people be conscious of the intent behind their actions. Skylar - During the Warring States period in China from 475-221 BCE China was divided into seven competing nations. The fiefs were gaining more importance as the Zhou dynasty was ending and were becoming states. One of the 7 states were Qin. the other 6 states were Chu, Zhou, Wei, Han, Yan, and Qi. The first leader of Qin was King Zheng, later on he became Qin Shi Huangdi, he would also go on to be the first leader of the Qin dynasty. People say that the Qin dynasty ended the warring states period but it was really when Qin conquested the other states. 8. 600 BCE - 600 CE Early Judaism: Audrey - Judaism stands out to historians because the Jews were monotheists, meaning they believed and worshiped only one God. This made the Jews unique to most other societies which were polytheistic and worshiped multiple Gods. Gabe - The jews lived in the kingdoms of israel and judah the assyrians conquered these two empires and then the babylonians which was called the babylonian exile which sent allot of the jews out of these kingdoms 3 . Ella - In the Hebrew bible, It talks about Abraham moving from the city of Ur to Canaan with his family. It is Questionable whether  the Ur they are talking about was the Sumatran city in lower Mesopotamia or a Ur in Upper Mesopotamia. Ben - One of the most important jewish prophets was Moses. Moses was born at a time where the emperor was killing off every boy that is born because of his fear that if they grew too strong they would overtake him. To hide Moses from the emperor’s forces his mother put him in a basket and let him float down the river. The emperor/pharaoh’s daughter finds moses and raises him into the royal family, moses one day is enraged by a slaver beating a jewish slave and kills the slavemaster and retreats out of the city in fear of punishment. He goes to Mount Sinai but the Lord tells him to go back and free every Jewish slave. So he goes back and frees them and splits the red sea to escape. He brings the people back to the mountain where he receives the ten commandments. They then travel for 40 years and he reestablishes the jewish people in Canaan. - Ethan - Jews lived under Roman rulers while still being allowed their own traditions. There was some Jewish revolting but mainly they were crushed every time. Soon after the Romans renamed Judea into Syria Palaestina. This destroyed the connection of the Jews to the land. Skylar - Abraham is one of the significant patriarchs, the other two are Jacob and Isaac. Abraham’s first son is called Ishmael. He had Ishmael with his wife sarah’s servant because they didn’t think they could have kids. Ishmael is viewed as the progenitor, the patriarch for the arab people. According to biblical accounts Isaac was born when Sarah was in her 90s and Abraham was around 100 years old. Emma - Abraham’s son Isaac was the second significant patriarch. He was the first one of the three to inherit the covenant that his father Abraham had received. Later in his life he married Rebekah who gave birth to their twin sons Jacob and Esau, Jacob being the last of the three patriarchs.   That’s all the time we have for today. THank for joining us outside of the box that is learning.

The 1st Punic War is in full swing as Rome and Carthage slam into one another over Sicily. But lack of a grand strategy and incompetence on both sides make a quick land grab into a 23 year long conflict. VIDEO COMPANION: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2hcrsRPEZM

This week we cover the First Punic War up to the Sack of Agrigentum and I announce a secret project.

This week we get into classical naval technology as well as bringing the First Punic War from the Sack of Agrigentum to the Roman invasion of Africa.