Podcasts about Persian War

I'm reading and talking about Ted Gioia's "Immersive Humanities Course," 52 weeks of World Classics.An interesting combination this week. Ted Gioia, the creator of my reading list, called it “Love and War,” but it felt like a lot more than that. And last week, I called it a hodgepodge, but I can admit I was wrong.Plato's Symposium is the third of Plato's works on this list. After wrestling with Ethics in particular last week, I was happy to get back to my friend. Symposium is written as a dialogue among friends, recalled by one who wasn't there, a little like the game of “Telephone” we'e all played. The friends' topic? Love, specifically eros. Given that this is upper-class Ancient Greece, there is a significant discussion of love between men; honestly romantic love between men and women is practically ignored. The reading plan only covered a few portion of Herodotus' Histories, Books 1 and 6-8. For full disclosure, I did NOT complete the reading but stopped with Book 7. In my edition of Histories the assigned books were more than 350 pages and I simply ran out of time. If I had done all the reading this week I would have been around 430 pages! Given that I “signed up” for about 250 pages per week, I had to stop. Confession time over.As always, I have so many, many thoughts about these works. For Symposium, I summarized each person's eulogy as a way to get my hands around the text. A few ideas:Obviously Love held an important place in the lives of Greeks. This entire dialogue is centered around it, but it doesn't look like love in many ways. I'm accustomed to thinking of love as wanting and being willing to work for the best of your beloved, and that being mutual. That desiring “for” someone else, rather than merely desiring them, was absent at least as far as I could see.There are a number of points made about Love as the dialogue progresses, and they definitely don't agree. As always, you're left to parse out the better and worse arguments. “You complete me” (yes, Jerry Maguire) makes an appearance! That attitude has been around a looooong time. Aristophanes tells a long and pretty funny tale about how human beings were at one time two-headed, eight-limbed creatures, but when Zeus got mad and split everyone in two. Now we go around looking for our other half.Does Love motivate us to honor? What kind of Love would do that? Or maybe Love is a moderating force? (I found that a weak argument.) Is its purpose beauty? Those are all offered as arguments, and all are rejected by Socrates. Socrates, via his mentor Diotima, argues that Love's purpose is procreation. As someone who has actually been pregnant several times, I found Socrates' discussion of pregnancy to be uncomfortable, to say the least. There is a ton of homoerotic talk, especially from Socrates and Alcibiades. It is just so strange to me that there is virtually no discussion of love between men and women, but tons between older and younger men. As usual, my bias shows, but it's who I am.On to Herodotus. He's been on my radar since I read History of the Ancient World by Susan Wise Bauer about a year and a half ago, and seeing him on the reading list was part of my motivation to jump in. He did not disappoint. The sections that I read were the origin stories of Croesus and Cyrus, and Persia, and then the beginning of the Persian War. I ended with the Battle of Thermopylae, which is an amazing story in its own right. A few takeaways:Every military leader should read this book. I may actually send it to my son who is in the Navy! There are examples of excellent leadership, and cranky...

In the darkest days of the Persian War when the armies of Xerxes were overrunning northern Greece, Athens faced destruction. The desperate Athenians consulted the oracle at Delphi, who answered, "For thus saith Zeus, that when all else within the land of Cecrops is wasted, the wooden wall alone shall not be taken." The British historian, George Cox agrees with many other authorities that the Greek statesman, Themistocles, bribed the oracle. Realizing that their survival depended upon a strong navy, he declared that the prophesy meant that the Persians would be defeated, not by fortifying Athens, but by "the fight at sea, for the fleet is your wooden wall." This book is a short history of the founding fathers of Athens, its lawgivers, tyrants, and generals: Solon, Peisistratos, Kleisthenes, Miltiades, Aristeides, and, above all, Themistocles.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In the darkest days of the Persian War when the armies of Xerxes were overrunning northern Greece, Athens faced destruction. The desperate Athenians consulted the oracle at Delphi, who answered, "For thus saith Zeus, that when all else within the land of Cecrops is wasted, the wooden wall alone shall not be taken." The British historian, George Cox agrees with many other authorities that the Greek statesman, Themistocles, bribed the oracle. Realizing that their survival depended upon a strong navy, he declared that the prophesy meant that the Persians would be defeated, not by fortifying Athens, but by "the fight at sea, for the fleet is your wooden wall." This book is a short history of the founding fathers of Athens, its lawgivers, tyrants, and generals: Solon, Peisistratos, Kleisthenes, Miltiades, Aristeides, and, above all, Themistocles.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In the darkest days of the Persian War when the armies of Xerxes were overrunning northern Greece, Athens faced destruction. The desperate Athenians consulted the oracle at Delphi, who answered, "For thus saith Zeus, that when all else within the land of Cecrops is wasted, the wooden wall alone shall not be taken." The British historian, George Cox agrees with many other authorities that the Greek statesman, Themistocles, bribed the oracle. Realizing that their survival depended upon a strong navy, he declared that the prophesy meant that the Persians would be defeated, not by fortifying Athens, but by "the fight at sea, for the fleet is your wooden wall." This book is a short history of the founding fathers of Athens, its lawgivers, tyrants, and generals: Solon, Peisistratos, Kleisthenes, Miltiades, Aristeides, and, above all, Themistocles.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In the darkest days of the Persian War when the armies of Xerxes were overrunning northern Greece, Athens faced destruction. The desperate Athenians consulted the oracle at Delphi, who answered, "For thus saith Zeus, that when all else within the land of Cecrops is wasted, the wooden wall alone shall not be taken." The British historian, George Cox agrees with many other authorities that the Greek statesman, Themistocles, bribed the oracle. Realizing that their survival depended upon a strong navy, he declared that the prophesy meant that the Persians would be defeated, not by fortifying Athens, but by "the fight at sea, for the fleet is your wooden wall." This book is a short history of the founding fathers of Athens, its lawgivers, tyrants, and generals: Solon, Peisistratos, Kleisthenes, Miltiades, Aristeides, and, above all, Themistocles.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In the darkest days of the Persian War when the armies of Xerxes were overrunning northern Greece, Athens faced destruction. The desperate Athenians consulted the oracle at Delphi, who answered, "For thus saith Zeus, that when all else within the land of Cecrops is wasted, the wooden wall alone shall not be taken." The British historian, George Cox agrees with many other authorities that the Greek statesman, Themistocles, bribed the oracle. Realizing that their survival depended upon a strong navy, he declared that the prophesy meant that the Persians would be defeated, not by fortifying Athens, but by "the fight at sea, for the fleet is your wooden wall." This book is a short history of the founding fathers of Athens, its lawgivers, tyrants, and generals: Solon, Peisistratos, Kleisthenes, Miltiades, Aristeides, and, above all, Themistocles.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Drago was born in Poland while under Communist rule. His father was a devout Communist who eventually became high-ranking Communist government official. Drago was never swayed by his father's ideology and pressure to accept the Marxist/Communist ideology, and eventually was sent to prison for opposing Communist regime in Poland. After spending time in a Communist prison as a political prisoner for his activism against agains censorship, oppression and depravity of Communist regime, he immigrated to the United States in 1984. Drago became a US citizen in 1991.  After the first Persian War broke out, he enlisted in US Navy and became a Navy SEAL. He believes that it was his moral obligation to support in the best possible way his new Country that adopted him and gave him freedom. Dzieran was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. Following his honorable retirement after twenty years in the Navy, Drago began a successful career as a software engineer.

We have now reached the outbreak of the Peloponnesian war, where we saw the hostilities between Thebes and Plataea marking a point where the war would begin. Both of these city states were allied to Sparta, in Thebes case and Athens on the Plataean side. Even though preparations for war were underway already, this action would see that both Sparta and Athens would be ready for conflict since this was a blatant breach of the 30 years peace.However, before moving forward with developments, we are going to take a step back to see if we can get a better understanding of why this war would come to develop. We will first look at what Thucydides our main source says about the causes and his opinions. Remember, here it was his aim in presenting his work to make sure that all those that read it would have an understanding of the events and motivations behind this greatest of Greek conflicts.We will also explore the notion of the remote causes of the war and more immediate cause. This will see us looking back to even before the Persian War at the interactions between Athens and Sparta, while then following their interactions from the evolving developments of the Persian invasion and their victory in that war. Then we will turn to the years just before the breakout of the Peloponnesian War to see how both Athens and Sparta would come to be involved in this situation that had begun as a regional dispute out of their areas of influence.Trying to shed light on the causes for war developing in this conflict is not easy task. If we are expecting to find a single cause for the war, we will walk away disappointed. Although, Thucydides would provide what appears on the surface a straight forward answer, when you stop and think about it, there are so many elements tied up in his answer and it becomes apparent why he devoted his entire work to the subject of the Peloponnesian War.   Support the show

This is a teaser of the bonus episode, Contact n the East, found over on Patreon.We are now moving on with our bonus episode out of the early development of Athens and Sparta. This will now see us focuing on the theme of the Greek and Persian War. We had covered this period over quite a number of episodes in the series previously, though from a narrative perspective. This time around I want to go back and put certain topics in the spot light, allowing us to explore them a little deeper.For our first episode around the Greco-Persian War theme I want to look at where the Greeks and Persians first made contact. This will take us back some 50 years before the Ionian Revolt where the Anatolian Greeks would first encounter the Persian Empire. We will look at this period before then looking at the first reported contacts with the Persians by the Spartans and Athenians.If you would like to hear more and support the series click on the Patreon link at the bottom of the page or you can head to my website to discover other ways to support the series, HereISupport the show

So, it's now mid-December and I am taking a break over the Christmas period and month of January. Though, before signing off for the holidays I wanted to leave you all with a different sort of episode to see out the year. I decided to contact my good friend Steve over at The Spartan History Podcast to see if he would be interested in coming on just to talk about Greek history. He has just entered into the Greek and Persian War period, so I thought it would provide lots for us to talk about. Plus, it gave me another reason to go back and chat about the Persian Wars, a period I always enjoy talking about. It had also been quite some time since we last did a collaboration so I thought it was about time to get on air and chat. I also felt we had reached a natural point to take a break in the series since we just wrapped up the First Peloponnesian War. But don't worry we will be back to continue with the developments in the new year.For those of you have not come across The Spartan History podcast, I would highly recommend you check out Steve's show. He began around the same time I started this show and we have since then kept in touch and bounced ideas off one another. You can find the Spartan History podcast on the same platforms you listen to this show on.So, for this episode, we decided not to worry about any sort of script or pre-planned direction for the chat, it just basically unfolded as if we were chatting together without any audience. We focus a great deal on the Greco-Persian Wars, jumping around the period a bit. While we also do touch on areas before and after the conflict. We did have a few connection issues through the talk with a dropout and some areas of buffering, though, I did try and smooth them out as best as I could but they are still there. Anyway, a huge thank you to everyone for listening and supporting the show, I have greatly appreciated it. Although, Im taking the rest of December and January off, I just want to let all Patreon members know that I will still be releasing the next bonus episode in the first week of January. www.spartanhistorypodcast.comSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2oYdMfzDbVzJUrddjpFF6eiTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/spartan-history-podcast/id1489152895Twitter: @Spartan_HistoryFacebook: Spartan History PodcastSupport the show

A treat for racing fans this Friday, with ITV showing no fewer than ten races. We've got decent jumps action at Chepstow, and Group 1 action on the flat. Ruby and Rory are navigated through the busy day by trusty PK. If you'd like to take part in our next Punters' Panel episode, let us know by emailing fthm@paddypower.com It's Friday ITV Tipping, coming to you straight "From The Horse's Mouth"... Enter Paddy's Pick Five for your chance to win €100k.  Play here: https://bit.ly/3SGZaaJ Read T&Cs here: https://bit.ly/3BuiHn6 18+ | begambleaware.com

Get ready for a much longer episode than normal today! We're going to talk about the expansion of Sparta, the various wars they took part in, their arguments with Athens, and finally the end of the Persian War. Throughout the series we'll discuss the history, the legends, and what made Sparta so memorable to the world. Help us support Convoy of Hope:-https://convoyofhope.org/response-updates/convoy-reaching-out-to-help-in-ukrainian-crisis/?gclid=CjwKCAjw9e6SBhB2EiwA5myr9gNeDlhI1njz6J3-M2-3g8d6G0XxsUg1cZo-4VadP2s1PWhYBrRXzRoCuZ4QAvD_BwESupport the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ancienthistoryexpandedFollow this podcast on Instagram for updates and pictures of these ancient sites and stories: https://www.instagram.com/ancienthistorypodcast/Business  Inquiries: ancienthistorypod@gmail.comCurrent info and up to date information on COVID-19: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.htmlhttps://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/index.htmlhttps://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/covid-19-vaccinesBooks and Articles used  for Research are as  follows:-"Aspects of Greek history 750–323 BC: a source-based approach" by  T. Buckley-"A History of Sparta 950-192 B.C." by W.G. Forrest-"Agesilaos and the Crisis of Sparta" by Paul Cartledge-"The Dictionary of Classical Mythology" by Pierre Grimal-"Sparta and Lakonia: A Regional History 1300 to 362 BC" by Paul Cartledge-"Spartan Reflections" by Paul Cartledge-"Hellenistic and Roman Sparta" by Paul Cartledge-"The Greek and Persian Wars, 499–386 BC" by Philip de Souza-"The Greco-Persian Wars" by Peter Green

Get ready for a much longer episode than normal today! We're going to talk about the expansion of Sparta, the various wars they took part in, their arguments with Athens, and finally the very beginnings of the Persian War. Throughout the series we'll discuss the history, the legends, and what made Sparta so memorable to the world. Help us support Convoy of Hope:-https://convoyofhope.org/response-updates/convoy-reaching-out-to-help-in-ukrainian-crisis/?gclid=CjwKCAjw9e6SBhB2EiwA5myr9gNeDlhI1njz6J3-M2-3g8d6G0XxsUg1cZo-4VadP2s1PWhYBrRXzRoCuZ4QAvD_BwESupport the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ancienthistoryexpandedFollow this podcast on Instagram for updates and pictures of these ancient sites and stories: https://www.instagram.com/ancienthistorypodcast/Business  Inquiries: ancienthistorypod@gmail.comCurrent info and up to date information on COVID-19: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.htmlhttps://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/index.htmlhttps://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/covid-19-vaccinesBooks and Articles used  for Research are as  follows:-"Aspects of Greek history 750–323 BC: a source-based approach" by  T. Buckley-"A History of Sparta 950-192 B.C." by W.G. Forrest-"Agesilaos and the Crisis of Sparta" by Paul Cartledge-"The Dictionary of Classical Mythology" by Pierre Grimal-"Sparta and Lakonia: A Regional History 1300 to 362 BC" by Paul Cartledge-"Spartan Reflections" by Paul Cartledge-"Hellenistic and Roman Sparta" by Paul Cartledge-"The Greek and Persian Wars, 499–386 BC" by Philip de Souza-"The Greco-Persian Wars" by Peter Green

Get ready for a much longer episode than normal today! We're going to talk about the expansion of Sparta, the various wars they took part in, their arguments with Athens, and finally the very beginnings of the Persian War. Throughout the series we'll discuss the history, the legends, and what made Sparta so memorable to the world. Currently the charities we're linking are focused on helping women. The link below will take you to a website that compiled several charities. They also went ahead and gave each charity a rating based on expenses, how much donated goes to the cause they promote, and the impact of the charity. Please take a look and donate if you are able or promote the charities that speak to you. We can all do better and be better.Charities:-https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=2133&search-boxSupport the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ancienthistoryexpandedFollow this podcast on Instagram for updates and pictures of these ancient sites and stories: https://www.instagram.com/ancienthistorypodcast/Business  Inquiries: ancienthistorypod@gmail.comCurrent info and up to date information on COVID-19: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.htmlhttps://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/index.htmlhttps://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/covid-19-vaccinesBooks and Articles used  for Research are as  follows:-"Aspects of Greek history 750–323 BC: a source-based approach" by  T. Buckley-"A History of Sparta 950-192 B.C." by W.G. Forrest-"Agesilaos and the Crisis of Sparta" by Paul Cartledge-"The Dictionary of Classical Mythology" by Pierre Grimal-"Sparta and Lakonia: A Regional History 1300 to 362 BC" by Paul Cartledge-"Spartan Reflections" by Paul Cartledge-"Hellenistic and Roman Sparta" by Paul Cartledge

For this episode I take a break from our narrative to bring you a collaboration that I had teamed up with Steve from Spartan History Podcast to record. We went into this conversation without any scripts and just a rough plan of what we wanted to cover. Steve’s series, Spartan History Podcast, takes a deep dive into the history of the Spartans, beginning back in Mythological times. He is currently in the stages of how the institutions and practices that would define the Spartans were developing. I would encourage everyone to check out his series as I am sure you will learn some elements about the Spartans that I bet you didn’t know about before.For this episode we begin by talking about ourselves and how we got into the podcasting world. We also look at what drew up towards Ancient Greek history. The conversation then evolved of many different tangents around Greek history, but we would come to focus on three many areas. I would look at the founding of Democracy in Athens with the early stages of its development. Steve then takes us for a closer look at Lycurgus and the question of if he was a historical figure. We then turn to the Greek and Persian War looking at who out of Athens and Sparta had been the most influential in their victory of Persia.The collaboration has been split over two parts, with this episode being part 1. Part two is hosted on Steve’s show over at Spartan History Podcast. Below are a number of links to help you find his show and his social media pages, though he is easily found on all good podcast platforms.www.spartanhistorypodcast.comSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2oYdMfzDbVzJUrddjpFF6eiTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/spartan-history-podcast/id1489152895Twitter: @Spartan_HistoryFacebook: Spartan History PodcastSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/castingthroughancientgreece)

A triumvirate of a disgraced Aksumite prince, a Persian death-row prisoner, and an Arab-Jewish nobleman threaten to permanently kick the Aksumites out of their Yemeni client kingdom  Learn more about the Aksumite-Persian war (or about African history as a whole (on our accompanying blog. Thank you to Podcorn for sponsoring this episode: check out their website to sign up at Podcorn.comSupport the show (https://patreon.com/historyofafrica)

One of the most important wars in history!

This. Is. Sparta!!!! "300," the blood-soaked Zack Snyder movie adapted from Frank Miller's graphic novel, is based on stories of the Persian War told by the first historian ever, Herodotus. But how accurate is "300" really, and does it matter? In this episode of "Young Heretics," Spencer Klavan tells the real story of the 300 at Thermopylae, and argues that "300" is a better take on the whole thing than you might expect.

In 1856, Iran seized the city of Herat. Doing so triggered a military response from Britain leading to a one-sided war between the two countries.

Hello, Welcome Back To Turf Talk, The Jumps are back and they get kickstarted by Chepstow's meeting over two days in which the Persian War is the highlight as well as a cracking novice chase. On the flat side the Dewhurst and Cesarewitch are at Newmarket and both races look hot renewals. As always, thanks to our partners RatingTheRaces.com and thanks to bensounds.com for their music! Hope You Enjoy!!!!!

We've had the Battle of Thermopylae with the brilliant Paul Cartledge; we've had the Battle of Artemisium with the great Owen Rees. And I'm delighted to say that we are today fulfilling the 2,499 Persian War 'trilogy' with the Battle of Salamis. One of the most famous naval clashes of antiquity, it saw a small (largely-Athenian) fleet square up against the mighty Persian armada of King Xerxes. It occurred around this time (c.22 September), 2,499 years ago.I was thrilled to be joined by Professor Barry Strauss to talk through the Battle of Salamis. In this podcast he provides a thorough account of the clash and explains why the battle became so important to the Athenians. Barry is the author of 'The Battle of Salamis: The Naval Encounter that Saved Greece - and Western Civilisation'. He is also the host of the Antiquitas podcast.A second podcast with Barry, on 10 Roman Emperors, will be out in due time! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hello, and welcome to the show today. You know, in recent days I have been reflecting on the uniqueness of Christianity amongst the many other religions of the world. There are many religious works today, each offering differing (and often mutually exclusive) worldviews; meaning they make claims that are at opposition with other worldviews; and therefore you have to choose (you can't have it both ways). And so you have to evaluate which religion (or religious work) is true based on a set of criteria. And for many it is enough that the religious book in question be the cause of some kind of special emotion or experience that they have while reading it. For others, it is that the philosophy of the book resonates with them, challenges them, or aligns with one's own set of beliefs held even prior to picking up the book. But virtually none of these books has anything to offer that is independently verifiable historically or scientifically. And those that try are often shown later to be erroneous and false. That is, until we come to the Christian Bible. One of the key things that separates the Bible from every other religious book is that it ties itself to known history. Every page bleeds with the challenge “come and check this out. Here is what REALLY happened; here are the facts.” Even Jesus, the embodiment of the Word of God, begs people to come and check out the facts; to have faith, yes, but not a blind faith, but rather a faith that rests on the sufficiency of the evidence. He always gave people a sign (whether it was a healing, a miracle of nature, etc.) that showed that He is who He claimed to be. And that formed the foundation for their (hopefully) then coming to put their faith and trust in Him. And the Bible is the same way because it is His Word. The Bible offers to us not just a set of beliefs we should ascribe to, but a history of God Himself interacting in time and space with His people; performing real miracles; doing real things. And then it invites us to (based on the evidence) to place our faith in Him. The first seventeen books of the Old Testament are historical. The first 5 books of the New Testament are historical, by which I mean they are meant to be read (primarily) as history. And I think what God might be trying to say to us is that before you get into poetry, into prophecy, into instruction and teaching, you must first come to grips with the understanding that I have acted in time and space with real people in real places and my entire Word is historically accurate and worthy of your trust. And I want to emphasize this as we enter into this first chapter of Esther because the author begins not with “Once upon a time” or some other vague backdrop, but with a number of key historical markers that help his readers to understand where exactly this story took place in known history and who specifically we are talking about. He says… Esther 1:1-3a (ESV)— 1 Now in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces, 2 in those days when King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne in Susa, the citadel, 3 in the third year of his reign he gave a feast for all his officials and servants. Xerxes is Ahasuerus— Now we see that the first name given to us in the book of Esther is that of the King, Ahasuerus. Ahasuerus is the name many of us have in our Bibles, which comes from a Hebrew transliteration. But we know him in history primarily by his Greek name, Xerxes. Ahasuerus is none other than the mighty Xerxes.  Cyrus Conquers Babylon— Now let's back-track a tad. You will remember from last week that not too long before this, Cyrus (king of Persia comes to power). Israel had been in exile to Babylon, but then Cyrus conquers the Babylonian empire; and what is incredible is that he does this without a fight. Remember in Daniel chapter 5 we see the Babylonian king Belshazzar throwing a drunken party using the vessels of gold and silver stolen from the temple in Jerusalem. And the fingers of a human hand appear and write on the wall “Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. (Dan. 5)”. And Daniel reveals to Belshazzar that God is going to immediately bring his kingdom to an end. And He does. That very night (the night of October 12, 539 B.C.) the army of Persia waded up the waters of the Euphrates River through the canals of the city of Babylon and took the city. And in fact Belshazzar was such a terrible leader that Cyrus was actually welcomed by the Babylonians as a liberator. And so all the lands previously under Babylonian rule (including Jerusalem and Judah) now fell under the control of the ever-expanding Persian empire.  Darius and the Beginning of the Persian Wars— Now after Cyrus died, the throne went to Cambyses and then to Darius 1 (the Great). And Darius the Great goes on to conquer Greece in 550 B.C. and following. But Greece is never totally conquered. In fact later they fight back relentlessly against Persia, defeating them at the battle of Marathon in 490 B.C., that famous battle where a man ran 26 miles, which is where we get our distance for modern-day marathons. And Darius is furious at having lost this battle and therefore swears revenge. However, on his way back to try to crush the Greeks and gain revenge, he dies, leaving the duty of crushing the Greeks to his son, Xerxes, who comes to power in 486 B.C. Now despite strong advice not to go to war with Greece again, Xerxes decides to ignore that counsel and in 481 he is finally able to set out; and does so with a massive army. Persia (the largest empire in history; now with a population of around 50 million people) puts on a massive military display, boasting hundreds of thousands if not close to a million soldiers. So this battle against the Greeks should be no contest. However, unbelievably, the Greeks are able to repel Xerxes. And there are some very famous battles you may remember from your history class when you studied the Persian War. The Battle of Thermopylae (the battle of the 300 Spartans); the Battle of Salamis, where the Greeks annihilate the Persian navy, Persia losing around 300 warships. Eventual Defeat by Alexander the Great— So there is constant fighting between Persia (the reigning world empire) and Greece, the next major world empire. And Xerxes continues fighting (mostly unsuccessfully) until Alexander the Great finally comes on the scene and defeats Persia for good.  Important Backstory— Now the reason this whole backstory is so important is because unless you understand what historical events are going on in the background, you won't really get what this feast (or feasts) is about. [In the book of Esther, the Persian war against the Greeks, takes place between chapters 1 and 2 of the book. It would be included in the “after these things” (2:1).] So this banquet in chapter 1 is more than just a banquet. It is a war-related banquet. How do we know this? Who is at this banquet? Esther 1:3b-4 (ESV)— The army of Persia and Media and the nobles and governors of the provinces were before him, 4 while he showed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor and pomp of his greatness for many days, 180 days.  Building Support— [The time (483 b.c., the third year of Xerxes' reign), and the presence of the army, suggest that Xerxes may have been building support for his invasion of Greece (preparations c. 483–480; the Battle of Thermopylae took place in 480).] So Xerxes/Ahasuerus is getting ready to march against the Greeks. But remember there are those who don't think he can or should do this; and so he throws this massive banquet to display his greatness and kind of get everyone hyped up into believing that he can do it. And so this is not just a “let's get our groove on kind of party.” There's purpose behind it. To show that he is all-powerful and in complete control and able to do whatever he wants to do. That is how the book opens up; with a king thinking he's in absolute control. And yet, as we will see, he is humbled in some amazing ways. And by the end of the book we discover that it was never him who was in control of history, but God. History is His Story. And nobody can thwart His plans or His purposes. And the same is true for you and for me today. We can have assurance in the midst of all this craziness going on in the world today because we know that behind the scenes the hand of God is moving, working all things together for His glory and our benefit. Let's give thanks to Him for that today. Amen.

In the 5th century BC the world's first super power, the Persian Empire, went to war against a ragtag collection of cities and statelets on its western frontier. It was the start of the Persian War. Thankfully for us this war was recorded in some detail by the world's first historian. Herodotus. Despite previous millenia of history in the ancient Near East, this historical record means that the Persian Wars feels recognisably modern. The attitudes and decisions of commanders are discernable. The course of the battles, traceable.William Shepherd has written an engaging new account of the war. He took some time to sit down with Dan and explore the course of the war and why it still matters. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the 5th century BC the world's first super power, the Persian Empire, went to war against a ragtag collection of cities and statelets on its western frontier. It was the start of the Persian War. Thankfully for us this war was recorded in some detail by the world's first historian. Herodotus. Despite previous millenia of history in the ancient Near East, this historical record means that the Persian Wars feels recognisably modern. The attitudes and decisions of commanders are discernable. The course of the battles, traceable.William Shepherd has written an engaging new account of the war. He took some time to sit down with Dan and explore the course of the war and why it still matters. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Alexander, whether he visited Jerusalem or not, would have a huge impact not only on the geopolitics of the ancient world, but also on its religions. This included Judaism, a faith that did not yet have global renown, and Christianity, a faith that didn’t yet exist. Meanwhile, the Jewish faith has been evolving in a land that is not there own.  Part 2 of our Potluck conversation with Jimmy Doyle.  --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/postbiblical/support

-The Greeks defeated the Persian empire and preserved their political independence. -Competition between Sparta and Athens for control of Greece helped cause the Peloponnesian War. -The expansion of Greek civilization through trade and colonization led to the spread of Hellenic culture across the Mediterranean and Black Seas.

Today's episode explores the Nine of Wands and the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae. The Nine of Wands talks about inner strength, stamina and the will to go on despite impossible odds. It's a card that shows up when there is great difficulty, either that has past or is yet to come. It explains that now is not the time to stop; keep going and glory is within your grasp. The story of the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae comes to us from the historian Herodotus, and explores the battles during the second Persian War between the large Persian arm and the tiny Spartan force who stood against insurmountable odds. How to get in touch with us Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/mythtarotlove/ Email: mythtarotlove@gmail.com Instagram: @mythtarotlove Patreon: www.patreon.com/mythtarotlove

This week Rob and Chris learn about the Persian War! But as always they get distracted with discussions of Persian robots, the loose Hill People of Athens, and secret gay lover affairs that lead to death! TLDR: Initially I thought I was in the buying position. Turns out I'm in the selling position.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the myths and history of the ancient Greek city of Thebes and its depiction in Athenian drama. In myths it was said to be home to Heracles, Dionysus, Oedipus and Cadmus among others and, in history, was infamous for supporting Xerxes in the Persian War. Its prominence led to a struggle with the rising force of Macedon in which the Thebans were defeated at Chaironea in 338 BC, one of the most important battles in ancient history. The position of Thebes in Greek culture was enormously powerful. The strength of its myths and its proximity to Athens made it a source of stories for the Athenian theatre, and is the setting for more of the surviving plays than any other location. The image, above, is of Oedipus answering questions of the sphinx in Thebes (cup 5th century BC). With Edith Hall Professor of Classics at King's College London Samuel Gartland Lecturer in Ancient History at Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford and Paul Cartledge Emeritus Professor of Greek Culture and AG Leventis Senior Research Fellow at Clare College, University of Cambridge Producer: Simon Tillotson.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the myths and history of the ancient Greek city of Thebes and its depiction in Athenian drama. In myths it was said to be home to Heracles, Dionysus, Oedipus and Cadmus among others and, in history, was infamous for supporting Xerxes in the Persian War. Its prominence led to a struggle with the rising force of Macedon in which the Thebans were defeated at Chaironea in 338 BC, one of the most important battles in ancient history. The position of Thebes in Greek culture was enormously powerful. The strength of its myths and its proximity to Athens made it a source of stories for the Athenian theatre, and is the setting for more of the surviving plays than any other location. The image, above, is of Oedipus answering questions of the sphinx in Thebes (cup 5th century BC). With Edith Hall Professor of Classics at King's College London Samuel Gartland Lecturer in Ancient History at Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford and Paul Cartledge Emeritus Professor of Greek Culture and AG Leventis Senior Research Fellow at Clare College, University of Cambridge Producer: Simon Tillotson.

Writing on The Wall by Anne M. Carson is a long poem that takes as its starting point the name of freed slaves on a wall in Delphi. This long poem imagines the life of a man whose father was captured in the Persian War and who must navigate freedom for the first time. Read by Anne M. Carson and Di Cousens.

Bonus Episode!  Turns out there were two Artemisias.  In this bonus episode, we take a look at Artemisia the First of Halicarnassus, who was a naval commander in the Persian War at the Battle of Salamis.  I'll let our old pal Herodotus explain more.

The country is always at war. The men are always away on military campaign or they come back having died a ''glorious death.'' What's a woman to do? Lysistrata, Uber-Ancient-Greek-Activist, calls women to join her in a sex strike until desperation brings the men to their...senses.Lysistrata is the third and last of Aristophanes' peace plays, says translator Alan H. Sommerstein in his preface to the play: it was ''conceived at a time when Athens was going through the most desperate crisis she had known since the Persian War.'' As I say in this introduction to the play, although I've known about Lysistrata for decades, I'd always assumed it was a fairly grave play. Don't get me wrong--I prefer Greek tragedy to many forms of spectacle currently on Broadway! But Lysistrata is a bawdy comedy and, although one could argue that women would never achieve the solidarity necessary to carry off an effective sex strike, Aristophanes nails human foibles and stereotypes as recognizable to a 21st Century listener as to the audience of its first production in 411 B.C.Stay tuned for the reading of LYSISTRATA.

In the past few lectures, we have seen how certain poleis structured their government and we have learned a bit about Ancient Greek geography and military organization. In this lecture, we begin discussing the fifth century. We are going to focus in this lecture on the Persian Wars. I will spend very little time discussing the salient elements of the Persian Wars. Instead, I will provide a quick overview so that I can discuss the effects of the war. In the next lecture, we will be looking at the Peloponnesian War. The way in which the Persian War ended and the subsequent decades of political changes to Ancient Greece sets the stage for the Peloponnesian War.