A Podcast Dedicated to the History of the ancient Iranian empires from 700 BCE to 700 CE
Author: Trevor Culley
I'm Trevor Culley. My personal experience with both Persian history and podcasts began with a college extra credit assignment to listen to the first Hardcore History history episode on the Achaemenids. I was instantly enthralled with the stories of the Kings of Kings and coming a little late to the party, started listening to podcasts. On one hand, I started heading down the road toward PhD that will let me study ancient Persia for a living. On the other, as I binged my way through both the History of Rome and early episodes of the History of Byzantium I was always excited for the episodes dealing with the Parthians and Sassanids. I'm sure some of you shared my surprise and disappointment to discover that there was not a similarly dedicated podcast dealing with the great empires east of Rome. So that brings us here. I've decided to personally create that dedicated podcast.
Tall-e Takht, near Pasargadae, possibly the ruins of an Achaemenid-era sanctuary/temple via Livius.org
A collection of early Zoroastrian prayers to the various Yazatas, the Yashts are some of the only surviving sources that provide a detailed window into the more polytheistic aspects of ancient Iran. As a bonus, they partially stem from myths and legends as told in the Achaemenid period. Stream Download
King of the World: The Life of Cyrus The Great by Matt Waters
King of the World: The Life of Cyrus the Great by Matt Waters is a new biography of the first Persian King of Kings from Oxford University Press. I was fortunate enough to receive an advanced PDF copy to review. In short, it’s an excellent introduction to both the life of Cyrus and Achaemenid Studies as a field. Almost all shortcomings are more the product of the subject rather than the biographer. For more, give it a listen. Stream Download
Digitally restored glazed bricks from Gate of Cyrus credit IRNAPartially intact wall uncovered with the Gate of Cyrus, credit: IRNAMajor sites around Persepolis marked on Google EarthPersepolis South as seen from aboveColumn bases from the royal palace at Taoke, credit: ICRORelevant images including satellite imagery and archaeological finds
The Achaemenid capital city at Persepolis wasn’t really much of a city in the traditional sense, but that doesn’t mean it was just a palace. A Persepolis Metropolitan Area stretched at least 5km out in every direction, and there have been some exciting finds there as well. We’ll also look at the area surrounding the other Persian palace cities. Stream Download
Breaking News! The History of Persia Podcast now has merch, swag, gear, and other physical items to show off how much you like ancient Persia and this podcast.
Plus, there’s one last group of coins from the Achaemenid Empire that I want to talk about. Stream Download
Cyrus the Younger obviously graduated early, but what exactly did he learn in ancient Persian school? Hunting, fitness, soldiery, science, and religion amongst many other things in a complex noble educational system. Stream Download
The Aramaic letter formally requesting funds to rebuild the Temple of Yaho in Elephantine
No, the other one. In Egypt. The best source of information on events Egypt under Darius II comes from the letters of the Jewish diaspora community in southern Egypt and their temple on the island of Elephantine. They also tell the story of a dramatic confrontation between the Jews and their Egyptian neighbors that ended in forced reconciliation. Stream Download
Meeting between Cyrus the Younger and Lysander, by Francesco Antonio Grue (1618-1673)
In 408 BCE, Darius II decided the Ionian War called for more drastic, teenage measures. He sent the 16 year old Prince Cyrus to rule western Anatolia as Karanos, a supreme military authority. Cyrus did everything in his power to enable his new Spartan allies’ victory against Athens. Stream Download
A coin showing an image of Pharnabzus II, Satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia via Wikimedia
Despite their defeat in Sicily, the tales of Athenian demise in 413 BCE were greatly exaggerated. In 411, Athens and Sparta began to clash again and protracted tug-of-war in the Aegean even as Athens itself was seized by political upheavals. Stream Download
The Aegean Sea during the later Peloponnesian War from Ian Mladjov’s Maps
Darius II’s reign in Anatolia saw the Persian reconquest of Ionia and the Greek cities of west Asia. This was only accomplished with the aid of a surprising ally: Sparta and the Peloponnesian League. Stream Download
Hey Everyone! I’m speaking at this year’s Intelligent Speech Conference! You can buy tickets at IntelligentSpeechConference.com with promo code: Persia
Do it now to get the early bird ticket price! Stream Download