Welcome, crew. This is a temporarily unlocked member episode, open to everyone for the remainder of March since I was unable to record a regular episode this month. It will revert to subscriber-only access on April 1. Today we depart slightly from a focused look at ships, and branch out to consider mythology that has some loose ties to ships. The Greek mythological king and hero Theseus of course slew the Minotaur, but today we explore the ties of that story, and others, to Athenian naval ambiti...
Mar 25, 2022•49 min
Today we continue following the evolution and exploits of the Delian League. In the 450s BCE, they become embroiled in two theaters of conflict. The first saw them begin to more squarely meet Sparta and many other allied cities of the Peloponnesian League in what is called the First Peloponnesian War. At the same time, Athens and the Delian League answered the call of a rebel leader in Egypt and there the League got tangled up fighting Persia yet again. A siege at the White Castle (no, not that ...
Mar 01, 2022•53 min•Season 3Ep. 3
Now that we have witnessed the birth of the Delian League, in today's episode we trace their exploits in the 470s BCE. The league does a good job landing more blows against the Persian Empire, but at the same time they begin to more strongly resemble an empire, and some league members are not amused. A new military leader named Cimon emerges to lead the Delian League. He suppresses some piracy, and his trireme fleet is overhauled to more better suit their campaign objectives. We consider all of ...
Jan 28, 2022•59 min•Season 3Ep. 2
As we kick off Series 3, it's now time to examine one of the most recognizable institutions that existed in Ancient Greece: The Delian League. To make sense of things, we'll compare the Peloponnesian League and Sparta's motivations there, against the Hellenic League that was formed to stand against Persia's incursion. Then, against these two we will finally compare the Delian League, which emerges as a naval-centric league which formally kicks off the time when Athenian empire becomes possible. ...
Dec 05, 2021•43 min•Season 3Ep. 1
This episode is a recapitulation of the 20 episodes that make up Series 2 of the Maritime History Podcast. The season as a whole examined the high points of maritime history during the early Iron Age, with a specific focus on the maritime activity of the Phoenicians and how they eventually intersected with the Greeks. Although initially a land-centric empire, the Persians also make a significant appearance. Hopefully this recap can serve as a good summary as we now look to Series 3 and maritime ...
Nov 15, 2021•1 hr 22 min•Season 2Ep. 21
A brief update on the state of the podcast, our sailing shape, and what lies ahead.
Nov 08, 2021•8 min
The Boats of the " Glen Carrig " by William Hope Hodgson is a horror/survival novel where survivors of a shipwreck, clinging to the remaining lifeboats, contend with the weird and terrifying elements of a strange land. Part 4 contains the chapters 13 through 17. Part 1 is available here , Part 2 is available here , and Part 3 is available here . Chapter 13 - The Weed Men Chapter 14 - In Communication Chapter 15 - Aboard The Hulk Chapter 16 - Freed Chapter 17 - How We Came To Our Own Country...
Oct 31, 2021•2 hr 12 min
The Boats of the " Glen Carrig " by William Hope Hodgson is a horror/survival novel where survivors of a shipwreck, clinging to the remaining lifeboats, contend with the weird and terrifying elements of a strange land. Part 3 contains chapter 9 through 12. Part 1 can be found here and Part 2 can be found here . Chapter 9 - What Happened in the Dusk Chapter 10 - The Light in the Weed Chapter 11 - The Signals from the Ship Chapter 12 - The Making of the Great Bow...
Oct 29, 2021•1 hr 31 min
The Boats of the " Glen Carrig " by William Hope Hodgson is a horror/survival novel where survivors of a shipwreck, clinging to the remaining lifeboats, contend with the weird and terrifying elements of a strange land. Part 2 contains chapter 5 through 8. Part 1 can be found here. Chapter 5 - The Great Storm Chapter 6 - The Weed-Choked Sea Chapter 7 - The Island in the Weed Chapter 8 - The Noises in the Valley...
Oct 27, 2021•1 hr 22 min
Halloween is again upon us! This year we have a nautical horror novel to keep us company. The Boats of the " Glen Carrig " by William Hope Hodgson is a horror/survival novel where survivors of a shipwreck, clinging to the remaining lifeboats, contend with the weird and terrifying elements of a strange land. Part 1 contains the first 4 chapters and will be followed by 3 more parts. Chapter 1 - The Land of Lonesomeness Chapter 2 - The Ship in the Creek Chapter 3 - The Thing That Made Search Chapte...
Oct 25, 2021•1 hr 4 min
Today we bring our time with the Athenian leader Themistocles to a close. The character qualities we've seen throughout his career continue to pop up even in the later stages of his life. And although the Greek world continued on in his absence, today we'll try to follow him to his death in exile and see how his supporters and his detractors begin to use his legacy as a battleground for policies that will continue to influence Greece even after his death. Show Notes Support the Podcast Detroit A...
Apr 30, 2021•1 hr 34 min•Season 2Ep. 20
The Greek victory at Salamis was monumental. But in the aftermath of that victory, Greece and her leaders still had many decisions to make. It is here that we begin to see a divergence between the naval-minded leaders and their vision, and the land-centered leaders with a different vision. We begin to discuss these divergent views, how they were debated in Greece, and how the leaders of each view tried to outmaneuver their opponents. Amidst the politics and debate, Greece still had to finish the...
May 09, 2020•1 hr 35 min•Season 2Ep. 19
We have finally arrived at the Battle of Salamis. There's a lot of buildup before the battle, and surprisingly, this phase is where a lot of the important pieces were moved into place by the wily Themistocles. We witness scenes in both the Greek and Persian camps the day and night prior to the battle, but once the fleets have moved into position, we then witness the clashing ships and the mayhem of close-quarters battle. Queen Artemisia of Halicarnassus makes several appearances throughout, and ...
Jan 17, 2020•2 hr 3 min•Season 2Ep. 18
In this first of what will be ongoing mini-episodes, we examine the discovery and study of Ship 17 at the ancient Egyptian city of Thonis-Heracleion. After running through the history of this city and it's significance to maritime history, we then read a passage from Herodotus where he describes a baris ship that he saw during his tour of ancient Egypt. We conclude by looking at the archaeological work being done in Thonis-Heracleion by Franck Goddio and Alexandar Belov. Ship 17 in particular ha...
Mar 27, 2019•34 min
In Part II of our look at the naval Battle of Artemisium, we finally get into the heat of battle. The episode is bookended by some trickery and psychological warfare courtesy of the inimitable Themistocles. In the middle, though, we discuss the 3 separate days and 3 separate engagements that made up the battle as a whole. Tactics, planning, chaos: we've got it all today. We've got yet another storm that makes an appearance, and this time it takes 200 Persian ships with it, making them victims of...
Feb 18, 2019•1 hr 5 min•Season 2Ep. 17
Today we open a chapter onto the naval Battle of Artemisium. We begin by considering a prophecy which illustrates the plight that Greece found herself in as the Persian army and navy entered Europe. We discuss the state of preparation in each relative camp as they made their respective preparations for the battle to come. We then discuss the regions in and around Artemisium and the island of Euboea, where the first naval battle of the war would take place. We consider the strategic advantages in...
Jan 01, 2019•1 hr 5 min•Season 2Ep. 16
In today's episode we take a look at the final moves that both Greece and Persia made on the eve of their war. Themistocles and Aristides take center stage as they maneuver through the political scene of Athens, but with the success of the Themistoclean naval policy, we discuss how the Greeks may have rapidly built up their navy. We consider the Greek congress of city-states, their relative lack of support, and the final measures they took to try and recruit allies. We also consider a canal proj...
Jun 20, 2018•1 hr 13 min•Season 2Ep. 15
A substantial portion of the Persian fleet was wrecked in a storm in 492 BCE, but after Darius ordered it to be rebuilt, they set sail for Greece in the summer of 490. Today's episode examines the state of the Persian navy at this point, after which we discuss the fleet's route to Eritrea and Marathon, the site of one of Greece's most famous military victories. It was a land battle though, so after a brief look at some naval elements connected to it, we paint a picture of Athens after Marathon, ...
Mar 04, 2018•59 min•Season 2Ep. 14
In today's episode the curtain rises on a young man named Themistocles. He's always recognized for the role that he played at Salamis and in the Greek navy's stand against Persia, but today we go back to the earliest we know about his life. We ended last episode in 493 BCE when the Ionian Revolt was effectively ended at Lade, but in that same year Themistocles was made eponymous archon of Athens. Today we look at the early stages of the naval reforms he tried to institute in Athens, with a parti...
Jan 09, 2018•1 hr 4 min•Season 2Ep. 13
Welcome to our third annual Halloween special here at the Maritime History Podcast. Rather than choose a grim, frightening, or eery tale, this year I felt that a more lighthearted fare was in order. This story was written by an Englishman named Richard Middleton. It tells of a quiet countryside village named Fairfield where the townsfolk are as comfortable with the ghosts that populate the village as they are with their neighbors. After a storm one night, a villager finds a ghostly ship at ancho...
Oct 29, 2017•27 min
If Episode 031 covered the heady, opening stages of the Ionian Revolt, then today's episode covers the denouement and rather anticlimactic conclusion of the revolt. At the start of the episode we follow Aristagoras as he goes on a recruiting trip to Sparta and Athens, using a world map to try and sway the Spartan king into joining the revolt. Athenian ships join the revolt, but after some early success in Ionia, Athens quickly withdraws. She has gained the attention of the Persian king by briefl...
Sep 21, 2017•1 hr 6 min•Season 2Ep. 12
In today's episode we begin our look at the events that directly contributed to the beginnings of the Greco-Persian War. After a brief summation of the events that brought the early Persian Empire into contact with the Ionian Greeks, we take a look at the evidence and theories about what the naval situation was like in the Aegean during the late 6th century BCE. We then consider how and why Persia went about building up its navy, including how Ionian Greek cities fit into the Persian system once...
Aug 14, 2017•55 min•Season 2Ep. 11
Today we have a lengthy primer focused only on the trireme. After a jaunt through some of the evidence related to when the trireme first came into use on the seas of ancient Greece and the Near East we then take a deep dive into the numerous aspects of the ship itself. We discuss the materials used by ancient shipwrights, the process of building and outfitting a trireme, and the design of this ship that set it apart from the oared galleys of archaic Greece. The trireme was essentially an oar-pow...
Jun 03, 2017•1 hr 46 min•Season 2Ep. 10
In this installment, we continue to follow the Greeks as they expand yet further. Our first destination is Egypt, where the Greek emporion at Naukratis was set up by a diverse group of mercenaries and traders. The recently discovered port of Thonis-Heraklion also makes an appearance, and we see that mercenary sailors worked for the pharaoh at various times. Greece also like Egyptian prostitutes, apparently. The second part of the episode focuses on the extent of Greek meddling in the far western...
Mar 28, 2017•1 hr 4 min•Season 2Ep. 9
In today's installment, we'll tell a tale of two cities in one sense. The age of colonization in Greece had an early leader in the island of Euboea, but as the Euboeans were stretched thin, Corinth and Miletus rose to become the leaders of Greek colonization. We'll look at the wealth that Corinth controlled thanks partially to her location, but also to the diolkos and other maritime innovations that she instituted. Our second city of focus is Miletus, the 'jewel of Ionia'. She was at the forefro...
Jan 31, 2017•1 hr 3 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Welcome to our second annual Halloween special here at the Maritime History Podcast. This year I opted for a nautical tale by the ever-popular American author of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe. Some people love this tale, some hate it, but no matter your side, this is a proper sea-tale of weirdness, "ghosts" and an underlying current of horror, so, without any further rambling, I bring you my reading of Manuscript Found in a Bottle by Edgar Allan Poe.
Oct 31, 2016•36 min
Today we fill in some gaps concerning Greek colonization, looking first at the founding of colonies along the eastern coast of Sicily. The Greeks colonized by force more so than did the Phoenicians, so we'll draw some distinctions there and see how the two cultures began to come into more conflict in and around the central Mediterranean. Then, we learn a bit more about the process of Greek colonization, including a small bit about the role that religion played. The Homeric epics then inform us a...
Oct 30, 2016•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 7
At long last we make first contact with the Greeks! Today we try to cover the earliest periods of Greek colonization and expansion into the central Mediterranean. Hesiod's writings can give us some insight into the socio-economic conditions in Greece proper, the conditions that spurred the colonization of the 9th and 8th centuries BCE. Early Greek colonies in the Levant connected them with the goods and ideas of the east, flowing west as far is Pithecusae, the oldest Greek settlement west of Gre...
Sep 18, 2016•1 hr 4 min•Season 2Ep. 6
This week we follow the fleeing Elissa, princess of Tyre, to Qart-ḥadašt , the "New City" that would come into wider fame as Carthage. We start with some talk of the mythical founding of Carthage, some conjecture about when the city was really founded, and an overview of the city's early growth. Then, we look at two Phoenician shipwrecks discovered over 33 nautical miles off Asheklon, Israel. The Tanit and Elissa are two of the oldest Phoenician shipwrecks discovered to date, and then can tell u...
Jul 15, 2016•52 min•Season 2Ep. 5
This week we follow the Phoenicians to the western extremity of their trade network and colonization. While it is difficult to paint a chronological picture of when each colony was established, the city of Cadiz, or Gadir, quickly became the hub of western trade. Ancient historians confirm that the rich source of silver in Andalusia was the main attraction for Tyrian merchants, and the wealth that eventually began to flow back east from Tartessos had an influence on Assyria's relationship with P...
Jun 17, 2016•1 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 4
