With the defeat of Philip V at Cynoscephalae, Flamininus was tasked with deciding the fate of Greece in the postwar period. At the Isthmian Games of 196, he declared the freedom and autonomy of the Greeks, but resistance from the Aetolian League and Nabis of Sparta threatened to overturn the Roman-imposed peace, eventually drawing Antiochus III into Europe. Episode Notes: (https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2023/09/10/090-freedom-of-the-greeks/) Episode Transcript: (https://hellenistica...
Sep 10, 2023•26 min
No longer tied up by Hannibal, the vengeful Romans give their undivided attention to Philip V in the Second Macedonian War (200-197 BC). The king manages to hold his own against the Republic until they send the ambitious young commander Titus Quinctius Flamininus, who forces a showdown at Cynoscephalae that will radically change the balance of power in Greece. Episode Notes: (https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2023/08/24/089-antigonid-macedon-legion-and-phalanx/) Episode Transcript: (ht...
Aug 24, 2023•42 min
With the unexpected death of Ptolemy IV and the Great Rebellion in full swing, Antiochus III and Philip V form a secret pact to destroy the Ptolemaic Kingdom, partitioning the territories for themselves. Their invasions of Coele Syria and Asia Minor sent shockwaves across the eastern Mediterranean, leading several Greek states to request military assistance from the one power that could prevent their subjugation: the Roman Republic. Episode Notes: (https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/202...
Jul 19, 2023•31 min
The “Golden Age” of the Ptolemaic dynasty comes to an end as Ptolemy IV dies unexpectedly in 204. Greedy ministers looking to control the boy-king Ptolemy V leave Alexandria in a mess of schemes, murder, and rioting. Meanwhile, decades of economic turmoil and cultural tension results the outbreak of the "Great Revolt", a twenty year-long (206-186) rebellion of disaffected native Egyptians, who ripped away control of Upper Egypt and installed a rival pharaoh named Haronnophoris, leaving the once ...
Jun 20, 2023•39 min
The Attalid dynasty that ruled over the city of Pergamon (modern Bergama) is the first Greek monarchy to arise outside of the Successor Kingdoms. Founded by a eunuch named Philetaerus in western Asia Minor, the Attalids went from small regional power to major player in under a generation, in part thanks to their alliance with the Roman Republic. Their smart fiscal policies and unusually stable family life allowed them to become extremely wealthy, sponsoring buildings and works of art that celebr...
May 20, 2023•35 min
Emboldened by his success in the Social War, Philip's desire for world conquest leads him to ally with Hannibal Barca against the Roman Republic in 215. The so-called "First Macedonian War" (215-206 BC) is mainly a conflict between the various states of Greece, leading to the king tightening his grip over the Symmachy, and the end of his relationship with Aratus of Sicyon. Episode Notes: (https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2023/04/29/085-antigonid-macedon-storm-clouds-in-the-west/) Epis...
Apr 29, 2023•36 min
The Roman Republic went from a regional power ruling over Italy to master of a Mediterranean-wide empire in under 50 years, warring against powerful states like the Carthaginians and the Hellenistic kingdoms, yet always coming out on top. Dr. Bret Devereaux joins the show to discuss the Roman military and analyze the various factors that enabled their rapid expansion into the Hellenistic East, and eventually the downfall of the Republic itself. Episode Notes: (https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordp...
Apr 07, 2023•1 hr 4 min
During the Illyrian Wars of 229-228 and 219, the Roman Republic would intervene in the affairs of Greece for the first time. Their swift defeats of Queen Teuta and Demetrius of Pharos impressed the Greek communities, but would draw the attention of King Philip V of Macedonia. Episode Notes: (https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2023/03/16/084-rome-arrives-in-the-hellenistic-east/) Episode Transcript: (https://hellenisticagepodcast.files.wordpress.com/2023/03/084-rome-arrives-in-the-hellen...
Mar 16, 2023•22 min
The “Argonautica”, written by the third century poet Apollonius of Rhodes, is the only surviving epic poem from the Hellenistic period. Recounting the travels of the hero Jason and his crew of Argonauts as they searched for the Golden Fleece, Apollonius managed to pay homage to the works of Homer while also reinventing the genre to better reflect the scholarship coming out of Alexandria. Episode Notes: (https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2023/03/04/083-hellenistic-literature-apollonius-...
Mar 04, 2023•34 min
The various dynasties that rose from the ashes of Alexander's empire proved to be a lucrative source of income for aspiring poets. Ptolemaic Alexandria hosted some of the influential artists of the day, such as Callimachus of Cyrene and Theocritus of Syracuse. Euphorion of Chalcis would move to Seleucid Antioch, and Aratus of Soli would compose his famous Phaenomena under the auspices of Antigonus II Gonatas. These figures would re-define the art of poetry for the next several centuries, and set...
Jan 27, 2023•27 min
In April 1900, a crew of Greek sponge divers found a 2,000 year old shipwreck at the bottom of the sea of the small island of Antikythera. A century of underwater expeditions has revealed many works of art such as rare life-sized bronze statues and glassware that provides a snapshot of the Late Hellenistic economy, along with the famous Antikythera Mechanism, the world’s oldest surviving analog computer. Episode Notes: (https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2023/01/02/bonus-the-antikythera...
Jan 02, 2023•12 min
Rather than writing tales of gods and heroes or flattering court panegyrics, the poet Theocritus of Syracuse (early second century B.C.) chose to focus on the simple life. As the founder of "Bucolic" or pastoral poetry, Theocritus cast the humble shepherd as the main subject, using idyllic scenes from the ancient countryside to illuminate his poems in a fashion that would be emulated by later artists such as Virgil. Episode Notes: (https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2022/12/10/081-helle...
Dec 10, 2022•17 min
The playwright Menander of Athens (342/341 – 290 B.C.) was the most renowned comedic author of antiquity, surpassing even Aristophanes in popularity. As the father of the New Comedy, Menander moved away from biting satire to draw humor from the interactions of everyday people, popularizing the use of “stock characters” and romance plots that audiences could appreciate regardless of background or education. Of his 108 plays, only one has survived in complete form (The Dyskolos or “The Bad Tempere...
Nov 25, 2022•36 min
The anchor was the most recognizable image associated with the Seleucids, who used it as their dynastic seal to symbolize their royal authority. Its origins are interwoven into the stories of the dynasty’s founder, Seleucus I Nicator, as omens and prophecies associated the anchor with his imperial destiny. These stories might have been tied to the now-lost Seleucus Romance, but the anchor continued to be used by later monarchies, a testament to the lasting appeal of Seleucid kingship in the Near...
Nov 05, 2022•13 min
The Kushans were the premier dynasty of the Yuezhi, a nomadic confederation that migrated and settled in northern Bactria during the mid-to-late second century BC. With a steady hand, their empire would eventually encompass most of Central Asia and Northwestern India for the next 300 years, the former heartlands of the Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kingdoms. Dr. Lauren Morris lends her expertise on this often poorly understood group, tracing the history of the Kushans and their impact on the bro...
Oct 27, 2022•53 min
The period from the first century B.C. through the third century A.D. saw a time of unprecedented economic contact between the Mediterranean world (under the dominion of the Roman Empire) and the political entities bordering along the Western Indian Ocean. This fostered the exchange of goods and ideas, leading some scholars to identify it as the first period of globalization. Joining the show is Dr. Serena Autiero, who helps elaborate on how we can apply modern concepts like globalization in an ...
Oct 22, 2022•39 min
Following the death of Menander I Soter, the Indo-Greeks would decline in power over the next 150 years as the newly arrived Indo-Scythians/Indo-Saka seized the Punjab, and with the last king disappearing by 10 A.D, Greek rule in Central Asia and India was brought to a definitive end. In their wake, later powers like the Kushan Empire established control over Bactria and Gandhara, and trade with the Roman Empire would flourish along the sailing routes of the Indian Ocean. Despite the disappearan...
Sep 27, 2022•1 hr 4 min
It has been argued that the most influential contribution of Gandhara (modern Pakistan and southern Afghanistan) was its role in the creation of several works of art centered around Buddhist themes, including the first known depictions of the Buddha in human form. However, the Gandharan artists also drew a great amount of inspiration from the traditions of the Greco-Roman world, borrowing Hellenistic designs and mythological figures to tell the story of the Buddha in often powerful ways. Dr. Osm...
Sep 03, 2022•52 min
In the wake of Alexander the Great, the traditions of Hellenism and Buddhism thought came into close contact in Central Asia and India. Lee Clarke, a PhD student in cross-cultural philosophy at Nottingham Trent University, joins the show to discuss the idea of “Greco-Buddhism”, tracing the origins of the Buddha and the establishment of his teachings in Gandhara, before comparing and contrasting the philosophical outlooks of Greek and Indian schools of thought like Pyrrhonian Skepticism and Mahay...
Aug 25, 2022•44 min
In antiquity, Gandhara was one of the most deeply-rooted hubs of Buddhism, and scholars have attempted to search for any possible encounters between Buddhists and the Greeks who settled in Central Asia and India. Fascinating pieces of evidence hint at these connections: the Pali text known as the Milindapañha ("The Questions of King Milinda") portrays the Indo-Greek king Menander I Soter as a Buddhist convert and saint swayed by the wisdom of the Sage Nagasena, while Emperor Ashoka dispatched mi...
Aug 12, 2022•59 min
With the collapse of the Mauryan Empire, the rulers of Greco-Bactria would seize the opportunity to invade India in approximately 185 B.C. Famous conquerors like Demetrius and Menander would campaign throughout the subcontinent, seizing the lands of Arachosia and Gandhara (southern Afghanistan and Pakistan) as their new domains, the so-called "Indo-Greek" kingdoms. Despite the hostilities, the Indo-Greeks would quickly acclimate to their new cultural environment: figures like Heliodorus, a Greek...
Jul 28, 2022•1 hr 1 min
In 128 B.C., an explorer and diplomat named Zhang Qian had arrived in the Ferghana Valley in modern Uzbekistan. As the first known Chinese visitor in Central Asia, he was originally tasked by the Han Emperor Wudi to seek an alliance with the Yuezhi nomads, who migrated to Bactria in the 130s and contributed to the collapse of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. Though the alliance fell through, Zhang’s reports on the wealthy lands of “Daxia” and “Dayuan” tantalized the Emperor’s political ambitions, res...
Jul 21, 2022•58 min
With the discovery of the city of Ai Khanoum in northeastern Afghanistan, the idea of a strong Greek presence in the makeup of Hellenistic Bactria was reinforced. At the same time, they also demonstrate a reliance on local Bactrian traditions and the formation of brand new identities. Dr. Rachel Mairs, a historian of Hellenistic Central Asia and author of "The Hellenistic Far East", joins the show to discuss the nature of identity, reassessing how we perceive "Greekness" or any other type of cul...
Jul 07, 2022•38 min
The conquests of Alexander the Great resulted in tens of thousands of Greek colonists settling in Central Asia. While excavations of places like the city ruins of Ai Khanoum hint at a flourishing Hellenic culture, local Bactrian and Sogdian traditions continued to hold a powerful influence. In this episode, we take a deeper look at Greco-Bactria by analyzing the archaeological and epigraphical record, looking at key examples relating to questions of identity and organization, and ultimately conc...
Jul 01, 2022•1 hr 2 min
Coins are the most enduring symbols of the Greco-Bactrian and the Indo-Greek kingdoms, considered to be invaluable tools in reconstructing their chronologies in absence of a written history. Joining our series is numismatist Dr. Frank Lee Holt, author of books such as "Thundering Zeus: The Making of Hellenistic Bactria" and "Lost World of the Golden King: In Search of Ancient Afghanistan", who discusses how coins can be used (or misused) to tell the story of Hellenistic Bactria, and their vital ...
Jun 17, 2022•45 min
In the first of several episodes on the "Hellenistic Far East", we will cover the history of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, which controlled the lands of Central Asia stretching from Afghanistan to Kazakhstan during the third and second centuries B.C. As one of the most fascinating yet poorly understood regions in antiquity, we will try to piece together the fragmented history of Bactria and its inhabitants from the invasion of Alexander the Great to the reign of Eucratides I. Episode 074 Notes: (h...
Jun 11, 2022•1 hr 3 min
Despite the defeat at Raphia, Antiochus III was not discouraged from further conquests. After dealing with his final rival Achaeus in 213, the Seleucid king would lead a massive expeditionary force into Asia, an anabasis, intending to assert his authority over the wayward satrapies and kingdoms that splintered away during the troubled reigns of his predecessors. Marching from Armenia to India between 212-205, Antiochus and his army would battle the likes of Arsaces II of Parthia and Euthydemus I...
Jun 04, 2022•31 min
Only a few short years after his coronation, Antiochus III would invade the kingdom of Ptolemy IV in 219 B.C., intent on reclaiming the lands of Coele Syria as part of his birthright. To stem the tide, the Ptolemaic government tries to rejuvenate the now-rusty Egyptian army by ordering a massive recruitment drive and issuing reforms, and the two kings would come to blows at Raphia, where over 140,000 men would take part in one of the largest battles of the ancient world. Episode 072 Notes: (http...
May 21, 2022•49 min
In 222 B.C., two of the world's most powerful kingdoms saw the coronation of two young monarchs: Antiochus III of the Seleucid Empire, and Ptolemy IV Philopator of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt. As Antiochus tries to keep his realm from falling apart in the face of rebellions and the assassination of his older brother, the laziness of Ptolemy allows the court of Alexandria to fall into a whirlwind of conspiracies and corruption among his advisors, serving as a dramatic prelude to the Fourth Syr...
May 06, 2022•33 min
In this episode, we bring the Second Punic War to a close as Hannibal tries to conquer southern Italy, while the Scipio and Barcid families clash over control of the Iberian Peninsula. During the Spanish campaigns, Publius Scipio (the future Scipio Africanus) becomes the premier general of the Republic, bringing the fight to Africa itself as he clashes with Hannibal at the legendary confrontation at Zama. Episode 070 Notes: (https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2022/04/25/070-the-second-p...
Apr 25, 2022•54 min
