Emily and Cam continue their discussion of the conflict between the Persians and the ancient Greek world. In this episode, they chat about Cyrus’ son Cambyses, about the rise to power of Darius, and about Darius’ relationships with Greeks on the western frontier of his empire.

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Episode Links

1. The first episode in this series (The Persians and the Greeks, Part I: The Rise of the Persian Empire).
2. Part I of our series on the Athens Marathon, which includes a discussion of the Battle of Marathon and the legend of Pheidippides.
3. Wikipedia’s article on Darius’ Bisitun Inscription, which includes photos.

Image credits:

1. Cover / instagram image adapted from a photo by Lee van Dorp (Wikimedia Commons), which shows a closeup of Darius as he is depicted on the Bisitun Inscription.
2. Social sharing image adapted from a photo by Korosh091 (Wikimedia Commons), which shows the Bisitun Inscription's main relief.

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00:13 - Introduction

01:31 - Sources for the reigns of Cambyses and Darius

1. 01:49 - Herodotus’ Persian stories
2. 02:41 - Inscriptions and papyri documenting Persian kings

03:01 - Cambyses, son of Cyrus: portraits of his Reign

1. 03:27 - Herodotus’ take on Cambyses: a mad and murderous king
2. 11:59 - A more sympathetic take: the Apis inscriptions, the Udjahorresnet inscription, and what they tell us about Cambyses

16:35 - The Death of Cambyses and the rise of Darius

1. 17:01 - Herodotus’ tale of the usurper Smerdis and the (Persian) Magnificent Seven
2. 21:06 - Darius’ Bisitun Inscription and the “Official” story of his rise to power

28:02 - Darius and the Greeks

1. 28:41 - Darius’ Scythian Expedition and the Greeks of Ionia and Aeolia
2. 32:01 - The Ionian Revolt and its causes: Aristagoras and Naxos, plus the problem of tyranny, tribute, and triremes

Emily and Cam talk about the ancient Persians and the growth of their empire in the first episode of a series on the conflict between the Persians and the ancient Greek world.

Visit our homepage to subscribe, to find us on social media, and to contact us by email:

1. https://havetogawilltravel.com

Cover photo adapted from an image by Jakub Hałun (Persian Warriors, Pergamon University, Berlin)

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00:12 - Introduction

01:07 - Who were the Persians?

1. 01:11 - The ancient Persians, the ancient Iranians, and the Indo-European dispersion
2. 02:52 - The Old Persian language (and a digression on Persian names)
3. 08:35 - Zoroastrianism and the religion of the ancient Persians

13:59 - The Rise of the Persian Empire

1. 14:23 - The Middle East in the 6th Century BCE: Persia and its neighbors
2. 16:29 - Herodotus and the legend of Cyrus the Great
3. 20:06 - Cyrus the Great and his conquests
4. 24:04 - Cyrus’ successors: Cambyses and Darius
5. 24:48 - The Persian Empire in 500 BCE

25:12 - The Structure of the Persian Empire

1. 25:25 - Cooperative local elites and the obligations of empire
2. 26:35 - Satraps, provinces, and the Iranian diaspora

28:45 - The Ideology of the Persian Empire

1. 29:04 - Cyrus as champion of local gods in Babylon and Judah
2. 30:49 - Darius as champion of Ahura Mazda

32:47 - The Mechanics of Empire in the Age of Darius

1. 32:52 - Imperial ideology and imperial violence
2. 34:00 - Local elites and imperial entanglements: the story of Syloson of Samos

38:04 - Wrap-up

Emily and Cam break down “The Persians”—the oldest surviving Greek tragedy, which offers a surprisingly sympathetic take on the enemies of Athens.

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1. https://havetogawilltravel.com

Cover photo adapted from an image of the Salamis Soldiers' monument, by Ziegler175:

1. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SalamisPaloukiaSchlacht2.jpg

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00:10 - Introduction

01:43 - Aeschylus and his historical context

1. 01:56 - The subject of the play (and its peculiarity)
2. 03:06 - The Battle of Salamis and the Persian Wars
3. 05:10 - Aeschylus’ Career

06:22 - The Persians in performance

1. 06:30 - The Dionysia of 472 BCE and Aeschylus’ tetralogy
2. 08:35 - Pericles as producer (choregos)
3. 09:09 - A synopsis of the play
4. 11:12 - The structure of Greek Tragedies (or, how do we know that the Persians only needs two actors apart from the chorus?)

14:03 - Interpreting the play: sympathy for the Persians?

1. 15:06 - The survival of the play: evidence of its popularity?
2. 16:04 - Triumphalism vs. a recognition of common experience
3. 17:06 - Differences between Greek and Persians in the play: archers vs. spearmen, autocracy vs. autonomy, proskynesis and lamentation
4. 20:36 - Aeschylus argues for common experiences: the Persians as Homeric heroes, the horrors and the costs of battle, and Aeschylus’ rejection of the “effeminate Persians” trope

26:37 - The play’s main theme: empire and hubris

1. 27:00 - Xerxes and his bad decisions
2. 27:56 - The gods’ desire to punish Xerxes
3. 28:53 - The hubris of Xerxes, or the hubris of the Empire? (Featuring Emily’s rant about hubris in ancient and modern thought)
4. 34:27 - Aeschylus, the gods, and Athenian imperialism
5. 36:55 - The social function of tragedy: thinking through big problems
6. 37:28 - What staging the Persians can tell us about the play

39:12 - Wrap-up