Antiochus I faced a difficult situation when his father died, as indicated by today's episode title- an extract from Rudyard Kipling's poem 'If'. The great distance messengers had to travel to notify Antiochus of the western situation following his father's death meant that others had already begun carving out their own piece of the pie again. Yes, Seleucus has an obvious heir where Alexander did not, but that doesn't mean that the Hellenistic world isn't going to descend from unity into anarchy once again...

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A brief overview of what the Hellenistic would have looked like in 281 when we left our narrative in episode 16. Despite the near reunification Seleucus had achieved, his son Antiochus is going to inherit a difficult position...

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Before we ease ourselves back into the main narrative again, I thought it would be a good idea to catch up with the life and times of Antiochus I until he acceded to the throne in 281 BCE. Then next week, we'll look around the world in 281 before plunging back into the hectic fight to keep Seleucus' ambition alive.

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Continuing with our theme of less well known civilisations, today we're going to discuss the Nabateans- a Bedouin people who created a kingdom in Arabia and the Sinai peninsula around the time of the Successors, which would last until the eastern conquests of Trajan in 106 CE. Perhaps their most famous monument in the western world is the city carved into the rock at their capital, Petra. However, we've not going to delve very far into their history; as fun as that would be, there's just too much to cover. Instead, we're going to cover their run-in with the former head honchos of the Successors- Antigonus and Demetrius...

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India would be one of the last bastions of the Hellenistic kingdoms, which would survive for forty years after the collapse of Ptolemaic Egypt. However, the shadow Alexander the Great cast over the subcontinent would extend further than mere territory. From religion to cosmology, the influence left by the Yavanas would be profound...

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Epirus- a small kingdom around what is now Albania- has been mentioned a few times on the show, but has always been on the political fringes. As such, It's been covered in nowhere near as much detail. So, join me on the third of our divergence episodes as we delve into the chaotic and complex history of Epirus. To those of you who have enjoyed hearing about the wars, infighting and shifting alliances of the Diadochoi, you've come to the right place...

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NOTE: I mention at one point that Neoptolemus' death is natural, but what I should have said is that my sources haven't indicated how he died. Also, I think I pronounced Aeacus wrong; I believe it should be said more like 'a-AA-kuss' or similar. The same then probably goes for Aeacides... Also, In case I didn't make it clear, Olympias was the daughter of Neoptolemus I.

As I've mentioned in previous episodes, the moment when Seleucus re-entered Babylon marked the start of the Seleucid era- otherwise known as the 'Anno Graecorum' or 'Year of the Greeks'. But when exactly did this start getting used? Why were there two different ways of measuring it? And how long did its use last for?

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Even among the successors, Seleucus has a reputation as a prolific city-builder; in all, he founded approximately 31 cities, including sites such as modern day Antioch and Laodicea, both situated in the Levant. While some of these places started out as attempts to swell the ranks of his armies, they would end up becoming heartlands of his empire...

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