Casting Through Ancient Greece

This is a teaser of the bonus episode, Ostracism found over on Patreon.

We now continue our look at the systems and institutions that would develop in early Athens and Sparta. For this episode we will now turn the the political mechanism of Ostracism that would develop in Athens after the period of tyranny that had existed there in the last half of the 6th century BC.

We will look at what Ostracism was and what its purpose was. We will look at why it would develop, by understanding the pervious phase of Athenian politics. Then we will look at examples of ostracism being used into the Classical period. Then, finally we will look at if the system was still being used for its intended application. 

If you would like to hear more and support the series click on the Patreon link at the bottom of the page or you can head to my website to discover other ways to support the series, HereI

The polis of Corinth has remained in the background of events as we have travelled through the narrative of the series so far. Now though, we have reached a point, the years leading to the break out of the Peloponnesian War, where Corinth starts to feature in the ancient sources on a more regular basis. This would be through diplomatic dealings, both within the Peloponnesian league and on larger Greek matters involving Athens.

For this reason, we are going to take a short break in the narrative to properly acquaint ourselves with this city state that would become more important in affaires going on within Greece. We will look back to the earliest times where human activity was taking place on the Corinthian isthmus. This will see us look at developments through the Palaeolithic and into the Bronze Age.

The Bronze Age collapse would see population levels drop on the Isthmus like with other areas within Greece. However, the region in and around Corinth would recover as the Archaic age drew closer. A series of kings would govern the city before an aristocratic revolution took place which would see a powerful clan known as the Bacchiadae take control. The Bacchiadae would dominate Corinthian politics for the next 100 years. Though, their dominance would come to an end with the rise of a new political development.

The figure of the tyrant would first develop on the Greek mainland at the city of Corinth. The first tyrant Cypselus, who overthrow the Bacchiadae, would install the first tyranny with the support of the people of Corinth. There would be mixed feelings of his rule, depending which social class was being asked. The tyranny would continue with his son Periander, who would be included as amongst the seven sages of Greece. However, the tyranny would come to an end in the third generation through the assassination of Periander’s nephew. 

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Athens and Sparta had now entered into an agreement known as the 30 years’ peace, seeing the first Peloponnesian come to an end. This would see the creation of two spheres of influence within Greek lands that they would now turn their attention to. In Athens, Pericles would now also see a challenge to his influence within the Athenian political system. All accounts in the sources indicate that the rise of the conservative faction would be the toughest fight Pericles would have to endure to date.

Revolts within the Athenian Empire would continue through the 440’s, though we would not get any accounts of them. Our clue to these revolts would be in the form of the Athenian tribute list that would show a fluctuation of payments. However, as the 440’s came to a close we would once again hear of a major revolt in the historical sources. This revolt would begin as a war between two members of Athens Empire.

The island of Samos and Miletus on the Anatolian coast would engage in a war over disputed territory. Athens would find itself intervening in matters to bring the conflict under control, though they would take the side of Miletus. This would see Samos revolt against Athens and seek aide from their past enemies. Athens would face some setbacks during the conflict, though with more support they would eventually succeed in bringing the island back under control.

This Samian war would also test the agreements that Athens had made with both Sparta and Persia. Both had been approached by the Samians, with Persia giving indirect aide, while Sparta would stand by, supposedly sidelined by allies within the Peloponnesian league. For now, the terms made between Athens and Sparta would see conflict avoided. 

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This is a teaser of the bonus episode, The Tribes of Athens found over on Patreon.

Having spent the last couple of bonus episodes with Sparta, we now turn to Athens to look at the development of their institutions.

We will first look at a major step forward in the development of democracy with the reforms of Cleisthenes. In this episode we will refresh ourselves with Athens of the late Archaic period and then Cleisthenes' background. We will then touch on some of the political mechanisms he put in place such as ostracism. Then we will turn to his political reorganisation that would see a new system of tribes introduced that would open up political opportunities and allow for a more democratic political system to develop.

If you would like to hear more and support the series click on the Patreon link at the bottom of the page or you can head to my website to discover other ways to support the series, Here

New bonus episodes come out in the first week of every month,

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This is a teaser of the bonus episode, The Helots, found over on Patreon.

Hello everyone and a happy new year, we are now back with our first bonus episode of 2023.

For this bonus episode we have stuck with Sparta for the time being. A major reason for this was due to a question I received on Patreon that asked about the wider Greek world and their view on Sparta's practice of keeping Greeks as slaves.

So, for this episode I decided to take a look at the Spartan slave class known as the Helots to give us some context to their system. Then I look at the wider ancient world and Greek lands to see how slavery looked in general. This then allows us to look at this question around the Greeks attitudes towards Sparta's helot class. Though as we will find this is not such a clear cut question to answer. 

If you would like to hear more and support the series click on the Patreon link at the bottom of the page or you can head to my website to discover other ways to support the series, Here

New bonus episodes come out in the first week of every month,

So, it’s now mid-December and I am taking a break over the Christmas period and month of January. Though, before signing off for the holidays I wanted to leave you all with a different sort of episode to see out the year. I decided to contact my good friend Steve over at The Spartan History Podcast to see if he would be interested in coming on just to talk about Greek history. He has just entered into the Greek and Persian War period, so I thought it would provide lots for us to talk about. Plus, it gave me another reason to go back and chat about the Persian Wars, a period I always enjoy talking about. It had also been quite some time since we last did a collaboration so I thought it was about time to get on air and chat. I also felt we had reached a natural point to take a break in the series since we just wrapped up the First Peloponnesian War. But don’t worry we will be back to continue with the developments in the new year.

For those of you have not come across The Spartan History podcast, I would highly recommend you check out Steve’s show. He began around the same time I started this show and we have since then kept in touch and bounced ideas off one another. You can find the Spartan History podcast on the same platforms you listen to this show on.

So, for this episode, we decided not to worry about any sort of script or pre-planned direction for the chat, it just basically unfolded as if we were chatting together without any audience. We focus a great deal on the Greco-Persian Wars, jumping around the period a bit. While we also do touch on areas before and after the conflict. We did have a few connection issues through the talk with a dropout and some areas of buffering, though, I did try and smooth them out as best as I could but they are still there. 

Anyway, a huge thank you to everyone for listening and supporting the show, I have greatly appreciated it. Although, Im taking the rest of December and January off, I just want to let all Patreon members know that I will still be releasing the next bonus episode in the first week of January.

www.spartanhistorypodcast.com

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iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/spartan-history-podcast/id1489152895

Twitter: @Spartan_History

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This is a teaser of the bonus episode, Solon, found over on Patreon.

Sparta's path to development as a polis would be different to a lot of other Greek city states. Because of this path they would develop institutions that would seem unique in an otherwise Greek world. One of these developments was that of the Agoge, Sparta's system of education to produce loyal and disciplined citizens. It is this system that we turn to today and try and get better understanding of. We will look at what the Agoge was, why it seemed to develop and the different stages a Spartan would go through during his education.  

If you would like to hear more and support the series click on the Patreon link at the bottom of the page or you can head to my website to discover other ways to support the series, Here

New bonus episodes come out in the first week of every month,

Athens and Sparta were now in a position to turn their attention to matters within their own spheres of influence, with the truce that existed between them. Sparta would look at eliminating the threats that they had faced on the Peloponnese, seeing Argos now at peace with Sparta, and Tegea brought back into the Peloponnesian league. While negotiations would appear to be taking place with other cities on the Corinthian isthmus.  

With Sparta now in a more secure position domestically, they would no look further afield once again. This would see them become involved in the second Sacred War around Delphi, with indirect connections to Athens. With the truce still in place Athens would react to these developments once Sparta had left the region. This seeing a reversal in the outcome Sparta had won for the Delphines.

However, not all was going well for Athens in Boeotia. The oligarchs who had been exiled with Athens take over were returning in great numbers. It appears they may have been emboldened by Sparta’s action. They would begin regaining control of the Boeotian cities and would end up defeating Athens in a decisive battle when the Athenians came to attempt to hold onto the region. Athens would also have to deal with other league members attempting to revolt in the wake of their loss of territory in Boeotia.

By this stage the 5 years true had just expired and Sparta would immediately make moves against Athens that appear to have been planned. A Spartan army would march into Attica laying waste to the areas before Athens. However, an Athenian army would respond, seeing the Spartans advance no further. All was set for another show down on the battlefield, however talks would be held between to two sides. This would lay the foundation for what is known as the 30 years peace and would bring the First Peloponnesian War to an end.

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After the battle of Tanagra, Athens was able to focus on pursuing its aims throughout Boeotia, the Gulf of Corinth and the Peloponnese. This saw Athens power and influence grow even more at the expense of Sparta and its allies. However, the disaster that would take place in Egypt for Athens would see them now needing to change their policies to better deal with the crisis that was brewing in the Aegean.

One of the first measures taken was to put in place a truce with Sparta, so as to reduce the threat of attack within Greece itself. This would then allow Athens to focus its now reduced resources to defending its control in the Aegean, this being the source of their power. The defeat in Egypt had seen some of the Delian league members view Athens in a weakened state. While, there was the fear Persia would once again campaign into Aegean.

Athens would first focus on tightening its grip on the league. They would campaign to force the revolting cities back in as tribute paying members. While then taking measures to ensure it would prove more difficult for future rebellions to take place. These would come in the form of coercion, building relations and economic dependency.

The other crisis Athens faced in the Aegean was the renewed threat of Persian actions into the Aegean. To deal with this they would arrange an expedition led by Cimon to the Persian controlled island of Cyprus. Although, the island would remain under Persian control the actions that took place would see what appear to be some sort of peace being made between Athens and Persia. Athens had now dealt with the crisis but matters on the Greek mainland had not been resolved and the truce with Sparta was soon due to expire.

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This is a teaser of the bonus episode, Solon, found over on Patreon.

We now turn to the important figure of Solon in Athens history. He would be credited with implementing the foundations of what would become democracy. The divide between nobles and non-nobles had seen political violence breakout. Solon would attempt to implement measures that would see birth not the only qualifying factor to have political say, while he would also reform Athens economically and morally. After making these changes Solon would leave Athens for 10 years, travelling the Mediterranean. This is where we will spend the last half of the episode, looking at two episodes within these travels, as he visited Egypt and Lydia.

If you would like to hear more and support the series click on the Patreon link at the bottom of the page or you can head to my website to discover other ways to support the series, Here

New bonus episodes come out in the first week of every month, 

Support the show