Casting Through Ancient Greece

39: Sicily, Conflict & Tyrants

The wave of Greek colonisation taking place in the 8th and 7th centuries wouldn’t be the end of the Greeks seeking to establish new cities. More expeditions would be sent out from the Greek mainland, while the original Greek colonies of Sicily would also start establishing their own colonies. The eastern, southern and northern coasts would be the target for many of these expeditions, with the east seeing the largest concentration of Greeks.

As the colonies on Sicily began to mature and grow, political developments would follow a familiar path as to many of the mother cities. The political figure of the tyrant would emerge, not surprisingly, since most colonies would adopt a similar form of government to what had been in place from their metropolis’.

This ever-increasing growth of Greek colonies would also start to see conflict develop in and around Sicily. The Phoenicians had been present in the region for as long as the Greeks and had been engaging in trade. One of their colonies, Carthage was also now developing into a power in its own right and would take the lead in opposing the Greeks expansions.

By the end of the 6th century Carthage had secured much of its trade interests in the region with them at the head of an alliance including many of the Phoenician colonies of Africa, Sicily and Iberia. Though, the Greeks were firmly established on Sicily and in the region. Political developments would continue to evolve, as well as expansion, and with it, the inevitable conflict as the 6th century turned into the 5th century. 

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Todays book recommendation is, Carthage's Other Wars by Dexter Hoyos

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This is a teaser of the bonus episode, The Mycenaeans Trojan War found over on Patreon.

We continue our look through the Bronze Age arriving at the question, was the Trojan War a historical event. In this bonus episode we explore this question by looking at what has been uncovered in the Archaeological record and turn to the Hittite texts that have been translated.

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 and series updates come out in the first week of every month, 

Todays episodes sponsor is Hello Fresh
Head to Hello Fresh here to receive $80 Discount ($50 - $20 - $10) Including Free Shipping on your First Box! with the code HFAFF80

"Shattering the Myth of Spartan Warrior Supremacy"

The Spartans are one of the most recognisable ancient Greek societies in our modern day. Though, just about no writing from the Spartans themselves survives, everything we know about them comes from outsiders looking in. This has resulted in many Myths and stereotypes to develop over the ages. In this episode, Myke Cole sits down and talks about his latest book, The Bronze Lie, Shattering the myth of Spartan Warrior supremacy, where he peals back the myth and gives the Spartans and their society a human face and story.

Myke Cole has had a colourful and varied career, with service in war and crisis response. Myke’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Daily Beast, The New Republic, and Foreign Policy. He is the author of Legion versus Phalanx: The Epic Struggle for Infantry Supremacy in the Ancient World. Myke is also a popular fantasy and science fiction novelist with several major imprints. He appeared on CBS’ hit TV show Hunted, where he joined a team of elite investigators pursuing fugitives across the southeastern United States, and later starred on Discovery Channel’s Contact alongside fellow Osprey author Dr Michael Livingston. And now Myke has written his second work on history, the Bronze Lie, Shattering the myth of Spartan warrior supremacy.

Links for Myke Cole:

Twitter – @MykeCole

Facebook – Myke Cole

Website – www.mykecole.com

Find Myke’s book here on Amazon

The Bronze Lie

Legion Versus Phalanx

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38: The Greek Periphery, Sicily

The prehistory of Sicily, well before the Greeks arrived is still to this day shrouded in some mystery. We are left with a written tradition from a number of Greek writer but they were writing about a past some thousand years before their time. Modern attempts at understanding this period are even debated, which leaves us with our best guesses based off of what is found in modern research and what the ancients say.

The Island of Sicily west of Greek lands would come into the Greek periphery as the Mediterranean was emerging out of the Dark Ages. Trade would once again begin to flow from the west as it had done during the Bronze Age to the Mycenaeans. Though, with the collapse of the Bronze Age much of this trade would be disrupted as various civilisations went into decline or disappeared completely.

Though, as trade began increasing, more Greek cities would have been setting up their own trading connections at Sicily. Eventually, the various Greek city states would send out expeditions to found colonies on the island. This would provide relief with the over population problem that was beginning to occur in some of the larger cities, while also opening up more markets to the Greek mainland.

The Greeks were not the only people present on Sicily, with it home to three separate indigenous cultures according to the written tradition. Also present was that of the Phoenicians, a civilisation originating in the Levant and the founders of the famous city of Carthage. They were also engaging in trade and establishing their own colonies. All these different peoples would for the most past during the 8th century BC, co-exist peacefully, but as time went on and more colonies emerged, interests would start to be encroached upon.

Todays episodes sponsor is Hello Fresh
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Todays book recommendation is, Sicily, A short History from the ancient Greeks to Cosa Nostra

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This is a teaser of the bonus episode, Mycenaean International Connections found over on Patreon.

We now continue with our focus on the Mycenaeans, this time looking closer at their relations with other lands. We will first look at their trading activities, with what they were importing from other civilisations. Then we will turn to what they were exporting along the numerous trade routes. Finally we will look at other foreign contacts that we get glimpses of, though as with most matters around the Mycenaeans, the picture we get is fragmentary at best.

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 and series updates come out in the first week of every month, our next bonus episode to come out on Patreon will be; Mycenaeans, the coming of the Greeks.

Herodotus; The Father of Lies.

“Because it is simple and lacking in effort and easily runs over events, has thoroughly deceived many people” (Plutarch, on the Malice of Herodotus)

Plutarch would be but one historian to level criticisms at Herodotus from the ancient past all the way through to our times. Often, we see the common title given to Herodotus, the Father of History turned on its head to, Herodotus, the Father of Lies, due to his willingness to include strange and wonderful tales. 

We will look at a number of aspects that have been used to criticise Herodotus over the ages, with us beginning with the sources he used, were they to be trusted in themselves. As we will discover there is no easy answer to this since Herodotus’ sources would be wide ranging.

Next, we will then turn to the reliability of Herodotus’ reporting of his sources and other various means of collecting information. Once again, we will explore some examples and see the challenge before him with such a diverse range of sources to make sense of subjects.  

Herodotus would also be the target of click bait articles and online forums in our time. Though, we will see often these arguments misrepresent him and miss what Herodotus even tells us in his accounts. We will look at examples involving gold digging ants, Cyclopes’ stealing gold from griffins and the millions of Persians at Thermopylae. 

One thing I tell people to keep in mind when reading Herodotus, Herodotus wasn’t attempting to invent history. This was a title later ascribed to him because of the novel way he was presenting information in his time. Herodotus may well be the father of history, but like a child history would grow and mature over time, becoming what it is today. 

Todays episodes sponsor is Hello Fresh
Head to Hello Fresh here to receive $80 Discount ($50 - $20 - $10) Including Free Shipping on your First Box! with the code HFAFF80

Todays book recommendation is A Commentary on Herodotus: Vol 1 & Vol 2

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“Herodotus of Halicarnassus here presents his research so that human events do not fade with time. May the great and wonderful deeds – some brought forth by the Hellenes, others by the barbarians – not go unsung; as well as the causes that led them to make war on each other.”

Herodotus, Proem

These are the opening lines from the oldest surviving work of history in the western world and would open so much more than just an account of the Greek and Persian wars.

In this first episode on Herodotus, we will look at who Herodotus was, as much as the known information lets us. We will also turn to looking at what his ambitious work, the Histories would cover. There is so much more than just a historical account, with geography, anthropology, ethnography, folklore and even hints of Philosophy.

His work would be broken up into nine books into the medieval period, each book denoting a scroll that the Histories was originally written on. Within these books would be many digressions that Herodotus would become well known for and where we see many of the elements that would make this so much more than a history come into play.

We also look at the potential sources Herodotus would have used, from written accounts, his enquires and his own observations. We take for granted the process of gathering sources today, but back 2500 years ago there would have been a number of hurdles for someone seeking reason for events in the past.   

Todays episodes sponsor is Hello Fresh
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Todays book recommendation is Landmark Herodotus 

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This is a teaser of the bonus episode over on Patreon, the coming of the Greeks.

In this bonus episode we move to looking at the next Bronze Age civilisation in the Aegean, the Mycenaeans. Here we will focus in on the notion that they were the ancestors of the Classical Greeks. This theory only being accepted in the last 70 years due to evidence through archaeology and linguistics coming to light.   

For the full version of the episode plus many more you can head to Casting Through Ancient Greece Patreon page

Or head to the Casting Through Ancient Greece website to discover other ways to support the series.

The Greco-Persian Wars:

The Greek and Persian wars would be a defining moment in the Greek world helping shape the trajectory of development in Greece and around the Aegean for time to come. Even today a detailed ancient account survives describing the events of 2500 years in what is one of the oldest works of history. Herodotus who has been labelled the father of history would be born during the wars and would travel the Greek world later in life collecting all he could, so as to understand what brought the Greeks and Persian to make war.

In this episode we will be looking back at the last 18 episodes that looked at the Greco-Persian Wars and try and tie everything together, so as to refresh ourselves on all that has taken place over the 21 years since the Ionian revolt. This will then put us in a good position to then move on with the narrative of the series.

The Greek and Persian Wars are often seen as beginning with the decision by Athens and Eretria to send ships to aide the Ionian revolt. Herodotus would say; “These ships were the beginnings of evil for both Hellenes and Barbarians”. The revolt would ultimately fail and Persian attention would now be focused on Greece.

Two main invasions would be launched that would directly attack Greece, these coming in 490 BC and 48 BC. In these two invasions we see some of the most well know battles take place such as Marathon, Thermopylae and Salamis. Though some lesser known would also be fought, but just as, if not more important battles, Plataea, Mycale and Artemisium.

The Greeks would end up defeating the Persian invasions but this wouldn’t see the end of operations. The Persian threat still loomed large in their minds and measures were taken to strengthen themselves against any further invasions. This as we move forward in the series would have consequences shaping politics and relations as the years past.

Todays episodes sponsor is Hello Fresh
Head to Hello Fresh here to receive $80 Discount ($50 - $20 - $10) Including Free Shipping on your First Box! with the code HFAFF80

Todays book recommendation is Persian Fire by Tom Holland 

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In this interview Episode I sit down and chat with the author Mark Adams about his book, "Meet me in Atlantis". We talk about his experiences and what he learnt about Plato's tale of the lost city of Atlantis. He also talks about the many people he met during his research for the book and where he also tells their stories.

MARK ADAMS is the author of the acclaimed history Mr. America, which The Washington Post named a Best Book of 2009, and the bestsellers Tip of the Iceberg, Meet Me in Atlantis and Turn Right at Machu Picchu, which has been named one of the fifty greatest adventure books of all time. His work has appeared in many national publications, including GQ, the New York Times, and Rolling Stone. He has appeared as a guest on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Howard Stern Show, NPR Weekend Edition and other programs. Recently, two of his articles for Men's Journal were selected by the editors for their list of the magazine's ten best stories of the 2010s. He is currently working on a new book about the Catholic monk Thomas Merton's historic 1968 pilgrimage to study Buddhism in the Himalayas.

www.markadamsbooks.com 

Find Mark Adams' books on Amazon 

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