History with Cy

In this program we'll take a look at the illustrious life of the great Persian King of Kings, Darius I, also known as Darius the Great.  Regarded by many as the most powerful ruler of the Achaemenid Dynasty of ancient Iran, Darius I is also amongst its most controversial.  We'll dive deeper into the life of great king, the contentious debate about his rise to power, and ultimately examine the words of Darius himself about his these and other aspects of his life and beliefs.

Contents:

00:00  Introduction and Historical Context
03:37  Early Life of Darius
05:14  Rise to Power as told in the Behistun Inscription
16:55  Lineage and Family of Darius
18:10  Rebellions and Troubles of 522 BC
20:43  Architect of an Empire: Satrapies, Reforms, Roads and Canals
25:19  Darius the Builder: Susa and Persepolis
33:50  Expansion of the Achaemenid Empire
35:25  The Ionian Revolt
37:17  Invasion of Greece and the Battle of Marathon
43:21  Thank You and Patrons

Special thanks to Farya Faraji for the music:

"Achaemenes"
"Shirin and Khosrow"
"The Riding Angaros"
"Memory of Cyrus"
"Spantodhata's Warning"
"The Apadana's Shadow"
"Battle of Cunaxa"
"Hyrcanian Lullaby"
"Immortals"
"Apranik's Charge"
"March of Achaemenes"

Check out more of his work that spans across many countries, cultures and time periods:
https://www.youtube.com/@faryafaraji

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This is the episode that many of your have been waiting for - a comprehensive, in-depth look at the Akkadian Empire from just before it was created to its mysterious end.  Founded by Sargon of Akkad and expanded by his descendants Rimush, Manishtushu and Naram-Sin, the Akkadian Empire was the first hegemonic state and superpower of the early Bronze Age.  This program will examine Akkad's beginning, it's rise and expansion to the far corners of the known world, its economy, administration, collapse and legacy.  

Contents:

00:00 Introduction: The World Before Sargon of Akkad
04:37 Lugalzagesi  
09:33 The Early Life and Legends of Sargon of Akkad
13:24 Who were the Akkadians?
16:05 Sargon and Ur-Zababa
20:01 The Founding of the Akkadian Empire
22:17 Sargon Battles Against Elam and Marhashi
23:24 King of Battle
25:49 Administration of the Akkadian Empire
27:26 Enheduanna
30:15 The Glory of Agade
36:30 Rimush the Warmonger 
45:48 Manishtushu the Consolidator 
49:10 Naram-Sin and the Great Revolt
53:55 Naram-Sin the Divine
57:40 Naram-Sin and Elam
1:00:04 Other Conquests of Naram-Sin
1:01:28 Akkadian Administration under Naram-Sin
1:03:26 Land Distribution and Reforms
1:07:28 Family of Naram-Sin and Diplomatic Marriages 
1:09:56 Shar-kali-sharri and the End of an Era
1:16:55 After Akkad 
1:18:29 Thank You and Patrons

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In this video we'll journey back to the late Bronze Age and explore Mycenaean Civilization in Greece and the wider Aegean world.  We'll also delve into the historical events that may have led to armed conflicts between Mycenaeans and Hittites and that may have ultimately served as the basis for Homer's great epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey. 

Contents:

00:00 Contents and Introduction
02:43 Helladic Chronology Explained
03:42 Discovery of Mycenaean Culture
05:35 Geography of Greece
07:28 Early Mycenaeans
10:58 “Mycenae, Rich in Gold”
13:32 Linear B
16:54 Mycenaean Society and Material Culture
21:21 Mycenaean Palatial Centers and Major Kingdoms
23:39 Orchomenos
25:30 Gla
26:00 Thebes
27:00 Athens
29:10 Tiryns
29:49 Pylos
31:15 Daily Life, Food and Economy 
36:41 Importance of Bronze
38:08 Warfare and Weapons
40:25 Hunting and Horses
41:47 Roads
42:26 Religion
45:28 Minoans and Maritime Trade
48:07 Earthquake on Thera
49:26 Mycenaeans on Crete
52:22 Mycenaean Political Unity?
53:31 Ahhiyawa and the Hittites
55:31 Attarissiya of Ahhiya
57:55 The Assuwan Confederacy 
1:00:10 Piyamaradu and the Tawagalawa Letter
1:05:16 Alaksandu of Wilusa (Troy)
1:08:29 Ahhiyawa and Tudhaliya IV
1:11:20 Are Mycenaean Greece and Ahhiyawa the Same?
1:13:07 Mycenaean Trade with the World
1:15:08 The Uluburun Shipwreck
1:18:01 Fear and Dread
1:23:15 Desperate Times, Desperate Measures
1:25:53 Possible Theories for the Fall of Mycenaean Civilization
1:27:24 End of an Era
1:28:54 Thank You and Patrons

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This program explores the history of the ancient city of Babylon and the land once known as Babylonia.  We'll uncover the story of this great city over the course of fifteen centuries and learn about its impact and why it was so beloved as well as hated by so many in the ancient world.   We'll also meet an interesting and rather eclectic cast of kings including Hammurabi, Zimri-Lim, Rim-Sin, Samsu-iluna, Marduk-apla-iddina II, Sargon II, Sennacherib, Ashurbanipal, Nabopolassar, Nebuchadnezzar I & II, Nabonidus, Cyrus the Great and many more. 

Contents:

00:00 Introduction
04:00 Before Babylon: The Fall of the Neo-Sumerian Empire
05:30 Ibbi-Sin and Ishbi-Erra
09:27 Letter of Puzur-Numushda to Ibbi-Sin
12:21 Fall of Ur and the Birth of Babylonian Civilization
15:11 Dynasties of Isin and Larsa (Isin-Larsa Period)
19:00 The First Dynasty of Babylon
26:32 Hammurabi of Babylon
27:48 Zimri-Lim of Mari
29:48 War with Eshnunna
30:46 The Sukkalmah of Elam
33:12 War with Elam
35:51 Hammurabi and Rim-Sin
39:41 Hammurabi and Zimri-Lim
42:24 The Law Code of Hammurabi
46:07 Rebellions during the Reign of Samsu-iluna
52:30 The Last Four Kings of the First Dynasty
55:29 The Hittite Invasion of Babylonia
58:03 The Kassites take Control
01:03:45 The Kassites Reunite Babylonia 
01:06:30 Rivalry with Assyria 
01:09:05 Assyria show Babylon who’s Boss
01:11:40 Tukulti-Ninurta’s Conflict with the Kassites
01:14:35 The Second Sack of Babylon
01:18:37 Elamite Incursions
01:20:10 Babylon Bounces Back
01:22:36 The End of the Kassite Era
01:25:55 The Second Dynasty of Isin
01:27:23 Nebuchadnezzar I Avenges Babylon 
01:33:50 Life under the Second Dynasty of Isin
01:34:56 Literary Works: Enuma Elish and Sakkiku
01:37:24 More Assyrian Meddling 
01:43:43 Dark Age and Mysterious Dynasties of Babylon
01:44:40 Second Dynasty of the Sealand
01:47:43 The Bazi Dynasty
01:48:11 The Elamite Dynasty 
01:49:10 Dynasty E
01:53:52 Tiglath-pileser III and the Neo-Assyrian Era of Babylon
02:01:48 Marduk-apla-iddina II of Babylon and Sargon the II of Assyria
02:11:19 Sennacherib 
01:24:50 The Destruction of Babylon
02:27:50 Esarhaddon Rebuilds Babylon
02:33:12 Ashurbanipal and Shamash-shumu-ukin
02:39:40 Nabopolassar and the Fall of Assyria
02:46:54 Nebuchadnezzar II 
02:53:10 Nabonidus, the Last Babylonian King
02:56:40 Cyrus the Great and the Persian Conquest of Babylon
03:01:04 End of an Era
03:07:27 Thank You and Patrons

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In this third installment of the Peloponnesian War podcast, we take a look at life after Pericles and the years 428 and 427 BC.  Leaders of Mytilene's oligarchy have decided that now is the time to leave the Athenian-led alliance.  The conflict in Plataea also finally comes to an end while another bloody civil conflict between factions in Corcyra gets out of hand and shocks the Greek world.  At the end of it, the Athenians head west to see if they can exert their influence in southern Italy and Sicily.  The war is really heading up and who knows where the fires will spread to next! 

In this third installment of the Peloponnesian War podcast, we take a look at life after Pericles and the years 428 and 427 BC.  Leaders of Mytilene's oligarchy have decided that now is the time to leave the Athenian-led alliance.  The conflict in Plataea also finally comes to an end while another bloody civil conflict between factions in Corcyra gets out of hand and shocks the Greek world.  At the end of it, the Athenians head west to see if they can exert their influence in southern Italy and Sicily.  The war is really heading up and who knows where the fires will spread to next! 

Contents:

00:00 Introduction
01:10 Revolt of Mytilene
06:25 Judgement of Mytilene: Cleon vs. Diodotus 
13:41 The Fate of Plataea
16:07 Civil War in Corcyra
22:05 Sicily and Syracuse
25:43 Thank You and Patrons

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War begins!  In this episode, we take a look at the start of the great war and the Athenian statesman Pericles' strategy to keep Athens and it's empire safe from the attacks of the Spartan general Archidamos and the Peloponnesian forces.  Find out in this episode of the Peloponnesian War Podcast. 

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This is the first episode of the podcast series on the Peloponnesian War.  How did it start?  What does Thucydides, the war's great historian, tell us about the reasons and motivations of Athens, Sparta, Corinth and the different parties involved? Could the conflict have been prevented?  We'll take a look at these questions and more as we go through the story of the greatest internal conflict of ancient Greek history, the Peloponnesian War!   

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Herodotus, arguably the ancient world's greatest historian...or storyteller.  Perhaps a bit of both.  In this episode, we take a look at his life, where he traveled and see what may have been the source for one of his more fantastical stories, namely the gold-digging ants of India.

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In the second of this two part series on the Achaemenid Persian Empire, we continue with Darius the Great's son, Xerxes and some of the main events of the Greco-Persian wars, and then follow the lives of his successors up to Darius III and the fall of the Achaemenid Empire with its conquest by Alexander of Macedonia, a.k.a. Alexander the Great.     

Contents:

00:00 Intro and Recap
01:33 Xerxes (486-465 BC)
03:43 Xerxes Invades Greece
08:47 Battle of Thermopylae
11:18 Battle of Salamis
12:40 Battle of Plataea
14:40 Xerxes after Greece
18:26 Artaxerxes I (465-424 BC)
25:57 Darius II (424-404 BC)
30:07 Cyrus the Younger and the Battle of Cunaxa
31:17 Artaxerxes II (404-359 BC)
36:50 Artaxerxes III (359-338 BC)
39:20 Philip II and the Rise of Macedonia
42:25 Darius III (336-330 BC)
44:47 Alexander of Macedon and the Battle of the Granicus River
47:44 Battle of Issus
50:17 Battle of Gaugamela
53:40 The Last Days of Darius III
57:38 End of the Achaemenid Empire and Aftermath
58:54 Thank you and Patrons

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In this first of a two-part series, we'll take a concise look at the history of one of the greatest empires in all of antiquity - the Achaemenid Persian Empire.  Founded by Cyrus II and expanded by his successors Cambyses II and Darius I, the Achaemenid dynasty would not just go on to rule most of the known world at the time, but also transmit the ideas and innovations of its many subject peoples to from the shores of the eastern Mediterranean to the Indus River valley and beyond.  We'll start with examining the Achaemenid's rise to power, the world that they lived in, their religion including Zoroastrianism, and the beginning of their encounters with the Greek-speaking peoples of the Aegean and what would eventually lead to the Greco-Persian wars.    

Contents: 

00:00 Historical Backdrop (Assyria, Elam and Media)
09:35 Cyrus the Great (Early Years)
14:00 Cyrus vs. Croesus and Lydia
20:31 Cyrus and the Conquest of Babylon
24:43 Cyrus as Liberator in Biblical and Babylonian texts
27:33 Cyrus and Babylon
29:20 Cyrus' Last Campaign against the Massagetae
32:00 Cambyses II
37:06 Cambyses II - Mad or Maligned King?
42:18 Darius I (Darius the Great)
43:44 The Behistun Inscription and the Crisis of 522 BC
55:50 Persian Ethics, Religion, and Zoroastrianism
01:02:56 Achaemenid Administration - Roads, Canals and Satrapies
01:08:45 Expansion into Europe and start of the Greco-Persian Wars
01:11:19 Battle of Marathon
01:14:28 Thank you and Patrons

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