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Xenophon: The March Through Madness
Season 1 · Episode 129

Xenophon: The March Through Madness

Xenophon was a philosophy student, a Socratic thinker, and a pampered Athenian aristocrat who signed up for a mercenary road trip into Persia and accidentally became one of the greatest battlefield leaders in Greek history. When his army’s generals were betrayed and slaughtered, Xenophon—who had never commanded a single soldier—rallied 10,000 stranded warriors and led them on a 4,000-mile retreat through enemy territory, across deserts, mountains, and hostile kingdoms, surviving ambushes, starvation, and snowblindness. This is the story of how a student of Socrates marched his way into legend—and inspired everyone from Alexander the Great to the creators of cult classic movie The Warriors. Can you dig it?!

Badass of the Week

October 1, 20251h 6m

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Show Notes

Xenophon was a philosophy student, a Socratic thinker, and a pampered Athenian aristocrat who signed up for a mercenary road trip into Persia and accidentally became one of the greatest battlefield leaders in Greek history. When his army’s generals were betrayed and slaughtered, Xenophon—who had never commanded a single soldier—rallied 10,000 stranded warriors and led them on a 4,000-mile retreat through enemy territory, across deserts, mountains, and hostile kingdoms, surviving ambushes, starvation, and snowblindness. This is the story of how a student of Socrates marched his way into legend—and inspired everyone from Alexander the Great to the creators of cult classic movie The Warriors.  Can you dig it?!

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