The Ancient World

Synopsis: Caracalla cuts a murderous path through Rome, and provokes a dangerous war with Parthia. After his murder, Julia Domna is forced to contend with a would-be usurper. “Julia Domna deserved all that the stars could promise her. She possessed, even in advanced age, the attractions of beauty, and united to a lively imagination a firmness of mind, and strength of judgement, seldom bestowed on her sex. Her amiable qualities never made any deep impression on the dark and jealous temper of her husband; but in her son’s reign, she administered the principal affairs of the empire, with a prudence that supported his authority, and with a moderation that sometimes corrected his wild extravagancies.” – Edward Gibbon, History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume 1, Chapter 6 The Bloodline Family Tree – Part I https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/B33_Bloodline01.pdf The Bloodline Family Tree – Part II https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/B33_Bloodline02.pdf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: Severus’ close friendship with Plautianus estranges him from his family. In his final years, a rebellion in Britannia provides one last opportunity to shape his legacy. “The contemporaries of Severus, in this enjoyment of the peace and glory of his reign, forgave the cruelties by which it had been introduced. Posterity, who experienced the fatal effects of his maxims and example, justly considered him as the principal author of the decline of the Roman Empire.” – Edward Gibbon, History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume 1, Chapter 5 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: Severus confronts Albinus at Lugdunum, then launches a war against the Parthians. At the pinnacle of his power, the oracle of Zeus Belos reveals his family’s fate. “The youth of Severus had been trained in the implicit obedience of the camps, and the riper years spent in the despotism of military command. His haughty and inflexible spirit could not discover, or would not acknowledge, the advantage of preserving an intermediate power, however imaginary, between the Emperor and the army.” – Edward Gibbon, History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume 1, Chapter 5 “Here is one man who overthrew three Emperors after they were already ruling, and got the upper hand of the Praetorians by a trick…He prevailed over them all by his courage. It is not possible to name another like Severus.” – Herodian, History of the Roman Empire from the Death of Marcus Aurelius to the Accession of Gordian III, Book 3, Chapter 7 Map of the Near East c. 198AD (provinces): https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/Near_East_198AD_1.jpg Map of the Near East c. 198AD (cities): https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/Near_East_198AD_2.jpg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: Severus defeats Niger and wages a limited Eastern campaign. While Julia Domna is hailed as Mother of the Camps, Caracalla’s elevation to Caesar prompts a second civil war. “There used to be an oracle about Hannibal’s death. ‘The soil of Libyssa would cover Hannibal’s body.’ The later emperor of the Romans, Severus, Who was a descendant of the Libyans, he put upon this man’s Tomb a white piece of marble to honor the commander Hannibal.” – John Tzetzes, Chiliades (or Book of Histories), Book 1, 801 – 805 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: After Pertinax and his successor are killed in the same year, Severus’s claim to the Empire is contested by two rivals. “Pertinax was one of those men to whom no exception can be taken, but he ruled only for an exceedingly brief space of time and was then put out of the way by the soldiers.” – Cassius Dio, Rome, Book 73 “The Pannonian army was at that time commanded by Septimius Severus, a native of Africa, who, in the gradual ascent of private honors, had concealed his daring ambition.” – Edward Gibbon, History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume 1, Chapter 5 Bloodline Family Tree (c. 193AD): https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/B29_Bloodline.pdf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: Julia Domna marries Septimius Severus and gives birth to Caracalla and Geta. Left behind in Rome with her young children, Julia watches as Commodus re-founds the Empire in his own image. “The effect of Commodus upon the Romans was worse than that of all pestilences and all villainies.” – Cassius Dio, Rome, Book 72 Detailed Map of the Roman Empire (brilliantmaps.com): http://brilliantmaps.com/roman-empire-211/ Julia Domna Family Tree: https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/B27_Bloodline.pdf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: Julia Domna was daughter of the Emesene High Priest, destined to marry a king. Then she met Septimius Severus. “Our history now descends from a kingdom of gold to one of iron and rust.” – Cassius Dio, Rome, Book 71 “The primitive Christians perpetually trod on mystic ground, and their minds were exercised by the habits of believing the most extraordinary events.” – Edward Gibbon, The Christians and the Fall of Rome Bloodline Family Tree (c. 182AD): https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/B27_Bloodline.png Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: The revolt of Avidius Cassius. “There is only one thing I fear, fellow-soldiers…and that is that (Avidius Cassius) may either kill himself because ashamed to come into our presence, or someone else upon learning that I shall come and am setting out against him may do it. Then should I be deprived of a great prize both of war and of victory, and of a magnitude such as no human being ever yet obtained. What is this? Why, to forgive a man that has done you an injury, to remain a friend to one who has transgressed friendship, to continue faithful to one who has broken faith.” – Marcus Aurelius, quoted by Cassius Dio, Rome, Book 71 Avidius Cassius Family Tree: https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/B25_Avidius_Cassius.pdf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: The overthrow of King Gaius Julius Sohaemus of Armenia leads to war between Parthia and Rome. “For Vologases had begun war by assailing on all sides the Roman camp under Severianus, situated in Elegeia, a place in Armenia; and he had shot down and destroyed the whole force, leaders and all. He was now proceeding with numbers that inspired terror against the cities of Syria.” – Cassius Dio, Rome, Book 71 Avidius Cassius Family Tree: https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/B25_Avidius_Cassius.pdf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: The Macedonian kingdoms of Central Asia endured for centuries before being absorbed into the Kushan Empire. Hadrian’s actions in Judea spark a third Jewish Revolt. “Has it ever happened to you, O king, that rival kings rose up against you as enemies and opponents? -Yes, certainly. -Then you set to work, I suppose, to have moats dug, and ramparts thrown up, and watch towers erected, and strongholds built, and stores of food collected? -Not at all. All that had been prepared beforehand. -Or you had yourself trained in the management of war elephants, and in horsemanship, and in the use of the war chariot, and in archery and fencing? -Not at all. I had learnt all that before. -But why? -With the object of warding off future danger.” – Milinda Panha (The Questions of King Menander), Book III, Chapter 7 Map of Central Asia: https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/CA_Regions.jpg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: At the far point of his campaign, Trajan’s Eastern conquests begin to slip from his fingers. “Thence he came to the (Persian Gulf) itself, and when he had learned its nature and seen a boat sailing to India, he said: ‘I should certainly have cross over to the Indi, if I were still young.’ He gave much thought to the Indi, and was curious about their affairs. Alexander he counted a happy man and at the same time declared that he himself had advanced farther. This was the tenor of the dispatch that he forwarded to the Senate, although he was unable to preserve even what territory had been subdued.” – Cassius Dio, Rome, Book 68 The Near East c. 116AD – Provinces and Kingdoms https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/Near_East_116AD_1.jpg The Near East c. 116AD – Major Cities https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/Near_East_116AD_2.jpg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: Silas guides Emesa in its transition to a pilgrimage site. The death of King Tiridates I of Armenia brings Rome and Parthia into conflict. “(Parthomasiris) greeted him, took off his diadem from his head, and laid it at (Trajan’s) feet. Then he stood there in silence, expecting to receive it back. At this the soldiers shouted aloud, and hailed Trajan imperator as if on account of some victory (they termed it an uncrowned, bloodless victory to see the king, a descendant of Arsaces, a son of Pacorus, and a nephew of Osroes, standing beside Trajan without a diadem, like a captive). The shout terrified the prince, who though that it heralded insult and destruction for him.” – Cassius Dio, Rome, Book 68 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: Gaius Julius Sohaemus is compelled to help the Romans conquer Commagene. “Petus…fell upon Commagene before Antiochus and his people had the least expectation of his coming. He had with him the tenth legion, and also some cohorts and troops of horsemen. These kings also came to his assistance: Aristibulus, king of the country called Chalcidene, and Sohaemus, who was called King of Emesa. Nor was there any opposition made to his forces when they entered the kingdom, for no one of that country would so much as lift up his hand against them.” – Josephus, The Jewish War, Book VII, Chapter 7 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: The destruction of Jerusalem. Shalim (semetic): Caananite god of dusk and the evening star, paired with Shahar, god of dawn and the morning star. Root of Hebrew shalom and Arabic salam(peace), associated with sunset and the completion of the workday. Related to the Caananite sun goddess Shapash, a possible manifestation of Shamash. An element in the names of King David’s sons Solomon and Absalom. Original guardian, patron and protective deity of Jerusalem. “Before the fifteenth of July all Syria had sworn the same allegiance. Vespasian’s cause was now joined also by Sohaemus with his entire kingdom, whose strength was not to be despised, and by Antiochus who had enormous ancestral wealth, and was in fact the richest of the subject princes. Presently Agrippa, summoned from Rome by private messages from his friends, while Vitellius was still unaware of his action, quickly crossed the sea and joined the cause.” – Tacitus, The Histories, Book II Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: Tiberius Julius Alexander throws Egypt’s backing behind Vespasian’s bid for the throne. “Accordingly, in order to overthrow John (of Gischala), they determined to admit Simon (bar Giora), and earnestly to desire the introduction of a second tyrant into the city…Accordingly he, in an arrogant manner, granted them his lordly protection, and came into the city, in order to deliver it from the zealots. The people also made joyful acclamations to him, as their savior and their preserver; but when he was come in, with his army, he took care to secure his own authority, and looked upon those that had invited him in to be no less his enemies than those against whom the invitation was intended. And thus did Simon get possession of Jerusalem.” – Josephus, The Jewish War, Book IV, Chapter 9 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: Joseph ben Matityahu fought the Romans as a Jewish General before becoming a trusted advisor to the Flavians. The Josephus Problem (mathematics): Given a group of n men arranged in a circle under the edict that every mth man will be executed going around the circle until only one remains, find the position L (n, m) in which you should stand in order to be the last survivor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: Nero crowns Tiridates King of Armenia. A succession of brutal and corrupt procurators set Judea on the path to revolt. “Go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom (Gehenna), which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee… Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents; They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter.” – Jeremiah 19:2-6 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: The birth of Drusilla and Sohaemus’ son Gaius Julius Alexio. The Empire confronts the revolt of Boudica, renewed warfare in Armenia, and the Great Fire of Rome. “Rome shall perish – write that word In the blood that she has spilt; Perish, hopeless and abhorr’d, Deep in ruin as in guilt.” – William Cowper, Boadicea: An Ode Map of Near East c. 64AD: https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/Near_East_64AD.jpg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: Drusilla marries the Emesene Priest-King Gaius Julius Sohaemus. Rome and Parthia go to war over Armenia. “Our ancestors worshipped the Sun, and they were not that foolish. It makes sense to revere the Sun and the stars, for we are their children.” – Carl Sagan Syria and adjacent regions: https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/Syria_55AD.jpg Emesene family tree: https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/10_Emesenes_55AD.pdf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: The divorce of Felix and Drusilla. James and Paul struggle for the soul of early Christianity. “And then it was that the sicarii, as they were called, who were robbers, grew numerous. They made use of small swords, not much different in length from the Persian acinacae, but somewhat crooked, and like the Roman sicae, as they were called; and from these weapons these robbers got their denomination; and with these weapons they slew a great many; for they mingled themselves among the multitude at their festivals, when they were come up in crowds from all parts to the city to worship God, as we said before, and easily slew those that they had a mind to slay.” – Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, Chapter 8 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: The early life of Drusilla of Mauretania, and her marriage to Marcus Antonius Felix, Roman Procurator of Judea “This Judas, having gotten together a multitude of men of a profligate character about Sepphoris in Galilee, made an assault upon the palace there, and seized upon all the weapons that were laid up in it, and with them armed every one of those that were with him, and carried away what money was left there; and he became terrible to all men, by tearing and rending those that came near him.” – Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, Book XVII, Chapter 10 Nero Family Tree: https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/9_Nero_48AD.pdf Regions of Judea: https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/Judea_53AD_1.jpg Select Cities of Judea: https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/Judea_53AD_2.jpg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: The death of Tiberius, elevation of Caligula, and final years of King Ptolemy I. “Ptolemy, whom (Caligula) invited from his kingdom, and received with great honors, he suddenly put to death, for no other reason, but because he observed that upon entering the theatre, at a public exhibition, he attracted the eyes of all the spectators, by the splendor of his purple robe.” – Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, XXXV “Meanwhile Gaius sent for Ptolemy, the son of Juba, and on ascertaining that he was wealthy put him to death.” – Cassius Dio, Roman History, Book 59 Heirs of Mark Antony: https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/7_Antonii_36AD_1.pdf https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/8_Antonii_36AD_2.pdf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: The end of Tacfarinas, and the bloody co-rule of Tiberius and Sejanus. “Then, as the campaign had demonstrated Ptolemy’s good-will, an old-fashioned distinction was revived, and a member of the Senate was dispatched to present him with the traditional bounty of the Fathers, an ivory scepter with the embroidered robe, and to greet him by the style of king, ally and friend.” – Tacitus, The Annals, Book IV “There followed from now onward a sheer and grinding despotism: for, with Augusta still alive, there had remained a refuge; since deference to his mother was ingrained in Tiberius, nor did Sejanus venture to claim precedence over the authority of a parent. But now, as though freed from the curb, they broke out unrestrained.” – Tacitus, The Annals, Book V Updated Julio-Claudian Family Tree: https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/6_Octavian_Clan_31AD.pdf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: The ongoing rebellion of Tacfarinas, and the death of Juba. “For Tacfarinas, in spite of many repulses, having first recruited his forces in the heart of Africa, had reached such a pitch of insolence as to send an embassy to Tiberius, demanding nothing less than a territorial settlement for himself and his army, and threatening in the alternative a war from which there was no extrication.” – Tacitus, The Annals, Book III Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: Germanicus travels to Syria to assume his Eastern Imperium. “‘The prime duty of friends is not to follow their dead with passive laments, but to remember his wishes and carry out his commands. Strangers themselves will bewail Germanicus: youwill avenge him – if you loved me, and not my fortune. Show to the Roman people the granddaughter of their deified Augustus, who was also my wife; number her six children: pity will side with the accusers, and, if the murderers allege some infamous warrant, they will find no credence in men – or no forgiveness!’ His friends touched the dying hand, and swore to forgo life sooner than revenge.” – Tacitus, The Annals, Book II Updated Near Eastern Family Tree: https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/5_Near_East_19AD.pdf Updated Map of the Near East: https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/Near_East_18AD.jpg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: The death of Octavian, elevation of Tiberius, and early military careers of Germanicus and Ptolemy. “Even during the years when he lived at Rhodes, in ostensible retirement and actual exile, (Tiberius) had studied nothing save anger, hypocrisy, and secret lasciviousness.” – Tacitus, The Annals, Book I “Yet the temper of the soldiers remained savage, and a sudden desire came over them to advance against the enemy: it would be expiation of their madness; nor could the ghosts of their companions be appeased till their own impious breasts had been marked with honorable wounds. Falling in with the enthusiasm of his troops, (Germanicus) laid a bridge over the Rhine, and threw across twelve thousand legionaries.” – Tacitus, The Annals, Book I Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: The death of Gaius Caesar, and Juba’s return to Mauretania. Tropaion (Greek): A battlefield monument, erected at the “turning point” where the enemy’s phalanx broke. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: Juba accompanies Gaius Caesar on his Eastern expedition. “Tigranes…marched forth with an army of such huge proportions that he actually laughed heartily at the appearance of the Romans present there. He is said to have remarked that, in cases where they came to make war, only a few presented themselves, but when it was an embassy, many came.” – Cassius Dio, Rome, Book 36 “Pompey…announced to his soldiers that Mithridates was dead…Upon this the army filled with joy and, as was natural, gave itself up to sacrifices and entertainments, feeling that in the person of Mithridates ten thousand enemies had died.” – Plutarch, The Life of Pompey Map of the Near East c. 1 BC: https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/Near_East_1BC.jpg Near East Family Trees: https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/3_Near_East_A.pdf https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/4_Near_East_B.pdf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: The birth of Juba and Selene’s children, Ptolemy and Drusilla, and the death of Cleopatra Selene. “The moon herself grew dark, rising at sunset, Covering her suffering in the night, Because she saw her beautiful namesake, Selene, Breathless, descending to Hades, With her she’d had the beauty of her light in common, And mingled her own darkness with her death.” – Crinagoras of Myteline, Epigram for Cleopatra Selene Updated Octavian Family Tree: https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/2_Octavian_Clan_1BC.pdf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: Juba and Selene begin their rule of Mauretania. “Cato said…they must make no prayer for him; prayer belonged to the conquered, and the craving of grace to those who had done wrong; but for his part he had not only been unvanquished all his life, but was actually a victor now as far as he chose to be, and a conqueror of Caesar in all that was honorable and just.” – Plutarch, The Life of Cato the Younger “My husband has died and I have no son. They say about you that you have many sons. You might give me one of your sons to become my husband. I would not wish to take one of my subjects as a husband… I am afraid.” – Queen Ankhesenamun of Egypt, Letter to King Suppiluliuma I of Hatti Map of Mauretania: https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/Mauretania.jpg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: Juba accompanies Octavian during the conquest of Egypt. “Thus was Egypt enslaved.” – Cassius Dio, Rome, Book LI Octavian Family Tree: https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/Octavian_Clan.pdf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: The early years of Juba II, fostered in the family of Octavian and Octavia. “(Scipio) increased the honor by observing, that among the Romans there was nothing more magnificent than a Triumph; and that those who triumphed were not arrayed with more splendid ornaments than those with which the Roman people considered Massinissa alone, of all foreigners, worthy.” – Livy, The History of Rome, Book XXX Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Synopsis: The early years of Cleopatra Selene, daughter of Cleopatra and Mark Antony. “And herein particularly did he give offense to the Romans, since he bestowed the honorable and solemn rites of his native country upon the Egyptians for Cleopatra’s sake.” – Plutarch, The Life of Marcus Antonius “Pity fixed the eyes of the Romans upon the infants; and many of them could not forbear tears, and all beheld the sight with a mixture of sorrow and pleasure, until the children were passed.” – Plutarch, The Life of Lucius Aemilius Paulus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“I am a faithful servant of the king, and I have not rebelled and I have not sinned, and I do not withhold my tribute, and I do not refuse the requests of my commissioner. Now they wickedly slander me, but let the king, my lord, not impute rebellion to me!…If the king should write to me, ‘Plunge a bronze dagger into thy heart and die!,’ how could I refuse to carry out the command of the king?” – Labayu (Caananite warlord) writing to Amenhotep III Discoveries at Tell El Amarna and the Valley of the Kings showed the wealth and influence of the Egyptian New Kingdom, while archives uncovered in central Anatolia shed light on Hittite civilization. Excavations and Knossos confirmed Mycenaean Greek dominance and revealed the majesty of Minoan Crete. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Surpassing all kings, powerful and tall beyond all others, violent, splendid, a wild bull of a man, unvanquished leader, hero in the front lines, beloved of his soldiers – fortress they called him, protector of the people, raging flood that destroys all defenses…” – the Epic of Gilgamesh George Smith’s 1872 discovery of the Mesopotamian Flood tablet won him widespread acclaim. Four years later, his ill-timed expedition to Nineveh would end in tragedy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Whilst fully recognizing his enterprise, devotion, and energy in carrying out these excavations, I cannot but express the regret that Dr. Schliemann should have allowed the ‘enthusiasm,’ which, as he himself admits, ‘borders on fanaticism,’ to make it so paramount an object with him to discover the Troy described by Homer, as to induce him either to suppress or to pervert every fact brought to light that could not be reconciled with the Iliad.” – Frank Calvert, 1875 Despite numerous returns to Hisarlik, Heinrich Schliemann was unable to establish the layer holding Homer’s Troy. It was only near the end of his life, with the aid of Wilhelm Dorpfeld, that his quest was finally rewarded. In the meantime, Schliemann’s excavations at Mycenae and Tiryns had shed new light on the wealth and power of Late Bronze Age Greece. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Who will persuade me, when I reclined upon a mighty tomb, that it did not contain a hero? – its very magnitude proved this. Men do not labour over the ignoble and petty dead – and why should not the dead be Homer’s dead?” – George Gordon, Lord Byron, 1810 Three millennia after its fall, British archaeologist Frank Calvert used clues from Homer, and his own deep knowledge of the region, to establish the most likely site of ancient Troy. Unable to finance the excavation, he was compelled to partner with wealthy enthusiast Heinrich Schliemann. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“I should weary the reader, were I to describe, step by step, the progress of the work, and the discoveries gradually made in various part of the great mound. The labours of one day resembled those of the preceding; but it would be difficult to convey to others an idea of the excitement which was produced by the constant discovery of objects of the highest interest.” – Austen Henry Layard, Nineveh and Its Remains While Layard resumed his Assyrian excavations, and Rawlinson continued to decipher Akkadian, both efforts began to shed light on the even older civilization of ancient Sumer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“The Major constantly and indefatigably employed himself, from daylight to dark, revising, restoring and adding to his former materials. This was a work of great irksomeness and labour in the confined space he was compelled to stand in, with his body in close proximity to the heated rock and under a broiling September sun.” – Felix Jones, 1844 After the debacle of the First Anglo-Afghan War, Henry Creswicke Rawlinson made two more excursions to Behistun. His attempts to copy the remaining inscriptions nearly cost him his life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“What can all this mean? Who built this structure? In what century did he live? To what nation did he belong? Are these walls telling me their tales of joy and woe? Is this beautiful cuneiformedcharacter a language? I know not. I can read their glory and their victories in their figures, but their story, their age, their blood, is to me a mystery. Their remains mark the fall of a glorious and a brilliant past, but of a past known not to a living man.” – Paul-Emile Botta The excavations of Botta and Layard brought the majesty of ancient Assyria into the modern world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“My antiquarian studies go on quietly and smoothly, and despite the taunt which you may remember once expressing, of the presumption of an ignoramus like myself attempting to decipher inscriptions which had baffled for centuries the most learned men in Europe, I have made very considerable progress…I aspire to do for the cuneiform alphabet what Champollion has done for the hieroglyphics.” – Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, July 1836 (writing to his sister Maria) In 1836, Henry Creswicke Rawlinson – British soldier, adventurer and Orientalist – first encountered the Behistun Inscription. He would devote the next few decades to deciphering its three cuneiform scripts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“His Majesty…has dispatched a few days ago by the vessel Greenland a group of scholars, who will travel by way of the Mediterranean to Constantinople, and thence through Egypt to Arabia Felix, and subsequently return by way of Syria to Europe; they will on all occasions seek to make new discoveries and observations for the benefit of scholarship…” – Copenhagen Post, 12th January, 1761 Carsten Niebuhr survived malaria, earthquakes, civil wars, bandits, plagues and the deaths of all his colleagues to successfully complete the first modern scientific expedition to the Near East. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“To speak the name of the dead is to make them live again.” – Ancient Egyptian saying Rediscovered two millennia after its creation, the Rosetta Stone provided two brilliant scholars with the key to unlocking the history of ancient Egypt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A little time-travel, a quick world tour, and plenty of thanks all around! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Rome was not a monarchy, but a free City, and they had made up their minds to open their gates even to an enemy sooner than to a king. It was the universal wish that whatever put an end to liberty in the City should put an end to the City itself.” – Livy, The History of Rome, Book 2 Publius Valerius Poplicola overcame Roman distrust and Etruscan aggression to set the young Republic onto firm foundations. Aristagoras’ failed attempt to capture the island of Naxos led to open warfare between Greece and Persia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“The Athenians, when ruled by tyrants, were no better in war than their neighbors, but freed from tyrants they were far superior. This shows that when they were constrained they let themselves be defeated, since they were working for an overlord, but when they were freed each one was keen to do the deed for himself.” – Herodotus Delivered from Spartan destruction, the Athenians were forced to defend their new democracy against the Thebans and Chalsidians. Shocked by a horrific crime, the Romans followed the guidance of Brutus, exiled Tarquin the Proud and declared their first Republic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“He added the Athenian people, who had formally not been in the center of things, to his own party, changed the names of the tribes and increased their number. He made ten tribal commanders instead of four and distributed demes into the tribes ten at a time. Once he had got the people on his side he had the upper hand over his rivals.” – Herodotus on Cleisthenes Darius enlisted Greek tyrants in his Scythian campaign, then extended Persia’s dominion to the foot of Mount Olympus. Spartan intervention put an end to Hippias’ oppressive rule. Inspired by Cleisthenes’ bold ideas, the Athenians rejected both tyranny and foreign domination, and restructured their polis into the world’s first democracy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Black is your path, Agni, changeless, with glittering waves! When like a bull you rush eager to the trees. With teeth of flame, wind-driven, through the wood he speeds, triumphant like a bull among the herd of cows, With bright strength roaming to the everlasting air: things fixed, things moving quake before him as he flies.”- Rigvedas, Book 1, Hymn LVIII Darius retraced Cyrus’s footsteps to expand Persian control of Vedic India. Hipparchus met a bloody end at the hands of a jealous rival. Tarquin kept Rome’s military and infrastructure sound while alienating both rich and poor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“After I became king, I fought nineteen battles in a single year and, by the grace of Ahura Mazda, I overthrew nine kings and I made them captive…As to these provinces which revolted, lies made them revolt, so that they deceived the people. Then Ahura Mazda delivered them into my hand; and I did unto them according to my will.” – Darius I, Behistun Inscription Darius spent years reconquering the rebellious territories of the Persian Empire. Peisistratos was successful in passing his Athenian tyranny down to his sons, Hippias and Hipparchus. Cleomenes set his sights on Spartan domination of the Greek mainland. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“So Darius son of Hystaspes was made king, and the whole of Asia, which Cyrus first and Cambyses after him had conquered, was subject to him…and everything was full of his power. First he made and set up a carved stone, upon which was cut the figure of a horseman, with this inscription: ‘Darius son of Hystaspes, aided by the excellence of his horse, and of Oebares his groom, got possession of the kingdom of Persia.'” – Herodotus Cambyses successfully conquered Egypt, but forays beyond its frontiers met with frustration and disaster. The promise of Lydian gold lured Polycrates to a gruesome death in Sardis. Bardiya briefly wrestled the Persian Empire from his brother, only to lose it to a conspiracy of nobles led by Darius. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices