The Persians and the Greeks, Part I: The Rise of the Persian Empire

Emily and Cam talk about the ancient Persians and the growth of their empire in the first episode of a series on the conflict between the Persians and the ancient Greek world.Visit our homepage to subscribe, to find us on social media, and to contact us by email:https://havetogawilltravel.comIf you liked this episode, buy us a coffee:Our Ko-Fi pageCover photo adapted from an image by Jakub Hałun (Persian Warriors, Pergamon University, Berlin)----------00:12 - Introduction01:07 - Who were the Persians?01:11 - The ancient Persians, the ancient Iranians, and the Indo-European dispersion02:52 - The Old Persian language (and a digression on Persian names)08:35 - Zoroastrianism and the religion of the ancient Persians13:59 - The Rise of the Persian Empire14:23 - The Middle East in the 6th Century BCE: Persia and its neighbors16:29 - Herodotus and the legend of Cyrus the Great20:06 - Cyrus the Great and his conquests24:04 - Cyrus’ successors: Cambyses and Darius24:48 - The Persian Empire in 500 BCE25:12 - The Structure of the Persian Empire25:25 - Cooperative local elites and the obligations of empire26:35 - Satraps, provinces, and the Iranian diaspora28:45 - The Ideology of the Persian Empire29:04 - Cyrus as champion of local gods in Babylon and Judah30:49 - Darius as champion of Ahura Mazda32:47 - The Mechanics of Empire in the Age of Darius32:52 - Imperial ideology and imperial violence34:00 - Local elites and imperial entanglements: the story of Syloson of Samos38:04 - Wrap-up