The Podcast History Of Our World

The original title was going to be Tarquin and the Roman Republic, but I'm saving that in case I ever start a synthpop group. But anyways, it really is the Roman Republic! We made it, although in all fairness it's not quite the Republic just yet. Not while Mr. I-have-terrible-anger-management-issues is still stomping around!

It's not a podcasting mirage - it really is a new episode! And it's a long'un to make up for all the time we've been apart. So what do you say? Ready to come back to Rome? Sure you are!

Why legends? Because the first four kings of Rome have no historical corroborating evidence! I mean, they probably existed...seems like an awful lot of detail for supposedly fictional people...but we'll most likely never know for sure. That won't stop us from learning about them anyway!

Ave Podcastorians! This is it - our first foray into the hallowed halls of Roman history, although in typical TPHOOW tradition...there's very little actual 'history' in this episode. Oh c'mon you know you missed it! And HEY who's that introducing the episode? Why it's none other than guest introducer and fearsome corsair Cap'n Craig Buddy of the History of Pirates Podcast! Be sure to give his excellent show a listen and indulge your inner buccaneer!

This is it podcastorians, our last Carthage-centric episode for a bit! I thought about splitting this one in two but nahhhh if we're going to have one last Punic episode, then it should be a lengthy one! Now there may be a slight delay getting the next episodes out, but c'mon, 4 in 4 weeks is pretty good for me wouldn't you say?

Yes we’re still on Carthage, but Agathocles is the one in the spotlight here! He’s just so morally bankrupt, so diabolically fixated on personal glory, so obsessed with being the biggest Alexander the Great fanboy, that it’s just too good a story to pass on!

The war for control of Sicily drags on and neither side looks particularly good in this! Tyrants, distrustful generals, poisonous politicians, and all around yuckiness. This was going to be the last chapter for now, but I came across a historical figure I became so fascinated with, I had to do this as a two-parter! And don’t forget to head to http://jeffvandyck.com/ and show some support to an amazing composer!

The confrontation between the Hellenic and the Punic world was inevitable, but the battleground would be Sicily, a land quite near and dear to me! It's here that the balance of power would sway back and forth in a seemingly futile struggle. Of course it'd be a shame if someone else were to burst in swinging...but that's for the next episode! Don't forget to check out www.jeffvandyck.com for more music!

Carthage always seems to take a backseat in history to another big player in the Mediterranean. It could be because it's really tough to find solid writing on them...but hey, when has fact and evidence ever stopped this podcast! So we stretch things a bit and talk about events that may or may not have ever existed...whatever! Onwards to Carthage, with a very special guest introduction by Dominic Perry of the Egyptian History Podcast! And fellow gamers out there does this music sound familiar? If it does head to www.jeffvandyck.com and show some support to an amazing composer!

King Zheng is all fired up to take on...well, pretty much everybody else! And in this episode we'll take a look at the short but important dynasty he founded. Then it's time to say goodbye for now to China! 

Let's start 2015 off with one of the best historical stories out of this time period! How does Qin go from a weird backwards region to conquering all of Zhongguo? And can a person's childhood explain why they become jerks later in life? Hmmmm...maybe!

How many philosophers can we cover in one episode? 100? Ah…well no, but six is pretty good!

Who says you can’t condense 300 years of interstate fighting amongst hundreds of states into a near 20 minute episode? Well. I found a way!

The Zhou might be the longest dynasty in Chinese history, but that's not entirely accurate! Their rule is divided into two parts because of what happens in this episode. Also featured here, is a reason why you SHOULD look a gift horse in the mouth!

The second dynasty of China, although it's the first we have written evidence for! The Shang certainly have an interesting history, although it's kind of all feeling like deja vu...

Armed with more primary sources, it's time to embark on our tour of China's dynasties! And where better to start then with the one people can't even agree existed. 

We begin our tour of ancient China! Gonna throw it out there right now, I do my best with the pronunciations. I think they're decent but they're not perfect. If you want to hear fluent speakers there are two excellent Chinese History podcasts available for your listening pleasure. Check them out!

In this, our last exciting episode in Ancient India, we'll see what happens when good empires go bad! We're condensing a lot of 'civilizations' into this wrap-up episode - Baktrians, Kushans, and the always hard to pronounce Yuezhi, or Yueh-chih. Both versions give my tongue a headache...which is weird.

India's greatest emperor isn't known for his military conquests or building projects or really anything else other emperors do! What Ashoka has that others don't is a genuine compassion for life and a desire to spread happiness. Well, I mean, after a youth spent doing the opposite...details, details!

I originally planned this as a one shot episode on the Mauryans, but there's too many good stories! Also in this episode, our Macedonian timeline crosses into our current one. Normally you don't want to cross streams but since I don't see any ancient androgynous Sumerian gods lying around I think we're all good. 

First off it's pronounced mah-guh-duh, not maGAHdah - so I got it right! Keep your ears open for a word I just can't say right no many how many times I try! This was initially supposed to be a longer episode but then I found a neat story that I had to share with you all and well, enjoy and look out for the next one!

Smells like...an episode on some very important religious figures of Indian history!

An episode in which I try to mispronounce as many languages as possible, and then attempt to reconcile massive historical controversies in just under 20 minutes. Fun!

Our first episode in India! Although really most of it takes place in Pakistan. Not that either exist at this point. And it's another episode based on no written information whatsoever! Hooray!

Who says you can't condense the life and adventures of Western Civilization's most famous conqueror into two episodes? We wind up our travels with Alexander in this, our final episode with the ancient Greeks!    Oh who am I kidding. I'm sure we'll see them again at some point. But not for a while!  

Was he so great? Well his mom certainly thought so, and so did he! And really, when it comes right down to it, he did more by 20 than pretty much everybody since then.  Lousy overachievers... Featuring a guest introduction by the podcaster who has an ENTIRE series on Alex...Jamie Redfern! Be sure to listen to his extremely well made The History of: Alexander  

You can't talk about Alexander without talking about his dad, Philip II! Without him Macedon wouldn't have all the institutions and military doohickeys that let Alex pretty much go straight to work on the Persians. 

It took a lot of self control to not include war, fighting, or any form of soldiers with pointy objects trying to poke other soldiers with pointy objects in this episode! Don't you start falling asleep on me, I ASSURE you it's interesting! And for you history sticklers out there, I'm gonna be up front with you. I'm leaving out the Corinthian War and the March of the 10,000. Why? Because how much carnage do you want in these podcasts!?

Will the brutal militarism of Sparta triumph against the brutal democracy of Athens? And Socrates - what's up with him? Doesn't he know that every rose has its thorn just like every night has its dawn? With a guest introduction from Benjamin Ashwell of the Talking History: Italian Unification podcast!  

In which a bunch of Ancient Greeks remember that they never really liked each other in the first place and off to war they go!

It's a good time to be an Athenian when Pericles is in the house! Smooching girlfriends, building temples, and teasing the Corinthians. All in a days work!

Well that took long enough. The story continues after the Persian Wars! Greece is still standing! Athens wants to get back in the game! And heroes are once again dealt with the only way the city knows how.

Part two of our look at the war for THE FATE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION. Whoops! My hyperbole button got stuck for a second. Lots of military stuff in this here episode, so if you dig that, this is the one for you!

The granddaddy of all ancient battles! Will the forces of long beards, extreme workout regimens and kicking people down wells win out against the folks who created the first human rights charter? Part one of our look at this fascinating time!

The second part! In which we finally catch up to the Persian timelines. But don't cross the streams! Wouldn't want any Mesopotamian destruction gods mucking about New York, right?

Did ya miss me? I'm back from a month long hiatus to bring you Athens! Part one! The city so nice it gets episodes...uh...twice. Well anyway in this one we cover it's earliest mythological days to it's first tyranny. BOOM.

THIS IS...an episode about Sparta! (and there are no 300 references in here too. Well, one, but it's about facial hair!) People just looove Sparta. Tough guys and gals who don't let anyone stand in their way! Grr! Kick a diplomat down a well! Oh but let's just go ahead and ignore the whole brutally enslave your Greek brothers and sisters thing. Wouldn't want that to spoil our rosy image of them, eh?

For an era of history that has almost nothing recorded from it, I think I did a respectable job with the content! (i.e. I did my best!)

I tried to keep this one as grounded in historical reality as I could, and look what happened! It's a short episode! But that's ok, we still get to find out about the Mycenaeans and that little tiff they had with Troy. 

Welcome to our first episode with the Greeks! Although as you'll find out, there aren't many Greeks in this episode! We'll do as much as we can with the historical record on Crete, and then use mythological tradition to fill in the blanks. Opa!

Darius gets a bum rap because he's the first Persian king to invade Greece, but they started it! Honestly! Well...mostly. Whatever. Also after this episode we'll be temporarily saying goodbye to the Persians before we head off to Greece, but don't worry! We'll be coming back!

Oh, Herodotus. I love you man, but you're like the tabloid reporter of the ancient world. Didn't you ever check your sources? What, did you just go with the first guy you heard a story from? Ah well, it still makes for a good story! We'll take a look at Zarathustra and Cambyses in this here episode, and yes before you comment, I am fighting a head cold. Many mugs of tea and Ricola cough drops were sacrificed to make this.

So many people throughout history get to have "The Great" as a moniker, but do they deserve it? Heck no! But Cyrus, here is the exception! From the curious mythology of his birth, to the massive empire he carved out in thirty years, to essentially penning the first human rights charter, who in the ancient world can compare to the luminosity of Cyrus the Achaemenid? Pfft! Go ahead! I challenge you to do so!

This is it! Our last episode with the ancient Hebrews! Will Egypt protect the Hebrews? Will Judah deftly wade through the treacherous diplomatic minefield? Look, I don't want to spoil anything here but, oh wait, the title is a spoiler. Whoops! Well, let's just hope nothing bad ever happens to Jerusalem again.  

For one tiny strip of land, the power players of the ancient Near East seem REALLY hellbent on controlling it! Judah's stuck right smack dab in the middle of it all, and if they are to survive at all, it might even come down to alliances with former hated foes...

We close the book on the Northern Kingdom of Israel in this episode...which leaves their southern cousins in an awkward position! 

In which I condense about 2000 years of Assyrian history into about 15 minutes. Expect lots of kings trying to one-up another for the title of "Most Creatively Brutal". Featuring music by the awesome Owen Plant! www.owenplant.net

It's the beginning of the end for the Ancient Hebrews folks! Once the split between the two kingdoms happened it all went downhill from there. Also in this episode we spend a little time talking about a woman who can't get a break nearly 2000 years later.

Did you know that Solomon, known as Suleiman in the Quran, had a giant flying carpet, could communicate with animals, and controlled genies, a.k.a djinn? Just go with it...  

In many ways King David is a lot like Dennis the Menace. They both use a slingshot to take down their enemies, don't get along with neighbors, and are always causing trouble! Haha, yep, well that was a terrible analogy. Still, we're inching closer and closer to historical accuracy now!