Despite a controversial rise to the throne, King Perseus showed himself to be an able ruler. Continuing his father’s policies of restoring the strength of Macedonia, he earned a positive reputation across the Greek world through his philanthropy and general good behavior. His rising popularity earned the enmity of those like Eumenes II of Pergamon, who accused Perseus of secretly carrying out plans for a war against the Roman Republic, inheriting his father's schemes. Tensions would soon boil...

The long reign of Philip V comes to an end after nearly 42 years on the throne. Following the defeat at Cynoscephalae, the Antigonid ruler spends the next two decades restoring his kingdom through economic and military reforms. By 179, Macedonia was once again a powerhouse to be reckoned with. However, infighting between the two princes Perseus and Demetrius would threaten to undermine the dynasty's unity, as an appropriately Greek tragedy stains the final days of Philip's career. Episode...

Six and a half years since we first started this journey, we finally have reached episode 100. Taking the least original approach possible, I decided to host another question and answer session to celebrate. Episode Notes: (https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2024/10/05/100-qa-2-electric-boogaloo/) Bad Ancient - "Are the Homeric Epics an Accurate Source for the Bronze Age Aegean?" (https://www.badancient.com/claims/homeric-epics-source-bronze-age-aegean/) Natty Lifting - "Why Did...

Our understanding the cosmos and our place in it has perplexed humanity for untold generations. The astronomers and geographers of the Hellenistic period were no different, looking to explain celestial phenomena and the nature of the Earth. Eratosthenes of Cyrene managed to calculate the circumference of the Earth to an astonishingly close value, Hipparchus did the same with the distance of the Moon, and Aristarchus of Samos proposed the earliest known model of heliocentrism 1800 years before...

It's never easy coming up with your own origin story, and the ascendant Hellenistic dynasties tried their best to justify their legitimacy in an age of shifting alliances. PhD candidate Angus Jacobson joins the show to discuss the "Flight of Seleucus" story presented to us by Libanius of Antioch (314-392 A.D.), offering insights as to how the Successors used (or manipulated) events in their royal propaganda, and the challenges of separating fact from fiction. Episode...

The developments in theoretical mathematics were also translated into practical (and sometimes impractical) applications during the Hellenistic period. New weapons of war like torsion catapults and enormous ships found their way on the battlefield, and this love for all things big extended to Rhodian architects who constructed their famous Colossus. Under the Alexandrian inventors Ctesibius and Hero, the rise of pneumatics saw the the creation of the earliest known robots (automatons) and the...

The third century B.C. witnessed the greatest outburst of Greco-Roman mathematics in the entirety of antiquity. Euclid of Alexandria's "Elements" served as *the* textbook in the study of geometry for over two thousand years, while the archetypal mad scientist Archimedes of Syracuse allegedly was so fond of mathematical inquiries that it lead to his own demise. Abandon all hope, ye who enter here, as we look at the theoretical developments pioneered by the Hellenistic mathematicians. Episode...

As the first episode in our series on science and technology, we begin by looking at the advancements in medicine during the Hellenistic Age. In Alexandria, Herophilus and Erasistratus became the first doctors to practice human dissections in any significant capacity until the Middle Ages, greatly improving our understanding of anatomy and physiology. Developments in pharmacology followed the botanical work of Theophrastus, while Mithridates VI of Pontus performed diabolical experiments with...

Twenty years of chaos in the Ptolemaic kingdom come to an end during the reign of Ptolemy V Epiphanes (204-180). His marriage to the Seleucid princess Cleopatra I Syra confirmed the loss of Coele Syria to Antiochus III, yet she proved to be a good match and helped secure the future of the dynasty. Haronnophoris and the Great Revolt are finally put down in 186, but the Alexandrian government is forced to give concessions to the Egyptians, as the Ptolemies must now come to terms with their new...

Rome hoped that the Peace of Apamea would instill some sort of order over the eastern Mediterranean, allowing them to return to Italy after decades of warfare. Yet the vacuum of power left behind in a post-Seleucid Asia Minor would lead to fierce competition, with those like Eumenes II of Pergamon and Pharnaces I of Pontus waging war against their neighbors. The desire of the Achaean League to dominate the Peloponnese would lead to the end of an independent Sparta and the butting of heads...

The defeat at the Battle of Magnesia brings the war between Antiochus III and the Roman Republic to a close. Forced to evacuate all territory north of the Taurus Mountains and saddled with an enormous indemnity, Antiochus' career comes to an abrupt end in Elymais after an unprecedented 35 years on the throne, leaving the Seleucid Empire at a crossroads for the coming generations. Episode...

On invitation from the Aetolian League, Antiochus III invades the Greek mainland in September 192 and declares war against the Roman Republic. Though he held many victories under his belt, Rome proved to be a fiercer opponent than anticipated, forcing Antiochus to go on the defensive and take the fight back to Asia. A final confrontation on the plains of Magnesia (modern Manisa) would determine who was to be the dominant power of the Hellenistic world. Episode...

The crisis in Egypt enabled Antiochus III to launch another invasion south into Ptolemaic territory, kickstarting the Fifth Syrian War (202-195) that finally delivered Coele Syria into Seleucid hands after almost a century of conflict. Antiochus' ambition to claim the territories of Seleucus I leads him to campaign in Europe, placing him on a collision course with the Roman Republic. Episode Notes: (https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2023/10/15/091-the-fifth-syrian-war/) Episode...

With the defeat of Philip V at Cynoscephalae, Flamininus was tasked with deciding the fate of Greece in the postwar period. At the Isthmian Games of 196, he declared the freedom and autonomy of the Greeks, but resistance from the Aetolian League and Nabis of Sparta threatened to overturn the Roman-imposed peace, eventually drawing Antiochus III into Europe. Episode Notes: (https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2023/09/10/090-freedom-of-the-greeks/) Episode...

No longer tied up by Hannibal, the vengeful Romans give their undivided attention to Philip V in the Second Macedonian War (200-197 BC). The king manages to hold his own against the Republic until they send the ambitious young commander Titus Quinctius Flamininus, who forces a showdown at Cynoscephalae that will radically change the balance of power in Greece. Episode Notes: (https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2023/08/24/089-antigonid-macedon-legion-and-phalanx/) Episode...

With the unexpected death of Ptolemy IV and the Great Rebellion in full swing, Antiochus III and Philip V form a secret pact to destroy the Ptolemaic Kingdom, partitioning the territories for themselves. Their invasions of Coele Syria and Asia Minor sent shockwaves across the eastern Mediterranean, leading several Greek states to request military assistance from the one power that could prevent their subjugation: the Roman Republic. Episode...

The “Golden Age” of the Ptolemaic dynasty comes to an end as Ptolemy IV dies unexpectedly in 204. Greedy ministers looking to control the boy-king Ptolemy V leave Alexandria in a mess of schemes, murder, and rioting. Meanwhile, decades of economic turmoil and cultural tension results the outbreak of the "Great Revolt", a twenty year-long (206-186) rebellion of disaffected native Egyptians, who ripped away control of Upper Egypt and installed a rival pharaoh named Haronnophoris, leaving the...

The Attalid dynasty that ruled over the city of Pergamon (modern Bergama) is the first Greek monarchy to arise outside of the Successor Kingdoms. Founded by a eunuch named Philetaerus in western Asia Minor, the Attalids went from small regional power to major player in under a generation, in part thanks to their alliance with the Roman Republic. Their smart fiscal policies and unusually stable family life allowed them to become extremely wealthy, sponsoring buildings and works of art that...

Emboldened by his success in the Social War, Philip's desire for world conquest leads him to ally with Hannibal Barca against the Roman Republic in 215. The so-called "First Macedonian War" (215-206 BC) is mainly a conflict between the various states of Greece, leading to the king tightening his grip over the Symmachy, and the end of his relationship with Aratus of Sicyon. Episode...

The Roman Republic went from a regional power ruling over Italy to master of a Mediterranean-wide empire in under 50 years, warring against powerful states like the Carthaginians and the Hellenistic kingdoms, yet always coming out on top. Dr. Bret Devereaux joins the show to discuss the Roman military and analyze the various factors that enabled their rapid expansion into the Hellenistic East, and eventually the downfall of the Republic itself. Episode...

During the Illyrian Wars of 229-228 and 219, the Roman Republic would intervene in the affairs of Greece for the first time. Their swift defeats of Queen Teuta and Demetrius of Pharos impressed the Greek communities, but would draw the attention of King Philip V of Macedonia. Episode Notes: (https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2023/03/16/084-rome-arrives-in-the-hellenistic-east/) Episode...

The “Argonautica”, written by the third century poet Apollonius of Rhodes, is the only surviving epic poem from the Hellenistic period. Recounting the travels of the hero Jason and his crew of Argonauts as they searched for the Golden Fleece, Apollonius managed to pay homage to the works of Homer while also reinventing the genre to better reflect the scholarship coming out of Alexandria. Episode...

The various dynasties that rose from the ashes of Alexander's empire proved to be a lucrative source of income for aspiring poets. Ptolemaic Alexandria hosted some of the influential artists of the day, such as Callimachus of Cyrene and Theocritus of Syracuse. Euphorion of Chalcis would move to Seleucid Antioch, and Aratus of Soli would compose his famous Phaenomena under the auspices of Antigonus II Gonatas. These figures would re-define the art of poetry for the next several centuries, and...

In April 1900, a crew of Greek sponge divers found a 2,000 year old shipwreck at the bottom of the sea of the small island of Antikythera. A century of underwater expeditions has revealed many works of art such as rare life-sized bronze statues and glassware that provides a snapshot of the Late Hellenistic economy, along with the famous Antikythera Mechanism, the world’s oldest surviving analog computer. Episode...