This is a teaser of the bonus episode, "The Greeks Unite" found over on Patreon.
Transitioning from the Persian might, our episode casts light on the labyrinthine world of Greek polis. We unveil how over a thousand autonomous entities, with their own dialects, governments, and customs, confronted an existential threat. The Greeks' struggle for unity is a narrative of alliances forged in the crucible of necessity, a testament to the power of collective action in the face of overwhelming odds. Accompanying us on this historical deep dive is our special guest, an esteemed historian whose knowledge paints a vibrant picture of an era where the fates of empires and free cities hung in the balance.
If you would like to hear more and support the series click on the Patreon link at the bottom of the page or you can head to my website to discover other ways to support the series, Here
Hello everyone, mark here with a teaser of what's happening over on Patreon. Every month, a new bonus episode is released on Patreon for members to show my appreciation of the support they are extending to the show. These bonus episodes have allowed me to head back through the series, episodes where I take topics that were covered briefly and then explore them in a little more detail. These bonus episodes haven't taken anything away from my initial vision of the series, but have allowed me to supplement it with topics in isolation. This teaser is designed to give you an idea of the topics we cover and, if these bonus episodes would be of interest to yourself, the teaser for the latest release will remain on the normal feed for a month and then replace with the teaser of the next bonus episode to come out. If you are interested in supporting the series, please consider heading over to the Casting Thorentian Grease Patreon page, where you can get access to these bonus episodes plus other benefits. Hello everyone, and welcome back to another bonus episode here on Patreon with bonus episode 38, the Greeks Unite.
Speaker 1:
Last bonus episode, we turned away from Greece and put the spotlight on Persia. This was to look at the reasons why Xerxes would launch a second invasion in 480 BC and the preparations that were made. As we had seen, the aims of the first Persian invasion had appeared to be more limited than the complete subjugation of all Greece. Though the invasion would be defeated with a victory at Marathon, persia, during its 492 and 490 campaigns, had still managed to exert more influence west, even though they were unable to achieve their aims against Athens. Our Greek sources would tell us that as soon as the news of the defeat arrived back in the Persian Empire, arrangements were being made to head west again. However, the death of Darius and other revolts in the Persian Empire would supposedly put plans on hold. The new King, xerxes, would put down the revolts and plans for an invasion of Greece would be back on the agenda. This second invasion would be much larger and would seem to have the intention of controlling all of Greece. However, we turn to try and understand why Xerxes would launch his second invasion after his father's failed first one. We explored the notion of Herodotus's evil advisor that he uses in his account. This pointing out, mardonius would continually put pressure on Xerxes for the campaign. We also explored the Persian tradition of expanding their empire under each king, while the Persians were also known for treating those who subjugated and behaved very well, while those who defied them they were ruthless against and would not stop until punishment had been dished out.
Speaker 1:
It would seem that there was not one single reason for this decision behind Xerxes's invasion, but what we do know is that far grander preparations would be undertaken this time around. Modern historians would place the invading army of up to 250,000 troops 10 times that of the first invasion While much more manpower was also put to work years before the army set out constructing, engineering works to make marching this large force west with more ease. So, with such a large force being assembled and poised to invade Greece, how would the Greeks respond and how would they understand a chance against such a large army? The fundamental idea here would be unity. However, greece was not an empire, kingdom or country, so it is this idea of unity in Greek lands that we are going to turn to first. We need to first turn to the idea of the city-state or polis that existed in Greece to understand why Greece would need to be unified.
Speaker 1:
To begin with, as I pointed out, greece was not a collective governed by a central authority, like where the kingdom or empire. In Greece, there would be over 1000 separate political identities. These would range from individual towns or cities, islands, individual towns within an island and larger cities controlling larger territory around them, which included other villages. On a basic level, we can see these various city-states as their own countries, and it's in this context that they would interact with their neighbours. Although all the people that made up these city-states were seen as Greek or Helenes, they would identify themselves with the polis they came from foremost, while each of these polis could have different forms of government to their neighbours, speak different dialects and could vary in their cultural practices and identify with different tribal groups.
Speaker 1:
We also need to remember the ancient world was a far smaller place than the world today. You could only get to another place as fast as your feet, a horse or ship could get you there. This would mean, for most Greeks, the foreigner was usually from a town over the next mountain or hill. To have met someone from a completely different land would have been a rare occurrence. So it is within this framework that the different city-states would view other Greek city-states as the Xenos or Stranger.
Speaker 1:
This was the situation for most of the archaic age and would be why the Greeks would be at war with one another, rather than outside powers. In their eyes, this wasn't Greek against Greek. This was Spartan against Athenian, or Dorians against Ionians. For smaller conflicts, this would see city against city, but for larger wars, it could see one tribal group pitted against another. So if this was the case, how could these various city-states unite against an outside threat? Well, I hope you enjoyed that taste of what's happening over on Patreon. If you would like to support the series, please consider heading over to Patreon, where you can gain access to the full version of this episode, plus many more. Alternatively, you can head to the Casting Therancient Greece website and click on the Support the Series button, where you can discover many ways to extend your support to the show. Thank you everyone for listening to the series and I hope you continue to enjoy what is to come in the future.