Dan Carlin's Hardcore History: Show 57 - Kings of Kings II
March 21, 2016 7:19 AM - Subscribe

From Biblical-era coup conspiracies to the horrific aftermath of ancient combat this second installment of the series on the Kings of Achaemenid Persia goes where only Dan can take it. For better or worse...
posted by Tevin (3 comments total)
 
Oh, I've been waiting for this!
posted by the man of twists and turns at 12:43 AM on March 22, 2016


The guy starts out with describing one of the smartest and most efficient empires in ancient history, and the weird, carved-on-a-mountain justification for Darius' kingship that allowed it to flower as far and as wide as it did... and then he spends a solid hour trying to figure out how democratic farmers with crap armor and worse weapons (and no help at all from the Spartans) from a tiny little city beat the holy hell out of the Persian Empire at Marathon, referencing Victor David Hansen without giving him more credence than drama demands, and Dan still can't figure it out. The Persians should have just had the Athenians beat, the end. Yet...

They didn't. Historians are at odds as to why!

Love. It.

Also? Harry Potter broomstick ref!
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:22 PM on March 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


I'm enjoying the hell out of this series, and am glad that it's only part 2 of ... who knows how many.

I wasn't clear on the timeline of events (does Carlin even give dates? If he does I forget them quickly); here's what I got from Ancient Persia:

559 bce: Cyrus the Great becomes king, of Anshan, part of the Medean empries.
552: Cyrus rebels against the Medes, captures the capital Ectabana; also conquers Assyria
531-522: Camyses II rules. Invades Egypt
521: Darius becomes king under mysterious circumstances
513: Campaign against the Scythians
499: Ionian cities rebel
11 Sept 490: The battle of Marathon

Still to come: Xerxes the Great, the Battle of Thermopylae, Battle of Salamis, Xenophon and the 10,000 (just covered by Daniele Bolelli in History on Fire), the conquest of Egypt, and then it all ends with Alexander the Great.

I love this period of history. I'm glad to see it get the Carlin treatment.
posted by kanewai at 11:59 AM on March 29, 2016


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