Podcast by The Hellenistic Age Podcast
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Sep 27, 2026 · 37:29
Following the aftermath of Pydna in 167, the Attalid dynasty in Pergamon enjoyed the next three decades as the most preeminent Greek power in the Aegean while competing with…
Aug 23, 2026 · 1:07:02
At the height of their power, the Ptolemaic dynasty took a great interest in the lands that lay south of the Nile Valley and the waters of the Red Sea. Explorers, elephant…
Jul 23, 2026 · 20:06
Civil war in Egypt concludes after nearly a decade of strife, with Cleopatra II seeking support from the Seleucids before being reunited with her brother and daughter in 124.…
Jul 2, 2026 · 28:08
As the army of Antiochus VII goes down in Media, Demetrius II returns to Syria after being released from Parthian captivity. Nobody is particularly happy to see him, including…
Jun 19, 2026 · 30:07
Nearly twenty years of exile from Egypt did little to improve the mood of Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II Physcon ("Potbelly" or "The Fatty"), and upon his return in 145 he unleashed a…
May 26, 2026 · 43:15
Demetrius' disastrous campaign against the Parthians meant that the Seleucid Empire was on its last legs. The only man capable of bringing the realm back together was his…
May 5, 2026 · 43:42
The death of both Alexander Balas and Ptolemy VI in 145 meant that the throne belonged to Demetrius II Nicator. Yet another round of civil war would soon follow Demetrius'…
Apr 14, 2026 · 43:53
As Rome consolidated the Mediterranean under their hegemony, the Parthians were poised to overrun Iran and Mesopotamia. Leading a small tribe from the steppes during the…
Mar 25, 2026 · 39:25
Andriscus' defeat in Macedonia was not enough to quell the troubles of Greece, as the Achaean League was also on the warpath. The relationship between Rome and the League since…
Feb 23, 2026 · 20:03
Fifteen years after the last Antigonid ruler was deposed and the Macedonian kingdom abolished, a man by the name of Philip VI Andriscus claimed to be the lost heir of King…
Feb 8, 2026 · 37:17
Though the Romans expected an easy fight, the Carthaginians put up a valiant defense of their city that dragged on for three years. With no progress being made, command is…
Jan 20, 2026 · 33:43
“Carthage must be destroyed” – and with these words Cato the Elder doomed his North African rival by helping spark the Third Punic War, the last in a century of conflicts between…
Dec 20, 2025 · 54:47
Starting from the early third century B.C., the Nabataean kingdom ruled over much of the Levant from the Sinai Peninsula to the Hejaz. Most known for their famous rose-colored…
Nov 24, 2025 · 24:44
Civil war continues to grip the Seleucid Empire, as Alexander I Balas is challenged by the young Demetrius II for the throne of Syria. Things come to a head when Ptolemy VI, tied…
Nov 5, 2025 · 36:56
The newly enthroned Demetrius I Soter managed to instill a degree of order throughout the Seleucid realm, crushing the would-be king Timarchos in Babylonia and the rebellion of…
Oct 14, 2025 · 26:10
With Antiochus IV Epiphanes’ death in Persia, the throne passed to the boy-king Antiochus V Eupator and his standing regent Lysias in 164. Between the Maccabean Revolt, would-be…
Sep 20, 2025 · 34:13
In the aftermath of the Sixth Syrian War, the tripartite division of authority between Ptolemy VI , Cleopatra II, and Ptolemy VIII was a tenuous one at best, having to deal with…
Sep 4, 2025 · 21:26
Despite the humiliation at Eleusis in 167 and the troubles in Judea, Antiochus organizes an enormous festival in Daphne to rival the games of Lucius Aemilius Paulus in…
Aug 26, 2025 · 45:53
The tension between the various factions vying for power in Jerusalem leads to a crisis, when Antiochus IV retaliates by attacking the city and plunders its famed Temple in 168.…
Jul 30, 2025 · 45:44
In this episode, we delve into the history of the Jews – both in the homeland of Judea and the many communities of the Diaspora. From the conquests of Alexander, the Jews…
Jun 15, 2025 · 46:06
Historian and broadcaster William Dalrymple (“The Company Quartet“, “Empire“) joins the podcast to discuss his latest book “The Golden Road“. A survey covering from antiquity to…
May 31, 2025 · 46:04
Among the various peoples of the ancient Mediterranean, few cultures possess such a extensive surviving corpus of texts as the Jews. With the conquest of Alexander and the…
Mar 31, 2025 · 25:31
“Cleopatra” (1963), a four-hour epic starring Elizabeth Taylor as the titular queen, is legendary in the history of filmmaking. Its notoriously troubled production made it one of…
Mar 12, 2025 · 36:23
War over Coele Syria breaks out yet again. With the death of Cleopatra I, her three very young children (Ptolemy VI, Ptolemy VIII, and Cleopatra II) are raised to the throne by…
Feb 6, 2025 · 35:48
The Seleucid realm experienced twelve unusual years of peace during the reign of Seleucus IV Philopator (187-175), but his alleged murder by a corrupt court official paved the…
Jan 11, 2025 · 1:17:35
After Rome’s declaration of war in 171, Perseus desperately attempts to stand his ground. When the “Third Macedonian War” drags on longer than anticipated, the consul Lucius…
Nov 20, 2024 · 38:27
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…
Oct 16, 2024 · 44:37
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…
Oct 5, 2024 · 1:08:29
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…
Aug 30, 2024 · 48:57
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,…
Jul 30, 2024 · 44:49
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…
Jul 1, 2024 · 39:40
The developments in theoretical mathematics were also translated into practical (and sometimes impractical) applications during the Hellenistic period. New weapons of war like…
May 31, 2024 · 26:44
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…
Apr 29, 2024 · 40:13
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…
Mar 10, 2024 · 37:54
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…
Jan 22, 2024 · 49:14
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…
Dec 5, 2023 · 19:03
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…
Nov 27, 2023 · 59:56
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…
Oct 15, 2023 · 30:58
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…
Sep 10, 2023 · 25:46
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…
Aug 24, 2023 · 41:54
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…
Jul 19, 2023 · 30:56
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…
Jun 20, 2023 · 39:28
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…
May 20, 2023 · 34:54
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…
Apr 29, 2023 · 36:22
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…
Apr 7, 2023 · 1:04:10
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…
Mar 16, 2023 · 21:47
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…
Mar 4, 2023 · 33:44
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…
Jan 27, 2023 · 26:55
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…
Jan 2, 2023 · 11:57
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…
Dec 10, 2022 · 16:38
Rather than writing tales of gods and heroes or flattering court panegyrics, the poet Theocritus of Syracuse (early second century B.C.) chose to focus on the simple life. As the…
Nov 25, 2022 · 35:59
The playwright Menander of Athens (342/341 – 290 B.C.) was the most renowned comedic author of antiquity, surpassing even Aristophanes in popularity. As the father of the New…
Nov 5, 2022 · 12:51
The anchor was the most recognizable image associated with the Seleucids, who used it as their dynastic seal to symbolize their royal authority. Its origins are interwoven into…
Oct 27, 2022 · 52:37
The Kushans were the premier dynasty of the Yuezhi, a nomadic confederation that migrated and settled in northern Bactria during the mid-to-late second century BC. With a steady…
Oct 22, 2022 · 39:17
The period from the first century B.C. through the third century A.D. saw a time of unprecedented economic contact between the Mediterranean world (under the dominion of the…
Sep 27, 2022 · 1:04:12
Following the death of Menander I Soter, the Indo-Greeks would decline in power over the next 150 years as the newly arrived Indo-Scythians/Indo-Saka seized the Punjab, and with…
Sep 3, 2022 · 51:46
It has been argued that the most influential contribution of Gandhara (modern Pakistan and southern Afghanistan) was its role in the creation of several works of art centered…
Aug 25, 2022 · 44:03
In the wake of Alexander the Great, the traditions of Hellenism and Buddhism thought came into close contact in Central Asia and India. Lee Clarke, a PhD student in…
Aug 12, 2022 · 58:59
In antiquity, Gandhara was one of the most deeply-rooted hubs of Buddhism, and scholars have attempted to search for any possible encounters between Buddhists and the Greeks who…
Jul 28, 2022 · 1:00:42
With the collapse of the Mauryan Empire, the rulers of Greco-Bactria would seize the opportunity to invade India in approximately 185 B.C. Famous conquerors like Demetrius and…
Jul 21, 2022 · 58:01
In 128 B.C., an explorer and diplomat named Zhang Qian had arrived in the Ferghana Valley in modern Uzbekistan. As the first known Chinese visitor in Central Asia, he was…
Jul 7, 2022 · 37:33
With the discovery of the city of Ai Khanoum in northeastern Afghanistan, the idea of a strong Greek presence in the makeup of Hellenistic Bactria was reinforced. At the same…
Jul 1, 2022 · 1:02:22
The conquests of Alexander the Great resulted in tens of thousands of Greek colonists settling in Central Asia. While excavations of places like the city ruins of Ai Khanoum hint…
Jun 17, 2022 · 44:47
Coins are the most enduring symbols of the Greco-Bactrian and the Indo-Greek kingdoms, considered to be invaluable tools in reconstructing their chronologies in absence of a…
Jun 11, 2022 · 1:03:05
In the first of several episodes on the "Hellenistic Far East", we will cover the history of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, which controlled the lands of Central Asia stretching…
Jun 4, 2022 · 31:26
Despite the defeat at Raphia, Antiochus III was not discouraged from further conquests. After dealing with his final rival Achaeus in 213, the Seleucid king would lead a massive…
May 21, 2022 · 49:11
Only a few short years after his coronation, Antiochus III would invade the kingdom of Ptolemy IV in 219 B.C., intent on reclaiming the lands of Coele Syria as part of his…
May 6, 2022 · 32:34
In 222 B.C., two of the world's most powerful kingdoms saw the coronation of two young monarchs: Antiochus III of the Seleucid Empire, and Ptolemy IV Philopator of the Ptolemaic…
Apr 25, 2022 · 54:24
In this episode, we bring the Second Punic War to a close as Hannibal tries to conquer southern Italy, while the Scipio and Barcid families clash over control of the Iberian…
Mar 12, 2022 · 43:48
After the losses at Trebia and Trasimene, the strategies of Fabius Maximus Cuncutator ("the Delayer") manages to give the Republic some valuable breathing room. Despite Fabius'…
Feb 27, 2022 · 31:38
With the destruction of the Celtiberian city of Saguntum in 219, much of the Mediterranean world was plunged into a state of warfare for nearly two decades, as the Roman Republic…
Jan 26, 2022 · 45:21
Fellow history podcaster Tristan Hughes (The Ancients Podcast) joins the show to discuss his new book, "Alexander's Successors at War: The Perdiccas Years, 323-320 BC", which…
Dec 13, 2021 · 47:43
The period from the signing of the Treaty of Lutatius in 241 until the siege of Saguntum in 219 is often passed over by those learning about the Punic Wars, but it is integral to…
Nov 29, 2021 · 54:54
Thanks to his role in the Maccabean Revolt, Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the Seleucid Empire played an important part in the history of Judaism. From the prophecies of Daniel to the…
Nov 11, 2021 · 35:00
At only 18 years of age, Philip V was crowned with the diadem following the death of his uncle Antigonus III Doson in 221. Many believed that the boy was going to be a pushover,…
Oct 10, 2021 · 41:08
Despite the failure of Agis IV to reform a weakened Sparta, a more politically astute (and ruthless) successor could be found in the rival Agiad house, Cleomenes III. Under his…
Sep 12, 2021 · 37:28
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, and the 240s and 230s saw several shakeups in the political order of Greece. Macedonia under Demetrius II Aetolicus struggled…
Aug 29, 2021 · 37:57
The proliferation of the Greek Federal states, those such as Achaean and Aetolian Leagues, was a major political development in the Greek Peninsula during the 3rd century.…
Aug 15, 2021 · 35:39
As the power couple of the Mediterranean, Ptolemy III and Berenice II Euergetes (Benefactor)would oversee the apogee of Hellenistic Egypt. Ptolemy's successful blitzkrieg against…
Aug 1, 2021 · 46:00
The conquest of Egypt by Alexander and establishment of the Ptolemaic dynasty differed from previous foreign invaders like the Hyksos or the Persians. While the Ptolemies would…
Jul 18, 2021 · 50:38
The Seleucid Empire's vast geographic spread made it the heir to a wide variety of cavalry traditions, with the fighting style of each region being incorporated into an army of…
Jul 4, 2021 · 42:47
Drawn by the prospects of providing service to the Ptolemaic government in either the bureaucracy or the army, or perhaps seeking to settle and farm some of the most productive…
May 14, 2021 · 50:19
Alexandria, or Alexandria-by-Egypt as it was called, was the easily the greatest city of the Hellenistic Age. Founded by Alexander the Great in 332/331, it became the pet project…
Apr 18, 2021 · 34:09
After facing decades of civil wars and invasions following the death of Alexander, peace was restored in Macedonia by the capable Antigonid king Antigonus II 'Gonatas', who…
Apr 12, 2021 · 47:51
Herodotus described Egypt as the gift of the Nile River, and without a doubt the Ptolemaic rulers took full advantage of the land’s agricultural prosperity. In addition to their…
Feb 27, 2021 · 30:57
Throughout the three centuries of Ptolemaic control over Egypt, their dynasty can be best described as having a split identity. Ruling from Alexandria, the new intellectual and…
Feb 14, 2021 · 25:56
Among the many colorful characters of the Wars of the Diadochi, Demetrius I Poliorcetes ("the Besieger") stands out as one of its most prominent, portrayed by the likes of…
Jan 31, 2021 · 27:37
The troubled reigns of Seleucus II Callinicus and Seleucus III marked over 20 years of instability for the empire. A 3rd Syrian War led by a vigorous Ptolemy III Euergetes would…
Jan 22, 2021 · 56:40
Alexander the Great is easily one of the most popular subjects for writers and artists throughout antiquity. In addition to the many biographies that present wildly different…
Dec 27, 2020 · 30:37
The relatively brief reign of Antiochus II Theos is noted for his conflict with Ptolemy II Philadelphus and his controversial marriage with Berenice Phernophoros (“the…
Dec 21, 2020 · 42:23
Though the longest-lived and most wealthy of the Hellenistic "Big 3", the Ptolemaic rulers in Egypt have never really held the distinction as a major military player in the…
Nov 26, 2020 · 36:08
As the most prolific of city-founders, the Seleucids sought to dramatically reshape the lands of the Near East and most especially North Syria, which would become the dynasty's…
Nov 8, 2020 · 43:53
The 1st and 2nd Illyrian Wars, fought between the Roman Republic and the peoples of Illyria (approximately modern Albania to Croatia) in 229-228 and 220-219 BC respectively, are…
Nov 2, 2020 · 33:22
To rule over the largest and most diverse empire of the Hellenistic realms, the Seleucids needed to deal with serious logistical and administrative challenges. The identity of…
Oct 18, 2020 · 30:26
Straddling the Strait of Kerch in the Northern Black Sea, the Bosporan Kingdom provides an unusual case study within the Hellenistic period. Originally settled by Greeks during…
Sep 28, 2020 · 34:58
Though they viewed themselves as the civilized center of the world, the Greeks had always expressed a curiosity for what lay on the periphery. The conquests of Alexander the…
Sep 13, 2020 · 40:02
The world of the nomads who lived upon the Eurasian Steppe would face a radical transformation between the 4th-2nd centuries BC. Originally dominated by the Scythians and Saka,…
Aug 21, 2020 · 1:04:02
With 49 episodes published, I decided to celebrate by making episode 50 a question and answer session, where I respond to topics fielded by listeners of the show. We dive into…
Aug 17, 2020 · 35:57
In this episode, we will be looking at two regions of Asia Minor and the Black Sea: the first is Galatia, home to the descendants of the Celtic tribes who marauded their way…
Aug 2, 2020 · 34:52
The conquest of the Achaemenid Persian Empire by Alexander the Great and his Successors did not spell the end of Iranian civilization. During the early Hellenistic period,…
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