I'm Trevor Culley. My personal experience with both Persian history and podcasts began with a college extra credit assignment to listen to the first Hardcore History history episode on the Achaemenids. I was instantly enthralled with the stories of the Kings of Kings and coming a little late to the party, started listening to podcasts. On one hand, I started heading down the road toward PhD that will let me study ancient Persia for a living. On the other, as I binged my way through both the History of Rome and early episodes of the History of Byzantium I was always excited for the episodes dealing with the Parthians and Sassanids. I'm sure some of you shared my surprise and disappointment to discover that there was not a similarly dedicated podcast dealing with the great empires east of Rome. So that brings us here. I've decided to personally create that dedicated podcast.
It’s time to introduce religion into the mix, starting with the origins and background of ancient Iranian traditions in general, and then narrowing in on the most famous and significant: Zoroastrianism. This episode explores the traditions and gods of the Indo-European steppe peoples as they migrated and became the Iranians, Persians and Medes included. I’ll also discuss the reforms and doctrines of the ancient prophet Zoroaster who established a religion centered around a single supreme god, Ahura Mazda.
Tomyris dipping the head of Cyrus the Great in a dish of blood. Queen Tomyris Receiving the Head of Cyrus, King of Persia by Mattia Preti, 17th century.
Returning to the narrative, it’s time to see what Cyrus got up to in the final decade of his rule, after conquering Babylon. He traveled around his empire, between a collection of important capital cities, founded cities, and constructed monuments. He also conquered. This episode pushes the narrative eastward into the provinces of Iran, Afghanistan, and Central Asia and explores some of the events that happened there. Then it’s time to finish the story of Cyrus the Great, with one last campaign on the northeastern frontier.
King Cyrus (front) with future Satrap Harpagus (back) as depicted in the 18th Century Tapestry: The Defeat of Astyages. Designed by Maximilien de Haese, Woven by Jac. van der Borght (1771-1775). Currently housed in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
What exactly is a Satrap? Is there such a thing as a Satrapy? How did all of these people manage to talk to one another? All this, and more as the History of Persia celebrates double-digits with a break down of how the Persian Empire was actually organized and managed during the Teispid Period.
The remains of Palace S. The first Palace constructed at Pasargadae. Credit: Bernard Gagnon
A sketch of the Seal of Cyrus I from Anshan, featuring the king mounted with a spear in a combat scene. Credit: Livius.org
Left: The winged genius at Pasargadae, Gate R, as it stands today. Right: a sketch depicting how the same relief may have looked while intact. Credit: Pontecelo and John Henry Wright
The Tomb of Cyrus the Great at Pasargadae. Personally I really like this particular picture because it’s one of the few with people in the shot to give a sense of how large the structure is. Credit: Wright.one
Gallery of art and architecture described in the episode, click on a picture to see it full size. Left to right: Palace S at Pasargadae, the Seal of Cyrus I sketched, side by side Gate R today and restored sketch. Bottom: Tomb of Cyrus the Great. Captions posted as a comment on each image All images from Wikimedia Commons via Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License.
This time we’re taking a break from the narrative for a bit. Now that this show has all of Cyrus’s major conquests under its belt, its probably worth getting a sense of what these Persians were actually like. This episode covers art, architecture, clothing, and the major cultural influences of the early Persian period, under the Teispid kings. Let’s see what the world around Cyrus the Great might have looked like.
The Cyrus Cylinder, currently housed at the British Museum, London. Photo credit: Emily Culley, 2017.
Cyrus the Great has finally completed his conquests in our narrative. I break down the Cyrus Cylinder, the official record of what he did next, one section at a time. In this episode, I shamelessly take advantage of current events and link Persian history to both Easter and Game of Thrones. Listen and explorer official Persian propaganda, an expanding royal family, the historic and religious legacy of Cyrus, and all the titles of the Persian King. Anchor Streaming Download
The Neo-Babylonian Empire at the time of Cyrus’s Conquest with the locations of major battles. The original labels are French, but hopefully similar enough to figure out. Original by Zunkir, Wikimedia Commons via GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2. Alterations by Trevor Culley, 2019.
In Babylon, October of 539 BCE began in the 17th year of the reign of Nabonidus, but it ended in the 1st year of Cyrus. In this episode Cyrus the Great carries out his final campaign against Babylon. Our sources tell us that after a few short battles, the greatest city of the ancient world through open its gates and the Persians won the day. Of course, ancient history is never quite that clean. This time, we explore Cyrus’s greatest conquest, and the troubled, but fascinating, reign of Babylon’s last king. Download Streaming
Cyrus’s generals take the reins for a bit and the Persian conquerors face their most grueling task yet: subduing the Ionian Greek city states. Persia’s first interaction with the Greek speaking world was a drawn out, and possibly brutal conquest of the western coasts of Anatolia, but when they were done the empire was larger, more secure, and ready to keep pushing its boundaries south into the wealthy territory of Babylon. Download Streaming
A Greek libation bowl depicting Croesus sitting on his funeral pyre while servant ignites the fire. Currently housed at the Louvre.
Just as Cyrus the Great, now officially the King of Persia, was consolidating his hold over the recently conquered Median Empire, a new war started. This time, the Persians were facing Lydia, the fabulously wealthy Anatolian kingdom ruled by King Croesus. This war really had it all. Deceptive strategies, surprising alliances, strange tactics, and wildly confused ancient sources to tell the story, but in the end it was just one achievement for Cyrus. Download Anchor Streaming
“Cyrus and Astyages” – Oil painting by French artist Jean-Charles-Nicaise Perrin in the 18th century. The scene depicted is Astyages (center) ordering Harpagus (left) to take and kill the infant Cyrus (Harpagus’ arms).
Around 550 BCE, King Cyrus II of Anshan went into revolt against the Median King Astyages. The young Cyrus was aided by a rebellious Median general called Harpagus and conquered the whole Median Empire in one war. Then, Cyrus declared himself King of Persia, and took his first step on the path to becoming “Great.” Download Anchor Streaming
We’re bringing the stories from the last two episodes together now. The Medes and the Babylonians joined forces, beat the Assyrians and the Egyptians, and then divided up the Near East between themselves as they built their own empires. After this, I promise there will be some actual Persians on this History of Persia Podcast. Download Anchor Streaming Link
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