Tag: Achaemenids

2022 Mehregan Holiday Special!

On By Trevor CulleyIn History of Persia1 Comment
An Achaemenid-inspired Mehregan table from the Netherlands via Wikimedia Commons

Jashn-e Mehregan mubarak everyone! This year’s roving holiday special is all about the traditional Feast of Mithra and the yazata it honors. Grab some sharbat, maybe a bowl of pistachios, and settle in for festivities ancient and modern with a healthy side of all of Mithra’s awesome and badass jobs in the cosmos.
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Vulgar History – Listen Now!
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83: Routine Maintenance

On By Trevor CulleyIn History of PersiaLeave a comment
The golden tablet of Arsames’ inscription (AsH) found in Hamadan via Wikimedia

We follow the Spartan general, Clearchus, as he was taken into captivity in Babylon before following the royal court off to the building projects and border disputes of Artaxerxes II’s empire.
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The Alexander Standard -Listen Now!
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82: Debrief of the Brothers

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Parysatis tortures Bagapates by James Ennor, 1899

After the battle of Cunaxa, both sides were left to deal with the fallout. In Babylon, Artaxerxes II and his supporters celebrated victory and punished treason. In the detritus of the battlefield, Cyrus the Younger’s supporters were left to pick up the pieces and start their long walk home.
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Tsar Power Podcast – Listen Now!
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80: On The March

On By Trevor CulleyIn History of PersiaLeave a comment
The route taken by Cyrus the Younger and his mercenaries from Sardis to Cunaxa and the return journey

In 401 BCE, Cyrus the Younger set out with an army of supporters and mercenaries to defeat his brother, Artaxerxes II, and claim the Persian throne for himself. But first they had to get there.
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Grand Dukes of the West
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79: Cyrus III

On By Trevor CulleyIn History of PersiaLeave a comment
A coin from Phokaia (home of Aspasia the Wise) depicting an unknown satrap, likely Cyrus the Younger or Tissaphernes via Wikimedia

Cyrus the Younger returned to Sardis as Karanos in 404 BCE, still nursing dreams of becoming king. Over the next three years he quietly built up an army of mercenaries and prepared his subjects for war, gathering them under false pretenses to march against his brother, King Artaxerxes II.
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So You Think You Can Rule Persia? – Listen Now!
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78: Robe and Dagger

On By Trevor CulleyIn History of PersiaLeave a comment
The tomb of Darius II via Wikimedia

In 404 BCE, Darius II died. The king’s death sparked fierce but quiet competition for the throne between the supporters of Cyrus the Younger and Darius’s chosen heir, Arsakes. Arsakes did become King Artaxerxes II, but not without having to settle this conflict.
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Warlords of History Podcast

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77: The Yashts

On By Trevor CulleyIn History of PersiaLeave a comment
Tall-e Takht, near Pasargadae, possibly the ruins of an Achaemenid-era sanctuary/temple via Livius.org

A collection of early Zoroastrian prayers to the various Yazatas, the Yashts are some of the only surviving sources that provide a detailed window into the more polytheistic aspects of ancient Iran. As a bonus, they partially stem from myths and legends as told in the Achaemenid period.
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Review – King of the World by Matt Waters

On By Trevor CulleyIn History of Persia, Podcast EpisodesLeave a comment
King of the World: The Life of Cyrus The Great by Matt Waters

King of the World: The Life of Cyrus the Great by Matt Waters is a new biography of the first Persian King of Kings from Oxford University Press. I was fortunate enough to receive an advanced PDF copy to review. In short, it’s an excellent introduction to both the life of Cyrus and Achaemenid Studies as a field. Almost all shortcomings are more the product of the subject rather than the biographer. For more, give it a listen.
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