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 navigated through a new paradigm that favored “Greekness” and embraced many aspects of Hellenistic culture, while also trying to uphold the Laws of Moses that linked them back to the glory days of Solomon and David. The flowering of diasporic literature, such as the creation of the Septuagint, was one byproduct of Judeo-Greek interaction. Yet tensions with the Hellenistic monarchies could lead to severe unrest, as will eventually culminate in the Maccabean Revolt.
Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2025/07/30/107-jews-and-judaism-from-alexander-the-great-to-antiochus-iii/)
Episode Transcript:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/107-jews-and-judaism-from-alexander-the-great-to-antiochus-iii-transcript.pdf)
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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 navigated through a new paradigm that favored “Greekness” and embraced many aspects of Hellenistic culture, while also trying to uphold the Laws of Moses that linked them back to the glory days of Solomon and David. The flowering of diasporic literature, such as the creation of the Septuagint, was one byproduct of Judeo-Greek interaction. Yet tensions with the Hellenistic monarchies could lead to severe unrest, as will eventually culminate in the Maccabean Revolt.
Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2025/07/30/107-jews-and-judaism-from-alexander-the-great-to-antiochus-iii/)
Episode Transcript:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/107-jews-and-judaism-from-alexander-the-great-to-antiochus-iii-transcript.pdf)
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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 navigated through a new paradigm that favored “Greekness” and embraced many aspects of Hellenistic culture, while also trying to uphold the Laws of Moses that linked them back to the glory days of Solomon and David. The flowering of diasporic literature, such as the creation of the Septuagint, was one byproduct of Judeo-Greek interaction. Yet tensions with the Hellenistic monarchies could lead to severe unrest, as will eventually culminate in the Maccabean Revolt.
Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2025/07/30/107-jews-and-judaism-from-alexander-the-great-to-antiochus-iii/)
Episode Transcript:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/107-jews-and-judaism-from-alexander-the-great-to-antiochus-iii-transcript.pdf)
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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 the early medieval period, the book seeks to address India’s far-reaching (and often forgotten) influence across the entirety of Eurasia, from tracking the spread of religions like Buddhism and Hinduism, investigating the growing evidence of Indo-Roman trade, and even down to the invention of “Arabic” numerals based on Indian scripts and mathematics.
Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2025/06/15/interview-the-golden-road-how-ancient-india-transformed-the-world-with-william-dalrymple/)
William Dalrymple:
https://williamdalrymple.com/
https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/golden-road-9781639734146/
https://x.com/DalrympleWill
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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 widespread introduction of Greek culture, Jewish authors voiced their grievances against the Hellenistic kingdoms while celebrating the antiquity of their own history, offering us a valuable perspective of the period at large. We will be discussing selected key texts: the apocalyptic visions of Daniel, the dynastic histories of I and II Maccabees, and the extensive writings of the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus.
Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2025/05/31/106-jewish-literature-in-the-hellenistic-age/)
Episode Transcript:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/106-jewish-literature-in-the-hellenistic-age.pdf)
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“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 the most expensive movies ever made and brought 20th Century Fox on the verge of collapse, but Taylor’s portrayal has defined the image of Cleopatra in pop culture for over sixty years. We look back on the history of the film itself, assess its presentation of Hellenistic Egypt, and talk about the problems of telling the story of powerful woman whose life was so entangled with that of the men around her.
Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2025/04/01/bonus-elizabeth-taylors-cleopatra-1963/)
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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 their ambitious ministers Eulaios and Lenaios, who lead campaign of reconquest against Antiochus IV Epiphanes. It turns into a disaster, with the Syrian king launching two successful invasions into Egypt and besieging Alexandria. It seems the Ptolemaic kingdom is on the verge of collapse and Antiochus poised to be master of Egypt... that is unless the Roman Republic has something to say about it.
Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2025/03/14/106-the-sixth-syrian-war-and-day-of-eleusis/)
Episode Transcript:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/105-the-sixth-syrian-war-and-day-of-eleusis.pdf)
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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 way for Antiochus IV Epiphanes (“God Manifest”) to usurp the throne of Syria from his nephew. An incredibly polarizing figure, Antiochus was renowned for his generous donations towards cities and temples, often in honor of his new patron deity Zeus Olympios, but his behavior earned him the scorn of those like Polybius, who nicknamed him Epimanes (“The Madman”).
Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2025/02/06/104-the-seleucid-empire-madness-and-the-divine/)
Episode Transcript:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/104-the-seleucid-empire-madness-and-the-divine-transcript.pdf)
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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 Aemilius Paulus is called in and destroys the royal army at Pydna in 168, leading to the end of the Antigonid dynasty and the Macedonian kingdom.
Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2025/01/13/103-antigonid-macedon-the-first-domino-falls/)
Episode Transcript:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/103-antigonid-macedon-the-first-domino-falls-transcript.pdf)
Family Tree - Reign of Perseus:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/reign-of-perseus-1.pdf)
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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 positive reputation across the Greek world through his philanthropy and general good behavior. His rising popularity earned the enmity of those like Eumenes II of Pergamon, who accused Perseus of secretly carrying out plans for a war against the Roman Republic, inheriting his father's schemes. Tensions would soon boil over, and the king would find himself in the crosshairs of the Senate, leading to the Third Macedonian War.
Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2024/11/21/102-antigonid-macedon-sins-of-the-father/)
Episode Transcript:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/102-antigonid-macedon-sins-of-the-father-transcript.pdf)
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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 his kingdom through economic and military reforms. By 179, Macedonia was once again a powerhouse to be reckoned with. However, infighting between the two princes Perseus and Demetrius would threaten to undermine the dynasty's unity, as an appropriately Greek tragedy stains the final days of Philip's career.
Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2024/10/16/101-antigonid-macedon-a-house-divided/)
Episode Transcript:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/101-antigonid-macedon-a-house-divided-transcript.pdf)
Family Tree (Reign of Philip V):
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/reign-of-philip-v.pdf)
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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 answer session to celebrate.
Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2024/10/05/100-qa-2-electric-boogaloo/)
Bad Ancient - "Are the Homeric Epics an Accurate Source for the Bronze Age Aegean?"
(https://www.badancient.com/claims/homeric-epics-source-bronze-age-aegean/)
Natty Lifting - "Why Did Bronze Age Lifters Have Flat Chests?" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIcbKGilhME&pp=ygUXYnJvbnplIGFnZSBib2R5YnVpbGRpbmc%3D)
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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, looking to explain celestial phenomena and the nature of the Earth. Eratosthenes of Cyrene managed to calculate the circumference of the Earth to an astonishingly close value, Hipparchus did the same with the distance of the Moon, and Aristarchus of Samos proposed the earliest known model of heliocentrism 1800 years before Copernicus. The pinnacle of these theories came together was the incredible Antikythera Mechanism, the world's oldest analog computer, which will bring our series on science and technology to an end.
Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2024/08/30/099-hellenistic-science-geography-and-astronomy/)
Episode Transcript:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/099-hellenistic-science-astronomy-and-geography-transcript.pdf)
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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 candidate Angus Jacobson joins the show to discuss the "Flight of Seleucus" story presented to us by Libanius of Antioch (314-392 A.D.), offering insights as to how the Successors used (or manipulated) events in their royal propaganda, and the challenges of separating fact from fiction.
Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2024/07/30/interview-the-flight-of-seleucus-and-dynastic-propaganda-with-angus-jacobson/)
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The developments in theoretical mathematics were also translated into practical (and sometimes impractical) applications during the Hellenistic period. New weapons of war like torsion catapults and enormous ships found their way on the battlefield, and this love for all things big extended to Rhodian architects who constructed their famous Colossus. Under the Alexandrian inventors Ctesibius and Hero, the rise of pneumatics saw the the creation of the earliest known robots (automatons) and the predecessor of the steam engine that continues to amaze viewers down to the present day.
Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2024/07/01/098-hellenistic-science-mechanics-engineering-and-technology/)
Episode Transcript:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/098-hellenistic-science-mechanics-engineering-and-technology-transcript.pdf)
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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 study of geometry for over two thousand years, while the archetypal mad scientist Archimedes of Syracuse allegedly was so fond of mathematical inquiries that it lead to his own demise. Abandon all hope, ye who enter here, as we look at the theoretical developments pioneered by the Hellenistic mathematicians.
Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2024/05/31/097-hellenistic-science-mathematics/)
Episode Transcript:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/097-hellenistic-science-mathematics-transcript.pdf)
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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 Erasistratus became the first doctors to practice human dissections in any significant capacity until the Middle Ages, greatly improving our understanding of anatomy and physiology. Developments in pharmacology followed the botanical work of Theophrastus, while Mithridates VI of Pontus performed diabolical experiments with poisons and antidotes. From OBGYN to trepanation, there is bound to be something in here that will make you squeamish.
Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2024/04/29/096-hellenistic-science-medicine-and-the-healing-arts/)
Episode Transcript:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.files.wordpress.com/2024/04/096-hellenistic-sciences-medicine-and-the-healing-arts-transcript.pdf)
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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 the loss of Coele Syria to Antiochus III, yet she proved to be a good match and helped secure the future of the dynasty. Haronnophoris and the Great Revolt are finally put down in 186, but the Alexandrian government is forced to give concessions to the Egyptians, as the Ptolemies must now come to terms with their new status as a second-class power in the Mediterranean. We also delve into the history of the Rosetta Stone, the Hellenistic period's most famous document, and its role in the decipherment of Ancient Egyptian.
Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2024/03/10/095-ptolemaic-egypt-the-two-lands-restored/)
Episode Transcript:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/095-ptolemaic-egypt-the-two-lands-restored-transcript.pdf)
Ptolemy V Family Tree:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/reign-of-ptolemy-v.pdf)
Autocrat Podcast:
Website (http://www.autocratpodcast.wordpress.com/)
Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/30Muilr1O66yA4UDcj76SW?si=c6648d9db9b3446c)
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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 power left behind in a post-Seleucid Asia Minor would lead to fierce competition, with those like Eumenes II of Pergamon and Pharnaces I of Pontus waging war against their neighbors. The desire of the Achaean League to dominate the Peloponnese would lead to the end of an independent Sparta and the butting of heads with the Republic. While this was happening abroad, the consequences of Rome’s new role as hegemon over the Mediterranean would begin to rear its ugly head on the Senate floor, and the final years of the 180s would see the departure of three key figures of the day: Hannibal Barca, Philopoemen of Megalopolis, and Scipio Africanus.
Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2024/01/22/094-the-senate-vs-scipio-africanus/)
Episode Transcript:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.files.wordpress.com/2024/01/094-the-senate-vs-scipio-africanus-transcript.pdf)
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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 saddled with an enormous indemnity, Antiochus' career comes to an abrupt end in Elymais after an unprecedented 35 years on the throne, leaving the Seleucid Empire at a crossroads for the coming generations.
Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2023/12/05/093-the-seleucid-empire-the-peace-of-apamea/)
Episode Transcript:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/093-the-seleucid-empire-the-peace-of-apamea-transcript.pdf)
Reign of Antiochus III - Family Tree:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/reign-of-antiochus-iii-part-2.pdf)
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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 his belt, Rome proved to be a fiercer opponent than anticipated, forcing Antiochus to go on the defensive and take the fight back to Asia. A final confrontation on the plains of Magnesia (modern Manisa) would determine who was to be the dominant power of the Hellenistic world.
Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2023/11/27/092-the-seleucid-empire-magnesia/)
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(https://hellenisticagepodcast.files.wordpress.com/2023/11/092-the-seleucid-empire-magnesia-transcript.pdf)
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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 Syria into Seleucid hands after almost a century of conflict. Antiochus' ambition to claim the territories of Seleucus I leads him to campaign in Europe, placing him on a collision course with the Roman Republic.
Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2023/10/15/091-the-fifth-syrian-war/)
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(https://hellenisticagepodcast.files.wordpress.com/2023/10/091-the-fifth-syrian-war-transcript.pdf)
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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 navigated through a new paradigm that favored “Greekness” and embraced many aspects of Hellenistic culture, while also trying to uphold the Laws of Moses that linked them back to the glory days of Solomon and David. The flowering of diasporic literature, such as the creation of the Septuagint, was one byproduct of Judeo-Greek interaction. Yet tensions with the Hellenistic monarchies could lead to severe unrest, as will eventually culminate in the Maccabean Revolt.
Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2025/07/30/107-jews-and-judaism-from-alexander-the-great-to-antiochus-iii/)
Episode Transcript:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/107-jews-and-judaism-from-alexander-the-great-to-antiochus-iii-transcript.pdf)
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