AI Summary
5 min readIn the year 1618, a 61-year-old Spanish ambassador named Garcia de Silva y Figueroa was traveling through the Iranian plateau, his diplomatic mission to the Safavid court having ended in humiliation. To console himself, he visited a site his guides called Chahel Minar—the Forty Pillars—a sprawling ruin of massive black stone columns. Figueroa, a reader of classical history, recognized it immediately: this was Persepolis, the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, a city so thoroughly forgotten that its builders' names had been lost to folklore. For nearly two millennia, the ruins had stood alone, a mystery. This episode tells the story of how that empire rose from the rubble of a ruined world, became the largest the world had ever seen, and then collapsed into fire and ash.
The Rise from Assyria's Ashes
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:00) **Introduction and Advertisements** - The podcast begins with brief ads for Shopify and Vuori clothing, then transitions into the main narrative.
- 2 (01:14) **Discovery of Persepolis** - In 1618, Spanish ambassador Garcia de Silva Figueroa stumbles upon the ruins of Persepolis, a site long shrouded in folklore.
- 3 (09:26) **The Achaemenid Persian Empire** - The episode introduces the empire that once ruled from Persepolis, the largest the world had ever seen at its height.
- 4 (12:25) **The Ashes of Assyria** - The story of Persia begins with the collapse of the Assyrian Empire, which left a power vacuum in the ancient Near East.
- 5 (16:44) **The Collapse of Assyria** - The alliance of Babylon and the Medes swiftly destroyed the Assyrian Empire in only about three years.
- 6 (28:25) **The Birth of Cyrus the Great** - Around 600 BC, a man named Cyrus was born who would shatter this fragile equilibrium and change the course of history.
- 7 (33:07) **Herodotus and the Sources** - The episode explains the challenges of relying on Herodotus, the "father of history," as the primary source for Persian history.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
In the highlands of the Iranian Plateau, a collection of enormous pillars reach up to the sky...
In this episode, we tell the story of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Find out how this remarkable ancient power sprung up from the rubble of a ruined world to become the most powerful human society on earth. Hear how they raised their grand palaces and monuments, and brought an unprecedented number of people together within their borders, as well as coming into conflict and cooperation with other ancient peoples. And finally find out what happened to bring the palaces of the Persian kings crashing down in fire and flame.
CREDITS
Voice actors:
Henry Stenhouse Michael Hajiantonis
Lachlan Lucas
Alexandra Boulton
Simon Jackson
Tom Marshall-Lee
Chris Harvey
Jack Jacobs
Nick Denton
Amrit Sandhu
Paul Casselle
Tim Stephenson
Ameen Taher
Readings in Old Persian were performed by Mateen Arghandepour
In Spanish by Scott Fins
And readings in Greek were performed by Dimitris Chavres
Singing of the Zoroastrian gathas was performed by Ardalan
The Theme music is Home at Last by John Bartmann
Sound design was by Alexey Sibikin
Historical advisor was Dr. Mateen.M. Arghandehpour at the University of Oxford
Full list of sources available here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/145588047
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