Grimdark History

After the death of Darius III and Bessus, Alexander is without a doubt king of the former Persian Empire. He’s left staring at huge chunks of former Persian provinces now declared independence standing between him and mysterious India, birthplace of his distant half brother Dionysus and rumoured tomb of Hercules laying somewhere in foreboding mountains.

As Alexander begins the conquest of what is now modern-day Uzbekistan and Afghanistan but then Bactria and Sogdiana tensions that have been simmering since the start of the invasion begin to boil over to murderous levels of betrayal. Callisthenes, Cleitus the Black, Parmenion and Philotas all become victim to the cultural tensions tearing at the seems of Alexander’s unified forces. His Macedonian and Greek generals and court fear Alexander is rejecting what makes him Greek and a superior being, he’s making demands on them that he be worshipped like a god by them and his subjects. The king and general who so thoroughly embodied all that was greatest in Greek men is becoming Persian before their very eyes, and the results of bloody and create unreconcilable divisions.

In India the very gods themselves attempt to thwart Alexander’s progress by sending lightning bolts, floods, sickness, and monsoon rains to kill, weaken, and suck away the morale of Alexander’s already morale reduced forces and Alexander is forced to turn around and return to Babylon having only made it to the Hyphasis river in order to avoid a revolt by his army.

As Alexander returns to Babylon, not realizing death is only weeks away he allows those Greeks who want to retire or return to Greece to do so. Draining his treasury to pay off the debts of his forces, purchase more mercenaries, and buy loyalty he begins training and raising a brand new army as he plans to invade Arabia, only to be thwarted by his mysterious and sudden death.

Most people know about Dionysius the god of wine, and perhaps many will know of Dionysius the god of suffering and rebirth, but most do not know of Dionysius the human demi-god. We wrap out our episode exploring Dionysius the man who was Alexander’s distant half brother and what he had to do to achieve apotheosis to godhood and whether or not that may have had an influence on Alexander’s entire campaign.

Lastly, we wrap up our 5-part epic on Alexander the Great by exploring whether or not Alexander ever “wept when there were no more worlds to conquer.”

Did Alexander Weep when there were no more worlds left to conquer? Thanks to William Elder for his research.https://www.youtube.com/@williamelder6788

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlkWA-8r9Ro&t=319s

No More World to Conquer – Real Quotes From Made-up Sources

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Getting at the heart of the first Jewish Roman Revolt war in 66 CE has a long history attached to it. Working my way backwards through time using the works of Jewish Historian Flavius Josephus as my literary sources raised more questions than answers. I found myself tugging on the threads of history and going all the way back almost 200 years in time to Modin Mattathias and his 5 sons who triggered a popular revolt against their Seleucid overlords and changed the course of history forever.

Getting into the heart of this world, even understanding the time leading up to the event was itself a struggle. To help me untie the knot and understand the nuanced and complex world of Judea leading up to the time period known as the Maccabean Revolt, Dr. Boris Chrubasik, Associate Professor of Ancient History and Chair of the Dept. of Historical Studies at the University of Toronto joins me to help me understand this world rushing towards its independence.

The world of Judea leading up to the start of the revolt is a complex one where what it means to be Jewish is still being defined, and at times swallowed up by the influences of the Greek world on Judea, Jerusalem, and the surrounding lands. The nobility of Jerusalem, and in and amongst the countryside are divided on the influence of Greeks being a positive or negative on their people. Yet even as some of these groups try to figure out what it means to be Jewish in an increasingly Greek countryside, clashes of violence begin to flash across the land and threaten to plunge the Judean landscape into rebellion.

A movement and rejection of these things as a negative influence begins to form. Led ultimately by the sons of Mattathias, the Maccabee family walk a fine tight rope between politics, and outright war against the Seleucids, against Samaria, and against Edomia. Even as they outwardly navigate the world of larger, more powerful neighboring kingdoms like Egypt, the still forming nation of Judea begins to take shape as the internal culture clashes with the Judean countryside and internally with the Maccabean family tell a story of a not yet fully defined Jewish identity.

Join me as I discuss the land, the people, the culture, and political dynamics of the world Judea during the Maccabean Revolt with Prof. Chrubasik and come to see the re-forging of a Jewish identity as an independent Jerusalem takes shape as we uncover the all important context that will flow into the next episodes in this series.

Books written by guest Boris Chrubasik

• Hellenism and the Local Communities of the Eastern Mediterranean: 400 BCE-250 CE
• ISBN: 9780198805663
• Kings and Usurpers in the Seleukid Empire
• ISBN: 9780198786924

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After the assassination of Philip, Alexander faced a demanding and tense succession crisis. Forced to kill of a rival heir, opposing generals, and then put down rebellions against Macedonian rule in Thrace and mainland Greece, Alexander spent the first two years of his reign consolidating his power and control over the kingdom and alliances his father had built.

The sack and destruction of Thebes was a message the reverberated around the Greek world and would leave no doubt in the minds of all Greeks that Alexander was the son of Philip and just as ruthless.

After the power struggles were resolved Alexander was finally able to follow the path laid out by his father and begin the invasion of the Persian Achaemenid Empire proper, only two years behind schedule. And yet the story of Alexander is not one that I'm telling through tales of battles and daring do. There are plenty of other podcasts out there that cover Issus, Granicus and others just fine. This podcast covers the people and interactions. The relationship between Greeks and Persians was complex, nuanced, and not nearly the Greek Good, Persian Bad that's reflected in popular fiction. Persia left Greek colonies to govern themselves and many of the conflicts that happened during the Greco-Persian wars were often the result of local governors and warlords allying with each other to attack other Greek or Persian areas of control, put down rebellions, or invade new lands.

Alexander's first major battle in Persia might have gone very differently if not for Persia recovering from recent palace coups and the need to show strength and stability in the empire. Had the kingship been more stable might the advice of a certain Greek general been followed to deny Alexander's army food and supplies in a scorched Earth policy rather than try and face them down in a decisive battle?

After Granicus Alexander begins attacking Persian port cities and comes across his first of many "impenetrable fortresses". And yet the critical need to remove the Phoenician naval from attacking Greek colonies back home left Alexander no choice but to invent some creative solutions to attacking an island fortress without a navy of his own.

Lastly in this episode we explore the surrender of Jerusalem as written by the historian Flavius Josephus who relates the Jewish account of the surrender of Jerusalem to Alexander and we get our first glimpses into Alexander's obsession and reverence for all things divine (Greek related or not).

With the first phase of Alexander's conquest completed we pause until next month where we begin a deeper exploration of religion, divinity, and Alexander by exploring his time in Egypt and Mesopotamia, and his consolidation of control over the Persian Empire.

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In celebration of reaching 1000 downloads on our podcast I wanted to engage with the fans of our season 1 topic (the fiction of Warhammer 40,000 and history). I also wanted to step away from the grimdark podcast tone for a couple of episodes and have a little fun.

To thank all the fans who have supported the podcast so far I anonymously reached out to the 40KLore sub-Reddit and just asked the question "Who's your favorite historical figure the Emperor of Mankind Might Have Been?" To help get the answers flowing in the post I suggested 4 significant historical figures with 2 suggestions being conquerors and empire builders and 2 suggestions being more philosophical and softer thinking influences.

With over 350 responses to the question I took the top responses from the fans, put it into an online poll, and again engaged with everyone on Discord, Twitter, and the various Warhammer 40K subreddits asking people to now vote from the list of historical figures they suggested, "who did they feel was most likely to have been the Emperor of Mankind?"

Joining me as we go through the Top 10 list as chosen by you, the fans of 40K lore, is Laura Whitehead co-host and co-creator of the Chaos Divided podcast which discuss all things 40K with a light hearted and wholesome tone that will leave you smiling after every episode. Please check out their podcast everywhere you get your pods https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/chaos-divided-warhammer-40k-podcast/id1686139450

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With the unexpected death of Aurelian and no designated heirs to the empire Rome suffers a number of emperors in quick succession with several only lasting months to a few short years. Looking like the Roman Empire might fracture yet again except for a shrewd officer named Diocletian who through good fortune and good planning is able to wrest the control of the empire and enforce stability upon it once more.

Diocletian establishes what is known as the Tetrarchy, a rule of four emperors (two senior and two juniors), and though there is no clear Eastern or Western Roman Empires, Diocletian and his co-emperor Maximianus set the base upon which Rome will continue to endure for hundreds of years. First they must finally come to terms with the Franks and other Germanic tribes that have been decimating the Rhine frontiers for 30 years, and then jointly deal with yet another revolt in the form of breakaway claimant Carausius and his Britannic North Sea Empire before returning jointly to the east again and dealing with yet more revolts in Egypt.

This is the era Saint George lived through. The reformation and reimagining of what the Roman Empire could be. Being fortunate enough to take advantage of the reforms of Gallienus only a couple of decades ago as enabled Christians to seek advancement in Roman society, and have career prospects in the Roman legions as Maximian and Diocletian work to enforce peace across the Roman borders.

As 303 comes around, Saint George’s fortunes were to take a turn for the worse. With peace at last across the empire Maximian, Diocletian, and Diocletian’s jr emperor Galerius look to stamp out the Manichean Christian faith in the east, widely believed to be behind the most recent revolt in Egypt, before taking a broader anti-Christian stance to the rest of the empire.

Saint George, caught up in the famous Christian persecutions under Diocletian in the east suffers martyrdom possibly at the hands of Galerius while a now old Diocletian looks to retire and leave the empire in the hands of the next generation.

This bonus episode of Grimdark History Podcast winds down with a look across Season 1 of the podcast and a preview of Season 2 starting in January 2025.

Sources Used in this episode

Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine - Patricia Southern

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