After Alexander: Hellenization, Cities, and Kingdoms

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 พ.ย. 2024

ความคิดเห็น • 452

  • @andre_santos2181
    @andre_santos2181 3 ปีที่แล้ว +186

    Rome to Rhodes: I am altering the deal. Pray I do not alter it any further."
    Rome to Aetolian: I am altering the deal. Pray I do not alter it any further."
    Rome to Achaians: I am altering the deal. Pray I do not alter it any further."
    Rome to Seleucids: I am altering the deal. Pray I do not alter it any further."
    Rome to Egypt: Bros before hoes

    • @ericc9321
      @ericc9321 2 ปีที่แล้ว +45

      Rome to Bactria and Indo-Greece: "I don't even know who you are."

    • @gregoriogariglio7750
      @gregoriogariglio7750 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      🤣

    • @geordiejones5618
      @geordiejones5618 ปีที่แล้ว

      As much as we all love Rome they really were the biggest assholes ever. They did it so well for so long in various ways. It hard to look at the Romans as one civilization its like China.

  • @billychops1280
    @billychops1280 2 ปีที่แล้ว +75

    I love the phrase “gave birth to a male son” 😂😂 as opposed to a female son lol I found that really funny

    • @echo5226
      @echo5226 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Going to war with the Greeks was like getting into a scuffle with the gay pride parade. They were ahead of their time.

    • @billychops1280
      @billychops1280 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      @@echo5226 yes except the common belief that the Greeks were socially accepting of gay people is a very well told lie

    • @echo5226
      @echo5226 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@billychops1280 yeah, I heard about that. I was only kidding.

  • @Theodoros_Kolokotronis
    @Theodoros_Kolokotronis 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Great video ! Alexander the Great visited the site of Ancient Troy in 334 B.C., as he embarked on his campaign against the Persian Empire, leading a unified Greek Army (Hellenic League).
    The visit to Troy held both personal and strategic significance for Alexander. On one hand, it fulfilled his long-held desire to pay tribute to his hero Achilles and connect with the glorious past of Greek mythology.
    On the other hand, the visit served as a powerful symbolic gesture that showcased his intention to unite the Greek world under his rule and carry on the legacy of the legendary heroes.
    Upon reaching the Tomb of Achilles, Alexander took a moment to pay his respects and acknowledge the greatness of the legendary warrior.
    Then, Alexander poured oil over the tomb, a customary practice in ancient Greek funerary rituals, symbolizing purification and sanctification.
    He also placed garlands of flowers and foliage on the tomb, signifying honor and respect for the deceased.
    Next, Alexander and Hephaestion sacrificed animals, likely horses, to honor the spirits of Achilles and Patroclus. This ritual was meant to appease the souls of the dead and seek their favor.
    Finally, Alexander is believed to have organized athletic games at the site, following the ancient Greek tradition of hosting such competitions in memory of deceased heroes.
    By paying homage to Achilles, Alexander was reinforcing his connection to the heroic past and legitimizing his claim to lead the Greek world.
    After Troy and his first victory at the battle of the Granicus, while leading a unified Greek Army (Hellenic League) to avenge the Persian invasions in Greece 150 years prior, Alexander the Great sent 300 suits of full Persian armour (to honor the legendary last stand of the 300 Spartans in Thermopylae) to Athens, as a votive offering to Goddess Athena, to be hung on the Acropolis.
    He ordered an inscription to be fixed over them; “Alexander, son of Philip and all the Greeks, present this offering from the spoils taken from the barbarians inhabiting Asia".
    A statue group, known as the Granicus Monument, was erected by Alexander in the sanctuary of Zeus at Dion. This consisted of bronze statues by Lysippus, of Alexander with twenty-five of his companions who had died in the initial cavalry charge, all on horseback.
    Alexander the Great is a sacred, immortal, legendary figure for us Greeks. Mostly for uniting all Greek City States and Kingdoms and spreading the unique Hellenic culture to the edges of the world. The rightful descendant of legendary Achilles.
    Eternal Hellas 🔥🇬🇷

  • @mattstakeontheancients7594
    @mattstakeontheancients7594 3 ปีที่แล้ว +161

    It’s amazing to think many of the areas we think of as Islamic lands were in the past Greek like or the fact that Greek culture influenced such a large area of the world. Sad the many of these sites created by Alexander and his generals have been destroyed or lost over time. Imagine buried underneath the earth in Pakistan and Afghanistan are relics of this time period.

    • @billmorrison9068
      @billmorrison9068 2 ปีที่แล้ว +26

      Hellenism is underrated. Thanks to Thersites for the video.

    • @alejandromadrid8075
      @alejandromadrid8075 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      They were Greek and Christian, but with a little bit of vision, and discipline, we can overcome the fatalistic status quo dogma currently dominating the minds of the people, and realize those lands do not have to be Islamic and Arabized for ever, and can be liberated and made Christian and happy again.

    • @jacobgorokhovsky4677
      @jacobgorokhovsky4677 2 ปีที่แล้ว +48

      ​@@alejandromadrid8075 During the Hellenistic Period, Christianity did not exist yet because Christ was not born yet, these people believed in the now gone Hellenic faith.

    • @BNSFGuy4723
      @BNSFGuy4723 2 ปีที่แล้ว +24

      @@alejandromadrid8075 Christianity didn’t exist let LMAO what are you talking about 💀

    • @NoName-fc3xe
      @NoName-fc3xe 2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      @@BNSFGuy4723 Christianity didn't exist in 200 bce

  • @Geopoliticus
    @Geopoliticus 3 ปีที่แล้ว +17

    Thank you for this presentation.
    I was reading Menander’s Dialogue recently and noticed something. The pressure of maintaining the Hellenistic identity versus the alternate pressure of Indianization seemed to have created an existential identity crisis in him. He in fact comes across as seriously depressed in some parts.
    Many of the Indo-Greek kings were most likely Hellenized native Bactrians. Caught between two world cultures, it destroyed their own.

  • @armandom.s.1844
    @armandom.s.1844 3 ปีที่แล้ว +72

    If anyone wonders, we know almost nothing about Gedrosia. It usually appears in most Hellenistic maps as an independent kingdom or state, but is hard to understand what happened exactly there. It was part of the Mauryan kingdom after the agreement between Seleucus and Chandragupta (at least the eastern half of the region, probably not all), but during the decline of the Mauryan dynasty the western regions broke away as independent petty kingdoms, and Gedrosia could be one of them. It possible became absorbed by the Seleucid Empire after Antiochus the Great expedition to the East, and later became part of the Indo Greek kingdom. However is hard to prove what happened exactly in Gedrosia until the arrive of the Saka peoples in late 2nd century BC.

    • @GeertTheDestoyer
      @GeertTheDestoyer 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I believe it always had a status of satrapy as part of a larger empire or kingdom. I remember reading that is was an arid and sparsely populated region and that suggests it's significance is limited.

  • @klausbrinck2137
    @klausbrinck2137 3 ปีที่แล้ว +44

    27:00 My grandma came to Greece from Nikomidia (written: Nikomedeia), when the Turks threw out the Greeks in 1922... ;-) Her father was a plantage-owner in Nikomidia. In Greece, he got buried in the bottom of a deep well, since his new job was digging wells, and after an accident, where he got buried alive, he was directly left down there... Greeks from Asia Minor, having been much richer and educated than mainland-Greeks in 1922, got very hard exploited as cheap labour in Greece...

    • @alexanderryan1176
      @alexanderryan1176 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      That sucks to hear.

    • @beerthug
      @beerthug 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Very few good things to say about Turks.

    • @jackdonith
      @jackdonith 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@tornado4708 Ah, yes, of course. Greece psoposed the terms because it defeated the Turks in 1922. No, wait, it lost. Meaning the terms were dictated by the Turks. It;s just that Greece proposed to take the Greeks instead of leaving them get killed just like the Pontic Greeks and the Armenians were subjected to genocide during WWI, less than a decade before, by the Turks.Btw, most had already fled to Greece to save themselves. Lausanne Treaty simply sealed the legal status, that they lost everything in Turkey and had to make a living with what the Greek state could provide. But because few Turks lived in Greece as opposed to Greeks in Turkey, and on top of that Greece was a smaller country, there was very little for them in Greece. Which is why they were very poor refugees, having lost everything and getting abused by the locals.

    • @gregntavlis6521
      @gregntavlis6521 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@jackdonith actually we had and have a lot of turks in Greece, most of them live in thrace and they are used by the Turkish state to promote its interests in Greece. That's why Turkey didn't take them back in the first place.

    • @Rhine0Cowboy
      @Rhine0Cowboy 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@tornado4708 Well that was embarrassing, are you going to re-evaluate the source where you learned to make that argument? Maybe complain that they misinformed & embarrassed you, or just stop reading/listening/watching them?

  • @santigardipee9303
    @santigardipee9303 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    I am working on an M.Div and didn't expect to enjoy classical history so much. Thank you for these lectures. You do touch on more obscure material as you stated in your profile. This is a legitimate resource and should be recommended more in the algorithms.

  • @Theodoros_Kolokotronis
    @Theodoros_Kolokotronis หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    One of the most thrilling historical novels that follows the life of Alexander the Great during his legendary campaign, is “The Virtues of War” by Steven Pressfield.
    Truly epic.

    • @ThersitestheHistorian
      @ThersitestheHistorian  28 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      Interesting. I haven't read Pressfield's works, but I recall seeing them in a bookstore.

    • @Theodoros_Kolokotronis
      @Theodoros_Kolokotronis 28 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      In my opinion, “The Virtues of War” along with “Gates of Fire” (Battle of Thermopylae), are two of the most fascinating historical novels of all time.
      Maybe only, “The Dark Angel” (original title Johannes Angelos), by prominent Finnish writer, Mika Waltari, set in the Byzantine Empire during the last Siege of Constantinople, is at the same climax.

  • @refractable2479
    @refractable2479 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    genuinely enjoy writing notes about the successors of Alexander, really appreciate this lecture!

  • @BigBennKlingon
    @BigBennKlingon 3 ปีที่แล้ว +169

    Ya the Greco-Bactrian/Indo-Greek Kingdoms really capture the imagination. It would definitely be cool to see some more archeology done in Afghanistan. Altho I heard that the main Greco-Bactrian site, Ai-Khanoum, was severely looted during the US occupation.

    • @invidusspectator3920
      @invidusspectator3920 3 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      So sad we don't have many written records :(

    • @michaeldiekmann6494
      @michaeldiekmann6494 3 ปีที่แล้ว +40

      Not with the Taliban Boys back in town

    • @mpalfadel2008
      @mpalfadel2008 3 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      The Greco-Bactrian kingdom was the last independent Greek country for centuries

    • @nikolaradivojevic3139
      @nikolaradivojevic3139 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Sadly it is safer for it to stay lost ...

    • @paulstone5917
      @paulstone5917 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Indeed.

  • @Moredread25
    @Moredread25 3 ปีที่แล้ว +20

    Interesting overview of these successors to Alexander. I know you've done a lot of videos about subjects related to them, but it was clarifying to get an overview of all of them in one video. It's too bad there hasn't been great work to look into the history of the Greeks in India, but I guess there's very little information about them because of the lack of sources that made it to the West before the modern period that lead many early archeologists to look into stuff during the period of colonialism.

  • @MegaTang1234
    @MegaTang1234 3 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    40:42 "Empire for sale, in bad condition, needs new king and army."

  • @MilledSteel
    @MilledSteel 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Excellent content, I can’t believe your knowledge and ability to communicate it so well on this period.

  • @lindakay9552
    @lindakay9552 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Somehow I've never heard this channel before. But you have got to be the most eloquent, perfectly enunciating speaker I've ever heard!

  • @ancientfalmer4341
    @ancientfalmer4341 3 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    Man imagine the Roman empire vs a united Alexandrian empire. What a different world it would have been.

    • @beerthug
      @beerthug 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      So many missed opportunities to crush that city before it got a foot hold!

    • @wankawanka3053
      @wankawanka3053 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      That would have been a badass war🥺

    • @computer1-hc1qn
      @computer1-hc1qn 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      The romans crushed the Seleucid kingdom, which had managed to take control of most of Alexander’s empire at that point, granted Egypt and Macedonia itself are outsized in importance in relation to their land area.

  • @HellenisticAgePodcast
    @HellenisticAgePodcast 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Solid stuff my dude, great encapsulation of why the period is so fascinating 👌

  • @jonhstonk7998
    @jonhstonk7998 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I love that I found this channel I always loved studying this period

  • @mycoolhandgiveit
    @mycoolhandgiveit 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    19:16 I have heard that the colossus standing over the opening of the harbor is considered to be very unlikely if not outright impossible with the methods of bronze working and large scale construction available at the time. Coupled with the fact that it stood for such a long time (meaning it was structurally sound) has lead many to say it was built in a more "normal" pose with the stories of it straddling across the harbor coming about due to the usual games Chinese whispers through the ages, and exaggerations/assumptions from later accounts writing based on the remains of the colossus which were still present in the area long after its collapse

    • @jackdonith
      @jackdonith 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      It was placed on a base to the side of the port. The diea that it was standing over the entrance of the port was born in late medieval and renaissance time, in pictures that wanted to show that it was very big.

    • @user-jf6yv8rj2s
      @user-jf6yv8rj2s 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      We don't really know the construction methods of the time. We just assume how they did it.
      There are many examples of unanswered ancient constructions...

  • @MaryBennett
    @MaryBennett 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Loved this video. Chandragupta was a young man when Alexander invaded the Indus Valley, and, I understand, was inspired by that example to found the Mauryan Empire.
    Might you be interested at some future time to do a series on some of the less well known but nevertheless important monarchies and poleis of the late first millennium, Masillia for example, and the kingdom in southern Spain with which the Phoenicians were doing business. Also the kingdom around Crimea which had an arrangement with Athens to supply wheat, an arrangement which, I understand, persisted for centuries and was honored by both sides.

    • @GeertTheDestoyer
      @GeertTheDestoyer 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      It's also notable in the case of the Crimean Greeks that this somewhat continued during the Roman era, as it became a client state, and continued to supply grain to Byzantine Constantinople, altho by that time under rule by Goths.

  • @artemisarrow179
    @artemisarrow179 ปีที่แล้ว

    You are always so chill to listen to

  • @tyronefrielinghaus3467
    @tyronefrielinghaus3467 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thank you for this...really good intellectual boost on this Sunday pm. (From South Africa).

  • @cedricgist7614
    @cedricgist7614 หลายเดือนก่อน

    It took me so long to learn more about how Alexander's empire was divvied up and how long it took for Rome to swallow all the elements up.
    From the movie, "Alexander," I recognized the names of Kassander, Seleucus, and Ptolemy. Anthony Hopkins played the older Ptolemy. The fourth general I know was mentioned here - but didn't register.
    Thank you for this - for me - in-depth look at how Hellenism gripped much of Asia from the Great Sea to Bharat ( India). Talk about the Seleucids being spread thin, I wonder if Greek hegemony would have endured any longer even if Alexander had lived longer. That was a lot of territory to administer!
    I just wanted to thank you for this examination of the post-Alexander World. You also pointed out subsidiary and peripheral elements such as Rhodes, Alexandria, Antioch, the Greco-Bactrian, and the Indo-Greek elements. I was surprised to hear that Greek and Buddhist cultures merged.
    It takes more than a notion to commit to nearly an hour-long video - but I was not disappointed. Thank you!

  • @supersasquatch
    @supersasquatch 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    Achaia was a region that has it's own furniture

  • @Equilibruim77
    @Equilibruim77 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Great video thank you for taking the time to make it!

  • @caesarplaysgames
    @caesarplaysgames 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Just found this channel through this video being recommended and now going on a binge. More good history content is always a good thing.

  • @wankawanka3053
    @wankawanka3053 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    If the Macedonians were not greek why would they need greek settlers in every single city that they founded ?????

    • @ilFrancotti
      @ilFrancotti ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Because Hellenic was the main culture they adopted and used.
      Romans were not Greeks but they too imported many Greek teachers from Greece for their studies.

    • @iordanistzivas4902
      @iordanistzivas4902 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      They were Greek! Before King Alexander they were separate kingdoms, city states! King Phillip under the influence of Ισοκράτης decided that in order expand Hellas and defeat Persians once and forever they had to unite Greek city states under one command and to do that he had first to conquer the "domestic enemy" the other Greek states and then as one March to Persia. Greek were and are notoriously known killing each other for 100s of years but when an external enemy is at the gates they unite and they dominate. We never bow in front of a conquerer and we always fight to be free so later we can start killing ourselves again.

  • @Mr67Stanger
    @Mr67Stanger 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    What a great story! Very well narrated and documented. I wish you could have covered the Maccabean revolt a little further, but this was really a minor episode in the grand scheme of things. Thank you!

  • @Rymontp
    @Rymontp 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Very informative video. I've only recently looked into Alexander and I'm loving it so far. Thanks for the documentary!

  • @AJayQDR
    @AJayQDR 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    This part of history of Anatolia and the East in general is very interesting. Post Achaemenids and Alexander, pre Rome and Sassanids.

  • @MisterRorschach90
    @MisterRorschach90 7 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    I think a better way of “hellenization” would be to encourage the Greek way of life giving the benefits to natives who adapt, but likewise, encourage customs and cultures from the native lands, along with settlers from those lands to spread in Greece. Finding which customs merge best and then slowly adapting to that where everyone can be more comfortable with the new status quo. And these practices would spread to the oriental parts of the empire where the natives don’t have to completely assimilate to an all Greek system. As well as adopting all of the most widespread languages used in the empire rather than encouraging only Greek. Maybe have 2-3 main languages that everyone is expected to learn but not required for all aspects of life.

  • @Keyhan-c8c
    @Keyhan-c8c 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    There are around 50 Greece loan words in Persian, still used after 2300 years ,also some of most known Iranian sports have Greece origin. Koine was also very popular among the Persian astronomers and mathematicians of the Islamic era.

  • @cbwilson2398
    @cbwilson2398 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    Your description of the development of Koine (4:30) seems to suggest that some Greeks consciously designed a simplified language for foreigners. The actual process of simplification takes place organically, as non-natives begin to use the language as their lingua franca, simplifying it in the process. And, yes, English is a good example of an international lingua franca.

    • @Laocoon283
      @Laocoon283 ปีที่แล้ว

      Yea that was weird

  • @DrunkenCoward1
    @DrunkenCoward1 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    I'm taking a lecture on the Diadochi right not, at university and after the lecture our professor basically turned to us and said "Even as professional historian, the time just after Alexander's death and the first Diadochi Wars are complicated to understand, let alone to easily explain." and my friend later said "That was good to hear. Whenever I read about the Diadochi I feel like a complete idiot."
    Because early Greek history is... comparatively easy, at least in broad strokes. Once one gets into details it becomes more difficult, as details are bound to be.
    But this early era of Hellenism has so much going on. It's crazy.

    • @jackdonith
      @jackdonith 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Even in Greek school textbooks the hellenistic period is usually just 1 lecture, a tiny chapter. Alexander died, his generals divided the empire and fought it out, till the Romans and other got the pieces, enter Roman era, the end.
      And then Greek history departments, I know of a course about Alexander but that's all. Nothing for hellenistic history. Archaeology gives a lot of examples, but history is greatly overlooked.

    • @tatjanavelkova5814
      @tatjanavelkova5814 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      MACEDONIAN HISTORY 25 CENTURIES from KING PHILIP ! ! !

    • @thedeviousgreek1540
      @thedeviousgreek1540 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@tatjanavelkova5814 King Philip of the Argead dynasty, the house of Temenids, sons of Heracles from Doric Greece.

  • @Hugo-vz3eu
    @Hugo-vz3eu 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    You just got a new subscriber, its very easy to lisen to you and everthing is well organized. Facinating stuff, Bithynia was particularly interesting for me

  • @duskosekulic5143
    @duskosekulic5143 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    For me it is interesting that Alexander went thousands of miles to the east and south but didn't even move on north or west from Hellas! No one ever mention this simple fact and it's very strange to me...

    • @dirlexx9771
      @dirlexx9771 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      he went north from macedon at the beginning of his reign, the thracians up to the danube are really all he can hope to control more to secure from attack really. its about where the civilization and cities are.

    • @user-jf6yv8rj2s
      @user-jf6yv8rj2s 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      He didn't go because he died in 33, so he hadn't the time.
      So simple.

    • @LANeverSleeps
      @LANeverSleeps 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Persia was the great empire of the time, so going east first make sense.

    • @ginaibisi777
      @ginaibisi777 ปีที่แล้ว

      Because they were all Pelasgians and didn't need to take his own people 😂

    • @tatjanavelkova5814
      @tatjanavelkova5814 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      before 25 centuries PELLA -- PELAGIA MACEDONIAN LAND.
      PHILIP and ALEXANDER are born in M A K E D O N I J A ! ! !

  • @nomagea2684
    @nomagea2684 ปีที่แล้ว

    Many thanks for uploading this video.
    Very detailed explanation

  • @dadsonworldwide3238
    @dadsonworldwide3238 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Explosion of detailed words merging that was never heard before.

  • @mns8732
    @mns8732 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Great addition to TH-cam

  • @Theodoros_Kolokotronis
    @Theodoros_Kolokotronis 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    One interesting fact that not many people are aware of is that, one of the Greek Royal Houses that ruled in the Byzantine Empire, was the Argead Dynasty. Descending from the city of Argos in southern Greece, the Argead Royal House was the ancestor parent house of Philip II, father of Alexander the Great..
    A dynasty linking the Hellenistic era with the Byzantine Empire, almost 15 centuries…

  • @charliemountain82
    @charliemountain82 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    As a student of the Stoic philosophy, and the ex husband of a Buddhist woman, it is no longer a mystery to me why Buddhism has so much in common with Greek philosophy and visa versa.

  • @petercroves8562
    @petercroves8562 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Thank you for all you put out on Middle East History &Roman/East Roman History!. This is one of the Best channels on TH-cam

  • @Priceluked
    @Priceluked 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Greco-Buddhist Bactria is such an awesome little bit of history.

  • @ilijas3041
    @ilijas3041 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    "Speaking often and for long periods of time can take your voice to the limit"
    Well, if thats the case, than my wife has to be some kind of wonder

  • @briannelson3830
    @briannelson3830 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    I’ll always miss my time in the Seleucid Empire, thanks for the memories

  • @liamobrien4985
    @liamobrien4985 3 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    I think it's fitting that the most mixed and integrated kingdom was also the last to go. Definitely more in line with what Alexander wanted to achieve.

  • @David0Izzy
    @David0Izzy 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    The Colossus of Rhodes definitely did not straddle the harbor. That would have been a physical impossibility and has been debunked countless times for centuries. That popular belief only dates back to the Middle Ages and the only reference to it is a single sentence saying the Colussus stood "over sea and land"
    Your videos are very high quality but I'm surprised you made such a simple yet obvious mistake

  • @theswordofkings7549
    @theswordofkings7549 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Not sure how I got to this channel but found the information excellent.

  • @KeithShuler
    @KeithShuler 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    I really enjoyed this lecture. Thx.

  • @TheCossak
    @TheCossak 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    great lecture, I thoroughly enjoyed it. thank you

  • @reddiamond6688
    @reddiamond6688 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    This was fascinating to listen. I always wondered what happened after Alexander's death and before Jesus. Still thirst for more though. Great video.

  • @TruthIsToBlame
    @TruthIsToBlame 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    "I'm not rerecording this for a minor error... We're going to have to live with it and move on..." 😩I'm finding it hard to move on Thersites, I think about it every night before I try to sleep 😭😫😩

  • @Sparticulous
    @Sparticulous 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Great video

  • @theLetterDoubleYou
    @theLetterDoubleYou 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Thersites merch? I'm thinking the Thersites bust on the front, and *CON-STAN-TIN-O-PLE* on the back shoulders.

  • @tacocruiser4238
    @tacocruiser4238 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    Are there any traces of Greek culture or heritage left in these eastern regions? Or has it been completely wiped out by Arab/Islamism?

    • @saimbhat6243
      @saimbhat6243 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      there are few things that still remain, like greek philosophy in islamic theology, greek traditional medicine and some cuisine , i am sure there would be many more things

    • @darrynmurphy2038
      @darrynmurphy2038 3 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      Somewhat. Greek art influenced Buddhist and Indian art, with its importation of sculpture. Obviously it's developed significantly since the Hellenistic era, but all Indian sculpture of gods and people such as the Buddha all descends from this Greek influence. Greek philosophy and science would be taken up by Islamic scholars, and be absorbed into the intellectual zeitgeist of the time. Genetically, it's thought that the Greek settlers bloodlines still lives on amongst some of the peoples in Uzbekistan and Afghanistan

    • @MarkVrem
      @MarkVrem 3 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      Like Darryn mentioned, I know of Hercules being sculpted as a "protector-god" of Buddha in sculptures. Which is a Buddist tradition to have a symbol of great conquerors used as a lesser god protecting Buddha. An example today is Ghengis Khan for Mongol Buddhists and formerly Chinese Yuan Dynasty Buddhists. He is technically a lesser god today and is depicted wearing all white, like his statue today is silver.

    • @beerthug
      @beerthug 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Good ol' islam, protector of antiquity.

    • @PasserMontanus
      @PasserMontanus 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      You need to update your hate protocols, China is the new Enemy of the Free World now.

  • @deeznoots6241
    @deeznoots6241 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I go an Egyptian tourism ad during the Ptolemaic Egypt section lmao

  • @BBB1980.
    @BBB1980. 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Great work! I enjoyed it and will subscribe!

  • @MrChickensnatcher
    @MrChickensnatcher 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Ghost on the Throne, great book that goes into the histort after the death of Alexander.

  • @tomvobbe9538
    @tomvobbe9538 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Moving toward-a new world ord-a a normal life is boring but super stardom close to post mortem goes home and barely knows his own daughter.

  • @eddienom
    @eddienom 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Excellent Work!

  • @Glassandcandy
    @Glassandcandy 10 วันที่ผ่านมา

    I don’t know if you’ve ever been asked this before but, as a classicist myself, I’m compelled to ask you how confident are you with both Latin and Ancient Greek (Homeric, attic, koine, basically any stage before medieval Greek)?
    You’re by far the best history TH-camr for classical history in my opinion, but I’ve always wondered what your thoughts are when it comes to contested translations and meaning of terms in important classical texts that are ambiguous or unknown in meaning (Homer has A LOT of these and being that you know so much about Greek history from the dark ages all the way to ottoman rule, I would be interested to hear your thoughts/interpretations).
    I’d also be curious to know your thoughts on the recently deciphered Herculaneum scrolls that purportedly claims to give the precise burial place of Plato and gives us new info on everyday cultural life in Ancient Rome (I believe one of the more exciting finds in one scroll was the discovery of a previously unknown popular Roman recipe, giving us a better idea of what kind of things everyday Roman’s liked to eat). It was pretty astounding news in Roman scholarship when it was finally announced but I don’t know if they’ve actually released a full transcript of the Latin texts of each scroll. I believe at least one has though IIRC.

    • @ThersitestheHistorian
      @ThersitestheHistorian  5 วันที่ผ่านมา

      I have studied classical Greek and Latin, but my Greek is definitely stronger. I am definitely a historian rather than a classicist, so I can read the original, but I don't claim to be an expert on etymology, so I typically avoid those kinds of controversies unless the word or concept in question has some bearing on when an idea or institution developed. Do you primarily study Homeric scholarship? What are some examples of some ambiguous and/or unknown terms that people are debating at the moment?
      I was not aware of the Herculaneum scrolls until I read this comment. I will definitely have to investigate that since I try to stay abreast of all things Plato. The recipe sounds exciting. I will definitely read up on this and it looks like this deciphering is one of the most successful applications of technology to classical scholarship in quite some time. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

  • @kibidabitv9435
    @kibidabitv9435 ปีที่แล้ว

    A great video and a great channel overall. You're truly a master of laying the stuff out in an accessible but not trivial manner.
    Just a minor correction for future videos: Bithynia should be pronounced /bɪˈθɪniə/, not /'bɪθniə/. The "y" in the middle should not only be heard, but it's where the accent is. Cheers!

  • @chucknorris202
    @chucknorris202 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Oooooooh maan.....when I heard about Philetairos, the Macedonian Nobleman who founded Pergamon, I literally cringed....some animal, a donkey or something I presume, stepped on and crushed his testicles when he was a kid?? My God that is HORRIBLE even simply imagining it, I feel bad for the man even more than 2,000 years later. And Im impressed he accomplished what he did, even after that happened to him.

    • @ThersitestheHistorian
      @ThersitestheHistorian  3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Same here. Beyond the loss of testosterone and the ability to marry into other aristocratic families, there was a good deal of prejudice against eunuchs. Philetairos must have been an exceptionally clever man to navigate the Successor period as skillfully as he did.

  • @mdtrw
    @mdtrw 3 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    It always troubles how the great Greek civilizations which had so many heroic and epic moments in their history would bebroken up and rolled over by Rome in such humiliation fashion.

    • @MarkVrem
      @MarkVrem 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      In some alternate universe, instead of killing Alexander's son, they made him a religious leader, like a Pontifex Maximus. For just enough unity to avoid some inter-greek conflicts and mimicking the Roman Republic just enough to fend them off and other external threats. But yeah nothing that I know off at least in Greek culture or history is a precedent to that.

    • @ilFrancotti
      @ilFrancotti 3 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      Actually it was mostly their own fault as they did "the roll over" among themselves before.
      When Rome arrived in the East (Macedonia), Greek and Hellenistic kingdoms' war making capabilities were a shadow of their heroic days.
      The Peloponnesian wars, the selfish partition of Alexander's great Empire and even killing their own emperor plus his son, these were self inflicted humiliations.

    • @Liquidsback
      @Liquidsback 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Priam's revenge.

    • @DistantLights
      @DistantLights 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Honestly Alexander was kinda part of the problem, everyone wanted to emulate him so everyone because glory mad warlords.

    • @jackdonith
      @jackdonith 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Romans had started conquering Greek states in the early 3rd century BC (getting beaten repeatedly by Pyrrhus) at least and won in the late 1st century BC. That's about 2,5 centuries of hard fought wars. Also, the largest Greek state, the Seleucid empire was overthrown by Parthians, so Rome played no role there. In fact Romans got beaten when they tried to conquer this very state. And there was a Greek state in India until 1st century AD, far away from the Romans. In the end, the very Roman empire was called "Greek empire" by the very people of Italy, during the byzantine era. So, the quote that it was Greeks that actually conquered Romans seems true, if only cultural.

  • @fernandogarcia3957
    @fernandogarcia3957 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    There were 2 big libraries in Alexandria, one inside the Museum and another one, the proper Library.

  • @cletus223
    @cletus223 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    This reminded me of "In Search of the Lost Testament of Alexander the Great" which put forward the thesis that Alexander had a will but the successors then the Romans more or less ignored for various reasons. Has that gotten any traction as a hypothesis amongst historians?

    • @ChevyChase301
      @ChevyChase301 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Historians don’t care about stuff like this it isn’t important plus we know what he was planning like arabia

  • @JB-gw8ee
    @JB-gw8ee 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Excellent! Thank you!

  • @karlnord1429
    @karlnord1429 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Nice video dude. Thank you.

  • @pilesthedonkey
    @pilesthedonkey ปีที่แล้ว

    Thank you and God bless you in Jesus Christ name Amen

  • @danielleweber9730
    @danielleweber9730 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Q:To whom do you leave your empire?
    A: To the strongest!!

  • @frederickwallace6552
    @frederickwallace6552 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Malana in Himachal Pradesh is an interesting place, supposedly descendants of Alexander's soldiers.
    Nice people and decent charris, last time I was there was late 80s.

  • @stipicaradic
    @stipicaradic 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    This is my jam!

  • @michaelaburns734
    @michaelaburns734 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    This is a topic that was never done in the post Alexander the Great's Campaign.

  • @grizla1895
    @grizla1895 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    great lecture! thank you

  • @seanzibonanzi64
    @seanzibonanzi64 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    It's pretty remarkable how successful Hellenization was in retrospect. You'd think there'd be much more rebellion.

  • @yogatonga7529
    @yogatonga7529 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Interesting how so many cities in Mesopotamia just vanished … because of the river changes?

  • @johnphillips4708
    @johnphillips4708 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Wouldn’t Epirus be the first Hellenic kingdom destroyed by Rome?

  • @geesixnine
    @geesixnine 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Would you say Rome was successfully Hellenized or was it purely Roman?

    • @ilFrancotti
      @ilFrancotti 3 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      It was the other way around.
      Rome romanized the Greeks.

    • @Mavo936
      @Mavo936 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      There's a good case to be made for both. Very interesting to realise.

    • @ilFrancotti
      @ilFrancotti 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      ​@@ΡωμανόςΔ́Διογένης-θ6δ That the Romans adopted a portion of Hellenic culture, such as their tongue in the East, it is true. Mostly for pragmatic reasons.
      This said there are some inaccuracies:
      Greeks weren't the only ethnicity in the East, just one of the many subdued by the Romans and the whole mix ended up calling themselves "Romans" in time.
      "Roman" in the East kept mainly its political connotation (to keep the various peoples together) rather than an ethnic one.
      The Romans in the Western side didn't "become" Franks, Spaniards or Italians.
      They were mostly left on their own, but despite those Barbarian migrations were in the hundreds of thousands und effectively overtook "Roman rule", the bulk of the people living in those regions (in the millions) were or had already adopted Italic costumes after centuries of Italic colonization and domination.
      "Franks" replaced "Roman" in its political value yet not in its ethnic one.
      This is why, for example, millennia after said events, the Italian tongue is pretty much copy paste of Ancient Latin (vocabulary wise), French is somewhere 85% similar to Italian and Spanish slightly less. And all are known as Italic tongues (not Frankish or Germanic).
      Special case, on top of all, the Italians.
      Ancient Romans were no less Italian than modern day Italians. It is mostly the same ethnic group that just used a different name back then because nationality wasn't a thing yet (citizenship was what truly mattered and all Italics gained it in the late Republic as they were already seen as something closer than the Barbarians outside Italy. Some sort of "proto-nationality there").
      Done, now if modern day Greeks like to call themselves "Romans" too I guess they are free to do so.
      Sounds a bit bizarre like hearing a Scotsman stating that he is "English" but if he really wants, he can do it.
      Have a nice day!

    • @fotischaronis4597
      @fotischaronis4597 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@ilFrancotti letters art architecture medicine mathematics science....Roman??????????

    • @thatisme3thatisme38
      @thatisme3thatisme38 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@ΡωμανόςΔ́Διογένης-θ6δ why? They were both warmongers and narcissists. How many people died because of them and how many cultures destroyed.

  • @YT-gj6nq
    @YT-gj6nq ปีที่แล้ว

    Very informative

  • @saadabbas8976
    @saadabbas8976 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Helios ☀️
    Helen Sun-ray
    The pantheon of Armenian gods, initially worshipped by Proto-Armenians, inherited their essential elements from the religious beliefs and mythologies of the Proto-Indo-Europeans and peoples of the Armenian Highlands. Historians distinguish a significant body of Indo-European language words which were used in Armenian pagan rites. The oldest cults are believed to have worshipped a creator called Ar[4] (or possibly Ara), embodied as the sun (Arev or Areg); the ancient Armenians called themselves "children of the sun".

  • @ChevyChase301
    @ChevyChase301 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Can’t it be argued that Armenia was a great power due to their arrangement with Pontus and their overlordship of Parthia for a time.

  • @papasitoman
    @papasitoman 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I really enjoyed Ghost on the Throne by James S. Romm. He writes about what happens right after Alexander's death. 1/4 of the book is just the notes and bibliography. Lots of stuff to read.

  • @jonathanrichter4256
    @jonathanrichter4256 หลายเดือนก่อน

    There are number of books on the Indo-Greek Kingdom available on Kindle.

  • @RP-mm9ie
    @RP-mm9ie 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thanks

  • @GeraldM_inNC
    @GeraldM_inNC 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Great video, it bears several repeated studies to absorb it all. Could you please do a video about the status of the cities that the Christian missionaries visited in the First Century?

  • @mikehedson
    @mikehedson 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Indian rulers still spoke Greek in The Life of Apollonius of Tyrana...

  • @EvilSmonker
    @EvilSmonker 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    I love your videos, and I truly appreciate all you have done on youtube (despite our differing political views). Thank you for consistently making historical lectures on such a variety of interesting subjects.

  • @alihandemiral7049
    @alihandemiral7049 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    These are great, many thanks!But i am confused as to which video i should watch next, since we will be looking at Rome, should i check the early Rome period Playlist?

  • @thelightbearer8050
    @thelightbearer8050 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    I really like your teaching, you are a good teacher, but I'd like to see you show that these ancient cities and civilizations have come to this modern time and evolved into the present cities and countries of today I think that would be interesting. Thank you very much for your hard work and I'm sure you enjoy it.

  • @donttakeitpersonal8704
    @donttakeitpersonal8704 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I am doing a Bsc in Ancient Studies at a top 40 university in the world and your lectures are way better than that of my professor.

    • @lowersaxon
      @lowersaxon ปีที่แล้ว

      University ranking is essentially commercial, corrupted and bs anyway.

  • @tm0209
    @tm0209 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I dont think it is fair to say the world was globalized under the greeks when the Achaemenid Empire already had those areas united before hand

    • @jbatts834
      @jbatts834 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      They were way less hands on though

  • @thatsze1
    @thatsze1 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    A random dump I intend to place here. Regarding Greek Politics, While The City is the undeniable gem of northern Greece, Troy or otherwise. Athens is one too. With that said the true point of power is Corinth. That's how the Peloponnese was won. Let it be known the Spartans are truly legendary, the only successful land blockade of a naval power.

  • @cameronlewis7029
    @cameronlewis7029 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    How and where did you find the obsolete maps for your portrayal of history? Cite sources please!

  • @Liberater4589
    @Liberater4589 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    ah yes my favorite hellenistic kingdom bithnya

  • @mtathos_
    @mtathos_ 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    do you have a spotify podcast? would be awesome

  • @paulstone5917
    @paulstone5917 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Very interesting.

  • @decimusausoniusmagnus5719
    @decimusausoniusmagnus5719 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Amazing

  • @mrpirate3020
    @mrpirate3020 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    It is good to learn from this dark dictionary!!

  • @Ulyssestnt
    @Ulyssestnt ปีที่แล้ว

    So I guess that's where the term "coining/coined" a new word/term comes from?

  • @tamjansan1154
    @tamjansan1154 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Helenization !?!!? How is that possible ? Alexander and 30,000 soldiers on foot, 10 years time period , had enough time to walk from Europe to India, no time and man power to establish any system anywhere.