Monthly Archives: May 2021

When we left Anatolia, Antiochus was battling against the anti-Seleucid league centred on Nicomedes I of Bithynia and the city of Heraclea. This conflict would ultimately see one side recruit the help of a group of new arrivals- the Celts. However, as ancient Rome will discover in the fifth century CE, it’s extraordinarily difficult to control such recruited groups afterwards…

Sources for this episode: 1)Rawlinson, G. (1869) A manual of ancient history from the earliest times to the fall of the Western Empire, comprising the history of Chaldea, Assyria, Media, Babylonia, Lydia, Phoenicia, Syria, Judea, Egypt, Carthage, Persia, Greece, Macedonia, Rome, and Parthia. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 2) The Editors, Encyclopaedia Britannica (2019), Antiochus I Soter (online) [Accessed 19/03/2021]. 3) Diodorus Siculus, Library of History: Fragments of Book XXII (public domain, available on the LascusCurtis website) [Accessed 19/03/2021]. 4) Bevan, E. R. (1902), The House of Seleucus (Vol. I). London: Edward Arthur. 5) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Sosthenes (online) [Accessed 19/03/2021]. 6) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Ptolemy Epigonos (online) [Accessed 19/03/2021]. 7) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Brennus (online) [Accessed 19/03/2021]. 8) The Editors, Encyclopaedia Britannica (2015), Brennus, Gallic leader (online) [Accessed 19/03/2021]. 9) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Battle of Lysimachia (online) [Accessed 20/03/2021]. 10) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Meleager (king) (online) [Accessed 27/03/2021].

Hi everyone!

I recently stumbled across a YouTube channel which makes facial reconstructions of ancient figures (e.g.: Caligula) along with a little context about the rulers/period being covered. The link to the channel is: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgokSYCEqZE_yVLswO1vPXg and the owner/creator has given me kind permission to show you the reconstructions of people relevant to us. So, when a relevant episode comes up for the first time, I’ll add an image of their facial reconstruction to the episode post on the website. For example, when we discuss what’s been going on in Egypt, there’ll be a representation of Ptolemy I, who we recently finished covering.

Not every ruler has their own reconstruction, but I thought it would be interesting to have a bit of variety from statues and coins.

That’s it from me, see you all next episode!

Antiochus I faced a difficult situation when his father died, as indicated by today’s episode title- an extract from Rudyard Kipling’s poem ‘If’. The great distance messengers had to travel to notify Antiochus of the western situation following his father’s death meant that others had already begun carving out their own piece of the pie again. Yes, Seleucus has an obvious heir where Alexander did not, but that doesn’t mean that the Hellenistic world isn’t going to descend from unity into anarchy once again…

Sources for this episode: 1) Kipling, R. (1895), If-. Available at: Kipling Society [Accessed 15/06/2021]. 2) Bevan, E. R. (1902), The House of Seleucus (Vol. I). London: Edward Arthur. 3) Bevan, E. R. (1927), The House of Ptolemy. London: Methuen Publishing. 4-14) Wikipedia articles for Ptolemy Ceraunus, Arsinoe II, Bithynia, Zipoetes I of Bithynia, Kingdom of Pontus, Pergamon, Attalid dynasty, Cappadocia, Antiochus I Soter, Philetaerus and Antigonus II Gonatas [Accessed 10/03/2021]. 15) The Editors, Encyclopaedia Britannica (2020), Antiochus I Soter (online) [Accessed 11/03/2021]. 16) Rawlinson, G. (1869) A manual of ancient history from the earliest times to the fall of the Western Empire, comprising the history of Chaldea, Assyria, Media, Babylonia, Lydia, Phoenicia, Syria, Judea, Egypt, Carthage, Persia, Greece, Macedonia, Rome, and Parthia. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

We have a website! All episodes will post there in addition to wherever you currently listen to them. In addition, I aim to add one or two helpful or otherwise interesting images to the description of each episode, whether that’s maps, coins, statues or more. To see all of this, head to ‘www.afteralexander.wordpress.co.uk’.

A brief overview of what the Hellenistic would have looked like in 281 when we left our narrative in episode 16. Despite the near reunification Seleucus had achieved, his son Antiochus is going to inherit a difficult position…

Sources for this episode: 1) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Seleucus I Nicator (online) [Accessed 10/01/2021] 2) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), List of ancient Macedonians (online) [Accessed 04/03/2021].

Before we ease ourselves back into the main narrative again, I thought it would be a good idea to catch up with the life and times of Antiochus I until he acceded to the throne in 281 BCE. Then next week, we’ll look around the world in 281 before plunging back into the hectic fight to keep Seleucus’ ambition alive.

Sources for this episode: 1) Bevan, E. R. (1902), The House of Seleucus (Vol. I). London: Edward Arthur. 2) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Stratonice (online) [Accessed 28/02/2021]. 3) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Antiochus I Soter (online) [Accessed 28/02/2021]. 4) The Editors, Encyclopaedia Britannica (2020), Antiochus I Soter (online) [Accessed 10/01/2021]. 5) Strootman, R. (2014), The Encyclopaedia of Ancient History (1st edition), p.473- 475. London: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 6) Kosmin, J. (2014), The Land of the Elephant Kings. London: Harvard University Press. 7) Grainger, J. D., (2014), The Rise of the Seleukid Empire (323- 223 BCE), Seleukos I to Seleukos III. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books Ltd. 8) Lendering. J. (2006, modified 2020), Antiochus I Soter (online) [Accessed 18/03/2021].

Continuing with our theme of less well known civilisations, today we’re going to discuss the Nabateans- a Bedouin people who created a kingdom in Arabia and the Sinai peninsula around the time of the Successors, which would last until the eastern conquests of Trajan in 106 CE. Perhaps their most famous monument in the western world is the city carved into the rock at their capital, Petra. However, we’ve not going to delve very far into their history; as fun as that would be, there’s just too much to cover. Instead, we’re going to cover their run-in with the former head honchos of the Successors- Antigonus and Demetrius… Sources for this episode: 1-3) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), ‘Nabatean Kingdom’, ‘Nabateans’ and ‘Petra’ (online) [Accessed 26/02/2021]. 4) The Editors, Encyclopaedia Britannica (2019), Nabatean (online) [Accessed 26/02/2021].