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History of Persia

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Trevor Culley and HoPful Media

A podcast dedicated to the history of Persia, and the great empires that ruled there beginning with the Achaemenid Empire of Cyrus the Great and the foundation of an imperial legacy that directly impacted ancient civilizations from Rome to China, and everywhere in between. Join me as we explore the cultures, militaries, religions, successes, and failures of some of the greatest empires of the ancient world.

#204

158: A Flawed Inheritance

After chasing his brother out of Asia, but still beaten by the Parthians, Seleucus II retu... more

10 Dec 2025

29 MINS

29:12

10 Dec 2025

#203

157: The Seleucid Civil War

During the Third Syrian War, Seleucus II Callinicus discovered treachery. His younger brot... more

30 Nov 2025

43 MINS

43:33

30 Nov 2025

#202

156: Babylon Drift

With Babylonia and the Seleucis of Syria under Ptolemaic occupation, it's entirely pos... more

17 Nov 2025

33 MINS

33:40

17 Nov 2025

#201

155: The War of the Mothers

Antiochus II Theos was dead and his wives, Laodike and Berenike, were both trying to get t... more

26 Oct 2025

29 MINS

29:05

26 Oct 2025

#200

154: Meet the Messy Neighbors

We take a break from the Seleucids to discuss their western neighbors: Egypt under Ptolemy... more

04 Oct 2025

45 MINS

45:31

04 Oct 2025

#199

Bonus Teaser: Frank Miller's "Xerxes"

We've covered 300. We've covered Rise of an Empire. We've covered all sorts of... more

28 Sep 2025

07 MINS

07:19

28 Sep 2025

#198

Bonus Teaser: Achaemenid Movies?

Thank you all so much for supporting History of Persia. In this bonus episode, I wanted to... more

14 Sep 2025

09 MINS

09:00

14 Sep 2025

#197

153: Blood Relations

It's time to wind down Antiochus II Theos and talk about his extended royal family, fr... more

10 Sep 2025

27 MINS

27:48

10 Sep 2025

#196

Bonus Teaser: Daniel

The Book of Daniel is a fascinating combination of genuine history, folk tale, historical ... more

24 Aug 2025

06 MINS

06:29

24 Aug 2025

#195

152: There Goes the Neighborhood

During and after the Second Syrian War, Antiochus II was involved in many ongoing events w... more

17 Aug 2025

36 MINS

36:22

17 Aug 2025

#194

151: 2 Syria 2 War

Trevor's WiFi is back, and so is the History of Persia. Although he started in a relat... more

25 Jul 2025

31 MINS

31:00

25 Jul 2025

#193

150: The Time Lord

To wrap up our series on Orphism and its connections to Hellenistic Iran, it's time to... more

06 Jul 2025

43 MINS

43:16

06 Jul 2025

#192

149: Theogonies

The Ancient Greeks had many ideas about the origins of the universe and humanity over the ... more

01 Jun 2025

42 MINS

42:55

01 Jun 2025

#191

148: Orphic Mysteries

Continuing the story of Orphic religion, we take a break from mythology to talk about theo... more

09 May 2025

32 MINS

32:18

09 May 2025

#190

147: Orpheus

We're taking a break from the historical narrative to focus on a mythological one: the... more

15 Apr 2025

37 MINS

37:53

15 Apr 2025

#189

146: Dating in the Family

Like any good king, Antiochus I Soter had a royal family, and as his reign comes to an end... more

30 Mar 2025

29 MINS

29:22

30 Mar 2025

#188

145: From Antiochus to Ashoka

After losing a large piece of the eastern empire to Chandragupta Maurya, the Seleucids did... more

19 Mar 2025

41 MINS

41:23

19 Mar 2025

#187

144: Pergamon et al.

A grab bag episode to cover Seleukid politics in the last decade or so of Antiochus Soter&... more

11 Mar 2025

31 MINS

31:50

11 Mar 2025

#186

143: The First Syrian War

No sooner had Antiochus I defeated the new-found Galatians in Anatolia, than war erupted i... more

23 Feb 2025

32 MINS

32:26

23 Feb 2025

#185

142: Gauls With Gall

After sweeping through the Balkans with their kin, three tribes of Gauls in Thrace drew th... more

15 Feb 2025

31 MINS

31:49

15 Feb 2025

#184

Intelligent Speech Panels Tomorrow February 8!

Intelligent Speech 2025 is coming! The event will feature a gathering of excellent history... more

07 Feb 2025

43 MINS

43:15

07 Feb 2025

#183