Greek and Persian Wars

Now is your opportunity to survey this globe-spanning conflict, as well as its enduring impact on the world at large. From the ancient battlefields of Thermopylae, Marathon, and Gaugamela, to the imperial halls of Persepolis, to the bustling marketplace of Athens, investigate the clash of the Greeks and the Persians over the course of 24 fascinating lectures.

Your guide on this epic journey is award-winning Professor John R. Hale. An accomplished archaeologist and teacher, Professor Hale captures the human experience behind some of the most remarkable episodes in ancient history. He traces the gripping trajectory of surprising upsets and changing allegiances, as Spartans, Athenians, and Persians constantly shift sides, make and break alliances, and exchange partners for enemies in a seemingly endless dance of battle and truce.

Be Transported Back in Time

It's a perspective on history you'll find virtually nowhere else. Bringing together both sides of the story—Greek and Persian—and providing remarkable details from ancient history, archaeology, and the stratagems of warfare, Professor Hale creates a complex and informative account of this world-changing era.

It's also a gripping saga. A gifted storyteller, Professor Hale weaves a spellbinding narrative that is both accurate and cinematic. You experience the sweep of history, but you also glimpse the more intimate stories behind the saga. With each anecdote, Professor Hale creates a picture in words, recounting vivid dialogue and delving into the internal psychology of the historic figures that shaped their world and the world we inhabit today.

You hear about famous turncoats, such as the Athenian Alcibiades, who helped the Spartans overthrow his native city, allied himself with the Persians, and finally returned to Athens to lead his hometown fleet. Treacherous allies, broken covenants, unity among strange bedfellows—all are a part of the twisting, turning saga of the Greek and Persian wars.

With Professor Hale's expert guidance, you gain a grand and nuanced perspective on the complicated relationship between these two remarkable cultures and rethink what you know about the Greeks and the ancient world. This course serves as a wonderfully detailed introduction to these two great civilizations and the world they built.

How an Epic Conflict Shaped the World

What you find is a world that was virtually re-created over the course of two centuries through the struggle of the Persians and the Greeks. In the words of Professor Hale, "The roots of our contemporary world lie in this period, in the 6th to the 4th centuries B.C., and above all, in that great split between East and West, which still dominates world affairs today."

As Professor Hale demonstrates, the Greek and Persian wars served as the crucible in which the most important cultural events in the history of the Western world occurred, including the invention of medicine, history, philosophy, and drama, as well as remarkable achievements in sculpture and architecture.

Many of the Greeks' greatest enduring cultural contributions were generated by their ongoing struggles with the Persians:

• History: To commemorate the greatest battles, Greek chroniclers such as Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon literally invented a new literary form—history—which would serve as a new model for recording human events.
• The arts: One of the greatest artistic achievements of ancient Greece, the drama, was created when naval veteran Aeschylus crafted the first play out of his recollections of the Battle of Salamis.
• Politics: Perhaps the Greeks' most remarkable cultural invention, democracy, was born of the city-state's opposition to the imperial advances of its Persian neighbors.

But the Greeks were not alone in their ingenuity. Spurred by their desire for conquest and revenge, the Persians undertook remarkable engineering projects, from the bridging of the Hellespont to the diversion of major waterways.

These military ventures also drove new innovation in naval technology and helped to expand the water-based network of trade relationships, bringing about an unprecedented cross-pollination of cultures.

Sworn Enemies, Strange Bedfellows

The course begins with an introduction to the major protagonists:

• The Persians: hardy nomads and horsemen who left the bleak uplands of the Middle East to build an intricate, exotic culture. They dazzled the world with their luxurious cities, ingenious engineering skills, and ceremonial displays of power.
• The Greeks: as unique as their many city-states, but united by their love of debate, admiration of intellectual cunning, and fierce commitment to freedom.

Taking center stage in the Greek arena are the Athenians, who built one of the first strong naval forces, and their rivals, the Spartans, who countered the Athenian love of democracy and philosophy with a rigorous militarism.

Finally, you glimpse the cosmopolitan world imagined by the "last" great Greek, Alexander, the Macedonian conqueror who dared to envision an empire in which Persia and Greece would be, at last, truly united.

On the Field of Battle

"Half of winning a battle," explains Professor Hale, "is persuading your enemy to fight a battle that they shouldn't." An expert on methods of ancient warfare, Professor Hale offers rare insights into how each skirmish was lost and won.

Here's just a sampling of what you experience during your trip to the battlefield:

• You meet the great Greek and Persian leaders and delve deeply into their strengths and foibles, the decisions they made, and the risks they took.
• You compare the different war technologies pioneered by each side, from the Greek's deadly phalanx formation to the Persian's masterful marshalling of tributary forces.
• You hear why some flamboyant and seemingly deadly innovations—such as the use of elephants on the battlefield or scythed chariot wheels to mow down enemy troops—failed to live up to their daunting potential.

But Professor Hale offers more than just textbook descriptions. An accomplished archaeologist, he provides rare and valuable insights gleaned from years of fieldwork.

So when he describes how the Persian fleet was destroyed during a storm in the Aegean Sea, he can also tell you about his deep-water expedition to the site of the wreck, during which he and his colleagues discovered a priceless artifact.

From an analysis of the landscape of the battlefield of Marathon to modern archaeological surveys of the ground where Xerxes and his engineers dug an 80-foot-wide canal across an Aegean cape, Professor Hale marshals the latest scientific discoveries to test and confirm the legendary accounts of these ancient events.

Join Professor Hale for this journey and gain a new perspective on this monumental chapter in ancient history. To study The Greek and Persian Wars with this master teacher is to gain new insights into one of the most influential clashes of cultures the world has known.

Course Lecture Titles

• 1. The First Encounter
• 2. Empire Builders—The Persians
• 3. Intrepid Voyagers—The Greeks
• 4. The Ionian Revolt
• 5. From Mount Athos to Marathon
• 6. Xerxes Prepares for War
• 7. The Athenians Build a Fleet
• 8. Heroes at the Pass
• 9. Battle in the Straits
• 10. The Freedom Fighters
• 11. Commemorating the Great War
• 12. Campaigns of the Delian League
• 13. Launching a Golden Age
• 14. Herodotus Invents History
• 15. Engineering the Fall of Athens
• 16. Cyrus, Xenophon, and the Ten Thousand
• 17. The March to the Sea
• 18. The March to the Sea
• 19. The Panhellenic Dream
• 20. The Rise of Macedon
• 21. Father and Son
• 22. Liberating the Greeks of Asia
• 23. Who Is the Great King?
• 24. When East Met West

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