WEBVTT 1 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:25.600 Hello, and welcome to Western SIEV. Today, I'm giving you a sneak 2 00:00:25.640 --> 00:00:30.559 peek or a little taste of what we have going on in the Patreon podcast 3 00:00:30.640 --> 00:00:35.799 page, which is our listener supported page. This is an episode from Western 4 00:00:35.799 --> 00:00:39.840 Civ two point zero. If you go back to the Way Way, Way, 5 00:00:39.840 --> 00:00:43.439 Way Way, a long time ago original feed, I did one episode 6 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:49.359 on the Successors to Alexander the Great. This episode kind of illustrates the difference 7 00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:54.359 with Western CIV two point zero. This is one of my episodes on the 8 00:00:54.399 --> 00:00:59.880 Successors. It's the last one and it's talking about sort of the end of 9 00:01:00.119 --> 00:01:03.680 Alexander the Great success or period. So I go into so much more detail 10 00:01:03.799 --> 00:01:07.239 in the new show, and I think it's something that if you enjoyed this 11 00:01:07.359 --> 00:01:11.920 show that you'll surely like. You can sign up on Patreon. You can 12 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:15.239 get the episodes on any sort of app that you listen to. It's two 13 00:01:15.319 --> 00:01:19.920 dollars a month, anywhere from two to five, depending upon how once you'd 14 00:01:19.000 --> 00:01:25.400 like to support the show. You also get ad free versions of the show 15 00:01:25.400 --> 00:01:30.400 that you already listen to, and it is the primary way to support the 16 00:01:30.439 --> 00:01:34.519 podcast. It pays for the hosting, it pays for the technology. It 17 00:01:34.519 --> 00:01:37.799 pays for the stack of books that I'm looking at right now that I have 18 00:01:37.879 --> 00:01:41.480 to get more of in order to continue covering the history that we all think 19 00:01:41.799 --> 00:01:45.799 is so important. So, without further ado, here's the episode. It 20 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:49.840 just gives you a sense of what we do on the other feed. And 21 00:01:49.200 --> 00:01:56.040 if you are so inclined, there is a seven day free trial for the 22 00:01:56.079 --> 00:01:59.400 Patreon site that's down in the show notes. You can click the link. 23 00:01:59.400 --> 00:02:22.439 It'll take it right there. Perhaps the most important consequence of the Battle of 24 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:27.800 Ipsus was that it Lefttolomay and Seleucius in firm control of their respective kingdoms. 25 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:36.800 Tlamaic Egypt's borders would remain essentially unchanged between Ipsus and Augustus's annexation of Egypt in 26 00:02:36.919 --> 00:02:44.039 thirty BCE. Seleucius's empire was a different story. Its borders tended to vary 27 00:02:44.080 --> 00:02:50.639 throughout the century as various incursions swept away large provinces, which in some cases 28 00:02:50.639 --> 00:02:55.759 were reconquered. Then, as was the case with Ptoloma's kingdom, the Romans 29 00:02:55.800 --> 00:03:01.400 gobbled up the whole in sixty two BCE, when the hard border between Rome 30 00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:07.759 and Parthia became the Euphrates river, which would be this case for the next 31 00:03:07.800 --> 00:03:13.199 several centuries, with one brief exception during Trajan's reign in the second century of 32 00:03:13.240 --> 00:03:17.800 the Common Era. Now, in terms of the overall structure of these kingdoms, 33 00:03:19.280 --> 00:03:23.400 we have a lot more evidence for Egypt, thanks to the preservation of 34 00:03:23.439 --> 00:03:28.400 papyri in the dry heat, than we do for Asia. Almost half of 35 00:03:28.439 --> 00:03:31.919 this evidence, however, dates from later than the first forty years of the 36 00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:38.039 Hellenistic period. It may be legitimate in some cases to project what we know 37 00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:44.159 from a later period back onto an earlier one, but this is guesswork in 38 00:03:44.199 --> 00:03:49.000 the end, As the history of early modern Europe shows, which is where 39 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:53.560 we are in the main show, the processes whereby states become increasingly centralized, 40 00:03:54.120 --> 00:04:00.159 territorialized, and have efficient bureaucracies are really common, iplicated, and they develop 41 00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:05.199 over a long period of time. We just don't have enough evidence for early 42 00:04:05.360 --> 00:04:13.759 Ptolemaic and Seleucid history to see this process in detail. Certainly, one thing 43 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:18.920 we can say is that both Ptolome and Selucius spent a lot of time at 44 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:26.720 war or preparing for war, and therefore it is likely that their first administrative 45 00:04:26.759 --> 00:04:31.959 measures were designed mainly to ensure that their kingdoms were internally stable enough to guarantee 46 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:39.480 them sufficient income to continue to make war. In each case, one would 47 00:04:39.480 --> 00:04:46.560 expect the administration would blend Macedonian and local institutions. Now, of course, 48 00:04:46.839 --> 00:04:53.399 in Asia, local meant Achemenid, since Antigonus's regime had hardly left a mark, 49 00:04:54.360 --> 00:04:59.639 But the Persians themselves had worked with local subsystems in further flong parts of 50 00:04:59.639 --> 00:05:03.759 the m Empire and had a developed bureaucracy that had lasted for centuries. When 51 00:05:03.800 --> 00:05:12.000 Alexander showed up and conquered the whole Egypt held a mix of ancient Egyptian and 52 00:05:12.040 --> 00:05:18.319 then also acumend systems. It had intermittently been under Persian control and administration for 53 00:05:18.439 --> 00:05:26.160 about two centuries. In each case, the Macedonians came as conquerors with their 54 00:05:26.199 --> 00:05:30.399 own way of doing things, but in order not to ruffle too many proverbial 55 00:05:30.439 --> 00:05:34.560 feathers and to keep their lives easy, they simply co opted local structures. 56 00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:42.720 It follows that we would expect to find both similarities and differences between the administrations 57 00:05:42.759 --> 00:05:48.040 of these two kingdoms, with the similarities being due to Macedonian backgrounds and the 58 00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:56.000 differences to inherited local practices or local conditions. Egypt was, of course a 59 00:05:56.079 --> 00:06:02.240 relatively self contained unit, both geographically and ethnically. It consisted of the Nile 60 00:06:02.360 --> 00:06:08.800 Delta and a thin strip of one thousand kilometers about six hundred and twenty miles 61 00:06:09.399 --> 00:06:13.680 up the river. But it's important to note that on each side of the 62 00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:18.399 river, this was never wider than about twenty miles on either side, bounded 63 00:06:18.439 --> 00:06:24.759 by impenetrable desert to the east and the west. Egypt, if you look 64 00:06:24.759 --> 00:06:29.000 at its borders today, is obviously much much broader, and if you cook 65 00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:33.600 on a map of even Roman provinces or let's say, Byzantine province of Egypt, 66 00:06:33.639 --> 00:06:39.079 it looks quite wide. But the reality is that only the area directly 67 00:06:39.079 --> 00:06:44.639 around the Nile River was ever occupied to any sort of density whatsoever. Now, 68 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:51.000 seleuciad Asia was a sprawling empire, consisting of huge territories and varied peoples, 69 00:06:51.040 --> 00:06:58.199 each with their own traditions and subcultures. In modern terms, Seleucia at 70 00:06:58.240 --> 00:07:01.720 Asia would have been Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Iran, 71 00:07:01.800 --> 00:07:08.720 Afghanistan, bits of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikstan, so a huge area. 72 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:15.040 Selucius and his son achieved the remarkable feat of coming as conquerors and holding 73 00:07:15.079 --> 00:07:18.560 all this together for fifty years before it started to break up to the further 74 00:07:18.600 --> 00:07:24.839 east. The size of the empire meant that wherever the king happened to be 75 00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:29.879 at the time was of course the center of the empire. In Ptolomeay's case, 76 00:07:30.279 --> 00:07:35.240 after three point thirteen, the center was Alexandria. But Selusius was itinerant, 77 00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:40.680 that is to say, he had palaces and residences all over his kingdom. 78 00:07:41.959 --> 00:07:48.079 Most likely Selucian kings ruled from Antioch, but he could also rule from 79 00:07:48.319 --> 00:07:56.680 Susa, Selucia, on the Tigris, Klanae, and Sardis. As conquerors 80 00:07:56.720 --> 00:08:01.079 and as Macedonian kings, Selusius and Ptolemy owned their kingdoms as private estates. 81 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:07.800 These were what they would call quote spear one end quote land. It was 82 00:08:07.800 --> 00:08:13.040 theirs to dispose of as they wanted. Tax and taxes paid to the king 83 00:08:13.160 --> 00:08:18.519 was essentially rent paid to a landlord. Of course, huge swaths of land 84 00:08:18.639 --> 00:08:22.439 were owned by the king. All their profits, not just a taxed percentage, 85 00:08:22.920 --> 00:08:28.560 went directly into the royal treasury. All resources were concentrated in the hands 86 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:35.879 of the king and then redistributed. Neither Ptolemy nor Selusius was ever quite an 87 00:08:35.159 --> 00:08:41.399 autocrat or a despot. However, their power was diffused through hierarchical structures that 88 00:08:41.519 --> 00:08:46.240 were beneath them at the top of the pyramid. Nor were they simply smash 89 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:52.879 and grab bandits. They took time and thought about the future. They wanted 90 00:08:52.919 --> 00:08:58.960 their sons and grandsons to succeed in functioning and have profitable kingdoms after that, 91 00:08:58.080 --> 00:09:05.279 and large I think we have to say they succeeded. One of the redistributions 92 00:09:05.279 --> 00:09:09.200 the kings made was to give away some of their land to temples, cities, 93 00:09:09.639 --> 00:09:13.360 and even deserving individuals, who, depending on the size of the donation, 94 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:18.279 could thus become I guess we'd say barons within the kingdom. That's an 95 00:09:18.279 --> 00:09:22.759 anachronistic term, but I'll use it anyway. These estates might encompass several villages, 96 00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:26.879 many tied to serfs, another anachronistic term for those keeping score at home. 97 00:09:28.879 --> 00:09:33.080 This was a way for the kings to attract the loyalty of powerful men, 98 00:09:33.480 --> 00:09:35.879 and at the same time it brought more land into production and into the 99 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:41.360 taxation system. The villages and farmers on the estate paid tax to the estate 100 00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:48.000 owner, who passed on what he owed to the royal treasury. These estates 101 00:09:48.039 --> 00:09:54.039 were not always heritable. They often remained crown territory, and in certain circumstances, 102 00:09:54.360 --> 00:10:00.960 presumably extreme ones, like when somebody was disloyal or turned trader, the 103 00:10:01.080 --> 00:10:07.840 king could and did repossess the land. The king could therefore assure himself of 104 00:10:07.879 --> 00:10:15.279 the continued loyalty of the Greek and Macedonian elite within his kingdom. Both Seleusius 105 00:10:15.320 --> 00:10:20.360 and Ptolemy also settled their troops on the land in the Macedonian fashion. These 106 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:26.840 soldiers and then their descendants owed military service to the crown and always formed the 107 00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:31.879 core of the kingdom's armies. This was an economical policy. It was expensive 108 00:10:33.320 --> 00:10:37.480 then as it is now to maintain a standing army, but a pool of 109 00:10:37.480 --> 00:10:41.080 soldiers was needed for emergencies, and the royal cofferers would profit from the taxes 110 00:10:41.120 --> 00:10:46.840 paid by such people as farmers. The policy also made these men grateful to 111 00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:50.720 their king, and hence their sons or grandsons be more likely to respond to 112 00:10:50.759 --> 00:10:56.120 a call to arms. A typical allotment consisted of two or three pieces of 113 00:10:56.200 --> 00:11:03.120 land to be used for different agricultural purposes. The size of said allotment depended 114 00:11:03.159 --> 00:11:07.919 on the land's fertility and on the rank of the settler. Officers and cavalrymen. 115 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:13.879 Higher up the social scale, as usual, got more Talame settled mercenaries 116 00:11:13.919 --> 00:11:18.919 throughout Egypt, wherever such a settlement might help develop agriculture, police a district 117 00:11:20.159 --> 00:11:26.840 or secure trade route. Above all, he drained the Fayum marshes southwest of 118 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:31.679 Memphis specifically for the purpose of settling his mercenaries, thousands of them during his 119 00:11:31.759 --> 00:11:39.200 reign alone. The draining of these marses shows like one small example of the 120 00:11:39.240 --> 00:11:46.080 combination of local and Macedonian expertise. The Egyptians had long been expert at irrigation, 121 00:11:46.879 --> 00:11:52.960 and the Macedonians brought new developments in drainage engineering. It was a huge 122 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:58.120 project, as great in its way as the building of Alexandria. The later 123 00:11:58.279 --> 00:12:05.639 level of Lake Morse was lowered by radical canonalization, and these new canals served 124 00:12:05.639 --> 00:12:11.000 to irrigate the reclaimed land. The amount of land in use around Memphis literally 125 00:12:11.039 --> 00:12:16.679 tripled. Many of the new settlers, however, preferred to live as absentee 126 00:12:16.759 --> 00:12:24.000 landlords in the various Greek cities that were founded around the same time. Memphis, 127 00:12:24.039 --> 00:12:28.759 too, had long had a substantial Greek population. After the Battle of 128 00:12:28.759 --> 00:12:33.759 Apsus, the settling of mercenaries on allotments was extended throughout Greater Egypt to Cyreniki, 129 00:12:33.879 --> 00:12:39.080 Cyprus, and Phoenicia. Ptolemy now felt that these were more securely his 130 00:12:39.360 --> 00:12:46.919 possessions. Size of Seleucius's territory meant that he had many more trouble spots and 131 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:52.720 trade routes to police and protect. He established far more mercenary settlements, ranging 132 00:12:52.759 --> 00:12:56.879 from fortresses to cities. Perhaps as many as twenty cities were founded in the 133 00:12:56.879 --> 00:13:03.320 first two generations of Seleucian rule. Well the cities would attract further immigrants and 134 00:13:03.399 --> 00:13:07.279 help to cohere the districts in which they were founded. In Egypt, only 135 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:13.720 ptolomais really served the same function, since it was founded in the Theba district 136 00:13:13.720 --> 00:13:20.679 of southern Egypt. Selusius two founded his cities in agriculturally rich areas, which 137 00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:24.600 could then be exploited in tax to the maximum. Intermarrying with the local population 138 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:33.159 was encouraged. Selusius offered incentives such as paying removal costs, grants of grain, 139 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:37.480 and relief from taxation. For the first few years to help immigrants get 140 00:13:37.480 --> 00:13:41.559 started, and as soon as he felt it was feasible, he allowed the 141 00:13:41.639 --> 00:13:46.080 land to be alienated, not just passed down from father to son with the 142 00:13:46.279 --> 00:13:50.080 implicit renewal of tendency at each break, but actually you could now sell the 143 00:13:50.159 --> 00:13:56.240 land outside your family. Tlomee was ultimately forced to follow suit, or he 144 00:13:56.399 --> 00:14:03.200 risked losing out on the market for mercenaries. Mercenaries felt themselves well rewarded by 145 00:14:03.240 --> 00:14:07.559 being set up as farmers, and gave their loyalty Accordingly. Many of them 146 00:14:07.559 --> 00:14:11.120 had left home in the first place because there was insufficient land for them to 147 00:14:11.159 --> 00:14:16.039 prosper there. They had won their share of the booty taken in war, 148 00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:22.600 and now they and their sons who had financial security for life. In Selusius's 149 00:14:22.600 --> 00:14:28.279 case, the fact that Greek settlements were spread thinly over a vast empire meant 150 00:14:28.279 --> 00:14:33.080 that he had to take steps to ensure that this loyalty endured. He had 151 00:14:33.159 --> 00:14:39.799 some of the sons of his settlers trained at his military headquarters. The culture 152 00:14:39.840 --> 00:14:45.639 of this military school shaped the loyalty to the king In this regard. However, 153 00:14:46.039 --> 00:14:52.840 Talomay felt no need for such provisions, not unnaturally the settlement of foreigners 154 00:14:52.840 --> 00:14:58.799 on this scale could disturb local sensibilities, so both Talamay and Seleucius took care 155 00:14:58.879 --> 00:15:03.799 to confiscate land only from those who were too weak and scattered to organize armed 156 00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:09.480 resistance, or where it was scarcely used, hence, for instance, the 157 00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:15.080 draining of the marshland around Fayoum, and wherever possible, they simply gave away 158 00:15:15.200 --> 00:15:20.440 crown land. Resentment was all offset by the fact that the new cities increased 159 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:28.120 the demand for agricultural products and increased local farmers profits. Many of the immigrants 160 00:15:28.120 --> 00:15:33.559 were content to let former owners continue as tenant farmers, and they increased productivity 161 00:15:33.879 --> 00:15:37.759 by introducing new crops and new techniques wherever possible, such as double cropping and 162 00:15:37.799 --> 00:15:45.279 the use of iron in plowshares. The extensive irrigation systems of Egypt and Babylonia 163 00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:50.519 were serviceable and therefore extended. They were essential in these regions which could not 164 00:15:50.639 --> 00:15:56.759 rely on rainfall. But the newcomers also learned the seeding plow, which placed 165 00:15:56.759 --> 00:16:00.799 seeds in regular furrows, had long been and used in Babylonia, but had 166 00:16:00.840 --> 00:16:06.799 never been used in mountainous Greece, where only the small amount of good arable 167 00:16:06.879 --> 00:16:11.639 land was always sown by hand. Overall, the coming of the Greeks and 168 00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:17.480 Macedonians did not make as much of a difference as might be thought, even 169 00:16:17.559 --> 00:16:22.399 in a remote area like Bactria. Recent archaeology has shown that the incoming Greeks 170 00:16:22.679 --> 00:16:30.440 expanded land use by only around ten percent. Plame's kingdom was about twenty three 171 00:16:30.600 --> 00:16:37.799 thousand square kilometers or about nine thousand square miles in size. He had a 172 00:16:37.840 --> 00:16:44.000 population of about four million people, so Lucius's was of course much larger. 173 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:52.120 His empire at its largest extent occupied over three million, seven hundred and fifty 174 00:16:52.200 --> 00:16:57.360 thousand square kilometers. This is about one million, five hundred thousand square miles, 175 00:16:57.919 --> 00:17:04.960 and he had a population of fifteen million people. In either kingdom, 176 00:17:06.200 --> 00:17:11.119 the immigrant population was never more than ten percent. Thus they were heavily outnumbered, 177 00:17:11.160 --> 00:17:17.119 so they took more radical measures to avoid displeasing at least the more powerful 178 00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:22.319 among the native populations, the merchants, the landowners, and especially the priests, 179 00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:26.559 who were in effect the only political group in both Egypt and Babylonia. 180 00:17:26.599 --> 00:17:30.880 If resistance was going to emerge, it would most likely be fomented by the 181 00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:36.319 priests, as leaders of their people. A king who did not have the 182 00:17:36.319 --> 00:17:40.559 support of the priesthood would not last long, and in fact, in Egypt 183 00:17:40.880 --> 00:17:45.480 you would not even be considered a true pharaoh. Now, First, as 184 00:17:45.559 --> 00:17:51.200 defenders of their realms and successful at that, the kings brought peace and prosperity, 185 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:55.920 which went a long way toward mitigating any hatred their arrival might have caused. 186 00:17:56.000 --> 00:18:00.480 Second, existing temple run lands, which could be massive estates by the 187 00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:07.039 way, and large privately owned estates, generally stayed in place, which is 188 00:18:07.039 --> 00:18:11.119 to say that the king graciously granted back much of his spere won land to 189 00:18:11.160 --> 00:18:15.799 the temples and the landowners. Their side of the bargain was loyalty or at 190 00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:23.960 the very least neutrality. Ptolomy and Seleusius also both undertook programs of refurbishing old 191 00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:29.920 temples or building new ones, and made certain to take part in the appropriate 192 00:18:29.960 --> 00:18:37.240 local ceremonies and celebrations. There are Persian predecessors had rarely acted with such tact 193 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:42.119 and diplomacy, especially toward the Egyptian priesthood, which made smooth salan for old 194 00:18:42.119 --> 00:18:48.200 Ptolomy. Now, of course, both of them also employed natives and responsible 195 00:18:48.240 --> 00:18:55.400 positions in the administration. They had to. They needed collaborators, people who 196 00:18:55.480 --> 00:18:59.480 spoke the language and were familiar with the way things worked at a local level. 197 00:19:00.279 --> 00:19:04.440 They needed to guarantee a smooth transition to the new dispensation so the taxes 198 00:19:04.559 --> 00:19:11.279 could flow in as quickly as possible. But they fell far short of Alexander's 199 00:19:11.359 --> 00:19:18.160 dream of an empire governed by both Macedonians and natives. Under Ptolemy and Seleucius, 200 00:19:18.920 --> 00:19:25.079 natives rarely rose very high in the administration. Few provinces of Asia, 201 00:19:25.440 --> 00:19:30.079 and none of the forty two counties or gnomes as they were called of Egypt, 202 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:34.839 for instance, ever had a native governor. The top jobs and positions 203 00:19:34.839 --> 00:19:42.240 at court were reserved for Greeks and Macedonians. Nevertheless, as the years and 204 00:19:42.319 --> 00:19:48.240 decades passed, the native elite became more and more Hellenized in the familiar colonial 205 00:19:48.279 --> 00:19:55.920 processes. To this extent, the upper levels of society were permeable by natives. 206 00:19:56.920 --> 00:20:02.000 Otherwise, in both states, Hellenism was superficial. People were proud of 207 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:07.440 their traditions and were encouraged in that pride by their priests. The gymnasia that 208 00:20:07.559 --> 00:20:12.000 sprang up all over Egypt and Asia and resources such as the Museum in Alexandria 209 00:20:12.720 --> 00:20:19.359 were intended primarily for Greek use, not to Hellenize the natives. Just as 210 00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:26.160 the gymnasia in classical Greece had been for the aristocratic elite, so the gymnasia 211 00:20:26.200 --> 00:20:29.680 of every town an even large village in the New World were for the new 212 00:20:29.680 --> 00:20:36.960 elite. As in many colonial societies throughout history, there were formidable barriers to 213 00:20:37.000 --> 00:20:42.799 full assimilation. Also, Selusius and Ptolemy interfered as little as possible in native 214 00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:49.880 traditions to keep the peace. Both Egypt and Seleucia Asia were janas estates in 215 00:20:49.920 --> 00:20:56.119 which local religious practice, artistic conventions, and so on and so forth continued 216 00:20:56.200 --> 00:21:07.240 unabated alongside newly reduced Greek forms. Successor imperialism was happily unaccompanied by the phenomenon 217 00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:11.720 familiar from later empires of missionary conversions of natives to a quote unquote bet her 218 00:21:12.039 --> 00:21:18.559 religion. Greek religion, we have to remember, was not uniform and hardly 219 00:21:18.759 --> 00:21:26.160 dogmatic, and like polytheists from all times, its practices were tolerant, and 220 00:21:26.319 --> 00:21:30.640 it was easy to identify their gods with existing native gods, which the name 221 00:21:30.039 --> 00:21:36.880 keep going. No worries In both Egypt and s lucient Asia, two sets 222 00:21:36.880 --> 00:21:41.039 of laws, native and Greek ran in parallel for the two populations. The 223 00:21:41.160 --> 00:21:47.559 language of the case documents determined in which case it would be heard. The 224 00:21:47.640 --> 00:21:51.799 kings were likely to intervene in local law only if their revenues were threatened. 225 00:21:52.880 --> 00:21:59.440 Both kingdoms used two official languages, Greek and Aramaic Greek and Demotic Egypt, 226 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:04.000 and even had the double calendar system. Year one of the New Era that 227 00:22:04.119 --> 00:22:08.759 was ushered in by Seleucius' recovery of Babylon began on the Babylonian New Year, 228 00:22:10.319 --> 00:22:12.920 but also on the Macedonian New Year, which fell about six months earlier. 229 00:22:14.799 --> 00:22:18.640 In Egypt, the gap was considerably greater. Tlam began to count his regnal 230 00:22:18.759 --> 00:22:23.640 years in Greek from his first gaining the province in three twenty three, but 231 00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:29.359 native Egyptians kind of from three zo five, when he formally became an Egyptian 232 00:22:29.400 --> 00:22:34.000 pharaoh. He was first king of Macedonians, but also Pharaoh of the Egyptians, 233 00:22:34.759 --> 00:22:41.559 the first pharaoh of the thirtieth, final and longest lasting dynasty of the 234 00:22:41.599 --> 00:22:48.720 Ancient Kingdom of Egypt, Tallamaic Egypt and Seleucia Asia were not fully Greek states, 235 00:22:48.319 --> 00:22:56.039 but in other words, more like awkward amalgrims. The fact that local 236 00:22:56.160 --> 00:23:00.799 systems were allowed to run in parallel to the conqueror's preferences indicate a considerable degree 237 00:23:00.799 --> 00:23:04.319 of local autonomy. More in Asia, of course, because it was just 238 00:23:04.359 --> 00:23:10.720 so big, there were plenty of crossover points, but the Greek speakers kept 239 00:23:10.759 --> 00:23:17.960 themselves apart as much as possible. The toleration of continuation of local administrative institutions 240 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:25.319 mirrored their cultural isolation from the native populations. The separation between conquerors and subjects 241 00:23:25.680 --> 00:23:30.559 was the most marked in the founding of new Greek enclaves, and best epitomized 242 00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:36.279 by the fact that the full title of the city of Alexandria, distinguishing it 243 00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:41.960 from all the other Alexandria's around the world, was not Alexandria in Egypt, 244 00:23:41.759 --> 00:23:52.400 but Alexandria by Egypt. This title reeks of supremacism inherent in imperialism. It's 245 00:23:52.480 --> 00:23:56.400 often repeated but still telling fact that Cleopatra the Seventh, the Famous One, 246 00:23:57.079 --> 00:24:03.480 was also the first to learn learn the Egyptian language. Despite these measures, 247 00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:07.119 though the fact that there was little trouble, at least for a good long 248 00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:11.759 while was due as much to anything to the long history in both Egypt and 249 00:24:11.880 --> 00:24:18.200 Asia of foreign occupation. Many of these native populations, especially in Asia, 250 00:24:18.200 --> 00:24:23.359 were just so remote from the king, their lives never changed. They simply 251 00:24:23.440 --> 00:24:29.400 exchanged one distant master for another. And I think this is a key point 252 00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:33.839 in kind of understanding. While oftentimes there's just not massive unrest, we have 253 00:24:33.920 --> 00:24:40.960 to remember nationalism isn't really a thing yet, and it's not going to be 254 00:24:41.440 --> 00:24:45.880 for a really long time. Who you paid your taxes to didn't really matter 255 00:24:47.359 --> 00:24:52.920 as long as that amount of the taxes do stayed the same. Ptolome and 256 00:24:52.960 --> 00:24:59.319 Selusius's regimes were authoritarian in nature, backed up by a strong military presence. 257 00:25:00.599 --> 00:25:06.799 Their appeasement measures could do no more than prevent passive acquiescence. In Asia, 258 00:25:06.920 --> 00:25:11.480 where the Persians had been the top dog, Seleucius tactfully let their heartland Persis, 259 00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:18.079 retain a greater degree of autonomy than other provinces of his empire. Macedonians 260 00:25:18.079 --> 00:25:23.400 were described in one document as quote the demons with disheveled hair of the race 261 00:25:23.480 --> 00:25:30.359 of wrath end quote. In Egypt, Ptolomee took the precaution after the battle 262 00:25:30.359 --> 00:25:34.759 of Gaza in three twelve of not employing a native Egyptian contingent in his army. 263 00:25:36.799 --> 00:25:41.799 His great grandson Ptolome fourth took the moment to step over a century later 264 00:25:41.119 --> 00:25:45.640 of re arming native troops, and the cost of that decision was the first 265 00:25:45.759 --> 00:25:52.599 native rebellion Intolomae. At times, the core of the Seleucid army, however, 266 00:25:52.319 --> 00:25:57.240 was made right up from the start of native troops armed and trained in 267 00:25:57.279 --> 00:26:03.839 the Macedonian manner. This idea of appeasement was, of course self interested. 268 00:26:04.440 --> 00:26:10.640 What kings were interested in was the generation of income. Both Selusius and Ptolemy 269 00:26:11.039 --> 00:26:17.920 employed a large number of forms of taxation, from percentages of agricultural produce different 270 00:26:17.920 --> 00:26:22.319 percentages for different products, to a monetary tax on certain other products, and 271 00:26:22.519 --> 00:26:27.200 sometimes even forms of what we would call a poll tax. Order tolls and 272 00:26:27.640 --> 00:26:33.000 harbor dues were imposed. Seleucias took tribute from the Greek cities within his realm 273 00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:38.759 and also imposed a tax on slaves. In short, the kings taxed everything 274 00:26:38.920 --> 00:26:45.880 that wasn't nailed down and many things that were. In general, central government 275 00:26:45.920 --> 00:26:49.160 interfered less in the lives of Greeks and other non natives who came to be 276 00:26:49.200 --> 00:26:53.960 classified as Greeks anyway, and they were taxed at a lower rate. This 277 00:26:55.079 --> 00:27:00.119 policy naturally risked increasing resentment, but it also encouraged heleonization, since to become 278 00:27:00.200 --> 00:27:06.039 Greek you needed to get a Greek education, and so it helped to ensure 279 00:27:06.079 --> 00:27:12.079 an efficient and educated bureaucracy. Privileged organizations such as temples received the same kind 280 00:27:12.119 --> 00:27:18.480 of preferential treatment, at least for a while. The hands off approach taken 281 00:27:18.519 --> 00:27:22.599 by Ptolemy and Selusius was gradually diluted by later kings, who were able to 282 00:27:22.640 --> 00:27:29.440 bring the temples more fully into the royal bureaucratic systems. Now Alexander the Great 283 00:27:29.480 --> 00:27:33.240 had looted or liberated, whichever way you want to look at it, something 284 00:27:33.240 --> 00:27:37.960 in the region of let's say, five thousand tons of gold and silver bullion 285 00:27:37.240 --> 00:27:42.880 from the Achemenid Empire, comparable to all the weight of all the gold currently 286 00:27:42.920 --> 00:27:48.799 stored in Fort Knox. A great deal of this had continued to be turned 287 00:27:48.799 --> 00:27:52.240 into coins. The money was used for a whole range of royal expenses, 288 00:27:52.759 --> 00:27:59.039 from paying troops and building ships to founding cities, and, especially in Alexandria, 289 00:27:59.480 --> 00:28:03.720 maintaining a splendid in fact, one would say a fantastically splendid court. 290 00:28:06.559 --> 00:28:11.000 The income generated by taxation was enormous, but so were the king's expenses, 291 00:28:11.480 --> 00:28:15.240 and in addition to taxes, they raised money by selling surpluses abroad and by 292 00:28:15.279 --> 00:28:21.559 profiting in the trade and luxuries that passed through their kingdoms spices from Arabia, 293 00:28:21.960 --> 00:28:26.559 gems from the East, gold and ivory from Sudan and across the Sahara. 294 00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:30.920 Both kingdoms had been to a degree monetized before the coming of the Macedonians, 295 00:28:32.319 --> 00:28:37.319 but now this process increased at a rapid rate. Along with founding cities. 296 00:28:37.559 --> 00:28:41.160 It was one of the main ways in which the kings asserted their kingship and 297 00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:45.519 marked the regime change. The natives had to learn to sell at least some 298 00:28:45.519 --> 00:28:48.400 of their goods for cash, and to accept their wages in cash. Because 299 00:28:48.759 --> 00:28:53.000 not all their taxes could be paid in kind, some had to be paid 300 00:28:53.079 --> 00:28:59.920 in coins. In due course, both the Ptolemes and the Seleucids developed state 301 00:29:00.079 --> 00:29:03.720 run banks whose primary purpose was to receive cash payments of tax and thus to 302 00:29:03.799 --> 00:29:07.920 act as the equivalent of royal granaries, where tax in kind was stored. 303 00:29:08.960 --> 00:29:15.279 Selucius even encouraged the payment of taxes on cereal crops in cash rather than kind. 304 00:29:15.519 --> 00:29:19.759 City building was an important plank in this program, since the surrounding rural 305 00:29:19.759 --> 00:29:23.880 population could sell their goods in towns for cash, which then they could use 306 00:29:23.920 --> 00:29:30.839 to pay their taxes. Both Ptolome and Selusius minted gold and copper and bronze 307 00:29:30.880 --> 00:29:34.799 coinage, but silver was always the preferred metal. It was rare enough for 308 00:29:34.880 --> 00:29:40.640 coins to have value, but common enough for even people on low down let's 309 00:29:40.640 --> 00:29:45.160 say the economic totem Pole, to participate in a monetary economy. The relatively 310 00:29:45.200 --> 00:29:51.519 small size of Egypt meant the Tallam could control revenue collection much more than Selusius. 311 00:29:52.599 --> 00:29:56.319 Cereal grain farmers, for instance, were given their seed grain every year 312 00:29:56.319 --> 00:30:00.400 from royal granaries, and by accepting it, they accepted the obligation to repay 313 00:30:00.440 --> 00:30:03.799 a fixed percentage the following year. Every year, once the flood had subsided, 314 00:30:04.200 --> 00:30:08.279 a land survey was undertaken to determine how much good soil the flood had 315 00:30:08.319 --> 00:30:12.960 left that year, so that the ptolms knew roughly how much income to expect 316 00:30:14.079 --> 00:30:18.319 and could plan ahead. A vast and complex royal bureaucracy was put in place 317 00:30:19.200 --> 00:30:23.279 more likely than not most of it already existed from the court all the way 318 00:30:23.279 --> 00:30:29.079 down to the villages. To process this information and ensure the regular collection of 319 00:30:29.119 --> 00:30:36.359 taxes, it was quite frankly, amazingly modern. Within each nome or county, 320 00:30:36.960 --> 00:30:40.519 three separate officers, each at the head of his own pyramid of assistance, 321 00:30:40.960 --> 00:30:45.119 were responsible for agricultural production, finances, and record keeping, all of 322 00:30:45.160 --> 00:30:49.599 them reported to the king's finance minister. In Alexandria, a guy called the 323 00:30:49.759 --> 00:30:56.039 Diacates. Census were carried out to determine who was to pay the poll tax 324 00:30:56.079 --> 00:31:00.720 and at what rate. The efficiency of the system of the first to Ptolemy's 325 00:31:00.039 --> 00:31:07.559 meant that Egypt was religularly the wealthiest of the successor kingdoms and Ptolome the first 326 00:31:07.559 --> 00:31:11.599 time it had an estimated annual revenue of about fifteen thousand talents of servile it's 327 00:31:11.640 --> 00:31:19.480 about nine billion dollars and about eight million arabatas a wheat, that's maybe about 328 00:31:19.880 --> 00:31:27.039 seventy two million US gallons. Selusius took in more about thirty thousand talents a 329 00:31:27.119 --> 00:31:33.039 year, but the natural defenses and small size of Egypt meant that Talamy could 330 00:31:33.039 --> 00:31:38.559 spend far less on armed services, which along with city building, was the 331 00:31:38.599 --> 00:31:45.000 biggest drain on Selusius's finances. As a result, Selusius's capital city, Antioch, 332 00:31:45.519 --> 00:31:51.440 glittered far less brilliantly than Alexandria. He just had more urgent demand on 333 00:31:51.519 --> 00:31:56.000 his resources. Another economic measure Ptolome put in place before the end of the 334 00:31:56.039 --> 00:32:01.480 fourth century was to break away from the monetary standard that had been adopted following 335 00:32:01.519 --> 00:32:07.200 Alexander's lead all over the empire. Egyptian coins were minted to a considerably lighter 336 00:32:07.240 --> 00:32:13.319 standard, and no other coinage was allowed within the realm. All foreign coin 337 00:32:13.400 --> 00:32:17.680 brought into Egypt by commerce was surrendered and then re minted to the Talamaic standard. 338 00:32:20.079 --> 00:32:22.599 This somewhat isolated Egypt from the rest of the world, but it also 339 00:32:22.839 --> 00:32:29.720 established a royal monopoly on exchange, and it made sure that everything in Egypt 340 00:32:29.839 --> 00:32:36.720 was truly standard. Imports were thereby discouraged, while exports could be sold abroad 341 00:32:36.920 --> 00:32:43.079 for a profit. Egypt was naturally short on silver anyway, so either way 342 00:32:43.119 --> 00:32:46.839 you look at it, this was one of Tolomay's master strokes. But there 343 00:32:46.880 --> 00:32:52.039 was a limit, even in bureaucratized Egypt, to the degree of certain control 344 00:32:52.240 --> 00:32:55.640 that could be exercised, and more flexible systems were put in place that accommodated 345 00:32:55.680 --> 00:33:02.240 existing native institutions. Alexander intervened more directly into the lives of the new settlements 346 00:33:02.240 --> 00:33:08.039 in Fayoum and around new cities like Talamaeis than it did elsewhere where. Taxation 347 00:33:08.200 --> 00:33:13.759 was locally organized, as it had always been. A lot of the complaints 348 00:33:13.799 --> 00:33:19.319 that one reads in the pyri from native farmers were complaints against petty Greek prejudice 349 00:33:19.319 --> 00:33:23.720 and local corruption, never really against the king in Alexandria. As long as 350 00:33:23.720 --> 00:33:28.680 the taxes came in, Tlo May was content to let things carry on in 351 00:33:28.720 --> 00:33:34.480 the time honored fashion, and after all, time was something the Egyptians were 352 00:33:34.599 --> 00:33:39.920 very used to. The Collection of taxes was also decentralized, in keeping with 353 00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:46.119 the usual Greek system, or rather the Greek system was just grafted upon local 354 00:33:46.160 --> 00:33:52.480 systems. Sometimes this was a little awkward contract for the years taxes in a 355 00:33:52.519 --> 00:33:55.359 specific product was put up for sale, exactly what's going to happen in Rome. 356 00:33:55.400 --> 00:34:00.920 By the way, tax farmers who were wealthy men could then post a 357 00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:07.320 large surety bond and then just kind of operated as independent tax collectors. If 358 00:34:07.400 --> 00:34:12.000 what they collected fell short of the bid, the farmers were bound to pay 359 00:34:12.079 --> 00:34:15.440 the difference, but if there was the expected surplus, then they retained it. 360 00:34:15.480 --> 00:34:21.599 So the rich guy won either way. But in Egypt and probably also 361 00:34:21.599 --> 00:34:24.519 in Asia, but we're not sure, they were not responsible for the actual 362 00:34:24.559 --> 00:34:30.760 collection of the taxes in at least some non Greek areas, which remained in 363 00:34:30.800 --> 00:34:36.320 the hands of local agents. In Egypt, the crown similarly licensed the sale 364 00:34:36.320 --> 00:34:39.400 of certain key products like flax, beer, salt, some oil crops. 365 00:34:40.480 --> 00:34:45.840 As with tax farming, this served to protect the Ptolemese from unforeseen variations in 366 00:34:45.920 --> 00:34:52.800 revenue. The size of Seleucius's kingdom meant that he could not exercise even the 367 00:34:52.880 --> 00:34:58.639 limited degree of control the Ptolome sawt. He inherited workable systems, and he 368 00:34:58.719 --> 00:35:04.039 let them continue in Asia minor. In Syria, Antigonus had replaced the Persian 369 00:35:04.159 --> 00:35:08.760 satrapies with smaller, more manageable units that would not give their administrators great wealth 370 00:35:08.880 --> 00:35:16.519 power or let's say, ambition. Seleucius was therefore able to exert more administrative 371 00:35:16.559 --> 00:35:22.559 control there than farther east, where he retained the old satrapil system of the 372 00:35:22.639 --> 00:35:28.639 Achemenids satrapies. And even cities were allowed to retain many of their own institutions. 373 00:35:29.840 --> 00:35:34.079 A city in Syria would not even necessarily feel itself part of the same 374 00:35:34.199 --> 00:35:39.360 empire as a city on the borders of Afghanistan or even Asia Minor. Just 375 00:35:39.480 --> 00:35:45.880 as in Ptolemaic Egypt, a hierarchical pyramid spread out under Seleusius. The first 376 00:35:45.960 --> 00:35:52.480 layer was occupied by trusted family members who were awarded special commands. The second 377 00:35:52.559 --> 00:35:57.039 layer was occupied by his friends men we would call his ministers of state, 378 00:35:57.199 --> 00:36:04.519 maybe his cabinet members. The broad financial responsibilities. For such an enormous empire, 379 00:36:04.880 --> 00:36:09.639 there were actually very few dedicated ministers. The third layer was occupied by 380 00:36:09.719 --> 00:36:16.760 the military and financial administrators of satrapies or other regions and city authorities. Each 381 00:36:16.960 --> 00:36:22.119 of these layers of officials had considerable power within their domains, while being answerable 382 00:36:22.159 --> 00:36:28.599 to the next level above. Each officer had a considerable network of junior officials 383 00:36:28.880 --> 00:36:34.000 under him. As in Egypt, the jobs of all officials within the hierarchy 384 00:36:34.480 --> 00:36:43.280 were chiefly to ensure security and the smooth collection of taxes. Collenistic kingdoms were 385 00:36:43.320 --> 00:36:50.079 collaboration regimes in that Ptolomagne Selucius were both conquerors who were seeking control over conquered 386 00:36:50.159 --> 00:36:53.800 people. This is never an easy trick to pull off, even in modern 387 00:36:53.840 --> 00:37:01.599 times. Of course, in both cases we're talking about relatively primitive agricultural society. 388 00:37:02.440 --> 00:37:07.039 The change in leadership didn't mean much for the peasant class. It never 389 00:37:07.199 --> 00:37:13.760 did. They just owed their taxes to someone else. Both Ptolome and Selucius 390 00:37:14.199 --> 00:37:20.239 could have been more authoritarian. They could have chosen to become despots, but 391 00:37:20.440 --> 00:37:23.920 neither did. Both were smart men who chose a simpler path of appeasement. 392 00:37:24.880 --> 00:37:30.440 They made deals with their collaborators, local elites that made their jobs a lot 393 00:37:30.679 --> 00:37:38.119 easier. As a consequence, their kingdoms survived everything except the Roman legions. 394 00:37:38.679 --> 00:37:45.440 That is, Ipsus did not end the endemic warfare between the successors, but 395 00:37:45.559 --> 00:37:51.239 it did slow it down to an extent. Ipsus is only interesting in a 396 00:37:51.480 --> 00:37:55.800 counterfactual sense. If Antagonus had won, if he had not died that day, 397 00:37:57.559 --> 00:38:01.119 then he might have ruled all of Alexander's empire, or the very least 398 00:38:01.159 --> 00:38:06.880 he might have bequeathed that empire to his son Demetrius. But he did die 399 00:38:07.519 --> 00:38:12.800 and Demetrius did flee, so there could be a sort of balance of power 400 00:38:13.239 --> 00:38:17.800 for the first time since Alexander's death some twenty two years prior, but certainly 401 00:38:19.400 --> 00:38:23.760 few gave up on the dream of ruling all the satrapies and European kingdoms which 402 00:38:23.840 --> 00:38:30.119 the Great Conqueror had once stitched together, least of all the defeated Demetrius. 403 00:38:31.880 --> 00:38:37.639 After the battle, the victorious kings sliced up Antigonus's domain like an enormous carcass. 404 00:38:38.840 --> 00:38:44.480 The prisoners of war and the three thousand talents Antigonus had brought from Cilicia 405 00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:51.039 were divided amongst the victorious kings, but it was by partitioning the Antigonet realms 406 00:38:51.440 --> 00:38:58.079 that they really made significant gains. Lysimachus, who had commanded the coalition forces, 407 00:38:58.559 --> 00:39:01.599 was the biggest winner, since he was awarded all of Asia Minor up 408 00:39:01.639 --> 00:39:07.639 to the Hollis River in modern day Turkey. Asia Minor was not a whole, 409 00:39:07.760 --> 00:39:14.360 however, there were independent cities such as Heraclea and little princelings like in 410 00:39:14.480 --> 00:39:20.079 Cappadocia, which had taken advantage of the constant warfare to gain a kind of 411 00:39:20.159 --> 00:39:24.679 independence. The countries on the south coast of the Black Sea, protected by 412 00:39:24.800 --> 00:39:30.679 the sea on one side and formidable mountains on the other, had never fully 413 00:39:30.800 --> 00:39:37.960 been under Macedonian control. Frankly, if at all, Bithynia had always been 414 00:39:37.039 --> 00:39:45.639 independent. Moreover, a noble Persian named Mithradates had recently established himself in Pontus. 415 00:39:45.599 --> 00:39:51.119 Note this is not the famous Mithradates that's going to give the Romans so 416 00:39:51.280 --> 00:39:53.400 much trouble in a couple of years hence, but this is the region, 417 00:39:53.800 --> 00:40:00.440 and this is his great grandfather. Both Bithynia and Pontus turn out to be 418 00:40:00.559 --> 00:40:08.440 successful kingdoms, which lasted respectively until seventy four and sixty three BCE. Paphlagonia 419 00:40:08.599 --> 00:40:15.000 too had attained a similar kind of independence, but Lysimachus was soon able to 420 00:40:15.079 --> 00:40:22.159 bring it under his control. All of these dynasties valued their independence, but 421 00:40:22.280 --> 00:40:25.760 they had to accept the fact that they were surrounded by larger and more prosperous 422 00:40:25.840 --> 00:40:32.559 kingdoms than themselves. Essentially, Lysimachus now held, in addition to Thrace, 423 00:40:34.320 --> 00:40:39.239 pretty much the same territory Antigonus held in three eighteen before his expansion eastward. 424 00:40:40.239 --> 00:40:45.519 It had been the foundation of Antigonus's power. It could do the same for 425 00:40:45.639 --> 00:40:50.519 Lysimachus too. He was only sixty or a little over, so we still 426 00:40:50.519 --> 00:40:54.559 had some time. His most valuable new possessions were the Asiatic Greek cities, 427 00:40:55.039 --> 00:41:01.679 famed for their wealth and rich in manpower Ipsus. Many cities were cowed into 428 00:41:01.719 --> 00:41:07.679 surrendering of their own accord, but antaken at garrisons still remained in key cities 429 00:41:07.880 --> 00:41:15.400 like Ephesus, Militis, and elsewhere. Many cities had built or repaired their 430 00:41:15.480 --> 00:41:19.639 walls over the past few years of peace in their land in preparation for just 431 00:41:19.760 --> 00:41:27.159 such an emergency. Lysimachus's first job was the subjugation of these cities to consolidate 432 00:41:27.239 --> 00:41:30.880 his hold over Asia Minor and gain the ability to exploit its wealth. It 433 00:41:30.960 --> 00:41:38.440 took him a few years of almost unrelenting effort. Cassander, who traveled from 434 00:41:38.480 --> 00:41:44.760 Masadon to Asia Minor to attend the post battle conference, gained nothing, but 435 00:41:44.920 --> 00:41:49.719 Greece was left vulnerable by Demetrius's departure and the collapse of the hellen Nic League 436 00:41:49.800 --> 00:41:54.800 he had revived a few years later. Cassander clearly expected now to be able 437 00:41:54.880 --> 00:42:00.840 to recover Greece, and just as he clearly expected no inter appearance from the 438 00:42:00.920 --> 00:42:06.880 others while he did so. In other words, Cassander really just expected recognition 439 00:42:07.480 --> 00:42:12.880 of his kingship of Masadon, even after eliminating the last of the Argiads to 440 00:42:12.960 --> 00:42:17.159 obtain it. He got this, but nothing more. I mean, why 441 00:42:17.199 --> 00:42:22.199 should he, after all, he hadn't even been present on the battlefield. 442 00:42:22.679 --> 00:42:29.239 By the same token, Palome officially gained nothing either, but there was no 443 00:42:29.440 --> 00:42:32.000 resentment against him on the part of the others for his meager part that he 444 00:42:32.119 --> 00:42:38.159 played in the final campaign against Antigonus. He had done his bit by fighting 445 00:42:38.239 --> 00:42:45.119 off the Antigonate invasion of Egypt a few years earlier. Now, Cassander's brother 446 00:42:45.760 --> 00:42:50.960 Plastarkus, however, who had taken part of the battle, was given Celicia 447 00:42:51.079 --> 00:42:55.880 as a personal little kingdom. This may have been at Cassander's insistence, since 448 00:42:55.880 --> 00:43:01.360 he looked out for his family's interests. Lucius, for his part, added 449 00:43:01.440 --> 00:43:07.800 Mesopotamia and Syria to his growing kingdom. The stretch of the Mediterranean coastline he 450 00:43:07.880 --> 00:43:15.559 gained was critically important, but he still wanted more. Northern Syria was a 451 00:43:15.800 --> 00:43:22.480 relatively undeveloped region at this point. The small population was relatively prosperous, but 452 00:43:22.559 --> 00:43:28.599 almost entirely rural, with only one city, and this was Antigonus's half built 453 00:43:28.760 --> 00:43:35.679 Antigonea, and a few scattered trading towns. Moreover, Selucius had rivals to 454 00:43:35.760 --> 00:43:40.320 the north and the south. Now, the second problem Selucius faced was that 455 00:43:40.719 --> 00:43:46.760 cities on the coastline south of the Eurythius River were currently Intolomey's hands. With 456 00:43:46.920 --> 00:43:52.119 the extra anomaly that Demetrius, as we'll find out in a second was still 457 00:43:52.199 --> 00:43:58.440 holding on to tire and Seaton. After having finally re established himself in the 458 00:43:58.480 --> 00:44:04.159 region, Tolomey was disinclined to make way for the new owner. Trouble therefore, 459 00:44:04.360 --> 00:44:08.559 once was brewing for Phoenicia, but post war fatigue on both sides gave 460 00:44:08.599 --> 00:44:15.159 talome the chance to settle in. So Lucius made out that he refrained from 461 00:44:15.199 --> 00:44:20.199 attacking Tlomey out of friendship, but everyone knew the real reason was that he 462 00:44:20.400 --> 00:44:25.880 was in no position to challenge Tolomey at sea. The known world as it 463 00:44:25.960 --> 00:44:32.239 emerged from this most recent settlement appeared relatively stable. All the kings had core 464 00:44:32.400 --> 00:44:38.960 territories and sons who seemed destined to become kings after them. Venetia, Greece, 465 00:44:39.440 --> 00:44:44.599 and the western seaboard of Asia Minor were the most likely trouble spots in 466 00:44:44.639 --> 00:44:47.719 the short term, as the kings sought to gain firm control of the areas 467 00:44:47.760 --> 00:44:54.079 they had been allotted, but such consolidation was never the only focus of a 468 00:44:54.199 --> 00:45:02.519 Hellenistic king. Everyone was always looking for opportun unities to expand. What emerged 469 00:45:02.599 --> 00:45:07.800 after Ipsus was not so much a balance of power as a balance of fear. 470 00:45:09.400 --> 00:45:15.639 They also reverted to the default successor position of helping one's neighbor only in 471 00:45:15.719 --> 00:45:21.920 the diarist of emergencies, and then only if significant gains could be made from 472 00:45:22.000 --> 00:45:28.079 that assistance. But what about Demetrius, Well, he was not ready to 473 00:45:28.119 --> 00:45:31.760 give up, not in the least. The defeated antiket had still held Ephesus, 474 00:45:32.280 --> 00:45:37.480 tire Seedon, and the island of Cyprus. He had a formidable fleet. 475 00:45:38.679 --> 00:45:44.360 Sure he was probably finished on land, but he could certainly make a 476 00:45:44.440 --> 00:45:50.800 nuisance of himself at sea. After Ipsus, Demetrius fled first to Ephesus, 477 00:45:51.280 --> 00:45:55.239 and then he set sail for Athens. However, while docked at the island 478 00:45:55.320 --> 00:46:02.880 of Delos, an Athelian delegation approached the defeated Demetrius Athens. They told him 479 00:46:04.639 --> 00:46:09.559 was tapping out. The Athenians no longer wanted to be a part of these 480 00:46:09.800 --> 00:46:20.599 endless wars Athens would be strictly neutral from then on. Demetrius, likely fuming 481 00:46:20.960 --> 00:46:25.159 but with little recourse, accepted this decision. In stride. He asked for 482 00:46:25.239 --> 00:46:30.239 the return of a few warships, which the now neutral Athenians dutifully gave back. 483 00:46:31.679 --> 00:46:37.039 Then he collected his remaining family members from Piraeus and sailed to Cyprus. 484 00:46:38.199 --> 00:46:44.360 His plan was pretty simple. He knew as well as anyone that peace treaties 485 00:46:44.400 --> 00:46:50.960 between successor kings never last. His enemies would soon be at each other's throats, 486 00:46:51.719 --> 00:46:55.360 and then he might have an opportunity. For the moment, he would 487 00:46:55.400 --> 00:47:02.920 bide his time. He spent the years after Ipsus consolidating his empire. He 488 00:47:04.039 --> 00:47:07.199 built five new cities in the center of his kingdom, all ringed with the 489 00:47:07.280 --> 00:47:14.920 latest and Hellenistic defensive fortifications. He hoped by founding these cities he could improve 490 00:47:15.039 --> 00:47:22.760 his tax base significantly. In northern Syria, Selusius was particularly successful. Babylon 491 00:47:23.119 --> 00:47:29.639 never really recovered from Seleucius's war with Antigonus that ended way back in three Zho 492 00:47:29.719 --> 00:47:35.679 nine, so he built a new city, Seleucia, intended partly to replace 493 00:47:35.760 --> 00:47:42.360 Babylon as a critical stopping point for trade caravans. It was remarkably successful and 494 00:47:42.480 --> 00:47:47.280 to a large extent, increased trade throughout the region, so much so that 495 00:47:47.480 --> 00:47:54.400 even along the Persian Gulf, new trade connections developed. These economic initiatives appeased 496 00:47:54.480 --> 00:48:01.239 not only the native population, but newly arrived Greek and Macedonians settlers. Plus 497 00:48:02.000 --> 00:48:07.880 wealth breeds wealth, and this investment led to even more private investments. These 498 00:48:07.960 --> 00:48:15.880 were all economies that Rome would happily gobble up in the first century. By 499 00:48:15.920 --> 00:48:22.079 three hundred BCE, the pace between the remaining successors was already starting to wear 500 00:48:22.239 --> 00:48:28.920 thin. In response to what looked like aggression by Selucius, Polome reached out 501 00:48:28.920 --> 00:48:35.480 to Lysimachus for an alliance. Lysimachus, who needed Tolome's navy to help him 502 00:48:35.480 --> 00:48:40.400 crush Demetrius, was only too happy to accept. They sealed the deal when 503 00:48:40.480 --> 00:48:45.480 Lysimachus married Tolome's daughter Aresne, who, as we will see, was as 504 00:48:45.599 --> 00:48:52.320 ruthlessly ambitious as any of the successors themselves. Selucius now felt threatened, so 505 00:48:52.440 --> 00:48:59.400 he decided to reach out to his old enemy Demetrius. Demetrius was only too 506 00:48:59.400 --> 00:49:04.360 happy to a plo. He would put his ships at Selucius's disposal if that 507 00:49:04.519 --> 00:49:07.800 meant an alliance. I mean, after all, what choice did he have. 508 00:49:07.920 --> 00:49:10.400 It was the only way to get back in the game. They likewise 509 00:49:10.480 --> 00:49:15.000 sealed the deal with the marriage. So now there were two clear sides in 510 00:49:15.039 --> 00:49:22.880 any coming conflict. It would be talome Lysimachus versus Selucius Demetrius. The only 511 00:49:22.960 --> 00:49:28.599 person not involved in the alliance making was Cassander. He had a new issue 512 00:49:28.639 --> 00:49:31.000 in Boetia to deal with, plus his entire life he had been plagued by 513 00:49:31.039 --> 00:49:36.800 tuberculosis and it seemed like it was flaring up. Regardless, he sat on 514 00:49:36.840 --> 00:49:39.800 the sidelines for now. But for the moment there would be no direct conflict. 515 00:49:40.920 --> 00:49:46.920 Ptolomy assumed rightly that Selucius wanted more time to consolidate his realm, So 516 00:49:47.039 --> 00:49:53.480 when Ptolome proposed peace, Selucius accepted. War had been averted for now. 517 00:49:55.519 --> 00:50:00.159 Now. Just because there was no direct conflict, that doesn't mean that there 518 00:50:00.239 --> 00:50:06.079 weren't fighting on the fringes. Demitrius tried to use Cilicia as a piggybank to 519 00:50:06.119 --> 00:50:12.079 build up his strength, but his extortion rule was far from popular. Sure, 520 00:50:12.719 --> 00:50:15.079 he was able to wrench it away from Cassander's little brother easy enough, 521 00:50:15.199 --> 00:50:21.039 but by two ninety six, Demetrius was forced to abandon Cilicia for Cyprus. 522 00:50:22.320 --> 00:50:25.760 Selusius was the big winner. He just moved in and took Silicia, never 523 00:50:25.880 --> 00:50:30.280 intending to give it back to Cassander's brother by the way, and added it 524 00:50:30.360 --> 00:50:35.960 to his massive domains. Demitrius honestly didn't care. He was looking toward an 525 00:50:36.079 --> 00:50:42.119 unstable situation in Greece as the place for his next expansion, and now the 526 00:50:42.239 --> 00:50:49.440 cause of said unstable Greece. In two ninety seven, Cassander died of tuberculosis. 527 00:50:50.679 --> 00:50:57.320 His son Philip died of the same disease a few months later. For 528 00:50:57.480 --> 00:51:01.039 as brutal as the start of his reign had been, Cassander had kept Macedonia 529 00:51:01.079 --> 00:51:07.960 at peace for twenty years. The situation after him would be different. Meanwhile, 530 00:51:08.039 --> 00:51:13.440 to the South and Athens, neutrality had not gone well. A few 531 00:51:13.519 --> 00:51:19.880 bad harvests resulted in a pro Macedon faction coming to power. You see, 532 00:51:20.239 --> 00:51:22.360 it was all well and good to say you didn't want the king, but 533 00:51:22.480 --> 00:51:27.920 then you didn't have the insurance when you needed it. The factionalism got so 534 00:51:28.039 --> 00:51:32.440 bad that Athens and Piraeus effectively split into two cities. This created all the 535 00:51:32.480 --> 00:51:38.360 instability Demetrius needed to wonder whether Greece might yet be his Making matters worse. 536 00:51:38.440 --> 00:51:44.000 Cassander's two teenage sons, Alexander and Antipater, were supposed to be ruling jointly 537 00:51:44.039 --> 00:51:50.039 under their mother's regency, but the two hated each other and quickly divided Macedonia 538 00:51:50.079 --> 00:51:54.719 into factions for their own petty civil war. Demetrius sailed to Athens in late 539 00:51:54.760 --> 00:51:59.920 two ninety six and placed the city under siege. By two ninety five, 540 00:52:00.119 --> 00:52:05.920 things looked dire. Famine had started the city, and the philosopher Epicurus was 541 00:52:05.960 --> 00:52:14.280 in charge of the rationing in a super ironic turn of events, But philosophical 542 00:52:14.360 --> 00:52:17.880 intervention aside, there was little the Athenians could do to resist Demetrius, and 543 00:52:19.000 --> 00:52:23.920 he was quickly back in control of the city. The situation in Macedonia was 544 00:52:24.000 --> 00:52:30.360 too uncertain for anyone in Pella to intervene, and Lysimachus had troubles of his 545 00:52:30.440 --> 00:52:35.519 own, so for the moment, Demetrius was free to move against the Greek 546 00:52:35.599 --> 00:52:42.159 cities of the Peloponnese, which he did. Antipeter, the elder of the 547 00:52:42.239 --> 00:52:46.519 two teenage kings in Macedon, believed he should be the sole ruler when he 548 00:52:46.599 --> 00:52:52.079 attained the age of majority. His mother disagreed and told him to continue ruling 549 00:52:52.119 --> 00:52:59.039 with his brother, so he had his mother killed, a rare crime even 550 00:52:59.119 --> 00:53:05.840 for the bloodthurstay in Macedonian royal house. This began the aptly named War of 551 00:53:05.920 --> 00:53:12.320 the Brothers, which Demetrius immediately intervened in, joining the side of Alexander the 552 00:53:12.480 --> 00:53:20.159 younger brother. Years earlier, Demetrius had forged an alliance with Pyrus, the 553 00:53:20.280 --> 00:53:25.039 king of neighboring a Pyrus, which was where Alexander's mother, Olympius, had 554 00:53:25.079 --> 00:53:32.119 been from. Pyrus now joined the War of the Brothers on Alexander's side and 555 00:53:32.320 --> 00:53:37.920 easily drove Antipater out of western Macedonia. The only reason he did not go 556 00:53:38.119 --> 00:53:45.719 further was that he didn't want Lysimachus to enter the fray. Lasimachus was presently 557 00:53:45.800 --> 00:53:50.559 dealing with a rebellion in Greece, but it would likely intervene if a Pyrus 558 00:53:50.679 --> 00:53:58.000 looked likely to conquer Macedonia. Once Demetrius arrived in Macedonia, Alexander told him 559 00:53:58.199 --> 00:54:04.719 his services were no longer needed. Of course, it had been on Demetrius's 560 00:54:04.800 --> 00:54:10.239 behest that Pyrus had invaded. Demetrius was furious, but he pretended not to 561 00:54:10.320 --> 00:54:15.679 care. Instead, he invited Alexander to a banquet. At the end of 562 00:54:15.760 --> 00:54:22.519 said banquet, the two men were walking out past Demetrius's guards, to whom 563 00:54:22.119 --> 00:54:28.119 Demetrius muttered, quote, kill the man who follows me. End to quote. 564 00:54:29.360 --> 00:54:35.559 Alexander died on the spot, proving the old adage minnows ought not swim 565 00:54:35.639 --> 00:54:42.960 with sharks. Antipater almost immediately abandoned his half of Macedon to Demetrius and fled 566 00:54:43.000 --> 00:54:49.960 to Thrace. There Lysimachus convinced the teenaged king that resistance was futile. He 567 00:54:50.079 --> 00:54:53.360 signed a piece deal with Demetrius in which Demetrius was acknowledged as the regent of 568 00:54:53.480 --> 00:55:00.119 Macedon, and Lysimachus was acknowledged as the Greek cities of Asia Minor had had 569 00:55:00.119 --> 00:55:05.039 fallen to him after Ipsus. It was the end of Antipater's line, a 570 00:55:05.159 --> 00:55:09.400 line which had ruled Macedon for forty years. Demetrius was now the king of 571 00:55:09.519 --> 00:55:16.320 Macedon and the effective ruler of Greece save Thrace, But for the moment Demetrius 572 00:55:16.440 --> 00:55:24.760 did not press any claims outside Greece. Plome retook Cyprus in two ninety four, 573 00:55:25.079 --> 00:55:30.239 which his successors would hold until the Romans arrived. And if you're getting 574 00:55:30.320 --> 00:55:32.920 tired of me saying that, I'm good to say it a couple more times. 575 00:55:34.880 --> 00:55:38.440 Back in Thrace, things were going badly for Lysimachus. He was beaten 576 00:55:38.719 --> 00:55:44.360 soundly by the tribal Gettai and taken prisoner for the better part of a year. 577 00:55:45.320 --> 00:55:50.559 Demetrius tried to invade Thrace, and only the intervention of Pirrius, who 578 00:55:50.800 --> 00:55:55.000 now opposed his old ally, pushed him back. Between two ninety four and 579 00:55:55.079 --> 00:56:00.760 two ninety eight, Demetrius and Pyrus fought a series of inconclusive wars that did 580 00:56:01.159 --> 00:56:06.880 little other than wear out both sides. In two eighty eight, the two 581 00:56:07.000 --> 00:56:13.000 exhausted foes signed a treaty that recognized the status quo. Still few could fail 582 00:56:13.079 --> 00:56:19.519 to be impressed by Demetrius's incredible turnaround. Perhaps he might revitalize his claims to 583 00:56:19.679 --> 00:56:27.039 all of Alexander's empire. After all, in Plutarch's lives, Demetrius is the 584 00:56:27.239 --> 00:56:31.719 poster boy for wasted talent, and indeed he is what we would call a 585 00:56:31.800 --> 00:56:38.239 show voter. He demanded his subjects bow obsequiously before him, and insisted on 586 00:56:38.360 --> 00:56:46.159 flamboyant but practically speaking, pointless ceremonies. While Demetrius was demanding that people Kawatau 587 00:56:46.239 --> 00:56:52.159 and Bao, Tlome was conquering his Agean islands, and in two eighty five, 588 00:56:52.880 --> 00:57:00.719 Talome finally evicted Demetrius's garrisons from Tire and Seaton, solidifying his control over 589 00:57:00.800 --> 00:57:07.239 Phoenicia. But that would be the last action Alexander's friend would ever take. 590 00:57:08.519 --> 00:57:15.159 That same year, Ptolomae abdicated in favor of his son ptolomy the second. 591 00:57:15.280 --> 00:57:21.519 Two years later, he died peacefully in his bed, something of an anomaly 592 00:57:22.079 --> 00:57:30.039 for a successor. Despite these setbacks, Demetrius still yearned for conquest. He 593 00:57:30.199 --> 00:57:36.360 decided he would launch an all out attack on Asia. But Demetrius was no 594 00:57:36.519 --> 00:57:43.639 Alexander. The Macedonian nobles were not interested in sending what remained of their youth. 595 00:57:44.239 --> 00:57:50.480 Macedonia was already depopulated to fight so that Macedonia could just be on the 596 00:57:50.559 --> 00:57:57.840 periphery of some Asian empire. Demetrius and his haughty style of leadership, was 597 00:57:57.960 --> 00:58:04.599 neither feared nor loved. Hence he violated both of Machiavelli's principles, Yet he 598 00:58:04.760 --> 00:58:08.719 continued to prepare for the invasion as though that was what his subjects wanted. 599 00:58:09.840 --> 00:58:16.239 He even began preparing a massive fleet with new warships that allegedly had up to 600 00:58:16.440 --> 00:58:25.159 sixteen rows of oars where Trirems had three. The scale of Demetrius's build up 601 00:58:25.199 --> 00:58:31.599 indicated ambitions that threatened all the remaining kings, and so they formed a coalition 602 00:58:31.679 --> 00:58:37.280 against him for what we might call the Fifth War of the Successors. Once 603 00:58:37.400 --> 00:58:43.360 more an antaking it was the enemy of all who united against him. Pyrus, 604 00:58:43.760 --> 00:58:47.599 bombarded by letters by Lysimachus, Ptolomy and Selucius, drugged off the peace 605 00:58:47.639 --> 00:58:53.039 treaty he had made with Demetrius and joined the coalition. Frankly, it was 606 00:58:53.159 --> 00:59:00.639 clear that Demetrius didn't stand a chance. Early into eighty eight, while Admiral 607 00:59:00.719 --> 00:59:04.920 Seld for southern Greece with the intention of stirring up the Greek cities to rebellion, 608 00:59:05.639 --> 00:59:13.519 Lysimachus and Pirus attacked Macedon from respectively the east and west. Pyrus employed 609 00:59:13.599 --> 00:59:17.079 the old successor tactic of claiming that Alexander the Great had appeared damn in a 610 00:59:17.159 --> 00:59:24.199 dream and promised his aid. Demetrius learned just how popular he was in Macedonia 611 00:59:24.800 --> 00:59:30.639 when his Macedonian troops deserted first to Lasimachus and then to Peris. When Demetrius 612 00:59:30.679 --> 00:59:36.440 heard of his invasion and turned to confront him, it was the most effective 613 00:59:36.519 --> 00:59:40.559 coup imaginable. Demetrius was thrown out of his kingdom by the army or senior 614 00:59:40.599 --> 00:59:45.960 officers after six years on the throne, but Macedon was left to endure for 615 00:59:46.039 --> 00:59:52.800 a second time the uncertainty of dual kingship. Pirrus justified his ruleship by citing 616 00:59:52.840 --> 00:59:57.360 his kingship to Alexander the Great. They were actually second cousins, by the 617 00:59:57.400 --> 01:00:00.519 way, and took Western Macedon and then Besley. A few years later, 618 01:00:01.519 --> 01:00:07.239 Leasimachus gained the Eastern kingdom, a significant gain for him given the wealth of 619 01:00:07.320 --> 01:00:13.760 Macedon's natural resources. There Demetrius, believe it or not, actually put on 620 01:00:13.840 --> 01:00:20.320 a disguise and fled to Casadrea. From Casadrea, Demetrius headed to southern Greece. 621 01:00:20.960 --> 01:00:23.519 He was reduced once more to his fleet, his companion cavalry, and 622 01:00:23.880 --> 01:00:30.239 however many mercenaries he could afford to keep. For the moment, Demetrius was 623 01:00:30.280 --> 01:00:34.199 relatively secure in Corinth, and over the next two years he even built up 624 01:00:34.239 --> 01:00:37.559 his land army again. Athens seized the moment, however, and rose up 625 01:00:37.599 --> 01:00:42.840 against him in the spring of two eighty six. Those of the Antickene at 626 01:00:42.880 --> 01:00:47.440 garrison, who refused inducements to defect, were simply defeated in battle. Demetrius 627 01:00:47.519 --> 01:00:52.079 came back with a larger army than expected, and the besieged Athenians sent help 628 01:00:52.440 --> 01:00:59.000 to Pyrus. But then a Ptolemaic fleet appeared off Piraeus, so that Demetrius, 629 01:00:59.039 --> 01:01:01.480 who was in any case still insanely anxious to take the war to Asia, 630 01:01:01.960 --> 01:01:07.000 could see that he would be tied up in Athens forever he came to 631 01:01:07.159 --> 01:01:10.480 terms with Ptolomy and Peirus, who appeared to have been just as anxious not 632 01:01:10.599 --> 01:01:16.239 to fight. Athens would remain ungarrisoned, but Demetrius was allowed to keep his 633 01:01:16.320 --> 01:01:22.559 other garrisons in Piraeus and fortresses nearby. As far as the Athenians were concerned, 634 01:01:22.639 --> 01:01:25.719 this was a truce, not a treaty. When Pius arrived is said 635 01:01:25.760 --> 01:01:30.480 to have recommended that the Athenians never admit a king within their walls again. 636 01:01:30.480 --> 01:01:37.000 Perhaps it was a warning against his own ambitions. Demetrius left his remaining European 637 01:01:37.039 --> 01:01:40.480 possessions in the hands of his subordinates and set out immediately for Asia Minor. 638 01:01:42.639 --> 01:01:47.400 Disturbingly, for Lysimachus, Ptoleme's Egean fleet made no attempt to impede the invasion. 639 01:01:49.559 --> 01:01:53.599 Militus defected to Demetrius, and at Mylitus he was met by Eurydice, 640 01:01:53.880 --> 01:01:59.880 Ptolomae's ex wife. She brought her daughter, Ptolemaeus, to whom Demetrius had 641 01:01:59.920 --> 01:02:02.960 been betrothed way back in two ninety eight, and now they were married. 642 01:02:05.159 --> 01:02:08.719 But this marriage was no sort of coming to terms with Ptolomy. Things had 643 01:02:08.840 --> 01:02:14.760 changed in the twelve years since the couple were first betrothed. Euryticity was now 644 01:02:14.800 --> 01:02:17.960 in exile and estranged from Ptolomy, and she had plans of her own. 645 01:02:20.000 --> 01:02:22.880 She saw an alliance with Demetrius as a way to give her son a chance 646 01:02:22.920 --> 01:02:29.400 at power, since his prospects in Egypt were not good. Ptolomy had long 647 01:02:29.480 --> 01:02:32.599 favored one of his other wife and her offspring. In fact, as I 648 01:02:32.679 --> 01:02:37.480 mentioned before, the very next year, Ptolomy abdicated in favor of the son 649 01:02:37.719 --> 01:02:44.599 by this woman, who became Ptolomy. The second Eurydices son was actually called 650 01:02:44.719 --> 01:02:50.880 Ptolomy Serranius, the Thunderbolt named not for his unpredictable character, but for the 651 01:02:50.960 --> 01:02:57.159 power he wielded. The campaign season of two eighty five started well for Demetrius. 652 01:02:57.800 --> 01:03:04.760 He regained a few coastal towns in including Ephesus, and subsequently Lysimachus's governors 653 01:03:04.840 --> 01:03:09.440 in Lydia and Karia surrendered their territories wholesale. There is no way, really 654 01:03:09.480 --> 01:03:15.719 to explain these rapid successes except by assuming that he was welcomed before Ibsus. 655 01:03:15.800 --> 01:03:20.880 Remember, Asia Minor had been under antigonet rule for a very long time and 656 01:03:20.960 --> 01:03:28.880 it had prospered. Meanwhile, Pierris invaded Thessaly, which drew some of Demetrius's 657 01:03:28.880 --> 01:03:35.000 subbordinates attention northward, and Athens made an attempt to dislodge the anticketed garrison in 658 01:03:35.079 --> 01:03:39.119 Piraeus, but it didn't work an Asia Minor. Despite his first successes, 659 01:03:39.559 --> 01:03:47.039 Demetrius was losing the initiative. Lysimachus's son Agathles was demonstrated that he had inherited 660 01:03:47.079 --> 01:03:52.920 his father's skills as a general. He drew Demetrius ever farther inland, while 661 01:03:52.960 --> 01:03:58.239 cutting him off from the coast by retaking territories now in his rear that he 662 01:03:58.360 --> 01:04:04.719 had just taken himself, including Sartis and Militus. Demitrius's fleet at Militus either 663 01:04:04.880 --> 01:04:11.199 fled to safe refuges farther down the coast, or it just surrendered. With 664 01:04:11.320 --> 01:04:16.320 their supply lines cut and their hopes rapidly fading, Demetrius's mercenaries began to desert 665 01:04:16.400 --> 01:04:20.719 him. Their commander claimed to be unconcerned, on the grounds that he could 666 01:04:20.719 --> 01:04:25.480 always find more men to recruit in Media, which he planned to reach via 667 01:04:25.679 --> 01:04:31.440 Armenia. By now, he seems decidedly unbalanced, Not content with being defeated 668 01:04:31.480 --> 01:04:40.159 by Agateles, he was threatening Selusius too, but with diminished forces. Demetrius 669 01:04:40.280 --> 01:04:45.719 was perhaps intending to encourage the often restless Eastern satrapies to rise up with his 670 01:04:45.880 --> 01:04:51.079 help and overthrow Selusius. But this was quite frankly an unlikely scenario, to 671 01:04:51.159 --> 01:04:58.039 say the least, not the least because Selusius had elevated his son Antiochus to 672 01:04:58.159 --> 01:05:00.920 the joint kingship in two ninety four to ninety three, and had already sent 673 01:05:01.039 --> 01:05:06.559 him to the East to quell any storm. In the longer term, it 674 01:05:06.679 --> 01:05:12.760 made more sentence to have a co ruler for such a vast kingdom. For 675 01:05:12.880 --> 01:05:15.960 the East, one who was half Iranian, had been brought up in Babylon, 676 01:05:17.519 --> 01:05:21.960 so no uprising took place in the eastern Satrapies to aid Demetrius's plans. 677 01:05:23.960 --> 01:05:28.039 Instead of heading for Armenia, he turned south, with disease and desertion, 678 01:05:28.239 --> 01:05:33.360 decimating his numbers. Agathlees let him cross the Tars Mountains into Cilicia and strengthen 679 01:05:33.440 --> 01:05:39.480 the fortresses on the passes against his return, effectively locking the door behind him. 680 01:05:40.519 --> 01:05:45.039 He was Selucius's problem now. Seleucius tolerated Demetrius's presence for a while, 681 01:05:45.760 --> 01:05:49.159 but had to take steps in the spring of two eighty four to contain him 682 01:05:49.159 --> 01:05:56.400 in the mountains. Demetrius reacted with some vigorous guerrilla warfare and even threatened to 683 01:05:56.519 --> 01:06:01.599 enter Syria until he was once more brought down by an illness. While Demetrius 684 01:06:01.679 --> 01:06:06.320 lay sick, more of his men deserted. Even so, after he recovered, 685 01:06:06.320 --> 01:06:11.960 he kept pushing for a decisive battle that frankly hid no chance of winning. 686 01:06:13.400 --> 01:06:16.559 Selucius refused to meet Demetrius in battle, there was no point. He 687 01:06:16.840 --> 01:06:23.920 just waited for low morale in Demitrius's camp to finish him off, and so 688 01:06:24.079 --> 01:06:28.559 in the end it came with a whimper and not a bang. The two 689 01:06:28.679 --> 01:06:31.960 armies were close by, and Selucius is said to have walked bearheaded himself up 690 01:06:32.000 --> 01:06:35.960 to Demetrius's lines and appealed to his men to just lay down their arms. 691 01:06:38.239 --> 01:06:43.960 Recognizing that Selucius was doing his level best to spare everyone's lives, they finally 692 01:06:44.079 --> 01:06:50.559 abandoned Demetrius. So Lucius put his former father in law under comfortable but closely 693 01:06:50.599 --> 01:06:56.559 guarded arrest on a town called Empeia on the banks of the Orontes River. 694 01:06:58.840 --> 01:07:04.880 Well the su and It's back in Greece petitioned Selucius for Demetrius's returned Lysimachus begged 695 01:07:04.960 --> 01:07:11.239 him to have the man just put to death. Selucius refused both requests. 696 01:07:11.880 --> 01:07:17.000 He actually accused Lysimachus of behaving like a barbarian. In reality, however, 697 01:07:17.599 --> 01:07:21.920 he wanted Demetrius alive and in his keeping in case he could in some way 698 01:07:23.760 --> 01:07:30.400 use him against his remaining adversaries. Humiliated by becoming no more than a pawn 699 01:07:30.480 --> 01:07:34.920 in others games, Demetrius wrote to Greece abdicating his kingship such as it was 700 01:07:35.559 --> 01:07:43.360 in favor of his son there By March two eighty two, alcoholism, and 701 01:07:43.519 --> 01:07:47.880 perhaps the illness that had been plaguing him for some time finally brought Demetrius down. 702 01:07:49.079 --> 01:07:54.960 He wasn't much over fifty years of age. His ashes were released, 703 01:07:55.360 --> 01:08:00.599 and in due course of time they were returned to Macedonia. I suppose in 704 01:08:00.679 --> 01:08:06.000 the end it was nothing more than restless greed for imperial power that undid Demetrius. 705 01:08:06.880 --> 01:08:13.119 He could have simply consolidated a kingdom in Macedonia and Greece, but he 706 01:08:13.320 --> 01:08:19.000 always had more grandiose dreams. He never truly had an opportunity for world conquest. 707 01:08:20.359 --> 01:08:24.560 And that's the thing that I think he was missing. It wasn't just 708 01:08:24.760 --> 01:08:30.439 Alexander's talent that gave him the ability to conquer the known world. It was 709 01:08:30.560 --> 01:08:38.640 also timing, and he just didn't understand that. By the late two eighties, 710 01:08:38.720 --> 01:08:43.239 Lysimachus was once again resurgent. He fought another series of on again, 711 01:08:43.680 --> 01:08:48.560 off again wars against Paris before the latter finally had enough and turned his attention 712 01:08:48.680 --> 01:08:54.760 toward the West instead. There he would intervene in southern Italy on behalf of 713 01:08:54.840 --> 01:08:59.439 the Greek city states, which found themselves increasingly beleaguered as a result of the 714 01:08:59.520 --> 01:09:04.439 expansion of a city called Rome. Paris won a series of battles against Rome, 715 01:09:05.119 --> 01:09:09.960 but the Romans always had more resources. Piaris won the battle, but 716 01:09:10.039 --> 01:09:15.039 he lost the war, which is why the word peric today means a victory 717 01:09:15.399 --> 01:09:19.399 that amounts to defeat. So Macedonia had a new king, It's fifth in 718 01:09:19.520 --> 01:09:26.439 ten years, and times were not stable. A massive earthquake hit the region 719 01:09:26.760 --> 01:09:31.800 into eighty seven into eighty five, when Macedonia was still recovering, A failed 720 01:09:31.920 --> 01:09:38.880 coup launched brief civil war between Lysimachus and his eldest son. We have almost 721 01:09:39.000 --> 01:09:44.039 no records for the conflict, but we can say that Lysimachus won and had 722 01:09:44.079 --> 01:09:49.880 his son executed. This brief episode was emblematic of a bigger issue in the 723 01:09:49.960 --> 01:10:00.319 Macedonian court. Because Macedonian rulers practiced polygamy, Macedonian kings always found themselves with 724 01:10:00.479 --> 01:10:06.640 too many heirs and nothing productive to do with them. The chaos within Lysimachus's 725 01:10:06.680 --> 01:10:12.680 realm attracted Selusius. He had spent the years since Ipsus stabilizing and securing his 726 01:10:12.760 --> 01:10:16.039 empire, and he was now ready to extend it. Any of his successors 727 01:10:16.079 --> 01:10:20.319 would have done the same if they had the resources of Seleucius and were handed 728 01:10:20.479 --> 01:10:25.680 such an opportunity, even if, like him, they were closer to eighty. 729 01:10:26.720 --> 01:10:30.279 As far as they were concerned, the whole point of having resources was 730 01:10:30.319 --> 01:10:35.399 to use them to gain more resources, and Selucius's propagandist had paid the wave 731 01:10:35.520 --> 01:10:40.560 for his grand imperialism. He had been born the same year as Alexander, 732 01:10:40.600 --> 01:10:45.039 they said, and at once rescued Alexander's diadem after an accident and briefly warn 733 01:10:45.159 --> 01:10:51.079 him. Selusius mustered his army, elephants and all, and in July to 734 01:10:51.239 --> 01:10:58.720 eighty two he set out for Asia Minor Ptalomade. The second nominally Lysimachus's ally 735 01:10:58.800 --> 01:11:01.840 didn't do anything, perhaps in the hope that Selucius would, at the same 736 01:11:01.920 --> 01:11:09.039 time rid him of his troublesome half brother. Selusius crossed the Taurus well before 737 01:11:09.119 --> 01:11:13.319 winter set in and spent some time in winter camp on the Asia Minor side 738 01:11:13.319 --> 01:11:18.560 of the Tarus, within Lysimachus's kingdom. There was no opposition. At the 739 01:11:18.680 --> 01:11:23.359 end of January two eighty one, Selusius took to the field, and at 740 01:11:23.399 --> 01:11:27.199 the same time sent his fleet on ahead to the west coast to help lend 741 01:11:27.279 --> 01:11:31.439 his supporters in Greek cities he had so often the cities up by means of 742 01:11:31.560 --> 01:11:38.960 generous benefactions and used the old antignet strategy that would find him a more congenial 743 01:11:39.079 --> 01:11:45.239 king than Lysimachus. A few cities did erupt into factional strife, though more 744 01:11:45.319 --> 01:11:47.640 of them waited for the outcome to see which way to throw in their chips. 745 01:11:49.000 --> 01:11:56.000 Selucius's progress continued unimpeded. Lysimachus had chosen to wait for him in Western 746 01:11:56.039 --> 01:12:00.399 Asia Minor. This may have been a tactical decision in order to be able 747 01:12:00.439 --> 01:12:04.239 to maintain some kind of control over the Asiatic Greek cities, but at the 748 01:12:04.279 --> 01:12:11.039 same time it was clear that Lysimachus was now plagued by desertion and growing increasingly 749 01:12:11.119 --> 01:12:16.439 helpless. The decisive battle of the sixth and final War of the Successors was 750 01:12:16.520 --> 01:12:23.000 fought at Corpendium called the Plane of Plenty, west of Sardis, in February 751 01:12:23.439 --> 01:12:28.119 two eighty one. We have absolutely no details for the battle, but I 752 01:12:28.159 --> 01:12:31.920 don't think we need them. It was a complete victory for Selusius. The 753 01:12:32.039 --> 01:12:39.720 age of Lysimachus died on the battlefield. Seleucius was the last of Alexander's successors, 754 01:12:40.159 --> 01:12:45.840 and he was poised to become his true and only heir. He now 755 01:12:45.000 --> 01:12:50.000 held all of Asia from the Aegean to Afghanistan, apart from Greater Egypt and 756 01:12:50.119 --> 01:12:56.720 the lands he ceded to the Indian king Chandragupta. That same year, he 757 01:12:56.880 --> 01:13:02.159 marched on Europe, aiming to finish the job, but it was not to 758 01:13:02.239 --> 01:13:08.319 be. One of his subordinates murdered him in the summer of two eighty one. 759 01:13:09.560 --> 01:13:13.720 Selucius had already made his son Antiochus his joint king, so the transition 760 01:13:13.880 --> 01:13:18.520 was secure, But in two eighty one, the last of the true successors, 761 01:13:19.479 --> 01:13:25.359 the men who had written and fought with Alexander the Great, were all 762 01:13:26.199 --> 01:13:30.000 dead. In fact, our major players died within two years of each other 763 01:13:30.079 --> 01:13:34.000 in the end Plome in two eighty three, Demetrius and two eighty two, 764 01:13:34.840 --> 01:13:40.760 and both Lisa Auchus and Selucius in two eighty one. The effect of all 765 01:13:40.800 --> 01:13:45.359 of this was the permanent division of Alexander's domains, though that may not have 766 01:13:45.439 --> 01:13:51.479 been clear at the time. Essentially, from this point on until the arrival 767 01:13:51.520 --> 01:13:58.079 of Rome, three different kingdoms ruled the East. Tolomay's house in Greater Egypt, 768 01:13:58.760 --> 01:14:02.199 a variety of rulers in Macedonia and Greece, and the Seluciate House in 769 01:14:02.279 --> 01:14:09.319 Asia. These would be the borders for about a century and a half until 770 01:14:09.439 --> 01:14:14.439 Rome swept them all away. That does not mean that there wasn't more fighting. 771 01:14:14.560 --> 01:14:18.439 There was, but it seems that none of these rulers wanted to challenge 772 01:14:18.520 --> 01:14:26.159 for each other's domains at this point. So I've talked about Rome and alluded 773 01:14:26.199 --> 01:14:31.520 to Rome about a million times in this episode, and guess what. That's 774 01:14:31.560 --> 01:15:01.079 where we're headed next. It's time for everyone's favorite empire, the Romans. Boyne