Alastair Blanshard

So he's with the Spartans. But then, of course, seducing the wife of the queen isn't a great way to maintain your popularity in Sparta. So he then flees them, goes back to Athens. Everyone thinks he's the saviour on Athens.

Well, I mean, it's a sign of his strategic genius. Importantly, what he claims to offer the Athenians and what I think both Sparta and Athens realize at this point is that what's going to be the great kind of game changer is going to be whoever can get Persia on their side. Because that is what's going to finally solve the Peloponnesian War. Athens and Sparta could go on forever.

Well, I mean, it's a sign of his strategic genius. Importantly, what he claims to offer the Athenians and what I think both Sparta and Athens realize at this point is that what's going to be the great kind of game changer is going to be whoever can get Persia on their side. Because that is what's going to finally solve the Peloponnesian War. Athens and Sparta could go on forever.

Well, I mean, it's a sign of his strategic genius. Importantly, what he claims to offer the Athenians and what I think both Sparta and Athens realize at this point is that what's going to be the great kind of game changer is going to be whoever can get Persia on their side. Because that is what's going to finally solve the Peloponnesian War. Athens and Sparta could go on forever.

What you need is something that can break the stalemate, change the game, and that's the wealth and power of Persia.

What you need is something that can break the stalemate, change the game, and that's the wealth and power of Persia.

What you need is something that can break the stalemate, change the game, and that's the wealth and power of Persia.

extraordinarily wealthy. It has the resources to mobilize forces that both Athens and Sparta can only dream about. And it's really the realization that if one of us can get Persia on our side, that we will win. And Al-Sabadi quite rightly says, the Persians negotiating with Persian kings is my kind of bag. I'm absolutely the right man for it.

extraordinarily wealthy. It has the resources to mobilize forces that both Athens and Sparta can only dream about. And it's really the realization that if one of us can get Persia on our side, that we will win. And Al-Sabadi quite rightly says, the Persians negotiating with Persian kings is my kind of bag. I'm absolutely the right man for it.

extraordinarily wealthy. It has the resources to mobilize forces that both Athens and Sparta can only dream about. And it's really the realization that if one of us can get Persia on our side, that we will win. And Al-Sabadi quite rightly says, the Persians negotiating with Persian kings is my kind of bag. I'm absolutely the right man for it.

And indeed, manages to convince them it's part of the reason why they give up on the democracy in 411 is in fact the idea that they're trying to make themselves more amenable for Alcibiades to negotiate a kind of alliance between Persia and Athens.

And indeed, manages to convince them it's part of the reason why they give up on the democracy in 411 is in fact the idea that they're trying to make themselves more amenable for Alcibiades to negotiate a kind of alliance between Persia and Athens.

And indeed, manages to convince them it's part of the reason why they give up on the democracy in 411 is in fact the idea that they're trying to make themselves more amenable for Alcibiades to negotiate a kind of alliance between Persia and Athens.

Well, that's right. And indeed, the Persians themselves are being activist, actually. They see that there's real potential for them in this conflict. They lost, of course, the Persian Wars. They lost a lot of control over their coastline as a result of the Persian Wars. And so it's an opportunity for them to reclaim the cities on the coast of Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey.

Well, that's right. And indeed, the Persians themselves are being activist, actually. They see that there's real potential for them in this conflict. They lost, of course, the Persian Wars. They lost a lot of control over their coastline as a result of the Persian Wars. And so it's an opportunity for them to reclaim the cities on the coast of Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey.

Well, that's right. And indeed, the Persians themselves are being activist, actually. They see that there's real potential for them in this conflict. They lost, of course, the Persian Wars. They lost a lot of control over their coastline as a result of the Persian Wars. And so it's an opportunity for them to reclaim the cities on the coast of Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey.

And so they see some real potential in that. Also, what they'd also noticed is increasingly figures who were usurpers in Persia were starting to make alliances with Athens. We'd seen a couple of rogue satraps, let's just say rogue Persian governors, starting to enter into alliances with Athens and destabilizing the great king.

And so they see some real potential in that. Also, what they'd also noticed is increasingly figures who were usurpers in Persia were starting to make alliances with Athens. We'd seen a couple of rogue satraps, let's just say rogue Persian governors, starting to enter into alliances with Athens and destabilizing the great king.

And so they see some real potential in that. Also, what they'd also noticed is increasingly figures who were usurpers in Persia were starting to make alliances with Athens. We'd seen a couple of rogue satraps, let's just say rogue Persian governors, starting to enter into alliances with Athens and destabilizing the great king.

They increasingly realized that actually this activist expansionist Athens is not a good thing for them. And so we see two particular satraps, Afanabazos and Tisaphernes, start to mobilize diplomatic relations. Initially with Sparta, Alcibiades comes in and says, look, actually it's in your best interest not to go for one side or the other, but rather to sort of maintain a status quo.