Dr. Roel Konijnendijk

And the Athenians by far are the most powerful Greek state when Philip rises to power.

There's no question.

And so to what extent it matters that it's not Sparta, I'm not entirely sure that we could quantify that in any meaningful way.

But you could imagine, for instance, Sparta winning the Battle of Leuctra, humbling the Thebans, taking over the region again.

And then when Philip expands southward, he encounters essentially the Spartans rather than the Thebans.

But I don't know how that would have made any difference because the whole point is that these

Greek states have been exhausting each other in this constant infighting, and there is still obviously manpower and expertise left in that world, but there isn't the unity that you would need to make a stand against Philip.

Well, we've got a new king on the throne of Persia, and that's an important thing to acknowledge. Xerxes had come to the throne, not ever guaranteed to be the heir of Darius. There was no premogeniture in Persia, so it was always a bit of a free-for-all. But I think what Xerxes had in his favor is that he had the blood of Cyrus the Great and of his father Darius in his veins.

Well, we've got a new king on the throne of Persia, and that's an important thing to acknowledge. Xerxes had come to the throne, not ever guaranteed to be the heir of Darius. There was no premogeniture in Persia, so it was always a bit of a free-for-all. But I think what Xerxes had in his favor is that he had the blood of Cyrus the Great and of his father Darius in his veins.

Well, we've got a new king on the throne of Persia, and that's an important thing to acknowledge. Xerxes had come to the throne, not ever guaranteed to be the heir of Darius. There was no premogeniture in Persia, so it was always a bit of a free-for-all. But I think what Xerxes had in his favor is that he had the blood of Cyrus the Great and of his father Darius in his veins.

So I think that pushed him into the purple realm. And one thing that all Achaemenid kings needed to do at their accession, really, was first of all, bury their fathers and then show themselves to be militarily capable. So Xerxes is already up for a fight. The first opportunity comes, actually, with a sort of mini rebellion that goes on in Egypt.

So I think that pushed him into the purple realm. And one thing that all Achaemenid kings needed to do at their accession, really, was first of all, bury their fathers and then show themselves to be militarily capable. So Xerxes is already up for a fight. The first opportunity comes, actually, with a sort of mini rebellion that goes on in Egypt.

So I think that pushed him into the purple realm. And one thing that all Achaemenid kings needed to do at their accession, really, was first of all, bury their fathers and then show themselves to be militarily capable. So Xerxes is already up for a fight. The first opportunity comes, actually, with a sort of mini rebellion that goes on in Egypt.

And straight away, I mean, within the first months of his reign, he himself leads an army into Egypt and crushes whatever events are going on there in the Nile Delta and then returns to Persia. with a kind of, you know, his battle spirit up, really. It was a successful campaign. Xerxes was clearly not never been afraid of wars.

And straight away, I mean, within the first months of his reign, he himself leads an army into Egypt and crushes whatever events are going on there in the Nile Delta and then returns to Persia. with a kind of, you know, his battle spirit up, really. It was a successful campaign. Xerxes was clearly not never been afraid of wars.

And straight away, I mean, within the first months of his reign, he himself leads an army into Egypt and crushes whatever events are going on there in the Nile Delta and then returns to Persia. with a kind of, you know, his battle spirit up, really. It was a successful campaign. Xerxes was clearly not never been afraid of wars.

You know, he's been stationed, we know, as a young prince in places like Parthia on some of the border zones. Just the arrival of Xerxes onto the scene in itself is enough of a momentum to start thinking about change.

You know, he's been stationed, we know, as a young prince in places like Parthia on some of the border zones. Just the arrival of Xerxes onto the scene in itself is enough of a momentum to start thinking about change.

You know, he's been stationed, we know, as a young prince in places like Parthia on some of the border zones. Just the arrival of Xerxes onto the scene in itself is enough of a momentum to start thinking about change.

We have some cuneiform evidence now that he had been sent there by his father, probably as a satrap. Again, this is where kings learned their craft, really, was by doing jobs within the satrapies variously around the empire.