Tom Holland

So what is going on here?

The Athenians have crossed from Greece.

They've crossed the Aegean and they have joined forces with other Greeks called the Ionians who live on what is now the Aegean coastline of Turkey.

And they are subjects of the Persian king because, of course, they are in Asia and the Persians lay claim to the rule of Asia.

or at least they had been subjects of the Persian king because actually they've risen in rebellion and the Athenians have been persuaded by the Ionian leader to join them in this insurrection.

And they've marched inland from the Aegean coast with the Ionians and they've attacked the great city of Sardis, which is the capital of the Persian governor who kind of administers the region for the great king.

And

The Persian governor retreats to the Acropolis, so the kind of the upper fortress of Sardis and holds out there.

The Athenians and the Ionians can't capture that, but they are able to capture the rest of the city and they torch it.

Everything goes up in flames.

Including one of the most famous buildings in the whole of the Persian Empire.

And this is a temple to Cybele, the mother goddess.

Oh yeah, friend of the show.

Very much friend of the show.

A great fan of blood weddings and mass castrations and so on.

And obviously, this is the equivalent of people flying planes into the Twin Towers.

I mean, this is an appalling insult and appalling affront.

And there is no way that Darius, the great king, cannot respond to it.

I mean, in much the same way that George W. Bush felt that he had to respond to 9-11.

And in this episode and the next, we will be looking at what his response was.