Tom Holland

And this is a man called Histies.

And Hysteus is the ruler of the most powerful of all the various Ionian cities.

It's the largest, it's the richest, it's the most sophisticated of the Ionian cities.

And this is a place called Miletus.

It has four great harbours full of shipping from across the Mediterranean, from across the Black Sea.

It's the birthplace of philosophy.

It's the birthplace of history.

It's the birthplace of what ultimately one might call science.

I mean, it's an absolute intellectual powerhouse.

And it is praised as the glory of Ionia.

And Hestias does not want to risk the prosperity and glory and wealth.

And so he essentially crushes Miltiades' proposal.

Darius returns from his abortive attack on the Scythians.

He crosses the pontoon and his dais is rewarded for his loyalty with splendid gifts, grants of land, the favor of the king of kings.

And among the grants of land that Hysteus gets is a region of Thrace that Darius had just recently conquered.

And this is a place called Myrkinus.

And Myrkinus has silver mines and it has forests.

And forests are obviously useful for building a fleet.

And I think the ambition of Hysteus is to exploit...

the favor of Darius and the backing of the Persian governor that Hestias can enjoy to build a kind of semi-independent power base for himself in the Aegean.