Hi, thanks for tuning in to ancient Greece declassified.

Episode 55, the Persian Wars Part 1.

It's hard to think of a 30-year period in history that was more consequential than the

three decades between 510 and 480 BC.

During that brief interval, a series of astonishing and unlikely events happened that

changed the world forever,

and we still feel their effect today on a daily basis.

The first of these unlikely events was that democracy was born in 507 BC in ancient Athens.

The second unlikely event was that this newborn democracy survived,

despite a host of early challenges and attacks. The third event was that this newborn democracy survived despite a host of early challenges and attacks.

The third event was that around that time, the Persian Empire, the largest empire of the world

had ever seen, decided to conquer Greece, which of course would have extinguished this political

experiment in its infancy. And the fourth and possibly most unlikely event of all is that the Greek somehow won that war with Persia.

And democracy not only thrived in the following centuries, but is once again today the main political ideal across most of the world.

So how did this all happen in such a short period of time?

Was it just coincidence?

Or when you dig down into the details,

do these outcomes start to appear inevitable,

given the historical trends that were unfolding?

Or did the actions of individual people in these geopolitical games bend the arc of history in accordance with their will?

That's what we're going to discuss today.

As I'm gearing up to take a bunch of you to Greece for the upcoming Persian Wars tour,

...