March of the 10,000
The Ancients
History Hit
4.7 • 4.5K Ratings
🗓️ 6 October 2022
⏱️ 49 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Recorded by Xenophon, the 10,000 were a force of Greek mercenaries employed by Cyrus the Younger, with the aim of taking back the Persian Empire from his brother, Artaxexes. Travelling over 1,766 miles to the north of Babylon, where forces eventually clashed at the Battle of Cunaxa, Cyrus ultimately perished in the battle leaving the Greeks stranded and leaderless.
Choosing to flee the scene rather than see themselves become slaves to the Persians, the Greeks began the perilous journey back to their homeland.
In this episode, Tristan is joined by Owen Rees from Manchester Metropolitan University, to talk about the March of the 10,000 and the carnage they left in their wake.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Ancients from History Hit. |
| 0:02.7 | To listen to all of our episodes Add Free and watch hundreds of history documentaries |
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| 0:14.0 | And if you're an Apple listener, you can subscribe for new Add Free episodes within the app. |
| 0:30.4 | It's The Ancients on History Hit. |
| 0:35.1 | I'm Tristan Hughes, your host and in today's podcast. |
| 0:38.2 | I'm very excited about this one because we've got this incredible extraordinary |
| 0:43.1 | military adventure story from ancient history. |
| 0:46.7 | It survives in the account of a Greek writer called Xenophon, |
| 0:50.6 | occurring in the late 5th early 4th centuries BC in the Near East. |
| 0:55.6 | It's called The March of the 10,000. |
| 0:58.9 | This amazing adventure story which sees these soldiers battling in lowlands and highlands |
| 1:04.3 | against a variety of enemies in their bid to escape, to flee. |
| 1:10.4 | It's a remarkable story and joining me on the podcast today to give a whirlwind account |
| 1:16.9 | of The March of the 10,000 with great details still kept in there and so much enthusiasm. |
| 1:23.5 | I was delighted to go and interview once again Dr Owen Reese from Manchester Metropolitan University. |
| 1:30.4 | Owen he's been on the podcast before to talk about combat trauma to talk about dogs and |
| 1:34.7 | ancient Greece but he's got a special place in his heart for the story of The March the 10,000 |
| 1:39.7 | because it's such an incredible brilliant military adventure story from ancient history. |
| 1:47.1 | So that further ado to talk through The March of the 10,000 |
| 1:51.6 | is Owen. |
| 2:02.8 | Owen great to have you back on the podcast. |
... |
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