The Foundation of the Hellenistic Kingdoms

Tides of History

Wondery / Patrick Wyman

Documentary, Society & Culture, History

4.8 • 6.3K Ratings

🗓️ 14 November 2024

⏱️ 46 minutes

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Summary

As the dust began to settle after Alexander's death, the possibility of one of his relatives truly ruling the dead king's empire grew smaller and smaller. The power lay with the generals, and as they fought it out, the outlines of a new world order began to take shape.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to Tides of History early and ad-free right now.
0:04.6	Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.
0:09.2	The winter wind whipped down out of the mountains and onto the dry plains of Iran.
0:22.6	It chilled the old soldier to the bone.
0:25.6	Even though he'd been serving the Kings of Macedonia for 40 years, almost his entire life,
0:30.6	he had never really gotten used to campaigning during the dark months.
0:34.6	Many times he had marched out into the snow and rain,
0:36.6	forded icy streams and rivers, and barely staved off hypothermia.
0:40.3	Only a couple of winters before, frostbite took one of his toes during an ill-advised foraging expedition.
0:46.3	He already limped on that leg, courtesy of a spear wound received decades before during one of Alexander's battles, so to him little it changed.
0:55.3	But despair cut the Macedonian more deeply than the wind. What was he supposed to do now?
1:01.1	They were all dead, everyone he'd served for so many years. Philip, Alexander, Perticus, and now
1:07.0	Humannies, all the masters for whom he'd spilled his blood everywhere from Illyria to India.
1:12.3	He wasn't quite sure how old he was, but he knew he was nearing 60.
1:16.1	The strength was leaving his arms, marches were harder.
1:19.4	When he drank too much as he often did, the headaches the next day were so bad that it almost wasn't worth it.
1:24.7	Almost.
1:26.2	But he knew no other life. Even the awful sounds of a battle's
1:30.1	aftermath that he heard now the wails and cries for mother or water or help. Were as familiar to
1:35.3	him as the lowing of cattle to a herder or a hammer's ringing to a smith. What else was there?
1:40.9	He was too old to learn to sew and reap. He had no skill with clay or iron. Boats were just
1:46.2	as unwelcome to him as they'd been the first time he traveled on one. He had money, of course,
	...

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