The Greco-Persian Wars, Part 2: Xerxes and the Invasion of Greece

Tides of History

Wondery / Patrick Wyman

Documentary, Society & Culture, History

4.8 • 6.3K Ratings

🗓️ 12 October 2023

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 480 BC, the Persian Great King Xerxes descended on mainland Greece with one of the largest armies and navies the world had ever seen. The Persians swept through the approaches to Greece, winning allies and destroying their foes along the way, before meeting the Spartan king Leonidas at the Hot Gates of Thermopylae.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, prime members. You can listen to Tides of History, add free on Amazon Music. Download the app today.
0:15.6	His throat was dry, so dry, drier than he'd ever thought possible.
0:20.0	Every breath sucking the baking hot summer air into his heaving lungs, scorched as it went down.
0:25.6	He'd give anything for some water, just a trickle, a single swallow, anything to stay off the awful sensation of thirst.
0:32.6	He had listened to the older men of his little town before the fighting started,
0:36.1	taking their advice when they told him to drink up now, but the young farmer had never imagined that it would be this bad.
0:42.0	There was no water here, packed shoulder to shoulder with the other men of Locus.
0:46.2	His legs heavy, his arms and shoulders burned,
0:48.8	his neck so tired that he could barely keep his head and the heavy helmet protecting it, looking to the front.
0:54.9	The Persians were coming again, someone yet.
0:57.5	Telltale whistle of arrows filled the air, proceeding their arrival.
1:01.2	The young man felt a thud of impact, one, two, three shafts slammed into the face of his brown shield,
1:06.8	but non-penetrated the thick oak.
1:09.1	More whistles followed, then more thuds, and a couple of cries of pain.
1:12.8	There they were, coming on fast, but then times seemed to slow as they approached.
1:17.6	Odd thought the young man, but they were wearing trousers.
1:20.7	He could see the gold of their arm bands and necklaces,
1:23.2	differentiate the individual war cries, coming from each Persians throat.
1:27.4	An arrow ricocheted off his helmet, blinding him, as it turned with the impact,
1:30.9	covered his eyes behind her narrow slits.
1:33.6	Then he felt the arrow leave his lungs as the attackers slammed into the logriance line.
1:38.7	The young man dug his heels into the rocky ground of the pass of their mob.
	...

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