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Secret History #20: The Hellenistic World

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Core Theme

This lecture outlines three fundamental principles of geopolitics—elite overproduction, elite disloyalty, and war as a status quo mechanism—and applies them to historical examples, from ancient China to the rise of Greece and the Hellenistic world, to explain patterns of conflict, empire formation, and cultural diffusion.

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Good morning. So um let us review what

we learned last class and then we will

discuss the Greeks today. So um as I

discussed last class, there are three

major principles to geopolitics

and once you master an understanding of

these three principles then um you will

see the world much more clearly. Okay.

The first idea is that the competition

states is greater than the competition

And this is the idea of elite

overp production.

So the historian uh Peter Turchin he

looked at the fall of the Roman

Republic, the French Revolution. He

looked at many similar events in human

history and he discovered that what

drives crisis is the fact that you have

too many elite competing for limited

position of status and power. Okay. And

that's what drives a lot of conflict uh

within the nation state. Another way of

framing this is that um the conflict in

states is not between rich and poor but

between the have a lot and have some but

what more. Okay. So usually between the

and the lower nobility.

We see this throughout human history. So

next class we we will discuss the Rome.

Okay. We'll discuss that and we we

understand that a lot of conflict was

between the upper nobility and the lower

nobility. So Julius Caesar

did what he did because he was all the

lower nobility and was trying to reach

the upper nobility. Okay. So this is the

first principle that you need to

understand that what drives a lot of

conflict is elite overproduction. Okay,

that's number one.

Number two is the elite

um has no loyalty.

Okay, this is really important principle

to understand. The elite don't have

loyalty to their people or to their

state or even to the families. They will

do whatever is necessary for them to

accumulate power. Okay.

Um and this idea of Game of Thrones,

right? So, I'm not sure if you've seen

the television show or read the book

series Game of Thrones, but um the world

is Game of Thrones and these people who

love power, they will kill their

parents, they will kill their brothers,

they will kill their own children in

order to amass power from themselves.

Okay, so the game of thrones is a very

nasty affair. The third thing is that

war is often about maintaining that

status quo. Okay? Or the idea of equilibrium.

equilibrium. [snorts]

If you look at World War I, tens of

millions of people died, okay? And you

cannot possibly understand what happened

or you have problems explaining what

happened because the military strategy

in World War I was so idiotic, right?

You just threw millions of people at

each other. But if you understood that

war is really about maintaining the

status quo that maybe you have access

population of males and if you don't get

rid of them then they will engage you in

the revolution. Okay, you understand

that war is really about maintain the

status quo then war one makes a lot more

sense. Okay. So these are three major

ideas that I want you to understand and

once you understand these three ideas

it's a lot easier for you to understand

the movement of history. Okay. So we're

so we will use an example from Chinese

history so you have you have a clear

understanding of how this works. Okay.

So let's talk about the waring states

period. This is something that hopefully

you all know really well. Okay. So

during the waring states period you had

lots of really powerful states. Okay.

You had the jou,

you had the way, you had the chew. Okay. And

And

um at this point in history, you could

believe that any one of the three would

become the empire. They would unite the entire

entire

um middle kingdom

because they had access to rivers. So

it's easy for them to transport soldiers

and do goods. They had a large

population. They were on fertile ground.

Okay. And then over here is this poor

backward and isolated people called theQing.

theQing.

And these were barbarians. Okay.

So how was it possible for theQing who

are these barbarians not very advanced

very poor limited population to

eventually cover all of China? Okay.

Well, once you understand these three

principles, we can now explain it

because what what's happening is that

the jao the way and the true are pretty

stable states. Okay? And so the major

problem is lead over production. The

conflict between the upper nobility and

the lower nobility. And the way that we

resolve the issue is by waging war

against each each other. but waging war

against each other not to conquer each

other but in order to reduce the

domestic conflict within their nation

states and as such war became a ritual

in which it was like a chess game. Okay,

the point was not to destroy each other.

The point was just to maintain

equilibrium, maintain a status quo and

as a result these states became stable.

And now what's happening is first of all

theQing is being recruited into the wars

because theQing is poor. Therefore they

can provide mercenaries. Okay. Once they

do that what happens is that these

mercenaries learn all the innovations

of the jou way and in terms of military

strategy. Okay. So you have this massive

infusion of innovation into theqing. All

right? So the ching is being energized.

We call this energy, right? Innovation energy

energy

and ideas.

[snorts] But not only that, but you have

talented people of the low nobility,

right? They want to become officials.

They they want to become generals. But

there's opportunities for them. So where

do they go, guys? They go to the chain.

Okay? Now you have people coming in as well.

And now what's happening is that theQing

has this massive infusion of energy,

innovation, talent. And so now they can

just bulldoze everyone.

Okay. And now you're like, wait a minute

here. Surely the ja the way the two

recognize the danger of the ching and

they will respond by uniting together

and then destroy the ching. Okay, that

never happens. Why? The reason why is that

that

you understand the world through this

equilibrium. So in their perspective,

the chain becomes stronger. But that's

okay because all we'll do is we'll just

bribe them or we will have them become

part of the system. Why would they want

to take us over? Why can't we just live

happily ever after?

Okay. So it is impossible for the jao

the way of the chu to imagine that

theqing would one day overtake them.

Okay. Another another way of saying this

is that once become once you reach an

equilibrium the people inside the

equilibrium become lazy, stupid and arrogant.

arrogant.

Okay. And that's and that's why theqing

is easily able to destroy all three

together. In fact, the lower nobility

in all three states probably supported

the takeover, right? Because now they

have opportunities to rise within their societies.

societies.

Okay? And that's the pattern of human

history. And we see this over and over.

All right. So now let's move on to

the west. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.

So the equilibrium means that the war

made the com like the status competition

between within the countries more stable.

stable.

>> Yeah. Equilibrium just means they've

reach a balance point. Okay.

>> Oh, okay.

>> Yeah. And things are just staying the same.

same.

>> Oh, okay.

>> And so people think that things will

stay the same forever. So they can't

imagine change happening.

>> But the thing about human society is

that things always change. Okay. So

remember the pattern of the warning

states. Well, guess what? This repeats

over and over. So let's look at

Mesopotamia. So as we discussed about

Mesopotamia, you have the first city

Uric. And what they will do is that as

they expand as a city, they will develop

colonies along the Tigris and Euphrates.

And then these become a waring states as

well. And as we discussed, what will

happen is over time they will reach an

equilibrium. Basically a status quo or

rules to make sure that the elite stay

in power. Okay. And one important rule

that they have is we can we can go to

war against each other but we cannot

destroy each other's temple.

Why? Because the temple is the house of

your patron god. If you kill the patron

god then the god will be very angry and

will kill all of you. Okay? So this

creates an equilibrium because where do

they put all their gold and wealth? The

temple. So you can go and conquer people

but you can't touch their gold and their

wealth and therefore you cannot expand.

Okay. So this creates the idea of

equilibrium. But as I discussed what

happen is that um because of the

equilibrium energy will flow into a poor

exit area called uma and from uma where

a merch named Lucazagi who's like you

know what screw this system I'm going to

go for it all okay so he dares destroy a

temple and before this was unimaginable

because if you destroy a temple the

god's going to come in from heavens and

destroy you right that didn't happen.

But now Lucas Aagi has destroyed the

equilibrium and now he has access to

wealth. And so he's very quickly able to

overwhelm the other city states. At this

time the other city states call for help

from mercenaries, the Aadians who will

come and conquer the entire region,

okay, and establish an empire called the

Aadian Empire led by Sara.

But now that they are an empire, they

will now also reach an equilibrium. And

this talent will flow somewhere else to

energize another region. Okay. So now

what will happen is that the Babylonians

will come. The the Assyrians will come

eventually from the Zagos mountains a

new people called the Persians. Remember

the Persians have a religion called

Zerass will come and conquer all this

area and then they will expand outwards

and conquer both Anatolia

and Egypt.

Okay? And at this point in history, now

there's a new border area called the

Greeks. Okay, the Athenians, Athens and Sparta.

Sparta.

And Athens and Sparta, the Greeks

encounter Persia because they will send

in mercenaries to help Persia. And these

mercenaries will learn Persian war

tactics and bring them back to Greece.

But not only that, but with an empire,

the Greeks have an opportunity to get

wealthy. How? Through piracy, right? Piracy.

Piracy.

And then this will force the Persians

now to invade the Greek mainland to stop

this piracy. Okay? Again, this is a

pattern throughout history. The margins

will get wealthy by committing piracy

because why not, right? Okay. And so now

the empire is forced to go invade um

Greece. And guess what? They lose. This

is unimaginable. How is that possible

that some barbarians, the Greeks, are

able to defeat a vast empire, the

world's largest empire, the first great

world empire called the Persians. Well,

this happens all the time. Okay, why?

Well, the pattern is this. Okay, so

let's look at empire.

Let's look at borderlands. Okay,

borderlands are just, you know, the

barbarians. All right, the empire has

three major advantages. mass organization

organization

and death.

Okay. And what this means is that empire

just is has a lot of people. It has a

centralized bureaucracy. So the

centraliz bureaucracy is is able to

conscript these individuals and it

doesn't matter if they lose a lot of

battles. They uh can keep on throwing

soldiers at the enemy. Okay. But the

borderlands have three advantages that

counteract these three other advantage.

Okay. and they are uh energy

uh openness

and cohesion.

Okay? Meaning that the people work

really hard. They're not afraid to die.

They're open so they want to learn from

other people and they are united as a

people. And this defeats an empire

because the empire the people are not

that energetic. Most of them are slaves

actually. Um the empire is a

bureaucracy. So it's very stagnant. It's

very insular. is close-minded and it's

not and the empire is not united. It's

often divided. Okay, that's why

throughout human history the Borans are

able to conquer the um empire. Okay, so um

okay so the Persians invade

uh Greece they get c they get defeated

and now Greece becomes the center of the

world or part or major power. Okay. So

let's now discuss Greece.

Okay. So in Greece, remember that we

discussed Greece before and we we said

that Greece becomes the center of

innovation in the world because of three

factors. The first is Homer who is

probably the greatest prophet puppet

poet prophet in human history. Okay. We

read the Iliad together. Pet also wrote

the Odyssey. And these are the two

founding texts of Greek civilization. Um

the alphabet, right? They're now able to

using alphabet write down all their

thoughts and quickly transmit their

thoughts throughout time and space. The

last of course is the polus. Okay, the

polus is their um system of government

where all the citizens are involved in

politics and the polist there's like

thousands of them and they're often

small like maybe a thousand 10,000

people but the two major polices are Athens

Athens

and Sparta. >> [snorts]

>> [snorts]

>> And Athens and Sparta are both Greek,

but they're different societies. In

fact, they're nothing alike. Okay, so

let's go over why. Well, first of all,

And if as if you're on flat land, you

can you can use agriculture, but to use

agriculture, you need slaves. Okay? So

Sparta became a war society that

conquered the surrounding people and

turned them into slaves called helotss.

So these helotss

were um yeah surfs slaves who farmed.

And so the Sparta became a war society

based on military dominance. The entire

society was centered around how to take

young boys turn them into great warriors

so that they could they could defend

their land. Okay. The Spartans were also

very conservative.

Why? Because your concern is to maintain

control over the helotss. If you went

over to conquer other places, the helots

could ever could rebel against you.

Okay? And so if you want to know what

this place is like, think China. Okay?

So this is very similar to China. Uh and

as a result of this system, Sparta was

an oligarchy,

meaning ruled by the few. So only

Spartans who were born to both a Spartan

father and a mother were citizens.

Everyone else was not a citizen. So even

your father was Spartan, but your mother

was not Spartan, you were not a citizen.

Okay? So there's a massive class

hierarchy in Sparta. And the reason why

is for them the priority was to maintain

the status quo. Okay? The Athenians are

a different people. The Athenians don't

have good farmland, but they have a good harbor.

harbor.

Okay. So, and the territory around them,

it's mountainous, so they can't really

grow crops, but they do, but they are

able to grow a crop called olives. Okay?

So, they have a lot of olive trees. [snorts]

[snorts]

And so, what happens is the Athenians

have no choice but to be expansionist.

Okay? So they built a really strong navy

[clears throat] and they focus on trade

and piracy and that's how they sustain

themselves over time. So whereas the

Spartans are conservative, the Athenians

are both open and expansionist.

And also what's really important to

understand is that if you're a navy, you

have to be a democracy.

The rule in

um Greece is that you fight for us, you

can vote, you can speak in public, you

can participate in politics. Now um

Sparta was a land army with hoplets.

Hobblelets are elite soldiers and as a

result they were an oligarchy. Okay,

because only a few of them fought. But

Athens was a uh democracy because it had

a navy. In a navy, everyone could roll.

Okay? To be h you to buy weaponry, you

have to train for like decades. But the

Athenians had a navy where anyone can

just roll. Okay? And so they were a democracy.

democracy.

All right? And so over time, because

Athens is democracy that's expanding,

Sparta is um a land power. Um Athens

will start to increase in power. Sparta

will decrease in power and eventually

these two will come in conflict with

each other. Okay. In something called

the Pelpedian war.

Eventually this gives rise to thieves

and eventually over time these three

states Athens thieves and Sparta will

reach a equilibrium. Okay. So similar to

the waring states where they inter each

other and they use war as a way to

resolve their domestic tensions as

opposed to try to conquer each other.

And this gives opportunity for a new

power to arise that was previously

thought of off as backward, poor and

isolated. And this power is called Macedonia.

So what Macedonia is going to do is

they're going to take all the major

military innovations of Sparta, thieves,

and Athens to create the world's most

powerful army. Okay? And what else

they're going to do is they're going to

recruit a lot of talent from these

places. And then what's going to happen

is that Macedonia is going to come and

conquer the entire Greek mainland. The

Macedonians will be the first to unite Greece.

Greece.

Okay. Now, who who's doing all this? His

Okay. Philip Sen is probably the

greatest military genius, one of the

greatest military geniuses in human

history. But we don't remember him

because he has a son who's actually more

famous than he is. And his name is who?

who?

Axen the Great.

Why is Axen the Great more famous?

Because Aon the Great will take

everything that Phil built and he will

use it to conquer Persia. Okay.

Okay. And

And

um then what will happen is that as this

system reaches another equilibrium a new

power rise that will overflow this

entire system and this power is called

>> Rome okay which we will discuss next

class okay so you see how this pattern

works right it's a consistent pattern

throughout human history

all right okay so

what happened is that action the will

will

conquer the Persian Empire. All right.

Uh where's the Persian Empire? Egypt, Anatolia,

Anatolia,

Mesopotamia,

Um okay. So this is like the entire

world and like this small army. Okay,

it's not even the entire Greek army.

It's basically it's Macedonians only.

This small army, the Macedonians,

they're able to come and they're able to

conquer all of it. Okay. And the

question then is how? Well, the same

reason why uh theQing was able to

conquer the Jou the way in the Chu,

right? because of elite competition,

elite overp production within these areas

areas

because um these elites have no loyalty.

So so a lot of these leads were

switching sides over time. So what

probably happened was that these certain

elites invited Alexander to come over

and then he switched sides. So he was

very quickly able to bulldoze. Also

remember that when you reach an

equilibrium you become lazy, stupid and

arrogant. Right? So this guy Darius, he

is now the um

king of kings. Okay? He's leading the

Persians and he always believed that at

some point Alexander would stop. Okay?

He'd be like, "You know what? You have

Egypt, you have the Levant, you have

Anatolia, you have parts of Mesopotamia.

You know what I'll do? I'll give you all

this territory plus I'll give you half

my treasury." So Darius thought he could

just bribe Alexander and his father Phil

would have been like, "That's a great

deal. I'm happy." Sure.

But Alexander was not like that. Okay.

Alexander is considered himself the son

And you will discover that all these

great conquerors believe that they are

divinity that they are a son of God and

they came on earth in order to unify the

world. Okay. Genghask Con was like this.

Julius Caesar was like was like this.

Napoleon was like this. All these great

conquerors are unlimited.

Like their appetite for conquest is insatiable.

insatiable.

So, and this was unimaginable for these

people. Like we're giving you like all

the money in the world. And I said

that's not enough. Okay. we'll give the

entire world. That's not enough, man. I

want it all. So, he kept on going and he

killed D. Sorry. And then Darius died

and he conquered the entire um Persian

Empire. The problem though is that

Alexander was being co-opted by the

Persian elite. Remember, it was part of

the Persian elite that invited Alexander

to come over and a lot of the Persian

elite were switching sides. So Alexander

was incorporating more and more of the

Persian elite into his army as well as

into his administration and so his

Macedonian army is not happy about this.

So they get they get together and they

assassinate him. Okay. And now the world

is divided among his generals. Okay. And

this creates what we call the Henistic age.

Okay. The world of the Greeks. And what

is special about this world is now all

three major cultures that came after the

collapse of the bronze age. The Jews,

the uh Greeks and the Persians come

together in what we call synretatism.

Synatism just means a combining of

religions to create the basis for

western civilization. Okay. The

secretism will also give birth to a new

religion that forever changes the world

and it is called Christianity.

Christianity.

Okay. So Christianity is comes from a merger

merger

of these three major worldviews.

Okay. Now once the Greeks talk of the

world, they have a problem which is

there's not that many of them. Okay. So

how do they control the world? Well,

they control the world through religion,

through culture. So the what they will

do is um a man named Aristotle

Macedonian and and like this is

something that you do not learn in

history class and it is such an

important fact. Okay, but the important

fact is this. Philip the second the man

who conquered Greece and Aristotle

consider one of the most famous

philosophers in human history. They were

childhood best friends. Okay, they grew

up together and it's something that you

will never ever learn in school. Okay,

but it's a very important fact that you

you you need to understand. So, so way

of saying this is that um the

Macedonians had a plan of the world for

a long long time. So, what would happen

is that Phili would go to Greece to

learn all the military innovations but

Aristotle would go to learn all the

intellectual innovations of Greece. So

his teacher was Plato.

Okay. So he learned from Plato and the

academy. And what will do is he will

take Greek knowledge, he will systemize

it into a knowledge of empire. Okay. So

We discussed how for Plato what matters

is the spirit, the mind. create the

soul, the immaterial. So this is the

good or the god, the good and the good

emanates and creates the shadow world

which is the world that we live in. But

our goal in life is to return to the

good by seeking knowledge, by learning

truth, um by learning something called

sacred geometry. So for Plato, secret

geometry are these shapes that underpin

reality. Okay? So once you're able to

master sacred geometry, you're able to

master the fabric of the universe.

And so that's what Plato taught. Now, if

you're an empire, you don't want this

crap. Okay? Why? Because as an empire,

you want to maximize the energy of each

individual. You want the person to work

as hard as possible to make as much

money as possible because that energy

then can be sucked up by the empire.

Okay? If you're just sitting around

reading books, that's we don't want that

crap. Okay? So now what Aristotle has to

do is create a new philosophy that

counter counters Plato.

Actually, Aristotle probably didn't

create this. He probably stole it from

someone else. Okay? But the philosophy

is very simple. For Aristotle, he

doesn't talk about the spirit world. He

only talks about the material world.

Okay? For for Aristotle, what makes the

world move is cause and effect.

So I push you, you move forward, you

move forward, you bump someone else, and

that person bumps into someone else.

Okay? Cause and effect. Now this this

theory implies that there must have been

Okay? Because someone must have been the

first to move things. That person must

have been God. Okay? But what's

important about the in this idea is the

prime move doesn't matter because the

prime move is the first move.

We don't have to worry about him

anymore. Okay? All we have to worry

about is the goal. The end. Okay? We

don't have to worry about the beginning.

We have to worry about the end. What is

the end? The end is something called tilos.

tilos.

Telos. Okay? Purpose. Okay? When what

this means is that we're all here to

achieve our purpose in life. Okay? So

you are students. What's your purpose?

To learn. So if you learn

if you learn, you become a good student

because you're fulfilling your purpose.

I'm a teacher. My purpose is to teach as

well as I can. Okay? So work hard and

produce energy for the empire. Okay? So

that this is the Aristotle um idea. This

is important. uh because

this conflict between Plato and

Aristotle is really the underlying

conflict in all of Western philosophy.

Okay, we'll see this all the time. We

will see this emerge in um Europe with

um and so Plato becomes what we call the

rationalist. So Decart and

and

becomes what we call the empiricist.

Okay. So please remember this conflict empiricis.

empiricis.

All right.

Plato believes in mind over matter.

Aristotle says mind doesn't matter.

Let's focus on matter. Okay. That's all

that matters. I don't know mind mine.

Let's just focus on matter. Okay. And

the British Empire will adopt this idea.

In fact, all empires will adopt this

idea, including the American Empire. All right.

All right.

Okay. Any questions before

um we go to the PowerPoint? This is all clear.

clear.

All right. So, let's go to the PowerPoint.

All right. So, as I discussed, the

geography of Greece is really important.

So, Greece is a very poor place that is

mountainous and hilly. So it's almost

impossible for an empire to develop in

Greece because there's not enough

wealth, there's not enough um resources

to support an empire. So so during this

time there are thousands of polices that

are in conflict with each other and this

allows for massive innovation. What's

also important about Greece is that it

is by the sea which allows Greece to

access different parts of the world.

Okay. If you cross the Aian, you get

into Persia, which is the wealthiest

part of the world. The Mediterranean

gives you access to Egypt as well as to

northern Africa as well. Okay, so Greece

really benefited from this geography.

That's why uh Greece was so innovative

because you can actually steal knowledge

from Egypt. It steal a lot of knowledge

from Egypt. Okay, that's something that

is not really knowledge, but you can see

how close Egypt is. Okay. So, uh the

Greeks sold a lot of knowledge from

Egypt and from Anatolia, Mesopotamia and

Persia. But they also steal knowledge

from uh northern Europe as well. Okay.

Um so remember that the two major city

states are Sparta and Athens. Um thieves

is the third major city state. Macedonia

is up here somewhere. So where's

Macedonia? Around here somewhere. Okay.

And uh the thing about Macedonia is that

throughout most of this history it

doesn't really matter

and throughout this mo most of this

history is actually a subject of Persia.

It's a very mountainous area and so it

was poor backwards for the longest time. Okay.

Okay. So this is a map of Sparta. Now,

Sparta becomes the military power of the

Greeks because um as you can see the Pelpine

Pelpine

it's pretty flat which allows for

agriculture. With agriculture you need

slaves. So the Spartans had to go

conquer the people and turn them into

slaves called the helotss. And their

main concern in life became how do we

keep the helotss under control because

they're outnumbered 10 to one.

Okay. So the helotss were both the major

resource of Sparta, but they also the

major danger to Sparta. And Sparta

didn't really care about anyone else.

So the Spartans were concerned first and

foremost about how to turn their boys

into warriors. And so the first thing

they did that's most important is they

took the children away at age six or

seven or five. Okay? Because remember we

discussed this previously. If you want

people to be great warriors, you have to

create anxiety in them. Okay? If they

are loving people, they don't want to

kill other people. But if they are

divorced from their parents, they have

conflict with their parents, they don't

really like life, they really got

killing. Okay? So these boys were take

was were taken away from parents at age

uh five or six. And then they were put

with other boys where they were beat up

every day. They were beat up every

single day. when they were 14 15 they um

had a mentor who was like maybe 30 years

old and they became lovers okay and

that's how you build commie um

fraternity in the army and then when

1819 they had initiation um ceremony

where at night they would hide in the

fields and wait for a helot a slave to

break curfew. Okay. If if you stay up

outside, if you stay outside

um beyond sun um set, then you broke the

law. And so what these soldiers would do

is they would hide, wait for a hella to

break curfew, and then go and slit the

guy's throat. Okay? And that was

basically the graduation ceremony for

the spawn. This this is a brutal, brutal

people. But guess what guys? The the

Romans were the same thing. The Aztecs

were the same thing. The Americans are

the same thing. Okay.

All right. So, um, what's important to

understand is that at this time in

history, the Greeks are developing

massive innovation in military warfare

because they're always at war with each

other. And the major innovation is

called the hoplights. Okay, the

hoplights is basically to create a wall

together so you can bulldo over your

enemy. Also in this time in history, the

Persians are developing horse archers

and this is a major military innovation

for them.

What's really important for us to

understand is like the these two

innovations happen because of their

distinct geography. You couldn't have

horse archers in Greece because the land

is too hilly. The land is too poor to

support horse archery. Okay? You

couldn't have hoplights in Persia

because the land is too wide. Okay? So

what this means is that yes, Persia is

the dominant empire in the world, but

when they go to Greece to attack the

Greeks, they cannot use their horse

archers, which is their major military

innovation. And as a result, the Greeks

are able to use hoplights and bulldo

All right. So this is the battle of

Marathon, which is the first great

military engagement between the Greeks

and the Persians. The Greeks again, the

Athenians, especially Athenians, they're

going and causing a lot of problems for

Persians. They are they're committing

piracy. They're also going around and

encouraging Greeks under uh the Persian

rule to not pay taxes. Greeks do not

like to pay taxes. It's still true in

today. Okay? Uh Greeks hate paying

taxes. And so this is the first major

mil confrontation between the Athenians

and the the Persians called the Battle

of Marathon. And this is 490 BCE. and

the Athenians won because as I told you,

the Persians use horse archers. They

can't use horse archers in Greece.

They're forced to use um infantry. But

when it comes to infantry versus

infantry, the Greeks are are the best at

that. So avoid head-on collisions with

All right. So um this will lead to a

series of wars between Persia and Greece

and what will happen is that there will

be two major in invasions and they will

both fail. Okay, the the one that I'm

most uh interested in is the purple.

Okay, this is the last major invasion of

the Persians into Greece. What will

happen is that they will create this

land bridge. Okay. Uh on the Bosphorus

they basically have ships. It's a land

bridge and they will cross over and this

leads to the famous battle of Ferupi.

Okay. You may have seen the movie 300

where 300 Spartans stood stood against

like you know a lot of Persians. Well uh

the Persians eventually crush the uh

Spartans and what they will do is they

will take Leonitis who's the king of

Spartans and they will cut off his head

and put him on the pike. Okay. And that

this is considered a major insult to the

Greeks. Then what they will do is they

will go to Athens uh which is here and

they will burn down Athens. And at this

point the war should be over, right?

But what happens is the Athenians are

like you know what we're a polless. A

polus is not a place. It's a people. So

what we'll do is we'll get on our ships

and sell off. And the Persians are like

you can't do that man. Athenian is like

yeah we can man. So Athenians are sell

off and the war continues. Okay, Athena

should have been destroyed but it's not

destroyed and [snorts] at this point the

Persian have won the war and all the

Persians have to do is stay where they

are and land their navy. Okay, they have

a massive navy into Sparta because

Sparta has a weakness, right? Sparta has

helots. So all they do is land in Sparta

and the helots will rise up against

Sparta and the war is over. Game over.

Okay. The problem with empires is

they're lazy, stupid, and arrogant.

Okay. So, um, Xerxes, who's leading this invasion,

invasion,

he thinks that, you know what, this

strategy of winning the war for

attrition is not honorable because I

want to go back and build a monument to

myself. Okay? So, I want to face the

Greeks in a major confrontation. And

this confrontation is called the battle

of Salamus. Okay? the battle of Salamus.

And as I where's Salamus? Um yeah, right

here. Okay. And this is considered the

greatest naval battle in human history

because it forever changed the course of

human history. Now, at this point, I I

keep on saying this, the war is over.

You don't have to do anything. Just let

troops into Sparta uh the Pelpineese and

the Hellet will rise up and destroy the

Spartans and the war is over. You've

conquered all of Greece. Okay? do not

risk your navy in a military confrontation.

confrontation.

So of course the the Persians decide

we're going to risk our navy and so this

leads to the battle of Salamus which

ever again forever changed the course of

human history.

All right.

Um so this this is another map showing

you what what happens. Okay. And now we

are in the battle of Salamus.

Um and we know about the battle cylus

because of a name named Herodotus uh uh

Heroditus who wrote a book called

histories and he's considered a father

of history because he wrote the first

historical work. What he did is he

basically went around Greece and he

collected memories of the Persian wars

um a few decades after the fact and he

wrote it all down. Okay. Um if you read

the histories it's really funny. It's

really interesting but we have to take

it with a grain of salt. Okay. Okay. So

he writes about the battle of uh ferupi.

Okay. And again at this point in his

history the war is over. You don't have

[sighs]

But again Xerxes says I want a monument.

Okay. I want to witness a great climic

battle between my navy and the Greek

navy. Okay. So he sends his navy into

battle and of course they get destroyed

because again it's really important you

don't fight the Greeks face on. Okay,

you don't do that because the Greeks are

heavily armored and you're not. Okay, so

um this is a Greek uh tri. Okay, so

Greek tri the thing to to recognize

about is it's mainly soldiers. So

they're really fast. They have some uh

soldiers on top, marines on top. Okay.

So, they're really good at ramming you

and destroying your ship. The leader of

the Athenian Navy, his name is Fezicles.

And Fzles is one of the greatest

generals in Athenian history. He's

actually the guy who proposed that

Athens build a navy. Um, Athens

discovered a silver mine and they use

all the silver to build their navy to

prepare for the Persian invasion. Okay?

And it was Fezicles who led the

Athenians against the Persians.

Okay? And this is what the battle looks

like. Okay? So you have you still have

this massive Persian army converging

against the Athenians. But again guys,

don't fight the Greeks head on. Okay? So

they're like, you know, we're going to

fight them head on. So you see this

massive army converging against the Athenians.

And now they're they're they're

And the Athenians destroy them. Okay.

Yeah. Don't fight the Greeks head on.

All right. And now the entire Persian

Navy is scattered. The war is over now

because now the Persians have lost their

navy, which means that they cannot

resupply. They have no more no mobility.

And so what will happen next is that the

uh so yeah the Athenians destroy the

Persian navy. What happened next is

um the Spartans will not want to destroy

the remaining Persian forces in Greece.

Okay, this is why you don't do I can't

I'm sorry. It's just the dumbest thing

I've ever seen. Okay, they won the war

and they screwed it up. Okay. Um once

you lose a Navy, you can't resupply.

Once you re once you can't resupply

you've lost the war. All right. So this

is from Heroditus. All right. Um so

what's going to happen is the war the

battle of Salamas is lost and but you

know the Persian still have this huge

army in Greece and so the Athenian g

sorry the Persian king Xerxes he's he's

like I'm out of here man. You know I

came here to burn down Athens. I've done

that. I'm gonna go home now and I'm

gonna let my general Monius take care of

the Greeks. Okay, so Mononius is like,

you know, I don't really want to fight

these guys anymore. So Monius sends an

envoy to the Athenians and said, "You

know what? The king of kings, York, says

this, we're really sorry we burned down

your city. Really sorry we burned down

your temple, but we'll give you a lot of

money, so please stop fighting us."

Okay. Um, and this is what the envoy

says to the Athenians. Okay, can you

read, please?

Why are you so mad as to love your war

against the king? For neither can you

get the better off him, nor can you

resist him forever. You are acquainted

with the multitude of Xerxes army and

their achievements. You have heard of

the force that is even now with me. So

that even if you should get the better

of us and conquer of which however you

can't have no hope if you think soberly

another much more numerous will come

against you.

>> Okay. So this is idea of empire, right?

Just mass organization and death. We are

infinite in our resources. We are

infinite in our wealth. We can just

throw army after army after army against

you. Athenians, you're like this small

little city. Okay, give up already. And

the Athenians respond

with this. Okay.

>> We ourselves are aware of this that the

power of the Medis

>> mess. Meets me is Persian. Okay. Oh,

mess is far greater than ours, so that

there was no need to insult us with

that. But nevertheless, being ardent for

liberty, we will defend ourselves in

such manner as we are able. But do not

you attempt to persuade us to come to

terms with the barbarian, for we will

not be persuaded. Go then, and tell

Mardonius that the Athenians say, "So

long as the sun shall continue in the

same course as now, we will never make

terms with Xerxes. But we will go out to

oppose him trusting in the gods who

fight for us and in the heroes whose

temples and images he holding them in no

reverence has burned.

>> Okay. So these two passes show you the

difference between empire and the

borderlands. Right? The empire is about

mass organization death. The borderlands

the Greeks are about openness energy and

cohesion. Okay. The Athenian say to the

persons we know you're bigger than us.

We know you're stronger than us, but we

believe in liberty. We believe in each

other. We believe in our gods. And

therefore, we'll fight you to the end. Okay.

All right. So, what will happen is that

now that Xerxes is gone, now that the

navy is scattered, Mardonis is kind of

screwed. Okay. And so, what will happen

is the Spartans face off against

Mardonis in the battle of Palia and they

they will destroy uh Mardonis. Mardonis

is killed. And so one of the soldiers

says to the king of the Spartans, "Uh,

Passenius, Pacenius, your uncle Leonitis

was killed by the Persians and they put

his head on a spike. Why don't you

return the favor and put the head of

Mardonius on a on a sp on on a pike and

show it to the world and show how great

the Greeks are?" This is Pson's response

to this. Okay, can you read? Posonius

answered, "I admired your good

intentions and your foresight, but you

have failed to form a right judgment for

having highly extolled extolled me, my

country, and my achievement. You have

thrown all down against me uh to nothing

by advising me to insult a dead body,

and saying that if I do, so I shall

increase my fame, which is more fit for

barbarians to do than Greeks, and which

we uphore even in them. I cannot

therefore in this matter please the uh

uh >> ajini

>> ajini

>> ajini nor those who nor those to whom

such things should be pleasing. It is

sufficient for me to please the Spartans

by doing and speaking what is right. As Leonitis

Leonitis

>> Leonitis whose death you exhort me to

avenge, I affirm that he has been amply

avenged. Both he and all the others who

fell at their mob play have been avenged

by the countlessness of these men.

However, do not you hereafter come to me

with such a proposal, nor give such

advice, and be thankful that you escaped unpunished.

unpunished.

>> Okay, so what he's saying is that we won

because the gods favor us. Why do the

gods favor us? Because we are virtuous.

Because we are loyal to the gods. We're

loyal to ourselves. We are not the

barbarians. We are not the Persians. We

are the Spartans.

Okay. So you can see at this time in

history how

um for the Greeks what matters is their

virtue, their faith and their loyalty.

Okay? But guess what? This all changes

when they become an empire. Okay? So I I

want you guys to remember this. And what

we're going to do now is we're going to

compare and contrast this when what

happens when they become an empire.

All right. So, the Persians are

scattered and they're never they're

never going to come back and now it's

the Athenian Empire. And so, what um the

Athenians propose is, you know what,

it's always possible that the Persians

will want to return. So, we need to set

up a alliance to defend ourselves

against the Persians. Okay? And they

call it the Dillian League. Why? because

they agree that they will pull the

resources together as a defense fund

against the uh person. So think of like

NATO, okay, the North Atlantic Treaty

Organization. They agree that they will

put all their gold in a place called

Delos, okay? An island in Delos

somewhere. Um yeah, it's somewhere.

Yeah, it's right here. It's a small

island in Del right here. Okay, you guys

see it? [clears throat] And so no one no

one's allowed to touch this. So what

happens is that the Athenians are like

you know what it's probably safer with

us. So the Athenians steal all this gold

and now the Dian league is no long is no

longer a alliance but a empire the

Athenian empire where everyone now has

to pay tribute to Athens. Okay. So all

that's happened is before these Greek

city states have to pay tribute to the

Persians and now they have to pay

tribute to the Athenians. Okay. It's

probably a worst deal for everyone. And

what do the Athenians do with all this

gold? They spend it on this. Okay, it's

called the Parthonon. It's still there

in Athens if you you want to go visit

it. It's it's lost its former glory.

Okay, but this is what the Parthonon

looked like during the age of Pericles,

during the age of the Athenian Empire.

Okay, this is a statue of uh Athena.

It's pure gold. They didn't have to do

this, but they were like, you know what?

we're going to enjoy our empire. They

built uh the the Athenian statue. Okay.

And so at this time in history, the

Athens is beautiful. It's wealthy. And

what that does is it makes you lazy,

All right. So this is fusidities and he

wrote um the pelpina war um and he discusses

discusses

why Athens went to war with Sparta.

Okay. And what he says is well it's

because Sparta is the hegeimon and

Athens is the rising power and therefore

they were bound to clash. Okay. That's

not what happened. Athens was the

hedgeimon. happens with the empire and

his allies were rebelling against it and

it would it drag Sparta into the war.

Okay, that's what that's what what what

really happened.

All right, so this is what the war looks

like. The Athenians have their empire,

the Spartans have their alliances, and

what's going to happen is the allies are

going to try to break out of the

Athenian empire. Okay? And they're going

to drag Sparta into the war. Sparta does

not want to fight Athens. But Athens

forces Sparta to fight it because Athens

is very expansionist. Okay. So you can

see how this red is now encroaching on

the Pelpineese which is historically

uh Spartan uh territory. Right now the

problem is that remember Sparta has a

weakness. The helotss if the Athenas

ever choose to land forces on its coast

the Helotss would all rise up together

and overwhelm the Spartans. Okay. So

Sparta must protect its periphery from

uh Athenian encroachment. So this is

what leads to the war. Okay, this

doesn't make sense. Okay, Sparta does

not want this war. The Athenians are

extremely aggressive. They're expanding

everywhere and Sparta is forced into

this war. The allies use this

opportunity in order to try to break out

of the Athenian uh empire. And so most

of Palinian war is actually between

Athens and its former colonies and

allies. Okay? because Athens is a mafia

state. Now what's important for us to

understand is that because of the nature

of this war, the way they fought the war

was strange. Okay, so Sparta is not

trying to destroy Athens and Athens is

not is not trying to destroy Sparta.

It's really easy for Athens to destroy

Sparta, right? All Athens has to do is

land forces in Sparta and let the Hella

to rise up. But Athens doesn't want to

do that because they will destroy the

equilibrium. Okay? You don't know what

would happen if the allot helots were to

take control of Sparta. They might come

after you Athens. Okay, so Athens is

status quo power. Therefore, it wants to

maintain the equilibrium. Now, let me

ask you this question. How could Sparta

defeat Athens very easily, right? They

could just free the hell out. Right now,

their army rises 10 times. They can now

overwhelm Athens. But doesn't want to do

that because it would destroy their

equilibrium. Okay? It would destroy

their social order. It would destroy

their oligarchy. It would create a

democracy. basically and they don't they

don't want that. Okay, so they're trying

to they're trying to fight the war in a

way that allows to maintain equilibrium

and that's why the war is fought in a

very strange way. Okay, they're not

trying to destroy each other. They're

trying to maintain a balance of power.

What will happen is that Sparta will

eventually defeat Athens. But choose not

to destroy Athens because if destroy

Athens then thieves and other powers

could arise which could challenge

Sparta. Okay. Right. >> [snorts]

>> All right. So the leader of um Athens at

this time is Pericles and Pericles is

famous for the funeral which is

considered like the most famous speech

in um western civilization. And I I I'm

sorry uh but in university they will

teach you that the funeral is a speech

about democracy. It's not a speech about

democracy. If you actually read it, it's

a speech about empire. Okay. Um, for

whatever reason, the British and

Americans believe that Athens was the

greatest democracy in the world and they

can do no wrong. No, no, no. It's an

empire and it's concerned only with

maintaining its empire. Okay. So, we're

going to read from the funeralation. And

the thing remember about funeralation is

that Athens is not at war. Lots of

Athenians are getting killed in this war

and the custom is for uh there to be a

massive state funeral to celebrate the

war dead and they give a a a speech to

commemorate the war dead. Okay. So we

can't read all the speech but I want to

show you a very important paragraph in

the speech. Okay. All right.

[clears throat]

Comfort therefore not condolence non >> condolence

>> condolence

is what I have to offer to the parents

of the dead who may be here. Numberless

are the chances to which as they know

the life of man is subject but fortunate

indeed are they who draw for their lot

of lot of death so glorious that which

has caused your mourning. Yet who you

yet you who are still of an age to beget

children must spare up in the hope of

having others in their steedstead.

Not only will they help you to forget

those whom you have lost but will be to

the state at once a reinforcement and a security.

security.

>> Okay. So he's talking to these uh

parents whose sons are now dead. Okay.

And remember like during the Persian

wars the Athenians are like we're a

virtuous people. We believe in liberty.

We believe in our gods. We believe in

each other. And that's why we'll win

this war. Okay. Now, what Pericles is

saying to these parents is, you know

what? Your sons were useless anyway. But

now they died for empire, which is good,

right? Now, you can be proud of your

sons who are worthless. But now that

they died for empire, we can't celebrate

them. So, what should you guys do? You

should have more children so that you

can protect the empire. Okay.

All right, that's what he's saying. He's

also saying to

um the Athenians, listen, I know these

men are dead and they have children, but

don't worry because what we're going to

do is we will put these children into an

into an orphanage and raise up to be

soldiers so that so that they can go and

fight for the empire and die like their

fathers. Okay, this is now empire, guys. [snorts]

All right. So, um, this is the plague of

Athens. So, again, what Perules should

be doing is embarking on a massive war

of expansion against the Sparta and

Sparta would lose very quickly. Perles

doesn't do that because he doesn't want

to fight the Spartans. If he defeats the

Spartans, it creates an imbalance of

power in the Greek mainland. Okay? So

what he does is he forces everyone to

seek shelter within Athens because

remember Sparta is a land power. He

doesn't want to face Sparta on land. So

he forces everyone to go into Athens and

hide behind the city walls. Guess what

happens if you put a lot of people in

one place? You get the play, guys. Okay,

this kills a third of the Athenian

population, including Pericles and his

All right, so uh can you read can you

read this? So what's happening is that

you have the these different islands who

are either rebelling against Athenians

or who say to the Athenians, we don't

want to be part of the stupid war. Okay?

And Athenians go to them and says, "Too

bad, guys." Okay, keep on going.

Athenians, for ourselves, we shall not

trouble you with spaces

>> specious species pretenses either of how

we have a right to our empire because we

overthrew the meat or are now attacking

you because of wrong that you have done

us and make a long speech which would

not be which not be believed. And in

return, we hope that you instead of

thinking to influence us by saying that

you did not join the list as a

>> these are the Spartans. Okay.

>> Sedonians although they're colonists or

that you have done us no wrong, we'll

aim at what is feasible holding in view

that holding view the real sentiments of

us both. Since you know as well as we do

that right as the world goes is only in

question between equals in power while

the strong do what they can and the weak

suffer what they must.

>> Okay. So you know the Persians when they

went to the Athenians basically said we

are a vast empire. You can't defeat us

and let's just be friends. And and and

now now that the Athenians have defeated

the Persians now they're the empire.

Basically, what they say to everyone

else is, "We're not even going to bother

trying to be your friends. We're not

even going to bother trying to convince

you that we're right and you're wrong.

We're just stronger than you to shut up

and obey." Okay? This is the entire

point of the Athenians. The Athenians

are even worse than the Persians. Okay? Remember the the Athenians fought the

Remember the the Athenians fought the Persians for liberty. Once they become

Persians for liberty. Once they become an empire

an empire and others want liberty, too bad because

and others want liberty, too bad because Athenians are stronger. Might makes

Athenians are stronger. Might makes right. Okay.

All right. Um, so this war will drag on and because as an empire you become

and because as an empire you become lazy, stupid and arrogant, the Athenians

lazy, stupid and arrogant, the Athenians will do stupid things like go invade a

will do stupid things like go invade a uh [clears throat] people that don't

uh [clears throat] people that don't even that even not part of this war.

even that even not part of this war. Okay, Sicily. So remember um the

Okay, Sicily. So remember um the Athenians, it's a mafia state. What they

Athenians, it's a mafia state. What they do is they collect tribute from the

do is they collect tribute from the allies. But as this war is stragging on,

allies. But as this war is stragging on, they need more and more money. So they

they need more and more money. So they decide to go conquer conquer more and

decide to go conquer conquer more and more people. So they decide let's go

more people. So they decide let's go conquer Sicily because it's very

conquer Sicily because it's very wealthy. They send a massive expedition

wealthy. They send a massive expedition against Sicily. They get they lose and

against Sicily. They get they lose and they drag Syracuse which has a navy into

they drag Syracuse which has a navy into the war. Now Sparta, Syracuse combined

the war. Now Sparta, Syracuse combined against the Athenians and the Persians

against the Athenians and the Persians come in as well. Okay. The allies go

come in as well. Okay. The allies go turn against spar f Athens and what they

turn against spar f Athens and what they will do is they will blockade athens

will do is they will blockade athens from uh fric which is where Athens gets

from uh fric which is where Athens gets most of its wheat. Okay. So now Athens

most of its wheat. Okay. So now Athens is going to starve. So Athens surrenders

is going to starve. So Athens surrenders and this ends the pelpian war and this

and this ends the pelpian war and this time as remember that Spartans could

time as remember that Spartans could choose to destroy Athens. They don't

choose to destroy Athens. They don't choose to because they're not interested

choose to because they're not interested in winning the war. They're only

in winning the war. They're only interested in maintain the status quo

interested in maintain the status quo equilibrium. Okay.

equilibrium. Okay. And of course this gives rise to

And of course this gives rise to Macedonia. Okay. Now remember this is

Macedonia. Okay. Now remember this is really important for the second what he

really important for the second what he will do is he will go into the Greek

will do is he will go into the Greek mainland and learn all the major

mainland and learn all the major innovations of the theans the Athenians

innovations of the theans the Athenians and the Spartans. He will create

and the Spartans. He will create something called the master fallank

something called the master fallank which becomes the most dominant military

which becomes the most dominant military force in history at this point. He has a

force in history at this point. He has a child best friend Aristotle who will go

child best friend Aristotle who will go to Athens and learn from Plato and he

to Athens and learn from Plato and he will systemize all Greek knowledge so

will systemize all Greek knowledge so that so that he can take this knowledge

that so that he can take this knowledge and turn it into a um tool of empire.

and turn it into a um tool of empire. Okay. Okay. So um

Okay. Okay. So um Phil the second will focus on military

Phil the second will focus on military conquest of the world but will focus on

conquest of the world but will focus on cultural imperialism. Okay.

cultural imperialism. Okay. All right. So what makes Philip such a

All right. So what makes Philip such a genius is to understand listen Persians

genius is to understand listen Persians have their horse archers, the Athenians

have their horse archers, the Athenians and the Spartans have their hopes. Okay.

and the Spartans have their hopes. Okay. So but what I can do is I I can take all

So but what I can do is I I can take all these major innovations together and

these major innovations together and combine them into one military package

combine them into one military package and that allows me for coordination.

and that allows me for coordination. Okay? So I can have flexibility and

Okay? So I can have flexibility and mobility in my army. The problem though

mobility in my army. The problem though is like for that to happen you need to

is like for that to happen you need to make sure that every soldier is highly

make sure that every soldier is highly motivated that every soldier wants to

motivated that every soldier wants to fight. Now traditionally um if you have

fight. Now traditionally um if you have an army different section of your army

an army different section of your army get special privileges. Okay usually the

get special privileges. Okay usually the cavalry because these are aristocrats

cavalry because these are aristocrats they get all the privileges and everyone

they get all the privileges and everyone else their life sucks. But what Philip

else their life sucks. But what Philip the second understood is like no no no I

the second understood is like no no no I need to make sure that everyone is

need to make sure that everyone is happy. So he focused on increasing the

happy. So he focused on increasing the morale of his soldiers. And it's very

morale of his soldiers. And it's very easy guys, okay? All you do is be

easy guys, okay? All you do is be metocratic. If a soldier is doing a good

metocratic. If a soldier is doing a good job, you promote him. If a soldier is

job, you promote him. If a soldier is doing a bad job, you demote him. And you

doing a bad job, you demote him. And you think that's easy, but it's not because

think that's easy, but it's not because what it what it means is you have to

what it what it means is you have to overturn the social hierarchy. Okay?

overturn the social hierarchy. Okay? Because the aristocrats are just used to

Because the aristocrats are just used to like doing whatever they want. But Phil

like doing whatever they want. But Phil was insistent. No, no, no. Every soldier

was insistent. No, no, no. Every soldier will be treated fairly. This is going to

will be treated fairly. This is going to be a meritocracy and this is what

be a meritocracy and this is what allowed him to create the world's

allowed him to create the world's greatest army. Okay. Now once you have

greatest army. Okay. Now once you have these different forces in place you can

these different forces in place you can now have major military innovation and

now have major military innovation and what is major military innovation was

what is major military innovation was something called the anvil and hammer.

something called the anvil and hammer. Okay. Basically what would happen is

Okay. Basically what would happen is like your infantry will lock with the

like your infantry will lock with the other infantry in place. Okay. This

other infantry in place. Okay. This called the anvil. And then what will

called the anvil. And then what will happen is your cavalry will sweep in

happen is your cavalry will sweep in from behind to smash the enemy cavalry.

from behind to smash the enemy cavalry. This called the hammer. And this is what

This called the hammer. And this is what allowed Alexandra to conquer all of

allowed Alexandra to conquer all of Persia because no other army had

Persia because no other army had witnessed such a powerful force and you

witnessed such a powerful force and you can't really possibly respond to it.

can't really possibly respond to it. Okay, once the army once the infantry

Okay, once the army once the infantry locks you in place, you can't escape.

locks you in place, you can't escape. Then the cavalry comes in and smashes

Then the cavalry comes in and smashes you in apart. Okay, the anvil and the

you in apart. Okay, the anvil and the hammer.

hammer. So what will happen is that um Phil the

So what will happen is that um Phil the second will go conquer Greece because

second will go conquer Greece because remember at this time Greece are

remember at this time Greece are dividing into city states. They're all

dividing into city states. They're all fighting each other and they're not

fighting each other and they're not interested in actually conquering each

interested in actually conquering each other. They're just interested in

other. They're just interested in maintaining equilibrium. So, Philip the

maintaining equilibrium. So, Philip the second is like, you know what, screw the

second is like, you know what, screw the system. I'm going to come break all the

system. I'm going to come break all the rules and I'm going to conquer everyone.

rules and I'm going to conquer everyone. So, this is the battle of Sherania,

So, this is the battle of Sherania, which is where he defeats a combined

which is where he defeats a combined force of Athenians and Athenians. And

force of Athenians and Athenians. And now he controls all of uh mainland

now he controls all of uh mainland Greece. And now he's ready to do what is

Greece. And now he's ready to do what is what he really wants, which is to

what he really wants, which is to conquer Persia. Why? Because Persia is

conquer Persia. Why? Because Persia is where the money is, right? Greece is

where the money is, right? Greece is poor. Persia is wealthy. Therefore, I'm

poor. Persia is wealthy. Therefore, I'm I'm gonna take this army and go conquer

I'm gonna take this army and go conquer Persia.

Um, so this is the year 336 when Philip II has conquered all

when Philip II has conquered all mainland Greece and he's now ready to

mainland Greece and he's now ready to invade Persia. In fact, he has also

invade Persia. In fact, he has also spies throughout Persia. He also has

spies throughout Persia. He also has diplomats throughout Persia negotiating

diplomats throughout Persia negotiating with the local elites. Okay? So, he's

with the local elites. Okay? So, he's now ready to go and conquer uh Persia.

now ready to go and conquer uh Persia. Uh, unfortunately, he gets killed. Okay.

Uh, unfortunately, he gets killed. Okay. So, he goes to the wedding of his

So, he goes to the wedding of his daughter and his bodyguard kills him.

daughter and his bodyguard kills him. And there's historical debate as to who

And there's historical debate as to who killed this, but the answer is pretty

killed this, but the answer is pretty simple. Okay. His wife, uh, his wife,

simple. Okay. His wife, uh, his wife, Olympias.

Olympias. Why would Olympia, who is the mother

Why would Olympia, who is the mother Alexander the Great, kill her husband?

Alexander the Great, kill her husband? It's really, really simple.

It's really, really simple. Um, if you're a king, you marry a lot of

Um, if you're a king, you marry a lot of foreign women for alliances. Olympias is

foreign women for alliances. Olympias is not Macedonian.

not Macedonian. And um so there's a lot of people in the

And um so there's a lot of people in the Macedonian court who who dislike her.

Macedonian court who who dislike her. Abel the great is here to the throne but

Abel the great is here to the throne but as a young man he was notorious for

as a young man he was notorious for being a thug. Okay he's not like Phil is

being a thug. Okay he's not like Phil is very deliberate. He's very strategic. A

very deliberate. He's very strategic. A the great is basically a thug. So Philin

the great is basically a thug. So Philin was worried about about the great. So

was worried about about the great. So later in his life he married a

later in his life he married a Macedonian woman and they had a son

Macedonian woman and they had a son together. Okay. What this means now is

together. Okay. What this means now is that this son is now here to the throat

that this son is now here to the throat and not the great Olympias taught

and not the great Olympias taught Alexander the Great from day one that

Alexander the Great from day one that you are special Alexander. You are not

you are special Alexander. You are not the son of Philip the second. You're the

the son of Philip the second. You're the son of God. Son of God. Okay. And so

son of God. Son of God. Okay. And so Olympias when she felt that Philip

Olympias when she felt that Philip second was about to steal the throne

second was about to steal the throne from Alexander she had him killed and we

from Alexander she had him killed and we know because after the Philip second was

know because after the Philip second was killed who else did she kill the wife

killed who else did she kill the wife the the new Macedonian wife as well as

the the new Macedonian wife as well as the son right okay so this is a nasty

the son right okay so this is a nasty person Philip the Asen the great will

person Philip the Asen the great will take Philip's great army and he will go

take Philip's great army and he will go conquer Persia with it okay and this is

conquer Persia with it okay and this is what his conquest path looks like he

what his conquest path looks like he will do this in like 10 years time.

will do this in like 10 years time. He'll conquer like the entire world

He'll conquer like the entire world basically in 10 years time. What's

basically in 10 years time. What's important is the way that he moves.

important is the way that he moves. Okay, he moves really quickly with small

Okay, he moves really quickly with small army which tells us that he needed

army which tells us that he needed cooperation from local elites. Okay,

cooperation from local elites. Okay, remember at this time in history uh

remember at this time in history uh Persia has reached an equilibrium. It's

Persia has reached an equilibrium. It's stagnant. There's no innovation going

stagnant. There's no innovation going on. There's a lot of competition between

on. There's a lot of competition between the upper nobility and low lower

the upper nobility and low lower nobility. Okay, so the low ability plot

nobility. Okay, so the low ability plot was probably helping Alexander um um

was probably helping Alexander um um conquer Persia. Two things I wanted to

conquer Persia. Two things I wanted to keep keep you to understand about this

keep keep you to understand about this map. First of all is like the moment

map. First of all is like the moment that um Axer reaches Persia, he goes to

that um Axer reaches Persia, he goes to Troy. Why does he go to Troy? Because

Troy. Why does he go to Troy? Because Achilles went to Troy. So Axander saw

Achilles went to Troy. So Axander saw himself as the new Achilles. Okay. In

himself as the new Achilles. Okay. In fact, um he had memorized the Iliad and

fact, um he had memorized the Iliad and he took the Iliad with him wherever he

he took the Iliad with him wherever he went. Okay, so that's the first thing I

went. Okay, so that's the first thing I I want you to um appreciate. Also, what

I want you to um appreciate. Also, what he did during the war was he took one of

he did during the war was he took one of his enemies, tied his enemy to the back

his enemies, tied his enemy to the back of his chariot and rolled the guy

of his chariot and rolled the guy around, okay? Just like Achilles did to

around, okay? Just like Achilles did to Hector. The other thing that's really

Hector. The other thing that's really important, even more important is like

important, even more important is like you see what happened when he visits

you see what happened when he visits Egypt. Okay? He conquers Egypt and then

Egypt. Okay? He conquers Egypt and then he decides to go all the way over here

he decides to go all the way over here to Ammon. Okay. Why does he do that?

to Ammon. Okay. Why does he do that? Because there's a oracle at Ammon and he

Because there's a oracle at Ammon and he spent a few days with his oracle and his

spent a few days with his oracle and his oracle told him his secret. The secret

oracle told him his secret. The secret is this.

is this. You are not the son of Philen. You're

You are not the son of Philen. You're the son of God, which who is Zeus Aman.

the son of God, which who is Zeus Aman. Okay? So Zeus is the king of king of the

Okay? So Zeus is the king of king of the gods in the Greek tradition. Aman is

gods in the Greek tradition. Aman is king of the gods in the Egyptian

king of the gods in the Egyptian tradition. So in other words, Alexander

tradition. So in other words, Alexander was born to rule the world. who was

was born to rule the world. who was destined to conquer the world. And this

destined to conquer the world. And this explains why when he conquered most of

explains why when he conquered most of Persia and Darius said to him, "You know

Persia and Darius said to him, "You know what? Here's a billion dollars. Go

what? Here's a billion dollars. Go away." As like, "No, screw you. I want

away." As like, "No, screw you. I want all of this." Okay, not only that, but

all of this." Okay, not only that, but even after he conquered Piperilus, which

even after he conquered Piperilus, which the capital of Persian Empire, he kept

the capital of Persian Empire, he kept on going to India. Okay. The only reason

on going to India. Okay. The only reason why he stopped is his soldiers got sick

why he stopped is his soldiers got sick of fighting.

of fighting. Um the other thing about Alexander

Um the other thing about Alexander that's really important is he was known

that's really important is he was known for his atrocities. So he burned down

for his atrocities. So he burned down the city of thieves and he burned down

the city of thieves and he burned down the city of Piperilus.

the city of Piperilus. Why would he do that? Well um if you

Why would he do that? Well um if you understood that he saw himself a son of

understood that he saw himself a son of god then it's possible we we'll never

god then it's possible we we'll never know. Okay it's possible that burning

know. Okay it's possible that burning down thieves and burning down pipulus

down thieves and burning down pipulus were ritual sacrifices necessary to

were ritual sacrifices necessary to prove that he was a son of God. Okay. So

prove that he was a son of God. Okay. So yeah, he did a lot of like bad things,

yeah, he did a lot of like bad things, but there's really nothing um random

but there's really nothing um random about what he did. He thinks he the

about what he did. He thinks he the things he did were for diplomatic

things he did were for diplomatic military purposes. Okay. [snorts]

military purposes. Okay. [snorts] All right.

All right. So um this is a map of his conquest.

So um this is a map of his conquest. Okay.

Um this is a burning of Pipulus. You can actually still visit Pipilus uh today in

actually still visit Pipilus uh today in Iran. Okay.

um what he was doing while his conquest was that he was slowly killing off his

was that he was slowly killing off his father's most loyal man. So Parmmen who

father's most loyal man. So Parmmen who was um Phil's top general Alexander

was um Phil's top general Alexander killed and then Cletus who was also not

killed and then Cletus who was also not top general he killed as well. Okay now

top general he killed as well. Okay now his historically we remember these

his historically we remember these events as um random acts of violence but

events as um random acts of violence but they're not. Okay. Alexander slowly need

they're not. Okay. Alexander slowly need to kill off his father's men so that he

to kill off his father's men so that he could create his own empire. Okay.

could create his own empire. Okay. Um and so what happened was that

Um and so what happened was that eventually the other generals were like

eventually the other generals were like you know eventually Axen is going to

you know eventually Axen is going to come going to kill us as well. So they

come going to kill us as well. So they conspired and poison him. And now what

conspired and poison him. And now what they will do is they will fight amongst

they will do is they will fight amongst themselves and create the Greek world.

themselves and create the Greek world. Okay. It's divided into um four major

Okay. It's divided into um four major parts. And the four major parts are

parts. And the four major parts are Tommy takes Egypt which is the

Tommy takes Egypt which is the wealthiest part of the empire. Um then

wealthiest part of the empire. Um then you have Macedon then you have Anatolia

you have Macedon then you have Anatolia and then you have the Seucian Empire.

and then you have the Seucian Empire. Okay. All right.

Okay. All right. So the problem though is like once you

So the problem though is like once you conquer most of the world um you have to

conquer most of the world um you have to rule over the world and there are that

rule over the world and there are that many Greeks. So what they will do is

many Greeks. So what they will do is they will build Greek cities to settle

they will build Greek cities to settle their veterans, invite more Greeks to

their veterans, invite more Greeks to come, help them govern

come, help them govern um um the empire, but they also need

um um the empire, but they also need need to recruit bureaucrats. Okay? So um

need to recruit bureaucrats. Okay? So um they recruit these Persian bureaucrats

they recruit these Persian bureaucrats because they're very effective, but they

because they're very effective, but they also recruit Jews as well into the

also recruit Jews as well into the empire. Okay? Because Jews are a foreign

empire. Okay? Because Jews are a foreign people. Okay? Because remember the

people. Okay? Because remember the because these people the Greeks need to

because these people the Greeks need to omit to control and manage their empire.

omit to control and manage their empire. Okay. All right. So what I want you to

Okay. All right. So what I want you to focus now is on Egypt. Okay. Because

focus now is on Egypt. Okay. Because historically Egypt was the center of the

historically Egypt was the center of the world. It was the cultural capital of

world. It was the cultural capital of the world and Egypt helped to help give

the world and Egypt helped to help give science and math to uh Greece. Okay. Now

science and math to uh Greece. Okay. Now the Greeks are like controlling Egypt

the Greeks are like controlling Egypt and the Egypt is like wait a minute

and the Egypt is like wait a minute here. You guys were barbarians. Now

here. You guys were barbarians. Now you're controlling us. Why is this

you're controlling us. Why is this happening? So now the Greeks need to

happening? So now the Greeks need to explain what's happening. And so what

explain what's happening. And so what they do is they create cultural

they do is they create cultural imperialism. All right.

Okay. Uh this is um the Greek world. So they're building Greek cities all around

they're building Greek cities all around um the world. And these cities are very

um the world. And these cities are very similar. There's an epitheater. Sorry.

similar. There's an epitheater. Sorry. Uh this is a better map. Okay. This is

Uh this is a better map. Okay. This is per pamont. Okay. So you can see what it

per pamont. Okay. So you can see what it looks like. You have an epithe stage

looks like. You have an epithe stage Greek theater. You have a gyasium. You

Greek theater. You have a gyasium. You have um an agora. Like they're like if

have um an agora. Like they're like if you go to these cities, they're all very

you go to these cities, they're all very similar to each other.

similar to each other. Okay. And this is Greek art which takes

Okay. And this is Greek art which takes over the world as well.

over the world as well. All right. Let's just tell them in a

All right. Let's just tell them in a second. and he and his father taught him

second. and he and his father taught him the first they will create something

the first they will create something called the library of Alexandria. Okay.

called the library of Alexandria. Okay. [snorts]

[snorts] The library of Alexandria what what what

The library of Alexandria what what what it will do is it will take all the Greek

it will do is it will take all the Greek knowledge in the world and it it will

knowledge in the world and it it will systemize it and synize it as textbooks

systemize it and synize it as textbooks to be taught throughout the world. Okay.

to be taught throughout the world. Okay. So this is really a university.

So this is really a university. um to show you how wealthy the Egyptians

um to show you how wealthy the Egyptians are, the uh when they built the library

are, the uh when they built the library of of Alexandria, they um needed

of of Alexandria, they um needed original manuscripts. And so they said

original manuscripts. And so they said to a Athenians, "Hey, can we borrow some

to a Athenians, "Hey, can we borrow some original plays?" And the Greeks are

original plays?" And the Greeks are like, "No, you can't. Uh because we

like, "No, you can't. Uh because we really love our upidities and our iss

really love our upidities and our iss you can't just take this stuff. This

you can't just take this stuff. This this stuff is priceless." And the

this stuff is priceless." And the Egyptians said, "You know what we'll do?

Egyptians said, "You know what we'll do? we'll give you like a billion dollars as

we'll give you like a billion dollars as a deposit. And the Athenians, well,

a deposit. And the Athenians, well, that's a lot of money. Oh, sure. Okay.

that's a lot of money. Oh, sure. Okay. All right. So, the Athenians lend these

All right. So, the Athenians lend these scrolls to the Egyptians

scrolls to the Egyptians um in Alexandria to copy. And then after

um in Alexandria to copy. And then after some time, the Athenians said said to

some time, the Athenians said said to Tommy, "Hey man, give give us back the

Tommy, "Hey man, give give us back the scrolls." And the Tommy is like, "Keep

scrolls." And the Tommy is like, "Keep the money."

the money." That's how wful they were. They had all

That's how wful they were. They had all the money in the world. They didn't

the money in the world. They didn't care. Keep the money. $10 million. Keep

care. Keep the money. $10 million. Keep the money, man. And the Athenians were

the money, man. And the Athenians were pissed. Okay, they were really really

pissed. Okay, they were really really pissed about this. Don't ever trust. Uh

pissed about this. Don't ever trust. Uh yeah. Anyway, this is Library of

yeah. Anyway, this is Library of Alexander. It's part of something called

Alexander. It's part of something called the Musead. Okay, so what's really

the Musead. Okay, so what's really important for us to understand is that a

important for us to understand is that a university is not really about

university is not really about education. It's not really about

education. It's not really about literacy, culture. It's really about a

literacy, culture. It's really about a tool of empire to um create a cultural

tool of empire to um create a cultural understanding of the world that allows

understanding of the world that allows the empire to rule over people. Okay. So

the empire to rule over people. Okay. So the library of of sorry [clears throat]

the library of of sorry [clears throat] the library of Exanua is an example of

the library of Exanua is an example of this because remember the Greeks are

this because remember the Greeks are ruling over the Egyptians. The Egyptians

ruling over the Egyptians. The Egyptians are like why are you ruling over us and

are like why are you ruling over us and the um Greeks are like because we're

the um Greeks are like because we're culturally superior to you. And how do

culturally superior to you. And how do you prove it? by

you prove it? by uh censoring Egyptian culture, okay? By

uh censoring Egyptian culture, okay? By by um downplaying Egyptian culture and

by um downplaying Egyptian culture and by uh upplaying by promoting Greek

by uh upplaying by promoting Greek culture. Okay, this is cultural

culture. Okay, this is cultural imperialism.

Now this is really important as part of the cultural imperialist project. Um the

the cultural imperialist project. Um the Egyptians under Tommy, they also started

Egyptians under Tommy, they also started to work with the Jews. Okay? Why?

to work with the Jews. Okay? Why? Because Egypt Egypt needed to control

Because Egypt Egypt needed to control the Levant as as well. Okay, who's in

the Levant as as well. Okay, who's in the Leavant? The Jews. The Jews are

the Leavant? The Jews. The Jews are problematic because they were loyal to

problematic because they were loyal to the Persian Empire. Okay, so how do you

the Persian Empire. Okay, so how do you make them loyal to you? Well, you bribe

make them loyal to you? Well, you bribe them. How do you bribe them? By getting

them. How do you bribe them? By getting their priests, by saying the priest, you

their priests, by saying the priest, you know what? We love your tradition. We

know what? We love your tradition. We love your culture. Let us translate your

love your culture. Let us translate your Bible into Greek so that we can

Bible into Greek so that we can celebrate your Bible and spread it

celebrate your Bible and spread it around the world. And this is what we

around the world. And this is what we call the Septuagent. The Septuagent.

call the Septuagent. The Septuagent. Okay, it's really important uh in our

Okay, it's really important uh in our history. Um and so the Jews were like,

history. Um and so the Jews were like, "Yeah, that's a great great thing." But

"Yeah, that's a great great thing." But not only that, but because

not only that, but because um of the library of Alexandria, a lot

um of the library of Alexandria, a lot of Jews were going to Alexandria to help

of Jews were going to Alexandria to help contribute to the scholarship there.

contribute to the scholarship there. Okay? So eventually a third of the

Okay? So eventually a third of the people in of Alexandria will become

people in of Alexandria will become Jews. Okay? But Jews are spreading

Jews. Okay? But Jews are spreading throughout

throughout the Greek world. And so now what you're

the Greek world. And so now what you're seeing is a massive secretism between

seeing is a massive secretism between all three major religions. Okay? The

all three major religions. Okay? The Greeks, the Jews, and the Persians.

Greeks, the Jews, and the Persians. Because the Persians are are

Because the Persians are are administrators in this empire. Uh the

administrators in this empire. Uh the Greeks are ruling this empire and the

Greeks are ruling this empire and the Jews are helping build this empire.

Jews are helping build this empire. Okay. So this will merge all three major

Okay. So this will merge all three major worldviews and this will give us

worldviews and this will give us Christianity. Okay.

Christianity. Okay. All right. So that is the Greek world.

All right. So that is the Greek world. All right. Um any questions?

All right. Um any questions? Was was this clear?

Was was this clear? >> Okay. So what will happen is like next

>> Okay. So what will happen is like next class we'll discuss Rome. Okay. because

class we'll discuss Rome. Okay. because Rome will now conquer this um empire and

Rome will now conquer this um empire and then this will allow for the rise of

then this will allow for the rise of Christianity and we will do this next

Christianity and we will do this next week. Okay. So everything was clear

week. Okay. So everything was clear today, right?

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YouTube Transcript:Secret History #20: The Hellenistic World

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Secret History #20: The Hellenistic World