Send us a text

Ancient Greece was defined by its culture, not by its borders. Starting in the 8th century BCE, Greeks planted settlements in southern Italy and Sicily — so many that the area came to be known as Magna Graecia, "Great Greece." Hellenic settlements soon spread to other parts of the Mediterranean and also to the northeast, even surrounding the Black Sea. This episode takes you on a whirlwind tour of Greek settlements, then focuses in on Cyrene, a thoroughly Greek city located in North Africa.

For maps and photos accompanying this episode, check out Episode 12 at epicgreekhistory.substack.com.

Reading Suggestions:

The Greeks Overseas by John Boardman

Wandering Greeks by Robert Garland

Greece in the Making, 1200-479 BC by Robin Osborne

Support the show

Send us a text

The Lelantine War between Khalkis and Eretria was the first major historical conflict that drew in combatants from around the Greek world. And yet, we know next to nothing about it. Ancient historians and other authors mention it in passing, but they don’t tell us exactly when it happened, how long it lasted, or even who won. While it’s possible to reconstruct a rough outline from ancient sources, some scholars maintain that the war may never have taken place at all. The Lelantine War can give us a glimpse of an aristocratic approach to warfare in the early polis. But it also provides a lesson in the difficulty distinguishing between history and legend in the early Archaic Period.

For views of Euboea and the Lelantine Plain, see Episode 11 at epicgreekhistory.substack.com

Reading Suggestions:

A History of the Archaic Greek World by Jonathan M. Hall

Early Greece by Oswyn Murray

“The Lelantine War: A Conflict Lost in Time” by Josh Brouwers in Ancient World Magazine

Support the show

Send us a text

In ancient Greece, freedom was something to be cherished — in part because its opposite was an ever-present part of Greek life. Slaves worked as farmhands, domestic servants, skilled craftsmen, miners, prostitutes, and more. While some lived almost as independently as free wage workers and could even aspire to purchase their freedom, others were condemned to a life of hard labor under the harshest conditions. In this episode, host Scott Emmons provides and introduction to Greek slavery and the highly diverse forms it could take.

For images related to slavery in ancient Greece, check out Episode 10 at epicgreekhistory.substack.com

Reading Suggestions:

Slaves and Slavery in Ancient Greece by Sara Forsdyke (2021)

Slavery in Classical Greece by N.R.E. Fisher (1993)

Support the show