Originally published on May 16, 2022 (Episode 264)
Introduction
Some 5,000 years ago, nomadic peoples of Central Asia settled on the Iranian plateau. Their descendants became the nucleus of an extraordinary empire that stretched from India and China in the east to the Libyan desert and the Aegean Sea in the west. The Persians not only created the world’s first great empire but also ushered in the first sustained contact between East and West.
What we typically know of Persia comes through the eyes of Herodotus, who told the story of invasion and defeat at the hands of the Greeks. But what was the Persian version of their own history? What did they say about themselves? With me to discuss the Achaemenid kings and their empire is Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, Chair of Ancient History at Cardiff University and Director of the Ancient Iran Program for the British Institute of Persian Studies. His latest book is Persians: The Age of the Great Kings (Basic Books, 2022).
About the Guest
Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones is Chair of Ancient History at Cardiff University and Director of the Ancient Iran Program for the British Institute of Persian Studies. He is an authority on ancient Persia, the Achaemenid Empire, and the cultural exchanges between East and West.
For Further Investigation
Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, Persians: The Age of the Great Kings (Basic Books, 2022)
Pamela Crossley, Hammer and Anvil: Nomad Rulers at the Forge of the Modern World (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019) — discussed in this previous conversation
Jennifer Roberts, Herodotus: The First Historian (Oxford University Press, 2011) — discussed in Episode 116
💬 Listen & Discuss
If Herodotus gave us the Greek version of history, what does it mean to recover the Persian one? How do different perspectives reshape our understanding of the ancient world? Share your thoughts in the comments—and pass this episode along to anyone who loves history.
