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Here it is — the 2nd installment of CJ’s already-epic mini-series, ‘The Mad Dream of Conquest,’ set in the Peloponnesian War in 5th-century BC Greece.

Join CJ as he shares an overview of some of the events of the first half of the Peloponnesian War, including:

• Spartan-led Peloponnesian invasions of Attica (the countryside around Athens), which used the traditional Greek tactic of ‘ravaging’ farms in order to try to provoke the Athenians to confront them in a decisive hoplite battle
• Athens’ refusal to do so, as they followed Pericles’ strategy of being purely defensive on land while waging naval & amphibious warfare against the coastal strongholds of the Peloponnesian League
• The horrific plague that afflicted Athens for the first few years of the war, which likely killed 20-30% of Athens, including, eventually, Pericles himself
• The leadership void left by Pericles, which was filled by men of much less competence, none of whom ever enjoyed the supermajority support that Pericles had
• The ‘Peace of Nicias,’ concluded in 421 BC, which was never fully adhered to & wouldn’t last long
• The growing political feud between Nicias & the Athenian doves vs. Alcibiades & the Athenian hawks
• The appeal for Athenian assistance from a few Sicilian poleis against Syracuse, the most powerful polis on that island, & the Athenian debates over the wisdom of intervening there, dominated by debates between Nicias & Alcibiades
• The decision of a majority of the Athenian Assembly to intervene on a massive scale
• Religious/political scandals that created serious potential problems for the Athenian expedition to Sicily on the eve of its departure
• The departure, to great fanfare, of a massive Athenian & allied force to Sicily

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Amazon Affiliate Links (buy ANYTHING from Amazon using any of these links & CJ gets a small commission at no cost to you!)

• The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War
• A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War by Victor Davis Hanson
• The Peloponnesian War by Donald Kagan
• The Life of Greece: The Story of Civilization, Vol. II by Will Durant

Links

• Support the Dangerous History Podcast via Patreon
• Subscribe to the Dangerous History Podcast Youtube Channel
• Follow CJ on Twitter/X
• Follow the DHP on Instagram
• Follow the DHP on Facebook
• Hire CJ to speak to your group or at your event

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CJ decided he needed a break from modern US history as he continues to recover & reset his life, so this is the first episode of a new DHP miniseries set during the Peloponnesian War in 5th century BC Greece. The series will primarily focus on a famous Athenian military expedition to Sicily that occurred right in the middle of that conflict, an expedition that, to CJ, is eerily similar in some ways to the current war with Iran.

This first episode, though, is backstory & world-building, setting the stage for the massive, complex & costly Peloponnesian War of 431-404 BC during which the Sicilian expedition occurred.

Join CJ as he discusses:

• A brief overview of ancient Greek history, from the Bronze Age through the Persian invasions of 490 & 480 BC.
• The growing rivalries & tensions between the Peloponnesian League (led by Sparta) & the Delian League (led by Athens) in the aftermath of the Persian Wars, including Athens’ increasingly aggressive & destabilizing imperialism, & Sparta’s fears about it
• The rise of Pericles & the construction of the Athenian Long Walls
• The ‘first’ Peloponnesian War of ~460 BC-445 BC, which ended with a treaty known as “The Thirty Years’ Peace”
• The rising tensions & conflicts that caused the Thirty Years’ Peace to only last about half as long as it was intended to
• The ancient Greek historian Thucydides
• The escalating conflicts that led, in 431 BC, to the outbreak of the Second Peloponnesian War (sometimes just referred to as “The Peloponnesian War”), a conflict that would end up dwarfing the previous war in duration, cost, death & destruction

Like this episode?

You can throw CJ a $ tip via Paypal here:

Throw CJ a $ tip via Venmo here:

https://www.venmo.com/u/dangerousmedia

Or throw CJ a BTC tip here:

bc1qfrz9erz7dqazh9rhz3j7nv696nl52ux8unw79z

Amazon Affiliate Links (buy ANYTHING from Amazon using any of these links & CJ gets a small commission at no cost to you!)

• The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War
• A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War by Victor Davis Hanson
• The Peloponnesian War by Donald Kagan
• The Life of Greece: The Story of Civilization, Vol. II by Will Durant

Links

• Support the Dangerous History Podcast via Patreon
• Subscribe to the Dangerous History Podcast Youtube Channel
• Follow CJ on Twitter/X
• Follow the DHP on Facebook
• Hire CJ to speak to your group or at your event
• Other ways to support the show

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(*This is a reissue of a Dangerous History Episode first published in Aug. 2015)

In this episode, CJ discusses two different paradigms of what war is supposed to be and how it is supposed to be fought.  One is the Western (or European) Way, which originated in Greece and from there filtered through the Romans to become the dominant paradigm among Westerners to this day. The other is the Eastern (or Asian) Way, which originated in China and from there filtered to other parts of the Asian world and beyond, and which forms the intellectual basis of much of modern unconventional tactics and strategy.

Join CJ as he discusses:

• The origins of the Western Way and how it has evolved over the centuries
• The origins of the Eastern Way and how it has evolved over the centuries
• Why this matters to understanding the modern world in general, and the history of modern unconventional warfare in particular

Like this episode?

You can throw CJ a $ tip via Paypal here:

Throw CJ a $ tip via Venmo here:

https://www.venmo.com/u/dangerousmedia

Or throw CJ a BTC tip here:

bc1qfrz9erz7dqazh9rhz3j7nv696nl52ux8unw79z

Support the Dangerous History Podcast via Patreon

Other ways to support the show (including CJ’s PO Box mailing address)