The Danger Zone (DZ)

There was a spy, at the very highest level, in the Greek command and he was about to send some vital intelligence to Xerxes, the Persian ruler. If this act of betrayal was ever uncovered it would mean his instant death. Tag words: Battle of Salamis; Divine Salamis; spy; Xerxes; Persians; Pelopennes; Artemesium; Herodotus; Histories; Eurybiades; Athenians; Themistocles; Sicinnus; Joseph Cummins; Tu...

There was an important email from the gods that Xerxes wasn’t copied in on. Boy, I bet he would soon be wishing that he had been. What did it say? Tag words: Xerxes; Delphi Oracle; wooden wall; Divine Salamis; Themistocles; Persia;   Greece; Athens, Sparta; Artemesium; Thermopylae Pass; Eurybiades; Herodotus; Histories; Mnesiphilus; John Marincola; Demaratus; Dicaeus; Demeter; Persephone;

Who was the spy in Xerxes court? And how genius was the way he got his message to the Greeks that revealed Xerxes’ plans for the invasion of Greece? Tag words: Xerxes; Spartans; Thermopylae Pass; Persians;  kill ratio; Darius; Herodotus; Histories; Demaratus; best fighting men in the world; Victor Davis Hanson; Carnage and Culture; JFC Fuller; The Decisive Battles of the Western World; John Lewis...

You’d be surprised at the last words spoken by Leonidas before he died with his fellow 300 Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae Pass in 480 BC. Then again, maybe you wouldn’t be. Let me tell you what they were and you can decide for yourself. Tag words: Leonidas; 300 Spartans; Battle of Thermopylae Pass; the Immortals; Persians; Mardonius; Hydarnes; Ephialtes; Victor Davis Hanson; The Western Way...

For the last stand at Thermopylae, only some of the Greeks would remain. There were compelling reasons for Leonidas and the Spartans to stay and die. They had been sent to defend the Pass and they would never leave. Well – there’s always one exception I guess, and I’m going to tell you about the one Spartan that got away. One minute, there were two that got away. This is the story of how that happ...

The Greek soldiers blocking the Thermopylae Pass that Xerxes army needed to pour through to get into Greece, appeared pretty warlike and fierce. But Xerxes understood men. He knew exactly what was needed to drive this small band of peasant farmers out of his way and how to motivate his men to achieve this task. Now he was going to unleash them. Tag words: Thermopylae Pass; Leonidas; Persians; Xerx...

As unbelievable as it is, this was Xerxes first move soon after his mighty army arrived at the Thermopylae Pass when he found it was defended and when he discovered that the defenders would not flee. Tag words: Xerxes; Thermopylae Pass; Herodotus; Histories; John Marincola; JFC Fuller; Decisive Battles of the Western World; Adolf Hitler; Leonidas; Spartans; Sparta; Heracles; Hercules; Zeus; Plutar...

You’ll never believe what the Spartans did just before they faced the final attack by Xerxes mighty army – knowing they would be wiped out to a man. Herodotus tells us that they were being observed from a distance by a Persian spy who  watched them in astonishment. Tag words: Spartans ; Xerxes; Thermopylae Pass; Herodotus; Histories; Persians; Heracles; Argo; Golden Fleece; J.F.C. Fuller; Decisive...

Who was it that was crucified – but then was taken down before he died and survived? Tag words: Crucifixion; survival, anatomical effects; emergency room; Dr Mark Eastman; Koinonia House

Now some friction, as Clausewitz called it, was going to enter Xerxes life and planned invasion, in the form of an unknown unknown, in the form of what Herodotus tells us the people in the area called a Hellespontian, which is a south-easterly gale. Perhaps this was the wind that the Oracle at Delphi had told the people of Delphi to pray to. If they did, they must have set up their alter at Thyia,...

Xerxes the wise ruler, making intelligent decisions, is on show in this programme. Decisions of great insight, brilliance even. In previous programmes we’ve seen examples of decisions by Xerxes of profound stupidity. But right now, I have no trouble in calling Xerxes a smooth operator. Tag words: Xerxes; Greeks; Persians; Thermopylae; Oracle at Delphi; Herodotus; The Histories;  penteconters;  Joh...

What were Xerxes plans for invading Greece. What were the Greek plans for resisting them? We’re now in the period of calm just before the storm. As John Gaddis says about plans in his book  On Grand Strategy  they involve drawing: upon principles extending across time and space, so that you'll have a sense of what's worked before and what hasn't. You then apply these to the situation a...

Sometimes we think of these ancient peoples that I’m talking about, like Xerxes the ruler of the Persian Empire, who lived in this ancient, primitive world, as not being as sophisticated as we are. But that might not be true. Was this campaign to invade Greece, just a part of his strategic plan to destroy the entire Greek world and its colonies including in Sicily? So was Xerxes pursuing a Grand S...

Xerxes was given a lesson in the determination of the Spartans not to give up their freedom to some foreign conquering ruler. They could have immortally told their tormentor, Xerxes,  Give me liberty or give me death  and beaten American Patrick Henry to the punch by 2,200 years, but the Spartans were fighting men with no time for fine words. The two Spartans who visited Xerxes spoke more bluntly....

Xerxes had bound Europe to Asia with the two bridges that he had had thrown across the Hellespont. Now his mighty army was ready to cross. It was going to take several days and nights to achieve this task and Xerxes delivered a pep talk to the leaders before they began on the expedition. Tag words: Xerxes; Artabanus; Susa; Persians; Herodotus; The Histories; Oracle of Dephi; Croesus; Cyrus; Aeschy...

Was Xerxes a hedgehog or a fox? Since there’s an overwhelming chance that you have no idea what I’m talking about I am going to have to explain aren’t I. But first to get some context. Xerxes plans for invading Greece had received an enthusiastic response from everyone except his uncle, Artabanus. Now poised on the brink of crossing from Asia to Europe, Xerxes wanted to revisit this question with...

Xerxes grand, triumphal parade to conquer Greece took a detour to visit the ruins of Helen’s legendary Troy. How Cyrus the Great conquered the most impregnable city fortress in the world without shedding any blood, while inside the city a ghostly hand was writing a message of doom to the ruler of Babylon. And finally Xerxes arranged to see the might and irresistible power that he had assembled to...

It was a triumphal victory march like none before or since even up to today, when Xerxes set out to conquer Greece, the whole of Europe even. John Lewis Gaddis, Professor of History at Yale University, founding director of the Brady-Johnson Programme in Grand Strategy, and 2012 Pullitzer Prize Winner for his biography of George F Kennan, an American diplomat who advocated a containment policy of t...

From the time of making the decision to invade Greece, military contingents, and their entourages from all over the Persian Empire descended on the capital, Susa. Herodotus tells us that this was made up of 2,641,610 fighting men. He says that he conservatively allows for an equal number of servants, camp followers, crews of provision boats and other craft that sailed with the expedition. So no le...

In the world of the ancients, humans were the playthings of the gods. Xerxes, as you will remember, was thinking about not invading Greece which, as you will soon learn, would have been defying his gods’ given destiny. He was beginning to think that Artabanus, his uncle, was right. Why invade Greece? To set Xerxes on the correct trajectory, the gods wanted him to take, a little prodding was going...

Let’s pretend that you are Xerxes, in charge of the greatest empire the world has ever seen. Your dad, Darius, had suffered a humiliating defeat, in 490 B.C. at the hands of the Athenians, losing the Battle of Marathon and having to flee back to Persia with his tail between his legs. Pretty embarrassing – very embarrassing in fact. Your dad decided to revenge himself on the Greeks. He started the...

In 480 BC a battle took place at the Thermopylae Pass, essentially between 300 Spartan warriors and the massive army of Xerxes, the mighty ruler of the mightiest empire that the world had ever seen, with 1,700,000 men at his command, so we are told. Although at another point we’re told that his forces numbered 5,283,220 men - pretty precise eh! Now you may think that ancient history isn’t your thi...

For the past few parts I’ve been like a dog with a bone. Looking at animals in war. In this programme I’m going to tell you about atomic bats, under cover pussies, tank destroying dogs and fighting chickens. Tag words: Smoky the  Yorkshire Terrier ; General Douglas MacArthur; I Shall Return; the bat bomb; Lyle S. Adams; National Research Defense Committee; Donald Griffin; Project X-Ray; CIA; Proje...

Animal heroes in war. Today I’m going to talk about a great Australian dog, a navy cat, parachuting turkeys, flaming pigs and did we do something disgusting to the horses that did so much for us in World War I and a whole lot more? Hang around for a surprising answer. Tag words: animal heroes; Avenue of Remembrance Yungaburra; Merlin; Razz; Andy; Nova; Herbie; Corporal Mark Donaldson; Taliban; Qua...

Animals make great friends – but in wartime, they can and do save lives. Animal heroism even has it’s own Victoria Cross – so let’s look at what animals, including slugs, have done for us in war. And let’s look at the Victoria Cross for animals. Tag words: Animals; Victoria Cross; Red Baron; Charles Schulz; Snoopy; Manfred von Richthofen; Gunner Cedric Popkin; Dickin Medal; For Gallantry; We Also...