Episode 039 - State of the Union - 320 BC

The Tale of Rome

— From this point of view, I can hardly wait until we get to the Emperors!

Partial Transcript

Hello, this is Abel, speaking from Beijing, China. Welcome to my podcast.

The Tale of Rome, Episode 39 — State of the Union – 320 BC.

This is our third episode of the State of the Union, and as I said in our episode 13, at this time we already have many of the styles, and other standards set, for this type of episodes.

Slowly, but surely, these episodes — every 13th episode, will become tradition in this podcast.

Alright. We find ourselves in the year 320 BC. just after the shameful defeat at the already famous Caudine Forks.

So during this episode, we’re going to divide our time into three sections, as follows:

ONE — let’s see what happened to those troops on their way to Rome, and what were the next events before closing that year.

TWO — we’re going to give our typical eagle flight around the world of Rome, just as we did in our episodes 13 and 26.

AND THREE — let’s do a quick review of the people who ruled Rome’s fates, between the years 390 and 320 BC. just like we did last time.

And as always, during this episode we won’t have our segment of the Latin Word of the Week, so that’s going to be left for our next REGULAR episode.

Let’s start now!

[…]

He says that Alexander gave his ring to Perdicas, a bodyguard of his, nominating him as a successor, by doing so.

Anyway, Perdicas did never try to get the throne, and instead, he said that the heir should be Roxanne’s son, if he was born male. He also said, that the baby would have Crateros, Leonnatus, Antipater, and himself, as guardians, until the boy would grow up, and then govern by himself.

Obviously, that plan was rejected. Perdicas was killed two years later.

The unity of Macedonia collapsed, and 40 years of war erupted among the successors. These successors were now known, as the Diadochi. And at the end of that period, four clear blocks emerged. And for a time being, these blocks maintained some stability:

Egypt belonged to the Ptolemy’s.

Mesopotamia became part of the upcoming Seleucid Empire.

Anatolia went to Lysimachus.

And finally, Macedonia went to Antigonus.