The Hellenistic Age Podcast

At the height of their power, the Ptolemaic dynasty took a great interest in the lands that lay south of the Nile Valley and the waters of the Red Sea. Explorers, elephant hunters, and mining teams travelled along the coastline as far as Somalia, providing invaluable reports about East Africa that would not be rivaled until the Medieval period. They were also able to exploit the riches of the continent, and built the infrastructure that would lead to the Indo-Mediterranean trade routes. These activities would also bring them into contact (and conflict) with the Kingdom of Meroë, the last great Nubian civilization of ancient Kush, who competed for dominance with both the Ptolemies and the Romans.

Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2026/08/23/125-ptolemaic-egypt-east-africa-the-red-sea-and-nubia/)

Episode Transcript:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/125-ptolemaic-egypt-east-africa-the-red-sea-and-nubia-transcript.pdf)

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Civil war in Egypt concludes after nearly a decade of strife, with Cleopatra II seeking support from the Seleucids before being reunited with her brother and daughter in 124. Ptolemy VIII's death in 116 puts to an end one of the most ruthless and cunning politicians of the Hellenistic period, and the poisonous effects of his fifty-year career sets the tone of the dynasty for the remainder of its history.

Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2026/07/23/124-ptolemaic-egypt-sound-and-fury/)

Episode Transcript:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/124-ptolemaic-egypt-sound-and-fury-transcript.pdf)

Family Tree - Reign of Ptolemy VIII:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/reign-of-ptolemy-viii.pdf)

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As the army of Antiochus VII goes down in Media, Demetrius II returns to Syria after being released from Parthian captivity. Nobody is particularly happy to see him, including his (former) wife Cleopatra Thea, and the Syrians' hatred of their former king inspires the arrival of a Ptolemaic-backed claimant to the throne, Alexander II Zabinas. With three husbands having come and gone, Cleopatra makes her own bid for power as the sole ruler of kingdom, willing to eliminate any who oppose her - including her own children.

Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2026/07/02/123-the-seleucid-empire-wrath-of-the-goddess/)

Episode Transcript:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/123-the-seleucid-empire-wrath-of-the-goddess-transcript.pdf)

Family Tree - Demetrius II to Antiochus VIII:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/reign-of-demetrius-ii-to-antiochus-viii.pdf)

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Nearly twenty years of exile from Egypt did little to improve the mood of Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II Physcon ("Potbelly" or "The Fatty"), and upon his return in 145 he unleashed a wave of violence and terror against his enemies. Family was not spared either, as he orchestrated the murder of his own flesh and blood on multiple occasions, and forcibly took his niece Cleopatra III as his second wife alongside her mother Cleopatra II. Through his machinations, a heated rivalry between mother and daughter led to a civil war starting in 132, driving Ptolemy and Cleopatra III out of Egypt while leaving Cleopatra II as sole queen.

Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2026/06/19/122-ptolemaic-egypt-the-good-the-bad-and-the-fatty/)

Episode Transcript:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/122-ptolemaic-egypt-the-good-the-bad-and-the-fatty-transcript.pdf)

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Demetrius' disastrous campaign against the Parthians meant that the Seleucid Empire was on its last legs. The only man capable of bringing the realm back together was his brother, Antiochus VII Sidetes, who managed to slay the pretender Diodotus Tryphon and subdue the new Hasmonean high priest John Hyrcanus. With the Parthian kingdom in the hands of the inexperienced Phraates II, Antiochus gambled everything on a final anabasis in 130 B.C. to recover Babylonia and restore the empire to its former glory.

Episode Notes:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2026/05/26/122-the-seleucid-empire-the-man-they-called-sidetes/)

Episode Transcript:
(https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/121-the-seleucid-empire-the-man-they-called-sidetes-transcript.pdf)

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