8 - Eumenes 2: Man of War
From Secretary to Satrap to Warrior Lord. Eumenes was one of the few true believers in the divine monarchy of Philip and Alexander. How do you keep your head in the midst of a power vacuum?
Why you should be careful who you marry
How to remain loyal to yourself and the cause you believe in
How the The first great War of the Successors began
How to get the gods to fight on your side
Eumenes’ transformation from a man of letters to a man of war
What would you do if your closest friend died unexpectedly, leaving an incredible legacy, and an infant son. How far would you go to defend his rights? Would you give your life?
In this episode Eumenes emerges onto the world stage as one of antiquity’s brilliant generals.
What is it like to believe in a divine kingship? Or, at least, to act as though you do believe?
Eumenes fought rebel Persian satraps, upstaged Macedonian warrior nobles, arranged dynastic marriages, fought in hand to hand combat with great commanders. He was visited in his dreams by the gods. He strove mightily against fate.
Like the figures he worked for and fought with, he seems larger than life sometimes. What can we take away from his biography?
Eumenes stayed true to his principles, kept his word in an increasingly faithless age, and though all adversity, by gradually taking on larger and larger challenges and responsibilities, he transformed himself, and became an equal of the great lords who were deciding the fate of the throne of Alexander.
On today’s podcast:
- Why you should be careful who you marry
- How to remain loyal to yourself and the cause you believe in
- How the The first great War of the Successors began
- How to get the gods to fight on your side
- Eumenes’ transformation from a man of letters to a man of war
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