Introduction

Lander Jack: Darius of Persia was one of the great military commanders of antiquity. His campaign against the Scythians, which you'll hear about today from Ryan, ranks as one of thegreat military adventure stories of the ancient world. Coincidentally on my podcast this week, my guest is historian and archaeologist Ian Morris of Stanford University who studies history using cutting edge economic, demographic and historical models. And we're going to see if this kind of data science meets archaeology approach can add any insights to our understanding of the Greco-Persian conflict.