How does a great commander handle being undermined by his government back home? How should we treat opponents we defeat? And how do we negotiate the best deal when our backs are against the wall and our counterparts know it?

In this episode: Sulla goes to Greece, to war against Rome’s arch rival Mithridates of Pontus. Can he hold out against a vastly superior enemy army? And can he weather the escalating crisis in Rome?

People

Sulla, The Hero

Plutarch, The Narrator

Marius, The Scoundrel

Sulpicius, The Henchman

Cinna, The Politician

Mithridates, The King

Aristion, the Tyrant

Archelaus, The Foe

Flaccus, The Replacement

Fimbria, The Backstabber

Apellicon, The Book Collector

Andronicus, The Editor

Places

Rome

Athens

Piraeus

Epidaurus

Olympia

Delphi

Boeotia

Mt Parnassus

Chaeronea

Thebes

Livadeia

Orchomenus

Lake Kopais

Asia (Minor)

The Dardanelles

Dardanus

Euboea

Halae

Divinities

Ma

Bellona

Minerva

Venus

Aphrodite

Apollo

Asclepius

TrophoniusHow does a great commander handle being undermined by his government back home? How should we treat opponents we defeat? And how do we negotiate the best deal when our backs are against the wall and our counterparts know it?