The Invasion That Inspired Homer's Iliad [18:55]

YouTube ^ | August 7, 2026 | Bronze to Byzantium

[SunkenCiv]

Today we cover the Indictment of Madduwatta: a 3,400-year-old Hittite legal complaint that happens to contain the oldest named Greek warrior in the historical record. Long before Homer ever put pen to paper on the Iliad or the Odyssey, a warlord named Attarissiya crossed the Aegean with a hundred chariots, tore through western Anatolia, unseated a Hittite-backed ruler, and fought the empire's own army to a standstill before sailing home. 

We also trace the wider collapse-era: the Hittite Empire at Hattusa, the Lukka coastal peoples, the Assuwa confederation, and Ahhiyawa. 

The Invasion That Inspired Homer's Iliad | 18:55 
Bronze to Byzantium | 332 subscribers | 36,276 views | August 7, 2026

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TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: catastrophism; epigraphyandlanguage; godsgravesglyphs; homer; iliad; madduwatta; trojanwar

[SunkenCiv]

YouTube transcript reformatted at textformatter.ai *may* follow.

[SunkenCiv]

• Piyama-Radu | en-academic.com

  Piyamaradu (also spelled "Piyama-Radu", "Piyama Radu", "Piyamaradus", "Piyamaraduš") was a warlike aristocratic personage whose name figures prominently in the Hittite archives of the middle and late 13th century BC in western Anatolia. His history is of particular interest because it appears to intertwine with that of the Trojan War. Some scholars assume that his name lives forth in that of King Priam of Troy.

[SunkenCiv]

• Piyamaradus | Encyclopaedia Britannica

  ...activities there of a certain Piyamaradus. Piyamaradus used Millawanda (possibly Miletus) as his base; that city was a dependency of Ahhiyawa, a large and formidable country, the identity and geographic location of which have been the subject of prolonged controversy. Some scholars identify the Ahhiyawans with the Achaeans of Homer...

[SunkenCiv]

• Piyama-Radu | Grokipedia

  Piyama-Radu maintained a close alliance with the Great King of Ahhiyawa, the Mycenaean Greek entity, which provided him with crucial political and military backing in his campaigns against Hittite interests in western Anatolia. This partnership is evident in the Tawagalawa Letter (CTH 181), where the Hittite king Hattusili III addresses his Ahhiyawan counterpart, complaining about Piyama-Radu's disruptive activities and requesting his extradition, while acknowledging the Ahhiyawan's authority over him by noting that Piyama-Radu was "conquering this for me by the [sword]."[6] The alliance enabled Piyama-Radu to receive sanctuary and logistical support from Ahhiyawa, including access to their naval resources, as demonstrated when he fled Hittite pursuit by ship to Ahhiyawan territory, highlighting the maritime dimension of their cooperation.

[SunkenCiv]

• anatolia hattushilish | Grokipedia

  Hattusili (also spelled Hattushilish) was a significant figure in the history of the Hittite Empire in Anatolia, with the name serving as both a personal name and a royal title meaning "from Hattusa."
  
  Hattusili I (c. 1650–1620 BC): Founded the Old Hittite Kingdom, expanded borders to Aleppo, and adopted the name Hattusili after moving the capital to Hattusa (modern Boğazkale). He disinherited his son in favor of his grandson Murshilish I, who later sacked Babylon.
  
  Hattusili II (c. 1420–1400 BC): A ruler during the period of Hittite decline who protected the empire against threats from Aleppo, the Kasga, and Arzawa.
  
  Hattusili III (c. 1275–1245 BC): A prominent king of the New Kingdom who deposed his nephew Mursili III. He is best known for negotiating the Treaty of Kadesh with Ramesses II of Egypt, one of the first recorded peace treaties in history, and for the influential role of his queen, Puduhepa.
  
  The name Hattusili became a traditional title for Hittite monarchs, symbolizing their connection to the ancient capital and the Hattian people who originally inhabited the region.
  
  AI-generated answer. Please verify critical facts.

[SunkenCiv]

BBC documentary series presented by Michael Wood. In the Bronze Age the Mediterranean was ringed by great powers whose territory was protected by military strength and diplomatic alliance. So how would Agamemnon's ten-year war on the shores of Asia have been viewed by his neighbours? 

Remarkable finds in central Turkey have unearthed the foreign office records of the Hittite emperors. With these clay tablets, now held in East Berlin, it is possible to reconstruct the diplomatic crisis which may have surrounded a real-life Trojan War. It includes a 500-mile 'campaign' through Turkey in the footsteps of the Emperor Hattusilis, and a confrontation with the 'Great King of Greece' himself. 

In Search of the Trojan War - 5. Empire of the Hittites (BBC) | 59:54 
Culture Vulture Rises | 19.7K subscribers | 9,005 views | September 18, 2023

 

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YouTube transcript reformatted at textformatter.ai *may* follow.

[EvilCapitalist]

Funnily enough, I happen to be reading The Iliad at the moment.

[SunkenCiv]

One of *those* topics.

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join or quit view topics view or post blog bookmark post new topic subscribe

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The "Dark Age of Greece" material is no longer on the Varchive site, due to its having been published in print. Same goes for "The Assyrian Conquest".

• Theses for the Reconstruction of Ancient History
  Immanuel Velikovsky | 1945
  (Section X, theses 206-245)

[SunkenCiv]

[E. Pluribus Unum]

...a warlord named Attarissiya crossed the Aegean with a hundred chariots...

Got me wondering about how Ben Hur would have fared in battle.

https://x.com/i/grok/share/01e66ac982194d3f94e4e6c4124874a7

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Chariots in ancient battle (especially the Late Bronze Age, c. 1600–1200 BC, the era of the Hittites, Egyptians, Mitanni, and Mycenaeans/Ahhiyawa) were elite, mobile weapons platforms rather than the heavy charging “tanks” sometimes imagined. They gave armies unprecedented speed and firepower on open ground but were expensive, fragile, and terrain-limited.

thecollector.com

Design and Crew

• Light two-wheeled vehicles with spoked wheels, usually pulled by a pair of horses.
• Egyptian style: Lighter and more maneuverable; typically a two-man crew (driver + archer). The axle was often set toward the rear.
• Hittite style: Generally heavier and more stable (axle placed more centrally); often a three-man crew (driver, shield-bearer, and a warrior armed with spear, javelin, or sometimes bow).
  thecollector.com
• Warriors used composite bows (powerful, long-range), spears/javelins, and scale armor or shields. Quivers were often attached to the chariot itself.

Main Battlefield Roles

Chariots excelled as mobile missile platforms and for rapid maneuver rather than sustained close-quarters melee:

• Harassing and softening infantry: They approached enemy formations (often dense spear-phalanxes) at a controlled canter or fast trot (roughly 8–12 mph / 13–20 km/h—not a full gallop). From effective bow range (around 150–200+ meters), archers delivered volleys of arrows, sometimes while moving parallel to the enemy line or executing turns (a “caracole”). This could disrupt formations with plunging or direct fire before infantry closed.
  warfarehistorynetwork.com
• Flanking, pursuit, and exploitation: Their speed allowed them to outmaneuver foot soldiers, hit flanks or rear, pursue routed enemies, or screen movements.
• Shock or close action: Hittite chariots appear better suited for nearer engagement. The third crewman might dismount to fight with a long spear/lance, or the vehicles could press in after archery had disordered the foe. Direct head-on crashes into solid infantry were risky due to the chariots’ relative fragility.
• Against other chariots: Massed chariot forces often fought each other in open engagements, exchanging missile fire or attempting to break the opposing chariotry (the decisive arm of most Late Bronze Age armies).
• Support roles: Light infantry “runners” sometimes accompanied them to protect fallen crew, recover equipment, or finish wounded enemies. Chariots also served for command, reconnaissance, and rapid transport of elite warriors.

Tactics and Organization

Armies typically placed chariotry on the flanks of an infantry center. Units could number in the hundreds or (at major battles) low thousands. The Battle of Kadesh (c. 1274 BC) is the best-documented example: Hittite forces fielded a large chariot force (sources claim thousands) in a surprise attack that initially scattered Egyptian units before Ramesses II rallied.

erenow.org

Combat speed and formations emphasized coordinated movement and sustained missile fire over reckless charges. Terrain was critical—flat, open plains favored chariots; rough, wooded, or hilly ground severely limited them.

Regional Variations and Debate

• Near Eastern powers (Egypt, Hatti, Mitanni) treated chariotry as the premier striking arm of professional armies.
• Mycenaean/Aegean use is less clear. Some evidence and later Homeric tradition suggest a “battle taxi” role (transporting warriors who then fought on foot), while other depictions and comparisons to Hittite practice point to spear-armed shock or missile use from the vehicle. Linear B tablets show inventories of hundreds of chariots, indicating significant investment, but scale was smaller than the great Near Eastern kingdoms.
  greekreporter.com

Limitations

Chariots required trained horses, skilled crews, specialized craftsmen, and substantial resources. They were vulnerable to rough ground, massed archery or spears if caught, and logistical demands. After the Late Bronze Age collapse (~1200 BC), true cavalry gradually replaced them in many regions as horses became larger and riding techniques improved.

In short, Bronze Age chariots functioned primarily as fast, elevated archery (and sometimes spear) platforms that dominated open-field battles through mobility and ranged firepower, with secondary shock and pursuit roles—especially in the Hittite system relevant to the Attarissiya episode.

[SunkenCiv]

Like cicadas, which sit upon a tree in the forest and pour out their piping voices, so the leaders of the Trojans were sitting on the tower.

Homer
Iliad, III, 1.151

https://libquotes.com/homer/quote/lbr8t4e

https://www.thoughtco.com/helen-of-troy-iliad-of-homer-118918

Replying to Helen, Paris said:
“Wife,
don’t mock my courage with your insults.
Yes, Menelaus has just defeated me,
but with Athena’s help. Next time I’ll beat him. [440]
For we have gods on our side, too. But come,
let’s enjoy our love together on the bed.
Never has desire so filled my mind as now,
not even when I first took you away
from lovely Lacedaemon, sailing off
in our sea-worthy ships, or when I lay with you 500
in our lover’s bed on the isle of Cranae.
That’s how sweet passion has seized hold of me,
how much I want you now.” (Book III)

[Fiji Hill]

I’m a fan of the USC Trojans, and I once posted under the screen name Piyamaradu on one of the USC football chat boards. Another screen name I used for USC football boards was Heinrich Schliemann, the archaeologist who unearthed ancient Troy.

[SunkenCiv]

😁

[pierrem15]

After the Late Bronze Age collapse (~1200 BC), true cavalry gradually replaced them in many regions as horses became larger and riding techniques improved.

Around 2,000 BC, an important genetic change occurred in horses in the Danube basin that made them far less skittish. Every modern domestic horse is a descendant of these horses. This change made it possible to train a horse for battle and make it tolerate the noise, threat, screams and smell of blood.

[PLMerite]

bfl

[Avoiding_Sulla]

In that extended list of V’s note, it would be nice were it easy to pin BCE, CE dates to many of them. It is extensive and gets in a jumble. Not even Ages in Chaos did this well as I recall.