The Fall Of The Roman Empire

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The Fall Of The Roman Empire

Nick Holmes

137 episodes

1 week ago

First, let me wish you a Happy New Year and I hope you had a good break if you took time off. This episode tells the story of one of the greatest empires in history – the Umayyad Caliphate. Its territories stretched from Samarkand to the Atlantic. Like the Roman Empire, it straddled three continents – Asia, Europe and Africa. But appearances can be deceptive, and to most contemporaries the Umayyad Caliphate seemed much more fragile than it does to us today with the benefit of 1,400 years of h...

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Religion & Spirituality,

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First, let me wish you a Happy New Year and I hope you had a good break if you took time off. This episode tells the story of one of the greatest empires in history – the Umayyad Caliphate. Its territories stretched from Samarkand to the Atlantic. Like the Roman Empire, it straddled three continents – Asia, Europe and Africa. But appearances can be deceptive, and to most contemporaries the Umayyad Caliphate seemed much more fragile than it does to us today with the benefit of 1,400 years of h...

Show more...

Religion & Spirituality,

Episodes (20/137)

The Fall Of The Roman Empire

The Fall of the Roman Empire Episode 127 "The Rise and Fall of the Umayyads"

First, let me wish you a Happy New Year and I hope you had a good break if you took time off. This episode tells the story of one of the greatest empires in history – the Umayyad Caliphate. Its territories stretched from Samarkand to the Atlantic. Like the Roman Empire, it straddled three continents – Asia, Europe and Africa. But appearances can be deceptive, and to most contemporaries the Umayyad Caliphate seemed much more fragile than it does to us today with the benefit of 1,400 years of h...

1 week ago

24 minutes

The Fall Of The Roman Empire

The Fall of the Roman Empire Episode 126 "Eirene: The Monstrous Empress of Byzantium?"

In this episode, we’ll hear about one of the most chilling rulers of Byzantium – the empress Eirene. She was Byzantium’s only empress to take on the reins of government in a sole capacity. Her reign is controversial because she took sole power only after she’d killed the reigning emperor by gouging out his eyes. And the emperor in question was her own son. Even by the shocking standards of the Dark Ages, this stands out as pretty extreme parenting. And yet despite that, today she is a saint i...

3 weeks ago

24 minutes

The Fall Of The Roman Empire

The Fall of the Roman Empire Episode 125 "The Forgotten Heroes of Byzantium"

In the first half of the eighth century, Byzantium stemmed the Arab advance into Europe. Critical to this achievement were two emperors: Leo III and Constantine V. In this episode, I explain why I think these two men were heroes of the Dark Ages who changed history. And their lack of visibility is explained by a conspiracy against them which echoes the cancel culture of our own times. For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.com Find my latest book, J...

1 month ago

24 minutes

The Fall Of The Roman Empire

The Fall of the Roman Empire Episode 124 "Byzantium: The Empire That Refused To Die"

In this episode we turn east to consider Byzantium. We last spoke about the eastern Romans, or the Byzantines, in episode 113 when I described the emperor Leo III’s victory in the winter of 717/718 over an immense Umayyad army and navy intent on taking Constantinople. This was a pivotal moment in history. Few people at the time would have expected Byzantium to survive. But it did. And the Umayyad Caliphate’s advance into Europe was blocked. But before we move on to the rest of Leo’s rei...

1 month ago

21 minutes

The Fall Of The Roman Empire

The Fall of the Roman Empire Episode 123 "The Holy Roman Empire"

The final political legacy of the Roman Empire in western Europe was the Holy Roman Empire. Amazingly, this curious political institution lasted until Napoleon abolished it in 1806. In the eighteenth century, the French political philosopher Voltaire famously described it as neither Holy nor Roman nor an Empire. He may have been right in his own age, but it was originally born with the dream of restoring Charlemagne's empire, itself a restoration of the once mighty Roman Empire. It was ...

2 months ago

26 minutes

The Fall Of The Roman Empire

The Fall of the Roman Empire Episode 122 "The Vikings"

The Vikings transformed European history, impacted the worlds of both Byzantium and the Abbasid Caliphate, and even, some 500 years before Christopher Columbus, discovered North America. In this episode, I want to look at how and why the Viking diaspora first began, before moving to their initial impact on the world outside Scandinavia, especially on the Carolingians and the establishment of the Viking-Frankish state of Normandy. For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nic...

2 months ago

25 minutes

The Fall Of The Roman Empire

The Fall of the Roman Empire Episode 121 "The Fall of the Frankish Empire"

Charlemagne created the largest empire in western Europe since the Romans. But it didn’t last. Within only a few decades of his death, it had broken up and one half of it was fighting for its survival against a new and terrifying enemy from the north: the Vikings. In this episode, I want to ask why did that happen? For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.com Find my latest book, Justinian's Empire, on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. For German listeners, find...

3 months ago

25 minutes

The Fall Of The Roman Empire

The Fall of the Roman Empire Episode 120 "Charlemagne's Empire"

In this and the next episode, I want to look beyond the legend of Charlemagne to find the real man and his achievements and failings. His legend has made him into a symbol of power and authority as well as a figurehead for the cause of European integration. But it shouldn’t be forgotten that after his death, his empire quickly broke up and his accomplishments were shown to be hollow. So, what is the truth about him? Let’s find out. For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickhol...

3 months ago

24 minutes

The Fall Of The Roman Empire

The Fall of the Roman Empire Episode 119 "The Rise of the Carolingians"

In this episode, we explore how the Carolingians rose to become the dynasty that would claim to be the inheritors of Rome. For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.com Find my latest book, Justinian's Empire, on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. For German listeners, find the German translation of the first book in my series on the 'Fall of the Roman Empire', Die römische Revolution, on Amazon.de. Finally check out my new YouTube videos on the fall of the Roman ...

3 months ago

25 minutes

The Fall Of The Roman Empire

The Fall of the Roman Empire Episode 118 "The Battle of Tours, AD 732"

In this episode, I’m going to focus on one of the most famous battles in history: the battle of Tours, or Poitiers as it’s sometimes called, in 732. It’s famous because some historians think it stopped the Arabs from conquering Europe. But others think its significance has been exaggerated and, even if the Arabs had won, they did not intend to conquer Europe. So, in this episode let’s try to find out what really happened. For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor....

4 months ago

24 minutes

The Fall Of The Roman Empire

The Fall of the Roman Empire Episode 117 "The Slow Death of the Merovingians"

In modern France, the Frankish king, Clovis, is often celebrated as the first French king. But Clovis’ Merovingian dynasty was in fact destined to fade and die. In its place, there arose a new dynasty that would become more famous: the Carolingian. But before we say goodbye to the Merovingians, I want in today’s podcast to ask the question why did they die out and why was it such a slow death? For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.com Find my latest book...

4 months ago

23 minutes

The Fall Of The Roman Empire

BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT - 'The End of Antiquity' Book 5 in The Fall of the Roman Empire

I wanted to let you know that my latest book, The End of Antiquity, is now available in both paperback and ebook on Amazon and will be available through most major book retailers soon. It explores the final days of the Roman and Persian empires, and how they were ultimately overwhelmed by the rise of Islam in the seventh century AD. It covers the warfare, politics, and religious upheaval of the time, but also introduces a compelling new angle: climate change. Drawing on the latest scientific ...

5 months ago

2 minutes

The Fall Of The Roman Empire

The Fall of the Roman Empire Episode 116 "Clovis, King of the Franks"

By the year AD 719, the Arab/Berber army had conquered Iberia and was invading Gaul or what is modern France. They seemed unstoppable. Would western Europe fall to Islam? And would the Qu’ran be taught in the schools of Oxford, as Edward Gibbon rather mischievously speculated. Of course, Gibbon knew the outcome. The Arab advance into France came to a shuddering halt at the battle of Poitiers, or Tours as it’s sometimes called, in 732 when Charles Martel, or Charles the Hammer, would inflict t...

5 months ago

26 minutes

The Fall Of The Roman Empire

The Fall of the Roman Empire Episode 115 "Arabs and Visigoths"

So, we’re starting the final season in this podcast which is on the Dark Ages. But just how dark were they? One of the main themes of this new season will be to show the striking diversity of experience within western Eurasia and North Africa during the period from AD 700 to 1000 since, while the Dark Ages were, in my view, very dark for most of Europe, outside Europe, in the Middle East and North Africa, the period after the fall of the Roman Empire wasn’t necessarily that dark. The Dark Age...

5 months ago

26 minutes

The Fall Of The Roman Empire

UPDATE ON NEXT SEASON - THE DARK AGES

Apologies for the long radio silence, I’ve been busy with other projects but now I want to update you on the next and final season in this podcast which I’m super excited about because it will cover what I regard as one of the most fascinating parts of the story of the fall of the Roman Empire – i.e. what happened after the fall? Now, we all know that this time was called the Dark Ages although there’s a huge amount of debate among historians about just how dark it was. Some see it as a total...

6 months ago

4 minutes

The Fall Of The Roman Empire

The Fall of the Roman Empire Episode 114 "The Missing Link"

Why did Arabia rise so rapidly in the seventh century AD to become the dominant global superpower? In this episode, we look at a fascinating new theory. For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.com Find my latest book, Justinian's Empire, on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. For German listeners, find the German translation of the first book in my series on the 'Fall of the Roman Empire', Die römische Revolution, on Amazon.de. Finally check out my new YouTube videos o...

8 months ago

22 minutes

The Fall Of The Roman Empire

The Fall of the Roman Empire Episode 113 "Byzantium's Greatest Victory"

The Arab siege of Constantinople in 717/718 was one of the greatest turning points in all of history. Discover why in this episode. For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.com Find my latest book, Justinian's Empire, on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. For German listeners, find the German translation of the first book in my series on the 'Fall of the Roman Empire', Die römische Revolution, on Amazon.de. Finally check out my new YouTube videos on the fall of the Rom...

9 months ago

24 minutes

The Fall Of The Roman Empire

The Fall of the Roman Empire Episode 112 "Greek Fire"

In the first half of the seventh century AD, the rise of Islam seemed unstoppable. How could Byzantium survive? Luck and the invention of a medieval flame-thrower would help! For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.com Find my latest book, Justinian's Empire, on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. For German listeners, find the German translation of the first book in my series on the 'Fall of the Roman Empire', Die römische Revolution, on Amazon.de. Finally check out m...

9 months ago

26 minutes

The Fall Of The Roman Empire

The Fall of the Roman Empire Episode 111 "The Fall of Egypt"

Roman Egypt was not only the Roman Empire's wealthiest province, it was also one of the earliest bastions of Christianity. Therefore, its rapid fall to the armies of Islam has long baffled historians. Discover the surprising story of how division, betrayal and sheer bad luck caused a turning point in history. For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.com Find my latest book, Justinian's Empire, on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. For German listeners, find the German ...

9 months ago

25 minutes

The Fall Of The Roman Empire

The Fall of the Roman Empire Episode 110 "Green Arabia"

In this episode, we look at climate history and ask whether the rise of Islam was helped by more favorable climatic conditions during the Late Antique Little Ice Age? For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.com Find my latest book, Justinian's Empire, on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. For German listeners, find the German translation of the first book in my series on the 'Fall of the Roman Empire', Die römische Revolution, on Amazon.de. Finally check out my new Yo...

10 months ago

21 minutes