18: The Warlords of Northern Gaul and the Rise of the Franks
As the Roman Empire disintegrated, northern Gaul turned first into a military province and then into a playground for warlords, some Roman and some barbarian. This episode is the story of how one warl...
11 Maj 201748min
17: Ostrogothic Kingdom or the Western Empire Reborn?
Under the leadership of their great king Theoderic, the Ostrogoths built a kingdom for themselves in Italy. But was this a kingdom, and Theoderic a king, or was he an emperor and his new realm the Wes...
27 Apr 201747min
16: The Kingdom of the Visigoths
The ashes of the Roman Empire produced a host of new states built on the foundations it left behind. The first of these was the Visigothic Kingdom of Toulouse, which dominated southern Gaul and helped...
13 Apr 201743min
15: The Death of the Roman Political System
Taxes, soldiers, and loyalty: these were the foundations, the structures, of the Roman political system. This episode explores how and why they fell apart over the course of the disastrous fifth centu...
30 Mars 201744min
14: The Calamitous Fifth Century - A Narrative History
It took just 80 years for the Roman Empire to fall apart completely, from a ponderous but functional state at the death of Theodosius the Great 395 to nonexistence by 476. How and why did that happen?...
16 Mars 201743min
13: The Unraveling of the Roman World
The Roman world was more than just an empire; it was a cultural, social, economic, and political space built on the easy movement of goods, people, beliefs, and practices from place to place. It was ...
2 Mars 201746min
12: The Fall of the Roman Economy
The Roman economy was a marvel, the powerhouse that produced surpluses big enough to support huge cities, maintain an enormous standing army, and construct monumental buildings that stand to this day....
17 Feb 201743min
11: The Roman Economy Before the Fall
The economy of the Roman Empire was surprisingly modern, featuring commercial markets, large-scale production, and agricultural sophistication that wouldn't be matched until the middle of the nineteen...
3 Feb 201742min
