The History of Byzantium

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The Plague arrives at Pelusium and spreads to Alexandria where it rages for four months. By Spring 542 the Egyptians have to begin sending out the grain fleets. They export the Plague with them and Constantinople endures a nightmare summer of death. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A clarification on the fundraising sale of Episode 28. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Khosrou leads the Persian Army across the border into Syria and begins extorting money from every city he passes. The Byzantine army is nowhere to be found as the army approaches the Empire's third largest city: Antioch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We take a look at what else was going on in the Empire during the 530s including: monophysites, tax and administration, buildings, Africa and possibly a meteor strike. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Belisarius is content to leave John to die in Ariminum but the Chamberlain Narses arrives and begs to differ. Conflicts over how to complete the conquest of Italy lead to disaster at Milan and a long delay in finally reaching Ravenna. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Athalaric, Prince of the Goths dies in 534 his mother has to choose whether to flee East or try to cling to power. Amalasuntha makes the wrong choice and calls in her cousin Theodahad. When he has her killed he hands Justinian the chance to invade. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We examine the Corpus Juris Civilis and the Hagia Sophia. The two achievements of Justinian's reign which outlasted both him and the Byzantine Empire. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With the Nika Revolt quelled, Justinian orders Belisarius to retake the province of Africa. In the Summer of 533 an armada sets sail and lands east of Carthage. Belisarius leads his army cautiously up the coast as King Gelimer rallies his army. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In January 532 a seemingly typical riot at the races escalates into a full blown rebellion against Justinian. Trapped up in the Palace while Constantinople burns, the Emperor must decide whether to flee or to fight. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In part three we return to Constantinople and see Justinian begin to reform his Empire. We take a look at his building projects, his new legal code and the laws he enacted. Particularly those aimed at pagans and heretics. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The first five years of Justinian's reign (527-532) are so incident-filled that it will take us a few episodes to get through them. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The first five years of Justinian's reign (527-532) are so incident-filled that it will take us a few episodes to get through them. In part one we stay on the Eastern front for the Battle of Dara. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We continue the narrative on the Eastern frontier as Lazica and Iberia try to form an alliance with Byzantium and leave the Persian orbit. King Kavad responds by trying to get Justin to adopt his favourite son. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We get a thorough introduction to Justinian, Justin's nephew and presumed heir. We look as Justinian's education and the kind of worldview he was developing. We follow his rise up the ranks from Palace guard to potential Caesar. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We restart the narrative with the death of the Emperor Anastasius and the accession of Justin, Count of the Excubitors. The new Emperor is decidedly orthodox and begins a persecution of the monophysites and heals the schism with Rome. We also introduce our sources for the period with particular attention paid to Procopius of Caesarea. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Part 2 is the church and the army. We look at the administration of the church and its affects on society. Then we look at the size and disposition of the army and wrap up the tour. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We finally end our tour of the Empire by examining the Byzantine state. By focussing on the government, the church and the army we see how the Empire is shaping up since the fall of the West and how it is set up to deal with the world we explored in the previous five episodes. Part 1 is the government as we look at the Emperor, his ministers and the wider civil service. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we move across the Bosporus into the Eastern Provinces and explore Anatolia, Syria, Palestine and Egypt. We then take a look at the neighbours of the Empire and see what the Persians are up to before moving on to the Arabs, Armenians and other peoples from the Caucus mountains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We explore the capital of the Byzantine Empire: Constantinople. We look at the origins of the city and trace its development from Greek city to Imperial centre. Then we see why it had such a strategically valuable location. After that we visit the city itself in the 6th century from the Great Palace to the streets. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We take a look at the remaining Byzantine Balkan Provinces along with the northern neighbours of the Empire. We also take a glance at the Black Sea Coast and the Byzantine military interest in the Crimea. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We take a look at the former Roman Provinces of Italy and Africa and see what Theodoric’s Ostrogoths and the Vandals, respectively, have been up to in the last century. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We take a look at the former Roman Provinces of Gaul and Spain and see what the Franks and Goths have been up to in the last century. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Emperor Anastasius now faces a real rebellion from the Count of the Federates in Thrace, Vitalian. The Emperor sends out an army under his nephew Hypatius but they are defeated and Vitalian marches on Constantinople. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Emperor Anastasius deals with more riots along with an invasion in the West by the Bulgars and the East by the Persians. He then begins to give in to his monophysite sympathies and is almost toppled after allowing his Patriarch to interfere with the O Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Emperor Zeno dies in 491 after trying to appease the monophysites with his 'Henoticon.' Zeno's widow Ariadne then gets to pick his succesor and marries Flavius Anastasius. We have a look at the early years of his reign and the Isaurian War. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Emperor Zeno is now back in charge and has to deal with the members of the conspiracy that ousted him. In the first half of the episode we see how he handled his enemies close to him and in the second we look at his relationship with the Goths. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We journey back to 457 to introduce the Emperor Leo. I don’t cover his reign in full but there are important details about life in the East which “The History of Rome” didn’t cover. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

An introduction for listeners who haven't listened to "The History of Rome" podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I explain the idea behind the podcast and how I intend to proceed. I also talk about how often I will be able to create episodes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.