The History of Byzantium

An interview with Tom Holland, author of the book "In the Shadow of the Sword." The book traces the origins of Islam by looking at the Jewish, Roman and Persian worlds of late antiquity. In the interview he gives his views on how this process worked and then I ask him why did the Arabs win? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why can't we entirely trust the traditional Islamic account of the conquests? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why did the Romans lose control of their Eastern provinces so easily? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Justinian II comes to power aged 16 and begins imitating his namesake in ambition and productivity. He orders campaigns in east and west, begins building and taxing and calls for an Ecumenical Council. All the while though his popularity  plummets. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Constantine IV calls an Ecumenical Council to discuss the issue of Monotheletism. He also has to deal with an invasion of the Balkans by the Bulgars. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Constantine IV inherits his father's throne together with his ceaseless war with Muʿāwiyah. As the Caliph builds a fleet to threaten Constantinople the Emperor responds with the weapons at his disposal. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Constans II uses the Muslim civil war to reorganise the Roman military in the East. Then he travels to the West making a new home for himself in Syracuse in Sicily. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Heraclius' family fall out with each other over the succession. The crown eventually comes to rest on the head of the fourteen year old Constans II. He is left with an Empire under attack in Egypt, Armenia and the Mediterranean. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Arabs march on into Mesopotamia and Egypt. Meanwhile the bad news keeps piling up for Heraclius as he nears his final days. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Muslim Arabs invade Syria and begin to sweep away Roman resistance. Heraclius gathers the Army of the East for what he hopes will be a decisive battle. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Heraclius surveys his shattered realm and plans how to remake things. We deal with three issues specifically - the Imperial title, the Empire's Jews and the Monophysites. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Heraclius takes the winter off to plan what to do next. He needs to buy off the Avars as he removes all the remaining troops from the Balkans. After training the last Roman army left in the Empire, Heraclius prepares to march East and either restore the old borders or never return. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Byzantine Project Update Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Persians conquer Egypt as Nicetas fails to defend Alexandria. Heraclius tries to find a way to avoid blame for this disaster and acquire the resources to fight back. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Heraclius fails to push the Persians back and has to watch in horror as they capture Jerusalem. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Phocas is overthrown by Heraclius but the Empire's problems are only deepening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The narrative resumes with the new Emperor Phocas having to deal with yet another Persian invasion. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We explore who the Byzantines thought they were and whether they were right. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I answer your 6th century questions from education to eunuchs and food to fleets. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We travel through Spain, Gaul, Italy, the Balkans, Anatolia, the East and Persia to uncover the geo-political situation in 600AD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We look at how Christianity spread more deeply into Roman culture across the 6th century and see how this affected the Empire's cities and Jews. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We look at how the Roman army has changed up to the end of the 6th century. To guide us we are using the Byzantine army manual the Strategikon. We learn how the army fought, who fought, what they looked like and how they were organised. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Maurice has a tough decision to make about his role in the Persian civil war. Once that is over he turns his attention to the Balkans. Success in the field is ruined by the cost of paying the army. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The new Emperor Maurice continues fighting on the Eastern front trying to convince the Persians to sign a peace treaty. But they won't. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The new Emperor Tiberius II decided to throw the Empire's strength into the war with Persia. He spends liberally and recruits new men to bolster the Eastern Empire. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.