Introduction

This episode is being recorded in early 2015, three years after the podcast launched. It continues the narrative of the history of Rome podcast by Mike Duncan. The purpose of this episode is to offer a quick introduction to the series if you haven't already listened to it. Any real introduction to Byzantine history begins with what is often called the crisis of the third century. That's when Trajan, Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius ruled the empire at a time when the Roman army could dominate its enemies.