The History of Byzantium

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.

This podcast examines the foreign policy developments of Emperor Justin and the tensions between Byzantium and Persia. It also delves into the life of Theodora, a former pantomime dancer turned empress. Lastly, it explores Justinian's efforts to rebuild the Roman Empire after an earthquake in Antioch.

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.