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Nick Holmes


EVER WONDERED WHY THE ROMAN EMPIRE FELL? Find out in this podcast from British historian, Nick Holmes, as he tells the extraordinary story of Rome's decline and fall, and how its legacy is still central to the world we live in today. WANT A FREE EBOOK? Then head directly to Nick's website  www.nickholmesauthor.com.


The Fall Of The Roman Empire

Many historians call the Abbasid caliphate ‘the Golden Age of Islam’ but in this episode I want to analyse the contradiction in this description since, at a time when Islam underwent an undisputed cultural flowering, it also collapsed politically.

For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.com
Find my latest book, The End of Antiquity, on Amazon. For German listeners, find the German translation of the first book in my series on the 'Fall of the Roman Empire', Die römische Revolution, on Amazon.de. Finally check out my new YouTube videos on the fall of the Roman Empire.

The Fall of the Roman Empire Episode 128 "The Abbasids: Golden Age or Age of Collapse?"

First, let me wish you a Happy New Year and I hope you had a good break if you took time off. This episode tells the story of one of the greatest empires in history – the Umayyad Caliphate. Its territories stretched from Samarkand to the Atlantic. Like the Roman Empire, it straddled three continents – Asia, Europe and Africa. But appearances can be deceptive, and to most contemporaries the Umayyad Caliphate seemed much more fragile than it does to us today with the benefit of 1,400 years of hindsight. Find out why in this episode!

For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.com
Find my latest book, The End of Antiquity, on Amazon. For German listeners, find the German translation of the first book in my series on the 'Fall of the Roman Empire', Die römische Revolution, on Amazon.de. Finally check out my new YouTube videos on the fall of the Roman Empire.

The Fall of the Roman Empire Episode 127 "The Rise and Fall of the Umayyads"

In this episode, we’ll hear about one of the most chilling rulers of Byzantium – the empress Eirene. She was Byzantium’s only empress to take on the reins of government in a sole capacity. Her reign is controversial because she took sole power only after she’d killed the reigning emperor by gouging out his eyes. And the emperor in question was her own son. Even by the shocking standards of the Dark Ages, this stands out as pretty extreme parenting. And yet despite that, today she is a saint in the Greek Orthodox church since she restored icon worship, overthrowing the iconoclasts we talked about in the last episode. 

For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.com
Find my latest book, The End of Antiquity, on Amazon. For German listeners, find the German translation of the first book in my series on the 'Fall of the Roman Empire', Die römische Revolution, on Amazon.de. Finally check out my new YouTube videos on the fall of the Roman Empire.

The Fall of the Roman Empire Episode 126 "Eirene: The Monstrous Empress of Byzantium?"

In the first half of the eighth century, Byzantium stemmed the Arab advance into Europe. Critical to this achievement were two emperors: Leo III and Constantine V. In this episode, I explain why I think these two men were heroes of the Dark Ages who changed history. And their lack of visibility is explained by a conspiracy against them which echoes the cancel culture of our own times. 

For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.com
Find my latest book, The End of Antiquity, on Amazon. For German listeners, find the German translation of the first book in my series on the 'Fall of the Roman Empire', Die römische Revolution, on Amazon.de. Finally check out my new YouTube videos on the fall of the Roman Empire.

The Fall of the Roman Empire Episode 125 "The Forgotten Heroes of Byzantium"

In this episode we turn east to consider Byzantium. We last spoke about the eastern Romans, or the Byzantines, in episode 113 when I described the emperor Leo III’s victory in the winter of 717/718 over an immense Umayyad army and navy intent on taking Constantinople. This was a pivotal moment in history. Few people at the time would have expected Byzantium to survive. But it did. And the Umayyad Caliphate’s advance into Europe was blocked. 

But before we move on to the rest of Leo’s reign, the question I want to ask in this episode, is how did Byzantium do it? How was it able to fend off Islam, by far the greatest power of its age? 

For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.com
Find my latest book, The End of Antiquity, on Amazon. For German listeners, find the German translation of the first book in my series on the 'Fall of the Roman Empire', Die römische Revolution, on Amazon.de. Finally check out my new YouTube videos on the fall of the Roman Empire.

The Fall of the Roman Empire Episode 124 "Byzantium: The Empire That Refused To Die"

The final political legacy of the Roman Empire in western Europe was the Holy Roman Empire. 

Amazingly, this curious political institution lasted until Napoleon abolished it in 1806. In the eighteenth century, the French political philosopher Voltaire famously described it as neither Holy nor Roman nor an Empire. He may have been right in his own age, but it was originally born with the dream of restoring Charlemagne's empire, itself a restoration of the once mighty Roman Empire. It was a dream that would last a thousand years.

For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.com
Find my latest book, The End of Antiquity, on Amazon. For German listeners, find the German translation of the first book in my series on the 'Fall of the Roman Empire', Die römische Revolution, on Amazon.de. Finally check out my new YouTube videos on the fall of the Roman Empire.

The Fall of the Roman Empire Episode 123 "The Holy Roman Empire"

The Vikings transformed European history, impacted the worlds of both Byzantium and the Abbasid Caliphate, and even, some 500 years before Christopher Columbus, discovered North America. 

In this episode, I want to look at how and why the Viking diaspora first began, before moving to their initial impact on the world outside Scandinavia, especially on the Carolingians and the establishment of the Viking-Frankish state of Normandy.

For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.com
Find my latest book, The End of Antiquity, on Amazon. For German listeners, find the German translation of the first book in my series on the 'Fall of the Roman Empire', Die römische Revolution, on Amazon.de. Finally check out my new YouTube videos on the fall of the Roman Empire.

The Fall of the Roman Empire Episode 122 "The Vikings"

Charlemagne created the largest empire in western Europe since the Romans. But it didn’t last. Within only a few decades of his death, it had broken up and one half of it was fighting for its survival against a new and terrifying enemy from the north: the Vikings. In this episode, I want to ask why did that happen? 

For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.com
Find my latest book, The End of Antiquity, on Amazon. For German listeners, find the German translation of the first book in my series on the 'Fall of the Roman Empire', Die römische Revolution, on Amazon.de. Finally check out my new YouTube videos on the fall of the Roman Empire.

The Fall of the Roman Empire Episode 121 "The Fall of the Frankish Empire"

In this and the next episode, I want to look beyond the legend of Charlemagne to find the real man and his achievements and failings. His legend has made him into a symbol of power and authority as well as a figurehead for the cause of European integration. But it shouldn’t be forgotten that after his death, his empire quickly broke up and his accomplishments were shown to be hollow. So, what is the truth about him? Let’s find out.

For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.com
Find my latest book, The End of Antiquity, on Amazon. For German listeners, find the German translation of the first book in my series on the 'Fall of the Roman Empire', Die römische Revolution, on Amazon.de. Finally check out my new YouTube videos on the fall of the Roman Empire.

The Fall of the Roman Empire Episode 120 "Charlemagne's Empire"

In this episode, we explore how the Carolingians rose to become the dynasty that would claim to be the inheritors of Rome. 

For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.com
Find my latest book, The End of Antiquity, on Amazon. For German listeners, find the German translation of the first book in my series on the 'Fall of the Roman Empire', Die römische Revolution, on Amazon.de. Finally check out my new YouTube videos on the fall of the Roman Empire.

The Fall of the Roman Empire Episode 128 "The Abbasids: Golden Age or Age of Collapse?"

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