11. Byzantium - Last of the Romans (Part 1 of 2)

On the outskirts of modern Istanbul, a line of ancient walls lies crumbling into the earth... In this episode, we look at one of history’s most incredible stories of survival - the thousand-year epic of the Byzantine Empire. Find out how this civilization suffered the loss of its Western half, and continued the unbroken legacy of Rome right through the middle ages. Hear about how it formed a bridge between two continents, and two ages, and learn how the impregnable walls of Constantinople were finally brought crashing to the ground. This episode we're joined by members of the St Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral Choir in London, and a number of musicians playing traditional Byzantine instruments. ** Fall of Civilizations the book is now available to pre-order: linktr.ee/fallofcivilizations ** All original music for this episode available to download to Patreon subscribers:   / 39308482   PART 2:    • 11. Byzantium - Last of the Romans (Part 2...   SUPPORT THE SHOW HERE:   / fallofcivilizations_podcast   Books on Byzantium: UK: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fallofci... US: https://bookshop.org/shop/fallofcivil... Affiliate links, purchases support the show. Chapters 0:00 - The Visit of Gautier 1:45 - Exploring Constantinople 3:18 - Ruined Walls of Constantinople 8:12 - Formation of the Mediterranean 11:56 - Early Humans and Neanderthals 13:21 - Rise of Rome 16:26 - The Antonine Plague 20:27 - Diocletian Splits the Roman Empire 21:59 - Emperor Constantine 23:27 - Bosphorus Flood and Black Sea 26:29 - Founding of Byzantium 31:22 - Constantine Founds Constantinople 35:58 - Planning the Theodosian Walls 37:24 - Alaric Sacks Rome 40:22 - Theodosian Walls 42:00 - Attila the Hun 45:23 - Earthquake of 447 46:35 - Did Sports Fans Save Constantinople? 50:10 - Stalemate with Attila 51:25 - Byzantine Geography and Culture 55:22 - Two Romes Contrasted 57:16 - Fall of the Western Empire 1:03:40 - Justin and Justinian 1:07:19 - Procopius' Secret History 1:08:50 - The Nika Riots 1:10:02 - Hagia Sophia and Silk 1:14:14 - Reconquest of the West 1:17:38 - Damage to Rome 1:18:45 - The Plague of Justinian 1:20:49 - End of Justinian's Dreams 1:22:29 - Heraclius and Persian Wars 1:24:00 - The Arab Conquests 1:29:36 - Loss of Egypt and Sea Power 1:32:48 - Arab Siege of Constantinople 1:33:54 - Greek Fire SOURCES:   / 39311564   Credits: Sound engineering by Thomas Ntinas Voice Actors: Nicolas Rixon Annie Kelly Cleo Madeleine Peter Walters Lachlan Lucas 3D reconstructions of Constantinople by Evren Öztürk: https://www.artstation.com/evrenever LinkedIn:   / evren-%c3%b6zt%c3%bcrk-297683ba   3D reconstructions of the Theodosian Walls by Tarik Tamyurek: https://www.artstation.com/ttamyurek LinkedIn:   / ttamyurek   Timelapses of Istanbul kindly provided by Cüneyt Karaahmetoğlu under a Creative Commons (CC BY 3.0) license Original Music by: Pavlos Kapralos (   / @pavloskapralos3969  ) [Also heard Petros Peloponnesios' "Nihavend Pesrev" and the ecclesiastical hymn "Agne Parthene Despina"] Musicians: Monooka (Monica Lucia Madas): Vocals Alexandros Koustas: Lyra (kemence) Konstantinos Glynos: Qanun Theofilos Lais: Cretan lyra Dario Papavassiliou: Santouri (greek santur) Pavlos Kapralos: Oud Chanters from the St Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral: Michael Georgiou Alexandros Gikas Matthew Tomko Stephanos Thomaides Pavlos Kapralos Other music by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: incompetech.com/ Title theme: Home At Last by John Bartmann. https://johnbartmann.com/