i enjoyed this so much, i never lost interest. your voice is so soothing and you have a good sence of humour. wish there were teachers like you when i went to school. i love ancient history and the court politic. thank you so much
The part at 1:06:26 was actually really good. The dragging out of the Roman Empire to this point really does start feeling like the sort of ridiculous nonsense that happens when a show goes on for way, way, way longer than it should have. And it starts getting too chaotic and messy to really enjoy going through it the same way I got with the first 2/3rds of this amazing series. This isn't for a lack of Mike Duncan's talent, he just aptly describes how messy and unoriginal it all starts to feel at some point with a bajillion different dynasties.
Around 1 hour, 7 minutes in, Mr. Duncan refers to how it was incumbent that this show end at 476 AD, as opposed to 1453, citing how he needed to be better than the "crappy 14th season of some sitcom you can't believe is still on the air." I immediately thought of "The Simpsons," and how it should have ended 17 May 1998, back in my childhood, with the end of Season 9. That bloody thing continues (nothing like the hilarious show it once was), and I've learned from Wikipedia that season 34's finale is coming in a few days from now. Today, interestingly enough, is 17 May 2023, exactly a quarter century after what should have been the end of that cartoon. The sad part is that it has already been renewed for a 35th and even a 36th season, not that I have any intention whatsoever of watching it. Sometimes it is better to bow out gracefully and to leave the audience begging for more, rather than overstay one's welcome and fade off into obscurity.
During the pandemic, I listened to this entire series. Sometimes I would fall asleep with it on. Did I just dream about a red wedding involving the Romans and Goths? I can't find it on Google.
Vandals today: Yo, we draw da graffiti and stuff on walls! Vandals in the 5th century: Yo, we burn Roman ships! (Based on a comment I have seen elsewhere)
April 1st, 457 AD: Majorian is proclaimed Western Roman Emperor. This is one of the most interesting April Fool's jokes of all time. I'm not saying it didn't happen, but truth is often stranger than fiction. Perhaps this is why I like dark comedies so much; they mimic my interests in history and the social sciences in general.
After listening to this from the first episodes, I hate hearing about romes collapse. Seeing them go from underdog to rulers of Italy to controlling the Mediterranean, to conquering Greece, to the fall of the republic and the buildup to the golden age, hearing about how they skirted by the disastrous third century by the skin of their teeth only to emerge as strong as ever, it is just sad to hear about the collapse. It’s like watching a movie where you know the outcome. You know it’s gonna be bad. But you’re still hoping against all odds that somehow the hero pulls through.
I totally enjoy listening to your podcast, even tho I jump around. It's simple and easy to understand history. While it is all fact(ish) it comes out like modern day drama of never ending family. As I listened I began to wonder if I came for the story or to hear that guitar solo
50:59 She was the daughter of an emperor, the brother of an emperor, the wife of an emperor and the mother of an emperor. Wait a second... one of them doesn't quite fit.
I tried to read the da vinci code once. I was blown away that this was what all the fuss was about. Pure, cheap, run of the mill pulp nonsense, and this guy made tens of millions of dollars on it. So it goes.
I've heard it suggested that what happened to the Romans was the rest of the tribes were learning from them. The Roman's couldn't change their society and didn't really want to. The Roman's had the high overhead life and the tribes had the low overhead life. Costs just kept rising for the Romans and the tribes could only get richer. There was no happy middle ground. The Romans had such a high value way of life (but very unevenly applied, and standard of living (also very unevenly applied) and the tribes were so much lower (yet more or less uniform overall) . But the average between them all was so appalling low and it took at least 500 years to rise again to reach a more adequate standard of civilization for all. And another 500 years, approximately, to reach the standard of living the romans once enjoyed. But that is hard to gauge: like what's a standard of civilization? Luxury is a very subjective standard. What's really important in life? I read Petronius's Satyricon last year and watched all the movies and I can't forget that the Roman's had art galleries in their cities. That is something I don't think anywhere in Europe will see again until the 18th century.
This podcast series is excellent.....so is the humor.I am immersed in Gibbon and follow the timetable along with you.....I hear you reference modern historians but I wonder what your opinion of Gibbon's work is....?
Gibbon's ideas and views have been widely disproven. Afterall his views are centuries old. In any case, the narrator Mike Duncan does not own this channel.
@CipiRipi00 Yes, the empire recovered from the crisis. It never reached the greatness of the Nerva-Antonines, but it bounced back from the verge of collapse. The pagans were obviously far more tolerant than Christianity ever was. By its very nature paganism accepted the worship of many different gods, with Rome adopting many gods of conquered peoples into their pantheons. Yes there were later persecutions on the Christians but these were politically motivated, not theologically motivated. The Nestorian Church and various monophysite congregations were established between the 420s and 450s when the western empire, though failing, still existed.
@@davidsan9654 It was Kyle. He says, "Disintegration is the best album ever!" It's from the first Mecha-Streisand episode. Kyle says this just after Robert Smith punches Streisand in the nose, hurls her into space making her explode, and walks off into the sunset.
Ricimer has to be one of the most despicable men in human history. I put him right up there with Stalin in terms of villains, as it takes a really uniquely terrible kind of person to torture and kill your friends.
Rome lasted longer than most Empires full stop. No matter how far you stretch the time frame of history, the Roman Empire would still be one of the longest lasting. The classic Roman Empire of old, in its strictly imperial phase, lasted for 503 years, 27 BC - 476 AD, and had already been the greatest power in the Mediterranean for like a century before that. The Eastern Roman/Byzantine Empire lasted for 1,058 years, 395 - 1453. 500 years alone places it comfortably in the top 10 of all-time longest lasting Empires.
@Jace Rivera it was so different though - that’s why it is separated by historians. Linguistically, ethnically, religiously, culturally, politically, administratively, everything was different. The Byzantines may have called themselves Romans but they were a foreign nation in all things.
@CipiRipi00 It didn't stop being the Roman Republic in 285, or in 400, or 560. "Principate/Dominate" are modern conventions and had no impact on whether Rome continued to be the Roman Res Publica/Politeia.
Interesting as always, but I feel the Huns were a little underrepresented. No mention of why they were so effective on the battlefield, or even who they were exactly. One could write a very interesting book on the history of the composite bow and its impact on history. It was an amazing weapon, and even though millions were made throughout history, precisely how they were made remains a mystery. Those things could pierce armor at a quarter mile.
Mr. Duncan does show his middle class and modern bias. "unrepentant misogynists"?. Isn't he forgetting that Rome made its living through military domination and rape of surrounding territories? The women didn't have to do that and that is why they tended not to have the same political power. Men and women did tend to have very distinct body types and muscle mass .In fact, when women were too prominent in the public or political life of the empire, even their enemies thought they were getting too soft. The Middle Eastern empires were not bastions of equal rights either. Nobody on earth was, actually. Boadicea is famous for having called Nero "a woman". There is an awful lot of fantasy warfare entertainment today that seems to forget what historical conditions really were. Perhaps how those people were thinking: if men have to risk life and limb for war, women have to risk their lives making more babies. I say "perhaps" because I wonder if any of them at the time actually phrased the situation as clearly as that in their own minds? It might have revealed the real horror and dreadfulness of their lives too baldly? That kind of knowledge tends to get sublimated, doesn't it? Ancient warfare, and to some extent modern warfare, still puts the body in jeopardy. It is about destroying the enemies physical body and anything that supports it. Modern warfare can almost be fought with push buttons (we'll all be toast soon enough) but ancient warfare was really about brute animal treachery and force. I think there is also an unconscious awareness, that as a species, the society at war can't afford to jeopardize all the members but has to protect the womb so there are potentially more warriors. And that is why there tended to be a gallantry and politeness shown to "ladies".
Saying that Jesus was devine, born from a virgin who walked over the water, healed crippled people back to walking, ressurected and ascended to the skies is alright... nothing beyond actuality.. saying that the merovingian kings descended from him is unbelieveble conspiracy theory.. (I dont believe in any of this tho, but I like the descendence thing a lot.. it's just good fiction.. a good fanfiction that makes a lot of sense, you know what I mean?)
@@jamiecullum5567 Are you really trying to compare the actions of billions of people over thousands of years to the actions of one man over a few decades? Of course Christians have killed more people than that one Roman Emperor. You could say that about anything.
@@vaughnh.150 The first Crusade massacred thousands upon thousands of men, women and children when they took Jerusalem. The point here is that the big picture is important, not that Diocletian was a saint.
I doubt that disease or bribery had anything to do with it. Attila could have taken far more treasure from Rome than any bribe could hope to match, and disease wouldn't drive him out so fast: even with diseases in his army, he could easily have given them at least one day to sack Rome. What probably happened was that Pope Leo told Attila of what had happened to Alaric a short time after he sacked Rome: he died. The Huns were very superstitious and knew that Rome was a holy city now that the Pope was there. While other factors played a role, the meeting with the Pope probably is what turned him away. The whole "they had too much treasure" argument is just stupid. They could have easily stolen more draft animals and even taken people as slaves and used them to carry the extra goods. Yes, Italy had a famine and there was disease, but neither of these things had stopped the Huns from sacking Milan or Aquilea. And the Pope probably had no gold to bribe Attila with, but even if he did, Attila could have taken far, far more from Rome itself.
To me, the Byzantines aren't Rome anyway and ceased to be Rome as soon as there was ever such thing as "The eastern empire". At that point I consider them to have seceded so it's fair to mark "The fall of Rome" at Romulus because the eastern half wasn't Rome.
Hearing this guy say "your highness" and simping for the not so impressive Roman Augusta is the most pathetic thing I have ever heard. Nice history though Marc.
what do you mean reading? The whole podcast is his own work and he is entitled to his opinion, all historians have opinions and different points of view.
Man I've loved this series but the narrator is becoming unbearable in these last few videos. More sarcastic jokes than actual history at times so the thread of the story is constantly getting lost.
That's the same way I felt too. But now I'm on my third or fourth watch and I'm kind of not bothered by it anymore. I still notice it for sure and roll my eyes but the series is still too fun to stop watching.
Where do you get that from? He has been neutral about the entire podcasts with the exception of a few preferences on Emperors. Would it make you feel better if he said a prayer at the end of every episode?
IT IS SO TYPICAL THAT THE SMUG BELIEVER doesn't "deign" to "engage' after she makes what she knows will be at the very most, hotly contested, and at the very least, highly irritating pronouncement....I believe that author does not have the confidence or courage to defend or at least explain such a comment, and hides instead behind digital quasi-anonymity, her words should be interpreted as bigoted and biased against any non-believers---iNCLUDING the millions of believers who may not believe in which truth she she mentions----since she will not take the time to explain it, she does not deserve the respect of pluralism and her remarks should be reported.
His comments are sometimes cringe but sometimes applicable and go with the program if you watch the rest of the series. I like them it's for Roma man. For Roma. Roma.
