logo
episode-header-image
May 2024
16m 47s

Episode 294 - The Rise and Fall of Epiru...

THEHISTORYOFBYZANTIUM@GMAIL.COM
About this episode

Theodoros Doukas the leader of the Roman state of Epirus leads his people to ever greater heights in the 1220s. He captures Thessalonica and drives towards Constantinople itself. Doukas declares himself Emperor but does he have the resources necessary to reach the Hagia Sophia?


Period: 1215-30



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Jun 20
Episode 331 - The Last Hope
John VIII Palaiologos asks the Pope for an Ecumenical Council to reunite the churches. To his surprise the Pontiff says yes and a huge Byzantine contingent travels to Italy.Period: 1425-48 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. 
27m 12s
Jun 6
Episode 329 - Buying Time
With the Ottoman civil war raging Manuel II Palaiologos tries to improve the Roman position and ensure his sons succeed him.Period: 1402-30 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. 
30m 23s
May 30
Episode 328 - In the Nick of Timur
Manuel II Palaiologos refuses to play vassal to Sultan Bayezid. So the Ottomans set up a permanent blockade of New Rome. The siege would last for eight years and only a miracle could save the Romans.Period: 1391-1402 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. 
30 m
Recommended Episodes
Jan 2022
Alexander the Great & The Persian Thermopylae (Part One)
In January 330 BC, Alexander the Great faced one of his most difficult challenges to date. A small Persian force, entrenched in a formidable defensive position that blockaded Alexander’s route to the Persian heartlands. A narrow pass through the Zagros Mountains that has gone dow ... Show More
38m 37s
Nov 2018
The Fall of Constantinople and the Tragic End of the Byzantines
In 1453, after more than 60 years of trying, the Ottomans finally besieged and captured the city of Constantinople. This marked the end of one phase of Ottoman expansion and the beginning of another as the dominant power of the region. It was also the end of the Byzantines, the l ... Show More
57m 52s
Nov 2021
Caracalla's Macedonian Phalanx
Alexander the Great and Caracalla. One often considered among the most successful military commanders of all time, the other, one of the worst emperors of Ancient Rome. So is it possible that the latter modelled himself and his army on the former. In this second episode with Dr A ... Show More
26m 39s
Nov 2021
The Ottoman “Age of Discovery”
The “Age of Discovery” is traditionally known as a period between the 15th and 16th centuries, when European Christian powers sailed west and encountered lands and peoples previously unknown to them. However, speaking to David Musgrove, Professor Marc David Baer contends that thi ... Show More
35m 43s
Apr 2024
136. Empress Theodora: From the Brothel to the Throne
Placed by her mother into a brothel when she was just a child, Theodora was born into the most brutal of worlds. It was a Constantinople riven with division, whether due to theology or circus factions it was always ready to boil over. As befitting a Christian saint, Theodora mana ... Show More
41m 32s
Nov 2023
The Rise of Constantinople with Bettany Hughes
The city of Constantinople, founded by the Roman Emperor Constantine in 324 AD, was a glittering jewel in the eastern Mediterranean for more than a thousand years. Its dazzling cathedrals, ambitious emperors and mixing pot culture were the stuff of legend throughout Christendom. ... Show More
39m 35s
Aug 2022
218. Theodora: Empress of Byzantium (Part 1)
In the first episode of a three part series, Tom and Dominic dive into the incredible story of Justinian and Theodora. Tune in for an incredible (and racy) introduction to the powerful Byzantine empress, the collapse of the Western half of the Roman Empire, and a deep-dive into t ... Show More
51m 19s
Nov 2018
Holy War and the Rise of the Ottomans
The Ottoman Empire rose from humble beginnings in Anatolia to dominate a vast swathe of territory. Holy war, gaza, was a powerful driving force behind that expansion. At the Battle of Nicopolis in 1396, Ottoman holy war clashed directly with its Christian equivalent: crusading.If ... Show More
54m 56s
Jan 2018
002 – The new Italian kingdom from Odoacer to Theodoric
476-493 The Italian kingdom of Odoacer (476 – 493) and the takeover by the Goths of Theodoric the Great 
18m 22s
Jun 2024
460. The Empress of the Apocalypse
In 972AD a princess of the Byzantine Empire was sent by her uncle, the Roman emperor in Constantinople, to marry the son of Otto the Great - Emperor of the Latin West. A tantalising and formidable figure, Theophanu became a major player in one of the most tumultuous and mysteriou ... Show More
55m 26s