117- Aurelian's Walls

In 272 Aurelian finally managed to bring the east back under Roman control by defeating Queen Zenobia of Palmyra. 

Aurelian defeated the breakaway western provinces and reunified the Empire in 274 AD. The next year he was assassinated by officers who had been tricked into committing murder. 

After Aurelian's death, an old Senator named Marcus Cluadius Tacitus briefly reigned before the throne fell to Probus, who ruled from 276-282. 

With Julius Caesar dead, Cleopatra turned to another of Rome’s dominant figures. She became entwined with Mark Antony, the ruler of the eastern half of the Roman Empire, but even with their enormous combined power the destructive tendrils of Roman politics were inescapable. Just ... Show More

<p>Zenobia, queen of the glittering city state of Palmyra, was a titan of the third century Near-East. By defeating the Persian Sassanid Empire in 270 AD and stabilising the Roman East she successfully forged a Palmyran empire stretching from Egypt to Anatolia out of the embers o ... Show More

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<p>In 540, the Persians sacked Antioch. It was one of the greatest disasters in Roman history. But in 541, Belisarius was back from Italy. Could he now reverse the situation on the eastern front?</p><p>For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website <a href='https://www.nic ... Show More

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The Roman empire was used to getting its own way – but there was one power it was never able to overcome. Despite frequent bouts of warfare, the Parthian and later Persian empire managed to hold its own against Rome for more than six centuries, until a new force emerged that woul ... Show More

Belisarius and Antonina were titans in the Roman world some 1,500 years ago. Belisarius was the most well-known general of his age, victor over the Persians, conqueror of the Vandals and the Goths, and as if this were not enough, wealthy beyond imagination. His wife, Antonina, wa ... Show More

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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