The Byzantine Empire survived the turmoil that had wrecked the western Roman Empire despite having some pretty unimpressive leadership. Leo was the first emperor to use Greek for his legislation, but had little notable impact on the big picture. His successor was Zeno who was newly in post when the western Empire was ended. He
The empire in the West was over. Italy was now a barbarian kingdom run by Odoacer, an Ostrogothic chieftain. But we’ll get back to him – first lets look at the early career of a young upwardly mobile barbarian called Theoderic. He had been born into the royal family of the Ostrogoths shortly after the
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is permeated from beginning to end with the atmosphere of the Enlightenment. But at the end of the third volume, he comes out and says directly what he believes in. Gibbon wonders whether some unknown threat could arise that would once again destroy the civilisation of
In the late Roman Empire most people were poor. The state was in the hands of a hugely wealthy elite who called all the shots. The logic for a religion was inevitable. The only source of converts was to appeal to people in poverty. The only source of cash was the government. The winning formula turned
The Romano-British lost almost everything with the fall of the empire. But they put up a fight, and a long and hard one. And many centuries later it was a British leader that became a legend. There was no continuity with the previous era in England. The Saxons never had a heroic leader like Alaric or Clovis whose name has continued to resonate ever since. But they were the only ones who really totally wiped out all trace of the empire of the Romans.
Hello, I’m Colin Sanders and this is the history books review. It isn’t a book today. I have just watched the film of the King’s Speech, starring Colin Firth and Helena Bonham-Carter. I’ll leave the merits of the film to the film critics, though I will say that it are nearly brought a tear