The founder of the Carolingian empire, Charlemagne, is often called the “father of Europe.” For the French and German people alike, he’s a little bit like a medieval George Washington. But unlike Washington, Charlemagne was not just statesman and general. He was an empire-builder living in a very different time, when might made right. There is no single battle or campaign that earned Charlemagne his place in history. No fight against overwhelming odds or swift toppling of another empire. Instead, Charlemagne’s inclusion in the pantheon of military greats was earned through the scope and scale of his conquests, incremental as they were. It is a certain brand of sheer persistence and unending patience that forged Charlemagne’s reputation as conqueror. That is the essence of why you hear as unlikely a source as Mike Tyson rank him alongside Alexander the Great and Napoleon. Theme track used: The Age of Empire (Zero Project), re-composed by Stavros Stavrou Audio used: Mike Tyson in Sugar Ray Leonard interview
In the course of only twenty five years, Clovis -- the first of the Merovingians -- had united the Frankish people, adopted Roman Christianity, and laid the foundations for a kingdom that would last about two and half centuries. In the vision of Clovis' father, Childeric, he imagines that the Merovingian dynasty would transmogrify from a procession of mythic creatures into a pack of wild bears, wolves, and dogs. This is their story... as well as the prelude to the Carolingians. The vaunted ancestors of Charlemagne, the Carolingians first appear as mayors of the Merovingian palace in Paris before supplanting them. Nonetheless, by the time of their fall, the Merovingians ruled Francia for 250 years. Ian Wood, a leading authority on the Merovingian period, has gone so far as to say that “No other state equalled the overall achievements of the Franks [under the Merovingians] in the sixth, seventh, and eight centuries.” Whether we go that far or not, we must acknowledge that the Merovingians have been overlooked for far too long. Their reign is too often seen as a gap in the late antique period, a dark age preceding the Carolingian renaissance. But that is a disservice to the Merovingians, without whom there would have been no Carolingians, and no Charlemagne. Theme track used: The Age of Empire (Zero Project), re-composed by Stavros Stavrou
So there’s a lot of guys thinking about the Roman Empire lately, but that’s nothing new. Though the western half of their empire fell more than 1500 years ago, the Romans have never really gone away, leaving behind traces -- material and immaterial -- of their achievements in so many different realms of human endeavor: from civil engineering and hydraulics to political and legal reforms to linguistic and literary developments, and so much else. More than any other empire-builders in the Western world, the Romans have been studied, admired, idealized, and emulated by succeeding empires right on through the twentieth century, for better and for worse. In this episode, I make the case that there is another empire worthy of our attention, one that went further than almost any other civilization in associating itself with ancient Rome, right down to its name. It will encompass the fall of ancient Rome, the origins of the Franks, and the rise of the Merovingian dynasty. Theme track used: The Age of Empire (Zero Project), re-composed by Stavros Stavrou
Following in the footsteps of greatness is never an easy thing, especially at the dawn of history. This was the Bronze Age, when glory could not be bought or borrowed or bartered, except with the price of blood. Sure, there was praise to be earned for building roads and consecrating temples and giving grain to the hungry. All of that was very well and good. However, it was the virtues of war, not peace, that enabled a man to be great. There was no other playbook -- only the one written by Sargon in the blood of his enemies. And his successors followed it to the very letter, even as it became certain that their creation could never last. The last episode in our series on the Akkadian Empire, including a dramatic reading of an abridged version of the Curse of Akkad, one of the finest stories to emerge out of Mesopotamia. Theme track used: The Age of Empire (Zero Project)
Let us, just for the moment, take a brief respite from the epic tales of gods, great men, and battles that dominate our narrative. Rest assured that we will return to these subjects soon enough because of how prominently they figure in the two centuries of Akkadian rule, so much so that normally sober-minded historians have referred to it as “the heroic chapter” of Bronze Age History. It is all too easy to forget that there were ordinary people out there, the playthings of these heroes, who spent their days eking out what then constituted an ordinary existence. Surrounded by violence and preoccupied with basic subsistence, the sons and daughters of this earliest of empires leave behind evidence of a sophisticated civilization, with a dynamic cultural, artistic, and intellectual scene that was both a continuation of their rich past but also evolving toward something grander. Theme track used: The Age of Empire (Zero Project)
What kind of man does it take to build an empire? And not just any empire, but the very first in the history of man? What would it take to bring it into being when only kingdoms and cities had come before? For an answer, we can look at the story of Sargon of Akkad: Lover to Ishtar, Father to Enheduanna, Lord of Lies, King of Battle, Prophet of Empire. In The Birth Legend of Sargon of Akkad, we are told that, as a mere infant, he was sent down the Euphrates in a basket of rushes sealed with bitumen, an origin story not unlike that of Moses. Raised as a simple gardener, Sargon of Akkad nonetheless goes down in history as the world's first emperor... So how did he do it? Theme track used: The Age of Empire (Zero Project)
Since there can be no firm understanding of the Sargonic empire without a passing familiarity with the Sumerian city-states that preceded it, this episode is devoted to them, their leading representative being Uruk. With this context established, we will be able to make sense of the Akkadians as well as their successors, because as certainly as day follows night, so too does one empire follow another. Theme track used: The Age of Empire (Zero Project)
Where are the Romans now? You're looking at em.0:00 - Intro 1:20 - Level I: The Calamities13:12 - Level II: The Blunderers 21:43 - Level III: The Benchwarmers25:38 - Level IV: The Patriarchs31:12 - Level V: The Firefighters36:59 - Level VI: The Imperialists43:49 - Level VII: The Founders
Chapters:Intro - 0:00Chapter I: The Early Normans - 1:26 Chapter II: The Italian Normans - 1:00:57 Chapter III: The English Normans - 1:53:51 Chapter IV: The Crusader Normans - 3:34:00Chapter V: 4:29:56 Primary Sources:Adémar de Chabannes. Chronicon and related forgeries. Early 11th century.Amatus of Montecassino. L'Ystoire de li Normant. ca. 1080.Anna Komnene. The Alexiad. ca. 1148.Dudo of Saint-Quentin. Historia Normannorum (History of the Normans). ca. 996–1015.Geoffrey Malaterra. De Rebus Gestis Rogerii Calabriae et Siciliae Comitis (The Deeds of Count Roger of Calabria and Sicily). ca. 1099–1101.Henry of Huntingdon. Historia Anglorum (History of the English).John of Fécamp. Letter to Pope Leo IX. ca. 1050s.Richer of Saint-Remi. Historiarum Libri Quatuor (Four Books of Histories). ca. 990s.Snorri Sturluson. Heimskringla. 13th century.William of Apulia. Gesta Roberti Wiscardi (The Deeds of Robert Guiscard). ca. 1096.William of Jumièges. Gesta Normannorum Ducum (Deeds of the Norman Dukes). 11th century.William of Malmesbury. Gesta Regum Anglorum (Deeds of the English Kings). ca. 1125.Secondary Sources:Anglo-Norman Studies X: Proceedings of the Battle Conference 1987. Edited by R. Allen Brown. 1988.Barlow, Frank. Vita Ædwardi Regis [The Life of King Edward Who Rests at Westminster].Barlow, Frank. William I and the Norman Conquest. 1965.Bates, David. William the Conqueror. 2009.Blair, John. Building Anglo-Saxon England. 2018.Brownworth, Lars. The Normans: From Raiders to Kings. Crux Publishing, 2014.Crouch, David. The Normans: The History of a Dynasty. Hambledon and London, 2002.Davis, R. H. C. “The Warhorses of the Normans.” In Medieval Warfare 1000–1300, edited by John France, 54–67. Farnham: Ashgate, 2006.Douglas, David C. William the Conqueror: The Norman Impact upon England. 1964.English Heritage. “How to Organise a Norman Invasion Fleet.” https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/lNeveux, François. The Normans: The Conquests That Changed the Face of Europe. Translated by Howard Curtis. Constable, 2008.Norwich, John Julius. The Normans in the South, 1016–1130. Longmans, 1967.Roach, Levi. Empires of the Normans: Makers of Europe, Conquerors of Asia. London: John Murray; New York: Pegasus Books, 2022.Saxon History. “The Ship List of William the Conqueror.” https://saxonhistory.co.uk/FORMS-PageSearle, Eleanor. Predatory Kinship and the Creation of Norman Power, 840–1066. University of California Press, 1988.Van Houts, Elisabeth M. C. The Normans in Europe. Manchester University Press, 2000.Viking Ship Museum. “William the Conqueror’s Ship List.” https://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/enWaley, D. P. “Combined Operations in Sicily, A.D. 1060–78.” Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 5th ser., vol. 7 (1957): 21–39.
The final installment in a three-part series on Alexander the Great. Sources:Arrian. Anabasis of Alexander. Translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt.Bolitho, William. Twelve Against the Gods. 1929.Freeman, Philip. Alexander the Great. 2011.Plutarch. Life of Alexander and Life of Caesar. Translated by Rex Warner.“How Did Alexander the Great Sustain His Army?” https://www.historyhit.com/how-did-alexander-the-great-sustain-his-army/“Philip II and Macedonian Logistics.” History Hit. https://www.historyhit.com/philip-ii-macedonian-logistics/The Cambridge Companion to Alexander the Great, ed. Daniel Ogden. Cambridge University Press, 2024.The Oxford World History of Empire, eds. Peter Fibiger Bang, C. A. Bayly, and Walter Scheidel. Oxford University Press, 2021.
1:10 - Level I: The Fakes6:39 - Level II: The Traders13:46 - Level III: The Exploiters22:31 - Level IV: The Survivors35:55 - Level V: The Meteors38:49 - Level VI: The Superpowers45:20 - Level VII: The Architects
0:00 - Intro 2:06 - Level I: The Frauds6:28 - Level II: The Pretenders9:16 - Level III: The Phantoms13:43 - Level IV: The Progenitors22:02 - Level V: The Icons30:25 - Level VI: The Comets34:30 - Level VII: The World-Builders
The second installment in a three-part series on Alexander the Great. Sources:Arrian. Anabasis of Alexander. Translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt.Bolitho, William. Twelve Against the Gods. 1929.Freeman, Philip. Alexander the Great. 2011.Plutarch. Life of Alexander and Life of Caesar. Translated by Rex Warner.“How Did Alexander the Great Sustain His Army?” https://www.historyhit.com/how-did-alexander-the-great-sustain-his-army/“Philip II and Macedonian Logistics.” History Hit. https://www.historyhit.com/philip-ii-macedonian-logistics/
The first installment in a three-part series on Alexander the Great. Sources:Arrian. Anabasis of Alexander. Translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt.Bolitho, William. Twelve Against the Gods. 1929.Freeman, Philip. Alexander the Great. 2011.Plutarch. Life of Alexander and Life of Caesar. Translated by Rex Warner.“How Did Alexander the Great Sustain His Army?” https://www.historyhit.com/how-did-alexander-the-great-sustain-his-army/“Philip II and Macedonian Logistics.” History Hit. https://www.historyhit.com/philip-ii-macedonian-logistics/
The third installment in a four-part series on the Normans. This part is focused on William the Conqueror's life & times. Play War Thunder for FREE on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and mobile! New & returning PC/console players get a massive bonus pack: premium vehicles, the “Eagle of Valor” decorator, 100,000 Silver Lions & 7 days of Premium.https://wtplay.link/empirebuildershttps://wtm.game/empirebuilders--The third installment in a four-part series on the Normans. This part is focused on William the Conqueror's life & times. Chapters:0:00 - King & Conqueror 1:51 - Intro4:34 - Fulk Nerra13:03 - Emma, "Jewel of Normandy"28:23 - Edward the Confessor41:02 - William the Conqueror Sources:Anglo‑Norman Studies X: Proceedings of the Battle Conference 1987. Edited by R. Allen Brown. 1988.Barlow, Frank. Vita Ædwardi Regis [The Life of King Edward Who Rests at Westminster]. Barlow, Frank. William I and the Norman Conquest. 1965.Bates, David. William the Conqueror. 2009. Blair, John. Building Anglo‑Saxon England. 2018.Douglas, David C. William the Conqueror: The Norman Impact upon England. 1964.English Heritage. “How to Organise a Norman Invasion Fleet.”https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/histories/1066-and-the-norman-conquest/how-to-organise-a-norman-invasion-fleetHenry of Huntingdon. Historia Anglorum [History of the English].Roach, Levi. Empires of the Normans: Makers of Europe, Conquerors of Asia. 2022. Saxon History. “The Ship List of William the Conqueror.”https://saxonhistory.co.uk/FORMS-Page-Builder.php?Pg=1066AD_the_ship_list_of_william_the_conqueror#topViking Ship Museum. “William the Conqueror’s Ship List.”https://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/en/professions/education/the-longships/the-historical-sources/william-the-conquerors-ship-list
The third chapter in a six-part docuseries on the Burgundians. This part is focused on Philip the Bold.
The first chapter in a four-part series on the Normans. This one traces their journey from Scandinavia to Normandy.
The second chapter in a four-part series on the Normans. This one traces their journey from Normandy to Italy.
This is the FIRST chapter in a docuseries on the Burgundians, covering the events of 406-534. The series will culminate with the Grand Dukes of the West (the Valois).
Frederick II (1194-1250) was once the most powerful ruler in Europe. He was a Renaissance Man before the Renaissance. A scientist before the scientific method. An enlightened despot before the Age of Enlightenment. Yet his wide-spanning interests and unconventional methods eventually brought him into conflict with the papacy, who declared him "the forerunner of the Antichrist." Was he as bad as the popes say, or was he simply ahead of his time? Find out in this comprehensive documentary about the life & times of Frederick II Hohenstaufen.