Barbarians Rising: Rome Clashes with Hannibal and Carthage | Full Episode | History

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NARRATOR: The decline of the Roman Empire begins at 15,000 feet, on some of the world's most unforgiving terrain. Fifty-thousand barbarian warriors from across the ancient world have united against a single enemy. Leading them is a general, bound by blood, to avenge his family honor, and destroy Rome before it consumes everything in its path. (THUNDER RUMBLING) History may regard the Roman Empire as inevitable, but its rise was neither swift, nor guaranteed. (SCREAMING) To achieve its goals, Rome blankets the continent in blood and tyranny.ets the t Pillaging resources from the land and the people who live there, dividing the ancient world in two, Roman and barbarian. (MEN SCREAMING) From the hordes, emerge the unlikely leaders who will challenge Rome's domination. Bandits, slaves, warriors, rebels. This is the story of their rise. (THEME MUSIC PLAYING) In the 3rd century B.C., Carthage is the most powerful state in the Western world. It builds its wealth through trade, and uses its advanced naval force to dominate the Mediterranean. Carthage really was Rome's only competitor as an empire in the central and western Mediterranean. There were no other great states that could compete with it. NARRATOR: Rome is a small but growing republic with outsized ambition. It knows that to defeat Carthage is to control the ancient world. The conflict between Rome and Carthage escalated into a life-and-death struggle between the two principle powers in the western Mediterranean. NARRATOR: When the two sides clash over Sicily, Rome is the rising power. And it's also adaptable, building a navy from the ground up that deals Carthage a shocking defeat. Rome forces Carthage to sign a crippling peace treaty in an attempt to break its enemy. It's implications for Carthage are pretty stark. Uh, among other things, Carthage is effectively de-militarized or de-navalized. Uh, it is also subject to paying a substantial indemnity. NARRATOR: The defeat is a personal humiliation for the Carthaginian General in Command, Hamilcar Barca. His oldest son, Hannibal, is only nine years old. COLONEL KEVIN FARRELL: Hamilcar forced his young son, essentially, to dedicate his entire life to one purpose, the destruction of Rome. (SQUEALING) The oath, Hannibal. I swear by the deathless Gods that I shall not rest until the heart of Rome bleeds dry on the sword of Carthage. Again! I swear by the deathless Gods that I shall not rest until the heart of Rome bleeds... Again! (SHOUTING) I swear by the deathless Gods that I shall not rest until the heart of Rome bleeds dry on the sword of Carthage! NARRATOR: Hannibal waits nearly two decades for a chance at revenge. In 219 B.C., Rome makes an alliance with Saguntum, a fortified city on Carthage's northern border. Hannibal sees the move as an act of war. Our neighbor has been turned. Saguntum is on our side of the border. Forget borders. They're for politicians. (SIGHS) Rome's alliance with Saguntum was designed as a deliberate insult. And if we don't respond? Who are we? Cowards? You know the answer to that. Then we fight! And avenge the vow we made to our father. We take the city. Rome will have no choice but to fight for its new ally. We call her out. Draw her here, to Hispania. (INDISTINCT) NARRATOR: Hannibal besieges Saguntum for eight months. When the city falls, he launches his master plan, to unite the barbarians of the ancient world against Rome. KERSHAW: Outside of the great empires, the people of Europe are organized into small tribal groups, essentially. They don't really have an overarching national or ethnic identity. They are tribal societies, and often spend a lot of time fighting amongst each other. COLONEL FARRELL: Hannibal faced an enormously difficult challenge. How to build an alliance with disparate groups of barbarian tribes, who spoke different languages. And they really saw no distinction between Rome or Carthage. It's safe to say they hated both of them equally. VALERIO MASSIMO MANFREDI: He had to give them a good reason why they should fight with him. And the good reason was, if we win, then you will be free. If we lose, then you will be slaves. NARRATOR: Hannibal calls to arms tribes from Iberia, to Gaul, to North Africa, and the Lusitanians of western Hispania. MANFREDI: The Lusitanians were great warriors. They were fantastic fighters. And, um, they were used to independence for centuries and centuries, so they would never give up. The Lusitanians will complete our army. It is said they have no word for truce. They've never needed one. Well, they'll either listen to us or kill us. (SPITS) The last time your people were foolish enough to come here, they tried to conquer us. They failed. So, why have you come back now? HANNIBAL: We face the same great enemy. Rome. And it will not rest until it's consumed us all. Rome is your enemy, not ours. And even if it were, we fear no one. A good warrior never underestimates the might of its enemy. Or himself. Carthage cannot defeat Rome by itself. So if we fall to her legions, you will be next. It already has eyes on Hispania and Lusitania. But Rome can be stopped if we fight together. Then perhaps we should fight with Rome against you and Carthage. Go ahead. And see what happens, when it uses you to destroy us, and then turns on you and Lusitania. And you? And Carthage? Would reward you. With, uh... The riches of a republic whose wealth is beyond imagining. When you pay tribute to our honor, understand this, you are not buying it. Then it is settled? (WINCES) (EXHALES) You are their creature now. And soon, they will be ours. Let us hope. They will join us. If they do not, they'll all be dead. NARRATOR: As Hannibal waits for allies to respond, Rome gathers an army of its own. The senate calls on the most feared military family in the republic. Wealthy, powerful and ruthless, Publius Cornelius Scipio commands a vast army of highly-disciplined soldiers. Scipio is the greatest general of the Romans, and has the full support of the Roman Senate to take on and destroy the army of Hannibal. The Roman fighting machine was, um, an incredibly disciplined and organized body. People were trained systematically, they were formed up in cohorts. Um, they knew how to fight by system. They practiced their weapons. These were professionals. NARRATOR: Within seven months, Hannibal's barbarian army grows to 30,000 men. But still, he waits on the Lusitanians. Hannibal's favorite kind of war is mobile war. He's not much given to static warfare. And the Lusitanian's epitomize mobile warfare. They're fast, they have light cavalry, they're good at ambushes. So Hannibal and the Lusitanians are made for each other. If you're right, and Rome is the greatest fighting force the world has ever seen... I am right. Then you'd better have something they don't. I do. And his name is Cumelios. (LAUGHING) (CROWD CHEERING) NARRATOR: The empire that will one day rule the ancient world begins as a small but ambitious republic, with designs on absolute power. Power can either be good or bad. Uh, what really matters is who is wielding that power, what motivates them and how they use it. NARRATOR: But as Rome spreads its culture by force, some rise up to fight back. Among them is Hannibal Barca of Carthage. To challenge the Republic, he unites an army of disparate barbarian tribes under one banner. And gambles on a bold strategy that has never been attempted before. GENERAL CLARK: Military leaders who have become great captains in history, have done so because they had the ability to visualize several moves ahead and plan for them. Each move is like a separate game of chess. MAGO: Rome will cower when they dock at Saguntum and see thousands of us waiting. HANNIBAL: They won't. MAGO: They won't come ashore at Saguntum? HANNIBAL: They won't see thousands. We're not fighting in Saguntum? We're going to destroy them on their own soil. I don't understand. We're going to march on Rome. Impossible. You only say that because it's never been done. You're going to march an army more than 2,000 miles? Have faith. NARRATOR: Hannibal's force sets out for Rome. But 700 miles into the journey, his plan is disrupted when Scipio decides to resupply on his way to intercept the barbarians in Hispania. (SPEAKING OTHER LANGUAGE) (HORSE WHINNYING) (SPEAKING OTHER LANGUAGE) MAN: Hey! Romans! Half a day to the south. They have discovered our scouts. They've smelled their prey, now they want to hunt us down. We can face them now. MAGO: Tell the lookouts downriver and call out the men. Prepare the cavalry and get provisions. We must leave tonight! HANNIBAL: No. We must strike camp and head east into the mountains. But, Han... Now! Strike the camp! ROBERT HERJAVEC: Leadership is about confidence, sometimes, self-delusional confidence. I always think that you've got to believe with such an unshakeable amount of confidence that others might think you're crazy. If you insist on sticking to the plan... We'll look like cowards! If we stay and fight Scipio's army, we'd win a great and glorious victory. Exactly! But it would mean nothing. We'd win the battle but not the war. They'd come at us again and again. MAGO: But, brother... We strike at the heart of Rome. We scale the walls of the Republic. NARRATOR: Rome believes the mountains are an impenetrable fortress, a natural barrier protecting it from attack. Hannibal's plan to invade by land is a blind side. And crossing through the Alps is a move calculated to intimidate the enemy. MANFREDI: The crossing of the Alps is spectacular because it's unique in the ancient time. Nobody before him had ever dared, not even to imagine to do something like that. Hannibal's willingness to take on this challenge to cross the Alps, to go into the unknown, tells us volumes about him as a leader. It's why he's recognized as one of the greatest military leaders in all of human history. Hannibal seems to have completely outthought Scipio at this point by the speed of his advance. The fact of the matter is that Hannibal alludes him. Um, and had he not alluded him, uh, the dream of invading Italy uh, might have been prematurely halted. NARRATOR: The mighty Alps. carved out of the landscape more than two million years earlier, are the gateway to Rome. COLONEL FARRELL: To this day, the Alps stand as a synonym, as a shorthand if you will, for an impenetrable barrier. NARRATOR: Hannibal's force begins its ascent in October, 218 B.C. Thirty-eight thousand barbarian warriors, twelve thousand African cavalry and their horses and 36 war elephants, prized as Hannibal's signature attack weapons. MANFREDI: It's apparently insane. And strange enough, he didn't wait for spring. He started the enterprise in the fall. So he got ready to cross the Alps in the worst conditions possible. NARRATOR: What begins as a grand and glorious campaign, quickly becomes a nightmare. STRAUSS: When Hannibal gets to the high passes of the Alps, he's dealing with an environment such as he's never faced before. It's winter in all its fury. (SCREAMING) It's ice, it's snow, it's wind, It's avalanches, it's ravines, it's frostbite. It's just terrible. MAGO: How many more men have to die before you admit your mistake? You and your arrogance. Your visions of glory. You can't eat glory, Hannibal. CUMELIOS: We've not lost yet. They'll sing songs about us. I promise. And what if we're dead? Especially if we're dead. COLONEL FARRELL: For Hannibal, the darkest time of his career, without a doubt, had to be when they were bogged down in the Alps. JESSE JACKSON: Even when you have doubts, you cannot reveal them because doubt could become contagious. The leaders must use a light of hope in the darkness of despair. It looked like he had led his army into unmitigated disaster. (SIGHS) NARRATOR: Two titans of the ancient world are battling for supremacy. By 218 B.C., Rome has set out to conquer the continent, but Carthage is determined to stop its advance. Hannibal recruits a massive barbarian army to execute an audacious strategy, an over-land attack through the Alps. Caught in the high passes of the mountains, Hannibal's bold gambit is becoming a disaster. He loses 25,000 men in a single month. When you look at these, um, examples of strong leadership, it's not about them, it's about the people who they are leading. It's bigger, um, than any one of them as individuals. HANNIBAL: Mago was right. Who was I to think I could do the impossible? You won't find the courage to lead in yourself, you'll find it in the belief of those who follow you. The great leader is able at the worst of conditions, at the worst of times to continue on. The man who can conquer his own feelings, thoughts and emotions, can conquer the world. Mago! Cumelios! NARRATOR: Seven months after leaving Hispania, Hannibal escapes the Alps. But he arrives in Italy with half of the army that marched into the mountains. Only four of his 36 mighty war elephants survive. Once Hannibal arrives into the Italian Peninsula, uh, he's in a bit of a bind. Because on the one hand, his forces are depleted and he needs to recruit new allies to supplement his forces. But in order to do this, in order to build up his rep, he actually has to start beating the Romans on the battlefield. The crossing of the Alps had an amazing effect on the Roman psyche. They didn't see this coming. He's taken them completely by surprise. So now, they have to face, unexpectedly, a hostile army in northern Italy. NARRATOR: Hannibal sets out to conquer Rome. His barbarian army leaves a trail of death as they head for the capital city. They rout the Romans in battle after battle. At Ticino, Trebbia, Lake Trasimene. With every victory, Hannibal is one step closer to Rome. NARRATOR: Determined to press his advantage, Hannibal seizes a critical grain supply at Cannae, to starve the Republic into submission. The move forces a showdown. On the plains outside the city, the armies meet for an apocalyptic clash. HANNIBAL: I swear by the deathless Gods that I shall not rest until the heart of Rome bleeds dry on the sword of Carthage. Sixteen legions. Eighty-five thousand men. We're outnumbered almost two-to-one. Good. Let them bring their remaining men to this field. They'll fall right into our trap. CLARENCE B. JONES: It was the barbarians who sought to protect their own freedom. It was the barbarians, so called, who opposed slavery. It was the barbarians who refused to succumb to the efforts of Rome to make them slaves. They were the earliest freedom fighters. HANNIBAL: Two thousand miles ago, we could have stayed and fought Rome in Hispania. But we didn't want to fight just an arm of Rome. We wanted to wrap our jaws around her neck and bite off her head. A thousand miles ago, we could have fought Rome again, but we fought the mountains instead. And the thousands who stand here today, won that battle. Here, on Roman soil, we are finally ready to fight! No more waiting. No more walking. No more dreaming. Today, we will be victorious! (ARMY CHEERING) Today, we will take our revenge! NARRATOR: Rome's power is on the rise. But it has one formidable rival for control of the ancient world, Carthage and its great general, Hannibal. His barbarian force scaled the Alps to strike directly at Rome's heart. Now, two ancient armies stand ready for an epic clash. On one side, eighty-five thousand Roman soldiers. On the other, 50,000 barbarian warriors determined to stop Rome's advance across the continent. Scipio imagines a glorious victory, but he's underestimated the barbarian commander. Hannibal has set a trap. COLONEL FARRELL: Hannibal's plan for the Battle of Cannae is absolutely brilliant. Strategists, tacticians, ever since, have striven to copy what he achieved because it represents tactical perfection. NARRATOR: Hannibal's battle plan hinges on three key moves. First, he concentrates his infantry in the center, to attract the Roman advance and pull them inside the barbarian line. COLONEL FARRELL: It's extremely important to Hannibal's plan that the frontline holds. If they break, if the cohesion is lost, the entire plan is undone, and the Carthaginians will be defeated. NARRATOR: Then, two bands of elite troops advance from the flanks, boxing the Romans inside. Finally, a surprise cavalry attack from the rear surrounds them on all sides, cutting off their escape. If Hannibal succeeds, Rome will have nowhere to run. (BARBARIANS SCREAMING) (YELLING) Hold the line! Hold! (GRUNTING) Hold! (SCREAMS) Now! (BLOWS TRUMPET) (WHINNYING) (GRUNTS) The Roman Army is designed to steamroll forward. That's what it does best. And that's going to work fine, unless, you deal with an enemy who practices jujitsu. Who knows how to turn your strength against you, and turn it into a weakness. And that's what Hannibal can do. NARRATOR: The result is slaughter on an unprecedented scale. While only 6,000 barbarians fall in battle, Rome loses a staggering 70,000 men, more than 80% of its troops in a single day. ARYA: The Battle of Cannae was a bloodbath. And there were more people killed in one battle, than all the Americans killed in the Vietnam War. KERSHAW: Such a defeat on the battlefield, should lead to the Romans seeking terms and the Carthaginians imposing them. NARRATOR: The Senate sends word to Hannibal, seeking to negotiate. But Scipio has other plans. Why are we talking of peace? We lost. Now we await their terms to... You dare... Dare speak of surrendering to Hannibal and his army of animals, of barbarians? It need not be over yet. A negotiated treaty is very different from unconditional surrender. We agree to neither. Hannibal is waiting for us to bow our heads in obedience. Well, we let him wait while we beat this great general at his own game, by taking the fight to Carthage. NARRATOR: For the next 15 years, Hannibal and Scipio battle for control of Italy. The rival powers fight themselves into a stalemate. Hannibal never reaches the capital city, and Scipio must constantly keep the barbarians at bay. The Romans are very fast learners when it comes to their military. They are very adept at taking the best bits from their enemies, of analyzing their tactics and their formations and their troops, and assimilating those into their own tactics, and to turn the enemy's strengths into Roman strengths as well. NARRATOR: Scipio breaks the standoff in 204 B.C. He invades North Africa, forcing Hannibal to chase him across the Mediterranean to defend Carthage. Their final showdown takes place at Zama, where Scipio defeats his nemesis, using the maneuver Hannibal unleashed on him, at Cannae, 14 years earlier. One of the sad ironies of Hannibal is that in the end, he ends up being Rome's military schoolmaster. It must have been incredibly distressing and frustrating for Hannibal to see that Scipio had been able to use his own tactics against him in this final conflict. NARRATOR: It is Hannibal's first and only defeat. GENERAL CLARK: If you look at the record of great captains, um, they may win two times, three times, four times, but they don't necessarily always dominate forever. They have their day. Someone else comes along and can do the same thing, with more resources, better troops, new technology, and their day's over. NARRATOR: After his loss, the great general retires. But Rome continues to see him as a threat, long after he lays down his sword. AYELET HAIMSON LUSHKOV: Hannibal is one of the few figures who actually knocked the Romans down. And he is the one that comes closest to winning. He shows the world that it's possible to take down this empire. NARRATOR: In 195 B.C., the Republic demands that Carthage hand over their old enemy, but Hannibal refuses to surrender. He volunteers to be exiled. Now in his early 60s, the man who is perhaps the greatest soldier the world has ever known deals his mortal enemy one final defeat. (GRUNTS) (COUGHING) Hannibal's united army won some battles, but not the war. And the next time the barbarians stand against Rome, they'll need a new tactic to defeat an enemy that's becoming unstoppable. NARRATOR: With Carthage defeated, the Republic is free to conquer the Mediterranean. By 150 B.C., its borders stretch from Greece in the east to Hispania in the west. But as the barbarians continue to resist the Roman way of life, they learn the consequences of rebellion against the Republic. Those barbarians that had aligned themselves with the Carthaginians have to pay a price, and they're gonna pay a terrible price. NARRATOR: Tribes that allied with Hannibal against Rome are the first to come under the sword. The Lusitanians, Celtic warriors of western Hispania are Rome's next target. The Roman action had to be so terrible, so cruel to dissuade, uh, the rest of the Spanish nation from resisting. NARRATOR: Twenty-eight years after Hannibal's death, Rome invades western Hispania. Governor Servius Galba is granted authority to use force against the Lusitanians. But he does far more. Galba summons the tribes to hear the terms of a peace treaty. A deal that promises to resettle them to new lands. What follows is a brutal lesson in Roman diplomacy. (PEOPLE SCREAMING) (PANTING) Father! Viriathus! (GRUNTS) (GRUNTS) (YELLS) (PANTING) (GRUNTING) (CONTINUES PANTING) NARRATOR: The barbarians of western Hispania are under siege as Rome invades their homeland seeking revenge for their part in Hannibal's war. Lured by the promise of peace, the Lusitanians instead become the latest victims of Roman treachery. He gathers them together and massacres them. Uh, it's an act of great brutality. It's an act of betrayal. And it shows how little respect he has for them. NARRATOR: Thousands lie dead. The survivors are running for their lives. (GROANS) Among them is a shepherd named Viriathus. Thirty thousand are butchered or enslaved in Galba's massacre. The few Lusitanians who survive are hunted by Roman death squads. GENERAL CLARK: When a military force rounds up the women and children and eliminates the population or attempts to do so, that's genocide. Genocide can never be 100% effective. And if it isn't 100% effective, it will simply generate the desire for revenge. JACKSON: The overreaction of the oppressor to the oppressed, removes fear. When their back's against a wall, the oppressor removes all options. Then the poor lash out and they rebel. (PANTING) They promised new lands. Said the soil was rich. Yeah, it is... with Lusitanian blood. You cannot stay here. Galba's murder squads will return. But the children need food, water. Scavenge what you can from here. Use the cover of night. Keep to the low lands. You're coming with us? But we need you. You're a fighter. I am a shepherd. I'm no fighter. Yet you fight? Do as he says, Reburrus, go. Go! If you leave, these people will die. We all die, old man. We all die, shepherd, but not today, not here. (WINCES) (GROANING) (BREATHING HEAVILY) (GRUNTS) Will he live, Tagus? He will. Only wish he hadn't. NARRATOR: The Republic now occupies more than 100,000 square miles of barbarian territory in Hispania. Roman roads begin to cut across the landscape, part of the transportation network that ferries plundered resources back to Rome and carries death squads to put down any resistance. GENERAL CLARK: The Romans built forts, encampments. Establishing roads, lines of communications, buying supplies from the local population. That's what enables the transformation of a wilderness into a territory Isn't much. You need it more than me. Galba has these territories surrounded. We are prisoners in our own land. His men will return. They will not stop hunting us. We strike camp, move forward again today. Head for the mountains. We took what we could from the village. No food, no blankets. No tools, weapons. Nothing of use. These people will die, too, if we don't find food and shelter for them. VIRIATHUS: Then don't go forward. Go back to Galba's killing field. Take what you can from the bodies. We can't! You must. We must. (SNIFFLES) (SNIFFLES) Did you find your wife and boy? Soldiers on the new road. Get them to the lowlands. Follow the river west. I will find you. Where are you going? Hunting. (WOLVES HOWLING) NARRATOR: Barbarian tribes living on the borders of the Republic are thrown into chaos as the Roman killing machine descends on their lands. But Viriathus, a shepherd, decides to make a stand. (ROMAN SOLDIER GRUNTS) (GRUNTS) Lusitania has a message for Galba. (GRUNTING) NARRATOR: Viriathus' message to Rome is clear. Lusitania won't surrender without a fight. Get that bound again, and get some rest. We move on at first light. Is this what we've become? A nation of refugees? We must fight. If Rome wants this land, then let us bury them in it. STRAUSS: The sources tell us that Viriathus was a shepherd. To survive as a shepherd, you had to be a bit of a bandit. You were out there in the mountains, you had to deal with wolves, uh, and other predators, and you often had to deal with real bandits. So I think that Viriathus has exactly the skills that the surviving Lusitanians desperately need in order to continue the resistance against Rome. NARRATOR: Viriathus begins to transform his band of survivors into an organized resistance. They use the forest as cover to launch small-scale raids and escape undetected. MANFREDI: Viriathus knew very well how to attack and retreat. And run away. This can be converted very easily into a very effective military action. This is what we call today guerilla warfare. NARRATOR: It's perhaps the most ancient form of warfare, revived and rebooted to play to the strengths of the outnumbered and under-equipped tribes fighting for their freedom. The enemy was invisible. It would attack and disappear. Hit and run. COLONEL FARRELL: He's going to their very psyche. He wants to create the impression that the Romans are not operating in friendly territory. NARRATOR: This will become the signature weapon of the barbarian resistance in the battles to come. And in Lusitania, it's a strategy that catches the Romans off guard. Viriathus starts to build a name for himself, and Rome takes notice. A rebellion is like a virus. You know, if you can get it right when it starts, when it's in its infancy, you have a good chance of eradicating it. But if you ignore it or you allow it to grow, it's gonna continue to spread until it reaches a point where you can't handle it. Who is this Viriathus? This ghost? And still the sound of silence is deafening. (SKIN SQUISHING) (GROANS) NARRATOR: Three years into Viriathus' rebellion, Rome appoints a new commander. Gaius Vitellius is Galba's former enforcer. He's handed control of Lusitania with one simple mission, end the barbarian uprising. (YELLING) You're the last of your people. Tell me where I can find Viriathus, and I will let you go. (GRUNTS) We take their weapons, we take their land, we take their lives, and still they fight back. They are a proud people. Then we will take their pride. Let the men have him. When they've finished, cut off his sword-hand and let him go. If Viriathus unites the tribes? I cannot go back to Rome without the head of Viriathus. The head of your ghost, sir? We don't even know who he is. Someone does, Marcus. And I will find him, and hunt that bastard to the edge of the earth. (MAN GRUNTS) (ROMAN SOLDIER SCREAMING) (GRUNTING) VIRIATHUS: You do not need to fear us. We're not bandits. It's what they've made us become. Scavengers? Survivors. My name is... Viriathus, the shepherd. And you are? Ditalicus, last of the Igeditani. The others? There are no others. Gaius Vitellius, there were repercussions. From what? From your so-called rebellion. Something we see again and again in Roman history is the tremendous dilemma that faces rebels. Every success against the Romans will lead to a reprisal. Every victory will lead to bloodshed on the part of the innocents. So, those fighting against Rome face a paradox. I am responsible for the massacre of his tribe. Vitellius has murdered his people, not you. My actions. How many more people has your rebellion saved? It is a path that Rome has forced you to walk, Viriathus. And there will be more Lusitanian blood on your hands before this is over. NARRATOR: Despite the danger, Viriathus must convince new allies to join him to keep the fight going. The oppressed must never surrender to suppression. They must resist. And that becomes a great temptation when you become weary and tired. "Maybe we can't win." And that's where leadership has to merge against all these odds. "Yes we can, we will, we must." VIRIATHUS: I know what many of you think of this fight. This war. I do not want war. I do not crave it, but we need war. We cannot stop what is coming. We cannot hide any longer. We cannot run or watch as our people starve at the hands of Rome. Do nothing as our children die, as Lusitania dies. So I stand here asking you to fight, not for me, but with me. Look at us. We are an army of refugees. How are we supposed to take on the entire Roman Army with a handful of weapons between us? If we fight Romans like Romans, we will fail, so we must fight them as Lusitanians. Without our fathers' swords? Yes, they took our fathers' swords, but we still have their weapons. The weapons our fathers left us are here and here. We know this land. This terrain, it is in our blood. Rome took our blades, but we still have the most precious weapon of all. NARRATOR: The barbarians of ancient Hispania have defended their homeland against invasion for hundreds of years. But Rome is unlike any enemy they have faced before. In Lusitania, Vitellius cracks down on the population in order to crush their rebellion and flush out its leader, Viriathus. He intensifies weapons collections, tortures captives and hunts down refugees in hiding. COLONEL FARRELL: For Vitellius, the pressure is enormous. He has no alternative. There is only one acceptable outcome. And that is, he returns with the head of Viriathus. NARRATOR: But despite the danger, survivors flock to the rebel cause. The Romans expected that the Lusitanians would give up, terrified. Instead, it was the opposite. They were eager for revenge. NARRATOR: With followers now numbering 10,000, Viriathus escalates his guerrilla raids on the Roman occupiers. (SOLDIER GRUNTS) STRAUSS: Viriathus seems always to be one step ahead of Vitellius, one step ahead of the Romans. He's a natural at this. He's been trained in dealing with the countryside and living off the land his whole life. NARRATOR: Viriathus is putting in motion a plan to deliver Rome a death blow. But success depends on his ability to evade Vitellius, who has now launched a full-scale manhunt to find the rebel leader. And he calls us barbarians. Is what we've done any better? There are more hidden throughout the village. NARRATOR: Vitellius chases Viriathus for months, but is outsmarted at every turn. When they're chasing a fugitive or an escapee and they're in their own backyard, you know, from our perspective, it's like chasing a ghost, I mean, these guys, they disappear, they get help from people on the outside, they know the environment, they certainly know, you know, their own backyards and where they feel comfortable in hiding. NARRATOR: Bribes of food and shelter fail to entice the barbarians to betray their leader. Brutality also fails. Vitellius changes tactics and offers the refugees a chance at peace. He travels from camp to camp to spread the word. And you are? Gaius Vitellius, Praetor of Hispania Ulterior. Supreme authority in these lands. And you? NARRATOR: Rome's aggressive expansion provokes an uprising (PEOPLE SCREAMING) in the Lusitanians' homeland. Deep in the forest, Viriathus comes face to face with the man who has been chasing him for four years. If he's identified, it will mean the end of the barbarian rebellion and of the Lusitanian people. And you are? Gaius Vitellius, Praetor of Hispania Ulterior. Supreme authority in these lands. And you? A shepherd. A Lusitanian. And a poacher? A free man. A shepherd? And yet... You lead these people? I do not lead these people. You may need to tell them that, shepherd. What do you want, Roman? I can grant these people, your people, lands in our territories. They are not your lands to give. Galba murdered our families, he stole the land from us. Praetor Galba is no longer in charge. I am. And now I'm offering the lands back. At what cost? Silver. Iron. Whatever these lands can provide. The Republic is expanding. It needs grain. To feed the army that comes to kill us. War is an expensive business. We require your people to farm the lands again. And the Republic will take a small tax. These are our lands. These are Rome's lands now. You have a choice. Stay in these camps and watch your nation and your people die. Or take my offer and live again. Speak with the other tribes, many of them have already agreed the terms. You have until dawn to decide. And if we do not? You have until dawn. Ditalicus led them here. I saw him. You've endangered us all bringing them here. No more than you do attacking them. You've heard them, Viriathus, they offer... They offer death! We are already dying. They offer life. They bring more food than can be said for your... My what? ...rebellion. I fight for these people. These people follow you because they are lost! They are not soldiers. We cannot win this war. You cannot win this fight! Are you going to kill me for speaking the truth? You are more Roman than they are. I know Gaius Vitellius cannot be trusted. But what they offer us is survival for our people. They offer us nothing. These lands are our birthright, yet Rome takes them. They murder our people, our traditions, our culture. This fight is a fight for our freedom. You say you don't believe in this rebellion, yet you did not tell Gaius Vitellius my name? He would have slaughtered us all. You do as you must, but I will make no deal with Rome. Gaius Vitellius wants an answer by dawn, we will give him one. (COUGHING) I have a message for Vitellius. This was my father's. As long as that bastard lives or breathes, this is the last silver he will take from these lands. There is a fire coming. (COUGHING) Who are you? Viriathus, the shepherd. NARRATOR: The barbarians' battle for control of the ancient world rages on in western Hispania. (YELLING) Where after four years of fighting in the shadows, the rebel leader Viriathus, has finally revealed himself to the Roman who is out for his head. Crude, isn't it? The shepherd is my ghost. And you allowed him to escape. We will hit their camp at first light. That camp is already gone. I want you to double my guard. Burn every refugee camp... But many will be camps we've made deals with. We can't just... I'm renegotiating our terms! We will burn them anyway. Send word to Rome. If Viriathus wants a war of fire... I shall give him one. NARRATOR: With the elusive barbarian leader finally revealed, Vitellius raises two legions, as many as 10,000 men, to hunt him down. NARRATOR: The Romans are playing right into Viriathus' hands. He's planned a full-scale assault designed to give his fighters the advantage against Rome's superior numbers. It's an evolution of the barbarian's guerilla war. POWELL: The campaign's reached a crucial point now, and Viriathus wants to end this. To annihilate his enemy is basically the way that he thinks is the best to go forward. STRAUSS: The paradox of guerilla warfare is that you can cause the enemy great pain, but you can't win a war with simply guerilla tactics. At a certain point, you have to switch over, and put everything on the line and risk everything in a big engagement. NARRATOR: The Lusitanians won't face Rome on an open battlefield or in small lightning raids. Instead, Viriathus engineers a series of coordinated guerilla attacks, using the natural terrain as a gauntlet that will give Rome no escape. (GRUNTING) This is the third camp. Nothing. Tracks lead off in every direction. The shepherd gathers his flock. There has been another Viriathus ambush. Only one guard dead, the rest, they maimed. He pushes me, Marcus. He's evaded us for all these years and now he shows himself. Why? He's trying to distract me. What is it he doesn't want me to see? NARRATOR: The warrior shepherd and his guerrilla army draws Vitellius and his force of 10,000 legionaries deeper into the forest. He aims to spread the Roman line thin, like a snake winding through the ravines and gullies. Viriathus will target the head. And 9,000 barbarian allies will push the tail towards a deadfall, over the edge of a high cliff. The plan depends on Vitellius taking the bait and chasing Viriathus without let up. Viriathus let you live? Why? I do not fear death. Perhaps you should. Where is my ghost? Where is Viriathus? He runs for Tribola. The mountains. Where? I don't know, but he knows you will follow. If this is true. If... If this is true, Viriathus will be forced into the open. We will lead both legions on Tribola. Crush the insurgence before he can unite any remaining tribes. MARCUS: Viriathus is no fool. Even he would not lead his men against an army of 10,000. You will lead the advance party, lure him out. The legions will back up our rear. And Ditalicus, shall I kill him? No, he may be of some use. Set him free. MARCUS: Forward! Formations! Formations! VITELLIUS: We cannot wait for the legion. We must take the auxillia! Hunt that bastard down! (SCREAMING) (SCREAMING) Stay together! NARRATOR: Vitellius leads his men directly into a narrow gully... The Roman forces are stretched into a thin line, two miles long, on the edge of a deadly ravine. Nine thousand barbarian warriors are poised to descend from the forest and push the Roman line into the abyss. Formations! NARRATOR: In western Hispania, Viriathus and his barbarian rebels launch a coordinated guerrilla attack against the Roman legions that have brutalized them for four long years. It is the most ambitious battle plan they've ever attempted. Formations! MARCUS: Testudo! Testudo! NARRATOR: The barbarian attack descends from the hills, pushing the Roman legions back towards the edge of a deadly cliff. (SOLDIERS YELLING) (ROMAN SOLDIERS SCREAMING) (BOTH YELLING) (BREATHING SHAKILY) (BREATHING STOPS) (DAGGER THUDS) (GRUNTING) Have you come for this? VIRIATHUS: No. Keep it. My father took that from a dead Roman at Zama. (BOTH YELLING, GRUNTING) (SCREAMING) (PANTING) (WHEEZING) Rome will pour men onto this land until ever corner of every field is ripped from your hands. Let them come. For it is Rome who have united us, and we will not be defeated. Rome will never fear you... shepherd! It is not I they should fear, but the generations to come. (YELLS) NARRATOR: Viriathus and his guerilla army slaughter 4,000 Romans in the Battle of Tribola. Thousands more are wounded. Viriathus' ambush at Tribola is a great shock to the Romans and it's a great achievement for him and his army. MANFREDI: Lusitania became the Roman Empire's Vietnam. Formations! MARCUS: Testudo! Testudo! They were on an unknown environment, unknown landscape, unknown way of fighting. This defeat of the Romans at the hands of what were effectively a small bandit nation, sends a message to the rest of the communities there that they can make it on their own. NARRATOR: The barbarians hold the upper hand for the next eight years. STRAUSS: Being a successful guerilla warrior is like walking a tightrope. You know that it's very difficult to keep your balance, and you know how easy it is for the enemy to get to you and how vulnerable you are. Viriathus understood that he couldn't keep fighting against Rome forever, and that's why he eventually decides to seek peace terms. NARRATOR: But Viriathus makes a fatal error. The Republic cannot be trusted to make peace deals. Using gold plundered from Lusitania, Rome bribes Viriathus' own men to betray their leader. Eight years after his victory at Tribola, he's assassinated. Lusitania falls to Rome less than a year after his death. NARRATOR: The Republic seizes control of all of the trade routes across the Mediterranean. It's now the unrivalled superpower of the ancient world. Rome uses the riches it plunders from across the continent to build its wealth and influence, while it slaughters and enslaves the barbarians in its path. The tactics that Viriathus used to defeat the Romans, these guerrilla tactics, this mobile nature, the hit and run, is something that will become part of the way that the barbarians take on the Romans in the future. NARRATOR: But every time the barbarians rise, it chips away at Roman power. JACKSON: Freedom is inevitable. The arc is long, the journey's long, but it bends towards freedom. NARRATOR: Next time on Barbarians Rising... (SCREAMING) You will regret making enemies of us! (WAR CRY) From today, we cease to do Rome's bidding. From today, we go to war with Rome. (SOLDIERS ROARING) I have something you have never known, freedom. They don't need to respect me, they need to fear me. (GRUNTING) We're no longer the underdogs. We're the rising power. (MAN SCREAMING) Nothing can save you now.

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Views: 577,414

Rating: 4.5429306 out of 5

Keywords: history, history channel, history channel shows, strongest man in history, barbarians rising, barbarians rising full episodes, full episodes, carthage, rome, ancient rome, roman empire, hannibal, spartacus, attila, ancient history, military history, ancient warfare, Barbarians Rising full episode, Barbarians Rising clips, watch Barbarians Rising, history channel Barbarians Rising, Barbarians Rising new season, Barbarians Rising season, Resistance, epic 700-year battle, Rome Clashes

Id: 1ahem9Mr0v0

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Length: 84min 25sec (5065 seconds)

Published: Fri May 15 2020