Barbarians Rising: The Roman Empire Falls (S1,E4) | Full Episode | History

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(ALL SCREAMING) NARRATOR: Previously, on Barbarians Rising... For 600 years, the barbarians challenge Rome's power, fighting battle after battle in the name of freedom. But as the rebels fall one by one, the empire endures and the uprising intensifies. Germany will never kneel before Rome. NARRATOR: The Barbarians fight blood with blood. Mercy is for fools. EGUS: (CRYING) No! No, no, no. No! NARRATOR: Bringing the empire's age of expansion to a violent end. Once the ancient world's fastest-growing power, Rome now builds walls to keep the barbarians out and fights to protect its frontier from a rising threat. (HORSE NEIGHING) The Goths seek refuge in the empire... We have a message from your emperor, guaranteeing us protection. NARRATOR: But Rome's betrayal... What idiot makes an enemy of me when I come in peace? ...unleashes an apocalypse of its own making. (THEME MUSIC PLAYING) By 285 AD, the Roman Empire has grown so large that it must divide to survive. The emperor Diocletian officially divides the empire in to two halves, east and west. It's easier to govern. It's easier to defend from external forces. NARRATOR: The two sides work together to protect the Eastern border, the unconquered frontier, where the line separating Roman from barbarian begins to blur. The Romans were becoming less and less confident in their own military abilities and more and more reliant on those of the barbarians. NARRATOR: By 394 AD, most of the soldiers serving in the Roman armies are barbarian mercenaries. Among them are the Goths, who've lived as a separate nation within the empire for more than a decade. MICHAEL KULIKOWSKI: Some of the children of Adrianople, became good Romans, they became Roman officers. One of those was Alaric. NARRATOR: Alaric, now 24 years old, is a general, commanding a division of 20,000 Goths who fight on behalf of Rome. Alaric's prepared to fight because he's been promised land. This is his great opportunity now to end the refugee status of his people and to be able to settle within the Roman Empire. NARRATOR: Alaric serves under General Stilicho, commander of the Eastern army. A Roman soldier with a barbarian bloodline. He's a person who has a Vandal father, and a Roman mother, who's grown up inside of Roman military circles, but is still treated like something of an outsider. NARRATOR: Barbarians now live, fight, and die under Rome's banner, but they are not Roman. And the empire sees them as expendable. NARRATOR: When war breaks out, Alaric and his men become pawns in a deadly game. We are to attack just before first light. And? You and your men will lead the first assault across the river. Where? Here. That's their stronghold. You're proposing an assault on their most fortified position. That's where they will least expect it. So we're to be fodder for their archers. Half my men will die before we reach the banks. You have your orders. Friend. Persuade the emperor this is a bad idea. It's the emperor's idea and he has absolute faith in you to implement it. He's condemning us to death. (MAN YELLING) Alaric and his Gothic soldiers bore the brunt of the casualties fighting on the Eastern side against western Roman soldiers. Rome abused the Goths in combat situations. They put them on the front line, used them as sort of cannon fodder. O'CONNOR: Thousands are lost and his troops were committed before any Romans were thrown into the fray. You still have men on your eyes. I lost 10,000 of my men today. Slaughtered. As we knew they would be. And they were sacrificed for him! Alaric, think, they could drink and be glad to be alive. The Emperor is in a mood for celebrating, not dissent. You celebrate the victory, I'll mourn my loss. Don't do anything rash, my friend. You're angry now, but things are changing. The world we live in now is very different from the world you were born into. Yes, it is. Then, we fought against these bastards and were proud to. Now, we do their dirty work and lick their boots. Stay calm, be patient. Who knows what changes may come. Change? Yes. You know what I've learned, my friend? Change only comes through the power of the sword. They sacrifice us in their wars, they work us to death on their roads and in their cities. They take our daughters and invade our bloodline. In 30 years, the Goths will be extinguished. I think the betrayal that Alaric felt after the Frigidus was such that he really despaired of any accommodation with the empire after that. Everything becomes very clear for Alaric at this point. He realizes that he's never going to be able to end this refugee status within the empire. If he can't work with the empire, he's gonna have to go back to type and work against it. NARRATOR: An estimated 100,000 Goths lived inside the empire. Alaric intends to unite them all under one leader. KULIKOWSKI: Kings had always existed outside the Roman Empire. Alaric was effectively saying that he was not going to be a subject of the Roman Empire anymore. Today you crown me king. An honor. What is a king without a kingdom? What is a crown on a king without a kingdom? (PEOPLE MURMURING) Without a homeland, we are forsaken. For years, we've swallowed Rome's lies and cruelties and grasped at the crumbs from their table. Today, you crowned me king. Well, I demand a kingdom! We will take this land either as conquerors or as dead men. From today we cease to do Rome's bidding. From today we go to war with Rome. Rome dominates the ancient world for 600 years, but no empire lasts forever. (PEOPLE SHOUTING) By 400 AD, it struggles to hold on to its power against the rising barbarian threat. Alaric's Goths push deeper into Roman territory carving out a home from the lands they conquer. A campaign of destruction that goes on for eight years. If Rome is to survive, General Stilicho, now the supreme commander of Rome's western armies, must end the war. We've journeyed far, the both of us. Perhaps. Doesn't all this killing tire you? Ah, I've seen what Rome calls peace. There is no need for us to be at war. You have power, we have none. You have a homeland, we have none. There'll be no peace until my people have a land to call their own. I can give you that. (LAUGHS MOCKINGLY) With the Huns to the east, they respect no border. I need you and the Visigoth people to work with me. Why would we? Because I can give you what you want. Help me fight our enemies and I promise you, you will have your land. You have my word. The word of a Roman doesn't count for much, I've learned. The word of a friend then. Then know this. Should I accept and you betray me, no woman, child or man in Rome will escape my vengeance. I would expect nothing less. NARRATOR: Alaric has seen Rome betray his people time and again since they arrived 29 years ago seeking refuge from the Huns. But he seizes the opportunity. Stilicho's deal promises the Goths the prize they've long been fighting for. A permanent homeland. NARRATOR: In exchange, Alaric and his men agree to help defend the empire against the Huns. NARRATOR: The Goths spend the next five years fighting to protect the eastern frontier, holding up their end of the bargain. But Stilicho never delivers on his promise. The Roman Empire is watching as the central part of its territory is being taken over and held by non-Roman peoples, a rising tide of anti-barbarianism is growing and it leads to suspicion of Stilicho. Even though he's always served Rome well and even though he's led their armies effectively, he's seen as a potential enemy within. The immediate consequence for Alaric of the assassination of Stilicho, is that the deal is dead in the water. It's precisely the arrogance of the oppressor of Rome that precedes the fall. (SCREAMING VIOLENTLY) How is it possible, these Romans so completely duplicitous and unworthy, have ruled the world for centuries? Well, they'll rule no longer. LENSKI: It was a colossally stupid move to have Stilicho executed. It eventually lead to the defection of huge numbers of barbarian troops over to Alaric's side. KERSHAW: Alaric has been betrayed and disappointed time and time and time again. He wanted his homeland, but the Romans constantly took it away from him. So what he decides to do is that he'll take away the homeland from the Romans. He's gonna go and sack Rome. Rome is the center of the empire. Five sprawling square miles surrounded by walls 40 feet high. A model of the empire's vision for how to build the world in its image. Thousands of Goths and thousands more of Stilicho's men, who now pledge loyalty to Alaric, march to Rome. Alaric has the city in his sights. Rome has been the ancient world's supreme power for 600 years. In that time, no barbarian leader has ever marched on the city itself. LENSKI: It seemed impregnable, but, of course, its Achilles heel was that it needed massive amounts of food in order to supply the nearly one million people who lived there. Alaric understood that, and when he undertook the siege, that was the weapon he would use. NARRATOR: The barbarians surround the city, cutting off supply lines, trying to starve Rome into surrender. Alaric besieges Rome three times in 18 months. The Goths manage to effectively blockade the city, even from access to the sea, which they usually rely on for their food supplies. So starvation reaches a very serious pitch in Rome. NARRATOR: But the war of attrition takes its toll on Roman and Goth alike. KERSHAW: You get dire consequences on both sides. At Rome there's plague and famine, there are calls to legalize cannibalism. On the Gothic side, there's plague in their army. So they really need to come to a resolution. NARRATOR: Alaric sends an offer of peace to the Roman senate. What word from your senators? There are to be no terms. The senators believe your offer was made from weakness. We'll fight you here. ALARIC: And if we leave now, do they give their word you won't come after us? KERSHAW: Roman point of view, this looks really good, it looks like victory. It looks like they've withstood the siege and Alaric is going to slope off and they might even be able to pick him off at a later stage. But they've seriously underestimated Alaric and his brilliance. Unwin, send them a message. If they grant us this last night to prepare our dead for burial, I'll make a gift to the senators of Rome. A gift, my Lord? 300 of our best men as slaves. NARRATOR: The senate agree to the deal, but Alaric does not intend to retreat. ROBERT HERJAVEC: Arrogance is a two-way sword. In one hand, you've gotta have the unshakable belief that you're the greatest thing ever in the world and no one can take you down. On the flip side, it can lead to failure. You've gotta be really brutally honest with yourself. Great empires have been lost because they refuse to see their weakness. KERSHAW: The brilliant and rather ironic thing is that the Romans trace their ancestry back to the Trojans, and what Alaric has given them is effectively a Trojan horse. These slaves are not any old slaves, they're actually 300 of his finest warriors. You know who we're burying today? Don't address me, Goth scum. Move on. No. I'm asking. Do you know who we're burying today? Your idiot brother maybe? Your whore of a sister? No. We're burying Rome. (GRUNTS) This is for my sister. (SCREAMS) (PEOPLE GRUNTING) (SCREAMS) Enough! Enough. We're not Romans. We're not Huns. We have our victory. Let some live so they can tell of it. Tell your children your days of power are over. Psychologically, this was a massive blow. This was the capital of this world empire being brought to its knees. GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Empires rise and fall. What makes them great may not be lasting. NARRATOR: The sack of Rome is Alaric's greatest victory. A strike so devastating, that the empire never recovers. KERSHAW: The tide has really turned now essentially. Once upon a time, the barbarians were at the mercy of Rome, but now Rome is at the mercy of the barbarians. NARRATOR: In the aftermath It of its defeat,bered. the empire cedes 30,000 square miles of territory in southern Gaul to the Goths. Alaric delivers the homeland he promised his people... But he never sees it. He dies of fever just one month after the attack on Rome. For the first time in generations, the empire is no longer fighting for domination, it's fighting for survival. Rome's enemies begin to move in for the kill, and a new threat is born. (THUNDER RUMBLING) (BABY CRYING) His name is Attila! NARRATOR: The barbarians are the rising power battling to take back control of the ancient world from the empire that has ruled for nearly seven centuries. Alaric's sack of Rome is a critical victory in the long fight for freedom. And as the empire picks up the pieces, it must fend off threats closing in on all sides. The Goths in the west, Huns to the east, and in the south, the Vandals... A Germanic tribe displaced by the Huns and forced to roam the empire for the last 20 years. LENSKI: They cross the Rhine frontier in 406 as part of a coalition of people, and eventually make their way into Spain, and they'd been kind of the whipping boy of the Goths and of the Romans and of other peoples who had settled in Iberia. NARRATOR: Their unlikely leader is the illegitimate son of a king. His name is Geiseric. HEATHER: The Roman sources report that Geiseric had a physical disability, but apart from that what they emphasize is his intelligence. KULIKOWSKI: Geiseric was an almost uniquely perceptive statesman. He was ruthless in negotiations and ruthless when he chose to put his army into action. NARRATOR: Geiseric emerges as a threat when he strikes at the jewel in the empire's crown. The territory that Rome has held since its defeat of Hannibal over 600 years earlier. A crossroads ideal for building a new Vandal kingdom. O'CONNOR: Like many barbarians, Geiseric was a recent convert to Christianity. He was an Arian Christian, the Romans were Catholics and each considered the other to be heretics. That meant that they were required by God to wipe each other off the face off the Earth. Please. In the name of God, show some clemency. When has a Catholic or a Roman ever shown us any clemency? (GROANING) Ever since we entered this hateful empire, you and your Roman puppeteers have been the cause of all our torment. The horrors I have seen. I watched our babies thrown on a pyre. Women, nailed to your crosses and cut in half. An entire generation of my people annihilated. Huh? All in the name of your... ...Catholic God. Huh? Oh... So tell me, Priest... Mmm? (CHUCKLES) Where was your clemency then? Hmm? (YELLS) Where was your clemency then? Huh? Huh? Hurt them. Geiseric's capture of Carthage is the single most devastating blow to the Roman empire. Geiseric now controls the food supply to the armies of the Western Empire, the food supply to Rome. He is in complete control. NARRATOR: Rome scrambles to defend its territories against barbarian expansion, as politics weaken it from within. In the divided empire, power is split between two emperors with two different agendas. Theodosius II rules from the Eastern capital, Constantinople. While his young cousin, emperor Valentinian III, rules the Western Empire from Ravenna. KULIKOWSKI: The emperor Valentinian came to the throne as a child. He was young, he was weak, he was not taught the politics that earlier Roman emperors had been taught, and he was not a soldier. He was also very much under the thumb of his mother, the imperial princess, Galla. HEATHER: Galla is an astonishing woman. Not only is she the sister of one emperor, she's married to another, and then she's the mother of a third. And she exercises a great deal of personal power within the imperial political circles. True power is not about dominating the weak. True power is inspiring the strong to your will. NARRATOR: Galla turns to the only man capable of saving her son's crumbling empire. General Flavius Aetius. He's been hostage to barbarian Goths, to barbarian Huns. That's meant he understands the languages, the customs, and also the personalities, the power relationships, of these peoples. HEATHER: The main internal political problem Aetius faces is that he's distrusted by the royal family. Basically, because he becomes too powerful. To start with, his power is balanced by that of several other generals, but he manages to eliminate them and take over complete control of Roman military forces in the Western Empire himself. Lady Galla. You can dispense with the pleasantries, Aetius. You were never very good at them. My Lady. Avitus. We have news. The Vandal king, Geiseric, has taken Carthage. AETIUS: And the fleet? At harbor in Carthage Bay. If Geiseric is in control of the fleet, then Rome, Ravenna and Constantinople are vulnerable to attack. The Vandal will not risk all-out war against the Western Empire. No. But if he blockades our shipment of food and gold, then he already has Rome by the throat. Only if he can hold Carthage. Precisely. You will take back Carthage and bring me that cripple's head. We no longer have the armies to fight on multiple fronts. We suppress the Huns and the Goths... I am aware of our position, Aetius. I will petition the Eastern Empire for reinforcement. Geiseric poses as much of a threat for them. These are my orders. And the emperor's orders? Let me deal with him. (SOFT MOANING) Have you no respect for imperial privacy, Mother? Not when my son has no respect for his empire. Get out! Now! ) You will speak with your cousin. We need the support of the Eastern armies if we are to defeat Geiseric. You will do as I ask. Careful, Mother, on how you address your emperor. If I do this, they will think I am weak. You are weak. NARRATOR: The Western Empire is overrun with political intrigue, nowhere more than in the imperial family. You know my mother and the emperor will never forgive you for what you did? Backing another against my brother's claim to the throne. So they always remind me. That leaves you in a rather dangerous position doesn't it, Aetius? The most powerful man in my brother's empire, and the least trusted? We're all in a rather dangerous position with your brother, Lady Honoria, especially you. KULIKOWSKI: Honoria had never been allowed to take a role in imperial politics the way she wanted to, and the way imperial princesses often did. She was effectively a prisoner in the palace. She, moreover, had spent her life at an imperial court. She knew about power games and how to play them. VALENTINIAN: Aetius... Magister militum of the Western army, patriarch of my empire. Give this to my cousin Theodosius. I have decided to petition the Eastern empire to ally their armies and their fleet for you to drive the Vandal king from Carthage. You know the Huns, you know of King Ruas' death. AETIUS: It is no secret I was hostage to Ruas when Rome was forced to sign the treaty. I know of his death. This Attila... Is he the devil, as they say? No. Much worse. NARRATOR: Of all the threats circling the declining empire... (ARROW WHOOSHING) ...none is more fearsome than the Hun. Hailing from the steppes of Eurasia, the Huns are expert horsemen. Warriors who live, fight and negotiate on horseback. They scar their faces with deep cuts to intimidate their enemies and mourn those fallen in battle. KERSHAW: They're described as being incredibly ugly, almost glued to their horses. They're fantastic archers. They use strange, unorthodox battle tactics. O'CONNOR: The Huns seemed to be more interested in the acquisition of plunder than they were in territorial conquest. They didn't found cities, they weren't trying to create a settled society. What they were trying to do was conquer as many tribes as possible and become more and more powerful. (MAN GRUNTING) NARRATOR: The Huns terrorize the empire's borderlands for decades under King Ruas, but his death sets off a deadly power struggle. HEATHER: There are no rules of succession operating in the Hunnic world. The pattern would appear to be that all the royal children are potential heirs to the throne and they simply fight it out, Attila, the sons of Ruas are here. They've made claim to the throne and seek our allegiance. I will not pledge alliance to them. We must align with them, brother. It is their birthright. What about our birthright, brother? (BOTH GRUNTING) Now, I lay claim to the throne. That was a grave mistake, brother. The Ruas' were the rightful heirs. Your claim will be challenged. And the challengers will meet the same fate. We will make council. Gather the tribal leaders. How? We'll buy their loyalty. Gold cannot buy you respect. They don't need to respect me. They need to fear me. NARRATOR: The barbarians have the advantage over the empire for the first time in 700 years. Victims of Roman cruelty and violence for generations, they showed no mercy as they begin to dismantle the empire that once forced them into submission. Rome is under attack from all sides. In the south, the Vandals hold Carthage. In the east, the Huns rampage across the borderlands, raiding and capturing Roman towns, then offering them back to Rome for a price. But Attila has his sights on even greater power. ATTILA: You all know me and my brother, and our... My claim to the Hun throne. Since the death of King Ruas, many have vied for leadership. Many of you... (YELLS) Sit down! Ruas was content to have us maraud the plains like thieves, scavengers, when we should be conquerors. Support my claim and we will no longer feed off the empire's scraps. You will see riches beyond your wildest dreams. But oppose me, and you will see your tribes massacred. And of that, you have my word! NARRATOR: Rome moves to confront what it believes is the greatest threat to its survival. Not Attila, but Geiseric. NARRATOR: The Eastern and Western Empires gather 1,100 ships and 100,000 men to retain Carthage. It's the largest invasion force the empire has ever assembled. But the campaign requires Rome to deploy nearly the entire military, leaving the eastern border virtually undefended. HEATHER: Most of the Eastern Empire's forces for the expedition have come from the Danube frontier. Attila and Bleda know this as they unleash the Hunnic hordes on the Danube frontier while the expedition is still in Sicily. NARRATOR: Attila begins a new phase in his campaign of destruction. Heavy siege weapons like towers, catapults and battering rams allow him to escalate his attacks. This technology sets Attila apart from other barbarians. Using Roman siege tactics, Attila can now overtake a fortified city in a matter of days. (MEN SCREAMING) This is a seismic shift in the strategic balance of power. Earlier enemies rampaging through the Balkans, like the Goths, couldn't take defended cities. They never conducted successful sieges. The fact that the Huns can do it, and they can take really major Roman bases, that changes everything. (MEN SCREAMING) Attila's goal was to demonstrate he now had the power to take over the road to Constantinople in such a way that he could threaten the eastern capital. Who are you? I am Attila. The whip of God. (GRUNTS) We have sent our message, brother. Time to await the Roman terms. Let them wait for my terms. Look around you, Attila. We have done enough. More war will bring us nothing. True. But panic and terror will gain us everything. NARRATOR: The barbarians are closing in from all sides around the weakening empire. Goths in the west, Vandals in the south and Huns in the east. Aetius fights to save Rome from its most urgent threat, Geiseric's stranglehold on its food supply. The general gathers the largest invasion force the empire has ever assembled to take back Carthage. That fleet is our one chance to save the empire. If we do not take it, Geiseric will reinforce. Attila can be held. We sail to Carthage and join the fight against the Hun on our return. Avitus, you do not understand. His brother Bleda keeps him on the leash, but... You fear Bleda cannot contain him? If he doesn't, Attila will not stop until the entire empire burns. We have orders to withdraw. Emperor Theodosius has called back our entire Eastern army to defend Constantinople from the Huns. We leave at dawn. I'm sorry, my friend. Without the Eastern fleet, we're done. We cannot sail alone. What do you suggest? We leave Carthage to Geiseric, for now. Agree terms with the Vandals to let grain into the empire. If and when we defeat Attila, I will return and remove that traitor's head. NARRATOR: Rome turns its invasion force north to confront Attila, opening an opportunity for Geiseric, who is playing a different kind of power game. The fact that the expedition never sails from Sicily means everything to Geiseric. It allows him to start to build a real kingdom in North Africa. It basically secures his existence as an independent power. While the empire heads for all-out war with the Huns, Geiseric outmaneuvers them with strategy. Rome's forces are retreating. If Valentinian fears this Attila, then we must befriend him. Gendo, take the Hun the gold we took from this city as a gift, a sign of our alliance. HUNERIC: We must use this time to reinforce. The empire will not stay away forever. GEISERIC: Precisely. I want every dissenter in the city slain immediately. Anyone who may have drunk from the cup of Rome, string them up by their innards. And, Huneric, I have great plans in store for you, my son. Begin the purge. (MAN CHOKING) Your empire has deserted you, Commander. They've left you here to rot. And as we starve your people to death, other tribes will rise up. Your people will be obliterated from the face of this Earth. Ah, you see... Now your masters begin to truly understand. We're no longer the underdogs, we're the rising power. NARRATOR: The Vandals hold Carthage in their grip unopposed. Rome lacks enough fighting men to face them and the Huns at the same time. Geiseric exploits Rome's weakness, demanding ever greater amounts of gold to keep the grain supply flowing back to Rome. Geiseric forces Emperor Valentinian to marry his daughter, Eudocia, to his son, Huneric. Either he is going to have his son at the court in Ravenna or else the daughter of the emperor is going to be in Carthage. Either one, it is a new alliance. It's a new power axis. What does he have to lose? Nothing. NARRATOR: With his son now a prince of Rome, Geiseric infiltrates both the seat of power and the imperial bloodline. On the frontier, the Roman military fails to stop the Huns' advance. The Eastern emperor requires his wealthiest citizens, to pay the annual tribute of gold that keep the Huns at bay. Even senators who are usually exempt from tax are forced to pay. Theodosius also sets out to negotiate a new deal. (HORSE NEIGHING) Your name, envoy? Ariobindus, commander in... You have our traitor princes? I'm under orders from Emperor Theodosius to speak directly with Attila. ATTILA: We do not recognize your emperor here. Constantinople only stands because I allow it. The emperor has instructed me to negotiate the terms of the peace treaty. This is not a negotiation, Roman. These are my terms. You will hand over the last sons and heirs of the Hun traitors that hide in your empire. A token of goodwill from Emperor Theodosius. You will also double the tribute to 1,400 pounds of gold. Reject these terms, and I will send you and your men back to Constantinople in bags. I will present your terms to the emperor. My men will ensure your safe passage to the borders. They will pay the tribute. Spoken like petty thief that you are. I'm not one of your dogs, brother. Do not treat me as such! I am no thief. I am the one that convinces our enemies to pay the tribute, to raise the gold that brings up your army. I am both our politician and our conscience, Attila. I do not need a conscience, brother. (SCREAMS) NARRATOR: The barbarians are growing in power and the once great Roman Empire now faces an all-consuming threat. Attila builds an empire based not on territory, but on plunder. His strategy is to capture Roman cities and demand the empire pay enormous ransoms to win them back. LENSKI: Attila was fundamentally predatory. He did not have a massive taxation system set up in order to extract revenue from his subjects. Instead, his goal was to use the Roman Empire as a sort of bank from which he could draw whenever he needed more money in order to supply, above all, those people who were his leaders, with gold. NARRATOR: When Attila's warpath comes dangerously close to the eastern capital, Constantinople, Emperor Theodosius tries to negotiate a deal to keep the Huns out. But Attila demands nearly a ton of gold in tribute. Every territory we lose costs us taxes we need for my army, which is now in tatters. You haven't heard, have you? Heard what? Theodosius has grown bold. He has refused the Hun's peace terms. Tell Theodosius to pay the ransoms. Send word to Bleda. He'll put Attila's leash back on. How much longer am I to listen to this fool? Valentinian... Shut up! Get her out. Get her out of here. They say Attila has found the Sword of Mars in Scythia. They say it has magical powers, that it proves his divine right to lead. That's nothing but folklore, superstition. I know that! But his armies don't. They believe it. They think they are following a God. I will send word directly to Bleda myself, promise him more gold. He will stop this Hun rampage. Do you not know anything? ATTILA: Fate has presented me with this sword. Now, I will no longer hide in the shadows. I will no longer be shackled to the weak like you, brother. I will build an army to destroy them all... (GROWLS) ...with every nugget of gold they hurl at my feet. And as they cower behind their city walls, their cathedral of arrogance, I will rise. Without my conscience I will become a God. NARRATOR: The empire's refusal to pay the tribute is a fatal error. Attila escalates his attacks, bent on complete destruction. The Huns sweep through the Eastern Empire, leaving a trail of terror as they head east towards Constantinople. LENSKI: He took over most of the cities in what is today Bulgaria and Serbia. Something on the order of 80 cities were captured, probably on the order of 100,000 people were taken into captivity. NARRATOR: With the Eastern Empire on the verge of collapse, Theodosius surrenders. Attila now demands triple the annual tribute payment. 2,100 pounds of gold a year. The settlement causes a crisis within the Eastern economy leaving Valentinian and the west to confront both the Huns and the Vandals alone. And while Rome unravels, Geiseric prepares to strike another blow. This time from inside the empire. I hope I am not intruding. No more than anyone else does. My father knows a way for you to escape the box your brother keeps you in. A way for you to become empress of Rome. A goddess. You just need to make a deal with the devil. NARRATOR: The emperor's sister, Honoria, secretly sends a message to Attila, promising her hand in marriage. And an invitation to take the Roman throne away from her brother. O'CONNOR: Before Honoria's proposal, it seems like Attila is intent on preying on the Roman Empire, on raiding it, possibly on invading it and taking over its territory. After he receives the ring from Honoria, he now has a legitimate claim to the imperial throne. NARRATOR: Attila sets out to accept the offer, marching his great Hun horde into the heart of the empire. The barbarians are picking apart the Roman Empire piece by piece. Attila's killer horde strikes out to claim the Roman throne... ...and Geiseric, the mastermind behind the plot to unravel the empire from the inside, prepares for the end game. (SEAGULLS CAWING) The wheels are now in motion, Gendo. Go to the Hun. Tell him it's time to ready his men. He takes the north, we'll keep the south. With all due respect, after Attila gets what he wants, he will never honor any agreement with us. To him we are weak refugees. Mmm. And I will let him continue to think that. We'll deal with him when the time comes. Have you brought me here to talk or to have me killed? Spare me, Aetius, I've no time for theatrics. Attila has granted us an audience north of the Danube. When did he agree to this? You're not the only one in the empire with friends, Aetius. I need you to send Avitus. I need him to look for weakness in Attila's camp. I need to know which of his allies fear him the least and may be fit to turn against him. None of his allies fear him any less than anyone else. They live in terror of him. Do you know why the Huns cut themselves? When someone they love dies, they scar their faces in mourning. They would rather shed blood than tears. Well, I will not shed any tears for Attila. Send Avitus. NARRATOR: Galla's plot to gather intelligence on Attila comes too late. The Hun army is already marching towards the empire. Attila sends word to emperor Valentinian revealing his sister's deception and demanding half the Western Empire as his wedding gift. What have you done? You know what I have done. You traitor. I promised Attila my hand in marriage if he would free me from you. I am an emperor's daughter. I should have you executed. None of us will survive this. None of us would have survived anyway. At least this way, our family will still have a hand in the empire. (CHUCKLES) What empire? There will be no empire. Place her in my care. I will see she never leaves her room until I work out what to do with her. Are you in on this plot? Is this your doing? Of course not. How dare you implicate me in this disgrace? Take her to my chambers and lock her in! Bring in Aetius. Has Avitus returned? Yes, but with grave news. Attila and his armies have vanished. exactly where he is, kw but I have no doubt Attila rides on us. Then send the legions to reinforce the northern borders. Hunt him down. With all due respect, we do not have enough men. If and when he attacks, we will not be able to hold him. We cannot defend our borders. We cannot rely on the East for reinforcements. It leaves us with just one option. We must send word to the barbarian tribes to form a coalition, just as Hannibal did. Have you lost your mind? First we beg the East for help and now you ask us to beg our enemies? They are Attila's enemies, too, and they know that when he comes, they will be forced to submit or die. If they unite with us, they may stand a chance. (SCOFFS) GALLA: Then you must send them a message. I already have. Messengers ride to the Alani, Burgundians and Franks. Avitus rides to seek an audience with Theodoric and the Goths. You dare to send word without my consultation? This is treason! It would be treason to do nothing and it would be treason to let this Empire fall under the rule of this family. (CHUCKLES) What makes you think Theodoric and his Goths would fight alongside us? They hate us, and you most of all. Theodoric may hate me, but he also respects me. I have beaten him twice in battle. And let us not forget, it was the Huns that drove his people into the empire in the first place, and to his mind, we might just be the lesser of two evils. Avitus taught Theodoric as a boy. Theodoric listens to him, and trusts him. And if he doesn't? Then we are truly lost. Up to this point, the whole of the strategy of the empire has been to try and keep the Goths in line. Now the empire has to go cap in hand to the Goths to keep itself in being. I should have you killed for coming here, no matter what you meant to me in the past. Maybe you should hear me first, Theodoric. If you fight alongside us against the Hun, you will be granted safe lands until the end of days. Even if I were to believe you, it wouldn't be the first promise broken by an emperor. For 70 years the empire has asked us to die in battle and butchered us when the battle was won. We're offering you a Gothic state untouchable by the empire. Do you think Attila will offer you that? If he defeats us, he will turn on you next. You will be forced to surrender or die, just like all the others. Attila is unbeatable. He has no weaknesses. Attila does have a weakness. They've lost their speed. They can't attack and retreat without a trace. But your cavalry can. Even if that is true, Attila is still unbeaten. So is Aetius. No one knows that better than you. Theodoric, my old friend, you have two choices. Fight alongside us or face the Hun alone and watch the Goths being driven into oblivion. I'll await your answer. How do I know you will honor the deal? You don't. NARRATOR: Before Theodoric can decide whether to ally with Rome, Attila forces his hand. His horde, as many as 100,000 warriors cross the Rhine into Roman territory, attacking a string of cities in a bid to seize Gaul. Aetius scrambles his forces to confront Attila. I'm not here to help you, Aetius, I'm here to save my people. I expect nothing less. THEODORIC: I lead my own men. We will not be used as fodder. You have my word. AVITUS: Attila knows we're preparing for battle. He's broken off the siege and rides to meet us on the plain. It's imperative we arrive first. (SIGHS) We ride at first light. WARLOCK: Three leaders will meet. One will win. One will lose. One will die. Who dies? There's too much confusion, I cannot... (GROANING) Know this. It will not be me that dies on that battlefield. I will fulfill my destiny and claim their throne. Their time is over! It is the end of their rule and the beginning of mine! Pack up the camp. We ride to the plains. NARRATOR: For 700 years, the barbarians have challenged Roman supremacy and fought back against its tyranny. But facing a greater threat, two foes now become allies as Roman and Goth unite to fight Attila's mighty Huns. This is the most powerful Hunnic army there has ever been. This is a confrontation on a colossal scale. NARRATOR: The Catalaunian Plains will be their battlefield. A vast area of flat land dominated on one side by a steep sloped ridge overlooking the fields below. This will be the deadliest ground as both sides fight to claim the advantage. Then, as now, high ground proves advantageous, even more so in the ancient world. NARRATOR: Aetius commands a combined force of Romans and Goths numbering 80,000 men on the north of the battlefield. On the opposite side, Attila leads as many as 100,000 warriors, set to charge. When the battle begins, it will be a race to claim the crest between. ATTILA: Today we will rip their empire from their dead hands. There will be great sacrifice! There will be death! But we will be victorious! (ALL YELLING) I will cast the first spear at our enemy and if any man stand at rest while I'm still fighting, he's already a dead man to me! Sound the advance. (HORNS BLOWING) (ALL YELLING) NARRATOR: Control of the high ground changes hands again and again during the battle. ELM: The battle was brutal. (GROANS) The most destructive battle that the ancient world had seen. NARRATOR: Finally, the Goths break through the Huns' frontline. (ALL YELLING) We have the higher ground. Tell the flanks to move in. We must push the advantage. (MAN YELLING) NARRATOR: The killing continues unrelenting for 12 hours. (GROANS) (SIGHS) My men saw you enter the tree line. What's happening? Who has the advantage? Both sides have lost many. We hold the advantage, but at great cost. Theodoric has fallen. His men have scattered, as have ours. Where's Attila? Retreated behind his own wagons. We engage with them again at dawn. For Attila to lose the high ground, to think that now he no longer held the advantage, to think the unthinkable, that in fact his forces might lose, this was too much to bear. Why did you lose my advantage? I will not be taken alive by them. This is to be my funeral pyre. They will not parade my corpse on the streets of Rome. (GROANS) NARRATOR: The Battle of the Catalaunian plains is one of the bloodiest in the history of the Roman empire. (ALL YELLING) Rome's coalition loses 40,000 fighters, including the Goth king, Theodoric. 50,000 of Attila's 100,000 men fall. The Huns arrived on the battlefield as the most feared menace in the ancient world. They leave it as a shattered empire. (AVITUS PANTING) Let's slaughter them as they run. No, let them go. We'll not get the chance again. He is finished. His myth is broken. He's nothing. Attila loses his mystique, his aura of invincibility at the Battle of Chalons. This monster of the Roman imagination has been proven a general like any other. One who can be beaten. HEATHER: It starts to make people question his rule. And not surprisingly, the sources report Attila thrown into a kind of slough of despond in the immediate aftermath of battle. NARRATOR: Attila never claims Honoria as his bride. Unable to conquer Rome, the Huns go on to plunder Italy and eastern Europe, but never regain their previous strength. (BREATHING HEAVILY) Then, in 453 AD... (RETCHES) (SCREAMING) ...Attila dies on his wedding night. His empire dies with him. CLARK: If you're a great empire and you lose, you have to redeem yourself with the blood of your soldiers because you've shown weakness and that weakness will invite challenge and challenge again, and challenge again. NARRATOR: Aetius returns to Rome as the commander of a destroyed army. The battle is a strategic victory for the Empire, but its military losses are so great, that it struggles to defend itself against any new threats. (FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING) Attila is beaten, and Aetius rides to Rome a hero. This is a disaster. It's not a disaster, Gendo, it's destiny. And now that Attila is beaten, he's nothing but a ghost. Aetius is now the most powerful man in the empire and Rome fears its strong. They'll never let him survive. (DROPS SCROLL) We lost seven legions in the battle. The northern borders are in mayhem. We do not have enough manpower to reinforce them. Geiseric continues his blockade of Sardinia, severing us further from the sea. We must again ask the Eastern Empire for reinforcements. You dare to question my rule by blaming the troubles of the empire on me. I blame no one... Oh, enough. Do you wish power for yourself? I seek nothing. You seek to usurp me. You won't get the chance, you traitor bastard! (GROANS) (SNIFFLES) For Aetius, he should be celebrated as the great hero who has defeated the Huns, he has done the impossible. Arguably the greatest military figure Rome has known. Certainly the greatest military figure Rome has known for a long time. But Rome fears those who are strong militarily and no one better than he knows how vulnerable his position is. O'CONNOR: The death of Aetius deprives Rome of its most effective protector. His reputation alone is probably enough to keep barbarians away from the gates of Rome. But without him they become much more vulnerable. NARRATOR: The decline of Rome accelerates as the barbarians dismantle the once great empire. The imperial household begins to implode. You never did get the chance to rule, did you, Mother? NARRATOR: Valentinian has Galla executed. What are you doing? (GROANS) NARRATOR: Within a year, Valentinian is assassinated by soldiers loyal to Aetius. The emperor's daughter, Eudocia, is one of the last remaining members of the imperial family. Still engaged to Huneric, son of the Vandal king. Geiseric sails for Rome to claim his son's inheritance. Geiseric is the dark knight. He is the one that really brings the Western Empire to its knees. NARRATOR: The Vandals arrive at the gates of Rome in 455 AD. O'CONNOR: Geiseric's intention is not to conquer Rome but to plunder it. What he's seeking to do is to increase the strength of his own kingdom at the expense of Rome. He wants to carve out a domain for himself from of the ashes of the empire. NARRATOR: It takes the Vandals less than two weeks to defeat the city's defenses. After centuries of Roman supremacy by the sword, the barbarians finally strike the empire's death blow and sit on the imperial throne. GEISERIC: The most powerful of your kind lie dead, their heads around you and all you deem precious is now in our hands. You stupid fools. (CHUCKLES) You never saw this coming, did you? Tomorrow we will sail back to Carthage to accelerate the growth of our empire and watch from afar as yours collapses into the sand. You're done. Now it's our time. (SHIVERING) (GROANS) NARRATOR: Geiseric returns to Carthage, the new Vandal kingdom, where he rules for the next 20 years until his death at the age of 88. Soon, barbarians from across Europe, including Goths, Franks and Saxons, move in for the kill. By 476 AD, the West has lost the lands it fought to conquer. From Britannia, to Gaul, to Hispania, Germania and North Africa. Its territory rolled back to borders not seen in six centuries. (CROWD CHANTING) After 700 years fighting for freedom against total domination, brutality, slavery and tyranny, the barbarians rise and the empire falls. The barbarian kingdoms that emerge from the ashes will be new states that lay the foundations of modern Europe and shape the world to come. TULSI GABBARD: No one wants to be incarcerated, no one wants to be placed into shackles under someone else's control, but the physical incarceration can be transcended with a sense of spiritual freedom. CLARENCE B. JONES: They were barbarians. But barbarians to whom? To the Romans they were barbarians. To themselves, they were freedom fighters. JESSE JACKSON: When one has the power to look death in the eye and not succumb to it and see life beyond death, that's the power that cannot be stopped.

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Channel: HISTORY

Views: 228,900

Rating: 4.8028536 out of 5

Keywords: history, history channel, history channel shows, strongest man in history, barbarians rising, barbarians rising full episodes, ancient history, Barbarians Rising full episode, Barbarians Rising clips, watch Barbarians Rising, history channel Barbarians Rising, Barbarians Rising new season, Barbarians Rising season, Revenge, Arminius unit, The Roman Empire Falls, Barbarians Rising season 1 episode 4, Barbarians Rising s1 e4, Barbarians Rising s01 e04, Barbarians Rising 1X4

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Length: 84min 21sec (5061 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 11 2020