c. 367 to c. 460 CE

The much-promised episode about post Roman Britain arrives, to explore what a real Dark Age would look like.

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Music Credits:

Title Music:

Other Music:

"Pippin the Hunchback", "Nordic Wist", & "Moorland", all by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

453 CE to 460 CE

Out of the wreckage of Attila's empire, new peoples emerge. New actors inject new elements into the political game of the late Roman empire

British Museum entry for the Gepids, with some artefacts

History Files Article and Regnal List of the Gepids

Scirian Earring found at Bakod Puszta

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Title Music:

466 to around 473

The Visigoths break out, under the leadership of their new and aggressive King Euric. Inside the empire, another emperor falls to Ricimer's scheming.

An appropriate map for this episode is here.

Sources are here

Title Music:

461 to 468 CE

The East and West combine forces in one great push to take Africa backs from the Vandals and make everything all better.

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Title Music:

Sound effects from freesound.com

456 to 464 CE

Map of Majorian's Campaigns

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Title Music:

Sound effects from freesound.com and zapsplat.com

The Franks, Part I

280 to 480 CE

We welcome the Franks onto the stage of Europe, and look at their origins, early history, ferocious reputation, and the way modern politics work their way into the telling of history.

Fittings from the Sword and Scabbard found in Childeric's tomb.

Childeric's Ring at the Bibliotheque Nationale de France

Childeric's Bees

Sword and Scabbard Decoration from Childeric's Treasure

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Title Music:

418 to 456 CE

A senator by the name of Eparchius Avitus is dragooned into filling the imperial shoes left behind by the well-aimed brick that took out Petronius Maximus. His life gives a framework for discussing the place of southern Gaul within the Roman empire, and how the Visigoths were settling in.

The full text of Sidonius' letter describing Theodoric.

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Title Music:

The Vandals Part III

439 to 455 CE

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Title Music:

Sound effects from freesound.com and zapsplat.com

c. 450 to c. 482 CE

Saint Severinus was a holy man who was active in Noricum Ripensis, in modern Austria and Bavaria. His life coincided with the end of Roman rule in the west, and the biography that was written by his disciple Eugippius includes several insights into the world as the ancient social structures changed and were replaced by new anxieties and dangers. In this episode we'll talk about those changes and the new role religion was taking on in the formerly Roman West.

Article on the Noricum Limes - with Map

The Huns, Part IV

450-453 CE

Attila unleashed his fury on the Western empire in two back to back campaigns. The first culminated in the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields. The second ended with the famous meeting between Attila the Hun and Pope Leo I.

Map of Attila's Invasion of Italy

Sources

War dominates the scene on today's episode, as it does on today's headlines. The inevitable consequence of war is the displacement of those caught in its path. If you can, please donate to one of the organizations working to help Ukrainian refugees, and people all around the world who are victimized by the violence of the powerful and the greedy. Links to a few of them are below. Thank you.

The International Rescue Committee

Global Giving

Doctors Without Borders

Music

"The Britons" by Kevin MacLeod (incomptech.com)