12 Byzantine Rulers: The History of The Byzantine Empire
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12 Byzantine Rulers: The History of The Byzantine Empire
This lecture series by Lars Brownworth covers the history of the Byzantine Empire through the study of 12 of its greatest rulers.
Recent Episodes
19 episodes
Norman Centuries Podcast Teaser
Lars Brownworth's new podcast called Norman Centuries is also available.
Reading Suggestions
Lars Brownworth gives some reading suggestions on the Byzantine Empire.
Episode 17 - Conclusion
With the death of Constantine XI, the Byzantine Empire drew to a close. But that was not the end of the story. From the Orthodox Church, to the Russ...
Episode 16 - Constantine XI
The 14th century was not a kind one for Byzantium. The Fourth Crusade had left it a hollow shell of itself, fatally crippled in the face of Turkish a...
Episode 15 - Isaac
Isaac Angelus was never meant for the throne. He should have lived out his life in comfortable obscurity, but instead found imperial power thrust upon...
Episode 14 - Alexius
When the 24 year old Alexius Comnenus came to the throne, the glories of the Empire seemed long gone. Its "invincible" army had been smashed at the ba...
Episode 13 - Basil II
By the time Basil II was crowned at age two, the Macedonian Dynasty had led the Byzantine Empire to seemingly endless military victories and unprecede...
Episode 12 - Basil I
Basil I was hardly a promising candidate to usher in a new golden age to the Byzantine Empire. A poor, illiterate Armenian peasant, he was kidnapped...
Episode 11 - Irene
When the weak, ineffectual emperor Leo IV died in 780, he left the empire divided and in the hands of an orphan from Athens; the beautiful and graspin...
Episode 10 - Heraclius
In the years following Justinian's death, the empire was rocked from within and without. Barbarians pushed in on every border and the empire's ancient...
Episode 9 - Justinian - Part 3
With the reconquest of Italy seemingly complete and the Persian threat momentarily neutralized by the plague, Justinian could at last afford to rest....
Episode 8 - Justinian - Part 2
With the return of relative calm after the reign's turbulent beginnings, Justinian could turn to his most ambitious project, the reconquest of the Wes...
Episode 7 - Justinian - Part 1
As the 6th Century dawned on the tottering Byzantine State, the future seemed to hold only decline and decay, and yet unexpectedly, it was to see a re...
Episode 6 - Zeno
By the middle of the 5th Century the Roman Empire was on the verge of collapse. Its emperors were mere puppets, its armies were in chaos, and enemies...
Episode 5 - Julian
A shy, awkward, Pagan philosopher with no ambitions and no experience is appointed Caesar. How could such an unlikely 23 year old become the head of a...
Episode 4 - Constantine - Part 2
Constantine has achieved supreme power and made one of the most momentous decisions in history, that of founding a new capital and rescuing a faith se...
Episode 3 - Constantine - Part 1
From the chaotic background of the tetrarchy, a vulnerable staff officer would navigate the treacherous waters of the empire and eventually emerge as...
Episode 2 - Diocletian
The Emperor Diocletian was to erase civil war within Byzantium for the next thousand years but walked away from it all to become a cabbage farmer. Who...
Episode 1 - Introduction
What is the Byzantine Empire? Why would a Byzantine citizen call himself Roman and not know what the Byzantine Empire was? In this introduction to Byz...