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The Roman Empire - Episode 2 - Legions of Conquest (History Documentary)
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Jun 4, 2025
In her early years Rome was a Democratic Republic, its military an army of Roman citizens. For centuries, it was the proud duty of every landowning Roman to serve in the name of the Eternal City, indeed this was the first army that was literally built as part of the fabric of the state. Even though these citizen soldiers were not professional fighting men, they were the best trained forces the world had ever seen. These Roman soldiers had begun as defenders of their city, they became the most successful warriors in history. They conquered city after city, nation after nation, Rome was the greatest empire the world had ever known. In their brutal grasp, they held a huge expanse together for more than 1,000 years. "Legions Of Conquest" is a saga of proud men and almost unending triumph. It's the story of the conquest of the Roman Empire.
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0:00
One of the greatest rivalries of all time is about to explode into battle
0:09
Two men stare each other down. Two empires hang in the balance
0:19
20,000 men will die by the sword. The Roman army is preparing to face the first true threat to its survival
0:28
the ancient empire called Carthage. Their leaders are two of the greatest military strategists who ever lived
0:39
The fearsome African called Hannibal. The bold young Roman named Scipio. Whatever its outcome, their contest will change the face of the world for all time
0:58
The Second Punic War, Rome versus Carthage, has reached its final crisis
1:05
It's a confrontation centuries in the making. The Roman legions have been a formidable fighting machine since their earliest days
1:23
How an amateur army from a minor city grew into a force capable of conquering the world
1:30
is one of the ultimate success stories of history. In the early years, Rome was a democratic republic, its military and army of citizens
1:44
For centuries, it was the proud duty of every landowning Roman to serve in the name of the eternal city
1:51
the citizen militia was a true state army it was an army that it was rationalized along
1:59
along lines of wealth and age and as best we can tell from our study of ancient history this was
2:06
the first army that was literally built into the state as part of the fabric of the state
2:11
even though these citizen soldiers were not professional fighting men They were the best trained forces the world had ever seen
2:24
They seem to have been born with weapons in their hands. Never did they take a break from their training
2:31
Their maneuvers are like bloodless battles, and their battles bloodstained maneuvers. Victory comes sure and certain
2:41
Josephus. In the early centuries, Romans claimed their warfare was mostly defensive
2:48
that they were only protecting themselves against their enemies, real or perceived
2:56
It didn't matter that they often won new territories. Romans insisted expansion wasn't their primary goal
3:04
Rome has been accused of following a policy of defensive aggression, and by that it's often meant that the Romans feared an enemy on their borders
3:14
Fearing attack, they would preemptively attack this enemy. defeat them, and annex their territory
3:22
Once you've done that, of course, on the far side of this newly conquered territory
3:26
you would find new enemies on your borders, and you might fear them
3:30
and so thus you're compelled to continually advance your borders to, in your own mind, preemptively deter
3:37
a aggression against your own state. It was an accidental empire, and yet Romans found themselves engaged in almost constant warfare
3:48
In battle after battle, Romans came away victorious, and Rome's influence was growing fast
3:55
Back in the 5th century BC, Rome was little more than a smudge on the map
4:01
Over the next two centuries, Rome conquered most of central Italy. Besides constant fighting and training, there were other keys to the success of this young army
4:13
The genius of the Roman war machine was rarely the invention of new weapons or tactics
4:21
Rather, just as they would in art and technology, Romans stole the military innovations of others, brilliantly
4:31
They didn't look for what today we'd call a silver bullet, the one single weapon system that would guarantee them success on the battlefield
4:38
or one tactic that would guarantee them success. What they looked for was to treat battle holistically, not just as a clash of technologies, but a clash of leadership, of will, of training, discipline, technology, politics
4:54
What they were, were a body of soldiers who always picked the best
4:59
And they weren't ashamed to pick the best from their enemies. From the Greeks, Romans took most of their early weapons and armor, like traditional round shields and hoplite thrusting spears
5:12
From the Gauls, a long javelin called a pilum, which they could throw a hundred feet, along with larger oblong shields and chainmail armor
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And from the nearby Etruscans, Rome copied the basic organization of her military, the legions of roughly 5,000 men each
5:35
The Romans knew how to find an edge anywhere they could. The Roman army, with few exceptions, was always well-fed and healthy
5:47
Now, in an age of muscle-powered armies where physical strength determines your dominance over an enemy
5:54
being healthy and being rested and well-fed would be today like having a weapons overmatched against an enemy in a firepower battle
6:03
It's very important. Another secret to Rome's success was extreme, unflinching discipline
6:10
If any soldier deserted or ran from battle, his entire unit faced brutal punishment
6:18
One in every ten men was beaten, stoned, or flogged to death
6:31
Every Roman soldier knew retreat was never an option. It was a policy that often made the difference between victory and defeat
6:49
In the eyeball-to-eyeball combat of the ancient world, retreat was almost always the wrong move
6:57
Two men armed with swords and shields find it surprisingly difficult to seriously wound or kill each other
7:05
Until, that is, one of them turns and runs. It's far easier to stab an enemy's unprotected back and sides
7:18
And so, the bloodiest slaughters occurred when an army panicked, turned their backs and ran Thanks to their unwavering discipline the great Roman legions just didn panic
7:35
By 260 BC, Rome controlled more than 52,000 square miles, the entire Italian peninsula south of the Po River, and she would not stop here
7:47
Rome's reach across the map was now bumping elbows with another, much older empire, Carthage
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This powerful empire controlled much of North Africa, Spain, Sicily and Sardinia
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First settled by traders from what is now Lebanon, the city of Carthage was founded in 814 BC
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before Rome was even a collection of mud huts. Called the great jewel of the Mediterranean
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Carthage was rivaled by no other city on earth, least of all young Rome
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Little is known about the Carthaginians who left behind almost no written record
8:27
What is known comes from archaeological finds and stories passed down by the Greeks and Romans
8:36
But one scrap of evidence about Carthage overshadows all others, a bizarre ritual that struck even the Romans as utterly barbaric
8:44
the god Baal Haman demanded human sacrifice from the ancient Africans Carthage gave him her children
8:56
in a sacred ceremony a priest lifted up the child strangled him to death
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then burned the small body in a ritual fire these carved stones
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mark the graves of sacrificed babies There are thousands near Carthage. Hundreds of children at a time were killed in the desperate attempt to bring rain in times of drought
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or repulse an enemy in times of war. Romans claimed that child sacrifice was the root of Rome's hatred for Carthage
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More likely, the African Empire simply stood in Rome's ambitious way. Rome continued to claim her wars were defensive
9:53
but it's doubtful even Romans believed this once she turned a hungry eye toward Africa
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265 B.C. The first Punic War with Carthage seemed horribly one-sided. Carthage was a great sea power
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and Romans had never fought a single battle at sea. And so the Romans, in order to fight a naval war
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had to develop the navy. And they got a break early in this war
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when they found a Carthaginian warship that had accidentally washed up on the shore of the Italian coast
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after having been abandoned by its crew during a storm. And they closely studied the Carthaginian vessel
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they took it apart, found out how it was built, and then built hundreds of exact replicas of this Carthaginian ship
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So the Romans now had a fleet. New to naval warfare, the Romans had to find a way to turn things to their advantage
11:04
They soon found the answer. Instead of bombarding from a distance, Roman soldiers boarded the enemy ships using a specially designed plank called a corpus
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In hand-to-hand combat, Roman legions were just as deadly as on land
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It took 23 years of fighting, but the Romans won the First Punic War in 241 B.C
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Romans seized the rich islands of Sicily and Sardinia and forced the king of Carthage to sign a crushing treaty
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giving the empire's entire treasury to Rome. It's said a young boy witnessed his people's humiliation that day
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The son of a Carthaginian general looked on bitterly, vowing revenge. the child's name was Hannibal
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two decades after Carthage lost the first Punic war
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Hannibal was now a soldier the leader of his nation's military he was 25 years old and already a great warrior
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Fresh from the conquest of Spain, he reminded his troops of his promise to punish Rome
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Year after year you have fought with me and won. Steal your hearts to march forward, to halt only at the walls of Rome
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But attacking Rome wouldn't be easy. No longer in control of the Mediterranean, Hannibal would have to make the journey by land
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crossing the Alps with 40,000 men and 37 elephants. Autumn, 218 BC
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Man and beast trudge for months over cruel terrain. Their serpentine parade stretches more than 15 miles
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Hannibal's troops are professional soldiers, well-equipped and well-trained, and yet the long journey takes a grim toll
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When they finally make it through the mountains, one-third of Hannibal's men are dead
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Most of the horses and all but one of the elephants have perished
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and yet the survivors march on. Even before the first battle, Romans see Hannibal as a potent threat
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They never had to face a fiercer or more warlike foe. Carthage had long been an enemy of Rome
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and they were bringing with them countless Spaniards, already battle-hungry, and would soon be raising Gauls with their insatiable appetite for blood
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War was coming, and it would be fought in Italy in defense of the walls of Rome, living
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The Roman Senate raised six new legions, more than 30,000 men. The Second Punic War was begun
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This time the deciding factor wouldn't be manpower, but strategy. Most Roman commanders were political appointees
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with little battlefield experience, no match for a military genius like Hannibal
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I mean, he had many things that made him a great leader. I mean, he knew how to motivate troops
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he knew how to innovate on the battlefield he knew how to make the optimum use of the tools at his command But in addition to that he had that spark He had the ability to read an enemy
15:06
and find that one maneuver that would cause the enemy to collapse
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In battle after battle, Hannibal humiliated the Roman legions. The most devastating defeat was the Battle of Cannae
15:25
Here Hannibal, though badly outnumbered, managed to surround the Romans and slaughtered them
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50,000 Romans, more than half the entire Roman military, killed in the worst defeat Rome ever suffered
15:42
At last Rome saw Hannibal for what he was, the first true threat to her survival
15:51
For 15 long years, the war against Hannibal dragged on, and large areas of southern Italy defected to him
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Hannibal never lost a single battle, and many wondered how long it would be
16:05
before he attacked the city of Rome. It was widely expected, of course, that he would take the city
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but Rome was heavily fortified. Hannibal seems to have not had proper siege equipment
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No matter how many armies of the Romans and their allies Hannibal could defeat
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the Romans were always able to raise new armies, to put new armies into the field
16:28
And ultimately Hannibal failed to take the city. And yet the tide didn't turn against Hannibal
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until the Senate called up a military leader in the same league with the legendary Carthaginian
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Publius Cornelius Scipio had the cunning and the charisma to match the so-called scourge of Rome
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the son of a general and the survivor of the Battle of Cannae
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the young Scipio studied Hannibal's tactics closely then in 204 BC rather than confront Hannibal in Italy
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Scipio had a brilliant but risky plan an end run He sailed to Africa and invaded the empire of Carthage
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Carthage was forced to respond, recalling Hannibal from his 17-year torment of Italy
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It was the moment of truth. Scipio and Hannibal would fight a single battle to decide the Second Punic War, the Battle of Zama
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The two armies gathered forces in the countryside of what is now central Tunisia
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Outside the ancient city of Zama, Scipio confronted his arch rival, Hannibal
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It's believed the two men met face to face just before the ultimate battle in an attempt to make peace
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Scipio refused Hannibal's terms, saying to his rival, prepare for war since evidently you have found peace intolerable
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The two sides were well matched with about 34,000 men each but there were crucial differences
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Hannibal had been resupplied with 80 of his dreaded elephants but Scipio had drilled his troops in new tactics for dealing with the great beasts
18:31
The Roman troops would form long corridors to funnel the charging elephants away from the front lines where they do the most damage
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Scipio also had the support of thousands of local Numidian cavalry who defected from Hannibal
18:47
Renowned as the best cavalry in the world, the horsemen added to Scipio's edge
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Scipio finally and soundly defeated Hannibal at Zama
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Carthage was crippled. Carthage was forced to hand over all but ten of her warships
19:26
all her elephants, and a treasure so great it would take 20 years to pay
19:31
The once great empire was impoverished and stripped of all power. Hannibal escaped from the Battle of Zama
19:43
For a time, he tried to revive his waning Carthage, but eventually fled into exile in Greece
19:50
And though the aging warrior no longer posed any threat, Rome still pursued him, determined to capture the famous scourge
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ultimately Hannibal denied her the pleasure let us free the Roman people of their long-standing anxiety
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seeing that they find it tedious to wait for an old man's death
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it is no magnificent victory to defeat a man unarmed and betrayed
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with that Hannibal put a drink of poison to his lips and drained his cup
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But even Hannibal's suicide was not victory enough. After so many years of war, Rome still saw Carthage as an enemy
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and could not abide her survival in any form. In 146 BC, Rome destroyed the African Empire once and for all
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in the final Punic War, slaughtering half a million people. The pearl of the Mediterranean is ground into dust
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Carthage is no more. Rome now controlled the entire Mediterranean
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along with parts of Spain, southern Gaul, and the Italian peninsula. At the same time, Rome's power was spreading eastward
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In all, Roman armies held more than 250,000 square miles. In three centuries, a small backwater city had become a dominant world power
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In the past 50 years alone, she more than tripled her domain
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her military was the most successful fighting force the world had ever known
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no power on earth could truly threaten her and every nation in her reach had reason to fear
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but success wasn't all it's cracked up to be more than a century after the wars against carthage began rome was left drained both
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both financially and emotionally. War-weary Romans had lost hundreds of thousands of sons
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to bloody battles in faraway lands Surviving soldiers had been fighting so long they barely remembered their homes One thing became clear a non citizen army was no longer adequate for an empire the size of Rome
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It would fall largely to one man to professionalize the Roman military, a general and politician named Gaius Marius
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Marius saw the need for far-reaching changes in the structure of the Roman army
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To be a soldier would now be a career in itself, not merely a sideline for landed citizens
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Marius recruited even the poorest Romans into the legions and issued them standardized equipment
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making them the best outfitted soldiers in the ancient world. including weapons a soldier carried at least 80 pounds on his back earning troops of this era
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the nickname marius's mules rome's first true professional soldiers were even more fit
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and better disciplined than earlier armies but the biggest change of all this new class of warrior had a special relationship with its commander
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When they became veterans, Marius would personally see to it that his men received a grant of land, often in recently conquered territories
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In the end, this was more than a generous perk for poor soldiers with no farms to return to
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In fact, it was revolutionary. Suddenly, a soldier's first loyalty was to the general who recruited him and took care
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of him in old age, and not to the state. For the first time, the soldier looked to the general, not only for allegiance, but
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for pay, for retirement benefits, if you will. And then over time, then, the army began to dominate the state, rather than the state
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dominating the army. And that's the terrible legacy of Marius. Powerful generals now controlled their own private armies
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Soon, they would use them however they saw fit, even against Rome herself
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By the first century B.C., a powerful general called Lucius Cornelius Sulla
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would be the first to cash in on the loyalty of his men. and Sulla was famous for commanding the affections of soldiers
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It was Sulla more than anyone else who set the example. In order to corrupt and win over the soldiers of other generals
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he gave his own troops a good time and spent money lavishly on them
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He was thus, at the same time, encouraging the evils of both treachery and of debauchery
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Plutarch. In 89 BC, when the Senate ordered Sulla to hand over control of his army in southern Italy
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he refused, and his troops remained fiercely devoted to him. Armed with six renegade legions, more than 30,000 men, Sulla then did an astonishing thing
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He marched on the city of Rome. Once in control of the city, Sulla's soldiers went on a bloody rampage
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Hundreds of Sulla's apolitical enemies were then rounded up and executed, and he was the first among several generals who was to use his military forces in this way
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Sulla planted his own supporters in power and quickly left the city in peace
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and quickly left the city in peace, but nothing in Rome would ever be the same
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A Roman general used his troops to enforce his own political power
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It was the first time, but it would by no means be the last
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Soon, another Roman army would march against Rome, led by a great leader, politician, and general
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a man named Julius Caesar. He was a slightly built man with soft and white skin
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who suffered from headaches and was subject to epileptic fits. He was particular in his personal appearance and dress
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was clean-shaven, and was sensitive of his premature balding. Plutarch. Shrewd and intense, the future dictator clearly saw his path to power
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Only by victory on the battlefield could a politician hope to be taken seriously as a leader in Rome
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Now 40 years old, Caesar needed a war to win, and the obvious choice was to make one of his very own, in a place called Gaul
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The Senate named Caesar governor of three provinces, Illyricum, Cisalpine, and Transalpine Gaul
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the only parts of Gaul Rome controlled. Caesar hungered for the rest
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The Gauls had long been the most powerful and successful people of northern and central Europe
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By Caesar's time, they dominated the lands of modern France, England, and Ireland
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The Romans considered them barbarians, but Gallic culture was actually quite advanced
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And yet, what the Gauls were most famous for was their bloodlust in battle
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They excelled in psychological warfare. They wore body paint and caked their hair with lime and mud
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terrifying the methodical Romans. Five million Gauls stood between Caesar and the glory he craved
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If he could add the lands of modern France to Roman territory
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he would hugely increase his reputation and his power. In 58 BC, on the excuse of stopping a Gallic tribe from entering Roman territory
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Caesar moved his legions into Gaul. And for the next decade, the bold general does precisely what he set out to do
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Conquer. Tribe after tribe, battle after battle, Caesar prevailed against the Gauls again and again
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By Caesar's own accounts, it was a slaughter. The campaign in Gaul of Julius Caesar is very well known
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and very often people see it as somehow epitomizing Roman imperialism. What people forget is that Julius Caesar was proud of the fact that in Gaul he killed one million Gauls
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That's genocide. Though he's considered one of history's great generals, Caesar was not a tactical genius
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Instead, he had incredible fortitude and a genius for inspiring others. Caesar won the devotion of his soldiers by marching along the way
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...eating the same food and sleeping on the ground as they did
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He forged a military machine during these campaigns, the likes of which had not really been seen prior to this in Roman history
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He built an army composed of troops that were fanatically loyal to him
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particularly the legionary infantry who fought along with him. Today, it's called Alize-Saint-Ren in modern France
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In 52 BC, it was known as Elysia, the decisive battleground for Caesar's campaign
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The Gauls were united under a legendary warrior chief called Vercingetorix. For Julius Caesar, this is the moment of truth
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He surrounds Elysia, but he's taken by surprise when Gallic reinforcements attack from behind
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Caesar must now fight two armies at once. He basically conducted a siege in two directions
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Now, what other ancient soldier would have done that? Or what soldier today would have had that degree of self-confidence in his men
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and self-confidence in his own leadership ability to conduct essentially a siege in two directions five, six hundred miles from home
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That's the mark of a genius. He's outnumbered five to one, but Caesar's troops eventually win the battle
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capturing the infamous Vercingetorix. It was the last stand for the Gauls
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and it made Julius Caesar one of the two most powerful men in Rome and the world
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The other was a general and politician named Gnaeus Pompei, long arrival of Caesar's
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The ambitions of these two men would soon launch Rome headlong into a bloody struggle for her own survival
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It was never a raging torrent or a great river
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but it was destined for a place in history. Its very name has come to mean a boundary
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and an irrevocable decision. The Rubicon. For Caesar, at first it was simply the southern boundary of his province in Gaul
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It would soon become a great deal more. The Senate recalled Caesar to Rome, but ordered him to leave his legions behind
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He was between a rock and a hard place. He had to go to Rome, but if he went unprotected
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he'd almost certainly be murdered by Pompey's supporters, He believed he had no other choice but to call on the loyalty of his men
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He turns to his troops and says, I'm being insulted by the state
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Do you think this is a good thing? Protect me, defend my position in society
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That's what the troops were marching for. At least that's how Julius Caesar put it
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It was a high stakes game of chess using real armies. In 49 BC, in bold defiance of the Senate, Caesar took his army out of Gaul, across an unassuming little stream
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We can still turn back, but once we cross that little bridge, we will have to fight it out
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The die is cast. Julius Caesar. The moment his army crossed the Rubicon
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his intent became obvious to all. Caesar was marching on Rome, into civil war
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The army of one Roman general against another, legion against legion. Caesar defeated Pompey, but the bloody struggle
34:10
for power raged on. Even after Caesar was stabbed to death by the Senate in 44 BC
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civil war and anarchy tore Rome apart. For two decades, Romans by the thousands died by Roman swords
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as one general after another entered the fray. Agrippa, Lepidus, Dolabella, Brutus, Cassius, Mark Antony
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and Cleopatra against Octavian. until one man emerged triumphant. He called himself Augustus, Rome's first emperor
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The republic was dead. Rome was now officially an empire, ruled by a sole dictator
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The army at last had a single commander and Rome at last had peace The imperial army under Augustus the first emperor took an oath of a allegiance Not to the Senate not to the people of Rome
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but to the emperor personally, a personal oath of a allegiance. The emperor provided the pay, the emperor provided the land
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that veterans could expect to get after service. So the army was tightly bound to the person of the emperor himself
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For a time, Augustus solved the crisis of the army's loyalty by making himself the sole commander
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Rome's first emperor understood that you had to control the military to control Rome
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The growth of the empire had slowed, but defending the vast borders was a gargantuan and expensive task
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What Augustus sensed was that simply that the Roman Empire had spread too far too fast
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and that the military was stretched to the limit in trying to defend that huge expanse of territory
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So he paused. For perhaps the first time, Rome begins to realize that her expansion is not limitless
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In his will, Augustus himself warns future rulers about the dangers of too large an empire
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Roman territory continues to increase in the first century AD, but at a far slower rate
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Augustus added Egypt and extended the northern border to the Danube. The Emperor Claudius finally added Britain in 43 AD, but lost some ground to later uprisings
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Rebellions in the provinces were becoming far more frequent. More and more voices of dissent were rising from cultures who despised Roman tyranny as never before
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The Romans are deadly. Pillagers of the world, they've exhausted the earth by their indiscriminate plunder
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A rich enemy excites their lust for wealth. The poor one, they're craving for power
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Robbery, butchery and rape, they call government. they create a desert and call it peace
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Cagacous. In 66 AD, one relatively minor uprising in far-off Judea
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would come to haunt the great Roman Empire. A minor religious sect called the Jews
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rose up against Roman tyranny, passionately resisting Rome's pagan religion. Jewish rebels took control of Jerusalem, then Judea and Galilee
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It took two years for Rome to reclaim all but Jerusalem, and two more years before the legions ruthlessly took back that city as well
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Roman troops burned the sacred Second Temple of Jerusalem and rampaged through the streets carrying off holy treasures
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They massacred all who fell in their way and burned the houses along with all those were hiding inside
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Soldiers ran swords through so many that they choked the streets with the dead
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and deluged the whole city with blood So great was the flow of blood that it often actually quenched the flames Josephus
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By 74 AD, the Jewish cause seemed lost, and yet one last group of rebels refused to surrender
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holding out in a mountaintop fortress, a spectacular stronghold 1,400 feet above the Dead Sea, Masada
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Entrenched atop this mountain, 960 determined rebels looked down on an entire legion
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of 5,000 Roman soldiers, the haunting outlines of their camps can still be seen today
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The Roman forces were experts at siege warfare, relying on catapults, stone throwers, and firebrands
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But the natural fortress of Masada proved too steep for siege weaponry to do much damage
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from the ground. using thousands of jewish slaves and their own soldiers the romans started building an enormous
39:55
ramp of stone and dirt to the top of the mountain even though construction would take nearly a year
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the legions knew that time was on their side It was a very dramatic slow meticulous well campaign that sought to demonstrate to everyone in the area that the Roman army simply couldn be beaten
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Four years after the fighting began, the ramp was complete. Romans bombarded the fortress and set it ablaze
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the Romans returned to their camp
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with the intention of attacking their enemy the next day and throughout the night
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kept a careful watch in case any of them should escape in secret but there would be no final battle
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in a sense the Jewish zealots did escape defeat and death by Roman arms
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Long ago, we resolved to serve neither the Romans nor anyone other than God himself
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We have never submitted to slavery, and we must not now. Let our wives die unabused, our children without any knowledge of slavery
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Ben Yair. They drew lots, choosing ten men from among them who would slay all the rest
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Then they offered their necks to the stroke of those who executed that melancholy task
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And he who was last of all examined those who lay on the ground
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and with a great force of his hand ran the sword into his body, up to the hilt
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During the long night, more than 900 devout Jews turned their swords on themselves
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When the Romans came upon the rows of dead bodies, they did not exalt over them as enemies
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but admired their resolve and the way so many of them had shown an utter contempt of death
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in taking their own lives without a tremor. Revolts like Masada posed no real threat to Rome's supremacy
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but they began to spark a change in the military's role. Scattered uprisings continued to trouble the empire, little by little turning Rome's great army of conquest into an army of occupation
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Trajan was the last Roman emperor to substantially add to the empire
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Under his rule in 117 AD, the Roman Empire reached 2 million square miles
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Trajan added modern-day Romania, Armenia, and lands to the east, expanding the empire to its greatest size ever
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He briefly held territory as far east as the Persian Gulf. The legions now patrolled a vast frontier from the edge of the Sahara Desert to the frigid Carpathian Mountains
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From this point onward, Rome concentrated on shoring up her empire. The days of conquest were over
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it was the emperor hadrian who formalized this policy hadrian gets a sense of unease that he has
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pushed the empire out to its limits and he did two things he pulled uh the he pulled the army
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back from its overextension and then he built a series of beautifully engineered fortifications
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the most famous of these barriers is hadrian's wall in northern britain where remains of the
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73-mile-long chain of forts still stand nearly 2,000 years later. But walls proved only partially
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successful against a threat that would torment the Roman Empire until the very end. The Romans
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have a single word for all peoples without a written language. They call them barbarians
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We tend to think of the barbarians as a collection of Conan the Barbarian and his buddies coming
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across the frontier, waving their double-handed axes. This is quite far from the truth. By the
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time the barbarians come across the frontiers, they're beginning to be Romanized. What these
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people wanted first and foremost was a place within the empire for themselves
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No one knows exactly why they began to pour into southern Europe during the second century AD
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Perhaps climate changes or population growth. Perhaps the lure of the empire itself brought
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tribe after tribe into Rome. Little by little, pressure mounted on nearly every frontier
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When German tribes attacked Rome borders in 166 AD it marked a bleak milestone For the first time since Hannibal invasion the Roman Empire was on the defensive
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For the next century, wave after wave of migrating peoples followed the Germans into Roman territory
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Goths, Franks, Persians, Parthians, Visigoths and more. And the edges of the Empire would crumble
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until there was no more Roman Empire to penetrate. The dam had sprung not one, but a thousand leaks
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And by the 3rd century AD, barbarians were only one of the empire's mounting crises
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It was a time when an emperor was far more likely to be assassinated
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than die of old age, and rulers frequently left no clear successor to the throne
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Once again, the affections of the individual legions became central to political power
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There came a point where the loyalty of the army became suspect
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particularly in the 3rd century A.D., when the empire, faced by barbarian incursions on the frontiers
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faced by plague, by rampant inflation, some armies proclaimed their own commander's emperor
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and then marched on Rome trying to seize power. It was a recipe for anarchy and disaster
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Feuding legions proclaimed 30 different emperors in a period of just 23 years
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Civil wars broke out frequently over who the true emperor was. Throughout much of the 3rd century, Roman armies were often engaged in fighting one another
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rather than in guarding the frontiers and protecting the security of the empire as a whole
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The period of so-called barracks emperors, the period of military anarchy, is a very interesting period to modern scholars
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because I think what it shows is moral collapse of the military leadership in the Roman Empire
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And that's a question of allegiance. If the army becomes more important than the state
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then ultimately both the army and the state are doomed. And that's a terrific lesson for all of us in this day and age
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Meanwhile, Rome's impressive record in battle was slipping. Apparently the great legions have lost their edge
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Many people are very keen to criticize the Roman army in the 3rd century
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because it suffered military defeat after military defeat. But we do need to remember that the Roman army had not fought an offensive battle for nearly a century
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The Roman army had been patrolling the frontiers, not fighting wars. The low point came in 260 AD
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The Emperor Valerian has spent his entire career fighting the Persians to the east with limited success
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With his troops ravaged by war and disease, he's forced to do something no emperor has ever done, negotiate
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But when Valerian arrives in modern-day Iraq to talk peace, he's taken prisoner
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The emperor of the Roman Empire is made to kneel down on the ground before his conquerors
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so the Persian king Shapur can step on his neck. It's a devastating blow to Roman pride
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Shapur took the defeated Valyrian back to his capital and there, when he died, had him flayed, his skin dyed crimson
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and he was stuffed and displayed in the chief temple. For Romans, it was a symbol of their utter military humiliation
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at the hands of a foreign power. It was not the end for Rome, not yet
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But it was the beginning of the end. The Roman legions were no longer the invincible fighting machine
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that once conquered the world. The frontiers of the empire were no longer impenetrable
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And Rome herself could no longer be said to rule the world
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Less than a century after the first barbarians crossed into the Empire
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one ancient Roman saw this momentous time for what it was. Our history now plunges from a kingdom of gold to one of iron and rust
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