Tag: Vandals

  • 18. All or Nothing: The Battle of Cape Bon

    18. All or Nothing: The Battle of Cape Bon

    461 to 468 CE If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breathe a word about your loss… -Rudyard Kipling, If The East and West combine forces in one great push to take Africa backs…

  • 17. The Phantom Kingdom

    17. The Phantom Kingdom

    456 to 464 CE Emperor Majorian and his Right-Hand man Ricimer attempt to pull the empire back from the brink after the departure of Avitus. But there’s a snake in the grass, a fly in the ointment, and a bad apple in the barrel. It all leads to the creation of a new entity called…

  • 15. Unmitigated Gaul

    15. Unmitigated Gaul

    418 CE 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. And…

  • 14. More Serpent than Dove

    14. More Serpent than Dove

    The Vandals Part III 439 to 455 CE “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be therefore as wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” Matthew, 10:16 Gaiseric weathers Roman attempts to recover the African provinces, and begins to set his house in order. Marriage deals are made and broken,…

  • 10. King of Africa

    The Vandals Part II 408 to 439 CE The Vandals, along with their allies, the Alans and Suevi, ravage Spain before moving into Africa.  There, under the leadership of their king Gaiseric, they will achieve something no other Barbarian tribe has yet accomplished. The city sits at the west end of the bay, looking out…

  • 9. The Vandals

    The Vandals Part I c. 200 BCE to 408 CE I introduce the Vandals with a cold.  The Vandals don’t have a cold, I have a cold. So, sorry about that. The Vandals rose up next door to the Goths, with whom they would have a complicated relationship.  This episode tracks their early migration into…

  • 8. Attila Invictus

    The Huns Part III 435 to 446 CE The scourge of God rises from the Hunnic horde.  The Romans have to deal with him while also facing earthquake, flood, and plague.  Straight up not having a good time, bro. Map of the Roman road network. Another map of the geography of the Balkans “The Britons”…

  • 5. Five Kings and a Reckoning

    The Goths Part V 410 to 451 CE The Visigoths move out of Italy, into more years of privation. Along the way there’s a royal marriage, long marches, sieges and naval blockades. Ultimatehttps://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/r3j854/episode005_fivekings_edit.mp3ly the Goths find what they’ve been looking for for nearly half a century – a home. But there’s another, even greater test…

  • 3. Alaric the Bold

    The Goths Part III 378 to 408 CE The Gothic Wars end in stalemate as Goths and Romans try to come to terms with new realities.  A new leader appears to push for dignity and power for his people, who will take the fight into the heartland of the Roman world. Map of Alaric’s invasion…