The Fall of Rome Podcast
Patrick Wyman / Wondery
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About This Podcast
Barbarians, political breakdown, economic collapse, mass migration, pillaging and plunder. The fall of the Roman Empire has been studied for years, but genetics, climate science, forensic science, network models, and globalization studies have reshaped our understanding of one of the most important events in human history. PhD historian and specialist Patrick Wyman brings the cutting edge of history to listeners in plain, relatable English.
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Recent Episodes
32: Listen to Patrick's New History Podcast, Past Lives
Patrick has a new history podcast, Past Lives! It's all about the experiences of real, everyday people throughout the human past, people just like you. Listen to the first full episode, "On…
32: Patrick is Hosting a New Show! Check out the "Pursuit of Dadliness" Now!
Welcome to "The Pursuit of Dadliness." This is a podcast for folks who want to enjoy their passions and their hobbies, whatever those might be, and genuinely strive to get better at doing stuff and…
31: Interview: Historian Kyle Harper on Disease, Climate and the Fall of the Roman Empire
How did a changing climate and plague play into the fall of the Roman Empire? I'm joined by Kyle Harper, Professor of Classics at the University of Oklahoma, to discuss his important new book The…
30: Tides of History: Natural Disasters and the End of the Roman Empire
Justinian was the last great Roman emperor, but his reign was plagued by disasters beyond his control: volcanic eruptions, a changing climate, and a plague of epic proportions. Those disasters…
29: Tides of History: Justinian the Great and the Reconquest of the Western Empire
Justinian is one of the defining figures of the Roman Empire. In many ways, he marks the boundary between Antiquity and the Middle Ages. In this episode, we explore his ambitious reform program and…
28: Tides of History: How the Eastern Roman Empire Survived Attila the Hun and the Disastrous Fifth Century
While the western half of the Roman Empire was collapsing, the east managed to weather the storm of the disastrous fifth century. In this episode, we examine how and why it survived Attila the Hun…
27: Tides of History: Why Didn't The Eastern Empire Fall?
When we talk about the fall of the Roman Empire, we're only talking about the western half - France, Spain, Italy, North Africa, and Britain. The eastern half of the Roman Empire survived the…
26: Tides of History: How Latin Became the Romance Languages
How did Latin splinter into the Romance languages? In this episode, we explore how Latin transformed from a single, widely dispersed language into a series - French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian,…
25: Tides of History: The Decline and Fall of the Roman City
Cities were what made the Roman world Roman, but as the Empire fell apart, so did its cities. They shrank drastically or disappeared entirely between 400 and 600. In today's episode, we'll find out…
24: Tides of History: The Roman City
Cities were what made the Roman world, well, Roman. They were centers of culture and political life, and they were the bedrock that tied together its economy. Today we'll explore how those cities…
Introducing Tides of History
History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme, said Mark Twain. From the fall of the Roman Empire to the rise of the modern world: history ebbs and flows over the centuries, driven by great tides…
23: Could the Roman Empire Have Survived?
Could the Roman Empire have survived past the fifth century? To answer that question, we examine some other points when the Empire could have fallen apart but didn't, and what brought it back…
22: The Brilliance of Saint Augustine. An Interview with Elizabeth Bruenig
Saint Augustine is one of the foundational figures of Christianity and one of the most influential thinkers of all time. He was also a complex and fascinating figure in his own right. Elizabeth…
21: Rome's Legacy and the Barbarian Kingdoms
As central government disappeared from what had been the Western Roman Empire, the barbarian kingdoms stepped into the void, creating new forms of rulership and institutions that would lay the…
20: The Anglo-Saxon Migration, the North Sea World, and the Birth of England
Roman Britain fell fast, and it fell hard. Into the ruins of this world stepped a wave of migrants from the North Sea coast of the Continent whom we know as the Anglo-Saxons. This migration, a…
19: Why Didn't Rome Rise Again? An Interview with Professor Walter Scheidel
Why didn't Rome rise again? Everywhere else in the world, the appearance of one great empire was marked by their recurrent resurgence, but in Europe it happened only once. Professor Walter Scheidel…
18: The Warlords of Northern Gaul and the Rise of the Franks
As the Roman Empire disintegrated, northern Gaul turned first into a military province and then into a playground for warlords, some Roman and some barbarian. This episode is the story of how one…
17: Ostrogothic Kingdom or the Western Empire Reborn?
Under the leadership of their great king Theoderic, the Ostrogoths built a kingdom for themselves in Italy. But was this a kingdom, and Theoderic a king, or was he an emperor and his new realm the…
16: The Kingdom of the Visigoths
The ashes of the Roman Empire produced a host of new states built on the foundations it left behind. The first of these was the Visigothic Kingdom of Toulouse, which dominated southern Gaul and…
15: The Death of the Roman Political System
Taxes, soldiers, and loyalty: these were the foundations, the structures, of the Roman political system. This episode explores how and why they fell apart over the course of the disastrous fifth…
Frequently Asked Questions
The Fall of Rome Podcast has published 35 episodes since August 2016, covering topics in Documentary, History.
The Fall of Rome Podcast is currently sporadic with new episodes every 2 weeks. Average episode length is 44m.
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