The Aztecs battle to save their civilisation from Spanish invaders - but is the real threat from the enemy within?
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#civilisationsriseandfall, #bbcdocumentary, #historydocuseries, #ancientcivilizations, #romeegyptaztecsamurai, #history2025
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00:00The 24th of August 410 AD. The magnificent city of Rome is under attack.
00:16The ancient capital of the mightiest empire on earth is at the mercy of a barbarian leader,
00:27thirsting for revenge. The rich scramble to hide their wealth. The poor run for their lives.
00:39No one saw this coming. The sack of Rome is one of the iconic events of Western history.
00:47Imagine thousands of men pouring into your city and rushing into your house. The fear must have been
00:58extraordinary. Rome believes it had an immortal imperial destiny.
01:07This empire dominated Europe for 500 years. How did it come to collapse?
01:15This is the story of three men and how their fateful decisions brought the mighty Roman
01:22civilization to its knees. A refugee, treated with cruelty and prejudice, driven to violence.
01:32A weak emperor, blind to the reality beyond his palace walls.
01:36And a wily general, caught between two worlds and trusted by no one.
01:46They have gambled with Rome's future.
01:50Now the eternal city is running out of time.
02:07Ancient Egypt.
02:08Ancient Egypt.
02:10The Roman Empire.
02:15The Aztecs of Mexico.
02:20And the Samurai of Japan.
02:21Four great civilizations. Each a pinnacle of human ingenuity and achievement. Each lasted for centuries.
02:37Their people thought they would endure forever.
02:40Until suddenly, everything changed.
02:51These civilizations faced challenges that are all too familiar today.
03:01Climate catastrophe.
03:02Pandemic.
03:12Wars.
03:15Challenges for which ancient societies had few solutions.
03:19But what if there was a place that had the answers to what went wrong?
03:32A place full of secrets and stories.
03:36A repository of memory stretching back through time.
03:40The British Museum, home to more than eight million artifacts, is a record of how and why
03:53the greatest civilizations rose to power and then spectacularly fell.
03:59It's treasures are the human traces that survived disaster.
04:07But might they also hold lessons for our own future?
04:14Every civilization throughout history has had an expiry date.
04:19With great societies, the seeds of their destruction are sown within the society.
04:26They're already there.
04:29No civilization ever thinks it's going to fall.
04:34But the question is, what can we learn from the past?
04:59Rome is the largest city in the world.
05:15Home to over 700,000 people.
05:18Traders and artisans.
05:21Senators and slaves.
05:23Arriving to Rome and entering from one of the gates of its wall in the late fourth century,
05:32we would see a city at the height of its splendor.
05:37Rome is still this monumental city.
05:46It has this history of emperors building things.
05:49You would still have seen things like temples, the forum and the curia, the senate house, the colosseum.
05:56Rome's magnificence is built on the spoils of empire.
06:07800 years earlier, Roman armies began to carve out a growing territory.
06:13That by the fourth century stretches across 1.7 million square miles.
06:19From Britain to North Africa and the Middle East.
06:23The empire is so vast, it's now split into two halves.
06:28East and west, each ruled by its own emperor.
06:41Around 40 million people, a fifth of the world's population, now live under Roman rule,
06:48in a heady mix of cultures and languages.
06:53It's all held together by a ruthless military might.
06:58But also by the benefits of a shared peace and pioneering advances in technology.
07:07Aqueducts for clean water.
07:11Concrete for construction.
07:13And a complex road network that brings trade and prosperity.
07:18In the western half of the empire, a handful of aristocratic families have profited more than most
07:32from Rome's imperial success.
07:33In the western half of the empire, they need a strong emperor to keep the status quo.
07:42But their new ruler is a major cause for concern.
07:45The old king of the empire is a major cause of murder.
07:54The king of the empire of the empire is a man of the empire.
07:56Number of the empire.
07:59It's also a large part of the empire.
08:00The prince is so small and older that he is from Rome.
08:04He is not even born in Rhett.
08:06He's born in the east.
08:08He really spends most of his youth
08:11living amongst the other courtiers.
08:14He's made a few visits west to see his father,
08:18the previous emperor, but his first big trip
08:23is the one that ends up being permanent.
08:26He comes over, and shortly thereafter, his father dies.
08:34The accession of a child like Honorius is extremely odd.
08:40In fact, in previous eras, Roman politics
08:44had never tolerated child emperors.
08:47The personal leadership of the emperor in earlier eras
08:51is just too important.
08:52You can't have a child on the throne.
08:57By 395, it is common practice for Romans
09:02to prostrate themselves, literally crawl on all fours
09:07in front of the emperor.
09:15This was an act of humility and homage.
09:19It was required as part of the imperial ritual.
09:24Imagine how tough that would have been
09:27if you were an extremely wealthy, successful senator,
09:32and here you are, crawling before a child.
09:42Honorius is remembered as an indifferent, foolish,
09:48self-absorbed emperor.
09:50It's inevitable that someone else is pulling the strings.
09:55General Stilicho.
09:58Stilicho is this really interesting combination
10:03of loyal servant to the empire, but also, perhaps,
10:08a little bit of a conniving opportunist.
10:09General Stilicho is this really interesting combination
10:12of loyal servant to the empire, but also, perhaps,
10:16a little bit of a conniving opportunist.
10:17Stilicho is commander of Rome's western armies.
10:22Under the previous emperor, he had become a trusted advisor.
10:26Then, he married into the imperial family,
10:29consolidating his power.
10:30Now, no one has greater influence
10:32over the young Honorius.
10:34He was a servant to the empire,
10:36but also, perhaps, a little bit of a conniving opportunist.
10:39Stillicho is commander of Rome's western armies.
10:43No one has greater influence over the young Honorius.
10:49Stillicho is competent militarily, politically astute.
10:54He knew the type of alliances that you had to make
10:58with the key civilian and military leaders,
11:02how to appoint people who were loyal to him.
11:07He absolutely has his eyes on protecting Honorius,
11:13doing what he can to keep Honorius in power.
11:17Of course, if Honorius isn't in power, neither is he.
11:29Honorius needs to persuade Rome's elite
11:32that he can project absolute power across his domains.
11:36He's not the only Roman emperor to face such a challenge.
11:52This is the very first emperor, Augustus.
11:57Augustus was one of the most brilliant minds,
12:06a real game-changer, someone who changed forever
12:10the path of history.
12:12The head of a bronze statue of Augustus is a really extraordinary object
12:30that we have from the first century BCE.
12:33Partly extraordinary because it still has its eyes.
12:36We're not used to seeing these eyes.
12:39We're used to very vacant sort of eye sockets of our Roman figures,
12:42but it still has its eyes,
12:44which make it a really fascinating object to see
12:47and a really evocative object.
12:52When this statue was cast,
12:54Augustus had just defeated his rivals in a brutal civil war to lead Rome.
13:00It was the first time one man ruled alone.
13:04And Augustus used this image to cement his reign.
13:10What we see with Augustus is actually a bit of a change
13:14in the way that Roman politicians, Roman statesmen were presented.
13:22Previously, age was seen as a sort of way of communicating wisdom,
13:26so statues and busts of wrinkles and, you know, signs of age on a face
13:31was something that you would have been used to seeing.
13:34Augustus doesn't do this.
13:36Rather, he wants to put forward the sort of youthfulness, I guess,
13:40of a ruler and the vitality of a ruler.
13:49This is a young, kind of a movie star.
13:53He's going to attract everyone with his magnetic beauty
13:58and make everybody want to follow him.
14:00So in that sense, it's a real shift of gears
14:04from the traditional way of representing authority.
14:10The scale is larger than life,
14:14giving Augustus the appearance of a god.
14:18And yet, this object is also a cautionary tale
14:23for future rulers like Honorius.
14:28Look closely, and you can see
14:31microscopic grains of sand embedded in the bronze.
14:35They tell a story of the dangers of imperial ambition.
14:41The reason why the head is so well-preserved
14:44is because it was purposefully buried.
14:50In 30 BC, Augustus's army invaded Egypt
14:55and expanded into Kush to the south.
15:02But the Kushites resisted and pushed back.
15:10They looted Roman treasures,
15:12pulling the head of Augustus's statue
15:15from its body.
15:17They carried their prize back to their capital, Meroe,
15:23where they buried it under the steps of a temple.
15:29Kushites could now literally rub their feet
15:32in the face of Augustus.
15:34So, in a very disrespectful and insulting way,
15:42every time someone went on pilgrimage to this temple,
15:46what they did was ultimately walking
15:49on the head of the emperor,
15:51the most powerful leader of the world of that time.
15:54It was a sign that aggressive empire building
16:00comes at a cost.
16:05The downside to invading your neighbours
16:07is that often you don't just create new frontiers,
16:10but also new enemies.
16:12In the US military, there's a term for this.
16:15Blowback.
16:16Rome suffered from blowback again and again.
16:19Augustus had been an ambitious young emperor
16:27who presided over a fragile peace.
16:31Now, four centuries later,
16:33the young Honorius needs to persuade the people
16:36that he, too, can successfully unite his fractious empire.
16:44His advisor, Stilicho, embarks on a campaign
16:47to construct a new image for Honorius.
16:52One of power, stability and authority.
16:58The start of a new regime
17:00was always marked by a ceremonial payout
17:03to the military of gold coins.
17:05These coins aren't just sent out as spending money,
17:27but as propaganda.
17:29Passed from hand to hand,
17:34they can reach all corners of a sprawling empire.
17:45These early coins slapped with the head of Honorius,
17:49a part of a meet-and-greet campaign.
17:52You wouldn't know from the coin
17:56that this is somebody who's underage
17:59for being a full-fledged Roman emperor.
18:03It's the way he's shown in profile
18:06with a diadem
18:08and this sort of slightly 1980s hairstyle.
18:12But something that I think
18:13is particularly interesting on this coin
18:16is if you turn it over and you look at the back.
18:21You have Honorius standing
18:24with his foot on the neck of a soldier.
18:28And Victory is just up in the corner
18:30holding her crown
18:32as if she's going to crown him.
18:37And it's a very brazen military image
18:41for him to choose,
18:43given that he is not yet battle-tested.
18:50Victory is the crucial characteristic
18:54of a legitimate emperor.
18:57This is the claim that's being made on that coin,
18:59that Honorius is a legitimate emperor.
19:04But Honorius and General Stilicho
19:07will soon discover that success
19:09requires more than mere propaganda.
19:15Little does this regime know
19:17that in just a few short years
19:20their world would be turned upside down.
19:23The empire would be shook
19:25at its very foundations
19:27and one of them would end up in his grave.
19:30The man destined to become Rome's nemesis
19:46is leading a rebellion in the Balkans,
19:49attacking Roman forces
19:51and taking captives
19:53and plunder wherever he can.
19:57His name is Alaric.
20:02Alaric is a legend.
20:03We know he's an experienced soldier
20:05and an admired and feared one.
20:09Unlike a traditional monarchy
20:11or indeed the Roman Empire,
20:13he's not holding power
20:15because his father held power.
20:17He is the one they are following
20:19because they choose to follow him.
20:21Alaric is charismatic,
20:23intelligent and very capable.
20:26He's also a bitter man,
20:28a man who has good reasons
20:30to be going rogue.
20:34The root of Alaric's anger
20:36stretches back to his childhood.
20:39soldiers manning Rome's northern border,
20:42along the river Danube,
20:44begin to see large crowds of people gathering
20:46and asking for help.
20:47The soldiers manning Rome's northern border,
20:49along the river Danube,
20:50begin to see large crowds of people gathering
20:52and asking for help.
20:53If a huge number of people end up on your border,
20:56it means that something has gone really, really wrong.
21:01My experience is that people really don't want to move.
21:04they don't want to leave their countries.
21:05And with the kinds of numbers we're talking about,
21:06I think it means that there was conflict raging
21:07and they had to come.
21:08These are Alaric's people, the Goths.
21:10These are Alaric's people, the Goths.
21:11Their homeland lies north-eastern
21:13region, the Greek region,
21:14the Greek region,
21:15and the Gulf.
21:16The Gulf are living here in the very richest country,
21:17the Gulf.
21:18They're living here in the alaric.
21:19There are no longer places in the world.
21:20In the nearby regions,
21:21why do you see this?
21:22The Greeks?
21:23It's been a bit too late to be able to happen.
21:24Enjoy.
21:25It's been a bit too late to happen.
21:26The Gulf, this evening,
21:27the Gulf.
21:28and they had to come.
21:32These are Alaric's people, the Goths.
21:39Their homeland lies northeast of Rome,
21:43stretching from present-day Romania to Ukraine.
21:47For generations, they've lived as warriors and farmers,
21:51but now a rival people, the Huns, attack,
21:55forcing the Goths to flee south.
22:00Something like 100,000 Gothic men, women and children
22:05come towards the Danube River.
22:08It's a migration on a scale the Romans have not encountered.
22:16Even today, 100,000 people is a lot of people,
22:22and any government would look at 100,000 people
22:25and see problem.
22:29In Roman times, they will have been looking
22:31at their own resources and thinking about
22:34how can they look after people who need to be fed,
22:39who need to be housed,
22:40so they don't become a problem further down the line.
22:45Despite the diverse populations within their empire,
22:56the Romans are uneasy about such a vast influx of people.
23:02And it plays into deep-seated prejudices.
23:05Racial stereotypes are so enduring
23:13because they're ubiquitous in ancient culture,
23:17just like they are in ours.
23:18This mask is meant to evoke somebody from the north,
23:38a barbarian.
23:39The word barbarian comes from a Greek, barbaros,
23:47and the Greeks invented it because to them,
23:50it sounded like the bar-bar-bar-bar-bar-bar,
23:53the babbling of peoples whose languages
23:56they could not understand.
23:58The Romans, like the Greeks, conceptualized race
24:07as being essentially environmental.
24:10The further you get away from the Mediterranean,
24:12the further you get away from that environment
24:15that was so familiar to them,
24:17the more likely you are to be a barbarian.
24:21The Roman stereotype of the barbarian
24:28was always defined by certain traits.
24:32Clothing, hairstyle, customs.
24:36They're savage.
24:37They're less cultured.
24:39They always have looser hair.
24:43A theatre mask designed to depict a barbarian
24:45has to convey that.
24:47A giveaway is the ponytail.
24:53You might notice that the man's hair is pulled back.
24:56It looks like a kind of man bun.
24:58That man bun is the dead giveaway.
25:01Romans don't wear man buns.
25:04These were the kinds of stereotypes
25:06that Romans would have absorbed
25:08by going to the theatre
25:10and really internalized them.
25:13And that can be weaponized in all sorts of ways.
25:17It's a stereotype you can appeal to
25:20to rally other people to support you.
25:23The 20th, early 21st century
25:25has seen more examples of that
25:28than one can easily count.
25:30Reducing people to a stereotype
25:33means you don't have to regard them
25:35as full human beings,
25:38usually with tragic results.
25:39Romans may see the Goths
25:46as primitive savages,
25:48but they have their uses.
25:50Working in the fields
25:52or as conscripts in the army.
25:55Under orders to remove their weapons,
25:58the soldiers at the border
25:59begin to let the Goths in
26:01in increasing numbers.
26:04The problem is not migration.
26:08The problem is not displaced peoples.
26:11Moving is fundamental to being human.
26:14It is the reason why we survived
26:16through the Ice Age.
26:17The problem is how governments
26:19respond to displaced people.
26:21You can choose to take them
26:23into your society
26:23or to make them into an enemy.
26:25A number of the local Roman officials
26:39see these refugees and think,
26:42right, how can I profit
26:43from the situation?
26:46Only give food to those
26:48that are willing to pay?
26:49Why actually give them the good food
26:51when you could send them anything else
26:54that you might have, like dog meat?
26:56Can you take away some of the Goths?
26:59Sell them off into slavery?
27:03If I was giving advice
27:05to the Roman government,
27:06I would say be careful.
27:08These people are competent soldiers.
27:12You know, the last thing you want to do
27:14is create a situation
27:16where people feel that they're
27:18being treated cruelly
27:20and that they owe you nothing.
27:24Enraged by their humiliation
27:28at the hands of the Romans,
27:3030,000 Goths stage a fight back.
27:36The battle is a catastrophic defeat
27:39for the Roman Empire.
27:41The larger estimates think
27:43that 20,000 Roman soldiers
27:44are killed on this battlefield
27:46in one afternoon.
27:48It means the Goths
27:50are now inside the Empire.
27:53There's no way
27:54that they can be driven out again.
27:57The crushing defeat
27:59forces the Romans
28:01to do a deal.
28:03They give the Goths land to settle
28:05in the wilder regions
28:06of the Balkans.
28:08In return,
28:10the Goths supply warriors
28:11for the Roman army.
28:13It's not actually
28:15a long-term solution
28:16to the problem.
28:18Effectively,
28:19it buys time.
28:21Another decade or so
28:22of relative peace.
28:24And then we come to Alaric.
28:26Alaric has followed the path
28:44of many Goth refugees
28:46and served in the Roman army.
28:49He has been a loyal commander
28:51for four years.
28:53until the Romans betray him.
28:58At a battle in the Alps,
29:00Alaric and his fellow Goths
29:02are sacrificed as cannon fodder
29:04for the Roman Empire.
29:08The Goths were put
29:10in the front line.
29:11After all,
29:12there'll be effective shock troops
29:13and they are effectively
29:15abandoned there.
29:1610,000 Goths were killed.
29:19Alaric was there.
29:20He's a survivor.
29:21He cannot possibly
29:23have forgotten.
29:26What we have
29:28is a two-tier society.
29:30Promises have been broken
29:32to them time and time again.
29:34No respect is given to them.
29:37And at the end of the day,
29:39they feel they have to rise up
29:42and fight for their rights.
29:43Alaric takes the opportunity
29:52to mount a major rebellion
29:55at the head
29:56of these Gothic soldiers
29:57who'd fought on that campaign.
29:59I think certainly responding
30:01to the level of casualties
30:04that they'd suffered on it.
30:05But for the Emperor Honorius
30:10and General Stilicho,
30:12an uprising is something
30:14they can ill afford.
30:25Because while there is plenty
30:27of money swilling around
30:29the Roman Empire,
30:31less and less of it
30:32is going into the Imperial coffers
30:34and more into those
30:37of Rome's super-rich.
30:38This casket is for
30:56a very elite woman.
30:59One of the 1%.
31:00The lid contains a portrait
31:21with a man and a woman
31:22standing shoulder to shoulder.
31:24This is a classic marriage scene.
31:28We do know for sure
31:30it belonged to a woman
31:32named Praiecta
31:33because there's an inscription
31:34on the edge of it.
31:37The inscription refers to Praiecta
31:39as well as a man named Secundus.
31:42And we believe that this casket
31:45was given to them
31:46as a wedding present.
31:51These are two incredibly
31:54wealthy people.
31:57This would have been
31:58the wedding of the year.
32:00It's elaborately carved
32:07with scenes all over
32:09on almost every side of it.
32:14There is a beautiful image
32:16of Venus sort of stepping up
32:18out of a bath,
32:20mostly naked.
32:20There is a scene of a procession
32:27of an elite woman
32:30to the Roman bathhouse,
32:33which is the place of glamour
32:35and luxury in the Roman world.
32:37A lot of objects like the casket
32:43are really about showing off
32:45ostentatious wealth,
32:47making it very clear
32:48that you are in that
32:50very small strata of society
32:52where you can spend most of your time
32:55doing very little,
32:57engaged in pleasurable activities.
32:59This celebration of luxury
33:04is part of a worrying trend,
33:06the 1% hoovering up the wealth
33:10of the wider empire.
33:12There are estimations
33:16that 20 families owned
33:19all of southern France
33:22and Italy, for example.
33:25Recent excavations
33:26in different areas of Rome
33:28have uncovered
33:29absolutely luxurious urban residences
33:34that dates precisely
33:36to this period.
33:38They were really living
33:40La Dolce Vita.
33:44The wealthy of late antique Rome
33:47are a lot like
33:48the super wealthy
33:50billionaire class of today.
33:52They live in these
33:53enormous houses
33:55that they had created
33:57by cobbling together
33:58a bunch of pre-existent buildings,
34:01just like we see today
34:02in cities like New York
34:04and London.
34:12This is a family
34:13getting richer by the day.
34:18And yet the emperor
34:20is not seeing the benefit
34:21of this boom time
34:23for the wealthy elite.
34:27The rich, in principle,
34:30are supposed to pay taxes,
34:32but things don't really change
34:34in history.
34:37And yesterday,
34:39as it happens today,
34:41those who have connections
34:42find more or less legal
34:46and more or less
34:47a conventional way
34:49not to pay taxes.
34:53This kind of tax avoidance
34:55is squeezing the emperor's finances,
34:58forcing the regime
35:00to lean instead
35:01on those who can least afford it.
35:06The burden seems to be falling
35:08on the lower classes.
35:10The vast majority of Romans
35:14are living in tenement blocks,
35:17crowded, shared spaces,
35:20rats, rat and cockroach infested.
35:22They are living very different lives
35:26to the lives
35:27that the wealthy are leading.
35:32Growing wealth and equality
35:33is the most common
35:36and crucial element
35:37in societal collapse.
35:40It corrodes the social fabric.
35:42Wealth and equality,
35:47in short,
35:48hollows out societies,
35:49leaving them to be
35:50a brittle shell
35:51which can be cracked asunder
35:52by numerous different shocks,
35:55such as disease,
35:56climate change,
35:56and invaders.
35:57For the last seven years,
36:18Alaric and his army
36:19have been plundering
36:20what they can in the Balkans.
36:24Now he marches his massed forces
36:26towards Italy.
36:30Alaric is in search of a deal
36:32and that is a more recognized position
36:34within the Roman imperial structure,
36:37payments for his dependents
36:39and recognition for himself
36:41as an imperial general.
36:46Alaric doesn't want to destroy
36:48the Roman Empire.
36:49He wants to be a part of it
36:51if he can overcome Roman prejudice
36:54against the Goths.
36:57His great problem,
37:00Stilicho,
37:00is in the way.
37:03Stilicho and Alaric
37:05may be on opposing sides,
37:07but the two men
37:08have more in common
37:10than Stilicho would like to admit.
37:13Stilicho is actually half-barbarian,
37:16half-Roman on his mother's side
37:18and half-Vandal on his father's.
37:21The Vandals were close neighbours
37:27of the Goths beyond the northern frontier.
37:31Stilicho followed his barbarian father
37:33into the army
37:34and rose on merit.
37:37He is an example
37:38of how Rome could assimilate outsiders
37:41when it chose to.
37:44The Roman Empire
37:46has controlled a vast region
37:48for 400 years
37:50and one of the secrets
37:52is integrating people.
37:54You don't actually treat
37:56the peoples you've absorbed
37:57as barbarians
37:58if you learnt the right languages.
38:01If you became part
38:02of the Roman system,
38:03you got all the benefits.
38:06Roman law,
38:07Roman trade networks.
38:08Stilicho has also committed
38:14to a Roman way of life.
38:17But his journey to the top
38:18has not been easy.
38:23If you're born in a country
38:25where you're a minority,
38:28very often you have to show
38:29more resilience,
38:31you have to work harder,
38:33you have to prove yourself
38:34because some of the narrative
38:37around who you are
38:38and what you're about
38:39and what you're a community about
38:41is extremely negative.
38:48Stilicho was a Roman
38:49by upbringing,
38:50by culture.
38:51He didn't identify himself
38:53as something separate
38:54from the Roman Empire.
38:57Unfortunately,
38:58there is a strong faction
39:00within Italy,
39:01within the imperial court,
39:03who've never liked
39:04the prominence
39:05of a half-vandal soldier
39:07dominating affairs.
39:15If Alaric hopes Stilicho,
39:17a fellow barbarian,
39:19will help him cut a deal,
39:21he's much mistaken.
39:26Stilicho is the top general.
39:28His job is to quell the rebellion.
39:30I don't think that
39:31he's busy thinking,
39:32oh, I have a little bit
39:33of sympathy for this guy.
39:35Rome is a great military power
39:38at that stage.
39:40You use your power.
39:48Alaric and Stilicho
39:49finally meet
39:50at the Battle of Palentia.
39:53According to
39:54our main source,
39:56Stilicho strikes the barbarians
39:58like a thunderbolt.
40:00Alaric is defeated,
40:01his wife is taken,
40:03plunder is taken,
40:04his people are scattered.
40:11But crucially,
40:13Stilicho fails to capture
40:15Alaric himself.
40:17It will prove
40:18a costly mistake.
40:20Honorius begins to hear
40:31rumours
40:31that his most trusted general
40:34has allowed Alaric
40:35to slip through his fingers
40:37on purpose
40:38in a barbarian master plan
40:41to overthrow him.
40:42As soon as his regime
40:47is looking a bit shaky,
40:49when other people
40:49are getting in
40:50Honorius' ear,
40:51then the barbarian card
40:53is the obvious one
40:54to play.
40:56You can use it both
40:57to disparage Stilicho
40:58and also to say
40:59that he's secretly
41:00in league with Alaric
41:02and always has been.
41:03For Honorius,
41:08tales of a palace plot
41:10would be all too familiar.
41:13As a child,
41:14he had been brought up
41:15on stories of emperors
41:16being overthrown
41:18or murdered,
41:20as well as myths
41:22of how the powerful
41:23punish those who betray them.
41:33he may even have held
41:36one such myth
41:37in his hands.
42:00The Lycurgus Cup,
42:01perhaps the greatest
42:03single surviving example
42:05of magnificent
42:06late Roman glassware,
42:08a cup crafted
42:09so beautifully
42:11that it does indeed
42:12reflect light
42:13in different colours,
42:15from green to red,
42:17depending on where
42:19the light comes from.
42:22If people are drinking
42:24by candlelight
42:25or the wine is being poured in
42:28and that's changing
42:28the colour as well,
42:29so it's making
42:30these marvellous effects.
42:31this cup must have
42:35belonged to someone
42:36with extraordinary wealth,
42:38perhaps a member
42:39of the imperial court,
42:41even the emperor himself.
42:43The cup shows the myth
42:56of the king, Lycurgus,
42:58who offended the god of wine, Bacchus,
43:01and as punishment
43:03was entrapped in the grapevine,
43:05had stones held at him
43:08by Bacchus' followers.
43:09The god punishes the upstart
43:13Lycurgus by putting him
43:15to death.
43:19Probably the message
43:20of that cup was,
43:22don't get too big
43:23for your britches.
43:24For Honorius,
43:37the myth offers
43:38some stark advice.
43:40Get rid of those
43:42who are a threat to you.
43:44He becomes increasingly paranoid.
43:47As society becomes top-heavy,
43:51you suddenly have
43:52more elites,
43:53generals,
43:54wannabe emperors,
43:55competing for a small,
43:57limited number
43:57of high-status positions.
43:59We see this again and again
44:01in Rome.
44:01It was always a game of friends,
44:04and it leads to worse decisions.
44:06The emperor has heard news
44:24of multiple barbarian incursions
44:27into Roman territory.
44:31Incursions General Stilicho
44:33has failed to repel.
44:35Palace insiders
44:42spin these failures
44:43as proof of Stilicho's treachery,
44:47pushing Honorius' paranoia
44:50to breaking point.
44:52A figure of the imperial court
44:55finally convinced Honorius
44:58that Stilicho,
45:00being half-vandal,
45:01was a barbarian after all,
45:03and therefore he would
45:05have inevitably conspired
45:07with other barbarian
45:08to take over the imperial throne.
45:13Honorius reaches a fateful decision
45:16and orders Stilicho's arrest.
45:19Stilicho has been the dominant figure
45:34at his court for over 13 years.
45:37It's pretty normal
45:39for this kind of child emperor
45:42to start kicking over the traces
45:44as they get older.
45:49It certainly was a decision
45:51that had really serious consequences.
45:55Stilicho is faced with a choice.
45:59Some of his colleagues
46:01are urging him to take the choice
46:03of actually going into rebellion
46:05against the ruling regime.
46:09He says,
46:10no,
46:10I'm not going to cause mayhem
46:13at the heart of the Western Empire
46:15at a moment of stress.
46:16That's an extraordinary testament
46:21to his loyalty
46:22to the basic Roman system.
46:26Stilicho has given Rome
46:28his allegiance.
46:31Rome has repaid him
46:32with suspicion
46:33and a death sentence.
46:36History will judge it
46:42a catastrophic error.
46:51Stilicho's execution
46:52means disaster
46:54for the Western Empire.
46:55It is a chronically misguided,
46:58short-sighted action.
47:02Honorius has just removed
47:04the one man
47:05who could either do a deal
47:06with the barbarians
47:07or defeat them in battle.
47:18He's also unleashed
47:20dark forces
47:21that will bring carnage
47:23to Italy
47:23as violence
47:26against immigrants erupts.
47:28Stilicho's execution
47:35triggers a bloodbath.
47:38The opposition to Stilicho
47:39flows into
47:41a major assault
47:43on anybody
47:45of barbarian descent
47:46or related to
47:48the barbarians in Italy.
47:51There's no question
47:53that the level
47:53of severity,
47:55the ferocity
47:57of this massacre,
47:58going after
47:59not just the men,
48:00but going after
48:01their wives
48:02and children.
48:03This went way beyond
48:05the kind of political purge
48:07that you would normally
48:08expect to see
48:09following the death
48:11of somebody
48:11who's a major leader.
48:13The extent to this
48:14suggests
48:15that there was
48:16some layer
48:17of prejudice
48:18at work here.
48:19But if the massacre
48:22is meant
48:23to terrify
48:23the barbarians
48:24into submission,
48:26it does
48:27exactly
48:28the opposite.
48:39You can't appeal
48:40to the emperor.
48:41You can't appeal
48:42to the local population.
48:44Who might protect you?
48:46There is one
48:47very obvious candidate,
48:48Alaric.
48:50And so
48:50a lot of these soldiers
48:52who had been loyal
48:53to Stilicho
48:53now flood
48:55to join Alaric.
48:57Estimates are
48:58perhaps 10,000
48:59soldiers
49:01now swell
49:02Alaric's forces.
49:04Not only
49:04is his greatest
49:05opponent dead
49:06and the western
49:07military is in chaos,
49:09but Alaric's
49:10own following
49:11has been greatly
49:12strengthened.
49:15Alaric
49:16goes for the jugular.
49:18He marches
49:19unopposed
49:20through Italy
49:21to Rome.
49:24His forces
49:26surround the city
49:27and cut off
49:28the food supply.
49:30Rome is still
49:32the single
49:33most prestigious city
49:34in the empire.
49:36And so Alaric
49:37is threatening
49:37to sack
49:39that city
49:39as leverage
49:41for the things
49:43he actually
49:43most wants.
49:44So what does
49:46he demand?
49:47Gold,
49:48silver,
49:49both in
49:50thousands of
49:51pounds
49:51of quantity.
49:54He wants
49:55somewhere to settle.
49:57And he wants
49:59an official Roman title,
50:01the one
50:01Stilicho held,
50:03commander-in-chief
50:04of the western army.
50:05Our sources
50:12about the siege
50:13of Rome
50:14are quite
50:16unanimous
50:17in its severity.
50:19People are starving,
50:20our sources
50:21even talk
50:21about cannibalism.
50:25The citizens
50:27of Rome
50:27are suffering,
50:29but their emperor
50:30is not suffering
50:31with them.
50:32He has retreated
50:34to the relative
50:35safety of Ravenna,
50:38over 200 miles away
50:39on Italy's
50:40Adriatic coast.
50:43Numerous people
50:44go up
50:45to beg
50:46Honorius
50:47to help,
50:48to send an army,
50:49to make a deal
50:50with Alaric.
50:53Our sources
50:54report that
50:55Honorius
50:56declares
50:57that he will
50:57never do a deal
50:58with one
50:59of Alaric's
51:00race.
51:01What it's suggesting
51:03is an unwillingness
51:05on Honorius' part
51:06to wake up
51:07and smell the coffee.
51:08The Goths
51:09are here
51:09as a permanent
51:10structure
51:11within the
51:12western empire
51:13and you have
51:13to find a way
51:14of living
51:15with them.
51:16You can see
51:17why he might
51:18resist that.
51:19Honorius
51:20has grown up
51:20in a world
51:22of total
51:23Roman dominance.
51:25He doesn't realize
51:26that the world
51:26has changed.
51:27Alaric gets tired
51:46of waiting
51:47and he decides
51:48it's time
51:49to just
51:49sack Rome.
51:50The Romans
51:56stereotype
51:57Alaric
51:58and his people
51:59and in a way
52:01force him
52:01to become
52:03the thing
52:03that they're
52:04fearful of.
52:06Alaric's followers
52:08are targeting
52:09the noble houses.
52:10They're targeting
52:11everything they can
52:12basically gather
52:14together
52:14and carry off.
52:15Amazingly
52:25some of Rome's
52:27treasures
52:27from that time
52:28survive.
52:30They offer
52:31a glimpse
52:31of the riches
52:32the Goths
52:33discovered
52:33and bear witness
52:35to the violence
52:36they unleashed.
52:40The Praetta casket
52:41is part of a
52:42horde of objects
52:44almost all silver
52:45nearly 60
52:46of them
52:47discovered
52:48in the ruins
52:49of a Roman
52:50house
52:50in the city
52:52of Rome.
52:55What's particularly
52:57interesting
52:57is the dating
52:59of the objects
53:00align
53:01very, very
53:03attractively
53:04with the sack
53:05of Rome.
53:06It's pretty likely
53:07that this horde
53:08was created
53:09precisely
53:11at the moment
53:12when Alaric
53:14was at the gates
53:15of the city
53:15and this is
53:16one family's
53:17attempt to
53:18preserve
53:19its wealth
53:20its heirlooms.
53:24Why would no one
53:25come back
53:26for such a
53:27very expensive
53:28luxury collection
53:29of treasures?
53:30It's possible
53:31that some of
53:32the family members
53:33fled the city.
53:34it is of course
53:42entirely possible
53:43that these
53:44were people
53:44who did indeed
53:45fall victim
53:46to the goths.
53:46the goths are
53:58primarily interested
53:59in taking
54:00every single thing
54:02they can carry
54:03and bringing it
54:04out with them.
54:05But it also
54:06importantly
54:07includes people.
54:08human trafficking,
54:13captive taking
54:14was one of
54:15the primary
54:17forms of booty
54:18in the ancient
54:19world
54:19and this was
54:22a major goal
54:23of the army
54:24when they came
54:25through.
54:29Honorius,
54:31inexperienced,
54:33isolated,
54:33is entirely
54:35unable to
54:36comprehend
54:36what has
54:37happened.
54:41Honorius was
54:42told that
54:43Rome had
54:44just fallen
54:44and the
54:46reaction of
54:47the emperor
54:47was an
54:49immediate
54:50expression of
54:51grief and
54:52desperation
54:53but what he
54:54said was
54:55but I had
54:57fed her
54:57with my
54:58own hands
54:59just a few
55:00hours ago
55:01because
55:02Honorius had
55:03a hen
55:04house
55:04and one
55:05of the
55:06the hens
55:07was
55:07called
55:08Rome.
55:10Such was
55:10the idea
55:11that Rome
55:13could not
55:14fall.
55:16After three
55:17long days
55:18of violence
55:19and plunder
55:20the Goths
55:21finally leave
55:22Rome.
55:24As a
55:25psychological
55:26event
55:26the sack
55:27of Rome
55:27sends a
55:28shockwave
55:29across the
55:29Roman Empire.
55:31It is one
55:31of those
55:32events
55:32where
55:33when you
55:34heard about
55:34it
55:35you remember
55:35where you
55:36were
55:36when news
55:38reached you
55:38like 9-11.
55:42Events
55:42that trigger a
55:44spark across
55:45a consciousness.
55:49Nobody
55:50could accept
55:52the idea
55:52that the
55:53most powerful
55:55city of all
55:56times had
55:57eventually capitulated.
56:04Alaric and
56:05the Goths
56:06have forged
56:07a path
56:08that others
56:08will follow.
56:11The Gothic
56:12migration,
56:13the refugee
56:13crisis of the
56:14370s,
56:16effectively marks
56:17the beginning
56:18of the so-called
56:20decline and fall
56:21of the Roman
56:22Empire.
56:22The Goths
56:25will eventually
56:26form their
56:27own kingdoms
56:27on Roman
56:28territory.
56:38It becomes
56:39the model
56:40for other
56:41barbarian
56:41peoples.
56:43One by one
56:45the territories
56:46of the former
56:47Western Roman
56:47Empire fall
56:49away from
56:49imperial control.
56:50Rome lost
56:56its grip
56:56on Western
56:57Europe
56:58over 1500
56:59years ago
57:01with a weak,
57:05inexperienced
57:06leader
57:06blinded by
57:08paranoia.
57:10What the Romans
57:11got wrong
57:12was refusing
57:14to understand
57:16the political
57:17moment,
57:19the instability
57:20the fragility
57:21of the government,
57:23no leader
57:24rising to
57:25the top
57:26who could
57:27calm the
57:28situation
57:29and end
57:30the standoff.
57:31This didn't
57:32have to happen.
57:34It was a
57:35two-tier society
57:37that favoured
57:38the rich
57:39while failing
57:41to solve
57:42the challenges
57:42of mass
57:43migration.
57:44freedom.
57:47This story
57:48is a refugee
57:49crisis
57:50gone wrong.
57:51It is something
57:52we are now
57:52very familiar
57:53with in our
57:54modern world.
57:59The fall of Rome
58:00for many people
58:01was a liberation
58:02from a predatory
58:03autocracy
58:04which overtaxed
58:05citizens,
58:06mistreated
58:07immigrants
58:07and persisted
58:08through conquest.
58:10Do not mourn
58:11the empire.
58:11the Romans
58:15did not believe
58:16their empire
58:17was about to
58:18collapse,
58:19but it did.
58:20Our world
58:21order will
58:22change.
58:23That will
58:24always be
58:24the great
58:25lesson of
58:26history.
58:32Egypt,
58:33a civilisation
58:34that has thrived
58:36for 3,000 years,
58:38is torn apart
58:39by a toxic
58:40dynasty.
58:41forcing the
58:43great
58:43Cleopatra
58:44to face
58:45civil war,
58:47famine
58:47and foreign
58:48invasion,
58:50threatening to
58:50end the
58:51age of the
58:52pharaohs.
58:53watch the next
59:01episode of
59:02civilisations on
59:04Egypt right
59:04now on
59:05BBC iPlayer
59:06Press Red.
59:07Tonight's
59:08Radio 3
59:09classical
59:09mixtape
59:10features a
59:11Rome-inspired
59:11sequence of
59:12reflective music.
59:14Listen on
59:14sounds.
59:16Explore Rome's
59:16invisible city,
59:18a lost
59:18subterranean
59:19world with
59:19Alexander Armstrong
59:20on BBC
59:214 now.
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