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00:00:09The word barbarian is a misleading expression,
00:00:14and the art that goes with it is misleading too.
00:00:21This picture was painted in 1890 by an arrogant French painter
00:00:27called Joseph Noel Sylvester.
00:00:31It shows the sack of Rome in 410 AD by the Visigoths.
00:00:40The Visigoths were a so-called barbarian tribe.
00:00:45You can't miss them. They're the ones without any clothes on.
00:00:49It's such nonsense.
00:00:51The Visigoths were never naked savages,
00:00:54clambering about Rome, destroying civilisation.
00:00:58They were pioneering Europeans
00:01:01who produced beautiful art
00:01:04and who achieved important things.
00:01:07It was actually these so-called barbarians
00:01:11who invented trousers.
00:01:13Riding a horse was much easier in trousers.
00:01:17So if it wasn't for the barbarians,
00:01:20we'd all be wearing togas.
00:01:25So this is a film about misunderstood peoples
00:01:29and their misunderstood achievements.
00:01:32About how we've got the Dark Ages wrong again.
00:01:37And about a word whose meaning has been warped by time.
00:01:43It's this word here.
00:01:46Barbarian.
00:01:47Barbarian.
00:01:50Barbarian.
00:01:52Barbarian.
00:02:01Barbarian.
00:02:03Barbarian.
00:02:04Barbarian.
00:02:06Barbarian.
00:02:07Barbarian.
00:02:09Barbarian.
00:02:10Barbarian.
00:02:13Barbarian.
00:02:14Barbarian.
00:02:14Barbarian.
00:02:16Barbarian.
00:02:17Barbarian.
00:02:28The Dark Ages go roughly from the 4th century to roughly the 11th.
00:02:34And I've been looking at the art made in these years,
00:02:38trying to convince you that it wasn't dark at all.
00:02:43In this film, I'll be leaping to the defence of the so-called barbarians.
00:02:55The word barbarian actually comes from the ancient Greek.
00:03:00Its original meaning was someone whose language you can't understand, a foreigner.
00:03:06You know, like we say, it all sounds like Greek to me when we can't understand something.
00:03:11Well, the Greeks said, it all sounds like ba-ba-ba.
00:03:18So it was an onomatopoeic word.
00:03:21Anyone who spoke a funny foreign language was a barbarian.
00:03:27The same word, bar-bara, can be found in Sanskrit, the ancient language of India,
00:03:32where it means gibberish or stammering.
00:03:36And if you're actually called Barbara, like Barbara Windsor or Barbara Streisand,
00:03:42then I'm afraid your name means barbarian woman.
00:03:47And you, madame, are particularly in touch with your barbarian self.
00:03:55When the Romans took over the word, it came to mean anybody, anywhere who wasn't a Roman.
00:04:01So, the Persians were barbarians, the Indians, the Chinese, the entire non-Roman world.
00:04:17It isn't just this word barbarian that's been demonised and distorted.
00:04:23If you open your dictionary and start looking for words with bad, dark ages connotations,
00:04:30you'll find lots of them.
00:04:32Take this word here.
00:04:34Vandal.
00:04:37The Vandals were actually another fascinating and creative ancient peoples who made things like this.
00:04:45But their name's been stolen from them and turned into something dark.
00:04:51Well, what about the Goths?
00:04:53Today, Goths are oily punks with dyed black hair who worship the devil.
00:04:58But in real life, in Roman times, the Goths were fabulous international creatives
00:05:06who made the most beautiful Bible I've ever seen.
00:05:13But the worst of these so-called barbarians, these forgotten ancient peoples,
00:05:19whose reputation has been trashed by the Romans,
00:05:22the very worst of them were the Huns.
00:05:35Poor Huns.
00:05:36If anyone in ancient history deserves some rebranding,
00:05:41it's this notorious nation of energetic invaders.
00:05:49No one had a good word to say about them.
00:05:52The Goth historian Jordanus tells us they were scarcely human,
00:05:57a stunted, puny and faithless tribe.
00:06:02Christian writers were even harsher.
00:06:05According to a Christian cleric writing in Syria,
00:06:09the Huns eat the flesh of children
00:06:12and drink the blood of women.
00:06:20It's like reading a bad airport paperback.
00:06:24The Christians were determined to demonise all pagans
00:06:28and they were particularly determined to demonise the Huns.
00:06:34So we can't trust the Christian clerics.
00:06:37We need to trust the art.
00:06:40And that tells a different story.
00:06:59In the First World War, the British began calling the Germans Huns.
00:07:05It was the worst insult they could think of.
00:07:08But also, very bad geography.
00:07:12Because the Huns were not from Germany.
00:07:19Exactly where they came from
00:07:21is one of the big mysteries of the Dark Ages.
00:07:24Nobody knows for sure.
00:07:27But it was somewhere out here in the Euro-Asian steppe.
00:07:33Somewhere far away and different.
00:07:39The first record of the Huns in Europe
00:07:42dates from around 376 AD
00:07:46when a group of retreating Goths
00:07:48turned up here on the banks of the Danube
00:07:51and begged the Romans to take them in.
00:07:55The fleeing Goths had been pushed out of their lands
00:07:59by a nation of nomads coming in from the east.
00:08:04A fighting tribe of whom everyone was scared.
00:08:11Huns were fierce warriors, there's no denying that.
00:08:15But not all the time.
00:08:17Like all nomads,
00:08:19they lived a precarious travelling existence
00:08:22and moved around in small family groups.
00:08:25of men, folk, women and goats.
00:08:32The default lifestyle of the Huns
00:08:35was a tinkerish domesticity.
00:08:39And among the splendid Hunnic objects
00:08:41they've left behind,
00:08:43the defining ones are these
00:08:45battered Hunnic cauldrons
00:08:47preserved in the museum in Budapest.
00:08:51In these robust vessels
00:08:54the Huns cooked their goats
00:08:56and boiled their water.
00:08:59A man can live to 50
00:09:01is an old Kazakh saying
00:09:03that still circulates.
00:09:05But a cauldron
00:09:06will live to 100.
00:09:13Something else we know about the Huns
00:09:15is that they loved gold.
00:09:18Oh, how the Huns loved gold.
00:09:21The Hunnic graves that have been dug up,
00:09:24the buried caches of treasure
00:09:26and valuables
00:09:27reveal such a deep and instinctive passion
00:09:31for treasure.
00:09:35These days
00:09:36we've lost sight
00:09:37of gold's crazy hypnotic power
00:09:40and that special relationship
00:09:43it enjoys with the sun.
00:09:45The Incas called it
00:09:47the sweat of the gods.
00:09:50And in the dark ages
00:09:52gold was a substance
00:09:54with a magical presence.
00:09:56And the Huns
00:09:58loved it
00:09:59in a visceral
00:10:00and unbalanced way.
00:10:03In my book
00:10:04that's a good reason
00:10:05to love them back.
00:10:21Because they spent
00:10:23so much of their life
00:10:24on the move
00:10:25travelling from pasture
00:10:26to pasture
00:10:27the Huns
00:10:29had a particularly
00:10:30creative relationship
00:10:31with the natural world.
00:10:34Hun treasure
00:10:35is dominated
00:10:37by exquisite
00:10:38animal forms.
00:10:44In the Hermitage Museum
00:10:46in St Petersburg
00:10:48there's a wonderful
00:10:49piece of jewellery.
00:10:51It's a golden bit
00:10:53of a bangle
00:10:54or a neck talk
00:10:55like one of these.
00:10:56And it's this piece here
00:10:57at the end
00:10:58shaped
00:10:59so atmospherically
00:11:01like the head
00:11:02of a creeping wolf.
00:11:08This is gold
00:11:10that nurses
00:11:11an intense
00:11:11symbolic ambition
00:11:13to commune
00:11:14with the natural world.
00:11:16To speak to it
00:11:18and steal
00:11:19some of its power.
00:11:21To steal
00:11:22the power
00:11:23of the wolf.
00:11:36another animal
00:11:37that was dear
00:11:38to them
00:11:39was the eagle.
00:11:40They probably used
00:11:41eagles to hunt with
00:11:42as nomads
00:11:43of the steppes
00:11:44still do.
00:11:45and the great bird
00:11:46in the sky
00:11:47inspired such
00:11:49beautiful
00:11:49Hun bling.
00:11:55Eagles have a special
00:11:57significance
00:11:58for the Hun.
00:12:00They were ready-made
00:12:01symbols
00:12:02of power
00:12:03and beauty
00:12:03combined.
00:12:05And right across
00:12:07the barbarian world
00:12:08these garnet-studded
00:12:10eagle brooches
00:12:12became noticeably
00:12:13popular.
00:12:17This powerful
00:12:19new relationship
00:12:20to the natural world
00:12:22was one of the
00:12:23great barbarian
00:12:25contributions
00:12:25to civilisation.
00:12:30And then of course
00:12:32there was the
00:12:32magnificent
00:12:33Hunnic
00:12:34horse art.
00:12:35The Hun
00:12:36depended on their
00:12:37horses totally
00:12:38and they loved
00:12:39them deeply.
00:12:40So of course
00:12:41they made sure
00:12:42their horses
00:12:42looked suitably
00:12:44splendid too.
00:12:50These are the
00:12:51remains of a
00:12:52full-length
00:12:53Hunnic
00:12:54horse ornament
00:12:55fashioned
00:12:56delicately
00:12:57from gold
00:12:58and studded
00:13:00so generously
00:13:01with precious
00:13:02stones.
00:13:04Lucky is the
00:13:05horse
00:13:05who got
00:13:06to wear
00:13:06this.
00:13:10The Huns
00:13:11would ride
00:13:12into battle
00:13:13with wolf
00:13:14skins
00:13:14pulled down
00:13:15on their
00:13:15faces
00:13:16screaming
00:13:17demonically
00:13:18in a deliberate
00:13:19effort
00:13:20to get inside
00:13:21their enemies'
00:13:22heads.
00:13:23Now this
00:13:24was dark
00:13:25psychological
00:13:25warfare
00:13:26very sophisticated
00:13:28and one of
00:13:29the reasons
00:13:29the Huns
00:13:31were so easy
00:13:32to demonise
00:13:33is because
00:13:34they looked
00:13:34so strange.
00:13:39They practised
00:13:40ritual deformation
00:13:42and their skulls
00:13:44were deliberately
00:13:45misshapen at birth.
00:13:48Infant Huns
00:13:49would have their
00:13:50heads tightly bound
00:13:51so they grew
00:13:52into these uncanny
00:13:53and elongated
00:13:55Mekon shapes.
00:13:58and on these
00:14:00deformed heads
00:14:01of theirs
00:14:01the Huns
00:14:02would balance
00:14:03spectacular crowns
00:14:05of unimaginable
00:14:07preciousness.
00:14:13So the big question
00:14:15is
00:14:15where did the Huns
00:14:17get their gold?
00:14:18They were nomads
00:14:19not miners
00:14:20and although
00:14:21they were busy
00:14:22tradesmen
00:14:23you'd need to
00:14:24trade
00:14:24an awful
00:14:26lot of goat skins
00:14:27for the amount
00:14:28of gold
00:14:28left behind
00:14:29by the Huns.
00:14:33They didn't
00:14:34trade for it.
00:14:36The Huns
00:14:36got their gold
00:14:37more directly
00:14:39straight from
00:14:40the Romans.
00:14:45Because their
00:14:46bows were so
00:14:47lethal
00:14:48and their
00:14:48horsemen
00:14:49so skilled
00:14:49the Huns
00:14:51were soon
00:14:51operating a
00:14:52protection racket
00:14:53across most
00:14:54of the Roman
00:14:55Empire.
00:14:56What they'd do
00:14:57is invade
00:14:58somewhere
00:14:58or threaten
00:14:59to invade
00:15:00somewhere
00:15:01and then demand
00:15:02large quantities
00:15:04of gold
00:15:05to go away
00:15:06again.
00:15:08The Romans
00:15:09cowardly
00:15:10diplomats
00:15:11that they
00:15:11were
00:15:12preferred
00:15:12to pay
00:15:13them
00:15:14than to
00:15:14fight
00:15:14them
00:15:14and by
00:15:16the time
00:15:16the Hunnic
00:15:17Empire
00:15:17was at
00:15:18its largest
00:15:18extent
00:15:19the Huns
00:15:20were receiving
00:15:21two and a half
00:15:22thousand pounds
00:15:23of gold coins
00:15:25from the Romans
00:15:26every year.
00:15:28Two and a half
00:15:30thousand pounds
00:15:31of gold
00:15:33every year
00:15:34to melt
00:15:35down
00:15:36and turn
00:15:37into art.
00:15:40a few
00:15:41tribes
00:15:42of nomads
00:15:42raiding
00:15:43along
00:15:43these Roman
00:15:44borders
00:15:45could never
00:15:46pressurise
00:15:46the Romans
00:15:47into giving
00:15:48up
00:15:48these enormous
00:15:49quantities
00:15:50of gold.
00:15:51So we need
00:15:52to forget
00:15:52this image
00:15:53of the Huns
00:15:54as a tribal
00:15:55horde sweeping
00:15:56across Europe
00:15:57because they
00:15:58were something
00:15:58much more
00:16:00sophisticated
00:16:00than that.
00:16:01this is a map
00:16:03of the Hunnic
00:16:04Empire
00:16:04under Attila
00:16:05it's the bits
00:16:06in orange
00:16:07and just look
00:16:08at the size
00:16:09of it.
00:16:11All this
00:16:13was Hunnic
00:16:14this wasn't
00:16:15a bunch
00:16:16of nomads
00:16:16on the make
00:16:17this was
00:16:18a rival
00:16:19empire
00:16:20a new
00:16:21superpower
00:16:22of the
00:16:22Dark Ages
00:16:23turned up
00:16:24to take
00:16:25on the
00:16:25Romans.
00:16:30I've kept
00:16:31Attila
00:16:32back
00:16:32because the
00:16:34moment you
00:16:35mention him
00:16:35the story
00:16:36of the Huns
00:16:37takes on
00:16:38a satanic
00:16:38glint.
00:16:41All the Huns
00:16:42were demonised
00:16:44by history
00:16:44but Attila
00:16:46was demonised
00:16:48most of all.
00:16:52The exciting
00:16:53thing is
00:16:54we actually
00:16:54know a lot
00:16:55about him.
00:16:56A Roman
00:16:57diplomat
00:16:57called Priscus
00:16:58was sent
00:16:59on one
00:16:59of these
00:17:00diplomatic
00:17:00missions
00:17:01to negotiate
00:17:02with the Huns
00:17:03and he's
00:17:04left behind
00:17:04a vivid
00:17:05account
00:17:06of his
00:17:06journey.
00:17:07And this
00:17:08gentleman
00:17:09here
00:17:09is building
00:17:11a replica
00:17:12of Attila's
00:17:13palace
00:17:14on the
00:17:14actual site
00:17:15on which
00:17:15he thinks
00:17:16it actually
00:17:17stood.
00:17:18So Janos
00:17:19when did you
00:17:20first become
00:17:21interested in
00:17:22Attila?
00:17:22I was
00:17:24I bought
00:17:26this land
00:17:2620 years
00:17:27ago
00:17:27to breed
00:17:27horses.
00:17:29That was
00:17:29when we
00:17:30came across
00:17:30the history
00:17:31of this
00:17:31site.
00:17:34Priscus,
00:17:35the Byzantine
00:17:36ambassador,
00:17:37visited Attila
00:17:38in 450
00:17:39AD
00:17:39and describes
00:17:41how he
00:17:41found his
00:17:41way here.
00:17:43And he
00:17:44definitely
00:17:44identified
00:17:45this place
00:17:45as the
00:17:46site of
00:17:47Attila's
00:17:47palace.
00:17:52That's
00:17:53why we'd
00:17:53like to
00:17:54erect a
00:17:54memorial
00:17:55to him
00:17:55here,
00:17:56by
00:17:56constructing
00:17:57a wooden
00:17:57palace.
00:18:01Janos's
00:18:02palace will
00:18:02be created
00:18:03in timber,
00:18:04exactly as
00:18:05Priscus
00:18:06describes.
00:18:07It's
00:18:08shaped like
00:18:09a giant
00:18:10nomad's
00:18:11tent,
00:18:12a kind
00:18:12of glorified
00:18:13yurt,
00:18:14with two
00:18:15wooden
00:18:15towers,
00:18:16rising
00:18:17cockily
00:18:17at the
00:18:17front.
00:18:20Priscus
00:18:21tells us
00:18:22that when
00:18:22he arrived,
00:18:23he was
00:18:24treated to
00:18:25an enormous
00:18:25banquet,
00:18:26served
00:18:27on silver
00:18:28plates.
00:18:30And a
00:18:31procession
00:18:31of young
00:18:32women,
00:18:32dressed in
00:18:33white veils,
00:18:34came out
00:18:35to sing
00:18:35for him.
00:18:39Attila
00:18:39himself
00:18:40was simply
00:18:41dressed,
00:18:42and ate
00:18:42nothing but
00:18:43meat on
00:18:44a wooden
00:18:45platter.
00:18:46while the
00:18:47guests were
00:18:48given goblets
00:18:49of gold
00:18:50and silver.
00:18:55What does
00:18:56Attila mean
00:18:58to the
00:18:58Hungarian people?
00:18:59Because for a
00:19:01lot of people
00:19:01in Europe,
00:19:02he has a
00:19:03very bad
00:19:03reputation,
00:19:04but not
00:19:04here.
00:19:05In Hungary,
00:19:06he seems to
00:19:06be thought of
00:19:07more as a
00:19:08hero.
00:19:11When people
00:19:11say Attila
00:19:12was a
00:19:12barbarian,
00:19:13that's
00:19:14something I
00:19:14reject.
00:19:15It's not
00:19:16something I
00:19:17believe.
00:19:19He spoke
00:19:19eight languages
00:19:20by the age
00:19:21of 15
00:19:22and laid
00:19:22Europe at
00:19:23his feet.
00:19:25Someone
00:19:25unintelligent,
00:19:26a barbarian,
00:19:28could not
00:19:28have done the
00:19:29things that
00:19:29Attila did,
00:19:30only someone
00:19:31blessed with
00:19:32special talents.
00:19:37Did Attila's
00:19:39palace really
00:19:40look like
00:19:40this?
00:19:42I very much
00:19:43doubt it.
00:19:45But neither
00:19:46do I think
00:19:46Janos's
00:19:47fantasy is
00:19:48more misleading
00:19:49than all the
00:19:50other Hun
00:19:51fantasies about
00:19:52satanic
00:19:53hordes sweeping
00:19:54through Europe.
00:20:04by the time
00:20:05Attila became
00:20:06their ruler,
00:20:07the Huns had
00:20:08created a
00:20:09complex political
00:20:10system.
00:20:12Their huge
00:20:13empire was
00:20:14actually a
00:20:16federation of
00:20:18many nations,
00:20:19a kind of
00:20:20barbarian EU
00:20:22opposed to
00:20:23the Romans,
00:20:24with Goths,
00:20:25Burgundians,
00:20:27Alans,
00:20:27even a few
00:20:28Greeks,
00:20:29all linked
00:20:30together and
00:20:32ruled by
00:20:33Attila.
00:20:36So here,
00:20:38at the
00:20:38Kunsthistorische
00:20:39Museum in
00:20:40Vienna,
00:20:40there's something
00:20:41really spectacular
00:20:43I just have
00:20:44to show you.
00:20:49When this
00:20:50was dug out
00:20:51of the ground
00:20:52on the
00:20:52Romanian border
00:20:54in 1799,
00:20:56it was thought
00:20:57to be Attila
00:20:58the Hun's
00:20:59personal dinner
00:21:00service.
00:21:02You can see
00:21:04why they
00:21:04thought that.
00:21:05Just look
00:21:07at how
00:21:07splendid this
00:21:08is.
00:21:0923 golden
00:21:11vessels,
00:21:13nearly 10
00:21:14kilos
00:21:15of pure
00:21:16gold.
00:21:18Today,
00:21:19no one
00:21:20thinks this
00:21:20was Attila's
00:21:22dinner service.
00:21:23The most
00:21:24recent thinking
00:21:25is that it
00:21:25was left
00:21:26behind by
00:21:27the Avars,
00:21:28one of those
00:21:28mysterious tribes
00:21:30that emerged
00:21:31from the
00:21:32confederation of
00:21:33the Huns.
00:21:35They obviously
00:21:37had that
00:21:37special relationship
00:21:39with nature,
00:21:40too.
00:21:41This
00:21:42magnificent,
00:21:43bull-headed
00:21:44bowl
00:21:44is another
00:21:45example
00:21:46of powerful
00:21:47natural magic
00:21:49channelled
00:21:50into gold.
00:21:53This is what
00:21:55the Dark Ages
00:21:56were capable
00:21:56of.
00:21:57This is what
00:21:58makes these
00:21:59times so
00:22:00exciting.
00:22:01That bull-bowl
00:22:03has a power
00:22:04to it,
00:22:05an animal
00:22:06energy that you
00:22:07just don't get
00:22:08later on
00:22:09when art
00:22:10loses this
00:22:11connection
00:22:12to the
00:22:13basic stuff
00:22:14of life.
00:22:17The Empire
00:22:18of the Huns
00:22:19didn't last
00:22:20long.
00:22:22For a few
00:22:23decades,
00:22:23it rivalled
00:22:24the Romans.
00:22:26And then
00:22:27it was gone.
00:22:38Attila,
00:22:38the glue
00:22:39that held
00:22:40it all
00:22:40together,
00:22:41had a taste
00:22:42for young
00:22:42brides.
00:22:44On his
00:22:45final wedding
00:22:46night,
00:22:46he drank
00:22:47himself into
00:22:48a stupor,
00:22:49took his
00:22:49latest bride
00:22:50to bed,
00:22:51and promptly
00:22:52died of a
00:22:53heart attack.
00:22:54They found
00:22:55him the next
00:22:55morning with
00:22:56blood streaming
00:22:57down his
00:22:58nose,
00:22:58what we'd
00:22:59call these
00:22:59days a
00:23:00rock star's
00:23:01death.
00:23:04Within a
00:23:05few years,
00:23:06Attila's
00:23:07empire was
00:23:08gone,
00:23:09torn apart
00:23:10by feuds
00:23:11and incompetence.
00:23:13But the
00:23:14Huns had
00:23:15done their
00:23:15job.
00:23:16They'd
00:23:17punched a
00:23:17hole in
00:23:18the invincible
00:23:19reputation
00:23:19of the
00:23:20Romans.
00:23:22Now,
00:23:23all manner
00:23:24of barbarian
00:23:25was queuing
00:23:26up to
00:23:27pour through
00:23:27it.
00:23:34When we
00:23:35think of
00:23:35the
00:23:35barbarians,
00:23:37we think
00:23:38of hordes
00:23:38of bellicose
00:23:39warriors
00:23:40storming across
00:23:41the plains
00:23:42to attack
00:23:43Rome.
00:23:44But that's
00:23:45wrong.
00:23:47It was more
00:23:48of a
00:23:48migration.
00:23:49Think of
00:23:50those wagon
00:23:51trains rolling
00:23:52across the
00:23:53American
00:23:53west,
00:23:54full of
00:23:55brave
00:23:55pioneers
00:23:56searching
00:23:57for a
00:23:58new future.
00:23:59That's a
00:23:59more accurate
00:24:00image,
00:24:01particularly
00:24:02in the
00:24:03case of
00:24:04another
00:24:04great
00:24:04barbarian
00:24:05nation
00:24:06whose name
00:24:07has been
00:24:08well and
00:24:08truly
00:24:08blackened
00:24:09by dark
00:24:10age
00:24:10propaganda.
00:24:20The
00:24:21vandal
00:24:21is a
00:24:22willful
00:24:23or ignorant
00:24:23destroyer
00:24:24of anything
00:24:25beautiful,
00:24:27venerable
00:24:27or worthy
00:24:28of preservation.
00:24:35That's what
00:24:35it meant
00:24:36in 1663,
00:24:38but it
00:24:39shouldn't be
00:24:39what it
00:24:39means today.
00:24:41The story
00:24:42of the
00:24:42vandals
00:24:42is actually
00:24:43rather
00:24:44poignant.
00:24:46They were
00:24:47basically a
00:24:48nation of
00:24:48Germanic
00:24:49farmers
00:24:50living peacefully
00:24:51in Central
00:24:52Europe
00:24:53until the
00:24:54Huns
00:24:55pushed
00:24:55them out.
00:24:56For a
00:24:57while,
00:24:58they ended
00:24:58up here
00:24:59in Spain
00:25:00until a
00:25:01group of
00:25:02Goths
00:25:02pushed them
00:25:03out of
00:25:03there as
00:25:04well,
00:25:05and the
00:25:05poor old
00:25:06vandals
00:25:07had to
00:25:07move on
00:25:08again
00:25:08to here,
00:25:10North
00:25:11Africa.
00:25:17In
00:25:17429
00:25:18AD,
00:25:2080,000
00:25:21people came
00:25:22across the
00:25:22Straits of
00:25:23Gibraltar,
00:25:24crammed onto
00:25:25small boats.
00:25:27A kingdom
00:25:28on the move
00:25:29looking for a
00:25:30homeland.
00:25:32The vandals
00:25:33had arrived
00:25:34in Africa.
00:25:38Originally,
00:25:38this word
00:25:39vandal meant
00:25:40something like
00:25:41wanderer,
00:25:42someone who's
00:25:43looking for
00:25:44something.
00:25:44It comes from
00:25:45the same Germanic
00:25:46root as the
00:25:47English word
00:25:47to wend,
00:25:48as in,
00:25:49I was wending
00:25:50my way home
00:25:50from work.
00:25:51And the vandals
00:25:53were great
00:25:54wenders
00:25:54and great
00:25:56wanderers.
00:26:02The vandals
00:26:03who arrived
00:26:04here in Africa
00:26:05were led by
00:26:06a formidable
00:26:07king called
00:26:08Giseric.
00:26:09If you think
00:26:11of the vandals
00:26:12as a lost
00:26:13people,
00:26:14and Africa
00:26:14as the
00:26:15promised land,
00:26:17then Giseric
00:26:18was their
00:26:19Moses,
00:26:20leading them
00:26:21across the
00:26:22oceans.
00:26:27They made
00:26:28their way
00:26:28along the
00:26:29North African
00:26:29coast here,
00:26:30attacking
00:26:31cities,
00:26:32collecting
00:26:32followers,
00:26:34absorbing
00:26:34territory,
00:26:35until eventually,
00:26:37in 439 AD,
00:26:39they reached
00:26:40their destination.
00:26:43Carthage.
00:26:49Carthage was
00:26:49the second
00:26:50largest city
00:26:51in the
00:26:51Western Roman
00:26:52Empire.
00:26:54Busy,
00:26:54rich,
00:26:55a crucial
00:26:56trading centre.
00:26:59The Romans
00:27:00depended on it
00:27:01for most of
00:27:01the olive oil
00:27:02they burned
00:27:03in their lamps,
00:27:04and the wheat
00:27:05from which
00:27:06they made
00:27:06their bread.
00:27:09When the
00:27:09vandals took
00:27:10Carthage,
00:27:11they shocked
00:27:12the Roman
00:27:12Empire.
00:27:19The
00:27:20capture of
00:27:20Carthage
00:27:21was surprisingly
00:27:22peaceful.
00:27:24Giseric
00:27:24was so
00:27:25clever.
00:27:26He entered
00:27:27the city
00:27:28on the
00:27:2819th of
00:27:29October,
00:27:30the day
00:27:30of the
00:27:31Roman
00:27:31Games,
00:27:32sports day.
00:27:34Now,
00:27:34the Romans,
00:27:35who were
00:27:36obsessed with
00:27:37sports,
00:27:38were far
00:27:39too interested
00:27:40in the
00:27:40gladiatorial
00:27:41combat,
00:27:42and the
00:27:43chariot
00:27:43racing to
00:27:45fight the
00:27:45vandals.
00:27:51Thus,
00:27:52Giseric
00:27:52and his
00:27:53vandal army
00:27:53strolled into
00:27:55the second
00:27:55largest city
00:27:56of the
00:27:57Western Roman
00:27:58Empire,
00:27:59took control
00:28:00of it,
00:28:01and stayed
00:28:02there for
00:28:02the next
00:28:03century.
00:28:15people used to
00:28:16think the
00:28:16vandals went
00:28:17about destroying
00:28:18and pillaging
00:28:19Carthage as soon
00:28:21as they got here.
00:28:23But today, we know
00:28:25they didn't.
00:28:28the most remarkable
00:28:29thing about the
00:28:30vandal occupation
00:28:31of Africa
00:28:32is not how much
00:28:34they destroyed,
00:28:35but how little.
00:28:37Later on,
00:28:38angry Romans
00:28:39and Christians
00:28:40writing about
00:28:41these events
00:28:42made sure they
00:28:43blackened the
00:28:44vandals'
00:28:44reputation,
00:28:45as they did
00:28:46with all the
00:28:47barbarians.
00:28:48But the art
00:28:49that remains
00:28:50from these
00:28:50times
00:28:51tells a
00:28:52different story.
00:28:57To signal
00:28:59their new
00:28:59status as
00:29:00overlords of
00:29:01Rome's most
00:29:02prosperous
00:29:03province,
00:29:04the vandals
00:29:05did what the
00:29:05nouveau riche
00:29:06always do.
00:29:08They spent
00:29:09money on the
00:29:09arts.
00:29:12Their jewelers
00:29:13were commanded
00:29:14to make
00:29:14gorgeous
00:29:15vandal bling.
00:29:17And out
00:29:18in the
00:29:18countryside,
00:29:19they built
00:29:20elegant villas
00:29:21for themselves
00:29:22and
00:29:23filled them
00:29:24with superb
00:29:25decorations.
00:29:30That's the
00:29:30Julius mosaic.
00:29:32It's one of the
00:29:32masterpieces of
00:29:33the period.
00:29:35And Julius
00:29:35himself is
00:29:36sitting there
00:29:36in his white
00:29:37robe.
00:29:38He's the man
00:29:39who commissioned
00:29:40the mosaic.
00:29:43No one is
00:29:44100% certain
00:29:46if this was
00:29:46made just
00:29:47before the
00:29:48vandals got
00:29:48here or just
00:29:49after.
00:29:50And that's
00:29:51the most
00:29:51telling thing
00:29:52about it.
00:29:53This is how
00:29:54rich Romans
00:29:55lived and
00:29:56also rich
00:29:58vandals.
00:30:00Julius's
00:30:01house where
00:30:02this was
00:30:02found is
00:30:03shown in
00:30:04the middle,
00:30:05the posh
00:30:06fortified
00:30:06villa.
00:30:08Those domes
00:30:09at the back
00:30:10are the
00:30:10bath houses,
00:30:12the equivalent
00:30:13today of a
00:30:14luxury swimming
00:30:15pool.
00:30:19all around the
00:30:20villa there
00:30:21are busy
00:30:22scenes of
00:30:23rural life
00:30:24in North
00:30:25Africa.
00:30:25Up on the
00:30:26left, that's
00:30:27winter.
00:30:28See the people
00:30:29picking olives?
00:30:30That's what you did
00:30:31in winter.
00:30:34On the other
00:30:35side, on the
00:30:36right, is
00:30:37summer.
00:30:38See the
00:30:39shepherds
00:30:39with their
00:30:40summer flock
00:30:41and those
00:30:42fields of
00:30:43ripe wheat
00:30:44behind them.
00:30:48Down here
00:30:49are spring
00:30:50and autumn.
00:30:52Spring is
00:30:53the season
00:30:53of flowers
00:30:54and there's
00:30:55Mrs.
00:30:56Julius in
00:30:56her garden
00:30:57admiring
00:30:58herself in
00:30:59a mirror
00:31:00while a
00:31:01servant brings
00:31:02her a
00:31:02bowl of
00:31:03roses.
00:31:04They're
00:31:05beautiful
00:31:05and so is
00:31:07she.
00:31:10On the
00:31:10other side
00:31:11it's autumn
00:31:12and there's
00:31:12Lord Julius
00:31:13himself sitting
00:31:14on a throne
00:31:15in his
00:31:16orchard
00:31:16while a
00:31:17labourer
00:31:17brings him
00:31:18a basket
00:31:19of grapes
00:31:19and a
00:31:20hare he's
00:31:21caught
00:31:21running
00:31:22about
00:31:22among
00:31:23the
00:31:23vines.
00:31:26This
00:31:27is mosaic
00:31:28making
00:31:29of the
00:31:29highest
00:31:30calibre.
00:31:31So
00:31:31imaginative
00:31:32and clever.
00:31:34It isn't
00:31:35just a
00:31:35portrait of
00:31:36Julius
00:31:36and his
00:31:37house.
00:31:38This is
00:31:39a visualisation
00:31:40of the
00:31:41perfect
00:31:41lifestyle.
00:31:42A rural
00:31:43dream
00:31:44made real.
00:31:47The
00:31:48message here
00:31:49is how
00:31:49glorious
00:31:50life is
00:31:51when man
00:31:52lives in
00:31:52harmony
00:31:53with nature.
00:31:54When
00:31:55order
00:31:55prevails
00:31:56and the
00:31:57land is
00:31:57fertile
00:31:58and balanced.
00:32:00Welcome
00:32:01to the
00:32:02good life
00:32:02in Africa.
00:32:16instead of
00:32:17knocking
00:32:17down
00:32:18Carthage
00:32:19the
00:32:19vandals
00:32:20set about
00:32:20making it
00:32:21more
00:32:22homely.
00:32:23They put
00:32:24small houses
00:32:25in the
00:32:25huge
00:32:26Roman
00:32:26clearings
00:32:27and
00:32:28famously
00:32:29an ambitious
00:32:31new
00:32:31bathhouse
00:32:32was built
00:32:33here by the
00:32:34art-loving
00:32:34vandal king
00:32:36Thrasamond.
00:32:42Bath houses were hugely important in Roman society.
00:32:46They were a kind of social club where people went to chat and gossip.
00:32:50A bit like modern health clubs, except much cheaper.
00:32:57Roman bath houses had two main spaces.
00:33:01A hot room, or caldarium, that heated you up.
00:33:05And a cold room, or frigidarium, that cooled you down.
00:33:11The largest of all Roman bath complexes was here in Carthage, the Antonine baths, built in the 2nd century by
00:33:21the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius.
00:33:24These are the ruins.
00:33:27So imagine how big the baths must have been.
00:33:34Long before the vandals conquered Carthage, the Antonine baths had fallen into disrepair.
00:33:41So the vandal king, Thrasamond, built some new ones.
00:33:46We know a lot about Thrasamond's baths.
00:33:50Because, amazingly, a collection of vandal poems on the subject has survived.
00:33:59That's right, vandal poems.
00:34:03The vandals were particularly keen on poetry.
00:34:07And hundreds of poems written here in Carthage in the vandal years have survived.
00:34:12And this thick body of unexpected literature tells us so much about them.
00:34:22A poet called Felix has left behind an evocative description of Thrasamond's bathhouse.
00:34:31This magnificent monument erected by royal command, where water and fire display their obedience.
00:34:44There were no less than five poems by Felix about these great baths.
00:34:49And the big idea in all of them is this dramatic contrast between the cool, refreshing springs of the Frigidarium
00:34:58and the hot, boiling waters of the Caldarium.
00:35:04Here, says Felix, icy spring waters exist harmoniously with flames.
00:35:12Here, the shivering nymph is startled by the fiery bath.
00:35:20Felix's poems were actually displayed all around you as you bathed, as mosaics.
00:35:26Yes, so they surrounded you, pushed their way into your thoughts.
00:35:30And as you read them, you were prompted to marvel at this great miracle achieved here by Thrasamond.
00:35:40In the vandal baths, Thrasamond has achieved the ultimate harmony.
00:35:46Thrasamond has united fire and water.
00:36:09Goth.
00:36:10Goth.
00:36:12There we are.
00:36:13Gothic.
00:36:15Barbarous, rude, uncouth.
00:36:16Gothic.
00:36:17Ah, here we are.
00:36:18Goth.
00:36:19One of a Germanic tribe who invaded the Roman Empire.
00:36:23Ah.
00:36:27In the lexicon of hate spawned by the Dark Ages,
00:36:32a special place is set aside for the Goths.
00:36:38The Dark Ages are full of nasties,
00:36:42but the Goths are particularly spooky.
00:36:53If you walk down the street where I live in London, in Camden Town,
00:36:57you'll find plenty of modern Goths wandering about.
00:37:02They're dressed from head to toe in black
00:37:05and covered in satanic insignia.
00:37:08And they're trying so hard to look doomy.
00:37:13And I just want to give them all a big hug
00:37:17and tell them to cheer up,
00:37:20because if they want to be Goths, they should be like real Goths.
00:37:25Energetic, colourful, inventive.
00:37:30The kind of people who did that.
00:37:42Stunning, isn't it?
00:37:44I love the way the mosaic sparkles with all that gold
00:37:47and throws light all round the dome.
00:37:50It's so exciting.
00:37:56But there's something peculiar about it too.
00:38:00Something slightly awkward.
00:38:03That's obviously Jesus up there, being baptised.
00:38:07But why is he so pink and flaccid and not very divine?
00:38:13How did Jesus end up like this?
00:38:21Originally, the Goths came from up here, the Baltic coast.
00:38:27They were farmers, successful farmers.
00:38:30But when their population exploded,
00:38:33they made their way south to the Black Sea,
00:38:35searching for better land and better farming conditions.
00:38:41When the Goths moved south,
00:38:44they came into direct contact with the Roman Empire.
00:38:48And their history immediately grew more problematic.
00:38:55It would take me several programmes to deal with all the twists and turns
00:38:59in the story of the Goths and their migrations.
00:39:03But to boil it down to its essentials,
00:39:05when they settled here in the south,
00:39:08they found themselves in the way of the Huns coming in from the east.
00:39:12So to get away from them, the Goths split in two.
00:39:18Now, some of them fled across the Danube here
00:39:21and begged the Roman Empire to let them in.
00:39:24And they became the Visigoths, or Western Goths.
00:39:29And they settled initially here in France and finally in Spain.
00:39:34But the other ones, they stayed put over here
00:39:39and joined the Huns in the Hunnic Empire.
00:39:42And they became the Ostrogoths, or Eastern Goths.
00:39:47And they're the ones who did this.
00:39:54When you think of barbarians,
00:39:56you think instinctively of pagans, don't you?
00:40:00Of godless and violent people with strange and primitive beliefs.
00:40:07Conan the Barbarian is hardly altar boy material, is he?
00:40:16Actually, most of the barbarians were Christians, even the Vandals.
00:40:22So were the Ostrogoths and the Visigoths.
00:40:25All of them were converted to Christianity in the 4th century.
00:40:30However, the form of Christianity they were converted to was unusual.
00:40:38The reason why this Christ looks so unfamiliar and even peculiar
00:40:44is because he's an Arian Christ and not a Catholic one.
00:40:50And Arian Christianity is different.
00:40:55Arianism was a Christian heresy,
00:40:59a different form of Christianity,
00:41:01proposed by a priest called Arius in Alexandria,
00:41:06in Egypt, in the 4th century.
00:41:08From there, it spread across the Roman Empire
00:41:12and then out among the barbarians.
00:41:19The Arianism believed that Jesus was different from God.
00:41:24He was divine, yes, but less so.
00:41:30The Catholics believed that God and Jesus,
00:41:34Father and Son, were equal,
00:41:37two different forms of the same great divinity.
00:41:41But the Arians disagreed.
00:41:45For them, God the Father was the one true God.
00:41:50He was the God at the top.
00:41:52And Jesus, his son, was below him.
00:41:55And that's why the Jesus up here in the baptistry mosaic
00:42:01looks so wimpish.
00:42:05This is a Jesus who's more like the rest of us.
00:42:09Less divine, more human.
00:42:13Perhaps that's why the barbarians preferred him.
00:42:17He's less imperial and more like them.
00:42:27This is Ravenna in northern Italy,
00:42:30the capital of the Ostrogoths.
00:42:33Right across the empire,
00:42:36Catholics and Arians distrusted each other,
00:42:39as only co-believers can.
00:42:42But in Ravenna, it was the Arians who held sway.
00:42:47And it was Arianism that created this.
00:42:54It was a bit like the Sunnis and the Shia in Islam.
00:42:58Same religion, different only in its details,
00:43:02but so antagonistic towards each other.
00:43:10The Ostrogoths were led by a formidable Arian king
00:43:14called Theodoric.
00:43:17And it was Theodoric who built this.
00:43:24Theodoric had been brought up in Constantinople
00:43:27in the court of the Eastern Roman Empire.
00:43:30He'd been sent there by his own father as a hostage
00:43:34and educated as a Roman.
00:43:37So he was sophisticated and clever.
00:43:43Having gained the trust of the Roman emperor Zeno
00:43:47in Constantinople,
00:43:49Theodoric persuaded Zeno to let him come to Italy
00:43:53and reconquer it from another Germanic despot
00:43:57called Odoacur.
00:44:02Theodoric invited Odoacur to a banquet in his honour
00:44:06and there he murdered him with his bare hands,
00:44:10or so they say.
00:44:12And thus Theodoric made himself ruler of all Italy,
00:44:16based here in Ravenna.
00:44:21Under the Ostrogoths, Ravenna thrived as never before.
00:44:26This is the great basilica of Saint-Apollinaire
00:44:30that Theodoric built early in the 6th century
00:44:34and then filled with this spectacular parade of mosaics.
00:44:42Up on the ceiling, a baby-faced Arian Christ
00:44:46performs such a lively set of miracles,
00:44:50raising Lazarus from the dead,
00:44:54conjuring up miraculous fish.
00:45:00So up there is the story of the young Jesus
00:45:04performing his miracles.
00:45:06And on the other side, over there,
00:45:09the other end of the story,
00:45:11Christ's terrible death and resurrection.
00:45:16The Last Supper.
00:45:18The kiss of Judas.
00:45:24Below that, there's this great golden procession
00:45:29of the 22 virgins bearing sumptuous crowns,
00:45:34lined up to pay homage to the Virgin Mary,
00:45:39with Jesus in her lap.
00:45:49On the other side, in a kind of Aryan call and response,
00:45:55the 26 martyrs dressed more simply in white
00:45:59and advancing in a mighty procession
00:46:03towards the enthroned Jesus.
00:46:09What marvellous religious theatre this is.
00:46:13What vivid and exciting mosaics.
00:46:17And all you pretend Goths in Camden,
00:46:21if you're watching,
00:46:22the real Goths made this.
00:46:31Unfortunately, later on,
00:46:33when the Roman emperor Justinian reconquered Ravenna
00:46:36for the Byzantines,
00:46:38he set about tampering with what Theodoric had done,
00:46:41removing what he could of the Aryans.
00:46:44So see this portrait here?
00:46:47That's actually Theodoric.
00:46:49But Justinian has taken over his identity
00:46:52and he's pretending to be him.
00:47:00This, they say,
00:47:02is what's left of Theodoric's Ravenna palace.
00:47:06You can see it inside San Apollinaire as well.
00:47:10A great golden palace,
00:47:13filled once with magnificent Ostrogoth treasures.
00:47:19There's a museum in Romania,
00:47:22in Bucharest,
00:47:23that's bursting with this Ostrogoth bling.
00:47:27And personally,
00:47:28I'd be happy to put on some shades
00:47:31and just stare at it for the next few days.
00:47:37But we can't,
00:47:39because back in Ravenna,
00:47:41the story of the Ostrogoths
00:47:43has darkened and grown eerie.
00:47:47When Justinian conquered Ravenna,
00:47:49he had all signs of Theodoric
00:47:52and the Ostrogoths removed.
00:47:55And the great mosaic palace
00:47:57is now a ghost town,
00:47:59with no one in it.
00:48:02Though if you look very carefully,
00:48:05you can still make out
00:48:06a few of the bodiless Ostrogoth hands
00:48:10that remain.
00:48:20Theodoric left his mark
00:48:22on many art forms.
00:48:24But the one that surprises me most
00:48:27is this totally unexpected piece
00:48:30of Dark Age literature.
00:48:34The Silver Bible is a gothic gospel book
00:48:38written in gothic
00:48:40with a gothic alphabet.
00:48:42It was written in northern Italy,
00:48:46probably in Ravenna,
00:48:47probably for the Ostrogoth king,
00:48:50Theodoric the Great,
00:48:52in the beginning of the 6th century.
00:48:58Most people imagine that
00:49:00what used to be called
00:49:01the barbarian tribes,
00:49:03such as the Goths,
00:49:04didn't have a literature.
00:49:06But this, of course,
00:49:06is written in the gothic language.
00:49:09Yes, and that's very remarkable
00:49:12because we don't know anything
00:49:15about the other Germanic languages,
00:49:19but the gothic language
00:49:20is preserved in this manuscript.
00:49:28It's very beautiful to look at.
00:49:30It's got these lovely purple pages
00:49:32with the silver writing on it.
00:49:34Yes, it's the imperial colour,
00:49:38the purple colour.
00:49:39And Theodoric the Great,
00:49:42he got the permission
00:49:43from the East Roman emperor
00:49:45to use this purple colour.
00:49:49And he behaved and acted
00:49:51like a Roman emperor.
00:50:02Theodoric, who lived to be over 70,
00:50:05deserves to be remembered
00:50:07as one of the great achievers
00:50:09of the Dark Ages.
00:50:12This is where he was buried,
00:50:14his mausoleum in Ravenna.
00:50:17And I can't think of another building anywhere
00:50:21that looks anything like this.
00:50:24What eerie and inventive architecture.
00:50:29I love this thing.
00:50:31It's so stocky and unusual.
00:50:34A unique example of Ostrogoth building,
00:50:36which seems to have popped out of nowhere.
00:50:39And that's just the outside.
00:50:41Wait till you see the inside.
00:50:47Theodoric died in 526 AD
00:50:51and was buried here
00:50:53in this huge sarcophagus
00:50:55shaped like a Roman bath.
00:50:59I find this such a spooky space.
00:51:03And it's absolutely unique.
00:51:12That roof is made from a single piece
00:51:15of Istrian stone.
00:51:17It's a metre thick,
00:51:1933 metres wide
00:51:21and weighs 300 tonnes.
00:51:25To get it here from Istria,
00:51:27which is roughly where modern Croatia is,
00:51:29they had to load it onto
00:51:32an enormous raft
00:51:34and sail it across the Adriatic.
00:51:37Can you imagine?
00:51:41That cross up above,
00:51:43that's original too.
00:51:45And there used to be
00:51:46silver stars all around it.
00:51:49So when you looked up in here,
00:51:50it was like looking up
00:51:52at the sky at night.
00:51:56There are some exciting stories
00:51:58about Theodoric's death.
00:52:01Some say he went mad
00:52:03after seeing one of his victims
00:52:05inside the head of a fish.
00:52:09Others say he was thrown from a volcano.
00:52:14One thing's certain.
00:52:16The Ostrogoth empire he created
00:52:18collapsed quickly after his death.
00:52:23Justinian reclaimed Ravenna.
00:52:26The Ostrogoth era was over.
00:52:31So that's the end of the Ostrogoths.
00:52:34But what about the Visigoths,
00:52:37or Western Goths?
00:52:39The Goths in Spain, over here.
00:52:42What happened to them,
00:52:43you might be thinking?
00:52:45And what did they achieve?
00:52:48Well, rather a lot,
00:52:51as it happens.
00:53:02This is Palencia in Spain,
00:53:05and what you're looking at
00:53:07is the oldest surviving
00:53:09Spanish church,
00:53:12built in the 7th century
00:53:14by the Visigoths.
00:53:18The Visigoths ruled Spain
00:53:20from around 500 AD
00:53:23to around 700 AD.
00:53:26That's 200 years.
00:53:29But you hardly ever hear about them.
00:53:31You hear about the Romans in Spain.
00:53:33You hear about the Muslims in Spain.
00:53:36But you don't hear
00:53:38about the Visigoths.
00:53:43One cruel wag
00:53:45has christened them
00:53:47the In-Visigoths,
00:53:49which is very unfair.
00:53:50If you hunt around in Spain,
00:53:53you'll find plenty of evidence
00:53:55of Visigoth achievement,
00:53:57like this rustic annunciation
00:54:00carved into an emerald.
00:54:04And sometimes you don't have
00:54:06to look hard at all
00:54:07to see the Visigoths
00:54:09showing off
00:54:10their Dark Age skills.
00:54:13Like these superb
00:54:15Visigoth crowns,
00:54:17with the name of the king
00:54:18who commissioned them
00:54:19spelled out helpfully
00:54:21for the heart of remembering.
00:54:24Aren't they magnificent?
00:54:28Those Visigoth crowns
00:54:31are not for wearing
00:54:32on your head.
00:54:33They're what's called
00:54:34votive crowns.
00:54:36And they are
00:54:37for hanging above
00:54:38an altar in a church.
00:54:54Like the Ostrogoths,
00:54:55the Visigoths
00:54:57were originally Aryans.
00:54:59But here in Spain,
00:55:01they were surrounded
00:55:02by Roman Catholics
00:55:03and quickly adopted
00:55:05the Romanic version
00:55:07of Christianity.
00:55:09And that's when they built
00:55:11these exciting
00:55:12and inventive
00:55:14Visigoth churches.
00:55:20This is the church
00:55:22of St John the Baptist
00:55:24in Palencia.
00:55:25It's been remodelled
00:55:27here and there,
00:55:28but most of what you see
00:55:29is Visigoth.
00:55:31The story goes
00:55:33that the Visigoth king,
00:55:35Reces Vinto,
00:55:37built this church
00:55:38to thank God
00:55:39for curing him
00:55:41of liver disease.
00:55:43He washed himself
00:55:44just out here
00:55:45in the holy waters
00:55:47of Palencia
00:55:48and was suddenly
00:55:50and was suddenly
00:55:50cured.
00:55:54Reces Vinto
00:55:55was on his way north
00:55:56to fight the Basques.
00:55:58So he was particularly
00:55:59grateful for his miraculous
00:56:01cure
00:56:02and even put up a plaque
00:56:04with the date the church
00:56:05was finished.
00:56:06January 3rd,
00:56:09January 3rd,
00:56:09661 A.D.
00:56:14Reces Vinto's plaque
00:56:16is surrounded
00:56:17by typically vigorous bits
00:56:19of Visigoth decoration.
00:56:21So energetic
00:56:22and busy.
00:56:24Completely unlike anything
00:56:26the Romans came up with.
00:56:31I really like
00:56:33this Visigoth
00:56:34church decoration.
00:56:35When I look at it,
00:56:36I feel as if I can hear
00:56:37the sculptor
00:56:38whistling.
00:56:40There's something
00:56:40so boisterous about it.
00:56:42Something real
00:56:44and untutored.
00:56:45It's as if
00:56:46for the first time in art,
00:56:47we're hearing
00:56:48from the common man.
00:56:52This wasn't made
00:56:54by an artiste.
00:56:55This was made
00:56:57by a bloke.
00:56:58Someone with
00:56:59big hands
00:57:00who's speaking
00:57:01to us
00:57:02across the ages.
00:57:06The sheer
00:57:08inventiveness
00:57:09of these Visigoths
00:57:10is so invigorating.
00:57:13I mean,
00:57:14look at these
00:57:15arches.
00:57:16They're special,
00:57:17right?
00:57:18Why are they
00:57:19special?
00:57:20Because they
00:57:21look
00:57:22like one of
00:57:23these.
00:57:26I don't know
00:57:28how much
00:57:28you know
00:57:29about arches.
00:57:32But if you're
00:57:32any sort of
00:57:33student at all,
00:57:34you'll know
00:57:35that horseshoe
00:57:36arches
00:57:37are remarkable.
00:57:39Your bog-standard
00:57:41arch
00:57:41certainly wasn't
00:57:43shaped like this.
00:57:46Before the Visigoths
00:57:48invented these,
00:57:49arches
00:57:50were semi-circular.
00:57:52they came round
00:57:53like that
00:57:54and that's it.
00:57:55But these
00:57:56horseshoe arches,
00:57:58they come
00:57:59down
00:58:00to here
00:58:01and they have
00:58:03a very different
00:58:04effect.
00:58:08Horseshoe arches
00:58:10look wider,
00:58:11airier,
00:58:13taller,
00:58:14more elegant,
00:58:15as if a sail
00:58:17has been unfurled
00:58:18and filled
00:58:19with wind.
00:58:21They're more
00:58:22playful too,
00:58:24less stern.
00:58:26This is
00:58:26architecture
00:58:27doing more
00:58:28than has been
00:58:29asked of it.
00:58:30This isn't just
00:58:32holding something
00:58:33up.
00:58:34This is having
00:58:36fun
00:58:36and looking
00:58:38good.
00:58:40So the Visigoths
00:58:42invented
00:58:43these elegant
00:58:44horseshoe
00:58:45arches
00:58:46and these
00:58:47were a
00:58:48brilliant
00:58:48barbarian
00:58:49invention.
00:58:51But although
00:58:52the Visigoths
00:58:53invented them,
00:58:54they didn't
00:58:55perfect them.
00:58:56It was someone
00:58:57else who
00:58:58did that.
00:59:02The perfecters
00:59:03of the horseshoe
00:59:04arch are the
00:59:05subject of the
00:59:06next film.
00:59:07When we look
00:59:08at the art
00:59:09of Islam.
00:59:11In the hands
00:59:12of Islamic
00:59:13artists,
00:59:14the horseshoe
00:59:14arch would
00:59:15create architecture
00:59:17of spine-tingling
00:59:18beauty.
00:59:20It's yet another
00:59:21of the great
00:59:22achievements
00:59:23of the Dark Ages.
00:59:26In the hands
00:59:33and.*arg
00:59:33musicç·š
00:59:34hugging
00:59:34. .
00:59:34.
00:59:35.
00:59:35.
00:59:35.
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