174- The Sack of Rome Part II

Following the death of Valentinian III there was an Imperial power struggle in the West. In the midst of this struggle, the Vandals sacked Rome in 455 AD. 

174- The Sack of Rome Part II

Comments

[Mike]

Do I hear a Goth at the very end of the mp3... claiming that "Disintegration is the best album ever"?

[Michael]

Ha! Kyle! Mr. Duncan, you excel yourself!

[Sebastiaan Eilander]

It seems that after your announcement of departure, you feel even more freely to add humour to the equation. Nice! Keep it up for the little time we have left.

[Anders]

Do I get credit for saying "After the Gauls sacked Rome"?

[Luise Hayes Tasmania, Australia]

...thought I heard a Hobbit at the end...

[Gregm]

Well, the poor Kingdom of the Franks now has it's name associated with some guy called Frank.

And if you knew Frank, you'd know that he's a pain in the ass.

[George Banks]

Long time listener, 1st time commenter. I loved the humor this week!

My fiance and I are so sad that you'll be finishing up the podcast. Please do a History of the U.S. next. We'll help babysit to give you time to work! Congrats on the baby!

[Oreoluwatomiwa Babarinsa]

Hey Mike! Long time listener, and rare commenter (I think the last time I commented was around episode 40ish). I just want to say thanks for putting out such a great podcast for so long. I remember starting to listen to the History of Rome way back with the Young Julius Caesar Chronicles, when I was still right smack in the middle of High School.

The History of Rome has been one of my consistent pleasures, and I've looked forward to every single episode. In fact, I also owe you my SAT score since I ended up writing the essay portion on tidbits of Roman history I learned from the podcast.

Now that I'm finishing up my first year of college (It really has been a while since the podcast started up, huh?), I'm sad to see the History of Rome begin its final episodes, but its for the best. We've all entered new stages in life, you've got a kid on the way, and I'm now something vaguely resembling an adult.

This comment is now very long and rambling, but I guess what I'm trying to say in so many words is Thanks! It's been a blast. From Catiline all the way to Maximinus Thrax (with more figures on both sides of them), it's been a great time. If you can put so much love and attention into putting out such a great show for all of us faceless listeners, I'm sure you'll be a great dad.

Cheers!
Ore

[Evelyn]

Mike, there is a problem in downloading #174 as of Thursday morning 4-5-12. The download freezes at 40% downloaded. This happens with each repeated attempt. Something is wrong at your end I think. Not having this problem with anything else. Please fix problem, I am itching to hear this episode on my MP3 player! Thank you so much Mike!

[Sandy]

Was in London at the weekend, and was surprised to find a copy of Trajan's Column in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Seemingly due to pollution damage this 19thC exact copy is now finer than the original. I would still recommend a trip to Rome, but if you can only get to London check it out.

[Sandy]

Suggestion for a final episode... do your loyal listeners get another chance of a Q&A episode.

Best of luck with all your future endeavours.

[Andy]

Mike, I began listening shortly after you finished the 7 Kings of Rome. I wished I could have joined your trips abroad. You're podcasts are an amazing accomplishment. Congratulations to you and Mrs. History of Rome. I'm curious, what you may have you picked out for possible baby names?

[Polybius]

Mike,

Thank you for a fantastic podcast. The sheer epic sweep of what you have created and shared with all of us is astounding.

I hope you can continue to find an outlet for your interest in ancient history. Perhaps a turn at publishing is in your future?

In the meantime, congratulations for your upcoming addition to the family.

As other have suggested, a Q&A session would be great. I would also love to see one or all of the following:

- A description of the lives of everyday Romans (it's been awhile since we've seen that), and how such life shifted from the life of the ancient world to the life of the medieval world. Especially the way in which not only was knowledge lost, but even the memory that such knowledge existed was lost.

- A wrap-up episode, summarizing how the Roman world evolved from beginning to end, and how it influenced the world in its own time and after.

- A summary of how the classical world shifted into the medieval world. Aside from daily life for the common people, it's clear that the world view of medieval elites was fundamentally different from that of their Roman predecessors. And while there's hints of this shift in the podcast dialogue so far (the Italians seeing the Gallo-roman senator, Avitus, as an invading foreign conqueror), it would be great to hear your thoughts on this.

So all of these together would probably take up three to four more episodes. Call it my desperate attempt to squeeze out a little more from your fantastic narrative. But I think these would provide a valuable capstone to your podcast.

[Graham from Britannia]

THoMike - tentatively starts THoR, grows in confidence with polished performance, new recording equipment, moves to new job and city to be near to the future Mrs THoR, marriage, agonises over sponsorship ( i am glad you made that move), Pod cast receives award (what an ama
zing achievement), baby on the way and Mike carefully considered his future.

I have had a fabulous few years of listening, thankyou.

[eak]

All good things come to an end. I was of course sad to hear that the podcast would be coming to an end soon, but it was to be expected. So, first, thank you for a great production.

Second, I have a suggestion for a final podcast after the normal history comes to an end. How about doing a whole episode on books about Rome. I know you've talked about individual ones along the way, but something that brings that together and compares different books depending upon the reader's purpose and goal would be really helpful.

Again, thank you.

[Richard]

Really enjoyed this episode - great humour. (Weird bit at the end of the music - what was that ?)

Agree with other commentators in that a final Q&A session to wrap-up would be great

[Andre]

We are kind of left with a lot of questions, and I am sure you will have a podcast on them, such as your theory on why it all fell appart... what life was like near the end of the empire... why the east did not fall appart.. why why why haha. lots of questions.

[Aiko]

What a lovely podcast - I usually don't comment on the web, but I enjoyed the whole trip so enormously (starting with episode 30) that I took this first-time effort. I simply do not remember that anything similar hooked me up for such a long time, and gives me this continuing enjoyment! Your skill for keeping attention, with your content, voice and neat jokes, must be very unique.

Well done Mike!

[Dan]

Does anyone happen to know the name of what might be considered the best biography on Augustus?
Thx!

[Rich N]

Hi Mike,

Long time listener first but first time commenting. With your announcement that you'll be finishing the podcast I just wanted to let you know how much I have loved it. Been listening for several years now and have always found it very interesting and informative and has started an obsession learning about Roman history and history in general. Before your podcast I knew a little about the end of the Republic, a little about Hannibal fighting and the Romans and a little about the Romans in Britain and now I know a huge amount about the span of Roman history.

This has been my favourite podcast for years now and don't know how I will get a weekly fix of excellent history.

You should be extremely proud of what you have created and I hope you find the time to do more things like this.

Rich

[Evelyn]

Hi Mike! This podcast still will not download. It freezes at about 40%, as I previously reported. I wish it could be fixed, perhaps your file is corrupted there.

[Tony]

Hi Mike,

I've learnt so much about Rome because you. My past knowledge of Rome was acquired from the movies.

Simply like to say thanks.

[Jonathan]

Cracked up very hard with the Goth - rant. I must say, I will be missing the History of Rome as part of my weekly routine and it is back to searching something to fill the hole.

Thanks for so many hours of great stuff to listen to. I guess I'm just gonna start over again after the last episode :).

[Steve]

I enjoyed this series. Wish there were more discussions about the Roman culture and how it compared to the various Barbarian cultures.

[[email protected]]

Hi Mike,

Just wanted to say a huge "thank you" for all of your hard work. I'm not quite this far yet in the podcast (at the very end of the Late Republic so I'm very happy that I have quite a bit more to listen to) but your podcast has been one of the finest pieces of work I've ever had the joy of listening to. You're a great historian and you'll be an amazing dad. Your podcast made it possible for me to not do the readings for the first half of my History of Rome class that I'm currently taking in college which was wonderful. Thanks so much for everything, and I think I speak for everyone when I say thanks for all the laughs and the best of luck with everything (not that you'll need it).
Best,
-K.

[Evelyn]

It worked at last as a download! I am so thankful! Thank you so much Mike for all your hard work!