The Dark Ages Podcast

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30. Friends & Neighbors Feb 20, 2023

Show notes

500 - 511 CE

Theodoric and Cassiodorus work to prevent war in Western Europe, while crafting an image of imperial majesty. In the end, it works out pretty well for the Ostrogoths.

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Sources

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Title Music:
"The Britons" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sound effects from freesound.com

29. Cass and Bo Feb 01, 2023

Show notes

We pause to take a look at two of the most famous subjects of Theodoric the Great.

Transcript for today's show.

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Title Music:
"The Britons" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sound effects from freesound.com

28. Regnum Italiae Jan 16, 2023

Show notes

493 to about 505 CE

Theodoric's kingdom in Italy gets historians unreasonably excited. We'll explore how he ran it, how he turned himself from warband chief to beloved king, and how he worked to restore the glory of old.

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Title Music:
"The Britons" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sound effects from freesound.com

27. The War for Italy Dec 26, 2022

Show notes

488 to 493

Theodoric leads his people to Italy, to make war on Odoacer and win for himself a permanent kingdom.

Transcript and Maps Here

Just Maps Here

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Title Music:
"The Britons" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources:

Heather, Peter J. The Restoration of Rome: Barbarian Popes and Imperial Pretenders. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2014.

Martindale, J.R. The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Vol. II. vol. 2, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1980. 3 vols. The Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/prosopography-later-roman-empire/PLRE-II/mode/1up.

Wolfram, Herwig. History of the Goths. Translated by Thomas Dunlap, University of California Press, 1990.

26. Boldness Be My Friend Dec 12, 2022

Show notes

479 to 488

Rocky relations between Theodoric and Zeno lead to ups and downs for the Ostrogoths, along with many diversions and detours in their search for a stable home. Finally, an opportunity arises in Italy, and Theodoric moves boldly in the direction of one last gamble.

Maps for this episode.

Support the show

Title Music:
"The Britons" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sound effects from freesound.com

25. A Balkan Bust-Up Nov 28, 2022

Show notes

c. 460 to 479 CE

We welcome to the stage Theodoric, soon to be Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. In the process we catch up on the overwritten soap opera that was politics in Constantinople in the 470s. It’s a wild ride.

Webpage for this episode

Maps

Title Music:
"The Britons" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

24. The Usurper Nov 07, 2022

Show notes

455 to 490 CE

Odoacer is a name that is little known and little celebrated. This episode illuminates the career of the soldier who closed the book on the Roman empire, who was he, and why don't we know him better?

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References

Bury, John B. 1967. The Invasion of Europe by the Barbarians. Edited by Fossey John C. Hearnshaw. New York: Norton.

Eugippius. 1965. Commemoratorium Severinus. Translated by Ludwig Bieler. Washington, DC: Catholic University Press.

Frassetto, Michael. 2003. Encyclopedia of Barbarian Europe: Society in Transformation. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO.

Goldsworthy, Adrian K. 2009. How Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Heather, Peter J. 2014. The Restoration of Rome: Barbarian Popes and Imperial Pretenders. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Wolfram, Herwig. 1997. The Roman Empire and Its Germanic Peoples. Translated by Thomas Dunlap and Thomas R. Dunlap. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Title Music:
"The Britons" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

23. War Oct 24, 2022

Show notes

This the first episode of Season 2 takes a broad look at what the waging of war looked like in the dark ages, from weapons to tactics and funding. It's good to be back.

For the transcript of this episode, along with images and links, visit www.darkagespod.com.

Now you can support the podcast at ko-fi.com/darkagespod, the digital tip-jar. Help me keep the lights on around here with just a few bucks, if you can.

Links:

Full text of "The Battle of Maldon"

A reading of "The Battle of Maldon"

Music:

Title Music:
"The Britons" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

22. The End of the Beginning Sep 12, 2022

Show notes

474 to 476 CE

In which we kill off the Western Roman Empire, and then dig through the remains to try and figure out what happened. More importantly, where do we go from here?

Title Music:
"The Britons" by Kevin MacLeod at Free Music Archive
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

21. Alas, Britain Aug 29, 2022

Show notes

c. 367 to c. 460 CE

The much-promised episode about post Roman Britain arrives, to explore what a real Dark Age would look like.

Sources

Music Credits:

Title Music:
"The Britons" by Kevin MacLeod at Free Music Archive
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Other Music:

"Pippin the Hunchback", "Nordic Wist", & "Moorland", all by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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