Barbarians Rising (2016–…): Season 1, Episode 4 - Ruin - full transcript

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(ALL SCREAMING)

NARRATOR: Previously,
on Barbarians Rising...

For 600 years, the barbarians
challenge Rome's power,

fighting battle after battle
in the name of freedom.

But as the rebels
fall one by one,

the empire endures

and the uprising intensifies.

Germany will never kneel before Rome.

NARRATOR: The Barbarians
fight blood with blood.

- Mercy is for fools.
- EGUS: (CRYING) No!

No, no, no. No!



NARRATOR: Bringing the
empire's age of expansion

to a violent end.

Once the ancient world's
fastest-growing power,

Rome now builds walls to
keep the barbarians out

and fights to protect its
frontier from a rising threat.

(HORSE NEIGHING)

The Goths seek refuge
in the empire...

We have a message from your emperor,

guaranteeing us protection.

NARRATOR: But Rome's betrayal...

What idiot makes an enemy
of me when I come in peace?

...unleashes an apocalypse
of its own making.

(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)

By 285 AD,



the Roman Empire
has grown so large

that it must divide to survive.

The emperor Diocletian
officially divides the empire

in to two halves, east and west.

It's easier to govern.

It's easier to defend
from external forces.

NARRATOR: The two sides work together
to protect the Eastern border,

the unconquered frontier,

where the line separating Roman
from barbarian begins to blur.

The Romans were becoming
less and less confident

in their own military abilities

and more and more reliant
on those of the barbarians.

NARRATOR: By 394 AD,

most of the soldiers serving in the
Roman armies are barbarian mercenaries.

Among them are the Goths,

who've lived as a separate nation within
the empire for more than a decade.

MICHAEL KULIKOWSKI: Some of
the children of Adrianople,

became good Romans, they
became Roman officers.

One of those was Alaric.

NARRATOR: Alaric, now 24
years old, is a general,

commanding a division
of 20,000 Goths

who fight on behalf of Rome.

Alaric's prepared to fight
because he's been promised land.

This is his great opportunity now

to end the refugee status of his people

and to be able to settle
within the Roman Empire.

NARRATOR: Alaric serves
under General Stilicho,

commander of the Eastern army.

A Roman soldier with
a barbarian bloodline.

He's a person who has a Vandal
father, and a Roman mother,

who's grown up inside of
Roman military circles,

but is still treated like
something of an outsider.

NARRATOR: Barbarians now live,
fight, and die under Rome's banner,

but they are not Roman.

And the empire sees
them as expendable.

NARRATOR: When war breaks out, Alaric and
his men become pawns in a deadly game.

(DOGS BARKING) We are to
attack just before first light.

And?

You and your men will lead the
first assault across the river.

Where?

Here.

That's their stronghold.

You're proposing an assault on
their most fortified position.

That's where they will least expect it.

So we're to be fodder for their archers.

Half my men will die
before we reach the banks.

You have your orders.

Friend.

Persuade the emperor this is a bad idea.

It's the emperor's idea

and he has absolute faith
in you to implement it.

He's condemning us to death.

(MAN YELLING)

Alaric and his Gothic soldiers

bore the brunt of the casualties

fighting on the Eastern side

against western Roman soldiers.

Rome abused the Goths
in combat situations.

They put them on the front line,

used them as sort of cannon fodder.

O'CONNOR: Thousands are lost
and his troops were committed

before any Romans were
thrown into the fray.

You still have men on your eyes.

I lost 10,000 of my men today.

Slaughtered. As we knew they would be.

And they were sacrificed for him!

Alaric, think, they could
drink and be glad to be alive.

The Emperor is in a mood
for celebrating, not dissent.

You celebrate the victory,
I'll mourn my loss.

Don't do anything rash, my friend.

You're angry now, but
things are changing.

The world we live in now is very different
from the world you were born into.

Yes, it is.

Then, we fought against these bastards

and were proud to.

Now, we do their dirty
work and lick their boots.

Stay calm, be patient.

Who knows what changes may come.

Change? Yes.

You know what I've learned, my friend?

Change only comes through
the power of the sword.

They sacrifice us in their wars,

they work us to death on their
roads and in their cities.

They take our daughters
and invade our bloodline.

In 30 years, the Goths
will be extinguished.

I think the betrayal that
Alaric felt after the Frigidus

was such that he really

despaired of any accommodation
with the empire after that.

Everything becomes very clear
for Alaric at this point.

He realizes that he's
never going to be able

to end this refugee
status within the empire.

If he can't work with the empire,

he's gonna have to go back
to type and work against it.

NARRATOR: An estimated 100,000
Goths lived inside the empire.

Alaric intends to unite
them all under one leader.

KULIKOWSKI: Kings had always
existed outside the Roman Empire.

Alaric was effectively saying

that he was not going to be a
subject of the Roman Empire anymore.

Today you crown me king.

An honor.

What is a king without a kingdom?

What is a crown on a
king without a kingdom?

(PEOPLE MURMURING)

Without a homeland,

we are forsaken.

For years, we've swallowed
Rome's lies and cruelties

and grasped at the
crumbs from their table.

Today, you crowned me king.

Well, I demand a kingdom!

We will take this land

either as conquerors or as dead men.

From today we cease
to do Rome's bidding.

From today we go to war with Rome.

Rome dominates the ancient
world for 600 years,

but no empire lasts forever.

(PEOPLE SHOUTING)

By 400 AD, it struggles
to hold on to its power

against the rising
barbarian threat.

Alaric's Goths push deeper
into Roman territory

carving out a home from
the lands they conquer.

A campaign of destruction
that goes on for eight years.

If Rome is to survive,
General Stilicho,

now the supreme commander
of Rome's western armies,

must end the war.

We've journeyed far, the both of us.

Perhaps.

Doesn't all this killing tire you?

Ah, I've seen what Rome calls peace.

There is no need for us to be at war.

You have power, we have none.

You have a homeland, we have none.

There'll be no peace

until my people have a
land to call their own.

I can give you that.

(LAUGHS MOCKINGLY)

With the Huns to the east,

they respect no border.

I need you and the Visigoth
people to work with me.

Why would we?

Because I can give you what you want.

Help me fight our enemies and I
promise you, you will have your land.

You have my word.

The word of a Roman
doesn't count for much,

I've learned.

The word of a friend then.

Then know this.

Should I accept

and you betray me,

no woman, child or man in Rome

will escape my vengeance.

I would expect nothing less.

NARRATOR: Alaric has seen Rome
betray his people time and again

since they arrived 29 years ago

seeking refuge from the Huns.

But he seizes the opportunity.

Stilicho's deal
promises the Goths

the prize they've long
been fighting for.

A permanent homeland.

NARRATOR: In exchange,
Alaric and his men

agree to help defend the
empire against the Huns.

NARRATOR: The Goths known
spend the next five years

fighting to protect
the eastern frontier,

holding up their
end of the bargain.

But Stilicho never
delivers on his promise.

The Roman Empire is watching

as the central part of its territory

is being taken over and
held by non-Roman peoples,

a rising tide of
anti-barbarianism is growing

and it leads to
suspicion of Stilicho.

Even though he's always served Rome well

and even though he's led
their armies effectively,

he's seen as a potential enemy within.

The immediate consequence for Alaric

of the assassination of Stilicho,

is that the deal is dead in the water.

It's precisely the arrogance

of the oppressor of Rome
that precedes the fall.

(SCREAMING VIOLENTLY)

How is it possible,

these Romans so completely
duplicitous and unworthy,

have ruled the world for centuries?

Well, they'll rule no longer.

LENSKI: It was a colossally stupid
move to have Stilicho executed.

It eventually lead to the defection
of huge numbers of barbarian troops

over to Alaric's side.

KERSHAW: Alaric has been betrayed and
disappointed time and time and time again.

He wanted his homeland, but the Romans
constantly took it away from him.

So what he decides to do is that he'll
take away the homeland from the Romans.

He's gonna go and sack Rome.

Rome is the center of the empire.

Five sprawling square miles

surrounded by walls 40 feet high.

A model of the empire's vision

for how to build the
world in its image.

Thousands of Goths

and thousands more
of Stilicho's men,

who now pledge loyalty to Alaric,

march to Rome.

Alaric has the
city in his sights.

Rome has been the ancient world's
supreme power for 600 years.

In that time, no barbarian leader

has ever marched
on the city itself.

LENSKI: It seemed
impregnable, but, of course,

its Achilles heel was that it needed

massive amounts of
food in order to supply

the nearly one million
people who lived there.

Alaric understood that,

and when he undertook the siege,

that was the weapon he would use.

NARRATOR: The barbarians
surround the city,

cutting off supply lines,

trying to starve
Rome into surrender.

Alaric besieges Rome
three times in 18 months.

The Goths manage to
effectively blockade the city,

even from access to the sea,

which they usually rely
on for their food supplies.

So starvation reaches a
very serious pitch in Rome.

NARRATOR: But the war of attrition
takes its toll on Roman and Goth alike.

KERSHAW: You get dire
consequences on both sides.

At Rome there's plague and famine,

there are calls to legalize cannibalism.

On the Gothic side, there's
plague in their army.

So they really need to
come to a resolution.

NARRATOR: Alaric sends an offer
of peace to the Roman senate.

What word from your senators?

There are to be no terms.

The senators believe your
offer was made from weakness.

We'll fight you here.

ALARIC: And if we leave now,

do they give their word
you won't come after us?

KERSHAW: Roman point of view,

this looks really good,
it looks like victory.

It looks like they've
withstood the siege

and Alaric is going to slope off

and they might even be able to
pick him off at a later stage.

But they've seriously underestimated
Alaric and his brilliance.

Unwin, send them a message.

If they grant us this last night

to prepare our dead for burial,

I'll make a gift to
the senators of Rome.

A gift, my Lord?

300 of our best men

as slaves.

NARRATOR: The senate
agree to the deal,

but Alaric does not
intend to retreat.

ROBERT HERJAVEC: Arrogance
is a two-way sword.

In one hand, you've gotta
have the unshakable belief

that you're the greatest
thing ever in the world

and no one can take you down.

On the flip side,

it can lead to failure.

You've gotta be really
brutally honest with yourself.

Great empires have been lost because
they refuse to see their weakness.

KERSHAW: The brilliant
and rather ironic thing

is that the Romans trace their
ancestry back to the Trojans,

and what Alaric has given them

is effectively a Trojan horse.

These slaves are not any old slaves,

they're actually 300
of his finest warriors.

You know who we're burying today?

Don't address me, Goth scum. Move on.

No.

I'm asking.

Do you know who we're burying today?

Your idiot brother maybe?

Your whore of a sister?

No.

We're burying Rome.

(GRUNTS)

This is for my sister. Now
what d(SCREAMS)nk of that?

Rome essentially undergoes
the sa(PEOPLE GRUNTING)

(SCREAMS)

Enough!

Enough.

We're not Romans.

We're not Huns.

We have our victory.

Let some live so they can tell of it.

Tell your children your
days of power are over.

Psychologically, this
was a massive blow.

This was the capital of this world
empire being brought to its knees.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK:
Empires rise and fall.

What makes them great
may not be lasting.

NARRATOR: The sack of Rome
is Alaric's greatest victory.

A strike so devastating,

that the empire never recovers.

KERSHAW: The tide has really
turned now essentially.

Once upon a time, the barbarians
were at the mercy of Rome,

but now Rome is at the
mercy of the barbarians.

NARRATOR: In the aftermath
It of its defeat, bered.

the empire cedes 30,000 square miles of
territory in southern Gaul to the Goths.

Alaric delivers the homeland
he promised his people...

But he never sees it.

He dies of fever just one
month after the attack on Rome.

For the first time
in generations,

the empire is no longer
fighting for domination,

it's fighting for survival.

Rome's enemies begin to
move in for the kill,

and a new threat is born.

(THUNDER RUMBLING)

(BABY CRYING)

His name is Attila!

NARRATOR: The barbarians
are the rising power

battling to take back
control of the ancient world

from the empire that has ruled
for nearly seven centuries.

Alaric's sack of Rome is a critical
victory in the long fight for freedom.

And as the empire
picks up the pieces,

it must fend off threats
closing in on all sides.

The Goths in the west,

Huns to the east,

and in the south,

the Vandals...

A Germanic tribe
displaced by the Huns

and forced to roam the empire

for the last 20 years.

LENSKI: They cross the
Rhine frontier in 406

as part of a coalition of people,

and eventually make
their way into Spain,

and they'd been kind of the whipping boy

of the Goths and of the Romans

and of other peoples who
had settled in Iberia.

NARRATOR: Their unlikely leader

is the illegitimate
son of a king.

His name is Geiseric.

HEATHER: The Roman sources report that
Geiseric had a physical disability,

but apart from that what they
emphasize is his intelligence.

KULIKOWSKI: Geiseric was an almost
uniquely perceptive statesman.

He was ruthless in negotiations

and ruthless when he chose
to put his army into action.

NARRATOR: Geiseric
emerges as a threat

when he strikes at the
jewel in the empire's crown.

The territory that Rome has held

since its defeat of Hannibal
over 600 years earlier.

A crossroads ideal for
building a new Vandal kingdom.

O'CONNOR: Like many barbarians,

Geiseric was a recent
convert to Christianity.

He was an Arian Christian,
the Romans were Catholics

and each considered the
other to be heretics.

That meant that they
were required by God

to wipe each other off
the face off the Earth.

Please. In the name of God,

show some clemency.

When has a Catholic or a Roman
ever shown us any clemency?

(GROANING)

Ever since we entered
this hateful empire,

you and your Roman puppeteers

have been the cause of all our torment.

The horrors I have seen.

I watched our babies thrown on a pyre.

Women, nailed to your
crosses and cut in half.

An entire generation of
my people annihilated.

Huh?

All in the name of your...

...Catholic God.

Huh?

Oh...

So tell me, Priest... Mmm?

(CHUCKLES)

Where was your clemency then?

Hmm?

(YELLS) Where was your clemency then?

Huh?

Huh?

Hurt them.

Geiseric's capture of Carthage

is the single most devastating
blow to the Roman empire.

Geiseric now controls the food supply

to the armies of the Western
Empire, the food supply to Rome.

He is in complete control.

NARRATOR: Rome scrambles to defend its
territories against barbarian expansion,

as politics weaken
it from within.

In the divided empire, power
is split between two emperors

with two different agendas.

Theodosius II rules from
the Eastern capital,

Constantinople.

While his young cousin,
emperor Valentinian III,

rules the Western
Empire from Ravenna.

KULIKOWSKI: The emperor Valentinian
came to the throne as a child.

He was young, he was weak,

he was not taught the politics that
earlier Roman emperors had been taught,

and he was not a soldier.

He was also very much under the thumb of
his mother, the imperial princess, Galla.

HEATHER: Galla is an
astonishing woman.

Not only is she the
sister of one emperor,

she's married to another, and
then she's the mother of a third.

And she exercises a great
deal of personal power

within the imperial political circles.

True power is not about
dominating the weak.

True power is inspiring
the strong to your will.

NARRATOR: Galla turns
to the only man capable

of saving her son's
crumbling empire.

General Flavius Aetius.

He's been hostage to barbarian
Goths, to barbarian Huns.

That's meant he understands
the languages, the customs,

and also the personalities, the power
relationships, of these peoples.

HEATHER: The main
internal political problem

Aetius faces is that he's
distrusted by the royal family.

Basically, because he
becomes too powerful.

To start with, his power is balanced

by that of several other generals,

but he manages to eliminate them

and take over complete control of Roman
military forces in the Western Empire himself.

Lady Galla.

You can dispense with
the pleasantries, Aetius.

You were never very good at them.

My Lady. Avitus.

We have news.

The Vandal king, Geiseric,
has taken Carthage.

AETIUS: And the fleet?

At harbor in Carthage Bay.

If Geiseric is in control of the fleet,

then Rome, Ravenna and Constantinople
are vulnerable to attack.

The Vandal will not risk all-out
war against the Western Empire.

No.

But if he blockades our
shipment of food and gold,

then he already has Rome by the throat.

Only if he can hold Carthage.

Precisely.

You will take back Carthage and
bring me that cripple's head.

We no longer have the armies
to fight on multiple fronts.

We suppress the Huns and the Goths...

I am aware of our position, Aetius.

I will petition the Eastern
Empire for reinforcement.

Geiseric poses as much
of a threat for them.

These are my orders.

And the emperor's orders?

Let me deal with him.

(SOFT MOANING)

Have you no respect for
imperial privacy, Mother?

Not when my son has no
respect for his empire.

Get out! Now!

()

You will speak with your cousin.

We need the support
of the Eastern armies

if we are to defeat Geiseric.
You will do as I ask.

Careful, Mother, on how
you address your emperor.

If I do this, they will think I am weak.

You are weak.

NARRATOR: The Western Empire is
overrun with political intrigue,

nowhere more than in
the imperial family.

You know my mother and the emperor

will never forgive you for what you did?

Backing another against my
brother's claim to the throne.

So they always remind me.

That leaves you in a rather
dangerous position doesn't it, Aetius?

The most powerful man
in my brother's empire,

and the least trusted?

We're all in a rather dangerous
position with your brother, Lady Honoria,

especially you.

KULIKOWSKI: Honoria had never
been allowed to take a role

in imperial politics
the way she wanted to,

and the way imperial
princesses often did.

She was effectively a
prisoner in the palace.

She, moreover, had spent her
life at an imperial court.

She knew about power
games and how to play them.

VALENTINIAN: Aetius...

Magister militum of the Western army,

patriarch of my empire.

Give this to my cousin Theodosius.

I have decided to
petition the Eastern empire

to ally their armies and their fleet

for you to drive the
Vandal king from Carthage.

You know the Huns,

you know of King Ruas' death.

AETIUS: It is no secret
I was hostage to Ruas

when Rome was forced to sign the treaty.

I know of his death. This Attila...

Is he the devil, as they say?

No.

Much worse.

NARRATOR: Of all the threats
circling the declining empire...

(ARROW WHOOSHING)

...none is more
fearsome than the Hun.

Hailing from the
steppes of Eurasia,

the Huns are expert horsemen.

Warriors who live, fight
and negotiate on horseback.

They scar their
faces with deep cuts

to intimidate their enemies

and mourn those fallen in battle.

KERSHAW: They're described
as being incredibly ugly,

almost glued to their horses.

They're fantastic archers.

They use strange,
unorthodox battle tactics.

O'CONNOR: The Huns seemed to be more
interested in the acquisition of plunder

than they were in
territorial conquest.

They didn't found cities,

they weren't trying to
create a settled society.

What they were trying to do was
conquer as many tribes as possible

and become more and more powerful.

(MAN GRUNTING)

NARRATOR: The Huns terrorize the empire's
borderlands for decades under King Ruas,

but his death sets off
a deadly power struggle.

HEATHER: There are no rules of
succession operating in the Hunnic world.

The pattern would appear to
be that all the royal children

are potential heirs to the throne

and they simply fight it out,

whichever one Attila,
the sons of Ruas are here.

They've made claim to the
throne and seek our allegiance.

I will not pledge alliance to them.

We must align with them, brother.

It is their birthright.

What about our birthright, brother?

(BOTH GRUNTING)

Now, I lay claim to the throne.

That was a grave mistake, brother.

The Ruas' were the rightful heirs.

Your claim will be challenged.

And the challengers
will meet the same fate.

We will make council.

Gather the tribal leaders.

How?

We'll buy their loyalty.

Gold cannot buy you respect.

They don't need to respect me.

They need to fear me.

NARRATOR: The barbarians have
the advantage over the empire

for the first time in 700 years.

Victims of Roman cruelty and
violence for generations,

they showed no mercy

as they begin to dismantle the empire
that once forced them into submission.

Rome is under attack
from all sides.

In the south, the
Vandals hold Carthage.

In the east, the Huns rampage
across the borderlands,

raiding and capturing
Roman towns,

then offering them back
to Rome for a price.

But Attila has his sights
on even greater power.

ATTILA: You all knowlook at
me me and my brother, other.

and our...

My claim to the Hun throne.

Since the death of King Ruas,

many have vied for leadership.

Many of you... (YELLS) Sit down!

Ruas was content to have us
maraud the plains like thieves,

scavengers,

when we should be conquerors.

Support my claim

and we will no longer feed
off the empire's scraps.

You will see riches
beyond your wildest dreams.

But oppose me,

and you will see your tribes massacred.

And of that,

you have my word!

NARRATOR: Rome moves to
confront what it believes

is the greatest threat
to its survival.

Not Attila, but Geiseric.

NARRATOR: The Eastern
and Western Empires

gather 1,100 ships and 100,000
men to retain Carthage.

It's the largest invasion force

the empire has ever assembled.

But the campaign requires Rome to
deploy nearly the entire military,

leaving the eastern border
virtually undefended.

HEATHER: Most of the Eastern
Empire's forces for the expedition

have come from the Danube frontier.

Attila and Bleda know this

as they unleash the Hunnic
hordes on the Danube frontier

while the expedition
is still in Sicily.

NARRATOR: Attila begins a new phase
in his campaign of destruction.

Heavy siege weapons like towers,
catapults and battering rams

allow him to
escalate his attacks.

This technology sets Attila
apart from other barbarians.

Using Roman siege tactics,

Attila can now overtake a
fortified city in a matter of days.

(MEN SCREAMING)

This is a seismic shift in
the strategic balance of power.

Earlier enemies rampaging through
the Balkans, like the Goths,

couldn't take defended cities.

They never conducted successful sieges.

The fact that the Huns can do it,

and they can take
really major Roman bases,

that changes
everything. (MEN SCREAMING)

Attila's goal was to
demonstrate he now had the power

to take over the road
to Constantinople

in such a way that he could
threaten the eastern capital.

Who are you?

I am Attila.

The whip of God.

(GRUNTS)

We have sent our message, brother.

Time to await the Roman terms.

Let them wait for my terms.

Look around you, Attila.

We have done enough.

More war will bring us nothing.

True.

But panic and terror
will gain us everything.

Attila the Hun stand NARRATOR: The barbarians are
closing in from all sides around the weakening empire.

Goths in the west,

Vandals in the south

and Huns in the east.

Aetius fights to save Rome
from its most urgent threat,

Geiseric's stranglehold
on its food supply.

The general gathers the largest invasion
force the empire has ever assembled

to take back Carthage.

That fleet is our one
chance to save the empire.

If we do not take it,
Geiseric will reinforce.

Attila can be held.

We sail to Carthage and join the
fight against the Hun on our return.

Avitus, you do not understand.

His brother Bleda keeps
him on the leash, but...

You fear Bleda cannot contain him?

If he doesn't, Attila will not
stop until the entire empire burns.

We have orders to withdraw.

Emperor Theodosius has called
back our entire Eastern army

to defend Constantinople from the Huns.

We leave at dawn.

I'm sorry, my friend.

Without the Eastern fleet, we're done.

We cannot sail alone.

What do you suggest?

We leave Carthage to Geiseric, for now.

Agree terms with the Vandals
to let grain into the empire.

If and when we defeat Attila,

I will return and remove
that traitor's head.

NARRATOR: Rome turns its invasion
force north to confront Attila,

opening an opportunity
for Geiseric,

who is playing a different
kind of power game.

The fact that the expedition never sails
from Sicily means everything to Geiseric.

It allows him to start to build
a real kingdom in North Africa.

It basically secures his existence

as an independent power.

While the empire heads for
all-out war with the Huns,

Geiseric outmaneuvers
them with strategy.

Rome's forces are retreating.

If Valentinian fears this Attila,

then we must befriend him.

Gendo,

take the Hun the gold we
took from this city as a gift,

a sign of our alliance.

HUNERIC: We must use
this time to reinforce.

The empire will not stay away forever.

GEISERIC: Precisely.

I want every dissenter in
the city slain immediately.

Anyone who may have drunk
from the cup of Rome,

string them up by their innards.

And, Huneric,

I have great plans in
store for you, my son.

Begin the purge.

(MAN CHOKING)

Your empire has deserted you, Commander.

They've left you here to rot.

And as we starve your people to death,

other tribes will rise up.

Your people will be obliterated
from the face of this Earth.

Ah, you see...

Now your masters begin
to truly understand.

We're no longer the underdogs,

we're the rising power.

NARRATOR: The Vandals hold
Carthage in their grip unopposed.

Rome lacks enough fighting men

to face them and the
Huns at the same time.

Geiseric exploits
Rome's weakness,

demanding ever greater
amounts of gold

to keep the grain supply
flowing back to Rome.

Geiseric forces
Emperor Valentinian

to marry his daughter,
Eudocia, to his son, Huneric.

Either he is going to have
his son at the court in Ravenna

or else the daughter of the
emperor is going to be in Carthage.

Either one, it is a new alliance.

It's a new power axis.

What does he have to lose? Nothing.

NARRATOR: With his son
now a prince of Rome,

Geiseric infiltrates
both the seat of power

and the imperial bloodline.

On the frontier,

the Roman military fails
to stop the Huns' advance.

The Eastern emperor requires
his wealthiest citizens,

to pay the annual tribute of gold

that keep the Huns at bay.

Even senators who are
usually exempt from tax

are forced to pay.

Theodosius also sets
out to negotiate

a new deal.

(HORSE NEIGHING)

Your name, envoy?

Ariobindus, commander in...

You have our traitor princes?

I'm under orders from Emperor
Theodosius to speak directly with Attila.

ATTILA: We do not
recognize your emperor here.

Constantinople only stands

because I allow it.

The emperor has instructed me to
negotiate the terms of the peace treaty.

This is not a negotiation, Roman.

These are my terms.

You will hand over
the last sons and heirs

of the Hun traitors
that hide in your empire.

A token of goodwill
from Emperor Theodosius.

You will also double the tribute

to 1,400 pounds of gold.

Reject these terms,

and I will send you and your men
back to Constantinople in bags.

I will present your
terms to the emperor.

My men will ensure your
safe passage to the borders.

They will pay the tribute.

Spoken like petty thief that you are.

I'm not one of your dogs, brother.

Do not treat me as such!

I am no thief.

I am the one that convinces
our enemies to pay the tribute,

to raise the gold that
brings up your army.

I am both our politician
and our conscience, Attila.

I do not need a conscience, brother.

(SCREAMS)

NARRATOR: The barbarians
are growing in power

and the once great Roman Empire

now faces an
all-consuming threat.

Attila builds an empire

based not on territory,
but on plunder.

His strategy is to
capture Roman cities

and demand the empire pay
enormous ransoms to win them back.

LENSKI: Attila was
fundamentally predatory.

He did not have a massive
taxation system set up

in order to extract
revenue from his subjects.

Instead, his goal was
to use the Roman Empire

as a sort of bank from which he could
draw whenever he needed more money

in order to supply, above all,

those people who were
his leaders, with gold.

NARRATOR: When Attila's warpath

comes dangerously close to the
eastern capital, Constantinople,

Emperor Theodosius tries to negotiate
a deal to keep the Huns out.

But Attila demands nearly
a ton of gold in tribute.

Every territory we lose costs
us taxes we need for my army,

which is now in tatters.

You haven't heard, have you?

Heard what?

Theodosius has grown bold.

He has refused the Hun's peace terms.

Tell Theodosius to pay the ransoms.

Send word to Bleda.

He'll put Attila's leash back on.

How much longer am I
to listen to this fool?

Valentinian... Shut up!

Get her out.

Get her out of here.

They say Attila has found
the Sword of Mars in Scythia.

They say it has magical powers,

that it proves his divine right to lead.

That's nothing but
folklore, superstition.

I know that!

But his armies don't.

They believe it.

They think they are following a God.

I will send word directly to Bleda
myself, promise him more gold.

He will stop this Hun rampage.

Do you not know anything?

ATTILA: Fate has presented
me with this sword.

Now,

I will no longer hide in the shadows.

I will no longer be shackled
to the weak like you, brother.

I will build an army
to destroy them all...

(GROWLS)

...with every nugget of
gold they hurl at my feet.

And as they cower
behind their city walls,

their cathedral of
arrogance, I will rise.

Without my conscience

I will become

a God.

NARRATOR: The empire's refusal to
pay the tribute is a fatal error.

Attila escalates his attacks,
bent on complete destruction.

The Huns sweep through the Eastern
Empire, leaving a trail of terror

as they head east
towards Constantinople.

LENSKI: He took over
most of the cities

in what is today
Bulgaria and Serbia.

Something on the order of
80 cities were captured,

probably on the order of 100,000
people were taken into captivity.

NARRATOR: With the Eastern
Empire on the verge of collapse,

Theodosius surrenders.

Attila now demands triple
the annual tribute payment.

2,100 pounds of gold a year.

The settlement causes a crisis
within the Eastern economy

leaving Valentinian and the west

to confront both the Huns
and the Vandals alone.

And while Rome unravels, Geiseric
prepares to strike another blow.

This time from inside the empire.

I hope I am not intruding.

No more than anyone else does.

My father knows a way for you to escape
the box your brother keeps you in.

A way for you to become empress of Rome.

A goddess.

You just need

to make a deal with the devil.

NARRATOR: The emperor's
sister, Honoria,

secretly sends a
message to Attila,

promising her hand in marriage.

And an invitation to take the
Roman throne away from her brother.

O'CONNOR: Before
Honoria's proposal,

it seems like Attila is intent
on preying on the Roman Empire,

on raiding it, possibly on invading
it and taking over its territory.

After he receives the ring from Honoria,

he now has a legitimate
claim to the imperial throne.

NARRATOR: Attila sets
out to accept the offer,

marching his great Hun horde
into the heart of the empire.

The barbarians are picking apart

the Roman Empire piece by piece.

Attila's killer horde strikes
out to claim the Roman throne...

...and Geiseric, the
mastermind behind the plot

to unravel the empire
from the inside,

prepares for the end game.

(SEAGULLS CAWING)

The wheels are now in motion, Gendo.

Go to the Hun. Tell him
it's time to ready his men.

He takes the north,
we'll keep the south.

With all due respect,

after Attila gets what he wants,

he will never honor
any agreement with us.

To him we are weak refugees.

Mmm.

And I will let him
continue to think that.

We'll deal with him when the time comes.

Have you brought me here to
talk or to have me killed?

Spare me, Aetius, I've
no time for theatrics.

Attila has granted us an audience

north of the Danube.

When did he agree to this?

You're not the only one in the
empire with friends, Aetius.

I need you to send Avitus.

I need him to look for
weakness in Attila's camp.

I need to know which of his allies

fear him the least and may
be fit to turn against him.

None of his allies fear him
any less than anyone else.

They live in terror of him.

Do you know why the Huns cut themselves?

When someone they love dies,

they scar their faces in mourning.

They would rather shed blood than tears.

Well,

I will not shed any tears for Attila.

Send Avitus.

NARRATOR: Galla's plot to
gather intelligence on Attila

comes too late.

The Hun army is already
marching towards the empire.

Attila sends word to
emperor Valentinian

revealing his sister's deception

and demanding half the Western
Empire as his wedding gift.

What have you done?

You know what I have done.

You traitor. I promised
Attila my hand in marriage

if he would free me from you.

I am an emperor's daughter.

I should have you executed.

None of us will survive this.

None of us would have survived anyway.

At least this way, our family will
still have a hand in the empire.

(CHUCKLES) What empire?

There will be no empire.

Place her in my care.

I will see she never leaves her room

until I work out what to do with her.

Are you in on this plot?

Is this your doing?

Of course not.

How dare you implicate
me in this disgrace?

Take her to my chambers and lock her in!

Bring in Aetius.

Has Avitus returned?

Yes, but with grave news.

Attila and his armies have vanished.

know exactly where he is,

but I have no doubt Attila rides on us.

Then send the legions to
reinforce the northern borders.

Hunt him down.

With all due respect, we
do not have enough men.

If and when he attacks, we
will not be able to hold him.

We cannot defend our borders.

We cannot rely on the
East for reinforcements.

It leaves us with just one option.

We must send word to
the barbarian tribes

to form a coalition,
just as Hannibal did.

Have you lost your mind?

First we beg the East for help

and now you ask us to beg our enemies?

They are Attila's enemies, too,

and they know that when he comes,

they will be forced to submit or die.

If they unite with us, they
may stand a chance. (SCOFFS)

GALLA: Then you must
send them a message.

I already have.

Messengers ride to the
Alani, Burgundians and Franks.

Avitus rides to seek an audience

with Theodoric and the Goths.

You dare to send word
without my consultation?

This is treason!

It would be treason to do nothing

and it would be treason
to let this Empire fall

under the rule of this family.

(CHUCKLES)

What makes you think Theodoric and
his Goths would fight alongside us?

They hate us, and you most of all.

Theodoric may hate me,
but he also respects me.

I have beaten him twice in battle.

And let us not forget, it was the Huns

that drove his people into
the empire in the first place,

and to his mind,

we might just be the
lesser of two evils.

Avitus taught Theodoric as a boy.

Theodoric listens to him,

and trusts him.

And if he doesn't?

Then we are truly lost.

Up to this point, the
whole of the strategy

of the empire has been to try
and keep the Goths in line.

Now the empire has to go cap in hand
to the Goths to keep itself in being.

I should have you
killed for coming here,

no matter what you
meant to me in the past.

Maybe you should hear
me first, Theodoric.

If you fight alongside
us against the Hun,

you will be granted safe
lands until the end of days.

Even if I were to believe you,

it wouldn't be the first
promise broken by an emperor.

For 70 years the empire has
asked us to die in battle

and butchered us when
the battle was won.

We're offering you a Gothic
state untouchable by the empire.

Do you think Attila will offer you that?

If he defeats us, he
will turn on you next.

You will be forced to surrender
or die, just like all the others.

Attila is unbeatable.

He has no weaknesses.

Attila does have a weakness.

They've lost their speed.

They can't attack and
retreat without a trace.

But your cavalry can.

Even if that is true,

Attila is still unbeaten.

So is Aetius.

No one knows that better than you.

Theodoric, my old friend,
you have two choices.

Fight alongside us or face the Hun alone

and watch the Goths being
driven into oblivion.

I'll await your answer.

How do I know you will honor the deal?

You don't.

NARRATOR: Before Theodoric can
decide whether to ally with Rome,

Attila forces his hand.

His horde, as many
as 100,000 warriors

cross the Rhine into
Roman territory,

attacking a string of cities
in a bid to seize Gaul.

Aetius scrambles his
forces to confront Attila.

I'm not here to help you, Aetius,

I'm here to save my people.

I expect nothing less.

THEODORIC: I lead my own men.

We will not be used as fodder.

You have my word.

AVITUS: Attila knows
we're preparing for battle.

He's broken off the siege and
rides to meet us on the plain.

It's imperative we arrive first.

(SIGHS)

We ride at first light.

WARLOCK: Three leaders will meet.

One will win.

One will lose.

One will die.

Who dies?

There's too much confusion, I cannot...

(GROANING)

Know this.

It will not be me that
dies on that battlefield.

I will fulfill my destiny

and claim their throne.

Their time is over!

It is the end of their rule

and the beginning of mine!

Pack up the camp.

We ride to the plains.

NARRATOR: For 700 years, the barbarians
have challenged Roman supremacy

and fought back
against its tyranny.

But facing a greater threat,
two foes now become allies

as Roman and Goth unite to fight

Attila's mighty Huns.

This is the most powerful
Hunnic army there has ever been.

This is a confrontation
on a colossal scale.

NARRATOR: The Catalaunian Plains
will be their battlefield.

A vast area of flat land
dominated on one side

by a steep sloped ridge
overlooking the fields below.

This will be the deadliest ground

as both sides fight to
claim the advantage.

Then, as now, high ground
proves advantageous,

even more so in the ancient world.

NARRATOR: Aetius commands a
combined force of Romans and Goths

numbering 80,000 men on the
north of the battlefield.

On the opposite side,

Attila leads as many as 100,000
warriors, set to charge.

When the battle begins, it will be
a race to claim the crest between.

ATTILA: Today

we will rip their empire

from their dead hands.

There will be great sacrifice!

There will be death!

But we will be victorious!

(ALL YELLING)

I will cast the first spear at our enemy

and if any man stand at rest

while I'm still fighting,

he's already a dead man to me!

Sound the advance.

(HORNS BLOWING)

(ALL YELLING)

NARRATOR: Control
of the high ground

changes hands again and
again during the battle.

ELM: The battle was brutal.

(GROANS)

The most destructive battle
that the ancient world had seen.

NARRATOR: Finally, the Goths break
through re the Huns' frontline. utmost

(ALL YELLING)

We have the higher ground.

Tell the flanks to move in.

We must push the advantage.

(MAN YELLING)

NARRATOR: The killing continues
unrelenting for 12 hours.

(GROANS)

(SIGHS)

My men saw you enter the tree line.

What's happening?

Who has the advantage?

Both sides have lost many.

We hold the advantage,
but at great cost.

Theodoric has fallen.

His men have scattered, as have ours.

Where's Attila?

Retreated behind his own wagons.

We engage with them again at dawn.

For Attila to lose the high ground,

to think that now he no
longer held the advantage,

to think the unthinkable,

that in fact his
forces might lose,

this was too much to bear.

Why did you lose my advantage?

I will not be taken alive by them.

This is to be my funeral pyre.

They will not parade my
corpse on the streets of Rome.

(GROANS)

NARRATOR: The Battle of
the Catalaunian plains

is one of the bloodiest in the
history of the Roman empire.

(ALL YELLING)

Rome's coalition
loses 40,000 fighters,

including the Goth
king, Theodoric.

50,000 of Attila's
100,000 men fall.

The Huns arrived
on the battlefield

as the most feared menace
in the ancient world.

They leave it as a
shattered empire.

(AVITUS PANTING)

Let's slaughter them as they run.

No, let them go.

We'll not get the chance again.

We won't need to. IHe is finished.

His myth is broken.

He's nothing.

Attila loses his mystique, his aura of
invincibility at the Battle of Chalons.

This monster of the Roman imagination

has been proven a
general like any other.

One who can be beaten.

HEATHER: It starts to make
people question his rule.

And not surprisingly,
the sources report Attila

thrown into a kind of slough of despond

in the immediate aftermath of battle.

NARRATOR: Attila never
claims Honoria as his bride.

Unable to conquer Rome, the Huns go on
to plunder Italy and eastern Europe,

but never regain their
previous strength.

(BREATHING HEAVILY)
Then, in 453 AD...

(RETCHES) (SCREAMING)

...Attila dies on
his wedding night.

His empire dies with him.

CLARK: If you're a great
empire and you lose,

you have to redeem yourself

with the blood of your soldiers

because you've shown weakness

and that weakness will invite challenge

and challenge again,
and challenge again.

NARRATOR: Aetius returns to Rome as
the commander of a destroyed army.

The battle is a strategic
victory for the Empire,

but its military
losses are so great,

that it struggles to defend
itself against any new threats.

(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)

Attila is beaten,

and Aetius rides to Rome a hero.

This is a disaster.

It's not a disaster, Gendo,

it's destiny.

And now that Attila is beaten,
he's nothing but a ghost.

Aetius is now the most
powerful man in the empire

and Rome fears its strong.

They'll never let him survive.

(DROPS SCROLL)

We lost seven legions in the battle.

The northern borders are in mayhem.

We do not have enough
manpower to reinforce them.

Geiseric continues his
blockade of Sardinia,

severing us further from the sea.

We must again ask the Eastern
Empire for reinforcements.

You dare to question my rule by blaming
the troubles of the empire on me.

I blame no one... Oh, enough.

Do you wish power for yourself?

I seek nothing.

You seek to usurp me.

You won't get the chance,
you traitor bastard!

(GROANS)

(SNIFFLES)

For Aetius, he should be celebrated as
the great hero who has defeated the Huns,

he has done the impossible.

Arguably the greatest
military figure Rome has known.

Certainly the greatest military figure

Rome has known for a long time.

But Rome fears those
who are strong militarily

and no one better than he knows

how vulnerable his position is.

O'CONNOR: The death of
Aetius deprives Rome

of its most effective protector.

His reputation alone is probably enough

to keep barbarians away
from the gates of Rome.

But without him

they become much more vulnerable.

NARRATOR: The decline
of Rome accelerates

as the barbarians dismantle
the once great empire.

The imperial household
begins to implode.

You never did get the chance to rule,

did you, Mother?

NARRATOR: Valentinian
has Galla executed.

What are you doing?

(GROANS)

NARRATOR: Within a year, Valentinian is
assassinated by soldiers loyal to Aetius.

The emperor's daughter, Eudocia,

is one of the last remaining
members of the imperial family.

Still engaged to Huneric,
son of the Vandal king.

Geiseric sails for Rome to
claim his son's inheritance.

Geiseric is the dark knight.

He is the one that really brings

the Western Empire to its knees.

NARRATOR: The Vandals arrive
at the gates of Rome in 455 AD.

O'CONNOR: Geiseric's
intention is not to

conquer Rome but to plunder it.

What he's seeking to do is to increase
the strength of his own kingdom

at the expense of Rome.

He wants to carve out
a domain for himself

from of the ashes of the empire.

NARRATOR: It takes the Vandals less than
two weeks to defeat the city's defenses.

After centuries of Roman
supremacy by the sword,

the barbarians finally strike
the empire's death blow

and sit on the imperial throne.

GEISERIC: The most powerful of your
kind lie dead, their heads around you

and all you deem precious
is now in our hands.

You stupid fools.

(CHUCKLES)

You never saw this coming, did you?

Tomorrow we will sail back to Carthage

to accelerate the growth of our empire

and watch from afar as yours
collapses into the sand.

You're done.

Now it's our time.

(SHIVERING)

(GROANS)

NARRATOR: Geiseric
returns to Carthage,

the new Vandal kingdom, where
he rules for the next 20 years

until his death at the age of 88.

Soon, barbarians
from across Europe,

including Goths,
Franks and Saxons,

move in for the kill.

By 476 AD, the West has lost
the lands it fought to conquer.

From Britannia, to
Gaul, to Hispania,

Germania and North Africa.

Its territory rolled back to
borders not seen in six centuries.

(CROWD CHANTING)

After 700 years
fighting for freedom

against total domination,

brutality, slavery and tyranny,

the barbarians rise

and the empire falls.

The barbarian kingdoms
that emerge from the ashes

will be new states

that lay the foundations of modern
Europe and shape the world to come.

TULSI GABBARD: No one
wants to be incarcerated,

no one wants to be placed into
shackles under someone else's control,

but the physical incarceration
can be transcended

with a sense of spiritual freedom.

CLARENCE B. JONES: They
were barbarians.

But barbarians to whom?

To the Romans they
were barbarians.

To themselves, they
were freedom fighters.

JESSE JACKSON: When one has the
power to look death in the eye

and not succumb to it and
see life beyond death,

that's the power

that cannot be stopped.

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