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Barbarians Rising...

Rome grows from
a city state to an empire.

But its path to power
is furious and fatal.

As the barbarians rise against
them time and time again,

Rome crushes each rebellion.

The Empire relies on
total domination,

but now it faces
a traitor on the inside.

Arminius, a son of Germany,
surrendered to Rome,

emerges as the Empire's
greatest threat.

The boy hostaged
by his tribe to Rome,

what an abomination.

Sent to destroy his own people,

he turns on Rome instead.

Rome is unbeatable.
No, they'll bleed.

Hatching a secret plot...

They will never suspect me.

I know their movements,
how they fight.

To drive the Romans out...

If we can gather enough men, we
can beat Varus and his leaders.

And reclaim their freedom.

Arminius...

These are for you.

They were your father's.

Arminius and his
army of Germanic warriors

wait as Governor Varus' legions
march directly into their ambush.

Go, go, go.

We can't strike until
the vanguard has passed.

We wait for Varus.

If we hit them too soon,
they'll regroup.

Do not let them
get into formation.

At last, no viper.

You cease to hiss.

The Battle of Teutoburg Forest
rages for three days.

The bloodiest showdown between
Rome and the barbarians

since Hannibal's victory
at Cannae 200 years earlier.

The Empire loses nearly
all of its 20,000 men.

Arminius' victory
is utterly unprecedented.

It should never have happened.

For a bunch of untrained Germanic
tribesmen to hem in three legions

and basically wipe
the whole of them out,

this should never have happened.

The irony here is that Rome
created its own worst enemy.

And Arminius sends a message
directly to the Emperor.

Rome is no longer invincible.

For Augustus, this is a betrayal of the greatest
magnitu Augustus expels all Germans from the capital

and withdraws his troops
from Germania,

retreating south of the Rhine.

But the Emperor
refuses to accept defeat.

He attacks again
two years later.

This time he doubles his force,

to 40,000, to destroy Arminius

and bring Germania
under the eagle.

Rome never forgives
and it never forgets.

The barbariansr tw,

while their leader,
Arminius, evades capture.

You can't win
a great victory in Germania

if the people don't want you to.

People are spread out,
there are trees everywhere,

you've gotta find your enemy
before you can defeat them.

People can fight
a great guerrilla warfare

against you,
more or less forever.

For the Germans,

there is a larger cause
that motivates them.

That cause,
that reason is freedom.

It was the barbarians who refused to succumb The
Empire unleashes waves of violence against the tribes,

but fails to draw
Arminius out of hiding...

Until its legions
target his own family.

Is this the price of freedom?

Is this to be our lives now?

Hiding in the darkness, watching
our world get destroyed.

It will end.

Will it?

It's Thusnelda.
They have found her.

Her father struck a deal
with the Roman Commander.

It was your brother... Flavus.

No!

Surrendered to Rome alongside his
brother Arminius 15 years earlier,

Flavus has proven himself
in battle,

and is now one of Rome's
most trusted commanders.

He's among those sent to
finally conquer Germania.

Capturing Arminius' wife and unborn
child achieves the desired result.

Arminius comes out
of the shadows

with a response that is
swift and apocalyptic.

If your opponent has
nothing left to lose

but their honor
and their sense of dignity,

he's utterly dangerous.

When the two sides meet,

Arminius commands an army of 20,000
warriors from tribes across Germania.

Rome's force of battle-hardened
troops numbers 40,000.

It's the first time in 200 years

that the barbarians face the
Empire on an open battlefield.

When Arminius
emerged Brother. s

Where is she?

Rome has made you blind.

I can still see
you're covered in filth,

some of it even your own.

If only you could see
my villas, my baths.

Even the slaves are magnificent.

What do you have to show
for your betrayal, brother?

A bed of straw and the
loyalty of a pack of beasts.

No, I have something
you have never known.

Freedom.

I'm nobody's magnificent slave.

A golden cage
is still a cage, Flavus.

The Empire has taken
everything from us,

even our brotherhood.

But here you sit like
some bastard son of Rome.

Where is she?

She's in Rome...

With your son.

Oh, you didn't know
you had a son?

He'll be brought up
as a good Roman.

I'll raise him as my own.

My own Roman slave.

I will kill you for this.

I will kill you.

Then let us begin.

Brother.

Your rebellion will fail.

Yet here you are,

on your knees, before Rome.

I will never kneel before Rome.

Germany will never
kneel before Rome.

Then you will die along
with Germany, my brother.

Remember who you are.

Cherusci, always.

Now, you crawl back to Rome
and you tell them

this soil is already
rich with Roman blood.

And if they come back,
they will bleed by my hand

and for generations to come.

For the first time
in nearly 300 years,

the barbarians are shifting the
balance of power against Rome.

Still determined
to conquer Germania,

the Empire launches a series of
attacks over the next eight years.

Arminius repels them all.

But he never reunites
with his family.

His son is raised
as a captive in Rome.

His story lost to history.

Arminius is murdered in 21 AD

by allies who fear
he has grown too powerful.

But he's forever remembered
as a liberator,

the first barbarian to expel
Rome from his homeland.

Arminius was, undoubtedly,
the liberator of Germania.

He fought the Romans when
their power was at its height

and decisively defeated them.

Most accepted their lot,
the few don't.

They don't wanna be subjected

to somebody else's
power over them,

and they fight back.

Germania was to be
Rome's greatest prize,

instead, it's their
most crushing defeat.

The Empire abandons
its campaign in 21 AD,

forty years after
its first invasion.

Sets its borders at the Rhine,

and never again
sets foot in Germania.

But Rome must expand to survive.

Its strength comes from
conquering new lands,

resources and populations
to fuel evermore growth.

This underlying Roman
ambition to expand,

it affects everything.

The entire Roman civilization
is built upon it.

Driven out of
Germania in the east,

Rome turns its eye north to one of the
last remaining barbarian strongholds,

Britannia. A place unlike any
Rome's conquered before.

The Romans viewed Britannia
as the land beyond ocean,

as the place beyond the end of the
civilized world that lured them forward.

It was a land of
mists and mysticism,

where supernatural spirits
stalked the land.

It was exotic, it was wild,
it was barbarous.

And on the other side,
they thought it was very rich.

It had gold and silver
they thought.

Hunting dogs, slaves,
grain for the army.

The price of victory
was a good one.

Over the last 100 years,

the Empire launches five separate
invasions of the island,

all of them fail,
beaten back by the Celts.

Ferocious pagan warriors
who ride chariots into battle

and fight naked or covered in war
paint designed to instill fear.

For Rome, Britannia represents
something very different.

The people there are as alien
as any they've encountered.

They seem, literally,
to the Romans, insane.

And, of course, they're also
going after your head.

They won't be content
to defeat you

until they've got your head.

So that's very frightening
to the opponent.

When Rome
invades again in 43 AD,

it makes a foothold
in the south-east.

Emperor Claudius sends 40,000
troops to take the island.

The Celts rise up once again,

but this time, they are no match
for the Roman war machine.

One by one
the tribes begin to fall.

Those not defeated in battle are
bribed into peace treaties.

Among them are the Iceni, who have
been at war with Rome for two decades.

Their leader, King Prasutagus,

accepts the Empire's
peace terms.

We've already seen this
kind of tactic in Germania,

it's just what the Romans do.

They offer up a treaty
in agreement with the tribe,

you sign it, you're a friend,
you're an ally of Rome.

You don't sign it,
you'll be destroyed.

But 10 years later,
Rome gets a new Emperor,

the infamous Nero, who demands the
total submission of the Celts.

Prasutagus, King of the Iceni,

we are gathered to speed your
passage to the other world.

You brought your people peace,

now you go to yours.

Your daughters will succeed you
at the head of this great tribe,

guided by your beloved
Queen Boudica.

They will endure in this world

as you take your place
in the one beyond.

Guardians of the Sacred Mystery,

accept this sacrifice.

May this lifeblood ease
the journey of this king.

The other world is his.

Sleep well, my king.

May the other world
love you as I do.

Tell me.

The death of Prasutagus

leaves the Iceni in a very
vulnerable position.

Nero would fully expect the kingdom
to be handed over to Rome.

Instead of that, he's left half
of his lands to his daughters.

Now, leaving your kingdom
to two female

barbarian children is
utterly abhorrent to Rome.

The King still burns.

Whatever you have come for
can wait, Decianus.

My husband, the King,
made a deal!

Your husband,
the King, lays dead.

What was his now belongs
to Rome, and so do you.

You dare to insult the Queen!

You dare to break
Emperor Claudius' deal!

Claudius is dead.

I answer only to Nero.

The Empire is calling in its
loans, and they will pay.

My husband did what Rome asked.

He honored every promise.

If Rome betrays our alliance
now, know this, Decianus,

you will regret
making enemies of us!

I doubt that, you filthy animal!

How dare you!

What are you doing with our Queen?
Let her go!

The mighty Queen of the Iceni,

a woman who thinks
herself fit to rule.

What a joke!

I'll kill you!

Your v

We don't make deals with dogs.

Ah!

No!

Teach her some respect.

No!

Mom!

Take her girls!

Not the girls!

No!

Not the girls!

No!

Not the girls!

No, no, no!

Do whatever you want with me,
but leave the children alone.

Show some mercy!

Mercy is for fools.

Leave her alone!

Turn them into women!

Look after your sister.

Look after your sister.

The Romans
grossly misread the situation.

Boudica is not going to
take this lying down.

This is an insult to her tribe,

it's an insult to her god,

and it's an insult to her
and her status.

There is really only
one way out of this,

and that way is to meet
violence with violence.

I promise, I will do this
with your sword.

We will destroy them all.

The barbarians' uprising against
Rome reaches a turning point.

For the first time in 300 years,

they roll back
the Empire's gains,

driving it out of Germania.

But Rome's next target
is Britannia,

where it unleashes a wave of
violence to crush the Celts.

Now, Boudica,

Queen of the Iceni seeks revenge
for Rome's savage betrayal.

You don't know
you're a great leader

until really bad stuff
happens to you.

And then you either rise
to the occasion or you die.

This I

Boudica sets out
to amass an army.

The tribes critical to launching
a rebellion are the Trinovantes,

the fiercely anti-Roman
Silurians, and the Catuvellauni,

who turned back Julius Caesar's
invasion 100 years earlier.

Boudica has
a lot of unique challenges.

She is untried, she's untested,
she has no track record.

The British tribes have a long
history of fighting one another,

so it's never going to be easy for her to
bring the tribes together under one banner.

To bring
the Celts under control,

Rome escalates its war.

Emperor Nero installs
a new Governor,

General Gaius
Suetonius Paulinus.

Paulinus had a really good
record at putting down revolts.

He'd fought in North Africa
and done that there.

So now he came into Britain as the Governor
to a territory that was still unstable.

Paulinus' first move is to attack
the heart of Celtic culture.

The Druids are the tribes'
religious and political advisors.

The Druids have a very special
place in Celtic societies.

They manage the relationship
between the gods in Heaven

and the people on Earth.

The Druids would always feel a great
threat coming from the Roman Empire.

They'd been dominant in Gaul
but they'd been pushed out,

and now they were in Britannia.

So from the Druids' perspective,

the Romans were the big enemy.

The island of Mona, deep in Celtic
territory, is home to the Druids.

In 60 AD, Paulinus launches
a campaign to destroy it.

But when he sets out with
10,000 legionaries,

he leaves the Roman
settlements in the south,

virtually undefended
and vulnerable to attack.

This is Boudica's opportunity.

We need you here.

I am needed in Mona.

Egus and his warriors will
protect you if Decianus returns.

That won't be needed.

I'm not waiting
for the ax to fall.

I'm already sharpening
my own blade.

You don't know
what you're doing.

I know what needs to be done!

Don't let revenge blind you.

If I need your advice,
Cathbad, I will ask for it.

And when you ask for it,
I will tell you this...

Know that the only thing
worth living for

is the only thing
worth dying for.

Boudica occupies
a special status as

the leading woman of the Iceni.

She'd been whipped,
her daughters had been raped,

she symbolized the worst
of the Roman conquest,

and therefore stood
as a perfect person

to inspire the British people
to rise in rebellion.

But on the oth

Meeting like this is suicide.

Not meeting like this
is suicide.

Let her speak!

A great darkness has come,

and threatens to consume us all.

My people will never be cowed.

M the brutality thrust upon me

that none of us are safe
from the Empire.

Unless we stand now,

we will be the last generation

of Britons to have known
a taste of freedom!

We must drive out these
demons from our lands!

How?

Last time we fought them,
we were annihilated.

You know this.

Your Iceni tribe was
beaten into submission

'cause your King signed
the treaty with Rome.

From this day on, the Iceni
pays no more tribute

Your choices need not be ours.

It was not our children
who were raped.

The two children raped
by the Roman animals

may have been born of this body,

but they belong to no-one.

They belong only to this!

Our island!

And now, now they send
Paulinus and his legions

to Mona to slaughter the Druids.

And you stand there
and talk of treaties!

What do you know of them
going after the Druids?

Cathbad told me.

The Empire rides west
as we speak.

This may be our only
opportunity to strike!

Where?

At their heart.

Camulodunum.

We burn their capital
to the ground.

And what of the people there?

We slaughter them all.

I came out of respect
for your husband.

But I will not die
alongside you,

and neither should anyone else.

My people will not die
for your personal vendetta.

This is personal for all of us.

Why should we die in war

when we can keep
what we have in peace?

The Emperor Claudius used such
words to seduce our people.

But Rome...
Rome has changed.

Emperor Nero is not
satisfied with deals.

Now is the time to act,
not cower.

But let us not
decide this alone.

Let us put this to the gods.

For the pagan Britons,
their beliefs in the gods

are like the air
that they breathe.

So if she can tap into this
and make something of it,

maybe even manipulate it
to her advantage,

she's got something going
for her that's very powerful.

Behold the crow!

The spirit of our mighty
Goddess Andraste.

Let us ask her

if it is right to expel

the Roman magpie
from our island.

Let us ask her, if together
we can emerge victorious.

Ask, ask, ask.

Look at me, Andraste.

Look at me.

Look at me.

Look at me, Andraste.

Look at me, Andraste.

When does the killing begin?

The barbarians' victory in
Germania Without the Catavell

forces the Empire to find
a new frontier to conquer.

In the north, Britannia promises

a wealth of silver,
gold and slaves.

But the Celts intend
to fight for their survival.

Queen Boudica of the Iceni
wants revenge,

and does whatever it takes to convince
the tribes to join in her fight.

Incredible sacrifice

is very difficult on
an individual level.

For a greater cause, people
will give up their life,

their money, their family,
everything for the cause.

In ancient Britain,

entire communities would rise up

and they would all go on
to the battle site.

This means that
if it goes wrong,

you're not just facing
the loss of a battle,

you're facing the
loss of, potentially,

your entire people.

The tribes are on the move.

We have tens of thousands all getting
into position outside Camulodunum.

We'll be ready
to strike in two days.

The first kill is the hardest.

But like any warrior, you'll cross
that bridge when the time comes.

How could you?

How can you ask me that?

You tricked an army,
but you can't fool me.

Look,
I have tricked no-one.

You want all their blood
on your hands, too?

What?

How many people
do you have to destroy?

As many Romans as I can.

And how many Britonstay at home?
Need to Home?

Home is not a place,
it is a privilege.

And unless we fight to keep it,

it will be taken from us.

And if you die?

Then I will wait for you
in the other world

with your father.

Okay, come, come, come.

Shh.

Camulodunum is the Roman
capital in Britain,

one in a string of
settlements across

the south-east that keep the
Empire anchored on the island.

With Paulinus and his
legions heading to fight

the Druids in Mona
290 miles away,

the town is nearly defenseless.

Camulodunum
is the festering boil

for anyone with
a grudge against Rome.

Not only is it
the administrative heart

but it's filled with
retired Roman soldiers.

They're the ones who've
extracted the money from taxes,

they've insulted the gods,
they've violated the people.

The challenges that face
any leader are the same

whether you are
a male or female.

What it really boils down to

when people look up
to this person,

who is asking them to risk
their lives to go into combat,

is what is motivating
that person.

And do they have
my best interest at heart?

Can I trust them to lead us?

Time to see how you fight.

Listen here!

Lookouts and sentries first.

Cause as much
terror as possible.

We want news of our wrath
to reach Rome.

These leeches have gorged
on our blood long enough!

Tonight, they will choke on it!

Boudica goes into Camulodunum
to cause utter carnage.

She needs to send
a message of utter terror

to Roman Britain and
throughout the Roman Empire.

The Britons are on the rampage.

Rome, you have never seen
anything like this before.

Boudica.

Where's Decianus?
I don't know.

Where is he?
Where is he?

Rome. He's gone to Rome!

The Roman Empire
controls the ancient world,

but 300 years of resistance
chips away at its power.

Now Boudica's Celtic horde
strikes a violent blow

determined to fight
blood with blood.

We've beheaded all
their high-ranking men

and slaughtered their women,
as they'd done with ours.

And where are the others?

Hiding in the temple
they built to honor Claudius.

The Temple of Claudius was a
focus of emperor worship,

so in many ways
a really obvious target.

This was everything they hated
about the Romans in one place.

Please help us.

Please.

There are children here.

Please, in the name of
the gods, let us out!

Boudica, the children.

My children!

Please!

Have you no mercy?

- Mercy is for fools.
- No!

No, no, no.

Boudica's army slaughters tens of
thousands of civilians at Camulodunum.

They burn it to the ground.

A fire so devastating,
that 2,000 years later

archeologists discover a thick layer
of ash where the city once stood.

Boudica's beating Rome
at its own game

through a campaign
of shock and awe.

There's no way that Rome
is going to allow this act

to go unpunished,

and there's only going
to be one outcome.

She has in effect,
mobilized all of Rome

against her and her allies.

Rome gets word
of the attack within hours.

In response, it dispatches
troops from Londinium,

eighty miles away.

Roman legionaries.

A few thousand of them. No more
than a couple of hours away.

They're heading
straight for the caravan,

the carts and the children.

Head for the hills
and cut them off.

And you?

I'll meet you there.

The shift now between
attacking and destroying

a poorly-defended city

to take on a detachment of a
Roman Legion in proper combat,

that's escalating things
to another level entirely.

This is th

Formation!

Formation!

Goddess Andraste,
grant us vengeance,

grant us victory.

The barbarians'
300-year struggle for freedom

is gaining momentum
in Britannia.

Boudica's rebellion begins
with the bloody attack

that leaves tens of thousands
dead and the capital in flames.

The Celts are using
guerrilla tactics

that the barbarians
have adapted to fight Rome.

But this rebellion
is an escalation,

targeting civilians,
including women and children,

the kind of cruelty usually
displayed by the Romans.

The capture and destruction
of Camulodunum

was highly symbolic
for the Britons

because it was
a major Roman center,

but it was also
an extremely soft target.

It was an easy conquest.

There were no walls.

The inhabitants were Roman
veteran soldiers by and large.

So now, they could and should expect the full
might of Rome to be deployed against them.

I knew nothing would happen.

You were right.

They have attacked your people?

Worse.

Mona.

Mona?

The Druids are no more.

Paulinus' attack on the
island of Mona was brutal.

He turned loose the legionaries,

they slaughtered the women,

they went in and murdered
the Druid priest.

It would be the equivalent

of an army
marching into the Vatican,

murdering all the nuns,
killing all the priests

and then burning down
St. Peter's.

The eradication of the Druids was absolutely
catastrophic for the people of Britain.

It had ripped the heart
out of their religion,

their politics,
their leadership,

er, their communication
with their gods.

It was... It was a true
apocalypse for them.

The gods have abandoned us.

We can't go on.

We must.

Without the Druids,
what hope do we have?

Without us, what hope
do these people have?

The Druids were slaughtered
to tear us apart.

If they succeed
and our unity breaks,

it ends all opposition
against the Empire.

We have no choice but to go on.

We are the only ones
who can carry on this fight.

We must answer blood with blood!

She's right.

Look at what you have done here.

The fight has already begun.

Their troops lie dead,
their city destroyed.

If you continue, you can drive
them back into the sea.

If you give in,

Britannia will fall.

What is your plan?

We give their legions
nowhere to retreat to.

And then we tear them apart!

The Roman occupation
depends on the belt

of fortified cities
it has established

across the Celts' territory.

Camulodunum, now in ruins, Verulamium and
Londinium, the center of Roman commerce.

Boudica plans
to destroy them all.

This is the ancient equivalent

of Sherman's March
in the American Civil War.

It's pretty much
slash and burn everything.

Burn it to the ground,
leave nothing behind,

no form of infrastructure
is intact.

It's a really shrewd move now

for Boudica to attack Londinium.

It's a major port, it's
very strategically located,

so now she can drive a wedge between
Paulinus and the rest of Rome

and cut off his supplies.

The Celts unleash
vengeance on Londinium.

Boudica's troops
burned, they hanged,

they beheaded, they cut throats,

they cut the breasts of the most
noble and best-looking women

and stitched them
over their mouths

to make them look like
they were eating them,

and then they impaled the women.

If you want to shoNARR s races to Londinium,
arriving in time to watch it burn.

Six months into their rebellion,

Boudica's Celts
have killed 70,000

and destroyed three Roman towns.

But they've yet to face
Paulinus in battle.

They'll have to fight
his legions

in order to win the war.

Paulinus and his men
are returning from Mona.

Take another rider and find
them so we can end this.

Egus will find them.

In time?

We cannot wait much longer.
The people are starving.

Then seize more grain. We have
run out of places to raid.

The harvest is missed. What food
there was now rots in the soil.

Soon people will die.

You can be sure Roman
hunger bites just as hard.

They must be near,
and we will defeat them.

Soon we will be able
to plant again, eat again,

and live again.

Goddess Andraste,

please come to me.

Come to me, guide me the way.

Please, help me.

Paulinus' scouts caught him.

The Romans are close,
one day's ride.

Give that to my husband.

Tell him, tomorrow
we will be free.

We must not let them dig in.

We leave at dawn.

Rome is the most powerful
empire in the ancient world,

built on domination
through expansion.

And now, fighting
to conquer Britannia,

where Boudica is beating them
at their own game,

waging a guerrilla war
with Roman-style vengeance.

We've had tens
of thousands of dead.

We've got three cities
in flames.

Rome has never had to cope with

anything like this
before in its history.

Boudica's Celtic Army outnumbers
Rome's forces three to one,

as the two sides prepare to
battle for the first time.

General Paulinus,
a master military tactician,

looks to even up the odds.

No commander ever wants to go

on the battlefield
for a fair fight.

Why would you ever
want a fair fight?

You want an unfair fight with all
of the advantages on your side.

Instead, he devises a plan forcing the
Celtic warriors into a narrow defile

where he can take them out
one by one.

For Boudica to stand
any chance of survival,

she must get her troops through
the defile as quickly as possible

so that they can then spread out

and use their tactics,
that have worked so well.

But speed is of the essence

if she has any hope
of winning this battle.

- Boudica is attemptin
- Your men are ready?

Ready.

What would Father say?

He would say to you
what he says to me.

I am with you, my love.

Our enemy believes
we are a divided land,

a conquered people

who are easily made slaves.

But we have shown them

there is a greater truth
in our hearts.

We are one battle away

from our freedom!

One battle away
from our destiny!

We are one battle away
from driving

these bastards from our shores!

Forever!

To those who would oppress us,

welcome to your death!

Run.

Run!

Run!

Run! Run!

Run.

Boudica's final battle
was a catastrophe

for the British rebellion
against Rome.

Eighty thousand British rebels
died on that battlefield that day.

After the battle, Roman forces carried
out a policy of annihilation,

virtually of genocide.

The Roman forces even used
famine against the Britons

to starve out those
they did not kill

and did not forcibly subjugate.

She led the way
she'd been taught

and she led with her heart,
and it worked for a while.

Boudica's rebellion
ends in defeat,

but inspires more tribes
to rise up against Rome.

She put a face on what rebellion
in Britain looked like.

It was a terrifying face.

It had taught the Romans that they could
never properly trust the Britons.

They always had
to be on their guard.

That somewhere there
might be another Boudica

planning another rebellion.

It takes another 60 years for the
Empire to finally conquer the island.

The campaigns to take Britannia and
Germania come at such great cost

that the Empire can no longer afford
to keep fighting the barbarians.

Rome's age of expansion is over.

Rome stopped expanding
for a number of reasons.

One was military.

The resistance on the borders

was getting increasingly severe.

The other was bureaucratic.

The Romans couldn't maintain the
domains they'd already conquered

because they didn't have a sophisticated
enough government to do it.

The Empire now builds walls
to keep the barbarians out.

In Scotland to the far north, along the
Rhine River in the west, and in the east,

the Danube becomes
the dividing line

between Empire
and eastern Europe.

For the first time
in four centuries,

barbarians living
on Rome's frontier

are free from its tyranny.

The barbarians were essentially
enjoying a kind of a peace dividend,

there were good opportunities
for trade with the Empire.

So generally speaking, being just outside the
borders was a really good thing for them.

Among them are the Goths,

a multi-ethnic people who settled north
of the Danube 200 years earlier.

The Goths were a Germanic tribe

who had moved into
what is now Romania.

They were a settled
agricultural society

but they were ruled
by a powerful warrior elite,

who were famous The Goths often
skirmished with the Romans,

but managed to maintain an
uneasy truce along the border,

until a dark force rising in
the east shatters the peace,

Huns.

The Huns are a new
phenomenon when they appear

at the end of the 4th Century.

No-one's seen them before and
no-one knows how to deal with them.

They were a warrior race
who lived by plunder and war.

With the
Roman Empire to the west

and the Huns to the east,

the Goths are caught
between two deadly threats.

Alaric,

more wood.

Father!

Alaric!

Mother!

4th Century, the Roman Empire
is a vast superpower,

commanding 40 million people.

But as Rome's age of expansion
ends, a rising threat

emerges on its eastern border

and catches the Goths
in the crossfire.

They have no answer
for the Huns deadly raids.

To save his people,
the Goths' leader,

Fritigern, is forced to make
a bargain with his enemy.

Fritigern was a military leader

of one of the groups of Goths.

He certainly had been involved
in a number of wars.

Fritigern asked Rome for asylum in exchange
for safe passage across the border

into the protection
of the Empire.

He agrees
to provide Emperor Valens

with an army of Goth mercenaries
to help fight the Huns.

Fritigern didn't really have
much of an option here.

He was caught between
a rock and a hard place.

He had to get away from the Huns

and doing a deal with the devil,

in the person of
Roman Emperor Valens,

was the only option
he had really.

Fritigern must gather his
tribes before it's too late.

You're safe.

Come.

GABBARSee if there's ink about
the s anyone left alive. ers

Take any grain, livestock.

And have them buried.

We don't have much time.

This was just a scouting party.

When the next wave comes,
the earth itself will tremble.

Take this.

You'll live.

Alaric is just a young man when
he survives the Hun raids.

Fritigern takes him into his protection
as they head for Roman soil.

One of the effects
that the Huns had

was to make people
flinch away from them,

and the direction
that people flinched

was towards the Roman Empire.
That's where security was.

So as all these barbarian tribes
moved away from the Huns,

it created an absolutely
massive refugee crisis,

a bit like we're seeing today.

We're gonna cross the Danube,
and start a new life.

Everything will change now.

The Romans will help us.

The Goths descend on the
Danube like a tidal wave.

Fritigern's people
number around 50,000,

but thousands more
converge on the river.

Emperor Valens assigns his eastern
legions to organize a safe crossing,

but they fail
to follow his orders.

The Goths are walking
into a death trap.

On the Roman frontier, the
growing threat of the Huns

is throwing the barbarian
world into chaos,

driving the Goths into
the arms of their enemy.

But the Empire's promise of safe
haven across the Danube River

is over before it even begins.

The crossing of the Danube
was a disaster

from beginning to end.

The Romans were in no way
prepared for the number of Goths

who they eventually had to
transport over the river.

They wound up bringing them over
in rafts that were too small,

some of the capsized and went into
the river and people drowned.

Hundreds of Goths
die in the crossing.

Those who survive,
confront the harsh reality

of their so-called alliance
with the Empire.

The Goths are disarmed,
so they have no way

to defend themselves.

And the Roman officers
begin to exploit them

the moment they cross
the Danube.

Hey!

Hey!

Enough!

- They encounter this renegade
- Roman Commander, Lupicinius.

He's just trying to make
money out of this process

so he treats them like the
vermin he thinks they are.

And you are?

I'm Fritigern.

So you're their leader.

You don't look like much.

And this is
your spineless rabble.

There'll be no trouble here.

I will not tolerate it.

Raise your hand again
to one of my guards,

you'll hang.

You'll see that it grants us
the right to safe passage.

You are careless
with your Emperor's words.

We can't have barbarians just wandering
across the country causing mayhem.

We've come in peace.

Have you?

If any one of you
is concealing a weapon,

you'd better hand it over now.

My men have all complied.

And your women?

Need food.
My people are hungry.

Do you have
payment for this food?

Or is it charity you want?

We have money.

They can start on that.

You think we're savages?

No.

No, the Huns are savages.

You are, what,

cowards, maybe.

Parasites.

If you don't like it,

you can go back across the
river and deal with the Huns,

like men.

Lupicinius was only
enacting the kinds of feelings

that had been inculcated in him

by a Roman system that said,
"Scorn all barbarians."

These people were, in the
Romans eyes, inferior,

and they deserved to be fleeced
and they deserved to be abused.

The Empire settles the Goths
in a string of camps

along the riverbank,
under military guard.

I think is a combination of
The Roman soldof the Goths

straightforward logistic
problems and Roman ill-will.

They control food supplies, so they can
control the Goths by threatening starvation.

We have to send
a message to the Emperor.

I'm convinced he's ignorant
of what has happened here.

And how do we do that?

The last I heard, he was
fighting out in Persia.

We could fight these
bastards, but then what?

We'd be outlaws.

That's not what
I brought us here for.

What did you bring us here for?

For a home,

as the Emperor promised,

so that you and your sister
could be safe.

And we will get that, it just...

It just may take time.

The Romans were more
than happy to abuse them,

and that began immediately.

It was partly because that there
weren't enough resources to go around.

They didn't have enough food to feed as
many refugees as came into the Empire.

But it was okay to abuse these
people and treat them as slaves

We've had 12 people
die today from hunger.

Parents are selling
their children.

Their selling their children?

For dog meat.

We can't hold out much longer.

Avina? Avina!

Avina!

Avina!

Alaric!

Alaric!

Alaric!

Avina!

Alaric!

Avina!
Alar

What is it?

They've taken her!
What?

You lied!

You said we'd be safe.

Lupicinius' arrest
of their leader Fritigern,

provokes the already
restless Goths into action.

Lupicinius has made
a terrible misjudgment here.

The Goths are in fact
not the weak, starving,

helpless people
he thinks they are.

They're some of the mightiest
warriors in the ancient world.

So he's stirred up
an absolute hornets' nest.

Your mob brays
like a wounded donkey.

They fear
for my well-being.

As they should.

You hit a guard.

That's a capital offense.

Is he dead?

I should have hit him harder.

You're a troublemaker.

We came in peace

and you've done everything you
can to make enemies of us.

My people are starving whilst
you enjoy good food and wine.

How will that taste when they
tear you limb from limb?

Are you threatening me?

Not I.

But I think it would be wise
to let me return to my people

so that their minds
can be put at ease.

The Romans just
assume their own superiority

because that is what they'd been told since
they started their service in the Army,

in fact, since they
were little infants.

They had, I think, no idea how powerful
these Gothic forces were going to be.

Now is the time.

Fritigern has secretly
been stockpiling weapons

smuggled into camp
or stolen from Roman guards.

His people ready to revolt.

Like Boudica before him,
Fritigern realized

that the treaty sign
with Rome was worthless.

And it wasn't that he was just stuck
between a rock and a hard place,

he's literally starving.

So he has no choice but to
take the fight to Rome.

Stop them!

On the eastern edge
of the Empire

a 300-year period of relative peace
between Rome and the barbarian world

comes to an explosive end.

Now is the time.

When Fritigern and his
horde of 15,000 Goth warriors

overthrow their military
guards and break free

inside Rome's borders.

We came in peace.

We came in friendship.

What idiot makes an enemy of me

when I come in peace?

We'll send a message
to the Emperor.

Rome now has an absolutely
nightmare scenario

of its own making.

So not only do we have
the Huns outside the Empire

and all the terror
that they're instilling,

but now you've got a fully-fledged
rebellion inside the Empire, as well,

by warriors who could have
been used to fight the Huns.

Once Fritigern and his forces
had overcome Lupicinius,

all these other people came
flooding over the Danube,

joined the Goths, and they
took over all the territory

of what's today
Northern Bulgaria.

Towns, villages, encampments,
farms, everything is being

burned, pillaged, destroyed.

Occupied fighting
a war in Persia,

Rome fails to mount a defense
against the Goth raids.

Fritigern controls
the frontier for two years,

seizing territory and closing in

on the most important cities
in the eastern Empire,

the heavily fortified Adrianople
and the capital, Constantinople.

Emperor Valens sends
his men back from Persia

to stop the Goths' advance.

The Saracen mercenaries

There.

Hello, boy!

You came back.

If the Goths are going to
survive Rome's legions,

they need to change
their strategy.

Fritigern can't
go on the rampage forever.

He didn't come into the Roman
Empire to go on to the rampage,

he came in there to settle.

Adrianople is there
for the taking.

If we breach its walls, there's
enough food there for half a year.

All the supplies and weapons we
could ever need are waiting.

We lost good men yesterday.

All but one.

Alaric, join us.

We have a choice.

Risk everything and attack
Adrianople head-on,

or stick to the forests
and continue raiding,

make life as difficult
as we can for the Romans.

I saw what happened yesterday.

The Saracens
can pick us off at will.

There's no safety
amongst the trees.

I say we take Adrianople.

And so be it.

Kunimund, send out
the raiding party.

If we're to take Adrianople,
we need to be supplied.

And send our cavalry men
with them.

We can't afford to be
taken by surprise again.

That puts us at risk. Without our
horsemen, we're unprotected.

Can you see another way?

Adrianople is
a large fortified city

that serves as a military base
for the eastern Empire.

Adrianople was
full of Roman wealth,

it had a large population.

It was strategically important
and it had strong walls.

So for all those reasons, it would
make a good base for the Goths.

Fritigern's army numbers 15,000
when he moves on the city,

a massive wagon train
of warriors and civilians.

But the Romans know he's coming.

Thirty thousand soldiers
stream out of Adrianople

to take on the Goths
before they reach the city.

Leading them
is Emperor Valens himself.

Valens takes command personally
of the Roman forces,

and he will be the last
Roman Emperor to do that

for about 200 years.

Ink t
Fritigern improvises a plan

to circle the wagons as a defensive
line to protect the civilians.

Between them and the
oncoming Roman force,

he builds a chain of bonfires.

It's high summer,
and when the fires are lit,

the stifling heat of the sun, the flames and
the smoke will assault the Romans head-on.

Fritigern knows that the
Romans have been marching

for about eight hours

in the heat of
a baking hot summer day.

They're exhausted,
they're without water.

The Romans feel like they're
just walking straight into hell.

Struggling to fight off
the Roman legion,

the Goths are pushed all the
way back to the wagons.

They suffer heavy losses
trying to hold the line.

But reinforcements arrive

just in time.

As the cavalry turns
the tide of battle,

Emperor Valens flees
from the frontline,

running for shelter
as his men carry on the fight.

The Goths burn Valens alive.

Barbarians have killed
an Emperor of Rome.

The outcome of the battle was an
unmitigated disaster for the Roman Army.

They lost as much as two-thirds
of their entire force.

And to lose a Roman Emperor in battle
against barbarians on Roman soil

was unheard of.

The victory is so devastating that
Rome has no choice but to surrender.

The Goths emerge from battle as a free
barbarian nation within the Empire.

But the fight against Rome
is not over.

In the struggle to come, a new leader
will rise to challenge the Empire

as no barbarian has done before.

His name is Alaric.

Next time on Barbarians Rising.

W'ere no longer the underdogs.

W'ere the rising power.

They don't need to respect me.

They need to fear me!

From today we cease to do Rome's
bidding.

Today,

We go to war with Rome.

This,

is treason!

Nothing can save you now.