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I personally read Holland's book on Julius Caesar, which was called Rubicon, and enjoyed it immensely.

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Hello and welcome to the history of Rome.

Episode 170, Fatilla Commeth.

So last week, we saw how the myriad external pressures on the Roman Empire threatened to crack it up completely.

But you may have noticed that these external pressures were falling unevenly on the two administrative halves of the empire.

Sadly, by the mid 5th century, the Western Empire had become little more than a semi-functional confederation of barbarian tribes, with the imperial court at Ravenna sort of managing to cling at some semblance of its former prestige.

Huge swaths of what had once been a truly united political entity were now autonomous zones run with little regard for the Emperor's authority.

In contrast, the Eastern Empire was doing pretty well for itself, all things considering.

Since hitting rock bottom with the double blow of Julian's failed campaign against the Sassanids in the late 360s, and the Gothic War of the late 370s, the East had actually rebounded nicely.

I don't mean to imply that the 5th century was some kind of picnic for Constantinople, but you just don't see the succession of, and then they signed a treaty giving away Egypt, and then they signed a treaty giving away Greece.

And then they signed a treaty giving away Cappadocia, the way you do with the West.

But this week, the hammer, or should I say the scourge, is about to drop on the East as hard as it ever fell on the West.

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