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History Extra podcast

How Christianity came to dominate the Roman world

History Extra podcast

Immediate Media

History

4.34.5K Ratings

🗓️ 28 August 2025

⏱️ 41 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What if the 'fall' of Rome wasn’t a collapse, but a rebrand? In this episode, Alice Roberts delves into the dramatic transformation of the Roman world and the rise of Christianity, from cliffside burials in Wales to imperial politics in Constantinople. Speaking to Danny Bird, she reveals how early Christianity wasn’t a grassroots movement of the poor, but a strategic shift embraced by elites, bishops and emperors. (Ad) Alice Roberts is the author of Domination: The Fall of the Roman Empire and the Rise of Christianity (Simon & Schuster, 2025). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Domination-Alice-Roberts/dp/1398510084/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0/?tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-histboty. The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:24.1

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0:27.6

excludes plug-in hybrids, Delantis Financial Services.

0:33.9

Welcome to the History Extra podcast, fascinating historical conversations from the makers of BBC History Magazine.

0:43.3

What if the fall of Rome wasn't a collapse, but a rebrand?

0:49.8

Well, in today's episode, Alice Roberts delves into the dramatic transformation of the Roman world and the rise of Christianity,

0:58.3

from cliffside burials in Wales to imperial politics in Constantinople.

1:04.1

Speaking to Danny Bird, she reveals how early Christianity wasn't a grassroots movement of the poor,

1:10.1

but a strategic shift embraced

1:12.5

by elites, bishops and emperors. Alice, what drew you to this particular moment in history,

1:20.0

the collapse of the Roman Empire and the rise of Christianity? This is a particular period in

1:25.6

history that I've been interested in for a long time.

1:29.2

I think the main attraction for me is that particularly in Britain, it's a period where we don't have much history.

1:36.9

Sounds like an odd choice to write a history book about a period where we don't have much history.

...

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