This video is sponsored by the Great Courses Plus, a subscription on-demand video learning service

where you can enjoy lectures from the very best professors from all over the world. But more on that

at the end of the video. Before we start this video, I'd like to just give a quick shout out to a

fantastic podcast that you need to listen to. The History of Byzantium is definitely

one of the best history podcasts out there. As many of you know, ancient Rome never fell in the east.

And with the history of Byzantium, creator Robin Pearson is continuing the gripping story.

From the barbarian invasions of the 5th century, all the way up until the

final fall of Constantinople in 1453. This podcast was actually part of the inspiration for starting

history time in the first place, so it's great to be affiliated with it and in a way come full circle.

So if you like Roman or medieval history, you need to go and

check out the history of Byzantium, wherever you get your podcasts from.

In the summer of 960, a vast armada landed on the Arab-held island of Crete.

Exact numbers of the expedition remain difficult to establish,

though estimates range from 30,000, all the way up to the high number of 60,000 soldiers and sailors.

During a time when most European armies numbered no more than a few

thousand men, this surely was one of the most colossal invasion forces ever raised during the

early Middle Ages. Swords unsheathed, colourful banners from the Balkans to the marches of Asia unfurled.

They had come from the Eastern Roman Empire to recapture the island after well over a century of rule

by the incoming Arab elite who'd seized it during the dark days of the 9th century.

Up until a few decades before this time, Byzantium had been on a seemingly endless defensive

campaign, fought for over 300 years against the all-powerful Islamic caliphates

of the Middle East.

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