Today's episode is brought to you by Audible.com. My recommendation this month is Dynasty by Tom Holland,

the story of the Julio Claudians. Go to audibletrial.com forward slash TV critic to listen to it today.

Hello everyone and welcome to the history of Byzantium. Episode 92, Questions 3.

For the third century in a row here is an episode devoted entirely to answering your questions.

Listen to G, asks do you think the theme system was a more robust defensive strategy than the

earlier field army model? Or was it only successful because of the reduced circumstances of the Romans?

Since I started researching the history of Byzantium, I have to say my favorite period has been

the rise of the Arab caliphate and the collapse of the Roman world. We know so little about what

exactly went on that the possibilities are endless and the little scraps of evidence left behind

are so tantalizing. I get the impression that some listeners still struggle with the idea that Rome

could collapse so completely and the Arabs rise with equal swiftness. And I think the speed of

Byzantium's fall is a warning from history. A state can survive one major crisis but given no time

to recover, it can disappear quickly if another crisis appears with equal force.

The Romans were down on the canvas multiple times during their history, the sack of the city in

390 BC, Hannibal, the civil wars. Each time the government found the breathing room necessary to

drag itself back up and carry on fighting. It took great skill and resilience and will,

but the breathing room allowed it to happen. The Romans only survived the crisis of the third

century because the empire was so big. Two thirds of its territory could be in utter chaos,

but as long as one segment remained calm, the troops and administrators of that area could

restore order to the others. By 600 AD, Byzantium was a smaller place. The breathing space was more

limited. The empire was severely weakened by plague and war, the Arabs attacked at the perfect

moment and quite unexpectedly proved to be unstoppable. The Arabs themselves were as surprised as

...