All language subtitles for Rome Rise and Fall of an Empire - S01E08 - Wrath of the Gods_track3_[und]

NARRATOR: In 160 AD, Rome stands
supreme, the lone superpower

of the world.

But peace and prosperity
\h\h\h\hlull the empire

into a dangerous complacency.

When Rome’s enemies
sense its weakness,

emperor Marcus Aurelius
\h\h\hrallies the empire

to fight for its very survival.

Now, in the third century AD,
as the Roman Empire struggles

\h\h\h\h\hagainst foreign
invasions and the growing

\h\h\hpower of Christianity, one
emperor emerges from the chaos.

\hHis name is Decius, a leader
who calls upon brutal warfare

\hand ancient pagan
gods to deliver Rome

\h\h\hfrom the powerful
forces tearing it apart.

By the middle of the
\hthird century AD,

Rome has fallen into
a full-blown crisis.

Barbarians prey upon the
\hweakening borderlands,

\hand civil war breaks
out across the empire.

\hTHOMAS R. MARTIN: It
was a dangerous time,

and it was a really
tension-filled time

\hbecause the Romans didn’t know
how they were going to organize

\htheir government to provide
them the safety and prosperity

that they’d grown accustomed
\h\h\h\hto over the past 200

years of Roman peace.

\h\hNARRATOR: Desperate for
answers, many Roman citizens

\hlooked to their
ancient pagan gods

to deliver them from
\hthe perils of war.

But others find solace in
\ha radical new religion,

Christianity.

\h\h\h\h\h\hDAVID S. POTTER:
Christianity, in the middle

\hof the third century, is
the most rapidly expanding

\hreligious movement
in the Roman Empire.

There’s still not a
\hlot of Christians.

I mean, let’s not think in terms
of more than a few 100,000,

but it’s a religion which
\his getting more visible.

NARRATOR: New believers wash
\haway their old pagan gods

through an act described in
a second century catechism.

MAN: Baptize in living water.

\hBut if thou has
not living water,

then baptize in other water.

And if thou art not able
\hin cold, then in warm.

\h\hIn the name of the
Father and of the son.

And of the Holy Spirit.

\h\h\hNARRATOR: In this
ritual of purification,

\h\hRomans are born
anew as Christians.

\h\hBelieving in only one true
God, they reject the empire’s

traditional pagan religion.

\hTHOMAS R. MARTIN: Christians
are still trying to figure out

\hhow they are going to live
successfully and faithfully

in a world where they are
\hstill a small minority,

and the majority of the
\hcitizens of the empire

are not Christian and
\hindeed are believers

\h\hin the traditional Roman
religion with its many gods

and goddesses.

\h\h\h\h\hNARRATOR: As
outsiders, Christians

must rely on the goodwill of the
Roman emperor for protection.

In 248 AD, Rome’s Emperor Philip
is one of the most tolerant,

giving an audience to many
\hlocal Christian leaders

in his imperial palace.

DAVID S. POTTER: Philip was
not a great traditionalist.

He seems to have been
\h\hopen to discussion

with a wide variety of different
people, including Christians.

He wasn’t a Christian himself.

That much is very clear.

\h\hNARRATOR: Though Philip
may take a genuine interest

in this new religion, his
\htrusted General Decius,

a resolute pagan, disapproves.

MICHAEL KULIKOWSKI: The
\h\hmost important thing

to realize about Decius is that
he’s extremely traditional.

\hHe’s very dedicated to a sort
of almost mythical view of Roman

values.

\h\h\hAnd what that
means, of course, is

that things that can be
\hperceived as un-Roman

\h\hare looked at as
dangerous by Decius.

NARRATOR: Decius fears Philip’s
Christian sympathies will anger

\h\hthe pagan gods, worsening
the crisis already enveloping

the empire end to end.

In Syria and Germania, Roman
soldiers launched mutinies.

\hAnd in Moesia, modern
day Bulgaria and Serbia,

a vicious new tribe
\h\h\hof barbarians,

\h\hthe Goths have crossed the
Danube into the empire itself.

\hThis is no time
to anger the gods.

\h\hAs the Goths pour
into Roman territory,

\hthe imperial forces led by
Commander Marinas Pacatianus

must defend the empire against
\h\hhis new and savage enemy.

\h\hEDWARD J. WATTS: The
intentions of the Goths

perhaps were well-known
\h\h\h\h\hto the Romans,

but to the extent
of their strength

\h\hand the duration of their
attack is something the Romans

couldn’t have anticipated.

And the degree and the depth to
which they penetrate into Roman

territory also is something
\h\h\h\hthat Romans probably

wouldn’t have imagined as well.

\hMICHAEL KULIKOWSKI: We don’t
know very much about the Goths

in this period.

What we do know is that the
\hregion north of the Danube

became the launching post
\h\hfor hit and run raids

into the Roman Empire.

\h\hNARRATOR: Pacatianus is
able to hold the Goths back

\h\h\h\hand for the time being
secure the empire’s frontier.

\h\hNOEL LENSKI: The
Romans at this point

were as powerful as a military
\hforce as they had ever been.

\h\h\hAnd they were
certainly more than

prepared to square off against
\h\h\hthese barbarian peoples.

\hNARRATOR: But in
their crude camp,

\h\hthe soldiers grow
tired of taking orders

from a distant ruler.

Instead, they choose
\h\htheir commander,

\hPacatianus to replace
Emperor Philip in Rome.

Pacatianus has now become the
most dreaded political player,

a usurper.

\h\hTHOMAS R. MARTIN: A
usurper, that is to say,

man who could become the emperor
through unofficial channels,

\h\h\h\hwould gain the throne by
getting the support of the army.

The support of the army
in the end was what made

and unmade emperors.

\hThe Roman senate was supposed
to give legitimacy to an emperor

\h\hby recognizing
his right to rule.

But without the support
\h\h\h\hof the soldiers,

no emperor was going to last.

NARRATOR: As a usurper,
Pacatianus is confident

that the support of
\hthe military will

\hallow him to lead
his legions to Rome

and take the throne himself.

\h\hBack in Rome, after learning
of the rebellion on the Danube,

\h\h\ha desperate Emperor Philip
seeks guidance from his General

Decius.

EDWARD J. WATTS: Philip
senses that not only is

his military support eroding,
but also his position in Rome

is likely to erode, and he knows
that this is a revolt that he

has to deal with personally and
he has to deal with quickly.

NOEL LENSKI: When Philip
\h\hconfronts the senate

and asks them what they
\hwould advise him to do

about this revolt, most of them
are too scared to say anything,

but Decius actually
speaks up and says,

let the thing collapse
under its own weight.

\h\hNARRATOR: From the
Danube region himself,

\hDecius tries to
instill confidence

in Philip but in vain.

\h\hThe emperor has good
reason to be concerned.

THOMAS R. MARTIN: Philip would
have been particularly worried

\habout Pacatianus
because Pacatianus

\hwas commanding soldiers
to the north in the region

of the Danube River where
\hyou could expect to find

\h\hthe toughest, most battle
hardened soldiers and the best

commanders.

So Philip knew that Pacatianus
\h\hwas a real military threat

to Philip’s political position.

\h\hNARRATOR: Trusting his
general Decius completely,

Emperor Philip sends him from
Rome across the alps to Moesia

to quell Pacatianus’s revolt.
But even before Decius arrives

in Moesia, mutiny breaks
\hout among the soldiers

of Pacatianus’s camp.

THOMAS R. MARTIN: The region
where Pacatianus had gained

\hhis support was under
real pressure of attack

from barbarians.

Pacatianus hadn’t been
successful in keeping

the barbarian attackers
from ravaging the region

where his army was from.

Pacatianus’s army wanted to win.

\hEDWARD J. WATTS: Pacatianus is
a relatively middling character.

One source actually tells us
that Pacatianus wasn’t even

a very high ranking
\hmilitary official.

Pacatianus is done in.

\hHe’s killed by his
soldiers, and that’s

the end of the little incident.

\hNARRATOR: On his
mission to Moesia,

General Decius brings his son
\h\hHerennius, a young soldier

in the Roman army.

\hBut when Decius arrives, he
finds a camp without a leader

and soon learns of
Pacatianus’s fate.

THOMAS R. MARTIN: Pacatianus’s
men got rid of him, I suspect,

\h\hbecause they heard
that Decius was coming

to take care of things.

\hAnd Decius was from that
part of the Roman Empire.

He would have been known as
a tough, capable, local guy.

\hDAVID S. POTTER:
Decius’s claim was

\h\h\h\hthat once he had
arrived in the Balkans,

\h\hPacatianus was overthrown by
his own soldiers who would then

attach themselves to
the cause of Decius.

\hHe was then left with a
rebellious army that still

\hdidn’t think that his
demands were being met.

\h\h\hNARRATOR: With
Pacatianus murdered,

General Decius relishes
his new role as leader.

He and his son Herennius
attempt to restore order

to the orphan army.

The mutinous soldiers have
\hother plans for Decius.

DAVID S. POTTER: There are very
few ways in which an army can

\h\h\hactually make its voice
heard if it feels that it has

grievances, and the basic
\h\hway that any army can

do that is by mutiny effectively
in these cases going on strike.

NARRATOR: Demanding
a ruler more capable

than Philip of protecting
\h\h\hthe Roman frontier,

\hthe soldiers proclaim
General Decius emperor.

EDWARD J. WATTS: This
makes a lot of sense.

He’s from the region,
\hgenerally speaking.

He’s from the Balkans.

And so he’s sympathetic
\h\h\h\h\hto the plight

of armies along the Danube.

He also, I think,
\hvery much senses

that when these troops
\hproclaim an emperor,

\hthey’re willing
to fight for him.

\h\hThey trust him, and he can
help them pursue their agenda

at core.

NARRATOR: In an act
\hof utter betrayal,

\hDecius has become a usurper
himself, cheered on by his son

Herennius.

Though Philip is an
\hold friend, Decius

sees no other way of returning
\h\h\hRome to its former glory

than wresting control of the
\hempire with his own hands.

Emperor Philip dispatches
his trusted General Decius

to suppress a rebellious
\h\h\h\harmy in Moesia,

but it is Decius who launches
\ha new revolt as his soldiers

proclaim him emperor.

\hIn Rome, Emperor
Philip is enjoying

his comfortable imperial
life and expects nothing

\h\hfrom Decius but news
of the rebellion’s end.

EDWARD J. WATTS: When Philip
learns that Decius has been

made the new emperor has
been proclaimed emperor

\hby the Nubian legions,
Philip has every reason

to be very much afraid.

And so Philip has to understand
that while Decius marches

\h\hon Italy, Philip has
to go out and meet him.

He can’t stay in
the city of Rome

and hope to retain his position.

\hNARRATOR: Stunned by
the deepest betrayal,

Philip must now prepare himself
to face his former friend

and ally.

\h\hHe orders his legions to
ready themselves for battle.

Philip and his troops ride
north from Rome to Verona

to confront Decius’s army coming
from Moesia through the alps.

Emperor Philip and Decius
\hmeet in a bloody battle

near the alpine pass.

DAVID S. POTTER: Once the army
is on the Danube have declared

him emperor, Decius is in a very
powerful position and marches

into northern Italy.

Philip comes out to meet him.

\hHe has a very small
army at his disposal.

\h\h\hHe has the sort of
basic strategic reserve

of the empire, a couple
\h\hof legions in Italy,

but he’s heavily outnumbered.

\h\h\hNARRATOR: Sixth century
chronicler [inaudible] records

the day.

\hMAN: The supporters of Decius,
though they knew that the enemy

\h\h\hhad the imperial forces,
still retain their confidence

\hin Decius, trusting his
great skill and prudence.

\h\hTHOMAS R. MARTIN: The
battle would sort of hinge

on who would give way first.

Morale was an incredibly
\h\h\h\h\himportant part

\h\h\h\hof all ancient
battles but especially

at this time when there
\h\hare fewer soldiers,

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hthey’re less
well-trained, and frankly,

more susceptible to panic.

Panic was the real enemy
\hin an ancient battle.

\h\hIf your side lost its
spirit, lost its cohesion,

and turned to run, all was lost.

Soldiers who had panicked
\h\hand were running away

\hcould be picked off at
will without any danger

to the enemy.

DAVID S. POTTER: When the
\h\harmies meet in battle,

Decius wins a very easy victory.

We don’t have any
\hprecise details,

\hbut we have a pretty good idea
of what the difference would be

in the forces on the two sides,
and we can see that Philip

really didn’t have a chance.

\hNARRATOR: In the battle
of Verona, Emperor Philip

himself is brutally slain
\h\hand his army defeated.

\hVictorious, Philip’s former
general and confidante Decius

is now eager to begin his
reign as emperor of Rome.

Back in the capitol, Decius
\h\h\hand his son Herennius

\hare received by the members
of the senate, who hail Decius

as emperor.

\hHe believes that in order
to restore Rome’s security,

\hthe empire must first uphold
its traditional pagan values.

MICHAEL KULIKOWSKI:
\hOne of the things

that Decius is very
\hconcerned with is

\h\h\h\h\h\hthe health and the
correctness of Roman worship,

of imperial worship.

\hI think it’s clearly the case
that the crisis that the empire

is facing, the very large
\h\h\hnumber of civil wars

\h\h\hand the very large
number of foreign wars,

makes a correct relationship
\h\hwith the gods important.

NARRATOR: Ready to overcome
the crises they experienced

in Philip’s reign, the senate
welcomes the strange and pagan

rule of Decius complete
\hwith ritual sacrifice.

THOMAS R. MARTIN: The
\htraditional religion

of the Romans--

we call it paganism--

involved worshipping and
honoring and respecting

many gods and goddesses.

If the Romans didn’t show their
respect by sacrificing animals

\hby really dealing in the blood
and meat that literally brought

life, then the Romans expected
\hthat the gods would abandon

them.

NARRATOR: For the empire at risk
for barbarian attacks on almost

every border, it seems the gods
have already abandoned them.

\hNOEL LENSKI: The third
century in Roman history

\his often referred to
as a period of crisis,

\hand the period when
Decius comes to power

is just as that crisis is
\hreally coming to a head.

\h\h\hThe situation on the
frontiers is about as bad

as it’s ever been.

NARRATOR: Barbarian Goths
\hcontinue to wreak havoc

\hon the Roman borderlands,
depleting the once powerful

Roman armies.

\hMICHAEL KULIKOWSKI:
In an ancient battle,

there was almost no visibility.

The noise was tremendous.

It was very important
to stand one’s ground

\h\h\hbecause once a
line was broken, it

\h\hwas much harder to defend
yourself and defend the person

next to you.

And once the line was broken
\h\h\hand your enemy started

coming around to your side, it
\hwas very easy for a massacre

to start.

\hNOEL LENSKI: The northern
frontiers, for reasons that

\h\h\haren’t entirely clear, a
number of peoples who had once

been controlled, contained
\h\h\halong the frontiers

are now attempting to
move into the empire.

\hThis is extremely
dangerous from Rome.

\h\hNARRATOR: If something isn’t
done, the borders of the empire

will collapse completely.

To start, new pagan temples are
commissioned by Emperor Decius

\h\h\hin Rome, hoping to
appease the angry gods.

\h\h\h\hNaming his son
Herennius co-emperor,

Decius sets out to impose
\htheir traditional values

on the entire empire.

\h\h\h\hThey will not
tolerate Christianity

or any other deviation
\hfrom pagan devotion.

NOEL LENSKI: The
Romans very much

\hbelieved in the
power of the past,

and that meant that Decius
\h\h\hdecided to undertake

\h\h\hmajor religious reform, he
simply looked back to the past.

How have we always done things?

\h\h\h\h\hWe’ve always
performed sacrifices.

I’ll ask the people to
\hperform a sacrifice.

NARRATOR: In temples
\hacross the empire,

all Roman citizens are required
to follow Emperor Decius’s

\h\h\h\h\hdecree and make public
sacrifices to the gods of Rome.

\hTHOMAS R. MARTIN:
The central activity

of traditional Roman religion
\h\hrevolved around sacrifice,

which is after all involved
\h\h\h\hwith life and death

\hin the most immediate
and even brutal fashion.

You kill an animal, and
\h\hyou cook it in order

\hto show your respect to
the gods and to literally

share the stuff of life.

For Romans, sacrifice
\h\h\h\hwas absolutely

essential to ensuring what they
called our peace with the gods.

NARRATOR: Emperor Decius demands
that every Roman take part,

regardless of religion.

DAVID S. POTTER: What he did was
insist that every single person

make the sacrifice and obtain a
certificate that they had done

so.

He was able to use
\hthe tax system,

the tax rolls to make sure that
you could bring everybody in,

\h\hand you had to
make the sacrifice

in front of witnesses.

NARRATOR: Anyone who does not
\hsubmit documentation proving

\h\h\htheir sacrifice risks
imprisonment or even death.

\h\hDAVID S. POTTER: This
created terrible problems

for Christians.

Do they simply do this?

Do they make the sacrifice,
\h\h\h\h\hor do they refuse?

If they refuse, what is
going to happen to them?

They’re violating a direct
\horder from the emperor.

NARRATOR: The citizens of
Rome, Christian and pagan,

await an uncertain future.

\h\h\h\hAfter Decius slays
Emperor Philip in battle,

he sets out to strengthen
\h\h\hthe troubled empire

\hagainst the growing
Christian population.

The pagan Decius and
\hhis son Herennius

\hbegin by issuing strict
orders compelling everyone

to sacrifice.

\h\hEmperor Decius proclaims
that all Christians on pain

of torture and death must make
sacrifices to the pagan gods,

even though their
faith forbids it.

THOMAS R. MARTIN: Christians
\h\h\h\h\hcouldn’t sacrifice

to the traditional gods without
forsaking their religion

and believing that they were
doomed to eternal damnation.

NARRATOR: Forced to
obtain a certificate

\h\h\h\hto prove their
sacrifice, Christians

face an impossible choice
\h\hbetween their emperor

and their religion.

DAVID S. POTTER: How could
they remain loyal subjects

\h\hand also make sacrifice to
what they regarded as demons?

Some Christians find
\hways out of this.

We know of Christians
\h\h\hwho paid bribes

to obtain a certificate
\h\h\h\h\h\hon sacrifice

without actually having
\h\hmade the sacrifice.

\h\h\hWe know that other
Christians did actually

make the sacrifice.

NARRATOR: They can only hope
that their god will forgive

such transgressions in
these difficult times.

But not all Christians comply
with Emperor Decius’s decree.

In 250 AD, Fabian,
the bishop of Rome

\h\hhimself, shows
the people of Rome

\hthe earthly consequences of
an unbending Christian faith.

EDWARD J. WATTS: It’s quite
\h\h\hpossible Decius didn’t

understand that Christians
\h\h\h\h\hcouldn’t perform

these sacrifices.

But in effect, by requiring
that everyone in the empire

act religiously in the same way,
Christians are now excluded.

And the penalty that Decius
\hset out for not performing

these sacrifices is a severe
\h\h\hpenalty, in some cases

extending even to death.

\h\h\hNARRATOR: Fourth century
Christian chronicler, Eusebius

\hof Caesarea writes of
the Christians martyred

\h\h\hduring the third
century persecutions.

\hMAN: I am struck with wonder
and their all enduring courage

and the open profession
\h\h\h\hof their faith,

\hhow the martyrs were not
cast down in their minds,

\h\hbut their eyes looked
upwards, and they neither

trembled nor feared.

\h\h\h\hNARRATOR: Third century
Christian chronicler Lactantius

raves against the emperor.

\hMAN: Decius appeared in the
world, an accursed wild beast

to afflict the church,
and who but a bad man

would persecute religion?

NARRATOR: As the religious
\h\h\h\hfervor escalates,

many Christians cannot find the
same strength as the martyrs.

They choose instead to keep
\h\htheir heads down and try

to stay alive.

But in 250 AD, no one is safe
from the scourge of angry gods

as a deadly uncontrollable
plague sweeps the empire.

NOEL LENSKI: We don’t know
that much about the plague

from a medical perspective.

\h\hWe don’t know precisely
which kind of plague it was,

whether it was the bubonic
plague or something else.

NARRATOR: Not even the empire’s
most innocent are spared

from the plague’s blight.

The disease ravages the
\hempire, at its height

between 251 and 266 AD,
killing thousands a day

in the city of Rome alone.

\hTHOMAS R. MARTIN: There were
no really strong antibiotics.

There were some plants.

\h\h\hEven onions have a
mild antibiotic effect.

\hBut in the face of
plagues, especially

which could be viral,
there was no defense.

\hYou could be healthy one day
and at death’s door the next.

NARRATOR: Even the emperor
is powerless against such

a virulent enemy.

THOMAS R. MARTIN: I think
\h\hDecius would have been

\h\hdistressed to find that
even after he tried to have

this universal sacrifice,
\h\h\hthat things got even

worse, especially when the
\hplague hit subsequently.

\h\hEDWARD J. WATTS: You have
bodies decomposing and pieces

of bodies.

The city is littered
\h\h\hwith the dead.

\hThe living are, of course,
affected immensely by this.

And the living begin to wonder
about their fate and the fate

of the empire and ultimately
the cause of such suffering.

NARRATOR: Across the
\hempire, Christians

fear for their safety as pagan
\h\hRomans blame the outsiders

for what they see as
a divine punishment.

\h\hNOEL LENSKI: They look
for a scapegoat naturally,

and one of the scapegoats that
they found was the Christians.

\h\hAnd it’s therefore likely
that the plague played a role

in initiating the desire
\h\h\hfor a persecution.

NARRATOR: In a desperate
\h\hform of retribution,

\h\h\h\hthe pagans hope the
Christian blood will appease

their angry gods.

NOEL LENSKI: The locals decided
to turn upon the Christians

in their area, and they
\hliterally slaughtered

their next door neighbors one by
one systematically, hunted them

\hdown, ferreted them out, put
them on trial and killed them.

\h\h\h\hNARRATOR: The
persecutions weakened

many Christian communities
\h\hthroughout the empire.

\h\h\hEven the small
Christian community

of Ephesus in modern day Turkey
bears witness to the violence.

\h\h13th century chronicler
Jacobus de Voragine records.

\h\h\hMAN: When Decius the
emperor came into Ephesus,

\h\hhe sought out the
Christians commanding

them to make sacrifice
or to be put to death.

NARRATOR: Upon finding seven
\h\hChristian men who refuse

his edict, Decius orders
\h\h\ha cruel punishment

depicted in both Christian and
Islamic medieval manuscripts.

MAN: Decius enclosed them in
a cave sealed with stones so

that they should die within
\h\hits walls out of hunger

for lack of food.

\hNARRATOR: The legend
has the seven martyrs

\h\hsleeping in the
cave for 208 years,

only waking when a Christian
\h\hemperor rules over Rome.

Many of the empire’s Christians
flee to the wilderness,

hoping to avoid persecution.

\h\hNOEL LENSKI: There were
important figures who tried

to escape martyrdom by fleeing.

And this was not necessarily
\hfrowned on by the church.

\h\h\h\hThe church did not
encourage people actively

to seek martyrdom.

If you wish to preserve
\hyour church community

and preserve your own life,
\hit was acceptable for you

\h\hto try to run out
into the countryside.

\h\h\h\h\hNARRATOR: The most
unfortunate of the refugees

are left vulnerable to attack
\hby the scavenging barbarian

tribes, who prey upon those
\h\h\halong the weak borders

of the empire.

THOMAS R. MARTIN: The Roman
Empire had no police force.

\h\h\hWhen you left your
community, you literally

didn’t have any kind of
\hautomatic protection.

\h\hThere was no 911 to
call in the Roman Empire

if you were attacked.

So Christians suffered
\hmiserably, I’m sure,

when they had to flee
\hthe centers in order

to avoid sacrificing.

\hNARRATOR: The fourth century
Christian chronicler, Eusebius

\h\h\hof Caesarea, recounts the
journey of a fleeing Christian.

\h\hMAN: One man fled with
his wife to the mountains

\h\hnever to return,
and of the Christian

brethren searched diligently.

They could not find either
\h\hthem or their bodies,

\hand many who fled
to the same mountain

were carried into slavery
\h\h\h\hby the barbarians.

\h\hNARRATOR: The empire appears
even more chaotic now than when

the hopeful Decius was crowned.

\h\hFirst angry gods, then
plague, and now barbarians

\h\hare about to threaten the
future of the civilized world.

Emperor Decius struggles as the
empire’s defenses are weakened

by civil unrest and plague,
allowing invading barbarians

to threaten Rome’s borderlands.

\h\hIn 250 AD, the barbarian
Goths again cross the Danube

\hinto the imperial
province of Moesia.

The Goths are now led by the
mighty chieftain Kaniva, who

enjoys the security
\hof a loyal tribe.

MICHAEL KULIKOWSKI: The
\hway a man like Kaniva

would secure his position walls
by rewarding his followers,

\h\hby giving them a
chance to get rich.

\h\hThere was only so much
wealth north of the river,

north of the Danube.

South of the river, where
\hthere are Roman cities,

there’s an almost limitless
\h\h\h\hsupply of captives,

of treasure, of coined money.

NARRATOR: Sixty century
\hchronicler, Jordanes,

recounts the Gothic king’s
plan to relieve the empire

of its abundant wealth.

MAN: Kaniva divided the
\h\harmy into two parts,

\hand while he stayed in camp
with 70,000 men on the Danube,

he sent the other warriors to
\hwaste Moesia knowing that it

\h\hwas undefended for the
neglect of their emperor.

NARRATOR: In the rural
\hvillages of Moesia,

the Roman citizens
\hhave no warning

before this sudden violent
\h\h\hattack of the Goths.

This is a group that’s very
\h\hmuch devoted to plunder

and probably also the
\hseizing of captives.

EDWARD J. WATTS: So Romans would
have seen in this an incursion

\h\h\h\h\h\hof a very large and
well-organized group, very much

\hdetermined to take
whatever they could

get their hands on and destroy
\h\h\hwhat they couldn’t take

with them.

DAVID S. POTTER: One advantage
that the Goths have actually,

\h\h\honce they get
within the empire is

that there is an excellent road
system along the Danube, which

they know will lead
\hthem to the cities

\h\hthat they want to sack so
they can take the plunder back

north of the river,
\h\h\hand the chief

will become a more famous
\hand more powerful chief.

NARRATOR: With the Goths now
raiding within the empire’s

borders, they must be
\hstopped at all costs

before they reach the
heart of Rome itself.

Emperor Decius quickly
\hprepares for battle

and takes no chances in planning
his attack on the Goths.

His oldest son Herennius
will join him in Moesia,

\hbut his younger son Hostilian,
only a boy, will remain behind.

EDWARD J. WATTS: Hostilian is
left in Rome with his mother.

\h\h\hThe rationale for this I
think it is relatively clear.

\h\h\hIf the situation in Rome
requires an imperial presence,

Hostilian can represent
\hthe principate there.

But it’s a way of trying to
divide the imperial presence

and secure Decius’s authority
\h\h\h\hthroughout the empire.

NARRATOR: If Decius
\h\h\hand Herennius

fail to survive their mission,
the entire weight of the Roman

\h\h\hEmpire will fall on the
shoulders of young Hostilian.

\h\h\h\hEmperor Decius and
Herennius travel from Rome

\h\heastward to face
Kaniva and the Goths

\hat Nicopolis Ad Istrum on
the Danube River in Moesia.

Outside Nicopolis, the Gothic
king Kaniva and his barbarian

\h\hwarriors prepared to
besiege the Roman city.

\h\hDAVID S. POTTER: Kaniva is
clearly a very able character

\hon a tactical level, but he
doesn’t have a strategic plan,

\hrather than to sort of
smash, grab, and return,

which is what the tribes
\h\h\hsee Rome as being,

a place to go steal cool
stuff and bring it home.

\hNARRATOR: Emperor Decius and
Herennius intercept the Goths

just in time before they
\h\hcan reach Nicopolis.

MICHAEL KULIKOWSKI: When you’re
in ancient warfare in a battle

between Romans and
\hbarbarians, you

were face to face with the
person you were fighting.

\h\hYou were face to
face with the person

that you were trying to kill.

And the battles often
didn’t last very long

\hfor the simple reason
that it was very tiring.

\hIt was very tiring, and
after the initial impact,

people wore out very quickly.

NARRATOR: Sixth century
\h\hchronicler Jordanes

describes Kaniva’s defeat.

\h\h\hMAN: When the
emperor Decius drew

\h\hnear, Kaniva with his
army, still in good shape,

at last withdrew to the Haemus
\h\hMountains of the Balkans,

which were not far distant.

NARRATOR: But the
\hpersistent Goths

do not continue their
\hretreat and instead

move south into the Thracian
\h\h\hcity of Philippopolis.

The Goths terrorize the land
\hsurrounding Philippopolis,

\hbrutally abducting the Roman
women to be sold into slavery.

EDWARD J. WATTS: The Goths that
erupt are a very well-organized

force.

\h\h\h\hTheir king doesn’t
command a small war band.

It seems that he commands
\ha relatively large army

of thousands.

This makes him different from
\h\hprevious Germanic invaders

in the Danube region.

So this is going to be a
moment of profound fear.

NOEL LENSKI: Kaniva managed
\h\hto besiege Philippopolis

and eventually take it
\hin ruthless fashion.

\hHe did this and
killed, according

\h\hto one source, as many as
100,000 people in the process.

\h\h\h\hNARRATOR: But
despite his campaign,

\h\hKaniva finds an unlikely
ally inside the city walls.

Titus Julius Priscus, an
ambitious Roman governor

who would prefer to be emperor.

Kaniva lures Priscus into
making a traitorous pact.

\h\hHe allows Kaniva into
Philippopolis in exchange

\hfor barbarian support against
a shared enemy, Emperor Decius.

THOMAS R. MARTIN: Both
\h\hPriscus and Kaniva

had the goal of bringing down
\h\hthe Roman emperor, Priscus

from the inside, Kaniva
\h\h\hfrom the outside.

And so Priscus made a secret
\h\hdirty deal saying, look,

\hI’ll surrender our people to
you if you promise to get rid

\hof the ones who support
the emperor instead of me.

And Kaniva said, that’s a deal.

NARRATOR: The two leaders seal
\h\hthe deal with a common act

for both barbarian and Roman.

THOMAS R. MARTIN:
Priscus and Kaniva

\h\hwould have had a formal
ceremony in which they swore

\hbefore the gods
over a sacrifice,

pouring a libation of wine to
\hthe gods to show each other

\h\h\h\h\hthat their faith was
guaranteed by divine sanction.

In this case, Kaniva was lying.

NARRATOR: Priscus will learn
soon enough it’s all a ruse.

\h\hThe Goths take what they
need, supplies and captives,

and brutally dispose
\h\hof what’s left.

Emperor Decius has driven the
\h\hGoths back, but in 250 AD,

\h\h\htheir king Kaniva
tricks a Roman governor

\h\hinto surrendering his
city, provoking a face-off

\hwith Decius and
his imperial army.

\hAfter the Goths plunder
and desert Philippopolis,

\h\hEmperor Decius pursues the
fleeing king Kaniva northward

to Abrittus in Roman Moesia.

In their camp outside Abrittus,
Decius, his son Herennius,

and their legion’s priest
\h\hturn to the only force

\h\hthey know will guarantee
victory, their beloved pagan

gods.

THOMAS R. MARTIN: Decius
knew that this was going

to be the struggle of his life.

\h\hSo Decius did what
he was supposed to do

to win the favor of the gods.

He sacrificed.

\h\hAnd with the smoke
rising to the heavens

\has far as the eye could see
on and around the altars, then

\hno one could doubt that Decius
had done absolutely the maximum

to try to win this
titanic struggle.

NARRATOR: Sixth century
\h\hchronicler Jordanes

remembers the sacred
\h\hplace of worship

\h\h\h\houtside the modern
Bulgarian city of Razgrad.

\hMAN: To this day,
that place is still

\h\hcalled the altar of
Decius because there he

had offered amazing sacrifices
\hto idols before the battle.

NARRATOR: If Decius is going
to bring stability to Rome,

he must push the Goths back
\h\hacross the Danube River

for good.

\hFinally, in 251
AD, Decius’s army

confronts the Gothic forces
\hat the Battle of Abrittus.

The terrain is wet and difficult
for the highly organized

Roman army who falter against
\h\h\h\htheir barbarian enemy.

\h\h\hNOEL LENSKI: I
think Decius really

thought that he was going to
\hfinish off Kaniva finally.

But instead, Kaniva was
\h\hable to surprise him

\hwith the number of troops
that he had who were hidden

in these marshes and then
\halso to outmaneuver him

\hon a type of battlefield that
just didn’t work well for Roman

fighters.

\hNARRATOR: The Gothic forces
soon overpower Decius’s army.

\h\hThe sixth century chronicler
Jordanes recounts the emperor’s

greatest laws.

MAN: In the battle
\h\hthat followed,

\h\hthe Goths quickly pierced
Herennius, the son of Decius,

with an arrow and
crudely slew him.

\hNOEL LENSKI: When his
son, Herennius Etruscus,

\h\htakes an arrow and is
dying on the battlefield,

Decius doesn’t break down.

Instead, he proclaims,
"Let no one be afraid.

\hThe loss of one soldier is
no diminution to the state,"

as if he didn’t care, as if it
\hdidn’t matter to him at all.

\h\hNARRATOR: Decius
dismounts his horse

\h\h\hand furiously
charges into battle.

But this time, his pagan
\hgods cannot save him.

\h\h\hAccording to sixth century
Byzantine scholar [inaudible],,

MAN: Decius and his army were
\hso assailed by the missiles

of the barbarians that not one
of them escaped with his life,

thus ended the life of the
excellent emperor Decius.

NARRATOR: Decius is the first
\h\h\hemperor in Roman history

\hto be killed by
a barbarian army.

\hEDWARD J. WATTS: It’s a moment
where the Roman Empire probably

seems to its inhabitants to
\hbe beginning to careen out

\hof control, and the loss of
an emperor, especially one who

seems to be as effective
as Decius, in this sort

\hof circumstance has
profound implications.

It must contribute in
a very significant way

to a loss of a sense of security
that the Romans would feel.

NARRATOR: Though some say the
emperor’s body is never found,

\h\hthe fourth century Christian
chronicler Lactantius describes

Decius’s ultimate end.

MAN: Stripped and naked, he lay
to be devoured by wild beasts

\hand birds, a fit end
for the enemy of God.

NARRATOR: Back in
\hRome, the plague

\h\hhas taken the ultimate toll,
as Decius’s heir, Hostilian, is

\hstruck with the disease not
long after his father’s death.

THOMAS R. MARTIN: The death
of an emperor and of his son

were signs that the gods’
\h\h\hfavor had been lost.

Romans would have been
\hfilled with tension,

wondering how are we going to
regain the lost divine favor.

\h\h\hNARRATOR: With Emperor
Decius and his sons’ deaths,

the crisis of the third
\hcentury only worsens.

Usurpers revolt in Gaul.

Barbarians continue to attack
the empire’s northern borders.

\hAnd to the east, territory
is lost to foreign invaders

as well.

\hYet Christianity continues
to grow, despite an increase

in persecutions.

MICHAEL KULIKOWSKI: Decius’s
experiment with persecution

was a failure.

In the decades that
\h\hfollow, there’s

only one other sustained
attempt at persecution.

\hAnd then for more than 40
years, the Christian church

is allowed to grow
\hat its own pace.

NARRATOR: Eventually, over
100 years later in 380 AD,

Christianity becomes the
official state religion

\hof the Roman Empire, an
apt reward for their faith

and courage, according to fourth
century chronicler Eusebius

of Caesarea.

MAN: Anyone who examines
\hthe events of history

\hwill find that all
those who have acted

\h\hon the side of the
righteous and the just

have tasted the sweet
\h\hfruit of success.

\h\h\hNARRATOR: Emperor
Decius allowed religion

\h\h\hto divide the empire,
turning Roman against Roman

in a desperate time of
\hviolence and plague.

\h\hWithout a unified
front, Rome’s borders

\hare left open to the
greatest and bloodiest

of all enemies, the barbarians.