Episode 59 - Why did the Arabs win? Part 4: T...

How do you explain your strange interest in Byzantium to your friends and family? I argue that you can't understand the modern world without Byzantium.This is the last episode of the podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. 

I answer the final batch of questions which came in after 1453. They are mostly fun speculation or about me and the podcast. Our Constantine Acrostic Christianized the Roman state,Oldest offspring of the Great.Nearly reigned one hundred days,Saved the city, so they say.Theophanes ...  Show more

How did the expansion of Islam out of the Arab peninsular affect Gaza in the seventh century? Who was ‘Amr ibn al-As and how did he ambush the Byzantines in Gaza? Why is the Islamic Conquest described as the “invisible conquest” by some historians? William and Anita are joined on ...  Show more

The battles and victories. 

We mentioned many of the accomplishments of Omar ibn il Khattab in our last episode, and in this one we continue our discussion of the second caliph's reign. There was no going back for the Arabs after their historic victories had altered their world irreversibly, and a strong le ...  Show more

How did World War One change the face of the Middle East? And, how did this seismic and controversial period shape the century to follow?