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Documentary, 8 Days That Made Rome S01E08 - The Rebirth of Rome
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00:00Ancient Rome, one of the greatest superpowers in history, whose far-reaching legacy continues to shape our lives.
00:09For close on a thousand years, the Romans dominated the known world.
00:16Theirs was an extraordinary empire that heralded an age of unprecedented prosperity and stability,
00:23but that also ruled through violence and oppression.
00:27Rome's rise to greatness wasn't inevitable.
00:32Its epic history was often decided by single critical moments.
00:39In this series, I'm exploring eight key days that I believe help to explain Rome's remarkable success.
00:49To understand the full significance of these eight days, I'm travelling across the Roman world.
00:55I am incredibly lucky to get access to this archaeological site.
01:00Examining remarkable finds.
01:02These are the only Roman imperial insignia ever to have survived.
01:07And investigating the complexities of what it was to be Roman.
01:14This is the day, in May 337 AD, when the dying Emperor Constantine was baptised in a final commitment to a new religion
01:26that would shape the next thousand years of Rome's story and human history.
01:32I shall, from this time, prescribe to myself such a course of life as befits his service.
01:38Constantine the Great, as he'll come to be called, is, for me, one of the most fascinating and complex characters in Roman history.
01:48Constantine broke with the pagan past of ancient Rome and founded a new capital for the empire.
01:54His decisions still live with us today.
01:57The Roman Empire had first exploded across the Mediterranean world as a republic.
02:10A limited form of people power that ruled, in theory at least, for the benefit of all citizens.
02:18But it expanded to its greatest extent under imperial rule, peaking in the second century AD.
02:24The great size of the empire brought with it great stresses to government.
02:31And soon it began to struggle, simply too big to be ruled by one man.
02:38Weak leadership, civil wars and barbarian invasions threw the empire into a crisis.
02:46Emperors came and went at a dizzying speed.
02:48No fewer than 50 in 50 years, many of them killed by their own armies.
02:55So, in 293 AD, a radical reform was introduced in an attempt to save the empire from disaster.
03:02It was divided into four parts, with four capitals and a different emperor based in each, all working together to keep Rome strong.
03:14The system worked for a while, but it had one major flaw.
03:18With four times as many emperors, there was four times the scope for rivalry, four times as many succession disputes.
03:27And by 312 AD, the system had completely broken down.
03:32The empire was racked once again by civil war.
03:35But one man would restore order to this disintegrating empire, and set Rome on a new course, with Christianity at its heart.
03:49We're told that he was the illegitimate son of a Greek barmaid, and his name was Constantine.
03:58The transformation of the Roman Empire was secured by one emblematic day that came at the end of Constantine's remarkable life.
04:20The elderly emperor was travelling east on a military campaign when he became seriously ill.
04:25The events of this day were recorded by his biographer, Eusebius of Caesarea, from eyewitness accounts.
04:42How far have we come?
04:44It didn't feel very far at all.
04:46Over 50 miles.
04:48We could set off back to Constantinople in the morning.
04:51Retreating.
04:53Resting.
04:55It's nothing more than weakness, indecision, cowardliness.
05:00You go back one time, and you will go back every time after that.
05:06I just meant because you are a little bit ill.
05:09We're not going back.
05:12As he lay dying that day, Eusebius tells us that Constantine reflected on his life,
05:18looking back at his extraordinary achievements and his deepest regrets.
05:23Constantine had been born 65 years earlier in the city of Nesos in what is today Serbia.
05:36Although his mother was a humble barmaid, we're told,
05:39Constantine's father was a Roman general who became one of the four emperors of the divided empire.
05:45When his father died on campaign in York, Constantine, who was now a general himself,
05:53was acclaimed successor by his troops.
05:57He took control of the northwestern section of the empire, basing himself in Trier.
06:02Meanwhile, there was turmoil elsewhere in the empire, when a general seized power in Rome for himself.
06:10His name was Maxentius.
06:13From his base in Trier, Constantine saw this instability as an opportunity to claim control of more of the fractured imperial territories.
06:22With the support of his troops, he marched south to confront the usurper, Maxentius.
06:31The decisive showdown took place here at a crossing of the River Tiber called Milvian Bridge, just outside the city.
06:37It was a confrontation critical to Constantine's rise to power, and a key chapter in the story of his spiritual transformation.
06:48A story which would end in the rebirth of the Empire of Rome.
06:53In 337 AD, as Emperor Constantine lay dying, his biographer, Eusebius, tells us he used this time to reflect
07:07on the sins it had been his lot to commit during his bloody rise to power.
07:15It's not good. I fear the odds are quite seriously stuck against him.
07:23The odds are always against me.
07:3125 years earlier, Constantine had taken on Emperor Maxentius in a vicious battle at the Milvian Bridge on the outskirts of Rome.
07:39The first steps to unify the broken empire.
07:45Maxentius had 150,000 men.
07:48How many did we have, Quintus?
07:50Less than 40,000.
07:51Less than 40,000.
07:55Who could prevail against those odds?
08:06I remember taking my sword from a man's chest and chopping the top of another man's head off.
08:12Now I wonder what God let him down in his moment of need.
08:20My cavalry swept along the flanks of his soldiers, trampling and slaying all that stood in their way.
08:27Maxentius and his men became confused and started to flee in all directions.
08:31I had my eyes set on Maxentius, but he fled back towards the city.
08:36We tried to cross the bridge, but it collapsed with the weight of so many fleeing soldiers.
08:44When I saw Maxentius floating in the water, I felt no triumph.
08:54Maybe it was because so many soldiers drowned with him.
08:57So many families.
08:58Constantine had lost fathers, lost fathers, and brothers, and sons.
09:04Constantine had been merciless, and in the aftermath of his great victory, he rode into Rome, and Maxentius' head displayed on a spear before him.
09:15His devastating victory at the Milvian Bridge meant he became the sole ruler of the western half of the empire.
09:25The grand prize, Rome, was his.
09:30In Rome's civil wars at this time, it was common for the victors to create monuments to their success.
09:37Well, now Constantine was going to prove that he was in charge, and just look at how he did it.
09:45Isn't it brilliant?
09:57So, what you're looking at here are the colossal remains of a statue that originally stood 12 metres high,
10:05and dominated a basilica, a kind of swanky town hall that Maxentius had had built.
10:12All this is pretty impressive now.
10:15But just imagine what it was like when it was first made.
10:20I just love all of this because it is such a serious bit of 3D PR.
10:27Move over.
10:28Constantine is saying,
10:30I am the ruler of Rome now.
10:34Constantine attempted to eradicate all traces of Maxentius' brief time and power, but one thing escaped him, and it was only rediscovered in 2006 at the base of the Palatine Hill in the heart of Rome.
10:52We've been given privileged access here in the vaults of the National Museum of Italy.
10:58Now, it is genuinely exciting to see these, because these are the only Roman imperial insignia ever to have survived.
11:09The whole thing was buried in a wooden box and wrapped in the silk of imperial banners.
11:15These are scepters, so these had been held by the emperor to prove his power.
11:21This beautiful one would have been covered in gold leaf and its tops with a blue orb representing the globe, which, by the way, reminds us that the Romans didn't believe that the earth was flat.
11:33Now, we think that this whole thing would have been buried by Maxentius' followers to preserve his memory, and the fantastic thing is that it's worked, because for 1,700 years, all of this was kept safe, and now we can share it with the world.
11:52In stark contrast, Constantine as the victor was able to flaunt his triumph.
11:58This magnificent arch in the heart of Rome celebrates his victory against Maxentius, but it also hints at a surprising new influence guiding Constantine to victory at Milvian Bridge.
12:12You've got Constantine defeating the barbarians and giving handouts to the masses and being crowned by the goddess of victory, as well as a few bespoke images, like Maxentius' men drowning in the Tiber.
12:25But then, up there at the top, there's a cryptic, potentially game-changing inscription.
12:35Constantine, inspired by the divinity, delivered the state from the tyrant.
12:42This mention of divinity hints at an event that later Christian authors were eager to commemorate, and that quickly became a significant feature of Constantine's life story.
12:57That, on the eve of battle with Maxentius, the emperor was confronted with a luminous vision in the sky.
13:04Christ then came to him in a dream declaring, with this sign, you shall conquer.
13:12Constantine shared what he'd seen with his troops.
13:14Some said that sign was a kind of cross, made out of the two Greek letters, Chi, Ro, which are the first two letters of the name Christ.
13:30Some sources tell us that Constantine ordered his soldiers to paint this sign on their shields, and emblazoned thus, the vision's prophecy was fulfilled, and Constantine could claim a victory thanks to Christ.
13:46Whether or not Constantine was really motivated by a Christian vision around this time, it seems he did help the rulers of the empire come to terms with their Christian minority.
14:00Within just a few months, Constantine does seem to pin his colours firmly to the Christian mast, by backing an edict that stops the persecution of Christians right across the Roman Empire.
14:18Until this point, the overriding belief system of Rome was paganism, a diverse religion of many gods, which rewarded offerings such as animal sacrifice.
14:30But Christianity was a new cult on the rise.
14:35As many as one in ten citizens were Christians, and it made great political sense for a man who was determined to unify the empire to embrace this curious new religion with its radical philosophies.
14:48Alexander Evers is an expert in early Roman Christianity.
14:52In this period, Christianity is very much on the fringes of society.
14:57It's an odd element within the traditional Roman world, where those traditional values of strength and courage are very, very important.
15:08And all of a sudden, you get a group that comes in and preaches to the humble and meek, and promises them paradise.
15:16So it's really interesting, then, that Constantine seems to be attracted to this fledgling faith.
15:21It's almost as if Constantine thinks, heck, let's give this a go and see what happens.
15:27After his conversion, his troops will follow him gradually over time.
15:34He begins to build churches everywhere.
15:36Christians are allowed to practise their faith in the open.
15:40But he does still keep his options open, doesn't he?
15:42He cannot just cut all the ties with the old traditional Roman religion.
15:47He doesn't want to.
15:48That would have been political suicide.
15:50And perhaps as there's little voice in the back of his mind saying, you never know.
15:57I think Constantine's interest in Christianity was genuine.
16:01And he soon fed Christian ideas into the ethos of the empire.
16:06The first steps in a revolutionary new direction for Rome.
16:10He abolished crucifixion and outlawed gladiator fights.
16:15Social justice was now on his imperial agenda.
16:20But while these Christian ideals were coming into play in some quarters of the empire,
16:25there was trouble and turmoil at its heart.
16:28By 314 AD, the Roman world was now consolidated into two halves, east and west.
16:38The western empire was unified under Constantine.
16:42The east had been brought together by an emperor called Licinius.
16:46But Constantine's ambition couldn't allow for a rival.
16:49So he'd need a pretext to go to war with another Roman co-ruler.
16:53According to the historian Zosimus, it was Licinius who provided it.
17:05Rather than attack on the battlefield, Licinius attempted a regime change by stealth.
17:12And one night in 316 AD, he sent his cousin to Rome with orders to assassinate Constantine and his eldest son, Crispus.
17:21But Constantine had word of the plot, and was ready.
17:37It is never good when someone attempts to take the life of an emperor, dear Crispus.
17:42But that does not mean the emperor cannot use it for gain.
17:45End this now.
17:59Kill me.
18:04I could kill you.
18:06But that wouldn't end this.
18:13Continue to lie.
18:14And when Quintus has ran out of parts to cut off you, he will bring in your children one by one and cut parts off them.
18:28Confess that it was Licinius who sent you to kill me, and I will spare your children.
18:33I confess Licinius once you're dead.
18:36He sent me.
18:39Constantine.
18:41Promise me my children will be spared.
18:43Thank you, Licinius.
18:57Constantine's new Christian ideals didn't hinder his relentless drive.
19:02With this justification for war,
19:05one half of the empire was now pitted against the other.
19:10They fought for eight years, Constantine pushing deep into Licinius's territory in the east.
19:18The decisive battle came in the year 324 AD.
19:22This is the Bosra straits, with Asia on one side and Europe on the other.
19:28And these waters, as well as a battleground on the Asian side, saw ferocious fighting between Constantine and Licinius.
19:37We're told that once again Constantine raised his Christian standard to rally his troops.
19:43And Christian authors of the time described the conflict not as a battle between emperors, but a battle between good and evil.
19:51After pinning his new Christian colors to the mast, Constantine launched a final massive assault on Licinius, destroying his forces.
20:04With his victory, the broken pieces of the empire had finally reunited under Constantine's subtle rule.
20:11He founded a city just across the straits from his triumph, built on what had been Byzantium, he would call his city Constantinople.
20:23The idea of Rome seemed to be back on track.
20:26One empire, one emperor, and a leader who was blessed with fortune in war.
20:31But Constantine had a challenge.
20:33He had to achieve something that no emperor had managed in a century, to give peace and stability to his people while holding on to power.
20:45To preserve his newly restored empire for future generations, Constantine planned to consolidate power through his family, headed by his eldest son Crispus.
20:55But the dream of a new imperial dynasty would soon turn into a nightmare that would haunt him to his dying day.
21:07Can I really be forgiven?
21:13Emperor Constantine had won control of the Roman world, bringing the empire back under the rule of one man.
21:21He then looked to secure his legacy through his descendants.
21:25Here in the Netherlands, in the Leiden Museum of Antiquities, is an artefact that shows us how the emperor attempted to reinstate the old Roman system of hereditary succession.
21:38He put his family full front and centre of political life.
21:43This gorgeously carved cameo seems to be signalling the importance of four key members of Constantine's family.
21:51So that's Constantine there in the middle, and that's Helena, his mother at the back,
21:57Fauster, his wife here, and his eldest son Crispus by his first wife.
22:03It's absolutely packed with clues and interest.
22:06First of all, just the fact that there are two women there at all is very unusual,
22:10as is the fact that Constantine and Fauster are gazing adoringly at one another.
22:15Believe you me, this does not often happen on official imperial portraits.
22:20Both the women are pointing at Crispus, who's wearing a helmet and carrying a sword,
22:25as if he's destined for imperial greatness.
22:28And it does seem at this point that he was being groomed for succession,
22:32so it looks as though Crispus is indeed Constantine's favourite.
22:39But Constantine's desire for his tight-knit family to help him rule would never be realised.
22:47I was dreaming of my son Crispus.
22:51He should be here now, and everything I have built should be his.
22:56You have done very well this day, Crispus.
23:02This is as much your victory as it is mine.
23:06So much nif.
23:08I loved him.
23:10I nursed him.
23:12I schooled him.
23:13I trained him.
23:17Constantine's eldest son Crispus was born to his first wife, Minna Vina.
23:22But we know that the Emperor chose a woman better connected.
23:26In 307 AD, the Emperor had taken a second wife, Fausta.
23:33I chose Fausta to replace my first wife.
23:37I thought that was reward enough.
23:41I didn't agree to replace my first boy.
23:45Help me.
23:46Help me, Constantine.
23:48Help me.
23:49Guide me.
23:50Help me.
23:51What's wrong?
23:52What's happened?
23:54Crispus.
23:56He came to my room.
23:58I ran from him.
23:59I hid from him.
24:00But he caught me.
24:03And he beat me.
24:06Crispus.
24:08He lay with me.
24:09When Constantine heard the alleged crimes of Crispus against his stepmother, Fausta,
24:15he ordered the arrest, trial and execution of his beloved son and heir.
24:21I was angry.
24:26I didn't hesitate.
24:29Why didn't I hesitate?
24:30It is done.
24:51I have done many terrible things, but none more terrible than that.
24:58My mother came to me day after day, night after night.
25:04She told me Fausta had accused Crispus of forcing himself upon her so that I would get rid of Crispus
25:10and replace him with her son.
25:14You see, I am not great.
25:18I am a fool.
25:28A pawn to a woman.
25:31Oh, hold short.
25:33Now, Constantine's anger turned against the woman, who had apparently deceived him.
25:38Help me.
25:40Help me.
25:41Help me.
25:48Pray with me.
26:00Can I really be forgiven?
26:05You're Constantine.
26:07You are a great warrior and servant of the one true God.
26:13Should I be forgiven?
26:15Now, we're told this story by the Roman historian Zosimus,
26:33who was writing 200 years after the event,
26:36but had access to earlier texts.
26:39Even at this distance, it is horrifically chilling.
26:45It seems that Constantine had annihilated all that he held dear.
26:50And tellingly, and really unusually for an emperor, we know that he never married again.
26:56With the death of his wife and son, Constantine's plans for a dynasty were over.
27:06Instead, he threw himself into the project that would shape the dynamics of the known world from here on in.
27:14His new city of Constantinople.
27:16It's now Istanbul in Turkey, where East meets West, North meets South, and where Asia meets Europe.
27:27It's here the great trade routes connect, leading to a wonderfully cosmopolitan sharing of goods and ideas.
27:34And in many ways, this is what ancient Constantinople would have been like, really buzzing with people.
27:41We know that in the markets there, as many as 40 languages were recorded,
27:46and they were selling everything from silks and sesame seeds to spices from the Far East.
27:51So it is a little bit like travelling back in time coming here.
27:54Just four years after the death of his wife and son, Constantine moved full-time to the city that bore his name.
28:04He celebrated its role as the heart of his empire with construction projects that combined both pagan and Christian imagery,
28:13traces of which still survive.
28:16I'm really fond of this monument, even though it is a bit beaten up today,
28:20because it is just such a dogged survivor through 1,700 years of history.
28:26And boy, it must have been impressive in its heyday.
28:30So originally, that purple column rose over 50 metres high,
28:35and it was topped with an image of Constantine as the great sun god Apollo,
28:40complete with golden crown.
28:44Now, it's really interesting, all of this,
28:46because as well as all the pagan imagery, there was loads of Christian stuff.
28:50So in the crown were set the nails that nailed Christ to the cross.
28:55And if that weren't enough, we're told that buried underneath,
28:59there was the very axe that Noah used to build the ark,
29:03as well as the bread baskets that Christ used to feed the 5,000.
29:09So it's all kinds of power,
29:12Christian and pagan, Eastern and Western, Greek and Roman,
29:16jumbled up together.
29:20And now it's become the city's favourite hangout for pigeons.
29:29Constantinople came to boast the very best of Rome.
29:33So where I'm walking now was originally a chariot racing track
29:36to rival the Circus Maximus back in Rome.
29:39There was a senate packed with senators in togas, imperial palace,
29:44and Roman movers and shakers, including the nouveau riche and young bloods,
29:49were enticed to move here with the promise of villas and free food.
29:54In fact, this place would come to be called the second or new Rome.
30:01Hidden beneath the modern city of Istanbul on the banks of the Bosphorus,
30:06secrets of the new Rome's transformation following Constantine's rule are still being revealed.
30:12And under a local restaurant is a site only recently discovered,
30:17which would become the beating heart of Constantinople's imperial command.
30:24Istanbul is built up like a kind of historical layer cake.
30:27So there's still a lot of the Roman city left buried underground.
30:31And it is an enormous treat to be here.
30:34I've never managed to get down here before.
30:36We know that Constantine the Great built a beautiful imperial palace
30:40that he called the Sacred Palace.
30:42And it's where the emperors lived for centuries.
30:44And this is what's left of it.
30:47We think that where I'm standing right now was the audience chamber,
30:51where the great and the good from across the empire
30:54would come to pay their respects to the new Rome.
30:57Emboldened by the burgeoning numbers of Christian subjects,
31:03Constantine became increasingly confident in his choice of faith.
31:08Constantine moved Christianity to the centre of Roman life.
31:12In Rome, churches were typically built on the fringes of the city.
31:17But in Constantinople, they were right in its heart.
31:22Churches like this, the Church of Iureni, the Church of Holy Peace,
31:27were set up slap-bang on the top of pagan temples and sanctuaries.
31:33Constantine wasn't just establishing the capital of an empire.
31:37He was setting up the earthly headquarters of the kingdom of God.
31:45The message disseminated from this city
31:48would become the legacy of one of the greatest emperors in Roman history.
31:53Everyone else, out.
32:05The commitment Constantine made on his deathbed
32:08was an act that would catalyse the rebirth of the Roman Empire.
32:13I'm running out of time.
32:15I can feel it.
32:16Constantine rose from his deathbed on the outskirts of Nicomedia
32:23to be baptised.
32:25This final act would send a message to all citizens of Rome.
32:30Constantine, who had given the empire a new capital,
32:34now gave it a new kind of life.
32:37In the words of Eusebius,
32:38Constantine was gifted with the divine seal of baptism.
32:47The time has come
32:49for me to have the blessing of the seal
32:52which confers immortality.
32:56I shall, from this time,
32:59prescribe
33:00to myself
33:02such a course of life
33:04as befits his service.
33:07After baptism,
33:13you're purified of your sins,
33:15but, just as importantly,
33:17you've committed not to sin again.
33:20Many early Christians left this act
33:22until the very end of their lives.
33:25Constantine,
33:26who'd done so much
33:27that his religion could regard as sinful,
33:29was washed of his sins
33:31just in time.
33:33I don't think that Constantine's Christianity
33:38was cynical.
33:39This was the religion, after all,
33:41that told you that the meek
33:42would inherit the earth.
33:45And here we have
33:46the illegitimate son of a barmaid
33:48who had ended up
33:50ruling over a million square miles.
33:53Is it wrong to be proud
33:55of one's achievements?
33:57I am proud
33:58of the magnificent churches I've built.
34:01I've built a new Rome
34:03in Constantinople.
34:05I know now
34:06that I am in the true sense blessed,
34:10that now I have been shown worthy
34:13of a mortal life,
34:14that now
34:15I have received a fine light.
34:20Constantine has lived very well.
34:24Salvation is yours, Emperor.
34:32Constantine died hours after his baptism,
34:36sealing his greatest legacy.
34:39Inspired by Constantine's example,
34:41at his death,
34:43an estimated 40%
34:45of the population
34:46were Christian
34:46and all but one of his successors
34:49were baptised in the faith.
34:51By 380 AD,
34:54Christianity was declared
34:55the official religion
34:56of the Roman Empire,
34:58an empire
34:58that would endure
35:00for another thousand years.
35:02200 years after the death
35:10of the first Christian emperor of Rome,
35:12this great church
35:13was built in Constantinople,
35:16the Hagia Sophia.
35:19Contained within its precinct
35:20is compelling new evidence
35:22of just how deeply
35:23Constantine's project
35:24was embedded
35:25in the very foundations
35:27of the city.
35:32The Hagia Sophia
35:38was the wonder of empire
35:41and for a thousand years,
35:42this place was the largest
35:44religious building
35:45in the world.
35:46And I have to say
35:47that for me,
35:48I still think it is just
35:49one of the most beautiful places
35:51on earth.
35:55But incredibly impressive
35:57as all of this is,
35:59there's something else.
36:00Now, the literary sources
36:05had always told us
36:06that Constantine
36:07had built the first church here,
36:09but there just didn't seem
36:10to be any evidence
36:10whatsoever for that.
36:12But we now realise
36:14that actually
36:14it's been sitting here
36:16quietly all along.
36:18Had a look at that
36:19little layer of brick
36:20just down there.
36:21Scholars from Reading University
36:23have just been studying it
36:24and it turns out
36:25that it almost certainly dates
36:27from the 4th century AD.
36:29Exactly when the literary sources
36:31say Constantine's first church
36:33was built on this site.
36:36It's just a tiny little thing,
36:38but it incarnates
36:39a vital idea.
36:41Rome is now building churches
36:43here in Constantinople
36:44and right across the empire.
36:47So the Romans
36:47are now telling people
36:49not just how to live,
36:51but how to believe.
36:53Christ's message
36:59had the might of Rome
37:01to disseminate it
37:02across the known world.
37:05Here at the Korah Museum
37:06are stunning illustrations
37:08depicting the kind of teachings
37:10that had the potential
37:12to transform the lives
37:13of the ordinary man or woman.
37:15What you're looking at there
37:19is an image of Christ
37:20healing a leper.
37:23Now, Christ's face
37:24has been very damaged,
37:26but you can see
37:27the horrible sores
37:28on that poor man's body.
37:31I can promise you
37:32that you would never have seen
37:33the weak and the needy
37:35immortalised like this
37:37in an ancient Roman temple.
37:38But here,
37:41Christ's message
37:42really seemed to make sense.
37:45Today, we're all brought up
37:46with ideas like
37:47love thy neighbour,
37:49but to a Roman audience
37:50raised on stories
37:51celebrating their own
37:53exceptionalism
37:54and often pitiless power,
37:56they were truly revolutionary.
38:00Constantinople was peppered
38:02with orphanages
38:03and asylums for refugees
38:04and shelters for the homeless.
38:06Some of the first hospitals
38:09were here specialising
38:10in leprosy
38:11or infectious diseases
38:12and there were even
38:14maternity wards.
38:16All this was such a far cry
38:18from the old Rome
38:20where those at the bottom
38:21of the pile were regarded
38:23with a disdain
38:24that verged on disgust.
38:30The Romans had told people
38:32how to behave,
38:34how to fight and to fear.
38:36And now from this city
38:38they told them
38:39how to pray.
38:41For me,
38:42this place
38:42is the ultimate expression
38:44of Rome,
38:45a civilisation
38:46that had conquered
38:47men's bodies
38:48but that now
38:49colonised their souls.
38:54In the years
38:55following that critical day
38:56of Constantine's
38:57baptism and death,
38:59the city of Constantinople
39:01flourished.
39:01But Rome,
39:04the old capital
39:04he'd left behind
39:05and the empire
39:06in the west,
39:08continued to decline.
39:11Shorn of Constantine's
39:13energy and ability
39:13on the imperial throne,
39:15the empire soon fragmented,
39:17split once more
39:18between east and west,
39:20each half
39:21with its own emperor.
39:23Divided,
39:24each part was vulnerable
39:25to civil war
39:26and invasion
39:27and in the 5th century
39:28barbarian tribes
39:30swarmed across
39:31the western empire.
39:33Rome itself
39:34was sacked
39:35by the Goths
39:36in 410 AD,
39:37by the Vandals
39:38in 455
39:39and finally fell
39:40in 476.
39:44The city
39:45that had taken
39:45the whole world
39:46had now herself
39:48been taken,
39:49one contemporary said.
39:51Rome,
39:52for the first time
39:53in 800 years,
39:54had fallen
39:54to a foreign army.
39:57But even though
39:58some authors wrote
39:59that this was
40:00the end of the world,
40:01it wasn't.
40:02It wasn't even
40:04the end of the Roman Empire.
40:08Constantinople,
40:09the new Rome
40:10in the east,
40:11is the perfect
40:12manifestation
40:13of Rome's ability
40:14to adapt
40:15and thrive.
40:17It gave the empire
40:18a new lease of life,
40:20allowing it
40:21to have a lasting influence
40:22on all of us.
40:23Rome's codes
40:25of law and order,
40:26the genius
40:27of its technology
40:28and art
40:29and architecture
40:30survived here
40:31to inspire the Renaissance
40:32and help to shape
40:34the modern world.
40:36It is
40:36a remarkable legacy.
40:40The surviving
40:41Eastern Empire,
40:43called the Byzantine Empire
40:44by later historians,
40:46still held out
40:47in the eastern Mediterranean.
40:49The Eastern Empire
40:51did experience
40:52a brilliant revival
40:53in the 6th century,
40:54even recapturing
40:55some of the lands
40:56in the Old West,
40:57including, briefly,
40:58Rome itself.
41:00But it couldn't last,
41:03and in the 7th century,
41:05this great Christian empire
41:06was rocked
41:07by a new threat,
41:09the Arab conquests,
41:11inspired by a new religion,
41:13Islam.
41:13The last vestiges
41:16of the Eastern Roman Empire
41:18finally fell
41:20in 1453,
41:22when Constantinople itself,
41:25for so many years
41:26considered impregnable,
41:28was taken
41:28by the Ottoman Turks.
41:31The last people
41:33to call themselves
41:34Romans
41:35were now
41:36without an empire.
41:37But even with the fall
41:41of Constantinople,
41:42the ideas
41:43that Constantine
41:44embraced
41:44and brought
41:45to the Roman Empire
41:46didn't fall with it.
41:49Social reforms
41:50inspired by a revolutionary
41:51new religious message
41:53are still part
41:53of our experience today.
41:56So Constantine's baptism
41:58on a day
41:59in 337 AD
42:00didn't just help
42:02to change
42:02the history of Rome,
42:03it helped
42:05to change the world.
42:10For me,
42:11the story of Rome
42:12is above all
42:13a story about power
42:14and how we choose
42:16to use it.
42:18Rome began
42:19as a republic
42:20dedicated
42:20to the safety
42:21and prosperity
42:22of its inhabitants,
42:24only to become
42:25a parable
42:25of the dangers
42:26of corruption
42:27and dictatorship.
42:29There are warnings
42:31here for us,
42:32but also
42:33inspiration
42:34and wonder
42:35at the sheer audacity
42:37and magnificence
42:39that was Rome.
42:41I've been investigating
42:43eight days
42:44that made Rome.
42:46Eight days
42:47packed with ideas
42:49and experiences,
42:50with high drama
42:52and chance fence,
42:54with struggle,
42:55both great and small.
42:58Days whose consequences
43:00still play out
43:02in all of our lives
43:04today.
43:05I'm sorry.
43:33You
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