History tells us that Rome was a magnificent city that help shaped the future. Known for its technological and architectural feats, there is a common saying: Rome wasn’t built in a day. HISTORY’s Barbarians Rising tells us all great empires eventually come to an end. A 700-year battle to topple an empire is told from the ones who led the charge. To Rome, they were barbarians, a class of people deemed uncivilized or primitive. These ‘barbarians’ challenged Rome in many ways to the point of its fall. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and it didn’t fall in a day either.
Barbarians Rising is a docudrama that narrates the fall of Rome from the earliest battle. Broken down into 4 chapters, you’ll experience the stories of key figures that pushed Rome to its eventual demise. With each challenge that Rome faces, several events play out with historians and military experts providing insight and commentary on each event. The story begins with Hannibal Barca, Punic military commander of Carthage. We see the ambitions of Hannibal and his oath from a young age to bring Rome to an end. Hannibal shows his military prowess and tactical brilliance by delivering a crippling blow to Rome with the fall of 70,000 soldiers in one day. Variathus led a resistance against Rome as they invaded and killed each barbarian tribe they came across. With only 1,000 men, Variathus fended off an army of 10,000 Romans and inspired others to rebel against Rome. A peace treaty between Rome and Variathus led to his assassination and the fall of Lusitania.
The story then leads to Spartacus, who led a rebellion within Rome after about a million barbarians have been enslaved since Hannibal’s defeat. His conquest for freedom is chronicled across a 2-year span that leads to his eventual defeat and crucifixion of 6,000 barbarians. Rome’s power stretches across the barbarians and heads North to Germania. Two brothers, Arminius and Flavus, are taken from the Cherusci tribe and raised as Roman citizens and officers. Arminius returns to Germania and rebels against his general, Varus, and leads an 8-year war against Rome and his brother Flavus. After ending their campaign for Germania, they headed toward Britain and made a treaty with the Celtic Iceni tribe. After the king’s death, their queen Boudica was flogged and her daughters raped. Boudica leads a conquest of revenge that sees several Roman cities sacked, including Camulodunum, Rome’s capital on Britain.
Fritigern, with many tribes of Goths, pleas with Rome for asylum from the threat of the Huns. The treaty is proven worthless with mistreatment and starvation once they arrive within the Roman Empire. Upon Fritigern’s arrest, the Goths rally against Rome and eventually led to the death of Emperor Valens at the Battle of Adrianople. Alaric commanded 20,000 Goths under Rome, which was cut in half after mistreatment during battle knowing the Goths would be sacrificed. After becoming king of the Visigoths, he marches to Rome and sieges the city and eventually claims victory and sacks Rome. Now with Rome weakened and unable to defend itself, Atilla the Hun invades Italy and with no signs of weakness and demands tribute for not sacking Constantinople. With a decisive battle that leaves both the Huns and Rome weak, Geiseric and the Vandals invade for the last step in the fall of Rome.
Barbarians Rising is a great narrative of Rome’s lust for power and the missteps that led to its downfall. The dramatized action captures the emotions of each key figure as they fight for their freedom. HISTORY is known for their storytelling and bringing history to life with accuracy to detail. Unfortunately, there isn’t much accompanied with the DVD other than the docudrama series. Seeing as how the entire narrative is accompanied with commentary as the show progresses, it defeats the purpose of having any bonus features. The acting doesn’t fall in comparison to scripted shows as you engage deep into Roman history. You feel their pain, you understand their motives, and you mourn as each warrior falls to Rome. The only downside is sometimes the narrative distracts during intense battles. With the quality given to the series, it may have been better as a full scripted series without the commentary. But as an overall product, it’s a great history lesson that opens your eyes to a side of Rome we hardly get to experience.
Rating: 3.5/5 Atoms
Barbarians Rising is available now on DVD and Blu-ray
from Nerd Reactor
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