Entirely Unofficial Rest is History Catalogue and Interrogator

Late Antiquity & Early Middle Ages

77 Episodes 21 Series 77 Figures 36 Events 209 Books 152 Authors

Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (roughly 3rd–10th centuries) are covered through several focused series and individual episodes examining political, religious and cultural change across Europe, the Mediterranean and beyond. Series include "12 (or 13) Days of Christmas" (events dated 25 Dec–4 Jan from early Christian history to later African modernization), a multi‑part Alfred the Great series on ninth‑century Viking pressures, governance and reform, a Baghdad sequence tracing late Umayyad decline and the Abbasid revolution, a Charlemagne trilogy from Merovingian collapse to the 800 coronation, and episodes on England’s ties with Denmark, Ukraine, Germany and Italy. Topics and episodes treat battles (Yarmouk, Tours), Heraclius’ campaigns, the Danelaw, the Umayyad–Berber wars, figures such as Arius, Theodora, Honorius, Harald Bluetooth and Theophano, and cite works including Procopius’ On Buildings, Palace in Split, Dominion and Dictionary of the Khazars.

Timeline Subway

Episodes Series Figures Events Books Authors

Episodes by year

Showing 12 of 77

2023

11 episodes

Baghdad: The Arabian Nights (Ep 4)

Baghdad · Part 4

This episode — the fourth in the hosts' series on Baghdad and the Islamic Golden Age — examines how medieval Baghdad be…

Baghdad: Crossroads of the Universe (Ep 2)

Baghdad · Part 2

This episode of The Rest Is History traces the collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate and the rise of the Abbasids, focusing…

Baghdad: The Forging of Islam (Ep 1)

Baghdad · Part 1

Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook set the scene for a four-episode series on Baghdad by surveying the late Umayyad worl…

The Colosseum: Rome's Arena of Death

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss the Colosseum and Roman spectacles, using the film Gladiator as an entr…

Viking Sorcery

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook interview archaeologist and scholar Neil Price about Norse religion, magic (sei…

RIHC: English Mythology, Historical Heatwaves, and Woke Informers

This bonus episode is a loose, conversational Q&A in which Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss podcast scheduling…

RIHC: Rome's Greatest Emperors (Livestream)

In this live-streamed episode Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss Tom's list of the most consequential Roman empe…

RIHC: The first British president, fossil halls, and Tom's trails

This bonus Restless History episode is an informal hosts' chat in which Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook swap travel a…

Hadrian and Antinous

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss the life, death and posthumous cult of Antinous, the exceptionally beau…

Coronations: Sex, Holy Oil and Civil War (Ep 2)

Coronations · Part 2

Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook trace the political, religious and performative history of English coronations from t…

Coronations: The Deep History (Ep 1)

Coronations · Part 1

This episode is the first of a three-part series on coronations. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook trace the British co…

2022

1 episode

Spain: The Caliphate of Córdoba

Great World Cup Saga · Part 27

Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook trace the rise, golden age and collapse of the Caliphate of Córdoba. They open with t…

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Series in this era

21 series

Baghdad

4 episodes Aired: 2023-10-08 – 2023-10-09

12 (or 13) Days of Christmas

3 episodes Aired: 2021-12-25

Alfred the Great

3 episodes Aired: 2022-11-05 – 2022-11-16

Charlemagne trilogy

3 episodes Aired: 2024-12-16

Great World Cup Saga

3 episodes Aired: 2022-11-22 – 2022-12-13

Justinian and Theodora

3 episodes Aired: 2022-08-08

Vikings in the East

3 episodes Aired: 2022-02-07 – 2022-02-23

Warlords of the West (The Franks)

3 episodes Aired: 2024-12-09

Coronations

2 episodes Aired: 2023-05-04

Holidays

2 episodes Aired: 2022-08-10 – 2022-08-22

Historical figures

77 tagged

Alfred the Great (King of Wessex)

16 episodes

Æthelstan, King of England (Athelstan)

16 episodes

Constantine I (Constantine the Great)

15 episodes

Charlemagne (Charles I, King of the Franks / Emperor)

14 episodes

Justin I, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire

12 episodes

Muhammad

10 episodes

Theodora (Empress of the Eastern Roman Empire)

9 episodes

Edgar I of England (Edgar the Peaceable)

7 episodes

Saint Augustine of Hippo

7 episodes

Saint Cuthbert of Lindisfarne

6 episodes

Historical events

36 tagged

Abbasid Revolution (c.747–750)

6 episodes

Arab conquests (7th century)

6 episodes

Crisis of the Third Century (3rd century AD)

6 episodes

Lindisfarne raid (793)

6 episodes

Battle of Tours (732, France)

5 episodes

Coronation of Charlemagne (25 December 800)

5 episodes

Baptism of Vladimir I of Kiev (c. 988)

3 episodes

Christianization of the Roman Empire (4th century)

3 episodes

Danelaw (Viking occupation of eastern England, 9th–10th centuries)

3 episodes

Nika (Nike) Riots (532 CE, Constantinople)

3 episodes

Books

209 tagged

In the Shadow of the Sword

Author: Tom Holland

7 episodes

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (standardized)

Author: Edward Gibbon

7 episodes

Millennium: The End of the World and the Forging of Christendom

Author: Tom Holland

4 episodes

Pax: War and Peace in Rome's Golden Age

Author: Tom Holland

4 episodes

The Secret History

Author: Procopius (Procopius of Caesarea)

4 episodes

Dominion

Author: Tom Holland

3 episodes

Ladybird books

Author: L. Du Garde Peach (and various)

3 episodes

Quran (Koran)

Author: Traditional Attribution or Various

3 episodes

The Arabian Nights

Author: Traditional Attribution or Various

3 episodes

The Last Kingdom

Author: Bernard Cornwell

3 episodes

Authors

152 tagged

Tom Holland

21 episodes

Traditional Attribution or Various

17 episodes

Bernard Cornwell

7 episodes

Edward Gibbon

7 episodes

Procopius (Procopius of Caesarea)

4 episodes

Robert Graves

4 episodes

Anonymous

3 episodes

Einhard

3 episodes

Neil Price

3 episodes

Peter Brown

3 episodes