Welcome to Echoes of Empires! If you’re looking for a podcast about history, you’ve come to the right place! Because you’ll find over a hundred episodes here about the Roman Empire, Byzantium, the Arab Caliphates, Charlemagne’s Empire, the Dark Ages, the Crusades and I’m adding to them all the time.

The purpose is to tell exciting narrative history in bite-sized chunks of about 20 minutes or so for each episode. You’ll learn about a topic quickly and I hope you’ll be gripped by the exciting story that’s central to each episode.

This podcast used to be named 'The Fall of the Roman Empire,' so most of the early episodes are about Rome and its decline and fall. This introduction and the next episode explain how Rome rose to being a superpower since we need to understand that before we consider its decline and fall.

For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.com

We continue with the story of Rome's rise to power in the third and second centuries BC, and ask two vital questions: first, did the Romans simply get lucky? Second, how did the Roman legions become the most feared fighting machine of the ancient world?

For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.com

In this episode, we look at the collapse of the Roman Republic, and the man whose brilliance and whose greed for power, caused a crisis in the Roman world. This was Julius Caesar, the most famous Roman of all.

For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.com

Julius Caesar lies dead on the floor of the Senate. What will happen now? The answer lies with a man called Octavian, who will surprise and astonish the ancient world by reinventing the Roman state and ensuring two hundred years of peace - he is better known by his honorary title of Augustus, the first Roman Emperor.

For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.com

Augustus' Roman Empire produced over two hundred years of peace in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. It was called the 'Pax Romana', or Roman Peace. It has never been achieved before or since. So, how did the Romans do it? Find out in this episode.

For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.com

Marcus Aurelius was the last of the 'Good Emperors'. His son, Commodus, proved to be the exact opposite of his father. A bloodthirsty tyrant, his reign is often seen as marking the beginning of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire.

For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.com

Tacitus wrote that the Year of the Four Emperors, in 68-69AD, revealed "The Secret of the Empire." It was a secret that would lead to the near collapse of the Roman Empire in the third century. Find out in this episode what that secret was!

For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.com

In the third century, Rome faced a reinvigorated Persia, led by the Sasanian dynasty. In 260 AD, the Roman Emperor Valerian was defeated and captured. Allegedly, the Persian King used him as a footstool to mount his horse before flaying him and displaying his skin in his palace. How did the Sasanians triumph over the Romans? Find out in this episode.

For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.com