In AD 533,

Belisarius and his Roman expeditionary force smashed the army of Gelimer and forever ended Vandal Kingdom in Africa

….at Battle of Tricamarum!

[Thread]🧵 After the victory at Ad Decimum, Belisarius was able to capture Carthage while Gelimer withdrew to Numidia to await reinforcement by his brother Tzazo from Sardinia, who arrived in early December.

In AD 533,

During his lightning fast conquest of Vandal Africa, Belisarius crushed the Vandals at the battle of Ad Decimum!

[Thread] 🧵 In the early 6th century the Vandal Kingdom of Africa was ruled by Hilderic who enjoyed excellent relations with the Roman Empire.

So much so that he was willing to appoint an Chalcedonian bishop in Carthage, a move which enraged the Arian nobles of his kingdom.

In AD 602,

The Roman field army in the Balkans rebelled and marched on Constantinople.

The emperor Maurice was forced to watch the decapitation of his five young sons before he was killed.

[Thread]🧵 In the late 6th century, the Roman Empire faced major threats from three directions; the Persians in the east, the Lombards in Italy, and threat of the Avar and Slavic peoples who had recently arrived in the Balkans.

The emperor Maurice succeeded Tiberius II in AD 582 and had successfully campaigned against all of these threats, but after 20 years of rule, the impact of regular campaigning was causing problems.

One particular success was the intervention in the Persian civil war in favour of the Shah Khusrow II, which brought close relations afterward.

But the emperor was ever conscious of the financial burden of such prolonged campaigning and in 588 attempted to cut army pay by 25% which provoked a brief mutiny.

In 361 BC,

A Gallic army invaded Rome and before the battle, an enormous Gaul came forth and said:

‘Let the bravest man that Rome possesses come out and fight me, so we may decide which people is the superior in war!’

Titus Manlius stepped forward.

[Thread]🧵 The early history of Rome is shrouded by time and legend, but Livy wrote that in 361 BC, just 29 years after the Gauls sacked Rome:

‘The Gauls formed their camp by the Salarian road, three miles from the City at the bridge across the Anio.’

In 480 BC,

An alliance of Greeks led by Leonidas and his 300 Spartans fought to the last against the Persians at the pass of Thermopylae!

The heroic last stand of Leonidas proved ‘𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐰’

[Thread]🧵 The Greek city states drew the ire of the mighty Persian empire when Athens and Eretria aided the Ionian Revolt against the Persian king Darius in the 490s.

This serves both as the pretext to expand into Greece.

The first Persian invasion ended when the Athenians dealt a savage blow to the Persian navy at the battle of Marathon, causing the Persians to withdraw.

In 508 BC,

When the ousted tyrant king Tarquinius marched on Rome with an Etruscan army, only one man stood before him on the bridge of the river Tiber.

Abandoned by his men and facing down the menace of the Etruscans,

𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐮𝐬 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞!

[Thread]🧵 In 508 BC:

The earliest history of Rome is obscured by legend and the passage of time, but Livy wrote that the in 509 BC the king of Rome, Tarquinius Superbus, was ousted

The exiled Tarquinius allied with the ruler of the Etruscan city of Clausium, Lars Porsena in his bid to re-assert his power in the new Roman Republic!

Together they marched on Rome!

In AD 1265,

When the armies of Simon de Montfort met that of the King of England, he was hunted down and butchered by a medieval death squad at…

‘𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐦, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐞!’

[Thread]🧵 Misrule by the inept & inconsistent Henry III led to widespread discontent and eventually rebellion by many of the major barons in England.

This culminated in the Battle of Lewes.

• 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 •

The Queen of Cities, capital of the Roman Empire.

The city was besieged 26 times since its founding in AD 330.

This is a thread of the attempts to capture the city and the valiant deeds of its defenders!

[Thread]🧵 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤!

In AD 378:

After the disastrous defeat at the hands of the Goths at the battle of Adrianople and the death of the emperor Valens, his widow Domnica was left to prepare the city to defend against the oncoming Goths.

She filled the city with Arab warriors who, along with the city garrison, were able to see off the attack!

In 508 BC,

A young Roman soldier snuck into the camp of the Etruscan army besieging Rome to kill their king.

When caught, he boldly declared:

‘𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐚 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐲’

[Thread]🧵 The earliest history of Rome is obscured by legend and the passage of time, but Livy wrote that the in 509 BC the king of Rome, Tarquinius Superbus, was ousted

The exiled Tarquinius allied with the ruler of the Etruscan city of Clausium, Lara Porsena who then marched on Rome and laid siege to it.

In AD 1415,

Henry V won possibly the most brutal and bloodiest victory ever achieved by the men of England at the

𝐁𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐀𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓

[Thread]🧵 AD 1413 Henry V as crowned king and reasserted the claim to the throne of France that stemmed from his great great grandfather Edward III.

Negotiations had failed by 1415 and Henry was resolved to invade France and won the backing of Parliament.

Ever since the Muslim Conquests of the 7th century, the Roman Empire had been on the receiving end of raiding and intermittent warfare from the Islamic Caliphates.

In the 10th century, the tables had turned and it was time for the empire to strike back!

[Timeline Thread]🧵 In the 7th century invasion from the Muslim caliphate, Slavs, Avars, Lombards, and Bulgars all significantly weakened the empire and put it on the defensive immediately after its stunning victory over the Persians in the 620s.

Toward the end of the 7th century the empire began to strike back at the Muslims under Constantine IV and the early reign of Justinian II but then fell into anarchy over a period of 20 years which saw five different emperors usurp each other.

The final emperor of that period was Leo III ‘the Isaurian’ who defeated the grand Muslim siege of Constantinople in 718 and an invasion force in 741.

From this point the empire slowly began to recover but was still faced with regular raiding and attacks on all of its borders.

In AD 870:

The rampaging foreign scourge of the Vikings was defeated by the men of Berkshire led by Æthelwulf at the Battle of Englefield.

The battle saw two Earls and many other Norsemen die!

[Thread] 🧵 In 9th century the Vikings seem to have changed the way they viewed England and towards conquest, clearly seeing England as being ripe for settlement

Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus are beloved characters in HBO’s Rome series.

But did you know they existed in real life and were written about by Caesar himself?

[Thread]🧵 In 58 BC, Gaius Julius Caesar, then governor of the the provinces of Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum, became engaged in conflict with the Gauls which turned into an all-out war and conquest of Gaul.

The most decorated soldier in antiquity was a Roman who fought in six wars and won so many awards that he was even thanked in the senate house.

When he petitioned the consulate for promotion, the speech and deeds of of Spurius Ligustinus were set down!

[Thread]🧵 The lives of ordinary people are rarely recorded in the annals of history which tend to focus on the deeds of the rich and mighty, but one exception is a speech given by Spurius Ligustinus and recorded by Livy:

‘After the consul had said what he wanted to say, one of those who were appealing to the tribunes, Spurius Ligustinus, begged the consul and the tribunes to allow him to say a few words to the Assembly. They all gave him permission, and he is recorded to have spoken to the following effect’

In the distant past, the deposition of a ruler often meant their death!

But there were some rare men imbued with iron will who stopped at nothing to regain what was taken from them!

[Thread]🧵 • Justinian II, Emperor of Rome •

Undoubtedly the most infamous return from deposition was Justinian II.

He was deposed in AD 695 by the rebel general Leontius after his reign grew increasingly unpopular in Constantinople.

His nose was mutilated and he was sent into exile.

Today in AD 1330,

The brightest star of the world’s chivalry was born.

Unmatched in honour and generalship, a victor of the legendary battles of Crecy, Poitiers and Najera!

𝐄𝐃𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃, 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐄

[Thread]🧵 ‘𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐄𝐝𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝, 𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐝𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝, 𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲.’

- The Chandos Herald

Today in AD 1381:

The Tower of London was sacked and the Archbishop of Canterbury was beheaded when vicious riots spread over london during…

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐒’ 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐎𝐋𝐓

Thread] 🧵 In the decades after the Black Death there was an increased feeling that politician discussion and protagonism didn’t only belong to the elites in society, but to everyone.

The lack of a legitimate outlet for non-elite discussion and participation set the scene for a violent showdown.

In AD 1485:

Richard III made his last charge against the Tudor forces at the Battle of Bosworth where he died fighting alone among his enemies!

This is the story of the end of the Plantagenet Dynasty at the dawn of the modern world.

[Thread] 🧵 Richard ruled as king for two years after usurping and disposing of the sons of his older brother, Edward IV.

But the bitterness created among elite English society by the Wars of the Roses ran too deep & many still sought after a Lancastrian king.

In 1192,

Richard the Lionheart was preparing to leave the Holy Land.

Then came a messenger with news that Saladin had attacked Jaffa and that only the citadel remained with the defenders hoping against hope for rescue.

Richard’s response?

‘I will certainly go!’

[Thread]🧵 Richard had arrived in the Holy Land during the Third Crusade in 1191 after conquering Cyprus. Upon arriving he assisted with the capture of Acre before defeating Saladin at Arsuf.

But a year went by and, Richard, the only monarch left on the crusade, realised he would not be able to take Jerusalem nor hold it if he did take it.

News of the treachery of his brother John’s conspiring with the King of France meant that he had to return home.

John Tzimiskes snuck into Constantinople and seized power by decapitating the emperor.

In his six years as emperor, he crushed the Rus, conquered the Bulgars, and submitted the cities of the Muslim East with no one being able to stand in his way!

[Thread]🧵 Iōánnēs ho Tzimiskēs was born in AD 925 in the east Roman Empire to the Kourkouas family.

Several of his relatives, including his uncle Nikephoros Phokas, were important commanders of the near constant border warfare with the Muslim emirates on the eastern border.

Tzimiskes was described as being short, but muscular and handsome.

In AD 1330:

The King of England had been murdered and the realm was ruled by the tyrant Roger Mortimer and his lover, Queen Isabella!

The sidelined young Edward III and a band of loyal comrades launched a daring coup to rid the nation of the dreaded Mortimer!

[Thread]🧵 Edward II was an inept king who mismanaged his military campaigns and failed to distribute favours evenly throughout the nobility of the realm.

His father, the indomitable Edward I had intervened in the Scottish succession crisis and conquered much of the country before being bogged down by rebellions by William Wallace and Robert the Bruce.

Upon his death, the Scots won a stunning victory at Bannockburn against Edward II and his failure to match his father’s military abilities were apparent.