“Barbarians II” (5 episode documentary series) (Amazon streaming)



Watch the documentary at this link >>


This well-made 2007 History Channel documentary series explains how Roman culture was overthrown by aggressive hordes of Barbarian tribes from northern Europe starting in the fifth millennium AD.  It talks about the Vandals who capitalized on the chaotic political environment in Rome during the 400’s and caused a century of misery for the people living there, the Saxons who took over much of Britain starting in 449 AD, the Franks who took over central Europe including what is now France starting in 355 AD, and the Lombards who took over most of the Italian Peninsula starting in the early 500’s.  [Note that only season “2” is currently online.]


Following are descriptions of the episodes:

The Vandals — The Vandals were a Barbarian tribe who continually benefitted from the chaotic political environment of the weakened Rome during the fifth century AD, sweeping from Germany to Hispania to then take the agriculturally important Roman controlled North African coast as well as Rome’s navy, where it then proceeded to sack Rome and destroy the Eastern Empire’s navy before finally being vanquished by the Eastern Empire a hundred years later in 534.


The Saxons — The Saxons were a Barbarian warrior tribe on the southern coast of the North Sea who were enlisted by King Vortigen to defend Britain against other Barbarian tribes in 449 AD, but the Saxons eventually took much of Britain for themselves, almost being overthrown by Vikings in the ninth century who were pushed out of the country by the Saxon King Alfred, prompting the Saxon’s widespread building of fortified towns and raising of a large army to repel any potential future attacks.


The Franks — The Franks were a tribe of Barbarians that where initially promised land by the weakening Rome in what is now Belgium and the Netherlands in 355 AD.  Starting in 451 they chased Atilla the Hun and the Visigoths out of central mainland Europe on behalf of the Romans, and over time they took and consolidated those lands for themselves as Rome continued to weaken, with their King Clovis achieving the unification of Gaul in 508 AD, however he passed his power equally to his four sons which led to political chaos, with France eventually becoming the most dominant power in Europe by the 7th and 8th centuries.


The Lombards — The Lombards were a tribe of Barbarians originating in Scandinavia who formed an alliance with the Byzantine Empire in the early 6th century AD to try to re-take Italy for the Romans, but soon they invaded Italy for themselves, taking the northern and southern parts of the peninsula which had been weakened by endless war and plague.  The Lombards stayed on the peninsula for two hundred years with much infighting, until in 773 the Frankish King Charlemange led an invasion of the peninsula that drove the Lombards out, but with the Lombard’s legacy of art and systems of laws living on, paving the way for the new world, heading Italy into modern Europe.


Modern Marvels: Axes, Swords and Knives — This documentary talks about the history of the creation and use of swords, axes, and knives, starting with stone age chips of flint up until the modern day. 

Topics in this episode include:

— The start of the Bronze age 5,500 years ago with the discovery of how to smelt copper and tin together using wind and then the creation of bellows to heat fires to the sufficient temperature.

— The bronze sword being invented as a killing weapon at around 2000 BC.

— The discovery of the smelting of steel by creating an alloy of carbon with iron, also showing a modern demonstration of the process of creating a steel sword.

— The roles of swords in warfare with an explanation of the uses for each type.

— The introduction of the gun relegating swords to mostly ceremonial purposes with some exceptions such as bayonets.

— A history of the use of axes in warfare and their modern uses.

— A history of the use of knives in warfare up until present day.

— A description of the Victornox company that manufactures Swiss Army Knives.

— A description of the Cutco tableware knife manufacturer and the direct marketing Ginsu Knife company.



This article is a part of the summary article “A Summary of the History of the World, in Videos.”