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14:14
Transcript
0:02
The wind pushes, and the steppe moves before
it.
0:06
Clouds sweep overhead, the short grass bends,
and the only fixed points in the rolling landscape
0:13
are a snowcapped mountain and the distant
silhouette of Mren cathedral.
0:19
As you walk a lonely hour from the nearest
village, and wind whirls dust through the
0:23
whispering grass, details of the cathedral
become visible: the conical tower, a lichen-spotted
0:30
roof, empty windows.
0:32
At last, clambering over the ruins that surround
the church, you step inside.
0:39
Light spills through a collapsed wall, illuminating
a floor torn apart by treasure hunters.
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0:44
Faded figures of Christ and the prophets gaze
down on the naked apse.
0:51
Over one of the side doors is a sculpted panel.
0:54
Although the stone is weathered, two figures
are still visible, standing on either side
0:59
of a crucifix.
1:00
It’s far from obvious now, but fourteen
centuries ago, when the church was new, few
1:07
would have mistaken its meaning.
1:09
This relief almost certainly commemorates
March 21, 630, the day the Roman emperor Heraclius
1:17
formally returned the True Cross, the most
sacred of all Christian relics, to the Church
1:22
of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.
1:26
The restoration of the True Cross put a symbolic
close to a war that had lasted a generation
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1:31
and come very close to destroying the Roman
Empire.
1:34
Heraclius had won that war with a series of
daring campaigns launched from the high steppes
1:40
of Armenia – not far from the place where,
just after the war’s end, an Armenian prince
1:45
built Mren Cathedral to celebrate his part
in the victory.
1:50
Mren Cathedral was built near the ancient
world’s most contested boundary: the frontier
1:56
between the Roman and Persian empires.
1:59
For seven centuries, beginning with the great
conquests of Pompey, the eastern edge of the
2:04
Roman world ran from the Armenian plateau
to the Arabian Desert.
2:09
The most hotly contested part of this frontier
was always the center, where it bisected the
2:14
fertile plains of northern Mesopotamia.
2:16
But in times of war, any section of the thousand-mile
border might become the center of a major
2:23
conflict.
2:25
Many of the wars between the Persians and
Romans devolved into sieges of the fortress-cities
2:30
guarding the Mesopotamian frontier.
2:32
Otherwise, conflicts tended to consist of
raids and counter-raids, back and forth, century
2:39
after century, none really changing, or really
expected to change, a balance of power that
2:46
seemed settled in the natural order of things.
2:49
Then, at the end of the sixth century, that
balance was shattered forever.
2:54
Before we begin the story of the cataclysmic
final war between Rome and Persia, a word
3:01
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4:04
Back to the Roman frontier.
4:07
One September morning in the year 590, the
Roman sentries at Circesium, a border fort
4:12
in northern Mesopotamia, were startled to
see a group of Persians in court dress galloping
4:18
from the east.
4:19
The riders drew up beneath the gates; and
their leader, a man of about twenty, called
4:24
up in passable Greek, asking for an audience
with the commanding officer.
4:29
When the gates were opened, the young Persian
revealed that he was Khosrow, the newly-crowned
4:33
King of Persia, and that he was fleeing a
palace coup.
4:37
The commander at Circesium sent the refugee
king and his retainers to general headquarters
4:43
in nearby Hierapolis.
4:46
From there, Khosrow dispatched a delegation
to Emperor Maurice, promising generous territorial
4:52
concessions in exchange for Roman aid.
4:55
Maurice agreed; and the following spring,
Roman forces flooded into Persia, seizing
5:01
the capital and decisively defeating the rebels.
5:04
Khosrow was re-installed as king.
5:08
Then, in 602, Maurice was deposed in a mutiny.
5:13
The usurper, Phocas, executed the emperor
and his six sons, displaying their heads in
5:18
Constantinople’s main forum.
5:21
There were rumors, however, that Theodosius,
Maurice’s eldest son and heir, had escaped
5:27
by bribing the executioner; and a few weeks
later, a man claiming to be Theodosius appeared
5:34
at the Persian court.
5:37
certainly aware that the real Theodosius was
dead, Khosrow launched a massive attack on
5:42
the Roman frontier, ostensibly to restore
the rightful emperor.
5:47
In a series of grueling sieges, the Persians
seized one after another of the Mesopotamian
5:53
fortress-cities, breaking through the inmost
line of defenses just as the Romans plunged
5:58
into a civil war.
5:59
The Roman governor of Africa had raised the
standard of rebellion against Phocas, and
6:04
sent a fleet under his son Heraclius to Constantinople.
6:09
After gaining the allegiance of Egypt, Heraclius
sailed on to the capital and personally beheaded
6:14
Phocas.
6:16
He was crowned emperor shortly afterward.
6:19
Taking advantage of the chaos at Constantinople,
Khosrow occupied territory far inside the
6:25
old frontier.
6:26
Antioch fell, followed by Damascus.
6:30
Heraclius, who had been trying to shore up
the collapsing Danube frontier, marched to
6:35
Syria at the head of the largest army he could
scrape together.
6:39
His ill-trained troops, however, were defeated,
and he was forced to retreat.
6:45
In 614, after a brief siege, the Persians
took Jerusalem, burned most of the city’s
6:51
churches, and captured the True Cross.
6:54
The loss of this relic, revered throughout
the Empire as the instrument of Christ’s
6:59
Passion, was a serious blow to Roman morale,
especially after the Cross was carried back
7:04
to the Persian capital, and installed in the
private chapel of Khosrow’s Christian wife
7:09
Shirin.
7:11
As one Persian army began to conquer Egypt,
another marched across Anatolia to the Asian
7:16
suburbs of Constantinople.
7:19
Desperate to end the war, Heraclius attempted
to negotiate with Khosrow, promising dramatic
7:23
territorial concessions if the Persian forces
would withdraw.
7:27
By this point, however, Khosrow had achieved
too much to return to the old status quo.
7:34
Syria, Palestine, and Egypt were annexed to
the Persian Empire, and a Persian camp was
7:40
established across the Bosporus from Constantinople.
7:44
In the meantime, the Avars and Slavs swept
over the Danube, and occupied most of the
7:49
Balkans and Greece.
7:52
Little remained of the Roman Empire.
7:54
Heraclius, however, continued to fight.
7:58
Melting down the gold and silver plate of
Constantinople’s churches to pay his soldiers,
8:04
he reorganized Rome’s last army, supplementing
the usual heavy infantry with brigades of
8:09
archers and light cavalry for fast-moving
skirmishes.
8:14
With this force, he began to attack the Persian
armies in Anatolia, and scored a series of
8:19
minor victories.
8:20
After outlasting a Persian counter-attack
on Constantinople, he made the bold decision
8:26
to base his army in and around Armenia, where
he could disrupt enemy troop movements and
8:32
launch raids into the Persian heartland.
8:35
This strategy proved remarkably successful.
8:39
From bases in Armenia and the Caucuses, Heraclius
attacked cities throughout northern Mesopotamia,
8:45
forcing the Persians to withdraw troops from
the conquered territories and engage with
8:49
him.
8:50
After Heraclius inflicted serious defeats
on Persia’s two best generals, Khosrow ordered
8:56
a massive assault on Constantinople, knowing
that the Roman Empire would collapse if the
9:01
city was taken.
9:03
Heraclius managed to crush one of the Persian
armies marching on the capital.
9:08
The other, however, eluded him, and joined
a colossal force of Avars and Slavs in a coordinated
9:15
attack on the Roman capital.
9:17
The Roman navy managed to keep the Persians
on the Asian side of the Bosporus, sinking
9:22
the fleet of dugout canoes the Avars sent
to bring their allies across.
9:28
On the European side, 80,000 men hurled themselves
against the fortifications.
9:33
But the city’s towering triple walls held,
and every assault was repulsed.
9:39
After six weeks, the Slavs and Avars retreated
in disorder, and the Persians withdrew to
9:44
their camp.
9:46
Enraged, Khosrow ordered the execution of
Shahrbaraz, the Persian general responsible
9:51
for coordinating the siege.
9:53
Heraclius, however, managed to intercept the
messenger, and forwarded the death warrant
9:58
to Shahrbaraz with his compliments, suggesting
that the Persian general might find it expedient
10:05
to switch sides.
10:07
Shahrbaraz did so, and withdrew his entire
army to Syria.
10:12
Having neutralized Khosrow’s best general,
Heraclius resumed his offensive, allying himself
10:18
with the nomadic Khazars to ravage Persian
territory.
10:22
On a foggy morning in December 627, near the
ruins of Nineveh, he encountered the largest
10:28
remaining Persian army.
10:30
The ensuing battle was savage – supposedly,
Heraclius killed the enemy general in single
10:36
combat – but the Romans were victorious.
10:40
The next day, Heraclius marched on the now
undefended Persian capital.
10:45
When Khosrow refused to negotiate a peace,
he was deposed and executed by his nobles,
10:51
who immediately began talks to end the war.
10:54
The frontier was restored to its original
place, all Persian troops were recalled home,
10:59
and Heraclius began a triumphal march back
to Constantinople.
11:04
Along the way, he stopped in Armenia, where
he spent a few weeks receiving the submission
11:09
of the local nobles.
11:10
As he marched homeward, Heraclius passed within
a few miles of the newly-dug foundations of
11:16
Mren Cathedral, which one of the greatest
Armenian princes had just begun to construct.
11:22
Although the design of this new church borrowed
from both Persian and Roman architectural
11:27
styles, its dome was likely inspired by Hagia
Sophia.
11:32
It was at that church, in September 629, that
Heraclius celebrated his victory over the
11:38
Persians, the True Cross suspended on gilded
chains over the high altar.
11:43
The following year, during a tour of the territories
recovered from the Persians, Heraclius restored
11:48
the relic to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher
in Jerusalem.
11:53
Back in Armenia, Heraclius’ restoration
of the True Cross was chosen as the subject
11:57
of the relief over the north door of Mren
Cathedral.
12:01
As a sign of his humility before God, the
emperor was shown without crown or scepter.
12:07
The warhorse standing a short distance from
him, however, reminds the viewer of Heraclius’
12:12
campaign to save the Empire, concluded only
a few years before.
12:17
As the cathedral rose, the Roman Empire was
at peace.
12:21
But before construction was completed, and
before Rome or Persia could rebuild their
12:26
militaries, a new threat emerged.
12:30
Fast-moving armies of Arab horsemen, unified
and fired by the new religion of Islam, tore
12:35
through the eastern frontier, and swiftly
conquered Syria, Palestine, and Egypt.
12:41
By the time Mren cathedral was completed,
around 640, the world Heraclius had fought
12:46
so hard to restore was vanishing.
12:49
The Persian Empire would disintegrate within
a decade.
12:52
And although the Roman Empire would survive,
it would emerge from ordeal much smaller and
12:58
profoundly changed.
13:00
In this sense, the years in which Mren Cathedral
was constructed mark the end of the antique
13:05
world, and the beginning of a new and very
different era.
13:10
Through the ensuing centuries, as Arab and
Byzantine raiding parties passed back and
13:15
forth to the south, a town grew up around
Mren cathedral; but then borders shifted,
13:21
and trade routes moved, and the town sank
back into the steppes.
13:26
Six hundred years of abandonment have drawn
the cathedral, brick by brick, down to the
13:31
whispering grass.
13:33
Birds call in the dome, and the sun shines
through the collapsing walls as the wind pushes,
13:39
and the steppe moves before it.
13:43
If you enjoyed this video, please consider
supporting toldinstone on Patreon.
13:47
You might also enjoy my book, Naked Statues,
Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants.
13:53
Thanks for watching.
— end of transcript —
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