Barbarians, with Terry Jones (2006) BBC

Episode 2: The Savage Goths

According to Rome, the barbarians from Germany were among the most brutal of all. But when it came to brutality, it was not the Germans but the Romans who were the masters. The Roman picture of the beasts from the dark forests of Germania was created in 9AD, when Herman the German masterminded the wholesale massacre of three Roman legions. Terry Jones discovers that Herman's real name was Armenius and that he was a high-ranking German officer in the Roman army, commanding legions of German soldiers. It seems the massacre was actually a rebellion against Roman occupation. Armenius knew precisely what the Roman military machine was capable of.

Modern tourists in Italy's capital are still dazzled by the achievements of Rome's Golden age - the aqueducts, forums and amphitheatres. Yet in the middle of Rome stands a monument to Roman brutality: Trajan's Column. The victims illustrated on the column were the barbarian peoples of Dacia. Ever heard of Dacia? It's unlikely, because the Romans so totally destroyed Dacia that its society is only just being rediscovered.

In a tunnel deep in a Transylvanian mountain, Terry discovers the reason Dacia was eradicated by Rome: massive deposits of gold. Rome took just five years to rip Dacia's gold from the rocks and exterminate its people. Having destroyed a 'barbarian' civilisation, the Emperor Trajan set about totally rebuilding Rome. The glorious monuments to Rome's golden age were built with barbarian wealth and stained with Dacian blood.

Welcome to the other side of Roman history. The Romans gave us sophisticated road systems, chariots and the modern-day calendar. They also had to contend with barbarian hordes who continually threatened the peace, safety and prosperity of their Empire. Right? Maybe not. In this four-part BBC series, Monty Python alum Terry Jones travels throughout the geography of the Roman Empire and 700 years of history arguing that we have been sold a prejudiced history of Rome that has twisted our entire understanding of the Britons, Gauls, Vandals and Goths. A rare blend of scholarly research (as in Terry Jones’ Medieval Lives) combined with Jones’ witty approach makes this a must for history lovers as well as Monty Python fans.

Victims of a well-oiled propaganda machine, the Celts, Huns and Goths – among others – have endured thousands of years of misrepresentation. As Terry Jones reveals, the image of brutal savages hell-bent on nothing more than slaughter, pillage and rape, handed down to us by the Romans, is little more than a monumental exercise in ancient spin.



In an epic journey from the misty bogs of southern Ireland to the arid deserts of Persia, Jones exposes the depth of this Roman deception, bringing the fabulously rich and varied ‘barbarian’ cultures back to life; exploding myths and setting records straight wherever he goes. These ‘barbarians’ were the ‘bogeymen’ who stalked the dark corners of the Roman psyche, derided as “absolutely mad about war... otherwise simple”. But were they really that different from the Romans themselves? As one of the most dominant empires the world has ever known, the Romans wrote their own history. But recent archaeological evidence has revealed a completely different story to that of Roman propaganda.



The Celts wore beautiful clothes and jewellery; their society was complex and sophisticated; they made their own roads and calendar. Human rights, female freedom and flower arranging were all part and parcel of Persian society. The Goths used their knowledge of Roman military training and tactics to inflict a series of devastating defeats on Rome. And the Dacians – the now extinct indigenous people of what is modern day Romanian – were not only teetotal but they had their own unique religion. None of theses facts fit with how the Romans have led us to perceive these ‘barbarians’. It seems Rome’s mission to civilise the ancient world was little more than a cynical and well organised looting; that the ‘Glory of Rome’ was built with barbarian wealth, blood and sweat.

Source: BBC

Review, by Amazon.com

So you think you know everything about the Romans?

Monty Python’s Terry Jones invites you on an entertaining expedition through Roman history from an entirely different perspective – that of the Barbarians. Far from the uncivilized savages they have been believed to be, many of these "non-Romans" were not barbaric at all. They were, in fact, highly organized and intelligent societies that had no intentions of overthrowing Rome or its Empire. A rare blend of scholarly research and archaeological evidence along with Jones’ familiar brand of irreverent humor gives this fascinating series a unique insight into the Barbarians, the Romans and the creation of the modern world.