Barbarians: The History Channel

Barbarians: The History Channel
Cast: Documentary
Studio: History Channel
Rating: 8/10

Corporate Line: BARBARIANS is produced and directed for The History Channel by three-time Emmy winner and Oscar nominee Robert Gardner. Executive Producer for The History Channel is Carl Lindahl. Narrator is Clancy Brown.

VIKINGS/GOTHS premieres January 19 at 9 pm ET/PT. VIKINGS: For some 300 years, from the 9th to the 12th century AD, the Vikings struck terror into the hearts of the peoples of England, France, Ireland, and parts of Russia. Not just raiders and warriors, the Vikings were explorers and merchants as well, with slender ships that carried them all the way from Arabia to the coast of the New World, hundreds of years before Columbus ever set sail. As warriors, as settlers, as explorers and as traders, Vikings were agents of extraordinary social and political changespurring global economic growth, fortification of Europe , the development of national identities, advances in shipbuilding, navigation and more. Their historical legacy is immense.

GOTHS: Terrorized by the savage raids of the Huns, the Goths sought safety in the protective embrace of the Roman Empire . However, after the Romans subjugated them, the Goths rose against the Romans, defeating them at the battle of Adrianople . Rome was forced into a treaty with the Goths, but it was an uneasy and unfair arrangement for the Goths. Young Goth King Alaric marches on the city of Rome itself, sacking it in three days of brutal looting and murder. As the decline of Rome begins, it is the Goths who will maintain the fading art and culture of Rome in their new Goth kingdoms.

MONGOLS/HUNS premieres January 20 at 9 pm ET /PT. MONGOLS: To this day, the Mongols remain a symbol of all that is brutal, cruel and barbaric in the ancient world. At the greatest point in their conquest, the Mongols controlled an empire that stretched from the Sea of Japan to the Baltic, from Korea to East Germany . Their principal weapon was terror. The Mongol warriors pioneered a style of warfare unparalleled in cunning and cruelty, and so revolutionary it still inspires military strategists today. Their greatest general was Genghis Khan, who united the loose confederations into one unified power in 1206. Under his successor, Timur (aka Tamerlane), the Mongols conquered the Ottoman Empire in 1402, but the Mongols would lack a large enough population to maintain so huge a geographical area.

HUNS: The Huns were a mysterious people who fell upon the European continent like the vengeance of God. Some say the Chinese built the Great Wall to keep them out. The Huns swept in from the east with a savagery that was almost unparalleled in warfare. In the 4th and 5th centuries AD, the Huns were an aggressive people with considerable skill in warfare and horsemanship. Their best-known leader, Attila, established an empire stretching from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean , bringing parts of the Roman Empire to the verge of destruction. In the end, disease conquered the Huns, as malaria decimated their ranks. And Attila, at the height of his powers, died on his wedding night, drowning in his own blood.

The Good: Much of the show is fascinating. Many pieces of history come through that I personally had no knowledge. For example; I had no idea that the Vikings crossed the ocean to Canada or that the Goths were the first to take Rome.

The Mongols were one of the most amazing fighting units of the Barbarians yet they are rarely remembered. Their technique was unstoppable.

The show never gets boring or monotonous. If anything it leaves you wanting more. Four hours of rampaging and destruction sounds demented but if you watch you’ll soon realize just how important these were to the makeup of Europe .

Barbarians also puts a different twist on many of these cultures by putting a soul within them. The Goths were pushed to the edge, they didn’t just kill to shed blood and plunder. They did what they needed to out of necessity.

The Bad: The reenactments leave quite a bit to be desired, yet we know this isn’t a big budget Hollywood production. One barbarian slices through a Roman statue like it’s Styrofoam it is, but it’s hardly realistic.

Frankly: The History channel always finds a way to give us history that doesn’t put us to sleep. If only school was this much fun!

+ Charlie Craine


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