This one, beautifully produced as always, is one of the most difficult to listen to.  Such a terrible tragedy and one of those falls that don't seem to be avoidable by the people and the places that fell.  Invaders they could not overcome. I love this series.

Some returned to Spain while some stayed behind in Peru and established themselves as colonial lords. One chronicler wrote in ironic terms about the fate of one of these conquistadors who returned home, a man named Mansio Serra de Leguizamon, whose descent into gambling and vice was representative of the later lives of many of these soldiering adventurers:  At the time the Spaniards first entered the city of Cuzco, the gold image of the Sun from its temple was taken in booty, by a nobleman and conquistador by the name of Leguizamon, who I knew and was still alive when I came to Spain. He lost it in a night of gambling. Giving rise to the joke "he gambled the sun before the dawn".

Fall

In the lowlands of Northern Iraq, a series of enormous cities lies crumbling in ruins...

In this episode, find out about one of the most remarkable ancient civilizations: the society known today as the neo-Assyrian Empire. Discover how the Assyrians built their empire out of the ashes of the Bronze Age, and built an empire of iron that lasted for centuries. Explore the extraordinary flourishing of art and technology that they fostered. And finally, discover what happened to cause their final, devastating collapse.

13. The Assyrians - Empire of Iron

On the rocky banks of South India's Tungabhadra River, an enormous ruined city lies crumbling...

In this episode, we look at the Vijayanagara Empire of Southern India, a civilization that has all but faded from memory in many parts of the world. 

Find out how this remarkable society rose up out of an age of conflict and fragmentation, how it built one of the largest and most impressive medieval cities in the world, and developed an identity that was both South Indian in nature, and global in its outlook. With readings in Sanskrit, and the sounds of traditional Carnatic music, find out what happened to bring the great stone temples of Vijayanagara crashing down in fire and flame.

----------


Credits:

Voice actors:

Peter Walters
Michael Hajiantonis
Kim Heron
Nick Denton
Paul Casselle

Sound engineering by Alexey Sibikin

Original music performed and composed by Aruna Sairam.

14. Vijayanagara - The Last Emperors Of South India

In the deserts of Jordan, a city lies hidden for centuries in a valley of rose-red stone...

In this episode, we look at one of the most peculiar stories of civilizational survival to come down to us from the ancient world, the story of the Nabataeans. Find out how these once humble traders rose to become masters of the desert sands, and to defy empires. And discover what happened to finally bring down the empire of Nabataea.

15. The Nabataeans - The Final Days Of Petra

Around the year 1100 BC, a wave of destruction washed over the Eastern Mediterranean. It wiped whole civilizations off the map, and left only ash and ruin in its wake. 

This catastrophe, known as “the Late Bronze Age Collapse”, has become one of the enduring puzzles of history. I want to explore how so many societies could collapse all at once, and seemingly without warning, as well as examine the lessons it might teach us in our increasingly globalised and interconnected world.

Credits:

Sound engineering by Thomas Ntinas

Voice Actors:

Shem Jacobs
Jacob Rollinson
Jake Barrett-Mills
Bryan Tshiobi
Helena Bacon

Music by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-fre…isrc=USUAN1100209
Artist: incompetech.com/
Additional music (The Hurrian Hymn) by Michael Levy

Fall of Civilizations

2. The Bronze Age Collapse - Mediterranean Apocalypse

In the dusts of Iraq, the ruins of the world's first civilization lie buried. 

This episode, we travel into the extremely distant past to look at the Sumerians. These ancient people invented writing and mathematics, and built some of the largest cities that the world had ever seen. Find out about the mystery of their origins, and learn how they rose from humble beginnings to form the foundation of all our modern societies. With myths, proverbs and even some recreated Sumerian music, travel back to where it all began, and find out how humanity's first civilization fell.


Credits:

Sound engineering by Thomas Ntinas

Voice Actors:

Jake Barrett-Mills
Rhy Brignell
Shem Jacobs
Nick Bradley
Emily Johnson

Music by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-fre…isrc=USUAN1100209
Artist: incompetech.com/

Sumerian Music kindly provided by Gayle and
Philip Neuman, of Ensemble De Organographia. Their CD, "Music of the Ancient Sumerians, Egyptians and Greeks," is available from
northpacificmusic.com.

8. The Sumerians - Fall of the First Cities

A city in ruins. A dynasty in tatters. An empire in ashes...

This episode, we look at the remarkable story of the first empire of ancient China, the Han dynasty. With ancient Chinese poetry, songs and folk music, we look back at the first empire's rise, its remarkable technological advances, and its first, tentative attempts to make contact with the empires of the west. Finally, we look at all the reasons behind the first age of Imperial China's final, dramatic fall.

Credits:

Sound engineering by Thomas Ntinas

Voice Actors:

Claire Hynes
Jake Barrett-Mills
Shem Jacobs
Alex Peattie

Music by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Source: incompetech.com/

10. China's Han Dynasty - The First Empire in Flames

On the outskirts of modern Istanbul, a line of ancient walls lies crumbling into the earth...

In this episode, we look at one of history’s most incredible stories of survival - the thousand-year epic of the Byzantine Empire. Find out how this civilization suffered the loss of its Western half, and continued the unbroken legacy of Rome right through the middle ages. Hear about how it formed a bridge between two continents, and two ages, and learn how the impregnable walls of Constantinople were finally brought crashing to the ground. 

This episode we're joined by members of the St Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral Choir in London, and a number of musicians playing traditional Byzantine instruments.

Support Fall of Civilizations on Patreon: http://patreon.com/fallofcivilizations_podcast

Credits:

Sound engineering by Thomas Ntinas

Voice Actors:

Nicolas Rixon
Joey L
Annie Kelly
Cleo Madeleine

Original Compositions and music supervision:

Pavlos Kapralos 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzgAonk4-uVhXXjKSF-Nz1A

Chanters of The St Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral: 

Michael Georgiou 
Alexandros Gikas 
Matthew Tomko
Stephanos Thomaides 
Pavlos Kapralos

Traditional Musicians:

Monooka (Monica Lucia Madas), vocals 
Alexandros Koustas, Lyra (other names: Byzantine Lyra/ Lyra of Istanbul/ Kemence)
Konstantinos Glynos, Kanonaki (other names: qanun; in Byzantine Greek: psaleterion)
Theofilos Lais, Cretan Lyra 
Dario Papavassiliou, Santouri (other name: Greek Santur)
Pavlos Kapralos, Oud

Other music by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: incompetech.com/

Title theme: Home At Last by John Bartmann. https://johnbartmann.com/

11. Byzantium - Last of the Romans

High up on the craggy peaks of the Urubamba Canyon, a lost city lies wreathed in cloud...

In this episode, we explore the mountains of the Andes, and tell the story of the Inca Empire. Find out how these mountain people built the largest empire in the Western Hemipshere, in one of the toughest terrains on earth. With Inca poetry, Quechuan hymns and authentic Andean instruments, discover the unique culture of the Inca. And find out what happened to bring their society crashing down around them.

Sound engineering: Thomas Ntinas & Alexey Sibikin

Voice actors:

Annie Kelly
Jamie Tanner
Gerald Condlin
Lachlan Lucas
Peter Walters
Jimmy Lai

Original music by Pavlos Kapralos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzgAonk4-uVhXXjKSF-Nz1A

Also heard: “Andean illusion” by Kanti Quena (Carlos Saldana) and
"Ollantay" by Leandro Alviña.
Kanti Quena (Carlos Saldana): Quena, Quenacho, Tarkas, Bombo, Charango
Phaxsi Coca (Jeanettte Rojas): Siku Malta, Siku Zanka, Jach'a Siku, Bombo, Chajchas
Ana Maria Ramirez Bautista: Quena
Maya McCourt: Cello
Pavlos Kapralos: Chajchas, Palo de Lluvia

12. The Inca - Cities in the Cloud

A history podcast looking at the collapse of a different civilization each episode. What did they have in common? Why did they fall? And what did it feel like to watch it happen?

12. The Inca - Cities in the Cloud

Fall of Civilizations Podcast

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