Plot Synopsis

BARBARIANS RISING is a one-hour series that reveals the true stories of legendary warriors who risked everything to change the world, by chronicling the rise and fall of the Roman Empire through the eyes of the barbarian rebel leaders. The Roman Empire called them barbarians -- tribes the Romans viewed beyond the fringe of civilization that lived a brutish and violent existence. However, these were also men and women who launched epic struggles that shaped the world to come. The series opens with an epic 700-year battle for freedom that begins as the barbarians rise against Rome; Hannibal builds a rebel alliance and conquers the Alps; and the shepherd Viriathus unleashes a wave of resistance to save his people from destruction. BARBARIANS RISING documents the stories of nine great warriors, including: Hannibal, who vowed a blood oath at the age of nine to destroy Rome; Spartacus, the slave-turned-rebel who led a barbarian revolt; Boudica, the avenging Celtic warrior Queen; Arminius, the son of Germany surrendered to Rome; Attila, scourge of the east; Alaric, the king of the Goths; Fritigern, the warrior who took down an Emperor; Geiseric, the last barbarian standing; and Viriathus, the shepherd-turned-rebel leader. Plus, experts and contributors for the series include: General Wesley Clark, U.S. Army (Ret.) and Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander; Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, one of the first female combat veterans' in the U.S. Congress; Rev. Jesse Jackson, Civil Rights Leader; Dr. Clarence B. Jones, speechwriter and advisor to Martin Luther King Jr.; CSM Eric L. Haney, U.S. Army (Ret.); Dr. Darius Arya, American Institute for Roman Culture (U.S.); Professor Barry Strauss, Cornell University (U.S.); Dr. Virginia Campbell, University of Oxford(U.S.); Dr. Dan-El Padilla Peralta, Princeton University (U.S.); Dr. Steve Kershaw, University of Oxford (U.K.); Colonel Kevin W. Farrell, military historian(U.S.); Professor Noel Lenski, Yale University (U.S.); Professor Peter Heather, King's College London (U.K.); Vanessa Collingridge, author (U.K.); Valerio Massimo Manfredi, archaeologist and writer (Italy); and Professor Walter Pohl, University of Vienna (Austria).
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On Monday, June 27, 2016 at 9pm ET/PT, History premiered the season finale of BARBARIANS RISING. In the season ender, "Ruin," Alaric's Goths sack Rome; Attila the Hun seizes power through chaos and destruction while the barbarians move in for the kill. The Vandal king, Geiseric, masterminds the end of Rome; the Empire falls.