Lost Roman Heroes - Episode 93: Mauricius (Part 1 - The Rise)

About this episode

The episode discusses the rise of Mauricius, his military successes, and his reforms as Emperor after Tiberius's death.

The young man from Arabissus catches the eye of Tiberius, rises through the Excubitors, and is sent to command the Roman eastern legions in the middle of a major Roman-Persian war with no experience under his belt! And what does the paper pusher do? He wins! And wins again, pushing Roman arms deeper into Persian territory than they have been for many decades. When Emperor Tiberius dies, the rising star Mauricius becomes the new Augustus and gets to work, making radical changes to prepare Rome for a new world, creating the Exarchates, penning the Strategikon, and cutting fat in the legions, while making many, many new enemies in the process...

People in this episode

Hosts: Matteo, Matthew Storm

Topics covered

• Roman history
• Mauricius
• Tiberius
• Roman-Persian war
• military strategy
• leadership

Keywords

• Mauricius
• Tiberius
• Roman eastern legions
• Exarchates
• Strategikon
• Roman-Persian war
• military history

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Roman eastern legions, Exarchates

Books & works: Strategikon

More episodes of LOST ROMAN HEROES

• Lost Roman Heroes - Episode 96 - Gregory the Great (Part 1) · May 31, 2026 · 43 min
• Lost Roman Heroes - Episode 95: Lost Roman Women with Ladies of Lore · May 17, 2026 · 1h 30m
• Lost Roman Heroes - Episode 94: Mauricius (Part 2 - Apogee & Disaster) · May 3, 2026 · 53 min
• Lost Roman Heroes - Episode 92: Gregory of Tours · March 29, 2026 · 1h 0m
• Lost Roman Heroes - Episode 91: Tiberius II · March 15, 2026 · 1h 18m
• Lost Roman Heroes - Episode 90: Belisarius, Man Behind the Myth with Dr. David Parnell · March 1, 2026 · 1h 3m