This podcast series tells how the decline of Byzantium was the original cause of the Crusades. It is based on the book "The Byzantine World War" by Nick Holmes. In this episode, the year is 1069, and the new Byzantine Emperor, Romanos Diogenes, is determined to save Byzantium from the raids of the Seljuk Turks. But the Turks are a formidable enemy, and the Emperor also finds that he has to contend with a rebellion of the Norman mercenaries in his own army.