This podcast series presents a new angle on the origins of the Crusades based on the book "The Byzantine World War" by Nick Holmes. In this episode, the year is 1068. The Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes leads the newly trained Byzantine army to victory against the Emir of Aleppo and captures the Arab frontier city of Hierapolis. But, just as his army celebrates their victory in Syria, the Seljuk Turks launch a vicious assault into the heartland of the Byzantine Empire.