[narrator] Hours before Mehmed launches his final assault,
an ominous sight shakes both sides.
[Notaras] Why has God forsaken us?
Is our fate to be thrown to the Ottoman dogs?
The city is not yet lost, Lord.
Yes, the Venetian fleet is on its way.
Unless they arrive tomorrow, they do us no good.
[narrator] Rumors of a 40-ship fleet's imminent arrival have swirled for weeks,
but it's exact whereabouts remain unknown.
I think everyone involved was hoping against hope.
I think you just naturally want the hope that, uh, deliverance will come.
The West can't forget about us.
They know that Venice has voted to send help in the form of their navy,
as well as soldiers.
And so the relief fleet is on their way.
Every day, they get up there and they look for it,
day after day, after day
and it doesn't come and it doesn't come.
We can hold off the Turks, Emperor, I swear to you.
Lord Giustiniani?
The walls will hold, Lord.
The Turks have suffered heavy losses every time they've attacked.
It's not me who needs to be convinced, dear Giustiniani.
My faith is inseparable from this city.
[Loukas] It may not have to be, Emperor.
I have some good friends in Galata.
They offered me to get us... you and your court out of the city.
Leave the city? Now?
There's no shame in it.
You will abandon the fight?
There's no honor in suicide. The Turks will have our heads.
I will have yours now, coward!
[Sphrantzes] Hey,.
Lord Loukas, you would leave your emperor and countrymen at such a moment as this?
I'm, of course, only concerned for the emperor's safety.
If this has to be the end of the Roman Empire,
I will die defending it.
Anyone who loves me and their empire,
take up your swords and join me in this battle!
[cheering]
Then let us write our own history in these fateful hours!
[cheering]
[narrator] Every empire has a beginning.
Forged of blood, steel, fortune and conquest.
In 1453, Roman Emperor Constantine XI
and Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II,
wage an epic battle for Constantinople.
Twenty-three armies have tried to take the legendary city,
all have failed.
Out of the carnage, one ruler will emerge victorious
and change the course of history for the next 300 years.
For one empire to rise...
another must fall.
[Giustiniani] The Turks will concentrate their attacks on the land walls.
The gate of St. Romanus will be their primary target.
It's nearly demolished by their cannons
and they have been stacking their units directly across from it.
We must defend with all we have, there.
Lord Giustiniani, you will have whatever we can get.
We will need all men of fighting age.
We can leave the old and the clergy to defend the seaside walls.
Lord Loukas, knowing the Turks will come here,
I will immediately need your cannons moved to the gate of St. Romanus.
That's out of the question.
I need them to defend the walls along the Golden Horn.
You've seen their ships waiting to attack.
They will not come from the Horn.
It's too great a risk.
They will storm this gate.
I need all of our cannons to stop them.
Lord Giustiniani,
I'm sure you will find a way to defeat them without my cannons.
You are the military genius,
aren't you?
It's not a request.
[scoffs] I don't take orders from the Catholic pirates.
[Loukas] Ah!
Ah!
I have killed hundreds in this siege.
- One more won't make a difference to me. - Enough!
There is no time for this petty bickering.
[cannon fire in distance]
You will get your cannons, Lord Giustiniani, but end this now.
We will settle this after the Turks are gone.
[Lars Brownworth] Humans have this endless capacity to bicker.
Even when extinction is threatening.
Constantine has to kind of console Giustiniani and Notaras
and kind of wake them up to, you know, we have a bigger problem here.
My lord, Captain Tommaso has returned with urgent news.
Send him in.
[narrator] Three and a half weeks earlier,
Constantine had ordered lookouts to find the Venetian fleet.
Their imminent arrival could save the city.
We ran the blockade, my lord.
We scanned the seas from dusk till dawn,
but saw no ships.
[narrator] The grim news means the Venetian fleet's arrival
is at least a week away.
The Romans are on their own.
Thank you, Captain.
[John Goodwin] Constantine couldn't surrender.
He couldn't give up because he bore on his shoulders
more than his own personal dignity
and his hopes, uh, for himself and for his family.
He was the embodiment
of something that had been set in train a thousand years before
with the foundation of that city by his namesake, Constantine the Great...
who had founded that city and called it after himself.
And from the 15th century,
that had been one, almost continuous story of imperial rule and Christianity.
And that was too much for one man to lay aside.
[Brownworth] Constantine, he says, "These are my people
and it's worth dying... I'm not gonna leave them to die alone,
I'm gonna... I'm gonna lead them and die with them."
[cheering]
[Roger Crowley] The day comes, 29th of May, before dawn.
[cheering continues]
Mehmed realized that it was now or never.
[cheering]
[all chanting]
[narrator] Mehmed orders his cannons
to intensify their barrage on the weakened walls.
[screaming]
There is a Genoese ship readying to depart from the Golden Horn.
Take who you can, go to Chios.
No. No, I won't leave you!
If you care for me, you will.
It will give me strength to know you are safe.
Promise me... promise me you'll join me in Chios.
Now go.
[cannon fire]
I think we're due a pay rise, lads.
[laughs]
Let's send the bastards to hell.
[soldiers] To hell!
To hell!
[narrator] Giustiniani and his remaining men
take up a position between the inner and outer walls
at the St. Romanus gate,
putting them in what will soon become a killing field.
For the Genoese mercenaries and their leader,
there are two ways out:
victory or death.
Twenty-three armies have tried to take this city and failed.
My own father faltered at these walls,
as did many of your fathers who fought alongside him.
Tonight, we will avenge them.
Allah has willed it.
The Prophet said, "You shall conquer Constantinople.
What a wonderful leader will her leader be.
And what a wonderful army will that army be."
Let us now fulfill our destiny.
[cheering]
Then, we will use our hands and minds
to forge a new age from the ashes.
The Red Apple will be given to the fateful.
Allahu Akbar!
[Dr. Talbot] Mehmed, he really knows what to do and when to do it.
So, you'll conquer and you'll get these riches.
But also appealing to the religious side of these soldiers too.
God is with us and he'll help us to conquer.
But also making himself into a standard.
I'm with you, therefore we'll conquer.
[cheering]
[narrator] Inside the walls of Constantinople,
the emperor readies his men.
The battle will decide the fate of the city.
Men!
You know what awaits you outside those walls.
Be not afraid.
We are privileged to defend this city
that Constantine the Great built from dust.
We are the protectors that have kept the scourge of Islam
from Europe for a thousand years.
If the great empire of Rome...
must end tonight,
let it not go easily.
Sharpen your swords and steel your souls, for we fight as brothers, as Romans!
[cheering]
Augustus,
Justinian,
Constantine...
they will be watching!
[cheering]
There's this wonderful speech that Constantine gives right before the battle
where he's addressing both the Italians and the Byzantines
and he reminds the Byzantines in particular,
of who their ancestors were:
the great heroes of the Roman past.
And he gives this stirring reminder: be worthy of your ancestors.
And I think it's this moment where he...
he was up to the task when it finally came to it,
he was willing to die for a cause that he believed in.
[cheering]
[Ottoman band playing]
[cheering]
Sound the alarm bells.
[bells tolling]
Send the Bashi-Bazouks.
[shouting] Full forward!
Attack!
[narrator] Bashi-Bazouk literally means "crazy heads."
The fierce, but unpredictable volunteers are Mehmed's first wave of attackers.
[shouting]
[Crowley] Before dawn, they attack in waves
and he sends his most disposable troops in first.
And these are the cannon fodder.
Get ready, boys.
Draw!
Aim!
Release!
[shouting]
[Dr. Philippedes] You had the first wave of the expendables
and that lasted a couple of hours, actually.
The defenders were tired after that,
while the Ottomans were getting ready for the second wave of the attack.
Ahh!
Send the Regulars.
[narrator] The disciplined Ottoman Regulars
are a far cry from the Bashi-Bazouks.
They're the most feared army in the Balkans.
The use of mercenaries or foreign experts
is something that's often forgotten in the siege
when it's seen as simply a clash between Christian and Muslim.
There were guys from both faiths and from all over the world
helping each other out for the highest price.
Aim!
Release!
Aim!
Forward charge!
Release!
[shouting]
Fire the bombards.
[narrator] Giustiniani converts the small cannons
into makeshift shotguns.
The Ottomans take heavy casualties, but press the attack.
Giustiniani and his men
rush outside the ramparts of the outer walls and into the moat.
[men grunting]
[distant screaming]
[men grunting]
[groaning]
The Turks are no match for Giustiniani, my lord.
There is still hope.
Ahh!
[grunting]
[narrator] Mehmed sends wave after wave of troops,
but after four hours of fighting,
the battle shifts in the defenders favor
and the Ottomans are unable to breach the walls.
Sultan, we must retreat and regroup.
Nonsense.
- You can see, we are losing the battle. - We attack again.
We only have the Janissaries.
Then send them!
If they fail, we won't have an army!
- If they fail. - Sultan, I urge you to reconsider.
I will take this city!
This is madness!
Out of my way, old man.
[narrator] The first two waves of Mehmed's attack
failed to break the city's defenses.
The legendary Janissaries are his last and only hope for taking Constantinople.
Mighty Janissaries!
You have fearlessly protected the empire for a hundred years,
standing between your sultan and chaos.
Now, I order you to go forth and create chaos.
[cheering]
Let us take the Apple!
[cheering]
Attack!
[horse whinnies]
Take the sultan!
[breathing heavily]
[panting]
[gasps]
[grunting]
Sultan!
[grunting]
[men cheering]
[narrator] The momentum shifts once again
as the Janissaries continue their push towards the St. Romanus gate.
[Brownworth] The Janissaries were the most feared element
of the Ottoman army.
Giustiniani is with his men
and here come the Janissaries who are the best trained,
the most disciplined, who are fanatically loyal.
And they're yelling.
They have these colorful uniforms.
The drums are beating.
It... it must have been absolutely terrifying.
[narrator] The relentless advance of the Janissaries
begins to weaken the desperate defense put up by Giustiniani and his men.
[Giustiniani] Retreat!
Retreat!
[narrator] Forcing him to order a tactical retreat
into the safety of the walls.
[Therma] Go! Go on!
- Come on! Go! - [screaming]
[narrator] Inside the city, panic engulfs its citizens
as the Janissaries close in on the St. Romanus gate.
Retreat! Retreat!
- Get them in here and close gate. Now! - Yes, sir!
Retreat! Retreat!
Go, go, go!
They are coming! Close that gate!
- Close that gate! - [soldier] We still have men out there!
Close it!
[intense shouting]
The gate is open! Come on, men!
[grunting]
Close that gate now!
[gasps]
[groans]
[gasps]
[grunts]
[groans]
[groaning]
[panting]
[breathing heavily]
We have to get him to the surgeon or he won't make it!
[groans]
Crossbow fire!
Let's go men, let's go!
Clear the path.
- [Constantine] Where are you taking him? - He's hurt. He needs to see the surgeon.
He can't leave! These men will abandon the fight!
I am sorry.
You can't go, Giustiniani.
The city will fall.
It's no good, Emperor.
Save yourself.
[Gürkan] Giovanni Giustiniani fought very well.
He fought valiantly until when he didn't.
Uh, the last day of the siege he was... I have to do justice to him.
He fought very bravely, but then he ran away
because he was already shot and he realized everything was gone.
The city was doomed, everyone knew it.
There are all sorts of accounts as to how this happened, what happened.
Giustiniani, maybe he's just run out of, uh, of energy.
His morale is shot and this is the moment really,
when they see Giustiniani leaving,
uh, the whole, uh, morale of the defenders collapses.
- [grunts] - [men shouting]
[grunting]
[Baltaoglu] We got them!
Push forward!
[Genoese soldier] Retreat! The commander has left the battle!
Retreat! Retreat!
[narrator] After two months of pounding by Mehmed's cannons,
much of the outer wall has been reduced to rubble.
The defenders are overwhelmed
as thousands of Ottoman soldiers pour in through the breaches.
Dear God.
Our beloved city is lost.
Now make haste, go to the Marmara walls while there's time.
No, Majesty.
There's a ship waiting for us in the harbor.
We can still escape if we leave now.
I am going to God, my friend.
It is my duty.
Save yourself.
- You think I would leave your side? - I'm ordering you to leave!
Tell the world how valiantly we Romans fought here tonight.
[in Latin] Morior invictus.
Morior invictus.
[Brownworth] This is one of those moments, which I think is very revealing.
Sphrantzes says to the emperor, "You should flee."
He says, "We have ships, we've proven we can run the blockade,"
and Constantine probably could have,
but he turns Sphrantzes down and he says, "No, these are my people.
I'm not gonna leave them to die alone.
I'm gonna lead them and die with them."
Which, you know, is a pretty... pretty remarkable decision.
[Brownworth] The emperor sees the Turks streaming in.
He knew he was going to die.
He faced odds that none of us will ever face
and instead, he said to his enemies, "No!"
And the answer he gives
is an answer the Spartans gave at the Pass of Thermopylae with Leonidas.
"I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees."
And he plunges into where the battle is thickest...
and is never seen again.
[man] Hurry up!
[Giustiniani groaning]
If Giustiniani had somehow magically disappeared from the scene
the night before the last battle,
he would absolutely be remembered as a real hero.
[groans]
[Genoese soldier] The city belongs to the Turks.
If you leave now, you can get through the blockade.
- Come on. Come on. - [sobbing]
Let's go.
Unfortunately, after displaying such incredible fortitude and bravery,
he flees.
[Genoese soldier] Raise the sails!
And then eventually dies.
[Constantinople citizens scream]
[narrator] The feared Venetian fleet bound for Constantinople never arrives.
The Venetians waited and waited... [chuckles] and waited.
They finally put an armada together to send to Constantinople,
but it sailed too late.
It only reached the Aegean after the fall of Constantinople.
Crusades were a thing of the past.
[narrator] On May the 29th, 1453,
Sultan Mehmed II enters Constantinople.
He's 21 years old and proclaims himself "Kayser i-Rum,"
the new "Caesar of Rome."
But the Ottomans will forever know him as "Fatih,"
the Conqueror.
He had done something that many people
for the last... 1700 years tried and failed.
He put an end to the Roman Empire and he did it when he was only 21.
[narrator] With Constantine's defeat, Constantinople becomes Istanbul,
the capital of the Ottoman Empire.
Mehmed takes the city, goes directly to the Hagia Sophia.
It's the biggest building in all of Europe.
[birds chirping]
[Papademetriou] He's even described as walking through the building,
walking on top of the domes in order to survey the beauty.
And he describes it in these ideas that now he is in the realm of heaven.
It's not just a symbolic thing, for him it's a mystical and a...
it's, uh, fulfilling what was the tradition of the hadith
that the one who takes Constantinople will be truly blessed.
Sultan, we've found the grand duke.
And the emperor?
Not yet.
[Zaganos] Bring him in.
Enough.
Salutations, Sultan.
I'm Loukas Notaras, the grand duke
and supreme commander of the military forces.
Your highest majesty, I am here to offer you my services.
And in honor of your victory, I have brought a gift.
Why didn't you give these riches to your emperor
when he so clearly needed it?
- Lord, I... - What kind of scoundrel are you?
Hoarding your wealth while women and children starve around you.
Sultan, you misunderstand me.
I... misunderstand?
Please, my intentions are honorable.
Ask your vizier, Halil Pasha.
Candarli Halil?
Yes, I worked with him to bring the siege to a quick end,
in the hopes of avoiding the bloodshed.
If you could call him here, he would testify so.
Take this half-breed dog away. He'll look better without his head.
[Loukas] No, please! Sultan!
Please no! No!
No, mercy! Mercy!
Congratulations, Sultan.
You have won a great victory.
Thank you...
my teacher.
What will you do with your new jewel?
I will build the capital of my empire here.
The new Rome.
It will be splendid.
Yes.
Teacher, when my father came back
and took the throne from me,
do you remember what you said?
You said, "When it's truly your time,
you'll take your rightful place on the throne
and throw aside the trappings of the past."
And now you are your own man.
Why didn't you believe in me?
I gave all I could,
so you would succeed.
Now I go into exile, willingly.
Not exile.
Grand Vizier, reunite Candarli Halil with his dear friend, Loukas Notaras.
Gladly.
Everything I have done, Sultan, has been done to serve you.
Please remember that when you grow old, if you grow old.
Thank you for all your lessons, teacher.
They will be remembered.
Everybody calls it the fall of Constantinople.
It wasn't a fall. Nothing fell.
It was a conquest.
[Gürkan] The conquest of Constantinople
can be regarded as the first major victory of cannons against cities.
It was one big event that showed the world
how effective cannons can be against walls,
so it was the declaration that the walls are obsolete.
There are a few people in world history
who get to call themselves world conquerors.
Mehmed the Conqueror,
in many senses, changed the nature of world history.
This great empire that will go on to dominate a third of Europe,
most of North Africa, the whole of the Middle East,
going towards the Persian Gulf
and even at certain points towards South-East Asia.
It's the time when this state turns around from being just one random principality
on the borders between Christendom and Islam,
to being the dominant force in world politics for 300 years.
[Mara] My son, the Red Apple is yours.
It is the prize of your new empire.
And so...
we begin.
[dramatic music plays]