Fall of The Roman Empire...in the 15th Century: Crash Course World History #12 

Its summer, I have no school, no tests, there is absolutely no reason I should be watching this. However I'm a sad person and I watch these for entertainment.

And those who did not adopt pants became the Scottish.

You are the adult version of Blues Clues.

"He was like the David Tenant of doctors" , I love CrashCourse

If only my world history class had been this exciting.... I would have actually learned.

If you think about Rome didn't fall until 1453 when the Byzantine Empire fell. So Rome lasted from 753 BC to 1453 AD. That's 2206 years!

7:40 Borat wearing a 'mankini" LOL He must have pranked Constantine too!

As a history teacher, I am always really enthusiastic about these videos. However, today, one of my students, Leonardo, pointed that he was pretty sure that Constantine was born in Serbia. Actually, in Leo's natve town of Niš. I tought I would mention it... :)

If people want to argue that Rome fell when the Western Empire fell. Feel free to comment here and we'll discuss it. However, I believe that it fell in 1453 when the Ottoman Turks lead by Mehmet II took over Constantinople. They lost for two major reasons. 1. Several years earlier when Pope Innocent III called for the fourth Crusade. Now you (for those who don't know) might be wondering why this mattered? The Crusades were to attack the land of Canaan and Jerusalem, right? Wrong. The fourth Crusade ran out of money so they decided to sack Constantinople. The weakened Constantinople could still fight off major armies, except.... 2. Except for the invention of artillery. The Ottoman Turks had besieged Constantinople twice before winning. The first time they were held off even though they outnumbered there enemies 10 to 1 (8k to 80k). The second time they were held off again. Mehmet II's army was on the verge of routing and Mehmet needed a spur of the moment, brilliance. Now, before this moment, the Romans (Byzantines) had held off every attack. The Romans had the Bosporus into the Golden Horn River (strait of Bosphorus) blocked off with a chain. Mehmet losing for this very reason (some argue indirectly), dismantled his ships, and dragged the pieces to the other side of the chain and rebuilt the ships. Now the Romans were surrounded. With victory in sight. Mehmet aimed all of his cannons at one spot and let his warriors loose. Rome, my friends, has now fallen. The Emperor (Constantine XI Palaiologos) with disbelief that the Roman Empire was falling, was last seen throwing himself into battle. I don't know why none of this was included...

“That lady, me from the past, is Emperor Justinian, we’ll get to him in a minute.”

Who else is bingeing this series just for the fun of it?

The irony is that you showed those two different architectures at proof of how the byzantine empire differentiates from the western empire while both buildings have Greek origin.

For anyone wondering why John thanked Thought Bubble for putting he and Stan in the Green side, the Green side during the Nica Riots was the side that lived after Justinian called out the army.

7:42 look in the top right corner. The woman had a glass of wine, but it then disappears :O

Title: fall of the roman empire. Doesn't tell about the fall of the Byzantine empire

Hilarious, and enlightening. I did not believe history can be so enthralling to learn, and so educational as well. Thank you and your team so much for this. Prayers and best wishes from Bangladesh!

9:09 Hagia Sophia is not a mosque at the moment. It used to be a mosque during the reign of the Ottoman Empire. However, after the Turkish Republic was established it was turned into a museum so that believers of both faiths can visit freely and without intimidation.

Hey. I'm a teacher and I'd like to say. You're doing a great job here. Keep it up.

Concept: People with tests tommorow and people who watch these for fun face each other off blue vs green style.

I must’ve watched this 10 times and I just noticed the not-so-subtle dig at the college girlfriend. Nicely done. I can imagine John calling the folks at the animation studio and saying “put the college gf animation up on the screen when I talk about adultery... JUST DO IT!!”

Mr Green. Hagai Sofia is a museum now. Thank you.

Watching since the beginning, and this show is a classic! Thank you John, and the whole team.

LOL I was thinking about Vampire Diaries when he said Alaric as well 😂

"Like the David Tennant of Doctors" Brilliant! XD

This is brilliant. While I'm well past the years of needing to know this information for a test or similar, I do enjoy still reading about and refreshing my memory on various topics in history and this is a great format for it. Love the animation as it is eye pleasing, but wish you'd tell more if the story through animation. That would make a great thing even better. Congratulations on earning a new subscriber ;)

Watched this when it first came out in 2012, watching it now in 2019 before a Byz art history midterm...bless the Greens and this channel.

I'm so happy you brought up Theodora !!! She's one of my favourite historical figures ever. I wish we knew more about her.

5:44 Correction: Constantine the great was born in a Serbian town Niš, known as Naisus in time of the Roman empire

I really enjoyed the "did you know?" for Constantine. Really glad I learned that.

"Did you know: Constantine is dead." XD

#PeopleWithATestTomorrowSquad

Day 12 of social distancing. I graduated high school two years ago. I'm not in college and have no reason to be watching this. But the quarantine boredom is hitting hard. So here we are.

okay my teacher set this as homework and i am forever grateful like thank you this makes learning fun

The They Might Be Giants reference made me really happy

Of course this gets recommended to me when Italy is put on nationwide lockdown due to Coronavirus

Thanks for making these videos they're really nice and have kept me alive in way. :) They're well made videos and you guys do a job of making them. I appreciate them.

That Vampire Diaries reference... just awesome! Also, as to my knowledge, the Hagia Sofia is not a mosque anymore, but serves as a museum.

Anyone else here cramming for AP world tomorrow?

john Green how often do you think about the Roman Empire?

i was playing Assasin's Creed and thought "what empire ruled rome during this time?" and ended up here.

He is awesome. Wish I had history teacher like him

The Haghia Sophia is now a museum not a mosque

Gotta say this is one of crash courses strongest videos. Even given the short time limit this one is way better than the other videos.

Super helpful while I try to understand my world history class. Thanks!

I am a Roman Catholic. We view the Orthodox Church as legitimate, and they view us the same way. There is the leadership issue is there, and the split was caused by un-diplomatic people rather than a real issue with Church teaching.

Hey Mr. Green! Congrats on this channel. I subcribed to mental floss over a year ago and followed it like religiously. I will follow this one as well. Thanks for putting things like this on youtube and never ever forget to be awesome!!

Everyone is here for their AP tests, meanwhile I'm just a homeschooler who is very behind and trying to catch up before the end of school.

Wow! That was awesome! You seriously always make history fun

Hagia Sophia is not a mosque now! That's such a huge mistake. It has been turned to a museum in 1935, shortly after the foundation of the Turkish Republic and it has remained so ever since.

when he said warm genitals my social studies class lost it

Particle Man. Birdhouse in your soul. Boss of me. Lucky Ball and Chain. TMBG had a couple of mainstream hits.

Hey this video really help I was out sick and I had to watch it thanks!!

dating a history professor, and really want this to work......

I love your show. Thanks so much for expanding my knowledge and adding a little spark of fun to it. :D

I have to watch this for school in Canada so every time you are part of my online lessons it's a treat :)

No-one's hair: CrashCourse's hair: Bush

Well done! I am currently reading Sailing from Byzantium: How a lost Empire Shaped the world. It would be nice to see a video that talked more about the translation of Greek and Roman (Plato, Homer....) texts into Latin before the fall of the Byzantine empire, and including the influence it had on the Renaissance......

The fall of Rome is so bloody complicated

I didn't think I'd have to try so hard to understand an explanation.

My knowledge of Roman and Greep history comes from the Percy Jackson series ( and maybe a bit from school).

Caesar over pope never forgetting that one

Wonder what the world would be like if Byzantium managed to at least survive to the modern day with its Greek holdings.

Such a cool overview and production. Inspiring.

i swear u make me want to learn even more about history your theme is actually funny

Omg I was laughing so hard when he mentioned Alaric from vampire diaries. It's so true. Haha

The Hagia Sophia is actually now a museum, not a mosque! It's located in the "museum"esque district in Turkey and now operates as a museum with a set fare to get in as well as audio guides. They also have removed some of the plaster that covered up Christian mosaics and now the Hagia Sophia is one of the few museums (if not the only one?) that has Christianity and Islam peacefully side by side.

I miss this ..

It's really hard for me to get anything out of these vids despite the beautiful animations because they are so fast paced.

This is great! Thank you so much! It makes me think about how similar America is to Rome: vast and lacking a unifying culture. Thank you for this video along with the rest!

10:18 When he reads "... adulterous women should not be executed." The animated girl with teeth brace weaving on the right probably is a representation of John Green's ex. That's how I remembered from previous episodes.

Videos like this prove why history repeats itself. Because we can know, but we never learn.

I absolutely love this channel evidenced by refusal to put my phone down at work when I'm ya know. At work! Wish I was rich enough to support but until that day I'm forced to leave the old verbal tip! Keep killing it guys and gals! Much love

Hagia Sophia is a museum now.

Great video! I do however, have a few remarks: You didn't mention Basileios II or John Komnenos II, these were also some really interesting and capable Byzantine emperors, in my opinion equal to, or even better emperors than, Justinian. Whether Justinian was that good of an emperor is also debatable, one could argue that he overstretched his armies and funds in the reconquest of Africa and the partial reconquest of Italy, draining the imperial treasury and weakening the empire's military position. His wife Theodora was often able to manipulate him, as were others at his court. He may not have been a real pushover, but he certainly wasn't the strongest (Byzantine) emperor. Christianity also played a strong role in the fall of the Roman empire (not the biggest factor of course, Germanic tribes, civil war and economic crises being the foremost), as it was an exclusivistic religion, instead of a syncretic religion, such as Greco-Roman paganism. This in turn led to strong religious intolerance, widespread persecutions of unbelievers, philosophers and freethinkers, which strongly divided the empire and even reversed scientific and philosophical progress (think about atomism only resurfacing in the 16th century after having been wiped of the face of the earth because it contradicted christian doctrine). Christianity was by far not the hammerblow that crippled the empire, but it is too big a factor to be overlooked. Last point: Whether the Byzantine empire should be considered to be the Roman empire or just a continuation of the Roman empire is also debatable. It could be compared with Charlemagne's Francia and the Kingdom of France. The latter is a continuation of the former, as was the Byzantine empire when compared to the Roman empire. Significant differences in language (Latin vs Greek, and Franconian vs French), administration, architecture, military tactics, cultural identity, etc. are large enough to speak of two distinct sovereign entities. Even though the transition of one to the other took place gradually over time, they are not the same. Sorry for the long read guys, cheers.

Watching this in self isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic for a test due tonight

8:47 I understood that reference. *runs around house, singing* DOOWEEDOOOOOO

4:18- left leg is over the right leg 4:21-right leg is over the left leg

Constantine was born in Naissus which is modern day Nis, which is in Serbia...

This channel gets me through my western civilization course...

John Green ladies and gentlegerms, the greatest author

Constantine was born in modernd day Serbia, Nish to be exact. -_-

Hagia Sophia is not now a mosque.smh... its a museum. It use to be a mosque

I love your videos you make history so much more fun keep up the great work.

That open letter to pants was hilarious.....

IDEAS FOR NEW CRASH COURSE (MYTHS AND CULTURE): 1. STONE AGE 2. IRON AGE 3. CELTIC CULTURE 3. CELTIC MYTHS 4. NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN MYTHS 5. GREEK MYTHS 6. MYTHS IN GENERAL (JOSEPH CAMPBELL / JUNG)

7:35 Borat was Byzantine? I thought he's a Kazakh Barbarbarbarbarian.

your content is amazing and so helpful

I really enjoy these videos keep it up man

Ooh, close but no cigar. The Hagia Sophia is now a museum. It was a mosque, but it became a museum in 1935

My teacher put this on a few years ago when we were studying the history of medicine part of our history course. I'm now revising as my exam is on the 1st June, and this is really helpful. Thank you John Green

i keep trying to watch these and every other video fall asleep

As a Glaswegian, I can testify to that football rivalry thing. Blues and Greens, indeed 😉

Constantine was born in modern day Niš, which is in southern Serbia, not Croatia.

Constantine was born in Nis, modern day SERBIA. Not Croatia.

Just watching reviewing for my test yup 😂👌🏻 thanks John green!

Just watched this video as part of an assignment for a history of western civilization course at my college!

:D Well, my subscription to this channel appears long overdue.

Thanks for this wonderful explanation and info based on the Roman Empire and fall of Rome. Helped me understand h/w (:

Love the TMBG shout out. Oh, and the history.