Feeding a Greek Hoplite - Ancient Rations 

For more ancient Greek and Roman episodes check out this playlist to learn about garum, placenta, Roman bread and more: ru-vid.com/group/PLIkaZtzr9JDkCHpSx2Kf2XWRcgqjClDff

this video is proof that there is an inherent primal need for a sweet little treat

Max is one of the few cooks that really means it when the recipe calls for "only two ingredients"

Fun fact: In the Greek Land Forces, the term "Hoplite" is still used to describe the equivalent of the "Private" class. Old habits rarely die

In the Island of Rhodes (Rodos) , we have our own local variation of "Pasteli" , we call "Melekouni" , literally meaning "honey and seeds". It consists of honey, sesame, orange zest, cinnamon and a raw almond placed in the center of the bar. It's way softer than Pasteli and thus more pleasant to consume. We usually give them away for free at weddings.

King Leonidas looking at his camp: "This is where we snack!" (gestures to the Athenians' mess tent) "And that is where they DINE!"

My brother made a linothorax as part of a historical recreation project at college, and compared it to the composite lamellar silk armour worn by samurai. The big difference for the linothorax is it was made from relatively cheap materials and quite often the linen would have been woven by the mother or spouse of the hoplite that wore it. It was made for that hoplite and that hoplite alone. The layers of linen would have little charms and prayers or coins or flowers pressed between the layers for luck and divine protection. And with use it would mold and shift in the heat to fit the wearer perfectly. My brother's friend managed to both graze his knuckles and dislocate a finger punching him while wearing it! So it was pretty effective. He also tested some squares of the material with a bow and arrow though sadly was never able to make the squares of silk lamellar to compare because he couldn't source the laquer needed.

My mother used to give me this as a child. She called it sesame candy. My father was Italian but he was obsessed with Greek culture, played the bouzouki, and drank ouzo, so I guess that's why we had sesame candy, too. It's really good. I still have his bouzouki.

Back when I was a conscript in the Finnish army, we had Greek "Itrion" bars in our field rations. So basically it was just like 2500 years ago, but at least we got our gear and food from the state!

There was an ultra distance runner, Dean Karnazes. In an interview discussing his diet 15 years ago he mentioned he snacked on sesame and honey since he was Greek and wanted to embrace his heritage. He used the bars for fast energy on runs lasting several hours

I've been eating sesame seed and honey candies since I was a kid, had no idea they go back this far.

The fact that body armor made out of fabric was used from the ancient world with the Linothorax up to the late middle ages with the Gambeson just shows us how effective fabric armor can be. Also it's quite affordable and when you have to ear it an extended period of time pretty comfortable compared to heavier material.

My best friend's Punjabi mom made basically this, all the time. We used to have it as snacks playing D&D and at band practice constantly. It's so simple and so good that much of the world's said "Hell yes" to it. They'd usually throw a couple spices in, maybe some dates, maybe nuts, but it was always super easy and super delicious. Can't go wrong with honey and toasted seeds/nuts.

Xenophon's "Anabasis" is one of the first, if not the first accounts we have of ancient warfare written by a commander, or somebody who was actually there. In a remarkable change from most histories of this time period, there is no ridiculousness, no melodrama, no heroic derring-do...just a soldier's story of what happened to them, and how they escaped after being double crossed.

One of my history teachers in school always had these on her desk as a commercially made candy. They were individually wrapped and one would enjoy as a candy. I thought of them as old fashioned candy but never realized how really old fashioned they are. Thanks again for this tidbit from history. Fascinating as always! 🙏

I went to this international candy store a couple weeks ago and picked up this weird bar in an orange box with Greek writing on it, I didn’t understand what it meant and inside was this sticky loaf of sesame seeds and honey, at least now I know what it was. It was pretty tasty too.

Growing up in California in the '70s and '80s this was a standard candy at health food stores. It was one one of the few candes my mom you let me eat when I was little.

Well ... this is strange, I'm from Romania and my mom made this since i was a child, we can also find this exact sesame treat at most corner stores, I'm glad this recipe traveled so far because it's delicious!

So it's like Ancient Greek Rice Krispie Treats almost but with honey and sesame instead of puffed rice and marshmalllow? That's really neat! Thank you for sharing!

There is a similar Georgian snack called "gozinaki", although it is made with walnuts usually. And there is also soviet version made with sunflower seeds, known as "kozinaki", that is still popular in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus to this day.

Fun fact: here in Italy (and I would assume in Germany as well), there's a good few snack vending machines that sell something extremely similar to Itrion ^^

Greek here! As you said, these are still around, so simple yet so delicious! Thanks for covering this recipe! 💛

I've made sesame honey cookies like these several times and I definitely recommend adding just a few pinches of salt. It tastes really good and balances out the sweetness of the honey.

You can also use specific varietals of honey to really mix it up!! Cotton honey has a very light and “cloud” like flavor, orange blossom honey (I’m sure you can figure that one out) and many others!

Hi Max... In some places of south of Italy we call it "giurgiulea" or "giurgiulena", from the Arabic word "sesame seed". This video helped me to realize that it is more ancient than the Arabic influence in Italy (middle age), but maybe it come from the Greek colonization of southern Italy (before the roman empire).

I'm also fascinated with the raisin cakes that fueled King David's army in Samuel. This Greek delight is crossed between lembas bread and an MRE. Cool video.

This is so interesting to me because I grew up eating Sesame Snaps, which is a commercial version of this. They were a common lunchbox addition and you can still find them in gas stations across Canada.

Hey Max, loved the episode! We also have these currently in Bulgaria, as well as, I believe, in our neighbours, Turkey and Greece. Never knew they originated in Ancient Greece. Ours are called сусамки, basically "tiny sesame", and they ARE great! We also have similar with de-shelled sunflower seeds and with peanuts, also quite jgood, but personally I love the texture of the sesame! Keep up the good work! 🎉

"many, many layers of linen tightly woven and glued together" I thought the Linothorax would be something akin to a medieval gambeson, but from that description, it sounds more like an ancient version of proto-Kevlar. Cool!

I'm not Greek but I grew up eating this. It's incredible!

As you already said, we still have this in modern Greece. It's called Pasteli now and you can find it everywhere. 😊

Oh my God, this is a treat in Slavic culture as well. I'd eat it often when we had family gatherings. Just honey and sesame, it goes well with a strong black tea. I had completely forgotten about it! Thanks Max!

Modern British Army ration packs actually sometimes contain sesame seed bars, which are basically just itrion - seems some things never change!

In Poland we have something similar called 'sezamki'. They are thin and crispy, but unfortunately now made mostly of glucose syrup. But if you are lucky you can find ones made with honey. They were one of my favourite treats as a kid, but they stuck to the teeth like crazy. Still, I have it as an emergency snack in my car, because you never know when you'll need them 😂

So proud of being Greek right now!!! Itrion is called "pasteli" nowadays (the accent on the e) and apart of being the best snack, you can add it to fresh salads to give body and crunchiness especially green salads. Also you can add it graded with cookies to make cheese cake base. Keep up the good work!!

You can buy these sesame honey biscuit snacks anywhere and in any convenience store today. Amazing to see where it originated from.

Rice Crispy Treats, I am your father.

this is also a traditional chinese snack that i've had since childhood black sesame and honey crackers/crisps the taste is so nostalgic and fragrant i love it

I got rice crispy vibes from this. I guess the best snacks are made from a nut, seed, or grain with something sweet to hold them together, examples being pecan pralines, candied walnuts, rice crispy treats, and those no-bake oatmeal cow pattie cookies that school cafeterias used to serve.

Oh man, these are my favorite video type. Old recipes are cool too but I love it when you show us what rations or standardized food soldiers, sailors, royals or whomever ate.

7:54 linen armor from acient Greece is made with the same idea as kevlar or the front of your car today: you arent expecting it to stop the hit all together, you want it to disperse the energy over a much much larger area to slow down and mitigate the force.

Oh wow! Korea ALSO has these as traditional treats! It's the same thing although Koreans have a greater variety of sesame seeds and also add peanuts It's called "Gahng-Jeohng" and "Kkaeh" is "sesame" so it's Kkae-gangjeong

I'm so glad you mentioned marshmallows... i couldn't help but think of this as a sort of ancient greek rice krispie treat!

Love the story telling! Can’t wait for more about the Greek military history. Thank you!

Tried making this recipe since I had both ingredients. I added in some onions, minced until liquid, and ate the whole batch. It tasted great. However, I would warn that this is the only time I've ever crapped out a log made solely of toasted sesame seeds. Was quite bewildered.

When I was a kid, these were the only candies I was ever allowed to eat. They had them at the health food store for some reason which is where we got all of our groceries. I always loved them so much!

That's a popular candy in Puerto Rico! It's called Dulce de Ajonjolí and still made with mostly just sesame seeds and honey but I think caramelized sugar is also used to make it harder. Similar sesame candies are found all over the world, I would love to see a timeline of how it traveled from one culture to another.

near me they sell something called sesame snaps, they are small packaged things that look just like that and they are sweet. i love those sesame snaps and its neat to hear about the history of these little guys.

Wow what a flashback! My grandma used to make something exactly like this when I was a kid! I had totally forgotten about it til watching you make this and my memories came back!

My mom always kept "sesame snaps" (basically this but in thin wafers) around when I was growing up, they do get stuck in your teeth but I always really liked them. I had no idea they went back that far!

This sweet sesame crisp reminds me at first glance of the hard sesame candy made today in Vietnam - my mother is Vietnamese, and as a kid, sesame candy was always a treat to beg for and very occasionally be granted when we went to an Asian grocery store.

This is actually one of my favorite treats and I never knew the history behind it. Another example of why history is cool! Thanks for this information and video! Awesome stuff!

With summer coming up, I was wondering about the variety of potato salad recipes. I would love to see a show on the origins and of America's cold potato salad. Always enjoy your show.

Yum! This recipe reminded me of "Alegrias", a delightfully sweet Mexican treat made with honey and amaranth seeds. Now I'll be craving one all day! 😋

Halva is very very common here in Ontario Canada. From the fine ground sesame versions to the "snap" types of whole seed. The Sesame Snap type is usually sold 3 for 1 dollar. These are a blend of simple "food" type items, to items the center on different faith based diets. It's good stuff Max :) and your very very thick slick of snappy sesame seeds made my teeth wince :D but mouth water :D The next thing to look at in confection terms is the history of the marshmallow (starts in Egypt and ends with Jelly Beans).

LOVE those plates upon which you served it forth. Also, you nailed the timing of the ad break again. That’s three, I believe. Kudos. 😊

I literally bought one of these at a convenience store. They're called Sesame Snaps and they are very common here in Southern Ontario. They probably use a bunch of corn syrup, but when you're hiking, they still function the same. They're much better than most hiking snacks, like granola bars (of similar price) or chocolate bars, because they're just nuts glued together. No filler, just dense protein and fat, held together by a little sugar. It's always kind of amazing to find common ground across such lengths of time and space.

I remember the first time seeing 깨강정 thinking, “hey, that looks like my yiayia’s recipe!” Ancient humans across Eurasia quickly realized that sesame+honey = crunchy yummies.

Can you do an episode about Latvian food and drink, like piragi, kaposti and Riga black balsam??? My husband’s family would love it!

I gotta say as an armchair historian and a cook when i served in the army, your channel is the perfect combo of cooking and history

Due to the significant Greek population in Australia pasteli is a very nostalgic sweet here! Admittedly not everyone likes it but as a Korean-Australian honey and sesame are two or my favourite flavours.

In Mexico we have a similar snack called alegría which is made with honey and amaranth seeds. Sometimes they add hulled pumpkin seeds. Delicious!

I always have a couple of bars of pasteli (as we call it now in Greece) in my hiking bag, as emergency food. On longer hikes, I eat just a medium bar for breakfast and it is enough to hike for a full day. I don't think it is just the energy in these that keeps you going, more like their whole nutritional profile.

The bulk food store in my home town used to sell the modern version of these. They are a great snack. I loved them on camping trips.

Your channel is playing constantly while I work 😊 the mix of music and random bits of information makes the day go by faster!

reminds me of the sesame snaps that were a store bought treat from the candy aisle when I was a kid. I loved those things!

We used to have sesame brittle or candy frequently. Its always been available at Middle-Eastern Markets around the Metro -Detroit area, with the great number of people living here from the many countries who imported their great food.

It's like an ancient Greek rice crispy treat

Bought your book so happy I can watch you cook the recipes in it so I know what I’m doing

This seemed a lot like Alegría, a traditional Mexican candy made with amaranth and honey. Only you don't toast the amaranth, you pop it, like popcorn. Which then lead me to realizing that it's a lot like popcorn balls, but then I think you hit the nail on the head with calling the honey taste marshmallow-like, it's basically ancient rice krispie treats.

I'm Danish and my mom used to make these as snacks for us as kids! I can smell it through the screen! It fun to think about how I ate as an ancient Greek soldier when I was 6 years old, lol. I also love how this is found everywhere in the world!

Love sesame cakes for long hikes, good energy! Thanks Max!

0:07 i grew up eating this all the time. we call it layee, or til layee (sesame brittle). it's the exact same thing. never knew ancient greek hoplites had this.

I can confirm that this snack is still very popular in Greece, but I didn't know that it goes back millennia. It is mind-boggling if you think about it

😂 I never knew one of my favorite hiking snacks was THAT historic. We buy something similar by the box from REI for hiking or just any kind of travel snacking. Yum! Okay, now we'll be putting it out to share at SCA events, too.😊

I love this stuff. A favorite childhood after school snack. There are so many different ways to make it.

Thank you Max, always well produced and well researched.

It was a coin toss whether Max still had the helmet on after the intro played.

Oh this is similar (outside) to a snack in Vietnam called Bỏng gạo. It is basically roast rice to brown color,mix with malt syrup or sugar then cut into shape like a box. Very delicious and compact snack for picnic when I was a kid. It is still being sold nearby the hospital where I'm learning.

We have our old traditional sweet something like this but uses cane sugar or jaggery. There is also another similar recipe "Khajaa" where caramelized sugar is airated by folding hundreds of times and coating the outside with sesame seeds. Yum.

The comedic timing of the end, where you just kept snacking on it, was well done. Thanks for the laugh.

I like that *if* you mess up during a recipe it stays in the video and you roll with it. Recipes and cooking are meant to be an adventure (if you have the budget) so I always love to see that!

The oil from the sesame is the best thing, when chewing it comes out and mixes with the honey. Love this stuff.

5:22 “… and hopefully some food.” Hit different 😂 when your relief forgets to bring chow. It’s rough

I often have a small version of this at work or in my bag. They are called sesame snaps we used to be able to buy them at the school canteen as well. (In Australia)

We have stuff like this in our supermarkets, I didn't know it was an ancient greek ration cake. Thanks for the great video ;)

one of my favourite snacks, as a greek, is sesame peanuts, which is this mixture as a peanut coating. its honestly so good!

This was a favourite treat of mine when I was a kid many many years ago. I'm Australian, so this seems to be a universal snack.

Awesome. Bought these in Kalamata, Peleponnessos Greece. Consumed in modern day Sparti(Sparta). Nice to know one history of this dish.

Hey! we have exact same dessert in India also. We just use jaggery (a form of cane sugar) instead of honey. It is called Tilsakri (Til: Sesame seeds, sakri: Sugar) or Gajak. It is enjoyed a lot in winters all over India.

This is a treat that is still made in Greece to this day. It's known as "παστέλι" nowadays, and while the most common version is still sesame seeds and honey, there are also version that replace the sesame with almonds or peanuts (equally as delicious, and with some extra crunch - although can be pretty hard on the teeth).

Max has found a niche that no one else has thought of. Brilliant! This is fun. I enjoy watching these videos. Thanks, Max.

As always, superb documentation and top interesting!

Only Max could find a way to reference Winnie the Pooh when discussing Ancient Greek military rations !! You made my day! Haha. Love it!

This could be fun - I live in a rural area in Oregon with lots of raw honey varieties - Meadowfoam (tastes like cotton candy), fireweed, sage, carrot, buckwheat, coriander...the list goes on, and they're all interesting. I've made baklava and mead...time for something new!

Sesame Snaps. :) I had no idea that the recipe was so old. India has jaggery mixed with sesame. China sells white bars of sesame and sugar as well as bars of black sesame seeds. It’s definitely a childhood favourite of mine that’s lasted quite some time, although I never considered it with honey, i suppose we can call these seed cakes. :) Thanks for sharing!

I just got done making a batch of Honey taffy from a RU-vid recipe and that brought me here. I used to live by a Greek food store that sold these. They are great and I cannot wait to make these.

There's a really similar snack in Taiwan(maybe other east asian countries too) where it's just black or white sesame seeds with honey or malt syrup, and sugar. My favorite are the black sesame ones because I love the stronger sesame flavor and also because supposedly it's healthier and will help keep your hair black as you age. The women in both sides of my family swear by black sesame and they've all had very dark hair well into their 70s, and both my grandmothers had dark grey hair well into their 80s and 90s. Either way didn't know Ancient Greeks had their own version of this that's pretty neat

I would really like it if you explored African food! One of my fixations right now is the Malagasy culture: the people of Madagascar are ethnically very close to the Austronesians of Southeast Asia, because they represent the most westward expansion of the Austronesians. It'd be so cool if you explored this connection in food!

Man this video comes at the perfect time! Because I planned on making these this morning anyway!