PLEASE let Dan Snow get an honest review of Napoleon off his chest. He interviewed Ridley Scott before the release / he was able to see it himself, and he deserves the justice of voicing his review. We all know there’s no way in hell he would have consented to promote that movie if he saw it beforehand.
Man that movie sucked ass. One of the greatest generals in history and they hardly showed any battles. It was just him and his wife whining the whole film.
Well vercingetorix should have been played by a French actor so Italian probably isn’t too far off but a famous Roman being portrayed by an Irish actor. Yeah that’s a bit odd
Pullo's love interest Eirene, of barbarian origin, was also played by an Italian actress. It's my personal theory that the Italians wanted to show the world that there are many Italians who do not look like the movie clichés. So while all of the top stars are foreigners, at least the barbarians are played by Italians.
I remember in the commentaries on the DVDs they mention that they knew the stirrups weren't historically accurate but the combination of the insurance requirement and that very few actors who know how to ride know how to ride without stirrups necessitated their use, so they just tried their best to cover them up.
@@zulazhar1259It was the most expensive series ever made at the time. Unfortunately the graft by the Italian studio bigwigs added many, many millions more onto the bill and made them end the series after the second season instead of the planned five seasons.
7:00 Anyone who has read the historical works of the Gaulish warrior "Asterix" would know that accounts of Vercingetorix's surrender included him throwing his arms *on* Caeser's feet.
I love how in the opening scene the Romans are quiet. It was said that it was upsetting for the opposition that they would not shout or otherwise express emotion when engaging in combat.
The Greeks copied that from the Persians (where the Greeks wrote how impressive they were by that) who then were copied by the Romans. You'll see that over and over again when it comes to Persian/Greek/Roman culture.
The only issue is that we don’t have any record from the others that the Romans fought against so, much like the Greeks, we have histories of stoic and ordered fighters against the wailing and whooping savages but that only comes from Roman sources and archaeology is proving that doubtful.
@@DidMyGrandfatherMakeThis Roman military procedure was to be as efficient with your resources and save them as much as possible. So pointless shouting and yelling during combat were also a waste of energy, which the Roman legions very much had to save untill the battle was won. That's also why every soldier only is about 1 or 2 minutes in actual combat, untill the whistle and he falls back to the back of the formation, while the soldier behind him steps up to engage the enemy. With let's say 8-10 soldiers in a row and only the front one fighting, every soldier had 8 to 15 minutes of rest.
Two of my favourite scenes in Life of Brian is the Stoning Scene, where no women are allowed and the scene where a Roman officer catches Brian writing in terrible Latin " Romans Go Home " The officer then schools him on how to properly write the phrase in Latin and orders him to write it 100 times by sunrise
My college professor for History of Roman Empire loved the Life of Brian scene so much 😂 Just about every History Class I had it was either Monty Python or Mel Brook's quotes and movies.
@@BrandonHernandez-tg5ql I watched it pirately...and the movie seriously sucks. To lazily made and too stingy. The made the Battle Of Watling Street looks like some mod fighting in bushes.
AHAHAH, the way he says with an almost straight face at 19:00: "Sadly, the full and complete biography of the life and times and achievements of Biggus Dickus have not survived to us today", lol!
Surprised "The Eagle" wasn't on the list. I can't think of a finer representation of what outpost duty on a hostile frontier must have been like - not just the danger but the boredom and complacency, too.
The Life of Brian bits are so good. They show the hypocrisy of "both sides," at least in the context of history as we know it. There's good and bad in everyone at all times.
Just wanted to let you know in case you didn't HistoryHit, HBO cancelled ROME during the early stages of production for season 2, as a result the creator was forced to re-write season 2 so he could squeeze in the events of season 3 into the last 6 episodes so the show could have an ending instead of ffinishing on a cliffhanger, which is why season 2 isn't as good. Season 2 would of otherwise been as well paced as Season 1 with battle scenes. Season 3 would of done a full depiction of the events of the siege of Alexandria. There was supposed to be 5 seasons in total.
Another commenter below mentions "I, Claudius" - superb series. Lots of Game of Thrones-style political intrigue and violence, only without the dragons. A lot to chew on for a brief vignette, though - it stretches all the way from Caesar Augustus to Nero.
In the clips from 'Doctor Who', when the family of Caecilius are scrambling to prevent the busts, etc. from falling, it's very reminiscent of the Banks family's efforts every time Admiral Boom fires his cannon in 'Mary Poppins'.
Well spotted! It’s the Hottentots! What I thought of when I heard the name Caecilius was my daughter’s Latin textbook and the phrase “Caecilius est in horto”.
Was kind of hoping both Domina (a excellent series about Livia Drusilla) and Barbarians (a German series about the battle of Teutoburg Forest) might be included. Both excellent and more recent entries.
We watched _A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum_ in a Roman history class I took in 1987. There wasn't as large a selection available then. Maybe it's nostalgia, but I thought it was a wonderful movie. The best chase scene in any movie I've ever watched.
18:54 If there is any reason to be an archaeologist, it would be to recover the life and times of Biggus Dickus. And, of course, his wife Incontinentia Buttocks.
Ahh, I was hoping to see the series Spartacus here, although it might have needed permanent blurring, considering the amount of gore and nudity on display. Absolutely amazing, apart from the wonky early season CGI, and would've been interesting to see someone with extensive knowledge about Rome take a look at it. Also, John Hannah must have been a Roman in a past life, he's pretty good at playing one.
I wonder why HBO's Rome chose to focus on two soldiers who Caesar happened to have mentioned by name, rather than focusing on unnamed men from the 10th legion, which Caesar publicly praised, on numerous occasions!
Gladiator has a whole video dedicated solely to it, so I think it was wise to leave it off here. It’s so mainstream that any history fan likely knows it and has seen it, and it’s nice to give that airtime to titles some of us might not be familiar with.
@@PazLeBon True, familiarity is a good learning environment, but redundancy only creates boredom. As I said before, a video all about how accurate Gladiator is has already been done recently by this channel (by the same presenter no less). This video likely exists because subscribers like me were interested in hearing about other titles that don’t already dominate the algorithm. Gladiator is very popular, but it’s been done to death at this point.
@@CarterElkins somewhat depends on the demographics I suppose and the goals. The percentages of those that know nothing at all to the ones that have some interest already :)
The Eagle us based on the Young Adult novel, "The Eagle of the Ninth" by Rosemary Sutcliffe, so historical embellishments should always have been expected. The only really significant issue is how the Seal People of Argyll were portrayed as Neolithic cavemen. THAT was criminal because they were likely kin to the Gaels (or Gaelicized Irish Picts) that established the kingdom of Dalriata there shortly after
15:59 It's a comedy! Why is it even included? ADDENDUM: It's very interesting that a comedy was so accurate in it's depiction when the dramas use so much artistic license. I thought it would be the opposite.
A similar thing is said about Holy Grail iirc. It probably helps that many of the Python troupe had degrees in History and were Cambridge educated to boot.
I can attest to the fact that on-board ships (ex-USCG), many tasks are announced through what's called a "Boson's Whistle". It was in someways similar to Morse Code in that it used a combination of short and long "notes" to signify a particular task. I think it would not be out of the realm of possibilities that the Romans used this to direct battlefield maneuvers.
We all love Gladiator (and look past it's inaccuracies) because it fueled passion for ancient history as kids. Not gonna see Gladiator 2 it looks like it's trying to be nostalgic.
I think the difference between Gladiator and Napoleon is that Gladiator takes place thousands of years ago, - at a time where myth or PR might overtake the truth - and less people are aware of it. But Napoleon was only two hundred years, Or seven generations ago. And far more documented. And the exact story is more compelling than the fiction.
I’m a Roman history buff but since it’s a vast subject I’m attracted to the Republican Era. Most of the movies, TV shows and documentaries are very inaccurate in their representation of Roman warfare or how it changed over Roman history. Probably the two most accurate depictions I have seen is the Legionary Army confronting Spartacus Army in Spartacus and Caesars legions fighting the Gauls in HBO’s Rome. Both were probably realistic depictions based on the ancient writings of Legionary and Unit combat of the early post Marian years.
Oh my God. The Life of Brian. Bigus Dickus. And “What has Rome ever done for us. Well besides roads and schools and… What has Rome done for us lately?” ❤
I have seen all of this selection and would entirely agree with your assessment of each. There is one thing worth watching the Last Legion for, the stunning performance of Bollywood star, Aishwarya Raj! 😉👍
Accuracy ALWAYS ALWAYS beats nostalgia and made up plot points. I wish executives would get that through their heads. Historically accurate movies CAN and should have spectacle like modern movies do, but make it about something that really happened. I wish Ridley Scott cared more about accuracy.
In Dr. Who, the father shouting "positions " with the earthquake also mirrors the scenes in Mary Poppins just before "Admiral Boom" fires his time gun, though it is the mother in "Mary Poppins" who shouts "places!"
I like this reviewer, in other videos like this the scholar seems more interested in proving he’s an expert then giving an honest review, this reviewer educated
As far as the life of Brian goes, every scene was a stand alone classic, by far the best comedic movie ever made. Even Elvis used to binge watch their stuff.
@@randomme3095 I'm given to understand it wasn't wholly scripted,, in that the actors playing the guards weren't given the script and were just told not to laugh. But I'm pretty sure the Biggus Dickus joke itself was scripted. He shows up later in the film, and it would be too expensive for them to have been making up the whole film as they went along.
While Tristan is talking about Hypercourse in the Dr. Who segment, you can see ornamental gourds in the fore and background. These gourds are native to North America (specifically Texas and Mexico) and wouldn't have been available to Europe until some time after 1536 ACE, which I would believe is about 1457 years after Pompeii was buried. I wonder if they had corn on the cob and fries for supper that evening and a big cigar before going to bed??
"Ah, David Tennant, Doctor Who. A long time ago, I remember watching this when I was growing up." - count on The Ancients to make me fee ancient, too. :D
We think of whistles as made of metal or plastic but the whistle very briefly shown in the clip seems to be carved from wood. Are the archeological examples mentioned also made of wood? This might explain why no examples have been found on battlefields as wood rots quickly in the ground.
What does it say that I am now learning that there is a film called The Last Legion, which was made 3 years after King Arthur and is another film depiction the theory of King Arthur being a Romano-Briton?
You said that Caesar not only named Octavian primary beneficiary in his will but also adopted him as his son. The first part was correct. Octavian after Caesar’s murder got the Senate to make him legally Caesar’s son (he had the support of Caesar’s armies and Cicero and other Senators had used him against Antonius and made him a consul despite his age). It was not legally possible in Rome to adopt someone posthumously. But Octavian needed to be legally Caesar’s son to he could get his clients loyalty so pushed the Senate to make it completely official. Maybe Caesar would have adopted Octavian after Parthia but who can tell
idk why i feel relieved that this man also likes Centurion hahaha. It was my favourite movie for quite a while! One of my Latin teachers showed it to us during class. Definitely *a choice* lol, but happy he did!
A very entertaining watch, thank you! I remember enjoying the HBO series ‘Rome’, as well, of course, for pure comedy, ‘Life of Brian’. Love your t shirt - where did you get it???
I completely missed that the Roman family in that Doctor Who episode is the same Roman family depicted in my old high school latin text books. If you went to Catholic school you know.
Karen Gillian played a soothsayer in this Doctor Who episode before becoming the Doctor’s companion in Series 5 episode 1. Of course it also has a future Doctor Who in it. Re the Lost Legion: it is a film I enjoy perhaps because I see it as a children’s film that gives a different take on the Arthurian/Merlin legend. (Using the same idea as the film King Arthur, with Clive Owen, that Arthur was a Roman not actually a Briton.) Rather than giving a historical view of Rome and Roman politics. The one film I just can not watch at all is the Life of Brian, but then I have never found any of the Monty Python group funny at all. Except perhaps for Fawlty Towers with John Cleese.
I do enjoy these film analysis episodes. It's great to know the degree of factual accuracy you get along with your entertainment. It's also really nice to see that even very learned experts are still able to appreciate a good battle scene or a bit of classic silliness. I've added 'Rome' and 'Centurion' to my list of historical dramas to watch after seeing them praised here. The content of the video aside, I think that between his intelligence, listenable voice, and dry sense of humour; I'm developing quite a crush on the presenter! 😅
Love the experts views on films and this one is very good. Would like to see your take on much earlier films about Rome, like the robe, cleopatra and Spartacus.
My two cent: 2:15 Usage of whistle is not out of the question. It's practical, and reasonable for late republic legionary to use some form of communication system to communicate order in the mist of confusion. You could observe this usage of flags all the way from Napoleonic Era to WW2 era in the Soviet Union tank corps. It's obvious from one glance fighting in the front is physical and mentally exhausting cutting through limbs and stabbing, watching human die in front of you. It's not reasonable to say that they likely used whistle as a form of communication for the legionary to rotate to keep the legionary in the front constantly fresh from fatigue. Every person knew the legionary, like the phanlax was practically impregnable from the front, the only method realistically that I could think of is a system of rotation. Plus, it's not hard to imagine that ever person in the legionary have a strong sense of survival instincts. If they were to fight to the death in the front (unable to switch), then being in the front is almost certain death (die from fatigue), therefore the whistle make perfect sense (even if we have no evidence of it).
It is highly questionable whether lorica segmentata was present in Caesar's day or not. To begin with, it was first thought that it was introduced in the middle of the first century A.D. Much esteemed author Peter Connolly even suggested it was invented to compensate for the loss of mail armor in Varus disaster of 9 A.D. Then the place of Varus defeat was excavated, remnants of segmented armor were found and not only Connolly went face down with his theories but also the existence of armor was moved deeper into history. It is assumed nowadays, that the segmented armor came into use around the time of Augustus winning over Marc Anthony. Assumption is the mother of mistakes. It is plain stupid to assign armor production to certain events . Production of armor and weapons is not a single event, but is rather a trend, spread out in time . Lorica segmentata was a complex armor and as such it should have a long evolution. I have no proof, but I am certain that it already existed in some form in Gallic wars of Caesar and originated probably in the times of Punic Wars a century and a half earlier. By the reign of Augustus it was already a developed, complicated and tested armor, that is why it became mainstream armor for imperial troops
I'd love to see an authentic depiction of the Iberian war against the Lusithanians and Viriathus. Such a rich and amazing historical figure, and yet, nobody ever did a movie focused on him. Hell, it is amazing that there is such little representation of Portuguese History in media - we were the forerunners in the age of discoveries, we took the spice trade control from the malemuks and the othomans (the siege of diu is amazing), we were the first europeans to reach all continents (yes, even america, as João Vaz de Caminha actually reached Canada 19 years before columbus), and yet, nobody seems to do any sort of movie on our many achievements.
