This makes it seem like the Romans would know what the tank could do but to them, it would just seem like their soldiers were magically dying to a magical monster they might not even think it was a weapon they might think it was a creature
Yes, and the video doesn't even take their morale onto account, and in this case seeing whole turtle formations being blown up into dust with limbs ripped apart the morale would go into the negatives in the first minutes. They would be retreating from the battlefield.
Who would win: a highly advanced peice of armored equipment with speeds reaching faster than top human speed, with a ballistic cannon attached to it, or a bunch of medieval humans with makeshift armor and pikes. :/
Here to fix some mistakes here in the video, the Abrams has 3 machine guns and can even have a total of 4 but usually has 3. 1 remote operated 50 caliber machine gun, and 2 M240 machine guns. One manually operated by the loader, and one coaxially mounted next to the main gun for the gunner. The Abrams also carries more than enough machine gun ammo to annihilate a roman legion. If the crew uses it positioning, mobility, and thermal sights which will make the roman soldiers light up like Christmas trees in their sights they could easily wipe out a legion, which at best with the weapons they have would be able to destroy the CROWS mount for the 50 cal, assuming the Abrams even lets them get that close. The turret and main gun can even be used without the engine running and have the APU to keep power up and if it even comes down to it can be rotated and fired manually from within the turret.
That and the fact the 240 being the lightest weapon onboard still has a point effective range of 800meters mounted. And what wasn’t considered is the face that if the crew opened fire with the 120 the sound of that going off would scare the Romans off and soon as it hit they’d scatter like roaches
Nah this is common knowledge. We carry a lot of bullets for all the weapons. We also have M4s and M9s with copious amounts of ammo on board. Legion would be effed. Also if you ran out of ammo you just run down the rest. Driver track troops is a real command. @@Fadsro
The tank can power down in the shade until the legion tries to surround it, then power up and run them over. the Romans wouldn't make heads or tails of that thing. and a legion can only take 10-20 percent casualties before routing. The real question is if the tracks will suffer a mechanical failure from running over 1000 armored men.
The 10 to 20 percent casualty figure is during a big battle when all the men are marching together on a field in sight of each other. If they don't know their friends are running away, they tend to keep fighting. A roman legion would probably need to spread out quite a lot if confronting an abrams, as marching all together would mean death.
@@RodolphosTechchannel Yep. Not impossible, but the cost wouldn't be worth it. 1000s of men dead, with the injured ones being demoralized. This might make the whole army demoralized after they realize they can't beat whatever they are up against. Which can cause mutiny's and many other problems for the Romans. Also, the romans might not know if it can run out. They might they it is a creature instead of a man-made machine.
Ancient aliens vs. Tank driven by Roman legionaires Ancient aliens: Can they drive a Roman tank with a stick shift? Romans with alien weapons vs. an ancient tank Yes, homeoffice is boring.
A lot of considerations are missed here. It's not just the superior weapons the tank has, it's also all the sensors. The tank has nighttime and thermal optics. The tanks biggest weakness would be fuel, but it's biggest advantage would be darkness. The Romans would turn into little glowing targets at night.
@alienstockdedsex7462 Your points here are dependent on something the Romans wouldn't have, a knowledge of how a tank works. Tanks are kind of easy targets for modern armies with modern heavy weaponry and tactics developed from years of combat against tanks. I would also think it's unlikely a sword made of bronze or a pike which is a wooden pole a couple of inches in diameter is going to jam a tank's treads. They would be crushed by the drive wheels.
I'm actually very curious of what the ancient Romans would do if they found an M1A2 MBT. Reverse-engineering it seems basically impossible, they would be working with materials they don't even know how to get, and without modern scientific ability to figure out what things like gasoline or gunpowder are made of. I would love to see this as the topic of a future video!
You've overlooked the value of psychology in warfare, something that the Romans themselves were well acquainted with. An enemy that is terrified of you is an enemy mostly defeated already -- after the first time that the M1 Abrams engaged and destroyed a formidable assembly of Roman troops all that the tank operators would need to do to "win" is conscript some locals as messengers and send them to the local Roman rulers with simple, practical demands like "Surrender (small town on the fringes of the empire) to us or we will unleash the full wrath of our terrible destroyer upon you!" The Romans don't know that the tank has limited ammo and fuel supplies -- to their knowledge, the thing is seemingly invincible and spits thunderbolts. It'd basically be a dragon, as far as they knew, and the idea of offering up one small border town to the "dragon keepers" in order to appease its wrath (and get back to conquering the known world) is a bargain Rome would jump at. In this way the tank operators score a clear military victory, prevent retaliation, and ensure an ongoing supply of food and other resources via the townsfolk and any local trade. Tank wins.
Of course the Tank wins with even the most inept Tank commander. It would be like Godzilla vs Bambi in no scenario does the 5000 Romans win. It could just charge them without waisting any ammo. All modern tanks carry extra fuel and ammo that is classified. So that other militaries can't just plan around the tanks capabilities. Infographics people are silly.
@@fixmypc3798 And dont forget about machine gun turrets in the top. It could either be manned or be used inside the tank. Which means tank shells will not only be the weapons used.
That tank wasn't the only tank. Romans lost hundreds or thousands of soldiers and they were defeated by *1* tank. They didn't know that there's a hundred more of these.
Ryan, I think you put it perfectly. The tank would terrify the Romans, and even with limits on fuel and ammo, they would be decimated to the point of surrendering or fleeing.
The first few soldiers are going to walk up to it, die, and that one scene in monty python and the holy grail would play out... "RUN AWAAAY (run away!!)"
When the Italians were introduced to tomatoes they thought they were poisonous because the Spanish served the Italians with tomatoes on lead plates so the Italians got lead poisoning and blamed it on the tomatoes
In the middle ages people drank ale so they didn't get sick from water. What they didn't know is that you had to boil the water so it's clean out of any bacteria. When they made ale they had to boil water of course, so when they drank that ale they didn't get sick. In turn instead of drinking water they drank ale.
First off, the psychological effect a tank would have on ancient soldiers would cause such great trauma and fear that they wouldn't dare to get close enough to it in order to dig around, or even have the knowledge that this metal beast is men operated and needs fuel, ammunition and supplies to run. the author failed to mention that a modern tank is armed with an anti personnel shells (Flechette), cluster shells, and nepalm that could decimate an entire legion eventually. The 4 men crew is also armed with ashault rifles, and could keep fighting. BTW, a tank operation is not measured by distance; miles and or kilometers, but by hours of battle. I was able to see what kind of fire power our tank has during my service in the armored corps. cheers!
An M1 has 42 main gun rounds, about 1500 rounds for its .50 cal machinegun, mounted atop the turret. In addition, its fuel-guzzling engine has enough for about 4-8 hours of continuous operation if the crew is judicious in their fuel usage (mostly idling).
@@victorpaulsantiago2206 The original tank was a moving box with cannons and machine guns The turtle formation was a moving box of men armed with swords and Pilas
They would lose easily. Tank is to overpowering it could just destroy Rome itself. If it has enough fuel. 5000 would be child's play. No need to use ammo just run them down . Go look at the Abrams moving.
@@Boretheory I think you are being sarcastic hahaha, this would not be the movies with WW1 iron tanks. Fire has no effect on a modern tank. Unless you could have the tank stationary and sitting in the fire for weeks. Also how would arrows stick to a titanium tank.Modern tanks like the Abrams for the Romans would be like Aliens fighting us. If they can get here from light years away. They can kick our butts.
A thousand couldn't stop a tank. They could stalk it possibly until they ran out of fuel. After 2 minutes they would be too afraid to go near it. If it even takes two minutes.
This is the plot of the GATE anime. Basically, a giant gate suddenly appears in the middle of Japan. Inside of it is a portal to a different world and anyone can travel between the two freely, except that the gov't obviously locked it down. The world is medieval with plenty of magic. There's plenty of resources inside of it, which makes Japan extremely rich and thus they attempt to establish peaceful relationships with the countries already in the new world, except one of the countries is extremely hostile. This forces Japan to go into a battle where thousands of troops try to fight against a helicopter equipped with machine guns, which they call a dragon of steel. It's pretty cool seeing the stark contrast of technology and it shows just how far we've come
The M1 Abraham tank has so much ammo in it that it could blow thru a 5,000 man army in a couple hours especially since the ancient romans would likely be running and screaming, absolutely terrified by the fire-breathing metal dragon that incinerates entire tortoise formations with a single blow. The ancient romans don’t stand a chance in this situation. Especially if you have the fight take place in modern times vs I’m ancient times where extra fuel and ammo doesn’t exist. You gave the Romans too many “benefit of the doubt” kind of points. I usually enjoy your versus videos but you were just wrong on this one man.
Yeha definitely to much benefit of the doubt. But fact is still that an Abrams can only fight 2 or 3 battles at a time until it runs outta ammo and the crew dies of thirst or hunger. Give it unlimited ammo and a back mounted fuel tank and it might just work.
If it was on a flat ground, like an arena of some sort, then yes, a single legion would struggle a lot. But in the middle east, the legion with a smart guy leading it would be a formiddable opponent, Romans would quickly learn, that concentrating in a large groups is a very bad idea, and thus, they would start attacking one by one. But the tank only carries around 50 rounds for the main gun, and even the machine guns couldn't concentrate when 5000 soldiers are attacking at once.
This whole vid is built on the premise that the Romans would use tactics to outlast the M1. As if the tank operators have no idea what tactics are. Any US soldier (and pretty much most other modern soldiers) can adapt to the situation.
@@Go-ah-oold Who said you have to drive it beyond the fuel range. Scout for a tactically superior position and wait for them to come to you. Your main cannon has nearly 4km of range. Find the high ground and let them come to you. Keep in mind, we're looking to defeat 5000 troops, not the whole of the Roman empire.
Im sure they would be able to take enough losses to use all the ammo and waste their gas. Till they tankers just baked to death in that now combat oven..
@infographic A lot has been missed here. For one, the 12.7mm or .50 cal which normally comes with 1200 rounds at least, and is a bullet so powerful, that it doesnt stop at one body but can destroy and pass through up to 3-4 people in a row. You can destroy an entire phalanx of 500 with 1 or less than 1, box of ammo. The operators are trained on ammo conservation as well. The 120mm sends out shrapnel out to an easy 100m whilst maintaining lethality. However I do not know how many rounds is carried, BUT the M1A2 does have thermal optics and can take out targets up to 2km away. This means the M1A2 can simply perch up on a hill and have all angles covered. The 7.62 will also shred but not quite as much as the 12.7. Lets be honest here, the MBT does NOT need to stay mobile in a battle with an enemy that is using sticks and stones. There's also the M4's that the crew get issued to factor in, albeit not much more than 3-4 mags and several frag grenades. Additional ammo can also be carried in the top racks, on the exterior, whether it be a mix of fuel and ammo. And that's without bringing white phosphorus rounds into this theoretical conflict which does react with sweat on your skin, that I can imagine carrying all that old aged armor and moving through the heat will be lots of it. End result the M1 would come out on top, hands down should the modern day tactics be also used on behalf of the abrams crew. Which is perch up and take them out from afar, the Romans can swarm from all directions perform flank maneuvers but the abrams can easily just roll through their formations and outrun them to a new vantage point.
My heart says 40. checking... "Due to the increased calibre, only 40 or 42 rounds are able to be stored depending on if the tank is an A1 or A2 model." (Wiki) ps. I can't believe I got that right, and yet I can't remember important things.
@@stupidchatpodcast4599 👍 I'll definitely need to remember the stats of a game I played once and didn't like, right? 😜 What about the future of bionic legs? No my college homework isn't important, neither is the names of people I like?
Byzantine Empire (eastern part of Roman Empire): *Falls in 1453 because of Ottomans with canons* Infographics Show: *Makes them fight against a tank* Rome: “Really? Like weren’t the canons enough?”
The massive cannons the Ottomans built specifically for the siege of Constantinople, I forgot what they named them but they were stupidly huge. I think only 2 made it to the siege.
Scout: "We spotted 20 Iron Carriages within the enemy ranks, my lord!" Centurion: "Only 20 Iron Carriages? They must be making fun of my 5,000 strong army!" Scout: "Also, the carriages has this long barrel sticking out like an elephant snout..." Centurion: "....." _______________________________ Meanwhile, on the other side... *Tank Commander: "Aaaaaaand..... FIRE!"*
Honestly if the romans saw a M1 Abrams tank moving on its own (at least they would think so) and blowing stuff up they will probably think its some god and start to worship it.
"iron"? Modern tanks are painted. If ancient soldiers could afford iron, they polished it to show it off. (look at my pricy steel armour and fear me) The ancients wouldn't know what it was made of.
Maria Kathrina Padilla ERA stands for explosive reactive armor, that’s what those bricks like things on tanks are. Depleted uranium armor is something else, though it is also very effective
@@mariakathrinapadilla9964 the depleted uranium is the stuff they armor the front of the turret and hull with. ERA is those bricks you see... those have no uranium in them
@@mariakathrinapadilla9964 hey guy era is a modular armor that’s strapped onto to tanks. It explodes when a projectile hits it to take away its some of its energy.
Legion can last a week without supplies But The thing is... the Abrams tank would just simply run over the entire 5000 men and after that mow down the rest with the guns within an hour
@@Superbug-tf8zy like the others said you can't outrun a tank 😹.. it'll also be especially hard for them to run in an efficient manner since those 5000 Romans are in a massed formation
@@lt_darkseekerantique3911 spartan II you can tell by his number as it is 117 compare that to a spartan III such noble six whose number is B312 that stands for beta-312 as spartan III's who have a letter in front
@@legohexman2858 if they captured the crew, it would speed things along, depending on their cooperation and level of education. I could explain the process of manufacturing gunpowder, I have a degree in chemistry, but couldn’t operate a tank, I’m guessing for most tank operators that would be reversed. I’d bet my bottom dollar the greatest swordsman of all time was not a blacksmith or a sword maker
Do you really expect the Roman's to fight after seeing a 60 ton machine running up to them, run them over and shoot weapons they've never seen before? Plus after realizing that none of their tactics or weapons work they would just run away from it
@@fishnujish1511 yes since no other empire have air support or anti tank weapons. but they will run out of oil soon like 1 day after they use the tank lol
I was a 19k Armor crewmen I’m telling you from experience one tank would have enough firepower to take out the Romans twice it would not even be a fight
the only issue with this assessment is the shock factor of the tank. i believe the legion would initially expect a normal mass formation battle and prepare accordingly. the issue with this is that would end quite quickly as soon as the tank fired from something like a mile away and obliterates one formation with a single tank round. that alone would shock them even to the point that they might not even move giving the m2 browning and the main gun to go to work on the rest of the formation. this would ultimately be a legion decimation (elimination of 10% of the troops) on several magnitudes worse than the legion would consider. i believe before the legion could even think to respond you're looking at 50% casualty rates for the legion if not worse.
Roman legion: tactically arrange into a shell formation, accurately throw sharp spears in the direction of the enemy Tank: *_120mm go zoom_* Roman legion: *BOOM*
That and the Abrams can maneuver and fight at night. The crew actually prefer night operations. Because they have night vision and thermal sensors. Oh and he is forgetting that a Jet Engine can run on straight alcohol. So hey wine venyard cool takes wine and fills up Abrams starts engine. Yay it works. Goes and runs over Roman camp including leaders tent with him in it. Tank wins. Roman's are demoralized by the sudden and unbelievable attack at night.
legion soldiers: *throws spear into tank barrel* *gun operator is loading shell but hand is pierced by the spear* *operator gets infection and gives to entire crew and everyone dies*
I heard a historian talking about ancient rome and he said it's a myth that legionnaires used the gladius that it was more used in the fighting pits for gladiators because it was cheaper to make and harder to use because it couldn't really cut like other short swords and required a lot of force to stab someone with I dont know what the name of the weapon he suggested they used was but it was a short sword with a thicker head designed for cutting and swinging
Its supposed to be a battle, not run and hide, hoping that the tank runs out of fuel. What's to stop the tank from turning off its engine to save fuel?
This episode reminds me of GI Samurai, 1979, starring Sonnie Chiba. One platoon of modern day Japanese army was brought back to the 16th century for the unknown causes. They found themselves in the middle of samurai warfare where warlords were battling each other for hegemony. First, they looked invincible with their modern weaponries. But after losing all of their tank, helicopter, apc, and truck in one decisive battle, they were eventually annihilated by the betrayed samurai head. Killed off with the volley fire of the archers.
As long as we're doing these crazy mental gymnastics. The Romans would have to have prior knowlage of what fuel and ammunition is to know they could out last the tank. If not after the first 5 minutes of the Abrams using its 105mm cannon firing High Explosive rounds coupled with its 2 50cal machine guns laying waste to every man in sight would cause any lucky Romans left alive to think "What is this Sorcery?" and have them running for the hills.
Julius Caesar: The Roman legions are coming what have I to fear American soldier: The M1 Abrams Julius Caesar: I have an army American soldier: we have a tank!
I'm a historian currently studying the Roman military, and I'm very familiar with the equipment, training, fighting style etc of the Legions across Roman history, so here's my input - No they couldn't. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk
They could employ the Fabian strategy and just run and hide until the tank runs out of fuel, ammo, supplies and such. Or, they could just zerg the tank en masse, and a few lucky legionaries should be able to climb on top and either forcibly remove the top hatch or wait until the tank crew gets tired and climbs out.
*pre watch predictions* I can't remember what it's called but the Abrams has a round that is effectively a larger version of birdshot and I'm very confident just under 5 of those rounds shredding through nearly everything infront of them would be enough to break the moral of almost any legion. Edit. *Post watching* I'll fully admit a non head to head fight completely slipped my mind 😅
If the tank has the option to refill gas and supplies, why wouldn't they just flee at twice the speed of the fastest human when the little low-fuel light dings on? Guerrilla tactics.
They wouldn’t even know it was human operated so the tank could stand still when it gets “hit” with spears and they will think it’s dead and then you run them all over
M1 Abrams is like witch craft or a creature to medieval people. They would've been running away from the tank because it would be spewing out bolts of fire at them. Then a .50 cal shooting the men with ease not even diflecting off their armor.
@@JoeRoganTheBald well they would still fear the destruction that the tank would be creating, especially since they have no idea how much ammo the tank has, therefore there's a large chance they would rub away in fear.
Once the Romans learned that the Abrams is something to fear, they would retreat, get their heads together and come up with several possible stratagems. One possible way to defeat the tank would be a camouflaged deep pit or trench across a ravine and lure the tank to cross it. Job done!
Imagine them using the tank in chariot races after somehow figuring out how to get it refueled and then leaving it to the Greeks to figure out how it works only for them to be completely confused yet intrigued by all of the numerous geometrically precise parts that all work in perfect mechanical harmony.
Yeah you could bait it into a valley with only one way to go and dig traps in the middle so it would fall in. To keep it from turning around you’d have to push rocks off a cliff behind it or something.
@@bjmccann1 not to mention they have never seen it so there is no way to guess the dimensions. Also they won't be knowing what it is and what it can do.
This is easy. Either the tank runs them all over and shoots them or the legion could climb onto the tank and get in, either way the solders are expendable
That's only granted if they knew how a tank functions. In more realistic settings they would think that the tank is witchcraft, sorcery, maybe even a magical creature, something not made with human hands (which is kinda true considering these are made at tank factories using machines lol)
@@Superbug-tf8zy The average human is 15 mph, Almost only half the fastest man alive speed, The tank is twice as fast as the fastest man alive, It would be 4 times faster than them, Plus you need to add all the weight of their armor
