False, Velites stood there and stared at the enemy, refusing to throw even a single javelin, before turning to run just as the enemy heavy infantry swarmed them and slaughtered them to a man. Source: 100+ hours in Total War Rome II Good video!
unfortunately you will see little of the republican period, although the "Cloaca Maximus" dates back to 600 BCE. Yes, beware criminals who rome the streets of Rome, stealing off tourists.
I already knew most of this but this was a really great review. This is one of the best videos I've seen on the roman early military. The drawings are excellent as well.
They still do the poor and under educated have a harder time becoming officers or jet pilots. So the upper class tends to lead while the lower classes fill out ranks. Simply due to how complex modern war is.
@@nulolove yeah, but then again, most of us don't benefit from war too much. Think about it, one POTUS became a CIA stooge and got a free education at Oxford, and another mysteriously developed bone spurs. Meanwhile, 50 thousand young men came home in boxes while the scars of that war are visible in the eyes of those who lived through it, be it civilian or soldier.
Fun fact: the word "plebs" comes from Latin "implere" (to fill up) and was given to those who were poor and could only afford cheap equipment. They were only used to fill up the ranks, if it was necessary
Epimetheus you have an uncanny ability to always create a video right as soon as I start to get curious about the subject, as always both the art and the information you give is greatly detailed :)
This. For long, we have known the romans were hellenophiles, but we don't know as much about the greek perspective. Soon enough, however, the greeks would also become romanophiles, to the point they used they used the ethnonym for themselves...
@@MrAlepedroza The history of Roman identity in the Byzantine Empire is a complicated one. They were well aware of their Hellenic roots (talking about "Byzantine" Greeks following the loss of most non-Greek speaking provinces to various invaders), yet continued to cling onto the legacy of Rome and its imperial prestige. They were engaged in a bitter rivalry with the barbaric, schismatic "Latins", whereas to be a good Roman meant to be a faithful Orthodox Christian and to speak proper "romaic" Greek as though the Romans weren't originally Latin speakers themselves. Speaking of, I wonder what they thought of the fact the Empire was originally a Latin polity, and whether they thought of classical Latin at the very least as a prestigious legacy language. Don't get me wrong, they qualify as Romans in my book. But I'm not sure the common folk understood "Roman" like we do and whether they even knew the first thing about the Republic and so on.
@@rufusfauxnom5737 The East/West schism was not a thing until the 11th century, though. Not sure if, as you claim, they really claimed the only proper romaic language was greek. If they considered the western european nations to be inferior culturally, at least during the "Dark Ages period", that's a different thing. They also had their reasons to resent the pope and the Holy German emperors, since the former was the one who initiate the rivalry by not recognizing Irene as a legit emperor and instead crowning Charlemagne just because the latter had balls instead of tits. Not sure if the ancient roman plebeians of the late second century onwards were that aware about the Republican period, since education was not very widespread. I doubt most of them could have recognized Cicero or the Gracchi brothers.
@@MrAlepedroza But it was the culmination of a drifting process that began much earlier, at the latest with the loss of most of Italy to the Lombards, arguably as early as 395 when the Roman Empire was divided. And yes the Byzantine view of Western Europe was very much a prideful and scornful one, particularly after the Pope pulled his little stunt with Charlemagne. I think the Byzantines were justified in viewing their Empire as the continuation of the Roman Empire, but their sense of romanity involved a fair bit of cognitive dissonance with regards to the Empire's Latin origins, and their (generally mutual) disdain for their Western counterparts - be they "Franks" or "Latins" or otherwise. Again, while they absolutely did consider themselves the political heirs of Ancient Rome and unquestionably called themselves Romans, the Byzantine attitude towards foreigners and all things non-Greek was at best one of indifference, generally one of contempt. It's not that they were Greeks deliberately coopting the name and legacy of Rome to turn Byzantium into a Greek ethnostate, although a few Byzantine scholars did advocate for a full-blown revival of an actual Hellenic identity towards the end - but they certainly regarded their Greek culture as superior to that of their Western contemporaries. To be perfectly fair, I'm not quite sure what their opinion of classical Latin was - Byzantine literature largely and conveniently just continues the Roman trend of writing stuff in Attic or Koine Greek, so it's not like they went out of their way to stamp out old classics in the Latin language... but on the whole only bits and pieces of Latin were retained, particularly in the legal system or in the military. As far as the vernacular is concerned you certainly had to be a Greek-speaking, God-fearing Christian subject of the Emperor to be a good Ρωμαίος - not necessarily in the eyes of the law since the definition of "Roman" officially remained a statist one, but at least in practice. Keep in mind this mostly applies to the Middle Byzantine Period onwards. Early on when the Empire (and most importantly its citizenry) still encompassed a large number of different ethnic groups things were a lot less clear cut obviously.
It's too bad there isn't much info out there on the Samnites. They were Rome's most stubborn opponents and they didn't really go under until the Battle of the Colline Gate in 82 BC. That's tough! A detailed video on the Social War (91-87 BC) would be terrific!
The quality of the videos you are putting out is consistently getting better and better man. I loved the way you used the walls and other surfaces of the background as like a pseudo screen to display maps and information. Excellent work!
My question is this though did they hunt the wolf and wear it as a trophy or were such items simply passed around though trade, I don’t think every single vellite would wear them otherwise wolfs would probably be extinct
@@baldrickthedungspreader3107 There were a lot more forests and wolves back in their times, and I'm guessing that, since it wasn't a particularely refined product, most of those pelts were acquired through trade. It had the double function of both making you recognizable on the battlefield and keeping you warm at night or in cold environments, so it sounds like a cheap but important investement even for a poor citizen. I don't think that every velite had it too, but it was common enough that people would think "Damn I have to serve as a velite this year, better buy some wolf pelt".
@@paprskomet compared to the plate armor of later legions and and other forms of metal armor like the coat of plates in the 13 cent yea it is. Granted its like calling a ww2 tank cheap comparing it a modern main battle tank.
Congratulations, Epimetheus - you advanced the already much appreciated quality of your videos even further. Also it seems your vocal skills ameliorated.
The early roman armies had it easy. they can concentrate their forces during offensives. The later armies had a hard time trying to plug every gap making it harder to concentrate forces.
Another great video. Congratulations. It is amazing how well documented Roman history is. I sell the attention you paid to the details, it just makes me with the movies and series . I think the first thing that producers think about when they're going to do something is, where can we use leather? The first thing they already think about is putting something on their forearms. It is easier to see a warrior wearing a leather bracelet than a helmet. They put the legionaries using a kind of leather "lorica segmentada". Or, as in the movie Gladiator, which the armor does not circulate the entire torso, only the front and back. You even mention in the video that it was the Celts who created the chainmail. There in the films they are represented wearing leather from neck to toe. Because no one wears helmets. They wear those animal skins with their fur still on. And a layer of leather as protection, sometimes even thin, other times with bits of metal here and there, I don't know why. One question, I see a lot in the films and series the officers (not the centurions), commanders and the emperor. Using a kind of muscle courace made of leather. Is that history accuracy?
ee an excellent video on a Roman Coup d'etat involving Eublepharis Macularius---------- ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-V1Q6VcMsmS8.html
Outstanding! Extremely well done and highly informative. Your videos are always so well done and full of so much good knowledge on cool topics. Please keep the outstanding videos coming and God bless you, my friend!
ee an excellent video on a Roman Coup d'etat involving Eublepharis Macularius---------- ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-V1Q6VcMsmS8.html
To a modern ear the property requirements might sound like a get out of jail free card. What if it were instead viewed as a barrier to entry? Can you imagine the conversations in a tavern, or emporium. Trading war stories, someone bragging about being a hastati, someone else calling them a liar saying they couldn't even afford to be in the army.
I am so Impressed, Kudos! Very encouraging to see Historical Fact and Details rather than the more widely used fluff & repetitive filler. Well Organized And Presented also, Especially your Artwork and accurate time-lines. Subscribed. I’m sure I will enjoy any future topics too. God Bless!
ee an excellent video on a Roman Coup d'etat involving Eublepharis Macularius---------- ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-V1Q6VcMsmS8.html
Next video idea please: From Late Republic legionary infantrymen of Caesar and Octavian's times to Hadrian's own as it evolved in equipment and tactics... how the legions went from chainmail of Marian's reforms mostly, to the middle period of the Roman Empire during its height with Lorica Segmentata and how all parts of the army performed. Next After: From Hadrian's legions after Trajan to Aurelian who came before Diocletian.
Damn this video had been a pleasure to watch and so much interesting to listen to. As Roman, I gotta thank you for such a complete and precise work! Really love you kind of work! 💪😉
Great video as always. The only minor criticism would be pronounciation of principes (as almost all youtubers do). "c" in principes should be pronounced like in Caesar, Cao Cao or Sicilia. Pronouncing it like "Ch" in Chihuahua is modern Italian version, not latin. Otherwise you are in all videos surprisingly good at tackling foreign names. Keep up the good work.
ee an excellent video on a Roman Coup d'etat involving Eublepharis Macularius---------- ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-V1Q6VcMsmS8.html
ee an excellent video on a Roman Coup d'etat involving Eublepharis Macularius---------- ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-V1Q6VcMsmS8.html
Cool video 😀 love the art style, btw at 2:25 was the circular bread inspired by that video floating around on youtube that was uncovered in an oven pompeii?
ee an excellent video on a Roman Coup d'etat involving Eublepharis Macularius---------- ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-V1Q6VcMsmS8.html
Important to note that *most* of the territory which comprised the later Roman Empire, was conquered during the middle and late Republic. The Empire added comparatively little territory to Rome's control - Britain, Dacia, parts of Pannonia, the Agri Decumantes, some slivers of territory in the East, and the extreme western area of North Africa.
Not a History comment I would love if War Horse studios did a game set during the Roman Empire i loved Kingdom Come Deliverance esspecially the Royal Edition that fixed much of the bugs and patched glitches after hearing much about the Roman Empire through the story. I do hope War Horse does a story around the Roman Empire be very fun to see how it all looked like walking around start as a young peasent conscript and rise through the ranks of the Legion
@@hagnartheviking6584 Romans viewed Italians and Etruscans as brothers, which they were. Brothers of course which needed to be brought into the confederation.
Excellent - After the humiliation of the battle of Allia, Rome needed to dramatically increase the army size - allowing the poor into the army. But the Rich and powerful still kept control of the army through the Triarii. A political decision demanded by the patricians (?) .Let the poor be the "Meat shields".
Rome probably wasn't really the first republic. There has always been a dispute between Athens and Rome, but Vaishali in India and Arwad in Syria are kingless governments before Rome is. And depending on how you read the sources Byblos spent some time as a republic long long before Rome. Edited for spelling.
12:40 What about Marius' Mules? He reformed the logistics of the baggage train by getting the soldiers to carry most of their weapons and rations. This greatly reduced the need for "Roadies" and other non military support staff, making the legion a lot more mobile, fitter, stronger and able to get into battle formation in a matter of minutes.
Chainmail was likely developed by both celts and etruscans at the same time. Etruscan chainmail was found in archelogical sites. It does make sense since celts and etruscans fought each other for quite some time and might have copied each other ideas until a "standard" design was made.
Excellent video, very informative. Thank you very much! (PS: do you know the channel "Evropantiqva" ? This is made by an Italian guy but he often add English subtitles in his videos, there are some very rare topic discussed)
ee an excellent video on a Roman Coup d'etat involving Eublepharis Macularius---------- ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-V1Q6VcMsmS8.html
I think the transition from manipular to cohort is an interesting period that we don't know much about. There is evidence in Spain of a fort or forts where cohort and manipular units existed next to each other around 150bc. I'm in the boat that Marius is given way too much credit for most of the reforms. He clearly codified a lot of what was already being done.
"Why was the Republican Roman Infantry so good?" Short answer, they had the most significant stake in the success or failure of their Republic. That is the philosophy that created restrictions on who could vote in post-revolutionary America. It is a solid philosophy and should be resurrected across our Nation.
