History Hit please get more Ray Mears, he makes everything interesting and is the best presenter around these days. Especially for anything regarding the UK.
I'm all for Dan Snow and Ray Mears doing a three hour weekly podcast going through the history of Britain it could never ever get boring both fantastic and very knowledgeable presenters
@@Blisterdude123 I really don't care for "Bear Grylls"!! He's like 'the little train who could' ... ("I think I can, I think I can"...but... He can't!!) Ray Mears on the other paw, however, _is_ legit _the_ *real deal* & likewise I like Dan Snow, as he's also worth watching, imo.🤔🏴🙂❤️🖖
True. I'm glad to see Mears get some recognition and realising just how good he is at all aspects of presenting and presentation. It's so understated, it's brilliant.
I'm really disappointed that there hasn't been an epic movie or series about the Roman invasion of Britain. It is probably the most important event in British history and not only that but it has all the characters to make it interesting like Julius Caesar.
Hollyweird has run out of ideas and remake old ideas yet there are 400 years of incredible historical events. War elephants charging at Chariots during the Claudian invasion, The Emeperor Severus epic northern campaigns of the early 3rd century from his base at York. Constantius Chlorus marrying King Coel' s daughter Helena and producing Constantine the Great crowned Emperor at York. Carausius rebellion with Allectus coming in with the plot twist. There are countless possibilities. If only I could write scripts rather than talk bollocks on the internet.
@@MarkAbRobert-jv6it not to mention Boudicca. I'd be more interested in a series where the native British tribes are the protagonists. The only risk is Hollywood and Netflix getting their hands on it and turning Caesar into a Mexican and Boudicca an annoying trans "Girl boss".
Boudicca would without a doubt be portrayed as a sassy strong independent wahman with a severe man hating streak due to her daughter's suffering at the hands of the rapey patriarchy. It doesn't even bare thinking about really
@@EstbXCIII History did a relatively decent “Barbarians Rising” series, but the Boudicca episode was painfully bad. I think I’m ok w hollywood leaving her story alone 😂
Always a pleasure to view these documentaries. The content is first class, and the presenters radiate knowledge and enthusiasm. I would like to see Ray Mears present further episodes.
Wonderful video.Not a good day for the Britons when Rome under Claudius turned its full attention on conquering the island. The Roman army was a well organized, formidable opponent.
"Caesar’s first expedition to Britain had lasted about three weeks. Troops (“about 300”) from the two ships that had been separated from the rest were ambushed by Morini tribesmen. Caesar despatched his cavalry, who chased off the attackers. The next day, the legions just returned from Britain, commanded by Titus Labienus, marched against the rebel Morini, and most were captured. The rest of Caesar’s legions, which had been engaged in a punitive campaign against the Morini’s easterly neighbours, the Menapii, returned from their expedition. Caesar: … quartered all the legions for the winter in the country of the Belgae. Thither two British tribes and no more sent hostages: the rest neglected to do so." You can see why his troops followed him all the way to the stairs of the senate house, no man left behind.
I do wonder how contested the landing was the Britons had from dawn till 3 in the afternoon, unless they had their own intel, it would be just villages near the coast, that could be mustered as an ad hoc force.
DAMN! - this is well done! ALL THESE videos are EXTREMELY well produced! I think I'm gonna join in - see what else they have! Few bucks for documentaries of this quality is no issue.
I can't believe how much I've learned from this ancient history documentary. It's so well-researched and detailed-perfect for anyone passionate about history!
"Caesar, sir. Our information on Britannia is spotty at best. We know almost nothing about these Britons apart from their hostility towards us. We have no information on a good place to anchor our fleet, the seas in the area are often tumultuous, we have no maps of the area, and we don't even know if the resources on the island can sustain our army." "Sounds fun! All aboard!"
This video is a fascinating and informative look at the dramatic Roman invasion of ancient Britain. Ray Mears does an excellent job of bringing the story to life. I learned a lot about this important event in history, and I highly recommend this video to anyone interested in the Roman Empire or British history.
"But in a way that most many politicians aren't today. He had another quality. he was also a brilliant General" He was competent at the tasks he had to perform, unlike the vast majority of current ones.
Presume you’re referring to Julius Caesar. Undoubtedly the great man of his age, but I always keep uppermost in my mind how utterly ruthless and cruel he was, given to wanton slaughter, and above all, self-seeking and corrupt. Much like the rest of the Roman magnates. I think there’s been a tendency, going back to the days of Empire, for the British to identify with the Romans, that first great empire of the west, and to almost unconsciously imagine them to share all sorts of “British “ values and virtues. Explains some of the interest in Roman re-enactment. You’re not going to dress up as someone you regard as strange, foreign and nasty.
I have to agree with you on that point. Most politicians today have nothing but monetary interest and the taking of personal liberties away from the average citizen. Scotlands new laws are completely communist. People going to jail for acknowledging basic biology is insane.
@@hereandnow3156 Of course it can. There is the site of a Roman villa a quarter of a mile from my house in the corner of a field. There is another one a quarter of a mile further away than that. There is another site of a roman villa one mile in the opposite direction. NOTHING remains of any of them because around 500 AD Angles and Saxons killed and/or threw them out and in the following centuries all the stones were removed to build other houses. Nothing of their language remained either. The only remaining vestiges of Roman occupation are some roads and lanes which were probably pre-existing Bronze and Iron age tracks themselves.
@@robinac6897 You must be incredibly ignorant and/ or uneducated. They gave us new towns, plants, animals, a new religion and new ways of reading and counting. You are so wrong it’s laughable.
Cause and effect only works so simplistically in the tiny minds of insecure little Englishmen who throw off their greyness by living vicariously through their great nation's deeds
@Caambrinus He didnt catalogue his campaigns for posterity and our benefit but toward a contempory audience and particulary a Senate that he had to impress due to ambition. I always keeo thst in mind when studying this as it is not a critical and therefore factual account of what happened. Propaganda is what it would be classed as now. Yet veterans obviously told tales and contempory satirists weren't as gullible as later historians might have been. Lucan in Pharisalia eludes to this with the line.."Caesar turnwd his back and fled the naked Britons he had come to conquer". I'm not actually sure why you are this convinced he took such a great risk as crossing that channel with notoriously land lubbing legions for some kind of "recon" mission. We know every Emperor from Augustus wanted the title Britannicus, all of them had designs on conquest, Caligulas ridiculous shell collecting and then Roman triumph over the ocean being well known. To what purpose donyou think he made such a risky trip over the channel for?
@@MarkAbRobert-jv6it As you yourself write, propaganda loomed large in Caesar’s mind and he must have known that there were legal battles (and perhaps worse) waiting for him in Rome, when - eventually - he had to lay down his Gallic command. The two incursions into Britain (well, the first was a near disaster) were meant to invite comparison, not only with Pompey and Lucullus but also with Alexander the Great (his hero and military ‘mentor’). Given the forces at Caesar’s command in Gaul, the expanse of territory he had to control and lingering Gallic dissidence, it would have been very dangerous to attempt even a partial conquest of Britain, as the later Gallic revolt demonstrated. This Caesar knew.
You are so right in what you say , there is no free tickets in life , work for yourself and show purpose in life . This will bring you success and self worth , free is the path to a disastrous future
It was an informative and wonderful historical coverage video about Ceasar Julius' invasion of ancient Britain 🇬🇧... video shared by an amazing ( history Hit) channel
May suggest your assertion the “Britons” didn’t know what was about to “hit” it was wrong. Firstly the southern half of the British Isles had seen successive waves of movements of Celtic tribesman in the last hundred years previous to the first invasion of the Romans. The Romans had made conquests in the Celtic territory in “France” and the Britons had been aiding in resisting the Roman invasion around the “Paris” area and “Normandy.” Julius Caesar in his journals had written about these activities. The invasion of British Isles was partly in response to the Celtic assistance and partly because the Romans knew about the mineral wealth in these lands through long established trading routes.
Celt is a misnomer. It does have its use I suppose but as most people comprehend it,through a very warped idea that the "Celtic" Scot's and the "Celtic" Breton's are the same people with a shared history. is not helpful. Those Celtic tribes you speak of who colonised England's south coast some century or so before Caesars arrival where Belgae. And they had been at war incessantly with the Bryrhonic tribes of the interior since their arrival. In my opinion this war was even fought over in Ireland during the 1st and 2nd century as tribes from Britain began to emigrate west due to the Roman threat but that's another story. Other than my issue with that term Celt, I'm in agreement with you here. The British chronicles (Brut y Brennihed) are seemingly unaware that there was any kind of oppostion at the beaches as the main army under Cassibelinus where further inland not knowing where Caesar would land, which suggests Caesars landing was only opposed by local levies. Caesar stated himself that a British parliament had elected Cassibelinus as General (Pendragon). Which also suggest the Britons did indeed know what was coming.
I’d guess the didn’t know what was going to hit it was due to the scale of the invasion by the biggest empire of the time, rather than the actual invasion
@@ThecrazyvaclavCaesar actually got his rear booted out of Britain more than once. As the sayin goes, ‘Caesar loved invading Britain: it’s why he tried it more than once’.
@@megw7312 The Romans just tried twice. Caligulia had an idea to as well but he fell in love with the shells on the French sea shore and had all his soldiers collecting the. And I wish I knew why ! And what they did with them all 😊
That ramp at Canterbury is like the Roman ramp at Masada in Israel. They were masters of siege warfare, their engineering and determination were next level.
Celts, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Normans. I still find it amazing just how drenched in history Britain is. I don’t think many people know that Britain is even smaller than New Zealand.
These groups fought each other over hundreds and hundreds of years in order to establish their rule and influence over one another. Once the Norman conquest had settled down, Britain held a very stable ethnic population for about 850 years. It is only very recently in history that the UK has willingly opened its doors to multiculturalism and mass immigration, and it's not working out great.
@@smiladon12These groups fought each other over hundreds and hundreds of years in order to establish their rule and influence over one another. That isn’t multiculturalism. Once the Norman conquest had settled down, Britain held a very stable ethnic population for about 850 years. It is only very recently in history that the UK has willingly opened its doors to multiculturalism and mass immigration, and it's not working out great.
@@smiladon12 Total cope. The Celts, Romans, Saxons, Vikings & Normans all belonged to the same White race. That can't be said about the unassimilable Africans, Middle Easterners, Pakistanis, Indians, Jamaicans, etc, etc. Keep smoking the copium.
@@cymro6537 I know, I know 😏 We know they were here but it slips into the back of the mind and when one is focussed on the details of it, it's _fascinating_ and awe-inspiring. And I have to say, even more so as our ancestors were the ancient Britons (which I have to remind my Anglo Saxon friends; especially the xenophobic ones who think that the Knights Templar saw off the Romans. 🤔🤔)
I love how this LIDAR technology is almost like some magic crustal ball that can look back in time. Seeing these outlines , and being able to re-construct (in this case) Roman camps & fortresses on a 3d map is a gift for archaeology. Because if you stand there, there's nothing to see. In the past Archaeologist had to make guesses based on old texts and visual clues. Now LIDAR can be used to pinpoint the location, and that saves a lot of time. Especially when new construction or highway is being build, they only have a limited amount of time to preserve and document their findings before the bulldozers come .
imo the most impressive use of LIDAR so far is the uncovering of those massive Mayan citadels and ramparts etc, just the sheer scale of their massive constructions. It's completely changed the our understanding of what they were capable of, and est population figures have had to be adjusted as a result.
@@karwashblark7499 Yes , that's a great example. Especially because they were build in an area where nobody really expected to find much. Difficult to acces, not worth the trouble. Now we see this huge city state with hidden under the trees with LIDAR.
Quids in then. The South English can ask for something from Italy, Scandinavia, Germans, French, and the Dutch, and then hand all of it to Ireland, North England, Scotland and Wales.
@@redcaoimh3127the Romans never sold the English as slaves , the Romans came to Britain and civilised you animals , the English where uneducated couldn't read or write until the Romans came in and taught up , England didn't even have Roads until the Romans made them for you
Lucan was a near contempory and his assessment of Caesars British adventure is indicative that not everyone was impressed by his supposed victory followed by sudden exit. His first assault in 55BC was a complete disaster which he blames on misfortune amdbtje weather more so than his own underestimation of his opponent. A skilled general with a large well organised army. Caesar gives us an idea of how big by telling us that by the end of the summer campaign in 54BC the British Pendragon having allowed the largest part of his force return home for harvest still had something like 4000 charioteers at his disposal. Caesar also singles out the chariots for their skill and efficiency wjich again gives us an inkling that they where serious resistance for his legions. (This is why almost a century later the Claudian invasion included a detachment of war elephants specifically sent to counter the chariot threat to both the cavalry and infantry) There is no doubt Caesar faired better on his second campaign having used to his advantage the schism of the civil war that had been on going for over a century before his arrival between the Belgic and Brythonic tribes. But probably not as much as he made claim judging by the way he abandoned the island having apparently subdued it.
I ❤ Julius Caesar, and he was a GREAT stratetician, military general, and even politician. The thing I find interesting is even though archeologists consistently feel in many of these sites that they cannot find or unearth anything for proof or evidence, is because LOGICALLY centuries have past, and much of what might have been left behind has either eroded or were pillaged by the locals after Roman abandonment!
true. almost as much of a war criminal as boudicca. . . . I mean, lopping off the breasts of women living in Londinium to then sew the mouths of those mutilated shut within their lopped off breasts somehow stuffed into their own mouths? . . . . . . . . that’s the sort of thing that makes Titus Andronicus look mild-mannered.
This helps me sleep so well it’s such a good quality video and it just makes me feel so peaceful and I just love the video and I just I don’t know what to say like I mean I could listen to it every night but yeah
I do wonder how contested the landing was the Britons had from dawn till 3 in the afternoon, unless they had their own intel, it would be just villages near the coast, that could be mustered as an ad hoc force.
There is actually an account of the Caesar's invasion fromnthe British perspective believe it or not. It's contained in a 12th century copy of an 8th century text known as the Tysilio chronicle. Renowned egyptologist Flinders Petrie studied and analysed the work and declared it the most neglected book in British history. In the account Caesar is referred constantly as "The bald man" 🤣 It Can be found and read pretty easy along with Petrie' s analysis ont' internet.
@robinac6897 Indeed, the South east had been colonized by Belgic Gauls who had been warring incessantly with the established Brythonic tribes long before Caeasars arrival. One of Caesars main excuses for conquest was because the Britons had been supplying the continentals with men and arms against his forces.
The chalk cliffs have been a feature of that coastline for millenia. The Greek name for Britain (Albion - The white isle) was probably named so due to this very feature
What gets me is that from a modern perspective looking back, the two invasions happened more less back to back, sort of WW1 to WW2 or Gulf War to Iraq War, but almost a hundred years passed for those doing it. Three or four generations. Imagine a hundred years passing and then deciding to invade a country again.
4:22 ... i'm guessing you WON'T point out that Caesars failure in conquering Britain is one of the VERY RARE times Caesar was DEFEATED ...also, the sword in the Coat of Arms of London, is Caesars sword captured in battle
Errr but he didn't though as any historian will tell you. He made an effort to push inland after his first disastrous attempt in 55BC. But he only managed to penetrate what is now the English south coast and in what was Belgic territory before very suddenly abandoning the island. His only spoils where a few hostages and a promise of tribute that never followed. Not even he claimed to have "conquered" Britain. Claudius is the man who's title was rightly given Britannicus.
This idea of two armies clashing into each other from a sprint is hilarious. Not sure what you expect people were back then, but mostly they were afraid for their lifes and wanted to get back home again. A Battle would be two groups in line, feeling for weaknesses in each others defensive live, trying to hit a foot or a head with a spear, behind shields. As soon as the formation fell, the battle was over. That is also why cavalry was so powerful, because it gave you the opportunity to break up enemy ranks by showing up behind or in their side.
13:03 Seeing a pasty, out of shape, 70 year old man playing dress up as a Roman soldier and throwing a javelin as inspirational music plays is S-tier content 👌🏻
In fact, Caligula had begun preparations for an invasion of Germany, then of Britain; thus part of an invasion fleet had been prepared even before Claudius had become emperor in 41. The main spur to invasion was, undoubtedly, Claudius' wish to look more martial, but there were others: the Roman army garrisoning the Germaniae provinces at the Rhine was now too big and needed a purpose; there had been military mutinies among these legions before; two princely fugitives had laso arrived in Gaul, looking for help (they likely had potential allies on the island). The Narcissus story is worth chasing up, as it is funny.
It does know what's about to hit it, it knows exactly. Caesar has just subdued Gaul and Gaul is 23 miles from Britain! The reason the Britons were lined up on the White Cliffs is because they knew.
One thing they didn't mention about the pilum was that it was designed with a wooden pin in the collar that sheared off so that the iron shaft would pivot on the handle. Because of this it was possible to stamp down on the shaft and bring the enemy's shield down, rendering the shield useless. it also rendered the pilum unreturnable.
How can we admire a man, in this case, Gaius Julius Caesar, who, without provocation of any kind, launches, not one, but two invasions of a land that he has no right to? By todays standards, the man's a war criminal. (And not, by my reckoning, a brilliant general- he was always getting into bad situations that his legionaries then had to rescue him from. We see this from Pharsalus onwards. And Caesars own writings tbh).
You are thinking anachronistically. People back then didn't think with our mindset and violence was just one of the best mean of survival and one of the best way to celebrity. I think we can agree that everyone back then would be seen as psycho in our day and age (at least in our Western culture, news around the world shows everyday that there are plenty of people stuck in the past). Even during the Middle Age or in the Victorian era most people would see things quite differently than us. We have no right to judge them so harshly by our current standards, that would be historical revisionism. Also, you can admire someone for some of his achievements and condemn him for other behaviours ; there are plenty of people who did the right thing at some time in their life only to become reviled afterward (and other who atone for their sins and misguidance).
@@corentinnaisse5350 Respectfully, I have to disagree. I feel I do have a right to judge the past by the standards of today, whilst acknowledging that they came from a very different time and place. In fact, I think we have to. Otherwise we'll never move forwards from times when it was perfectly acceptable to enslave people, just because we could, or torture people to death over differences of opinion in matters of religion, of burn women alive for murdering abusive husbands, or sending six-year-old children to work 16 hour days down mineshafts. They believed they were right, we, hopefully, know better. And if a man, Caesar, writes that he killed a million Gauls and enslaved another million, then I reserve the right to call him criminal, whatever his other qualities were. If we don't do this, in another hundred years time, people will be saying we shouldn't judge the Nazis, because they were products of their times.
This was great! I had no idea the Emperor was actually with them. I just figured where his standard was taken, he was there so I thought it was more like an effigy. Wow!
53:22 it is actually impossible for the Britons to have outnumbered the Romans this was an ad hoc force. 1,000 years later with a similar population and a lot better communications and 1 nation Harold could get 7,000 in one place, with the control of the entire nation, not two tribes. 1 or 2 Legions would outnumber the Britons that could be assembled.
What I always find an interesting question is how the Romans managed to communicate with the loosing Kings, as I doubt anyone in England spoke Latin in those days and I imagine the many British tribes might have even spoken different languages. Different dialects at the very least? Also, the Romans didn't share their superior knowledge and technologies with their conquered subjects and when they finally left, they took their tech with them, leaving Britain fundamentally unchanged.
