Hope you all enjoy this look at the more human aspect of history. If you like this sort of content then I recommend you check out Imperium Romanum who has been our partner for this series. While they are on a brief hiatus at the moment I've been told they are working on several videos right now! www.youtube.com/@ImperiumRomanumYT
I love how trivial some of the stuff in the Vindolanda Tablets is. “I need fresh socks”, “Please come to my birthday party”, “Can I please have some time off to visit Eburacum?” People are people, no matter what century
I saw a documentary about Egypt once and they found some 5000 year old clay tablets that were used as letters, in them were things like shopping lists, love letters, poetry, basically the same stuff as in this video. I found it pretty amazing that humans really dont change all that much, even after 5000 years and in a totally different environment, our values remain the same
I've heard that there are some Viking era ruins in Britain with wall carvings, and some of the carvings left of the walls is literally stuff like "I love Ingiborg she has huge tits". People are indeed people.
Apolinarius letter is so wholesome, caring for his mom and the rest of his family. Hopefully he saw his mother again and lived a long and peaceful life
The age old combination of the orders, "Hurry up and wait" and "MOVE! MOVE! FORWARD YOU BASTARDS!" While contrary to a popular saying from a certain now failed game franchise. "War.....War FREQUENTLY changes, sometimes drastically so. However the beat? That at times thundering heartbeat of war? That always seems to stay the same."
Depends on the unit. My grandfather was in the 9th infantry and saw over a years worth of days of action. From North Africa to Sicily, and then Normandy straight through to Berlin.
Fascinating! Some of these really make you wonder about their lives and priorities. The letter about carrying the standard felt like they mainly wanted to complain about being out of beer but didn't think it would be appropriate as the main topic, so they had to come up with something else. Like "hey I want to make sure we get this right, should all of us carry the flag tomorrow or just half of us? also I almost forgot, we're out of beer."
I do really love that expression. It's just beautiful. ☺ Imagine if they could fathom thousands of people reading their letters, over 2000 years in the future.
"I beg you then, mother, look after yourself and do not worry about me..." My goodness! How I want to know what happened to Apollinarius and his beloved mother. Did he ever find his way back home? Was he reunited with his loved ones? Did life turn out well for him regardless? But especially poor Aurelius Polion, I hope he was reunited with his family, it's concerning that he hasn't heard from them.
While I was in the US Marine Corps I really took it for granted the fact I got to call my folks once a week. My grandfather was stationed on the same island I was on and he barely got to write let alone phone. It makes you appreciate what you have and it’s nice to know that the ones who came before you were much the same as you are.
Nothing trivial about requests for socks and underpants. If you are standing guard on Hadrian’s Wall at midnight in January, you’ll want a lot more than a tunic between the North Wind and your essentials.
I believe I read somewhere that the Romans eventually gave up wearing sandals in winter in that part of the England. The amazing display of excavated and preserved Roman footwear at Vindolanda museum shows that sandals remained popular throughout the life of the forts. Some of them were really very ornate in design and were clearly for fashion. I have been to that area many times and have never contemplated wearing such lightweight footwear !
I teach U.S History and a small section of one of my units is about archaeology. My students exam artifacts and have to figure out what they are, describe them, etc. I use a mix of photos and old technology (floppy disks and such.) The bonus item is one of the Vindolanda tablets (b-day) and I offer a whole class prize if they get it. I was safe for 10+ years until one of my students last year looked at them, smiled, and asked me if they were from Vindolanda. I was completely shocked and I said yes. I teach five different U.S. History classes every year (100+ students), and no one had ever guessed it. His father worked for the state dept, and had lived in the UK for years. He and his family had gone to the fortress the previous year. That whole class was treated to bakery cookies.
I'm curious as to why none of your students have ever attempted to use google lens to find them. Something famous will be easily recognized by the app.
@@thebiologist8662 What I show them is a photo of the tablet and they analyze it and try and figure out what it is. Since it is Roman cursive they mix it up with Asian scripts. Occasionally I have heard Greek, but no one ever figured what they actually were until last year. I don't reveal they are from Vindolanda so they do not have that frame of reference. Not at least till the end and I explain the story and what they are looking at is a bday invite. Brings home that people of the past did similar things to us and people are people. Adjusts their perspective.
For me it is always touching to read such letters of common soldiers (f. e. the Vindolanda letters) and imagine the people at the frontier, writing home almost 2.000 years ago - and sounding often so strangly familiar and timeless. P.S.: Concerning the letter from the Decurio to his commander, asking for instructions (and in a P.S. for beer for the men): Somehow I think, that this Post Sriptum was the main cause for the letter...😆 And the letter of Appolinarius to his mother...just sweet.
As a retired soldier of thirty years, I can confirm that these letters could have been written from Panama or Vietnam, only the names/addresses need change.
@@renerpho Or maybe the letter arrived, was read and then trashed. We don't keep all the letters we get, even today. Or at least back in the day when we sent letters (pre internet).
Awesome video! So much is written about the "great men" of history but there's something delightfully endearing about these glimpses into the lives of the common folks.
I like how letters haven't really changed all that much throughout the centuries. It's still "I hope this email finds you well," "how would you like us to proceed with this task?," and "best regards" but in different wording according to the era. So fascinating.
I really feel for the last soldier. I know all too well what it means to be so far away from home, not knowing whether you'll see your family and friends again. Sometimes you were homesick almost to the point of tears. Not receiving any letters from the people you love really fucks your mind up as you are away. I hope whatever issue he or his family encountered during their correspondence got cleared up eventually. Their letters probably got lost along the way or were sent to the wrong place. Happened to me in bootcamp
Imagine telling him that thousands of years later millions of people would hear his words and feel for him. Its amazing how you can feel for someone who's been dead for thousands of years, it just proves that humans stay human and will always feel for humans. I wish he had a happy life and did not die in battle, I hope he was happy but we'll never know. But since we'll never know, Imma just assume it all turned out for the best for him!
There is an excerpt from the famous Civil War documentary where the narrator speaks of men driven to excitement by the arrival of mail from home, and how some are driven to tears if they didn't receive any.
There's an old cathedral church in Napoli (just under the Vomero) that has a large document storage room (converted an old family crypt). My history Professor Micheal Karis read a few documents to the class that were letters to home from Roman soldiers. They talked about missing home and the food. They miss their sister or brother and mothers and ask of others. They talk about passing time doing drills and camp chores. It was very cool being connected to real history, and understanding how some things never change.
that letter he wrote his family where none wrote back, that's sad and though impossible i hope he actually got a response in the end. being a soldier during those times would be difficult.
I don't think I could handle the extended periods of STRESS that would come from a world that was this disconnected. Your son marches off to war and he doesn't come home, for YEARS, and even the most emergency messages from him are days, weeks or months away. And maybe sometimes they just...never come home. Were they resettled? Captured? Killed? And you just...never know.
I've come to think the level of stress and grief would be equivalent of what a parent would feel today if their teenage kid didn't text back in X amount of minutes/hours. It's tempting to extrapolate what we would feel in such situations but a fallacious exercise in the end; because we are doing so through the lens of modern lifestyle and technology while ultimately civilizations always _work with what they have_ . I was lucky enough to enjoy my grandfather in excellent state of mind until his death at 101 in 2005. When he told me about his youth, early adulthood, etc I would be both mesmerized and terrified but he, with a huge smile on his face, said: "it took half a day in horseback to the train station and then a full day in train to reach the city where I could send my love letters to your grandma; and then had to wait a month or more for her response." to which my replies were something in the lines of "A MONTH? if I write someone an email and they don't answer the same day I feel ghosted!". Now I see my nieces and nephews loose their temper when someone doesn't answer their texts in a 2 minute timeframe and can't help to think of grandpa and smile myself. Our ability to suffer seems to be highly adaptabe, haha! Cheers!
You couldn't handle it if you lived then with the awareness of what you are missing out. If you were born in such a period and unaware of the future, you wouldn't even think about it.
Many years ago i came across a book with recovered ancient letters from sea merchants. Read a few letters and i was amazed that the people back then talked about the exact same things we talk today , even the way the wrote and though was very similar. I realized then that the only difference between us and those ancient people is the evolution of technology.
I actually got a bit emotional hearing these. It’s so long ago but the human-ness of these hard, tough warriors is the same as us today. You shouldn’t expect their wants and desires to be different but I was still surprised. Fascinating.
I feel sorry for the guy who was writing to all his family members and not getting any replies. Maybe they were all dead. Or maybe they just didn’t like him very much. Perhaps, he was overbearing and needy.. who knows. Also I liked that one captain’s(equivalent) letter ending with, “The men have no more beer. Please order more.” 😂😂
I loved this episode. It really hit home for me. I was in the U.S.M.C. for seven years and had two deployments to Iraq. The ache for home seems to be universal whether you are legionnaire or a Marine.
These findings show just how similar we are to those that lived before us. The aspects of people that never change are clearly seen in these treasure trove of documents. The request for beer for his fellow troops, the gift of new sicks and underwear, the payment of three gold pieces for travel expenses, these are truly timeless aspects of people. Irrespective of the time, location or status, we humans are all so very alike.
If, by some miracle, a soldier from 2000 years ago and a modern soldier and could sit down and communicate with each other, they would definitely have much to share with each other in conversation.
Rome: a patriarchal society where daughters sometimes can be given numbers instead of names Also Rome: the most human letters are from/to mothers and sisters.
Patriarcal doesn't mean the men didn't love their wives, mother,sisters, daughters, etc just that the Pater had the legal control of every member in his family
@@cristhianramirez6939 And even then, despite the idea of paterfamilias having legal and literally life and death control over family members, you still had fathers who were softies who loved their kids, boys and girls and would indulge them.
Life for women was unimaginably bad... Just awful.. The sons would have seen this, and would have pitied their lot compared to the men. So respect was total from the sons, they would have seen their mothers and sisters struggle on.
Some soldier wrote that his mother sent him cookies. When they arrived, they were covered in mold, but the man and his buddies scraped the mold off and ate them anyway and he never told his mother.
Excellent, simply excellent. This is the pinnacle of history content. Exploring a niche but highly interesting topic : letter writing and communication within the Roman state. Battles are always informative, but the more uncovered and mundane parts of the past are highly illustrative and give a fresh perspective of the past. It is amazing how similar the people of the so long distant past are to us. I really enjoyed this video.
The Romans were the first to celebrate the birthdays of common people. However, the practice basically died out during the middle ages, and only reappeared again in the 1800s.
@@renerpho Note with complex Roman dating system that at least up to Julius Caesar the actual date was only known to the Pontiff Maximus, the top religious leader and scribes, which Caesar held possession of that title and job. (fun the Senate picked who was religious leader in fact and also in name only there were two higher titles than Pontiff Maximus but they held no power.) Julius used that ability in Civil war to know when he could cross from Italy to Macedonia with less worry about the weather. His enemy did not and thus Caesar crossed safety. Thus at that point you had to wait till local temple stated the date and month every so often.
the Birthday invitation touched my heart since one of my sisters live abroad and her presence during my birthday would make my day more joyful. I hope that person got visited by her sister back then.
I always adore these collab videos, the footage truly enhances the topic and particularly in this video complimented the idea of humanising those from the past. It’s always fascinating getting such personal glimpses into peoples lives and one can only wonder how the rest of their lives played out for them and all their families. Hope that one guy eventually got a letter back from his family 😅 tho who knows if they just weren’t bothering, if they had issues with getting a reliable letter sent back or if something bad had actually happened to them all while he was away.
I'm reminded of the scene in the film Dances with Wolves, where Lt. Dunbar and his wagon driver find a skeleton out on the prairie, with Indian arrows sticking out between the ribs, and the wagoneer laughs and says, "Someone back East is asking..... 'Now, why don't he write?'".
If I remember correctly one of the earliest surviving pieces of writing was a merchant suing someone for receiving substandard product and wanted to be reimbursed…We think we are so different from our ancestors but other than technology and overall collective knowledge we are the exact same thing physically, emotionally and mentally that sat around a campfire 30,000 years ago.
@@willlasdf123 Well, if you’d learned to write, you could have had a cushy job too. But no, you were always off gawking at the chariot races and chasing after the slave girls.
Having visited Vindolanda in person, seeing these preserved letters on display was a special high point. When seeing them in the environment for which they were intended they really come alive.
Very interesting . I live close to Hadrian's Wall , and have visited the forts ot Vindolanda , and Banna a few times . Whole communities were built up around them , and I doubt that all of the soldiers left these when the final call came to withdraw from Britain . Of course , I can't prove this , but there were generations of families here then , and they may have chosen to stay put , together . At least some of them ...
It's somehow hard to see people in history as what they were...people. Thanks for digging! The most memorable historic letter to me was from a bark somewhere in russia where the author asks his sister to bring him his shirt because he forgot it. The context...we will unfortunately never know.
Some of these letters are outright beautiful and somewhat poetic. Even the mundane ones touch me. Thank you for this upload. Oh, and this guy here: 16:30 What an absolute neck beard, if one ever saw one. Outstanding!
Excellent video. I would like to point out that legionnaires came from all over the Empire & were usually sent away from their homes, so letters home weren’t going to Rome all the time 😮 In the Republic more of the regular Legions were at least from the Italian peninsula of course. Love that letter about the birthday party - military wives 🤗
I speak from experience when I say the 2 things those in the militaries of the world have always needed the most ,apart from socks, throughout history is the good friends you serve with and at least half decent booze.
That the commander was asking for beer for his men leads me to believe they were either auxiliaries who were FROM Britannia and thus used to drinking beer or long time soldiers used to it. Wine, I imagine, was hard to get on the front lines in Britannia.
I love these kind of texts that presents the common people and how they have the same needs and feelings as us. it's obvious but not so obvious since most of us are more familiar whith wars and politicians, and it's easy to dehumanize people who died such a long time ago. So for me letters like this are more valuable than Caesar's writings, since they're unique, not mass produced and don't serve political purposes but emotional ones
I have written letters just like these while I was stationed overseas. I guess the more things change… the more things stay the same. It makes me sad no one was answering his letters. Thank you for these letters. Quite touching really.
After 9-11 I deployed too many times. We were spoiled in Iraq and Afghanistan in that many of us had the opportunity to stay in contact. The longest I was out of contact was two weeks. Contrast with Vietnam where my father-in-law served and went half a year without being able to phone home. So an occasional letter from home was a treat.
My Husband was in "Nam, of course we were dating back then. I would get a letter perhaps a week or two after he sent it but I couldn't relax cause I didn't know if he was alive or dead with the letter in my hand......
Might sound dumb to say but I find it pretty cool that Bithdays were already celebrated at the time. I mean why wouldn't they, I know, but still...pretty cool to know.
Wow! This was so interesting! It's amazing any of these survived to today! To end on a funny note, one letter was someone trying to get their stuff back, just like neighbors in our time!
I recall seeing the reconstruction of a gateway at Vindolanda with my son way back in the mid 1970s. We holidayed for several years in one of 2 caravans at a farm in Westmorland (now Cumbria) 7 miles from Appleby. So just an hour from Hadrian's wall by car so we visited sites along it a lot. Also all the standing stones and stone circles that dot the area in between slogging up and down lake district fells.
Great video. I have book titled "Life and Letters on the Roman Frontier" by Alan K. Bowman that addresses this specific topic. It is based on the numerous letters found at Vindolanda.
When my husband was in boot camp I wrote over 200 letters to him. They called him the mail man and made him hold the box of letters every night. I kept every letter from him and I. I can imagine how hard it would be back in the day longing for a letter from your loved ones. I always felt such joy getting a letter from my love and that was just boot camp.
The older you get the more you hear of the more human parts of History and seeing what soldiers and people do today, it makes me sad. A lot of people deserve to live in peace and not through war or disease.
A very interesting but unfortunately very small glimpse of the the Roman correspondence of the frontier. I really would love to read more of those correspondence but I think reading those lines after 2,000 years is nothing short of a miracle! Really a good job 👏 👌
Great video, love seeing these humanizing aspects of history, would love to see more of this type of stuff in the future. Keep up the good work Invicta!
Always gotta keep you guys on your toes! Actually it was supposed to go up earlier today but I wanted to fit in more direct quotes from ancient letters. Hopefully this enriches the video further.
I studied classical Latin in school. I truly desired to read about history first person and live. Such as Plinny the Younger writing about seeing the eruption of Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii in his native language.
I find these letters very emotionally intimate and touching. They express their love for family with conviction, yet I've never spoken that way with my own parents. Very intriguing.
I was at an antique mall here in fort worth and I read some letters from Union and confederate soldiers to their wives, mothers, and girlfriends and some of them were really sad. People don't realize that we're all the same no where we're from, our language, skin color, and our religion.
I mean, if your squad/platoon can easily slice your throat at the ass end of night and it doesn't take much to get to your part of the barracks cause you're not that far up the chain of command and don't warrant guards posted outside; I'd ask(BEG) my liege if he could most rapidly aquire a stock as soon as humanly possible . . .
Thank you for sharing this, it shows people weren't much different then. Love and Humanity Mother's missed their children who were serving on the Front lines and Soldiers missed their Families.
Letters from the past were so down to earth. Yesteryear soldiers and modern soldiers likes, and such never go out of style. Worries, Family, New Socks (very important) to a foot soldier.
Imagine how people thousands of years from now will think of people commenting on the internet and corresponding by Email and text in comparison to the technology of their time.
And something so trivial. Unfortunately, majority of writing is now digital in many parts of the world. We're all writing in sand basically, in the ether, which will disappear and no one will ever know what we wrote. Historians of future times might mourn all the information lost from us going digital or wonder why everyone stopped writing so much.
Thank you for sharing this with us, I much appreciate it. Sometimes trivial things can be the most interesting. In return I wish to share a modern 2022 version not that different. A middleaged Ukrainian soldier sending greetings to his mother: _"Mom, hello. I ate, dressed warmly, put on a hat, and am going for a walk. No need to worry. My friends are with me. We will behave well. In fact, this message is not only for my mother, but for all our mothers who love us, wait for us and worry about us. I know you didn't raise us for war, but you raised us to be real men. And when trouble came to our country, we went to protect the most precious things that we have. Wait for us, we will definitely all come back and you can once again quarrel with us at home, tell us what we are doing wrong and cook something delicious for us. See you, at home."_ Note: The "hat" is a helmet and the "walk" probably a venture into contested territory.
"And we're getting hundreds of billions of dollars from the nincompoop American government, so our own president and his family can become filthy rich, while the rest of us suffer" Yep. That would be about it.
I understood that the Vindolanda letters were found in the remains of a bonfire assumed to have been extinguished by rain. Anyone who knows the northern moorlands of England would not be at all surprised that it rained.
Some of those Roman forts on Hadrian's wall and the Northern Pennines are in some pretty godforsaken places in terms of weather. A foot soldier posted there from the Mediterranean would have needed a robust constitution and a sense of humour.
These letters proves we people don't change in who we are and what we care about no matter the time we're born in. We have technology they could not have dreamt about, we know and do things they could never have concieved of, but in the end they were humans as we are. They loved their families and friends, they had their hardships, they fought their battles and they faced their times, same as we are. Maybe digital archeologists will look at what we comment here today and say the same about us. "They were humans same as us, and though we travel to the stars as immortal digital beings, we are still the same at our core as they were"
