Tattoos in the Ancient World 

Established Titles always makes me chuckle whenever its sponsored ad pops up in the various historical channels I watch.

Great video. I do wish people would stop advertising Established Titles though, it's nonsense

I can't believe Caligula had freeborn men tattoed with the latin phrase "VIVERE RIDERE AMARE" in bad italics font against their will. What a vile act.

"The latin word for tattoo is stigma" Oh. Oooooh. Oof.

I think a great topic would be the tattoos of the south Pacific. Many island cultures have used tattoos as a right of passage, and the oldest tattoo kit in the world was uncovered in Tonga

I’m still amused by my Jewish friend having a tattoo even though it’s impermissible to be buried in a Jewish cemetery having them. It says “BURY ME AT THE FENCE”

4:52 *Fun fact:* Petronius, apart from writing "The Satyricon", was also known for being a close friend and great sycophant of Emperor Nero until the Caesar accused him of conspiracy and ordered him to take his own life. Petronius stated shortly before he died that he could forgive Nero for killing his own mother and Claudius' children, but not for damaging the good name of art with his hideous singing. He is actually one of the main protagonist of the novel "Quo Vadis?" and its adaptations

I am always amazed at how you manage to come up with such interesting topics regarding the ancient world... You somehow guess the questions that even I didn't know I had... but I DID have somehow. Anything that gets us closer to seeing the ancient world, gets us closer to understanding it

Constantine: "Tattooing your body is totally disrespectful to the word of God and should not be allowed. Now, if you excuse me, I have a wife to boil in a bathtub..."

Fun fact established titles isn’t even established in Scotland, it’s in China… made by a Chinese company, not even disclosing how or who is planting those trees. You’re just paying for a certificate that isn’t even making you a lord or a lady

Those Scythian tatoos were very cool!

4:39 Caligula was without a doubt the greatest troll in history. He knew perfectly how to use his power to annoy the inhabitants of the Empire in the most creative and ingenious way possible. Too bad they didn't like his jokes as much as he did...

It’s always such a treat when you post a Tuesday video. Thank you so much!

The title is definitely an eye grabber since tattoos are an interesting topic. Rad video. I'd love to see a folk lore video from you!

Honestly one of my favorite channels, the videos are always interesting topics, easy to watch but very informative, and then you always surprise me with your funny and clever editing. Keep up the great work! I've been wanting to read your book for a while now I just can't buy any more books until I get myself to finish the ones I'm working on rn

Lord Toldinstone I kneel before you. Please do not tattoo me!

You cover the most interesting topics! Thank you so much!

It took me longer than I'd like to admit to realise you were saying "penal tattoos", and not "penile tattoos".

You are the mark felton of ancient history !! Great concise history on niche topics!

I would be bit wary of being sponsored by established titles since according to a youtuber named scott schafer...they arent even legally valid titles due to current laws in scotland.

BONUS TUESDAY VIDEO! You made my day! Thank you for another interesting video!

Speaking of ancient tattoos, in the "Romulus" tv series, Wiros, who would come to be known to history as Romulus, has his tribe's symbol (an inverted V) tattooed on the back of his neck. I highly recommend watching this series.

Thank you, my favorite channel. Congratulations on 319k 👍🏻

Another good video!

Women in the Balkans often tattooed crosses on their arms and neck to make sure other Christians would always try to set them free, if they ended up abducted and sold as slaves in the Ottoman empire.

Fascinating stuff!

Established Titles is a land NFT

Thanks, love your content! Also, I've now learned you have a most excellent first name sir!

Dear Lord Ryan, I admire your insightful and so much amusing approach to history. This is a good sample thereof.

I bought my great-nephews a package of washable markers so they could color in their uncle's (my nephew's) arm tattoos.

Ptolemy IV after getting a Dionysus tattoo: "With this indelible offering of my skin, my dear God Dionysus will grant me great prosperity as thanks!" *5 minutes later* Egypt: *Loses Syria* Ptolemy: "Bruh..."

Love the video (as always). Hate the sponsor (moreso because they are infesting all my favorite channels!).

Awesome stuff Dr. Garrett. I’ve got a neck tattoo, and I have a great appreciation of the historical trends 😂

Wonderful video but disappointed to see the established titles ad. You don’t actually buy a 1sq plot of land and there is no Scottish law that calls landowners lords and they don’t directly reforest Scotland. The Scottish parliament has basically passed a law labeling it as a scam.

Wow super interesting! Love the ancient world 🗺✨

So weird seeing the Established Titles sponsor after what unfolded very recently. Don't worry, it's not on you, I don't think anyone expected it to be a scam.

Awesome thanks bro

I'm always left with no regerts when I spend time watching told in stone. I appreciate the work you put in.

Established titles is a scam; get rid of that. Good vid

Please do a video on that tatu cultures of the Pasific, where there are sooo many different ways, designs etc. I am from new zealand, and there are many similarities in historic pictures and portraits of 19th century Elders, showing similar traditions in both Cook Islands, here with the pictured we have as one of the only visual reminders we still have of the Moriori (may they rest in peace 😔) and, of course, the tradition I am most familiar with as a new zealander, the Māori tradition of tā moko. Nowadays I think it's somewhat illegal to use the traditional tools, aka wai ngārahu, uhi, and later, adapted modern metal chisels and needles (during colonisation), which is more due to safety concerns as there is no way to be sure of disinfecting (but this is a contentious statement to some as they see it as further erasure of their cultural practices, and I am personally sympathetic to both sides of the issues), but because of this, many who now wear moko in this century have had it done with regular modern tattooing instruments.... which is always beautiful, as it shows others what is inside, and who they are as a person, but as the historic tā moko process was literally chiselling out the skin with ink-coated uhi-which is kind of hard to describe to someone who has never seen it?... but it looks almost like the fretboard of a string instrument, or a comb with all the teeth broken off... but that as a small chisel, to be held in the hand, with a sharp, saw edge that is tappen into the skin, digging in with several teeth points, showing how it's not just "primitive stick and poke"; in fact, there is (as I recall) a special method of eating during the process when one's skin is basically a giant open wound, that can be describe as a sort of crude, wide straw in its shape-but there was nothing "crude" about it, barring the rough shape, as they can (and often are) delicately and hand carved with superb craftsmanship, with eyes inlaid very often with the typical paua or other iridescent seashell/mother of pearl, so the eyes glimmer lifelike against the wood by firelight. Each moko is totally unique and I encourage everyone to look into how beautiful they are. Now there is a parallel art called "kirituhi" which has elements of showing one's personal story but is for those without Māori ancestry, so elements of the art of tā moko are still shared with Pākehā and other peoples, even as many pacifika have transpacific identities (like my friend whose parents are both half Māori, but his dad is half Samoan, and his mum is from the Marshall islands) which can be expressed in many new and creative, inspired ways!

Can anybody give me a link to the settlement mentioned at 1:36 please? I'm interested to know more but struggling to find anything about it.

Interesting subject.

Hey Toldinstone, what were Roman pre battle routines like? Did they have standardized drills or did it vary depending on their General

I am thinking about committing to read the entirety of Gibbon’s Decline and Fall the Roman Empire. Garrett, do you think it is worth the read? Thank you!

As always...I love your vids. More channels should take a leaf out of your book and do the deep research across the many levels as you have clearly done for this topic. That you use writings of historians AND poets always pleases as so much of the real history is contained within legends and myths. Now for a minor gripe..I know you focus on Northern hemisphere cultures mostly on your channels and that is your field of expertise but.... tattooing was/is a huge part of other cultures globally. Pacific/Sth American/Nth American and other Pacific rim tribes and ocean going people's used tattoos in many ways...and they were certainly ancient cultures.

I have a question that I’d like to get some help with. What did the ancient maximus basilica in rome look like? The one built by Maxentius and Constantine. The ruins are massive and I assume it was even more inspiring at the time.

Love the thumbnail. I never knew the Romans had karaoke.

0:55 never got any tattoos but if I did one of these ancient patterns would be at the top of the list

This painting with the lady sniffing oleander look beautiful

NO RAGRETS

Ouu 6:47 is my favorite part. I am googling SO much right now. This will be a great topic of conversation

Hey bro might want to rethink that sponsorship

This is actually one of my fav topics but that I don't know much about it 5:36 I'm curious about what kind of designs they used, like they got tattooed with the animal or image portrayed in their unit's signum? Or they get the whole vexillum tattooed in their arms/hands? 6:01 That actually answers my question about what happened if a legionary was assigned to another legion/unit, I guess they had to got many tattoos in their hands (or one over the other), the poor lads. Imagine a war veteran from many campaigns, his hands would've been pure black

What’s the painting in the thumbnail

Great video. A little shocked that Roman women did not have a "trampus stampus" on their lower backs.

There's lot's of Latin in the English language, more than one would think without the knowledge of.

How did they perform the proceedure of tattooing the skin back then?

The thumbnail looks like an ancient Greek stand up comedian holding a microphone

Imagine,with enough participants it could be the ‘told in stone wood’

The universality of tattooing is a curious subject for speculation. - James Cook

Postius Maloneus on the thumbnail made me laugh

0:43 considering how it was probably done, that is some savage ink...

Seems like you have snarky fun with this one.

My grandma has alot of berber tattoos

You should make a video on why Romans turned into Italians

Stigma nuts inya mouf

I have a Coptic cross tattoo on my wrist.

Tattoos exist in many cultures for centuries, I’m proud to be part of this global tradition with 20 years of experience. I’m inclined to believe ancient man drew on his body even before he drew on cave walls.

At 01:35 min, is that Nandor the Relentless?

Cool

Xerxes: Yeah, man, you gotta get cut with some gnarly ink, dude. Greeks: I dunno Xerxes: C'mon, the chicks love it.

My father was virulently anti-tattoo, if pressed on the subject he would only say Auschwitz or slaves and peasants and cattle were branded, what was wrong with me. I took it to mean his complaint was ‘modern’ - I think professor this podcast clears up that misunderstanding! My dad was right! He would thank you (Hmm, should I tell him? 🤔)

Mesoamerican and Pacific Islander cultures have rich history of tattooing to this very day

source plz

Really cool topic but preview turned out to be a lie 😩

Don't forget, Caligula tattooed "Damaged" on his forehead. The whole of empire cringed and he was stabbed him for it.

Quality

You'd love queen Elizabeth tattoos

7:20 is the guy blowing the horn a silly joke or what? I hope this isnt trying to be some sort of viking ahah

First Tattoo in Bible Cain who bore the mark circa 4000bc many other accounts attribute it millenia earlier soot in a cut leaves a mark I bet once this was discovered it became a past time

5:18. I am Roman emperor!

Gotta cringe at/love the youth impulsivity. Even taking for granted his beliefs remain constant, in a few years I doubt he'll be jumping at the chance to flash his (look how cool & ironic I am) Leviticus FULL-ARM stamp.

I think Lord Garrett should get some hot tattoos and display them on a future episode.

3:38 Right Guy absolute Unit and Gigachad!(look between his legs)

Don't take sponsorships from established titles. They are literally a scam

Love the video, though just so you know, Established Titles has been outed as a scam. Might be best to cut ties with them.

The word tattoo from the Pacific islands Samoa tattou

So nothing really changed?

Was Emperor Maurice married to a woman called Endora? 🤣

by Tattootis!

Ahh man you got caught up in the established titles scam?

"It is declared that anyone who does not worship the beast or its image would be killed. The lamb-horned beast from the earth also causes all people to *receive the mark of the beast "in their right hand or in their forehead."* - Revelation 13 was probably a reference to a tattoo, or a slaves tattoo.

Why are you accepting sponsorship from a scam website?

What about the picts?…..

The origin of the word "tattoo" is missing from this otherwise interesting account. I say this as a New Zealander, and thusly more sensitive to the subject. And no, I don't have one.

Ohhhh, you said “PENAL tattooing”...whew. 😅

The sponsor established titles was proven to be a scam. I love the content but if you are sponsored by someone with a bad reputation thar might reflect badly on you as well.

Why tattoo is a loan word?

Great video. But why are you pushing the fake titles? Can't you find a non-scammy sponsor?

That did not wear well: did it, M'Lord?