Absurd Things The Romans Believed Were True

Were the Romans insane? In this video, we read some passages from Pliny the Elder's "Natural History" to find out.
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Temple of the Manes
Heavy Heart
Sources
[1] Pliny the Elder. The Natural History. Translated by John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., and H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Taylor and Francis, 1855. Accessed through the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/...
Picture Attributions
By Dimitris Kamaras from Athens, Greece - Pliny the Elder, Loggia del Consiglio, Piazza dei Signori, Verona, CC BY 2.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By Kleon3 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By Ahmet Q. - Own work, ile:Geographic_map_of_Balkan_Peninsula.svg, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By ArchaiOptix - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By Léna - Own work, CC BY 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

[@iambrando8342]

That last quote is so true. Imagine if I returned from a distant land, and I discovered a new animal. This animal is shaped like a beaver and has a similar tail, it also has a bill and webbed feet like a duck, and although it is a mammal, it lays eggs. People would probably say I’m crazy or that I clearly mistook the animal for something else

[@riley97]

Nice one

[@jefflehoux9619]

When platypus were first brought to Europe for examination, the biologists thought it was a joke. They declared it was a prank and someone had seen the parts together from different animals.

[@NomicFin]

As soon as Plinius mentioned Cato I immediately though "It's going to be something about cabbages. Or destroying Carthage". The man had a bizarrer obsession with cabbage

[@robertortiz-wilson1588]

Cabbage man!

[@redflags6583]

Have you ever thought that cabbage sounds a lot like Carthage? Cato was on to something. Another similarity: both are better salted.

[@Alexq79-]

Must’ve been related to Diocletian. Oh those were some fine fine cabbages!

[@BlackMasterRoshi]

its not bizarre cabbages are great

[@SUDMONEYBAGS]

Diocletian was a cabbage man aswell

[@jonransdell]

The "men with dogs' heads and beast skin" thing was most likely the Greek/Roman way of describing monkeys, which they never would have seen before going to India.

[@arte0021]

Though monkeys dont resemble a man much

[@ozymandiasultor9480]

@@arte0021 Monkeys are animals closest to resemblance to men, so that comment may be true.

[@Bigjuicydumbdumb]

2:20 "Unlicked bear" (ongelikte beer) is an oldschool Dutch insult.

[@krankarvolund7771]

In France we call a cranky person a badly-licked bear, but I don't think it came from that ^^

[@remilenoir1271]

​@Krankar Volund Yes it did.

[@lexietheemeraldminecart]

Gekoloniseerd

[@maddoxmb3170]

The observation about elephants is actually not exactly absurd. It is observed that elephants perform ritualistic actions. Some still speculate even today that this is a spiritual habitude.

[@Minskpotato]

True, they mourn their dead for example, and as far as intelligence, they have well...the memory of an elephant

[@Unpainted_Huffhines]

​@@Minskpotato Yes. High intelligence and good memory could be described as a kind of animal "wisdom".

[@Triumph263]

There are theories that the "Dog-headed men" are slightly exaggerated stories of baboons, which does make a fair amount of sense.

[@NicSantiagoG]

For real, I was like ok that's odd, but not too far-fetched, considering the Era, then he started talking about where bears come from

[@zorglubmagnus455]

It’s absolutely true

[@evoshroom]

He could easily be right about the cabbage wine thing, which would be a cure for the hard of hearing for those whose hearing ailment is caused from earwax. Today we do the same with hydrogen peroxide or astringents like, well, alcohol and vinegar, which is basically the same idea.

[@Parasaurolophus476]

The putting the vinegar on the forehead thing gave me flashbacks to "Head on! Apply Directly To The Forehead!"

[@himwhoisnottobenamed5427]

I hate you for putting that back in here 🧠. 🤣🤣🤣

[@niteshades_promise]

APPLY DIRECTLY TO THE FOREHEAD! APPLY DIRECTLY TO THE FOREHEAD! APPLY DIRECTLY TO THE FOREHEAD! 🤣🍻

[@TheMoosePad]

Now I have to make a DnD character that heals people with the most absurd and bizarre remedies.

[@dorianphilotheates3769]

Now do: “True things the Romans thought were absurd.”

[@imperfectclark]

Enjoyed your edits 😅 But also happy you pointed out that Pliny was just working with second and third hand sources (and acknowledges the implausibility of some theories). He was just obsessed with consolidating information.

[@traciewalker8506]

Interesting fact: Pliny the YOUNGER documented Vesuvius erupting and destroying Pompeii and his descriptions are still crucial to the study of volcanism.

[@MagdaleneDivine]

I'm really thinking that alot of Pliny is lost in translation.

[@romansochacki7678]

The "wetting the bed" part literally gave me bellylaughs!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@UserBeenBanned]

In tried it and my GF left. Maybe its it's actually a remedy for getting away from annoying women?

[@romansochacki7678]

@@UserBeenBanned 🤣

[@ooommm4024]

Pliny was in more ways just plain crazy. It does not matter how much of a migraine I have as even if I whisper I have a migraine into my smart phone, it will not get a horrible show I am watching taken off the air. A quiet, dark room, migraine meds, & consulting a doctor truly work.

[@buddharuci2701]

Such fun. Did Mr. Pliny publish on First April?

[@VYBEKAT]

🤣 This is awesome. Wisdom from Pliny. Thank you for a great April Fool's Day gift.

[@UltimateNox]

I believe Plenii may have eaten some strange mushrooms for breakfast.

[@gregoryferraro7379]

I wonder how many of these weird folk remedies will come back into vogue if they are updated, written on a meme next to a Minion, and shared on Facebook.

[@MotoHikes]

that capyboara at 6:20 has me rolling

[@fintan9218]

I have a feeling the ones like “obtain a tick from the left ear of an entirely black dog and wear it as an amulet” was just elders trying to distract people they have no answer for.

[@Will6753]

Much of the claims about elephants are observably true. Elephants travel great distances on well known roots, showing a great degree of navigational skill, which would explain why Pliny might believe they used/worshipped the stars. We're aware of Elephant "Grave Yards" that they seemingly know to go to when they feel they'll die soon. That they have an agreed upon site, and that multiple different herds are aware of and share this practice. It seems very much like a burial ritual, that they have grounds they consider hallowed to die in. If they are aware of and concerned about life and death, and whether they die in the "proper" place, it seems they have at least some form of belief system, possibly a whole religion communicated within their herds. But thats a lot of speculation!

[@odysseusrex5908]

I wonder if the story about people with one leg who hop about all the time could possibly be a very distorted account of kangaroos?

[@LostAnFound]

I'm pretty sure he put this stuff in to make sure his students did the reading

[@MagdaleneDivine]

I think the donkey is called a beast of burden for a reason.

[@jayg1438]

enjoy your videos, hope all is well

[@keol9920]

I love your channel. Long live history

[@npeay6297]

Some of these have to be Farmers Almanac type jokes and trolling. Especially the lighting one

[@redline1916]

"Bro, one time I was out in the mountains and I saw these dudes fucking running with backwards feet, like they were fast as fuck and they had some white substance under their nose.. I can't give you proof of them and bring them here though, they'll just die."

[@djmastergroove946]

Some of these had me in stitches 🤣🤣😭😭💀

[@traviswebb3532]

Very entertaining video.

[@user-jw1lm7cl8d]

Awesome video...never heard of this book...reminded me of reading Mark Twain biography of Joan of Arc

[@wendyevans3272]

Brilliant! Cheered me up enormously. No longer gonna queue to get a doctors appointment, just looking for a black dog.

[@williansnobre]

Some of these sound like hearsay and legends being writen as facts, but most sound like a know it all making stuff up when asked about something instead of saying "I don't know" like a decent person would.

[@Mujangga]

Très bon vidéo M. Laviolette.

[@Nikelaos_Khristianos]

I do always like to wonder what sort of things that we take for granted today, people in 2000 years will think are utterly absurd. I just keep thinking it's gonna be really mundane things, like sleeping on our backs or drying ourselves with towels or wearing socks with shoes. Or it might be some genuine crimes against humanity... Like bubble-tea. 😂

[@Azurethewolf168]

Yeah, that’s how I feel like when people put historical people to our standards, our standards are gonna be judged the same by stuff we don’t even know is wrong in their eyes yet.

[@hejla4524]

Wearing masks to stop Covid.

[@Serai3]

I've yet to come across anything in our time that beats the Victorian recipe for "beef tea". I mean, seriously - WHAT THE HELL??

[@raulpetrascu2696]

That's what I think when I hear people make fun of the Romans for using lead in everything

[@raulpetrascu2696]

​@@Serai3 I'm sorry to be the one to tell you tell you this but, look up Bovril..

[@vinnieg6161]

that's the ultimate troll, when you choke on bread put 2 more pieces in your ears ='D

[@jasonvoorheesv1nce904]

Lesson learned: Even the world's most influential empires filled with the best intellectuals for their time had the dumbest of beliefs

[@Azurethewolf168]

Today too

[@rahulchander5165]

I don't agree I love the Roman empire buy Yes Roman empire had done many bad things like this but the Roman empire was more influence than the Germanic tribes and more likely all empires and conquers are better than the USA USA was never a empire and in my opinion I love Augustus and Julius Caesar better than George Washington and Tomas Jefferson disclaimer this is just my opinion so don't hate on anyone

[@cerdic6305]

@@rahulchander5165 have you ever heard of full stops?

[@rahulchander5165]

@@cerdic6305 Wdym

[@rahulchander5165]

@@cerdic6305 This is just my opinion I am not saying everything Roman empire did was good but better than the USA and USA was never a empire and I love empires and conquers more and I do support Julius Caesar Augustus Napoleon Bonaparte Alexander the great and all conquers not George Washington or Tomas Jefferson or whatever but remember do not hate on them for anything this is just my thoughts and don't hate on USA this is all my opinion

[@dothrakidani358]

The "ask your doctor if a harness by which man was hung is right for you...." Made me lol.

[@VntiHero]

Pliny while writing this….. 😏

[@andreakopyan9714]

this video was actually amazing

[@napoleonfeanor]

He died tragically trying to rescue people from the vulcanic eruption which gave us Pompeii as Pliny the Younger (his nephew and student) writes in his famous letter collections. They also end suddenly so his tenth book without satisfactory ending was likely published posthumously

[@Barakon]

4:21 sounds like they’re describing seals…

[@carsoncitydigs]

prime example of not studying before the exam

[@rami12331]

Videos we all want to see: History of ancient greece History of hellenic world History of bronze age Video on bronze age collapse

[@IntermissionForBunny]

Thanks Mr. Plinkett

[@krushnaji4940]

Observation about elephants is quite right in a certain way

[@RokaSoka]

I snickered at some of these... legends Pliney described. I burst out laughing when FOL said "So what was wrong with this guy?" On a serious note though, I'm glad that even Pliney was skeptical of a lot of these claims, no one in their right mind would believe this stuff... unless they were on drugs. :)

[@sizanogreen9900]

I'd rather bet on mercury or lead. Many of the roman elite had quite unhealthy intake habits of such.

[@keol9920]

If you'd be interested in doing so, the history of Brazil is quite a ride, full of plots, failed rebellions, authoritarian presidents (the 1st one basically quit because he could not be absolute in power lol), failed parliament, brutal dictatorship and a whole bunch of funny, and quite interesting, if i can say so, stories, like when the emperor got diarrhea and decided to declare independence, or how the very first president after dictatorship got impeached (see the paralels here?) and got back into senatorship afterwards. I'd love for more people to know the crazy lore of my country.

[@d.c.8828]

Ave Justinian! He has returned! 🙌

[@joseybryant7577]

0:23 I'd die because I'd feel terrible about passing the pain onto the donkey.

[@jbb4105]

I’m convinced bro was jus trolling half the time

[@Real11BangBang]

I almost feel like that opening line was a form of meme in its day

[@luciemartin6241]

The little mosaic animations are cracking me up

[@mercster]

Yeah "different standards for evidence" is a understatement, and I mean that in a charitable way. When your world is full of many things you don't understand, phenomenon you can't explain, and tragedies that seem to happen at random... it probably made sense to collect whatever knowledge you could, dubious though it may be, and report on it. Throw it at the wall and see what sticks, as they say. It also occurs to me that people today think we have it "all figured out"... some of the things modern culture takes for granted may be seen as laughable sometime in the future. I could think of a few things, but I digress.

[@wantedwario2621]

My guy Pliny writing these things like he is telling us how to unlock Waluigi in Mario 64

[@spacelemming4493]

Ancient telephone and mistraslations allways create these helariòus ideas

[@IMSHAKINGBABY]

Hey what happened to you napoleon top 10 tips video it was my favorite and now it’s gone ???

[@WDC_OSA]

It just sounds like an insult: "If you want your child to have dark eyes, go eat a rat."

[@robertortiz-wilson1588]

I'm more so curious about how the knowledge of such things spread. Did he know or have an idea? I wonder how he heard of them and other things?

[@BananLord]

Most stuff was spread orally by elders to a new generation and people used to meet in towns (unlike now) and have discussions with each other.

[@robertortiz-wilson1588]

@@BananLord thank you!

[@BananLord]

@@robertortiz-wilson1588 also, there was the respected elders in the village/town that knew spiritual and medical stuff. Like, there would be an old woman that helped with all births in the village, priests and nuns with their knowledge, "witches", etc. When my aunt was a child and had her foot injured, she went to an old woman in the village to get her foot popped back in place,it was done correctly since there were no complications.

[@robertortiz-wilson1588]

@@BananLord I see!

[@SwagFather69]

If you got the plugin to see dislikes, you'll see the ratio is crazy, keep up the good work im contributing to said raito. 714/4

[@misseli1]

Can't tell if this is a serious video about hilarious misconceptions in Ancient Rome, or if this video is just an April Fools joke and no one in Ancient Rome believed this. *edit:* After watching the full thing, I guess not everyone believed these claims, even back then, but Pliny the Elder definitely wrote this stuff down.

[@toreadoress]

I imagine it just as modern myths. Today we have myths like let's say Bigfoot, alien abductions (not talking about alien life in the universe as a whole), cryptids etc. Some people genuinely believe they are real, others who don't believe in such things but find them interesting or entertaining (I fall in this category). If something disturbs our world and a lot of knowledge is lost for centuries, it wouldn't be hard to imagine that future people who find pieces of our civilization may think that we as a whole actually believed in these things just because we put a lot of attention towards it in media even if it's only for an entertainment, but if future historians have only limited knowledge about our word and have bits and pieces they may fall into a conclusion like this. That's why we have to be careful with assumptions about the past especially thousands of years ago and if it was an actual belief for most people, or was just used as interesting maybe even fun stories.

[@niccolorichter1488]

Should be noted that these is what Plinius the elder believed not all people of his time Lucian for instance makes fun Ctesias claim of one leg people and names him a liar

[@mooseymoose]

You mean to tell me ear bread isn’t a thing? My whole world is shattered! Much dissapoint.

[@ili4real]

This is my favourite April Fools joke!

[@JamesMadisonsSpiritAnimal]

I like to imagine he just sat around thinking "lol I wonder if ppl will believe this one lol"

[@NorthForkFisherman]

On April First, they might.

[@deborahberger5816]

My mother used say that you can make a wart disappear if you cut a potato in half, rub one piece on the wart, put the two pieces together again, bury them under a bush at midnight, and the wart will go away when the potato sprouts. Nowadays they treat potatoes with something that keeps them from sprouting, so I don't know if it will work the next time I do it.

[@RemnantsPvP]

the dolphin bit got me and i still dont know why 💀

[@LordDeathAku]

That first line is probably one of the oldest memes out there

[@baileymoody3916]

He was speaking in code. He knew that if he had said what he really meant, the vigiles would target him.

[@CarlosAlejandro.-ke6gr]

I think Pliny the elder died trying to save people on the pompeii eruption (He took a ship along with other people across the bay) but he died suffocated by the volcano gases. Pretty heroic way to go.

[@mathieuleader8601]

Pliny has definitely left his mark on history

[@evankelly4346]

The elephant thing actually seems plausible imo

[@potatogaming7044]

Amazing opening

[@silvershadchan4085]

@Fire of Learning could you please make a video about the Absurd Things The Greeks Believed Were True

[@bigbird2451]

Zany or not, Pliny the Elder has a fine, fine beer named after him. The Younger is said to be good too.

[@idorkurogami7535]

Wake up babe a new fire of learning video just dropped

[@Butt_Slayer]

Did Jonathan Swift just rip off Pliny the Elder with Gulliver's Travels? 😅

[@Barakon]

3:53 Sounds like a bunch of furry role players. By that I mean, a bunch of fellows killed some wolves, skinned the heads to make them into headsets, went to the mountains, & formed a little furry haven.

[@XA1985]

Dropping salt on the floor is a bad omen

[@samright4661]

Pliny the Elder was at Pompeii when the Volcano erupted. He died on a rescue attempt

[@MrMomo182]

Couldn't hear a thing. I've bread in my ears.

[@s.deegan3740]

Those guys with faces on their chests have me laughing so hard I'm literally in tears. So if we had a time machine we could go back and seriously find people stuffing bread in their ears and pissing on dog's sleeping arrangements? Or was this stuff actually commonly practiced?

[@vandagylon2885]

Majinger Z antagonists.

[@s.deegan3740]

@@vandagylon2885 No. NOT Majinger Z antagonists.

[@vandagylon2885]

@@s.deegan3740 the guys with faces on thier chests are. Yes.

[@s.deegan3740]

@@vandagylon2885 oh okay I get it now. Sort of. I'm not really familiar with the media franchise to which you are making reference.

[@dbix11]

one of these has to be true

[@judgeanon2922]

Me: Source? Rome: I made it all up

[@cca8255]

goated video. W channel; 690k subscribers lmao

[@mathieuleader8601]

Pliny discribed Scooby Doo's ancestor

[@Barakon]

2:40 the bear one just sounds like someone saw a mama bear lick away some fetal membrane that covered her Cubs.

[@starchking765]

Ancient life hacks

[@irighterotica]

When you got to the part about babes re-entering the womb, I was immediately reminded of the WKUK (Whitest Kids U Know, for those not familiar) "We Got a Runner!" sketch.

[@AverageDoomFan7804]

This is how future generations are gonna view people who take astrology signs seriously

[@tedarcher9120]

Stuff about elephants was pretty accurate actially

[@Mikefantasia22]

Look who's covering Rome again!

[@pridefulobserver3807]

ahhhh... April

[@dansmith6039]

The elephant one sounds like it could be legit tho

[@justindeloach6732]

This is great! 😂

[@goji3908]

Perhaps Pliny the Younger wrote some of those prompts

[@jeffreese1828]

Those Romans !

[@TheHardys01]

Good to know the Ancient Romans were writing comedic literature.

[@Alan-in-Bama]

These Romans must've had some kick-ass drugs !!

[@mathdebaterclub]

well-placed AAAAUUUUUGGGGHH