Battle of Ecnomus (256 BC) - Largest Naval Battle in History

The Battle of Ecnomus in 256 BC is arguably the largest naval battle in history with 680 warships and an estimated 290,000 rowers and marines participating!!! This monumental clash was fought during the First Punic War between Rome and Carthage along the coast of Sicily.
Fleet Anatomy: • Warfare of Classical A...
Fleet Operation: • Warfare of Classical A...
Fleet Tactics: • Warfare of Classical A...
More Classical Antiquity Documentaries: • Classical Antiquity (D...
Literary Sources:
"Uniforms of the Roman World" by Kevin Kiley
"Republican Roman Warships" by Osprey Publishing
"The Fall of Carthage" by Adrian Goldsworthy
"Augustus" by Anthony Everitt
Game Engine:
Total War: Rome II
Game Mods:
Devide et Impera
Realistic Ship Colors
Ave_Gigas.pak

[@InvictaHistory]

It has been a real pleasure to research and produce the documentary series on the Roman Navy. This video is a culmination of that exploration into the little covered world of ancient naval combat which I hope has been equally as enlightening and entertaining. It is also worth mentioning that the battle maps I created for this video individually shows the 680 vessels from both sides. Though this was painstaking to do, it was worth it to convey the insane scale of this encounter at sea. I'd also like to point out that I tried using new effects in this video. I will continue to try new styles and adapt my presentations in the future and greatly appreciate any and all feedback. Thank you all for your support and help thus far. Its a true joy to have an audience for this passion of mine : )

[@NicNac723]

I have got to say, this video was an absolute pleasure to watch. It was both educational and entertaining!

[@sunjasonjb2773]

Your documentary videos have come such a far way, and I absolutley love all of them! I loved the style and the fonts used in this video, too. Keep up the great work!

[@thekillers1stfan]

The effort showed. Great video

[@slyrooster1241]

Bravo man well done!!

[@debrak1155]

Really love your doc series, hope you keep up the great work.

[@rgm96x49]

Cool stuff. I just love how the Romans' response to Carthaginian naval superiority is basically just going "fuck you guys, we're on land now".

[@ilmevavi1112]

"what do you mean your boat?" " it's ours now."

[@citizenwayne9800]

"look at me, im the captain now"

[@cameroncall007]

"All your boat are belong to us" -Rome

[@themanwiththehamandtheplan9987]

Carthaginian Strategy - Form up in a straight line with an angle on the flank, feign retreat in the middle as to lead them into a trap, our flanking fleet will rush down and engage with the Roman reserves. Then send our reserve fleet to smash their calvary transports and then... Roman Strategy - Charge!!! *Decisive Roman Victory*

[@neurofiedyamato8763]

Exactly what I was thinking. Romans only won due to their advancement in boarding technology. A single piece of technology completely wrecked the intricate Carthage plan. That is actually kind of hilarious.

[@GSXK4]

It's like playing bumper cars with a quarter million men trying to kill each other.

[@Chrischi3TutorialLPs]

r/brandnewsentence

[@Chrischi3TutorialLPs]

@@plnhoomanmurtel5527 :D

[@alephite]

More fun

[@thedude4795]

yeah, when you throw a 2x4 on to the others car, climb over to it and stab them with a sword! :D

[@lukasr1166]

@@Chrischi3TutorialLPs r/cringeaf

[@lenicanilao6454]

Carthage: I have a navy Rome: We have a ramp

[@CZProtton]

They managed to overbuild the enemy even in naval combat. Its actualy funny how all of Rome was just their legions building shit so efficiently that it won them the battle. An enemy is there? Build a wall around him. Another enemy behind? Well, lets build a wall around the first wall and stay between. An enemy has a castle on a hill? Build a ram up that mountain. An enemy is a better sailor? Lets build a portable ramp to board their ships.

[@keepthechange2811]

@@CZProtton I've been trying to wrap my mind around how skilled and versatile Caesars legions were. Can modern infantry build bridges ramps walls forts on the fly? I dont think so. As isolated outnumbered units the Roman's could build their way out of disaster

[@CZProtton]

@@keepthechange2811 Ofcourse they can and they do. Modern armies build bridges in minutes and make heavily fortified positions all around their area of operations as bases of operations and strongpoints to fall back on. But we also have to realise that warfare changed a lot since the Roman times. For example, we have cars, aircraft and gunpowder. So building fortifications is still good, but only if you can hold and not get shot building it. But yes, they build. There is an entire part of every NATO army called Engineering corps that build stuff, maintain stuff, build and clear minefields, build bridges... but even the regular infantry can build fortified positions from sandbags and plywood. And they do, afganistan and Iraq is full of these little posts.

[@GabrielHellborne]

Now I see Romans ramping chariots from their ships...

[@sameerthakur720]

Corvus.

[@TheElMuffin]

"The colossal effort shown by the Romans proved their willingness to pour everything they had into the fight". That's Rome's military history in short, stubborn persistence in the face of overwhelming odds and disastrous defeats. Hannibal trashed them all around Rome and they just kept raising more legions to fight him.

[@innosanto]

TheElMuffin they had great sources of manpower

[@innosanto]

And also loyalty

[@blafoon93]

Considering that against Hannibal the Romans lost about 30% of their male fighting age population in a single year, it is truly unbelievable that they came back from a defeat like this to then create the biggest empire the world had seen. It's extremely rare in history to see a nation with this amount of heavy losses come back and win a war, most wars are over by the time 10% of the standing army have fallen.

[@innosanto]

@@blafoon93 Rome after it defeated a city came into a partnership where the defeated city would give fighting manpower every year. So they had resources to replenish manpower.

[@viveka2994]

@@innosanto unlike italians today *cough* switching sides *cough*

[@hashbrownz1999]

There was estimated to be 250,000,000 people alive when this battle took place. that means 0.116 percent of the world's population was engaged in this battle. there were 2.3 billion people alive during world war 2. The battle of leyte gulf had roughly 0.0086 percent of the world's population involved in the battle. Worded another way, for roughly every 850 human beings on the entire earth, 1 was fighting in the seas at the battle of Ecnomus. In the battle of Leyte Gulf, for every 11,500 human being on earth, 1 was fighting in the seas. Using this logic, the battle of Ecnomus was 13.5 times larger than the largest naval battle of the largest war in history by % of humans involved. Crazy, right?

[@VRichardsn]

Fascinating.

[@Dispo030]

Probably Not A Chicken great point!

[@cadenrolland5250]

So for size comparison, if they fought a battle like this today it would consist of at least 8,786,357 people! It is a huge chunk of the world involved in one thing!

[@johnwicksfoknpencil]

Probably Not A Chicken Well done

[@limnmark]

Do the same with the naval battle of Salamis. The earth's population was even smaller

[@matte172]

who in their right mind would downvote this. This is better than history channel in its prime.

[@InvictaHistory]

wow, thats quite the compliment! Thanks

[@stevieCOH2142]

It really is

[@matte172]

well i have to be fair. You have put out some cringy stuff like "most epic battle" or with other dumb buzz words like "brutal". That stuff is terrible, this is current video is the type of stuff that really sets you apart, and above others.

[@Stratigoz]

Probably someone who really read history books and don't take wikipedia seriously.

[@josemorales9871]

Matt E hater's that have shity youtube channel

[@cemgursoy7545]

I just realized that ancient warfare is A LOT MORE intriguing then medieval warfare.

[@hazed_23]

The empires and the states of the Classical Age were way more wealthier than the medieval kingdoms

[@cemgursoy7545]

@@hazed_23 Antique societies were richer, more vibrant, more open and intriguing; antique battles were far more numerous and iconic. Classical antiquity is criminally underrated.

[@hazed_23]

@@cemgursoy7545 yes indeed

[@michaelwiesinger3401]

The medieval european empires hardly ever fought for the eradication of whole peoples or dynasties among each other. That's why the rather intriguing stuff happened at the borders or with "heathens" like the Hungarians, the Mongols or the Ottomans. Also there was a bigger gap between the common warrior and the elite. A full armored & well trained norse knight at the prime of medieval warcraft easily counts as the pike of human 1 vs 1 close combat fighting* (with the next step of evolution being gunpowder weapons & close combat to never play the decisive role in battle again). On the other hand the common medieval peasant-warrior would have been beaten by any "simple" ancient persian spearman for sure. That's why the tactical value of one single knight was equal to around 80 peasants (which are actual history book numbers). So rather than a whole people being up for a fight like in ancient times, there was a small elite warrior caste which made warfare somehow boring (altough flashy at the same time, since every single defeat they suffered was a result of either attrition or long-range battles or a combination of both like Azincourt, Hattin or against the Mongols). * Maybe the Varangians could top that since their battle axes were armor-piercing & their skills impressed literally anybody who witnessed them. But they were a single unit of fighters rather than a type of fighters. The most elite ancient unit would be the Sacred Band of Thebes imho.

[@genderbender6958]

@I'm not flat, stop asking but Indian and especially chinease history is highly debated and sometimes completely fabricated.

[@4TheWinQuinn]

One thing I learned from studying ancient history is never give up. There has been so many times when seemingly everything is being lost and the odds are insurmountable, but they manage to pull off the most amazing victory’s or saves. It’s amazing.

[@yoloswagtron6920]

Romans: The Carthaginians had us in the first half, not gonna lie.

[@civilisatopedia]

👉 If you are interested in history & mysteries stories then my last video is for you ✨👌🤩🤩

[@Atomic866]

The USSR pulled off the greatest "they had us in the first half, not gonna lie"

[@aguywhoexists599]

@Big E you u with u were roman with that wreath on ur head u vegetable

[@joeytodd795]

The Emperor Protects.

[@ThatAussieBloke1]

One day I hope there will be an animus type machine where you can go back in time and watch these epic battles from a distance lol

[@raymondbenjamins5884]

That's one of my dreams as well. It would be so epic to be able to witness some battles myself...

[@calametrocity]

Take a space ship with you. The Earth would be very far from the same space as where you went back in time.

[@sovietcharity]

No, you wouldnt.

[@cybersasho]

lucid dreaming

[@DylanJo123]

pleep 5th lol tough talk, but we all know youd be a bitch

[@ashleychaplin5855]

all rome will be amazed at such a victory. THE DAY IS OURS

[@MustafaShams]

-voice crack: THE DAY IS OURS ahhh good times playing rome 1

[@SithLord2066]

And remember this above all. Our Roman gods are watching. Make sure they are NOT ashamed!

[@zachzimmerman2996]

THIS IS A GLORIOUS VICTORY, WORTHY OF ROMAN ARMS!!

[@Yokemeister]

VICTORY! This settlement is ours!!

[@BeingDS]

"THE DAeehY IS OWERS!!!

[@sisyphus349]

Fun fact: the locals that upset the status quo were a group of mercenaries, who literally got bored and decided to assault the city of Messana.

[@skepticmonkey6923]

bored mercenaries started a 25 year war...the more you know

[@chuckn4851]

They probably were pumped. War is payday for mercs, duh doy

[@jimmychoo6341]

Viking ships are not better than the romans. But can control whole of Mediterranean Sea.

[@Wolfen443]

The Vikings for a while ruled the North Atlantic.

[@johnleber3369]

Aris Theocharis

[@danieltorok4403]

I can imagine the Greeks at the time on the island of Sicily, like "what the f*ck is going on here?" XD

[@piotrgrzelak2613]

If you lived off the coast you had a few days when you could probably get rich just collecting the metalwork from the beach

[@enricomanno8434]

For sure they said that in Greek language

[@novaalkronthe1st910]

Syracuse: da hell?

[@sumreensultana1860]

@@piotrgrzelak2613 Lol Naval battle Not involved Profit profit

[@abongile464]

Oversimplified bought me here

[@johnwingfield7920]

One of the best war channels in the world

[@InvictaHistory]

...the world you say?

[@v1perv3yron23]

Agreed good Sir

[@MrBellsBlues]

Agreed!

[@alexandraortez1141]

Pardon him, Oakley. He meant Universe.

[@holyarchangelmichael]

The Battle of Ecnomus in 256 BC is one of the most interesting naval battles in history, in my opinion. It demonstrated that Roman ingenuity in creating the corvus was enough to mitigate and even completely undermine Carthage's superior naval strength. This battle was definitely a turning point in the First Punic War. Roman victory at Ecnomus meant that they could invade the Carthaginian home territory in North Africa. Although that invasion was ultimately a failure, as you said, the fact that Rome could invade North Africa and threaten Carthage itself meant that Carthage would have to reconsider fighting a war against Rome. This did not prevent the other Punic Wars from happening, of course. All I'm saying is that Ecnomus set the standard for how Rome would win wars against Carthage in the Second and Third Punic Wars. Rome won the Second Punic War by invading North Africa and forcing an engagement with Hannibal at Zama, one that did not favor Hannibal and one that he ultimately lost. The Third Punic War was won by Rome when Rome invaded North Africa and attacked the city of Carthage, destroying it and claiming permanent victory against their long-time rival. Sorry that I rambled on about history and didn't even address the video yet. I found the video a wonderful mix of informative and entertaining, with good animation, excellent commentary, and accurate information. This is a minor point, I suppose, but I love that you list your sources at the end of the video. It makes me feel like the content is being produced by a professional who understands how to properly cite sources. Well done. Thank you for doing such a great job with this battle.

[@terrencesauve]

Even if it would end here at the First Punic war, Rome got the island which was a great source of income and trade for Carthage. Not sure about the rest of this campaign and if they kept it. This probably meant that Rome could use it as a launching pad and continue to harass trade fleets in the Mediterranean if they wanted to invest in that.

[@holyarchangelmichael]

Good point. Sicily was very important to Carthaginian trade and their economy in general. As far as I know, Sicily stayed in Roman hands after the Romans took it over completely in one of the Punic Wars. I know it wasn't the Third Punic War, but I can't recall whether or not Rome took complete control of Sicily in the First Punic War. It might not have happened until the Second. In either case, you are correct. Rome could have used Sicily as a base to harass trade fleets in the Mediterranean if they wanted. However, the Roman people were proud and I don't think they would have accepted raiding at sea as a viable course of action. I think Sicily was going to become their base of operations for further wars against Carthage no matter what.

[@dbg399]

The Corvus made the Roman ships unstable and was dropped from use during the war.

[@holyarchangelmichael]

That is correct. Still, it evened the odds in earlier naval engagements. It certainly changed the course of the war despite its eventual abandonment.

[@PMMagro]

I don't buy the miracle Corvus explanantion. If so good why was it soon ditched (and not copied by Carthege)? For me Rome being able to build and use such large fleets was the most impressive- a land power trasing and manning fleets on pair with a naval major power like Carthage.

[@MrRedsjack]

Forgot to mention that the Roman sailed with troops in full armor kit unlike the carthagenians this meant that the romans had a serious advantage with hand to hand combat/ boarding. Also that for the romans ending up in the water was a death sentence unlike their opponent. Also that if the romans boarded one ship they had +1 to their fleet and -1 to the enemy (the guys at the oars where mostly slaves so they would not fight back against a new boss) But any victory from the carthagenian side meant just -1 to the Roman fleet (as they sink the opponent not board it) So that's a big difference too.

[@FlorinSutu]

Strictly considering the naval engagements on sea, the First Punic War started and continued very bad for the Republic of Rome. This was the only time in history when Rome lost an entire fleet during a battle: to the last ship, to the last boat and to the last sailor, including the admiral. The Roman vessels were slow and clumsy, the Romans not having acquired yet the skills and finesse needed to build “world class” ships. All nations being limited to the muscle power of their oarsmen, the one that could create ships with better hydrodynamic form had them faster and more maneuverable. This was mastered by the Carthaginians, who “copied to perfection” and made bigger an invention of the ancient Greeks, the “quinquereme”, a very fast ship with 5 vertically overlapped rows of oars. However, in those days when everything was going from bad to worse for the Roman Navy, one day wild luck struck out of the blue. . . Out of the blue sea, more correctly. A Carthaginian ship got marooned on a sea shore controlled by Rome. Very soon the Romans discovered that rather than capturing just one single ship, they captured a blue print in motion . . . The genius of the Carthaginians applied also in the mass production of ships. Specialized big workshops from the capital built the more complicated components, then sent them all over their empire, to be completed with simple parts and assembled by the carpenters from the smaller ports under their control. Each wood board was coded on extremities with letters and numbers, for easy match and assembly. Like a Lego already marked for no-brainer building, or like the Ikea furniture, but 2300 years earlier. Because the planks were marked for matching, any low-skilled team of ship builders was able to assemble a “world class” ship. Any low-skilled team of ship builders. . . Including the Romans. Their craftsmen figured out the meaning of the letters and numbers present all over the interior of the ship, dismantled it, copied absolutely every part and assembled it again. The secret of Carthage’s “quinquereme” was broken. Rome jumped into a desperate frenzy of ship building. 220 ships were built in 45 days. They used fresh cut green wood, that would crack and make the ships unusable after 6 months, but that was all the time needed to turn the tide. What happened after that is actually the story of this video . . .

[@dpeasehead]

The recovery of the single marooned Carthaginian warship reminds me of the single Zero carrier fighter lost in the Aleutians during WWII and retrieved nearly intact and studied by the Americans.

[@zachfox5969]

The Roman ships were heavier, slower, and manned by greenhorns. The corvus did help even the odds in combat, however they also probably contributed to the poor performance of the Roman Navy in bad weather- rendering them "front heavy" and awkward.

[@jackfrost1075]

FlorinSutu thx a lot for the additional knowledge

[@CZProtton]

@@zachfox5969 Well, they knew they sucked at naval combat but capitilized on what they knew best, infantry. The Corvus is genious for them, they knew that if they can get their soldiers onto the enemy ship, they win the engagement AND get a new ship. Because ramming is hard, but having a bridge that can be swung all around so any ship that stops anywhere near your front can get instantly boarded.

[@CZProtton]

@@bjorntorlarsson How would that work? I cannot imagine what you are saying, could you describe it more? I cannot really fathom a device that would stop the corvus from being able to transfer troops.

[@GoodNight0wl]

4 years ago, you couldn't have used Rome 2 to film this lol. The boats would have sailed sideways.

[@falcor200]

I wanna watch that battle lmfao 1400 ships drifting around haha

[@televisionblitz]

Loving these ancient naval combat videos, I truly had no idea about the scale of ancient warder before this video! Keep up the good work!

[@InvictaHistory]

It is truly mind blowing! The first time I started to learn about this battle I was stunned... its crazy to think that ancient civilizations were able to field more men than we had present in our largest naval battles

[@televisionblitz]

I can't even wrap my head around the logistics of it, how did they keep such a force well supplied with nutritious food without modern preservatives, or were they eating lots of salted meats and fish but then they would have needed to carry lots of fresh water on board, or were they fishing off the side of the boat? Do any of your sources discuss that in detail?

[@InvictaHistory]

In my previous video on the operation of the fleets (kzbin.info/www/bejne/aWqaXpxpbtKBask) I mention how naval voyages for warships only lasted a day or two due to supply limitations. They would typically come ashore every night and re-provision. This could mean foraging in the countryside, using a supply depot, or relying on food carried in a baggage train.

[@televisionblitz]

Thanks a lot for answering! That makes a lot of sense. based on your graphic the battle was fought near the border of Roman controlled and Punic controlled Scilly, but was one side better supplied than the other at the time of the battle?

[@InvictaHistory]

Rome at this point had the full backing of Syracuse which supplied the Roman troops with much of what they needed to stay in the field. Carthage was also had several large operating bases on the western part of Sicily which served a similar function so it could be said that they were about evenly supplied. Maybe Roman had a slight advantage since it had been preparing for an invasion of north africa which would require extra stockpiling of materials

[@TheLuismaBeaTle]

Admiral Akbar would've seen it coming

[@samueljackson9401]

true

[@6starchicken244]

Maybe Ecnomus was where he learned to spot one. He is a giant fish after all.

[@johnnybasco5860]

long live admiral ackbar. In the EU. legends my ass. Disney star wars is myth.

[@strongbear3369]

Damn right

[@cpt.crunch9978]

It's a ramp!

[@KomradeCPU]

I love how they decided to nickname the rear line the "Triarii" *giggles*

[@TheZod00]

I don't get it....

[@kurf4122]

+Sausymayo It's a play on the Roman term "Getting to the Triarii". Meaning, "everyone else is fucked but I guess we still have these guys". Roman Legions during the early republic operated on a three class system. The front of the Legion was the Hastati, behind them was the Principes. At the very back was the rich and wealthy soldiers known as the Triarii. So essentially "Getting to the Triarii" meant that the enemy got through 2/3 of the Legion.

[@TechnoMinarchist]

Triarii is essentially just "The last line of defense"

[@fishinspace3107]

Sausymayo the romans had a formation consisting of three classes. In the very back of this formation we're the triarii who usually were veterans they kept just in case the battle turn to the shits

[@TheZod00]

Sloths In Space But I don't understand how that's remotely funny?

[@jmkbartsch]

What I find most impressive about these battles in antiquity is not just the numbers in absolute terms, but what that meant in relation to world population. 290.000 people present at Ecnomus is already a lot. But when considering that there were only just below 150 Million people living on the planet at that point in history then it is an unfathomable high amount. That means an unbelievable 0.5 % of the entire worlds population was present at that battle. Image that!

[@1503nemanja]

Just shows how awesome the Romans were when they had to build a fleet from scratch and then took on the naval power of their time and won!

[@mysticonthehill]

it was the roman economy. Storms and the carthagians sunk more roman vessels. Theirs weren't as sea worthy but they just like soldiers could keep on producing them.

[@viveka2994]

@ unless your the USSR its about pure manpower no food tho

[@kv-2thekingofderp866]

@@viveka2994 USSR had some innovative ideas too. Katyusha rockets and angled tank armor, but yes, most of it was heavy manpower

[@PersimmonHurmo]

@@viveka2994 Stalin's labor camps and industry fueled by human blood churned out huge amount military hardware, they had most tanks in the world. So no, economy and manpower is what allowed them to win (also American and British brains)

[@viveka2994]

@@PersimmonHurmo yeah thats what i said

[@snakeguy8646]

I really found it ironic that Carthage, the huge naval power, was smashed by seemingly cavemen saying "We build boat!" then when they are smashed they are like "We build thing that lets us board!" then, when it comes to strategy Rome is all like "CHARGE!!!!" and is outmaneuvered, then they win because "We fight on land, your boat is land, we fight there."

[@MrEldote]

Evidently, every chef has it's secrets, no need to write sun tzu's rules, right?

[@ericjohnson7234]

:( (shakes head disapprovingly)

[@alexbox8967]

On L and the romans have the best world’s strategys likes triples aciex formation, and during the empire for the fleet it’s the dame thing, but vs cartaghenians they don’t maked a naval battle before, is normal they urse the tattic, like creating(genial creation for the time)the thing to board enemys boats and they don’t sue any strategy :) (Sorry for my english but i ma italian :)

[@alexbox8967]

At the start i wanted to said“on the land” sorry

[@PersimmonHurmo]

@@ericjohnson7234 using :(... Shaking my head in disgust

[@bawshafft4881]

Insanely good visual design choices. I really like it Oakly go on pls :) you and Heirof carhage are 100 percent my fave ytbers

[@TotalRookie_LV]

"Huh! They fell in our trap! Wait... Oh, shit!" Morale being - if you manage to get a lion in a trap you dug out, make sure you yourself are not still sitting in the same trap.

[@stevenwilson5556]

Absolutely the gold standard video on the Battle of Ecnomus! 1. Gave context to the event why it happened and how large it was compared to other large naval battles. 2. Incredible visual effort into animation to show the event, great explanation of the tactics of the battle. 3. Good follow up of the aftermath. All told absolute gold star effort.

[@nehemz432]

So, what happened to the horses? Am I the only one that is curious about the abandoned transports?

[@thehunter4873]

Nehemz I'd assume they’d come back for them

[@viveka2994]

@@thehunter4873 *thousands of years later* "mein führer, why are there horses on a transport?"

[@SliceOfDog]

Literally came down to the comments hoping to find an answer to this. As much as there was likely no consideration at all of animal welfare, I have to presume that they were too valuable a resource to be left at sea, so presumably most or all of them were collected after the victory.

[@tommyblansett9254]

@@SliceOfDog The horses still on transports that were pulled to Carthage's shores where the Romans were defeated. So horses were either killed in battle, or captured by Carthaginians, or escaped to the wilderness, while some may have returned home.

[@argenisjimenez8118]

I would rather believe they were took back by the roman

[@harryki6830]

these are amazing.....you need to get more recognition for this, but unfortunately many people have no interest in history these days

[@InvictaHistory]

I've been wondering how best to get this content out to more people. Any suggestions?

[@iNEEDmoney6238]

+THFE Productions The only thing i get in mind is with cooporation with others

[@jomcueto980]

not sure about this but you could try to send this to history channel or any other docu tv shows. who knows?

[@CountBaronGAMING]

Very informative. you deserve success for these polished videos

[@Wolfen443]

Naval Battles on this scale are always impressive and terrifying.

[@BlunderMunchkin]

If your name, even if it's your middle name, is "Manlius," that's gonna define your entire life.

[@TheVincentVanGogh]

I remember reading about 3 entire Roman Fleet with almost 100,000 men got wiped out because of a massive storm and they just kept raising fleet after fleet after fleet.

[@RemusKingOfRome]

You should become a professional doco maker, this was superb ! Just goes to prove that the greedy merchants who controlled Carthage should have spent more on Tech to give them the edge in naval battles.

[@nea0496]

he already is a professional

[@nea0496]

he already is a professional

[@alexandraortez1141]

He means as in it being his profession. Not him being 'pro' (good) at it.

[@RemusKingOfRome]

Surely the Carthaginians could have used a few fire-ships ? or such?

[@davidburroughs7068]

Appian did record their use in the 3rd Punic War 149 BC, but as we research this let us keep in mind he wrote all that he wrote before his passing in 165, a couple of hundred years later.

[@abd-al-haqal-haqiqi6981]

The 1st & 2nd Punic wars are the best wars of antiquity many battles alot of action cunning strategy many consipiracies politics many other states like syracuse the iberians the celts the numidians the greeks the macedonians the Illyrians were involved it's like an antiquity world war it's still make me wonder why there is no movie or serie about it it would be fucking epic as the scenarists can add some fictional mini stories to it that go hand to hand with the actual historical facts

[@user-wx7rq1oi1c]

Things people can't pronounce will never be a series. People hate historical facts because there's less explosions. Facts are racist anyway.

[@pagansquaddie]

Thanks to Rome total war 2, we can finally see and relive these massive battles. Seeingbggem on history channels and youtube channels alike. Excellent video sir.

[@zeebaa6]

years later, this is still one of the best historical battles on youtube

[@idlepotato9077]

Ah, the ancient version of bumper cars

[@nobodylikesapandemic139]

But its rated PG-13

[@civilisatopedia]

👉 If you are interested in history & mysteries stories then my last video is for you ✨👌🤩🤩

[@mazadancoseben4818]

@@civilisatopedia ,last?

[@thesphyrth]

This video led me to believe that Flanking was a typical Carthaginian strategy, rather than an innovation.

[@mistermister2291]

Flanking is the primary strategy in any battle of any nation. If you can get behind your enemy, you've practically won; they can't go forward, they can't go back, and if the go to the sides you can meet them. If they fight in front you hit them in the back, of they fight in the back, you hit them in the front. You're right that flanking was a typical strategy, just the ways in which it was gone about were generally innovative.

[@hotinplaya]

welp, off to play rome total war

[@Danneman92]

I watched this video the same day I'd taken ecstacy, a few days ago. One of the best things I've done in my entire life. Keep up the good work work bro.

[@danial469]

Lmap your fucked dude. I couldnt get wired after 22.

[@frozen1762]

Carthaginian left flank mistake was that, when they were behind the lines instead of going after horse transport ships at shore they should have attacked consular fleets from behind. That would give then full victory.

[@scottabc72]

But the Cartheginians didnt go after the transports, they went after the Roman rear guard and if they hadnt tried to do that, the Roman rear guard would have attacked them from behind.

[@kraanz]

Armchair admiral.

[@jackfrost1075]

This is so interesting to combine TW Rome 2 with actual detailed historical battles, so much more meaningful than watching purely gameplay battles

[@crackshack2]

That 4th Division along the shore saved it Should have sent punic ships to attack the roman 1st 2nd divisions in the rear

[@quoniam426]

The echelon formation of the Roman fleet prevented Carthagenians to attack directly from the flanck because the ship behind the one attacked could counter board the attacker with the boarding bridge. So yeah, it would have restricted the Punics to attack from behind which seemed to be difficult of the Roman division reacts quickly enough.

[@TripleEBA]

@@quoniam426 But the 4th division was hindered by transport. They could not effectively threaten the back of the punic left flank. And if they do, they could have fall back and get them, but far from the shore this time. Division 1 and 2 would have a hard time to turn and help the 4th

[@rocketassistedgoat1079]

My thoughts exactly. Instead of engaging the Roman 3rd division, the right Carthage flank, should have enveloped the first and second divisions completely, destroyed them, then did the same to the rest. Isn't that the point of capitalizing upon separated enemy formations; so you can overwhelm them one by one with superior numbers via double envelopment or hammer and anvil?

[@Wildru736]

@@rocketassistedgoat1079 the 3rd division would have cought the eveloping forces from behind.

[@mixits7118]

Kinda feel bad for the Carthaginian navy tho. They were so close on winning

[@phurbasherpa7441]

dayum. since my childhood i had been interested in wars, tactics and strategies. perfect channel for me. thanks for the videoss mate. 👍👍

[@InvictaHistory]

Well glad you found your way here. I currently balance both total war gameplay and documentaries but am in the process of transitioning into more of the latter. I've got a lot of exciting content in development so stay tuned : )

[@lawrencemorris2261]

Me too! Now I wish there were more of these kinds of visualizations with modern warfare..

[@AudieHolland]

My apologies if I made this comment before. But it's amazing to me that each nation in history, when creating a navy for the first time, has done so succesfully, equaling the opponent's navy and after some time ever surpassing it.

[@SaintAnimus]

These videos got my sub! Using TW to explain tactics and historical battles is such a phenomenal idea, I LOVE these!

[@vladcool1416]

Dam this is awesome I can't wait for more stuff.

[@InvictaHistory]

would you say it was cool, Vlad?

[@vladcool1416]

THFE Productions It's awesome, and thank you for replying.

[@4rnnr_as]

haha, I see what you did there THFE

[@bruh8029]

This vid:*Largest naval battle in history* Mr Beast: interesting

[@tyrian_baal]

Bruh Why is everyone mentioning Mr beast??

[@bruh8029]

@@tyrian_baal he put this vid up on his yt story

[@VentiVonOsterreich]

@@bruh8029 which video

[@bruh8029]

@@VentiVonOsterreich HE FILMED A VIDEO ON HIS PHONE AND UPLOADED IT ON KZbin STORIES AND AFTER 24H IT DISAPPEARED

[@VentiVonOsterreich]

@@bruh8029 has someone reuploaded it

[@joshuaflowe1069]

I'm going to mention that hamlicar is Hannibal's father

[@bobbyfeet2240]

Beat me to it. Yep, there's a reason Hannibal would be super ready to try this same strategy. (Or, for that matter, his brother Hasdrubal in Spain. Notably, this application was also unsuccessful, which raises questions about whether Hannibal maybe got a little lucky at Cannae.)

[@ultimaIXultima]

I thought the same thing! Was surprised he didn't mention that.

[@tommyblansett9254]

@@bobbyfeet2240 The different in a good commander and a great commander is the ability to execute a successful strategy. Hamilcar strategy worked but, as mentioned earlier the (not Hamilcar's nor Hanna's, I think) decision to destroy an easy enemy rather than support the rest of the Carthaginian fleet proved disastrous. On the other the fact that Roman soldiers in command of ships were able to turn the tables was impressive. If Regulus had done the same thing on land near Carthage may have meant Carthage would be treated like Syracuse instead creating the great desire for revenge that would cause Rome to demolish the city and sow the fields with salt and the end of the 3rd Punic War.

[@andytucker9573]

That was execellent thank you. I love the visualization of it all with the clips from games and the cool maps, battle comparison etc. We need more of this stuff for the antiquity/hellenistic/punic wars... such an amazing period of history to discover and explore Well done Invicta

[@GammingDay]

What an epic, giant, amazing sea battle...that I had never heard of! Good grief! Stellar presentation!

[@etwnewcommunity9370]

you know its too bad Rome II doesn't have Corvus ships...or even the Deceres

[@brianjob3018]

Rome II?

[@viveka2994]

@@brianjob3018 Yes rome II

[@PersimmonHurmo]

@@brianjob3018 game

[@davidsaville5239]

The game Rome Total war had Corvus ships though!!

[@teriyakichicken1848]

It must suck to be at the tip of the triangle lol

[@InvictaHistory]

luckily they got to use the heavily reinforced flagships

[@kedronmallia939]

They draw sticks to see who gets positioned further towards the front. The bigger the sticks, the more fucked you are (no pun intended). You are fucked anyways.

[@terrencesauve]

I would tend to disagree here! Pride, honour and courage was your "pension plan" as a Principes back home. No straws here, perhaps it was based on which leading family or deity sponsored the ship and paid for the marines. Awesome videos, as always. Keep them coming, we'll be waiting for your next series this Christmas! And best of luck this semester.

[@kedronmallia939]

+Terrence Sauve mine was a joke btw xD

[@terricampbell3179]

Kedron Mallia hehehe

[@OriginalThisAndThat]

Amazing how they could coordinate such a precise tactics on the sea with that large numbers

[@CZProtton]

@mryupjup They probably just shouted, played trumpets and waved flags around and hoped the commander of the ship would be smart enough to think "hey, that dude is doing a lot of noise, maybe he wants me to follow!". That is about all you need.

[@carlosdelsol76]

Your channel remembers me of the history channel from the early 2000s. Just pure fascination for history and it's secrets

[@kiarancarlile5175]

It is amazing as Rome only began a navy in this Punic war when they copied a Carthaginian war ship, studied it and re-engineered one

[@kristis61]

You totally avoid to mention the importance of sea warfare knowledge the Sicilian Greeks shared with Romans!! No state could amass a fleet and coordinate it so soon and successfully without help from experience sailors

[@alexhage8092]

They both took their ship building from the Pheonicians

[@piotrgrzelak2613]

@@alexhage8092 and made it better

[@jadaoun03]

@@piotrgrzelak2613 greek ships were bulkier but slower than the phoenician ones, better for warfare but not for sailing

[@عليياسر-ذ5ب]

@@jadaoun03 The Phoenician ships defeated the Greek ships in the wars, and this is a shame

[@Aemilius46]

😂😂😂😂

[@Atlashon]

The best historic educational channel there is. By far. I unfollowed History Channel because they cannot compare to you. At least, not presently.

[@TheWolfmanMachinima]

Epic! Man, you are a creative production-machine.

[@InvictaHistory]

thanks! I really like the new after effects elements I added but it does take way longer

[@TheWolfmanMachinima]

yeah. but it´s worth it. Your videos become more entertaining and profound every upload. Looking forward to the next one. Cheers!

[@lukeskywalker3329]

Bravo . ! A very comprehensive documentary . I am saving it to watch again .

[@mohamedm2518]

I appreciate the effort it took you to animate this. Well done.

[@byzantinetales]

That was the great secret of the Romans. Apart from their great discipline, they were able to adapt to the needs of any circumastance!

[@kasinokaiser1319]

The First Punic War doesn't get nearly as much attention as the second one

[@markcannon8522]

Why might that be? Weird how everyone know about all the major roman defeats but no one knows about the massive roman victories that avenged those defeats.

[@sydecycade6983]

13:36 "Begun, the clone wars has"

[@civilisatopedia]

👉 If you are interested in history & mysteries stories then my last video is for you ✨👌🤩🤩

[@George-bz1fi]

Excellent video, well done, thanks.

[@RicardosH99]

This video is just the best one out there for this battle. Thanks

[@311nonono]

As an informational regarding Poyang Lake; It is a fresh water lake of about 1300 sq miles (size varies with seasons). It has an average depth of 29 feet (depth varies with seasons). Maximum length of 110 miles, maximum width 11 miles (both vary with seasons). It is located in the Chinese province of Jiangxi.

[@arcadiusdrathalas6007]

Why do I not know more of this battle? I have read so much roman history but have only heard passing mentions of this battle.

[@marduk1734]

when the Carthaginians were about the destroy the horse transports, they heard behind their backs: OH HAIL THE MIGHTY, HE'S ARISING FROM THE DEEP! WITH TATTERED SAILS AND INCREDIBLE TAILS WE CAUGHT IN THE ENDLESS SEAS (we purge the Carthage fleet)!

[@ひろゆき二十一]

Coming back to the first video that captured my interest of Ancient history. It's like coming back to see an old friend.

[@uppitywhiteman6797]

KZbin at its best. Clear, concise and entertaining. I subbed. Thank you.

[@JonatasMonte]

pause exactly at 0:00 When it starts to clear out and you'll remember Troy.

[@nsierra2297]

congrats great video!

[@InvictaHistory]

thanks : )

[@Chaudawg]

i clicked on this thinking it was a video game and i got slapped with knowledge.

[@RexGalilae]

i love how competent and clever the generals on both sides were. such battles are often rare among the famous ones in history

[@ARS-77]

This was one of the best examples of sea battle that I've ever seen. Superior work.

[@aldrinmilespartosa1578]

*Carthage* : We have the best ships! *Defeated in the Battle of Ecnomus* *Romans* : We had the best troop! *Defeated in the Battle of Cannae* The weird part is that they practically use the same strategy in both different battle

[@aldrinmilespartosa1578]

@@bjorntorlarsson Yes, you can have it.

[@baconbread117]

i know this is off topic from the video but i just came across a book which talks about julius caesar's life i am currently on chapter 3. While reading it i stumbled across some interesting dialog (ill type it word for word) he is said to have broken down and wept in front of a statue of Alexander the Great, realizing that where Alexander had conquered most of the known world at thirty, Caesar at that age was merely seen as a dandy who had squandered his wife's fortunes as well as his own. idk i just thought that was interesting.

[@InvictaHistory]

I remember reading something similar in the book Caesar: Life of a Colossus. really interesting to think about considering how much of a pivotal figure he became

[@dinsel9691]

Roman engineering and ingenuity wins the day again!!!

[@eleSDSU]

Actually ingenuity and reverse engineering, the Romans didn't knew how to build ships, they only started after reverse engineering a shipwrecked Punic ship, which makes all of this even more amazing.

[@alexeltroll]

wonderful documentary. you put a lot of big channels into shame

[@pigpig252]

One of the most professional and well researched historical videos I've ever seen. Nice

[@gerardjagroo]

When Rome and Carthage made their mighty efforts at Cape Econmus, this signalized that they were now the foremost powers in the Mediterranean, that the days Greece's domination were numbered. Most people would agree that Cape Econmus was the greatest struggle between two civilizations before the gunpowder age. As a lover of history, I'm awed by what these great civilizations were able to accomplish.

[@stuka80]

No doubt. Also noteworthy is the speed and ability in which Rome could build ships and replace losses. No other ancient power had the endurance of the Roman Republic, it was almost as if they were a modern Nation with the concept of total war transplanted into the ancient world.

[@jacksonpettit9423]

Gerard Jagroo Before dark ages actually.

[@gerardjagroo]

stuka80 People look to Rome's legions with their weapons and tactics as the main reason why Rome became number 1. Those people are idiots, the real reason Rome became number 1 is because of the innate valor, toughness and ingenuity of her people. They had the determination to do all, endure all and suffer all for their country. Such a people are predestined for Empire.

[@jacksonpettit9423]

I still think Alexander of Macedon had a much bigger empire than Rome. He never lost a battle so yea he is the badass of ancient civilisation

[@jacksonpettit9423]

I mean he conquered the entire middle East and marched into India oposed by 1 king who was defeated in 1 battle. No Western nation has ever conquered so much of Asia to this day. Alexander once cried to his friends while looking up at the stars that ''there are so many worlds to conquer but I have yet to conquer 1''

[@freddyhayes239]

it's like pixelated apollo and lindybeige had a baby. thank god!

[@freddyhayes239]

and military history visualised of course.

[@ΜιχΛαζ]

In the battle of salamis Persians alone had around 780 ships and the Athenians around 220.

[@eleSDSU]

You are partially right, depending on the sources the Persians had at least 400~700 (modern estimates) and at most 1000~1200 (ancient sources) and according to Herodotus the Greeks had around 370 ships, where you are not right is in saying Athenians, the Greeks had around 370 ships, of those around 180 were Athenian. But we don't know how many sailors were involved so "biggest battle" is accurate only in terms of ships.

[@ΜιχΛαζ]

Larry Lewinsohn no one really knows for sure but when you have Herodotus’s and thoukidedes as the fathers of history we must consider better their numbers cause when a phalanx had around 250 men it’s not hard to undestand that that is a fact we change that number cause a suntagma is 4x250=1000 men that even today in Greece we call the exact same numbers,for example how could the Persian had in gaugamela 100-150 thousands men when Greeks had around 40 and how could the whole Persian empire gather only that a small kingdom like Macedonia gather 40thousands?its plain logic in most of the cases.when Greeks invaded Troy they had around 1000 ships which is not fiction cause homer said numbers of ships,names of places etc all i want to say is that do you know any Persian name expect the king and the general?of course not but Alexander the Great knew and said almost every name of his men,Greeks used names they wasn’t numbers that’s why historians are mad.

[@jevjake777]

You're really good in doing historical videos man. I appreciate your work.

[@hawtbot2k]

Would be interesting to know how they communicated within and between divisions during the battle... especially at such a scale where visibility is not a given.

[@SprayedToTheBone2]

The officers who were side by side probably shouted at each other.

[@XJS1982]

The largest naval battle in history? What about the battle of Cape Bon in 468 AD? A source lists a fleet of at least 1,000 ships taking part in that battle.

[@tyrian_baal]

XJS1982 The Battle of Cape Bon was an engagement during a joint military expedition of the Western and Eastern Roman Empires led by Basiliscus against the Vandal capital of Carthage in 468. The invasion of the kingdom of the Vandals was one of the largest amphibious operations in antiquity, with 1,113 ships and over 50,000 personnel. Key word: amphibious

[@Scohill]

imagine if we had ceasar vs hannibal...AGHHH that would've been beautiful

[@Holy_hand-grenade]

I’ll still take the tonnage of Leyte gulf, but the number of men in this is super impressive.

[@mza3764]

more than 2000 years ago dude, that's gotta count for something

[@machinelearning6857]

Blown away by the effort that has gone into this, it made me immediately subscribe! Keep up the good work!

[@Neoboethius]

Excellent presentation. Thanks.

[@ArtilleryAffictionado1648]

"but but ancient sources are highly inflated" comments incomming......

[@Usammityduzntafraidofanythin]

Why the butthurt?

[@Kwijiboz]

Sorry to break it to you pal...

[@30AndHatingIt]

They also said there were gods living on a mountain throwing lightning bolts from their hands.

[@deandeann1541]

30 - so how is this somehow worse than what we believe today? Do you believe a carpenter that died 2000 years ago in a Roman province came back from the dead three days later, provided you with the only keys to eternal life, and physically rose to heaven where he sits today at the right hand of El, the caananite god? And this is superior to the beliefs of the Romans, who also believed Julius Caesar rose three days after death and rose physically to the heavens, and believed the same of Mithras, and the same of assorted other gods ( what can I say, the meme was and still is popular).

[@30AndHatingIt]

No I would say it's all shit.

[@jeffkennedy4517]

It's funny how he says "Only 200,000 Crewmen" like any Navy can muster together that many Sailors, Oarsmen and Marines plus the large Fleet to carry all those Troops

[@1invag]

The vast majority of those numbers were made up of slaves pushing oars lol

[@eleSDSU]

@@1invag So? they were crewmen.

[@user-cm9sf7vs5h]

How long did the battle last? Just curious haha

[@tabchan8107]

This was a excellent video

[@y.r._]

It's astonishing how they were able to muster such great armies and navies back then, especially when compared to the small forces in medieval times.

[@concept5631]

Tbf there were literally thousands of states in Europe during the medieval ages, and fuedalism doesn't exactly encourage unity.

[@y.r._]

@@concept5631 The latter point is especially important. France was larger and more populated in the middle ages than roman italy was in the 3rd century BC, yet the forces they could muster couldn't even compare to the size of roman armies. But on another note, the punic wars really were astonishing, they really were total wars... 140k men at ecnomus is more than even most later roman battles, even during imperial times. At the decisive battle of Adrianople, the romans didn't even have 30k men.

[@concept5631]

@@y.r._ What fuedalism does to a mf