Cicero's Finest Hour (44 to 43 B.C.E.)

[@HistoriaCivilis]

F

[@primusinterpares5767]

F

[@cartmann94]

Also an F to Tribune Aquila, who died at the Battle of Mutina.

[@Lawaleeth]

F

[@kaseyfarnum7997]

F

[@AlexanderDiviFilius]

F

[@ElVindicto]

"Cicero switched to a much more aggressive posture." What did he do? "He made a series of speeches and distributed a series of pamphlets that directly denounced Anthony." Oh snap, what else? "He sent a stern letter co-signed by the senate instructing him to stand down" Yeah, fuck him up, Cicero.

[@lukaszkonsek7940]

"The pen is mightier than the sword"

[@88fibonaccisequence]

World Star!

[@MitchellD249]

@@lukaszkonsek7940 Unfortunately, it's difficult to wield a pen when your enemy has cut both your hands off and nailed them to the Senate speaking platform. Swords are useful in that regard.

[@louisswanepoel1614]

"Stupid face = BAD"

[@belland_dog8235]

@gillecroisd 92 According to the definition of the word, it's very possible for the pen to be, in fact, mightier than the sword. Though like most things it's all circumstancial.

[@Blake_Stone]

The story of Cicero sure makes the guy a compelling character. Then again, it was written by Cicero.

[@a2falcone]

Showing that Cicero's method (the pen over the sword) payed off in the long term.

[@lordbiscuitthetossable5352]

Or almost paid off. In the end, he was let down by his allies, Brutus was practically useless.

[@notepad9883]

​@@lordbiscuitthetossable5352 I think he's talking even longer term than that. Cic got himself killed a handful of years ahead of his time; but twenty centuries later one he is one of the most famous, studied, and admired men in history--and this has only become *more* true with the passage of time over this period. Twenty centuries from now, I wouldn't bet he won't be bigger than ever. He didn't exactly have the last laugh, because you can't laugh with a head that's detached from your body... But if you believe in posthumous "payoffs," if you believe that history's "immortality" counts for something, then yeah, his enemies came with their swords way too late to stop the ultimate victory of those hands and tongue. RIP Cicero. Long live Cicero.

[@lordbiscuitthetossable5352]

@@notepad9883 That is very true, but for Rome that time would never come again. This was the only chance that the Republic had at stopping the rise of Tyrants and when push came shove; his fellow senators completely failed him. The assassins despite acting on the effective behalf of the senate acted indecisively and thus effectively squandered their own goals of re-instating the senate as the primary authority, and later Cic's gains in putting Ceasers successors in putting them in an awkward position. He even complains about this many times. A true republic only works when the will of the senate is united, the United Kingdom is a prime example of what I consider to be a modern day Rome; indecisive, corrupt and steadily loaning out chunks of it's authority out to companies instead of it's generals. One day, it will be British in name only. Of course, he was an excellent politician and had managed to decisively set up a situation where both of Ceasers successor's could've been defeated. But Brutus chose not to move and doomed the republic. This is speaking high praises by the way; only Cic could engineer a situation where all it's Tryants could potentially be dispatched, yet believe in the republic so heavily as to bring that he did it all in the proper way. It's really inspiring in the way that he came so far despite having never commanded an single soldier in the entire civil war.

[@douglasphillips5870]

Ultimately his goal was to save the republic which he failed. He failed well, but he failed

[@simen3971]

Fun fact: Cicero invented a whole range of Latin words that still exist in recognizable form in Modern English: argumentum, conclusio, essentia, forma, intellectus, moralia, natura, propositio, ratio, species, possibly more. And he was a man of principles, unlike pretty much all his contemporaries. What a dude.

[@themechanicalentry8353]

@@sdsd2e2321 Petrarch*

[@themechanicalentry8353]

@Domantas It probably was less stupidity and more limited information, plus some bit of being too hopeful and truthful to his own ideals. I wouldn't be surprised if he knew it could've been his demise, but he preferred to go that way than to let Rome's system fail even further.

[@itaieiron7275]

He wasn't all good, but yeah. RIP

[@thibautnarme6402]

@Domantas I concur, he could have easily remained the consul-maker that he was and use his influence on young Octavian to limit (or rather delay) the slide toward cesarism.

[@ryanross6973]

Man of principles. Explains why he got fucked at almost every turn when things got hectic.

[@randomcarbonaccumulation6478]

Imagine you killed Gaius Julius Caesar and another one just arrives from Illyricum I'd be mad af

[@saadselkent367]

Bro respawned

[@Hugh_Morris]

​@@saadselkent367 lmao

[@roger9430]

@@saadselkent367 Literally respawned lmao, and Caesar's death taught Octavian exactly what not to do, pardon your enemies.

[@chrish4439]

​@@roger9430Yet that's exactly what he did....

[@tomlxyz]

First mad, then dead

[@rgm96x49]

"No plan, no system, no method!" Jeez, Cicero, you didn't have to narrate my life up to now like that, man.

[@resileaf9501]

Well stop doing a Brutus of yourself and be a Ceasar instead!

[@Vienna3080]

I relate to Brutus the most: Incompetent and lazy

[@b43xoit]

US official response to the novel coronavirus of 2019: no plan, no system, no method.

[@brianmessemer2973]

It's funny - I thought that to be a particularly modern-sounding comment. What a brilliant man he truly must have been.

[@karlhans6678]

@@resileaf9501 if i become a Caesar then it wont end well for me...

[@DarthMeteos]

"Why are you crying so hard, kiddo?" "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND, THE GREEN SQUARE IS GONE AND THE PURPLE SQUARE RESPECTED HIM"

[@Omar-lq3ri]

Underrated comment

[@musichalloffame]

The exact truth of this statement has shook me in to both a fit of uncontrollable laughing and the realization that I also have genuine feelings for colored squares! I can mourn for squares and laugh at the same time!

[@JamesJJSMilton]

@@musichalloffame its now weird thinking these squares used to be skin having people who fought for real issues.

[@program4215]

@@JamesJJSMilton "skin having people" omg

[@francesconesi7666]

Still, why are you crying? Green square was a lame republican.

[@JingleJangle256]

So Brutus, Cassius, and Decimus murdered Caesar out of fear that he’d declare himself king and start killing members of the opposition, only to fuel the ambitions of younger men who were more keen to purge than Caesar ever was. Palpatine (in the shadows): Ironic.

[@GrandMoffTarkinsTeaDispenser]

"Caesar wants to be king" was PR on their part, they killed him because Caesar had started to reward plebs and retired soldiers with public land and forcing the rich landowner class to employ unemployed roman freeman instead of slaves (1/3 of the workforce at least if i remember right). The optimates killed Caesar to stop social reform and in doing so they ensured their own deaths. So yeah ironic, fuck them.

[@ben76326]

@@GrandMoffTarkinsTeaDispenser it was not just PR. Caesar monopolized power in Rome and got declared declared dictator for life. During that time here are some of the especially kingly things he had done. He passed legislation to have an ornate chair (some would say throne) set between the two consuls chairs. And he passed another law enabling him to ware a purple toga (which was the dress of the old kings of Rome). No legislation behind this one, but Caesar had a bust of himself placed in Temple that housed busts of the original kings of Rome. With all of that I don't think it's unfair to say Caesar wanted to be King. Even if he was also passing reforms to help the common people.

[@gaminbros316]

@@ben76326 man ceasar is almost like President Marcos in the Phil. They both resorted to dictatorial powers thinking thier country would be better with them ruling

[@Pyxis10]

@@ben76326 How dare you!? That was just a special golden chair made for the guy who dressed like a king and acted like a king, but definitely wasn't one!

[@requited2568]

@@ben76326 Wonder why he wanted to be king? Probably nothing to do with the low life senators who liked assassinating people and would betray their friends.

[@sohflipz4439]

Brutus seems to always know how to seize failure from the jaws of victory.

[@seabassdigiorno8212]

Oooh love that! Put that on his gravestone😂

[@tiasara5967]

Finally, a historical figure l can relate to.

[@spencermarks7644]

He must've been a Republican

[@mojeo522]

"My child, this was a learned man and a lover of his country". That hit hard :(

[@germanyballwork5301]

:( indeed, I feel rome would have been far stronger had cicero, caesar, pompey and a lot of other people not been murdered in the civil wars of that time

[@Guanaco17]

@@germanyballwork5301 It is true. Civil War do not benefit a state in anyway.

[@frankwu4747]

Who was that grandson?

[@Arduu123]

@@frankwu4747 Same question popped into my head instantly too. Seems like it is mentioned by Plutarch but i cant find, atleast online, who he's referring to. Maybe Claudius?

[@JohnBehrens118]

@@germanyballwork5301 Maybe. However Octavian's rule ushered in the Pax Romana and a century of relative peace. It wasn't until Marcus Aurelius started the trend of leaving the Emperor position to be inherited by incompetent progeny (*cough*Commodus*cough*) that the Crisis of the Third Century began and with it the slow decline of the Western Roman Empire.

[@MalcolmTown]

We've now been in quarantine long enough for this man to upload twice.

[@arawn1061]

2020 what a year

[@Jesse__H]

🤦‍♂️

[@rodrigodepierola]

Cruel, True, but cruel.

[@StFrancisEnjoyer]

YEARS HAVE PASSED AND WE DIDN'T REALIZE

[@JohnDoe-kv3cm]

Fuck.... has it really been that long?

[@Sarjsh]

Octavius: "From now on call me Gaius Julius Caesar" Historians, 2000 years later: "The artist formerly known as Octavius"

Most people actually refer to him as Augustus 😂

[@lolmasterjerkit1531]

Either way my man octavian, octavius, Augustus, giaus julius caesar* is rolling in his grave 💀💀

[@leexcite2903]

Ceasar was just sooo too much of a chad for him to be mixed up by some brony

[@vulpes7079]

​@@leexcite2903brony? Wtf

[@urielantoniobarcelosavenda780]

Is because Augustus is too great to be Caesar's heir But Caesar is too great to be Augustus predecessor

[@spooneater9001]

Also, after all this, I wonder if "et tu, brute?" wasn't caesar being surprised at Brutus' betrayal, but rather: "Holy shit, you decided to do something drastic for once, Brutus?"

[@azarishere6442]

Lmao

[@Guanaco17]

Roasted

[@bogdandamaschin9381]

he did what his father told him: not to do anything without the permission of Tribune Aquila

[@Heldarion]

"Et tu, Brute?" is an invention by Shakespeare ...

[@Dubanx]

LOL. Funny, but "Et Tu Brutus" is a work of shakespear's telling of the story, and was not actually said.

[@aetu35]

Goodbye, Cicero. We will remember that green square.

[@resileaf9501]

A square of principles who tried his best, every day, until his assassination.

[@johnyoutuber9781]

The worst thing about this is that with him gone, the number of remaining originators has reduced to just one: Antony. Of all the characters that were with us from the beginning, and did not come to be LATER down the road, Antony is the ONLY one left, and he's not got long to go...

[@vectrom21]

too many deaths! First the red square, now the green, soon we will be out of colors... tragic!

[@nooneinparticular3370]

RIP in pepperoni. Never forghetti.

[@thesunking7365]

I like Cicero but I also hate him for being part of Ceasar's assassination

[@Janny890]

"When in doubt march on Rome" -Caesar Family motto

[@robertjarman3703]

Don't forget, Marius was Caesar's uncle.

[@Jdp-rl6zy]

😂

[@readsomebooks666]

It was usually a good plan for them.

[@panzerofthelake506]

@@robertjarman3703 he made caesar then. Oh my god.

[@neuxell]

grab it by the head

[@burpbot7555]

"Brutus was... Indecisive" Story of his fucking life. "Whether he meant it or not, he had just stabbed his ally in the back" This one is even more fitting.

[@randomcenturion7264]

Brutus is so useless.

[@parkerflorence5332]

Stabbed him in the groin actually

[@danceymetal5484]

@@parkerflorence5332 much like everything else he did, a superficial and loud action, that in the end made little effect.

[@florians9949]

@@randomcenturion7264 The most impact he had was by leading Ceasar’s assassination, which he was beought in last minute.

[@tatuloa]

For Brutus , when a senator is banging your mom for a long time and wonder if he is your Papa ...it was a toxic mix ..

[@mikelius28]

I love how Brutus thinks he is the "chosen one" to save the Republic and then does absolutely nothing. I wonder if the characters have been romanticized or were just out of touch with reality.

[@Mitaka.Kotsuka]

probably both

[@noneinparticular2338]

The word brute gives the game away about that Brute

[@someopinion2846]

An ancient BoJo

[@kylemendoza8860]

I think out of touch. He was probably in an echo chamber.

[@SHDW-nf2ki]

I think its a bit of being out of touch But not really in a bad way Keep in mind Romans were MAD superstitious so Brutus probably didn't just think he was the "Chosen one" Imagine your whole life is built on the legacy of someone who isn't you, and everyone around you outright takes it as fact that you will continue that legacy. But you have none of your ancestors training or knowledge and the situation is radically different than what he faced before you. I imagine Brutus was probably paralyzed with fear of messing up and ruining his family name, one of the most historically important names in all of Rome.

[@jgagnier]

"Whether he knew it or not, Brutus had stabbed Decimus in the back." You're not really helping his stabby reputation here buddy.

[@michaelsmart7445]

"This was a learned man, and a lover of his country." Ow, my heart. :(

[@josephclaessens8160]

Almost brought a tear to my eye 😢

[@kim2894]

can definitely imagine old and aged Augustus laying it down if anybody within his earshot talked bad about Cicero

[@christosvoskresye]

That's what Caesar said.

[@captainrackham2004]

I got a lump in my throat when that scene happened lol. It seems like they had a lot of respect for each other, even if someone lost the game. it's amazing the drama the unfolds in these stories! it feels like we KNOW them! 🥺

[@Hugh_Morris]

Augustus knew the deal. It’s also worth noting that he pardoned Cicero’s son and allowed him to be the one that declared Marcus Antonius’ death as well as revoke his honours and ban the name Marcus within that family.

[@harryheller4476]

It’s really impressive that Cicero was able to form a powerful faction in the senate after ceasar packed it with his boys

[@Sticktothemodels]

Sheep will always look for a shepherd. Man lost it almost as quick as he got it

[@LOL-zu1zr]

Man was too based to be defeated by moron Anthony

[@neilb143]

​@@LOL-zu1zrstill lost his head lol. He fucked with the wrong people and tried to help the biggest back stabber in history

[@kingeddiam2543]

​@@neilb143octavian tried to save cicero, just antonys help was more important to him than ciceros life. Cicero was a noble man who believed in loyalty and trust, octavian and antony exploited that

[@jamestaylor3623]

Antony: "I want a swap, I get everything, and you get nothing"

[@legate6680]

that IS the law of equivalent exchange... Maybe.

[@TheSecondVersion]

Quintus Jeffus Bezos

[@TheHej2]

But that wasn't a part of the deal.

[@Bloodprince1234]

@@TheHej2 He is altering the deal. Pray he doesn't alter it any further.

[@joaquindirie1448]

Art of the deal

[@dr.pepperyoutube.trustmeit843]

"it was starting to look like a 5 sided civil war" Kaiserreich: Write that down, write that down!

[@gardenpop]

I don't think anyone understood the reference but I did

[@anonymouscommenter7578]

I also did!

[@xSpaget]

waynetraub3 I think the hoi4 mod is based on a book or something, may be it

[@respublica4373]

@@xSpaget Tee 'Hoi4 mod' is based on a Hoi2 mod.

[@hiruharii]

Holy shit is that a MOTHERFUCKING KAISERREICH REFERENCE?!?!

[@cageybee7221]

cicero has essentially taken over rome on like 4 seperate occasions trying to restore order. what a madlad.

[@tylerdurden3722]

Cicero wanted to restore things to a state of pre Ceasar. Cicero had no plan to fix Rome (perhaps he didn't even realize that Rome was broken). They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result.

[@Captain-Jinn]

@@tylerdurden3722 You're spot on. And pre-Caesar Rome is like a powder keg with a half-second left on its fuse. That's some Greek tragedy levels of irony for a man who cared so much about his Republic.

[@racoon251]

@@tylerdurden3722 cringe

[@POZsquadHSG]

@@racoon251 14 year old

[@racoon251]

@@POZsquadHSG cringe

[@herpyderpy2869]

When everyone wanted Caesar gone, Cicero wanted order When Caesar was in power, all Cicero cared about was stability When the Second Triumvirate was formed, Cicero wanted peace He's the rare kind of politician who's competent and still cares about the country's order

[@florians9949]

And in return, he got murdered.

[@keiththomas1180]

Damn

[@nashtheneet]

When Cicero died, i believe the Republic died with him. He just wanted the Republic to be stable, and without him stability could never return. His position and popularity in Italy made him the last hope.

[@snickims9717]

@@nashtheneet But, although he truely seemed to love the republic, he had no ideas on how to deal with the many insititional problems that had lead to the rise of Caesar. I can not help but think that even if he had been succesful, he would have failed, for the republic was simply too far down the road of collapse for anyone to save it.

[@Tarnatos14]

@@snickims9717 Actually he had an Idear, he wanted to strenghen the senat, more as it was normaly before that. If thats a good idear is another debate, but he actually had an idear. We know (or at least I do, there are maybe more) two ancient 'concepts' how to safe the republik. The one is form Polybios: his idear follows the existing technic of the republik, the chec and balances of: senat, People, magistrates, and the tribuni of the people as the thing between all that. Ciceros idear, as he identifed the strenghen magistrates and pro-magistrates (as Marius, Sulla and Pmpeius where) as the problem (and technically he was right about that, as we see the centralising of the power in the hand of the 'first-high-magistrate' the piricipatus/Caeasr/Emperor later), was to strenghen the senat (In his eyes the core of the republic, and I think it was) and weaken the magistrates, letting so the 'parlamentry' system of this group of aristoctrats defend the republik both against people 'mass' agitation/following and the to powerfull ambitions of singular people. Source: Dreyer, Boris: Die Innenpolitik der römischen Republik, 264.- 133. v. Chr., 2006, Darmstadt, S. 15.

[@TheSecondVersion]

Brutus: "Oh no, I'm not brave enough for politics" Cicero: "Hang on, this whole operation was *your* idea. "

[@sam_c95]

In this analogy, does it work to make Octavian Emperor Palpatine? "In order to ensure the security and continuing stability, the Republic will be reorganised into the FIRST GALACTIC/ROMAN EMPIRE!" Edit: and therefore Caesar could be the legendary Darth Plagueis the wise himself! :o

[@KarakNornClansman]

@@sam_c95 Palpatine is very much based on Octavianus. It's an obvious parallell. He's the senate.

[@luciusvernus3174]

Lmao

[@forasago]

@@sam_c95 Palpatine is more like the original Caesar. Octavian followed Caesar's blueprint on how to run things whereas Palpatine was a pioneer, at least until Disney retcons it.

[@iceintheair]

@@KarakNornClansman you mean caesar

[@tisFrancesfault]

Imagine if Cicero had allies that were actually useful.

[@toddharig8142]

My team every game.

[@alessandronavone6731]

Honestly, all except Brutus did pretty much their best. Decimus' and Cassius' resolve in taking control of their provinces in advance and their skill in raising armies and support in the provinces are remarkable. The odds were stacked against them from the start, with both the people and the veterans being with the Caesarians.

[@papapok13]

Cicero should have picked his allies better. I mean look at their conspircy to kill Caesar: from begining to end, it was a bumbling mess. It's a miracle it worked, yet it went down as one of the most consequential murder in history.

[@jevinliu4658]

Imagine Brutus actually did something

[@Flyingclam]

@@papapok13 cicero never knew about the plot to kill caeser

[@maxstr]

I started watching this on my TV, and to my surprise my 6 year old daughter sat down and started watching with me. This girl has a 10 second attention span, but she ended up watching the entire thing! She was even asking me questions like what an empire is, and if the "envelopes" are armies. Thank you for this video and making an awesome father-daughter experience for me

[@JamesJJSMilton]

@Loonytoones85 no no put her in govt. schools so she can learn 10 seconds of the byzantine empire.

[@macfly6237]

Soylent green is people!!

[@Jessie_Helms]

Congrats man! I was around her age myself when I started being fascinated by history. Here’s my suggestion as a 21 year old life long lover of history: use as many organic methods of teaching history as possible like (supervised until she’s old enough) historical YT videos (preferably from entertaining channels like this, Extra Credits, LindyBiege, etc...), find ways to make timelines feel natural rather than memorizing “x person did y thing on z date”, and introduce her to various periods (the Shaw’s of Persia are really neat, the unification of Germany, formation of China, and The Western Confederacy are great example they won’t teach much of in school). If you home school her, I’d look hard for interesting and well written history material. If she goes to a school you don’t control the material of, look for ways to help her learn about it organically and see the people as, well, people rather than info dumps. The time I hated history more than ever was in middle school with the same boring tone being used to teach me about the same events I’d already heard about every year. That’s, IMO, when most people develop an apathy or even hatred of history.

[@EiriktheNordAndersen-ju4gl]

SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE!

[@ImTheMariner]

I bet shes even cuter than those squares, haha reading this comment made me happy, thank you for that. i really hope she keeps an interest in history, better than all the shenanigans of modern entertainment bullshit.

[@alexross1816]

Octavian's mom: Return to Rome, but hide your identity!" Octavian's step-father: "Renounce the adoption, and keep your keep your head down!" Octavian: *"WHAT'S UP, BITCHES?! JULIUS CAESAR 2: OCTAVIAN BOOGALOO IS COMING TO ROME!!!"*

[@garvett6660]

Octavian: *LEEEEEROOOOOOOOOY JEEEEEEENKIIIIINS*

[@Emil-Antonowsky]

@Garvett Now, that's funny.

[@masterexploder9668]

Ultimate Leeroy Jenkins, except it actually worked.

[@dveillo36]

@@garvett6660 funny thing is my grandpa Leroy's mom was named Octavia

[@SlothofBangkok]

Just like Ceasar wanted...

[@rexgrimes7562]

"We're anti murder in this house" literally two minutes later... "if it's of any consolation, Brutus retaliated by killing Anthony's brother"" LMAO RIP

[@jensjensen9035]

rip who? Cicero or cockheads brother ?

[@SnekNOTSnake]

BTW how did you commented this a week earlier before the video even get uploaded, which is only 30 mins ago?

[@SnekNOTSnake]

@@archdukefranzferdinand567 Ahh, that explains everything. I thought it was another KZbin's bug.

[@resileaf9501]

@@SnekNOTSnake Someone asks about it every single week XD

[@jophielswings]

To be fair like the entire world at this point is becoming very anti-rich very fast in 2020. And for frankly good reason.

[@aurelian5234]

“This battle happened on Decimus’s birthday, which is not important, but it is funny.” - Proceeds to die alone, away from his friends and family. Happy birthday bruh!!!

[@pez4]

20:15 Happy birthday!!

[@ethanstaaf404]

He died months after the battle

[@Ikxi]

@@ethanstaaf404 still, that was his last great experience really after that everything went downhill because all his men defected

[@sushamaborkar6657]

Cassius died on his birthday

[@KTChamberlain]

Octavian: "I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further." Cicero: "This deal's getting worse all the time."

[@Sulkie]

Was looking for this one. xD

[@drfredostein4410]

I was thinking the same thing when it said, “I’m altering the deal”

[@lazyatthedisco]

Octavian: "Now you need to flee the city because I'm giving your head to Anthony" Cicero: "This wasn't part of the deal, neither was proscripting all these Senators and optimates" Octavian: "I'm altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further"

[@joeynelson9761]

* Somebody raises an army and marches on Rome * Romans in 88BC: Noooo, we're all gonna die! Unprecedented! Romans in 44BC: Is it that time of year already?

[@sorcierenoire8651]

Romans in the 3rd Century AD: wake me up when someone gets appointed as emperor again.

[@Liveforgamingman]

@@sorcierenoire8651 You're not gonna do much sleeping then.

[@sheldon-cooper]

@@Liveforgamingman * Correction * "Wake me up when there's only one emperor"

[@HiHi-lh3ps]

@@sheldon-cooper Diocletian: yeah, about that...

[@therearenoshortcuts9868]

as an American Consul once said: "we are always 1 generation away from losing all our freedoms" something unthinkably illegal in your teenage years can become normalized politically by the time you are 50-60

[@owenb8636]

As an act of defiance, Decimus killed some Gauls. Is this just the way Romans vent their anger?

[@BradyPostma]

Yes. I'm going to say yes.

[@BradyPostma]

Also, hi fellow Brady!

[@Axalon900]

These Romans are crazy!

[@MrCantStopTheRobot]

"Any day is a good day for killing Gauls,-- but today it feels especially RIGHT! AND! PROPER!"

[@namekman01]

a roman stubs his toe on a table "THE GALL OF THE PERSON WHO PUT THIS IN MY WAY!!!" gears turn in his head "THE GAUL... I BET THE GAULS DID THIS! I WILL HAVE VENGENCE!"

[@bguy32]

Never thought I'd cry over the death of man who lived over 2000 years ago but I did. Rest in Power to my main man Cicero 😔✊

[@WorthlessWinner]

Cicero had done his own mass killing of political enemies in his youth, so it is hard for me to feel too bad about his death

[@filmicreviews3270]

Well those enemies were planning on creating treason against Rome.

[@Marshal_Rock]

@@WorthlessWinner Well, to be fair he brought all that upon himself anyway

[@caiawlodarski5339]

@@WorthlessWinner It wasn't really a mass killing like the proscriptions, they weren't just anyone who opposed him, they were conspiring with Catiline to overthrow the government.

[@johnyoutuber9781]

I'm gonna make this worse for y'all by adding my own terrible realization, that, with the death of Cicero, Antony is the ONLY ONE of our beloved characters left that was with us the whole time. Everyone else who's currently still with us, over 3/4 of which also didn't make it in the end, came here MUCH later down the road. This is truly the end of an era :(

[@Krnballerzzz]

32 minutes of bliss from all the coronavirus mess. Thank you Historia :3

[@Geeza-rc9kz]

Here here

[@Ultrawup]

2000 years from now, Historia Civilis will make a hologram series about the era 2016-2024, and coronavirus will surely be a part of that.

[@dylancrooks6548]

Always a good day when historia uploads

[@reinatr4848]

@AlexNOSAM he/she said "coronavirus mess"

[@reinatr4848]

@Micheal Prendergast Did you though?

[@andrewbresnan1449]

We remember and mourn Antony + Cleopatra's deaths but we should really remember and mourn Labienus' and Cicero's deaths

[@hihi-nm3uy]

God, Labeinus didn’t even get his moment in the sun in Unbiased History. The guy was literally an anime rival to the teeth, and perfect drama material.

[@Sid_Streams]

Yes. A movie about the relationship between Caesar and Labienus would be a tremendous success.

[@cjmcc5231]

Antony was an asshole- no mourning for me.

[@Patchaddictedpolymath]

"My child, this was a learned man, and a lover of his country."

[@thiagooliveira7935]

"one that I got him killed"

[@theleetworldbest]

And yet, he allowed him to die. Octavianus is forever tainted in my eyes as the one allowing one of the greatest, if not THE greatest men, of his time to die

[@acebalistic1358]

@@theleetworldbest it was antony's fault, he was insistent, he was forcing octavian to allow it. what was octavian supposed to do, start another civil war within a civil war that would take at least tens of thousands more lives?

[@friedkeenan]

@@acebalistic1358 He (and everyone else) should have never allowed it to get to that point

[@gandalfgrey91]

If it’s any consolation, Brutus retaliated by killing Antony’s brother.

[@Pro_Butcher_Amateur_Human]

Tom Holland is very much the friendly neighbourhood historian. He did a talk at my college once, he happily signed the 3 of his books I had back then, and after the talk ended stayed for over an hour just chatting to us. It was the end of our day, but the entire class stayed late too. Great guy.

[@GreeneyedApe]

Note to anyone reading this: It's referring to the historian Tom Holland, credited in the description in the video, not the actor. I was a bit confused at this comment for a minute.

[@Udontkno7]

Greeneye oh thank god

[@TheRenegade...]

@@GreeneyedApe "friendly neighborhood" tho

[@phoenixinvictus9880]

@@TheRenegade... pun completely intended

[@GreeneyedApe]

​@@TheRenegade... Even more reason for my clarification.

[@CosmiaNebula]

Note on adoption: in Roman times, being an adopted-child was a great honor, much more than being a born-child. Being adopted nowadays is some kind of insult, but back then, being adopted means your virtues were high enough that someone would like to treat you close like a family member. As such, if Caesar had any biological child, they would have been eclipsed by Octavius the adopted son. (Bart D. Ehrman hypothesized that at one point in early Christianity, Jesus was hailed as the adopted son of God, because of this association of adoption with virtue.)

[@villipend]

Being adopted is not considered "some sort of insult" in western society. If anything it's the exact opposite! I've never in my entire life heard of adoption being considered an insult.

[@Pro_Butcher_Amateur_Human]

Sometimes kids might bully another kid about being adopted, but apart from dim-witted idiot children, I can't think of anyone else I've ever heard treat adoption like an insult

[@sarasamaletdin4574]

I would not say modern adoption is a some shame. Or that in Roman times it was hominid exactly. But that in Roman times adoption was seen as being exactly the same as biological child. When Claudius adopted Nero he became the heir over his own biological son Britannicus just because Nero was older. You would have expected in modern perspective that the biological child who was born to be an heir would not be replaced in succession just because an older child was adopted. But when adopted person, whether a child or adult, is exactly the same as biological one just the age matters. However people usually adopted relatives like Nero was Claudius’s great newphew (because Claudius married his own niece) the way Octavian was Caesar’s great-newphew. With Octavian however Caesar named him his heir in the will which isn’t he same as full adoption that could only happen while the parent was alive. So Octavian forced the Senate to consider this a full adoption so he would get Caesar’s clients and could call himself a son of a god (after Caesar was deified).

[@reinatr4848]

@@villipend people sometimes insult each other by calling them adopted. It's dumb but it happens.

[@SomalianDuke]

Thing is. Ceasar had a Son and Octavian had him killed..

[@angelortiz4815]

It's sad watching Cicero masterfully thread the political needle just to have Octavian come in with a hammer

[@TheSecondVersion]

I like how you made Octavian *purple* because he was the first true Emperor

[@EpaminondastheGreat]

The ONE TRUE EMPEROR!

[@Prich319]

@@EpaminondastheGreat You are false!

[@gabrieel1822]

royal purple is the noblest shroud!

[@hyperion3145]

When we went over this in Middle school, they never mentioned how confusing this was at the start. We went straight to the Liberators War and to Octavian's Civil War. How did anyone keep track of these alliances and betrayals is more astonishing than the actual battles.

[@Justaguy5678]

tf kinda middle school did you go to? We barely talked about Rome at even a surface level at mine. And I live in the US state with probably the best education system lmao.

[@Justaguy5678]

@Danny n I said the best as in within America. Shoosh.

[@reinatr4848]

@@Justaguy5678 Italy probably as they were talking about Rome.

[@Justaguy5678]

@@reinatr4848 that would be the only way I could understand. World history is packed with stuff, too much for you to focus that much on one state unless its in your own history.

[@kelli2783]

Harrison Loch British schools cover Ancient Rome and Greece on Classics classes. Some schools have Classics as a subject.

[@YodasPapa]

I almost just shed a tear because of all those Fs for Cicero. Something genuinely beautiful about people paying their respects over 2 thousand years ago for a man who consistently tried to act for the greater good, within the constraints of his time.

[@sebastianschiltz6359]

Truly beautiful, legends never die

[@SerunaXI]

I find it amusing that we genuinely use "F" as a sign of respect thanks to the memes, when it was originally a joke to mock the scene from a call of honorfield game that used "F" as a quick time prompt to "pay respect" What was mocked as silly became genuine due to the meme.

[@ImOvervalued]

@@SerunaXI I fail to understand how it's perceived as respectful when talking about real people

[@WereDictionary]

"This battle happened on Decimus' birthday. Which is not important. But it _is_ funny." The sheer deadpan delivery of this line had me in stitches. Which is not important. But it _is_ funny.

[@SomeDude518]

No go watch him talk about birthday boy in the video released after this. That is funny! 🥳💀

[@GravitoRaize]

"Freedom suppressed and again regained bites with keener fangs than freedom never endangered." -- Cicero

[@francesconesi7666]

When did he produce such a nice quote? Not during Catiline's trial, for sure.

[@riccardoorlando2262]

Cicero, De Officiis, Book 2, paragraph 24: "Acriores autem morsus sunt intermissae libertatis quam retentae." Actual translation: "For they shall be bitten more sharply by interrupted freedom than by continued." If I had used the above translation in my Latin class, I'd have gotten zero marks for basically making up half the sentence. You can't claim you've done a translation if you only attempt to keep the (perceived) meaning; you must translate the letter, even if (obviously) it doesn't sound as good in English.

[@SilentShadowLT]

@@riccardoorlando2262 Translation is not the same as transcription. The first conveys original meaning in an other language, even if the sentence structure changes completely. The other roughly uses synonyms in an other language without putting much consideration in the original meaning behind the words themselves. As a result, the first creates a fluid sentence, while the second creates a Frankenstein monster of literal design.

[@johnyoutuber9781]

@@SilentShadowLT Too bad that "Freedom suppressed and again regained bites with keener fangs than freedom never endangered." is barely a coherent sentence, whereas "For they shall be bitten more sharply by interrupted freedom than by continued." actually makes some sense, so it's still more of a translation than the first one.

[@SilentShadowLT]

@@johnyoutuber9781 Both versions are rather convoluted. While the first one would be better with an added comma, the second one isn't fixed that easily. Both "for they shall" and "interrupted [rather] than by continued" are not standard speech -- needlessly archaic. Continued and interrupted are hardly even antonyms, as 'continue' has the implication that the thing in question has been interrupted at some point. I'd suggest coming up with a different translation. For instance: "Freedom, which had been interrupted, bites sharper than freedom which hadn't." Even then, the "bites" part needs further thought, as it seems out of place -- rather forced.

[@Masterblader158]

Everyone: *Playing 4D chess against each other* Octavian: *Playing 5D chess to prepare for the future* Brutus: "LMAO I'm just gonna sit here"

[@bsantini3616]

Brutus just staring

[@IDontWantThisStupidHandle]

I mean, it seems to have worked out in the end for him, no? He got to control half the Eastern half of the empire AND keep his head, as well as his hands, attached to his body. Sounds like a win-win to me.

[@aleksanderlenartowicz5659]

@@IDontWantThisStupidHandle Brutus is the worst lesson to children in history. Remember, children, if you are a traitor, murder, abandon and backstab your friends hard enough, you MIGHT become a rich, powerful man with a quarter of the civilised world as your dominion.

[@ArtfulDodger566]

You guys knows brutus was eventually killed in the civil war by octavian right?

@@aleksanderlenartowicz5659 He stabbed himself out of shame afterwards, when the civil war came to him anyway.

[@D3D3D]

Octavian: "I used the anti-Caesarian Faction to destroy the anti-Caesarian Faction"

[@pokey796]

After the anti-Caesarian faction tried to use the Caesarian faction to destroy the Caesarian faction

[@jeffreyroot6300]

pokey79 How Roman!

[@oswald7597]

Octavian will return in Rome: Endgame

[@FourOf92000]

"I used the squares to destroy the squares"

[@Mitaka.Kotsuka]

was super efective

[@angelovargas938]

Jesus Christ man, your telling made me so attached to a green square that I genuinely felt bad when he died. HBO is sleeping on this, they should remake Rome with your telling as a baseline, this is incredible

[@ghfudrs93uuu]

Rome is gone, man. We can only hope they won't repeat history and exchange something of the same caliber for a dragon show, but we know they will

[@InDadequate]

you're right, an HBPO sequel to later years after Julius would be fantastic to see

[@zumis1011]

@@InDadequate It already exists, it's a great show

[@OutbackCatgirl]

imagine it. With the advances in cgi these squares, so emotionally charged, coule be.... *cubes*

[@Captain_Carrot]

"Whether he [Brutus] meant it or not, he had just stabbed Decimus in the back." At least not in the groin. Also, post-assassination Brutus definitely deserves the Bibulus award.

[@Mitaka.Kotsuka]

Octavian stabbed Cicero, Decimus, Brutus and Cassius in the back... welll... thats why he was there in first plaace... the irony

[@Lius525]

Brutus was like that "this is fine" meme the entire time 😂

[@acebalistic1358]

eu tu, bru- AH WHY THE BALLS

[@falistor8969]

@@acebalistic1358 genius 😂😂😂

[@Julio974]

We need to make the Bibulus award a thing

[@primusinterpares5767]

"All this work, and all my money wasted!"

[@TyranyFighterPatriot]

Dad in the divorce courts...

[@krissp8712]

I'll buy that raven, let it be a sign of humility to you all!

[@nuclearnadal4869]

“I’ll never financially recover from this.”

[@GalileoAV]

Lmfao

[@dannybeads3672]

Hahaha too funny

[@phrophetsamgames]

“Hey let’s swap but put these conditions” Conditions: Literally make it so Antony gets everything and Decimus gets nothing. Senators: well no use causing a fuss over the swap

[@bergonath8851]

"I want everything." "Deal."

[@BumblinIdiot]

I legitimately started crying at the end of this. The world can always use more people like Cicero. Whenever people like this get torn from us we are all poorer for it.

[@billrich9722]

Pretty sure those Centurion were richer for it.

[@Beno27591]

u cryin over squares lol

[@createrz8433]

At least Anthonys brother was killed as a result of this, and later on he himself was killed in an unwinnable war.

[@creatrixZBD]

The assholes get ever richer

[@neilb143]

Cicero deserved it fully as he was waging a war against people who rightfully were the heir of Caesar. And while his intentions were to not have another king like leader, he had no clue how to unite the empire, which Antony and Octavian successful did

[@tiodichia5309]

Historia Civilis: (29:20) “we’re anti murder in this house” Also Historia Civilis (32:25) “if its any consolation, Brutus retaliated by killing his brother”

[@Mitaka.Kotsuka]

Double standards

[@VRC3118A]

Still the best consolation I could get.

[@ironriderslsm]

Heeheeheeeheeehwheheee!

[@rustyshackleford1508]

Also Historia Civilis: *on the fence on whether it's justifiable to murder random people just for being rich* If you're going to eat the rich, make sure they're actual bad people first. (Most probably are but that's beside the point)

[@Trepur349]

is it bad that I agreed with both statements?

[@Caerere]

There's more backstabbing here than on the Ides of March. I don't know if Tribune Aquila approves of that.

[@Marshal_Rock]

To be fair, they had it coming with Brutus being not so proactive when needed.

[@TheSecondVersion]

The Ides of march had a lot of crotch-stabbing

[@Guanaco17]

@@TheSecondVersion featuring also shoulder-stabing, rib-stabing, leg-stabing and face-stabing.

[@einhauchvontullru3187]

sadly Tribune Aquila fell in the Battle of Mutina (the one were Anthony was driven our of Italy)

[@Mitaka.Kotsuka]

@@einhauchvontullru3187 now i understand why nobody was consulting nobody about marching on Rome

[@novomute4281]

I can't belive i felt emotional to a death of a little green square

[@_fourtwoseven]

First it was the little red one, now its the little green one

[@cheydinal5401]

@ Brutus could have pretty easily saved him, right?

[@hansnase364]

Man. I miss Cicero.

[@Renegade4_life]

Rip decimus. Used and manipulated.

[@rocinante4609]

I would argue that Cicero's finest hour was when he suppressed the Catiline conspiracy during his consulship and then had Roman citizens killed without a trial. After Caesar's death Cicero got outmanoeuvred by a young Octavius. Although he managed to corner Antonius he got lulled into a false sense of security by a tame Senate. He mistook the wolf for a sheep in Octavius. Cicero belonged to an earlier era of Roman history when people respected the rule of law and Roman armies didn't decide the ruler.

[@TheAdmirableAdmiral]

Cicero would probably argue that was his finest hour too. Though I don't discount this event either. If Cicero had just retired after cesar's death Antony probably would have won the brief followup civil war.

[@shadanahmad6843]

👆 This guy gets it.

[@createrz8433]

That's why it was *his* year

[@ThatPianoNoob]

​@@TheAdmirableAdmiralyea I loved the video but the title is pretty nonsensical. He tried his best and failed as hard as you ever could. If I did something that ended with my enemy getting everything they wanted and me getting my throat slit I'd be very surprised to find that people think that was my finest hour. Sounds like an insult honestly.

[@Morilore]

It's hard to imagine anyone failing harder than the assassins of Julius Ceasar. They tried to prevent the restoration of the monarchy by killing Ceasar, but what happened instead was that Ceasar's name became a word that means "king" in all the lands ruled by Rome and beyond FOR THE NEXT TWO THOUSAND YEARS.

[@TristanHayes]

@Sheldon Robertson No, it's not, King is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word for King, "Cyning" which in turn was derived from Germanic "kuningaz". What is derived from Caesar is the various variations of it being used as titles for monarchs such as "Kaiser", "Tsar", etc...

[@wulfherecyning1282]

@Sheldon Robertson "King" from "cyning", or transliterated to modern English, "kin -ing" meaning "(first) son of the kin", with "kin" (cyn) in its broad sense of a tribe (the origin of "kith and kin"). Essentially, a king is "first among equals" in the Anglo Saxon/Early Germanic world. This is unrelated to Caesar.

[@patrickwang671]

@@wulfherecyning1282 So basically King means Princeps... niceee

[@Gentleman...Driver]

@@patrickwang671 Princeps means leader. More like Primus. Primus inter pares was the designation for first among equals. ;)

[@AudieHolland]

*patrick wang* That's what I thought! *@@Gentleman...Driver* Dang, that's even truer.

[@TheJaviferrol]

Decimus: "I was handpicked by Caesar!" Says one of the dudes who literally "hand picked" Caesar...

[@itsMe_TheHerpes]

instead of watching this nonsense video, you should ask yourself what do you do to support the black lives matter movement, and how do you fight against white supremacy ?

[@Marshal_Rock]

@@itsMe_TheHerpes Get lost

[@williammoore6534]

@@itsMe_TheHerpes why would i help an evil communist movement that wants to destroy America?

[@METALFREAK03]

@@itsMe_TheHerpes history truly repeats. stop making it about race. Then we will succeed.

[@1112viggo]

@@METALFREAK03 Funny i can´t think of any wars that was started because of race? Unless your one of those people who think the main reason the Nazis invaded the world was to kill Jews and the American civil war was fought to free slaves, then maybe there is a few. But still the overwhelming reason we wage war on each other on this planet is wealth and territory. The rest are just petty and transparent excuses to try and justify the bloodshed, usually after the fact.

[@Vincent-S]

I'd imagine Caesar's ghost would be pretty horrified at the proscription that Antony, Octavian and Lepidus was pulling off

[@justinian-the-great]

Nah, I don't believe so. Infact I think that he would've complemented them! The fact that Caesar never made a proscriptions is based on the fact that he actually never needed to do that. Why? Because all of his enemies already died in the civil war! Caesar was a man who was personally responsible for the deaths of at least hundreds of thousands or, much more likely, even millions of Gauls, Romans and people from many other nations! Would he really be horrified by the deaths of mere couple of thousands? I don't think so.

It was needed TBH the Senate needed more purges then that troughout Roman History Just like the Praetorian Guard needed purging around emperor number 10 they murdered Jesus christ why did it take so long for Roman Emperors to purge those rats, you'd think the guys who murdered the past few emperors should be rounded up and executed befo- oh wait...They just heard there might someday be a day where Legions won't be needed and executed another Emperor

[@The-Plaguefellow]

Something tells me he would've been quite upset to learn about it, but eventually accept that it was probably necessary in the end.

[@caiawlodarski5339]

@ The only people who deserve to be purged are tyrants.

[@washizukanorico]

Steva Stevanović Cesar was no humanist indeed, but my guess is that he wanted to put his name way up there (or even above) Alexander as a historical figure. He wanted to be remembered as the best of the romans for centuries to come. And as he experienced Sulla and his proscriptions he knew they would have grant him absolute power now, but would have diminished his image in the long run (as Sylla was hated by most). Remember he offered peace to Pompey before crossing the rubicon and he genuinely (I think) got upset when Ptolemy the 74th killed Pompey. Well that s how I see it at least. Do you believe Ceasar would have killed Pompey had he captured him? I see him giving Pompey some kind of honorary job with no military/legal power but who knows really ...

[@SiveenO]

"No Plan, No System, No Method!" must be my favorite quote of the day.

[@AlexGreeneHypnotist]

It's funny that the term "backstabbing" is synonymous with betrayal, and that it was popularised by the suposedly most famous literal backstab, that of Brutus to Julius Caesar - when in the prior episodes of this series, we learned that Brutus stuck his knife in Caesar's groin, a frontal attack.

[@fhornmichaelmac]

It would be a very different world if betrayal was referred to as "getting stabbed in the groin."

[@serotonin.scavenger]

Caesar was banging Servilia, Brutus' mum; I would think that stab to the groin was fitting lol

[@tutituti4344]

Can you imagine Rammstein singing SackStabu?

[@tomlxyz]

@@tutituti4344 that song isn't about back stabbing, the title is a made up word and is a desired thing in the song

[@LordTelperion]

I'd rather have this dagger in front of me THAN a frontal gonadetomy! XD

[@Pietro-Smusi]

This is like a Tv show. I bonded with all these characters so much, especially with Cicero, and now he's dead... :( he deserved better

[@karlhans6678]

I bonded with Caesar, his death hurt me the most.

[@f.boogaloospook2318]

Clodius that bastard sad

[@generaljeneral7503]

HBO did a pretty good Rome show. Or atleast its first season was. Its second season sucked.

[@alejandrop.s.3942]

@F. Boogaloo , I hate Clodius with all my heart. Moreover, there're politicians nowadays who still use his dirty tactics.

[@TheV-Man]

@@karlhans6678 I felt those stabs too

[@Arcian]

Liberatores after killing Caesar: Wow, I'm glad that's over with Octavius: Well, yes, but actually no

[@gavinsmith9871]

Octavian: Time for me to become the Tyrant you thought my father was, and take the power he let you keep.

[@krissp8712]

I'm Gaius Julius, and this is my favourite Pontifex in the capital

[@charleslambert3368]

We did it patrick, we saved the Republic!

[@Imperium83]

Defenders of the aristocracy and enemy of the people*

[@jasonmartin4775]

Hi! MY name is Gaius Julius and this is JACKASS

[@csxfan_]

It's so infuriating watching Brutus do nothing time and time again. Octavian understood being in and near Rome gave him both better information and the ability to exert influence. Brutus just didn't understand this at like any point.

[@Deboniako]

It's just as remote work

[@markalanajon3295]

He deadass didn't move until he died when he killed ceasar

[@xaviershit9779]

You know, all my life I've looked at old photos from the 1920's and prior thinking "Man, these people where so different from us". But watching your videos, I realize that all this time, people have just been the same. This video and all the others you made could just be a beefed up political campaign from nowadays. Thanks so much for your work

[@Tsototar]

Thankfully there's slightly less murder and hand-cutting off, though

[@johnroberts8233]

I wonder who will bring down the American republic and whether the people will even know - or care - that they are no longer a republic but a plutocratic dictatorship made up of the Mafia dons of organised crime, aka corporations and banks.

[@akSeR2010]

@@Tsototar Only 75 years ago, the whole world exploded in an unprecedent killing rampage. With ways way more horrific than the cutting of the hands of an already dead man. So, no.

[@Tsototar]

@@akSeR2010 that's inter-state wars? when you run for elections, in most places you can expect not to have your hands cut off if you lose, and if you win, for the loser to not take armed followers off to raise armies, is the point (though I guess we shall see after November in the US)

[@schmid1.079]

I think that today goverments are a lot more stable and stable goverments cause stable economics and that causes happy people. Just like the prime of Rome was during the rebublic we have the prime of western democratic society. Just like Rome got thrown into turmoil as dictators split politics, the middle east is in turmoil now.

[@jevinliu4658]

Antony: Decimus, hand over everything and let it be called a swap Decimus: No Antony: *Surprised pikachu face*

[@sarasamaletdin4574]

I am glad Decimus is even mentioned since he is too often ignored.

[@caiawlodarski5339]

@@sarasamaletdin4574 Yeah, he is often confused and merged with his cousin, i blame Shakespeare

[@nickd.9955]

"When you tear out a man's tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you're only telling the world that you fear what he might say" -George R.R. Martin Cicero was a badass. RIP

[@rascallyrabbit717]

locked down for 3 months and that man still can't finish one damn book

[@timothymclean]

@@rascallyrabbit717 As someone who struggles to finish one chapter, which will probably never be read by more than a few dozen or maybe a couple hundred people, I see no reason to criticize an author for taking his time on a manuscript exceeding 1500 pages, intended to continue perhaps the most famous fantasy series of the decade, especially since the ending of its adaptation was infamously shit. GRRM has a lot of stuff to consider and balance, everything from focus to word choice, and he has to balance expectations from everyone-people who loved GoT through the last episode, people who hated it and fear the books will fall into the same trap, people who avoided the show or assume its showrunners went off the rails by the time they hit TWOW, etc. Writing is as easy as speaking. Writing _well_ is as hard as speaking _well._

[@dibdap2373]

@@rascallyrabbit717 How long do you think it normally takes to finish a book? A week? Pipe down.

[@AeneasGemini]

Honestly, Cicero just had a history of not being good enough for the cool kids table. He was a good orator and writer, but he was generally ineffective politically. Most of his schemes failed and all he could do was attach himself to more powerful people

[@nickd.9955]

@@AeneasGemini I don't really see much truth to that statement. Cicero's legacy is full of examples where he succeed and prospered _despite_ not aligning himself with powerful people. Under the infamous reign of Sulla, Cicero kept his hands clean and refused to join his contemporaries while they purged all of their political opponents and plundered their wealth. This made him popular with the poor as a man of the people which contrasted himself from most political figures. While he was consul, he singlehandedly thwarted the Catilinarian Conspiracy, which threatened Rome with an invasion of outside forces, with quick and decisive thinking. While Caesar became the most powerful and popular Roman alive, Cicero staunchly opposed his blatant disregard for the law and his authoritarian power-grab. Even up to his final breaths Cicero did everything to preserve the Republic of Rome, and although it was in vain, his life shows that he was a man of principle, who instead of being motivated by gold and power, wished to keep dangerous men away from positions of power. Hell, over 1,000 years after his death his works were rediscovered and indirectly lead to the Italian Renaissance. And all of this that I've said doesn't even light a candle to all his accomplishments, saying that he was ineffective is just plain wrong.

[@SC-tl3rh]

Just watched this for the 50th time or something like that. This video was Historia Civilis’ finest hour. Hands down. Thank you for the wonderful content you make. Been a fan since your Alessia video. Keep up the good work!

[@TheSecondVersion]

23:38 - I love how we all understand the significance of that square *crossing* that line *and* drawing a *sword*

[@mbsb1376]

I did not notice that at first. Oh my god. It's all coming together now.

[@MrFantasnick]

Nice ! I wondered if anybody else would notice 👍

[@oswald7597]

"Were against murder in this house" well, unless you've checked with Tribune Aquila first.

[@jonathanwells223]

It wasn’t a great system

[@reinatr4848]

He died in the Battle of Mutina.

[@NecromancyForKids]

@@reinatr4848 And?

[@nikosgreek352]

Does anyone else get the feeling Anthony was just a talented sergeant who got lucky beyond his wildest dreams? As a politician the man couldn't tell up from sideways...

[@laststand3525]

He had a lot of other strengh too. Do you remeber his famous at the funeral? I think many have a wrong impression of him because of the propaganda from Octavian.

[@muradm7748]

He wasn't weak politician at all. He was great general too. Others burned so bright that it is hard to see Anthonys talent.

[@jackj9816]

He was a good soldier and Caesar valued his loyalty and the men liked him because he was not so uptight like a lot of arescates but even he got angry with him at some point

[@JBGARINGAN]

Yeah the all being drunk and sleeping around stuff in the books could just be the misinterpreted opinion of Cicero of him. They were rivals and perhaps in his many memoirs that would later be considered fact by modern historians he voiced his opinion of him and this was mistaken as what he was actually like. It can also be attributed to him being a soldier, legions commonly would use their salary on whores and wine and such, though this would not necessarily be the case since Antoninus was from a rich family and was in the senate so he was an officer under Caesar. This can also be attributed to his affair with Cleopatra whom the Romans regarded as scandalous since Egyptian morals were very different from Roman morals and the act of him making love to her would be considered scandalous. Or it could be down to later historians who wrote during the rule of the Julian Emperors or Octavian later Augustus himself, would write the history of the victors as the proverb goes.

[@Mitaka.Kotsuka]

You are comparing Antony with Cicero and Octavian, thats why Antony seem to be aa nobody... but the point here is Octavian was a Mastermind and Cicero was a genius... Antony was a very inteligent man and a very talented tactician...

[@RaixsOreh]

as much as I love Julius Caesar and Augustus and the empire whose foundation they had laid, I feel so bad about Cicero. he was the Republic's last true Leader.

[@neilb143]

His intentions were good but I have no clue wtf he was trying to achieve by not giving power to Octavian and well....he paid the price for it

[@RaixsOreh]

@@neilb143 it was more on brutus and cassius for not doing jack shit. Cicero did fail the republic but onpy becsuse brutus and cassius already put the final nail on the republic's coffin. Those two were as much warlords as caesar and pompey.

[@neilb143]

@@RaixsOreh he relied on the wrong people for sure and I think did not expect Octavian to betray him. Shame he didn't side with Antony

[@catavar9921]

22:20 Octavian: "If you're not with me, then you're my enemy." Cicero: "Only a Caesarian deals in absolutes." Octavian: "Duh..."

[@feliscatus5161]

Cicero: "Sooooo how long are you just going to sit there for?" Brutus: "Yes."

[@booketoiles1600]

Literally didn't move until his death

[@billrich9722]

Stupid fucking meme.

[@Trancymind]

Brutus takes entitlement to a different level. Brutus: "I deserve this."

[@calistman222]

(Invents time machine) (Meets Cicero in real life) "Huh, you looked a lot different in the documentary"

[@tomlxyz]

"less green and square"

[@tap1148]

@@tomlxyz fake news!!!!!! Big history might claim Cicero was a "human being" but the truth is he was floating green square

[@ner0833]

@@tomlxyz wait...they aren't squares!?

[@stefanodegioia1598]

Plot twist, they are all actually squares

[@polygonalfortress]

they're actually circles

[@compier12]

Two years ago I watched your exposés nonstop. Then it stopped, where have you been? Was I kept away by youtube? Your way to show and tell is great. I still remember so much, and loved your Julius Caesar’s rise series.

[@Mira-K]

The sheer audacity and shamelessness of Decimus invoking Caesar's support...

[@frodoswaggins3132]

I’d say he was more invoking the Senate’s support, with the agreement they had passed ratifying Caesar’s political appointees. Although it could be both. As Historia Civilis said in his previous video, Decimus wasn’t particularly diplomatic.

[@TheLouisianan]

He's like Mitt Romney of the first century BC

[@deiansalazar140]

@@TheLouisianan More of the Lindsey Graham, his betrayal of Biden works better. Trump's Catalina. Romney is Brutus or Cicero. Warren is like Lepidus.

[@TheLouisianan]

@@deiansalazar140 ooff, I can't give Romney a higher status like Cicero. Romney would never in a million years commit suicide for his country.

[@LuizAlexPhoenix]

If he were smart he wouldn't have killed Caesar... So don't expect much.

[@TheSecondVersion]

19:32 - That is some high-quality animated fight sequence right there

[@testfortester7131]

Happy birthday, hap hap hap happy birthday

[@bakerking5351]

I just imagine the dude who caught Decimus at the checkpoint going full Skyrim guard mode and saying: “Wait, I know you...”

[@VancouverAvatar]

Now we know how he got an arrow to the knee.

[@DrPOP-jp7eb]

How on earth did he recognised Decimus at that time? There was no photography obviously and I believe drawings and paintings must have been rare too. He must've met him before. What are the odds.

[@katnerd6712]

@@DrPOP-jp7eb Drawings and paintings were actually fairly common at the time and were probably distributed to all legions guarding the border between the section controlled by Brutus and the Western part of the republic. Also likely that any officer had seen most of the generals who had frequented the city of Rome. But, I'd imagine, he was recognized from a drawing.

[@DrPOP-jp7eb]

@@katnerd6712 interesting!

[@camacdonnell1]

I watched this video when you published it and probably 30 times since. Truly one of the best and most emotionally evocative historical videos on the internet.

[@anthonyrinaldi1331]

Decimus: "Caesar hand picked me for that Province!"" "Are you claiming legitimacy from the guy you helped killed because he was a "tyrant"?

[@reinatr4848]

Legally, he still was going to be the governor there, and legally had immunity for the assassination (the compromise after the IoM).

[@neuxell]

law is merely words :^)

[@reinatr4848]

@@neuxell and prison is just a room

[@neuxell]

@@reinatr4848 yeet, and all that truly matters is action

[@TheWildmanden]

@@reinatr4848 That still makes him a hypocrite

[@daftmarto13591]

24:20 "I am altering the deal" is the most ambitious crossover ever made thus far in this channel

[@Luke-mp7vv]

There was also "A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one" in one of the earlier videos, lol

[@garyedwards3269]

"I am altering the deal. Pray I do not alter it further!" - Darth Vader

[@masterexploder9668]

Palpatine did learn a lot from Octavian, so the crossover is not completely out of place.

[@cd8048]

"a roman monarchy with three heads" So, a triarchy?

[@JBGARINGAN]

Rome beats Greece again ! Roman triarchy > Spartan diarchy = 3 > 2

[@bezukaking6860]

@BlackDeathViral03 wasn't Diocletian the Tetrarchy?

[@nicolas.p331]

@@bezukaking6860 It was !

[@SurvivingAnotherDay]

No an oligarchy

[@treybrumley8237]

House Targaryen. "The dragon has three heads."

[@CalvinNoire]

Cicero is a very honourable man, and the ending of this video with octavian's grandson made my heart pour, F.

[@riccardoorlando2262]

You love Cicero because you didn't spend 5 years in high school translating his damned convoluted Latin. Caesar wrote as he ate: simple and straightforward. I could translate the De Bello Gallico by sight. Cicero, on the other hand, means spending hours sweating with a dictionary just to translate one unending sentence with subordinates of subordinates, random word order, verbs used for their 14th meaning in the dictionary instead of the first... Yeah, it sounded nice, but it was bloody incomprehensible.

[@alfiehaigh8412]

Oh no, he was clever, what a crime

[@honoratagold]

Maybe it's that I was one of the weird Classics students who started with Greek and learned Latin later, so basically everything in Latin seemed less frustrating just because it... wasn't Greek, but I always really liked translating Cicero.

[@alejandrojoserodriguezarre45]

Caesar was a man of action, he didn't have to write this grandiose works of literature and legalese. Cicero was a pure statesman, he wasn't a general, and he also used to be a lawyer. His thing was writting so he put flair on it because that's what he did, he wanted to it make more beatiful.

[@vaylonkenadell]

The ideal, it seems to me, is to be both a man of action and of poetry.

[@markog1999]

In fairness Cicero's private letters were fine, and there's something special about reading hot gossip from 2000 years ago

[@iamseamonkey6688]

octavian: can I please be elected emergency consul even though there's actually nothing wrong with Rome's government at the moment? cicero: no. octavian: *C O W A B U N G A I T I S*

[@weckar]

Octavian: "Nothing wrong?" "Let me correct that."

[@buckplug2423]

Classic Roman diplomacy "You decline my ridiculous and over-the-top offer that will not benefit you in any way? How dare you!!!"

[@frodoswaggins3132]

It makes me so mad that Brutus didn’t let Cassius launch an attack. Cassius had 12 legions! I don’t know how many casualties they’d taken, but at full strength that would have been 60,000 soldiers. There’s no way Antony could have survived that. With that decision, Brutus might have doomed the republic.

[@hagamapama]

The Republic was doomed looooooong before Brutus and Cassius were making decisions. Frankly the rot reached critical mass when Sulla marched on Rome. The incidents HC talks about here are the fatally wounded Republic bleeding to death, the only question being, what would replace it. Something that Caesar, as usual, saw far better than his contemporaries.

[@nicodangond5822]

@@hagamapama the republic signed it's own death warrant after the murders of the Gracchi brothers

[@hagamapama]

@@nicodangond5822 agreed

[@coolguyjki]

@@nicodangond5822 Yeah it'd been an entity living on borrowed time for literally a century. HC talks about how stable and functional the Republic was, which was true for *most* of its history, but after the 2nd Century BC, the Republic was a mess of constant political violence.

[@ultra-papasmurf]

you believe Cassius or Brutus were going to actually restore the republic (even if they did thats not really a positive for the majority or states longevity). They already betrayed the hand that fed them, them becoming the hand couldve only ended in disaster.

[@felixhampe6480]

I love Cicero as well! He almost single-handedly saved the Republic. Absolute Hero.

[@sirbillius]

The fact that you have now made an “Octavius” playlist makes me so happy.

[@hmagellanlinux307]

"Antony friggin' stinks!" So this is the oratory prowess of Cicero...

[@serbanandreimarin]

Short and to the point Just perfect

[@thorjelly]

no, not oratory prowess, that is his ofactory prowess.

[@TheSecondVersion]

Old woman: "What is your name?" Octavius: "...Gaius. Gaius Julius Caesar."

[@MrBigCookieCrumble]

With a liscence to end the Republic..

[@deponensvogel7261]

@@MrBigCookieCrumble Wrong movie reference.

[@jevinliu4658]

Everyone: *suspects nothing*

[@coolthefool1]

Deponensvogel Loooool

[@vortex_master]

Nice Star War

[@TaeSunWoo]

Cicero: “we must stop Marc Antony! He’ll become another Caesar!” Octavian/Augustus: (laughs in the distance)

[@friendcomputer2293]

Cicero: 'I'll ally myself with the man who literally named himself Caesar after the original one. What could possibly go wrong?'

[@LOL-zu1zr]

@@friendcomputer2293 “his a kid I can still change him”

[@Sid_Streams]

There are letters predating the Philippicae in which Cicero recognizes that this will happen. But still goes by the course of allying with Octavian against M.A. probably because he went so all-in and personal in his speeches against M.A. that there was really no way back.

[@petrichor111]

This is more entertaining, emotional and exciting than any Netflix series, ever! Absolutely love this channel

[@ChibiViolin]

They did him dirty in the HBO series.

[@18mitndi]

"Cicero told a polite lie and said he'd look into it" Also Cicero: *"NO PLAN. NO SYSTEM. NO METHOD."* Thinking of his internal panic while trying to string together any kind of cohesion from a pensive overthinker, a murderous hothead, and the walking disaster of Decimus makes me laugh like such an idiot. It's his second go at picking a side, after all, and Pompey Jr. *almost* murdered him the last time they lost. Surely that was on his mind. Oh, and *CATO'S* words must have been ringing in his ears.

[@JamesJJSMilton]

Cicero was the greatest man of his era, inflicting wounds so great they would linger more and two millennia later with just his oratorical skills alone. Yet, somehow, he managed to pick some of the worst allies at every turn.

[@arawn1061]

@@JamesJJSMilton more like Cicero had to pick his poison in his allies

[@concept5631]

@@JamesJJSMilton Which wounds have managed to stay around?

[@SteveSmith-ty8ko]

@@JamesJJSMilton Certainly. Perhaps if he was closer to Caesar and had sided with him during the civil war we wouldn’t have seen Caesar act so kingly. (Oh who am I kidding, this is Caesar we’re talking about after all.)

[@Killerbee_McTitties]

@@SteveSmith-ty8ko Cicero was literally just propping up the cadaver of a system whose death he couldn't accept. the gracchi brothers and the senate's reaction to their policies basically set the decay of the republic in motion. I mean caesar was originaly running for consul on the same landreform platform the gracchi advocated ofr 60 years prior. the populares might've been opportunistic and power hungry but they were only made possible by the boneheadedness of the optimates and their unwillingness to compromise even a bit. Caesar did what was necessary, he layed the groundwork for the most prosperous and peaceful time in roman history.

[@andrasbeke3012]

That was honestly one of the best episodes yet. Just chilling.

[@JaePeezy]

It was most excellent.

[@AverageJoExplorations]

0:50 Slight Easter egg, the crimson square next to Octavian is Agrippa. He was actually with Octavian when he got the news that Caesar was dead. Great attention to detail!

[@janb.3600]

*Cicero wants to call a vote:* Kick Brutus? (accused of being idle) Press F1 to vote Yes Press F2 to vote No

[@dulguunnorjinbat6136]

Cassius; F1! F1! F1! F1! just fucking press F1!

[@Guanaco17]

@@dulguunnorjinbat6136 Every other conspirator: F2

Alt+F4

[@jdoc3118]

Has anyone asked Tribune Aquila of his opinion on this?

[@ethpling165]

I broke my F1 key

[@sabotsscraps]

Decimus: Why does everyone keep stabbing me in the back Everyone else: Because it’s easy, and it does a lot of damage

[@nobelissimos8719]

HAPPY SOULS

[@ironriderslsm]

Heheheheeheheegeheheeee

[@Mitaka.Kotsuka]

Because you help us to realize that we can do that

[@herpydepth1204]

Oh crap I almost forgot to rewatch that this month

[@joshelguapo5563]

😂😂😂 perfect. I love that video

[@shaunlevin5081]

Cicero: Don't dwell on the past! Also Cicero: Why were you not more decisive in the past.

[@luciusvernus3174]

Cierco logic

[@BradyPostma]

It could have been a good argument for why they should ignore the past. The past makes each of you look bad, so to get others to forget your mistakes you should forget others'. Forgetting the past is in everyone's interest. That makes sense, doesn't it?

[@ceori6399]

@@BradyPostma Yup, he was basicly saying that everyone in this room have made mistakes, and that there's nothing they can do about it now, so let's move on!

[@dannybeads3672]

Yeah that was absolutely just a case of Cicero saying we can’t do anything about the past so to let it go and look to the future, and explaining that he shouldn’t blame decimus or anyone else for what they did or didnt do in the past, as an example he points the finger at every single one of them one at a time like- why didn’t you do more? Why did you just give the city to Antony and hide on the capitoline hill? Why did you pretend to be sick for 2 days? Why were you all so lazy and why didn’t you do more during that giant crisis??? He’s obviously just shaming everyone as an example and reason not to shame each other for what they did or didn’t do, they can’t change it now, it’s in the past, they need to let it go and plan for what they can do in the future. Civilis didn’t explain that’s what he was doing, but it’s pretty obvious that was the case.

[@just4funk133]

@@BradyPostma Learn from the past but live in the present, i think.

[@turinturambar1159]

I absolutely love this channel. The way you portray these snippets of history are astonishingly entertaining, but it seems like you also genuinely quite enjoy these stories (not that I'd be surprised)