Crazy Roman Military Tactics That Actually Worked

Ever wondered how the Roman Empire achieved its legendary conquests? Discover the military tactics that set the Romans apart in this history documentary. From discipline to ingenious engineering, these ancient strategies represent the brutal brilliance of Roman warfare.
Join us as we explore the fascinating world of ancient history and military history, focusing on the remarkable strategies that helped shape the Roman Empire. Learn about decimation, the corvus, dual walls, and the art of conquering strong tribes. We will will bring you closer to understanding the strategic genius of Roman history.
Check out our Patreon: / thelegendarylore or find our books at www.amazon.com/dp/B0D1P3LX2L

[@citadel9611]

The reason why the Romans were so successful was simple: Discipline, Conditioning, and tactics. Decimation was rarely needed.

[@MultiDigitalCoder-he7wp]

Sad that what they were also mainly about was about coninually screwing over everyone else.

[@bekirbekirbekirbekir]

Yah yah this was because of "Discipline, Conditioning" but they couldn't invade germany that even don't have any regular army . Huns just swept out entire germany without Roman's super advanced discipline, conditioning, tactics (and weapons )

[@alessandroiorio6248]

​@@bekirbekirbekirbekir They invaded Germania whenever they wanted and almost always won (Caesar, Drusus, Germanicus, Maximinus Thrax...) and created a province up to the Elbe river from 7 BC to 9 AD. The later débacle at Teutoburg was further confirmation that the land wasn't worth investing in a second time; they never tried to settle it again because of the region's social, economic, and urban underdevelopment. But whenever they needed to invade those regions for slaves or retaliations they did and were successful. Besides, why are you criticizing the Huns ? They had advanced discipline, tactics and weapons and "conquered" those regions just as the Romans had done, by winning battles; but they never settled it nor supplanted the populations living there. These myths you wrote about need to stop, they are kind of cringe.

[@bekirbekirbekirbekir]

@@alessandroiorio6248 Exagerating roman army need to be stop.Thousand year history full of massacring primitive tribes. Just couple of fight against some regular armies and most of them failed. Despite possessing vast resources derived primarily from an enslaved populace, their repeated defeats in individual battles ultimately culminated in victory in the overall conflict. Romans was not invading anywhere to settle down as like France, Britain, Egypt, Anatolia etc. The simply want to invade Germany but failed. Oh ok they just dont want to invade.

[@citadel9611]

@@bekirbekirbekirbekir The German victory was led by a leader named Arminius, who fought in the Roman military and learned their tactics. It was a great shock to the Roman empire, but it was hardly a situation of disorganized Germans who fought. As far as the Huns are concerned, their victories came about when the Roman empire had more foreigners fight in their legions than actual Romans, and the discipline was not the same.

[@soldat2501]

Decimation was rarely used. Decimation was a punishment that the Romans inflicted on soldiers who had collectively abandoned their posts, acted like cowards in battle, or fomented some kind of rebellion in the ranks. This video makes it sound like a defeat in battle meant decimation.

[@henrikg1388]

True. I believe that the use of decimation by Crassus in the Spartacus-rebellion, was the last documented use of it anyway, but I may be wrong.

[@BeckVMH]

I respect your comment; however, I didn’t get that impression and understood it to be only used as you’ve described. 2:49 The narration referenced, “Decimation, while rare….”

[@GetRidOfCivilAssetForfeiture]

@@BeckVMHa case of hearing what one only wants to hear.

[@colinhunt4057]

@@henrikg1388 Your comment is correct. Crassus was the last one who used decimation. And largely it failed. Roman legionairies were citizens, and Crassus was just another aristocratic snot who bought his political offices including the consulship. Spartacus's revolt was crushed in the end by Gnaeus Pompeius.

[@soldat2501]

@@BeckVMH I'll grant that's what he wrapped up with but he started 1:25 with , "Imagine being a Roman soldier in the heat of battle, knowing that failure could mean the death of not just you, but one in every 10 of your comrades. Especially after a devastating defeat." The Romans suffered a number of defeats, some more serious than others. They didn't all resort to decimation. Perhaps he should have led with how rare it was, as that was actually the case.

[@randomobserver8168]

Decimation is a disciplinary procedure not a battle tactic. Categorization is important.

[@rolandnelson6722]

Bravo! Categorisation is important. In our age major advantage goes to those that can categorise properly and not move the goalposts, but can anticipate others inabilities. In our age it is clear the innumeratti (innumerate people) control the world - through their vast numbers. But they can’t profit nor control their place in it. But those that can do the above have a tremendous advantage. The first flaw of the innumerate is that they can’t categorise.

[@vincentlemire8703]

You don't mention that Corvus really only worked once. It was a secret weapon that lost its potency once no longer a secret. It would not have been too hard to avoid if you realize what the roman were up to, leaving them with a less maneuverable vessel overloaded with infantry. Still, for that one battle, it was a brillant tactic and key to winning the first Punic war as you said.

[@arcomegis9999]

It's quite mind-blowing that the tribes of Italian Peninsula are highly adaptive in terms of survivability. The Romans in turn also possess that. They also learn from their defeats, often copying to a varying degree the tactics and strategies of their enemies. It sounds like a stretch but I think Romans stopped being underdogs when they defeated the Samnites and in turn complete their conquest of the peninsula. It's like Cao Cao becoming a superpower after defeating Yuan Shao at Guandu. The legionary and maniple system in their military is in fact "inspired" by the Samnites. The practice of employing mercenaries and subsequently auxilary troops comes from the defeat of the Successor Kingdoms and Greek powers. Especially, Pyrrhus and Hannibal in which the Romans learn to better employ such tactics and logistical capabilities.

[@TheLegendaryLore]

I think you're absolutely right that the Samnite Wars were pivotal. The Samnites were tough opponents, which forced the Romans to learn how to adapt and innovate. I don't know enough about Chinese history to comment on the comparison with Cao Cao, but now I'll have to read up on it!

[@roilhead]

What is funny is that the US can't beat farmers with all their money / firepower & have lost all but 1 war since WW2.

[@matthewzito6130]

I can't believe they didn't mention the fire pigs.

[@uncletiggermclaren7592]

Came expecting them, disappointed.

[@padraigpearse]

Decimation was incredibly rare, I am very surprised you even mentioned it.

[@The13thRonin]

KZbinrs only ever have a cursory knowledge of Ancient History.

[@frankmorris4790]

Because it happened? History?

[@mediumrare9051]

Rarely employed due to its effectiveness as a threat, well worth a mention.

[@waynebritten]

You clowns he actually said it was rare.maybe you all better start to listen better

[@brettmuir5679]

Maybe because the word is grossly misused nowadays. Today it is used interchangeably with devastating. We need to learn/ remember it means 0.1

[@stephenbesley3177]

At sea, the Roman solution was train troops on land using mockups and to make ships using previously manufactured parts that were numbereD or marked in a way that could be easily constructed. A flatpack navy if you will. Rome's real secret was engineering and legions full of artisans.

[@philippekogler]

Strength and Honor!

[@Chebab-Chebab]

Fish and chips.

[@vincentlemire8703]

Lol, so we don't agree on what tactic is, I guess. Their divide and conquer approach to diplomacy counts not as a tactic. A diplomatic strategy maybe? But absolutely an understated key to the longevity of the empire that you are right to point out.

[@17cmmittlererminenwerfer81]

"Insane tactics"? You've never heard the axiom "If it works, it ain't stupid."

[@TheLegendaryLore]

I guess you could call it risky or seemingly insane.

[@user-ic1lo9wh5f]

Insane and stupid ain't synonyms so what's your point?

[@DrZip]

Great video as always! Do you know how the Roman Empire was cut in half? -With a pair of ceasars (scissors).

[@TheLegendaryLore]

😂😂😂 Who's the favorite philosopher among kids? Play-Doh

[@colinhunt4057]

Dr. Zip, it was done because the imperial army had become too large with too many military emergencies on its assorted frontiers. Diocletian divided the Empire because it could not be effectively administered only from Rome. Thus there were a number of new capitals established as indicated here. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diocletian All of this came about after the crisis of the 3rd century. The Empire had become too large to be defended, and Diocletian abandoned the province of Dacia (Rumania), and some very difficult to defend areas such as Assyria. Also, by having four rulers in the form of the Tetrarchy, the Empire was to some degree protected from loss of a sole Emperor by assassination.

[@tungzauzage977]

Well presented and edited with nice use of comic humor. Very professional and informative, appreciated.

[@TheLegendaryLore]

Thank you, brother!

[@sprintershepherd4359]

@@TheLegendaryLore drop the comedy i reckon . it was distracting and not that funny imo . you had some great still pics in this video . were they from a movie ? if so which movies ?

[@TheLegendaryLore]

@@sprintershepherd4359 I though it would be fun to add some memes for a change :) Most of the non-attributed images are Midjourney.

[@rudolphguarnacci197]

​@@sprintershepherd4359 I liked it.

[@rudolphguarnacci197]

​@@TheLegendaryLore It is fun. You show a brighter side with these illustrations.

[@richardallday7387]

Nicely done - especially the 'divide and conquer' explanation.

[@d.g.rohrig4063]

Here’s a tactic for ye, “During a battle at sea in 264 BCE, a Carthaginian ship was captured by Roman forces. The Romans examined the ship carefully and used it as a model for their own new vessels. By stealing the Carthaginian ship the Romans were able to improve their own technology and increase their naval power.” I’ve seen a video about this but alas, I couldn’t find it.

[@dukeon]

I’ve seen the same one 🤔 Good video too.

[@evo1ov3]

Seen it too.Think it's from the Historia Civilis channel. But I have to check.

[@d.g.rohrig4063]

@@evo1ov3 Nice! If you find it please share it here with us?

[@arturovaldes546]

It BC , are you afraid of Christ.

[@wiscosteve]

Well I didn’t know about decimation until now thx

[@zedeyejoe]

First you had training, so you knew that your troops would do has you had told them. Then a combat system that favoured close combat. No wild slashing but instead a mobile shieldwall where soldiers worked together, not as individuals. With a battleline relief system that stopped the soldiers from becoming over tired. Then build field fortifications to give your forces an advantage. And finally the knowledge that Romans never gave up. Lose 80,000 men, well build a bigger army and try again.

[@colinhunt4057]

Add two other items to your list: the Romans were the first nation to ever institute a standard system of training. Mostly this was done in the training bases around Capua. Also new was the retention of very long service professional soldiers as centurions or non-commissioned officers.

[@floriangeyer3454]

Decimation was not common, applied in cases of mutiny, cowardice or desertion of a whole unit. And decimation was NOT always execution! Flogging was a common punishment in the legions.

[@HRHOCHUKOii]

Why i can't find the Prince by niccolo machiavelli video on your channel?

[@ManufactureBelief]

One of the best Roman combat scenes I've seen is the opening act of the TV series Rome (2005-2007). Which showed the disciplined way the Roman infantry fought and how superior they were to their opponents. When the centurion blew his whistle.. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y6ethYF9fZl8mJI&ab_channel=Private Highly recommend this series to anyone fascinated by Rome..

[@jonc6463]

Informative thank you 🙏

[@raywhitehead730]

Caesar wrote a book about some of his military campaigns. The chapter about a campaign always started about the same: food supplies were purchased. The Romans became very good at securing food and transportation of supplies.

[@Centurion101B3C]

Hm, Important to show the instances of ingenuity within Rome's panoply of measures and means, but lacking a clear distinction between tactics and strategy. Adding that and providing clear examples would make this in and of itself well made production into an excellent one.

[@TheLegendaryLore]

That is a fair point. Thanks for the constructive feedback, brother.

[@infoscholar5221]

This is a lesson many times forgotten, and it applies to all walks of life. Discipline, ration...Alas, alas...

[@Skorlang]

Decimation was not a tactic, it was a disciplinary action. The Corvus was nat a tactic, it was a tool. Divide and conquer was a strategy, not a tactic

[@PoetofHateSpeech]

Most people don't understand the difference between strategy and tactics.

[@JoaoSoares-rs6ec]

You start with the one thing roman commanders extremely rarely did, it was two legions not cohorts, the corvus wasn't actually use, because it nade the ships unstable.

[@slimyish]

Decimation was EXTREMELY uncommon

[@evo1ov3]

8:37 Oh wow! That is an amazing meme!

[@darkhorse989]

The corvus was only used in the first few battles, it was too top heavy and after a couple accidents it was abandoned in favor of boarding planks, or outright sinking enemy ships.

[@truecerium4924]

It sounds like decimation was commonly used. But in fact during Roman history from kingdom to late antiquity only few occurrences have been documented. It was too ineffective to lose trained soldiers and there were other means of punishment (interestingly threating them with not including them in a battle)

[@brettmuir5679]

It is clearly stated in the video that the practice was rare. Did you listen or just browse?

[@truecerium4924]

@@brettmuir5679 Calm down :) With my comment I am just supporting the point you made and added the exclusion from battle. Not every comment is an offence ´k

[@brettmuir5679]

@@truecerium4924 not offended but annoyed by lazy viewers who misrepresent. Your comment was clear and blaring misrepresentation, just saying

[@Raz.C]

You make it sound like Caesar decided to build both walls at Alesia, at the same time. Instead, he had already built the wall of circumvallation around Alesia when he heard about the enormous relief forces en-route. Rather than abandoning the siege and allowing Vercingetorix to escape, Caesar decided to maintain his siege on the city and the best way to do so, would by building an entirely new wall (series of fortifications), to protect the besiegers from the relief forces.

[@rdleahey]

The battle of Alesia sends chills up my spine. That’s how I learned of a Roman weapon used against cavalry. It was some kind of metal ball with three sharp spikes sticking out.No matter how you threw them, one spike would be sticking straight up!

[@SupremeGreatGrandmaster]

Do you mean calthrops?

[@michelguevara151]

the other tactic not often mentioned was to declare support for republics.. then enforce their own.

[@frankieshankly5368]

Their percistance was the real strength of the Roman empire. No matter how catastrofic defeats they endured, which they did sometimes over the centuries. They allways came back, for a millenium at least..

[@user-tw8nh3fh2y]

😎😎😎AWESOME VID 😎😎😎

[@vincentlemire8703]

I would not call 'decimation' a tactic by any useful definition of the word. It was discipline. And how well it worked is debatable and depend on the context. Though not an expert I know it was primarily used in the early to mid republican era, back when you were dealing with part-time legionaries who expected to go back to farming (or whatever) after a single season of campaigning. A lot of these guys really needed to be more afraid of their officer than the enemy to be motivated to risk their lives because they were not all gung ho volunteers. By the time of the late republic/early empire, as the army was quickly becoming professionalised, it might have still been 'on the books' but it was rarely used and only used at the general's own peril. I know Crassus revived it in his armies but his contemporaries Ceasar and Pompey never did. I'm sure we all know who has the best track record of these three, lol. Just because Crassus decimated a cohort and then went on to win against a slave army, it does not follow it was the right decision or that it played a key role. Ceasar and Pompey accomplished far more impressive feats without decimation. All in all Crassus is not to be regarded as a talented commander. It took all his spare change to put down a slave revolt and when faced by a real Army in Parthia he got crushed... A few generations later when Galba (of the 'year of the 4 emperors' fame) used it on a recalcitrant legion in 69AD it created shock and dismay more than anything else and contributed to him being extremely impopular with the army and one of shortest tenured emperor. I mean, if he was going to refuse to pay the expected bribes (aka donation) to the praetorian guard, he really hould have taken better care with maitaining the loyalty of regular legionnaires! LTDR As the army becomes more professional, decimation was phased out because it was becoming pretty much always a blunder. And I'm not convinced it was a smart choice even back in the days of the farmer soldier unless dealing with a fullblown mutiny (which did happen). A good commander should always be able to find a better solution than killing off 10% of his own men IMO!

[@colinhunt4057]

It happened only in legions raised very quickly with poorly trained soldiers. It happened only when those legions were very poorly led by incompetent or amateur commanders. Your comment about Galba is quite right. Please note that Galba came to a very quick and sticky end, deserted by everyone. I agree with your comment about Crassus. Unlike Caesar or Pompey, Crassus had no military command experience whatsoever. He was simply a plutocrat with no redeeming military qualities whatsoever. He went on to suffer Rome's worst military disaster in two centuries at the Battle of Carrhae in Syria in 53 BC. Crassus led his army into an impossible situation, cut off from any water supply. Appropriately, Crassus did not survive his defeat but was killed on the field. The only comment I disagree with is about soldiers' mutinies. These were unheard of during the Republic and rare during and after Augustus. Roman legions never mutinied. They might be persuaded to revolt against the Emperor by their General who wanted to be Emperor. But the legions rarely revolted. There were a few spectacular murders of Roman emperors by Praetorian guards but no real revolts of an entire legion against their officers.

[@svon1]

and he did not even mention caltrop's or Manu-Ballista's (which are like hand held ballista's in case you fighting cataphracts) ... the alliance thing was a bit simpler though .... just ally with the weakest local ... being the punchbag for several generations and getting offered an opportunity for payback usually does not require much convincing... the constant copying of their enemy ...the swords were spanish, the mail celtic and the helmets gaulic .... and of course since the empire was founded ...half of all troops were auxiliaries recruited from all sorts of people across the empire, making the conquered people feel part of the empire, while also Romanizing them, while also mixing unique tactics

[@user-xv1gn7yk3t]

Decimation was good in modern times, If done regularly,, some actually fell on their swords, because of heavy mortgage payments etc, It saved pension payments, insurance payout etc, We have a lot to learn from the Romans,, Expansion ( profitable) owes itself to such discipline. Ignore history at your peril.

[@raywhitehead730]

The Romans lost quite a few battles. But they learned and adapted.

[@WorthlessWinner]

Wasn't decimation very rarely used? It usually seems to be done for political purposes (appius claudius first bringing it in to punish the plebs for wanting rights, most future cases seeming to follow a similar vein). I dunno if it impacted the troops much if it's so rare and usually not done for cowardice as much as for your commander being a patrician psycho

[@TheLegendaryLore]

Decimation was rare, but not rare enough to be unheard of. I'm certain the soldiers all knew the stories and understood it was a possibility. But even more so than decimation, the fear of getting executed for things like cowardice, desertion, or disobedience was always there. The threat of getting killed by fellow soldiers, or being executed on the spot by a commander was a real risk.

[@masteryap3169]

Have agree with you. Decimation was very "questionable " disciplinary measure to use on your own troops. It could very easily backfire. Of note, no modern military use decimation or even a firing squad for cowardice. Better to foster "unit cohesion" then the barrel of a gun.

[@gaiusmarcus8]

Corvus literally turn the tide

[@TheLegendaryLore]

LOL, true 😁

[@Nervii_Champion]

The Bronze Age and Iron Age (5000BC - 600AD-ish) had the coolest history and stories and characters. Arguably, many armies and tactics of the Iron Age (the Romans and Greeks/Hellenic states like Epirus and Macedon and Successor Kingdoms of Alexander) could MOP the floor with Medieval armies before gunpowder was involved. I would even argue the equipment was more suited to the task of melee and ranged combat, but I will admit the trebuchet is a very effective artillery. I wonder what the stories of the deep past of humanity are though, but it would be impossible to know in a place as fragile and vulnerable as Earth. There could be remnants of ancient human technology on the Moon and Mars and beyond for all we know. Us "normal" people would never be able to find out, anyway. Not the way we behave.

[@pannobhasa]

The Carthaginians, like the Greeks, fought their naval battles mainly by ramming

[@Alexander-zn5dr]

And what exactly ís decimation?

[@jahmah519]

I would love to know what Britain was like prior to the successful invasion, the 1 prior to that some 70 years previous, it was said that it was not storms that destroyed their ships the romans but the British were on another level & united in spirits, the romans didnt even make it of the beach & were so frightened by the people they encountered that it was all them years later that they attempted again but were successful because the Britts or albions & Caledonians i think they were called with Rome giving the name Brittania were already divided & at war with each other, so easier to conquer but not totaly as Caledonia went on to be called Scotland, but what were these previously? They must have been most formidable & that togetherness is uncanny in today's world.

[@PaxAlotin]

Is that a Two legged Unicorn standing in the circle at 6:16 i?

[@TheLegendaryLore]

They were very common until Maximinus Thrax hunted them to extinction in 237 AD 😄

[@jimmieervinjr.431]

@@TheLegendaryLore😂😂

[@user-ju3mz4xp8z]

Tactics? I thought this was about the Romans using the iron spike modules to injure opponents feet and the hooves of enemy cavalry horses, Or the use of new weapons that could fire multiple arrows or the use of their war dogs to terrify opponents.

[@notsocrates9529]

Caltrops?

[@colinhunt4057]

@@notsocrates9529 Caltrops had been used by the Greeks before the Romans. No, what tactics refers to is the combat order of a Roman legion organized down to its sub-units. Tactics includes the design of a Roman army as one of heavy infantry relying on short stabbing swords, large shields for extensive protection, and heavy javelins to break up enemy formations. A Roman army was a combined arms force consisting of a core of heavy infantry (outined above), large numbers of missile troops (archers or slingers), and a body of cavalry. A Roman army was the world's first (after Alexander the Great) combined arms army. Missile troops and cavalry were usually foreign mercenaries. The heavy infantry legionaries were Roman citizens on long-term service for 20 years.

[@tt756]

discipline

[@doctordetroit4339]

Romans built a supply chain that was unmatched. And gained them victory, as they comparatively had unlimited resources to the point of battle, even if outnumbered. Even if they lost a battle....they kept coming and coming and coming......their logistics allowed that. Not much has changed since then. This is how the US operates today, worldwide. Rome did the equivalent in the known world back then.

[@colinhunt4057]

Your comment about logistics is bang on. This was particularly true for their use of water transport, the Mediterranean, the Rhine, Rhone and Danube rivers. A Roman army was never more than about 100 miles from large scale water transport (ships or barges). Rome really was the Empire of the Middle Sea. It was made possible by superb logistics, unmatched by anyone until about the 18th century AD.

[@hugoboss917]

AI made video. Just look at the Roman helmets😅

[@roastbeef1967]

If it wasn't for the Cimbri....

[@Gitsmasher]

I still dont understand how the Romans could conquer half the mediteranean when their soldiers were still levied conscripts who must attend their farms once a campaign session is over😅

[@patrickseekins1299]

No flaming pigs?

[@thebobloblawshow8832]

Any of this sound familiar?

[@Emperor-Justinius]

Yes very

[@notsocrates9529]

No not at all. Why would people want to try tested and true methods?

[@PoetofHateSpeech]

And all tactics, etc, come down to training.

[@markbrandon7359]

1st pic shows the soldiers with beards Romans were clean shaven barbarians wore beards

[@2o1745]

Grave erreur ici ! The roman legionarii didn't wear helmets with nasals. It came later from the norse people later on, even though the ancient corinthian helmet had a nasal at the time of ancient Greece. Fritsky

[@stevedavy2878]

Great presentation, and very nice to hear accurate prenunciation of words, without the usual americanisation, Worcestershire Sauce an all that.

[@robbieatvic]

You lost me when you brought up decimation in under 2 minutes, for gods sake it was extremely rare and any real ancient historian knows this.

[@matthewrogerson9119]

You obviously didn't watch this all... did you????**

[@user-ic1lo9wh5f]

Where is he saying its a common practice though?

[@surfdocer103]

2:50 decimation, while RARE…

[@Impericalevidence]

Ooh ooh how about public deflowering? Spit roasting if you catch my drift... I bet that one's not mentioned.

[@bryanstellfox8521]

Decimation was a psychological enforcer more than a commonly used punishment. I guarantee just the IDEA of decimation motivated these troops to fight and die rather than be routed and perhaps be forced to club their best friend to death.

[@drwalmgc]

Hannibal trained them well.

[@richardscanlan3419]

Not just confined to Hannibal, the Romans learnt a lot fighting v Pyrrhus and the Greeks,and even earlier v the Samnites. That was Rome's true strength,they were not afraid to learn from their enemies and adopt their tactics.Adaptability was their greatest strength.

[@drwalmgc]

@@richardscanlan3419 True.

[@richardscanlan3419]

@@drwalmgc I'm an unabashed Romanophile.Have a reasonable knowledge of Roman history,though I'm not in Mary Beard's class;))

[@mercb3ast]

@@richardscanlan3419 Their true strength was their geographic position, and the fact they outnumbered everyone they fought once they had unified most of italy. Long skinny peninsula meant the entire region could be rapidly mobilized navally. Rome reached a population of 1 million, oh, about 800 years before a city in China reached 1 million, and 1,800 years before London, the center of the largest empire the world had ever known up until that point. For Rome, quantity had quality of its own. They could afford to get massacred by Hannibal for a decade. Cause they could just field legion after legion. All they had to do was beat a major Carthaginian army once. Pyrrhus is another good example. Get smashed by Epirus over and over, but inflict just enough damage each time that the tiny state bleed itself out.

[@richardscanlan3419]

@@mercb3ast good post,and the point about their "geographic position" is valid. I would add one other factor - Roman doggedness,they simply refused to be beaten,no matter how dire the situation.In this regard they were kind of unique in the ancient world.They simply wore their opponents out. Very similar to the Russians in the war with the Nazis.Win - no matter what the cost.

[@DavidDoyle-hg4wn]

Then as soon as the conquest had begun the building of Roman buildings would start.

[@quinshotton6352]

Decimation should not be on this list. It was used only a handful of times in the entire empires history. Additionally it was used only for legions that showed cowardice or refused orders. Not to any odd legion that lost a battle.

[@omathitis8498]

Gork and Mork

[@stevemar4779]

Roman art of war.

[@Paulftate]

🤘

[@makiss.2597]

Hols the line Sir hahhahaha ai goof

[@adrianthomas1473]

Similar to the British - we learned from the Romans

[@JugglesGrenades]

Gee, I was taught it was because of their use of combat engineering. Stupid me.

[@jrhenry686]

Believe nothing

[@arturovaldes546]

Rome could be your greatest friend or your worst enemy. Your choice.

[@keithad6485]

For these soldiers to remain in a decimated unit tells me these soldiers were, in practice, slaves. If they were volunteers, they would have looked for the first chance to desert and return home.

[@atrippister]

Decimation was extremely rare events. Most of this video is just bs

[@RobCoghanable]

Also remember the Roman’s were small many under 5 feet.

[@colinhunt4057]

And a major part of their training was carrying full kit and marching long distances every single day. They were indeed barely 5 feet tall. But they weighed much as do we (albeit with much less body fat) because they tended to be stocky and heavily muscled.

[@MultiDigitalCoder-he7wp]

Sad though they basically did was screwing over everybody else forcing themselves un-invited

[@SantiagoVeraLoor]

Devide ans conquer. Something the European people have been doing ever since which is how Europe conquered the world

[@josephnoneofyourbeeswax8517]

The Roman military defeated numerically superior forces the same way the Greeks did and every army ever has. Order and discipline defeats individual military prowess EVERY TIME EVER.

[@colinhunt4057]

Order and discipline and training. This includes good supply, making certain your soldiers were properly fed and supplied on campaign with good boots, good garmets for campaigning and all the other thousands of items a functioning army needs in the field. This included a professional medical staff, mobile artillery for the legions where practical, and a properly organized transport service wiithin the legions for transporting everything.

[@lonesomealeks4206]

Misread the title as Crazy Woman Military Tactics...😅

[@brantdanger]

1) Decimation was not a tactic. It was a form of punishment designed to instill discipline. 2) Building the circumvallation and contravallation at Alesia is more of a strategy than a tactic, because once the construction was completed, there was very little flexibility in how the Romans could fight. 3) Dividing and conquering was not a tactic - it was a strategy. You don't even understand what you're presenting in this video, but nice try, and nice AI images.

[@JasonJohnson-kq2eq]

Bullshit, the soldiers kept a large percentage of the spoils of war. That’s how they achieved loyalty and in the end lost it.

[@SomeIdiotLUL]

My theory Rome is a lot like Amazon. It was q back water village nothing special but I think what turned them into super power is . A federal government of that time period must of taken interest in them and saw the potential of what It Caan be if they have the power and not a king

[@SomeIdiotLUL]

Funny how history repeats it's self

[@Khalifrio]

I'm not sure you know what the word Tactics means. Some of what you call "Tactics" were nothing of the sort. Decimation was a discipline measure that had nothing to do with tactics. Divide and Conquer was a Strategy. Strategy is not the same thing as tactics.

[@user-kn9ys2zz3m]

Decimation is punishment, not tactics. 😂”divide and conquer” is strategy, not tactics.

[@enigma4430]

Based and AI pilled...meanwhile this is made by some random pajeet in the slums of mumbai

[@tronosneoauror]

Only watched 'till the corvus, and neither the decimatio, nor the corvus were tactics.

[@fingal7215]

Memento mori

[@g.p.d.2220]

What could have been an informative and interesting video is unwatchable due to unnecessary, asinine and puerile meme graphics.

[@JohnRodriguez-si9si]

The Imperial Roman Army had Conventional Forces, Marines ( in the form of Milites Classiarii, id est, " Soldiers of the Fleet") , and even had Special Task Forces ( STFs) , 200 Soldiers ,with 70 Horsemen and 200 Spearmen( Acts 23:23) , and, Law Enforcement ( Acts 16:35). There's even a tradition in the Eastern Orthodox Church where a Battalion sized element of Roman Soldiers were martyred for their faith in The LORD Jesus Christ. Surely, the Roman Armed Forces were a potent and professional Military ,but, were defeated and destroyed by the Visigoths around 431 AD. 🛡️🗡️⚔️

[@colinhunt4057]

By the time of Alaric and the Visigoths, the Roman army was mostly replaced by an assortment of German mercenaries. The legions have mostly vanished and been reduced to static frontier garrison units numbering no more than 1,000. Rome's principal generals were increasingly German barbarians such as Stilicho or Thracians such as Belisarius.

[@Impericalevidence]

It's a video under ten minutes in length. For those expecting a full discourse on everything Roman have places too much hope on something which is basically infotainment.

[@TheLegendaryLore]

That's a fair summary. A two-hour presentation on this topic would lose most people 10 minutes in.

[@Sghoch]

These tactics didn’t work against Parthians and other Persian armies

[@Bloody1369]

Please, don't put the stupid memes in these videos. It takes away for what otherwise is a good video with good information.

[@pedrokarstguimaraes1096]

Of forgot to say they Copy their foes 😉always

[@XX-fq8kp]

Here we are 2024 and we are still waging war, nothing learned 😢😢😢

[@mercb3ast]

Ahh a video about rome, this looks interesting. About 6s in "Rome was often outnumbered" Turned off. Rome WAS the zerg of antiquity. By the middle Republic it was bigger than EVERYONE it faced. They lost battle, after battle, after battle in wars. Sometimes for a decade or more. Then finally won A battle, and because there opponents were so badly outnumbered that ended the war. They couldn't replace the losses. Rome? Rome was a Pez dispenser spitting out legions. Rome was the epitome of, throw enough shit at a wall, some of it eventually sticks. Hannibal wipes out a Legion? No biggie, we will raise 6 more in Rome in 2 days. Carthage loses A battle in North Africa, that's all she wrote folks. Outnumbered indeed.

[@reedbender1179]

"Rome was a Pez dispenser spitting out legions"🤣You have restored my faith that human intelligence may yet prevail against the artificial Intel avalanche,linguistically speaking at least.✌

[@marcuswall3857]

Excellent, accurate and engaging. God! There are some stupid comments on here.

[@leonardc1303]

Endless repetitive introduction and restating the premise before finally getting to the point. milking KZbin cash.

[@hugoboss917]

AI creation. And nor very accurate

[@Neapoleone-Buonaparte]

DIVIDE ET IMPERA -- is a gross oversimplification! First off, the Romans found plenty of division in place among practically all of their enemies. Playing off one faction against another IS NOT a Roman thing per se, it'sa necessity of common sense. It's simply stupid to claim otherwise. The real genius of Roman Diplomacy is not even mentioned in this video! This is basically Comic Strip facts put together under a British Accent in a KZbin presentation!

[@Impericalevidence]

You or I might be a nerd but not all are. For some this is informative. For those who want more and don't already know, they will seek and they will find.

[@colinhunt4057]

Your comment about divide and conquer is very accurate. The Persian Empire did that to their Athenian enemies during the Peloponnesian wars during the time of Pericles. The Persian kings were skilled at finding Greek traitors who could be paid to work against their own cities. During the second Peloponnesian War starting in 413 BC, the Persians provided the financing for Sparta's first real fleet as the essential step to defeating Athens by 404. As a result, Persia ruined the only Greek city-state capable of resisting them until the advent of the Macedonians about 50 years later.

[@Neapoleone-Buonaparte]

@@colinhunt4057 well put, but you forget that the Greeks did the same thing to each other non-stop during their innumerable city-state wars, or when the Macedonians of Phillip played the Greek city-states against one another to weaken any coalition or league formed against them...or during the bloody Wars of the Diadochi, for goodness sake!

[@Neapoleone-Buonaparte]

@@colinhunt4057 also, Xenophon writes about the many wars of the Achaemenid Succession in which the Greeks fought as mercenaries playing off one Persian royal contender against another, usually his brother, probably to advance the interests of the Ionian and Levantine Greek subject city-states seeking advantages at the expense of the strong unity of the Achaemenid Empire.

[@DennisKenneybees]

Decimation??? You failed to explain exactly what and how decimation was administered?

[@johnmurdock1391]

very light, hope Napoleon anr Alexander did not lear from you...

[@gabevannordstrand8978]

AI generated

[@TheLegendaryLore]

Yes, and marked as such. However, that doesn't mean I didn't put hours of research into it.

[@kirkgoshert7876]

dis sukked

[@glenmorgan4597]

What did the Romans ever do for us?

[@Impericalevidence]

Set up the idea of citizenship, rule of law, build roads and aqueducts and ports and cities that still exist. That's a non exhaustive list.

[@Impericalevidence]

As an American our government is more based on Sparta and Rome than on Athens and Greece. Romans citizens had rights.

[@colinhunt4057]

@@Impericalevidence A good list. There are some important things to add to your list. The Romans invented the arch, they invented what we use today in banking. They invented the corporation as a concept that had legal existence. They invented the concept of civil and criminal trials as a system of justice. They invented the division of powers: judicial, legislative, administrative or executive. They invented the notion of standardized weights and measures. They invented the concept of citizen's rights, and non-citizen's rights, including slaves. Romans standardized currency. They invented the concept of money in the form of paper draughts or 'cheques' rather than shipping bullion around by the ton. the invention of banking alone transformed the world utterly. The only sentence I would disagree with is Sparta. No one modeled anything after Sparta. Sparta was a poverty-stricken, politically and culturally primitive state based on slave agriculture. The US Republic is pure Roman republic in its origins, Or at least how the Founding Fathers understood the Roman political, legal and civil ideals to be. However, the long and short of it all is that the things invented by Rome determined who we are now and what we are now, and how we live. Your statement about the Romans inventing the concept of rights is extremely accurate.

[@evandavies1230]

Ugh