Emperor Zeno: The Saviour of the Byzantine Empire

[@connorgolden4]

It’s really interesting to look at the two halves of the Roman Empire in the fifth century. They both shared quite a few issues but the Eastern empire was able to stabilize the succession and had mostly competent emperors while the west completely failed to snag competent emperors (bar Majorian and Anthemius) or peacefully choose them. Which allowed the Eastern empire to grow wealthy and powerful while the west declined.

[@jamesabestos2800]

Suprised you recongnized the second, and especially the first exception.

[@quillinkhistory9539]

Happy to see your back making videos again my friend! 😊

[@AncientAccounts]

Im getting back into the swing of things, a new video hopefully by mid january :D

[@MoveInSilence23]

It's about time Zeno gets some "respect on his name" lol 😂

[@hkmma6543]

Right dude was a straight badass 😂

[@EasternRomanHistory]

I like your channel Ancient Accounts. Subscribed!

[@nickthepersonidk6161]

Such great content and quality as always :) well done, Ancient!

[@Kaheil]

Glad to see this chanel make great content again!

[@AncientAccounts]

That means a lot :D. Yeah I was dreading how long I've been away, already started scripting another video that should be out mid January

[@paprskomet]

Nobody really says that Romulus was the last Emperor of the Roman Empire.Usually it is in fact formulated as "last Emperor of the WESTERN Roman Empire" but its people who usually corrupt it in their minds on "last Roman Emperor"especially since so very little emphasis is popularly given on the fact eastern half of the Empire continued to exist without interruption.Also be aware of titles-calling Romulus just "Caesar" would lowered his rank.Title of "Augustus" was higher and better equivalent for what we use word "Emperor" than Caesar(...unlike in films).

[@AncientAccounts]

After Odoacer historiography refers to the east as byzantine even if for all practical purposes it was still roman to the people there, it's am arbitrary line in the sand but its there, so I decided to stick with it in the description especially in terms of finding further reading if people want to do so

[@RPGProSim]

Great, informative video! I liked it :)

[@AncientAccounts]

ayy you finally watched :D

[@krzysztofneuman6293]

I like the topic very much

[@Kunumbah1]

This guy isn’t that good, he’s just kinda lucky. All of his plans backfired and he kept getting in tough situations where he only succeeded because his enemies were either really incompetent or he got really lucky. His reign was super tumultuous and didn’t bring much stability to the empire. Sending the goths to the west gave the final blow to a United Roman Empire since Odoacer (even though he was a barbarian) was still essentially a Roman vassal simply serving the interest of the eastern court. Theodoric the Amal on the other hand carved out his own independent barbaric kingdom like the franks, Visigoths, and vandals did. Not to mention he turned out to be the most intelligent and prudent leader during this time period. His work in unifying Italy into a Germano-Roman culture is precisely why it was so difficult for Justinian and Belissarius to conquer it decades later.

[@Higgsinophysics]

Finally you are back! 😁

[@pennychewer8931]

Awesome video thanos

[@AncientAccounts]

:D

[@luizsa8300]

That Amal dude looks fierce!

[@ThisisBarris]

Dude your drawing skill has drastically improved! Glad you're uploading again.

[@Kunumbah1]

Tbh I think Asbar is pretty underrated. He was a schemer for sure, but his dominance as the western Stilicho and his ability to maintain leadership for so long while being prudent in his alliances with the two Ostrogoths that were still present in the empire for so long definitely gave the eastern empire the stability it needed to continue to exist for hundreds of years. His story is basically what if Stilicho had lived to old age and maintained stability in the west instead of being assassinated.

[@justinpachi3707]

The Soldiers you're depicting are too anachronistic for the 4th century. Lorica Segmentata hasn't been in use for the past 200 years, and the traditional Heavy Infantry Legionary system which used to be the backbone of the Imperial Roman Army, was replaced by cavalry unites and the Comitatensis. Still a great video by the way. I know its a minor nitpick, but most people only envision Roman soldiers in this fashion despite them having a millenia long history as a people and society from 753 BC - 1453 AD (or up to 1461 or 1475 if you take in the other Roman Splinter states: Empire of Trebizond and the Principality of Theodoro. Are you planning on covering any future Eastern Roman Emperors? I highly recommend looking into Constantine V, Leo IV, Heraclius, Constantine IV, Constans II, Basil I, Basil II, Constantine VII, The Komnenoi, Theophilos, etc.

[@AncientAccounts]

Yeah I understand that the soldiers are anarchronistic I only had limited reference material from which to derive my drawings, and this was basically a test video to see if anyone was actually subscribed after by my 5 month absence and so I didn't go around as thoughroughly as I usually would in terms of picture references As for whether I'm going to make any other Byzantine content, well not currently since I don't have many books on the subject and my source material was on Zeno specifically, though once I do I'll put some topics up on the community tab poll that people can vote on, and if it's chosen I'll do it. The next two videos are Voltaire and then the Jacobites though

[@histguy101]

Heavy infantry covered in armor remained the backbone of the army into Byzantine times. The Legions still existed as late as 600. For instance, Belisarius invaded North Africa with 10,000 heavy infantry and 5,000 cavalry, along with foreign Auxiliary units, and he armed the thousands of sailors as infantry. It doesn't matter what specific type of armor they're wearing.

[@CaskTheology]

Good to see you back Ancient Accounts! Stuff like this just shows that Game of Thrones has nothing on real history.

[@AncientAccounts]

Good to see you in the comments section :) Hopefully gonna maintain one video per month for the foreseeable future

[@CaskTheology]

@@AncientAccounts Looking forward to it! :D

[@AncientAccounts]

I, infact did not lmao

[@mr.goldenglasses6839]

All hail the great alien god zeno

[@JuanCanuck]

More byzantine shenanigans!! So good!!

[@Roo31173]

"Emperor Zeno" yet the thumbnail depicts Emperor Basil II.

[@rolandhoward9412]

Who sacked Rome in the 4th century?

[@AncientAccounts]

It was a Visogoth king called Alaric. Atilla was going to before him but apparently the pope talked him out of it, this was in 410 so it'd be the 5th century i think, heres the Wikipedia link en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sack_of_Rome_%28410%29

[@noodlecoffee193]

The Vandals later sacked Rome during the reign of Petronius Maximus, but that also was in the 5th century.

[@andrews.5212]

Late 4th.. late 5th century xD

[@dominiczeno6506]

Og Zeno

[@Artur_M.]

6:33 That is a totally accurate depiction, yes.

[@AncientAccounts]

Its cool to see you, i know a lot of other history channels recognize you when you comment :P

[@Artur_M.]

@@AncientAccounts Thanks! I'm flattered. ;)

[@ytbchnl]

If I might be so rude as to make a suggestion; If you're going to keep a halting cadence, perhaps you might as well enunciate a little more.

[@AncientAccounts]

Working on it