Byzantine Empire: Justinian and Theodora - Purple is the Noblest Shroud - Extra History - Part 3

📜 Byzantine Empire: Justinian and Theodora - Part 3 - Extra History
A group of monks declared sanctuary for two hooligans from the demes (Constantinople's fanatical chariot racing factions) who had miraculously survived a hanging. The public wanted them pardoned for their crimes, so when Justinian made his public appearance at the next chariot race, they begged him to have mercy. When Justinian refused, the crowd turned on him and became a rioting mob that tore through the streets of Constantinople. During the Nika Riots, they burned down neighborhoods and even the Hagia Sophia cathedral, rampaging until Justinian agreed to pardon the two men from the demes. Now, however, the mob would not accept that. They demanded that he fire his advisors. Then they decided to appoint their own emperor, a man named Hypatius who was related to the previous emperor Anastasius. Assaulted on all sides, Justinian made plans to flee, only to be confronted by Theodora. She gave a now famous speech asking whether he would rather live a failure or die an emperor, announcing that she would choose the latter. Justinian followed her lead and made new plans to retake his city. He called Belisarius and Mundus, his best generals, to marshal a force. He also sent the eunuch Narses to bribe one faction of the demes and begin dismantling their leadership. Then he ordered his forces to invade the Hippodrome, where they cut down some thirty thousand civilians and executed the false emperor Hypatius. Justinian's reign was once again secure.
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[@thegardenofeatin5965]

I love how Theodora's whole thesis statement is "I won't stand for being less famous than I am now."

[@kapitan19969838]

Not famous

[@CollinMcLean]

Except she was a constant source of political slander because of her past as an actress... she was actually a pretty good and capable leader during the reign of her husband, even holding together the Empire while Justinian was in a plague coma...

[@CollinMcLean]

And that speech came from Procopius... Likely doctored and manipulated to make her seem as tyrannical as possible...

[@CodaMission]

Spoken like a true Thespian

[@Aurelian369_]

@@CollinMcLean don’t care, still want her to step on me

[@7outof10]

the morale of the story is :"don't buy discount ropes

[@namingisdifficult408]

Federico MUNERATO indeed

[@shshshshsh5471]

Federico MUNERATO note added,anything else?

[@Kunumbah1]

Taiwan Mapper But it's messier

[@azelfdaboi5265]

@@Kunumbah1 not if you're good at it

[@bentonrp]

Lolol 🤣 Oh yeahhh! ...THAT happened!

[@Redem10]

and what was the real lessons? Make sure to get quality rope

[@SmugLookingBarrel]

Redem10 and quality fire extinguishers

[@xertris]

***** and limit the power of political parties

[@Jeannick19]

Redem10 Or that no one tampers with it. Or that your execution crowd includes no priests. Or that you shouldn't supply sports fans with weapons.

[@Rangrok1k]

xertris What? No, clearly this is a lesson about rope. I have no idea how you thought this had anything to do with politics.

[@Redem10]

Chris c-k I don't know there was like six guys, would surely strain the arms of the executionner

[@grfrjiglstan]

Damn, sports riots are serious business.

[@jacobandrews2663]

grfrjiglstan have you been to.. Literally any country whose main event is a soccer match? Lol

[@wolfwoodphreak]

@@jacobandrews2663 central america. I had no idea it was as bad as it is.

[@TheJboy88]

That Theodora was one Hell of an impressive woman for her time.

[@IainDoc15]

Jay Especially considering she started off as an "actress," but then Justinian wasn't born into nobility either and he managed some impressive stuff

[@joolsstoo3085]

Jay Maybe that's how you see it, but to me it comes off a whole lot more entitled than impressive. She expected the men she was dressing down to fight and perhaps die so she could continue being royalty and everyone would still have to call her "your majesty". Basically she shamed them into defending her right to an easy life.

[@DuranmanX]

what's so great about saying royality is much better than us normal people?

[@joolsstoo3085]

Yes, entitled, shockingly entitled. Go butcher thousands of people so that I can continue living my comfortable life and keep my title. She's partly responsible for the deaths of over thirty thousand people. I realize you want her to be a strong, independent woman for... some reason but listen to her speech again. "May I never be without the purple I wear, nor live to see the day when people do not call me your majesty." Disturbingly entitled, especially the bit about purple being the noblest shroud and rather dying than giving up her title and power.

[@Thutil]

Jay Not even just for her time, she was an impressive woman in general.

[@KaiserAfini]

You have to admire Theodora's strength of character in the face of adversity, at a moment when every other high official was trembling in fear, she stood stalwart and gave Justinian the morale to save his crown.

[@AmariFukui]

I don't care how powerful you are, when hundreds of thousands of people chant against you in person you will be terrified.

[@fredericbauer7233]

unless you're self-made genetically enhanced super emperor Every king will fear the shitstain peasantry united

[@bentonrp]

This is true. To misunderstand their intentions by a millimeter can lead to them dishing out your torture by the miles! You know not how severely they believe what they believe. Added to that, a mob can easily lose their conscience and get crazed for no particular reason whatsoever.

[@Edmonton-of2ec]

Evidently unless you’re Theodora.

[@nicholedecarlo8725]

You think that’s scary, try working on a psychiatric ward and having someone in management scheduling window washers at dusk 🙀

[@alexgibson781]

"Justinian, in despair, considered fleeing, but his wife Theodora is said to have dissuaded him, saying, "Those who have worn the crown should never survive its loss. Never will I see the day when I am not saluted as empress." Although an escape route across the sea lay open for the emperor, Theodora insisted that she would stay in the city, quoting an ancient saying, "Royalty is a fine burial shroud," or perhaps, "[the royal color] Purple makes a fine winding sheet."" (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nika_riots) I knew you guys would use these quotes, you just had to!

[@Jeannick19]

***** You gotta love them for it.

[@andro7862]

The man who first shouted 'nika'...It was Walpole

[@horesfan400]

Walpole is an immortal being

[@robertwalpole360]

I am the best meme! ;)

[@PheonixRising2988]

The mastermind behind all human tragedy, Lord Wapole. :)

[@TheMrthatdude17]

Sollerite but wasn't blunt the mastermind, and walpole just taking advantage of the tragedy and orchestrating the coverup?

[@fighterck6241]

Andro A Definitely Walpole!

[@CloudCuckooCountry]

I've never trusted sports fans.

[@rockyfalldownstairs]

I knew I've seen your channel somewhere lol.

[@wolfwoodphreak]

Hell no they're cultists who worship competition for no legitimate reason. That's horrific

[@franciscodetonne4797]

I've never trusted sports :P

[@epicstimulus282]

Same

[@ryanlieb3958]

same

[@Duke_of_Lorraine]

3:25 : the minarets at the corner of Hagia Sophia were added by the Turks, after the fall of the city in 1453. Not there at the time of Justinian

[@IRisingFuryI]

***** And I was JUST going to point that out! Ninja'd :P

[@Jeannick19]

***** True.

[@Duke_of_Lorraine]

IRisingFuryI I am no ninja. I bribed a few guys who informed me of your plans about commenting on that point, so that I could outmanoeuver you

[@Taby1337]

***** Yes, but it is much more recognizable when it looks like it does today.

[@Omega0850]

IRisingFuryI Shut up you fucking smurf, the green are the best!

[@ChristianNeihart]

The roof, the roof, the roof is on-- It was Walpole.

[@Cheesemongle]

Christian Neihart 10/10 joke

[@ssnakezz]

Christian Neihart I want to make Walpole jokes with my friends but i don't think they'd understand :'(

[@Cheesemongle]

YOUR FRIENDS ARE WALPOLE

[@ChristianNeihart]

MAXIMUM WALPOLE! SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY! WITNESS THE VEHICULAR CARNAGE- It was Walpole

[@atreides213]

Christian Neihart Who controls the British crown? Who keeps the metric system down? Walpole! Walpole! Who keeps Atlantis off the maps? Who keeps the Martians under wraps? Walpole! Walpole!

[@ZeoViolet]

Theadora was one hell of a woman, with a spine made stronger than all the men around her. She shamed those men with her words, but she loved her husband deeply, and through that love she shared the strength she had with him and the rest of his men.

[@johnmars5282]

Riots have been a noble traditional custom in Greece ever since.

[@熊唯嘉]

Unfortunately, Greco-Roman citizens wielding democratic power all but went extinct after this affair.

[@VaeSapiens]

+ Theodora had Hypatius (the would be Nika emperor) executed, if someone is wondering.

[@AndyG94]

VaeSapiens I was wondering what happened to the poor guy...I hope it was a quick death

[@threedragonstalk2123]

This is the one thing she did here that I think was uncalled for

[@claudiu-mihaipuiu1221]

@@threedragonstalk2123 Well, as the crowds were chanting his name he was starting to warm up to the idea of possibly becoming emperor, so Theodora, in order to prevent another claimant to the throne, had him assassinated.

[@kapitan19969838]

@@claudiu-mihaipuiu1221 As she should

[@MDWolfe]

It's curious how many see him as a murder for the ending of this when he gave every effort at every turn to appease the mob. What choice did he have at the end but to have them culled for their aggression?

[@JewTube001]

Minngarm Halnhammer He didn't give every effort at all, according this show at least. Notice for how long he simply ignored them and did nothing while the mob grew more radical. If he made a decision sooner it probably wouldn't have come down to this.

[@blazer168]

JewTube that's because he didn't expect them to become a riot, and besides apparently they were apparently pushed to become violent by Justinian's rivals (probably unknowingly) but still. Honestly, I'm surprised he didn't just kill them all earlier considering they burned 1/4 of the city down.

[@JewTube001]

Brandon Ngo Yeah well people make that excuse about everything. But I was getting a bad feeling already every time they chanted and he ignored it. Either he frees two diem leaders or kills them and makes the decision while it's still his decision to make. But no, he let the situation get out of control.

[@sonicboomers122]

+JewTube if did what you say he would have had authority forever called into question he shouldn't bow down to mob. Especially since the people in question deserve to be hanged at the time

[@AbosluteInfinity]

JewTube He couldn't kill the leaders because they had no authority to storm the monasteries. He would have gotten a crap deal for letting them go and a crap deal for storming a monastery and killing them. So his only option was to wait them out.

[@sonicboomers122]

Under normal circumstances i would say that was excessive but, no that they earned that slaughter. They destroyed countless history and homes of innocent people stomping on them until they stopped was the only course of action

[@TDelamay]

sonicboomers122 I agree, those citizens were completely out of line and they were becoming their own worst enemy.

[@tenaciousdean6179]

sonicboomers122 Completely agree, they should have dealt with the London Riots in the same way. Once all the football hooligans had assembled in Wembley, begin an air-strike and orbital bombardment and save hundreds of soldiers lives in the process.

[@neonyankun]

sonicboomers122 And Justinian even offered a peaceful resolution before having to resort to wholesale slaughter.

[@rockCity777]

sonicboomers122 By modern standards, there's no way you can call a slaughter of 30, 000 of your own citizens justified. That's a small genocide. Just because you understand the reasoning behind the act it does not make the act itself a just one. But, it was a different time. For example, we don't see our governments as exercising divine right anymore either.

[@ARMERZ]

***** "Orbital Bombardment" Wh 40k? :D. Then let's send Boreale to retake Rome, and his mighty Spess Mahrens to retake Rome with his mighty tactics of "Steel Rehn" and rename it "Borealum" in his honor.

[@ladyfeatherinne]

And who are you, the proud demes say, that we must bow so low? Only a man with better clothes, that's all the truth we know. In a coat of gold or a coat of red, a lion still has claws, And ours are long and sharp, my lord, as long and sharp as yours. And so they spoke, and so they spoke, those demes of Constantinople, But now the rains weep o'er the hippodrome, with no one there to hear. Yes now the rains weep o'er the hippodrome, and not a soul to hear. (This is a game of thrones joke I didn't write this, I just changed the lyrics of rains of castamere)

[@SYKRAL1]

frederica bernkastel how long did it take you to think this up??? it probably would have take me a few days at least :P

[@ManSeekingMeaning]

Rough adaption of Rains of Castamere, but fun nonetheless. Love ASOIAF/GoT.

[@TheKing-gf1dl]

Yooooooo This is Insanee!

[@noamaviv1216]

This made my day

[@mk-ki4ls]

This is so legit

[@LordUzaki]

I love how everybody riots and begins tearing the city apart, but still expects the games to proceed as usual at the end of the week.

[@bentonrp]

They're now all on team Red.

[@LetsReadSFF]

The end of the riots is overwhelming. It's odd having stood in the area of the Hippodrome and now knowing so many people died there. Certainly changes my trip. I mean...I had lunch there.

[@florians9949]

Meh, they more than deserved it.

[@friedkeenan]

Justinian and Theodora just gained some mad respect from me

[@ton1]

And the moral: Purple is noblest colour as long it isn't a wedding. Don't crown your new emporer, if the old one isn't dead yet. And also this would make a pretty good movie.

[@Adam-cq2yo]

"What's that? You want to dethrone me? Well fuck you."

[@patu8010]

"Valar morghulis" --Theodora

[@TheZarkoc]

patu8010 I think there is a real life latin equivalent, "Memento mori" I think.

[@Foxpawed]

Zarko Cekovski we all dance the danse macabre

[@ProvidenceNL]

riquelme376 well, he wasnt anymore :P

[@kingusernamelxixthemagnificent]

"What ?" -- Justinian

[@Lactovacilo939]

13.000 people died in that day. Sad but i can't really feel pity when they burned half of the fucking city because of murderers

[@stuka80]

Cykachu Xmayro 30,000

[@jonsnowasoiaf]

+Cykachu Xmayro and set prisoners free! wtf!! haha

[@maggintons]

+Cykachu Xmayro Its like the second half of Dark Knight Rises!

[@twiliblade]

+Cykachu Xmayro they likely raped, looted and murdered other neutral civilians during their rampage as well

[@ravenoushydra7948]

will history repeat itself

[@bmckelvy5717]

Is it just me, or would this make a badass video game? Already have the title. NIKA!

[@hsnd2388]

Who bribed the Blue officials? Walpole. Who set Constantinople on fire? Walpole.

[@joeyvickers6105]

who commented here? Walpole

[@bentonrp]

Who remembers Walpole? Pepperidge Farms remembers Walpole.

[@althelor]

The idea of a man being dragged out from under his bed kicking and screaming and brought to the palace to be declared emperor is just hilarious to me.

[@AK-sb7cr]

3:15 I've a special hatred for people who burn books and monuments

[@fictionfan0]

Wow. Suddenly, modern-day sports fans look a lot calmer.

[@azelfdaboi5265]

Have you been to a Steelers game?

[@TheTrueAdept]

@@azelfdaboi5265 Or a soccer/football game? There is a good reason that the Orks in 40k are based on British soccer hooligans.

[@sharilshahed6106]

@@TheTrueAdept they depose governments?

[@TheTrueAdept]

@@sharilshahed6106 no, for the chaos and destruction they create.

[@reginaldinoenchillada3513]

I love when u give different perspectives on a certain event. Whether contemporary or as back story, its great as it shows how history does not take place in a vacuum but rather, everything is in flux at the same time. U did it with admiral yi's story and the sendokou jiddai, and also kosrau anushirawan and Justinian n theodora. Also, kudos on your explanation and historical description of the plague.

[@siprus]

Demes somehow reminds me of twitch chat.

[@vavakxnonexus]

siprus Demes should remind you of twitch chat, because... Demes. Are. Twitch. Chat. P.S. Both were created by Walpole.

[@azelfdaboi5265]

Or Discord

[@kalibos]

Nika = rekt In the parlance of our times

[@nicholasloremann4741]

kalibos AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAH

[@andrewkful]

If HBO or someone makes a show on this, the show will be named Nika.

[@santiagopichiringo8476]

I thought it was Nike like the greek goddess

[@johnnyroyal6404]

nika=νίκα means win (the verb) and its oredering you to so more accurately it means you must win

[@wolfwoodphreak]

And rekt they were in the end

[@tysullivan8467]

Thank I just want to say thank you for doing this . You are amazing people. Thank you.

[@ΣτελιοςΠεππας]

When Dan said "and Justinian's reign would never be challenged again" you should have used "The Rains of Castamere" as the backround song

[@spaceman081447]

Theodora had balls of steel!

[@Name2site]

Poor Hypatius. Afterward Justinian wanted to spare the man, but Theodora hen-pecked him into executing the man.

[@bentonrp]

That raging wench...!

[@NesosRomanus]

James, this episode was beautifully written! You did an incredible job; speaking as a PhD student in Classics, I'm thrilled by your, and the rest of the EC team's, ability to bring this stuff to life!

[@nej3157]

Pittsburger here, I can confirm this is how steelers fans act.

[@constantinediomedes6277]

Theodora > Marie Antoinette

[@interestingcommentbut....7378]

Not even close

[@constantinediomedes6277]

How so?

[@TheGreatOldOak]

One was born into aristocracy and the other raised to aristocracy.

[@honeybadger4396]

TheGreatOldOak yeah but one contributed greatly to her country and people whereas the other cared more about how to look prettier.

[@constantinediomedes6277]

exactly, the two came from the opposite ends of the spectrum yet I believe Theodora as a more capable leader than Marie in a time of crisis.

[@marcostsuna1]

here in brazil we face a problem like that - but it is still a newborn. here, after almost ever match of football involving one of the 3 greatests teams of the City of São Paulo, a group of fans who organize thenselfs for this gather and start fights witch always results in death of someone. in europe they have a similar problem.

[@ShnoogleMan]

The Roman Empire was almost brought down by sports fan riots.

[@alfrokorop9136]

Just discovered your channel, it's really great ! Fun, focused on both history and games ? AND BYZANTIUM ? Love you, man.

[@MyViolador]

Mob: burns invaluable relics of Constantine the great. Justinian: so you have chosen. Death "Belisarius, Mundus!"

[@paulplath8242]

This was one of my favorite parts of my history class last year :)

[@umartdagnir]

This is how you act when you're an emperor! Yet it now surprises me he was declared a saint.

[@sonicboomers122]

Considering he did that after they caused a massive fire, and five days of destruction i think we can call this justified.

[@icedragon769]

Dmitrij Bugajev So, if 100,000 armed men stormed Washington DC, burned the White House, Congress, the Lincoln Memorial, and all of the Smithsonian museums to the ground, and declared Jeb Bush the True president of the United States, you would not advocate for military action?

[@sobek-racrocodile9448]

icedragon769 I would call for military aid if any one was elevated to power outside way election or, appointment when in a time of war were there is no time for a proper election lest you lose the nation as a whole. This nation is free because one can't ascend to power by force, and the courts are free from the control of the enforcers. God bless the United States of America, hopefully it will stand at least till the tricentennial.

[@BrettCWX]

Nathan Wells You can buy your seat. So, how is that not force?

[@sobek-racrocodile9448]

BrettCWX My meaning is that one in this nation is not able to rule as a military dictator or as a puppet put there by tricks and chicanery.

[@colin8696908]

thats like 30,000 heads you could play like so much soccer with those.

[@ZebraOutpost]

Watching the end. All I can think of is "And who are you, the proud lord said, that I must bow so low-"

[@joec9693]

6:25 "Every man born to see the light of day must die" So Theodora invented the phrase Valar Morghulis?

[@fist-of-doom487]

It's a powerful phrase that remains true. You live and so you must cope with the eventuality that you must die if not now then later. No matter how unfair it my seem it is simply the way things are and not even the most powerful man can change it.

[@michaeljaradeh6213]

I laughed my ass off when I realised "nika" literally means "fuck her" in Arabic.

[@uria3679]

Who is watching this series in 2020?

[@naputidarrian]

Splendid! I enjoyed the narration and art work very much. Roman history is one of the most interesting things I've learned and I like seeing ECO do history lessons. Especially Justinian, Byzantium Romans are a different breed of Romans but it shows in the prowess of troop, formation of government, and overall August of leadership. Early Imperial Rome gets a lot of attention but the preservation of the Roman ideals through the Byzantines is still Roman at its core... And that is astounding.

[@shada0]

Justinian pisses off early history sports fanboys, horrifying.

[@radityakevin6352]

Back then was brutal, you got sports fans almost toppled an empire😂

[@wallyalhomaidi6411]

Honestly, I love that Justinian didn't flee and went on to kill all the ones who opposed him.

[@TeknoOrganicVirus]

I'm so glad I can see an episode each week.

[@fotppd1475]

nika in greek is the word we use to say to some one:win. the word victory is niki. and conquer kataktise

[@ssnakezz]

30,000 dead?! Thats insane!

[@AbosluteInfinity]

ssnakezz I think burning and looting a 4th of the city and killing the people who tried to put out the fires tops it.

[@ssnakezz]

AbosluteInfinity yes... but not really

[@vlorenzosoleri]

ssnakezz it's practically impossible to stop a riot that big without people ending up dead. It's really not a competition, both the riot itself and the measures taken were extremely violent acts, but it's not like the mob left Justinian much of a choice to stop the problem. And really, what the mob (and by extension, the people pulling the strings) were doing was pretty much the same thing that Justinian and his military did: trying to impose authority by force

[@Msoulwing]

Cure4Living At that point those 30,000 were basically a hostile army in friendly territory. I'll always prefer the diplomatic approach, but when you have a mob that burns down 1/4th of the city, drastic measures need be taken before you lose the rest. It's certainly not the best outcome, but not the worst either.

[@Msoulwing]

Cure4Living Well, if we're going to add positives and negatives together, wouldn't stopping the riots and preventing further casualties be a right? Even if you don't think the end justifies the means, the end should still *count*. Not that a 2-wrong 1-right situation is optimal either >_>

[@scifinut6155]

Hey since extra history is focusing on a specific figure this time I was wondering if you could go over the history of the Germanic mercenary Gotz von Berlichingen, or Gotz of the Iron Hand/Fist. Yeah guy was kind of a terrifying badass.

[@RonnieFlare17]

Whelp, it's been 6 years but they did do a video on him recently!

[@yaboisprinkles]

I love this channel because months ago I watched this series, and now I am re watching this series and am doing a project about Justinian!

[@mentallydisturbedscience8900]

The people in the Hippodrome were kinda begging to be slaughtered if you think about it. They boxed themselves in making it way too easy to cut them down.

[@waternapkinvondushenhofen8717]

+Extra Credits I utterly admire the efforts and work you put in those magnificent downloads of historical marvel :) The intriguing and adapted manner in which you deliver the material is evidently delightful

[@luciuscroy6656]

What happened to the nefew who didnt wanna he emperor

[@luciuscroy6656]

Be*

[@michaelkemel9711]

+lucius croy According to Wikipedia, he played up the idea of being Emperor after being dragged out by the mob. After the rioters were slain, he was captured, whereupon it is rumored Justinian wished to spare him, but was prompted by Theodora to execute him, which he did.

[@luciuscroy6656]

Michael Kemel but he did nothing wrong!! _._ I hate the romans

[@michaelkemel9711]

lucius croy Oh well. Its possible once he saw the number of people rooting for him, he sincerely wanted to become Emperor. I guess we'll never know. Besides, Justinian probably really needed to make an example of the old Royal family at that point in time.

[@luciuscroy6656]

Michael Kemel BTW check your hang outs

[@MyCarllee]

This is even better than Game of Thrones

[@linforcer]

Song of Ice and Fire, anyone?

[@Duma945]

Tommy Laukkanen Was expecting the Rains of Castamere at the end.

[@umartdagnir]

Tommy Laukkanen All over it.

[@adnoam]

Tommy Laukkanen The best fantasy parallel is Sailing to Sarantium, by Guy Gavriel Kay. It's almost the exact story of Justinian and Theodora in an alternate world/history setting.

[@jdwoods5790]

The sports people caused more damage than the 2 emperors combined

[@heartlessmushroom]

Justinian: The Demes: *I'm gonna say the N Word*

[@carolinesalv]

Before it even got to that part I KNEW the wife would be the one to put her foot down!!😆

[@voolvif3]

So... Narces is basically Petyr Baelish and Varys in the same person?

[@noamaviv1216]

elio IKR

[@halovsbionicle]

I have to say, one of my favorite things about these videos is the conversation they spark. The rationales on both sides of whether the slaughter of 30,000 civilians was really called for is a great example to me. On the one hand you have people with the ultimately correct and admirable belief of any human life lost is a loss. On the other people saying that the rioters deserved it. In the end I think both are correct personally but given the time period I favor the latter opinion. One thing that must be understood is that it was a very different world and that can be best shown with the difference in how warfare was waged. In modern times warfare is an ugly affair, make no doubt. It's violent, bloody and horrible. We can kill people more quickly and efficiently than ever before. However in some ways that's made warfare less ugly. In the ancient times where men had to rip each other apart by hand and blade the common methods of operation were kill-burn-loot-rape. In the end it was just how it was done, as, at that point even well trained soldiers had a kind of battle lust that can only be achieved in repeated melee. Needless to say, in those days it was a violent world and the common citizen could expect slightly worse treatment than the average house pet as far as the law was concerned. Looking at Justinian's decision through that lens, if he granted any clemency he would have been treated as a weak king and could easily expect many more reprisals and rebellions throughout his reign. Just look to the zulu episodes to see how a king is treated when he tries to make everyone happy. More to the point, those saying that a man like that should not be a ruler of men, I have the counterargument that, in those violent times, the only effective leader need to be violent as well. Otherwise you'll be quickly replaced by someone who is. Many such characters, leaders who we look back to with great reverence, had a bloody side to them as well so they could maintain order in the face of agitators who had no compunctions about causing death and destruction.

[@connormclernon26]

2:30 a moment in history in which the common man changed history

[@youtuhe6021]

If you wish to save yourself, my lord, there is no difficulty. We are rick; over there is the sea, and yonder are the ships. Yet reflect for a moment whether, when you have once escaped to a place of security, you would not gladly exchange such safety for death. As for me, I agree with the adage that the royal purple is the noblest shroud.

[@lunarusdust7227]

Bro this is some juicy Roman drama 👏👏👏👏

[@AllenClayton]

So interesting. Thank you for these videos!

[@tristinjudd2595]

Well this sounds familiar

[@hoodiesticks]

Did anyone else get a chill at 5:00 upon finding out the mob was being controlled?

[@woodrowjang]

loving the art on this one!

[@teo15]

One thing to note: at 3:24 Hagia Sophia is depicted as a mosque even though the Byzantine religion was Orthodox Christianity. Basically the 4 towers weren't a thing until the ottomans.

[@HeeminGamin]

haha I love the pictures of the "Fire"

[@robgraham5697]

This storming of the Hippodrome sounded very familiar. An SF story by Jerry Pournelle, The Mercenary, finishes with a scene very similar to this. The final lines, after someone praises the central character for saving the planet is, "Don't say that! The best a soldier can do is buy time." I suspect the next episode will be about Justinian making use of the time Belisarius and Mundus bought for him.

[@mrmadmaxalot]

This has always been one of those moments in history where I am split. On the one hand, we all want to root for Justinian, the great leader, and we are relieved when he is clever and bold enough to take back power and restore order. At the same time, this is one of the early examples of the people asserting the power and making their voice heard. A hard call to resist when you are born into the democratic ideal. While this revolt would certainly have not have lead to a democratic revolution in any sense, it is still hard to not sympathise with the politically minded people that must have been in the crowd hoping they would finally have a chance to adress the corruption in their world and make a better place for themselves. I would have been far more likely to be in that crowd facing the state's overwhelming force than in Justinian's palace if I had been alive then and there, so I can't help but think of their experience. But of course, I also want to root for Justinian, the one who nearly reunited the east and west. Conflicted emotions make for the best history.

[@renatopereira2315]

Does it have to get to nika for you to have moral qualms over what he did ? He was an emperor who for his vanity,ambition and greed was willing to wage wars that costed thousands of lives. Thousands of greeks , vandals , ostrogoths etc died in battles , sieges , raids whatever because he Justinian wanted a bigger empire. Is that good? Great men arent good men

[@AmidalaEmma]

It wasnt good but I often think its what the people wanted: in Rome at least (Im not as well versed in Byzantine) people loved victory and the glory it brings. But yes, it caused suffering to the soldiers, unless they won then they got booty/could rise in the ranks (position) esp in the republic

[@Summer_Snows]

I was shocked at myself when my very first reaction was joy for Justinian's victory before I realized that this is the exact form of brutality I would rage against in modern times. A large part of that is EH's ability to tell a dramatic narrative with Justinian largely as a hero. We've been rooting for him throughout the series, and many of the negative attributes of his councillors mentioned are no longer negative to modern eyes. Which, as is mentioned so often in the Lies section, is just another reason to get multiple viewpoints.

[@gilgameschvonuruk4982]

they were Hooligans, who didn't cared about politics, they just wanted to riot

[@renatopereira2315]

Gilgamesch von Uruk So they should be butchered ?

[@AnOdd1plays]

This kind of has an Game of Throne's Esos feel. If my guts tell true, this is an event that inspired Martin.

[@Julia53808]

7:02 a solar watch!

[@almostideal1306]

love this series. I've been a fan of Byzantine History for quite a few years and I'm so happy seeing this here. This episode has such a good opening few minutes, it makes the history so dramatic.

[@NikkiMKarLen]

"May I never be without the purple I wear."

[@highlandersteve9953]

4:43 Didn't know you watched Northernlion and were able to predict memes 2 years in the future.

[@LuccianoBartolini]

Dang, seeing how they're telling with this period in time, now I want to see them cover the life of King David, he did more awesome things than kill some big dude (and he wasn't as perfect as Hollywood portrays him), or the Books of Kings (there are some very interesting stories there), at least that is what my Christian side wants. My Venezuelan part want the cover of the Revolution of South America (First Venezuela since they became independent from Spain first) and touch in characters like Simón Bolívar and Francisco de Miranda (He is way too awesome to not be known).

[@LuccianoBartolini]

Nemerian I REALLY understand your point, my problem is, nobody can ever do it like them and they approach this stories in ways that neither school or documentary channels (like History or Discovery) tend to do, especially now nowadays. And besides, The Book of Kings and The Books of Samuel are among the most historical ones (wether people wants to involve God or not) and we know for a fact that the people mentioned in there did existed (unlike Exxodus or Genesis) and we don't have too many issues discussing who is who in said book (Like Esther, Daniel, etc.), in other words I'm only asking the safest one, or at least, the one I think IS the safest one to ask for (if not, which one?). And yeah, I did forgot the reaction from People in those videos, but at the same time I think that there are stories that deserves to be told, especially because since nobody read the Bible (for "X" or "Y" reason) and nobody knows stories that I think should be more known like David's war against his Son Absalon and why it started, or how Salomon came to be (the first time I readed that my mind got blown). It does makes me sad that they'll probably never do those books, but a guy can dream, right?

[@fite-4-ever876]

that time Ultras nearly destroyed an empire

[@loupax]

If Extra Credits exists 10 years later, there might be an Extra history for what happens in Europe these days...

[@felixvanmears]

Nah they dont cover recent events, unless they get a sponsorship to do that

[@rhyla5719]

These parts of history in school were boring as heck. I'd never thought I'd be so excited to learn about this emperor. You guys really have a gift for story-telling.

[@InMaTeofDeath]

Fire and Blood.

[@underoverafterbefore]

This is probably the single most epic episode I've seen yet. Great work!

[@jessesmith6824]

1:37 Yi what are you doing here go fight japan.

[@zerobudgetgamer]

I have to say, I actually got goosebumps at the end there. I have never been so interested/engaged in History in my life.

[@mildewystorm9525]

Nika Riots reminds me of America right now

[@OtakuExtreme25]

Same. Third stage would be the mob would be primed.

[@jackanderson4165]

Just been reading about ancient Athenian democracy and (sorry if this has already come up) found that 'demes' there were subdivisions of Attica from about 508BC and every Athenian citizen had to be enrolled in one if they wanted to have a vote in the democracy. Presumably that's where the 'demes' of Byzantium got that word, just thought you might want to know (which you probably already did) :).

[@jackanderson4165]

Oh? Cool, interesting etymology for that one :)

[@SuperHamsterhuey]

Holy shit, Theodora is a badass

[@cyranodebergerac1835]

The Hunger games trilogy reminds me of the uprising with the demes and all. Katniss and Peeta were spared to give the people hope, but it was harnessed by 13 to start a revolution.

[@DuranmanX]

Things where... different those days

[@stelios.3221]

if only i had discovered these videos when i was studing byzintane history back in school a congrations from greece !!!!