Full Tour of a Roman Naval Base - Fort Flevum

Yet another visit to a key Roman fort, this time, on the other side of the Rhine!
Join us as we go over the interesting findings, significance and story of the fort. As with all our previously covered forts, there will be trouble with the locals. The siege and battle of Fort Flevum, or Fort Velsen, has been carefully recreated at the end of the video!
We would greatly appreciate any support you would like to give this channel, as it will help create more quality content for you in the future!
Patreon: / filaximhistoria
Primary Sources
-Plin. NH. XVI. 1-4.
-Plin. NH. XVI. 4.
-Tac. Ann. IV. 72-73.
Secondary Sources
-Bosman, A. & Lendering, J. Edge of Empire: Rome’s Frontier on the Lower Rhine. Karwansaray Publishers: Zutphen, 2012.
-Bosman, A. Rome aan de Noordzee: Burgers en barbaren te Velsen. Sidestone Press: Leiden, 2016.
-Caballo, C., Kooistra, L. I., Dütting, M. K. “Food supply to the Roman army in the Rhine delta in the first century A.D.”
-Chorus, J, P. “Building timber auxiliary forts in the Lower Rhine Delta in the Netherlands (AD 40 -140)”, Archäologische Berichte 27, 2017, 19-36.
Driessen, M. “The Roman Harbours of Velsen and Voorburg-Arentsburg”, Bonner Beiträge zur Vor und Frühgeschichtlichen Archäologie, 16, 2014, 209-228.
-Graafstal, E. “River frontiers or fortified corridors?”, in Hodgson, N., Bidwell, P.,
Schachtmann, J. (eds.) Roman Frontier Studies 2009 Proceedings of the XXI International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies (Limes Congress) held at Newcastle upon Tyne in August 2009, Archaeopress Publishing: Oxford, 2017, 186-193.
-Haalebos, J. K. & Willems, W. J. H. “Recent research on the limes in the Netherlands”, JRA 12, 1999.
-Lange, S. The Wooden Artefacts from the Early Roman Fort Velsen 1. Nederlandse Archeologische Rapporten nr. 69, Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands: Amersfoort, 2021.
-van Dinter, M. “The Roman Limes in the Netherlands: how a delta landscape determined the location of the military structures”, Netherlands Journal of Geosciences, 92, 1, 2013, 11-32.
Intro (0:00)
Location and Terrain (1:18)
The Fort's Features (4:18)
The Fort's Garrison (8:27)
The Battle of Flevum (9:30)

[@HistoriaMilitum]

If you found the skeleton of "Taurus" impressive, check out our video on the training and diet of Gladiators; who had up to 4 times the muscle and strength of a regular human: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jZ7EpWuugJ6ll68

[@ophirbactrius8285]

Aha Taurus Mountain is located in Asia Minor or Anatolia nowadays. 😃😃

[@roundninja]

I love these fort videos. I can spend hours reading Gibbon or Caesar learning about Rome, but just a few minutes actually seeing it in 3D like this makes me comprehend it all so much better.

[@professormeatball]

I’m partial to fart videos personally

[@JonEtxebeberriaRodriguez]

It's also a great opportunity to cover some forgotten histories of Roman Military History 😉

[@N0M0RENAME]

You start to realize what city states in North America might look like and then you see their forts

[@wilhelmkaiser1435]

Why would you read Gibbon to learn about Rome? Near everything he says is wrong and outdated.

[@roundninja]

@@wilhelmkaiser1435 Yeah true, Gibbon is actually pretty poor for learning about Rome, he's much more useful for learning about the idea of Rome, as it was conceived by people of later ages, and for understanding the course of western historiography, which is just as interesting to me as actual Roman history itself. But you're right though, everything Gibbon says needs serious fact checking

[@EdeYOlorDSZs]

I live in the Netherlands so I found this video especially intriguing. The depth of research and explanation you engage in is very admirable!

[@EdeYOlorDSZs]

I live in Leidsche Rijn, which is also hosted a roman settlement in the late antiquity. It is reconstruced and called 'castellum hoge woerd'.

[@JonEtxebeberriaRodriguez]

@@EdeYOlorDSZs We used information provided by Dutch historians. We had to google translate a handful of articles for that :). The sources section will soon be added for you to consult. The Netherlands is doing a great job at preserving many ancient roman sites 🙂

[@danielsaavedra8520]

do you know if there is anything left from this fort, and where are the remains?, so much water control done ove the last centuries that i doubt is anywhere near a river now

[@JonEtxebeberriaRodriguez]

@@danielsaavedra8520 If you mean like the ruins of a medieval castle, then there is almost nothing of the fort left. Archaeologists have based their interpretation on the objects found during the excavations. Due to the abundant flooding even the foundations of almost all the buildings had been completely eroded. Thankfully the objects recovered do leave traces or hints about existing structures or their possible location. About the location, a native dutch might tell you better but for me it's close to Amsterdam and near a river

[@danielsaavedra8520]

@@JonEtxebeberriaRodriguez thanks I thought so, because of the piled earth and wooden materials are hard to preserve, I figured it was near Amsterdam but I imagine it's very different from what it was back then because of the extensive flood control and soil reclamation that has been done there for centuries.

[@muneirovalibas6194]

When they showed "Taurus' gear remains, it kinda hits me hard. You could imagine the guy himself, during much peaceful time, admiring or maintaining his kit, it looked finely crafted. How did it look at its prime? And now he's gone so long ago, his real name forgotten forever. How did he sound like? What wer his fav jokes he shared with his friends? What a different world it must've been. All gone.

[@TotalyRandomUsername]

One famouse roman joke he probably would and had laughed about goes like this: A barber, a bald man, and a professor are walking together on a journey. They decide to set up camp and take turns watching their belongings while the others sleep. The barber takes the first watch, and to pass the time, he decides to play a prank. He shaves the head of the sleeping professor. When his turn is over, he wakes up the professor for the second watch. The professor, waking up and touching his head, finds himself bald and exclaims, “How foolish is this barber! He’s woken up the bald man instead of me!"

[@jonny-b4954]

Yeah, I often think things like that. What time did the average person wake up? Did that have a morning beverage like how we drink coffee? What was the society like, were people friendly or reclusive? What sort of local traditions and holidays, beliefs etc did they have? Imagine the neighborly feuds, totally inconsequential but were real to them. Things like a new road being built through the area and how that changed things etc.

[@TotalyRandomUsername]

@@jonny-b4954 The first question is quite easy to answer. Until very resent, with the first morning light the cock in your yard starts making noice and that was when everybody woke up.

[@ChaCha-zy4mo]

Man can you imagine being those 900 men fighting for hours against an overwhelming enemy. All while hoping your brothers will come and save you, never to have that hope come to fruition.

[@lkmjin]

So many instances from History make me just gasp for air when i immagine what some People went throught. Immagine being centurion in one of Ceasars legions. U fight the celts, then in greece, then egypt, then you Die in the battle of Munda killed by another Roman.

[@yourealittlebitfat4344]

Ye well you shouldn't oppress people then you wouldn't have been in that pickle now would they

[@user-fl7zn2tn9q]

@@yourealittlebitfat4344 You can't easily fault a soldier. It is those in the brass and royalties who have the primary say regarding oppression. As most soldiers, you'll have to follow orders and fight to make a living.

[@docbrosk]

@@lkmjin Civil wars are a bitch on wheels, no doubt about it. I watched the "Class of 61" about 3 West Point cadets (1 from the south) going into it - friends & two roommates. Expect we will learn that again here in the near future unless we are very, very lucky.

[@docbrosk]

@@shinrapresident7010 Agree. Only question: If seven months of rioting, looting, arson, mayhem & murder in 2020 didn't anger them wtf would?

[@nielsnijmegen2917]

This story is as good as unknown in the Netherlands! I was very pleased to learn all this! So thank you very much!

[@JonEtxebeberriaRodriguez]

Glad you liked the video 😊 The story comes from a couple of pages written in Tacitus' Annals

[@HistoriaMilitum]

As requested, we made a Roman naval Fort this time! Let us know if you have any suggestions for the next fort. We are looking for something unique with a lot of findings and importance!

[@rjackstheartofwealth6152]

Make more videos on the finances of ancient rome and other similar societies. You could literally redo the last finance video as 3 in depth videos. Also cover sex in ancient rome. On campaign, in the cities, sex with slaves, etc. Sex and money are the two most powerful things in this world

[@thedreamtime3624]

Bro! This was so good! Make more if you could. You really captured the realities of a functioning fort, how it was laid out and how they operated. Top notch content thank you so much 🤙🏽

[@thedreamtime3624]

Also could you do a similar video of caesar In alesia? I know it wasn't exactly a fort. But I would love to see it visualised and defences explained in such a manner.

[@HistoriaMilitum]

@@thedreamtime3624 The only problem is the complete lack of excavations, so the whole thing would have to be an estimation… but we will consider it, as Alesia would spike a lot of interest and the battle would be fun to recreate. Thanks for the idea!

[@thedreamtime3624]

@@HistoriaMilitum I understand! It was a very makeshift siege/fort. But hey there are estimates of distances with the inner and outer wall. Also looking back upon the commentaries there could be a recreation close enough to the real thing. 🙂 thanks for the consideration and the comment mate I love the content ❤

[@Angusticlavius]

Very interesting; didn't see this coming! I live less than 1 km from the remnants of that fort which were discovered when the "Wijkertunnel" was built. Some of the schools (Vellesan College and Gymnasium Felisenum), our municipality (Velsen) and even an entire province (Flevoland) are named after this Roman fort.

[@JonEtxebeberriaRodriguez]

It literally happened by chance. Sadly a good deal of information was lost due to the floodings erasing the traces of the foundations used in many buildings. We used a translated version of a book written by Arjen Bosman (the guy who has devouted his life to the fort). It's titled "Rome Aan de Noordzee"

[@yourealittlebitfat4344]

The fort got named after the land, so the lands name is just a modern name of the old name. not after the fort

[@spirosvelliniatis2165]

Velsen ... means Roman in ancient dutch/deutsch/saxon

[@KhaiOpirusIV]

Roman Victor!

[@ronaldderooij1774]

Just a few corrections: Fort Flevum I and Flevum II were not built in exactly the same location, but approximately 1 km apart on opposite sides of the Oer-IJ. A further detail: IJ is one letter in Dutch and is pronounced as the English "I" (approximately). We write it as IJ on keyboards, as the Dutch letter is not on it. OE is two letters, but one sound, sounding like "OO" in English. So Oer-IJ sounds as "oor I".

[@justlikeme2797]

This is the channel i am generally proud to see it grow with top notch content and have been here since the first or second video keep it up champ.

[@HistoriaMilitum]

That’s amazing to hear! Thank you for your comment and on going support! :)

[@jonbaxter2254]

Incredibly high quality vids my man.

[@andrewanderson5948]

Yeah he’s real good

[@HistoriaMilitum]

Thanks guys, there’s more on the way!

[@OdinsVikingr]

Excellent work sir, the Empire appreciates your service 👏

[@dripmogus6979]

Germ

[@beaubrent]

Its amazing that historians can record the series of events so clearly from bits left behind.

[@Napoleon1540]

Amazing video! That was super cool, continue the good work!

[@HistoriaMilitum]

Very glad you enjoyed, will do!

[@CrazyPengion]

I never expeected to be so entertained about Rome, but even after 5 nearly movies I'm still going

[@SSB_Its_Me_SB]

I’ve been to the Roman town/fort on the Rhine named Xanten, the place was awesome!

[@hippy00hater]

As an inhabitant of modern day Velserbroek and history enthousiast it's great to see a video about this topic. Just now a new study has given us more insight in the Romans in Velsen and this fortress. Keep up the good work!

[@LiveinReykjavik]

Once again (I have stopped counting) thank you for an amazing upload! Among all the channels with historical content that I follow, yours is definitely my favorite! I literally cannot wait for your next upload! Please keep up the amazing work! Cannot thank you enough for these!

[@HistoriaMilitum]

Thank you for this kind comment, it truly means a lot. I am honoured to have such enthusiastic viewers as yourself. For my part, I will continue releasing videos that are as interesting and high quality as possible for your enjoyment!

[@tristinkirby]

thank you for all the work that went into this.

[@topiasr628]

This was incredible! Great, great work!!

[@Trashloot]

This video is so well made. I love the total war (?) scenes which support the narrative. Thank you for the amazing work :D.

[@jordanclark7821]

Oh man. Easiest sub in months. Engineer + History buff.

[@EdeYOlorDSZs]

Another amazing upload, thank you!

[@cawgsugr1440]

Awesome video! Love the illustrations of the fort.

[@johnking6252]

Great story! Another addition to those damn Roman histories! Thanks.

[@awegjlappenaeofgihn]

I love how every "Newer" Roman Documantary uses the Music of Total War: Rome 2 :D I love the game, I love the Romans and Roman Culture and im so Interested in it :) Thanks for that Naval Base Tour :3

[@geolefleur4908]

Filaxim team you have outdone yourselves with this project! this is so entertaining

[@stefanschleps8758]

Excellent recounting of events. I appreciate your educating us. New sub.

[@nicholasd5629]

Great video as always! Hope this channel blows up.

[@islemghira5497]

this channel will grow to be a big thing

[@gerlofwoudstra7506]

Very interesting. Always great to learn about the history of your own people. Especially when it makes you feel some pride,

[@aaron756]

I love your videos. Good work 👍🏼

[@edmundcowan9131]

Excellent job thank you.

[@djcochrane]

Thank you for these. So interesting.

[@HistoriaMilitum]

My pleasure!

[@agrippa5643]

Man you're amazing. Keep it up, very pleased with what i see!

[@HistoriaMilitum]

Thank you! I am very glad you enjoyed. I think you would like to know that I'm almost done the next 3D Fort video, which should be released in a day or 2! :)

[@agrippa5643]

@@HistoriaMilitum I am. Thanks very much. Roman history is a great fascination to me because i admire them.

[@slowandsteadylosestherace9755]

Could you do a video on the composition of the Late Roman Army?

[@HistoriaMilitum]

Great idea! I will look into right away and see if I can compile a detailed video. Cheers!

[@larsrons7937]

So interesting this video. I watched it when it came out, and I really enjoyed watching it again. It is such an interesting story.

[@robertlossing3390]

Fantastic! Love your channel! I realy enjoy the "economic" discussions and can see how they mirror today's crisis.

[@11ops11]

Amazing video! The 3D really brings it all to life. Thanks

[@baasmans]

It’s the “oer ij” river, pronounced something like “oar eye”. The IJ still exists, it cuts through Amsterdam. “Oer” means old or primordial, as its flow and shape must’ve been different then.

[@IconoclasticFeverDream]

First time seeing your vids. This video was awesome! You have my subscription sir. Well done!

[@HistoriaMilitum]

Thank you and welcome aboard! :)

[@eismann82]

Amazing video, thank you

[@blackfeathers2166]

No new Historia Civilis videos, but I found this channel.

[@rustyking5099]

Very good video I love your channel it's one of my favorites.

[@HistoriaMilitum]

That’s a big honour, thank you!

[@user-fl7zn2tn9q]

Damn this was so immersive. Another great video!

[@chrisdjernaes9658]

Excellent and Informative. Thanks 🍻

[@swissmilitischristilxxii3691]

Great job Joe, the romans threw legionary Taurus in a hole with his gear. The Legio V Alaudae save their a$$$.

[@legioxequestris811]

Amazing video dude

[@HistoriaMilitum]

Thank you!

[@sarcasmo57]

Super interesting. Thank you.

[@Goose-Man1]

1 view and 7 likes, good job

[@sebastiaanl9876]

Good video thanks a lot - a guy from The Netherlands

[@vinnieg6161]

I like these videos so much I don't even get mad at the ad

[@mirola73]

Never knew the Romans had anything permanent 'above the rivers' in NL (which are roughly in the middle). Thought they only conquered up to the rivers and hunkered down there setting up forts.

[@igorbahillodiaz]

Looks great

[@T.Riker_]

Excelent video!

[@neutralfellow9736]

Claudius abandoning an agressive stance towards Germania and choosing to conquer Britania instead caused resonance that Rome suffered for centuries after, til it fell. The useless swamps and forests of Germania would have been a far lower loss of income for the Empire than the constant loss they suffered from Germans launching themselves through the borders over and over again.

[@isaakmcduffie795]

Actually it wasn’t Claudius who initially abandoned the conquest. It was Tiberius

[@isaakmcduffie795]

Point still stands though

[@davidedbrooke9324]

Left a split in Europe that has resonated for two thousand years and only the formation of the EU has got past this divide.

[@Tonyx.yt.]

@@davidedbrooke9324 huge BS, EU didnt nothing about, in fact just give the outer side (germany) more power and leverage than before against the "inner part"

[@MM22966]

Yeah, but how far east do you go?

[@jonny-b4954]

Fantastic video.

[@Nekerfree]

Praetorians ost, good taste

[@danielrus7117]

Excellent video! Now I want to see a second part about this naval fort's history. How did the Romans reconquer Frisia?

[@lorenzo3987]

I love these videos!

[@cld5725]

Great video, thanks

[@MarktheRude]

Literally all he had to do was not to alter the contract agreed upon previously in such a radical manner.

[@herrakaarme]

The empire was corrupt at that point. Even if one commander wasn't corrupt, what could he do when his own superiors were and demanded more? In any case, he was, as well. There's no use saying that a corrupt man shouldn't be greedy.

[@drewchamberlain2389]

I miss the history of the legions videos but this was an amazing high quality video great job

[@martinmorbak8778]

Still can't believe I discovered this channel only yesterday.

[@HistoriaMilitum]

Welcome aboard, there's much more to come! :)

[@ciuyr2510]

this is great yes

[@you-know-who9023]

Great video 😊

[@markbarber7839]

Thanks for the video.

[@RENATVS_IV]

Sorry I didn't comment, but here I am 😁 I appreciate you continue with the fort series. As always, nice video, mate.

[@JonEtxebeberriaRodriguez]

Glad you liked it! :) Always happy to see you around 😊

[@RENATVS_IV]

@@JonEtxebeberriaRodriguez ¿Eres el creador del canal Jon?

[@JonEtxebeberriaRodriguez]

@@RENATVS_IV Nope, just the man doing the research and scripts of some of the videos 😊

[@TheSasudomi]

I love that you are using the Praetorians soundtrack in the background :3

[@Harry-bc2dn]

Fantastic

[@ModernPracticalStonemason]

Awesome video

[@nijirotakeda7527]

Wow im here since 10k sub, now you have 100k. Well im here since his second vid came out the 10th legion video, but yah he grow fast wow.

[@HistoriaMilitum]

Welcome back! It was indeed a fast rise and I am thankful to everyone for it!

[@lucianograff6512]

Really cool video!

[@markmuller7962]

Imagine the cold and humidity of living there in stone buildings

[@lachbullen8014]

You know I always wanted to learn the Romans in the modern-day Netherlands in the low countries..

[@micahistory]

very interesting, i like videos like this

[@spencer9819]

Great layout for a DnD fort.

[@hungrymusicwolf]

Arrogant Roman Commander: "I have altered the deal, pray I don't alter it further." The Dutch: *rebellion noises* The Spanish: "Why do I hear boss music from behind me? There isn't even any music playing!"

[@SB-qm5wg]

Great vid.

[@megasalexandros6400]

Great video! I remember reading about this fort a few years ago and found its story incredible! I'd like to read more about it (because it's not an easy fort to research). Could you share the sources you used when researching for this video?

[@JonEtxebeberriaRodriguez]

Sorry for the late response. Just realized that the video has no sources. It's my fault of forgetting to sharing them with Filaxim 😅. For the primary sources Tacitus has a brief chapter covering the battle in his books Annals, chapters 72-73. For modern research we used the book "Edge of Empire" Jona Lendering and Arjen Bosman (native dutch historians), "Rome aan de Noordzee" by Arjen Bosman (he has spent decades of his career researching the fort), "The Wooden Artifacts of the Early Roman Fort Velsen 1" by Silke Lange and a series of articles, the most important one being "The Roman harbours of Velsen and Voorburg-Arentsburg" by Mark Driessen. The rest were more general covering the landscape of the netherlands, the economy, romanization etc...

[@josenucre4094]

The paretorian game music on the background is making me wanting to play that game again

[@mohamed-fb9vt]

Good video

[@alexamg6675]

Love the Rome total war 2 Attila footage

[@evershumor1302]

Oer means old/ancient, IJ is the name. So it means old-[name] river, because the current river, the IJ, is different.

[@FriesutFryslan]

Indeed in Dutch it means old/ancient, but in Frisian it means 'on/to the other side of' (oer it wetter = over/ to the other side of the water). Since in that time the Frisian tongue was spoken and written and not Dutch it may refer to the Frisian meaning of the word instead of the Dutch meaning.

[@JZsBFF]

As soon as he returns from his Herculaneum expedition, Plinius The Elder will mention you in his letters and dispatches for a job well done.

[@geordiejones5618]

People kinda of underwrite that the Roman navy was uncontested until the Goths and even then it wasn't until the Arabs conquered Africa where Rome saw its naval hegemony regress. It was best or second best in the Mediterranean from the Punic Wars until the rise of the maritime republics and the Crusades. For about 600 years Rome on land and sea was unassailable which is double what the UK and US have been able to do overlapped in the modern era.

[@UnholyWrath3277]

England hasnt faced a successful cross channel invasion since 1066 even if it wasnt their navy that garunteed that the whole time

[@geordiejones5618]

@@UnholyWrath3277 yeah but the Vikings and Saxons landed there for about 600 years uncontested. No one wants Britain it barely has anything and its expensive to defend as an occupying force. Their diplomacy and money have done more than their navy.

[@bighands69]

The arabs did not conquer the Roman Naval forces. Rome had collapsed by the time Arabs started to push into Africa.

[@Userkiller3814]

@@UnholyWrath3277 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_the_Medway

[@robbabcock_]

Fantastic work! I love animations and digital reconstructions, it really brings the subject to life.⚔

[@senator1295]

well done

[@deanedge5988]

excellent

[@annunakim525]

Music is from Praetorians

[@karansjet3823]

very cool vid! i live in the town thats on the place of an ancient roman fort too! it was called Albanianae and is located on the old rhine. would love to see it animated somehow

[@markecgazda3880]

awesome video!!! What programs is used for models and rendering? Im using blender and Unreal Engine 5 for my game making and Im crazy for roman, greek and romanesque architecture style!!

[@neilritson7445]

Biroswald - fort on the wall overlooking the Irthing river.

[@Theaddekalk]

pretty cool

[@monk071]

I’m already dreaming 💭 up ways to convert this to a D&D map 🗺️ and some adventure hooks 🪝 Maybe the invaders have hired them to sabotage the gates or the food stores. Great video 🤘🏾

[@jankapuscinski8456]

I love the music from praetorians!

[@docbrosk]

Excellent. Very professionally done. One question: Why no wall - even a low screening one - along the waterfront of the fort? Surely they had to take into account a waterborne landing. Not a criticism of this, just curious, I have never seen a depiction of a Roman naval fort before.

[@JonEtxebeberriaRodriguez]

The first phases of the fort did have one. At least covering part of the river side. But it seems that as the fort grew in size they decided to get rid of it. When it comes to defenses in the river side, the sources we consulted didn't mention any :)

[@jeffreygroen9191]

I live close by this old fort. The Romans would be amazed how we invaded the sea their fort was on and ocupied it's land.

[@ag2938]

Hervorragende römische Marinefestung, ohne Feuerwaffen nicht zu Erobern.

[@ediblemussel4115]

Lol No

[@acebrandon3522]

Articus Livia Maximo of Leo XXIII Omario, likes this channel. 😁