The Roman Legion

[@kassthered8452]

There is a famous quote from a legionary: "If anyone ever saluted a Tribune, the light must have been really bad." Says a lot about those guys...

[@OHYS]

I DON'T GET IT

[@Aipe97]

@@OHYS The joke is that the tribunes (I'm assuming the thin striped ones) hold so little respect that the only reason someone would salute them was if they thought it was someone more important due to the bad light

[@OHYS]

@@Aipe97 Thank you for explaining. I hate being left In the dark.

[@paint_thinner]

So do tribunes

[@idndyzgaming]

@@OHYS aaaaayyyy!

[@breezybaby6430]

"It was so informal that we don't even have a name for it." We sure as hell do. BATTLE BUDDY!

[@QemeH]

Wingman

[@girl_frotter]

no, it was "boyfriends"

[@yehudatheodoros6547]

@@girl_frotter were definitely a few but statistically most of the time not

[@84MadHatter]

@Ellie negative this the army not the navy

[@rjhaney2614]

@@84MadHatter Double negative. This was Ancient Rome, not modern America.

[@michaelpisciarino5348]

Top Down/Bottom Up System *Contubernium* 8 Men, 4 Pairs of 2, Small, informal unit Bottom/UP Decanus- The Leader of the Contubernium (elected by their peers, known for his experience) A Century (1:39) - 80 Men - Rome's most Basic Tactical Unit - 10 Contubernia - 59 Centurions per Region - Top/Down Promotion by Superiors Cohorts (2:51) - 6 Century = 480 Soldiers -10 cohorts in ever legion -Trumpet Call - Bottom/Up System, Institutionalized Command Structure The First Cohort (4:05) - 5 Double Strength Centuries = 800 Men - Very Prestigious, Protecting The Commander Primus Pilus - Highest Ranking Front Line Soldier - Spoke to The Commander, planned/strategized - 4th In Command *Camp Prefect* "The Professional Soldier" - Supplies/Encampment Master - Former Primus Pilus - 3rd in Command *Military Tribune* (6:32) "The Aristocracy/The People of Rome" - Elected position - Son of a Senator, Please The Voters Back Home - (Thin Striped Tribunes)=A bit of a joke) - (Thick Striped Tribunes= Actual Responsibility and Respect) - 2nd In Command, *Legate* (8:10) "The Will of The Senate" - A Senator appointed by the Senate to lead the Legion

[@lewisirwin5363]

So essentially Legionnaire = Private Decanus = Corporal Optio = Lieutenant/Sergeant-Major Centurion = Captain/Major Thin-Striped Tribune = Adjutant/Staff-Officer/Senior Cadet Camp Prefect = Chief Logistical Officer Thick-Striped Tribune = Political Officer/ Lieutenant-Colonel Legate = Colonel/Brigadier

[@physical_insanity]

@@lewisirwin5363 Thin Striped Tribune = Yeoman

[@buckplug2423]

@@lewisirwin5363 Something like that, although I'd make the 1st Cohort officers captains (apart from the Primus Pilus, who could be a major or a senior captain as it's designed in some armies) and the officers of other cohorts as Lieutenants - since a century is the only tactical unit (tactical in modern understanding of course), so it'd be possible to use those ranks to indicate seniority. Camp Prefect could also be seen as a Regimental Sergeant Major or a praporshchik.

[@julianna4573]

im in my humanities class rn, and we have to take notes on this video. thank you king

[@milopezusmc]

@@lewisirwin5363 Okay. Here goes my version of military ranking. Lol Legionnaire = Private Decanus = Corporal Optio = Sergeant (Top enlisted for purposes of this ranking system) Centurion = Lieutenant I Cohort Centurions = Captain Cohort Leads = Major Primus Pilus = Lt. Colonel Camp Prefect = Colonel Thick ST = Brigadier Legate = General

[@allisongretsinger322]

Fun Fact: The first legions Gaius Marius raised in 107 BCE after his Marian reforms were enacted were almost entirely from the urban poor and in this one case there was an exception to the norm of the Decanus being selected by the other men of the Contubernium. In Marius' first legions, the Contubernii were organized so that each group had at least one literate man, the appointed Decanus, whose additional duty was to teach the others to read.

[@marcospatricio8283]

Wait, for real?! I've never read of that in the Marian Reforms. What are your sources? I'm curious.

[@kakyoin9688]

@@marcospatricio8283 I think the Marian reforms came to being because the Roman legions suffered some horrific defeats. It was during the late Republican period.

[@collinwheeler1984]

Ty 3:01 hun t I

[@theincrediblefox]

​​@@marcospatricio8283 Plutarch wrote about this in Gaius Marius chapter 9, section 1. As far as i can tell, this was no official part of the military reform, but instead a measure Marius took to fight poverty and improve living conditions in the citys.

[@phnexOice]

The reforms came from 2 big problems the maniple system had. 1. With Romes empire getting larger armies would often have to be on campaign for a long time, and so the landed citizen militias saw their farms collapse in their absence durring their campaigns, hurting the Roman economy. 2. The specialized roles of the maniples made reenforcing them a nightmare, often times many armies had far too many Hastati and Principe and a serious deficit of Triiari. The cohort system fixed both of these problems

[@M_Chen333]

"We can safely ignore the thin striped tribunes. They're dead to us." DAMN, SON

[@hugo57k91]

They are tho

[@ngolokante7805]

@@hugo57k91 basically

[@84MadHatter]

so like second lieutenants

[@OrDuneStudios]

@@84MadHatter 100%

[@mal3xia]

Those thicc bois tho.

[@lanzelloth]

0:28 they're called accountibilibuddies

[@JingleJangle256]

The US Army calls them “Battle Buddies” and the Air Force calls them “Wingmen”.

[@1Heirborn]

The organisation of the Roman legion always seemed ridiculously advanced for its time. The discipline was so incredible!

[@lukesmith1818]

Don't forget religiosity. They believed that they descended from Romulus, a demigod. They also had tactics like the devotio to inspire zeal

[@thedrinkinggamemaker9749]

Legio! Aeterna!

[@HailAnts]

And they were all commanded by Bigus Dickus!

[@DrewskiTheLegend]

Haail theaser!

[@nulnoh219]

And his wife incontinentia Buttocks.

[@Nico-bd4cg]

And his cousin white virgin seeker

[@m16fermy]

if i go back in time im making that a thing

[@WildBillCox13]

To hear them talk, each was issued his own bigus dickus.

[@Yeldur]

You're by far the best historical channel I've watched, glad to see it's not been left to die! Keep up the awesome work man!

[@johannesvontreuenfels924]

Yeldur metatron skallagrim baz battles and of course lindybeige are also great

[@Zamolxes77]

It pretty good but not the best. Check out The Great War.

[@suPerTheBlob]

tru dat

[@mr.bluefox3511]

*Shadiversity* is a good Channel too, but he forcus more on the Weapon & Structure in the Historical + Fantasy

[@noxhiduro6067]

Please do a video about the auxiliary units

[@JojoWolfcat]

YAS!

[@cpob2013]

well, there really wasnt a uniform structure for auxiliaries, they were different from each culture

[@0hn0haha]

Exactly, it'll be fun vid to watch! Probably many parts, and long... so we have to kowtow to HC so that he, in his grace and might, would make us these videos.

[@hazzmati]

its like asking do a video about cultures, just as there are cultures there are auuxiliary units its too many you need to be more specific

[@noxhiduro6067]

I would be more interested in the command structure of these units and if their leaders were of senatorial class or equestrians. Now specifically I think the cavalry would be cool to topic for a video.

[@dorkmax7073]

Modern analogue: Contubernium(squad) of 8-10 led by a Decanus(Sergeant). The contubernium is one of ten in a Centuria(Company) led by a Centurion(Captain) with his trusty Optio(First Sergeant).

[@ironstarofmordian7098]

Exactly. Although the Decanus should be a Staff Sergeant. Its been about 80 years since a buck aergeant ran a line squad, by doctrine.

[@icefl4re597]

Legionnaire = Lower enlisted Decanus = Sgt Aquilifer = Company guide (SSgt) Tesserarius = Company Gunny Optio = XO (1st LT) Centurion = Cpt Centurion who leads cohort = LtCol Optio of centurion who leads cohort = Battalion XO (Major) Primus Pilus = Col Camp Prefect = Senior Col waiting for retirement Legate = "General" + Senator (The Romans until Diocletian saw no difference between generalship & politician skill. To them, good general = good politician = good father = good orator) Tribunes = Upper classes, clerks and personal contact of the legate

[@leiffitzsimmonsfrey4923]

@@icefl4re597 Culturally tribunes sound like lieutenants to me: they technically outrank most soldiers, but they are young and inexperienced, and would do well to listen to the more experienced soldiers under their command.

[@icefl4re597]

@@leiffitzsimmonsfrey4923 They are sons of senators and there due to influence tho. Officers =/ super ultra rich.

[@alexandriariley5209]

The Roman Legion - the only bureaucracy that didn't have communication problems.

[@chaosherald8879]

You can't afford that in the military.

[@tylerdurden3722]

I was wondering about the problems they must of had.

[@JackMaltano]

Violence solves all problems.

[@Yunghamz]

They were aware of this. They were obsessed to the point of madness when it came to communication channels and military logistics. The lack of problems is a sign of their preparedness.

[@Winged_Snek]

@@Yunghamz very true, the military logistics were a top priority for the entire state. Making their armies disciplined yet powerful gave them the superiority they needed to be what they were.

[@sarcasmo57]

This is great. You include things many other videos on the subject leave off.

[@hanguyen5101997]

Wow I didn't expect you here lol

[@hanguyen5101997]

Btw big fan

[@sarcasmo57]

Love some Roman history! And thank you!

[@alienworm1999]

sarcasmo57 just found your channel from this comment and your cooking narration is hilarious

[@snickerdoodle7877]

"Primus pilus" translates to "first spear."

[@akatsukami9578]

And, of course, "camp prefect:" in Latin is _praefectus praetorio_...a more common translation being "praetorian prefect" :)

[@TotalHeadShot]

I believe this is something of a misconception and the more accurate translation of primus pilus is more akin to "first rank"

[@snickerdoodle7877]

+TotalHeadShot Except that "pilus" actually literally means "spear..."

[@snickerdoodle7877]

+TotalHeadShot Unless we're talking connotation..?

[@TotalHeadShot]

+Snickerdoodle No. The word pilum meaning spear probably developed independently of the term primus pilus meaning first rank from the same root word pilus meaning hair. Not connotation, it would simply have meant that to Romans at the time.

[@EVEMASTER99]

Ah the engineers and the people who do maintenance. Getting no glory for over 2000 years, but without them the army couldn't function. I think not counting them is doing a disservice, they counted them, you can tell just by the grouping names.

[@Iarlen]

I think he didn't count them not only because they weren't fighting agents, but because maybe they were slaves rather than willing men.

[@taan1424]

As far as I know, every romal legioner was expected to be able to build fortifications, roads and stuff, being engeniers themselfs, much like modern (or rather 20th century) soldiers. So, servants he mentioned probably were just that-servants, nothing more.

[@VintageLJ]

In the Roman army, many of the soldiers themselves carried out the building of roads, forts and perhaps wagons. Logistics lines likely weren't part of the legion.

[@dynamicworlds1]

+Just Randomdude Correct. The Roman army was about 80% combat engineers and 20% servants. This served multiple function: 1-enabled all soldiers to be able to construct bridges, siege-works, fortifications, etc 2-forced discipline, built teamwork, and prevented a mindset of "digging? I'm above such menial work" that seeps into many martial societies 3-kept the soldiers busy during peacetime. This is actually huge because it means your trained soldiers don't turn to banditry when there's no war 4-if you've a standing army that's not doing anything, you basically have a supply of labor for infrastructure construction that you're already paying for (meaning effectively free roads, aquaducts, etc) 5-greatly reduced the logistical footprint of the army, reducing cost and travel times (it wasn't uncommon for professional armies to have a baggage train the size of the army) Without making full use of these advantages, the Roman army would have been far less effective and far more expensive

[@dukeman7595]

DynamicWorlds: That's right and exactly what our military should be doing today, the wall for instance.

[@blockmasterscott]

I like how you kept putting down the thin striped tribunes and said they were a bit of a joke even in their own time lol!

[@HistoriaCivilis]

When I figured out that they were basically just rich kids working as summer interns for the Army I was like "oh I hate these guys."

[@Telsion]

+Historia Civilis me too XD

[@Deukish]

Of course there are plenty. Unless you were from the true elite among the Senate and could bribe your way to position, being a thin-stripe was the most common first stepping-stone in your career.

[@SuperOctimusprime]

The funny thing is this still goes on today to some extent in the UK. Simply being a university student gets you the rank of Officer Cadet in the Army or Air Force and even honourary Midshipman (a commissioned rank) in the Navy. Means I get privileges like eating in the officers mess and stuff just because I made it into higher education XD

[@Telsion]

Artorius nicely done XD

[@ilikecake48]

Such a beautiful and interesting system, no wonder they were able to annex so much land.

[@robertjarman3703]

You could say that for Gaul and a bit of Europe close to the Danube and Dacia, but most Roman territory was conquered during the phalanx or manipule era.

[@Heckler456]

Primus Pilus Past their Prime. Primus Pilus Past their Prime. Primus Pilus Past their Prime.

[@HistoriaCivilis]

+HecklerSC2 Sometimes I've just gotta sneak something in for my own personal amusement.

[@rugbyjames1]

What era of the Roman Empire does this structure apply to and did it change?

[@roryokane5907]

+James Mann roughly from 100BCE to about 300CE. The enlarged first cohorts were introduced in the 60s AD though if memory serves, but the basic structure of eight men to a contubernium, ten contubernia to a century, six centuries to a cohort (with each pair of centuries mimicking a maniple of the three lines of the Republican legion of old (look at the titles of the centurions within a cohort and the names of the hastati and principes are preserved)), and ten cohorts to a legion did not vary hugely from the time of Caesar, fifty years after Marius' reforms, to the reforms of Diocletian in the twilight of the 3rd century AD. Mind you, the auxiliary troops that supported the legions changed a hell of a lot in that time - mostly under Augustus who established independent regular cohorts of foot troops (including slingers and archers) and alae of cavalry (later including horse archers, lancers, cataphracts, and a unit of camels established by Trajan).

[@oscaruhlir7352]

Historia Civilis what's your opinion on Simon Scarrow Silver eagle serie?

[@Leisurelee53]

Historia Civilis I like to imagine this position consisted entirely of men like R Lee Ermey. 60% hardass, 30% know how, 70% goddammit soldier stop counting on your fingers and toes and man your post!

[@swift1535]

MUH LEGIONS!

[@imperatorcaesardivifiliusa2158]

MUH LEGIONS VARUS!!

[@ekin4260]

GIVE THEM BACK

[@EcsMurphy]

Ahhh I loved the tuteoberg forrest video

[@coolpeacemakerjustcoolpeac7907]

OH VARUS... QUINTILIUS VARUS GIBE ME BACK MAH LEGIONS!1!1

[@dariuso2657]

Where are the legions Varus? We want the legions, Varus. Bunny said you were good for it. Where are the fucking legions, shithead? Don't fuck with us. Your wife owes legions to Jackie Treehorn, that means you owe legions to Jackie Treehorn.

[@morriganshepard]

I have watched a lot of Legion breakdown videos but most focused on tactics or basic composition. This was a fresh take on the Legion for me and I appreciate it. Solid work bud.

[@richardsanchez9190]

Goddamn. No matter what you gotta hand it to the Romans, only they could make a clusterfuck that actually works really well.

[@Salokin92]

Why were armies in acient times so much larger than armies in the medieval period?

[@maxgobel7034]

Unity, instead of little kings with little influence there were much larger countries

[@Walterdecarvalh0100]

Napoleon realised this, so he made his armies much bigger

[@JonAtomic]

technology

[@renatoraia4103]

Roman empire was huge so they could recruit many men, during middle ages states were much smaller and were less united so they couldn't reach such numbers.

[@VintageLJ]

Because you needed a shit ton of men to siege out an entire city. Hannibal had 100,000 Men, but even that wasn't enough to siege Rome. In more recent warfare, we can bombard the city to dust without having to build great wooden structures all around the city. As technology increased, and the individual killing power of a soldier increased, the size of armies decreased.

[@ShidaiTaino]

8 men one mule. 8 men one tent.

[@ShidaiTaino]

8 men 2 slaves.

[@HistoriaCivilis]

"Aw man, stuck on mule duty again."

[@hindugoat2302]

helpers! top down...

[@hindugoat2302]

bottom up

[@reinforcer9000]

8 men 2 cups

[@Morty90152]

The term decanus is still used in the greek army

[@vicamu541]

Dic Anus

[@50daysago14]

@@vicamu541 fuck

[@a.f.nik.4210]

@@borntofart yes it is lol

[@UnitedBrothersNL]

@@borntofart where i went to school the decane was the head of the school and for detention we had to go to the prefect...

[@physical_insanity]

@@UnitedBrothersNL Prefects are as common as herpes in school.

[@JoaDrath]

I love seeing your videos pop up in my sub box :)

[@Jamesmsteward]

Ditto

[@hamishwoodland7424]

Great video! Very informative, and I like the slick graphics

[@redoktopus3047]

"slept together (not like that)" that's where you're wrong buckeroo.

[@peterpan23]

When in Rome...

[@addebagus3573]

@@peterpan23 bang caligula

[@robertjarman3703]

They didn't allow it while you were an active soldier.

[@peanutbread8569]

@@addebagus3573 lmao

[@kruger7796]

Romans were not greeks.

[@Taistelukalkkuna]

I would be interesting to know how legion supplied replacement troops. Read once that one Caesar´s legion was, after decade of campaigns down to 800 men.

[@markmcwilliams5165]

During the republic the Romans did not send new soldiers to replace those lost in a legion. New recruits were enrolled in a new legion. Since legions during the republic were temporary units that were disbanded when the war they were enrolled for ended this was not usually a problem. If a legion became too weak to be an effective unit, it could be disbanded or joined to another weakened legion to form a twinned legion. During the empire, legions became permanent units and loses were regularly replaced.

[@arturwojciechowicz3124]

He just drafted men from the whole Italy.

[@stefanocamoni229]

Caesar in De Bello Gallico wrote he returned every winter in North Italy for recruitement. So his infantry men was'nt only Latins and Neighbours but also Ligurians, Venetians Cisalpine Gauls. all from north Italy. Heavy cavalry formed by rich Latins and light by Celts, Nubian or Germans too. Archers from Crete. Slingers from Baleari. During the empire they were from Europe, Middle east and north Africa

[@CaringDolphin37]

My favorite channel!

[@spazmaster1996]

"primus pilus past their prime" try saying that five times really fast

[@rascallyrabbit717]

Some times content creators just can't help themselves

[@neth7826]

Help I've just summoned the ghosts of dead Roman soldiers

[@aetu35]

broke my tongue

[@JonasTDK]

I really love these videos. It's always a pleasure when you put a new one up!

[@annunakim525]

"we will not count the helpers" "the thin striped tribunes are dead to us" - HC

[@Melanrick]

I have to say, i've got years studying warfare. Ancient, old, new and modern, but never really understood how a legion works, because it is unlike any other system out there! And you are the first historian that explained this in a simple but efficient fashion. I really thank you for this. Really!

[@GamesplaceBR]

Each one of your videos is better than the last, they're becoming more informative, and more fun to watch! Congrats, and keep evolving!

[@listenherejack]

For the glory of Rome!

[@kekero540]

bring peace with war.

[@gromosawsmiay3000]

glory of fallen empire....nice joke xD

[@nahuatl3092]

+Gromosław Śmiały i dont think you know how glory works

[@jim4671]

+Gromosław Śmiały Shut up! There's A saying about this. "Chicks love Scars and Glory lasts forever. Just look at me, Im still as Glorious as Chuck Norris carrying 4 Tanks and being followed by 2 Naked women Carrying a bed. Only Im Carrying 7 tanks and Am being followed by My beloved Wife and An army to match! GLORY TO MOTHER RUSSIA!

[@gromosawsmiay3000]

Joseph Stalin by why did you "kill" your beloved wife ?....

[@johndominicamabile]

I have a theory that the 'primus pilus' (which literally means 'first throwing spear') at some point was responsible for setting the range for the other men. In modern armies it is normal that an experienced squad leader will tell his men not to fire, but that when he starts firing, then they will all fire. Junior soldiers are bad at firing guns to early, it's reasonable they had this same issue with Javelin throwing.

[@markmcwilliams5165]

Primus Pilus does not mean first spear, that is a common mistake. The javelin used by the legions was called a pilum. Pilus was a term applied to the triarii, the most senior men in the legion who made up the third and final line of battle. It seems like a small difference, but consider the English words 'bat' and 'bad', very close, but totally different meanings. Primus pilus means 'chief of the triarii'.

[@michaeltansey379]

@@markmcwilliams5165 I know this is old but Pilus and Pilum are different declinations to the same root word, Pil'us to Pil'um. Pilus is the noun for spear/javelin while Pilum is used when the spear is subject to a verb or posession. It's more like adding the term -que to Populus in SPQR doesn't change the meaning to the word. "Hastatius Pilusque" "Hastatius iacit Pilum"

[@theharristrain]

Fuck me, Historia Civilis

[@vicerearadmiralfirstclasso5912]

Are you offering or selling?

[@theharristrain]

begging

[@vicerearadmiralfirstclasso5912]

Alex Harris Well, beggars can't be choosers. Here you go. blog.flicks.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/gladys.jpg

[@romulusnuma116]

killed my boner ):

[@Monkey-l8s]

?

[@Maribro4]

This is by far one of my favorite channels ever and is the best Roman history channel on KZbin

[@chantelnadjiwon7585]

Who would win? one average Roman Centurion with his 100 men OR 1 British Cold war Centurion tank

[@ImperatorRom]

Humm the first engagement between a Roman Centurion, his 100 men and the tank, I think the Cold War Centurion tank would probably win, the second time however, I think the Romans would seize the tank and use it to reconquer the UK xD lolol Just my opinion however ;)

[@matthewnickolas4706]

It's not hard to defeat the Roman with an unusual tactic wich they never met once... but it is trully chalanging to defeat them twice!

[@HaloFTW55]

If we include the service crew and the guys protecting the service crew of tank. Then the British.

[@elzian4975]

How much ammunition do the British have?

[@ТомасАндерсон-в1е]

How much ammo does the tank get and on what terrain do they fight? if the tank has regular amounts of ammo and fuel and they fight in an open plain, the Romans have no chance 99 times out of 100. If they fight in some limited visibility or limited tank mobility terrain, the Romans could always just starve the British out.

[@warrengday]

Absolutely fascinating and enthralling from start to finish. Thank you.

[@EndOfSmallSanctuary97]

7:36 to 7:40, imagine someone like Caesar saying that to his tribune XD

[@suPerTheBlob]

lol XD ;D crying laughing wow imagine that

[@aliciabaumgartner1406]

Great channel man! Could you do a vid about the average soldier in a roman legion? Day to day life, responsibilities, social structure of the army, training, career progression of soldier, etc.

[@Alicesdream17]

Cool man cool

[@TheZod00]

Wow amazing video. Ive always wanted to learn about Roman legions in detail.

[@piggeneral1275]

I love your simple presentation style - I click as soon as I see a video in my feed, always a treat.

[@goodshipkaraboudjan]

The thin stripe tribunes were in fact far more involved than you suggest. To hold that position they had prior experience commanding Auxilia units. They would also command detached cohorts of the legion, they were more staff officers that the senatorial tribune.

[@teekaybrown3903]

I found your channel 3 days ago and I can say you are the best historic channel and one of the best channels IN KZbin. I've seen every one of your videos and, wow. Keep it up!

[@robinkristiansen6578]

pls make a video on roman fort construction.

[@jaylene1701]

This is the most intelligent and clearest description of the Roman Legion I have found so far. Thank you!

[@Tom-qx2hy]

Very well-organized. I like that you mentioned the non-combatants, making each century 100.

[@lessthan3997]

m8 this is legit my favourite channel do videos whenever you can they're so good

[@64wy4x8s]

So basically, Contubernium = Platoon Century = Company Cohort = Battalion Legion = Brigade

[@hazelfloof927]

A contubernium would be closer to a squad or section though as they are exactly the same size. A contubernium doesn't have any lower echelon units unlike a platoon which is comprised of multiple squads/sections so it's impossible for a contubernium to be adequate to a platoon.

[@damianpeterkelly1234]

Dirty D Disagrees you need to think scales. A modern squad in advance to contact (at least in the British army) might cover a front of 100m in usually in 5 pairs. This obviously due to sensible squaddies wanting to be as far away from the obvious target that is the section commander and long arial as favoured to mark targets for snipers everywhere. Or it might be because distributed groups are less vulnerable to automatic weapons and can still communicate easily, either with hand signals or if they have to radio. A conterbanium is not a valid combat unit when you mostly fight with sword and shield and build a front not on fire arcs but bodies hefting shields. Thats why the smallest unit is so big. Even at that size they probably not command the same amount of line as a modern squad. Let alone a platoon

[@kakadaf3]

just wonder how meany pack animals do modern brigade take care of ?

[@gene51231356]

A Legion may have been equivalent to a brigade in terms of manpower, but in the ancient world an army of that size was far more impactful than today. A Legion was at least as strategically meaningful as a division, if not a corps. A single Legion could be the occupying force of an entire country-sized province, something which today would require many divisions.

[@suPerTheBlob]

lol XD

[@Ratchet4647]

I'm happy to see you're back and uploading regularly ;D

[@ganjiblobflankis6581]

The senate as the board. Centurions as foremen. Thin stripes as interns. Thick stripes as children of board members. Legate as CEO. The "helpers" would be 0-hours contract agency staff to do the cleaning. Seems awfully familiar...

[@guilhermefrainer2865]

.

[@loganmacinnis8675]

if you read enough history you realize there aint much new under the sun

[@WrathOfPhropet]

It's only technology that changes. People and societies are the same.

[@loganmacinnis8675]

Neverm0re yep

[@scolic03]

But there is no military tribune and camp prefect in that equation... No-one gets elected to check the CEO or promoted as a way of balance.

[@khalidalali351]

Dude I just stumbled upon your channel by sheer coincidence. Amazing video ! I bow to your magnificence sir !

[@MooShaka89]

That's awesome I was in the US Army we had the tradition of having a "battle buddy" from basic training all the way to the 82nd Airborne and my deployment.

[@tortoisemaster4557]

It really says something when petty much all your videos have way more views than you have subscribers, your videos are amazing! I binge-watched most of your videos yesterday, and loved all of them! Keep up the awesomeness, you are just epic.

[@petergordon9190]

Thin striped Tribunes where drawn from the Equestrian class, not the Senatorial class and often had previous military experience as Prefects commanding an Auxiluary cohort. They where frequently used as sub commanders by the Legate (one or two detatched cohorts) unlike the thick striped tribune who, as you said, was a young man on his first appointment who was more often considered to be a joke by the experienced Centurions.

[@letsgetcancer7265]

The best war history YT channel I have come across by far.

[@mat4097]

so the two members would basically be todays battle buddies?

[@alexgomez1621]

Yes except they did't try to get the other into the Shrimpin' business, where there's the shrimp salad, shrimp burger, shrimp with cheese, deep fried shrimp, fresh shrimp, shrimp sandwich...

[@gabemerritt3139]

+Alex Gomez jumbo shrimp, popcorn shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew,...

[@asoongUSMC]

Camp prefect= Sgt Major lol

[@yesyesyesyes1600]

@@alexgomez1621 shrimp kebap :D

[@alltheframes9015]

0:40 That bond between soldiers in a unit definitely had a name: Bromance

[@thiagodunadan]

This is one amazing video.

[@mozesimanjuntak4155]

Simplicity at its best. These videos are lovely insights to history that enrich our present.

[@Th3shootist]

that's IT i'm playing total war now... thanks a lot :p

[@larok875]

Your content is greatly underrated right now judging by the view count, keep going!!!!! Your channel will get huge!! Your videos are awesome :)

[@maxcarlyle7137]

The Primus Pilus always sounded like a regimental Sgt.Major type position to me..Very interesting to observe how many of these Roman army formations,units and positions have their almost exact modern counterparts,only modernized but still very recognizable..Im also thinking many of the institutional fathers of modern armies and even Generals today(at least the good ones) almost always like to study Caesar,Pompey and Scipio..they even teach that along with Clausewitz at West Point.

[@nostro1940]

Playing Rome Total war, the unit size of 80 roman soldiers makes sense now

[@choppergamer]

my god,your channel is great,I wonder why youtube didnt promote this to me. I found your channel after a guy in a lindybeige video comment section said to check you out

[@naram07]

Really well put together! It baffles my mind everytime I see a video about the Roman military learning how beautifully advanced and complex their society and systems were. If only they survived lol

[@ZerpPickleZiP]

"and they slept together" "...not like that"

[@JamesMartinelli-jr9mh]

Zerp Pickle. Greeks invented sex; Romans invented it with women. hee hee hee

[@noahhorner231]

Yeah. Now if this was a Greek army of the time period, well...

[@jayit6851]

@@JamesMartinelli-jr9mh Curious as to how the Greeks had children then

[@yuricherkasov]

Not like Greek you mean?

[@yuricherkasov]

@@jayit6851"Diomidus has three children with his wife" - "He always was a fucken pervert"

[@rocmsocem]

The 2 dudes are called Battle Buddies lol

[@runertje5505]

I'm linking your video in my Steam review for Rome II Total War, your videos, especially this one reaaally helped me in the game and your content is simply amazing!

[@bentomoswall]

0:16. well. certainly at least occasionally. long campaigns, far from home, no ''spoils'' of war. hurhur

[@mjpanicali]

It is a bottom up system after all...

[@BiFurDoggy]

The Roman military has a history of homosexual relationships, so that's not too far-fetched.

[@crabidi]

All militaries do.

[@CGSRichards]

It was a hanging offense to engage in homosexual activities while on campaign. Marius even decorated the soldier who killed his cousin/nephew (don't remember which), an officer, because the man attempted to seduce the soldier, and when rebuffed, rape him.

[@CGSRichards]

It was a hanging offense to engage in homosexual activities while on campaign. Marius even decorated the soldier who killed his cousin/nephew (don't remember which), an officer, because the man attempted to seduce the soldier, and when rebuffed, rape him.

[@nirvanistu]

Dude just wanted to congratulate you on your awesome work, very well researched and equally well presented.

[@SerratedNinja]

your vids are lit asf

[@bionicallychallenged7290]

Your stuff is really detailed and done very eloquently.

[@raylast3873]

So, if the Legate was a Senator, there were always a lot of missing Senators in Rome, right?

[@Naingwinzaw]

2 years late answer, but basically yes. I am not familiar with the Late Roman Empire but from the examples we've seen from the late republic and early empire, these command positions if they are in "good" provinces are used to bribe someone into helping you/as a thanks for someone helping you or sometimes when you want to get rid of someone who opposes you for a time when you want to pass some legislation and you send them away. But since Romans elected 10 new Quaestors(lowest ranked senators) every year and some of who would eventually climb to the highest rank, there usually isnt a shortage of Senators unless there is a civil war or a massive military disaster like Cannae or things like plagues.

[@godofallpenguins001]

Dude, your videos are so awesome. Super informative, and interesting, every time. Don't stop what you're doing. I'm glad I found this channel, and I'm excited to see where you take it.

[@MasonBryant]

You forgot the banner bearers of all types!

[@MasonBryant]

And the cornicen!

[@daham1364]

DAMM , i love these video , they are so interesting and informing , i love the roman republic and its military systems but this opened it up in a whole new and easier way , keep it up man this is great

[@FindTheMasterpiece]

Beautiful.

[@davidfehn6023]

Your videos are among the very best i ever saw on youtube. Concise, simple, elegant and easy to keep. If only you spoke German, then I would not have to talk but you could do my job :-D kudos to you. Keep up the great work!

[@suPerTheBlob]

the thin striped tribunes. The poor thin striped tribunes who had no "real responsibilities" let us all take a moment to respect the lowly unappreciated people who wished they had a purpose

[@th3b0yg]

That was really excellent. Nice description and analysis!

[@Sam-xd9xt]

1:14 Just like with the minutemen (militia) during the US revolt. Wonder if there more units like this.

[@asaholcombe1850]

I've been wondering about those two extra people for years, thank you!

[@Fergus99]

The cohorts have an optical illusion in lmao

[@timkoch95tk]

Thanks you so much for making videos like this. I'm doing research into Roman military, culture and politics because I want to write a historical fiction and videos like this seriously help.

[@Lazyguy22]

So what about cavalry and archers etc.? How did they fit in?

[@cpob2013]

at the end, theres 128 cavalry mostly from the patricians, similar to medevial knights mostly used for patrol, scouting, messaging, and mopping up routed enemies. archers werent really romans themselves, they relied on each man's pilum for ranged combat but archers slingers and most cavalry were auxiliaries from the local allies of rome depending on their own warriors.

[@leutnantflavian5221]

so like the qoute give a cretan a bow and; he is is weigtht worth in silver?

[@chickenmonger123]

Well sometimes they got their ass kicked for their views on scouts, and archers, and cavalry. We basically only fight militarily from long range, with really good intel, and with high mobility in the modern age, so look how history panned out.

[@ThePillowXpress]

In early Rome, they were wealthy citizens that were part of the military. In middle to late Rome, they were the auxiliaries that came from various corners of the empire and foreign lands

[@dynamicworlds1]

+Connor O'Brien not only the pillum, but the plumbata as well (basically a weaponized lawn darts also called the barbs of Mars) Those big shields are very resistant to arrows, so it wasn't that big a problem to just walk down the archers on the other side (especially with your troops better armored than your opponents) It makes sense that an army very resistant to arrows would see little value in them.

[@spewkkake]

great video, man. really enjoyed this.

[@suPerTheBlob]

Legate, Military Tribune, and Camp Prefect= Triforce

[@deceitdeceitdeceit]

this was absolutely awesome, i thoroughly enjoyed it

[@TheTrixout125]

0:15 well probably

[@dexterzplace5553]

Lol

[@williamwazere]

Really enjoyed this break down. Another great video bud!

[@Paulo-py4mm]

Just think that 16 of these legions marched to cannae. Only 2 would survive as prisoners.

[@TheHomelessDreamer]

Not a one of your statements is accurate. That aside, the Cohort system, as illustrated by this video, was not in place until the Marian Reforms, just over a century after Cannae.

[@n0denz]

Just about anything to do with tribunes seems to get confusing. As always though, a great video. It goes without saying that I'm glad you're back. Concerning this video, I can barely imagine the prestige and credibility that would come with the title of Camp Prefect. Not only are you a soldier trusted by your fellow soldiers, but you've fought and lived through battles in the thick of the action as well as beared the weight of command near or at the very top. To be promoted to Camp Prefect after surviving all of that - it would be like getting a post in the Elysian Fields. It's no surprise the Roman military was so successful. Not only did they have a technological, logistical, and tactical edge; they had trust forged from the front lines to the top brass.

[@imnotryaan]

"Slept together.... not like that." Lmaoooo

[@Conservative4]

Not *always* not like that

[@bartmacaluso]

Excellent analysis and thank you for laying out the plan my brotha...

[@bryanwan6169]

Go bottoms up every time he says top down or bottom up.

[@jamiebulteel5130]

Always loved how well put together your videos are, keep up the great work! :)

[@rane3421]

0:16 slept together, not like that. Thanks for clarifying