History Re-Summarized: The Roman Empire

The plot twist of Rome is that it was always a mess, now sit back and enjoy the marble-covered mayhem.
SOURCES & Further Reading:
Books - "The Roman Way" By Edith Hamilton, "Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants" By Garrett Ryan, "The Classical World" by Robin Lane Fox, "Rome A History in Seven Sackings" by Matthew Kneale, "SPQR" by Mary Beard, "The Enemies of Rome" by Stephen Kershaw.
Great Courses Lectures - "The Pax Romana", "Rome's Golden and Silver Ages", "Late Antiquity - Crisis and Response", "Barbarians and Emperors" from "Foundations of Western Civilization" by Thomas F.X. Noble, lectures "From Commodus to Caracalla", "The Crisis of the Third Century" and "Diocletian and Late Third-Century Reforms" from "The Roman Empire: From Augustus to The Fall of Rome" by Gregory Aldrete.
University Credentials - I have a Bachelor's Degree in Classical Studies.
Extra special thanks to our Discord community members who looked over my initial draft and provided invaluable assistance & insights: Catia, Chehrazad, Chrisps989, Jacob, and Jonny. Any remaining errors are my B.
This video is a Remastered, Definitive Edition of three previous videos from this channel - "History Summarized: The Roman Empire", "History Hijinks: Rome's Crisis of the Third Century", and "History Summarized: The Fall of Rome". This video combines them all into one narrative, fully upgrading all of the visuals and audio, with a substantially re-written script in parts 1 and 3.
If you want more Histories to be Re-Summarized, please comment and let me know!
TIMECODES:
0:00 1 - The Empire
10:44 2 - The Crisis of the Third Century
21:32 3 - The Fall
Partial Tracklist: "Scheming Weasel", Sneaky Snitch", "Marty Gots A Plan" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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[@LeviathanNightDragon]

Only Blue can be so bold as to compare the beauty of his wife to a road. What a guy.

[@hypoaktivnaovca]

Well, to a map, which is much more relatable.

[@Khajmer]

Coming from Blue, it's actually a great compliment to his wife.

[@joseyerena1218]

Now, compare either to a Venetian flag would be a step to far.

[@mejhdhhicbfshihids652]

You’re right no human can compare to a good infrastructure project in beauty

[@lukegauci1159]

No No thats pretty good for Blue! It’s when he compares Cleo to a map, that when we should start panicking!

[@luigiboi4244]

I’m personally *TERRIFIED* of what the Roman Construction Crew could accomplish with modern-day architectural studies. They definitely were rabid when they encountered a building project.

[@Carewolf]

Most of it would probably not be up to spec. Remember we have an extremely strong selection bias today, of only seeing what little managed to stand for 2 thousand years, and not the tofudrek that fell within a decade of its construction.

[@user-ge8yn4ql4i]

​@@Carewolf Because of that selection bias we can zero in on the crews that built the multimillennial buildings and teach them our knowledge. There are enough tofudrek creators as it is.

[@tacnomel2591]

Slavery

[@coltodude5778]

Thats why it makes me so mad when people attribute great ancient wonders to aliens or lost technology. We underestimate what rafters and an infinite supply of slave labor will accomplish when planned properly

[@connortripp99]

@@coltodude5778 this man’s spittin’ facts.

[@black97_0]

Death: "time to go." Rome: "wait, I have 1 more thing to do." Death: "okay, just hurry." [several decades later] Death: "wait, how did you recover?" Rome: "I have no idea."

[@ATemplarIGuess]

Rome pisses of Thanatos -all the CE colorized

[@TheSkyGuy77]

Rome: (Spits out a tooth) "I didn't hear no bell!!"

[@lordxamwethoudeis]

@@TheSkyGuy77 Death: (aggressively rings bell) Rome: I HEAR NOTHING!!!

[@hungrymusicwolf]

@@lordxamwethoudeis Death: Starts shoving signs in Rome's face Rome: "That can't stop me, because I can't read."

[@feliperoa5821]

Death: What's going on? Why don't you die already? Rome: my goals are beyond your understanding

[@billywarren007]

Rome wasn’t made in a day, but this video will definitely make mine 😁

[@sorasilverstar144]

Hear hear!

[@maxteraform]

Corny, but true

[@OldGreyGryphon]

Ba dum tiss!

[@matsiknee8095]

Smooth

[@Noidonteatbabiesstopasking]

Wholesome

[@bradyweed4124]

So basically, Rome was an ever-changing Ship of Theseus and historians, not knowing exactly when Rome ceased to be a different Rome, just pointed to when the ship had been burned and said of the pile of ashes, “Well, THAT’s definitely not Rome”.

[@kilojuliet4]

I don't even think it's fair to say it burned to the ground, honestly. The goths kept several important staples of Rome and adapted them, they just sort of pulled Rome apart and made it into their own kingdoms. Using the ship example, it's like at the end they just unbuilt the ship and took all the lumber and parts to make their own ships, and houses and fences while they were at it. It's definitely not Rome anymore, but it's not really *gone* either. The legacy is alive and well, it's just built into everything that came after it.

[@12jswilson]

It's also a discussion when (and even if) the western Roman empire fell. 476 when Odoacer sent back the imperial regalia to Constantinople and became a client king is the traditional date, but I favor not saying it finally fell until 540 AD after the failed reconquest by Justinian and his general Belisarius. The Roman Senate continued to meet until at least the early 600s too. No one seems quite sure when they finally stopped.

[@fangsabre]

​​@@kilojuliet4 so more like the ship ran aground and got stripped for parts and those parts ended up on like 4 other ships all claiming to be the successor of Rome

[@hungrymusicwolf]

@@fangsabre That's honestly probably a better way of saying it. A little part of Rome honestly lives on in Western traditions until this very day. It's no surprise we have this fascination with it.

[@OhMightyWeirdOne]

The man's love for his wife is only overshadowed by his love for Mediterranean history.😂 Excellent video!

[@kaybadberg534]

Blue calling the Roman Road map the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen, even above CYAN is really saying something.

[@jrodriguez1374]

I appreciate his priorities lol

[@captainufo4587]

Yeah, it says that Cyan has LOTS of patience :P

[@gormauslander]

He said one of, not the most

[@chapablo]

I mean, those are some *really nice* roads.

[@PHSDM104]

🎶 Body like a back road... 🎶

[@TheTrainmobile]

It's really interesting how most empires don't really collapse immediately but rather fade into the background as new political entities are forged on the map.

[@rashkavar]

Or prove a very convenient sock puppet for the next rulers to slip into. See Yuan Dynasty China for the big example there. The Mongols basically just....replaced the ruling class of Imperial China. I don't know enough Chinese history to say how much that changed things, but I do know that Imperial China remained recognizably Imperial China, even though it was now part of the Mongol Empire. Though that might less be considered a collapsed empire so much as a brief pause in the empire - the Yuan dynasty didn't exactly last.

[@sleazymeezy]

Kinda stating the obvious. If it isn't one it's the other. With being wiped out entirely as the wildcard

[@hungrymusicwolf]

​@@sleazymeezy There is actually a middle ground between the two, as someone whose name I don't remember once said: "At first it goes slowly, then it happens suddenly." Most big things tend to degrade slowly at first, and then either some critical piece fails or the situation changes and boom, end empire. (military or business related).

[@sleazymeezy]

@OneManWolfPack I think that's about going broke. But like George Carlson said, 'If you owe the bank $100 that's your problem. If you owe the bank $100M, that's the banks problem.'

[@minatonamikaze2636]

nice comment, can't agree more.

[@cocalicoman]

So sad you glossed over Antoninus Pius. Dude basically ruled over 20+ years of peace, which in the Roman Empire was basically like finding an actual unicorn

[@shrimpisdelicious]

And wasn’t he basically supposed to be a placeholder emperor since Marcus Aurelius was considered too young to be emperor at the time?

[@jesuschrist9513]

@@shrimpisdelicious yeah Marcus was supposed to become Emperor in his early 20s by Hadrians calculations but Antoninus lived until Marcus was entering his 40s

[@xhagast]

Lol, things were so peaceful and good that we CAN gloss over him. Remember, adventures are nasty things that happened to somebody else, and you only appear in history books if you killed a LOT of people.

[@Pro_Butcher_Amateur_Human]

How could Pius be covered though? "And then Antonius Pius took charge, and nothing much happened for a while. Good for him and his citizens, but boring to write or read history books about so let's move on to the next guy."

[@anothisflame8266]

"The Fall was always there... But so was Rome!" Man that is a solid final line wow.

[@maxteraform]

Finally, the video we were waiting for. Blue gave us the beginning, then we got the fall, we got the sequel, and we got the legacy. And now, it is piled into one video. Perfect

[@Claymann71]

Oh yeah. It's all coming together. What do you say, you & I go toe-to-toe on Bird Law?

[@Razzer666]

Yep. It was a long (two year?) wait!

[@hyhena-gaming9986]

He literally even gave his wife a color instead of a name, this channels dedication to colors is astounding

[@Landis963]

There are worse ways to maintain privacy.

[@lunarshadow7712]

Most of the people in their personal life have color based names. Their editor is Indigo and there’s a succession of greens who were Blue’s roommates

[@hyhena-gaming9986]

I hope no one is thinking I msyaing this is a bad thing that’s tye vibes my two comments are giving me

[@lunarshadow7712]

@@hyhena-gaming9986 No I was thinking you were new to the channel and was trying to give info that would be helpful in watching more videos.

[@hyhena-gaming9986]

@@lunarshadow7712 ah I knew about the editor and what not I’m not necessarily new I’m new to watching blues content, just found it funny everyine in their life will always be a color in thsi channel

[@Obi-Wan_Kenobi]

Ah yes, the Roman Empire. The indisputable goldmine of Prequel memes which, while comedic, also have a spice of historical relevancy. You gotta love it.

[@arthurjackson4554]

@Obi-Wan Kenobi Hello there

[@phictionofgrandeur2387]

General Kenobi

[@rashkavar]

I love Diocletian's story. He takes most of a century of Rome absolutely disintegrating, comes up with a more or less functional solution, and then just goes... "And that's done. Next guy can be Emperor now, I did my bit!" Truly an example of the rare supreme ruler who wasn't obsessed with personal power.

[@alexgroot2508]

21:09 "What's impressive are the moments when Rome stares into the pale face of death and tells him to wait his god damn turn." Absolute banger of a line man.

[@shivangshandilya7394]

"The beautiful city of Rome is great to visit year around because you can see all the seasons - winter, spring, summer, FALL - OH NO!!" 🤣🤣 Blue you're awesome. I'll not be able to forget this bit for the next few weeks.

[@happenstancially4132]

I’m always amazed at how liquid borders were through history, and how concrete they generally are now.

[@funkyfranx]

Well annexation isn't looked well upon these days

[@dontreadmyprofilepic2124]

Rome's borders remained relatively similar for a long time

[@Madlad000]

Conquering countries generally didn’t worry about borders until they were secured back in the day and the leaders rule was law at the time regardless of who stabbed their way to leadership.

[@willfrommel508]

"This road map is one of the single most beautiful sites I've ever laid eyes on, and my wife Cyan is really pretty!" Love that, one of my favorite OSP quotes now.

[@Jason_Ultimate]

Same, very smooth Blue.

[@michaelgrey1503]

I don't know if I'm missing something, but it also sounds super familiar, like he's already made that joke in a video before. Still a good joke if I'm not just, like, seeing into the future or something.

[@kaylabuchtel2668]

@@michaelgrey1503 It's a modified version of the joke used in the old Rome video made back when they were dating. He changed it from 'girlfriend' to 'wife' for fairly obvious reasons.

[@michaelgrey1503]

@@kaylabuchtel2668 ah, okay. See, I figured I was missing something. Thank you for the clarification.

[@PHSDM104]

🎶 Body like a back road... 🎶

[@SpaceMonkey15]

Friendly reminder that Caligula also reportedly had his men WHIP THE LITERAL SEA to get back at Neptune for the weather conditions not being conducive for sailing to Britain to conquer it. AKA, he had a legit hissy fit against the god of the ocean.

[@erinyes3943]

I don’t remember who, but I know someone else did the sea whipping thing as well. People are extra as hell

[@Reydriel]

The fuck is whipping the sea even gonna do, hurt it? Pretty sure if seawater did feel pain, all the boats and other shit we do to it would hurt more than flimsy leather sticks lmfao

[@soumajitsen1395]

"The fall was always there, but so was Rome" - Me in the last minutes of answering my history paper.

[@gorvarhadgarson5227]

Good line though

[@soumajitsen1395]

@@gorvarhadgarson5227 Agreed, but I don't think that my history teacher will

[@gorvarhadgarson5227]

@@soumajitsen1395 Well I can't speak for him but as someone who works in education who loves history, I'd have given you marks for that dramatic line. That said, it would all still rely on your content though.

[@wren_.]

I find it poetic that the Roman empire (at least the western half) started with Romulus and ended with Romulus. It all came full circle

[@templarw20]

Said it many times. Rome, when you get down to it, was a cultural identity that lasted for two freaking thousand years (from Kingdom to Republic, to Empire, to the Byzantines...). That's a good run. And I remember noting when John Paul II died, the succession of popes in the Roman Catholic Church was originally codified by the Roman Senate, and is largely still adhered to.

[@alexdillahunt6908]

I would love if Blue did a History Re-Summarized of Christianity and it's influence. He doesn't have nearly as many videos on that topic as he does Rome, but it would still be fun to watch all of it put together in context.

[@wren_.]

And then Napoleon slapped Europe so hard they had to dissolve the holy Roman empire

[@templarw20]

@@wren_. They deserved it for claiming "Roman" as part of their name.

[@John_Weiss]

I've said it often: The _Roman_ Catholic Church is the last surviving government-institution of the Roman Empire.

[@templarw20]

@@John_Weiss Yup!

[@corvus-albus5471]

Domitian is lot whole lot more interesting than one might think. For example, he was literally the only emperor after Augustus that stabilized the Roman currency. His economic policies were incredibly effective, but because the Senators didn't like him and they were the only ones that wrote anything down, we have a very one-dimensional picture of him. Thanks, Suetonius.

[@rockstar450]

This "common" knowledge of Domintian stabilising the economy is quite baseless. He was a very capable administrator, but there were several Emperors that restored economic confidence by increasing coin content or simply remaking new coins altogether. He is an underrated emperor historically but he's not even a top 20. People overstress his achievements because he was underplayed, but don't overlook his many vices, some of which got him assassinated

[@corvus-albus5471]

@@rockstar450 He became cruel, after the first attempt on his life. We actually even have some positive accounts from people Marcus Valerius Martialis and Sextus Iulius Frontinus from his era. I can recommend Brian Jones' The Emperor Domitian.

[@starcapture3040]

@@rockstar450 He wanted to cleanse the corruption from the sanat

[@rockstar450]

@@starcapture3040 He had good policies around defence and economics but his sudden jarring senatorial bickering shows he just didn't have what it took to manage the elites. True great Emperors like Basil II managed to curb the aristocracy along with prosperity. Domitian's changes came at a fortunate time as well with a good lead in, ie the benefits may not have been purely his. Mike Duncan's history of Rome did a good job of restoring his name but the internet has gone stupidly contrarian with ideas of him being great when he just furthered his dynastic policies

[@herothecrow994]

I love how “when in Rome… sack it” was the line that Blue just couldn’t get through

[@OptimusMaximusNero]

Romulus Augustulus after being dethroned: "You fools! The byzantines will destroy you once they know of my fall! ROMANS ALWAYS AVENGE THEIR BROTHERS" Odoacer: "Speaking of your "brothers", they told us through messengers that they will allow the establishment of our government" Romulus Augustulus: "They are adopted"

[@KraNisOG]

More like "Rome still exists in the east, they will be back for their territories, and I will be emperor of the west again."

[@jatkinson85]

@@KraNisOG Justinian: "All right lets give this a try, a conquer back here, a conquer back there, hey I'm almost at Rome..." Byzantine Senate "Nah we're not interested anymore" Justinian "Aw C'mon I'm almost there..." Byzantine Senate "Nope get back here!"

[@juancholo7502]

If I recall correctly in the 19th or 20th Century an American writer was on an Island near Greece where some children were playing. A Greek war ship pulled up & a boat came ashore & the Greek national flag was hoisted as the news that Greece (& the islands nearby) was free of Turkish domination, One of the sailors asked one of the kids why he was looking at them so intently. The child said "I haven't seen a Helen (Greek) before." The sailor, laughed, and said "Well aren't you a Helen?" The boy responded, "No, we are Romans". The people on that Island still thought of themselves as (Byzantine) Eastern Romans.

[@gilpaubelid3780]

Not exactly. After the edict of Caracalla, when Roman citizenship was given to all the free men of the empire, Roman identity became a mere civic identity and the term "Roman" transformed into an umbrella term that was used by basically every ethnic group in the empire. Those new "Romans" weren't related to the ancient Romans (and they didn't claim to be) , they were ethnically diverse and were Romans solely in a political sense. When it comes to medieval Greeks, since they had Roman citizenship they were both Greeks (ethnically) and Romans (politically). And since Greeks took under their control the Roman empire during the byzantine period the name "Roman" changed meaning once again and started being used as synonymous to Greek and as another Greek ethnonym (since among the Roman citizens, Greeks were the ones that had the central role in the empire) . Greeks (ancient, medieval, modern) always used more than one names to describe themselves. Medieval Greeks used the names: "Ρωμαίος/Rhomaios/Roman" (because of their Roman citizenship and their Christian religion), "Hellenas/Έλληνας" (a greek ethnonym that for a period, until the prevalence of Christianity, became popular as a religious term as well that meant pagan. Although it never truly stopped being used with his ethnic meaning that meant greek), "Graikos/Γραικός (another ethnonym that meant "Greek"), Raikos/Ραικός (it meant "Greek" and was originated from Graikos) "Helladikos/Ελλαδικός " (again another term that showed the Greek ethnicity), "Ρωμέλληνας" (a compination of Roman+Hellenas that indicated the Roman civic identity and the Greek ethnic identity of the Byzantines). Modern Greeks (including the Greeks during the 20th century and the Greeks from the island of Lemnos that are mentioned in your story ), have three names with which we're identifying: Hellenas/Έλληνας/Greek (which is the most popular one) , Graikos/Γραικός /Greek and Ρωμιός/Rhomios/Roman. All these are greek ethnonyms, they are synonymous and mean "Greek". In other words Lemnos wasn't some special case, on the contrary all Greeks of that period identified as Romans. But what it should be noted here is that the word "Roman" was used as a Greek ethnonym and as synonymous to Greek (like today and like during the byzantine period), not as an identity separate from the greek one . Although in the past Greeks used both Rhomaios and Rhomios , today in order to avoid confusion "Rhomaios" is used for the ancient Romans/ Latin Romans, while "Rhomios" is used only for the Greeks and as a Greek ethnonym. As you already said it was children that gave this reply. Charanis (a byzantinist), that told this story to Kaldellis (another byzantinist) who included it in his book, was around 4-5 years old back then and was one of the kids from the story. Obviously the kids were too young to understand how all the Greek ethnonyms were used. Since we're talking about the recent past (20th century) , the identity of those people isn't something that we have to guess. We already know with certainty that Lemnians identified as Greeks.That's why the soldier found the kid's reply weird and asked him "are you not Hellenes yourself?" . Kaldellis is supporting a theory (that isn't supported by the majority of byzantinists), according to which the byzantine empire was a Roman nation-state and "Roman" during the byzantine period wasn't just a civic identity but an ethnicity. So he used Charanis' story as some kind of "proof". If you read kaldellis' book you will see that Charanis himself disagreed with kaldellis' conclusions regarding his story.

[@OptimusMaximusNero]

Constantine after watching a weird light in the Sky: "For the Gods. What was that thing in the sky we just saw?" Lactantius: "A message from God, who wants you to reunify the Empire under the cross of Jesus. With the symbol he made in the sky you shall conquer!" Constantine: "You're right. If, in order to restore Rome's glory, I must use the signal of the God of christianity and spread his word throughout the Empire, then it shall be done!" *Draws sword* "FOR CHRIST!!!" Soldiers: *Draw swords* "FOR CHRIST!!!" *Meanwhile, a few kilometers away* Shepherd: *Returns home, finding his house completely destroyed by a meteorite* "Son of a b*tch..."

[@jasonreed7522]

Clearly God was multi tasking in sending Constantine a message to convert and a warning/punishment for that shepherd (he knows what he did).

[@shadowldrago]

@@jasonreed7522 Considering what God can do, I suppose he would be the ultimate multitasker.

[@bradwibbels935]

@@shadowldrago actually wouldn't he be chilling while watching everything play out exactly as he planned? Not so much multi-tasker, but a mass-planner? Idk, that's how I would think an omnipotent being would be, and I'm taking this all way too seriously.

[@shadowldrago]

@@bradwibbels935 I mean, he could be both? From my understand, God is omnipotent and omniscient. Maybe said grand plan would require him to do things at some point. I dunno, I've never tried being omnipotent or omniscient.

[@bradwibbels935]

@@shadowldrago Indeed, that's true

[@indighost4423]

Here's hope Cyan never asks the question "me or Rome", cuz i don't think blue would be able to answer

[@phictionofgrandeur2387]

Both. They move to Rome together.

[@polarvortex6496]

“List of Roman Emperors murdered by the praetorian guard” This list is incomplete, you can help by expanding it Also, Rome’s real motto: “Improvise, Adapt, Overcome”

[@crimsonprincess7420]

Please do not expand the list by killing more Roman Emperors

[@Great_Olaf5]

Okay, so now we need a multi hour compilation of all of these Rome re-summarized videos into one video.

[@MemesToa]

A year later, it’s real, it’s 3 hours long, and it’s beautiful.

[@Great_Olaf5]

@@MemesToa Wait, it is? How did I miss that?!

[@MemesToa]

@@Great_Olaf5 Came out a couple months back. It’s actually the last entry in the Mediterranean History playlist, just as a quick shortcut.

[@Galaar]

"Rome stretched from Iberia to Africa...the LONG way." 30 seconds in and already I love it.

[@floricel_112]

"and my wife, Cyan, is VERY beautiful" Subtle flex there, Blue

[@kingwurtle4155]

I find it sad that I've learned more from this channel than my entire time in school when it comes to history and mythology. Love your videos.

[@zoinomiko]

It's always easier to learn from people with a true passion for what they're teaching ;)

[@thomasrogers8239]

I forget if it was you or somebody else that explained this but the biggest beef Rome had religiously with Judaism and later Christianity was the monotheism. The Romans believed crucially that happy gods meant success in politics, war, and farming and that required all of the gods being as happy as possible and it was every citizens duty to do their part in making this happen, being irreligious was seen as a break of the social contract and likely to bring catastrophe to your family/city/country. Contrast that with Judaism and Christianity that believes in the One-True-God-that-you-can't-please-with-works-but-that's-totally-okay-because-he's-going-to-hardcarry-this-relationship Yahweh himself that will not hesitate to get all smitey if you don't stay true to just him because he is self admittedly jealous for his people. Literally the beliefs of Judaism and later Christianity posed an existential threat to Rome itself on the basis that they refused to respect the pantheon which is categorically how they justified the political persecution.

[@etienned.f.4562]

Add on top of that many Jewish/Christian sects practices Neoplatonic beliefs that advocated for communal living and no government... yeah, early Rome had a lot of reason to not like the different Jewish cults coming out; so of course, being Roman... adopt it and twist it into your own monstrosity.

[@BritaMooreKutz]

The channel Religion for Breakfast did a video about the conversion (maybe) of Constantine and all the ideas about it. Your comment made me think of that because he mentions how some early Roman (Gentile) Christians still believed in the Pantheon but that Yahweh/Jesus came first and foremost. The Ten Commandments say "You shall have no other gods before me," not that no other gods exist.

[@valgae]

“Rome stretched from Iberia to Africa, the long way!” my brain: HOT DOG STYLE 🌭

[@adisura9904]

As an Indian viewer all I am really waiting for whilst enjoying your other videos is a series on A) Mahabharat, B) Just indian history and mythology in general. Its been long since you picked one from my side of the world. I know you love for Rome and specifically Venice goes deep. But come on, indian history and mythology is amazing and would love to see your take.

[@darekbaird]

Are you the same guy who spams Sabaton videos about this?

[@adisura9904]

@@darekbaird haha No 😅

[@adisura9904]

@@darekbaird I do comment about this in between couple months but I definitely do not spam it.

[@aidanclark196]

I believe red has discussed doing the Mahabharata, and basically said she couldn't do it just just without making a whole ass movie, which defeats the purpose of the legend summarized series, but also now we're way far into journey to the west maybe her tone's changed on that idea lol. But hard agree that Indian history and mythology would be awesome to see more of

[@theposhdinosaur7276]

Have you seen Kraut's video comparing India's history to China's? It's a fascinating piece, comparing and contrasting the strengths and weaknesses of both civilizations.

[@gumdropgardens]

Why did "the long way" make me giggle?

[@LinearAztec]

⭕️

[@diegoewe7164]

the bomb bay

[@templarw20]

Dunno, but you're not alone.

[@nawf4372]

I just realized that a good April Fools episode Blue could do would be to do an episode on the fictional history of a piece of media and do it so well that your convinced it's a real history. I vote for Universal Century Gundam.

[@azurered4417]

that could be a really fun idea for an April Fools video

[@alexisauld7781]

Geography Now did a couple similar ones that were pretty good, before the channel turned into a bit of a memetic, over-cameo'd garbage fire xD

[@erdtroll7010]

Y‘know the roadmap is very satisfying to look at but when trying to get out of Rome you start to notice a glaring design flaw in all of the roads.

[@VashdaCrash]

Yeah, it's like all roads lead to Rome or something

[@RmsOceanic]

11:55 It wasn't Alexander Severus who bumped up the habit of enriching the soldiers. Septimius Severus (193-211) started the habit, then his son Caracalla (211-217) sent it into overdrive. Alexander actually tried to reign it in a little, which resulted in his advisors getting either a little murdered or chased out of town.

[@troublesome3379]

I once saw a guy ask why why all the great mathmaticians were Greek, the answer was that the Roman ones became civil engineers instead.

[@beepbop6542]

The Gaullic and Palmyrene Empires were basically an early example of the later feudal kingdoms. Local warriors exchanging protection for wealth and power, focused on a smaller heartland instead of trying to rule across a vast empire. Even Byzantium followed this formula to an extent, with a more feudal system and smaller, more centralized territories.

[@ToxicBastard]

Empires are like trees; They don't simply die, they wither, fade, fracture, parts break off and either die or become a new thing of their own in a way, even the dead bits end up making something else in their own way. There's no moment when the pulse stops and it implodes, it just kind of fizzles and disperses like a lake going dry. Such is all that exists, really.

[@TheAnkleReaper2162]

Me: going abt my day Osp: posts a video Me: Ooh some candy

[@harsharuban738]

Yeah 🤣

[@kilojuliet4]

I feel like we need to give Blue some credit for the absolutely hilarious map names in the top corner. "Emperor roulette" and "Obvious Consequences.gif" are incredibly funny and I'm only halfway through.

[@historicalized-edits9080]

Aurelian wasn't really murdered by his own troops (yes they did stab him) it was really one of his writers, who wrote similar to Aurelian so they wrote a fake order that said that the officers would be EXECUTED, they killed Aurelian. But when they found out it was fake, the writer LITERALLY WAS STUCK TO A TREE AND THE WOLVES WENT AT HIM

[@sufnskanne469]

They should have been honored to be killed by the glorious Aurelian . Traitorous dogs

[@uria3679]

Who hopes that OSP plays Monster Prom so we can hear their reaction on all the Hot Takes the game has, hear Red’s reaction on the big heart dumb characters, and so we can see who gets rejected

[@fairycat23]

I really hope it happens!

[@tomasmiranda8263]

“And my wife cyan is really pretty!” Daaaw adorable!

[@gwenward2141]

I feel like I've gone full-circle. I think the original Pax Romana or Fall if Rome videos were released right around the time I discovered OSP and started watching religiously. Thank you OSP for all the great content!

[@goodknight9627]

i would be much smarter if school was this way. thanks for teaching me man, you make a difference

[@user-sl1wt1dv4y]

OMG thank you, I was looking for a condensed summary of the roman empire but I could never figure out what order to watch your videos in

[@AnarchistArtificer]

As someone who struggles with auditory processing related to autism, I appreciated the audio transcript, even if I didn't refer to it much, it was nice to see. Summarising such a huge topic for a wide audience is a task as large as the empire itself, but this video is excellently accessible in multiple respects.

[@nicholasroberts8378]

I wrote my senior thesis on Caligula and how he was not a bad Emperor and I will forever stan him

[@alexanderstanfield5845]

Blue casually simping for his wife infront of 2 million people.

[@aestheticswim3397]

Did you kill the tyrant? Brutus:yes…. What did it cost Brutus: everything

[@Lunautau101]

3:45 That’s so sweet Blue wtf 😭

[@creativeusername7366]

Blue, I don’t know if you’ll ever read this, but your videos are part of the reason I became super interested in history. Thanks for doing what you do, man.

[@orangetuxedoman]

"The Fall was Always there, but so was Rome." I keep coming back to the Rome series, this line is a perfect distillation on 90mins of great history. Congratulations Blue! A whole ass Documentary. I've watched these videos so many times, and it ends so satisfyingly. Looking forward to so many more poetic scripts.

[@megatennepster3833]

I'm aways sad that Elagabalus isn't talked about more, even though I understand why. But they are such a unique disaster that I cannot help but find the little bastard endearing

[@user-ge8yn4ql4i]

They'd be fun as a youtube or twitch streamer. Definitely would be an interesting content creator.

[@megatennepster3833]

@@user-ge8yn4ql4i I definitely see them as like, the insanity of Jerma, but the horniness of Marine from Hololive

[@andrealouise4655]

Everytime I hear Blue say, "My wife, Cyan." I go, "ARRRGHHHH HIS WIFE! HE HAS A WIFE! AND CYAN IS HIS WIFE!" I think they are very effin cute, I could die.

[@weaselwolf]

I still love the story behind Caligula's name. Imagine writing a story featuring the mad, corrupt Dread-Emperor Bootsie

[@foulplayer7812]

Caligula’s actual name was Gaius Julius Caesar but historians don’t call him that to avoid confusion. It’s like how we refer to Augustus before he became emperor as “Octavian” even though he had legally changed his name to Julius Caesar after his great uncle got assassinated. Also a lot of emperors like Commodus would incorporated their predecessors’ names into their own title making their names so ridiculously long on paper. I guess the ancient world really loved giving historians headaches!

[@weaselwolf]

@@foulplayer7812 I'm aware, but it was also a nickname he went by in his time. At least as a child

[@elizabethgodwin7679]

Congratulations on your wedding! I'm so excited for you! I have no idea when it was, but this is the first time I've heard you refer to Cyan as your wife, and it made me happy

[@kingbeauregard]

About Caligula and sea shells ... the Historian's Craft does an interesting video about this, and (I think) suggests that what happened was more that, Caligula was planning yet another invasion of Britain, eventually backed down, and went home. Now, here's where it gets interesting, and this is my thought. Historian's Craft mentions that "sea shells" was an informal term for the shelters that soldiers would build, so I ask you: if you were writing about abandoning the invasion plans, how could you NOT describe it as, "they collected sea shells and went home"? The pun is absolutely irresistible.

[@ItsJustVirgil]

I’m very impressed by the restraint on Dome mentions for this one. Especially considering the Colosseum is just a reverse-dome.

[@troublemaker1778]

This was a super impressive video, Blue! The amount of work you put into it was not only easy to see due to the high quality but also super inspiring!

[@austinreed5805]

Early Rome was *DEDICATED* as hell! The fact that they built and rebuilt thousands ships during the First Punic War is just insane.

[@shawnhall3849]

They also crucified many many many people

[@austinreed5805]

@@shawnhall3849 Carthage did too. Unfortunately, that was commonplace, back then. 😔

[@GarkKahn]

@@shawnhall3849 All of them did Different times

[@ramenbomberdeluxe4958]

@@GarkKahn The only difference is that Rome fanboys love to justify their unjust wars and cultural annihilation and other crimes with "but but muh Rome roads...but but, muh Rome good, but but muh Rome technology and administrashunz...btu but...barbarians bad...Rome superior..."

[@confoozledfox]

This video was incredible! Rome sure is a huge mess lmao. Ever since I found your channel I’ve found it incredibly entertaining and I’ve learned so much! This video would’ve been PERFECT last year, as we did a big study on ancient civilizations in Social Studies! Fortunately I have the same teacher for Socials this year, and I’m definitely going to show him this video. Your videos have been such a big help for me, not just in my Social Studies class but also when I’m worldbuilding and designing my characters (I love to compare my own characters to Red’s Trope Talk videos, and I’m currently developing a dead character who set the stage for the current stuff to avoid fridging). I love you guys, keep it up!! Sorry for all the ramble, I have an issue with that :|

[@troublemaker1778]

“Restorer of the world” is such a badass title

[@robopope7584]

When I was in high school, I heard from my Latin teacher that seashell was just soldier speak for the engineer’s tents. What Caligula said was along the lines of “Pick up the seashells.” So what he likely meant was “pick up the tents.” In addition, Roman historians were partially propagandists and likely heavily disliked Caligula.

[@ELSTERLING]

4:06 My little sister had her wedding ceremony held here, right on the bath's edge. It was _spectacular_ as a venue.

[@fairycat23]

"This road map is one of the most beautiful sites I've laid eyes on, and my wife Cyan is REALLY PRETTY." I had to pause and squee.

[@Bubblegob]

Thank you, a very comprehensive video. When it began autoplaying I really didn't think I would keep on yet another retelling of Roman history but your writting and delivery kept me engaged 'til the end, good job!

[@JohnnyTyrant]

1st: the meme content if this bit of history is so damn dense. 2nd: i had no idea blue and cyan were married and my shipper heart cant handle the cuteness of the “mah wife sooo pretty” call out! 😭

[@gianturtlecow1455]

I became an engineer largely because of all that I learned growing up about the Romans and their enormous works. Theyre also the reason I didnt become a politician...

[@johnlynch1353]

Most humble brag ever. Blue “this road map one is the most beautiful things I’ve laid my my eyes on, and my wife cyan is very pretty.”

[@odd-ysseusdoesstuff6347]

Blue's a real one here, I'm literally taking Architecture because of Rome, and my Midterms IS LITERALLY Rome! And Blue comes in clutch! Thanks Blue!

[@thedemonhater7748]

Been excited to see you revisit this one for awhile!

[@86fifty]

5:07 - I am VERY appreciative of the great illustrations you put in these videos, because I had literally never known, in all my 30 years, that they made those arches out of stone NOT with pure incomprehensible mathematical genius (as my k-12 teachers like to tell me) but through... Just, building the inside shape with wood. And then taking that part out later. Mind blown, but in a exasperated way. I am also astounded and humbled that the construction in this same image seems REALLY SIMILAR to what a construction site looks like today, cranes and all! I really hope this image is historically accurate (and this is Blue, why wouldn't it be?) because that really helps humanize the elden times in ways we don't usually see in history content.

[@zoinomiko]

It would certainly make the math make WAY more sense!! (I assume the math was still necessary to make sure it could support itself once the concrete had dried ;) )

[@andrewjackson18]

Giving credit to Pope Leo for stopping Attila instead of Aetius is an insane move

[@GarkKahn]

Well flavius beat him with an army The pope used what? faith? gold? magic? the force?

[@sevelofficial2696]

I just love to watch your videos, something about the tone of voice and sound effects is so enjoyable and it is a great day when there is a new upload. Especially when it is about Rome.

[@worstghosthunting3466]

Gotta say, I appreciate the little changes like the Cyan line. Thanks for giving me something to listen to while making my coffee

[@fedupN]

Thank you. My MA thesis involved the 3rd century and may boi Diocletian deserves all the love for what he accomplished. Brief, perhaps, but in the face of the absolute mess preceeding the Rule of Four, it was a herculean achievement and recognized fundamental truths about the Roman Empire; it was too bloody big and creaky to work under the old system.

[@zoinomiko]

Now we just need America to recognize the same fundamental truth.... ;)

[@casualenjoyeroflife]

You’re just gonna drop “wife cyan” like that??? CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! So happy for you guys ❤

[@zachtaylor8222]

man, if i ever write a book, i want you to do the VO work. your voice is smooth and your delivery is awesome.

[@Thr3leven]

I literally watched the first video yesterday, it's fun hearing what you mixed up. Congrats on the marriage!

[@kekkoinen]

When the Romans celebrated after conquering Carthage, Scipio solemnly said: a day shall come when sacred troy shall perish and Priam and his people will be slain. He basically said that all empires flutter out and die, usually in a blaze of glory outlived centuries ago, like in the conquest of Constantinople, almost 1500 years later, when the last remnants of Rome were flicked off ending the medieval times and a civilization with roots 2000 years in the past

[@AskMia411]

Blue! You should do a video on the kingdom that built Petra!!!! They carved their city into the canyon walls!!! They had irrigation pipes in 100 A.D. !!!! A large public bathhouse in THE FREAKING DESERT!!!!!

[@John_Weiss]

Indus Valley Civilization: Am I a joke to you?

[@AskMia411]

@@John_Weiss Sorry Indus Valley, I got very excited after watching a documentary on Petra, Blue should do a video on you too! Memes aside, I never knew Petra was more than that one rock carving that shows up in movies ( The last crusade, that one transformers movie, etc). It was a whole gigantic city! The building methods they used amazed me, the level of precision and understanding of engineering they had is really incredible!!!

[@joshseveck5040]

This was the most helpful and most engaging video I’ve ever seen on the Roman Empire! Thanks Blue!!!

[@fireyjon]

Always love your work and I am very glad you put all this in one video

[@femoman]

Also, got a suggestion for a future topic that might be a bit out there but is still damn fascinating: The occult/magic history of Britain. From the Celtic Druids to Saxon sorcerers, the Early Modern cunning folk, John Dee, Arthur Conan Doyle and the Spiritualist Society the Golden Dawn, Aleister Crowley and the OTO, Gerald Gardner and Wicca, Robert Cochrane and the rise of British Traditional Witchcraft, even modern stuff like Austin Osman Spare and the Chaos Magick movement.

[@Shinzon23]

Yay! OSP talking about Rome again, and Blues obsession with Domes gets deeper!

[@edengoodman66]

I saw this and basically started frothing at the mouth I have used your Rome videos as comfort videos and Now there’s MOREEES Thank you sir

[@practicepositiveprogress5396]

Using OSP videos to motivate me. I literally finished this task as the video was ending. Good timing.

[@rafaelvalente6837]

Still waiting for a history summarized about the holy Roman empire

[@thechanglingprince1853]

Do you want blue to have a stroke??

[@nathansteiner8595]

The most on brand thing for osp I have seen is blue saying the beauty of rome's road network is rivaled only by his wife.

[@GalactiCadet]

I just found your channel today and you remind me of one of my favorite KZbinrs DJ Cobbler, your content is great ! You've earned my sun for sure

[@jeannaimarre3537]

Remarkable work! Well written, funny, nuanced. I'm an historian, and I still learn things thanks to you.

[@ashleylightheart126]

"This roadmap is one of the single most beautiful sights I've ever laid on and my wife Cyan is really pretty." Is so, freaking adorable

[@DragonFaerie]

I want Cyan's reaction to ranking lower than the roads of Rome in her husband's eyes XD

[@juanmercado7706]

Empecé a ver tus videos este fin de semana y llevo como 2000 horas pegado, me parece súper divertida la forma en la que cuentas la historia y yo quiero hacer lo mismo con ideas filosóficas. Gracias

[@ohno8398]

I'm always so happy that OSP videos come with subtitles