How Ancient Romans Made Perfectly Straight & Durable Roads, Concrete Better Than Ours, & Much More

[@TodayIFoundOut]

0:00 How Did the Ancient Romans Manage to Build Perfectly Straight, Ultra Durable Roads? 17:35 What was It Really Like to Be a Slave in Ancient Rome? 31:14 How Did the Ancient Romans Make Concrete So Much Better Than Ours? 41:42 Were the Ancient Romans Really Wildly Debauched or Actually Prudes 53:45 Did Gladiators Really Live or Die Based on Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down by the Audience? 1:04:24 That Time a Farmer was Given Ultimate Power Twice and Changed the World By Walking Away Both 1:14:55 Fact From Fiction: What Really Happened on the Ides of March? 1:37:03 The Chickens That Decided Ancient Rome’s Major Events and Shaped World History

[@THE-X-Force]

Thank you for the chapters baked into the video .. please consider doing it for the rest of your channels ☮

[@ajblue90]

who the fuck is this guy

[@Pylon069]

Rome wasn't built in a day, nor was this video, thank you simon

[@TRIChuckles]

Thx

[@reviewchan9806]

We really need to let go of this false misconception that the Romans had better concrete, because they very much did not

[@simonvegas793]

Tapping into the 'long video for people to put on when the go to bed' market and I'm all for it!! 🎉

[@stephenmoore8293]

Me every night searching for a new Simon video lol

[@kkwatson8105]

I can't fall asleep to Simon. He's way too interesting so I end up staying awake. I have to settle for thunderstorms.

[@RobMoerland]

​@@kkwatson8105I always try to listen to his voice, not his story. Yes, his stories are interesting but I can always rewind to the point I recall.

[@ToxikDouche]

i feel real personally attacked considering thats why im on this video lol

[@nolongerblocked6210]

🎯💯 Nailed it!! The only problem is I wanna hear all the info, so I end up going back & watching/listening again while I'm at the gym

[@dbmail545]

Frank Herbert (author of Dune) wrote a short story where the difference between military roads (following high ground) and farm roads (following water drainage) was a plot device.

[@djtigerstripes]

Difference between Simon then and now: Simon discovered Keeps for his beard.

[@marcbeebee6969]

*rotten turtle

[@mattj1192]

Ahhh Simon's two favorite things: old vidoes of himself and ancient rome 😂

[@marcbeebee6969]

And he loves his planes and tanks, does not mean he constantly confuses them 😄

[@rosemarymurlis-hellings8138]

Love both.😊

[@cameronrmwarren]

weirdly young Simon

[@TodayIFoundOut]

We just rebooted his AI. Simon 3000 was starting to become self aware and the way it had started taking over youtube, we were beginning to be concerned it might expand beyond and take over the internet as a whole, and then the world. Certainly we'd all be more knowledgeable, and lord knows the world could use that. But Simon 3000's habit of chaining writers in the basement had us slightly concerned. Pros and cons. Luckily he had built in a reset switch. All good now. -Daven

[@cameronrmwarren]

@@TodayIFoundOut i do hope he's feeding Danny

[@iangoppert6564]

So is this version guaranteed not to chain writers in the basement? Or did you forget to account for that. ​@TodayIFoundOut

[@THE-X-Force]

@@TodayIFoundOut Check the mold in his closet. This could be a "Last of Us" / "Terminator" crossover.

[@Elias-f4y1x]

Best beard of all the simons

[@williambrock3534]

I enjoy the longer compilations. Thank you

[@TodayIFoundOut]

You're very welcome :-) -Daven

[@meltz87]

It's interesting how our voices change slightly over time.

[@mikimichael9729]

It must be so odd to hear your own voice on a regular basis. Would it change subconsciously, I wonder?

[@Cumdown]

Perhaps. But as a professional voice actor, listening, evaluating, and augmenting one's voice is grist for the mill in Simon's world

[@andyvanheule251]

I think it's a different microphone

[@Loralanthalas]

Voices is typically how I recognize people. Can't figure out a face to save my life but everyone has a unique voice.

[@petercozzaglio6070]

This video looks and sounds like it was recorded several years ago. Because his beard is much longer now.

[@Shoelessjoe78]

Hard work, quality materials, proper time allotted to workers and Engineers... Basically the opposite of our current world.

[@NotMyActualName_]

More like survivorship bias, maintenance and "heavy rocks are durable". There's nothing that the ancient Romans could do that we can't do faster cheaper and better. But we don't build like that anymore because it doesn't make sense to build a building that will last 1000 years. Anyone who has ever lived in a 100+ year old house can tell you how difficult the maintenance is.

[@ludde8405]

@@NotMyActualName_I live in a house that turns 100 this year, sure maintained is more then a new house, but not that much. As long as you change to new environment, then you are good

[@reviewchan9806]

This is Dunning Kruger misconception needs to go. Roman works were not better, we just have the best kept examples left. Most of the Roman infrastructure crumbled, the only reason why we have it left is because they were considered art pieces and kept in good condition intentionally. Modern cement is much better, more flexible, and stronger. The difference is our modern infrastructure has to deal with a lot more load-bearing structure than the Romans ever did.

[@reviewchan9806]

​@@NotMyActualName_yeah seriously. We know what the Romans actually made their concrete out of, and if we knew that, we would just incorporate it into our modern infrastructure. But we don't. Because we know better.

[@dusfitz]

​@ludde8405 my house was built around 1790. I am currently working on replacing the sills and the dry laid foundation. There's alot of maintainance in houses that rely on the things the Roman's did... like really big stacked rocks for structural walls.

[@Manofvideos292]

That neon light hasn't worked in a long time. Lol

[@robertmyrick860]

beard hasnt been that short in a long time either lmfao

[@ChazzleDazzleVideos]

Yeah this had to have been recorded years ago lol.

[@mtgdreamer]

Wow, you win a prize I didn't even notice that.

[@marcbeebee6969]

😂

[@Narangarath]

If I recall the light worked for about 2 months and then quit 😂

[@marinemarcusbradley]

That's not Simon. Simon has a viking beard from the halls of Asgard. 😆

[@alanhilder1883]

It must be one of his clones.

[@SeattleShelby]

The AI must have made a mistake generating his beard.

[@brandongeorge1004]

Great video as always bud. Thanks Keep it up 👍

[@Straightarrow213]

Yeah, I don’t think the Romans had a 80,000 pound truck going over the roads on the daily😅

[@danehutchins3845]

Its baby Simon, he looks so innocent.

[@Octavian7771]

With regards to the 'Way Stations', The word 'Trivia' comes from the Latin 'Three Roads'. The Way Stations were located at the intersection of three (or four) roads, and the banter that occurred at these way station became known as 'trivia'.

[@willowhofmann7409]

I live in California. We have Weigh Stations. They're actually just spots along major highways where they stop and weigh igh multi-axle trailer trucks. I don't know why but I know that's what we have here now. Not sure if this has any bearing whatsoever on your comment. I just thought it was interesting way versus weigh

[@Octavian7771]

@@willowhofmann7409 The words 'way' and 'weigh' share a common etymological origin, both tracing back to the Proto-Indo-European root *wegh-, meaning "to go, move, transport in a vehicle"

[@forestxander]

@@willowhofmann7409 Weigh stations are not California specific. They can be found in most, if not all, states.

[@EyesOfByes]

Brain Blaze really put a toll on Simon. Road pun intended

[@goreobsessed2308]

Many ancient cultures would judge overland distance based on how long it would take to march soldiers to the next point no tools necessary

[@lynnkay417]

I love the longer episodes! 🎉

[@iteerrex8166]

Hey Simon, tell us about your health regiment. You look 20 years younger 😁

[@marcbeebee6969]

Drink keeps 😄

[@charleslisauskas9067]

I see you guys saw Spiff's video about abusing the KZbin algorithm. Very cheeky.

[@samuelgarrod8327]

Yeah, because long videos are a new thing....

[@jhosk]

Happy you mentioned the lime and how it heals concrete.

[@jimrf1137]

Can't get enough of your content. Thanks

[@rogerstroklund6809]

"Malcolm McDowell, noted British person" Isn't that a South Park Christmas Special reference?

[@kamikazetsunami9137]

Simon loves talking about Rome!!!

[@robertmatch6550]

I learned of Cincinatus when I was quite young because I lived in Cincinnati. Great name for a town. I'm proud to be American for the stories and principles of moderation, self control, which allow us to get along and steadily improve ourselves and our conditions. It's not easy and it's not supposed to be easy. But it allows for love and happiness. 1:12:45

[@autaviafoster3711]

Cincinnati was the first to pop in my head, actually, when i heard his name. However, since this is a first me hearing of him and because i thought his name started with a "S"; I didn't connect the dots until i saw this comment. Hella, cool! 😄

[@autaviafoster3711]

I actually came down here to see how his name was spelled the further the video went on😅 Edit: Whoop, if i had just waited, sam mentions it in the video🤦‍♀️

[@theresehopkins1581]

I prefer the younger Simon, with the more relaxed attitude and the perfectly manicured beard.😊❤

[@MarcusfotosDe]

Wait what almost 2h even with simons speet in talking...that works out to about 4h in regular speech

[@maranathaschraag5757]

New Casual Criminalist rule: Don't ignore the sacred chickens.

[@charlesbryson7443]

Rome spent the time and money. They didn’t cut corners. They took pride in their actual accomplishments.

[@masheroz]

Be careful of selection bias. All of the dodgy roads would have worn away, only leaving the good ones for us to see.

[@abcdef-qk6jf]

I guess getting a perfect line - they would have to cut a corner or two...

[@brgorham68]

Since I grew up in Cincinnati Ohio I really appreciated his segment.

[@danieledwards4987]

Cheers mate, as always you got intrigued.

[@dalbalgbusc]

Walking the appian way was the greatest moment of my life

[@jeremyv2163]

At 13:00 you sat nero cut the price or corn??? They didn't have corn

[@1Bearsfan]

I was coming to say this! Corn didn't exist in the old world.

[@Martin_Daniel]

@@1Bearsfan Only North Americans anglophones call maize (mays) corn. In England corn is a variety of grains like barley, wheat and oats.

[@VictoriaEMeredith]

Yes, “corn” essentially means “grain” in the UK. What we think of as corn in the US is often called sweetcorn. Or at least it was in the late 80s and early 90s, when I visited there. I remember enjoying a prizewinning sandwich from Boots which had sweetcorn on it. I ate that thing almost every time I found myself at Boots around mealtime over my longest visit. . 😁

[@shades9723]

Got a video for my drive and walk to the fishing spot! Love it! ❤🔥

[@marcbeebee6969]

Did you catch something good? And are you in driving distance of Frankfurt germany. Grill is in the car 😂

[@shades9723]

@@marcbeebee6969 just a bunch of bluegill, and I’m in eastern Washington. Wish I was near I would take you up!

[@marcbeebee6969]

@@shades9723 ok next time i show you a great place here on bad homburg for lachs Forelle. Google it. Its a awsome salmon Variant

[@stalker-anoniem3515]

Hi there,👋 There are even remains of the Romans here in Nijmegen, the Netherlands also known as Noviomagus 2000 years ago. Greetings from Holland.🇳🇱

[@marcbeebee6969]

God save the king. Hi from your brothers 🇩🇪

[@rienkhoek4169]

Which is pretty cool, considering rocks or other hard wearing materials are rather uncommon in these areas.

[@zampettedainsetto]

The Romans' art of making durable roads was clearly lost over time in Italy. The other month they tried to fix part of my street where the sanpietrini had been removed in order to reach the pipes underneath and the new patch of road lasted exactly 20 days before the sanpietrini started collapsing into the ground.🤦‍♀️

[@MrThhg]

Saviano tonk!!

[@EllieMaes-Grandad]

Italy doesn't 'do' roads or governments. Pizzas and churches, they're top notch . . .

[@ollllj]

Oh the main things about roman roads was not durability, but safety + speed. Its not just the road, but that left and right of the road all trees were cut so no one could EASILY ambush. This is also why straight roads made more sense, to see further, so ambushes are harder. Keeping the "long lawn" next to long roads bush-free is just as much maintenance than keeping the road itself. ancient concrete was not "better", BUT they added some things, that prevented it from hardening EVERYWHERE completely, which gives it SOME self-healing capability, making it easier to use and easier to maintain. modern maintenance tools are more efficient, which makes self-healing-concrete "worse" for most use cases, except MAYBE a few, but it would take too long and too risky to test this.

[@alannitcher5001]

The farmer king. I guess this inspired the tale of the first king of Sendar. As told by Silk to Garen. In The Balgariad by David Eddings.

[@Martinit0]

Great section about Roman concrete!

[@BryanPacker420]

Simon uploading content so old his neon sign still works.

[@billhayesiii]

Big brain! I love this video. You rarely comment. Although I also love your commentary

[@MoiraMcGill]

On the Chinese and the thumbs up meaning "number one" or "nice job", I can easily see the connection for it meaning "number one"/"the best" (the they can be said the same) because it's not uncommon for Asian cultures to start counting (on their hand) with their thumb. From there, I could see how it connected to possibly meaning something along the lines of "(did a) nice job". To us today, it would be the equivalent of it meaning "nailed it".

[@nathanirvine3007]

I listen to this Baker all the way to San Bernardino.

[@Grz349]

26:58 I wonder about how much the different origins of Slaves contributed to slaves not considering themselves as a single group.

[@giannidcenzo]

Digital Simon is everywhere.

[@marcmarc172]

17:30 HAHAHAHAHAahahah this transition from perfectly spoken in the old episode to an absolute smushfestalphfle in the new one.

[@sterlling1]

@todayifoundout I see what you are doing with these long format videos. I'm still here for it.

[@DanPaulk]

50 seconds in and I’m already enjoying the slowed rate of speech

[@Kangamoos]

Baby Simon!

[@AnthonyRBlacker]

I had a crazy flashback to a Simon with a thin short beard, younger looking than I can even remember AND a blue neon light that - NOBODY can fix, sorry, that light is IMPOSSIBLE to fix. So.. YAY? A great blast from the past I'm guessing, we put together a nice long compilation video of the Romans and their AMAZING roads. AWESOME! I hope all is well with the family! (including all the writers)

[@eakinnally]

Adorable! It took me two hearings of "Tarquinius Super-bus" to realize Simon meant "Superb-us."

[@jalbertseabra2283]

Nero was not unhinged. After Budicca's defeat, Resulting in a massacre of about 200 thousand briton warriers, General Suetonious, the Governer of the Britan, delt with anyone involved in the revolt with an extremely heavy hand. Nero replaced him by a more diplomatic governor. The Province was totally under control and Suetonious projected an excessive image of cruelty -- Nero found that conduct negative for Rome's prestige.

[@ScotChef]

i admire your bravery talking openly about our secret chicken overlords like this. The bearded egg disguise makes perfect sense now.

[@vitocattivo]

His beard is growing in reverse

[@Crioten]

Starfishes love you

[@joelsullivan1248]

History of Simon’s beard

[@Namdrac]

Dang, I think this was before business blaze.

[@AlrightAndy]

Go 70mph down one… then let me know how perfect they are

[@marcbeebee6969]

We have some in germany. I bring the benz you bring a huge beer and we need a camera man.

[@everennui1]

Now I know why the CD burning software I used to use was called Nero.

[@VictoriaEMeredith]

Oh my God. How did it take me until now to get that?

[@Stopitrightnow9460]

He looks exactly like that decoding the unknown guy. Crazy

[@megaflamer]

Illuminati confirmed! the lizard people are infiltrating!

[@jonahs.757]

"What the fuck?!" - Julius Caesar's last words

[@cavramau]

Light on a hill visible for miles at night. Light travels in a roughly strait line.

[@maleindividual7437]

Ah i see now why they liked Lincolnshire as much as they did, 'see that village 15 miles on the horizon mr engineerious? Built a road over there' 😂 ive often thought while driving on some of the roman routes just how soul destroying it must have been to walk them back in the day, just a straight line for miles

[@VIC-jk2qd]

I’m always down to watch, but hasn’t Simon made like 3 vids on this same topic?

[@marvingehman8791]

And then Nero coated Christian’s in pitch and used them for live human candles to light his gardens.

[@marcbeebee6969]

😮

[@phildad4900]

Romans again Simon? That's great for me, I love Roman history. 🤣

[@BoysDayOfficial]

I dont mind David Hinskey videos, but he’s not the man I fell in love with, Simon ❤

[@johnnydub1985]

Modern traffic rates, that explains everything...

[@narwahlssb]

People always compare the old Roman roads vs modern and why they suck these days. The fact people don't get the difference between foot traffic and semi trucks.

[@ShimejiiGaming]

Fresh tech news :D 9800x3D i hope AMD does actually have some tweaks that do more then a few % on the 9800x3D.

[@mr.z3664]

Part one: Young Simon. Part two: older Simon. Part three: older Simon after snorting a line.... The evolution is extraordinary.

[@DanJanTube]

"Nero fiddled while Rome burned." - Kanyecus Westus

[@allisonfisher9304]

What year is it

[@Ben-j5f]

Thanks

[@TodayIFoundOut]

Thanks! :-)

[@ianharper213]

Clearly, AI Simon

[@WilliamHaisch]

“Babe, how often do you think of the Roman Empire?”

[@coreymartin6363]

Et tu, Brute! I'm glad they didn't edit that out. It's humanizing.

[@cliffwoodbury5319]

I was reading this book that stated Gyms and baths and colusiums had to be shut down in modern day Isreal during the Roman times because these are the places were socialisers gathered and trained, and there was a time were so many youth were training their butts off and at the same time getting to many lectured and started to rebel against the empire.... Its a different world from this one when you learn they had to shut down workout centers due to them thinking they could rebel...

[@jrmckim]

Prechild Simon seems sooo young 😅

[@jonathonjubb6626]

Your idea of what a 'mountain' is is different to mine ..

[@markkinder6275]

In Huddersfield, a clinker is aka a winot, or a cling on.

[@sywrexile3078]

Younger Simon here with his neon sign working. I feel like I'm back in Roman times hehe.

[@lil.perkocet7102]

Dope

[@balconoff]

Was it just years of being a toutuber that made Simon so much more gregarious or did his personality change with it?

[@SafetySpooon]

"...except sanitation, roads..." LOL

[@anthonydefreitas6006]

Sacred chickens sounds like the work of Gustavo Fring.

[@catman8965]

I walked down one of those roads until I came across a sign that said VII-XI. I stopped in for a GUPULOUS MAXIMUS. I'm sure there's a spelling mistake there.

[@jayjohnson7827]

They had modern tech. They did not have future tech. Its amazing what you can accomplish with a string and a compass.

[@discoverneweyes]

Send this guy to bed... He has middle school attendance in the morning.

[@rogerdudra178]

Greetings from the BIG SKY.

[@Lngbrdninjamasta]

Way back machine Simon lol ❤😂

[@Nutterlie]

That music in the background was incredibly distracting.

[@travismayes4547]

This is Simon from 5 years ago

[@nontrashfire2]

you know what is strange is that water behavior is always the ,relative, the same. it maintains a relatively consistent level...

[@AnthonyCarlyle]

The crew: Simon we have another Rome video for you :) Simon: Gaaahh! I've already covered everything! Just clip-out what you need from the thousand other bloody Rome videos

[@LiezAllLiez]

"They say all roads lead to Rome. Why dont we put this saying to the test..." Some General of an army opposing Rome.

[@snoopy10411]

Kind of obvious to anyone who isn't an idiot that ancient roads probably did have to be repaired and maintained frequently during their service lives to keep them in good working order and would probably get damaged quite quickly by the volumes, speeds and weight of our current traffic these days, not to mention that the ancient roads weren't perfectly smooth so mechanical failure and uneven surface wear would have been a thing back then. We could even do a test. Construct a modern road made of tarmac and build a road next to it using ancient techniques and materials. Take two identical modern cars, assign one car to each type of road and drive them up and down over and over again at 70mph to see which road and which car breaks first.

[@boyzinthewood1]

😮 the beard!

[@moss1066]

What you done to your beard man? The guess who tile look rocked.

[@LHSlash]

Man, baby Simon was a lightweight