The Greatest Monkeys In History | From Roman Legions to World Wars and Much More

Man in his arrogance thinks himself a great work, worthy the interposition of a deity. More humble, and I believe truer, to consider him created from animals.
A military grave from the 5th century BC was found to contain something extraordinary; a macaque monkey dressed as a roman legionary. Did he fight alongside his human fellows, or merely serve as their mascot? Whatever the case, it demonstrates the role of monkeys and chimps throughout human history. From antiquity, when to possess a monkey signified status, to the the east where they symbolised corruption and vice, to the fighting pits of regency London where the ape Jacco Macacco had fortunes lost and won on his violent exploits. So too the monkey accused of treason during the Napoleonic Wars, the noble Corporal Jackie, a South African baboon who nursed injured human soldiers during WWII, and Jenny; the orangutan who in her commonality with man influenced Darwin's theory of evolution. Less earnest but just as dazzling was the role of monkeys and chips in art and culture. From starring roles on television amidst the glitz and glamor of Hollywood, to the diva-like personalities of Elvis’ erratic Scatter and Michael Jackson’s infamous Bubbles.
Join Dominic and Tom as they reveal history’s greatest apes, orangutans and monkeys, and the extraordinary lives they lead. From Roman legionaries, war veterans and train conductors, to superstars, football mascots and artists, these remarkable creatures have featured in every corner of human life, imitating us, befriending us and even influencing us.

[@raoulduke8003]

I love how I can get a four-part deep dive on Carthage one second, and the next, it's, "Yo! Check out these monkeys that made history!"

[@gerritpeacock8949]

Same. This is perhaps the greatest random history team the world will ever know.

[@justinscarred]

Karl Pilkington would have a field day with this

[@GG_Mochi]

Chimpanzee that! 😮

[@CommieGobeldygook]

Monkey news!

[@MarkGreen-uy9em]

Indubitably

[@craigwarner6156]

This is basically intellectual monkey news, pioneered by the inimitable Karl Pilkington. The man would love this. And so do I.

[@spankflaps1365]

The Clouseau scene with the monkey and the beggar… Comedy at its finest.

[@garymiller_85]

Love the positioning of the books Mr. Sandbrooke! Love a bit of shameless plugging!

[@jimb9063]

Pre watch wish list. 1. Napoleon's simian spy that met it's fate in Hartlepool. 2. Legendary TV series Tales of the Gold Monkey. 3. Legendary TV series Monkey.

[@hish3098]

If harambe isnt on the list this podcast is ngmi

[@byronclifton8869]

Baboons have tails and are monkeys. Lemurs are primates with tails, but they not considered monkeys. Love you guys and keep up the great work!

[@carveraugustus3840]

This episode hilarious and informative as always

[@airingcupboard]

This show is brilliant. I had a similar idea many many years ago as I collected stories about monkeys and wondered if I should turn it into something (no podcasts then!). Examples like a monkey fully dressed in a little suit was going to take an ocean liner from New York with a friend's a family, but flung himself into the deep as it set off. Another was a gibbon some distant relative of mine picked up in a London market which he kept in an old van and would become very excited if he saw my great aunt. He came a cropper when he invaded a West London cake factory and took great pleasure throwing cakes at passers by, finally being shot by police marksmen. These stories always have these animals in close contact with humans, to the point they are judged to be like us, but somehow always end up dead as a result of that contact. Conversely, we misunderstand they are not little furry people and they just end up being too wild and impossible to contain. It's fun to think about if its the former or the later we are really looking for.

[@Ozgipsy]

That was gold 😂. Thanks guys 👍

[@terencemacsweeny7754]

Mickey Dolenz obviously

[@standardranchstash221]

“You can’t be serious” :) Michael Nesmith is the clear winner (IMHO). Fifty plus years of innovation, plus he was “the attitude” in the Monkees and much more. And now, back to the monkeys!

[@Muesli711]

Ham, the 1960s astrochimp has to be near the top of the leaderboard

[@truesounds6470]

we today, as a civilisation, stand tall on the work of the monkeys before us!

[@DragonsEyeTours]

Excellent episode thanks

[@isaacatkinson1882]

Someone needs to get this to Karl Pilkington, he would love it

[@mariuswiiked]

Can u make an episode like this about big cats, barbary lion, caspian tiger, cheetas etc!!!??

[@robertrodeck8103]

Sorry if this has already been pointed out...a guy on the left, a guy on the right; is Tom Michelangelo's David to Dominic's Churchill?

[@jacquipettitt3389]

😂😂😂 Hilarious, and extremely entertaining. A brilliant episode. Bravo historians!

[@Johnconno]

Poor Bubbles. Who mourns for him?

[@Chadhogan111]

I love this podcast, but I do need you to redo every episode you didn't film 👀

[@Chunkieta]

If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys

[@barbararice6650]

Oh Darwin must be a friend of the show 👈😕

[@anaonanaon2174]

Gotta love how confidently wrong Tom was about baboons not being monkeys. They do incidentally have tails also.

[@R08Tam]

This was great fun

[@forthrightgambitia1032]

I have been to Llivia! It is actually an exclave of Spain in France that was 'accidentally' created by the fine print in the Treaty of the Pyrenees that only exchanged villages and forgot to exchange 'villas' which is what Llivia is. I had no idea about the monkey though. They seemed much more interested in their history of ceramic pharmacy jars.

[@agharries]

Just put the podcast on pause at 40:20, while I correct Tom. In “Planet of the apes” the soldiers are gorillas.

[@ropeburnsrussell]

I'm on tenterhooks, did Dom make the list?

[@crusadesdidnothingwrong]

Why did he have to do MJ like that in the thumbnail tho??

[@channel9r]

Hilarious! The shipwrecked monkey tale is a universal folk tale although there are conflicting reasons for the hanging. In Aberdeenshire the story goes that salvage from wrecks counld only be legally retrieved if all the sailors had perished. So, to stay within the law, the locals had to murder any survivors. And, Aberdeen has a pub named 'The Noose and Monkey'. 🤣

[@Orandu]

46:20 this is the part you were looking for and didn’t know it.

[@jonface93]

Turns out...

[@denisepeters9883]

Very upset that Henry 7th monkey is not mentioned. I forgive you though.

[@Pinakij]

Mj used bubbles to Bring back the Australian kids into the bedroom! And they cant talk

[@DveMcGuire]

Enos!

[@alst4817]

I think we all know the answer is 孙悟空, monkey king, equal of heaven!

[@DAH55100]

How did this even get onto TRIH? If there's a podcast equivalent of the 'Golden Raspberry Awards', this episode gets my vote. 😢

[@karlbaresic4091]

And they hung the monkey :(

[@williamvorkosigan5151]

Historian disagrees with Biologist Aron Ra. Apes are a sub set of Monkeys and like being mammals, we never stopped being monkeys. The Ape thing was invented because people didn't want to be monkeys. Ape makes a separation between species in the same clade that does not exist. We are monkeys. Aron Ra establishes this quite simply (for biology) in 10 Min 57 Secs, The rude title is due to a 3 or 4 second clip of Eddie Izzard talking evolution. KZbin video - You're a fucking monkey, mate - AronRa mirror. The Mirror is by The Science Foundation.

[@inappropriatern8060]

What's with the apostrophe? You just lost credibility.

[@rosemcguinn5301]

I hate to say it, but the thumbnail needs to be changed. The history of racism is the basis for my suggestion. After all, persons of African descent were often compared by racists with apes of all sorts for centuries.

[@phillbarnes8513]

Wtf?? 🤣

[@HarmlessTed]

Boah, what is with this rubbish? Get back to talking about the Punic Wars please!

[@theycallmefilip]

Think of it as the variety show during the intermission 😂

[@MarkGreen-uy9em]

Just a bit of levity😂😂😂😂