Rome's Thermopylae

[@robertjensen1438]

I've been stuck in Rome for the past 3 weeks. All their roads have this weird design flaw.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

Lol

[@JeffreyGlover65]

Well played...😎

[@jill-ti7oe]

😄

[@joshDammmit]

I see what you did there

[@EricDKaufman]

Alright everyone, Robert Jensen has won the internet for the day. We can go all go home early now. Let's wrap it up.

[@tomobedlam297]

As we know from the old adage: Those who haven't learned history from the History Guy are compelled to repeat it!

[@samiam619]

I’m afraid that this part of History is stuff I’ll soon forget.

[@RobertStewart-i3m]

Aah you're so cute, kissing up and all.....

[@RetiredSailor60]

Good afternoon History Guy and everyone watching. Another outstanding presentation of forgotten or little known history.

[@RobertStewart-i3m]

Heck I'd actually learned this in parochial school and pretty much forgot until now

[@atsekoutsoube]

Ancient history is not my strong point. So any piece of information so perfectly presented is a true history gift. Thank you professor

[@frankgulla2335]

Thermopylae, Thermopylae, it is always Thermopylae. Thank you, THG

[@rwarren58]

A wonderful way to start the week! Thanks for this slice of almost forgotten history. 👍🏿

[@caseytaylor1487]

As I have often heard, history does not often repeat itself, but it does often rhyme. I'm fascinated by the parallels between this ancient cold war and the modern cold war between the US and the USSR.

[@stefanschleps8758]

I thought the THG in the opening was THC so I watched an episode, and never stopped. Thanks History Guy!

[@rockymountainlifeprospecti4423]

As always wonderful video, always learn something new. Keep up the great work!

[@davea6314]

"...Naughtious Maximus was his name." -Monty Python's Life of Brian movie quote

[@BrianDawson-n8n]

Ha, haven't heard that in a while....and ole Biggus Dickus lol

[@chuckh5999]

what have the Romans ever done for you........

[@Music-lx1tf]

Yes that was a great laugh scene.

[@markfred9778]

Ill say this the Life of Brian got the name of the territory right that would be Judea the land of the Jews no mention of the Jewish revolt called Chanuka calling the place Palestine hes no history guy

[@RobertStewart-i3m]

​@@markfred9778 Oh hush you 🙄

[@michaelrenper796]

@11:38 - Hannibal fights his last battle against Rome. Yes, this was "the" Hannibal, who had invaded Italy 20 years earlier. This war was a political mess. 50 years earlier Rome barely registered on the map of power politics and now it was challenging the Seleucids.

[@davidc1878]

I found that point really interesting too. Crazy to imagine the upheaval that such a sudden shift in geopolitics would have caused.

[@victorkreig6089]

Hannibal was literally the only thing keeping The Republic in check, everyone else paled in comparison to their ability to adapt and died thinking otherwise

[@taxirob2248]

Hannibal.. have you heard of this guy?

[@Sakkura1]

50 years earlier, Rome was on the cusp of defeating Carthage, the dominant power in the central and western Mediterranean up to that point. They certainly did register.

[@bfairfax8772]

The Seleucid war was the beginning of Roman domination of the Mediterranean after this they move from region to region till they control the entire sea. Then the road to losing it all begins though it takes centuries.PS 50yrs earlier they where crushing Carthage for the first time under Hannibal's Father.

[@Zebred2001]

There was an even lesser known third battle at Thermopylae (actually the second battle of Thermopylae). In 280 B.C. The Celtic Gauls invaded the Balkans and were defeated by the Greeks at Thermopylae (pronounced THER mo PEE lay) whence they migrated to central Anatolia founding Galatia.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

Forgotten Battle of Thermopylae: The Celtic Invasion of Greece kzbin.info/www/bejne/qmbGmq2Mg7iBe6s

[@christophereeles]

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel Thanks for the link. 👍🏻

[@TeutonicEmperor1198]

There was an even lesserer battle at Thermopylae during WW2 between the Germans and the retreating British expeditionary forces. It was mostly a rearguard action by the Brits in order to delay the advancing German forces to south Greece. It was a German victory and one of the main reason for that was that the straits of Thermopylae were widened by almost 2 km by the rivers' silt!

[@nezperce2767]

And an other in 1821 AD

[@fearthehoneybadger]

Remember this story while you are Roman around today.

[@eljuano28]

That's a paper joke. It's tearable.

[@joshDammmit]

Nice

[@shariharniss7745]

Ha! 😊

[@RobertStewart-i3m]

I probably won't as I have a legion of problems 🙃

[@simonkevnorris]

I heard about the Selucids when I played Rome: Total War quite a few years ago.I had heard about Magnesia but did not realise they fought the Romans a the hot gates.. The video was interesting g though.

[@johnking6252]

Great tidbit of history I've been interested in for years, Thx. 👍

[@StevenDietrich-k2w]

Good Monday morning THG and all the history fans out there.

[@t.j.payeur5331]

Thanks, buddy, right back to ya!

[@christophereeles]

Possibly your best episode name ever.

[@jackreacher.]

Said the seamstress to Antiochus the Great after the battle: Euripides? His reply: Eumenides?

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

Lol

[@Svensk7119]

Old joke! I remember it from the show "Funny".

[@jackreacher.]

@@Svensk7119 ... for philosophers only ....

[@RobertStewart-i3m]

Nice, but it's all Greek to me

[@jackreacher.]

@@RobertStewart-i3m ... why ya gotta be so meme ...?

[@jamesvandemark2086]

Those classic gentlemen certainly kept themselves busy.......

[@BasicDrumming]

I appreciate you and thank you for making content.

[@jonnybravo3606]

I propose a History Guy regular segment on 60Minutes. His first episode could cover 2019-2020...

[@hallstuart6604]

The more I learn about history the more I realise that nothing has changed😂

[@stevehammel2939]

I had read the accounts of these battles but listening to the historical account was a nice refresher.

[@roykay4709]

I wondered why Antiochus crossed the Hellespont, since it was such a natural barrier and dividing line. ad he not done so, and kept peace with the Ptolomies, his empire might have had a far more prosperous and secure future.

[@tulliusexmisc2191]

The Hellespont is not an effective a natural barrier, at least not between Europe and Asia. For a few centuries before Antiochus III and continuing down to the present day, the same state usually controlled both sides. Numerous other armies had crossed the Hellespont or the Aegean over the previous thousand years, and as events would soon demonstrate, it would not prove a formidable barrier to Roman or Macedonian invasion. Titus Quinctius Flamininus, who had led the Roman campaign in Greece, was already promising the senate and people of Rome he would expel the Seleucids from Asia Minor. Antiochus wanted to consolidate his new gains, and the best way to do that wasn't a well-travelled stretch of water, but a buffer of allied states on the Greek mainland. That would buy him time to muster his forces and enable him to fight in territory that was friendly but not exposing his own lands to danger. And in the longer term, those Greek states would be natural targets for expanding his empire. That strategy did of course have the disadvantage of drawing him into war when he might have preferred to avoid it. Rome had invaded Greece before, and would obviously do so again sooner or later. I'll admit it came sooner due to Antiochus's forward policy, but even at the time there could be no doubt it would come. In the event, Antiochus failed diplomatically. The new city-states didn't want to be his vassals any more than than their predecessors had wanted to be conquered by Philip of Macedon. The Greeks preferred to play each side off against the other, which preserved their independence for a while, but would lead to their grandchildren being shipped in chains to Rome. It's easy to see the Seleucid interventions in Europe as overreach, but consider what was at stake. Antiochus overshadowed Egypt, and if he established himself as protector of Greece too he would be close to re-establishing the empire of Alexander - a state powerful enough to resist Rome. If he did nothing, the Seleucids were doomed to be swept away before the Roman advance. Even so, if Antiochus had succeeded in his diplomatic and military ventures, I doubt his that success would have long outlived him. Rome was just too good at raising, equipping and deploying armies, and those armies were specialists in defeating phalanxes. With hindsight, his pikemen, elephants and war chariots couldn't prevail against Roman legions, and nor could Antiochus match Rome's finances - as demonstrated by his ignominious death while looting a temple.

[@rocks4brains]

That whole Greek, Roman, Macedonia and Persian history is more drama filled than geek mythology.

[@John_Pither]

As someone who's been fascinated by the Rome history for no explicable reason since at least the lat 1990s, I was delighted to all those social media memes!

[@ricksaint2000]

Thank you History Guy

[@nelsonbergman7706]

Thanks for posting. Never heard of this. No pirates?!? 🏴‍☠

[@nomdeguerre7265]

The whole episode is about Romans in Greece, so it's about piracy, for sure.

[@emmettjones5165]

@@nomdeguerre7265 There's a fine line between piracy and gross appropriation. 🤣🤣🤣

[@steveshoemaker6347]

Most interesting video about the Rome Empire.....Thank THG🎀 for this excellent video..... Old F-4 pilot Shoe🇺🇸

[@yonidellarocha9714]

This video is not from the era of the roman empire, it's around 150 years before the empire according to the earliest Julian date for the principate, and like 250 years before the empire if you take the Claudian date for the start of the empire. In fact, this happened 92 years before Julius Caesar was born, so you have around 4-6 generations for that time, and another 3 until the end of the republic at the hands of Caesar. That means this happened 9 generations before the earliest date for the foundation of the empire. It's a bit like putting the antebellum south in the middle of the gulf war, aside from the technological differences I mean, just imagine the culture of the antebellum south listening to late 80s/early 90s music in the middle of the desert, it's completely anachronistic. You better think of this period in roman history as the very serious people of a country that needed to defend itself like the baroque european powers were at that time, and think of the first century and a half of the empire as the people who went from psychedelics and rock music to cocaine and pop/dance music to rap and whatever they do nowadays. The changes in roman culture (and people) between 146bc and 44bc were so great, that the people who are really strict about it don't consider the two to be the same people/civilization, and not only different political systems.

[@HistoryNut-1701]

Thanks for this lesson. 😊

[@jliller]

Does using Roman numerals count as thinking about the Roman Empire? What using an expression in Latin?

[@glennhalila8279]

That was a fantastic account of the Battle! Too bad Charleston Heston, Tyrone Power, or Victor Mature get a hold of the Script or we'd all have known about this Battle! Thanx/Phalanx for this Great History Lesson!

[@jeffbangkok]

right on time. good night

[@Tyr1001]

Hannibal just couldn't catch a break when it came to Rome. an ignominious end to a great general

[@SuperMaxdragon]

As a reader of Livy, I appreciate episodes like this.

[@constipatedinsincity4424]

Hey Studley Guy 👋all dapper this early morning 🌄

[@victorkreig6089]

A reminder that The Republic and the Empire are VERY different things and should never be talked about as being the same or even similar. One is the greatest innovator in the history of mankind and the other is a tumor walking around in the dark

[@archlich4489]

Well put.

[@yonidellarocha9714]

I'm a bit apprehensive about asking for clarification, but still, I'd like to know which you consider what... I mean, which one do you consider the tumor? There's too many people today that only know about the empire and completely disregard (in both meanings) the republic, which echoes a lot of the ancient authors sentiments about the republic during the time of the empire. It's quite telling if comparisons to the modern world are to be regarded as somewhat accurate.

[@peterdollins3610]

Simplify this before giving it in class again. Thank you.

[@spikespa5208]

A confusing collective mess of personalities, cities, satrapies, kingdoms, and empires with ever shifting alliances, treaties, grudges, and wars. Nuthin' new under the sun.

[@kellybasham3113]

Love your videos

[@bigsarge2085]

Fascinating!

[@brendanquinn6894]

Come on, we don't think of the Roman Empire that often. I reckon its only about 9 to 11 times a day. Thats all.

[@LastRonin47]

I only think about it once a day. All day

[@vickislominski7618]

Man, I've been transported back 50 years to high school, third period. My head is spinning, and ... what's for lunch? 😉

[@Zbigniew_Nowak]

What is that saber on the wall?

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

That one is a commemorative blade given to me by the USS Texas foundation.

[@benschwader4537]

What is the image at time stamp 4:30? The script looks familiar, but I'm drawing a blank.

[@scooter9617]

I believe it to be sumerian

[@colinmcdonald2499]

Just to confuse things... The Selleuccids started naming sons Antiochus a generation or two after the Antiochids were the first major Diadochai to lose the Wars of the Dildochai. It seems Antiochus III or iv's son Demetrious managed to end up ruling Macedon. So perhaps there was Antiochid fighting agaist Antiochus the Selleuccid in this major war.😮

[@douglascalhoun7041]

I like it when super smart history guys hair changes more than my wife’s !!! 🎉🎉🎉 Hair worth remembering !!!

[@debbralehrman5957]

Thanks👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[@glynnetolar4423]

What does a 'war elephant' look like? My imagination runs wild with all kinds of silly images.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

The War Elephants of Carthage kzbin.info/www/bejne/r324dn9jjsd6mcU

[@Jameson1776]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/onrSiJiQgpiLecksi=cc3hIdnS94dHAsfD

[@constipatedinsincity4424]

Back in the Saddle Again Naturally

[@Mr.Higginbotham]

Thanks!

[@davea6314]

"Spartans lived a spartan lifestyle." 🤪 🚨ALERT! DAD JOKE ALERT!🚨

[@thomaseriksen6885]

Why not, it's laconic

[@CAMacKenzie]

Gee! I hardly ever think of Rome. I think a lot more about volcanoes.

[@emmettjones5165]

Volcanoes = pyroclastic flow = Pompeii/Herculaneum = Mt. Vesuvius. See? All roads do lead to Rome.... 🤣🤣🤣

[@jahyoda]

Abalone Cufflink? 👀

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

It is difficult to see, but they have Roman soldiers inscribed on them.

[@jahyoda]

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel yep...I was way off ..but still cool 😎 👌

[@HM2SGT]

Yeah, you can pick the abalone up in that abandoned house across from the church in Rhodes & have the item crafted by any of the fences

[@DieLuftwaffel]

4:30 those are Sumerians, millenia earlier.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

It is just an illustration of a phalanx. Unfortunately, no photographs survived from the second century BC.

[@benjaminlovato283]

I think about the Roman empire all the time. My work runs across the number 82. 82 sounds like "ette tu " brute.

[@wardafournello]

Rome is a Greek word means power,strength. In ancient Greek texts the word is written with ω ,Ρώμη = Rome ,and not Ρόμη as it would be written if the word was not Greek. Check out the script ΡΩΜΗ on a 5th century BC marble inscription in the Vatican museum Rome- power , follows the displacement of power. Constantinople = New Rome, Moscow = the third Rome, the Holy Roman Empire, the Sultanate of Rum, etc.After the conquest of Constantinople 1453 AD, the Turk Muhammad II, took the title of Caesar of the Roman Empire (Ottoman Turkish: قيصر‎ روم, Latinized: Qayser-i Rûm). The Greek meaning of the word Rome is also the reason why citizenship was invented for the first time in history calling the citizens Romans, Romioi , Rum, giving them the "power" =the Roman citizenship. The word rome is a qualifying adjective and the Romans are not a nation but different nations with Roman citizenship. The Roman legions in the 3rd-2nd century BC consisted from Italian tribes but mainly of the inhabitants of the dozens Greek city-states of Magna Grecia and Sicily. The Macedonian phalanxes consisted mainly of the Greek inhabitans of Macedonian region (kingdom) and of the dozens Greek city-states in Anatolia. That was the reason that many Greek city-states (democratic) in Greek mainland joined one side or the other.

[@JB-gw8ee]

I think about Rome at some point just about every day.

[@freedoomed]

Is this the same Antiochus as the Hanukah story?

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

Antiochus IV Epiphanes was the son of Antiochus III The Great.

[@freedoomed]

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel thanks!

[@chpet1655]

I always thought that War Elephants were a really bad idea in most situations. Easy targets and uncontrollable when they get mad. And are you SURE about a Roman King ? The last Roman ming was in 495 BC and this war was 3 centuries later was it not ?

[@SteveClark-ob1kj]

Some of your illustrations are rather off. Particularly the Ancient Sumerians at around 4:40 - they preceded the Selucids by ca. 3000 years.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

That photo is just there to show a phalanx.

[@kirkaplin234]

Question: Why doesn't the US Border go all the way to the St. Lawrence along its entire length?

[@donwillhoit6866]

How do you keep all these names and countries straight? It's Greek to me. Of course I wouldn't know if you got them right or wrong anyway. Very enjoyable.

[@shantanusapru]

Damn interesting!!

[@rsr789]

In 192 B.C, the Roman province of Syria Palaestina didn't exist. Instead, it would have been Judea, which was then conquered by the Romans.

[@coling3957]

I noticed that. Amazing how many ppl insist on using this name. They do it on purpose... Disappointing. The ppl of Israel lived there , as they had for many centuries , at the time of this story.

[@rsr789]

@@coling3957 Correct. I will be unsubscribing from this channel. The 'History' Guy indeed... only if that history conforms to his opinions, facts be damned.

[@timothyberens4524]

And, it would have retained the name Judea for more than 300 years after this battle took place. The Romans didn't rename it until the Bar Kokhba revolt, and they did so in revenge against the Jewish people. The Romans wanted to try to erase the history of the Jewish people.

[@rsr789]

@@timothyberens4524 "The Romans wanted to try to erase the history of the Jewish people." And apparently so does the history guy.

[@HM2SGT]

*History is written by the winners, and they do love to make themselves look more competent and Superior than they were. Ridiculously low casualties against an unbelievably numerically Superior foe...* 🤨😒

[@edankriss141]

Clodius deserves to be remembered

[@Sphere723]

Also, in Livy there is an obviously apochcraphal story of 300 Romans fighting to the death to save the early Republic. Livy presents it as a real event, but its clearly a Roman folktale copied from the Battle of Thermopolye.

[@willng1256]

Your confusing this with the celeres an elite 300 man unit of the Roman kings. I think you are referring to Horatius and his 6 companions defending the bridge against Tarquinius superbus and his allies who were trying to (re)take Rome.

[@Sphere723]

@@willng1256 No, I'm refering to the heroic stand of the 300 Fabii at the Battle of Cremera.

[@stevebowman421]

So nothing changes, greed, ego still rule.

[@ashergoney]

I Prefer Drinking My Grape Juice or Grapes Tea With Extra Good Clean Drinking Water.. somewhat like Water Melons..

[@twoheart7813]

I would blame the military industrial complex but not sure if there was much money in spears & shields.

[@menachemsalomon]

Referring to "Palestine" coming under control of the Seleucids is somewhat anachronistic. The region would not be renamed by the Romans until after Bar Kochba's rebellion, some 300 odd years later.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

Respectfully, Herodotus used the term Palestine to refer to the area pf the former kingdom of Canaan in the fifth century BC, and Palestine was the name commonly used for the region at the time of the Seleucid conquest.

[@EllieMaes-Grandad]

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel Respectfully, that part of the world was known as Israel way before 500BC. Herodotus' nomenclature has not been widely acknowledged in history. AD 70 after the defeat of the Jewish revolt, the Romans named those lands "Palestina", in an effort to eliminate Judaism. Name re-used by Britain which had a mandate to govern following WW1 end of Ottoman Empire.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

@@EllieMaes-Grandad the usage here makes no statement on what it was called previously, nor on any later intent of the Romans. At the time of the Seleucid conquest, that is how the area was referred to by historians who recorded the events. It is not anachronistic, but an appropriate usage for the history referenced. There is no intent or meaning in its use beyond that.

[@nickhockings443]

It was known as Filastine in Ancient Egypt, before the emergence of the cult of Yahwe.

[@menachemsalomon]

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel Thank you for responding. I will take your word for it, at least until I have a chance to look it up for myself. I will say I am surprised, and my first thought is that you may have read an (English) translation of Herodotus that already had this change. Or it's possible that the Greek name for the region didn't change when the inhabitants did (although that would have been Canaan). I'll add that you have earned enought of my respect enough over the years that I trust you meant no offense. I am surprised to hear that the Seleucids referred to the region as Palestine. Especially because the Seleucids had special dealings with the Jews living there at the time. (You've heard of Chanukah, right?)

[@Sakkura1]

I think this battle is less important than you portray it here. Had Rome lost, the naval campaign would still have defeated the Seleucid army in Greece, as it would have been cut off.

[@stephen-ng]

Ships don't occupy towns.

[@Sakkura1]

@@stephen-ng Neither do troops who are starving or didn't get to the town because there's a sea in the way.

[@George_M_]

He just wasn't a good general. Why didnt he have Hannibal command? Too afraid of him gaining influence?

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

Hannibal did not perform so well in this campaign.

[@mvmv5883-e3g]

2:33 "definitively captured ........Palestine"? Even before it became Palestine?

[@RemusKingOfRome]

Did any of Alexanders successor empires last that long ? not really, compared to W'ome (who is your F'wend!)

[@taxirob2248]

Rome or a bear?

[@jonnybravo3606]

Am I clothed?

[@LastRonin47]

Imagine thinking you could resist the might and will of Rome. Silly Greeks.

[@jonathangorham4083]

As a 35 year old white man, this was right up my alley. The great thing about your channel is now I'm curious about the Selucids, rooting for them even. At the very least, I wish that my ancestors had not forced these contests at all. Surely my mullato grandchildren will feel the same way about the clash of cultures and races going on now. Hahaha, did that get ya'?

[@PaulThronson]

Sounds like Ukraine between NATO and Russia

[@thomaseriksen6885]

In that case I'd prefer calling it Terromopyllae

[@coling3957]

Interesting story as usual. But why refer to kingdom of Judea as "palestine". ??? A term invented by the Romans in 1st century AD. AFTER theyd expelled rebellious Hebrew ppl.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

On the contrary, Herodotus referred to the area of the former kingdom of Canaan as Palestine in the fifth century BC, and the common name for the region used by historians in the era of the Seleucid conquest was Palestine. That, of course, is not intended as any statement on modern politics, and not directly related to the Roman renaming of Judea.

[@travispayne7086]

So... Why would women ask this question?

[@JTA1961]

As usual...alot of mouths to feed & wages to pay, all coming from the squeezing of the "little people" under the guise of protection from "the other side".

[@DDAWGY1]

If you want to defeat Rome you need Germans!

[@EGSBiographies-om1wb]

132nd

[@michaelashley3043]

why on Earth do you use images so not connected with the subject you're comenting on ..? you may very well understand and interpet this subject way better than i ever could ..... but you are guilty , along with MANY others , of distorting potental interested people by your choice of illustrations . just because it looks pretty .... ( sorry i can't spell exactly) ... but i truely think history is so manipulated in such a subjective way ... not just you but every 'hisorian' please be as objective as considered influence allows ... but also interesting to the novice ... it just makes it hard to believe who to believe whilst sorting out someones propergander ..... did enjoy your stuff anyway

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

Next time I carry a camera back in my time machine I’ll take more photos. Until then, I’ll work with what I have.

[@Stilicho19801]

I did not watch the whole video. I found it confusing. History is generally considered to be battles between kings. This is easy, but it overlooks their subjects, who continue to farm, get married, trade, pay taxes, discover new ways of doing stuff, plus having children. I guess I will have to wait for another video.

[@hllndsn1]

Why do you prattle on about the whole "how many times do you think of the Roman Empire" nonsense? Profoundly sexist.

[@swanaldmcdnld]

🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸

[@merlinwizard1000]

23rd, 16 September 2024