Scipio Africanus Wasn't Bald

[@graccusbro2061]

Scipio actually having long rebellious hair definitely makes him the goat

[@TetsuShima]

Considering how Scipio truly looked like, I genuinely imagine Hannibal, during the meeting he had with Scipio before the Battle of Zama, saying to the general: "WTF!!! You are just a kid!!! Are you really the one who ruined my plans to conquer Rome?!"

[@scintillam_dei]

Hanniballin' wuz black cuz he done be African n shiiit. Black Lies Matter.

[@cvanvslivs2406]

Scipio: "Yes."

[@thomashazlewood4658]

When Hannibal took charge after his father's death, he was about the same age as Scipio was when that 'boy' took over his dead relatives' armies in Spain. I suspect Hannibal feared he was looking at his younger self. In over a decade of scourging Rome, itself, he'd spent his efforts to devising cunning tactics to destroy his opponents. Now he faced a man who, like himself, was renowned for his invincibility in battle, and Hannibal decided he'd like to come to an agreement. Hannibal was fighting with his back to the wall, against a many times proven General, against a disciplined and experienced army, for all the money, in the final hand. Should he lose, Carthage was finished. Should he win and destroy this army that Rome had begrudgingly permitted Scipio to raise(on his own!) , Rome had already demonstrated that they would fight on until the last Roman died, so, there was little that he could look forward to from either result. Considering Hannibal's past experience gathering intelligence on the Romans he faced, I'm sure he knew exactly what kind of man he was contesting with. Unlike the other Roman generals, this one, having forced Hannibal to abandon Rome and return against his will, had sought the battle on his own terms , against Hannibal, himself. It is easy to bring to mind the picture of Hannibal fleeing on horseback, as the remnants of his army stood against the Romans.

[@AlOstosman]

Best manscaped joke i've seen yet

[@TetsuShima]

7:50 *Fun fact:* For many years, it was thought this bust represented dictator Sulla, due to his physical similiarity to Scipio

[@patrickols]

See I always believed and this is what I did read about a few time that the bald bust was Sulla

[@Pan_Z]

For the longest time it was Sulla's bust on his Wikipedia article.

[@nestor4252]

Bald bros... How will we cope now?

[@GillianSeed]

You have Julius Caesar

[@signoguns8501]

@@GillianSeed Nah, Ceaser was ashamed of his chrome dome. He had a combover and wore a crown all the time to hide it, Tim Pool style.

[@seronymus]

How do you clock on the Norwood scale?

[@vaclavcervinka65]

​@@signoguns8501 Nah, I knew Ceasar personally and he was extremely proud to be bald, he even shined his head up with lard to flaunt the magnificence of his perfectly hemispheric dome.

[@signoguns8501]

@@seronymus Receding temples and thinning crown. So 3? 4? Classic middle aged hairline, baby.

[@dyingearth]

I would like to see a series on Scipio from Cannae to Zama. The only reason why he got the command to campaign in Spain is that everyone thought it was a suicide mission, and he was technically too young and haven't been elected to magistrate command yet, this distinction was also what kept him from receiving a Triumph for his Spanish victories.

[@illerac84]

I would like to see a History Channel series on this period that was given the same treatment as Vikings (early on).

[@thomashazlewood4658]

Additionally, Scipio was chosen because so many who might have been selected lay dead on the field of Cannae! Hannibal sent to Carthage a chest full of the rings of Roman nobility, cut from the fingers of the dead Roman chivalry.

[@pyr1t3radio48]

Kagano Mihachi's manga "Ad Astra: Scipio and Hannibal" consistently depicts Scipio in his prime with a good head of long hair (except in his old age, where the bald "priest of Isis" model is used).

[@legateelizabeth]

I choose to believe Scipio looked like Conan the Barbarian. Absolutely ripped beyond belief, with hair halfway down his back, a jaw as square as a block of marble... and a heavy Austrian accent.

[@jaskrip]

Scipio, what is best in life?

[@Mana-xd2tp]

Scipio wouldve been a great addition to Breaking Bad.

[@varlaamthecreator4325]

I’d KILL to see that crossover!!!

[@americathecountryball8358]

I was ready to hit the “10 seconds forward button” a million times until you said that 1:32

[@davidthewhale7556]

I hope you find an excuse to cover Hannibal and Scipio’s reunion in the Syrian War, it’s such a fascinating story and a rare case where two great generals and enemies actually get to meet back up years after their clash.

[@TheVampirelass]

I like to image that originally the busts were adorned with beautiful wigs and the senate would vote to decide what hairstyle Scipio would have each year.

[@esbendit]

Perhaps is is Scipio, but not Scipio Africanus, but his uncle Scipio Calvus (the bald).

[@athanasiossoulakakis7893]

You could say that Scipio being bald is a bust.

[@valmarsiglia]

To be fair though, the ancient sources don't say that Scipio _didn't_ use Manscaped.

[@julianbayard4690]

Fantastic topic, thanks! Maybe the bald marble busts are missing wigs. Classical sculpture was far more colourful and ornate than what early modern sources believed.

[@vilukisu]

I came to comment the same thing. Despite knowing these are still likely not him, the idea of Romans depicting his noteworthy hair with a proper wig is very amusing.

[@baabaaer]

Maybe the sculptor uses Scipio bust to experiment a hair painting technique on bronze that looks good, but tarnishes too quickly. Then future sculptors are lazy to read and just copies the bronze

[@TetsuShima]

Really loved the BBC docu-drama "Hannibal: Rome's Worst Enemy". It had a level of historical accuracy few productions about Ancient Times have, not to mention it treated the different point of views in a realistic way, unlike "Netflix's Barbarians" and its nationalistic propaganda

[@scintillam_dei]

BBC? Good joke. Those British libtards always lie about Romans saying they looked just like barbaric Germanics.

[@bigalmou2261]

Girl: "omg I'm such a scipio" Boy: "... you mean scorpio?" Girl: "carthago delenda est"

[@forickgrimaldus8301]

Girls only Know about Twilight and 50 Shades of Gray, Real Women Know only about the Hot, Preaty Boy Saviour of Roma named Scipio.

[@varlaamthecreator4325]

That would more accurately make you a Cato.

[@kuafer3687]

Oversimplified portrayed him as bald as well. Man, this will never end

[@germanyandfcbayern5791]

He first portrayed him as having long hair than losing his hair seing Hannibal winning

[@akechijubeimitsuhide]

I wonder why nobody made a high budget movie or miniseries about Scipio and/or Hannibal. Nowadays historical drama is all the rage and they'd be excellent candidates. Same goes for the Gracchi. Or the birth of the Republic. It's always just Spartacus, Caesar or the early principate.

[@seronymus]

Thank you Romaboo, very cool. It's my birthday so here's my question: Who is Scipio's last known descendant ? Also would you do a video about descent from antiquity generally? Do you believe the theories like European royalty have a link back to Constantine the Great or even earlier? (usually via Gallo-Roman nobility marrying Merovingians etc; I saw one tree linking the British throne to CAESAR's wider family via St Arnulf of Metz and that early medieval era).

[@j55165]

Afaik the last recorded scipio was Metellus Scipio and he was beaten by caesar in the civil war

[@zephlodwick1009]

There's an Italian family called the Massimi who say they come from Fabia family.

[@seronymus]

@@zephlodwick1009 hmm do you believe them?

[@zephlodwick1009]

@@seronymus They admit that it's probably not true.

[@LegalSC]

"Who says I'm bald?" "...You are bald."

[@Dionaea_floridensis]

The more I listen to you the more I realize how much I like how smooth your voice is

[@ralambosontiavina7372]

The Manscapped thing got me 😂😂😂

[@peroz1000]

Interesting as always, thanks.

[@huntclanhunt9697]

Him vs Caesar would have been legendary. Or against Germanicus.

[@Aemilius46]

Scipio Africanus would show how overrated and inflated that Traitorous Tyrannical Coward, Caesar really is....

[@sarasamaletdin4574]

In a battle against hair loss? I think this video showed that Scipio would have won

[@Michael_the_Drunkard]

What happened to the busts of Eastern Roman Emperors starting with Zeno.

[@strangenessEPR]

His uncle Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio was nicknamed “Calvus” (bald), which means his brother (Africanus’s father) was most likely bald too. There is a high chance that Publius had some level of alopecia. You can see from his bust with the broken nose that even at a young age he did not have a very solid hairline.

[@TheDAWinz]

Bruh I thought the double chin bust was Mussolini

[@sarmatiancougar7556]

Could it be that all the depictions and busts were intentionally made bold as a joke because he had long hair? Perhaps long haircuts were so outlandish to his peers that everyone ironically called him bold headed I can totally see something like that being the case

[@sarasamaletdin4574]

The busts were funded by family members usually to glorify their ancestor. Not as jokes.

[@HeliodromusScorpio]

I think he had long hair as it is said when he was young, but as he started balding he just shaved it off as any man even today does

[@rustomkanishka]

Unless Im very wrong, Scipio Africanus had a beard before those were cool for the upper classes. He was one of the first guys who went full "Greek culture is cooler". In his later years he grew a full beard, indicating his status as a wise guy. There is of course his epitaph: Ingrata patria, ne ossa quidem mea habes Ungrateful fatherland, you wont even have my bones. He had left Rome and retired to public life, grew out the beard, all that. Obviously the heads are not his. If they were, where is the beard? What did he look like, we don't know. I personally believe that there's a good chance people were jealous of the hair in his lifetime. Lets not forget that a lot of romans, including dudes like Pompey and Ceaser were obsessed with Alexander's look, including hair. Both the jealousy and the adoration for Alexander happens today. *Touches mid thirties full head of thick hair* Yeah, haters gonna hate.

[@Jauhl1]

That's funny, according to the wiki on beards "Scipio Africanus (236-183 BCE) was apparently the first among the Romans who shaved his beard. However, after that point, shaving seems to have caught on very quickly, and soon almost all Roman men were clean-shaven; being clean-shaven became a sign of being Roman and not Greek."

[@prussianexile6602]

I read the title as “Bad” not “Bald” and watched the whole think wondering when he was gonna talk about some kind of baseless allegations 😂

[@CFaversham2]

The cover of H.H Scullard's book on Scipio Africanus: Soldier and Politician shows his likeness.

[@jonbarosa8692]

When you brought up the manscaped joke, i pressed L and got confused

[@laisphinto6372]

isnt the one with hair sulla? at least many use it as sulla

[@nikobellic570]

Caesar was, and had insecurities over it

[@Deibi078]

Scipio looked like Musolini

[@Szkula]

Was hoping for more description of what he looked like, great video otherwise, shame if that’s the only description we have of him.

[@pain8117]

As an ally of the bald community, I feel attacked

[@sarasamaletdin4574]

The bust you used for Caesar isn’t thought to be contemporary and accurate either (although it is the most handsome so most used). The Tusculum bust is most likely contemporary, and I think it matches best for his written descriptions too (fuller face and you can tell at least some hair thinning). You should make a video of how the bust are determined to be a specific person. And you might be saddened to find how much guesswork it’s with some people

[@wilsontheconqueror8101]

I thought the last bust was Sulla! Well done!

[@tronosneoauror]

Like because the manscape joke. XD loved it.

[@RecoveringAhole]

I always thought the reason the busts looked different was because they depicted Scipio in different times at different ages in his life… 🤷‍♂️ Guess not tho, lol.

[@Aemilius46]

With respect, I'm curious as to where You get your information from....

[@alik5972]

Another W for the long hair gang on yt

[@aceofspades6667]

Spending more that 2 min discussing what he looks like is not enough time discussing his accomplishments.

[@LuciusAugustusRomanusInvictus]

My ancestor was never bald

[@Onezy05]

....So Scipio wasn't the original Heisenberg?

[@RhodesianFur]

is it just me, or does the possible bust of Scipio look a lot like sulla?

[@sarasamaletdin4574]

It’s because it has been used to potray Sulla too. This video shows how little we know of who the busts actually portray, they aren’t named

[@ernestoparedes13]

Time 7:42 bust on the left is Scipio Africanus. Scipio became a Priest of Mars. Technically, he is a General and a Priest.

[@DDKKAY]

I play the game Rise of kingdoms. And this general is one of the strongest generals in the game.

[@RomabooRamblings]

Is he bald in that game? :)

[@malicant123]

Scipio was a real frater palaestrae!

[@Redhand1949]

Fascinating.

[@mohamed-fb9vt]

Finally a man who know the truth Do a nother video about Hannibal elephant are small

[@scintillam_dei]

And AVGVSTUS wasn't blond as proven in my series "Greeks, Latins, Iberians and Jews were, and are NOT BLOND!"

[@adolfhipsteryolocaust3443]

The Latins where originally an indoeuropean tribe, so they were blonde, by mixing with the proto italics the became more dark haired, but blond or red hairs still existed although rarer (latins today do have blonde hair sometimes), I'm a direct descendant of a Roman nobility, I look exactly like the statues of Augustus and I'm blonde, doesn't mean he was (he wasn't) Romans could have been blonde

[@scintillam_dei]

@@adolfhipsteryolocaust3443 No. I have proof they were and are very different from tall, thin-lipped blonds.

[@adolfhipsteryolocaust3443]

@@scintillam_dei they were mixed race

[@scintillam_dei]

@@adolfhipsteryolocaust3443 No.

[@sarasamaletdin4574]

There are written sources who say he had blond hair in his youth and Caesar (his great-uncle) was light skinned. There were Romans of darker complexions too, but that doesn’t mean they all had darker complexions.

[@forickgrimaldus8301]

I always though the Baldies were his Dad lol

[@Pan_Z]

I wonder how many other, weak (and not particularly important) theories & conceptions from historians of past centuries we still accept today.

[@leonenjoyer]

How will norwoodcels ever recover

[@ernestoparedes13]

The last bust is Sulla, Second unofficial Emperor of Rome.

[@MBP1918]

Insane

[@natsumaiden343]

Si era africano, sería lógico que tengas rasgos africanos y pelo mota no? Quizás por eso se lo retrata pelado, a lo mejor se afeitaba 😌 y quizás si bien no era costumbre de la época. Por algo fue el Gral más renombrado de la Roma antigua, habrá tenido sus características propias, sin media costumbres de época. 🌹🛡️🗡️

[@dexqce864]

Don't underestimate Bald men power

[@0815Catgus]

I am Scipio

[@timnil]

Good joke, you got me 😂

[@Tintin-jg9qt]

Hey

[@uthmanrashid8989]

Nice joke for the supposed ads. Haha

[@Michael_the_Drunkard]

I was about to skip

[@ThePatriarchXCI91]

Your sources are bs, Livius was born in 56 BC while Scipio died in 183 BC..... his description is not reliable to say the least

[@mathis8007]

Bro, like 90% of all historians storytellers reference Livy for this period for a reason .

[@sarasamaletdin4574]

If Livy isn’t reliable then who is? Some guy in 19th century mentioned in the video who decided Scipio was bald. It would be great if there was better source than Livy regarding Scipio’s appearance but you can’t discredit Livius in absence of earlier evidence