Some of History's Most Brutal Cultures

In this video, we explore the darker side of civilization, examining two of history's most brutal cultures: Sparta and the Mongols. Learn about the ruthless, genocidal, and slavery-loving practices of the ancient Spartans, and the violent conquests of the Mongol Empire that spanned Eurasia. Join us on a journey through history to discover the shocking truth about these infamous civilizations.
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[@nate5712]

It’s crazy to think how different life would’ve been just 7 or 8 lifetimes ago. The Aztec’s were around just 500 years ago, yet it seems so distant from where we are now.

[@kramarancko1107]

Now imagine 500 years in the future

[@marcusalexander7088]

History repeats. Perhaps sooner than you imagine.

[@nick-tu2xh]

@@kramarancko1107 just the advancements the last 2 centuries have been insane, we probably wouldn’t even be able to imagine the world in another 2

[@cjgooglemail564]

Lmao Americas military literally has it’s citizens the same way. Prolly more watered tho

[@LiberPater777]

​@@marcusalexander7088 It doesn't repeat. It rhymes.

[@Jayjay-qe6um]

"Conquering the world on horseback is easy. It is dismounting and governing that is hard." -- Genghis Khan

[@zombienation804]

Broke back mountain

[@RadenWA]

@@user-mm8vw1ow1x there’s a reason tax collectors exist

[@RadenWA]

@@user-mm8vw1ow1x good luck going against the biggest empire with the cruelest army I guess 🤷‍♂️

[@Isaac-tf9qv]

'It is a man's right to mount' also ghengis Khan

[@annak8755]

Then you can use Stalin's favorite saying “you have a person - you have a problem, you don't have a person (you kill the person) - you don't have problems“

[@RicardoCarapia]

As a Mexican I can tell you... here we have a traditional dish called "Pozole". It's kind of a stew of meat or chicken, corn and vegetables. But the legend says the origin of Pozole is that it was the way the aztecs cooked the victim's flesh and hearts to eat them. It's kind of an urban myth but damn pozole is delicious. Totally worth it

[@tonyy3366]

Its true ive heard it myself. And to add to this canibals that have been locked up have said pork is the closest meat to taste like humans. And pork is a staple in alot of the pozoles around mexico 😂 it makes to much sense

[@Sam-tb9xu]

I’ve always preferred tripe as the meat in my pozole/menudo

[@Alacard0malley]

I mean you gotta start somewhere 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@VRnamek]

And don't forget your brutal criminal gangs - I think they're still Aztecs at heart...

[@Alacard0malley]

@Hector guerro Valdez Critical theory detected

[@martinstallard2742]

0:48 the Spartans 4:59 the Mongols 9:59 the Aztecs

[@Bubbaist]

South East Asia was lucky to be tropical. After defeating Bagan, they encountered the wet soil of the tropics, which was bad for their horses, so they gave up on it.

[@patpowers9210]

I read somewhere that the Mongol horde's battlefield successes were largely due to the fact that his mounted cavalry was unmatched in the ancient world. His horsemen trained almost from birth and used recurve bows that were deadly accurate. They were very hard to hit and they were very good at shooting opponents.

[@atodaso1668]

They were the Dothraki

[@Lunch_Meat]

Mounted archers are a amazing tactic, whether it's the mongols, the huns, or the Parthenos, but the siege tactics discussed in the video was another totally brutal form of warfare that most people simply weren't ready for. Genghis was also able to be creative with how they used their fame. They would give cities they came across three chances to simply surrender or else. Lots of cities just gave up before they got torn apart

[@projectw.a.a.p.f.t.a.d7762]

They also cut meat in strips to put under them while they road. The horses sweat would help cure the meat providing them with the ability to travel with their food more efficiently. Seems logistics played a huge role even back then.

[@waynedieckmann9840]

The story of Temugen is nearly too amazing to be true. The greatest conquerer to ever exist.

[@jarrodbright5231]

You're pretty much accurate. Their main strength was their horsemen and archers. They also fielded archers on foot (rode horses into position, dismounted then fought on foot) when heavier arrow volleys were needed, and their cavalry were also very competent in melee as well both on horseback and on foot, but for the most part they fought as missile cavalry using the lovely missile cavalry tactics that other nations used including the famous feigned retreat strategy. Their weakness, however, was sieges. When conquering China they had problems until they acquired gunpowder rockets at which point they started using gunpowder in sieges. When conquering Europe however gunpowder was rarely used and they more often used the strategy of starving their opponents out while slowly bringing up siege weaponry, mostly catapult based weaponry and as noted they would often throw rotting corpses (including rotting livestock) over the walls to spread disease and make the encirclement strategy more effective. This strategy worked a lot better once their army was large enough. Eventually their main siege tactic was fear - if you were in a city and the Mongols rode up and demanded your surrender you'd be a lot more likely to surrender if you knew that 4 other nearby cities surrendered and were now doing fine and 1 nearby city resisted and was now a smoking ruin with every man, woman and child dead. The Dothraki of Game of Thrones and the Nadir of David Gemmell's Drenai series are both based directly off the Mongols with many of their traditions, punishments (the molten gold execution was a real historical Mongol execution/torture method) and beliefs translated directly over to these fantasy worlds.

[@TheResidance]

Quick correction: the sun god of the Aztec was Huitzilopochtli not ometeotl, who is the (relatively mythological inactive) creator god/force.

[@j.pershing2197]

Creation force is magnetism. Its 10³⁹ stronger force than gravity.

[@rmartinson19]

While Huitzilopochtli had Solar aspects to his divinity, Tonatiuh was the actual deified personification of the sun. It's important to remember though that most polytheistic traditions were not rigid in their classifications of the gods. For example, in the Norse pantheon Odin, Thor, Heimdal, Tyr, Freyja, Frey, Skadi and Baldur were ALL gods/goddesses of war in one form or another. Odin, Hel, Skadi and Njordr were all considered gods/goddesses of death in various ways. And Odin, Freyja, Loki, and Frigga were all gods/goddesses of Seidr, or magic. Similarly, if a farmer wanted to bless a field, he could invoke Frey, Odin, Freyja, Sif, or Thor (among others) as deities who had the ability to bless or sanctify land and crops. But for most people in the West, the primary iteration of polytheism they have any knowledge of is Greek/Roman, which was one of the few that was rather rigid in apportioning powers and domains to the gods. Most polytheistic faiths were more open, and viewed the gods as fundamentally similar to humanity - in the sense that each deity was a person who could have many skills and responsibilities, some of which would overlap with those of other people/deities.

[@triGRIMM]

​@@j.pershing2197 tell that to a black hole 🕳️

[@j.pershing2197]

@@triGRIMM So instead of an intelligent question you attack with all your dissonance. It only takes a few hours of your life to research and observe SOME effects of electrical influence in plasma. Safire Sun Model

[@triGRIMM]

@@j.pershing2197 using dissonance in your sentence reinforces exactly how pretentious you are, like a blathering peacock. Not that it'll change anything, I'm sure that you're right. Nobody cares dude

[@lostbutfreesoul]

Genghis Khan always saddened me a little: The early life of this individual was so brutal that he swore to destroy the clan systems. Then he continued the same practices, just on a 'grand' scale once he got into power.

[@bonalisa8827]

You do what you know.

[@Mark-gb1cp]

Poor Ghengy

[@noahway13]

Power corrupts. Like Xi Jinping in present day. (Spelling? The Chinese dictator)

[@UltrafalconVX7]

Canute manuver

[@jonathancunningham8739]

@@Mark-gb1cpWere is Larry Daley when you need him.

[@meglukes]

You forgot to mention that Plutarch wrote that the spartan practice of infanticide was leading to their decline along with a refusal to have multiple children to avoid splitting family lands

[@hernanreipp3321]

They were many factors that cause their decline, but two of them are the most responsible: 1. Their laws impossed by the mythical figure Lycurgus in how they have to live. 2. Their extreme conservatism, refusing to make any legal changes on their laws. I highly recommend the blog of Bret Deveraux about the Spartan society in there explain very well how many WANT TO SEE Sparta and how REALLY was Sparta.

[@ccptube3468]

These Ancient cultures r truly horrific. Greeks, Phoenicians practices baby sacrifices and other blasphemous acts. The Persians were actually more decent and have a moral code of some sort compared to the Greeks who loves kids as slaves..

[@hernanreipp3321]

@@williamjust1266 Mostly every mediterranean culture do that. But not to the exaggerations that many point out. For example was never thousands of killing in a year or by throwing them from walls, cliffs or in wells. They mostly left them out in the wild far away of the cities. Some ended up killed by the elements (cold, eating by animals) or find by rural people that could adopt them in their town. The speciall well you mention could be the one found it in Athens Akropolis in the '30 and today is still under investigation about the reason why so many infants a long with animals, mostly dogs. But most investigator are agree that surely was during a plague in a siege in 165 BC to 150 BC, the last time of the Hellenistic Period.

[@k.s.k.7721]

During ongoing research of the Aztec empire, studies have been done on excavations of skulls found not many years after the Spanish arrived. To their surprise, they found skulls with European markers mixed with those of Indigenous characteristics. It's plausible that in battles during the Conquest, Spanish soldiers were taken prisoner and were sacrificed as prisoners of war in the same manner as their Native counterparts.

[@canofsouls282]

Yes captured europeans were treated the same as any natives fighting againts the empire, this isint new informations its been known for several hundred years from several accounts of the conquest 😂😂😂

[@carlosrivas1629]

@@canofsouls282 the spanish did not mess around as they literally called themselves conquerors.

[@canofsouls282]

@@carlosrivas1629 the spanish were terrified when they first saw this happen, despite being the best warriors in all of Europe they still were scared.

[@carlosrivas1629]

@@canofsouls282 they played it smart, found enemies of Aztec to help them.

[@canofsouls282]

@@carlosrivas1629 true.

[@zoopdterdoobdter5743]

_"If at first you don't succeed, sacrifice and sacrifice again."_ -The Aztecs (allegedly)

[@Loralanthalas]

Also every settlement ever. Including Roanoke.

[@nunyabidness3429]

@@Loralanthalas no. Roanoke was the removal of a pest.

[@BiosTheo]

Accurate on most of Sparta, but it was not a Dictatorship. It would be closest to an Oligarchy, with brief periods of Dictatorship, as they used a Dual Monarchical system where the power of the Kings was heavily neutered in favor of power to the council of elders. There were very specific Kings that could rise up in power but this exact system why Thermopylae occurred in the manner in which it did.

[@GustavoCardoso95]

Spartans were dumb af Their political structure, specially the way they handled their slaves, was a disaster

[@Aki-kh2qe-StreetKidZZZ]

Accurate.

[@carlstanford7607]

As a student of history I have been shocked by how the spartans are lauded in the modern age. It was a monstrous culture hated by their peers like ancient assyria or the aztecs and many others. Not all ancient or classical cultures were the same. Some good, some bad, & some just horrible.

[@atodaso1668]

Depends who won most of the time. They get to write the history and destroy any evidence that says otherwise.

[@nudenut1916]

Please, student of history, explain the relationship of the aztecs to the spartans and how they hated them.....

[@DeathProof132]

@@nudenut1916 OP is saying that the Spartans and the Aztecs were both hated by their peers NOT that the Aztecs were peers of the Spartans...👍

[@Horvath_Gabor]

Wild romanticization aside, you have to consider that we don't actually have a lot of sources about Sparta from a Spartan perspective. Their depictions come almost exclusively from Athenian sources, aka their biggest geopolitical rival, concern only a snapshot of a city-state that existed for well over seven hundred years, and many of the most famous "Spartan cultural norms", such as throwing weak newborns off a cliff, have zero archeological evidence. In other words, unconditionally believing everything about the pop-cultural depiction of Sparta is roughly as sensible as believing an English hit-piece written about the French during the Hundred Years War, and setting out on an archeological expedition to find the dog-headed men riding on tiny ponies depicted therein. As for why they are romanticized so much, we can pretty much thank Russeau and other neo-classicists for that, though the so-called "laconiphilia" goes back waaay further, as even some ancient Greeks and Romans, especially Platonists, idealized the hell out of them, and it kind of trickled down the ages.

[@jarrodbright5231]

@@Horvath_Gabor Xenophon however did most of his writing after becoming accepted as a Spartan citizen and declaring himself a Spartan and not an Athenian. There is a reason why there are so few writings about Sparta by Spartans. Up until the time of Alexander, they didn't teach their citizens to write.

[@rayht7028]

Absolutely LOVE the screen grab on the title card, one of my favorite movies: Meet the Spartans

[@Yoder023]

Happy someone actually lays out how SERIOUSLY messed up the Spartans actually were!

[@matthewmillburg3933]

Always have been a bit curious about the number of schools named for the Spartans. Like, do they know? Is it possible that really do admire them or don't know much about history?

[@disconnectsealed7702]

If I had to guess its either they truly don't know and are going off on things like the 300 movie or they do know their history but choose to ignore anything that makes them uncomfortable like us humans tend to do

[@rolandfischer931]

I pointed all that out to my Christian professor friend who's Christian school mascot is the Spartans.. he agreed it was so confusing 😅

[@matthewmillburg3933]

@@rolandfischer931 thank you, I should have said school mascots

[@darkwinter6028]

Sparta? Sparta?!?!? This is MADNESS1!11!

[@barbiquearea]

No mention of the Assyrians? Just like the Spartans and the Mongols, they were a militaristic empire that was infamous for their cruelty and brutality, as just as their successors their main method of subjugation was through fear, and it worked.

[@rmartinson19]

They weren't influential enough. If the video included every "militaristic empire infamous for cruelty and brutality that ruled through fear", the video would be 17 hours long. Instead, it's focused on a few brutal Empires that played key roles in the development of the modern world and/or modern culture. Plus there's the name recognition aspect. Everyone knows about the Spartans, the Mongols and the Aztecs. Most non-history-buffs have no idea the Assyrians even existed.

[@xlReGaRdLeSslx]

@@rmartinson19 Aztecs were a very non influential empire. And many don't know this, but it was only an empire for about 200 years.

[@GhostSal]

The ancient world was brutal and a lot of cultures could be on this list. With that said, I’m surprised the Dahomey weren’t mentioned, especially considering they were recently romanticized in a movie that left out how brutal they really were. They were one of the dominant słave sellers, were feared cannibałs and practiced human scarifice. Some others were the Celtic tribes, the Assyrians, the Nazís (whíle not ancient, they definitely deserve a place on the list), and the Yamnaya tribe

[@sydhenderson6753]

They're in part 2, along with the Vikings and Khmer Rouge.

[@martijnb5887]

@@rmartinson19 I would say the opposite. The Spartans are unknown except to history loving people while everybody who knows the Bible knows the Assyrians. Moreover, the Spartans hardly affected world history and did not left cultural traces while the Assyrians did.

[@renatoruiz8534]

My children's ancestors were the Aztecs and the Mongols. This explains a lot.

[@trevorknudson8018]

I would like to see a video about the best ancient civilizations to actually live in. Which ones had the best quality of life? Just in case I have to time travel someday.

[@UltraProchy]

I would think thats more of a "who were you born to" question than in which civilization. The quality of life in ancient civilizations (at similar technological advancement) was pretty bad all around unless you were born into some kind of wealth. I mean ofc its gonna be better to live in a civilization that doesnt sacrifice their own people to imaginary deities, but the general quality of life is practically the same. It is an interesting question tho, im very not sure what i would pick if i could.

[@TeensierPython]

Today

[@japankasasagi]

I think the Minoan civilization would be cool, or the Etruscan civilization too.

[@pmc1727]

So long as you paid your taxes and went about on your business Mongolia wasn’t a terrible place under Kublai

[@kiwik2951]

Romans seemed to have it pretty well for a while.

[@ficialintelligence1869]

This was excellent. I'd love to see a "More of History's Most Brutal Cultures." Subscribed.

[@phoenix5103]

Simon, you're literally breaking my heart - Spartans didn't have Scottish accents?? Next you'll be saying they didn't all have the most glorious 6 packs 😢😢😢

[@jarrodbright5231]

Given how hard they trained, the Spartan soldiers probably did have six packs. Not quite as glorious as those CGI ones in 300 but they would have been quite the physical specimens.

[@Yoder023]

Psh! They had 8 packs! Everyone knows that!

[@rambler6519]

I know we look back with modern eyes, but from the Mongol view, how they acted was to be the opposite of brutal. Most towns and kingdoms were given a choice and the absolute no mercy approach to those who refused to submit convinced hundreds of other towns to avoid fighting. Other than that, the freedom and general tolerance they gave to people accepting their rule was pretty ground breaking for that time period.

[@Welverin]

I don't think it's modern eyes that's the most important, but non-Mongol eyes, specifically those of the victims, that really matters. Particularly in the west.

[@rambler6519]

@Welverin Again though we can't ignore that this was an age of kingdoms and tribes with the general rule to conquer or be conquered. I'm not saying the Mongols weren't brutal. But there were certainly more groups who were simply blood thirsty. The mongols would rather save manpower and simply rule and tax you. But when they had to let people know they meant business, they went all out.

[@eyetrollin710]

He also recruited the healers the thinkers and skilled people, if you were a fine metalsmith you were in no danger

[@colemanmoore9871]

@@rambler6519 Same as pirates. They would rather you just surrender and give up your loot, than have to fight. Fighting was expensive, and even if the pirate won, there might not be anything left to loot. So, when they did have to fight, they made it as brutal as they could - or at least let rumors spread about how bad they were, so when they unfurled their flag, merchants would not try and fight.

[@rambler6519]

@Coleman Moore i don't remember their names but there were a few pirates who were straight psychopaths.

[@gofastparts4u]

One of the funniest parts of Zack Snyder's "300" was when Leonidas was talking to Daxos and called the Athenians a bunch of "boy lovers" and I thought to myself yeah and so were the Spartans! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@GothPaoki]

Lol they most certainly weren't.

[@p.strobus7569]

@Hades Zero They most certainly were with senior Spartaties taking younger men as student/lovers as part of their training.

[@GothPaoki]

@@p.strobus7569 ok i guess if you say so. And your source is Hollywood???? Yeaaaa...

[@justinlang8881]

@@GothPaoki kzbin.info/www/bejne/jHTJe32er8eWras

[@gtd9536]

@@GothPaoki A google search lists quite a few entries. From Wikipedia: Bearded man in a traditional pederastic courtship scene showing the "up-and-down" gesture: one hand reaches to fondle the young man, the other grasps his chin so as to look him in the eye. Also: Plutarch states that, when Spartan boys reached puberty, they became available for sexual relationships with older males.[98] Aelian talks about the responsibilities of an older Spartan citizen to younger less sexually experienced males. If you read the article, and other scholarly articles on it in the internet, there is a debate as to how prevalent **institutionalized** pederasty was in Ancient Greek culture. Note, that's how much, not IF it occurred, and the subject isn't homosexual acts that may occur between two individuals, but **institutionalized** pederasty. Some scholars maintain that institutionalized pederasty is only glorified in their art and writings, that it doesn't exist. Given the abundance of pederasty in their writings and in their pottery, I think that position is extreme and whitewashing history; it would be akin to saying that violence doesn't exist in America, it's just in their rap music. After all that, I don't judge Ancient Greece badly for this. It's just another fact, and evidence that societies are way more complex than what we learn in our textbooks.

[@137_Diego_]

Growing up, it really seemed like everyone loved romanticizing the Spartans. Infact, to this day, if you wanted to reference a warrior you'd usually hear mention of a Spartan before almost anyone else; as if that's all they're known for. Maybe it was partly due to that damned movie '300' that they were idolized so much by the general population, idk but they definitely do sound like they were awfully terrible as a culture.

[@hernanreipp3321]

True. That movie who is based in Frank Miller's Comic of the same name, really helped to create that "mirage" about the Spartans instead of the true and nefarious were in reality. Both as a society and in their so military "might".

[@lsmmoore1]

Partly it was also because of a lot of exaggerated legends about Spartan "last stands" that existed before the movie "300" (and some of the comics) came out. Sort of likening Spartans to the Alamo, basically.

[@Pootycat8359]

5:15 This statement is a bit misleading. The Mongol Empire extended TO, but did not INCLUDE Japan. They tried, but were defeated. One invasion force, en route to Japan, was halted, when the Mongol fleet was decimated by a violent storm. The storm was dubbed, "Kamikaze," meaning "Divine Wind," a term that is well-known, today.

[@KOITENSHI4]

Not just once but TWICE!

[@Pootycat8359]

@@KOITENSHI4 Yes. One was wiped out by the "Divine Wind," the other, I believe, was massacred on the beach.

[@Ivan_Ooze]

Are you seriously trying to tell me 300 was not a historical documentary?

[@joriankell1983]

No, it's violence porn. Really good violence porn.

[@wildcaveman5310]

You didn’t even mention the Spartans throwing their unwanted babies away to die. Can you imagine if the USA sacrificed unwanted babies too? It could probably have been sacrificing about a million every year.

[@natashka1982]

Unwanted babies are aborted

[@sheogorath1374]

​​​​@@natashka1982Pretty sure that was sarcasm. He's pointing out we basically do the same thing we condemn others for 😂

[@GhostSal]

The ancient world was brutal and a lot of cultures could be on this list. With that said, I’m surprised the Dahomey weren’t mentioned, especially considering they were recently romanticized in a movie that left out how brutal they really were. They were one of the dominant słave sellers, were feared cannibałs and practiced human scarifice. Some others were the Celtic tribes, the Assyrians, the Nazís (whíle not ancient, they definitely deserve a place on the list), and the Yamnaya tribe

[@jeseAudio]

The world is still absolutely brutal outside the 1st world countries. Imagine the buying power of $ without foreign child labor

[@SD_Alias]

@@jeseAudio Not only outside the 1st world countries. Look what the russians are doing at the moment in Ukraine…

[@garethbaus5471]

We know relatively little with certainty about the yamnaya culture due to how insanely ancient it was.

[@billebrooks]

Might as well add Africa to the continent collection in this video: Europe, Asia, and North America.

[@eaphantom9214]

I imagine there's more Can you do another soon? Loving this 👍

[@Pootycat8359]

I'm disappointed that you didn't mention the "Carib" tribe, of the West Indies. Their name was the origin of the word, "Caribbean." When Columbus landed at Hispaniola, the local Indians begged the Spaniards to exterminate a particular tribe, the Carib. After they learned what the Carib were like, they willingly fulfilled that request. The Carib waged constant war against their neighbors, not to acquire territory, slaves, or plunder, but food: They were cannibals. They also had stables of captured women, employed as "breeders," for they had a particular fondness of the succulent meat of babies.

[@qjtvaddict]

Well damn the colonizers weren’t that bad afterall

[@briananderson9164]

I'd be interested to know if the troglodytes in Bone Tomahawk were inspired by them. Your description fits them to a T. Thanks for the comment BTW, first I've heard of them.

[@WikiSaid]

Also known as Kalinago, the name they are primarily known by today, they still exist. Importantly: "Rochefort stated they did not practice cannibalism." "According to the tales of Spanish conquistadors, the Kalinago were cannibals who regularly ate roasted human flesh. There is evidence as to the taking of human trophies and the ritual cannibalism of war captives among both Carib and other Amerindian groups such as the Arawak and Tupinamba. " < Cannibalism and slave taking appears moderately endemic, not unique to the tribe. "Over the two centuries leading up to Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Caribbean archipelago in 1492, the Caribs mostly displaced the Maipurean-speaking Taínos by warfare, extermination, and assimilation. The Taíno had settled the island chains earlier in history, migrating from the mainland. The Tainos told Columbus that Caribs were fierce warriors and cannibals, who made frequent raids on the Tainos, often capturing women." < The weaker tribe making claims of greater evil about the larger tribe, not the most trustworthy source. "The Kalinago produced the silver products found by Juan Ponce de León in Taíno communities. None of the insular Amerindians mined for gold but obtained it by trade from the mainland. The Kalinago were skilled boat builders and sailors. They appear to have owed their dominance in the Caribbean basin to their mastery of warfare. " < Sounds pretty much like any dominant power of a region at the time. "The Caribs have been described by their various enemies as vicious and violent raiders. Rochefort stated they did not practice cannibalism." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalinago Based on this I have to assert that your entire claim is incorrect and based in colonial propaganda. That is why it was not included in Simon's video. Side note: This article isn't yet on the production schedule for my channel's videos but it can be if any reading this are interested, just let me know by comment with mention or through the other available methods.

[@thraxbottom549]

​@@WikiSaid wait how is this colonial propaganda? You said the claims came from other tribes.

[@WikiSaid]

@@thraxbottom549 The use of false assertions of cannibalism was a common tactic of colonialists and other groups which engaged in violence and genocide throughout history. Wholesale slaughter is tolerable to the 'common folk' if it's done to cannibals and the like.

[@danielreuben1058]

A great sage once said, "the past was the worst."

[@revan0890]

Douglas Adams?

[@danielreuben1058]

@Otter_boom I was referring to Simon, but of course, Douglas Adams was a great sage as well. 42 is the answer.

[@MrSlavikman]

Vodka appeared in the 1700s when wheat kernals were bred big enough to have enough sugar to brew vodka.

[@MrSlavikman]

@@axeSyntax Vodka is only made from wheat. That polish potato mush is not vodka. The things made from other things that a re clear liquers have other names then Vodka.

[@BartimaeusCarbulo]

Thanks for the vid Simon, didn't know you guys had this channel!

[@tylerchrist3249]

When you compared timujin to committing genocidal atrocities, you included Pol pot, Hitler, Stalin... but left the guy responsible for **allegedly** committing the largest genocide in history-- Mao Zedong during his Great Leap Forward Edit: whether intentional or not, the numbers vary wildly from one source to another... but almost all of the projections I've seen for just sheer numbers, most believe Mao caused the deaths of tens of millions, some argue as high as 50 million although I feel/hope that the number is far lower lol

[@MattCurrieImprov]

Mao is one of the most disgusting humans of all time for sure.

[@Gnilesington]

😬

[@jaylee9552]

Yeah but that was unintended result.... well mostly

[@kevinarteaga3824]

It's weird though, because I don't think Mao intended to kill tens of millions of people, he just did it out of sheer incompetence.

[@GregMoress]

@@kevinarteaga3824 The number who died from Stalin's incompetence is not small either.

[@PalmelaHanderson]

While I wouldn't defend the Spartan culture, it IS important that almost everything we know about them was written by Athenians. So it's important to view it with a critical eye.

[@kcl5038]

You could say the same thing about the Aztec. Conquistadors: "We got to the new world and there was an entire advanced society decked in gold there... so we pretended we were gods and turned them against each other in order to conquer them so we could massacre them and steal their gold." Pope: ... Conquistadors: "Oh ya... uh... they deserved it because they were the textbook personification of the Christian evil."

[@r.ladaria135]

@@kcl5038 Just found the great "tzompantli" in Mexico DF. The conquerors had no need to justify themselves: "they were the sword of Christianity" . Archaeological finds in both Mexico and the Caribbean confirm the accounts of the conquistadors. Reading some of the stories I found them surprisingly dispassionate. They look like somewhata nowadays police report.

[@philsdronelyshots]

This excellent video raises an important question: Just where do our modern moral intuitions come from? Certainly not the Spartans. Historian Tom Holland does an excellent job making the case that we moderns are almost entirely Christian in our intuitions, even the atheists among us, if we value kindness, justice, equal rights for minorities, etc.

[@therealkakitron]

Loving these series! Thanks for posting.

[@frasermackenzie7275]

Love how Simon included where the ancient plague's modern day sight is. Oh how world's deadly ancient Chinese past history comes back around to modern day present history and into history's future of world's deadliest diseases.

[@sosmooth13]

Simon: modern day Wuhan Me:👁️👄👁️

[@gardenshed6043]

People being excessively proud of their history always sort of worries me. Because look far back enough in the history of any region of the world and you may find a culture like these that are truly terrible and something nobody should be proud of.

[@MichaelMikeTheRussianBot]

As for the Mexica's ["Aztec"] human sacrifice, the king of nearby Texcoco, a friend of Monteczuma, had banned the practice, for years, before the Spanish arrived. Guessing that those practices would have disappeared without outside intervention.

[@puppetguy8726]

Either through banning or by reaching a climax during times of crisis and then dying off. The fact that the Spanish found so willing allies is probably a great indication that a lot of people were fed up with these practices. But still, the disease brought by the Spanish killed a lot more people than the Mexica/Aztec ever sacrificed.

[@r.ladaria135]

Well it's the first time I read such a theory. In fact I did not find anything simmilar in a google search. Link please. By the way: It seems that Aztec sacrifices were continuing at a fairly good pace upon the arrival of Cortés.

[@MichaelMikeTheRussianBot]

@@r.ladaria135 , (3rd try) : Paul Miller's Fall of Civilization Podcast talks about it . Towards the end of Part 1 ? Part 1 kzbin.info/www/bejne/nGmth5emjKh-m68 Part 2 kzbin.info/www/bejne/mXXHfI2oq8xkpqc

[@r.ladaria135]

@@MichaelMikeTheRussianBot It doesn't seem like Mr. Miller is an authority. He is not a main author. I enjoyed these series.

[@MichaelMikeTheRussianBot]

No, but he cites his sources.

[@VosperCDN]

I've clicked on so many releases from Simon's channels, I've seen almost no other videos today ... and I'm fine with that.

[@OptimusMaximusNero]

Kids put frames of "300" in the thumbnails of videos about Sparta True men of culture like Simon put frames of "Meet the Spartans" in the thumbnails of videos about Sparta

[@LloydWaldo]

I’m something of a spartan myself.

[@btetschner]

A+ video! I have never heard of that side of the spartans before, nor thought of the state sanctioned terrorism the sacrifices offered. This video makes it so much easier to understand the cultures.

[@uriahcoy8100]

Thank you for balancing your volume.

[@keirfarnum6811]

Sorry about your cold Simon. I expect you will get better soon. 👍🏻

[@nutgone100]

I think each of these deserves a longer form video of its own, but particularly the Mongols. I’ve read a little about them, apparently their enemies could smell them coming from quite a distance. A particularly nasty bunch. I might have to use some of my Audible credits & get myself some interesting listening for my workshop on the subject.

[@michaelhudson7177]

Dan Carlin’s hardcore history is the best source of info about the Mongols I have ever listened too

[@TuckaBuck89]

Paused at 3:53 for a comment. You should include footnotes, like an author of an authoritative paper would, for the resources you draw your conclusions from. I like your vids. Still, where did you get these ideas from?

[@JohnGardnerAlhadis]

A lot of what this video says about the Aztecs is wrong (or at least misinformed). For example, sacrifices weren't performed daily, they were made on the night of a full-moon, and the significance was that they were returning the blood that the sun god shed when he created the world. Absolutely awful, _awful_ research.

[@BTScriviner]

@@JohnGardnerAlhadis These videos are made so quickly, I doubt they are extensively researched.

[@vada4104]

yeah, most of those aztec sacrifices were the war prisoners. it isn't like they did so much more killing. the just killed enemies in public, not the battlefield. not to say they didn't sacrifice community members, but still. also, we don't know the extent to which they ate humans but it would have been only the top members of society and religion doing it. they were very brutal but idk that we can say they killed more people than similarly sized empires. they were just very public about it. idk.

[@r.ladaria135]

Cannibalism adds a touch of gore that the Romans did not have, for example.

[@nikoc8968]

i dont remember Romans sacrificing children to the blood gods...lol.

[@r.ladaria135]

In fact the tolznapi , or something like that, that the conquistadores name as wall of skulls, had thousnads of victims. Just found, gave an archeological prove of the amount of the killing. 20.000 per year in all the empire I recall.

[@ShaqPlaque]

There's a lot of Spanish propaganda used to justify their conquistadors being repeated

[@nikoc8968]

@@ShaqPlaque it wasnt justified or unjustified. the people they conquered werent innocent, and were doing the exact same. the only thing we can do is observe the outcome of colonialism, and what we find is that every place on earth that was colonized by major powers lives better than those that werent ever touched by colonialism.

[@VSisR]

When you hear him say "Laconia" and immediately think of the Expanse.😂

[@crowejagerson3628]

To be fair you can look at any society from basically any part of history and point to horrible atrocities. Even today.

[@loricrane5315]

Russia

[@papahairy5315]

​@@loricrane5315USA

[@Paulafan5]

Well, not really. There are bad aspects of almost every society, but not on the scales of these cultures (and many others).

[@xylynthian753]

Nuh uh

[@jamesdavid3453]

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[@jamesdavid3453]

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[@jamesdavid3453]

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[@matildalewis660]

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[@matildalewis660]

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[@erichitsthewoods4612]

I moneyed my Murrikuh!!! Jeeeeebus!!!!

[@halavanderdrake3956]

I've read that when the Spaniards showed up, the Aztecs were running into logistical difficulties for expanding their empire - and thus were having to take more and more sacrifices from their existing subject nations to make up for fewer war prisoners from conquest, but I don't know how true that is.

[@byronofrothdale]

That's true. The other Mexica people were already tired of the Aztec rule. So they welcome the Hernán Cortés army with "open arms". Spanish army was around 800 people plus 80000 other rebel forces.

[@witdajuice6763]

The way he pronounced “Tenochtitlan” made me want to employ some rather brutal historical practices

[@nmspy]

“Peaceful modern war” N A P A L M 💀

[@907travelalot]

Now it’s a Geneva convention violation.

[@jarrodbright5231]

I'd really like to see a follow up episode to this. There are so many other candidates...

[@oddicocidic]

do me and mine, I'm from the land of the vikings

[@oddicocidic]

or just spin a globe and stop it with you're middle finger

[@jaredschoenfeld2559]

WOW! Learn something new, every day.

[@maple7692]

Are there sources for the information in this video? I'm interested in learning more

[@YoJesusMorales]

I think the thing on the Aztecs is exaggerated, I don't see lacking protein sustainable as a reason, I don't doubt them eating humans, just the volume of people speculated. The thing with Genghis Khan is that he died when he was ready to invade western europe, I'm pretty sure he would have rolled over them, he must have had, and been, some of the best military minds ever, to accomplish what they did, besides ruthless, but I think that's more common.

[@nikoc8968]

the Khans campaign would have ended the moment they reached the dense woodlands of western Europe. no steppes, plains, or deserts to dominate open battles the way they did back east.

[@alexn8795]

I think the irony is that if Ghenghis Khan did conquer all of Europe then we would probably have a less negative view on his accomplishments. His empire would have been viewed more like the Romans in western culture. It is important to identify biases in historical sources. Most of our written history(about the mongols) is told from the perspective of the western Europe and was written down at time when the Mongol threats and propaganda of complete annihilation were in full swing. Even today in modern Mongolia they have a very different view of Ghengis than most of world.

[@williedowdy6830]

I definitely thought Simon was pulling a @TheCriticalDrinker and was reviewing that "Meet The Spartans" movie. I would watch that!! 😅

[@pabloastudillo6903]

Outstanding

[@jpdenboer4365]

I love (almost) all of your channels. But I have a question, is there a reason why the background music is so loud? It makes it almost impossible to listen to what you are saying… Hope you can explain!

[@kaltaron1284]

You made it sound like Japan was part of the Mongol Empire which it never was. Although the Mongol attacks did destabilize the central gouvernment and changed the power structure.

[@gediminaskucinskas6952]

Well on the map it also shows Lithuanian Great duchy as partially part of Mongol Empire which isnt true as well. In fact great Duke Algirdas beat mongols in Blue Waters battle in 1362 to make sure they would not be part of empire.

[@HughJass-jv2lt]

Nice video 🔥🔥🔥

[@MsMtheory]

Love all your videos etc.. Buuut I noticed, at least for me, when you start talking about the mongols the "background" music because not so background, it was distracting, just some constructive criticism ❤

[@pop5678eye]

It's not just for the most brutal empires but even for any empire you get to be called 'the great' for basically murdering on a massive scale. Just compare how many 'the greats' or equivalent admired leaders you can name for their military prowess versus how many you remember as great for peaceful contributions to civilization.

[@hernanreipp3321]

Good point. They are so few that you can literally count them with one hand.

[@slottyken]

You can't compare ancient civilisations to modern culture and actions. It's ludicrous!

[@CuShorts]

how about THIS as a movie??????

[@owllymannstein7113]

To be fair Simon your general characterization of the Spartans applies to most of the ancient world as well.

[@GothPaoki]

Or the modern..

[@Loralanthalas]

Yeah I was gonna say quite a few of the united states falls into this as well. Including California.

[@answerman9933]

Yes. But the Spartans perfected it.

[@answerman9933]

@@Loralanthalas How would you know? Have you ever been there?

[@daz7122]

The first Australian colonist got the crap flogged out of them and that's not too long ago.

[@cleanerben9636]

The Aztec religion was a bit more complex than that. Sacrificial victims were seen to literally be the Gods in human form that needed to be released.

[@NickSteffen]

That’s exactly what someone trying to eat you would say… Aztecs took the hunger games to a whole new level

[@GothPaoki]

Context is not important in Simon's videos.

[@nikoc8968]

aaaand they follow it up by carving out your still-beating heart and eating it in front of you...but, you know...its "gods will" and all, so thats perfectly fine...right? xD

[@tristanhipps604]

Surprised the Comanche and Apache tribes in North America didn’t make the list. There numbers may not be in the millions but the culture and brutality of their lives and other bands and tribes they came into contact with must rank up there

[@Adam-fj7bz]

1:45 Athens had better military feats than the spartans.

[@Adiscretefirm]

300 wasn't just a movie, it was a movie based on a comic book, not a history book. Not that Greek historians were particularly concerned with accuracy, but 300 is so far removed from reality as to be fiction. Pretty sure Frank Miller would tell you the same thing.

[@nikoc8968]

the movie is literally a work of fiction and was never once marketed as being historically accurate, lol.

[@Adiscretefirm]

@@nikoc8968 and yet people still think they know the story of Thermopylae and Sparta because they watched it, as the video states.

[@nikoc8968]

@@Adiscretefirm people can believe whatever they want. if someone thinks Meet the Spartans is historically accurate for whatever reason, does that automatically make the directors intent was to _be_ "historically accurate?" some people are just gullible and naive, its not the directors fault.

[@siriusdragon]

Can you do the most PEACEFUL cultures next?? would be an interesting juxtaposition!

[@Geraduss]

Strangely or not so strangely enough that would actually be modern day "western Cultures"

[@tesmith47]

@@Geraduss that's not true!!

[@renatoruiz8534]

They don't exist.

[@User-ox6fp]

someone know the title of the song playing as sparta is announced?

[@diggernash1]

When surrounded by violence; winners become the most violent.

[@andyginterblues2961]

My old high school football team was named the Spartans. Simon, you forgot to mention the Huns. My personal favorites, dad's side of the family are Hungarian.

[@kennethcrenshaw317]

Oddly enough, Ghengis Kahn was the first person in history to kill people for "dead naming". If someone were to say the name Temujin, he would have them executed lol

[@sheogorath1374]

I'm pretty sure most kings would execute you if you called them by name.

[@artgreig7069]

If you slow the video down to 0.75 speed, Simon has sounds like Orsen Wells via Truman Capote with a smidgen of Walter Cronkite

[@VerityThePixie]

Hi Simon 👋🏻 just for future reference, vis a vis “Aztecs” (Mexica), the pronunciation is: Nahuatl: “na-WAt” (very subtly on the “t” as if you’re whispering it after emphasis on the “wa” sound. Tenochtitlan: “teh-noch-TIH-tlan” emphasis on the “tih”.

[@danmadefurniture]

Great video!

[@hissingsidll750]

Watch The Spartans by Bettany Hughes if you want a accurate historical take...not this garbage

[@danmadefurniture]

@@hissingsidll750 thanks I’ll check it out

[@hissingsidll750]

@@danmadefurniture My pleasure....it`s on here plus a other stuff from her, the Minoans is excellent as well. Straight up factual history with no presentism or agendas being pushed....the way history used to be shown before all the madness if you know what I mean.

[@charlesbryson7443]

The Spartans weren’t the only ones doing these things, the Spartans just did it better.

[@MohamedRamadan-qi4hl]

Wrong. Sparta free to slave ratio of 5 slaves to every free man was ridiculous even by standards of that time {for example American South had a ratio of two free to one slave and Athens had half of its population slaves} and they treated that massive slave population was far worse brutality than normal as they were allowed to legally kill them. And more successful? Really? They only ever conquered one third of the Peloponnese

[@01nmuskier]

​@@MohamedRamadan-qi4hl nearly every happening in Sparta was also happening in Rome.

[@MohamedRamadan-qi4hl]

@@01nmuskier rome didn't have a one to 5 free to slave ratio. And killing slaves for them wasn't legal. Sparta was extrem even by ancient standards

[@01nmuskier]

@@MohamedRamadan-qi4hl nearly...to some extent...not EXACTLY. Yeah, Rome had slaves. Yeah, Roman's killed slaves. No, Sparta didn't kill their slaves in the Colosseum.

[@MohamedRamadan-qi4hl]

@@01nmuskier what are you talking about? Told you. They were uniquely cruel and oppressive by standards of that time. Also no only gladiators were ever killed. And even then rarely. In spart you can kill any slave you want. It was state policy to kill their slaves

[@wanderer3004]

It's funny how the Aztec tried to stop and era of darkness and death with darkness and death. I'm glad they got their just rewards. The same as the filthy Mongols and Spartans as well.

[@alexanderperez5347]

Does anyone know what that opera piece is ? I've been watching this guy for a few years now and I desperately want to know

[@BlufLeather2892]

Wasn't the 300 based on a graphic novel? Not history. There should be large differences between the two.

[@cleverusername9369]

And the graphic novel was based on an actual historical event.

[@Outside85]

Yes, by Frank Miller, its also why it was shot in the manner that it was... by Zack Snyder.

[@GothPaoki]

Exactly. I don't know why people keep getting that out of context it's either idiocy or lack of knowledge. That ' this isn't historical " is really retarded of an argument.

[@GothPaoki]

And game of thrones was based on war of the roses. Does anyone look at it and say " oh no that's not how war of the roses happened"??? Really retarded argument.

[@theflyingwelshman5338]

I’m fairly sure that most of what was recorded about the Aztec peoples was likely exaggerated by the same conquistadors that slaughtered them. While it’s common knowledge that they practiced human sacrifice, the idea that they killed thousands in a single day is ridiculous. I’m not defending the Aztecs, but I will always take the word of Cortez with a grain of salt because he was quite unhinged himself.

[@nikoc8968]

we have substantial forensic evidence to prove everything that has been stated about the Aztecs. these are not the words of Cortez(what?), these are the words of _countless_ eye-witnesses of the atrocities that took place in that culture...

[@Qadir-24]

Some people came for the video and some came because they saw the Thumbnail.

[@andrewjames9132]

I absolutely love your videos, but recently the sound track has been drowning out the speaking. Can you lower the back ground music

[@KasFromMass]

Athenians where just as brutal and prone to unrestrained conquest. Pericles was a dictator and “Democracy” was a failure due to the utter corrupt society. Athens was modern day Soviet Union.

[@ritual64]

Well as Simon says, the past was the worst.

[@willempretorius6700]

Your description of Sparta could just as well describe North Korea.

[@ignitionfrn2223]

0:55 - Chapter 1 - The spartans 5:05 - Chapter 2 - The mongols 10:05 - Chapter 3 - The aztecs - Chapter 4 - - Chapter 5 - - Chapter 6 -

[@JustSomeDude42]

The Aztec had no access to protein is bullshit, they lived in a god damn lake (fishing anyone) and were capable hunters as well. Not to mention trade with other nearby states. This point reeks of eurocentrism exoticism of new world cultures and the phenomenon of cannibalism as a whole. All I’m saying is that point is grossly over exaggerated and during my time as an anthropologist I have hardly ever come across a source like that. If anyone has an article or peer viewed research paper I’d love to see the link. But as for no access to protein, bold claim I’m gonna call shenanigans on.

[@hyperspacejester7377]

Simon Whistler... quantity over quality!

[@GothPaoki]

Simon is not exactly a researcher or anything or even fact checking any of his vids. I honestly watch his vids just for his personality and take everything he presents as history as automatically false.

[@JustSomeDude42]

@@GothPaoki that is a damn good positive attitude I am gonna have to adopt if I wanna keep watching this channel.

[@danielday9488]

@@JustSomeDude42 Read the accounts of Bernal Diaz del Castillo, The True History of the Conquest of New Spain. It explains what Hernan Cortes and his men went through during the years leading up to, and following, the fall of the Aztec empire. Fascinating and horrifying. Are some of those recollections lies or tall tales? Probably, but surely not the whole thing.

[@templarw20]

Remember two things about the Spartans. 1) When they said "come and take them," the Persians did. Easily. 2) Phillip (father of Alexander) skipped conquering them not because he was somehow intimidated, but because they were insignificant.

[@nikoc8968]

the Persians never conquered Greece...what the fuck are you on about? xD

[@aplavouloneis]

Spartas legend has lasted for thousands of years and for good reasons , no amount of hate and envy can erase it.

[@st0n3dfuker]

My buddy walked by and said your beard makes you look like a bearded collie and I can't unsee it

[@nikoc8968]

anyone saying something as simplistic as "spartans were weird" probably wouldnt have lasted an hour in any time-period before the 20th century, lol...

[@thatsinteresting3415]

it's important to note there are no first hand accounts of Aztecs eating human flesh, and the only Aztec writings about cannibalism describe it as an abhorrent practice. The only references to Aztec cannibalism are from Spanish sources after the Aztec Confederation had been completely conquered. They were still pretty in love with death though.

[@danielday9488]

There were first hand accounts. Read Bernal Diaz del Castillo's account about the Yucatan and fighting his way out of Tenochtitlan under Hernan Cortés. Pretty horrifying shit. It happened.

[@SeanMintus]

No mention of the British Empire?

[@Paulafan5]

Nope. They aren't on par with these or dozens of other cultures far more brutal.

[@AvB.83]

Good thing no one from these cultures is still around, imagine 300 spartans swarming the comment section contradicting everything and spreading their propaganda.

[@yokaioni7863]

How many Channels do you have my God man I enjoy it tho

[@stephenconnor1847]

Thanks for a deeper look at three ancient cultures. I'm glad you didn't label these as the "three most brutal" as I suspect several epochs of European history would also qualify. Actually, I think you would be hard pressed to find a culture with no brutality.

[@benjamingarrett9960]

Thank you for enlightening on how it really was in Sparta. Though it was better to be a Spartan slave than it was to be a slave of any other city-state at the time

[@MichaelMikeTheRussianBot]

The 300 were gay couples, with the theory being that they would fight for their partners, & not bail, as they had previously.

[@andrewking9454]

​@@MichaelMikeTheRussianBot I think you're mixing them up with the Sacred Band of Thebes