The Age Of Heraclius (602-641)

[@ancientsight]

Here is a remasterd video on the entire reign of Heraclius, enjoy ! Please leave any kind of feedback in the comments. This is really helpful to provide better quality content. And remember, the best way to support the channel is here : www.patreon.com/ancientsight A sincere thank you to all who make a contribution on Patreon, this massively helps me .

[@alexhatfield4448]

I love your content and also appreciate you turning the French down alittle. Good stuff brother keep it up, you make my work day go a bit easier. That's a God send.

[@ancientsight]

@@alexhatfield4448 Thank you for those heartwarming words. I am glad these videos have such a positive impact on some of you

[@RobertMayse]

Q

[@bozomori2287]

​​@@ancientsightWhy didnt you include this letter in the video about this poor guy Heraclieus? The letter that ended the old world disorder 📜 In the name of God the Beneficent, the Merciful: (This letter is) from Muhammad son of Abdullah to Heraclius the Great (ruler) of the Romans (Byzantines). Peace be upon him, he who follows the right path. Furthermore I invite thee to Islam; become a Muslim and thou shalt be safe (from Hell or God's punishment), and God will double thy reward (as your people will follow along and be saved because of you), and if thou rejectest, thou shalt bear the sins of the Arisiyins (the peasants, your people). (And I recite to you God's Statement:) Say (O Muhammad): 'O people of the scripture! Come to a word common to you and us that we worship none but God and that we associate nothing in worship with Him, and that none of us shall take others as Lords beside God. Then, if they turn away, say: 'Bear witness that we are Muslims' (those who have surrendered to God).

[@lothric_k]

Map possible wrong, because another documents i saw there is Gokturks north of Caucasus, so they made alliance with Heraclius and raid Sassanids lands

[@mariuss1590]

I actually love you for this, Heraclius in my opinion is the most overlooked emperor in the history of Rome, the man was a tragic hero, he saved it all only to lose most of it in the end. If anyone wants to read more about him, Matthew Jordan has two books about The Exarch's Son and The Emperor.

[@ancientsight]

Thanks a lot for your kind words ! I would have loved having his last book when writing the script. Too bad it came out a bit late.

[@Steven-dt5nu]

From the overthrow of Phocas to the rise of Islam would make a great mini series. You would not even have to Embellish anything or take creative license.

[@misaelfraga8196]

Heraclius did weaken the Sassanids too much and weakened the empire with his efforts of overthrowing rebel generals. That allowed a united barbarian horde to seize much territory from both weakened empires.

[@russellrobertson7457]

Agree

[@ThePSaco]

He is such a fascimating figure, had he died after defeating the persians he would've been remebered as the greatest emperor of the east

[@jerry7836]

This is definitely one of the best channels on ancient antiquity

[@RomanOf2002]

God rest Heraclius. Absolutely insane what tenacity he had.

[@Nimai_Aquino]

Very sad that he supported heresy in the end of his life. He broke into despair to the point of going against the Pope’s guidance. A very sad history, the life of that emperor.

[@Feanor1169]

I don't understand why it's heretical to say Christ two natures (fully man, fully God) but only one will. It seems Heraclius was trying to hold the empire together while the Italians and Pope offered nothing but problems for him. @@Nimai_Aquino

[@mosquitobight]

@@Nimai_Aquino The Catholic and Orthodox Churches were destined to go their own ways anyway. Neither one was in a position to force their views on each other.

[@bozomori2287]

If the nerds simply understood Jesus was simply a Prophet of God no one would have fought over his nature and Islam would not have come to existance.

[@ghostd69]

Hearclus wasn't that old so he couldn't fought arabs he was in 50s during arab conquest in first arab conquest battle occured in 634 where hearclus was 54 years plus he involed in battles aganist arab like battle of bosra and Siege of Emesa 638 and battle of iron bridge was defeated by khalid ibn al walid. Maybe hearclus would defeated arabs if they dont had khalid but lets pointing about ages where old many kings and general was was much older they were succesfully in their champigan and defeated their enemies such as belarius reached 60s still countine fighting his enemies same to basil ii he was involing in battles he became 60 year. greatest mongol general subatu in his 60s to 70s year he still involed in champigan and battles. Yousuf ibn tashfin he was 90 years when he defeated castle kingdom and musa ibn nasyr was 70 year when he conquered entire north africa and lberia. Many and many who was much older than was capable leading army aganist their enemies

[@Michael_the_Drunkard]

The title Augustus wasn't replaced. It lost prestige, but it was still part of the imperial title and imprinted on coins until the Palaeologan period.

[@ancientsight]

Indeed, I could have been more precise on this matter

[@tylerellis9097]

Theophilos being based this time. Heraclius getting rid of Augustus and changing the language to Greek is such a myth. Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII even writes in his Book De Thematibus that it was the Emperors after Heraclius who abandoned their ancestral language for Greek, not knowing which Emperor that did, only that it wasn’t Heraclius. Basileus doesn’t even appear on any coinage until the reign of Leo III. Augustus continues to recurringly appear on the Coins and Seals of the Empire until the reign of Constantine XI without Basileus. Leo opens his book of tactics, Taktika with Augustus. Manuel Komnenos used Augustus when presenting himself in an Imperial edict that declared the decision of the Church Synod in 1166. Augustus was not replaced but remained as a separate title from Basileus.

[@ericponce8740]

The transition from Latin to Greek started under Justinian. The Digest of Justinian was written in Greek. @@tylerellis9097

[@Spartan_Disiplin]

​@@tylerellis9097 Probably Constants II,creator of theme system,abandoned Latin. You gave interesting information by the way. It just show that elite in Constantinopolis also realized that they were moving away from the Roman identity and becoming Greek.

[@ChronosHellas]

@@tylerellis9097Why are you basing your information from only coinage? You are limiting this argument, when it has a more extend context. You pointed a false flag. Wiki: By the 4th century however, basileus was applied in official usage exclusively to the two rulers considered equals to the Roman Emperor: the Sassanid Persian shahanshah ("king of kings"), and to a lesser degree the King of Axum, whose importance was rather peripheral in the Byzantine worldview.[12](pp 35, 42) Consequently, the title acquired the connotation of "emperor", and when barbarian kingdoms emerged on the ruins of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, their rulers were referred to in Greek not as basileus but as rēx or rēgas, the hellenized forms of the Latin title rex, king.[11](pp 263-264) The first documented use of basileus Rhomaíōn in official context comes from the Persians: in a letter sent to Emperor Maurice (r. 582-602) by Chosroes II, Maurice is addressed in Greek as basileus Rhomaíōn instead of the habitual Middle Persian appellation kēsar-i Hrōm ("Caesar of the Romans"), while the Persian ruler refers to himself correspondingly as Persōn basileus, thereby dropping his own claim to the Greek equivalent of his formal title, basileus basileōn ("king of kings").[12](p 70) The title appears to have slowly crept into imperial titulature after that, and Emperor Heraclius is attested as using it alongside the long-established Autokratōr Kaisar in a letter to Kavadh II in 628. Finally, in a law promulgated on 21 March 629, the Latin titles were omitted altogether, and the simple formula πιστὸς ἐν Χριστῷ βασιλεύς, "faithful in Christ Emperor" was used instead.[12](p 31) The adoption of the new imperial formula has been traditionally interpreted by scholars such as Ernst Stein and George Ostrogorsky as indicative of the almost complete hellenization of the Empire by that time.[12](p 32) In imperial coinage, however, Latin forms continued to be used. Only in the reign of Leo III the Isaurian (r. 717-741) did the title basileus appear in silver coins, and on gold coinage only under Constantine VI (r. 780-797). The term Basileus has deeper historic origins than the tittle Caesar. It has been used sense the Mycenaean Greeks. The Mycenaean form was *gʷasileus (Linear B: 𐀣𐀯𐀩𐀄, qa-si-re-u), denoting some sort of court official or local chieftain, but not an actual king, later transmitter to the word king through, the Hellenic city states and later on Hellenistic diadochi.

[@LoganBerry1017]

You and Serapeum Historia are my favorite channels right now

[@ancientsight]

I love his content as well

[@Vllili]

As an Arab, I see that Heraclius was one of the greatest emperors in history. The experience he lived was unparalleled by any other emperor.

[@tr4hek]

​@@basuta-dshraraHaha the truth can never be stopped

[@BrahimS03]

​@@basuta-dshrara lmao cry lil nga

[@Emad63324]

Heraclius Justinian the great Moris Basil the second Alexios Komnenos هؤلاء أحسن أباطرة بيزنطيين من رأيي الشخصي

[@hegantank6495]

@@Emad63324 moris lmao

[@michalschade7734]

Islam is sickness

[@BrianHall33]

Man Heraclius is one of my favorites. So tragic. The man who would have been Hero. He should have been the hero of the age, the paramount savior of the Empire, remembered alongside Aurelian, Augustus, Caesar, Marcus Aurelius, Constantine, and Diocletian. A man who claimed an Empire on the brink of collapse, fighting a war of 2 fronts, one of which had been vicious, brutal, and devastating to large swaths of the Empire for decades. Who then restored vigor and heart to the army, and pushed the enemy back with stunning victories, reclaiming stolen holy artifacts. Then to recline, spend the rest of his years slowly rebuilding an Empire that was running on empty; devastated, scarred, depleted, and weak, but on top. But instead, with no time to recover, or recuperate an enemy appears out of nowhere with no way to have predicted it. The Empire ended its once in a generation war of national survival on top but spent, now he had to fight another one with no rest. And with no more strength left to give, he lost. Leaving him fated to be largely unknown and not remembered. The savior who lost. The hero who failed.

[@dak5761]

Couldnt agree more

[@peterwainio2134]

Beautifully said.

[@billychops1280]

Heraclius is a saviour who just could not catch a break, poor guy. Also for everyone who points out that Justinian was a terrible emperor for his western ambitions that cost the empire men and wealth, Heraclius is literally the proof that it was all worth it, since he and his family controlled the western province of Africa and its troops which is what he used to vanquish Phokas

[@mercianthane2503]

Wait, Justinian's conquest of Africa was a success, no wasted money and brought prestige to him and Belisarius. Justinian should've stopped there, he already had the bread basket of the Empire back, and with it he could've focused on strengthening Anatolia. But, of course, how was he supposed to know all of this?

[@billychops1280]

@@mercianthane2503 Egypt was already the breadbasket of the empire, the reason for invading Africa was to stop Vandal piracy and hostility towards the empire, those were the top priorities. And he went after Italy, for basically the same reasons but also because of his love for it and Rome, which he couldn’t allow to be held by barbarians while Romans suffered in Italy under their rule. And yes it was Costly but not because of him and his generals, they in fact took relatively low losses compared to what might have happened had a lesser General commanded. It was really the plague that screwed everything and everyone up. But also the Lombards who recruited basically all the Ostrogoths that were spared and still living in Italy, to their side as they invaded. Plus the franks and Burgundian’s helped as well, so really Italy was under constant invasion

[@Steven-dt5nu]

True and all history is hindsight.

[@baha3alshamari152]

​@@billychops1280 People lived in Italy during the Ostrogoth rule in better conditions than during the late Roman empire and the Italian wars

[@billychops1280]

@@baha3alshamari152 uhh no, especially not after theoderic died and his daughter too, they were the only ones “friendly towards Roman’s. Also that really s funny that you’d compare the late Roman Empire as a worse time, because the people making it a dangerous time were the Ostrogiths who were invading lol

[@miramax6165]

Seriously, this is really good. Thank you for the all so detailed description of the reign of the great Basileus.

[@iexist3919]

Always a good day with a new Ancient Sight video!

[@ancientsight]

Always appreciate seeing your comment !

[@Nozylatten]

Fantastic thankyou very much! I am listening to this whilst working out. I also can see the beautiful art work on my screen. Great video.

[@ancientsight]

That's epic

[@kerkblack836]

very well done documentary thank you!love from Greece!

[@sonap004]

The visuals were stunning as always, I also really enjoyed the new introduction and conclusion. One small thing though, I believe you haven't added the newer episodes to the playlist. I can't wait to see the Twenty Years' Anarchy!

[@ancientsight]

You are right, I add them right now

[@arthur-yq4ic]

heraclius had it really hard well played heraclius

[@lerneanlion]

The reign of Emperor Heraclius is one of my favorite periods in the Roman history. Not only that his reign saw the rise of Islam and the true ending of the antiquity but also the final war between the Roman Empire and the Zoroastrian Iranian Empire as well. In fact, the last Roman-Persian War of 602-628 is what given me an idea for a plan that can be served as an alternative to the Rumbling in Attack on Titan. If you would like to hear about it, I will be more than happy to tell.

[@ruzgaralmasulu3976]

Am curious about that alternative now, can you tell more about it

[@lerneanlion]

@@ruzgaralmasulu3976 My plan is called the Heraclius Plan and as you saw in the video, it's involved Paradis forced Marley to accept peace on their own terms. And to do that, they needed to join the Allies in the Marley Mid-East War in order to properly coordinate with one another to attack on two sides just like how the Romans and the Turks did it in the war against the Sassanid Iranians. So it worked like this. While the majority of the Marleyan military is preoccupied with the Mid-East Allied Forces in the east, Paradis' troops led by the wielder of the Founding Titan can sweep in and take ports such as Liberio and Karifa. From these occupied ports, Paradis' troops can launched devastating raids against Marley, destroy supply lines, ravage the countrysides, demolishing key cities that housing the factories that produce foods and weapons for the Marleyan military. And when the news of these attacks reached the troops on the Mid-Eastern front, Zeke will most likely volunteered to come back to deal with them. But when he did arrive, Zeke instead defected and assist Paradis' troops in their rampaging campaign in order to gain Eren's trust. Eventually, wars on two fronts and the secession crisis in Onyankopon's homeland will forced Marley to negotiate with its enemies when the Tybur family is being forced to choose between international humiliation and economic collapse and accept peace on the terms of the Allies. After the war ended, Marley will not be able to wage a war against anyone for a while due to the need of economic recovery. And to make Marley's economic recovery lasted longer, this is when Ymir Fritz needed to be set free. By setting her freed, the Powers of the Titans will disappeared along with her. And when that happened, a civil war similar to the American Civil War will erupted in Marley between those who supported equal rights for the Eldians and those who still hated the Eldians. And when the war ended with the victory for the supporters of the Eldians' equal rights, Marley will entered its own Reconstruction Era. As Marley is recovering economically, Paradis will gained a seat on the international politics at Marley's expense and receiving its own traditional territory on the mainland that was the original home of the Eldians back while the nations that are part of the Mid-East Eyalets gained new territories from Marley while also most likely unified into a single Sultanate as well. As a result, Marley and Eldia will most likely ended up having cold relations with one another similar to the one between Britain and Russia in our world during the 19th century with the Sultanate became Eldia's main defender. As for Hizuru, it is most likely being diplomatically isolated due to playing both sides of the war just like Austria in the aftermath of the Crimean War in our world. So what do you think of the Heraclius Plan of mine and its chain of reactions?

[@ruzgaralmasulu3976]

@lerneanlion sounds fun, sadly eren probably wouldn't even think about a diplomatic solution

[@lerneanlion]

@@ruzgaralmasulu3976 To be exact, it is always depending on what Eren saw after he kissed Historia's hand at the ceremony. If he saw the Rumbling, then it will become his past and that means that it is meant to happen in the future. But if he saw the victory over Marley that is the result of the collaboration between Paradis and the Mid-East Allied Forces, it will become his past and that means it will happened in the future. But seriously, what do you think about it? Is it possible?

[@shadowborn1456]

​@@lerneanlion impressive and my plan which is called khosrow plan is to teleport the whole thousand sons legion with ahriman and big red nerd himself to persia and get them to nuke Roman empire into orbit 😊

[@warren279]

I regard with elatedness about the manner in which you contextualize the particularities of a certain emperor’s reign on this channel, religious and secular. Continuer le bon travail! ❤

[@ancientsight]

Merci ! I am glad you like these videos

[@janzizka9508]

The life of Heraclius would mirror the life of the ERE itself. All the passion to recover, but no resources. The Roman Empire hobbled with cancer that fought every step of the way to live.

[@Kolsedy]

I hope you continue the series with the rest of emperors

[@ancientsight]

Yes I will

[@contoon1563]

Video looks great, good job!

[@joeshmoe8345]

Thanks a bunch for sharing this with us Big Dog!

[@CARL_093]

thanks bro its worth of waiting keep it up

[@Oneplay_IV]

Tbh I would like to give you a suggestion, you should make your voice a little bit higher because I had to use subtitles (because I wasnt able to understand the accent) if we put aside the voice issue, the vid is FIRE!

[@ancientsight]

Thank you for your valuable feedback!

[@gudgoodsteps8036]

Goated Sight back agayn 💪🏽💪🏽

[@the.pandamonium]

Very high quality and informative video. I like that no AI imagery was used in this video.

[@arturleperoke3205]

Ancient Sight postet ... this is a good day EDIT: and its 45min long!!! we are blessed brothers

[@Oneplay_IV]

Well done! A well made map along with promotion from knowledgia, thats what a history channel looks like!

[@hofwar]

This video made me fall in love with history all over again. 💖📚

[@unusualhistorian1336]

Keep it up, your videos are excellent.

[@rolandabuladze4236]

Amazing content! Keep it up man, Greetings from ancient land of Georgia!

[@Tell.Me.Something]

I love your maps and editing style!

[@marcoslce7161]

really nice job man, as usual

[@alanmountain5804]

A superb analysis. Well done. I really enjoyed this video

[@Empire-Builders]

Great vid and channel. Can't wait to see what else you put out.

[@StoicHistorian]

Wow this was such a good video

[@ancientsight]

Thanks man !

[@goodbanter4427]

Great work!

[@ChezRG-YT]

The defeat of the byzantines in 610 is in the quran and it made a prediction at that time when nobody thought the byzantines could ever win that they'd win. Prediction that came true

[@barrett206]

Love the maps can’t wait for twenty years anarchy

[@lt8395]

I haven't watched this yet but am salivating!

[@TaeSunWoo]

Some good (Eastern) Roman Empire content. Let’s go!!

[@felixcomet7268]

Super vidéo ! Aurais-tu des bouquins sur l'Empire romain médiéval que tu conseilles pour creuser le sujet par hasard ? Je viens de finir les bouquins de Norwich.

[@ancientsight]

Merci ! En français, il y a une série de trois tomes qui inspecte en détaille les institutions de l'empire . Voici le premier exemple : Morisson Cécile, Le Monde Byzantin I - L'empire rome d'Orient (330-641): puf; 2012. En anglais, il y a le très récent The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium par Athony Kaldellis. Je ne l'ai pas encore lu mais il va sans doute devenir une grosse référence sur le sujet.

[@Akshay-jx6si]

Followed by 300 years of stagnation for a 100 years of power, to be lost again in 50 years :(

[@TheIronChancellor]

What?

[@gabrielhuna6679]

Incredible Video ! Very documented and well done !

[@LewisPulsipher]

An extraordinary life. Late in his life Heraclius became "strange", fearing to cross open water for example. I've always sympathized with and admired his long struggle.

[@Eastern_Roman_Cataphract]

Great video as always! Heraclius really feels like a tragic figure, spending so many years retaking the Eastern provinces of the Empire from the Sassanids, only to lose them all over again to the Arabs.

[@hishamalaker491]

As a Arab Muslim I gotta say, GG. Good fight you guys put up a good resistance and you might be suprised but we actually hold the Romans (not Byzantiums, us Arabs always called them Romans which they are) to a high regard there is actually respect for you guys even in our religious texts its mentioned that you would beat the Persians up and its speculated that the reason why the Romans survived the Muslim conquest and not the Persians was by gods will since the Romans are christian the Persians are pagan, since christians are held to a high regard being people of the book following a Abrahamic faith with similar values.

[@shadowborn1456]

​@@hishamalaker491 the whole tragic was persia when persia ruled the whole world there was so much peace unlike now and you arabs are now getting conquer by westerners oof karma is a b*tch ain't it

[@Indo-Aryan9644]

​@@hishamalaker491who is you guys? Roman's are extinct long ago my guy 😂

[@Miquella661]

⁠@@Indo-Aryan9644no the Roman Empire fall in 1453

[@Miquella661]

@@hishamalaker491god’not gods

[@francisdupont1656]

Exceptionnal

[@DesertAres]

Thank you, thank you for not referring to the Eastern Roman Empire as the Byzantine Empire. I don't know how many noted scholars and youtube presenters still refer to the Eastern part of the Roman Empire as Byzantine. That city lost that name when Constantine refounded it as Constantinople.

[@AlexioTrei33]

Congratulation 👏👏👏! Amazing Documentary 🔥🔥🔥! Your Channel muss have at least 1 mil Subscribers !

[@ThexXxXxOLOxXxXx]

What a great man Heraclius was even the Muslims spoke well of such a legendary emperor, but alas no one can stand against the currents of fate

[@moozillamoo2109]

Truly one of the most Greek Roman historical figure ever. Life is basically Greek tragedy. The other one would be Rutger Von Blum (Roger de Flor).

[@aliquraishi3525]

Very informative historic video. Thanks.

[@pawe2945]

such a good-looking maps, i love their design

[@Eazy-ERyder]

Thank you so much!!

[@lastword8783]

"The Romans have been defeated in a nearby land. Yet following their defeat, they will triumph within three to nine years. The ˹whole˺ matter rests with Allah before and after ˹victory˺. And on that day the believers will rejoice" The Quran 30:2 - 30:4

[@陳博穎YouTube]

Sir, would you consider making a history of the Seleucid, Ptolemaic, Macedonian dynasties?

[@ancientsight]

I have that in mind but I cannot say when I will do it

[@AnduDrummer]

Congratulation ! Amazing Documentary !👏👏👏🙌🙌🙌

[@Theodoros_Kolokotronis]

“With God’s help, we will restore the glory of the Greeks and our beloved homeland, for we are the descendants of the ancient Hellenes”. Excerpt from Emperor Heraclius’ speech after the Byzantine victory over the Persians, as recorded by Chronicler Theophanes the Confessor.

[@johnvonshepard9373]

Sad and epic.

[@zacharyrupley3264]

Fantastic! Just Fantastic! Excellent Work!

[@lucasvanderhoeven3760]

Another banger vid!

[@reeyees50]

Very well researched video and good production values with the graphics and maps. I commend you for presenting us the full history on the Heraclian dynasty without bias. Many videos i seen where Phocas is demonized and Heraclius deified when in reality, Phocas had a promising start and Heraclius was bad administration caused him to lose many regions in the empire, and ultimately created the geopolitical space for the Arab conquest of his empire and the Sassanian empire as well

[@ZYZZinVR]

This video has some bias of simply using biased sourced. For example the chronological order of some of his military events is portrayed in a way that leads to your perception. Specifically that most history referenced is from Theophanes who had many chronological errors and was a "copy and paste" historian. Very well made otherwise but keep that in mind

[@CoreyStudios2000]

I wonder how things would've turned out if the Byzantines halted the spread of Islam in the Yarmuk river, limiting the religion's expansion to Arabia, Persia, and Afghanistan. Maybe, in that same timeline, Charlemange lives a little bit longer and expands his empire further eastward into Poland and Central Europe.

[@BESTINTHEWORLD0007]

Charlemagne couldn't have achived anything with the Roman empire still functional, the reason the pope called is byzantuim could no longer help him that's the reason he was proclaimes emperor later In the wars with arabs Rome losted it's major provinces, it's influence reduced due to the military setbacks As henri pirenne said Charlemagne is not conceivble without Muhammad That charlemagne was an indirect result of Muhammad

[@adamplayz5929]

What people don’t realize is that islam didn’t just spread by conquests of the caliphates, it also majorly spread by trade, in the case that Islam were to have been stopped to only arabia, trade with the near by middle eastern kingdoms would have non of the less lead to the spread of the religion there anyways, take for example Egypt, Egypt, like iraq, would be an area where Islam would grow the most, why? Because in real life what made Islam spread so quickly in Egypt in particular is that Egypt had been conquered for so long by different cultural groups that the country had been ravaged into a series of small break away cultures consisting of their old Egyptian culture, Greek culture, Roman culture, Berber and even Kush cultures. The reason this is so important is that islam is notoriously known for how fast it spread for certain cultures that were eventually integrated into Arabic, cultures that at that point had either not really been followed or just have diverged so much that it became a group all together, this divide made it easy for a much bigger and at that point, United culture to take effect in Egypt (Arabs), why does this matter? Well because culture has always been tight to Islam, Islam fundamentally works as to enhance cultures especially cultures that match its understandings and beliefs such as the Berber and Arabic culture thus, the spread of Islam occured, in a timeline where the Islamic conquests don’t take place islam would still spread, all be it slower that real life, would still see most of Northern Africa and the Middle East as majority Muslim, this would include (eventually) Indonesia and (possibly) some of the turkic tribes. Islam though would be no where near a dominating power in the world and the gaps that hadn’t converted to Islam would either become Jewish or more likely become Christian or stay pagan. Hinduism in this world would also spread to persia as its very likely due to the ties between Zoroastrianism and Hinduism, and possibly because of slow Hindu conquests over persia. The sassanids would most likely eventually get replaced by a new dynasty, and in the case of it being a powerful one might still fight with the Roman’s and possibly win against them but in turn would destabilize the entire Middle East leading to a spring of uprising where very possibly a whole branch of Muslim majority areas rebeling and declaring their own kingdoms but most likely eventually being suppressed by the Christian’s eventually, crusades never take place and Jerusalem would most likely have a 50/50 population half being Christian and another half being Muslim (because of trade as I said) the Arab culture would stay in the Arabian subcontinent and Egypt as the greekificstion of syria and the levant would take place, iraq would still become Arab for obvious reasons and that’s it, this is all predictions but I think this is the closest thing I could think of to a timeline where Islam stoped at Arabia

[@thefulanichad]

😂 l’accent French , merci beaucoup tu régale , j’imagine pas le taff derrière

[@ZYZZinVR]

@20:56 the events described by Theophanes for AD 621-625/6 actually took place between 624 and 628. Heraclius departure from constantinople was on march 25 624 established by erst gerland and later defended by others. The military activities depicted that you/he stated to take place over the course of 2+ years actually took place in 4-5 months. Reference: Heraclius in 625 by Constantine Zuckerman

[@dansmith4077]

Excellent video thank you

[@yakovmatityahu]

This is my favorite topic to discuss 😊😊😊

[@ericponce8740]

The reign of Heraclius, many historians have stated, was the transition from the Late Roman Empire to the medieval Roman Empire (AKA Byzantine Empire). Greek was now the language at the imperial court and the bureaucracy. Military manpower came from Anatolia instead of the Balkans. But the legacy of ancient Rome continued in Constantinople. And only the true heirs of ancient Rome ruled from Constantinople.

[@charlie11ng42]

Amazing content

[@sumalx]

For me the end of antiquity came with the rise of Islam. The middle east and south Europe changed in a way that even with the fall of the west Roman empire never did.

[@ZYZZinVR]

this had to do with both the Christianization and islamic people rising in number. The end of antiquity also meant more localized tradition and customs which lead into the development of what europe is today. The change happened everywhere around the empire and can be examined by the fact by the time the muslims got to spain the visigoths had already moved in after rome fell long enough to be come christian

[@sumalx]

@@ZYZZinVR I agree that both religions had a huge impact. But without Islam turkey wouldn't have formed and the byzantine empire would probably endured until modern days. The Balkans demographics changed completely, first with the Slavic invasion and then with the fight between the ottoman and the Austrians. Also, without Islam north Africa would probably be culturally more similar to Europe like malta for instance and even the vandals would probably be able to endure until today. I know the visigoths and the vandals are modern cultures but the byzantine culture might had preserve some ancient culture and costumes.

[@harryjackson3867]

Got any updates on the Ostrogothic video?

[@ancientsight]

Still in editing. The video will be a full hour long. Life got a bit chaotic recently but I do not forget you guys

[@harryjackson3867]

@@ancientsight sounds great man can’t wait, hope all is well

[@ChezRG-YT]

غُلِبَتِ ٱلرُّومُ فِىٓ أَدْنَى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَهُم مِّنۢ بَعْدِ غَلَبِهِمْ سَيَغْلِبُونَ quran surah 30:2-3

[@Steven-dt5nu]

Kaegi wrote a pretty good book on Heraclius. Also Theophanes as a more contemporary source. Keep in mind he didn't live during the time period.

[@ZYZZinVR]

alot of the negative perceptions come from theophanes. like heraclius wasting time; some events that reportedly took over 2 years took 5 months. Also he even got the year in which he left Constantinople wrong

[@Steven-dt5nu]

@@ZYZZinVR I agree he was not the best especially for that time period, (Heraclius reign) but it is something to work with, and he is good for Iconoclasm information.

[@laMoria]

easily one of my favorite historic periods

[@theMOCmaster]

I love how all the religious disputes are covered

[@maddogbasil]

*Its Crazy to imagine that The Caliphate had almost had Roman imperial borders if it had won the siege of constantinople in 711*

[@yorgenibnstrangle3072]

If they have taken Constantinople, there would have been nothing stoppling them from Conquering everything around the Mediterranean. They would have gone for Italy next. Spain and North Africa were already under their control.

[@WarriorofChrist612]

@IStevenSeagalNo they just lost. There’s a reason they couldn’t get into heavily fortified Anatolian lands.

[@WarriorofChrist612]

@IStevenSeagal Still couldn’t take it. They were obviously able to move in, but couldn’t get into any of the fortresses. Especially not Constantinople.

[@elmascapo6588]

​@IStevenSeagalthe muslims got completly massacred. And, the muslims weren't playing nice, at all.

[@charger9912]

Heraclius is almost like Aurelian 2.0.

[@unsupportedletters5561]

You always make excellent videos and seem really dedicated! As a Persian myself, I found it a shame that we were defeated by the romans in the end and invaded by arabs, but can’t really change the past. J’ai aussi beaucoup de respect pour la culture Francaise comme étudiante du langue depuis 6 ans. 🇮🇷❤️🇫🇷❤️🇬🇷❤️🇸🇦

[@ancientsight]

Thanks a lot for your kind words. I share your respect to Iran/Persia and its people.

[@KevinClune-k2c]

Do you think you will give Justinian this sort of treatment in the future?

[@ancientsight]

Perhaps, I do not know when

[@cuzimmoody6470]

also in muslim sources he is highly regarded and respected as a just and good ruler.

[@cuzimmoody6470]

true he believed in his message but was afraid his people would overthrow him@IStevenSeagal

[@hopeundertheblacksun]

Boulgaraktonos video when

[@mikehuang4834]

Any update on the next Byzantine or Ostrogoth video?

[@ancientsight]

Currently still working on the Ostrogoth video. Research took me a long time. The video will be quite long, more than 30 minutes. Once this one is out, the next Byzantine one will come 2 weeks after

[@mikehuang4834]

@@ancientsight Awesome! Can't wait.

[@mikehuang4834]

@@ancientsight any updates on the future videos?

[@ancientsight]

@@mikehuang4834 Currently in editing

[@christopherevans2445]

These times were worst than the crisis of 3rd century

[@luciusdomitiusaurelianus5334]

Mais quoiii? T'es français ? I didn't know that, you deserve a lot more

[@ancientsight]

Oui et j'envisage de sortir les mêmes vidéos en parallèle sur une chaîne secondaire francophone. Mais je doute que le public soit au rendez-vous avec un sujet aussi niché.

[@luciusdomitiusaurelianus5334]

@@ancientsight Je comprends, c'est dommage. Il est probable que tu travailles seul ou avec une petite équipe. C'est triste parce que je suis vraiment passionné par cette guerre, c'est la première fois que quelqu'un fait une vidéo sur la dernière guerre romano-persane, et je dois dire que c'est très intéressant, bien réalisé. Mon rêve est littéralement de créer des vidéos comme les tiennes, mais je ne sais pas faire le montage, toutes ces choses vraiment... Je me réveille la nuit, mais je ne veux pas devenir comme King and Generals. Ce que je n'aime pas vraiment chez King and Generals, c'est qu'ils font des vidéos assez courtes, environ 20 minutes. Par exemple, quand ils ont fait la vidéo sur ce conflit, cette guerre, ce n'était pas détaillé. Tu as fait un travail supérieur à mon avis, même si c'est un travail difficile avec probablement 50 personnes dans leur équipe pour la recherche, le montage, les animations, les graphismes. Donc, félicitations car tu as atteint un niveau où même avec 6 000 abonnés, c'est beaucoup. Je te respecte beaucoup, tu fais quelque chose que tu aimes, je te comprends. Moi aussi, je lance une chaîne KZbin internationale avec des vidéos de géopolitique, courtes de 10-15 minutes maximum. Je compte la proposer en plusieurs langues, italien, français, anglais et arabe. Comme je parle français, bien que je ne sois pas français mais italien, je m'occuperai des vidéos en anglais et en français, tandis qu'un ami à moi s'occupera des vidéos en arabe et en italien.

[@ancientsight]

Impressionant et très ambitieux. Tu sembles très talentueux, je te souhaite de réussir ! N'oublies pas de laisser un commentaire ici lorsque vous aurez lancé votre chaîne KZbin avec ton ami. J'aimerais bien voir ça !

[@luciusdomitiusaurelianus5334]

​@@ancientsightSalut ! On est sur le point de lancer notre chaîne KZbin ! On a un studio énorme et tout le matériel nécessaire pour faire des vidéos. Dès que j'aurai fini mes études, c'est-à-dire en avril, on commencera à publier des vidéos. J'aurais une question, quel logiciel utilises-tu pour animer les cartes ? Honnêtement, je trouve tes animations géniales ! Pourrais-tu me dire ce que tu sais à ce sujet ? Combien ça coûte et quel type de logiciel utilises-tu ?

[@luciusdomitiusaurelianus5334]

​@@ancientsightDe plus, pourquoi ne pas proposer à Knowledgia de doubler les vidéos en français pour eux ? Je pense qu'une chaîne de ce genre fonctionnerait assez bien en France et pourrait vous rapporter pas mal d'argent (je suppose)

[@khyun125-o6j]

Khalid ibn Al-Walid, the destroyer of empires.

[@Arxyium]

Armies*

[@tannerdenny5430]

Those dang local jews, really trying to kick rome in the balls 😂

[@EdReed-r8n]

Let's see who else noticed. Ctrl F "jew"

[@yorgenibnstrangle3072]

31:30 interesting fact but Zayd was Mohammed's adopted son. He lead the first military campaign against the Byzantines but was killed in the battle.

[@thesunnyleopard.193]

During the caliphate of Abu Bakr, Osama “Ibn Zaid” led a military campaign to the same place where his father was defeated and He defeated the Byzantine army

[@ZenosMind]

I blame Heraclius for the fall. He stripped the east of its army to usurp the crown, which caused the Persian and Arab invasions.

[@badhabits1965]

I felt second hand anguish

[@muhammadsofronmalee8966]

can anyone tell me what application they make a map like in this video

[@heinzfischer2710]

The end of antiquity! Yes, the appearance of Islam changed Near East for ever until this very day! The era of Heraclius is little known, even though it was a crucial era which shaped Middle East for ever. The crusades would not have been possible without the incursion of Muslim armys, and todays fight over Israel not either.

[@Stalker950-l3x]

The Balkan Slavs really fascinate me. Looking at 26:10 you can see the countless tribes that settled down there during Emperor Heraclius and today, 1400 years later, only Croats and Serbs are left of these OG Balkan Slavs. Not counting Bosnians, Montenegrins or Macedonians since they defacto are a product of the later political evolution.

[@ronb7189]

Slavs have actually already started to occupy these territories even during the late 6th century, the entire Balkans outside of the coastal cities and Eastern Thrace was already in the hands of Avars before Maurice pushed them back. The Slavs who have already settled inside Byzantine lands chose to remain and Maurice was actually planning to properly incorporate them into the Empire so he can tax them before he was killed by his soldiers.

[@Stalker950-l3x]

@@ronb7189 Yeah but unfortunately this never worked out properly. Slavs waged war against the byzantines for centuries. Peace was almost never an option between them.

[@dinnoduranovic4016]

And when the Slavs came to the Balkans, they found completely empty territories? Only a very stupid person could think that. Of course, the indigenous Illyrian population, consisting of Bosnians, Montenegrins and Dalmatians, lived in the Balkans before Slavs came in 7th century. This is also shown by the Illyrian genetic haplogroup I2a, which is today dominant among Bosnians and Dalmatians, over 50%, and makes up the majority among Montenegrins as well..

[@Stalker950-l3x]

@@dinnoduranovic4016 These haplogroups in those people ended up by accident through intermarriage and mixing of populations. Neither one of those mentioned speaks the illyrian language that vanisherd from these lands over 1500 ago. Don’t be delusional Dino. Your name speaks for itself.

[@naimishtiakahmed9221]

Lakhmid kingdom was bigger than what's shown here.

[@Flammenhagel]

What painting is the thumbnail?

[@ancientsight]

Here is where I found it : commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Frankfurt_Altarpiece_of_the_Exaltation_of_the_True_Cross-_Heraclius_on_Horseback_with_the_Cross_(bottom_right)_(SM_2119).png

[@Steven-dt5nu]

Khosrow II regain his throne with Maurice help. When he was murdered by Phocas he used that as an pretext to invade The Romans. Love your stuff

[@InAeternumRomaMater]

The fall of Roman Balkans is the starting point of the Romanian ethnogenesis in 614 AD. The truth is, Romanians originated on both side's of the danube river between the Roman provinces of Dacia Traiana and Moesia. Romanians who still retains the Roman ethnonym of _Român,_ were the Latin Romans of the Eastern Roman Empire or "Rōmānīa", and are mentioned as such by Theophylactus Simocatta Histories of the Balkan wars, which mentions the inhabitants of Moesia as Romans and still speak the ancestral language of the Romans.

[@hiskakun2276]

And probably the main bulk originated in the south of Danube.

[@InAeternumRomaMater]

@@hiskakun2276 We have no idea where the main bulk originated from, however the Romanian ethnogenesis would have started on both sides of the river danube. Roman activities north of the danube continued even after the Roman withdrawal in 271-275 AD. First of all, not whole of Dacia was abandoned, important cities such as Drobeta, Carsium, Spanțov and Desa between 275-360s remained in Roman military control. Constantine the Great re-conquered the land's of Gothia, having in control the land's as far as Apulum. By this time I suppose Roman administration re-emerged in the former province, many important fortifications were re-built such as Romula, Apulum and Sucidava. Roman roads were rebuilt like the one between Sucidava and Romula, as well new bridges like the one near Sucidava in 328 AD. We have Constantines Wall built in c.322 AD, Flavius Dalmatius mentions in c.333 AD that Ripa Gothica was Roman administrative province. We have also what it is believed a Roman political figure in the 5th century Gepid Kingdom by c.475 AD. His name was Omharus, although at first was believed to have been a Gepid King, it has been accepted that he was a Roman. It seems he was integrated in the Gepid political life and had Gepid ornaments. It seems that Roman's had a political influence in the former Gepid Kingdom, which preceeded the Roman held Dacia between c.328-337 AD. Also many archaeological discoveries in Latin mentioning two Roman legions in the area: Transcription: "Legio XIII gemina Pontibus" (Translated) "Legion 13th gemina on the bridges" Was founded in the province of Dacia Traiana at Sucidavas Bridge, the Legion was ready to leave the Roman Province. Was written somewhere in the years of 301 A.D - 330 AD. And the second, Transcription: "Legio VII Claudia sub cura" (Translated) "Legion VII under the care of Claudia" Was founded in the province of Dacia Traiana in the Roman City of Sucidava, was written somewhere in the years of 301 A.D - 330 A.D in Latin. Then back again to the Roman City of Sucidava, it was abandoned in the 6th Century AD From an archaeological point of view, the coins found at Sucidava show an uninterrupted series from Avrelian (270-275) to Theodosius II (408-450). The archaeological evidence show that in AD 443 or 447 the city was sacked by the Huns, and was restored under Justin I 518-527 or Justinian the Great 527-565. Around c.600 AD, it seems that the Roman garrison abandoned the city. Another Roman City is Micia abandoned 4th-5th Century AD and Roman City Tibiscum also abandoned in 6th-7th Century AD. Consequently, the Roman population shift from 271-275 and again between 328-337 would have played a role in the population demographic in region of modern day Romania. Then we have to understand Roman sources are diverse on the topic on what happened to the population of Dacia Traiana during the withdrawal, other say the population was resettled south, other say it was only the administration and army and Iordanes doesn't even mention Avrelian. Of the believed c.300k inhabitants of the province, the Roman population could have easily dropped to c.70-100k. A city like Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa had a population in its peak of c.25k. And then the Roman reconquest of the province could maybe have helped in the increase of number's, due to Romes financial, economical and reconstruction support. Also according to archeology, the Roman reconstruction north of the danube continued until the 6th century. But the population would have increased during the Slavs, because they gathered multiple Roman slaves into Ripa Gothica which maybe played a further role in the Romanian ethnogenesis. Later those Romans became semi-nomadic roman pastoralists in which some would probably have settled more often north of the danube between 8th-9th century. This is my stance on the Roman population in the former Dacia Traiana. While sure, the number of Romans would have been much fewer north compared to south, it would be ignorance to consider the northern romans as insignificant. So, Romanian ethnogenesis in this perspective would have evolved from a combined Roman population from two province's, north and south.

[@ZenosMind]

Heraclius caused the roman collapse when he stripped his troops in Egypt and Syria, which caused its loss to Persia and Rashidun Caliphate.

[@theodlt5980]

Have been studying Heraclius for more than 3 years, he never did that

[@ProbusVerus]

Heraclius a true Christian Emperor with a stoic and practical mind. Honor to the man!

[@lelouchvibritannia2300]

Can someone explain how this era in history, and the War between Rome and the Sassanids, is considered the "End of Antiquity"?

[@hopeundertheblacksun]

Its the last major war before the muslim conquests and medieval times so

[@kriskris2625]

He is really over rated. He waits 10 years before to take any action against the Persians. Before 610 there mostly no any Persian conquest in the east. And he married his own niece.

[@ronb7189]

Before Heraclius rebellion, despite Phocas ineptitude the Byzantine line of fortress in Mesopotamia and Armenia held out and while the important border fortress of Dara did fall, the war for the most part was contained in the borders. Heraclius rebellion forced Phocas to relocate the soldiers guarding the borders and the Persians took advantage of this by swiftly capturing the important fortresses that defended Syria, the Levant and Egypt from outright conquest. Phocas for all his faults actually chose to spare some of the soldiers to defend the Balkans which was why the Avars for the most part was also contained, Heraclius decision to redeploy some of these soldiers for the eastern front was what led to the massive Avar conquest that saw most of these western territories lost for many decades, thou considering the wealth of the eastern provinces compare to the West and the dire situation, for the sake of his Empire, this was probably the best choice he can do.

[@TonyFontaine1988]

​@@ronb7189phocas shouldn't have killed Maurice in the first place and caused this

[@ronb7189]

@@TonyFontaine1988 Definitely, killing Maurice and his generals made Phocas look like an usurper and whats worst was unlike many usurpers in history, he had absolutely 0 legitimacy, he was a low ranking officer prior to the coup. The only way he could hang on to the crown was to gain glory by winning battles against the Persians but he failed at that too, instead losing Dara and much or all of Maurice previous gains. If not Heraclius then someone else would have rebelled, maybe Priscus, there was no way Phocas is going to remain in that throne. Still, I find it interesting that he chose to keep a significant number of soldiers stationed in the Balkans as that was were he was stationed prior to becoming Emperor, seems like he truly wanted to keep that area safe from Avar invasion, on the other hand, Tiberius II and Heraclius were willing to let the Balkans be overrun in order to stabilize/gain advantage in the East.

[@mikehuang4834]

@@ronb7189 Question, how do you know for sure that Phokas actually kept troops in the Balkans? Do you come to that conclusion just because the Balkan Front was stable with no territorial losses during his reign? How do you know it wasn't just the logical result of Maurice's successful counterattacks right before and the Avar were too weak to cross over? That is always the proof that people give for Phokas doing a good job in the Balkans. If he REALLY wanted to keep the Balkans safe, he should have understood why Maurice asked him to camp north of the Danube as he was set to wipe them out after the Winter but yet he chose to not do that and rebel, squandering the killing blow and stunting their momentum. How do you know that the Balkan Front being stable during his reign was not just because the Avars were still weak and couldn't invade just yet? Not saying you're wrong, I'm just curious.

[@ronb7189]

@@mikehuang4834 John Haldon's book "Byzantine in the 7th century" pages 43-45 tells us that only minor incursions occur during most of Phocas reign but Heraclius revolt led to a substantial amount of these Balkan troops being moved and the devastating lost during 613 further compounded the situation with many important towns such as Salona, Naissus and Serdica being lost by around 615. Also the Avars after their defeat against Maurice but prior to their invasion of the Byzantine Balkans seemed to have successfully attacked the Franks and forced them to pay tribute, seemingly seeing the Franks as a weaker target compare to a reinforced Balkan frontier under Phocas, it was the civil war and the removal of a portion of said troops that made the Byzantine a prime target once more.

[@nomosophia7741]

There was not Anatolia at the time ... the name of the peninsula was Asia Minor ... later on, during the last eastern roman era ("byzantium", from the ancient name of Constantinople) the peninsula named also "i kath imas Anatoli" (our East) ... from Anatoli (meaning East) came up the name "Anatolia"