THE LARGEST Ancient Battles in History

Sadly, war seems to be a part of humanity. We’ve been doing battle with one another over contested lands, differing cultures, and even out of fear of something a little different since the dawn of time. We’ve seen some pretty decisive battles within the 20th century like the Battle of Midway, the Battle of Stalingrad, and The Tet Offensive all go down in the history books. But there are some battles even older than these that helped to shape the course of not only civilizations but all of human history. From fighting Spartans to Crusaders on a mission from the big man upstairs, these battles all hold some significance. So join us for today’s video, where we talk about the 15 largest ancient battles!
#battles #top15
Several segments are licensed under creative commons
creativecommons.org/licenses/...
For more video information, please visit our website.
The Top Fives show brings you informational and entertaining top five videos! Join us and subscribe for more.
Follow Josh on Instagram! Founder and producer of the Top Fives show. Stay up to date with the channel and everything KZbin and business related! / joshuajosephbaker
Follow us on Facebook!
/ topfivesyoutube
Contact us via the email form here: kzbin.infoabout
Note: The videos featured on the Top Fives channel are for educational and informational purposes. If you have a good idea for a video, leave us a comment! We try to read each and every comment made.

[@elfrad1714]

The battle of Salamis was not fought by the Roman Republic and the Parthian Empire but by the Athenian and the Persian fleets. At this time Rome existed but it only controlled parts of Italy while it did not have a fleet. And while we are at it. Hannibal of Carthage was not a king. Carthage was led by an aristocracy

[@dda40x1]

One of the reasons I unsubed to this turkey show, constantly wrong.

[@johnconnery1939]

Terrible, many wrong and just silly statements

[@peterparkerspiderman7875]

Jup, you are totally right.

[@mitchellcrittenden4612]

Was actually a Greek coalition.

[@elfrad1714]

@@mitchellcrittenden4612 You are right although most ships likely came from Athens. But they were not Romans. I presume we can agree on that.

[@jeromecummings3609]

Leonidas didn’t lead 300 Greeks. He led 300 Spartans and there were, approximately, another contingent of 3000 Athenians, Thebians and others.

[@diodeldelfin4439]

Sparta and Athens are part of the ancient greece

[@keithw8286]

@@diodeldelfin4439 well, Ancient Greece wasn’t a nation, it was a collection of city states.

[@johnord684]

@@diodeldelfin4439 And?

[@djfottiredhot7157]

@@johnord684 δε νομιζω να προσπαθει να θελει να αποδειξει κατι.απλα στα βιβλια που διαβασε σπαρτα και αθηνα τις αναφερει ως πολεις-κρατη.

[@JJ-ew9lq]

Fascinating! I would find more details on the numbers of people involved in each battle very helpful for my understanding.

[@jensphiliphohmann1876]

05:45 f: The Romans were indeed lead by Nero but not the later emperor who was only born about 2½ centuries after him but Caius Claudius Nero who was one of the consuls that year. 15:55 f: _...king Hannibal of Carthage..._ He wasn't a king. Cartage had quite a similar ruling system as Rone had.

[@robertmahaffey3574]

Scipio Africanus man

[@el_bronco77]

I was like...."what?? Roman Republic and Emperor Nero??"

[@jensphiliphohmann1876]

@@el_bronco77 That Nero is *not* the later emperor. "Nero" was quite a common name among Romans.

[@el_bronco77]

@jensphiliphohmann1876 oh yes....the alarm went off when he said Emperor Nero.

[@michaelrooker1218]

I love ancient history it's so interesting thanks for putting out this video great job

[@jaspervanhoudt2675]

If only there werent countless historical mistakes in the vid

[@athanasiosbairlis5563]

As professional and scholar in ancient classis battles, several mistakes are allready corrected of previous readers. I have taken in the Greek battlefields thousands of travelers/specialists (tourtripgreece gr) . The most important battles considering the size of armed forces and strategic significance (for the Greek civilization thus its evolution: "western civilization". My list for "decisive battles of the western civilization" is hereunder: 1. Salamis 480 BC 2.Thermopylae 480 BCE 3. Plateae 479 BCE 4. Marathon 490 BCE

[@sirdudleynightshade8747]

You Americans never fail to amaze me how you mix up and muddle World History to the extent that you do.

[@TheOrigamiPeople]

Correction:USA historians not American historians as the people of Chile would not want to be branded like the people of the 51 United States

[@GrigRP]

​@@TheOrigamiPeopleHe didn't say Chilean so why would Chileans be branded?

[@pilonpatrick573]

Nero, Emperor during the Punic War, under....the Roman Republic ??? that is ludicrous.

[@gamechanger1264]

A lot of mistakes in this video?!

[@hunterpayne6167]

Nero lived several hundred years after Hannibal. The name of the roman general (of the republic) at that battle would have probably been Skipio Africanus (sp?).

[@Treeman-fp9em]

Marcus Livius was one of the Roman consuls leading the army, and the other consul was Gaius Claudius. Nero. So it was a Nero, but not the emporer Nero.

[@Emperor-Brownsuga]

Had to do a double take when I heard that, like WTH! That is not correct.

[@jensphiliphohmann1876]

The man who fought Hasdrubal at Metaurus was also named Nero, C. Claudius Nero. He was one of the 207 B.C.E. consuls.

[@walsh4president]

@@jensphiliphohmann1876 you are correct…the writers of this video just saw the name Nero and figured it has to the Emperor Nero..lazy research imo

[@davebritton7648]

Well how about 'king' Hannibal of Carthage! (15:55)

[@SilvaDroid]

Emperor Nero? I think you're confused. There were no emperors during the republic period of rome.

[@DoomMomDot]

honorable mention should go to one of the battles that took place in the Megiddo valley. Armies fought there so often, they still find remains of the battles today, and the place became a byword for a massive battle - Armageddon

[@danielobrien1571]

Cool picture, would you happen to be a lady with very long hair? I find that quite attractive, please describe it?

[@tommyvarcity2783]

One response n it’s a creeper 👀 😂

[@danielobrien1571]

@@tommyvarcity2783 What? I was just complementing Dorothy and was curious if her hair was long, judging from the profile picture she uses it must be very beautiful and luxurious and I do like ladies that grow their hair very long and find it to be their best feature. Wouldn't you agree to that?

[@barbiehagen8838]

@@danielobrien1571 dude what the actual f.....?

[@danielobrien1571]

@@barbiehagen8838 What? I was just complementing Dorothy about her hair, from the profile picture she uses, It seems her hair is very long and beautiful, I find ladies that grow their hair to luxurious lengths very attractive and I find it to be their best feature. What about your hair Barbie, care to tell me about it and yourself perhaps?

[@ryanparkinson9131]

The Battle of Thermopylae was between SEVEN THOUSAND allied Greeks that included Spartans, Thespians, and Thebens (although led by Sparta) and between 120,000-300,000 Persians. NOT 300 Spartans only. That number is myth-making that has been perpetrated throughout history and ignores all the non-Spartan Greeks who participated. Although the very last piece of the battle did involve mostly only Spartans on the allied Greek side. Also this was the bronze age and iron and steel were NOT the metal making the clashing sounds at this battle. The only major metal making sounds at this battle was bronze. Decent video but lots of inaccuracies like these two are littered throughout this video.

[@crazyaz7161]

Actually a Greek citizen by the name of Ephialtes betrayed the Greek army and cause most of the 7000 to retreat leaving behind the 300 Spartans and a number of other helots and Boeotians so technically there were still 300 Spartans in the end plus the other warriors

[@mikehoncho6460]

@@crazyaz7161 Reading is key

[@sampsonroofing7377]

I don't believe those estimates of army sizes; how could 300,000 Persians carry all the food necessary to keep them sustained on the march for so long; and don't talk about pillaging local farms.

[@giorgossoudianos9866]

300 spartans and 700 thespians were left at the end to make a heroic stand and die in the battlefield at the end. after they heard that they were betrayed by efialtesthey sended the entirety of the army back home to prepare for the next battles.

[@pracylopgonzer3176]

The last piece of Thermopylae did not involve mostly Spartans on the Greek side. The remnants of the 300 Spartans indeed did fight but 700 Thespians were there as well.

[@davidcarter6314]

Some serious factual errors in here

[@ico5677]

Battle of Metaurus ... what Emperor Nero has to do with the battle, since he was born almost 250 years after that? Who else spotted the mistake lol

[@ianwalsh5610]

sadly the emperor nero wasnt at the battle of metaurus it was a roman general of the same name nero the emperor was around 54ad much much later

[@hectorcelorio5593]

The Battle of Salamis was fought by The Roman Republic?? Against the Persians-- Try the Greeks V The Persians. After the intro the speaker recovers this gaffe

[@chrisstayt4730]

Isn't it sad that the meaning of English words are not honourably protected for posterity.. I refer to the unimaginative misuse of the word "decimate".. It seems to sum up modern day responsibility 😢

[@vaghelismerkouris6961]

Battle of Salamis fought by Roman Republic!Ahahahahahahaha

[@DS-ud6ys]

Nero, Napoleon... close enough for me.😁

[@wendellwelling2896]

Hannibal and Nero were separated by hundreds of years. Scipio Africanus was the Roman general who ultimately defeated Hannibal after several initial victories by Hannibal

[@pontiacpaul1]

Dude i heard so many wrong things in this vid who ever made it does not know real history

[@sidneylu9659]

Was going to say the same

[@jensphiliphohmann1876]

What were the armies of the title image? The red clad one seems to ridiculously outnumber the grey one.

[@user-jp7cv3jv9x]

at 1:46 you said Roman Republic instead of Persian Empire. you may want to make an edit, as it is part of the intro to the 2nd section.

[@nicod1361]

"king Hannibal of Carthage " ?? when these programs make rookie mistakes like this it makes one wonder how much of their material needs to be fact checked ?

[@johndoe-kq1ct]

This is the verge how to build a pc video of history videos.

[@SUPREETH.]

Yes no.2 Kalinga was was the most ferocious war in Indian history

[@playhard719]

No it isn't, there are so many wars Chandragupta and Ashoka father Bindushara fought where even greater than Kalinga war, this video is very Eurocentric, I bet the creater of the video didn't even know about the Chalukyas, Cholas and other great power of India and the battles fought between them for example one of the important war that change the history forever was the Rajendra Cholas war against Sri Vijaya of Java (modern day Indonesia). That war connected the east with west and pave way for modern globalization.

[@therealgentelman643]

@@playhard719 Dude just read indian history battel of kalinga was the bloodiest battel of Ancient India 1.5 lakh people died in this..

[@kcbill54]

The narrator confuses the Nero who fought Hannibal with the more notorious Nero who ruled Rome 160 years before.

[@robertmahaffey3574]

What movie did they use for battle of Gaixia

[@sethkaicer319]

Chris k a n e convinced the kurgan that there can be only one.

[@ChrisKane-]

I also convinced Juan Sanchez Villalobos Ramírez NOT to be too cocky and fight Kurgan.

[@sethkaicer319]

@@ChrisKane- a fool and his head are soon parted

[@robbymonger9381]

Respectfully this is full of so many errors that it was hard to even understand what was going on

[@simplesimon3283]

You really can't believe these history stories ...written by the victors!

[@formwiz7096]

Nero was in the Second Punic War?

[@joshuajwars4271]

Val Kilmer 10 played Darius 3 in Alexander, Doc Holiday in Tombstone and as Tom "Iceman" Kazan-sky (taking over from Music Muzynski) in Top Gun twice.

[@keatonburton5636]

No, Val Kilmer played Alexander's father Philip II. Raz Degan is the one who played Darius III.

[@Cyclone-Enoch]

Actually "Firebombing" in modern history was used by the Allies at the end of WW2 in Europe, Dresden and another German city, over 150000 German civilians were wiped out, they were only weeks away from complete surrender. America was initially opposed to the idea urged by a vengeful Churchill. America joined and took the same idea to the Pacific Conflict with Tokyo its primary target and ultimately the dropping of Nuclear Bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

[@WyldWolfDragon]

1:35 "How's that PP monster" lmao what?

[@je-freenorman7787]

War is always a racket over religion

[@THREETHROWIN]

BCE? Thought this was a history channel. If it's not BC, as serious historians use, find another time marker.

[@jacoblarue3280]

Not sure what happened but you have mixed up almost of the battles and mixed them together to make new history.

[@Bynk333]

alternative reality from prime universe. :D

[@Equilibruim77]

Really? You don't mention the numbers of men when naming the largest battles?

[@Bynk333]

They maked movie 300 Battle By Termopylas and 300 Battle on Salamis and i hoped they someday make movie about 300 Battle on Platajas! :-( But they newer did.....

[@lawrencelow949]

Lols Changping was decisively won by Qin.

[@paulglassanos3363]

you can drive pass the thermonplia but not thru it

[@wenerjy]

11:40 Battle of Changing Horribly researched, I don't know how you managed to get the wrong victor and outcome of the battle. Changping is known for a decisive Qin victory and the live burial of 200,000 Zhao POWs.

[@user-vk2tm4yt8t]

i wish i could live to see all the human wars! i already experienced war in my life time and that is the only time i feel good peace makes me sick!!

[@387tallen]

Many errors in the English audio for this video.

[@dannenbergdavid9133]

Omg someone help me know where this narrator’s voice is from? I’ve heard it before

[@mephistopheles7388]

15:55 Hannibal is not a King.. he is the commander of the Carthaginian army. If he was the king, there would be no Roman Empire.

[@DUMBCRIMINAL-DC]

And Not one mention of numbers of soldiers. Jenius

[@jamesthornton1673]

Whoever directed this video should have had an historian look over the script which is rife with errors, some quite absurd.

[@Erulin68]

The Battle of Thermopylae wasn't fought by 300 Spartans vs the Persians. The Greeks were led by 300 Spartans... but the Greeks had 7.000+ men there who each took turns on the front lines to let those that had just fought rest.

[@Justin.Martyr]

*Wut Happened to the 7,000 Support Troops???*

[@Bynk333]

@@Justin.Martyr If they not die they retreatet,....

[@chadjustice1736]

Nero didn't lead the Romans during the Punic Wars. He wouldn't be alive for 200 more years.

[@Treeman-fp9em]

It was a Roman consul named Gaius Claudius Nero that was one of the consuls leading the Roman army at Metaurus. The other consul was also in the battle, Marcus Livius. So it was a Nero, but definitely not the emporer Nero. Being a Claudia he was an ancestor of the emporers Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. Augustus married Livia and founded the Julio-Claudian dynasty that ended when Nero committed suicide.

[@jeromecummings3609]

Nero was an aristocratic name from way back. There was a Nero that led Roman armies then. Same as the name Scipio.

[@jeromecummings3609]

Wait wait wait…. The narrator did say “the infamous EMPEROR Nero” you were right, apologies

[@jeromecummings3609]

@@Treeman-fp9em you are correct but is that guys defense the narrator defiantly said “the infamous Emperor Nero”. Maybe you eluded to that in your comment but the op was wrong

[@chadjustice1736]

@@jeromecummings3609 No apologies necessary. I'm an ancient Rome history nut. Just helping each other.

[@callmebudda]

It's not "cow cow" It's "Cao Cao" with an "S" sound. Very good try though 👍😊

[@ezrapounds952]

Gaius Claudius Nero is not the Emperor Nero. Isn't this a history channel. Whose fact checking. Tick tisk

[@user-wk5zk4tx6s]

Sorry . . . I forgot to mention the Tooth Fairy's conquest of Westeros by defeating the Night King's army of the Dead.

[@marchellochiovelli7259]

Imagine...if you live as long as some these guys did, fighting for 45 days. And of those fighting who made it out alive?

[@danace1046]

Had to do a double take when I heard the Roman Republic and Parthian empire fought at the battle of Salamis. Not to mention when the video was talking about Alexander and Macedon but showed a Roman Legionary. Those are just two examples but there were a lot of other mistakes in this video. Need to do better research and stop using Hollywood as your sources.

[@hermandarmawan4610]

Didn't Qin won Battle of Changping?

[@freeanimals594]

I knew the majority of the facts. History is not one of my best subjects. My favorites in modern times are Gladiator with Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix. Another is 300 with Gerard Butler playing Leonidas. Although they had painted on abs. If you want to watch a hilarious movie it's called Meet the Spartans. I also loved the Starz series Spartacus. Those were real muscles. I adored Andy Whitfield who played Spartacus. He died due to Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He was replaced by Liam McIntyre. I grew to love him too. Alexander the Great was phenomenal.

[@jeffo4817]

nero and hannibal were seperated by over 200 years. other than that bravo

[@andrzejdobrzynski1549]

Battle of Salamis was NOT Roman Republic versus Parthia!!!( I have listen few times over just to make sure I am not imagining things). It was Greek coalision versus Mediocre Persian Empire

[@davebritton7648]

I'd suggest moving on to another video, one that doesn't tell you that emperor Nero fought the Carthaginians, or refers to Hannibal as 'King Hannibal of Carthage'. Edit: As well as several other howlers pointed out by others in the comments.

[@nicod1361]

Amateurs

[@autismman5258]

Crazy how the world has changed since then.

[@user-ov5zm5rz3v]

How about 200,000 V.S. 1,140,000 ?

[@Versatilevibes16]

No hate to anyone one but, Only legends know about Mahabharata 🔥❤️🕉️

[@sampersian1854]

The great Cyrus and king dariush

[@johnord684]

Kadesh is the second oldest battle ,Meggido is the oldest recorded battle.

[@johnking6252]

With all the mistakes I'm still not sure? ..... Who won ? ✌️🇺🇲

[@hunterharpool4001]

You need to do some serious fact checking. You say the battle of salamis included the Roman republic then go on to talk about it being between Greeks and Persians. You later say Nero lead an army against hasdrubal Barca but he existed before the Roman Empire. Didn’t bother watching the rest

[@ken_ken1412]

totally wrong on the red cliff battle. The winner is not liu bei as you mentioned, is kingdom of Wu, Sun Quan. You also got other battles wrong. Would have been a good video if you have put more effort to get the facts right.

[@commentorsilensor3734]

People already found out lots of mistakes. I was going to watch stupid video, but reading transcript is faster. 11:28 said Zhao defeated attacked Qin. Go research Wikipedia n other KZbin video. Attackers Qin defeated defender Zhao. The description on Qin army should have been Zhao situation. The official casualty on Zhao was 400k. Qin also suffered a lot casualties. People believed it was inflated. We don't have enough evidence to support either way. However, casualty was a lot for Zhao that Zhao could no longer recover. Qin suffered a lot that after failed to destroy Zhao, Qin could not bring such huge battle 20 years later.

[@tonylam9548]

Several of these battles can be classified as skirmishes compare with some of the wars in China. By 220 BC era there was already wars that involved over a million soldiers on all sides. Soldiers were killed just as efficiently, all without firearms or gun powder.

[@mda1218]

sired their last generation …

[@holtohyeptho4286]

Historians must do a re-think and re- portray the great Genghis Khan.

[@user-db2qx8ki8c]

The warring armies in 1. The Muslim Arabs defeated them within 3 months in the battle of Yarmouk and Al-Qadisiyah

[@DesertAres]

This is so poorly constructed with wrong countries, names, no est. of army sizes, I hope those unfamiliar with theses battles, will look them up on another channel.

[@edwardolson8996]

Nero against Carthage!!!!! This is history by and for fools.

[@chrissherrill49]

The "facts" presented in relation to the battle of Thermopylae are so erroneous, it puts in question the facts of the other battles cited.

[@ex-navyspook]

Most of the "facts" in this video are divorced from historical reality.

[@TheOrigamiPeople]

Salamis? Roman republic vs. Parthian empire. USA historians never cease to amaze me with their ignorance

[@user-db2qx8ki8c]

Any list that does not include the battle of Yarmouk and Al-Qadisiyah is just a joke😂

[@hobiecoaster8135]

Get your historical facts staight before you put stuff out,. Kids are reading this.

[@bradjustad3527]

Learn your history Narration is INCOMPETENT

[@lavaughnford9020]

Rome lost many battles but you don’t even have them in your video smh

[@MisterRorschach90]

Man this is what happens when someone does the bare minimum for a video.

[@barksdalehales438]

I guess historical accuracy was not a priority in the making of this video. Did the writers actually attend school or is this a home schooling failure. Wow I didn't know that Nero fought Carthage.

[@michaelduby7244]

What ?!

[@mariavieirabarros1784]

Zhao lost the war against qin and more 100000 soldiers surrendered and were buried alive

[@josephhickman4759]

Masada

[@RuaidhriOSioradain]

King Hannibal ?, Nero, fighting in the 2nd punic war? The battle of Kadesh was not a draw, a lot of mistakes

[@holy.alahgodmarkanthonycap2124]

THETHOUGHTOFDANGERWASPRODUCEDFROMTHEWHITECOCAINISTUSAWHOREPROSTITUTELAZYBITCHHEADSCOMFORTABLEINAMERICAALLALONE!

[@Mercvrio5369]

The battle of Metaurus was indeed fought between Rome and Carthage. But the "Romans were led by notorious emperor NERO" is nothing but a fallacy - wrong time, wrong person. Who wrote this???

[@billyford2262]

I’m did he just say PeePee monster? 1:40

[@romgtr]

It’s BC not BCE.

[@ex-navyspook]

Okay, who the hell did the research for this? This video's either a troll or someone was smoking something as they "researched it. It was the Greeks -- not the Romans -- who fought against the Persians at Salamis; Nero was an Emperor who reigned from 54CE until 68CE...NOT 202 BCE when the Second Punic War occurred... I stopped after that one...too painful to listen to..

[@artsmith683]

Nero ruled much later then the punic wars . He actually ruled during the empire times not republic of Rome. U are centuries off.

[@liehleng]

Bloody battle, no one wins!

[@tonybananas2741]

King Hannibal?

[@Justin.Martyr]

*YES!!! He was KING of Carthage!!!!*

[@andrzejdobrzynski1549]

Emperor Nero commanding battle against Carthage in 207 BCE!!! 😂😂😂 Back to History books!!!

[@valerym1400]

Zhao didn't win the battle of of Changping. They lost it and all Zhao soldiers were killed.

[@thehelluvaparty563]

How about teaching your digital narrator correct pronunciation? Cultural misappropriation.

[@allanwrobel6607]

Sorry - A Roman Emperor, and Nero to boot, fighting Hannibal during the time of the Roman republic! Please Goggle Nero. Plus other mistakes highlighted in comments below. I've had enough of this drivel.