Top 10 Horrifying Facts about Roman Legions - TopTenz Reaction

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[@BluffyMoo]

Honorable mention goes to the most famous Roman centurion of all time - Biggus Dickus!

[@jake5773]

If you know you know 😂

[@PeterOConnell-pq6io]

He has a wife you know....would you like to hear her name?

[@pretzelman945]

I love the reference lol

[@uberkraeger]

Ray Stevenson, the actor that played Titus Pullo in the series “Rome”, passed away recently

[@Palasdin]

THIRTEEN!!!

[@Bob-iz2ji]

Epic History Napoleon Marshals Series One Day

[@camouflage6245]

It’s gonna be a huge day

[@jkent9915]

Terror belli, decus pacis.

[@halbarad6924]

@@jkent9915 Terror in War, Ornament in Peace

[@grandadmiralthrawn9231]

Definitely my favourite Epic History TV series. Learning in depth about his marshals, why they were chosen, their triumphs and their failures They deserve a VTH reaction

[@SteveClark-ob1kj]

Regarding Roman tactics (60) - Simon Whistler is conflating over 2000 years of history. Legionary organization changes from the manipular system of the early Republic, to the Marian system of cohortes (9x480 + 1x800 men per legio) and then by the late empire the legiones had shrunk down to 1000-1200 men, including a proportion of light infantry. Weapons also varied through Roman history, with the proportion of spearmen varying depending on the opposition. Even when the pilum was standard, spears could be issued to counter heavy cavalry. It was this adaptability and the ability to change with the times which allowed the Roman empire to survive so long.

[@wedgeantilles8575]

Spot on. However, since the video is a "top 10 list" - which are always short and "shallow" - IMO this is acceptable. The quintessenz of what he is saying is correct. Obviously you should take a closer look and realize that it was not static at all, you described that very well.

[@Bob-iz2ji]

About Decimation, when Spartacus launched his slave rebellion the soldiers feared him so much Crassus solution was to make them fear him more than Spartacus. So he made defeated legions draw straws and every 1 in 10 men who drew the shortest was killed. When Caesar favorite legion, the X Legion mutinied and then begged to rejoin him, they suggested drawing straws to punish them as well, but Caesar didnt punish them and let them back in

[@NyaHaKitty277]

Yeah. Caesar at first said that he would be glad to allow his men their retirement (Since they'd been gone for way longer than they had wanted), everyone but the X Equestris, which horrified them. He let them back in with the conciousness that they felt like they owed Caesar, when in reality it was the opposite. A typical Caesar move. The humiliation of being made fun of in front of all the other legions (There was fierce competition amongst them about being the best) and without bloodshed.

[@steveclarke6257]

Chris, If you get in the comments whilst on holiday- the archaeologists at Pompeii have just uncovered new mosaics and wall paintings in a villa they have been excavating. I doubt if you will be able to see these when you get there but I don't know if they allow tourists to see active dig sites. Good Luck

[@VloggingThroughHistory]

Oh very interesting! I'll be there next week.

[@danielearley5062]

I wonder if it's worth devoting an entire episode on the changes that Marius made to the legions, from changes to the pilum, the shield/scutum, recruitment of the Head Count, the baggage that legionnaires would carry, earning them the nickname of Marius's mules. You could also include development of tactics, particularly to counter Hannibal, the Persians (loss of Crassus there), tactics by Pompey against the pirates and so on.

[@zawasmal4687]

Hi Chris, don't really comment often. But I would love to see you react to Paper Cartridges' video arguing about how the rifle musket did not really have a significant impact on the Civil War. Seems like something right down your alley

[@BryantVonMiller]

If you wanna see a pretty good faithful retailing and showing of a Roman Soldiers training and all that. Invicta just released an hour n thirty minute documentary. And its pretty swell

[@MrTenaciousRob]

Perfect Video. I'm from New Mexico and I'm currently in Naples, Italy and I'm headed to Rome in a couple days. I watch your videos often and nobody "Reacts" better than you. You've helped inspire me to get out of my comfort zone and explore the world and you've taught me so much. Thank you! Truly.

[@VloggingThroughHistory]

We will be passing by each other! I'll be heading through Naples on the way to Pompeii early next week.

[@ms272885]

@@VloggingThroughHistory I super recommend Firenze on your next trip even though it is in the opposite direction. It was the best part of both of our Italy trips (coincidentally our return was almost two weeks ago on CET daylight savings day/buona pasqua!). Each city in Italy (in my opinion) is like visiting a different time period - Roma: 0AD, Firenze: 1500AD, Bologna: 1200AD, Venezia: 1750AD).

[@shaggycan]

History Hit just reported on a newly restored suit of lorica segmentata found in Germany. Its an almost complete set which is very rare, since its 2000 years old.

[@WhatsUp-fe8jc]

Was just looking for a video to watch while I have lunch this is perfect!

[@shaneywaney]

Love the content Chris! ❤️❤️ always entertaining and very informative. I hope you have a fantastic time in Rome and stay safe.

[@bjornodin]

16:52 Don't forget PR, Cesar was brilliant at self promotion and his writings are basically the only record we have of the Gallic wars

[@TheRealDrJoey]

I had to translate Julius Caesar's Gallic campaign from Latin in high school. "All of Gaul is divided into three parts..." can't remember the Latin for that. I do remember, "Vini, vidi, vici." The main thing I remember about it was Caesar's amazing ability to rally his troupes. They would be exhausted and broken, he would give them one of his incredible pep talks, and those dudes would get up and move the entire army 25 miles in a day. One thing he did to reduce attrition through desertion (there were a lot of hot women in the towns of Gaul they went through) was to burn bridges as they moved through the country, the origin of the expression, "Burning your bridges behind you."

[@PositiveVibesz]

Looking forward to this. Watched the video, great.

[@101Mant]

I think the pilum bending is dubious at best as tests with reconstructions show it often does not bend. What the long thin metal head does is let it penetrate a shield and have a reasonable chance of still striking the man behind who was often unarmoured. They weren't thrown back partly because there wasnt really time and often they were basically impossible to get out the shield, meaning it now had to be discarded.

[@jacobwalsh1888]

Um it's not remotely dubious. In 18 years of landscaping I used dozens of digging bars, which are far thicker than a pilum head shaft, and all of them bent. If they aren't forged to be springy, you absolutely can bend a long thin piece of steel, and the Romans had no way to produce steel of modern quality. The likelihood of steel of that era being bendable because of it's low quality is quite good.

[@danielearley5062]

The advantage to the pilum that was brought during the Marian years was that a pin was added to the pilum, which would break when it hit. That made it impossible to throw back but also made it simple to repair. The pilum head was simply fixed back to a new shaft with another pin, ready to throw at another barbarian.

[@Joe_Momma205]

Spot on about the television series Rome being cut way too short. It was a great series!

[@stevenjohnson3883]

I would highly recommend a series of books by Stephen Dando-Collins on the histories of various Roman legions. Outstanding work!

[@josephsimes6768]

hia book on the tenth is great i finished it not long ago

[@stevenjohnson3883]

@@josephsimes6768 Yes, I was going to mention that one I agree it is my favorite as well also love "Nero's Killing Machine" about the 14th!

[@patrickscutella836]

I heard you mention Mad Anthony Wayne. I live about a mile away from where he died and originally buried in Erie, Pa.

[@robertjarman3703]

Some observations: The reforms he said happened after the Gallic sack of 390 would not really be the Roman Republic's army until the Marian Reforms, and even Marius had his limits with those reforms. Soldiers in general would be quite fit, both today and in the past, if combat ready. You probably did some kind of hard job before entering the army to begin with, so a decent amount of strength would be expected of most people who joined the army anyway. People with disabilities who weren't absolutely necessary would usually be excluded. Oh, and they do a horrible job at showing what the arour would be contemporaneously, like showing the segmented plate called lorica segmentata hundreds of years too soon, the Roman Republic did not use that armour and even in the imperial period it was inconsistent and not used much after the 3rd century crisis anyway. As for the idea of discipline, sometimes people call sleeping a minor offense, but soldiers would not be happy with a sleeping sentry. That could possibly kill them all. They would very much so not want anyone to feel like sleeping was a good idea or an acceptable risk. A full decimato would also be more so at a cohort level or less, not legion, and it didn't have to be one in ten. One in twenty or less might be used. It still had the element of fear and shame, but not remove the strength of the army. The other 9 also were not let off, they had barley rations instead of the other grains they liked better and had to sleep outside the comforts of the fortified fort. Soldiers were also not blind to orders. There are also many different kinds of orders. An order from your centurion in the heat of battle is not likely issued nefariously, it would be very stupid for the centurion to do something that would endanger themselves anyway. An order in other contexts? It might not be as respected as there is time to deliberate. Generals who were wise also convened councils of war to discuss ideas. Generals and officers also often led their soldiers to victories, and being victorious, or well paid, was just as much of a carrot as the discipline was a stick. Roman soldiers could be as ill disciplined as anyone else, like Belisarius's troops in Africa who didn't receive their proper payments from their quartermaster due to a lack of revenue and the prolonged absence of their commanders, and soldiers might well assassinate emperors who they didn't like anymore. Romans did not also just fight undisciplined mobs. They sometimes did, leading to slaughter like how Belisarius and Mundus' troops defeated the Nika Riots, but they also fought extremely dangerous Persians. Others could well give them a run for their money, like the Vercengetorix revolt or the bad defeat at Adrianople or Manzikert, the Teutoberg Forest, Crassus being killed in the aftermath of Carrhae. Julius Caesar had to get off Britain twice. Romans were also vulnerable to logistics issues, bad weather.

[@afh3318]

7/ the crest on the hekmets was also a main indicator for the following troops to stay and follow the formation, visual confirmations was a lot easier to follow than verbal orders in a noisy battlefield.

[@Guitarandbikes-wp1ud]

I’m hooked to this channel😂

[@bandit6272]

#9: Point of interest, ALL militaries use fear in their discipline. If you're going to war, you might get killed, and it will hurt. So, you should probably straighten up and train with some discipline, especially if you like living. So yeah, fear, in some form and to some extent, is ALWAYS a factor in military life. Anytime "....or you'll probably die" gets said a lot, fear is absolutely a part of it.

[@robertjarman3703]

The army also did not destroy the empire. It was a gradual process. Foreign soldiers might actually be more loyal if you keep their pay regular, as was the case with the Varangians and foeterati, as they have little bias in internal politics. Augustus kept Germanic bodyguards, in part to protect him from his own Praetorians. Some emperors were unusually bad or had major trouble to begin with, like Nero who was once popular as you have said before, who did a lot of messed up things long before he died, and even Nero might have had points where he could have fled east and restored his authority, especially if Nero doesn't condemn Galba for joining a rebellion Galba had no intention of joining in the first place. A single governor of Gaul, north of the Alps and not in command of the much bigger army Caesar controlled and who didn't have that much of a power base in Rome would not have succeeded the way Caesar did alone. Other emperors could be like this too, some of the intrigue came from civilian senators and imperial family members too or from other clerks like the secretary to Aurelian who lied to Aurelian's soldiers that they were on execution lists so as to get the soldiers to kill the emperor who had the secretary on the execution list instead of the soldiers. Even in the 3rd century crisis, not all the emperors were murdered. Some were killed in battle with outsiders or captured by them like Valerian, or died of epidemic disease, and the number of emperors rises in that time because of coemperors so it isn't always fair to compare the raw numbers. It was much more violent intrigue than today, but Rome did have stable periods. Out of 2200 years of Roman history, how many of them were in the disastrous years of soldier rebellions? Inflation could also eat away at the economy, so that didn't help. Diocletian's reforms that are most famous didn't last, like the tetrarchy, but tax and civil service and provincial reforms, those stuck around for a long time. The Vandals also took over critical food supply routes in North Africa, able to hang an albatross over Ravenna's control (the capital had shifted by this point so the centre of government was there). They also captured a big part of the Roman navy there, so they were able to disrupt traffic in critical ways and were in a pretty secure position from attack for the next 100 years until Belisarius and Justinian creatively took down Gelimer's kingdom using a combination of hearts and minds campaigns, religious schisms, encouraging rebellions in Gelimer's provinces, and the fact that Gelimer himself was a usurper, and highly fortunate coincidences related to the terrain and strategies. Ricimer had undermined imperial authority, and Orestes had propped up a child emperor in Romulus Augustulus, child kings often end up having trouble. Odoacer then deposed Orestes and Romulus Augustulus, who themselves were usurpers against Theoderic. The Ostrogothic kingdoms took care for a long time to pretend they were just instruments of the Roman emperor Zeno, later Anastasius, Justin, and Justinian and they were still part of the empire, using Roman law for Roman citizens and letting Romans follow Chalcedonian Christianity. For many Romans in 500 for instance, in say Ravenna, it would be hard for many of them to actually realize just what had changed from the generations of their grandfathers 50 years before. The plague of Justinian and the Gothic Wars really caused the demise of the continuity of Roman life in some western provinces. In some places like Carthage, Roman control would remain for hundreds of years until the Muslim army took it over in 698.

[@masontillman6856]

Not much to say about this one, but thanks for the videos! I can’t get enough of them.

[@jaybee9269]

I think Metatron debunked this original video…thoroughly.

[@straightrippnable706]

Thanks for saying - now I want to watch. The Whistling Simon's usually striking, but now I needs ta know!

[@berdilio1989]

Yes a react to the debunking would be fun.

[@Romellenios_Lanz_Daemos]

He did

[@wedgeantilles8575]

I can't find it on his channel, do you have the name?

[@itshunni8346]

He has not, different video. this one did not receive a debunking.

[@lolikumadesbear1999]

8:20 Another example I can think of, because its usage was very recent for known reasons, is Quarantine. Which original meant kinda the same but for a specific time period, namely "40 days"

[@bellmane45]

I like how most of what we admire or give credit to the Romans, they learned from the Greeks, Etruscans, Carthaginians and etc.

[@reddeaddude2187]

Yet they clearly did it better. Otherwise we'd remember the other cultures for it.

[@luchoc602]

No one has original ideas. It always comes from something else and then great cultures improve on it.

[@shaggycan]

The one thing they don't show enough of when you see Roman legions fighting on the screen is how much they relied on throwing their pila (javelins) they, if given time by the enemy, would throw 3 waves if them to break up enemy formations and make thier shields useless. Then they would fight like a chainsaw.

[@gabrielethier2046]

Slingers even less

[@randomuser942464]

Looking forward to your Rome content

[@itwaswalpole]

I plan to walk Hadrian's Wall in June so I highly appreciate the Rome content.

[@faeembrugh]

It's a bit difficult as there are a lot of hills and detours (mostly for accommodation and restocking supplies and it will rain even in summer!) But good luck and enjoy the experience.

[@afriendlycadian9857]

​@@faeembrughdon't forget the sheep those suckers were vicious when I last went

[@itwaswalpole]

​@@faeembrughThank you, I've never walked it before and I'm probably a bit too relaxed about it all, especially considering I'm doing it on my own, but I don't see it likely going wrong.

[@halbarad6924]

Decimation was actually done in the Italian army during WW1, just once for sure to unit of 120 men, perhaps other occurrences but those are disputed.

[@mabbrey]

gd luck on your trip chris

[@gamelove0169]

Hi VTH i was wondering if there's room in your schedule maybe you could cover some australian history on the channel. A great start i think would be looking at the bombing of darwin in WW2 by vector historia.

[@boodstain]

A big thing was also that the Romans took "breaks" in formation, moving from the front of the line to the back in shifts to keep the army as fresh for as long as possible. You see this in the HBO Rome TV show too where he blows a whistle and the ranks shift from back to front. It's unlikely the whistles were used commonly if at all, but it gives you a good idea of how they maintained themselves for so long even with those heavy shields and armor weighing them down.

[@thephenome1462]

If you enjoyed the series Rome, you should really watch Spartacus as well. Incredible show, that portrays the rebellion quite well, especially the potential emotional dilemmas involved. One of the scenes from the show was used in this video, in the part about Decimation.

[@philingrouille7198]

It should be noted that when decimation was enacted, it wasn't on the entire army, or even an entire legion (killing 600 men was an excessive loss of life all at once. A single cohort would be chosen (having 480-500 soldiers in it), so around 50 would be killed.

[@donnyego]

Buzzfeed’s “Ruining History” did a really fun video about Caesar’s siege against Vercingetorix. Might be worth a reaction!

[@aomais5138]

Historia Civilis has a much better video on that topic

[@acridrenown434]

Highly suggest Kings and Generals or Invictus Roman historical videos! Top Tier and well known

[@JustAnotherAccount8]

Discipline through fear and the decimation reminds me of the mongols army organisation. The structure of the army was more complicated, but the smallest units were units of 10 men, and if one deserted, the other 9 would be put to death.

[@davetremaine9688]

6:45 I have never heard someone say "decimation" was common, usually I hear they were rare, but not unheard of

[@tyrionstrongjaw7729]

I don't think I ever looked at their helmet and appreciated it. Those little bumps would be great disruptions to bounce a blade away instead of it cleaving in. That's....insanely smart. Must less that weird jaw line flare that could help stop a sword from digging into ...well ya know the neck and those arteries. A ton of deflection that I never realized. Wow.

[@argantyr5154]

Not only did the Pillum bend when it hit, but its weird weight distribution, also made it impossible to use your Shield effective when it got stuck, or perhaps I should say even less effective compared to a normal spear.

[@TheCanagoose]

Omg seeing simon with his beginners beard again is borderline horrifying

[@TejanoTigre]

New Vlogging through History Rome video let's gooooo!!🏛️🏛️🦅🦅🦅🐺🐺what the hell is a carthage❔❔😂😂

[@Danymok]

9:02 Chainmail was not lightweight, it was heavier than plate armour.

[@sammalla5238]

More Roman related content pls 🙏

[@Panthror]

I think the movie you referenced is called 'The Inquiry', I watch it every year at Easter.

[@jordonhancock05]

Romes Conquest of Britiannia by Emperor Claudius was undertaken. And one of the generals that went on the conquest was Vespasian. P.S just watched Robert Graves I Claudius, great show. ❤ the content VTH.

[@N00B283]

I recommend you to react some historia civilis, he is one of if not the best when it comes to Roman history content!

[@whitemink0939]

I have decided to use this to fall asleep, night or day everyone!

[@mdw505]

I just finished a study abroad in Rome studying ancient engineering. Truly the greatest city on earth, have fun!

[@markkringle9144]

Chainmail, and scale mail, then metal plates. Also officers had muscled breast plates like the Greeks. Later on they had Lamilar armor as well.

[@ianblake815]

The Romans had the best military structure of the ancient world

[@brianflint8036]

Example: Factoid. Originally meant a fact presented as true but was untrue. Now it means some interesting piece of trivia related to the overall topic.

[@corneliaaurelli1603]

Will you get into Rome's civil wars? Not just Caesar and Octavius but also with Sulla. EC also has a good series about the Gracchi brothers, in case you want to watch an EC series and a Roman content.

[@patriciadurr7245]

Not on this topic, but I would like to see something about General Smedly Butler

[@PeterOConnell-pq6io]

Josephus observed something to the effect that "Romans drill as if at war, and war as if at drill"

[@el_bamboo_third]

Just when I stopped thinking about the Roman Emp-

[@mikepenny8940]

Yes, we did need to have a few more seasons of Rome

[@anderskorsback4104]

I would say the video is largely right, only a bit limited in scope. What it says applies to the legions after the Marian Reforms. Before that, the legions were made up of citizen reservists that were mobilized on a temporary basis, just like most armies. And while the pre-Marian legions had high levels of discipline and very much a hell-bent attitude to war, they just weren't in the field long enough to attain the level of professionalism that the standing, post-Marian legions had. When it comes to post-Marian legions being more loyal to their general than to the Roman state, it's not just that they knew their general better. There's also the fact that the legions were overwhelmingly recruited from the poorest stratum of the citizenry, and had little economic security beyond their military service. Their generals, who invariably also were politicians, were able to obtain their loyalty by advocating for them and providing for them, such as through securing them land grants from conquered provinces.

[@101Mant]

I seem to recall that pre reform they were sometimes reluctant to disband the veteran legions because if they had to raise a new one later it would not be nearly as good.

[@anderskorsback4104]

@@101Mant makes sense. Which sucks for the veteran legionnaires, as they will be away from their civilian jobs and livelihoods for longer, sometimes years at a time. Just one more problem caused by the Roman Republic having the constitutional structure of a city-state built on the assumption of everything from war to politics to economics being local, and wars lasting one campaigning season between planting and harvesting.

[@anderskorsback4104]

Speaking of this, VTH, if you're seeing this, have you thought about reacting to the Gracchi Brothers series by Extra History? It takes a good look at the problems of the late Roman Republic like the ones we discuss in this thread.

[@Somerandomperson2332]

You should do a reaction to history buffs breakdown of the rome tv seris

[@antoniomoreira5921]

I strongly recommend Schwerpunkt on the Roman military and their ethos

[@incognitones5604]

You can either use discipline, or make sure your soldiers trust their leaders.

[@cramerfan04]

A 90 mile march in 5 hours is physically impossible for any human even if they’re not carrying anything. It would require running 18 mph, but the fastest marathon runner in the world can only sustain 13 mph for 2 hours, let alone 5. I’m not buying that was part of their training.

[@jake5773]

I thought the same thing so I replayed it. He said 19 mile march.

[@cramerfan04]

@@jake5773 ok that sounds more like it, I had to do 12 miles in 4 hours to graduate basic training so I’d believe 19 in 5 for a hardcore unit from the past.

[@steveredacted1394]

@@cramerfan04 I expect they would also be talking about Roman miles which were shorter than the modern imperial mile by about 8%

[@jay76ny]

Yes, Rome was great! You could get at least 3 more seasons just on Titus Pullo alone!

[@luchoc602]

Thats the most famous armor but with time it was less standardized and it grabbed more and more from other countries they fought. With time they added from tribes like the germanic, arabic, etc etc... but the real unsung hero for the roman army was their logistics. Same as Napoleon.

[@RMSTitanicWSL]

"Their drills were bloodless battles and their battles bloody drills."

[@TimGoff-rl5fy]

10:18 Fun fact while it is technically true that a centurion is in charge of 80 soldiers each group under them was 8 soldiers with 2 non combatants bringing the total number to 100 and 600 to a cohort

[@TimGoff-rl5fy]

500 not 600 sorry😅

[@timhare9867]

I know I’ve mentioned it before, but if you’re interested in Rome I really couldn’t recommend more Historia Civilis’s series on the Caesarian civil wars from the Rubicon to Actium. It’s a really fascinating series that covers roughly the same time period as HBO’s Rome, accept in much more historically accurate detail. It will really give you a good idea of how much HBO’s production unfortunately had to leave out, and is very similar in style to Kings and Generals, but with a bit more of a lighthearted touch.

[@WILLIAM1690WALES]

The first and effectively the start of the disciplined, British Army was Oliver, Cromwell’s model Army, highly religious, highly disciplined, ruthless, and for a period of time conquered all in Britain and Ireland?

[@steveclarke6257]

5. The Corvus . Now this idea has been debunked elsewhere - It was only described by one author, Polibius who describes it "as a boarding bridge". The likelihood is it is almost certainly incorrect, as such an invention capable of carrying men between vessels would be so heavy, that if carried that high in the ship would have had the effect of destabilised the vessel carrying it- as it would add a lot of top-weight on the design of the types of ships the Romans used. However it seems more likely that the device (if it existed at all), could be something which assisted in the "precise grappling" of an opposing warship so you could drag it in closer to board it (using your marines). So something more accurate and precise than throwing a grappling hook from one ship to another. (oops just realised I had not hit send)

[@LeoAllanWeber]

"Always look on the bright side of life"..........

[@gerrythekay]

How is training and armor “horrifying facts”?

[@angryvaultguy]

I know right haha I probably would name this video (interesting facts) except the decimation and crucifixion ones of course

[@jacquelinelaface136]

I think the most horrifying thing about this video was how short Simon's beard was 😅

[@randomguy6152]

Hey by any chance would you watch the kings and generals "Battle at Carrhae"? It was one of the greatest failures in military history and by debatably the richest roman citizen to ever live who wasnt an emperor or dictator

[@2SSSR2]

You should also check the Byzantine Empire facts if you are in Rome.

[@jasonreilly2364]

Chris can you please do kings and generals. Thomas Cochrane!! Better than admiral yi.. would love to see you react to it. Scotland forever✊. Thank you!!!

[@afriendlycadian9857]

If anone ever wants a good roman book series read simon scarrows eagle series best there is or his napleonic series on wellington and napoleon if you want that

[@jackmessick2869]

I have used decimated all the time and didn't know until today the origins of the term. So, yes, the definition has expanded. There is the other Roman-army based word "ovation."

[@Adm02]

Nice

[@gazlator]

Such a shame that the Roman legionary of the early Empire (upto c.220 AD or so), in all manner of videos & documentaries nowadays, is shown so often in lorica "segmentata"(though that's a modern name too) that its practically become iconic, when in fact the great majority probably wore mail coats when in action.

[@TheXzonnet]

Seems to me an error they cite 15-20 million Gauls. Maybe they got mixed up with the Celts as a whole? Not 100%, and millions sure, but that sounds high by like a factor of 3-4x which is still incredible.

[@brandonpeters1618]

Hey the Fat Electrician released an amazing video today about the 77th Infantry division “The Old Bastards” would love to see a reaction to it

[@PopeSixtusVI]

You. Have. Got. To VTH the Metatron.

[@jakecarroll9500]

The biggest risk for their harsh discipline however is that if those under your command hate your guts, you're one of the first to go. During the Pannonian Mutiny, one centurion was nick named "Fetch me another" was among the first officers to die. He was called that because he would regularly break his vine staff because he would use it so much and so harshly. Apparently, in a rather poetic way, I've heard his men flogged him to death as a form of payback for his cruelty. Edit: I'm not sure if it's true or not, but I've heard Decimation was even rather unpopular back then too, given that those that did undergo it were often, if I've heard right, already suffering from low moral and well, lets be honest, being for to kill one of your buddy's isn't exactly gonna make you too motivated to keep going.

[@restitvtororbis5330]

The 'Fetch me another' story has always been darkly hilarious to me. I didn't know he was killed in a mutiny though. And yes 'decimation' was probably a lot less common than it seems, though the threat of decimation seems to be far more common especially for legions that were timid, or who performed poorly. I believe even Ceasar (who was generally loved by his soldiers for how he treated them) threated to decimate a legion for mutiny , but never seems to have gone through with it, just killing the leaders of the mutiny. A general like Crassus couldn't earn the respect and confidence of his legions, so he had to rely on fear. It very much reminds me of the old British navy saying "The floggings will continue until morale improves" 😅. By the time of the empire decimation seems to have been very rare, though it probably became more common again around the crisis of the 3rd century.

[@jakecarroll9500]

@@restitvtororbis5330 I once had a professor explain Machiavellian philosophy as “it’s better to be feared than loved but for the love of god don’t make them hate you.”

[@ahhculdee]

Mad Anthony Wayne. Namesake of Fort Wayne

[@tremendousbaguette9680]

Well done going to Rome before the heatwaves and barbarian tourist invasions, that's a sensible decision. I would add that the Roman superiority in warfare, among many intrisic factors, also stemmed from knowing how to negociate local alliances, as they did in Gaul or in Greece. Or, as a counter-example, as Hannibal himself did in northern Italy. It's easy to see a war as a clash of arms but it is way more than that, and today more than ever.

[@weepingscorpion8739]

4:40 If there is one take away you should have from this video, it is this comment! Yes, we sure as h3ck did! That is such a great show.

[@svenrio8521]

Oh man this is an old Simon video 😂. His team and him have greatly improved since this video

[@andresromerowerth6914]

In the matter of capital punishment, one has to consider not only the crime, but also the status of the person. Just as in the Middle Ages, with punishments for nobles and commoners, or in modern times, where the way of administering the death penalty depends on the cultural roots of each country, in Rome executions depended on whether one was a citizen or not, not for nothing was St. Paul beheaded.

[@RobertThomas-io5jn]

What do you think the Eastern Empire did that the western empire didn't do which allowed the East to last for much longer? I've always found hard to believe that for half of its history Rome wasn't even part of the Roman Empire.

[@ACupPlayz]

Rarely comment but always enjoy

[@kylejohnson3889]

Rome and Japan are my fave civilizations in history

[@aaroncortright9860]

interesting fact the Romulan's in Star Trek are in fact based on the Romans, don't believe me? look at "the Balance of Terror" episode of the original series, the way they behave, their mannerisms and speech, also they talk several episodes about the "Preator" as the leader of the Romulan "senate."

[@reddeaddude2187]

How often do you think about the Roman Empire? Every. Single. Day.

[@timnewman7591]

I wouldn't say everything is right. But they are trying to fit eight centuries of change into twenty minutes, I certainly wouldn't agree that the Romans had a professional army (or started creating one) after the Allia defeat. That doesn't come along until a couple of centuries later and arguably not until the time of the Empire. Before then there were armies and the soldiers were professionals, because there was no way for a farmer to keep up with their farm while being in Spain or Asia or North Africa for a decade on campaign. But those weren't soldiers of Rome; they were soldiers of the commander (some significant political figure, at least a senator) who raised them, and were perfectly willing to fight other Roman forces on behalf of their patron. Augustus rather sensibly didn't like the idea that any provincial general with a significant force could restart the Civil Wars he'd worked so hard to end, and tried to break that bond of loyalty between groups of legions and particular commanders - and that's the period of the great army mutinies when the legions killed unpopular centurions and refused to obey orders. Eventually wew get a return to the civil wars, competing generals being well able to bring an army to fight whoever is emperor, and the Years of the Four Emperors(69), Five Emperors (193), and Six Emperors (238). And please let's have no more about Lorica Segmentata, the Pilum, the Gladius and the Scutum. Since he mentions the Battle of the Allia in 387BC, ket's go to the other end of the period and take the Battle the Save in 388. Nobody in either battle is wearing Segmentata; about 1/4 of the Roman soliders in the first have a pilum; nobody in either is likely to have a gladius; and the shields in use is different in both cases from the rectangular 1st century scutum being described as normal. Apologies. There's plenty in the video to like but there's just enough to be annoying to an amateur Roman military buff. It's pretty good all round.

[@Bob-iz2ji]

Kings and Generals Rome video reactions?

[@VloggingThroughHistory]

I did their Caesar in Gaul series.

[@Bob-iz2ji]

​@VloggingThroughHistory I know, I meant like their other videos on Emperors, tactics, Roman conflicts, Civil Wars like Caesar, Octavian and many others they do Also you never completed Historia Civilis series on Caesar unless there was an issue?

[@spicynuggetguy1859]

Day 13 of demanding a Unbiaised history of Rome reaction series