Understanding the Roman Forum

[@toldinstone]

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[@MariaMartinez-researcher]

NOTE. I watched this video on a cellphone, I think many people does it. The names of the buildings is so small that it makes for a hard reading. Please, next time, make it larger.

[@HistoriaMoneta]

The state of the forum in the middle ages is the most mind blowing thought for me. Thinking about all of the incredible history that happened in the forum since the founding of the city - the contiones, the triumphs, the conflicts, the gladiator fights, the beast hunts, the feasts, the festivals, the senate meetings, etc.- all but forgotten. The footsteps of the greatest and most infamous men of Rome in the epicenter of the greatest empire the world has ever known - now nothing more than a pasture for cattle to graze. It is hard to comprehend.

[@Hyssar]

That feeling you're evoking is the exact same emotion I felt when I first read the Foundation series as a teenager and it's why I've been fascinated by history ever since! I envy those who live in cities like this today, surrounded by a fascinating past.

[@TylerD288]

This feeling you've described I too recognized in myself years ago. I was fortunate enough to earn a degree in history and my favorite class was Roman History. It's a mysterious feeling that is triggered, at least for me, by the notion of the vast sweep of time passing and all the great and small people, the cultures that develop and change, and political entities that rise and fall, and much more than that, happening in the never-ending wake of history. I find thinking about scenes like you describe to be exciting and overwhelming. As I started this video I imagined (as I've done many times about many places) the Forum evolving from an anonymous patch of marsh, into what it must've looked like at its height. In time, it will evolve back into just another inconspicuous plot of land with no hint to inform a passerby what once took place there.

[@jimmygrant3151]

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. As great as we are, as great as we were, as great as we will be will soon be but a distant memory of forgetten lore.

[@armorer94]

"Look on my works, ye mighty and despair! Nothing besides remains".

[@JohnDaubSuperfan369]

It would be naïve to call Rome "the greatest empire the world has *ever* known", it might be the greatest we currently have knowledge of but given how long men have been politicking and screwing each other over, it is almost a certainty empires greater than Rome existed in the past.

[@sppl623]

walking the roman forum is easily the greatest thing i've gotten to do in my life so far. i studied in rome for a few weeks (should've been a few months but this was spring 2020 and a little thing kinda got in the way) and i must say that there is no where on earth that you can feel the weight of those who walked before us than the heart of rome. The coliseum and palatine hill and forum all right there, you realize that where you stand was the center of the entire known western world for almost an entire millennium. its just a historical heft that i have yet to feel anywhere else on earth. yes im drunk. thank you garrett for your unbelievable work as always! SPQR!

[@Meadras]

I hope you also got a chance to walk the Caracalla Baths. Being there gave me a powerful sense of just how absolutely massive and amazing Ancient Roman buildings could be

[@sppl623]

@@Meadras 😭 the day i was going to go the cases multiplied 100 fold in milan and we were sent home immediately. in hindsight an overreaction but you can’t really blame it at the time :/

[@Blackadder75]

I think China did have the same equivalent, but the insane CCP trashed most of it in the past century

[@samuelmodrall2592]

I’m about to finally walk through it in 2 days!

[@NoNameNo.5]

I stayed in Spain and the aqueduct was still standing and MEGA! Amazing

[@fuferito]

08:14 Incredible that folks still lay fresh flowers to Julius Caesar, a man who died more than 2080 years ago.

[@lagazettedesfrancais8155]

Yes, it is a tradition..

[@TarpeianRock]

When visiting the Parthenon and its outlying monuments I noticed flowers and pomegranates laid at the altar of Hecate, now just a piece of very weathered rock. Pagans are still around I suppose, they’re really very quiet about it.

[@GHST995]

@@TarpeianRock We all pray to the Alfather.

[@TarpeianRock]

@@GHST995 I found something on Allfather but this seems to be Odin. Hecate is not Odin is suppose ?

[@GHST995]

@@TarpeianRock Allfather = Odin, Zeus, Jupiter, Sol Invictus. All the same.

[@MayaUndefined]

i sometimes wonder what it'll be like for our country -- the mall in washington a pasture for grazing cows, the senate turned into a warehouse, the washington monument surrounded by an orchard...

[@johnkeck]

Indeed. All things must fall. Time spares no one and no thing.

[@Blackadder75]

Fallout.... a video game franchise handles this subject.... baseball stadiums are turned into little villages....

[@louispauly3824]

be patient, it will happen soon =)

[@lucaamedeowilber1557]

hopefully that and not nuclear wasteland

[@Ninja1Ninja2]

thats how it started, washington was preplanned as a capital city and built up over time

[@toa_cracau4286]

Every single time I think "oh I wish there was a good quality video on this thing" I see a toldinstone notification about a new video about exactly what I want Could you make a video on the less well known high importance monuments in ancient Rome? Like the temple of the divine Augustus that was built behind the basilica Iulia?

[@toldinstone]

I have some videos on lesser-known monuments in Rome planned for the "Scenic Routes" channel. Stay tuned...

[@aeliusdawn]

I visited the forum in March. The most striking thing of all that images cannot properly illustrate is the sheer scale of it all. Sure, most of it is gone but what remains is far larger than I had imagined.

[@impguardwarhamer]

its so crazy to see such an important historical site after a few hundred years turned back to mashland grazed by cattle.

[@HistoriaMoneta]

This is the most mind-blowing thought for me too. Thinking about all of the incredible history that happened in the forum since the founding of the city - the contiones, the triumphs, the conflicts, the gladiator fights, the beast hunts, the feasts, the festivals, the senate meetings, etc.- all but forgotten. The footsteps of the greatest and most infamous men of Rome in the epicenter of the greatest empire the world has ever known - now nothing more than a pasture for cattle to graze. It is hard to comprehend.

[@jimmydesouza4375]

Putting the same value on the past, and especially on the physical relics of the past, that we do is a very recent thing.

[@juelbriggs447]

People had become poor, the wealth of Rome had passed. Even if they did remember all the amazing things of Imperial Rome and the Empire, food and shelter were more important. People didn't have the time or excess wealth to enable them to wonder about the past, they had to work all the time just to survive. There's a lesson to be learned in this - governments should not impose wealth, prosperity destroying and inflation inducing policies and regulations on their people. And they must be able to defend their country (another reason why Rome fell, it couldn't defend itself).

[@mikesmith2057]

So we should spend more money on the army but not tax people? Ironically, I think you're describing the decline of Rome.

[@Fluckor666]

​​@mikesmith2057 no. We should demand and ensure competence in government and beaurocracy. Not allow waste and corruption and authoritarian narcissistic flucktards to thrive. See Justin Trudeau and his like in Canada, for instance.

[@diannewheatleygiliotti8513]

Thanks!

[@toldinstone]

Much appreciated!

[@KlaunVI]

It's not just the information you convey. It's the obvious passion with which you do it. It's not just facts and figures to you, and that shows in your work. You make this history digestible to everyone. Your voice is also cool and mellow, and I could listen all day. Cheers.

[@kensellar]

It's AI, buddy.

[@nickywags0712]

I am coming back to this video after seeing it last month! I have just seen the Forum for the first time in my life about two hours ago and your videos gave me so much context, I had a longg talk with my tour guide about all sorts of aspects of life back then. It was really amazing seeing it firsthand and thank you for making these videos! Also they have just opened up the imperial palaces remains to the public! so I was able to walk around and see the original frescos in the bath houses that many emporers might have bathed in! it is a very cool section on palantine hill that is worth the visit now it is open properly for people

[@charlesvaughan3517]

Loved the detail about the grass reclaiming the forum

[@maldito_sudaka]

I actually started working as a reception/security personnel at the Forum Park this month, and I read much of this to get prepared. The visit is a must, and I recommend the Full Experience ticket to see all exhibitions.

[@FrankyBabes]

Crazy to think that Caesar has been dead well over 70 years, and yet people still lay flowers at his temple

[@Blackadder75]

I think you forgot about 2000 years......

[@timothymiller6426]

​@@Blackadder75 No, Caesar's been dead for well over 70 years!

[@DanielJamesEgan]

Yeah, I bet hardly anyone who knew him is still alive so most of the flowers are from complete strangers!

[@Blackadder75]

@@timothymiller6426 very well over indeed!

[@pc239]

I didn't even know he was sick.

[@paulkoza8652]

Just like Rome, in 1000 years, all of what we see today will be dust. Thanks, Garrett, your tour was better than the one I had. There are better Roman ruins today outside of Rome. I've been fortunate to see many of them.

[@TylerD288]

Our bodies yes, not our souls.

[@ThisNameWasTaken0]

Visiting Rome, Naples, and Pompeii in December. About 10 days to see and photograph as much as I can.

[@gregburkhart9764]

This video was a great idea. Thanks!

[@patricksanders858]

I hope someday that there will be a augmented/ vr tour of the forum. Imagine walking along with ancient Romans in the forum. Maybe see a triumph procession?!!! Listen to the Caesars!!

[@Spudforth]

Wow! Thank you! I’ve seen the Forum in it’s current form, on TV many times; finally, context! Thank you!

[@scrollop]

Fantastic as always, thank you.

[@MrAristaeus]

Having just visited Rome and having spent an inordinate amount of time at the Musei Capitolini, the timing of the post is perfect!

[@tanechkaamericanochka4839]

How did you get tickets to Vatican museum?What do you recommend to see?We are going to Rome in two weeks.I would like not to do mistakes and see most important places.Thank you very much

[@JelSnel]

Great video, thanks

[@TetsuShima]

8:05 You know you've truly changed the world forever when, even 2,000 years after your lifetime, people still leave flowers at your death site. *AVE CAESAR*

[@Askorti]

0:40 It's absolutely incredible that parts of a city can simply be... buried. How does that happen? There's still people living in the city, and yet the ground level can just rise by tens of feet? I find that perplexing.

[@Perebynis]

8:00 - And you can also see that people give flowers to Julius Caesar even up to the day. 🤯

[@johnkeck]

Making the confusing aspects of the ancient world comprehensible. Great video, Garrett!

[@dalbalgbusc]

Is it weird my favorite part of Friday is a new told in stone video

[@CyberMatt85]

top tier youtuber right here

[@profefaro]

A great and visual explanation of what Rome was like

[@Noltie]

Can you please make some more ‘a day in the life of a Roman ….’-videos? They help me visualize so well that it’s better than a film to me ❤

[@avaonalee]

The intro to the ad was *chef's kiss* 🧑‍🍳

[@525Lines]

Excellent. Thank you.

[@fernalicious]

Got my Patreon sticker today. Thanks! 😆

[@toldinstone]

My pleasure!

[@Yezpahr]

That segue to the sponsor read was quite smooth.

[@pipadoepa]

Thanks for reminding me that this word is not spelled "segway" 😆

[@Yezpahr]

@@pipadoepa Yea, I had to look up the actual spelling myself before I'd put it in writing because it remains a weird word haha.

[@nativoobstinado3525]

Gold value work. Thanks.

[@dannybuilding1044]

When in Rome. Such an awesome experience wish I saw this video prior to fully comprehend

[@pipadoepa]

Me too! When I was visiting I was a teenager and I feel like I seriously couldn't comprehend what to make of those ruins... I would love to go back again now that I understand it more :-)

[@arvk.]

Perfect timing!

[@maxmacdonald4440]

Never ceases to amaze the way that Romes monuments fell away into ruin and were left neglected and unused

[@thecianinator]

Pay your taxes kids

[@Ninja1Ninja2]

those were just the ones that didnt get scrapped for bricks in the middle ages

[@peterlv68]

Same. One day in the past, someone was the last person to walk inside the doors of these buildings. The next day they were abandoned. Hard to comprehend.

[@TylerD288]

@@peterlv68 I've thought about this too. I wonder if regular, common folk, walked through the palaces on the Palatine Hill sometime after the fall of the Western Empire, a place that would've been off-limits only decades before.

[@JohnDaubSuperfan369]

They're only buildings, once the political and religious ideologies are gone the buildings themselves aren't worth shit to people simply getting on with their lifes.

[@hejhej6956]

I might be going to Rome for the first time this Summer, I will definitely have to watch more videos like this so I have a good understanding of what I have to see and the history behind the buildings. Thanks for the video!

[@steveconkey7362]

High end content sir.

[@mattianegrello4325]

Thank you for this very informative video! I just subscribed

[@ShortbusMooner]

Thank you! 😁👍

[@heinzdirk69]

Thank you.

[@sarahd1250]

Would you be able to discuss Roman sleeping habits? Schedule, clothing, quarters, partners, etc?

[@westr70]

Nicely done.

[@TheJosep70]

Rome is always fascinating. "There was a dream that was Rome..."

[@Diogenes_43]

‘A day will come when sacred Troy shall perish, And Priam and his people shall be slain.’

[@KozmicKarmaKoala]

I walked that forum so thoroughly when I was 24. I returned in April 2003 only to have to fly back to JFK after 5 days. That was the year of the brutal heatwave that killed over 30,000 in Europe.

[@raviolijones5351]

Best account out there

[@Garris_Shrike]

The last sentece is so powerful.

[@NetTopsey]

Rise and Fall and Rise again. I'm not sure if Sic Transit Gloria Mundi or Memento Mori is more apt to describe Rome after all the centuries

[@NigelWard2008]

I so wish I had watched this video BEFORE visiting the forum.

[@RizzstrainingOrder66]

5:10 real great representation

[@hazorg16]

damn am i lucky. i just opened youtube and it's been 36 seconds since this has been uploaded

[@strongerandwiser2023]

Rome must have looked stunning back in its day. Much more beautiful looking than anything the world has ever seen before and likely seen since. If only time machines were real. Id love to see it for how it was.

[@brick6347]

I think pre-WW2 a few cities could give Rome a run for its money. Maybe Paris is the closest of what's left. Not just in Europe either, old photos of Chicago sure do make the place seem grand. Soldier Field looked a bit like a classical Roman stadium before progress dictated that it was butchered a few years back. (I'm not from Chicago or the USA btw, I just appreciate architecture).

[@Blackadder75]

AI enhanced virtual reality will make time travel feel real in your lifetime

[@JohnDaubSuperfan369]

Humans have existed for 300,000 years and you lads honestly think that the stuff that happened essentially two weeks ago is our entire history?

[@Blackadder75]

@@JohnDaubSuperfan369 ??? maybe reply to wrong message?

[@JohnDaubSuperfan369]

@@Blackadder75 Nope

[@brick6347]

I wonder what would be the modern equivalent? Hard to say, all the activities have sort of dispersed about towns. I think the _rynek_ (main square) of central European cities like Krakow or Prague maybe closest, where you still find government buildings, shops, bars, a church, etc. (albeit all of those things in probably smaller, less touristy places these days though).

[@Blackadder75]

Check out Dam Square, Amsterdam. It has a palace, a gothic church, several posh warehouses and hotels, and all kinds of cultural buildings and offices . I think it's also quite small, like the original forum romanum , and not as massive as other modern squares in Paris or London or Berlin

[@enricozetti]

Although the Roman forum had specific buildings and functions of its time that no longer exist I still perceive continuity with other types of main squares of our cities. Almost every city here in Italy (and in many other countries) has its main square at its center. A void in the urban fabric. Pretty often there are 2 or more squares connected in close proximity. Usually the cathedral and the buildings of the secular authority face these squares and, at least in northern italy, one or more sides of the square have almost always porticoes with shops and bars.. when we hang out with friends we often meet there or walk around these squares and the main streets of the center. Most of the life and nightlife is in the city center near these squares. One or more days of the week there is market in the squares (in my city on monday and friday) and often there are other events. Tomorrow night I'm going to a concert and it's there in the main square. Today religion is surely way less important here so, even though the cathedral has a crucial role in the space, religious functions here are not as important as they were in the past. Politics is also probably less present. rallies are rare. The mayor, other institutional figures or politicians sometimes have speaches in the square but with internet this is way less important and needed compared to the past. Also justice is no more administered there nor there is public display of punishment. No more heads of cicero. Although in cruel and less democratic times it still happend up untill ww2.. It seems to me that the Roman forum is the greco-roman interpretation of the main square. The urban void that is present and still lived in many cultures around the world. I perceive it as familiar. Our square is more or less our forum with our stoa (the poticoes with bars and shops), our temple (the cathedral), our curia (the municipality).

[@JohnVance]

Does anyone know the title/artist of the last painting shown at 12:45?

[@LukeBunyip]

The forum returning to it's role in the grazing of cows, reminds me of some of the comments we Down Under make of our capital, Canberra: "A waste of some perfectly good sheep grazing paddocks"

[@septimiusseverus343]

10:00 Best Triumphal arch of all time

[@Jin-Ro]

I wonder if this will happen to London, Paris, Rome (again) over the next 2,000 years. We're convinced everything will remain stable forever. I bet the Romans thought the same thing.

[@castorkat4868]

I believe Antonys speech was given at the new rostra near the temple of Julius Caesar

[@John_Fugazzi]

Great ending with the cows and the marsh grass, just exactly as it had begun.

[@blargwortwort]

the image at 5:09 is spectacular, can anyone identify it? id love to buy a copy

[@Radhaugo108]

Out of all the Forum versions, I rather like the one in ruins with the grazing cows and village kids, completely clueless of its past, just playing around in them.

[@KRISTIANITY_]

Didn't Mark Antony deliver Caesar's funeral speech on the steps of the temple of Castor?

[@TetsuShima]

It's pretty curious that Temple of Vesta was destroyed many time I bet that romans who witnessed the temple burning to the ground said: "Damn, the holy fire of Vesta is very lively today, isn't it?"

[@Staingo_Jenkins]

Video interaction

[@TetsuShima]

Rome: *Becomes christian* Pagan temples: "I have a bad feeling about this..."

[@Thesyndicate11111]

I kinda wish they would restore some of this.

[@JohnVance]

Imagine a theme park that’s just a complete accurate historical reconstruction of Rome circa the late republic

Which column in the Temple of Saturn is upside down?

[@Cyballistic]

Fantastic writing and research as always. I think biting the bullet and making the investment into hiring a professional British VO would send this channel into the stratosphere, I’ve seen it with other channels

[@jstantongood5474]

Equisitely Fastidious with the consonants but fast and loose wild west with the vowels. Romans are very careful with the vowels bit fast and loose with the consonants.

[@dodiswatchbobobo]

I want to make a clever comment before too much time has passed but I don’t have the context of the video yet and by the time I’m done watching it will be too late help

[@Russo-Delenda-Est]

The immortal problem, my man.

[@spankflaps1365]

And you know by not posting it sooner, you are missing the Goldilocks zone of viewers.

[@scoon2117]

Defeat your impulse to make comments

[@Russo-Delenda-Est]

@@scoon2117 says the man... with a comment!!! 😆

[@BMW1600]

I feel this

[@sterlingsimmons2212]

When I watch videos like this. I often wonder what will become of our great modern cities in a thousand years. Will they still exist or turn to rubble like Rome and other great cities in antiquity.

[@sebastianmaharg]

I sincerely hope the City of Rome removes the Via Imperiale completely in the near future. It literally bores right through the forums of Trajan, Augustus, Nerva, Peace... Restoring the actual original surface area of the imperial fora would be amazing.

[@_guiborg]

if the emperors were alive today would they wear Gucci or Prada?

[@jstantongood5474]

I love the content though.

[@1TakoyakiStore]

Every time I hear "the Rostra" my brain automatically interprets it as "the nose." 😂

[@velatacu]

lets gooo

[@Walter-WhiteMacchiato-2000]

It is very astounding to hear how much the Roman Forum has experienced. Next please do a video on 4chan Forums.

[@march11stoneytony]

I hate life so much, but at least toldinstone videos are good

[@kuchom]

I genuinely find it insane how neglected and forgotten the forum became.

[@max3346]

Every time I watch or read about these monuments I can't help but think why all these beautiful buildings were destroyed by enemies. Why would they not just repurposed them? Did they not like beautiful and collosal buildings? Why did they not protect them like we do nowadays?

[@AlamedanBreezyRep]

It is strange, it is like why not occupy the territory with all its jewels but instead they just plundered them. Doesn't even make sense even if they didn't value these things the way we do now

[@yorkshirepudding9860]

I wonder if one day my house will be covered in grass and cows.

[@kingjoe3rd]

People who don't know any better will still assume that the buildings fell when Rome "fell". They should watch your video on that topic.

[@lordtachanka903]

“What’s happenin’ forum” - Ray William Aurelius

[@QuantumHistorian]

Wait, _regia_ is pronounced with a soft "g"? I thought classical Latin almost always used a hard "g"? Ie, gif rather than jiff.

[@brick6347]

Methinks he learned ecclesiastical Latin. Dunno. Maybe that's what most people are familiar with, so that's what he went with.

[@TripleTenTech]

💪🏻⭐

[@redjacc7581]

cool

[@scoon2117]

The early era of Rome with her Kings gets no attention

[@girgameth8031]

Rip Superbus

[@m.e.345]

I wonder if the 'Vestal Virgins' served any purpose to Roman society, other than ceremonial. It seems that they occupied a valuable piece of real estate next to the forum. Did they urge young men to go into battle, like the young ladies who handed out flowers to un-uniformed young men in wartime London?

[@yournamehere4790]

It’s never not grotesque how human remains are used as museum displays or otherwise desecrated.

[@daless3526]

Rebuild the Circus Maximus!

[@EdwardM-t8p]

Incredible that in all the reliefs showing the triumphs of Roman legions or any other noble epigraphy there is no evidence of Roman crucifixion, as if the death penalty itself was way too offensive to the morals of Romans to depict, which would be inexplicable if it was only a nailing to a two-beam cross. There are a few graffiti though, one of them depicting a crucifiction (Alexamenos) but the others, down by Naples, depict that the actual penalty was utterly obscene and akin to impalement (Pozzuoli, Vivat Crux).

[@alexdelvento1273]

ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME

[@augustusimperator.avi1872]

Just as i return from the urbe

[@gljm]

You know, A Funny thing happened on the way to the Forum.........................

[@AtefehVali]

Parthian empire is not located in Iraq, it's actually from east of Iran. And it's part of history of great Persia (Iran).

[@TheHylianBatman]

To ash we will return. If even the great center of the Roman Empire can be covered in dirt and grazed by cows, so too can anything and everything else.

[@HurricaneOK1]

It's unnerving how like 90% of the human remains we discovered from prehistoric times are human sacrifices.

[@theodorekorehonen]

And while we're making up things, it's amazing how many human remains from antiquity are actually aliens!

[@HurricaneOK1]

@@theodorekorehonen Oohhhhhhh I just realised... People like you are why ancient folks used to do so many human sacrifices!