Were the Barbarians Taller than the Romans?

Were the northern barbarians really much taller than the Romans?
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Chapters:
0:00 Tall barbarians
1:13 Average Roman height
1:59 Skeletons of Herculaneum
3:32 Average barbarian height
4:10 Tall chieftains
4:53 Diet and height
5:48 Comparing warriors

[@jackukridge5381]

There was a huge range in heights, Asterix was about 4" 9 and Obelix was 6" 6.

[@Michaelneiss]

🤣

[@AmedeeBoulette]

🤣🤣

[@QualeQualeson]

Real and true

[@danielvaldez9946]

Abraracourcix was about 5'7 and about 7'7 on his shield. But history doesn't mention the former cuz according to the chronicler "he'll throw a fish at me"

[@edwardfletcher7790]

The height disparity between Romans and Britons extends to modern day...😆

[@Joanna-il2ur]

According to several recent articles, the early Romans were quite tall, then shrank during the empire, then grew taller after the imperial period. Of course we may not be dealing with identical populations, but it suggests that the typical Roman suffered from a spectacularly poor diet. That would make sense in the light of the corn dole referenced by Augustus in his Res Gestae, and the alimenta scheme invented by Trajan, which continued until Aurelian. There is a piece in Galen which tells how the farmhands laboured all spring and summer to raise the crops, only for the dominus fundi to seize them and leave just some beans.

[@ABlackFalcon]

One highly likely cause of the decline in height during the empire is lead poisoning. Rome used vast quantities of lead in just about everything, particularly during the empire, and it stunts growth.

[@JCO2002]

@@Malignard It meant grain. Americans decided to call maize corn for some reason,

[@MarikHavair]

@@Malignard Corn is a generic word for whatever common cereal crop a given culture grows. Outside of America as the other noted it's not used for maize crop, specifically because (as you said) maize didn't exist in Europe. I've heard that both corn and grain are derivatives of the same etymological origin.

[@galenbjorn443]

Yes the men that first setteld in rome were indo-europeans from the north. Later the mix so much so the became smaller

[@gm2407]

I suspect we will see a similar trend for industrial revolution Europe. Taller before, shorter during and taller from WWII to present. Which also matches with the poor diet seen in industrial city dwelling in those periods and improved in times of pleanty in the late 20th century. (At least in Western Europe, as Eastern Europe had more scarcity due to communism)

[@spankflaps1365]

To jump forward a thousand years, when they made the movie “The Vikings” (1958) they made an exact scale replica of a Viking longboat. When they populated it with 6’6” Hollywood extras for rowers, they wouldn’t fit in the seats. So they presumed the real Vikings were much smaller people. To resolve the problem for filming, they removed every other seat and oar.

[@danielvaldez9946]

Fascinating.

[@aocg1914]

They were average height for the modern era.. Organic farming and not safe supply of food, did not gave the people enough nutrients..

[@The1trueDave]

@@aocg1914 This is it, I don't think genetic potential height varies much, or rather I think it varies on an evolutionary timescale. So we shouldn't be surprised by a well-fed northern European of 2000 years ago being 6 feet tall (or even the odd one being 6'6"). I'm pretty sure most short-term variations in height (ie decades/ centuries rather than millenia) were mostly due to diet.

[@huwhitecavebeast1972]

Exact replica, I question as far as the seat spacing goes. The Scandinavians were taller, as they are today. Evidence of this is not only the physical bones of the men, but every contemporary descriptor of the "Vikings" mentioned they were tall. Even Muslim travelers of the time who went there said so. So they were taller, perhaps not as much by today's standard, but still much taller than the Romans. A good indicator is that the Dutch, former Vikings, are the tallest people in the world today. Since it takes into account the entire demographic, I would say the reason is genetic. They don't have significantly better food quality in the Netherlands than they do in France or Germany.

[@highdesertutah]

Always get a kick out of seeing Ernest Borgnine as a Viking.

[@andrelegeant88]

Average height in Southern Italy today is 5'8, so the well fed Romans at Herculaneum really weren't that much shorter.

[@seandoyle2983]

Average height today in Holland is six foot.

[@jonathonfrazier6622]

Thats quite short. I dont think I know anyone under 6 ft. I myself am 6'3.

[@kyomademon453]

​@@seandoyle2983holland today and holland 200 years ago are two different worlds

[@guerreiro943]

Please use real units. Not all of us are Americans

[@andrelegeant88]

@@guerreiro943 Google the conversion?

[@edwardfletcher7790]

There's a very high likelihood the Britons would have the whole front line of the army the tallest soldiers. The goal is scaring the Romans into thinking they were all very tall. Attacking an intimidated enemy is an excellent tactic !

[@gwynedd4023]

Yes because you would know that

[@edwardfletcher7790]

@@gwynedd4023 It's simple tactics mate... The tribes were not lacking in warriors.

[@gwynedd4023]

@@edwardfletcher7790 he said what you said in the video also you are not a Briton

[@edwardfletcher7790]

@@gwynedd4023 But I AM a Briton, my ancestry is Cornish on both sides going back 500yrs... LoL I'm also just over 6ft :)

[@mathompson53187]

So the Gauls taunted the Romans very much in the manner of a Monty Python sketch?

[@lakrids-pibe]

There's an anecdote from the Cimbrian War (113-101 BC) where theroman commander Marius established a fortified camp with his army. When the Teutons (barbarians) arrived, they attempted to force him into battle, but he declined; they attacked the Roman camp, but were beaten off. Impatient of the delay and of Marius' passivity, they finally decided to simply march past him into Italy. So enormous were their numbers, that they reportedly took 6 whole days marching by his camp, and in their arrogance they taunted the Romans, *what message they wished them to give to their wives?* The Cimbrian War was fought between Rome and the Germanic and/or Celtic tribes of the Cimbri and the Teutons, Ambrones and Tigurini. The homeland of the Cimbri and the Teutons are traditionally identified as Thy and Himmerland in Denmark (Jutland), but it's very speculative. Their leaders had celtic names.

[@Bolognabeef]

​@@lakrids-pibei also like the dialogue that happened once this first army (the Teutons) you're talking about was completely surrounded and annihilated at Aque Sextiae the Romans then faced the second army, the Cimbrii who decided to enter Italy through the Alps. Before the battle of the Raudine Planes took place the chiefs of the Cimbrii met with Marius who asked why they weren't giving battle yet, the reply was that they were waiting for their allies, the Teutons, and also stated their ultimatum that Marius was still in time to give them land before the allies arrived. Marius then told them: 'Then don't trouble yourself with your brethren, for they have land, and they will have it forever - land which we have given them.' And then proceeded to parade the surviving Teutonic chiefs

[@HeliodromusScorpio]

Your conclusion about the diet couldnt be more correct, excellent video.

[@DerSchleier]

Diet? Nah, genetics entirely absent malnutrition.

[@dantherpghero2885]

I thought certain mushrooms helped them grow large. And a certain kind of flower let them shoot fireballs,. A gold star made them invulnerable for a time . . .

[@snotnosewilly99]

North men had the advantage of underground cold storage in permafrost tunnels. They could store meat for long periods in those cold tunnels. Eating protein in youth makes one taller. Italian men pre WW2 were about 5'6, now with refrigerators the average height for Italian men is about 5'9.

[@liamrmorgans921]

Interesting point

[@canconservative8976]

Romans had SALT.... a far superior food preservative than anything they had in the swampy bogs. In fact salt is called Sal or Salaria...... today it is also known as SALARY... because salt was even paid as salary, that's how important it was.

[@realtalk6195]

The average height for Northern Italy is 5 ft 10 and Southern Italy is 5 ft 8. Let's not combine the two into one meaningless stat.

[@jmgonzales7701]

@@realtalk6195 why is south italy shorter?

[@edwardfletcher7790]

@@jmgonzales7701 Northern Italians have more shared ancestry from the people in areas surrounding them, particularly the Gauls and Germanic tribes who were taller.

[@Kingmaga14888]

Love the videos! You should do more on the barbarians.

[@jamesyear4843]

BEST KZbinR EVER

[@asheland_numismatics]

👍

[@gedelgo3242]

But how tall is he?

[@loganandroid]

What hiatory class should have been like

[@PopeLando]

One exception to the "short-arsed Roman" rule was Emperor Maximinus Thrax (235-238). He was said by ancient sources to be 8ft tall, from which I deduce that in reality he wasn't anything less than 6ft 9in.

[@DieLuftwaffel]

He also wasnt ethnic Italian. I believe he was of Germanic stock though I don't recall which tribe. Goths maybe?

[@POCKET-SAND]

Interestingly, surviving busts of him depict him with facial deformities that lead some to theorize he suffered from acromegaly. Acromegaly can be associated with gigantism.

[@joalvarado8506]

@@DieLuftwaffelHe was Thracian. It’s in his name.

[@TrappedInFloor]

He wasn't an ethnic Roman, people don't distinguish between ethnic Romans and Roman nationals when discussing biological subjects like this when they should.

[@voiceofreason2674]

I totally believe that Thrax was a giant but the writing about him are either ghost stories or poor translation. There's some story that he sweat enough to fill a bucket and that he killed a horse by biting it on the neck

[@Winter-Alpha-Omega]

The video I never knew I needed. Listening to your voice is quite therapeutic. It is quite soothing. Like a fountain in a park.

[@SobekLOTFC]

Keep up the excellent work, Garrett 💪

[@keizerwoodworks]

I once worked with a guy from rural sweden. Was just above my height, being probably 187-188cm to my own 184cm. But he was THICK, not fat or lumpy, just compact in a way that made him feel like a moveing planet, like a walking tree. His limbs, hip, jaw were probably 3 times as big as mine and im a well built athletic guy, while he probably never excercized in his life. He didnt even have gigantism or some other genetic fault, he was just COMPACT, walking meat momentum. I still think of that guy and wonder what he would achieve if he trained some MMA and went to the UFC for heavyweight fights.

[@johndowe7003]

Fat gladiators and naked statues is a pretty good book, the videos play out exactly like the videos on audible. Great to listen to 👍

[@ryang8915]

Love when you mention ireland I live down the road from the Croghan Bogman due to the moisture in the peat bogs virtually anything is preserved perfectly love the videos

[@vaguevagabond]

Metric please! As a European I don't understand much of feet/inch etcetera. I feel lost and reading abracadabra.

[@mountaintruth1deeds533]

2.54 cm. = 1 inch. 🤷

[@gandontan]

Indeed. All science and history should be in metric.

[@edwardfletcher7790]

6ft is 183cm 5ft 8 is 173cm

[@duiliodelimaalmeida9374]

The guy make the rest of the world use the calculator to understand what 5"9 feet mean... thank you, Yankee!

[@jrclad2964]

Imperial crap 😛

[@Jenult]

Cant wait to check out the new book, loved the last one! Listened to it twice on Audible

[@joaquinmig]

Garrett great video as usual! It’d been nice if you also used metric and not just imperial, maybe you can add those as video annotations!

[@ralambosontiavina7372]

Great video as always !

[@edgarsnake2857]

excellent subject and presentation. Thanks.

[@MattttG3]

3:55 thank you so much for doing the conversions for us all

[@QueenChristine826]

This is funny. My husband and I would look particularly odd back then. He - the size of a Roman laborer. Me- the size of a Roman centurion. “Hello, Vestus Vestus! How is your freakishly tall wife?”

[@kipkipper-lg9vl]

interesting, women almost never touch a man shorter than them with a 10ft pole

[@juans213]

​@@kipkipper-lg9vl go outside mate

[@kipkipper-lg9vl]

@@juans213 it is rarely seen

[@Li_Tobler]

@@kipkipper-lg9vl as a 182cm woman who never had a bf taller than herself...... (and got her fair share of jabs and weird looks about it) Well Go outside x2

[@kipkipper-lg9vl]

@@Li_Tobler lol you are a liar, point is though if you were given the option you would choose the taller man and that's really the point here

[@tomrecane6366]

Asterix was short even after drinking the magic potion given to him by the Druid Getafix.

[@emperorofpluto]

Always interesting. Thank you.

[@punkrockstuff]

Looking forward to the next book!

[@spencersmith4373]

I'm going to Italy for my honeymoon in a few weeks, just ordered your book for the flight over there. Thanks for the great content

[@smvtttt]

Loved this one

[@spiritualanarchist8162]

While a lot of peoples belittled their enemies, Romans tended to portrait the Barbarians far more dangerous & horrific then they were for some reason. Be it Gaul or Germanic , they were used as a kind of boogymen in stories told allover Rome .' Maybe because they looked even more brave if they defeated them afterwards .Or maybe because they loved scary stories.

[@sugarnads]

No different to larry bird saying jordan played like god. Who did larry beat like a red haired stepchild? 😊

[@cristhianramirez6939]

There is no honor in defeating weak enemies

[@RTU130]

Hmm

[@screamingseal4805]

It’s because when they beat them it made it more impressive in the eyes of the populous

[@agihammerthief8953]

It was indeed (and probably is) a really common thing in historical writing to exaggerate the strength of one's enemies, and sometimes to underplay the strength of your allies too. Generally this is done with the numbers of armies, but sometimes with the prowess of individual soldiers. Though, the real art is to paint your enemies as pathetic and worthless and as an existential menace, both at once. The Romans sometimes managed this too.

[@nathanielscreativecollecti6392]

I recently went traveling through the Dolomites. How safe was it to travel through the Roman Empire? Could someone have done a trip like me through the mountains paying to stay in inns with baths and meals without significant worry?

[@davidec.4021]

He has a similar video on crime in ancient rome, but this specific idea would be great!

[@dariomadau]

Love your videos, I was wondering if you could also say measurements in meters next time!

[@ixlnxs]

Yes, his use of old money seriously diminishes his trustworthiness, as most of his sources are probably in metric.

[@robbabcock_]

Fascinating video!

[@Diogolindir]

0:24 that artwork showing the legionnaries with too much segmentata yet their variety of colors in their tunics make it very accurate :)

[@XXfea]

Ah - Yet again - GREAT stuff!

[@Houston123ABC]

Caesar in his Commentaries said the Germans were always joking about how short the Romans were.

[@aventurasapie]

Hey! I love your content and I've following you channel for a long while! Could you please in your next videos translate all the measurements into metric system?????? I will help you get understood by a more international audience...

[@TheMagforever1]

This was so interesting

[@duckpotat9818]

Interestingly, the Greeks also described Indians (probably from Punjab region) and Bactrians (Afghanisthan and Tajikistan) as being 'one of the tallest peoples'.

[@reeyees50]

Yeah cause they were short and those punjabis can be really huge

[@Bolognabeef]

I'll need a source for that...

[@duckpotat9818]

@@Bolognabeef "Like its animals, the humans of India are also "exceptional in stature and bulk" because of abundance of crops. They are also technically accomplished, because of pure air and clean water They are well-skilled in art" - from Indica by Megasthenes

[@ns2859]

Perhaps because these areas were still Aryan back then.

[@Bolognabeef]

@@duckpotat9818 well I definitely think he wasn't referring to Dravidians, hence the majority of Indians, but to the Indo-Aryans to the northwest were the Greeks actually had contact

[@SG-js2qn]

Early Italians were cattle men. As the empire grew, they increased the vegetable matter in their diet, to where they were getting most of their calories from plants.

[@garlicbreathandfarts]

The short "Illirian" folks in Albania that carry the gene have blue eyes and are very short and small. They stand out in this part of the Med. They work hardest and are endlessly tough.

[@muslimresponse103]

thanks for the compliments! I am 170cm or about 5’7 and have green/blue/grey eyes. some Albanians are taller though, especially those in the north and from Kosovo but maybe that has to do more with Slavic genes, some also have lighter coloured hair.

[@garlicbreathandfarts]

@@muslimresponse103 I have lived in Sarande for 7 years. There is no science behind my claim, just an observance. I love it here!

[@muslimresponse103]

@@garlicbreathandfarts Ive been to Saranda once, its nice there, currently I live in London. Albania or Apollonia was one of the first regions that the Romans conquered outside of Italy and obviously share close genetic ties to southern Italians in particular.

[@notrocketscience1950]

Hey Garret, love your work, but could you narrate your own audiobooks if you have time? The preview of Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants on audible doesn't sound great. Sorry to say but just trying to help. Thanks

[@bryrye4545]

Great talks on Rome. Thank you.

[@chasbodaniels1744]

Book pre-ordered!

[@Oldwhiteguy]

If you enjoy the content I’d recommend buying his first book, it’s excellent!

[@loopernoodling]

Recent surveys in the UK have found that kids here are starting to get smaller, for the first time in recorded history. Should be fascinating for outsiders to watch over the coming years. These things don't usually happen in nominally developed nations.

[@accountreality1988]

that is usually due to mass immigration for third world nations.

[@CR7Ashironaldo]

shorter immigrants ?

[@komo2542]

Please include metric units in the subtitles.

[@wauliepalnuts6134]

I'd also like to request a translation offered in vulgar latin.

[@Michaelneiss]

I second that! Most viewers around the world are using the metric system and will find it hard to convert measurements given in feet, stones and moon cyckles 😅

[@jamesfranklin458]

WOMP WOMP

[@joejankoski8471]

There's a joke, "If you you're taller than 5'6" and claim to be a full blooded Italian male...you're mother slept around."

[@KennethMachnica-vj3hf]

Didn't matter, if barbarians were bigger. That just meant that there was more area to stab.

[@BuriedFlame]

4:23 Gold shoes a keg of beer? I like the guy already!

[@TrevorD19]

I feel anything over 5'6 is a hinderence because nothing fits if you beat the mark by 4+ inches

[@ATBatmanMALS31]

I'm 6'5", and buying pants is a several hour venture..everytime. The average clothing store maybe devotes 2-5% of their inventory to someone like me, and most of that is for fat guys.. 33/36 Isn't that crazy of a size until you try to find it...

[@TrevorD19]

@@ATBatmanMALS31 im talking about the time period

[@ladywisewolf3942]

Very good video. I wondered how the Scandinavians fared as far as comparative height to the other Europeans and Romans?

[@SofaKingShit]

Modern Scandinavians are smaller than a lot of Northern Europeans. Historically most of the year their poor quality diet consisted almost exclusively of preserved fish with maybe some nettles. People farther south generally had much better quality food.

[@ladywisewolf3942]

@@SofaKingShit Interesting, I'm not sure about the modern Scandinavians, but I know historical wherever Northern Europeans mixed with Scandinavians , whether through Viking raids or otherwise, the Europeans inherited height from the Scandinavians. I think the Scandinavian diet in winter also included root vegetables and reindeer meat.

[@Bolognabeef]

Scandinavians are definitely shorter than other northern Europeand for some reason. Even Dutch people aren't as tall as you may think: I'm an 1,90m Italian guy and the second tallest of my senior rugby team here in the Netherlands (20 people). The women are surprisingly tall though

[@sciencefliestothemoon2305]

@@Bolognabeef It is about average. You are tall for average Italian. But you don't really stick out as a Dutch that much.

[@gianlucarossi5672]

@@ladywisewolf3942 Modern Scandinavians are among the tallest people, on average standing over 6 feet tall. The Dutch are a bit taller on average, though.

[@qounqer]

The southern alpine guy whose 6 feet tall is definitely my ancestors because I immediately understood the gold shoes and mead.

[@MikeIsCannonFodder]

I know generally, human populations have most of their traits on a normal distribution. I wonder in addition to the nobles' nutrition advantage, would the normal distribution be wider so there'd be relatively more taller people.

[@DeneF]

Thank you.

[@SubTroppo]

Being a short-Rs (as I bowdlerize for YT) I am not too unhappy with the leg-room provided for my five-six stature when flying cattle-class. However if I were not too much taller I'd be more than somewhat grumpy in the same seats. If in the future an airliner from this time is unearthed by the paleontologists and they examine the seating arrangements at the back of the 'plane they might be misled in calculating the average stature of the Dutch (for example) - if all other data has been lost in the black hole of time.

[@WillyOrca]

"Based on the archaeological studies conducted surrounding the accommodations of early period 21st century airliners, we estimate the average height of Humans at the time to be around 3ft. Any individual over 5ft would've likely found commercial airline travel to be an impossibility." -future archaeologist probably

[@LJW539]

What happened to the other thumbnail?

[@marsnr1]

Can you also use cm at least in the subtitles?

[@alexmuller6752]

could you put in translations, please. i can't really follow the imperial units :(

[@cyn7869]

Height is also a result of diet. Heavy animal based diets are proven by data to result in heavier bone mass, height, and stronger jaw structure just to name a few things. It’s not surprising that cultures with the meat based diet were tall.

[@theoxofjohn]

And don't forget about the 10 and 12 foot giants!

[@leviorebjork4797]

Sorry! I know how long an inch is, and a foot, but I can't work it out as I follow your storytelling. It all ends up like; Four Apples plus, and seven heads of horse in halves. I'm sure the metric 84% of the world feel the same. My tip: Do the conversion, say the conversion (in parentheses), receive love. Love your stuff!

[@feddcraft]

I second this. Interesting topic but couldn't get a clue

[@lakrids-pibe]

Yes it would have helped me with more metric numbers

[@Heimbasteln]

Or just add some text on the bottom where the calculated height is shown.

[@TheNoobTrooper]

I’m guessing 2.5 feet, let’s see what the videos says

[@TheNoobTrooper]

An update, I was wrong l, they are around 5.8

[@kiely4561]

@@TheNoobTrooperthanks for the update

[@frakismaximus3052]

Yes this should be a pinned comment, you really have captured the pulse of this comments section

[@arisiitonen]

please use SI units

[@86godhand]

Damn bro I wish this video was around 30 minutes longer

[@caiuspostumiusturrinus1024]

Would love your voice in speechify

[@annarboriter]

There is a clear selection bias when gathering height data from monumental tombs. One could just as erroneously conclude that the PreRoman we so wealthy because of all the high status grave goods found with their corpses

[@luigidisanpietro3720]

Question# Could Roman Masters marry their servants? Or is it frowned upon by Ancient Society?

[@abramjones9091]

It's not just protein that's important but calcium as well

[@robertgiles9124]

Shorter means less of a target for arrows and spears.

[@Draxis32]

Just like in modern battlefield being taller is actually a downgrade. Even though one can carry more weight and have larger muscle mass. Armed conflicts often deal with an excruciating amount of aerobic exercise that taller people, who weight far more, will likely struggle with. The "Potsdam Giants" were a regiment of specially tall soldiers organized by Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm I, but when faced in real combat the sluggish soldiers who averaged 1,88cm were said to be unfit to fight. They eventually surrendered to Napoleon and were disbanded.

[@mich722]

Same with requirements for food, when there are food shortages the taller people suffer more and are usually the first to die.

[@Matthewt756]

The Postdam Giants were just a royal toy. There were never meant to be an effective combat unit. Many of the soldiers had gigantism, spoke different languages, and were forced into service. Height does matter in war. During Ww2, surviving soldiers were taller on average than fallen soldiers.

[@The_Modeling_Underdog]

Excellent video, Garrett. Came for the topic, stayed for the folks griping about measure conversion. Use Google, folks. Or... Read more. Cheers.

[@WagesOfDestruction]

Surely what we are asking here is the size comparison between soldiers, not the general population.

[@gustavchambert7072]

Might the devil be in the details in this case? Such as, for example, in the difference between the average and the median? Because I can imagine scenarios where the median and average height of two populations might be different. If the roman world had a greater level of wealth disparity, and thus a much larger section of the population which had a relatively poor diet, but with an upper class that was pretty well fed, that would drop the median height considerably vs the average. And if the "barbarian" world had a flatter wealth distribution, but with a relatively small and very poor underclass, that could potentially lower the average but still retain a pretty high median. And I would argue that the median is what you really notice in day-to-day life.

[@rolfnilsen6385]

Then correct for the Scandinavian Hunter Gatherers and the germanic tribes rising from that area.

[@mateuszminsky5619]

yes, milk drinkers, beer drinkers, and meat eaters will always be taller than vegetable eaters, cheese eaters, and wine drinkers.

[@fostersstubbyasmr9557]

Yeah having a few 6’6 men in their ranks would have made them look like giants. It makes sense why they exaggerated by claiming all the men were tall

[@Alastair_]

What is interesting is the average height for men in the UK today is around 5,9 however where I live in a small strip in the North West of Scotland the average height is around 6ft, one of the tallest average heights in the world.

[@kipkipper-lg9vl]

5'9 includes the foreigners

[@TonyM540]

The Romans recruited quite a few legions from Spain which isn’t mentioned here . One source I read said that Julius Cesar 10th legion averaged 5’4”. To say the average height of Romans and to compare that with British,Gaulish or German soldiers I think is misleading.

[@boarfaceswinejaw4516]

a very common trope and misconception about northern europe and scandinavia, particularly in regards to vikings, is that life was harsh, cold and fraught with starvation. its sometimes provided as the reason why vikings went forth into europe to settle to find more food in the first place. the reality is that due to sparse populations, communalism and a vast range of large fauna, large forests and plenty of fish, the people actually ate a lot of food. they even forced their bodies to embrace dairy products such as milk and cheese, further expanding their choice of diet. Likewise, in "barbarian" society farming, foraging, tending to livestock, hunting and fishing was far more integral to people's lives, even when they were warriors. further emphasizing the constant production and consumption of large quantities of rather diverse foods. societal standards likely also had an impact. women having more autonomy likely prompting marital matches with men who were either tall, physically fit or wealthy, women being expected to do heavier labors likely prompting their own height and physical fitness, as well as just a society in general where tall men likely found more success in avenues of power and influence.

[@ryanwbourquin]

how tall were barbiebarians?

[@serlokholmsz]

it would be so nice if you would use normal measures in metric instead of the legs and feet gibberish

[@Shvetsario]

Hey some people have a fetish for those

[@abalcerzak1931]

Could someone please write us down subtitles with metrics units ? (Yes I know, but no I don't care)

[@ikengaspirit3063]

I think for this argument you also need to know wgst the "common" extremes of height for the Barbarians was and compare it to the "common" extreme and averages for Roman soldiers. Cuz people would remember the tall Barbarian more than the short one when such a stereotype already exists.

[@P4GYY]

wouldn't a 2 inch difference at averages, mean to a huge difference at the edges of the pendulum? i.e lots of taller people?

[@kipkipper-lg9vl]

yep

[@scottbooker8602]

When one is 5'4", 5'10" is very large

[@justinrodriguez3430]

That little harp intro always calms me and piques my interest

[@reeyees50]

Theres more height variation in continetal europe

[@brandonzzz9924]

An average height difference of 5cm (2in) doesn't seem like much, but it allows for several kg more body weight at the same musculature. While the soldiers were fighting with weapons that equalized height to an extent, having more weight than the enemy allowed for more impactful charges. This obviously didn't matter much to the Romans that conquered nearly everyone they met, but Rome started to recruit legions primarily from "barbarian" tribes in the empire during the imperial period. These men were physically larger and stronger than their contemporary Italic counterparts, due to malnutrition in Italia. In Northern Europe, size mattered far more than in Rome because the style of fighting was less disciplined and larger warriors could cause chaos in the skirmishes that dominated Celtic and Germanic warfare. Some Roman legions were even divided by height (short legions and tall legions), but the tight formations of Roman armies and the short gladius that was used by infantry meant that smaller fighters fared as well or better in many circumstances. Especially in the early Roman periods, a common fighting style was to thrust at the exposed legs of the enemy to cripple them and remove them from the fight. The most notable difference, as mentioned in the video, was that Northern women were much taller than Roman women. This rarely had an impact, but there were a few battles against Germanic tribes where Germanic women harassed the Roman legions by screaming and charging in for light skirmishing. The Roman soldiers were terrified by the shrieking giantesses, but to my knowledge women did not participate in large pitched battles to a significant degree. it is interesting that one of the most disciplined fighting forces in history lost their resolve to the shock of facing women more formidable than soldiers of Rome though.

[@VanderlyndenJengold]

Don't dairy and meat diets make the Dutch historically taller than most? Still, like matey says below; if someone gives you a drubbing you'll exaggerate their size.

[@Blackadder75]

it's a bit the dairy, but mostly just genetics, tall people in the netherlands have had more children than short ones, so the trend was towards tall. but not so long ago, during Napoleon the Dutch were among the shortest europeans

[@kawazaki23]

i am somali born in the netherlands i am 1m91 cm tall and still growing inchallah ,,,,,,, i feel short at 1,91m because i see women and men around 1.95 females and men around 202 to 210 cm tall,,,,,however we in my native country somalia consume a lot of camel milk,,,,there seems to be link to dairy milk and tall stature

[@jeffyoung60]

Good question. There were no statistical reports nor data studies kept by the ancient Romans. All we have are historical anecdotes by historians, and individuals. Modern historians prefer to study skeletons around ancient and Classical Europe to gain some statistical reference as to the height of local peoples. The likely height range of the Classical World Roman male seems have been between 5'4" and 5'7". Still there are historical references to the minimum height requirement for Roman legionaries as, 5'8". The minimum height for Roman auxiliaries is unknown, if there was one. Even the minimum height requirement for the Roman legionary dropped to 5'7" in the fourth century so there must have been large numbers of taller Roman men likely to 5'9", perhaps even a fair number reaching 5'10", which would have been tall for ethnic Mediterranean Roman men. When it comes to the Germans and Celts, it's not as cut and dried as previously thought. Not every German and Celt, including the Gauls and Britons automatically reached and exceeded six feet in height. A lot of unearthed skeletons of both ethnics groups reveal shorter men, taken in perspective, like 5'7" to 5'10". So in retrospect, even the shorter end of Germans and Celts were taller than Mediterranean Roman men by at least two inches or so. But they weren't giants in the least, just taller men. A well-trained and physically fit, 5'8" Roman legionary had to take careful stock of the bigger build of the 5'10" German or Celt in front of him. And there were plenty of Germans and Celts at 6'0" or taller to make it more challenging. But the Roman legionaries learned to cope, through battle experience, hard training, battle formation discipline fighting as a group, not as individuals, and reliance on team work and the buddy to the left and to the right of you in formation line. You wouldn't be always fighting one-on-one to the enemy warrior in front of you. Your buddy to the left and right might stick his gladius into the ribs and armpit of the warrior facing you, and you also in turn helping the guy to your right and left. Hence, the enemy warrior might actually be facing two Roman legionaries tactically, while he was focusing on the Roman directly in front of him.

[@jeffyoung60]

Hmmm. Not only genetics and food but health can affect your height. Decades ago a dental hygienist told me that my teeth show a growth-stoppage line, meaning, that sometime in childhood, I must have suffered an very serious fever/illness. My late mother said that I was a sickly child. I wonder if that childhood fever cost me an inch or two of height? Perhaps.

[@RubenKelevra]

But Italiens are still known today for their short height. I was a couple of times in Italy and didn't met any man who was taller than me. So no suprise that they were smaller back then as well

[@DrPeculiar312]

I imagine that the culture of the "barbarians" contributed to their leader's heightened stature. In such a fierce and warrior driven culture, naturally the most physically imposing would rise to positions of power. Likely the Romans only ever interacted with the leaders for an extended period of time, so they were more likely to notice their height and assume their subjects would be of the same stature.

[@akk-nd3vj]

nice video but measurments jump all time feets inches and finally cm what i understand.

[@Lordparable]

I’d be a menace 💀

[@mueezadam8438]

And you'd bring glory to your tribe with your legendary axe that could rend a line of men five-wide and two-deep asunder with a single swing. They'd tell tales of how you'd step over the standing horses of the enemy on your way to slay their general and how you'd chop right around the shield-bearers so that one would think they got wounded on their back by fleeing.

[@j.manuelp.vicens3888]

People tended to be shorter than today due to poor nutrition and sickness. Still you could find a variety of heights.

[@huwhitecavebeast1972]

The Germans were often over 6 foot, So I would say that's a big difference.

[@kiely4561]

Yes and during most battles the Romans had to wake up twice as early to make sure their towels were on the sun beds first.

[@huwhitecavebeast1972]

@@kiely4561 That makes perfect nonsense.

[@kiely4561]

@@huwhitecavebeast1972 absolutely

[@realtalk6195]

Often? Only some were. Did you even watch the video? The leaders and frontline troops tended to be the tallest.

[@Nellis202]

The vast majority of soldiers in the Roman Army weren’t Roman , so I don’t know how these comparisons could ever be relevant.

[@Traderjoe]

I am 5 foot 7. Metric human height is kind of ridiculous with the fractions. Very few people are over 2 meters tall compared to most people. So saying someone is 1.8752 meters tall is kind of unimpressive

[@Michaelneiss]

Then prepare yourself to be impressed: I happen to be 185* tall. 😁 *( as most Europeans tend to use cm instead of stupid fractions)