What Happened When a Meteor Hit a Roman Battlefield? (74 BC) - DOCUMENTARY

A history documentary on the meteor which struck a Roman Battlefield in the Third Mithridatic War. Claim your SPECIAL OFFER for MagellanTV here: try.magellantv.com/invicta. Start your free trial TODAY so you can watch "Super Comet" about the implications of what a real strike would look like today: www.magellantv.com/series/the...
In this history documentary we explore the incredible case of a meteorite which landed between Roman and Pontic armies in the Third Mithridatic War. We begin with a broader discussion of what people of the past thought of meteors and comets. This varied from place to place but in the near east had a tradition of generating star prophecies which foretold the fall of great Empires and the coming of messiahs.
We discuss how these prophecies would seemingly be fulfilled by King Mithridates of Pontus. A brief overview is provided for the Mithridatic Wars which featured many cases of gods taking sides in battle. This all eventually leads us to the fateful day when a meteorite suddenly landed in the midst of two armies. We quote the sources directly and go on to discuss the fallout of the event.
Credits:
Research = Invicta
Writing = Invicta
Narration = Invicta
Artwork = Penta Limited
Editing = Invicta
#History
#Documentary
#Invicta

[@InvictaHistory]

We follow up this episode with a documentary on the the Meteor Weapons of history: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZnK0mql6lLhgnc0

[@marcgottlieb9579]

Let me take this fine presentation and bring it forward to our reality...Currently we have 2 star systems orbiting our planet...Our Binary is the coment/planet Tiamat that was destroyed 4 billion years ago and thrown out of our solor system...It was the Destroyer in Egypt during the Exodus and this time the name is the Dragon of Revelation 12...Also, Avi Loeb's Intergalactic Intel Controlled spaceship is really a massive rock in a declining orbit THEY have no intentiions to interfer..It will be the Firey Mountain that plunged into the sea...Deep Impact is expected in early 23..

[@bificommander]

"The stars foretell our doom." "How so?" "Because that one is heading right towards us!"

[@Jobe-13]

😂

[@CHRF-55457]

lolololol

[@altareggo]

Under-rated comment!!! Thanks: i REALLY needed a good belly laugh.

[@CHRF-55457]

uhhh THATS NO STAR IT'S A NUKE!!

[@lumenpraetorius4592]

Very funny.

[@michaellaramee1965]

"Centurion! Bring me that rock! I want it forged into a sword!"

[@thearmoredgamer9912]

More accurate then you know meteors have always beeb given a sort of mythical status especially the iron in meteors. 2 Good examples of this are sokka's Sword in avatar the last airbender and "starmetal" From Warhammer fantasy.

[@thearmoredgamer9912]

or as im the case of the video as omens especially things comets or As another example eclipses (In multiple culture) Most notable being Mayans incans Aztecs and I believe the norse

[@the_bohemian4536]

@@thearmoredgamer9912 there are also some meteorite swords made by Egyptians and Chinese.

[@thearmoredgamer9912]

@@the_bohemian4536 thank you Kind comentor! Couldn't think of any historical examples for some reason.

[@thearmoredgamer9912]

my wheelhouse tends to Be more Europe proper or Japan history wise as such Lands like egypt Or China arnt really something I know alot about.

[@t2av159]

-Prepares for huge battle..... *Sees flaming ball going through the sky* -Yeah...maybe not today

[@theforbiddenpotato8032]

-Bro i got like 1 year left screw this

[@hyperbomb02]

I love thinking of all the great deeds by soldiers and commanders that are completely lost to history because when everyone returned home the guy who risked everything to set a siege tower on fire is overshadowed by some guard on the other side of the conflict repeating the story with "AthEnA did it" as the punchline.

[@cpp3221]

press F to pay respect to all the unrecorded heroes

[@mattmcarbwill2694]

@@cpp3221 F

[@EgoEroTergum]

There are worse things to happen then to be mistaken for a god.

[@franzlubeck9669]

@@EgoEroTergum saying it like that does make it better haha

[@KageMinowara]

Probably the same as a modern war where the ordinary soldier does all the fighting but the generals and politicians get all the credit.

[@pax6833]

Honestly the idea of a meteor coming down and the gods seemingly 'decree' that the battle your about to fight should not happen is some pretty mindblowing stuff. I bet every damn soldier got down on his knees once they all got home and thanked the gods for sparing their lives.

[@batboy555]

It's yeah let's pack it up.

[@IlmarKiisk]

More likely both sides expected a victory, thus a chance to survive. Also, fighting and risking their lives is what they did. Dying is a natural part of that. None cowered before the battle. However, once the stone fell, they all feared spilling blood on that ground far more than dying in a battle.

[@saintjackula9615]

@@IlmarKiisk I think it would clearly be interpreted as a sing of "no fight today folks" and I say this knowing that many participants that day may have been if not eager then definitely professional soldiers expecting to do battle that day. The meteor may have also induced great fear, depending on the blast, size, noise, and proximity. This is fascinating, shame we don't know more.

[@eljanrimsa5843]

Cesar would have jumped at the opportunity to spin a convincing tale why this shows the gods approve his just cause and his side must win the battle.

[@IlmarKiisk]

@@saintjackula9615 Yes, but fear was more likely that of fear of gods. A heavenly intervention. And the fact it had stricken in between them, was even more meaningful to them. Yes, they were likely very eager to do battle, but only until the moment that meteor struck the ground. After that, all thoughts must have been about the gods not wanting them to fight there and then.

[@patriciapalmer1377]

How this Roman battlefield situation escaped me in 76 years, I'll never understand. Thank you ! Pat

[@JS-dj5fu]

Idk how it escaped me in 14 years

[@Ghost-vi8qm]

It wasn't a battlefield as there was no battle.

[@patriciapalmer1377]

@@Ghost-vi8qm Who asked you ? Go somewhere and work on your atrocious manners.

[@knighthunter1791]

@@patriciapalmer1377 you two are both atrocious.

[@ItsWazzza]

@@patriciapalmer1377 What atrocious manners? if anyone’s acting atrocious, it’s you. He is correct, he was in the right to say that, and he doesn’t need your permission to speak. So I say again, you’re acting atrocious, acting like you own him, saying “Who asked you?” Bloody childish and “Go work on your atrocious manners”, He never said anything rude or wrong, he was simply stating his mind, and you are just an asshole.

[@thijsjong]

In 3000 years of history there have been many big scale battles. The chance of a meteorite landing near or in between two armies arranged for battle is extremely small for it to happen even once. It is a very bizar coincidence.

[@STaRBG4405]

Yeah it seems more likely that someone somehow knew it would happen and decided to do battle then to get a "morale boost" or something but I have no idea how he could know. That "ancient computer" might be telling that they did know alot more than we think they do

[@Jesse-xg8rk]

Billions of meteorites have hit Earth over time and they're probably never going to stop. Given how many wars we have and how it seems like we might have them forever, maybe it was inevitable.

[@noahtylerpritchett2682]

The moment someone says coincidence every gods or God (depending on your faith) has a well ordained mocking laugh. With nonsense like this actually happening it makes my noggin think.

[@JesusFriedChrist]

Space debris rains down on earth all the time, actually. It’s extremely common. With the hundreds of thousands of battles and conflicts all over the world throughout human history, it is merely a numbers game and a matter of time as to when a coincidence like this would occur. It’s probably happened more than once as well, but the stories have been lost to history. I’ll bet it was definitely a bizarre occurrence for the people that experienced it though.

[@xzardas541]

Well, a woman if africa was once hit by part of soviet space station. As they say, Shit happens.

[@TJ11692]

What's the cooldown on an ability like that?

[@MarvoloSalazar]

Lol a few millenia give or take

[@Leo-ok3uj]

Depends, but if you have trained yourself enough you could reach a cooldown of once each 37 years

[@nvmtt1403]

40 seconds for the generic comet and 60 for the overcast, give or take 10 seconds depending on how many skill points you put into your wizard.

[@nvmtt1403]

lesser if you use it with a skink priest.

[@enricohepner]

imagine waiting for a long ass cooldown and then you miss

[@drmantistobogganmd7595]

I highly recommend everyone who watched this video to read "The Poison King". The life of Mithradates VI is one of the most interesting things I've ever studied, like the fact that this video didn't even mention how Mithradates was seemingly immune to various kinds of poisons.

[@snickle1980]

True...As soon as they mentioned his name, I thought of that spiffy title, but you know what? 😐Mithridates _really could have used_ an Analyst-Therapist growing up.

[@lennarthumpf8031]

He has a seperate video on mithridates already and its quite good

[@timafterdark3759]

Mithradates became one of the influences for Sigmar from Warhammer Fantasy. Both were born under twin comets followed by lightning and thunder

[@socratrash]

Thats just common knowledge if you follow some history youtube channels.

[@1112viggo]

Anyone can gain immunity to various poisons, (well maybe not complete immunity, but a very high resistance) simply by ingesting increasingly larger non-lethal doses of it regularly over an extended period of time. I'm sure that was known to ancient people. You can actually cure food allergies as well using this strategy.

[@balonkita185]

Two words: DIVINE ARTILLERY

[@angryspoidah9607]

It's divine damascus to a blacksmith.

[@viperstriker4728]

That's when you look at your army and yell "their god missed, lets take them out while he is reloading.

[@cmqptkloacjko]

One word: SMITE

[@mspionage1743]

The chances of this happening in that exact spot when a battle is happening in a fairly unpopulated world must be one in a trillion.

[@ranggasaktibudiputra1547]

Imagine being those soldiers on the ground when that happened. Surreal experience.

[@adiborza4131]

Still, meteorits are hiting morre in certin places of Earth...and the chance it is the samme that the one taked on video few years ago on a russian town

[@Heart2HeartBooks]

The Romans were around for about 450 years or so. In that time, they probably had a million battles. from a mathematical standpoint it is not so rare an occurrence of this happening.

[@Marshall_Stacks]

@@Heart2HeartBooks Do you know what million means?

[@memk]

I mean if it happens nowadays in the mid of battle people would still be shocked, may be for a different reason tho....

[@gorlab9549]

I truly wish there was a National holiday in some countries where we had a blackout day, something where we dimmed the lights or even turned them off for like 30 minutes or so in all the cities. So people who have never seen what the night sky actually looks like, finally see it. I went to Alaska and saw the stars in their full glory right before covid, it was life changing, and really opened my eyes to why ancient cultures based so much of their identity on the night sky and even to this day we still use them to travel in some cultures. My father was has been a short line fisherman for all his life, he often told me that the stars were his best friends on some nights, they got him home more than once.

[@garretth8224]

It isn't possible to just stop everything in a city, there are facilities key to our modern society that must always be manned and powered. And unfortunately a lack of street lights increases crime rates.

[@-mathijs]

I feel you bro

[@theulfheinn1997]

@@garretth8224 retvrn to monke

[@TheAbyssal]

Pretty sure in citys its not the lights blocking stars its the pollution and such

[@ornessarhithfaeron3576]

@@TheAbyssal light pollution is a thing

[@ancientsitesgirl]

I've been so close to this battlefield lately... it is a pity that there are so few well-preserved ancient monuments in Pontus. Amazing video! I hear this meteorite story for the first time in my life! 😮

[@ufc990]

Hello Irena 👋 fancy seeing you here :) have you ever visited a channel with the title "Thersites the Historian"? He covers a broad range of eras and cultures but mostly focuses on and has a great knowledge of antiquity. He goes into the history of many areas you visit, I think maybe it could be a great resource for you if it isn't already. Give it a look sometime if you're interested 😀

[@Leo_iannes]

I live in Trabzon/Turkey (former Trebizond) and I know Pontic language. I had heard some stories about Italians from my grandparents. There are many more stories that have not come to light in history 😣

[@ayushkumar-bg1xf]

wherever islam became dominated they erased past history. south east Asia is exception of this rule

[@amiciprocul8501]

@@CLSB-ECHO There can only be one...

[@Arigator2]

Someone brought a squad of mages to the battle. Although to be fair it sounds like they were a little premature in their spellcasting.

[@jameswells554]

Romans - "Come out and Fight!" Pontic Generals - "Sound the Horns!" Ares/Mars - "KNOCK IT OFF! I HAVE A HANGOVER!"

[@Mr_Schizo]

MISSILE ROCK INCOMING!

[@InvictaHistory]

So this is a tale I read about long ago and have always wanted to cover it. For me the meteor strike itself is certainly interesting, but perhaps more so are the prophecies and religious ideas which swirled around it in this period. I spend quite a lot of time discussing this more interesting (in my opinion) content. If you want to jump straight to the meteor, go to: 12:03

[@ropeburnsrussell]

Another superb episode, thankyou.

[@Masterleechan]

Great video as always have you ever studied the 2300 day prophecy?

[@zacharyelliott7161]

That was really interesting to learn how the gods helped people fight. Wish we had more info about the meteor.

[@sparklesparklesparkle6318]

it sounds strange a meteorite would strike a Roman battlefield until you realize the Romans were basically 24/7 committing warfare so a meteorite, no matter when it lands, will land in a war.

[@JoseCruz-rj9cp]

Were a e eqeè13yt

[@luxiusilluminus2844]

When the romans are so powerful even a literal comet king gets beaten

[@geigertec5921]

I was watching fireworks one 4th of July night when during a short respite in launches I saw a ball of light streak across the sky - but it didn't burn out, it just kept going across the entirety of the sky getting brighter and then it vanished over the horizon. I later learned it was a type of meteor called an Earth Grazer that had skimmed the Earth's atmosphere before going back into space. Alot of people were looking at the sky waiting for fireworks to start so hundreds of us saw it and the firework people saw it and confirmed that it was definetly not a firework.

[@markp44288]

I've seen a bolide once, very bright, very cool.

[@culture4519]

A couple weeks ago I camped by a lake in one night I saw four shooting stars they burned quickly, but still four?!?

[@markp44288]

@@culture4519 you'd be surprised, you see them all the time when you get away from city lights. My mom said she'd never seen one last time we were at the beach. We went outside and saw one in minutes and then several more.

[@geigertec5921]

@@culture4519 You saw a meteor shower, a phenomenon when multiple space rocks enter the atmosphere in close proximity. They were likely traveling through space together at roughly the same pace for billions of years.

[@hosybosy1119]

@@geigertec5921 those rocks must have been like: finally, time to meet some new rocks, instead of these rocks i have been stuck with for 4 billion years

[@lancer227]

Well that's an interesting title if I ever saw one!

[@chasecharland1160]

So much as a bird flying the wrong way can influence superstitious soldiers, to see a flaming rock fall from the heavens before a battle would make even the most grizzled veteran piss his pants. Hell, even in the modern age, if you saw such a thing even knowing what it is, you'd mutter a prayer just in case.

[@ZeddicusTheMage]

@Emblem of Vigilance Yeah, we get it. Stop disgracing your profile picture.

[@orxy5316]

The power of the cosmos to humble prideful humans is always a wonder to see

[@KageMinowara]

@Emblem of Vigilance >tips fedora M'Lady.

[@paxluporum4447]

Scream, "Blood for the Blood God!" Then charge.

[@antarescitizen]

@@paxluporum4447 It gets funny when the other side screams: "For the emperor!"

[@critical7401]

Could you imagine if that meteor had struck one of the armies? Fucking metal!

[@feeler6670]

I can only imagine the HUGE boost in morale on the side that wasn't struct. However, as for the other team, not so much now that they know they're not at the favor with the gods...

[@w.neuman]

*( "OR" ) : IF IT STRUCK [ °BOTH ] SIDES JUST AS THEY BEGAN ENGAGING EACH-OTHER IN BATTLE ! 👀🌠👀 €¥£ ^

[@DR-mp4gv]

....can imagine that! 🤘

[@Sorain1]

The struck army would flee the field, and it's commanders would pray that their troops did not think to offer their lives up to appease whatever deity they had so offended. If it struck just as the two sides met, falling into the initial clash of lines? Both sides flee the field or withdraw. Because clearly the god's are not having fighting, not there, not that day. When the heavens literally smite you out of the blue, you pay attention!

[@colbyohanley6058]

@@Sorain1 Could imagine that being the birth of a beautiful peace between the two nations. Clearly the Gods do not want them fighting!

[@dinos9607]

Mithridates was not any "champion of the east". He was just a rival of Rome, he did not see himself in any... continental magnitude. If he saw himself in any greater level, that was definitely as a champion of the Greek cause against Romans. Though nearly half Greeks were fine with Romans having welcomed them in, there were still many Greeks who were willing to upturn the situation back then including even within traditional pro-Roman Greek cities such as Athens. Thus following the demise of the Seleucids, Mitrhidates (himself 3/4s Greek and married to a Greek, thus in spite of his Iranic name essentially an ethnic Greek and also self-identifying as ethnic Greek) presented himself as liberator of Greece. Greece was not the East back then, it was the West. Rome was merely "a bit more West than West". The Asiatic people did not detest Romans as much as they truly detested Greeks, not really because Greeks were suppressing and looting them but rather because Greeks had it so good for 2 centuries establishing themselves as a superior caste over Asiatic societies. Thus Mithridates was not really any "champion of the East" or "champion of Asians vs. the western Romans". He was, at best, "champion of Greeks" vs. the Romans and had he won he would have established some sort of Empire eerily reminiscent of the Eastern Roman Empire - in essence, a Greek ethno-state larping as a multi-national Empire and one truly detested by the Asiatic people.

[@InvictaHistory]

Fair points

[@Jobe-13]

Fascinating

[@prs_81]

He was a champion of the eastern peoples in a sense that he was the embodiment of "rightful kingship" against the western opressors/colonisers (Especially the new "upstart Romans" that had no prior history of co-existing alongside anatolians and were immediately settling the area as soon as it got into their hands). He didn't claim ancestry from Darius I for no reason; he wanted to merge hellenic and native anatolian peoples as one, ruling them as equal subjects to form a bulwark against Roman hegemony.

[@dinos9607]

@@prs_81 Yes, while he mostly appealed to the Greek world to get backing up he always maintained the syncretic outlook that of course not just him but all other Greek rulers of the so-called Hellenistic kingdom maintained. There are for example artistic depictions of him dressed like an Iranian (with trousers and Phrygian cap) and talking to Hercules who was portrayed in heroic nudity in the typical Greek tradition. Perhaps the funniest but also perfect example of syncretism. What I wanted to emphasize on my original message is that nor Mithridates neither any of his followers saw this on a scale larger than the actual geography, something like East vs. West. As said, Mithridates own kingdom, let alone the Greeks he wanted to back him up, were actually the West. Rome was just a bit more West than West. People back then did not see this as an Asia vs. Europe precisely because Europe was a vague notion without all the connotations we give it today. There was no Christianity vs. Islam. If there was a greater fight back then - and yes there was! - that was the fight between Hellenism and Asiatic cultures. A cultural and spiritual fight between the Greeks' humanism and the Asiatics' fatalistic idealism. And both Rome and Mithridates represented more the Hellenic side of that struggle rather than the Asiatic one. To be noted, there were Asiatic influences upon Rome as early as that century when in the nest 100 years Mithraism hit widely throughout the Empire. It is not that Rome was a "virgin" to Asiatic influences at the time of the Mithridatic wars. All in all you have to see both Mithridates and Rome as parts of the greater Hellenic world, in Rome's case in the cultural case, in Mithridates' case also partially in ethnic terms as many of his kingdom's citizens and including him to great extent were ethnic Greeks. Saying this we got to remember that the Greek world was essentially divided in that struggle too and speaking of mainland Greece it was rather a hammer and an anvil case since whoever prevailed would govern Greece from a basis outside Greece at a time that Greeks still remembered fondly their tiny city-states, the very reason they never wanted one of them (Athens, Sparta, Thebes, Macedonia) to rule all of the place centrally. .... and of course you had the guys who were betting on both. Much like that general of Antiochus a century earlier who supposedly fought on the side of Antiochus only to get appraisals and gifts from the Romans for his work. LOL! Empire making is a complex affair, yet based on simple mechanics : diplomacy, geopolitics, propaganda. The military is the last hole in the flute. This example in this video of how to interpret a natural phenomenon is quite an indicative one.

[@prs_81]

@@dinos9607 great response. 👍

[@jmchez]

Many historians have suggested that the sign in the sky that Constantine the Great saw before the battle of the Milvian bridge was a meteor. Thus, a meteor may have helped turn Christianity into the official religion of the Roman Empire. A few years ago, a geologist theorized that a teardrop-shaped lake near there is the leftover crater of the impact. Also, the Black Rock of Mecca that is said to have been given by the Archangel Gabriel to Adam is almost certainly of meteoric origin.

[@VOTE_REFORM_UK]

How would a meteor look like the Chi Rho symbol though.

[@brutusthebear9050]

@@VOTE_REFORM_UK Added to the story later, or Constantine made that part up. Or, it was the light from the meteor that looked like it. If you've ever seen a street lamp and night, especially in fog, the light looks like 6 lines. Could be thought of as the chi rho symbol.

[@jmchez]

@@VOTE_REFORM_UK Pareidolia will work wonders when that's what your mother and your trusted servant keep telling you to look for.

[@jmchez]

@@brutusthebear9050 Very true. Pareidolia is not only for faces.

[@Vandelberger]

Forget not, he claimed to see Apollo a decade earlier at another battle. The god most of his soldiers worshiped at that time.

[@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623]

It's hard to imagine for modern people, educated with modern science to the workings of nature and the cosmos, how superstitious the ancients were and how it ruled their lives. To us comets are marvelous things, visitors from the outer solar system that sometimes come by with clockwork regularity. But to the ancients they were signs of terrible portents and horror.

[@deusvult6920]

@Emblem of Vigilance the issue is you take a theory and say it is a fact then prohibit all other study kzbin.info/www/bejne/a2aXhYJ8jZh5jZo

[@IFY0USEEKAY]

Perhaps only as adults, for children the world is still filled with magic and wonder. As adults we recognize that being superstitious is only going bring you bad luck!! 😁

[@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623]

@Emblem of Vigilance Religion is like science an attempt at explaining the world and its mysteries, as much as it is about finding meaning in the world. It's just that science has explained so much of the mysteries of the world that to our ancestors were supernatural.

[@orxy5316]

Comets are still all of that today, perhaps not for fat nihilist westerns but for the Asiatic people, the analysis of the heavens is still extremely important

[@orxy5316]

Superstition is based, science is cringe. Simple as

[@budomino]

"...depending on who you asked, the same comet viewed across the globe can mean various things..." - It's an omen - The end is nigh! - The economy, fools! - I wish I lived in more enlightened times... - Sacrifice a human heart to appease the comet! - Oh Comet, devil's kith and kin... - If only we had comet sense...

[@_sky_3123]

It would be interesting to know what history would have been if the meteor struck the Roman army.

[@sirp7394]

The other side would see it as a sign from the gods and attack

[@SeraphSeph]

The romans would just draft more soldiers. That's kinda what they're famous for.

[@aizseeker3622]

@@SeraphSeph Rome: 1OOk died!? Draft 100k more!!! Crying raging Hannibal: Stop I dont have enough men nor supply for this!!!

[@SeraphSeph]

@@aizseeker3622 Actually surprisingly that's the one time where they kind of just...... Stopped attacking. Hannibal was expecting them to keep attacking, but they knew he was just a better general and expected them to keep throwing bodies at him so they gave up on trying to crush him. He couldn't siege a city so most people had nothing to worry about. TL; DR: You can kill *some* of us, but we're going to wipe out Carthage before you can reasonably accomplish anything so do your best with no food or troops coming buddy.

[@aizseeker3622]

@@SeraphSeph Rome at that time is a beast to continue resisting since most other states would sue for peace after suffer 5 -10k casualties. Also Rome just bypass Hannibal and just attack his homebase and Carthage instead which forced him withdraw from Italic peninsula to defend it

[@malibuhiegts]

Sorcerer: I want to cast meteor *Rolls* Dm: You manage to cast the spell, now you must roll an accuracy check Sorcerer: *literally throws dice out the window*

[@mattc9598]

Title: What Happened When a Meteor Hit a Roman Battlefield? after 14 minutes: "Well we don't know"

[@bryanjames7528]

A man followed the meteor's trail. When he found it he made a sword out of the metal and built a fortress there. He named the sword Dawn and fortress Starfall. Down the road a baby was born in a battlefield destined to rule Anquilonia. Another baby in same battlefield was destine to create an empire of man

[@CulinVlau]

Haha Dayne + Conan + Sigmar. Well done!

[@Vandelberger]

Best comment 🥇

[@Vincent-S]

“Light on details and silent on the aftermath” Never have I wanted to reach back in time to throttle someone than I do now, even if they wrote about such events decades or centuries after the event, as is sometimes the case with ancient accounts.

[@johntitor1256]

Maybe we should just keep digging. Maybe the records on the aftermath just haven't been found yet.

[@ColonelSandersLite]

@@johntitor1256 It's just as likely that, after 2 millennia, no record still survives.

[@daftrok]

"HEY A METEOR HIT! LET'S WRITE THIS DOWN!" "Shall we write down what we did right after?" "Nah, let Invicta clickbait people 2100 years in the future"

[@IsengardMordor]

Lol

[@johnemerson1363]

I read several comments that mentioned seeing the full night sky when the lights went out. In February 1994 I was s 911 supervisor for the Los Angeles Police Department. We had a nasty earthquake about 4 am that morning and we knew what part of LA had been really hit hard. We were NOT getting any 911 calls from the San Fernando Valley. That area is about half of the city of LA. I had a classmate later tell me that after his car quit shaking and he got it stopped, he and his partner got out and looked up and saw the Milky Way in all its glory. There were no lights showing as far as he could see.

[@mickhealy572]

so what has that got to do with this event?

[@Tempusverum]

@@mickhealy572 People do not rob or get into mischief after a natural anomaly

[@mickhealy572]

@@Tempusverum lol, thats why we have no looting laws.

[@Jobe-13]

Definitely must’ve seen it as a divine omen. Amazing. Kind of uplifting and wholesome that the armies saw it as the gods telling them not to fight that day.

[@playwars3037]

You know, I'm not superstitious, but if a natural meteor crashed between two armies about to start a battle, even I would take that as a sign that the universe doesn't want that fight to go through today XD

[@BradTheThird]

I can't even begin to think how infinitesimally small the chances are of a meteor just happening to land in a field in-between two armies about to exchange opinions with each other.

[@username0984]

It would undoubtedly be deafening - the speed at which meteors enter the atmosphere means they produce loud sounds and shockwaves that can shatter glass Would’ve been terrifying and awe inspiring as a soldier to experience that

[@legion999]

Wait, what??

[@InvictaHistory]

One of my favorite anecdotes from history. Truly a wild event!

[@Sky_Guy]

_Small piece of space dust hits a giant piece of space dust_ Meatwater sacks: holy shit this is a big deal!!

[@serotonin.scavenger]

"Meatwater sack" is a great alternative term for "human"

[@cpp3221]

Even in today, there would be peoples to interpret such evenement if they happened today

[@orxy5316]

Lmao, nihilist cringe lord

[@applesandgrapesfordinner4626]

Why you be calling us humans meatsacks, bro? What did we do to you?

[@Sky_Guy]

@@applesandgrapesfordinner4626 Don't be self-conscious, I myself am merely an ammonia silicatesack with only three rather than your impressive five protrusions.

[@Bramble451]

My favorite meteorite story comes from the Hittites. In the early 14th century BCE, the Hittite Great King Mursili II marched against the kingdom of Arzawa on the western coast of Anatolia, whose capitol was Ephesus. While on the march, a "thunderbolt" streaked through the sky, seen by all of Mursili's troops, and landed in Ephesus. This meteorite that struck Ephesus may very well be written about in the Book of Acts, in an incident regarding the temple of Artemis of Ephesus, one of the seven wonders of the world. Paul's teachings had riled up a crowd around 58 BCE, and when calming them, the city clerk mentions the cult statue of Artemis of Ephesus, "which fell from Heaven" (Acts 19:35).

[@anonymous3174]

I believe the same. I believe it is also the black stone of mecca

[@deadlyydude5522]

So amazing. The odds of the meteor hitting that spot, at that exact time, it’s insane

[@Raz.C]

I just HAD to know how long it might take, roughly, to sail from Pontus to what is now Crimea. Following the arrows drawn at 7:13 we have a distance of about 330 kilometers. Assuming that they could sail at about 7 knots/ 13 Km/ h, it would have taken about 27 hours to sail across the Black Sea.

[@rocketsmall4547]

ships horses people travel at higher rate of speed. the logic is ships have special speed boost build in for almost turbo like effect

[@rachaelsdaddontdrink]

@@rocketsmall4547 Good shit, eh?

[@joexiden5798]

@@rocketsmall4547 it seems that the small rocket has lodged in to your brains.

[@apiii73]

When I was kid , my mom and I found a meteorite larger than a basketball. It was very very heavy. Brought it home and was in the yard for years. Eventually gave it to the U of Wisconsin.

[@SuperGman117]

It's fascinating to know that ancient soldiers were a particularly superstitious bunch. Modern soldiers, to my knowledge, are also known for being abnormally superstitious.

[@Esotericism72]

I imagine when you're a soldier spending that much time seeing so much death and destruction you'd probably tend to be more superstitious. Deaths the great unknowable event, they're surrounded by it. Most normal people in first world countries today probably hardly ever think about it, or experience it in such a vivid surreal manner as soldiers do routinely.

[@freddy4603]

it seems superstitions hold some advantage that we just can't figure out yet.

[@erenkruger5760]

I think it's because soldiers are always risking their life so that's why even modern soldiers are superstitious

[@kekero540]

It’s entirely strange how someone so ingenious, cautious, and lucky was still absolutely trounced by the Romans. Mithrodates is one of those people that come once a century yet still he couldn’t even stop Rome from expanding east.

[@Tempusverum]

“It's no accident that one small village on the Tiber. . . . . .was chosen to rule the world. It wasn't just our legions. Other countries have armies, fine armies. I know, I fought them. No, it was fate that chose us to civilize the world. And we have. Our roads and ships connect every corner of the earth.”

[@donkfail1]

I so wish people would stop calling the Antikythera device a "computer". We know today, after examining it for decades, that it was more of a complex clockwork device that could present known data for a set time period. Unlike a clock that has a theoretically infinite circular timeline (like a watch showing the same 12 hour cycle over and over again), this device had a linear one. I could display events taking place between two set dates. Events that was calculated with other means. It did no calculations and the only input was what was carved into it to be displayed as it progressed through the timeline. The best description of it would be a mechanical calendar. When it was first discovered that the lump they found on the seabed had gears in it, several theories was made up about it's purpose and origin. One of the most fantastic and well known was the idea that it was a computing device. But the news of what it really was wasn't as exciting, so it never got the big headlines as "Ancient Computer Found!". The device is the most advanced of its kind found and very famous in itself, so it should be known what it did. But like so many times before, a moderately exiting truth is buried under a fantastic misconception.

[@1pcfred]

Just what do you think computers are? They are complex clockworks! That's why they have clock timing signals. Well, we used timed gated logic because it works. Other things work too, just not nearly as good. So the common digital computer is very much a time based device.

[@danfield6030]

Ummm.....you first should understand what is meant by "oldest computer".. .....you are CONFUSED sir

[@donkfail1]

@@danfield6030 So can you inform this confused person what the "oldest computer" is, other than a device containing recorded data that it can present to the user?

[@felipebortolanza5544]

Always great videos@@@

[@fthomason93]

I love finding channels like this. Amazing work

[@gilbertjones9157]

Much appreciative of your inclusion of an Eastern perspective on the issue. I have seen some of your videos from time to time but with this one you have gained me as a sub.

[@egillskallagrimson5879]

Imagine 7 billion years ago while the molten stardust was whirling around the solar system some coalesced into a rock then begin it's journey and for eons the laws of orbital mechanics keep it in motion until a disturbance in the gravity fields or just the exhaustion of the momentum make it head to earth only to land in front of two large gatherings of people ready to kill each other. What are the odds? Isn't that the hand of the gods?

[@garretth8224]

Well it can't be proved so its pointless

[@pandaman2840]

Isn't it more so the laws of physics?

[@egillskallagrimson5879]

@@pandaman2840 it is the law of physics and the hand of the Gods there is no difference

[@egillskallagrimson5879]

@@garretth8224 I will asume you are a westerner like myself, but that's the reason our societies are collapsing, for the many there is no magic in the world anymore no wonder in it.

[@v44n7]

imagine the billions odds of you beign here instead of the other billion sperms. Life and our reality is incredible odd and rare for sure. As someone once said, a tree is most likely way way way more rarer than diamond in the universe.

[@richardsanchez9190]

The crazy thing to me is that possibly billions of years ago that meteor was on its course to land right at that spot between two armies. Crazy.

[@granddukethedan7029]

This was such an awesome video. The prophecies, the meteors, the battlefield. Superb!

[@shapeswitch_mood7221]

Well there should have been a warning for a timeskip >-> I don't mind history, but I REALLY wished to look for this meteorite event...

[@danconti5984]

Battle: Ongoing Aliens: Ya know what would be cool? a meteor Aliens: Ye do it it'll spice things up! Romans: The murals told of his coming...

[@matthewbadger8685]

Symbolically, the star landing in front of the armies of mithridates in the battle that would decide his invasion of Rome, blocks his advance and foretells his loss by their hand.

[@YeS1711]

wow! awesome video and very well presented. thank you for your efforts!

[@kirschakos]

This was amazing!! Well done guys! :)

[@fokkerd3red618]

You're very knowledgeable and thorough about putting all the details in there proper context. Those troops must have been wetting themselves when this meteor hit, even though it was quite small it must have shook the ground quite violently on impact.

[@mickhealy572]

actually he deceived you by altering the actual account to suit his own delusions.. Plutarch's parallel lives is where you will find the real account..

[@cruzaider5339]

What an uncultured auxiliary will say: "General the enemy has artillery!" What a chad legionary will say: *"Thank you Mars for firing at the enemy!"*

[@AfaqueAhmed_]

Lucius :- I don't wanna fight . Marius :- You have to . Meteor :- As if I don't have a say in it .

[@somehuman1901]

What a great set up to explain the context and how important it all was.

[@nickschneider774]

While I understand the reason for the juxtaposition between Jesus and mithridates, it should be remembered that Jesus, though born in a manger, was also a king. Not simply in a spiritual sense, but by royal lineage. The prophesies (because there were many) specifically indicated the the Savior was to be born an heir to the Davidic throne and was to be born in Bethlehem, the City of David. Christ was the litteral heir of David by virtue of His direct lineage from King David. So, as the Roman epitaph proclaimed, Christ was the rightful "King of the Jews". Just thought it was worth clarifying that point. Great video!

[@AtarahDerek]

You do know the star of Bethlehem wasn't a comet or meteor, right? Also, it's not the least bit surprising that a meteorite strike followed so closely on the heels of a comet's passing. Most of our meteors come from debris left over in the orbit of a comet. The more recently the comet passed, the larger and more frequent the meteors.

[@OwnedEpicStyle]

Those aren’t comets or meteorites you’re seeing - that’s GOD in the sky !!!!

[@stevenlornie1261]

@@OwnedEpicStyle lol yeah, ok.

[@OwnedEpicStyle]

@@stevenlornie1261 lmfao

[@jacobkonick8889]

Great video, thanks for posting!

[@herrdoctor2895]

"damn, that catapult can really throw a big rock"

[@JahnosSardonis]

"In a story that will involve Jesus, the world's oldest computer, and the fall of Rome." As you do.

[@Glitch0010]

A Meteor? At this time of year? At this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within this battlefield?

[@kevinjennings8272]

this is perfectly put together

[@froggystyle642]

I really wish this channel would cite their sources. I want to read more on the topics discussed.

[@capnceltblood5347]

Regarding the Mithridatic Wars When you actually ran the math for how much energy a nickel-iron meteorite would impart if it was actually the size reported and it comes out to 73 Tonnes of TNT, and my numbers were explicitly an underestimate (I simplified the volume to a double-cone rather than an amphora-shape and used a lower end entry velocity of around 18 km/s). It would have left a roughly 30 foot crater 5 feet deep and wiped out both armies if it had actually landed between them. This suggests the story has been enhanced over time.

[@maxb1392]

18km/s is slow for a large comet, but wouldn't a small meteor be able to go much slower thanks to air resistance?

[@musthaf9]

The meteor in Tunguska Event didn't even hit land and the devastation was immense. I think if the stories were true, none from both armies would've survive to tell the story

[@capnceltblood5347]

@@maxb1392 A smaller meteor would go faster due to less surface area exposed and would have probably burned out before impact. Potential energy is a measure of Mass x Velocity. Imagine a 12 gauge shotgun firing a slug at 475 M/S now fire the same slug at 18000 M/S now picture a meteor at 18000 M/S Landing in the middle of a packed football stadium...

[@stanisawzokiewski3308]

the viedo starts at 13:00

[@LupercusArchanus]

Thank you for sharing!

[@-RONNIE]

Good video 👍🏻 thanks for sharing this with us.

[@kryptik6935]

Nice

[@pbh81]

Could you do a video about non roman army uniforms of the era. Wondering how common they were even in organise armies.

[@benjaminhoover6427]

Good stuff. Keep up the great work

[@FreeFallingAir]

This was just great! Love hearing about Mithridates, very interesting fella. And space rocks are cool too

[@awesomehpt8938]

Perhaps it was the twin tailed comet? Perhaps it’s a sign from Sigmar !

[@johntitor1256]

The Nation calls!

[@xzardas541]

Roman soldiers be like: Jupiter is thowing rocks at us! And they were scientificly right.

[@juanpelegrino1245]

please do a whole series on the mithridatic wars id love to tune in!

[@blitz8425]

This channel always has fantastic art, and I'm wondering if there's some where I can view it?

[@michaelyum9738]

No way

[@thompkins6796]

Even the gods sometimes misclick while microing

[@lukehamilton6629]

Ahahah nice

[@dispatcher2243]

i absolutely your style of story telling. it leaves it up to the listener to decide for themselves

[@simritnam612]

Very interesting. Well done!

[@varidian694]

Imagine living in a time where omens and gods were the norm... you're walking into a battle and suddenly a ball of fire comes out of the sky into your side of the field... the total panic and demoralising effect that must have had

[@leonardocontin937]

Yes, you would mostly think that there are some Gods on your side and some on the enemy side. I think after getting hit by a meteorite they would think something like "There no damn God on our side"

[@kaloyanradkov8962]

In a different universe this is the opening to Warcraft III

[@pyrrhusthegreat2103]

I had never heard of Pecinus, so I looked it up. Very interesting place ! Thank you so much for these videos !

[@serijas737]

Bro imagine what a major hype the incoming meteor / impact would have been. Romans, even with casualities would see that as a victory sign of Mars.

[@gamera5160]

I gotta be honest, if a meteorite struck right in front of me moments before a battle, I'd probably be pretty shook myself.

[@westho7314]

or pretty dead

[@mommat794]

There's been a few underground Mithranic temples found. Each has an altar with a relief of Mithras and the bull, a long table and a statue of Magna Mater aka Cybele. I'm familiar with some of her rites and worship but never knew why she would be found in a place where only soldiers visited to worship. Mithras rites are secret to this day. Cybeles worship is bloody and sexual and involves self castration. If they taught that Cybele came herself to help in battle that makes sense she'd be in their temples. Other than that I see no reason why soldiers would want her anywhere around them.

[@maxcasteel2141]

This is such a cool story, great video!

[@HellenicWolf]

great work

[@zenkomenhi]

Was this the same Mithridates who was immune to poison?

[@carlitoxjojojo89]

Hi

[@jamychong2876]

'blinded by the flash, deafened by the crash' was a subtle rhyme. It tells me something about the style of narration that i can't quite grasp 👍

[@LKLM138]

Damn dude. Incredible and captivating writing. You are good!

[@giacomoromano8842]

It could have gone worse. Pretty sure i read an article (not a trustworthy one though) about a ancient, bronze age town completely leveled by the impacts of a meteorite. The habitants were ten of thousands, so many life snuffed out by a tragic fate of a big rock falling from quite high.

[@ironspaghett]

That was Gomorah The shockwave knocked down the walls of Jericho

[@jasepoag8930]

Is Sinope pronounced "sign-ope"? Playing Rome 2, I always assumed it was "Sin-O-Pay."

[@jasepoag8930]

@Urarettin Oh, I don't like that at all. lol

[@wolfd89]

that's got to be the most unlucky angus cow in history.

[@trillionbones89]

Important about prophecies is that they are not happening on their own. They are more like "if you do this this will happen" or "if nothing changes we will suffer and deserve it"