Why the Roman Empire Lasted 1,500 Years

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 มิ.ย. 2024
  • Thanks to Opera for sponsoring this video. Try the Opera browser FREE here: opr.as/Opera-browser-toldinstone
    This video explores some of the factors that made the Roman Empire the most durable state in history.
    My new book, "Insane Emperors, Sunken Cities, and Earthquake Machines" is now available! Check it out here: www.amazon.com/Insane-Emperor...
    Check out my other TH-cam channels, ‪@toldinstonefootnotes‬ and ‪@scenicroutestothepast‬
    Please consider supporting toldinstone on Patreon:
    / toldinstone
    If you're so inclined, you can follow me elsewhere on the web:
    / toldinstone
    / toldinstone
    / 20993845.garrett_ryan
    Chapters:
    0:00 Introduction
    1:00 The influence of geography
    1:54 Opera
    3:09 Geography (cont.)
    3:34 Citizenship and social mobility
    4:12 The emperor as symbol
    5:25 The Roman army
    6:05 Shared elite values
    6:50 Good luck

ความคิดเห็น • 607

  • @toldinstone
    @toldinstone  4 หลายเดือนก่อน +34

    Thanks to Opera for sponsoring this video. Try the Opera browser FREE here: opr.as/Opera-browser-toldinstone

    • @popman48
      @popman48 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      The Opera browser is owned by Golden Brick Silk Road Equity Investment since 2016, which in turn is 100% owned by a combination of state owned Chinese enterprises. Under Chinese law, all Chinese companies are required to provide any information demanded by the government. So, no matter what privacy protections Opera my claim to provide, all user data can be obtained by the Chinese government. So, buyer beware.

    • @juanfervalencia
      @juanfervalencia 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Can you tell them the ad-blocker is not working on your videos?

  • @cyanpunch6140
    @cyanpunch6140 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +297

    Wouldn't the Chinese imperial system have to be considered an even more durable system of rule than Rome? Yes dynasties changed, but the imperial system remained. the consistencies of the chinese imperial system across the dynasties seem to be more significant than the differences, especially considering we don't distinguish roman imperial dynasties in this way

    • @llamaalpaca5563
      @llamaalpaca5563 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +21

      Also Persia.

    • @tylerellis9097
      @tylerellis9097 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +69

      Yeah I do not see how Rome out Competes China here.
      It has 1000 years over Persia though as an Empire.

    • @doctorbobcat7123
      @doctorbobcat7123 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +81

      It's clear toldinstone does not have a great understanding of Chinese history. Basically all the points he made can be applied to China. Much like the Mediterranean Sea, China's vast coastline and Yellow / Yangtze Rivers made them exceptional traders. Much like the Imperial cult, Chinese philosophical ideals emphasised loyalty to the Emperor, and the continued study of Confucian classical texts helped preserve a unified elite Chinese culture for millennia. (it's also pretty unfair to lump Rome and the Byzantines as one continuous civilisation yet not do the same for the Chinese Dynasties, which would mean China both predated Rome by 100 years with the Qin unification in 206BC and outlived Rome for almost 500 years until the fall of the Qing in 1912.)

    • @cyanpunch6140
      @cyanpunch6140 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +12

      @@doctorbobcat7123 yeah, and when I came back to view these replies, the title of the video was changed to specifically refer to China. Why?

    • @hueylong2590
      @hueylong2590 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +44

      @@cyanpunch6140because anti-China stuff goes over well with conservative rome history entertainment viewers

  • @baahcusegamer4530
    @baahcusegamer4530 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +225

    “While browsing lesser content” 😂 made my day man. I salute you 🫡

    • @QuantumHistorian
      @QuantumHistorian 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +23

      There's a special place in my heart for people who can deliver such sass with a straight face.

    • @brokoblin6284
      @brokoblin6284 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      yeah that made me atually laugh out loud, I love it

    • @johnladuke6475
      @johnladuke6475 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      @@QuantumHistorian The doc missed his calling as a comedian. He's great at being a deadpan straight man and delivering backhanded zingers.

    • @tiaelago-oretukaumunika7017
      @tiaelago-oretukaumunika7017 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Came here looking for this hahaha

    • @teampower7820
      @teampower7820 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Perfect 😀

  • @westrim
    @westrim 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +400

    Rome never died, it lives on in our hearts.

    • @optimusprinceps3526
      @optimusprinceps3526 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +24

      Especially since the USA is a Constitutional Republic based upon the laws, foundations, and principles of ancient Rome.🦅 As are many other nations

    • @marcoscaba3846
      @marcoscaba3846 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +13

      We mimic Rome's style of government and much more.

    • @vgee3926
      @vgee3926 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Deep.....

    • @QuantumHistorian
      @QuantumHistorian 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +48

      @@optimusprinceps3526 There are so few similarities between Roman and USA Government. Sure, they both have a thing called the Senate, but that's about it. Dig any deeper and the differences are vast in both a practical and theoretical sense.

    • @optimusprinceps3526
      @optimusprinceps3526 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      @@QuantumHistorian The title of President is also a Roman one, seems it was a bit more than another Roman title, Governor. In the USA the first Continental Congress at first wanted to make George Washington, Imperator for life, in which he gracefully declined. Imagine if he hadn't ?

  • @Teh-Penguin
    @Teh-Penguin 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +32

    I've recently finished your first book. One thing that surprised me, in a good way, was how funny and witty it was. Maybe the jokes on YT flew all over my head, but I had more of a classic professorial impression of you. Very to the point and factual. I really enjoyed the read!

  • @sarahd1250
    @sarahd1250 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +10

    Could you please do a video on ancient sleeping habits. (Beds/ bedrooms?, pjs, hygiene, sleep schedule, waking up, etc) ❤❤

  • @networknomad5600
    @networknomad5600 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +39

    "Fish sauce from Spain"
    Sir, do you mean the highest grade of garum?

    • @GnomaPhobic
      @GnomaPhobic 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +9

      But of course. All know that Hispania produces the finest garum of all provinces in the empire!

  • @kribstek1155
    @kribstek1155 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +48

    Great video, but I don't know if I'm the first one to point out that
    the title is a bit too clickbait-y, since the case against China wasn't really discussed at all.
    I think the point here is that,
    Rome *as a single continued polity* survived for millenia (longer than any Chinese dynasty), which I should agree.
    But we can also make the counter-argument that,
    some other aspects of ancient Chinese institutions* (or their direct descendants) survived to these days (longer than ancient Roman ones) and are still being actively practiced.
    *How “ancient”?
    -- around and after Confucius’ lifetime (c.551 - c.479 BC)
    -- around and before the reign of the Qin dynasty (221-206 BC), China's first unified empire
    To suggest some from my head:
    1) the Chinese script [“traditional characters” nowadays]
    2) classical Chinese languages and literature (their lore are deeply ingrained into and inseparable from modern Chinese languages, e.g. Mandarin & Cantonese)
    3) political & intellectual philosophies, e.g. Confucianism, Taosim, Legalism
    4) *the commonly imagined (albeit often disrupted) unity of the territorial/political/socio-cultural country “China”*
    For instance, the works of Confucius are literally older than the Christians’ Bible or the Muslims’ Quran, but quotations from them are still being read & studied (& hated) by school kids of modern China (& other Sinic countries).
    **EDIT: as a student of history from greater China, I must confess I haven't learn much about Roman history (yet). But I can give more examples about what I mean by the crazy longevity of ancient Chinese literature:
    - Quote a random passage (in it's original text) from Confucius; an average 16-y/o school kid can probably understand 40-80% of it.
    - From that text, you can find many, many words that are literally still being used daily.
    I really don't think you can find comparable examples for ancient Rome; i.e. I don't think an average (say,) Italian can read any Cicero in its original form. (🤔🤔I really don't know, maybe they can??)

    • @aldrinmilespartosa1578
      @aldrinmilespartosa1578 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      Aren't the ones being mentioned too has its Roman counterparts?
      Especially the language and legal practice to it. Justinian's legal reforms are still the foundations for most Western spheres and more.

    • @joerogue231
      @joerogue231 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      ​@@aldrinmilespartosa1578There's no argument that Roma is older than China.
      Rome has been under foreign conquest most of the time.

    • @aldrinmilespartosa1578
      @aldrinmilespartosa1578 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @joerogue231 so.. does China.
      China is the oldest surviving civilization
      Rome is the oldest empire to be recorded.

    • @joerogue231
      @joerogue231 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +12

      @@aldrinmilespartosa1578 Rome isn't anywhere near the oldest Empire lol.

    • @aldrinmilespartosa1578
      @aldrinmilespartosa1578 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @joerogue231 not counting the "byzantine" that is.

  • @AethelwulfBretwalda
    @AethelwulfBretwalda 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +21

    I've been a subscriber for a few years now and I'm glad you're getting more recognition and success. Thank you for such an awesome channel, keep up the great work!

  • @beezusHrist
    @beezusHrist 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +23

    I don't know what this means considering "China" is still around and still, in some ways, celebrates its past culture. Italy is still there, but the civilization known as Rome is gone, but the civilization known as "China" still exist and has been going strong for at least 5,000 years. Yes. the governmental system has changed, but the Chinese Civilization area still exists.

    • @brandonquezada9523
      @brandonquezada9523 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +7

      The imperial system basically ended in 1912 though

    • @Patrick3183
      @Patrick3183 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      China is our word for it

    • @rain_M4V7
      @rain_M4V7 หลายเดือนก่อน

      The true Chinese died out a long time ago

    • @AngkatanNamwaran
      @AngkatanNamwaran หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@brandonquezada9523 Yes, but it is still the same civilization, they just simply changed their political system.

  • @chrissypoo69
    @chrissypoo69 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +53

    This is gonna be one of those vids that gets you more subs than anticipated

    • @11202
      @11202 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      There’s a certain quality that while in all his videos is especially prominent here. Gives off a strong golden era of digital encyclopaedia / history channel (back when it was exactly that)

  • @_SpamMe
    @_SpamMe 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +7

    When posing such a question we must first ask "did Rome actually last longer than China", and that's a very hard question to answer. By most metrics though I'd say "no".
    I think this video would have been better as just "why was the Roman Empire so durable/lastet so long" or something.

  • @optimusprinceps3526
    @optimusprinceps3526 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +25

    Another wonderful trip through time, thanks for the memories....... 👍🌿🙂🌿

  • @Eandiil
    @Eandiil 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +7

    Told in Stone is an awesome channel! Love their video’s. Also love the Roman history video’s from Saving History. My 2 favorite ancient history channels

    • @Ghiyath981
      @Ghiyath981 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      The echo chamber of the Romaboos.

  • @jeffreywilliams3421
    @jeffreywilliams3421 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +22

    I feel like if we treated the Roman Empire like any other empire it wouldn't have "lasted" so long, for example, you'd have a split between the early Kingdom, the Republic and the Empire, splits between various imperial dynasties, splits for the later German emperors, etc. If we judged, for example, Persia like we judged Rome you'd have a much longer standing empire there. Or Egypt as another example, where the priesthood provided the same kind of bureaucratic, political, and cultural through line similar to the roman aristocracy, if judged by the standards we judge Rome would absolutely blow Rome out of the water, but we instead split it up into numerous phases, etc.

    • @arthurg.calixto3338
      @arthurg.calixto3338 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      Even if unified Rome doesn't overlast China, Egypt or Persia at all imagine if we simply separated them by Republic and Empire 😂

    • @richardparker7121
      @richardparker7121 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Yes but if you were Rome-centric & wanting a clickbait title, why not diss the Chinese (for the millionth time)…?

    • @guifdcanalli
      @guifdcanalli 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Actually no, Persia was conquered many times during its existance, if a foreign force conquers your nation, its by all means a foreign rule and the native state is dissolved, Alexander conquered Persia in the 4th century bc and then the Hellenistic dinasties that succeded were not Persians at all, Rome kept their sovereignty all the way to the 13th century, with same laws, rulling systems and culture

    • @cristhianramirez6939
      @cristhianramirez6939 วันที่ผ่านมา

      Just say you dont understand ancient rome, is easier than writing this whole lot of nothing

    • @jeffreywilliams3421
      @jeffreywilliams3421 วันที่ผ่านมา

      @@cristhianramirez6939 Welcome to 4 months ago

  • @jec1ny
    @jec1ny 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +15

    Great video. But FWIW I gave a thumbs up right after reading the title and realizing that you were including the Eastern (Byzantine) state in your definition of the Roman Empire.

    • @Basileus1453
      @Basileus1453 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Anything else is western lies

  • @dantesarracino
    @dantesarracino 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

    I would love to know your sources. You have such beautifully curated videos, they would provide great jumping-off points for additional research.

  • @vcolin
    @vcolin 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Mate love the content. Keep it up :)

  • @Calikid331
    @Calikid331 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    In a cultural sense the Roman Empire still very much exists.

  • @Atomhaz
    @Atomhaz 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    I just got your book in the mail! Great stuff!

  • @kuukeli
    @kuukeli 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    thank you for the video

  • @JC-oz6xn
    @JC-oz6xn 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Beautifully written.....thanks....

  • @mikerichards5610
    @mikerichards5610 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    Thanks!

  • @ricardomachado6718
    @ricardomachado6718 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Thabk you for your work!!

  • @simonvito3027
    @simonvito3027 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Camping in beautiful places and doing long routes that are necessary that hard is a nice way to spend a weekend.

  • @XxTheMoBSteRxX1
    @XxTheMoBSteRxX1 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

    Just listened to the history of rome podcast and am currently listening to the history of the byzantines as well, and was having this same thought. Luck definitely was a factor thinking back 😂

  • @kingjoe3rd
    @kingjoe3rd 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    ¡Hooray new Toldinstone! Do more videos on coins. I love Classical Numismatics, but he sometimes gets facts incorrect. God love him though :)

  • @despicabletaylor
    @despicabletaylor 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +28

    Thanks to toldinstone for uploading this video

  • @emiralid
    @emiralid 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Thanks. Awesome

  • @game_boyd1644
    @game_boyd1644 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

    It's a shame you didn't mention anything about why individual Chinese dynasties never lasted as long as Rome, as the title would suggest. Cool video though 👍🏾

    • @baneofbanes
      @baneofbanes 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +10

      Tbf over its course the Roman Empire had multiple dynasties as well.

    • @Trill-Is-Real
      @Trill-Is-Real 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@baneofbanesnot the same thing at all, he is not talking about dynasties ruling one empiree he is saying entire empires being created because of a new dynasty

    • @I_Am_Wasabi_Man
      @I_Am_Wasabi_Man 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      did he change the title of the video? i know he mentioned china at the start, but the title doesn't mention china (anymore)

    • @Trill-Is-Real
      @Trill-Is-Real 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@I_Am_Wasabi_Man yeah he changed, it it was why Rome lasted longer than China

  • @richardzimmermann9372
    @richardzimmermann9372 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Very, very good.

  • @RunD.Ones1s
    @RunD.Ones1s 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

    Trade is still more efficient over water

  • @TrevorwiththreeVs
    @TrevorwiththreeVs 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

    Kinda feel china is historys most durable empire

    • @ddwkc
      @ddwkc 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      It depends on how you count continuity. If you count each dynasty change as one empire because they kept the Mandate of Heaven institutions, overall yeah. China only had some periods of fragmentation. Early 2 dynasties lasted very long time. After that, dynasties would be short lived in comparison, but the institutions would be left relatively intact. Even with foreigner control, usually it is still recognizable as China.
      However, if people count as each dynastic period being distinct, then China after the first two dynasties just look like it breaks and reforms a lot. People usually don't see Rome this way in terms of dynasty, so it feels like a long continuum even when their dynasties or generals/dictators fall. It is just a vast different system in the end. I'd say China is a contender.
      In terms of dynasty continuity, Zhou last 790 years. I don't see any Roman dynasty come close to this. Also, Roman Empire people will count Republican period till Byzantine. Some may add HRE and Ottoman Empire. In this case, it would be fair to count China since the Xia period till Qing.

    • @TrevorwiththreeVs
      @TrevorwiththreeVs 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      I count it like this
      China is still china
      And hasnt been anything else

    • @cristhianramirez6939
      @cristhianramirez6939 วันที่ผ่านมา

      Its not by the way

  • @CAESAR_IS_GOD_mohammadisaloser
    @CAESAR_IS_GOD_mohammadisaloser 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Just came across this "Priene Calendar Inscription" seems interesting. The documents align the provincial calendar with the Roman calendar, honouring Augustus by making the provincial year begin on his birthday. It refers to Augustus' birth using the term "gospel."

  • @Auriorium
    @Auriorium 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    I have two questions about Ancient Rome, I hope you can answer.
    The first one is regarding coins specifically if during the Roman times some coins where more expensive because they where old. Lets presume I want to buy something in the Rome of Marcus Aurelius with a sesterce but my coin is from the time of Sula. Is that coin more valuable then the current one?
    The second question is about the Second Punic War, I am interested if there are find of Hannibal's crossing of the alps. Are there any dead Carthaginians popping out of the snow in the Alps?

  • @Carlton-B
    @Carlton-B 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +28

    There is a lot of divergence in the comments about when Rome actually ended. Everyone has a good point. I propose three endpoints that haven't been mentioned yet: The Gothic War of the 540s, when the great Roman families were slaughtered by the Goths; the Fourth Crusade of 1204, when Constantinople was sacked by Crusaders; and the submission of Trebizond to the Ottomans in 1461.
    If the Russians can be believed, the Roman Empire still exists, and its capitol is Moscow.

    • @negativezero8174
      @negativezero8174 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +12

      I mean you can't measure the life of civilizations like that. If the Byzantine Empire was truly Roman, then modern France is truly Gaul.
      At some point you have to admit when a culture is something else entirely.

    • @copperlemon1
      @copperlemon1 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

      I think it would be fair to say that at some point the Eastern Roman Empire ceased to be the Roman Empire and instead a Roman rump state or successor state. It was certainly a process rather than a single event, but if a date had to picked, 1204 would probably be the finalization of that process.
      In the west, the Gothic wars certainly had more of an impact than the deposition of Romulus Augustus. Odoacer and Theoderic either didn't interfere with or outright promoted Roman customs, generally speaking. The wars, the plague, and finally the Lombard invasion led to heavy deurbanization and decentralization.

    • @tryfryingmikejones
      @tryfryingmikejones 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      sure also charlemagne, holy roman empire, the vatican, habsburgs etc

    • @xa-12musk8
      @xa-12musk8 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +12

      If Russia was ever a successor to Rome then I'm Julius Caesar😂

    • @manwiththeredface7821
      @manwiththeredface7821 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      The king of Spain has better claim to be Roman Emperor.

  • @WagesOfDestruction
    @WagesOfDestruction 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    The puzzle, in comparison to China, is that after each fall, it pulled itself together.

  • @jessehickman668
    @jessehickman668 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    With so much clickbait and title questions…
    I appreciate anyone who answers the question first.
    👍

  • @leeborocz-johnson1649
    @leeborocz-johnson1649 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Sometimes this man's voice and everything about his delivery reminds me of Ron Howard narrating Arrested Development.

  • @CosmicMapping
    @CosmicMapping 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Uh, I don’t know about this one. I don’t think there’s any Roman takeout places I can just DoorDash whenever I want.

    • @Trill-Is-Real
      @Trill-Is-Real 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Exactly, the Chinese, still see them selves as Chinese and everyone call the CCCP government territory, china. Rome is gone and it only lives through the west

  • @IsengardMordor
    @IsengardMordor 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    @toldinstone chances are you might not see this, but would you consider making a video about piracy in the Roman era?

  • @nicholasdalby5178
    @nicholasdalby5178 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    My main point of contention here is the date 1453 used to mark the end of Rome. If we use those parameters, China never stopped lol it just evolved. what about the Latin Empire? That was a clear point where the legit Byzantines lost control of Constantinople and only had a few principalities they terms empires and such 0:32

  • @fakeskyler2305
    @fakeskyler2305 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    Rome may live on in many abstract ir philosophical ways, but China is still here. Still a nation, still powerful, and a direct continuation of that same civilization founded all those thousands of years ago. The Empire is not the nation, and even with all that aside the Chinese Imperial system was born before the Romans, and lasted centuries afterwards.

  • @GHST995
    @GHST995 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    For the Empire!

  • @chumleyk
    @chumleyk 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    in 5000 years, if humans are still around, we will be seen as still part of the roman era - they'd call us now as something like the 'late Roman franchise'. Only when ALL economic, cultural, religious, aesthetic, architectural, social, legislative, and legal vestiges of Rome have gone can the future historians say we aren't that any more. And its shadow - positive and negative - has shaped everyone on this earth by its derivative effects more than any other civilization on earth by a magnitude.

  • @pogd740
    @pogd740 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

    the city of rome is still thriving, and the culture and language of the romans is now at the forefront of humanity. amazing

  • @tereza1959
    @tereza1959 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Considering almost everything in our lives has origins in rome, from politics to cuisine, Rome will never die

  • @jona.scholt4362
    @jona.scholt4362 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    The real Rome was the friends we made along the way.

  • @LCTesla
    @LCTesla 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    it wasn't an empire by 200BC, and it wasn't Rome by 1200AD.

  • @revanofkorriban1505
    @revanofkorriban1505 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    You ignore the fact that the professional army led to a significant problem of civil wars, as soldiers demanded more and more money, forcing emperors to divert money from state projects of greater importance at best, and at worst ambitious generals bribing the military into backing their coups.

  • @derrickstorm6976
    @derrickstorm6976 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    "In a sense it never has" *thinks of Mussolini*

  • @ddc2957
    @ddc2957 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Luck is right. I am big into the Napoleonic Wars & my mate, a huge Roman fan, likes to brag about “1,000 year Empire vs a 10 year one.” But how would Rome have fared if full-powered versions of Carthage, Greece, Etruria, Egypt etc regularly formed coalitions to challenge the Empire?

  • @Nonamearisto
    @Nonamearisto 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    For those who don't get it, there was one continuous Roman Empire from about 14 BC with Augustus to 1453 with the fall of Constantinople. The Eastern Roman Empire wasn't legally a new country, simply the (often reorganized) provinces of the Roman Empire being overseen from an eastern court.

  • @MrStrocube
    @MrStrocube 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    “The Empire never ended.” -PKD

  • @1TakoyakiStore
    @1TakoyakiStore 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    A question I've always had is why did Latin die as an everyday language while Greek endured. Both existed at roughly the same time, by similar people, in similar ways. I know Greek was the language of commerce at the time, but is that really all there is to it?

    • @tylerellis9097
      @tylerellis9097 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Because Latin evolved more due to being separated and split up into numerous Kingdoms. Meanwhile Greek has almost always been under one state with strong Academic institutions or had its historical regions taken by other groups like in Anatolia.

    • @1TakoyakiStore
      @1TakoyakiStore 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@tylerellis9097 The Byzantines were conquered by the Ottomans. The Ottomans were primarily an arabic speaking country which left roughly 400 years to be assimilated. Normally once an area is conquered by arabs the language disappears (only exceptions that comes to mind is Coptic and Hebrew). On top of that the topography of Macedonia favors small city states rather than an overarching power. Ok fine let's assume that it was kept alive in Istanbul as a language for the academics, that still should have relegated it to a similar position as latin during the Renaissance. So unless modern Greek is much more different than the Greek Homer would have spoken (equally as different if not more so than modern Sardinian is to the Latin of the ancient Romans) I still cannot conceive of a significant reason as to why it endured more than Latin.

    • @tylerellis9097
      @tylerellis9097 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      @@1TakoyakiStore Bruh, the Ottomans were a Turkish Empire that also used Persianized Turkish as a court language. And none of the Balkan territory they conquered was converted to Turkish Speaking, Anatolia was mostly converted already by Turkish migrations before them and still had significant Greek, Armenian, Assyrian and Georgian minorities with many Greek, Albanian and Slavic elites in government until the Genocides, population exchanges and sponsored Ultra state nationalism of modern Turkey.
      You cannot compare them to the Arab Caliphates and their successors that had 1200 years with interruptions to this day to convert the people of the middle east and Africa. Heck Iranians still speak Persian after all this time do to being able to maintain their culture under the Arabs and Persianizing the conquering turks but even then they have a significant minority of Turkish speaking Converted Persians in the northwest from 1000 years of Turkish rule.

    • @1TakoyakiStore
      @1TakoyakiStore 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@tylerellis9097 Is the difference between Koine Greek and modern Greek more or less different than Vulgar Latin is to Neo-Latin?

    • @GenovaYork951
      @GenovaYork951 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      ​@@tylerellis9097 There were no significant Armenians, Georgians, Assyrians lmao in Anatolia.

  • @free_at_last8141
    @free_at_last8141 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I'm surprised that the Romans didn't find another use for discarded amphorae. They seem like something that would have been crushed to be used used in roads and construction.

  • @kartos.
    @kartos. 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    What are we defining an empire as here??

  • @marcoscaba3846
    @marcoscaba3846 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +11

    I would love to see a comparison of Rome and China.

    • @pedrollex3308
      @pedrollex3308 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      China = yellow

    • @jmgonzales7701
      @jmgonzales7701 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      rome was greater than china

    • @marcoscaba3846
      @marcoscaba3846 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@jmgonzales7701 Maybe.

    • @Lord_Of_Aether
      @Lord_Of_Aether 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      ​@@jmgonzales7701It depends on the era and what measure of greatness you're going by. For example, the Eastern Romans were in a weak state around the same time that the Tang Dynasty had reached its height.

    • @Ghiyath981
      @Ghiyath981 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      ​@jmgonzales7701 When you learnt history at Walmart.

  • @lipingrahman6648
    @lipingrahman6648 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    To be clear though for last half of Eastern Roman history it was just a bunch of small territories barely held together. Smaller than many feudal kingdoms, not much of an empire. Constantinople May have fallen in 1453 but the empire had been dead for some time.

    • @Michael_the_Drunkard
      @Michael_the_Drunkard 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      1204 was the real fall

    • @tylerellis9097
      @tylerellis9097 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      It was still a Regional often Great Power Empire until 1204AD.

  • @nicholasdalby5178
    @nicholasdalby5178 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Another thing, some would argue the Yuan Dynasty, even the Great Jin of Jurchen origin do not represent a continuation of imperial China, but this is not the case. The way the Ming Dynasty became such is by claiming the MANDATE OF HEAVAN from the Mongol Yuan after Khanbaliq-now Beijing was evacuated by the Emperor. Thus we get Hongwu the Great

  • @theamericancristero7390
    @theamericancristero7390 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

    The three most important cities in western history in terms of their influence and legacy are without a doubt Jerusalem for the risen messiah, Athens for it's philosophy, and Rome for it's establishment of the idea of a nation beyond tribe, race, or locality. Between Christian ethics, Greek intellect, and Roman grandeur, it is no wonder why western civilization dominates the world.

    • @Michael_the_Drunkard
      @Michael_the_Drunkard 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      The idea that Rome was raceblind has been debunked.
      And in the last days of both the western and eastern empire, it was reduced to its heartland. Italy in the West and Greece in the East.

  • @marcneef795
    @marcneef795 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Saying the mediterranean is like a modern superhighway is a bit misleading, when most global trade still happens via sea, today

  • @MilitaryHistoryRelived
    @MilitaryHistoryRelived 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +16

    Constantinos Palaiologos the last Roman emperor died in 1453

  • @aldrinmilespartosa1578
    @aldrinmilespartosa1578 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    The Theodocian walls though has fallen in the end might have been one of the best government investment in human history.

  • @Elongated_Muskrat
    @Elongated_Muskrat 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +11

    Depends what qualifies as “Roman Empire” The Holy Roman Empire lasted til past 1800 but few people would call that the end of the Roman Empire. I suppose in the West, Rome is just the default concept of Empire so everyone tried to emulate it.

    • @Deadj90
      @Deadj90 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Rome fell in 1453, the HRE shouldn’t even be considered.

    • @Tonyx.yt.
      @Tonyx.yt. 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      The forefather of the roman empire was so chad, that his name become litteraly the title of the emperors of many different empires and kingdoms for the 2000 years to come.
      Ave Kai-sar

    • @jamesclarke2789
      @jamesclarke2789 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@Tonyx.yt. Or Tsar/Czar

    • @Herkittyandhislady04072005
      @Herkittyandhislady04072005 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      The Holy Roman Empire wasn't holy, neither roman and neither an empire. It's obvious, since the "Holy" part is contradicted by the Protestant Reformation and the only Holy thing that they were connected to were the Pope. The "Roman" is non-existant as none spoke Latin, only few in the Southern HRE (north italy) and what defies a roman is the people being citizens of a Roman Administration and Government, which HRE did not have as they were germans and they had no government as the Emperor title was given to the most voted country there(king/prince) in the HRE, and finally, the "Empire" is straight up a lie, its not even a formalized united state and the states within the HRE was ruled by the elected Prince/Duke/King. + The HRE proclaimed themselves to be THE SUCCESSORS of the Roman Empire, not the Roman Empire themselves.
      In reality, the TRUE Roman Empire ended in 1453 with the Fall of Constantinopole, if you wanna argue for others taking the position as successors of rome, sure, but they were never rome and never intended to bring back the empire, unlike the eastern romans.

    • @Ghiyath981
      @Ghiyath981 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      ​@@Herkittyandhislady04072005 Rome ended in 395 not 1453 lmao, learn history.

  • @theprotector1234567
    @theprotector1234567 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +11

    Great civilizations never truly die, they just fade away

    • @maily8388
      @maily8388 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      Actually, it died/gone but it left many monuments and statues for humanity to see.

  • @robinharwood5044
    @robinharwood5044 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    China is still there, with pretty much the same territory, and still pretty Confucian.

  • @jacobpast5437
    @jacobpast5437 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Modern historians are the kind of people, who if you show them a morphing video of a chair turning into a bench turning into a bed will then claim that a chair is a bed

    • @arthurg.calixto3338
      @arthurg.calixto3338 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      To this guy the European theatre of WW2 was just a roman civil war.

    • @joerogue231
      @joerogue231 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      ​@@arthurg.calixto3338
      That's because Westerners don't want to admit that China was vastly greater than Rome.
      They are constantly swimming in double standards and hypocrisy.

  • @RobMacMusic
    @RobMacMusic 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Imagine having ancient history in your own civilisation. It's like looking back at Washington times 4. The relics that some families must have had would have been fascinating.

  • @thomasechols8834
    @thomasechols8834 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Sure wish your videos were longer. but I guess the algorithm does not favor those.

  • @christopherevans2445
    @christopherevans2445 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Shout out to Julius Nepos. The true last (Western Emperor).

  • @jonathanlewis8018
    @jonathanlewis8018 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +16

    The Chinese Empire lasted from 1600 BC- 1911 AD ( over 3511 years). The Roman Empire lasted 2153 years. The Chinese Empire lasted longer for almost a thousand years.

    • @Mbrace818
      @Mbrace818 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +7

      China wasn't a single empire from 1600 BC to 1911 AD. It was a series of distinct rising and falling empires, none of which individually lasted as long as Rome.
      This is why its important to make a distinction between a civilization and an empire. Chinese civilization lasted longer than Roman civilization, but no particular Chinese empire lasted longer than Rome.

    • @bruhhda_mancakes3953
      @bruhhda_mancakes3953 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      @@Mbrace818 the 2153 year number is the most generous number for Rome that can be taken seriously. It includes the Roman kingdom, republic, empire, and the later Byzantine empire. The Rome at the end was vastly different than the Rome at the beginning in terms of a wide variety of variables. On the other hand, the Chinese imperial system existed virtually unchanged throughout the entire timespan. If you want to separate each major dynasty as a separate empire, then logically you’d have to do the same for Rome.

    • @cristhianramirez6939
      @cristhianramirez6939 วันที่ผ่านมา

      @@bruhhda_mancakes3953 Single political entity ≠ civilization

  • @fozzymandias
    @fozzymandias 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

    "lesser content" love it

  • @Flastyune
    @Flastyune 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    Where is the comparison to China? Most of the arguments for Rome's longevity work for China, and if you consider the byzantines to be romans, I don't see any reasons to not treat the different chinese dynasties and the same chinese empire.

    • @cristhianramirez6939
      @cristhianramirez6939 วันที่ผ่านมา

      Because you dont understand how both societies worked

  • @shinsenshogun900
    @shinsenshogun900 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    This video is unequivocally stamped as laowai rants

  • @Carlo-zk2cy
    @Carlo-zk2cy 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

    “For there was once a dream, a dream of Rome”

  • @Benjaminwolf
    @Benjaminwolf 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Just a note: Even today, water transportation is cheaper for shipping.

  • @lenrely2033
    @lenrely2033 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    You may have answered this in another video, but Congressman Ron Paul in his famous "Paul vs. Paul" debate with economist Paul Krugmann claimed that the reason the Byzantine Empire outlasted the Romans by so long is currency was not taxed. Is that true?

  • @EokaBeamer69
    @EokaBeamer69 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Your intro sounds like someting out of Age of Empires. :D Fucking love your channel.

  • @SteaksOnSpear
    @SteaksOnSpear 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Denmark always gets overlooked as one of the oldest countries in the world.

  • @kerryrwalton7791
    @kerryrwalton7791 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I would also argue that the Pope and his Curia are not only the inheritors but the last living link of many of the Roman Empire's rituals.

    • @tylerellis9097
      @tylerellis9097 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Cough Ecumenical Patriarch too

  • @17269320
    @17269320 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Another fact why Roman rule survived for so long: The wise use of engineering and technology for public works. Foreigners saw Roman culture and public management as superior and wanted to imitate it, even to the point of being voluntarily absorbed by it. Baths, aqueducts, roads, bridges, ports, giant amphitheatres and magnificent cities mesmerized anyone who came from wilder lands so Rome was the synonym for progress and perfectionism.
    But maybe that also draw the attention from sacking armies and waves of immigration, so it's like a two sided coin.

  • @SithStudy
    @SithStudy 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Chinese civilization was always disconnected from all others though, this makes it way easier to think of it as one dynasty

  • @Nonamearisto
    @Nonamearisto 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    For those who think "China" was one continuous empire with different "dynasties", this is wrong. Each "dynasty" means "a completely different empire." It would be like saying that there was one continuous state in Italy since the Roman conquest of Italy, and that subsequent local or foreign rulers were simply different dynasties.
    If that's too hard to grasp, a "dynasty" in the normal sense means "a ruling family." The way they use it to describe Chinese history means "a different state."

    • @Trill-Is-Real
      @Trill-Is-Real 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      No it wasn’t lol, china is a civilization, not just a country, the ruler of china had to follow a civilizational mandate called the Mandate of Heaven to have legitimacy. Thesis who became the rulers were called son’s of Heaven, because they brought peace and prosperity to china. When they couldn’t that’s when someone new would rise up and over throw them. It wasn’t just a collapse like Rome because the Chinese never lost their identity unlike the Italians and the Greeks.

    • @Nonamearisto
      @Nonamearisto หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@Trill-Is-Real China is part of East Asian civilization, and is a model for it. China is not a civilization unto itself.

    • @Nonamearisto
      @Nonamearisto วันที่ผ่านมา

      @@Trill-Is-Real China is not a civilization. It never was. It was part of a wider array of countries in East Asia, such as Japan, Korea, Vietnam, or even Tibet. China itself was frequently divided into different countries, and even Han and Tang China had independent countries next to them in what is today's PRC.

    • @Trill-Is-Real
      @Trill-Is-Real 9 ชั่วโมงที่ผ่านมา

      @@Nonamearisto china is a civilization since the dawn of civilization itself. They were one the first civilizations to ever exist on the face of the planet. To claim it wasn’t ridiculous nonsense. The country’s of japan, Korea and Vietnam in their various forms have recognized that for thousands of years. Most of the cultural that the other East Asian states even have comes mostly from China. They were considered barbarians by the Chinese at one point.

    • @Nonamearisto
      @Nonamearisto 9 ชั่วโมงที่ผ่านมา

      @@Trill-Is-Real China is a country. East Asia is a civilization. Like Western, Hindu, or Islamic civilizations.

  • @kevintc-r7069
    @kevintc-r7069 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

    5:33 i live in the us and holy shit does this sound similar

  • @Jazmillenium
    @Jazmillenium 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Rome never dies. It just went missing in action.

  • @juannumbaone9142
    @juannumbaone9142 หลายเดือนก่อน

    They adapted to the changes ; but at the end this is what brought their downfall as well

  • @Fabermain
    @Fabermain 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    the empire never fell. it morphed.

  • @Squirrelmind66
    @Squirrelmind66 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

    Geography also explains in general how Europe became so powerful. It’s all coastline.

    • @jmgonzales7701
      @jmgonzales7701 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      yes its because of geography, trade and European intelligence the reason europe became the greatest civilization of the world.

    • @S3Kglitches
      @S3Kglitches 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      @@jmgonzales7701 And will fall with the rise of Africa.

    • @jmgonzales7701
      @jmgonzales7701 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      @@S3Kglitches africa? They have too many problems for it to make a rise. Tbh i think it might be somewhere in asia.

    • @CrazyChickenFarmer
      @CrazyChickenFarmer 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      @@S3Kglitches If there were no more food handouts in africa the continent would go back to where it was, for a while at least.

    • @S3Kglitches
      @S3Kglitches 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@jmgonzales7701 It doesn't require an army or any organization. They simply wander here and invade by birth and rape. Can't you see?

  • @nicholasdalby5178
    @nicholasdalby5178 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    If this is simply regarding the incarnations of the original Han Dynasty, alright, but if referring to the CONTINUATION of the Mandate of Heaven as both concept and possession, China did not disappear, it underwent a number of periods of serious internecine warfare occurred, but what about the year of four emperors? Hell broke loose. Also, how do we reconcile the various civil conflicts involving the first and second triumvirates respectively? The tetrarchy etc. Are we supposed to consider these points in time as NOT periods where Rome no longer operated as a unified entity as intended?
    But for China, yes, the Three Kingdoms period w my man Cao Cao's descendants et co and other political entities vying for supremacy over this mandate is there. The Tang Dynasty, which is viewed by many as the pinnacle of Dynastic Chinese history views the Cao Wei as a LEGIT imperial dynasty. Cao Wei only existed for about 46 years, but again, the reason for this is CONSOLIDATION. We then see the imperial Jin dynasty (SIMA JIN) from the 260s-420 and it is at that point we see the Sixteen Kindoms period and then Northern and Southern dynasties etc. Eventually we end up with succession of major imperial dynasties vying for control over all of what is now considered China. What I find interesting is how the Tang essentially recreated the territorial extent of the Han and then pushed beyond that for a few years, even taking Kabul
    FTR, I typed this before even watching just because these are legitimate points of contention among those in academia in both the "West" and China, and have been for as long as recorded history there exists. I don't simply mean MODERN ACADEMICS, but both modern and throughout history. For example, the Southern Song, I believe, rejected the Tang Dynasty's validation of Cao Wei as an imperial dynasty. This was HUNDREDS OF YEARS AFTER CAO WEI lol. That is how far back these matters have been contentious lol. Anyway. Love the work, and will now watch

  • @reeyees50
    @reeyees50 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

    It was just because of its military, and fell TWICE because of his military, or lack thereof

  • @rolfnilsen6385
    @rolfnilsen6385 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    This reminds me about the western world.. and how..

  • @ElvingsMusings
    @ElvingsMusings หลายเดือนก่อน

    ROMEABOOS AND THEIR CREATIVE INTERPRETATION OF FACTS.I think it takes a very generous interpretation of 'Roman Empire' to claim it lasted 1500 Years when it didn't last those 1500 years as any single contiguous entity for the majority.
    -- The Roman Empire, defined as originating from the conquest of the Mediterranean (i.e. Greece, Hispania, North Africa) dates to about 146 BCE and that lasted till 450s CE, so some 600 years. Which is impressive for sure, but all things considered it's in the general ballpark.
    -- The Eastern Roman Empire/Byzantine Empire being framed as essentially the same as the classical Roman empire and not a significantly reduced wing with territories permanently lost is wishful thinking rightly demolished by Adrian Goldsworthy. If it originated from the founding of Constantinople it lasted from 330 CE to 1204 CE as a single continuous entry, albeit it lost permanently territories in Egypt, Levant, Anatolia by then already. Pockets in Trebizond recovered the state which limped till the Ottomans put it out of a misery (in what was essentially a foregone conclusion).
    The Roman Empire seen clearly isn't an example for longevity at all.

  • @daniell1483
    @daniell1483 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Rome was in the right place, at the right time, with the right people. Looking at its history, it is easy to understand why the Romans thought fate itself was on their side. It sure looks from the outside looking in that the stars themselves aligned for Rome.

  • @Onezy05
    @Onezy05 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Maybe the real Third Rome was the friends we made along the way.

  • @GnomaPhobic
    @GnomaPhobic 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    I always enjoy seeing articles - primarily written by women - flabbergasted by the seeming ubiquity of men's love for Ancient Rome.

    • @Ghiyath981
      @Ghiyath981 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Manchild.

    • @Ghiyath981
      @Ghiyath981 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Manchild energy.

    • @I_Am_Wasabi_Man
      @I_Am_Wasabi_Man 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      where are you going to read these articles? tf do you do in your free time?

  • @Tonyx.yt.
    @Tonyx.yt. 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

    Where is Rome? Point at central Italy
    Where is Constantinople? Point at the Bosporus
    Where is the Roman Empire? Point at the Heart

  • @professorsogol5824
    @professorsogol5824 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Indeed, to this day, ships remain the most cost efficient way to distribute goods and resources around the world. I once read it costs more to get a bottle of Bordeaux across the dock in New York than it does to move it from France to North America by ship.

    • @Fronzel41
      @Fronzel41 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Sounds like taxes. That's cheating.

    • @professorsogol5824
      @professorsogol5824 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@Fronzel41 Actually taxes might make a good way to define a nation state: Is there a central office that handles the accounting necessary to collect taxes and allocate the revenue? Our earliest written records are in fact accounting documents so our knowledge of the earliest empires depends on the bean counters.

    • @Fronzel41
      @Fronzel41 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@professorsogol5824 The Roman Empire was definitely not a nation.

    • @neonity4294
      @neonity4294 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Yeah, because we have giant floating warehouses with the capacity of 20.000 TEU now. Of course your shipping costs per bottle is almost cero if you're able to ship millions of them.

    • @professorsogol5824
      @professorsogol5824 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@neonity4294 I think you miss the point. It makes no difference if you send one case or a hundred cases, the cost per bottle from France to North America, 5,500 km, is a few cents on the bottle. To move those same bottles from from the dock in New York to the shop in New York by truck (10s of kms) is easily twice the cost (per bottle) of getting them across the Atlantic. So yes, the greater carrying capacity of ships both in the era of imperial Rome and now makes loading stuff onto a ship and shipping it much more cost effective than loading it onto 500 horses or a diesel powered 500 horse power truck.

  • @djolley61
    @djolley61 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Could the history of Greece been similar to Rome if Athens had conquered the other Greek city-states?

  • @Staingo_Jenkins
    @Staingo_Jenkins 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Video interaction