From a "great person" perspective - true. But the guy was a Consul, it's like being a failure of a President. Sure you failed, but you still became the fucking President.
Word barbar should come from ancient Greek. Because to Greeks it sounded only like "bar bar bar bar" when some of the "barbarians" spoke. So they stick with it.
in total war WH2, I never auto resolve unless it's against a level 1 garrison. it's almost as if the auto-resolve AI clumps up your army and sends them forward to get surrounded and destroyed.
This series has really given me a new respect for the kind of badass Ceasar was. You so rarely hear about what he actually did in life that its easy to overlook what an amazing commander he was.
He was a great commander but I would more respect him for his populist reforms. And judge him for his bacically what were war crimes in some battles, and dictatorship...Caesar is complicated.
+Sara Samaletdin Time eases those wounds. He may as well have been an early Hitler. If he had not waged war on the Gauls, the genetic makeup of the French people today would be vastly different, given what Caesar did was genocide. But of course it was a different time. Often it seems like humanity has gotten "nicer" in a sense. Like a Roman would look at the War on Terror as nothing big. They'd see ISIS as just another foreign insurrection to squash. It's like what Nietchze said about "Master Morality". The cultures of antiquity valued strength that we'd see as inhumane whereas they'd probably see us as weak. Regardless, I respect Caesar's military and civil accomplishments and his intelligence. It's also the highest degree of irony that by killing him, the conspirators brought about the empire of his of which they so feared.
Not to mention that they made Ceasar into Dictator even though they stated goal was to ruin him and "preserve the Republic" (in quotes as what they really wanted to preserve is actually Oligarchy of the privileged few). They put him in a corner where his only options was to fight or to die in disgrace, options that were no options to someone like Caesar. They, the Boni, were far more responsible for Caesar and hence the Empire than Caesar ever was. Without the Boni, it is almost certain, that Caesar would have became one of the "founders of Rome" such as Marius was, and lived his life in high respect but as a part of a Republic. heck he almost certainly would have strengthen the republic. He wasn't Populist just for power, he did see that Rome was on a verge of a major catastrophe due to its infighting, and that more common people (important to notice that by Populist one can't think he cared about the lower classes) people. I.E. expended the Republic and not end it.
He was highly intelligent, brave and possessed great foresight, anticipating and out-thinking his enemies. He's a scary guy and it's easier to understand why everyone ganged up and assassinated him in the end - he would have been a hundred times more scary in person.
Historia Civilis, 2016: "Someday I'll spend and entire video deconstructing the words 'Caesar Marched on Rome'" Historia Civilis, 2018: *Makes a video deconstructing the idea that Caesar Marched on Rome* I dig it.
Kakto Tak Caesar reminds me of Walt in breaking bad. Like Jesse describes him “Mr White is the devil. He’s smarter than you, he’s luckier than you. Whatever you expect to happen, the complete reverse opposite will happen”. Probably butchered the shit out of that quote but you get the point. How many times did Caesar win battles like this, totally outnumbered and seemingly not having any sort of tactical advantage?
Great video. Worthy of noting that Pompeii's cavalry was largely comprised of aristocrats so that when they crashed into Caesars infantry in waiting spears in hand thrust at their faces they all tucked tail and fled. Pompeii's cavalry was not tough like Caesars legions and he damn well knew that.
Yes, the main body of the cavalry would have been non-roman auxiliaries, drawn from the eastern provinces. However, the officer core would have been roman aristocrats, which often meant extremely inept leadership.
Yeah I was hoping he would have mentioned that. Caesar specifically requested that his infantry aim for the faces of the riders instead of the horses like they would usually, because he knew these rich aristocrats and senators in the cavalry would run scared if they saw spears aiming at their pretty faces. Hilarious in a dark way but also kind of surreal how Caesar could read his opponents like that and plan accordingly. Hannibal would be proud.
Its possible, battle did not last long and there was little skirmishing, so the only deaths on Caeasar's side was during his infantry duking it out with Pompey's. Once the flank was rolled, Pompey's inexperienced troops routed.
Caesar is like the guy who lies all the time and get away with it but the second he catches you in a lie he won’t let go until you are at his feet apologizing. He survives in all kinds of unfavorable situations but once he has the advantage it’s over for you.
_We will accept battle?_ _Certainly. Why not?_ _We are outnumbered three to one on foot and five to one on horse. What uninjured men we have are scared and hungry and desperate._ _That is the advantage we must press home._ _I was not aware irony had military usage._ _We must win or die. Pompey's men have other options._
There's alot of pompey bashing in these comments but the guy was a pro. The battle wasnt as lopsided as it looks. Pompey had the numbers but Caesar had almost exclusively veterans in his army. Men that fought Gauls for almost a decades and lets not forget that on average a gallic soldier was about a foot taller than a roman soldier and those romans veterans were used to fighting at a numerical disadvantage. These are the men that won Alesia. Pompey had a whole lot of half trained troops. Thats why he went deep with no reserves, his barely disciplined men wouldnt stand a chance if the line was broken. All it took was his cavalry to royally mess up to lose the battle. Go look at Caesar's battles in Gaul, his veterans got encircled, ambushed and betrayed and they never crumbled like Pompey's here. Also, is there really any shame in losing agaisnt Caesar? He's easily one of the best general of all time ffs.
Pompey was the one attacking Caesar though - if he was certain that he had a weaker position, he should have allowed Caesar to retreat. It may have been other Senators pushing him to make bad decisions though.
Up until the time of his defeat by Caesar, Pompey was considered the better general. This loss was not alone catastrophic for Caesar's enemies, but I can imagine it would have been a devastating blow to Pompey's confidence as a commander. Like the Teacher being beaten by the Student.
K4inan it's kinda true, Romans were living in a city, and had a less diverse diet. The gauls had a more diverse diet which allowed them to grow faster. This is why hunter gatherers have been so tall throughout history but city dwelling agrarian peoples were quite a bit shorter. That same dynamic is seen between the gauls and the romans
Liam Doyle but gauls were not hunter gatherers but farmers themselves... most romans were also farmers. Their population was mostly concentrated in the countryside and this trend continued until the dawn of industrialisation. So no gauls were not a foot taller. There is no evidence of this
+teslon Have you listened to the History of Rome podcast with Mike Duncan? That's a really good primer to listen to. And if you can get through that and still be interested, ANYTHING Roman history will be fascinating to you.
@Anthony Thank you for suggesting that podcast. I just checked out the first episode and it seems very interesting. Looking forward to hearing some more of it. Dunno if I would have stumbled it otherwise, so thanks again!!
Moral of the story: 1. The training, discipline, morale and experience of the army/team/organisation/(insert any other hierarchical collection of people here) is a critical deciding factor when it comes to defeating competition. 2. When in battle, never allow anyone to get carried away or carry out superfluous actions. If Pompeii's cavalry had done their job and gone back to position instead of charging willy nilly after Caesar's cavalry, history very well might have been different.
Actually the true moral of the story is never let politicians tell you how to command your army. That's why Pompeii came down off the hill because Cato the idiot and the rest of the politicians kept bitching at Pompeii to fight Caesar and get it over with and he caved in to them when he should have kept up with his previous tactic of wearing down Caesars army which was working.
@@johnciol9108 True but the problem was Pompeii had signed in the first place into a project that belonged to these politicians. Did he even have choice? Whereas Caesar faced no such problems because his project had been his and only his from the get go, where everybody understood who was boss, no divided loyalties between the financiers and commanders. (And even if Pompeii could pull off a coup in his side to establish that dynamic in his camp, his Republicanism wouldn't allow him to do it ... otherwise he could've just joined Caesar, crushed the conservatives and then duked it out with Caesar later, like the 2nd Trumvirate did) So maybe the moral is don't sign on to military projects of politicians if you can avoid it?
i absolutely love your channel, you put it in a format that is clear and easily understandable. Seeing the genius of Caesars military mind is almost unbelievable its so incredible. Keep it up!
I can imagine Caesar's discussions with the statisticians... Statistician: For that battle? It was around 2000. Caesar: Drop a zero Statistician: Do what, now? Caesar: You heard me. Drop a zero. We need the hearts and minds.
Battle after battle Ceaser was total boss. And since he often fought with his men, had amazing battle strategies that worked, and had troops with plenty of experience who seen him manage miracles, it was all made easier for him, even when all odds were against him. I love these vids, ive learned so much
I came here from the "Ceasar marches on Rome" video. I follow you since the begining, but I think I never rewatched one of your episodes in which your evolution is so explicit, when comparing these two. Congrats mate
The thing I always find suspicious about causualties in ancient battles is how rounded the numbers are. Surely when you're dealing with tens of thousands you'd try to round to the nearest 10 or 100. "39,999 dead? That's not a very pleasant number. You! fall on your sword!"
Since ancient historians were more story tellers than factual chroniclers so they tended to exaggerate in order to enhance the drama. Caesar on the other hand, was a master of PR so it is highly suspicious that he managed to defeat a force that outnumbered him two to one. It is more likely that both armies were close in numbers which also accounts for Pompey being cautious and not attacking Caesar.
Today the bodies are counted by arranging them in single file and piling them up. Ancient Egyptians counted right hands. Assyrians counted heads. Romans probably counted the bodies by bringing them to a place for burial.
Dear Narrator: I was there for that battle, and I'd like to commend you for reporting on it in an admirable way. However, Caesar was quite accurate in his assessment of his losses. Only 281 of his men were killed, though some thousands more were injured. As these were uniformly non-permanent injuries, he felt ill inclined to record them. A decision which I supported then and I support now.
I wonder if all the centuries looked up to a senior standard bearer for this charge trickery to work out. It's possible that each individual century and their officers saw pompeys line and thought that a charge would be idiotic, then acted on their own accord and luckily everyone was on the same page. I doubt this though since it would be preferable to smash into the enemy all at once rather than a cohort at a time even if it seemed suicidal. All charges seem suicidal.. More likely there was a senior centurion, the chosen man of the legion so to speak that all other centurions looked upon that had the means of ordering simple things like; All Stop, All retreat, All advance, Right or left Flank. By blowing a signal from a horn reserved only for these special orders to make it stand out, perhaps. Take note that the number of 22,000 troops indicates the presence of 4 individual legions. Or even more likely caesar thought of the strong points of the battle field well in advance during the parade-off period and had instructed his 4 Legions the proper response for each enemy chosen eventuality. By no means a small feat. Not to mention the possible rivalries between different Legion commanders. But this was one of the stronger aspects of Caesars character, i suppose, the ability to inspire and unite his officers into the single minded command structure required for an effective fighting force. Impressive and Stunning in any case :D
I never was really in love with military history, but Historia you got me hooked. Thanks for the fantastic videos and insight into Roman culture and history!
If you could do a series following Caesar through the civil war, politics, significant battles, over all campaign progress it would be MUCH appreciated. I'll watch as long as you're uploading!
I fucking love this channel... words cant describe how happy and satisfying watching these videos makes me feel. Thank you so much for everything you do, you have a fanbase that loves and supports you and all the work you put into these
Dude, your videos are so awesome. Always incredibly informative, and you make these weird concepts super easy to understand. Keep it up, dude. I've watched every single video you've put out, and enjoyed every single one.
Pompey should have had a reserve, that could have saved him and it was kind of poor generalship he did not have one (and that he had let himself to be talked to the battle by the other senators in the first place). But otherwise there is nothing he could have done or anticipated the outcome, Caesar's fourth line was completely unexpected as was the work with his infantry and cavalry at the time. Caesar was brilliant with inventing this tactic.
Pompey was a celebrated general though. It's insane that he would suffer such an ignominious defeat when he had superior numbers, supplies, and terrain. This makes me think that Pompey wasn't entirely in control. Perhaps his centurions were over-eager or just had tunnel vision, failing to spot the threat on their flank?
The problem is that Pompey was stuck with all the senators that had fled Rome and that created a command crisis. He probably spent more time asserting his role as commander in chief than actually commanding the army.
Indeed. Pompey's strategy was to force Caesar to surrender by hunger, and he was succeeding. Bibulus fleet while not able to stop Caesar from crossing the Adriatic Sea, was very effective in stopping any kind of supply to Caesar's army. Of course, Pompey's co-commanders, who were a bunch of noobs, wanted a "decisive" battle to finish Caesar and they were the ones who pressured Pompey to face Caesar and very likely the ones who caused the defeat as well.
Have waited for the prequel to this for almost 2 years and now that "Caesar Crosses the Rubicon (52 to 49 B.C.E.)" is out, I can finally watch this one. Glad you did not remove it before that.
In my junior year in high school I was a troubled teen who failed every class but history because I had a teacher who made it fun, much like you. I had an A in that class. I'm acing this one too.
+tetrisclock Well, I doubt Caesar had the amount of men to do what he did to Vercingetorix anyway. After Caesar retreated Pompey would give chase and Caesar would win somehow. I mean, He's Caesar.
I think it's funny how, whenever the cavalry are beaten back in these old battles, they would immediately scatter and flee the scene entirely even if the rest of the army was just fine.
Its over Caesar! I have the high ground! -Pompey You underestimate my legions!! -Caesar Don't try it!! -Pompey (Caesar precedes to march his army away) Wait!? Where are you going!? Aren't you going to try it!? -Pompey (Pompey and his army abandon the high ground and follow Caesar then Pompey and his army gets wrecked in a pitched battle) Well shit he tried it....... Take note Anakin Skywalker....... you should have just walked away so Obiwan would abandon the highground and followed you
You have come such a long way man. These videos are great, I hope Netflix gets in touch for a colab or something, make you rich, because you deserve it.
@@AlexG1020 Wow, I never though you'd be active, and yes lol, this happens to me often, I reply to somebody with some random information and I forget i even made the comment, months later somebody replies to me and I start to think 'when did I make that comment?'
Nine Tailed Box we meet again mr. Box...I'd be ready to create another metric fucktonne of silly ancient names, if I didn't wake up right now. So wait for it Sir!
One important thing to mention is that Caesar was outnumbered but his troops were battle proven veteran while Pompey had more troops but much of his army weren't a professional one. In Caesar camp the morale was high with confidence, while Pompey was low since that even outnumbering Caesar 2 to 1 he still didn't belive he could win. Pompey could win this by starving Caesar but his troops demand a combat to prove their value... well I guess they proved Pompey right.
I started to watch the HBO series Rome. I am at the episode where this battle happens. I interrupted the episode, watched your video, and now I can continue. Your videos are perfect to complete the series. :D
The problem is that the downfall of the West wasn't really because of military defeats. With one or two exceptions, the Romans never suffered a catastrophic defeat in the final years of the Western Rome, it was simply that the political machinery that drove Rome became so dependent on foreign barbarians that it fell to pieces. Think less Romans being overwhelmed by Barbarians, and more the Barbarians becoming the Romans.
In the night before the battle, a meteor (fax) was seen by Caesar falling in the direction of Pompeys camp. So we have not only the exavt day of this event, but also a time, when it came down, it was between midnight and the morning. So Plutarch tells us in his biographies of Caesar and Pompey.
+Historia Civilis I have a question. Will you ever do a video about the campaigns of Belisarius, one of the great but nearly unknown Roman/Byzantine generals. Would be interesting to see you show his campaigns in North Africa and in Italy when the Romans managed to reconquer it.
Such a pity though that such a good general has been virtually forgotten by most people, and that he ended up being betrayed by his own ruler and best friend.
Heck, the dude could have ended up completing the conquest of the Italian peninsula, and carved a land route to connect Italy to the Balkans once more.
I can't get enough of Gaius Julius Caesar ! I just stumbled across your channel I love it ! I love audiobooks on Rome and Julius Caesar. I can't get enough I'm a Rome Junkie. You got a new subscriber in me. The HBO series Rome rules. It's the best TV show or series I've ever seen. Game of Thrones is good but Rome was great.
"He died as he lived -- disappointingly"
Shit son. He felt that burn in the afterlife.
Dude becomes an Admiral of the greatest nation to ever exist and still gets roasted by burger flippers.
@@Kathayne636
Perfect XD
Yes in his non existent afterlife
@@parthiancapitalist2733 Buzz kill
"Some men are born great,
some achieve greatness,
some get it as a graduation gift...."
-- Robin Williams
"He died as he lived, dissapointingly"
damn dude thats harsh
Savage, or as they say in ancient terms - barbaric. I'll show myself out.
+Tim Go doest barbarus most of the times mean non Roman.
From a "great person" perspective - true. But the guy was a Consul, it's like being a failure of a President. Sure you failed, but you still became the fucking President.
Word barbar should come from ancient Greek. Because to Greeks it sounded only like "bar bar bar bar" when some of the "barbarians" spoke. So they stick with it.
Well, better than risking getting tortured to death after caesar won the battle.
Pompey was probably asking if they could just autoresolve this.
He almost did! But he listened to his adviser and manually fought the battle.
How crazy, the Roman Empire could have been stopped here on this day.
in total war WH2, I never auto resolve unless it's against a level 1 garrison. it's almost as if the auto-resolve AI clumps up your army and sends them forward to get surrounded and destroyed.
When you auto resolve, general's command stars are also taken into consideration. Let's just say Caesar's command stars are lit asf!
Autoresolves always makes me loose, even with the best units in large numbers against outnumbered weak enemy units.
LMAO.
At 3:40 I was like "Where did those three squares of Ceasar go?". Definitly wasn't disappointed.
I thought they where mules for moving the camp for a while xD
Thought it was just a visual fail from the editing xd. That they were replaced by the infantry on the left or something ^^
5:43 - "You've activated my trap card!"
P K I
I was more like pompei and didn't notice them go ...rip legions
This series has really given me a new respect for the kind of badass Ceasar was. You so rarely hear about what he actually did in life that its easy to overlook what an amazing commander he was.
He was a great commander but I would more respect him for his populist reforms. And judge him for his bacically what were war crimes in some battles, and dictatorship...Caesar is complicated.
+Sara Samaletdin Time eases those wounds. He may as well have been an early Hitler. If he had not waged war on the Gauls, the genetic makeup of the French people today would be vastly different, given what Caesar did was genocide. But of course it was a different time. Often it seems like humanity has gotten "nicer" in a sense. Like a Roman would look at the War on Terror as nothing big. They'd see ISIS as just another foreign insurrection to squash. It's like what Nietchze said about "Master Morality". The cultures of antiquity valued strength that we'd see as inhumane whereas they'd probably see us as weak. Regardless, I respect Caesar's military and civil accomplishments and his intelligence. It's also the highest degree of irony that by killing him, the conspirators brought about the empire of his of which they so feared.
Not really that ironic, most political assassinations have the opposite effect, Jean-Paul Marat comes to mind.
Not to mention that they made Ceasar into Dictator even though they stated goal was to ruin him and "preserve the Republic" (in quotes as what they really wanted to preserve is actually Oligarchy of the privileged few). They put him in a corner where his only options was to fight or to die in disgrace, options that were no options to someone like Caesar. They, the Boni, were far more responsible for Caesar and hence the Empire than Caesar ever was.
Without the Boni, it is almost certain, that Caesar would have became one of the "founders of Rome" such as Marius was, and lived his life in high respect but as a part of a Republic. heck he almost certainly would have strengthen the republic. He wasn't Populist just for power, he did see that Rome was on a verge of a major catastrophe due to its infighting, and that more common people (important to notice that by Populist one can't think he cared about the lower classes) people. I.E. expended the Republic and not end it.
He was highly intelligent, brave and possessed great foresight, anticipating and out-thinking his enemies. He's a scary guy and it's easier to understand why everyone ganged up and assassinated him in the end - he would have been a hundred times more scary in person.
I wonder if this Ceaser guy will win in the end.
+Ludwin V Isn't that Charlie Martel?
see for yourself......
(If I remember correctly, Julius Caesar is the most famous Roman in History)
azteca ddress Yeah I know he made those famous salads. But maybe that was before this war.
that's why you eat Caesar salad by stabbing the lettuce
I heard he did, after salting the earth of Carthage
Historia Civilis, 2016: "Someday I'll spend and entire video deconstructing the words 'Caesar Marched on Rome'"
Historia Civilis, 2018: *Makes a video deconstructing the idea that Caesar Marched on Rome*
I dig it.
Cool but the word deconstruct is super lame. Just say “break-down” instead.
@@keenansmith3418 nothing’s lamer than criticizing a perfect use of a word.
@Heberth R. it’s Caesar Marches on Rome, right after Caesar Crosses the Rubicon
*It's over Caesar! I have the high ground!*
You underestimate my power
*Don't try it!*
Well shit, he tried it.
Anakin should have just walked away until Obi-Wan followed him.
Vito C Pompey: Its over Ceaser I have the high Ground!
Ceaser: But can you do its?
It's the other way around in this case. Pompey abandoned the positional advantage because he thought the numerical advantage was enough. It wasn't.
Kakto Tak Caesar reminds me of Walt in breaking bad. Like Jesse describes him “Mr White is the devil. He’s smarter than you, he’s luckier than you. Whatever you expect to happen, the complete reverse opposite will happen”. Probably butchered the shit out of that quote but you get the point. How many times did Caesar win battles like this, totally outnumbered and seemingly not having any sort of tactical advantage?
Bibulus is the original Jeb Bush.
He's a good, good little moose.
Please clap.
Remeber when he got kicked out of the venue when making a speech? Times were so much more pleasant back then...
SLOW AND STEADY
Bib is a mess.
Great video. Worthy of noting that Pompeii's cavalry was largely comprised of aristocrats so that when they crashed into Caesars infantry in waiting spears in hand thrust at their faces they all tucked tail and fled. Pompeii's cavalry was not tough like Caesars legions and he damn well knew that.
Wasn't Pompey's cavalry (and most Roman cavalry really) made uo from non-Romans, in this case Pompey's eastern allies?
Yes, the main body of the cavalry would have been non-roman auxiliaries, drawn from the eastern provinces. However, the officer core would have been roman aristocrats, which often meant extremely inept leadership.
Sara Samaletdin I'm citing from 'Rubicon' by Tom Holland. Great read btw Much recommended
Yeah I was hoping he would have mentioned that. Caesar specifically requested that his infantry aim for the faces of the riders instead of the horses like they would usually, because he knew these rich aristocrats and senators in the cavalry would run scared if they saw spears aiming at their pretty faces.
Hilarious in a dark way but also kind of surreal how Caesar could read his opponents like that and plan accordingly. Hannibal would be proud.
CanadianCaesar hol up, the troops may have been aux shite, but the cav was led by caesars old right hand man titus labienus
"he died as he lived, disappointingly."
Harsh, man. Harsh.
How many men did you lose Caesar?
Oh, idk. 100
....
200?
How many did you kill or capture?
ALL OF THEM
Definition of 'no chill'
BLARGH
Lol I just imagined Caesar sitting on a throne all relaxed and shit and giving an interview, then suddenly shouting "ALL OF THEM!"
"EVERYONE!"
Its possible, battle did not last long and there was little skirmishing, so the only deaths on Caeasar's side was during his infantry duking it out with Pompey's. Once the flank was rolled, Pompey's inexperienced troops routed.
Caesar is like the guy who lies all the time and get away with it but the second he catches you in a lie he won’t let go until you are at his feet apologizing. He survives in all kinds of unfavorable situations but once he has the advantage it’s over for you.
_We will accept battle?_
_Certainly. Why not?_
_We are outnumbered three to one on foot and five to one on horse. What uninjured men we have are scared and hungry and desperate._
_That is the advantage we must press home._
_I was not aware irony had military usage._
_We must win or die. Pompey's men have other options._
I wanna watch it again so bad now
P U L L O F O R M A T I O N !!!
what show??
HBO's Rome, a short lived but great TV series about the late Roman Republic.
@@cheerfulpessimist952
Entertaining as fuck, surely. Great? Eh...
"He died as he lived, disappointingly"
2066 year burn
There's alot of pompey bashing in these comments but the guy was a pro. The battle wasnt as lopsided as it looks. Pompey had the numbers but Caesar had almost exclusively veterans in his army. Men that fought Gauls for almost a decades and lets not forget that on average a gallic soldier was about a foot taller than a roman soldier and those romans veterans were used to fighting at a numerical disadvantage. These are the men that won Alesia. Pompey had a whole lot of half trained troops. Thats why he went deep with no reserves, his barely disciplined men wouldnt stand a chance if the line was broken. All it took was his cavalry to royally mess up to lose the battle. Go look at Caesar's battles in Gaul, his veterans got encircled, ambushed and betrayed and they never crumbled like Pompey's here.
Also, is there really any shame in losing agaisnt Caesar? He's easily one of the best general of all time ffs.
Pompey was the one attacking Caesar though - if he was certain that he had a weaker position, he should have allowed Caesar to retreat. It may have been other Senators pushing him to make bad decisions though.
Klio Seth on average a gallic soldier was a foot taller than a roman soldier.... thats just pulled out of your ass lol
Up until the time of his defeat by Caesar, Pompey was considered the better general. This loss was not alone catastrophic for Caesar's enemies, but I can imagine it would have been a devastating blow to Pompey's confidence as a commander. Like the Teacher being beaten by the Student.
K4inan it's kinda true, Romans were living in a city, and had a less diverse diet. The gauls had a more diverse diet which allowed them to grow faster. This is why hunter gatherers have been so tall throughout history but city dwelling agrarian peoples were quite a bit shorter. That same dynamic is seen between the gauls and the romans
Liam Doyle but gauls were not hunter gatherers but farmers themselves... most romans were also farmers. Their population was mostly concentrated in the countryside and this trend continued until the dawn of industrialisation. So no gauls were not a foot taller. There is no evidence of this
Oh please do that "Caesar marched on Rome" video, pretty please
you should read up on it! it's super cool
I don't trust you Hitler!
hey man, dont hate. appreciate.
Watch HBO's "Rome".
+Baki Tatar I agree with you Rome HBO serie is great start, it's still not fully accurate but at least it gives you the main lines of the story.
i love roman history so much
me too, mostly because I actually dont know that much about it :D
+teslon Have you listened to the History of Rome podcast with Mike Duncan? That's a really good primer to listen to. And if you can get through that and still be interested, ANYTHING Roman history will be fascinating to you.
Anthony Italiano will think about it
@Anthony Thank you for suggesting that podcast. I just checked out the first episode and it seems very interesting. Looking forward to hearing some more of it. Dunno if I would have stumbled it otherwise, so thanks again!!
We need more channels like this. Like how many know about Sulla.
After seeing all Historia Civilis videos:
"Caesar marched on Rome" = "Caesar is *fed up with your SHIT.*"
Moral of the story:
1. The training, discipline, morale and experience of the army/team/organisation/(insert any other hierarchical collection of people here) is a critical deciding factor when it comes to defeating competition.
2. When in battle, never allow anyone to get carried away or carry out superfluous actions. If Pompeii's cavalry had done their job and gone back to position instead of charging willy nilly after Caesar's cavalry, history very well might have been different.
Actually the true moral of the story is never let politicians tell you how to command your army. That's why Pompeii came down off the hill because Cato the idiot and the rest of the politicians kept bitching at Pompeii to fight Caesar and get it over with and he caved in to them when he should have kept up with his previous tactic of wearing down Caesars army which was working.
@@johnciol9108 True but the problem was Pompeii had signed in the first place into a project that belonged to these politicians.
Did he even have choice?
Whereas Caesar faced no such problems because his project had been his and only his from the get go, where everybody understood who was boss, no divided loyalties between the financiers and commanders.
(And even if Pompeii could pull off a coup in his side to establish that dynamic in his camp, his Republicanism wouldn't allow him to do it ... otherwise he could've just joined Caesar, crushed the conservatives and then duked it out with Caesar later, like the 2nd Trumvirate did)
So maybe the moral is don't sign on to military projects of politicians if you can avoid it?
@@tiffles3890 very true. Pompeii and Caesar actually had a peace deal worked out which Cato and other politicians screwed up.
1:43 that was cold, if you get any dislikes you know Bibulus got Internet
As of July 30 2018, 101 descendants of Bibulus have watched this video.
"I dont know who this Bibulus is but he sure sounds disappointing"
heeeey TFS reference.
Like Jeb Bush
@@lorddashdonalddappington2653 hey guys, I was holding a blockade in this area and saw that some of you got through and OHGODWHY! (dies at sea)
wrg, idts, cepuxitx, any be perfect
The Yamcha of antiquity
I don't know what's a bigger burn on Biblius. The "died as he lived... disappointingly" or the "Biblius award".
This is the best Microsoft Paint soap opera I've ever seen!
He died as he lived... dissapointingly. Pretty sure thats what my tombstone will read
i absolutely love your channel, you put it in a format that is clear and easily understandable. Seeing the genius of Caesars military mind is almost unbelievable its so incredible. Keep it up!
At first I disliked the simplicity of the animations, but they have grown on me. I have watched all your videos. Can't wait for more.
I can imagine Caesar's discussions with the statisticians...
Statistician: For that battle? It was around 2000.
Caesar: Drop a zero
Statistician: Do what, now?
Caesar: You heard me. Drop a zero. We need the hearts and minds.
He is basically the legend of total war of his era so 200 seems rather reasonable.
@@pira707
Not like Legend could command an army to pull that off. Hell, no one else could pull that off.
May Mars bless Civilis, for he has released a new video! Rome is Mother to us all!
Battle after battle Ceaser was total boss. And since he often fought with his men, had amazing battle strategies that worked, and had troops with plenty of experience who seen him manage miracles, it was all made easier for him, even when all odds were against him. I love these vids, ive learned so much
Love the 'His year' series, but glad to see you're changing it up.
I came here from the "Ceasar marches on Rome" video. I follow you since the begining, but I think I never rewatched one of your episodes in which your evolution is so explicit, when comparing these two. Congrats mate
Im glad I got to see you deliver on your promise!
Never stop making these videos.
The thing I always find suspicious about causualties in ancient battles is how rounded the numbers are. Surely when you're dealing with tens of thousands you'd try to round to the nearest 10 or 100.
"39,999 dead? That's not a very pleasant number. You! fall on your sword!"
Well numbers can be romanticised, and who really could be arsed to count that many dead bodies xD
Since ancient historians were more story tellers than factual chroniclers so they tended to exaggerate in order to enhance the drama. Caesar on the other hand, was a master of PR so it is highly suspicious that he managed to defeat a force that outnumbered him two to one. It is more likely that both armies were close in numbers which also accounts for Pompey being cautious and not attacking Caesar.
you know how hard it is to count mutilated corpses in a mile long pile? you round the numbers. we do that today too
Today the bodies are counted by arranging them in single file and piling them up. Ancient Egyptians counted right hands. Assyrians counted heads. Romans probably counted the bodies by bringing them to a place for burial.
Larry Zambrano still theres parts all over the place
You're one of my favorite channels now
Dear Narrator:
I was there for that battle, and I'd like to commend you for reporting on it in an admirable way. However, Caesar was quite accurate in his assessment of his losses. Only 281 of his men were killed, though some thousands more were injured. As these were uniformly non-permanent injuries, he felt ill inclined to record them. A decision which I supported then and I support now.
dafuq
I was there too. I stayed in the camp though cause I'm a notorious coward.
Here then, this is all the proof we need
Probably quoting some latin text or something.
I was in the battle too, I was a cavalry horse back then!
I wonder if all the centuries looked up to a senior standard bearer for this charge trickery to work out.
It's possible that each individual century and their officers saw pompeys line and thought that a charge would be idiotic, then acted on their own accord and luckily everyone was on the same page. I doubt this though since it would be preferable to smash into the enemy all at once rather than a cohort at a time even if it seemed suicidal. All charges seem suicidal..
More likely there was a senior centurion, the chosen man of the legion so to speak that all other centurions looked upon that had the means of ordering simple things like; All Stop, All retreat, All advance, Right or left Flank. By blowing a signal from a horn reserved only for these special orders to make it stand out, perhaps.
Take note that the number of 22,000 troops indicates the presence of 4 individual legions.
Or even more likely caesar thought of the strong points of the battle field well in advance during the parade-off period and had instructed his 4 Legions the proper response for each enemy chosen eventuality. By no means a small feat.
Not to mention the possible rivalries between different Legion commanders.
But this was one of the stronger aspects of Caesars character, i suppose, the ability to inspire and unite his officers into the single minded command structure required for an effective fighting force.
Impressive and Stunning in any case :D
If you were a teacher, people would actually be interested.
I think you only like this because you watch it willingly
Ikr???
Yeah its just a shame everything they teach in schools is based on an exam (at least here in the UK)
Your point? Historia makes me want to watch it, willingly.
It is like this all over the world
I never was really in love with military history, but Historia you got me hooked. Thanks for the fantastic videos and insight into Roman culture and history!
If you could do a series following Caesar through the civil war, politics, significant battles, over all campaign progress it would be MUCH appreciated. I'll watch as long as you're uploading!
I fucking love this channel... words cant describe how happy and satisfying watching these videos makes me feel.
Thank you so much for everything you do, you have a fanbase that loves and supports you and all the work you put into these
I'm glad you finally made that explanation video!
What a bold and brilliant move by Caesar! Great video, really explained the battle properly for me, even though I read about it in the past.
This is just more proof that Caesar was a Master of training and developing any force under his command
It can't be overstated how much of that training was in a dominant understanding of logistics as well.
Dude, your videos are so awesome. Always incredibly informative, and you make these weird concepts super easy to understand.
Keep it up, dude. I've watched every single video you've put out, and enjoyed every single one.
Pompey should have had a reserve, that could have saved him and it was kind of poor generalship he did not have one (and that he had let himself to be talked to the battle by the other senators in the first place). But otherwise there is nothing he could have done or anticipated the outcome, Caesar's fourth line was completely unexpected as was the work with his infantry and cavalry at the time. Caesar was brilliant with inventing this tactic.
Just shows that flexing your muscles never really works ;)
Pompey was a celebrated general though. It's insane that he would suffer such an ignominious defeat when he had superior numbers, supplies, and terrain. This makes me think that Pompey wasn't entirely in control. Perhaps his centurions were over-eager or just had tunnel vision, failing to spot the threat on their flank?
The problem is that Pompey was stuck with all the senators that had fled Rome and that created a command crisis. He probably spent more time asserting his role as commander in chief than actually commanding the army.
too many chefs spoil the soup
Indeed. Pompey's strategy was to force Caesar to surrender by hunger, and he was succeeding. Bibulus fleet while not able to stop Caesar from crossing the Adriatic Sea, was very effective in stopping any kind of supply to Caesar's army.
Of course, Pompey's co-commanders, who were a bunch of noobs, wanted a "decisive" battle to finish Caesar and they were the ones who pressured Pompey to face Caesar and very likely the ones who caused the defeat as well.
this deserves an award man .. your work is awesome .
I can't even watch right now, i just opened to give a like and watch later.
This is how good this channel is.
Have waited for the prequel to this for almost 2 years and now that "Caesar Crosses the Rubicon (52 to 49 B.C.E.)" is out, I can finally watch this one. Glad you did not remove it before that.
A revisit from The Fall of Pompey. Just as enjoying as the first time I watched it couple years back.
"if I were smart enough to think of it, it's what I would've done", it's this attitude of yours that keeps me coming back. Knowledgeable but humble
In my junior year in high school I was a troubled teen who failed every class but history because I had a teacher who made it fun, much like you. I had an A in that class. I'm acing this one too.
I've just torn through your videos about Caesar's Civil war and this is like a prequel to an epic series of movies. These are legit so good!!
I wonder what would have happebed to History of Pompey never left the hill.
happened*
he would've lost later
lol
Look at what happened to Vercingetorix...
+tetrisclock Well, I doubt Caesar had the amount of men to do what he did to Vercingetorix anyway.
After Caesar retreated Pompey would give chase and Caesar would win somehow. I mean, He's Caesar.
One of the best channels on TH-cam, in my humble opinion. Keep up the good work!
“He died as he lived: disappointingly.” SAVAGE
Keep making more videos about caesar please. You are the only channel I come to learn about history of rome and the era itself.
0:11 and this day has came
It's 5:30 in the morning.. I've stopped preparing for college for this!!! Addicted to this channel!!!
YASSSS, ANOTHER HISTORIA CIVILIS UPLOAD
I get so excited when you post videos! Thanks for doing what you do. :D
well, theres 7 more minutes I wont be getting of sleep.
I think it's funny how, whenever the cavalry are beaten back in these old battles, they would immediately scatter and flee the scene entirely even if the rest of the army was just fine.
Its over Caesar! I have the high ground!
-Pompey
You underestimate my legions!!
-Caesar
Don't try it!!
-Pompey
(Caesar precedes to march his army away)
Wait!? Where are you going!? Aren't you going to try it!?
-Pompey
(Pompey and his army abandon the high ground and follow Caesar then Pompey and his army gets wrecked in a pitched battle)
Well shit he tried it.......
Take note Anakin Skywalker....... you should have just walked away so Obiwan would abandon the highground and followed you
You have come such a long way man. These videos are great, I hope Netflix gets in touch for a colab or something, make you rich, because you deserve it.
Who else came back after the new Rubicon vid?
Slenderbanana880 me
this guy gets it
What about Espania?
yup
Me
Thank you so much for uploading this video. It is helping me get through the pandemic!
Pompey engaged his cavalry much too soon. The Byzantines would later promote a rule that whoever held his cavalry reserve last won the battle.
Cavalry is really important, especially if the enemy only has heavy infantry.
I don't ever remember saying this lol no idea where I regurgitated that from
@@AlexG1020 Wow, I never though you'd be active, and yes lol, this happens to me often, I reply to somebody with some random information and I forget i even made the comment, months later somebody replies to me and I start to think 'when did I make that comment?'
I love this channel so much. I can't get enough. Every time a video comes out I get excited. Keep up the good work!
Ayyy. Finally deconstructed “Caesar Marched on Rome”.
poor Bibiboy kicked the bucket....
bibiboy seriously no stop please i am crying
Nine Tailed Box we meet again mr. Box...I'd be ready to create another metric fucktonne of silly ancient names, if I didn't wake up right now. So wait for it Sir!
Kónya Márton no... you.... NOOOOOOO
Bro I love how you address the issue of Caesar possibly exaggerating
One important thing to mention is that Caesar was outnumbered but his troops were battle proven veteran while Pompey had more troops but much of his army weren't a professional one. In Caesar camp the morale was high with confidence, while Pompey was low since that even outnumbering Caesar 2 to 1 he still didn't belive he could win.
Pompey could win this by starving Caesar but his troops demand a combat to prove their value... well I guess they proved Pompey right.
im so happy this channel is back
Poor Bibilus. Man just could not catch a break.
One of your best videos to date, very detailed.
You can watch this in 2160p. And see what, the perfect outlines of your rectangles? XD
I started to watch the HBO series Rome. I am at the episode where this battle happens. I interrupted the episode, watched your video, and now I can continue. Your videos are perfect to complete the series. :D
Historia Civilis, to this date fulfilled his promise
Great shit man! More battles! More more more!! You prolly have the best sound and quality on youtube doin this as far as iv found!
Will you ever do more battles about the Roman downfall when barbarians started to pressure the frontier?
Kind of a pity the western half of the Empire fell. Pity Justinian was never able to reconquer it.
The problem is that the downfall of the West wasn't really because of military defeats. With one or two exceptions, the Romans never suffered a catastrophic defeat in the final years of the Western Rome, it was simply that the political machinery that drove Rome became so dependent on foreign barbarians that it fell to pieces. Think less Romans being overwhelmed by Barbarians, and more the Barbarians becoming the Romans.
He reconquered it, but he was unable to manage it because of military engagements on the East
Alfredo. He couldn't manage to reconquer the entire Peninsula and secure his gains though, largely due to Justinian.
Indeed by this time most of the "barbarians" had actually been soldiers of Rome and fought the Roman way. They actually wanted to be Roman citizens.
These videos are AMAZING. Please never stop!
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
I wasn't first,
And neither were you.
What the fuck?
Your poems suck!
Here's a buck,
Now quack like a duck!
John Karavitis You owe me a dollar.
TKWeckroth
Come get it!
Beta male detected
John Matrix In your mirror, yes. Just look away. Problem solved.
"quit playing with Ceasar"
>*Implying Ceasar plays*
Who's here after The Fall of Pompey video?
Revisiting it :)
Thank you for keeping up with these superb videos, you are the most didactic battle explainer on TH-cam :)
for as brilliant a tactician Caesar was [and he was]........ his soldiers were legit badasses.
In the night before the battle, a meteor (fax) was seen by Caesar falling in the direction of Pompeys camp. So we have not only the exavt day of this event, but also a time, when it came down, it was between midnight and the morning. So Plutarch tells us in his biographies of Caesar and Pompey.
He has finally deconstructed "Ceasar marched on Rome"... kinda. I suppose the next video is the proper one
OMG a new video from Historia Civilis. My day is complete!
+Historia Civilis
I have a question. Will you ever do a video about the campaigns of Belisarius, one of the great but nearly unknown Roman/Byzantine generals. Would be interesting to see you show his campaigns in North Africa and in Italy when the Romans managed to reconquer it.
Well he got known on TH-cam after the Extra History focus on Justinian. :D
Heh, that's exactly where I heard of him for the first time.
+Firecage I heard of him in a list of the 20 best generals of all time
Such a pity though that such a good general has been virtually forgotten by most people, and that he ended up being betrayed by his own ruler and best friend.
Heck, the dude could have ended up completing the conquest of the Italian peninsula, and carved a land route to connect Italy to the Balkans once more.
That old Historia Civilis soundtrack, lol. I love the current music tracks.
"And if I were smart enough to think of it, it is what I would have done."
xD
I kinda feel bad for Bibulous. His whole life can kinda be summed up as "embarrassed by Caesar".
"He died as he lived: disappointingly."
Jesus Christ.
I can't get enough of Gaius Julius Caesar ! I just stumbled across your channel I love it ! I love audiobooks on Rome and Julius Caesar. I can't get enough I'm a Rome Junkie. You got a new subscriber in me. The HBO series Rome rules. It's the best TV show or series I've ever seen. Game of Thrones is good but Rome was great.
He died as he lived - disappointingly
SHIIIIIIIEEEEEETTTT
Never change, friend. These style of videos _need_ to be made.
0:08 it took almost 2 fucking years