Notes/additional info: 1. Should the empire be called Byzantine, Roman or Greek? I see people arguing for each of these in the comments and there is merit to each of these; but it is important to note that they called themselves Roman, they were majority Greek in population and language spoken, and the term Byzantine is useful in differentiating the time period and has been colloquially used for a long time (although not during the empire) Being a reference to the earlier name of Byzantium for the city of Constantinople. 2. When I refer to “native troops” this includes many other ethnic groups living within the empire, notably the Armenians who lived in Anatolia for hundreds of years and had assimilated in many ways but maintained different views on aspects of the Christian faith which was the most striking differentiating factor between them and the rest of the population of the empire. 3. The Strategos and Domestikos label should be switched on the captions at 6 mins 17 secs in. A Strategos led a Thema(ta) and a Domestikos led a Tagma(ta). Unfortunately I switched those my accident and starred at the screen for a while and did not notice that…sorry guys ;( 4. The Vargarian guard was a personal bodyguard unit to the emperor which are pretty cool, they were mostly comprised of Norsemen(Scandinavians), Rus and Saxons. They are the unit I refer too when I mention a Scandinavian unit. 5. The coolest unit (in my opinion) that I did not mention was the Akritai which were kinda like the Cossacks in that they were a loosely controlled border guard on the eastern side of the empire; and were the subject of much folklore and poems and such.
The western Europeans called the Empire "Greek" in Latin, as they wanted to de-legitimize the Roman heritage of the Eastern Empire. The Eastern Roman Empire, perceived that as an insult, as the translation of "Graecus" in Greek, meant at that time "pagan". They called themselves Romans, but in Greek, "Romaioi". The word "Byzantine" was coined by historians during the 19th century. The first term that was considered to be used in modern historiography was the "Graeco-Roman" Empire. It would be most accurate, but also confusing, as the term "graeco-roman" is used in art and sports in a completely different context. The term "Byzantine" was preferred, as it was indeed used by some "Byzantine" scholars during the 12th and 13th century, when remembering the Greek past of the Empire was no longer considered shameful, and Constantinople was compared by some Byzantines as "a new Byzantium" during some correspondence with western academics. If you think about it, calling them "Byzantines" is an indirect way of calling them "Greeks". The actual ancient "Byzantines" were in fact the Greek founders of the colony of Byzantium, that was later replaced by Constantinople.
Graceo-Roman would by far be the most accurate term to describe both the people and character of the Empire. Also the Greek identity rebirth under the successor Empire of Nicaea really cant be evidence for the Actual Byzantine Empire saying as how Nicaea was actually all Greek ethically and territory wise and far more culturally wise. In my opinion in academics Roman civilization should separated like this Roman Kingdom Roman Republic Roman Empire Byzantine Empire Empire of Nicaea/Palaiologos Byzantium.
And we have to notice is that the fact is that modern greeks are more relative to Byzantine greeks than ancient greeks... And we can all understand that Byzantine empire withstood 1100 years around a barbaric world.... They treat others tough but think in what world they lived in.... Muslims, persians, slavs, huns, mongols, goths and other german tribes... pirates, vikings, revolts... And in all of that an empire thay have universities, justice system, tax system, a continuous coin from 350 AD to 1100AD... And sure a big downfall that we can compare it as the downfall of ancient greece when athenians were become so lazy before romans conquered greece thay they didnt fight... Byzantines suffered the same, they didnt make kids, people lost their unity, men became monks so didn't serve the army, economic collapse and forget about their past... As also happens today in modern greece and generally all the world... History repeats itself we have to learn from that so to make our future better... Also i wanted to mention, imagine a Hollywood movie about the conquer of Constantinople... 8.000 men vs more than 200.000 horde army... One king speaking inside the walls about faith, christianity and self sacrifice and the other about raping, butchering and looting for 3 days.... And the answet of palaiologos to moameth to surrender the city and he would give him wealth etc was... To give you the city it's not on my hands neither on its citizens, because all of us like a complete soul prefer to die with our will and do not pitty our lives.... And think about the ottomans after chain virgin girls in hagia sofia and raped them and butcher them... Its islam.. this was and it is.... This song speak about akritas digenis a nice byzantine novel that speak about an akritas loved a girl and died... th-cam.com/video/lqEF6noNj1s/w-d-xo.html
Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened :) And it's not even over, there are still descendants of Roman citizens and the Christian world is a heir to the Roman Empire. Rome's legacy lives on, so "Roma Aeterna" never ceases to be true.
@@iihhtt Dynastically speaking Greeks and Anatolian Turks are descendants from Eastern Roman times. Not to mention there were many royal marriages between between Turks and Eastern Romans.
@@ii121 Yeah! As a Turk I weep to see Mehmed's descendants not following his vision of establishing Roman Empire and instead going the fundamentalist religious path. Ah... The sorrow. I feel powerful just imagining the glory of Ottomans reforming Roman Empire.
Gotta admit, they have some of the most unique armors in the medieval world. A shame that there's not more coverage of them since they were still the Roman empire.
Well, it's changing now somewhat.. Byzantines went from being a "footnote" in history, really, to being re-discovered by Western historians in the recent years. The thing is, much of what was written by historians in the past was either propaganda or misinformation, and modern historians have to work against many stereotypes connected with the Empire. Still, we're talking about just a few enthousiastic Western scholars here. Most of the common people don't even know about the Empire's existance. There is just not enough coverage about it in the media. Just think about how widely represented the Romans are in their ancient, republican and early imperial era, yet there is not a single movie about their medieval history. I doubt it will change anytime soon, though.
You should see african armor the sahelian (Sudan mali northern nigeria/ghana Chad Niger Ethiopia and Somalia) armor its a mixture of middle easter and native methods of armormentation
well it was not really an empire at that point..just 1 city with a population of around 30k.....more like a village really. And the head was called basileus not emperor. So not even empire on paper. On paper the eastern Roman empire ceased bring one with Heracleus as the ruler stopped being called emperor and it lost the last vestiges of its imperial apparatus with Komnenos and then it was essentially not even empire in its function
You fail to understand that being an Empire doesn’t mean a massive state that rules over many ethnicities. That is the modern definition and not the old one. Before the colonial age being an Empire was a political system, like being a democracy, a republic, a kingdom etc. To have an Empire you need to have an Imperator, an Emperor, meaning a person who in the name of the Res Publicas has all powers on him. Thus as they had one (Constantine Dragatses Palaeologos) they were an Empire.
Actually the Comnene dynasty was one of the best in Byzantine history, at least Alexius, John (especially him, though not as famous as he should be) and the most part of Michael's reign). Sadly the Empire was already weakened before Alexius became emperor
crusaders were betrayed by the emperors this is why they sacked constantinople. He took them as mercenaries to place him into power and take away the previous empire and didn't have money to pay them. However, they did extreme barbarian things after that. The sacking was extreme. So extreme that the Pope punished many of them by excommunicating them from the Catholic church.
Thanks for doing this, man. I've been studying East Roman history for about 9 years now and it's absolutely incredible. Such a criminally underrated aspect of Roman and Greek history.
its not "underrated", it was combated deliberately by Anglo Saxon historians of 18th and 19th century, most notably but not restricted to the infamous Gibbon. Since the late 19th century the study of Eastern Rome had sparked from France and Greece and now is more popular. Never forget that it isnt just "underrated" but westerners deliberately wanted to bury it and failed
Very true. When I said the army became more Native, Christian and loyal that includes the Armenians who had lived in Anatolia for hundreds of years... which by that point I would consider them native. Especially compared to earlier Roman armies that actively recruited from beyond their borders on a larger scale.
@Basil II of Macedon the Vardaskan slayer Why so butthurt, though? I don't get you Greeks. You get to be Greeks AND Roman at the same time, yet you deny it. Meh.
@Basil II of Macedon the Vardaskan slayer Non-Greeks were Romans under the Empire to. we have proof of numerous Ethic Bulgarian and Armenian Families being called Roman while under the Empire, The Empire was Greco-Roman and the fusion of Greek and Roman Culture with Roman Citizenship and Christian faith being the most important aspects of the people.
@Basil II of Macedon the Vardaskan slayer Wait, but the Romans saw the Greeks as conquered people. and therefore inferior to them. Romans did take Greek art and Architecture and the Nobility spoke both Latin and Greek, but they didn't like it. The fact that a conquered people (Greeks) were so unique in their culture that Romans would copy it, and they wanted the Latin culture to be the dominant one through out the empire. That is the point of an Empire, to spread your culture through warfare.
@Basil II of Macedon the Vardaskan slayer im not talking about modern day im talking abiut the non-Greek ethic groups of the empire that were considered Romans. If you served the Emperor in Constantinople, were a Christian and had a basic understanding of greek you were considered Roman. Zero difference between a Greek and Armenian Citizen of the Empire, Religion was far more important than ethnicity.
Medieval politics is ever changing and very complex in the case of the 4th Crusade the Crusaders ran out of cash so they borrowed cash from Venice resulting to their excommunication by the Pope and resulting in the sacking of Constantinople as the Crusaders became Venician muscle.
From a backwater to a massive republic to a massive empire to a split empire to a smaller empire, then back to a massive empire, decline back into a smaller empire, then rising again as a large empire before finally declining and being rolled over by their neighbours and spending it's twilight as a backwater. 2200 years, complete circle for the Roman Empire.
I tend to nervously check the podcast's website at the end of every week, as the new episodes are published around that time, yet there was no update today, sadly. :P
May Allah the Victory Giver never let the disbelieving people smell the fragrance of ISTANBUL! May Allah bless the mujahideen who conquered that city and made it the jewel of the entire world! May Allah give the Taqwa and Tawfiq to the Muslimeen so we can strive in the way of the pious predecessors!
Thanks, Phil! The Byzantines would be an awesome army to paint. I did paint some byzantine banners that I had on my imperium/guard army in 40k army...but maybe one day will make a proper Byzantine army.
"Istanbul was Constantinople Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople Been a long time gone, Oh Constantinople Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night Every gal in Constantinople Lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople So if you've a date in Constantinople She'll be waiting in Istanbul Even old New York was once New Amsterdam Why they changed it I can't say People just liked it better that way So, Take me back to Constantinople No, you can't go back to Constantinople Been a long time gone, Oh Constantinople Why did Constantinople get the works? That's nobody's business but the Turks Istanbul Istanbul Istanbul Istanbul Even old New York was once New Amsterdam Why they changed it I can't say People just liked it better that way Istanbul was Constantinople Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople Been a long time gone, Oh Constantinople Why did Constantinople get the works? That's nobody's business but the Turks So, Take me back to Constantinople No, you can't go back to Constantinople Been a long time gone, Oh Constantinople Why did Constantinople get the works? That's nobody's business but the Turks Istanbul"
I would argue with the battles of Trafalgar and Waterloo, but then again being French that may seem logical :p Yet yes, I think internationally the fall of the Romans is felt by many as a terrible historical moment. But which day should we remember, the fatal wound (pillage by crusaders and Venitians) or the coup de grace (1453) ?
@@Cancoillotteman I think that Fourth Crusade would have to be remembered more than the 1453. The latter was just nail to the coffin, why should we mourn already half dead body?
@@Cancoillotteman I think that there was no Byzantine Empire after 1204. Just a medieval Greek state. the 1261-1453 state is not an empire it is just a medieval state with huge problems, economic problems, declining population, military problems etc However the empire was gradually declining before 1204 because of its own political issues, it just lost a lot of money, geography, and political and other powers by that.
on the bright side the wealth and educated populace that fled Constantinople helped spark the Renaissance in western Europe and in cities such as Venice especially.
@@keeganmoonshine7183 The Rennaissance had already started with the study of the Latin texts, but the Greeks such Gemistus Pletho, Manuel Chrisoloras, Bessarion, and Leo Allatius and many others gave a great boost and played a significant role in the Rennaissance. In the first part in the Rennaissance Western Europe studied the Romans and some Greeks. Then they started to translate some other Greek texts from Arabs who had found the texts when they conquered Egypt etc, and the Western Europeans found some other Greek texts around. But many other works they didn't have around and they didnt have from the Arabs, but the Byzantines were studying them and brought and taught them to Western Europeans when they started moving to Western Europe in the final years 1350-1450 and especially after 1453. Many Byzantine Greek scholars went to Italy. Where would they stay? In Ottoman Empire??!! That would be a joke.
Still lasted longer than any other empire I can think of. I think that's one of the things that fascinates me the most about the Eastern Roman Empire -- their seeming indomitability and their will to survive as a political and cultural identity despite being outnumbered and surrounded; it's almost unmatched.
You cant count fall of byzantium as fall of roman empire as they changed. Think of it like this, is mughal empire timurid empire just bc it came from timurid empire? Nope its not. The land was just inherited from timurids after they fell. Same with byzantium. They werent romans anymore thye were bynzantine and byzantine only survived for 700 years.
Great job! I love the illustrations. The soldiers look awesome in their Byzantine-style armor. You did a good job balancing that with actual paintings & coins depicting the Byzantines, so kudos for that. The only thing that disappointed me was the last minute of the video, where you failed to mention why the Byzantines lost Anatolia (due to the Seljuk Turks under Alp Arslan), and, while it was represented, you didn't mention the Latin Empire of the 13th century.
Shame that a fine Empire falls, because of their Cousin, Themselves, and the Ottoman. Edit: by cousins I mean the Catholic church. Edit 2: I was wrong on the Catholic, blame should be the men in the 4th Crusade.
"To surrender the city to you is beyond my authority or anyone else's who lives in it, for all of us, after taking the mutual decision, shall die of our own free will without trying to save our lives." - Emperor Constantine XI to Mehmed II before the fall of Constantinople.
Orthodox was more ancient and stronger than the catholic, even in Ottoman rule. West made it weak, they didn't want any strong Christian leadership under the control of Turks. Even tho it wasnt under the Turkish control completely.
the fact that byzantium faded away just before the great age of discoveries. Even though greece has one of the richest histories, the pages during 1453-1800 (which of course happenes to be the greatest years for Europe) are blank. What a same.
Literally today I had to cancel my paper about the Varangian Guard because of time constraints...and now you release this video? Nice timing lol God, I love your vids
I would say there was a recovery after losing Anatolia. The Komnenain restoration is my favorite part of byzantine history next would be the succession states after 1204. I would say although the 4th crusade was disastrous the 1st crusade gave them a fresh breath of life under alexios.
Good video. Gives an overview of how the Byzantines adapted to the disaster that was the arab conquests, but I feel like you didn't go into as nearly as much detail about the events surrounding the Turkish invasions and the crusades.
No no, make a ten part series on the babenberg empire. And then thirty vids on the annexation of bosnia. And then another twenty vids on Franz-Joseph II.'s mustache.
The notable work “Chronographia” of Michael Psellos (Psellus), prominent Byzantine Historian and Imperial Courtier to several Byzantine Emperors (11th century), is one of the best accounts and series of biographies from emperor Basil II to Nikephoros III. A unique and valuable source on the history of the 11th century Byzantine Empire. Truly, a historic and academic treasure.
I've always liked the Theme-period in the Roman history. I came to laern of it when i read about the Swedish allotment system implimented at the latter half of 17th century. It's basically the same as the theme system but instead of having counties and strategoi to whom the soldiers report to for duty, the so called "Soldattorp" would farm lands belonging to the king, making them more loyal. The power of the swedish kings came from the lower classes in their history, which is why the peasentry didn't suffer from serfdom compared to other europeans, so it would make sence of having an army that doesn't rely on the nobility
@@paprskomet If you interrupt for each invasion you have to start counting after Marius Furius, and the Celtic Invasion. But even so I don't know if the second Dinasty of Egypt did not last longer, I have to check
@@Cancoillotteman Difference is that while Egyptian state was repeatedly completely conquered and ruled by foreign dynasties,state of the Romans was completely conquered by foreign power for the 1st time only in 15th century.
"The Byzantine army however, was ready for them. Thanks in large measure to Nicephorus Phocas, it had been developed into a first-class war machine, boasting atleast half a dozen generals of a quality unparalleled, perhaps since the days of Belisarius, the Emperor himself among them." Page 214 from "Byzantium-The apogee" by John Julius Norwich
Lol, you do realise that the subsequent monarchies fought over who claimed to be the Holy Roman Empire? modern day banking/corporate elites are the modern day Romans (third Rome) look at all of the architecture they erected during and after the enlightenment period/industrial revolution, Roman/Greco/Egyptian edifices everywhere.
@King Wiwuz IV It depends on by who's definition, however the then pope of byzantium said "there will be three empires and no more" Our modern day freemasonic elite see themselves as modern day Caesar's living by the Lucifarian doctrine (Adonai-men as god on earth) they claim to have received powerful knowledge (magik) from the Pharisees, they deny Christ, and are trying to bring about Old testament prophecy by building the third Temple in Jerusalem.
@King Wiwuz IV Ah the post-modernist language slur tactic we see ad-nauseum. You really should avoid using such played out terms should you wish to be taken seriously, I at least have presented a framework of what I have learned without resorting to weak attacks.
@King Wiwuz IV Moreover, if you do get round to researching Maimonides, you will find he has ancestors in powerful positions of British media for example.
The Greek Fire saved them from viking-slavs(Rus) invasions and not once, so yeas it was on its second peak of power in the end of 10 and begining of 11 century.
@@thedoruk6324 By Viking-Slavs he simply ment the Rus. Even according to the Normanist theory, they were just a drop in the sea of East Slavs. So likely the Slavic speakers would be surely present at their raids, that's just inevitable. Besides, many Viking raids were conducted by various ethnicities - be it Norse/Germanic and Osselian/Estonian groups, Poles being present during Canute's conquest of England, the famous Jomsborg had a mixed Norse-Slavic garrison, not to mention many groups of Slavic pirates, including Rugians, Pommeranians, etc. etc.
@Mr Seboss u search are not good :) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rus%27%E2%80%93Byzantine_War_(941) . "Then, at an instant, the Greek-fire was hurled through tubes upon the Rus' and their allies; Liudprand of Cremona wrote: "The Rus', seeing the flames, jumped overboard, preferring water to fire" one. "Michael Psellus, an eyewitness of the battle, left a hyperbolic account detailing how the invading Kievan Rus' were annihilated by a superior Imperial fleet with Greek fire off the Anatolian shore." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rus%27%E2%80%93Byzantine_War_(1043) two another time in raid about year 860 fleet has fought with arabs so they coudnt help, its only documented history how many real attempts was we do not know.
what wrong with u guys?) didnt u know that the vikings in 9 century establish a big state of Kievan Rus? so their army included both northman and slavs
Great video! Thanks ever so much :-) Minor correction: "themata" and "tagmata" are plural. Singular would be "thema" and "tagma". So, one tagma, three tagmata.
@@tigranispiryan4865 Hm, I think that is somewhat of an oversimplification. The Byzantine Empire existed for a millenium, and in that time gained and lost control of Armenia multiple times, at times even going to war with it. Yes, Armenians periodically made up significant parts of the Byzantine army, but the Byzantines also employed huge numbers of domestic levies as well as mercenaries from all over Europe and Asia, including Normans, Italians, Pechenegs and Kipchaks, large numbers of Norsemen, Turcopoles and Turcomans, various Slavs from the Balkans, Kievan Rus warriors, and even Arabs. So it really depends on the time period and size of the army whether you can legitimately claim that the Byzantine Army was "mostly" made up of Armenians. At the battle of Yarmouk, for instance, the overall Byzantine commander was the Armenian Vahan, but even then only a quarter of the army was made up of Armenians - and that was probably because Vahan was in command. The rest of the army was made up of Byzantine, Slav and Ghassanid troops.
Respect to you for calling them the eastern Roman Empire. The term byzantium was never used by them and would be a stupid one. Since its a matter of pride and honor to call themselves Roman. Byzantium is a name invented in the 18th century.
Even the Turks called them as Roman (Rum). Still anyone of Greek origin from Anatolia (and Cyprus) is called as Rum (And they call the Greeks in Greece as Ionians "Yunan")
Writing from constantinople/istanbul. Its both great and sad to live here as there are alot of remnants but many are either destroyed sacked or vandalised. Great video
Vital in preserving Classical learning, and instrumental in both the 12th and 15th century Renaissances of Western Europe. The Carolingian Renaissance was more indebted to the Irish, and their English pupils, however.
can you make a video about the Komnenian army? the komnenian era was like the second golden age of the empire, with new reforms (pronoia) and new militar organitation....
@ Greek virgin: and the Greeks of modern day Greece have Turk and Slav DNA. So what is your point? It takes more than DNA for being a member of a nation. Language, culture and sharing the similar ideals are the most important elements of nations and peoples. This whole DNA argument is quite meaningless.
Why don’t u go and check yr Dna first? 400millions Turks around world. Kazak, uzbek, uyghurs, kirgiz, turkmans,azeribajians... Greece 10mil and Turks have greek dna..🤔
Only on the western and northern coasts. There were a lot of other peoples in Anatolia. The mainland of Anatolia was never fully hellenized (except Cappadocia). The eastern-northern part was Armenian. And there were other peoples as well.
@@innosanto False by 1000AD all of Anatolia spoke Greek or Armenian, Even the settled Bulgarian and Arab populations were assimilated into the Hellenic culture. Also for all intents and purposes their isn't that much differences genetically between Greeks and Turks. Greeks by this point are as Anatolian as the Turks. The Byzantines resettled Greece with Hellenic Anatolians multiple times then you have the more recent population exchange.
It's crazy to me that nobody's figured out how to reproduce Greek Fire. Is it more that we just don't know what it really was/did, or that we can't technologically make the stuff? Bc I want some.
they can reproduce something that acts like the historic descriptions. The issue is that they are not certain of exactly how they made it because it was a state secret. Modern historians want to see records, words on paper, to claim they know how it is made.
@@aokiaoki4238 "Byzantines as true empire took it in their grave." lol what? oh i guess you mean *to* their grave. please learn some english before you attempt this as you are comical. "took it *in* their grave" implies they really took it in :). Given the greeks virtually invented homosexualism and buggery I can see the association :) But anyway they were pumping oil out which was lit. nothing special. and no they didn't intend to take it - just they ran out of oil that was available above ground and they had no way to pump it out.
its because the fall of the western roman empire made the first kingdoms of the west tribes and became the founds for the later states like spanish french english german etc...the eastern roman empire especially after the loss of the middle eastern lands and egypt remained in its mijority with greek and greek spoken populations.. that why in the 6th century changed the official language from latin to greek.. so during the ages there was greek-roman mixture and the east roman empire made the middle ages history of greeks. thats why they give importance in this.. also it was for many years the main defence against anatolians... persians arabs and later turks..
May Allah the Victory Giver never let the disbelieving people smell the fragrance of ISTANBUL! May Allah bless the mujahideen who conquered that city and made it the jewel of the entire world! May Allah give the Taqwa and Tawfiq to the Muslimeen so we can strive in the way of the pious predecessors!
Finally someone mentions the Bulgarian Kingdom. All those history videos about East Roman Empire and most of them dont even mention those people who played a huge part in their history. I see their victory over a crusade army is also mentioned very rare.
@@СнежныйДжони If we want we conquered our land and payed for it with our blood!BTW your name is writen with the alphabet(script) wich we made so,if you dont like us stop using it.
@@tunguznayman3924 Khan Kubrat had 5 sons-one of them went to Volga(Idel).That was Kotrag. Another one went to the Danube and that was Asparukh the founder of my country.BTW our best heavyweight boxer Kubrat Pulev is fighting tomorrow so here is an example that we still name our children with names similar to our ancestors
Excellent summary of the organization of the Byzantine armies of the Dark and Golden Ages; I must admit that the Byzantine panoply is interesting for always maintaining some influence from Imperial Rome, with oriental elements that made it so characteristic and unique on the battlefield, influencing in a certain way the peoples of Eastern Europe, with whom they had contacts.
They were not only Greek! Both, yes, they spoke Greek. Armenians were the 2st most rich and popular enthny in Byzantine Empire. The Macedonian dynasty were Armenian dynasty.
Yeah, it's a shame Bulgarians are virtually untouched when it comes to videos like this. Although to be fair, the only reason why Bulgarians weren't crushed by the Byzantines for so long was because they were nomads at first, which are extremely difficult to deal with, and secondly, Romans had to guard both the border with Bulgaria and Arabs at the same time. If their whole army was assembled in Bulgaria, it would fall very soon. Ultimatelly it happened during Basileos II reign', but again, to be fair to the Bulgarians, they put a damn good fight against the Romans. And revolted repeatedly.
Vitalis i know right. It’s a shame that no one ever gives men like Khan Krum or Simeon the great don’t get the attention they deserve. Krum delivered some of greatest military disasters to the Romans in the history of the empire. He turned Nikephoros’ skull into a cup and probably would have taken Constantinople if he had lived longer. Simeon won the battle of archelous, which was one of the biggest battles of the Middle Ages. It’s a darn shame no one pays attention to that type of stuff
@@Vitalis94 actually the "nomad" characterization of the "proto" bulgars is now disproven. it is impossible for nomads to build a city like Pliska (which was in effect bigger than Constantinople itself and built using monumental stone construction). No "nomads" would possess the skills necessary to do that. in fact Pliska had plumbing, sewerage and central heating....which not one city at the time in europe posessed apart from Constnatinople and Rome who's infrastructure had fallen into disrepair by that time.
@@zarni000 Well, it's not like Bulgaria lacked settled peoples (Slavs) nor did the Bulgars remained nomads, its just that they arrived as a steppe people.
What a mess. For as skillful as the Byzantines were at turning their enemies on themselves and operationally defeating in detail, they were horrible at keeping themselves together as a society
But the society was very cohesive, advanced like no other in their time. It's just the combination of bad luck, bad decisions and the ancient Roman tradition of a civil war that they ended up the way they did.
Somewhat unrelated, but I was led to belive that you pronounce the "g" in both strategos and tagmata as the "h", hence strateHos and taHmata, no? Any Greek speakers here? What about "Β"? As Basil became Vasiliy in Russian, is the "B" pronounced as "V"?
In greek you pronounce the ''g'' as a ''y'' (for example Y-iannis ) or ''j'' (de j-ure , with the Latin pronunciation) and yes, ''B'' is a pronounced as ''V".
@@alextheo9766 Thanks! I'm a listener of "The History of Byzantium podcast" and the author is repeatedly switching his G's to H's when he says tagmata and strategos. Strange.
@@Groznyj_Tutscha That just makes me more confused, as the "γ" (gamma) is clearly pronounced as "h" in the link you've sent me. Or maybe it's just my Dutch bias towards the letter, I don't know. :P
Really, if not 1453, it'd be 1454 or 55. By the time of the siege, the empire was reduced to Constantinople and a little bit of the Peloponnese and the Turks would only become even stronger. Myths are nice, but the truth should be prefered
The east Roman empire started us Roman but it quickly became a Greek empire.
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@I HATE TOUCANS the east Roman empire became a Greek empire at the 7th century.It lost its east territories and then it had under control Greece,Minor Asia,Pontus,Crimea,Cyprus,parts of the Balkan peninsula,Cyprus,Aegean Islands and South Italy and Sicily places were Greeks had built since the ancient times thousands city-states,kingdoms and colonies and they had spraded the Greek language and culture.The Greek language also became the state's official language during the 7th century because almost nobody knew Latin.The Greek emperors and the citizens never stopped using the Roman titles because the state that they took under their control was the legal and true heir of the Roman Empire thanks to the emperor Constantine the Great.Every byzantinologists supports what I am saying and every nation during the middle ages says that the Roman Empire is a Greek kingdom."Byzantines" were always using the Roman titles only for political purposes and at the same time they were calling themselves Romans which started meaning the Greek orthodox,Greeks and not so much Hellenics because the second one also meant the pegan apart from the national term.
This is great. I find it extremely interesting that Eastern Romans or the Eastern Roman Empire spoke Greek and not Latin yet they were still Roman. Greek speaking Romans.
I don't think you should name them eastern Romans as the Romans and Byzantines were completely of different mind sets and zeal. The Byzantines were just Christianised Greeks that inherented the Roman lands.
Notes/additional info:
1. Should the empire be called Byzantine, Roman or Greek? I see people arguing for each of these in the comments and there is merit to each of these; but it is important to note that they called themselves Roman, they were majority Greek in population and language spoken, and the term Byzantine is useful in differentiating the time period and has been colloquially used for a long time (although not during the empire) Being a reference to the earlier name of Byzantium for the city of Constantinople.
2. When I refer to “native troops” this includes many other ethnic groups living within the empire, notably the Armenians who lived in Anatolia for hundreds of years and had assimilated in many ways but maintained different views on aspects of the Christian faith which was the most striking differentiating factor between them and the rest of the population of the empire.
3. The Strategos and Domestikos label should be switched on the captions at 6 mins 17 secs in. A Strategos led a Thema(ta) and a Domestikos led a Tagma(ta). Unfortunately I switched those my accident and starred at the screen for a while and did not notice that…sorry guys ;(
4. The Vargarian guard was a personal bodyguard unit to the emperor which are pretty cool, they were mostly comprised of Norsemen(Scandinavians), Rus and Saxons. They are the unit I refer too when I mention a Scandinavian unit.
5. The coolest unit (in my opinion) that I did not mention was the Akritai which were kinda like the Cossacks in that they were a loosely controlled border guard on the eastern side of the empire; and were the subject of much folklore and poems and such.
The western Europeans called the Empire "Greek" in Latin, as they wanted to de-legitimize the Roman heritage of the Eastern Empire. The Eastern Roman Empire, perceived that as an insult, as the translation of "Graecus" in Greek, meant at that time "pagan". They called themselves Romans, but in Greek, "Romaioi". The word "Byzantine" was coined by historians during the 19th century. The first term that was considered to be used in modern historiography was the "Graeco-Roman" Empire. It would be most accurate, but also confusing, as the term "graeco-roman" is used in art and sports in a completely different context. The term "Byzantine" was preferred, as it was indeed used by some "Byzantine" scholars during the 12th and 13th century, when remembering the Greek past of the Empire was no longer considered shameful, and Constantinople was compared by some Byzantines as "a new Byzantium" during some correspondence with western academics. If you think about it, calling them "Byzantines" is an indirect way of calling them "Greeks". The actual ancient "Byzantines" were in fact the Greek founders of the colony of Byzantium, that was later replaced by Constantinople.
@Atreas40000 Thanks for the great comment! "Graeco-Roman" Empire does have an element of precision I like.
Graceo-Roman would by far be the most accurate term to describe both the people and character of the Empire. Also the Greek identity rebirth under the successor Empire of Nicaea really cant be evidence for the Actual Byzantine Empire saying as how Nicaea was actually all Greek ethically and territory wise and far more culturally wise. In my opinion in academics Roman civilization should separated like this
Roman Kingdom
Roman Republic
Roman Empire
Byzantine Empire
Empire of Nicaea/Palaiologos Byzantium.
And we have to notice is that the fact is that modern greeks are more relative to Byzantine greeks than ancient greeks...
And we can all understand that Byzantine empire withstood 1100 years around a barbaric world....
They treat others tough but think in what world they lived in....
Muslims, persians, slavs, huns, mongols, goths and other german tribes... pirates, vikings, revolts...
And in all of that an empire thay have universities, justice system, tax system, a continuous coin from 350 AD to 1100AD...
And sure a big downfall that we can compare it as the downfall of ancient greece when athenians were become so lazy before romans conquered greece thay they didnt fight...
Byzantines suffered the same, they didnt make kids, people lost their unity, men became monks so didn't serve the army, economic collapse and forget about their past...
As also happens today in modern greece and generally all the world...
History repeats itself we have to learn from that so to make our future better...
Also i wanted to mention, imagine a Hollywood movie about the conquer of Constantinople...
8.000 men vs more than 200.000 horde army...
One king speaking inside the walls about faith, christianity and self sacrifice and the other about raping, butchering and looting for 3 days....
And the answet of palaiologos to moameth to surrender the city and he would give him wealth etc was...
To give you the city it's not on my hands neither on its citizens, because all of us like a complete soul prefer to die with our will and do not pitty our lives....
And think about the ottomans after chain virgin girls in hagia sofia and raped them and butcher them...
Its islam.. this was and it is....
This song speak about akritas digenis a nice byzantine novel that speak about an akritas loved a girl and died...
th-cam.com/video/lqEF6noNj1s/w-d-xo.html
@nikolas bellos Exactly both Alexander and Augustus were their ancestors, Greco-Roman.
Everytime I learn about the byzantines I get sad ;(
Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened :)
And it's not even over, there are still descendants of Roman citizens and the Christian world is a heir to the Roman Empire. Rome's legacy lives on, so "Roma Aeterna" never ceases to be true.
@@iihhtt The true christian heir of Roman Empire is Poland. with >70% still attending weekly sunday service compared to ~15% Europe average.
@@iihhtt Dynastically speaking Greeks and Anatolian Turks are descendants from Eastern Roman times. Not to mention there were many royal marriages between between Turks and Eastern Romans.
@@ii121 Yeah! As a Turk I weep to see Mehmed's descendants not following his vision of establishing Roman Empire and instead going the fundamentalist religious path. Ah... The sorrow. I feel powerful just imagining the glory of Ottomans reforming Roman Empire.
@@iihhtt Lmao christianity my ass, that realigion was a primary reason among other things why the empire fell in first place.
Gotta admit, they have some of the most unique armors in the medieval world.
A shame that there's not more coverage of them since they were still the Roman empire.
Well, it's changing now somewhat.. Byzantines went from being a "footnote" in history, really, to being re-discovered by Western historians in the recent years. The thing is, much of what was written by historians in the past was either propaganda or misinformation, and modern historians have to work against many stereotypes connected with the Empire.
Still, we're talking about just a few enthousiastic Western scholars here. Most of the common people don't even know about the Empire's existance. There is just not enough coverage about it in the media. Just think about how widely represented the Romans are in their ancient, republican and early imperial era, yet there is not a single movie about their medieval history. I doubt it will change anytime soon, though.
Really recommend the 12 byzantine empires podcast and the creators book "lost to the west" for people getting into byzantine history
@@wewuz9720 I would add "The History of Byzantium" podcast to the list, too.
You should see african armor the sahelian (Sudan mali northern nigeria/ghana Chad Niger Ethiopia and Somalia) armor its a mixture of middle easter and native methods of armormentation
I fuck with that avatar vitalis, great game
It still never ceases to amaze me that the Roman Empire lasted till the mid 15th Century! Far later than most people realize!
well it was not really an empire at that point..just 1 city with a population of around 30k.....more like a village really. And the head was called basileus not emperor. So not even empire on paper.
On paper the eastern Roman empire ceased bring one with Heracleus as the ruler stopped being called emperor and it lost the last vestiges of its imperial apparatus with Komnenos and then it was essentially not even empire in its function
Rome started as a village and ended as a village
You fail to understand that being an Empire doesn’t mean a massive state that rules over many ethnicities. That is the modern definition and not the old one. Before the colonial age being an Empire was a political system, like being a democracy, a republic, a kingdom etc. To have an Empire you need to have an Imperator, an Emperor, meaning a person who in the name of the Res Publicas has all powers on him. Thus as they had one (Constantine Dragatses Palaeologos) they were an Empire.
@@paulmayson3129he wasn't called emperor. Was called basileus. Which just means monarch
Nah, you just don’t know that there is a difference between being an Imperium and being an Empire.
Now we're talking. Great video
History Time I watch your vids keep up the good work
I love your videos!
You rock!
History time keep the exalent work with the estern Roman empire !!!!
@George Washington I don't know what it is, but something tells me you might not be the real George Washington. Just a hunch, I guess.
Weak emperors + Crusaders = Bad news.
E.R.E:...
Dem Catholics: *4TH CrUSadE..!.*
Actually the Comnene dynasty was one of the best in Byzantine history, at least Alexius, John (especially him, though not as famous as he should be) and the most part of Michael's reign). Sadly the Empire was already weakened before Alexius became emperor
tsopmocful we was Roman
crusaders were betrayed by the emperors this is why they sacked constantinople. He took them as mercenaries to place him into power and take away the previous empire and didn't have money to pay them. However, they did extreme barbarian things after that. The sacking was extreme. So extreme that the Pope punished many of them by excommunicating them from the Catholic church.
@Herdan 800 years later Greeks are among the westerners
Thanks for doing this, man. I've been studying East Roman history for about 9 years now and it's absolutely incredible. Such a criminally underrated aspect of Roman and Greek history.
its not "underrated", it was combated deliberately by Anglo Saxon historians of 18th and 19th century, most notably but not restricted to the infamous Gibbon. Since the late 19th century the study of Eastern Rome had sparked from France and Greece and now is more popular. Never forget that it isnt just "underrated" but westerners deliberately wanted to bury it and failed
Christian Armenians played a vital role in the history of the Byzantine empire, both ruling as its emperors and serving in its armies
Very true. When I said the army became more Native, Christian and loyal that includes the Armenians who had lived in Anatolia for hundreds of years... which by that point I would consider them native. Especially compared to earlier Roman armies that actively recruited from beyond their borders on a larger scale.
Epimetheus So did Georgians
The Armenians are also the first Christian nation.
@@huntclanhunt9697 pretty sure that was Ethiopia.
@@impsimp supposedly Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its state religion
Thanks a lot for this video! This period of the Roman Empire is so neglected...
@Basil II of Macedon the Vardaskan slayer Why so butthurt, though? I don't get you Greeks. You get to be Greeks AND Roman at the same time, yet you deny it. Meh.
@Basil II of Macedon the Vardaskan slayer It wasn't the Roman Empire just in name, the citizens considered themselves Romans.
@Basil II of Macedon the Vardaskan slayer Non-Greeks were Romans under the Empire to. we have proof of numerous Ethic Bulgarian and Armenian Families being called Roman while under the Empire, The Empire was Greco-Roman and the fusion of Greek and Roman Culture with Roman Citizenship and Christian faith being the most important aspects of the people.
@Basil II of Macedon the Vardaskan slayer Wait, but the Romans saw the Greeks as conquered people. and therefore inferior to them. Romans did take Greek art and Architecture and the Nobility spoke both Latin and Greek, but they didn't like it. The fact that a conquered people (Greeks) were so unique in their culture that Romans would copy it, and they wanted the Latin culture to be the dominant one through out the empire. That is the point of an Empire, to spread your culture through warfare.
@Basil II of Macedon the Vardaskan slayer im not talking about modern day im talking abiut the non-Greek ethic groups of the empire that were considered Romans. If you served the Emperor in Constantinople, were a Christian and had a basic understanding of greek you were considered Roman. Zero difference between a Greek and Armenian Citizen of the Empire, Religion was far more important than ethnicity.
A fantastic video! The Eastern Romans are often forgotten, so it's exciting to see them covered here!
@Basil II of Macedon the Vardaskan slayer you damn right brother!
May Allah bless the Ottoman Caliphate and bring Yunanistan under it's rule once again!
Ironic, when the Crusaders brought Constantinople to its knees even before the Muslims did.
Sad, but hilarious
Medieval politics is ever changing and very complex in the case of the 4th Crusade the Crusaders ran out of cash so they borrowed cash from Venice resulting to their excommunication by the Pope and resulting in the sacking of Constantinople as the Crusaders became Venician muscle.
Also by the 4th Crusade the relation between the Orthodox and Catholic worlds have been degrading for a while.
With friends like these, who needs enemies.
Darkness vs Truth
From Golden to Dark to Golden to Dark Age actually
Very accurate
Hard times create strong men
Strong men create good times
Good times create weak men
Weak men create hard times
Indeed so as History tends to repeat itself
From a backwater to a massive republic to a massive empire to a split empire to a smaller empire, then back to a massive empire, decline back into a smaller empire, then rising again as a large empire before finally declining and being rolled over by their neighbours and spending it's twilight as a backwater. 2200 years, complete circle for the Roman Empire.
Many Ups and Downs indeed
Oh great, now I have sudden urge to start listening to the History of Byzantium Podcast again.
Seriously though, great video!
I tend to nervously check the podcast's website at the end of every week, as the new episodes are published around that time, yet there was no update today, sadly. :P
Do you have a link by chance?
I had trouble following after the 347th episode about Belisarius
If you want roman repuplic to roman empire check mike d7ncans podcast
@@Artur_M. sorry, but thanks!
Edit: holy crap, this thing has more episodes than a star trek podcast
Hello There my fellow Byzantophiles
May Allah the Victory Giver never let the disbelieving people smell the fragrance of ISTANBUL!
May Allah bless the mujahideen who conquered that city and made it the jewel of the entire world!
May Allah give the Taqwa and Tawfiq to the Muslimeen so we can strive in the way of the pious predecessors!
@@retvrntotradition4454 Nobody asked for your shit and here you are trying to start a petty fight
@@retvrntotradition4454 ALLAH IS BASTARD,ALLAH IS GAY.
FUCK ALLAH
@@retvrntotradition4454 what are you trying to do is pretty sad
Osmanlı Devleti Fuck off with your terrorist Allah and pedofile “prophet”.
A powerful and beautiful army...and another great video!
Thanks, Phil! The Byzantines would be an awesome army to paint. I did paint some byzantine banners that I had on my imperium/guard army in 40k army...but maybe one day will make a proper Byzantine army.
@@EpimetheusHistory Got a few Byzantine units, love them but not often played, so many armies and so little time!
Last time I was early, Istanbul was Constantinople
Nigga you always comment, do you live in youtube?
@@dontsearchdocumentingreali9621 he's Justin Y's roommate
Last time I came this early, Constantinople was Byzantium.
Sorry...I'm a bit late...Oh, the empire's already fallen...Oh well, I may as well go back to bed then.
"Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Oh Constantinople
Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night
Every gal in Constantinople
Lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople
So if you've a date in Constantinople
She'll be waiting in Istanbul
Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can't say
People just liked it better that way
So, Take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Oh Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks
Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul
Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can't say
People just liked it better that way
Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Oh Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks
So, Take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Oh Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks
Istanbul"
The fall of Constantinople is saddest day of the history
I would argue with the battles of Trafalgar and Waterloo, but then again being French that may seem logical :p
Yet yes, I think internationally the fall of the Romans is felt by many as a terrible historical moment. But which day should we remember, the fatal wound (pillage by crusaders and Venitians) or the coup de grace (1453) ?
@@Cancoillotteman I think that Fourth Crusade would have to be remembered more than the 1453. The latter was just nail to the coffin, why should we mourn already half dead body?
@@Cancoillotteman I think that there was no Byzantine Empire after 1204. Just a medieval Greek state. the 1261-1453 state is not an empire it is just a medieval state with huge problems, economic problems, declining population, military problems etc However the empire was gradually declining before 1204 because of its own political issues, it just lost a lot of money, geography, and political and other powers by that.
on the bright side the wealth and educated populace that fled Constantinople helped spark the Renaissance in western Europe and in cities such as Venice especially.
@@keeganmoonshine7183 The Rennaissance had already started with the study of the Latin texts, but the Greeks such Gemistus Pletho, Manuel Chrisoloras, Bessarion, and Leo Allatius and many others gave a great boost and played a significant role in the Rennaissance. In the first part in the Rennaissance Western Europe studied the Romans and some Greeks. Then they started to translate some other Greek texts from Arabs who had found the texts when they conquered Egypt etc, and the Western Europeans found some other Greek texts around. But many other works they didn't have around and they didnt have from the Arabs, but the Byzantines were studying them and brought and taught them to Western Europeans when they started moving to Western Europe in the final years 1350-1450 and especially after 1453. Many Byzantine Greek scholars went to Italy. Where would they stay? In Ottoman Empire??!! That would be a joke.
The word "Themata" is plural in Greek meaning "themes". The singular is "thema".
Tagma and tagmata
@@GeoBBB123 Sure, same with that one.
Fun fact the Byzantine military was mostly Armenian. Even the elite imperial guards, the Scholae Palatinae were mostly Armenians! : )
I never comment on TH-cam videos ever, but this is important to me. Please please please more Byzantine stuff!!!
Still lasted longer than any other empire I can think of. I think that's one of the things that fascinates me the most about the Eastern Roman Empire -- their seeming indomitability and their will to survive as a political and cultural identity despite being outnumbered and surrounded; it's almost unmatched.
Well Egypt survived longer, but you have to see if it is to be considered as a kingdom or an Empire, both can apply.
They forbad Jews from teaching their children - as per Dr E Michael Jones
@@JamesMartinelli-jr9mh lol khazar jewish empire was allied with Byzantium
Zacharie Guillerey Egypt got raped by Assyria, Persia, Macedon, Rome, Arabs and Britain.
You cant count fall of byzantium as fall of roman empire as they changed. Think of it like this, is mughal empire timurid empire just bc it came from timurid empire? Nope its not. The land was just inherited from timurids after they fell. Same with byzantium. They werent romans anymore thye were bynzantine and byzantine only survived for 700 years.
Great job! I love the illustrations. The soldiers look awesome in their Byzantine-style armor. You did a good job balancing that with actual paintings & coins depicting the Byzantines, so kudos for that. The only thing that disappointed me was the last minute of the video, where you failed to mention why the Byzantines lost Anatolia (due to the Seljuk Turks under Alp Arslan), and, while it was represented, you didn't mention the Latin Empire of the 13th century.
Shame that a fine Empire falls, because of their Cousin, Themselves, and the Ottoman.
Edit: by cousins I mean the Catholic church.
Edit 2: I was wrong on the Catholic, blame should be the men in the 4th Crusade.
"To surrender the city to you is beyond my authority or anyone else's who lives in it, for all of us, after taking the mutual decision, shall die of our own free will without trying to save our lives." - Emperor Constantine XI to Mehmed II before the fall of Constantinople.
@@Strideo1 "so die you all shall" Turkish dude to Emperor Constantine XI
@@ilijas3041 actually sultan let them live in peace and pray freely.
Orthodox was more ancient and stronger than the catholic, even in Ottoman rule. West made it weak, they didn't want any strong Christian leadership under the control of Turks. Even tho it wasnt under the Turkish control completely.
@@Krankenstein If thats what you have seen in one of your visions I believe you. I really do :*
Great animation style and edditing
the fact that byzantium faded away just before the great age of discoveries. Even though greece has one of the richest histories, the pages during 1453-1800 (which of course happenes to be the greatest years for Europe) are blank. What a same.
Great presentation. Imagine building a mosque in Constantinople for the Arab troops! 7:15 Roman realpolitik at its best!
Literally today I had to cancel my paper about the Varangian Guard because of time constraints...and now you release this video? Nice timing lol
God, I love your vids
yeah, too bad that varangian guard is not even mentioned lol
I'm beginning to noticed more and more TH-camrs are making Byzantine history videos, this is great.
I would say there was a recovery after losing Anatolia. The Komnenain restoration is my favorite part of byzantine history next would be the succession states after 1204. I would say although the 4th crusade was disastrous the 1st crusade gave them a fresh breath of life under alexios.
Breathtaking artwork. This is what sets you apart. As well as your smooth as always commentary.
STUNNING ANIMATIONS
Literally powerpoint 2013
@@xstrawarot This is Powerpoint ??????
Splendid my friend
Good video. Gives an overview of how the Byzantines adapted to the disaster that was the arab conquests, but I feel like you didn't go into as nearly as much detail about the events surrounding the Turkish invasions and the crusades.
Hey would you like to make series of videos for the three Bulgarian kingdoms, thanks for your consideration
No no, make a ten part series on the babenberg empire. And then thirty vids on the annexation of bosnia. And then another twenty vids on Franz-Joseph II.'s mustache.
Never heard of Bulgarians.
*2 empires and 1 kingdom
The notable work “Chronographia” of Michael Psellos (Psellus), prominent Byzantine Historian and Imperial Courtier to several Byzantine Emperors (11th century), is one of the best accounts and series of biographies from emperor Basil II to Nikephoros III.
A unique and valuable source on the history of the 11th century Byzantine Empire. Truly, a historic and academic treasure.
Greek
I've always liked the Theme-period in the Roman history. I came to laern of it when i read about the Swedish allotment system implimented at the latter half of 17th century. It's basically the same as the theme system but instead of having counties and strategoi to whom the soldiers report to for duty, the so called "Soldattorp" would farm lands belonging to the king, making them more loyal. The power of the swedish kings came from the lower classes in their history, which is why the peasentry didn't suffer from serfdom compared to other europeans, so it would make sence of having an army that doesn't rely on the nobility
This was an amazing army! 🔥
It is the continuation of Roman after all. later day Roman.
Amazing army that lost countless of battles...
And won countless more
AMAZING!!!! My Favorite video so far. The artwork was awesome!!!
Since you did a video on the Byzantine infantry,can you do one on their cavalry units,particularly the Cataphracts.
Yea boii! Cathaphracts were the thing
Thumbs up to this
They just copied the Iranian cataphracts
@@CirosKhan You mean from when they met them at Thermopolai?
@@karenbartlett1307 No. when they burnt down Athens
Thank you, Eastern Roman Empire is my favorite topic!
It is greece
the longest standing empire., more than a thousand years
Egypt is amused
@@Cancoillotteman Egypt was conquered by foreign powers several times.Roman state was not.Until 15th century.
Much more than thousand years if you count really all of its history which starts long prior what was artificially marked as "Byzantine".
@@paprskomet If you interrupt for each invasion you have to start counting after Marius Furius, and the Celtic Invasion. But even so I don't know if the second Dinasty of Egypt did not last longer, I have to check
@@Cancoillotteman Difference is that while Egyptian state was repeatedly completely conquered and ruled by foreign dynasties,state of the Romans was completely conquered by foreign power for the 1st time only in 15th century.
"The Byzantine army however, was ready for them.
Thanks in large measure to Nicephorus Phocas, it had been developed into a first-class war machine, boasting atleast half a dozen generals of a quality unparalleled, perhaps since the days of Belisarius, the Emperor himself among them."
Page 214 from "Byzantium-The apogee" by John Julius Norwich
Great quote! Thanks Iwan
@@EpimetheusHistory My pleasure Epimetheus 🙂
The Greek terminology sounds so cool!
I like to imagine Roman empire survibing into 17th century and and recreating legions with muskets.
The final breath of the once mighty Roman Empire.
Lol, you do realise that the subsequent monarchies fought over who claimed to be the Holy Roman Empire? modern day banking/corporate elites are the modern day Romans (third Rome) look at all of the architecture they erected during and after the enlightenment period/industrial revolution, Roman/Greco/Egyptian edifices everywhere.
@King Wiwuz IV It depends on by who's definition, however the then pope of byzantium said "there will be three empires and no more"
Our modern day freemasonic elite see themselves as modern day Caesar's living by the Lucifarian doctrine (Adonai-men as god on earth) they claim to have received powerful knowledge (magik) from the Pharisees, they deny Christ, and are trying to bring about Old testament prophecy by building the third Temple in Jerusalem.
@King Wiwuz IV Ah the post-modernist language slur tactic we see ad-nauseum.
You really should avoid using such played out terms should you wish to be taken seriously, I at least have presented a framework of what I have learned without resorting to weak attacks.
@King Wiwuz IV Moreover, if you do get round to researching Maimonides, you will find he has ancestors in powerful positions of British media for example.
@King Wiwuz IV Have you suddenly lost cognitive function? using cliche slur terms instead of just agree/disagreeing was all that was necessary.
The Greek Fire saved them from viking-slavs(Rus) invasions and not once, so yeas it was on its second peak of power in the end of 10 and begining of 11 century.
Wait, Vikings are Slavs?! What?
@@thedoruk6324 By Viking-Slavs he simply ment the Rus. Even according to the Normanist theory, they were just a drop in the sea of East Slavs. So likely the Slavic speakers would be surely present at their raids, that's just inevitable.
Besides, many Viking raids were conducted by various ethnicities - be it Norse/Germanic and Osselian/Estonian groups, Poles being present during Canute's conquest of England, the famous Jomsborg had a mixed Norse-Slavic garrison, not to mention many groups of Slavic pirates, including Rugians, Pommeranians, etc. etc.
@@Vitalis94 Alright. Thanks, for the explaination.
@Mr Seboss u search are not good :) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rus%27%E2%80%93Byzantine_War_(941) . "Then, at an instant, the Greek-fire was hurled through tubes upon the Rus' and their allies; Liudprand of Cremona wrote: "The Rus', seeing the flames, jumped overboard, preferring water to fire" one.
"Michael Psellus, an eyewitness of the battle, left a hyperbolic account detailing how the invading Kievan Rus' were annihilated by a superior Imperial fleet with Greek fire off the Anatolian shore." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rus%27%E2%80%93Byzantine_War_(1043) two
another time in raid about year 860 fleet has fought with arabs so they coudnt help, its only documented history how many real attempts was we do not know.
what wrong with u guys?) didnt u know that the vikings in 9 century establish a big state of Kievan Rus? so their army included both northman and slavs
I never actually knew how Byzantium was structured before with the themes. Thanks!
Great video! Thanks ever so much :-)
Minor correction:
"themata" and "tagmata" are plural. Singular would be "thema" and "tagma". So, one tagma, three tagmata.
Fun fact the Byzantine military was mostly Armenian. Even the elite imperial guards, the Scholae Palatinae were mostly Armenians! : )
@@tigranispiryan4865 Hm, I think that is somewhat of an oversimplification. The Byzantine Empire existed for a millenium, and in that time gained and lost control of Armenia multiple times, at times even going to war with it. Yes, Armenians periodically made up significant parts of the Byzantine army, but the Byzantines also employed huge numbers of domestic levies as well as mercenaries from all over Europe and Asia, including Normans, Italians, Pechenegs and Kipchaks, large numbers of Norsemen, Turcopoles and Turcomans, various Slavs from the Balkans, Kievan Rus warriors, and even Arabs.
So it really depends on the time period and size of the army whether you can legitimately claim that the Byzantine Army was "mostly" made up of Armenians. At the battle of Yarmouk, for instance, the overall Byzantine commander was the Armenian Vahan, but even then only a quarter of the army was made up of Armenians - and that was probably because Vahan was in command. The rest of the army was made up of Byzantine, Slav and Ghassanid troops.
6:50, I think you mixed up the Stratigos with the Domestikos there.
As the dark souls 2 old knight armour says:
Just as a thing is about to fall to pieces it unleashes it's last flash of great power.
Nice quote ! I really like this armor set but it breaks fast.
Thank you for a relational perspective.
Respect to you for calling them the eastern Roman Empire. The term byzantium was never used by them and would be a stupid one. Since its a matter of pride and honor to call themselves Roman. Byzantium is a name invented in the 18th century.
Even the Turks called them as Roman (Rum). Still anyone of Greek origin from Anatolia (and Cyprus) is called as Rum (And they call the Greeks in Greece as Ionians "Yunan")
Writing from constantinople/istanbul. Its both great and sad to live here as there are alot of remnants but many are either destroyed sacked or vandalised. Great video
Yeah I'm told the Turks really don't care about Byzantine history.
The Byzantine Empire was a sad epilogue to the greatest empire that ever existed.
Nah it was the greatest empire that ever existed.
It was the same Empire
Byzantine empire was quite a long epilogue though.
Vital in preserving Classical learning, and instrumental in both the 12th and 15th century Renaissances of Western Europe. The Carolingian Renaissance was more indebted to the Irish, and their English pupils, however.
Great video as always
can you make a video about the Komnenian army? the komnenian era was like the second golden age of the empire, with new reforms (pronoia) and new militar organitation....
Good suggestion
Great video on a fascinating subject that is rarely explored. Keep up the excellent work.
Those people in Anatolia today still bare Greek ancestry DNA
so?everyone bears some greek or other dna...
@ Greek virgin: and the Greeks of modern day Greece have Turk and Slav DNA. So what is your point? It takes more than DNA for being a member of a nation. Language, culture and sharing the similar ideals are the most important elements of nations and peoples. This whole DNA argument is quite meaningless.
Why don’t u go and check yr Dna first? 400millions Turks around world. Kazak, uzbek, uyghurs, kirgiz, turkmans,azeribajians... Greece 10mil and Turks have greek dna..🤔
Only on the western and northern coasts. There were a lot of other peoples in Anatolia. The mainland of Anatolia was never fully hellenized (except Cappadocia). The eastern-northern part was Armenian. And there were other peoples as well.
@@innosanto False by 1000AD all of Anatolia spoke Greek or Armenian, Even the settled Bulgarian and Arab populations were assimilated into the Hellenic culture. Also for all intents and purposes their isn't that much differences genetically between Greeks and Turks. Greeks by this point are as Anatolian as the Turks. The Byzantines resettled Greece with Hellenic Anatolians multiple times then you have the more recent population exchange.
That music is haunting, good job.
It's crazy to me that nobody's figured out how to reproduce Greek Fire. Is it more that we just don't know what it really was/did, or that we can't technologically make the stuff? Bc I want some.
they can reproduce something that acts like the historic descriptions. The issue is that they are not certain of exactly how they made it because it was a state secret. Modern historians want to see records, words on paper, to claim they know how it is made.
oil. pretty simply. not rocket science really
@@aokiaoki4238 "Byzantines as true empire took it in their grave." lol what? oh i guess you mean *to* their grave. please learn some english before you attempt this as you are comical. "took it *in* their grave" implies they really took it in :). Given the greeks virtually invented homosexualism and buggery I can see the association :)
But anyway they were pumping oil out which was lit. nothing special.
and no they didn't intend to take it - just they ran out of oil that was available above ground and they had no way to pump it out.
@@aokiaoki4238 Macedonia is macedonia.
@@zarni000 it wasnt oil, oil doesnt set itself on fire when in contact with water...
ahhhhh yes
the best video about byzantine history i learned so much in this video
Longest lasting empire in Europe says a lot about the empire
I've watched almost, if not all your videos. I am almost sure it's *scientific fact* that you are the greatest content provider of all time.
I love how in all the countries they give more attention in western Roman empire while in Greece its the exact opposite.
its because the fall of the western roman empire made the first kingdoms of the west tribes and became the founds for the later states like spanish french english german etc...the eastern roman empire especially after the loss of the middle eastern lands and egypt remained in its mijority with greek and greek spoken populations.. that why in the 6th century changed the official language from latin to greek.. so during the ages there was greek-roman mixture and the east roman empire made the middle ages history of greeks. thats why they give importance in this.. also it was for many years the main defence against anatolians... persians arabs and later turks..
I’m an Arab ,but I was always fascinated by the history of the Roman Empire and the eastern Roman Empire .
May Allah the Victory Giver never let the disbelieving people smell the fragrance of ISTANBUL!
May Allah bless the mujahideen who conquered that city and made it the jewel of the entire world!
May Allah give the Taqwa and Tawfiq to the Muslimeen so we can strive in the way of the pious predecessors!
amen
Basil II hired Vikings as his personal bodyguards.
Nope sent to him by the Kievan Rus to help him in the civil war.
I loved it. Great work
When was the last time the Romans used the classic armour in battle?
Lorica segmentata.
By classic you mean lorica segmentata? Probably during the Third Century Crisis.
Finally someone mentions the Bulgarian Kingdom. All those history videos about East Roman Empire and most of them dont even mention those people who played a huge part in their history. I see their victory over a crusade army is also mentioned very rare.
Please, make a video about the tocharians!!
Excellent Presentation
Thank you :)
Make a video about the military campaigns of Flavio Belisario!!
Great job EP, loved the video. Now the Age of Discovery!
Last time i was this early, Constantinople was still Roman
Awesome video good sir.
Its cool to watch a video in wich my country(Bulgaria) plays important part of the story!#BulgarshateBasillandthebyzantines
go back to stepes
@@СнежныйДжони If we want we conquered our land and payed for it with our blood!BTW your name is writen with the alphabet(script) wich we made so,if you dont like us stop using it.
idil Bulgars were Turkic tribe. Almis Khan became Muslim at 910s.
@@tunguznayman3924 Idel bulgars came from ogb(Old Great Bulgaria) just like us so...Don't try to educate me on my own history ok!?!
@@tunguznayman3924 Khan Kubrat had 5 sons-one of them went to Volga(Idel).That was Kotrag. Another one went to the Danube and that was Asparukh the founder of my country.BTW our best heavyweight boxer Kubrat Pulev is fighting tomorrow so here is an example that we still name our children with names similar to our ancestors
This was amazing. Thank you.
can you do a video about timurid & central asian armies? couldn't find much about that
he did it, check his playlist.
@@leeboy2k1 not about their armies and tactics
Excellent summary of the organization of the Byzantine armies of the Dark and Golden Ages; I must admit that the Byzantine panoply is interesting for always maintaining some influence from Imperial Rome, with oriental elements that made it so characteristic and unique on the battlefield, influencing in a certain way the peoples of Eastern Europe, with whom they had contacts.
Great video!
Also you should totally do Nader Shah
Excellent job great video.
The byzantines were Greek. They had Greek rulers, spoke mainly Greek, and "Byzantium" was in Greece.
They were not only Greek! Both, yes, they spoke Greek. Armenians were the 2st most rich and popular enthny in Byzantine Empire. The Macedonian dynasty were Armenian dynasty.
Thank you, that's a very good video on a very interesting topic
Epimetheus, please make a video on the history of Cambodia, or at least the history of the Khmer Empire.
Khmer time to share new kingdoms here and there
Aron Johansson This is not funny, I really want Epimetheus to make a video on this topic.
@@ekmalsukarno2302 dude its ok was just quoting bill wurtz
My goal in life is to make maps as nice as yours
Finally someone acknowledges the bulgarians and the threat they posed to Constantinople
Yeah, it's a shame Bulgarians are virtually untouched when it comes to videos like this. Although to be fair, the only reason why Bulgarians weren't crushed by the Byzantines for so long was because they were nomads at first, which are extremely difficult to deal with, and secondly, Romans had to guard both the border with Bulgaria and Arabs at the same time. If their whole army was assembled in Bulgaria, it would fall very soon. Ultimatelly it happened during Basileos II reign', but again, to be fair to the Bulgarians, they put a damn good fight against the Romans. And revolted repeatedly.
Vitalis i know right. It’s a shame that no one ever gives men like Khan Krum or Simeon the great don’t get the attention they deserve. Krum delivered some of greatest military disasters to the Romans in the history of the empire. He turned Nikephoros’ skull into a cup and probably would have taken Constantinople if he had lived longer. Simeon won the battle of archelous, which was one of the biggest battles of the Middle Ages. It’s a darn shame no one pays attention to that type of stuff
@@Vitalis94 actually the "nomad" characterization of the "proto" bulgars is now disproven. it is impossible for nomads to build a city like Pliska (which was in effect bigger than Constantinople itself and built using monumental stone construction). No "nomads" would possess the skills necessary to do that.
in fact Pliska had plumbing, sewerage and central heating....which not one city at the time in europe posessed apart from Constnatinople and Rome who's infrastructure had fallen into disrepair by that time.
@Accelerated huns were a confederation of people's. it turns out even germanic tribes participated.
@@zarni000 Well, it's not like Bulgaria lacked settled peoples (Slavs) nor did the Bulgars remained nomads, its just that they arrived as a steppe people.
What a mess. For as skillful as the Byzantines were at turning their enemies on themselves and operationally defeating in detail, they were horrible at keeping themselves together as a society
But the society was very cohesive, advanced like no other in their time. It's just the combination of bad luck, bad decisions and the ancient Roman tradition of a civil war that they ended up the way they did.
Great video, great voice, great graphics. Thank you!
Somewhat unrelated, but I was led to belive that you pronounce the "g" in both strategos and tagmata as the "h", hence strateHos and taHmata, no? Any Greek speakers here? What about "Β"? As Basil became Vasiliy in Russian, is the "B" pronounced as "V"?
He pronounced strategos and tagmata correctly, and yes in greek Basil is Vasilis with a V.
In greek you pronounce the ''g'' as a ''y'' (for example Y-iannis ) or ''j'' (de j-ure , with the Latin pronunciation) and yes, ''B'' is a pronounced as ''V".
@@alextheo9766 Thanks! I'm a listener of "The History of Byzantium podcast" and the author is repeatedly switching his G's to H's when he says tagmata and strategos. Strange.
@@nikolasbakati1822 Wait, "g" as a "y"? How do you pronounce those two words, then? :P
@@Groznyj_Tutscha That just makes me more confused, as the "γ" (gamma) is clearly pronounced as "h" in the link you've sent me. Or maybe it's just my Dutch bias towards the letter, I don't know. :P
Great video! Would love to see a video on the Gauls
There was a Bulgarian Empire!? Guess everyone in Europe really did have their own empire at one time.
Amazing video! Thanks so much 🙏
Ottoman cannons cannot destroy Byzantine walls, 1453 was an Inside Job.
Those cannons were so huge, more advanced in that age.
Probably was actually, nobody would be dumb enough to leave a gate unlocked in the middle of a siege
@@menmamadrigal6099 the guard on the gate forgot to lock the gate and a small group of ottoman soldier see the chances and took the gate
Bro have you seen the size of those ottoman cannons?
Really, if not 1453, it'd be 1454 or 55. By the time of the siege, the empire was reduced to Constantinople and a little bit of the Peloponnese and the Turks would only become even stronger. Myths are nice, but the truth should be prefered
great video
MAYBE THE TRUE ROME WAS THE FRIENDS WE MADE ALONG THE WAY
I was pretty impressed with how informative this video was. The Byzantines have held a bit of a fascinating for me.
I love learning about this empire, I created a report in the “about” section of my profile [:
Great job. Very informative.
Thanks! :)
The east Roman empire started us Roman but it quickly became a Greek empire.
@I HATE TOUCANS the east Roman empire became a Greek empire at the 7th century.It lost its east territories and then it had under control Greece,Minor Asia,Pontus,Crimea,Cyprus,parts of the Balkan peninsula,Cyprus,Aegean Islands and South Italy and Sicily places were Greeks had built since the ancient times thousands city-states,kingdoms and colonies and they had spraded the Greek language and culture.The Greek language also became the state's official language during the 7th century because almost nobody knew Latin.The Greek emperors and the citizens never stopped using the Roman titles because the state that they took under their control was the legal and true heir of the Roman Empire thanks to the emperor Constantine the Great.Every byzantinologists supports what I am saying and every nation during the middle ages says that the Roman Empire is a Greek kingdom."Byzantines" were always using the Roman titles only for political purposes and at the same time they were calling themselves Romans which started meaning the Greek orthodox,Greeks and not so much Hellenics because the second one also meant the pegan apart from the national term.
This is great.
I find it extremely interesting that Eastern Romans or the Eastern Roman Empire spoke Greek and not Latin yet they were still Roman. Greek speaking Romans.
I don't think you should name them eastern Romans as the Romans and Byzantines were completely of different mind sets and zeal. The Byzantines were just Christianised Greeks that inherented the Roman lands.