Alex Caraiman Alex Caraiman naw try again, the English empire was just under 14 million square miles.... and 25% of the whole worlds population. yes it failed. But so did every other empire. Byzantine empire yes lasted a long time but it was super small, making it EASY to control was barely a million square miles with only 2% of the worlds population.... it doesn’t even make the top 50 as far as empire size goes.
Vespasian is my favourite emperor, his background and rise through the army to emperor is truly remarkable. He could've so easily been killed by the emperor Nero for falling asleep during one of Nero's marathon poetry sessions. He came to my country and took the tribal hill forts in southern England in no time considering the size of them . A great general and emperor imo .
I love, LOVE, the softly spoken academic. What a storyteller! What a teacher! He's that teacher from your past that held you captivated at the time and you've learnt to cherish since.
Nounismisation, he is top 10. Check Richard Miles out, he sets the bar for me. This guy sounds a bit too much like the Cylon imperious leader from the original.
When I was in the USMC I saw a number of military history presentations at FT Knox by a Lt Colonel from the Military Academy at West Point. He is the best teacher I have ever known.
Prosaic? Are you sure you didn't accidentally use the wrong word? His delivery is excellent and he conjours images and setting with some thought. Here is a definition of the word 'prosaic' you use in your comment from the google search I just did. "Having or using the style or diction of prose as opposed to poetry; lacking imaginativeness or originality." Surely you don't mean that do you?
you can fund it by getting a little bit of money from many people. also hbo would fund it themselves if you just gather the people that can make the series.
Rome is still the best example of how superpowers rise and fall. Technology change. Borders change. But the core stays the same.Power, corruption, Rich and poor, military, etc,etc
There is nothing 'sad'or 'Western' about it. It's the history of every empire, or superpower. Repeating itself over and over. From the The Chinese empires, The ottoman empire, the Roman empire the, Macedonian, Mongol ,The British and now U.S empire' All rise, and all fall. Some leave a world in chaos, like the fall of the Roman empire. Others go relatively without fall out, like the British. Anyway, there is always a form of chaos and misery before a new power stabilizes, so i would not be to eager to see the 'West' fall, before there is a alternative.
Yes i agree, many people also seem to forget that the fall of the Roman Empire led to the dark ages. No matter how cruel empires where. They also brought a certain stability and routine. When this suddenly falls away, chaos arises. My comment was more about how empires rise and fall in general.. It starts within, through corruption, etc,Meanwhile the outer borders defenses crumble.. I admit the British Empire isn't the best example for a comparison with the fall of Rome. The British empire , seemed to have "imploded' . Two World- wars, and the global De-colonization signaled it's end, rather then being overthrown by some foreign enemy.
It's funny really because they always follow the same pattern and don't seem to learn from history, the human race is like a revolving door thats doomed to repeat past mistakes just in a different setting.
Vespasian was not corrupt. He chose not to enrich himself by public office, unlike many of his contemporaries and, dare I say say, many of today's politicians and military brass. No wonder they dedicated a theatre to his memory!
elaustraliano Vespasian and his son Titus built the Colosseum in order to appease the people (mob) of Rome. The Colosseum was built on the exact spot of Nero's private lake in downtown Rome.
"Why Vespasian Was Rome's Most Liked Emperor" - I don't think they answer this question it's just his story before he became emperor. They should have focused on his reign too.
31:58 One can appreciate the profound intellect of this man just by the way he speaks. He expresses himself so artfully that we should all strive to do the same.
This is an extremely excellent documentary that explains in detail the working of the Roman empire and the career of one of its greatest emperors. Apart from a couple of off the mark comments (see my comments below), the narrative and comments of the historians and archaeologists was spot on. This is indeed one of the best and informative documentaries on the Roman empire of the 1st century AD that I have ever had the pleasure to watch. Oh, and finally, the reconstructions of the city of Rome and other places, the reenactments of Roman soldiers and battles, and the overall footage is first class.
The brief story of Jotapata (Yodefat in Hebrew) is quite understated. I worked at this city for two summer 1992-93 as principal archaeological cartographic mapping consultant, mapping a square mile around the ruins. It required almost a month to map al external and internal ruins. We identified placements of the Roman artillery by tracing the alignment of ballista, mapped the twin siege ramp at the base of the twin towers marking the gate including the 2000 year old concrete revetments holding up the slope. Everything described by Josephus was uncanny. Many Jews threw themselves into the underground cisterns and others tried to find escape in surrounding wadies. It was an awful slaughter but it's one very incredible archaeological site and a humbling experience. The siege of of Jerusalem was horrific and the site of Masada is one of the most awe-inspired ruins I've ever seen. The huge siege ramp remains and from the plateau, the rocks marking the Roman siege forts still exist. Vespasian was indeed a great emperor, perhaps, the most important after Augustus, but he was capable of incredible cruelty; such was the nature of the era.
Such a great documentary that I've watched it at least 3 times. If only there was a cable channel dedicated to history that could play stuff like this all day...
Ah caligula wasnt THAT bad. Got to remember what we known of the emperors today is largely a comical retelling of their faults and how they were perceived by the average roman of the day. Caligula barely reigned and yet is know by many even more so than Tiverius and Augustus. He was a young man who was forced into roman hierarchy and all that accompanied it. He was no worse than Tiberius.
Vespasian had indeed bred mules for the Roman army on his extensive lands in Italy, but that didn't make him a "country bumpkin" ! He was a senator of Rome, a governor of provinces and an extremely good general of troops - hardly a Roman Farmer Giles with straw stuck behind his ears! He was indeed one of the best Roman emperors of all.
No, he is not. If he is, he wouldn't have done what he did in Judea. It was a total massacre including women and children. He is like any other blood-thirsty general of his time, just more honest. And he took care of his army.
@@algrand52 His son Titus, conquered Jerusalem killing an estimated 500,000 men, women and children. To use modern terminology, it was a "mostly peaceful" massacre.
I really believe Vespasian's life would make for a great cable tv series. Just such a rich career, whether the British Isles, Judaea or the years as emperor or all of the above, id Watch! :)
Par N struck me as more of a story teller. less a lecture and more a retelling. Something lacking in our approach to history as dry facts and numbers. 10/10 would share a wineskin with
Except that he is wrong on the most important details. Vespasian was forced to attack Rome, because Nero hired one of the largest armies Rome ever had to put down the rebellion as fast as possible, BUT he did not pay them. He promised to pay them, because rome's coffers were empty. Nero nearly bankrupted Rome and thus the troops were sent only on the promise of a god(Nero). Nero died leaving Vespasian in a problematic position where his men will kill him if they don't get paid by someone soon. So Vespasian understanding the MORAL situation his men were in, stopped any offensive action and kept his men defending only, while sending messages to the NEW emperor to guarantee the payments and supplies to the troops. Time and time again Vespasian would promise payment to his troops and later it is known that the NEW emperor that just guaranteed their payment is dead. Time was running out for Vespasian, the jews were fighting a war of attrition and defending their cities waiting for the Romans to desert Vespasian and they were winning. Vespasian knew that the troops would not be paid unless the Civil war would ended, and he also knew that it would not happen unless he uses Nero's army to overpower any opposition. Another important detail which should have been in the video is that Vespasian was not qualified to become emperor but took it by force, it never happened in history up to that point. He was the first emperor that was not of aristocratic blood, and that is why Nero trusted him with his army, because he could not challenge Nero. This almost certainly meant that he will be assassinated as soon as he releases Nero's army. This lead to a huge propaganda campaign by Vespasian to make his blood divine, he claimed he was the Christ, the Messiah of the Jewish prophecies, and that god sent him to bring peace to the known world(the roman empire) and destroy the temple that the Jewish rebels defiled. He built the palace of peace in Rome and put in it some of the treasures of the Temple of Jerusalem. Because of this reason he did not allow the Jews to rebuild the Temple because the Jewish god wanted it destroyed according to Vespasian.
I am very impressed with Vespasian. He's my favorite Roman Emperor for his story alone. I even plan someday to visit Rietti, his birthplace, sometime in the future.
I've been reading Simon Scarrow's Eagle's of the Empire series, so this came as a bit of a spoiler lol. Nice to see a decent fellow like Vespasian get into power, especially if he put those sods Nero and Vitellius in their place whilst doing it. Hopefully Marco and Cato will finally get a break when their old Legate becomes emperor in the books.
It goes to show that even in the midst of a successful and wealthy empire, ambitious men were willing to engage in destructive power struggles and denigrate the rule of law in the process.
Sir the old man with beard ..he speaks with such a charm its really really mesmerising...respected sir thanks a lot for giving ur voice in this documentary-anamika verma from india.
Long a favourite of mine, this documentary does Vespanianus justice. Perhaps a few important events left out, but none the less an excellent overview of a great Roman and a gifted, decent, ruler for his times. He really should have been included among the "Five Good Emperors"...though I suppose the failings of second son Domitianus let his legacy down in the minds of some.
My favourite General and Emperor Vespasian . He came to Britain with Claudius and captured the massive Celtic hillforts along the south of England. He came from a working class father , who married into money. He wasn't a poncy emperor he was a well grounded man, honour and loyalty meant everything, he wasn't the most jovial of people, he was practical, reliable, direct. I really like Vespasian, I've read almost everything and nothing changes my mind about him. It wasn't that messages took ages to deliver, by today's standards yes they did, but for the time nobody got information from place to place faster than the Romans, remember it was a year that saw 4 different emperors ,had Titus left a week sooner he would have reached in time, although it wouldn't have changed anything overall. Stop showing the Colosseum, it wasn't anywhere near finished at the time of Vespasians death , Titus completed work on the Colosseum. Who cares about marks outa 10 for looks , or anything else . Vespasian had the stuff a good emperor needed.
When Galba finally arrived in Rome, many months after the death of Nero, they had to killed thousands of Nero followers in Rome, followers who didn't believe that Nero was dead, but thought that Nero simply had withdrew and would come back with an army. Otho and Vespasian ( who fat first supported Otho and proclaimed himself emperor only when he knew that Otho was dead) both proclaimed themselves as successor of Nero and of Nero way of doing things! So, not everyone, in Rome, was really against the rule of Nero. Sure, Vespasian was much more realistic ruler than Nero, though.
The best ever example of its time expressed with such eloquence and the knowledge of the so well informed commentators in the life of Emperor Vespasian. Thank you!
Good documentary, sheds some lights upon one of the slightly obscure roman Emperors. I wish they would have followed up with an episode 2, detailing more on how exactly he pulled the Empire back, instead of short 5 minutes mention at the end.
I’d say the Persian Achaemenid empire is another top contender for the greatest empire of the ancient world. It was largest at that point and their satraps functioned sort of like the Roman provinces, and even though it had some corruption it was able to maintain its vast empire through both losses to the Greeks. Also it’s level of organization was astounding as it was able to raise army after army to combat Alexander during his invasion somewhat similar to Rome during the second Punic war. The downfall of the empire was that their Shah was inept and they didn’t have a General at the level of Scipio.
Yes driving in both the left and right hand drives takes some skill, I can't tell you how many tourists get into accidents when renting cars in foreign countries but it is a lot.
Nero only wanted Vespasian for his trip to Greece as a possible hostage because Vespasian's brother Titus Flavius Sabinus was the urban prefect ie mayor of Rome and one of the most powerful men in the empire. Vespasian was invited to come to Greece to ensure Sabinus did not overthrow Nero while he was gone. Sabinus was suspected of being part of the Piso conspiracy to overthrow Nero earlier but no proof could be found.
@@NovitaSari-pi5mb This is only one possible interpretation, which isn't very popular in ancient history right now. It's the result of Flavian propaganda, that portrayed Vespasian and his sons as not very popular under Nero's rule. As far as we can tell, he was quite popular and always enjoyed Nero's favour, but this didn't work in a dynasty that defined itself very much in contrast to Vespasian's unpopular predecessor.
The statement made by that his story in at 9:56 is off by approximately 1000 years. The Roman empire lasted up until 1453. It is only in later times that the eastern portion which persisted holy without and indeed in spite of this man's Western European antecedents was called byzantine. If you had used that word to refer to them during their time they would not have known what you meant. They saw themselves as Romans. The western portion of the empire comprised of Hispania, Lusitania, Gaul, and Brittania was the more backwards portion. The eastern portion that survived so long, that flourished as he put it was the portion with all the greatness.
Concerning the battle on the river Medway -it's a bit anachronistic to call the amphibious cavalry as "Dutch" -maybe "Batavian" would have been a better word?
Whenever I come across a word i don't know I look up the meaning -this is how the acquisition of knowledge operates-why not call the opponents of the Romans "English" and not the "Britons" because that area is now England!
Whenever I come across a word i don't know I look up the meaning -this is how the acquisition of knowledge operates-why not call the opponents of the Romans "English" and not the "Britons" because that area is now England!
Fascinating; really well done. I'm re-reading Robert Graves - finished "I, Claudius" a couple of days ago and am now into "Claudius the God," probably the two best fictional works about the early Roman empire. Unfortunately, only Vespasian's son Titus was worthy of succeeding him - Domitian was a throwback to the worst of the Julio-Claudians - but, then, it led to the Five Good Emperors. Thanks for the work that went into this film.
Vespasian was very interesting. He wasn't the most ambition person in the world but he was a patriot and was the right man at the right time to keep Rome from falling into an abyss. This was a very good documentary btw. I like how a lot of documentaries back in the day didn't try to hook you with something flashy and then never fully tell the story which in turn makes the viewer unsatisfied. BTW the gentleman in the dark shirt and beard had a most beautiful voice, easily one in which he could narrate a full documentary if he wanted to.
@@violetblossom50 yes but it didn't progress for 3000 years, it stayed the same, the Greco Roman civilisations seemed progress, that is why they are so important
The Julio-Claudian emperors would be interesting to see with a time machine just to see how crazy they really were. But Vespasian would be the emperor you'd like to go back in time to meet.
Julius Caesar and the end of the republic destroyed the basis that had made Rome so great in the first place. He was the beginning of the end, kong before the empire reached its peak
11:57 (uote): "Steadiness, reliability" and MOST OF ALL "COMMON SENSE and REALISM" is what makes GREAT POLITICIANS and (then) TRULY Great Emperors. Octavian had quite similar character - shrudeness, common sense and an ENORMOUS sense of being not much a "king-like ruler", but what many "Age Of Enlightment" Kings and Queens of the XVIIIth century would call: BEING "The First Servant Of The State" - an ABSOLUTE State, of whom THEY would interpret the "needs" and "desires". History is like a "spinning wheel" - certain thing always repeat themselves, like the tides of the seas. The Roman Emperors needed to have one big quality more: they MUST have been military "conquerors", and they MUST bothered about one thing: "KEEP THE SOLDIERS HAPPY, and FORGET ABOUT THE REST!"! :) - another "clue" about the ENORMOUS POWER of the Legions in the Roman State (internal) affairs, that - once the "Era Of Expansion" ended, would "vomit" their twisted "philosophy of life (and DEATH!)" INTERNALLY, rather than on the outside. PS. Well done documentary - thumb up & subbed. Have a nice day everybody! ;)
down voted because at 37:30 WRONG! The capital of Britain at the time of the roman invasion was NOT Colchester. The romans made Colchester the capital of Roman Britain. But before they arrived Britain was tribal and contained many kingdoms, so there was no capital.
You need to install Add Blocker Plus, brother. Just click here, and choose for the browser you're using, and you'll never see an add again on TH-cam. search.yahoo.com/search?p=Addblock+plus&fr=yfp-t&fp=1&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8
MrRamto13 To my knowledge, system-wide ad-blockers all require root access on Android, which is simply not an option for some people. No idea about iOS. A possible solution would be to pay for a VPN and use their ad-filtering capabilities to prevent ads from being seen on your phone, but in my experience, it doesn't always work, and you might as well pay for TH-cam Red if you want a guaranteed ad-free experience watching videos.
Top drawer. Particularly interesting were the similarities between Caligula & Trump: "Everyone was terrified of Caligula, because they never knew what he would do next. "
Vespasian is one of my favourite Roman Emperors..he was one of the best Emperors Rome ever had and also seems to have been pretty decent with a good sense of humour.
Vivian Richards >> Good comment! I have always liked Vespasian too and also his son Titus; they’re good examples of Roman virtues. In contrast, Trajan and Hadrian were child molestors by our lights, members of the “Five Good Emperors” club or not.
This was an extraordinary documentary. So very well done. I know this has been said over and over, but a whole generation is not learning of the birth of western civilization, it is learning about ice road truck drivers, pawn shop owners and other nonsense.
@@BloodIsTheInkOfFreedom he married her because he wasn't directly related to the Julian side of the family. The marriage was intended to secure political stability.
Whoever did the casting on this should have given the one posing as Scipio Africanus a _very_ clean shave, as he was the one who introduced the clean-shaven face fashion of the Roman emperors from Augustus to Trajan.
I am interested in the most recent productions from scholarly sources. So far so good, so I subscribed! :) I could do with a lot LESS advertising, though! :p
I will love to watch if they can make series like game of thrones talking about the roman empire or even the Mongol empire or any other empire who conquer lands
As John mentioned the series Rome from HBO is really good but an even better one is Spartacus. It is honestly 1 of the best series of all time. It's right up there with GOT as my all time favorites.
Association of Free People >> There’s also PBS’s “I, Claudius” miniseries. It’s very fine although it doesn’t have the lavish production of the HBO series. I think that’s why HBO stopped “Rome” when they did, so as to not cover they same time period as “I, Claudius”. Perhaps not tho. The first season of “Rome” is phenomenal! The second season is good but not as even. Edit: I actually haven’t seen “Spartacus” the series but I will look it up!
This is a great docu, except for one thing - Vespasian was not the Commander of the invasion of Britain - that was Aulus Plautius. I understand this was about Vespasian, but still - they left it very murky.
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Byzantine empre ho last over 1000 year that is the greatest ever empire
Alex Caraiman Alex Caraiman naw try again, the English empire was just under 14 million square miles.... and 25% of the whole worlds population. yes it failed. But so did every other empire. Byzantine empire yes lasted a long time but it was super small, making it EASY to control was barely a million square miles with only 2% of the worlds population.... it doesn’t even make the top 50 as far as empire size goes.
vespasian = trump
@Andro mache that is greek dude when Greeks stay civilised the roman tribes live in trees
Vespasian... what an inspiring man and historical figure, so overlooked by historians and history teachers alike.
Great leader,. Master tactician. Practical
Opposite actually. He wasn't inspiring or intelligent or particularly ambitious at all.
Which is exactly why he was needed.
And overlooked.
Have you noticed that the subs say "Best Asian"?
Vespasian is my favourite emperor, his background and rise through the army to emperor is truly remarkable.
He could've so easily been killed by the emperor Nero for falling asleep during one of Nero's marathon poetry sessions.
He came to my country and took the tribal hill forts in southern England in no time considering the size of them .
A great general and emperor imo .
He is my favorite also....
@@billmurray1431me too
This Timeline series is one of the best things to be put on TH-cam.
The old man who is telling the story is a perfect storyteller... he can make a great voiceover ! :)
What’s his name?
I think he is doing that as a career in this video already.
But what is his name?
Conversely, I found the Author that says certain pompous lines in an overly dramatic tongue was quite annoying.
I enjoy his narration more than the documentary itself.
I love, LOVE, the softly spoken academic. What a storyteller! What a teacher!
He's that teacher from your past that held you captivated at the time and you've learnt to cherish since.
Nounismisation, he is top 10. Check Richard Miles out, he sets the bar for me. This guy sounds a bit too much like the Cylon imperious leader from the original.
Nounismisation
His name is Derek Williams
When I was in the USMC I saw a number of military history presentations at FT Knox by a Lt Colonel from the Military Academy at West Point. He is the best teacher I have ever known.
The man is one of the most prosaic raconteurs that I've ever seen..great documentary..
Prosaic? Are you sure you didn't accidentally use the wrong word? His delivery is excellent and he conjours images and setting with some thought. Here is a definition of the word 'prosaic' you use in your comment from the google search I just did.
"Having or using the style or diction of prose as opposed to poetry; lacking imaginativeness or originality."
Surely you don't mean that do you?
from mule breeder to emperor what a magnificent tale
That is a realy nice life story, most of us will never experience.
Creamy Steve when will you invite us to your coronation?
Meanwhile another empire today has a mule dreaming of becoming an emperor. Uh history, just why ?
@Creamy Steve p0p
@@francuadrian1218 All
I love how the Roman Legionnaires in the field are grimy and have a 'worn out' look to them. This documentary has very solid production value.
Grand Negus HAHAHA
Totally agree mate
Legionaries.
It’s legionaries. Legionnaires fight for France
It's legionarius or legionarii. Let's just be super petty about it.
Great documentary: Good choice of narrator, great academic input, wonderful locations, nice editing, and a really great actor playing Vaspasian.
Wow, 58 years old and still going into the hardest battle fighting along with the rest.
a true General. never ask of your troops what you wouldn't do yourself. he IS the classic example... of leading by example!
58 in todays world would b impressive but even more so in the classic age with less medical help than we have today
The hill forts vespasian invaded are a short trip down the road for me here in Dorset it's crazy to stand where him and his army stood
jealous here!!
@Bobby Copper, “… where _he_ and his army ….”
The soldiers are the re-enactment group called the ermine street guard. They are brilliant.
If I was a billionaire I would fund an 'HBO Rome' type series about Vespasian.
Byzantine empire the 1000 year empire is more interesting
you can fund it by getting a little bit of money from many people. also hbo would fund it themselves if you just gather the people that can make the series.
Nah... the longest lasting Empire that Christ built himself The Catholic Church.
@@rc3088 the Catholic church is not of Christ, and it's not build by Christ, the Catholic church is antichrist .....
Mongols
Rome is still the best example of how superpowers rise and fall. Technology change. Borders change. But the core stays the same.Power, corruption, Rich and poor, military, etc,etc
Only people from the west think that so sad....
There is nothing 'sad'or 'Western' about it. It's the history of every empire, or superpower. Repeating itself over and over. From the The Chinese empires, The ottoman empire, the Roman empire the, Macedonian, Mongol ,The British and now U.S empire' All rise, and all fall. Some leave a world in chaos, like the fall of the Roman empire. Others go relatively without fall out, like the British. Anyway, there is always a form of chaos and misery before a new power stabilizes, so i would not be to eager to see the 'West' fall, before there is a alternative.
I understand your point but the demise of the British Empire was the cause of the war and partition of India.
Yes i agree, many people also seem to forget that the fall of the Roman Empire led to the dark ages. No matter how cruel empires where. They also brought a certain stability and routine. When this suddenly falls away, chaos arises. My comment was more about how empires rise and fall in general.. It starts within, through corruption, etc,Meanwhile the outer borders defenses crumble..
I admit the British Empire isn't the best example for a comparison with the fall of Rome. The British empire , seemed to have "imploded' .
Two World- wars, and the global De-colonization signaled it's end, rather then being overthrown by some foreign enemy.
It's funny really because they always follow the same pattern and don't seem to learn from history, the human race is like a revolving door thats doomed to repeat past mistakes just in a different setting.
Vespasian was not corrupt. He chose not to enrich himself by public office, unlike many of his contemporaries and, dare I say say, many of today's politicians and military brass. No wonder they dedicated a theatre to his memory!
Yes, considering that it was Vespasian who began its construction.
elaustraliano Vespasian and his son Titus built the Colosseum in order to appease the people (mob) of Rome. The Colosseum was built on the exact spot of Nero's private lake in downtown Rome.
@DB Edwards Ya, we need more leaders who invade other countries, enslave populations and plunder their resources. Happy days are here again! LoL!
Yes, you dare say.
@@Sirvalian Huh?
That man telling the story is a nice touch.
where else would he read it?
Stephen Keeler
Derek Williams
I love him too
@Jonny B Why is there always some donut going against the grain? You are obviously in the minority, therefore stfu.
He does. And a documentary is always so much better when the historians know what they're talking about! :)
"Why Vespasian Was Rome's Most Liked Emperor" - I don't think they answer this question it's just his story before he became emperor. They should have focused on his reign too.
thanks, saved from watching the whole video.
It was originally called vespasian path to power, they changed the title for some reason.
@Scott Joseph I thought it was Trajan.
I liked the focus on his life leading up to him becoming Emperor; in fact, I'd like to see more biographies focus on that.
Agreed, amazing documentary in every way but very poor title
Truly excellent. One of the best documentaries on Rome that I've seen in recent years. Vespasian: An emperor without ego, or indeed, parallel.
31:58 One can appreciate the profound intellect of this man just by the way he speaks. He expresses himself so artfully that we should all strive to do the same.
hes amazing
This is an extremely excellent documentary that explains in detail the working of the Roman empire and the career of one of its greatest emperors. Apart from a couple of off the mark comments (see my comments below), the narrative and comments of the historians and archaeologists was spot on. This is indeed one of the best and informative documentaries on the Roman empire of the 1st century AD that I have ever had the pleasure to watch. Oh, and finally, the reconstructions of the city of Rome and other places, the reenactments of Roman soldiers and battles, and the overall footage is first class.
one of the best doc's on a roman emperor. wish they would do a documentary on all of the emperors like this. this rocked!
check out bbc series I CLAUDIUS,gives lives 5 emperors.
The brief story of Jotapata (Yodefat in Hebrew) is quite understated. I worked at this city for two summer 1992-93 as principal archaeological cartographic mapping consultant, mapping a square mile around the ruins. It required almost a month to map al external and internal ruins. We identified placements of the Roman artillery by tracing the alignment of ballista, mapped the twin siege ramp at the base of the twin towers marking the gate including the 2000 year old concrete revetments holding up the slope. Everything described by Josephus was uncanny. Many Jews threw themselves into the underground cisterns and others tried to find escape in surrounding wadies. It was an awful slaughter but it's one very incredible archaeological site and a humbling experience. The siege of of Jerusalem was horrific and the site of Masada is one of the most awe-inspired ruins I've ever seen. The huge siege ramp remains and from the plateau, the rocks marking the Roman siege forts still exist. Vespasian was indeed a great emperor, perhaps, the most important after Augustus, but he was capable of incredible cruelty; such was the nature of the era.
Thank You for real&true description
Thx for the insight... Id love to go to Massada one day.
@Roger H. Werner...Those must have been two, awesome summers! Human history is fascinating.
Hope you liked Israel! 😊
@Star Star Masada was built by Herod Jews king.Last stand of revolt jews against Romans.
Such a great documentary that I've watched it at least 3 times. If only there was a cable channel dedicated to history that could play stuff like this all day...
Yeh imagine that! A history channel for history!!
'The eccentric' emperor, Caligula. Lol, I think that is the kindest description of Little Boots I have ever heard. :-)
My cat is named Caligula, One of my roommates looks at me funny when I call him "Lil Boots"..
Ah caligula wasnt THAT bad. Got to remember what we known of the emperors today is largely a comical retelling of their faults and how they were perceived by the average roman of the day. Caligula barely reigned and yet is know by many even more so than Tiverius and Augustus. He was a young man who was forced into roman hierarchy and all that accompanied it. He was no worse than Tiberius.
that's because all you ever heard about him was bitchy gossip from people he humiliated, often quite rightly for their failings.
Anaris10 LOL x 50. That’s Hilarious.
If only the true histories of Caligula was known. Tacitus section on his reign is lost. He was the best of all the emperors :-)
Vespasian had indeed bred mules for the Roman army on his extensive lands in Italy, but that didn't make him a "country bumpkin" ! He was a senator of Rome, a governor of provinces and an extremely good general of troops - hardly a Roman Farmer Giles with straw stuck behind his ears! He was indeed one of the best Roman emperors of all.
Well said.
One of my favorite things about British history docs is that the narrators are incredible storytellers. That voice is spellbinding.
1 - Skip to the end of the video
2 - restart the video
3 - enjoy with NO ADS!! :)
Thanks I didnt know that
or just have ad block DUH!!!
Thank you
I have youtube vanced , i never see ads
Not all heroes wear capes, thanks man👍🏼
Vespasian was one of the most honest Romans with full ethics and virtue.
No, he is not. If he is, he wouldn't have done what he did in Judea. It was a total massacre including women and children. He is like any other blood-thirsty general of his time, just more honest. And he took care of his army.
@@algrand52 His son Titus, conquered Jerusalem killing an estimated 500,000 men, women and children. To use modern terminology, it was a "mostly peaceful" massacre.
Virtus vera nobilitat
@@algrand52 Roman ethics = conquer and impose Pax Romania.
Him and Dioclesian and the one who wrote "Meditations"
Thanks for doing Vespasian, one of the least-covered and one of my favorite Roman emperors.
I really believe Vespasian's life would make for a great cable tv series. Just such a rich career, whether the British Isles, Judaea or the years as emperor or all of the above, id Watch! :)
I'm working on a deal with Netflix.
@Patrick Brennan Haha wow this was an old comment but agreed :)
Unusually well made doc. Presenter is low key & well read . Thanx for upload !
Par N
struck me as more of a story teller. less a lecture and more a retelling. Something lacking in our approach to history as dry facts and numbers.
10/10 would share a wineskin with
I am havig trounble breaything
I could swear the narrator sounds like Iain Glen, the British-Scottish actor who played Jorah Mormont in Game of Thrones.
Except that he is wrong on the most important details.
Vespasian was forced to attack Rome, because Nero hired one of the largest armies Rome ever had to put down the rebellion as fast as possible, BUT he did not pay them. He promised to pay them, because rome's coffers were empty.
Nero nearly bankrupted Rome and thus the troops were sent only on the promise of a god(Nero).
Nero died leaving Vespasian in a problematic position where his men will kill him if they don't get paid by someone soon.
So Vespasian understanding the MORAL situation his men were in, stopped any offensive action and kept his men defending only, while sending messages to the NEW emperor to guarantee the payments and supplies to the troops.
Time and time again Vespasian would promise payment to his troops and later it is known that the NEW emperor that just guaranteed their payment is dead.
Time was running out for Vespasian, the jews were fighting a war of attrition and defending their cities waiting for the Romans to desert Vespasian and they were winning.
Vespasian knew that the troops would not be paid unless the Civil war would ended, and he also knew that it would not happen unless he uses Nero's army to overpower any opposition.
Another important detail which should have been in the video is that Vespasian was not qualified to become emperor but took it by force, it never happened in history up to that point.
He was the first emperor that was not of aristocratic blood, and that is why Nero trusted him with his army, because he could not challenge Nero. This almost certainly meant that he will be assassinated as soon as he releases Nero's army.
This lead to a huge propaganda campaign by Vespasian to make his blood divine, he claimed he was the Christ, the Messiah of the Jewish prophecies, and that god sent him to bring peace to the known world(the roman empire) and destroy the temple that the Jewish rebels defiled.
He built the palace of peace in Rome and put in it some of the treasures of the Temple of Jerusalem.
Because of this reason he did not allow the Jews to rebuild the Temple because the Jewish god wanted it destroyed according to Vespasian.
This is an unusually well documented, well developed documentary. The information is very precise and the storyline is well developed.
I am very impressed with Vespasian. He's my favorite Roman Emperor for his story alone. I even plan someday to visit Rietti, his birthplace, sometime in the future.
I've been reading Simon Scarrow's Eagle's of the Empire series, so this came as a bit of a spoiler lol. Nice to see a decent fellow like Vespasian get into power, especially if he put those sods Nero and Vitellius in their place whilst doing it. Hopefully Marco and Cato will finally get a break when their old Legate becomes emperor in the books.
Oh nice to see another fan!How about the Falco series?Lindsey Davies even has a whole novel dedicated to Vespasian.
"Beware the age of 73"
"Well I am 30, so there's now way such an ominous warning could possibly effect me for at least 40 years! Time for a campaign!"
It goes to show that even in the midst of a successful and wealthy empire, ambitious men were willing to engage in destructive power struggles and denigrate the rule of law in the process.
Sir the old man with beard ..he speaks with such a charm its really really mesmerising...respected sir thanks a lot for giving ur voice in this documentary-anamika verma from india.
Vespasian: The Path to Power is an extraordinary documentary! I truly did appreciate it so much. Thanks a lot for sharing! Keep it up!
Give the historian a medal, great story teller!
Long a favourite of mine, this documentary does Vespanianus justice. Perhaps a few important events left out, but none the less an excellent overview of a great Roman and a gifted, decent, ruler for his times. He really should have been included among the "Five Good Emperors"...though I suppose the failings of second son Domitianus let his legacy down in the minds of some.
My favourite General and Emperor Vespasian .
He came to Britain with Claudius and captured the massive Celtic hillforts along the south of England.
He came from a working class father , who married into money.
He wasn't a poncy emperor he was a well grounded man, honour and loyalty meant everything, he wasn't the most jovial of people, he was practical, reliable, direct.
I really like Vespasian, I've read almost everything and nothing changes my mind about him.
It wasn't that messages took ages to deliver, by today's standards yes they did, but for the time nobody got information from place to place faster than the Romans, remember it was a year that saw 4 different emperors ,had Titus left a week sooner he would have reached in time, although it wouldn't have changed anything overall.
Stop showing the Colosseum, it wasn't anywhere near finished at the time of Vespasians death , Titus completed
work on the Colosseum.
Who cares about marks outa 10 for looks , or anything else .
Vespasian had the stuff a good emperor needed.
When Galba finally arrived in Rome, many months after the death of Nero, they had to killed thousands of Nero followers in Rome, followers who didn't believe that Nero was dead, but thought that Nero simply had withdrew and would come back with an army. Otho and Vespasian ( who fat first supported Otho and proclaimed himself emperor only when he knew that Otho was dead) both proclaimed themselves as successor of Nero and of Nero way of doing things! So, not everyone, in Rome, was really against the rule of Nero. Sure, Vespasian was much more realistic ruler than Nero, though.
The best ever example of its time expressed with such eloquence and the knowledge of the so well informed commentators in the life of Emperor Vespasian. Thank you!
Always been my favourite. "Dear me, I must be turning into a god"...
One of the best documentaries I’ve ever seen on my life. And I’ve probably seen thousands... majestic!
What a high quality documentary. I love seeing reproductions of scenes.
Good documentary, sheds some lights upon one of the slightly obscure roman Emperors. I wish they would have followed up with an episode 2, detailing more on how exactly he pulled the Empire back, instead of short 5 minutes mention at the end.
I’d say the Persian Achaemenid empire is another top contender for the greatest empire of the ancient world. It was largest at that point and their satraps functioned sort of like the Roman provinces, and even though it had some corruption it was able to maintain its vast empire through both losses to the Greeks. Also it’s level of organization was astounding as it was able to raise army after army to combat Alexander during his invasion somewhat similar to Rome during the second Punic war. The downfall of the empire was that their Shah was inept and they didn’t have a General at the level of Scipio.
One of the better roman documentaries 10/10
a very accurate and well made docu...
i've watched it with great apreciation.
many thanks!
Not very accurate in the sense that China was arguably bigger than Rome
Until now I'd never realized that driving skills were a prerequisite to good history presentation.
Yes driving in both the left and right hand drives takes some skill, I can't tell you how many tourists get into accidents when renting cars in foreign countries but it is a lot.
love this show. Very interesting person, vespasian is probably one of the greatest Roman emperors
I wouldn't disagree.
@@vespasianflaviustheemperor7901 surely Marcus Aurelius is
I like the emperor Trajanus the most. Though vespasian was one of the best.
Vespasian is the best emporer because without him there would b no chance for others to rule in the future he brought rome back from peices
Nero only wanted Vespasian for his trip to Greece as a possible hostage because Vespasian's brother Titus Flavius Sabinus was the urban prefect ie mayor of Rome and one of the most powerful men in the empire. Vespasian was invited to come to Greece to ensure Sabinus did not overthrow Nero while he was gone. Sabinus was suspected of being part of the Piso conspiracy to overthrow Nero earlier but no proof could be found.
I never knew that. I always somehow downplay the political intrigue that surrounded the Roman Empire. So many stories
Yes, right! I read that on Paul L. Maier's The Flames of Rome.
GWH Interesting!
Novita Sari that’s where I first heard it
@@NovitaSari-pi5mb This is only one possible interpretation, which isn't very popular in ancient history right now. It's the result of Flavian propaganda, that portrayed Vespasian and his sons as not very popular under Nero's rule. As far as we can tell, he was quite popular and always enjoyed Nero's favour, but this didn't work in a dynasty that defined itself very much in contrast to Vespasian's unpopular predecessor.
Congrats on amazing documentaries. Keep the bios flowing!
Packed full of historical connections that I didn’t make (or was taught) in school. Thanks for posting!
Vespasian to me seems like the most roman ruler of them all. Making the colleseum get built.
The statement made by that his story in at 9:56 is off by approximately 1000 years. The Roman empire lasted up until 1453. It is only in later times that the eastern portion which persisted holy without and indeed in spite of this man's Western European antecedents was called byzantine. If you had used that word to refer to them during their time they would not have known what you meant. They saw themselves as Romans. The western portion of the empire comprised of Hispania, Lusitania, Gaul, and Brittania was the more backwards portion. The eastern portion that survived so long, that flourished as he put it was the portion with all the greatness.
Romanoi they called themselves. In the Roman Empire one could speak any language.
I already knew this Roman history, but I found this presentation very entertaining.
Concerning the battle on the river Medway -it's a bit anachronistic to call the amphibious cavalry as "Dutch" -maybe "Batavian" would have been a better word?
Yes, but how many people walking the streets would know where "Batavia" was?
Whenever I come across a word i don't know I look up the meaning -this is how the acquisition of knowledge operates-why not call the opponents of the Romans "English" and not the "Britons" because that area is now England!
Whenever I come across a word i don't know I look up the meaning -this is how the acquisition of knowledge operates-why not call the opponents of the Romans "English" and not the "Britons" because that area is now England!
Your scholarship is commendable but exceptional. (And I'm surprised that they didn't refer to the Britons as "the English".)
+Kalo Arepo they were a good briton but not a great briton back then ;)
Beautifully narrated and what a documentary! Excelent!!
EXCELLENT SERIES ~ Thank You Tony & Timeline! Very Useful & Informative. Wel Done! Peace & Health
Skip video to end watch the last 3 seconds then replay... no more ads
Your welcome
Thank you!
In history class I use to fall asleep 😴 now a grown man I luv history if I could go back 15yrs
Well not really I can do my own studying now
I always love Rome history!!
Song And you probably hate others histories
33:11 Sun Tzu said: When you are near make the enemy think you are far away, if you are far away make the enemy think you are near!
Fascinating; really well done. I'm re-reading Robert Graves - finished "I, Claudius" a couple of days ago and am now into "Claudius the God," probably the two best fictional works about the early Roman empire. Unfortunately, only Vespasian's son Titus was worthy of succeeding him - Domitian was a throwback to the worst of the Julio-Claudians - but, then, it led to the Five Good Emperors. Thanks for the work that went into this film.
Richard:
I'm partial to "Memoirs of Hadrian", by Marguerite Yourcenar.
@@richardmindemann6935 well-regarded work, for sure - was that what got her into the Academie Francaise?
Vespasian was very interesting. He wasn't the most ambition person in the world but he was a patriot and was the right man at the right time to keep Rome from falling into an abyss. This was a very good documentary btw. I like how a lot of documentaries back in the day didn't try to hook you with something flashy and then never fully tell the story which in turn makes the viewer unsatisfied.
BTW the gentleman in the dark shirt and beard had a most beautiful voice, easily one in which he could narrate a full documentary if he wanted to.
strikes me as crazy that Roman civilization was this sophisticated that long ago.
Carthage was before rome. It was a world power when rome was a muddy backwater
Don’t forget about the first empire that rules for 3,000 years; the Egyptian empire
white floss That is why it is so revered.
yep in many ways philosophically and in the invention of new ideas was ahead of today
@@violetblossom50 yes but it didn't progress for 3000 years, it stayed the same, the Greco Roman civilisations seemed progress, that is why they are so important
The Julio-Claudian emperors would be interesting to see with a time machine just to see how crazy they really were. But Vespasian would be the emperor you'd like to go back in time to meet.
Julius Caesar and the end of the republic destroyed the basis that had made Rome so great in the first place. He was the beginning of the end, kong before the empire reached its peak
Excellent documentary. Never mind the ads, I enjoyed it anyway.
i found one of his silver denarius while metal detecting in a field in England back in 2004
How can anyone watch this and doubt that history is shaped by truly great men?
More ads please, these weren't enough!
What a great documentary! The historians in this are really wonderful at bringing it to life
Read “the course of honour” by Lindsey Davis. It’s an excellent history of the period….
11:57 (uote): "Steadiness, reliability" and MOST OF ALL "COMMON SENSE and REALISM" is what makes GREAT POLITICIANS and (then) TRULY Great Emperors. Octavian had quite similar character - shrudeness, common sense and an ENORMOUS sense of being not much a "king-like ruler", but what many "Age Of Enlightment" Kings and Queens of the XVIIIth century would call: BEING "The First Servant Of The State" - an ABSOLUTE State, of whom THEY would interpret the "needs" and "desires". History is like a "spinning wheel" - certain thing always repeat themselves, like the tides of the seas. The Roman Emperors needed to have one big quality more: they MUST have been military "conquerors", and they MUST bothered about one thing: "KEEP THE SOLDIERS HAPPY, and FORGET ABOUT THE REST!"! :) - another "clue" about the ENORMOUS POWER of the Legions in the Roman State (internal) affairs, that - once the "Era Of Expansion" ended, would "vomit" their twisted "philosophy of life (and DEATH!)" INTERNALLY, rather than on the outside.
PS.
Well done documentary - thumb up & subbed.
Have a nice day everybody! ;)
down voted because at 37:30 WRONG! The capital of Britain at the time of the roman invasion was NOT Colchester. The romans made Colchester the capital of Roman Britain. But before they arrived Britain was tribal and contained many kingdoms, so there was no capital.
Human nature is funny. One wrong thing and it ruins the whole experience.
@@SuperGGLOL WTF you on about? Never mind. I don't care.
At a time when he attacked Masada as well. Amazing what goes behind the seat of power!
i really like the historians way of portraying it like a story... like an author describing a scene....
Not enough ads
You need to install Add Blocker Plus, brother. Just click here, and choose for the browser you're using, and you'll never see an add again on TH-cam. search.yahoo.com/search?p=Addblock+plus&fr=yfp-t&fp=1&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8
I agree with the sentiment over getting an ad-blocker for desktop viewing, but eliminating TH-cam ads on mobile is a much trickier problem.
MrRamto13 To my knowledge, system-wide ad-blockers all require root access on Android, which is simply not an option for some people. No idea about iOS. A possible solution would be to pay for a VPN and use their ad-filtering capabilities to prevent ads from being seen on your phone, but in my experience, it doesn't always work, and you might as well pay for TH-cam Red if you want a guaranteed ad-free experience watching videos.
I watch on my IPad no adds no add blocker?
Top drawer. Particularly interesting were the similarities between Caligula & Trump: "Everyone was terrified of Caligula, because they never knew what he would do next. "
Vespasian is one of my favourite Roman Emperors..he was one of the best Emperors Rome ever had and also seems to have been pretty decent with a good sense of humour.
Stansman63 When Vespasian lay dying in his bed, his last words were purported to have been, "Methinks I am becoming a god."
He also looked exactly like LBJ.
One of the best Rome documentaries ever.
The empire I admire the most, love the Romans
😂🤣🤣
You don't like American empire .?
Good to see a solid reliable man!!!! Like Vespian old school thinker heading big old Roman Empire back in the day!!!!
Vivian Richards >> Good comment! I have always liked Vespasian too and also his son Titus; they’re good examples of Roman virtues. In contrast, Trajan and Hadrian were child molestors by our lights, members of the “Five Good Emperors” club or not.
Ancient Jews were a Semitic people, not Western European. The Diaspora changed that.
That was a beautifully done vid. Thanx.
Excellent documentary. I particularly enjoyed the narration by well those spoken Englishmen.
2:29 Anyone know this guy's name? I like the cadence in which he tells this tale and I was curious if he had other docs or lectures online.
hes amazing
16:50...in the days of the Republic that a man standing for public office had to have served in 10 campaigns
This was an extraordinary documentary. So very well done. I know this has been said over and over, but a whole generation is not learning of the birth of western civilization, it is learning about ice road truck drivers, pawn shop owners and other nonsense.
Its amazing how Claudius influenced and repaired rome, all the way through vespasian.
He did have his positive points but then he married agrippina
@@BloodIsTheInkOfFreedom he married her because he wasn't directly related to the Julian side of the family. The marriage was intended to secure political stability.
i love the music in this video , the historians, the narrator, and the older gentleman telling the story. Excellent +++
Rome was brought down by all this videos ads
Rome was restored with adblocker.
@NuvYou Only even more foolish people spend money on adblockers when none is needed at all.
Rome was brought down because it had too much Gaul
Roma e' stata distrutta dagli Amerindi, mortacci loro.
Nonsense! The ad revenue refiled the temple's coffers emptied by Nero.
Whoever did the casting on this should have given the one posing as Scipio Africanus a _very_ clean shave, as he was the one who introduced the clean-shaven face fashion of the Roman emperors from Augustus to Trajan.
I am interested in the most recent productions from scholarly sources.
So far so good, so I subscribed! :)
I could do with a lot LESS advertising, though! :p
I know my Roman history and found this very interesting . Thank you for posting .
Your welcome
Pontius Pilate it’s ok
I will love to watch if they can make series like game of thrones talking about the roman empire or even the Mongol empire or any other empire who conquer lands
Muares Ahmed they do its called Rome it's on HBO before GoT
As John mentioned the series Rome from HBO is really good but an even better one is Spartacus. It is honestly 1 of the best series of all time. It's right up there with GOT as my all time favorites.
Association of Free People >> There’s also PBS’s “I, Claudius” miniseries. It’s very fine although it doesn’t have the lavish production of the HBO series.
I think that’s why HBO stopped “Rome” when they did, so as to not cover they same time period as “I, Claudius”. Perhaps not tho. The first season of “Rome” is phenomenal! The second season is good but not as even.
Edit: I actually haven’t seen “Spartacus” the series but I will look it up!
Can anybody tell me the name of the guy who starts talking at 3:07? Love the way he talks. Really enjoying these Timeline documentaries.
This is a great docu, except for one thing - Vespasian was not the Commander of the invasion of Britain - that was Aulus Plautius. I understand this was about Vespasian, but still - they left it very murky.
Was he legate not a tribune in the conquest of Britain,
He was Legatus at the II Augusta and commanded the left wing in the subsequent advance inland
A great documentary spoiled by too many ads..... greed is a terrible quality....