How you manage to balance being a teacher and such a high quality TH-camr is honestly beyond me. The amount of work and time you spend on these videos and the balance of school must leave you with little/no social life for yourself. Your work is much appreciated, please, continue what you're doing.
I used to be a full time teacher and had no chance to make my own projects because of that, so I had to quit teaching full-time and reduced my schedule just to one day in a week when I have my most important lessons (5 - 90 minute long lessons in one day :-D, you really have to prepare before hand), only then could I start to follow the projects and dreams... I guess this has to be great time management and not much free time...
22 March 2018 Metatron : I am reconstructing a Roman Contribunium as a reenactment group. 22 March 2030 : Hello Noble ones! We have finally done it , a big thank you to all my Patreon donators , they will each have a maniple to command , we have finally enough supporters to retake Rome!
Metatron is like being subscribed to two chanels at once. One moment we have japanese armor mobility tests and the next it's Roman Military. It's nice to have more than one interesting thing.
and next is a gaming video, then next is a comedy, then next is a rant I also love the nature of this channel. It’s quite high quality but at the same time it’s just Raf’s personal channel where he posts whatever he wants
Every movie even freaking American actors playing nazis fighting the british have british accents.why is there such an obsession with a high pitched annoying accents
Italians aren't really that roman either, after the collapse of the roman empire Italy became a rape fest for north africans, greeks and germanics. Blue or Green Eyes are to believed to have been pretty common in ancient romans. Romans are more likely to have actually looked like north italians, especially since the majority of mixing happened in south and middle italy.
German curl thats not true as most genealogists believe that almost all Italian dna descends from the italics and the only group of colonists that had a significant impact on the Italian gene pool were greek colonists in southern Italy and Sicily prior to the Romans
Awesome video!! In my opinion the "Roman Idea" was a factor that made Rome so long lasting. A factor that passed also to the Eastern Empire ( Konstantinople the New Rome). Rome was an idea above all and not just a city. So every factor ( civilians, military, politicians and economic factors) did what necessary to ensure the growth of Rome.
Yay, my humanities course that was completely optional actually comes in use. My professor did cover the economic loop to Roman expansion but I hope you made a video covering reasons why Roman society becomes increasingly unstable like how the competition for status and politics led to over stretching the expansion and the like. I love your work and enthusiasm.
maybe the society also became unstable because there was no big conquest anymore. before there were always conquests that brought loot and slaves. those things kept rome working.
I think people who focus solely on the Legions of Rome and not Roman culture and politics aren't entirely unjustified or ignorant. Rome started off as a small village by the shores of Italy and a few hundred years later at it's height of power this once tiny village held from Spain to Syria, Africa to Britain. It encompassed dozens or hundreds of cultures, bringing leaps and bounds in technological advancement and infrastructure not because their diplomats convinced these people to join them, but because of the might of Roman legions. The legions were not all Rome has to offer to history, but it is because of them a great many people care to study them or learn about them as a hobby and not Thrace or Assyria or Phoenicia
hello metaron, i just discovered your channel and im really enjoying it. i like that you talk about, what might be considered somewhat mundane issues in detail. for example: the legionnaires standard diet, the gladiators diet, the pay, the ordinary things that most people would really like to know about but cannot find answers too easily. i was hoping you could talk about, (if you haven't already), one of my favorite roman accomplishments, and thats their concrete. please do a vid on it, and if you have already, please drop the link. i have subscribed sir. cheers from Kona
Potential video topic, if you haven't covered this before, could be talking about "spiked" shields. Possible points can include: whether they existed, where the spikes would have been (a single on the boss, multiple spread out, on the sides, etc.), any known/viable uses (alternative armour piercer, extra way to catch blades, etc.), if they are just a "modern" concept.
I'm gonna go ahead and point out how in the first four minutes, I decided Metatron and his pal are meant to be a father teaching his son the ways of war before his mandatory enlistment in the Legion.
dude this is so good...this should be a full 50 minute tv documentary, you definitely can do this better than BBC or History channel...they should pay you to make their documentaries
Good thing he's using a pilum and not a javelin. Pila are weighted on the front with a flexible tip to disable the enemies' shields. When the pilum would hit an enemy shield, the soft iron tip would bend, thus making it impossible to remove in combat and rendering the shield unwieldy. Unprotected by their shields, the front line enemy infantry would quickly be cut down by the Legionaries. The pilum also was long enough and heavy enough to be used as a spear when repelling cavalry. It had no other uses save for these. Roman Legionaries used slings to deal with enemy skirmishers, as the pila were not designed to be a skirmishing javelin because of their weight.
You are correct to point out the synergy of several factors that all multiplied their effect to create the extraordinary power of Rome's legions. The factors you raised were all indeed crucial. I feel however there were two other factors that were every bit as important that you did not touch on. There was a particular tactic the Romans used, they deployed their ranks in depth. There were several legionaries behind each one that was on the front line, as many as ten at a time. They would fight for half a minute or so and at a signal, along the whole front row, the man in front would step to one side and to the rear, and the rest of the line behind him would step forward. The ones who had been in front would cycle to the rear of the line. This did two things, it meant that the front of the line was always 100% fresh and could exert themselves at absolute maximum. Those fresh off the line had time to cool down, drink some water, etc.. Every bit as important and synergizing with the above, Roman medicine, especially battlefield medicine was extraordinarily advanced for it's time. Anyone who was injured on the front line could be promptly bandaged if necessary after they had cycled to the rear, and sent back with bleeding staunched, or removed completely if their effectiveness had been compromised. This allowed Roman soldiers to survive with the experience gained, when their counterparts would have died from blood loss and compromised effectiveness. None of their opponents did anything like this. They lacked the full time trained professionals needed to pull off this level of tactic. Their opponents would fight on the front until they fell. Minor injuries would bleed until blood loss took it's toll and the fighter was killed as a result. Heat exhaustion too could rapidly cause someone in the thick of the action to also quickly lose effectiveness. The end result was that facing Roman units would have been like a meat grinder in comparison. Romans would lose no one to blood loss or heat, and their fighters were capable of vastly more ferocity, knowing they dd not have to pace themselves. When you add to that that Romans were vastly better armored, vastly better trained, and had vastly more combat experience with that training, they were able to conquer the world. By the way, this particular tactic was very well demonstrated early in episode one of the Rome series produced by HBO.
Peter Cohen That's spot on. In military science this effect is known as force multiplication. It's especially important in combined arms tactic and maneuver warfare theory. If you have the high ground, the sun and wind in your back, better armor, you're flexible in terms of arms (such as javelins and shield & sword at the same time), better training, better discipline, more men, better organized, better stamina etc. you have a huge advantage equal to the sum of everything together.
I really enjoyed the fact that i could hear and understand the latin words without even reading the subtitles! (i study gymnasium in the netherlands) the quality of this documentary is very high, "amo id!"
One of the things that maintains discipline is the interactions at the squad level. Your mates keep you in line. If you screw up they’ll let you know and instruct you in the proper way. This still holds true today.
I'm thinking on one question: as far as I see from the facts, we can see another well organized, well equipped and successful chinise army (Jin and Han dynasties) on the opposite side of Eurasia. I'm wondering if you can create such episode, in which you'll compare (academically and historically accurate) the chinise army and roman legions. I believe it is very interesting topic.
I think you definitively bring up some good points in explaining the remarkable success, generally speaking, that the Roman military enjoyed for a long period. I would also add one important point besides the ones you mention, and I think this is a critical aspect, and that is: the military culture of Rome. In particular, the notions of virtus (or manly courage), competition and honor/glory.
I was happy to learn in this video that they used to write 14 in this manner XIIII. Very interesting. You should make a video about the roman numerals Metatron. And if you have one already can anyone send me a link?
Hi, Metatron! I hope you will read this comment. I've got some questions about Roman army, maybe you can help. 1. Centurion. I read that in battle he was placed in the front row on the right. So why the most defenseless right flank (no shields)? There must be a good reason. If this is wrong, so where was he plased? 2. Same for signifer. Where was his place in battle formation? 3. Manica. Was there some kind of special super-heavy troops with manicas (and also greaves) or it were just regular soldier armor? Could there be that in one century some soldiers have manica and some doesn't, or as long as it was implemented - everyone was using it? 4. Squamata. Was it just for officers and special troops, or regular soldiers wore it too? 5. Shield designs. Could there be different designs in one century, or it's always one design for one century, or cohort, or even the whole legion? Thank you for you channel, I learned a lot from it! And sorry for my English.
While I'm not Metatron, I might be able to lend my thoughts regarding your questions based on my research: 1. The senior centurion of each cohort (there was no separate officer that lead a cohort) had significant leeway to take the initiative during the course of a battle. In order to exploit this allowance of command, they'd need to be at the front lines to observe the opposition. For example, during the Battle of Pharsalus, Caeser's legionaries were ordered to charge into Pompey's line; except the Pompeian's didn't charge in return. The centurions, seeing this, ordered all the cohorts to a stop to reform their lines & advanced slowly; in order to keep their units cohesive when combat commenced. Had the centurions been at the rear of the centuries & cohorts, such a move wouldn't have occured. 2. This one I'm least sure about, Metatron probably knows this one better. 3. The manica was conceived in response to the Dacians employing a unique weapon: the Falx. It was a large two-handed, Seax-looking weapon that was curved enough to reach around the scutum to strike a legionary's sword arm & powerful enough to cleave into the standard scutum & galae. The manica was given to prove protection against the Falx & similar weapons, in addition to helmets (& maybe scuta?) being reinforced with bars & struts for the same purpose. Given most secondary equipment would have been payed for by the legionaries themselves, it'd be up to them to requisition it. 4. AFAIK; the type of body a legionary would use was all dependent on how much he was willing to spend on it. Squamata would have been more than likely cheaper than Lorica Laminata (using Metatron's term for it) but more expensive than Hamata. I get the impression it'd have been more common in the eastern provinces, esspecially after Laminata fell out of use due to cost. 5. if I recall correctly, the major design set-piece was legion specific; with smaller markings devoted to which cohort & century a legionary was assigned to.
Another excellent documentary Metatron and I hope you can help me. Living in the UK I'm in the process of putting together all the kit of a Roman soldier of imperial days of the invasion. I have my gladius, pugio, belt and attachments so far. The question is can you recommend a supplier of lorica segmentata to the £200-400 price list with a view to join a reenactment group. Keep up the fascinating posts. John.
Thank you for at least mentioning the most underappreciated aspect: logistics. The Roman army was like 1000 years ahead of its time, when it comes to training, armour (look how long it took to make helmets and breastplates of this quality again) and logistics. Only few countries in the 1000 years thereafter would have been able to maintain such a large standing army and in most cases its loyalty and discipline left a lot to be desired.... Most even failed badly at supplying a much smaller army with food over extended times and today no-one seems to appreciate how hard it is without refrigerated trucks to supply entire legions with perishable food and organise an empire, where news may take months to get from A to B...
Brian Lock I agree the Romans worked from force the Oreintals worked against weaknesses. Tactics those still apply today there are just more advanced weapons.
+ThatGuyYouKnow I don't think that's true. The size of even the provincial/warlord armies would have cost too much to center them on cavalry. Cavalry was used for shock tactics and maybe nullifying nomadic cavalries, but the sheer size of the army centered on infantry with spears. The use of the crossbow also increased from the Zhou Dynasty onwards.
kwanarchive much like the Roman legionaires, every soldier in China's army were issued with two spears. But instead of throwing it as a projectiles, they used it like a chopsticks to pick the enemy one by one.
Great video Metatron, but I think there was another factor that wasn't mentioned: their ability to recover. Roman armies were no stranger to heavy losses, but it didn't deter them. I mean; it does take something to lose as many forces at Cannae as they did in the 2nd Punic Wars, and still be able to keep fighting (and keep losing for several years until one battle gave them victory).
Good video but too much distortion in the music and some of the general audio. You might want to look into the recording levels, sources and editing settings.
Hi Metatron! Another good one. My question: When was the last time a Roman General lead a Roman army equipped with Scutum, Gladius and Pilum into battle and why?
Hello Metatron! I'm pretty new to your channel and I keep watching the videos, I just can't stop. :D Thank you for the content of such a great quality, I love the passion you put in what you do and so far it's been very educative to me, I'm having a great time watching your videos (which is quite rare for me to be honest). I know it's only me, but it wasn't really in my school education program (and it all was a long time ago lol), and when I question myself about something, there aren't that many sources I can rely on to see different points of view. Since I haven't watched all the videos yet, I probably missed some topics, but some of them aren't there, probably some could be interesting to the audience. Here are a couple of topics I'd love to discover (maybe someone else could be interested in these too): - Nero and the Great Fire: what's your opinion on what happened? The role of christians in that history? (it is believed, at least where I live, that Nero was a crazy guy and started a fire himself, but I have doubts in it because there's no point in doing it for any kind of a ruler). - Constantine the Great. His role in the process of christianity becoming an official religion. (as far as I can see, he decided to take a lead of something he couldn't fight, and even linked himself with the holiness of the god by making himself a saint therefore becoming someone godlike in the eyes of the flock - that's not a statement, it's only how I can see it so far, after very little research with limited sources, I'd love to hear the variant of an educated person who's competent in the topic) - Japanese gardens. The history of development within the culture; the part of the culture becoming a main attraction which is something people make abroad; how it's actually made and whether it was something special in the history of Japan. - History of some well-known Japanese brands which started from samurai families in Japan (like Mitsubishi for example). Not particularly interesting in terms of history of samurai, but I find it pretty curious what were the roots of modern Japanese business. - Kalos kagathos, platonic love, education, relations in the ancient greek society, the role of elders and women; hetairas and pornais, the development of women's role in the society in ancient history (probably not only in Ancient Greece, but in ancient world as a whole). - Animal symbols, holy animals, sacrifice in history in different cultures: from Maya to the Minoan civilization and modern India. A bull as one of notable (and interesting for me in particular): as a torture tool, the holy symbol, target of worshipping etc in various spots in the world and history without obvious connections between the civilizations and cultures. These are just a few topics I'm personally interested in right now, if someone knows that there are already Metatron's videos with this information, I'd be pleased if you could leave some links, otherwise, in case someone else is interested, probably some of these could be the topics of the future videos (at least I hope so lol). Thanks again! I really can't express enough the joy I get from all your videos.
Dear Metatron! mentioned that roman soldiers were able to understand the commands of their superiors even in the heat of a battle. How was the battlefield communication solved in the medieval times?
What was the average effective range of of the pilum? It did not seem like you were able to throw it very far, and I wonder about how far was it usually thrown at their enemies? 40 or 50 feet?(15 to 17 meters?)
Metatron is it possible for you to make a video on Hannibal or a video on his tactics and victories over Rome? Would be a very interesting video aswell as Alexander the Great! Thanks
i like the low effort throw. XD no momentum when throwing and such. but i guess that might be intentional to not break the pillum, as it's design is to break on impact.
It is said that the Romans used armor so light they didn't need cranes to hoist them onto their horses. According to the Illiad, piercing blows can dismember if in the right spot, such as the spinal column at the neck, at which point the head merely stays on the body by remaining tissue. That book is quite gruesome.
Ho gradito la qualità e soprattutto la ricerca e l’approfondimento che hai messo in questa produzione (infatti ti ho lasciato un mi piace). Se posso permettermi, alcune inesattezze commesse risiedono in un errore che ti crea un deficit notevole contro il quale devi lottare: usi bibliografia e ti affidi a studi anglofoni. Non è uno stereotipo etnico oppure un pregiudizio culturale, ma la verità : per quanto possano sforzarsi gli anglosassoni non riusciranno mai a capire la storia romana. Questo semplicemente per due motivi: 1) quella romana per loro è una cultura che per quanto cerchino di emulare viene avvertita come straniera. Gli unici in grado veramente di studiare e capire la storia romana siamo noi (e forse gli spagnoli), perché dei romani siamo e ci sentiamo figli ed eredi. Ti posso a questo proposito consigliare un gruppo veramente capace, quello di Ars Dimicandi, nel Nord Italia, che fa vera rievocazione storica e vera archeologia sperimentale. Ti consiglio quindi per documentarti i libri di Dario Battaglia; 2) la loro cultura tende inevitabilmente alla sintesi ed alla spettacolarizzazione. Questi due elementi sono un notevole ostacolo alla loro comprensione della società e cultura romana, molto complessa e avanzata, ma allo stesso tempo molto pragmatica e per niente pomposa. Quindi il consiglio è: liberati di (americani,) inglesi, tedeschi e francesi che vogliono parlare di Roma, celebrandola, solo per celebrare loro stessi e i loro eroi nazionali che contro noi romani hanno combattuto, vedrai che la tua già vasta cultura nel campo riceverà solo benefici 😂
I know you're a bit of a roman fanboy, but can you do a video about the roman invasion on the germanic territory, the battle of the teutoburg forest and later on the fall of rome?
Thanks again for this magnificent work you present in you channel, im a big fan i would like you to create a especial, videos about the ancient history of Italy from prehistoric times to the fall of the Roman Empire. you really now how to talk about diferent aspects about history. one mord time you have a very educative and fan channel
PLEASE, please, tell me HOW were the Romans defeated at Cannae. It is well known how they were encircled, but to be encircled and to be defeated are two very different things. They were supposed to get through any army, right ? Then, what happened ?
I like this!!! So much Better, than just playing around. I really like the Armor and tactics and economy look. "I fight so that my children can be farmers( producers) and my grandchildren can be Artist(Statesman, teachers, and more)". I would like to contact your North American Reenactors and I would love to meet you when you go to see them. :) Good job :)
Also after the trowing demo, if you hit someone with a cut like that the tendons in your wrist will be hurting like hell :/ this is esp tru for the thrusting...i would love to help you corepgraph and help but from dubai to sicily its expensive to travel and currently im financially not in a position to even offer aid :'(
Referring to Delbrück the main strength of the roman army was the cohesion of its legions, their flexibility even of subunits and the logistcs including fortifications. Each cohort could act indivual. They where able to oppose flanking action from cavalry, which made the legions superior to the greek phalanx, which always had a huge problem with enemy cavalry, as soon it came in thier flanks or back. Another point is, the bureaucracy of rome was able to field and feed huge armys for a long time, which probably allowed them to field more man than tribal societies, which could not field a really professional army, but their workers had to play soldiers when necessary. But this makes economy and farming suffer in long wars.
It's very hard to get inside the head of a Roman legionary. They killed each other, they killed civilians, they killed animals, they bribed their officers, they robbed, they extorted. They proclaimed their leaders emperors and then killed them if they became liabilities. And were their enemies any different? I will never understand how savage and desperate were their lives.
How you manage to balance being a teacher and such a high quality TH-camr is honestly beyond me. The amount of work and time you spend on these videos and the balance of school must leave you with little/no social life for yourself. Your work is much appreciated, please, continue what you're doing.
chemistrycounts ...he hasn't got a girlfriend, it's that simple. Women leach your time.
purpleanex haha
purpleanex I can be his girlfriend
I used to be a full time teacher and had no chance to make my own projects because of that, so I had to quit teaching full-time and reduced my schedule just to one day in a week when I have my most important lessons (5 - 90 minute long lessons in one day :-D, you really have to prepare before hand), only then could I start to follow the projects and dreams... I guess this has to be great time management and not much free time...
@@purpleanex I know right, ahahahah
22 March 2018
Metatron : I am reconstructing a Roman Contribunium as a reenactment group.
22 March 2030 :
Hello Noble ones! We have finally done it , a big thank you to all my Patreon donators , they will each have a maniple to command , we have finally enough supporters to retake Rome!
Metatron is like being subscribed to two chanels at once. One moment we have japanese armor mobility tests and the next it's Roman Military. It's nice to have more than one interesting thing.
and next is a gaming video, then next is a comedy, then next is a rant
I also love the nature of this channel. It’s quite high quality but at the same time it’s just Raf’s personal channel where he posts whatever he wants
Let's not forget all the videos on linguistics.
Thanks Patreon people for allowing us plebeians to watch great productions like this video.
I dunno man, I think they've wasted their money, this "patreon" stuff is worse than his normal content
Wow, Romans looking and sounding like Italians and not stuffy British guys like in every movie during Roman times!
Todd sperling what a shocking revelation.
Really I thought the Romans sounded much more like the descendants of celts then the descendants of themselves 🤔
Every movie even freaking American actors playing nazis fighting the british have british accents.why is there such an obsession with a high pitched annoying accents
Italians aren't really that roman either, after the collapse of the roman empire Italy became a rape fest for north africans, greeks and germanics. Blue or Green Eyes are to believed to have been pretty common in ancient romans. Romans are more likely to have actually looked like north italians, especially since the majority of mixing happened in south and middle italy.
German curl thats not true as most genealogists believe that almost all Italian dna descends from the italics and the only group of colonists that had a significant impact on the Italian gene pool were greek colonists in southern Italy and Sicily prior to the Romans
Excellent video! Coming from an actual historian, I must say, you're spot on with your arguments and research. Well done!
This channel is a good example of why i don't need TV in my life.
I'm glad you like my work!
Awesome video!! In my opinion the "Roman Idea" was a factor that made Rome so long lasting. A factor that passed also to the Eastern Empire ( Konstantinople the New Rome). Rome was an idea above all and not just a city. So every factor ( civilians, military, politicians and economic factors) did what necessary to ensure the growth of Rome.
You’re really getting better every month, keep up the awesome work 👌
Yay, my humanities course that was completely optional actually comes in use. My professor did cover the economic loop to Roman expansion but I hope you made a video covering reasons why Roman society becomes increasingly unstable like how the competition for status and politics led to over stretching the expansion and the like. I love your work and enthusiasm.
maybe the society also became unstable because there was no big conquest anymore. before there were always conquests that brought loot and slaves. those things kept rome working.
Out in the Forest that was Awesome, really brought it to life
Well Done
I think people who focus solely on the Legions of Rome and not Roman culture and politics aren't entirely unjustified or ignorant. Rome started off as a small village by the shores of Italy and a few hundred years later at it's height of power this once tiny village held from Spain to Syria, Africa to Britain. It encompassed dozens or hundreds of cultures, bringing leaps and bounds in technological advancement and infrastructure not because their diplomats convinced these people to join them, but because of the might of Roman legions. The legions were not all Rome has to offer to history, but it is because of them a great many people care to study them or learn about them as a hobby and not Thrace or Assyria or Phoenicia
hello metaron,
i just discovered your channel and im really enjoying it.
i like that you talk about, what might be considered somewhat mundane issues in detail. for example: the legionnaires standard diet, the gladiators diet, the pay, the ordinary things that most people would really like to know about but cannot find answers too easily.
i was hoping you could talk about, (if you haven't already), one of my favorite roman accomplishments, and thats their concrete.
please do a vid on it, and if you have already, please drop the link.
i have subscribed sir.
cheers from Kona
I've waited for this, thanks Metatron you got the best history channel on TH-cam!
Potential video topic, if you haven't covered this before, could be talking about "spiked" shields.
Possible points can include: whether they existed, where the spikes would have been (a single on the boss, multiple spread out, on the sides, etc.), any known/viable uses (alternative armour piercer, extra way to catch blades, etc.), if they are just a "modern" concept.
5:03 shamefur dispray
XD
I'm gonna go ahead and point out how in the first four minutes, I decided Metatron and his pal are meant to be a father teaching his son the ways of war before his mandatory enlistment in the Legion.
dude this is so good...this should be a full 50 minute tv documentary, you definitely can do this better than BBC or History channel...they should pay you to make their documentaries
Huge fan of your channel metatron keep up the good work.
As a former high school javelin thrower, I have such the urge to teach you on better form
Matt Samani haha yes! I'm glad someone else feels the same way.
Most of the times he grabbed it to far on the front end when he should have held it closer to the center of mass, right ?
MrFedaykin nah don't be mean about it. Literally almost every javelin thrower I've ever taught started out doing literally the same thing
MrFedaykin I gotcha, sorry I was reading that comment quickly while on the way to work
Good thing he's using a pilum and not a javelin. Pila are weighted on the front with a flexible tip to disable the enemies' shields. When the pilum would hit an enemy shield, the soft iron tip would bend, thus making it impossible to remove in combat and rendering the shield unwieldy. Unprotected by their shields, the front line enemy infantry would quickly be cut down by the Legionaries. The pilum also was long enough and heavy enough to be used as a spear when repelling cavalry. It had no other uses save for these. Roman Legionaries used slings to deal with enemy skirmishers, as the pila were not designed to be a skirmishing javelin because of their weight.
Such amazing work, keep this up and I think you will double the amount of Patreons.
Thank you for your kind words
Great doku! thank you for the good work!
You are correct to point out the synergy of several factors that all multiplied their effect to create the extraordinary power of Rome's legions. The factors you raised were all indeed crucial. I feel however there were two other factors that were every bit as important that you did not touch on.
There was a particular tactic the Romans used, they deployed their ranks in depth. There were several legionaries behind each one that was on the front line, as many as ten at a time. They would fight for half a minute or so and at a signal, along the whole front row, the man in front would step to one side and to the rear, and the rest of the line behind him would step forward. The ones who had been in front would cycle to the rear of the line. This did two things, it meant that the front of the line was always 100% fresh and could exert themselves at absolute maximum. Those fresh off the line had time to cool down, drink some water, etc..
Every bit as important and synergizing with the above, Roman medicine, especially battlefield medicine was extraordinarily advanced for it's time. Anyone who was injured on the front line could be promptly bandaged if necessary after they had cycled to the rear, and sent back with bleeding staunched, or removed completely if their effectiveness had been compromised. This allowed Roman soldiers to survive with the experience gained, when their counterparts would have died from blood loss and compromised effectiveness.
None of their opponents did anything like this. They lacked the full time trained professionals needed to pull off this level of tactic. Their opponents would fight on the front until they fell. Minor injuries would bleed until blood loss took it's toll and the fighter was killed as a result. Heat exhaustion too could rapidly cause someone in the thick of the action to also quickly lose effectiveness. The end result was that facing Roman units would have been like a meat grinder in comparison. Romans would lose no one to blood loss or heat, and their fighters were capable of vastly more ferocity, knowing they dd not have to pace themselves. When you add to that that Romans were vastly better armored, vastly better trained, and had vastly more combat experience with that training, they were able to conquer the world.
By the way, this particular tactic was very well demonstrated early in episode one of the Rome series produced by HBO.
Peter Cohen ....but... they didn't conquer the world...
purpleanex no one did. Your point?
they conquered the part of the world that rules the planet now, thats something
Peter Cohen
That's spot on. In military science this effect is known as force multiplication. It's especially important in combined arms tactic and maneuver warfare theory. If you have the high ground, the sun and wind in your back, better armor, you're flexible in terms of arms (such as javelins and shield & sword at the same time), better training, better discipline, more men, better organized, better stamina etc. you have a huge advantage equal to the sum of everything together.
Metatron has a video in which he explains this, he also shows the clip from the movie ;)
Your armor looks fantastic! This is a quality piece of work! Well done.
I really enjoyed the fact that i could hear and understand the latin words without even reading the subtitles! (i study gymnasium in the netherlands) the quality of this documentary is very high, "amo id!"
One of the things that maintains discipline is the interactions at the squad level. Your mates keep you in line. If you screw up they’ll let you know and instruct you in the proper way. This still holds true today.
Great Documentary, Metatron! Noble Rome Awaits You!
I'm thinking on one question: as far as I see from the facts, we can see another well organized, well equipped and successful chinise army (Jin and Han dynasties) on the opposite side of Eurasia. I'm wondering if you can create such episode, in which you'll compare (academically and historically accurate) the chinise army and roman legions. I believe it is very interesting topic.
I think you definitively bring up some good points in explaining the remarkable success, generally speaking, that the Roman military enjoyed for a long period. I would also add one important point besides the ones you mention, and I think this is a critical aspect, and that is: the military culture of Rome. In particular, the notions of virtus (or manly courage), competition and honor/glory.
I was happy to learn in this video that they used to write 14 in this manner XIIII. Very interesting. You should make a video about the roman numerals Metatron. And if you have one already can anyone send me a link?
Quintilius Varus, give me back my legions!
MARCH UNTIL YOUR FEET BLEED, and THEN march SOME more!!!!
😂😂😂
your friend needs a helmet!at that rate you'll probably make your own reenacment group! :)
great video, metatron :)
So cool, streaming will be cool for a long time.
Hi, Metatron! I hope you will read this comment. I've got some questions about Roman army, maybe you can help.
1. Centurion. I read that in battle he was placed in the front row on the right. So why the most defenseless right flank (no shields)? There must be a good reason. If this is wrong, so where was he plased?
2. Same for signifer. Where was his place in battle formation?
3. Manica. Was there some kind of special super-heavy troops with manicas (and also greaves) or it were just regular soldier armor? Could there be that in one century some soldiers have manica and some doesn't, or as long as it was implemented - everyone was using it?
4. Squamata. Was it just for officers and special troops, or regular soldiers wore it too?
5. Shield designs. Could there be different designs in one century, or it's always one design for one century, or cohort, or even the whole legion?
Thank you for you channel, I learned a lot from it! And sorry for my English.
While I'm not Metatron, I might be able to lend my thoughts regarding your questions based on my research:
1. The senior centurion of each cohort (there was no separate officer that lead a cohort) had significant leeway to take the initiative during the course of a battle. In order to exploit this allowance of command, they'd need to be at the front lines to observe the opposition. For example, during the Battle of Pharsalus, Caeser's legionaries were ordered to charge into Pompey's line; except the Pompeian's didn't charge in return. The centurions, seeing this, ordered all the cohorts to a stop to reform their lines & advanced slowly; in order to keep their units cohesive when combat commenced. Had the centurions been at the rear of the centuries & cohorts, such a move wouldn't have occured.
2. This one I'm least sure about, Metatron probably knows this one better.
3. The manica was conceived in response to the Dacians employing a unique weapon: the Falx. It was a large two-handed, Seax-looking weapon that was curved enough to reach around the scutum to strike a legionary's sword arm & powerful enough to cleave into the standard scutum & galae. The manica was given to prove protection against the Falx & similar weapons, in addition to helmets (& maybe scuta?) being reinforced with bars & struts for the same purpose. Given most secondary equipment would have been payed for by the legionaries themselves, it'd be up to them to requisition it.
4. AFAIK; the type of body a legionary would use was all dependent on how much he was willing to spend on it. Squamata would have been more than likely cheaper than Lorica Laminata (using Metatron's term for it) but more expensive than Hamata. I get the impression it'd have been more common in the eastern provinces, esspecially after Laminata fell out of use due to cost.
5. if I recall correctly, the major design set-piece was legion specific; with smaller markings devoted to which cohort & century a legionary was assigned to.
Nicely done. Great music.
0:50 what is the name of the song you used?
Metatron is raising a legion.
GREAT video! Very nice work ...
Thank you Erik
PLEASE POST A LINK TO WHERE YOU GET THE MUSIC, IT'S MAGNIFICENT! Keep up the lovely content!
Another excellent documentary Metatron and I hope you can help me. Living in the UK I'm in the process of putting together all the kit of a Roman soldier of imperial days of the invasion. I have my gladius, pugio, belt and attachments so far. The question is can you recommend a supplier of lorica segmentata to the £200-400 price list with a view to join a reenactment group.
Keep up the fascinating posts. John.
Thank you for at least mentioning the most underappreciated aspect: logistics.
The Roman army was like 1000 years ahead of its time, when it comes to training, armour (look how long it took to make helmets and breastplates of this quality again) and logistics. Only few countries in the 1000 years thereafter would have been able to maintain such a large standing army and in most cases its loyalty and discipline left a lot to be desired.... Most even failed badly at supplying a much smaller army with food over extended times and today no-one seems to appreciate how hard it is without refrigerated trucks to supply entire legions with perishable food and organise an empire, where news may take months to get from A to B...
Video eccelente come sempre, molte informazioni interessanti!
I would like to see comparison of Roman and China military
Brian Lock I agree the Romans worked from force the Oreintals worked against weaknesses. Tactics those still apply today there are just more advanced weapons.
china was more centered on cavalry and pikes
How many hordes in one chinese platoon?
at least ten.
+ThatGuyYouKnow I don't think that's true. The size of even the provincial/warlord armies would have cost too much to center them on cavalry. Cavalry was used for shock tactics and maybe nullifying nomadic cavalries, but the sheer size of the army centered on infantry with spears. The use of the crossbow also increased from the Zhou Dynasty onwards.
kwanarchive much like the Roman legionaires, every soldier in China's army were issued with two spears. But instead of throwing it as a projectiles, they used it like a chopsticks to pick the enemy one by one.
Great video Metatron, but I think there was another factor that wasn't mentioned: their ability to recover. Roman armies were no stranger to heavy losses, but it didn't deter them. I mean; it does take something to lose as many forces at Cannae as they did in the 2nd Punic Wars, and still be able to keep fighting (and keep losing for several years until one battle gave them victory).
metatron greetings from a new subscriber.i love your work.is it posible to make a video about ancient siege weapons????keep up the good work!!!
Good video but too much distortion in the music and some of the general audio. You might want to look into the recording levels, sources and editing settings.
Good day my friend! You really are one of my favorite sites!😘
Hi Metatron! Another good one. My question: When was the last time a Roman General lead a Roman army equipped with Scutum, Gladius and Pilum into battle and why?
Hello Metatron!
I'm pretty new to your channel and I keep watching the videos, I just can't stop. :D Thank you for the content of such a great quality, I love the passion you put in what you do and so far it's been very educative to me, I'm having a great time watching your videos (which is quite rare for me to be honest).
I know it's only me, but it wasn't really in my school education program (and it all was a long time ago lol), and when I question myself about something, there aren't that many sources I can rely on to see different points of view. Since I haven't watched all the videos yet, I probably missed some topics, but some of them aren't there, probably some could be interesting to the audience. Here are a couple of topics I'd love to discover (maybe someone else could be interested in these too):
- Nero and the Great Fire: what's your opinion on what happened? The role of christians in that history? (it is believed, at least where I live, that Nero was a crazy guy and started a fire himself, but I have doubts in it because there's no point in doing it for any kind of a ruler).
- Constantine the Great. His role in the process of christianity becoming an official religion. (as far as I can see, he decided to take a lead of something he couldn't fight, and even linked himself with the holiness of the god by making himself a saint therefore becoming someone godlike in the eyes of the flock - that's not a statement, it's only how I can see it so far, after very little research with limited sources, I'd love to hear the variant of an educated person who's competent in the topic)
- Japanese gardens. The history of development within the culture; the part of the culture becoming a main attraction which is something people make abroad; how it's actually made and whether it was something special in the history of Japan.
- History of some well-known Japanese brands which started from samurai families in Japan (like Mitsubishi for example). Not particularly interesting in terms of history of samurai, but I find it pretty curious what were the roots of modern Japanese business.
- Kalos kagathos, platonic love, education, relations in the ancient greek society, the role of elders and women; hetairas and pornais, the development of women's role in the society in ancient history (probably not only in Ancient Greece, but in ancient world as a whole).
- Animal symbols, holy animals, sacrifice in history in different cultures: from Maya to the Minoan civilization and modern India. A bull as one of notable (and interesting for me in particular): as a torture tool, the holy symbol, target of worshipping etc in various spots in the world and history without obvious connections between the civilizations and cultures.
These are just a few topics I'm personally interested in right now, if someone knows that there are already Metatron's videos with this information, I'd be pleased if you could leave some links, otherwise, in case someone else is interested, probably some of these could be the topics of the future videos (at least I hope so lol).
Thanks again!
I really can't express enough the joy I get from all your videos.
Out of curiosity , did the Romans slash with the Gladius? The Pompeii Gladius didn't have a long pointed tip , so was it used more like a Spatha?
Excellent video. Although it would be nice with some more force to the gladius slashes and thrusts. ;)
Yes boiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii just got back from a night out and I could not have asked for a better welcome home!
I'm glad you appreciated :)
A thrown spear is held with the arm straight back and the tip resting just above your eye
Dear Metatron! mentioned that roman soldiers were able to understand the commands of their superiors even in the heat of a battle. How was the battlefield communication solved in the medieval times?
What was the average effective range of of the pilum? It did not seem like you were able to throw it very far, and I wonder about how far was it usually thrown at their enemies? 40 or 50 feet?(15 to 17 meters?)
Italian Jesus you do make the best pasta Pizza and all the bitterly
Where did you buy your Scutum?
He got it at Fabrica Cacti I think
I'm hungry for Pizza all of the sudden. Gonna get a large pepperoni and watch Gladiator
Metatron is it possible for you to make a video on Hannibal or a video on his tactics and victories over Rome? Would be a very interesting video aswell as Alexander the Great! Thanks
I have 3 videos on Hannibal mate :)
i like the low effort throw. XD no momentum when throwing and such. but i guess that might be intentional to not break the pillum, as it's design is to break on impact.
It is said that the Romans used armor so light they didn't need cranes to hoist them onto their horses. According to the Illiad, piercing blows can dismember if in the right spot, such as the spinal column at the neck, at which point the head merely stays on the body by remaining tissue. That book is quite gruesome.
Player Review No armored warrior ever needed cranes to be placed on their horses.
Yeah, I know, it was just inside HEMA humor stuff. Still must have been a chore to get King Henry VIII on his horse for jousting though.
Ho gradito la qualità e soprattutto la ricerca e l’approfondimento che hai messo in questa produzione (infatti ti ho lasciato un mi piace). Se posso permettermi, alcune inesattezze commesse risiedono in un errore che ti crea un deficit notevole contro il quale devi lottare: usi bibliografia e ti affidi a studi anglofoni. Non è uno stereotipo etnico oppure un pregiudizio culturale, ma la verità : per quanto possano sforzarsi gli anglosassoni non riusciranno mai a capire la storia romana. Questo semplicemente per due motivi:
1) quella romana per loro è una cultura che per quanto cerchino di emulare viene avvertita come straniera. Gli unici in grado veramente di studiare e capire la storia romana siamo noi (e forse gli spagnoli), perché dei romani siamo e ci sentiamo figli ed eredi. Ti posso a questo proposito consigliare un gruppo veramente capace, quello di Ars Dimicandi, nel Nord Italia, che fa vera rievocazione storica e vera archeologia sperimentale. Ti consiglio quindi per documentarti i libri di Dario Battaglia;
2) la loro cultura tende inevitabilmente alla sintesi ed alla spettacolarizzazione. Questi due elementi sono un notevole ostacolo alla loro comprensione della società e cultura romana, molto complessa e avanzata, ma allo stesso tempo molto pragmatica e per niente pomposa.
Quindi il consiglio è: liberati di (americani,) inglesi, tedeschi e francesi che vogliono parlare di Roma, celebrandola, solo per celebrare loro stessi e i loro eroi nazionali che contro noi romani hanno combattuto, vedrai che la tua già vasta cultura nel campo riceverà solo benefici 😂
can you do a documentary of the fall of the roman army?
can you explain how did they communicate with each other and if one legion was separated on so many parts how did they which comman was referin to who
Is that a functional gun on your wall or is just a decoration?
I know you're a bit of a roman fanboy, but can you do a video about the roman invasion on the germanic territory, the battle of the teutoburg forest and later on the fall of rome?
Thx for the nice video greetings from Flanders.
First, let me point out that I hate to be that guy on a video like this.
That out of the way, what's the track that starts playing at 0:33 ?
What was intro music?
can you make a video on how Nobles and Royalty are portrayed in anime they are usually portrayed negatively
Evan i dont think it's limited to just anime,but as a fellow anime watcher myself,id love to see it still
Great training guys, you will definitely be ready to fight WW4
I would add the Roman will. When Hannibal won at Cannae, there was no serious thought of surrender. The Romans put new legions into the field.
lol, apparently Ron Jeremy is also a part of the Legio XIIII Gemina
Roman's definitely had the coolest looking armor of all time....
Thanks again for this magnificent work you present in you channel, im a big fan i would like you to create a especial, videos about the ancient history of Italy from prehistoric times to the fall of the Roman Empire. you really now how to talk about diferent aspects about history. one mord time you have a very educative and fan channel
Well presented! Growth has natural limits, and the overall situation will change. ☆♡☆
PLEASE, please, tell me HOW were the Romans defeated at Cannae. It is well known how they were encircled, but to be encircled and to be defeated are two very different things. They were supposed to get through any army, right ? Then, what happened ?
I like this!!! So much Better, than just playing around. I really like the Armor and tactics and economy look. "I fight so that my children can be farmers( producers) and my grandchildren can be Artist(Statesman, teachers, and more)". I would like to contact your North American Reenactors and I would love to meet you when you go to see them. :) Good job :)
Thank you for sharing
So how do you decimate a contuburnium. Is one member 4/5ths killed?
Joe Turner 1 out of the 10
A Contubernium is a squad of 8 soldiers.
Joe Turner oh you're right sorry. 1of 8
That would be octomate.
How heavy is an authentic pilum and what is the throwing distance if you are trained in it ?
"sry for my bad english .. its not my native language" :)
how did you throw the pilum without the tip bending? I thought that is, more or less, what they were designed to do.
They didn't hit anything, there were no targets. They just landed on the ground, and not with the tip first.
oh duh that makes sense thanks
Metatron is one interesting TH-cam.
Where was the other guys helmet? 🤣🤣
this guy is a genius
Did Gladiators really always fight to death like in the movies or not?
Okay thanks, omg your name, I love it hahahahhaa
Metatron, are you a member of Legio Rapax ?
Also after the trowing demo, if you hit someone with a cut like that the tendons in your wrist will be hurting like hell :/ this is esp tru for the thrusting...i would love to help you corepgraph and help but from dubai to sicily its expensive to travel and currently im financially not in a position to even offer aid :'(
Quello al centro è un pugnale morgul?
Referring to Delbrück the main strength of the roman army was the cohesion of its legions, their flexibility even of subunits and the logistcs including fortifications. Each cohort could act indivual. They where able to oppose flanking action from cavalry, which made the legions superior to the greek phalanx, which always had a huge problem with enemy cavalry, as soon it came in thier flanks or back. Another point is, the bureaucracy of rome was able to field and feed huge armys for a long time, which probably allowed them to field more man than tribal societies, which could not field a really professional army, but their workers had to play soldiers when necessary. But this makes economy and farming suffer in long wars.
For everyone interested in Roman history I can warmly recommend Mike Duncan's "The History of Rome". It's available as a podcast.
It's very hard to get inside the head of a Roman legionary. They killed each other, they killed civilians, they killed animals, they bribed their officers, they robbed, they extorted. They proclaimed their leaders emperors and then killed them if they became liabilities. And were their enemies any different? I will never understand how savage and desperate were their lives.
Legend says, if you tie his hands, he will become dumb.
You should make a video about the lost legion (Legio IX Hispana)
And what about the Legio XXI RAPAX it is closer to you
What’s with the dark souls 3 soundtrack
Good clip.
Do you have any chinese weapon?