In -390 the Gauls of Brennus annihilated the Roman army and were the only ones to pillage Rome, even Hannibal did not succeed. It would take 800 years for the Goths to achieve the feat of the Gauls again.
@@olivierpuyou3621It helped that the Celts had a way of fighting that rendered the Roman fighting style obsolete. The Romans learned from such reversals by taking some of the best qualities of how the Celts waged wars against opponents.
there are a large number of shows (many of them from the 1950s, and 60s) that include Marius and his contemporaries, but none that I know of that focus solely on him. edit - Movies, rather. Not 'shows.'
Excellent, I would like to add a few remarks, though. - Sodiers usually wear padding under metal armour ; the Romans called it "subarmalis". It gives better protection and is a lot more comfortable, especially if you carry something heavy on your shoulder. Helmets are also worn over padding - the one shown here probably has it glued on the inside - and I don't think they would move around the head as seen here and in some reconstitutions. Remember that soldiers of the 5th century petitioned the emperor for permission to stop wearing helmets, so they must have been hard to wear, as well as efficient. - Pilum do well against mail, but not against segmented armour. Anyway, they are primarily designed to pierce shields and make them useless, the shaft falling to the ground and getting stuck in it. Both Gauls and Germans carried shields, so using pilum made sense, even if the tribes were mostly unarmored. - Markus Junkelman's reconstitution group ("Die Legionen des Augustus") made a 300 km (200 miles) march with roman equipment, but carried only the pilum in the right hand ; equipment was carried on the left shoulder and the shield also on the left, held by a strap. This way, in case of a surprise attack, the baggage could be dropped without having to figure out what shafts to let go of (as would be the case if pilum and baggage are held in the same hand), shield can be grabbed as soon as burden is released and pilum is already in the right hand. - Incidentally, Junkelman's group noticed that at night, the curved roman shield made an excellent bed.
I remember something about the real sign of a legionaire is a scar under the chin from the helmet strap. Maybe that's why they didn't want to wear them?
well , thats how WE would wear it Novadays .. but we will never know how it realy was , padding may make you less flexible at some point . im sure they made their armory ascomfortable to wear as possible .. with what they had acces to at least what you can purcase with your salary of a " Normal Roman Soldier " 🤔
@@cid7800 If you don't wear padding under the armour, you might as well not be wearing anything at all. I'm being a bit hyperbolic here, but not much. Without padding you basically stick get hit almost full force as the plate impacts your body instead of the padding. The padding itself is quite servicable as protection, so you'd be more likely to get padding before you god anything else. A chainmail isn't very comfortable to wear on top of just one layer of fabric.
Good Video all in all. "My right shoulder is killing me" 😂 Had Tristan ever been part of a modern infantry squad, he'd know. 😁 But then, interestingly enough, at least the fact that your weapon will turn into a pain in the a** during a long march apparently hasn't changed much over the past 2000 years. 😅
This is exactly what annoys me immensely about a lot of modern documentaries, having non-military people doing military things, and then drawing conclusions from their 10 minute "experience"... Don't these documentary makers understand that these ancient peoples were ACTUAL WARRIORS? Or are they being willfully ignorant? They trained and actually fought battles throughout their ENTIRE LIFE. "Some random guy" that sat behind a desk his entire Life isn't going to make for a good comparison with an actual warrior, not even a little bit.
You’re right about that… but also wrong. First, the human body isn’t really more resilient in ancient times than right now. A lot of people didn’t had a reliable access to food neither in abundance or quality, making growth problems commons. Second, you aren’t really right when you are talking about so called « warriors ». Most of these people had another occupation. The Roman army was a professional army, but I can tell you that most legionnaires weren’t much more fit than the guy we see on this video even with the training. And sorry to pop your bubble, but most of the people fighting in ancient times weren’t the elite that you try to describe. You don’t live long in a professional army at the time. Yes, a few years on the battlefield would make you battle hardened, but that only rarely happened, most people were farmers, picking up weapon to fight when it was time to fight. Indeed, I the case of the Roman army it was different, but most legionnaires were fighting for one campaign than resting for a entire year in garrison. In conclusion, yes Larpers in old military gear piss me off as much as you, but no, people weren’t more resilient in ancient times (with some exceptions of people who should get reminded of Darwin the hard way), what they can do, you can do it too.
The Germanic warriors mostly used spears...I suspect their swords were secondary weapons. The Romans obviously carried pila as ranged weapons and closed ranks with the scutum and gladius, stabbing as they went. Easier to maintain a stabbing point than a cutting edge with the metallurgy technology they had.
The pila can actually double as a stabbing spear. There are period drawings depicting Romans stabbing at enemy infantry with the pila, and many Roman texts talks about using the pila as a spear against cavalry. As for swords, stabbing may have been preferred at certain times, but Roman soldiers were trained to both stab and slash as needed. Roman writers talked about the horrific slashing injuries that the Hellenistic armies suffered (heads and limbs being chopped off) caused by the gladius.
I suspect the Germanic warriors, like the later Vikings, would also have used axes, since there was likely one in every household for domestic use. The axes' weight and blunt force would be more effective against a fully shielded and armored adversary that a sword or spear.
The Roman pilum was also designed to bend once the enemy shield was penetrated, making the enemy shield useless. Love Roman armor. Looks awesome and was far superior.
The museum in the Teuteburger Wald is great it has many cool finds and an interesting design In the three times I got there (in the last 6 years) they always got something new
At Pharsalus, Caesar had a fourth line of infantry hidden and they used their Pilla as spears to beat back Labienus's cavalry assault and then rout them.
History does not record what happened to the thousands of Roman gladii short swords, helmets, armor, and shields that fell into Germanic hands after the Teutoberger Forest catastrophe. Of the estimated 14,000 Roman legionaries (not counting civilian camp followers), only several hundred, reportedly Roman cavalry escaped the slaughter to bring news to the Roman garrisons on the Rhine. Common sense would likely have had the victorious Germanic warriors using captured Roman arms and armor. Thus when the Romans launched a massive, 8-legion punitive expedition across the Rhine River in 16 A.D., the legionaries would have been enraged to see large numbers of Germanic warriors wielding Roman gladius swords and wearing Roman Coolus helmets. Some might be carrying Roman scutum shields. Yet Roman history is quiet on this prospect. It belies credulity to think the Germans would have been averse to using any captured Roman arms and armor out of tribal and cultural pride. Germanic pride might have prevented many warriors from wearing Roman armor, helmets, even using the gladius sword but many, including the poorer tribal warriors would have likely used Roman swords, helmets and armor. Wearing Roman gear and using Roman weapons came with its own risk as legionaries would fight harder and be less likely to take prisoners.
you missed the part that Germanic tribes imported Roman swords. Also hamata would be easily adopted to Germanic use because the warrior class wore the same type of armor (and again importing Roman chainmail armor might be cheaper). Javelins similar to pila are also not rare across ancient Europe. Probably scutum is a bit divisive because if you use a different type of shield it might not go with the fighting style of your unit. I believe you overstate a perceived moral effect when really there is little reason the Roman legions would need any more reason to hate the tribes that killed their comrades and desecrated holy eagle standards. They made a pretty big deal of getting those back. In contrary we know from other instances that soldiers used what was useful and took armor and wore it. The main issue might be that it was more worthwhile to sell it as loot and there may be a bit of a class distinction that the warrior class would like to be the ones wearing armor. For the levy it may not be affordable or more profitable to get rid of
A wonderful historical coverage video about Roman emporium weapons and Roman opponents Germanic tribe's warriors...thank you history Hit) channel for sharing
@@danielearley5062 The gladius my dude, spatha was longer because it's better on horse back and metallurgy improvements in the days of the empire. Gladius was copied from Iberian designs as they started to expand outside what we know as Italy, as it fit their maniple fighting system better.
@@danielearley5062 The gladius sometimes known as the gladius hispaniensis was the short sword used by 1st Century AD Legions and was originally adopted by Roman troops fighting in Iberia. The Spatha was a long sword only used by Roman Cavalry in the 1st Century AD though much later in the 3rd and 4th century AD when Roman Infantry became much less pure close formation heavy Infantry it was also used by the Infantry. Roman's being a very pragmatic bunch seem to have adopted all sorts of foreign weapons so the 1st Century Legions were carrying short swords originally from Iberia while their scutum shields and their helmets were originally of Celtic design. Though it should be noted that they were also hard core modifiers of other peoples original designs so while the helmet is based on the Celtic Montefortino design 1st century Roman helmets had added extra ribs and lengthened and changed angle of neck guard. They also did same with the short swards. The spatha seems a pretty geneic long sword used by a lot of different people though the Romans could have got it originally from Greeks or Gauls. The Pilum seems a unique Italian design though it may have been Samnite in origin. Indeed the only uniquely Roman design seems to be the lorica segmentata. Though this replaced the chain mail used by the troops of the republic originally adopted from the Gauls. Which the Romans later went back too. Not 100% sure why the lorica segmentata was abandoned for the earlier design. May have had something to do with ease and cost of production. Also the lorica is believed to have a rust problem.
It's incredible what hardships and endurance humans can adapt to. For some reason this reminds me of stories from WW2 in the comparison between old soldiers tough feet and fragile feet of new recruits arriving on the eastern front when the experienced soldiers had feet that were immune to blisters because their feet were covered in a continuous callus from having no socks due to poor supply and having to march across Russia
Good leadership & tactics can offset sub-par kit. Logistics is an easier target than armies. Gladius are stabbies because the scutum is easier to stab around than a wider swing slash.
The Roman sword was not designed to cut with its edges. Its main function was to stab, it was enough to plunge the gladius three fingers into the opponent. With that he already produced a fatal wound.
It was designed to cut with edges as well as for stabbing.Both is very obvious from how are those swords constructed and also confirmed by several written sources.One of the most common popular myths about Roman army is that hispanic sword was meant only for stabbing.This myth is chiefly based on misinterpretation of words by Vegetius(while ignoring words of other writters at the same time)who however merely says that soldiers primarily used it for stabbing not that it was only used for stabbing(and even Vegetius in fact also mention slashing).That is was also quite effective for shashing is well attested too.
The Roman legions were trained to stab at the lower part of the torso, no bones, and to go up into the body, that bypassed the bones into vital areas. The pilum was good to knock out enemies, but the full purpose was to remove the enemies shields making the enemy defenceless. The pilum was narrower, there are many theories, but one us agreed it was so it was to be extremely hard to remove. The roman doctrines were to first soften the enemy lines then using the gladius and scutum holding the line striking with the gladius. Romans took heavy losses, but they nearly conquered germania, it was the emperor that ordered the withdrawal. The Roman tunic was made of lining not wool, wool came from Britain and others groups, like Germany and only on those stationed on Northern Britain used wool, for cloaks, Lorica segmentata was one size all. Just about the one thing right was the marching kit,
Roman military tunics and cloaks (plus togas) were made of wool. There are several inventories and orders that specify that the tunics were made of wool, some of them from Egypt (so they were wearing wool even in the Egyptian desert), and they specify the type of weave and thickness of the thread to be used. People all over the world kept sheep for wool, not just the Britains.
A pillo is thrown by legionaries… and they go through shields to hit the holder but bend over time. Roman Auxilia throw Lancea…. Spears… … but once you got 4 or 5 spears stuck in your shield, you drop it since can’t hold it up. The goal of throwing spears is to have them drop their shields then spear them.
Segmenta was not fully deployed in 9 AD. Only prototypes like the very top part. Was not until 30 AD did you see segmentara. At the famous battle in Tutenberg, most chain maille…. Segmentara needs factories to make and lots of the brass fittings and leather rots. So constant repairs. Chain Maille can be made at home with simple tools and easy repairs.
I think that the knapsack and the pila would be tied together at two points with cord in order to make more practical to carry, you would also probably wear your cloak slung forward to the right to have something to keep them resting on the shoulder.
A bit kiddy ... Tristan obviously knows the answer to most the questions he’s asking, as do we. Still, nice to see the channel focus on Roman military history
Tristan clearly likes trying out historical weapons, and seems pretty good at it.. Me, I prefer pen power but, a Japanese armsworth first crack is impressive. Great to see the replica plate armour in action, having viewed the film on the original, kindly on loan to The British Museum, if memory serves. Some v pointy points indeed! Nice one Tristan and team. 🌟👍
Also have to consider the marching speed which was sometimes crazy, they didn't go for a stroll. Just look at how Julius Ceasar pushed his troops down Italy to hunt Pompeius, that was insane. For legionaries marching, we also need to take climate and weather into account, the armor won't help keeping your body warm or keep it ventilated in hot areas like Syria or Egypt. And yeah, you are in for this for at least 25 years, if you manage to live that long ...
A római kori emberek jóval edzettebbek voltak már születésüktől fogva is! Még volt természetes kiválasztódás és a katonák napi fegyvergyakorlatai valamint a napi menetgyakorlatok is kitartóvá tették őket. Így számukra egy átlagos csata "csak" véres gyakorlat volt csupán.
I sincerely doubt the legionnaires retained a pilum as a close range weapon. The idea as i understand it was to throw both your pila while the opponents were less than twenty yards away. Creating obstacles, opening the line, individuals exposed to combined line of scutum and sword infantry meeting them.
Probably depended a lot on the tactical situation. At the battle of Pharsalus expecting his Cavalry to be swept away by greatly superior Pompeian horse deployed a Infantry flank guard who were ordered not to throw their spears but retain them to fend off the cavalry. As this was a specific order this would imply that the standard practice at this time was to throw the pila and then get stuck in with the sword. In much later Roman (Byzantine) manuals the instruction was to throw the spear and then engage with the Sword if fighting Infantry but retain the spear if fighting cavalry.
The pila is perfectly functional as a close quarters weapon used for stabbing. There are period drawings depicting Romans stabbing at enemy infantry with the pila, and multiple Roman texts talks about using the pila as a spear against cavalry.
Funny to think my German mom's hometown on the Rhein (a Roman military outpost town) may very well have seen the few that escaped bring the news of Varus to the Roman Empire.
I am prretty sure, that at least the helmet did NOT sit barely on the head, but had a bit of a padding inside, might be mounted in the helmet or in form of a cap. Same goes for the lorica segmentata. Else, every hit would have resulted in a blunt force trauma. In one thing, the expert is at least a bit off... if you use a Germanic sword with a handle like this the way he shows it to stab, it will fly out of your hand, when the opponents raises his shield. The Germanic sword has a handle like my machetes, works well as long as you have a slashing movement, but when you come a bit too steep, the machete flies off. Happened to me several times. Besides a one edged blade only makes sense in a cutting motion. For a thrust, you need a pointy tip and at least two cutting edges, that make penetration into flesh easier. And you need a bigger guard plate to bring force behind the tip.
Let's consider the impact on an infantry charge of multiple pila hitting your line...creates some confusion and gaps in the line. Disciplined line of scutum and gladius meeting a disorganised charge.
That is an old theory. More modern research and experimental archaeology have moved away from this in the eyes of modern historians. To stop it being thrown back, some had a wooden peg in the fitting of the head to the shaft which could break on impact making the head hinge on the other peg as a means of preventing the spear being reused. This may not have been universally used though.
I think one thing to remember is people of those times mainly had to do things manually. Im sure that by todays standards, they were freakishly strong. Compare soldiers now to ones then. Now, we have firearms. A squeeze of the finger....versus a constant movement with a bladed/spear or bow. Researchers have said that you can tell the strength of an individual by the thickness of their bones. The thicker, the stronger. I dont know about many of you, but when i think about it.......hours of battling and swinging/thrusting a weapon...i know that i would probably not make it a full hour.
The swords are like modern bullets. Designed for different things. The Roman sword is basically a 5.56 x 45mm NATO round that's designed to penetrate armoured opponents then break apart in the body and make a big cavity. This doesn't really work so well against soft targets without armour and has a tendency to go through. The German sword is more like the 7.62 x 39mm Soviet rounds famously used in the AK-47 etc. They're basically just big and smash a hole in what they hit but aren't quite as good at going through armour.
Slight correction: the verutum is the smaller, throwing spear, and the larger spear, the pillum, is for stabbing. (Or vice versa, depending on the source.) They're not all generically called pilla.
Shouldn't the sword belt go over the left shoulder? The position of the sword itself is correct, but I don't think the belt was around the hip, it should be more like a shoulder bag.
I do not agree with this guy. As a Roman Reenactor for 25 years, the Roman sword he showed is meant for un-armored enemies and the wide blade caused terrible damage when you stab and turn blade 45 degrees and pull out. The German swords are much longer and thinner such as Roman Spatha… great for slicing and dicing (excellent for cutting off a head)…. But not great at stabbing or attacking an armored soldiers.
Roman swords optimised for penetrating armour? In over 60 years I've never seen any such suggestion either for Gladius or Spatha. Both were broad bladed for maximum effect against unprotected flesh.
The one main difference is Tristan is a historian and a Roman Legionary would have been trained to do that. Months and probably more likely years of being on the move with his gear. These men were strong and had tremendous endurance. Arminius knew the strengths and weaknesses of both sides as an axillary and Roman citizen but also as a Germanic Chieftain. He planned the attack as best as he could using what he had at hand. Varus, on the other hand was arrogant and ignorant and walked into a trap that should have been obvious.
Throughout history swords all tended to have the same (maximum) weight and equipment too. That is based on the human physis. Soldiers cannot carry 50 kg for long and cannot wield swords of 3 kg for long.
The roman sword is lighter sronger easyer to stick fast and to SHLASH!!!!! Better steel as for as grip the pommel at the end was very useful in not loseing your sword! Both are good the Roman is good plus. took yrs of design
@@taxultearly roman legion had the triarii. Older veteran Spearman used as a last resort. But yes in this period it was pila, short sword and shields for everybody.
Roman legionaries(and commonly Auxiliaries)also had limited use of spears,however in period shown in this video they were issued with Pilum as they standard shafted weapon.
The "gladius" wasn't designed to fight against opponents that were heavily armoured. It might be good against chain-mail at best and padded/leather armor - no more! Come on guys! ...SURE AS HELL - it was never designed to fight opponents with segmented armour.
I think it's more of using vernacular for a lay audience. Wouldn't fly in an academic paper, but to someone new to learning history, it sounds more familiar.
Yes The Barbarians won in the end but a lot of years later. By then the empire was decaying internally and they hadn't fought a major foe in like 200 years or so. This made the Roman armies not as experienced. Remember he said later on they changed to chainmail which was cheaper and wasn't as good as this armor shown here honestly. So by the time the barbarians won it was a very downgraded Roman army. Also one other thing, the Romans did buy a lot of mercenaries in the latter part of the Empire which made the Army less cohesive as a fighting force.
In the final years of the Empire many legions were in fact made by "romanized" German mercenaries. Curiously, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire (the original one), a new ”Holy Roman Empire of the German People" was formed, and lasted until the Napoleonic wars! This was the official adoption of the Roman civilization, alphabet, Latin language (in the official documents), Christian religion.
Gauls HATE this! Learn this one simple trick to expand the Empire.
Five centuries of tricks and an incredible amount of stamina to pull it off
In -390 the Gauls of Brennus annihilated the Roman army and were the only ones to pillage Rome, even Hannibal did not succeed.
It would take 800 years for the Goths to achieve the feat of the Gauls again.
@@olivierpuyou3621It helped that the Celts had a way of fighting that rendered the Roman fighting style obsolete. The Romans learned from such reversals by taking some of the best qualities of how the Celts waged wars against opponents.
GODS, I HATE GAULS
@@generalbelisarius8103 i love gauls.
I can't believe there has never been a film about Gaius Marius. Consul of Rome seven times.
They could do soooo many shows based on Rome. I'd watch them all!
there are a large number of shows (many of them from the 1950s, and 60s) that include Marius and his contemporaries, but none that I know of that focus solely on him.
edit - Movies, rather. Not 'shows.'
his rival Sulla as well
HE WAS A CONSUL OF ROME!!
😂😂😂❤👏@@OltrePodcast_Official
This is my new History Channel
Excellent, I would like to add a few remarks, though.
- Sodiers usually wear padding under metal armour ; the Romans called it "subarmalis". It gives better protection and is a lot more comfortable, especially if you carry something heavy on your shoulder. Helmets are also worn over padding - the one shown here probably has it glued on the inside - and I don't think they would move around the head as seen here and in some reconstitutions. Remember that soldiers of the 5th century petitioned the emperor for permission to stop wearing helmets, so they must have been hard to wear, as well as efficient.
- Pilum do well against mail, but not against segmented armour. Anyway, they are primarily designed to pierce shields and make them useless, the shaft falling to the ground and getting stuck in it. Both Gauls and Germans carried shields, so using pilum made sense, even if the tribes were mostly unarmored.
- Markus Junkelman's reconstitution group ("Die Legionen des Augustus") made a 300 km (200 miles) march with roman equipment, but carried only the pilum in the right hand ; equipment was carried on the left shoulder and the shield also on the left, held by a strap. This way, in case of a surprise attack, the baggage could be dropped without having to figure out what shafts to let go of (as would be the case if pilum and baggage are held in the same hand), shield can be grabbed as soon as burden is released and pilum is already in the right hand.
- Incidentally, Junkelman's group noticed that at night, the curved roman shield made an excellent bed.
I remember something about the real sign of a legionaire is a scar under the chin from the helmet strap. Maybe that's why they didn't want to wear them?
well , thats how WE would wear it Novadays .. but we will never know how it realy was , padding may make you less flexible at some point . im sure they made their armory ascomfortable to wear as possible .. with what they had acces to at least what you can purcase with your salary of a " Normal Roman Soldier " 🤔
@@cid7800 If you don't wear padding under the armour, you might as well not be wearing anything at all. I'm being a bit hyperbolic here, but not much. Without padding you basically stick get hit almost full force as the plate impacts your body instead of the padding.
The padding itself is quite servicable as protection, so you'd be more likely to get padding before you god anything else. A chainmail isn't very comfortable to wear on top of just one layer of fabric.
Yes, segmentara and chain malle both have padding underneath… gives a extra padding and helps with chaffing
“A very long and pointy point” indeed, points are pointy
Really…..I mean, what’s the point?
Not if they're pointless!
@@Raz.C point! taken!
I get the point, thank you!
Touché
Therapist: Legionnaire Tristan can't hurt you.
Legionnaire Tristan *hurls pilum and closes in for the charge
I really liked seeing the whole process of putting on the kit, with all the bits and pieces, as well as the comparison of the two types of weapons
Good Video all in all. "My right shoulder is killing me" 😂 Had Tristan ever been part of a modern infantry squad, he'd know. 😁 But then, interestingly enough, at least the fact that your weapon will turn into a pain in the a** during a long march apparently hasn't changed much over the past 2000 years. 😅
This is exactly what annoys me immensely about a lot of modern documentaries, having non-military people doing military things, and then drawing conclusions from their 10 minute "experience"...
Don't these documentary makers understand that these ancient peoples were ACTUAL WARRIORS? Or are they being willfully ignorant? They trained and actually fought battles throughout their ENTIRE LIFE. "Some random guy" that sat behind a desk his entire Life isn't going to make for a good comparison with an actual warrior, not even a little bit.
You’re right about that… but also wrong.
First, the human body isn’t really more resilient in ancient times than right now. A lot of people didn’t had a reliable access to food neither in abundance or quality, making growth problems commons.
Second, you aren’t really right when you are talking about so called « warriors ». Most of these people had another occupation. The Roman army was a professional army, but I can tell you that most legionnaires weren’t much more fit than the guy we see on this video even with the training. And sorry to pop your bubble, but most of the people fighting in ancient times weren’t the elite that you try to describe. You don’t live long in a professional army at the time.
Yes, a few years on the battlefield would make you battle hardened, but that only rarely happened, most people were farmers, picking up weapon to fight when it was time to fight.
Indeed, I the case of the Roman army it was different, but most legionnaires were fighting for one campaign than resting for a entire year in garrison.
In conclusion, yes Larpers in old military gear piss me off as much as you, but no, people weren’t more resilient in ancient times (with some exceptions of people who should get reminded of Darwin the hard way), what they can do, you can do it too.
The Germanic warriors mostly used spears...I suspect their swords were secondary weapons. The Romans obviously carried pila as ranged weapons and closed ranks with the scutum and gladius, stabbing as they went. Easier to maintain a stabbing point than a cutting edge with the metallurgy technology they had.
The pila can actually double as a stabbing spear. There are period drawings depicting Romans stabbing at enemy infantry with the pila, and many Roman texts talks about using the pila as a spear against cavalry.
As for swords, stabbing may have been preferred at certain times, but Roman soldiers were trained to both stab and slash as needed. Roman writers talked about the horrific slashing injuries that the Hellenistic armies suffered (heads and limbs being chopped off) caused by the gladius.
I suspect the Germanic warriors, like the later Vikings, would also have used axes, since there was likely one in every household for domestic use. The axes' weight and blunt force would be more effective against a fully shielded and armored adversary that a sword or spear.
most german warriors wouldn't have a sword. Only the big men of a community would
Germans used axes and spears. A Sword is for high end warriors…. Long and thin.
Schön, dass man im Hintergrund eine Bierzeltgarnitur sieht, wir sind ja immerhin in Deutschland :D
The Roman pilum was also designed to bend once the enemy shield was penetrated, making the enemy shield useless. Love Roman armor. Looks awesome and was far superior.
No,it was not.That is by far the most common myth about Roman army from those several others.
Great video as always guys.
Tristan as good ever 👍
The thumbnail is sick. He looks good as a legionary 🫡
Great video. Lets get some love for the ERE. The empire lasted until 1453. The evolution of the army from lets say Justinian to Constantine XI.
The museum in the Teuteburger Wald is great it has many cool finds and an interesting design
In the three times I got there (in the last 6 years) they always got something new
At Pharsalus, Caesar had a fourth line of infantry hidden and they used their Pilla as spears to beat back Labienus's cavalry assault and then rout them.
History does not record what happened to the thousands of Roman gladii short swords, helmets, armor, and shields that fell into Germanic hands after the Teutoberger Forest catastrophe. Of the estimated 14,000 Roman legionaries (not counting civilian camp followers), only several hundred, reportedly Roman cavalry escaped the slaughter to bring news to the Roman garrisons on the Rhine. Common sense would likely have had the victorious Germanic warriors using captured Roman arms and armor.
Thus when the Romans launched a massive, 8-legion punitive expedition across the Rhine River in 16 A.D., the legionaries would have been enraged to see large numbers of Germanic warriors wielding Roman gladius swords and wearing Roman Coolus helmets. Some might be carrying Roman scutum shields. Yet Roman history is quiet on this prospect. It belies credulity to think the Germans would have been averse to using any captured Roman arms and armor out of tribal and cultural pride. Germanic pride might have prevented many warriors from wearing Roman armor, helmets, even using the gladius sword but many, including the poorer tribal warriors would have likely used Roman swords, helmets and armor. Wearing Roman gear and using Roman weapons came with its own risk as legionaries would fight harder and be less likely to take prisoners.
you missed the part that Germanic tribes imported Roman swords. Also hamata would be easily adopted to Germanic use because the warrior class wore the same type of armor (and again importing Roman chainmail armor might be cheaper). Javelins similar to pila are also not rare across ancient Europe. Probably scutum is a bit divisive because if you use a different type of shield it might not go with the fighting style of your unit.
I believe you overstate a perceived moral effect when really there is little reason the Roman legions would need any more reason to hate the tribes that killed their comrades and desecrated holy eagle standards. They made a pretty big deal of getting those back.
In contrary we know from other instances that soldiers used what was useful and took armor and wore it. The main issue might be that it was more worthwhile to sell it as loot and there may be a bit of a class distinction that the warrior class would like to be the ones wearing armor. For the levy it may not be affordable or more profitable to get rid of
On anything related to the Roman military I forcibly recommend Schwerpunkt's videos series
A wonderful historical coverage video about Roman emporium weapons and Roman opponents Germanic tribe's warriors...thank you history Hit) channel for sharing
I was taught in my school days [60s] that the Roman sword was a Spanish sword design
it did originate when they started colonies in spain
The gladius was indeed Celtiberian in origin
Would that be the spatha? Mainly used by the cavalry.?
@@danielearley5062 The gladius my dude, spatha was longer because it's better on horse back and metallurgy improvements in the days of the empire. Gladius was copied from Iberian designs as they started to expand outside what we know as Italy, as it fit their maniple fighting system better.
@@danielearley5062 The gladius sometimes known as the gladius hispaniensis was the short sword used by 1st Century AD Legions and was originally adopted by Roman troops fighting in Iberia. The Spatha was a long sword only used by Roman Cavalry in the 1st Century AD though much later in the 3rd and 4th century AD when Roman Infantry became much less pure close formation heavy Infantry it was also used by the Infantry.
Roman's being a very pragmatic bunch seem to have adopted all sorts of foreign weapons so the 1st Century Legions were carrying short swords originally from Iberia while their scutum shields and their helmets were originally of Celtic design. Though it should be noted that they were also hard core modifiers of other peoples original designs so while the helmet is based on the Celtic Montefortino design 1st century Roman helmets had added extra ribs and lengthened and changed angle of neck guard. They also did same with the short swards.
The spatha seems a pretty geneic long sword used by a lot of different people though the Romans could have got it originally from Greeks or Gauls. The Pilum seems a unique Italian design though it may have been Samnite in origin. Indeed the only uniquely Roman design seems to be the lorica segmentata. Though this replaced the chain mail used by the troops of the republic originally adopted from the Gauls. Which the Romans later went back too.
Not 100% sure why the lorica segmentata was abandoned for the earlier design. May have had something to do with ease and cost of production. Also the lorica is believed to have a rust problem.
Yessssss man is a total war chad from the good old days.
It's incredible what hardships and endurance humans can adapt to. For some reason this reminds me of stories from WW2 in the comparison between old soldiers tough feet and fragile feet of new recruits arriving on the eastern front when the experienced soldiers had feet that were immune to blisters because their feet were covered in a continuous callus from having no socks due to poor supply and having to march across Russia
“Varus, Varus, give me back my legions!”
Can't conquer the world with sub-par kit.
The British did. The War Office (later, the Ministry of Defence) has a long history of issuing cheap sub-par equipment.
Good leadership & tactics can offset sub-par kit. Logistics is an easier target than armies. Gladius are stabbies because the scutum is easier to stab around than a wider swing slash.
The Roman sword was not designed to cut with its edges. Its main function was to stab, it was enough to plunge the gladius three fingers into the opponent. With that he already produced a fatal wound.
It was designed to cut with edges as well as for stabbing.Both is very obvious from how are those swords constructed and also confirmed by several written sources.One of the most common popular myths about Roman army is that hispanic sword was meant only for stabbing.This myth is chiefly based on misinterpretation of words by Vegetius(while ignoring words of other writters at the same time)who however merely says that soldiers primarily used it for stabbing not that it was only used for stabbing(and even Vegetius in fact also mention slashing).That is was also quite effective for shashing is well attested too.
The Roman legions were trained to stab at the lower part of the torso, no bones, and to go up into the body, that bypassed the bones into vital areas.
The pilum was good to knock out enemies, but the full purpose was to remove the enemies shields making the enemy defenceless. The pilum was narrower, there are many theories, but one us agreed it was so it was to be extremely hard to remove.
The roman doctrines were to first soften the enemy lines then using the gladius and scutum holding the line striking with the gladius.
Romans took heavy losses, but they nearly conquered germania, it was the emperor that ordered the withdrawal.
The Roman tunic was made of lining not wool, wool came from Britain and others groups, like Germany and only on those stationed on Northern Britain used wool, for cloaks,
Lorica segmentata was one size all.
Just about the one thing right was the marching kit,
Roman military tunics and cloaks (plus togas) were made of wool. There are several inventories and orders that specify that the tunics were made of wool, some of them from Egypt (so they were wearing wool even in the Egyptian desert), and they specify the type of weave and thickness of the thread to be used. People all over the world kept sheep for wool, not just the Britains.
@@fenriss749 well j haven't seen that, but all that j have shown it difficult, even if they could the shield was know useless.
@@robo5013 I seriously doubt that, wool comes from North Europe, and frankly wool in Egyptm suicide, considering the heat.
@@fenriss749that's not the conclusion Tod reached at all.
@@TheAegisClaw my bad I must have forgotten what happened, thanks for correcting me
Barbarians didn't like this :(
Barbarians (βάρβαρος) are all people that are not speaking Greek (or strange greek dialects). This makes Romans Barbarians.
@@Warentester i dont agree with you but sometimes romans act like barbarians
@@Mr.KaganbYaltrk it's true, they considered all outsiders barbarians
I mean the barbarians won in the end.
Yes - Bruder ! Tube - "" Wir Rufen deine Wolfe "". Make you feel Better 😊
A pillo is thrown by legionaries… and they go through shields to hit the holder but bend over time. Roman Auxilia throw Lancea…. Spears… … but once you got 4 or 5 spears stuck in your shield, you drop it since can’t hold it up. The goal of throwing spears is to have them drop their shields then spear them.
Segmenta was not fully deployed in 9 AD. Only prototypes like the very top part. Was not until 30 AD did you see segmentara. At the famous battle in Tutenberg, most chain maille….
Segmentara needs factories to make and lots of the brass fittings and leather rots. So constant repairs. Chain Maille can be made at home with simple tools and easy repairs.
HH dude you look awesome in the battle kit and your eyes are direct to the cause. Bravo.
I think that the knapsack and the pila would be tied together at two points with cord in order to make more practical to carry, you would also probably wear your cloak slung forward to the right to have something to keep them resting on the shoulder.
A bit kiddy ... Tristan obviously knows the answer to most the questions he’s asking, as do we. Still, nice to see the channel focus on Roman military history
Agreed, the listeners are not stupid.
@@SB-sj4uz speak for yourself 😅
@@markdotinc8371 so you're saying you're stupid. Fuck me it's like he is talking to a five year old. Lmao.
It's aimed at a general audience. You might be surprised how many viewers don't know as much as you.
@@skepticalbadger I never meant to insult your intelligence ...
Tristan clearly likes trying out historical weapons, and seems pretty good at it.. Me, I prefer pen power but, a Japanese armsworth first crack is impressive. Great to see the replica plate armour in action, having viewed the film on the original, kindly on loan to The British Museum, if memory serves.
Some v pointy points indeed! Nice one Tristan and team. 🌟👍
The fact he played rome total war makes him so much cooler
Great video!
Also have to consider the marching speed which was sometimes crazy, they didn't go for a stroll. Just look at how Julius Ceasar pushed his troops down Italy to hunt Pompeius, that was insane. For legionaries marching, we also need to take climate and weather into account, the armor won't help keeping your body warm or keep it ventilated in hot areas like Syria or Egypt. And yeah, you are in for this for at least 25 years, if you manage to live that long ...
A római kori emberek jóval edzettebbek voltak már születésüktől fogva is! Még volt természetes kiválasztódás és a katonák napi fegyvergyakorlatai valamint a napi menetgyakorlatok is kitartóvá tették őket. Így számukra egy átlagos csata "csak" véres gyakorlat volt csupán.
I love the Germanic sabre!
Fantastic!
Everything is awesome! Only thing I wanna say is that the belts should be higher up, on your waist, not your hips 😊
I sincerely doubt the legionnaires retained a pilum as a close range weapon. The idea as i understand it was to throw both your pila while the opponents were less than twenty yards away. Creating obstacles, opening the line, individuals exposed to combined line of scutum and sword infantry meeting them.
Probably depended a lot on the tactical situation. At the battle of Pharsalus expecting his Cavalry to be swept away by greatly superior Pompeian horse deployed a Infantry flank guard who were ordered not to throw their spears but retain them to fend off the cavalry. As this was a specific order this would imply that the standard practice at this time was to throw the pila and then get stuck in with the sword. In much later Roman (Byzantine) manuals the instruction was to throw the spear and then engage with the Sword if fighting Infantry but retain the spear if fighting cavalry.
The pila is perfectly functional as a close quarters weapon used for stabbing. There are period drawings depicting Romans stabbing at enemy infantry with the pila, and multiple Roman texts talks about using the pila as a spear against cavalry.
The pila a great weapon was only good as the man who threw it!!!
Most were one shot affairs good enough to scare you thats fir sure
Remarkable. So interesting.
When varus dressed his legions in all blue and had them make ocean wave noises didnt work as good as i thought it would
It has a pointy point AND a symmetrical, symmetrical handle! (Just playing, dude obviously knows his stuff)
This is really good video thank you!
6:52 Shout out to everyone else who is here because they grew up playing Rome: Total War
Amazing
Funny to think my German mom's hometown on the Rhein (a Roman military outpost town) may very well have seen the few that escaped bring the news of Varus to the Roman Empire.
I am prretty sure, that at least the helmet did NOT sit barely on the head, but had a bit of a padding inside, might be mounted in the helmet or in form of a cap. Same goes for the lorica segmentata. Else, every hit would have resulted in a blunt force trauma.
In one thing, the expert is at least a bit off... if you use a Germanic sword with a handle like this the way he shows it to stab, it will fly out of your hand, when the opponents raises his shield. The Germanic sword has a handle like my machetes, works well as long as you have a slashing movement, but when you come a bit too steep, the machete flies off. Happened to me several times.
Besides a one edged blade only makes sense in a cutting motion. For a thrust, you need a pointy tip and at least two cutting edges, that make penetration into flesh easier. And you need a bigger guard plate to bring force behind the tip.
It has been stablished that Kalkriese should be associated with the aftermath operations of the varian battle ... 9+ AD
Let's consider the impact on an infantry charge of multiple pila hitting your line...creates some confusion and gaps in the line. Disciplined line of scutum and gladius meeting a disorganised charge.
The roman spear wasnt designed to go through shields. It has a narrow edge so when thrown, it'll bend which prevents the enemy from throwing them back
That is an old theory. More modern research and experimental archaeology have moved away from this in the eyes of modern historians. To stop it being thrown back, some had a wooden peg in the fitting of the head to the shaft which could break on impact making the head hinge on the other peg as a means of preventing the spear being reused. This may not have been universally used though.
The reenactors who I know , Wear their full armor and train in it . Break ing in the footwear is a chore.
Where can one buy one of the Roman swords and pila? Asking for a friend...
Avalon Celtic
I think one thing to remember is people of those times mainly had to do things manually. Im sure that by todays standards, they were freakishly strong. Compare soldiers now to ones then. Now, we have firearms. A squeeze of the finger....versus a constant movement with a bladed/spear or bow. Researchers have said that you can tell the strength of an individual by the thickness of their bones. The thicker, the stronger. I dont know about many of you, but when i think about it.......hours of battling and swinging/thrusting a weapon...i know that i would probably not make it a full hour.
Love this!
crazy to see someone like Tristan Hughes asking which one is the Roman sword of these 2.. No I get it, you need to as a presenter but still crazy.
I think the biggest discovery from this is finding out Tristan is 27 years old.
Very interesting. I sure hope NF is planning a 3d season of Barbarians.
The swords are like modern bullets. Designed for different things. The Roman sword is basically a 5.56 x 45mm NATO round that's designed to penetrate armoured opponents then break apart in the body and make a big cavity. This doesn't really work so well against soft targets without armour and has a tendency to go through. The German sword is more like the 7.62 x 39mm Soviet rounds famously used in the AK-47 etc. They're basically just big and smash a hole in what they hit but aren't quite as good at going through armour.
As a modern a grunt carry all that gear would suck.
Slight correction: the verutum is the smaller, throwing spear, and the larger spear, the pillum, is for stabbing. (Or vice versa, depending on the source.) They're not all generically called pilla.
I think the Battle of Carrhae and Arausio makes the battle of Teutoburg Forest look like a Disney show.
Those pilums would break or bend on impact, so they would not throw them back at you.
They would not.What you mention is possibly the most common and deepest entrenched from all popular myths about Roman army.
good job thanks
Interesting video
finally someone who thinks about how they may have used their Arms with the mindset of their time
Shouldn't the sword belt go over the left shoulder? The position of the sword itself is correct, but I don't think the belt was around the hip, it should be more like a shoulder bag.
I do not agree with this guy. As a Roman Reenactor for 25 years, the Roman sword he showed is meant for un-armored enemies and the wide blade caused terrible damage when you stab and turn blade 45 degrees and pull out.
The German swords are much longer and thinner such as Roman Spatha… great for slicing and dicing (excellent for cutting off a head)…. But not great at stabbing or attacking an armored soldiers.
Shout out to rome total war.That's cool
Ingo! I'd recognize that slice anywhere. Is there a German word for unexpectedly recognizing someone?
Ave , true to caesar
It is pleause to see you.
Pilums are designed to pierce chainmail armor and not as effective against metal plate (bronze or iron).
Pretty good 😊
Tristan is kinda scary, right? I wouldn't want to be a Roman soldier in a dark barbarian forest somewhere facing off a crowd of guys like that.
Sharp
Having worked in the trades, you figure out ways to carry your kit efficiently and more comfortably. Im sure the soldiers were adroit at doing so.
Really? The loss of 3 legions was "one of the worst defeats ever?" I guess you don't want to hear about the 2nd Punic war, then...
The rise and fall of the empire
Amazing it lasted so long
753bc to 410ad
Plus another 1000 years in the East. Byzantium only fell in the XV century. In total it lasted 2 millennia!!
Please do not stab holding the sword like the right guy in the blue jacked, you will probably hurt your wrist xD
Is that Fabrizio Romano in the thumbnail😅🤣🤣🤣
"In time of peace prepare for war."
-- Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus
Si vis pacem para bellum
Roman swords optimised for penetrating armour? In over 60 years I've never seen any such suggestion either for Gladius or Spatha. Both were broad bladed for maximum effect against unprotected flesh.
With the spear you can’t get through armour but you would go for the face same with sword or legs then you can finish off hand to had is dirty
good enough to win a huge empire
27? not 47?
Why didn’t Roman use AK47 instead?
Because the cartridge was not compatible with NATO standards.
They were using the AD47 to be historically accurate
if you want accuracy, there are tons of romans experts (in italy)
and i say it not being a roman empire fan.
The one main difference is Tristan is a historian and a Roman Legionary would have been trained to do that. Months and probably more likely years of being on the move with his gear. These men were strong and had tremendous endurance.
Arminius knew the strengths and weaknesses of both sides as an axillary and Roman citizen but also as a Germanic Chieftain. He planned the attack as best as he could using what he had at hand. Varus, on the other hand was arrogant and ignorant and walked into a trap that should have been obvious.
Igen. A hadszíntér nem jól volt megválasztva. Caesar jobban csinálta volna.
"Vare, redde mihi legiones!"
Holy smokes, he's only 27? Woof.
by the underdeveloped muscles and shoulders, I would estimate 12
He looks fine, just a receding hairline. Bro should go bald + beard, ladies love it
If he was living in antiquity at 27 he’d be regarded as middle aged lol
Throughout history swords all tended to have the same (maximum) weight and equipment too. That is based on the human physis. Soldiers cannot carry 50 kg for long and cannot wield swords of 3 kg for long.
Good thing even longsowrds didn't weigh that much. Also you can, with training, handle them for a long enough time
The roman sword is lighter sronger easyer to stick fast and to SHLASH!!!!!
Better steel as for as grip the pommel at the end was very useful in not loseing your sword! Both are good the Roman is good plus. took yrs of design
The Romans were equipped with their own spears too - not just pilum.
And the throwing darts
Roman Legionaries were only ever issued their 2 pilums, gladius and Scutum.
@@taxultearly roman legion had the triarii. Older veteran Spearman used as a last resort. But yes in this period it was pila, short sword and shields for everybody.
@@ericwilliams1659 in different time than army from this video.Darts you have on mind were not in use yet.
Roman legionaries(and commonly Auxiliaries)also had limited use of spears,however in period shown in this video they were issued with Pilum as they standard shafted weapon.
The "gladius" wasn't designed to fight against opponents that were heavily armoured. It might be good against chain-mail at best and padded/leather armor - no more! Come on guys! ...SURE AS HELL - it was never designed to fight opponents with segmented armour.
Mate, your referring to them as "the Germans" instead of 'Germanic' doesn't exactly scream historical/academic rigor.
I think it's more of using vernacular for a lay audience. Wouldn't fly in an academic paper, but to someone new to learning history, it sounds more familiar.
Mate, I can guarantee you the historian knows more than you. Stop being a pedantic bozo.
@@gorilla30100 expecting historical accuracy in a history video for history buffs isn't being pedantic, asswipe.
Well balanced for a sword?
The Germanic sword is more like a falchion
I don't want to get stabbed with any of those.
Varus
Yes The Barbarians won in the end but a lot of years later. By then the empire was decaying internally and they hadn't fought a major foe in like 200 years or so. This made the Roman armies not as experienced. Remember he said later on they changed to chainmail which was cheaper and wasn't as good as this armor shown here honestly. So by the time the barbarians won it was a very downgraded Roman army. Also one other thing, the Romans did buy a lot of mercenaries in the latter part of the Empire which made the Army less cohesive as a fighting force.
In the final years of the Empire many legions were in fact made by "romanized" German mercenaries. Curiously, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire (the original one), a new ”Holy Roman Empire of the German People" was formed, and lasted until the Napoleonic wars!
This was the official adoption of the Roman civilization, alphabet, Latin language (in the official documents), Christian religion.
Minden birodalom így ér véget.