Hey king's and generals you guys should check out this other history channel called useful charts he makes family tree's and it is very interesting 😍😍😍
I believe the emperor Anastasius is supremely underrated in modern historical discourse; the man was a figure that remodeled the Byzantine economy directly after the fall of the western Roman Empire, and built a treasury surplus in an era of devastation. The man needs more credit for all he did in keeping the empire alive for another 1k years and funding the (bankrupting) campaigns of Justinian.
And it is not a coincidence that he was an Illyrian, like Justinian the Great was and like Constantine, Diocletian, Aurelian etc were. Roman Empire had 29 Illyrian Emperors.
It's like how Alexander the Great's underrated father, Philip of Macedonia, did most of the heavy lifting in Macedonia such as fiscal reforms, administrative reforms and military reforms which allowed his son to easily become the greatest conqueror in history
@@rachitsah8305 alexander wasn't the greatest conqueror, there were bigger empires and grander battles. he had a lot of land in one life, sure, but it wasn't maintained after he died and he was not number 1 in any single area. chingeas khan built a more powerful empire, the prophet Muhammad (SAW) changed history's course more drastically, napolean bonaparte and helmuth von moltke both changed the tactics people used drastically, and more other figures also achieved more. all in all, alexander left less of a mark in the long run, had less land than others, faced a better start and better odds than others. alexander was a talented leader but is highly overrated compared to many later figures.
Important thing to remmember is that the change was gradual. Many post-Roman barbarian kingdoms kept late Roman system almost intact and late antique world was still centred around ancient Mediterranean routes for some time. Those kingdoms, allthough they changed thigs still mostly fall into Late Antiquity, more profound change started with decline of Byzantium, rise of Islam and rise of Frankish Kingdom which was truly the first European medieval state.
@@shorewall plus Islamic monopoly on papyrus (a strategic resource) made it more scarce in the Christian world, raising the cost of education, duplication of and transmission of knowledge. This hastened the loss of Greco-Roman knowledge in the West where commerce was already in decline from the post Roman Collapse and rise of Islam. Many major palimpsests were made during this era, ie recycled parchment texts due to the scarcity of writing materials. Christians on the whole acknowledged the intellectual wealth of the pagan past (having preserved much of it so far) but prioritised religious texts nonetheless losing secular knowledge till x-ray technology rediscovered these lost texts. See Archimedes Palimpsest as one example.
@@RedWolf75 It wasn't the Arabs that changed everything. They just took advantage of a power vacuum. That power vacuum was caused by the great Byzantine-Sasanian war of 602ad-628ad. This was basically the "world war III" of the ancient world. This war saw the Romans and Persians go fully at each other's throats with no holding back. Cities on both sides were burned to the ground and the populations put to the sword. When the war ended much of Anatolia and the Middle East was in ruins and massively depopulated. This opened the door for the upstart Arab state to conquer the ruins of the Middle East. The Byzantine-Sasanian war is dividing line between late antiquity and the medieval era in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Well, chronologically it was the other way around, but you are talking in order of K&G recent videos (explaining for those who will come in distant future to attack you for historical mistake ;) )
@sebâstian turnayev Mughals :Muslim dynasty of Turkic-Mongol origin Ancestors of modern Turkish people is ottomans and Seljuks, but for Azerbaijani Turks we can say its is Seljuks Timur was turkic but his most of soldier and civilians were mongols The purest Turks is uzbeks Tajikistan is persian state
>Theoderic appreciated the customs of Rome >He also got the realm by assassinating the previous ruler Welp, it seems he understood how Rome worked alright
Such a massive defeat for all of humanity. So much history, knowledge, and art lost to disgusting barbiarns. One can only imagine how advanced and stable our civilization would be today had the Romans never fallen or we avoided the dark age...
I don't know. The Roman Empire fell very slowly. When Constantinople fell in 1453, there was very little of the Empire left, but it had been slowly shrinking before than for centuries.
The town where I live today was a post station on the military road between Mediolanum and Comum, then it turned into a tiny settlement of a hundred people. Most of them came from Milan after the collapse of the western empire, amongst whom were my ancestors. What became of Western Rome is almost unbelievable and very unsettling.
@@no.1spectator39 They ruled much of the known world, they def knew India existed but we said “Much of The Known World” not all, also they may be richer or bigger but not as influential to world history
@@no.1spectator39 Cool. Doesn't change the fact that the Song Dynasty was established in the 10th century. Also, the British, French, Spanish, and various other European powers influenced the entire world through their empires. The world is Eurocentric - even modern China and its communist government with capitalist leanings is based largely on Western thought with consent by the governed rather than the mandate of heaven. Rome, as the society that established Western Europe, in a sense, conquered the world through its ideas.
Also Germanic tribes again: "Alright, enough with this Rome bullshit, gimme your money!" Joking aside though, it's still quite impressive that they can still adapt to the more complex government system of the Romans, even if it was just a facade to keep the population together at first.
Actually there was a severe mistrust between the Romans in Italy and the Eastern Romans . The first considered the latter as Greeks and preferred the Goths . Ekonomou study of 2007 is very enlightening about the theme .
@@nikostombris5505 I don't agree.We are in the 6th century. Italians were on the empire's side. The Goths (set Milan ablaze) and the Franks laid waste of Italy. The Romans wanted back their lands.The Lombards were no better either.
@@giannisgiannopoulos791 Unfortunately they weren’t . Only the southern Greek speaking populations opened their gates willingly. Take Naples for example a city with “Roman” population how strongly they opposed the Eastern empires army . For them as I told you the Romans of the East were foreigners . Please read Ekonomou he is very to the point on the the theme .
@@nikostombris5505 Naples was taken by surprise with minimum losses. Nobody said that it would be easy but Belisarius took 2/3 of Italy with 15.000 men only. The Barbarians made the war ugly. I repeat, look what happened to Milan. The mistrust you are talking about is bec Theodosius upscaled the administrative status of the bishop of Constantinople and thus Rome was feeling kinda neglected.
@@giannisgiannopoulos791 Even with that true the Patriarchs of Rome continue to defend the roman legacy until quite late. And intervening and keeping Orthodoxy even in East when Emperors there turn heretical. After Charlemagne(a iconclast & heretic himself) and Frankish infiltration more and more end up usurping the Traditional Orthodox Faith by including issues as Filioque and other political transformations leading to full control of Frankish and papal supremacy. That said again for long time the Popes actually function as holders of Roman Christian legacy against Frankish infiltration.
@@nathanrobinson1099 "Someone I don't like", someone most normal, educated people don't like, you dummy. Fascism is a destructive, murderous ideology that only the most pathetic losers idolize and cheerlead. Sit down and shut up when the adults are speaking.
@@nathanrobinson1099 Mori was literally a Fascist. Joined the party in 1924, served the Fascist government, and wrote in praise of both the Fascist Party and Mussolini
I feel a deep sense of melancholy for the tremendous loss to civilization and the human brutality that followed in the wake of Rome's collapse. While Rome certainly wasn't a human rights paradise by modern standards most people did have more freedom, security and happiness before the fall of the empire. Great video!
Freedom only existed for the elite, who continued to operate just fine without Rome. Security? You mean the military that was always fighting itself especially after Constantine? Happiness again only exists for the rich. The rural and urban poor were more assuredly just as miserable under Rome.
Yes, I remember getting very sad when I read that poor farmers in post-Roman Britain lost access to iron shod boots. Like their lives are already so hard and now they can't even have nice boots.
You have already covered the sack of Constantinople during the 4th crusade. Can you please cover what happened next, the formation of the Greek rump states and the Latin-Bulgarian wars.
@@torikeqi8710 Yes Roman and greek were the same at that period.Even the greek language was mentioned as the Roman language up to the form of the modern greek state.They knew they were greeks by stock, BUT, since they had Roman laws, mixed customs with Roman, Roman religion(Christianity), Roman administration, a great timeframe of Roman history etc, a whole state made by rome and embraced by the greeks, what's the point to even remember the difference especially when the ruler show zero difference between Rome and Greece other than the language.The language was studied by historians of the time that was italic yet the foundations of Rome were greek, so from both side the marriage was inevitable in a way that the greeks accepted and embraced the Romans while having the western Roman empire accused for making its armies filled with barbarians, so apart from Rome no other is accepted to be equal to greeks, and the "apart from Rome" was a big task to accomplish for the Romans in a way that makes wonder who conquered who...
Interesting theme by K&G . The fall of the western Roman Empire practically ended the era of antiquity in the west . In the East the many wars and often civil strife ( 20 years anarchy) ended the peaceful times in Mediterranean Sea for ever .
@@nebelwerfer199 Well the truth is that that whenever there was a good emperor he was always stopped from securing the northern border for some reason, and when there were bad emperors they just could not even see the problem. Germania and Dacia needed to be under roman control for defensive purposes of the rest of the empire. This problem was first addressed by Julius Caesar just before being assassinated. He also sent Octavian to prepare for the task ahead and train the new troops, which was shelved after Caesar was reported dead. You could argue that the putting the problem under the carpet started there. You reap what you sow.
@@jeffvella9765 the Roman's could not successfully conquer Germania or Dacia. Only bits & pieces. Even if they had conquered these deep forested barbarian lands then other barbarians would have came from the east. The Huns, Alan's, Salmatians, sythians, parthains, & Sassasnids among many others were constantly pounding DOWN Romes Eastern doors. Plus rome would have been even more spread out if they had to a control a rebellious Germanian & dacian peoples.
@@michaelweston409 NO, they would have been less spread out, just check the map of Europe. That was the whole point of it, if rome had germania and dacia than they would have 1/2 the border length they had in history. Just cut a strait line from the bosphorus to modern day Poland/German border. The reason why rome fell is because they left all those tribes grow and when the east pushed those tribes away, they ran into roman territory, so rome had to fight both the hordes and the eastern enemies. If they had it under control they would not have needed to fight the hordes but just the eastern invaders. So not only the border would be easier to defend because it is shorter and less expensive but they would have had less enemies to deal with. This is a well established idea. The Romans knew that the best way to protect Rome was to get more land and expand the roman territory, stagnating was bad for rome.
@@michaelweston409 Man just learn your history, you keep claiming nonsensical things, the romans did at one point in history take germania and dacia, but never both at the same time, and just because they did not, it does not mean they could not. As I already said, the plans were there for the conquest of these regions, the roman never got to execute these plans in an organized manner for a reason or another. Those plans were first done by Julius Caesar himself.
Don't get me wrong I love the videos about Roman warfare, but these videos about the social, economic and political life are just as amazing. More please :)
Fun fact: The Byzantines adopted many alredy Greek polis institutions of each city they ruled, for example the Despotate of Morea saw many Hellenic insitutions revived and the despotate itself was made an "Archontad" with a boule and Constantinople itself had Demes, Demarchs, Polemarchs and Taxiarchs. The famous "theme system" whas linked to erlier Seleucid systems of administration with a Strategus as the leading figure and the Hyperstrategos as the co ruler.
@Абдульзефир Friend, don't take the story of Aeneas too seriously; even Virgil admited it was a myth with very little credibility and later regreted writting it. Romans more likely do not have any relation with Trojans.
@@robertrodriguezharo1906 even so Evander from Pallene Arcadia Greece and his Comrades 70: year s before Trojan war , Create a settlement called Paladioum hill more or less in the same exactly location 600 years later Rome founded,
@@eliaspapanikolaou3563 Not saying it is not possible; Romans were more or less certain that their city was a colony or a succesor to another one. I think, though, Paladioum may not had survived through the collapse of the dark ages. It really seems likely to be a posterior statement, just as Virgil did, to justify the link between the Roman and Greek worlds. Just imagine the Byzantines saying "We're greek, but also roman because the romans were also kinda greek"
It's nice to see it acknowledged just how shittier things in the West became for many people post the fall of Rome. Too often now its portrayed in a revisionist sense as "Things became different and less urban, that doesn't mean worse" by those who are afraid of making actual conclusions.
There is a middle ground that is not catastrophist as presented her, nor a 'life was the same' as revised. In reality, life hss been declining for some time in many places and there were many factors, but it was not a fast collapse post apocalypse
I completely agree. Invicta once did a video where he outlined just how bad things got in the west, and then immediately backtracked and said something along the line of "most historians don't now believe it's accurate to describe the dark ages as 'dark'." But he put forward no evidence to support that revision!
Because the Fall of Rome didn’t ruin Italy and bring it into the dark ages, the 20 Year Gothic War with Justinian and his namesake Plague Of Justinian did.
Well, you have to distinguish between the period of active collapse and upheaval (those always suck, no matter what comes after) and the post-Roman period when things settled down into new institutions and cultural forms.
@@justinian-the-great really? Not Islam, Manzikert, Justinian Plague, Slav migrations, 1453 or 4th Crusade? If one thinks hard enough, does it even make the top 10 disasters/crises for the Byzantine Empire?
@@giansideros Without the usurpation by Phocas, there would have been no necessity of usurpation by Heraclius, and, therefore, no straining of imperial resources and no loss of the East to the Sasanians. Therefore, the Empire would have been strong when (or if) the Muslims tried to take over.
Fantastic video; one of your best in my opinion. I love these kinds of videos in which you talk about institutions and society rather than focusing on warfare. Keep up the good work!
@@michaelweston409 actually, it could have fallen before the west. When the goths invaded and destroyed the balkan armies at Hadrianopolis, the West left a whole army there to cover the gap. Permanently. Or so i've read. If anything, the West saved the East that time, smth the East could not do for the West. Ultimately, they even bribed invaders to go to the west just to be left alone :))
Rome fell once the Romans started relying more and more on German mercenaries rather than their own people. This pattern was repeated with the Byzantines. The abandonment of the theme system and the preference of foreign mercenaries led to its eventual decline and gradual fall.
They messed up their internal organisations so badly so they had no choice in the end. Despite tens of millions of citiziens living in the empire they could barely get anyone to join the army. For the regular roman, who was being taxed insanely high, being in the army was one of the worst job you could have so nobody wanted that.
Foederati and mercenaries were not the reason Rome fell. In fact, they fought just as loyally under the Roman flag as did the legionaries. The Auxilia of old or the Foederati of the late empire fought and bled alongside the venerated Legions to the very end, even in the last major battle of the Western Empire- Catalunia Plains against the Huns, Goths and the Franks- a major part of the Roman army was composed of the German Foederati, they fought and died to the very end to defeat their so-called Barbarian brethren in the name of Rome. The Varangian Guard of the Eastern Empire were the most loyal troops to the Emperor and they consisted of Scandinavians, Vikings, Anglo-Saxons, Rus, etc. People loved Rome and were loyal to it as long as the Roman government kept its promises to them. They preferred the civilization of Rome and bled to defend it as long as they were treated right by the state they were fighting for. If you don't pay your soldiers you can't not expect to be stabbed by them in return.
I would counter that this near apocalyptic view of the fall of the Roman Empire needs a lot more contexts. To say "things were fine, then the Germans showed up and then they weren't" ignores the role the Romans themselves played in bringing forth feudalism and eroding Roman legal institutions. The legal roots of feudalism can be traced back to Diocletian and the erosion of trade and the inflation of Roman coin trace their roots to the 3rd century crisis. It should also be noted that while trade did boom again in the East, political erosion and feudalism also flourished in the east and internal turmoil weakened centralized power. And that's the point in both the east and west; as centralized power weakens, local rulers begin asserting themselves, whose concerns are almost exclusively local in nature.
I really don't care all that much but I like that England got their ass beat in July 🇺🇲👍🇮🇹
Год назад+2
The statement from the video that Burgunds and Visigoths took two-thirds of the Roman domains and possessions is really interesting to me and I would like some books or articles about the same subjects. It's the subject I learn about a lot.
Although I loved the video, it's worth mentioning that many of the barbarian "invaders" were armed, equipped, trained, and invited into the empire by the Romans themselves. Their claims of being "Roman protectors" had a surprising amount of de-facto legitimacy.
@Paul Thomas Well, said mass migrants also took over by force, began making demands beyond the capacity of the imperial government to provide, and didn't administer their territories anywhere as efficiently as their predecessors. So even if they wern't the main cause of the collapse, they absolutely accelerated it.
When the Eternal City Fell, it's conquerors wept, if it was once said that when Rome Conquered Greece and Greece Conquered Rome, then it is safe to say that When the Barbarians Came and Conquered, Rome Conquered their Hearts a final time... ROMA INVICTA!!! ROMA AETERNA!!!
Well, while not uncontrovercial, like anything in history, some historians argue that the fall of Rome actually benefitted invention in several ways and even made the great achievements of the (in this argument paradoxically called) Rennaisance even possible. They describe it as a process of creative destruction which left a hypercompetitive environment of duchies and monarchies trying to outpace one another scientifically and economically, leading to many new inventions (windmills, stirrups, cattle drawn ploughs, etc.)
One thing to consider that the fall of an Empire that have brought laws, order and revolutionary prospects doesn't always end up a good thing in the aftermath. Those who risen from the ashes tend to stagnant and remained reclusive in whatever power and wealth they have to consolidated. It taken centuries upon centuries for Europe and the whole of Mediterranean to recover after the fall of the Roman Empire. And it even took the Black Death itself just to push the western civilization further as to either remained backwards or faced annihilation.
@@riseALK Windmills have been around in the Middle East before the Dutch incorporated it to their culture... Another misleading misinterpretation that western europe invented everything, smh.
@@riseALK You're right, I never checked that, just thought the argument was interesting. However, after reading up on it, the argument still stands as these inventions were refined and adapted - often in Europe. For example, the stirrup and spurr were brought to Europe from the Asian steppes and enabled the creation of the knight on horseback with a lance and shield as an incredibly powerful shock troop. One argument I could come up with was that, even though gunpowder was invented in Asia, the most powerful guns and cannons were refined in Europe (even the famous Ottoman siege cannons that bombed Constantinopel were made by a Hungarion gunsmith). And the Trebuchet, which was also invented in Asia was extensively used in medieval European warfare as other siege weapons were often too logistically complex for small early medieval armies to carry (I think that argument was even made on this channel or in one of the videos on "Invicta")
Eh, I think that in the long run, we were better off without them. We shouldn't wonder why the Roman Empire fell, we should wonder how it lasted as long as it did.
The disintegration of the Western Roman Empire is a topic that will never cease to be of interest. Thankyou for the amazing work you do - one of many that deeply appreciate the precise, factual information and impartiality☺️
I can't help but see parallels between the fall of Rome and our current decline of the west. Mass migration, moral decline, corruption, internal strife, economic decline, destruction of the middle class, dismantlemant of social structures, power concentrating in an ever smaller circle etc.... anyway great video as always!
Mass migration is mostly eastern Europeans Corruption only in eastern Europe and Italy Don't know about moral decline but most sucides are in eastern Europe Decline of the middle class yes Putin and Orban know a thing or two about it Social structure is being replaced by individualism which is fine Power of course Putin and Orban also aware of that.
Justinian and his wife were their own worst enemy. I know hundreds of years of experience says a general who is successful and popular is a direct threat to the very emperor he claims to serve but a tiny bit more trust in Belisarius would have seen the complete restoration of the Italian home land for centuries after. Atleast that’s what I think would have happened.
While I understand where you are coming from, and agree that Belisarius should have been treated better, I doubt they could have held Rome. Rome was in the middle of the Ostrogoth kingdom, and the entirety of western Europe already fell into the germanic hands. The eastern romans were powerful, but not powerful enough to hold for long the eternal city and Italy. The eastern frontier was a constant warzone with the eternal rival of Rome, Persia, and once the rise of Islam started a hundred years later, the southern borders were occupied and Constantinople besieged constantly. The eastern romans didn't have the means to hold Rome and Italy for long. At best we may have seen Italy remain in roman hands for a few more years, but it wouldn't really change the current maps and our perception of the events. It was one last hurrah, and with it's end it was clear that Italy won't be roman again.
One of the greatest legacies of Roman Empire was the Roman Law. Both Private Roman Law and Public Roman Law are separate courses in Juridical education, not the history of it, but the actual norms (at least regarding the "Continental Law" also called Romano-Germanic, hence the word "Romano"). What truly is interesting is that people don't even realize how many contemporary juridical norms are in sense Roman Law, Napoleon just codified it at the beginning of the 19th century... Thank for great content!
Their reasoning is that Orthodoxy was an integral aspect of the Roman Empire (the Eastern court). When the empire ended the church moved to Russia not due to an attempt to be necessarily rome, but that over the centuries the lands of Russia and its people integrated culture from the Empire. The Orthodox church moving its seat to the lands of Russia is an overlooked reason why the Russian empire claimed to be the third rome.
16:33 "with the exception of Italy". Yeah, exactly, Justinian did bring the Corpus Iuris Civilis as a legacy to stay, but his ill-fated attempt to reconquer the peninsula was a disaster and opened the door to yet more disaster. The darkest period in the history of Italy, bar none. I sometimes think, wouldn't it have been better to leave the Ostrogoths alone, as they were in the process to set up a rather successful hybrid state, certainly compared to other Germanic kingdoms? "ifs" and "buts" I suppose....
Honestly, Justinian did a darn good job at his conquests before the plague hits. Perhaps if the plague didn't happen, I believe the conquest of Italy would've gone much more smoothly, reducing the devastation that would've happened.
@@lyonvensa Well, respectable argument. I've read the whole Gothic Wars by Procopius, though, and it looks like Justinian severely underestimated the Goths and their leaders. Witiges, Totila, most of all, showed resilience, military strength, even when faced by one of the best generals in history (Belisarius) and were in no mood for allowing an easy walk-over. Both armies devastated the peninsula, up and down, with Byzantines being no less cruel, most of all when they employed Lombards, Gepids and the likes, they even had to "fire" them for excessive cruelty. Too much, for a vaguely fantasised "renovatio Imperii". Italy ended up in ashes, and ready for the taking by the Lombards. That's another dark story.
You have to understand that the eastern Romans and Justinian feared the power of the Ostrogoths and believed that eventually that Ostrogoths would turn their power against them and conquer them. For instance, the Franks also swore loyalty to the eastern Romans yet once they got comfortable the Franks began sending threats to Justinian that they would conquer eastern Rome and many Byzantines genuinely believed that they would. So Justinian believed he was finishing off a possible future threat to eastern Rome.
It would be very interesting to study the history of how so many Germanic tribes arose. Where did the Germanic tribes originate before they settled in Germany? There must have been dozens, if not hundreds of people groups now labeled as 'Germanic tribes' but very little is discussed about the origin/source of the Germanic tribes. IOW, from where did all of the Germans come?
@sebâstian turnayev lol budd what are all those craps? Most of them are false. Safavids were persian. Ottamans were turkish. Mughals were turkish. Timur was a turk. Ancestor of modern people of turkey and azerbaijan are ancient anatolians but over the time they linda mixed with turks but in a very low proportion that they no longer can be classified as turk.
Well I be damned that was a fantastic video on this subject. I’ve been trying to learn more what happened after the fall of the west and this was just a great summarizer.
Thanks for putting together these videos. They are immensely informative with great narratives. I’ve been viewing and reviewing that Islamic expansion video behemoth you posted a couple of days ago and really appreciate the research and straight-forwardness of your work. More Dark Ages please.
I think the only true era we can really call a "Dark Age" is the time immediately after the Bronze Age collapse, then again Egypt and Assyria endured it and continued what they were doing before, for the most part. I don't think people have really defined what constitutes a "Dark Age".
@@qarmatianwarhorse6028 not really. Everything has been getting better since. If you really look at the number of people dying from hunger, raids, diseases, etc... and than at the development of technology and medicine. I can keep going on. One thing that has definitely changed for the worse is pollution. There's some other stuff as well. I'm definitely not gonna claim that the world is perfect, but people don't appreciate the good things in this world. The corrupt governments that we now see were always present. Governments were always corrupt. It's not a new phenomenon.
This channel reminds me my days in 2004, after my PS1 died lol. I was so boring because japanese anime on public TV were on full decline, and other hype programs for teenagers were Meh for me. So i started reading the many encyclopedias my father had, some of the from even early 70s. I would spent hours reading History precisely. It all started with my curiosity why in one map i read "URSS" (Spanish for USSR), in another Russia, Kazakhstan, etc etc. And the full height of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. A lot of questions to answer. Back then it was all about your imagination, now thankfully we have channels like this, that makes things much more real and accurate 👍
Kind of difficult when they barely kept records. When they covered the Celts, K&G mentioned how difficult it was to get sources since they barely kept records, so we had to rely on Roman sources.
"You are not Romans but Lombards." He even then was anxious to say more and waved his hand to secure my Silence, but I was worked up and cried: "History tells us that Romulus, from whom the Romans get their name, was a fratricide born in adultery. He made a place of refuge for himself and received into it insolvent debtors, runaway slaves, murderers and men who deserved death for their crimes. This was the sort of crowd whom he enrolled as citizens and gave them the name of Romans. From this nobility are descended those men whom you style 'rulers of the world.' But we Lombards, Saxons, Franks, Lotharingians, Bavarians, Swabians and Burgundians, so despise these fellows that when we are angry with an enemy we can find nothing more insulting to say than -'You Roman!' For us in the word Roman is comprehended every form of lowness, timidity, avarice, luxury, falsehood and vice. You say that we are unwarlike and know nothing of horsemanship. Well, if the sins of the Christians merit that you keep this stiff neck, the next war will prove what manner of men you are, and how warlike we." Liudprand of Cremona reply during the Embassy to Constantinople discusses to the Emperor Nicephorus Phocas (963)
And *this* is why you take care of corruption. Corruption led to ineficient management, which led to lack of income, which led to mercs not getting paid, which led to several thousand angry men with weapons trying to get a living in another way.
@@YourLocalMairaaboo true. Bur Roman nobility had been thieving Roman citizens land since the end of the Punic War causing the Gracchi revolt which lead to the downfall of the Republic as a criminal oligarchic class used generals to keep themselves in power and settle disputes between themselves. Eventually Romans saw no reason to fight for an Empire so barbarians were bought in to fight for the Romans.
Seems like a pretty grim reminder that "good" and "better" doesn't always win out against "bad" amd "worse" sometimes the march of history takes us many steps back
Wonderful stuff. This distopic era between the breaking down of the Roman way of life into the Middle Ages is very poorly covered in school, and I find it fascinating. One curious aspect about the role of the Church in those centuries here in my native Northeastern Portugal, is that after the Muslim invasion in 711, and then again after the Berber Revolt of 740, the former Roman Province of Gallaecia was abandoned. Thus, it felt in a particular power vaccum for decades, in which neither Muslim rulers to the South nor Christian rulers to the North had control over what is today Galicia (Spain) and Northern Portugal. Little is known from those peculiar times, but historians do agree at some extent that it was the Church what helped to maintain some cohesion over this no man's land. Roman style of administration endured throughout Suebi and Visigothic dominion, in such ways as maintaining political regional divisions, such as the _conventus_ - like the _Bracarensis_ (Braga) and _Lucensis_ (Lugo) in this former Province.
In my ideal world, we wouldn't have the word "Byzantine." It would just be called the Roman Empire. But good video though. I'm glad you did acknowledge it was the Roman Empire, rather than trying to force an arbitrary distinction.
To my knowledge, it was still known as the roman empire at the time of the middle ages. The term byzantine if I recall correctly was used only after it's fall by the Germans (aka, the Holy Roman Empire).
@@alucard347 yeah. and they got away with it, till 1805-06(don't remember exactly when). anyway, to be honest, the name did not bother me at all. what bothers me is that it creates confusion. i am surprised how many people name the Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire as two different entities within the same phrase. it is a fact, that the east was more greek than latin, but it was still a continuation of the ancient roman empire throughout the Middle Ages. if one names it Byzantine to make this distinction, it's ok. unfortunately, many ppl do not. reason why i really hate the name now :(
@@ragael1024 I agree. However, if I may add, while the eastern empire was always more hellenized then latinized, due to the long cultural dominance of the Greek culture over the eastern Mediterranean, the western empire was slowly but surely becoming more germanic. While the culture of the western empire was still the culture of Rome, due to its native germanic and Celtic citizens it intertwined and mixed with the local cultures, in the same way the east was with the Greek culture. So I'd say that spesifically saying that the east was more Greek is a bit redundant, in my eyes. Depending on the local population, the overarching culture would eventually shift a bit and become more localized, is my point. I'm rumbling now. I should finish this comment already.
The Arthurian trilogy and Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Chronicles are novels placed within a historical period, there is tons of fiction but there are facts known to historians. One of the things that always caught your eye was how the characters came across a ruin or even a Roman fortress, how they mourned the loss of that knowledge and how they felt dirty, brutish and wild. There is a strong component to romanticizing the Roman period, but there is also some truth in believing that when an equal reality Rome ceases to exist there is a loss in the way of seeing and living in the world.
It’s crazy to think that the carthaginians fell to the Romans because they were more concerned with trading and wealth than warfare. Centuries later, the Roman fell to the Barbarians because they got too fat and wealthy and forgot about war. Sun Tsu was right, “ The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin”
Lol, most of Roman society was neither fat nor wealthy. If they did not build Roman empire on bad basis like financing state with constant war and conquering and if ruling class wasn´t openly corrupt and seek profit from provinces which in case their rebelled, were crush by Roman state military. Also, If they didn´t have civil war every other year, they would not be so weak against invaders. Also, plagues did a lot too as one of them took great part of army with it. So...study hard, do not believe those who want to portray ancient Late Roman empire as Modern West. And...sure, West could be more assertive, but you see, we live in times of nuclear bombs, you can not do some punishing expedition to China so they would be nicer to us.
Install Raid for Free ✅ IOS/ANDROID/PC: clcr.me/Jul_KingsGenerals and get a special starter pack 💥 Available only for the next 30 days
😳
Hey king's and generals you guys should check out this other history channel called useful charts he makes family tree's and it is very interesting 😍😍😍
Why did you sell your soul to that game?
waw the 3d was so beautiful. Great improvement on your videos. I wish iff you could make a making of this episode.
A video ( or a series of videos ) on the Seleucids would be interesting.
I believe the emperor Anastasius is supremely underrated in modern historical discourse; the man was a figure that remodeled the Byzantine economy directly after the fall of the western Roman Empire, and built a treasury surplus in an era of devastation.
The man needs more credit for all he did in keeping the empire alive for another 1k years and funding the (bankrupting) campaigns of Justinian.
And it is not a coincidence that he was an Illyrian, like Justinian the Great was and like Constantine, Diocletian, Aurelian etc were.
Roman Empire had 29 Illyrian Emperors.
It's like how Alexander the Great's underrated father, Philip of Macedonia, did most of the heavy lifting in Macedonia such as fiscal reforms, administrative reforms and military reforms which allowed his son to easily become the greatest conqueror in history
@@torikeqi8710 Im pretty sure the final one was also an Illyrian.
@@rachitsah8305 alexander wasn't the greatest conqueror, there were bigger empires and grander battles.
he had a lot of land in one life, sure, but it wasn't maintained after he died and he was not number 1 in any single area.
chingeas khan built a more powerful empire, the prophet Muhammad (SAW) changed history's course more drastically, napolean bonaparte and helmuth von moltke both changed the tactics people used drastically, and more other figures also achieved more.
all in all, alexander left less of a mark in the long run, had less land than others, faced a better start and better odds than others.
alexander was a talented leader but is highly overrated compared to many later figures.
@@torikeqi8710what a liar...
*"From that the day onward, the light of Rome would never reach the heights it saw again."*
Aurelian, the great restorer of the world
The thread of prophecy is severed, the world is doomed.
@Leonardo Bonucci Father of England
You made us proud.
Belisarius: excuse me?
Quote from where/who?
Glory of Rome was so heavy, that even its fall echoes in eternity
What we do in life, echoes in eternity. MDM
Well, Imagine if America became a failed state...the effects WOULD echo for eternity.
@@silverhawkscape2677 shut up
@@silverhawkscape2677 do americans really?
@@ajarofmayonnaise3250 Yes
Important thing to remmember is that the change was gradual. Many post-Roman barbarian kingdoms kept late Roman system almost intact and late antique world was still centred around ancient Mediterranean routes for some time. Those kingdoms, allthough they changed thigs still mostly fall into Late Antiquity, more profound change started with decline of Byzantium, rise of Islam and rise of Frankish Kingdom which was truly the first European medieval state.
It was the Arab conquests that changed everything. Once the Mediterranean became a war zone, the cities in Southern Europe died.
@@RedWolf75 Exactly. The Arabs kidnapped slaves and so the populace moved away from the coasts.
@@shorewall plus Islamic monopoly on papyrus (a strategic resource) made it more scarce in the Christian world, raising the cost of education, duplication of and transmission of knowledge.
This hastened the loss of Greco-Roman knowledge in the West where commerce was already in decline from the post Roman Collapse and rise of Islam.
Many major palimpsests were made during this era, ie recycled parchment texts due to the scarcity of writing materials. Christians on the whole acknowledged the intellectual wealth of the pagan past (having preserved much of it so far) but prioritised religious texts nonetheless losing secular knowledge till x-ray technology rediscovered these lost texts. See Archimedes Palimpsest as one example.
Based Arabs.
@@RedWolf75 It wasn't the Arabs that changed everything. They just took advantage of a power vacuum. That power vacuum was caused by the great Byzantine-Sasanian war of 602ad-628ad. This was basically the "world war III" of the ancient world. This war saw the Romans and Persians go fully at each other's throats with no holding back. Cities on both sides were burned to the ground and the populations put to the sword. When the war ended much of Anatolia and the Middle East was in ruins and massively depopulated. This opened the door for the upstart Arab state to conquer the ruins of the Middle East. The Byzantine-Sasanian war is dividing line between late antiquity and the medieval era in the Eastern Mediterranean.
This is so depressing, first the sack of constantinople and now the fall of Rome.
Well, chronologically it was the other way around, but you are talking in order of K&G recent videos (explaining for those who will come in distant future to attack you for historical mistake ;) )
@@wojtek1582 thanks for pointing that out because that's what Ive understood from his comment
It was actually the other way around, Constantinople didn't fall till another 1000 years
@John Hathorne So edgy.
@sebâstian turnayev ancestor of Chinese = Siberian mongoloid sakha ??
Poor Odoacer, only reigned for 17 years.. wait, that's a pretty long reign.
Not long enough!
@sebâstian turnayev This is not a place to get answers, Study or Search, but not here.
@sebâstian turnayev safevi rulers were turkish but people persian
@sebâstian turnayev Mughals :Muslim dynasty of Turkic-Mongol origin
Ancestors of modern Turkish people is ottomans and Seljuks, but for Azerbaijani Turks we can say its is Seljuks
Timur was turkic but his most of soldier and civilians were mongols
The purest Turks is uzbeks
Tajikistan is persian state
@sebâstian turnayev That's not very accurate.
>Theoderic appreciated the customs of Rome
>He also got the realm by assassinating the previous ruler
Welp, it seems he understood how Rome worked alright
*The only Germanic leaders knows how Roman Politics work*
Yessir
That's pretty much how most firms of government worked in those days
Theodoric was a hostage to Constantinople until he was 18 and got an Roman education, probably why he liked customs of Rome
Civilization is fragile, as easy to take for granted as to lose.
dude you are right but its very impressive how long the romans lasted
@@Diogolindir They lasted over a Thousand years!😱 Got to be a record, to last that long.
The Bigger they are, the Harder they fall. Guess that saying has a lot of meaning after all.
Yup, and now feels like this should be the second half sentence follow after " what doesn't kills you makes you strong".
Such a massive defeat for all of humanity. So much history, knowledge, and art lost to disgusting barbiarns. One can only imagine how advanced and stable our civilization would be today had the Romans never fallen or we avoided the dark age...
I don't know. The Roman Empire fell very slowly. When Constantinople fell in 1453, there was very little of the Empire left, but it had been slowly shrinking before than for centuries.
War them down
@@RuskiVodkaaaa Only a loss to the Romans not all of humanity.
The town where I live today was a post station on the military road between Mediolanum and Comum, then it turned into a tiny settlement of a hundred people. Most of them came from Milan after the collapse of the western empire, amongst whom were my ancestors. What became of Western Rome is almost unbelievable and very unsettling.
When Rome fell...and I took that personally.
Your just lucky you didnt face me in battle!
@@attilathehun2537 please step down from your horse please than fight 🤣🤣
@@attilathehun2537 and no hit n run BS
@@samzfisher Only a beautiful woman can unhorse this Hun!
@@attilathehun2537 and Hungary was born. ( Magyars or wtv )🇭🇺
The world changed when Rome ruled and the world changed when they fell for sure, thanks kings 👍
@Darth Jedi They ruled the known world
Philosopher
@@no.1spectator39 Song Dynasty began in the 10th century.
@@no.1spectator39 They ruled much of the known world, they def knew India existed but we said “Much of The Known World” not all, also they may be richer or bigger but not as influential to world history
@@no.1spectator39 Cool. Doesn't change the fact that the Song Dynasty was established in the 10th century.
Also, the British, French, Spanish, and various other European powers influenced the entire world through their empires. The world is Eurocentric - even modern China and its communist government with capitalist leanings is based largely on Western thought with consent by the governed rather than the mandate of heaven. Rome, as the society that established Western Europe, in a sense, conquered the world through its ideas.
*I would sacrifice Raid Shadow Legends just to bring back the Roman Empire*
I wouldn't be surprised if Raid Shadow Legends has made more money than the Roman Empire
I would sacrifice it for much less.
Me too kid, me too
😂😂👌
@@talisikid1618 I’d rather live in Roman times as a slave and get crucified than install raid shadow legends. What was your argument again?
Germanic tribes: "We hate Rome!"
Also Germanic tribes: "We want to be like Rome was..."
"The Holy roman empire! Its just Germany but don't worry about it"
That's what everyone called hypocrites.
@@ktheterkuceder6825 rome doesn't exist either and europe is irrelevant compared to China and America we are on the same boat soon you will be like us
Also Germanic tribes again: "Alright, enough with this Rome bullshit, gimme your money!"
Joking aside though, it's still quite impressive that they can still adapt to the more complex government system of the Romans, even if it was just a facade to keep the population together at first.
and yea centuries later like during Viking ages, people living in France, Germany, UK were fascinated by Roman culture...
Romans of Italy:
Justinian left Italy laid waste..
Barbarians:
Noooo. We have saved the best for last!
Actually there was a severe mistrust between the Romans in Italy and the Eastern Romans . The first considered the latter as Greeks and preferred the Goths . Ekonomou study of 2007 is very enlightening about the theme .
@@nikostombris5505 I don't agree.We are in the 6th century. Italians were on the empire's side. The Goths (set Milan ablaze) and the Franks laid waste of Italy. The Romans wanted back their lands.The Lombards were no better either.
@@giannisgiannopoulos791 Unfortunately they weren’t . Only the southern Greek speaking populations opened their gates willingly. Take Naples for example a city with “Roman” population how strongly they opposed the Eastern empires army . For them as I told you the Romans of the East were foreigners . Please read Ekonomou he is very to the point on the the theme .
@@nikostombris5505 Naples was taken by surprise with minimum losses. Nobody said that it would be easy but Belisarius took 2/3 of Italy with 15.000 men only. The Barbarians made the war ugly. I repeat, look what happened to Milan. The mistrust you are talking about is bec Theodosius upscaled the administrative status of the bishop of Constantinople and thus Rome was feeling kinda neglected.
@@giannisgiannopoulos791 Even with that true the Patriarchs of Rome continue to defend the roman legacy until quite late. And intervening and keeping Orthodoxy even in East when Emperors there turn heretical. After Charlemagne(a iconclast & heretic himself) and Frankish infiltration more and more end up usurping the Traditional Orthodox Faith by including issues as Filioque and other political transformations leading to full control of Frankish and papal supremacy. That said again for long time the Popes actually function as holders of Roman Christian legacy against Frankish infiltration.
"It undoubtedly takes much more courage to face life than to face death"
- Cesare Mori
Cool job quoting a fascist
@@hannibalb8276 lol ur weird
@@nathanrobinson1099 "Someone I don't like", someone most normal, educated people don't like, you dummy.
Fascism is a destructive, murderous ideology that only the most pathetic losers idolize and cheerlead. Sit down and shut up when the adults are speaking.
@@nathanrobinson1099 Mori was literally a Fascist. Joined the party in 1924, served the Fascist government, and wrote in praise of both the Fascist Party and Mussolini
"I like puppies" - Attila The Hun, probably
I feel a deep sense of melancholy for the tremendous loss to civilization and the human brutality that followed in the wake of Rome's collapse. While Rome certainly wasn't a human rights paradise by modern standards most people did have more freedom, security and happiness before the fall of the empire. Great video!
No. The wealth was gained through unscrupulous means. Only British descendants would respect Rome.
Freedom only existed for the elite, who continued to operate just fine without Rome. Security? You mean the military that was always fighting itself especially after Constantine? Happiness again only exists for the rich. The rural and urban poor were more assuredly just as miserable under Rome.
Yes, I remember getting very sad when I read that poor farmers in post-Roman Britain lost access to iron shod boots. Like their lives are already so hard and now they can't even have nice boots.
You have already covered the sack of Constantinople during the 4th crusade. Can you please cover what happened next, the formation of the Greek rump states and the Latin-Bulgarian wars.
They were roman rump states, not greek.
They had roman identity and roman structures.
@@torikeqi8710 Roman & Greek were the same in that period dummy :)
@@torikeqi8710 Yes Roman and greek were the same at that period.Even the greek language was mentioned as the Roman language up to the form of the modern greek state.They knew they were greeks by stock, BUT, since they had Roman laws, mixed customs with Roman, Roman religion(Christianity), Roman administration, a great timeframe of Roman history etc, a whole state made by rome and embraced by the greeks, what's the point to even remember the difference especially when the ruler show zero difference between Rome and Greece other than the language.The language was studied by historians of the time that was italic yet the foundations of Rome were greek, so from both side the marriage was inevitable in a way that the greeks accepted and embraced the Romans while having the western Roman empire accused for making its armies filled with barbarians, so apart from Rome no other is accepted to be equal to greeks, and the "apart from Rome" was a big task to accomplish for the Romans in a way that makes wonder who conquered who...
Eastern Roman Empire served as a shield and buffer zone which gave Western Europe enough time to recover and eventually flourish by 1400s.
Exactly. Nobody knows this because we’re not taught it in history in school. It’s so incredible to me
Meanwhile in the West: Guadalete, Tours, Sicily, Granada
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Eventually they flourish 1000years later after sack of Constantinopoli
There was andalusia in Spain Europe could hold its own and did as the battle of tours under Charles martel showed
@@Spazticmonkey1000 Because the arabs had to focus on the east.
Oh ROME, you will never be forgotten!
The graphics are getting more impressive. Good job 👍🏽
Interesting theme by K&G . The fall of the western Roman Empire practically ended the era of antiquity in the west . In the East the many wars and often civil strife ( 20 years anarchy) ended the peaceful times in Mediterranean Sea for ever .
@@nebelwerfer199 That's what I've heard, Diocletian created the fuedal system where you had to take your fathers profession like soldier/smith/ect.
@@nebelwerfer199 Well the truth is that that whenever there was a good emperor he was always stopped from securing the northern border for some reason, and when there were bad emperors they just could not even see the problem. Germania and Dacia needed to be under roman control for defensive purposes of the rest of the empire.
This problem was first addressed by Julius Caesar just before being assassinated. He also sent Octavian to prepare for the task ahead and train the new troops, which was shelved after Caesar was reported dead.
You could argue that the putting the problem under the carpet started there.
You reap what you sow.
@@jeffvella9765 the Roman's could not successfully conquer Germania or Dacia. Only bits & pieces. Even if they had conquered these deep forested barbarian lands then other barbarians would have came from the east. The Huns, Alan's, Salmatians, sythians, parthains, & Sassasnids among many others were constantly pounding DOWN Romes Eastern doors. Plus rome would have been even more spread out if they had to a control a rebellious Germanian & dacian peoples.
@@michaelweston409 NO, they would have been less spread out, just check the map of Europe.
That was the whole point of it, if rome had germania and dacia than they would have 1/2 the border length they had in history.
Just cut a strait line from the bosphorus to modern day Poland/German border.
The reason why rome fell is because they left all those tribes grow and when the east pushed those tribes away, they ran into roman territory, so rome had to fight both the hordes and the eastern enemies. If they had it under control they would not have needed to fight the hordes but just the eastern invaders.
So not only the border would be easier to defend because it is shorter and less expensive but they would have had less enemies to deal with.
This is a well established idea. The Romans knew that the best way to protect Rome was to get more land and expand the roman territory, stagnating was bad for rome.
@@michaelweston409 Man just learn your history, you keep claiming nonsensical things, the romans did at one point in history take germania and dacia, but never both at the same time, and just because they did not, it does not mean they could not.
As I already said, the plans were there for the conquest of these regions, the roman never got to execute these plans in an organized manner for a reason or another. Those plans were first done by Julius Caesar himself.
Don't get me wrong I love the videos about Roman warfare, but these videos about the social, economic and political life are just as amazing. More please :)
Many thanks for this series. May future generations draw lessons from the fall of the WRE.....
If only that half vandal Stilicho hadn't been set a trap by the roman elites, maybe just maybe, he could've saved WRE from such a destruction
What are these lessons?
This episode together with the Fall of Constatninople at 1204 feels like some dark drama... and actually makes me feel a little bad and sad.
Yea human civilization reverted back centuries because the fall of Rome
Fun fact: The Byzantines adopted many alredy Greek polis institutions of each city they ruled, for example the Despotate of Morea saw many Hellenic insitutions revived and the despotate itself was made an "Archontad" with a boule and Constantinople itself had Demes, Demarchs, Polemarchs and Taxiarchs. The famous "theme system" whas linked to erlier Seleucid systems of administration with a Strategus as the leading figure and the Hyperstrategos as the co ruler.
@Абдульзефир Friend, don't take the story of Aeneas too seriously; even Virgil admited it was a myth with very little credibility and later regreted writting it. Romans more likely do not have any relation with Trojans.
@@robertrodriguezharo1906 even so Evander from Pallene Arcadia Greece and his Comrades 70: year s before Trojan war , Create a settlement called Paladioum hill more or less in the same exactly location 600 years later Rome founded,
@Абдульзефир Amen
@Абдульзефир Romans had it mostly aquired through the etruscans, yes, but Trojans did not have miceanic, nor greek culture.
@@eliaspapanikolaou3563 Not saying it is not possible; Romans were more or less certain that their city was a colony or a succesor to another one. I think, though, Paladioum may not had survived through the collapse of the dark ages. It really seems likely to be a posterior statement, just as Virgil did, to justify the link between the Roman and Greek worlds.
Just imagine the Byzantines saying "We're greek, but also roman because the romans were also kinda greek"
It's nice to see it acknowledged just how shittier things in the West became for many people post the fall of Rome. Too often now its portrayed in a revisionist sense as "Things became different and less urban, that doesn't mean worse" by those who are afraid of making actual conclusions.
To me it seems a last hurrah for the outdated narrative.
There is a middle ground that is not catastrophist as presented her, nor a 'life was the same' as revised. In reality, life hss been declining for some time in many places and there were many factors, but it was not a fast collapse post apocalypse
I completely agree. Invicta once did a video where he outlined just how bad things got in the west, and then immediately backtracked and said something along the line of "most historians don't now believe it's accurate to describe the dark ages as 'dark'." But he put forward no evidence to support that revision!
Because the Fall of Rome didn’t ruin Italy and bring it into the dark ages, the 20 Year Gothic War with Justinian and his namesake Plague Of Justinian did.
Well, you have to distinguish between the period of active collapse and upheaval (those always suck, no matter what comes after) and the post-Roman period when things settled down into new institutions and cultural forms.
And then the Danube armies revolted against Maurice...
Probably the worst thing to ever happened to the Eastern Empire.
@@justinian-the-great really? Not Islam, Manzikert, Justinian Plague, Slav migrations, 1453 or 4th Crusade?
If one thinks hard enough, does it even make the top 10 disasters/crises for the Byzantine Empire?
@@justinian-the-great The worst thing to happen to the ERE was the Plague that killed 1/4 of the empire.
@@giansideros Without the usurpation by Phocas, there would have been no necessity of usurpation by Heraclius, and, therefore, no straining of imperial resources and no loss of the East to the Sasanians. Therefore, the Empire would have been strong when (or if) the Muslims tried to take over.
@@giansideros If Maurice hadn't been murdered, all the things you mentioned would never have happened
Fantastic video; one of your best in my opinion. I love these kinds of videos in which you talk about institutions and society rather than focusing on warfare. Keep up the good work!
I'm obsessed with your videos. I want to learn so much about histories.
The Eastern empire will take Rome back for Justinian.
Based
We will take it back, my friend! We will!
Ave Belisarius Plebbicus Vandalicus Gothicus! Vandali Delenda Est! Ostrogothi Delenda Est!
@@justinianthegreat8781 Did you mean to say "biased"?
Russia ?
By far, one of my favorite videos. Thanks guys
Western empire: got rekt
Eastern roman empier: oh no; anyway
in their defense, they had their own problems. they nearly fell as well, a few times. they got lucky.
The Eastern empire nearly fell shortly after the west. Only though astounding leadership, luck & willpower did the east survive another 1000 years.
@@michaelweston409 actually, it could have fallen before the west. When the goths invaded and destroyed the balkan armies at Hadrianopolis, the West left a whole army there to cover the gap. Permanently. Or so i've read. If anything, the West saved the East that time, smth the East could not do for the West. Ultimately, they even bribed invaders to go to the west just to be left alone :))
Dammit, I wasn't supposed to cry this month! Then you go and put this video up and I have to watch Rome burn all over again...
Rome fell once the Romans started relying more and more on German mercenaries rather than their own people. This pattern was repeated with the Byzantines. The abandonment of the theme system and the preference of foreign mercenaries led to its eventual decline and gradual fall.
it's hard to intimidate your enemy using soldiers that are no better than his
They messed up their internal organisations so badly so they had no choice in the end. Despite tens of millions of citiziens living in the empire they could barely get anyone to join the army. For the regular roman, who was being taxed insanely high, being in the army was one of the worst job you could have so nobody wanted that.
@sebâstian turnayev Dude, this is easy. The Safavids were Iranian, Mughals were made by a Mongol, Timur was gay and Tajikistan is Iranian.
@sebâstian turnayev Oh, the others. Uh, Uzbeks are turks and ottomans are Turks too. (And The seljuks were turks).
Foederati and mercenaries were not the reason Rome fell. In fact, they fought just as loyally under the Roman flag as did the legionaries. The Auxilia of old or the Foederati of the late empire fought and bled alongside the venerated Legions to the very end, even in the last major battle of the Western Empire- Catalunia Plains against the Huns, Goths and the Franks- a major part of the Roman army was composed of the German Foederati, they fought and died to the very end to defeat their so-called Barbarian brethren in the name of Rome. The Varangian Guard of the Eastern Empire were the most loyal troops to the Emperor and they consisted of Scandinavians, Vikings, Anglo-Saxons, Rus, etc. People loved Rome and were loyal to it as long as the Roman government kept its promises to them. They preferred the civilization of Rome and bled to defend it as long as they were treated right by the state they were fighting for. If you don't pay your soldiers you can't not expect to be stabbed by them in return.
I would counter that this near apocalyptic view of the fall of the Roman Empire needs a lot more contexts. To say "things were fine, then the Germans showed up and then they weren't" ignores the role the Romans themselves played in bringing forth feudalism and eroding Roman legal institutions. The legal roots of feudalism can be traced back to Diocletian and the erosion of trade and the inflation of Roman coin trace their roots to the 3rd century crisis. It should also be noted that while trade did boom again in the East, political erosion and feudalism also flourished in the east and internal turmoil weakened centralized power. And that's the point in both the east and west; as centralized power weakens, local rulers begin asserting themselves, whose concerns are almost exclusively local in nature.
Agree. This video paints a way too rosy picture of the late Roman Empire and its economy.
Alright it’s time to restore the Roman Empire Aurelian style!
Jeez, the presentation of your videos is taking off to a whole new level!
From a sea of trade to a sea of war. Even today the mare nostrum is a barrier between Europe and North Africa.
"Even to this day a sea separates two lands"
???????
Haven't heard someone called Mare Nostrum since the days of Julius Caesar
The transformation of the meddeterrainian alongside the fall of the Roman Empire is such a fascinating subject you could spend hours on it
Its coming Rome
Hahaha
I really don't care all that much but I like that England got their ass beat in July 🇺🇲👍🇮🇹
The statement from the video that Burgunds and Visigoths took two-thirds of the Roman domains and possessions is really interesting to me and I would like some books or articles about the same subjects. It's the subject I learn about a lot.
"Tough times never last...
Only tough people last"
If there would have been a best RUclips channel competition, I would have voted for this channel. Thanks again for educating us Kings and generals .
Although I loved the video, it's worth mentioning that many of the barbarian "invaders" were armed, equipped, trained, and invited into the empire by the Romans themselves. Their claims of being "Roman protectors" had a surprising amount of de-facto legitimacy.
The Visigoths in Spain stayed as Roman clients until the Arab invasion.
@Paul Thomas Well, said mass migrants also took over by force, began making demands beyond the capacity of the imperial government to provide, and didn't administer their territories anywhere as efficiently as their predecessors. So even if they wern't the main cause of the collapse, they absolutely accelerated it.
Extraordinary job what you make!!! Thanks a lot guys!!! Continue please!!!
When the Eternal City Fell, it's conquerors wept, if it was once said that when Rome Conquered Greece and Greece Conquered Rome, then it is safe to say that When the Barbarians Came and Conquered, Rome Conquered their Hearts a final time...
ROMA INVICTA!!!
ROMA AETERNA!!!
It was also said that the mother of the world had died.
The artwork just keeps getting better and better < 3
Well, while not uncontrovercial, like anything in history, some historians argue that the fall of Rome actually benefitted invention in several ways and even made the great achievements of the (in this argument paradoxically called) Rennaisance even possible. They describe it as a process of creative destruction which left a hypercompetitive environment of duchies and monarchies trying to outpace one another scientifically and economically, leading to many new inventions (windmills, stirrups, cattle drawn ploughs, etc.)
Fall of an Empire tend to shake our civilization for better or for worst.
Weren't Windmills invented in Persia, and Stirrups by east asian steppe peoples brought into Europe by other steppe peoples like Magyars and Bulgars?
One thing to consider that the fall of an Empire that have brought laws, order and revolutionary prospects doesn't always end up a good thing in the aftermath.
Those who risen from the ashes tend to stagnant and remained reclusive in whatever power and wealth they have to consolidated.
It taken centuries upon centuries for Europe and the whole of Mediterranean to recover after the fall of the Roman Empire. And it even took the Black Death itself just to push the western civilization further as to either remained backwards or faced annihilation.
@@riseALK Windmills have been around in the Middle East before the Dutch incorporated it to their culture...
Another misleading misinterpretation that western europe invented everything, smh.
@@riseALK You're right, I never checked that, just thought the argument was interesting. However, after reading up on it, the argument still stands as these inventions were refined and adapted - often in Europe. For example, the stirrup and spurr were brought to Europe from the Asian steppes and enabled the creation of the knight on horseback with a lance and shield as an incredibly powerful shock troop. One argument I could come up with was that, even though gunpowder was invented in Asia, the most powerful guns and cannons were refined in Europe (even the famous Ottoman siege cannons that bombed Constantinopel were made by a Hungarion gunsmith). And the Trebuchet, which was also invented in Asia was extensively used in medieval European warfare as other siege weapons were often too logistically complex for small early medieval armies to carry (I think that argument was even made on this channel or in one of the videos on "Invicta")
wow, you realy stepped up the production value - very nice work on this video.
Everytime I watch videos of the fall of Rome and Byzantines my heart aches
Mate, I still have not watched the Fall of Constantinople vids because of this. We must take it back.
Eh, I think that in the long run, we were better off without them. We shouldn't wonder why the Roman Empire fell, we should wonder how it lasted as long as it did.
1500 years and it still hurts
@@jessejojojohnson Good luck with that. Been almost 600 years lol.
@@user-kt8hf9tx6hJews waited 2000 years
Too nice history's video about last periods of western romance umpires with clear explaining of decline stages continued arrivals thanks for sharing
6:24 hehe a Caesar reference
*This is better than history channel. This channel deserves 10 million subscribers*
I am so glad German expansion was never an issue after Rome fell.
XD
Hahahaha
The only times Germans expansion enlighting the World/Europe
KEKW
The disintegration of the Western Roman Empire is a topic that will never cease to be of interest. Thankyou for the amazing work you do - one of many that deeply appreciate the precise, factual information and impartiality☺️
I can't help but see parallels between the fall of Rome and our current decline of the west. Mass migration, moral decline, corruption, internal strife, economic decline, destruction of the middle class, dismantlemant of social structures, power concentrating in an ever smaller circle etc.... anyway great video as always!
Mass migration is mostly eastern Europeans
Corruption only in eastern Europe and Italy
Don't know about moral decline but most sucides are in eastern Europe
Decline of the middle class yes Putin and Orban know a thing or two about it
Social structure is being replaced by individualism which is fine
Power of course Putin and Orban also aware of that.
I am now 73 yrs old (alas) and I remember my dad saying the same thing when I was a kid.
I love videos like this because they are so introspective and analyze the effects of history in a well thought out manner.
Justinian and his wife were their own worst enemy. I know hundreds of years of experience says a general who is successful and popular is a direct threat to the very emperor he claims to serve but a tiny bit more trust in Belisarius would have seen the complete restoration of the Italian home land for centuries after. Atleast that’s what I think would have happened.
While I understand where you are coming from, and agree that Belisarius should have been treated better, I doubt they could have held Rome.
Rome was in the middle of the Ostrogoth kingdom, and the entirety of western Europe already fell into the germanic hands.
The eastern romans were powerful, but not powerful enough to hold for long the eternal city and Italy.
The eastern frontier was a constant warzone with the eternal rival of Rome, Persia, and once the rise of Islam started a hundred years later, the southern borders were occupied and Constantinople besieged constantly.
The eastern romans didn't have the means to hold Rome and Italy for long.
At best we may have seen Italy remain in roman hands for a few more years, but it wouldn't really change the current maps and our perception of the events.
It was one last hurrah, and with it's end it was clear that Italy won't be roman again.
@@martinaustin6230 basically, yeah
Not a chance. The plague was always gonna happen, which made holding Italy impossible.
Kings and generals are on fire. Two videos in two days.
I love you guys!
How do you make these so fast?
Cuz this channel is a legend
don’t they make these like weeks in advance?
Cheap Freelancers from eastern europe and asia
there's a whole team behind it, they must plan ahead a long list and schedule of videos, some of them must've taken a *ton* of work
One of the greatest legacies of Roman Empire was the Roman Law. Both Private Roman Law and Public Roman Law are separate courses in Juridical education, not the history of it, but the actual norms (at least regarding the "Continental Law" also called Romano-Germanic, hence the word "Romano").
What truly is interesting is that people don't even realize how many contemporary juridical norms are in sense Roman Law, Napoleon just codified it at the beginning of the 19th century...
Thank for great content!
Fun Fact : Russia which claimed to be a successor of the Roman empire controlled a mesmerizing 0.0 km² of the Mediterranean Sea
Wrong
@@hellothere852 They were in joint control with the Turks
They controled Cremia which used to be Roman. It's not much, but it's an honest work I guess.
Euxine
Their reasoning is that Orthodoxy was an integral aspect of the Roman Empire (the Eastern court). When the empire ended the church moved to Russia not due to an attempt to be necessarily rome, but that over the centuries the lands of Russia and its people integrated culture from the Empire. The Orthodox church moving its seat to the lands of Russia is an overlooked reason why the Russian empire claimed to be the third rome.
Thank you Kings and Generals Team!
16:33 "with the exception of Italy". Yeah, exactly, Justinian did bring the Corpus Iuris Civilis as a legacy to stay, but his ill-fated attempt to reconquer the peninsula was a disaster and opened the door to yet more disaster. The darkest period in the history of Italy, bar none. I sometimes think, wouldn't it have been better to leave the Ostrogoths alone, as they were in the process to set up a rather successful hybrid state, certainly compared to other Germanic kingdoms? "ifs" and "buts" I suppose....
It’s the plagues fault.
Honestly, Justinian did a darn good job at his conquests before the plague hits. Perhaps if the plague didn't happen, I believe the conquest of Italy would've gone much more smoothly, reducing the devastation that would've happened.
@@lyonvensa Justinian should just have focused on the Sassanids. The conquest of the Vandal Kingdom was necessary, but the conquest of Italy wasn't.
@@lyonvensa Well, respectable argument. I've read the whole Gothic Wars by Procopius, though, and it looks like Justinian severely underestimated the Goths and their leaders. Witiges, Totila, most of all, showed resilience, military strength, even when faced by one of the best generals in history (Belisarius) and were in no mood for allowing an easy walk-over. Both armies devastated the peninsula, up and down, with Byzantines being no less cruel, most of all when they employed Lombards, Gepids and the likes, they even had to "fire" them for excessive cruelty. Too much, for a vaguely fantasised "renovatio Imperii". Italy ended up in ashes, and ready for the taking by the Lombards. That's another dark story.
You have to understand that the eastern Romans and Justinian feared the power of the Ostrogoths and believed that eventually that Ostrogoths would turn their power against them and conquer them. For instance, the Franks also swore loyalty to the eastern Romans yet once they got comfortable the Franks began sending threats to Justinian that they would conquer eastern Rome and many Byzantines genuinely believed that they would. So Justinian believed he was finishing off a possible future threat to eastern Rome.
The description of the Fall of Rome is so vivid and detailed
Hope powerful nations of today learn a lesson from Rome's fall
It would be very interesting to study the history of how so many Germanic tribes arose. Where did the Germanic tribes originate before they settled in Germany? There must have been dozens, if not hundreds of people groups now labeled as 'Germanic tribes' but very little is discussed about the origin/source of the Germanic tribes. IOW, from where did all of the Germans come?
They were the descendants of corded ware culture.
Speculation that many of the tribes originated in Scandinavia. Gotland for example, as been theorized as the homeland of the Goths.
@sebâstian turnayev lol budd what are all those craps? Most of them are false. Safavids were persian. Ottamans were turkish. Mughals were turkish. Timur was a turk. Ancestor of modern people of turkey and azerbaijan are ancient anatolians but over the time they linda mixed with turks but in a very low proportion that they no longer can be classified as turk.
@sebâstian turnayev mixed in very high proportions. Now they are turk but their ancestors were not.
@sebâstian turnayev yes. Heavily turkified.
Beautifully done. More on the Lombards.
There was once a draam. A dream called Rome...
Well I be damned that was a fantastic video on this subject. I’ve been trying to learn more what happened after the fall of the west and this was just a great summarizer.
Never forget Rome
Thanks for putting together these videos. They are immensely informative with great narratives. I’ve been viewing and reviewing that Islamic expansion video behemoth you posted a couple of days ago and really appreciate the research and straight-forwardness of your work. More Dark Ages please.
Not for the cells
Hey K&G make a video on the Chola Empire, their conquests and naval hegemony in the Indian Ocean.
didn't expect this level of work for the graphics, looks great
I think the only true era we can really call a "Dark Age" is the time immediately after the Bronze Age collapse, then again Egypt and Assyria endured it and continued what they were doing before, for the most part. I don't think people have really defined what constitutes a "Dark Age".
The world after 1945 has been in the dark ages for sure.
@@qarmatianwarhorse6028 I agree.
@@qarmatianwarhorse6028 not really. Everything has been getting better since. If you really look at the number of people dying from hunger, raids, diseases, etc... and than at the development of technology and medicine. I can keep going on. One thing that has definitely changed for the worse is pollution. There's some other stuff as well. I'm definitely not gonna claim that the world is perfect, but people don't appreciate the good things in this world.
The corrupt governments that we now see were always present. Governments were always corrupt. It's not a new phenomenon.
@@evalationx2649 Ah, someone who is also enlightened. Nice to meet you :-D
🇩🇪 🇯🇵 🇮🇹
@@qarmatianwarhorse6028 14
it's pretty cool to see my professor whip you guys out for a lecture, keep going strong lads.
Guess the Romans were correct, the tribes of north and east were indeed barbarians, from a certain point of view
Explain your assertion
@@tropickman Did you not watch the video or are you a barbarian yourself and just offended?
@@ravanpee1325 No it wasn't, bruh.
It is very difficult to be grateful enough about the work you are doing, so i'll just say, thanks.
At least the glory of Rome was restored on Sunday when they brought the trophy back to Rome.
with Britannia as the adversary
Romans aren‘t the ancestors of italians by the way
@@Rvscito I did and several dna founds and tests are stated to be celtic/Iberian blood.
@@Rvscito so the ancestors of italians are mixed celtic/Iberian and also yours.
@@Rvscito you can look it up wherever you wan‘t to.
you make videos fast and efficient with lots of information, nice work
О, армяне привет
I wish u could focus on other empires in antiquity like the Persian empires(parthian and Sassanid)
@daniel halachev I agree with you on the Parthians, since they barely wrote anything, but there is more than enough to discuss on the Sassanian Empire
@@jasmikko They didn't leave many records my guy. That's why. Rome wrote down everything.
This channel reminds me my days in 2004, after my PS1 died lol. I was so boring because japanese anime on public TV were on full decline, and other hype programs for teenagers were Meh for me. So i started reading the many encyclopedias my father had, some of the from even early 70s. I would spent hours reading History precisely. It all started with my curiosity why in one map i read "URSS" (Spanish for USSR), in another Russia, Kazakhstan, etc etc. And the full height of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. A lot of questions to answer. Back then it was all about your imagination, now thankfully we have channels like this, that makes things much more real and accurate 👍
How did barbarians view the Roman Empire in its end days? Any sources for their perspective?
Kind of difficult when they barely kept records. When they covered the Celts, K&G mentioned how difficult it was to get sources since they barely kept records, so we had to rely on Roman sources.
"You are not Romans but Lombards." He even then was anxious to say more and waved his hand to secure my Silence, but I was worked up and cried: "History tells us that Romulus, from whom the Romans get their name, was a fratricide born in adultery. He made a place of refuge for himself and received into it insolvent debtors, runaway slaves, murderers and men who deserved death for their crimes. This was the sort of crowd whom he enrolled as citizens and gave them the name of Romans. From this nobility are descended those men whom you style 'rulers of the world.' But we Lombards, Saxons, Franks, Lotharingians, Bavarians, Swabians and Burgundians, so despise these fellows that when we are angry with an enemy we can find nothing more insulting to say than -'You Roman!' For us in the word Roman is comprehended every form of lowness, timidity, avarice, luxury, falsehood and vice. You say that we are unwarlike and know nothing of horsemanship. Well, if the sins of the Christians merit that you keep this stiff neck, the next war will prove what manner of men you are, and how warlike we."
Liudprand of Cremona reply during the Embassy to Constantinople discusses to the Emperor Nicephorus Phocas (963)
Dayum savage
The Inheritance of Rome by Chris Wickham is an excellent survey of the period
@@qboxer thanks for the recommendation
Incredible quality. Thank you for many insightfull information about life after the Fall.
Rome empire wasn't just invaded from outside. Many of the "invaders"were already in the empire working as mercs.
Reminds me of the current state in the islamic countries.
@@I_hu85ghjo Western intervention and occupation moment
@@themercifulguard3971 yeah
And *this* is why you take care of corruption.
Corruption led to ineficient management, which led to lack of income, which led to mercs not getting paid, which led to several thousand angry men with weapons trying to get a living in another way.
@@YourLocalMairaaboo true. Bur Roman nobility had been thieving Roman citizens land since the end of the Punic War causing the Gracchi revolt which lead to the downfall of the Republic as a criminal oligarchic class used generals to keep themselves in power and settle disputes between themselves. Eventually Romans saw no reason to fight for an Empire so barbarians were bought in to fight for the Romans.
This video breaks my heart
Last time I arrived this early, Remus was still alive
Fun fact: had Remus win the duel, it would be called Remen Empire instead of Roman Empire
@@AndromedaPrima it also can be see in Magi: Kingdom of Magic anime call Reim (Fanname as Reman) Empire.
@@AndromedaPrima or the Romulan Empire. I saw what you did Star Trek.
The quality is epic
It’s saddens me how divided the Mediterranean is today for better or worse
Better
Definitely for worse!
@@user-jq4hi8te3j no way am living with south european
Seems like a pretty grim reminder that "good" and "better" doesn't always win out against "bad" amd "worse" sometimes the march of history takes us many steps back
Wonderful stuff. This distopic era between the breaking down of the Roman way of life into the Middle Ages is very poorly covered in school, and I find it fascinating.
One curious aspect about the role of the Church in those centuries here in my native Northeastern Portugal, is that after the Muslim invasion in 711, and then again after the Berber Revolt of 740, the former Roman Province of Gallaecia was abandoned.
Thus, it felt in a particular power vaccum for decades, in which neither Muslim rulers to the South nor Christian rulers to the North had control over what is today Galicia (Spain) and Northern Portugal. Little is known from those peculiar times, but historians do agree at some extent that it was the Church what helped to maintain some cohesion over this no man's land.
Roman style of administration endured throughout Suebi and Visigothic dominion, in such ways as maintaining political regional divisions, such as the _conventus_ - like the _Bracarensis_ (Braga) and _Lucensis_ (Lugo) in this former Province.
My God is this channel fascinating. Top notch production.
In my ideal world, we wouldn't have the word "Byzantine." It would just be called the Roman Empire.
But good video though. I'm glad you did acknowledge it was the Roman Empire, rather than trying to force an arbitrary distinction.
To my knowledge, it was still known as the roman empire at the time of the middle ages.
The term byzantine if I recall correctly was used only after it's fall by the Germans (aka, the Holy Roman Empire).
@@alucard347 yeah. and they got away with it, till 1805-06(don't remember exactly when). anyway, to be honest, the name did not bother me at all. what bothers me is that it creates confusion. i am surprised how many people name the Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire as two different entities within the same phrase. it is a fact, that the east was more greek than latin, but it was still a continuation of the ancient roman empire throughout the Middle Ages. if one names it Byzantine to make this distinction, it's ok. unfortunately, many ppl do not. reason why i really hate the name now :(
@@ragael1024 I agree.
However, if I may add, while the eastern empire was always more hellenized then latinized, due to the long cultural dominance of the Greek culture over the eastern Mediterranean, the western empire was slowly but surely becoming more germanic.
While the culture of the western empire was still the culture of Rome, due to its native germanic and Celtic citizens it intertwined and mixed with the local cultures, in the same way the east was with the Greek culture.
So I'd say that spesifically saying that the east was more Greek is a bit redundant, in my eyes.
Depending on the local population, the overarching culture would eventually shift a bit and become more localized, is my point.
I'm rumbling now.
I should finish this comment already.
i think that the history teach us one major and simple lesson:whatever goes up, goes down
There once was a dream. A dream that fell.
The Arthurian trilogy and Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Chronicles are novels placed within a historical period, there is tons of fiction but there are facts known to historians. One of the things that always caught your eye was how the characters came across a ruin or even a Roman fortress, how they mourned the loss of that knowledge and how they felt dirty, brutish and wild. There is a strong component to romanticizing the Roman period, but there is also some truth in believing that when an equal reality Rome ceases to exist there is a loss in the way of seeing and living in the world.
It’s crazy to think that the carthaginians fell to the Romans because they were more concerned with trading and wealth than warfare. Centuries later, the Roman fell to the Barbarians because they got too fat and wealthy and forgot about war. Sun Tsu was right, “ The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin”
And that's why we can nver purge war from humanity.
Lol, most of Roman society was neither fat nor wealthy. If they did not build Roman empire on bad basis like financing state with constant war and conquering and if ruling class wasn´t openly corrupt and seek profit from provinces which in case their rebelled, were crush by Roman state military. Also, If they didn´t have civil war every other year, they would not be so weak against invaders. Also, plagues did a lot too as one of them took great part of army with it. So...study hard, do not believe those who want to portray ancient Late Roman empire as Modern West. And...sure, West could be more assertive, but you see, we live in times of nuclear bombs, you can not do some punishing expedition to China so they would be nicer to us.
I've been binging KnG for days and I'm probably not gonna stop anytime soon. U should do a video about every time Rome was sacked
One of saddest moments in history!:(