He's definitely aware! He's a long-time moderator and contributor on the AskHistorians subreddit, has done many online videos, etc. He's tech-savvy and spends a lot of time online.
And the most important thing: He DOES know what he is talking about. And he does not put "modern stuff" into history, e.g. interpreting and judging history from a modern point of view. That makes him a historian and that is a very rare treat today. That his personality and the way he presents his stuff is highly entertaining and very engaging is the icing on the cake :)
@@wedgeantilles8575 This pasty barbarian envies Greeks. The Spartans and Greeks were the most famed sought-after mercenaries in that part of the world and he says they weren’t good warriors. They beat all the mightiest empires around them-much more numerous than tiny Greece-Persia, Rome, Illyrians, Paeonians, Indians, Scythians, Carthaginians etc. he should stick to the history of his miserable depressing foggy Britain and keep the Greeks out of his envious barbarian mouth.
Many thanks to History Hit for recognizing how knowledgeable, entertaining and effective his communication is. I so enjoy every one of his videos. More!
@@allstarlord9110 The first videos he did (at least the first that got a lot of views) were of him reviewing battle tactics in movies. There his critique often was that it was unrealistic that no ditches were being built. This point was made a lot and the video got a lot of views, so the association of him as the ditch guy stuck. He also leaned into it himself and sometimes makes jokes about it in the comments.
I am a college graduate. If you asked me to conjure up an image of what a college or university professor looked like, I wouldn't think of a guy with a beard, tweed jacket and spectacles. It would be more like Dr. Konijnendijk: young, hair out place, casually dressed, animated and passionate about his/her area of expertise.
Neither image is accurate. Tenured professors often work into their 60s and 70s, so there are lots of older professors around. As I recall, the average age of a tenured professor in the US is around 55.
This guys reaction to the Winterfell battle in GoT has been show to each of my family members. To explain why I was yelling “you gotta be kidding me” like 5 times during that episode. And my wife ratted me out to all of them. 😂
Before RUclips caught on, I remember watching some updated archeological finds in Troy in a documentary where they said that they had, indeed, found ditches in front of the citadel walls opposite the plain of the Troad, just like the good professor says here.
hey Dr.Ditch huge fan here, can you do a video on Persians specifically? and not just theirs wars with the greeks, an in-depth detailed exploration of Persia, its political and bureaucratic system, civil rights of different people and castes and ancient Persian society in general and how it was different from greeks. thanks a lot love your ditches keep digging
All videos I've seen from Roel are amazing and great to watch. And this is no exception. As always, I love his enthusiasm and the way he presents his knowledge. But the most important thing for me is: He knows his stuff and he never tries to insert our todays politics and views into his assessment. That makes him a great historian and a trustworthy source. I just wish he had his own channel!
I would prefer if there was no music in these videos. As soon as I start paying attention to it (and I got ADHD, so its often), I can't help but to notice that it quite a short loop and hearing it repeat itself over and over kind of makes me crazy. I loved the video, otherwise!
It's interesting to me that even tho Roel is a professor of Ancient Greek Warfare... he also has to be proficient in Greek mythology too thanks to things like the Trojan War. Basically, a master of two fields.
@@DanSmith-j8y Nah. He's answered hundreds of questions for free on the AskHistorians subreddit--he's generous with his time and knowledge. So he was rude to you one time on Twitter. Who cares?
@@burgundian-peanuts I care because he blocked me and I can't really understand why. You'll have to just take my word for it, I guess, but I wasn't rude or anything myself. So, I don't know.🤷♂
@@DanSmith-j8y Well, I'll take his track record of answering hundreds of history questions (without any financial compensation) over one interaction with one person on Twitter. He's also a moderator on AskHistorians--another thankless, unpaid job. Also, Twitter/X is a nasty, toxic place. Maybe he's gotten a lot of crap from other users, and he was feeling defensive. Who knows?
I would find it so interesting to see his reaction to a game like Rome Total War 2, and his opinion on the different campaigns and Greek city states involved in it!
Ditch-digging is not a skilled job so there wouldn't be. It's probably not until the Sappers that you'd see specialisation of digging-related activity.
Gosh, how could I have been one day late and didnt see this new vid as soon as it dropped?! Wouldnt have ditched it for the world! 😅 Now, finally I can lean back and listen to our most cherished Lord of the Fortifications and the Ditchman himself, Dr. Roel! ❤ Yay!
My sister decided to write a stage adaptation of Robin Hood for the children’s theater she produces. Since she asked me to help her come up with characters, there is a castle drudge walking around picking up rocks and digging ditches.
I've interacted with him a bit on Twitter, and he's much less personable there - I imagine he's not praising the quality of questions among his students, but is probably rather dismissive and insulting as I've found him to be.
@@DanSmith-j8y Twitter is a toxic/confrontational medium. Maybe he's dealt with a lot of assholes. I've been following him for years on the AskHistorians subreddit, which is heavily moderated. I've always found him to be civil, helpful, and generous with his time.
@@DanSmith-j8y I've followed him for years on Reddit, and he was always pleasant and generous with his time. X is a toxic place, so maybe his guard was up.
@@burgundian-peanuts I guess. I don't know. It was to do with the movie Troy, and I wondered if later Greek attitudes, who took it as a given (according to Roel) that Achilles and Patroclus were lovers, if that attitude was held in Homer's day or in Mycenaean times (if we can know). Maybe he just figured I was one of the conservative anti-gay people he says in his Troy video that relationship was "sanitized" for. Ah well. I'm not going to stop watching his videos, but I'm a little soured on the dude himself.
@@DanSmith-j8y I see. Yes, as a moderator on AskHistorians he's had to swat away a lot of questions by holocaust deniers and other idiots, etc. so maybe he incorrectly pigeonholed you as one of those.
Love him! I would love to take a history class with him as my instructor. Also, I love how he knew the dirch question was for him specifically. But we love him for it. Ps : My dad had copies of both The Iliad and Odyssey. I got really bored and read the Odyssey. I had no understanding of it, but it started my love for Greek history.
I ❤ this dude. Ever since I saw him destroy those movies because of their inaccuracies!…and ditches! Plus he said Troy the Achilles and Hector fight is the BEST (not accurate on length) but still the best! It’s my favorite movie.
The Achilles-Hector fight seems like a ballet. That's not a compliment. Clearly each fighter knows exactly what the other will do, because they both worked with the fight choreographer.
The off-hand comment:”Helen of Sparta was married to Menelaus, who was therefore king of Sparta” is excellent! There is a significant depth to this remark that relates to the other royal marriages in the Homeric poems and to the culture of Mycenaean Greece.
Would it be okay for Roel to talk about Asterix at the olympic games? It's a movie from 2008 and if I remember correctly the don't have a lot of ditches but a few nice roman formations
Honestly, until i started watching this channel and this guy, i had no idea that people like Achilles never actually existed. We didnt study Greek history when i was at school and its not something ive ever considered or looked into over the years. I like feeling more educated.
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
I'm a simple person: I see Roel, I drop a like, and start digging my ditches
Roel Konijnenlike?
Same
omg!!! This man is so beautiful!!! I want to put my face next to the arch of his foot!!!
@@DakotaFord592 Well alright! :D
The most beautiful part of a man!!! His feet!!!
Men of the shovel, we meet again.
And Women of the shovel 🙋🏻♀️
and my axe
@@TheAsdasy And now I’m envisioning Gimli digging ditches with Legolas and Aragorn in front of Helms Deep. Lolol
Salud
Men of the shovel hahahahah brilliant
"If you're having siege problems I feel bad for you son,
I got 99 problems but a ditch ain't one" 9:50
That was awesome dude well done
Genuinely amazing!
Roel is an excellent example of the quiet charisma you need to have to be a great university lecturer.
Very compelling.
Absolutely, he never becomes boring to listen to.
31:44 "What happened after the Peloponnesian War? Kind of a long story, I mean all of history technically..." Amazing
All of *occidental/mediterranean* History....
I'm absolutely digging this new video! I wouldn't ditch it for anything.
Groovy Greek warfare
Omg!! This man is so beautiful!! I want to put my face next to the arch of his foot!!!
Ditch, please.
Ha!
@@DakotaFord592wtf!!!
I love the fact that he is aware of the reputation that he earned on RUclips as "The Ditch Guy". 😀
He addresses it in one of the videos 😂
He's definitely aware! He's a long-time moderator and contributor on the AskHistorians subreddit, has done many online videos, etc. He's tech-savvy and spends a lot of time online.
His videos are so good, I love them.
Such a pity he doesn't have his own channel :(
The Ditch -Guy- Lord
@@AradhrinOh, where did he addressed that? In what channel?
I had a brilliant wordplay to make here, but I decided to ditch it.
A very trenchant comment
Omg!! This man is so beautiful!! I want to put my face next to the arch of his foot!!!
@DakotaFord592 Well that is certainly a comment... 😨
🤪
@@ilmari1452 the most beautiful part of a man!!! His feet!!!
Simply the best presenter. Also digs great ditches!
Roel is one of the most engaging presenters I have ever watched. I always love his presentations.
And the most important thing: He DOES know what he is talking about.
And he does not put "modern stuff" into history, e.g. interpreting and judging history from a modern point of view.
That makes him a historian and that is a very rare treat today.
That his personality and the way he presents his stuff is highly entertaining and very engaging is the icing on the cake :)
@@wedgeantilles8575 This pasty barbarian envies Greeks. The Spartans and Greeks were the most famed sought-after mercenaries in that part of the world and he says they weren’t good warriors. They beat all the mightiest empires around them-much more numerous than tiny Greece-Persia, Rome, Illyrians, Paeonians, Indians, Scythians, Carthaginians etc. he should stick to the history of his miserable depressing foggy Britain and keep the Greeks out of his envious barbarian mouth.
The BBC needs to give this guy a show. He's so entertaining.
They won’t. He isn’t political enough.
1:40 - "Who did the Greeks fight?" "YES."
Yeah it's hard to throw a stone in Europe and not bump into a place that wasn't Greek or Roman at some point.
I love this little super-niche corner of the Internet where this professor dude and ditch in-jokes reign supreme
Many thanks to History Hit for recognizing how knowledgeable, entertaining and effective his communication is. I so enjoy every one of his videos. More!
How many ditches should we dig?
Ditch guy: yes
all of them :)
If you have time to ask that question, you should be digging ditches.
omg!!! This man is so beautiful!!! I want to put my face next to the arch of his foot!!!
If your own ditches start providing cover for the enemy, and hinder your cavalries maneuvers, you probably have too many ditches.
ALL OF THEM!
This guy is awesome, can you imagine going to the pub with him
He'd just ditch you.
I would rather go to class and see a multimedia presentation, take notes, and go to a museum to see artifacts. Thank you, Dr. K.
We'd all dig him, no question.
@@canchero724😂
Roel "The Ditch" Konijnendijk strikes again! Always love his videos.
Ah yes, the dutch Flying Ditchman has sailed again into historical analysis
"Did the Greeks dig ditches, I wonder if this question was meant for me?" Bro, everyone knows very damn well that question was totally meant for you
What is that meme? Why is he called the ditch guy?
@@allstarlord9110 The first videos he did (at least the first that got a lot of views) were of him reviewing battle tactics in movies. There his critique often was that it was unrealistic that no ditches were being built. This point was made a lot and the video got a lot of views, so the association of him as the ditch guy stuck. He also leaned into it himself and sometimes makes jokes about it in the comments.
@ hahahahahha lol thanks
@@silentstorm5757 don't forget the comment on the rock throwing!
I am a college graduate. If you asked me to conjure up an image of what a college or university professor looked like, I wouldn't think of a guy with a beard, tweed jacket and spectacles. It would be more like Dr. Konijnendijk: young, hair out place, casually dressed, animated and passionate about his/her area of expertise.
Neither image is accurate. Tenured professors often work into their 60s and 70s, so there are lots of older professors around. As I recall, the average age of a tenured professor in the US is around 55.
I raise my shovel, and salute this man. He who digs with me, shall be my brother!
I immediately ditched all my plans and watched the video. I love everything that has this guy in it!
YES! He has returned! The slow plan to convert History Hit into a channel exclusively focused on the life and times of Ditch Guy continues to succeed!
When you see Roel, you know two things are guaranteed. A great video because he’s a total legend, and ditches will be dug.
quick boys, break time from the ditch digging and time to listen to our prophet roel....then, straight back to work!!!!
This guys reaction to the Winterfell battle in GoT has been show to each of my family members. To explain why I was yelling “you gotta be kidding me” like 5 times during that episode. And my wife ratted me out to all of them. 😂
I see ditches in the screenshot, I click the link. It's that easy!
Ditch guy! My man 👍
Ditches and stakes, yo!
That's Dr. Ditch to you
This was great, would love some deeper dives with Roel into the Corinthian war and such.
I digged 3 ditches around my house while waiting for another Doctor Ditch video.
Can't wait to see Roel react to the battles in Gladiator II.
Yay, it's Roel again!! Time for ditches and deep diving but easily understood history!! 😄😄 edit: damn not many ditches in Greek warfare. Dang.
Before RUclips caught on, I remember watching some updated archeological finds in Troy in a documentary where they said that they had, indeed, found ditches in front of the citadel walls opposite the plain of the Troad, just like the good professor says here.
Whoever created that thumbnail knew what they were doing
At the end of these it would be cool if you had him recommend a couple specific books he enjoyed on the topics.
+1 to add bibliography and book recommendations to these videos.
+2
This guy is practically family at this point
hey Dr.Ditch huge fan here, can you do a video on Persians specifically? and not just theirs wars with the greeks, an in-depth detailed exploration of Persia, its political and bureaucratic system, civil rights of different people and castes and ancient Persian society in general and how it was different from greeks.
thanks a lot
love your ditches
keep digging
Absolutely fantastic video. Super engaging, informative, and entertaining. A+.
Every time I see the ditch dude, I have to watch it....EVERY TIME
All videos I've seen from Roel are amazing and great to watch.
And this is no exception.
As always, I love his enthusiasm and the way he presents his knowledge.
But the most important thing for me is: He knows his stuff and he never tries to insert our todays politics and views into his assessment.
That makes him a great historian and a trustworthy source.
I just wish he had his own channel!
I would prefer if there was no music in these videos. As soon as I start paying attention to it (and I got ADHD, so its often), I can't help but to notice that it quite a short loop and hearing it repeat itself over and over kind of makes me crazy. I loved the video, otherwise!
It's interesting to me that even tho Roel is a professor of Ancient Greek Warfare... he also has to be proficient in Greek mythology too thanks to things like the Trojan War. Basically, a master of two fields.
The Ditchlord
😂😂😂
Omg!! This man is so beautiful!! I want to put my face next to the arch of his foot!!!
I love this historian! I would enjoy watching Professor Roel give historical account and accuracy in every episodes.
He's actually a jerk.
@@DanSmith-j8y Nah. He's answered hundreds of questions for free on the AskHistorians subreddit--he's generous with his time and knowledge.
So he was rude to you one time on Twitter. Who cares?
@@burgundian-peanuts I care because he blocked me and I can't really understand why. You'll have to just take my word for it, I guess, but I wasn't rude or anything myself. So, I don't know.🤷♂
@@DanSmith-j8y Well, I'll take his track record of answering hundreds of history questions (without any financial compensation) over one interaction with one person on Twitter. He's also a moderator on AskHistorians--another thankless, unpaid job.
Also, Twitter/X is a nasty, toxic place. Maybe he's gotten a lot of crap from other users, and he was feeling defensive. Who knows?
@@burgundian-peanuts Or he's just an asshole.
I just love Roel! Any video with him in it, I’ll watch and like 😁 (Also I’ll probably start digging a ditch, just to be safe)
I would find it so interesting to see his reaction to a game like Rome Total War 2, and his opinion on the different campaigns and Greek city states involved in it!
I never get enough of Roel Knonijnenijk, and I never get enough of digging ditches
Saw Roel's face and didn't even read the title. I just clicked.
That was a super interesting video! Thanks for this Mr. Konijnendijk!
Like trades based names like 'Blacksmith', 'Cook', 'Mason', etc, was there a 'Ditchdigger'?
Ditch-digging is not a skilled job so there wouldn't be. It's probably not until the Sappers that you'd see specialisation of digging-related activity.
The Man, The myth. The ditch digger!
We bought this trailer last week and just accidentally stumbled on this video. Thank you Johnson RV 😊
Start digging a ditch!
Welcome back Ditch king.
When you see this guy, you know its going to be a banger
Gosh, how could I have been one day late and didnt see this new vid as soon as it dropped?! Wouldnt have ditched it for the world! 😅 Now, finally I can lean back and listen to our most cherished Lord of the Fortifications and the Ditchman himself, Dr. Roel! ❤ Yay!
I love Dr. Konijnenditch
My sister decided to write a stage adaptation of Robin Hood for the children’s theater she produces. Since she asked me to help her come up with characters, there is a castle drudge walking around picking up rocks and digging ditches.
Just one dude is responsible for the ditches?
@@cariboubearmalachy1174 Small cast 😂
LOVE listening to his insights, PLEASE MORE
Roel is amazing watched every video
You can tell what a brilliant lecturer Roel is by his frequent use of the phrase, "that's a great question."
I've interacted with him a bit on Twitter, and he's much less personable there - I imagine he's not praising the quality of questions among his students, but is probably rather dismissive and insulting as I've found him to be.
@@DanSmith-j8y Twitter is a toxic/confrontational medium. Maybe he's dealt with a lot of assholes.
I've been following him for years on the AskHistorians subreddit, which is heavily moderated. I've always found him to be civil, helpful, and generous with his time.
@@DanSmith-j8y I've followed him for years on Reddit, and he was always pleasant and generous with his time.
X is a toxic place, so maybe his guard was up.
@@burgundian-peanuts I guess. I don't know. It was to do with the movie Troy, and I wondered if later Greek attitudes, who took it as a given (according to Roel) that Achilles and Patroclus were lovers, if that attitude was held in Homer's day or in Mycenaean times (if we can know). Maybe he just figured I was one of the conservative anti-gay people he says in his Troy video that relationship was "sanitized" for. Ah well. I'm not going to stop watching his videos, but I'm a little soured on the dude himself.
@@DanSmith-j8y I see. Yes, as a moderator on AskHistorians he's had to swat away a lot of questions by holocaust deniers and other idiots, etc. so maybe he incorrectly pigeonholed you as one of those.
Ah, hello there General Ditchobi. Good to see you again! Great video.
absolutely love this guy
yesss can't wait for the next part! now i just need a series like this on rome too and i'll be happy
Love these episodes
Dr. Konijnendijk is my favorite historian 😍
I see ditch guy, I click like
Julius Ceasar said he had won more battles with a shovel than with a spear
@@jeroenwubbels7824 Veni, vidi, dici, vici.
@@A0A4fulveni, vidi, *fodi, vici
These videos are the bomb-diggity, bro!
I love all his content
Its fascinating for me as a historian and hes hilarious lol
These videos are amazing, using them with my kids!
Awesome presentation of historical information!
always love listening to this man explain stuff
Love Doctor Ditch! Very frustrated by these questions tho, lol
Varangian Guard i wanna hear more about :(
I was busy with something else but decided to ditch it the second I saw this uploaded.
Always worth watching Mr. "Dig Ditches"
Love him! I would love to take a history class with him as my instructor. Also, I love how he knew the dirch question was for him specifically. But we love him for it. Ps : My dad had copies of both The Iliad and Odyssey. I got really bored and read the Odyssey. I had no understanding of it, but it started my love for Greek history.
Loved this!
Cuneiform tablets with tales of war suggest that parts of the Iliad were stylized from earlier tales. Actually a common practice in that period.
man, i love the ditch guy
My favourite ditch guy, the OG !
Finally ditch guy from Oxford educates googlers
awesome as alvays.... Cannot wait for Corynthin and Macedonian wars series!!!
Good luck, roel🎉🥂 you're smart guy
Thank you for this content.
Please don't mind the poor jokes competition in the comments. Thanks for the great narrative, I can't wait to see your next video.
I ❤ this dude. Ever since I saw him destroy those movies because of their inaccuracies!…and ditches! Plus he said Troy the Achilles and Hector fight is the BEST (not accurate on length) but still the best! It’s my favorite movie.
The Achilles-Hector fight seems like a ballet. That's not a compliment. Clearly each fighter knows exactly what the other will do, because they both worked with the fight choreographer.
Great video!
The off-hand comment:”Helen of Sparta was married to Menelaus, who was therefore king of Sparta” is excellent! There is a significant depth to this remark that relates to the other royal marriages in the Homeric poems and to the culture of Mycenaean Greece.
The Digging Dutchman returns 😀
Best historian
Would it be okay for Roel to talk about Asterix at the olympic games? It's a movie from 2008 and if I remember correctly the don't have a lot of ditches but a few nice roman formations
I love how he is the most popular and constantly brought back. And I hope he is every month 😂
Definitely intelligent, telling cool history.
Honestly, until i started watching this channel and this guy, i had no idea that people like Achilles never actually existed. We didnt study Greek history when i was at school and its not something ive ever considered or looked into over the years.
I like feeling more educated.
Pls do a series on the peloponesian war
This video needs one billion views NOW
Okay, Part 2: let's discuss the Corinthian War and Greco-Roman relations 🙏 Wish I could enroll in his classes!
amazing timing
Ditch lord is back. Happy to see him.