It’s not anybody’s fault ,it’s just for unknown reasons Byzantine empire is not a thing in the pop culture ,for them Rome means julius Caesar or the early empire.
I think he told this cuz you make history more interesting and roman history cannot be enough cuz we don't get tired to hear about it . So , you + roman history = not enough !
TBH, when you're under strategic assault from 3 different directions (Europe, Asian Steppes, and the Middle East) almost constantly, you're likely to 'retreat' a lot. I've always loved Byzantine history, and if anything, it's amazing they lasted so long given the empire was under constant stress from all directions.
@@boyanbogdanov1854 I wouldn't argue so much the walls themselves as the fact that the Theodosian walls were integrated into a complex defensive system on the land side of Constantinople. The 2 times the city was captured: 1 time was through the sea side (where there was only a single wall and no system), and 1 time by technology. (let's face it, bricks and mortar don't hold up well to cannon fire)
@@jeffreyestahl I must also say that the location of Anatolia and Constantinople makes them difficult for a joint attack. For example, Simeon tried several times to organize a coordinated attack with the arabs against Constantinople (I wonder what Tervel would have thought about that) because he didn't have strong fleet. Though the arabs were open for such a campaign it actually never happened. And we shouldn't ignore the fact that Simeon conquered all the territory you could conquer without a navy.
No, many crusader to attack the Turk and Arab to stop Muslim many times, but the ERE not change much, same type of armor, horse, technology from 5th century to 15th century. They can not even suffered againts a fake crusader like 4th crusader.
The attention K&G has been giving the late Roman periods has been such a treat, I feel spoiled. I wouldn't mind a few more hours added to these videos they're so good.
@@IsaacofOolacile I don’t agree with John Hawthorne but how are you going to speak badly about a people which still exist with land in comparison to the Bizantines who fell quite a while ago, survival is the greatest victory of all. How do we even know what their nationality, since without knowing that how how can we speak bad on their nationality.
Look into the series of books by John Julius Norwich. He's considered the hands down expert on Byzantine history. It's a 3 volume set, but makes for a good read.
Byzantine history is the opposite of obscure, they were still an influential and powerful empire until 1204, controlled a massive amount of trade, were technologically advanced, and have well documented history. Many legal systems today are descended from Justinian's code. It seems like a bunch of paradox players found out about it and started going around calling it "underrated".
@@mongke7858 his point was that Byzantine history is relatively unknown by the common person, not that Byzantium doesnt have lasting impacts on the modern era
@@mihaisocea1632 Cause, wasn't it (Greek culture) anyway the main culture for the big structure (and for italic Roman core identity) too? Wasn't it for the city itself and elites of Rome anyway since conquering the hellenistic east? Weren't the richer and most populous (richer also per head) provinces of the Empire (outside city of Rome were wealth flowed) anyway the former hellenistic centers (with Greek language either native or lingua franca for native aramaic and coptic speakers even before Roman conquest) the levant from Syria down to Israel and Egypt? Is it too much to say that the Roman Empire's most defining culture throughout its life and during its 1st - 2nd c. peak was the Greek one and its most important language (that Julius Caesar would prefer to use, Apostle Paul would use to preach Christianity, Gospels were written in by their native Aramaic speaking authors, Marcus Aurelius chose to write his personal Meditations, Τα εις εαυτόν) was also the Greek one and then Latin?
The Byzantine Empire was called the sick man of Europe in the Late Middle Ages. Byzantines to Ottomans: You may have beaten me, but you now have my curse.
@@abusuleymantariq2137 Islam gaining power created an identity crisis among Byzantines and they simply could not figure out why God has abandoned them and caused a deep crisis like creation of Iconoclasm with thought that maybe it was due to their love for idols and venerating saints. It took till middle of 10th century to eventually move out of the crisis.
I've been studying the history of the Eastern Roman Empire literally for decades, and yet this video (and others) helps clarify so many things, especially on the level of military operations. So glad you guys are taking up the Makedonian dynasty! Lots of gratitude and respect for your work.
The Byzantine Empire was so underrated by the modern day history and very little is shown to what they did in their time they deserve more than just being mentioned briefly in the names of history Byzantium was a titan of the Medieval world a shield that protected Christianity in the East Europe.
@@Imperator-Justinianus Justinian the great here !!! Oooo my emperor what an honor to see you here watching your descendant nikiforos phokas reconquer the lands of your empire
Now we understand why Basil II wanted to be so capable. He probably looked up to his stepdad (Nikephoros Phokas) and not so much to his actual dad (Romanos II).
@@pseudomonas03 yeah imagine finally seeing the Danude and be able to happily walk about. It's been 300 years + of Bulgarian advance. Finally some relief. No other power pressured as long. The muslims changed much.
@@johntitor1256 Tzimiskes was a brilliant general and emperor, and a nice person (which was rare at the time). His only mistake was not ridding himself of a treacherous subject most decisively.
Thats what happens when you have institutional imperial bloodletting everytime a new ruler comes up. If the imperial wasn't such a clusterf**k once every lifetime perhaps that stability with maybe getting some useful subordinates who were actually loyal to the state it wouldn't have imploded on itself so readily. That and of course the d**khead Venetians in the 4th Crusade [Re: History Summarized. GREAT channel btw] certainly didn't help matters
@@jasondiggs8683 How is erdogan destroying it??? The military industry is greater than ever during his presidency, all being destroyed & ruined is the economy and that happening since the beginning of the cold war. Erdogan IS corrupt but christianity wouldnt change anything as it hindered the development of europe during the mediaval eras while islam was living its golden age between 600-1200, an 600 year old golden age started by the genius prophet mohammad (pbuh) (islamic golden age started 10 years before his death) christianity was barely catching up during 1600's and so on. Not to mention the arab economy is doing really well and saudi arabia, UAE, quwait & even Iran (despite not being arab) and so on is doing better than ever. You can see the examples of this if you visit the urbanized areas and research about jobs and their wages.
@@jasondiggs8683 Wow dude did you seriously forget/purposely leave out the fact that the Middle East was literally the most advanced civilization during the medieval period. Kings and Generals is an educational channel yet it has the dumbest fucking commenters.
So glad this channel makes videos about the Byzantine era. This is often an overlooked era of Greek-Roman history, mostly shadowed by its ancient counterpart.
Imagine being a donkey, living a simple donkey-life, only to be captured, put in a catapult and thrown into the walls, only to be crushed, just for the lolz.
'That's right, fool! Now I'm a FLYING, talking donkey! Now might have seen a housefly, maybe even a superfly, but I bet you ain't seen a donkey fly!' - Donkey
Nikephoros was truly one of the greatest generals of the Medieval ages. Perhaps if he or John I, his murderer and successor, lived longed we could've even seen Jerusalem retaken by the the Roman Empire. Unfortunately, the fate didn't want so.....
Both Nikephorus and John Tzimiskes were very similar as general, even though John was the better emperor. If John had lived a few more years he would have taken Jerusalem no doubt about it
@@gula_rata the "love" is "love" ⛪✝️🎅 religion is in life support in west since the separation of church and state. They will be replaced by the new version of "love" is "love" 👭🧑🤝🧑🏳️🌈💑👪 that will replace verses in the bible or make a new Bible called "Modern Testament" produced by the cucks in Vatican.
Fantastic episode on Nikephorus II Phokas and his reconquest of Crete. Definitely one of the greatest Roman Emperors during the later Roman Empire. Well done Kings and Generals! You continue to impress as always!
I think I'm gonna boot up EU4 instead, I love fighting to come back from owning a mere 4 provences in the beginning and restoring the ERE in the modern Era
The Hellenic Navy has given the name of Nikephoros II, Phokas to one of its frigates (F-466) still in service. Interesting fact: The nickname of the great Strategos John Kourkouas was New Trajan
@@God-Emperor-of-Mankind85 It's not ironic at all since all Eastern Roman Emperors, especially the ones who have also a symbolic meaning for their agones against the enemies of the empire, have a special place in the hearts of the Greek people /state and everyone knows why. You see, the Greco/Romans were the backbone, and the Greek culture and language were the main components of the Eastern Roman Empire throughout its existence, right from its start, not to mention even from the days of the republic.. Phokas' family's whereabouts are not clear. Could be Greek or Armenians but Nikephoros' mother was clearly Anatolian Greek from Cappadocia. Now, Liutprand. the notable Bishop of Cremona made a big mistake IMHO addressing the Roman emperor, as one of the Greeks alone, as Greece/Hellas cross-refers to polytheism and idolatry and Nikephoros was a pious Christian. I suppose his sponsor, Otto I of the western empire asked him to do so. The Romans didn't recognize another Roman emperor in the West of Barbarian descent, and Nikephoros would not allow a marriage between a purple-born Roman princess with one of them not wanting to legitimize their claims..
@@KAI-bk6vb You still don't get it .Do you? Greek or Armenian, you name it, they were Romans and in the case of Nikephoros II a pious Christian Roman Emperor. Otto I of the West and the Bishop of Rome wanted this marriage to occur. The Eastern Romans were looking down on the Barbarian West and were believing that the term "Roman" was used by them excessively. They saw a threat in all this, after the crowning of Charlemagne that shocked them. Standing for so many centuries on the outside, Liutprand wanted to offend the Roman Emperor for his rejection. It had nothing to do with his "Greekness", but with his "Romaness" now that a second emperor was in the West, and sorry NO. Nikephoros II was no Latin.
@@God-Emperor-of-Mankind85 I really don’t think anyone back then cared about ethnic descent as we do now. For about one generation, foreigners would suffer some discrimination among their countrymen (like the Khurramites under Theophobos), but would usually assimilate in the next generation, if not already in the first. The moniker “Romaios” was mainly an artificial national/cultural/ethnic identity that meant service to the basileus, Christian religion, and Greek language (including taking a Romaios name), although there were Romaioi without some of these.
Simeon was the first Tsar ever and the cyrillic alphabet was created in Bulgaria during his reign. He is called "The Great". It make me very sad that people call it today "the russian alphabet".
You have no idea how many cultures have adopted the the name Caesar. The German Kaiser, Russian Tsar, Ottoman Kaysar (one of the titles of the Sultan was Kaysar -e -Rum or Caesar of Rome.) Even the British Monarch was called Kaysar -e - Hind ( Caesar of India)
@@hjohnny70 Kaysar actually is also the Turkish for Caesar, evidenced by the title used by the Ottoman sultans as well as the city of Kayseri in central Turkey, which anciently was known as Caesarea. Kaysar is both an Arabization and Turkification of the word Caesar
Yeah I remember thinking the same thing when I read about the etymology. How hadn't I made the connection before. Did you know that the German Kaiser title has the same origin?
Love this channel especially how vast the scope of content is, some days vid/documentary is about Mongol empire, Vandals or Byzantine empire and then on another days it's about medieval Europe, Rome or Rashidun Caliphate and then you also have WW2 or cold war content too alongside with non military content once in a while such as pilgrimage
Finally some Byzantine victories! For 300 years after Heraclius we Romans didn't manage to make a decisive invasion on the Eastern front! This feels so refreshing!
@@엠아이-b2l I know, I know. But the battle didn't result in the Roman counteroffensive. It was a great victory sure, but no territories were conquered after it.
In fact Akrites , recruit from Cappadocia n Greeks ,or Greek from M Asia,or from Macedoniatheme make the difference and even before Nikhiforos Phocas andd Arabs could ent achieve an y decicive victory either...
Fun fact, during the Greek War of Independence in 1821, when the Ottomans asked the help of the semi-autonomus ruler of Egypt Mohammed Ali, in order to suppress the Revolution in Crete, there was a 2nd arabic invasion of the island.
And first, the rebels of the arrabal, who after their defeat flee to crete and found chandax, were not arabs, but muwallads, hispanic roman converse to Islam. In fact the rebellion was against the arabs who make them second class citizens despite the fact of being muslims.
@@juanbarbosasiguenza5883 You are great!!that explains why thre are Spanish words in the cretan dialect and not Arab!! Also the must also have been al sakaliba Arabs from Spain which were eastern ( probably mostly Slavic) Slavs !if not only! there are slavic place names mostly in eastern Crete! especially around sfakia
Lovely video, as always, but there are a couple of factual mistakes here. Basil I did not oversee the Christianisation of the Bulgarians - this took place under his predecessor Michael III. The son of Basil I who succeeded him was Leo VI, nicknamed the Wise (not Leo IV - 'Emperor Leo IV responded by' @7:21)
Ah yes, Leo IV was the Thracian wasn't he. The one associated with the Life-giving Spring legend and sanctified by the Orthodox church. Leo VI was the one with the four wives, the father of Constantine Porphyrogenitus and author of the precious Tactica, hence the Wise (the Wise for writing the Tactica, not for having four wives, he would be known as the Fool otherwise hahahaha). Just talking from the back of my head, I won't bother checking facts, I think you're very right though. And between the two, Leo V the Khazar, one of the most fanatical iconoclast emperors of the first iconoclastic period.
@@ΠέτροςΟικονομάκος No, Leo I was the thracian (and grandfather of Leo II). Leo IV was the Khazar (son of Constantine V and grandson of Leo III). Leo V was the armenian general. Other than that you are correct about Leo VI
Byzantine history is among my favorites. Extremely underrated. Them and the caliphates keep medieval history interesting. For anyone interested in learning more about the Byzantines, The History of Byzantium podcast is amazing. One of the best pods out there. First dozen or so episodes are slow, but the host Robin eventually finds his groove and turns it into a really incredible podcast. Try episode 89, “The House of War” out. It’s one of the best podcast episodes I’ve ever listened to. The host puts you in the boots of an Anatolian frontier citizen soldier as a Muslim raid comes through your garrison.
Exactly! Although by this period the empire was smaller than in Justinian’s day, it was stronger. What land they had left, they held it with an iron grip. Their government, society, and military were right up there with anyone else in the world in power and prestige, despite being smaller than before.
The Crusader Kings 2 theme for the byzantine empire is beautiful. I love it I would like to see more videos about the byzantine empire. Keep the good work
"Nikephoros Phokas" my favorite emperor of ERE. To me "Pale Death of the Saracens" sounds more epic than “the Bulgar-Slayer”. Also Nikephoros Phokas the second best general of ERE, loosing only by the mighty Belisarius.
Etymology of Nicephoros Phocas:Nicephoros=νίκη(victory)+φέρω(bring) as stated. Phocas is a common greek surname coming from Φώκη,Φώκια=seal, yes the animal.
@@b3ygghsas There is also an ancient city in Ionian shores called Phokea=place of the seals, that created colonies in all over Mediterranean, with most notable the Massalia colony in southern France.
A Byzantine Reconquista video!!! Wonderful work from this channel..... I expect (and i wish also) other videos, like this, for this era,.... like Ioannes Tzimisces, Basil II or George Maniaces expeditions against the Arabs.
Nikephoros II is one of the greatest Great Men in all of history, and the epitaph on his tombstone is perhaps the most fitting ever enscribed (He conquered all but a woman). It's a great testament to his piety and virtue that his enemies were most incensed not by his successes, nor by anything he did to them, but rather by his willingness to hold to a sacred vow of faithfulness to his deceased wife, his insistence on sharing the hardships of his men, and his unwillingness to indulge licentiousness and waste the treasures of the empire on frivolity when so many of its citizens suffered under the yoke of Islamic or other barbarian rule. I would love to see a full video on Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus. The man had such a horrible first thirty years of life, but managed through sheer cleverness and force of will to become one of the greatest emperors of all time. Plus, he was responsible for positioning Nikephoros and his family in positions of military authority, setting the stage for the great campaigns of liberation to come.
Imagine where Byzantium could've gotten if he and John ruled longer. And after them we would've gotten Basil. Perhaps imperial banners would've flown over Sicily or even places like Aleppo
It's funny you said that (unless you were being ironic) because they actually did fly in both these places afterwards. Basil II, in addition to conquering the Bulgarian Empire recapturing most of the Balkans, also captured Aleppo and vassalized it (he resisted calls from his generals to directly annex it, presumably due to being predominantly Muslim by then). As for Sicily, Basil II again had planned a large expedition to recapture it before he died. While his inept successors failed to do that in the end, Byzantium briefly captured the east coast of Sicily, including Syracuse.
@@StavrosDS Yeah I know, I just meant that maybe they would be properly incorporated back into the empire. Though that probably wouldn't last if Basil acted the same in regards to the succession as he did historically
The Byzantines did take Aleppo, thru had no interest in holding it and kept a puppet state in power. Even Basil II was content with defending it from the Fatimids so there was a Muslim buffer on their side.
@@nervachadikus Yeah that wasn’t gonna happen. Cilicia itself required forced colonization of Armenians in the area to populate it after the Arab Muslims were evicted. The Empire didn’t want indefensible Muslim land which is why it setup Muslim puppet buffer states in Aleppo and Mosul
K&G, now that the Byzantine series has kicked off, please do one on the Grand Catalan Company and the reconquest of Anatolia in just 3 years (1302-1305). And how the Crown of Aragon, at the other corner of the Mediterranean, went on to seize territory in the Balkans (the Duchies of Athens and Neopatria) and hold them for 100 years. Their betrayal at the hands of the Byzantines was the final nail in the Byzantine coffin.
Indeed Catalan company had successes, but it is far to say they reconquered Anatolia. Alexios Philanthropenos some years earlier met more successes towards this goal.
@@xenofonmitsalas8905 "The enemy seeing the well-ordered march of the Latins, the splendour of their weapons and their unmoved eagerness, they fled. And they carried themselves away, not only far away from the city but close to the old Roman frontiers. This was the quantity and the quality of that army [the Catalan Grand Company], and it was so exceptionally organised because of the arms and the experience acquired at wars. And because of these, they inflicted such terror on the enemy that many said then, that if the emperor’s orders motivated by cowardice did not prevent them from marching further, there would be nothing to prevent all the Roman cities and lands from being handed to the emperor within a short period of time." -Nicephorus Gregoras
@@princepscivitatis4083 In fact, i dont disagree with you. Catalans were indeed very fierce and capable soldiers that they were hired from Andronicus Palaeologus to free Asia Minor from Turks. However, except from early successes (Kyzikos, Magnesia, Philadelphia) they turned against Greeks, since their leader was murdered. I didnt mean they failed to reconquer Asia Minor, but i mean that after some point they were turned against Greeks, (that prevented them from initial goal).
Cyprus is often included as Arab territory in maps such as the ones you use, but in reality if was not. It was an Byzantine-Arab Condominium for centuries like you mentioned
Some additional info, about Basil the First. He became a famous wrestler, and his popularity among the Byzantine aristocracy came to top, when he defeated a Bulgar wrestler who had various victories against the Byzantines. Also to his military successes, contributed a great admiral Niketas Ooryphas, who defeated the Muslim navy in Adriatic, in Peloponnese and in Thrace.
@Troyan Dosov It comes from Basil's biography. There is also a refererece of this wrestling match between Basil and the Bulgarian champion, in Wikipedia.
@Troyan Dosov This is from one of Basil's biographies that i found: "Basil first came to imperial notice at a wrestling tournament where he was originally a spectator. The victor was a Bulgarian, and whether to defend the honour of the Byzantines, or in memory of his parents’ captivity, Basil decided to challenge him. He defeated the foreign champion, and this made him a hero to the whole city."
This sounds like an absolute bs! Some aristocrate (mainly eating and riding a horse from point A to point B) to defeat a wrestler which was mainly developing his wrestlings skills/muslces is highly unlikely at best lol Now, if the winning was agreed between the Basil dude and the wrestler's commander is another matter.
@@cirodimarzio910 Basil was a common peasant and was lucky to be enlisted into imperial service early on. Most of his early achievements and successes were based on his unmatched skills as a wrestler and horse tamer. EDIT: his good looks also contributed a lot to his early career. In fact, the reigning emperor at that time - Michael III took a great liking to him ( in a sexual manner of course )
Congratulations for your work! Very good video quality, but most importantly you have researched the topics in depth and the information you provide are historically accurate and not false. This is a rare quality nowadays, where everyone can upload a video saying whatever he/she wants. One can understand that either you or a partner have deep knowledge of history. You have earned my respect, keep on making high quality videos!!!
And yet, it is jokingly referred to by historians as "The empire that wouldn't die. Time and again they seemed to be on the brink of extinction, only to come back and become great again until the final nail in the coffin by the Turks in 1453. Until then though, even after the first fall of Constantinople in 1204, the Byzantine successor states were reasonably strong states, and they managed to re-take the city in 1260.
they retook the city in 61 but it was too late, Imagine instead of spending all that time reconquering lost lands to the Latins they could have conquered weak Rum, 4th crusade is what killed Byzantium
@@tatarcavalry2342 Quite certain that there were arabs and muslim converts among them and one could not distinguish their religion so easily, due to the fact that they could have very well played it ''Christian'' just to get to live
@@theok2638 no arab would turn to christian in that times why would they do to pay jizya lol bonus the island were under the command of their countryman so your theory is full of bs mate
Every time I see Armenians in power, emperors, generals and other authorities in Byzantine empire I remember how much in common with the Greeks we had and probably gone through in that times, cheers and hope for the best for both our nations 🇦🇲🇬🇷
Great! I'm really looking forward to the rest of the series. I like that you put out a steady stream of content about the Byzantines. Often an overlooked topic.
Love your videos. The visual representation is so clean and smooth. The narration is very well organized as well as the tone is well adjusted and comfortable.... Would love it if you guys dedicated some videos on the battles of Seljuk Rum.
Maybe a video about philanthropinos who almost saved the entire empire and reconquered most of Anatolia after the fourth crusade and the reunification of the ERE. The dude even managed to command the fortresses defenders while being blind
@@fortdimitri2365 ελα ρε βρισκω ατομο που παρακολουθει τους σκληρους !!! εχω δει το συγκεκριμενο βιντεακι των σκληρων για τον αλεξιο και ειναι καταπληκτικο
The music At 03:40 mins onwards sounds like a army at the last stand, great channel, keep up the good work and continue with the Byzantine videos, they’re the best.
Bruh finally a Byzantine victory. There are thousands of Byzantine victories known like Lalakaon, Damietta, Antioch-on-the-meander, Pelagonia, Ostrovo, shrimini, and etc and those were in the later period. The empire is incredibly underrated because most of their glorious wins are overshadowed by crushing defeats, and even then in the later period of it’s life it still won battles.
Correction about Simeon's title he received: It was actually Basileos of the Bulgarians (emperor of the Bulgarians) which is higher then the Caesar title they used for a lot of nobles in Byzantium incl. Khan Tervel of Bulgaria, who received the title of Caesar as a reward. Up until Simeon there was only one official emperor - the byzantine one. The title Tsar coms from Caesar -not the byzantine lower title of Caesar, but through the Bulgarian language meaning of Caesar. The Bulgarian also called the Byzantine Emperor Tsar, the reason most Slavic countries today call Constantinople Tsarigrad.
"After nearly 150 years the Imperial eagle flew over Crete once more" . Damn that hit to the heart. How many years will it take for Constantinople is the question...
Very informative episode. Perhaps it would be interesting to have another episode about the old debate regarding the nature of Byzantium. Was it more Roman? More Greek? More Christian or all the above?
It was roman in name, late roman in military, greek in language, christian in religion, quite a bit of classical greek in education, at least among the ruling class. Plus some other minor influences here and there (persian, armenian etc). If you can find and read Vita Basilii (Βίος Βασιλείου) or the Alexiad by Anna Comnene it becomes pretty clear.
@@God-Emperor-of-Mankind85 well then tell me were all roman emperors after constantine the Great (''father of the byzantine empire'') armenians or were they turks? because constantine the great was half Greek when greek idenity meant to be the ancient Greek ethnicity about that Greek AND Hellenic identity in the empire we speak about terms with changing meaning but i will try to explain fast. Hellenic identity became the Roman identity after there was no more pagans . in the begining of the rise of christianity the world hellenes was the same with that of idolater so at a time this was how the believers of ancient Hellenic religion of 12+Gods were called . All Greeks had become Roman citizens at this point, latter in the empire we have notable cases of nobles, schollar, emperors and people think of themselves as a continuation and descendants of ancient Hellines (not in a pagan way). Now for the term Greek or Grecos is the world that the westerners had used and became MUCH MORE popular after the german holy Roman empire was created. The germans claimed that they were the only and true continuation of the Roman Empire, today this is not important but they actualy were succesful,Roman identity evolved to the modern hellenic and the actual roman empire is known as Byzantium
Fun fact: The campaigns of the Macedonian dynasty were deeply compared to those of Alexander and Philip as both shared a supposedly "Macedonian" origin and whose kings were committed to promoting "Hellenic" studies except for Basil II whose court poets compared him to Agesilaus, Brasidas and Leonidas for his military attitude and little interest in scholastic life.
One thing about the byzantine ships is that they were fitted with special landing pontoons in order for the Cataphracts to disembark and charge straightly into the thick of battle, not unlike the American's LVT's in WW2
fun fact about byzantium and talented generals. a little before the otoman rule was stablished there was a general , Alexios Philanthropenos , who said enough is enough and started kicking otomans out of asia minor. beat the crap of whoever blocked his way, and used otoman troops also. he conquered all the lands near the sea in asia minor and send many slaves to the capital. and what the geniouses ruling there did? branded him a traitor. but because he was of royal blood (cousin of the emperor ) the army named him emperor insted of andronicus III . he continued beating the turks cause he wasnt interested in politics even thought for the army he was the emperor. andronicus asked to meet him o cool things and he agreed. to go alone .... he was captured and blinded and imprisoned in a monastery.some years later when the latins started causing truble and ottomans sieged cities in asia minor they got him out of his prison and gave him a few hundred soldiers as an army. even as a blind old man teached the genoese (?) how to fight and some turks who didnt know who he was why others feared him only by hearing his name. after the insident with the turks he went to relieve one of the big cities that byzantium had left in asia minor. the turks besieging the city when they learned he was close they broke the siege and and left running. he died 1-2 years after.... the the turks and latins come back and there was none worth to face them. and that was durring 1300s
Thanks! First read about Basil I in the book "48 Laws of Power" by Robert Greene. His rise to power was written ina chapter dedicated to the importance of not putting too much faith in friends.
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
I think somebody told us a year or so ago that we don't make enough Byzantine content. I want to talk to this person. :-)
There can never be enough roman content.
It may have been me 😁,
Always looking to learn more about my Byzantines
Never is enough of the byz bois 💜💜💜
It’s not anybody’s fault ,it’s just for unknown reasons Byzantine empire is not a thing in the pop culture ,for them Rome means julius Caesar or the early empire.
I think he told this cuz you make history more interesting and roman history cannot be enough cuz we don't get tired to hear about it . So , you + roman history = not enough !
TBH, when you're under strategic assault from 3 different directions (Europe, Asian Steppes, and the Middle East) almost constantly, you're likely to 'retreat' a lot. I've always loved Byzantine history, and if anything, it's amazing they lasted so long given the empire was under constant stress from all directions.
Those walls,man, those big and high walls, they made the difference. This is a terrible oversimplification of course but still...
@@boyanbogdanov1854
I wouldn't argue so much the walls themselves as the fact that the Theodosian walls were integrated into a complex defensive system on the land side of Constantinople. The 2 times the city was captured: 1 time was through the sea side (where there was only a single wall and no system), and 1 time by technology. (let's face it, bricks and mortar don't hold up well to cannon fire)
@@scottfoster3548 Check Hisar village in Bulgaria. It has almost its entire walls preserved to this day.
@@jeffreyestahl I must also say that the location of Anatolia and Constantinople makes them difficult for a joint attack. For example, Simeon tried several times to organize a coordinated attack with the arabs against Constantinople (I wonder what Tervel would have thought about that) because he didn't have strong fleet. Though the arabs were open for such a campaign it actually never happened. And we shouldn't ignore the fact that Simeon conquered all the territory you could conquer without a navy.
No, many crusader to attack the Turk and Arab to stop Muslim many times, but the ERE not change much, same type of armor, horse, technology from 5th century to 15th century. They can not even suffered againts a fake crusader like 4th crusader.
The attention K&G has been giving the late Roman periods has been such a treat, I feel spoiled. I wouldn't mind a few more hours added to these videos they're so good.
@John Hathorne
What a bunch of nonsense.
It's like K&G knows what the fuck I want every time.
@John Hathorne you speak ill of that that is greater than you and your folk can ever achieve
@@IsaacofOolacile I don’t agree with John Hawthorne but how are you going to speak badly about a people which still exist with land in comparison to the Bizantines who fell quite a while ago, survival is the greatest victory of all. How do we even know what their nationality, since without knowing that how how can we speak bad on their nationality.
I know right? Eastern Roman Empire is by far my favorite period of history. I could watch hours of those documentaries for years and not get bored
Without Kings and Generals, Byzantine history would be 1000% more obscure.
Byzantium would be even more "Byzantine"
Look into the series of books by John Julius Norwich. He's considered the hands down expert on Byzantine history. It's a 3 volume set, but makes for a good read.
Byzantine history is the opposite of obscure, they were still an influential and powerful empire until 1204, controlled a massive amount of trade, were technologically advanced, and have well documented history. Many legal systems today are descended from Justinian's code. It seems like a bunch of paradox players found out about it and started going around calling it "underrated".
...sadly most peoply only watch these videos so it might be close to truth.
@@mongke7858 his point was that Byzantine history is relatively unknown by the common person, not that Byzantium doesnt have lasting impacts on the modern era
*The Romans after loosing Britain, Gaul, Hispania, Italy, North Africa, Syria, the Balkans, the Caucasus and Armenia:* _"I didn't hear no bell."_
@@guyukassman7705 they the same
@@fortdimitri2365 It s still the Roman Empire (eastern one to be specific).I do agree that the Greek culture was a big part of it though.
@@mihaisocea1632 Cause, wasn't it (Greek culture) anyway the main culture for the big structure (and for italic Roman core identity) too? Wasn't it for the city itself and elites of Rome anyway since conquering the hellenistic east? Weren't the richer and most populous (richer also per head) provinces of the Empire (outside city of Rome were wealth flowed) anyway the former hellenistic centers (with Greek language either native or lingua franca for native aramaic and coptic speakers even before Roman conquest) the levant from Syria down to Israel and Egypt? Is it too much to say that the Roman Empire's most defining culture throughout its life and during its 1st - 2nd c. peak was the Greek one and its most important language (that Julius Caesar would prefer to use, Apostle Paul would use to preach Christianity, Gospels were written in by their native Aramaic speaking authors, Marcus Aurelius chose to write his personal Meditations, Τα εις εαυτόν) was also the Greek one and then Latin?
-Constantine hundreds of years later before the siege of Constantinople, after losing every province save for the city itself
Still don't hear that bell
The Byzantine Empire was called the sick man of Europe in the Late Middle Ages.
Byzantines to Ottomans: You may have beaten me, but you now have my curse.
😂😂😂😂😂 as a turkish İ approved you xD
*In the late middle ages
@Sean Ramsay exactly until 1204 the Byzantine Empire was a powerful player in the region
I wonder who is the sick man of europe for modern times?
@Gaius Octavius Russia was the sick man of Europe in the 90s and early 2000s now they are the third Superpower in the world
In Chandax (now Iraklion) there is a statue in city centre of Nikephoros Phokas.
The history of the Byzantine Empire is definititely underrated and not as popular as it deserves to be!
+1
It's overshadowed by earlier Roman periods.
@@abusuleymantariq2137 Islam gaining power created an identity crisis among Byzantines and they simply could not figure out why God has abandoned them and caused a deep crisis like creation of Iconoclasm with thought that maybe it was due to their love for idols and venerating saints. It took till middle of 10th century to eventually move out of the crisis.
Agreed.
(Also, everyone go check out this guy's channel.)
Uhh where have you been the last 10 years? It is easily one of the most popular historical subject.
I've been studying the history of the Eastern Roman Empire literally for decades, and yet this video (and others) helps clarify so many things, especially on the level of military operations. So glad you guys are taking up the Makedonian dynasty! Lots of gratitude and respect for your work.
The Byzantine Empire was so underrated by the modern day history and very little is shown to what they did in their time they deserve more than just being mentioned briefly in the names of history Byzantium was a titan of the Medieval world a shield that protected Christianity in the East Europe.
They are getting more attention in the recent decades I think.
Well they almost conquered back all of the Roman Empire territories when Emperor Justinian was alive so yes they were pretty badass
Let’s hope Netflix does some things like the life of Belesarius and his conquest in Africa.
@@paulstephensia1412 he already did the justinian restoration
@@yugoslav8755 I hope Netflix makes the life of Germanicus and how he triumphed over Arminius.
This channel always gets me going I just love Byzantium’s History
im right there with u mate, i just cant get enough of the eastern roman history
I just love the Empire of Constantinople's history
@@Imperator-Justinianus Justinian the great here !!! Oooo my emperor what an honor to see you here watching your descendant nikiforos phokas reconquer the lands of your empire
Now we understand why Basil II wanted to be so capable. He probably looked up to his stepdad (Nikephoros Phokas) and not so much to his actual dad (Romanos II).
What about his step-stepdad Tzimiskes?
@John Titor Nikephoros Phokas, John Tsimiskes, and Basil the II, were the most successful trio of rulers of the Eastern Roman Empire.
@@pseudomonas03 yeah imagine finally seeing the Danude and be able to happily walk about. It's been 300 years + of Bulgarian advance. Finally some relief. No other power pressured as long. The muslims changed much.
Ok and
@@johntitor1256 Tzimiskes was a brilliant general and emperor, and a nice person (which was rare at the time). His only mistake was not ridding himself of a treacherous subject most decisively.
Imagine how much longer Byzantium could’ve lasted if they didn’t kick the great generals out cause of their popularity.
Thats what happens when you have institutional imperial bloodletting everytime a new ruler comes up. If the imperial wasn't such a clusterf**k once every lifetime perhaps that stability with maybe getting some useful subordinates who were actually loyal to the state it wouldn't have imploded on itself so readily.
That and of course the d**khead Venetians in the 4th Crusade [Re: History Summarized. GREAT channel btw] certainly didn't help matters
Persia too btw
@@jasondiggs8683 How is erdogan destroying it??? The military industry is greater than ever during his presidency, all being destroyed & ruined is the economy and that happening since the beginning of the cold war. Erdogan IS corrupt but christianity wouldnt change anything as it hindered the development of europe during the mediaval eras while islam was living its golden age between 600-1200, an 600 year old golden age started by the genius prophet mohammad (pbuh) (islamic golden age started 10 years before his death) christianity was barely catching up during 1600's and so on. Not to mention the arab economy is doing really well and saudi arabia, UAE, quwait & even Iran (despite not being arab) and so on is doing better than ever. You can see the examples of this if you visit the urbanized areas and research about jobs and their wages.
Maybe a lot shorter with the extra civil wars. We don't know why the imperial court did it, maybe they had good reason
@@jasondiggs8683 Wow dude did you seriously forget/purposely leave out the fact that the Middle East was literally the most advanced civilization during the medieval period.
Kings and Generals is an educational channel yet it has the dumbest fucking commenters.
So glad this channel makes videos about the Byzantine era. This is often an overlooked era of Greek-Roman history, mostly shadowed by its ancient counterpart.
The "Pale Death of the Saracens" has to be the greatest nickname I've ever heard.
Obviously you've never heard of "the Last Biscuit Eater"
Saracens it the westren prononce of the arabic word sariqeen which mean thieves.
I give you 'The Flying Donkey'
@@DimitarFCBM Lol no
@@DimitarFCBM Bulģar
"the full might of the Imperial Byzantine army" gives me the shivers
Who else in bed watching this right now
I'm watching while on working a night shift.
Its noon for me rn
Apparently looking at screens late at night helps you sleep
I am also watching while working on night shift.
I'm at work and have taken control over a loud speaker. Everyone is now forced to listen to the glorious March of history.
¡Gracias!
The reconquest of Crete was a major achievement for the Byzantines.
Was its main benefit the stopping of piracy in the Aegean sea?
@@apersonontheinternet595 Yes. After the Capture of Crete, major raids in the Aegean ceased to be an issue
Imagine being a donkey, living a simple donkey-life, only to be captured, put in a catapult and thrown into the walls, only to be crushed, just for the lolz.
'That's right, fool! Now I'm a FLYING, talking donkey! Now might have seen a housefly, maybe even a superfly, but I bet you ain't seen a donkey fly!'
- Donkey
Nooooo! That's a donkey that made it to history books! Not many donkeys achieved that much :).
And it enraged the Muslims in Chandax … well duh, did they think that somehow wouldn’t happen?
Good laugh,,ready fire,,,hold on what do we say when ,,,,a donkey into a city,,, Donkey s,,,,,splat,,all the soldiers running off clean me,,,,ah,,,,
@@ΠέτροςΟικονομάκος you must have pulled a donkey,,,haaaaaàaa,,,, what laugh,,
I am from Crete and I find this very interesting
This is the longest period of peace between Bulgaria and Byzantine Empire.
*laughs in Basil II*
For more info it was 30 years or so :D
@@vasil.kamdzhalov yes and after 30 years back to our business one of the oldest rivalries
@@marcus4046 Basil will come to power in a couple of decades, so Boyan is right.
@@marcus4046 Laughs in Khan Krum
Nikephoros was truly one of the greatest generals of the Medieval ages. Perhaps if he or John I, his murderer and successor, lived longed we could've even seen Jerusalem retaken by the the Roman Empire. Unfortunately, the fate didn't want so.....
Both Nikephorus and John Tzimiskes were very similar as general, even though John was the better emperor. If John had lived a few more years he would have taken Jerusalem no doubt about it
Jerusalem? Definitely not. Neither basileus really planned to go beyond Antiocheia.
Fatimids stop him
@@sultanabunasrsaifal-dinal-7782 sthu
@@florinsava9587 if the Romans even managed to take Jerusalem, then the city will be reclaimed, just as it was reclaimed from the crusaders
This is great, can’t wait to see the pale death of the Saracen’s duel with allepo
The peacefuls are getting a peaceful lesson in return.
@@gula_rata the "love" is "love" ⛪✝️🎅 religion is in life support in west since the separation of church and state.
They will be replaced by the new version of "love" is "love" 👭🧑🤝🧑🏳️🌈💑👪 that will replace verses in the bible or make a new Bible called "Modern Testament" produced by the cucks in Vatican.
tf is a saracen
@@мувн-ш4ы what the crusaders called muslims
Fantastic episode on Nikephorus II Phokas and his reconquest of Crete. Definitely one of the greatest Roman Emperors during the later Roman Empire. Well done Kings and Generals! You continue to impress as always!
18:55 my boy Nikephoros had some twisted sense of humor 😂😂
I love these ERE videos. Time to play as Makedon Emperor in CK3.
I think I'm gonna boot up EU4 instead, I love fighting to come back from owning a mere 4 provences in the beginning and restoring the ERE in the modern Era
Both noble tasks, except I haven't tried CK3 yet. I have a CK2 save somewhere that I'd like to bring up to 1453 first :).
@@ΠέτροςΟικονομάκος I got restore Imperial Borders achiev in CK2. Started from 867 as Makedon Emperor.
The Hellenic Navy has given the name of Nikephoros II, Phokas to one of its frigates (F-466) still in service.
Interesting fact: The nickname of the great Strategos John Kourkouas was New Trajan
@@God-Emperor-of-Mankind85 It's not ironic at all since all Eastern Roman Emperors, especially the ones who have also a symbolic meaning for their agones against the enemies of the empire, have a special place in the hearts of the Greek people /state and everyone knows why. You see, the Greco/Romans were the backbone, and the Greek culture and language were the main components of the Eastern Roman Empire throughout its existence, right from its start, not to mention even from the days of the republic..
Phokas' family's whereabouts are not clear. Could be Greek or Armenians but Nikephoros' mother was clearly Anatolian Greek from Cappadocia. Now, Liutprand. the notable Bishop of Cremona made a big mistake IMHO addressing the Roman emperor, as one of the Greeks alone, as Greece/Hellas cross-refers to polytheism and idolatry and Nikephoros was a pious Christian. I suppose his sponsor, Otto I of the western empire asked him to do so. The Romans didn't recognize another Roman emperor in the West of Barbarian descent, and Nikephoros would not allow a marriage between a purple-born Roman princess with one of them not wanting to legitimize their claims..
@@KAI-bk6vb You still don't get it .Do you? Greek or Armenian, you name it, they were Romans and in the case of Nikephoros II a pious Christian Roman Emperor. Otto I of the West and the Bishop of Rome wanted this marriage to occur. The Eastern Romans were looking down on the Barbarian West and were believing that the term "Roman" was used by them excessively. They saw a threat in all this, after the crowning of Charlemagne that shocked them. Standing for so many centuries on the outside, Liutprand wanted to offend the Roman Emperor for his rejection. It had nothing to do with his "Greekness", but with his "Romaness" now that a second emperor was in the West, and sorry NO. Nikephoros II was no Latin.
@@God-Emperor-of-Mankind85 I really don’t think anyone back then cared about ethnic descent as we do now. For about one generation, foreigners would suffer some discrimination among their countrymen (like the Khurramites under Theophobos), but would usually assimilate in the next generation, if not already in the first. The moniker “Romaios” was mainly an artificial national/cultural/ethnic identity that meant service to the basileus, Christian religion, and Greek language (including taking a Romaios name), although there were Romaioi without some of these.
@@God-Emperor-of-Mankind85 Cappadocians were Greeks...
@@God-Emperor-of-Mankind85 Capadocian were Greeks, last left in 1920
i love you man i m from greece and obsessed with byzantium.
Czar = Caesar is blowing my mind. It makes so much sense and I can’t believe I never made that connection before.
Simeon was the first Tsar ever and the cyrillic alphabet was created in Bulgaria during his reign. He is called "The Great". It make me very sad that people call it today "the russian alphabet".
You have no idea how many cultures have adopted the the name Caesar. The German Kaiser, Russian Tsar, Ottoman Kaysar (one of the titles of the Sultan was Kaysar -e -Rum or Caesar of Rome.) Even the British Monarch was called Kaysar -e - Hind ( Caesar of India)
@@nayeemhaider8367 kaysar is not related to ottomans, actually is the Arabic form of caesar
@@hjohnny70 Kaysar actually is also the Turkish for Caesar, evidenced by the title used by the Ottoman sultans as well as the city of Kayseri in central Turkey, which anciently was known as Caesarea. Kaysar is both an Arabization and Turkification of the word Caesar
Yeah I remember thinking the same thing when I read about the etymology. How hadn't I made the connection before. Did you know that the German Kaiser title has the same origin?
Love this channel especially how vast the scope of content is, some days vid/documentary is about Mongol empire, Vandals or Byzantine empire and then on another days it's about medieval Europe, Rome or Rashidun Caliphate and then you also have WW2 or cold war content too alongside with non military content once in a while such as pilgrimage
Ďakujeme.
Yes! FINALLY! I’ve been waiting for more Byzantine content foreverrr. This is a series I will surely keep a close eye on
Finally some Byzantine victories! For 300 years after Heraclius we Romans didn't manage to make a decisive invasion on the Eastern front! This feels so refreshing!
my emperor what a nice day to see you here looking upon your desscendants
l did not understand
Battle of Akroinon in 740 is a crushing defeat to the Arabs by the Romans.
@@엠아이-b2l I know, I know. But the battle didn't result in the Roman counteroffensive. It was a great victory sure, but no territories were conquered after it.
In fact Akrites , recruit from Cappadocia n Greeks ,or Greek from M Asia,or from Macedoniatheme make the difference and even before Nikhiforos Phocas andd Arabs could ent achieve an y decicive victory either...
Yes! Finally! A pro ERE video!
Fun fact, during the Greek War of Independence in 1821, when the Ottomans asked the help of the semi-autonomus ruler of Egypt Mohammed Ali, in order to suppress the Revolution in Crete, there was a 2nd arabic invasion of the island.
And first, the rebels of the arrabal, who after their defeat flee to crete and found chandax, were not arabs, but muwallads, hispanic roman converse to Islam. In fact the rebellion was against the arabs who make them second class citizens despite the fact of being muslims.
@@juanbarbosasiguenza5883 You are great!!that explains why thre are Spanish words in the cretan dialect and not Arab!! Also the must also have been al sakaliba Arabs from Spain which were eastern ( probably mostly Slavic) Slavs !if not only! there are slavic place names mostly in eastern Crete! especially around sfakia
Nikephoros: Some guy shot a donkey and made it an eagle funniest shit I've ever seen!
Lovely video, as always, but there are a couple of factual mistakes here. Basil I did not oversee the Christianisation of the Bulgarians - this took place under his predecessor Michael III. The son of Basil I who succeeded him was Leo VI, nicknamed the Wise (not Leo IV - 'Emperor Leo IV responded by' @7:21)
Ah yes, Leo IV was the Thracian wasn't he. The one associated with the Life-giving Spring legend and sanctified by the Orthodox church. Leo VI was the one with the four wives, the father of Constantine Porphyrogenitus and author of the precious Tactica, hence the Wise (the Wise for writing the Tactica, not for having four wives, he would be known as the Fool otherwise hahahaha). Just talking from the back of my head, I won't bother checking facts, I think you're very right though.
And between the two, Leo V the Khazar, one of the most fanatical iconoclast emperors of the first iconoclastic period.
@@ΠέτροςΟικονομάκος No, Leo I was the thracian (and grandfather of Leo II). Leo IV was the Khazar (son of Constantine V and grandson of Leo III). Leo V was the armenian general. Other than that you are correct about Leo VI
@@fordfokas9230 Thank you sir.
@@fordfokas9230 "Ford Fokas", lmao
Byzantine history is among my favorites. Extremely underrated. Them and the caliphates keep medieval history interesting.
For anyone interested in learning more about the Byzantines, The History of Byzantium podcast is amazing. One of the best pods out there. First dozen or so episodes are slow, but the host Robin eventually finds his groove and turns it into a really incredible podcast.
Try episode 89, “The House of War” out. It’s one of the best podcast episodes I’ve ever listened to. The host puts you in the boots of an Anatolian frontier citizen soldier as a Muslim raid comes through your garrison.
I'm so excited for this series. The byzantines don't get enough respect, around for 1000 years they were doing something right
Exactly! Although by this period the empire was smaller than in Justinian’s day, it was stronger. What land they had left, they held it with an iron grip. Their government, society, and military were right up there with anyone else in the world in power and prestige, despite being smaller than before.
Very informative. Keep them coming. They should make a great series about the Byzantine empire, it deserves much more credit and respect.
Basil II is probably one of the rare occasions where the sequel is better
@Jared Haas Basil the bulgarian slayer
When a Roman emperor is named Basil, you know he's going to be good.
@@wankawanka3053 which one?? the Greek or the French or the Spanish or the Roman???
Greetings to all from the legendary island of Crete!
4:45 That... escalated quickly. I think Basil I needs his own video.
The Crusader Kings 2 theme for the byzantine empire is beautiful. I love it
I would like to see more videos about the byzantine empire. Keep the good work
I’m so happy your doing a video about these 3 I read about them last year and always wanted to visually see what they did
nice video we Greeks thank you for making videos of our history
"Nikephoros Phokas" my favorite emperor of ERE. To me "Pale Death of the Saracens" sounds more epic than “the Bulgar-Slayer”. Also Nikephoros Phokas the second best general of ERE, loosing only by the mighty Belisarius.
Yo stfu. Basil is way better
Nikephorus had this epithet during his lifetime. Basil was given it centuries later
@Unfriendly atheist What did you think he would have done?If rebellions & other resistances took place, more will get killed
Etymology of Nicephoros Phocas:Nicephoros=νίκη(victory)+φέρω(bring) as stated. Phocas is a common greek surname coming from Φώκη,Φώκια=seal, yes the animal.
Funny, phocas sound exactly like focas, the plural word in portuguese for seal
Victory-bringing seal
@@b3ygghsas There is also an ancient city in Ionian shores called Phokea=place of the seals, that created colonies in all over Mediterranean, with most notable the Massalia colony in southern France.
Wait, seal (the animal) in greek is pronounced _phocas_ ? Well, that's the exact same in Portugal - only spelled _focas_ !
Εχω διαβάσει ότι προέρχεται απο την φωκαια πολι της μικρας ασιας απο που αποικισαν την Καππαδοκία! Εξ ου και φωκας!
As a fan of the byzantin empire and specially this period thank you !!!!!!
Thanks for covering the history of the Byzantine Empire. Great work.
A Byzantine Reconquista video!!! Wonderful work from this channel..... I expect (and i wish also) other videos, like this, for this era,.... like Ioannes Tzimisces, Basil II or George Maniaces expeditions against the Arabs.
I'm glad to see more good quality Byzantine content :)
Also Norman's goths slaves Russian petsenegs cumans huns etc
Nikephoros II is one of the greatest Great Men in all of history, and the epitaph on his tombstone is perhaps the most fitting ever enscribed (He conquered all but a woman). It's a great testament to his piety and virtue that his enemies were most incensed not by his successes, nor by anything he did to them, but rather by his willingness to hold to a sacred vow of faithfulness to his deceased wife, his insistence on sharing the hardships of his men, and his unwillingness to indulge licentiousness and waste the treasures of the empire on frivolity when so many of its citizens suffered under the yoke of Islamic or other barbarian rule.
I would love to see a full video on Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus. The man had such a horrible first thirty years of life, but managed through sheer cleverness and force of will to become one of the greatest emperors of all time. Plus, he was responsible for positioning Nikephoros and his family in positions of military authority, setting the stage for the great campaigns of liberation to come.
Imagine where Byzantium could've gotten if he and John ruled longer. And after them we would've gotten Basil. Perhaps imperial banners would've flown over Sicily or even places like Aleppo
It's funny you said that (unless you were being ironic) because they actually did fly in both these places afterwards. Basil II, in addition to conquering the Bulgarian Empire recapturing most of the Balkans, also captured Aleppo and vassalized it (he resisted calls from his generals to directly annex it, presumably due to being predominantly Muslim by then).
As for Sicily, Basil II again had planned a large expedition to recapture it before he died. While his inept successors failed to do that in the end, Byzantium briefly captured the east coast of Sicily, including Syracuse.
@@StavrosDS Yeah I know, I just meant that maybe they would be properly incorporated back into the empire. Though that probably wouldn't last if Basil acted the same in regards to the succession as he did historically
The Byzantines did take Aleppo, thru had no interest in holding it and kept a puppet state in power. Even Basil II was content with defending it from the Fatimids so there was a Muslim buffer on their side.
@@tylerellis9097 As I said I thought more like a full reconquest, like Cilicia for example
@@nervachadikus Yeah that wasn’t gonna happen. Cilicia itself required forced colonization of Armenians in the area to populate it after the Arab Muslims were evicted. The Empire didn’t want indefensible Muslim land which is why it setup Muslim puppet buffer states in Aleppo and Mosul
18:47
"Sir! We ran out of heads to throw, what should we do?"
"How about throwing some asses?"
"......Sir?"
K&G, now that the Byzantine series has kicked off, please do one on the Grand Catalan Company and the reconquest of Anatolia in just 3 years (1302-1305). And how the Crown of Aragon, at the other corner of the Mediterranean, went on to seize territory in the Balkans (the Duchies of Athens and Neopatria) and hold them for 100 years.
Their betrayal at the hands of the Byzantines was the final nail in the Byzantine coffin.
There is a whole myth about the lost Frankish treasure after the battle of Kifisos river.
Indeed Catalan company had successes, but it is far to say they reconquered Anatolia. Alexios Philanthropenos some years earlier met more successes towards this goal.
@@xenofonmitsalas8905
"The enemy seeing the well-ordered march of the Latins, the splendour of their weapons and their unmoved eagerness, they fled. And they carried themselves away, not only far away from the city but close to the old Roman frontiers. This was the quantity and the quality of that army [the Catalan Grand Company], and it was so exceptionally organised because of the arms and the experience acquired at wars. And because of these, they inflicted such terror on the enemy that many said then, that if the emperor’s orders motivated by cowardice did not prevent them from marching further, there would be nothing to prevent all the Roman cities and lands from being handed to the emperor within a short period of time."
-Nicephorus Gregoras
@@princepscivitatis4083 In fact, i dont disagree with you. Catalans were indeed very fierce and capable soldiers that they were hired from Andronicus Palaeologus to free Asia Minor from Turks. However, except from early successes (Kyzikos, Magnesia, Philadelphia) they turned against Greeks, since their leader was murdered. I didnt mean they failed to reconquer Asia Minor, but i mean that after some point they were turned against Greeks, (that prevented them from initial goal).
@@xenofonmitsalas8905 aahh yes alexios philafropinos one of the last greatest generalas he took back a big part of southwest asia minor
Cyprus is often included as Arab territory in maps such as the ones you use, but in reality if was not. It was an Byzantine-Arab Condominium for centuries like you mentioned
So nice to find good content on the Byzantines. Hardly learned anything about them in school.
Hell yeah, another amazing video by Kings and Generals!
More to come!
The living donkey launched by catapult sounds like something from a Monty Python sketch.
Some additional info, about Basil the First. He became a famous wrestler, and his popularity among the Byzantine aristocracy came to top, when he defeated a Bulgar wrestler who had various victories against the Byzantines. Also to his military successes, contributed a great admiral Niketas Ooryphas, who defeated the Muslim navy in Adriatic, in Peloponnese and in Thrace.
Where do you get this information about the defeated Bulgarian, I would like to find more of this if possible.
@Troyan Dosov It comes from Basil's biography. There is also a refererece of this wrestling match between Basil and the Bulgarian champion, in Wikipedia.
@Troyan Dosov This is from one of Basil's biographies that i found: "Basil first came to imperial notice at a wrestling tournament where he was originally a spectator. The victor was a Bulgarian, and whether to defend the honour of the Byzantines, or in memory of his parents’ captivity, Basil decided to challenge him. He defeated the foreign champion, and this made him a hero to the whole city."
This sounds like an absolute bs! Some aristocrate (mainly eating and riding a horse from point A to point B) to defeat a wrestler which was mainly developing his wrestlings skills/muslces is highly unlikely at best lol Now, if the winning was agreed between the Basil dude and the wrestler's commander is another matter.
@@cirodimarzio910 Basil was a common peasant and was lucky to be enlisted into imperial service early on. Most of his early achievements and successes were based on his unmatched skills as a wrestler and horse tamer.
EDIT: his good looks also contributed a lot to his early career. In fact, the reigning emperor at that time - Michael III took a great liking to him ( in a sexual manner of course )
Congratulations for your work! Very good video quality, but most importantly you have researched the topics in depth and the information you provide are historically accurate and not false. This is a rare quality nowadays, where everyone can upload a video saying whatever he/she wants. One can understand that either you or a partner have deep knowledge of history. You have earned my respect, keep on making high quality videos!!!
The byzantine empire is the most invaded empire. Huns, Avar, Slavs, arabs bulgars seljuks crusaders ottomans and even mongols attacked them
And yet, it is jokingly referred to by historians as "The empire that wouldn't die. Time and again they seemed to be on the brink of extinction, only to come back and become great again until the final nail in the coffin by the Turks in 1453. Until then though, even after the first fall of Constantinople in 1204, the Byzantine successor states were reasonably strong states, and they managed to re-take the city in 1260.
they retook the city in 61 but it was too late, Imagine instead of spending all that time reconquering lost lands to the Latins they could have conquered weak Rum, 4th crusade is what killed Byzantium
I've been waiting for this day for a very long time, I am euphoric
Always good to see the byzantines/romans winning
They literally killed other greeks on purpose and you tell that braindead
@@tatarcavalry2342 Quite certain that there were arabs and muslim converts among them and one could not distinguish their religion so easily, due to the fact that they could have very well played it ''Christian'' just to get to live
@@theok2638 no arab would turn to christian in that times why would they do to pay jizya lol bonus the island were under the command of their countryman so your theory is full of bs mate
@@tatarcavalry2342 nationality is a modern concept that did not exist in the middle ages. What mattered was the lord you served
@@endo4137 yeah but they were orthodox christians sooo
These videos get me through my work day. Thank you for always uploading such amazing content 👏👏👏
Every time I see Armenians in power, emperors, generals and other authorities in Byzantine empire I remember how much in common with the Greeks we had and probably gone through in that times, cheers and hope for the best for both our nations
🇦🇲🇬🇷
Greek and Armenian people and languages are also very likely long lost brothers, coming from a common ancestor.
Great video. Would love to see more on the Macedonian Dynasty. Keep up the great work. Cheers.
Great! I'm really looking forward to the rest of the series.
I like that you put out a steady stream of content about the Byzantines. Often an overlooked topic.
This was freaking awesome to watch. Thank you :)
I love byzantine history, it is so thrilling and exciting
Amazing work! At this point K&G providing FREE top quality history lessons!!!
Yo! I was actually really interested in the siege of chandax since a long time ago yet I couldn't find any articles or videos on it. Thanks!
Your presentation style has improved greatly, you have created an incredible learning tool to introduce people to historical learning.
Did you know? The most popular mid-sized sedan in Constantinople was the Ford Phokas
He can't keep getting away with it
Love it haha
I love how you incorporate crusader kings music in the background sets the right mood
So refreshing seeing eastrome win
Love your videos. The visual representation is so clean and smooth. The narration is very well organized as well as the tone is well adjusted and comfortable.... Would love it if you guys dedicated some videos on the battles of Seljuk Rum.
Maybe a video about philanthropinos who almost saved the entire empire and reconquered most of Anatolia after the fourth crusade and the reunification of the ERE. The dude even managed to command the fortresses defenders while being blind
You mean Alexios philanthropinos?
@@atrides7 αυτόν που έβαλαν οι σκληροί καριόληδες
@@fortdimitri2365 ελα ρε βρισκω ατομο που παρακολουθει τους σκληρους !!! εχω δει το συγκεκριμενο βιντεακι των σκληρων για τον αλεξιο και ειναι καταπληκτικο
Please make more videos on this topic. Mor quickly if only possible. You are doing great work bro
Love Eastern Roman history.
The music At 03:40 mins onwards sounds like a army at the last stand, great channel, keep up the good work and continue with the Byzantine videos, they’re the best.
It’s called “The Byzantine empire” from crusader kings 2
@@βασιλεύς-ζ4λ thanks
n1, a good video.
Thank you for the video! In order to learn the Bulgarian medieval history really well, you have to know the Byzantine history. So here I am.
Bruh finally a Byzantine victory. There are thousands of Byzantine victories known like Lalakaon, Damietta, Antioch-on-the-meander, Pelagonia, Ostrovo, shrimini, and etc and those were in the later period. The empire is incredibly underrated because most of their glorious wins are overshadowed by crushing defeats, and even then in the later period of it’s life it still won battles.
Very nice that you focus on this topic, it is way underrated here on RUclips
Correction about Simeon's title he received: It was actually Basileos of the Bulgarians (emperor of the Bulgarians) which is higher then the Caesar title they used for a lot of nobles in Byzantium incl. Khan Tervel of Bulgaria, who received the title of Caesar as a reward. Up until Simeon there was only one official emperor - the byzantine one. The title Tsar coms from Caesar -not the byzantine lower title of Caesar, but through the Bulgarian language meaning of Caesar. The Bulgarian also called the Byzantine Emperor Tsar, the reason most Slavic countries today call Constantinople Tsarigrad.
Great video! I can't wait til next time.🏹⚔️
"After nearly 150 years the Imperial eagle flew over Crete once more" . Damn that hit to the heart. How many years will it take for Constantinople is the question...
The byzantine empire is my fav empire in all of history. Thanks to kng for making this series.
Very informative episode. Perhaps it would be interesting to have another episode about the old debate regarding the nature of Byzantium. Was it more Roman? More Greek? More Christian or all the above?
It was roman in name, late roman in military, greek in language, christian in religion, quite a bit of classical greek in education, at least among the ruling class. Plus some other minor influences here and there (persian, armenian etc). If you can find and read Vita Basilii (Βίος Βασιλείου) or the Alexiad by Anna Comnene it becomes pretty clear.
I think it was more byzantine
It was more greek than Roman at this time in history (10th century)
Roman in name Greek in majority of culture
@@God-Emperor-of-Mankind85 well then tell me were all roman emperors after constantine the Great (''father of the byzantine empire'') armenians or were they turks? because constantine the great was half Greek when greek idenity meant to be the ancient Greek ethnicity
about that Greek AND Hellenic identity in the empire we speak about terms with changing meaning but i will try to explain fast. Hellenic identity became the Roman identity after there was no more pagans . in the begining of the rise of christianity the world hellenes was the same with that of idolater so at a time this was how the believers of ancient Hellenic religion of 12+Gods were called . All Greeks had become Roman citizens at this point, latter in the empire we have notable cases of nobles, schollar, emperors and people think of themselves as a continuation and descendants of ancient Hellines (not in a pagan way).
Now for the term Greek or Grecos is the world that the westerners had used and became MUCH MORE popular after the german holy Roman empire was created. The germans claimed that they were the only and true continuation of the Roman Empire, today this is not important but they actualy were succesful,Roman identity evolved to the modern hellenic and the actual roman empire is known as Byzantium
When the Empire strikes back ...
Fun fact: The campaigns of the Macedonian dynasty were deeply compared to those of Alexander and Philip as both shared a supposedly "Macedonian" origin and whose kings were committed to promoting "Hellenic" studies except for Basil II whose court poets compared him to Agesilaus, Brasidas and Leonidas for his military attitude and little interest in scholastic life.
Basil II's mother Theofano, was from Lakonia, so it is proper to be compared to the Spartan kings and generals!
@@pseudomonas03 Amen!
@@Imperator-Justinianus Smell like total War Forums around here mhmm..
@@Imperator-Justinianus You are Greek mate not Italian.
@@Imperator-Justinianus You are a...Roman? Well i can tell you love Roman civilization.
One thing about the byzantine ships is that they were fitted with special landing pontoons in order for the Cataphracts to disembark and charge straightly into the thick of battle, not unlike the American's LVT's in WW2
Finally something with makes me happy
been pumping out the videos lately. much tuanks
fun fact about byzantium and talented generals. a little before the otoman rule was stablished there was a general , Alexios Philanthropenos , who said enough is enough and started kicking otomans out of asia minor. beat the crap of whoever blocked his way, and used otoman troops also. he conquered all the lands near the sea in asia minor and send many slaves to the capital. and what the geniouses ruling there did? branded him a traitor. but because he was of royal blood (cousin of the emperor ) the army named him emperor insted of andronicus III . he continued beating the turks cause he wasnt interested in politics even thought for the army he was the emperor. andronicus asked to meet him o cool things and he agreed. to go alone .... he was captured and blinded and imprisoned in a monastery.some years later when the latins started causing truble and ottomans sieged cities in asia minor they got him out of his prison and gave him a few hundred soldiers as an army. even as a blind old man teached the genoese (?) how to fight and some turks who didnt know who he was why others feared him only by hearing his name. after the insident with the turks he went to relieve one of the big cities that byzantium had left in asia minor. the turks besieging the city when they learned he was close they broke the siege and and left running. he died 1-2 years after.... the the turks and latins come back and there was none worth to face them. and that was durring 1300s
Excellent historic channel( King & General)shared another wonderful historical video thanks for sharing
Thanks!
First read about Basil I in the book "48 Laws of Power" by Robert Greene. His rise to power was written ina chapter dedicated to the importance of not putting too much faith in friends.