@@calebanderson6205 one of my favorite ancient Roman letters is one guy complaining that all his friends got sent to the new colony so he was gonna lose his election.
@@Street-Gems Bearing in mind that in ancient Roman times if you didn't take care of veterans you ended up creating a class of vagrants with military experience that might just decide to go and work for your enemies, if not just straight up turn to banditry or piracy. Not a sensible thing to do in the ancient world. I'm of the opinion that something like this may have happened with the Sea Peoples and their raids in the late 2nd millennium BCE - it certainly doesn't seem likely that a capable group of raiders just sprang out of nowhere.
@@Street-Gems I'm not no and I'm not a veteran but I know of plenty of them that are left unable to see a doctor and in abject poverty on the streets. There are an estimated 54,000 homeless veterans in the US
Wow, no kidding. I may have stayed in for 25 years instead of four if I had that kind of retirement. Though the only negative sounds like it'd be a sausage fest as you're in the middle of nowhere with your guy buddies.
I'm from algeria and im glad you are covering this , algeria has many roman ruins like literally many and still many to discover sadly our country is not focusing on archeology
I am from Turkey where the Romans left many superb monuments too. Yet, we as Turkey, suffer fom the same "disease" as you seem to do: One of the resons (though it is not the sole reason!) is that we used to be inclined to consider these monuments as the works of an "infidel Western civilization". Things (mentality) seem to be improving in recent decades, yet there is too much way to go.... ☹
@@ldubt4494 My friend; I wish I could claim that Turkey is a member of the Western Civilization. Alas, this is not true... I have got to call a spade a spade!
Algeria needs to promote its wonderful sites more... We often forget how historical it is and that it was part of the same empire like the west for long time
@@Street-GemsI am obsessed with everything related to ancient Rome. I live in the ancient Roman city of Lambazis, which was founded before Timgad and was the center of the Third Legion of Augustus. It also deserves a lot of research, but unfortunately the city still needs a lot of work and research.
My home town in Britain was a Roman Colonia. Unfortunately, permanent occupation since then has obliterated everything except the standard north south, east and westgate streets which cross at the centre of the city. Its great to see somewhere where the original layout has survived.
In Algeria the only people that attacked the area are the vandals who were pushed out of spain during the end of the western Roman Empire. The Byzantines who re took this area. And then the Islamic Caliphates who honestly didn’t do too much destruction. The climate helps too since it’s dry in Africa. Preserves so much
I’m Algerian leaving abroad and I enjoy this type of historical videos. My home town is Called Tebessa and it’s also a Roman city. I’m hoping you do a video on it. Thank you
I just looked up your town. So right next to Tunisia. I love the fact that Algerians are discovering my video. Did you recognize Timgad by the thumbnail?
Excellent presentation about a little known ancient Roman colony site. I live in Portugal and I have visited a couple of towns that have pretty significant archaeological findings harkening back to ancient Rome. One being evora , in central Portugal,. its centerpiece is a temple to Dianá. the other Merida in Spain, which apparently was the capital of Iberia during the age of the Roman Empire. There’s so many places that are just treasures of ancient cultures. It fascinates.me.
Lol that made me laugh. I wish I had a time machine though. I'd go film it as it was then. Check out my video "The Death of a Great Roman City". There is a lot more "time travel" in that one.
Watching documentaries on Rome always serves as a reminder of how crazy advanced it was for its time. It’s incredible to think about, especially considering how long it existed and how long it took for nations to reach that level of sophistication again
Looks like they found a formula that worked. But ultimately was too oppressive to really continue in the same way. People will always want to be free. Not just a cog in a machine.
the best explanation ive read for how this happened was in "passages from antiquity to feudalism". it explained that the rich urban life of ancient greece and rome was something like a mirage. there wasn't a strong urban economy to back it up, there was just enough advantage to having them around to gain slight advantages in trade of rural goods around the mediterranean. when that was no longer the case, cities shrank, and so did their cultural life. cities were able to bounce back stronger than ever when the rural economy of feudalism had advanced enough to support widespread noble consumption of truly advanced crafts in the towns.
@@pupyfan69 Outside of the city Rome, what were the most successful cities from the empire? I know Venice and Florence were very big at one point, but not sure if that came after the empire fell. They're more connected to the Renaissance I think.
💕💕💕 Narrator -gives the impression that he cares enough to actually add Human touch - proper pronunciation and empathetic emotions. I will joyfully listen any time!!! (anything using Adam voice gets immediate boot by me!)
@@Street-Gems Truly expressing empathy to the Human Condition - with It's triumphs and pitfalls How will mankind ever move forward if forsaking ability for self-relflection??? (just finished a 1990s book Telecosm - about how convoluted communions were back then. The premise of the book highlighted how much better a world of small computerized phones would be? As someone who's lived thru many eras, I can truly attest my contempt of the downfall of human existence!
I had never even heard of this ruin! Thank you AS an American Veteran, permanently disabled, I find the way my current Govt. & 'Crew' treat us to be beyond reprehensible, but won't say further, here. Just hearing/learning about ancient Rome, for all it's faults/defects, treating theirs so much better? wow
Sorry to hear about your life experience man. The original title of this video was supposed to be "How did The Roman Empire Reward its Retired Veterans". So I was really trying to allude to that comparison. There are probably things we don't know about the lives of these veterans, but still, a whole city built for them says a lot.
One of my student's was a Marine whose spine was destroyed in a helicopter accident. Five years of rehab + four years tuition is pretty good. However, with a modern helicopter, he wouldn't have been injured. Musk injured 600 workers at SpaceX and isn't in jail
@@DrJohnnyJ He didn't injure anyone. construction workers get injured all the time. that's why you have workers comp. do you have any proof that it was musk who did anything? he likely has a head of safety and an osha officer who are responsible for insuring compliance. you are just another sad liberal communist who hates musk because he supports free speech and you think it somehow is conservative when it is classically liberal. Modern helicopter? clarify. what model was he in? what do you consider modern?
I grew up in a village built on a Roman garrison town. This looks so familiar. We used to play in the old Roman barracks and the amphitheatre. We used to find coins and charms all the time. The Roman baths was found at the bottom of our garden. Now there is a ghostly swimmer in the museum built around it.
Thank you SO MUCH for this content! What an AMAZING place ... so well preserved by the desert climate. Places with statues and marble buildings get all the love and tourists, but THESE types of remains are far, far more important in telling us how real people lived!
Its not a desert its in batna interior of algeria ,the desert is in the south actually the lands around timgad are fertile lands he just filmed during the drought season
Roman veteran retirement: nice simple clean home in a quiet neighborhood. U.S. veteran retirement: street corners, alleyways, and vans down by the river.
I did 9 years active duty army, recently got out. I don’t know anyone who retired and isn’t living a very nice life. Military retirement is one of the best retirement packages not just in the US but in the world. Comes with lots of money monthly and on top of that full medical that in a lot of cases extends to the entire family. On top of that most people who did 20+ years also collect VA disability that extends the benefits. Usually they also get a civilian job that pays well over 100k. In my personal experience I don’t know a single soldier who is homeless. Let alone a retired one.
@@alexc9434 When people are talking about veteran homelessness, they're not talking about military retirees. You've totally conflated the two groups, and they are very, very different. No retiree is homeless. 20 years in the military just puts you on a higher track.
Well needed to be a soldier for 20 years and an other 5y in reserve to be a veteran in Rome. Not just 24 months as in Usa, QUITE a big difference. I presume 25y is close to their entire life back then.
A concise, well-narrated video filled with fascinating details on the daily lives of Roman veteran citizens. Thanks! I will look at Roman cities differently now.
Fun fact: the French Foreign Legion has similar place in south of France for those who serve 20 years instead of the common 5 year contract. They also train and work in Algeria to this day.
شكرا انا من الجزائر واؤكد.لك ان هناك مدن رومانية تحت التراب مزالت لم تكتشف الدولة لاتهتم لو كانت تهتم سنكتشف امور عجيبة ورائعة مزال هناك كثير من كنوز لم تكتشف ف ارضنا الواسعة داخل الجزائر وشكرا لهذا انتاج الرائع❤
Wow thank you so much for your comment. RUclips translated it for me. Yes who knows just how much lies under the sands of Algeria. Maybe one day I will create more videos on sites in Algeria.
This was fantastic. I've read dozens of books on Rome and seen hundreds of videos, but somehow, hadn't seen this kind of footage of a Roman city. Fantastic! Subscribing, and hope to see more quality work!
I've been there. It gives a really good impression of how a Roman city looked like. The stones in the well-preserved streets are very slippery when wet! The museum has great mosaics. You can see them googling 'mosaics Timgad'. Timgad has some nice restaurants, too. All in all, a great day out from Constantine where I was staying at that time.
Your videos on these ancient cities are so good. Your pacing in them is close to perfect. Love that I have found you! Keep doing them, you're great at it!
Thank you! I love appreciative viewers like you. I'll be making these videos for a long time coming. But my next major one will have to wait until July. Keep me on your radar.
Jordan, again, thank you for an entertaining and informative video! I had no idea that the soldiers were given this at their retirement! It must have been quite a calm, organized and peaceful life for them.....until it wasn't! Much appreciate your videos!
I meant to say, yes I agree that Timgad is a gem. It's what's behind the name of this channel, the gems that are out there. And thanks for the compliment.
That was an incredible documentary. Discovery Channel, National Geographic level. Well done! I can’t believe I’ve never heard of this incredible archaeological site. Thank you for sharing. Subscribed.
🤯🤯🤯 I've been to various ancient archeological sites around the world, but this is such a stunningly clear, precise and comprehensive community. I only wish we took as good care of our vets as we did after WW2.
the problem was, even if you started at say 15 you'd be 40 by the time you got your land and money. 40 years old in the year 100 is like 80 today so you would not have had much time to enjoy it as most of them were probably dead by age 50
@@fredgarv79 actually whilst the life expectancy was lower than today it wasn't that much lower for those who reached proper adulthood. they also did have wives and kids. furthermore the militairy had the added benefit of not having to give salary and spoils of war to your pater familias.
Thank you Dr. Reason. I like your alias. Reasonable speculation is good feedback. I needed that, because someone else criticized me for making too many assumptions.
What better place for skilled warriors who have survived decades of battle than a place as far away from Rome at the edge of the world's largest sand desert.
@@rakim126 well I don't know how dangerous they were as veterans. A bigger threat would have been standing armies under the command of ambitious generals, like Pompey, Caesar, Constantine, etc. But I think these battle hardened veterans were acting as assets in the frontiers. They were guards of sorts, maintaining a Roman presence in the wild frontier.
Everyone assumes the area is like it was 2000 years ago. Apparently, the city was temperate and fertile back then. Roman emperors weren’t going to give worthless land to retired soldiers because the current legions would hear about it pretty quickly.
Whao cool. nice to hear from someone from there. When I was thinking in my brain, which other colony can I show that has a clear grid pattern, Empúries came to mind right away. Then I found some footage of it luckily.
Fascinating and so well done. Thank you for this video and everyone’s contributions. I encourage other viewers to read the description to better appreciate this work.
Thamugadi or Timgad, was embellished by four monumental arches, the ‘Arch of Trajan’, featured within this documentary, is the most famous and best-preserved. This entire area, outstripped its original designation to house 15,000 colonists and eventually, abandoned and left to nature, became little more than a few observables, protruding out from sandbanks, subsequently hinting at an archeological area of interest, leading to its rediscovery 1,000 years after being abandoned. The explorer, who found the site, while traveling through North Africa, was James Bruce, Scottish noble who served as a British consul in Algiers, now the capital of Algeria, in 1763.
⚔️Another stunning, and clearly simplified but complex, documentary that again has left me transfixed to Ur historical research, where I was compelled to take many pics. Thx again. 🛡️
Roma è stata la storia dell ' occidente mondiale per 1000 anni. Ha costruito, civilizzato , meravigliato tutte le civiltà da lei conquistate e unite al suo destino. Per lei non esiste il passat, ma l eternita'.
Concerning Algeria formerly Numidia Rome did not conquer the country by force, the king of Numidia Massinissa was an ally of Carthage and helped him defeat Carthage at the Battle of Zama. At least initially the Romans settled in Numidia in complete friendship. Afterwards it got a little complicated but Numidia was Rome's greatest flagship in Africa. There are substantial Roman ruins throughout the country, from east to west and north to south to the edge of the desert.
What you’re looking at is one artifact there’s been millions of artifacts over the years. They’re able to put together the information that we know today.
@@allanmsema6224 Frankly USA has wildly exessive, mindboggling amount of cars and car related infrastructure which leads to a lot of urban planning problems. Suburbs are satans invention.
I can't help but think of the remote nature of the location. Why would they place a city for celebrated veterans so far deep into a desolate backwater? My best guess is that this may be one of the veteran cities for the auxiliaries that managed to survive and gain their citizenship, since the Empire still wouldn't trust or hold them to the same status as themselves and therefore place them far from anywhere valuable in case of a revolt/uprising. They were kind of treated like hazardous waste: placed far from any of the good lands of Italy or elsewhere, lands that no one wanted given to people they no longer wanted. Just a thought.
Maybe it's a mix of reasons. For one, land in Italy was taken by then. But also, the 3rd Augustan Legion served in Africa, so they were already right there. They knew the territory, it was the province they protected all along, so it kind of made sense to settle them there. It's be a good question whether it was only auxiliaries, or also legionnaires. There's a lot we'll never know.
yes good point. I had a hard time finding professionally made reconstructions, but since it was such a cookie cutter Roman city, we could safely assume that the theater would have looked like a standard Roman theater, the apartment blocks were just like other standard apartment blocks etc. Basically it would have looked like any other generic Roman city.
Archaeologists work it out by comparison with other ancient Roman sites, since they used similar structures wherever they settled. The way the stones or bricks were laid, the shape of columns or paintings gave indications of the time when the colony was built.
Good question. Fortunately , there are many well preserved examples of insulae and shopping precincts, so we have a very good idea of how they looked. Pompeii and Herculaneum are examples. There are many others. Pompeii was a colonial town and was set out in the classic grid form with many structures surviving intact. I’m unsure about Herculaneum. It was a pre-existing town that became allied to Rome in the 1st century BCE. Nonetheless its surviving architecture also gives a very good idea of what things looked like in the period.
@@lairddougal3833 Be wary of using BCE and CE . . . . continue with what we know and trust, BC and AD. The dating system revolves around the birth of The Nazarene.
Also Algeria and North Africa in general was far from being "uncivilized" like you think... it already had a lot of very developed cities and thriving cultures way before the Romans set their feet into North Africa.
Timgad is fabulous. The uninterrupted city allows us to see a complete layout. Walking the city does not take long, but there is so much to look at that it takes hours to finish that walk. Sadly, due to funding, the accompanying museum is closed.
The Romans treated their veterans very well and built amazing retirement colonies for them far away from Rome, not just to reward them for their service and loyalty, but to keep them contented and distant to assure that there would not be disgruntled, well-trained military forces that could march on Rome itself as Julius Caesar himself had done.
Thank you, this was truly fascinating. I'm a history nut, but it still amazes me every time how culturally and societally advanced people were thousands of years ago.
That's amazing and a really terrific mini-documentary. They treated their veterans MUCH better than the US does today! It would be so cool to take a lengthy, leisurely, educational tour focusing on Roman ruins starting from a place like Timgad in the south and then moving north through Europe to end at, say, Hadrian's Wall.
Yeah I do plan to make many more documentaries covering Roman sites. Eventually I'll make my way up to Hadrian's Wall 🙂 In the meantime check out 2 of my videos called: #1. Israel's Most Impressive Roman Ruin -- and --- #2. The Death of a Great Roman City. I think these 2 are my best honestly.
very interesting, ill promote the video with a comment. I think its nice to live in an isolated place like that, with people you know, all working together for a better life, sharing happy moments together. i know because i used to live in a relatively small village as a kid. it was one of the nicer things life gave me
Very nice comment. Thanks for that. Maybe Timgad was a little rougher around the edges, they were battle hardened veterans after all, but I think the sense of community must have been close and tight.
Populating colonies with battle hardened veterans as a first line of defense is genius.
And it keeps them far from Rome
Great point. That didn't even occur to me.
@@calebanderson6205 one of my favorite ancient Roman letters is one guy complaining that all his friends got sent to the new colony so he was gonna lose his election.
Absolutely!!
@@toastedt140 lose his opportunity to vote or to be elected. And if you mean elected then elected as what? Haha not clear imo.
An entire city made for veterans? So no homeless veterans in tents on the sidewalk? Wow.
No, fortunately for them, Rome took care of them, so it seems. Unlike the US government. But maybe they had a harder life. I would imagine that.
No capitalismo liberal dos EUA é cada um por si, nem saúde pública vocês tem, bizarro 😂
Just like in America, right...?
@@Street-Gems
Bearing in mind that in ancient Roman times if you didn't take care of veterans you ended up creating a class of vagrants with military experience that might just decide to go and work for your enemies, if not just straight up turn to banditry or piracy.
Not a sensible thing to do in the ancient world.
I'm of the opinion that something like this may have happened with the Sea Peoples and their raids in the late 2nd millennium BCE - it certainly doesn't seem likely that a capable group of raiders just sprang out of nowhere.
If they survived the wounds they had taken. Medical care in the field was largely left to fellow soldiers.
As a 30 year U.S. Navy veteran, I appreciate the generosity of the empire with regard to its veterans.
Do you think veterans today get rewarded as handsomely?
@@Street-Gems Being homeless without access to medical care I'd say isn't rewarded handsomely
@@SpaceRaptor510 I hope that you're no longer homeless. I can't believe the US government allows this to happen.
@@Street-Gems I'm not no and I'm not a veteran but I know of plenty of them that are left unable to see a doctor and in abject poverty on the streets. There are an estimated 54,000 homeless veterans in the US
Wow, no kidding. I may have stayed in for 25 years instead of four if I had that kind of retirement. Though the only negative sounds like it'd be a sausage fest as you're in the middle of nowhere with your guy buddies.
I'm from algeria and im glad you are covering this , algeria has many roman ruins like literally many and still many to discover sadly our country is not focusing on archeology
I'm happy Algerians are discovering my video.
I am from Turkey where the Romans left many superb monuments too. Yet, we as Turkey, suffer fom the same "disease" as you seem to do: One of the resons (though it is not the sole reason!) is that we used to be inclined to consider these monuments as the works of an "infidel Western civilization". Things (mentality) seem to be improving in recent decades, yet there is too much way to go.... ☹
@@samilturnali3875 tell them that Turkey is also a western civilization.
@@ldubt4494
My friend; I wish I could claim that Turkey is a member of the Western Civilization. Alas, this is not true...
I have got to call a spade a spade!
@@samilturnali3875 but it is, if you think about it. What else should it be? Indian? African?
This is the content RUclips was made for. Thanks.
Thank you. Great compliment.
Algeria needs to promote its wonderful sites more... We often forget how historical it is and that it was part of the same empire like the west for long time
No. I don’t want trashy tourists destroying the site.
Are you guys from Algeria? Some of the best Roman sites are in Algeria.
@@Street-GemsI am obsessed with everything related to ancient Rome. I live in the ancient Roman city of Lambazis, which was founded before Timgad and was the center of the Third Legion of Augustus. It also deserves a lot of research, but unfortunately the city still needs a lot of work and research.
@@Street-Gems Not just Algeria but also Libya!
@@bilalfrahtia8486 Oh wow I haven't heard of Lambazis. So it served as a kind base of the 3rd Legion?
Great video, and story of this ancient city. Well narrated, congratulations!
Thank you Milosh
My home town in Britain was a Roman Colonia. Unfortunately, permanent occupation since then has obliterated everything except the standard north south, east and westgate streets which cross at the centre of the city. Its great to see somewhere where the original layout has survived.
Cool what is the name of your town? And apart from the north-south / east-west high streets, is the city center also a grid pattern?
The invasions that island got after Rome left was insane so it makes sense
In Algeria the only people that attacked the area are the vandals who were pushed out of spain during the end of the western Roman Empire. The Byzantines who re took this area. And then the Islamic Caliphates who honestly didn’t do too much destruction. The climate helps too since it’s dry in Africa. Preserves so much
I tip my hat to you sir for you are one lucky bloke indeed. Nothing like that around here north of Chicago.
Gloucester boy then. Originally Colonia Nervia Glevensium, or now known as Glevum.
I’m Algerian leaving abroad and I enjoy this type of historical videos. My home town is Called Tebessa and it’s also a Roman city. I’m hoping you do a video on it. Thank you
I just looked up your town. So right next to Tunisia. I love the fact that Algerians are discovering my video. Did you recognize Timgad by the thumbnail?
@@Street-Gems my parents actually are from a village not far from Timgad and we grow up in Tebessa because of my father’s job
@@Street-Gems no thumbnail I watch History channel on RUclips a lot and your video just popped up
@@hassle-freehandyman7842 So you must have visited Timgad as a kid. Nice to hear from another Algerian.
Your citie it's not a roman city, it's an algerian city.
Beautiful documentary. ❤ Thanks!
Excellent presentation about a little known ancient Roman colony site. I live in Portugal and I have visited a couple of towns that have pretty significant archaeological findings harkening back to ancient Rome. One being evora , in central Portugal,. its centerpiece is a temple to Dianá. the other Merida in Spain, which apparently was the capital of Iberia during the age of the Roman Empire. There’s so many places that are just treasures of ancient cultures. It fascinates.me.
Yes I'm familiar with both sites. Merida is one of the best preserved but it's mixed with the modern city right?
This ancient history documentary is like a time machine - only with better visuals and no risk of getting stuck in the past
Lol that made me laugh. I wish I had a time machine though. I'd go film it as it was then. Check out my video "The Death of a Great Roman City". There is a lot more "time travel" in that one.
This is wonderful! Thank you for the fine display and erudition!
Watching documentaries on Rome always serves as a reminder of how crazy advanced it was for its time. It’s incredible to think about, especially considering how long it existed and how long it took for nations to reach that level of sophistication again
its repeating again :)
that is why so many people study Roman History .
Looks like they found a formula that worked. But ultimately was too oppressive to really continue in the same way. People will always want to be free. Not just a cog in a machine.
the best explanation ive read for how this happened was in "passages from antiquity to feudalism". it explained that the rich urban life of ancient greece and rome was something like a mirage. there wasn't a strong urban economy to back it up, there was just enough advantage to having them around to gain slight advantages in trade of rural goods around the mediterranean.
when that was no longer the case, cities shrank, and so did their cultural life. cities were able to bounce back stronger than ever when the rural economy of feudalism had advanced enough to support widespread noble consumption of truly advanced crafts in the towns.
@@pupyfan69 Outside of the city Rome, what were the most successful cities from the empire? I know Venice and Florence were very big at one point, but not sure if that came after the empire fell. They're more connected to the Renaissance I think.
A city of veterans, you'd certainly behave yourself in the taverna haha.
Incredibly well presented and informative video. Thanks for this!
Thank you man
💕💕💕 Narrator -gives the impression that he cares enough to actually add
Human touch - proper pronunciation and empathetic emotions. I will joyfully listen any time!!!
(anything using Adam voice gets immediate boot by me!)
@@TD-np6ze Thank you! I feel I was more emotive in this video than in my others. I also have a distaste for AI.
@@Street-Gems Truly expressing empathy to the Human Condition - with It's triumphs and pitfalls
How will mankind ever move forward if forsaking ability for self-relflection???
(just finished a 1990s book Telecosm - about how convoluted communions were back then.
The premise of the book highlighted how much better a world of small computerized phones would be?
As someone who's lived thru many eras, I can truly attest my contempt of the downfall of human existence!
I bet the taverns were interesting
The dedication to quality is clear. It really shows in the videos.
Thank you James
Man I would like to see that in it's full glory.
I had never even heard of this ruin!
Thank you
AS an American Veteran, permanently disabled, I find the way my current Govt. & 'Crew' treat us to be beyond reprehensible, but won't say further, here. Just hearing/learning about ancient Rome, for all it's faults/defects, treating theirs so much better? wow
Sorry to hear about your life experience man. The original title of this video was supposed to be "How did The Roman Empire Reward its Retired Veterans". So I was really trying to allude to that comparison. There are probably things we don't know about the lives of these veterans, but still, a whole city built for them says a lot.
One of my student's was a Marine whose spine was destroyed in a helicopter accident. Five years of rehab + four years tuition is pretty good. However, with a modern helicopter, he wouldn't have been injured. Musk injured 600 workers at SpaceX and isn't in jail
@@DrJohnnyJ Jeez
Mate, it was all built on slave labor.
@@DrJohnnyJ He didn't injure anyone. construction workers get injured all the time. that's why you have workers comp. do you have any proof that it was musk who did anything? he likely has a head of safety and an osha officer who are responsible for insuring compliance. you are just another sad liberal communist who hates musk because he supports free speech and you think it somehow is conservative when it is classically liberal. Modern helicopter? clarify. what model was he in? what do you consider modern?
I grew up in a village built on a Roman garrison town. This looks so familiar. We used to play in the old Roman barracks and the amphitheatre. We used to find coins and charms all the time. The Roman baths was found at the bottom of our garden. Now there is a ghostly swimmer in the museum built around it.
wow so cool. What childhood memories. Where is this place? I want to look it up on google maps.
@@Street-Gems Caerleon in south Wales. If you type in Caerleon, baths, ghost swimmer you'll see part of it. Well worth a visit, loads to see.
Thank you SO MUCH for this content!
What an AMAZING place ... so well preserved by the desert climate.
Places with statues and marble buildings get all the love and tourists, but THESE types of remains are far, far more important in telling us how real people lived!
Its not a desert its in batna interior of algeria ,the desert is in the south actually the lands around timgad are fertile lands he just filmed during the drought season
Not right !
I' m living in that region (Aurès) and every Algerian knows that isn't "a place preserved by desert climate" @@damaskhaoula4777
Roman veteran retirement: nice simple clean home in a quiet neighborhood.
U.S. veteran retirement: street corners, alleyways, and vans down by the river.
I did 9 years active duty army, recently got out. I don’t know anyone who retired and isn’t living a very nice life. Military retirement is one of the best retirement packages not just in the US but in the world. Comes with lots of money monthly and on top of that full medical that in a lot of cases extends to the entire family. On top of that most people who did 20+ years also collect VA disability that extends the benefits. Usually they also get a civilian job that pays well over 100k. In my personal experience I don’t know a single soldier who is homeless. Let alone a retired one.
@@alexc9434 "In my personal experience". Your anecdotal experiences mean practically nothing and don't mean that there isn't an issue.
@@alexc9434 When people are talking about veteran homelessness, they're not talking about military retirees.
You've totally conflated the two groups, and they are very, very different.
No retiree is homeless. 20 years in the military just puts you on a higher track.
And yet people are still willing to risk their lives in the army so there's no demand for respect or attractive retirement package.
@@trick3058 Are you saying he received "special" treatment and that isn't the package offered to those that retire from service?
Hey algerian here, just wanted to say it's not just in timgad we have many other places literally all around north and mid algeria :)
Yeah hopefully I will cover some of the other ones in the future.
Looks like these Roman soldiers got a better deal than our current soldiers do today .
For sure
I would love to live in a city of only vets!
Clearly…..
People have been brain washed and are willing to risk losing their lives anyway? I'm sure this wasn't done out of respect, but necessity.
Well needed to be a soldier for 20 years and an other 5y in reserve to be a veteran in Rome. Not just 24 months as in Usa, QUITE a big difference. I presume 25y is close to their entire life back then.
A concise, well-narrated video filled with fascinating details on the daily lives of Roman veteran citizens. Thanks! I will look at Roman cities differently now.
Hi Elise, thank you.
I've watched thousands of documentaries or info videos of similar nature and this is one of the best. Subscribed.
Thank you! Watch my video called "The Death of a Great Roman City". It's one of my best.
The quality and the level of detail of your video radiates that you have lots of passion concerning the topic. Great work!
I'm glad it comes through :)
Thank you for showing this !!! Visually stunning and an excellent narrative!! 👌 MANY THANKS!!! 😊
Thanks Michael
Fun fact: the French Foreign Legion has similar place in south of France for those who serve 20 years instead of the common 5 year contract. They also train and work in Algeria to this day.
Very interesting. Did the Legion fight the Algerians in the 60's?
@@Street-Gems Yes, and the were very brutal (torture, etc.)
@@hansspiegl8684 somehow doesn't surprise me.
@@hansspiegl8684 colonialism goes hand in hand with crimes against humanity
@@noticiasinmundicias go cry about it
Cool video, appreciate stuff like this that dives into the everyday lives of ancient people.
Yeah these things often get sidelined by the big events and big men who shaped history, but it can be more interesting, definitely more relatable.
شكرا انا من الجزائر واؤكد.لك ان هناك مدن رومانية تحت التراب مزالت لم تكتشف الدولة لاتهتم لو كانت تهتم سنكتشف امور عجيبة ورائعة مزال هناك كثير من كنوز لم تكتشف ف ارضنا الواسعة داخل الجزائر وشكرا لهذا انتاج الرائع❤
Wow thank you so much for your comment. RUclips translated it for me. Yes who knows just how much lies under the sands of Algeria. Maybe one day I will create more videos on sites in Algeria.
@@Street-Gems 🌹🌹❤️
This was fantastic. I've read dozens of books on Rome and seen hundreds of videos, but somehow, hadn't seen this kind of footage of a Roman city. Fantastic! Subscribing, and hope to see more quality work!
Thank you! Yes Timgad is not a very well known Roman city, but it really is one of the best.
the video clip owner can be a good history teacher through architecture and engineering marvels.
Thank you 😀 I try to be a good teacher.
I've been there. It gives a really good impression of how a Roman city looked like. The stones in the well-preserved streets are very slippery when wet! The museum has great mosaics. You can see them googling 'mosaics Timgad'. Timgad has some nice restaurants, too. All in all, a great day out from Constantine where I was staying at that time.
Oh my God, sooo AMAZING to know all this. It is a bucket list visit for sure...! Thanks for sharing...!
One of the best videos ever about this topic
Thank you so much.
I had no idea about this place and i have looked at a lot of historical places. Thank you for showing this to us.
Always a pleasure 🙂
FIRST VIDEO I HAVE VIEWED. GREAT CONTENT. THX FOR WHAT U DO. WE APPRECIATE IT. RESPECT TO ALL OF THE HISTORY LOVERS OUT THERE!✊️
Thank you!
@@Street-Gems RESPECT!
Your videos on these ancient cities are so good. Your pacing in them is close to perfect. Love that I have found you! Keep doing them, you're great at it!
Thank you! I love appreciative viewers like you. I'll be making these videos for a long time coming. But my next major one will have to wait until July. Keep me on your radar.
I love the intricat and interesting painting in the roman bakery at 7:41
Yes it's a gem that one.
I noticed that too lol
Hic Habitat Felicitas = Happiness lives here or :-)
Excellent tour of history. Many thanks.
Very good and well made video, I learned a lot. Thanx!
Amazing archeological site.
Incredibly underrated.
Jordan, again, thank you for an entertaining and informative video! I had no idea that the soldiers were given this at their retirement! It must have been quite a calm, organized and peaceful life for them.....until it wasn't! Much appreciate your videos!
Hey thanks for watching my videos so keenly 😀
@RJ-go3sn I never caught your name. You will love my next one, although it will take a while till I can release it. Keep me on your radar.
This is fantastic. You've made me super curious to learn more about this place. Thank you!!!
Thanks Peter
The city is a gem. This video too!
Thanks man. Yes a total gem.
I meant to say, yes I agree that Timgad is a gem. It's what's behind the name of this channel, the gems that are out there. And thanks for the compliment.
That was an incredible documentary. Discovery Channel, National Geographic level. Well done! I can’t believe I’ve never heard of this incredible archaeological site. Thank you for sharing. Subscribed.
Hey thanks Nathan. It is not a well known site. Check out my other documentaries. I think you'll like them.
🤯🤯🤯 I've been to various ancient archeological sites around the world, but this is such a stunningly clear, precise and comprehensive community. I only wish we took as good care of our vets as we did after WW2.
the problem was, even if you started at say 15 you'd be 40 by the time you got your land and money. 40 years old in the year 100 is like 80 today so you would not have had much time to enjoy it as most of them were probably dead by age 50
@@fredgarv79 Efficient turnover. 🤷♂️
yeah, I guess not much different than today, retire at 65 and potentially pass away at 80+. Relatively similar maybe.
@@fredgarv79 actually whilst the life expectancy was lower than today it wasn't that much lower for those who reached proper adulthood. they also did have wives and kids.
furthermore the militairy had the added benefit of not having to give salary and spoils of war to your pater familias.
Excellent point I forgot about the wife and kids inheritance
Once again you have produced an outstanding presentation of research and photography mixed with reasonable speculation.
Very much enjoyed this.
Thank you Dr. Reason. I like your alias. Reasonable speculation is good feedback. I needed that, because someone else criticized me for making too many assumptions.
What better place for skilled warriors who have survived decades of battle than a place as far away from Rome at the edge of the world's largest sand desert.
Wow good point. Keep powerful and dangerous men away from the capitol
@@rakim126 well I don't know how dangerous they were as veterans. A bigger threat would have been standing armies under the command of ambitious generals, like Pompey, Caesar, Constantine, etc. But I think these battle hardened veterans were acting as assets in the frontiers. They were guards of sorts, maintaining a Roman presence in the wild frontier.
It’s like the VA.
Everyone assumes the area is like it was 2000 years ago. Apparently, the city was temperate and fertile back then. Roman emperors weren’t going to give worthless land to retired soldiers because the current legions would hear about it pretty quickly.
@@thetooginator153 Yes I did mention it was more fertile in the video.
Excellent Presentation; enjoyable and informative.
This was great 👍 you have a very good narrative style 👌
Thanks!
Fascinating to learn about these cities, just can't believe they existed. Great video, keep em coming!
Yeah this whole city just out in the middle of the desert.
I had to subscribe to your channel after seeing Empúries at 4:07 ; the town where I spent most of my childhood summers :)
Whao cool. nice to hear from someone from there. When I was thinking in my brain, which other colony can I show that has a clear grid pattern, Empúries came to mind right away. Then I found some footage of it luckily.
Fascinating and so well done. Thank you for this video and everyone’s contributions. I encourage other viewers to read the description to better appreciate this work.
Thanks :)
Great content as always!
Leaving a comment for the algorithm, hope you get huge.
Thank you for helping me :)
That was awesome ! Narrated awesomely ! I thoroughly enjoyed the entire presentation and I learned much that I did not know. Thank you.!!!
Thank you so much Ross. You might like my other documentaries on my channel.
See the movie " Legendof the Lost' 1957.They used the city of Timgad as a backdrop in that film.
oh cool thanks for telling me that. I've never heard of that film. Would have no idea how to get my hands on it though.
@@Street-Gems you can stream it off YT.
@@richardscanlan3419 oh great thank you. I will definitely watch it.
ruclips.net/video/Unt1BSyFVxM/видео.htmlsi=uS5qLvI7hnXm0Wh-&t=17
Timgad was first choice, they then went for the Roman remains of "Leptis Magna" in Libya, that's what we see in the film.
Never knew about this community... Thank you!
Thamugadi or Timgad, was embellished by four monumental arches, the ‘Arch of Trajan’, featured within this documentary, is the most famous and best-preserved. This entire area, outstripped its original designation to house 15,000 colonists and eventually, abandoned and left to nature, became little more than a few observables, protruding out from sandbanks, subsequently hinting at an archeological area of interest, leading to its rediscovery 1,000 years after being abandoned. The explorer, who found the site, while traveling through North Africa, was James Bruce, Scottish noble who served as a British consul in Algiers, now the capital of Algeria, in 1763.
⚔️Another stunning, and clearly simplified but complex, documentary that again has left me transfixed to Ur historical research, where I was compelled to take many pics. Thx again. 🛡️
Glad you're enjoying my content.
Jordan, Fantastic video!!!
Thanks John
Great video. If only history was taught like this in school.
Thank you!
Thanks for this interesting content..
well done amigo, these are the docs I can soak up, great info, presented eloquently.
Thank you. I'm happy you're liking my documentaries.
Roma è stata la storia dell ' occidente mondiale per 1000 anni.
Ha costruito, civilizzato , meravigliato tutte le civiltà da lei conquistate e unite al suo destino.
Per lei non esiste il passat, ma l eternita'.
Concerning Algeria formerly Numidia Rome did not conquer the country by force, the king of Numidia Massinissa was an ally of Carthage and helped him defeat Carthage at the Battle of Zama.
At least initially the Romans settled in Numidia in complete friendship. Afterwards it got a little complicated but Numidia was Rome's greatest flagship in Africa. There are substantial Roman ruins throughout the country, from east to west and north to south to the edge of the desert.
Gorgeous ruins and a great job explaining all about it. ❤
Thank you
Roman's were masters of masonry, stucco, fresco decor. And real quality concrete. It's sad to see these places where people thrived.
Sad to see that they are ruins today?
The Bene Lava inscription really made me feel connected to that time for some reason
Yeah. It makes it more relatable right? Just have a good bath. Kind of reminds you that they were people like you and me.
The modern name for Dacia comes from the Roman obsession for eating fish eggs. They had a... roe mania.
The fact that the Romans understood the importance of the grid pattern in 500 BCE, but Americans cannot in 2024 is wild.
Maybe not in 2024 but many American cities have a grid pattern, more grid than Rome itself today.
What you’re looking at is one artifact there’s been millions of artifacts over the years. They’re able to put together the information that we know today.
Grid pattern is bad design lil bro
gird pattern only works without cars
@@allanmsema6224 Frankly USA has wildly exessive, mindboggling amount of cars and car related infrastructure which leads to a lot of urban planning problems. Suburbs are satans invention.
Great content, presentation, and narration!
I can't help but think of the remote nature of the location. Why would they place a city for celebrated veterans so far deep into a desolate backwater? My best guess is that this may be one of the veteran cities for the auxiliaries that managed to survive and gain their citizenship, since the Empire still wouldn't trust or hold them to the same status as themselves and therefore place them far from anywhere valuable in case of a revolt/uprising. They were kind of treated like hazardous waste: placed far from any of the good lands of Italy or elsewhere, lands that no one wanted given to people they no longer wanted.
Just a thought.
Maybe it's a mix of reasons. For one, land in Italy was taken by then. But also, the 3rd Augustan Legion served in Africa, so they were already right there. They knew the territory, it was the province they protected all along, so it kind of made sense to settle them there. It's be a good question whether it was only auxiliaries, or also legionnaires. There's a lot we'll never know.
i thinka also the climate was a bit different say better as lots of crop came from there
@@user-nj1ob8ht3p Yes that's right
it was set up inbetween 2 major berber cities, it worked as retirement home, scouting center, and determent from us berbers from planning agaisnt rome
Excellent. Video. Commentary. Very well done 👍🏼
It's probably really stupid, but how do we know what this looked like with zero full structures?
yes good point. I had a hard time finding professionally made reconstructions, but since it was such a cookie cutter Roman city, we could safely assume that the theater would have looked like a standard Roman theater, the apartment blocks were just like other standard apartment blocks etc. Basically it would have looked like any other generic Roman city.
Archaeologists work it out by comparison with other ancient Roman sites, since they used similar structures wherever they settled. The way the stones or bricks were laid, the shape of columns or paintings gave indications of the time when the colony was built.
Guess
Good question. Fortunately , there are many well preserved examples of insulae and shopping precincts, so we have a very good idea of how they looked. Pompeii and Herculaneum are examples. There are many others. Pompeii was a colonial town and was set out in the classic grid form with many structures surviving intact. I’m unsure about Herculaneum. It was a pre-existing town that became allied to Rome in the 1st century BCE. Nonetheless its surviving architecture also gives a very good idea of what things looked like in the period.
@@lairddougal3833 Be wary of using BCE and CE . . . . continue with what we know and trust, BC and AD. The dating system revolves around the birth of The Nazarene.
This was an amazing video, thank you for creating it! Very well made, put together and narrated. I enjoyed it a lot!
Thanks for your compliment. It always feels great to receive them.
@@Street-Gems Its well deserved! Are you planning on making more videos like that?
Those terrible Roman colonizers.
Bringing infrastructure civilization and occupation to the Sahara desert region. lol 😂
They gave the Britons 400 years of peace, basteds!
Thats not in the Sahara region but on the Mediterranian region
Also Algeria and North Africa in general was far from being "uncivilized" like you think... it already had a lot of very developed cities and thriving cultures way before the Romans set their feet into North Africa.
and death and slavery ........
An enjoyable informative video. Well done and thanks for sharing.
Fabulous video. I learned so much and am so grateful for your efforts. Liked and subscribed. Cannot wait to see more of your videos.
Thanks for subbing. Check out my other ones in the meantime.
That inscription resonates with me
To hunt to bathe to play to laugh. that is life
Fantastic- many thanks for posting this.
Timgad is fabulous. The uninterrupted city allows us to see a complete layout. Walking the city does not take long, but there is so much to look at that it takes hours to finish that walk. Sadly, due to funding, the accompanying museum is closed.
Timgad is such a great site. Thank you for this interesting video!!
Thank you. I can tell by your profile name that you like archaeology. Check out my other vids.
Just a wonderful video, I’m so glad I found your channel! Thank you
I'm glad you found me then. Check out my other videos.
Excellent presentation sir
Thank you for the Amazing information!
Just enjoyed several of your videos. I look forward to seeing more
Thank you. It'll be a while till I release my next one because I'm on the road right now, but follow me and you will see lots more content like this.
The Romans treated their veterans very well and built amazing retirement colonies for them far away from Rome, not just to reward them for their service and loyalty, but to keep them contented and distant to assure that there would not be disgruntled, well-trained military forces that could march on Rome itself as Julius Caesar himself had done.
Well made video! Thanks.
Fascinating thanks for sharing
I LOVE HISTORY. KEEP PRODUCING. GREAT CONTENT.👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Thank you Indra
Nice video. Thank you for the knowledge
simply incredible.
Been there when i was a kid. Very impressive.
That was just awesome. How I would love to see it in its prime.
Yeah time machine is what we need.
Thank you, this was truly fascinating. I'm a history nut, but it still amazes me every time how culturally and societally advanced people were thousands of years ago.
They definitely were more advanced than we give them credit for.
love the background music, not agressive and it very smooth...normally i do not watch anything with harsh or repetetive music but this is great
Thank you. I choose my music carefully so I'm glad you appreciate it.
@@Street-Gemswhat is the song used around 03:00?
Thank you for an interesting, informative video on a little known site. This was exciting.
Thank you. Are you from Ukraine?
@@Street-Gems No, I'm from Denmark. 😊 I support Ukraine in any way I can.
@@larsrons7937 Nice to hear from Denmark :) I also support Ukraine.
@@Street-Gems Thank you. I believe one must do, if one tries to be a decent, civilised person.
Really great video Thankyou
That's amazing and a really terrific mini-documentary. They treated their veterans MUCH better than the US does today! It would be so cool to take a lengthy, leisurely, educational tour focusing on Roman ruins starting from a place like Timgad in the south and then moving north through Europe to end at, say, Hadrian's Wall.
Yeah I do plan to make many more documentaries covering Roman sites. Eventually I'll make my way up to Hadrian's Wall 🙂 In the meantime check out 2 of my videos called: #1. Israel's Most Impressive Roman Ruin -- and --- #2. The Death of a Great Roman City.
I think these 2 are my best honestly.
very interesting, ill promote the video with a comment.
I think its nice to live in an isolated place like that, with people you know, all working together for a better life, sharing happy moments together.
i know because i used to live in a relatively small village as a kid. it was one of the nicer things life gave me
Very nice comment. Thanks for that. Maybe Timgad was a little rougher around the edges, they were battle hardened veterans after all, but I think the sense of community must have been close and tight.