They had problem at the end of 3rd and 4th century. - Inflation - lack of roman soldiers (big portion of army were germans and that was bad) - increased wage of soldiers - Italic people (region of Italia) were excluded from recruiting and that meant lost manpower (it was around year 210) - All people were roman citizens (by augustus decree around +-210) and that meant no motivation to go to army cos you had already all advantages (in the past it was reward for service in army for people from non Italic regions) - wage of roman soldiers became not even average wage in empire = no motivation to go to army - defensive policy = no loot for soldiers = no motivation to go to army - outdated equipment - and ofc civil wars....
@@18Krieger Yep, since it is unnatural for disparate cultures to be unified by a central entity the cost of keeping the empire together is lots of blood and lots of gold. History proves this lesson well
@Unknown Author No, it means that Christ conquered the Empire. The old religion was weak and moribund long before Christianity came along, people were eager for the truth and plenty of them abandoned it willingly (look at the growth of mystery cults in the late empire).
@@AndenMowe-hh5qk Pax Romana could only fill the stomach of the people while it was still not Pax. It's a dream, after all. What was described as peace was actually a series of wars in selected places.
Theodosius at 48: a died man...(of course his family made him a great man at first steps did not came from a lower leve family like Marcius or Agrippa (or Maximianus Thrax)."A native of Hispania, Theodosius was the son of a top-ranking general, count Theodosius, on whose staff the count served in several military campaigns. In the 370s the younger Theodosius received an independent military command in the Balkans, where he repelled several incursions by the Sarmatians. Between 375 and 377, he went into retirement and his father was executed under obscure circumstances, but the emperor Gratian recalled Theodosius with full honors shortly afterwards and gave him further promotions. "(Wikipedia).
@@knife4430 Hello, I know it's not relevant, but I have a question. Are today's Italians Old Italics, that is, ethnic? And which nation closed the Middle Ages?
Historians simply tells us how and what the ancients civilizations was like but they never lie I plan to one day see Roman artifacts see Rome Constantinople and so much more this wonderful civilizations left for us to study and learn from.
It fell because you can't rule over foreign peoples forever. Even if your empire is perfect, no corruption, no civil wars etc, eventually the numbers and power of the people you rule over will overcome yours, and they will rebel and win. That is the reason every time the Mongols captured a city they committed genocides, to dwindle the numbers and prevent rebellions.
@@d3struction61 they did not last as long as the Roman Empire did, their empire fractured into separate states and frequently warred with each other and even when a single Khan did take power it wouldn’t last until his death because the heirs are less able rulers, also they did not see their subjects with citizenship only through ethnicity that’s why every conquered territories alway fostered strong anti-Mongol feelings ready to rebel draining needed manpower depriving them of funds needed for future conquests.
@@d3struction61 The people they conquered weren't really the issue, they were assimilated (note; assimilated, not merely "integrated") pretty efficiently into becoming Roman. Apart from internal issues in the empire, it was mass migration of peoples that did not get assimilated that caused the fall of the empire.
The empire would still be hear today. This is the year it dies when the first emperor to believe in a Jew was going to bring them salvation 👎 Pagan gods rule ✋ 🦅 with Zeus the god of gods
@@semprelazio8864 Can you imagine how stagnated society, culture, and technology would be in the west today if Rome just continued to rule their whole empire this entire time? The way that history happened, exactly how it happened, is how we got to the modern world today. Competition breeds success, advancement, and hopefully progress.
You really gotta wonder whether the late Roman Empire was ever tenable, being emperor means that you're always on the move, always busy. Whether it's usurpation, invasion, revolts, there was never any rest.
If I am not mistaken Emperor Valentinian got nervous breakdown from anger after hearing of yet another usurpation at the other side of the Empire. He literally died from daily quests.
It depended on the era and situation. Some emperors sought to be commanders in periods of crisis. Some decided to abstain from the field, making sure their position is secure to prevent another usurper lest they revolt while the emperor is in the field.
@@larrymays4244 We see that actually partialy a few times in Roman History. Thats how the Roman Republic tried to handle their conquests. Large parts were not ruled by roman officals but Roman Friends and Allies, essentially Subjects by all but name.
I did a school project on this battle. Went to visit the battle site. There's a memorial plaque and everything. And yes, that wind can get pretty bloody strong, that's why roofs of local houses are weighed down with stone.
Glad you mentioned the Ambrose incident. I think it's something worth going into more depth. It is interesting how the most powerful bishop at the time does not seem to be the bishop of Rome, but the bishop of Milan, Rome's Western capital at the time. Ambrose fits the "great men of history" theory pretty well. He was the first clergyman to make an emperor essentially bend the knee. .
@@imperator7828 I know the schism hadn't happened yet, but I think Ambrose is representative of the later Roman Catholic tradition. I'm not sure why, though I think geographic distance to the Eastern capital had something to do with it, but Western bishops had more ambitions than all the rest. Not only to assert secular authority, but to claim that all other bishops owed them fealty too. Ambrose wasn't quite a medieval pope, but he showed the power a bishop could wield if he sought it. The power struggle that developed between Eastern emperors and Western bishops helped cause the schism
@@pharaohsmagician8329 Hate to disappoint you but it isn't. A lot of countries are more secular but as an American it's hard to think Christianity is falling when Evangelicals are such a powerful constituency. Plus, secularism isn't even much of a force in Global South countries in Africa, South America etc. There are a lot of Christians there too. What would Christianity even be falling to?
@@zaboomafool1911 lol it's definitely fallen from grace. No one trusts leaving their family alone with priests anymore. Divide and Conquer like Rome, it's a divided religion which fights itself. No sect supports another when it's time to lay blame, so it has no backup. We see it for the plague on mankind it is. Every year it's grows less powerful and less influential. Thankfully.
@@zaboomafool1911 According to what I learned, the reasons are the icons and the woman’s assumption of power in Constantinople, then the petty temptations between the clergy by mutual excommunication as if they were in a children’s school.
Great video about the Battle of Frigidus. In my opinion, Arbogast just didn't scout the terrain very well. During my Army days, I served in the Vipava Valley and the Burja [pron: Burya] is indeed very strong. In the winter, the winds can get up to 120 km/h and basically you need to wear goggles to see anything at all.
I’d argue against the idea that valens was incompetent. Gratian reinforcing him was mostly light troops and lack numbers. Valens also needed a decisive victory as the goths continued to ransack thrace. Valens simply could not stick with the guerrilla activity. The crisis started because of two roman officers who abused the situation and let it go out of control. Valens’s junior cavalry officers were the ones who started the battle going against orders. Valens negotiating with the goths might have to do with the fact he did not have a huge army. He most likely only have only 15,000 men at best. The cavalry in the battle were also very ill-disciplined. The left flank cavalry launched the first attack. They panicked and the cavalry units behind them fled. The right flank cavalry fled as well without engaging leaving the infantry to their fate. Valens was decent, not horrible.
Huh, people say that Valens is incompetent? Compared to the emperors that come before and after him, I think it's generally accepted that he's not bad, though in a way that there are much worse emperors than him.
@@lyonvensa Some argued it was because of his arian faith which could be used against him in the sources. Others pointed out that it was because he felt jealousy towards gratian, especially compared to him valens’s career was not as stellar due to his less successive campaigns against the Sassanians. Though i don’t think this could be blamed entirely on him. The eastern army was still reeling from the defeats of julian and the surrender of nisbis and at least 15 forts opened the east to assault. Gratian didn’t really have what you called an army. When he marched to the east with the field army, roman deserters sent reports to the lentienses tribe. They attacked the rhine frontier. Tying up gratian for several months. He was forced to recall the field army. His forces became reduced and he couldn’t send in more men to aid valens. He later travelled down the danube with boats which implied it was a small force. Then he halts at sirmium for 4 days due to fever. He loses more men after being ambushed by alans. It makes sense why valens wanted to bring out a pitched battle. The small disastrous battle at ad salices depleted most roman forces from doing a guerrilla warfare. The longer valens waited, the more alans and huns continue to reinforce fritigern by crossing the danube. I still blame the cavalry for starting the battle first and going against orders. Fleeing the battlefield with hardly a fight either was terrible discipline. The lanciarii seniores and the matiarii despite puting up a valiant last stand were decimated.
@@althesian9741 someone also said that Valens was underrated, he was judged so badly because Adrianople, but i reality Valens is also a good administrator
Valentinian would have made Frigitern a footnote in history, whether his brother waited for reinforcements at Adrianople or whether he had to personally marshal a new army. But yes, while Valens wasn't a warrior emperor like his brother, he wasn't incompetent either
We have the benefit of hindsight, but at that time the Empire could still deal with the invaders without much problems. Even the disastrous defeat at Adrianople seemed to have been absorbed.
Ah Rome, the eternal city. I have seen days, and years from now men will say here began fall of Rome. The power of the Senate was taken from the many and given to the few. Those who wore the golden wreth grew sick with every kind of wickedness. They were filled with greed, deceit and malice. They condemned and enslaved. They betrayed their friends and murdered those they loved. They did all this and called it just. And I saw in his hand a book, seled with seven seals, the first of which was broken. And behold a white horse, and he who sat on him had a bow, and he went forth to conquer... The air was filled with smoke and blood.
@@tsmlaska7761 i really don't get why you ask such a question, just as in any case a bit of both but i don't see how it relates to the conversation at hand
@@tsmlaska7761 Both. Majority of Slavs today however are a mix of different people that speak slavic languages and are united by a common slavic ancestor from the past. This is why Slavs can vary greatly on looks especially those from remote regions. It’s a similar case with why Anatolian turks look different from Uzbek turks for example.
This happened in today's western Slovenia, Vipava valley where its still a very windy place. I actually served military there and in the winter when the wind was the strongest we had to put a rope from one barracks to another to cross it safely.
@@temiveen Hello, I know it's not relevant, but I have a question. Are today's Italians Old Italics, that is, ethnic? And which nation closed the Middle Ages?
@@mathieudizzy9313 Well asking what ethnic group is more close to asking what nation but nation is more talking genetics and ethnic is more culture and language. Also not fully understanding what you are saying because of your grammar, so can't respond well.
@@timothylee2772 He really should have pulled a Caesar and replace the useless court in Ravenna with himself and those that were proven in administration or campaign.
I think Stilicho wasn’t all that great. Stilicho claimed that Theodosius appointed him guardian over both of his sons instead of just Honorius. It makes makes no sense for Theodosius to have appointed him a guardian of Arcadius when Arcadius was 18 years old. This created extreme suspicion and hatred in the eastern court against Stilicho, which divided the empire and led them unable to work together with the western Roman Empire. Many of his contemporaries as well as numerous subsequent commentators regarded Stilicho’s assertion of dual guardianship with suspicion. His attempt to extend the authority given to him by Theodosius is viewed universally as nothing more than a naked grab for power.
@@joellaz9836 Well, Arcadius was still totally unable to rule an empire, as was his brother Honorius. If Stilicho had managed to hold the regency over both empires, it would have been much less painful to have to face Alaric and then the German invasion of Gaul. The truth is that the Eastern generals and courtiers had always been envious of Stilicho, and predictably easily took control of Arcadius.
@@henricoz_9745 I’m not saying that the empire wouldn’t have been better until Stilicho. It just wasn’t feasible. Everyone saw Stilicho as an untrustworthy half-barbarian. Both pagan and Christian Romans disliked him. Both pagan and Christians Roman sources from that time blame Stilicho for everything just because of his barbarian ancestry. The Roman poet Paulus Orosius directly vilifies Stilicho’s vandal ancestry, writing ‘Stilicho, who was sprung from the Vandals, that unwarlike, greedy, treacherous, and crafty race.’ St. Jerome writes that “This humiliation has been brought upon her [Rome] not by the fault of her emperors, by the crime of the half-barbarian traitor.” Similarly the Roman pagan poet, Rutilius, pins all the blame on Stilicho for the sack of Rome. Rutilius assails the memory of "dire Stilicho", as he names him. In Rutilius' view, Stilicho, fearing to suffer all that had caused himself to be feared, removed the defences of the Alps and Apennines that the provident gods had interposed between the barbarians and the Eternal City, and planted the cruel Goths, his skinclad minions, in the very sanctuary of the empire: “He plunged an armed foe in the naked vitals of the land, his craft being freer from risk than that of openly inflicted disaster ... May Nero rest from all the torments of the damned, that they may seize on Stilicho; for Nero smote his own mother, but Stilicho the mother of the world!"
How can people dislike History its better than any TV show ever made and you constantly learn new things because their is such a mind-blowing amount of it. I live in one of the most Historic cities in England and I can't help but think what it was like in the Roman or the Viking era and onwards. We still have 90% of our Medieval wall standing today and under that are Viking and Roman walls. Even though I live there and see it all the time I'm still sometimes in disbelief how they did it
@@subutai5199 more like a Turkish historian(those who think turkey 100% Turkish). But I say you they are Northern Hunnuc tribe which is proto-Mongolians
min 15:30 "And with his back against the Frigidus river, what is now Vipava". If the descriptions of the wind that started blowing in the faces of Eugenius's troops are correct, their backs were against the Hubelj creek, a tributary of the Vipava. The burja wind blows from the NE to SW, while the Vipava flows from the E to W. Had they stood with their backs against the Vipava, the wind would have blown in their enemies' faces. Thus, Frigidus must have been the Hubelj which flows in a straight N to S direction, through what is now the town of Ajdovščina (which means Pagan Town in Slovene), and was a Roman fort known as Castrum ad Fluvio Frigido (in Late Antiquity also simply as Castra).
They continued their function under Odoacer and then the Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy, though in an even less significant role than even before the fall of the Western Roman Empire, with the one of exception of Theodoric (the founder of the Ostrogothic Kingdom) who actually tried to establish a somewhat roman rule and made the senate more powerful Following the Gothic Wars in Italy led by Belasarius and the subsequent Lombard invasion of Italy the senate fizzled out in a span of 20 years and was virtually nonexistent and without power in the 590s and their last documented action was in 603 when it "acclaimed" Phocas new emperor (entirely symbolic action)
Ive always liked & felt bad for Gratian: while not seen as a puppet, he often gets relegated to being a weak or inconsequential Emperor. Though not perfect, he was the epitome of dutiful: listened to good generals, was present with his armies on the frontier, jumped into action whenever needed, and willing to help out his uncle. Even his appointment of Theodosius I proved to be beneficial for the stability of the empire. Gratian, while perhaps not earning “the Great,” should be called “the dutiful” or Pius.
This battle happened near my home in Slovenia. The wind is called Burja and it is so powerful that is knocking trucks on roads so it is quite dangerous to drive trucks during the Burja season.
Honestly, Theodosius was a really cool dude. Can't blame him for raging when everyone and everything is kinda going against everything he's trying to keep intact.
@@diegokaqui60 Absolutely not Diocletian managed to stabilize the empire from one of it's worst crisis Theodosius lost to some goths, persecuted roman citizens and then plunged the empire into two civil wars which would leave the western empire defenseless The start of the fall of the western roman empire can be directly traced back to it's elite being killed in the Battle of Fridgidus and all of that because Theodosius didn't like his pagan underling anymore
@@JasonDoe1000 I was talking about their religious people bodycount. Yeah theodosious may not have been the big reformer but he didn t kill as much people as diocletian did over religion. Also remember that diocletian s tetrarchy went to shit and caused a civil war that needed constantine to put things in order, and it isn t like any of those 2 caused it. Rather their idiots around it. And no....loosing his elite in frigidus wasnt a turningpoint, the battle of Adrianopolis was....and well the murder of every competent person in the empire from then on. So yeah...theodosious did a good enough job, not as good as diocletian but hell at least he didn t went as apeshit about religion.
@@4_vaccuum_salesman_of_marr944 yeah i get it but he really wasnt that instrumental. He was fighting against the tides and didn really did a bad job. If he hadn t died he may have been able to finish the job, but he died and their sons fucked everything up. What im trying to say is that i would give him a passing grade. He is known as theodosious the great for a reason. He kept shit together....barely....but he did.
@@4_vaccuum_salesman_of_marr944 oh that...yeah that happened. And yeah...it is a passing grade, isn t that depressing? You get a passing grade as roman emperor if you are not a mad person or start a crisis. iM LOOKING AT THIS from the keeping rome alive angle not the cultural one. But yeah he fucked up, and diocletian killed a bunch of christians, nobody is perfect. You can thank honorious and the mad emperors for me having low standars. Also the guy that killed aetius.
Gratian: What Fritigern defeated and killed Valens? Roman messenger: Yes Gratian: Well I have to take my Legions to Pannonia, never know if any of those Germanic people will slip through. Roman messenger: But Sir the Visigoths are already raiding the Balkans. Gratian: Oooh, yeah. I'd like to help but the.......Quadii are making mean faces across the Danube.
you know, this makes me think of how much different was Valentinian from his relatives. Valens was as charitable as him and could punish people brutally. they both valued discipline but only one actually made an effort and tried to really oversee and check if his subordinates were doing a good job. Valens was not that guy. Gratian was annoying his officers for rather idiotic reasons. just read the wikipedia page you'll get it. Valentinian the 2nd was just disregarded by his officers. sad end. anyway this dynasty was too short lived. and Valentinian himself was the same. imagine dying from too much raging. Jesus.
Many talk about Constantine's Christian Triumph at the bridge. But no one talks about Theodosius's triumph that allowed Christianity to continue. Ah such is life. My compliments to all those who made this video a reality.
Yesss. I have been waiting for this moment for centuries, to be able to see the battle at friggidus river on Kings and Generals, because the river goes through my small country(Slovenia) 😄😄
@@joellaz9836 they say it is. The wind is called burja here in Slovenia. It can reach up to 120km/h(record in Nova Gorica). Though there are places in neighbouring countries where it can reach up to 250km/h
It’s weird, because Valens wasn’t really all that bad of an emperor until he blundered into Adrianople: pushing his troops in near 100 degree heat for 8 miles, rather than waiting for assistance from Gratian. Before this, though, he was by all accounts a decent administrator & general. He cut high taxes from the years of Constantine’s sons, and did a decent job defending the borders. Even with the Goths, he didn’t want them to be mistreated; it was Lupicinus (the general in charge of managing the Goths’ entrance to the empire) who pushed a people (given admittance to the empire by order of the emperor) to the point where revolt was the only way to survive. Tragic, unnecessary situation.
True. Valens is actually quite decent, but his subordinates are either incompetent or arrogant. It is said that the reason he went to attack the Goths by himself is because his generals talked him into it. Though in the end, they lost the battle because they didn't know the Goths got reinforcements.
This video was all in all super well done, as usual, but i feel like the part where maxiumus just randomly crowns himself augustus and straight up merks gratian was a little "skipped over," to say the very least. This is a huge development with absolutely radical implications for the contemporary moment and for the echoes of history itself and i feel like was due a little bit more context and explanation.
In the battle of Frigidus, Eugenius's army shot arrows at Theodosius army but the wind that people there call 'Burja' turned the arrows back to Eugenius so 'Burja' helped Theodosius win. I live near Vipava so I know that.
Shocking for the first time on video I’ve heard the name or title “Theophilus” used. I have an 11th great grandfather out of the UK by that name, which led me to learn what it was. I’ve never heard it other than the time I came upon the name. Glad I was able to catch that!
@@TeutonicEmperor1198 Fun fact: Mozart's name "Amadeus" is Theophilus but in latin, with the pioneer of automobiles, Daimler sharing the German version of the name (Gottlieb)
@@briansardinas1359 wow, and what’s awesome is the Bible is acknowledging post the events of Christ, these things must be written in order to understand. But this is directed towards Theophilus whomever that is. You really skip over stuff like that reading the book. I have fallen away from church and more mainstream Christian life but reading such literature is riddled with bits and pieces of historical treasures
@@ianfitzpatrick2230 I'm glad you found that fascinating. The books in the Bible are dense and can seem foreign to contemporary readers. Don't read it unaided. Find a good guide and many of these treasures will jump out at you.
Theodosius is often accused of being a fanatic and an incompetent for his successors, but i think we should see him in another light: 1) Exactly because the empire was suffering, unity was needed. Religious differences could had lead to rebellions and balkanization. Not to mention that around half of the german invaders were christians, althought heretic. They would could had been much more destructive against an "heathen" empire 2)The invasion of the first barbarians started in 378. When he took power they were already inside, and so choose to hire them and put one tribe against another in various battle, with the goal of gradually weakening them and reducing their numbers. It was a good strategy that failed just because his successors alienated Alaric too soon, while the Visigoths were still strong 3)He was accused of relying too much on barbarian soldiers, but Eugenius and other usurpers did the exact same thing. One could tell Eugenius was de facto a Frakish puppet, given he was supported by a very powerfull general of Frankish origin 4)He died young while his childrens were still kids. He had no way to know they would had groon into bad emperors. But he did left them with a lot of efficent liutenants and protectors, like Stilicho
The empire/republic had been living with religious differences for like a solid millenia at this point though. And anyway, you dont need religious difference to have rebellion and balkanization. The roots of the empire's suffering was not paganism, it was the constant infighting between leader who were lusting for absolute power in a system where the only way to get that power is through violence. This episode is actually a great example of everything wrong with the roman empire's leadership. There were millions of ways Theodosius could have prevented this war with the western roman empire and defuse the situation. The leaders of the west were loyal to him, appointed by him in the first place, and were trying so hard to gain his support, and it STILL ended in bloodshed because the dude was a salty control freak. He was an average emperor at best - bloodthirsty, power hungry, convinced he alone was the next cesar who could restore the empire, and absoluetly unwilling to share power with anyone. All the problems he solved were caused by him in the first place, an absolute clown of a leader.
Fritigern died in 380 AD. Theodosius recognized that they didn’t have any notable leaders when they cornered them in Thrace so they were nominally incorporated into the empire. Not to mention that in 381 AD he graciously accepted Athanaric (a gothic pagan leader who was king of all the Visigoths) into Constantinople where he later died unexpectedly and held a Roman funeral for him as part of trying to make peace with the goths but also showing respect for it.
Loved the Rome video and always will love them! And Kings and generals could ya do a video on romes annexation of pergamon! And thanks again for the lovely consistent content.
For many people today this battle is unknown. But the western empire never regained his strength after this desaster, most of the mobile field armies (comitatenses) were lost. few more than a decade later the Rhine frontier collapsed, Britain was abandoned and there weren't enough troops left.
Kings and Generals please don't forget to post videos about -Aristotle teaching Alexander the great -Tengrism religion -Ancient greece wisdom and philosophy teachings -Al-Kindi philosopher Thank you!
Units involved in this battle are Herculiani seniores established by Diocletian, who ruled from Nicomedia, promoted two faithful legions from the Illyricum (Legio V Iovia and VI Herculia), the area he was also descended from, to be the personal protectors of the Roman Emperors. On their promotion, the two old legions were renamed Ioviani and Herculiani.[ The two legions however continued to be counted among the senior units of the army, and after its division between East and West, they too were divided. In the late 4th century document Notitia Dignitatum, they are listed, for the West (bearing the title seniores), as directly under the command of the magister peditum, and for the East (the iuniores, junior to their counterparts in the West), as being under the command of the magister militum praesentalis. In 398, the Jovians and Herculians of the West were part of the small body that invaded Africa and suppressed the Gildonic revolt.
So should Augustus have continued with the annexation and pacification of Germania and points East after Varus? I think yes, considering how much trouble came out of Europe. Rome was essentially fighting on 2 fronts for hundreds of years.
Very important I would argue you can trace the very quick decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire back to this exact battle, in which the elite forces of the West were massacred, which forced the West even more to rely on germanic warriors to fill up their ranks and cascaded the whole situation further into disaster
@@JasonDoe1000 I was mainly referring to the religion conversion. even if the west won this battle, the Christianity would eventually prevail. better organization, more passion in the believers, more open to the poor masses, less corruption at that point. (does this remind you of sth today?)
@@tsmlaska7761 I suppose that it went both ways. Some slavs converted to other ethnicity while others turned to slavs. Religion is above nationality though and history, as well as biology, proves that the stronger survives. Christianity was stronger.
@@josecipriano3048 He made Christianity mandatory in the Empire. I reckon some influential monk or loudmouth bishop decided Theodosius was "great" for that reason.
@@classiclife7204 "He made Christianity mandatory in the Empire." that's a major exaggeration, yeah there were some areas where pagans were attacked by hateful mobs, but there are other areas where pagans and Christians co-existed for details see chapter 3 of Rodney Stark's "bearing false witness, pretty sure you can get it for free on Z-library
@@MZONE991 I guess the drive behind turning Theodosius into a pagan gentlemen is coming from Christian writers who want to make him seem like less of a fanatic. I'm overstating, but there is equally no evidence to overturn the long impression of Theodosius TRYING TO stamp out paganism. Theodosius' many religious edicts are also inconvenient, and so now historians claim that edicts don't demonstrate intent. Um, ok. There seems to be a confusion between success and intent. Did Theo rid the world of Jupiter? No. Did he do his level best to marginalize Jupiter? More or less, yeah. Living in 390s Empire (with the exception of old Rome itself) would clearly demonstrate that paganism had no future. Also, historians need to prove their recent claims that only 15 to 18% of the Empire during Theodosius' rule was Christian. That's hogwash.
@@classiclife7204 it's likely that all of this is exaggerated propaganda to glorify Theodosius, because in reality we have numerous examples of pagans living with Christians unpersecuted
✔They had problems at the end of 3rd and 4th century. 😒👀 - Inflation - lack of roman soldiers (big portion of army were germans and that was bad) - increased wage of soldiers = less soldiers - Italic people (region of Italia) were excluded from recruiting and that meant lost manpower (it was around year 210) - All people were roman citizens (by augustus decree around +-210) and that meant no motivation to go to army cos you had already all advantages (in the past it was reward for service in army for people from non Italic regions) - wage of roman soldiers became not even average wage in empire = no motivation to go to army - defensive policy = no loot for soldiers = no motivation to go to army - outdated equipment - and ofc civil wars....
There is a "JOIN" button right under the video. Press it, press it for glory!
me no have money :(
Why would I join, you keep calling Rome's enemies 'barbarians'. Rome = barbarians. 'Fans of Rome' = also barbarians. Give us honest history first.
@@andredeketeleastutecomplex Rome civilized Europe. Without Rome, Europe would still be just a bunch of savages living in mud huts.
kinda off topic but I hope they improve the Attila because it has some potential even though it was released long time ago
@@magivkmeister6166 эээээээээээээээ, actually, we don't know what would be with europe without rome. and i dout we ever will...
The fact that Rome survived so long is crazy
It seems like they were constantly on the verge to collapse.
@@jupitereuropa-e3w Which is normal for Empires. We see that time and time again in history all over the world.
Adrian Goldsworthy put it well. There was no one big enough to destroy it outright.
They had problem at the end of 3rd and 4th century.
- Inflation
- lack of roman soldiers (big portion of army were germans and that was bad)
- increased wage of soldiers
- Italic people (region of Italia) were excluded from recruiting and that meant lost manpower (it was around year 210)
- All people were roman citizens (by augustus decree around +-210) and that meant no motivation to go to army cos you had already all advantages (in the past it was reward for service in army for people from non Italic regions)
- wage of roman soldiers became not even average wage in empire = no motivation to go to army
- defensive policy = no loot for soldiers = no motivation to go to army
- outdated equipment
- and ofc civil wars....
@@18Krieger Yep, since it is unnatural for disparate cultures to be unified by a central entity the cost of keeping the empire together is lots of blood and lots of gold. History proves this lesson well
People: Will you stop fighting against fellow Romans, depleting the army in the process, and unite against the barbarian invasion?
Both Romes: *NO!*
@Unknown Author blaming Christianity for the fall of Rome is rather ridiculous considering the Eastern portion endured for another millennium.
@Unknown Author hmm... this is common myth. Christmas is not replacement for Saturnalia. Christmas did adopt some of it's practice.
@@johnl1091 Eastern Roman Empire survived because it didn't have the extreme large front with multiple aggressive migratory hordes.
@Unknown Author If Rome never fell, and is some major power today, then what do you have to complain about?
Also, Judea wasn't a desert.
@Unknown Author No, it means that Christ conquered the Empire. The old religion was weak and moribund long before Christianity came along, people were eager for the truth and plenty of them abandoned it willingly (look at the growth of mystery cults in the late empire).
Ah, Rome. Can't live even a decade without a civil war in the middle.
Gotta fight with yourself when your enemies are so incompetent 😂
@@AndenMowe-hh5qk Looking through that timeline, Pax is bit iffy...
@@AndenMowe-hh5qk Pax Romana could only fill the stomach of the people while it was still not Pax. It's a dream, after all. What was described as peace was actually a series of wars in selected places.
@@magivkmeister6166 They weren’t incompetent. The only thing that was incompetent was the roman world’s lack of proper succession.
Nothing has changed even today.
Theodosius at 27: Dux of Hispania and soon to be Augustus.
Me at 26: Eating chicken nuggets and watching this.
Still one year left to conquer Madrid!
Theodosius never had a chicken nugget and never will. Eat up king
i believe he mentioned moesia (on the danube)
Theodosius at 48: a died man...(of course his family made him a great man at first steps did not came from a lower leve family like Marcius or Agrippa (or Maximianus Thrax)."A native of Hispania, Theodosius was the son of a top-ranking general, count Theodosius, on whose staff the count served in several military campaigns. In the 370s the younger Theodosius received an independent military command in the Balkans, where he repelled several incursions by the Sarmatians. Between 375 and 377, he went into retirement and his father was executed under obscure circumstances, but the emperor Gratian recalled Theodosius with full honors shortly afterwards and gave him further promotions. "(Wikipedia).
He was born too a life that gave him much of what he had, you are a king because you will earn what you receive.
14:48 those auxilliaries were led by a young chieftain known as alaric.
Now tell me ..... how many of you smirked at that precise moment ??
Hah i would say that quite a lot of us did
@@knife4430 Hello, I know it's not relevant, but I have a question. Are today's Italians Old Italics, that is, ethnic? And which nation closed the Middle Ages?
@@mathieudizzy9313 why are you commenting this on everything lol
@@mathieudizzy9313 today everyone not ethnic and italians not ithalic And 1453 The fall of constantinople Turks.
I can’t be the only one who finds Alaric fascinating, right? I wish there was more sources about him.
Instead of asking "why did Rome fall?" instead ask "how did it last so long?".
Historians simply tells us how and what the ancients civilizations was like but they never lie I plan to one day see Roman artifacts see Rome Constantinople and so much more this wonderful civilizations left for us to study and learn from.
@Unknown Author You need some help.
It fell because you can't rule over foreign peoples forever.
Even if your empire is perfect, no corruption, no civil wars etc, eventually the numbers and power of the people you rule over will overcome yours, and they will rebel and win.
That is the reason every time the Mongols captured a city they committed genocides, to dwindle the numbers and prevent rebellions.
@@d3struction61 they did not last as long as the Roman Empire did, their empire fractured into separate states and frequently warred with each other and even when a single Khan did take power it wouldn’t last until his death because the heirs are less able rulers, also they did not see their subjects with citizenship only through ethnicity that’s why every conquered territories alway fostered strong anti-Mongol feelings ready to rebel draining needed manpower depriving them of funds needed for future conquests.
@@d3struction61 The people they conquered weren't really the issue, they were assimilated (note; assimilated, not merely "integrated") pretty efficiently into becoming Roman. Apart from internal issues in the empire, it was mass migration of peoples that did not get assimilated that caused the fall of the empire.
Imagine what the Roman empire would have been if they *just stopped killing their best*
@@avgvstvscaesar7834 Man, I know it's irrelevant, but what nation or nation closed the Middle Ages? I think hunnic or arabs but They are first age
@@mathieudizzy9313 Fall of constantinople 1453 And Turk national
"If they were the best, how could they die then?"
~Roman logic
The empire would still be hear today. This is the year it dies when the first emperor to believe in a Jew was going to bring them salvation 👎 Pagan gods rule ✋ 🦅 with Zeus the god of gods
@@semprelazio8864 Can you imagine how stagnated society, culture, and technology would be in the west today if Rome just continued to rule their whole empire this entire time?
The way that history happened, exactly how it happened, is how we got to the modern world today. Competition breeds success, advancement, and hopefully progress.
19:55 "The air was filled with smoke and blood. The Roman Empire is divided....."
Dominus Majorian! Don't trust Ricimer, he won't help you retake Africa!
“From the pillars of Hercules to the far reaches of the Adriatic, the western empire stretched...”
@@hoonshiming99 "Sacred earth, where men of greatness conquered..."
Wow, an attila player
I love that spinning sword executions, it's like this site's signature animation for me.😉
I like when the little spikes come out in the icons on BazBattles. When that happens you know it's game on! 👍✌️
Both great channels.
And the sound too 😂
@@mohammedelwan4940 agreed lol
I saw this comment before watching...
This video is definitely during the Late Roman Period😅
@@tylerdurden3722 ah yes Rome, land where you killed your rival to climb the ladder of success.
Tge good old days.😏🙃
You really gotta wonder whether the late Roman Empire was ever tenable, being emperor means that you're always on the move, always busy. Whether it's usurpation, invasion, revolts, there was never any rest.
Yes.
If I am not mistaken Emperor Valentinian got nervous breakdown from anger after hearing of yet another usurpation at the other side of the Empire. He literally died from daily quests.
They should have just installed puppet kingdoms and condensed the empire to current Italy, no?
It depended on the era and situation. Some emperors sought to be commanders in periods of crisis. Some decided to abstain from the field, making sure their position is secure to prevent another usurper lest they revolt while the emperor is in the field.
@@larrymays4244 We see that actually partialy a few times in Roman History. Thats how the Roman Republic tried to handle their conquests. Large parts were not ruled by roman officals but Roman Friends and Allies, essentially Subjects by all but name.
I did a school project on this battle. Went to visit the battle site. There's a memorial plaque and everything. And yes, that wind can get pretty bloody strong, that's why roofs of local houses are weighed down with stone.
Glad you mentioned the Ambrose incident. I think it's something worth going into more depth. It is interesting how the most powerful bishop at the time does not seem to be the bishop of Rome, but the bishop of Milan, Rome's Western capital at the time. Ambrose fits the "great men of history" theory pretty well. He was the first clergyman to make an emperor essentially bend the knee. .
@@imperator7828 I know the schism hadn't happened yet, but I think Ambrose is representative of the later Roman Catholic tradition. I'm not sure why, though I think geographic distance to the Eastern capital had something to do with it, but Western bishops had more ambitions than all the rest. Not only to assert secular authority, but to claim that all other bishops owed them fealty too. Ambrose wasn't quite a medieval pope, but he showed the power a bishop could wield if he sought it. The power struggle that developed between Eastern emperors and Western bishops helped cause the schism
Ambrose was disgusting. A true showing of the stain on mankind that Christianity was and still is. Good thing it's falling
@@pharaohsmagician8329 Hate to disappoint you but it isn't. A lot of countries are more secular but as an American it's hard to think Christianity is falling when Evangelicals are such a powerful constituency. Plus, secularism isn't even much of a force in Global South countries in Africa, South America etc. There are a lot of Christians there too. What would Christianity even be falling to?
@@zaboomafool1911 lol it's definitely fallen from grace. No one trusts leaving their family alone with priests anymore. Divide and Conquer like Rome, it's a divided religion which fights itself. No sect supports another when it's time to lay blame, so it has no backup. We see it for the plague on mankind it is. Every year it's grows less powerful and less influential. Thankfully.
@@zaboomafool1911 According to what I learned, the reasons are the icons and the woman’s assumption of power in Constantinople, then the petty temptations between the clergy by mutual excommunication as if they were in a children’s school.
Great video about the Battle of Frigidus. In my opinion, Arbogast just didn't scout the terrain very well. During my Army days, I served in the Vipava Valley and the Burja [pron: Burya] is indeed very strong. In the winter, the winds can get up to 120 km/h and basically you need to wear goggles to see anything at all.
I’d argue against the idea that valens was incompetent. Gratian reinforcing him was mostly light troops and lack numbers. Valens also needed a decisive victory as the goths continued to ransack thrace. Valens simply could not stick with the guerrilla activity.
The crisis started because of two roman officers who abused the situation and let it go out of control. Valens’s junior cavalry officers were the ones who started the battle going against orders. Valens negotiating with the goths might have to do with the fact he did not have a huge army. He most likely only have only 15,000 men at best.
The cavalry in the battle were also very ill-disciplined. The left flank cavalry launched the first attack. They panicked and the cavalry units behind them fled. The right flank cavalry fled as well without engaging leaving the infantry to their fate.
Valens was decent, not horrible.
Huh, people say that Valens is incompetent? Compared to the emperors that come before and after him, I think it's generally accepted that he's not bad, though in a way that there are much worse emperors than him.
@@lyonvensa Some argued it was because of his arian faith which could be used against him in the sources.
Others pointed out that it was because he felt jealousy towards gratian, especially compared to him valens’s career was not as stellar due to his less successive campaigns against the Sassanians. Though i don’t think this could be blamed entirely on him. The eastern army was still reeling from the defeats of julian and the surrender of nisbis and at least 15 forts opened the east to assault.
Gratian didn’t really have what you called an army. When he marched to the east with the field army, roman deserters sent reports to the lentienses tribe. They attacked the rhine frontier. Tying up gratian for several months. He was forced to recall the field army. His forces became reduced and he couldn’t send in more men to aid valens. He later travelled down the danube with boats which implied it was a small force.
Then he halts at sirmium for 4 days due to fever. He loses more men after being ambushed by alans.
It makes sense why valens wanted to bring out a pitched battle. The small disastrous battle at ad salices depleted most roman forces from doing a guerrilla warfare. The longer valens waited, the more alans and huns continue to reinforce fritigern by crossing the danube.
I still blame the cavalry for starting the battle first and going against orders. Fleeing the battlefield with hardly a fight either was terrible discipline. The lanciarii seniores and the matiarii despite puting up a valiant last stand were decimated.
@@althesian9741 someone also said that Valens was underrated, he was judged so badly because Adrianople, but i reality Valens is also a good administrator
Valentinian would have made Frigitern a footnote in history, whether his brother waited for reinforcements at Adrianople or whether he had to personally marshal a new army.
But yes, while Valens wasn't a warrior emperor like his brother, he wasn't incompetent either
Absolutely absurd how the romans were able to fight each others while the Empire was at absolute risk of oblivion from outside forces.
We have the benefit of hindsight, but at that time the Empire could still deal with the invaders without much problems. Even the disastrous defeat at Adrianople seemed to have been absorbed.
Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War: allow me to introduce myself.
Empires in decline are as farcical as they are frightening.
Sounds like World War 1 and 2.
I just love it when this channel shows Roman history it's the most fascinating part of the ancient world can't get enough.
@@maximvsdread1610 Dude Are All the Slavs In The World Ethnic Slavs Or Are Countries And Peoples Later Slavicized?
@@maximvsdread1610 No no I speak culture.
"Never stand begging for that which you have the power to earn"
-Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
@Unknown Author dude stop spamming that shit
@Unknown Author What disease do you suffer from, exactly?
@Unknown Author I am still trying to decifrate your comments, but I can't. You complottists are so enigmatic...
@@comradekenobi6908 Dude Are All the Slavs In The World Ethnic Slavs Or Are Countries And Peoples Later Slavicized?
Oh I had to screenshot this one. With all the homeless in austin.
16:39 *Alaric will remember this.*
"What's he gonna do? Sack Rome?"
Unknown Roman Officer
Ah Rome, the eternal city.
I have seen days, and years from now men will say here began fall of Rome.
The power of the Senate was taken from the many and given to the few. Those who wore the golden wreth grew sick with every kind of wickedness. They were filled with greed, deceit and malice. They condemned and enslaved. They betrayed their friends and murdered those they loved. They did all this and called it just.
And I saw in his hand a book, seled with seven seals, the first of which was broken. And behold a white horse, and he who sat on him had a bow, and he went forth to conquer...
The air was filled with smoke and blood.
I was looking for this Attila Total war comment ^^
@@Cancoillotteman Dude Are All the Slavs In The World Ethnic Slavs Or Are Countries And Peoples Later Slavicized?
*throat singing intensifies*
"Oh Neptune"
@@tsmlaska7761 i really don't get why you ask such a question, just as in any case a bit of both but i don't see how it relates to the conversation at hand
@@tsmlaska7761
Both. Majority of Slavs today however are a mix of different people that speak slavic languages and are united by a common slavic ancestor from the past. This is why Slavs can vary greatly on looks especially those from remote regions. It’s a similar case with why Anatolian turks look different from Uzbek turks for example.
This happened in today's western Slovenia, Vipava valley where its still a very windy place. I actually served military there and in the winter when the wind was the strongest we had to put a rope from one barracks to another to cross it safely.
11:00 The Emperors portrait violently vibrating is perhaps the best thing I've seen
Historians looking at Rome : " Can you not have a civil war ? FOR FIVE SECONDS !!!!? "
Rome: No thank you
@@temiveen Hello, I know it's not relevant, but I have a question. Are today's Italians Old Italics, that is, ethnic? And which nation closed the Middle Ages?
@@AndrewTheFrank I meant people I guessed to be in Expedition or War But I don't know what ethnic group people are so I asked what nation
@@mathieudizzy9313 Well asking what ethnic group is more close to asking what nation but nation is more talking genetics and ethnic is more culture and language. Also not fully understanding what you are saying because of your grammar, so can't respond well.
Historians:"Why cant you just be normal!?"
Rome: Autistic screeching
Another hispanic leader fighting for Christianity. I'm really proud i'm from Cauca too. God bless you Theodosius.
I would be great if you would do a follow up on Stilicho, as he was himself a brilliant and often overlooked general.
@@timothylee2772, at least Olympius ended up clubbed to death by one of Stilicho's old comrades.
@@timothylee2772 He really should have pulled a Caesar and replace the useless court in Ravenna with himself and those that were proven in administration or campaign.
I think Stilicho wasn’t all that great.
Stilicho claimed that Theodosius appointed him guardian over both of his sons instead of just Honorius. It makes makes no sense for Theodosius to have appointed him a guardian of Arcadius when Arcadius was 18 years old. This created extreme suspicion and hatred in the eastern court against Stilicho, which divided the empire and led them unable to work together with the western Roman Empire.
Many of his contemporaries as well as numerous subsequent commentators regarded Stilicho’s assertion of dual guardianship with suspicion. His attempt to extend the authority given to him by Theodosius is viewed universally as nothing more than a naked grab for power.
@@joellaz9836 Well, Arcadius was still totally unable to rule an empire, as was his brother Honorius. If Stilicho had managed to hold the regency over both empires, it would have been much less painful to have to face Alaric and then the German invasion of Gaul. The truth is that the Eastern generals and courtiers had always been envious of Stilicho, and predictably easily took control of Arcadius.
@@henricoz_9745
I’m not saying that the empire wouldn’t have been better until Stilicho. It just wasn’t feasible. Everyone saw Stilicho as an untrustworthy half-barbarian. Both pagan and Christian Romans disliked him.
Both pagan and Christians Roman sources from that time blame Stilicho for everything just because of his barbarian ancestry. The Roman poet Paulus Orosius directly vilifies Stilicho’s vandal ancestry, writing ‘Stilicho, who was sprung from the Vandals, that unwarlike, greedy, treacherous, and crafty race.’
St. Jerome writes that “This humiliation has been brought upon her [Rome] not by the fault of her emperors, by the crime of the half-barbarian traitor.” Similarly the Roman pagan poet, Rutilius, pins all the blame on Stilicho for the sack of Rome. Rutilius assails the memory of "dire Stilicho", as he names him. In Rutilius' view, Stilicho, fearing to suffer all that had caused himself to be feared, removed the defences of the Alps and Apennines that the provident gods had interposed between the barbarians and the Eternal City, and planted the cruel Goths, his skinclad minions, in the very sanctuary of the empire: “He plunged an armed foe in the naked vitals of the land, his craft being freer from risk than that of openly inflicted disaster ... May Nero rest from all the torments of the damned, that they may seize on Stilicho; for Nero smote his own mother, but Stilicho the mother of the world!"
How can people dislike History its better than any TV show ever made and you constantly learn new things because their is such a mind-blowing amount of it. I live in one of the most Historic cities in England and I can't help but think what it was like in the Roman or the Viking era and onwards. We still have 90% of our Medieval wall standing today and under that are Viking and Roman walls. Even though I live there and see it all the time I'm still sometimes in disbelief how they did it
I love that RTW soundtrack. It made the video so much better.
Me: "It's time to study!"
Kings and Generals: *posts new video*
Me: "Well, well, well! Let's see what we have here"
literally studying for microbiology xd
@@eriknagy159 i'm studying/repeating biochemstry. Much wow. Tomorrow i have exam day :)
Lol well well well i feel you dude
Luckily for me this is part of my studying
AP II exam tomorrow
Well Documented And Narrated
You can see Theodosius getting more and more pissed at his subjects for adamantly refusing to work together .
Haha! I was hoping for this. Thank you for answering my prayers!
And this is how Total War: Attila begins.
- Flexing mouse fingers -
Time to save the Empire, Gentlemen !
My favorite Turk Ruler Attila.
We know that the Huns came from central Asia like Turkish people, but people believe that they were not the same people.
@@DASagent People believe were not yes. But Historians believe.
@@subutai5199 more like a Turkish historian(those who think turkey 100% Turkish).
But I say you they are Northern Hunnuc tribe which is proto-Mongolians
Sad Western Roman noises
What?
Happy barbarian noises
pagans really sacrificed thousands just to get beat by 1 prayer lol
min 15:30 "And with his back against the Frigidus river, what is now Vipava". If the descriptions of the wind that started blowing in the faces of Eugenius's troops are correct, their backs were against the Hubelj creek, a tributary of the Vipava. The burja wind blows from the NE to SW, while the Vipava flows from the E to W. Had they stood with their backs against the Vipava, the wind would have blown in their enemies' faces. Thus, Frigidus must have been the Hubelj which flows in a straight N to S direction, through what is now the town of Ajdovščina (which means Pagan Town in Slovene), and was a Roman fort known as Castrum ad Fluvio Frigido (in Late Antiquity also simply as Castra).
Which is exactly how you would need to place your troops if you wanted to block the passage to an army coming from the east.
True river Hubelj/Hubely is for sure Frigidus as it is the only frigid river and Vipava is warm.
Next Video : What happened to Roman Senator after the fall of Western Roman Empire
You are a Senate, you should know it.
🤚
@@aleksapetrovic6519 No! I am the Senate, and so is my wife.
They continued their function under Odoacer and then the Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy, though in an even less significant role than even before the fall of the Western Roman Empire, with the one of exception of Theodoric (the founder of the Ostrogothic Kingdom) who actually tried to establish a somewhat roman rule and made the senate more powerful
Following the Gothic Wars in Italy led by Belasarius and the subsequent Lombard invasion of Italy the senate fizzled out in a span of 20 years and was virtually nonexistent and without power in the 590s and their last documented action was in 603 when it "acclaimed" Phocas new emperor (entirely symbolic action)
I think Invicta already covered this topic from one of his videos recently.
Ive always liked & felt bad for Gratian: while not seen as a puppet, he often gets relegated to being a weak or inconsequential Emperor. Though not perfect, he was the epitome of dutiful: listened to good generals, was present with his armies on the frontier, jumped into action whenever needed, and willing to help out his uncle.
Even his appointment of Theodosius I proved to be beneficial for the stability of the empire. Gratian, while perhaps not earning “the Great,” should be called “the dutiful” or Pius.
This battle happened near my home in Slovenia. The wind is called Burja and it is so powerful that is knocking trucks on roads so it is quite dangerous to drive trucks during the Burja season.
Honestly, Theodosius was a really cool dude. Can't blame him for raging when everyone and everything is kinda going against everything he's trying to keep intact.
@@4_vaccuum_salesman_of_marr944 well nobody is perfect....at least he is better than diocletian.
@@diegokaqui60 Absolutely not
Diocletian managed to stabilize the empire from one of it's worst crisis
Theodosius lost to some goths, persecuted roman citizens and then plunged the empire into two civil wars which would leave the western empire defenseless
The start of the fall of the western roman empire can be directly traced back to it's elite being killed in the Battle of Fridgidus and all of that because Theodosius didn't like his pagan underling anymore
@@JasonDoe1000 I was talking about their religious people bodycount. Yeah theodosious may not have been the big reformer but he didn t kill as much people as diocletian did over religion. Also remember that diocletian s tetrarchy went to shit and caused a civil war that needed constantine to put things in order, and it isn t like any of those 2 caused it. Rather their idiots around it. And no....loosing his elite in frigidus wasnt a turningpoint, the battle of Adrianopolis was....and well the murder of every competent person in the empire from then on. So yeah...theodosious did a good enough job, not as good as diocletian but hell at least he didn t went as apeshit about religion.
@@4_vaccuum_salesman_of_marr944 yeah i get it but he really wasnt that instrumental. He was fighting against the tides and didn really did a bad job. If he hadn t died he may have been able to finish the job, but he died and their sons fucked everything up. What im trying to say is that i would give him a passing grade. He is known as theodosious the great for a reason. He kept shit together....barely....but he did.
@@4_vaccuum_salesman_of_marr944 oh that...yeah that happened. And yeah...it is a passing grade, isn t that depressing? You get a passing grade as roman emperor if you are not a mad person or start a crisis. iM LOOKING AT THIS from the keeping rome alive angle not the cultural one. But yeah he fucked up, and diocletian killed a bunch of christians, nobody is perfect. You can thank honorious and the mad emperors for me having low standars. Also the guy that killed aetius.
Thank you for finally doing a video on the Battle of the Frigidus.
Gratian is a very very underrated figure in Roman history :)
I really like the fact that we have a beautiful detailed insight in late Roman Empire
Gratian: What Fritigern defeated and killed Valens?
Roman messenger: Yes
Gratian: Well I have to take my Legions to Pannonia, never know if any of those Germanic people will slip through.
Roman messenger: But Sir the Visigoths are already raiding the Balkans.
Gratian: Oooh, yeah. I'd like to help but the.......Quadii are making mean faces across the Danube.
He had places to go and people to see. That Maximus guy put an end to that.
you know, this makes me think of how much different was Valentinian from his relatives. Valens was as charitable as him and could punish people brutally. they both valued discipline but only one actually made an effort and tried to really oversee and check if his subordinates were doing a good job. Valens was not that guy.
Gratian was annoying his officers for rather idiotic reasons. just read the wikipedia page you'll get it.
Valentinian the 2nd was just disregarded by his officers. sad end.
anyway this dynasty was too short lived. and Valentinian himself was the same.
imagine dying from too much raging. Jesus.
@@duxromanorum9861 Dude Are All the Slavs In The World Ethnic Slavs Or Are Countries And Peoples Later Slavicized?
Thank you Kings and Generals Team!
Many talk about Constantine's Christian Triumph at the bridge. But no one talks about Theodosius's triumph that allowed Christianity to continue. Ah such is life. My compliments to all those who made this video a reality.
I don't think Christianity would have been eradicated at this point it just would have slowed its spread.
@@nos8923---Maybe. That's one possibility.
No, Christianity has mutated into a very contagious phenomenon. It was already impossible to stop.
@@nos8923 christianity thrive on fear ....christians used fear of dark spirits to convert tribal people in india specially in northeast india ..
@@kuldeeprana1908 Which Christianity are you talking about?
Been reading alot recently about the late Roman period, and had to come back to your content about this period.!!!
Yesss. I have been waiting for this moment for centuries, to be able to see the battle at friggidus river on Kings and Generals, because the river goes through my small country(Slovenia) 😄😄
Is it windy there?
@@joellaz9836 Dude Are All the Slavs In The World Ethnic Slavs Or Are Countries And Peoples Later Slavicized?
@@joellaz9836 they say it is. The wind is called burja here in Slovenia. It can reach up to 120km/h(record in Nova Gorica). Though there are places in neighbouring countries where it can reach up to 250km/h
@@tsmlaska7761 southern slavs came in the region of western balkans at around 7th century AD from the east
Luckily I got Blinkist definitely going to listen to Roman and other historical stories while running, walking my dog or doing chores! Thank you
Spoilers, Honorius switches up on my boy Stilicho
Cuts off his Right hand with his Left
@@al-muwaffaq341 That was Valentinian III with Aetius
@@henricoz_9745 oh yeah you’re right
God if they hadn't killed Stilicho and Aetius, the Western Empire might've been salvagable by Majorian. Poor Stilicho...
@@nicknaylor9895 Dude Are All the Slavs In The World Ethnic Slavs Or Are Countries And Peoples Later Slavicized?
Top10 among your videos! Congratulations. I think this battle was more influent than Milvian Bridge.
Alaric would have his revenge 16 years later.
Ah Stilicho, such a great man. And deserved so much better than what you got.
When did Alaric had revenge?
@@Nortrix87 niiice
@@ragingcamper3967 Dude Are All the Slavs In The World Ethnic Slavs Or Are Countries And Peoples Later Slavicized?
@@Nortrix87 Though some historians say Alaric's sack of Rome was a bluff gone horribly wrong for him.
I've been waiting for this one for a long time!!
so many flying daggers. time of flying daggers they called it...
Love the Rome total war music at 3:55
A video on the Great Illyrian revolt 6 -9A.D. would be awesome!
This is legit some of the most informative and well-produced content on RUclips. Props to the design team and editors for all the work they do.
Romans bleeding Romans. It's amazing the empire lasted as long as it did.
Love your videos man, you teach me more than my teachers bro, keep it up 🔥🔥🙌
It’s weird, because Valens wasn’t really all that bad of an emperor until he blundered into Adrianople: pushing his troops in near 100 degree heat for 8 miles, rather than waiting for assistance from Gratian. Before this, though, he was by all accounts a decent administrator & general. He cut high taxes from the years of Constantine’s sons, and did a decent job defending the borders. Even with the Goths, he didn’t want them to be mistreated; it was Lupicinus (the general in charge of managing the Goths’ entrance to the empire) who pushed a people (given admittance to the empire by order of the emperor) to the point where revolt was the only way to survive. Tragic, unnecessary situation.
True. Valens is actually quite decent, but his subordinates are either incompetent or arrogant. It is said that the reason he went to attack the Goths by himself is because his generals talked him into it. Though in the end, they lost the battle because they didn't know the Goths got reinforcements.
@@lyonvensa Dude Are All the Slavs In The World Ethnic Slavs Or Are Countries And Peoples Later Slavicized?
@@tsmlaska7761 The fuck are you even on about?
This video was all in all super well done, as usual, but i feel like the part where maxiumus just randomly crowns himself augustus and straight up merks gratian was a little "skipped over," to say the very least. This is a huge development with absolutely radical implications for the contemporary moment and for the echoes of history itself and i feel like was due a little bit more context and explanation.
In the battle of Frigidus, Eugenius's army shot arrows at Theodosius army but the wind that people there call 'Burja' turned the arrows back to Eugenius so 'Burja' helped Theodosius win. I live near Vipava so I know that.
I love that you used music from Rome Total War on this video..... now I have to go and play it
crazy how over thousands of years certain words can remain in a volcabulary.
We Swiss call the Alpine winds Böhe, basically Bora
In Slovenia where the battle was fought we call this SE wind Burya
Shocking for the first time on video I’ve heard the name or title “Theophilus” used. I have an 11th great grandfather out of the UK by that name, which led me to learn what it was. I’ve never heard it other than the time I came upon the name. Glad I was able to catch that!
@@TeutonicEmperor1198 Fun fact: Mozart's name "Amadeus" is Theophilus but in latin, with the pioneer of automobiles, Daimler sharing the German version of the name (Gottlieb)
Check out Luke 1:3. Luke's Gospel account is dedicated to Theophilus.
@@briansardinas1359 wow, and what’s awesome is the Bible is acknowledging post the events of Christ, these things must be written in order to understand. But this is directed towards Theophilus whomever that is. You really skip over stuff like that reading the book. I have fallen away from church and more mainstream Christian life but reading such literature is riddled with bits and pieces of historical treasures
@@ianfitzpatrick2230 I'm glad you found that fascinating. The books in the Bible are dense and can seem foreign to contemporary readers. Don't read it unaided. Find a good guide and many of these treasures will jump out at you.
I'm digging the new art style and sound effects. Great work!
Theodosius is often accused of being a fanatic and an incompetent for his successors, but i think we should see him in another light:
1) Exactly because the empire was suffering, unity was needed. Religious differences could had lead to rebellions and balkanization. Not to mention that around half of the german invaders were christians, althought heretic. They would could had been much more destructive against an "heathen" empire
2)The invasion of the first barbarians started in 378. When he took power they were already inside, and so choose to hire them and put one tribe against another in various battle, with the goal of gradually weakening them and reducing their numbers. It was a good strategy that failed just because his successors alienated Alaric too soon, while the Visigoths were still strong
3)He was accused of relying too much on barbarian soldiers, but Eugenius and other usurpers did the exact same thing. One could tell Eugenius was de facto a Frakish puppet, given he was supported by a very powerfull general of Frankish origin
4)He died young while his childrens were still kids. He had no way to know they would had groon into bad emperors. But he did left them with a lot of efficent liutenants and protectors, like Stilicho
The empire/republic had been living with religious differences for like a solid millenia at this point though. And anyway, you dont need religious difference to have rebellion and balkanization. The roots of the empire's suffering was not paganism, it was the constant infighting between leader who were lusting for absolute power in a system where the only way to get that power is through violence.
This episode is actually a great example of everything wrong with the roman empire's leadership. There were millions of ways Theodosius could have prevented this war with the western roman empire and defuse the situation. The leaders of the west were loyal to him, appointed by him in the first place, and were trying so hard to gain his support, and it STILL ended in bloodshed because the dude was a salty control freak.
He was an average emperor at best - bloodthirsty, power hungry, convinced he alone was the next cesar who could restore the empire, and absoluetly unwilling to share power with anyone. All the problems he solved were caused by him in the first place, an absolute clown of a leader.
Fritigern died in 380 AD. Theodosius recognized that they didn’t have any notable leaders when they cornered them in Thrace so they were nominally incorporated into the empire. Not to mention that in 381 AD he graciously accepted Athanaric (a gothic pagan leader who was king of all the Visigoths) into Constantinople where he later died unexpectedly and held a Roman funeral for him as part of trying to make peace with the goths but also showing respect for it.
Next videos on Stilicho, Aetius,
Majorian and Anthemius
Another awesome video
another Romanian watching this awesome documentary i see
Meanwhile, across the Danube, the Huns are like:
Soon
maybe the best channel on youtube.
I like your new style in the thumbnail! How do you improve so much everyday?
@Xiuh Dude Are All the Slavs In The World Ethnic Slavs Or Are Countries And Peoples Later Slavicized?
That was excellent. Loved that. Thank you.
Alaric I is my namesake so I'm incredibly excited for the next episode in this series! Bring on 410AD!!!
Loved the Rome video and always will love them! And Kings and generals could ya do a video on romes annexation of pergamon! And thanks again for the lovely consistent content.
6:52 "The Best. The Greatest." Who wasn't either.
Ah I see, another civilised Roman Dovahatty embracer
@@josiahiwan9437, indeed.
Dovahhatty’s quote nice
'Magnus Maximus' would more accurately mean 'Great Greatest'. 'Best' is optimus.
@@byronwaldron7933 Dude Are All the Slavs In The World Ethnic Slavs Or Are Countries And Peoples Later Slavicized?
Amazing! Love the new art
Damn these videos are really depressing. After this came the end of the Greco-Roman world, really sad stuff, but time keeps moving forward
Just wait until you watch the honorious episode peak depression and stupidity
@@lyonelk3108 Or Justinian's failure in securing Italy instead of just conquering it due to natural catastrophes
I agree
Great research, synthesis and narration as usual!
For many people today this battle is unknown. But the western empire never regained his strength after this desaster, most of the mobile field armies (comitatenses) were lost. few more than a decade later the Rhine frontier collapsed, Britain was abandoned and there weren't enough troops left.
Kings and Generals please don't forget to post videos about
-Aristotle teaching Alexander the great
-Tengrism religion
-Ancient greece wisdom and philosophy teachings
-Al-Kindi philosopher
Thank you!
So this was the Battle of Yarmuk for the christians
Thats an amazing analogy
Units involved in this battle are Herculiani seniores established by
Diocletian, who ruled from Nicomedia, promoted two faithful legions from the Illyricum (Legio V Iovia and VI Herculia), the area he was also descended from, to be the personal protectors of the Roman Emperors. On their promotion, the two old legions were renamed Ioviani and Herculiani.[
The two legions however continued to be counted among the senior units of the army, and after its division between East and West, they too were divided.
In the late 4th century document Notitia Dignitatum, they are listed, for the West (bearing the title seniores), as directly under the command of the magister peditum, and for the East (the iuniores, junior to their counterparts in the West), as being under the command of the magister militum praesentalis. In 398, the Jovians and Herculians of the West were part of the small body that invaded Africa and suppressed the Gildonic revolt.
Last time I was this early, there wasn't any skeletons in the Teutoburg forest
Nice historical video from excellent historical channel thanks for share
So should Augustus have continued with the annexation and pacification of Germania and points East after Varus?
I think yes, considering how much trouble came out of Europe. Rome was essentially fighting on 2 fronts for hundreds of years.
Asked for this a while back, thank you so much.
Divine wind: Roman edition.
@elgqr In truth i said that Theodosius had divine help.
@elgqr Dude Are All the Slavs In The World Ethnic Slavs Or Are Countries And Peoples Later Slavicized?
Too many beans and garlic :P
@Abhra Talukdar yes
Another awesome episode guys!
Theodosius must have hated pants as much as he hated heathen pagans
All Romans hated pants
new video wohooo!
important battle, even if the tide had turned already
@Unknown Author but Pope lives in Rome!
Very important
I would argue you can trace the very quick decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire back to this exact battle, in which the elite forces of the West were massacred, which forced the West even more to rely on germanic warriors to fill up their ranks and cascaded the whole situation further into disaster
@@JasonDoe1000 I was mainly referring to the religion conversion. even if the west won this battle, the Christianity would eventually prevail. better organization, more passion in the believers, more open to the poor masses, less corruption at that point. (does this remind you of sth today?)
@@kanenasithaki4669 Dude Are All the Slavs In The World Ethnic Slavs Or Are Countries And Peoples Later Slavicized?
@@tsmlaska7761 I suppose that it went both ways. Some slavs converted to other ethnicity while others turned to slavs. Religion is above nationality though and history, as well as biology, proves that the stronger survives. Christianity was stronger.
These are the events right before the 395 start in Attila Total War.
Another great video. Thank you for the amazing content
And they call him 'the great'.
Yes
@@josecipriano3048 He made Christianity mandatory in the Empire. I reckon some influential monk or loudmouth bishop decided Theodosius was "great" for that reason.
@@classiclife7204
"He made Christianity mandatory in the Empire."
that's a major exaggeration, yeah there were some areas where pagans were attacked by hateful mobs, but there are other areas where pagans and Christians co-existed
for details see chapter 3 of Rodney Stark's "bearing false witness, pretty sure you can get it for free on Z-library
@@MZONE991 I guess the drive behind turning Theodosius into a pagan gentlemen is coming from Christian writers who want to make him seem like less of a fanatic. I'm overstating, but there is equally no evidence to overturn the long impression of Theodosius TRYING TO stamp out paganism. Theodosius' many religious edicts are also inconvenient, and so now historians claim that edicts don't demonstrate intent. Um, ok. There seems to be a confusion between success and intent. Did Theo rid the world of Jupiter? No. Did he do his level best to marginalize Jupiter? More or less, yeah. Living in 390s Empire (with the exception of old Rome itself) would clearly demonstrate that paganism had no future. Also, historians need to prove their recent claims that only 15 to 18% of the Empire during Theodosius' rule was Christian. That's hogwash.
@@classiclife7204
it's likely that all of this is exaggerated propaganda to glorify Theodosius, because in reality we have numerous examples of pagans living with Christians unpersecuted
Hey guys, another great video. Your videos are marvels of RUclips.
Goths were Stronk !
Great stuff as always.
Roman military and political strength high at this time.
Great video as usual 🤘👍
✔They had problems at the end of 3rd and 4th century. 😒👀
- Inflation
- lack of roman soldiers (big portion of army were germans and that was bad)
- increased wage of soldiers = less soldiers
- Italic people (region of Italia) were excluded from recruiting and that meant lost manpower (it was around year 210)
- All people were roman citizens (by augustus decree around +-210) and that meant no motivation to go to army cos you had already all advantages (in the past it was reward for service in army for people from non Italic regions)
- wage of roman soldiers became not even average wage in empire = no motivation to go to army
- defensive policy = no loot for soldiers = no motivation to go to army
- outdated equipment
- and ofc civil wars....