It would definitely be interesting to learn about the logistics of a legion on the march. Food stocking, making camps, scouting for enemies, and keeping everyone in line would be interesting
@@InvictaHistory i thought you already did a video covering supply lines and logistics of the Roman army? I'm not complaining btw I love all your videos on ancient Roman history
And that is where wars are won and lost. Julius Caesar said as much, that good generals will know strategy and tactics, but great generals will know logistics. It's one of the biggest reasons for his victory at Alesia, as the Gauls failed to cut his supply lines.
Roman Recruits before going to sleep: "This is my gladius. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My gladius is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me, my gladius is useless. Without my gladius, I am useless. I must strike my gladius true. I must stab harder than my enemy who is trying to kill me. I must stab him before he stabs me. I will ... My gladius and I know that what counts in war is not the flesh we pierce, the noise of our thrust, nor the mess we make. We know that it is the stabs that count. We will stab ... My gladius is human, even as I am human, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strength, its parts, its accessories, its scabbard and its hilt. I will keep my gladius clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will ... Before Mars, I swear this creed. My gladius and I are the defenders of my country. We are the masters of our enemy. We are the saviors of my life. SO BE IT, UNTIL VICTORY IS ROMA´s AND THERE IS NO ENEMY, BUT PEACE!" Hastati´s Creed (or Legionary´s Creed idk)
I've definitely wondered about this. To what extent was a recruit expected to already be battle-worthy upon joining? I mean, early on they had to provide their own kit and likely had been groomed since childhood for soldiering as part of their social class.
The early levy republican army was vastly different than the professional late Republic army. Generally during the early Republic, armies would be levied during winter when they can organise into their units and train until the campaigning session of that year starts (generally late spring). So basically, they only get a few months to train, while for the rest of the year the people would be back to their jobs, most being farmers. Only the nobility and the rich could have afforded long term training, but even then it was rarely in any serious professional capacity
The difference is what they were taught growing up focused on their individual skills and more of a self defense kind of thing. The thing is, what made the Legions so effective is their discipline fighting in formation. Compared to most other militaries of the time that was more a group of individual fighters.
The class and tribal based system dissapeared after the Marian Reforms I believe (correction welcome). A wholly professional army replaced it at the centurian level and below. Troops began to train as whole cohorts rather than with thier townsmen or whatever groups of villages were near their towns. A pay scale was established, and, a basic qualifications bar as well. Men were turned away if they were not physically fit enough.
Early Roman Legions would have been a militia which would have been raised from families and social class. When the Legions started to form professional forces they would have adapted a basic training and service contract. That is where the training started to become intense, specialized and of a special operations nature (modern context). A 20 mile march in 5 hours is very impressive indeed when gear is considered.
1. Be fighting age 2. Have arms and legs I am sure your sergeant would find you a suitable job. Let it be carrying the boats and logs or just digging latrines
Main reason behind it is not really budget.I've already read and heard so many stories about this from guys from reenactment,as well as from schollars.
I'm very honoured by these reactions, I'm in one of the groups associated with Imperium Romanum, and I helped make shields and pila among other things. Many things we do is on a shoestring budged really, relying on our own skills in woodworking, metalworking and tailoring to bring these recreations to life. Research together with a pragmatic and practical mindset are key in this endevour.
This live action documentary's suit this style of video's brilliantly It makes the soldiers feel alive instead of excellently drawn soldiers. For more general topics or political keep on animated
Forced marches are a real big PITA. Military services still do that today as part of their training. Not only in boot camp / basic training, but it will continue particularly for those in the combat arms occupations. There's a lot of posers out there with fantasies of being in the military, standing around with carriers and a weapon looking like a tactitool. But they fantasize of it, but won't actually be in the military doing the real physical training for strength and endurance, and forced marches are part of it. It looks cool posing with a weapon. You'll feel different when you got to go on a hump for 20+ miles carrying full pack and a weapon. Maybe add in a radio, extra ammunition for the platoon / squad, water. Maybe even some mortar rounds per man so that the mortar team has a bunch of extra rounds to better support your platoon with. I remember in the Marines at Camp Pendleton, California, seeing a young man that looked maybe 5 ft 5 inches tall, $1.25 soaking wet, with School of Infantry doing one such hump around the hills of that part of the base. Interceptor Vest + Kevlar Helmet + Loaded pack with radio antenna sticking out the side + AT-4 rocket on the side of said pack. The stuff is heavy as hell and seeing him I could feel the burden. But his load was pretty much equal to anyone else in his platoon. Everybody is loaded with tons of crap. It's part of the training in SOI. And when he gets into his actual Fleet Marine Force unit, it'll be even harder. Oh, speaking of mortars, then there's the guys in weapons company. Those crew served weapons would be broken down and parts distributed so, and they'd go on marches just like the regular 'ol riflemen. The stuff is heavy.
About a dozen years ago there was a reality show where ex-servicemen went through a Roman legion boot-camp. IIRC it took place in England and it was interesting. I've search for it off and on for years but can't find it.
These guys are more professional, organized and disciplined than many a standing army nowadays in the world. Simply marvelous reenacment and amazing story telling. You guys make absolutely splendid videos together.
Bro they were literally carving dicks into their sling ammunition. Speaking as a currently active airborne infantryman this is pretty par for the course throughout history, we draw dicks all over everything we can get our hands on. Moreover we only know about their level of professionalism and discipline through sources written by high rankingofficials, which would be like taking the stuff a 2-star general reports to a congressperson as a good indication of the state of how the average line company actually functions. Pretty stupid
I'm sure they where also full of jokesters, idiots, bullies and all that but when it came to battles they would get serious, just like most modern militaries today Humans are going to be humans after all
More videos of 'live/experimental re-enactment' type videos of antiquity/medieval era units such as this one please. These types of videos is what makes this channel special and distinguishable from other more 'narrative' based history channels on youtube.
Another interesting training routines the roman soldiers practiced were the wrestling and boxing competitions as well as the use of weight lifting exercises…but then again basically every army and even civilians enjoyed those trainings back then so I guess you wouldn’t have to mention it
When you talked about "learning to work together," I was reminded of this film quote from the great James Earl Jones, in a film ("Best of the Best") where he plays an athletic coach: "I'll say this ONLY ONCE: a team is not a team, if you don't give a damn about one another." I'd like to see how how the Romans addressed THAT point.
It would be incredible to see how they put up their forts. The amount of times they put up forts even in the heat of battle in Caesar’s war commentaries is really impressive. It would also be great to see what they looked like, and what they evolved to when they were made more permanent.
I went into the Army in 1979. My MOS was 11B10, Light Weapons Infantry. Infantry School was not to dissimilar from the subject of the video. Basic was 8 weeks and AIT was another 12 weeks. And the gradually easing a private into the thing was the same as discribed. Slowly adding more equipment until you carried a full combat load. Basic rifle was constant. Cleaning the thing, taking care of all your weapons and equipment. At least the Romans didn't have Airborne School, Air Assault School, Jungle School, Arctic School, Mountain School and a few minor combat and communication schools. To be a good grunt, training is endless. Sometimes exciting, mostly repetition of things you already knew.
@@wolfhound45 Both actually. Sand Hill is where I did basic and AIT. Harmony Church for Airborne and Ranger School. Air Assault was at Ft. Campbell. Arctic was at Ft. Greeley Alaska. Jungle was in Panama and Mountain was in Norway. Good times then. Cheers
Byzantines doesn't existed, they was Roman citizens of the Eastern Roman Empire. The therm "Byzantine" was created by some western ecclesiastics in the middle age
@@bflawless8040 yah and iamigne if like if that series happened just like the kurtzseget video on the largest stars it quickly zooms though each of the armour style of the legionares
They were trained by the Drill Sergeanticus Maximus. Also having been a Soldier myself and hearing the crude language I cracked up. Not much has changed lol.
It never fails to amaze me how so many of the Roman militaries traditions and training is carried on by the US Army. Hope you do a video about the late Roman Army and Byzantine Army training.
I watched Invicta about 5 years ago for Total War battles. Now I come back and am delighted to see both incredible quality history productions but also a thriving channel. This video was excellent.
Can you do videos on more non-european or less known civilizations as I feel like that their underrated and seen as lesser even though they were just as interesting and fascinating as the the Roman Empire, Egypt, and Greek?
@invicta One thing to be precised :) Roman legionary was expected to do LOADED MARCH with 20kg load (+ 10-15kg armour). 20 miles but ROMAN (1480m) not modern miles (1609m). In 5 summer hours not 5 hours in summer. Romans divided daylight time into twelve equal hours, so: 5 summer Roman hours is approximately 6 modern hours. 6h20min in 21 Jun or 5h50min 12 Aug or 5h03min 23 Sep- based on Rome (city) sunrise and sunset time. So avarage speed is not (20*1609m)/5h = 6,43hm/h But sth between (20*1480m)/(6h20min) = 4.67km/h and (20*1480m)/(5h03min) = 5.86km/h So 5km/h looks more likely to be when you carry more than 30kg for 6 hours. BTW. Great material. Imperium Romanum is also great channel. Thx for showing.
Byzantines doesn't existed, they was Roman citizens of the Eastern Roman Empire. The therm "Byzantine" was created by some western ecclesiastics in the middle ages
I will lend you my ears . . . . most Legionaires had to be citizens of Roman. Can you talk about how that evolved over time? And how did it affect home life of Romans, once the wars spread beyond the peninsula.
The Romans had the hardest battles with the Dacians, Traian had to bring warriors from Mauritania, Syria, Sarmatians, Germans from the north, because they were good guerrilla fighters (the Carpathian mountains where the Dacians had their fortresses) because the Romans were invincible in the open field, But even so they conquered only a small part of Dacia, making Roman camps occupying those places for 160 years, from where they left with chariots full of gold and silver. And all this is described on Traian column .🤓
How would left handed soldiers fit in to the Roman military if at all? I have always wondered if there weren't at least some applications for lefties if only to throw enemy soldiers off balance since it would not be something commonly seen and might therefore give you an advantage at least in certain situations. I would appreciate any input on this topic.
They dont let left handed soldiers be part of the infantry. Or at the very least, they try to train left handed soldiers to become proficient with right handed fighting. Roman military is a lot about uniform and formation. A roman soldier protects his left with his shield, and his right is protected by the shield of his comrade beside him. His shield also protects the right of the soldier to his left. So each soldier is responsible for a sector, having a left-handed soldier in the mix could mess this up.
Most cultures force soldiers to be right handed. Some skilled warriors were allowed to use their left arms tho, mainly for duels or skirmishes. And Romans heavy infantry engage more in skirmishes than Greek hoplites/Pikemen do
The Lorica Hamata, (Chain Mail) was predominate armor up to and including the Empirical Period of Rome beginning with the inception of Octavian who became Caesar Augustus. The Gallic Helmet didn't come along until after the conquering of the Gauls and the predominate helmet was a helmet called the Motenfortino style helmet. The plate armor known as the Lorica Segmentata didn't come until later after Caesar Augustus was Emperor and was used all through the Empire up until even 300 Ad.
Lorica "segmentata" is a modern name,how roman called it is not attested.Gallic style helmets in coolus variants(but even montefortino was of celtic origin)did already went to use during Gallic wars of Caesar though Montefortino probably remained the most common model until Augustus.Some soldiers still used it during year of 4 emperors civil war as archeology suggest.
Fantastic. I am fascinated with the Pilla but at best we only get to see a close up of a recreationist throwing one and not usually with any gusto. I know the legions used both heavy and light pilla. I would like to see ten or twenty recreationists stand in formation with both a light and heavy pilla and scutum shield. And also have some object representing an opposite force of equal number made out of something like bails of hay or other body equivalent. Then pulled on rope towards them as a charge by a team standing behind the legionary recreationists. Then I would like to see how the legionaries three deep would hold their light pilla and stretch back in unison without clashing with one another and if they would take a step as a javlin thrower would as they release the light pilla. Then see them switch to the heavy pilla and repeat the action before drawing their gladus and preparing to take the enemy charge. A second camera should capture the mock enemy being pulled towards them by rope so that we can see the maximum distance possible for hits with a light pilla and how they would impact the objects and bend or get lodged in shields etc and also how the heavy pilla would do this. It would be a bit of effort to set up but it would be great to see light and heavy pilla throw for effect in numbers rather than one or two people throwing without aiming to achieve distance. As far as I know, there are no examples out there for us to see this.
Now that is an interesting question! 👍🏻 I'd have to bet on the Romans. The two opposing armies would have similar weapons (swords, spears, slings, and arrows), but the Romans would have the advantages accruing to a professional army - battlefield discipline in particular. Of course, Roman armies could be - and were - defeated (e. g., Hannibal's campaign, Carrhae, the Teutoburg Forest), but those were not typical medieval European battles, IMHO.
They must have been amazing. To march 24 miles, and then be expected to build a camp is just beyond belief. Were the aqueducts and roads built by the legionaries or slaves?
Aqueducts were civil projects handled by either the imperial or local level. But most roads were built by legionnaries, it is said a Roman legionnarie worked with his shovel far more than he did with his sword.
it costs a lot to levy, train, and maintain a professional army, especially a good one. It only makes sense to pvt them to vse as mvch as possible, whether that is campaigning or constrvction.
Aqueducts was but in part by Legionarii, but mostly by the Militia Vigilum, where a Vigiles was the first organized corp of what today is the city police, firefighters and infrastucture manpower (and the Militia Vigilum was doing all this tasks) under the direct command of the Aedilis Curulis, the city Magistrate.
Fantastic video! I subscribed to Imperium Romanum, great stuff. The Roman Legions were legendary not just for their battle prowess but for their discipline and skill. They were great engineers as well as fighters, and really 99% of their time was devoted to activities outside of actually fighting on the battlefield.
I like that the pilum is referred to as a spear and a javelin. A lot of fanboys get very elitey and pretentious about this stuff like "It's clearly a javelin" or "It's not long enough to be a spear" or "it's for disabling shields exclusively", "you can only throw it", "too short to be a spear". Well here's the thing folks. It's a compromise utility design that can be used for lots of things. Is it more optimized for certain things over others? Of course it is. Like everything.
In the novel "Beric the Briton,” the Victorian-era military veteran, and prolific author of young-adult educational books called G.A. Henty included a scene where Boadicea astutely observes that the Roman soldiers are incredibly well-coordinated compared to any forces she can muster, "as though bound together by a cord." This phrase is quite evocative. Some people might find Henty's books interesting to read, although they do contain some dramatic, sensational elements intended to hold the target audience's interest. The novels are based on serious historical research, though inevitably limited by the sources available in the late 19th century. The characters' statements generally seem sensible and plausible.
Imperium Romanum is really cool, i love their unique and entertaining style of content, they made how the Roman Army training here alive and believable.
Why is there never a film of where and how they got their armour ? Seriously 100's of thousands of Roman's all in kit and nothing of where it cime from ?
So they started with marching, line discipline, formations, exercise, attacks with Pilum and Sword and shield, and then repeat for 4 months until ready? Then they would run these same drills again on the regular, until the time came or when they retired?
Knowing the Romans, this guy absolutely gassed up the past Roman military traditions and was overly critical of his own. But sadly it’s all the info we have
Most of them wear the sword holder on the wrong side. The issue are the height of the sword holder on the hips so its hard to pull it out…usually the sword holder are on the same side as the shield hand. you basically carry shield left and pull the sword from the left side with the right hand. A other option are the sword are backside mounted on the body. In formation fight it was a need to stay close. The javelins have been picked up from the back of the soldiers, first line didn’t pick any javelin they made the armored protection wall. Second line took the the javelin from the back of the first line and thrown it, if it was still possible the first line moved back and a new second line thrown javelin. It was a repeating throwing similar to a gun fire. In the back of the formation they had sometimes spare javelins prepared by logistics so it was possible to continuously penetrating the other side with javelins.
the feathers of a centurion helmet would be as feared as the hat of a drill sergeant only difference the centurion has a stick and some used it so much some got a nickname with "give me another" because they constantly broke their sticks on tironnes
Great video! So much of what we see in modern militaries has its roots in the Roman Empire. This is another reason why I detest most films, which always depict peasant farmers and teenage girls, with the crudest weapons and devoid of armour, cutting down swaths of legionaries. People still praise the 1980 miniseries, Masada (starring Peter O'Toole), yet the Romans are depicted as so mind-numbingly incompetent that they get pasted by zealots in every encounter. And of course all films seem to neglect a crucial aspect of armour...that it actually works! Yes, the Romans suffered defeats, yet overwhelmingly their battles were very one-sided. But of course that doesn't make for good cinema. 🙄
Without training it wolud not lasted 3 days and even best army in the world with best trained soldiers can always be defeated in ceratin circumstances.
@@navydad8916 There are several battles in roman history when far more Romans were killed in battle yet combat only lasted few hours.Therefore your explanation does not really work.
@@paprskomet lighten up Francis ,we are not making this into a “Elitist Historian” debate . Yes I know about General Crassus at the battle of Carrhae 53 BC,also a gigantic loss .
@@navydad8916 but it is not just about Carrhae.There were very many other battles like that not just one or two."That lighten up Francis ,we are not making this into a “Elitist Historian” debate " makes no sense.How can anyone debate with you?Imagine if I wrote to you the same as you just wrote to me now.And what the hell is elitist on it...?
something ive been wondering about is if they had any form of medical discharge we know after they finished there years of service they got land or a large leaving bonus but what if they were injured to a point of not being able to work anymore they did look after the injured, so if someone were to survive, and be treated but say they had lost a leg in the process what would happen? what about things that are super common today such as arthritis caused by lugging around all that weight? would they be given clerical roles so they could finish off there service, or were they just let go to fend for themselves? what if they were a year of finishing there service? or high ranking? would they get some kind of reduced payout? I think this would be a really interesting topic to cover as it shows the more human side of the roman war machine
They did have a medical discharge system and depending on the reason. They could Still be honorable discharged for medical reasons. Also while its not fully verified, its suspected they became non combatants in the supply trains they were already made up of civilians and slaves
This makes me wonder if individual Cohorts were raised up, and trained as one or were replaced individually. ..,And I wonder if they ever had a dreaded “Stop Loss” system in place.
It might be that occasionally large group that was recruited together was also trained together but in many othe cases recruits went on training as individual.When man was accepted to army he often had to travel to garrison and unit which was far from where he lived and for this purpose he was given special traveling bonus in money from emperor to get to that place.From preserved Roman military manuals it is clear that soldier was gradually teached to fight individually than in small groups,in centuries,cohorts and bodies as large as that they were equal to real-size armies.Part of training were even mock battles and military hunts of wild animals both of which might include several thousands of soldiers.We also know from manuals and preserved letters that smaller groups of soldiers used to be sent on extra specialist trainings like in artillery use or archery.
Harpastum. The ancient father of today Rugby (officially recognized by the Rugby World as "the father of rugby"). It's still played today in Italy in Firenze, under the name "Calcio Storico Fiorentino" there's video on youtube about it.
Interested and informative video about Rome empires army exercises and actually ready-made before battles ...thanks( Invicta) channel for sharing always (Invicta) sharing a wonderful videos
Why this mix of legioairs and auxilary troups in the video because there the eductation differs a lot. Most videos where with oval shields = auxilary troups. The formation in films are much to loose, they have to be much closer.
Reality of Roman army of this time was not really that simple as oval shields = auxilary troups, rectangular shields = legionaries.As for formations(at this particular time of early imperial army in the video)they did differ based on particular tactical need in any single combat situation where they could be modified from more tight to looser(so called closed and open order) but even in close order they were not like medieval style shieldwalls(until 3rd century when they gradually started to fought like that) with shields boss to boss.It was not even possible as rectangular cylindrical shields typically used by most legionaries of this time period did not allowed creation of actual strong shield wall and to protrude hispanic sword from it in the most common stabing attack you would need to have more open order where your shield was not directly side by side with your collegues.Adoption of oval and circular shields later allowed use of actual shield walls and really close order formations which soldiers at the time of this video only performed when doing for example testudo formation.
@@andrewmiller7456 Well they scream at them constantly to train them to operate in high stress situations. It's very smart. The first time I've heard of it was in the 1800's. Before that I know they only screamed at groups for audible reasons, but not individual solders for mundane things.
Love this format and this group specifically but it's my understanding that the whole "practicing with weighted swords" thing is a myth, of which no documentation can be found. The video just says "records indicate" that it IS true but they list no sources for this? Correct me if I am wrong. I would actually like it to be true b/c that's bad ass.
You can watch our whole Live History playlist here: ruclips.net/p/PLkOo_Hy3liEK8SZVe9b9Wg9xMrHbG_qTI
What topics would you like us to cover next?
Road building and daily life, raising the camp, marching. :)
how about the training of the usage of siege artillery ?
how they did it grow up in ancient china like the han dynasty
Rome lost 75 % of the time vs Iran
It would definitely be interesting to learn about the logistics of a legion on the march. Food stocking, making camps, scouting for enemies, and keeping everyone in line would be interesting
we've got some videos in the works on that for later this year
@@InvictaHistory Oh nice! Are you working with imperium romanum on that video? Always like seeing their group in your videos
@@InvictaHistory i thought you already did a video covering supply lines and logistics of the Roman army? I'm not complaining btw I love all your videos on ancient Roman history
And that is where wars are won and lost. Julius Caesar said as much, that good generals will know strategy and tactics, but great generals will know logistics. It's one of the biggest reasons for his victory at Alesia, as the Gauls failed to cut his supply lines.
There’s a number of books on that.
Roman Recruits before going to sleep:
"This is my gladius. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
My gladius is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life.
Without me, my gladius is useless. Without my gladius, I am useless. I must strike my gladius true. I must stab harder than my enemy who is trying to kill me. I must stab him before he stabs me. I will ...
My gladius and I know that what counts in war is not the flesh we pierce, the noise of our thrust, nor the mess we make. We know that it is the stabs that count. We will stab ...
My gladius is human, even as I am human, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strength, its parts, its accessories, its scabbard and its hilt. I will keep my gladius clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will ...
Before Mars, I swear this creed. My gladius and I are the defenders of my country. We are the masters of our enemy. We are the saviors of my life.
SO BE IT, UNTIL VICTORY IS ROMA´s AND THERE IS NO ENEMY, BUT PEACE!"
Hastati´s Creed (or Legionary´s Creed idk)
Beautiful
"Now, what is the NAME of your Gladius, Recruit?"
thumb for who know reference
Fun fact: the word Gladius was also used as the word "dick" :)
@@DefiantSix probably tiberius or something 😂🤣😅
I've definitely wondered about this. To what extent was a recruit expected to already be battle-worthy upon joining? I mean, early on they had to provide their own kit and likely had been groomed since childhood for soldiering as part of their social class.
The early levy republican army was vastly different than the professional late Republic army. Generally during the early Republic, armies would be levied during winter when they can organise into their units and train until the campaigning session of that year starts (generally late spring). So basically, they only get a few months to train, while for the rest of the year the people would be back to their jobs, most being farmers.
Only the nobility and the rich could have afforded long term training, but even then it was rarely in any serious professional capacity
The difference is what they were taught growing up focused on their individual skills and more of a self defense kind of thing. The thing is, what made the Legions so effective is their discipline fighting in formation. Compared to most other militaries of the time that was more a group of individual fighters.
The class and tribal based system dissapeared after the Marian Reforms I believe (correction welcome). A wholly professional army replaced it at the centurian level and below. Troops began to train as whole cohorts rather than with thier townsmen or whatever groups of villages were near their towns. A pay scale was established, and, a basic qualifications bar as well. Men were turned away if they were not physically fit enough.
Early Roman Legions would have been a militia which would have been raised from families and social class.
When the Legions started to form professional forces they would have adapted a basic training and service contract. That is where the training started to become intense, specialized and of a special operations nature (modern context).
A 20 mile march in 5 hours is very impressive indeed when gear is considered.
1. Be fighting age
2. Have arms and legs
I am sure your sergeant would find you a suitable job. Let it be carrying the boats and logs or just digging latrines
I just LOVE these recreations. They look really, really good. The attention to detail is great. Why can't movies give us Romans like this?
You're so right! As the intro said, these guys put Hollywood to shame.
Main reason behind it is not really budget.I've already read and heard so many stories about this from guys from reenactment,as well as from schollars.
I'm very honoured by these reactions, I'm in one of the groups associated with Imperium Romanum, and I helped make shields and pila among other things. Many things we do is on a shoestring budged really, relying on our own skills in woodworking, metalworking and tailoring to bring these recreations to life. Research together with a pragmatic and practical mindset are key in this endevour.
@@DeHeld8 Yes, your work is fantastic and brings history to life.
They can, and they do from time to time, you've seen them. Gladiator, The Eagle, etc.
This live action documentary's suit this style of video's brilliantly
It makes the soldiers feel alive instead of excellently drawn soldiers.
For more general topics or political keep on animated
That's our goal! I've always wanted to seek out the best ways to bring the past to life
@@InvictaHistory
Your animation style is also amazing and will probably suit some documentaries better than others
@@InvictaHistory roman full.metal jacket or shawshank redemption😂 mind doing a parody of it
Forced marches are a real big PITA. Military services still do that today as part of their training. Not only in boot camp / basic training, but it will continue particularly for those in the combat arms occupations.
There's a lot of posers out there with fantasies of being in the military, standing around with carriers and a weapon looking like a tactitool. But they fantasize of it, but won't actually be in the military doing the real physical training for strength and endurance, and forced marches are part of it.
It looks cool posing with a weapon. You'll feel different when you got to go on a hump for 20+ miles carrying full pack and a weapon. Maybe add in a radio, extra ammunition for the platoon / squad, water. Maybe even some mortar rounds per man so that the mortar team has a bunch of extra rounds to better support your platoon with.
I remember in the Marines at Camp Pendleton, California, seeing a young man that looked maybe 5 ft 5 inches tall, $1.25 soaking wet, with School of Infantry doing one such hump around the hills of that part of the base. Interceptor Vest + Kevlar Helmet + Loaded pack with radio antenna sticking out the side + AT-4 rocket on the side of said pack. The stuff is heavy as hell and seeing him I could feel the burden. But his load was pretty much equal to anyone else in his platoon. Everybody is loaded with tons of crap.
It's part of the training in SOI. And when he gets into his actual Fleet Marine Force unit, it'll be even harder.
Oh, speaking of mortars, then there's the guys in weapons company. Those crew served weapons would be broken down and parts distributed so, and they'd go on marches just like the regular 'ol riflemen. The stuff is heavy.
About a dozen years ago there was a reality show where ex-servicemen went through a Roman legion boot-camp. IIRC it took place in England and it was interesting. I've search for it off and on for years but can't find it.
ill look for it that sounds very interesting EDIT: SHIT I CANT FIND IT
@@30cal23 I found it its called Warrior Challenge
^
These guys are more professional, organized and disciplined than many a standing army nowadays in the world.
Simply marvelous reenacment and amazing story telling. You guys make absolutely splendid videos together.
well they're gonna be in the army for 16 - 25 years so they need to be perfect
Bro they were literally carving dicks into their sling ammunition. Speaking as a currently active airborne infantryman this is pretty par for the course throughout history, we draw dicks all over everything we can get our hands on. Moreover we only know about their level of professionalism and discipline through sources written by high rankingofficials, which would be like taking the stuff a 2-star general reports to a congressperson as a good indication of the state of how the average line company actually functions. Pretty stupid
I'm sure they where also full of jokesters, idiots, bullies and all that but when it came to battles they would get serious, just like most modern militaries today
Humans are going to be humans after all
Every drop of sweat in training conserves 10 drops of blood in battle.
More videos of 'live/experimental re-enactment' type videos of antiquity/medieval era units such as this one please. These types of videos is what makes this channel special and distinguishable from other more 'narrative' based history channels on youtube.
Another interesting training routines the roman soldiers practiced were the wrestling and boxing competitions as well as the use of weight lifting exercises…but then again basically every army and even civilians enjoyed those trainings back then so I guess you wouldn’t have to mention it
I'd love to learn more about the engineer corps of the legions, especially about the artillery engineers
When you talked about "learning to work together," I was reminded of this film quote from the great James Earl Jones, in a film ("Best of the Best") where he plays an athletic coach:
"I'll say this ONLY ONCE: a team is not a team, if you don't give a damn about one another."
I'd like to see how how the Romans addressed THAT point.
The ammunition with the phallic design inscribed with "for pompiis ass", history is hilarious.
It would be incredible to see how they put up their forts. The amount of times they put up forts even in the heat of battle in Caesar’s war commentaries is really impressive. It would also be great to see what they looked like, and what they evolved to when they were made more permanent.
There is esily available tons of informations about it.
I went into the Army in 1979. My MOS was 11B10, Light Weapons Infantry. Infantry School was not to dissimilar from the subject of the video. Basic was 8 weeks and AIT was another 12 weeks. And the gradually easing a private into the thing was the same as discribed. Slowly adding more equipment until you carried a full combat load. Basic rifle was constant. Cleaning the thing, taking care of all your weapons and equipment. At least the Romans didn't have Airborne School, Air Assault School, Jungle School, Arctic School, Mountain School and a few minor combat and communication schools. To be a good grunt, training is endless. Sometimes exciting, mostly repetition of things you already knew.
STOP YOUR LIES.
@@yecyec3927 What lies? He just explained typical training of a NATO soldier.
The real question is, Harmony Church or Sand Hill?
@@wolfhound45 Both actually. Sand Hill is where I did basic and AIT. Harmony Church for Airborne and Ranger School. Air Assault was at Ft. Campbell. Arctic was at Ft. Greeley Alaska. Jungle was in Panama and Mountain was in Norway. Good times then. Cheers
Now I want to know what Byzantine training was like.
Roman training up to 10th century was almost the very same.
Byzantines doesn't existed, they was Roman citizens of the Eastern Roman Empire. The therm "Byzantine" was created by some western ecclesiastics in the middle age
Can this be considered the part two of the tragic story of the history of the legion? 6 years and we still patiently wait
that episode was so well put togther
@@Yingyanglord1 and to think it never got past the foundations is sad
@@bflawless8040 yah and iamigne if like if that series happened just like the kurtzseget video on the largest stars it quickly zooms though each of the armour style of the legionares
As I suspected none of the creepy pseudo-sexual crap like in America's training today.
Interesting. Just showed up in my timeline so I guess I gotta watch it.
They were trained by the Drill Sergeanticus Maximus. Also having been a Soldier myself and hearing the crude language I cracked up. Not much has changed lol.
I love seeing these collaborations with imperium romanum. Two great channels working together for fantastic work.
Thanks for a really great series of videos. I find the military engineering of the Romans fascinating and would love to see a video on that topic
As always an amazing and informative video from you!
Love your work, thanks for your contribution to knowledge !
It never fails to amaze me how so many of the Roman militaries traditions and training is carried on by the US Army. Hope you do a video about the late Roman Army and Byzantine Army training.
Carried on by most modern armies actually.Byzantine army is Roman army and its basic training was basically the very same as in classical Roman army.
Hello history
10:00 Ah, I see they marked their bullets to bless their enemies with fertility. How magnanimous of them.
And they had become almost perfect under Julius Caesar.
it's amazing how you got all this training footage from the roman empire. good job. 👍
I watched Invicta about 5 years ago for Total War battles. Now I come back and am delighted to see both incredible quality history productions but also a thriving channel. This video was excellent.
Love the video ,super fun and helpful .
Can you do videos on more non-european or less known civilizations as I feel like that their underrated and seen as lesser even though they were just as interesting and fascinating as the the Roman Empire, Egypt, and Greek?
@The Philosoraptor Exactly! Even the people of Mali or some Native American Tribes.
@@thegreatjay1245 lol blame them for not keeping record on paper...
Wow
THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE VIDEO OMG. Best video of this type currently on youtube. Just a joy to watch
@invicta One thing to be precised :) Roman legionary was expected to do LOADED MARCH with 20kg load (+ 10-15kg armour).
20 miles but ROMAN (1480m) not modern miles (1609m).
In 5 summer hours not 5 hours in summer. Romans divided daylight time into twelve equal hours, so:
5 summer Roman hours is approximately 6 modern hours. 6h20min in 21 Jun or 5h50min 12 Aug or 5h03min 23 Sep- based on Rome (city) sunrise and sunset time.
So avarage speed is not (20*1609m)/5h = 6,43hm/h
But sth between (20*1480m)/(6h20min) = 4.67km/h and (20*1480m)/(5h03min) = 5.86km/h
So 5km/h looks more likely to be when you carry more than 30kg for 6 hours.
BTW. Great material. Imperium Romanum is also great channel. Thx for showing.
Could you guys do these kind of videos on the Byzantine armies/tactics/weapons and arms??
Byzantines doesn't existed, they was Roman citizens of the Eastern Roman Empire. The therm "Byzantine" was created by some western ecclesiastics in the middle ages
I will lend you my ears . . . . most Legionaires had to be citizens of Roman. Can you talk about how that evolved over time? And how did it affect home life of Romans, once the wars spread beyond the peninsula.
All legionaries had to be citizens.That was a very strict rule.
@@paprskometDepends upon the time period. You are thinking early and I am talking later.
The Romans had the hardest battles with the Dacians, Traian had to bring warriors from Mauritania, Syria, Sarmatians, Germans from the north, because they were good guerrilla fighters (the Carpathian mountains where the Dacians had their fortresses) because the Romans were invincible in the open field, But even so they conquered only a small part of Dacia, making Roman camps occupying those places for 160 years, from where they left with chariots full of gold and silver. And all this is described on Traian column .🤓
Rome lost 75 % of the time vs Iran
How would left handed soldiers fit in to the Roman military if at all? I have always wondered if there weren't at least some applications for lefties if only to throw enemy soldiers off balance since it would not be something commonly seen and might therefore give you an advantage at least in certain situations. I would appreciate any input on this topic.
I’m assuming they’d tell you to learn with the right , or you suck lol
They dont let left handed soldiers be part of the infantry. Or at the very least, they try to train left handed soldiers to become proficient with right handed fighting.
Roman military is a lot about uniform and formation. A roman soldier protects his left with his shield, and his right is protected by the shield of his comrade beside him. His shield also protects the right of the soldier to his left. So each soldier is responsible for a sector, having a left-handed soldier in the mix could mess this up.
They turned them right handed
Left-handedness is considered a disability for the military in their time.
Most cultures force soldiers to be right handed. Some skilled warriors were allowed to use their left arms tho, mainly for duels or skirmishes.
And Romans heavy infantry engage more in skirmishes than Greek hoplites/Pikemen do
Love a good video from invicta
Learning new things everyday, that even in the more modern Roman army. Letters of recommendation were a stipulation, before acceptance into the army.
The Lorica Hamata, (Chain Mail) was predominate armor up to and including the Empirical Period of Rome beginning with the inception of Octavian who became Caesar Augustus. The Gallic Helmet didn't come along until after the conquering of the Gauls and the predominate helmet was a helmet called the Motenfortino style helmet. The plate armor known as the Lorica Segmentata didn't come until later after Caesar Augustus was Emperor and was used all through the Empire up until even 300 Ad.
Lorica "segmentata" is a modern name,how roman called it is not attested.Gallic style helmets in coolus variants(but even montefortino was of celtic origin)did already went to use during Gallic wars of Caesar though Montefortino probably remained the most common model until Augustus.Some soldiers still used it during year of 4 emperors civil war as archeology suggest.
Their training marches in modern units would be like carrying 43.5 pounds for 18.5 miles. In rudimentary footwear.
Fantastic.
I am fascinated with the Pilla but at best we only get to see a close up of a recreationist throwing one and not usually with any gusto.
I know the legions used both heavy and light pilla.
I would like to see ten or twenty recreationists stand in formation with both a light and heavy pilla and scutum shield. And also have some object representing an opposite force of equal number made out of something like bails of hay or other body equivalent. Then pulled on rope towards them as a charge by a team standing behind the legionary recreationists.
Then I would like to see how the legionaries three deep would hold their light pilla and stretch back in unison without clashing with one another and if they would take a step as a javlin thrower would as they release the light pilla.
Then see them switch to the heavy pilla and repeat the action before drawing their gladus and preparing to take the enemy charge.
A second camera should capture the mock enemy being pulled towards them by rope so that we can see the maximum distance possible for hits with a light pilla and how they would impact the objects and bend or get lodged in shields etc and also how the heavy pilla would do this.
It would be a bit of effort to set up but it would be great to see light and heavy pilla throw for effect in numbers rather than one or two people throwing without aiming to achieve distance.
As far as I know, there are no examples out there for us to see this.
Spear is my favourite weapon,romans threw them with precision and is amazing.
Just picture a Roman army vs a medieval army and ask yourself who would win? Thoughts?
Now that is an interesting question! 👍🏻
I'd have to bet on the Romans. The two opposing armies would have similar weapons (swords, spears, slings, and arrows), but the Romans would have the advantages accruing to a professional army - battlefield discipline in particular. Of course, Roman armies could be - and were - defeated (e. g., Hannibal's campaign, Carrhae, the Teutoburg Forest), but those were not typical medieval European battles, IMHO.
"Medieval army" is very loosely formulated.That can be drastically different things.
They must have been amazing. To march 24 miles, and then be expected to build a camp is just beyond belief. Were the aqueducts and roads built by the legionaries or slaves?
by leagionaires mostly. theyd often build roads and forts as part of campaign
Aqueducts were civil projects handled by either the imperial or local level. But most roads were built by legionnaries, it is said a Roman legionnarie worked with his shovel far more than he did with his sword.
it costs a lot to levy, train, and maintain a professional army, especially a good one. It only makes sense to pvt them to vse as mvch as possible, whether that is campaigning or constrvction.
Aqueducts was but in part by Legionarii, but mostly by the Militia Vigilum, where a Vigiles was the first organized corp of what today is the city police, firefighters and infrastucture manpower (and the Militia Vigilum was doing all this tasks) under the direct command of the Aedilis Curulis, the city Magistrate.
Fantastic video! I subscribed to Imperium Romanum, great stuff. The Roman Legions were legendary not just for their battle prowess but for their discipline and skill. They were great engineers as well as fighters, and really 99% of their time was devoted to activities outside of actually fighting on the battlefield.
This is probably how LIFE OF BRIAN's Biggus Dickus began his career.
Great to see Imperium Romanum youtube guys going places!
I like that the pilum is referred to as a spear and a javelin. A lot of fanboys get very elitey and pretentious about this stuff like "It's clearly a javelin" or "It's not long enough to be a spear" or "it's for disabling shields exclusively", "you can only throw it", "too short to be a spear". Well here's the thing folks. It's a compromise utility design that can be used for lots of things. Is it more optimized for certain things over others? Of course it is. Like everything.
In the novel "Beric the Briton,” the Victorian-era military veteran, and prolific author of young-adult educational books called G.A. Henty included a scene where Boadicea astutely observes that the Roman soldiers are incredibly well-coordinated compared to any forces she can muster, "as though bound together by a cord." This phrase is quite evocative. Some people might find Henty's books interesting to read, although they do contain some dramatic, sensational elements intended to hold the target audience's interest. The novels are based on serious historical research, though inevitably limited by the sources available in the late 19th century. The characters' statements generally seem sensible and plausible.
Imperium Romanum is really cool, i love their unique and entertaining style of content, they made how the Roman Army training here alive and believable.
Marching many miles with tons of heavy stuff..... Yep sounds terrible.
Hope they had good shoes.
@10:51 did some Judean ne'er-do-well scrawl ROMANES EUNT DOMUS on the wall?! 🤣
Why is there never a film of where and how they got their armour ? Seriously 100's of thousands of Roman's all in kit and nothing of where it cime from ?
Your thinking about the roman empire....aren't you squidward?
So they started with marching, line discipline, formations, exercise, attacks with Pilum and Sword and shield, and then repeat for 4 months until ready? Then they would run these same drills again on the regular, until the time came or when they retired?
Fantastic informative and well put together .... thank you
Knowing the Romans, this guy absolutely gassed up the past Roman military traditions and was overly critical of his own. But sadly it’s all the info we have
Most of them wear the sword holder on the wrong side. The issue are the height of the sword holder on the hips so its hard to pull it out…usually the sword holder are on the same side as the shield hand. you basically carry shield left and pull the sword from the left side with the right hand. A other option are the sword are backside mounted on the body. In formation fight it was a need to stay close. The javelins have been picked up from the back of the soldiers, first line didn’t pick any javelin they made the armored protection wall. Second line took the the javelin from the back of the first line and thrown it, if it was still possible the first line moved back and a new second line thrown javelin. It was a repeating throwing similar to a gun fire. In the back of the formation they had sometimes spare javelins prepared by logistics so it was possible to continuously penetrating the other side with javelins.
Very cool and realistic video, loved it =)
The men didn't know anything about the Roman Army when they joined that's why it took 5 years to train the men
"That would pit Hollywood to shame"
...yeah, that's not saying much
10:11 does this mean a legionary is able to read and write? I wonder that is the literacy rate in Roman Empire
veghettios….bro in my headcanon his name was spaghettios :D nice video as always thanks!
What’s the name of the calming music that begins halfway through the video?
0:18 I'm not sure if the "peekaboo" style of boxing was in use back then.
daaaamn how did you manage to film Roman army if cameras didnt exist at the time ???
Love your work. Any chance we could get a video about how orders were given to troops on the battlefield?
Okay okay it Can May BE that im mini BUT push ups im mester In that 1 fo real ya DIGG me
Testudo formation? More like target practice
*Fires katapeltai makedonikoi*
the feathers of a centurion helmet would be as feared as the hat of a drill sergeant only difference the centurion has a stick and some used it so much some got a nickname with "give me another" because they constantly broke their sticks on tironnes
These guys are the weekend re-enactors I get it but they are not convincing as real Roman soldiers.
The fat guy at the beginning training all those legionaries reminded me of my trainer from 24 hour fitness 😂🤣😅
This was Fantastic!! Well done guys!
MI interesserebbe vedere l'organizzazione di costruzione da parte dei Legionari di strade o castelli.
Is uhh.... is anyone gonna mention that excellent shot of the slingshot ammo with a dick on it? 😂
Great video! So much of what we see in modern militaries has its roots in the Roman Empire. This is another reason why I detest most films, which always depict peasant farmers and teenage girls, with the crudest weapons and devoid of armour, cutting down swaths of legionaries. People still praise the 1980 miniseries, Masada (starring Peter O'Toole), yet the Romans are depicted as so mind-numbingly incompetent that they get pasted by zealots in every encounter. And of course all films seem to neglect a crucial aspect of armour...that it actually works! Yes, the Romans suffered defeats, yet overwhelmingly their battles were very one-sided. But of course that doesn't make for good cinema. 🙄
Spent time in the Marines (FMF)….no to watch this “reenactment”…
Less talking and more of what you promote please.
I wander how good sling is small confrontation Day to day life peasants ❓
All that gruelling training didn’t mean shite when Varus led his three legions into the Teutoburg Forest ,did it ? 🤣🤣🤣
Without training it wolud not lasted 3 days and even best army in the world with best trained soldiers can always be defeated in ceratin circumstances.
@@paprskomet it lasted three days due to the size of the Legion,swords and spears are not AR- 15’s takes longer to hack and slash and behead ! 🙂
@@navydad8916 There are several battles in roman history when far more Romans were killed in battle yet combat only lasted few hours.Therefore your explanation does not really work.
@@paprskomet lighten up Francis ,we are not making this into a “Elitist Historian” debate . Yes I know about General Crassus at the battle of Carrhae 53 BC,also a gigantic loss .
@@navydad8916 but it is not just about Carrhae.There were very many other battles like that not just one or two."That lighten up Francis ,we are not making this into a “Elitist Historian” debate " makes no sense.How can anyone debate with you?Imagine if I wrote to you the same as you just wrote to me now.And what the hell is elitist on it...?
something ive been wondering about is if they had any form of medical discharge
we know after they finished there years of service they got land or a large leaving bonus
but what if they were injured to a point of not being able to work anymore
they did look after the injured, so if someone were to survive, and be treated but say they had lost a leg in the process what would happen?
what about things that are super common today such as arthritis caused by lugging around all that weight?
would they be given clerical roles so they could finish off there service, or were they just let go to fend for themselves?
what if they were a year of finishing there service? or high ranking?
would they get some kind of reduced payout?
I think this would be a really interesting topic to cover as it shows the more human side of the roman war machine
They did have a medical discharge system and depending on the reason. They could Still be honorable discharged for medical reasons. Also while its not fully verified, its suspected they became non combatants in the supply trains they were already made up of civilians and slaves
4:49 the centurion feather was it that big? damn feel so cumbersome
Imagine being trained as a Legionary for years, and your first battle is with a small little GAULISH VILLAGE..
you mean the only village they never conquered .-)?
The fast answer. We dont know. And all is guessing
I would like to see video about Romans legions in provinces like Syria or Egypt, how the soldiers were kept in numbers.
Roman legions construction methods, works and tools
What is roman recruit daily foods during training?
This makes me wonder if individual Cohorts were raised up, and trained as one or were replaced individually.
..,And I wonder if they ever had a dreaded “Stop Loss” system in place.
It might be that occasionally large group that was recruited together was also trained together but in many othe cases recruits went on training as individual.When man was accepted to army he often had to travel to garrison and unit which was far from where he lived and for this purpose he was given special traveling bonus in money from emperor to get to that place.From preserved Roman military manuals it is clear that soldier was gradually teached to fight individually than in small groups,in centuries,cohorts and bodies as large as that they were equal to real-size armies.Part of training were even mock battles and military hunts of wild animals both of which might include several thousands of soldiers.We also know from manuals and preserved letters that smaller groups of soldiers used to be sent on extra specialist trainings like in artillery use or archery.
An example of: the more you sweat, the less you bleed 🫡
What about Roman sports for legionaries during relaxing time? Football 🏈? Tug of war
Harpastum. The ancient father of today Rugby (officially recognized by the Rugby World as "the father of rugby").
It's still played today in Italy in Firenze, under the name "Calcio Storico Fiorentino" there's video on youtube about it.
I’ve always wondered this!
Interested and informative video about Rome empires army exercises and actually ready-made before battles ...thanks( Invicta) channel for sharing always (Invicta) sharing a wonderful videos
"Drop down and give me XX Magotus Maximus!"
Some Roman drill Sergeant after a recruit disappoints him by existing.
Why this mix of legioairs and auxilary troups in the video because there the eductation differs a lot. Most videos where with oval shields = auxilary troups. The formation in films are much to loose, they have to be much closer.
Reality of Roman army of this time was not really that simple as oval shields = auxilary troups, rectangular shields = legionaries.As for formations(at this particular time of early imperial army in the video)they did differ based on particular tactical need in any single combat situation where they could be modified from more tight to looser(so called closed and open order) but even in close order they were not like medieval style shieldwalls(until 3rd century when they gradually started to fought like that) with shields boss to boss.It was not even possible as rectangular cylindrical shields typically used by most legionaries of this time period did not allowed creation of actual strong shield wall and to protrude hispanic sword from it in the most common stabing attack you would need to have more open order where your shield was not directly side by side with your collegues.Adoption of oval and circular shields later allowed use of actual shield walls and really close order formations which soldiers at the time of this video only performed when doing for example testudo formation.
😎😎😎👊👊👊😎😎😎
AWESOME VID
I DIG YOUR CHANNEL BROTHER
countless hours - ? If we have the data we can count it.
I just want to know if their "drill sergeants" screamed at them! 🤬📢 🕵️♂️💩
Why wouldn't they?
@@andrewmiller7456 Well they scream at them constantly to train them to operate in high stress situations. It's very smart. The first time I've heard of it was in the 1800's. Before that I know they only screamed at groups for audible reasons, but not individual solders for mundane things.
Love this format and this group specifically but it's my understanding that the whole "practicing with weighted swords" thing is a myth, of which no documentation can be found. The video just says "records indicate" that it IS true but they list no sources for this? Correct me if I am wrong. I would actually like it to be true b/c that's bad ass.