Cicero in one of his treatises stated: "Nothing scares our enemies more than the deafening silence of the legionaries lined up waiting for battle". The Romans advanced without a shout, but with the rhythmic clanging of swords on shields (a method copied today by riot police squads) while the enemies wriggled, screaming and jumping each on their own as was the custom among the Western barbarians.
@@666Kacaspartans don't shout either. It scared alot of people. These silent lean heavily armoured hoplites wearing bronze with long hair sticking out. I think the wargod ussually quiet as well. Could be a religious thing relating to mars/ares. And why the greeks thougth they could change the myths when convenient.
The Romans did not need to speak because all the soldiers and officers knew exactly what, how and where to do the maneuvers assigned to them. They did them so many times in training that they did not even need to think about it, they came automatically. The Jewish-Roman historian Flavius Josephus wrote with admiration that the training of the legionaries was indistinguishable from real war and that every soldier trained every day to the best of his ability, being "his maneuvers like bloodless battles and his battles like bloody maneuvers". However, orders were also given with hand signals by the Centurions and with light signals through the combined use of torches.
The British Army during the time of black powder was famous for it’s silence while awaiting the order to fire. At Waterloo, a French officer wrote the silence of the redcoats was intimidating and unnerving.
A legacy of Marlborough’s insight that the flintlock musket had decisively shifted the battlefield in favor of firepower based tactics, rather than aggressive melee (thought the redcoats were also fierce in melee, of course)
That wasnt at waterloo. It was during the peninsula war and it comes from the memoirs of a french general whose name begins with a B. The account is quoted in full in David Chandler’s The Campaigns of Napoleon but, unfortunately, ive just moved house and my copy is in a box somewhere, so i cant give you the name of the french general who wrote that famous account of the ‘long silent red line’.
Depends if they're sober...watching a beserker going mental must've been intimidating for any pro soldier regardless your training/experience...you dont win often against crazy thats a rule for everyday life and hence why the romans stayed at the rhine🤷🏻♂️
I actually did my masters thesis on a similar topic and unfortunately have to disagree with what you're saying in this video. Whilst there are many instances where Roman armies advances silently into battle (the Roman force at Watling street, Caesar's army at Pharsalus), we also have an equal number of ancient sources that detail Roman armies advancing loudly and with a clamour. Caesar's "Gallic Wars", which you also reference, includes a passage in which Caesar writes “Trumpets should sound on every side and the whole army raise a shout, in order to animate the courage of their own men and strike terror into the enemy”. During the Bar Kokhba revolt, Josephus describes a small engagement where the Roman legionaries sounded their trumpets and shouted their war cries before charging the enemy. At the Battle of the Bagradas River, Polybius writes that the Republican forces facing the Carthaginian army banged their shields and spears together “after their usual custom” whilst also raising their battle cry. This is a particularly interesting quote, as it would appear to suggest Roman tradition was in fact to create noise before engaging. Ultimately, like you allude to in this video, Roman military tradition changed drastically throughout the many centuries in which Roman armies operated. Using blanket statements to describe such a long period of time is problematic, especially when we have many instances of Roman armies employing noise in order to psychologically affect their opponents. Other than that, I really enjoyed the video, analysing the psychological impact of silence on the battlefield is certainly an interesting topic and as you point out, the Romans did utilise this effectively. Unfortunately, not in every engagement 😉.
@@666Kacathat’s the point I’m making, the video is titled “the Roman silence”, even though he points out that the Romans did in fact advance loudly, doesn’t really make sense does it?
I remember reading about a similar professional silence when confronting enemies…in 1940 in the Red Sea a British Royal Navy cruiser was steaming south when a Italian battleship was spotted steaming northwards …this was before Mussolini had declared war on Britain and so the Royal Navy crew all came on deck and stood to attention..the Italian battleship crew were the complete opposite swearing , cursing and gesturing hand signals as they passed but within just a few seconds a realisation dawned on the Italian sailors that very soon they would be at war with this professional body of men and went quite and still ….
That's why stealth has always been a great Italian quality. As you mention WW2 and naval tactics, the Italians revolutionised again warfare with silence and underwater operations. The British were smart to take note and develop new underwater groups too. The need for superior professionalism and creativity on the side of the Italians, though, was a byproduct of their inferior production capacity and inferior tech in frontal engagement. On the surface, the British led the way with their radar and a much stronger naval production, which allowed for losses in the bigger strategic game.
I once read a memoir from World War One, a European who was a boy at the time wrote that all the armies who marched back and forth would sing or have a band accompany them, except the Americans when they arrived. He reported that they overawed people there because they averaged taller and marched silently. Makes you wonder how real some accounts are but then you come across similar tales from other times and it makes sense. Thanks for the video.
The Americans overawed nobody took them over a year to train+engage their troops, fighting tactics both sides had abandoned in the 1st year of the war against all advice,their officers arrogance cost many lives
In the battle of 42nd st in crete, during ww2 the Maori battalion did a Haka before a bayonet charge against a battalion of German paratroopers. It was one of the most fearsome bayonet charges recorded, so many Germans died hiding behind trees in such great numbers so tightly packed that many were killed still standing by the share concentration of german numbers
Have you ever tried a 20km walk with a friend. You will talk with each other for the first 5-10km but you will not talk by the remaining length.. so imagine marching with all the gears of a roman army then confronting an enemy. Then you will know why they are silent.😁
A calm demeanor served as an antithesis of interest. Silence is non reactionary. Romans kept the emotions out of the operations and followed logical protocol til the bitter end. Professionals.
This is just ridiculous. They fought like a machine, but they were still human beings. Roman soldiers also panicked in dire situations. The ones fighting in the Teutoburg forest were a fine example of that.
When i was a rugby coach, b4 a game the team would certainly not win i remember all the talking. No one could finish a sentence before abother kid would burst out some new comment. I could see if they wanted to not be embaressee they had to work together but it was a chaotic storm of ideas, no unity of mind at all. I thought to myself "the first thing they can all do together as one cohesive unit is be silent". So i hushed them down, told them to be quiet listen and "save their fire" Lots of kids show up like boxers listening to some gee up music. I would explain to them, no music before the game. Clear your head empty your head so your training and instincts can kick in when you are on the field. Now i am vindicated Roma Invicta!
I remember reading about a battle in the late Republican Civil wars where two veteran Legions, each with over 10 years service, faced each other, they were so professional that the officers didn't even have to give orders, they all just knew what to do, apparently they had an entire battle in complete silence (except for the sounds of the actual fighting, metal clanging, etc.) Supposedly even veteran officers were in awe at the surreal silent spectacle of it.... that description of that battle has always stick with me... tens of thousands of men, all veterans of the same army, brothers in arms who had fought alongside each other for years.... silently slaughtering each other by hand on a dusty field a thousand miles from home...
It must have been a sight in those ancient days. To see the legion passing by. While not the best time to be alive....it would be nice to be able to visit now and then.
Still relatable to our lives today, I remember working at a barbershop where I swept up hair and ran errands. Some customers mentioned that they were nervous how I only greeted them and said very little if anything else at all. Even in this modern world we’ve created, the loudest in any room is the weakest meanwhile, the quiet one will be your largest threat overall.
I work in the fire service and what we say at my department is you always want to appear in control like a duck on the water even though the the feet are peddling hard below the surface the duck appears calm and in control. When you have to scream and shout its a sign that things are out of control.
Interesting points about "inclusion" regarding the role foreign barbarians played in the Roman army. Nonetheless it’s worth remembering the role migration played, and not always positive. Mass migration from the Eurasian steppe overcame and dismembered the western part of the empire. Clearly the inclusion & integration of barbarians into the army did not always work as intended.
Romans corrupt and collapse from within to create the vacuum to use other people. The top elite gave up the core values that make Rome great first. History repeats itself.
It’s a lot like the German army of WW1, the more saturated they became with foreign troops and allies the worse they became. The Roman army pre 3rd century and the German army of 1914 are two of the greatest armies ever to see a battlefield.
@@HOMER8517seriously, a lot of this art is dogshit especially the Gauls and Germans. They out here with honest to goodness horned helmets and fur cloaks like it’s fucking Conan the barbarian 😂
The early Foreign Legion also used this tactic in at least one or two engagements against Algerian clans, making slight sounds only when hit by Algerian bullets. This total silence understandbly unnerved and unsettled the Algerians.
Field artillery was invented by Alexander the great. He used catapults with explosive material to destroy whole units of packed troops. We don't know what he used but it was something he learned during the siege of Tyre, when they blew up his land bridge.
The Roman army was ruthless, they would literally walk over you as well as run you down by their horses. They were greatly feared. Awesome to watch in History.
It's kind of like: For the warriors shouting and screaming to defend their home, this is the culmination of their life; for the roman soldier, this is Tuesday.
I once read a motivational poster in FA OBC, a German General said, 'you know where the British troops are, you can hear their bagpipes. You wouldn't know where the Americans are, until they are on top of you'.
Fundamentals are essential for everyone to grasp. They are the building blocks of life and knowledge. However, in today's world, personal matters are often overshadowed by legalities. Sometimes all you require is insurance and a simple agreement, without the unnecessary complications brought on by others.
5:45 This one trait sets Rome apart from any other empire. Although they thought of themselves as superior people they were able to learn, master and improve foreign skills.
Intimidation is a sign of weak war skills and the inability to fight properly. It's efficient against weak opposition. A strong opposition will wipe out intimidating hordes, and it happened all the time in history. And it will happen again. It's a rule.
What I see in summary is, the side with more advantage and more order won. No single uniqueness ensured victory. Whatever ensured more order in the battlefield...
The way I understand it, the Roman silence, mechanically disciplined function, and killing served to unnerve their opponents. Who began to think of them as inhuman?
They had something of a "war cry", but it was close to a "moan", the "barritus" - it was at first used in funerals, then in battle. Imagine the usual sound we imagine ghosts do (the "oooOOOOOOooohhh") in the form of a "wave", starting low, then going high, then back to low, against their shields, who would reverberate the sound, and with this send it further and louder. If you were on the other side, you would believe that you were fighting against the dead...
So they adapted and absorbed the tactics and customs of their conquered enemy until what made them distinctly Roman and effective was diluted to ineffectiveness and they were conquered. Dei and affirmative action was at work even back then.
Its funny.. in my country New Zealand its the opposite, we do the Haka 😂 basically a wardance, when your camp is surrounded at night an 1000 men are shouting in unicen about how they will kill you apparently it has a good phycological effect
This is like the Portuguese Empire tactics in the middle East and India in the XV and XVI century. Also used on the Portuguese Guerrilla warfare style.
I've heard it said the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS did the same thing during WWII; the Russians would bellow *_"URA!"_* when they charged and the Germans moved in near silence. I'm told it was very unnerving and gave rise to the sentiment you were facing organic machines with whom you could not reason or compromise. *[EDIT]* I could be wrong, but I hope not.
The Germans own narratives indicate they sang the Deutschland Lied and cried out 'Hurrah' themselves when, for example, trying to break out of encirclements in 1943-45. See Haupt, Carrel, Buchner amongst others. I have not seen references to this doctrine of silence of which you speak, although I am open to the idea that there were examples of silence.
@@skillsphere9245 You start by comparing Nazi Germany's Wehrmacht and Waffen SS positively to the 'Russians' (a misnomer, given that the army of the USSR was very much a multi-national force) but when I give you written German sources that show they were not silent you switch to a movie about D-Day and a nameless Dutch officer, neither of which are related to the Eastern Front and neither of which strike me as being very useful sources. I am not going to argue the Nazis were putting poor armies into the field during their 'heyday' of 1939-42 (because after that contemporary evidence of German sources is that the quality of their forces declined quite steadily), though I will note that they had already encountered significant set-backs against other forces, for example Tobruk, Operation Crusader, all 3 main Alamein Battles, Arras and Narvik and, most significantly, on the Eastern Front (and it wasn't all just about mud, snow and waves of 'suicidal brown Asiatic hordes') - for example Smolensk where a significant operational defeat was inflicted on them, but also sharp rebuffs at Rostov, Dubno, Rovno, Sevastopol, not to mention the little problems around Moscow and Stalingrad. The Scottish went into battle at times with bagpipes playing and they were generally considered to be rather handy, albeit noisy soldiers (including by your beloved Nazi Germans). The sirens on the Stuka were said to be terrifying - not their silence. The Zulus (in a different era) were noisy and no-one who fought them thought they were pansies. The Japanese in WW2 charged with bugles and lots of shouting and they seem to have had a reputation for being dangerous opponents. I think the thing that is impressive, or terrifying is the overall picture of efficiency, willingness to die, and things like feeling you are being cut off/outflanked and so on. Whether it is noisy or silent doesn't make much difference. Romans died 'silently' in huge numbers in the Teutoburg Forest, at Cannae, at Carrhae, at Adrianople. Their enemies were noisy. Nazi German soldiers died like flies (silently or not) at Stalingrad, before Moscow, at Smolensk, at Sevastopol (including in 1942 when they captured it). All the Nazi romance troubles me. They lost. They were outfought and not just defeated by numbers, though that was part of the strategic reason for victory. Every day they fought was another day that the death camps kept killing. That's what they fought for. That was their cause. They were effective for about 3 years for a range of reasons including a well-trained army that was sometimes noisy and sometimes not. It helped the Nazis that they had been preparing for war for longer than most of their opponents, that Britain had a confused doctrine caught between being ready to fight a continental war and being set up to fight policing actions by companies and battalions in their colonies, that Britain had hoped to use Nazi Germany to fight the USSR and so helped the Nazis to gain access to the munitions and armaments of Czechoslovakia, to practice in Spain and the Brits had also persistently betrayed their French 'allies' in pursuit of balance of power politics which helped prevent the Nazis being confronted when they were still relatively weak. When you think about it though, the Nazi Germans managed to lose WW2 pretty quickly, silently or not. They started without a sufficient strategic fuel reserve and things went from bad to worse. In the space of 3 years they wore out the armed forces they built up without managing to beat their main western European foe and then lost even faster in their war of real choice in the East. Nice uniforms though. I recently saw a doco where an actual Russian soldier commented 'We don't start wars. We finish them'. There might be something in that last part. Maybe they were better soldiers than they get credit for? They actually won WW2 - very noisily, perhaps. 7 out of every 10 Nazi German military casualties was on the Eastern Front. Those Nazi Germans were pretty quiet in death.
Thats military tactics 101 today. For different reasons mainly though but the Roman military has heavily influenced every military in existence. Today its more about stealth and not being spotted or heard. But back then they had no radios and operated with large units in battle. Silence would have been 100% necessary to hear your orders. Just imagine trying to command thousands of men with your voice and banners on a battlefield. Today we have radios and smoke grenades to signal, and operate with smaller units spread out. Most of the peoples that Rome fought especially Celtic and Germanic people(predecessors to Vikings) fought as individuals typically. They were generally larger genetically, lived in harsher environments and trained since early childhood. Man to man their warriors were stronger and more skilled than Roman soldiers but Roman soldiers learned how to fight as a unit not as a mob of individuals. It wasnt about personal glory or Valhalla to them but about the glory of Rome.
Correction: the germanic tribes the Romans fought didn't specifically believe in Valhalla but they had the same pantheon and a very similar religion to the Vikings and a strong warrior tradition. The same core as Norse Mythology but without the specific concept of Valhalla. Individual glory on the battlefield was still very important
Imagine a soldier from back then time-traveled to today to learn military tactics, and upon returning was asked if the 21st Century had any effective war cries. The soldier would respond "of course...Leeeeerooooy Jeeeeeeeeeeennnnnnnkins!!!"
Romans were organised and coordinated army. Silence was important so soldiers could hear orders of the officers. Later swiss mercenaries were the same. Screaming in for mation was punishable by death.
Drill Sargent told us the first day of Basic STFU! when PTing, and the reason was...it's simply a waste of energy. Never forgot that lesson. 11bravo CIB mosul '04
I mean yea in relation to gaul.. I mean untamed probably is not true of the gauls to anyone besides the Romans, I mean they wore pants only barbarians wear pants... The use of noise by professional and tamed forces is prevalent thru out history... Mongols were literally tamers of animals and people's and as effective of an army the pre gun world ever saw.. they were not known for their silence.. The mamalukes who turned them back used war cries...
Decent English and clear presentation of facts, thank you. A bit too much chainmail on babaric warriors , perhaps. Chainmail was expensive and required the ability to produce steel.😃
Cicero in one of his treatises stated: "Nothing scares our enemies more than the deafening silence of the legionaries lined up waiting for battle". The Romans advanced without a shout, but with the rhythmic clanging of swords on shields (a method copied today by riot police squads) while the enemies wriggled, screaming and jumping each on their own as was the custom among the Western barbarians.
Reminds me of the big battle in the movie "Spartacus".
For sure i stated that.
Greek phalangites used shouting to set the rhythm while moving into positions
@@666Kaca Rorke's Drift.
Silence except for the singing of "Men of Harlech".
Plus "Front rank - FIRE!" and so on.
@@666Kacaspartans don't shout either. It scared alot of people. These silent lean heavily armoured hoplites wearing bronze with long hair sticking out. I think the wargod ussually quiet as well. Could be a religious thing relating to mars/ares. And why the greeks thougth they could change the myths when convenient.
Romans could be silent because Italians can have full conversations with just hand signals…
That gives them an advantage over other armies.
😂😂😂
The Romans did not need to speak because all the soldiers and officers knew exactly what, how and where to do the maneuvers assigned to them. They did them so many times in training that they did not even need to think about it, they came automatically. The Jewish-Roman historian Flavius Josephus wrote with admiration that the training of the legionaries was indistinguishable from real war and that every soldier trained every day to the best of his ability, being "his maneuvers like bloodless battles and his battles like bloody maneuvers". However, orders were also given with hand signals by the Centurions and with light signals through the combined use of torches.
👍 👌👌👌
😅🤣😂You are so right. I knew my ass was grass when my Italian mother motioned with her hands and gave me the "look"....
The British Army during the time of black powder was famous for it’s silence while awaiting the order to fire. At Waterloo, a French officer wrote the silence of the redcoats was intimidating and unnerving.
A legacy of Marlborough’s insight that the flintlock musket had decisively shifted the battlefield in favor of firepower based tactics, rather than aggressive melee (thought the redcoats were also fierce in melee, of course)
Lol
That wasnt at waterloo. It was during the peninsula war and it comes from the memoirs of a french general whose name begins with a B. The account is quoted in full in David Chandler’s The Campaigns of Napoleon but, unfortunately, ive just moved house and my copy is in a box somewhere, so i cant give you the name of the french general who wrote that famous account of the ‘long silent red line’.
@@user-lv5bt3nt3r Bapoleon Nomaparte! love that guy
Shouting, screaming and making a lot of noise before battle is to hide fear. Beware the silent man.
No. Warriors do it for a psychological effect. Not fear!! Weirdo
No. It’s for a psychological effect. Not fear.
And the 13 likes are people that never studied the history of warfare
Stop meat riding the Roman’s!
Depends if they're sober...watching a beserker going mental must've been intimidating for any pro soldier regardless your training/experience...you dont win often against crazy thats a rule for everyday life and hence why the romans stayed at the rhine🤷🏻♂️
I actually did my masters thesis on a similar topic and unfortunately have to disagree with what you're saying in this video. Whilst there are many instances where Roman armies advances silently into battle (the Roman force at Watling street, Caesar's army at Pharsalus), we also have an equal number of ancient sources that detail Roman armies advancing loudly and with a clamour. Caesar's "Gallic Wars", which you also reference, includes a passage in which Caesar writes “Trumpets should sound on every side and the whole army raise a shout, in order to animate the courage of their own men and strike terror into the enemy”. During the Bar Kokhba revolt, Josephus describes a small engagement where the Roman legionaries sounded their trumpets and shouted their war cries before charging the enemy. At the Battle of the Bagradas River, Polybius writes that the Republican forces facing the Carthaginian army banged their shields and spears together “after their usual custom” whilst also raising their battle cry. This is a particularly interesting quote, as it would appear to suggest Roman tradition was in fact to create noise before engaging. Ultimately, like you allude to in this video, Roman military tradition changed drastically throughout the many centuries in which Roman armies operated. Using blanket statements to describe such a long period of time is problematic, especially when we have many instances of Roman armies employing noise in order to psychologically affect their opponents. Other than that, I really enjoyed the video, analysing the psychological impact of silence on the battlefield is certainly an interesting topic and as you point out, the Romans did utilise this effectively. Unfortunately, not in every engagement 😉.
He literally says in the video they used battle shouts after throwing their pila before engaging
@@666Kacathat’s the point I’m making, the video is titled “the Roman silence”, even though he points out that the Romans did in fact advance loudly, doesn’t really make sense does it?
@@kenna5909 yeah youre right
Armies generally take on the character of the generals and leadership staff. Which itself changes with time.
@joshuakeeler82 Yes and can change from one unit to another, as each may have different sub-traditions and esprit de corps
I remember reading about a similar professional silence when confronting enemies…in 1940 in the Red Sea a British Royal Navy cruiser was steaming south when a Italian battleship was spotted steaming northwards …this was before Mussolini had declared war on Britain and so the Royal Navy crew all came on deck and stood to attention..the Italian battleship crew were the complete opposite swearing , cursing and gesturing hand signals as they passed but within just a few seconds a realisation dawned on the Italian sailors that very soon they would be at war with this professional body of men and went quite and still ….
not even close to hand to hand combat silence
That's why stealth has always been a great Italian quality. As you mention WW2 and naval tactics, the Italians revolutionised again warfare with silence and underwater operations. The British were smart to take note and develop new underwater groups too. The need for superior professionalism and creativity on the side of the Italians, though, was a byproduct of their inferior production capacity and inferior tech in frontal engagement. On the surface, the British led the way with their radar and a much stronger naval production, which allowed for losses in the bigger strategic game.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 clown
@@EarthResearchno because war ships play woke tunes and run on unicorn farts
This is such classic British propaganda.
Discipline, the greatest virtue a man can have, unfortunately lacking in todays society.
👍👏👏
SILENCE!!
Did you try looking at the fucking army?
´´Fähntässi >
National Service is needed
Staying silent also conserved energy, much needed for longer battles I imagine..
very rare for someone to understand energy
The Roman legions uniforms are timeless.
shame historians get it wrong and depict them wearing skirts, when in reality pants and shorts were worn
@@soldier22881 Creo que eso usaban en regiones frías del norte. En Roma era mal visto por ser indumetaria de bárbaros.
It was made by an AI.
I once read a memoir from World War One, a European who was a boy at the time wrote that all the armies who marched back and forth would sing or have a band accompany them, except the Americans when they arrived. He reported that they overawed people there because they averaged taller and marched silently. Makes you wonder how real some accounts are but then you come across similar tales from other times and it makes sense. Thanks for the video.
The Americans overawed nobody took them over a year to train+engage their troops, fighting tactics both sides had abandoned in the 1st year of the war against all advice,their officers arrogance cost many lives
In the battle of 42nd st in crete, during ww2 the Maori battalion did a Haka before a bayonet charge against a battalion of German paratroopers. It was one of the most fearsome bayonet charges recorded, so many Germans died hiding behind trees in such great numbers so tightly packed that many were killed still standing by the share concentration of german numbers
Americans marching silently? I find that hard to imagine.
Have you ever tried a 20km walk with a friend. You will talk with each other for the first 5-10km but you will not talk by the remaining length.. so imagine marching with all the gears of a roman army then confronting an enemy. Then you will know why they are silent.😁
Shouting and screaming uses up energy and strength. Great series and pictures.
A calm demeanor served as an antithesis of interest. Silence is non reactionary.
Romans kept the emotions out of the operations and followed logical protocol til the bitter end.
Professionals.
This is just ridiculous. They fought like a machine, but they were still human beings. Roman soldiers also panicked in dire situations. The ones fighting in the Teutoburg forest were a fine example of that.
@@wulfheort8021 You must have been enlisted in a weak corp.
@@Rahatlakhoom What on earth are you on about? This has got nothing to do with me, smartass.
Eran estoicos
@@RAILOLUX Ya!
When i was a rugby coach, b4 a game the team would certainly not win i remember all the talking. No one could finish a sentence before abother kid would burst out some new comment. I could see if they wanted to not be embaressee they had to work together but it was a chaotic storm of ideas, no unity of mind at all. I thought to myself "the first thing they can all do together as one cohesive unit is be silent". So i hushed them down, told them to be quiet listen and "save their fire"
Lots of kids show up like boxers listening to some gee up music. I would explain to them, no music before the game. Clear your head empty your head so your training and instincts can kick in when you are on the field. Now i am vindicated Roma Invicta!
I remember reading about a battle in the late Republican Civil wars where two veteran Legions, each with over 10 years service, faced each other, they were so professional that the officers didn't even have to give orders, they all just knew what to do, apparently they had an entire battle in complete silence (except for the sounds of the actual fighting, metal clanging, etc.) Supposedly even veteran officers were in awe at the surreal silent spectacle of it.... that description of that battle has always stick with me... tens of thousands of men, all veterans of the same army, brothers in arms who had fought alongside each other for years.... silently slaughtering each other by hand on a dusty field a thousand miles from home...
“Gracchus, something more cheerful”
Such a great series. Too bad we only got two seasons.
Aaah, men of good taste are here!😎
@@MD-on9fi Which series?
@rob_odd HBO's Rome. Ran in the mid-2000's. It was great.
It must have been a sight in those ancient days. To see the legion passing by. While not the best time to be alive....it would be nice to be able to visit now and then.
I don't think there is a best time to be alive.
Depends on who you were. The average lifespan of a Roman Citizen in Rome during the Pax Romana was nearly seventy, higher than many countries today.
Still relatable to our lives today, I remember working at a barbershop where I swept up hair and ran errands. Some customers mentioned that they were nervous how I only greeted them and said very little if anything else at all. Even in this modern world we’ve created, the loudest in any room is the weakest meanwhile, the quiet one will be your largest threat overall.
Ufc fighters have pretty loud mouths
@ for promoting their ufc matches in order to generate public interest which increases profits
I work in the fire service and what we say at my department is you always want to appear in control like a duck on the water even though the the feet are peddling hard below the surface the duck appears calm and in control.
When you have to scream and shout its a sign that things are out of control.
Yet another reason why silence is gold.
Silence makes no mistake......
Interesting points about "inclusion" regarding the role foreign barbarians played in the Roman army. Nonetheless it’s worth remembering the role migration played, and not always positive. Mass migration from the Eurasian steppe overcame and dismembered the western part of the empire. Clearly the inclusion & integration of barbarians into the army did not always work as intended.
Romans corrupt and collapse from within to create the vacuum to use other people. The top elite gave up the core values that make Rome great first. History repeats itself.
It’s a lot like the German army of WW1, the more saturated they became with foreign troops and allies the worse they became. The Roman army pre 3rd century and the German army of 1914 are two of the greatest armies ever to see a battlefield.
The deafening silence of my mothers stare when I forgot to thaw out the frozen chicken, absolutely terrifying
*Greeks shouted the name of their goddess, Alala, before battle.*
ISIS - “this mf spittin”
Cant believe the romans ended their mewing streak on 476 ad and got mogged by the germs 😔
This is one of the best topics, videos, and voices in a history channel yet.
Thanks for the support!
Bro really congratulating AI generated content 💀
@@HOMER8517seriously, a lot of this art is dogshit especially the Gauls and Germans. They out here with honest to goodness horned helmets and fur cloaks like it’s fucking Conan the barbarian 😂
First time viewer. Thank you for this informative video, from a new subscriber.
Welcome!
Very interesting and very well done. Thank you.
The early Foreign Legion also used this tactic in at least one or two engagements against Algerian clans, making slight sounds only when hit by Algerian bullets.
This total silence understandbly unnerved and unsettled the Algerians.
I have learned far more intel about people from their silence than words & I resent it the most when I judge and damn them for their treachery
It's all fun and games until the General calls for a "Decimation!"
Well made and hugely entertaining
The poor scared guys at 6:49 were like: "Oh, my God! We thought they could only be silent, but they can also scream!"
This was before the Field Artillery.
King of Battle, indeed.
Cavalry is the knight it keeps the king and queen from being fucked
Field artillery was invented by Alexander the great. He used catapults with explosive material to destroy whole units of packed troops. We don't know what he used but it was something he learned during the siege of Tyre, when they blew up his land bridge.
@@sidekick6371it was used by the chinese 200 years before alexander
No shit, really?? Well, thanks, captain Obvious.
Great video! Thank you
Glad you liked it!
Old SAYING Silent but deadly. My uncle Julius.
Great vid, got my sub👍
Awesome, thank you!
This is very well done. Thank you!
US infantry manual from 1918 says that when advancing on the enemy to make no yelling or shouting.
True.
The Roman army was ruthless, they would literally walk over you as well as run you down by their horses. They were greatly feared. Awesome to watch in History.
Totally enjoyed this video very well done kudos sir
Thank you kindly!
Curious, which AI photo generator did you use for the pictures? It's really good as long as you can't see the hands that AI never seems to get right.
Who created those terrific images?
AI
AI bullshit. And they are pretty fanciful and inaccurate
During Anzio some American paratroopers attacked German positions not utter a word except orders being given.
It's kind of like: For the warriors shouting and screaming to defend their home, this is the culmination of their life; for the roman soldier, this is Tuesday.
good video
I have now once again put thought to the Roman Empire
Silence is a minor disavantage for roman, since they are speaking with their hand for over 2500 yrs, now.
Thanks!
I doubt there was much silence at Teutoberg, Manzikert, Cannae, Lake Trasimene.
I imagine the sounds if terror and fear were near deafening.
That don't even make sense, of course battles are gonna be noisy, he's clearly talking about before the actual fighting.
I’m so fucking tired of ai
Lol. Great call.
Artificial intelligenve has as much life force as a robotic toaster! In my human opinion. IMHO. 😂😂
I mean to tell ya!
Then grow up and deal with it
It looks great
We have to adapt to the new world brother.
I once read a motivational poster in FA OBC, a German General said, 'you know where the British troops are, you can hear their bagpipes. You wouldn't know where the Americans are, until they are on top of you'.
Fundamentals are essential for everyone to grasp. They are the building blocks of life and knowledge. However, in today's world, personal matters are often overshadowed by legalities. Sometimes all you require is insurance and a simple agreement, without the unnecessary complications brought on by others.
Excellent presentation
Thank you! Cheers!
When the team is silent then the commands can be heard and acted upon.
The majority of casualties would typically happen when one army is in retreat. Discipline is the deadliest weapon!
.When the Vandals descended and invaded Rome, a huge mass of Romans stays permanently silent.
5:45 This one trait sets Rome apart from any other empire. Although they thought of themselves as superior people they were able to learn, master and improve foreign skills.
Intimidation is a sign of weak war skills and the inability to fight properly. It's efficient against weak opposition. A strong opposition will wipe out intimidating hordes, and it happened all the time in history. And it will happen again. It's a rule.
What I see in summary is, the side with more advantage and more order won. No single uniqueness ensured victory. Whatever ensured more order in the battlefield...
The strength of deep, silent hatred. Society doesn't like those who carry that strength. Society gets nervous.
Nice 👍
A system will defeat chaos, silence gives focus not rage, calm allows clear thought (sorry I am not so keen on AI pictures)
Homer in Iliad is mentioning the same about Greeks vs Trojans. And in general ancient Greeks where acting the same
The way I understand it, the Roman silence, mechanically disciplined function, and killing served to unnerve their opponents. Who began to think of them as inhuman?
They had something of a "war cry", but it was close to a "moan", the "barritus" - it was at first used in funerals, then in battle.
Imagine the usual sound we imagine ghosts do (the "oooOOOOOOooohhh") in the form of a "wave", starting low, then going high, then back to low, against their shields, who would reverberate the sound, and with this send it further and louder.
If you were on the other side, you would believe that you were fighting against the dead...
Wow, the Gauls took anabolics!
This is an awesome channel! You should have like 600k subs not 6k
Interesting. I also know they didn’t use archers at first
So they adapted and absorbed the tactics and customs of their conquered enemy until what made them distinctly Roman and effective was diluted to ineffectiveness and they were conquered. Dei and affirmative action was at work even back then.
4:59 The AI is pushing the limits on that flag lmao
The 'Silence' strategy was used by the British, too.
The emptiest cans rattle the most noise
Nowt wrong with getting out wor tackle afore a bit of pagga
Works wonders when you're down the toon
Its funny.. in my country New Zealand its the opposite, we do the Haka 😂 basically a wardance, when your camp is surrounded at night an 1000 men are shouting in unicen about how they will kill you apparently it has a good phycological effect
@War and Honor could you give credit for the music? The composer is a cool guy and I really like this song so I think it's good to do.
This is like the Portuguese Empire tactics in the middle East and India in the XV and XVI century.
Also used on the Portuguese Guerrilla warfare style.
I've heard it said the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS did the same thing during WWII; the Russians would bellow *_"URA!"_* when they charged and the Germans moved in near silence. I'm told it was very unnerving and gave rise to the sentiment you were facing organic machines with whom you could not reason or compromise.
*[EDIT]* I could be wrong, but I hope not.
The Germans own narratives indicate they sang the Deutschland Lied and cried out 'Hurrah' themselves when, for example, trying to break out of encirclements in 1943-45. See Haupt, Carrel, Buchner amongst others. I have not seen references to this doctrine of silence of which you speak, although I am open to the idea that there were examples of silence.
@@skillsphere9245 You start by comparing Nazi Germany's Wehrmacht and Waffen SS positively to the 'Russians' (a misnomer, given that the army of the USSR was very much a multi-national force) but when I give you written German sources that show they were not silent you switch to a movie about D-Day and a nameless Dutch officer, neither of which are related to the Eastern Front and neither of which strike me as being very useful sources.
I am not going to argue the Nazis were putting poor armies into the field during their 'heyday' of 1939-42 (because after that contemporary evidence of German sources is that the quality of their forces declined quite steadily), though I will note that they had already encountered significant set-backs against other forces, for example Tobruk, Operation Crusader, all 3 main Alamein Battles, Arras and Narvik and, most significantly, on the Eastern Front (and it wasn't all just about mud, snow and waves of 'suicidal brown Asiatic hordes') - for example Smolensk where a significant operational defeat was inflicted on them, but also sharp rebuffs at Rostov, Dubno, Rovno, Sevastopol, not to mention the little problems around Moscow and Stalingrad.
The Scottish went into battle at times with bagpipes playing and they were generally considered to be rather handy, albeit noisy soldiers (including by your beloved Nazi Germans). The sirens on the Stuka were said to be terrifying - not their silence. The Zulus (in a different era) were noisy and no-one who fought them thought they were pansies. The Japanese in WW2 charged with bugles and lots of shouting and they seem to have had a reputation for being dangerous opponents. I think the thing that is impressive, or terrifying is the overall picture of efficiency, willingness to die, and things like feeling you are being cut off/outflanked and so on. Whether it is noisy or silent doesn't make much difference.
Romans died 'silently' in huge numbers in the Teutoburg Forest, at Cannae, at Carrhae, at Adrianople. Their enemies were noisy. Nazi German soldiers died like flies (silently or not) at Stalingrad, before Moscow, at Smolensk, at Sevastopol (including in 1942 when they captured it).
All the Nazi romance troubles me. They lost. They were outfought and not just defeated by numbers, though that was part of the strategic reason for victory. Every day they fought was another day that the death camps kept killing. That's what they fought for. That was their cause. They were effective for about 3 years for a range of reasons including a well-trained army that was sometimes noisy and sometimes not.
It helped the Nazis that they had been preparing for war for longer than most of their opponents, that Britain had a confused doctrine caught between being ready to fight a continental war and being set up to fight policing actions by companies and battalions in their colonies, that Britain had hoped to use Nazi Germany to fight the USSR and so helped the Nazis to gain access to the munitions and armaments of Czechoslovakia, to practice in Spain and the Brits had also persistently betrayed their French 'allies' in pursuit of balance of power politics which helped prevent the Nazis being confronted when they were still relatively weak.
When you think about it though, the Nazi Germans managed to lose WW2 pretty quickly, silently or not. They started without a sufficient strategic fuel reserve and things went from bad to worse. In the space of 3 years they wore out the armed forces they built up without managing to beat their main western European foe and then lost even faster in their war of real choice in the East. Nice uniforms though.
I recently saw a doco where an actual Russian soldier commented 'We don't start wars. We finish them'. There might be something in that last part. Maybe they were better soldiers than they get credit for? They actually won WW2 - very noisily, perhaps. 7 out of every 10 Nazi German military casualties was on the Eastern Front. Those Nazi Germans were pretty quiet in death.
@@skillsphere9245 Whatever, it is 2000 years ago, to day it is allah snackbar.
Silêncio em guerra moderna que depende se comunicação, de voz.
Isso é coisa da sua cabeça
Hail Victory.
What’s movie at the beginning ?
A barking dog is scared, a silent dog is prepared.
A barking dog sees a stranger, a silent dog judges danger.
A barking dog seeks disaster, a silent dog knows its master.
Tacitus "a Roman historian"
This almost feels like slander.
Damn a whole ai channel, madness
No matter how disciplined the Romans were, there's no way there'd be silence when Pontius is within earshot talking about his "gwait fwends in Wome."
Also Italians being quiet is wild.
Thats military tactics 101 today. For different reasons mainly though but the Roman military has heavily influenced every military in existence.
Today its more about stealth and not being spotted or heard. But back then they had no radios and operated with large units in battle. Silence would have been 100% necessary to hear your orders. Just imagine trying to command thousands of men with your voice and banners on a battlefield. Today we have radios and smoke grenades to signal, and operate with smaller units spread out.
Most of the peoples that Rome fought especially Celtic and Germanic people(predecessors to Vikings) fought as individuals typically. They were generally larger genetically, lived in harsher environments and trained since early childhood. Man to man their warriors were stronger and more skilled than Roman soldiers but Roman soldiers learned how to fight as a unit not as a mob of individuals. It wasnt about personal glory or Valhalla to them but about the glory of Rome.
Correction: the germanic tribes the Romans fought didn't specifically believe in Valhalla but they had the same pantheon and a very similar religion to the Vikings and a strong warrior tradition. The same core as Norse Mythology but without the specific concept of Valhalla. Individual glory on the battlefield was still very important
Outstanding, thanks for posting
Imagine a soldier from back then time-traveled to today to learn military tactics, and upon returning was asked if the 21st Century had any effective war cries. The soldier would respond "of course...Leeeeerooooy Jeeeeeeeeeeennnnnnnkins!!!"
There was a time when Italian forces prevailed over Germans due to superior discipline
Romans were organised and coordinated army. Silence was important so soldiers could hear orders of the officers.
Later swiss mercenaries were the same. Screaming in for mation was punishable by death.
wondeful!
I didn't know Henry Cavill was playing the main barbarian.
Drill Sargent told us the first day of Basic STFU! when PTing, and the reason was...it's simply a waste of energy. Never forgot that lesson. 11bravo CIB mosul '04
Actually there is a war song Paian or Paon or paeon that greeks used to sing while getting into a battle.
Romans used whistles and drums to control battles.
There are primary sources that contradict this.
True roman bread, for true romans.
Legions were regularly wiped out. Logistics is what set rome apart.
No it makes sense really, they were simply a professional force and were not barbaric or untamed.
I mean yea in relation to gaul.. I mean untamed probably is not true of the gauls to anyone besides the Romans, I mean they wore pants only barbarians wear pants...
The use of noise by professional and tamed forces is prevalent thru out history...
Mongols were literally tamers of animals and people's and as effective of an army the pre gun world ever saw.. they were not known for their silence..
The mamalukes who turned them back used war cries...
Decent English and clear presentation of facts, thank you. A bit too much chainmail on babaric warriors , perhaps. Chainmail was expensive and required the ability to produce steel.😃
Chailmail was adopted by rome, as they did often, from Gallia so they had the ability and were good but your right that not many would have had it
You’re
The Predator comes ever Silent.
It is Stoicism. The nation/state/empire that implemented this philosophy best is the Imperium Romanorum.