Oh Sun Tzu himself very strongly insisted that the officers, especially in the same type of deal as today's boot camp drill Sergants: if they don't train the men sufficiently; what they did is tantamount to *treason* against all of their duties, and their country's flag at the same time... same deal as a Roman officer or soldier who shirks his duty and/or falls asleep on picket duty: that kind of stunt brought about the death-penalty!
@@_--Reaper--_well the modern military as we know it is very organized. Command staff was revolutionized by Napoleons Marshal, Marshal Berthier. So it would be very interesting to see what a Roman commanders command staff would look like. And just how effective they were. Or if most of it fell to the commander. A good logistics officer during Roman times would be priceless I would imagine. And finding someone with such capabilities would be a difficult task. Would be interesting to see them do a video on a Roman commanders command staff
@@_--Reaper--_ Oh but sending a message to Rome or other major city might take days, weeks or months, and by the time reply should arrive the army has already moved on. But to where?
@@MarktheRuderight? You couldn't just call them and say hey I want to do this and that. The army was heavily responsible for itself and had to rely on the competence in it I guess
Just imagine if we had a multiple-season long series about the roman army at war. One that was so full of all the little details behind the logistics involved in planning a campaign through. The mishaps thay occurred on the march, the banter and activities during those nightly camps, the battles themselves, and even the process after like disposing of dead enemies and caring for the wounded. Thats something i always dream of seeing one day.
I love hearing the little anecdotes/side stories of particular Roman battles/general experiences. Makes you feel a bit closer to things and understanding.
The psychological effect on moral makes a lot of sense. I certainly wouldn't want to approach a formation of thousands of well-equipped men on a hill, their weapon & armour shining under the sun. The Romans in the late Republic/Early Empire were also ordered to not perform battle chants in order to intimate enemies through uniform silence.
Armies up to the time of the civil war marched in silence because otherwise there was no chance for higher-ups to command their units in any meaningfull way
Roman generals almost always had a long military career at their backs before they got to turn consul, pro-consul, legatus or any high ranking position depending on the time. That's the "cursus honorum". And for most of its History, a Roman politician had to be a skilled commander in order to ascend to the peak of his career. And even the heads of the greatest patrician families needed achievements in order to be taken seriously. That system made sure Rome always had a constant supply of very skilled commanders. But, on the bad side, a lot of those commanders were so eager to get those achievements in the year or two they got to manage an army that they often rushed things up or acted with more pride than wits. It's funny how Rome almost met total disaster because of this on 2 sepparate occasions. One was during the Second Punic War, when Hannibal kept baiting consul after consul and surrounding or constantly ambushing Roman armies. And the other was during the Cimbrian Wars, where Romans were initially crushed to the point of trauma. In the former, Fabius Maximus had to come and make the commanders to chill out and just stalk Hannibal, but never give in to pitch battle. And in the later, Gaius Marius had to come in and play with everyone's patience until the teutons and ambrions slipped and he capitalized.
yeah calling them "self taught amateurs" is pretty disingenuous, they were often from families with a tradition of officers so were raised preparing them for war, joining the military and served for years as an officer before ever even being considered for being a general. Just like today they'd have many years of service before being promoted. I havent checked many numbers but i want to say most generals were over 30 on the young side and often over 40 so they'd have 15+ years of experience as an officer.
The problem of overambitions of military leaders became even more severe when said leaders took their loyal legions and marched towards Rome to become new Emperor, which lead to numerous civil wars. Another disadvantage was overstretch, although the Romans dealt with that surprisingly well too. But in the end, the weakened Empire couldnt amass the ressources to secure its borders anymore.
@@abraham2172 Indeed, overstretching was a thing too. Some of those went excellent, like Caesar literally throwing himself into deep Gaul with the excuse of the Helvetic migration. Some of those went terribly wrong, like Crassus' vanity expedition into Parthia. And some achieved mixed results, like Regulus' expedition into Africa.
Yep, thats an important point you mentioned. Fabius is famous for not fighting Hannibal, people wrongly believe his strategy was to never fight Hannibal in open battle. This isnt true, Fabius was willing to face Hannibal, but on Roman terms. Fabius knew how good Hannibal was, and he knew every Roman commander before him had allowed Hannibal to fight a battle he had chosen. Fabius knew to beat Hannibal he needed these advantages. And one time in the war, Fabius had Hannibal trapped (the tables turned), Hannibal knew his army was gonna be annihilated and he employed very clever tactics to escape with most of his army. But this is never spoken about, even though it was a very important part of the story.
I am aware that i am repeating my self alot. But after over 60 years of studying Roman military history this video documentary among all the others you have provided is invaluable to me and am looking forward to many more. You have my allegince! Thank you all.
1. Dive into local politics and divide their tribes into resisting ones and amenable ones, get the amenable ones to your side 2. Scan nobility of the resisting ones and find people that can be persuaded to switch sides and bribe them well, including offering lands, rights to rule as client kings within Pax Romana and as per case offer Roman citizenships 3. Use your local people there to find a good excuse to send Roman troops as "arbiters" 4. Measure up overall manpower of opposing tribes/fractions, measure up their existing armies and send there Roman armies in batches the one after the other until the region is... "pacified" 5. Congratulate allies, punish enemies 6. Once the dust is settled, be fair to the conquered and give descendants of past allies but also of past enemies alike reasons to get to like the Roman rule
13:36: Emperor Nero's long flanking march at the Metaurus River. It's "General Nero" (Gaius Claudius Nero) and not Emperor Nero (Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus).
That´s really interesting to me. Some tactics, like taking the high ground might seem obvious, but the stuff about the supply line is probably the most important factor. Even an army that´s entrenched on a rocky mountain can´t survive forever, if besieged and unable to get ressources. It just shows how many considerations were to be kept in mind, which makes the success of the Romans even more impressive.
The numbers in ancient battle's was truly jawdropping.. and didn't return to these sizes after the fall of Rome until the age of discovery and the Napoleonic wars..
The Roman army was itself a branch of the government. Holding a legion gave you considerable power over how justice was dealt in those times. Most Roman judges had experience leading legions.
The Romans are a reminder that it is the stuff behind the scenes. The ability to keep information secretive, engineering, construction, and psychology is what determines a battles success.
Plus a *huge* edge the Romans usually had was their troops were *professionals*, and universally their foes relied on men drafted; now they'd *attack* with local troops who were NOT professionals: but they didn't count those as casualties: they used them to remove enemy units in initial attacks and their own troops to hold and gain new auxiliia, those were the guys they relied upon to do most of the fighting. The reason: casualties: their legionaries would be used to recruit and train Auxillia, and it was the locals who they relied on mostly to do most of the fighting: their own troops would be used to mop up enemies post battle and to maintain and build bases for the buildup of local troops, so when they needed actual *Roman* troops, they weren't short.
That is only true for the later stages of Rome. The Roman army became in part professional with the reforms of Gaius Marius (roughly 100 BC). It became fully professional with Augustus, a little over 100 years later. -> The Roman army was NOT professional for many centuries.
@@wedgeantilles8575 Yeah, that may be *partly* true, at most, but they also had a good solid NCO corps in their Centurians; and so their troops really did operate in the model of professional soldiers- not irregulars.
@@chissstardestroyer Well, professional is defined as somebody doing something and getting paid for it. And for several hundred years the legions were conscript armies. That they had more disciplin and training is something different. They were NOT professionals and the Legions WERE drafted. Your description about how the Legions and Auxilliaries worked together is completly wrong too btw. Aux. complemented the legions and added capabilities. E.g. Baltic slingers. Skirmishers. Cavalry. The Legions were always the heavy infantry that did the heavy fighting. Obviously they would not function without Aux. units, just like Aus. units wouldn't work without the Legions.
@@wedgeantilles8575 Conscript armies that were trained to regular combat troop levels; ie: professional troops, be they by that or not, the detail is the quality of the men, and they had to be professional to be on campaign that long- and they absolutely were on campaign for long extended periods of time, so no: they were NOT conscripts, they were professional soldiers; any other analysis falls apart. And given the reilability of the troops, *my* analysis doesn't fall apart, unlike yours.
At roughly 3:30, H.M. gives us several excellent examples of what the legions could do, outside of killing barbarians. Unfortunately, I can't help but feel that he neglected to mention the most salient example of the legions being Super-Human - During the Jewish rebellions, Legio X Fretensis was tasked with subduing Judea. Unfortunately for Rome, the Jews were doing to the Romans the same thing that Palestinians these days will do to the Jews; Using civilian non-combatants for cover, striking quickly and then melting back into populace after... After a lot of cat-and-mouse through Judea, the 5,000-odd men of the Tenth Legion had finally corralled and cornered the Jewish insurgents. It just sucked that they cornered them in the mountain-top fortress of Masada. The fortress itself was the very definition of *"Imposing!"* It covered 275 hectares at the very top of a mountain, with the only approaches being 3 narrow, winding, serpentine paths. Any army would be dismantled by the missile and artillery fire from the fort, if they used any of these approaches. In a flash of inspiration so brilliant, that the Roman Governor was practically channelling Julius Caesar, he decided that the available approaches were unsuitable and so he had the men of the Tenth Legion, as well as a goodly number of Jewish slaves, dismantle some of the surrounding mountains and use those remains to build a ramp right up to the main gate of the fort (with the intention of also building a siege tower, which would use the ramp to create a breach). Anyway, that Roman Ramp, as well as the Roman camps and the wall of circumvallation (around the mountain) still exist to this day!! The camps are little more than ruins and the walls are almost entirely gone. But the ramp... 2,000 years after being built by a Roman legion, that ramp is still the main path to and from the mountain fortress!! Of all Roman engineering marvels, this is the only one (that I know of) that's still exists and that is still being used for its intended purpose!!! Forget about Jesus, the REAL miracles were being performed by the Legions!!
"Novices talk tactics, professionals talk logistics" I am surprised that the Roman where well aware of this, as a lot of later Generals forgot about it.
The other thing is timing of the battle. If you can own the night that's absolutely the best utilizing night vision but back then they wouldn't have had that. So what they did instead was they'd make sure that the sun was to their backs. So when the enemy archers went to engage you, you would start the battle when you knew that sunlight was going to be in their face. So they're not getting precision shots off where your archers are dropping arrows in like crazy and they're not able to see them either. Cuz if they're looking up they're getting blinded by the Sun but only temporarily cuz when the arrow hits them they'll see again and they won't be concerned about the battle But it enhances the flight of the slings because that was the most popular weapon for poor people. So they would oftentimes it would negate the flight of those slings for the rocks that were thrown forward, the arrows and the Spears. Yours would have the advantage as long as you keep the wind to your back, which is why oftentimes these battles. They would wait long periods of time so that the conditions were just right. The Egyptians used to do something like this as well before they lost their minds with their pharaohs. The Pharaohs used to have the archers riding a big oval and they would stay outside of the range of the enemy's archers cuz their bows were superior and they would fling the arrows in and then as they rode in the arrow the Archer would reload and then on the way back through they would drop rounds in. By doing this with a couple hundred chariots, you're actually dropping in so many arrows that it's equivalent to that of a modern-day minigun the Egyptians used to say let the sky go black with our arrows and that's how they would deliver on that promise.
is there a vid you recommend on ancient egyptian tactics ? this sounds extremely interesting. i never heard of this before thinking their battles were a lot more primitive and im egyptian even lol
Plus the Romans in combat would swap lines: so the men would rotate their ranks in the course of the fight: thus gaining exhaustion slower than their foes: especially if in multiple ranks. Now even if in a single rank: they usually had better armor and equipment; those also factor into better will to fight, but the *biggest* thing is unit cohesion: where the men actually are not at odds with their bosses; if the latter ever happens: the army will collapse real fast! One way you solve that: have your officers dine and rest where the men do: the result is a type of comraderie between the ranks that is VERY beneficial to the units when the time comes, as well as do not waste your men willy-nilly; if you do that the survivors will lose all loyalty to their bosses, and the units will disintigrate real fast.
I’d be curious what happened in Teutoburg Forest that deviated from all of these standards, for the Roman army to be so completely taken by surprise and lose multiple legions of men within a week.
Varus was too trusting. The other leaders of the Germanic tribes probably thought that after Teutoberg, they shouldn't trust Arminius either, which would explain why they betrayed and murdered him. 🦁☀️🐝⚡🦅⚡🐝☀️🦁
@@NapoleonCalland Arminius was cunning, but the Germans didn't really do much with him until after Germanicus did multiple campaigns to avenge Teutoburg. We don't even really know what happened, as it seems like the tribal war erupted after the Romans departed and documentation is hearsay at best. My point is, Roman Military Doctrine is very formulaic and inherited, so deviating from established Roman protocol is highly abnormal...even reckless.
Please remember that if you ever need to see a lawyer or doctor, or enter a building made possible by engineers. And let's not forget the public school education that allowed you to even communicate and do simple maths. Public education is a privilege that billions of people don't have - don't slander it just because you didn't do well in it.
@@HomoLegalMedicthis is true school does teach you something, but for free school it isn’t going to be the top of the top education be grateful they provide something free for kids.
Usually the Romans had better quality artillery than their foes too: so that'd factor into him taking a defensive stance early on in the fight: as it would allow him to use his firepower edge to a more lethal effect and nullify enemy troops early on. Plus they built good defensive enhancements to the terrain.
It was probably an academy for nobles rather like a military school. I guess sth like the school of pages for Macedonian hetairoi exclusive for nobles.
11:54 Especially if you find a place where you can threaten 2 or more places and the enemy can properly defend only one due to numbers and having terrain preventing quick reinforcement of the attacked place.
great video thx for that comrad but at the end - clausewitz already told its not only military education, bravery, honor, inspiring and trusting presence etc ... but the special mind of a military genius.
1. Drill, March, Practice & Skirmish until it's all muscle memory, then repeat daily. 2. Carefully study maps of the region prepared by reliable locals, and verify with scouts. 3. Keep the marching order organized for efficiency & defense. 4. Tame the land by construction projects that facilitate movement, shelter and supply. 5. Use the terrain to your own advantage and negate the enemy's tactics. 6. Always take the field and offer battle, as it boosts morale and demonstrates confidence. 7. Prepare your troops to fight as standardized units, using similar armaments and practiced tactics, & know each type of unit's best use. 8.Practice field maneuvers for support in battle, to encourage, strengthen and refresh your men. 9. Prepare multiple routes if moving several legions to avoid getting strung out. It lessens burden on the land and obscures your troop strength. 10. Buy your supplies whenever you can, forage what you need, and confiscate only as necessary.
No but one of the tactics that you can utilize if your ene is embedded is you just constantly make noise you let him know that you're always there so they can never sleep. And the repetitive training is something we still use to this day. Because in survival mode your body because of the adrenaline will repeat motions that it knows we're successful. So going for different weapon systems or bringing different weapon systems back online or transitioning to a different weapon system. It just becomes natural. And also by doing this your forces get the reassurance that the Roman still haven't taken out your noise maker so they get a peaceful sleep. Were those going up against your forces? They're going to be out all night long and this stacked for several days after 24 hours. The human body is so depleted of energy that is not making rational decisions and by 72 hours of sleep deprivation your your. You're basically operating drunk, which in a military conflict that's going to end in blood is definitely putting the advantage in those that know how the harness the battlefield
15:15 - I'd like to make an addition: Roman generals in the first few centuries were often the consuls of the year. When Rome was smaller, typically the Consuls lead the army. Later generals were assigned by the Senate, so the most important thing a Senator who wanted to be nominated had to have was cloud. This could be by having proven in the past to be a capable military leader - but by no means was this necessary. He could just be well connected. Or - very important - his ancestors had fought against the same enemy successfully. If your grandfather fought against the same enemy successfully, you had a very good chance to get the command of the army, even if you hadn't a reputation for being a good military leader yourself. Romans often believed that great feats the ancestors did was transfered to the current generation. In Africa e.g. it was long believed that only a Scipio was able to win a victory - because a Scipio was the first who won against Carthage. So in later African campaigns, a decendant of Scipio got "the job", just because many believed a Scipio was necessary to win.
🚨🚨 All these youtube videos about the virtues of roman emperors popping up on youtube are invariably full of praise for those predecessors of Constantine the Great - the ones who *persecuted* Christians. 🚨🚨
@@pj_ytmt-123 1) The prosecution of Christians is highly overrated and was - for most of the time - not much of an issue. The "horrible prosecutions" are an invention of christian writers for the most part. 2) It was the CHRISTIANS that introduced total intolerance of other religions. Because the other religions had no problem with other gods - there were tons of different gods. 3) It was only after the firm establishment of the Catholic church, that the hunt and persecution on other people started. Even those who believed in the "correct" god - but interpreted him differently.
@@wedgeantilles8575 I knew it! The ones promoting adoration of Roman emperors and Viking culture are seeking the revival of paganism / replacement of Christianity. Thanks for proving my conspiracy theory. ✌️
Oh censored. Conspiracy theory CONFIRMED. This and other channels promoting adoration of Roman emperors and Viking culture are seeking to revive paganism / replace Christianity. Proven! See you!!
Hi, at 13:38 you mention "Emperor Nero's long flanking march at the Metaurus River". The Roman commander was Gaius Claudius Nero, not emperor Nero, and the battle happened in 207 BC against Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal. Other than that nice video !
This just goes to show that there is a Hell of a lot more to the Ancient Roman military than we realize. Getting ready for war, making sure all of your needs were met, and making sure your ass doesn't end up in a bind. Mighty complicated, but that's how things were done in those days. The big question is, can we fight like that today and win? Thank you for the enlightenment.
Beautiful History Incredible Lesson Some Pretty Nice Displays Greatluck in Improving Your Presentations Amazing Good Work Wonderful Public Effort Alot to Learn Here for Helping Anybody Understand more of Life Thank You Great Man
For those Waraboos who missed the key lessons. Those who only do the fighting only needed to practice fighting. Those who did the winning needed experience almost everywhere else more. Logistics is king, an army fights on it's stomach
How would you like a strategy game where its like Manor Lords but you're managing the legion through a campaign, and battles are like Total War? I think that would be fire.
Ooooooh, in regards to being self-taught, there were instances where they had a tutor, right? Like, how Alexander was tutored by Aristotle, and whatnot?
If every Roman army built a new marching camp every time they paused after a march in enemy territory, how did they prevent left behind camps from being taken by enemies? Did they leave behind troops to guard them? Otherwise, the enemy could enjoy all these advantages and cut the army from resupplies.
It was common for marching camps to be disassembled after every night, though sometimes, if the area or route was strategically important, they would be left standing with a strong garrison.
Could you do some thing like this Roman playlist you have here, but for Carthage and the Byzantin Empire? Would love such detailed information videos on them. Like you do for Greece and Rome. 😁
The only factor is sources. We are lucky to have so many sources for the Roman period, but Carthage is a lost cause. The Byzantines could maybe be done in the future though!
@@HistoriaMilitum thanks for the reply. 😁👍I’ve seen some other RUclipsrs Cover Carthage a bit. Like that youtuber called Invitca . Hope you can see some of his Carthage videos. There is at least some history info we have about them nowadays,
The idea of faking weakness has been done by an *actual* master of warfare: N. Bonaparte, who at Austerlitz utterly destroyed a combined Austro-Russian army by doing *just exactly that same tactic*, and would be done even moreso by his vastly superior-quality allies the USA in various conflicts: as by holding back: you are able to use artillery to more lethal effect as a precursor to the combat.
Yeah, the Greek army of these days: that was *VERY* similiar to the Austrio-Hungarian army of WW1: all manner of different nationalities: no wonder they had by far the *weakest* units anywhere on the globe: nobody else didn't actually *recover* troops as they retreated but lost them- yet that was the Austrians to a T. Inept doesn't *begin* to describe aristocracies in time of war, as their case proves abundantly.
This type of warfare is my Favorite way to fight. I wish that I was living in those times. There are only three things I don't like, cavalrymen uneven on both sides of armies. The use of catapults. The last thing I truly HATE, is using elephants in battle.
"I never said that shit"
-Sun Tzu
“Bark Bark” - Shi Tzu
Sun Zu said all his sayings on Twitter!
Sun Tzu would have been great on SNL. What a jokester.
Sun Tzu says " I demand a retraction!"
Oh Sun Tzu himself very strongly insisted that the officers, especially in the same type of deal as today's boot camp drill Sergants: if they don't train the men sufficiently; what they did is tantamount to *treason* against all of their duties, and their country's flag at the same time... same deal as a Roman officer or soldier who shirks his duty and/or falls asleep on picket duty: that kind of stunt brought about the death-penalty!
A general was a also a supply logistics manager, imagine all that responsibility and he didnt even have a computer to help him.
It's really not that hard once you can read and write and have assistants, secretaries etc.
@@_--Reaper--_well the modern military as we know it is very organized. Command staff was revolutionized by Napoleons Marshal, Marshal Berthier.
So it would be very interesting to see what a Roman commanders command staff would look like. And just how effective they were. Or if most of it fell to the commander.
A good logistics officer during Roman times would be priceless I would imagine. And finding someone with such capabilities would be a difficult task.
Would be interesting to see them do a video on a Roman commanders command staff
@@_--Reaper--_ Oh but sending a message to Rome or other major city might take days, weeks or months, and by the time reply should arrive the army has already moved on. But to where?
@@MarktheRuderight? You couldn't just call them and say hey I want to do this and that. The army was heavily responsible for itself and had to rely on the competence in it I guess
"Throws abacus at clerk."
Just imagine if we had a multiple-season long series about the roman army at war. One that was so full of all the little details behind the logistics involved in planning a campaign through. The mishaps thay occurred on the march, the banter and activities during those nightly camps, the battles themselves, and even the process after like disposing of dead enemies and caring for the wounded.
Thats something i always dream of seeing one day.
Kings and generals has a 247 video long playlist about the military history of rome.
Immaculate Vibe
I wonder if that could pay for itself in terms of the potential audience that series could have
and yet modern writers would crap and piss all over it
@@justins7796the armies would comprise mostly of gay dudes with strong black female leadership
I love hearing the little anecdotes/side stories of particular Roman battles/general experiences. Makes you feel a bit closer to things and understanding.
The psychological effect on moral makes a lot of sense. I certainly wouldn't want to approach a formation of thousands of well-equipped men on a hill, their weapon & armour shining under the sun. The Romans in the late Republic/Early Empire were also ordered to not perform battle chants in order to intimate enemies through uniform silence.
Most likely not pure silence. Hard to stay silent when you are made to kill the men you see in front of you.
Armies up to the time of the civil war marched in silence because otherwise there was no chance for higher-ups to command their units in any meaningfull way
@@stefanbauer423this is probably the most likely reason, it’s not like a Centurion has a bluetooth speaker taped to his horse lol
@@dannyzero692 But imagine tho, a centurion riding his horse, holding a megaphone and rallying his unit 😅
I have been unable to find a source for the claim that Roman soldiers marched in silence.
Roman generals almost always had a long military career at their backs before they got to turn consul, pro-consul, legatus or any high ranking position depending on the time. That's the "cursus honorum". And for most of its History, a Roman politician had to be a skilled commander in order to ascend to the peak of his career. And even the heads of the greatest patrician families needed achievements in order to be taken seriously.
That system made sure Rome always had a constant supply of very skilled commanders. But, on the bad side, a lot of those commanders were so eager to get those achievements in the year or two they got to manage an army that they often rushed things up or acted with more pride than wits.
It's funny how Rome almost met total disaster because of this on 2 sepparate occasions.
One was during the Second Punic War, when Hannibal kept baiting consul after consul and surrounding or constantly ambushing Roman armies.
And the other was during the Cimbrian Wars, where Romans were initially crushed to the point of trauma.
In the former, Fabius Maximus had to come and make the commanders to chill out and just stalk Hannibal, but never give in to pitch battle.
And in the later, Gaius Marius had to come in and play with everyone's patience until the teutons and ambrions slipped and he capitalized.
yeah calling them "self taught amateurs" is pretty disingenuous, they were often from families with a tradition of officers so were raised preparing them for war, joining the military and served for years as an officer before ever even being considered for being a general. Just like today they'd have many years of service before being promoted. I havent checked many numbers but i want to say most generals were over 30 on the young side and often over 40 so they'd have 15+ years of experience as an officer.
The problem of overambitions of military leaders became even more severe when said leaders took their loyal legions and marched towards Rome to become new Emperor, which lead to numerous civil wars. Another disadvantage was overstretch, although the Romans dealt with that surprisingly well too. But in the end, the weakened Empire couldnt amass the ressources to secure its borders anymore.
@@abraham2172 Indeed, overstretching was a thing too.
Some of those went excellent, like Caesar literally throwing himself into deep Gaul with the excuse of the Helvetic migration.
Some of those went terribly wrong, like Crassus' vanity expedition into Parthia.
And some achieved mixed results, like Regulus' expedition into Africa.
@@arthas640I think "amateur" here meant not being educated/trained in a FORMAL way.....like in West Point or Sandhurst.
Yep, thats an important point you mentioned. Fabius is famous for not fighting Hannibal, people wrongly believe his strategy was to never fight Hannibal in open battle. This isnt true, Fabius was willing to face Hannibal, but on Roman terms. Fabius knew how good Hannibal was, and he knew every Roman commander before him had allowed Hannibal to fight a battle he had chosen. Fabius knew to beat Hannibal he needed these advantages. And one time in the war, Fabius had Hannibal trapped (the tables turned), Hannibal knew his army was gonna be annihilated and he employed very clever tactics to escape with most of his army. But this is never spoken about, even though it was a very important part of the story.
I am aware that i am repeating my self alot. But after over 60 years of studying Roman military history this video documentary among all the others you have provided is invaluable to me and am looking forward to many more.
You have my allegince!
Thank you all.
Thank you for your kind comments. Many more to come!
1. Dive into local politics and divide their tribes into resisting ones and amenable ones, get the amenable ones to your side
2. Scan nobility of the resisting ones and find people that can be persuaded to switch sides and bribe them well, including offering lands, rights to rule as client kings within Pax Romana and as per case offer Roman citizenships
3. Use your local people there to find a good excuse to send Roman troops as "arbiters"
4. Measure up overall manpower of opposing tribes/fractions, measure up their existing armies and send there Roman armies in batches the one after the other until the region is... "pacified"
5. Congratulate allies, punish enemies
6. Once the dust is settled, be fair to the conquered and give descendants of past allies but also of past enemies alike reasons to get to like the Roman rule
It's hard to beat Historia Militum for these deep dive videos! Thanks.😎⚔🔥
13:36: Emperor Nero's long flanking march at the Metaurus River.
It's "General Nero" (Gaius Claudius Nero) and not Emperor Nero (Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus).
Man, those insights sure will come handy when I will begin the reconquest of the former roman territories.
I had never thought about wind and shields but damn you're right
That´s really interesting to me. Some tactics, like taking the high ground might seem obvious, but the stuff about the supply line is probably the most important factor. Even an army that´s entrenched on a rocky mountain can´t survive forever, if besieged and unable to get ressources. It just shows how many considerations were to be kept in mind, which makes the success of the Romans even more impressive.
You got to also remember that during battle, the obvious might become less obvious since you and your men are trying to come out alive.
Well, first you cooka da pizza...
😂😂😂
😄 those carbs gave them energy
There were no tomatoes in Rome 😐
@@DallingerMI cooka da pizza
@@DallingerMtrue. But before tomatoes were brought to Rome, they did have a “pizza” like dish. It was the dough, with olive paste and garum
I was completely immersed in the ancient history documentary. The production quality is incredible!
Thank you for the comment, glad you enjoyed!
I really like this style of videos. Its feels alot more grounded which is what brought me to this channel! Well done!
i dont
@@WladylawGomulka I do
"Rule number One - Make sure you know the difference between the Judean People's Front and the People's Front of Judea."
The numbers in ancient battle's was truly jawdropping.. and didn't return to these sizes after the fall of Rome until the age of discovery and the Napoleonic wars..
The Roman army was itself a branch of the government. Holding a legion gave you considerable power over how justice was dealt in those times. Most Roman judges had experience leading legions.
I'm so glad this recommendation popped up. ❤
"An army travels on its stomach, believe it or not." Napoleon Bonaparte? Makes sense, considering the success he had in the field.
Can u believe the abortion that was ridley Scott's movie? Have u read anything on napoleon
The Romans are a reminder that it is the stuff behind the scenes. The ability to keep information secretive, engineering, construction, and psychology is what determines a battles success.
Julius studied Alexander’s battles from records.
It’s always a good day when this channel uploads a new video
To be a Roman General, One must be principled, in both scholarly and soldierly fields.
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Today I learned about the importance of more-all in battle.
One of the BEST video about Roman warfare. 👍👍👍🎉
amazing work! many thanks for sharing your knowledge in such a detailed and beautiful movie! 🎉
One of the best history channels
Bhai 4rabet ke features bohot amazing hai, har baar kuch naya dekhne ko milta hai
Plus a *huge* edge the Romans usually had was their troops were *professionals*, and universally their foes relied on men drafted; now they'd *attack* with local troops who were NOT professionals: but they didn't count those as casualties: they used them to remove enemy units in initial attacks and their own troops to hold and gain new auxiliia, those were the guys they relied upon to do most of the fighting.
The reason: casualties: their legionaries would be used to recruit and train Auxillia, and it was the locals who they relied on mostly to do most of the fighting: their own troops would be used to mop up enemies post battle and to maintain and build bases for the buildup of local troops, so when they needed actual *Roman* troops, they weren't short.
That is only true for the later stages of Rome.
The Roman army became in part professional with the reforms of Gaius Marius (roughly 100 BC).
It became fully professional with Augustus, a little over 100 years later.
-> The Roman army was NOT professional for many centuries.
@@wedgeantilles8575 Yeah, that may be *partly* true, at most, but they also had a good solid NCO corps in their Centurians; and so their troops really did operate in the model of professional soldiers- not irregulars.
@@chissstardestroyer Well, professional is defined as somebody doing something and getting paid for it.
And for several hundred years the legions were conscript armies.
That they had more disciplin and training is something different.
They were NOT professionals and the Legions WERE drafted.
Your description about how the Legions and Auxilliaries worked together is completly wrong too btw.
Aux. complemented the legions and added capabilities.
E.g. Baltic slingers.
Skirmishers.
Cavalry.
The Legions were always the heavy infantry that did the heavy fighting.
Obviously they would not function without Aux. units, just like Aus. units wouldn't work without the Legions.
@@wedgeantilles8575 Conscript armies that were trained to regular combat troop levels; ie: professional troops, be they by that or not, the detail is the quality of the men, and they had to be professional to be on campaign that long- and they absolutely were on campaign for long extended periods of time, so no: they were NOT conscripts, they were professional soldiers; any other analysis falls apart.
And given the reilability of the troops, *my* analysis doesn't fall apart, unlike yours.
Amazing video! You should do a similar video about naval conflict as it gets far less attention than it deserves.
It is hard to fathom the immense responsibility that fell on a general who doubled as a supply logistics manager-all without the use of a computer.
I mean, that was the case in WW2, imagine what it took to coordinate land, sea and sky
At roughly 3:30, H.M. gives us several excellent examples of what the legions could do, outside of killing barbarians. Unfortunately, I can't help but feel that he neglected to mention the most salient example of the legions being Super-Human -
During the Jewish rebellions, Legio X Fretensis was tasked with subduing Judea. Unfortunately for Rome, the Jews were doing to the Romans the same thing that Palestinians these days will do to the Jews; Using civilian non-combatants for cover, striking quickly and then melting back into populace after...
After a lot of cat-and-mouse through Judea, the 5,000-odd men of the Tenth Legion had finally corralled and cornered the Jewish insurgents. It just sucked that they cornered them in the mountain-top fortress of Masada. The fortress itself was the very definition of *"Imposing!"* It covered 275 hectares at the very top of a mountain, with the only approaches being 3 narrow, winding, serpentine paths. Any army would be dismantled by the missile and artillery fire from the fort, if they used any of these approaches.
In a flash of inspiration so brilliant, that the Roman Governor was practically channelling Julius Caesar, he decided that the available approaches were unsuitable and so he had the men of the Tenth Legion, as well as a goodly number of Jewish slaves, dismantle some of the surrounding mountains and use those remains to build a ramp right up to the main gate of the fort (with the intention of also building a siege tower, which would use the ramp to create a breach).
Anyway, that Roman Ramp, as well as the Roman camps and the wall of circumvallation (around the mountain) still exist to this day!! The camps are little more than ruins and the walls are almost entirely gone. But the ramp... 2,000 years after being built by a Roman legion, that ramp is still the main path to and from the mountain fortress!! Of all Roman engineering marvels, this is the only one (that I know of) that's still exists and that is still being used for its intended purpose!!!
Forget about Jesus, the REAL miracles were being performed by the Legions!!
"Novices talk tactics, professionals talk logistics" I am surprised that the Roman where well aware of this, as a lot of later Generals forgot about it.
The other thing is timing of the battle. If you can own the night that's absolutely the best utilizing night vision but back then they wouldn't have had that. So what they did instead was they'd make sure that the sun was to their backs. So when the enemy archers went to engage you, you would start the battle when you knew that sunlight was going to be in their face. So they're not getting precision shots off where your archers are dropping arrows in like crazy and they're not able to see them either. Cuz if they're looking up they're getting blinded by the Sun but only temporarily cuz when the arrow hits them they'll see again and they won't be concerned about the battle
But it enhances the flight of the slings because that was the most popular weapon for poor people. So they would oftentimes it would negate the flight of those slings for the rocks that were thrown forward, the arrows and the Spears. Yours would have the advantage as long as you keep the wind to your back, which is why oftentimes these battles. They would wait long periods of time so that the conditions were just right.
The Egyptians used to do something like this as well before they lost their minds with their pharaohs. The Pharaohs used to have the archers riding a big oval and they would stay outside of the range of the enemy's archers cuz their bows were superior and they would fling the arrows in and then as they rode in the arrow the Archer would reload and then on the way back through they would drop rounds in. By doing this with a couple hundred chariots, you're actually dropping in so many arrows that it's equivalent to that of a modern-day minigun the Egyptians used to say let the sky go black with our arrows and that's how they would deliver on that promise.
is there a vid you recommend on ancient egyptian tactics ? this sounds extremely interesting. i never heard of this before thinking their battles were a lot more primitive and im egyptian even lol
Plus the Romans in combat would swap lines: so the men would rotate their ranks in the course of the fight: thus gaining exhaustion slower than their foes: especially if in multiple ranks.
Now even if in a single rank: they usually had better armor and equipment; those also factor into better will to fight, but the *biggest* thing is unit cohesion: where the men actually are not at odds with their bosses; if the latter ever happens: the army will collapse real fast!
One way you solve that: have your officers dine and rest where the men do: the result is a type of comraderie between the ranks that is VERY beneficial to the units when the time comes, as well as do not waste your men willy-nilly; if you do that the survivors will lose all loyalty to their bosses, and the units will disintigrate real fast.
Very well done. A lot of information in a small time slice. I didn't mind watching the obligatory commercial from beginning to end either
I’d be curious what happened in Teutoburg Forest that deviated from all of these standards, for the Roman army to be so completely taken by surprise and lose multiple legions of men within a week.
Varus was too trusting. The other leaders of the Germanic tribes probably thought that after Teutoberg, they shouldn't trust Arminius either, which would explain why they betrayed and murdered him.
🦁☀️🐝⚡🦅⚡🐝☀️🦁
@@NapoleonCalland Arminius was cunning, but the Germans didn't really do much with him until after Germanicus did multiple campaigns to avenge Teutoburg. We don't even really know what happened, as it seems like the tribal war erupted after the Romans departed and documentation is hearsay at best.
My point is, Roman Military Doctrine is very formulaic and inherited, so deviating from established Roman protocol is highly abnormal...even reckless.
Public education is useless. Self-teaching and learning on practice is the best.
Please remember that if you ever need to see a lawyer or doctor, or enter a building made possible by engineers.
And let's not forget the public school education that allowed you to even communicate and do simple maths.
Public education is a privilege that billions of people don't have - don't slander it just because you didn't do well in it.
@@HomoLegalMedic Billions of people are pretty happy without the education.
@@HomoLegalMedicthis is true school does teach you something, but for free school it isn’t going to be the top of the top education be grateful they provide something free for kids.
Usually the Romans had better quality artillery than their foes too: so that'd factor into him taking a defensive stance early on in the fight: as it would allow him to use his firepower edge to a more lethal effect and nullify enemy troops early on.
Plus they built good defensive enhancements to the terrain.
"The answer? Use legions, and if that don't work, use more legions" -Romans
You said there were no military school. But didn't Octavian met and form a life long friendship with Marcus Agrippa at just such a school?
good question
Roman aristocrats did attend schools abroad but there was no "military academy" as we understand it today with subjects, a curricula, teachers...
It was probably an academy for nobles rather like a military school.
I guess sth like the school of pages for Macedonian hetairoi exclusive for nobles.
Great video.
But a video or 2 about some famous roman defeats and why did they happen may do a nice opposition to this video.
Mere bhai ka recommendation best tha, ab main bhi sabko 4ra recommend karta hoon
"It's not over until is over" Great American General and philosopher Yogi Berra :)
Dude, I'm dying to see the next part of the dacian War... when will it come out?
11:54 Especially if you find a place where you can threaten 2 or more places and the enemy can properly defend only one due to numbers and having terrain preventing quick reinforcement of the attacked place.
Give me a pilum and a shield and I'll march like you ain't never seen.
The total war attila music has been one of the best in TW game
great video thx for that comrad but at the end - clausewitz already told its not only military education, bravery, honor, inspiring and trusting presence etc ... but the special mind of a military genius.
You may want to fix the error in the print on your commercial. Great video I enjoyed it and shared this many times over I wonder what game that is?
Bhai Aaron Finch ke saath 4ra events aur bhi bright aur better ho gaye, real fun hai
11:30 IMHO that also applies to A.I. especially in aircraft dogfights. You are going to go that way.
Yaar 4ra ka interface bohot easy aur user-friendly hai, maza aata hai use karne me
An another great documentary,
thanks for reupload
1. Drill, March, Practice & Skirmish until it's all muscle memory, then repeat daily.
2. Carefully study maps of the region prepared by reliable locals, and verify with scouts.
3. Keep the marching order organized for efficiency & defense.
4. Tame the land by construction projects that facilitate movement, shelter and supply.
5. Use the terrain to your own advantage and negate the enemy's tactics.
6. Always take the field and offer battle, as it boosts morale and demonstrates confidence.
7. Prepare your troops to fight as standardized units, using similar armaments and practiced tactics, & know each type of unit's best use.
8.Practice field maneuvers for support in battle, to encourage, strengthen and refresh your men.
9. Prepare multiple routes if moving several legions to avoid getting strung out. It lessens burden on the land and obscures your troop strength.
10. Buy your supplies whenever you can, forage what you need, and confiscate only as necessary.
At 13:34, it wasn't the emperor Nero but his ancestor the general Caius Claudius Nero
No but one of the tactics that you can utilize if your ene is embedded is you just constantly make noise you let him know that you're always there so they can never sleep. And the repetitive training is something we still use to this day. Because in survival mode your body because of the adrenaline will repeat motions that it knows we're successful. So going for different weapon systems or bringing different weapon systems back online or transitioning to a different weapon system. It just becomes natural.
And also by doing this your forces get the reassurance that the Roman still haven't taken out your noise maker so they get a peaceful sleep. Were those going up against your forces? They're going to be out all night long and this stacked for several days after 24 hours. The human body is so depleted of energy that is not making rational decisions and by 72 hours of sleep deprivation your your. You're basically operating drunk, which in a military conflict that's going to end in blood is definitely putting the advantage in those that know how the harness the battlefield
Master Sun says:
War is more than just tactics
15:15 - I'd like to make an addition: Roman generals in the first few centuries were often the consuls of the year. When Rome was smaller, typically the Consuls lead the army.
Later generals were assigned by the Senate, so the most important thing a Senator who wanted to be nominated had to have was cloud.
This could be by having proven in the past to be a capable military leader - but by no means was this necessary. He could just be well connected.
Or - very important - his ancestors had fought against the same enemy successfully. If your grandfather fought against the same enemy successfully, you had a very good chance to get the command of the army, even if you hadn't a reputation for being a good military leader yourself.
Romans often believed that great feats the ancestors did was transfered to the current generation.
In Africa e.g. it was long believed that only a Scipio was able to win a victory - because a Scipio was the first who won against Carthage.
So in later African campaigns, a decendant of Scipio got "the job", just because many believed a Scipio was necessary to win.
🚨🚨 All these youtube videos about the virtues of roman emperors popping up on youtube are invariably full of praise for those predecessors of Constantine the Great - the ones who *persecuted* Christians. 🚨🚨
@@pj_ytmt-123 1) The prosecution of Christians is highly overrated and was - for most of the time - not much of an issue.
The "horrible prosecutions" are an invention of christian writers for the most part.
2) It was the CHRISTIANS that introduced total intolerance of other religions.
Because the other religions had no problem with other gods - there were tons of different gods.
3) It was only after the firm establishment of the Catholic church, that the hunt and persecution on other people started.
Even those who believed in the "correct" god - but interpreted him differently.
@@wedgeantilles8575 I knew it! The ones promoting adoration of Roman emperors and Viking culture are seeking the revival of paganism / replacement of Christianity. Thanks for proving my conspiracy theory. ✌️
Oh censored. Conspiracy theory CONFIRMED. This and other channels promoting adoration of Roman emperors and Viking culture are seeking to revive paganism / replace Christianity. Proven! See you!!
Hi, at 13:38 you mention "Emperor Nero's long flanking march at the Metaurus River". The Roman commander was Gaius Claudius Nero, not emperor Nero, and the battle happened in 207 BC against Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal. Other than that nice video !
Excellent video as usual!
very interesting video, always good to learn new stuff
This just goes to show that there is a Hell of a lot more to the Ancient Roman military than we realize. Getting ready for war, making sure all of your needs were met, and making sure your ass doesn't end up in a bind. Mighty complicated, but that's how things were done in those days. The big question is, can we fight like that today and win? Thank you for the enlightenment.
Beautiful History
Incredible Lesson
Some Pretty Nice Displays
Greatluck in Improving Your Presentations
Amazing Good Work
Wonderful Public Effort
Alot to Learn Here for Helping Anybody Understand more of Life
Thank You Great Man
Haan yaar, Finch ke saath 4RA ke events aur bhi bright aur exciting ho gaye hain
Excellent video!
Subscribed . Very nice analysis better than most . Gains Julius Caesar is one of my heroes . Please explain the Helveti disaster .,,,,,,
This was sick
For those Waraboos who missed the key lessons. Those who only do the fighting only needed to practice fighting. Those who did the winning needed experience almost everywhere else more. Logistics is king, an army fights on it's stomach
Another Excellent Video
4rabet ka interface bohot user-friendly hai, easily sab kuch access hota hai
Haan bhai, 4RA pe games aur events ka maza hi alag hai, mere dost ne bataya tha
How would you like a strategy game where its like Manor Lords but you're managing the legion through a campaign, and battles are like Total War? I think that would be fire.
Very Nice - Thanks!
😎👍
Ooooooh, in regards to being self-taught, there were instances where they had a tutor, right? Like, how Alexander was tutored by Aristotle, and whatnot?
Never underestimate the value of good mor-all
If every Roman army built a new marching camp every time they paused after a march in enemy territory, how did they prevent left behind camps from being taken by enemies? Did they leave behind troops to guard them? Otherwise, the enemy could enjoy all these advantages and cut the army from resupplies.
It was common for marching camps to be disassembled after every night, though sometimes, if the area or route was strategically important, they would be left standing with a strong garrison.
@@HistoriaMilitum Interesting, thank you for the answer.
4:00 multiple times ceaser attacked after marching through the night....
Great video thank you!
How did you do these great animations?
They are usually from Rome Total War games.
Could you do some thing like this Roman playlist you have here, but for Carthage and the Byzantin Empire? Would love such detailed information videos on them. Like you do for Greece and Rome. 😁
The only factor is sources. We are lucky to have so many sources for the Roman period, but Carthage is a lost cause. The Byzantines could maybe be done in the future though!
@@HistoriaMilitum thanks for the reply. 😁👍I’ve seen some other RUclipsrs Cover Carthage a bit. Like that youtuber called Invitca . Hope you can see some of his Carthage videos. There is at least some history info we have about them nowadays,
Yaar, 4RA pe Finch ke saath games khelte hue alag hi excitement milti hai
Do we have an example of Roman general faking weakness to provoke attack on his terms? Before late antiquity
4ra ke events pehle bhi best the, ab Finch ke saath aur bhi dhamaka ho raha hai
The idea of faking weakness has been done by an *actual* master of warfare: N. Bonaparte, who at Austerlitz utterly destroyed a combined Austro-Russian army by doing *just exactly that same tactic*, and would be done even moreso by his vastly superior-quality allies the USA in various conflicts: as by holding back: you are able to use artillery to more lethal effect as a precursor to the combat.
Aaron Finch ka naam hi kaafi hai, 4rabet pe sab events amazing ho gaye hain
This channel is amazing good
Yeah, the Greek army of these days: that was *VERY* similiar to the Austrio-Hungarian army of WW1: all manner of different nationalities: no wonder they had by far the *weakest* units anywhere on the globe: nobody else didn't actually *recover* troops as they retreated but lost them- yet that was the Austrians to a T.
Inept doesn't *begin* to describe aristocracies in time of war, as their case proves abundantly.
Mere friend ne pehli baar 4ra ke baare me bataya, tab se main regular user hoon
Would you like a lesson sir, in the rules of war?
No lesson is necessary!
Very interesting
This type of warfare is my Favorite way to fight. I wish that I was living in those times.
There are only three things I don't like, cavalrymen uneven on both sides of armies. The use of catapults. The last thing I truly HATE, is using elephants in battle.
Excellent posts. Did the Romans have to fight in the snow and how did they stay warm?
Hearing this guy saying marallll is beyond painful. Morale
4ra ka ambassador itna bada sports star hai, ab toh aur bhi badiya experience mil raha hai
They basically invented the idea of the Combat Engineer.