Notes/additional info: 1. Should the empire be called Byzantine, Roman or Greek? I see people arguing for each of these in the comments and there is merit to each of these; but it is important to note that they called themselves Roman, they were majority Greek in population and language spoken, and the term Byzantine is useful in differentiating the time period and has been colloquially used for a long time (although not during the empire) Being a reference to the earlier name of Byzantium for the city of Constantinople. 2. When I refer to “native troops” this includes many other ethnic groups living within the empire, notably the Armenians who lived in Anatolia for hundreds of years and had assimilated in many ways but maintained different views on aspects of the Christian faith which was the most striking differentiating factor between them and the rest of the population of the empire. 3. The Strategos and Domestikos label should be switched on the captions at 6 mins 17 secs in. A Strategos led a Thema(ta) and a Domestikos led a Tagma(ta). Unfortunately I switched those my accident and starred at the screen for a while and did not notice that…sorry guys ;( 4. The Vargarian guard was a personal bodyguard unit to the emperor which are pretty cool, they were mostly comprised of Norsemen(Scandinavians), Rus and Saxons. They are the unit I refer too when I mention a Scandinavian unit. 5. The coolest unit (in my opinion) that I did not mention was the Akritai which were kinda like the Cossacks in that they were a loosely controlled border guard on the eastern side of the empire; and were the subject of much folklore and poems and such.

@Atreas40000

5 жыл бұрын

The western Europeans called the Empire "Greek" in Latin, as they wanted to de-legitimize the Roman heritage of the Eastern Empire. The Eastern Roman Empire, perceived that as an insult, as the translation of "Graecus" in Greek, meant at that time "pagan". They called themselves Romans, but in Greek, "Romaioi". The word "Byzantine" was coined by historians during the 19th century. The first term that was considered to be used in modern historiography was the "Graeco-Roman" Empire. It would be most accurate, but also confusing, as the term "graeco-roman" is used in art and sports in a completely different context. The term "Byzantine" was preferred, as it was indeed used by some "Byzantine" scholars during the 12th and 13th century, when remembering the Greek past of the Empire was no longer considered shameful, and Constantinople was compared by some Byzantines as "a new Byzantium" during some correspondence with western academics. If you think about it, calling them "Byzantines" is an indirect way of calling them "Greeks". The actual ancient "Byzantines" were in fact the Greek founders of the colony of Byzantium, that was later replaced by Constantinople.

@EpimetheusHistory

5 жыл бұрын

@Atreas40000 Thanks for the great comment! "Graeco-Roman" Empire does have an element of precision I like.

@tylerellis9097

5 жыл бұрын

Graceo-Roman would by far be the most accurate term to describe both the people and character of the Empire. Also the Greek identity rebirth under the successor Empire of Nicaea really cant be evidence for the Actual Byzantine Empire saying as how Nicaea was actually all Greek ethically and territory wise and far more culturally wise. In my opinion in academics Roman civilization should separated like this Roman Kingdom Roman Republic Roman Empire Byzantine Empire Empire of Nicaea/Palaiologos Byzantium.

@LOKgr

5 жыл бұрын

And we have to notice is that the fact is that modern greeks are more relative to Byzantine greeks than ancient greeks... And we can all understand that Byzantine empire withstood 1100 years around a barbaric world.... They treat others tough but think in what world they lived in.... Muslims, persians, slavs, huns, mongols, goths and other german tribes... pirates, vikings, revolts... And in all of that an empire thay have universities, justice system, tax system, a continuous coin from 350 AD to 1100AD... And sure a big downfall that we can compare it as the downfall of ancient greece when athenians were become so lazy before romans conquered greece thay they didnt fight... Byzantines suffered the same, they didnt make kids, people lost their unity, men became monks so didn't serve the army, economic collapse and forget about their past... As also happens today in modern greece and generally all the world... History repeats itself we have to learn from that so to make our future better... Also i wanted to mention, imagine a Hollywood movie about the conquer of Constantinople... 8.000 men vs more than 200.000 horde army... One king speaking inside the walls about faith, christianity and self sacrifice and the other about raping, butchering and looting for 3 days.... And the answet of palaiologos to moameth to surrender the city and he would give him wealth etc was... To give you the city it's not on my hands neither on its citizens, because all of us like a complete soul prefer to die with our will and do not pitty our lives.... And think about the ottomans after chain virgin girls in hagia sofia and raped them and butcher them... Its islam.. this was and it is.... This song speak about akritas digenis a nice byzantine novel that speak about an akritas loved a girl and died... kzread.info/dash/bejne/nqV5qJinn7HQYdY.html

@tylerellis9097

5 жыл бұрын

@nikolas bellos Exactly both Alexander and Augustus were their ancestors, Greco-Roman.

It still never ceases to amaze me that the Roman Empire lasted till the mid 15th Century! Far later than most people realize!

@zarni000

4 жыл бұрын

well it was not really an empire at that point..just 1 city with a population of around 30k.....more like a village really

@itzflameee

4 жыл бұрын

Rome started as a village and ended as a village

@paulmayson3129

4 жыл бұрын

You fail to understand that being an Empire doesn’t mean a massive state that rules over many ethnicities. That is the modern definition and not the old one. Before the colonial age being an Empire was a political system, like being a democracy, a republic, a kingdom etc. To have an Empire you need to have an Imperator, an Emperor, meaning a person who in the name of the Res Publicas has all powers on him. Thus as they had one (Constantine Dragatses Palaeologos) they were an Empire.

@zarni000

4 жыл бұрын

@@paulmayson3129 you splitting hairs here.

@paulmayson3129

4 жыл бұрын

Nah, you just don’t know that there is a difference between being an Imperium and being an Empire.

Everytime I learn about the byzantines I get sad ;(

@iihhtt

5 жыл бұрын

Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened :) And it's not even over, there are still descendants of Roman citizens and the Christian world is a heir to the Roman Empire. Rome's legacy lives on, so "Roma Aeterna" never ceases to be true.

@docclocc2227

5 жыл бұрын

@@iihhtt The true christian heir of Roman Empire is Poland. with >70% still attending weekly sunday service compared to ~15% Europe average.

@MarkhasSteelfort

5 жыл бұрын

@@iihhtt Dynastically speaking Greeks and Anatolian Turks are descendants from Eastern Roman times. Not to mention there were many royal marriages between between Turks and Eastern Romans.

@MarkhasSteelfort

5 жыл бұрын

@@ii121 Yeah! As a Turk I weep to see Mehmed's descendants not following his vision of establishing Roman Empire and instead going the fundamentalist religious path. Ah... The sorrow. I feel powerful just imagining the glory of Ottomans reforming Roman Empire.

@Deguu68

5 жыл бұрын

@@iihhtt Lmao christianity my ass, that realigion was a primary reason among other things why the empire fell in first place.

Gotta admit, they have some of the most unique armors in the medieval world. A shame that there's not more coverage of them since they were still the Roman empire.

@Vitalis94

5 жыл бұрын

Well, it's changing now somewhat.. Byzantines went from being a "footnote" in history, really, to being re-discovered by Western historians in the recent years. The thing is, much of what was written by historians in the past was either propaganda or misinformation, and modern historians have to work against many stereotypes connected with the Empire. Still, we're talking about just a few enthousiastic Western scholars here. Most of the common people don't even know about the Empire's existance. There is just not enough coverage about it in the media. Just think about how widely represented the Romans are in their ancient, republican and early imperial era, yet there is not a single movie about their medieval history. I doubt it will change anytime soon, though.

@wewuz9720

5 жыл бұрын

Really recommend the 12 byzantine empires podcast and the creators book "lost to the west" for people getting into byzantine history

@Vitalis94

5 жыл бұрын

@@wewuz9720 I would add "The History of Byzantium" podcast to the list, too.

@tyronechillifoot5573

5 жыл бұрын

You should see african armor the sahelian (Sudan mali northern nigeria/ghana Chad Niger Ethiopia and Somalia) armor its a mixture of middle easter and native methods of armormentation

@wewuz9720

5 жыл бұрын

I fuck with that avatar vitalis, great game

Weak emperors + Crusaders = Bad news.

@BosphorusFloods

5 жыл бұрын

E.R.E:... Dem Catholics: *4TH CrUSadE..!.*

@hipparchos

5 жыл бұрын

Actually the Comnene dynasty was one of the best in Byzantine history, at least Alexius, John (especially him, though not as famous as he should be) and the most part of Michael's reign). Sadly the Empire was already weakened before Alexius became emperor

@eball2k9

5 жыл бұрын

tsopmocful we was Roman

@innosanto

5 жыл бұрын

crusaders were betrayed by the emperors this is why they sacked constantinople. He took them as mercenaries to place him into power and take away the previous empire and didn't have money to pay them. However, they did extreme barbarian things after that. The sacking was extreme. So extreme that the Pope punished many of them by excommunicating them from the Catholic church.

@Chris-xb7gm

5 жыл бұрын

@Herdan 800 years later Greeks are among the westerners

Christian Armenians played a vital role in the history of the Byzantine empire, both ruling as its emperors and serving in its armies

@EpimetheusHistory

5 жыл бұрын

Very true. When I said the army became more Native, Christian and loyal that includes the Armenians who had lived in Anatolia for hundreds of years... which by that point I would consider them native. Especially compared to earlier Roman armies that actively recruited from beyond their borders on a larger scale.

@1111saar

4 жыл бұрын

Epimetheus So did Georgians

@huntclanhunt9697

2 жыл бұрын

The Armenians are also the first Christian nation.

@impsimp

2 жыл бұрын

@@huntclanhunt9697 pretty sure that was Ethiopia.

@Hugh_Morris

2 жыл бұрын

@@impsimp supposedly Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its state religion

From Golden to Dark to Golden to Dark Age actually

@bornassassin2111

5 жыл бұрын

Very accurate

@changapo1

5 жыл бұрын

Hard times create strong men Strong men create good times Good times create weak men Weak men create hard times

@bornassassin2111

5 жыл бұрын

Indeed so as History tends to repeat itself

@wardeni4806

5 жыл бұрын

From a backwater to a massive republic to a massive empire to a split empire to a smaller empire, then back to a massive empire, decline back into a smaller empire, then rising again as a large empire before finally declining and being rolled over by their neighbours and spending it's twilight as a backwater. 2200 years, complete circle for the Roman Empire.

@bornassassin2111

5 жыл бұрын

Many Ups and Downs indeed

Thanks a lot for this video! This period of the Roman Empire is so neglected...

@Vitalis94

5 жыл бұрын

@Basil II of Macedon the Vardaskan slayer Why so butthurt, though? I don't get you Greeks. You get to be Greeks AND Roman at the same time, yet you deny it. Meh.

@iihhtt

5 жыл бұрын

@Basil II of Macedon the Vardaskan slayer It wasn't the Roman Empire just in name, the citizens considered themselves Romans.

@tylerellis9097

5 жыл бұрын

@Basil II of Macedon the Vardaskan slayer Non-Greeks were Romans under the Empire to. we have proof of numerous Ethic Bulgarian and Armenian Families being called Roman while under the Empire, The Empire was Greco-Roman and the fusion of Greek and Roman Culture with Roman Citizenship and Christian faith being the most important aspects of the people.

@postmortem4954

5 жыл бұрын

@Basil II of Macedon the Vardaskan slayer Wait, but the Romans saw the Greeks as conquered people. and therefore inferior to them. Romans did take Greek art and Architecture and the Nobility spoke both Latin and Greek, but they didn't like it. The fact that a conquered people (Greeks) were so unique in their culture that Romans would copy it, and they wanted the Latin culture to be the dominant one through out the empire. That is the point of an Empire, to spread your culture through warfare.

@tylerellis9097

5 жыл бұрын

@Basil II of Macedon the Vardaskan slayer im not talking about modern day im talking abiut the non-Greek ethic groups of the empire that were considered Romans. If you served the Emperor in Constantinople, were a Christian and had a basic understanding of greek you were considered Roman. Zero difference between a Greek and Armenian Citizen of the Empire, Religion was far more important than ethnicity.

Thanks for doing this, man. I've been studying East Roman history for about 9 years now and it's absolutely incredible. Such a criminally underrated aspect of Roman and Greek history.

@MrPanos2000

4 жыл бұрын

its not "underrated", it was combated deliberately by Anglo Saxon historians of 18th and 19th century, most notably but not restricted to the infamous Gibbon. Since the late 19th century the study of Eastern Rome had sparked from France and Greece and now is more popular. Never forget that it isnt just "underrated" but westerners deliberately wanted to bury it and failed

Now we're talking. Great video

@historyoftheromans2527

5 жыл бұрын

History Time I watch your vids keep up the good work

@sandrojones8068

5 жыл бұрын

I love your videos!

@nonosh

5 жыл бұрын

You rock!

@atrides7

4 жыл бұрын

History time keep the exalent work with the estern Roman empire !!!!

@jacoblinde7486

4 жыл бұрын

@George Washington I don't know what it is, but something tells me you might not be the real George Washington. Just a hunch, I guess.

Ironic, when the Crusaders brought Constantinople to its knees even before the Muslims did.

@thessop9439

3 жыл бұрын

Sad, but hilarious

@forickgrimaldus8301

3 жыл бұрын

Medieval politics is ever changing and very complex in the case of the 4th Crusade the Crusaders ran out of cash so they borrowed cash from Venice resulting to their excommunication by the Pope and resulting in the sacking of Constantinople as the Crusaders became Venician muscle.

@forickgrimaldus8301

3 жыл бұрын

Also by the 4th Crusade the relation between the Orthodox and Catholic worlds have been degrading for a while.

@majungasaurusaaaa

3 жыл бұрын

With friends like these, who needs enemies.

@cryptototalwar2915

3 жыл бұрын

Darkness vs Truth

Hello There my fellow Byzantophiles

@retvrntotradition4454

5 жыл бұрын

May Allah the Victory Giver never let the disbelieving people smell the fragrance of ISTANBUL! May Allah bless the mujahideen who conquered that city and made it the jewel of the entire world! May Allah give the Taqwa and Tawfiq to the Muslimeen so we can strive in the way of the pious predecessors!

@dagalealtd4888

5 жыл бұрын

@@retvrntotradition4454 Nobody asked for your shit and here you are trying to start a petty fight

@konstantinos2112

5 жыл бұрын

@@retvrntotradition4454 ALLAH IS BASTARD,ALLAH IS GAY. FUCK ALLAH

@Balajohn_

5 жыл бұрын

@@retvrntotradition4454 what are you trying to do is pretty sad

@luisarruda3061

5 жыл бұрын

Osmanlı Devleti Fuck off with your terrorist Allah and pedofile “prophet”.

A fantastic video! The Eastern Romans are often forgotten, so it's exciting to see them covered here!

@Macedonia-is-Greek

5 жыл бұрын

@Basil II of Macedon the Vardaskan slayer you damn right brother!

@retvrntotradition4454

5 жыл бұрын

May Allah bless the Ottoman Caliphate and bring Yunanistan under it's rule once again!

Last time I was early, Istanbul was Constantinople

@dontsearchdocumentingreali9621

5 жыл бұрын

Nigga you always comment, do you live in youtube?

@BroadwayRonMexico

5 жыл бұрын

@@dontsearchdocumentingreali9621 he's Justin Y's roommate

@umartdagnir

5 жыл бұрын

Last time I came this early, Constantinople was Byzantium.

@tsopmocful1958

5 жыл бұрын

Sorry...I'm a bit late...Oh, the empire's already fallen...Oh well, I may as well go back to bed then.

@histguy101

5 жыл бұрын

"Istanbul was Constantinople Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople Been a long time gone, Oh Constantinople Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night Every gal in Constantinople Lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople So if you've a date in Constantinople She'll be waiting in Istanbul Even old New York was once New Amsterdam Why they changed it I can't say People just liked it better that way So, Take me back to Constantinople No, you can't go back to Constantinople Been a long time gone, Oh Constantinople Why did Constantinople get the works? That's nobody's business but the Turks Istanbul Istanbul Istanbul Istanbul Even old New York was once New Amsterdam Why they changed it I can't say People just liked it better that way Istanbul was Constantinople Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople Been a long time gone, Oh Constantinople Why did Constantinople get the works? That's nobody's business but the Turks So, Take me back to Constantinople No, you can't go back to Constantinople Been a long time gone, Oh Constantinople Why did Constantinople get the works? That's nobody's business but the Turks Istanbul"

The word "Themata" is plural in Greek meaning "themes". The singular is "thema".

@GeoBBB123

5 жыл бұрын

Tagma and tagmata

@Zhongda95

5 жыл бұрын

@@GeoBBB123 Sure, same with that one.

@tigranispiryan4865

Жыл бұрын

Fun fact the Byzantine military was mostly Armenian. Even the elite imperial guards, the Scholae Palatinae were mostly Armenians! : )

Oh great, now I have sudden urge to start listening to the History of Byzantium Podcast again. Seriously though, great video!

@Vitalis94

5 жыл бұрын

I tend to nervously check the podcast's website at the end of every week, as the new episodes are published around that time, yet there was no update today, sadly. :P

@histguy101

5 жыл бұрын

Do you have a link by chance?

@sentientbakedziti

5 жыл бұрын

I had trouble following after the 347th episode about Belisarius

@lucasart328

5 жыл бұрын

If you want roman repuplic to roman empire check mike d7ncans podcast

@histguy101

5 жыл бұрын

@@Artur_M. sorry, but thanks! Edit: holy crap, this thing has more episodes than a star trek podcast

A powerful and beautiful army...and another great video!

@EpimetheusHistory

5 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Phil! The Byzantines would be an awesome army to paint. I did paint some byzantine banners that I had on my imperium/guard army in 40k army...but maybe one day will make a proper Byzantine army.

@philRminiatures

5 жыл бұрын

@@EpimetheusHistory Got a few Byzantine units, love them but not often played, so many armies and so little time!

I'm beginning to noticed more and more KZreadrs are making Byzantine history videos, this is great.

Breathtaking artwork. This is what sets you apart. As well as your smooth as always commentary.

I never comment on KZread videos ever, but this is important to me. Please please please more Byzantine stuff!!!

AMAZING!!!! My Favorite video so far. The artwork was awesome!!!

Great job! I love the illustrations. The soldiers look awesome in their Byzantine-style armor. You did a good job balancing that with actual paintings & coins depicting the Byzantines, so kudos for that. The only thing that disappointed me was the last minute of the video, where you failed to mention why the Byzantines lost Anatolia (due to the Seljuk Turks under Alp Arslan), and, while it was represented, you didn't mention the Latin Empire of the 13th century.

Splendid my friend

That music is haunting, good job.

Still lasted longer than any other empire I can think of. I think that's one of the things that fascinates me the most about the Eastern Roman Empire -- their seeming indomitability and their will to survive as a political and cultural identity despite being outnumbered and surrounded; it's almost unmatched.

@Cancoillotteman

5 жыл бұрын

Well Egypt survived longer, but you have to see if it is to be considered as a kingdom or an Empire, both can apply.

@JamesMartinelli-jr9mh

5 жыл бұрын

They forbad Jews from teaching their children - as per Dr E Michael Jones

@mauriciojorgeyattah8871

5 жыл бұрын

@@JamesMartinelli-jr9mh lol khazar jewish empire was allied with Byzantium

@luisarruda3061

5 жыл бұрын

Zacharie Guillerey Egypt got raped by Assyria, Persia, Macedon, Rome, Arabs and Britain.

@tarik8600

5 жыл бұрын

You cant count fall of byzantium as fall of roman empire as they changed. Think of it like this, is mughal empire timurid empire just bc it came from timurid empire? Nope its not. The land was just inherited from timurids after they fell. Same with byzantium. They werent romans anymore thye were bynzantine and byzantine only survived for 700 years.

the fact that byzantium faded away just before the great age of discoveries. Even though greece has one of the richest histories, the pages during 1453-1800 (which of course happenes to be the greatest years for Europe) are blank. What a same.

Thank you for a relational perspective.

Great video on a fascinating subject that is rarely explored. Keep up the excellent work.

Literally today I had to cancel my paper about the Varangian Guard because of time constraints...and now you release this video? Nice timing lol God, I love your vids

@sebastianpye9328

5 жыл бұрын

yeah, too bad that varangian guard is not even mentioned lol

The fall of Constantinople is saddest day of the history

@Cancoillotteman

5 жыл бұрын

I would argue with the battles of Trafalgar and Waterloo, but then again being French that may seem logical :p Yet yes, I think internationally the fall of the Romans is felt by many as a terrible historical moment. But which day should we remember, the fatal wound (pillage by crusaders and Venitians) or the coup de grace (1453) ?

@Vitalis94

5 жыл бұрын

@@Cancoillotteman I think that Fourth Crusade would have to be remembered more than the 1453. The latter was just nail to the coffin, why should we mourn already half dead body?

@innosanto

5 жыл бұрын

@@Cancoillotteman I think that there was no Byzantine Empire after 1204. Just a medieval Greek state. the 1261-1453 state is not an empire it is just a medieval state with huge problems, economic problems, declining population, military problems etc However the empire was gradually declining before 1204 because of its own political issues, it just lost a lot of money, geography, and political and other powers by that.

@keeganmoonshine7183

5 жыл бұрын

on the bright side the wealth and educated populace that fled Constantinople helped spark the Renaissance in western Europe and in cities such as Venice especially.

@innosanto

5 жыл бұрын

@@keeganmoonshine7183 The Rennaissance had already started with the study of the Latin texts, but the Greeks such Gemistus Pletho, Manuel Chrisoloras, Bessarion, and Leo Allatius and many others gave a great boost and played a significant role in the Rennaissance. In the first part in the Rennaissance Western Europe studied the Romans and some Greeks. Then they started to translate some other Greek texts from Arabs who had found the texts when they conquered Egypt etc, and the Western Europeans found some other Greek texts around. But many other works they didn't have around and they didnt have from the Arabs, but the Byzantines were studying them and brought and taught them to Western Europeans when they started moving to Western Europe in the final years 1350-1450 and especially after 1453. Many Byzantine Greek scholars went to Italy. Where would they stay? In Ottoman Empire??!! That would be a joke.

Thanks for another great video! Recently I learned about the *Barbary Wars* . It's worth looking into for a video topic, I think it might be right up your alley!

Thank you for such a great video. Really gripping.

Great animation style and edditing

Good video. Gives an overview of how the Byzantines adapted to the disaster that was the arab conquests, but I feel like you didn't go into as nearly as much detail about the events surrounding the Turkish invasions and the crusades.

ahhhhh yes the best video about byzantine history i learned so much in this video

Great content. I also link some of it through my FB. The older I get, the more important the historical narrative becomes.

I would say there was a recovery after losing Anatolia. The Komnenain restoration is my favorite part of byzantine history next would be the succession states after 1204. I would say although the 4th crusade was disastrous the 1st crusade gave them a fresh breath of life under alexios.

STUNNING ANIMATIONS

@xstrawarot

5 жыл бұрын

Literally powerpoint 2013

@funhistory7640

5 жыл бұрын

@@xstrawarot This is Powerpoint ??????

I've watched almost, if not all your videos. I am almost sure it's *scientific fact* that you are the greatest content provider of all time.

This was amazing. Thank you.

Hey would you like to make series of videos for the three Bulgarian kingdoms, thanks for your consideration

@fartballs7094

5 жыл бұрын

No no, make a ten part series on the babenberg empire. And then thirty vids on the annexation of bosnia. And then another twenty vids on Franz-Joseph II.'s mustache.

@honkytonk4465

5 жыл бұрын

Never heard of Bulgarians.

@historyrhymes1701

5 жыл бұрын

*2 empires and 1 kingdom

Thank you, Eastern Roman Empire is my favorite topic!

@animator5077

5 жыл бұрын

It is greece

I never actually knew how Byzantium was structured before with the themes. Thanks!

Great job EP, loved the video. Now the Age of Discovery!

Hey. Epimetheus. Can you a video about the Dacian Kingdom,please?

@CosminComanGeorgel

5 жыл бұрын

a facut despre istoria noastra

@NihilSineRex1881

5 жыл бұрын

@@CosminComanGeorgel eu vroiam sa zic ca Epimetheus sa descrie mai succinct despre imperiul lor,armata lor si viata lor.

@ksanbahlyngwa1998

5 жыл бұрын

Yes please

@YouTuber-gm9xf

5 жыл бұрын

Cosmin Tiganus It’s on “History of Romania”

@combatantezoteric2965

5 жыл бұрын

Si ar putea sa specifice despre imperiul bulgar ca era si român

This was an amazing army! 🔥

@innosanto

5 жыл бұрын

It is the continuation of Roman after all. later day Roman.

@Ghost-vi8qm

5 жыл бұрын

Amazing army that lost countless of battles...

@paulmayson3129

4 жыл бұрын

And won countless more

Great video! Would love to see a video on the Gauls

Excelente vídeo!!! Parabéns!!!!

Great presentation. Imagine building a mosque in Constantinople for the Arab troops! 7:15 Roman realpolitik at its best!

I've always liked the Theme-period in the Roman history. I came to laern of it when i read about the Swedish allotment system implimented at the latter half of 17th century. It's basically the same as the theme system but instead of having counties and strategoi to whom the soldiers report to for duty, the so called "Soldattorp" would farm lands belonging to the king, making them more loyal. The power of the swedish kings came from the lower classes in their history, which is why the peasentry didn't suffer from serfdom compared to other europeans, so it would make sence of having an army that doesn't rely on the nobility

Thank you, that's a very good video on a very interesting topic

I loved it. Great work

Great video! Thanks ever so much :-) Minor correction: "themata" and "tagmata" are plural. Singular would be "thema" and "tagma". So, one tagma, three tagmata.

@tigranispiryan4865

Жыл бұрын

Fun fact the Byzantine military was mostly Armenian. Even the elite imperial guards, the Scholae Palatinae were mostly Armenians! : )

@Alopex1

Жыл бұрын

@@tigranispiryan4865 Hm, I think that is somewhat of an oversimplification. The Byzantine Empire existed for a millenium, and in that time gained and lost control of Armenia multiple times, at times even going to war with it. Yes, Armenians periodically made up significant parts of the Byzantine army, but the Byzantines also employed huge numbers of domestic levies as well as mercenaries from all over Europe and Asia, including Normans, Italians, Pechenegs and Kipchaks, large numbers of Norsemen, Turcopoles and Turcomans, various Slavs from the Balkans, Kievan Rus warriors, and even Arabs. So it really depends on the time period and size of the army whether you can legitimately claim that the Byzantine Army was "mostly" made up of Armenians. At the battle of Yarmouk, for instance, the overall Byzantine commander was the Armenian Vahan, but even then only a quarter of the army was made up of Armenians - and that was probably because Vahan was in command. The rest of the army was made up of Byzantine, Slav and Ghassanid troops.

Shame that a fine Empire falls, because of their Cousin, Themselves, and the Ottoman. Edit: by cousins I mean the Catholic church. Edit 2: I was wrong on the Catholic, blame should be the men in the 4th Crusade.

@Strideo1

5 жыл бұрын

"To surrender the city to you is beyond my authority or anyone else's who lives in it, for all of us, after taking the mutual decision, shall die of our own free will without trying to save our lives." - Emperor Constantine XI to Mehmed II before the fall of Constantinople.

@ilijas3041

5 жыл бұрын

@@Strideo1 "so die you all shall" Turkish dude to Emperor Constantine XI

@Krankenstein

5 жыл бұрын

@@ilijas3041 actually sultan let them live in peace and pray freely.

@Krankenstein

5 жыл бұрын

Orthodox was more ancient and stronger than the catholic, even in Ottoman rule. West made it weak, they didn't want any strong Christian leadership under the control of Turks. Even tho it wasnt under the Turkish control completely.

@ilijas3041

5 жыл бұрын

@@Krankenstein If thats what you have seen in one of your visions I believe you. I really do :*

You have the best history videos! You remind me of my son, a history buff as well. Thank you!

Hey dude just want to say...learning alot about real history 👌 Real learning experience All the way from South Africa

Great video! Also you should totally do Nader Shah

Please, make a video about the tocharians!!

Great video as always

Amazing video! Thanks so much 🙏

Make a video about the military campaigns of Flavio Belisario!!

As the dark souls 2 old knight armour says: Just as a thing is about to fall to pieces it unleashes it's last flash of great power.

@gugu3436

5 жыл бұрын

Nice quote ! I really like this armor set but it breaks fast.

Great video, great voice, great graphics. Thank you!

Excellent job great video.

Since you did a video on the Byzantine infantry,can you do one on their cavalry units,particularly the Cataphracts.

@Cheveliery

5 жыл бұрын

Yea boii! Cathaphracts were the thing

@thegeneshistorian553

5 жыл бұрын

Thumbs up to this

@CirosKhan

4 жыл бұрын

They just copied the Iranian cataphracts

@karenbartlett1307

4 жыл бұрын

@@CirosKhan You mean from when they met them at Thermopolai?

@CirosKhan

4 жыл бұрын

@@karenbartlett1307 No. when they burnt down Athens

"The Byzantine army however, was ready for them. Thanks in large measure to Nicephorus Phocas, it had been developed into a first-class war machine, boasting atleast half a dozen generals of a quality unparalleled, perhaps since the days of Belisarius, the Emperor himself among them." Page 214 from "Byzantium-The apogee" by John Julius Norwich

@EpimetheusHistory

5 жыл бұрын

Great quote! Thanks Iwan

@iwanegerstrom4564

5 жыл бұрын

@@EpimetheusHistory My pleasure Epimetheus 🙂

More of this PLEASE, great video

@gugu3436

5 жыл бұрын

Yes please !

very simple and at the same time explanatory video. I understood very well a part of the story that I could not do at school.

can you make a video about the Komnenian army? the komnenian era was like the second golden age of the empire, with new reforms (pronoia) and new militar organitation....

@EpimetheusHistory

5 жыл бұрын

Good suggestion

I like to imagine Roman empire survibing into 17th century and and recreating legions with muskets.

Ck2 time! Kind of very accurate XD rebellions every year. Nice video :D

Awesome video good sir.

can you do a video about timurid & central asian armies? couldn't find much about that

@leeboy2k1

5 жыл бұрын

he did it, check his playlist.

@muharremrevani3895

5 жыл бұрын

@@leeboy2k1 not about their armies and tactics

the longest standing empire., more than a thousand years

@Cancoillotteman

5 жыл бұрын

Egypt is amused

@paprskomet

5 жыл бұрын

@@Cancoillotteman Egypt was conquered by foreign powers several times.Roman state was not.Until 15th century.

@paprskomet

5 жыл бұрын

Much more than thousand years if you count really all of its history which starts long prior what was artificially marked as "Byzantine".

@Cancoillotteman

5 жыл бұрын

@@paprskomet If you interrupt for each invasion you have to start counting after Marius Furius, and the Celtic Invasion. But even so I don't know if the second Dinasty of Egypt did not last longer, I have to check

@paprskomet

5 жыл бұрын

@@Cancoillotteman Difference is that while Egyptian state was repeatedly completely conquered and ruled by foreign dynasties,state of the Romans was completely conquered by foreign power for the 1st time only in 15th century.

Excellent Presentation

@EpimetheusHistory

5 жыл бұрын

Thank you :)

this is exactly what i wanted

I love learning about this empire, I created a report in the “about” section of my profile [:

I'm trying to find the Sea People in this video, but I can't... How strange... Ok, I will replay once more. Just need to pay more atention.

Excellent video.

Great job. Very informative.

@EpimetheusHistory

5 жыл бұрын

Thanks! :)

The Greek Fire saved them from viking-slavs(Rus) invasions and not once, so yeas it was on its second peak of power in the end of 10 and begining of 11 century.

@thedoruk6324

5 жыл бұрын

Wait, Vikings are Slavs?! What?

@Vitalis94

5 жыл бұрын

@@thedoruk6324 By Viking-Slavs he simply ment the Rus. Even according to the Normanist theory, they were just a drop in the sea of East Slavs. So likely the Slavic speakers would be surely present at their raids, that's just inevitable. Besides, many Viking raids were conducted by various ethnicities - be it Norse/Germanic and Osselian/Estonian groups, Poles being present during Canute's conquest of England, the famous Jomsborg had a mixed Norse-Slavic garrison, not to mention many groups of Slavic pirates, including Rugians, Pommeranians, etc. etc.

@thedoruk6324

5 жыл бұрын

@@Vitalis94 Alright. Thanks, for the explaination.

@user-ws3zv2gy3f

5 жыл бұрын

@Mr Seboss u search are not good :) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rus%27%E2%80%93Byzantine_War_(941) . "Then, at an instant, the Greek-fire was hurled through tubes upon the Rus' and their allies; Liudprand of Cremona wrote: "The Rus', seeing the flames, jumped overboard, preferring water to fire" one. "Michael Psellus, an eyewitness of the battle, left a hyperbolic account detailing how the invading Kievan Rus' were annihilated by a superior Imperial fleet with Greek fire off the Anatolian shore." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rus%27%E2%80%93Byzantine_War_(1043) two another time in raid about year 860 fleet has fought with arabs so they coudnt help, its only documented history how many real attempts was we do not know.

@user-ws3zv2gy3f

5 жыл бұрын

what wrong with u guys?) didnt u know that the vikings in 9 century establish a big state of Kievan Rus? so their army included both northman and slavs

It's crazy to me that nobody's figured out how to reproduce Greek Fire. Is it more that we just don't know what it really was/did, or that we can't technologically make the stuff? Bc I want some.

@Petros98223

5 жыл бұрын

they can reproduce something that acts like the historic descriptions. The issue is that they are not certain of exactly how they made it because it was a state secret. Modern historians want to see records, words on paper, to claim they know how it is made.

@zarni000

4 жыл бұрын

oil. pretty simply. not rocket science really

@zarni000

4 жыл бұрын

@@aokiaoki4238 "Byzantines as true empire took it in their grave." lol what? oh i guess you mean *to* their grave. please learn some english before you attempt this as you are comical. "took it *in* their grave" implies they really took it in :). Given the greeks virtually invented homosexualism and buggery I can see the association :) But anyway they were pumping oil out which was lit. nothing special. and no they didn't intend to take it - just they ran out of oil that was available above ground and they had no way to pump it out.

@zarni000

4 жыл бұрын

@@aokiaoki4238 Macedonia is macedonia.

@reddyforlenny9389

4 жыл бұрын

@@zarni000 it wasnt oil, oil doesnt set itself on fire when in contact with water...

I was pretty impressed with how informative this video was. The Byzantines have held a bit of a fascinating for me.

Excellent

The final breath of the once mighty Roman Empire.

@leeboy2k1

5 жыл бұрын

Lol, you do realise that the subsequent monarchies fought over who claimed to be the Holy Roman Empire? modern day banking/corporate elites are the modern day Romans (third Rome) look at all of the architecture they erected during and after the enlightenment period/industrial revolution, Roman/Greco/Egyptian edifices everywhere.

@leeboy2k1

5 жыл бұрын

@King Wiwuz IV It depends on by who's definition, however the then pope of byzantium said "there will be three empires and no more" Our modern day freemasonic elite see themselves as modern day Caesar's living by the Lucifarian doctrine (Adonai-men as god on earth) they claim to have received powerful knowledge (magik) from the Pharisees, they deny Christ, and are trying to bring about Old testament prophecy by building the third Temple in Jerusalem.

@leeboy2k1

5 жыл бұрын

@King Wiwuz IV Ah the post-modernist language slur tactic we see ad-nauseum. You really should avoid using such played out terms should you wish to be taken seriously, I at least have presented a framework of what I have learned without resorting to weak attacks.

@leeboy2k1

5 жыл бұрын

@King Wiwuz IV Moreover, if you do get round to researching Maimonides, you will find he has ancestors in powerful positions of British media for example.

@leeboy2k1

5 жыл бұрын

@King Wiwuz IV Have you suddenly lost cognitive function? using cliche slur terms instead of just agree/disagreeing was all that was necessary.

Its cool to watch a video in wich my country(Bulgaria) plays important part of the story!#BulgarshateBasillandthebyzantines

@user-rr9ng9bo9l

5 жыл бұрын

go back to stepes

@Kaloian_Ivanov

5 жыл бұрын

@@user-rr9ng9bo9l If we want we conquered our land and payed for it with our blood!BTW your name is writen with the alphabet(script) wich we made so,if you dont like us stop using it.

@tunguznayman3924

5 жыл бұрын

idil Bulgars were Turkic tribe. Almis Khan became Muslim at 910s.

@Kaloian_Ivanov

5 жыл бұрын

@@tunguznayman3924 Idel bulgars came from ogb(Old Great Bulgaria) just like us so...Don't try to educate me on my own history ok!?!

@Kaloian_Ivanov

5 жыл бұрын

@@tunguznayman3924 Khan Kubrat had 5 sons-one of them went to Volga(Idel).That was Kotrag. Another one went to the Danube and that was Asparukh the founder of my country.BTW our best heavyweight boxer Kubrat Pulev is fighting tomorrow so here is an example that we still name our children with names similar to our ancestors

Great video

Respect to you for calling them the eastern Roman Empire. The term byzantium was never used by them and would be a stupid one. Since its a matter of pride and honor to call themselves Roman. Byzantium is a name invented in the 18th century.

@philanthropenos1074

8 ай бұрын

Even the Turks called them as Roman (Rum). Still anyone of Greek origin from Anatolia (and Cyprus) is called as Rum (And they call the Greeks in Greece as Ionians "Yunan")

The Byzantine Empire was a sad epilogue to the greatest empire that ever existed.

@gutemorcheln6134

3 жыл бұрын

Nah it was the greatest empire that ever existed.

@glorifiedtoaster4368

3 жыл бұрын

It was the same Empire

@gorakoss

3 жыл бұрын

Byzantine empire was quite a long epilogue though.

@urseliusurgel4365

2 жыл бұрын

Vital in preserving Classical learning, and instrumental in both the 12th and 15th century Renaissances of Western Europe. The Carolingian Renaissance was more indebted to the Irish, and their English pupils, however.

great video

Writing from constantinople/istanbul. Its both great and sad to live here as there are alot of remnants but many are either destroyed sacked or vandalised. Great video

@1Wilful

4 жыл бұрын

Yeah I'm told the Turks really don't care about Byzantine history.

Can you do a video on the Illyrians, you mentioned them before, but i think they are interesting, they went from controling Macedonia to a pirate queen named Teuta.

I love how in all the countries they give more attention in western Roman empire while in Greece its the exact opposite.

@charadradam9985

4 жыл бұрын

its because the fall of the western roman empire made the first kingdoms of the west tribes and became the founds for the later states like spanish french english german etc...the eastern roman empire especially after the loss of the middle eastern lands and egypt remained in its mijority with greek and greek spoken populations.. that why in the 6th century changed the official language from latin to greek.. so during the ages there was greek-roman mixture and the east roman empire made the middle ages history of greeks. thats why they give importance in this.. also it was for many years the main defence against anatolians... persians arabs and later turks..

i rooock that kind of videos !!! history is way more than just dates and battles, its about administration, complexity rising and falling (like Rome who raised complexity during Diocletian only for it to be too costly, so they adapted and decreased complexity into a semi-feudal stats to cut costs and defend easily while been vulnerable to really great big powers and less united)

Your vids are just so interesting. Thanks!

@EpimetheusHistory

5 жыл бұрын

Thank you for watching :)

Those people in Anatolia today still bare Greek ancestry DNA

@catch_me_if_you_can6596

5 жыл бұрын

so?everyone bears some greek or other dna...

@zagortenay33

5 жыл бұрын

@ Greek virgin: and the Greeks of modern day Greece have Turk and Slav DNA. So what is your point? It takes more than DNA for being a member of a nation. Language, culture and sharing the similar ideals are the most important elements of nations and peoples. This whole DNA argument is quite meaningless.

@yildirim103

5 жыл бұрын

Why don’t u go and check yr Dna first? 400millions Turks around world. Kazak, uzbek, uyghurs, kirgiz, turkmans,azeribajians... Greece 10mil and Turks have greek dna..🤔

@innosanto

5 жыл бұрын

Only on the western and northern coasts. There were a lot of other peoples in Anatolia. The mainland of Anatolia was never fully hellenized (except Cappadocia). The eastern-northern part was Armenian. And there were other peoples as well.

@tylerellis9097

5 жыл бұрын

@@innosanto False by 1000AD all of Anatolia spoke Greek or Armenian, Even the settled Bulgarian and Arab populations were assimilated into the Hellenic culture. Also for all intents and purposes their isn't that much differences genetically between Greeks and Turks. Greeks by this point are as Anatolian as the Turks. The Byzantines resettled Greece with Hellenic Anatolians multiple times then you have the more recent population exchange.

Why didn't you mention the Varangian Guard ?

@1Wilful

4 жыл бұрын

Because he covered almost 1000 years in ten minutes, and mentioned Scandinavian mercenaries.

@tigranispiryan4865

Жыл бұрын

Fun fact the Byzantine military was mostly Armenian. Even the elite imperial guards, the Scholae Palatinae were mostly Armenians! : )

great video!

Love your videos!!

Longest lasting empire in Europe says a lot about the empire