What True Size history should we cover next? Corrections for this episode: 03:41 - The cavalry model should NOT have stirrups 06:33 - There should be 20 NOT 60 velites per century (1,200 velites / 60 centuries = 20 velites)

@LordPeachew

Жыл бұрын

Mali

@danyael777

Жыл бұрын

True size of an Imperial Guard regiment :D

@Shahanshah101

Жыл бұрын

@Invicta Greetings can you please make more videos on Sasanian military, architecture and administrative system.

@Doofing_Cookies

Жыл бұрын

You should go into things like Carthage and the Persians

@kaizokujimbei143

Жыл бұрын

LGBTQ is a modern invention. They did not exist in ancient times.

Wow, it's amazing how the Romans organized their army. And to think this was a time before radios and wireless communication. Truly an impressive feat.

@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623

Жыл бұрын

That's why standard bearers to identify individual units, trumpeters and flag bearers to give them signals, and musicians to keep down a steady marching beat were so important. As were subordinate generals who would stick to the agreed upon battle plan and not abandon the line to pursue their own glory, but who could still improvise when needed. Alexander's generals are key in this, as once the battle started Alexander was usually off with the Companians and unable to command the remainder of the army.

@YolunSonu1

Жыл бұрын

it is still wireless actually since they used banners and drums to communicate

@jamesmaddison4546

6 ай бұрын

...they weren't the first to do this, far from it actually. Militaries had high levels of organization and logistics back then and many centuries prior to the Romans too. Idk if you yourself do, but it's unfortunate how so many in the world give little to no credit at all to how smart the ancients truly were, simply because they're not advanced as us.

@jeffreese1828

6 күн бұрын

​@jamesmaddison4546 yeah , they were pretty smart . So many disciplines had to be mastered before humans got to this . Production of cloth , food , medicine , armor and sturdy weapons , and so skills in carpentry , metallurgy , animal husbandry ,not to mention language and writing ! These things were mastered to high degree to produce armies and logistics on these scales . What they lacked in higher technology they made up with muscle and determination. Y'know , the refrain that humans could not have done the ancient buildings , etc , "unaided" . Obviously , they did though . One man is strong , thousands can accomplish whatever they set out to do .

"...And once we conquer Sicily, we'll go after the Roman tribes. They're such good fighters. We'll have a hard time beating them, but I'm sure they'll serve us well in the future..." *Alexander the Great explaining his plans of conquest to the dying Hephaestion*

@DubyaDeeEight

Жыл бұрын

Breaking news: After conquering Sicily and Italy, Alexander the Great was spotted trying to SWIM TO CHINA. “It’s far away from our supply lines, but their artificially devalued Yuan will serve us well”

@SimoLInk1698

Жыл бұрын

Didn't know Alexander the Great was an Ork. He just wants a good krumping.

To clarify this video discusses a legion of the Roman republic before the Marian reforms and after they ditched the use of a Greek like hoplite system. Meaning this wasn’t what the Romans used for the entirety of the republics history. The manipular system was used in the mid republic. Not during the early and late republic.

@KapanthPT

Жыл бұрын

So in other words, a polybian legion

@InvictaHistory

Жыл бұрын

Yes we could have more aptly named the title and given a time period

@kaizokujimbei143

Жыл бұрын

@@InvictaHistory You could have, eh? -_____-

@High_Tech_Priest

Жыл бұрын

@@InvictaHistory don't worry about it. Your content is great. No matter how much of a stickler for details you are. There will always be people who will tell you to be more accurate. Just keep doing what your doing you don't have to make every little armchair historian happy

@Intranetusa

Жыл бұрын

To add on to that, the Velites were not the absolute poorest (both money and equipment) of the mid Republican Roman armies. There were even poorer troops called the Rorarii and Accensi (though the Accensi were phased out by the late mid Republic) who served as reserves and/or skirmishers.

I always loved the ancient uniforms worn by the Hastati (the one made up of a red tunic with a Babylonian breastplate and a helmet covered with three feathers). For those interested, the BBC docu-film "Hannibal: Rome's Worst Enemy" shows these uniforms with great historical accuracy

@The_JohnnieWalker

Жыл бұрын

Yep same ever since I was young spending all day playing Rome TW 1

@JaM-R2TR4

Жыл бұрын

except, its not realistic... uniforms did not exist, and everybody wear what he had... Legion was formed from Middle Class citizens who could afford armor... plus, young 20 years old men would usually use "family provided armor" during their term of service - wealthy family would not send its sons underequipped just because they are young... So, certain Hastati would wear expensive armor, because they were from wealthier family, while certain Triarii would wear pectorale plates because they couldn't afford anything better... And same thing applies to tunics... wealthier men would wear higher quality tunic of "premium" color, while poorer ones would wear uncolored tunics... and FYI, wearing purple or scarlet tunic was seen as extravagant... so only nobility would wear those (Equites were equestrian rank = nobility)

@game_boyd1644

Жыл бұрын

@@JaM-R2TR4 My thoughts exactly

I have been following your channel for a few years now, I don't have the money to financially support you, I would if I could. I just want to say thank you for putting out these great documentaries for free! Much love Denmark

"Earthquake!?"-The captain "No captain batte formation"-Leonidas

This is excellent - I'd love to see a video on the creation of camps. How long it would have taken and how roles were assigned during the construction process.

@InvictaHistory

Жыл бұрын

We definitely plan on it

I like how Historia Civilis put it: "The Romans had a saying: 'it's come to the Triarii'. It has a dual meaning; one, that this is the absolute last option you have to solve a problem, save disaster. Two, that it's time for the real adults to step in and take control."

Fantastic! I love these technical breakdowns of ancient armies. ⚔

Another fantastic video invicta ! Can’t wait to see if we will get a video of the late Roman empire army’s from the time of Honorius or arcadius close to fall of Rome I always found all the different type of units they deployed very interesting but regardless great video love it !

I get giddy excited watching videos like this. Keep it up!

Very interesting presentation on the legion of the Republic. Great work.

wow that was awesome, again; this time in sheer scale and implied logistics, great job!

Hey, could you do something about the organization of Alexander the Great's army? on average, that is. Or, just greek armies in general? the comparison to the Alexandrian Lochos sparked my curiosity~

@InvictaHistory

Жыл бұрын

Planning on it

@Number1Irishlad

Жыл бұрын

@@InvictaHistory great to hear~

@naturalbornpatriot6369

Жыл бұрын

@@InvictaHistory The Logistics video was absolutely astonishing.

Fun Fact: The gladius sword was not adopted by the romans till around 200 BC or before = during the late ending stages of the 2nd Punic war with Carthage... before that they used a Greek like sword. It was found & adopted off the battlefield from dead soldiers & warriors that Hannible brought with him from Illeria/Hispania during the 2nd war with Rome... they were so impressed by its killing lethality, that they decided to add it to their infantry forces from then on till the late 100s & 200s AD... 500 years mostly in usage after that. I would love to see the beginning Roman army from 753 - 390 BC = before the manipular system, during the time when they were bandit raiders with their earlier equipment shown and later with the phalanx being used up till they abandoned it post first sack of Rome by the Gauls/celts. Then, I would love to see the Marian reformed army when it all started up, all the way till Caesar's time, right up till Augustus started up the empire post war with Antony & Egypt... and how it improved itself from 106 - 27 BC. Then the army at its peak during Trajan's time with all the extra equipment made to protect their arms, head and legs during the Dacian wars... right up till Marcus Aurelius. Then the roman army during the crisis of the 3rd century and all its formations and new equipment they made from 190 - 284. Then the late roman army & formations = from 284 - 640 AD And finally, the Eastern Roman Byzantine Army = from 330 - 1453 AD Will that be ok for the many great videos to be made for next year coming up as requests? 😎😉❤⚔

The choreography of how centuries moved in the battlefield to cover the spaces is what intrigues me. Everything else was just 👌👌 thanks for sharing . Would also he nice a video about how the units came to be in the early republic or monarchy

@JNC7

11 ай бұрын

In keeping with the checkerboard formation, I would assume that the century to the back left (perspective looking forward) would move to fill in the gaps. Between the front centuries. Using modern US military marching terminology, this is how I assume it could have been done. Most of these command would probably have been said by the centurion. • Right, face! (century turns to the right, they’re now in column formation instead of line formation) • Forward, march! (century marches forward) • Left flank, march! (century now turns to face the left and are marching in line formation, facing the enemy.) • Century, halt! (The century is in line formation and facing the enemy in one battle line with the other centuries) • Maniple, at close interval, dress right, dress! (Legionaries shuffle to about the distance provided by the elbow when the hand is placed on the hip. This would provide adequate shield cover for both legionaries in the use of the maniple. Think of how close riot police are when holding the line against protestors or rioters) - this would be said by the Centurion Prior. The battle line has been formed. Technically, this can and would all be done pretty fast, especially if such movements were practiced.

@GarfieldRex

11 ай бұрын

@@JNC7 thank you very much for sharing. Sounds about right 👌

Another great job!! Love the video and cant wait for more.

Very interesting as comparison to the imperial Roman legion described by you in the earlier video. Both videos very informative and comprehensive.

As a new Acients enthusiast and war gamer thank you for this video. This helped me understand things so much clearer. Subbed,

I rarely say this -> but it is a truly amazing video you just made ... as a great fan of roman history in general and roman military in particular ... congrats!

Thank you, it's amazing to see the layout

excellent video, now all that's missing is a video of the legion of the late empire, which was much smaller but there were many more of them.

This was a cool way to present it guys thanks!

Awesome video as always! Can't wait for the next one!!

@alejandrosakai1744

Жыл бұрын

I can't wait for the late-Roman Republic legion or the Macedonian Phalanx!

Thank you for the video. I very much enjoyed it.

Makes it clear why they had a problem in wooded areas... Thanks for the video!

I would like to see a video on the true size of Regiments from the nations participating in the Napoleonic wars. France, Bavaria, Spain, Britian, Austria-Hungary, Prussia, the Ottomans & Russia.

Excellent content as always; thank you! A natural follow up to this video would be to cover what the sources always meant when referring to a Roman legion in the field during the republican era; that is 1 roman legion (covered here) and one socii ala, (which I believe for most of the republican period were not as uniformly equipped or organized as some sources insinuate, but rather more in line with each ala’s local custom). And then the consular army of typically 2 of each type of legions. All the best

This is awesome, thanks man.

Positioning new younger recruits at the front was mainly for gaining prestige of combat experience, something highly sort after in roman culture. With later roman legions to boost morale by getting them directly into the action, other then long marching and patrols in peace times. The system of always placing well heavily armed experienced veterans right at the back was eventually changed to a mixed units. The older veteran soldiers have had a guts full of being kept out of direct combat.

I always find maniples very disturbing. For a long time I couldnt find information whether these consisted only of same type soldiers or mixed. Good job with this vid!

Excellent video. I really enjoyed it

Please make a vídeo about the Martius Camp in Rome, i love your canal sooooo much

This is awesome

Concerning the battle formation, Dr Michael J. Taylor postulates a quite different interpretation of the source material. He examines what Caesar calls "opening the maniples" ( _manipulos laxare iussit_ ) and assumes that the Romans either fought with Polybius' 6 ft distance or with Tacitus' 3 ft distance between individual soldiers, depending on the situation. Leaning on examination of archaeological finds, he also assumes that this was achieved by being deployed in a checkerboard pattern in an _open_ maniple, with each second rank stepping forwards to make it a _closed_ maniple. He also assumes that the maniples deployed with gaps in between them, as wide as necessary to face enemy infantry formations.

ah yes I love these videos!!!! mind boggling!!!

I think what can not be overstated about the republican legions is Family. A 30 year old man from an average family probably had a younger brother in the Velites, an uncle in the Principes and several cousins mixed throughout. That is why I always agreed with the thought that Velites bunked with other units. This was probably they're first outting to war, they needed that foundation of experience and probably bunked with an older brother/family member.

@ModernDayRenaissanceMan

Жыл бұрын

Vin Diesel has entered the chat

Alright, now I'm excited for a True Size episode for the Late Roman Dominate.

Really good video 👍🏻 see a lot of people don't know the sheer size of a legion or in this day and age a military division.

so glad that you spell triarii well!!

Can we get one where you visualize the cost in silver denarii to fund the legion?

Veles, Velites - literally "Wanting", or more proper "Volunteer" (funnily, volunteer comes from the same latin root "Voluntas" - "Will") Hastatus, Hastati - literally "Spearer", or more proper "Spearman" (the Roman word for spear is "Hasta", interestingly in the Republican period this type of infantry is no longer armed with spears) Princeps, Principes - literally "the First" (armed in the same manner as the Hastati, though regarded as more skilled and experienced) Triarius, Triarii - literally "Thirder", or more proper "Third Rower", "of the Third Line" (armed in the classical fashion, with a long spear "Hasta", these were the most experienced troops) Eques, Equites - literally "Horser", or more proper "Horseman" (drawn from the higher and wealthier social classes, as maintaining a horse and retinue was exponentially more costly)

Awesome Video!

Excellent content as always. Now I've satisfied my daily requirement for Rome.

Can you guys make a video about "viking" trading town Hedeby and the siege by Harald Hardrada? It's not a well known location like birka but it's quite interesting and deserves recognition. For a long time it was the most important trading town in Denmark. Thanks to the siege this trading town lost its power and therefore importance in the Danish kingdom. Afterwards the inhabitants had to relocate and founded the town of Schleswig.

Great videos! Would like to see late-Roman field army breakdown if that's on the cards?

@InvictaHistory

Жыл бұрын

yes we will definitely cover that and hopefully even the armies of the monarchy

great summary!

As a former Quartermaster the idea of organising the logistics for 5900 men and 1700 animals AND all their gear is worrying. Just feeding, paying and moving them must have been a nightmare. Now consider armies made up of multiple legions...

Hi from French here, please make a video of a "True size of a Legion in the Late Roman Empire" since Constantin 1er with Théodose The Great etc... There are so much difference and so much to talk about this period. Limitanea, comitatenses .... There is such a wealth of information that a lot of people don't know

great series I know it not really your thing but I would love to see military formations for other eras not just ancient history. Looking forward to a Macedonian or Late Roman era formation like this.

Ive always thought of G2A as a pretty sketchy site. Loads of controversies over the years involving stolen game keys. I think one dev even said they would rather people pirate their game than buy from G2A. Has something changed with their rep? I was just really surprised by the sponsorship. Love Invica, it was just weird

Mistaken I apologize in advance but in the model Equites Thier shouldn't be horse stirrups. Almost depictict as if there might be

@InvictaHistory

Жыл бұрын

You are right. There should NOT be stirrups

As engrossing as ever. May I recommend "Geat and Maethild", a recent upload on the Northworthy Sagas and Stories channel here on KZread.

I really hope that you are going to do a video on the late Roman army in this same brilliant format.

@Alopex1

Жыл бұрын

I hope so too - but I fear the ancient sources are too thin to make anything more than educated guesses. Late Roman army organisation and tactics are subject to high speculation - we know next to nothing for sure :-/

@Fenniks-

Жыл бұрын

@@Alopex1 We certainly have enough sources to make a video out of it.

@Alopex1

Жыл бұрын

@@Fenniks- That yes, though it woulfd have to be a different format from the Republican and Imperial one. For instance, we know almost nothing on how a unit of auxilia palatina was organised - theories vary on strength (500? 600? 800? 1,000?), composition (heavy infantry? light infantry? archers? or a mix of all of these?) and command (are these new units led by the new centenarii and ducenarii? are they commanded by tribunes? do they still have optiones and tesserarii?). So in a video, you would have to present different highly speculative models, without being able to say anything with any degree of certainty. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see a video on the subject - perhaps the channel will oblige :)

@Fenniks-

Жыл бұрын

@@Alopex1 Yes you are definitely right we would have a lot more speculation go into such a documentary, still I think we can make some educated guesses as to the army strengths of various late Imperial units. Besides a variety of books have already been done on the Army from 284-361. :)

The Velites were not the absolute poorest (both money and equipment) of the mid Republican Roman armies. There were even poorer troops called the Rorarii and Accensi (though the Accensi were phased out by the late mid Republic) who served as reserves and/or skirmishers.

@Invicta Greetings can you please make more videos on Sasanian military, architecture and administrative system.

Nice video

Where do you get your miniatures? They look great! Are they paper or plastic? These would be great to build an army for tabletop gaming.

Video idea: We are close to Christmas, and you could do a video about the Norse version of Christmas named Yule!

I would find it helpful if your videos went into the timeframe of what you're describing and perhaps a short discussion of what is happening in that era or a familiar "landmark" before, during, or after.

Flashbacks to when you first made this using Total War footage

22:24 Princep Colonel ONeill? Sweet 🫡

16:00 actually a good consul would not put his legionary camps together. Keeping them separated by half a kilometre or more allows for one camp to protect another if attacked. It also prevents the spread of disease and allows for better sanitation and foddering.

Another quibble: in early Roman times. there was the century as the basic formation, never 100 men, but based on the manpower from each tribe in the Comitia Centuriata, going back to the (probably pre-Republican) tribal system. The maniple was unknown before the Samnite Wars, and its use in the First Punic War is impossible to determine.

It's likely that no one will care but it should be noted that the image of the Equites is incorrect. The Roman Equites did not have stirrups, they were only introduced after the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

awesome

Could you do a unit of history: knights?

it would have been good to make a clear distinction between the legion of the republic before and after the marian reforms as some major changes were implemented around that time.

Can you do a video on the effectiveness of an ancient doctor?

Interesting that the legion included ~4,500 soldiers, when acting as an independent warfighting force. In modern times, the Brigade is the usual independent warfighting formation, also made up of ~4,500 personnel.

One theory (and one I think makes the most sense) is that the century was 80-100 men as in the imperial era, as the name suggests! It was just that at the time of the sources the legion was not at full strength, but we assumed that it was.

please make a video on the late roman legion!!!!

Oh my god, they were TENT MATES!

Would be great to see Late Roman Western/Eastern Military Composition. could split into as many vids as appropriate as late era byzantine (i.e basically mediaeval) is a fair way different from Western Roman at the time of the split for example. Also split vids for Comitatensis vs limitanei army comps if needed

A wonderful historical coverage about Roman empire legions during ( republican) period 👍🏻..thanks (Invicta) channel for sharing .. this excellent arrangement of legions.it's proven that Ceasars was a great leader

I couldn't help but notice: the depiction of the Equites includes a stirrup in the drawing, which is totally anachronistic - I think.

In just a week, I will personally lay flowers at the place where Caesar, the greatest leader of the republic, died⚘✌

@ancientbutstillhere6570

Жыл бұрын

Caesars fireplace at Hearst Castle is awesome.

@t2av159

Жыл бұрын

Which Caesar?

@ballsszy

Жыл бұрын

Ceaser was a genocidal maniac.

@twomp5613

Жыл бұрын

Wow

@jonathanyes112

Жыл бұрын

@@t2av159 only one Caesar from the Republic, Augustus started the imperial era

Good video but there is some rough animation work. Artwork is out of focus (12:20) and labels are off (11:39 and 14:08). Like the style but hopefully the folks at Penta can clean it up on the next one.

One thing is missing - Early Republican Legions were formed from middle class citizens but entire process of "recruitment" was based on tribal structure of roman society... which means, that members of same tribe usually ended up in same century or maniple and therefore they could share the tents.. What it also means is, that members of family would usually serve together and therefore its quite possible they would form the contubernium despite being legally from different "age group" - Hastati, Principes and Triarii... There are plenty of videos and articles that just repeat what Polybius wrote, but nobody actually looks at the issue from socio-economical perspective (which btw, Polybius also mentions, but its rarely talked about)

This is all good, with the exception that the pre-imperial Roman legion changed vastly over its 500 years. Polybius is one thing, and he was on the outside looking in. Nothing in this video describes the Roman army or legion in the First Punic War or earlier, when phalanx tactics were practiced.

I would love a Roman Republic vs Roman Imperial vid. Who would win?

Can you please do a whole real size 3d video about the roman marching camp and roman camp?

@InvictaHistory

Жыл бұрын

It's on our road map : )

A question about the maniple: did the members drill in formation? At least to be able to follow a "left face" or "right face" command? I ask this because in the Battle of Cannae, when the Romans were suckered by Hannibal into the middle of his formation, the Carthaginians attacked them on the flanks. If the maniples could turn in formation to face this attack, they would bear up to the attack much better than individually facing the attack, likely disorganized. Not that this made any difference in the end, but it would explain a bit how such a large army -- 4 double legions with an equal number of auxiliaries -- could have been annihilated by a smaller army.

I would like to know where were the rorarii becouse they are usually left out when someone talks about the Roman army.

so how many similarities can be found with the past and a present army. I bet more than half. that is pretty good for a 2000 year difference.

G2A sponor is a not caring about your community

This might be a stupid question but it appears to me there are no archers in this (and the other legion) video. Is it a misconception that the Roman's used archers or where are these categorized in?

@InvictaHistory

Жыл бұрын

Those will be part of the auxiliaries which were not included in this episode

Can you please do a documentary about Battle of Lyncestis

@muhamedshaini4386

Жыл бұрын

@@InvictaHistory. you Making it?

Please make a video on Chola Empire (c. 848 - 1279 CE)

Great video as usual. I'm not sure about the depiction of stirrups on the equites, especially in the republican era - is there evidence that these were used? From the pictures/reliefs available I think most cavalry would be depicted without stirrups?

@InvictaHistory

Жыл бұрын

You are correct, the rider should indeed NOT have stirrups

I think there is an error in your display of the Equites. The Romans (of the republic age) did not have stirrups afaik.

So, if the maniple-based formation was so flexible and useful, is that where we got the word, "manipulate"?

You should make the army units paper printable to see if anyone want to create their own legion

Day 2 of asking for Invicta to make the true size of Carthage’s army

It doesn't take as long as one might think to get into a military mindset, a few days. I imagine that the Contrebarium knew each other rather well. You make freinds fast. Many of them probably knew each other from civilian life and or had served together.

In reference to your comment that the senior Decurion was likely in charge of the overall cavalry force (13:30), I would have to disagree (in the absence of some source indicating it was so). I find it difficult to believe that one man could simultaneously directly command his own file, the two other decurions in his Turma, and the 9 other Turmae in the legion. What I find more plausible is that overall command of the equites was given to one or more of the tribunes who were not in overall command at the moment. The tribunes would have been high status men, and thus were likely trained and experienced equites in their own right. Furthermore, given the mobile nature of cavalry (and the possibility of operating at a distance from the rest of the army), I believe it would make sense that someone with significant social/military authority (and who had been present for all of the current leaders' planning) would be in charge of their manouevres in the field.

@InvictaHistory

Жыл бұрын

That seems like a plausible hypothesis

nice

you forgot to add auxiliaries, maybe do another video about them?

I am 100% citing this for my paper for an essay I'm writing about the Roman Republic Legion.

@InvictaHistory

Жыл бұрын

Please note that we made an error in the number of velites per unit. There are indeed 1200 total but with 30 maniples it should be 40 velites per maniple and 20 per century rather than the 60 we stated

@Hotel201

Жыл бұрын

@@InvictaHistory Good to know; glad it was caught while I am still working on my rough draft.