Evolution of The Roman Soldier | Animated History
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Sources:
Bahmanyar, Mir. Zama 202 BC: Scipio Crushes Hannibal in North Africa (United Kingdom: Bloomsbury USA, 2016).
Connolly, Peter. The Legionary (United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 1997).
Cowan, Ross. Imperial Roman Legionary AD 161-284 (United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2003).
Cowan, Ross. Roman Legionary 109-58 BC: The Age of Marius, Sulla and Pompey the Great (United Kingdom: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017).
Cowan, Ross. Roman Legionary 58 BC-AD 69 (United Kingdom: Bloomsbury USA, 2003).
D'Amato, Raffaele. Arms and Armour of the Imperial Roman Soldier: From Marius to Commodus, 112 BC-AD 192 (United Kingdom: Frontline, 2009).
D’Amato, Raffaele. Roman Army Units in the Eastern Provinces (1): 31 BC-AD 195 (United Kingdom: Bloomsbury USA, 2017).
D’Amato, Raffaele. Roman Army Units in the Western Provinces (1): 31 BC-AD 195 (United Kingdom: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2016).
Embleton, Ronald., Robinson, H. Russell. The Armour of the Roman Legions (United Kingdom: F. Graham, 1980).
Fields, Nic. Early Roman Warrior 753-321 BC (United Kingdom: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2011).
Fields, Nic. Roman Republican Legionary 298-105 BC (United Kingdom: Bloomsbury USA, 2012).
MacDowall, Simon. Late Roman Infantryman AD 236-565 (Taiwan: Bloomsbury USA, 1994).
Sekunda, Nick., Northwood, Simon., Hook, Richard. Early Roman Armies (United Kingdom: Bloomsbury USA, 1995).
Music:
Mobilize - Rome Total War Original Soundtrack - Jeff van Dyck
Barbarian Domination - Rome Total War Original Soundtrack - Jeff van Dyck
The Miner - Both Are Infinite
Truce No More - Dream Cave
Byrr - Hampus Naeselius
Soldier's Chant - Rome Total War Original Soundtrack - Jeff van Dyck
Heroes Will Fall - Bonnie Grace
Vantage Point - Hampus Naeselius
Barbarians - Dream Cave
Armchair Team Credits:
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Could you sometime in the future make video about Czechoslovakia maybe like Czechoslovak legions during WW1 in Russia or invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1939 or 1968? Because I think that this country is usually overshadowed by their bigger neighbouring countries.
Ave amicus
If you beat up simple history irl I'll subscribe
Do an episode like this about the ottoman empire.
I would like to suggest the history of MODERN Greek Uniforms, as well was the Cossacks and Ottomans.
“Cause all I hear is threats from a brute with no discipline, and I’m ruling over you like a boot full of my citizens!” Julius Caesar
Context?
@mrcat5508 Julius Caesar vs Shaka Zulu Epic rap battles of history
Truly a Ceaser quote moment
“So you can take your cow skin shield and hide under it.”
a man of culture i see
What I find fascinating about Rome is not how much of a powerhouse they were at its peak, but how they managed to grow from your ordinary tribal society with chieftains & the like into a colossal powerhouse of ancient civilization. We may know the Romans to be a great & powerful bastion of ancient civilization, but even the mighty Romans started out as just another simple tribal kingdom.
Kinda sad how modern Italians are more like the tribal pre-Roman peoples and Etruscans nowadays, a lot of poverty and the culture has strayed a lot from Roman culture...the British are probably more Roman then Italians....
@@tevarinvagabond1192Blame Mussolini for that 😂
My favorite thing about rome is how long they survived even as they were being crushed by germanic tribes on one side and the Persians on the other
@@tevarinvagabond1192'the British are probably more Roman than Italian ' best sentences I have read in my whole life
Well modern italians have nothing to do with Romans...They are germanic@@tevarinvagabond1192
Interesting how the uniforms went from Greek looking, to classical Roman looking, then to a weird mix between Greek and early medieval armor. Really shows how the styles changed over time.
Yep
Yesir, the eastern Roman Empire mixed both designs to pay homage to Rome but also homage to their original homeland of Byzantium.
the greek medieval ones are my favorite
A lot of Rome's iconic culture was adopted from the people they conquered, including the Celts, Etrusca and the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia. The Romans never forgot this, trying to trace their origins back to Greece like with the Aeneid. After Rome conquerored Greece, it became popular for the wealthy and powerful classes to learn and travel in Greece, helping form what eventual became Byzantine culture.
Honestly no. Learning Greece and being "Greek" was considered "being a sissy" in Roman culture. @@lucinae8510
Hearing the Rome: Total War music hit me with so much nostalgia. Great video as always.
+1 that's a soundtrack that has stuck with me since 2004 + of course the Medieval 2, most of the others are forgettable even if they were technically well made.
kzhead.info/sun/a82wkbiJiWOlhKc/bejne.html
@@IceniTotalWar I play Total War: Attila with the Medieval 2 OST mod. It has great music for the battles and I can see it fitting in the late Roman/early medieval era.
I play Rome total war 2
@@MICAHDOGUER I will get that next for the Late Roman Empire campaign.
I am really happy that people now see that the uniforms of the Roman Legions changed a lot over time
And the one that most people think of when considering them was only a very brief period of their history
One thing always looked similar on all thier uniforms. The Tunic.
especially the later Byzantium. Alot of Rome fans dont realize Rome's legacy still went on for 1000 years after the west fell
@@mrbushi1062They aren't real Roman fans if they didn't know about that fact.
A fact that Hollywood should learn. It's sad to see a 5th AD century Roman soldier wearing the uniform of a 1st century AD soldier.
By 2247 AD, The Legion came back wearing repurposed Football Gear alongside improvised uniforms while Centurions had their uniforms put together from the outfits of their fallen enemies.
Ave true to Caesar
A fallout New vegas reference
I wonder what Italy looks like in that universe. Very militant faction?
Or the year MMM, dated from the founding of Roma
You cannot deny Legionary uniforms look fantastic.
They look cool,but byzantine romen armor look better no offense
@@JohnathanMoser Byzantine just looks like eastern barbarians, Lorica Segmantata is bad ass
@@Bullet-Tooth-Tony-wrong
@@Bullet-Tooth-Tony-it only lastes 2 centuries
@@Bullet-Tooth-Tony-so did late western roman soldiers
One small thing: The Lorica Segmentata was, according to Tacitus and other writers, considered to be an inferior and cheaper alternative to chainmail armor. That's why officers like Centurions are usually shown wearing chainmail.
That is really interesting! Do you know whether they were in fact better than the standard armor?
It's common sense mostly. Segmented plate armor, opposed to chaimail armor - is much easier to construct, as you don't need to connect each individual chain together and bend each piece of nail to form a continuos ring Sadly yes - that armor was much easier to pierce, as it was thinner than a layer of chains, and it was much heavier/restrictive than the regular chainmail. Since those plates weren't steel - they were also, like chainmail - made of iron. The exact reason they were made into segmented pieces of armor was both ease of manufacturing and replacement in case each individual piece gets damaged And, as opposed to chaimail, where you would need to replace a few rings - those pieces got damaged a LOT @@Gerrieberrie76
@@Gerrieberrie76 Metallurgy sucks in the middle/late antiquity so any segmented armor would be made with iron or a very low quality steel, it provided slight better protection than chain but it so expensive to produce/maintain
That would also explain why segmentata fell out of favor but not scale or chainmail.
@@Gerrieberrie76 Mail armor gives more coverage, and if built well, is just as effective against stabbing or slashing weapons. It's also cheaper to repair (if damaged, getting rings replaced is not as expensive as replacing an entire plate). You also don't have to worry about leather or brass straps breaking on you, and it's better ventilated.
Love or hate the Romans, you still cannot deny the coolness factor when it came to how they looked in uniform and architecture. 👍
The real life Star Wars empire
we love rome❤
Laughs in Germanic tribes and sassanids
6:24 marcus furius camillus in the end saved nothing as he not only Gauls would sack the capitol but Brennos would punish marcus even more with his by making him pay an higher ransom putting his sword in a weight of objects to be equalled by roman gold saying his famous words : "VÆ VICTIS" "Woe To The Vanquished"
@@mapoleo But this empire is way easier to root for!
13:25 This will always be my favourite uniform for the Roman soldier. The High Principate Legionary represents the Roman Empire at the peak of it's power.
Hate that look. Its always used to represent the legionary and rome, altough it wasnt used that long. Lorica Hamata like Caesar used 50 BC is still the best ❤ 10:40 thats how Caesar conquered Gaul
That's the Hollywood Roman look & I love it!
Definitely the most iconic but it never fails to irk me seeing that uniform in every hollywood movie no matter what era of the empire it’s set in its always that uniform
It would be if not most of the army's military disasters occured during the time they used those armors, they were too heavy and made no sense as they didn't protect the legs or arms
Aka the stereotypical Roman look.
I think you can really tell the difference- the Golden Age soldiers had heavy plate armour and a vibrant uniform, and the late soldiers wore more medieval and dark non-vibrant uniforms, although still retaining notable roman items such as the plumed helmet
The biggest differences would be in the complexity, i.e. number of components. That the Late Roman army (or medieval armies) wore darker, less colourful uniform is likely a misconception as we tend to think of those times as the "dark times".
plumed helmets are greeks style. Romans used bird feather not horse hair for their plumes
The difference wasn't in the color but the equipment. There wasn't a standardized set of colors that the soldiers wore for each time period. Roman uniformity is a misconception.
One could say the drip was equivalent to imperial prosperity.
1-Lorica Segmentata was NOT plate armor, it was segmented armor, and it was far thinner and weaker than actual plate, besides requiring awfully more maintenance than even mail armor, which was always far more prevalent during the entire duration of the Empire's existence. There was no such thing as standard gear in the roman legions, since each man was supplied by a different workshop and sometimes either got their armor from a veteran relative or from second hand market to avoid the pay deduction. Archeological and record evidence shows that it was only worn by a fraction of legions stationed in the West. It was nearly totally absent in the East, were the most legions were stationed to do the heaviest fighting against Parthians, Sassanids, etc. 2-Late roman soldiers could also wear vibrant and colorful uniforms according to records, but graphic artists who depict them nowadays tend to interpret them in a very different way. Their gear was also better.
To paraphrase Darwin, It is not the strongest nor the most intelligent states that survive the test of time, but the most adaptable.
Well, strength helps as well. You could adapt by willingly submitting to a stronger nation but... then your nation doesn't make its mark in history
But it takes intelligence to know what's good to adapt and what's bad. And it takes courage and strength to stand up to your adversaries.
well, war is one hell of adaptive pressure...
We all think about the Roman Empire at some point, synonymous with glory
I think about as tragic Shakespeare play, Byzantine end is tragic and telling the tales of human nature
Don’t forget the men orgies
This video opens great possibilities for the future with other ancient civilizations, although not all of them have a long evolution like the Romans (perhaps the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Persians and some other kingdoms of the Chinese dynasty); It also opens up medieval options such as the Byzantines and many other kingdoms that we all already know, in addition to repeating countries that you have already covered before. In any case, I'm still waiting for you to finish the series of uniforms for the modern countries, since Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Italy, Turkey, Switzerland or some other Scandinavian and Eastern European countries are missing.
Limitanei are a tough one, some of their units are documented with full armor, and being more elite than field armies due to being very experienced in constant raiding. Other units and other times they're spoken of with disdain for being a near useless police force who bullied local merchants for bribe money and wore no armor. Really varied. A lot.
As expected of a frontier guard. Someone stationed in Britain would likely have to deal with the mostly near nsked Picts, and wouldn't need much armour. In comparison, you have the indirectly trained Germanian Tribes whom no doubt have come to adopt Roman style combat and have the backing of their own local industries to supply proper weapons and armour. The middle East is much the same. For that matter, the frontier guard, like any military force ,would be deployed with equipement likewise befitting their station.
ofc, expirence is hart to beat, tho raidng isnt the battle field, still beeing battle hardent make you fight different and edure more.
When the Rome Total War soundtrack hit I felt a huge rush of nostalgia. Perfect choice for a video like this, and a pleasant surprise.
i came here looking for this comment
Just from the armor alone, you can observe the impact the crisis of the third century had on Rome. The Late Roman army was still very much Roman, but all be it on a budget.
What? not sure how you mean that, i mean yea, but like id also say that the qupimnet imporved and adappted and is supirior. Startening with the loger sword and more protextive helment as well as heavier javilin, it seems pretty ovious that this is the result of an arms race. I also belive that the late roman field armys would wipe the field with the steriotypical legionarys, for one the combined arms approach and cavallry. But also just the infantry more protection and trained to fight in a phalanx (and outside) im pretty sure that they would beat the classical legionary
I've always found the late roman soldier interesting, the latest culmination of the roman ability to adapt to the times
Glad someone covered this, and I hope one day most people will realize that they didnt wear that one same uniform
What a massive jump in quality compared to the older military uniform videos!!!
Bruh look again at how bad the layering is on these, especially any attempt at showing a soldier holding a shield.
@@chaosvolt I'm surprised more people aren't saying this, at the end the background soldiers became pixilated, the layering sucks, animations are reused (which is normal) but are *very* noticeable. I'm guessing it must've been a new animator.
@@cow1816aw its still good overall
@@cow1816Yes.
As a man, this is gave me the daily "think about the roman empire" moment, thanks Armchair dude
“Scutum”, the Latin word for shield, is where the Spanish term for that item, “escudo”, comes from. Escudo was also a name for the currency used in some parts of the Spanish Empire.
The Rome: Total War music is a nice touch, thanks for that. I learned most of this after being absolutely fascinated by that game as a kid. Of course, back then I just thought of them in terms of which unit did better in any given battle, and which looked the coolest. Learning the real history in my teenage and adult years only deepened that fascination, and I still love this period of military history so much.
Roman soldier: I'm more than just a stereotype with segmented armor!
This is amazing content of Roman history and I am so glad you included the Roman Kingdom! That part of Roman history is quite elusive anywhere I look into and it's almost never shown in major document shows nor drama. Let alone the Republic age!
The thumbnail goes so hard
These videos are great, especially as your animation keeps getting better and beater. Keep up the great work! Roma invicta.
This video couldn’t have come about at a better time. I’m a university student and I was just going to start a project about how a person in the Roman period would go about equipping themselves for conflict. Thank you so much this will help give me a good start into my project. 👍👍
Great video, your modern history videos are good but it is nice to see that you are touching other history periods as well😊
It's true.
The Rome total war music makes this even better
Finally. We have something we can use for Roman empire edits. In all seriousness though. This is a nice break from modern history videos.
I like the new animations, they look amazing. Especially the fighting
Hopefully we get a part 2 of this about the Italian military uniform's. From the Napoleonic wars to today.
Thank you for all your hard work on these videos as well as Fire & Maneuver. A great game, and a great content creator.
6:24 marcus furius camillus in the end saved nothing as he not only Gauls would sack the capitol but Brennos would punish marcus even more with his by making him pay an higher ransom putting his sword in a weight of objects to be equalled by roman gold saying his famous words : "VÆ VICTIS" "Woe To The Vanquished"
I love these uniform videos. Could you try medieval?
Hope he does both an early, high, and late medieval Western European armies. Covering the Viking age, 100 years war, and then later religious league wars would be great
@@anon2427 yeah totally
Here before this blows up, thanks Griffin for the wonderful history videos you’ve presented to us!
okay now we just GOTTA get italy's uniform evolution
Appreciate that you used bits from the Rome Total War soundtrack! Little details like this make the video great!
This is exactly what I asked for in comments on poll 😂
How many times a day do you think of the Roman Empire?
Amazing Portrayal guys! Keep it up!
Hi Armchair Historian, thank you so much for doing this video on the military uniforms of the res publica, principate and dominate. Could you possibly doca video on Eastern Roman (Byzantine) armour? Love your work!
Would love to see more of this kind of history, perhaps a video about Vikings where we go into their campaigns in England, France and Kieven-Rus
Ahh yet another day where I sit and think about the Roman Empire!
Love the channel, really useful for meeting my daily quota of thinking about the Roman Empire.😁 On a more serious note, I think a small follow-up to this could cover the muscle/heroic cuirass, the armors designed to look like human bodies. They appear so much in Roman art that I have to imagine some of the really wealthy officers would've opted for them if they could.
I’m about it! Great video! Nice to see a little variety.
Would love to see more videos done on Roman conflicts. Perhaps a video on the Gallic videos???
I can’t wait to see what ancient videos you have planned!
Great job working the algorithm during “all men think about the Roman Empire daily” week.
10:30 Hello Rome Total War OST. I love this track.
Amazing video, keep up the great work!
I wish I could learn more about roman shields because I see in reenactment multiple people have different paint jobs and I'd like to know alot more about it
great video! love it. playing ROME TW and then Atilla TW it is interesting seeing the evolutions and then seemingly de-evolution of roman armor!
This is amazing love the work
Love to hear the Rome Total War music ❤
I like how he is using Rome : Total War's soundtrack in the background. Very nice touch.
Roman history video on TAH, Rome total war music and a couple of cheeky jokes. Beautiful
Evolution of Battleships would be very cool
More videos on Rome and Byzantium!
So more on Rome and the Greek city of Byzantium?
You mean Constantinople, which was the eastern capital of the Roman empire?
@@hazzmati Brother I meant the Byzantine or Eastern Roman empire, thought it was obvious
@@300fusionfall @300fusionfall Well not really obvious to me especially if you know history. That's why I asked you what you meant. I should have asked if you were talking about Roman Byzantium or Greek Byzantium. Because in 330 the name was changed to Constantinople. So after that there is no Byzantium in history. Just the made up name that's used now to describe the Roman Empire.
Imagine if they did a Chinese Uniform video that went back to the Bronze Age like this and it went on to the modern day (idc if it's 3 hours long I'd watch that too)
Maybe split it into three episodes, ancient, medieval, modern
A video in similar length to Tier ranking Chinese emperors
Awesome work and great info about a Roman soldier uniforms, and armor. Big fan of the Roman Empire.
I love how you can clearly see how the changes were all justified and enacted out of need to face different challenges. The early stage had just evolved from the tribal system but knew nothing more advanced than what they had, so they looked at the most powerful army of the time to take hints: the Greeks and Macedonians. The equipment and phalanx formations were the top notch ways of war at the time. But eventually fell out of efficacy and therefore a more versatile, and identity-conscious design was put in place. Mobile formations to counteract unorthodox warfare and turning from the Greek style to a more Italic one. Then there's the switching to a more modern warfare concept, with the consciousness of making the soldier well protected both from long and close range, but also able to move freely while keeping the equipment cheaper. Now a stable empire, standardisation and prime equipment can be implemented to a large but regulated army, giving a perfect template that could still be adapted to the place's necessities. With time going on needs changed again, and such a war machine could no longer be supported. Chainmail and cheaper equipment was the best option, and while the numbers of troops had increased, their proficiency wasn't one that could make them face an enemy face to face in tight formation as they used to: so spears and longer swords were a better approach. And later on one can clearly see how medieval style originated, going from a state-standardized army to a combat force that had to deal with limited funds, resources and stronger enemies
I love these types of videos showing the uniforms of the armies and it's pretty cool to see ancient uniforms though I always thought that they didn't have uniforms but they bought the armor that they chould
How often do you think of the Roman Empire?
quite often seeing as I am watching this video lol
i love your animations your the best at animating history Armchair Historian.
IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS FOR SO LONG
yes! ive wanted something like this. my suggestion in the future, greek, japanese, chinese
The perfect video for people like me who think about the Roman empire regularly
I am so glad to see this series return 😊 Might I recommend, evolution of Ottoman/Turkish Uniforms?
Supporting by watching when I saw your post on Twitter :(. Keep at it AHTV! Y'all doing great work.
It would be cool if you made a video that is all or most of the videos you made at 20x speed with the song Somebody I use to know and titles it armchair historian lore
Hey armchair,I recommend you make a video on the South-north Sudanese civil war it’s modern history and not researched on a lot thanks !
Well done Armchair Historian. Very good video and with very good animation.
It's channels like this that makes me think about the Roman Empire everyday, it's either Rome or the Napoleonic wars 😁
Hope you do more ancient nations in the future.
It has returned! I would like to see a video on Mexican, Turkish, Indian, Canadian, Brazilian, Argentine, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Greek, Chinese, Australian, Polish, Swedish, Dutch, Thai, South African, and Egyptian uniforms
Not asking for much are you 😁😁, well i hope you get your wish someday 👍👍
calm down jesus
1st Century AD looks thee coolest
Awesome coverage of this topic.
*"HOW OFTEN DO YOU THINK OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE?"*
Can you imagine if they figured out the steam engine and firearms?
They did have a very primitive steam engine but it was just used for amusement. It looked like a brass ball that rotated when boiled.
@@TheMrPeteChannel I’m aware. Imagine if they really figured it out.
Tercio is what this could would look like.
Awesomely drawn and animated.
I love how you used the rome total war music! with this video. Very well done!
I'm so glad more coverage of late roman armour is coming to light. I really like seeing how the roman legions evolved to become the early medieval armies. I'd like to see more of how roman institutions evolved in europe and how kingdoms like the franks managed to fill the gaps the romans left. I'd also like to know whether the lombards were an organised medieval type army or whether they were just a barbaric tribe. I have so many questions regarding that intermediary period between westerm rome and the nations that rose from thier ashes.
If anyone's searching for a dramatic insight on Roman warfare and religion I strongly recommend Schwerpunkt's videos series
Nice stuff ! Also perfect timing cause I'm currently watching a series on the roman empire from a french youtuber. I have noticed two animation erros at 17:40, a noise showing off on the left side of the helmet and the moving arm :p Also at 18:05, the blur has been triggered too early while the moving soldiers are not yet in the background.
Love the use of the original Rome: Total War Game Soundtrack in the video. Very nice touch.
It's a pity this video has so few visualizations. There are life outside WW2/Modern History!
Can I suggest a video about the evolution of medieval armour?
Great video idea. Roman Empire is always an interesting subject and the evolution theme is great
Ah that Roman Total War soundtrack is the icing on the cake of another great video. Pure nostalgia vibes 😁😁
This video is EPIC
Nice Video, I like the combination of your Comic style and the serious historian. And also good explanation and good storytelling. How do you produce the comic parts?
It's really fascinating about the evolution intactive and weapons of the Roman army.
Romans rocking minidresses before they were cool
Love this video. You've done it again ArmchairhHistorian. Now do a video on the evolution of the Sparta and Macedonian army.
What a great video! (I totally watched the 20 mins in 27 secs)
I remember installing the EB mod to Rome Total War (for historical accuracy) and finding that the earlier Roman legions were not what I expected. Play in the "early" age and it feels a lot like a Greek army!
I personally love Roman history. Please continue with it. Thank you!