The Last Great Roman General? Belisarius and the Wars of Justinian (All Parts)
In the 6th century AD, during the reign of Emperor Justinian, the Roman Empire experienced an extraordinary resurgence, reconquering lands - including Italy, North Africa and Rome itself - that had been lost to the 'barbarians' a century before. Leading these campaigns, a brilliant Roman general named Flavius Belisarius - a skilled tactician, inspirational leader, pragmatic and humane. This is the story of those campaigns, as recorded by Procopius, an eyewitness to many of them, as well as other ancient historians, texts, and archaeological remains.
Big thanks to Legendarian for 'Total War: Attila' gameplay footage, check out his KZhead channel here: / @legendarian4690
'Total War: Attila' gameplay footage used with kind permission of Creative Assembly - buy the game here: www.amazon.co.uk/Total-War-At...
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🎨 Original artwork by Miłek Jakubiec www.artstation.com/milek
🎨 Thanks to Igor Dzis for permission to use his painting, 'Battle of Dara'.
📷 Thanks to Dr Hugh Willmott, Sheffield University for permission to use photographs of plague burial
Creative Commons images:
Basilica San Marco by Gary Ullah via WM Commons
Dara fortifications by Procopius via Flickr
Dara photographs by Nevit Dilmen via Flickr
Mosaic of Theodora by Petar Milošević via WM Commons
Porta Asinaria by Mikhail Malykh via WM Commons
Windrow by Christian Collins via Flickr
Stag Heads Free Vector by misfitblue via vecteezy.com
Winter Sun by It's No Game via Flickr
Beach video by Ruvim Miksanskiy via Pexels
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📚Recommended reading:
📖Procopius, History of the Wars US: bookshop.org/a/99532/97806749... / UK: uk.bookshop.org/a/12275/97806...
📖 The Wars of Justinian by Michael Whitby US: bookshop.org/a/99532/97815267... / UK: uk.bookshop.org/a/12275/97815...
📖 Rome Resurgent by Peter Heather US: bookshop.org/a/99532/97801975... / UK: uk.bookshop.org/a/12275/97801...
📖The Armies of Ancient Persia: the Sassanians by Kaveh Farrokh US: bookshop.org/a/99532/97818488... / UK: uk.bookshop.org/a/12275/97818...
📖Late Roman Cavalryman AD 236-565 (Osprey) by Simon MacDowall www.ospreypublishing.com/uk/l...
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#EpicHistoryTV #RomanEmpire #EasternRomanEmpire #Justinian #Belisarius #ByzantineEmpire
We hope you enjoy the ALL PARTS edition of our Belisarius series! No sponsors, seamless joins and a very small number of factual corrections. (Callinicum was fought on Holy Saturday, not Easter Sunday; Belisarius probably tried to delay the Goths at the Salarian Bridge, not Milvian.. that sort of thing). Thanks again to Legendarian for providing 'Total War: Attila' gameplay footage, links in description. And big thanks to our series consultant Professor David Parnell of Indiana University Northwest, who is well worth a follow on Twitter @ByzantineProf. If you want to watch the series with SUBTITLES, you will need to watch the individual episodes kzhead.info/channel/PLUOc2qodFHp8x5tpVvVyATUQi8GI1HSed.html. And don't forget you can support our work and get ad-free early access to new videos via Patreon! www.patreon.com/EpicHistoryTV
What video will you upload next?
Can't wait for the next series! What will it be? Maybe the early napoleonic Era or maybe world War 2? WW2 seems less likely since I've been used to the napoleonic Era but yet again I would like to see your take on WW2
Make videos on ottomonic wars,ww2 and more napoleonic wars
eastern roman empire and belisarius are greek. the last true roman was clearly aetius, not the greekoid named belisarius. i think it is time for a series on huns, aetius, and majorian.
@@Hello-ig1px Belisarius and Justinian were not Greek and they both spoke Latin as their first language.
Dude it’s honesty so insane the amount of opportunities this man had to betray Justinian and didn’t, only for him to still be skeptical of him in the end
Roman emperors have a history of betrayal at the closest level. Don't blame him what with all the chaos around the empire.
Yeah...it looks like even Justinian couldn't believe his luck..like it was too good to be true(or trusted) hence didn't always support him as he should have.
I believe he should slay Justinian and become Emperor himself, then Goths would stay loyal to Rome and Narseus would have to obey him.
@@alexzero3736 Than he wouldn't be that worth to be remembered would he?
He's like Marshall Zhukov was to Stalin no?
Belasarus: “I won’t accept any new emperor other than Justinian” Justinians wife: “This must be treason!!” 😱
Seriously! Women stirring up drama since the beginning of history
Remember the background,this can mean that they are loyal,but it can also means that they will not accept any successor in Constantinople,now tell,what do you make of a general who refuse to accept an emperor?You will think they wants to make themselves emperor,especially now that you know they secretly met.
Since Justinian was childless, she could want to become empress should her husband die before her.
Belisarius said that he would not take up a crown while Justinian lived, and since Justinian was looking like he was going to die to the plague I'd be careful with him aswell.
Justinian wife supported Belisarius.
Belisarius: *is away for five minutes* *everything starts dramatically falling apart*
If he had any flaw as a commander, it may have been insuufficient brutality for his era. Almost every setback or failure of his career can be attributed to an insubordinate sub-commander.
@@JoeColdHe was particulary known for being merciful, but it's not like he could do much to improve the condition of the byzantine army, which was pretty corrupt. Bellisarius only got to hold so much of power because Justinian trusted him, until he stopped doing so because of paranoia and power struggles.
@@paonippobemduro Yes, Justinian's trust issues may have been soundly grounded in Roman history. But they also appear to have been both unfounded and the single biggest obstacle, possibly exempting finances, to the successful reclaimation of all of Itally and much more of the Western Empire.
I forgot it's not even a Hollywood movie and I was at the edge of my seat waiting for what's going to happen next. The team that created this is truly epic! Props to the voice over guy.
most if not ALL the moving CGI (special visual effects created using computer software) are from video games like Rome: Total War, Medieval II Total War and other video games in that genre. this you tube channel didn't create the moving CGI in this video they just played the video game with the right units/locations referring to the video and record it, there you go.
@@mentalasylumescapee6389pppl 0
@@mentalasylumescapee6389he never mentioned the cgi though? And also there’s still a lot of editing and graphics involved other than setting up those battles in game. Plus, I don’t know about you but the ai in those games are pretty shit so it’s not that easy setting up certain attacks and battles as you may think. Even when both sides are controlled by a player the ai for the units mess up constantly and mispositions itself
Hey Hollywood can we get films about real historical figures? Hmm best we can do is..marvel films. OK 🆗 we will make Napoleon, but we will butcher it :D
@@FelixMendelsonAt least we got Oppenheimer
I can only imagine the emotions of Belisarius, and his men, as they rode into Rome after 70 years of it not being under imperial rule.
They were actually disgusted at what a dump Italy had become. Other than protecting the statues and cosplaying as Romans to avoid getting attacked, the goths had aggressively de-Romanised Italy
great cultural value.
Perhaps, for Belisarius' soldiers per se there were no so much excitement since they were mostly barbarians, either foreign or homegrown like Isaurians, which possibly comprehended the idea of the Empire but still highly likely were ignorant of its history and finer aspects of the Roman culture. This trend tended only to exacerbate as the time went on, i.e. Roman troops were more and more Roman in their name solely and consisted of anyone excepting ethnic Romans properly. The last remnants of Latin-speaking Eastern Romans seized to exist circa 650 AD (excepting Vlachs and Aromanians, but they are actually quite distinct entities already). However, still, in 530-570 AD we can assume Eastern Roman Empire as still an ancient Roman state, since Latin-speaking Romans of Lybia, Sicily, Sardinia, Spain, and Milan have allied themselves with the armies of Constantinople. At this point, idea of unity was still in its power, albeit somewhat diminished. So, it is highly likely, that citizens of the City of Rome were more impressed with the Empire coming back than Caucasians/Anatolian barbarians fighting under imperial banner and campaining in distant lands unfamiliar to them.
@San Junipero This is so incorrect to everything I've read on this. The Eastern half was far more consolidated and prosperous than you explain and it was the plague that largely caused disunity and fragmentation in the 6th century in the east. Italy had long become self serving and the rich areas had been either had goths oust the local elite or were left alone and happy on their self sufficient estates. The later didn't care for Roman return as it meant more taxes and oversight whereas Theodoric had to cosplay as a Roman just to keep things running smoothly and reduce risk of invasion/over throw. The Gothic counter attacks is really what ruined Italy. The idea of Roman Culture would shift around the Empire and the west was incredibly German by the time it fell. The Eastern Latins didn't "die". They stopped using Latin as it was a waste of time. Why be bilingual when there was now only 1 court and it spoke Greek. This was purely an efficiency based decision. Disintegration in the East began with the plague but really came with the Arab expansion which you mention here. Still Constantinople not being an ancient continuation at this point is confusing
@@rockstar450 No, the previous guy's right. To see a red coloured map and assume that's "Roman" by design is wrong. Rome was an Italic empire, meaning that the Domina Provinciarum of Italy had colonial provinces, with less privileges. The Eastern Roman Empire was the colonial legacy of Roman civic influence over Greek leadership and their colonial armies. An empire is by definition not a national kingdom, but a colonial project over other people. When Italy lost its empire, it meant that Rome ended. You can empirically see that in the devastation the Greek-led armies did on Italian soil: they wouldn't have done it if that was their homeland, which was not.
I get more excited for these than actual movies with millions of dollars of production value, what a great way to spend 2 hours! Thanks for all the hard work!
Superb!
The creators of channels like Epic History have more respect for the material than any other billion dollar company could dream of. They believe in the idea of quality or quantity.
Because everything has sucked in mainstream culture for A WHILE. They have been taken over along with everything else by this corrupt corporate government deep state, this information control, this war on people who have the sin of wanting Americans back in control of their lives with the truth... not this false reality our institutions keep pushing. This racist, gay, gender confused, revisionist anti white history, the anti man anti Christian anti American anti capitalist anti Constitution crap. Yes I'm talking the liberal world order... the same one who are completely tied to literally every major corporation that controls everything we do... that are also propped up by our tax dollars cuz they are "too big to fail" and also they are "to be used to go around what the government can do to its people cuz private corporations in a giant monopoly does not follow the same law and now have to do what they say cuz either they are being propped up by tax dollars or will benefit from doing these things like spreading lies, suppressing speech of Republicans "extremists" who just happen to be the only people trying to call this great threat out... interesting, but a total coincidence. But you see, even saying the government is doing this which is a TOTAL lie as they say, is just too dangerous to even say... even those it has no evidence and is a total lie... that's why it must be hidden and labeled dangerous extremists threat to democracy... THATS YOUR VOTE. They are evil white men THAT WANT TO TAKE YOUR VOTE AWAY.... not just Americans who see this corruption who are trying to fight it... nope it's all a white man group... even the Hispanics and black Americans and Jewish Americans and EVERY GROUP. But oh it is a group of white men who meet in a great tower that decide whatever... it makes no sense... THEY OWN EVERYTHING.... we are just Americans... join us, or just get out of the way, JUST STOPPED BEING USED BY THEM to BE IN OUR WAY. I promise you will see... but first stop standing in front of us... turn around and look at what wr are marching toward.
@@theyankeesamurai23 they believe in pushing a sick agenda for these progressives instead of quality... let's be honest here
I do too, probably because these vids are actually good unlike the vast majority of garbage that Hollywood spews out these days
Belisarius was the General that Justinian didn’t deserved
He might have been a great soldier, yet he was an idiot and pathetic like a dog who gets kicked by his master and nonetheless crawls back to get kicked even more.
@@TheAtl0001 he was just loyal. And remember, even if you kick a dog he we still protect you cause you are the most important thing to him.
You got that right.
Wait till you hear about Flavius Stilicho mf got killed for being too good at his job
@@lazyguy3081 yeah lol
The reign of Justinian sometimes feels like a dream, between the fall of the west and the arab invasions there was this brief moment where it seemed the empire is great again at its full might. But shortly after we're reminded that Rome is still falling and unable to cling on to a gone geopolitical status quo
Imo the Eastern Roman's didn't rise again only because of plague and the later war against the Sassanids. If the plague didn't happen or the Sassanids were less trigger happy history would've been a lot different
Well that certainly doesn't remind me of anything
Well, do remember, when the colossal Roman Empire fell in 1453, it did not go out with a tame whimper, but it held off a very strong force for 2 months, and held its ground till the very end. The Roman Empire came so close to surviving the siege, if only their western allies had not used the situation to negotiate better deals for themselves with the Ottomans. I do consider myself a bit of an expert of this particular siege, so, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask me.
@@colmmooney1474 i was wondering why exactly the western powers didn’t exactly come to help the Roman Empire, which they all revered by this point. The Roman Empire was so idealised back in the medieval times, so when I learned that 1/ it still existed in 1453 2/ the western powers let it get destroyed I was pretty confused
If there is any questions about The Siege of Constantinople that you would like to know, please feel free to ask me. Or, ask me any questions about the Roman Empire in general. :) @@_unkown8652
Belisarius deserves a major film
That is exactly what crossed my mind. His achievement and what he had been through deserves an action drama movie of the most extraordinary budget. However, this era of the Roman Empire is not well known or of interest to the general public. I would be very excited after watching this well-documented history if I were a Hollywood producer (unfortunately I am not :) ). Congratulation! I enjoyed it. Now back to work after 2,5 hours indulging in history.
The Last Roman - What an epic film this would be in my mind - gladiator meets 300 meets braveheart meets arthur - they made a pretty low budget one I think I recall that was them going after a lost standard, it was pretty good, and of course the mini series Rome was fantastic, ahhh I wish they made more of these period pieces, when humanity fought for everything worth fighting for
@@nupnorth haha nope.
make him black and trans
F-ing agreed
The lifetime of Belisarius itself was like watching a 5 seasons of historical drama series involving battles, plague, and loyalty. Thank goodness this video can summarized his entire campaigns under 3 hours
Why thank goodness? I rather a 10 hour video full of details. You can't sit and learn for more then 2 hours?
@@williammacdonald9905 was I not calm? All I Said was I rather a 10 hour video with even more details I love this shit. And love the video so I wasn't saying anything bad. You relax bra
@@dominicp9296 calm down dominic
@@tradespacetech7162 lolllll love it
@ektorkiritsios51 -Procopius 567 AD
''Give me a Empire of Humble Origins! Give me a Hero of Law and Order!...Give us The Roman Empire!''
They need to make a series in the style of HBO’s ROME for Justinian and Belisarius It would be absolutely perfect
Belisarius managed to live an abnormally long life. He pops up here and there through history, but it's his achievements in the 41st Millennium that are his true crowning moments.
For the Emperor.
Oh yes i got these vibes too.. we need some Bucellaris-Chapters.
Not really abnormally long. The life expectancy was low due to infant mortality, but adults all lived long lives.
@@AtillatheFun Search Belisarius Cawl
His work on the Primaris Project has some potentially…interesting results should the rumor that some of them come from Traitor and Lost Legion geneseed stock prove true.
Belisarius have some mistakes at first, but man this general is easily one of the best in history. He won battles with armies much more smaller, poor eqquiped and with few supplies. He is a masterpiece commander and understand the mind of humans and leaders like no one else and not only that his diplomacy skills are top notch. First avoiding war with persians and second saving Rome, thank God. He has all qualities from the mos maiorum and deserve be called the last roman. Also the epic history have one of the greatest documentaries I ever seen, your team is unmatch and would make all this generals and kings happy for portraying their lives pretty well.
No doubt and I think that's why this makes him easily one of the greatest generals of all time and arguably the greatest Roman general of all time with so little men, support and supplies had he been given 50,000 to 100,000 troops there's no telling what he could have accomplished, belisarius was the Hannibal of Eastern Roman empire.
@@rdf4315 Hannibal has debatable historical merit. Most of what can actually be confirmed were losses and mistakes. Romans had a tendency to "talk up" the enemies they vanquished to make them seem better in beating them.
@@rdf4315 Scipio Africanus and Julius Caesar are both clear. I’d also say Constantine the Great is debatably better. But I’d have Belasarius as a top five Roman General.
@@archivesoffantasy5560 I doubt Constantine would make top five sense both trajan and aurelion I think that's how you spell there names would be in that discussion and maybe even dramaticus, the reason I put belisarius in that top five if not top three is he didn't have anywhere near the capability of the past legions let alone the discipline and experience that the other legendary Roman generals had with their soldiers, on top of the insubordination that he dealt with they would not have tolerated it, they would have executed those that disobeyed them immediately, and in spite of all that and a incompetent and jealous emperor, belisarius still managed to accomplish The impossible with so little.
@@rdf4315 Constantine the Great never lost a battle and he took on many Roman armies that outnumbered his own.
Ten minutes into the video, I bought the first six books of History of the Wars. Thanks for the inspiration!
And learn who the Illyrians are first before reading ! 🇦🇱
@@stormrider6202 some balkan tribes who have almost nothing to do with the albaians even though the albanians would really love to?
@@aproudeuropean559 Belisarius was illyrian just like Justinian
These are great books to buy, the works of Procopius form the basis of my Ph.D. It is a very important time in the history of the Roman Empire.
Nope, Prokopios himself named the Albinoi, all albanian names that sound weird do other european nations are former illyrian kings@@aproudeuropean559
I'm surprised there isn't some kind of people's choice awards for content creators because these guys definitely deserve some type of recognition for absolutely superb content like this in my humble opinion.
you're absolutely right, like an Oscars for content creators
Belisarius has got to be the busiest General in history 😳
The man was a worker. Justinian was very lucky to have the talented staff that he did. He was loyal to his emperor I just wish Justinian could have been as trusting as Augustus was with Agrippa.
@@thomasriccio4873 For that point in time, we were lucky Justinian trusted Belisarius at all.
@@tiringsarcasm correct, just the amount of times the men revolted, a subordinate decided they were better and Narses in the wings. It was such a different atmosphere than Julius Caesar's times.
@@thomasriccio4873 Caesar dealt with numerous mutinies and insubordination
Aurelian also got pretty busy lol
I absolutely loved this series, and am so glad that they have now been combined into one complete episode. Thank you very much for your great historical documentaries. Keep up the great work!
These are some of the best history videos I've seen and I watch LOADS of them. Belisarius is a legend, he should be more well known, he is up there with Ceasar, Pompey, Napoleon and me on Total War!
He doesn’t have a perfect record, but he seriously did way better than he had any right to do. With limited troops and money and ineffective/disloyal sub-commanders. I often think of him alongside Agrippa as two capable generals who held the empire up, while lesser men would have torn it down in a civil war
So well-narrated. A feat in itself. Fascinating series.
This series was one of the very best documentaries I have ever seen. I especially love the quotes. I will never forget that moment when the captive Gelimer says "Vaniny of vanities, all is vanity", with that gorgeous art and wonderful narration.
I agree, there's something really powerful about it. The music helps a lot too.
This is the subject of my history test you are saving me on the last second
Destiny some time is funny and helpful
Legend Put the epic music on the test The teacher Will end up shacking
It sounds like General Flavius Belasarius is one of the greatest commanders of all time based on this written knowledge... There is NO EXCUSE as to why modernity does not teach more of what this man accomplished. There should be movies about Belasarius and every school should have chapters about him in history class. Very underappreciated.
The western barbarians hate the greek history when it doesn't fit their narrative
Yes there is an excuse . And you know damn well who runs the show in Hollywood. They would never make such a film and if they did they would butcher it. They would make Bellasarius a disabled high BMI black American woman . Ideally history could be taught through film a lot more but all we get is remake of remake. This time with an all female cast or something like that.
Without a doubt, the best documentary about Belisarius that anyone has made on KZhead and that finally brings to the public's eyes the greatness of the true last Roman general in history, very close to antiquity, but already at the dawn of the Middle Ages. I hope that people begin to see him as one of the best generals in history, as he deserves, although we should not leave Narses behind, who also proved to be at his level, despite not having the same merits.
You described it very well: very close to antiquity, but irremediably into the Middle Ages. These conquests that seem to bring back the Roman Empire to its full glory are only temporary, and, barely a century later, the Arab invasions will make the Roman Empire understand the truth: they aren’t made for this time anymore.
@@_unkown8652 I have read that many historians point out that the fundamental reason why this happened (the Byzantine inability to maintain its new borders after Justinian), was a direct consequence of the population weakening that the Empire suffered with the plague. I'm not saying that this could have prevented the Arab conquest (it may have given much more resistance), but at least it would have helped to maintain control over the recovered European territory for longer, such as the Italian peninsula and also the attempt to reconquer Hispania from hands of the Visigoths (by the end of Justinian's reign, the Byzantines had control over the southern coasts of Iberia and the Balearic Islands, in preparation for a campaign that was never carried out; while with the arrival of King Leogivild just after, lost all possibility of expansion).
Fun fact: During the reign of later Byzantine emperor Romanos I Lekapenos (r. 920-944), one of his generals, John Kourkouas, was hailed as the second coming of Belisarius because of his monumental victories against the Arabs, which laid the foundation of the later Macedonian Renaissance under Nikephoros II Phokas, John I Tzimiskes, and Basil II the Bulgar-Slayer. This just shows you that four centuries later, the Byzantines still held Belisarius in high regard, and held him as a standard to which others were compared.
Ah yes the "White Death," a true badass in his own right. And people think the Roman empire fell in 476... just ask Nikephoros Phokas, John Tzimiskes, Alexios and Manuel Komnenos how they felt about that
@@thewitchking852 The Roman Empire is said to have fallen in 476 b/c that was the year that Rome itself fell to the Germanic king Odoacer. However, this ignores many Roman holdouts across the Mediterranean, like Julius Nepos in Dalmatia, who ruled until 480, Syagrius in Gaul, who ruled until 486, and of course, the Eastern Roman Empire, who would reconquer Rome itself and survive until the 1470s (the capital itself fell in 1453, but Byzantine remnants, the last of which were the Principality of Theodoro and the Despotate of Epirus (ruled by a Latin dynasty at this point) fell in 1475 and 1479)
Not the eunuch LackofPenis and the Pokeass clan 😩 a terrible time for the empire when it came to names
@@angusyang5917It’s just inherited propaganda. Those Romans didn’t call themselves Byzantines, and didn’t think of themselves as being from Byzantium. They called themselves Romans, thought of themselves as Roman, fought and died under Roman standards, and practiced Roman traditions. If modern people fail to call them Roman, it is only because they have swallowed propaganda designed to deny their Roman-ness. I suspect it is jealousy-Western Europeans were ashamed to have fallen to barbarians, so when trying to rebuild and forge their new imperial identities, the inconvenient persistence of Romans had to be dealt with via othering. Even in the 4th Crusade when Western Europeans seized Constantinople, the Romans held on to retake the city and reunify as a single unbroken chain of civic authority stretching back to the Republic. If you fight for Rome, think of yourself as Roman, die under Roman standards, live by Roman culture, and pledge yourself to the glory of the Roman Empire, you’re Roman. That’s how it always was-every attempt to limit “Romanness” to some specific bloodline brought disaster to Rome, and such an attempt eventually killed the Republic and necessitated the birthing of the Empire itself. Some people are simply unaware, and other have this strange fixation on ethno-state style ideas of “real Romans.” Either way, there is no reason to deny that Romans and the Roman Empire endured in Constantinople long after the fall of Rome itself.
This is outstanding. It had me on the edge of my seat. A movie should be made about general Belisarius. This puts the rest the myth that the Roman empire fell in 476. I am highly impressed with this, because I have been a fan of the eastern Roman empire since I was a kid
Last link to the Eastern Roman empire was actually Rurics in Russia and CZech kings on the Mother side trough Saxony and Sicily blood line ...Premysl Otakar was very dark ..I just learned trough Covid lock down...I was bored and find out painting of him showing him dark skin so I start to be curious. And I did lot of location research etc. it actually started to look for my family origins ...and we had some rumor about our Spain origin by DNA it was possible and then I went over crusades , princes Orosia saint in Spain come from CZech rep. ,but this was not related geographically so most likely my ancestors were stone or brick workers and engineers to build a castle or decorate interiors make furniture for king up to Italian standards ....and my father was tile installer free lancer and I have construction company isn't fascinating to see the similarity on the father side almost like destiny ...so I find villages in the region called Krivoklat where we so post to come on one of my father branches and there was a castle with same name build and in this time period it becomes a residence of King so it went trough lot of construction upgrades ....it was area owned only by King not even Church could have own there land only church here and there and perhaps monastery ...strictly kings unoccupied land and many villages had a name very close to black color ,,, so there were hundreds of servants come with the Saxony princes but they were mostly Sicilians I guess... so the entire story goes trough princess of Sicily marriage to Saxony and her Daughter married King of Bohemian empire and her grandmother was a daughter of Byzantine king ... So that explain why the Bohemian kings inherited title Roman empire........it suddenly makes perfect sense ...afterwards all Royal families fabricated links to Byzantine Empire ...
@@janfiedler5584Rus ≠ Russia
This is absolutely incredible. Maybe the best historical analysis on a figure of history on KZhead. It’s addictive to watch. Bravo!! I watch this all the time. So well done.
This couldn’t be more epic. Procopious would be proud.
*Throws the Secret History at your head*
History lesson on an academic level of quality in every aspect, even details, I have never seen before. This is by far the best content I have ever seen. Absolutely brilliant. Many thanks!
Please do more videos about Eastern Rome. It has a wonderful history, with its ups and downs. Unfortunately the negative aspects are mostly known.
exactly
I'd like to see more late roman and sasanian wars
@@dariusghodsi2570actually there is a channel called 'historymarch' which have a detailed wars between the romans and abbasids which overtake the sassanid Empire and there is a military genius commander who broke the roman empires influence in the Eastern front: the halid bin velid. like a junior belisarius i guess:)
Eastern Rome is a forged term. It is Roman Empire
@@dariusghodsi2570O absolutely agree! I find the late roman empire an incredibly interesting topic.
Your guys' animation plus the Total War footage is perfect for presenting this history. It's always extremely easy to follow the narritive, keep track of who's who, and to understand the battlefield tactics. Fantastic work, and thanks.
@@Epictvgiveaways Lol. Obvious scam attempt.
@@donaldtimpson4320I wish I’d win the giveaway
You know a documentary is good when instead of falling asleep it keeps you on your seat watching every single detail! This is amazing work! Thanks!!!
There are no words to describe this Epic History Channel. It is a continuous sharpening of historical art. Belisarius makes all of the "Generals" of the past two centuries look like wussies! Short sticked and all, this man made it HAPPEN! Hail Belisarius! Thank you Epic History TV!
What about Aurelian
One of my favorite video series. Belisarius is truly one the greatest Romans generals. It’s great to see Italy come back in Roman hands, even if it caused the dark ages in Italy.😦
Justinian and Belisarius tried their best.There was no way to know that the Plague and a great volcanic eruption would happen at the same time of the conquests.Less lucky than emperor Carus who got struck by lightning
@@haxel8929 that is a valid point.
@@gabethepianist313 If you think about it what are the odds of something happening with this kind of timing? Its ridicolous.
Belisarius, didnt know such a noble and great general exist until today...
@@jcl644 He was great, but not noble. The Secret Histories of Procopius illustrate him and Justinian as monsters who committed genocide and brutally repressed the people of Constantinople
dude this man is a true monument of loyalty... R.I.P Last Roman
What an amazing job you guys have done with these videos, they are better then most documentaries made by production companies this millions of dollars. A wonderful thing to spend 2 hours doing fantastic work really.
Who is happy Epic History has dropped an entire documentary on us
Been waiting for this since the second episode 6 ended. So happy! Thank yall for all the hard work yall put into this :3
The roman stand against the goths at the gates of Rome where truly a last stand of the romans in general. The eternal city was defended by its greatest of sons. Truly movie worthy
One of the greatest generals in eastern Roman history, one of the most elite generals in all of Roman history. Legendary Magister Militum, Ultimus Romanorum...
This series is probably the best historical series I’ve seen, and I’ve seen countless
Fall of Constantinopole 1453 would be an amazing vid!
Overrated af
one of the most beautiful and detailed documentaries on youtube. The Justian Age and the Belisarius campaign is incomparably outstanding . Beautifully narrated and rich in pictures, thank you very much
Extremely clear account of the campaigns of Belisarius. The use of salient map features linked directly to the text gives an overall understanding that is lacking in other presentations. Keep up the good work
This was so well done. Incredibly insightful. I have studied and am fairly well versed from 753 BC through Vespasian. So it is nice to learn about the later years after Rome fell. Another masterpiece from Epic History TV! Can’t wait for what’s next!
There's a whole podcast of the east empire after the west fell I wanna watch it so much but it's kinda confusing the page and the ads are killer. Wish someone would upload them on here like they did with Mike Duncan's
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Excellent!!!! This has to be one of the best, most thorough historical documentaries about Rome, specifically the Eastern Empire I've ever heard!
Michelle your research and info is top notch! I can't believe how much you cram into one video. I can safely say that out of all the researchers in this field, i can share your videos without any threat of ridicule because you simply present your opinion with such great research and hard dedicated work. Simple and plain with no fantastical claims. Plus you do it in a very respectful way with no ego! Thanks for all you do!
Man every documentary this channel has made is just amazing! I can't believe we get to have such great free content!
In a further comment; the movement of the siege Towers of Goths when they were trying to re-conquer Rome, remind me of the Lord of the Rings. Belisarius is like Aragorn. Once again thank you so very much for producing this. This is outstanding
Belisarius deserves to be remembered, what a incredible story of his. man I’m happy for procopius documenting all of this.
Please keep doing these! Justinian The GREAT and Belisarius The BOSS were one of the greatest 1-2 sock tandems in history. Thank you for this!
The Empire Strikes Back!
This is a phenomenal series
‘The last Roman’ has to be one of the coolest titles out there
such a privilege to be able to watch this for free great content dude!
Totila is a very interesting and impressive figure and antagonist to Belasarius. When Totila invaded Italy his 5000 Goths beat the Roman force of 12,000, scattering them in chaos according to the historian Bradly. Much of the following anecdotes are from Pricopious Being a devout Aryan Christian he was big on justice and mercy, and Pricipious often points out the irony of the ‘barbarians’ being more civilised than the Romans at times. During sieges the Goths offered the Romans 3 months truce to hold out for reinforcements, this bluff worked and the massive perceived confidence of the Goths made the starving Romans surrender. Totila immediately made a small ration for the starving populace, knowing if the starving were given plenty they would die, slowly he increased their daily allowance of food and nursed the populace back to health, with acts of outrage by his men being punished with death. Further still, the Roman commander Conan, was allowed to sale to any port they preferred with his defeated garrison. The wind made sailing to their preferred destination (Rome) impossible, forced to stay the goths opened up the markets to the Romans and treated them as equals until it was possible for them to sail, eventually Totila provided the Romans with horses, supplies AND an escort and allowed them to escape by land. In the Gothic retaking of Rome, 400 Romans held out in the tomb of Hadrian, the goths opted to starve them out, rather than starve the 400 Romans charged in an effort to die in glory, to their shock the goths offered them surrender, and then offered to either repatriate them to Constantinople or allowed them to join his own armies. Totila believed in keeping justice on his side to keep the favour of God, thus treating the populace with decency and care, and showing mercy to his enemies. Pricipious accounts several times with eloquent frustration at the contrast with the behaviour of the ‘barbarians’ vs the civilised Romans. Eastern Rome began to buy off huge mercenary forces to supplement their armies, many of whom were gothic tribes, thus when the Roman army under Narcies met Totila in his final battle, the goths were ‘terribly down cast’ He met his death after showing off infront of his outnumbered army throwing up and catching his Lance and dressed in golden armour and purple robes, when the goths could not beat the huge Roman force totila tried to escape with a few guards, a Gepid war chief hired by the Romans charged Totila in the dark apparently not knowing who he was, a gothic guard is stated to have exclaimed “dog, would you kill your own master!?” Then realising who the target was Totila was charged down and killed. Even after this decisive defeat, the Goths chose a new king, Teia, who in a final battle against the Romans is described by Pricopious “ having being betrayed their horses starving, the goths suddenly rushed on foot upon the astonished Romans the battle that then ensued was terrible, not one of Homers hero’s ever performed greater miracles of valour than did Teia on that day” He fell when his shield was heavy with 12 spears, when his armour bearer was changing his shield he was pierced in the chest and killed, the Romans paraded his head on a pike, “yet the goths still fought on until darkness, then the next day renewed the struggle until darkness again compelled them to pause” and the 3rd they sent envoys to Narcies to seek peace, their ‘terms’ were that they go free on the condition they would never again take up arms against the Romans, on condition they were allowed an unmolested passage out of Italy AND receiving money for the expenses. “They had such terrible experience at the desperate valour of the goths that they felt compelled to accept the conditions” The Goths were finally driven out of Italy.
Yeah. He is an interesting character and Procopius seems to have had a liking for him. Procopius records the following incident about Totila: *When it was already day and there was now no suspicion left of any ambush, Totila, for his part, went to the church of the Apostle Peter to pray, but the Goths began to slay those who fell in their way. And in this manner there perished among the soldiers twenty‑six, and among the people sixty. And when Totila had come into the sanctuary, Pope Pelagius came before him carrying the Christian scriptures in his hand, and, making supplication in every manner possible, said "Spare thine own, O Master." And Totila, mocking him with a haughty air of indifference, said "Now at last, Pelagius, you have come to make yourself a suppliant before me." "Yes" replied Pelagius, "at a time when God has made me your slave. Nay, spare your slaves, O Master, from now on." And Totila received this supplication with favour and forbade the Goths thereafter to kill any Roman at all, but he permitted them, while setting aside for him the most valuable of the property, to have unrestricted authority to plunder all the rest for themselves.*
Tortilla was indeed a fine leader and a worthy adversary to the biscuit eaters.
Pretty cool he knew of refeeding syndrome that far long ago
Those romans holding the tomb of hadrian were some god damn legends.
@@cognitivedisability9864 Not really fighting for a tomb makes them simps lol 😂.
When I saw "Rome Fights Back" on the title, I expected that the content would be focused on another subject - where Rome had to actually fight back against the Lombards, Avars and Persians after the Emperor's death. But hey, I'm not complaining lol. Great video, Looking forward to the next one. 👍
This is fantastic, I studied history in university and always really focused on late antiquity. This documentary is what the history channel should put out. The period of Justinian and the man has so much going on it reminds me of Augustus and his cadre of very capable men. I always saw parallels between Agrippa and Belisarius.
absolutely love that they used Total War: Attila for this! Not a perfect total war by any stretch of the imagination but it has a special place in my gamer heart forever.
yeah its such a good game. If it didn't have performance issues I bet it would be remembered as one of the best. not just a great grand campaign, but some of the best dlc campaigns in total war too.
Whats there to love? Looks horrible, look at all the flickering. Utterly terrible, there is a reason why all the Total Wars between Medieval II and TW Warhammer were all trash. Its not just due to the Warscape Engine being trash cause it makes nobody have ANY COLLISION with each other and forces 1v1 (while everyone patiently watches) but the general visual quality also just went so much worse while it requires a better PC lol, cant watch this Would look ages better from a mod.
Amazingly well done history of Belisarius', these are always highly informative and entertaining. Thank you so much for your great work.
This is amazing I loved all the visuals and the total war scenes really added to the scope of the battles. Thank you for telling us this fantastic story of the last Roman.
1:56:13 This was Belisarius's greatest victory. Thank you
Justinian is doubtless Top 5 Roman Emperor, including Western and Eastern halves. Administration, reforms, organising new provinces so they held despite the empire being crippled by plague while under attack. Religious and legal reform which was widely adopted. Unquestionably one of the greatest
Yes, he does not get enough credit....instead said Julius Caesar gets all the historical recognition but Caesar operated when Rome was an uncontested major power, unlike Justinian's Rome.
@@alals6794 Yeah but unlike caesar, he drained the empire into bankruptcy, paranoid against his own generals, and his ambition which permanently deatroyed rome.
He oversaw the re conquest of some of the western empire aswell as the old heartlands of Italy but it weakened the empire and contributed towards it loosing Egypt, Syria etc during the early Islamic conquests. Would have been better served by holding onto what he had IMO.
@@fujohnson8667 This simply is unfounded. The western provinces brought in wealth and trade (evidenced by how wide the plague spread) which continued for centuries. The ERE never had any real interest in conquering Persia so you're saying just sitting back would have resulted in a stronger empire? The holdings in Italy fostered strong trade and relations, inspiring Barbarossa centruies later to adopt Justinian's Roman law codes. The benefits of taking the territory were clear and they were held steady and not rapidly lost (thus profitable). If Justinian didn't expand the Romans just would have warred with themselves or Persia and the Arabs would have maybe taken a bit less territory in Seria, but Egypt? Look how far/fast they expanded.. It's hard to picture this playing out differently as this was a full scale expansion, not a throw away battle that decided the course of history. Every negative you raise is due to the plague and climate shift, which the Empire survived. This "sent the empire broke" nonsense has been debunked and really needs to end as it falls apart the moment you think twice about it.
He couldn't have done any of it without a few key players though.
Really enjoyed watching these as they came out, I had always wanted to watch a series like this on the reconquest and so was insanely happy when you suddenly started the video series. Thanks a lot, will be recommending this full version to people!
This was absolutely incredible. This is one of the best documentaries I’ve ever had the fortune of viewing ( professionally done or otherwise ).
I am a huge Belisarius fan since my childhood. Glad to see his story covered.❤
I am amazed I never heard of him until I watched this video, the man is underrated and deserves more attention.
@@Unknown00432Serbia is better anyways.
@@alechboy3578at what? Slaughtering unarmed women and children, and smelling terrible? Death to Serbia
Just had the book Count Belisarius by Robert Graves for my wedding anniversary so this video was a great recommendation. Great video helps provides information that will add to my understanding and enjoy of the book. Great video thanks for all your hard work, halfway through this, have subscribed and upvoted.
It's a great book!
Just be careful to distinguish Graves fictive episodes from those actually recorded.
@@paprskomet I will, after reading I Claudius and Claudius the God, I read a few history books on Rome will do the same with Bizantium any recommendations?
@@joz6683 Procopius History of the Wars, the main source of this series as well.
@@EpichistoryTv Why do u refuse to make ww2 videos you would be so rich and I will be so happy I don’t get it
Belisarius is the greatest soldier and general in Roman history, especially in the last period. Wonderfull👏👏👏👏👏
This production is outstanding! Bravo to the Epic History team! This video exudes the highest quality and enough good things can't be said. Keep it up!
The opening gave me chills - so many fought and died for the Roman Idea - I would've too if I was there.
I'm going to honor Belisarius, by playing Total War: Attila and declaring independence from Justinian and reform Western Roman Empire!
Amen
That’s a tough one. Let us know how it turns out.
How did it turn out ?
Ave caesar
This has been a fantastic series so far and I have kept watching it over and over again! Can you mabye do a series on the forgotten African Empires?
Belisarius is one of the greatest leaders in human history! God bless his soul🙏
What a fantastic documentary! I found it riveting at every turn. Thank you so much! Can't wait to share this with my kids.
Amazing! I didn't lose not a second of my life, watching this great documentary ❣️ Thank you.
The quality of your videos is unsurpassed. I have never been more enraptured by history documentaries than this. Thank you for this perfection of didactic entertainment and I truly wish you never stop creating.
I love this era of Roman history being covered, it would be nice to see a series about emperor Majorians efforts in trying to save the Western Roman Empire.
I want the channel creators to know how much I appreciate this history being told as Roman history. It’s as the contemporaries themselves saw it. The Byzantine distinction is a contemporary invention that is confused and disjointed, it’s invention likely rooted in ancient cultural and religious rivalry. I’d like to see it discarded altogether.
Belisarius was the General that Justinian didn’t deserved. So well-narrated. A feat in itself. Fascinating series..
I disagree there to be honest. Justinian was a good Emperor, easily one of the best ever produced by the Romans. The problem was not the Emperor, but the period in time. I very much doubt anyone could have done much better than Justinian given events in the world during his reign, and the threats he faced, internal as well as external. Was he paranoid? Yes, but I suggest you do not judge him through modern eyes for that character flaw, but look instead at where he lived and ruled, and when. Byzantine Politics were convoluted, Paranoia was not a character flaw in the Court of Byzantium but a survival trait. You are talking a political landscape where betrayal by even close friends was not only common but almost accepted, and for an Emperor, losing that political battle generally meant death, often in unpleasant and extremely painful ways....
Thank you so much for all this history!!! I greatly appreciate all of it. It was very educational to say the least and i never new about General belirius until now. Probably the BEST GENERAL EVER in all of HISTORY...
The soundtrack of this documentary along with the narrator make it one of the most well done documentaries' ever.
This would make an excellent HBO/premium cable type show...
I love history but this is the first time I'm learning about Rome after the vandals and goths. This is a great video man! Thank you so much.
Belisarius the last Roman. And highly underrated😥
This was excellent. Reminds me a vintage History Channel documentary. Thank you much.
I watch all without skipped, even while drinking i focus watching.
Agathias Scholasticos (530-582 AD) one of the principal historians of Justinian's reign between 552 and 558, at some point in his work compares the bravery of Belisarius and his soldiers with that of Leonidas and the 300. The historian borrows a piece from the history of the Laconians, as he refers to them, in order to praise the general and his deeds.
Love that you guys used Total War gameplay footage for this! My favorite strategy game!
this is undoubtedly the most exciting and best series Epic History - God damn! I get goosebumps when i watch your Justinian war series
I got goosebumps about 30 times in this video, the best video about history I've ever seen, excellent work.
Wow I have only gotten halfway through this video and am amazed at how well put together and how much knowledge has been shared.
*"I couldn't think of a finer man for the task:* *Retake the former Western Roman Empire from the barbarians,* *deliver it to our beloved emperor, on a plate...* *These games should be in your honour.* *When I heard Justinian had you in mind, I can't say I was surprised.* *After all, you were his father's favourite bodyguard,* *not to mention your accomplishments at the Battle of Dara,* *or the way you suppressed the riots in Nika...* *You are the last of the great commanders, and your loyalty is clearly above question.* *However, the ruins of Rome are a wild and unpredictable place;* *A lot can happen out of reach in these frequent wars.* *A man might look about him and think, perhaps, that it is all rightfully his...* *Good luck, Belisarius..."*
I had a lovely evening watching this documentary! My deepest thanks and respect for the hard work for those involved. Please keep up the good work!
My god. I watched that fully with no interruptions with amazement and lose of words. This was one of the most insightful, detailed story telling video I've seen. This is why Epic historys is one of my all time top youtube channels. Thank you very much for all those involved in this.
This is the best documentary I've ever seen. I'm honestly speechless. Just incredible.
Very well done production, both captivating and engaging, well worth watching. Smart simple graphics makes it an easy to understand history of almost infinite complexities.
Excellent.Truly a magnificent presentation of history. Thank you.
Just watched this glued to my seat... the use of Total War Attila clips is just so good to enhance the time period wars... huge well done... looking for more on your channel for sure... thanks!!!
Wonderfully made, great speaker and so very, very informative. Thanks very much!