Ancient Conspiracy Theories
A moral panic in classical Athens. Plots at the court of Alexander the Great. A mysterious cult from the east. This video explores three of the classical world's most notorious conspiracy theories.
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Chapters:
0:00 A Special Announcement
1:22 Defining conspiracy theories
2:46 The Affair of the Herms
4:49 Let's talk about skincare
5:58 More herms
7:41 The poisoning of Alexander
11:45 The Manichaean Crusade
16:02 Wrapping up
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You should link your new channels to your channels page.
Piso conspiracy was the creation of Catholicism. Douglas B. Vogt has books full of citations.
@@fye00000 huh
I really dig your style 😎! I'm now subscribed to all three channels 😀 👍
Can I get a tiege Henley toga?
“They’re putting chemicals in the Tiber to turn the friggin fish gay!” - Alexius Jonesius
The biggest conspiracy theory was Russia gate
@@tdoran616 well he super simplified to the point of it being incorrect to point outrage at the wrong people. It didn't change their sexual preferences, it's worse. It made them infertile and messed up their sexual organs.
Damn gay frags
Someone beat me to the joke
@@tisisonlytemporary that's exactly how you do propaganda. You take real life events, misrepresent them, blame the people you want and create anger.
In medieval Germany there was a conspiracy theory about a kingdom in the clouds called Magonia which the peasants believed stole their crops with flying ships
The more things change, the more they stay the same I guess.
Wooaaaah
Reminds me of castle in the sky
Crop circles?
It was probably aliens
There were so many stories about Nero surviving and people around the empire claiming to be him, which proves at least he was popular with the average Roman.
Reminds me of JFK
Reminds me of how people claim to be Jesus today, interesting
It’s no surprise, people probably delighted in his performances and ostentation, similarly to how people adore certain wealthy celebrities today. So much cooler than lame claudius
@@thenoblepoptart Claudius wasn't popular at first, but he proved a capable emperor so his popularity with the people was ok. The love people had for Nero was partly because of his policies and public events being very good for the average roman citizen. The other part of his popularity mostly came from the fact that the people around him were either very loved (Nero's first wife Octavia) or very hated (Nero's mother Agrippina) which basically gave the peaseantry this fun little narrative to play with in their minds, where Nero was a kind-hearted pure soul being corrupted by evil aristocrats. Of course, Nero was as debauched as any other spoiled rich kid.
@@paritybit2277 did people really like claudius? Other than the clout that comes with being a descendant of Caesar and Augustus, was he a popular figure at all?
it would be a good idea to list your channels under the “channels” section on your main channel :) will help more people find it. Love the content btw!
Thanks for the tip! I just added them.
@@toldinstone top g toldinstone
@@Fractal_blip top g
@@Spengleman2 top g
How many channels u got?
*Fun fact:* There is another very famous conspiracy theory, which arose during the reign of Domitian. At that time, rumors spread throughout the Empire that Nero was actually alive and living in Parthia, ready to claim his throne with the help of the Parthians. The funniest thing about said conspiracy (which took place when Nero had been already dead for 20 years) is that everyone believed that the parthian guy who claimed to be Nero was truly the deposed Emperor because he was physically identical to him according to the people who lived during his reign. I mean, did no one think for a second that Nero WOULD BE ALREADY A F*CKING FIFTY YEARS OLD MAN BY THAT TIME? 🤦
Talking with millennials about events from the 90s and early 2000s make this mistake totally believable to me. It’s shocking how many people actually think that was an actual long time ago.
do you have any source to back up the claim that "everyone believed" this? or is that simply what you _wish_ was true because you like imagining you're smarter than others?
@@rumfordc The "everyone believed" is just a way to say many people believed in that conspiracy, as it was very popular at that time. Anyway, why are you accusing me of considering myself smarter than others? Are you high or something? You definitely seem to have a problem
@@rumfordc A Greek historian at the time, Dio Chrysostom, wrote “…seeing that even now everybody wishes [Nero] were still alive. And the great majority do believe that he still is…” A contemporary source stating that the “great majority” of people still believed he was alive. There you go. Do you actually feel that antagonizing people unnecessarily will make them respond in a kindly and respectful manner, or do you simply get off on being an asshole? :)
@@OptimusMaximusNeroI'm sincerely interested in your sources though.
The story of Alcibiades throughout the Pelopponesian War is one of the craziest. I suggest people look into Pelopponesian War documentaries. Athens really went all-in on taking control of Sicily before Sparta but failed and had a lot of their men die which probably only happened because of Alcibiades as he fled the Athenians due to the Hermes accusations. He fled to Sparta and fed them info about Sicily if I remember right, but then had to flee from the Spartans because he was banging the Spartan queen. So he went to Persia and well, this isnt the half of it. Game of thrones aint got nothing on Alcibiades.
Green frog good, green frog fren
Not only that, but he also desperately wanted to jump Socrates' bones, but Socrates had to repeated tell him that he liked him but didn't like like him...
As a wise man once said, "Alcibiades nuts!"
hello fellow twatter frog
@@DanKaraJordan lies
I love the scandal of the Herms. Just none of it makes any sense: from the Herms even existing, to someone wanting to smash them up overnight, to blaming Alcibiades, to having the Sicily expedition be commanded by the General who was most against it. It's all nuts. Sometimes it seems like the whole of Athens went collectively mad in the extreme-democracy that followed Ephialtes reforms, and the restored democracy that followed the overthrow of the Oligarchy of the 30 was far more posed.
I mean the herms themselves make sense. Hermes is the god of travel, so honouring him will ensure safe travel, and he did a lot of screwing so his peepee was very important to him I guess (he was also a fertility god so that’s probably the actual reason) Then again Alcy boy was famous for dicking down literally anything that moved, so maybe he was jelly of the herms and sought to make his knob the grandest in town
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks rectangle statues with a head and d isnt a bit weird, especially the fact these are common for the time period
The best thing is when after Sicily, Athens decided to kill all their experienced generals for this failure, and then wondered why they were crushed by Sparta *surprised Pikachu face*
We need to back to our roots and erect Herm statues once more.
@@luis.m.yrisson maybe the idop worship should just end and we can ALL agree that God is very annoyed by our fighting
*Fun fact:* There is a completely unknown but pretty good 1981 mini-series about Alexander's life called "The Search for Alexander the Great". As the life of the Macedonian is shown and narrated by James Mason, we watch his friends, family and even enemies meeting and talking between them in the after-life, with their old feuds completely forgotten by something they all have in common: their infinite respect for the god Alexander
Not a conspiracy theory
The juxtaposition between the calm narration and images just get me
9:24 I love when medieval artists assumed everyone in hisotry looked and dressed like they did
Ha maybe Caesar had a codpiece, rapier, and fancy feather hat you don't know.
I want today's artists to paint Caesar and the Senate in suits and ties, just for the yucks. Unfortunately, it would just look like some American Congress b.s.
@@savioblanc Alexander the Great in a modern day general's outfit.
@@merrittanimation7721 I don't know if that could would work tbh cos no modern day general has led from the front
That was actually intentional. Cant remember the term for it, but Catholics at the time believed that as long as they didn't make scenes historically accurate, then it wasn't idolatry.
Just received my copy of "Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants" in the mail, sat down at the computer, and there's a new toldinstone video! It's gonna be a good day.
The story about Manichaeans being depicted as Persian spies, despite persecution in their homeland, reminds me of how in the USSR, Jehovah’s Witnesses were seen as Western spies despite their refusal to swear allegiance to any government. Some things never change, I guess
oh c'mon. Of course a spy will deny.
or how today, in the USA, every Russian immigrant is treated like a spy even though 5 years ago nobody cared.
Utah. Mormons. NSA. Need i say more?
@@M-WG JW’s from the US who went to the USSR were very likely connected to NATO intelligence agencies.
In all fairness, Jehovah's witnesses did have a history of expanding the American sphere of influence into polynesia, and the main reason America had not played a greater role in Polynesia was because they stopped expanding their influence beyond hawaii in the period after the civil war.
Alexander the Great: *Dies young in mysterious circumstances* Ptolemy: "HOW COULD THIS TRAGEDY HAVE HAPPENED? SOMEONE SURE POISONED HIM!!!" *The night before* Drunken Ptolemy: "Hey Alex. I bet that you can't drink 3 liters of wine at once!" Drunken Alexander the Great: "Ha! I've already drunk 5 liters tonight! Drinking 3 at once is nothing! GIVE ME THAT F*CKING JUG!!!"
He was poisoned.
@@LuisAldamiz did you do it?
@@sananguliyev4940 🤣
@@sananguliyev4940 he did, I saw him do it
@@yeoseotidle2290 We have a witness, guards arrest him at once
Glad to see you KZhead presence growing, you deserve it, your videos have been consistently entertaining! Truly inspires more wonder for history then my schooling ever did!
Your efforts in making multiple channels all filled with great content are very much appreciated. I think other historians and teachers should take advantage of a resource like KZhead.
Thanks Garrett. I was aware of the Alexander conspiracy but not the other two. You perform great research. Also, loved the artwork that accompanied the video.
Alexander fell into fever, pain and then coma. Personal experience makes this sound a lot like severe acute pancreatitis. If not treated, (even today it is difficult to treat), you’ll die in severe pain in about a week. The coma is usually caused by the extreme pain and body suffering from shock. The coma also actually assists with recovery because it prevents any eating or drinking, giving the pancreas a better chance of recovery. Unfortunately some damage is permanent, such as years later I still cannot consume alcohol.
I'm happy you are growing your presence. It has been a pleasure following you.
definitely going to be watching scenic routes, excited for future content!!
I first heard about Alcibiades from my Ancient History professor many years ago. It’s still one of my favorite stories to tell whenever I end up in a conversation about strange things in history.
Love that you're branching out to create more diverse content! I would love the return of the time travel series or the creation of some new format that covers more of the peculiar way Roman societies used to think about violence, comfort, work, etc. in contrast with our modern understandings. Your book covers some fascinating topics like the fashion chapter on shaving, I think there's tons of potential to branch out content on the more peculiar side of how "deranged" people could be (for lack of a better word), in contrast with what's acceptable today.
This page and voices of the past, have to be the best 2 pages on KZhead. I'm beyond grateful for your hard work!!
Great to see more channels, I can never get enough of your content.
The subtle humor is the best part of this channel.
This channel is one of the best on KZhead, please never stop making vids
Funny thing that you did not mention about Alcibiades was, that he was involved in both of the later aristocratic coups.
xD haha
If Alcibiades' speech to the Spartans looked anything like what Thucydides portrayed, then the Athenians were right to fear him as a potential tyrant, even if the drama of the hermes was not related to him. He supposedly called democracy a 'patent absurdity' that was 'incompatable with empire' and that needed to be overthrown, but could not be while the war against Sparta was still an active threat.
He wasnt wrong
A republic as Plato wrote is necessary. The public must be educated for the government is a public matter. Democracy is pure evil. Mob rule is for the non thinking animals.
Just wanna let you know that I watch these videos every single day after wondering how aqueducts work. Haven’t missed a beat. Thank you for the content you make!
I subscribed to all three now. Thanks again for all of your knowledge. ☺️
WOAH. Your channel grew my man! Congrats! I knew this channel was gonna be quality.
Always enjoy your work and have dutifully subscribed to your new channels and look forward to watching them. I do wish a television production company would recognise your talents and employ you. There is a distinct lack of good quality historical television these days
I expected a mention of the Seven Conspirators from Herodotus. Now, it has been mentioned.
Fantastic channel and videos. Continue your passion and we’ll continue to enjoy them!
Fascinating content as always :) Can't wait to dip into the new channels :)
This might be the only KZhead channel that I've seen use the term "conspiracy theory" accurately.
Not at all 😂
"Plots, perversions and peccadillos pervade.." upvote for the nice alliteration at 7:50 aha
Love your videos and the podcast is amazing too. Loved the gestures guy.
Subbed! Love learning about abandoned things and towns in Alaska!
Man's voice like butter, hidden gem of historical youtube
Congrats on your new channels from subscriber 58 and 46 ;) (...I am 100% they will be worth watching)
I love this channel. Excellent teaching and dry humor at its pinnacle!
awesome video. subbed to both other channels before i finished. this is why youtube is so cool 🙏🏽
Wow. You must be a mind reader. I was thinking about this very topic while driving around the other day. What a great surprise.
I’m a simple man. I see toldinstone video, I watch and love toldinstone video.
Sorry if it's out of context, but the choices of garret are always impeccable when it comes to art and paintings! Does anyone know the name of the painting on the thumbnail of the video, also does anyone know the names of the paintings that first show up in the video? If so please let me know 🙏🙏🤗
The Death of Caesar by Jean-Léon Gérôme was selected for the thumbnail.
@@numairsobhan7031 thankyou so much!! have a wonderfull day! :)
I got a laugh out of the Pepe Silvia conspiracy theory background.
You’re a legend. I would put you in the mix of writers such as Bill Bryson, though very much in your own style, who is able to get us to look at everyday things and make us think about them or reveal something we hadn’t at all considered. Or the travel writer who can take us to new places and times, but always from an interesting angle. And like those writers we see a sincere intellect, mixed with someone who can’t quite believe they get to do this as a job and is really enjoying it. I hope your new ventures go well. I thought I had a reasonable basic knowledge about Roman things, but I’m always learning something new here. All I need now is to find someone who can explain modern life as satisfactorily…
Subbed to the new channels. Looking forward to the content!
Amazing material and also, ding and ding. Both new channels subscribed. I guess I'm going to Alaska this evening.
*Alex Jones has entered the chat*
Alexander the Jones
@@TheKingOfSpain bahahaha.
Never forget the biggest conspiracy theories were peddled by liberal mainstream media, Russia gate, Iraq wmd, ghost of Kiev, and so many more
@Graf von Losinj - I Post Info Some say he is fat. I say he is just bulking up for the war with the lizards.
@Graf von Losinj - I Post Info Ha good one!
Fabulous content, keep it coming!
That “help” from the editor when talking about the new channels killed me lmao
Fascinating stuff. Thanks for sharing this! God bless :)
"Mo' Mani, mo' problems" had me dying of laughter 🤣
I just recently discovered your channel by accident really, AND I LOVE IT ‼️👍🤘 Everything RoMAN and Colosseum ish I've recently became enamoured with AND your channel satisfys All my itches ‼️
Very interesting, for some reason haven't heard much about Manichaesm 🤔 great video!
Just subscribed after hearing you on OSP's podcast, love the video and now I have two more channels to watch! Note- It is also due to Blue's influence that I can only picture Alcibiades as Henry Cavill with anime eyes
Fun. I hope you enjoyed your Alaska trip. I just moved out of Alaska after 16-years. My wife was having medical issues and the wait time for the care she needed was over 2-years. We moved and she was taken care of within days and weeks in the lower-48. We would totally move back once crime is taken care of, medical is fixed, and housing is not an issue. So basically never, haha.
“Free healthcare” in socialism equals waiting weeks to get covered You better not have come to America
I worked in Alaska bout a year, at Clear air force base. I never knew the crime was so bad there until I lived it. Drugs and homelessness too Not crime at Clear obviously, but in Fairbanks
@@Captain_Insano_nomercy Yeah. Alaska is not the last Frontier anymore. I would say this last decade it changed into something it should have never become. Now the inflation and costs of everything in Alaska is out of control. We would like to move back after my wife's medical is resolved and she is on SSDI. My daughter and son are receiving medical care they need too. Both are getting what they could not get in Alaska, it was over a two year wait for my wife and son. My daughter is getting what she needs and it was not an option at all in Alaska. Lately, we have thought about returning in 3-5 years, but at that point the kids will be a couple years from graduation and they would have more and better options in the lower-48 than in Alaska. We do miss it though, a lot actually. It was a big part of our lives for nearly 20 years and it will always be our home.
A video on the actual politics of Rome before/during Caesar would be interesting. There’s a lot of hyperbole about modern times and then, there’s not a lot about just how off the rails Roman politics were during the start of the empire.
yes very similar to usa now a days
Great idea to have a channel where you interview prominent historians. I feel like John Michael Godier was second fiddle to Isaac Arthur until he made Event Horizon where he interviews prominent academics and then he really took off for me. Hopefully it works the same for you!
This theory is a wee bit more modern, however it goes into detail stating that one of the Pope's used their power to 'rewrite' history and jump it by 200 years, making it closer to the year 1000 A.D, for more political influences. There isn't much evidence behind the theory besides large chunks of history from the years 800/900 missing, as well as some observed errors in the moon's eclipse dates throughout history. I like thinking about that one, it's a favorite of mine
I love your informative videos, now I don't know if it's on my side or what but the audio cuts in and out on all your videos, its frustrating cause like I said I love your Content. Having said that would you be willing, to take a look into that??? At work I have youtube like this playing all day and would love to be able to listen to yours there as well.. thank you very very much!!!! - Sparky :)
Did anyone notice the it’s always sunny/Pepe Silvia background? Nice work!
Thanks for the answer to a question I had.
Ancient Greek conspiracy theorists be like: “They’re putting potions in the water that are turning the friggin frog straight!” 😉
The proves against Alcebiadis were circunstancial, but I think he was really involved in that event. But not in a plot to overthrow democracy, he was just a rebel guy since he was a kid. He is considered the oldest psychopath known in history, according to the most important author on this topic, Harvey Cleckley
The "herms" are actually funny and the vandalism to it even more funny. How we humans have not changed tooooo much.
“A very good boy” love it! 😊 & your content.
I'm a lifelong ancient history buff, but I always learn new things from your videos. This one is great. The herm conspiracy! I knew what herm were, but had never heard of that. To me, herms are so strange they are comical. And I didn't know much about the Manichaeans before this. I will look for your new channels. 🏛
You really believe the Colossus of Rhodes collapsed due to an earthquake? earth tremors can''t break bronze legs!
Yeah, and what about Colossus 6? It was too far away to feel the tremors.
never forget to check the insurance policy
Good overview. Subbed to the other channels
Yeah baby I love hysteria!!! One of the best.. especially when it’s “hay, evry one panic!”…. It’s honestly the most human emotion that we can all share
i wonder if they knew about the jews
Where do u think those conspiracies came from
Wait till you find out who convinced the Romans to kill Jesus christ...
Ever since I discovered your channel (and enjoying all of your videos). The things the Romans were doing are kind of imitating modern society lol (or are we imitating them??) seems ppl never change lol. Love your channel!!
Definitely wild to me that up until like 1600 most things stayed the same in regards to taxes and so on. I’m always thinking about how in the last 100 years we went from trench warfare to 22 year olds on lap tops taking out entire camps. How different my childhood was than my parents in regards to societal standards, politics, medicine, and so on.
@@roadworkahead6368 bingo
I think time is just an illusion. You were born and you learned history, but you never observed it yourself. All you really know is that you were born and your understanding is what it is. I have a feeling all these conspiracy theories and religions never happened. I think they're all part of a simulation we are in that tells us our potential futures in metaphors and we make what we want with them. Who's to say what happened before the life of the oldest living human? Who's to say you and I are not in our own simulations running our own versions of reality? Who's to say you even exist? These are only crazy questions if you are blinded by your ego. But if you actually just consider the conundrum that is consciousness, and all the paradoxes that come with it, it's easy to see that these questions are valid.
Dr. G! Where is the toldinstone merch I ordered? The T-shirt, cap, laptop bag and the foam beer koozie? It's been weeks and weeks. I understood when I sent you my photo that the life-size, resin marble-look bust of myself as a Roman senator (with broken off nose) would take longer but what about the other stuff?
It's in the mail, I swear...
Tiny Note: That little apology at the end to the lady who sat next to you on the flight elevated you from “extra special high quality KZhead content creator” to “warm place in my heart forever extra special high quality KZhead content creator” and would have won my subscription if the video itself hadn’t done so already :-). Fantastic work sir.
I subscribed to you new channels. Thanks.
loved the podcast with forehead fables. this was cool too lmao
Wonder if anyone else caught the office reference. Great video as always 😊
Instantly subscribed to the new channels. Any way I can support you and your amazing content.
High quality content per usual
Love your channel! The ads in the middle of the video are really annoying though. You should put them at the end or the beginning. Unless they pay you more to put it in the middle, in which case get that bag.
Wonderful content!
Always captivating. Thanks mr Stone.
Love your channel.🙏
You should do more of these more ancient conspiracies please lol
The welcome at the beginning of this video reminded me of logging into AOL…
“plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose…” -Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr the more things change, the more they stay the same…
I used the word "manichean" in my life, and yet, I didn't know it was an actual religion at the start
Learning what a Herm was made my whole day.
Could you make more video about Manichaeism?
Great stuff!
ill make sure to check yor channels out
Such a good channel
thank you for the video
Really interesting video
The red border on the thumbnail is a great idea.
I think Murder in Babylon author settled it quite neatly (chief wife about to be demoted used strychnine- Alexander and his wife both learned all about the brahmins' sacramental strychnine tree from the Brahmins in India- the way he got progressively sicker and the fact that body didn't rot after 2 weeks in tent fits perfectly- I've never heard of the River Styx thing but it sounds like code- STyx, STrychnine).
Very interesting . I did not know that story about Aristoteles. And I do not see why Alexander could not have been poisoned.That was a common way to dispatch people at that time and he was hated by millions both Greeks and Persians