Battle of Dara, 530 (ALL PARTS) ⚔️ How Belisarius used trench warfare to stop a massive Persian army
🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅 Many of you requested all parts of the Battle of Dara mini series be merged into one video. I thought it fitting to release it on New Year's weekend. I'd like to thank all of you for your support! I feel blessed to have such a wonderful community here that has enabled me to do this full time. Huge thanks and much love to you all! I wish you a very Happy 2023! 🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅
🚩 In the late 5th and early 6th centuries, there began a general ambition by the Byzantine hierarchy to restore the Empire’s territory back to the height of the Roman Empire from where it had evolved. Consequently a series of campaigns began across Italy, North Africa, the Balkans, and the Middle East, to rebuild the former glory. It should be noted that at this point in history, the enemies faced by the Byzantines were far more numerous and better organised than those that Rome had first faced centuries earlier. These were now the evolved enemies that had defeated Rome just 100-150 years earlier. Nevertheless, a Byzantine general by the name Belisarius would rise to the challenge...
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📢 Narrated by David McCallion
🎼 Music:
EpidemicSound.com
📝 Sources
Encyclopaedia Iranica www.iranicaonline.org/articles...
Daryaee, T. Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. I.B. Tauris, 2013. www.ancient.eu/books/1780763786/
Farrokh, K. Shadows in the Desert. Osprey Publishing, 2007. www.ancient.eu/books/1846031087/
Katouzian, H. The Persians: Ancient, Mediaeval, and Modern Iran. Yale University Press, 2010. www.ancient.eu/books/0300169329/
#belisarius #byzantineempire #historymarche
🎄🎅 Many of you requested all parts of the Battle of Dara mini series be merged into one video. I thought it fitting to release it on New Year's weekend. I'd like to thank all of you for your support! I feel blessed to have such a wonderful community here that has enabled me to do this full time. Huge thanks and much love to you all! I wish you a very Happy 2023! 🎄🎅
THANK YOUUUU SO MUCH FOR THIS, WANTED THISS
HAPPY NEW YEARR!!! HISTORY MARCHE🎆🎆!!
Can i be your translator in Indonesian language?
I was reading a book on the history of Switzerland and they have some great war stories. I remember one where they had an army coming of 5-10k, and all they had were 800; so they flooded the forest floor knowing it would freeze over, and drove nails through their shoes - so they would have grip while the other ones didn't. After hacking up 500 of them, the other army went home. lol
please make the same style and form document ( little more detailed) concerning battle of ULM made by Napoleon please!
imagine the feeling the guy had walking back to the line after winning TWICE in single combat
He got that dawg in him
Got that BDE. Damn!
STUD
Everyone owed him a beer
Doing the dr livesey walk back to the line.
Just imagine, 1500 years later, people are still talking about those two victorious fights you had.
True immortality.
I am also named Andreas and I legit cheered for him on his second duel. Funny moment
I was just thinking that!!
I mean Belisarius almost reclaimed all the core territories of the original Roman empire while almost never having more troops at any of the battles.
Is there no one else?
Fun fact from the Audio Book on Belisarius, Andres after this battle and after becoming a hero retired to a peaceful life knowing he could never top that moment again.
You have no idea how much that makes me happy
He was wise not to push his luck.
Andreus was like "gg, guys. I'm out."
@@LuizAlexPhoenix Lol, pretty much.
Always retire when you're on top.
Hope no one skipped how much of a UNIT Andreus was
Ikr
I was sad when the second guy came out thinking oh this is how he dies.... What a king!
Andreas*
This warrior deserves his own movie!
He only killed two men bud there were so many way more badass soldiers in antiquity etc hell this channel has counts of them look at the last battle between the Irish and norse the one Irish noble ran headfirst into enemy lines while his countrymen were being absolutely slaughtered and killed a hundred men by himself before anyone showed up to help now that an absolute unit of a man you're a fucking joke.
Imagine that: Belisarius wins the battle where he DOESN'T let his men bully him into attacking.
But he lost, and this made the emperor, this leader, resign
Belissarius, a name that your ancestors knew very well, you do as well... He always meant business, and made a point of ruthlessly schooling the hapless "generals" of the West and the Orient alike... Can't blame you, the inferiority complexes he created are unlikely to ever be surpassed...
@@anastasiosliagkris576 No, he failed in his war against the Persians and lost, so he made the Emperor Justinian pay a huge tribute to the Persians
@علي ياسر Justinian was an Emperor who only cared about his personal glory, building monuments, passing laws, and spending time with Theodora.He never provided Belissarius with a formidable army, one that would give him the edge over the Persians, same as against the Vandals and Goths in the West.He could only muster half of the opposing army each time more or less...Had Belissarius been born during the time of Basil the II's reign, he would have conquered Japan, you have my word.
@brainflash1 don't post spoilers without warning bro
Wow I’m truly impressed with Emperor Anastasios, his reforms revitalized the empire. Also impressed with Kavad The King of Kings. What an era.
Effective economic policy even today, yet common sense that still goes unheaded in favour of policies that engorge the wealth of industry leaders and their government puppets.
Yeah too often people look back at the past with disgust instead of wanting to learn the intricacies of its societies.
I'd love to see a series on Belisaurius, just like the one on Hannibal.
epic history tv has a great series
Except they haven't even finished the Hannibal series
@@thehoboshack5253they have
@@casper191985 they didn't 💀
@@gwynedd4023 and what a series that is!!!
Andreas, the true mvp of this battle.
He lost this battle and paid tribute to the Persians
@@user-cg2tw8pw7j lmao. You're so butthurt it's cute. Get back to your desert and your ancient oils and bajji boys.
@@user-cg2tw8pw7j How did Andreas lose this battle or pay tribute if he wasn't a general?
@@florianhenkel111 The Emperor Justinian banished this leader after this battle because he lost him, and Justinian pushed Al-Hazia to the Persians.
Justinian and Belisarius' relationship be like: Justinian: "Hello, Belisarius. You're not going to join my Legions" Belisarius: "I want to join your Legions" Justinian: "YOU ARE IN"
I think because this general lost his battles against the Persians
@@user-cg2tw8pw7j you mad or something, you keep replying on it 😭
Goths/Vandals in Italy: We want you, Belisarius, to be the Roman Emperor of Western Europe Belisarius: Let me think about it....Nope, I am loyal to my emperor Justinian: Your loyalty, general, will not be forgotten Later...... Theodora: Husband, I think Belisarius might be turning against you Justinian: You might be right. In the end, it's very sad that Belisarius wasn't fully trusted by Justinian much later on, as he was the one man who indeed should be referred to be called "The Great." He gave the Romans new life to reconquer the known Roman world.
@@liamevers115 Justinian after this battle expelled this general
@@SolidAvenger1290 Yes, great, he was paying a huge tribute to the Persians
Belisarius is an absolute legend and one of the most underappreciated military geniuses of all time. Without Belisarius and Theodora, Justinian the Great would've just been Justinian.
Both Belisarius and Theodora were scumbags
I absolutely agree. He managed to achieve so much with so little resources most of the time. He beated Vandals later on with much smaller army. He managed to withstand siege of Rome for 1 year with much smaller army etc. Finaly at the end of his life he saved Constantinopol from barbarian attack. Was offered to be become a king of Italy and refused but still did not have full trust of Justinian. Admirable person, admirable life. Not greedy for fame like Alexander, not greedy for money and influence like Caesar. just a humble person doing his job for is ruler the best way he could.
Geniuses but ruthless only others that can challenge his cruelty is timur.
@@sartajparveen2001 Timur, Pol Pot, Stalin, Mao? I agree, he wasnt very merciful. But his impact on the history of the Byzantine Empire is tremendous.
@@sartajparveen2001 ok, so, that's just how it was back in the day
The first half of the video feels like one of the most detailed maps you've made, with seemingly 60+ cities notated across each of the two massive empires, even some of the obscure Ostrogothic and Hephtalite cities are denoted. It gives so much additional scale to their exceptional size and power for the organized imperial states of the time. (It gives off Cold War vibes as two superpowers clash and meddle in strategic neighbor's affairs.) Would love to see this level of mapping detail consistently appear in future episodes!
It really was a cold war like era with endless proxy wars, meddling in the affairs of lesser kingdoms and tribes to recruit them to each superpower's causes for example the Byzantines negotiated with the Turks (imagine that!), more accurately the kok turuks and the white huns encouraging them to raid Persian borders while the Persians negotiated with the Avars, the Lombards and the Ostrogoths encouraging them to invade Byzantine lands. In Arabia the Byzantines propped up the Ghassanids while the Persians propped up the Lakhmids. In the horn of Africa, the Byzantines supported the Axumites (ancient Ethiopia) and the Sassanids propped up the Himyarites in order to secure the Arabian trade routes. In the causasus, the Byzantines propped up the ancient Christianised kingdom of Lazica (predecessors of Georgia) and both superpowers divided up Armenia into two with the Eastern Romans controlling Western Armenia and Persia controlling the East. The Byzantine propped up the Arsacid Persian family- aka the Parthians- and sat them as rulers of Western Armenia in hopes of an opportunity to seat them as the rulers of Persia one day. The Byzantines also frequently meddled in Persian internal politics, supporting and financing rebellions and rival noble families. In the Black Sea, the both rival superpowers contested for the Black Sea trade with the Byzantine hold over Crimea and their naval superiority in the region contested by Persian sponsored Piracy. Even the wars fought between the two superpowers were indecisive as they were both pretty much equal in power and lacked the resources to completely destroy the other although Persia got close in the final war due to unprecedented Byzantine weakness.
Makes you wonder if the byzantines would have routed during the initial attack if it wasn’t for that guy winning 2 single combat duels, increasing morale
Persians made the same mistake in first battle against the Arabs, literally generals dueled and Persian general got wiped
If I am a teacher, I would teach history class like this. The narrative is so poetic and inspires romanticism. I cant imagine inspiring the younger generations to be brave, bold, and gallant
Every teacher wants to be like this. For most of them, the amount of things they have to cover in one semester overwhelms the little bit of time they are allowed to do it. For the rest, they just don' t have the talentxresources to do it in time. See how long this channel takes to make just one video.
They are also entirely controlled by bubble wrapped morons governing further up the line.
Depends on the age of students you get. Visuals like this require a lot of effort which we don't get the time to put in as teachers. Lessons with lots of words also lose the attention of a majority of students who come into history who already expect it to be boring. It's shorter words, shorter lessons, and more interaction that gets the kids excited about history. I've spent two years preparing escape room lessons for my chapters. After two years I've only been able to finish half of the curriculum of escape rooms because we are overburdened with administrative work that, really, has little impact on the students. We're expected to keep up with it nonetheless. Teachers want to teach, but we're restrained by politics, overwhelming (useless) expectations from the schoolboards and parents, and lack of funding.
@@Shugo5775 I admire and honor teachers. You guys don't get the recognition and support that you deserve. A nation's next generation should be treated like its most precious resource, not a commodity.
Seek help.
Belisarius has always reminded me of Majorian, truly strategic and tactical minds that were forever handicapped by their own inability to maintain a strong political presence.
Ingenious use of the land ! Belisarius was a beast!
Not given credit enough.
@@HistoryMarche really? You and every other publisher here has created plenty of videos praising him. You shouldn’t have this bias if you are in fact trying to present history (which I doubt, anyway)
@@MehrdadMoghaddam It's rare to see someone with a mind of their own on this site, thank you.
It's pretty crazy to think that the Romans and the Iranians were constantly at war with each other for almost 700 years, being a conflict that completely outlived the Republic and even the Empire in the West. I wonder if, at some point, they stopped thinking about what they were fighting for...
I think because the Romans wanted to control the Persian Empire, but they failed
@@user-cg2tw8pw7j yes and no, most of the conflicts were back and forth border raids with the once in a while sacking of Antioch or Ctesiphon, usually ending in indecisive stalemates
An interesting thing written on Wikipedia which does sum up parts of the wars is "The Roman-Persian Wars have been characterized as "futile" and too "depressing and tedious to contemplate"" Even if the wars were religious and a good amount of dislike existed between those nations I think deep down they respected each other more than hated.
@@nice5396 Why did a large number of noble Roman families join Parthia and the Sasanians?
@@flaviusbelisariusthebasedl3116 Yes, but why did noble Roman families join this country?
This is like a history channel documentary I would watch as a kid. Outstanding Quality.
Definitely one of your best, thank you for putting the two together…. You know I just realized that every time I comment I say “this is one of your best “ I think in the end I love what you do …. And yes I agree with EVERYONE and want to see Hannibal through the end.
That was amazing. I love these videos. I feel as if im always on the edge of my seat when rooting for the underdog
Yours and Kings & Generals channel has given me the equivalent of a full undergrad degree in History and more. Being able to see the interactive map as borders change and armies move is truly the best way to absorb the huge corpus of Western civilization. Keep it up, I've become an amateur history buff thanks to your quality efforts!
Make sure to check K&G's Pacific War series, if you haven't already. They hit it out of the ball park with that one. The in-depth detail is amazing.
As the wise Roel Konijnendijk once said, "TRENCHES!!"
"Ditches"! Note: He's referring to that ancient warfare expert that gives feedback to realism of movies and TV in the Insider channel.
Brilliant channel & always clear delivery .. thank you very much 🙏
I really like this channel and have seen all the videos. Can we please get the rest of the Hanibal series? Also, please give us some of the battles that Persians have won. It feels like we always see them lose in battle. Throughout history everyone takes credit for defeating the Persians but there is always a Persian Empire. They wouldn’t be there if they has lost every battle they fought.
I 100% agree Hannibal is worth a complete series. Also Persians won a great deal of awesome victories. Specially against the Byzantines
@@artinrahideh1229 Indeed, although they lost the last and largest conflict between them and Byzantium in first thirty years of the 600 ads, which left them weakened and vulnerable to being overrun and conquered by the arabs.
@@wedgeantillies66 can't recall but I think they lost due to problems in court. They actually captured Egypt and besieged the Constantinople
@@artinrahideh1229 They lost the war because Byzantium got a soldier emperor in shape of Heraclius, whom took the war to them and waged total war on them until they were defeated. There was a revolt at home, but that only took place once the Persians were defeated in home territory by Heraclius, which led to them suing for peace after they overthrown defeated monarch and new ruler was defeated too.
@@wedgeantillies66 Exactly, and the Great Qur’an immortalized this incident, and God mentioned the Romans in His Holy Book, announcing to the believers their victory over the Magi Persians within a few years of their initial defeat.
Keep up the great documentaries - very much enjoy them all.
Your content is greatly appreciated. Love the details provided.
historymarches voice sounds better than any actor on high pay
Geez! I like ancient and medieval history, but, man, I did enjoy this video... very well detailed and explained. Thank you!
easily the current best historical battle page on youtube!!!
I'm a simple human. I see a new HistoryMarche video, I click.
Belisarius is probably one of my favorite generals in history. He single handedly almost reunited all of the Roman empire. Usually winning in situations where he very much was outnumbered and outgunned on multiple occasions. If the Byzantine empire had given him the manpower he asked for I'm sure he would've reconquered all of Rome and restored the empire.
It's not like the Empire could have given him more men if it wanted to. The Empire was devastated by the Bubonic plague- a quarter of the population was dead- there were mass famines and droughts due to the unusual weather of the late 530s (possible due to a super volcanic eruption in Indonesia). The Empire also had to deal with Persian invasions in the East and Slavic, Avar and Hunnic invasions in the Balkans. They were overextended by every sense of the word. The Empire may look bigger on a map but it was a lot weaker than the Empire as it was on the eve of Justinian's ascension to the throne.
I feel like history doesn't give Belisarius enough credit! This man's life was incredible. Thank you for introducing me to him. I've read a lot of history and never came across this man. Any books ppl suggest on him would be appreciated.
Robert Graves wrote a very good book called Count Belisarius. Seemed reasonably accurate too, to me but I am not Byzantine history expert. Justinian's treatment of Belisarius is dreadful, reportedly caused by his envy and prompted by his wife Theodora.
Sorry yeussean , didn't see your reply.
I think that he is credited well enough. Actually is quite overrated. When i first heard and read something about him i thought he was one of the greatest generals of all time and i saw that many really had a great opinion of him. But the more i read about him and the more i looked at the contest in which he fought and my opinion of him really changed. He was very capable but nothing special, in fact there are better military leaders in Byzantine history alone. Anyway it's really strange that you never heard of him if you studied a lot of history, he's one of the names that comes out often in discussions on the great generals of history.
About books... I read mainly texts of his campaigns and online essays. Those essays listed their sources so i can look them up and see if they had some good book suggestions. The others in the section suggested Count Belisarius, but i haven't read it so i don't know how accurate it is.
Watch Epic History, they did a great series on Belisarius (here on KZhead)
Impregnate my mind with history!!!!!
🧐🤨📷📸
I am coming all over this suspect comment.
Man thats a bit too far hahahah
Thats a bit gay
That's right, tell me what a good little submissive and breedable viewer you are
Spectacular video, as always!
Thank you.
I liked your explanation of the situation before the start of the battle when they were building the trench, a wonderful dramatic scene, well done
Thanks for your work as always!
Cheers KHK! Happy 2023!
Thanks! Same to u HM!
Nice details, great video! Many thanks!
What a fantastic video!⚔
Awesome thanks for the great work Sir
Anastasius and Justin are just the type of responsible and proactive emperors I love. Kayad I was pretty great himself too.
Brilliant job as always
Thanks for amazing videos! Happy New year! Wish you good health, happiness, prosperity! Good luck for your channel.
Informative, interesting introduction video about that period of political and military attacking between Byzantine Empire & Persian Empire..allot thanks. Good luck and best wishes at (2023 )for one's of my favorite ( history Marche)channel
Such a good channel! soo detailed!!
WOW... This is your best video yet, the drama chills and thrills, and the narrative, music audio, and graphic production are simply marvelous... I felt like I was right there in the middle of the battlefield... fighting for my life... in a state of panic, trying desperately to hold the line!!! All I can say is... WOW!!! Well-done sir, well-done indeed... You have outdone yourself, and have gone beyond your calling and duty as the best of the best.. of the creators of the historic military narrators, and thrilling military drama documentary videos. Thank you, for your long hours of hard work, for sharing your love, and for your gifts for making these wonderful videos for us... We sir, who love your epic historic military video dramas... We gratefully, and gladly bent our knees, and salute you... And the hell with rest, without question sir... "YOU ARE THE BEST OF THE BEST"!!!
I wish my all lame-ass history classes at my university were as thrilling and interesting as your KZhead history video docu-dramas... Because I would really end up learning something worthwhile, and of great value.
Glad to watch that our brother is also participate in this documentary ❤️
Belisarius did prepare that bath. It was a bloodbath.
This channel is really good! I'm looking forward to watching it in my language, hug!
O yes love this!!!
What a great explanation
Wow this early with one view. Going to be a banger as always.
Amazing!
Very interesting to see Anastasius economic reforms. THAT is how you tame inflation. Not all the shenanigans corrupt politicians are doing
I’m sure they they spend a couple billion more dollars that will finally solve inflation! /s
Why am I just know finding this! Love watching historical video like this but I’d say this one tops them all man great job!
This was a year ago!?!? Damn..
Danke!
Thank you very much for the support. Very kind of you.
Thanks
Thank you so much for the support. You are very kind! Happy 2023!
splendid video
Ready to serve! Daboo!
I'm so happy I'm not the only one who was absolutely floored by Andreas. Absolute legend
Great content like always! It seems that Firouz was a good commander but shows that even good commanders do lose sometimes. Wonder if using parts of the reserves and his own cavalry would effect the outcome of the battle. I wonder if you are planning to do videos on Khosrow Anushiravan or something related. Also excited about the Hannibal campaign next year. Happy new year!
given the baricades and trenches probably not enough room to throw more units into battle effectively
Firouz was a good commander, but Belisarius was not a good commander, he was "THE GOOD COMMANDER" and after reading the history of wars, if Belisarius had had the same troops as Firouz, he would have mopped the floor with the entire Sassanid empire.
Hope Andreas survived the battle.
Yesssssss u make me love History 😂🤣 I definitely wish alot of KZheadrs were my Teachers 😂😂
Great video thanks for the subtitules
I need more videos please. They are so good
Happy New year ❤️🥳🥂👍
Great stuff.
Great
"meh, ok". -proceeds to straight up clap two challengers in a row- lol xD
This voice Is so good!!
And that is how you defeat a numerically superior enemy with strategic astuteness, tactically brilliance and firm and decisive leadership.
This part of history always intrigued me the mind sets of each leader causing the other anxiety and confusion lol let's go justin
Makes me even prouder to be called Andreas! Μπράβο σού ρε φίλε!
Would like to see some vids about persian wins too. Persian-rome wars were ~ 50-50 winrate wise, but most of your vids are about persian defeats.
most of time persians had number advantage so its not really interesting to see such battle
@@666MIHI lol
@@666MIHI yea. persians also had tree wielding giants and bear riders and nerve gas... Ok bozo
It's not 50-50 most of the battles won by sassanids.
@@parsarustami774 what kind of percentage do you think it was then?
great vid
An admirable and gracious Roman general
Always welcome history!
what a good day for Andreas!!! 💪
My boy must’ve felt like a God after winning those duels in front of all those spectators… glorious. No one could deny his skill in combat that day or any day after…
awesome videos
Great special effects. Go Belisarius!!!
Very interesting )
Dude I can't even watch these anymore without ad block. There's a midroll every 4min. That shit is killing the flow of the video
Nice video
Loving that Wilhelm scream.
Great battle
Eu adoro seus vídeos ❤️❤️ principalmente quando são do império Bizantino
All the politics and war, this sliver of history could be an amazing literature saga.
We need more Belisarius kicking arses!
Sorry, I’ve been absent for a little bit guys but I’m happy I saw this video 👍
No worries man, great to see you
Would love to see some videos on Persian victories.
yeah the battle of Callinicum is also interesting mainly because it demonstrated the strength of arab cavalry employed by the Persians.
Elite immortals 🥶🥶🔥🔥
Andreus the original Gigachad
I just wanna give a shout out to Andreas who randomly decided to do a single combat with two Persians and thus now made history and is remembered hundreds of years after lol
I like how you could see the secret cavalry all the time there
Back in times where men are men. Forged in courage, brotherhood and honor. Let us make men great again!
Anastasius sounds like a good dude
Nifty
First baby 🤙🏻🧠
Andreas was a chad ngl