Historian Answers Google's Most Popular Questions On Ancient Rome
We've asked ancient historian and archaeologist Dr. Simon Elliott to answer the most googled questions about the roman empire.
00:00 - Intro
00:42 - When was the Roman Republic?
01:22 - Who ruled the Roman Republic?
02:04 - How healthy were people in the Roman Republic?
04:07 - How big was the Roman Republic?
06:17 - How did the Roman Republic expand?
06:53 - Did the Roman Republic have gladiators?
07:37 - Who were the Roman Republic’s biggest rivals?
08:36 - What was the triumvirate?
09:32 - What were the Punic Wars?
11:14 - Did the Roman Republic fight against elephants?
12:39 - How did Caesar get his name?
14:26 - Was Spartacus a real person?
15:59 - How did elections work in the Roman Republic?
17:11 - How did Julius Caesar come to power?
19:06 - Was Julius Caesar better than Pompey?
20:02 - What were the Optimates and Popularists?
21:20 - Why did the Roman Republic end?
22:19 - Why did Julius Caesar change the calendar?
23:09 - Why was Julius Caesar assassinated?
24:08 - What did SPQR stand for?
24:47 - Was the Roman Republic ever restored?
25:49 - Conclusion
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Hannibal crossing the alps with his war elephants seem like the craziest military maneuver in history to me
I used to live next to one of the debated itineraries he maybe went through, and hiked it pretty regularly and let me tell you, crazy doesn’t even start to describe it!
And almost all of the elephants died in the process or fairly shortly after. Yes, technically he did get elephants over the alps. But he didn't actually have any elephants to use in the battles in italy.
To me it seems like a wildly stupid move. Theres no way he should have succeeded 😂
The definition of so crazy it can work
Bears and bees sent into tunnels the enemy was digging is something I think of regularly.
It's always a pleasure to hear Dr. Elliott talk about history. You can hear his passion in his inflection! As a hobby historian, I would absolutely just love to have a conversation with him.
He's a blast!
His Latin pronunciation could be better, and unfortunately he keeps perpetuating the fuller/blood groove myth. However he certainly knows his dates!
Lmao wonder what your credentials are @markphipps6101
I'd talk about Roman history anytime any place : P
just don't ask him about runnels on swords!
Getting a few Roman historians drunk and then asking all of them together when the Roman Empire fell is really, really funny. When they get worked up drop "You could argue it never truly fell." if there isn't anyone arguing that stance. Anyone that says history is boring has never watched a group of highly educated people get super worked up about long dead people and places.
Is there anything interesting left?
@@joseelempecinao89Oh my dear god, you don´t know historians!
I'm a (recently graduated) Historian and I can say there's nothing funnier than discussing "stupid" topics with my friends. Or when someone is in love with a certain historical character and the rest tries to get him/her mad hahaha
@@ikad5229 I once got a WW1 historian all kinds of fired up when I blamed WW1 on Bismarck's balance of power diplomacy and the horrendous web of treaties it spawned.
@@bateman2112 I won't admit *publicly* that we get worked up pretty quickly!
The intelligence and curiosity behind these questions is hilarious when compared to the medieval video, where much of it boiled down to “why were medieval people dirty and stupid” 😆
Lmaoo I just came from the medieval video and was just thinking the exact same thing 😂 You can definitely tell the difference in prevailing attitudes towards ancient Romans and medieval communities
@@zknight4481why is that you think
If you ever want to be humbled by people from medieval times, go to a castle or cathedral and look up
Why did medieval people have pointy shoes...
@@joshberkin5567 It has largely to do with views coming from the enlightenment era and from "whig" historians of the 19th century. The "new atheist" movement has played a big part in feeding those views nowadays. I'm an atheist myself, and a fan of Dawkins, Harris, etc., when they actually do what they do well, but I don't think that they know anything about the historical stuff that they like to talk about.
I’m Spartacus and so is my wife, thank you Monty Python.
He's not my king, i didn't vote for him.
To be fair, I am Spartacus... and Jesus! This was my TED talk. Thank you.
I have a friend named Spartacus and he doesn't care much for the trend; he feels the name was cool before everyone wanted to be called Spartacus. Also have a friend named biggus dickus, but I forget his wife's name.
No I'm Simon Elliott!
@@kevinmills1318 Incontinentia. Incontinentia Buttocks.
As a lifelong student of Roman history (literally - started when I read about Hannibal in a book in my dad's study when I was 6) I have to say your knowledge and passion shines through. You managed to teach me something I didn't know at all adjacent to the question you were answering, a real talent for sharing knowledge.
I'm a simple man, I see Ancient Rome, I click!!
Me too...
This one had some really great questions. Credit to whoever picked these questions. Those are the exact questions I was asking in my head.
“I came, I saw, I clicked.”
You must if you copied an old and unoriginal comment 😂
@@balabanasireti Ancient Rome became so great because they copied the best if other cultures. So yes...
This was very insightful. Thank you!
Very interesting...excellent delivery of information ...comprehensive and comprehensible..well done
Never heard the etymology of "Caesar" before. That's amazing.
It's probably not true. The Punic word for elephant is "pil". The etymology of "Caesar" is extremely contentious.
also Caesar was pronounced with a hard c in latin so the germanic kaiser is more phonetically simmilar to how Gaius Julius Caesar’s name was pronounced
Also the "J" in Julius is pronounced as a "Y" in Latin.
@@lixloon I think I'll start spreading the claim that Yule was actually started as a Roman holiday to memorialize Yulius Caesar and pagans co-opted it. ;)
Very informative, thank you.
0:07 "Why would you give it up?" Me: To save my life
That's not how a men's world operates. You're more of a Cleopatra type of gal.. which ended up the same way.
@@ZeZeBatata69cleopatra lived in different believes that caesar. She her life didn't need saving, she would have continued in the afterlife
Thank you for an informative and interesting video presented in an easily understood way. I would certainly enjoy more videos expanding on these themes.
Superb stuff - many thanks indeed 👍🏼
Loved this. Really interesting.
Resisting the urge to make a Roman Empire joke
(No way actually Google)😮 You have the Economy for that. Give in to those urges.
wth the actual google account commented on this video and it only has 3 likes
Huh, didn't even know Google had an official KZhead account. Anyways please don't forget your old motto and have a nice day
Crazy
Get a job fr 🙄
Realy interesting. Thank you.
Brilliant video. Thanks so much!
Love this, more of this please
Simon was very interesting, thank you. Please bring him back for more.
We will!
My best duty assignment while in the USAF was being stationed in Italy for 6 years (38 miles south of Rome: Latina)...traveled all over Italy: fantastic adventure....
Learned a lot from this, thanks!
Very interesting ! And I love to listen to Dr. Simon Elliott.
9:47 that Hannibal statue looks like my next door neighbor Brad. Just put a Budweiser in his hand.
Excellent presentation - good grasp of facts and well presented!
Cheers!
Brilliant, no other word to describe this.
I enjoyed this, thanks
"Why on Earth would you give it up?" To grow cabbages, of course. Just ask my boy Diocletian.
This was a fantastic piece. Dr. Elliott is a wonderful speaker of history. He should do more things like this.
Awesome bit of history!
Very enjoyable.
That part about the evil eye must be the origin of what we call in italy " malocchio "?
Great video!!! in my opinion among the main rivals of Rome there are the Samnites who have almost ended the hegemony of Rome
Livy's fan, I guess 😊
"Never gave in"? Aye, us north of the river Clyde, in Scotland, are still waiting for them...Bring it on! ✊️😁👍
Pffgghhhhhh so true lol
You gave in to speaking English as you are now
@tom_demarco Did wae aye? Ken wit ah mean? See, we speak Scots AND English.
I love these!! ❤
More things to think about when I'm trying to get to sleep.
The orange tier of the pyramid graphic at 1:45 should say "Freemen" not "Freedmen". Only the dark red tier is "Freedmen."
It's editing mistakes
Also the date when they put vote Garibaldi is 1848 and not 1948
Good job!
Well done.
Very informative, quick and to the point. Interesting thought/theory on the names Caesar, Kaiser and Tsar. Good presentation Dr Simon E.
Its not a theory cuz kaiser and tsar meant "Caeser". And, as you know, "Caeser", in the imperial age, meant "Emperor"
Thank you!
Excellent. Looking forward to seeing SImon at the Battles Through History Show!
I think an important not for that last question is that it is not just the Emperor that gets huge benefits from being the Emperor, there are a whole bunch of people around him (or her once) that benefit from it. So even if an Emperor would've gotten "ideas", someone in his circle would've probably done something about it.
Nice work on editing and graphics cause let’s be honest if not for that I couldn’t keep up lol 😆
Very enjoyable and informative, I just wanted check if the date of your 3rd Punic war correct it seemed to come before the first two Punic wars dates ?
“And on that bombshell” classic reference 😂
Glorious!
Overall very interesting and educational, although I wish there were more questions about Rome and not so many just about Julius Caesar, who I feel is his own topic.
I don't know this man, but I love this man!
Very interesting
I miss people mentioning duumvirates when they explain triumvirates. Duumvirate was a very common form of government established by a democratic principle that the city would not be ruled by one man (despotes, tyrannos, basileus, rex) but by two men (from the aristocracy) elected for a term of a year. From there, the triumvirates differed in that they were three, and the time period and ellection were kind of left aside. Also the consulate was a duumvirate in Rome. And most of the Italian cities were ruled by two men (duumviri) elected from their own local senates. As well as in Greece there were archontes, two men to rule for the period of a year.
I'd love to see Simon comment on excerpts from the HBO Rome tv show
The #TimelineOfMankind project thanks you.
At 8:28, it kind of sounds like you're validating Asterix. Thank you, that's all I need to know about Roman history.
Great presenter
14:42 "sound like the gulls in finding nemo mine, mine, mine, mine"
Always a good day when HH drops a video.
Can ancient Egypt be next please?
Anyone else think of John Cleese in Life of Brian with the graffiti... "Romanes eunt domus" 😂 16:57
My question about rome was always this: Did Romans suffered same casualities during war on sickness as soldiers in middle ages? Since in almost every campaign or siege in middle ages, there were enormous loses on sickness in camps. But not so often its written about Roman campaigns or sieges. Did romans had lower casuality rates on this or they just did not mentioned it?
I understand that he trying explain larger topics in a short amount of time while being accessible but I would dispute the characterization that Ancient Rome primarily viewed magic as the answer to illness. The Greek healing traditions heavily influenced and even developed in Rome. While those did contain spiritual elements (charms, chants, prayers) many of these had pragmatic/observable aspects ( eg say this prayer everyday for 7 days which about how long a viral infection lasts) and physical treatments included surgery. Additionally, it would be reductive say Romans did understand transmission and/or hygiene. Military regulations around it where strict. Bathing and fountains were kept accessible, sewer systems and latrines existed, and aqueducts survive today. Many ways Ancient Romans had better sanitation than early modern populations. Rome also had some the first hospitals. What they didn't have was germ theory, which is a relatively recent discovery. Most Roman physicians and healers believed in miasma ("bad air" from rotted organic material) which remained leading accepted cause illness until germ theory in the 1880s. This lead to a lot of contact transmission. From my point of view the Romans did fairly the info available to them.
The Aqueducts?
Very Interesting thanks, but so cruel to use elephants to fight.
But using horses, or for that matter humans, is perfectly civilized?
@@michaelb1761 neither . I have a soft spot for elephants.
@maxineblick451 ,Thank you ❤I came to say that,about the 🐘!! It really ticks me off that people in power have NO Thoughts for children or animals 😢
@@kayfitzgerald309 I agree! 👍
@@kayfitzgerald309 Lmao of course they wouldn’t? Why would you think they’d value some animals but not others? How would they feel comfortable eating meat if they drew the line at using horses to carry packs or using any animal to ride into battle? Animals are, and always have been, a food source and expendable resource to the human species.
You didn't mention Caesar being Pontif Maximus.
Wish I could go back in time and see what Roman life was like
I would recommend going to Pompeii and Herculaneum. In Herculaneum there are entire villas that have been preserved.
I would love to visit for a day but soon as I have a #2 calling I'm heading back to my time!
@@tenzinalexander whats wrong with a stick smh
@@Virgil191 they used sponges and they share it!
Same
My unofficial official short list of Roman Rivals (in order) -Samnites -Carthaginians -Mithradates of Pontus -Parthians -Huns/Germanic Tribes -Themselves
Goths shaking their heads looking furious in the background, wondering if you've had the temerity to stick them in with the Germans. 😆
It was an informative and wonderful historical coverage video ( questions and directly sufficient answers ) thank you 🙏 ( history Hit) channel for sharing.
Um, why are the dates for the Third Punic War blurred out (8:00)? Was the timeframe listed somehow offensive, violating KZhead's policies, lol?
They were probably wrong but didn’t notice until the video was up
0:49 Why isn't the Roman Kingdom (c. 703 BC to c. 509 BC) considered part of "the world of Rome"?
There aren't really records from the Roman Kingdom as they were destroyed when the city was sacked in 390 BC, so that era is more legend than history. The story of the foundation of Rome is a myth as the archaeological evidence doesn't support the story and some classical scholars believe that Romulus wasn't even based on a historical figure but a character created for the myth based on the name of Rome. The reason the founding of Rome is said to be 753 BC is because a Roman scholar tried to determine the founding of the city, traced the records as far back as they could go, and when the records stopped, he used a reverse horoscope to get the date of founding. The settlements that grew to become Rome were around a lot earlier than that. In short, it doesn't really make sense to talk about the history of the Roman Kingdom because there isn't much by way of historical records. Just legends and archaeology.
@@lunatickoala I would argue it is nearly impossible for many ancient cities to determine when they were founded. A successful city usually grows out of a town, which came from a small settlement as you say. What eventually became Rome might've been around for many centuries before, maybe even millennia. It is crazy to think how long humanity has been around and how much has happened in that time. Not on a cosmic time scale of course.
@@Yvolve Definitely. It's impossible to truly comprehend just how long history is even on a civilizational timescale, let alone how long prehistoric, geological, cosmic timescales are. Troy famously has a lot of layers as they kept building over the old city, but Rome is similar and has even more layers. A couple of my favorite factlets are that Cleopatra lived closer to humanity landing on the moon (~2000 years after) than to the construction of the pyramids (~2500 years before), and that Tyrannosaurus rex lived closer to today (~67M years after) than to Stegosaurus (~80M years before).
I think a lot of it follows the narrative laid down by the Romans themselves, that they didn't truly come into their own until the founding of the Republic. I think it probably has to do with at least the last three Roman kings being Etruscans, whereas the patrician families who would later make up the senate generally made it a point to claim that their ancestry somehow related back to the Roman founding myth and/or divinity. The Julians, for example, claimed that the Julius they were named after was the son of Aeneas, meaning that they descended both directly from the goddess Venus, and that their family descended from the very precursors and founders of Roman civilization, rather than just italic barbarians. That aside, it's only after the fall of the Kingdom and the beginning of the Republic that Rome really becomes a major player on the world stage. The Kingdom was really more of a city state with a very limited sphere of influence.
The cantabrian wars were among the bloodiest and are hardly ever mentioned, always overlooked...
With the slave revolts, there were laws to suggested to make slaves have particular markings or clothing. These were rejected because as noted, the slaves would know who else was slaves and they could organize easier for a revolt. Probably a good representation of the Roman middle class is the comedy “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” which is based upon Roman comedies.
The wars mentioned at 21:30 have nothing to do with what Dr. Elliot is mentioning 😅
There are other etymologies for Caesar. Probably, it derived from caesius meaning bluish-grey eyes.
13:42 actually Caesar was also pronounced like that ("Kaisar"). So unlike for example Tsar, actually the German title "Kaiser" ist pronounced very similar to the classic pronoinciation if Caesar.
Pyrrhus was from Epirus, the Southern part of which lies in modern Greece, and the Northern part in Albania.
Was the miasma theory only around the Middle ages or was a similar theory within ancient medicine?
Thank you for using AD and BC. The masterminds that laid the ground work for the calendar we use today deserve to be honored regardless of one’s religious beliefs.
Hear! Hear!
Nah.
@@alamunez low i.q take and response. Educate yourself on history.
That's hilariously ironic considering the guy who decided it did so specifically because he disliked the old calander honoring someone who had persucted people of his religious beliefs.
I think Ceasar was very bright and competent, I accept him being a candidate for greatest general of all time, but Alexander, Hannibal, Scipio, Ceasar's right hand man Labienus, Augustus's Agrippa, Aurelion and Genghis's right hand man Subutai, Napoleon and his marshal Davout are all candidates for that too.
I whole heartedly agree about Julius Caesar being the best example of a military leader in history! He was bold, smart, and brave. His tactical maneuvers and decisions before, after, and during the heat of battle were astounding! His politics, though often underhanded, were calculating and were often justified by the outcome. He was never one to order someone else to do what he was not willing to do himself, and was always there when the "S" hit the fan! He was a total egomaniac, BUT, he never treated the people beneath him (even if it was in his own mind lol) poorly. I am torn as to wether I would like hanging out with the man, or would think of him as a jerk, but there is no denying his achievements. Alexander the Great is probably my number two, but, he never had to operate on so many levels, with such chaotic conditions. Alexander had only to win a battle to continue his conquest, Caesar had to be 3 moves ahead with everything he did just to survive!
Huge...tracts of land. 👌
Appreciate it and great job. Expertise exhibited by the speaker
After hearing where Ceasar's name came from I really hope that the pronunciation in fallout new vegas was deliberate
Yu for got the phartian en sasanid
FSA: Fellow of SAL(Society of Antiquaries of London, founded 1701). Only about 3300 members can call themselves their name+FSA, mostly historians and archeologists. I googled it so you won't have to :) @1:29 "Roman society was very very stratified." whereas today we only have two classes: FSA and NB(nobody) :) @3:18 anti-evil eye beads are so widespread in Turkey, even aircraft have them. @8:00 The date of the Third Punic Wars was blurred because it's harmful to young pepople. Finally, Caesar was great because not only was he a great military commander, but he also promoted social reform.
If the Republic is the "First" third then what was the period of Kings?
That bit about Patricians is not true. Caesar and Sulla were both patrician before joining the Senate.
I could've answered all these questions
In Roman Latin the pronunciation of the letter “c” is always hard and is pronounced “k”. There is no soft “c”. Caesar is pronounced like the German leader, Kaiser.
Why Gaul and not France and why Spain and not Iberia or Hispania?
Because Spain and Hispania would be the same thing, Spain in Latin is Hispaniae, and France or Gaul in Latin is Gallia. Theyre just using Englishisms of the names.
Were the elephants used in warfare Asian elephants or African elephants? The artwork shown depicts both 😮
Caesar was pronounced Kae-sar in latin as well, so I dont know why he says that See-sar is the latinized version?
don't be so pedantic
Prove it
@@craiggillespie9237kzhead.info/sun/aN6rlqWyi6Z9l5s/bejne.html
@@Jsdo1980 i see where you're going with this, but in fact the "c" in latin was pronounced as a sort of "tz" sound when it was in front of vowels. And pronounced as "k" when in front of consonants. So think of "Octavian" - clearly the "c" before the consonant sounds as "k". And for the other example think of "Cicero" - clearly a "tz" sound that gets morphed into the english sounding "c", which is the "s" sound..... Hopefully not too confusing with the explanation 😅
@@pat_almightyThat's not true. In classical latin the c was always pronounced as a "k". It was in later ecclesiastical latin that the c changed sound to "tz".
to add onto the last question about a possible restoration of the Republic, the senate had opportunities to restore the Republic if it wanted, but they never acted on it. I think later in history, people looked back at particularly the late republican period as a very chaotic time. There was a lot of social upheaval and disastrous civil wars led by militaristic strongmen, and the imperial system solved that power struggle for good (kind of). It seems to me like there was no real desire to go back to that system. There's also fact that by the time of Augustus, the Roman empire had grown much, much larger than it had been in, say, the Mid Republic. It would have been very difficult to practice administration over far flung, unruly, provinces with a republican system.
I will always click on a video where British people talk about Rome.
Good Info. Get a sense he’s biased towards Caesar but that’s an argument for another time
Wow, dude was completely caught off-gaurd when asked about the Julian Calendar reform. He probably had to do a very quick google research off-screen and still got many things wrong, e.g. Ceasar neither invented the months of Jan&Feb, nor did he rename July&August. Would also like to know when&where he learned the Latin language (if he ever learned it at all); his pronunciation seems way off to me, even for a native English speaker
yeah im not sure what his area of expertise is i dont think it would be this time. his description of Caesars etymology snd his pronunciation of pompey realllly stick out to me as signs
Why is he repeatably saying that Ceasar (See-sar) is latinazation of punic Caesar (pronounced as Kay-sar)? I thought first that he misspoke but then there is the whole section following up on that Kay-sar is not a punic version. Its how you pronounce Caesar in latin. To the contrary to what we know from the show Rome, romans were not english speakers and didnt have british accent
Pratorian guards : To run away from me Answer to 0.07
Years needed to conquer Gaul: 6, years needed to conquer Hispania: 237. 3rd biggest rome rival: The Gaul 😂 PS: Im aware that Hispania was not an homogenous faction at the time, but so wasn't The Gaul.
They were willing to absorb different cultures and give them conditional citizenship. Hence huge man power was available.
love elephant salad