How Did the Roman Emperors Die

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Romaboo Ramblings

Күн бұрын

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@RomabooRamblings 2 жыл бұрын

Get AtlasVPN for just 1.83$ + 3 months FREE using my link: get.atlasvpn.com/RomabooRamblings

@TetsuShima 2 жыл бұрын

-"I'm worried, my dear!" -"Why, mom?" -"It has been more than 50 years since no member of the family died of natural causes" -"It's true. All by accidents!" -"Accidents? My father, Germanicus, was assassinated by his uncle Tiberius. Tiberius, who was hanged in his sleep by your uncle Caligula!" -"Haha, how sympathetic Uncle Caligula!" -"Gaius and Postumus were killed by their grandmother Livia, and my sister Drusilla was also killed by Uncle Caligula!" - "Oh, what a man!" -"Your father Claudius was the only one who died of natural causes, and only because I took care of him!" -"No, excuse mom, but it seems that he also died poisoned" -"What are you saying!?" -"Mom, everyone knows that you poisoned him" -"It's a slander!" -"Mom, don't you remember? I saw you while you were preparing the..." -Silence!" *Conversation between Agrippina the Younger and her son Emperor Nero secretly heard by Seneca*

@VeridarRasko Жыл бұрын

Pov: Nero will also kill his mother agrippina, and Seneca too

@Sharp931 2 жыл бұрын

Valentinian: die due uncontrollable wrath

@MaxwellAerialPhotography Жыл бұрын

Doom guy: too angry to die. Valentinian: too angry too live.

@theta_clips Жыл бұрын

"Flavius Valentinianus (321-375), better known as Valentinian I, was a Roman emperor famous for being so angry at the existence of Germans that he died from interacting with them."

@redjirachi1 Жыл бұрын

Valentinian's rage was so great the human body could not contain it

@danielcunningham8046 Жыл бұрын

@@redjirachi1 aka broly

@bigalmou2261 2 жыл бұрын

At a guess, Andronikos I Komnenos probably had the most painful death. When I looked into his reign, his life came out of nowhere for me; he spends his long life adventuring and boning different princesses, then the nanosecond after he becomes emperor he reigns tyrannically. Then when he's deposed the mob just absolutely tortures him; pulling out teeth, splashing boiling water on his face, etc. That's according to the historians, anyway.

@RomabooRamblings 2 жыл бұрын

They way he took the throne was a precursor for his reign

@iDeathMaximuMII 2 жыл бұрын

@@RomabooRamblings Didn’t he order Alexios II to be strangled?

@ineednochannelyoutube2651 Жыл бұрын

@@iDeathMaximuMII After forcing/tricking him into signing his own mother's death warrant. (not sure which.) He also tossed his corpse into the Bosphorus.

@alessandrogini5283 6 ай бұрын

@@ineednochannelyoutube2651looks like a worst Person then phoca that kill the childrens of Maurice in front of him

@notsamhoward 2 жыл бұрын

Constantine XI is my favourite death cuz he went out with his empire, throwing off his garments and leading a final, hopeless charge to retake Constantinople how is this not a movie???

@Tzimiskes3506 2 жыл бұрын

Gigachad Constantine XI is way too based for virgin movies.

@xeqoir 2 жыл бұрын

there is a movie about constantine xi and the siege of constantinople

@invictusfilms8555 2 жыл бұрын

kzfaq.info/get/bejne/hZmKm9hpxMvSeo0.html&ab_channel=TeiroProductions

@augustopinochet1670 2 жыл бұрын

Because of who the bad guys would be....

@Feanor1169 2 жыл бұрын

It's forbidden to portray the enemies of the Eastern Roman empire in a negative light in Hollywood or even KZfaq. You'll never see the Byzantines in portrayed in popular culture for the same reasons. Too many questions would be asked about their longevity and it's relation to certain policies.

@nenenindonu 2 жыл бұрын

Nikephoros I : I don't always die but when I do I become a drinking-cup

@legateelizabeth 2 жыл бұрын

I would put forward Marcus Aurelius’s death was a suicide. If you read his Meditations - properly read them, not just the fun snippets modern Stoics like - the desire and justification (or argument against) suicide and him struggling with why he should live is something he comes back to a lot. I’m fully of the belief that Marcus suffered from what we’d call depression. I’ve included some choice quotes at the end. But for his death? I think he lost that battle with depression, and took his own life. The reason his death seems so ambiguous is because it was deliberately covered up: you only committed suicide in Roman society if you had done something wrong, it was a way to regain lost honour. So finding out the Emperor had killed himself would have retroactively delegitimised his reign, since it would imply he’d done something for which suicide would be the appropriate punishment. Marcus died pretty suddenly, which doesn’t track with illness or age very well - and most other Roman Emperors who die of things like strokes or heart attacks usually have some record pointing to that. Aurelius? Aurelius is just dead one day. And I think that was because he killed himself. Some quotes from the Meditations in support of the idea Marcus had depression, or something resembling it, and a little elaboration on them (and modernisation of the language). Remember that the Meditations are just Marcus’ diary - something he wrote in, for himself. Not an intentional philosophical treatise or an essay. We’re seeing a man’s private thoughts. “If the Gods care not for me and my children, there is a reason for this.” This is a level of self blame that’s common in depressed people - the thinking that every bad things that happens to you is your own fault. That it’s your actions that cause harm to the people close to you, under all circumstances. Marcus extends that to the Gods - and thus, to natural causes. “Consider the past; such great changes of political supremacy. You may foresee the things which will be. For they will certainly be of like form, and it is not possible that they shall deviate from the now: accordingly, to have contemplated human life for fourty years is the same as have contemplated it for a thousand. For what more will you see?” This one hits me personally. That idea of “I’ve been here for too long, I won’t see anything new and nothing can ever change, so why do anything, it’s all going to be the same in the end” certainly reads to me as how depression can get when you’ve been living with it for a while. It’s that constant feeling of static grey it gives everything. This in particular, this ‘I don’t hate life, I’m just tired of it and done with living’ kind of thinking is the kind of depression where even when you can acknowledge good days, you still have that suicidal ideation - you still have the justification. “It’s not fit that I should give myself pain, as I have never intentionally given pain to another.” This one’s multilayered. The first to note is that he still thinks he causes people pain, even if he doesn’t mean to. Presumably since he was a soldier who killed people, this meant people close to him. That, again, is a common sentiment with depression - that you make people’s lives worse just by being around. Whether you want to or not. The second is that it’s not about ‘treat yourself as you treat others’. It’s explicitly about inflicting pain. Marcus here is, explicitly, talking himself out of hurting himself with the justification that he wouldn’t do it to someone else. While self-harm isn’t a total indicator of suicidal ideation, I think it’s pretty clear from reading this that Marcus really wasn’t in a good place. I remember hearing in college that Marcus slept in a hammock like his soldiers and ate the same food they did, even when not on campaign. Now college for me was nearly a decade ago and that might not be true to begin with, but if it is, if that element of his ‘stoic philosophy’ is true? I wonder if the truth might be closer to Marcus sleeping in a foxhole in his back garden - a lot of soldiers today report that they never feel comfortable back home again. I can’t imagine ancient soldiers were much different; if Marcus was suffering from some kind of PTSD, that would’ve compounded on his depression and contributed to his suicide. I’m not saying ‘hey Marcus definitely had depression and killed himself’ - just positing a theory. I think it holds water, at least. Ultimately we’ll probably never know.

@Tzimiskes3506 2 жыл бұрын

That's a really good analysis. From what I've read from his writings. It did seem like he suffered from depression which is why he wrote with such personal depth. At the end of the day, Marcus was human just like the rest of us. Being an emperor doesn't make you immune to Human weakness.

@MiguelDS5547 2 жыл бұрын

It's pretty obvious that Marcus suffered from depression and unhappiness. Many people get into stoicism as a coping mechanism, Epitectus being another good example. But I doubt Marcus would kill himself.

@Tzimiskes3506 2 жыл бұрын

@@MiguelDS5547 i mean would it be too far fetched to think so?

@MiguelDS5547 2 жыл бұрын

@@Tzimiskes3506 no, it wouldn't be far fetched but my guts say he wouldn't do it.

@CyanideP1ll 2 жыл бұрын

interesting theory, never would of thought of it

@EasternRomanHistory 2 жыл бұрын

Isaac II and Michael IX were apparently both quite ill at the time. The stress and having already spent 8 years in prison, blinded and the death of his son overcame him. Michael IX similarly was grieving for the death of his daughter and then found out his son, Andronikos had killed his other son Manuel, again, allowing his illness to get the better of him.

@RomabooRamblings 2 жыл бұрын

Do you think it's justified to assume those were heart attacks? I was basing it on the fact that this is the most probable cause of death in case of high stress/loss of a relative.

@EasternRomanHistory 2 жыл бұрын

@@RomabooRamblingsI don't think so. I must correct myself, since Isaac II died before his son. He just seems to have been extremely ill. Charles Brand wrote that he died of natural causes and the primary source, Niketas Choniates is rather cryptic, saying: 'When Emperor Alexios heard of these events (for Isaakios lay breathing his last, the extensive predictions of sole rule having proved false, dissolving like the dream of feverish sleep),' His illness probably has to do with his previous poor treatment by his brother. Similarly, Michael IX does not appear to have had a heart attack, just been very ill.

@irishpatriotv2575 2 жыл бұрын

The Roman emperors were deified, so technically they haven't died they just got lost in the sauce of Godhood

@POISONSNIPERGAMES 2 жыл бұрын

"Lost in the sauce of godhood" this my favorite comment of all time, thank you sir

@RestitutorEuropa 2 жыл бұрын

I don’t think all Roman emperors were deified, but I could be wrong.

@huntclanhunt9697 Жыл бұрын

The deifications were renounced once the Empire became Christian.

@irishpatriotv2575 Жыл бұрын

@@huntclanhunt9697 it wouldn't be holy heaven if it didn't have sauce Ni🅱🅱a

@histguy101 Жыл бұрын

@@huntclanhunt9697 Deification was ended only with Justin I. All the Christian emperors before him were deified.

@EasternRomanHistory 2 жыл бұрын

In her article on Alexander, Karlin-Hayter believed that he died of cancer. Angelov's biography of Theodore II also seems to point to some kind of cancer related death as well.

@cactusmann5542 Жыл бұрын

Cause of death for roman emperors, prominent leaders and etc: -Praetorian guard :40% -Close associate:20% -Family member:15% -Disease:10%

@MegaTang1234 2 жыл бұрын

How does being a roman emperor compare to other types of monarchies in terms of fatality? I imagine the only monarchical titles more dangerous than "Roman emperor" were being a Macedonian (or hellenistic) monarch .

@RomabooRamblings 2 жыл бұрын

That's an interesting question. One thing I can tell for certain is that dying of exhaustion from playing sports isn't a uniquely Byzantine thing: I remember reading about a couple of french kings who died from playing tennis

@Freedmoon44 Жыл бұрын

@@RomabooRamblings tbf the cause of french kings could go from regular old natural death to "oh so this one king wanted to woo a peasant girl while riding his horse, and was so focused on flirting that he couldnt see the big sign that his horse was walking under but just so happen to be at the perfect size to strike the king's head, truly a tragedy". Also its technically not tennis its the old version of tennis, far less fun too the "jeu de paume" or smt like that

@ghirahimlefabuleux8984 9 ай бұрын

From the top of my head and using the two monarchies I know best aside from the roman emperors (the french and english ones) the amount of roman emperors who were murdered seems to be way higher than those two. It probably has to do with the fact that the roman succession was basically a free for all. So murdering the emperor and then declaring yourself emperor with the backing of the army or the senate was totally legit. If a french general tried to pull that off, he would get curbstomped by the other nobles and whoever was next in line would take the place of the dead king. The lack of a defined succession law is pretty much what caused the insane amount of roman emperor murders. Of course I don't include deaths by accidents (real ones) or diseases at a young age in this because every monarchy has a good amount of stupid deaths that had nothing to do with would be assassins

@RomabooRamblings 2 жыл бұрын

Who do you think had the most tragic death? Who had the most well deserved?

@Sharp931 2 жыл бұрын

Vitellius. He tried to escape, while being mortally obese.

@legateelizabeth 2 жыл бұрын

I know it’s the basic answer, but it really is Aurelian. Some scribe fears discipline for making a mistake or a little lie, and forges his signature on a death list. A bunch of officers who’ve fought alongside Aurelian and seen him be declared Restitutor Orbis, save the Roman Empire, read this - and assume he’s betrayed them. Maybe they think they made a mistake, maybe they think he’s gone mad with power or generally, maybe they don’t even know why. And so Rome’s greatest hero dies a death that it would seem nobody really wanted. He was loved by the army, the people, even the senate. I sometimes wonder what they all felt in the aftermath - regret that fear had gripped them so? Horror at what they’d done? Did they justify it to themselves, did any of them think of taking exile and it was a kind of group action nobody was really into? No grand assassination, no usurper or machinations in the palace, no interpersonal connections. Just a lot of people, scared, and a mounting domino of mistakes and poor judgement; all of which might have made sense at the time, and were never meant to lead to this. Special mention to Germanicus though - he never became Emperor, but he was on track to be one of Rome’s heroes. It’s like the Fates cut his thread short.

@Tzimiskes3506 2 жыл бұрын

@@legateelizabeth i think it would be Constantine XI. Went out like a true Emperor. If only he had been born during the earlier times he would've restored it.

@MiguelDS5547 2 жыл бұрын

Imo Most tragic gotta be Majorian. Even more tragic for the Empire. The death of the last good Emperor of the West. Most deserved death must be that of Caracalla.

@theeternalanglo5629 2 жыл бұрын

Probably Nicephorus Phocas. He was definitely more of a general than a good politician but having the indignity of your head being cut off and waved around (by the very dude who will replace you) in order to pacify the Varangian Guard. Not at all deserved for someone who bought so much victory to the empire.

@JuliusCheemsar 2 жыл бұрын

Carus who got smited by lightning: ☠️

@laughsatchungus1461 2 жыл бұрын

This was utterly fascinating. You might be my favorite youtuber at this point because these kind of simple analysis’ are incredibly well made.

@nicholasbarber3644 2 жыл бұрын

diadumenian had the worst death he was beheaded when he was only 9 years old

@amirkhonyusupov7718 2 жыл бұрын

I’m interested at Alexander’s because it helps me question how conditioned he was. Alexander by all accounts enjoyed sports just like Basil and especially enjoyed playing polo. So I question whether or not he had terrible cardio or he just had to hard carry his team. Polo typically burns 500 calories per hour and a regular game of polo lasts no more than 2 hours. This is the same amount of calories burnt per hour for sports such as swimming and football, but much less than sports such as mma. I personally train all 3 and have never felt close to dying from exhaustion ever and I am a 14 year old. Polo has 7 breaks that each last 3 minutes as well as a 15 minute half time. This is similar to mma and football so it somewhat inclines me to believe that Alexander wasn’t the most conditioned though I can’t confirm because I’ve never done polo.

@RomabooRamblings 2 жыл бұрын

He may have had a pre-existing heart condition

@amirkhonyusupov7718 2 жыл бұрын

@@RomabooRamblings oh, thanks for clearing this up.

@TheDAWinz 2 жыл бұрын

I like the version where his team was so bad he had to carry so hard he died.

@bruhmcchaddeus413 Жыл бұрын

..u calling him fat?

@dahlizz99 Жыл бұрын

It's great when the history books mention your name they say "he shat himself before he died". What a honorable way to be immortalized.

@QalOrt 2 жыл бұрын

I'd love to see one on the Persian Shahs of the Parthian-Ascrid and Sassanian Dynasties

@diranbodossian6061 Жыл бұрын

"You really believe someone would just fall from his horse like that? No, he orchestrated it! Jimmy!" I liked the analysis of life expectancy using engineering principles a lot, I'm all about interdisciplinary solutions!

@unclesam5230 2 жыл бұрын

The quality just keeps skyrocketing, well done my friend.

@GillianSeed 2 жыл бұрын

Maybe Cicero had a point about the Sword of Damocles

@evidentmc7217 2 жыл бұрын

*Michael III was murdered by his closest confidant* was just Basil I, running his fade. They didn’t call this Michael, “The Drunkard” for nothing…

@sulyvahn5017 2 жыл бұрын

your videos are too great my Man keep it up , looking forward to more Nikephoros phocas

@jefferyb2253 Жыл бұрын

This was excellent! Thank you for posting it!

@DIEGhostfish 10 ай бұрын

I have it under good authority that Romulus Augustulus was killed while fighting The Hulk, but he got better.

@Epsilonsama Жыл бұрын

Sometimes by old age, others by some weird plague and many times by sword going stab or swoosh. Also poison.

@Mark_nobody3 7 ай бұрын

We sing your last song and now Die Emperor! 14:42

@Lord_Merterus 4 ай бұрын

Not an emperor, but apparently Crassus had molten gold poured down his throat

@TheDAWinz 2 жыл бұрын

Dont forget one who died going to Brazil

@RomabooRamblings 2 жыл бұрын

Fs in the chat

@thumper8684 2 жыл бұрын

Would you report that an emperor was struck by lightning if you didn't also mean to say the gods were against them?

@RomabooRamblings 2 жыл бұрын

Well, yeah, Jupiter didn't like him strayong too far east, it,s all in the ad :D

@leobezard5998 Жыл бұрын

you forgot about Marcus Aurelius, he probably did of the Antonine plague as well

@dialaskisel5929 9 ай бұрын

I've heard of a "clean kill" before, but I didn't know that meant being beaten to death with a soapdish..

@sarasamaletdin4574 2 ай бұрын

Personally I doubt if Jovian did really did accidentally. The sources mentioned rumors of poison. The room story could just be an excuse to get rid of the band and emperor who needed to be selected in the middle of the desert (who was just a former leader of bodyguard) and agreed to a humiliating treaty (not his fault, Julian had left them in a terrible spot).

@levongevorgyan6789 2 жыл бұрын

I’d argue getting hit by lightning is pretty natural

@RomabooRamblings 2 жыл бұрын

yeah, I was thinking about riffing on that :3

@TheLordRichard 2 жыл бұрын

Shouldn’t Tiberius be in the murdered category? Sure, he most likely was dying but being suffocated in order hasten up his demise surely should be defined as murder.

@RomabooRamblings 2 жыл бұрын

For some reason I'm not putting much credence in "Macro suffocating Tiberius" story. Maybe I'm overcompensating for the fact that it is used in Graves' books where literally no one dies of a natural cause. But still, it's comes Cassius Dio (who likes drama) who took it from Suetonius (same) who based it on a rumor. Then again, I maybe wrong.

@TheLordRichard 2 жыл бұрын

@@RomabooRamblings That was a Great answer. Thank you!

@omegasimpf1nn5terfan60 2 жыл бұрын

thanks for the vidsssss :)))

@greendeane1 Жыл бұрын

Caracalla was killed while urinating on the side of the road by an underling.

@arte0021 2 жыл бұрын

Didnt the romans deify their emperors? I wonder how they reacted to living gods getting killed all the time?

@Mark_nobody3 7 ай бұрын

Oh! That is why the Roman spear was lethal 7:47

@romanempire4495 2 жыл бұрын

Unrelated but is there a good book that goes over the reign of Nikephoros II Phokas?

@Aviralol 2 жыл бұрын

They all died of death.

@alexandrosaiakides4539 11 ай бұрын

The relentless fast narration is confusing on this technical voice. Bring down some decimals.

@RaidenTheRipper950 2 жыл бұрын

Constans II death date is wrong

@RomabooRamblings 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for pointing out

@jz12390 2 жыл бұрын

If was around back then and was offered the Roman emperor crown, I would politely turn it down..

@meduseld6610 2 жыл бұрын

Yeah yeah we've heard that before, Caesar

@bruhmcchaddeus413 Жыл бұрын

Lol nice try, Caesar

@Eazy-ERyder Жыл бұрын

1:13 is ALL you need to know. Literally.

@ConnorLockhartYGO Жыл бұрын

1:11 Look ma! I made it!

@RomabooRamblings Жыл бұрын

Thank you

@ConnorLockhartYGO Жыл бұрын

@@RomabooRamblings No problem.

@ragnaroni 2 жыл бұрын

But who died from the ancient jewish curse??

@RomabooRamblings 2 жыл бұрын

Titus, allegedly

@joshuaforrest16 9 ай бұрын

What's the movie/tv show at 4:20?

@ostrichhe4d 2 жыл бұрын

A N G E R

@livingbehind661 2 жыл бұрын

k done for the day. enjoy

@smogzone2719 2 жыл бұрын

What was the show at 4:17?

@RomabooRamblings 2 жыл бұрын

it's called "Barbarians Rising"

@dariusghodsi2570 2 жыл бұрын

Why would you say its unlikely for Gordian iii to have died in battle? Its almost certain that he fell off his work and fatally broke his leg and died on the way back. We even have a Persian source corroborating this. With Valerian, we should really throw out biased christian slander and understand that a Roman town was made with a central palace and many great Roman works were done within Eran Shahr and these captured soldiers workers were treated fairly and eventually freed men for cooperating so well as a construction unit. . Valerian must have been alive for this. Why list Diocletian as a mystery? He was a sickly old man, hardly a difference nor surprise. The mystery of Carus is a better one to ask. .