Same

Roman and Greek History, Etc. (My Library) If you're into “Roman” stuff Michael Curtis Ford's “Gods and Legions is the book to read. If you're into history I suggest you get Ammianus Marcellinus' History. The ass kicker here is that Marcellinus actually went to battle with Emperor Julian. The Loeb Classic is almost an adventure novel all by itself. As far as Gladiators, a couple of “definitive” books are The Way of the Gladiator by Daniel P. Mannix and Spartacus by Howard Fast. Here are books from my library. Ass kickers every one. Ammianus Marcellinus History Loeb Classical Library The Battle for Gaul by Julius Caesar Illustrated edition by Anne & Peter Wiseman. Caesar: The Civil War by Jane F. Gardner Suetonius: The Twelve Caesars by Robert Graves The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon The Way of the Gladiator by Daniel P. Mannix Spartacus by Howard Fast Julian by Gore Vidal Gods and Legions by Michael Curtis Ford The Ten Thousand by Michael Curtis Ford The Sword of Attila by Michael Curtis Ford The Fall of Rome by Michael Curtis Ford The Last King by Michael Curtis Ford Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield Tides of War by Steven Pressfield The Virtues of War by Steven Pressfield Last of the Amazons by Steven Pressfield Thucydides: History of the Peloponesian War. Alexander the Great by Paul Cartledge The Spartans by Paul Cartledge Eagle in the Snow by Wallace Breem The Eagle and the Raven by Pauline Gedge The Last Legionary: Life as a Roman Soldier in Britain AD 400 by Paul Elliott Gladiator: The Roman Fighter's (Unofficial) Manual by Philip Matyzak Legionary: the Roman Soldier's Manual by Philip Matyszak On Roman Military Matters (De Re Militari) by Flavius Vegetius Renatus Marius had long ago showed us that the legionary has a weapon that is the bane of the civilized world, one more formidable than the dual-edged Roman short sword, more effective than the bronze-headed javelin, of greater defensive strength than the concave bronze-sheathed shields. It is a weapon in which the legionary is trained from his first day of induction and which he uses daily, in peacetime or in war, on the march or hunkered in camp under siege from flaming missiles. And upon their arrival at The miscyra, every able-bodied Roman immediately whipped out this most fearsome of all weapons: The Legionary's shovel. Before even breaking to rest or scouting for supplies, the Roman troops had unpacked their shovels and commenced digging, and the dirt flew, and the dust rose. In the space of an afternoon, a Roman camp for thirty thousand men had been constructed just beyond range of our catapults. Before dark it had been ringed on all sides with a trench twelve feet deep and three feet across, the dirt thrown up into an embankment ten feet high inside the ring. Topped with a thick palisade of sharpened stakes. Inside, four sturdy walls were constructed of felled trees, guarded by squat log towers twenty feet high, stationed every fifty feet and surmounted by bolt-hurling field catapults. Inside, a space of a full two hundred feet was left between the walls and the tent line, a distance calculated to prevent our missiles and burning arrows from reaching the tents. This space was occupied by prisoners, cattle, plunder and supplies. Within a few hours, the Romans had constructed a stronghold that would be the envy of a lifetime's work of many civilizations poorer then theirs. A fortress impregnable. Yet this was not a permanent stronghold they had built. This was the Roman's usual daily campsite, Every day of a legionary's working life he would dig such a trench, construct such an embankment, hew trees, and build such palisade. All to be torched at sunrise, when the legions marched off to their next encampment. Javelins, when thrown, may miss their mark entirely. Shields may cave upon impact with a Scythian battle-ax; and a sword, though reliable at close quarters, still dulled, broke upon ribs. Or shivered if struck upon armor. But the shovel...the shovel was the legionary's best friend, his most faithful protector, the one weapon that allowed him to sleep soundly at night, behind his magnificent trenches and embankments. The shovel could stop a cavalry charge cold, stymie hordes of barbarians. Rome conquered not with its brutal leaders, not with the strength of its soldiers, not with the ingeniousness of its weapons...but with the most rustic, pigheaded, inglorious, gods-bedamned tool of them all...the shovel. Michael Curtis Ford “The Last King”

​@@larrysingleton2864wow. Admire your passion and effort put into this post. Still not sure about logistical reality of building fortified camp every afternoon to specs described above. Surely some of it must have been roman propaganda

@@Prosper661Good point. It reminds me of the "bias" that might be said of people like Josephus or Caesar in his book The Battle for Gaul. (And weren't a lot of these writings by Caesar and others political speeches?) But the Romans did build those forts, as can be seen in archaeology, and there's a good argument that the Roman soldier's primary weapon was one of "prevention"; The Legionary's shovel. Also I seem to remember in the book The Battle for Gaul(?) Caesar's emphasis on keeping the soldiers busy. Thanks for the response. Surprised you got through the censors. I get almost ZERO replies in comparison to the dozens and dozens of comments I submit.

Read the sources & you will realize that pugio is mentioned probably more then any other weapon. Cuspis are likely the only thing mentioned more then the pugio/dagger as cuspis means both javelins & spears like verutum, pilum or soliferrum etcetera. Scorpio's among all siege weaponry is mentioned extensively by the romans which no wonder when they are the equivalent role of the chain gun in ancient history as a ranged field weapon for surpassing consistent volley's. In a castra or high ground was hands down the best weapon that the romans possessed for it did not win the battle instantly but in a drawn out conflict decided the winner more often then not. If I could only have 1 ranged weapon in an armies composition in the ancient era it would be a Scorpio like how in industrial warfare onward it would be a chain gun. A Scorpio in it's time fulfilled 3 of the 4 roles in support fire. suppression, or attacking infantry & damaging structures like facilities/fortifications. Only thing a sorpio is no good for is (direct engagement) but you had melee infantry & other soldiers for that purpose in the past. Funnily a chain gun fulfils 3 out of 4 role but differs as great at 'direct engagement' but pretty bad at damaging structures like forts-bunkers etcetera. Mind you have field artillery guns for damaging structures as well as being the most harmful at attacking infantry though suppression or direct engagement it is useless if not on mass but that is really overwhelming fire rather then suppression or direct engagement. Auto cannons are the only ranged system that can fulfil all 4 forms of supportive fire but of course still have limitations in some regards like weight & overheating let alone the cost of feeding them munitions as it is pricey. The Romans were very ahead of their time in many regards as they basically all carried a combat knife with a supportive fire system while all wore helmets at the very least. Till Industrial war became a thing Rome really was at the forefront in so very much.

What a great example indeed, it indeed demonstrates perfectly how even a relatively short thing like a sword can be too unwieldy in (super) close combat. Very interesting! Thanks for sharing :)

English archers in the middle ages used knives, to kill downed horsemen, who could not rise from the ground when in heavy armour.

@@EllieMaes-Grandad The idea of downed horsemen not being able to get back up is greatly exaggerated, unless they're exhausted, suffering from heat exhaustion or already wounded.

@@skaldlouiscyphre2453 yes you can do back flips with knight armor

You also need a weapon, in case you've fallen to the ground.

Agreed!

Agreed.

As someone who knows this field well… I agree!

Yep, beyond this point is dininishing returns. The production will become longer to make and more expensive while the added details won't be notuced by the majority of viewers.

Thank you, these kind of comments motivate us to continue our work.

maybe not too deeply senators like it probably too. ouch...

Much appreciated Andy, the best is still to come:)

Very good!

@@renatoricci2010 best

😂 What self serving shite

Hello Random observer, we are glad you learned from our video, thanks for sharing your experience.

Sounds like the shorter swords or long knives that were shorter than other greeks' swords adopted by the Spartans for very closely packed presses between formations. In that context moving away from the gladius to a longer sword could be seen as moving from a sword that was a compromise in both close and more open formations to a longer sword for more open fighting and a long dagger for closely packed fighting.

Thanks Carde!

Let them roll. Rome, despite being brutal like any other society of the time, brought at least some peace and lots of trade connections to southern and western Germany, so this is a perfect way to show our gratitude. ;D

To be fair didn't a lot of Germanic tribes in the what is now current-day Netherlands wear Roman armour too? Like the Batavians?

There is no doubt the Bowie knife would make a terrible wound. But, I believe it was really just for intimidation to have such a fat knife. A knife the size of a contemporary bayonet is all you need.

@@eddarby469 well ..a danger is a 22 win mag....a fat Bowie is a 357mag, the way i see it😁👍

Thank you Milush, we are glad you like it:)

Keeping it a secret won't help us much though haha ;)

@@ImperiumRomanumYT Agreed we must share.

Cheers Ryan!

Great to see you again Caspar:)

Roman and Greek History, Etc. (My Library) If you're into “Roman” stuff Michael Curtis Ford's “Gods and Legions is the book to read. If you're into history I suggest you get Ammianus Marcellinus' History. The ass kicker here is that Marcellinus actually went to battle with Emperor Julian. The Loeb Classic is almost an adventure novel all by itself. As far as Gladiators, a couple of “definitive” books are The Way of the Gladiator by Daniel P. Mannix and Spartacus by Howard Fast. Here are books from my library. Ass kickers every one. Ammianus Marcellinus History Loeb Classical Library The Battle for Gaul by Julius Caesar Illustrated edition by Anne & Peter Wiseman. Caesar: The Civil War by Jane F. Gardner Suetonius: The Twelve Caesars by Robert Graves The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon The Way of the Gladiator by Daniel P. Mannix Spartacus by Howard Fast Julian by Gore Vidal Gods and Legions by Michael Curtis Ford The Ten Thousand by Michael Curtis Ford The Sword of Attila by Michael Curtis Ford The Fall of Rome by Michael Curtis Ford The Last King by Michael Curtis Ford Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield Tides of War by Steven Pressfield The Virtues of War by Steven Pressfield Last of the Amazons by Steven Pressfield Thucydides: History of the Peloponesian War. Alexander the Great by Paul Cartledge The Spartans by Paul Cartledge Eagle in the Snow by Wallace Breem The Eagle and the Raven by Pauline Gedge The Last Legionary: Life as a Roman Soldier in Britain AD 400 by Paul Elliott Gladiator: The Roman Fighter's (Unofficial) Manual by Philip Matyzak Legionary: the Roman Soldier's Manual by Philip Matyszak On Roman Military Matters (De Re Militari) by Flavius Vegetius Renatus Marius had long ago showed us that the legionary has a weapon that is the bane of the civilized world, one more formidable than the dual-edged Roman short sword, more effective than the bronze-headed javelin, of greater defensive strength than the concave bronze-sheathed shields. It is a weapon in which the legionary is trained from his first day of induction and which he uses daily, in peacetime or in war, on the march or hunkered in camp under siege from flaming missiles. And upon their arrival at The miscyra, every able-bodied Roman immediately whipped out this most fearsome of all weapons: The Legionary's shovel. Before even breaking to rest or scouting for supplies, the Roman troops had unpacked their shovels and commenced digging, and the dirt flew, and the dust rose. In the space of an afternoon, a Roman camp for thirty thousand men had been constructed just beyond range of our catapults. Before dark it had been ringed on all sides with a trench twelve feet deep and three feet across, the dirt thrown up into an embankment ten feet high inside the ring. Topped with a thick palisade of sharpened stakes. Inside, four sturdy walls were constructed of felled trees, guarded by squat log towers twenty feet high, stationed every fifty feet and surmounted by bolt-hurling field catapults. Inside, a space of a full two hundred feet was left between the walls and the tent line, a distance calculated to prevent our missiles and burning arrows from reaching the tents. This space was occupied by prisoners, cattle, plunder and supplies. Within a few hours, the Romans had constructed a stronghold that would be the envy of a lifetime's work of many civilizations poorer then theirs. A fortress impregnable. Yet this was not a permanent stronghold they had built. This was the Roman's usual daily campsite, Every day of a legionary's working life he would dig such a trench, construct such an embankment, hew trees, and build such palisade. All to be torched at sunrise, when the legions marched off to their next encampment. Javelins, when thrown, may miss their mark entirely. Shields may cave upon impact with a Scythian battle-ax; and a sword, though reliable at close quarters, still dulled, broke upon ribs. Or shivered if struck upon armor. But the shovel...the shovel was the legionary's best friend, his most faithful protector, the one weapon that allowed him to sleep soundly at night, behind his magnificent trenches and embankments. The shovel could stop a cavalry charge cold, stymie hordes of barbarians. Rome conquered not with its brutal leaders, not with the strength of its soldiers, not with the ingeniousness of its weapons...but with the most rustic, pigheaded, inglorious, gods-bedamned tool of them all...the shovel. Michael Curtis Ford “The Last King”

Thanks!

Great to see you again Jeremy! It was indeed highly practical in very close combat, like the situation on the ramparts. It was a secondary weapon, but a very effective one.

Cheers Yannick!

I suppose many citizens would have used household knives or hefty sticks for cost reasons. Or maybe it was simply unfashionable to carry a military knife -- considered pretentious, disrespectful, etc.

Thanks Jesse, we really hope to hit the 100K again, lets see how far we get!

@@ImperiumRomanumYT hear, hear

Thanks Linda!

Thanks a lot Marco!

And thanks again René. Since I'm quite the perfectionist I often can't help myself and go all out on my research and even though I try to present it as clearly and simple as possible, there's still a LOT of info being condensed into a single video. So it's good to hear it adds some replay-value haha

Glad to have you here Micheal!

Thank you!