Were Romans SHORT?

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Were Romans SHORT?

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Күн бұрын

How Tall were the Roman soldiers? (IMPORTANT CHECK THE DESCRIPTION) :)
Hey Noble ones! I sometimes get confused with feet because we don't use them here so here I'll right the exact numbers I mention in the video and you can double check the conversion in ft.
Cavalry - 172cm or more
infantry - 168cm or more
Legio Prima Italia - 177cm or 178cm or more (I should have mentioned 6 Roman feet, not 6 modern feet)
Thanks and sorry for any confusion!
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Ancient Rome was originally an Italic settlement dating from the 8th century BC that grew into the city of Rome and which subsequently gave its name to the empire over which it ruled and to the widespread civilisation the empire developed. The Roman empire expanded to become one of the largest empires in the ancient world, though still ruled from the city, with an estimated 50 to 90 million inhabitants and covering 5.0 million square kilometres at its height in AD 117.
Ancient Roman civilisation has contributed to modern government, law, politics, engineering, art, literature, architecture, technology, warfare, religion, language and society. Rome professionalised and expanded its military and created a system of government called res publica, the inspiration for modern republics such as the United States and France. It achieved impressive technological and architectural feats, such as the construction of an extensive system of aqueducts and roads, as well as the construction of large monuments, palaces, and public facilities.
By the end of the Republic (27 BC), Rome had conquered the lands around the Mediterranean and beyond: its domain extended from the Atlantic to Arabia and from the mouth of the Rhine to North Africa. The Roman Empire emerged with the end of the Republic and the dictatorship of Augustus Caesar. 721 years of Roman-Persian Wars started in 92 BC with their first war against Parthia. It would become the longest conflict in human history, and have major lasting effects and consequences for both empires. Under Trajan, the Empire reached its territorial peak. Republican mores and traditions started to decline during the imperial period, with civil wars becoming a prelude common to the rise of a new emperor.
#Metatron #Romans #Height

Пікірлер: 2 900

@michaeltnk1135 4 жыл бұрын

Me: It’s getting late I should probably go to bed “Were Romans short?” Me: I don’t need sleep I need answers

@metatronyt 4 жыл бұрын

Ahah this made me laugh considerably

@michaellejeune7715 4 жыл бұрын

How many Ronans do you know?

@hefipaleburp9543 4 жыл бұрын

Ronans? You need some sleep.

@scrapthatwithmatt9520 4 жыл бұрын

MinifigureXtreme Damn right you do

@michaellejeune7715 4 жыл бұрын

Yeah, make me look like an arse and edit Ronan to Roman. Twat. Have a good day though.

@tttc 4 жыл бұрын

2019: Were Roman soldiers short? 4019: Were American soldiers fat?

@muhammedbinhussain510 4 жыл бұрын

YES

@_JayRamsey_ 4 жыл бұрын

Metatron 4019: "While the average American was likely quite a bit heavier than you or I, they had no trouble finding and creating fit Americans for their armies."

@77thNYSV 4 жыл бұрын

What does it say about the rest of the world if you guys are getting dominated by our "fat" American soldiers?

@kev3158 4 жыл бұрын

@@77thNYSV I would say that probably we will run out of food soon so your soldiers can be fatter than how they're now

@muhammedbinhussain510 4 жыл бұрын

@@77thNYSV America had their ass handed to them every time after ww2 Korea Vietnam Afghanistan

@alfredthegreatkingofwessex6838 4 жыл бұрын

Her: _He’s probably thinking about other girls_ Him:

@oliversmith9200 3 жыл бұрын

Him: Why did I have to grow up so short?

@MrFredstt 3 жыл бұрын

@@oliversmith9200 Don't call me out like that

@giovanniarnone7460 2 жыл бұрын

@@oliversmith9200 Because in reality you are a true Roman

@salazarway 3 жыл бұрын

Latin Proverb: The heart is the strongest muscle.

@tafazzi-on-discord 3 жыл бұрын

they believed the heart contained memories, that's why

@salazarway 3 жыл бұрын

@@tafazzi-on-discord Hm, as Portuguese, I tought this would mean "courage and willpower, overpower body muscles". And we trully believe on it. As if this was a lifestyle.

@tafazzi-on-discord 3 жыл бұрын

@@salazarway I see where you're coming from: that connotation of "heart" was largely influenced by hellenic and medieval poets, which solidified that identity "heart = courage/passion" in all European literature (I'm italian and that's true even for us), however romans had specific notions or superstitions that got lost in imperial literature because of greek influences, but influenced proverbs even to this day (at least in southern italy)

@salazarway 3 жыл бұрын

@@tafazzi-on-discord Thank you for this, honestly. For sure the times where diferent and things where influenced by other cultures and religions. Still, we having this pieces of the past, shows how powerfull (and I dont mean just military) Roman Empire was. I am proud of my ancestors. I am 1.77m and I dont feel small in any cell of my body. Ahah

@exiledrabbit 3 жыл бұрын

- Braum the Lionheart

@jamessalvatore7054 4 жыл бұрын

"Thousands of italian midgets poking the barbarians around" :D

@kevinhernandezretana2170 4 жыл бұрын

Bunch of Mario bros running around lol

@rupturedduck6981 4 жыл бұрын

When he said that I got a picture of the munchkins from the wizard of oz attacking a basketball team HAHAHAHAH HAHAHAHAH HAHAHAHAH HAHAHAHAH !!!!

@richard6133 4 жыл бұрын

Danny DeVito vs. Larry Bird...

@rupturedduck6981 4 жыл бұрын

@@richard6133 I once met Danny DeVito. He's to tall in this comparison.

@MetalHeadViking 4 жыл бұрын

@@kevinhernandezretana2170 I would like to play a Roman based version of Mario Bros.

@metatronyt 4 жыл бұрын

IMPORTANT! Hey Noble ones! I sometimes get confused with feet because we don't use them here so here I'll right the exact numbers I mention in the video and you can double check the conversion in ft. Cavalry - 172cm or more infantry - 168cm or more Legio Prima Italia - 177cm or 178cm or more (I should have mentioned 6 Roman feet, not 6 modern feet) Thanks and sorry for any confusion!

@filipegolineli9909 4 жыл бұрын

americans and their bad metrics...

@briankearney5994 4 жыл бұрын

Metatron rounding to the inch, that is 5’7”, 5’6”, 5’10” respectively. current US army regulation suggests heights of 5’ to 6’8” (4’10” for women) and an appropriate Body Mass Index (ie not too much weight). Even in the modern day, we have a lot of variation!

@joku02 4 жыл бұрын

Well that means I couldve been a cavalry man, im 173 cm. Damn I have born in the wrong century. Anyone fancy inventing that time machine yet? No? Muppets....

@rokzakrajsek9864 4 жыл бұрын

TheSimpleGamer I’m 175 but I honestly wonder that even with the best nutrition would I maybe be even shorter :D

@briankearney5994 4 жыл бұрын

Filipe Golineli snow skis are measured in cm like this in the states, I was surprised that I could instantly understand these numbers. The only other time I used cm that much was in astronomy. Then I converted to the heretical MKS system for grad school.

@tanuxu 4 жыл бұрын

I'm Italian from Sicily, I'm 5,5 and my wife was 5,0. My son is 6,0: better nutrition.

@tanuxu 3 жыл бұрын

@@reddragon6103 Well, I'm average for my generation in south Italy.

@11bsavage64 3 жыл бұрын

@@tanuxu If you study history you would know that Native Italians and not the Germanic groups who came in after Rome's collapse are short due to malnutrition. Southern Europeans are short because they got into agriculture, unlike Northern Europeans who were still hunter-gathers. If you were an early Southern European your diet heavily consisted of limited nutrients and mainly wheat products. This poor diet that was the norm is what resulted in southern Europeans becoming short. Your Roman from the Italian Penisula average height according to data collected from archeological excavation and studying of skeletal remains shows that average height for Roman legionnaires was 5,4 to 5,6. So early Italians is diet resulted in creating height loss. ALL humans are supposed to be tall, short humans is a result of environment and poor diet.

@11bsavage64 3 жыл бұрын

@Paulo Ramos Iron Age LMAOOO you do know humans have been around for 200,000 years right? You obviously lack critical thinking skills because height loss is not a result of a couple of hundred years but thousands LMAOOOO Read about the agricultural revolution and its consequences LMAOOOOO

@gioq4702 3 жыл бұрын

o magari corna

@tanuxu 3 жыл бұрын

@@gioq4702 Non credo, dovrebbe essere figlio di un mio sosia, perché sembra una mia fotocopia ingrandita: farebbe impressione se non avesse il naso simile a quello di mia moglie.

@RDaMyth 3 жыл бұрын

As I understand it US Civil War cavalry men were 5'5'' to 5'7" as weight of the rider was critical.

@cfcalle 3 жыл бұрын

I would imagine that's because speed was more important during the civil war. They didn't need the same blunt force romans needed to fight their battles.

@RDaMyth 3 жыл бұрын

@@cfcalle Good point. Makes a lot of sense.

@EroticOnion23 3 жыл бұрын

Cavalry was mostly for scouting by that time, a heavy ass dude would tire the horse much quicker. Skirmishers during the line infantry era were also short.

@randomcamus9445 9 ай бұрын

The Romans were not tall, they were dark-haired, they were not white, they had brown eyes, but because they had slaves and barbarian servants, that's why you see white Italians with blonde hair today. and colored eyes. ... .

@Hickokboy 4 жыл бұрын

We all know Romans were Dwarfs, that is why they were great builders and had big siege engines, if you watched LOTR you know dwarfs are like that.

@anthonyoer4778 4 жыл бұрын

LOTR you say? ... And Roman women? The same?

@felixborges7440 4 жыл бұрын

Yep. Bearded ladies

@anthonyoer4778 4 жыл бұрын

@@felixborges7440 It's true you don't see many dwarf women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they are often mistaken for dwarf men. And this in turn has given rise to the belief that there are no dwarf women, and that dwarves just spring out of holes in the ground!

@PobortzaPl 4 жыл бұрын

Well, you might be to closer to truth than you think: Dwarfs in fantasy come from dwarf in Nibelung stories. They live somewhere along River Rhine or in the mountains behind that river, looking from Germanic tribes perspective. They're great craftsmen, especially master smiths, and they're not to be trusted cause they're good with word twisting. Now just think who lived behind Rhine, when looking from Germanic perspective, around the time Nibelung legends are set? Yup, Romans. Guys who were selling their iron tools and weapon to Germans and were quite shrewd when payments for those tools and weapons was of concern. They had also really liked all the "shines" and "luxuries" as payment, be it gold, silver, nice looking stones, amber and furs. Romans are dwarfs of legends and when you look at some fantasy dwarves the resemblance gets only greater. Masters of stone building? Check. Master engineers, both military and civilian? Check. Most of those dealing with them hadn't seen their wives? Check. On average shorter than those who trade with them? Check.

@Hickokboy 4 жыл бұрын

@@PobortzaPl Dude, never realized It.

@demogorgonzola 4 жыл бұрын

``people have the general idea that roman legions were thousands of Italian midgets`` Suddenly I have an image of a horde of Marios forming a proper testudo. That would have been a sight to see in real life!

@Nightmare704RY 4 жыл бұрын

@Aesthetic Decision luigi formed part of the cavalery units XD

@brookshadlin117 4 жыл бұрын

It be more like the korean war

@Nightmare704RY 4 жыл бұрын

@Aesthetic Decision I didint know that you had to be german or gaul to be part of the mounted troops

@Borderose 4 жыл бұрын

Total War: Mario Party. "It'sa me! Marius!"

@leonrambach1216 4 жыл бұрын

@@Borderose And his friend Lucius.

@dapple33 4 жыл бұрын

Now I'm imagining a roman army composed entirely of Danny DeVito's.

@arthas640 3 жыл бұрын

No one would be able to resist them. Armies from Gaul to the Han would fall before their might, and then when they finished conquering they would enjoy a nice egg after the trying times of combat.

@randomcamus9445 9 ай бұрын

@aaronnataren4861 27 күн бұрын

@randomcamus9445 Imagine as the dominus, falling in love with a blonde gaulish slave woman in your house. Lovely little blond half breeds growing up and joining the legions years later.🥰🫠 Of course, DIE HARD Romans were somewhat skeptical🤔 about blondes, but they felt that way towards many others. Just an example. 😌

@tjstrong3607 3 жыл бұрын

6'4 Roman soldier lines up for battle,,, hears loud snickering,, "hey, don't forget to duck" " I wonder who will take the first arrow?"

@Thezaccazzac 4 жыл бұрын

"you would have to be 168 cm in height" Me in the modern day: Aw, but i'm only 165cm. I wanted to join the roman army.

@strongbear3369 4 жыл бұрын

@@Randomstuffs261 If you where considerable strong they would still admit you. The Romans valued strength above height.

@gunarsmiezis9321 4 жыл бұрын

"i'm only 165cm." Ha. I was 1,65m when I was 13 years old. That was pre puberty when I was 18 I was already 1,82m.

@fanch22480 4 жыл бұрын

Gunārs Miezis i w1s 1,82 cm when i was 15 and?

@kingeruchannel6704 4 жыл бұрын

I just 160 I can join roman army

@andreacurti5927 4 жыл бұрын

@@gunarsmiezis9321 wow you are so cool, please impregnate me

@TheJKCrawford 4 жыл бұрын

"Get Carthaginians out of MY Italy!" THAT is the most brilliant modernist historical comment that I've read recently!

@gunarsmiezis9321 4 жыл бұрын

I wonder what does Mettaron think about the non europians in Italy right now.

@VideoAmateurLuxembourg 4 жыл бұрын

@@gunarsmiezis9321 The same than me

@jjgf8412 4 жыл бұрын

@@VideoAmateurLuxembourg which is?

@leonrambach1216 4 жыл бұрын

@@gunarsmiezis9321 Maybe that was a secret political message.👀🤔

@ElkaPME 4 жыл бұрын

_Somebody toucha ma Italy_

@emperordraygon 4 жыл бұрын

"Were the Romans short?" Depends on whether you're asking the nordic tribes or the gaelic tribes.

@RyAn-dj9gc 4 жыл бұрын

The romans never went to war with the gaels, they fought the Britons, Picts and Gauls

@bigbro6446 3 жыл бұрын

@@RyAn-dj9gc they still interacted with Gaelic tribes however, business wise though.

@javierperalta7648 3 жыл бұрын

They both were taller than the Romans

@salazarway 3 жыл бұрын

I repeat: Latin Proverb: The heart is the strongest muscle. Here you have your answer.

@Aron-ru5zk 3 жыл бұрын

Both were taller than the Romans also the Britons.

@patrickkeller2193 4 жыл бұрын

One thing: height has mostly to do with child nutrition. So it wouldn't matter how the legionaries themselfes ate, but what they ate before becomming leginaries.

@daneaxe6465 4 жыл бұрын

My Danish and Dutch great grandparents were about 5'8" but their 1st generation males born in the USA were all tall, as in 6'2" to 6'4". The only difference was they were eating better in America. They were very poor in Denmark and Netherlands and did not own farms.

@barbarusbloodshed6347 3 жыл бұрын

@@daneaxe6465 eating better in America?!?!?!? Well... maybe... there was a time you could get actual food in the US. Today it would certainly be the other way around... your children would have better nutrition in Denmark and the Netherlands.

@kooroshrostami27 3 жыл бұрын

if you child nutrition is good, you will achieve the height that is programmed in your genes, but not beyond that.

@Camel9991 3 жыл бұрын

@@daneaxe6465 I've read that in 19th cent. members of Dakota tribes and other Native Americans from the Great Plains were statistically taller than "European" Americans due tu their high protein diet as they were eating lot's of bison meat etc.

@C.A.P.9 3 жыл бұрын

@@daneaxe6465 Depends on where in thé Netherlands they Came from. In thé north we're tall. We are lower saxons. Thé other Parts of thé Netherlands, they're Franks.

@MacLeodRoy 4 жыл бұрын

176 cm is not 5'7, it's a bit over 5'9. Source: I'm a Canadian we sort of use both. Don't sell yourself short mate.

@gabrielpascoal766 4 жыл бұрын

And he said 172cm is 5'6", which is not, its 5'8", he probz used the google converter, which is might be misleading

@MacLeodRoy 4 жыл бұрын

@@gabrielpascoal766 He did?

@Shrapnel82 4 жыл бұрын

Phrasing?

@gabrielpascoal766 4 жыл бұрын

@@MacLeodRoy 4:02

@bloodndestroy 4 жыл бұрын

Thats because the google convertor gives it in decimals. For example, 5.5 ft is 5 ft 6 in

@Rayman-ie3ld 4 жыл бұрын

Phew, just made the minimum height requirement for the infantry

@Rayman-ie3ld 4 жыл бұрын

@East Anglian not tall enough for the 6 foot legion? Because that one was just not fair

@M.M.83-U 4 жыл бұрын

There are still the velites....

@welfarecrusader6855 4 жыл бұрын

5'9 squad

@Rayman-ie3ld 4 жыл бұрын

@East Anglian well Metatron clarified in the comments that he made a mistake with the exact measurements, so you make it now

@FoxyBoxery 4 жыл бұрын

@bbonner422 Im also 5'10 So i am 6ft in Roman system ROMA INVICTA!!!

@FoxyBoxery 4 жыл бұрын

The Romans are preety tall when you are standing on your knees infront of them. ROMA INVICTA!!!

@MeiMei-kw2ic 4 жыл бұрын

Us brits killed all the Roman settlers thanks to our ancestors we remain Combrogi (native Britons) well I’m English meaning I’m a mix of Saxon Angles Jutes and Frisians my last name is Saxon in origin old English (Webba) modern English (Webb) German (Webber)

@snakeenjoyingacanofbeans5219 3 жыл бұрын

Rip November is difficult

@confusedalex5612 3 жыл бұрын

@@MeiMei-kw2ic dis lad 'ere gets it

@confusedalex5612 3 жыл бұрын

@Johnny Vento we 'on agains' romans ey

@FirstnameLastname-do1px 3 жыл бұрын

Except against germania

@MrHarumakiSensei 3 жыл бұрын

4:34 If you're 176cm Metatron, you're 5'9", not 5'7"

@jgacton2703 3 жыл бұрын

He might have misspoke and meant to say 167cm

@aurail_a4534 3 жыл бұрын

@@jgacton2703 no i think he just confused 5'7" with 5.7 feet

@jiluan6758 3 жыл бұрын

@@aurail_a4534 wut?

@theseyi 3 жыл бұрын

@@jiluan6758 5.7 meters is taller than 5’7” inches

@SagaciousNihilist 3 жыл бұрын

I thought he was using Roman feet, not modern feet, he mentioned it in the description.

@TheCompleteMental 4 жыл бұрын

Why else would they wear big dust brushes on the top of their head?

@gamewarrior2216 4 жыл бұрын

Because they're from Mars?

@Katzztar 4 жыл бұрын

To dust the ceilings. …. not sorry... you left it open ;P

@alimohammad1934 4 жыл бұрын

Its only for parade

@damasek219 4 жыл бұрын

The truth is many other armies did it. All of them wore it to be more intimidating and impressive but also to look taller.

@wbarcus 4 жыл бұрын

I believe it was only of certain ranks. This would point out the leaders, sergeants base red small brush, low ranking officers small white brush, captains middle red brush, commanders large red brush. This is what I believe the breakdown is, but I am not an expert of Roman Legions.

@madbrosheo1514 4 жыл бұрын

"Were Romans short?" Well, yes, but actually no.

@withastickangrywhiteman2822 4 жыл бұрын

The Latins had little penis! Ancient Greeks said so. (Before Romans conquered Greece)

@proudtitanicdenier4300 4 жыл бұрын

@@withastickangrywhiteman2822 Ouch

@UltramanII 4 жыл бұрын

@@withastickangrywhiteman2822 In ancient Greece, small penis is considered elegant, big penis is barbaric and savage, which is nothing to be proud of

@spaceartist1272 4 жыл бұрын

half of Roman soldiers where Illirians and they are tallest people in Europe by this day..

@garretwoeller7669 4 жыл бұрын

@@UltramanII well I think they meant that for showers not growers because all statues are flasid so I mean not a lot of folks are rocking 3rd arms all the time

@devvv4616 4 жыл бұрын

The relative height is so true. Living in Southeast asia, people commonly refer to me as tall, or at least above average and i'm freaking 169-170cm. All these westerners calling people around that height manlet or midgets is such a dissonance to me lol. Never felt insecure about my height over here, except maybe when I play basketball, wishing I were a few inches taller to succeed playing competitively.

@randomcamus9445 9 ай бұрын

@buckyharris9465 3 жыл бұрын

A great question, but I'm not satisfied by Metatron's argument. 1. His discussion seems to refer exclusively to the Empire, when the legions actually were ethnically diverse. But through the Punic Wars, Roman soldiers WERE Italian, so why not start the discussion back in the Republic? 2. He never presents any physical evidence -- e.g., measurements of surviving cuirasses, helmets, greaves, or swords, or analyses of surviving human remains, which would be especially pertinent to this question. (Though cremation was the preferred funerary rite then.) 3. As far as I recall, Classical authors described the Gauls/Celts/Galatai as physically imposing. Strabo says somewhere that they were taller than people in Rome. P.S. I'm very grateful for the speaker's excellent pronunciation of Latin, a language that tends to get murdered too often on KZfaq, and I'll certainly watch more of Metatron's videos.

@tylersmith3139 2 жыл бұрын

Keep in mind the Romans tended to exaggerate the masculinity and individual strength of their enemies to hype up their own successes. The Celts and Germanic people would probably be around an inch or so taller on average than Southern Europeans like Italic Romans so realistically speaking, they wouldn't have been much more physically imposing than your average Roman soldier.

@Randomeaninglessword 4 жыл бұрын

Gotta say, some of my favourite parts of your videos are those buttery smooth Latin pronunciations.

@colosseros 3 жыл бұрын

Not so much Latin pronunciations (We don't know what ancient Latin sounded like) but Italian. So your brain is saying, "Oh that sounds good," but the reality is that you're just listening to a Romance language accent, speaking Latin. I speak Spanish as a second language, and I notice that I will throw a Spanish accent on Latin words, because, well, I don't know what else to use as a reference point. But I'm aware of it. I'm sure this guy is aware of the limitations of his pronunciations too. I know it seems pedantic, but this is an often debated subject in academia. We truly don't know what Latin sounded like until the middle ages, because that was the first time diction books started being printed. So that's where humanity's knowledge of the sound starts. edit: Never mind, this guy has another video claiming he is pronouncing classical Latin. So it appears he is just another boob on youtube who collects weapons and armor, but doesn't really have any deep knowledge on the subject. Still entertaining, and not wholly factually untrue, but I would never use this guy as an academic reference. He's definitely misleading people in an effort to appear more knowledgeable than he is. Even in this video, he claims various things based on real historic examples, but he completely leaves out the perspective of how long the Romans existed. Literally, for the first few hundred years, every single Roman legionarie was from the city of Rome. Period. Citizenship was a requirement of serving, and they did not extend citizenship to the rest of the empire instantly. Basically, all his examples are from the later empire, where it was a fundamentally different situation, and huge swaths of the empire had ben granted citizenship. Anyway, you have to be careful taking these types of youtubers as scripture. They almost always have some narrow snapshot view of what they're talking about. And I'm not hating on them for that. Every video can't be an hours long lecture, or they would lose their viewers. So they create these little historic soundbites which are accurate in a narrow sense, but also ignore the much grander backdrop of history because they simply don't have time to include it in this format. The guy who made this may very well know everything I'm writing out, but his format prevents him from really telling the whole story.

@alexrossouw7702 4 жыл бұрын

Lindybeige remarked that legions would bring along sheep because it's food that walks itself

@alvaroasi 4 жыл бұрын

Lindybeige would remark that British and Commonwealth legions would be taller...

@noah_hill 4 жыл бұрын

@wood1155 lol

@soyderiverdeliverybeaver8941 4 жыл бұрын

He would remark that gladius didn't exist and/or were inferior to any other sword

@TomTomTomTom538 4 жыл бұрын

Btw the Romans were genetically British

@caimacd 4 жыл бұрын

Also good for sex.

@mrh4900 3 жыл бұрын

Did height effect Roman formations? I imagine it’d be fairly difficult for a man that is like 5’6” to provide sufficient cover for a man that’s like 6’3”.

@ad_astra468 2 жыл бұрын

They probably put soldiers in increasing height order to go around that problem so the testudo didn't have any gap, only a slight slope which actually is a good thing to reflect projectiles.

@landoncube769 Жыл бұрын

That'd honestly serve a decent use for the taller person behind if they had a spear or long reach weapon. You could be covered chest down and be able to poke over their shield

@user-lj8gk1nv5i 10 ай бұрын

I would imagin they would bend down A little bit yes there would a small gap

@randomcamus9445 9 ай бұрын

@user-lj8gk1nv5i 9 ай бұрын

@@randomcamus9445 no not all the times roman men were around 5,7-5,9 thats pretty good ya know and they were white I dont know where you got that information

@phoebusapollon2313 4 жыл бұрын

So that's why they used gladiuses, they were like a long swords for them

@sebastiandiaconu1221 4 жыл бұрын

I just commented the same fucking thing, then scroll down and see your comment from a month ago...

@davideluciani1754 3 жыл бұрын

Just read "the Hobbit" you'll get your answer

@gianz73 3 жыл бұрын

Haha, but no. They were ment for short-distance fight. In that case, a shorter weapon is handier and deadlier than a long one.

@crazyrussianbot8012 4 жыл бұрын

Were there any Vegans in the Roman Army, and where they worried about their Carbon footprint?

@NefariousKoel 4 жыл бұрын

They brought vegans along. For eating and wearing their vegan skins.

@Leptospirosi 4 жыл бұрын

Seriously: the Marian reform discouraged consumption of meat and alcohol on campaign, which usually happened in summer, when heat retention was not an issue. They usually ate wheat, beans and a lot of vegetables, with olive oil and salt. Meat was probably used to give some taste to their soups but was not considered healthy because it slows you down and makes you sweat a lot. Keep in mind the standard legionaly was quite an athlete, able to march 30km per day with about 25/30kg of equipment plus armour and weapons. (here the nickname "Marian Mules) they also had to be able to swim for about 1hour. At the end of the day they were expected to dig and fortify their own encampment too, which is amazing if you think it that. In the end they were better fit then any of our modern day soldiers form any army in the world, and this requires a strict diet while on operations

@crazyrussianbot8012 4 жыл бұрын

@@Leptospirosi BS. Veganism is killing your body.

@Leptospirosi 4 жыл бұрын

@@crazyrussianbot8012 I couldn't care less: I'm not vegan but Roman's conquered the world so something right they must have done...

@l0remipsum991 4 жыл бұрын

Germanic tribes roasted vegan Roman legionnaires. Herbivores flesh are quite tasty.

@RodolfoDM 4 жыл бұрын

"They needed to get carthaginians OUT OF MY ITALY" thats how a meme is born

@erickjericho6460 4 жыл бұрын

Who cares bout their height, they conquered almost half of the known world

@libertyprime6932 3 жыл бұрын

That is what makes it interesting. They were shorter on average, yet accomplished so much

@cylvonkoursfelt4742 3 жыл бұрын

@@libertyprime6932 I'd imagine being short as quite an advantage on the field of battle. My 188cm body would be a more desirable target for any pea brained archer

@lukeclarkson4168 3 жыл бұрын

What a lot of people don't realise is although being a 6.6 giant is a clear advantage in a brawl when you bring ranged weapons into the equation there also a bigger target.

@thebrocialist8300 3 жыл бұрын

Were Romans Short? ‘ Somewhat, relatively speaking.’ Are Italians Short? *[Danny DeVito has left the group chat]*

@kristofb5013 3 жыл бұрын

Joe Pesci is getting angry

@kristofb5013 3 жыл бұрын

@Johnny Vento the point was a continuation of the joke by naming another short Italian-american actor, who happens to play angry/tough characters. Now that's not to say all Italians or Italian-americans are/were short. James Gandolfini was meant to be quite a tall person when he was alive. So I assume that they range in height.

@neniAAinen 4 жыл бұрын

》thousands of italian midgets But i saw it in Asterix documentary series... :'(

@mikeoxsmal8022 4 жыл бұрын

Sounds like qn interesting movie

@shawn6860 4 жыл бұрын

I see Borderlands 2 or 3 DLC here...lol!

@ssholum 4 жыл бұрын

"Meh. They're probably descended from little green men." - The History Channel, probably.

@MrLhxD 4 жыл бұрын

Same I am sad now ;C

@sniperelite647 4 жыл бұрын

@Kaiser Franz von Lappen der 2. Well, that means you are taller than many other people in your country and in other countries, but it doesn't mean that all your countrymen are as tall as you...

@Deerygccawwetthjbgde 4 жыл бұрын

Straight to the point, no BS, backed by proof, this is why I’m subscribed to his channel.

@metatronyt 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks! Gratias tibi ago

@justinius2170 3 жыл бұрын

Julius Ceasar remarks at how tall the Gauls were, and the Germans being on average slightly bigger even than them. The Romans may have been stocky and well built, but from the MAN himself, the Romans were shorter.

@warpartyattheoutpost4987 4 жыл бұрын

I'm former U.S. Army and 5' 7". From my experience there's pros and cons to being tall or short. I was an Engineer so I generally took a "tunnel rat" role while bigger soldiers would take a "rat's nest" role. Performance depends on upon physicality and phobias.

@iliatevzadze5667 4 жыл бұрын

I gotta say... After discovering this channel I realized, how easily history gets altered through time. I mean, basically what we've learned at school is just a pritty tales and legends 'bout historical nations.

@escaramujo 4 жыл бұрын

It is done on purpose, to maintain ignorance and ensure easily manipulated individuals.

@soullesseater9327 4 жыл бұрын

@@escaramujo No, most people just believe and teach fairy tales.

@escaramujo 4 жыл бұрын

@@soullesseater9327 It doesn't mind weather you say yes or no, reality is what it is, not what your opinion makes of it.

@ServantofBaal 4 жыл бұрын

@@soullesseater9327 It doesn't help that many teachers love their authority too much and 'won't be proven wrong'

@ronnielenroberts6136 4 жыл бұрын

Don't forget bias.

@AverchenkoMiroslav 4 жыл бұрын

"We do have very tall italians" *the sound of a slapping BASS emerges from the background*

@AntiAnathema 4 жыл бұрын

Very impressive but can you roam around in Rome?

@AverchenkoMiroslav 4 жыл бұрын

@@AntiAnathema No, but I can play "Your Gaulish war" with Vercingetorix's moustache hairs. Slap like N O W or I'll call the pretorian guard.

@IDK-yx2lr 4 жыл бұрын

glorious mental image

@AverchenkoMiroslav 4 жыл бұрын

@@IDK-yx2lr Epico

@bonn9730 3 жыл бұрын

Davie

@Ritualist89 3 жыл бұрын

Canne: * massive slaughter* Senate: "Fugggg, just recruit anyone!" Manlets: "Finally, our moment to shine."

@jacobpeters5458 3 жыл бұрын

the men who saved the Republic at Zama, had to sell two tunics to buy one horse

@aninditasakti 4 жыл бұрын

Don't worry, some short Italian origin emperor of France also almost conquer all of Europe...

@aitorgm6512 4 жыл бұрын

He cant conquer spain and russia

@miquel4ndroid 4 жыл бұрын

He wasnt that short for his time

@barbatvs8959 4 жыл бұрын

Napoleon was a mason. His campaigns were theatres of war in the acting sense with other European leaders participating in the farce of supposed politics. He did the hidden hand gesture, and had the Templar cross.

@NaeMuckle 3 жыл бұрын

Yes he was short.

@blacktigerpaw1 3 жыл бұрын

@@NaeMuckle He was 5'7, the minimum height for French soldiers to enlist.

@garrenbrooks9703 4 жыл бұрын

The virgin Roman manlet vs the Chad Pict

@emirvisnjic1051 4 жыл бұрын

STFU BARBARIAN

@garrenbrooks9703 4 жыл бұрын

@@Spr1ggan87 I just did didn't i?

@lambtoken2708 4 жыл бұрын

@@garrenbrooks9703 getting their ass whooped isn't something i would imagine a Chad doing 🤔

@garrenbrooks9703 4 жыл бұрын

@@lambtoken2708 im not responsible for what you are and arent capable of imagining.

@lambtoken2708 4 жыл бұрын

@@garrenbrooks9703 alright, you're right. Could you help me with that?

@blacktemplar9499 4 жыл бұрын

"They sure are today" -the Dutch

@robertlongoria765 3 жыл бұрын

According to Professor Michael's book: The Roman Republic soldier was 5'5" The Roman Empire soldier was 5' 10"

@mattj7616 4 жыл бұрын

At 191cm I would probably stand out a bit in an Imperial Era formation. Particularly if I had to wear a crested helm. “Large target” comes to mind.

@longyu9336 3 жыл бұрын

In Europe arrows and crossbow bolts back then were not as important. A hulk of a man is not mainly a large target, but a menacing opponent.

@jackforester8456 4 жыл бұрын

Maybe that gladius in the groin was not a tactical solution but the highest they could reach

@SaturdayNightSlamMaster1980 4 жыл бұрын

jack forester This NEEDS to be the top comment.

@sombraarthur 4 жыл бұрын

If you are dead, we Italians tend to be pretty tall, after we slaughter you. :) So, your groin being the highest we could reach makes no difference, when you are down on your knees, we can reach pretty much anywhere, even if we were all midgets. And BOY how good we were to bring you people down on your knees!

@nhankhuu5643 4 жыл бұрын

It was the perfect storm. They had the height for it and it was the most effective location to strike

@sombraarthur 4 жыл бұрын

@@jackforester8456 do your balls smell that badly that someone is actually capable to smell them from the distance of a gladius? Gods be damned. You must be pretty stinky if that is true.

@jackforester8456 4 жыл бұрын

@@sombraarthur Nah, it's just that your Italian nose is too long

@SeekerofTruths 4 жыл бұрын

Generally speaking. Civilizations that take up settled agriculture do tend to be shorter than their nomadic/hunter gatherer counterparts

@ServantofBaal 4 жыл бұрын

Plus, animals that live in colder climates tend to be larger on average than their more temperate brethren.

@grailknight6794 4 жыл бұрын

Why were mongols short then?

@stefanodellavalle3988 4 жыл бұрын

@@ServantofBaal wrong! Lions elephant and other huge beast live in hot climate

@ServantofBaal 4 жыл бұрын

@@stefanodellavalle3988 And how many of them have cold climate relatives? Elephants used to, and those were *bigger*. Saber tooth tigers? Wooly rhinoceros? Bigger. The same is true for pretty much every other species of animal with cold climate relatives, from bears to humans to wolves, etc.

@stefanodellavalle3988 4 жыл бұрын

@@ServantofBaal sabertooth tiger where about only 180 cm and mammoth only as big as modern asian elepanth... sorry man you cant made up bullshit with Wikipedia around

@onehairybuddha 4 жыл бұрын

John Cleese was a Roman soldier and he's very tall.

@Anglisc1682 4 жыл бұрын

Lol

@Anglisc1682 4 жыл бұрын

Biggus Dickus too

@JohnSmith-ls3um 3 жыл бұрын

@@Anglisc1682 He has a wife you know

@Anglisc1682 3 жыл бұрын

@@JohnSmith-ls3um What's her name?

@Joe-po9xn 4 жыл бұрын

I love hearing him pronounce Roman names. He should do a series of videos on Roman history just to say all of them.

@randomcamus9445 9 ай бұрын

@mercedesvelasquez8781 6 ай бұрын

I am the only one who has never seen a blonde hair Italian I always see them woth beautiful olvie skin or slightly darker olive, brown eye's, brown and or black hair hair. @@randomcamus9445

@SteveDonev 4 жыл бұрын

On a side note, personal size and strength is not the deciding factor in a military's effectiveness. Far more important is equipment, military strategy, and training.

@SteveDonev 4 жыл бұрын

@LUNAR BLOODDROP That was my point. A military with shorter people will always win if they have better tactics, weapons, and training. Rome was so successful because they had a professional standing army and not because they were all huge bodybuilders.

@joeampolo42 4 жыл бұрын

There are tactics, strategies,and logistics. Bigger men cost more to feed. A greater number of slightly smaller size ... somewhere there's a trade off.

@SteveDonev 4 жыл бұрын

@@joeampolo42 Have you seen MREs? Lol. The army doesn't give a crap how big you are. They just give you what they decide is enough food and if that's not enough for you then you go find your own chow on your own time with your own money. The only units that have a height requirement are ceremonial ones like the honor guard. The only thing the military cares about is weather you can perform the duty expected of you.

@joeampolo42 4 жыл бұрын

@@SteveDonev At some point, under feeding troops would prove inefficient. Too much time and energy would be spent foraging instead of fighting. Roman MREs were essentially hermit bars; the modern recipe for fruitcake is said to be similar. I've been told that a Roman unit in Germania threatened to mutinee over an absence of fresh vegetables (I'd actually like to have had sources quoted on that one.) If you actually created a unit of giants and then short rationed them, that would probably be a bad idea.

@iammaxhailme 4 жыл бұрын

This sounds like a topic very vulnerably to memery...

@stevehammel2939 Жыл бұрын

I was stationed in Northern Italy in the military. Northern Italians generally were taller and well-proportioned while in the South, they were shorter and larger in girth.

@goukeban6197 4 жыл бұрын

"Get Carthagineans out of my Italy!"

@MrNuserame 4 жыл бұрын

Julies Ceasar does mention Gauls being taller than Romans, and Germanics being taller yet in his book about the Gallic wars. He doesn't really quantify it, and he does it in the bit where he's trumping up how big, scary and warlike the Germanic tribes are, possibly to soften up the reader for the bit where he bailed on his attempt to conquer Suebi lands, twice. Sooo, make of that what you will.

@neutronalchemist3241 4 жыл бұрын

Is difficult to find datas for Germanic people of Roman times, but Viking males, form skeletons found (usually we find burial of high-class people, so the average height is probably overestimated, since in ancient times they tended to eat better and so be taller than the average peasant) had an average height of 172cm. We already talked about legionaries but, from skeletons, the average male population of Herculaneum (and there are no class differencies there, since they all perished in a natural disaster) was of 169cm, so the Germanic people were probably on average taller than the Romans, but nothing so dramatic. Several Roman sources said of one or another Gaul or Germanic population, that they were very tall, but often the Romans first seen the warrior elite. People that eat very well since childhood, and so were taller than the average.

@darryljones3009 4 жыл бұрын

Funny, there was a Chinese explorer from the 2nd century AD who described the Romans as all being tall, though he never actually met one, he was just going by what he heard from the Parthians.

@franchi8601 3 жыл бұрын

From what I read the Romans wrote well of any others that fought war well, or military like. Particularly the Thrax (macedonians) Suebi (German nomadic swamp tribe) and the Scotti. The reason the Romans avoided war with the Seubi was because the Suebis were very good at traveling through swamps and fighting in swamp. To the Romans if you could could survive bad conditions and make a bad condition into an advantage it was a good thing. The Suebis were germananic nomadics who were accustomed to swamps and travelled from east to west modern germany. Suebis were not well liked by other Germanics in ancient times. Romans described these people as: a tribe of endurance, well physically built, had their hair tied on the side of their heads (pony tail or a knot), and could travel through swamps and fight in swamps. The Romans military was not trained in swamp warefare, Romans had building techniques on swamps but not warfare, so Julius did not want to lose military men in swamp warefare, thus he avoided larges scale wars with the Suebis. Also make notice that anywhere the Romans trekked and/or encountered warefare they incorporated the enemies warefare strategy into their own strategies. In other words the Romans preferred to be resourceful at warefare and commerce. The main reason for Rome's expansion was for the search of resouces & commerce. Military strageteies and governance was second nature to their true beginnings since the beginning of Romulus & Remus suckling on the wild Lupa. BTW the Suebis are the Swabes of mordern day Germany. Some of these may have been incorporated into the 7 communities of Rome (or the 7 hills & tribes of Rome), hence I wrote "may have", others say it was the Switzerlands. The Romans wrote of tall blonde tribes took residence in one of the seven ancient commune of Rome. The Knights of Switzerland were chosen by the Vatican as their knight guards/secret service men.

@randomcamus9445 9 ай бұрын

in itali if you don't go to tourist areas and more leafy areas of italy you will find short italians

@Darkurge666 4 жыл бұрын

Swedish men's average height today is about 182cm I think. That means there is a lot of men ranging from 175-190cm and some even taller or shorter. They were much shorter in medieval times, but before that, I don't know. Compared to most ethnicities swedes are tall. In Japan or Thailand, even a tiny swede would be tall by comparison. But Swedish women are quite tall as well. 😂

@danial469 4 жыл бұрын

breastfeed me

@ategabbysev2993 4 жыл бұрын

being 5'6 is tall in southeast asian countries the tallest from my family is my cousin who is 5'11 while im 5'8

@IosifStalinsendsyoutoGulag 4 жыл бұрын

It's not above 180 cm. Self reported averages aren't reliable.

@suckitgermansdd1856 4 жыл бұрын

Serbian men average height is 184cm sorry Sweden.

@KukiCrusader Жыл бұрын

In south east asia. If you hit, 5’10. Its like being 6’2 in Europe. You get called tall once you hit 178cm or around. Whereas in EU, you’d be called somewhat tall but not yet in tall boy gang. 178cm is tall in SEA. Ofc there are bigger guys than that too. We South East Asian are historically poor so we are small but there is a bit of genetics involved as well. As Asians in general, East Asian included are of smaller or stockier builds except maybe Koreans, they are the tallest nation in Asia somehow by averages. But the northern side is short again. Strange world. The answer lies in some sort of miscegenation between hominids and those homo sapien migrants we are all descended from pehaps. Like Its a fact that Europeans have 3% neanderthal genome while Aboriginals have like 5% denisovan DNA. Maybe East Asians have a certain Homo Erectus/or similar homonid DNA, some Chinese scientist are adamant that chinese people are descended from Homo Erectus in fact, watched a docu once, but its false. Most likely sapiens but with miscegenation with some homonid we haven’t discovered yet. In South East Asia case, it might be the same. In the island of florens, Indonesia. Homo floriensis we’re discovered, midget homonids! Maybe SEA have a percentage of mixed dna with some similiar homonid. Island gigantism in mammals is common, but when resources are scarce, island dwarfism is also observed in the face of intense competition in mammals. Maybe something happened along those lines, so today SEA is literally the shortest ethnicity. Evolution bois

@huntclanhunt9697 4 жыл бұрын

"Get out of my Italy!" Tshirt pls.

@tigranayvazyan5974 3 жыл бұрын

"They needed to get Carthaginians out of MY Italy!" loved it!!

@gawayne1374 4 жыл бұрын

Somewhere in Middle Earth: where all dwarves SHORT?

@dakilla123 4 жыл бұрын

A lot of people back then weren't very tall. 6 feet wasn't as common as today, unless you were Scandinavian where it was very common for Scandinavian males to be over 6ft

@virding232 4 жыл бұрын

@Joe Blow German =/= Germanic. Also, the Germans were shorter than the Scandinavians.

@jbagger331 4 жыл бұрын

That's still true btw, anybody below 6 feet is considered a midget here in good old Scandinavia.

@IosifStalinsendsyoutoGulag 4 жыл бұрын

It was never common for Scandinavians to be 6 feet. Even today it's above average/tallish.

@jbagger331 4 жыл бұрын

@@IosifStalinsendsyoutoGulag Average height viking age Denmark, 178 cm, average height today 180 cm. Some nations just have taller people, useful for getting through a snowdrift.

@IosifStalinsendsyoutoGulag 4 жыл бұрын

@@jbagger331 Lol, those are fairy tales of deluded inflators

@XXSinanovichXX 3 жыл бұрын

Nero is the OG Tinder Bitch: "Don't join my legion unless you're 6 Ft"

@McAppleWar 3 жыл бұрын

Were Romans short? Dutch: YES! Scandinavians: Yes Japanese: No Pygmies: NO!

@eesaubaydullah4231 3 жыл бұрын

Were Romans skinny? Most people: depends Americans: YES!

@classicalpositioning957 4 жыл бұрын

I thought I recalled a small segment during a siege in the Commentaries on the Gallic Wars, where some Gaul were shouting at Caesar's legions about how much bigger their bodies were than the Romans when they had gotten to a Roman fortification...

@soullesseater9327 4 жыл бұрын

Skallagrim and Metatron upoladed the videos at the same time lol

@stanfield3239 4 жыл бұрын

Which one did you watch first?

@Velkan1396 4 жыл бұрын

@@stanfield3239 the correct answer is the one by kings and generals

@DakotaMilesO 4 жыл бұрын

Stun Feild well one is educated and qualified to speak on the matter, the other is a flabby manchild with a mullet who’s only education is google

@Drugo987 4 жыл бұрын

Ho scoperto il tuo canale per caso ed è eccezionale. Complimenti. Tra l’altro parli un inglese praticamente perfetto, ci ho messo un po’ a capire che sei italiano.

@claudiaxander 3 жыл бұрын

Judging by the Romans insatiable desire for conflict they were a little bit short at the best of times!

@chowyee5049 4 жыл бұрын

Isn't 172cm the equivalent of around 5'8ft?

@lapislazuliblues5728 4 жыл бұрын

Chow Yee Lee I was about to point that out

@Velkan1396 4 жыл бұрын

Yep, metrical system intesified

@NovaSoldier 4 жыл бұрын

He clarified that he was talking about roman feet not modern ones

@johnraina4828 3 жыл бұрын

You wish!

@VladimirSkultetyOfficial 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the video. I apologize in advance for the slightly longer comment. Out of interest, what does the archeological evidence say about how tall the Gallic and Germanic tribes were on average at the time of Julius Caesar? Caesar mentions several times that Germans were 'huge', e.g.: ..ex vocibus Gallorum ac mercatorum, qui ingenti magnitudine corporum Germanos, incredibili virtute atque exercitatione in armis esse praedicabant.. (..from the words of the Gauls and merchants, who were talking about the inhumane size of Germans, their unbelievable strength and skills in arms..). And mentions also that Gauls were much taller than the Romans: ..nam plerumque omnibus Gallis prae magnitudine corporum quorum brevitas nostra contemptui est.. (..for the shortness of our bodies, in comparison to the great size of theirs (of the Gauls), is generally a subject of much contempt by all Gauls..). Based on what you've said, if we assume that a Roman person from Italy who was 180+ cm tall wasn't an exception (you said this about Romans from a slightly later period, but not distant enough to be very different in terms of genetics in my opinion), yet Caesar in his Commentaries on the Gallic wars wrote the above and several other similar comments, would this mean that the Gauls and Germans were generally, say, in the 180-195 cm range at the times of Caesar? Based on the above information, and in my opinion, it is a bit improbable. This would mean that A) a 180+ cm Roman from Italy at the time of Caesar was not an exception yet also B) Gauls and Germans were both much taller than that which would put them in the 180-190 cm range - both of which don't seem very plausible to me. All only my personal opinion of course.

@joeampolo42 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks for quoting the appropriate passages. I remembered something about Caesar commenting that the barbarians stopped shouting remarks about puny Romans when the siege towers started rolling forward.

@VladimirSkultetyOfficial 4 жыл бұрын

@@joeampolo42 That was exactly the "nam plerumque omnibus Gallis prae magnitudine corporum quorum brevitas nostra contemptui est" part. Here's the full passage: Ac primo adventu exercitus nostri crebras ex oppido excursiones faciebant parvulisque proeliis cum nostris contendebant; postea vallo pedum XII in circuitu XV milium crebrisque castellis circummuniti oppido sese continebant. Ubi vineis actis aggere extructo turrim procul constitui viderunt, primum inridere ex muro atque increpitare vocibus, quod tanta machinatio a tanto spatio institueretur: quibusnam manibus aut quibus viribus praesertim homines tantulae staturae (nam plerumque omnibus Gallis prae magnitudine corporum quorum brevitas nostra contemptui est) tanti oneris turrim in muro sese posse conlocare confiderent? My rough translation: And as our army arrived, at first, they (the Gauls) had frequently rallied out of their settlement engaging into small skirmishes with our men. After that, they contained themselves inside the settlement, protected by a mound 12 feet high and 15 miles long with densely placed towers. When they saw our siege equipment, our siege mound and a siege tower being built at a greater distance, they first were laughing at us and insulting us, standing on the settlement walls, asking why we were building so many machines at such a great distance and whose hands and what strength was trusted, especially by men of such a small stature, to move such heavy towers to the wall (for the shortness of our bodies, in comparison to the great size of theirs (of the Gauls), is generally a subject of much contempt by all Gauls).

@joeampolo42 4 жыл бұрын

@@VladimirSkultetyOfficial Thanks! That's kind of what I remembered. Then, the siege engines rolled forward ....

@TheJimboslav 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks Vladimir. That very passage came to my mind as well. Nevertheless I think it is quite plausible Gauls and Germans were that tall. I forget the primary source but Adrian Goldswothy mentions that praetorians were generally at least 178cm tall. Therefore we can assume that in the late republic and principate being 180cm was a high average. Now I am quite tall for American or French standards being 184cm tall, but in Munich it was not uncommon for me to feel short. Therefore as Metatron says, it's a question of perspective. From archeological evidence, we know that in the classical era and the time of PAx Romana, people lived a quite comfortable life that would not be repeated for centuries. Hight averages would gradually drop after that. P paradoxically people were the shortest around the industrial revolution up to the Belle epoque before WWI.

@VladimirSkultetyOfficial 4 жыл бұрын

TheJimboslav This is an interesting topic. I originally thought that the increase in the average height of the world population was a general continuous trend that took centuries if not millennia, but as you say, people were shorter during the industrial revolution so it seems to be more complex than that. In either case, I was asking about archeological evidence to prove or clear my doubts, because even though there might have been the occasional 190 cm tall Gaul or German, to me it didn't seem like the average member of these two tribes was in the 180-190 cm range 2000+ years ago. Gallic and especially Germanic nutrition seemed much more limited and subject to a lot of force major influence. It seems like all it took was one raid by the neighboring tribe, an unexpected tributary payment or bad weather and people started to die of hunger. But as for the diet, a lot of Germanic tribes (those, which Caesar calls huge) only drank milk and ate meat and Caesar attributed their height to this fact (among other things). Caesar talking about the Suebi: Neque multum frumento, sed maximam partem lacte atque pecore vivunt multum sunt in venationibus; quae res et cibi genere et cotidiana exercitatione et libertate vitae, quod a pueris nullo officio aut disciplina adsuefacti nihil omnino contra voluntatem faciunt, et vires alit et immani corporum magnitudine homines efficit. Atque in eam se consuetudinem adduxerunt ut locis frigidissimis neque vestitus praeter pelles habeant quicquam, quarum propter exiguitatem magna est corporis pars aperta, et laventur in fluminibus. Nor do they live from grain, but mostly from milk and cattle and a lot of them hunt, which along with the type of food they eat, daily physical exercise and the free nature of their lives (as from childhood they don't employ or discipline their children and do nothing against their own will), both strengthens them and makes men inhumanely tall. They also resort to a habit where even in the most cold of places, they only wear skins, and since there is a shortage of them, the greater part of their bodies are left uncovered and they wash themselves in rivers.

@planetarynebulae5251 Жыл бұрын

Your centimeter to feet and inches conversions are not correct. 172 cm is 5'8" not 5'6". 168 cm is 5'6" not 5'5". 176 cm is 5'9" not 5'7". However, you were correct by saying 182 cm is 6'0".

@unknownunknowns2300 4 жыл бұрын

The short guy is awfully long winded, indeed.

@sevenproxies4255 4 жыл бұрын

Shout out to all my peeps who would qualify for the Prima Italica. 😎

@cobraglatiator 4 жыл бұрын

one inch too short, the actual height was about 5'10. i'm 5'9. and also not italian.

@MCAroon09 4 жыл бұрын

I would fail at origin, age and fitness

@cobraglatiator 4 жыл бұрын

@@MCAroon09 same tho. wait, age what's the age?

@MCAroon09 4 жыл бұрын

@@cobraglatiator requirement was from 18 to 40 probably, I am under that

@cobraglatiator 4 жыл бұрын

@@MCAroon09 oh, in that case i'm good. 21.

@fransbuijs808 4 жыл бұрын

That idea about Roman emperors and where they were from is a good one. Trajanus was from Spain, Severus from Africa and most emperors of the 3rd century from the Balkans.

@majungasaurusaaaa 4 жыл бұрын

I can hear the euro/italo centrics cry how 'babarized' rome had become.

@fransbuijs808 4 жыл бұрын

@@majungasaurusaaaa Or how Romanized the "barbarians" had become. All the more reason to do it!

@filippoilpoeta6437 3 жыл бұрын

I agree with you on their average height. I noticed that they were a little shorter on average by just walking through their doorways in ancient Herculaneum houses! Keep up the good work , I subscribed a long time ago and love your videos!!!! My family is from Verona and Ischia...ciao a dopo!

@randomcamus9445 9 ай бұрын

@billn.1318 3 жыл бұрын

When I was in my teens, I stood about 5”8 in 8th grade. We have a bunch of foreign exchange students from China. They Had to renact as Roman legions. Our teacher was awesome. Had the Roman shields and gladius (fake of course). These exchanges were maybe 4”7. Short. I played as a barbarian. When they charged at me in formation. I didn’t know what to do. They all attacked where I had zero visibility of what the heck they were doing. They were quick. I can’t imagine in a real battle. A legion of short men in a cohesive formation and highly disciplined. I’m sure I would’ve been dead.

@randomcamus9445 9 ай бұрын

@nancyvolker3342 4 жыл бұрын

every generation has its norm for height and health

@GraupeLie 4 жыл бұрын

Dang, as someone who studied Latin, I just LOVE your pronunciation!

@kooroshrostami27 3 жыл бұрын

we don't even know how it was pronounced 🙈

@nobleman9393 4 жыл бұрын

Vercingetorix: Julius Caesar, you're shorter than i expected.

@JohnDoe19991 3 жыл бұрын

And proceeds to get rekt by Cesar .lol

@malapet8317 3 жыл бұрын

Man I can't even be in heavy infantry

@xavierkorir2580 3 жыл бұрын

Sorry dude

@jovegajo 4 жыл бұрын

Hey Metatron, would you be able to do a video on Wine in Antiquity, with a focus on wine culture in the Roman Empire (change over time, production, style, economics, and grape varieties)... Im really interested in also hearing about those few random wine makers in Italy who have gone back to using Dolium/Amphora to make wine once again.

@Katzztar 4 жыл бұрын

"Very short Americans" Yup I can verify that XD. My dad was 5 ft 4 in, my mom was 5 ft 2 in. And me? I'm 4ft 8 in. Osteoporosis and a disorder that's affected my leg bones (they bow out now) are to blame for the loss of a few inches but even at my tallest, I only reached 4 ft 11 in.

@jxhnjxhnsxn8849 4 жыл бұрын

Very sad, I'm almost 2 meters. Just like almost all of my friends.

@SaurusWarriorSotek 4 жыл бұрын

@@jxhnjxhnsxn8849 i'm 5ft 9in, very common but my tallest cousin it's about 7ft 2in

@jxhnjxhnsxn8849 4 жыл бұрын

@@user-zy9yg2eu5t 21 centimeters.

@alphabet_soup123 4 жыл бұрын

How on earth do you get osteoporosis in this day and age? You didn't get rickets from lack of vitamin D, did you? Because that would also explain your osteoposis. I'm a bit shocked if your parents allowed that to happen. Americans are always boasting about their healthcare system, but its only good for those who are rich.

@user-zy9yg2eu5t 4 жыл бұрын

@@alphabet_soup123 you can catch osteoporosis from raw chicken

@mario27171 3 жыл бұрын

Metatron: "Were Romans short?" Gaius Iulius Verus Maximinus (Thrax): "They were all midgets, except me."

@uomodonore245 4 жыл бұрын

I heard somewhere that Romans not “Romans” averaged 5 foot 6 whereas Celts and Germans averaged 5 foot 9.

@BirdTurdMemes 4 жыл бұрын

Sounds right, 5'9 was avg viking

@longyu9336 3 жыл бұрын

That would be slightly below modern day German average heights. Were they really this tall back then with premodern nutrition?

@main9087 3 жыл бұрын

@@longyu9336 Diets would have included far more red meats so it wouldn't be too far fetched

@h.angusmacdonald2119 2 жыл бұрын

@@main9087 i saw somewhere that as far as the Celtic tribes in Britain and Ireland the amount of omega 3 they were getting from abundant cold water fish might also be a factor.

@medievalknyght313 4 жыл бұрын

If I were to guess the answer to this question, I would say that all of us like modern people are generally taller than those ancient people. Who cares about the legionaries and barbains height. Can you imagine a time traveller taking pictures of ancient soldiers. He would be towering over almost everyone.

@LoisoPondohva 3 жыл бұрын

Depends, but for the commoners of the time - usually yes, not counting some genetic anomalies like the Norse and some African tribes. But the well-fed from the birth upper class was on average no shorter than a modern man of the same nationality.

@KeanKennedy 4 жыл бұрын

So basically the Romans were an army of Davie504s striding across the landscape like ents

@dewikle2 3 жыл бұрын

And no doubt SLAPPING foes with EPICO Bass lines! Checkmate!

@rdhudon7469 3 жыл бұрын

They estimate that Alexander the great was 5 feet tall and I wouldn't mess with him . It would be like the killer rabbit in the holy grail . Lol

@nuclearlefthook5008 3 жыл бұрын

That's because people were short back then.

@trollinape2697 3 жыл бұрын

@@iama2509 Most badasses/mad men were manlets because back then most people were manlets.

@micahknoche8501 4 жыл бұрын

Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic Wars say that at one point that the Gauls/Belgae were contemptuous of the Romans' short stature as they watched them build their siege towers. It is not false that the tribal peoples of Northern Europe like the Celts and Germans were typically bigger and taller than Mediterranean peoples like the Romans

@SuperxDfAb 4 жыл бұрын

the requirements for being a cavalry/infantry man stayed always the same?

@metatronyt 4 жыл бұрын

Probably not but we don't have data to tell us either way

@merlball8520 4 жыл бұрын

@@metatronyt We have historic records that give no height requirement throughout most of the history of the Republic and Empire. Your example was anecdotal.

@jt-ru5iy 4 жыл бұрын

@@merlball8520 I think so too to be honest 5'6 is not that short even today a avarage height in some countries. Its hard to belive that rather small italians had to be 5'6 or 5'8 if the avarage italian today is 5'8-5'9

@aragayjr4321 4 жыл бұрын

Nice video, have you ever made a vídeo about the conquest of Hispania? Greetings from Spain

@herpyderpy2869 3 жыл бұрын

"Were Romans shorter than barbarians?" Is this implying that I'm a barbarian to a friend of mine?

@joshuaperry7199 3 жыл бұрын

Duuuude! I did not know that the emperor Claudius was related to Marc Anthony let alone being his grandson. Didnt even know he had kids. Thanks for the lesson.

@gog_magpie 4 жыл бұрын

“Romans and Italians are short” Dave504: *I am joke to you?*

@Griff99ita 4 жыл бұрын

Realy in italy the average is 5,94 feet or 1,78 cm and more than 6 feet in north italy (where dave504 come from)

@a_l7515 4 жыл бұрын

Dude Dave is really tall

@jt-ru5iy 4 жыл бұрын

@@Griff99ita 5'9 is 174-176cm I doubt that they are 6 foot the dutch are the tallest people in the world with avarage 6'1 for a male

@Griff99ita 4 жыл бұрын

@@jt-ru5iy yes i have correct now in 5,94 (I am not familiar with the imperial unity )

@Griff99ita 4 жыл бұрын

@@jt-ru5iy I am 1.82 cm or 6 feet and i was the the smallest male in my school class just for say, in 3 years italy will surpass germany in height we have already surpass united states and french 2 years ago

@user-lh1wr9sr8m 4 жыл бұрын

This is the general consensus I had always heard. "Imperial regulations, though not entirely unambiguous, suggest that the minimum height for new recruits was five Roman feet, seven inches (165 cm., 5'5") ... for the army as a whole a reasonable estimate of a soldier's average height is around 170 cm (5'7"). - Roth, Jonathan, and Jonathan P. Roth. The Logistics of the Roman Army at War: 264 BC-AD 235. Columbia studies in the classical tradition, Vol. 23. Brill, 1999." @Metatron are you sure you were converting your sources from 'Roman feet' into modern feet and inches/cm? Roman feet were apparently 11.65 inches, which changes the calculation by several inches.

@georgeflorin6229 4 жыл бұрын

and today there are people in the army of 1.65

@alexanderv4609 3 жыл бұрын

Julius Caesar in his 'Commentaries on the Gallic War' mentioned that romans were short in comparison to gauls.

@pulsarplay5808 3 жыл бұрын

Well, Julio Cesar was as good as a general, how exaggerated he was as a historian. His memoirs and accounts of his own military career were an instrument of aggrandizement for his political career. The more he exaggerated the number of his enemies, his fierceness, or his height, the greater was the merit of his victories over them. An example of it was not true everything he said: he described the Gauls as tall and blond. Good. When he returned to Rome, he chose the tallest sparse prisoners he found and dyed their hair blond to parade in front the Roman people. Which means they weren't all the same tall, and they weren't all blond.

@alexanderv4609 3 жыл бұрын

@@pulsarplay5808 Makes sense. However, when I saw the stone beds in Pompei's Lupanar, which were not longer than 5 feet (1,52 meter), my first thought was that the romans were not really tall. I cannot imagine a 6 feet (1,82 meter) legionary on this bad that the author mentioned in this video (5:00). I mean, I have no doubts that this legion existed, but I don't think that such people were normal those times. Today, we could create a legion with people even taller than 7 feet (2,13 meter), but it doesn't mean, that this height is normal in our times.

@pulsarplay5808 3 жыл бұрын

@@alexanderv4609 And you are right. The average height today is higher than that of Roman times. But apparently it was higher than during most of the Middle Ages. With the fall of the empire, part of the ability to cultivate was lost in many areas of Europe and with it the growth and health of the people was affected. As for that Lupanar's bed, keep in mind that his main use was probably to give a quick fuck, not to sleep with his feet dangling off the bed. 😂

@scintillam_dei Жыл бұрын

@@pulsarplay5808 You say CAESAR wanted to exaggerate. THen he would have said Romans were taller. You backfire. Also, other original Latins and Greeks corroborate with northern Europeans being tall savages. You ignore the big picture.

@Camilodigiorgi 4 жыл бұрын

Barbarians weren't tall either! There is a very spread misconception that they ressemble today's Dutch, German or Scandinavian people whilst old clothing, housing, objects from the early Middle Ages show people to be much much shorter.

@ajvanmarle 3 жыл бұрын

In short yes. They were suffering from Malaria and various infectious diseases during childhood. That has repercussions.

@LazyLifeIFreak 4 жыл бұрын

Wait, so you're saying CONTEXT matters!? *GASP*

@anglosaxaphone672 2 жыл бұрын

I can't believe metatron made the opening question time card "where romans short" instead of "were"

@ehhe4381 3 жыл бұрын

Metatron: Emperor Nero created a legion of six foot tall Italians... Yeah? but the feet were smaller then...

@ehhe4381 3 жыл бұрын

Still Nero had small feet...

@pashapasovski5860 4 жыл бұрын

Sicilians and Milanese are like comparing, I don't know what, apples and oranges!

@relix7373 3 жыл бұрын

Very silly question haha. Good answer though, and the answer is of course, it's complicated and doesn't really matter. It is surprising cavalry riders were expected to be taller. Perhaps it was to help with reach? Because you'd expect a taller, heavier rider to slow and wear the horse down more.

@jiktak606 3 жыл бұрын

Correction: 172cm is 5'7 176cm is 5'9

@headhunter1945 3 жыл бұрын

Archeologists have some answers. Average population height in Pompeii was 5'4" and, around that time, average height from Austria to Norway was 5'7", suggesting there might have been a difference around 3" or 8 cm as you went further north. Romans had far more grains as staple foods, while the "Barbarians" more often had diets high in protein. This sort of thing is also observed between the nomadic tribes in asia, for instance mongols (who consumed a good bit of horse meat and milk) compared to their agrarian-centric neighbors. Case in point, Caesar describes some Germanic tribes as living almost exclusively from meat and cheese, and the Romans also noted that the Germanic people were larger yet than the Gauls.

@blacktigerpaw1 3 жыл бұрын

Height is also largely genetic, so short height in the cities may be due to industrial pollution.