Ancient Rome in 20 minutes

here are the letters the Romans gave us the near the countries whose languages derived from Latin today they cover half the world as for the ancient Romans the boundaries of the states encompassed their entire civilization the Roman peace or Pax Romana serves as the first example of globalization let's take a walk across 12 centuries of the Roman history and yes those numerals are also a Roman legacy what is Rome City on seven hills capital of Italy but that is today two thousand years ago there it is another thousand years ago they're a tiny tribal settlement of the Latins by the river Tiber how did this manage to conquer the world first it was lucky with its neighbors to the north the Etruscans of modern Tuscany and mysterious people whose language has never been fully decipher to the south Greek colonies these peoples all traded with each other it was at the crossroads of their trade routes that Rome appeared from the very start bromas villain open city a safe haven for outcasts murderers runaway slaves Rome offered migrants a unique opportunity to become fully fledged citizens this will make Rome the largest metropolitan city of the ancient world the Romans themselves believed there were descendants of refugees from the Middle East who had survived the Trojan War Romulus and Remus were the great grandchildren of the Trojan hero Aeneas nursed by an Italian she-wolf the brothers quarrelled we're to cite the future world capital Romulus killed Remus gave his name to the city and became its first ruler as legend has it there were seven kings each of which enjoyed a lengthy reign and left some beneficial legacy a calendar a Sioux system or the capitolium a temple to the senior god Jupiter much of what the Romans later became famous for aqueducts bridges perhaps even the gladiatorial games were borrowed from the this people had invented the Latin alphabet by adapting the Greek letters for their own needs as the surprising that their last Kings were Etruscan Rome borrowed her military and government organization from them while maintaining her Stern patriarchal simplicity in 509 Rome was shaken by a sex scandal the son of King Tarquin the proud raped the chaste Lucretia taco was expelled making him the last king of Rome the Romans decided to prevent any such concentration of power ever again from 509 onwards they elect two consuls to serve a European instead of a monarch the consuls were controlled by the Senate this consisted of three hundred fathers Patras in latin hence the term patricians those not so lucky to be born into the right family x' joining the plebs even if they were as rich as patricians they were not entitled to take up positions in the state it is in the 200 years struggle for these rights that the republic literally meaning the public claim will be formed the praveen's would make up the backbone of the army that they have their own way they would threaten the fledgling state that immigration to a neighboring hill each time the scared patricians caved in introducing for instance the special position of a representative or Tribune of the plebeians these had the right to veto any decisions of the concepts one of the main achievements of this flood was the publication of the first written laws by 287 BC the plebeians had achieved complete equality of rights the unity of Rome found its best expression in the formula sonatas Papa loose clay Romanus the Senate and the Roman people which still adorns the manhole covers in Rome in 3 900 BC the history of Rome could have come to an end the city was unexpectedly taken by the dolls the guard dogs had sense no danger for which they would be crucified every year six geese a walk the last protectors of the Capitoline hill fortress instead saving Rome from complete destruction the shaken Romans conduct that the military reform the Roman legion was divided into manipul I making it more mobile in battle the Roman army is but the next hundred years in constant wars instead of simply imposing attribute on the conquered the Romans will enter into a treaty of alliance and the loyal allies supply Rome with a never-ending stream of recruits thanks to this the Roman legions were able to stand their ground in battle with the most efficient fighting force of the time the all-conquering macedonian facts led by tourists a relative of alexander the great the last stronghold of resistance in italy the greek city of talent and then hired the most costly and celebrated contemporary warlord of the time to defend against roman expansion having conquered Talentum and weak sicily rome now had to take on a much more dangerous adversary Carthage Lord of the Mediterranean the Romans called the Phoenicians of Carthage Pollux hence the Punic Wars of the next hundred years in 149 BC Rome had taken the greater part of Punic territory and that of their allies but after each defeat the training power of Carthage would rapidly recover senator Cato the Elder began to finish every speech with the same refrain Carthage must be destroyed and so it was done the city was wiped out all of its population was enslaved allegedly plowing salt into the air as an eternal curse also in 146 BC the Romans wiped out another city kourin making Greece and Macedonia Roman provinces Rome appropriated the colossal riches of the disintegrating Empire of Alexander but the patriarchal simplicity of Rome succumbed to the sophisticated Greek culture Greek became in effect a second state language the Roman nobility busied itself learning new words hexameter history rhetoric cicero the most famed orator of rome would come to model his speeches on those of the greek demosthenes however across this immense territory four rights were only afforded to the Romans themselves even other accountants the majority of the military had no citizenship rights these were demand equality declare war and win the right to take part in managing the state this was a total GameChanger while ancient Greece remained a collection of squabbling city-states Rome gradually extended citizenship rights to the conquer laying down the basis for an empire [Music] having conquered half the world Rome fell victim to globalization cheap grain and an inflow of unpaid slave labour bankrupted the small farmers these rushed into the cities and joined the ranks of the proletariat those who have nothing to lose except their own offspring at the same time the rich grew a hundred times richer having bought land from the ruins for a song previously united the Senate and the Roman people split to two hostile camps the tribunes of the people the Gracchi brothers would try to reconcile they proposed granting access public lands to the impoverished peasants and suggested pre distributions of bread to the poor the disgruntled senators decided to suppress the Gracchi movement by force killing the brothers and several thousand of their allies Rome was gripped by civil wars social mobility for the proletariat was offered by Gaius Marius a popular general he began enrolling the proletariat into the army with a promise of a grant of land at the end of service this would make the legions personally devoted to their generals in 49 BC two outstanding generals part of a Rome can I ask from pairs at one the eastern provinces for Rome including Restless Judea cleared the Mediterranean of piracy defeated Spartacus slave revolt and justifiably added the title great to his name Gaius Julius Caesar had conquered Gaul nowadays they would call it genocide he butchered a million goals and enslaved as many more he went on to defeat the Germans and then invaded pretty according to the law the general had to dismiss his legions before returning to Rome and in return having moment of glory a triumphal entry into the capital to the applause of the citizens Caesar performed a hitherto unseen maneuver he refused to submit to the Senate and having crossed the Italian border the river Rubicon marched his legions to rope it would take him several years to defeat Pompey the Great and his other rivals picking Roman legions against each other in the process Caesar an ex new territories and gave Cleopatra the Egyptian throne after a romantic cruise along the Nile she would give birth to cesarean or little Caesar on his return Caesar would add Imperato or Emperor to his name title originally meaning victorious commander and gained control of all political positions Consul Tribune of the people and dictator rumours spread that Caesar wanted to declare himself king conspiracy was brewing in the Senate and Caesar was assassinated Caesar left his wealth right unexpectedly for all concerned to his grandnephew 19 year old Gaius Octavius this Octavian immediately joined in the power struggle in 31 BC he defeated his last rival the warlord Mark Anthony who likewise had an affair with Cleopatra the lovers would take their own lives Octavian was left so ruler of a vast territory [Music] Julius Caesar ruled for four years Octavian assuming the title Augustus meaning the venerable or the great rule for an endless 43 years he didn't formally abolish the republic he simply took control of all possible positions making his power almost absolute but he modestly called himself princip's the first senator and even though skirmishes with barbarians continued along the borders inside them the period of Pax Romana set in a period of peace and stability that was to last 200 years the Empire experienced an economic upswing bread was distributed for free to two hundred thousand Reaper on augustus orders a 500 meter basin was dug at the very center of the Capitol where 3,000 gladiators mimicked sea battles on real seagoing vessels in Rome the construction was booming the concrete multi-story districts were growing Augustus had to introduce height regulations limiting skyscrapers to six floors and still the citizens were unhappy they complained about traffic jams crucial of the waters of the fiber and high rents the golden century of poetry dawn my scene as a quasi Minister of Culture allocated special grants to praise the value of the state temples would be built in the honour of Augustus and even a month was named after him thus the cult of the Roman emperors was emerging they would come to me venerated alongside Mars and Jupiter after Augustus power became hereditary the senatorial opposition has left us vivid portraits of the first Emperor's suspicious Tiberius Unleashed era under the pretext of the law on treason under this law any action could be deemed offensive it was enough not to sufficiently praise the emperor or paying a brothel but coins bearing his portrait in distant Judea a preacher refusing to worship the Emperor's God was crucified Caligula wanted to make his horse a consul a scholar and go make Claudius was too occupied with feasting and the reforming of the alphabet to give an eye on court intrigue one of his wives Messalina was giving women of easy virtue a run for their money in the brothels and the other Agra Pina poisoned Claudius with mushrooms to enthrone her son from another marriage bureau Nero believing that he was a born akka not an emperor would let her kill his own mother and then allegedly the Apostles Peter and Paul then he again allegedly set fire to Rome so as to read the verses on the fall of Troy during the blaze he would accuse the first Christians of arson and initiated their persecution and finally he took his own life most details of this era are known from Tacitus a historian and senator who observed the degradation of Republican institutions state of the Empire was now decided not so much by the Senate as by the Praetorian guards the Emperor's personal security force created back in the times of Augustus these suffocated Tiberius with the cushions slayed Caligula by the sword and hailed Claudius Emperor in all fairness at the same time the Empire grew expanding its new territories Roman legions conquered part of Britain where they founded a town called Londinium provinces were given a transparent taxation system and the non Roman nobility began to enter the Senate on mass a grandchild of an Italian peasant Vespasian Flavius would become the founder of the next industry Vespasian and Titus suppressing the uprising in gdf committed genocide again according to modern day not Roman standards and reduced the Temple of Jerusalem for nothing but the Wailing Wall on a lighter note Vespasian had a jolly good Roman predisposition he taxed the collectors of urine at the public toilets and Titus the destroyer of Jerusalem were nevertheless obtained the title of merciful after a splendid triumph he opened the Coliseum for the people Titus would be called the love and consolation of humankind and after such festivities had defeated the public treasury Vesuvius destroyed Pompeii plagued devastated half Italy and Titus became a God the second century would go down in history as the era of the good Emperor's Trajan was considered by his contemporaries the best emperor ever Rome became a million strong City and the Empire reached its largest extent Rome connected on new territories via network of paved roads this system still determines the transport map of Europe after Trajan's conquest Hadrian busied himself with defense directing massive fortifications of Britain and between the Rhine and the Danube Pantheon was built in Rome the first temple to be topped by a massive dome a real architectural sensation of the day dedicated to all the gods Hadrian would also include his lover among the young Antonius more of his images have survived than of any robot the last good emperor the throne philosopher Marcus Aurelius would spend most of his reign on military expeditions in between battles he wrote his manifesto for stoic philosophy meditations it was under Marcus Aurelius a son Commodus that the Pax Romana the Roman peace came to an end he preferred a gladiators glory to the affairs of state conspirators had the Emperor strangled by a fellow fighter the slave narcissus Rome sank into chaos the next hundred years brought a sequence of random Emperor's proclaimed by the army taking return on the throne were a liberated slave the fortune seeker who bought the throne at an auction general Punic descent who would play statues of the former enemy Hannibal all over the Empire a Syrian priest of the son and a former Shepherd who owed his popularity to his powerful physique in 212 Emperor Caracalla half North African half Syrian granted Roman citizenship to nearly all three subjects of the Empire the idea that you could be a Roman engineer in Africa or any other corner of the Empire at all might well be the main legacy of Rome still in use today by mid-century Rome was already in the midst of such a crisis that the whole provinces were starting to split off the goals for instance proclaimed an empire of their own order would be restored by the son of a liberated slave Diocletian having started his career as a soldier he would end up an absolute monarch an astonishing example of social mobility Diocletian split the empire into four with four Co rulers and four capitals situated closer to the frontier Rome lost its significance the Senate became a town council the country was now ruled by an army of officials personally reporting to the Emperor thus the ancient world centered around the concept of a free community and free citizens came to an end from the princeps the first senator the Emperor had become the Dominus a title by which slaves address their masters the citizen became a subject the warrior turned into a soldier and the farmer a semi serf Diocletian himself resigned from the post of emperor 20 years later and went off to his estate to grow cabbages after decreases departure the Co rulers were fighting for power Constantine the Future Saint Constantine the great emerging victorious before the crucial battle for Rome he allegedly had a vision of a cross after this he made all religions equal after 300 years of persecutions the Christians came out of the catacombs and were now entitled to build churches alongside the temples of Augustus and Mars Constantine would take the cross from Jerusalem to the new capital of the Roman Empire Constantinople Theodosius the person would make Christianity the official religion and begin to destroy the ancient temples he would also be the last emperor of a United Roman Empire his sons split the empire into West and East the eastern half would live another thousand years and is known to us as Byzantium the western part would fall victim to the great migration of people's Rome founded by migrants would fall to the onslaught of a new wave of refugees ironically the last ruler of Rome would be called Romulus in modern Rome not far from the Colosseum in the ruins of the forum there is a tune its occupant was neither emperor nor senator but a simple Baker called Euler Satan's likely born a slave into a family of Greek migrants he later entered into a bread supply contract with the capital and became so rich that he could build such a monument for himself and his wife before Rome in ancient Egypt and elsewhere or after Rome during the Middle Ages a man would die in the same station in life as he had been born the life and career of Euro Satan's is an answer to the question of how long was able to create a global state that lasted over a thousand years [Music] do you like our video we have another one this time about ancient Greece or you can watch the shortest history of Russia not the 20th century we've squeezed a hundred years into just 25 minutes and that is not all subscribe to the Artemis Channel and you'll be sure not to miss out on anything

Channel: Arzamas

Views: 3,900,015

Rating: 4.8986816 out of 5

Keywords: arzamas, арзамас, Rome, Caesar, Ancient World, History, Crash course, Antiquity, Italy, Emperor, Nero, The Colosseum, Culture, Art, European History, Legion, Trajan, Republic, Cicero, Politics, Plebians, Byzantine Empire, History of culture, Constantine, Cleopatra, Homosexualism, Antinous, Hadrian, Consul, Horse, Caligula, Jupiter, Octavian, Augustus, Senate, Senator, Capitoline Wolf, She-wolf, XX, Sicily, Hannibal, Ancient Rome, Pax Romana, SPQR, Brian Cox, Spartacus, education, classical age, civilization, plebeians

Id: 46ZXl-V4qwY

Length: 20min 58sec (1258 seconds)

Published: Tue May 30 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/Momoneko]

I'm Russian and Arzamas is one of the things that keep my interest for history sated.

Sadly, the materials they publish are mostly in Russian, and even in Russian the infographic-style videos such as this and history of Greece are extremely rare, mostly there're just audio lectures or written articles\interactive materials.

Still, if you understand Russian, Arzamas is a priceless educational source.

[u/andreysolovev]

Caesar, The Colosseum, Republic, Nero, geese, plebeians, legions — everything that you once knew, but forgot, in a crash course video by Arzamas.

Narrated by Brian Cox.

[u/Scout_022]

"the guard dogs sensed no danger, for which they would be crucified every year since"

do they still crucify a dog every year?

[u/doot_doot]

I know you can't fit everything in there but totally skipping Sulla and the civil wars and the proscriptions seems like a pretty glaring mistake to me.

[u/_talen]

Holy shit, this is so much better than the garbage that i have seen posted in another subreddit.
It seems to be the same video but the narration is fucking garbage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc2tyBtrG4Y

[u/m3gamuff1n]

Pfft, amateur.

Bill Wurtz can do the ENTIRE world in 19 minutes.

[u/Pikeman212a6c]

In case anyone wants to know a whole lot more the History of Rome podcast by Mike Duncan is one of the best podcasts ever recorded.

[u/jimmy5889]

Huh, Julius Caesar was the first general to march on Rome? Get f*cked Sulla and Marius!

Also, blaming the fall of the Republic on globalization is... a bit of a stretch.

I get that this is a lot of history to cover in 20 minutes, but this is terrible.

[u/kingzandshit]

The one about Greece is great too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFRxmi4uCGo