Milvian Bridge 312 - Rise of Christianity DOCUMENTARY

[Music] most battles in history only changed matters in the short term such as with the transfer of a piece of land or the payment of a war indemnity some battles are said to change the course of history for centuries or even millennia after they take place due to the significance of the conflict the outcome of the decisive battle at the Milvian bridge shaped the religious future of the Roman Empire and maybe the world for centuries to come this video is sponsored by world of warships world of warships is called the thinking man's action game as it's the perfect balance between action and strategy command a massive naval fleet featuring the most iconic war vessels in history unlock new ships and dominate the oceans populated by 7 million players worldwide each ship is based on 3d scans of the real ships and are designed with incredible attention to detail making the battles very realistic and there are over 200 ships available to play across 11 different nations click the link below to play world of warships register with the code play war ships 2018 to receive 250 doubloons 1 million credits the HMS campbellton premium ship one port slot and three days of premium time [Music] previously we have covered the events of the crisis of the third century in the Roman Empire with its plagues civil wars and economic problems and constant incursions by Germanic tribes and the Sassanid Empire as these difficulties progressed Diocletian was proclaimed emperor by his soldiers in 284 a year later he defeated his imperial rival Karen s at the Battle of the Margus River claiming the Empire for himself his reign would prove to be a stabilizing force after the mayhem of the 3rd century sole rulership had proven unstable for the Empire so after his victory Diocletian moves to medial Arnhem and made his comrade Maximian Caesar of the West forming the dire key system Maximian marched west to deal with rebellions in ball and Britannia while Diocletian went east winning a battle against the sarmatians and making peace with the sassanids then in 286 he promoted his co Emperor to the rank of o Gustus although they were now technically the same rank Maximian was clearly the junior colleague in the relationship and Diocletian would continue to make rulings affecting the entire empire [Music] in 293 the dire key evolved into the Tetrarchy to the east Diocletian ruling from Nikki media appointed another of his senior officers hilarious as his Caesar who operated from sir Mian in the Balkans while in the West Maximian governing from Mediolanum appointed Constantius as his successor whose capital was in modern tria in Gaul Diocletian instituted this rule of four in an attempt to form a stable inheritance system which seems to possess some qualities which made the second century so prosperous the two senior partners the two August's would adopt their appointed Caesars as their sons and appoint them heir apparent in addition the Caesar would marry a daughter of their senior partner the four Co emperors were a part of the so-called Imperial College during November of 303 Diocletian travelled to Rome and celebrated the 20th anniversary of his rule with Maximian at his side also in his imperial retinue was a 31 year old military Tribune Constantine this young Ward was the son of Western Caesar Constantius and had served as the right-hand man of Diocletian and Galerius since 293 it seemed evidently clear that he was being groomed for the Imperial College [Music] Diocletian was struck by a vicious illness on his way back to Nicomedia and became unable to rule in May of 305 the frail old emperor announced his abdication to the army and Galerius succeeded him as the eastern Augustus Constantine stood on the tribunal with the Imperial duo expecting his promotion to Caesar however Galerius considered him too ambitious and ignored him in favor of a nephew Maxim - who could be used as a puppet at the same time an identical ceremony in medial Arnim saw Maximian stepped down and be replaced by Constantius the father of Constantine Galerius attempted to influence the events in the West's scheming to make Severus who was loyal to him the Western Caesar instead of Maximian son Maxentius Constantine and Maxentius would not stay idle and would eventually cause the first fracture of the Tetrarchy in this summer of 3:05 constant he has summoned his son from the east to join him in a campaign against the Picts he was not satisfied with the succession settlement dictated by Galerius and intended to introduce constantine to his troops as his preferred heir after a year of fighting with his father's troops they declared him or Gustus in modern-day York upon the death of constantia s-- during july of 306 when Galerius discovered news of this use of patient he was angered and refused to acknowledge Constantine's succession as senior Emperor however he would grant Constantine the title of Caesar with which he was for the moment satisfied to the south in Rome this succession also prompted Maxentius to act when Galerius declared that taxes would now be levied on the city of Rome the citizens Praetorians and urban cohorts were furious they declared Maxentius princeps as he promised not to introduce taxes on the Eternal City he was supported by the regions in the south of Italy and importantly Africa which controlled the majority of Rome's grain supply if Galerius was angered by Constantine's usurpation he was furious and the same act perpetrated by Maxentius whom he despised Severus who was a fellow puppet or Gustus of Galerius was ordered to destroy the usurper in Rome in early 307 Severus left Mediolanum with a powerful field army and approached the city's massive walls intimidated by the colossal City the army deserted when Maxentius offered lavish bribes to its commanders Severus was captured and killed Maxentius now controlled all of the Italian in in the summer of the same year Galerius himself crossed the Alps and marched south with another army despite adding me defectors from Severus to his forces Maxentius knew that Galerius was a capable commander and wisely withdrew behind the walls realising the difficulties of procedure such a massive City Galerius took time to negotiate with Maxentius this gave the prin caps time to dispatch agents to the enemy siege camp to offer more bribes in exchange for defections surprisingly this worked again and Galerius was forced to retreat after losing a portion of his army during their withdrawal the eastern or Gustus allowed his defeated troops to plunder the country which only angered the local population with this victory Maxentius declared himself augustus hilarious raised his lieutenant natee Gnaeus in place of the now dared Severus but the caesers Constantine and Maximus the latter of which proved to be less of a puppet than expected were not satisfied with this under pressure Galerius modified the Imperial College to consist of 4 august's in 310 in the same year Maxentius had to quell a rebellion in africa to secure his food supply in April of 311 Galleria's passed away from illness and the stage was set for the decisive conflict Constantine was rallying a huge army and made an alliance with lakenya's while maxim Ennis finally granted Maxentius the official recognition he was looking for afraid of lakenya's his growing power in early spring 312 Constantine finally crossed the Alps and won two major battles in northern Italy at Turin and Verona at the second of these battles Maxentius his most senior commander was killed he then marched down the wire flaminia arriving near Rome in autumn Constantine and his army arrived in the area of the Milvian bridge on the 27th of October where his army set up camp and began to prepare for battle at this point a famous event occurred which has been repeated throughout the ages as a key moment in the history of Christianity the sources differ but it is clear that at some point in the evening before the battle Constantine had a vision Eusebius claims that he was told by Constantine that while marching he looked up at the Sun and saw a cross of light in the sky above it along with the words in this sign you shall conquer he ordered his men to mark their shields with the first two letters of Christ's name Cairo as Maxentius was a devout follower of Rome's pagan faith the conflict at the Milvian bridge has since been seen as a battle between Christianity and paganism unlike the previous invasions of Italy Maxentius left the strong walls of Rome and decided to engage his numerically inferior opponent in a pitched battle now let us take a moment to discuss the composition of the two armies [Music] after his victories against Severus and Galerius sources state that Maxentius probably had around 100,000 soldiers to defend the entirety of his new realm the core of his army consisted of the Praetorian Guard Imperial Horse Guards and the urban cohorts of Rome deserter legionaries also formed a substantial part of Maxentius his forces in addition after his ascension Maxentius began to levy heavily from Africa and Italy it is likely that Maxentius had around 30,000 troops at the Milvian bridge although constantine had around 160,000 legionaries from the western provinces he had only brought around 40,000 soldiers across the Alps into Italy and it is likely that he lost many soldiers during the campaign leaving him with no more than 25,000 his force was divided into four categories elite Praetorian and Scutari Guardsmen some of which had proclaimed him emperor in york legions and auxiliar forces from the Germans and Britons on the morning of the 28th of October 312 Maxentius led his armies across a boat bridge and formed up on a plate near tour de Quinto the plane as Tour de Quinto was situated at a bend in the Tiber which meant that both armies had their backs to the river the Constantinian infantry had arrayed itself in a traditional two line battle formation with a small reserve force in the rear Constantine's left wing closest to the river was manned by a strong two division cavalry force whereas his right was weaker BMAC sentian infantry formed up into defensive square formations due to the limited space available on his section of the field Mac sentian believed that the impossible nature of retreat would make his troops fight better Constantine himself opened the battle charging with his elite first Cavalry Division into the enemy Vanguard and routing it almost instantly this charge was seen as the signal for his first line of infantry to charge the front enemy square manned by Maxentius his Praetorians and veterans both sides through their javelins charged at one another in a shield wall and drew their swords for the melee Maxentius is hardened frontline troops held firm and could not be dislodged an issue leading to both sides suffering casualties on Constantine's left it looked as if the Mac sentian cavalry would collapse quickly but it was steadied by the reserves on the right the second Constantinian cavalry division charged and scattered the small Mac sentient cavalry force then pursued them towards the Milvian bridge to cut off the enemy's retreat back on the left flank Maxentius his reserves were only a momentary reprieve as Constantine readied his cavalry once again he then charged at this weak point under this overwhelming pressure the Mac sentian cavalry collapsed and left the defensive square vulnerable which was surrounded by Constantine's forces the remainder of Maxentius is horsemen as well as the unengaged second square of fresh recruits turned and fled towards the bridge which became crammed with frantic and fleeing soldiers Maxentius himself was caught up in the route of his own army attempted to swim across the Tiber and drowned along with many of his men while many more were butchered on the banks to the north the trapped and surrounded Praetorian square decided to take a last stand against Constantine's forces unlike the rest of Maxentius his army which fled and were slaughtered with their backs to the Tiber the Praetorians were spared by Constantine who admired their courage over all casualties are unknown but the short length of the battle seems to indicate that the Constantinian army only suffered light casualty whereas Maxentius his army suffered greatly in its defeat the day after the battle he defeated Maxentius his corpse was found on the riverbank Constantine entered Rome and claimed the entirety of the West for himself at the same time his ally lakenya's would defeat Maximus to claim the east in 313 however the alliance between the two was not to last after lakenya's began to persecute Christians in his new realm Constantine attacked and defeated him at the Battle of chrysalis in 324 reuniting the Empire in his name from this point the Roman Empire would increasingly become a Christian realm disregarding the pagan gods of its past thank you for watching our video on the Battle of the Milvian bridge if you want to learn more about the rise of Christianity and its relations with the Roman Empire and Roman society you can listen to the kings and Generals podcast via the link in the description or the pinned comment new videos are always on the way so make sure you are subscribed to our Channel and half press the bell button we would like to express our gratitude to our patreon supporters and channel members who make the creation of our videos possible now you can also support us by buying our merchandise via the link in the description this is the Kings as Generals channel and we will catch you on the next one

Channel: Kings and Generals

Views: 731,525

Rating: 4.9263182 out of 5

Keywords: Crisis of the Third Century, Roman empire, Tetrarchy, Diocletian, Christianity, Milvian Bridge, battle of the Milvian Bridge, Constantine, emperor, animated historical documentary, animated history, rome documentary, church history, kings and generals, full documentary, world history, history lesson, decisive battles, animated documentary, documentary film, history documentary, military history, historia civilis, armies and tactics, ancient history, roman republic, ancient rome

Id: VbFtMXytMj8

Length: 17min 0sec (1020 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 30 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/DamagingChicken]

One of the most important battles in world history IMO