I hope you all enjoy this little stray away from my original series on the Legions. Due to the much appreciated interest from your side, I decided to make a smaller series about the way the Legions operated, to make sure we are all on the same page as I continue my main series. I'll be making a couple more of these kinds of videos in the future. As for now, the story of the 14th Legion is next!!

You might pin your comment at the top so everybody would see . Btw good job ! Didnt know that every legionnaire was also a slinger .

I'd love to see a video about the 14th legion the legion that defeated boudica. after that you should make a video about the valeria victrix or the eleventh or the fifth alaudae. legion and then you should make a video about the Roman military ranks,wages,how do they get promoted,how did the military system works

These videos about the legions and Roman army are my favorite! I think there is a pretty large demand for Roman military history and it’s absolute badassery. From their grueling engineering and building speed to their tough fights against the odds, what’s not to love? I’m sure this channel will grow

Hello, just found your channel, after the 14th do you think you could od the 6th, please?

@βαγγελης αικατερινης I think everyone was a little surprised by the prevalence of sling use. I always thought it was reserved for specialized troops like the Baleric slingers.

An odd note on roman legionnaires that may also account for the crazy levels of stamina they exhibited in battle was the fact legionnaires in a block formation would be rotated in and out of the front rank at approximately 1 minute of combat so they stay consistently fresh and receive about a 7-minute breather before they were upfront again. This is also an impressive feat of coordination as maintaining a battle line while rotating men between the front and back ranks would have required intense displine.

I never knew! Thanks for sharing

What is your classical source on this?

@sir humpy YouTube

That's just like Sword Art Online. Romans must have copied the show

Cool. It's like short shifts in hockey.

Every legionarre was also part modern day construction worker. The days before battle, two warring bodies would often camp with sight distance of the other. It was extremely demoralizing for most Roman antagonists to wake, only to find rows of palisade with towers and other entrenchments built overnight, the siege of Alesia being an excellent example.

The siege of Alesia was far from an example. Caesar wasted a lot of materials and energy to get so far. On the other hand, the Gauls were surprised by this ridiculous use of extreme engineering. At least, it was not a normal procedure. Only the siege of Massada was something like it.

Part modern day construction worker...? Really? Do go on.

Imagine trying to play call of duty only to find out the other guys have been playing fortnite the entire time

@PlaneTruths Its a phrase often used by Dan Carlin on his podcast and when you realise its accuracy you're going to feel a bit silly for your comment

@velenvskaelhas I feel more silly reading your comment. What was the aim of your comment? And just because someone produces a podcast doesn't make them instantly correct. So if you want to tell me what he means by that phrase and how it applies here that would be awesome.

As a former US Marine, I'm amazed at how similar modern military training is to ancient Roman military training. Not much has changed. In basic training, Marine recruits are first taught close order drill and formation. Then, the next 'phase' begins in which they are taught certain practical survival skills - such as swimming, sowing, first aid training, navigation (using a map and compass), etc. We are also issued our rifles in this 'phase' and taught how to properly operate it (though we are not yet allowed to fire live rounds). The final 'phase' of training was the actual combat training. Getting to *use* all these weapons you were only learning about before (now we got to fire live rounds); learning advanced infantry tactics and maneuvers, conducting combat exercises to practice these techniques, etc. We had to live in the forest pretending we were at war; digging and sleeping in fighting holes, eating nothing but MREs, getting only 1-2 hours of sleep a night, one team of recruits conducting mock patrols while opposing teams conduct mock ambushes, 'shooting' at each other with blank ammunition. The 10-20 mile forced march was also a common thing in Marine training, with each Marine recruit carrying nearly 100 lbs of gear too, just like ancient Roman troops. It's very interesting to see that the modern US Marine Corps follows the same training program and 'curriculum' as ancient Roman military. I guess "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". - 'Phase' 1: The absolute basics. Such as formation, close order drill, physical fitness. - 'Phase' 2: Practical survival skills and basics of equipment/weapons/tools. - 'Phase' 3: Full-fledged combat training. Actually *USING* all the weapons, rather than just learning about them. Actually *DOING* all these infantry tactics and maneuvers, rather than just learning about them.

@Orangutan Deschain as an actual Marine vet of almost 9 years and 4 overseas tours I can confirm a lot of what he said was legit. The 100 lbs of gear is more like 80, I was never taught to sew in boot camp, however most of what he said was accurate. You are actually ridiculously mistaken, “ex Marine” is the term no Marine would ever use.. Former Marine is widely accepted and I use it consistently when talking about my service. Yes it is true you are issued your M16 in receiving before you even meet your Senior, however what he’s talking about is Phase 2 Rifle week where you pack up your entire barracks and live at the Rifle range area for two weeks, week 1 is grass week, week 2 is range week. Moral of the story, never call stolen valor unless you are ABSOLUTELY sure, if you weren’t a Marine don’t call someone out for something you have no experience in.

I was not in U.S. military but from one of the EU countries its same principle so yeah,can confirm

@Orangutan Deschain I bet you feel pretty good about your post lmao

Usmc boot camp has changed through the last decades but ya we got rifles in receiving but the ones we shot in rifle qual were not the ones we did drill with if I remember correctly

Their biggest strength was standardization. They could quickly field large groups of legions, train them, equip them, and navigate them throughout the empire. So in Judea, Gaul, Germania, Hispania, Egypt, or Scythia you might have a local rebellion and kill 2-3 locally based legions, take, the standards, and perhaps capture the governor. For many empires this would be back breaking but for Rome they would field, train, and throw 6 legions back at you the next year to kick you in your teeth. The only group that consistently beat rome in the open field for extended periods of time was Hannibal. Even he was eventually weakened and beaten by Rome's endless supply of soldiers.

And that was largely because he knew their playbook and was trying to short circuit them as much as possible. Plus he liked to do things considered "impossible", so he often had surprise on his side and terrain advantage.

It's called logistics.. the roman army knew long before anyone else the true importance of logistics .. along with they're training this is what enabled them to conquer the world of they're time .

i would mention the parthic empire as a good antagonist of rome, considering they never were able to defeat them

@The d3m0n0id In addition, he was up against the pre-Marian reform Romans. They had the Hastati, Princeps and Triarii going on. I wonder how well he would've fared against post-Marian Legions. (admittedly, the difference between the pre-reform and post-reform army was largely that the later had even greater standardization and numbers on its side)

@Jeff Benton Marius went kinda batty but damn, what a soldier!

This guy is great, hardly any historians ever actually describe the training, they are usually just like "the legionnaire's intense training made them very effective." Then move on

I would love to see a true deep dive into the topic. How many push ups where they required to do in 2 minutes? how many calories did they eat on average? All I learned here is that they marched 20-24 roman miles. What about roman candles? cause those are also different from normal candles.

@Green Wave yeah I know what you mean I love minor details like that, most people think that's odd

I couldn't agree more, it's annoying how quickly most documentaries and historians pass over the training aspect and move on. But just a quick correction, it's legionaries as in legionary, not legionnaires as in legionnaire. Legionnaires are from the French foreign legion, not ancient Rome.

@Brother Vibius yeah i know autocorrect insisted

@The Randomness Network Ahh no worries then, I know the pain of an overactive autocorrect, bane of my life when texting people.

All this just to become a recruit...Triarii, the veterans who made it to old age, must've been some absolute beasts..going through this training, and then surviving through countless battles for several decades..

Triarii did not exist after the Marian reforms. The professional Roman army did however have Evocati cohorts, which were formed from veteran legionaries that served their term.

Probably tall 6+ feet dudes.

@A There would be barely any of those around. Note how 5.8 feet (5'10'' according to the even sillier convention used for height nowadays) was already considered tall, and how recruits were preferably from poor parts of the empire where they would not have optimal nutrition growing up and would have to work hard at an early age. The odds of growing over 6 feet vanish under those conditions.

@Forasago manlet cope

Actually, I'd be curious to find out what were the chances for a legionary to be in combat in a given year. Of course, it varied on the period and on the location but I wouldn't be surprised to find out that many legions especially in the long pacified provinces didn't see active fighting for years. Forays, punitive expeditions, pillaging with relatively little fighting and relatively few casualties were more likely to happen in the life of a legionary than proper pitched battles where legions were decimated.

Their methods were so good, they're still being taught almost 2000 years later.

I was in the U.S. Army Reserve and National Guard. I have often considered that you could take Roman soldiers from this height of the empire period and put them through Basic and they would perfectly understand everything, right down to the paperwork. And that you could do the same with the guys in my units in a Roman army camp. My last first sergeant used to tell stories of beating his M-113 driver on the head with the radio antenna. He would have LOVED a vinewood staff.

we're still humans, still about the same size and still dying the same ways. Just our weapons changed.

@Yuri Teixeira Mendes they were around 5’5 now we’re about 5’9

​@YaBoyKev I really don't think so. 177cm (cavalry required height) is over 5'10 in freedom units.

@Yuri Teixeira Mendes so you believe they were taller….

I think that an important part of Roman army training was the contubernium (“tent-together”), which was composed of eight legionaries, who trained together, fought together and (as the name suggests) always shared the same tent. They also could be rewarded or punished together as a unit. I am sure that these small permanent squads really helped Roman unit cohesion.

That's how are military rocks so I'd imagine that's where we got it from. Platoons is what it's called, one person messed up then that person messed it up for everyone 😂😂

Interestingly the part about "lively eyes" was also a desired feature in men recruited to the Swedish Army in the 1700's actually. They wanted applicants to have "good spirit, the sense of being a good comrade and have the ability to sing tunes" as well. I do not know if these requirements were inspired by the Romans though, or if it was just well understood that these features in men made good soldiers.

I'd prefer going to war with a good soldier who's also funny then a good soldier who's a pain in the ass.

@Patfettx there's a similar concept in many fields of engineering. Companies would in general rather hire an average engineer with conversation and teamwork skills over an antisocial savant.

@Baphelon Savants are not antisocial, they are asocial.

Slingers hurled lead weights, not stones, though I'm sure they hurled stones in time of necessity. The lead projectiles had standard shapes and weights. They were marked with the identification of their legion. After successful battle they were gathered up and recovered for reuse. They are commonly found archaeological artifacts and have been used to track the movements of legions or detachments from them. There are excellent You Tube programs on how to use a sling and related weapons. They could be very formidible. Consider a volley of low velocity large shotgun slugs as an equivalent. Since their enemies typically had no equivalent missles but only relatively weak archery without compound bows and fired at high trajectories this could be a decisive weapon by breaking up enemy formations and unit cohesion. I certainly wouldn't want to face a volley of well delivered slung lead projectiles.

Thank you for the insight Brian!

these weapons are really cool. Thank you for explaining it

Well said Bryan. I would be HORRIFIED of ancient slingers: the range, low projectile observability and damage potential is something that shocks me. For the nerds who still want more:  THE SLING Recruits are to be taught the art of throwing stones both with the hand and sling. The inhabitants of the Balearic Islands are said to have been the inventors of slings, and to have managed them with surprising dexterity, owing to the manner of bringing up their children. The children were not allowed to have their food by their mothers till they had first struck it with their sling. Soldiers, notwithstanding their defensive armor, are often more annoyed by the round stones from the sling than by all the arrows of the enemy. Stones kill without mangling the body, and the contusion is mortal without loss of blood. It is universally known the ancients employed slingers in all their engagements. There is the greater reason for instructing all troops without exception in this exercise, as the sling cannot be reckoned any incumbrance, and often is of the greatest service, especially when they are obliged to engage in stony places, to defend a mountain or an eminence, or to repulse an enemy at the attack of a castle or city.

That's a great point. I feel like we laugh off slings as "barbaric" in modern times, but an arrow shot at a high angle vs a freakin lead weight? If given the choice of what to get hit with, I'd take my chances with the arrow

@Baphelon 100%, the story of David vs Goliath is one of those that's entirely misinterpreted through our modern lens due to that reputation. It wasn't a small guy with a pathetic little weapon miraculously beating a giant killing machine, it was one skilled man equipped with the height of military technology of the time vs a big dude fighting yesterday's war. David had all the advantage in the situation, if you take the parable at face value anyway.

Miyamoto Musashi says in the Book of Five Rings that being proficient in only one weapon is just as much of a weakness as being proficient in none. A real fighter needs to know how to properly handle all the weapons available, and know which is the better in each situation. Really interesting to see completely different cultures sharing the same mindset.

Based.

imo thats because we are all the same thing.

Same with jiu jujitsu you have your favorite submissions but i train all position's and train take downs alout.

in astrology the same is suggested as it is with mma

@devriestown Hold on

You forgot the most important thing about the sling! Back then it had more range than the bows of the period. Also they manufactured metal standardized sling ammunition with a hole in it to cause it to whistle. They were often found with derogative messages etched in them. Kind of like how we write messages on bombs we drop. Great job on the video and hope to see more!

They would be deadly when used in a defensive position especially when used in volume. They would have been small and easy to carry.

When panic and fear hits, you fall back to your training, which is why they emphasized it so much and why it is paramount for success.

They say you fight like you train

The more you sweat in training the less you bleed in war

A man with natural ability, but no training, is a huge loss in the battlefield- lost potential!

You guys are great. Let me get my quote book.

@bemotivated "sweat during peace, bleed less during war" - sun tzu

Brilliant! This is the stuff I wish we learned in school. Students would be a lot more interested in learning about history if it were thought through human perspective. Great video! Thanks!

I just finished reading the art of war by Vegetius, it's amazing and a blessing that such a document survived until today. I highly recommend it, a direct look inside more than 2000 years ago. Makes me feel proud being somewhat descendant of the Roman culture

They had two-a-days for recruits. And everyone built things and also knew how to tear things down. I think the word 'professional' would describe Roman soldiers and they were many times up against enemies whose training didn't even come close to mastering the military skills of the Romans. Add to this that Rome was a wealthy nation/state and could provide the best of everything their soldiers needed and you have a formula few other nation/states could match.

This is very interesting about the selection process. I believe it is important even today for any successful operation. In my Infantry unit, most of the sub-standard's were discharged with in the first year of service.

Thank you so much for the deep dive into some generally forgotten details of the Roman Imperial Army, & just what made them such a force to be reckoned with.

A sense of humour being a desirable feat for the legion was unexpected for me.

At first glance it made no sense to me either, but thinking about it, I can see the logic behind the decision. One could think that those that make jokes are more capable of handling stress and are better at dealing with the horrors of war mentally. I don't know if that's true, they did manage to conquer a whole lot of land with their selection methods so I'm guessing they were on to something

Every guy who's done military service knows there's a lot of laughs and fun going on. Despite the harshness of the drilling. Or maybe because of it.

During the hard stress and long marches and heavy work the humor and chitchat is something that make the whole squad or troop get to know each other good and helping each other. You can just have a look at some of the Varangier runic scribbling in Rome that has just that .

@Marius Muresan yup, you’re absolutely right. I’ve had the best conversations and heard the best jokes all while in some of the worst spots a person can be in.

@SonOfDorn1717 Exactly. No army of assholes is going to be very cohesive. Humor is essential.

Making money is an action. Keeping money is a behaviour, but "Growing money is wisdom" I heard this from someone 💯

I'm glad I got into crypto when I did because it was my financial turning point. It was my best decision so far.

There is such a Big potential for a series where the main characters go through this process

Hi and thanks for the video! Lots of things to learn here. You made it very clear that the Roman army had experience and expertise in using all sorts of skills to prevail over their enemies. This also very likely extended to psychological warfare, intimidation etc. There also was a need to maintain an incentive for the Roman population to support this significant pressure of military drafts/recruitment on families and the productive economy. Therefore I am tempted to ask: do we have any reason to believe that some of the written sources you have quoted may have overemphasised some aspects of Roman military power, in order to look good both to enemies outside and to inside political forces? (C.Julius Caesar may apparently have done this in his account of the Gallic Wars). Have we seen discrepancies between descriptions and archaeological findings? Or non-Roman sources? I realise this may well exceed the format or scope of your video! Thanks

I always liked the "train harder than the real task at hand" mentality. Makes one good at their job, whatever that is.

I expected they were very well trained, but I didn't expect they were that big and so able in multiple abilities beyond sword fighting!! Take on count that, at Imperial Time, average stature was comfortably 10 cm less than today, and if minimum was 168 cm, it means they were all tall, athletic and well built!! Legionaries were real beasts!!!

Strong nations can only be defeated by themselves. Rome was no exception.

You must be the son of Tsun Zsut...

No great nation can be conquered from without until it has rotted from within.

@John Zeszut *sweats in American

Ww1... ww2... revolutionary war... war of 1812...

@not sure Why are you listing entirely unrelated wars? WW1 and 2 both were evenly matched conflicts between coalitions of world powers. Revolutionary War and 1812 were a single colony breaking away from a greater power, neither war broke the Empire.

0:46 Changes in military recruitment did contribute to the fall of the Roman Republic, but not to the decline of the Empire, and not due to a decline in the power of the Roman military. These changes occurred as part of the Roman Revolution, and they contributed to the Revolution politically by enlisting men living in third world conditions, whose subsistence depended entirely upon their military leaders. These generals took advantage of their troops' allegiance to turn their armies on the State.  The recruitment changes were made in 104 BC, and by the reign of Trajan, in 117 AD, the Empire had tripled in size. Most of the best Roman structures were built after these military changes.The Empire became richer and stronger because of the political changes resulting from recruitment changes. Running an Empire with a city-state government turned out to be unsustainable. All it took was a little chaos among a small group of men in a small forum to topple the entire system. The Imperial government had way more to manage, and was able to do so for another 1500 years (if you count the Byzantine Empire, which you should). So if anything these recruitment changes helped save the Roman Empire.

These assumptions are based of Vegetius, but he needs to be taken with a HEAPING spoonful of salt, since he was an armchair "general" who was never actually in the military, and was not only wrong about the Roman army of his day in many ways (contradicted by actual Army sources, artistic depictions, archaeology, ect), but also is largely incorrect about many aspects of the older legion he looks at with ahistorical glasses.

@TheChiconspiracy ew sounds like someone I would not like to learn more about 😅

Hi. So, a Roman mile is slightly longer than a modern mile. I was winded when he said that they marched for 5 hours straight with 60 pounds of gear. When converted that is 22.2 miles in 5 hours, or 4.5 miles an hour with roughly 43.5 pounds of gear. The US army standard training ruck march clocks in at 12 miles in 3 hours, or 4 miles an hour with 69 (nice) pound ruck sacks. Neat!

Legions were in effect special operations and had the highest standards but also did the toughest jobs. Rome also had axillary forces that would not have been as capable and was also used as a proving ground for those that may have wanted to enter the legions.

That's interesting about the slingshot being highly respected. Cassius Dio talks* about the Balearic islanders being awesome at using slings and repulsing a Carthaginian force using them during the punic wars.

Nice video, I hear many translated citations that I remember from translating De Re Militari, very nice to hear. What I also found striking from the book was Vegetius' talking about men from warmer climates bleeding out more easily than men from colder climates due to them having thinner blood.

This was a great idea for a vid and very well done! Please do more detailed explorations like this!

Imagine what a modern day Roman soldier would look like if Rome never fell.

Rome Never Fell. You Should Research The Jesuits....

Google Nato

Rome is still here; we’re called AMERICA 🇺🇸

@carpenter155 lol what?

@carpenter155 Wtf are you talking about

I think they actually used lead balls with the slings, not rocks. I vaguely remember watching a video where the Roman army had laid siege to a fort and there were tons of lead balls at the site still to this very day. They had pummeled the fort with lead balls almost like artillery.

As an active duty soldier, there are MANY parallels between the training I've done and legionnaires. Nothing like a good ol Ruck March.

Dang interesting. I'm glad you emphasized the power of the sling. A well thrown lead projectile from a sling can go further than an arrow. The projectiles were lead usually, and sometimes had interesting letters printed on them, such as "take this!" or "ouch!" kinda hilarious.

Awesome video man! I already had a good idea on how the Legions worked from Simon Scarrow's novels, but there still where some new things for me in there - the amount of training and organisation in Roman legions never seizes to amaze. Could you maybe add your sources to the video description? I am currently starting to study history and would love to get into some of the sources after watching your video :D

That's awesome! The only source is already in the first sentence in the description. One thing you should know about Vegetius is that he writes about the "ideal" Roman army to him, rather than how it actually was, so many things will be a bit over exaggerated. He also seems to mix early and late Roman legions together, as if they were the same unit (he was probably a bit confused himself). What Vegetius is particularly good at, is his simple approach to making you imagine warfare at that time, and all the things a good commander had to keep in mind in raising, managing, and disciplining an army, which would be mostly accurate. It was a very good read, and I based the whole video in his simplistic style! Cheers!

@Filaxim Historia Awesome, thanks!

Great video thanks for posting. I very much doubt any military personnel these days could pass these drills.

Man I would give my life to see ancient Rome at its peak. What it really looked like. It must have been so stunning.

I'd be down to see the architectures of Rome and middle east.

@Rxonmymind the Roman forum is beautiful

Many gave their lives when Rome was at its peak.

@Steven A you're a very funny guy

Recruits training under professional gladiators has to be the most badass thing that I've heard of Roman military culture.

Very well spoken. Clear voice and easily digestible information. Also not too much information so as to overwhelm the viewers. Great content!

This absolute still resonates today. Good, strong men make good, strong soldiers. Discipline and honour also make good warriors.

Discipline and Honor in what? Roman Discipline and Honor was centered around defending Rome by any means necessary. And most Roman soldiers took “Any means necessary” to heart. Countless children were kidnapped, raped and butchered simply so Romans could know what it’s like to “Break in a young savage.”

Using a heavier training weapon than a real weapon is a bit tricky I think. The advantage is undoubtedly the building of muscles, the real weapon is then felt as lighter and it seems to be much easier to maneuver with. But in case you are a swordsman, I think it is important for you to practice with the weapon of your choice. To get used to the weight of the weapon, how balanced it is etc. etc. Of course in the case of the Romans who did not perform complex swordfighting I suppose, but rather the stabbing, it makes more sense to train mostly with a heavier training weapon than to train with real swords.

Nearly all roman soldiers on the front lines were issued the same exact style of Gladius swords, so there’s pretty much no point whatsoever for swordsmen to train with a real sword when they all used the exact same sword, which is what the training sword was designed to mimic.

They were not swordsmen they were infantry forces that used swords in a particular fashion.

This makes me appreciate all the effort that football coaches put into training the youth to come out as victorious in battle. They are literally training an army of little warriors based on what they think the key to victory will be. I’ve definitely underestimated how much freedom coaches really have to build up a team of young men. So many different strategies and I think it’s cool to be able to say I’ve of been a part of a team that has accomplished great things based on efficient training, diligent scouting, and great leadership. I also think it’s pretty cool how some coaches even go the extra mile to instill life lessons they hold dear onto the kids they coach.

on my team, halfway through practice we'd have a "devotion" which taught us values and life skills, and also helped with the sport. In my opinion football is great to learn discipline and teamwork.

So true, my rugby team when we won the championship I was the captain we did everything together. We were like a 25 man army that was extremely united and extremely aggressive towards the opposition. Looking back on it, it definitely is a form of mock battle or war. People got knocked out lost teeth, broke bones, tore muscles and lacerations. The only difference instead of our fists and weapons is our shoulder is used to clobber people. Sort of like huge gorillas charging at each other for dominance, but with rules and a strategic game that both teams are agreeing to engage in. A very weird display of dominance, I guess a lot better than having to kill the other team.

@Rusty Shakleford yeah, football is one of my favorite sports because of those reasons, it’s really about dominance and respect, and who doesn’t like that? Football is probably one of the best sports out there, nothing more fun then tackling someone or getting tackled

As a former Drill Instructor.... I approve of such training....

In his search to be a great leader, the young centurion sought out the Republic’s veteran warrior. Looking up from his labor, the sage spoke: “I know not what beats beneath your tunic, but what I saw in a leader from foot soldiers to proconsul is thus: One who makes drill bloodless combat and combat bloody drill… One who disciplines the offense and not the offenders… One whose heart is with the Legion and whose loyalty is to the Republic… One who seeks the companionship of the long march and not the privilege of position… One whose commission is assigned from above and confirmed from below… One who knows the self and, therefore, is true to all… One who seeks to serve and not to be served… This is the one who leads best of all.” NCO's - the Heart and Soul of All Services.

As an old Ranger, I too approve!

Oohrah devil

Important detail: you made friends. You ate and worked with them. You took care of each other, and helped each other with the equipment etc. On the battlefield that was a big advantage. You covered the flanks of your comrades better as a result, and knew that you would not be abandoned. How do I know? I was a Legionnaire in one of my past lives, and I remember a lot about that.

I would love to meet you and talk about your past life. I was a Persian militant in my past life, I remember seeing you in the battlefield

Guys, stop smoking shit.

I was a roman super emperor legate in my past life

I read somewhere that the sling ammunition was lead shot painted to blend in against the sky and in many cases with crude insults scratched into the lead, though Im sure stone was sometimes used in its place... I cant help but imagine how much more damage a lead projectile would cause.

A very interesting and enlighten and informative video , I did know Romans soldiers used a sling shot or could swim. I just assumed they were trained to march and use the sword and shield.

Good video, very nicely put together. Just a question on the wooden training gladius supposedly being twice as heavy as the regular one: I do not remember, is the source of that information Vegetius? Because I have also heard arguments dismissing this practice as, while it would help increase the strength of the recruit, it would also create a different feeling and muscle memory making the movements with the actual gladius less accurate. I have never tried to train with heavier weapons myself, so I cannot tell whether this is true or not.

Great video and I like how you explore some of the less explained stuff like the humour and the recruitment.

I read that Napoleon had a great sense of humour and that's probably why his troops would follow him to the ends of the earth. From my army experience the best NCO's were always very funny men that could yell at you and make you laugh at the same time.

gragrn. Yes indeed. I bet his troops laughed their socks off at Waterloo, when he told them the one about Wellington being a bad general and that the "English" were bad soldiers. By 1900 hrs that day, however, Wellington and the "English" (British being more accurate) had given Napoleon's stand up routine a right good heckling. That's comedy for you.

A short funny man...

gragrn I totally agree.I am an old Marine and I can remember that my Drill Instructors were some of the best comedians I ever witnessed at times but if you laughed at their shit talkin they would thrash your ass.In the fleet I knew some NCOs that were also hilarious without going to far and they were the better leaders.

@Based Kaiser why is that?

Honestly making their practice weapons twice as heavy is brilliant as you mentioned, its like a runner practicing with weighted vest

Or when baseball players put weights on their bats while swinging

Pretty impressive that this channel was able to go back in time and record the Roman soldiers marching

Love your videos. Would love to see more about the life of Romans. However I highly doubt using the heavier throwing javelins were for better accuracy. You train with what you know. For strength, for sure. But not accuracy. Otherwise they would always be off their mark, due to being used to the heavier weight of the training javs.

It's not that big of a deal. It's to build up the muscles for the activity. Eventually they would use their real pilums and adjust accordingly

how many people realistically died from such adverse training, specifically through disease and weather conditions? do you think this was also taken into consideration when finding the appropriate amount of men needed to start the training?

Terrific video! I'm fascinated by the specifics of Roman military training.⚔️🏹

“The discipline of the Romans made them triumph over the tall height of the Gauls, the strength of the Germans, the cunning of the Greeks and over all the other populations of the world" Vegetius, De Re Militari

Did they though?

@Spider BugBear Yes...The Romans conquered the known world...Which was eventually their downfall...Supply lines and communications..Stretched to breaking point

@g hough What supply lines r u talking about?!? They conquer everything they wished and made colonies out of those lands! It was corruption,thirst for power and money as it was the complacency,cheap political games and outright degeneracy that with time slowly but surely undermined the Rome and its legions!

@Stormtrooper All that, and much more. Towards the end, it was also constant migrations of people from beyond the northern frontiers, who brought with them their own customs, traditions - and weapons, which eventually changed the makeup of the army as they enlisted. They weren't citizens and had no loyalty to Rome. Rome was no longer able to collect taxes from less wiling migrants who had never seen the city, or the land of Italia.

One thing that was not mentioned in talking about a stab vs a slash. It takes less room to make a stab than it does a slash. You can tighten your front line more if you are stabbing than if you are slashing.

That's the first time I've ever heard that ALL legionaries were skilled with the slingshot. Hitherto I'd been given to understand that slingers were a speciality of more lightly armoured auxiliaries. Many thanks for sharing...

Was there ever a video made regarding the *"many techniques the Romans used to accomplish rains and floods"?* You mentioned you may do one. _Looking forward to such!!_

Excellent video. I had no idea about the slings that is fascinating. I know most things about Roman military history so it’s truly excellent to find something so fresh as I have never seen that before. Thank you

You sir, just got a sub. This is actually more fascinating that historical battles.

I think you missed the most important reason to be taught to march: synchronized (marching in step) is the only way to move large bodies of men efficiently over distances. If not synchronized, their movement becomes chaotic with constant stopping and starting—basically a slow muddle. Roman legions were known for rapid movement over long distances, a nasty surprise for their enemies.

That makes so much sense

@César Vargas Yeah, i've never thought of this, it's so smart !

@Nuse yeah it makes so much sense now lol

Yes that is so true

If only all the friggin traffic at stop lights were that efficient.

I did not know about the use of the sling! Everything was done in order. First traps like burning bales of hay down an incline, then the catapult, then the archers, then the sling, then the pilum and what was left was slain by sword. The enemy were lucky to have bare chest and sword. How could they lose? It is a formula for success!

Great video. I'm looking forward to your vid on how they handled floods or crossing rivers, hope it comes out soon!

Edit: 6:55 shows that Guy Fieri was around and even fought the Romans back in antiquity! Legend says he's the real reason they fell. This just proves Fieri's power, longevity, and even capability of traveling through time and space and even intergalactic travel as well as interdimensional travel. This is obviously a historical painting/account, so this is officially Canon. The first half when the narrator is talking about how they learned to march and that being the most important thing for the recruits to know .. I can imagine even way back then some raspy voiced Roman DI yelling at them SINGLE FILE! DRESS RIGHT DRESS AND COVER DOWN PRI!! GET IN STEP! *GET IN STEP!!!* ALRIGHT! YOU ALL WANNA DO WHAT YOU WANT I SEE! YOU WANNA BE INDIVIDUALS! I GOT SUM'N FOR YA THEN! HALF RIGHT *FACE!*

it was truly based on efficiency and it’s exactly how i would do it. the countryside folk being more accustomed to work and hardships therefore being good as soldiers is purely how my thought process works and idky. never knew the process was THIS extensive

Great content, did 4 years in the Marines plenty enough couldn't imagine 20 years.

The logistics fueling all this activity must have been incredible.

It was! I will definitely post a video about logistics in the future. Cheers!

@Filaxim Historia It has been said that anyone can make war, but not logistics. What do you think about that? myself as an student of administration and logistics, I think this is perfectly true.

@JunguianPhantom I fully agree. War is a lot more than just having fighting men, its also about maintaining them.

“An army marches on its stomach” -Napoleon

@Filaxim Historia I´ll be eagerly waiting for your next material, sounds very promising

Roman javelin has it's own name - pillum. And it's important because there were differences between normal javelins and pillums

No wonder the Romans were once upon a time the most feared army. Properly structured training makes you an unstoppable force!

Man thank you so much for that bit about the slings that the legionaires used. I didn't know that at all and that's badass that you mentioned that.

Very informative! I've often wondered how things were done back then

Like, new Subscriber, awesome videos! the direct heirs of the legions were the Spanish "tercios". I'm not sure if you know about them, but if you really like strategy, defense, discipline, team work and military culture, it is a nice topic to dig in. Have a great day!

I can see you becoming one of those big history channels. keep with the good work, mate!

I have still a very long way to go, but I am very thankful that you already believe in me!

I cant finish this vid right now but I see some qualities I saw on many big history channels. It's like something that is done by professional video editor. I gonna check other vids when I finish my school works.

This is the first video I watched and I am already sold.

I also got an ad.

Maximus is speaking facts.

Good video! Interesting about the sling. I knew that they were common weapons of the day and very effective in war, but I ddidn't know that the legioonaries used them so extensively. However one critique: The roman soldiers didn't use javelins, they used pilums. While superficially similar, the pilum had several significant advantages for warfare of the day.

the pilum is a kind of javelin

And on rare occasions could be used to form a short spear wall against cavalry if the moment was desperate enough.

I'd really like to know who had designed such an effective and complex training structure to become a legionnaire

It was learned through experience of war.

It's incredible how advanced the Roman empire was. They were built so well and were uniformed as an army should be

A professional full-time military is far more effective than any groups of part-time warriors they encounter. But they also require support, supplies, logistics, taxes. If they're at war, moving to war, or training for war then they're not self-sufficient in the usual sense, they're not producing anything. And if they lose their war then everything invested in them is wasted. They're only unstoppable as long as they can keep conquering more farms and more taxpayers.

Do you have some idea on how much of their success was due to the massive size advantage they possessed? Obviously the programs they implemented was vital regardless. By the way, this is an excellent description of the screening and training procedures. Thanks for an excellent video.

Interesting, is it because of the food or the genetics ?

@Rusty Shakleford Not against Germanic tribes who were naturally taller and more muscular, making very desired mercenaries

The stones they fired from slings also had small holes in them which meant that they made a whistling sound as they flew through the air.

I was a Canadian Infanteer for almost 10 years, and a lot of the training we did actually parallels what the roman legions did. obviously modified to modern standards. we did a 6 month training program (3 months basic, 3 months battleschool) and literally the first thing we learn, before breakfast on our first day is how to form up, and walk in formation. Its cool to think that some random roman 2000 years ago went through a similar experience to little ole' me.

that's really interesting

Canadian infanteer training consists of memorizing the American army's phone number.

Yea, Canada's known for those legendary Infantreers - wasn't Trudeau one of those???

@hazor777 Fuck no! He wouldn't make it to breakfast on the first day of battleschool.

So if my math is correct, they were required to complete that march at a power walk with 60 pounds of equipment. That would be pretty hard even on a flat track, even without the equipment. A fit backpacker can do about that distance in a day, but not at that pace. The faster version would be a light jog. This is pretty similar to the forced marches they do for special forces selection. It's astounding to me that the average Roman recruit was fit and healthy enough, that their bare minimum physical fitness is equivalent to that of our most elite fighters today. The guys who make it through special forces training in modern armies are very exceptionally gifted in terms of athleticism. Only a small percentage of recruits in modern armies even have the genetic potential for that level of fitness, much less the mental fortitude to develop it. I think the only conclusion you can draw is that the average person was better off genetically back then, and that they must have been healthier on average. Really makes you stop and think about our modern lifestyles and what it's doing to us as a species.

“Times” make the man

He literally said the soilders were selected, not average joes People usually got more exercise "back then", but they also starved and underage often and many never made it out of childhood, so "healthier" is relative here

Also notice he said "roman miles" which were shorter than modern miles. Similar to how they wanted their special troops to be 6 "roman feet" tall. (5'8" today)

Amazing. Almost everything you said is plain wrong. Roman legions were the special forces of the Roman Empire, the Auxiliaries outnumbered them by a huge margin and did most of the regular fighting. The legions were deployed during exceptional times like a large scale military expedition under an emperor, a massive revolt, to hold exceptionally rebellious areas (like Germania, Brittania or Judea) or to fight other legions during a civil war. They were the best of the best, basically. Today's regular soldiers are far more physically capable than regular roman troops aka auxiliaries and are only slightly physically inferior to the legions which, like I said, were a special force. Another dumb thing you said is that our ancestors were genetically superior when it's simply untrue. In fact, we are actually genetically superior to our ancestors- natural selection is a thing you know, genetically weaker individuals died off in the 2000 years between us and them. Things like the various plague outbreaks ensured that people today have far stronger immune systems than our ancestors simply due to the fact that it killed off like 60% of the people. Yes, the modern lifestyle is more sedentary but that doesn't mean the modern human is innately weaker. We have better genes and far greater potential, in fact. Most people would be quite physically capable if they hit the gym or are simply made to work hard physically. Things like good nutrition and facilities also help.

@Woodrow want nah they probably just kept going till some of em dropped dead and left em. If you keep pushing your body through injuries there's still a chance you'll survive. Modern athletes wouldn't take that risk.

Amazing! That is the type of training, drill, discipline, orderly cohesion, professional leadership, unit to unit coordination & tactical skill that remained unseen in all of Europe till the emergence of the Swiss fighting men who came pouring out of their Cantons in the early 14th Century.

Pfff......

Daniel Boone (DB) was short. When he guided the brits, an officer told him to slow down or DB would kill the brits horse. DB was on foot carrying all he owned.

Could be totally wrong but I'm guessing the modern day evolved form of vaulting in gymnastics comes from ancient horse vaulting. Gymnasts use a vaulting table now but the older version was actually called a horse. If those are connected that's pretty cool!

No Vaulting comes from canary island

Many people usually say that early-roman army didn't invest much in cavalry and archery, what just changed in the late empire, thus, I'm amuzed to see 1/4 of all recruits training archery

Let's hear about the smiths, medics, horse's, cooks etc that fueled this insanity !! Love it

I will surely have a video about them as well!

I'm guessing the cooks were highly respected and treasured

Artillery - catapults and Ballista.

they were also all soldiers... what you wanna hear about is the camp following the army not the army personnel.

Let's hear what the horses have to say

This was an enjoyable video that I watched from beginning to end which is very rare for me. Well done, expertly handled and submitted.

Ceasar had two gladiator schools. They replenished the fifth legion. They will drill ten hours, doing offense and defense patterns, till they fell down. Then, until they didnot fall down anymore. Then they do full training days of ten hours straight, then they were put into the fifth legion. After a month of full training days.

They also had 3 darts in their shield. The army also needed the engineers.

Im building my own army so thanks for this video! 👍👍

Great video. Romans were amazing warriors. Respect.

When I was in the marines, one of my buddies was doing his doctorate in history, 10 of us who had JUST finished marine infantry training and were in pre deployment workouts. Tried to do the Roman legion qualifying March....which was 20 miles in 5 hours while keeping in time with step, in fill ruck with sandals. Yes "studded sole sandals". Legit best shape of our lives, absolute physical specimines.... none of finished hahaha

@C H They would have been tabbing and also running. It would not have been a set speed march.

@bighand69 yes

Your feet would need to get used to those sandals and build callas doing training for that

I can't imagine how absolutely terrifying it must of been to be at the very front of the line. I wonder what the selection process was like (if any) to decide who got to be at the very front row.

If they are defending probably the very fit from the cohort in order to withstand that first shock, anyways as soon as they get tired they would be swapped to the last line immediately to rest getting replaced with the one in his back, rinse and repeat

”must of?!?!”

Younger & less experienced soldiers were in the front. You could just google it rather than imagine.

@PajamaJazama googling does nothing to put me in the shoes of those in the front line. I never said I couldn't imagine what the selection process was. I said I can't imagine what they "FELT".

​@dnegel uh, technically you didnt ;) I was referring to the latter part of your comment btw

Do you guy's know how huge that SLING thing is? It means every legion was effectively a heavy armored archer unit who is excellent at melee. Ancient super soldier.

Roman's used a Pilum. A shorter type of Javelin. It allowed them to carry multiple.

Truly love history. Good channel as well. Thoroughly enjoy your content.

A question which bug me is what was the long term recruitment system for Legions especially after battlefield losses , extended campaigns or years in garrisons

For those who are interested, you didn't always have to be Roman to join it was open to other tribes / races. These guys were called auxiliaries and fought together, they were granted citizenship after completing their military service - around 20 years I think.

Thx I'll definitely sign up

Fantastic video, perfectly narrated!

a stab is a lot faster to implement, harder to block, can be done in tighter formation, and most of all doesn't involve significant movement of the shield. So a tight pack of interlocked men can use weight and momentum to ram a charge right into a phalanx of spearmen or slashing swords, and if locked into battle can stab away at their opponents with great effect. Other types of attack favour longer weapons and higher skill. This stab-charge also results in extreme casualties in the enemy, rather than just opening jabs and chasing them away - and when you think about the way the Greek phalanx aligns to the left and relies in a secured flank, a solid destructive fearless charge - especially by troops that can change flank and direction - is devastating.