Fall of The Roman Empire...in the 15th Century: Crash Course World History #12

In which John Green teaches you about the fall of the Roman Empire, which happened considerably later than you may have been told. While the Western Roman Empire fell to barbarians in 476 CE, the Byzantines in Constantinople continued the Eastern Empire nicely, calling themselves Romans for a further 1000 years. Find out what Justinian and the rest of the Byzantine emperors were up to over there, and how the Roman Empire dragged out its famous Decline well into medieval times. In addition to all this, you'll learn about ancient sports riots and hipster barbarians, too.

Chapters:
Introduction: The Fall of Rome 00:00
Why Did the Roman Empire Fall? Barbarians at the Gates 0:30
Why Did the Roman Empire Fall? Barbarians Inside the Gates 2:07
An Open Letter to Pants 4:10
Constantine and the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire 5:10
Comparing the Eastern & Western Roman Empires 6:57
Emperor Justinian 8:08
The Orthodox and Catholic Churches Split 10:38
Credits 12:06

Want to find Crash Course elsewhere on the internet?

[awesomeperson]

Its summer, I have no school, no tests, there is absolutely no reason I should be watching this. However I'm a sad person and I watch these for entertainment.

[pugfugly]

And those who did not adopt pants became the Scottish.

[hopealgeo]

You are the adult version of Blues Clues.

[arnya]

"He was like the David Tenant of doctors", I love CrashCourse

[rthmjohn]

If only my world history class had been this exciting.... I would have actually learned.

[Ace]

If you think about Rome didn't fall until 1453 when the Byzantine Empire fell. So Rome lasted from 753 BC to 1453 AD. That's 2206 years!

[marie-alinemarchal]

As a history teacher, I am always really enthusiastic about these videos. However, today, one of my students, Leonardo, pointed that he was pretty sure that Constantine was born in Serbia. Actually, in Leo's natve town of Niš. I tought I would mention it... :)

[WhittyWhitts]

“That lady, me from the past, is Emperor Justinian, we’ll get to him in a minute.”

[rasaecnai]

7:40 Borat wearing a 'mankini" LOL He must have pranked Constantine too!

[actfree]

If people want to argue that Rome fell when the Western Empire fell. Feel free to comment here and we'll discuss it. However, I believe that it fell in 1453 when the Ottoman Turks lead by Mehmet II took over Constantinople.
They lost for two major reasons. 
1. Several years earlier when Pope Innocent III called for the fourth Crusade. Now you (for those who don't know) might be wondering why this mattered? The Crusades were to attack the land of Canaan and Jerusalem, right? Wrong. The fourth Crusade ran out of money so they decided to sack Constantinople. The weakened Constantinople could still fight off major armies, except....
2. Except for the invention of artillery. The Ottoman Turks had besieged Constantinople twice before winning. The first time they were held off even though they outnumbered there enemies 10 to 1 (8k to 80k). The second time they were held off again. Mehmet II's army was on the verge of routing and Mehmet needed a spur of the moment, brilliance. Now, before this moment, the Romans (Byzantines) had held off every attack. The Romans had the Bosporus into the Golden Horn River (strait of Bosphorus) blocked off with a chain. Mehmet losing for this very reason (some argue indirectly), dismantled his ships, and dragged the pieces to the other side of the chain and rebuilt the ships. Now the Romans were surrounded. 
With victory in sight. Mehmet aimed all of his cannons at one spot and let his warriors loose. Rome, my friends, has now fallen. The Emperor (Constantine XI Palaiologos) with disbelief that the Roman Empire was falling, was last seen throwing himself into battle. 

I don't know why none of this was included...

[Itsreshhy]

LOL I was thinking about Vampire Diaries when he said Alaric as well 😂

[dumpstercub]

Concept: People with tests tommorow and people who watch these for fun face each other off blue vs green style.

[MajesticWorld]

"Did you know: Constantine is dead." XD

[thebrowncow]

2 types of people watch this:

1. test-tomorrow people
2. nerds who watch for fun (me)


edit: 135 likes!? wow...


edit 2: 181 !? holy fuzzy!

[Vazel]

Title: fall of the roman empire.
Doesn't tell about the fall of the Byzantine empire

[Klettos]

"Like the David Tennant of Doctors" Brilliant! XD

[teencomment]

For anyone wondering why John thanked Thought Bubble for putting he and Stan in the Green side, the Green side during the Nica Riots was the side that lived after Justinian called out the army.

[aciuschristophores]

Hilarious, and enlightening. I did not believe history can be so enthralling to learn, and so educational as well. Thank you and your team so much for this. Prayers and best wishes from Bangladesh!

[alexliger]

I must’ve watched this 10 times and I just noticed the not-so-subtle dig at the college girlfriend. Nicely done. I can imagine John calling the folks at the animation studio and saying “put the college gf animation up on the screen when I talk about adultery... JUST DO IT!!”

[bulletbill]

7:42 look in the top right corner. The woman had a glass of wine, but it then disappears :O