Deadliest Historical Military Units Explained in Under 13 Minutes | P.1

Exploring 8 Interesting military units from history.

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=| TIMESTAMPS |=

00:00 Persian Immortals
02:17 Varangian Guard
04:13 Mamluks
06:22 Praetorian Guard
07:54 Eagle Warriors
09:18 Jaguar Warriors
09:53 Berserkers
11:26 Order of Assasins
13:00 End

#Orderofassasins #Vikings #Berserkers #PraetorianGuard #VarangianGuard #Aztec #EagleWarriors #JaguarWarriors #PersianImmortals

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Creative Commons CC BY 4.0

Creative Commons CC BY 3.0

DISCLAIMER!
This video was made for the entertainment purposes only and shouldn't be taken as a sole source of information on the topic.

[TheBasedPlato]

Hey, thanks for watching!
I have an extensive list of other interesting military units, orders, or groups (excluding modern ones) that I'd like to cover in future videos. Let me know if you'd like me to go more in-depth and provide more details (extending the video duration) or keep it more bite-sized, like in this one.

[patrickstewart]

The Praetorian Guard were especially deadly to Roman Emperors.
😁

[NorHeadHunter]

Berserkers wore bear skins exclusively (ber serk = bear coat), the ones wearing wolf skins were called ulfhednar or wolf hoods in English

[Afyr]

We are making it out of the middle ages with this one 🔥🔥🔥

[shadowborn]

As a persian I'm honored that emperor created custodes based on immortals

[DontTouchMahPie]

So that last one inspired Ubisoft into creating Assassin's Creed?

[romanus_pinguis]

I think videos about military history are sponsored by the authors of Total War and Age of Empire, because after watching such videos I always go to play these games

[MajoraZ]

Hey, I do posts on Mesoamerican (Aztec, Maya etc) history and archeology, and work with other channels on the topic: I wanted to clarify and provide some corrections on the Aztec ranks/titles mentioned here with the Eagle and Jaguar warriors: I hope I don't come off as too critical, I know it's tough to find good info on Mesoamerica, but still, I hope you and viewers find it informative! Firstly, one needs to be mindful that it's not entirely clear how much these existed as distinct ranks/titles: A lot of sources on Aztec warfare state that there were Eagle and Jaguar "orders", like specific military guilds you entered with their own distinct command structure from conventional ranks. However, there's some skepticism if this is actually the case:

If they WERE distinct orders, then they would have been only 2 of 4, with the Otontin/Otomi and Cuachicqueh/Cuachic orders being even more elite and prestigious, contrary to what you say about them being the highest ranking. And indeed, there would have been warrior-priest and general/commander titles/ranks with more authority as well, most likely. And if they weren't orders, then not only would Jaguar and Eagle warriors overtly be below some of those other titles/ranks in the same hierarchy, but they may not have even been distinct ranks (also, the speed vs power thing at 9:30 isn't right, I don't think).

We know that soldiers could advance through the ranks or be granted unique military titles or offices via acts of bravery, capturing enemy soldiers (both of which you say in the video, though note not all captives would have become slaves: Some were sacrificed, some ended up regaining their freedom, etc), but it's quite like that multiple warsuit designs were available to soldiers of the same rank/title, contrary to many sources looking at the Codex Mendoza's sample rank advancement pages: Those likely only show one hypothetical set of equipment per rank tier, and likely only shows one potential pathway up the ranks, since the Mendoza also shows other potential rank paths (like for Warrior priests) and the tax/tribute section shows, say, Cuextecatl patterned warsuit designs (which the advancement page shows being worn by two captive soldiers) sometimes with very elite jewelry and regalia which would have likely only been available to even higher ranking soldiers, suggesting a three, four, etc rank soldier might wear the pattern as well.

On that note, the actual design of armor, equipment, etc as shown in the video is often quite off. Actual Aztec soldiers (keep in mind "Aztec" can refer to a variety of different cultural and political groups, but here, you and I both mostly mean the Mexica of Tenochtitlan) would have been mostly unarmored for junior soldiers who had not yet taken captives, with perhaps them and 1 captive soldiers likely wearing Icahuipilli gambeson vests or tunics, made from cotton (Cotton was normally only available to nobles: I don't think it's likely all commoner soldiers were barred from wearing Icahuipilli, though: Maybe they really were, or maybe military operations were an exception, or maybe they made do with lesser kinds made from maguey fiber), and then higher ranking soldiers had additional warsuits (Tlahuiztli, technically the term meant the entire warrior getup together, though) or skirted tunics (Ehuatl) made from thick cloth and then feather mosaic on the outside, worn over the Ichcahuipilli, with the feathers arranged to make different designs and colors to indicate rank and unit division (allegedly, commoners in the Jaguar order or with Jaguar warsuits made do with lesser kinds made from actual Jaguar pelt rather then cloth/feather mosaic).

You actually mostly describe this correctly at 8:28 one or two things aside, but the image used, a art piece by I believe Jesus Helguera, isn't depicting the actual armor and equipment you're describing (rather, it's showing a mix of Aztec royal/ceremonial dress, but with some incorrect details like a made up tilamtli cloak design also worn the wrong way; with a Mixtec ceremonial Eagle helmet). The art of Eagle and Jaguar warriors seen at the top right at 7:58 and 9:21, the images at 8:51 and 9:07, etc are also mostly made up/inaccurate, as is the warrior with the bow at 8:50, and the famous Classical painting at 9:00 is also inaccurate... so what did Eagle, Jaguar, and other Aztec warriors actually look like? Well, the Eagle warrior at 9:21 on the bottom left actually looks pretty good! The jaguar warrior on the bottom right at the same time isn't *as* good, but it's decent too.

What about weapons? Well, as you say at 8:47, Macuahuitl and Tepoztopilli were used frequently, though Macuahuitl are closer to swords then to clubs (see below), and while bows&arrows WERE used at times, the Aztec generally preferred Atlatl (as seen at 9:21 wielded by the Eagle warrior) as their ranged weapon of choice: The Atlatl was seen as a refined weapon representing civilized warfare and royal power, wheras bows were associated with "barbarian" nomads from Northern mexico or as a simple hunting tool. That's not to say they never used it in war, they did at times, as with slings, but it wasn't their go to ranged weapon. We also have a variety of clubs, maces (both more clearly blunt smashing weapons, in contrast to the Macuahuitl being sword like), axes, other polearms, etc seen in manuscripts; but they are less frequently depicted, at least for the Aztec specifically.

Lastly, keep in mind Cortes and his Conquistadors did not conquer the Aztec singlehandedly: the city-states and kingdoms of Tlaxcala, Texcoco, Huextozinco, Chalco, Itzapalapan, Xochimilco, etc all provided armies: In fact, the Conquistadors were likely less then 1% of the offensive force during the Siege of Tenochtitlan! Local kings/officials like Ixtlixochtli II, Xicotencatl II, etc were also often manipulating Cortes to their own political ends, it was as much them calling the shots as him, at least at specific portions of the Conquest. The fall of Tenochtitlan in 1521 also didn't mark the total subjugation of the Aztec Empire: Many former Aztec subject states had to then be conquered by Spanish, Tlaxcalteca, and now Aztec forces working together, as well as other parts of Mesoamerica which had states and empires never under Aztec control to begin with.

There's more I can say, but that clarifies on the basics of what you covered. Hope you found it interesting, and again, apologies if it comes off as rude or anything, not my intention! If you ever cover Mesoamerican stuff again, feel free to reach out and if I have time i'd be open to providing some information and accurate images.

[Ceaudrious]

Iranian tribes Sarmatians and alans asbaran (proto - knights) Warriors took down west rome and moved in to uk they were allies of germanic tribes goth and vandals

[ahmedosman]

Great video! One cool detail to mention about the Mamluks is that they were one of the few forces out there to defeat the Mongols head to head and do so several times for that matter. They're the reason why the Mongol Empire never made it to Africa.

[parsarustami]

Thank you for using the accurate pictures of persians.

[benedictjajo]

Praetorians were shite 😂
The centurion should be in its place.
And you forgot how beserkers were high on a plant called Fly Agaric before they charged into battle.

[dirckthedork-knight]

The Varangian guard did NOT disappear after intermarrying with the native greeks they where disbanded after the sack of Constantinople the later Byzantine Greek succesor states actually tried to recreate the guard but they failed

[real_fjcalabrese]

The Mongols where awesome at mounted warfare.

[MysteryDetektiv]

you added the AmonAmarth Album Cover from "Berserker" love the theme, love the album and i like this informative Video

[DenshaOtoko]

And the Golden Hordes Mounted Mongol archers and the Turkish mounted archers and the Egyptian chariot archers. And the Spartan Hopolites.

[GibsonClans]

Thanks for sharing this video. 😁 I would love to see more videos like this in a video playlist. So its easy to find. This "units of history" series is great. And i really hope to see more.

[jameswaterfield]

Berserkers were so named as they were elite retainers of the Jarl, who wore Bear Shirts, bear skin jackets or the like, which were a mark of their status. They were not particularly prone to rage fighting any more that any other Norseman. As for armour, why wear it when you have the protection of a well tanned bear skin, which, I would imagine, was more protective as any normal leather jerkin

[NoelleIsTheGeoArchon]

06:50 Lorica Segmentata isn't chained mail.

[stigjohnsen]

Harald Hardråde (Harald Hardrule) was a cruel man, named by the byzantiums as the bulgarburner when he was varangian guard
ruling in norway, he burned down hedemark, hadeland and to be extra sure the norwegians caught on, he went down to ringerike and burned all the houses and killed everyone there aswell, this man was a fan of burning people alive, he ruled with an ironfist for 16 years, which gave him his name
then the king of england died, Harald wanted that throne, so went on viking to england, murdering and burning englishmen left and right until the battle of Stamford bridge in 1066