The Late Roman Empire (Lecture 2.1)

In this lecture, I look at the 4th Century CE in Rome with a focus on the changes to government and the Roman military which occurred under Diocletian and Constantine. I also cover Julian the Apostate, the Battle of Adrianople, and the career of Theodosius I "the Great".

[Muzzeo]

Magnus Maximus is remembered in the British (Welsh Language) texts as Macsen Wledig and it's said that he's the first son of Crispus (eldest son of Constantine.) And that he was a native Brit hailing from the area which is now called North Wales. More specifically Segontium (Modern day Caernarfon.)
The Welsh language texts which mention him were in existence many centuries before the enlightenment thinkers began piecing Roman history together from the various Latin texts.
Thought you may find this interesting.

[cerberusdest]

"Now, despite the fact that Magnus Maximums is Great the Greatest, he was still defeated by Theodosius in the year 388." Rofl

[fuzzydunlop]

"Great, the Greatest" - That part had me rolling, it's like the Latin equivalent of an Idiocracy name.

[mrniceguy]

Seeing the lockdown mentality of Diocletian and similar forms of government gives me greater appreciation and understanding of authoritarian governments.

[donttakeitpersonal]

Great video, rewatched it after 2 years.

[stephenyoung]

The city was originally "Nova Roma", Constantinople came later.

[gobanito]

Chain maille was actually the most common type of armor you would have seen in the Roman army even during Julius Caesar's time and even during the Carthaginian Wars which the Romans adopted from the Celts.

[alanpennie]

Theodosius' achievement in ending the rather misleadingly titled Arian Controversy, which had been going on for nearly 60 years, when his reign began, is probably how he earned the title The Great.

[histguy]

Chainmail was always used by legionaries, was more expensive to produce, as well as more difficult to produce, and can be argued, was more effective than segmented plate armor. It was segmented plate armor that was mass produced in the 1st-3rd centuries. Scale armor was also used throughout all these eras.

Also, the molded bronze breastplates continue to show up in art throughout the late Roman period. Constantine himself wore one, and probably had one of the best militaries in a long time. Military technology is always improving and adapting as time goes on. It's a popular misconception in anglo-american circles to see some sort of decline in military technology.

[markhunt]

This is nitpicking but Gallus never set foot in the West. He was placed in charge of Syria. For anyone interested in this time period, or fiction for that matter, I can't recommend the book Julian by Gore Vidal high enough. Actually just about any thing by Gore Vidal is great but my particular favorites in no order are Julian, Creation, Burr, and Lincoln. Though I must admit personally I believe Lincoln might be the greatest literary character study I've ever come across

[gladiusToTheKnot]

Who was Delirious?




*Galerius* was Roman emperor from 305 to 311. During his reign, he campaigned, aided by Diocletian, against the Sassanid Empire, sacking their capital Ctesiphon in 299. He also campaigned across the Danube against the Carpi, defeating them in 297 and 300. Wikipedia

[MrCount]

Chainmail is not a bad armor. Western Knights used it. Moreover, it was lightweight but expensive due to the techniques needed for making it.

[ImprobableMatter]

Commenting as I watch this video for the third time. Great channel.

[Neater_profile]

'Having their posteriores kissed' hahahahaha.

[TEverettReynolds]

OMG. @41:00, in 375 A.D., Emperor Valentinian has an aneurysm while screaming at a Barbarian leader? HAHAHAHAHA! ROTF LOL, that is so fucking funny... I can only image what that Barbarian leader was thinking... "This Roman turkey thinks he is better then us, but he drops dead from yelling?.. they are weak minded and now is the time to attack!" And yea, right around ~375 A.D., some of the other Barbarians started to come over the Rhine escapaing the Huns. Coincidence? i think not. I think once that story traveled to the Eastern Barbs, they knew the Empire was weak and defeatable...

[zarni]

arguably Battle of Ongal of 680 and Achelous of 917 were worse. Although we don't necessarily know the exact numbers of casualties it is possible the casualties could be worse for both of these compared to Adrianople. But the first one was surely more important than Adrianople as it set the stage for the eventual ascent of the Bulgarian empire as a superpower. The second one was the culmination. It was also possibly the biggest medieval battle and most probably the byzantines suffered more casualties than at adrianople (the byzantines numbered 50, 000 and just a small fraction of that army escaped).

[TEverettReynolds]

OK. @49:35 Emperor Gratian, son of the Valentinian Emperor who died in 375 A.D. while yelling at a Barbarian, so first, his Eastern Emperor **uncle Valens** was killed in the Battle of Adrianople in 378 A.D. against the Goths, then Garatian is in Britain in 383 A.D. trying to put down a revolt and *his men turn on him* and he gets killed? WTF happened here? What did he do that pissed off so many people, including those sworn to protect him? Again, I will say this, the Barbarians were realizing first in 375, then 378, now in 383... that the Roman leadership was weak, incompetent and defeatable. And they would soon open the flood gates on the Roman Empire.

[matthewsutton]

Be nice to see a treatment of the historiography of this era and Late Antiquity in general. I grew up with JB Bury, Pirenne, and AHM Jones. But I'm cognizant that there's a whole 2/3 generations or so of recent scholarship and interpretation of this period. More pedestrian books like 428AD are kind of meh and don't really get into any substantive commentary, while others like Innes's Intro to Early medieval Europe are dense and almost meta-historical in their treatment. I've never read Heather or Wickham's books. It would be cool to see a breakdown of the authors and texts, schools of thought, in vogue, out of vogue, and why.

[jacob_swaggerz]

Can you put these lectures in a playlist?

[markhunt]

Curiously reluctant to criticize the policy of a command economy.I absolutely love Theristes but he's young and still has some faith in the efficacy of socialism as an anodyne in human affairs. As did I when young. By the way I was originally intrigued by the choice of his nom we plume. For those who don't recognize the allusion I recommend looking it up. Theristes in the Illiad is perhaps the first fleshed out depiction of commoner in world literature