Quotulatiousness

June 5, 2019

Battle of Ad Decimum 533 Roman – Vandalic War Documentary

Filed under: Africa, History, Military — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 04:00

Kings and Generals
Published on 12 Nov 2017

Although Belisarius, the best general of the Roman Emperor Justinian, had earned a significant victory over the Sassanids at the battle of Dara in 530, the restoration of the empire was just starting. The empire’s western lands were under Vandalic control and Justinian was eager to get them back. He sent Belisarius to Africa to deal with the Vandals. Two battles – Ad Decimum and Tricamarum – were central in this campaign.

Previous video within this series – Battle of Dara 530: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GR_V…

Support us on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/KingsandGenerals or Paypal: http://paypal.me/kingsandgenerals

We are grateful to our patrons, who made this video possible: Koopinator, Daisho, Łukasz Maliszewski, Nicolas Quinones, William Fluit, Juan Camilo Rodriguez, Murray Dubs, Dimitris Valurdos, Félix Gagné-Dion, Fahri Dashwali, Kyle Hooton, Dan Mullen, Mohamed Thair, Pablo Aparicio Martínez, Iulian Margeloiu, Chet, Nick Nasad, Jeyares, Amir Eppel, Thomas Bloch, Uri Sternfeld, Juha Mäkelä, Georgi Kirilov, Moe Mia, Daniel Yifrach, Brian Crane, Muramasa, Gerald Tnay, Hassan Ali, Richie Thierry, David O’Hare, Christopher Commins, Chris Glantzis and Mike.

The script was developed by our friend DismountedCentaur. His help with the research was essential for this documentary.

This video was narrated by good friend Officially Devin. Check out his channel for some kick-ass Let’s Plays. https://www.youtube.com/user/Official…

The Machinimas for this video are created by one more friend – Malay Archer. Check out his channel, he has some of the best Total War machinimas ever created: https://www.youtube.com/user/Mathemed…

April 9, 2019

Blue’s Dumb History Tales

Filed under: Britain, China, Economics, History, Humour — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 02:00

Overly Sarcastic Productions
Published on 8 Mar 2019

Please check out That Works for the best blacksmithing on YouTube: https://goo.gl/vXsuFt

What do you get when you cross a month that has 5 Fridays with a historian who can’t do math? This nonsense, apparently.

PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/OSP

March 25, 2019

Battle of Ecnomus (256 BC) – Largest Naval Battle in History

Filed under: Africa, Europe, History, Military — Tags: , , , , , — Nicholas @ 02:00

Invicta
Published on 12 Sep 2016

The Battle of Ecnomus in 256 BC is arguably the largest naval battle in history with 680 warships and an estimated 290,000 rowers and marines participating! This monumental clash was fought during the First Punic War between Rome and Carthage along the coast of Sicily.

Fleet Anatomy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PhRp…
Fleet Operation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=397-i…
Fleet Tactics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOc8m…

More Classical Antiquity Documentaries: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list…

Literary Sources:
Uniforms of the Roman World by Kevin Kiley
Republican Roman Warships by Osprey Publishing
The Fall of Carthage by Adrian Goldsworthy
Augustus by Anthony Everitt

Game Engine:
Total War: Rome II

Game Mods:
Devide et Impera
Realistic Ship Colors
Ave_Gigas.pak

From the comments:

Invicta
2 years ago
It has been a real pleasure to research and produce the documentary series on the Roman Navy. This video is a culmination of that exploration into the little-covered world of ancient naval combat which I hope has been equally enlightening and entertaining. It is also worth mentioning that the battle maps I created for this video individually show the 680 vessels from both sides. Though this was painstaking to do, it was worth it to convey the insane scale of this encounter at sea.

I’d also like to point out that I tried using new effects in this video. I will continue to try new styles and adapt my presentations in the future and greatly appreciate any and all feedback. Thank you all for your support and help thus far. Its a true joy to have an audience for this passion of mine : )

February 14, 2019

Macedonian Wars | 3 Minute History

Filed under: Europe, Greece, History, Middle East — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 02:00

Jabzy
Published on 28 Mar 2015

Roman-Macedonian Wars

I will gradually continue to make episodes on Rome somewhat chronologically.

March 17, 2018

The Battle of Cannae (Second Punic War) (Lecture)

Filed under: Europe, History, Military — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 04:00

The Study of Antiquity and the Middle Ages
Published on 16 Mar 2018

This lecture aimed towards High School students features the battle of Cannae.

The Battle of Cannae (/ˈkæniˌ-neɪˌ-naɪ/[) was a major battle of the Second Punic War that took place on 2 August 216 BC in Apulia, in southeast Italy. The army of Carthage, under Hannibal, surrounded and decisively defeated a larger army of the Roman Republic under the consuls Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gaius Terentius Varro. It is regarded both as one of the greatest tactical feats in military history and as one of the worst defeats in Roman history.

Having recovered from their losses at Trebia (218 BC) and Lake Trasimene (217 BC), the Romans decided to engage Hannibal at Cannae, with roughly 86,000 Roman and allied troops. They massed their heavy infantry in a deeper formation than usual, while Hannibal used the double-envelopment tactic. This was so successful that the Roman army was effectively destroyed as a fighting force. Following the defeat, Capua and several other Italian city-states defected from the Roman Republic to Carthage.

September 4, 2016

QotD: Polybius on Roman incorruptibility

Filed under: Europe, Greece, History, Quotations — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 01:00

Again, the laws and customs relating to the acquisition of wealth are better in Rome than at Carthage. At Carthage nothing which results in profit is regarded as disgraceful; at Rome nothing is considered more so than to accept bribes and seek gain from improper channels. For no less strong than their approval of money-making is their condemnation of unscrupulous gain from forbidden sources. A proof of this is that at Carthage candidates for office practise open bribery, whereas at Rome death is the penalty for it. Therefore as the rewards offered to merit are the opposite in the two cases, it is natural that the steps taken to gain them should also be dissimilar.

But the quality in which the Roman commonwealth is most distinctly superior is in my opinion the nature of their religious convictions. I believe that it is the very thing which among other peoples is an object of reproach, I mean superstition, which maintains the cohesion of the Roman State. These matters are clothed in such pomp and introduced to such an extent into their public and private life that nothing could exceed it, a fact which will surprise many. My own opinion at least is that they have adopted this course for the sake of the common people. It is a course which perhaps would not have been necessary had it been possible to form a state composed of wise men, 11 but as every multitude is fickle, full of lawless desires, unreasoned passion, and violent anger, the multitude must be held in by invisible terrors and suchlike pageantry. For this reason I think, not that the ancients acted rashly and at haphazard in introducing among the people notions concerning the gods and beliefs in the terrors of hell, but that the moderns are most rash and foolish in banishing such beliefs. The consequence is that among the Greeks, apart from other things, members of the government, if they are entrusted with no more than a talent, though they have ten copyists and as many seals and twice as many witnesses, cannot keep their faith; whereas among the Romans those who as magistrates and legates are dealing with large sums of money maintain correct conduct just because they have pledged their faith by oath. Whereas elsewhere it is a rare thing to find a man who keeps his hands off public money, and whose record is clean in this respect, among the Romans one rarely comes across a man who has been detected in such conduct…

Polybius, Histories VI, 56.

December 24, 2015

Rome: The Punic Wars – I: The First Punic War – Extra History

Filed under: Europe, History — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 02:00

December 15, 2015

Hannibal Barca’s tactical triumph and strategic failure

Filed under: Europe, History, Military — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 05:00

William Brooke Stallsmith explains how Hannibal’s amazing string of battlefield successes still ended up meaning little in the larger war between Rome and Carthage:

Hannibal Barca of Carthage was one of history’s most remarkable commanders. In 218 BCE, at the start of the Second Punic War, he led an army of Carthaginian regulars, barbarian allies, and mercenaries — not to mention a few elephants — over the Alps into Italy and over the next few years nearly brought Rome to its knees. Hannibal scored a series of victories, which climaxed at the Battle of Cannae in August 216 BCE, where his 50,000 soldiers enveloped and destroyed nearly twice as many Roman legionnaires, including both consuls of the Roman Republic.

After Cannae, Hannibal controlled nearly all of Italy. Roman military forces on the peninsula were in tatters, and the republic was on the verge of panic. But this great triumph — still studied today as the model for a battle of complete annihilation of the enemy — turned out to be a strategic dead-end. Its aftermath was 15 more years of war and a harsh Roman-dictated settlement that ended centuries of Carthaginian power in the Western Mediterranean.

I think the reasons for Hannibal’s ultimate defeat lay not so much in any failings on his part as in the resilience and flexibility of the Roman Republic. Resilience was built into the nature of the state and the character of its citizens. This fundamental trait made it possible for Rome’s Senate and other institutions to shake off their initial panic and adapt to the new situation created by Cannae. They mobilized the Republic’s manpower and other resources with a ruthless efficiency would have made Albert Speer blink. While new legions were being formed and trained, Roman command in Italy went to a septuagenarian ex-consul, Quintus Fabius Maximus. He refused to engage his limited forces in pitched battle against Hannibal and focused instead on pinprick harassment and the disruption of Carthaginian supply lines.

When the Romans had regained strength and confidence, new adaptations were made. Roman institutions harnessed the energy and lust for glory of an aggressive young commander, Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus. Scipio led an offensive into the Carthaginian heartland in North Africa and inflicted the final defeats on Hannibal’s army that ended the war on Roman terms.

November 25, 2015

The delaying tactics of Fabius Cunctatus

Filed under: History, Military — Tags: , , , , , — Nicholas @ 05:00

James Holmes suggests a few lessons modern tacticians can learn from the great Roman general, Quintus Fabius Maximus:

Quintus Fabius would nod knowingly at seeing the world turned upside down. Celebrated as Fabius Cunctatus (“the Delayer”), the Roman dictator lent his name to strategies whereby commanders deploy strategically defensive yet tactically offensive methods to forestall a decisive battle — all while marshaling manpower, implements of war, and other resources to right the military imbalance.

Skillfully prosecuted, a Fabian strategy proffers an opportunity to defeat a superior foe in a conventional trial of arms. And indeed, Fabius’s feats of arms earned him the nickname “Maximus” among Romans — signifying rock-star status. Historians of classical antiquity ranging from Polybius to Plutarch to Machiavelli considered him an icon of patient, guileful martial statecraft.

Polybius retells Fabius’s tale expertly. After trekking over the Alps, the Carthaginian warlord Hannibal’s army had rampaged throughout Italy, compiling a virtually unbroken record of battlefield victory. In particular, his triumph over the Roman legions at Cannae won enduring fame in Western military circles. Two millennia later General Dwight Eisenhower recalled in his memoir Crusade in Europe, “Every ground commander seeks the battle of annihilation,” maintained Eisenhower; “he tries to duplicate in modern war the classic example of Cannae.”

Granted emergency powers, Fabius assumed personal command of the legions and encamped near the Carthaginian host at Aecae. Upon learning that the Roman army was nearby, Hannibal resolved to “terrify the enemy by promptly attacking.” The Roman riposte? Nothing. No one responded to the Carthaginians’ approach. They trudged back to camp. Having acknowledged his army’s “manifest inferiority,” Fabius “made up his mind to incur no danger and not to risk a battle.”

He was ornery that way. Better to live to fight another day, and on more favorable terms. Why rush in and risk fresh disaster? Rome was fighting on home turf. Its armies were beneficiaries of an “inexhaustible supply of provisions and of men.” Fabius only needed time to tap that potential, transforming latent into kinetic military power.

August 25, 2015

Byzantine Empire: Justinian and Theodora – V: Impossible Burden of Fate – Extra History

Filed under: Europe, History, Italy, Military — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 02:00

Published on 18 Jul 2015

The conquest of Carthage and the North African provinces was just the beginning for Justinian’s ambition. He must have Rome. But like Carthage, he must find a reason to attack the Ostrogoths who now hold it. And like Carthage, this reason is given to him when the Ostrogothic Queen Amalsuntha, his ally, is murdered. But unlike Carthage, Belisarius now has only 7500 men, barely half of what he had for North Africa. He sails out anyway, making his first stop at the island of Sicily. All the cities except Panormus surrender to him, and Panormus he takes quickly by seizing their harbor with his ships. Meanwhile, Justinian has bribed the Franks to invade Italy from the north while another his generals marches from the east. But just when the Ostrogothic king is on the verge of surrender, disaster strikes. The other Byzantine general dies, and Belisarius is forced to return to Carthage to quell a revolt. The conquest loses its momentum and the Ostrogothic king imprisons the Roman ambassador. Justinian will not be stopped, and orders Belisarius to return to Italy once North Africa is secure. Alone, Belisarius marches up the coast of Italy until he meets resistance at Neapolis. With his forces too thinned to mount a siege, he engineers a sneak attack by invading through the pipe of a dried, broken aqueduct. Neapolis falls and the way now lies open to Rome.

August 18, 2015

Byzantine Empire: Justinian and Theodora – IV: Vanquishing the Vandals – Extra History

Filed under: Africa, History, Military — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 02:00

Published on 11 Jul 2015

Thirty-nine days after the disastrous Nika Riots ended with the slaughter of 30,000 civilians, Justinian directed the city to rebuild the Hagia Sophia. Together, they built an even greater cathedral — but Justinian was not satisfied. He was called a Roman emperor, but he did not rule Rome itself. He resolved to reconquer the west, starting with Carthage in Africa, which had been conquered by Vandal tribes and turned into the seat of their budding empire. When the cousin of the Vandal king overthrew him for being pro-Roman and a follower of Rome’s orthodox Christianity, Justinian had his excuse for war. He stirred up rebellion in the Vandal colonies, creating a distraction while he sent his general Belisarius to Carthage with a small army of men. Belisarius landed successfully and moved on Carthage, winning the support of the local people on his way. Gelimer teamed up with his brothers in two separate attempts to crush Belisarius and drive him out of Carthage, but after both of his brothers died, Gelimer lost his will to fight. He broke, and the Vandal resistance broke with him. Justinian awarded Belisarius a triumph, the greatest honor a Roman general could receive, but it would turn out to be the last formal triumph Rome would ever see.

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