Roman Historian Rates 10 Ancient Rome Battles In Movies And TV | How Real Is It? | Insider

"If you hit a guy with an arrow, his problem is that he has an arrow sticking out of him, not that the arrow is on fire." Glorious.

My only thought at the beginning at this video: "Did the Romans commonly, I dunno, dig a ditch?"

Internet: How often do you all think about the Roman Empire? Michael Taylor: It’s literally my Job.

He's very generous with scoring compared to other experts.

At 16:42 Michael Taylor asks himself if the rotating system of the roman frontline can be done efficiently. I have been a reenactor for many years. When I was training for the Battle of Hastings event in 2006, the Dutch/Belgian/German combined group decided to exercise the rotation system for 6 days in the training camp in Goslar, Germany. It went unbelievably well, and after a several sessions we pulled it off smoothly, just as seen here with the Romans. We were kitted out like Normans with kite shields. At the Hastings reenactment we did that move during fights with the Saxon opponents. Nothing went wrong. Just hearing the call, whistling etc. , first row steps back, second row steps forward, holding sticking their shields sideways through the ranks forward, and swing their shields in front of you replacing you. Conclusion: It's really plausible to rotate front rows during a fight, works so much better than you think at first. Just get 10 men, give them shields and try it. Oh yeah, it helps when you get kicked in the butt everytime you make a mistake, like our german instructors did.

I like how the film that was trying to present itself more as a True Detective type of feel into the death and resurrection of Christ is one of the most accurate portrayals of Roman combat in the sense that most of them are attested.

I'm surprised the Professor didn't mention the absurdity of a cavalry charge through a dense forest in Gladiator.

"Spartacus" was one of those movies we're never gonna see again. No bs-CGI's - just lads marching in unison - that scene, where they deploy was fantastic.

Timestamps: 0:38 Indiana Jones (the one made for Disney+) 2:36 Risen 4:47 The Eagle 6:27 Gladiator 9:38 Spartacus 11:51 Ben-hur 13:51 Barbarians 15:29 Rome 17:53 King Arthur 19:28 Cleopatra

Roman anti air ballista is wild

"The Eagle" was a really good movie. Storyline was unique and very different than typical Roman era style flicks. Watched in the hospital during a 7 week stay.

I wonder what Jonathan Ferguson, the keeper of firearms and artillery at the Royal Armouries Museum in the UK, which houses a collection of thousands of iconic weapons from throughout history thinks about the Romans.

I really enjoyed watching this, This guy is terrific. I could listen to him for hours. You should have him back.

Fun fact: If you want to guarantee my viewership here forever, keep bringing people to talk about Rome. Gets me every time.

It's important to remember that Spartacus and Ben-Hur were filmed before CGI. When those fire logs roll into the soldiers, it was real. When the chariot driver gets run over by horses, it was real (well, a dummy made to look like him). There's a later scene where Charton Heston's chariot drives over a broken chariot, and he's nearly thrown out. That was real. An accident, but real.

This dude rocks. Very comprehensive, but quick and never droning. Awesome historical knowledge!

Where r the ditches?

When your Legions are walking through the forest and the trees start singing Heilung. Poor Publius Quinctilius Varus.

that guy from cleopatra literally going fencing not battle xD

The way he pronounced scythed hurt my soul