Thats true. But how looting worked in the Roman world was so big of a topic that we decided to reserve a different video for it. Definitely will be covered!
From what I can gather, campaigns were so expensive a legionary HAD to rely on loot to avoid debt and bankruptcy 😞 The Jewish revolt seems to be particularly expensive
For that matter, WOMEN? And SLAVES? Truly part of the reason that Roman even conquered was to get "booty", and for the soldiers, this did have a LITERAL application. Also to acquire that time-honored source of "Human Capital"!
When your life consist of kill or be killed you tend to spend money on the finer pleasures you can afford at the moment instead of some misplaced idea of noble spending.
@@huntclanhunt9697 oh definitely and plenty of them lived believing that they were chosen to survive and thrive which is why the legions could always fill their ranks. Technically speaking armies don't lose large percentages of their soldiers over all big picture wise.
It should also be mentioned that typically lower-ranking soldiers were usually forbidden to marry during their service; the attitude of even the Roman Army being that if they wanted a soldier to have a wife, he'd have been ISSUED one. Still, the soldiers started out as young men, usually teenagers, when they enlisted, and did what soldiers traditionally have done throughout the ages. The Roman Army had its bordellos and "camp followers". Ranking officers like Centurions, OTOH, were usually from the upper class, and of course would marry, and as they usually lived well enough, could bring their families out with them. If a Roman enlisted man was able to survive the first ten or so years of service, in which it was quite possible he might not actually see a major campaign, but there were periods of constant warfare also, which "decimated" (not THE "Decimation" reputed to be employed as drastic punishment for rebellious or cowardly units) the ranks. As with any military, typically the proficient and/or LUCKY survived a few campaigns to become "old" soldiers, and typically by then had earned a few "stripes" (aside from the frequent floggings which was the Roman version of an "Article 15"). Especially if they remained in a certain town or province for some time, they often "shacked up" with a local woman, who became an de facto, if not strictly legal, wife. Far from being discouraged, this actually had several benefits for the Empire. Often men had enlisted in the Army because their prospects at home weren't all that great (is that not typical?), and certainly, other than keeping up with their kin, they had little reason to return...truly, a Roman soldier generally could never "go home", at least permanently. They often learned the local languages and customs, and often had business dealings with the locals as well. Also, there was an expectation that a Roman soldier would be compensated with land of his own to farm, and WHERE was this land going to come FROM? It only made sense that an aging soldier would transition to becoming a well-heeled member of the community somewhere on the Frontier, and help to spread Roman culture. Also, even retired soldiers did serve as reservists for some time; so the Army had a "ready reserve" of experienced, if not fully fit, men in times of emergency.
Remembering previous Historia Militum video. When a standard was throw into enemy rank to 'encourage' the men to push to retrieve it. I wonder if they store the bank account on their standard for how much it motivate the men to retrive it.
There is a lot in a name. Freakanomics looked at the influence of one's name has on their behavior. The interesting one was the story of a father who named one son winner and the other loser. The one named loser went on to become a police officer, while the brother named winner became a drug dealer and criminal in and out of prison. From this one would think that we behave the opposite of our namesake, but the story of a girl named "Temptress" by her single mother that was arrested for suspected prostitution seems to suggest that it is not that clear cut. I think the difference is that one name suggested a way to get what one wants: a profession(kind of), while the other name was simply one that forced the son that was named loser to work hard to earn a status above his name. Sort of like naming your son "Sue" and abandoning him as a father because you know he will have to be mean and stand up for himself because you named him "Sue". Johnny Cash's song taught me proper parenting, if I cannot be there I need to name my son "Sue", that will toughen him up, and then I will get the Emotional Damage Parenting Award from Steven He's channel.
It’s really amazing how little has changed with how soldiers spent their money in ancient times. I’ve talked to people who have been in the military in modern times, the same kind of stuff is going on with spending and loaning money.
For a future topic, could you explore the family life of roman soliders? When in the military a big aspect of morale and stability was allowing constant contact with family and friends at home so I'd be interested to see how the romans approached this issue
These are by far my favourite videos, I love seeing the nitty gritty of how they actually lived, trained and stuff. I think it's because I can really picture myself in those times with these videos.
@@jonbaxter2254can you start to imagine their health. Roman or not. All the people of that time handled illness without pharmacuticals and vaccines. I know I'd die from diahrea 😔😔😔😔😔😔😔 I hate this world of gifts and curses
@@jonbaxter2254just imagine being able to buy small vineyards in the richest part of the Empire and fuse them to form a big one with your lifetime legionnaire or auxiliary cav salary.... In today's military, you could only do so if you are a Colonel or above.
The Romans (West) were the first and for at least 1400 years the last, with funktional bookkeeping. When a Soldier died, his officer would send the money to the next relative. Ever Soldier had to write ( from somone else ) a last will, declaring how get the money. It worked not allways, but the roman done everything to make it happen.
I liked this episode. There are directly parallels in the modern army, though the source and names are different. (i.e. a re-enlistment bonus rather than a imperial donative)
Life of individuals is a really interesting and relatable topic. Like, what was like to be a legionnary on Gaul (daily days, economy, amusement, etc)...
Soldiers recruited from the lower class suddenly getting a regular income for the first time and going nuts definitely still happens. You pull up outside an Infantry barracks and all the lower enlisted are driving dodge chargers, cameros, and lifted trucks 😂
Many people assume Romans and other ancients lived very short loves, but that is very much untrue! Its indeed a great ideas for a future video and I will make sure we make it. Thanks!
Fun Fact: When you join the U.S. Army your half of your first 2 paychecks go to purchasing the clothing they issue you and things you need to buy for training anyways lol
Correct…I remember thinking what the heck! Haha. And then they give you that little clothing allowance each year, like that’s gonna be enough for new uniforms…most soldiers just blew that money at the bar, tattoos, or the strip club anyways. 😂
The unit of account in USA is the Dollar. In Imperial Roma, unit of account is sestertius or plural sestertii or called “HS” . A Denarii is a small silver coin worth 4 sestertii. You would list pay in sestertii, not denarii. So if I owe somebody $600, I would not say I owe them 🎉12x $50 “Grant” bills or 6 Benjis. DONATIVES for common soldiers would be 2 gold coins … Aurelii. That is 50 denarii or 200 HS. This bonus (Latin for “Good”) is 1/5 or a 20% bonus… and critical for a soldier ability to pay off debts. Failure to pay the yearly donative often led to rebelión. Also, every 5 years of an emperor reign, an extra 1 gold coin is added. So 10 years, a common solder gets 4 gold coins… 40% bonus!!!
I'm curious about what would happen if a spectacular defeat resulted in the Legion bank being looted by the enemy... Could survivors claim some credit from the state? I can't imagine full compensation would be simple matter...
Actually we don't know 😅. I imagine that the state paid deaf ears to such reclamations. Large defeats were not very common so to speak. We know that for example sometimes generals with ambitions either seized the bank accounts or received large donations from the soldier in order to raise cash for the campaign. This a case with a revolt against Domitian in Germania. To prevent something like a limit of 225 denarii on the account was stablished but as you can see... this was often ignored 😂
@@JonEtxebeberriaRodriguez Yeah, about what I figure too. But just something tells me survivors of some catastrophic defeat wouldn't walk away empty handed if they showed up and told their story... Just think how bad it would look
@@greg_4201 You are right. But there unfortunately we are entering into the realm of the unknown. Sadly such things are never mentioned in the sources. We can only make educate guesses 😅. It's a shame because as a professional historian would love to find out what happened in such cases 😂
I love how detailed you are with the contents and information of the videos. That's why I always keep my eye on your channel... Like yesterday, when a I saw another video, waiting for the next one (this one 😅)
Fascinating stuff , on a historical site we had a discution on standard bearers fighting or not the consensus was that a unit standard bearer was the focal point of a unit and the location of it's command , to regroup upon if the battle turned bad so now it turn out the legionnaires would fight to protect their saving accountant too duty and my money are a powerful alliance
Honestly if I was Caesar I wouldn't have said a word either, walking over 20 miles a day and then putting 10 men in the same tent? I think I'd have just put the perfume directly into my nose.
I would like to believe the Romans had to pay for their own weapons to make it a point not to leave it behind, incase of a route. I can imagine having to pay for my M4 on a few training events if I left it behind.
I love this channel. There's just so much interesting things there, well-documented, well-explained, and with a smooth voice on top of that. Thanks you again for this video
Thank you for the kind comment. Nevertheless, we will always try to improve the quality with every video. Looking forward to seeing you in the next one! :)
@@HistoriaMilitum i prefer the previous one but im no thumbnail expert so what do i know? :) Nevertheless, i hope this video gets a lot of views regardless of what thumbnail you use 👍
Dude these videos are amazing. Where do you even find all these specific stories about individual legionaries?? You had me hooked from beginning to end.
Thanks for your words. In most cases we go directly to the primary source material. Every piece of archaeological information has like a serial number that you can track and that every scholar must use when referring to the document. For example the document of Proculus has the reference code P.GenLat... which is the number it was given upon discovery and classification. So if we find a referrence to it in a book or somewhere we can check it. Documents like this are often stored in large databases or codex like compilations that scholars can consult. Same goes with inscriptions, you can go to the academic database and consult. The only downside is 90% of the times the stuff is in latin or greek. It is assumed that only scholars will consult these stuff so they skip the translation part. Fortunately we know a bit of latin and roman epigraphic tradition so we can translate them if needed be 😊. I think it adds a bit uniqueness to the content and hopefully becomes a hallmark of the channel. We will add the sources later for everyone to consult freely if they want 😊
@@JonEtxebeberriaRodriguez it’s definitely the part that stands out to me and I’m sure that sentiment stands for many! Looking forward to more content. It demonstrates a level of research that goes beyond expectation for most UA-cam vids!
I don't like being the Grammar Police but the misuse of words such as "unique" and "decimated" suggests an incomplete command of English. ("Decimated" didn't appear on this video but just as you can't be "somewhat unique" you can't be "completely decimated" any more than you can be "utterly halved".)
@@RichardDCook Well, you indeed cannot be "somewhat unique" (though it has been pointed out to me in another situation that "unique" does appareantly not equal "one of a kind" anymore in modern grammer, idk, I would argue that "decimated" has grown to equal "much reduced" as opposed to the original meaning of "divided by 10"
Right, language is always changing! There's a time when only a few uneducated people are using a word as having a new meaning, and a time when the vast majority of people are using the word that way. With "unique" and "decimated" we're in that grey middle ground where most people with an educated command of English use the words as having their original meanings but many, perhaps a majority, are using them as having new meanings. I wouldn't put the original meanings of those words in the "obsolete" bin just yet! (I myself couldn't use decimated, quartered, or halved in any other way than they obviously mean.)
An original and well researched analysis of a topic I've always wanted to know about. It's incredible how inflation made the ranks more unequal over time. Also, compliments to the artist you have on the team.
Life in most Roman cities did not use a lot of coins. Few coins found in Pompeii (except lots of the smaller copper coin Quadrans) Most people bought on “tic” or credit as in 19th century England. You paid up at the end of the month. Soldiers are different, they move around a lot so if you have 300 sersterii credit to a solder now shipped off overseas, you lost your money. So soldiers paid in cash since their credit status could change.
Thank you so much for this video. I think I understand the poor soldiers they lived dangerous lives so the small pleasures of life that they could get. So I don't blame them, but it is impressive those who managed to save up and then use it in there retirement year. I would like if you could make a video about the roman banking system if there was an institution that was encharged of it or the roman government was also the bank.
Are many of your viewers RPG enthusiasts? I love the play games like DnD, mostly as game master. World building and expanding on published material is especially fun. While the settings are fantasy I often like to add more realism, as many aspects of the world aren't documented and sometimes weird if you focus on them. I actually wondered about the content of this video when playing Mount and Blade Bannerlord and running a game of Warhammer Fantasy RP set in Bretonnia. I made up a better economic system where pay to armies was part of the economy, as in the game consumption is an abstract mechanic only taking place in cities and salaries and troop upgrades just cost money that disappears. Maintenance, repair and upgrades would mean the salaries would flow back into the economy and goods produced there would have meaning. Food would be the most important thing instead of just giving a morale bonus for food variety. It might even balance the game a bit as long wars with lots of pillaging would reduce food production and make war more expensive. Very interesting to know how such a thing worked in the real world.
I do have an odd question, it is how much the resale value of equipment would be. Like if you bought a sword and then sold it a few weeks later or something. I have tried to find out that kind of thing in Ye Olde Days but I can never get a straight answer if I even get an answer at all.
I don’t think there is any information about equipment resale value. If there was, it would still probably be different for each period.. But its likely that after returning your gear after service, you were given part of your money back. We have a video coming up very soon about weapon and armour logistics, stay tuned!
Perfumes - phones Silk clothes - designer clothes Hot baths - vacations abroad Good wine - beer Good food - fast food Women - women After millenia, the same problem plagues the majority… a lack of long term thinking.
This video makes me wish for a video on Roman banking and financial practices, especially before the financial innovations and endeavors of the Templars, the Medici, and the Rothschilds.
Legionary got paid at 100 Denari silver a month. Auxiliary got paid 200 Denari silver a month. Centurians 250 to 500 Denari silver a month. An Aquila could easily received a pension of 2500 to 5000 Denari silver a month.
Ancient Legionnaires spending them money on trivial items and bad investments. Modern Soldiers and Marines...buying 2024 Dodge Chargers with a 36% APR..... Some things never change.
This interesting video brings even more arduous pondering: The money flow... Now that we have learned about the expenses of the soldiers, where were the incomes (money in) coming from? Taxation on Roman citizens? Loot and raids? Deliberately sacking cities and villages? This had to be a constant affair as this described soldiers’'' incomes seemed a constant and guarantied process. Where was the money kept? What if the army had to move (I assume “Camp” was not an indefinite process for a military, especially a Roman one). So they carried all them coins (heavy barrels) with them on a march and into a battle? I’d say- not a great safe bank or FDIC insured… 😒
The only thing that would make this better is if you tried to equate what a denarii is in todays money. I know we dont know excalty but a rough estimate would be cool to include. Otherwise well done, I enjoyed this video very much!
It is VERY rough, but you could get something like the US military pay rates (which are publicly available information), and see what a new soldier makes, a senior sergeant, etc, and compare that to a legionary, a centurion, etc. It would put you in the ballpark to get a denarii-to-dollar equivalence.
I know most of this isn't ancient history but here a list of videos please do a video on these (this is a copy and paste list for a few channels) units and tactics/evaluation of loadouts of troops (from different jobs (and other branches) the tank doctrine of countries evaluation of tank veiw ports evaluation of tanks/armored vehicles of different countries logistics units of the axes and allied powers in ww2 ww1 estern front tactics Russian Civil war tactics and strategies navil ship cross sections (all the rooms and how it all works) evaluation of types of ships or evaluation of navil warfare air craft carrier strike group formations exsamples (from different countries) ancient persan ships, ancient veneti ships (gauls that fought ceaser) ships used by genoa and the vernesain republic the vernesain republic government all sailing ships, (i know theres many on yt but some contradict each other and i think theres more left out) tactics used so far in the Ukraine war, better for squads to be 2 teams of 5 or 3 teams of 3, and probably the easiest, better to keep troops well feed or starved like an animal how dose age effect comsnders eg napoleon got older so took less risks, ancient urban warfare ww2 tactics in Asia, tactics in the Chinese age of warlords, (and Chinese civil war) tactics in the ruso jap war cold war navil tactics, Korean war tactics, strange tactics or unque battles from the American war of independence and America civil war how were 17th centry sailing ships build types of bombs lunched by drones comands given on sailing ships (like ease the sheets and get ready to chine, or slack n beases, basically things you hear movie capitns say) why did the nazis never return (or a video on best occupations) why did the Japanese empire fall, dont just say "America" like things like how there army and navy argued alot alot more on the Polynesians and māori, but please learn pronounceations if you do this
Except in the ancient world, the number of single mothers varied with the campaign season and the tempo of battles. It's not hard to imagine, especially in the Roman empire during Christ's time, such mothers must have been the majority. During the time of Caesar, when large Roman armies spent many years away fighting and occupying territory in Gaul, Britania and along the Rhine, a soldier might not see his family for years on end.
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The loot, don't forget looting as the longest tradition of human culture. Winning battles and pillaging settlements gave you a lot of wealth
Thats true. But how looting worked in the Roman world was so big of a topic that we decided to reserve a different video for it. Definitely will be covered!
@@HistoriaMilitum you know they sell off your dna to medical insurance companies?
The economics and day-to-day logistics of the armies of history will never *not* be a fascinating topic. You *must* do more.
Vastly underrepresented avenue of discussion.
How about loot? How did they account for, keep, value and sell their loot?
Loot is another super interesting aspect which was too long to cover in this video. We are planning to dedicate a full video to it :)
From what I can gather, campaigns were so expensive a legionary HAD to rely on loot to avoid debt and bankruptcy 😞 The Jewish revolt seems to be particularly expensive
For that matter, WOMEN? And SLAVES? Truly part of the reason that Roman even conquered was to get "booty", and for the soldiers, this did have a LITERAL application. Also to acquire that time-honored source of "Human Capital"!
@@HistoriaMilitum Didja do it?
In my younger days I was only interested in combat and strategy now it's stuff like this that interest me.
When your life consist of kill or be killed you tend to spend money on the finer pleasures you can afford at the moment instead of some misplaced idea of noble spending.
Life is short, why not enjoy it when you can?
Can you imagine storing away your life for retirement only to have some Visgoth take it all away suddenly and without warning?
True, but as shown, the men who were frugal with their spending and lived benefitted big time.
@@huntclanhunt9697 oh definitely and plenty of them lived believing that they were chosen to survive and thrive which is why the legions could always fill their ranks.
Technically speaking armies don't lose large percentages of their soldiers over all big picture wise.
seen very well in other times of history such as the landsknechts
It should also be mentioned that typically lower-ranking soldiers were usually forbidden to marry during their service; the attitude of even the Roman Army being that if they wanted a soldier to have a wife, he'd have been ISSUED one. Still, the soldiers started out as young men, usually teenagers, when they enlisted, and did what soldiers traditionally have done throughout the ages. The Roman Army had its bordellos and "camp followers". Ranking officers like Centurions, OTOH, were usually from the upper class, and of course would marry, and as they usually lived well enough, could bring their families out with them. If a Roman enlisted man was able to survive the first ten or so years of service, in which it was quite possible he might not actually see a major campaign, but there were periods of constant warfare also, which "decimated" (not THE "Decimation" reputed to be employed as drastic punishment for rebellious or cowardly units) the ranks. As with any military, typically the proficient and/or LUCKY survived a few campaigns to become "old" soldiers, and typically by then had earned a few "stripes" (aside from the frequent floggings which was the Roman version of an "Article 15"). Especially if they remained in a certain town or province for some time, they often "shacked up" with a local woman, who became an de facto, if not strictly legal, wife. Far from being discouraged, this actually had several benefits for the Empire. Often men had enlisted in the Army because their prospects at home weren't all that great (is that not typical?), and certainly, other than keeping up with their kin, they had little reason to return...truly, a Roman soldier generally could never "go home", at least permanently. They often learned the local languages and customs, and often had business dealings with the locals as well. Also, there was an expectation that a Roman soldier would be compensated with land of his own to farm, and WHERE was this land going to come FROM? It only made sense that an aging soldier would transition to becoming a well-heeled member of the community somewhere on the Frontier, and help to spread Roman culture. Also, even retired soldiers did serve as reservists for some time; so the Army had a "ready reserve" of experienced, if not fully fit, men in times of emergency.
The Standard Bearer was probably the most well protected person in a legion. 😀
Indeed, I am sure everyone wanted to be on his good side !😁😁
Remembering previous Historia Militum video. When a standard was throw into enemy rank to 'encourage' the men to push to retrieve it. I wonder if they store the bank account on their standard for how much it motivate the men to retrive it.
And a target that is basically holding a sign that's saying "kill me" to the enemy.
There's a reason to expect protection 😅
But enemy had archers and javelin throwers and Standard Bearer had only small shield.
@@put1996i bet them boys fought like lions 😂
I can’t imagine going through that kind of hell and not getting paid for it
13:01 bro is named after the god of wine, pleasure and partying and he did not spend his money on wine, pleasure and partying. Amazing man indeed!
Well dyonisos is also a god of land and art so a frugal life is another way to honor him
There is a lot in a name. Freakanomics looked at the influence of one's name has on their behavior. The interesting one was the story of a father who named one son winner and the other loser. The one named loser went on to become a police officer, while the brother named winner became a drug dealer and criminal in and out of prison.
From this one would think that we behave the opposite of our namesake, but the story of a girl named "Temptress" by her single mother that was arrested for suspected prostitution seems to suggest that it is not that clear cut.
I think the difference is that one name suggested a way to get what one wants: a profession(kind of), while the other name was simply one that forced the son that was named loser to work hard to earn a status above his name. Sort of like naming your son "Sue" and abandoning him as a father because you know he will have to be mean and stand up for himself because you named him "Sue".
Johnny Cash's song taught me proper parenting, if I cannot be there I need to name my son "Sue", that will toughen him up, and then I will get the Emotional Damage Parenting Award from Steven He's channel.
@@azers8298 it usually what follows after drinking too much
It’s really amazing how little has changed with how soldiers spent their money in ancient times. I’ve talked to people who have been in the military in modern times, the same kind of stuff is going on with spending and loaning money.
Is it realy a surprise? Men stay men; good cold beer, upscale food, pretty women, hot bath ... and they are all set...
For a future topic, could you explore the family life of roman soliders? When in the military a big aspect of morale and stability was allowing constant contact with family and friends at home so I'd be interested to see how the romans approached this issue
Good idea, that would make a good video. We will look into it!
These are by far my favourite videos, I love seeing the nitty gritty of how they actually lived, trained and stuff.
I think it's because I can really picture myself in those times with these videos.
When a Roman 2000 years ago had better savings than you...
@@jonbaxter2254can you start to imagine their health. Roman or not. All the people of that time handled illness without pharmacuticals and vaccines. I know I'd die from diahrea 😔😔😔😔😔😔😔 I hate this world of gifts and curses
@@jonbaxter2254just imagine being able to buy small vineyards in the richest part of the Empire and fuse them to form a big one with your lifetime legionnaire or auxiliary cav salary.... In today's military, you could only do so if you are a Colonel or above.
The Immunes, Sesquiplicarii and the Duplicari roles sound like the origins of a Warrant officer corp.
The Romans (West) were the first and for at least 1400 years the last, with funktional bookkeeping.
When a Soldier died, his officer would send the money to the next relative.
Ever Soldier had to write ( from somone else ) a last will, declaring how get the money.
It worked not allways, but the roman done everything to make it happen.
I liked this episode. There are directly parallels in the modern army, though the source and names are different. (i.e. a re-enlistment bonus rather than a imperial donative)
Life of individuals is a really interesting and relatable topic. Like, what was like to be a legionnary on Gaul (daily days, economy, amusement, etc)...
Soldiers recruited from the lower class suddenly getting a regular income for the first time and going nuts definitely still happens.
You pull up outside an Infantry barracks and all the lower enlisted are driving dodge chargers, cameros, and lifted trucks 😂
I was thinking the same thing, some things do never change
How could you leave out the beloved mustang with a 20% interest rate?
Dodge Charger is number one choice in the ghetto
Cheese at 28% APR
Those are all regular cars. What would you rather them drive?
It’s always a good day when you upload another incredible video. Keep up the great work!
Thank you for the comment. We will try our best to make them more frequent! ;)
@@HistoriaMilitum No worries lol, these videos are very high quality because of the time and hard work put into them, I’m happy with any frequency 😊
Very interesting. Its also interesting to see how long lifespans people had in this period, like that dude who bought those olive orchards at age 67.
Many people assume Romans and other ancients lived very short loves, but that is very much untrue! Its indeed a great ideas for a future video and I will make sure we make it. Thanks!
Bro, that Stronghold 1 soundtrack in the background. So nostalgic 😮❤
Roman historian here, this is absolutely fantastic, great job!
Fun Fact: When you join the U.S. Army your half of your first 2 paychecks go to purchasing the clothing they issue you and things you need to buy for training anyways lol
Correct…I remember thinking what the heck! Haha. And then they give you that little clothing allowance each year, like that’s gonna be enough for new uniforms…most soldiers just blew that money at the bar, tattoos, or the strip club anyways. 😂
Wasn't that way when I was in, of course my generation was the last of the real combat soldiers, pussyfied soldiers today
Wow, I learned so much from this video. Excellently done.
Love this channel for covering topics like this, also looking forward to Dacia Part 2!
Absolutely interesting. Topics that bring us to the past, Roman bureaucracy is just like today's.
Yes, or they paved the way to how a society functions till this day
Very interesting coverage of a topic not normally mentioned but very important.
Titus Cissonius was a true man of culture, he was one of the boys 👏
YES PLEASE! More! More! MORE!
I love learning about all this. please keep it coming :)
as always you did a great job with this video and I can't wait for the next one.
Thank you for your comment! :)
10:01 That stronghold music caught me off guard lol
I love the way you approach these topics and the things you focus on. Keep up the good work! :)
Thank you tor your comment! We are working on much more like it.
@@HistoriaMilitum thanks for your contents :)
The unit of account in USA is the Dollar. In Imperial Roma, unit of account is sestertius or plural sestertii or called “HS” . A Denarii is a small silver coin worth 4 sestertii. You would list pay in sestertii, not denarii. So if I owe somebody $600, I would not say I owe them 🎉12x $50 “Grant” bills or 6 Benjis. DONATIVES for common soldiers would be 2 gold coins … Aurelii. That is 50 denarii or 200 HS. This bonus (Latin for “Good”) is 1/5 or a 20% bonus… and critical for a soldier ability to pay off debts. Failure to pay the yearly donative often led to rebelión. Also, every 5 years of an emperor reign, an extra 1 gold coin is added. So 10 years, a common solder gets 4 gold coins… 40% bonus!!!
I'm curious about what would happen if a spectacular defeat resulted in the Legion bank being looted by the enemy...
Could survivors claim some credit from the state?
I can't imagine full compensation would be simple matter...
Actually we don't know 😅. I imagine that the state paid deaf ears to such reclamations. Large defeats were not very common so to speak.
We know that for example sometimes generals with ambitions either seized the bank accounts or received large donations from the soldier in order to raise cash for the campaign. This a case with a revolt against Domitian in Germania. To prevent something like a limit of 225 denarii on the account was stablished but as you can see... this was often ignored 😂
@@JonEtxebeberriaRodriguez Yeah, about what I figure too.
But just something tells me survivors of some catastrophic defeat wouldn't walk away empty handed if they showed up and told their story... Just think how bad it would look
@@greg_4201 You are right. But there unfortunately we are entering into the realm of the unknown. Sadly such things are never mentioned in the sources. We can only make educate guesses 😅. It's a shame because as a professional historian would love to find out what happened in such cases 😂
@@JonEtxebeberriaRodriguez well, if there's nothing in the archives we'll never know for sure.
I love how detailed you are with the contents and information of the videos. That's why I always keep my eye on your channel... Like yesterday, when a I saw another video, waiting for the next one (this one 😅)
Fascinating stuff , on a historical site we had a discution on standard bearers fighting or not
the consensus was that a unit standard bearer was the focal point of a unit and the location of it's command , to regroup upon if the battle turned bad
so now it turn out the legionnaires would fight to protect their saving accountant too
duty and my money are a powerful alliance
I actually wouldn't mind seeing more videos on Roman fortifications..
Looking forward to the videos on corruption and plunder
Very nice video covering the finances of Roman Soldiers, and their pay structure.
Honestly if I was Caesar I wouldn't have said a word either, walking over 20 miles a day and then putting 10 men in the same tent? I think I'd have just put the perfume directly into my nose.
10:50 i love the Stronghold soundtrack in the background. already enjoyed the video and this made it even better.
I appreciate your work on this subject, i wish you all the best!
I would like to believe the Romans had to pay for their own weapons to make it a point not to leave it behind, incase of a route. I can imagine having to pay for my M4 on a few training events if I left it behind.
I love Stronghold music in the background
I love this channel. There's just so much interesting things there, well-documented, well-explained, and with a smooth voice on top of that.
Thanks you again for this video
Thank you for the kind comment. Nevertheless, we will always try to improve the quality with every video. Looking forward to seeing you in the next one! :)
@@HistoriaMilitum why did you guys change the thumbnail? was UA-cam flagging it as inappropriate or something like that?
@@agrippa2012 Not at all, just trying for something simpler and more catchy. What do you think about it? :)
@@HistoriaMilitum i prefer the previous one but im no thumbnail expert so what do i know? :)
Nevertheless, i hope this video gets a lot of views regardless of what thumbnail you use 👍
Appreciate the Stronghold soundtrack guys!❤
This video was fantastic. It gave me an even better appreciation for the value of a denarius.
keep this videos coming
Love this! Thank you, please create more!
I really enjoyed this thank you it was great to have real life examples.
I often wonder if instead of lump sums they should add on a lifetime stipend that goes up with each year of service.
Love these detailed videos
i absolutely love videos that talks about the more "mudane" aspects of life in ancient times.
I did a double take at 'stipendium', for a moment sounded like 'Stupendium' - which would be a pretty cool collab project
Dude these videos are amazing. Where do you even find all these specific stories about individual legionaries?? You had me hooked from beginning to end.
Thanks for your words. In most cases we go directly to the primary source material. Every piece of archaeological information has like a serial number that you can track and that every scholar must use when referring to the document. For example the document of Proculus has the reference code P.GenLat... which is the number it was given upon discovery and classification. So if we find a referrence to it in a book or somewhere we can check it. Documents like this are often stored in large databases or codex like compilations that scholars can consult. Same goes with inscriptions, you can go to the academic database and consult.
The only downside is 90% of the times the stuff is in latin or greek. It is assumed that only scholars will consult these stuff so they skip the translation part. Fortunately we know a bit of latin and roman epigraphic tradition so we can translate them if needed be 😊. I think it adds a bit uniqueness to the content and hopefully becomes a hallmark of the channel.
We will add the sources later for everyone to consult freely if they want 😊
@@JonEtxebeberriaRodriguez it’s definitely the part that stands out to me and I’m sure that sentiment stands for many! Looking forward to more content. It demonstrates a level of research that goes beyond expectation for most UA-cam vids!
"Something can't be very unique, unique means one of a kind"
Joshua Bartlett
I don't like being the Grammar Police but the misuse of words such as "unique" and "decimated" suggests an incomplete command of English. ("Decimated" didn't appear on this video but just as you can't be "somewhat unique" you can't be "completely decimated" any more than you can be "utterly halved".)
@@RichardDCook Well, you indeed cannot be "somewhat unique" (though it has been pointed out to me in another situation that "unique" does appareantly not equal "one of a kind" anymore in modern grammer, idk, I would argue that "decimated" has grown to equal "much reduced" as opposed to the original meaning of "divided by 10"
Right, language is always changing! There's a time when only a few uneducated people are using a word as having a new meaning, and a time when the vast majority of people are using the word that way. With "unique" and "decimated" we're in that grey middle ground where most people with an educated command of English use the words as having their original meanings but many, perhaps a majority, are using them as having new meanings. I wouldn't put the original meanings of those words in the "obsolete" bin just yet! (I myself couldn't use decimated, quartered, or halved in any other way than they obviously mean.)
Turns out the average modern day PFC and Roman Legionnaire weren’t so different after all, what with horrible financial practices
I wonder how many Legionaires bought a horse and chariot with 15 percent interest at their first duty station.
@@thelostcosmonaut5555😂
An original and well researched analysis of a topic I've always wanted to know about. It's incredible how inflation made the ranks more unequal over time. Also, compliments to the artist you have on the team.
Notify me on the corruption video
Yeah this was great!! Keep it up!
6:30 to 6:41
I think that's both normal and logical in practically every army and even in the current modern armies all over the world
Please do! I love the content!
finally got around to watching this one, and i think this might be my favorite of your videos so far. Would love to see more like it!
I really appreciate all the research and effort that went into finding the information for this video, thank you!
Fascinating.
Idk why the algorithm only hit me with this video now, was a great watch!
Excellent Video. Thank you.
Great video! The economic drivers of societies throughout history are a fascinating topic.
interesting topic, I never really thought of it prior to today
Very entertaining and informative video. Thank you for your time and effort. Thank you, sir.
Life in most Roman cities did not use a lot of coins. Few coins found in Pompeii (except lots of the smaller copper coin Quadrans)
Most people bought on “tic” or credit as in 19th century England. You paid up at the end of the month. Soldiers are different, they move around a lot so if you have 300 sersterii credit to a solder now shipped off overseas, you lost your money. So soldiers paid in cash since their credit status could change.
How ancient people were this organised and orderly blows my mind. They were centuries ahead of anybody else.
not just any ancient people, romans
They were mostly just like we are today, except they didn't have all the new technologies we have today, but our minds are still the same.
and yet allot could not write too. not sure about read part. and we even have parts in the world were not all can read or write
@@ramonruijgt4532 That's just education, but the mind still is there.
Thank you so much for this video. I think I understand the poor soldiers they lived dangerous lives so the small pleasures of life that they could get. So I don't blame them, but it is impressive those who managed to save up and then use it in there retirement year. I would like if you could make a video about the roman banking system if there was an institution that was encharged of it or the roman government was also the bank.
Are many of your viewers RPG enthusiasts?
I love the play games like DnD, mostly as game master. World building and expanding on published material is especially fun. While the settings are fantasy I often like to add more realism, as many aspects of the world aren't documented and sometimes weird if you focus on them.
I actually wondered about the content of this video when playing Mount and Blade Bannerlord and running a game of Warhammer Fantasy RP set in Bretonnia. I made up a better economic system where pay to armies was part of the economy, as in the game consumption is an abstract mechanic only taking place in cities and salaries and troop upgrades just cost money that disappears.
Maintenance, repair and upgrades would mean the salaries would flow back into the economy and goods produced there would have meaning. Food would be the most important thing instead of just giving a morale bonus for food variety. It might even balance the game a bit as long wars with lots of pillaging would reduce food production and make war more expensive.
Very interesting to know how such a thing worked in the real world.
I do have an odd question, it is how much the resale value of equipment would be. Like if you bought a sword and then sold it a few weeks later or something. I have tried to find out that kind of thing in Ye Olde Days but I can never get a straight answer if I even get an answer at all.
I don’t think there is any information about equipment resale value. If there was, it would still probably be different for each period.. But its likely that after returning your gear after service, you were given part of your money back. We have a video coming up very soon about weapon and armour logistics, stay tuned!
@@HistoriaMilitum And I will be sure to watch it, I am just curious to see how marked down it would be for RPG purposes (I am a huge nerd lol)
You whistled at 9:00
Perfumes - phones
Silk clothes - designer clothes
Hot baths - vacations abroad
Good wine - beer
Good food - fast food
Women - women
After millenia, the same problem plagues the majority… a lack of long term thinking.
This video makes me wish for a video on Roman banking and financial practices, especially before the financial innovations and endeavors of the Templars, the Medici, and the Rothschilds.
Legionary got paid at 100 Denari silver a month. Auxiliary got paid 200 Denari silver a month. Centurians 250 to 500 Denari silver a month. An Aquila could easily received a pension of 2500 to 5000 Denari silver a month.
I think you got Legionary and auxiliary mixed up
I dig it, doing more like this would be good
Such s good video, well done
As Henry Hill said in the movie Goodfellas "Fuck you, pay me".
You know, unless it's caesar, in which case they work on credit
Not just in Roman times; Military salaries for regular soldiers is probably the best source anytime in history.
Or do the mercennary way you get your pay regardless If they payer IS willing to pay
Ancient Legionnaires spending them money on trivial items and bad investments. Modern Soldiers and Marines...buying 2024 Dodge Chargers with a 36% APR..... Some things never change.
This interesting video brings even more arduous pondering: The money flow... Now that we have learned about the expenses of the soldiers, where were the incomes (money in) coming from? Taxation on Roman citizens? Loot and raids? Deliberately sacking cities and villages? This had to be a constant affair as this described soldiers’'' incomes seemed a constant and guarantied process.
Where was the money kept? What if the army had to move (I assume “Camp” was not an indefinite process for a military, especially a Roman one). So they carried all them coins (heavy barrels) with them on a march and into a battle? I’d say- not a great safe bank or FDIC insured…
😒
Too funny! I spent my first two paychecks on a red suede coat. It was gorgeous. Sigh!
Why not try having a custom intro music just like Mark Felton. That would be great 🙂👍
12:40 bruh Maximus what did you do my man
👍more please, esp on legino retirement, share ofspoils, disciplne, corruption. recruitment, training👏
Your vids are always of the highest quality man.
Im glad you think so. It takes quite some time to put them together!
It shows! Looking forward to your second Dacian War video. @@HistoriaMilitum
Please continue Legion Overviews! I wanna see XX valerian next!
The only thing that would make this better is if you tried to equate what a denarii is in todays money. I know we dont know excalty but a rough estimate would be cool to include. Otherwise well done, I enjoyed this video very much!
It is VERY rough, but you could get something like the US military pay rates (which are publicly available information), and see what a new soldier makes, a senior sergeant, etc, and compare that to a legionary, a centurion, etc. It would put you in the ballpark to get a denarii-to-dollar equivalence.
It's funny how little life in the military has changed.
so interesting!
I know most of this isn't ancient history but here a list of videos
please do a video on these
(this is a copy and paste list for a few channels)
units and tactics/evaluation of loadouts of troops (from different jobs (and other branches)
the tank doctrine of countries
evaluation of tank veiw ports
evaluation of tanks/armored vehicles of different countries
logistics units of the axes and allied powers in ww2
ww1 estern front tactics
Russian Civil war tactics and strategies
navil ship cross sections (all the rooms and how it all works)
evaluation of types of ships
or evaluation of navil warfare
air craft carrier strike group formations exsamples (from different countries)
ancient persan ships,
ancient veneti ships (gauls that fought ceaser)
ships used by genoa and the vernesain republic
the vernesain republic government
all sailing ships, (i know theres many on yt but some contradict each other and i think theres more left out)
tactics used so far in the Ukraine war,
better for squads to be 2 teams of 5 or 3 teams of 3,
and probably the easiest, better to keep troops well feed or starved like an animal
how dose age effect comsnders eg napoleon got older so took less risks,
ancient urban warfare
ww2 tactics in Asia, tactics in the Chinese age of warlords, (and Chinese civil war)
tactics in the ruso jap war
cold war navil tactics,
Korean war tactics,
strange tactics or unque battles from the American war of independence and America civil war
how were 17th centry sailing ships build
types of bombs lunched by drones
comands given on sailing ships (like ease the sheets and get ready to chine, or slack n beases, basically things you hear movie capitns say)
why did the nazis never return (or a video on best occupations)
why did the Japanese empire fall, dont just say "America" like things like how there army and navy argued alot
alot more on the Polynesians and māori, but please learn pronounceations if you do this
Pls Ancient Olympics next
Really interesting! Thanks!
Thanks for the video
Like the Stronghold background music. ;)
Soldiers have been supporting single Mom's since the beginning of time. 😂
Except in the ancient world, the number of single mothers varied with the campaign season and the tempo of battles. It's not hard to imagine, especially in the Roman empire during Christ's time, such mothers must have been the majority. During the time of Caesar, when large Roman armies spent many years away fighting and occupying territory in Gaul, Britania and along the Rhine, a soldier might not see his family for years on end.
Always Outstanding!
good, somethings never change