Did the Romans live better than us? | Quality of Life and Salaries

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  • Опубліковано 27 бер 2024
  • In this video, we cover the lives of 3 REAL individuals who lived and died in 3 separate social classes. We found a way to recreate their salaries and living expenses as accurately as possible, and put it in a simple video packed with unexpected pleasures and tragedies…
    We would greatly appreciate any support you would like to give this channel, as it will help our small team create more quality content for you in the future! Patreon: / filaximhistoria
    SOURCES:
    Primary sources:
    -Inscriptiones Graecae, XII, III, 343. -BCH 188o, 336-8. -CIL V, 895: lupa.at/14019
    -Lactantius, De Mortibus Persecutorum.
    Secondary Sources:
    -Allen, R. “How prosperous were the Romans? The evidence of Diocletian’s Price Edict (AD 301).” A. K. Bowman and A. I. Wilson, eds., Quantifying the Roman economy: methods and problems, Oxford, 2009, 327-45.
    -Barnes, T. D. The New Empire of Diocletian and Constantine. Harvard: Harvard University Press, 1982.
    -Corcoran, S. The empire of the Tetrarchs: imperial pronouncements and government AD 284-324, Oxford, 2000, 205-33.
    -Goffart, W. Caput and Colonate: Towards a history of Late Roman Taxation. Toronto: Toronto University Press, 1974.
    -Jones, A.H.M. “Census Records of the Later Roman Empire”, The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 43, 1953, 49-64.
    -Kropff, A. An English translation of the Edict on Maximum Prices, also known as
    the Price Edict of Diocletian.
    -Williams, Stephen. Diocletian and the Roman Recovery.New York: Routledge, 1997.
    Intro (0:00)
    Tenant Farmer (1:38)
    Soldier (6:58)
    Aristocrat (12:51)
  • Розваги

КОМЕНТАРІ • 3,5 тис.

  • @HistoriaMilitum
    @HistoriaMilitum  2 роки тому +390

    We hope you enjoyed the video as much as we enjoyed making it. Make sure you make it to the Aristocrat's lavish feast at 20:24!

    • @ticiusarakan
      @ticiusarakan Рік тому +3

      очень интересно и познавательно, но не могли бы вы уточнить цены на покупку, рент дома, квартиры, комнаты и стоимость лошади

    • @Fish-ub3wn
      @Fish-ub3wn Рік тому +2

      ppl didn't change a lot for the last 2k yrs.

    • @gabor6259
      @gabor6259 Рік тому +1

      You said that Theodorius works 6 days a week but you didn't say how many hours a day he works.

    • @Fish-ub3wn
      @Fish-ub3wn Рік тому +1

      @@gabor6259 dusk till dawn, every hour of light was important

    • @lesterdilworth1174
      @lesterdilworth1174 Рік тому +4

      Ahh the good old Stronghold 2 soundtrack

  • @fifervonpiper6707
    @fifervonpiper6707 Рік тому +408

    Today: "What color is your Bugatti?"
    Roman times: "How purple is your purple?"

    • @chadbrochill19
      @chadbrochill19 Місяць тому +14

      Let's see Pualius Allenus' purple.

    • @thatguynexus5935
      @thatguynexus5935 Місяць тому +11

      "There is a sheer moment of panic when i realized Pualius Allenus's villa overlooks the Mare Nostrum, and is obviously more expensive than mine."

  • @tijlaerts
    @tijlaerts 2 роки тому +8292

    When you look at factors like occupational hazards, working hours, child labor, pollution,... It's quite possible roman plebeans had much better lives than 1800's factory workers.

    • @timothymatthews6458
      @timothymatthews6458 2 роки тому +727

      I'm pretty sure Roman plebeian children worked in the fields with their parents.

    • @thewildcardperson
      @thewildcardperson 2 роки тому +662

      @@timothymatthews6458 which wouldn't be much more then basic farming

    • @timothymatthews6458
      @timothymatthews6458 2 роки тому +648

      @@thewildcardperson Farming can be hard labor. Ploughing, for example, is difficult and slightly dangerous.

    • @MohamedRamadan-qi4hl
      @MohamedRamadan-qi4hl 2 роки тому +815

      @@thewildcardperson you have no idea how hard 'basic farming' is because it makes factory work look pathetic. I bet you did not see a farm in your entire life

    • @tijlaerts
      @tijlaerts 2 роки тому +268

      @@timothymatthews6458 During sowing and harvest absolutely. not all year round.

  • @N4jss
    @N4jss Рік тому +1958

    1st guy: *lives*
    2nd guy: *lives and goes to a tavern*
    3rd guy: ,,i want this ostrich''

    • @snesguy9176
      @snesguy9176 Рік тому +132

      Sounds about like modern life tbh

    • @pauldog
      @pauldog Рік тому +234

      @@snesguy9176 1st guy: lives
      2nd guy: lives and goes to the cinema, gets a takeaway
      3rd guy: I want this Bugatti

    • @sausagemaan9097
      @sausagemaan9097 Рік тому +105

      @@pauldog what color is your ostritch

    • @user-md5yb8hz4h
      @user-md5yb8hz4h 11 місяців тому +15

      Poor 3rd guy, no money left.

    • @LeckoMioMucho
      @LeckoMioMucho 11 місяців тому +31

      @@snesguy9176 Everyone nowadays, in Europe and America and many parts of Asia, live waaaaay better than anyone from the past ages and if you disagree with that you should educate yourself more. Obviously they didn’t live like shit back in the days, however non of them had a hot bathtub, a stove, washing machine (all at your own home) enough and affordable clothing, electricity, light, enough food, variety of food, a car, a safe and warm house, …

  • @andyknolls8735
    @andyknolls8735 Рік тому +1772

    Yes I agree, the rising cost of slaves is most troubling.

    • @ua2894
      @ua2894 Рік тому +32

      have you heard of the most expensive sugar produced in the history of the world?

    • @breakerdawn8429
      @breakerdawn8429 11 місяців тому +83

      I know right can't buy slave cheap these days all of them are too expensive. Looks like I gotta get them myself like the Roman legionnaire did. Anyone up for some raiding?

    • @REALletsfail
      @REALletsfail 11 місяців тому +45

      @@hunterofdarkness8329 It is tho. Sex trafficking and forced labor still exist. Just because it is illegal sadly doesn’t mean nobody has slaves anymore.

    • @mcpartridgeboy
      @mcpartridgeboy 11 місяців тому +7

      we need more wars so decrease supply probllems.

    • @plant9399
      @plant9399 11 місяців тому +24

      @@REALletsfail But have you seen the prices?

  • @inventor121
    @inventor121 2 роки тому +4435

    A single income providing for an entire family AND having savings? That's the Millennial dream

    • @betacenaturi9354
      @betacenaturi9354 2 роки тому +589

      Consider they only buy food and sustain the basic needs.
      They don't have to purchase electronic devices, go bar resturants, internet and telephone connection.

    • @carso1500
      @carso1500 2 роки тому +805

      @@betacenaturi9354 shhhh, let them leave in their dream world where a bunch of farmers with no access to modern medicine, entertainment, limited oportunities of growth, no education and limited food options aside from high child mortality somehow had a better lifestyle than modern humans because they could have some savings

    • @killman369547
      @killman369547 2 роки тому

      Yep. A dream made utterly impossible thanks to inflation.

    • @anonperson3972
      @anonperson3972 2 роки тому +417

      You could do it today. Just live mostly on bread, which you bake yourself. Dont use any electricity, dont travel and wear the same clothes for several years

    • @michas7993
      @michas7993 2 роки тому +335

      ​@@carso1500 I'll put my two cents in. The benefits of modern civilization may be quite misleading. We may not have as high infant mortality as in the past but we make up for it with child obesity and myopia epidemics (and also youth depression and suicide rates). We don't have plague and smallpox outbreaks anymore but have HIV pandemics (and sporadic outbreaks of ebola and other extremely deadly pathogens). The modern medicine may be close to cure some forms of cancer but still there are a lot of people that can't afford basic health insurance. There are people outside of western civilization that cannot afford any healthcare at all. We may not have as many wars as in the past but the wars that are yet to come will be far worse than that (think of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, armed drones, rocket launchers, machine guns - last weeks have shown us that the time of relative peace we have now is very fragile, I would rather be an ancient hoplite armed with a spear than a modern soldier or civilian during war getting shot or blown up by a rocket). The rich in the past didn't have many options to hide their wealth or transfer it to other countries - they had to stay with the common people and fight together to save their homeland. The modern rich can say sod off to the people and escape with their fortunes to exotic countries. Also money in the past was linked to tangible goods like gold or silver or even grains. Modern money is not linked to anything tangible. Authorities can indebt whole counties at the expense of the working class to make financial elites even richer. Real estate ownership becomes out of reach for ordinary people. Families are becoming poorer. Children are giver far less options than their parents. During ancient times youth were taught civic virtues and practical knowledge of geometry, rhetorics, law, logic etc. Modern youth is taught that using wrong personal pronouns or peeing while standing up is morally unacceptable, hahaha.

  • @josephmauck9200
    @josephmauck9200 11 місяців тому +1073

    The first guy was an employee. It sounds weird to read in history books that "all the food he farmed had to go to the landowner and he received a small payment in return", but it's simply employment.

    • @outerspaceisalie
      @outerspaceisalie 9 місяців тому +40

      It's similar to employment, difference in terms are important.

    • @SleekMouse
      @SleekMouse 5 місяців тому +24

      That sounds exactly like centralized command economy tax and spend communism. You mean that's why capitalism and free markets became a thing.

    • @allanshpeley4284
      @allanshpeley4284 3 місяці тому +14

      ​@@8qk67acq5That's not socialism because that arrangement is consensual and voluntary. Socialism requires threat of physical violence.

    • @DiogenesTheReaper
      @DiogenesTheReaper 3 місяці тому +32

      @@allanshpeley4284 not physical violence. Socialism is simply having codified laws against wealth aggregation.
      Even communist countries aren’t communist right now.

    • @NihongoWakannai
      @NihongoWakannai 2 місяці тому +16

      ​@@DiogenesTheReaper and how do you enforce those laws on wealth accumulation?
      With threats of physical violence.

  • @childofcascadia
    @childofcascadia Рік тому +66

    These are my favorite type of history vids. Most history vids are about the names in the history books, wars, big things. Not the lives of the average people and how they may have lived.

  • @dereksindler566
    @dereksindler566 10 місяців тому +131

    Videos like this make you feel connected to history, that human existence is universal through time and cultures

  • @RJStockton
    @RJStockton 2 роки тому +4283

    Historians of AD 4122:
    "Richard had to spend $100 a week on food, $40-50 on gasoline, $12.75 on internet pornography, $45 for the phone the tax collectors used to spy on him, $25 on ammunition, $10 on lottery tickets, $5 on headache medicine, $10 on coffee, and $100 each for his car loan, credit card interest, insurance, and other things he keeps putting off until they're in collections. Once a year he dropped $1,000 on the delusional belief he was good at playing blackjack."
    I really hope none of our records survive the centuries.

    • @JonEtxebeberriaRodriguez
      @JonEtxebeberriaRodriguez 2 роки тому +197

      Just imagine what they might think of us 😂🤣

    • @ac1455
      @ac1455 2 роки тому +340

      If they browse Wall Street bets they’d develop a strain of contagious aneurysms

    • @akashchoubey3207
      @akashchoubey3207 2 роки тому +15

      😂

    • @brandonjade2146
      @brandonjade2146 2 роки тому +41

      @@JonEtxebeberriaRodriguez atleast we arent the egyptians, have you ever heard the story of the competition between the gods horus and osiris?🤢

    • @anadaere6861
      @anadaere6861 2 роки тому +144

      @@JonEtxebeberriaRodriguez Historians: This is the 21st century, also known as the Century of Strife. From plagues, to risk of all out nuclear warfare, to world wide economic crashing, supermassive volcano eruptions, earthquakes and tsunamis to all at the same time, it is safe to say that this is one of the most important turning points in human history. This is the age where humanity proves that even if all things can't possibly get any worse, we persevere and make sure we set new records on all time lows by triggering a nuclear warfare. Humanity only survived due to the efforts of the Swiss Government, who amidst all the chaos retreated to their bunkers and brought out their ancient jewish superweapons and brought all superpowers to heel, and stopped the war

  • @nickkorkodylas5005
    @nickkorkodylas5005 2 роки тому +439

    As modern Greek I can attest I live exactly on Theodorus' budget.

    • @tonnuz87
      @tonnuz87 Рік тому +47

      And for sure you cannot sustain a family of three on One wage.

    • @tzavard3154
      @tzavard3154 Рік тому +55

      @@tonnuz87 Right now at Greece, we are actually at the point that we need a basic wage of three, to sustain a family of two.

    • @drihtamnetu
      @drihtamnetu Рік тому +25

      I'm in Serbia. Wife is unemployed and we have a 5 yeard old kid. My salary is exactly 2.5 times bigger than average salary here and we live quite modestly since i'm paying a credit for apartment. I wouldn't be able to live if i had less money.

    • @lemegeton5099
      @lemegeton5099 9 місяців тому +13

      as a modern Turk I can attest I can't earn as much as Theodorus

    • @robertabston9080
      @robertabston9080 2 місяці тому +3

      And I'm eating a damned peacock. Lol

  • @donsolos
    @donsolos 10 місяців тому +49

    Literally the only difference between now and then is level of technology and levels of general knowledge. That's wild

    • @Saint.x0
      @Saint.x0 3 місяці тому +3

      I think they had much more knowledge than the people nowdays

    • @cattleherder1912
      @cattleherder1912 Місяць тому +7

      At least they knew what a woman is.

    • @donsolos
      @donsolos Місяць тому +5

      @@cattleherder1912 actually right before Rome fell they went through the same type of social problems. Other society's have as well right before they went down

    • @Haykke
      @Haykke Місяць тому +1

      Also one peasant income was enough to feed the whole family

    • @cattleherder1912
      @cattleherder1912 Місяць тому

      @@donsolos Its true that Roman leaders vastly overestimated Romes capability to assimilate other cultures. But again there were no mobs of peasants running wild, cackling about identity politics and crying about the prospect of being miss-gendered.
      I guess the closest thing was Neros army of thots.

  • @ntesla4714
    @ntesla4714 Рік тому +24

    This is very educational. You should also make videos about the lives of people in different centuries / countries. Even a video about people living today in different countries would also be entertaining.

  • @TheSaracen369
    @TheSaracen369 Рік тому +1340

    This type of content is very rare. Most of the other history channels focus on flashy topics like warfare and politics. Thank you for this. You could expand this type of content to other time periods and cultures. Although you should have mentioned how these prices were significantly bloated because of massive inflation and currency debasement

    • @Redmanticore
      @Redmanticore Рік тому +18

      they often focus on that because history of old was often written about the rulers, not of normal people. or at least their records were the best kept ones. but likely historians were hired to write only about the rulers.

    • @MrKyuubiJesus
      @MrKyuubiJesus Рік тому +8

      Gotta hand it to Diocletian for having all the items valued and written down in a lot of places. These records are rare.

    • @conormcmenemie5126
      @conormcmenemie5126 11 місяців тому +3

      Have some sympathy for this poor scribe. He must have toiled soullessly like a slave to produce these figures. OTH the tenant farmer will have been better off, since he will have produced his own olive oil and wine, had goats grazing beside his chickens, plus bartered things like leather with his sibs, cousins and in-laws. Wealth is a measure of how we compare to poverty.

    • @rrmartin392
      @rrmartin392 10 місяців тому +1

      It's actually difficult to track a direct exchange value to the US dollar from the Denari. Because their economy was partially still based on a bartering system, prices would fluctuate with the season, sometimes food was more valuable than actual currency, or if there was a grain shortage which could last years money was worthless if everyone was starving people needed to keep their food.

  • @xmaniac99
    @xmaniac99 2 роки тому +2773

    One can only imagine how the modern world would be if politicans at al levels would be held personally liable with their properties as guarantees for any shortcomings. Oh, what a (world) it would be.

  • @ShenGe
    @ShenGe 9 місяців тому +23

    I like this...a historical account of the day to day livelihood. That's how most people lived and it's good to know more about it than the wars or other major events.

  • @tylerholden2319
    @tylerholden2319 Місяць тому +7

    Love the stronghold 2 music!!! Immediately caught my ear, great video!

    • @emilmartinka5442
      @emilmartinka5442 Місяць тому

      😂 i were looking for this type of comment❤

  • @qstorius
    @qstorius 2 роки тому +2514

    Just one observation regarding Theodorus... beeing pesant is not like beeing a xix or xxth century factory worker... there are no 8h factory shifts... some times theodorus would work on a field for 10 h but for majority of the year he would have a much more free time than present day workers... so it is probable that like early modern european pesants he would use that time in meaningfull way like reparing shoes or making table pottery or tanding to animals of his own for extra income

    • @johnpaulcross424
      @johnpaulcross424 2 роки тому +206

      @Jo Jo 100%, there’s never time for leisure even on a small farm, something’s always breaking or getting lost

    • @matthewalexander1943
      @matthewalexander1943 2 роки тому +313

      @Jo Jo "If it was anything like being a rural farmer today"
      It was not. Farm workers were idle for large portions of the year, and often took up other employment. This is part of why the city of Rome had much less population in late summer.
      The work you are talking about is the problem of the land owner. The number of workers he would need when not planting or harvesting crops is far less.

    • @MyHentaiGirlNeko
      @MyHentaiGirlNeko 2 роки тому +98

      @@matthewalexander1943 yeah
      Most of modern day farmers own their land so they have to give everything to tend the land....which is not a small task
      My town grow tobacco and corn....sometime a bad harvest would force them to take a loan which need two good harvest to get rid of the debt
      Alot of young people left to work in the factory, even if it was 9-10 hours work with minimum wages cause they don't have to worry about work all the time like farmers

    • @thesanfranciscoseahorse473
      @thesanfranciscoseahorse473 2 роки тому +59

      @@johnpaulcross424 It depends how you run your farm too.... as someone who's worked in farms before, I promise you we had some leisure time. And modern farmers do take time off on occasion. But theirs is a more continuous job than most.

    • @matthewalexander1943
      @matthewalexander1943 2 роки тому +59

      @@MyHentaiGirlNeko Exactly correct. This is one of the things people get wrong about the Industrial Revolution. People moved into the cities to work factory jobs precisely because they paid more and required less work. They seem awful by our modern standards, but they were a blessing to the poor former farmhands.

  • @louisazraels7072
    @louisazraels7072 Рік тому +708

    The area in which industrialization most impressively reduced prices is clothing (even before manufacturing moved to low labor cost countries).
    The price of basic clothing in ancient and even medieval times seems ludicrous.
    For instance the fact that a sturdy wagon costs the same as a plain tunic is hard to comprehend.

    • @sirnikkel6746
      @sirnikkel6746 Рік тому +148

      Imagine selling clothes at just half the market price while having Victorian Era Automated Looms.
      Now I get how the first industrialized countries and people got so rich lol

    • @Saber23
      @Saber23 Рік тому

      @@sirnikkel6746 that and they destroyed all the other nations

    • @Saber23
      @Saber23 Рік тому +59

      True but we tend to forget how much work it takes and how difficult it really is to weave and make good quality clothing by hand

    • @sirnikkel6746
      @sirnikkel6746 Рік тому +68

      @@Saber23 *HAHA AUTOMATED LOOM GOES SHRICK SHRACK*

    • @Saber23
      @Saber23 Рік тому +9

      @@sirnikkel6746 the fuck does that even mean?

  • @Iskandar64
    @Iskandar64 Рік тому +106

    It is inconceivable that Theodorus would not have access to a small family plot, so they could grow their own produce. And they lived on an island, so the odd fishing trip would not be out of the question. Given that he is committed to farming his landlord's land, he will have had time to take part in other trades in his local community. Also, feast days were fairly common and sacrificed animals would be made available for consumption. So there is a possibility the family had access to meat on such occasions.

    • @ua2894
      @ua2894 Рік тому +17

      the guy was a wagie. didn't have the independent entrepreneur billionaire top-g winner mindset.

    • @MartialGandhi
      @MartialGandhi 2 місяці тому +9

      I agree, he probably didn't spend much on his daily necessities. There's no way fish would cost that much on a Greek island; he probably would have eaten a lot of it and gotten it from some extended family member for free or cheap.

    • @odd-ysseusdoesstuff6347
      @odd-ysseusdoesstuff6347 2 місяці тому +3

      @@MartialGandhiAnd his wife may have had gone out on occasion to pick up wild herbs, helped with her husband, was a nursemaid or carer in the neighborhood or done menial labour every now and then, alongside caring for her kid, so what is presented here is sort of the bare minimum of what could be expected
      (Then again, this is all conjecture, so, we can just about estimate their family’s weekly expenditure)

    • @kloss213
      @kloss213 Місяць тому

      His wife may have owned a vehicle and could stay at her moms home when the husband acted up. She also had a second income since up keep for a 2nd vehicle was costly in antiquity.
      @@odd-ysseusdoesstuff6347

    • @RPcropland
      @RPcropland Місяць тому +1

      Remember yall he was also payed in food. Produce appears to have been cheaper than today. Try to get the same veriety every week for a family of 3 and you be looking at a salary of someone who makes 60-70k to pick fruit ffs. Not to mention that everything is organic and he gets a veriety so he litteraly eats better than some uper middle class people today. Also with clothing uless you like to dress in synthetic garbage that lowkey isn’t even comfortable(cold sweaty or stinky people wondering why they have acne allergies and are lowkey breathing in plastic fibers!) We work more we get payed less we eat lower quality food and are surrounded by toxins.

  • @tbmike23
    @tbmike23 Рік тому +56

    It was surprising to learn about how industrious medieval serfs were in England. Archeological evidence now shows the average serf owned a gold broach, and laws had to be passed to prevent them from dressing like nobility, as they'd make their own clothes in a similar fashion, able to make a few garments very fine at home, for themselves.

    • @ingold1470
      @ingold1470 2 місяці тому +10

      There is a venetian diplomat's account from 1498 where he marvels at how wealthy the English are.

    • @FIASCOGAMING
      @FIASCOGAMING 2 місяці тому

      where can we find this? @@ingold1470

    • @bunk95
      @bunk95 25 днів тому

      Slaves marketed as serfs dont own. They can have possession of something. Lie be lied about.

  • @BassPlayer60134
    @BassPlayer60134 2 роки тому +483

    Fascinating stuff. I love the little details of their lives. I am getting tired of hearing about Caesar and Cleopatra.

    • @tyrrant1374
      @tyrrant1374 2 роки тому +19

      true i know ceasar life better than i know my dads xD

    • @BiggusDickusDavicus
      @BiggusDickusDavicus 2 роки тому +2

      @tyrrant Dads? How many times did your mother divorce?

    • @nekomancer4641
      @nekomancer4641 Рік тому +4

      Very true. It's tiring to hear about the scheming of the kings again and again. None of those can relates to daily lives

    • @tomlxyz
      @tomlxyz Рік тому +11

      @@nekomancer4641 it's not supposed to be relatable. It's supposed to tell you why things turned out the way they are, and there the details of the daily lives of the average person don't say much

    • @nekomancer4641
      @nekomancer4641 Рік тому +2

      @@tomlxyz nor did I said it's supposed to?

  • @dragonfly4441
    @dragonfly4441 2 роки тому +701

    I would really love a cost of living breakdown of any historical period. It's so hard to get a good set of numbers. Middle ages, vikings, industrial revolution, Byzantine, Renaissance Venice, Holy Roman Empire, French Revolution, middle ages middle east, China, feudal Japan, early America, Aztecs. Whatever you may care to put together, I would watch.

    • @theodorekaczynski2138
      @theodorekaczynski2138 Рік тому +28

      Whatever the specific numbers are, you can bet that our wealth increases dramatically all around the world as you go forwards in time.
      Nowadays we are all extremely rich.
      And every person born makes us even richer, it's pretty insane.
      You would think we are a burden, but we really are a blessing.
      If we wanted to, no one of us would ever have to go hungry ever again.
      But even with our stupid conflicts and self sabotage holding us back, we are still growing insanely quick. I've heard that by 2100 we will be about 300% richer than today again, which is almost unfathomable.
      Once we all start working together, humanity will explode into insane progress never seen before.

    • @mikewhitfield2994
      @mikewhitfield2994 Рік тому

      The way things are going, the average wealth will be 300% of today but the mean wealth will be 10%. For the average Joe, protein will be vegetable fortified with insect protein and on rare special occasions, some vat-grown “meat” 3D printed into a meat shape. In the Great Reset, you will own nothing and like it, and virtually all your income will go to rent, food and heavily rationed energy. Even clothing will be rented.

    • @katarinalove8649
      @katarinalove8649 Рік тому +2

      Didn't once mention africa

    • @DanishAlHydro
      @DanishAlHydro Рік тому +9

      Mauritania is in Africa

    • @hephaestus2220
      @hephaestus2220 Рік тому +16

      @@katarinalove8649 to which purpose does this comment serve?

  • @BertieJasokie
    @BertieJasokie 11 місяців тому +11

    The stronghold music is a nice touch. Thought i was hearing thing for a moment.

    • @F3dd
      @F3dd Місяць тому

      Ahhh a man of culture i see

  • @FilipH86
    @FilipH86 Місяць тому +1

    I think this might be the best video on youtube that I have found in a very very long time.

  • @bfcalixis2478
    @bfcalixis2478 2 роки тому +734

    Fun fact, my country's government (Argentina) has been trying to enforce similar legislation to combat our rampant inflation and, of course, it doesn't work and just makes things worse. But, looking at the bright side, it's a nice homage to Diocletian.

    • @shastasilverchairsg
      @shastasilverchairsg 2 роки тому +29

      Cue Monthy Python "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life"

    • @dalfvideos
      @dalfvideos 2 роки тому +51

      ah pero el Cesar Macrium XVI...

    • @RobertSmith-mr1zd
      @RobertSmith-mr1zd 2 роки тому +13

      United States government printet like 80% of us dollars in circulation in the last 2 years, causing biggest inflation since '70, it also propose to fix it with lot of bullshit, including government fixing prices. And commanding coroprations to silence people, because govt can't do it directly without breaking constitution's 1st amendment. And questioning government is "suspected ter-ra-arism". Authoritarian times...

    • @justinallen2408
      @justinallen2408 2 роки тому +3

      @@RobertSmith-mr1zd this has been happening in the usa since it's founding

    • @Great_Olaf5
      @Great_Olaf5 2 роки тому +5

      @@justinallen2408 Are you including the several decades where the United States functionally didn't even have a national currency?

  • @Menzobarrenza
    @Menzobarrenza 2 роки тому +438

    This was super useful to my Worldbuilding for my Dungeons & Dragons setting.

  • @SergioGermanStinco
    @SergioGermanStinco Рік тому +3

    Superlative video. I have been teaching History por more than half a century and I love to learn with you. In my peronist Argentina we still use laws with "maximun prices" so we suffer near 130% /150% inflation each year and unstoppable. Cheers from Patagonia.

  • @itsmeme8544
    @itsmeme8544 2 місяці тому +1

    I like how passionate you are story telling

  • @islar7832
    @islar7832 2 роки тому +725

    My grandparents lived for a long time as farmers and some of them have surviving stories of how their grandfathers tended the land and the thing is, that it didn't change much and from what I hear from Theodorus's life it was more or less the same back then. You could argue that machinery existed back in the 1800, but very few in eastern Europe had access to them so it was still land toiling as it was back in the day.
    Which means a few things for poor Theodorus:
    1. The summer and fall were the most prosperous time for him and his family, even if he had to work 12h a day, from sunrise to sundown on a field, he would most likely skip a lot of expenses because fruits and vegetables are plentiful then and most farmers, even those who didn't own any land could easily get their hands on them for next to nothing, so he would be able to save up a lot more money, especially during the harvest when landowners would usually pay extra.
    2. Winter is very problematic for a tenant farmer, because there isn't much work to be done, I mean other than chopping firewood, cooking and doing small chores around the house, there isn't much he could do, but live off the money he had earned during the summer and fall and relax.
    3. Living as a farmer has its charm and benefits, but it is a very arduous lifestyle. Most of the time there is something to do, a field that need plowing, a crop that needs watering, a weed that needs picking, a load that needs transporting... I am sure that many who live or lived around farms could attest that there is always something to do and I've worked the fields myself, it is not a pleasant experience sitting in the summer heat for ten hours picking up potatoes with your hand and then placing them into sacks...

    • @MackNcD
      @MackNcD 2 роки тому +32

      It’s not for everyone but the simplicity and direct your-work-is-your-food has an ease to it, namely a joy to the work and a lack of monotony, that the world of specialization doesn’t have. But even among the family members and communities that farm there can be specialization.

    • @farmdude2020
      @farmdude2020 2 роки тому +18

      Great point on the seasonal impact on farmer civilizations. This leads me to believe that civilizations in more northern latitudes with colder weather were inclined to raid their southern neighbors for resources to survive the winters or to escape the colder environment. Vikings, Mongols, etc.

    • @NeoN-PeoN
      @NeoN-PeoN 2 роки тому +24

      My grandparents were farmers and I would stay there often. My grandfather would often sleep on the floor right in front of the furnace (for heating the home) which was right next to the front door. He did this because he would have to get up in the middle of the night every couple of hours to change irrigation flows and he didn't want to wake his wife. He didn't sleep much.

    • @christiandauz3742
      @christiandauz3742 Рік тому +4

      The Ancient Sumerians wished they had modern technology to keep out hostile tribes and ensure the vast majority of babies and birth mothers survive!

    • @a6893_
      @a6893_ Рік тому +4

      @@NeoN-PeoN depends on season. But doing something for yourself has a different motivation then working for others.

  • @thefelipelacerda
    @thefelipelacerda Рік тому +53

    Hey man, I'm from brazil, I'm an English teacher, and I always use youtube docs (especially about history) to practice my listening... Sir, I don't know how to thank you! Your videos are just so RICH! It's incredible the amount of information!

    • @HistoriaMilitum
      @HistoriaMilitum  Рік тому +13

      We are very glad you enjoyed it, and wish you all the best in your teaching career!

  • @tobise1112
    @tobise1112 Рік тому +5

    That stronghold music 👌really nice video too!

  • @0antanum0
    @0antanum0 19 днів тому +2

    Oh my God I hear the stronghold music in the background. What a great game.😊

  • @anjasnyder7996
    @anjasnyder7996 2 роки тому +116

    I just love these videos. It is the combination of music, the nice drawings and facts I have never heard about that really make me feel like I am diving into ancient Rome. Please keep making these videos!

    • @crymp2057
      @crymp2057 2 роки тому +3

      The music is taken from Stronghold 2... or it's free and Stronghold 2 uses it as well.

  • @Leo137156
    @Leo137156 Рік тому +43

    Wow, excellent video, so detailed. As a retired Army officer (today's Centurion?) with 28 years of service, it gave me flashbacks. Things have changed, but not that much! Thanks.

    • @lukasg4807
      @lukasg4807 Рік тому +8

      Getting bitched at to replace expensive uniforms and wasting all your money on booze for parties does sound familiar

  • @nonamechicago2716
    @nonamechicago2716 7 місяців тому +17

    As a retired military, I can say not much has changed in the last 2000 years

    • @traafnchinh5896
      @traafnchinh5896 3 місяці тому +2

      Because war, war never changes

    • @xxFairestxx
      @xxFairestxx 3 місяці тому +2

      You get allocated land when you retire?

    • @nonamechicago2716
      @nonamechicago2716 3 місяці тому +1

      Not exactly, in my case it is apartment, after 20 years of military service

    • @Zystiria
      @Zystiria 2 місяці тому

      ​@@nonamechicago2716i wonder are you proud with what you do?, i see the politican is more rich than the military hard work.

    • @nonamechicago2716
      @nonamechicago2716 2 місяці тому +3

      Well, İ definitely not ashamed of my choose, and i am aware of my abilities (NOT politician or entrepreneur), in the end got what I deserve no more no less@@Zystiria

  • @andrewrakisits9270
    @andrewrakisits9270 Місяць тому

    Great video on Roman economics and day to day expenses in different socioeconomic classes never seen a video like it great work ! I like history a lot and think you did a great job on this topic !

  • @Banjaraashutosh
    @Banjaraashutosh 2 роки тому +374

    Great Video! Looks like even Roman peasants lived better lives than many people in impoverished countries do currently. Also love the Artwork.

    • @HistoriaMilitum
      @HistoriaMilitum  2 роки тому +31

      Thank you! ;)

    • @bigbadlara5304
      @bigbadlara5304 2 роки тому +4

      Yep

    • @bdleo300
      @bdleo300 Рік тому

      But those ancient inequalities were terrible! Good thing our society evolved beyond this.
      Also, Musk has 100x more money than all of commenters on this video combined....

    • @Megan-ii4gf
      @Megan-ii4gf Рік тому +16

      They lived better than I did for 2 years when I was working at Gatwick Airport in England, from the looks of things.

    • @neolink8197
      @neolink8197 Рік тому +7

      ​@@Megan-ii4gf How is that possible? We get paid decently in the UK and can get so many luxuries

  • @StukovM1g
    @StukovM1g 2 роки тому +88

    It looks to me that ancient Rome was a society where labour was cheap but goods were expensive. I grew up in Malaysia and live in the UK now. I see the same dichotomy, that labour is cheap but not nice things like fancy clothing or food or travel, while it seems to be reverse in the UK, where foreign travel, nicer clothing and buying something nice like smoked salmon or game meat is relatively cheaper (as in a smaller part of your income) but hiring workers or skilled tradesmen is expensive.
    I see also that food makes up the majority of household expenditure, which is something of a rule of thumb in modern economies, that in poorer economies, expenditure on food makes up a higher proportion of household income than in wealthier economies, though the Romans didn't have to spend on things like electronics, computers, and had a more limited range of entertainment. My modern carnivorous diet would be completely unsustainable in Roman times.
    Thank you for such an excellent video.

    • @apotato6278
      @apotato6278 2 роки тому +22

      That's a good observation. The reason for the weird reversal in the west is twofold. First of all our agriculture is exceptionally efficient, secondly we outsource or automate most of the production jobs. Simply put luxury items like electronics are still exceptionally expensive... in the countries that produce them. If a factory worker in Asia earns $4/hour assembling $400 laptops they would need to work non-stop for 100 hours. With my job I make almost $40/hour so I'd only need to work 10 hours. By shipping the luxury item to a more affluent nation the relative price drops. This is also true for labor. A native westerner is more expensive than foreign labor. A Polish carpenter will build a house for much less than a Norwegian carpenter because the cost of living in Poland is lower than the cost of living in Norway. This is all to say that the western world is a pretty weird place.

    • @birgbirg111
      @birgbirg111 Рік тому +5

      @@apotato6278 thank you potato

    • @kyledavis4890
      @kyledavis4890 Рік тому +2

      @@apotato6278 exactly, the slaves of the Roman world who did the menial manufacturing work for finished goods have been replaced with the low labor cost and regulatory lax third world arenas worth of workers. Kind of an indirect servitude sort of thing.

    • @Redmanticore
      @Redmanticore Рік тому

      @@kyledavis4890 except capitalism develops their wages with time, too.
      some are now complaining china is becoming too expensive to outsource, that they need to find cheaper place because wages have naturally risen.
      people aim for education with the money, they don't want their children to be factory workers like they were for 40 years. chinas GDP has risen multifold in 40 years while western world, at least European unions, GDP has stagnated for 40 years.
      so its not permanent slavery system compared to romans. in roman times, a slave would be same slave for thousands of years. in capitalism, china has developed and become wealthier in 40 years, a lot wealthier relatively.
      in 1980, chinas GDP was 190 billion.
      now it is 17 trillion.
      that is not ten times increase, that is 89 times increase.
      they are not slaves, forever stuck. if you think so, that is not only offending to them, but also highly factually incorrect.

    • @kyledavis4890
      @kyledavis4890 Рік тому

      @@Redmanticore I'll concede that China's GDP has improved drastically over the last forty yeara, and even in the restrictive governmental system thye have, that rising boat has lifted almost all. And, in comparison to the slaves of Ancient Rome, despite still living in a restrictive government, they are better off, on the whole.

  • @LucMtl1
    @LucMtl1 3 місяці тому +4

    This was so interesting and done in such a refreshing way. 👍

  • @justinhebert5155
    @justinhebert5155 Рік тому +2

    Very thorough, enjoyed the video a lot, keep up the great work!

  • @sleeplessdev7204
    @sleeplessdev7204 2 роки тому +85

    Really cool and informative video. I find myself fascinated imagining how different my modern life is compared to ancient people.
    Yet despite those differences on the surface, we also share so much in common.
    We still need food, water, and shelter. We still have to work to earn a living. We still start families, smile, laugh, and have fun with friends. We still want to impress our colleagues, and neighbors. We still splurge on the occasional expense to treat ourselves or celebrate. We still have to pay taxes and save what we can.
    Many things have changed, but many other things are the same as they've always been.

    • @HistoriaMilitum
      @HistoriaMilitum  2 роки тому +23

      You are very right! The true human nature and instinct did not change a bit. If you took a baby from their time and grew it up in ours, there would be no way to tell it apart from us. 2000 years is too little for us to change! :)

    • @mrbane2000
      @mrbane2000 Рік тому +1

      Programmers that make virtual stuff for pleasure mostly earn the most. They don't improve system for bringing food which is bad, they don't build houses, so yea

    • @ua2894
      @ua2894 Рік тому +1

      ​@@mrbane2000 no-cushy-webdev-job guy takes an L

    • @manpiabba
      @manpiabba 10 місяців тому

      As long as we are Homo Sapiens, we will have things in common.

    • @sleeplessdev7204
      @sleeplessdev7204 10 місяців тому

      @@mrbane2000 Programmers are building the modern world, my friend. Most definitely they contribute to the system.

  • @MrWasjig
    @MrWasjig 2 роки тому +90

    This is the kind of history I find uniquely fascinating, the kind of thing we still do today. Budgeting, in this instance.

    • @plaidpvcpipe3792
      @plaidpvcpipe3792 2 роки тому +3

      It's very helpful for writers and dungeon masters.

    • @markod4635
      @markod4635 2 роки тому

      This should be fascinating.... But unfortunately its not TRUE

    • @Hungabrigoo
      @Hungabrigoo 2 роки тому

      @@markod4635 Care to elaborate?

    • @agnidas5816
      @agnidas5816 Рік тому

      @@Hungabrigoo for starters the description of the diet is completely false. and if you don;t know what people are eating then ... you dunno how they are living

  • @Eclipsol
    @Eclipsol Рік тому +2

    This video is so good, i like to rewatch it from time to time.

    • @HistoriaMilitum
      @HistoriaMilitum  Рік тому +1

      I am very happy you enjoy it so much, It was very animating it and doing the math :)

  • @maxximus8904
    @maxximus8904 Рік тому +3

    When I heard the stronghold soundtrack in the background, that put a big smile on my face

  • @udishomer5852
    @udishomer5852 2 роки тому +149

    A few comments about the peasant/farmer:
    1. You calculated your example based on one infant child. What about in a few years when they have 3-4-5 children, some of whom are 8-12 years old?
    2. A Peasant may have had the option to take some fallen/low quality produce for themselves.
    3. Foraging for greens/herbs/fruit/oysters was (and still is) very common in Greece and other mediterranian countries.
    4. Hunting small animals via traps would also be an option for someone who lives in the countryside.

    • @JonEtxebeberriaRodriguez
      @JonEtxebeberriaRodriguez 2 роки тому +13

      Yes, you are right but this is a snapshot of all the Roman Empire. As you said, there are multiple variants and lots of different scenarios. In this case we followed the sources to the letter. If we started adding stuff for which we have no clear reference the video would lose it's scientific aura and fall into the "what if" realm. Hope that you liked the video :)

    • @Igor_054
      @Igor_054 2 роки тому +63

      Kids were not such a problem, as they add work force. 8-12, as you suggest, would be less productive, but still work. By ages 12 to 14, they are already strong enough to work as adults, so they would actually add a lot more to the family income. The idea of teens, or even children, not working is quite modern.

    • @kairon5249
      @kairon5249 2 роки тому +5

      also, greece, which is where thera is located, was historically one of the richest regions in the roman empire. You would expect a gallic (ancient french) peasant to earn a whole lot less.
      these children that you mentioned, would help a lot with the farmwork

    • @mickelodiansurname9578
      @mickelodiansurname9578 Рік тому +1

      As the growth of the global and known Roman empire's population will tell you... very few children survived to adulthood. The world population grew extremely slowly at this period due mostly to infant mortality.

    • @poop696969poop
      @poop696969poop Рік тому +6

      There is another thing to add: it would have been relatively rare to buy thread, cloth, or clothes. His wife and any female children would have worked wool, spinning it into thread to weave and sew into garments. The spinning portion took the most time, but even very young children could participate in that.
      Emperor Augustus even boasted (potentially propagandized) that he wore clothes spun and made by Livia Drusilla rather than purchasing at the market

  • @asmosisyup2557
    @asmosisyup2557 Рік тому +2

    Interesting reading that last quote, some things never change.

  • @PortugalDoor
    @PortugalDoor 11 місяців тому +1

    This is fascinating, thank you for making this

  • @marystone860
    @marystone860 2 роки тому +28

    I really enjoy these type of videos! The kind that shows the view from the people, how they actually lived, not just the super-rich or famous that's usually portrayed in history books! Definitely got my sub!

  • @EroticOnion23
    @EroticOnion23 Рік тому +30

    Did they mention the purity of the denarius? It was 98% silver during Caesar but dropped to just 2-5% during the end of the 3rd century!

  • @vvvunda8735
    @vvvunda8735 Місяць тому +1

    Thank you! Would be very interesting to see more videos of the Roman city dwellers' living arrangements

  • @alexvignolo7798
    @alexvignolo7798 10 місяців тому +1

    Thoroughly enjoyed this! More like it plz!

  • @jonesaffrou6014
    @jonesaffrou6014 2 роки тому +13

    What a great video! I love learning about the day to day life of our ancestors, especially since there's so much information about battles and politics of the time already.

  • @ranuelthebard3751
    @ranuelthebard3751 Рік тому +118

    Diocletian’s price list would be a fantastic reference for DMs. Just replace denarii with a silver piece, or copper depending on how much the DM wants things to be worth in their game and you get a list of the prices of hundreds of items in a culture at about the same level that most FRPG worlds are. I wish I'd known about it back when I ran table top games.

    • @tallgoofyb
      @tallgoofyb Рік тому +11

      For reference a Roman denarius was a silver coin the size of a modern dime... but in the time of this video it was greatly debased in terms of the silver content

    • @vanesslifeygo
      @vanesslifeygo Рік тому +7

      Ancient Rome was just a game xD

    • @pmp1337
      @pmp1337 11 місяців тому +10

      My players already accuse me of being expensive. Imagine if I trying to charge 36000 sp for a draft horse.

    • @mindstalk
      @mindstalk 11 місяців тому +4

      As mentioned, the coins of this time were very devalued. If you want real silver pieces, maybe divided Diocletian's prices by 25. In Nero's time a soldier might receive 250 denarii a year, plus military support. The Greek drachma was similar to the original Roman denarius, and a drachma/day was good income for a skilled worker; Athenian jury duty paid half a drachma.
      In actual weight, the drachma was about 4.25 grams of silver -- 100 to a pound! -- while the early denarius was a bit less. D&D coins have tended to 10 or 50 per pound though, 43 grams or 9 grams.

    • @Mattdewit
      @Mattdewit 10 місяців тому

      ​@@tallgoofyb By the time of Diocletian the Denarius was no longer struck since it had been replaced by the Antoninianus. The amount of silver in the Denarius coins that were still circulating was based on their production year. But you are correct about the large debasement of silver in Roman coins.

  • @wolfmaan
    @wolfmaan Місяць тому

    This is great information! Thank you so much for making this.

  • @bohdaicitta
    @bohdaicitta 2 місяці тому

    thanks for listing resources, much appreciated

  • @CousinJesse1
    @CousinJesse1 2 роки тому +111

    By the way people really need to bring back dressing like their ancestors did. I think they had a very good sense of fashion. The clothes that people in ancient China, Rome, Persia, Sweden, England, and so forth just look immaculate.

    • @bsoul3177
      @bsoul3177 2 роки тому +7

      I agree

    • @worksv3
      @worksv3 2 роки тому +25

      You couldn’t pay me a billion dollars to wear a puffy shirt or a toga for the rest of my life

    • @bsoul3177
      @bsoul3177 2 роки тому +9

      @@worksv3 hm it was worth a try

    • @Shcreamingreen
      @Shcreamingreen 2 роки тому +9

      @@worksv3 I agree, you'd look too good for what you are wearing those

    • @EgoEroTergum
      @EgoEroTergum 2 роки тому +19

      @@worksv3 If your body was better taken care of, you might enjoy showing more of it off.

  • @PhilosoShysGameChannel
    @PhilosoShysGameChannel 2 роки тому +19

    Absolutely beautiful!
    Daily life in history is VERY important to our work!
    Because Ta Mando is directly modeled after Ancient Rome, this is very helpful!
    Love this stuff and this was a great vid!
    Keep up the great work!

  • @dorol6375
    @dorol6375 Рік тому +2

    This was actually extremely interesting!

  • @SweetChicagoGator
    @SweetChicagoGator Рік тому +1

    From middle class to the rich class, a very interesting weekly summation of living expenses.

  • @nekomancer4641
    @nekomancer4641 Рік тому +6

    This kind of ordinarily lifestyle details really makes the history comes alive!

  • @fattyMcGee97
    @fattyMcGee97 Рік тому +95

    To be honest, it sounds like living a normal life in the Roman Empire really wasn’t too bad. It also sounds like you could earn a pretty decent wage being a skilled labourer judging by how much some of those items costed

    • @silverhawkscape2677
      @silverhawkscape2677 Рік тому +30

      It's bad when our modern day family can't live on a single wage. Even if they try to go bare minimum.
      Heck, it wasn't too long ago when a family living on single wage was the norm only decades ago

    • @RhodianColossus
      @RhodianColossus Рік тому

      @@silverhawkscape2677 look towards the richest of the rich - hoarding vast amounts of money that are so ludicrous they are useless to them and serve as nothing more than a high score in a video game does - to find out why the average modern family can no longer live on a single wage. How giant corporations that rake in billions every year have employees that need to live off of government support because they aren't being paid enough - just so that the profits of the companies are even more abstractly high despite covering all their expenses many tens of times over. Just so some blithering idiots like Bezos or the Walton family have more numbers in their bank accounts.
      Poverty is basically artificial in the western world. And I'm not even calling for communism here... just some fucking oversight over bloated American and European capitalism.

    • @apc9714
      @apc9714 Рік тому +45

      You forgot barbarians, violence, a less then 40 years life expectancy, diseases, and watching your children die young. That's assuming you were not a slave, or a woman, or a non citizen.
      Still compared to how people lived outside the empire it was remarkably good

    • @neolink8197
      @neolink8197 Рік тому +4

      ​@@apc9714 I imagine it wouldve been super dope at Rome's peak

    • @eimantasbutkus5324
      @eimantasbutkus5324 Рік тому +11

      @@silverhawkscape2677 You can thank doubling the workforce by letting women work, outsourcing of jobs and importing cheap labor.

  • @htxpusher
    @htxpusher 11 місяців тому +1

    i really really enjoyed this video, thank you!

  • @yanipro3978
    @yanipro3978 Рік тому +2

    Really good video
    It is obvios you put in the work

  • @shastasilverchairsg
    @shastasilverchairsg 2 роки тому +23

    Oh man I'm already feeling the pinch and the stress of managing money just from watching this vid. Anybody else feel the same?

    • @Leo-ok3uj
      @Leo-ok3uj 2 роки тому

      Only with Theodorus, but yeah

    • @eekee6034
      @eekee6034 Рік тому

      I get nervous if I think about it! :D I lack natural balance in many ways, so I've learned not to think about it, but to live in a way which doesn't cost too much. I'm very thankful I don't have to live too close to the line.

  • @nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115
    @nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115 2 роки тому +11

    As a DM myself, your videos help me to flesh all of my sessions, and my player friends enjoy. Thank you!

  • @bugstarcake
    @bugstarcake Рік тому +9

    amazing that after his civic duties, an opulent gift for his wife, and a MASSIVE feast, Tatianus still has more money to throw around that week than Theodorus is likely to see in a whole year.

    • @ua2894
      @ua2894 Рік тому

      Theodorus should have gone to school and become an aristocrat too if he was after the prestige and the wealth. he just didn't have the right mindset for it.

    • @bugstarcake
      @bugstarcake Рік тому +3

      @@ua2894 not really the point

  • @hugodesrosiers-plaisance3156
    @hugodesrosiers-plaisance3156 Рік тому +3

    With the price of beef today in our post-covid economy, I usually turn to pork and I feel very lucky that we have some very good quality locally produced pork meat in my region. I had some amazing marinated pork loin tonight. Nevertheless, I definitely see more and more long-lasting vegetables, pasta and legumes coming into my meal options for purely financial reasons. I even see lamb chops on special being more affordable than beef, and you can be sure I leap at those when I see them.
    We really have no idea just how priviledged we are in our modern society, the extensiveness of the abundance we have access to. Historically speaking, we are beyond spoiled. It's mind numbing that I can just buy frozen smoked salmon at literally any grocery store - and I even have relatively affordable access to non-frozen one at specialty fish stores!

    • @user-xr3rb6pn9m
      @user-xr3rb6pn9m Місяць тому

      Yeah, here in Norway, beef is insanely expensive and pork is fatty and unhealthy so I’m living on a combination of chicken and salmon (salmon is obviously in abundance here and is significantly cheaper than beef).

  • @jameswyre6480
    @jameswyre6480 2 роки тому +4

    Reech Milesian Purple leather adorns the 200 BC Chrysler Cordoba! Thank you for this video, I appreciate the attention to detail and the enjoyable presentation. Clear but not dumbed down. Just what I have difficulty finding on tv!

  • @naginoujeim4469
    @naginoujeim4469 Рік тому +74

    As you stated, The first guys Theodorus gets a daily food ration ,so the expenses on food should be hugely reduced, making his situation much better… you can easily remove 30/40 dinaris, also he would take some food from the land… it shows u live in a city and do not understand the meaning of having a garden to grow food and veggies… cheers

    • @sasagrcevic475
      @sasagrcevic475 Рік тому +15

      Yeah, its funny how he mentions that but then goes to list all the food they need for a week as family.

    • @RPcropland
      @RPcropland Місяць тому +2

      Try buying a veriety of vegetables today. Or in general try to eat healthy thats more for middle class people now.

    • @Goldlion973
      @Goldlion973 Місяць тому

      It's also mentioned later that the rich were taxed to feed the poor.

  • @tofu_golem
    @tofu_golem 11 місяців тому +61

    The fact that the tenant farmer can support a family at all shows that they were better off than our working class.

    • @HopeisAnger
      @HopeisAnger 2 місяці тому +4

      I've supported a wife and child on minimum wage for the last 8 years. It isn't easy, but it isn't farming either. Maybe where you live has a bad minimum wage to cost of living ratio.

    • @werwar27
      @werwar27 2 місяці тому +3

      @@HopeisAnger you have to keep in mind that people before industrialization worked a lot less than we do now. Your minimum work was like 40 hours a week. This man wouldve worked maybe half of that.

    • @hiimryan2388
      @hiimryan2388 2 місяці тому +3

      @@werwar27this highly depends on the season, on average sure they would of worked less but during harvest season they would of worked nearly the whole day to harvest the crops and even during their free times they will have to do repairs

    • @hokeywolf3416
      @hokeywolf3416 Місяць тому

      Not if they were to farm year round.

    • @GregorClegane402
      @GregorClegane402 Місяць тому +3

      A todays worker surely can save more than the tenant farmer who spends almost everything on just food an clothes.

  • @vast634
    @vast634 Місяць тому +1

    Poor Tatianus, so many expenses to keep track of. I hope his feast was successful.

  • @ThangNguyenNhiVo
    @ThangNguyenNhiVo 2 роки тому +8

    I love that stronghold soundtrack ❤️

  • @danyalullah5856
    @danyalullah5856 Рік тому +16

    would love to see videos like this on other historical periods.
    the lives of common people are always left out of the historical record so this type of video is really fascinating.

    • @OcarinaSapphr-
      @OcarinaSapphr- 6 місяців тому +1

      I've been doing the research to see how people like the Bennett's & other characters of Jane Austen's books would _really_ live in the Regency era - it's quite an interesting study; maybe I'll publish it one day...

  • @Flobbyoiboyz
    @Flobbyoiboyz Рік тому +1

    This was interesting and informative-- thanks!

  • @jdpalm1981
    @jdpalm1981 Рік тому +27

    That was amazing! I was reading Acts 16 last night with my family. I now have a better understanding of why it was worth mentioning Lydia's profession with making purple cloth in Acts 16:14-15.

    • @maryvalentine9090
      @maryvalentine9090 Рік тому +2

      And it was a WOMAN making purple cloth! That was radical. I’d like to know more about this Lydia chick.

    • @Myndir
      @Myndir 11 місяців тому +6

      @@maryvalentine9090 Women doing retail or craft labour was not rare in the past, in most societies.

    • @maryvalentine9090
      @maryvalentine9090 11 місяців тому +2

      @@Myndir well probably not… But the purple cloth was kind of a big deal. For a woman to be in control of something like that would indeed be rare. It was an extremely valuable commodity.

  • @christopherdobrilovic-h.6470
    @christopherdobrilovic-h.6470 2 роки тому +6

    At 4:05, when the Stronghold 2 music kicked up, I was suddenly thrown back to 12years old building kingdoms.

  • @hankwilliams150
    @hankwilliams150 2 роки тому +5

    This was positively fascinating. Thank you.!

  • @tacocat4252
    @tacocat4252 3 місяці тому +5

    So what I’m really hearing here is that you should make clothes in Ancient Rome. 4000 denarii for a cloak? With an average weekly pay of 125 for an average worker and less for a soldier? Insane!

  • @UnexplainableStories
    @UnexplainableStories 11 місяців тому +2

    Super interesting and well done video! Thank you for it 😊

  • @fingerinalightsocket2309
    @fingerinalightsocket2309 2 роки тому +38

    Life at that time doesn't seem too bad honestly

    • @tappajaav
      @tappajaav 2 роки тому +9

      Pick a god and pray you weren't born with deformation, or have chronic physical or mental disease

    • @marcuswagner1396
      @marcuswagner1396 2 роки тому +7

      @@tappajaav this dude thinks mental illness is real

    • @tappajaav
      @tappajaav 2 роки тому +6

      @@marcuswagner1396 Take the ill-pill

    • @AndrewTheMandrew531
      @AndrewTheMandrew531 2 роки тому +2

      @@tappajaav Wait. You think mental illness existed anywhere outside of modern times?

    • @tappajaav
      @tappajaav 2 роки тому +13

      @@AndrewTheMandrew531 Of course. They've been around since dawn of humankind. Just called different things at different times

  • @jmcandre2159
    @jmcandre2159 Рік тому +3

    Thank you for this interesting video . I would kindly suggest that you add a summary of weekly or yearly (better in my view) income and expenses at the end of each section of the video. A comparison with the empire budget or the province budget would also help.
    I would greatly appreciate a video on the monetary and economic changes that occured in the 3rd century AD . It is not an easy task but it would be great to watch such a work from your team .
    Many thanks for the work you performed . Kind regards.

  • @alexjurecki9278
    @alexjurecki9278 Рік тому +1

    Really cool video and really puts into perspective how rich even the poorest among us are today

  • @zion-jabezrobello7853
    @zion-jabezrobello7853 Рік тому

    I ain't even gonna hold ya that was a mind blowing intersteresting video.

  • @dianahernandez452
    @dianahernandez452 2 роки тому +8

    Fantastic video, thanks for giving us something different again, I really enjoyed the dynamic and the small details like why some clothes costed more were a great plus 💞

  • @SuperDaxos
    @SuperDaxos 2 роки тому +3

    This was amaizng to watch. Stories like these are very often not told

  • @tobias41641
    @tobias41641 Рік тому

    Your channel ist great, pls keep on.

  • @tilasole3252
    @tilasole3252 Рік тому +2

    Would love to see another one of these with other public figures.

  • @TheCrazierz
    @TheCrazierz 2 роки тому +15

    Damn, and here i am working my ass off to only be able to afford 2 marble pillars custom made each weak, and this guy can get 3 easily

  • @johndoe5432
    @johndoe5432 2 роки тому +7

    Love videos like these, really helps to humanize our ancestors.

  • @victoraurel77
    @victoraurel77 11 місяців тому +4

    theodorus and his family would also have a small garden around his house or hut , which remained as a tradition for at least 2k years in all colonized regions by the romans , family structure allowed a lot of handcrafting in the house as there were living together more generations in the same house

    • @LucMtl1
      @LucMtl1 3 місяці тому

      In addition to that, Augustus made a point of wearing clothes made at home by his wife and daughter. He was quite a special man.

  • @Renegen1
    @Renegen1 Рік тому +1

    incredible historical find

  • @somewhere6
    @somewhere6 2 роки тому +4

    Good, thought provoking video. As usual, the people at the bottom are scraping by and have to do a lot of things for themselves while those close to the top live very well indeed. The people at the bottom at least have some real self reliance and survival skills but next to no safety net.

  • @bigbadlara5304
    @bigbadlara5304 2 роки тому +3

    Loved this! So many insights.

  • @garyhightower4381
    @garyhightower4381 11 місяців тому +1

    This is so damn interesting. Bravo!

  • @belalabusultan5911
    @belalabusultan5911 Рік тому +2

    they ate a peacock and had an ostrich running around?
    Tatianus' party is lit.

  • @PaleRejent
    @PaleRejent 2 роки тому +5

    I would really like more videos like this, it just shows how life works in the roman era

  • @andrewroby1130
    @andrewroby1130 Рік тому +5

    Awesome video, this is great content! Interesting to note the difference from the Biblical account's time and place, when a Denarius was about a day's wages.

  • @Eclipsol
    @Eclipsol 8 місяців тому +1

    It would be cool to get a second part of this video... Perhaps the price of living in a different era of the empire or before that.
    To be honest that sounds like too much work but i really liked this video.

  • @nairda55555
    @nairda55555 11 місяців тому

    Oh heck yeah is that some Stronghold II OST I hear? Great choice for background music