Explaining the Fall of Rome

[@brycetheice7908]

Most people don’t comprehend how crazy it was that Rome stayed relevant for as long as it did. Especially given all of the internal issues it had. We only ever talk abt the fall and how they couldn’t last forever, when no civilization lasts forever

[@gffhvfhjvf4959]

Plus, you have to keep in mind that the fall of 450 concerned the Western roman empire, and that the Roman epmire technically survived until 1400 with the Eastern romans

[@jaro551]

Your comment bothers me. Why do people always have to write generic sentences like this? "Most people" don't care and have no opportunity to learn about this whole topic. So using the term "most people" doesn't say much to begin with. So when we talk about people who are interested, we can defenitely say they 'comprehend' that is very unusual. That's why we talk about it to begin with... you do not have to state this all the time. It's also not strange that we would be very interested as to how such a great empire crumbles so we can learn from their mistakes and do better.

[@jonathanprice7157]

Heh, I still can't even comprehend how that went on about achieving all that with even having thought about zero being a really useful counting character?!?

[@JcoleMc]

China

[@NixonThr336ix]

@@gffhvfhjvf4959 not really Byzantium was romes Greek colony if the US collapsed & Puerto Rico claimed to “Thee United States” would not make it so

[@CB-so8xd]

Rudyard, really like this casual style history series, hope you stick with it

[@jepp.6847]

for real!

[@kiroshi32]

Why is this all sounding so familiar.

[@ManicMercurianAstrology]

Right? It's eerie. Are we talking about the distant past, or the present/future? 😆😅

[@orboakin8074]

Because it literally happens to most civilizations on earth, even here in Africa.

[@hardlo7146]

Because he's doing it on purpose. He's trying to say the fall of Rome is equal to what's occurring to us right now, the sole fact he's using words like socialist or degeneracy should be a giveaway not to take these people seriously lol.

[@waburg9573]

@@hardlo7146 real

[@ringthatbell9597]

Your a whatifalthist fan, we all know why this sounds familiar

[@user-uf2df6zf5w]

The crisis of the 3rd century did not start with the assassination of Commodus in 192, as claimed here. There was beef turmoil, after which the severance dynasty took power, which still ruled over a largely stabile empire into the 240s. The severans inflated the currency to pay the army (as they had no other legitimacy, not even being descendants of any Italians) and went bancrupt under Severus Alexander, after which the army killed him, and the empire gradually collapsed into permanent civil war over the next 20 years or so...

[@sheldoniusRex]

Illegitimate emperors inflating the currency certainly sounds like something which belongs in the discussion of "crisis."

[@verscarii3238]

​@@sheldoniusRex President's too

[@sheldoniusRex]

@@verscarii3238 yeah. That's the (unfortunate) joke.

[@KaiHung-wv3ul]

@@sheldoniusRex Not to mention only one of the Severan Emperors DIDN'T get assassinated.

[@heroes8689]

Rudyard's analysis into these topics is thought provoking; giving his perspective as a historian is just great for listening too. Easy to digest.

[@Norquay.Mikado]

By far the best discussion I've heard about the Roman Empire.

[@Rocknrolldaddy81-xy8ur]

Me too, but I haven’t listened to many discussions about Rome. We don’t learn anything cool in school.

[@VTCivilStudent]

Would love for you to do a WhatIfAltHist video on what terrain is most suitable for living in a population collapse. Without any knowledge, farming on a south facing slope seems like the easiest to defend and grow food from.

[@josiahmorris5799]

I love autumn in Rome 🍁 🍃

[@will_5053]

These podcasts episodes are always an insta watch for me thank you for the awesome content

[@mikeg2306]

Rome fell because it ceased to be something worth fighting for. In the 5th century it wasn’t even the capital of the West. And the dictatorship and excessive taxation meant that ordinary citizens didn’t really have buy-in. Plus the mixing of cultures and genealogies meant that the concept of what it meant to be Roman became kinda blurred. The last emperor for example was the son of a half-barbarian general. Plus the Empire survived in the East so the Empire didn’t fall, just the Roman part of it did.

[@stevenjames6830]

The eastern Roman Empire was also the Roman Empire so no the Roman part of it didn’t fall because then it wouldn’t be a Roman Empire. The western part of it fell.

[@FozzyBBear]

Martin Armstrong has used metallurgical testing of Roman coin hoards to identify the annual health of the Roman economy by the amount of debasement of the coinage. He's used it to track when and where harvests succeeded and failed, the output of their mines, and the course of their wars. His book on Anthony and Cleopatra's civil war against Julius Caesar uniquely examines the conflict through a monetary lens.

[@ryanbradley3293]

Is common ground dead? It seems like this stuff has taken over, which I’m fine with but I wish it was both

[@juandelgadillo2656]

way too short

[@stephenlocilento649]

Thank you for your insight. You do a great job of adding your analysis to history. More importantly, you make it clear when it’s you opinion vs historical fact.

[@yanx4797]

27:00 I think the word "hun" is related to the name "Hungary". The latter word is related to the Turkic word "on" which means ten, while the other has debated etymology.

[@ponternal]

I would prefer if the other person in the podcast had some history knowledge so they could at least talk about some of these topics

[@jmanjman2685]

I would love to see a video on your favorite emperors. Not exactly the best ones just the ones you find most interesting.

[@android69_]

these podcasts are great. would be sweet if you could dive into more detail / extend the duration.

[@ethank.3201]

Ok 😂

[@Paddythelaad]

Rome fell because Augustus told the future generations to not expand. Considering the context of the time including Rome's culture, this doomed Rome to civil wars.
It Also made it inevitable that Rome's neighbors would (eventually) unite against a prosperous Rome.
I think Rome could have conquered the world before collapsing, but with a high likelihood of a lot of civil wars too. But having the cultural option to expand instead of civil war would have helped the empire a lot!

[@joryiansmith]

Fascinating deep dive jam-packed and unparalleled to any 1 hour documentary.

[@martneb]

Rome wasn't build in a day and it did not fall in one either.

[@devoncook6275]

Can we get a video on the rise of Rome and what was good about it?

[@TheWorldOnPaper]

I agree

[@tonyfriendly4409]

It would still be weird in like 800 AD to look at the ruined aqueducts and the Arc de Truimph and think to yourself "how in the heck did they build that?"

[@bevbevan6189]

The Arc de Triomphe was built by Napoleon, but otherwise Yes. And it’s still pretty amazing.

[@jacksonklark6119]

Does anybod have a link to felipe fabre?

[@bevbevan6189]

Philippe Fabry

[@jacksonklark6119]

@@bevbevan6189 thx seems like I searched the wrong name

[@mikeg2306]

His facts are a little off. Gibbon marks the beginning of the decline at 180, but the “Crisis of the 3rd Century” is actually from the assassination of Alexander Severus is 235 to the rise of Aurelian and Diocletian in the 280’s.

[@mikesecondname]

32:35 I hate to be ‘that guy’ but we’ve got parallels for all of those threads happening in the west now. Are we in living in a new ‘Fall of Rome’? How do we black-pill ourselves out of this disintegrated? Best get your stoic hats out, boys.

[@SopaDeLengua]

❤❤❤ my new favorite channel!

[@breezyx976]

Title correction: explaining the future of America

[@effexon]

@06:11 "Alans".... well nice to have tribe to people named Alan :D

[@PjPjPaul]

This was amazing! Thank you for this

[@teiuq]

Absolutely enjoyed this! Thanks gentleman.

[@kumel1303]

Can you please do "explaining french revolution" video?

[@julian9898]

What’s your third favorite era? The Ottomans in the 17th century?

[@davidbacon9244]

Very good video, but I must make a small criticism: he doesn't talk about to population transition from Rome to the first period after the fall, wich are mislabeled "Dark ages". I mean, Rudyard compares the Hun empire with 10 mil against the 70 mil +- of Rome, but what happened to this people? It's estimated that Europe in 1000 AD was about 56 mil people. If the individual life of the fringes of empire improved, what happened to everyone? There's a huge death toll that I never see mentioned anywere when people talk about the fall of Rome.

[@hardlo7146]

I wouldn't try to learn much from this video, it's very clearly trying to push a biased conservative viewpoint of it to push their agenda. Plagues and the breakdown of society were the reason for the death tolls.

[@vandergrift3834]

Anyone got a name for the intro music? Please and Thank you

[@megaman1808]

I prefer the 24 hour format that Dan Carlin use

[@ZontarDow]

I'm surprised no mention was made of the transition of Roman citizenship going from just the city if Rome to all of the Latins in Italy.

[@ingold1470]

Claudius referenced this as a precedent for allowing Gauls into the Senate, according to Tacitus.

[@Maytrx]

Where do you get your information for the predictions you make for the near future?

[@emZee1994]

11:19 that's incorrect
They were the same people, they were descendedents of the Proto-Indo-Europeans (Yamnaya) and they had the same religion too. Jupiter and Zeus are the same Gods (Dyeus Pater)

[@buckaroobonzai2909]

This guy looks like dollar store Clark Kent.

[@Tarik360]

Rome underwent a "mostly peaceful" sacking you say?

[@user-mv1vm6il1h]

I love these videos

[@kalacaptain4818]

there was no "hunnic empire"

[@stevenjames6830]

The western Roman Empire fell in 476 not 450 and the eastern Roman Empire fell in 1453 not i 450

[@sahilhossain8204]

Lore of Explaining the Fall of Rome momentum 100

[@Izadirad1995]

So wait what happened to common ground and the old white guy? I like this stuff but it almost feels more like his main channel.
Also what about the fall of the Han and three kingdoms ?

[@noahtylerpritchett2682]

A few less civil wars a few less coups in both eastern and western roman empire and they may of lasted a century or more.

[@renatoe9648]

Id say biggest diference between Rome and China is China has a big core with major rivers that support a huge population so even with barbarian dinasties the majority is still Han and there is apool of chinese people to go back to a new vertion of China. A Rome with masive farmland in Italy would have had the Visigoth dinasty and a frankish one but still go back to Latin dynasties for the most part, like we see so mqny empires trying to be a new Rome. Religion was also a big part too though

[@manwiththeredface7821]

"it was just a village, and then the Romans just through sheer force of will and intelligence..."
And by kidnapping a bunch of women in the beginning from a neighbouring village, forcing them to be their wives. (How did Wardaddy say in the movie Fury? "Ideals are peaceful, history is violent.")

[@JcoleMc]

Is that Whatifaltist ?

[@josiahmorris5799]

No It’s Rudy

[@Funkopotomis]

does that mean bread was super expensive?

[@leonardticsay8046]

Looks like it’s that time of the day again.

[@JustinianG]

Can I be in one of your podcasts?

[@t.m.8128]

I have a wife, a little girl and a job. Man, it's hard to be productive with this kind of vídeo! Congrats

[@heroes8689]

We need a multiple part series on this; complete history of Rome.

[@anthonywalker6268]

They tried to fight history. They lost. Unprecedented things stay unprecedented.

[@slavhondacivicsi]

Peace & safety = sudden destruction

[@thaeus01matthaeus86]

hey man thanks to the video

[@Paddythelaad]

Young Hannibal could beat a lot, but not young Scipio's Roman army number 5 :)

[@MsPrgames]

One small correction: eastern europe was inhabited by iranians, peoples like the alans and the sarmatians.

[@TexasTimeLord]

No one, even the barbarians, Rome destroyed. They just wanted to run the place.

[@loganstrait7503]

> compares discussing the fall of Rome to a Rorschach test
> proceeds to attribute the fall of Rome to contemporary conservative talking points
lol

[@hardlo7146]

It's what they do, they all try to claim our modern society = the fall of Rome, they do it to push their agendas.

[@stevenjames6830]

There are many parallels that are valid to bring up leftists seem to over contextualize things and pretend like we can’t make observations based on path events and their modern parallels. Also, it’s just your interpretation that those are conservative, talking points the same way that we can say that your beliefs are leftist talking points that you just claimed to be objective but are leftist nonetheless.

[@loganstrait7503]

@@stevenjames6830 I'm not actually a leftist I'm just criticizing Ruddy for being a fool

[@deinemamasagtgehheulen]

We in germany call the middle ages sometimes also the golden age maybe not in an expansionalis but a spiritual way

[@heroes8689]

Would love to have a video series of complete history of Rome.

[@FozzyBBear]

Check out A.D. History Podcast here on UA-cam, they do 60-90 minute episodes covering each decade and have covered from 0 to 440 A.D. so far

[@peter1mckinnon655]

Nice nice

[@joeturner4666]

He said Pupienus!!!

[@adwans1491]

Rome just never gave up.
The biggest chads throughout history.

[@yux.tn.3641]

so no more common ground?😢
(not that this isn't good)

[@julian9898]

Rome in 450: A Mostly Peaceful Sack lol

[@notsocrates9529]

49:45 lolwut

[@tacituskilgore8747]

First!

[@Rock.E.Bottom]

Second)

[@tristanhodgson6676]

"Socialist" despite the fact the grain dole never went beyond the city of Rome and their bureaucracy was miniscule.

[@nicholasmatthew9687]

Very modernist perspective.

[@ashtonbarwick6696]

Looks like whatifalthist

[@Peak_Aussieman]

BIG! STRONK! ROME!

[@ArchitectStrange]

These people acting like Oversimplified doesn't exist

[@buzter8135]

Doesn't that guy post like twice a year?

[@henrykurniadi1805]

​@@buzter8135now it is more like two years once

[@nialllewis8794]

Saying the modern state of Hungarys name stems from the Huns of east Asia is objectively false and takes a five minute google search to disprove.

[@realabhinavarya]

Whole bunch of propaganda, no substance.

[@nananou1687]

Bunch of bs from whatifalthist 😂

[@thequarter2]

@whatifalthis