Considering I have never seen a suggestion for this topic and I don't remember a single ancient history video since the good ol' 10 minute format this is extremely plausible
Sparta was considered a joke at this point. He didn't personally take it just out of respect for its past. That also explains his expansion eastward. He grew up in the myth of the Persian wars. Alexander's regent, taking care of Macedon, assembled a spare army and defeated Sparta while Alexander was away invading Persia....turning Sparta into a vassal state.
@Carlton-B After they said "If" to Philip II he conquered most of the Spartan cities and they didn't even try to stop him, as the Spartans knew they didn't have a chance in battle.
@@KandiKlover “North Macedonia”has nothing to do with Ancient Greek Macedonia. They’re Slavs that lived in some parts of that area 900+ years after Alexander’s death.
A nice, neat combination of "Italy and Rome weren't important in the eyes of any of Alexander's Greek inner circle" and "Boy was already busy, alright?"
Which would you better like to reenact, Xenophon's Anabasis or the Athenian invasion of Sicily? Pillaging your way across Persia sounds a lot better than dying of thirst in a quarry.
Alexander the G. on oriental sources was a cousin of himself Kirus - the shah of Persia. He didn't even step on the land of the other side of Bosphorus. Medieval sources about him are more interesting than what Vanilla wikipedists willed to mention about.@@hypothalapotamus5293
Rome, yes, it wasn't that important by then. But the cities of Magna Grecia, in the south of Italy, were arguably the richest cities of the Greek world, and were technically considered Greece (their citizens participated to the Olympics, and many of the most famous winners, and of "Greek" philosophers, came from there). So Alexander conquered Persia, Egypt (that was part of Persia at the time), but only half of the Greek world.
@@neutronalchemist3241 This is so ridiculous explanation of why Alexander did not go there :) He didn't go there because he never stepped on the European side of Bosphorus. He has always lived either in Asia Minor or Middle East.
@@channel_archistoriac I agree^^; furthermore, wars are not fought for fun but to make a profit, and Rome would not have been a great loot compared to the Persian empire in which very rich cities abounded; furthermore (although in writing history one must be careful with psychological motivations) Alexander the Great (could) have had two "emotional" reasons 1) to continue the project of his beloved-hated father and, 2) to challenge the largest and most powerful empire of the time
Latter, many Roman senators and writers, really admire Alexander, even some of their imperator, seeking some way of other to claim they're the inheritors of Alexander. Why that achievement not inherited to one of Greeks polis? I think, only Roman, who succeeded to combine Athens and Sparta, combined some elements and become the mighty of Roma
Doesn’t this line in mad men indicate the exact opposite of what you’re saying? Don really did feel threatened by Ginsberg, and the bravado he puts on with that line makes it kind of obvious that he was feeling insecure?
There's a single, yet important point, that's not mentioned here, and is that Alexander actually went to attack Rome, just not Alexander III but Alexander of Epirus, brother-in-law of Alexander III by marriage with his sister Cleopatra, his uncle as he was Olimpia younger brother, and a very close friend of Alexander III. The greek colonies asked for help against Italian barbarians and Roma, and the answer came from Alexander of Epirus, and previous of Alexander III expedition againts Persia both Alexander made a "pact" in wich one would be the "Eastern Alexander" and the other the "Western Alexander". Alexander of Epirus expedition went frankly pretty good (for the italians) and he died, wich would be one of the major "casus belli" that later Pirro of Epirus would use to invade Italy again. Alexander III after knowing about his uncle/brother-in-law/BFF planned to invade Italy too, but he was soon affected by a major case of death so his plans were permanently delayed.
@@nugolderp4115 More precisely, she is the Cleopatra who served as the "inspiration" for the name Cleopatra VII of Egypt (and a lot more Cleopatras in Egypt), who was from the Ptolemaic dynasty (Alexander's general).
1. He died after going east instead of west so never had the chance to meet Rome in battle 2. Rome was hardly the military giant it would become when he left Greece, he had no reason to consider Italy for a second when Persia was right there. But if he had lived and returned to Babylon to centralise and unify his new empire? It’s entirely possible he would have turned his attention west.
As the video mentions, going west at the time, would have meant fighting Carthage, which was the major power in the central Mediterranean. Alexander’s biggest obstacle in doing this was that he died young.
Later on in the late 20th-21st century "Alexander the Macedon"" Alexander the not Greek but Macedonian who are confused Bulgarians claiming to be descendants of Alexander" It's fun being a Mace- sorry, a "Serbianized Bulgarian who thinks is a Macedonian" Balkan moment.
@@Dac_DT_MKDIn fact Alexander was macedonic, a barbaric people helenized. Alexander was greek, but ethnic he was macedonic. Its like being a gaulish, being assimilated to the roman culture and then forming your own empire that spread the roman culture
@@Newramsin His boyfriend thought so. (And yes, he definitely had sexual relations with men. The modern concept of homosexuality wasn't really much of a concern back then.)
When he and his men reached the Hindus Valley to the south east, they tried to find a path through or north east of the Great Hights (Himalayas). They couldn't find anything and the mountains to the north had no end so they gave up and after that he agreed with his men to go back home.
I am glad for finally made a video about Classical history. You should make more videos on ancient history because most of your videos seem to be about Early Modern or Modern history.
“It was time to get stabbed to death” had me absolutely rolling. Hilarious. 😂 Your videos are generally great, but this one was exceptionally funny and fun.
Interesting piece of trivia about how Alexander became a Jewish name: "...Shimon HaTzaddik then took Alexander the Great on a tour of the Holy Temple. Alexander, impressed, wished to donate gold to have an image of himself placed in the Holy Temple so that he would be immortalized. Shimon demurred, saying that it was forbidden for the Jews to have graven images, and certainly not in the Temple. He suggested that he instead give the gold to the poor. And as for memorializing the occasion, Shimon suggested an even better way: all male kohanim born that year would be named “Alexander.” Alexander liked the idea, and the Jews, who were very thankful to Alexander for all that he did for them, including sparing the Holy Temple from destruction, gratefully named their children after him. Thus, the name Alexander forever became a Jewish name."
So he didn't just spare Israel from a rampage, but respected the local culture, gave money to the poor, and -- best of all -- went west and never came back. No wonder they liked him so much.
'Unfortunately for Phillip, before this could happen, it was time to get stabbed to death'. 😆 I never get tired of your trademark sarcastic way of telling history. 🙂
0:34 "Except for Sparta, which was just there being difficult." Love it. Could also sum up the plot of 300 in a single sentence. Edit to add: This video had so many gems. Thanks for this one!
Sparta was considered a joke at this point. Alexander's regent taking care of Macedon took a spare army and defeated Sparta while Alexander was away invading Persia....turning Sparta into a vassal state.
He didn't personally take Sparta just out of respect for its past. That also explains his expansion eastward. He grew up in the myth of the Persian wars.
"Great King" was at the time regarded as a title of the Iranian shah, so Alexander could not call himself "great" and be taken seriously until he had secured the whole of Iran. That's the historical truth behind the joke (which is a good joke precisely because there's truth in it).
*sidenote: I understand that Antiochus III reconquered a lot of Iran to the point of making the Parthians into vassals, so he styled himself "the Great" too. Which was not recognised in Rome; although Rome did allow that Alexander had been Magnus.
Greek guy here. We say "Philip" the English way, not the French way. Technically, we say "Philippos", stressed on the first sylabble. It means "friend of horses" or, more acurrately, "he who loves horses".
@@abarette_ in english the way you say it would be spelt Fell-lippe whereas we say Fill-lupuh (american english) Fill-ipp(British English). you stress the "eeh" sound vowel, we stress "ie"
Greeks at the time would have pronounced it like it was written (and yes I know Greeks didn't use the Latin alphabet but the Romans did transcribe it in a way that they would pronounce it correctly). So it would neither be Fileep nor Filipp but Philippos with an aspirated P sound, not an F sound.
Imagine if he would've conquered all of the Mediterranean after Persia. He'd be known as "Alexander the Slightly Greater" and that Oliver Stone movie would've been even painfully longer!
There's really no reason to believe the rest of the Mediterranean would fold like Persia. I mean first he need to break through Carthaginian navy at least
Absolutely love the (possibly unintentional) coordination between History Matters and Jack Rackam on posting Alexander the Great videos on the same day
Yeah, I was watching Jack Rackam's (no h) video when this one came up in my notifications. Since neither of them mention the other one, I have to assume it was just a weird coincidence.
I see someone else is a fan of overlysarcastic productions. Incredible that you once again managed to find your niche on such a heavily covered topic,epic as ever!
This sets up a good background of what was going on in this part of the world at this time, giving interesting context to Oversimplified's ongoing Punic War series.
Rome was an up and coming backwater and the Greek states were well established. Its why Pyrrhus of Epirus tried to conquer rome and despite winning many victories could never conquer all of southern italy. Also remember a failed expedition to italy is what bankrupted Athens in the Pelopenesian war. Italy was to the Greeks what Germany was to the Romans.
@@ChronosHellas hmmm you maybe right. for some reason I assumed Pyrus was associated with the Sicilian expedition but I could be off by a few hundred years. thanks for the perspective.
there is one reason not mentioned here: the greek way of doing war, with a phalanx formation supported by cavalry, was very suitable for fighting in large open plains, where maneuvering such a large, continuous and rigid formation is fairly straightforward. which is an issue when you're trying to conquer the Apennine peninsula, which is mostly a land of highlands, hills and valleys. another reason is that, while none of the tribes on the Apennine peninsula would have been able to stand against alexanders forces, the prospect of them unifying against him would have been a real threat to him.
If Alexander had gone west, and conguered italy, do you think we would had seen another succesor state in italy like the once in the east Antigonid Macedonia, Attalid Pergamum, Seleucid Syria, and Ptolemaic Egypt and what would that have changed
You tell a greek in 400 B.C. that a tiny trading outpost would one rise to become a superpower that dominates them, they would've laughed at you. You tell a Roman in 200 C.E. that the tiny island they conquered in the northeast would one day become the largest sea-spanning empire, they would've laughed at you. Incredible the way history plays out.
Yeah it was a terrible video. Idk why no one seems to notice, maybe the content creator has so many fan boys that worship him that the content doesn't even matter anymore, they just want to hear his voice.
@@quitlife9279 Was it? Greeks weren't in much contact until 50 years after Alexander and they didn't see have much support to go west and also that east kept him quite busy All in all the real reason seems to be quite boring that didn't know much about rome🤷
@@010101110100 Not as boring as you say. In 1995 a Russian commission(Headed by Alexander Yakovlev) stated that 200,000 Russian Orthodox priests, monks and nuns had been killed under Soviet rule. Thousands of churches had been destroyed.
The Latin name Philip comes from the Bible, which was a Greek name made famous by Ancient Greek kings like Philip II, the original Greek pronunciation or one close to it is used in this video as well as for the French name, where the beginning of the pronunciation of Philip is close to the Greek root Philo with an emphasis on the vowels and a soft p at the end.
It's because he had beef with the Persians, not the Romans. His thirst for revenge, fueled his ambition to conquer the east. This is why ever since then, the east revolved under the Greek sphere of influence.
Philip of Macedon: “You are advised to submit without further delay, for if I bring my army into your land, I will destroy your farms, slay your people, and raze your city." The Spartans: “If.”
and then philip invaded and sparta was forced to cede territory, so sparta kinda just talked shit, got hit, and stayed irrelevant until the last gasp of Cleomenes III
New video idea: When the British won the 7 years war, why were there more French descended people in Canada than in the regions west of the Appalachian mountains?
Cos the latter was but sparsely populated then, the Alleghany Proclamation prevented the 13 colonies from expanding west into ‘Indian’ Country. One of the causes of the War of Independence.
One does not simply walk into Appalachia. Its Black Peaks are guarded by more than just Indians. There is evil there that does not sleep, and the Great Eye is ever watchful. It is a barren wasteland, riddled with fire and ash and dust, the very air you breathe is a poisonous fume. Not with ten thousand men could you do this. It is folly.
It was mainly due to the policies of New France. The French government, for more than a century, was focused on transplanting the rural feudal system along the shores of the Saint Lawrence up to the split with the Ottawa river. The lands to the West were left mainly to the fur trade, and thus were not developed further than trading and defensive outposts. The fact that the St. Lawrence was frozen half the year did also hinder the back and forth with the metropole, which slowed down the growth compared to the British colonies further South on the coastline.
I think he would have made his way to Asia. By the time Rome gets their sh*t together, Alexander would've been in his 80s but I think it's very rare for them to get to that age at the time.
When I saw the video title I was like “what? Rome was barely a thing in Alexander’s day why would he give a fuck?” It’s like asking why didn’t Hitler invade Iceland 😂
He might have not, but his relative king Pyrrhos of Epirus did try to fight the romans, and actually won, well, kind of. Also, Alexander was a firm believer in his teacher's Aristotle's misconception about the size of Earth, he originally planned to conquer India to it's end, built a fleet there and sail around the (small) round world through the pillars of Hercules back to Macedon, possibly tackling the Romans on his way. But his army would go no further than Indus valley, and he actually punished them in rage by forcing a march through deserts believed to be impassable back to Persia.
LIvy also talks about it in his History of Rome, he imagines a scenario where Alexander does indeed try to invade Rome, but Livy speculated that Rome would win if such a war would happen.
Thank you for this - but I feel this _may_ need a follow up- concise as it was. The strange thing is that- in what has to be the earliest account of a 'what if'/ alt history, being posited by Roman writer, Livy- he concluded that had Alexander invaded, he would ultimately lose. I read his reasoning (a lot hinged on alliance with Carthage, I believe), but I also looked at the disposition of Alexander's forces, Rome's lack of a navy to stop any seaborne invasion (hence reliance on Carthage)- what other powers were in the world at this time, & I have to assume a massive bias- because I don't think he would have. Had Alexander not fallen ill/ been poisoned, & simply wintered in Babylon before turning his attention to campaign in the West- I truly think he would have stood a good chance. And based on his reliable subordinate commanders (Ptolemy, Seleucus et al)- with both their records while Alexander was alive, & the later battles they won- as well as his massive numbers (I therefore don't think Alexander was quite so isolated in command, nor that his Eastern allies would be the hindrance Livy imagines - Alexander was working on integrating them into his forces, to make up for the losses of Macedonians- & they were a rather inexhaustible pool of men to pull from). I rather think the writer was using post-fact bias (Rome's conquest of Greece & Macedon- as you said, it occurred well after his death, & the following Wars of the _Daodachi_ ) as justification to suppose what _could_ have been the outcome, from what *was* the outcome- at a *_later_* date & time, **&** under much different circumstances...
If they were to have conquered Rome and west, Greek as a language and an alphabet would become dominant all throughout Europe similar to Latin in our timeline
I 100% believe that this video was made because of the idea for "Alexander the Okay" -> " "Alexander the pretty good" -> "Alexander the notable"
Considering I have never seen a suggestion for this topic and I don't remember a single ancient history video since the good ol' 10 minute format this is extremely plausible
I Don think so
And, Alexander the Great was implied after he fully conquered Persia?
@@guadalupe8589 No, he obviously got the title by conquering the afterlife.
Has he made one on Vlad the pincher or Richard the Hamsterheart yet?
"Conquer the afterlife." That's gold!
He finally got other worlds to conquer
Twould be grand if he did, then returned here with an army of the dead to finish the job
Maybe that's why Jesus hasn't come back yet.
If he can't do it after 2300 years, then no one can
@@dustinprewitt so basically like Nagash from warhammer fantasy
The only man ever who’s never thought about the Roman Empire
Cant think of the roman empire when it doesnt exist yet
@martintang2885 +1 obvious point for you my friend, and -1 for not getting the joke
Liberal males dont ever think about Rome or greece. They only think about Africa and palestine
This meme was never funny
Liberal males never think of the Roman empire, only africa and p*lestine
"*Sparta was just there being difficult*" a great summary of Greek history right there
Sparta was considered a joke at this point. He didn't personally take it just out of respect for its past. That also explains his expansion eastward. He grew up in the myth of the Persian wars.
Alexander's regent, taking care of Macedon, assembled a spare army and defeated Sparta while Alexander was away invading Persia....turning Sparta into a vassal state.
@@neutronalchemist3241Exactly. I bet Philip simply didn't think Sparta would be WORTH conquering.
They got crushed by Macedon's reserve troops Alexander wouldn't take with him to invade Persia. @Carlton-B
@@leonardomarquesbellinihey to their credit they kept on trying until the very end
@Carlton-B After they said "If" to Philip II he conquered most of the Spartan cities and they didn't even try to stop him, as the Spartans knew they didn't have a chance in battle.
I like how Alexander’s name progressively levels up, he really came a long way, from uniting Greece to conquering the afterlife 🙏
I thought he was Macedonia
@@KandiKlover Macedonia was a part of greece, not to be confused with todays country "north macedonia"
@@KandiKlover “North Macedonia”has nothing to do with Ancient Greek Macedonia. They’re Slavs that lived in some parts of that area 900+ years after Alexander’s death.
Conquering Greece*
@@Stef77777everything to do with Ancient Macedonia, quite distinct from Greece
A nice, neat combination of "Italy and Rome weren't important in the eyes of any of Alexander's Greek inner circle" and "Boy was already busy, alright?"
Which would you better like to reenact, Xenophon's Anabasis or the Athenian invasion of Sicily?
Pillaging your way across Persia sounds a lot better than dying of thirst in a quarry.
Alexander the G. on oriental sources was a cousin of himself Kirus - the shah of Persia. He didn't even step on the land of the other side of Bosphorus. Medieval sources about him are more interesting than what Vanilla wikipedists willed to mention about.@@hypothalapotamus5293
Rome, yes, it wasn't that important by then. But the cities of Magna Grecia, in the south of Italy, were arguably the richest cities of the Greek world, and were technically considered Greece (their citizens participated to the Olympics, and many of the most famous winners, and of "Greek" philosophers, came from there). So Alexander conquered Persia, Egypt (that was part of Persia at the time), but only half of the Greek world.
@@neutronalchemist3241 This is so ridiculous explanation of why Alexander did not go there :) He didn't go there because he never stepped on the European side of Bosphorus. He has always lived either in Asia Minor or Middle East.
@@channel_archistoriac I agree^^; furthermore, wars are not fought for fun but to make a profit, and Rome would not have been a great loot compared to the Persian empire in which very rich cities abounded; furthermore (although in writing history one must be careful with psychological motivations) Alexander the Great (could) have had two "emotional" reasons 1) to continue the project of his beloved-hated father and, 2) to challenge the largest and most powerful empire of the time
his title getting continuously closer to great is really funny
The: ok
The: pretty good
The: the notable
Then he conquered the afterlife and became
The: great 😅
FR bro this guy humor should be arrested because its always killing me.
If Alexander had conquered Rome, would he have become _Alexander the Magnificent_ ?
He would've become Alexander the Bisonette
@@hentehoo27Or the Alexander of all Alexander's?
Rome: I feel sorry for you.
Alexander: I don't think of you at all.
Bravo 👏👏😂
Rome: You lost everything. It's a pity.
Alexander: I don't even know who you are.
Latter, many Roman senators and writers, really admire Alexander, even some of their imperator, seeking some way of other to claim they're the inheritors of Alexander.
Why that achievement not inherited to one of Greeks polis?
I think, only Roman, who succeeded to combine Athens and Sparta, combined some elements and become the mighty of Roma
“The worst thing he can say is no”
Doesn’t this line in mad men indicate the exact opposite of what you’re saying? Don really did feel threatened by Ginsberg, and the bravado he puts on with that line makes it kind of obvious that he was feeling insecure?
There's a single, yet important point, that's not mentioned here, and is that Alexander actually went to attack Rome, just not Alexander III but Alexander of Epirus, brother-in-law of Alexander III by marriage with his sister Cleopatra, his uncle as he was Olimpia younger brother, and a very close friend of Alexander III. The greek colonies asked for help against Italian barbarians and Roma, and the answer came from Alexander of Epirus, and previous of Alexander III expedition againts Persia both Alexander made a "pact" in wich one would be the "Eastern Alexander" and the other the "Western Alexander". Alexander of Epirus expedition went frankly pretty good (for the italians) and he died, wich would be one of the major "casus belli" that later Pirro of Epirus would use to invade Italy again. Alexander III after knowing about his uncle/brother-in-law/BFF planned to invade Italy too, but he was soon affected by a major case of death so his plans were permanently delayed.
I was searching this comment. Pretty cool piece of history.
Exactly!
Pirro would make famous his type of close victory
Ohhh, ok is not THE Cleopatra, it's A Cleopatra
@@nugolderp4115 More precisely, she is the Cleopatra who served as the "inspiration" for the name Cleopatra VII of Egypt (and a lot more Cleopatras in Egypt), who was from the Ptolemaic dynasty (Alexander's general).
Your videos are genius. The way you omit parts to frame a 3 minute video are stunning.
1. He died after going east instead of west so never had the chance to meet Rome in battle
2. Rome was hardly the military giant it would become when he left Greece, he had no reason to consider Italy for a second when Persia was right there.
But if he had lived and returned to Babylon to centralise and unify his new empire? It’s entirely possible he would have turned his attention west.
Indeed. Also 3. I suspect that Persia was much richer than Italy at this point in history. So, better loot.
@@lightworker2956 there is nothing to suspect, compared to Persia Italy was an irrelevant backwater
@@ΝικηφοροςΚοτσυφακης Achaemenid India alone was more valuable than italy at this point
As the video mentions, going west at the time, would have meant fighting Carthage, which was the major power in the central Mediterranean. Alexander’s biggest obstacle in doing this was that he died young.
When he went in Anatolia he could barely afford to take a small army across. I don't think he could have afforded to go west first, anyway
Alexander the Third, Alexander the Okay, Alexander the Pretty Good, Alexander the Notable, Alexander the Great, Alexander the Dead.
Later on in the late 20th-21st century "Alexander the Macedon"" Alexander the not Greek but Macedonian who are confused Bulgarians claiming to be descendants of Alexander"
It's fun being a Mace- sorry, a "Serbianized Bulgarian who thinks is a Macedonian"
Balkan moment.
@@Dac_DT_MKDIn fact Alexander was macedonic, a barbaric people helenized. Alexander was greek, but ethnic he was macedonic. Its like being a gaulish, being assimilated to the roman culture and then forming your own empire that spread the roman culture
Wasn't he also, Alexander the Butch?
"Alexander the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad"
@@Newramsin His boyfriend thought so. (And yes, he definitely had sexual relations with men. The modern concept of homosexuality wasn't really much of a concern back then.)
Didn’t Alexander want to reach the “encircling ocean” by conquering Asia? That was one of his dreams. Can’t do that if you go west and take over Rome.
E
He could've reached the Pillars of Hercules
He would have still needed to reach the western encircling ocean as well for World Domination
“Taking Rome” was step number 3 after the Oceand
When he and his men reached the Hindus Valley to the south east, they tried to find a path through or north east of the Great Hights (Himalayas). They couldn't find anything and the mountains to the north had no end so they gave up and after that he agreed with his men to go back home.
I am glad for finally made a video about Classical history. You should make more videos on ancient history because most of your videos seem to be about Early Modern or Modern history.
2 history videos on alexander from 2 history channels in 24 hours? This is awesome!!
Alexander the Great: _Doesn't conquer Rome_
His second cousin: *Oh boy do I have an idea........*
Underrated comment right here 😆
@@BOSIE321Damn
Underrated
Don’t understand do explain
@@beetlebg3759 phyrrus of Epirus attempted to take Rome 2nd cousin of alexander
The whelmed face on the chest plate is a phenomenal detail
Is that from another video? I don't remember seeing it
I suspect it's meant to be Medusa. Anyway, detail like that is peak History Matters.
@@mightywurlitzerAlexander's chestplate throughout the video has a face on it that looks bored throughout.
Love this channels humor.
E
“It was time to get stabbed to death” had me absolutely rolling. Hilarious. 😂
Your videos are generally great, but this one was exceptionally funny and fun.
One of the best videos you have ever made. Great work!
Interesting piece of trivia about how Alexander became a Jewish name:
"...Shimon HaTzaddik then took Alexander the Great on a tour of the Holy Temple. Alexander, impressed, wished to donate gold to have an image of himself placed in the Holy Temple so that he would be immortalized. Shimon demurred, saying that it was forbidden for the Jews to have graven images, and certainly not in the Temple. He suggested that he instead give the gold to the poor. And as for memorializing the occasion, Shimon suggested an even better way: all male kohanim born that year would be named “Alexander.”
Alexander liked the idea, and the Jews, who were very thankful to Alexander for all that he did for them, including sparing the Holy Temple from destruction, gratefully named their children after him. Thus, the name Alexander forever became a Jewish name."
That’s pretty cool actually
@EvilEgg331
Ward.
So he didn't just spare Israel from a rampage, but respected the local culture, gave money to the poor, and -- best of all -- went west and never came back. No wonder they liked him so much.
I never thought of it as a Jewish name. I always associated it with Greeks and Scotland.
Super cool, if in fact real
'Unfortunately for Phillip, before this could happen, it was time to get stabbed to death'. 😆
I never get tired of your trademark sarcastic way of telling history. 🙂
Fr.
Fun fact: he was murdered on the day of his daughter's wedding by one of his own bodyguards
"The Godfather" vibes
I am genuinely amused and thrilled to hear about "Alexander the notable" going on to "conquer the afterlife". Splendid work as always! :D
0:34 "Except for Sparta, which was just there being difficult."
Love it. Could also sum up the plot of 300 in a single sentence.
Edit to add: This video had so many gems. Thanks for this one!
Sparta was considered a joke at this point. Alexander's regent taking care of Macedon took a spare army and defeated Sparta while Alexander was away invading Persia....turning Sparta into a vassal state.
He didn't personally take Sparta just out of respect for its past. That also explains his expansion eastward. He grew up in the myth of the Persian wars.
You made the video so comedic. It's Perfect!
Didn’t have the financial backing of James Bissonette, Kelly Moneymaker, and Spinning Three Plates of course.
If anyone can get the power of all 3 at once, they can become unstoppable,unmoored, uncaged, downright unreasonable
Don’t forget Words on Books Podcast
Boooring
@@gerwaltspodnovigradu5508 The Triforce of History Matters.
Thanks to all the patreons! You make these quality videos possible and all of us can enjoy them.
James Bisonette, especially
1:21
"...thereby becoming Alexander 'the okay.'"
Lmao
If you name your child "Alexander the Adequate" they are bound to overcompensate.
So much better than Alexander the meh
Indeed
"Great King" was at the time regarded as a title of the Iranian shah, so Alexander could not call himself "great" and be taken seriously until he had secured the whole of Iran.
That's the historical truth behind the joke (which is a good joke precisely because there's truth in it).
*sidenote: I understand that Antiochus III reconquered a lot of Iran to the point of making the Parthians into vassals, so he styled himself "the Great" too. Which was not recognised in Rome; although Rome did allow that Alexander had been Magnus.
Greek guy here. We say "Philip" the English way, not the French way.
Technically, we say "Philippos", stressed on the first sylabble. It means "friend of horses" or, more acurrately, "he who loves horses".
what the fuck is the english way
t. french
@@abarette_ Stress the first syllable, short final syllable. FIL-ip
@@abarette_ in english the way you say it would be spelt Fell-lippe whereas we say Fill-lupuh (american english)
Fill-ipp(British English). you stress the "eeh" sound vowel, we stress "ie"
Greeks at the time would have pronounced it like it was written (and yes I know Greeks didn't use the Latin alphabet but the Romans did transcribe it in a way that they would pronounce it correctly).
So it would neither be Fileep nor Filipp but Philippos with an aspirated P sound, not an F sound.
@@BarelloSmith Sort of irrelevant to this post, though; the stress is still on the first syllable anyway. Φίλιππος.
Another amazing video
It was because James Bisonette controlled Rome
Obviously
Top 10 greatest generals of all time
these jokes are getting old now
I saved myself for marriage but found out I married a trans woman on our wedding night.
Damn, beat me to it.
Imagine if he would've conquered all of the Mediterranean after Persia. He'd be known as "Alexander the Slightly Greater" and that Oliver Stone movie would've been even painfully longer!
they gonna need a part 2 for it.
There's really no reason to believe the rest of the Mediterranean would fold like Persia. I mean first he need to break through Carthaginian navy at least
Absolutely love the (possibly unintentional) coordination between History Matters and Jack Rackam on posting Alexander the Great videos on the same day
Feel better soon ❤ aka Take My Money 😊
we enjoy all your episodes please dont stop love it
Fun fact: My name is Alexander
Other fun fact: My dad's name is Philip
less fun fact: I'm 31
You’ve only got one year left man…
R.I.P
You haven’t conquered the world yet so I think you’re safe from bodyguard assassination
Soon
now complete the family and have two sons: one named Alexander and one named Herakles
Have you considered backpacking in Central Asia
Surprised, there isn't a Jack Rackham collab since you two posted the same topic on the same day.
Something something James Bisonette something something.
Still that is one strange coinkidink
I believe in coincidences, they happen every day. But I don't trust coincidences.
Yeah, I was watching Jack Rackam's (no h) video when this one came up in my notifications. Since neither of them mention the other one, I have to assume it was just a weird coincidence.
@@therwfer Garak quote FTW
3@@MatthewTheWanderer
Love the video as always!
Small nerdy correction: after the battle of Leuktra in 371 Sparta lost Messenia and was only half the shown size at 00:37
hands down the funniest history content I have ever seen.
I see someone else is a fan of overlysarcastic productions.
Incredible that you once again managed to find your niche on such a heavily covered topic,epic as ever!
I love how you're basically referring to alexander's nickname the same way blue from OSP does
If history matters did another video about Albania he would call it "the land where every bunker ever was"
Edit Alexander the notable is very notable
He did a video about albania in relation to its soviet and chinese relations where he mentioned the bunkers
I know but if he did ANOTHER
Cam you do a video about The an lushan rebellion
That'd be cool. I'm for that.
he used to do 10 mins videos so a 10 min video on the an lushan rebellion would have been great
Please do a video about the forgotten overseas territories of Sweden!🙏(I'm subbed to you)
This sets up a good background of what was going on in this part of the world at this time, giving interesting context to Oversimplified's ongoing Punic War series.
I always love your videos man
Could you do a short documentary on Sweden in the great northern war?
you stole my pfp
@@wilhelmbuzzkyll Nuh uh. YOU stole my pfp
I've always wondered what the relationship between rome and Alexander was but never thought about it for more than a moment. Ty
Rome was an up and coming backwater and the Greek states were well established. Its why Pyrrhus of Epirus tried to conquer rome and despite winning many victories could never conquer all of southern italy. Also remember a failed expedition to italy is what bankrupted Athens in the Pelopenesian war.
Italy was to the Greeks what Germany was to the Romans.
@@TheAdmirableAdmiralThe Athenian expedition has nothing to do with Italic tribes nor Rome. The Athenians attacked Syracuse which was Greek.
@@ChronosHellas hmmm you maybe right. for some reason I assumed Pyrus was associated with the Sicilian expedition but I could be off by a few hundred years. thanks for the perspective.
😂 I love the he wanted to "Conquer the afterlife!" quote LOL
there is one reason not mentioned here:
the greek way of doing war, with a phalanx formation supported by cavalry, was very suitable for fighting in large open plains, where maneuvering such a large, continuous and rigid formation is fairly straightforward.
which is an issue when you're trying to conquer the Apennine peninsula, which is mostly a land of highlands, hills and valleys.
another reason is that, while none of the tribes on the Apennine peninsula would have been able to stand against alexanders forces, the prospect of them unifying against him would have been a real threat to him.
I like how Alexander's titles steadily escalate.
Could you do a second part where you explain his conquests in the afterlife?
Alexander, being the giga-chad he was, saw into the future where Rome conquered all.
He respected the grindset and headed east.
You've got the greatest intro on UA-cam.
At 0:48 - "Unfortunately for Phillip it was time to get stabbed to death." Still rolling around on the floor with laughter!
If Alexander had gone west, and conguered italy, do you think we would had seen another succesor state in italy like the once in the east Antigonid Macedonia, Attalid Pergamum, Seleucid Syria, and Ptolemaic Egypt and what would that have changed
I don't think there would've ever been a Roman Empire if Alexander encountered the Republic.
You would see a successor Carthage, I doubt Alexander would have resources to take Rome after or the interest.
James Bissonette was too busy advising him
At least he allowed for the term "Pyrhic Victory" to become a thing for not wanting to go after Rome
Future video idea: “what happened to the scandinavian settlers of north west england?“
Alex the Great pretty much decided to stick to punching the guy he knew how to punch
I died laughing when you said Alexander the okay😂😂
Lol Alexander decided to conquer the afterlife after persia 😭😂 2:24
Basically because Rome wasn’t a threat nor a notable power at the time.
"So, Alexander, why didn't you conquer Rome?" "Where?"
Ya know, it's silly how good these videos actually are.
Short answer. West of greece were only unworthy barbarisns, while east of greece were half-worthy barbarians 😅
Pyrrhus of Epirus kinda tried and was successful,until he wasn't for winning but losing too much,coining the term pyrrhic victory
Because Rome was practically nothing in Italy alone much less compared to the MASSIVE Prize that is the Persian Empire
You tell a greek in 400 B.C. that a tiny trading outpost would one rise to become a superpower that dominates them, they would've laughed at you.
You tell a Roman in 200 C.E. that the tiny island they conquered in the northeast would one day become the largest sea-spanning empire, they would've laughed at you.
Incredible the way history plays out.
So the video never really answered the title question.
Well done. Top notch.
Yeah it was a terrible video. Idk why no one seems to notice, maybe the content creator has so many fan boys that worship him that the content doesn't even matter anymore, they just want to hear his voice.
Well I’m guessing the answer “Rome wasn’t a threat at the time so he just didn’t care about it” would’ve made for quite a short film…
@@quitlife9279 Was it? Greeks weren't in much contact until 50 years after Alexander and they didn't see have much support to go west and also that east kept him quite busy
All in all the real reason seems to be quite boring that didn't know much about rome🤷
He did. Rome was a minor power at the time and wasn't a threat. It didn't really become a regional power until Pyhrric wars.
What happened to the the Orthodox Church during the Soviet Union?
Good question but the answer is kind of boring. They weren’t destroyed but kept p quiet. The CCCP didn’t dare to have anti-Christian pogroms
@@010101110100 Not as boring as you say. In 1995 a Russian commission(Headed by Alexander Yakovlev) stated that 200,000 Russian Orthodox priests, monks and nuns had been killed under Soviet rule. Thousands of churches had been destroyed.
Nothing changed. Russian patriarch Kiril is a Kgb agent approved by Putin.
Why you pronouncing Philip 00:20, as if his French royalty?
The Latin name Philip comes from the Bible, which was a Greek name made famous by Ancient Greek kings like Philip II, the original Greek pronunciation or one close to it is used in this video as well as for the French name, where the beginning of the pronunciation of Philip is close to the Greek root Philo with an emphasis on the vowels and a soft p at the end.
@@knunk5476 well its not really FROM the bible. Its just a generic ancient Greek name Philippus which means lover of horses.
How would you pronounce it btw?
@@janwillemdewaard354 phillipos
@@TheKyprosGaming yeah I guess I'd prefer that too but he's English and they do the short name thing and I guess it could be worse than this
TLDR: Asia was the center of the civilized world, and it wasn’t worth anyone’s effort to go conquer the dingy backwaters of Europe.
The subtle references to death make an interesting change from the normal *thud* =drops to the ground animation= in previous videos.
It's because he had beef with the Persians, not the Romans. His thirst for revenge, fueled his ambition to conquer the east. This is why ever since then, the east revolved under the Greek sphere of influence.
Philip of Macedon: “You are advised to submit without further delay, for if I bring my army into your land, I will destroy your farms, slay your people, and raze your city."
The Spartans: “If.”
and then philip invaded and sparta was forced to cede territory, so sparta kinda just talked shit, got hit, and stayed irrelevant until the last gasp of Cleomenes III
Philip took that if as a personal dare and made the Spartans regret saying it.
They just had a better PR guy.
wonder how that went for them
@@zenzenulous2243 I thought he just… didn’t attack them?
Hence the word Laconic as Sparta was/is in Laconia.
New video idea: When the British won the 7 years war, why were there more French descended people in Canada than in the regions west of the Appalachian mountains?
Cos the latter was but sparsely populated then, the Alleghany Proclamation prevented the 13 colonies from expanding west into ‘Indian’ Country. One of the causes of the War of Independence.
One does not simply walk into Appalachia. Its Black Peaks are guarded by more than just Indians. There is evil there that does not sleep, and the Great Eye is ever watchful. It is a barren wasteland, riddled with fire and ash and dust, the very air you breathe is a poisonous fume. Not with ten thousand men could you do this. It is folly.
It was mainly due to the policies of New France. The French government, for more than a century, was focused on transplanting the rural feudal system along the shores of the Saint Lawrence up to the split with the Ottawa river. The lands to the West were left mainly to the fur trade, and thus were not developed further than trading and defensive outposts. The fact that the St. Lawrence was frozen half the year did also hinder the back and forth with the metropole, which slowed down the growth compared to the British colonies further South on the coastline.
But what if Alexander had lived longer? He was only 32. He might have gotten around to Rome at some point.
I think he would have made his way to Asia. By the time Rome gets their sh*t together, Alexander would've been in his 80s but I think it's very rare for them to get to that age at the time.
When I saw the video title I was like “what? Rome was barely a thing in Alexander’s day why would he give a fuck?” It’s like asking why didn’t Hitler invade Iceland 😂
When i need a laugh, I watch one of your shorts, because they are comedic gold.
Why are you calling Phillip "Felipe"? 😭
TLDW: Rome wasn't very important
And main reason, nor very rich too 😂
Boy, Alexander the James Bissonette sure had a lot of titles, didn't he?
He might have not, but his relative king Pyrrhos of Epirus did try to fight the romans, and actually won, well, kind of. Also, Alexander was a firm believer in his teacher's Aristotle's misconception about the size of Earth, he originally planned to conquer India to it's end, built a fleet there and sail around the (small) round world through the pillars of Hercules back to Macedon, possibly tackling the Romans on his way. But his army would go no further than Indus valley, and he actually punished them in rage by forcing a march through deserts believed to be impassable back to Persia.
I like how his title was continously getting closer to great
Dude conquers half the known world by the time he's 30 and people are like ya but what about the other half?
"Conquering the Persian empire is Great, of course, but how about Carthage, sire? You could advance to become Alexander the Fantastic."
Rome was nothing at this point
Seems like a question for people without even a basic, rough understanding of the timeline of Classical Greece and the Roman Republic.
You know this channel has been going for a long time when Charles I is a supporter.
LIvy also talks about it in his History of Rome, he imagines a scenario where Alexander does indeed try to invade Rome, but Livy speculated that Rome would win if such a war would happen.
James Bisonette ❤
Brazil
is being destroyed by lula
👍
"He decided to conquer the afterlife" has to be the most clever way to say "he died" ever imagined.
“He decided he was going to conquer the afterlife” is absolutely outlandish
The attention to detail with that Epirus flag, man you're goooood
Thank you for this - but I feel this _may_ need a follow up- concise as it was. The strange thing is that- in what has to be the earliest account of a 'what if'/ alt history, being posited by Roman writer, Livy- he concluded that had Alexander invaded, he would ultimately lose.
I read his reasoning (a lot hinged on alliance with Carthage, I believe), but I also looked at the disposition of Alexander's forces, Rome's lack of a navy to stop any seaborne invasion (hence reliance on Carthage)- what other powers were in the world at this time, & I have to assume a massive bias- because I don't think he would have.
Had Alexander not fallen ill/ been poisoned, & simply wintered in Babylon before turning his attention to campaign in the West- I truly think he would have stood a good chance.
And based on his reliable subordinate commanders (Ptolemy, Seleucus et al)- with both their records while Alexander was alive, & the later battles they won- as well as his massive numbers (I therefore don't think Alexander was quite so isolated in command, nor that his Eastern allies would be the hindrance Livy imagines - Alexander was working on integrating them into his forces, to make up for the losses of Macedonians- & they were a rather inexhaustible pool of men to pull from).
I rather think the writer was using post-fact bias (Rome's conquest of Greece & Macedon- as you said, it occurred well after his death, & the following Wars of the _Daodachi_ ) as justification to suppose what _could_ have been the outcome, from what *was* the outcome- at a *_later_* date & time, **&** under much different circumstances...
My god I love this UA-camr.
If they were to have conquered Rome and west, Greek as a language and an alphabet would become dominant all throughout Europe similar to Latin in our timeline
Wonderful video :)) true character development seen from Alexander :))
“It was here that he decided to conquer the afterlife” - History Matters still finding new ways to say “he ded”, much respect!