I wanted to give a huge thanks to the channel Deuratus for helping with the extensive research for this epicly long episode. Check him out for more on the history of Macedon: ua-cam.com/channels/TiG87tk_BTg3_Zyut0hLKA.htmlfeatured
Greek guy here. I love your videos and enjoy them very much. Just the pronunciation of the greek words is somewhat offsetting. If you need help with authentic Greek pronunciation I would love to help. Keep up the good work malakes!
Interestingly, the culinary theory of military conquest applies very much universally. Great Britain, an island as known for its food as Italy is known for its efficiency, or Germans for their gentleness, stopped conquering once they reached India and brought home curry. One must suppose the Macedonian army operated on the same principle.
@@mik1901 I think I remember a Roxanne. I thought Alexander III married her, maybe it was Attila. When he died, they buried him under a river, I think. Lot of work.
I still remember when this channel was about analysis of multiplayer battles of various total war games(that's how I discovered this channel because I suck lol). It makes me happy how far they've come, releasing these high quality documentaries
@@adamburditt3941 yeah, if you sort his video list to oldest you will se some of those contents. He also taught how to use real life strategies to multiplayer battles (ambushes and stuff)
Some think he said “Kratisto,” which means “to the strongest” in Greek, but others thought he said “Krater’oi” meaning to Craterus, who was the commander of his army. Craterus, however, was not present at Alexander’s deathbed, and as Alexander’s meaning was unclear, he was not selected as ruler.
lets be real, its not like it changed anything, its just a nice story. there was bound to be a succession crisis anyway, even if he had said "Antipater" for example. A gigantic empire like that can only avoid that with an extremely well established power structure, which definitly wasn´t the case here^^
Parmenion: what's our plan? Alexander: you will hold the left while I use the companion to rout their right. Parmenion: isnt that what we do last battle? And the battle before it .... and before that battle, that's what we've been doing for years! Alexander: hey hey hey, I mean it works you know.
This was largely because Parmenion was a conservative general who preferred the traditional flank on flank the Greeks were used to. After he was made a governor and left the army, Alexander's left wing tactic chaanged considerably. The left was also where the foreign Thessalonian cavalry was posted, so despite them proving themselves over and over again Alexander still needed a trustworthy ally to command them.
"The Persians referred to both Greeks and Macedonians as Yauna ("Ionians", their term for "Greeks"), though they distinguished the "Yauna by the sea and across the sea", from the Yaunã Takabara or "Greeks with hats that look like shields", referring to the Macedonian kausia hat." Engels 2010, p. 87.Engels, Johannes (2010). "Macedonians and Greeks". In Roisman, Joseph; Worthington, Ian (eds.). A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. Oxford, Chichester, & Malden: Wiley-Blackwell
I love the unity of the macedonian army. The cavalary called the companions and the infantry cald "πεζέταιροι " who means the friend infantry soldier. That's why they where so strong and loyal to their king
@Rosh Geler If it is full of historical mistakes, why don't you name one? A lot of stuff about ancient history is to be taken with a grain of salt. No one would write an academic thesis and cite this video. However, Invicta usually posts sources under their videos. In this video, the research was done by Deuratus, which also cites his sources in the description under his videos. So I think you are just being salty for no reason. Or do you have a Ph.D. in Classical antiquity and you would like to give us a lecture?
Did you ever hear the tragedy of the Evolution of the Roman Legions: Part 1? I thought not. It’s not a story the Invicta would tell you. Evolution of the Roman Legions: Part 1 was the 1st part in a legendary series. He had such a knowledge of the Roman Kingdom that he could even keep part 2 from being uploaded. The legend states that there are some that are still waiting, hoping for part 2.
“However, the companions were different. They were shock true shock cavalry who skipped over the over the ranged foreplay and charged straight into combat at full speed. Such an attack would have been extremely dangerous in an era before stirrups and couched lance. Companions would have therefore trained exhaustively to master the maneuver. Unfortunately, their secrets are lost to the ages.” This along with the lack of any clear accounts of Chaeronea is unfortunate. Query why modern scholars would minimize the deployment of the companion cavalry against the sacred band infantry - this seems to fit the outcome of the battle and their apparent annihilation which was unprecedented. It’s strange that by the time of the Battle of Cynoscephalae, the Macedonian phalanx appears to have lost much of the flexibility that had made it so successful at battles such as Gaugamela (most of these seem to have had their genesis in Epaminondas/Pelopidas or possibly the earlier envelopment tactics of Miltiades at Marathon).
How did the Macedonian phalanx demonstrate flexibility at Gaugamela or any other battle during Philip's and Alexander's wars? Its battalions only ever charge forward and are never withdrawn or redeployed after having engaged the enemy. The only thing they ever do is try to push the enemy back and grind them down. We never hear of some smaller unit being peeled off to face a threat from the flanks or the rear or to reinforce a weak spot elsewhere in the line, like Roman maniples and centuries were able to do. But the Roman command structure and fighting style were different: 120 Roman swordsmen in loose formation would have still been effective as a group in isolation, which afforded their centurion the opportunity to take initiatives and respond to developments during battle, whereas 256 Macedonian pikemen in a tightly-knit square or rectangle were next to worthless unless part of a line.
I should have been more clear in that I was referring to the totality of the Macedonian system which included the phalanx as a primary component. The original Macedonian phalanx was designed by Phillip/Alexander as part of a combined arms doctrine and must be interpreted as such. In the post-Alexandrian Diadochi/Antigonid period this system was abandoned due to its costs and complexity and gradually replaced by simpler frontal attack/charge tactics wherein the phalanx was the primary arm of decision.The later Roman system was unquestionably more flexible (and they also seemed to have obtained a complete mastery of trench and siege warfare by the time of Sulla).
@@brendanobrien6943 I also get the impression that the cavalry arm seems to have lapsed into a secondary role under the Antigonids, but I think what tends to be underestimated is the quality of Italian cavalry. They are automatically assumed to have been inferior, because they were repeatedly beaten by the Numidians in the Punic Wars, but in these battles they were always faced with severe numerical disadvantage. However, when they fought against Pyrrhus, they were perfectly capable of holding their own against his Macedonian and Thessalian (and Epirotan and Tarentine) cavalry, it was the elephant charges that broke them. So it's hard to see how Philip V or Perseus could have beaten the legions, when the tables had turned and it was the Romans who fielded elephants in their armies and the Greeks did not. I think the Seleucid cataphracts appearing around 200BC were the only unit of the era demonstrably superior to Italian cavalry (which the Parthians reaffirmed again later).
@@sakdavid Good points but we're talking about different periods after the Romans had the benefits of the evolution of all levels of echelon warfare arguably beginning with the reforms of Scipio in response to Hannibal's tactics (which some believe were introduced to Carthage by a Spartan mercenary) - as discussed it seems that Greek warfare devolved during this time. It does appear that the Romans were behind the curve initially in terms of cavalry but like everything else they adapted brilliantly from failure (similar to the naval turnaround in the first Punic War). Scipio had a massive cavalry advantage at Zama because of his Numidian allies rather native Roman cavalry - had Hannibal been able to rendezvous with Syphax the battle likely would have been different. In Gaul Caesar had to rely on the cavalrymen (to the extent that he made his own soldiers give up their horses to them) from the allied German tribes and arguably would not have been successful without them (they were crucial in forcing Vercingetorix into Alesia and the reserve German cavalry arguably tipped the balance at the end of the battle; over course Caesar's circumvallation was an incredible feat).
@@brendanobrien6943 But this is what I am saying: I don't believe the Romans/Italians were initially (if by initially one means a date around 300BC) behind the Greek world in terms of cavalry, they were just as good. Yes, the cavalry seems to have declined in quality or maybe the tactical understanding of the commanders changed in Macedon itself over the course of the 3rd century, but in other places (Aetolia, Pergamon, Seleucid kingdom) it did not lapse and certainly in 280BC the cavalry fielded by Pyrrhus was as good as any Successor's cavalry from the previous 40 years, yet the Italians seem to have been its equals. I think what was holding Italian cavalry back from the spotlight is that Roman commanders of the era did not use cavalry to maximum effect in their battles because they did not understand combined arms tactics or were not interested because their military ideas were informed by cultural/ideological preferences or simply did not care, since they were confident that their legions were a battle-winning arm on their own anyway. Only Scipio ever did break the mould, because he was forced to deal with Hannibalic tactics.
Friend of the Greeks wasnt a title to a foreigner, but a title that Greeks gave to a Greek that made something to the interest of all Greeks and not just his city state/kingdom. neither access to Olympic game was granted because of that. Alexander the first participated in the olympic games because he proved his Greek discent to the ellanodikes.
@@Mpoumpoukos that's what he said. Alexander I, who participated in the Olympics, ruled the obviously Greek Kingdom of Macedon about a century before Alexander the Great.
@Great White me too, it always wondered if he finished conquering the east where would he go. To Italy and Spain/Egypt or Up into Sythia and Russia/ Scandinavia.
@Velstadt Hekkleson yes l know how Κλείτος was but to say that Alexander was a trash is historical wrong and Futhermore anyone can understand that you hate Alexander
Exactly, I believe Napoleon and Alexander had the best generals in history under them that could easily make decisions and strategies that could change a battle.
And both were having some kind of peculiar same personality. Napoleon's gender identity is still not clear to this day, same as that of Alexander. During the invasion of Egypt, Napoleon's role model for his cause was Alexander, who inspite of being a European, went on to the invasion of Egypt, Middle East and the known world.
Erm. Weren't almost all of Napoleon's Marshals absolutely dreadful in any independent capacity? (There were a few exceptiona, I think Davout, Oudinot?, Massena, maybe Lannes,...) Upon the whole, though, they got badly beaten any time he wasn't there to oversee them, by Allied generals.
The most important cavalry unit of the antiquity. I glad that you upload this video, because the history of the army of Alexander the great, are much interesting for me and the Hetairoi were heroic in all battles taken place on Persia empire. Probably your best video for me. =D
Man I was just thinking about this channel used to be called THFE Productions and it was about Prince of Macedon style Total War content with these documentary things as an every so often sort of side show thing. It’s kind of crazy how much everything has changed and I love it
"The latest archaeological findings HAVE CONFIRMED that Macedonia took its name from a tribe of tall, GREEK-speaking people, the MAKEDNOI". Nigel Guy Wilson, Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece, Routledge, 2009, p.439
French people speak very broken latin, but they are a Germanic tribe that live on lands of Gaul. British speak very broken French, while they are Anglo'Saxon Germanics that migrate on Romano-British lands. Manchurians and Mongols, spoke chinese when they conquered China and adapted their culture. Venedi Tribe was a mixture of Iberian and Gaelic sea-men, that migrated to modern day Venice and speak Italian. ROMANS were migrated Italian peninsula fron western anatolia and adapted culture and language of their Latin Socii. Medians were a different indo europian culture that conquered Persia, and adapted persian culture and language. Even greeks migrated to Balkan peninsula post-Bronze Age Collapse, adapted most of it's culture. They could be one of those Greek migrants, or natives of the land assimilated by Greek culture, or Bronze age colonists of Cretan empires. They even could be cousins of Dacians or Hittites.
What I mean is the Makednoi era is surprising closer to our time, and much later than the their first apoearance. People used to believe Etruskians were greek or latin, before they found out about disappeared research of emperor Claudius.
I almost forgot about Spartans. Spoke Greek, dressed greek. Was not Greek. Both mentally and physically resisted to Greek culture, even being unnecessary cruel to Greek settlers. Failed, failed very hard. But they were either Peloponnesian natives or what's left of Balkan empires. Nobody should ever forget about Bronze age collapse.
@@hannibalburgers477 I stopped reading where you wrote that "the Spartans were not Greek". 😂 The Spartans were Dorian Greeks according to all ancient and modern sources. The Macedonians were Dorians as well. From your comments it is clear to me that you are very confused about this historical subject. You should read some books by proper historians cause i guess this is what happens when you 'learn" history from UA-cam videos..
@@vangelisskia214 As you say this on a YT video t hat is very reputable. I hate when people pretend you cant learn proper history (or anything) on youtube.
@War Lord well nobody knows how many yards it was and you know that if you're a military history buff but Darius III still had his Golden Apples between himself and Alexander so one hundred yards is plausible.
"Herodotus made a special point of emphasizing that the royal house of Macedonia was Greek by descent, and THUCYDIDES, who questioned much of what Herodotus said CONCURRED WITH HIM in calling the Macedonian kings “Temenidae from Argos’. Almost a century later Isocrates wrote to Philip II, saying “Argos is your fatherland’, and asked Philip to emulate his father (Amyntas) the founder of the monarchy (Perdiccas), and the originator of the family (Heracles).” [For further references consult Hdt.5.22;Thuc.2.99.3;Thuc.5.80.2; Isoc.5.32 and 105-12] N.G.L Hammond “A History of Greece to 322 B.C.”, pg. 18
Love all the info leading up to Alexander the greats reign, I never hear much about it except the mention of his father Phillip's reforms. Amazing work, amazing art, great job!
Spartans weren't anything to talk about by that time. Epaminondas straight up neutered them. They weren't a threat to anyone after he came along. Look it up, they revolted when Alexander was in Persia and got fu**ed up by a regional governor...
The Companion cavalry became the undisputed best unit at the time when they incorporated Iranian cavalrymen who were revered to be invincible by even Herodotus.
@@imperialstormtrooper1054 Since I've seen comments of Pablo Mena before, I have to say that what you wrote about him isn't true. I think you misunderstood him. Even though I'm Greek I'm calling them regularly byzantines as well in order to avoid confusion. That's because most people don't know that during the byzantine period the name "Roman" had a different meaning and was used to describe the Roman citizen/someone that had Roman citizenship no matter their ethnicity. As a result each time they hear someone talking about Romans during the byzantine period they don't realize that by "Romans" we mean Greeks that were Roman citizens and they wrongly believe that we're referring to the old Romans.
@@imperialstormtrooper1054 By calling them Romans without defining what "Roman" meant during that period could be harmful as well because people are getting confused. That's probably why Pablo called them byzantines, so I don't think that there is any reason to attack him.
@@imperialstormtrooper1054 Woah what happen here? I'm pretty shure you were the rigth heirs of the Roman Empire but you were not Romans, not in the propper way, you were Romioi that's different now, you were far more Greeks than Romans in almost everything yet the Byzantine period wasn't just the Eastern Roman continuation but it was the Hellenistic period continuation, dont get me wrong guys i'm in my second year of Hellenic studies becouse i admire Greek's and i'm pretty shure that the Byzantine Empire was indeed a Greek/Hellenistic empire but you must aknowledge that the Byzantine Greeks didin't studie Cicero nor Virgil, they studied Plato, Homer ect, you should be proud of being a Greek rather than a Latin Roman. Byzantines studied Greek history becouse it was their history, they didin't study Cato the elder texts, they called the Latin language "Barbarian" and "Scythian", when the Byzantines arrived at Italy the enslaved the local Roman-Latin population of Taranto and they repopulate the city with Greek colonist. They used to practice the ancient Hellenic warfare tactis of Aelianus or Onosander but they didin't figth like the Legions or something like that, Heraclius himself during the Persian-Byzantine wars tried to emulate Alexander the great and thier troops used to be equiped with Hellenic-Eastern armor the David plates are a great example of this, the helmets of the Byzantine soldiers are the same as those of the Hellenistic/Attic type and examples like this are huge but if it make's you happy i hate the Latins as much as you.
i am fan of this channel but i'm sceptical about some inaccuracies that are mentioned in this video. And i quote " in response(to what?to alexander's transformative reign? ) , the southern city states granted him the title of FRIEND OF THE GREEKS and allowed the monarch to actually participate in the exclusive olympic games. " 1. Well, actually they granted him the forementioned title because even without having the means(organised army and southern support)to stand against persian empire, and having Xerxes as overlord,he risked everything to help his fellow greeks . 2. As for the title itself it doesn't mean he was not considered to be greek himself( Alexander the 1st) as a Macedonian. And i quote from wikipedia and lsj "In antiquity, the term philhellene (Greek: φιλέλλην, from φίλος - philos, "dear one, friend" + Έλλην - Hellen, "Greek"[1]) was used to describe both non-Greeks who were fond of ancient Greek culture and Greeks who patriotically upheld their culture. The Liddell-Scott Greek-English Lexicon defines 'philhellene' as "fond of the Hellenes, mostly of foreign princes, as Amasis; of Parthian kings[...]; also of Hellenic tyrants, as Jason of Pherae and generally of Hellenic (Greek) patriots.[2] Some examples: Evagoras of Cyprus[3] and Philip II were both called "philhellenes" by Isocrates[4] The early rulers of the Parthian Empire, starting with Mithridates I (r. 171 - 132 BC), used the title of philhellenes on their coins, which was a political act done in order to establish friendly relations with their Greek subjects.[5] ". 3. about the participation in the exclusive olympic games. City states DID NOT allow or deny anyone's right to participate in the olympic games. As there wasn't one distinct greek state, every candidate had to prove himself of greek descend before the HELLANODIKAI ,the judges of the games. p.s. i understand how visualization works but honestly invicta? talking about alexander the 1st and pin an image of alexander the 3rd on the map?
Not "friend of the Greeks" but "friend of all the Greeks"... As the first would appear to say that he was not Greek (while he was ofcourse). The second means there are no political benefits you are friend of all Greek parties and alliances... Same frase with deferment word was feasted later for Alexander the great... "hegemony of all Greeks" (and not "hegemon of the Greeks)...
Funny how with all detailed explanations throughout history, you still refuse to acknowledge the facts. Philip was a MAKEDON (Macedon was the name given by Romans) King that terrified your people, and his son Alexander didn't fall far behind. Stop claiming the kingdom of Macedon as your own after all the terror your ancestors had to go through. It's shameful and a huge disrespect towards your own!
@@tinas.77 Some chickens in here can't handle truth and facts so they reporting the comments for delete in order to feel they win their clown arguments... I am not apenting more time with clowns and history thieves....
@@deepdungeon8465 the thing is (at least according to my logic) that there is no shame in what you are and where you come from... But those people instead of bear it with honor and pride they want to steal other identities and names and history... It really is pathetic...
@@champosvezast.v.4355 ya right nigga, but I think they want to be of Alexander's Legacy even if they haven't had any connection with Hellenic Civilization. Kinda sad, but people wants something to be proud about and not giving a fuck even if they have to still other's glory and achievements.
Nothing beats preparation. All of the best generals ever were the best prepared: from Alexander, to Hannibal, to Caesar and Octavian/Augustus, to Napoleon and Frederick the Great. They all did everything they could to win the battle before it even began.
They also understood, that to win, one must circumvent the rules of war. If you fight as expected, your enemy will anticipate your every move and beat you. They came up with new strategies and were bold enough to execute them.
Greek guy here. I love your videos and enjoy them very much. Just the pronunciation of the greek words is somewhat offsetting. If you need help with authentic Greek pronunciation I would love to help. Keep up the good work malakes!
If Invicta isn't going to accept it, I would use some help with the Greek pronunciation. You can add me on discord: Alcetas#6256 if you are willing to help me.
This was really well done I knew most of information I'm a huge history nut but there were a few things I hadn't heard before Kings and Generals and Invicta are two of the best history channels on UA-cam great video
Spends months gathering historical information Hours verifying accuracy Hours writing Hours recording Hours editing Opens with an image that's a homage to a historically inaccurate battle scene from a movie. Not gonna lie, I chuckled a little.
He was the gresatest but he wasnt greek. He is Ancient Macedonian, the nation that died with Cleopatra, Who is the last Descendant of Alexander the great. So Greece has no right to claim him. No one can claim him.
@@filipb2376 Alexander the Great SELF-IDENTIFYING AS GREEK: "Your ancestors came to Macedonia and THE REST OF HELLAS (Greece) and did us great harm, though we had done them no prior injury. I have been appointed LEADER OF THE GREEKS, and wanting to punish the Persians I have come to Asia, which I took from you..." Alexander the Great Alexander's letter to Persian king Darius in response to a truce plea, as quoted in Anabasis Alexandri by Arrian; translated as Anabasis of Alexander by P. A. Brunt, for the "Loeb Edition" Book II 14, 4 “Now you fear punishment and beg for your lives, so I will let you free, if not for any other reason so that you can see the difference between a GREEK KING and a barbarian tyrant, so do not expect to suffer any harm from me. A king does not kill messengers.” Alexander the Great Historia Alexandri Magni of Pseudo-Kallisthenes, 1.37.9-13 "He set the Persian palace on fire, even though Parmenion urged him to save it, arguing that it was not right to destroy his own property, and that the Asians would not thus devote themselves to him, if he seemed determined not to rule Asia, but only to pass through as a conqueror. But Alexander replied that he intended to PUNISH THE PERSIANS FOR THEIR INVASION OF GREECE, the destruction of Athens, the burning of the temples, and all manner of terrible things done TO THE GREEKS: because of these things, HE was exacting REVENGE". [Arrian Anab. 3. 18. 11-12].
@@jamesstole9007 "Not much need to be said about the Greekness of ancient Macedonia: it is undeniable." Ian Worthington, "Philip II of Macedon", Yale University, 2008 "The latest archaeological findings HAVE CONFIRMED that Macedonia took its name from a tribe of tall, GREEK-speaking people, the MAKEDNOI". Nigel Guy Wilson, Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece, Routledge, 2009, p.439: "The ANCIENT MACEDONIANS WERE GREEKS.THEIR LANGUAGE WAS GREEK to judge by their personal names, and by the names of the months of their calendar." George Cawkwell, Emeritus Fellow,University College Oxford
Wow man..what an informative video..thanks again invicta..never a let down yet.. great breakdown..and decent sized video..love the 15-20min snippets but these are great occasionally..one of the greatest conquests ever known..could have been a great dynasty if he had at least one son!!!
Wow what a great in-depth video! Nice research! A common mistake though... why did you exclude Alexander the 1st from the other 'Greeks'? I mean the part ''he imported the greek practices'', it is more likely ''the Athenian practices''. Greece was not only Athens. The idea of a country is same people, same language, same religion, the feeling of being alike. So, like Attica (Athenians) , like Lakedemonia (Spartans), like Thessaly (Larissans), like Boeotia (Thebians), like Crete (Cretans, former Minoans) and many more city-states-kingdoms , Macedon(ia) had the Macedonians. Yes, every city had its own policy and many times fought with one another, but they were all Hellines (Greeks as for today). Sokrates once said ''A conflict between Hellines will not be described as a war, but as a stasis. We only declair war on the barbarians -the non greek tribes- ''. (book~Republic of Plato) Didn't expect such a big missconcept from a channel like this, please study harder.
@@puppetmasterk2 long live Macedonia, long live Hellas, yes, and may long live yourself too friend. Opinions are like ass' holes today: everyone has one. You can keep yours, but facts and history are undisputable.
If they’re descendent from the Argive/Argead Dynasty, then they’re ethnically Doric Hellenes. I know it is popular on channels like this to try and be neutral or even try to legitimize the claims of FYROM/North Macedonians (ethnic & linguistic Bulgarians); but the facts are as follows. First, they spoke a dialect of Hellenic. They could have spoken multiple dialects in multiple localities in the Archaic period, but the assertion that they had a completely different language is conjecture without evidence! They also wrote solely in a Hellenic script. Secondly, they worshipped the Hellenic pantheon of Gods. Third, they did have a Hellenic/Greek/Doric culture, because why adopt and subjugate a population and force a different culture on them which would be unpopular and very hard considering the feudal nature and tenuous power of the Macedonian government. Other cultures around them like the Illyrians and Thracians adopted many aspects of Hellenism but never identified as culturally or ethnically Hellenic like the Makedonians! So please don’t brush aside all the evidence showing they were Hellenic. Because trying to dichotomize the words Greek and Macedonian, as though they’re mutually exclusive is intellectually dishonest and propagandistic. I can post up a plethora of quotes that affirm Macedonian ‘Hellenicness’, if you would all like. And PS... don’t quote me the at war with (Macedonia), very biased Demosthenes.
pretty sure the video said that at least the Macedonian core land on the plain area is Hellenic and at least the Royalty identified themselves as coming from Argus
Culture is always a geographical spectrum and the way ancient writers described macedon, it was probably a borderstate to "pure" hellenic culture being similar but also having distinct and unique differences, while even the word "hellenic" itself poses difficulties since the varying polis could also be quite different.It's not unlike modern european states, having a shared cultural european background (in contrast to east asia, africa etc.), but are still different while border regions like elsass, luxemburg are distinct in sharing cultural aspects of french and german background or tirol is an amalgamation of austrian and italian influence.
@@mastortechnon4157 @Blibla Blubb I completely agree with the assessment of the antagonism between the Hellenic city states and their peoples. The Makedonians were considered ‘Barbaric’ to the Athenians, as they associated the polis and ‘Hellenicness’ as intertwined. It was the contemporaneous perspective of a haughty and chauvinistic Athenian upper class against the enemy Makedonians. The Athenians believed that the polis was the most civilized form of state, and also quintessentially Hellenic. To them, only barbarians had a hereditary monarchy. The Makedonians were on the periphery of the Hellenic world, and didn’t adapt to the new age of the Polis system. They also had some differing customs and practices, like drinking wine undiluted. But as you beat me to mentioning the Mycenaeans... they too had a Monarchial feudal system, with a titular ’Wanax’. They ‘most likely’ drank wine undiluted too. Most pertinent to this discussion, is that today archeologists, linguistics professors and geneticists all consider the Mycenaeans to be the ‘early Greeks’, the ancestors of the classical Hellenes. My contention is that many people are analyzing ancient ethnicity based on inconsistent and incongruent methodologies. We either accept that genetics and linguistics define ethnicity, like most archeologists, linguistics professors and geneticists do (when classifying the Mycenaeans as the early Greeks, based on genetics and linguistics); or we define ethnicity based on how the ancient Athenians did... Which would mean that we today would have to reassess and say that the Mycenaeans speaking Hellenic and being Genetically Hellenic is not enough to consider them the early Hellenes (and worshipping Hellenic Gods, etc)... just like the Makedonians (who descended from the Argead Dorians, and oh... were able to affirm their Hellenicness by competing in the strictly restricted ethnically Hellenic only Olympics, etc). Anyways, taking this logic to its most absurd extreme... modern day Hellenes/Greeks I guess can’t be considered Hellenes, as they don’t live in a polis state, and drink undiluted wine, etc?
Amazing video and I can't get enough of this time period. However, I don't understand why Carmania is located on the map in Epirus instead of where it actually was in Southeastern Iran.
I find it interesting how similar the Kopis, Falcata, and Kukri are. Did the Iberian tribes make the Falcata first, or did the Greeks make the Kopis first?
the people that make these swords are all indo-european, so maybe it was an old sword from the Yamnaya culture and they ended up putting their own spins on it
The visuals of the battle of Gaugamela don't show the ludicrous display of how many soldiers were present on the day, and how outnumbered Alexander's army was
@@emiliangoia8618 I can't reccomend books, I just watched lectured on it and studied the sources. Keep in mind that the ancient sources seem very biased and exaggerated the numbers quite significantly.
@@Tectonix26 i know that ancient sources give ridicously high noumbers like Arian s 1000 000 vs 47 000 but think his source is more reasticly presented and less biased that of Diodorus who for exemple said that ar battle of Issus Alexander s army fought using sword without spears ( i think he tried to make them look like romans )anyway i would appreciate If You can give your opin and your vesion of the numbers of people who parcicipated at the battle agains alexander
@@froggymusicman thank for the answer i have done my own research on the subject and i just wanted other opinion i am more inclined to belive your statement with the higher numbers the one with " more or less of 120 000 " that because in the babylionean astrological calendar stated that " heavy defeats on the troops of the king ... His troops deseted him and went to their cities" șo my interpretation is that Darius s army had a high level of levies from the cities of Mesopotamia but thei were mostly for show off or If is needed extra inetervation to defeat Alexander s army and they didn t really participated at the battle they just standing behinde Darius professional troops from the center ,the ones who stood agains the foot companions and surffered " heavy defeat " șo the levies abandoned Darius because he lost his most effetive troops and that corelate with Wikipedia statement that persians lost 40 000 men they being the Apple barel ( immortals), kingsmen , peltas , cardases ,some 500 greeks and cavalery men who died fighting on the Wings
Every ancient source except Curtius gives us a number of about one million for the Persian army at Gaugamela. So, I'm inclined to believe it. Curtius doesn't cite a source for his claim, though. The numbers vary for the other battles, but this is one battle all the sources seem to agree on. I generally go with Diodorus' numbers for all the major battles and Arrian for the rest, like strategy, minor military engagements and the rest of the events. Even the usually very dry Babylonian astronomical tablets say 'a large army was defeated' and that 'heavy losses were inflicted'. So, I'd go with one million for Gaugamela. The argument that no logistical system at the time could support that number is flawed. This was homeground for the Persians, and a majority of their soldiers were from Mesopotamia, Media, Bactria and Sogdia. They didn’t need to worry much about logistics, since they were fighting at home, and their route was via their territory.
"Alexander called a meeting of his generals the next day. He told them that no city was more hateful TO THE GREEKS than Persepolis, the capital of the old kings of Persia, the city from which troops without number had poured forth, from which first Darius and then Xerxes had waged an unholy war on Europe. To appease the spirits OF THEIR FOREFATHERS they should wipe it out, he said". (Quintus Curtius Rufus 5.6.1)
@@aleksaninkovic6116 Doesn't matter. Greek has been a culture adopted by many different civilizations since Alexander's expansions.What matters is that the language has evolved and it still exists.
I wanted to give a huge thanks to the channel Deuratus for helping with the extensive research for this epicly long episode. Check him out for more on the history of Macedon: ua-cam.com/channels/TiG87tk_BTg3_Zyut0hLKA.htmlfeatured
Meh
Nonononono I don’t like this new narrator
Illyrians please 🇦🇱
Greek guy here. I love your videos and enjoy them very much. Just the pronunciation of the greek words is somewhat offsetting. If you need help with authentic Greek pronunciation I would love to help. Keep up the good work malakes!
@@latehub5231 παρουσιάζει τους Μακεδόνες όχι σαν Έλληνες αλλά σαν εξελληνισμένους δεν σε ενοχλεί καθόλου αυτό;
"aww come on guys i thought we were companions"
"sod off Alex, that roadtrip to India was a disaster"
Haha😂
"If you keep it up you'll have no companions left, Alexander!"
😂😂😂🤣🙏🙏
But they won in india
Alexander won every battle in the punjab…..
I think Alexander's "to the strongest" Last Will, is the biggest troll move in history.
seems like he didn't care a bit eh
Nah, Alexander knew he was dealing with Greeks. They'dd scheme and fight one another as soon as he died.
And i think i had a stroke
@@MarvinT0606 it's not something only Greeks would do though.
@@nickklavdianos5136 I know, but Greeks *consistently* start infighting earlier than most people
Next: silver shields.
Yes please
Next: Galatian in Egypt
@@DailyDipo you mean Galatian Royal Guards/Galatian Mercenaries?
Yessss pleaseeee
I would love yo see it
Alexander took his companions on a field trip to India...
They were lookin' for hot chicks.
Interestingly, the culinary theory of military conquest applies very much universally. Great Britain, an island as known for its food as Italy is known for its efficiency, or Germans for their gentleness, stopped conquering once they reached India and brought home curry. One must suppose the Macedonian army operated on the same principle.
Many companions rode with Alexander, only Hephaistion rode Alexander.
@@mnk9073 bend over, I'm driving.
@@mik1901 I think I remember a Roxanne. I thought Alexander III married her, maybe it was Attila. When he died, they buried him under a river, I think. Lot of work.
I still remember when this channel was about analysis of multiplayer battles of various total war games(that's how I discovered this channel because I suck lol). It makes me happy how far they've come, releasing these high quality documentaries
Good times
Wait for real? Thats pretty funny that they became a legit documentary channel
@@adamburditt3941 yeah, if you sort his video list to oldest you will se some of those contents. He also taught how to use real life strategies to multiplayer battles (ambushes and stuff)
"to the strongest"
And that, is how you avoid any succession crisis !
More like the opposite
@@skyereave9454 Whoooooosh
Some think he said “Kratisto,” which means “to the strongest” in Greek, but others thought he said “Krater’oi” meaning to Craterus, who was the commander of his army. Craterus, however, was not present at Alexander’s deathbed, and as Alexander’s meaning was unclear, he was not selected as ruler.
lets be real, its not like it changed anything, its just a nice story. there was bound to be a succession crisis anyway, even if he had said "Antipater" for example. A gigantic empire like that can only avoid that with an extremely well established power structure, which definitly wasn´t the case here^^
@@rubiniosity true
Parmenion: what's our plan?
Alexander: you will hold the left while I use the companion to rout their right.
Parmenion: isnt that what we do last battle? And the battle before it .... and before that battle, that's what we've been doing for years!
Alexander: hey hey hey, I mean it works you know.
This was largely because Parmenion was a conservative general who preferred the traditional flank on flank the Greeks were used to. After he was made a governor and left the army, Alexander's left wing tactic chaanged considerably.
The left was also where the foreign Thessalonian cavalry was posted, so despite them proving themselves over and over again Alexander still needed a trustworthy ally to command them.
@@SantomPh Thessalian not Thessalonian
"Hey guys, you'll never guess what I got planned!"
"Hammer and anvil?"
"Yes! Hammer and anvil!"
"The Persians referred to both Greeks and Macedonians as Yauna ("Ionians", their term for "Greeks"), though they distinguished the "Yauna by the sea and across the sea", from the Yaunã Takabara or "Greeks with hats that look like shields", referring to the Macedonian kausia hat."
Engels 2010, p. 87.Engels, Johannes (2010). "Macedonians and Greeks". In Roisman, Joseph; Worthington, Ian (eds.). A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. Oxford, Chichester, & Malden: Wiley-Blackwell
you have too much time on your hands
They should have more time on their hands. And a pile of gold bars.
I love the unity of the macedonian army. The cavalary called the companions and the infantry cald "πεζέταιροι " who means the friend infantry soldier. That's why they where so strong and loyal to their king
I litteraly did a dissertation on the army of Philip of Macedon 2 days ago, and told me that it would be a good topic for one of your videos
We will likely cover that topic in a future episode as its incredible important to the history of the era. We touch on it a bit in this episode.
Who told you?
@Egg T Who dat?
@@billygunn7180 yo momma
@@Anda146 or maybe a student. Thanks
Can you cover Napoleon’s Old Guard? That’d be pretty awesome to learn about their history and equipment!
Just started playing as Macedon in Total war Rome 2..can't wait to unlock this CaLV unit..shock cav💖
...
hopefully this serves as the perfect hype video for your campaign!
@Egg T shield bearers at the flanks, pike on middle, cretan archers and thessalian light horses to distract enemy cavalry
@@drewinsur7321 Laughs in Kartvellian Foot-Guard, Kartvellian Guerilla Warriors, Skythian horse archers, one cataphract, and Armazis Dacva (Kartli, DeI)!
@Rosh Geler What do you mean by sci-fi stories?
@Rosh Geler If it is full of historical mistakes, why don't you name one? A lot of stuff about ancient history is to be taken with a grain of salt. No one would write an academic thesis and cite this video. However, Invicta usually posts sources under their videos. In this video, the research was done by Deuratus, which also cites his sources in the description under his videos. So I think you are just being salty for no reason. Or do you have a Ph.D. in Classical antiquity and you would like to give us a lecture?
Did you ever hear the tragedy of the Evolution of the Roman Legions: Part 1? I thought not. It’s not a story the Invicta would tell you. Evolution of the Roman Legions: Part 1 was the 1st part in a legendary series. He had such a knowledge of the Roman Kingdom that he could even keep part 2 from being uploaded. The legend states that there are some that are still waiting, hoping for part 2.
underrated
@@tasuja1827 I chuckled and clapped
“However, the companions were different. They were shock true shock cavalry who skipped over the over the ranged foreplay and charged straight into combat at full speed. Such an attack would have been extremely dangerous in an era before stirrups and couched lance. Companions would have therefore trained exhaustively to master the maneuver. Unfortunately, their secrets are lost to the ages.” This along with the lack of any clear accounts of Chaeronea is unfortunate. Query why modern scholars would minimize the deployment of the companion cavalry against the sacred band infantry - this seems to fit the outcome of the battle and their apparent annihilation which was unprecedented. It’s strange that by the time of the Battle of Cynoscephalae, the Macedonian phalanx appears to have lost much of the flexibility that had made it so successful at battles such as Gaugamela (most of these seem to have had their genesis in Epaminondas/Pelopidas or possibly the earlier envelopment tactics of Miltiades at Marathon).
How did the Macedonian phalanx demonstrate flexibility at Gaugamela or any other battle during Philip's and Alexander's wars? Its battalions only ever charge forward and are never withdrawn or redeployed after having engaged the enemy. The only thing they ever do is try to push the enemy back and grind them down. We never hear of some smaller unit being peeled off to face a threat from the flanks or the rear or to reinforce a weak spot elsewhere in the line, like Roman maniples and centuries were able to do. But the Roman command structure and fighting style were different: 120 Roman swordsmen in loose formation would have still been effective as a group in isolation, which afforded their centurion the opportunity to take initiatives and respond to developments during battle, whereas 256 Macedonian pikemen in a tightly-knit square or rectangle were next to worthless unless part of a line.
I should have been more clear in that I was referring to the totality of the Macedonian system which included the phalanx as a primary component. The original Macedonian phalanx was designed by Phillip/Alexander as part of a combined arms doctrine and must be interpreted as such. In the post-Alexandrian Diadochi/Antigonid period this system was abandoned due to its costs and complexity and gradually replaced by simpler frontal attack/charge tactics wherein the phalanx was the primary arm of decision.The later Roman system was unquestionably more flexible (and they also seemed to have obtained a complete mastery of trench and siege warfare by the time of Sulla).
@@brendanobrien6943 I also get the impression that the cavalry arm seems to have lapsed into a secondary role under the Antigonids, but I think what tends to be underestimated is the quality of Italian cavalry. They are automatically assumed to have been inferior, because they were repeatedly beaten by the Numidians in the Punic Wars, but in these battles they were always faced with severe numerical disadvantage. However, when they fought against Pyrrhus, they were perfectly capable of holding their own against his Macedonian and Thessalian (and Epirotan and Tarentine) cavalry, it was the elephant charges that broke them. So it's hard to see how Philip V or Perseus could have beaten the legions, when the tables had turned and it was the Romans who fielded elephants in their armies and the Greeks did not. I think the Seleucid cataphracts appearing around 200BC were the only unit of the era demonstrably superior to Italian cavalry (which the Parthians reaffirmed again later).
@@sakdavid Good points but we're talking about different periods after the Romans had the benefits of the evolution of all levels of echelon warfare arguably beginning with the reforms of Scipio in response to Hannibal's tactics (which some believe were introduced to Carthage by a Spartan mercenary) - as discussed it seems that Greek warfare devolved during this time. It does appear that the Romans were behind the curve initially in terms of cavalry but like everything else they adapted brilliantly from failure (similar to the naval turnaround in the first Punic War). Scipio had a massive cavalry advantage at Zama because of his Numidian allies rather native Roman cavalry - had Hannibal been able to rendezvous with Syphax the battle likely would have been different. In Gaul Caesar had to rely on the cavalrymen (to the extent that he made his own soldiers give up their horses to them) from the allied German tribes and arguably would not have been successful without them (they were crucial in forcing Vercingetorix into Alesia and the reserve German cavalry arguably tipped the balance at the end of the battle; over course Caesar's circumvallation was an incredible feat).
@@brendanobrien6943 But this is what I am saying: I don't believe the Romans/Italians were initially (if by initially one means a date around 300BC) behind the Greek world in terms of cavalry, they were just as good. Yes, the cavalry seems to have declined in quality or maybe the tactical understanding of the commanders changed in Macedon itself over the course of the 3rd century, but in other places (Aetolia, Pergamon, Seleucid kingdom) it did not lapse and certainly in 280BC the cavalry fielded by Pyrrhus was as good as any Successor's cavalry from the previous 40 years, yet the Italians seem to have been its equals.
I think what was holding Italian cavalry back from the spotlight is that Roman commanders of the era did not use cavalry to maximum effect in their battles because they did not understand combined arms tactics or were not interested because their military ideas were informed by cultural/ideological preferences or simply did not care, since they were confident that their legions were a battle-winning arm on their own anyway. Only Scipio ever did break the mould, because he was forced to deal with Hannibalic tactics.
Friend of the Greeks wasnt a title to a foreigner, but a title that Greeks gave to a Greek that made something to the interest of all Greeks and not just his city state/kingdom. neither access to Olympic game was granted because of that. Alexander the first participated in the olympic games because he proved his Greek discent to the ellanodikes.
The first macedon who proved his greek descent and allowed to participate in the Olympic games was the grandfather of Alexander the great .
@@imperialstormtrooper1054 Athenians deemed Spartans as barbarians too . There is no doubt that macedonians are greek .
@@Mpoumpoukos that's what he said. Alexander I, who participated in the Olympics, ruled the obviously Greek Kingdom of Macedon about a century before Alexander the Great.
@@Mpoumpoukos they arent
Holy mental gymnastics batman no they where not greek
Invicta when are you going to release the Zack Snyder Cut of What if Caesar Lived Part 3 goddamnit?????
🤣
@Great White me too, it always wondered if he finished conquering the east where would he go.
To Italy and Spain/Egypt or Up into Sythia and Russia/ Scandinavia.
@Velstadt Hekkleson then why are you hear
@Velstadt Hekkleson yes l know how Κλείτος was but to say that Alexander was a trash is historical wrong and Futhermore anyone can understand that you hate Alexander
@Velstadt Hekkleson that's is your personal opinion with no historical facts so there's no point to have to conversation with you
This group reminds me of how important Napoleons Marshall’s were. Great lives to read up on.
Exactly, I believe Napoleon and Alexander had the best generals in history under them that could easily make decisions and strategies that could change a battle.
@@zeus0710 Promotions based on merit really pay off. :D
I really hope that Invicta does a video on Napoleon's Old Guard. More recent than most units he covers, but still an interesting topic
And both were having some kind of peculiar same personality. Napoleon's gender identity is still not clear to this day, same as that of Alexander.
During the invasion of Egypt, Napoleon's role model for his cause was Alexander, who inspite of being a European, went on to the invasion of Egypt, Middle East and the known world.
Erm. Weren't almost all of Napoleon's Marshals absolutely dreadful in any independent capacity? (There were a few exceptiona, I think Davout, Oudinot?, Massena, maybe Lannes,...)
Upon the whole, though, they got badly beaten any time he wasn't there to oversee them, by Allied generals.
The Hetaroi, my most favourite calvary unit. Guagamela was their finest moment, perhaps followed closely by the battle of Hydaspes
Are ace in Europa Barbarorum.
The most important cavalry unit of the antiquity. I glad that you upload this video, because the history of the army of Alexander the great, are much interesting for me and the Hetairoi were heroic in all battles taken place on Persia empire. Probably your best video for me. =D
Man I was just thinking about this channel used to be called THFE Productions and it was about Prince of Macedon style Total War content with these documentary things as an every so often sort of side show thing. It’s kind of crazy how much everything has changed and I love it
"The latest archaeological findings HAVE CONFIRMED that Macedonia took its name from a tribe of tall, GREEK-speaking people, the MAKEDNOI".
Nigel Guy Wilson, Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece, Routledge, 2009, p.439
French people speak very broken latin, but they are a Germanic tribe that live on lands of Gaul.
British speak very broken French, while they are Anglo'Saxon Germanics that migrate on Romano-British lands.
Manchurians and Mongols, spoke chinese when they conquered China and adapted their culture.
Venedi Tribe was a mixture of Iberian and Gaelic sea-men, that migrated to modern day Venice and speak Italian.
ROMANS were migrated Italian peninsula fron western anatolia and adapted culture and language of their Latin Socii.
Medians were a different indo europian culture that conquered Persia, and adapted persian culture and language.
Even greeks migrated to Balkan peninsula post-Bronze Age Collapse, adapted most of it's culture.
They could be one of those Greek migrants, or natives of the land assimilated by Greek culture, or Bronze age colonists of Cretan empires. They even could be cousins of Dacians or Hittites.
What I mean is the Makednoi era is surprising closer to our time, and much later than the their first apoearance. People used to believe Etruskians were greek or latin, before they found out about disappeared research of emperor Claudius.
I almost forgot about Spartans. Spoke Greek, dressed greek. Was not Greek. Both mentally and physically resisted to Greek culture, even being unnecessary cruel to Greek settlers. Failed, failed very hard. But they were either Peloponnesian natives or what's left of Balkan empires.
Nobody should ever forget about Bronze age collapse.
@@hannibalburgers477 I stopped reading where you wrote that "the Spartans were not Greek". 😂 The Spartans were Dorian Greeks according to all ancient and modern sources. The Macedonians were Dorians as well. From your comments it is clear to me that you are very confused about this historical subject. You should read some books by proper historians cause i guess this is what happens when you 'learn" history from UA-cam videos..
@@vangelisskia214 As you say this on a YT video t hat is very reputable. I hate when people pretend you cant learn proper history (or anything) on youtube.
I've always thought that famous painting from Pompeii that is supposedly of the battle of Issus makes more sense that it's of the battle of Gaugamela
Yup over said that also. Since Alexander came so close to Darius
@War Lord well nobody knows how many yards it was and you know that if you're a military history buff but Darius III still had his Golden Apples between himself and Alexander so one hundred yards is plausible.
That was actually a mosaic :)
@@jackie1825 yes it was
Last time i was this early, Thebes defeated Sparta
Last time I was this late the Roman's conquered Sparta
@Egg T that’s what happens when you rely on slave labor too much and train people to die in battle
Incredible. Always a great video on this channel. Never disappoints and this is no exception
"Herodotus made a special point of emphasizing that the royal house of Macedonia was Greek by descent, and THUCYDIDES, who questioned much of what Herodotus said CONCURRED WITH HIM in calling the Macedonian kings “Temenidae from Argos’. Almost a century later Isocrates wrote to Philip II, saying “Argos is your fatherland’, and asked Philip to emulate his father (Amyntas) the founder of the monarchy (Perdiccas), and the originator of the family (Heracles).”
[For further references consult Hdt.5.22;Thuc.2.99.3;Thuc.5.80.2; Isoc.5.32 and 105-12]
N.G.L Hammond “A History of Greece to 322 B.C.”, pg. 18
Love all the info leading up to Alexander the greats reign, I never hear much about it except the mention of his father Phillip's reforms. Amazing work, amazing art, great job!
Every time I hear Alexander's last words, I become more and more convinced he was poisoned. Or at least that he died thinking he had been poisoned.
I’ve been excited for this video for a while and it did not disappoint. This was an awesome and fascinating video!
"Not much need to be said about the Greekness of ancient Macedonia: it is undeniable."
Ian Worthington, "Philip II of Macedon", Yale University, 2008
Yessss it’s here! It’s finally here! Thank you Invicta 🙏🏻
@Egg T i’m already too old for that for Alexander’s standards!
I’ve been looking for a companion doc. For some time now, thank you for putting this together it was informative as well as entertaining. Good job!
One of the finest videos around. Congrats people, unbelievable work!
Only through civil war Greeks could unite. That was the great flaw of them. And even then, the Spartans did not join the Hellenic League.
Spartans weren't anything to talk about by that time. Epaminondas straight up neutered them. They weren't a threat to anyone after he came along. Look it up, they revolted when Alexander was in Persia and got fu**ed up by a regional governor...
That can be said about china and india
We all need companions, preferably they are elite cavalry men
I think Daniel sickles could use some companion body guards as well
@@coreystockdale6287 He could have
The best video yet in my mind, well done guys and thank you.
Your videos are really well made and very informative. Love it!!
The Companion cavalry became the undisputed best unit at the time when they incorporated Iranian cavalrymen who were revered to be invincible by even Herodotus.
Found this channel researching the Romans for school but stayed for the great content!
Really like your content. Your structure, delivery and subject matter is always top keep it up.
Thank you.
A good idea for this series:
The Gallowglass (gallóglaigh): elite Scottish infantry originally rooted from the Norse Gaels.
The galloglass were Irish of Scottish Norse Gael origin the Scots never used galloglass
The Byzantines indeed had an "Hetarairea" that just like Alexander their duty was to be the Royal guard of the Byzantine "Basileus"
Yes, it was in a way homage to their ancestors.
@@Armorius2199 Yes, they knew they were Hellens and try to emulate them in many ways.
@@imperialstormtrooper1054 Since I've seen comments of Pablo Mena before, I have to say that what you wrote about him isn't true. I think you misunderstood him. Even though I'm Greek I'm calling them regularly byzantines as well in order to avoid confusion. That's because most people don't know that during the byzantine period the name "Roman" had a different meaning and was used to describe the Roman citizen/someone that had Roman citizenship no matter their ethnicity. As a result each time they hear someone talking about Romans during the byzantine period they don't realize that by "Romans" we mean Greeks that were Roman citizens and they wrongly believe that we're referring to the old Romans.
@@imperialstormtrooper1054 By calling them Romans without defining what
"Roman" meant during that period could be harmful as well because people are getting confused. That's probably why Pablo called them byzantines, so I don't think that there is any reason to attack him.
@@imperialstormtrooper1054 Woah what happen here? I'm pretty shure you were the rigth heirs of the Roman Empire but you were not Romans, not in the propper way, you were Romioi that's different now, you were far more Greeks than Romans in almost everything yet the Byzantine period wasn't just the Eastern Roman continuation but it was the Hellenistic period continuation, dont get me wrong guys i'm in my second year of Hellenic studies becouse i admire Greek's and i'm pretty shure that the Byzantine Empire was indeed a Greek/Hellenistic empire but you must aknowledge that the Byzantine Greeks didin't studie Cicero nor Virgil, they studied Plato, Homer ect, you should be proud of being a Greek rather than a Latin Roman. Byzantines studied Greek history becouse it was their history, they didin't study Cato the elder texts, they called the Latin language "Barbarian" and "Scythian", when the Byzantines arrived at Italy the enslaved the local Roman-Latin population of Taranto and they repopulate the city with Greek colonist.
They used to practice the ancient Hellenic warfare tactis of Aelianus or Onosander but they didin't figth like the Legions or something like that, Heraclius himself during the Persian-Byzantine wars tried to emulate Alexander the great and thier troops used to be equiped with Hellenic-Eastern armor the David plates are a great example of this, the helmets of the Byzantine soldiers are the same as those of the Hellenistic/Attic type and examples like this are huge but if it make's you happy i hate the Latins as much as you.
I love the narration in this video it's so deep and great for storytelling
This might be your best video yet. Well done!
i am fan of this channel but i'm sceptical about some inaccuracies that are mentioned in this video. And i quote " in response(to what?to alexander's transformative reign? ) , the southern city states granted him the title of FRIEND OF THE GREEKS and allowed the monarch to actually participate in the exclusive olympic games. "
1. Well, actually they granted him the forementioned title because even without having the means(organised army and southern support)to stand against persian empire, and having Xerxes as overlord,he risked everything to help his fellow greeks .
2. As for the title itself it doesn't mean he was not considered to be greek himself( Alexander the 1st) as a Macedonian. And i quote from wikipedia and lsj "In antiquity, the term philhellene (Greek: φιλέλλην, from φίλος - philos, "dear one, friend" + Έλλην - Hellen, "Greek"[1]) was used to describe both non-Greeks who were fond of ancient Greek culture and Greeks who patriotically upheld their culture. The Liddell-Scott Greek-English Lexicon defines 'philhellene' as "fond of the Hellenes, mostly of foreign princes, as Amasis; of Parthian kings[...]; also of Hellenic tyrants, as Jason of Pherae and generally of Hellenic (Greek) patriots.[2]
Some examples:
Evagoras of Cyprus[3] and Philip II were both called "philhellenes" by Isocrates[4]
The early rulers of the Parthian Empire, starting with Mithridates I (r. 171 - 132 BC), used the title of philhellenes on their coins, which was a political act done in order to establish friendly relations with their Greek subjects.[5] ".
3. about the participation in the exclusive olympic games. City states DID NOT allow or deny anyone's right to participate in the olympic games. As there wasn't one distinct greek state, every candidate had to prove himself of greek descend before the HELLANODIKAI ,the judges of the games.
p.s. i understand how visualization works but honestly invicta? talking about alexander the 1st and pin an image of alexander the 3rd on the map?
my man !! you should make some historical videos !! Keep up the good work.
this was damn great!
Amazing episode! Best content thus far!
Great video as always Invicta !!!!!
Not "friend of the Greeks" but "friend of all the Greeks"... As the first would appear to say that he was not Greek (while he was ofcourse). The second means there are no political benefits you are friend of all Greek parties and alliances...
Same frase with deferment word was feasted later for Alexander the great...
"hegemony of all Greeks" (and not "hegemon of the Greeks)...
Funny how with all detailed explanations throughout history, you still refuse to acknowledge the facts. Philip was a MAKEDON (Macedon was the name given by Romans) King that terrified your people, and his son Alexander didn't fall far behind. Stop claiming the kingdom of Macedon as your own after all the terror your ancestors had to go through. It's shameful and a huge disrespect towards your own!
@@tinas.77 Some chickens in here can't handle truth and facts so they reporting the comments for delete in order to feel they win their clown arguments...
I am not apenting more time with clowns and history thieves....
@@champosvezast.v.4355 yeah, at least we African Americans know we're from Africa. This Slavs really has a serious *"Identify CRISIS!"*
@@deepdungeon8465 the thing is (at least according to my logic) that there is no shame in what you are and where you come from...
But those people instead of bear it with honor and pride they want to steal other identities and names and history...
It really is pathetic...
@@champosvezast.v.4355 ya right nigga, but I think they want to be of Alexander's Legacy even if they haven't had any connection with Hellenic Civilization. Kinda sad, but people wants something to be proud about and not giving a fuck even if they have to still other's glory and achievements.
I would like to suggest the Varangian Guard for a future video!
Was waiting for this!!
wow! thank you so much! really loved it!!! 🙏🏼
Nothing beats preparation. All of the best generals ever were the best prepared: from Alexander, to Hannibal, to Caesar and Octavian/Augustus, to Napoleon and Frederick the Great.
They all did everything they could to win the battle before it even began.
They also understood, that to win, one must circumvent the rules of war. If you fight as expected, your enemy will anticipate your every move and beat you. They came up with new strategies and were bold enough to execute them.
and despite that, they all lost. All of them.
@@saeedvazirian wtf is in your head? That everyone except the Persians lost?
@@froggymusicman absolutely.
Greek guy here. I love your videos and enjoy them very much. Just the pronunciation of the greek words is somewhat offsetting. If you need help with authentic Greek pronunciation I would love to help. Keep up the good work malakes!
If Invicta isn't going to accept it, I would use some help with the Greek pronunciation. You can add me on discord: Alcetas#6256 if you are willing to help me.
@@deuratusanimatedhistory10 Okay I added you. Profile name is Theo#4265
Very informative, very well done :) Thank you!
This was really well done I knew most of information I'm a huge history nut but there were a few things I hadn't heard before Kings and Generals and Invicta are two of the best history channels on UA-cam great video
ahh the Companion Cavalry one of my most favorite military units in History
"To the strongest" goosebumps.!
"Eis ton kratiston" Is the exact quote just so you know 😁
@@queldronthat's p cool, Greek sounds really awesome
@@deuxpomme9777 Indeed they do :D
Amazing video!!! So detailed it’s incredible.
Another excellent and interesting video, thanks!
Spends months gathering historical information
Hours verifying accuracy
Hours writing
Hours recording
Hours editing
Opens with an image that's a homage to a historically inaccurate battle scene from a movie.
Not gonna lie, I chuckled a little.
Alexander, the greatest Greek who has ever lived.
He was the gresatest but he wasnt greek. He is Ancient Macedonian, the nation that died with Cleopatra, Who is the last Descendant of Alexander the great. So Greece has no right to claim him.
No one can claim him.
@@filipb2376 Alexander the Great SELF-IDENTIFYING AS GREEK:
"Your ancestors came to Macedonia and THE REST OF HELLAS (Greece) and did us great harm, though we had done them no prior injury. I have been appointed LEADER OF THE GREEKS, and wanting to punish the Persians I have come to Asia, which I took from you..."
Alexander the Great
Alexander's letter to Persian king Darius in response to a truce plea, as quoted in Anabasis Alexandri by Arrian; translated as Anabasis of Alexander by P. A. Brunt, for the "Loeb Edition" Book II 14, 4
“Now you fear punishment and beg for your lives, so I will let you free, if not for any other reason so that you can see the difference between a GREEK KING and a barbarian tyrant, so do not expect to suffer any harm from me. A king does not kill messengers.”
Alexander the Great
Historia Alexandri Magni of Pseudo-Kallisthenes, 1.37.9-13
"He set the Persian palace on fire, even though Parmenion urged him to save it, arguing that it was not right to destroy his own property, and that the Asians would not thus devote themselves to him, if he seemed determined not to rule Asia, but only to pass through as a conqueror. But Alexander replied that he intended to PUNISH THE PERSIANS FOR THEIR INVASION OF GREECE, the destruction of Athens, the burning of the temples, and all manner of terrible things done TO THE GREEKS: because of these things, HE was exacting REVENGE".
[Arrian Anab. 3. 18. 11-12].
He was macedonian no greeks .. macedonians and greeks in that time diffrent only gods the same
@@jamesstole9007 💊🤡💊🤡💊🤡💊🤡💊🤡💊🤡💊🤡
@@jamesstole9007 "Not much need to be said about the Greekness of ancient Macedonia: it is undeniable."
Ian Worthington, "Philip II of Macedon", Yale University, 2008
"The latest archaeological findings HAVE CONFIRMED that Macedonia took its name from a tribe of tall, GREEK-speaking people, the MAKEDNOI".
Nigel Guy Wilson, Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece, Routledge, 2009, p.439:
"The ANCIENT MACEDONIANS WERE GREEKS.THEIR LANGUAGE WAS GREEK to judge by their personal names, and by the names of the months of their calendar."
George Cawkwell, Emeritus Fellow,University College Oxford
Wow man..what an informative video..thanks again invicta..never a let down yet.. great breakdown..and decent sized video..love the 15-20min snippets but these are great occasionally..one of the greatest conquests ever known..could have been a great dynasty if he had at least one son!!!
Love this channel 10/10
Ngl, i misread the title as "Macadamian Cavalry" and was confused for a moment.
They have a reputation for being a little nuts.
Theyre a tough nut to crack
I know this is out of your wheel house, but I would still love to see you do a video on the 1683 siege of Vienna.
This is amazing!
Awesome as always
next video - the silver shields ?
Nice channel on Greek history, unfortunately its been hijacked by Bulgarians and Albanians on the comment sections..
First video I've seen from this channel. Fantastic. Subscribed.
Amazing video once again!
Wow what a great in-depth video! Nice research! A common mistake though... why did you exclude Alexander the 1st from the other 'Greeks'? I mean the part ''he imported the greek practices'', it is more likely ''the Athenian practices''. Greece was not only Athens. The idea of a country is same people, same language, same religion, the feeling of being alike. So, like Attica (Athenians) , like Lakedemonia (Spartans), like Thessaly (Larissans), like Boeotia (Thebians), like Crete (Cretans, former Minoans) and many more city-states-kingdoms , Macedon(ia) had the Macedonians. Yes, every city had its own policy and many times fought with one another, but they were all Hellines (Greeks as for today). Sokrates once said ''A conflict between Hellines will not be described as a war, but as a stasis. We only declair war on the barbarians -the non greek tribes- ''. (book~Republic of Plato)
Didn't expect such a big missconcept from a channel like this, please study harder.
Macedonia is Greek so it don't really matter (if I'm not a wrong athens was the biggest power)
Yep, and he even explicitly says that he is Greek and that as such, he wants to help the southern city-states, as we know from Herodotus.
Macedonia and Alexander of Macedon were no greks, not in the past, not even today! Long live Macedonia and macedonians! 🇲🇰☀️
@@puppetmasterk2 long live Macedonia, long live Hellas, yes, and may long live yourself too friend. Opinions are like ass' holes today: everyone has one. You can keep yours, but facts and history are undisputable.
greek cavalry at its best,shame the legacy didnt go on
Great video as always, I'd love to see one taking a look at the Polish Winged Hussars and their impressive record
Sweet maps as always Invicta!
If they’re descendent from the Argive/Argead Dynasty, then they’re ethnically Doric Hellenes.
I know it is popular on channels like this to try and be neutral or even try to legitimize the claims of FYROM/North Macedonians (ethnic & linguistic Bulgarians); but the facts are as follows. First, they spoke a dialect of Hellenic. They could have spoken multiple dialects in multiple localities in the Archaic period, but the assertion that they had a completely different language is conjecture without evidence! They also wrote solely in a Hellenic script.
Secondly, they worshipped the Hellenic pantheon of Gods.
Third, they did have a Hellenic/Greek/Doric culture, because why adopt and subjugate a population and force a different culture on them which would be unpopular and very hard considering the feudal nature and tenuous power of the Macedonian government. Other cultures around them like the Illyrians and Thracians adopted many aspects of Hellenism but never identified as culturally or ethnically Hellenic like the Makedonians!
So please don’t brush aside all the evidence showing they were Hellenic. Because trying to dichotomize the words Greek and Macedonian, as though they’re mutually exclusive is intellectually dishonest and propagandistic.
I can post up a plethora of quotes that affirm Macedonian ‘Hellenicness’, if you would all like.
And PS... don’t quote me the at war with (Macedonia), very biased Demosthenes.
true, greek/macedonian are hellenes
pretty sure the video said that at least the Macedonian core land on the plain area is Hellenic and at least the Royalty identified themselves as coming from Argus
Culture is always a geographical spectrum and the way ancient writers described macedon, it was probably a borderstate to "pure" hellenic culture being similar but also having distinct and unique differences, while even the word "hellenic" itself poses difficulties since the varying polis could also be quite different.It's not unlike modern european states, having a shared cultural european background (in contrast to east asia, africa etc.), but are still different while border regions like elsass, luxemburg are distinct in sharing cultural aspects of french and german background or tirol is an amalgamation of austrian and italian influence.
Exactly they're Hellenes
@@mastortechnon4157
@Blibla Blubb
I completely agree with the assessment of the antagonism between the Hellenic city states and their peoples. The Makedonians were considered ‘Barbaric’ to the Athenians, as they associated the polis and ‘Hellenicness’ as intertwined. It was the contemporaneous perspective of a haughty and chauvinistic Athenian upper class against the enemy Makedonians.
The Athenians believed that the polis was the most civilized form of state, and also quintessentially Hellenic. To them, only barbarians had a hereditary monarchy. The Makedonians were on the periphery of the Hellenic world, and didn’t adapt to the new age of the Polis system. They also had some differing customs and practices, like drinking wine undiluted.
But as you beat me to mentioning the Mycenaeans... they too had a Monarchial feudal system, with a titular ’Wanax’. They ‘most likely’ drank wine undiluted too.
Most pertinent to this discussion, is that today archeologists, linguistics professors and geneticists all consider the Mycenaeans to be the ‘early Greeks’, the ancestors of the classical Hellenes.
My contention is that many people are analyzing ancient ethnicity based on inconsistent and incongruent methodologies. We either accept that genetics and linguistics define ethnicity, like most archeologists, linguistics professors and geneticists do (when classifying the Mycenaeans as the early Greeks, based on genetics and linguistics); or we define ethnicity based on how the ancient Athenians did...
Which would mean that we today would have to reassess and say that the Mycenaeans speaking Hellenic and being Genetically Hellenic is not enough to consider them the early Hellenes (and worshipping Hellenic Gods, etc)... just like the Makedonians (who descended from the Argead Dorians, and oh... were able to affirm their Hellenicness by competing in the strictly restricted ethnically Hellenic only Olympics, etc).
Anyways, taking this logic to its most absurd extreme... modern day Hellenes/Greeks I guess can’t be considered Hellenes, as they don’t live in a polis state, and drink undiluted wine, etc?
i never thought about how the wedge formation would help the horses naturally follow the other horses
Beautiful, well done!
i love you videos thanks for making them
Amazing video and I can't get enough of this time period. However, I don't understand why Carmania is located on the map in Epirus instead of where it actually was in Southeastern Iran.
I find it interesting how similar the Kopis, Falcata, and Kukri are. Did the Iberian tribes make the Falcata first, or did the Greeks make the Kopis first?
the people that make these swords are all indo-european, so maybe it was an old sword from the Yamnaya culture and they ended up putting their own spins on it
@@raloniusmaximus yamnaya?
@@genie727Proto-Indo-European culture
@@raloniusmaximus thanks
@@genie727 no problem!
You struck gold with this narrator.
I have waited so long for this
The visuals of the battle of Gaugamela don't show the ludicrous display of how many soldiers were present on the day, and how outnumbered Alexander's army was
I alwais wonder how Manu enemie faced Alexander ar gaugamela any sugestion for a good books
@@emiliangoia8618 I can't reccomend books, I just watched lectured on it and studied the sources. Keep in mind that the ancient sources seem very biased and exaggerated the numbers quite significantly.
@@Tectonix26 i know that ancient sources give ridicously high noumbers like Arian s 1000 000 vs 47 000 but think his source is more reasticly presented and less biased that of Diodorus who for exemple said that ar battle of Issus Alexander s army fought using sword without spears ( i think he tried to make them look like romans )anyway i would appreciate If You can give your opin and your vesion of the numbers of people who parcicipated at the battle agains alexander
@@froggymusicman thank for the answer i have done my own research on the subject and i just wanted other opinion i am more inclined to belive your statement with the higher numbers the one with " more or less of 120 000 " that because in the babylionean astrological calendar stated that " heavy defeats on the troops of the king ... His troops deseted him and went to their cities" șo my interpretation is that Darius s army had a high level of levies from the cities of Mesopotamia but thei were mostly for show off or If is needed extra inetervation to defeat Alexander s army and they didn t really participated at the battle they just standing behinde Darius professional troops from the center ,the ones who stood agains the foot companions and surffered " heavy defeat " șo the levies abandoned Darius because he lost his most effetive troops and that corelate with Wikipedia statement that persians lost 40 000 men they being the Apple barel ( immortals), kingsmen , peltas , cardases ,some 500 greeks and cavalery men who died fighting on the Wings
Every ancient source except Curtius gives us a number of about one million for the Persian army at Gaugamela. So, I'm inclined to believe it. Curtius doesn't cite a source for his claim, though. The numbers vary for the other battles, but this is one battle all the sources seem to agree on. I generally go with Diodorus' numbers for all the major battles and Arrian for the rest, like strategy, minor military engagements and the rest of the events. Even the usually very dry Babylonian astronomical tablets say 'a large army was defeated' and that 'heavy losses were inflicted'. So, I'd go with one million for Gaugamela. The argument that no logistical system at the time could support that number is flawed. This was homeground for the Persians, and a majority of their soldiers were from Mesopotamia, Media, Bactria and Sogdia. They didn’t need to worry much about logistics, since they were fighting at home, and their route was via their territory.
"HELLENISTIC PERIOD OF GREAT ALEXANDER" 🇬🇷
Amazing work
Yet another amazing video
Thanks from Macedonia region, Greece 🇬🇷🔆
Greece is Macedonia 🇲🇰
@@181ld7 🤣🤣🤣
@@181ld7 Macedonia is in Greece 🇬🇷
@@181ld7 FYRO Vardarska bananovina is inhabited by albanians and bulgarians
*MACEDONIA® IS GREECE*
@@wewuzirlyriliansandshiiit6123
Macedonians are the real Ancient Greeks
"Greece as one includes Macedonia" «΄Εστιν ουν Ελλάς και η Μακεδονία»
Strabo GEOGRAPHY 10.2.23
Thank you sir, just thank you. Amazing. Another unit of antiquity.
Awesome job!
Do one on the Comanche. They were arguably the most skilled light cavalry of their time.
"Alexander called a meeting of his generals the next day. He told them that no city was more hateful TO THE GREEKS than Persepolis, the capital of the old kings of Persia, the city from which troops without number had poured forth, from which first Darius and then Xerxes had waged an unholy war on Europe. To appease the spirits OF THEIR FOREFATHERS they should wipe it out, he said".
(Quintus Curtius Rufus 5.6.1)
Wonderful video! Thank you!
great video! thanks!
Alexander the greatest greek to ever exist 🇬🇷
Me beeing Greek this makes me really proud for my ancestors
As an American, I'm in awe of the Greeks. You can be proud.
Greek or Macedonian? They are 2 different things.
@@181ld7 No they are not.
You may live in the region they lived but I am pretty sure that todays greeks are nothing like the ones before
@@aleksaninkovic6116 Doesn't matter. Greek has been a culture adopted by many different civilizations since Alexander's expansions.What matters is that the language has evolved and it still exists.
great video, thanks
Great content