That sounds like a death I could be proud of tbh, hit by some half assedly shot piece of wood by some dude who didnt even see me or trampled in battle by some mighty, wild beast of the jungle, plated in metal. I know what Id want on my tombstone.
Haha I read this comment before watching the video and all I could hear was elephant noises when I was trying to listen to the actual spoken information...
Oddly true; it's because of the camels and their ability to carry provisions over huge areas (mainly the otherwise inhospitable deserts of Africa and the Middle East) that allowed the horse-mounted Parthian army to completely decimate an invading Roman army of seven legions led by Marcus Crassus, one of the worst defeats the Roman army ever suffered next to Teutoburg and Cannae.
The first time elephants fought in gladiatorial match was by Pompey's arrangement. They charged at the crowd and spread terror, but then they refused to fight, trying desperately to escape through the gates. The Roman spectators actually booed Pompey, telling him to let the elephants go, since the Romans didn't want to see such unwilling animals die.
Yeah. Elephants are pretty darn smart. If they see no need to fight, they won't & you can't make them. Especially against their own kind. Against other animals or humans, perhaps. But even then if the elephant gets scared or thinks it's got an opening to get away, it will. Ironically one of the few animals they'd be willing to fight are tigers & lions since they have a tendency to attack their calves in the wild.
I rode one IRL. Mate they are like a Railway locomotive in mass, their skin is like sandpaper and inches thick, and they do not mind bullying any one who get sin their way. Like a 2 foot diameter tree. Yet when passive they are gentle herbivores who form long lasting bonds with their own as well as humans. Their handler say they even grieve and refuse food when a member of the herd passes away, but thats in captivity. Majestic yet simple and humble. Until you provoke them or their herd, or Handlers. p.s. i am talking about the Indian Elephant species.
Even though I live in southeast asia i personally would be very hesitant to ride one if i did i would avoid the bull as i heard a lot of story where it just goes on a rampage with you on top of it.
@@InvictaHistory here a unit though it's an army not beasts *army of the slaves of bukhary* people tend to overlook north Africa history it should be covered entirely and with more precision & not just Carthage
elephants are absolutely amazing. i grew up in South Africa, and have tremendous respect for them. it's so sad that they were used so barbarically in squabbles between humans. i wonder when humans will stop fighting each other, and destroying everything in their path in the process. it's such a shame that we are such a violent species of mammal.
Can we imagine what a random Roman legionary (and these were simple levies, not the professional soldiers after the Marian reform) would have felt when he first saw war elephants in the battle of Heracleia? Imagine you are a farmer boy from somewhere in Italy called up to defeat Pyrrhos and after desperately fighting all day to a stalemate, while your mates die on your left and right, suddenly you see a great dust and scary, unearthly bellowing, and then you see contours of huge beasts with massive spears coming out of their mouths and a huge muscular tentacle hanging on the place of their noses. And these monsters gallop against your lines in full speed and trample and impale your buddies wherever they go while seemingly taking no heed of the arrows and javelins you shoot at them. I would say it's no shame that they shat their pants and run, they were fighting literal fucking monsters from hell, at least I'm pretty sure that's whatmost of them were thinking. (However, to the credit of the ever resolute, dogged and resourceful Romans, by the very next battle they were able to come up with some countermeasures and deployed them effectively.)
Roman soldiers in Hollywood: "We're too pompous and white and British/American for your heroic rebellion. We'll just hide behind our shields and blow you up with catapults. Hmph! War is soo easy." Roman soldiers in reality: *Sighs* I know their barbarians and all but.... Jupiter this is gonna be hard. Oh s*** they brought elephants!
To quote Overly Sarcastic Productions: “This thing is a four-legged giant with two spears AND A SNAKE COMING OUT OF ITS FACE!!!” Also from OSP: “It doesn’t take a lot of elephants to have a scary amount of elephant on the battlefield!”
Sure, the new guy is good. But I didn't think there was anything wrong with Invicta himself, who was less generic and had a unique voice, though still very good. I wish they had kept him doing the voice.
Really? This guy mispronounced a bunch of words... Phoenician, Mahout and even smells (when speaking about horses' reactions to elephants). It was kinda weird. He's got a good voice, but needs to work on doing second takes or ensuring pronunciation is correct
Or had the numbers like in India when Alexander the great was in india, one king was reported to have 9,000 war elephants, and the other 5,000 they were apparently going to join force's had Alexander continued his campaign but his army wasn't having it.
@@konradvonschnitzeldorf6506 Lol yeah there were more I believe there was a saying in India that an "Indian army without elephants was an army of grass." Something like that don't quote me hahah!
@@brianlong2334 That's an Ancient Chinese General's quote. "Tianzhu is a pitiful nation. They have no culture and lack the discipline of civility. Their warriors are no better than the other barbarians beyond our great nation's borders. Their so-called mighty beasts of war are called as such, for their army is nothing more than a field grass without them. Cut the head of the chicken and watch it run headless, they are no different". I think that's the correct one, though I can't be completely confident. If there's someone who can verify or correct it, please do.
Can only imagine how much it would have horrified somebody who had never seen an Elephant before to rock up to the battlefield to see these huge things thundering towards you. Would have been a game changer that's for sure!
The intimidation factor was the biggest impact from the war elephants. Unfortunately, since elephants are peaceful beings by nature, they don't really want to attack anyone. They move compulsevely out of fear, and since they are so big they cause big damage, but they can be easily scared away by projectiles, shining lights and big noises.
To be fair, that's exactly how the Mongols reacted when they invaded India for the first time. Their horses were steppe horses & got scared by the size & smell of elephants & camels used by the Indian armies.
Yes, they kinda look and sound a little like an ass, or a donkey, depending on where you are from. Color, sound, temperament, looks like an ass, but bigger than a horse, so a giant ass-horse, you are correct. So maybe a mule then?
Pyrrhus already previously introduced the Romans to elephants. Pyrrhus tried to tried frighten/impress a consul with an elephant who was sent by Rome to negotiate an exchange of prisoners. The elephant was revealed with a curtain as it trumpeted with it's trunk above the head of the consul. The consul, who had never seen an elephant before, was unimpressed and calmly turned and spoke to Pyrrhus about not being impressed😅 But Pyrrhus was more in awe by the Romans than the Romans were of the elephants. The Tarentines asked Pyrrhus to defend them against barbarians (aka The Romans) Before the first battle, Pyrrhus snuck up to the Roman camp to scout it. While witnessing how organized the camp was, how orderly the tents were arranged, the guards on watch, etc, he commented: "The discipline of these Barbarians is not barbarous."
I've always thought a documentary about how different forms of strategic communication evolved between sections of an army or armies, and different cultures at war, particularly in executing more complicated battlefield strategies, over close range and distance, from B.C. to middle A.D.. I'm imagining that in the heat of battle many commands had to be subtle or designed to be flexible otherwise an enemy would be able to figure out the intent before it was even executed.
Werent horns and drums common battlefield signals before radios? No need to be subtle just loud as all hell. Patterns or beats would signal different commands
@@matthewnunya8483 Yea it doesn't matter if the enemy hears your commands, its more important your troops know who their allies are and where to go. Strategy would often be made before hand which meant the enemy wouldn't really know what a signal means.
How to kill war elephants according to video games: Rome total war: shoot them with fire, get them to rampage into their own men Empire Total war: shoot them with cannons (this is the solution to most problems in Empire) LoTR battle for middle earth: stand one unit of pike men in their way LoTR return of the king: shoot the pile of explosives kept on their backs for no adequately explained reason. Age of Empires 2: religious debate.
Total War wasn’t far off though. Elephants were smart enough to know when they were on the losing side and would start running through the soldiers least likely to hurt them, which was their own troops.
Pro tip for using elephants in your next battle: Use them not to kill the enemy, but the enemy's will to fight. As elephants are smarter than horses. They don't mind consuming tones of rations per day, but they don't care about human squabbles. And as soon as they see a fight they can't win. They go "screw you guys I'm going home", and trample the troops they know are least like to hurt them. Namely, your own troops.
Exactly. I would want Elephants, but I would put them on the flanks, where 1) they can ward off flanking from enemy cavalry, 2) they are less likely to run wild amidst your infantry lines, and 3) if the opportunity arises, they can execute a deadly flank themselves on the engaged enemy.
The cool part is that I think elephants and their mahuts actually did have close enough bonds to fight as actual partners rather than a mere master-slave dynamic. At least in India, I think, though I believe Hannibal himself was known to have been close to his own elephant.
It’s crazy to think that Indias empires like the Maurya had 9000 elephants at the height of their empire! Alexander the Greats army refused to cross the Indus because of fears that they would have to fight a endless swarm of Indian militia & war elephants. The highest number Carthage ever had were 300-800. It’s crazy to compare.
@@ashketchum5466 And there the elephant corps proves its worth by being a terrifying psychological deterrence. Defense most of the time wasn't about actually fighting, but about intimidation and diplomacy leverage.
@@KARMA-jr6uk lol what? Nah, Alexander not only defeated him at the Hydaspes, he was so impressed with his military abilities that he made him a satrap governor of that region of Alexander's empire. He fought well and cost the Macedonians a lot of men but he still lost.
Its so sad to hear about such magnificent, intelligent and caring animals being beaten and used as slaves. I get it was a different time, but I also understand these things still happen in some parts of the world today. Great video, thanks guys!
@@ribbitgoesthedoglastnamehe4681 The name Hetti is not related to the ancient Hittites. It's a short form of the Old German names Heinrich, Hedwig or Henrietta.
I usually see it depicted as men training full grown unruly elephants, but I imagine you would start with babies and juveniles. By the time they're fully grown they are docile and trained.
He said raising elephants is extremely difficult because their long gestation (breeding time) & because they consume vast amounts of food in those long years. On average a elephant has one baby every 10 years.
I have extremely mixed feelings about war elephants. On one hand i think they are amazing war machines and kove to use them in total war games but on the other hand i hate it for what cruelty the animals had too suffer. Great video though
Same, I’m a big animal lover, and I love elephants, but if I don’t blame the soldiers who killed them. If I were in a battle against them, and had the balls to stay, I’d be hacking and slicing whatever I saw. Fighting in a field and seeing those things charge at you at full speed if you don’t know what they are must have been as horrifying an experience as it gets.
Me: Hey, Romans! Wanna fight Carthage’s Elephants? Rome: what’s an elephant? Me: It’s a 10-ton, 20-foot tall grey monster with 2 spears and a snake coming out of its face! *Rome has left the chat*
@Yeah Whatever Even now, I am not against killing certain species for our own good. If we could find a way to kill all mosquitos for instance - that would be good for all. They have no real ecological purpose, no species 'needs' them, and by no means are they anything but annoying leeches that hurt all the other species and kill millions of humans each year. Unfortunately, eradicating a species like that is well... A very challenging endeavor. If there are species of things like tigers that would routinely still hit and kill villagers and people; I wouldn't be against killing some and putting the rest in zoos for all time. Human lives to me are that valuable. But I also want to save as many animals as I can; and want them all treated as ethically and humanely as possible, if you understand me. The good news is, I do believe tigers have killed a lot less people than they have in the past; what was it, 100 or so years ago when a tiger was known to have single-handily kill some 100+ villagers over a period of some time? They had contracted british game hunters to kill it, when it was finally done, they did find more human remains, and bad teeth (probably the reason it chose softer game, like humans). Animals like that, shouldn't have free reign.
The Doom From Latveria The only problem with what you’re saying is that when you take animals out of their natural environment it inevitably effects the environment they came from. Without tigers around, all their prey species would have a population explosion. More grazing animals means less food for other animals like elephants. Tigers exist in a very complex and finely tuned ecosystem, just like any other predator. So when you start mucking around with it you can end up making drastic changes to the ecosystem that you might not expect. Of course, I understand these poor villagers defending themselves from being murdered by tigers. But taking them all out? That’s too extreme.
The Doom From Latveria well, mosquito larvae are the main sorce of food for dragonfly larvae, which would mean eliminating mosquitoes would probably eliminate dragonflies too. dragonflies are a predatory bug in all stages of their life, and keep other pests at bay. there might be more consequences than you think
Your channel never fails to disappoint me. Please know that I credit you with most of the historical knowledge that I’ve learned over the years. Keep it up, you will be your own legend in the times to come.
You ever just feel proud for a UA-camr? I always enjoyed the total war content but you can tell this what Invicta wants to do and it's great. Good work man.
Great video! I’m a Amazigh from North Africa and I love the history about Carthage. Maybe you should cover some more North African history like the moors (Muslim berbers) and their dynasties like the Al Moravids and the Al mohad who hade huge empires stretching from west Africa to all of North Africa and Andalusia. Keep up the good work big fan!
In the 1600s cannon technology was just developing. Some military’s would put small chain-gun (grapeshot) cannons atop the War Elephants to use during battle. During battle while the elephants would charge the crew in the elephant tower (howdah) would fire these mini cannons down into the enemy formations causing even more damage.
5:15 slight inaccuracy here, African forest elephants (Loxodonta cylotis) never lived this far north on the continent. The elephants that were captured by the Carthaginians were actually a now extinct subspecies of African bush elephants : _Loxodonta africana pharaoensis_ (also called the “North African elephant”) that grew to smaller sizes than their larger cousins further south. Though it’s somewhat uncertain if they’re actually a subspecies or simply just a local population of L.africana that died out.
You know i's a good video when you get goosebumbs looking at the drawings in combination with the music and the "story" Thank you so much for these videos Greetings from Germany
War Elephants are still used in Recent conflicts in Burma and South East Asia. They are excellent at moving through dense Jungle and slopes too steep for any vehicle, they also can move absolutely silently, make paths and clear trees.
As a biology student with interest in many historical topics, I really like the detail of paying attention to the different species of elephants. Because when I watch videos or read texts about cavalry, for example, it doesn't pay attention to the scientific names or the biodiversity of horse species. Really good video, cheers!
@@mfaizsyahmi Well, even captured breeds not for war can be in a bit of a problem if they aren't careful. Take the asiatic cheetah. Once taken as pets of a sort, and used to help in hunting, especially by the mongol horse lords; they were wonderful animals to have. Except, for some dumb reasons unknown to me, they never bred them, they just captured new ones. So what does that do the population of them? Oh yeah, that breed of cheetah almost went extinct hundreds of years back.
The first time elephants fought in gladiatorial match was by Pompey's arrangement. They charged at the crowd and spread terror, but then they refused to fight, trying desperately to escape through the gates. The Roman spectators actually booed Pompey, telling him to let the elephants go, since the Romans didn't want to see such unwilling animals die.
I've not played Bannerlord yet because I'm waiting for an "A New Dawn" equivalent mod for it. Anyway, iirc, A New Dawn did have extra-long spears for elephant cav.
I'm interested in knowing about the Black Markets of the past, what kind of goods would be illegal or sold out from the law during the Roman empire (and how would buying/selling said illegal goods was punished)
4 роки тому
They would confiscate your wife and kids for selling illegal goods. Either that or you get executed.
In 2015 I participated as a reenactor in Les grand Jeux romains in Nimes, the main theme of the Event were the Punic Wars. The organizers managed to get a small elefant, a rescued one from a circus, on the carthaginian side and, let me tell you, even if it was smaller and well trained I was glad to not have been wearing any pants under my tunic, as the beast was supposed to "charge" right by my side when the roman lines created a gap as in the battle of Zama.. I can imagine the damage to the morale in seeing an entire corp charging and trampling your line, terrifying!!
I have outlines for the next episode but have not completed the script yet. Trying to get production going on a bunch of other episodes for the time being but do plan to return to that series.
It should be mentioned that elephant hide just on it's own is incredibly strong. An adult African elephant can literally just tank slashes and bites from lions and even with modern weapons killing one isn't easy. So even without armor an elephant would probably be more than capable of withstanding swords and spears, the only thing that could really kill it would be a deep thrust from a long spear but doing that might as well be impossible. You also have to remember that while a sword slash is deadly to a human from the perspective of an elephant it's more like a razor cut, even if you do make them bleed it wont be a serious issue for it unless the cut got infected but y'know if that has time to happen you're definitely already dead.
Just thinking about these noble creatures being spearated from their herds to be used in battlefields where they would be injured and killed, breaks my heart.
@@damuses1452 *Predator, not parasite. Most parasites don't kill their hosts (not directly, anyway) and in fact need them, we _do_ kill but do not need them. Haven't yet realized such?
@Lachlan Allen So we need to show compassion for man trying to kill man. It is man who starts war not elephants. Your DUMB animal as you put it also has feelings & in fact aren't as dumb as you think they are. The only dumb thing is your comment. Yes it's sad that men are killing each other but putting animals into it as well is cruel. Evil thrives in this world unfortunately not because of Man but Satan. Read your Bible & you will know what i mean.
Elephants are empathic, intelligent and highly social beings. It is a shame, that they were trained in such a cruel manner by humans to fight in brutal wars. Still a great documentary!
He states that India tamed the elephants and used them from centuries, that they sold the know-how to the Cartaginians, that their elephants were bigger and could support armor and even a whole tower over then, and them proceed to say that I mean, I don't get it, the video should be about India, that's were all th action is.
I fell almost like watching a spin-off being sold like the main story. The quality of the video is exceptional though and it was very informative, so still an amazing side story.
I feel like we already know a lot of carthage elephants and I would like to learn more about the more eastern use of elephants, like the Seulucid by example. Like if you wont to so hoppefuly they make a video
As a fan of history, war Elephants have always been fascinating and bad ass to Me. However as an animal lover, the true nature of what happened to these Elephants on and off the battlefield breaks my heart
My favorite unit in total war Rome. Sometimes we even ram 🐏 them into wooden palisades. N’er heard o romans using war elephants be interesting 🧐 to c a vid on that.
Would have much rather seen a video about Successor elephants, especially Seleucid war elephants. Indian war elephants of the Hellenistic kingdoms are much more interesting than the little forest elephants.
It is likely that these elephants were more more heavy duty than their Carthaginian counterparts with lots of equipment. I think as another episode though we would cover Indian war elephants to have sufficient differentiation between episodes.
@@InvictaHistory I've never seen any criticism of the way Hannibal used his elephants in the battle of Zama where they were pretty useless in this instance. Are there any sources that say he could have used them differently to better effect? I'm pretty sure Pyrrhus kept them as powerful reserves at times that could be used flexibly to turn the tide of a battle. I just find it interesting that they had so little effect in the battle of Zama but maybe i'm doing the Romans a disservice and not giving them enough credit for countering them so well. Any opinions would be appreciated :)
Agreed. War elephants were admittedly badass to behold, but the thought of an entire species perishing because they got caught up in a human squabble is just disgusting. It's one thing for human soldiers to die in war because they are fully aware of what they're getting into and understand the nuances of the politics behind the conflict, animals like horses and elephants have no idea what the hell is even happening or why these weird biped apes with sharp sticks want them to charge into other weird biped apes with sharp sticks. It's why I'm happy for the invention of actual military tanks; even though it resulted in far more human deaths, at least it eliminates the usefulness and therefore the need to send animals to their deaths against human weapons, including the awesome but innocent elephant.
@@mrreyes5004 Modern tanks in fact protect the crew. When a tank was knocked out in ww2, It's crew had a chance of escaping, If there wasn't a fire. Modern tanks like the T-14 got a protective capsule where the crew can work. No army wants to lose It's hard trained personnel xD
Interesting video. They seem to be both fearsome and unreliable, so a direct charge in the center could work but might lead them to run back into your own lines and cause mayhem. Given that, I would position them with cavalry on the flanks to both protect those areas and look to flank the opponent. That gives you both mobility and power on the wings and if they act in a crazy manner less chance it puts your whole line at risk. Put your best troops with strongest armor and javelins in the middle to hold the line. That would be a strong formation.
Excellent documentary about war elephants. Might I suggest doing a documentary about the specialized breeding and use of large mastiff dogs in warfare (medieval, etc)?
As an avid lifelong lover and patron of elephants I’m torn between seeing their awesome power and strength in battle, the way no other animal in history has done and being awe struck by it. But at the same time I’m heartbroken that so many were taken from the wild, abused and used as an instrument of man. There’s no such thing as a domesticated elephant, they are still wild animals. The process that is used to “tame” them should be considered inhuman. We may not use them in war now but they still suffer from our inhumanity.
@@Marinealver It probably would be much much harder to tame a dinosaur since their brains were so tiny. The more intelligent the animal, the more complex rules and orders it can understand. A war dinosaur would probably just go berserk on anything in sight.
@@15r52 that's only the ones large enough to be wolves but not large enough to ride like utahraptors, and the smartest ones were practically predatory turkeys
The War Elephant rider was also equipped with a Hammer and Metal Spike. If the Elephant rider lost control of his animal and it started to head at friendly forces he would hammer the spike into the back of the Elephants head to kill it before it killed friendly forces. Unfortunately many times this didn't kill the Elephant and it would still rampage through it's own armies.
Great work with sound historical information (to the best of my knowledge), as always. 5:16 History sometimes remembers well human suffering, but I think even our own time could do with more sensitivity to the suffering of animals as well. Those poor creatures, they're very emotional beings with an undeniably respectable fraction of our own intelligence... 1:19 I've been there! The acoustics are unbelievable, my lizard brain still rebels against hearing the tour guide whisper so quietly down at the bottom while we stood where the camera is here! It just doesn't seem feasibly possible lol. Even tho I consciously rationally knew how it works from Science class with my frontal cortex years before going there, the rest of my body still seems to consider it to instead be Ancient Greek magic enchanting the site, and won't shift my reality matrix to allow for the possibility of hearing what I very clearly heard lolz. One more example of how humans have always been just as smart as they are now, whether homo sapiens began to exist distinctly a mere 100,000 years ago or as many as a quarter of a million. They thought at felt just like we do - they only lacked our knowledge and tools... Wow, I can't say enough good things about this vid. One of your best yet! I'm glad that my advice to you earlier seems to have helped, and looking forward to more on this topic and series. Semper fortuna et pax
I’d imagine the armour would’ve gone to the biggest Elephants, those would’ve been the ones that had the helmets, the lamellar, the gorget, the leg armour, the Gucci chains etc.
It is far more likely that the elephants used by Carthage and subsequently by the Romans were from a now extinct (sub)species of North African elephants (Loxodonta africana pharaoensis), in size closer to today's Forest elephants (L. Cyclotis), which is referenced for example by Polybius (Histories, 5.84) and Ptolemac sources ("Libyan elephants").
When did Invicta's production manager rob a bank? This sounds incredible and a huge step up from when I unfortunately last watched your videos on the police of Rome.
Imagine being a soldier at that time. You were probably recruited from some farm family. If you were well-travelled you may have journeyed as much as 100 miles from your home. You've seen nothing of the larger world. You are deployed against a foe. It's a foggy morning. You hear the enemy forming up; but what's that weird trumpeting sound? Out of the fog marches this... THING. It's huge, towering over even the cavalry and chariots. Like a hill decided to get up and fight you. It barrels through your formation like you aren't even there. You see the biggest guy in your unit get flung like a doll. Horses scream with terror and bolt. It's got to feel like you are fighting something supernatural.
The Carthaginians did _not_ use Forest Elephants, they used the now extinct North African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) also known as North African Forest Elephant, which you are conflating with the Forest Elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis). They are two different species, similar but distinct.
As a former Roman infantry grunt, I have to say I had nightmares of these olifants for years, until one battle. At the battle of Al Tunisia, an entire elephant brigade was destroyed by ATACMS. It was brutal.
What Units of History should we cover next?
Chariots
War dogs.
Barbarian units please
C H A R I O T S, beginning of their use to the end
Cataphracts
Imagine training your entire life just to get yeeted into the air by Dumbo's dad.
At least you get to fly, some were lucky enough to literally rest in pieces.
Lmfaooo yeeeeettttt
That was pure gold lol
That sounds like a death I could be proud of tbh, hit by some half assedly shot piece of wood by some dude who didnt even see me or trampled in battle by some mighty, wild beast of the jungle, plated in metal. I know what Id want on my tombstone.
@@erenrager6679 pieces? How about paste? Mulch? Smoothie?
We need more elephant noise in the background to understand this video is about elephants.
MORE COWBELL
Invicta
I have a war with Rome and the only cure for it
*IS MORE ELEPHANTS*
@@InvictaHistory plz re upload without animal noises
Haha I read this comment before watching the video and all I could hear was elephant noises when I was trying to listen to the actual spoken information...
This is about elephants?!😯
When that elephant said **elephant noises**
I felt that
Properly, that's called "trumpeting."
:)
😔
..
Horses are classic, elephants are awesome, but camels are the underrated mvp.
Underrated maybe but MVP. The sheer amount of coordination into human life in all its complexities goes to the horse then the dog.
Camels were very important in military logistics latter on. Yeah they are underrated.
Oddly true; it's because of the camels and their ability to carry provisions over huge areas (mainly the otherwise inhospitable deserts of Africa and the Middle East) that allowed the horse-mounted Parthian army to completely decimate an invading Roman army of seven legions led by Marcus Crassus, one of the worst defeats the Roman army ever suffered next to Teutoburg and Cannae.
Its good that camels are underrated ,
If they weren't then it will mean 50% of land is desert , which i don't want
The ottomans would beg to differ.
*ELEPHAS MAXIMUS*
_Angrily trumpets in the Colosseum: Are you not entertained?_
The first time elephants fought in gladiatorial match was by Pompey's arrangement. They charged at the crowd and spread terror, but then they refused to fight, trying desperately to escape through the gates. The Roman spectators actually booed Pompey, telling him to let the elephants go, since the Romans didn't want to see such unwilling animals die.
@@vanivanov9571 I seem to remember some account of the unwilling elephants being prodded by spears and screaming in a almost human way.
Yeah. Elephants are pretty darn smart. If they see no need to fight, they won't & you can't make them. Especially against their own kind. Against other animals or humans, perhaps. But even then if the elephant gets scared or thinks it's got an opening to get away, it will.
Ironically one of the few animals they'd be willing to fight are tigers & lions since they have a tendency to attack their calves in the wild.
Elephas Maximus Decimus Meridius
wrong maximus, dude
I rode one IRL.
Mate they are like a Railway locomotive in mass, their skin is like sandpaper and inches thick, and they do not mind bullying any one who get sin their way. Like a 2 foot diameter tree.
Yet when passive they are gentle herbivores who form long lasting bonds with their own as well as humans. Their handler say they even grieve and refuse food when a member of the herd passes away, but thats in captivity. Majestic yet simple and humble. Until you provoke them or their herd, or Handlers.
p.s. i am talking about the Indian Elephant species.
sounds like an incredible experience
Even though I live in southeast asia i personally would be very hesitant to ride one if i did i would avoid the bull as i heard a lot of story where it just goes on a rampage with you on top of it.
@@InvictaHistory here a unit though it's an army not beasts *army of the slaves of bukhary* people tend to overlook north Africa history it should be covered entirely and with more precision & not just Carthage
elephants are absolutely amazing. i grew up in South Africa, and have tremendous respect for them. it's so sad that they were used so barbarically in squabbles between humans.
i wonder when humans will stop fighting each other, and destroying everything in their path in the process. it's such a shame that we are such a violent species of mammal.
@@BothHands1 Atleast nowadays we just name the battle tanks Olifant instead of using actual elephants as battle tanks.
I can hear Cato the Elder yelling about destroying Carthage from here
The 225677th Fragment of the Man-Emperor of Mankind Lmao he spammed the idea until someone said fuck it and went through with it
cartago delenda est
Well I mean he wasn't wrong
...furthermore, I am of the opinion that Carthage must be Destroyed.
CARTHAGO DELENDA EST
Can we imagine what a random Roman legionary (and these were simple levies, not the professional soldiers after the Marian reform) would have felt when he first saw war elephants in the battle of Heracleia?
Imagine you are a farmer boy from somewhere in Italy called up to defeat Pyrrhos and after desperately fighting all day to a stalemate, while your mates die on your left and right, suddenly you see a great dust and scary, unearthly bellowing, and then you see contours of huge beasts with massive spears coming out of their mouths and a huge muscular tentacle hanging on the place of their noses. And these monsters gallop against your lines in full speed and trample and impale your buddies wherever they go while seemingly taking no heed of the arrows and javelins you shoot at them. I would say it's no shame that they shat their pants and run, they were fighting literal fucking monsters from hell, at least I'm pretty sure that's whatmost of them were thinking.
(However, to the credit of the ever resolute, dogged and resourceful Romans, by the very next battle they were able to come up with some countermeasures and deployed them effectively.)
Roman soldiers in Hollywood: "We're too pompous and white and British/American for your heroic rebellion. We'll just hide behind our shields and blow you up with catapults. Hmph! War is soo easy."
Roman soldiers in reality: *Sighs* I know their barbarians and all but.... Jupiter this is gonna be hard. Oh s*** they brought elephants!
@David Czege it would be today like seeing an alien with a such garganteous size, something never seen before by most humans
@@saguntum-iberian-greekkons7014 I’d shit myself too. How the hell do you fight that without getting trampled to death?
To quote Overly Sarcastic Productions:
“This thing is a four-legged giant with two spears AND A SNAKE COMING OUT OF ITS FACE!!!”
Also from OSP:
“It doesn’t take a lot of elephants to have a scary amount of elephant on the battlefield!”
I love unit banters in Rome 2 Total War when a Roman sees elephants.
They go from questioning the large mass coming towards them, to sheer terror.
I like the new guy. His voice is deep, suitable for these stories.
I like him to, but honestly I found it a bit generic. The previous guy's voice was more calm and unique.
He's trying too hard to keep it that way. It doesn't seem like his natural voice.
Hard to do
He nails it 👍👌
Sure, the new guy is good. But I didn't think there was anything wrong with Invicta himself, who was less generic and had a unique voice, though still very good. I wish they had kept him doing the voice.
Really? This guy mispronounced a bunch of words... Phoenician, Mahout and even smells (when speaking about horses' reactions to elephants).
It was kinda weird.
He's got a good voice, but needs to work on doing second takes or ensuring pronunciation is correct
I don’t get it. Why didn’t other nations just use War Mice to counter them? 🐁
lol
The romans used "incendiary war pigs".
Unleash......Rodents of War.
@@paulheinrichdietrich9518 The greatest military invention since the armored codpiece.
Fernando Alamón wtf for a while I thought that was true and I looked more info about😂
Imagine if they managed to tame the savanah elephants..
Yeah try making gaps for those in your line scipio.
Or had the numbers like in India when Alexander the great was in india, one king was reported to have 9,000 war elephants, and the other 5,000 they were apparently going to join force's had Alexander continued his campaign but his army wasn't having it.
That is actually very likely to have happened but not in large scale due to the reasons exposed in the video.
@@brianlong2334 man elegant s in india can't stop fucking can they. I don't think there are as many elephants alive today
@@konradvonschnitzeldorf6506 Lol yeah there were more I believe there was a saying in India that an "Indian army without elephants was an army of grass."
Something like that don't quote me hahah!
@@brianlong2334 That's an Ancient Chinese General's quote. "Tianzhu is a pitiful nation. They have no culture and lack the discipline of civility. Their warriors are no better than the other barbarians beyond our great nation's borders. Their so-called mighty beasts of war are called as such, for their army is nothing more than a field grass without them. Cut the head of the chicken and watch it run headless, they are no different".
I think that's the correct one, though I can't be completely confident. If there's someone who can verify or correct it, please do.
Can only imagine how much it would have horrified somebody who had never seen an Elephant before to rock up to the battlefield to see these huge things thundering towards you. Would have been a game changer that's for sure!
Probably the equivalent of someone showing up with a sauropod clad in plate
They were the tanks of the time. I imagine the reaction would have been much the same as soldiers seeing tanks for the first time in WWI.
Until they figured out how to stop them by killing or scaring them
The intimidation factor was the biggest impact from the war elephants. Unfortunately, since elephants are peaceful beings by nature, they don't really want to attack anyone. They move compulsevely out of fear, and since they are so big they cause big damage, but they can be easily scared away by projectiles, shining lights and big noises.
Some roman soldiers must've been like "that is one weird ass lookin' horse".
its a large cow with autism
To be fair, that's exactly how the Mongols reacted when they invaded India for the first time. Their horses were steppe horses & got scared by the size & smell of elephants & camels used by the Indian armies.
Yes, they kinda look and sound a little like an ass, or a donkey, depending on where you are from. Color, sound, temperament, looks like an ass, but bigger than a horse, so a giant ass-horse, you are correct. So maybe a mule then?
Pyrrhus already previously introduced the Romans to elephants.
Pyrrhus tried to tried frighten/impress a consul with an elephant who was sent by Rome to negotiate an exchange of prisoners. The elephant was revealed with a curtain as it trumpeted with it's trunk above the head of the consul.
The consul, who had never seen an elephant before, was unimpressed and calmly turned and spoke to Pyrrhus about not being impressed😅
But Pyrrhus was more in awe by the Romans than the Romans were of the elephants.
The Tarentines asked Pyrrhus to defend them against barbarians (aka The Romans)
Before the first battle, Pyrrhus snuck up to the Roman camp to scout it. While witnessing how organized the camp was, how orderly the tents were arranged, the guards on watch, etc, he commented:
"The discipline of these Barbarians is not barbarous."
@@ribbitgoesthedoglastnamehe4681 extremely underappreciated long-ass joke
I've always thought a documentary about how different forms of strategic communication evolved between sections of an army or armies, and different cultures at war, particularly in executing more complicated battlefield strategies, over close range and distance, from B.C. to middle A.D.. I'm imagining that in the heat of battle many commands had to be subtle or designed to be flexible otherwise an enemy would be able to figure out the intent before it was even executed.
Doesn’t pay to script your plays , I vote for your idea
great idea, i dont think ive ever heard that covered
Werent horns and drums common battlefield signals before radios? No need to be subtle just loud as all hell. Patterns or beats would signal different commands
@@matthewnunya8483 Yea it doesn't matter if the enemy hears your commands, its more important your troops know who their allies are and where to go. Strategy would often be made before hand which meant the enemy wouldn't really know what a signal means.
How to kill war elephants according to video games:
Rome total war: shoot them with fire, get them to rampage into their own men
Empire Total war: shoot them with cannons (this is the solution to most problems in Empire)
LoTR battle for middle earth: stand one unit of pike men in their way
LoTR return of the king: shoot the pile of explosives kept on their backs for no adequately explained reason.
Age of Empires 2: religious debate.
Bruh i used to play melee matches just to convert and collect the special units, especially the war units lol
Age of empires 3 either lots of pikes or Ranged cavalry (archers or the dudes who shoot muskets while raiding )
Total War wasn’t far off though. Elephants were smart enough to know when they were on the losing side and would start running through the soldiers least likely to hurt them, which was their own troops.
You forgot about assassins creed origins
Lmao! And that's why AoE2 is both the greatest game and most historically accurate game.
Pro tip for using elephants in your next battle:
Use them not to kill the enemy, but the enemy's will to fight.
As elephants are smarter than horses. They don't mind consuming tones of rations per day, but they don't care about human squabbles.
And as soon as they see a fight they can't win. They go "screw you guys I'm going home", and trample the troops they know are least like to hurt them.
Namely, your own troops.
Exactly. I would want Elephants, but I would put them on the flanks, where 1) they can ward off flanking from enemy cavalry, 2) they are less likely to run wild amidst your infantry lines, and 3) if the opportunity arises, they can execute a deadly flank themselves on the engaged enemy.
Thanks, I will use this advice in my next comment section battle
In Rome Total War I use elephants to charge into the flanks of the enemy line and it usually crumbles in seconds. (With DEI)
Elephants are in fact not smarter than horses. Higher brain mass doesn't mean efficiency.
@@viktorvashchuk5281 Elephants are pretty smart bruh, look it up.
12:38 "here bro, I'll let you have some of the kills"
"Thanks buddy"
Hahaha was thinking something similair
The cool part is that I think elephants and their mahuts actually did have close enough bonds to fight as actual partners rather than a mere master-slave dynamic. At least in India, I think, though I believe Hannibal himself was known to have been close to his own elephant.
It’s crazy to think that Indias empires like the Maurya had 9000 elephants at the height of their empire! Alexander the Greats army refused to cross the Indus because of fears that they would have to fight a endless swarm of Indian militia & war elephants. The highest number Carthage ever had were 300-800. It’s crazy to compare.
Technically, Alexander did came to India and won in the battle of hydespas.
@@abinashgogoi2469 jhelum and sindhu river are borders of india, he didnt dare to march forward
@@ashketchum5466 And there the elephant corps proves its worth by being a terrifying psychological deterrence. Defense most of the time wasn't about actually fighting, but about intimidation and diplomacy leverage.
@@abinashgogoi2469 no he did not king porshattum defeated him
@@KARMA-jr6uk lol what? Nah, Alexander not only defeated him at the Hydaspes, he was so impressed with his military abilities that he made him a satrap governor of that region of Alexander's empire. He fought well and cost the Macedonians a lot of men but he still lost.
Its so sad to hear about such magnificent, intelligent and caring animals being beaten and used as slaves. I get it was a different time, but I also understand these things still happen in some parts of the world today. Great video, thanks guys!
IF YOU LOVE ANIMALS..LOVE ALL OF THEM EQUALLY.
Agree, but wait till you hear what they did to humans as well.
What about humans? During those times, the entire populace of a captured city was enslaved.
Also, a unit that you shoyld do is the Egyptian, ant Hetti war chariots!
good suggestion! We will definitely do one on ancient war chariots from various areas.
Iceni war chariots too
I know this guy whos name is pronounced Hetti.
He says he knows his name is very old. I dont know if he truly realises how ancient it actually is.
@@ribbitgoesthedoglastnamehe4681 wow, my name is also really old
@@ribbitgoesthedoglastnamehe4681 The name Hetti is not related to the ancient Hittites. It's a short form of the Old German names Heinrich, Hedwig or Henrietta.
I've never before sat waiting in a lobby for a stream to start, but your content is so stupidly good quality I'm doing it now. Seeeend eeett
I usually see it depicted as men training full grown unruly elephants, but I imagine you would start with babies and juveniles. By the time they're fully grown they are docile and trained.
this is indeed more likely
He said raising elephants is extremely difficult because their long gestation (breeding time) & because they consume vast amounts of food in those long years. On average a elephant has one baby every 10 years.
"Was estabished as a colony...."
*10 seconds later*
"...as the cartheginian empire expanded"
Well that escalated quicky.
*the Phoenicians have a colony so big it makes colonies*
It's worth mentioning that wild Asian elephants also had a larger range at that time. They existed as far west as Iraq.
I have extremely mixed feelings about war elephants. On one hand i think they are amazing war machines and kove to use them in total war games but on the other hand i hate it for what cruelty the animals had too suffer. Great video though
I wish we could have domesticated elephants. They are so awesome. We could have used them for construction instead of war.
@@shorewall We did ua-cam.com/video/g91mK1sMiSI/v-deo.html
@@shorewall And we even taught them to paint ua-cam.com/video/foahTqz7On4/v-deo.html
Well back then, they did not have organisations like PETA that would protest their treatment on elephants
Same, I’m a big animal lover, and I love elephants, but if I don’t blame the soldiers who killed them. If I were in a battle against them, and had the balls to stay, I’d be hacking and slicing whatever I saw. Fighting in a field and seeing those things charge at you at full speed if you don’t know what they are must have been as horrifying an experience as it gets.
Luke Skywalker taking down the ATAT with the tow cable was exactly how Rome first attempted to take down the War Elephants from General Pyrrhus.
Did it work?
@@jeffbenton6183 no
Cuz Rome didn’t have snow speeders
You should cover Alexander and his campaign involving his encounters with elephants at some point! Excellent video!
Me: Hey, Romans! Wanna fight Carthage’s
Elephants?
Rome: what’s an elephant?
Me: It’s a 10-ton, 20-foot tall grey monster with 2 spears and a snake coming out of its face!
*Rome has left the chat*
Rome enter the chat again with a huge pig
Rome: why not pal
@@rafaeldelgado7243 huge pig pulling a ballista on a cart for killing elephants
@@joshuab2437a bunch of huge pigs set on fire, making a hell cacophony of noises and delivering raw momentum
Also Rome: literally burned Cathage to the bare ground
Romans faced elephants since Pyrrhic wars
poor elephants :(
they're such gentle animals. it's so sad they were used in this way
Different time period. We would be outraged if this was happening in modern times. But back then they had different morals compared to us.
@Yeah Whatever Even now, I am not against killing certain species for our own good. If we could find a way to kill all mosquitos for instance - that would be good for all. They have no real ecological purpose, no species 'needs' them, and by no means are they anything but annoying leeches that hurt all the other species and kill millions of humans each year. Unfortunately, eradicating a species like that is well... A very challenging endeavor.
If there are species of things like tigers that would routinely still hit and kill villagers and people; I wouldn't be against killing some and putting the rest in zoos for all time. Human lives to me are that valuable. But I also want to save as many animals as I can; and want them all treated as ethically and humanely as possible, if you understand me. The good news is, I do believe tigers have killed a lot less people than they have in the past; what was it, 100 or so years ago when a tiger was known to have single-handily kill some 100+ villagers over a period of some time? They had contracted british game hunters to kill it, when it was finally done, they did find more human remains, and bad teeth (probably the reason it chose softer game, like humans). Animals like that, shouldn't have free reign.
The Doom From Latveria The only problem with what you’re saying is that when you take animals out of their natural environment it inevitably effects the environment they came from.
Without tigers around, all their prey species would have a population explosion. More grazing animals means less food for other animals like elephants.
Tigers exist in a very complex and finely tuned ecosystem, just like any other predator. So when you start mucking around with it you can end up making drastic changes to the ecosystem that you might not expect.
Of course, I understand these poor villagers defending themselves from being murdered by tigers. But taking them all out? That’s too extreme.
All "defend the elephants" until the elephant gives you to hannibal's spear
The Doom From Latveria
well, mosquito larvae are the main sorce of food for dragonfly larvae, which would mean eliminating mosquitoes would probably eliminate dragonflies too. dragonflies are a predatory bug in all stages of their life, and keep other pests at bay. there might be more consequences than you think
Your channel never fails to disappoint me. Please know that I credit you with most of the historical knowledge that I’ve learned over the years. Keep it up, you will be your own legend in the times to come.
You ever just feel proud for a UA-camr? I always enjoyed the total war content but you can tell this what Invicta wants to do and it's great. Good work man.
Great video! I’m a Amazigh from North Africa and I love the history about Carthage. Maybe you should cover some more North African history like the moors (Muslim berbers) and their dynasties like the Al Moravids and the Al mohad who hade huge empires stretching from west Africa to all of North Africa and Andalusia.
Keep up the good work big fan!
In the 1600s cannon technology was just developing. Some military’s would put small chain-gun (grapeshot) cannons atop the War Elephants to use during battle. During battle while the elephants would charge the crew in the elephant tower (howdah) would fire these mini cannons down into the enemy formations causing even more damage.
In the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln was offered war elephants by the king of Siam.
5:15 slight inaccuracy here, African forest elephants (Loxodonta cylotis) never lived this far north on the continent. The elephants that were captured by the Carthaginians were actually a now extinct subspecies of African bush elephants : _Loxodonta africana pharaoensis_ (also called the “North African elephant”) that grew to smaller sizes than their larger cousins further south. Though it’s somewhat uncertain if they’re actually a subspecies or simply just a local population of L.africana that died out.
You know i's a good video when you get goosebumbs looking at the drawings in combination with the music and the "story"
Thank you so much for these videos
Greetings from Germany
War Elephants are still used in Recent conflicts in Burma and South East Asia.
They are excellent at moving through dense Jungle and slopes too steep for any vehicle, they also can move absolutely silently, make paths and clear trees.
one of the best materials on YT about elephants
Imagine if they used savanna elephants.
As a biology student with interest in many historical topics, I really like the detail of paying attention to the different species of elephants. Because when I watch videos or read texts about cavalry, for example, it doesn't pay attention to the scientific names or the biodiversity of horse species. Really good video, cheers!
Fascinating stuff, they were basically the tanks of the time
i just discovered this channel and its so addictive.
I read elsewhere that they might have been an extinct breed of North African elephant.
yes I believe that is the case
no doubt driven into extinction by being captured for use in war and other things by Mediterranean powers
@@mfaizsyahmi Well, even captured breeds not for war can be in a bit of a problem if they aren't careful. Take the asiatic cheetah. Once taken as pets of a sort, and used to help in hunting, especially by the mongol horse lords; they were wonderful animals to have. Except, for some dumb reasons unknown to me, they never bred them, they just captured new ones. So what does that do the population of them? Oh yeah, that breed of cheetah almost went extinct hundreds of years back.
@@mfaizsyahmi No, the main reason is the drying of the northern african forests and desertification
@@picollojr9009 no this is before that, north African elephants were brought to extinction in the roman era
The first time elephants fought in gladiatorial match was by Pompey's arrangement. They charged at the crowd and spread terror, but then they refused to fight, trying desperately to escape through the gates. The Roman spectators actually booed Pompey, telling him to let the elephants go, since the Romans didn't want to see such unwilling animals die.
*Bannerlord Modders* when you mod elephants into Bannerlord we need the long elephant spears
Modded Warband already has chad Slaver Chiefs and Khmer mahouts
I've not played Bannerlord yet because I'm waiting for an "A New Dawn" equivalent mod for it. Anyway, iirc, A New Dawn did have extra-long spears for elephant cav.
Warband with elephants would be amazing
@@friedlemons5201 nigga it's just s reskinned horse tho lol imagine what modders will do with butterlord!
Bro your channel and a few others are better than the old school History channel was to me. and I loved those shows. keep up the good stuff
They were most often used in moving heavy loads, building fortifications and breaching enemy fortifications. (Sukra Niti and Artha Shastra)
That brief picture of Hannibal and Scipio was so EPIC!
WIll there be merchandising of this series?
I'm interested in knowing about the Black Markets of the past, what kind of goods would be illegal or sold out from the law during the Roman empire (and how would buying/selling said illegal goods was punished)
They would confiscate your wife and kids for selling illegal goods. Either that or you get executed.
dude you have the same quality as the history channel , Congratulation man!!!! keep it going.
In 2015 I participated as a reenactor in Les grand Jeux romains in Nimes, the main theme of the Event were the Punic Wars.
The organizers managed to get a small elefant, a rescued one from a circus, on the carthaginian side and, let me tell you, even if it was smaller and well trained I was glad to not have been wearing any pants under my tunic, as the beast was supposed to "charge" right by my side when the roman lines created a gap as in the battle of Zama..
I can imagine the damage to the morale in seeing an entire corp charging and trampling your line, terrifying!!
Fascinating; well-done - informative as well as entertaining. Kudos.
When will the next part of the "what if Caesar was never assassinated?" series be coming out?
I have outlines for the next episode but have not completed the script yet. Trying to get production going on a bunch of other episodes for the time being but do plan to return to that series.
@@InvictaHistory Take your time, I'm sure it will be great when it returns!
Yup, that serie about Caesar is super interesting:)
Man, the world would look so much different...
So basically elephants were the tanks of their time.
If tanks could be temperamental, yes.
If tanks said "fuck you im out" when they feel like it, yes
Not even close to tanks
It should be mentioned that elephant hide just on it's own is incredibly strong. An adult African elephant can literally just tank slashes and bites from lions and even with modern weapons killing one isn't easy. So even without armor an elephant would probably be more than capable of withstanding swords and spears, the only thing that could really kill it would be a deep thrust from a long spear but doing that might as well be impossible. You also have to remember that while a sword slash is deadly to a human from the perspective of an elephant it's more like a razor cut, even if you do make them bleed it wont be a serious issue for it unless the cut got infected but y'know if that has time to happen you're definitely already dead.
Just thinking about these noble creatures being spearated from their herds to be used in battlefields where they would be injured and killed, breaks my heart.
@Esteban Ferreras We think alike. Not to mention all the horses over time. Sad what man has done & continues to do.
@@razcann3597 Humanity is the apex parasite. Haven't yet realized such?
@@damuses1452 *Predator, not parasite. Most parasites don't kill their hosts (not directly, anyway) and in fact need them, we _do_ kill but do not need them. Haven't yet realized such?
@Lachlan Allen So we need to show compassion for man trying to kill man. It is man who starts war not elephants. Your DUMB animal as you put it also has feelings & in fact aren't as dumb as you think they are. The only dumb thing is your comment.
Yes it's sad that men are killing each other but putting animals into it as well is cruel. Evil thrives in this world unfortunately not because of Man but Satan.
Read your Bible & you will know what i mean.
Love these "Units of History"!!! I've been hoping for someone to do these for years.
Please do the Cataphract or the Dacian falxmen
Spot on!
Have this narrator narrate more often! Awesome voice!
Elephants are empathic, intelligent and highly social beings. It is a shame, that they were trained in such a cruel manner by humans to fight in brutal wars. Still a great documentary!
Allways so great documentary!!! Thank you!!!
15:58 this honestly looks to me like the Elephant was pushed off the edge by that other Elephant on the ledge, in a ‘Long live the King moment”
Just discovered this amazing channel. High quality content! 👍👍
“This was especially true in the west”
India and the Seleucids: “Are we a joke to you?”
He states that India tamed the elephants and used them from centuries, that they sold the know-how to the Cartaginians, that their elephants were bigger and could support armor and even a whole tower over then, and them proceed to say that I mean, I don't get it, the video should be about India, that's were all th action is.
I fell almost like watching a spin-off being sold like the main story. The quality of the video is exceptional though and it was very informative, so still an amazing side story.
@@SrValeriolete I agree with you
Gabriel Valeriolete the west doesn’t really give a damn about Asia if it’s not the Middle East or japan
These animals are so amazing.
I feel like we already know a lot of carthage elephants and I would like to learn more about the more eastern use of elephants, like the Seulucid by example.
Like if you wont to so hoppefuly they make a video
The Seleucids traded Afghanistan to the Indians in exchange for 200 war elephants. That’s all the history to it.
As a fan of history, war Elephants have always been fascinating and bad ass to Me. However as an animal lover, the true nature of what happened to these Elephants on and off the battlefield breaks my heart
My favorite unit in total war Rome. Sometimes we even ram 🐏 them into wooden palisades.
N’er heard o romans using war elephants be interesting 🧐 to c a vid on that.
Well made! Thanks for uploading!
16:35 Scipio is pronounced with a hard C, like 'Skipio'.
love this channel, this video legit made my week
Would have much rather seen a video about Successor elephants, especially Seleucid war elephants. Indian war elephants of the Hellenistic kingdoms are much more interesting than the little forest elephants.
It is likely that these elephants were more more heavy duty than their Carthaginian counterparts with lots of equipment. I think as another episode though we would cover Indian war elephants to have sufficient differentiation between episodes.
@@InvictaHistory I've never seen any criticism of the way Hannibal used his elephants in the battle of Zama where they were pretty useless in this instance. Are there any sources that say he could have used them differently to better effect? I'm pretty sure Pyrrhus kept them as powerful reserves at times that could be used flexibly to turn the tide of a battle. I just find it interesting that they had so little effect in the battle of Zama but maybe i'm doing the Romans a disservice and not giving them enough credit for countering them so well. Any opinions would be appreciated :)
The Seleucids traded Afghanistan to the Indians in exchange for 200 war elephants. That’s all the history to it.
excellent episode..looking forward to the next part.
Imagine trying to defeat your enemies so hard you extinguish an entire species in the process. Damn, poor guys.
Agreed. War elephants were admittedly badass to behold, but the thought of an entire species perishing because they got caught up in a human squabble is just disgusting. It's one thing for human soldiers to die in war because they are fully aware of what they're getting into and understand the nuances of the politics behind the conflict, animals like horses and elephants have no idea what the hell is even happening or why these weird biped apes with sharp sticks want them to charge into other weird biped apes with sharp sticks.
It's why I'm happy for the invention of actual military tanks; even though it resulted in far more human deaths, at least it eliminates the usefulness and therefore the need to send animals to their deaths against human weapons, including the awesome but innocent elephant.
@@mrreyes5004 Modern tanks in fact protect the crew. When a tank was knocked out in ww2, It's crew had a chance of escaping, If there wasn't a fire. Modern tanks like the T-14 got a protective capsule where the crew can work. No army wants to lose It's hard trained personnel xD
MrReyes 500 now more animals die than ever because was has become more destructive. Bombs can annihilate entire regions.
@@michaelweston409 Only large nukes can do that in one fell swoop, and no one has deployed them in battle since WW2 over sixty years ago.
Almost happened in America when millions of bison were slaughtered to force natives of the Great Plains into submission...
Very well made, I loved this video.
Random roman soldier: “those cows are kinda big ain’t it?
Oh god why do they keep getting bigger”
This guys saved me many battles in rome II
Interesting video. They seem to be both fearsome and unreliable, so a direct charge in the center could work but might lead them to run back into your own lines and cause mayhem. Given that, I would position them with cavalry on the flanks to both protect those areas and look to flank the opponent. That gives you both mobility and power on the wings and if they act in a crazy manner less chance it puts your whole line at risk. Put your best troops with strongest armor and javelins in the middle to hold the line. That would be a strong formation.
Excellent documentary about war elephants. Might I suggest doing a documentary about the specialized breeding and use of large mastiff dogs in warfare (medieval, etc)?
Dear sound editor, a couple of elephant noises at the start would have sufficed. By the end I was giggling uncontrollably at each trumpet.
This Artstyle is unique to UA-cam history videos! WHich is great
As an avid lifelong lover and patron of elephants I’m torn between seeing their awesome power and strength in battle, the way no other animal in history has done and being awe struck by it. But at the same time I’m heartbroken that so many were taken from the wild, abused and used as an instrument of man. There’s no such thing as a domesticated elephant, they are still wild animals. The process that is used to “tame” them should be considered inhuman. We may not use them in war now but they still suffer from our inhumanity.
Do you know how horses are trained to be ridden?
Excellent documentary, thanks so much!
I don't know why, but war elephants seem like the mosf badass war beast. I guess it's almost badass like riding dinosaurs to battle
Dinosaurs would be badder, unfortunately none were around when humans invented taming.
@@Marinealver Well, try to tame a 5 to 6 Meters high apex predator. ...and keep him well fed when you somehow managed to do it...
Have heard of chain mail poison tusked elephants?
@@Marinealver It probably would be much much harder to tame a dinosaur since their brains were so tiny. The more intelligent the animal, the more complex rules and orders it can understand. A war dinosaur would probably just go berserk on anything in sight.
@@15r52 that's only the ones large enough to be wolves but not large enough to ride like utahraptors, and the smartest ones were practically predatory turkeys
My kids enjoyed this video a lot.
They want a video about War Dolphins now.
sadly not about war elephants of the Seleukid Empire but stil good
I'd love a greater overview of War Elephants across the world
The Seleucids traded Afghanistan to the Indians in exchange for 200 war elephants. That’s all the history to it.
@@michaelweston409 not traded after losing in war he gave Afghanistan , Uzbekistan nd his daughter
@@drdre5030 to chandragupta maurya
@@michaelweston409 *500
Thanks for this great documentary.
I recognized the illustration of a famous war elephant model kit ^^
I have to admit I really like this new type of animation in Your video. BTW - it is extremaly interesting stuff. Good job!
Thanks! Glad to hear the investment we have made is paying off
The War Elephant rider was also equipped with a Hammer and Metal Spike. If the Elephant rider lost control of his animal and it started to head at friendly forces he would hammer the spike into the back of the Elephants head to kill it before it killed friendly forces. Unfortunately many times this didn't kill the Elephant and it would still rampage through it's own armies.
Great work with sound historical information (to the best of my knowledge), as always. 5:16 History sometimes remembers well human suffering, but I think even our own time could do with more sensitivity to the suffering of animals as well. Those poor creatures, they're very emotional beings with an undeniably respectable fraction of our own intelligence...
1:19 I've been there! The acoustics are unbelievable, my lizard brain still rebels against hearing the tour guide whisper so quietly down at the bottom while we stood where the camera is here! It just doesn't seem feasibly possible lol. Even tho I consciously rationally knew how it works from Science class with my frontal cortex years before going there, the rest of my body still seems to consider it to instead be Ancient Greek magic enchanting the site, and won't shift my reality matrix to allow for the possibility of hearing what I very clearly heard lolz. One more example of how humans have always been just as smart as they are now, whether homo sapiens began to exist distinctly a mere 100,000 years ago or as many as a quarter of a million. They thought at felt just like we do - they only lacked our knowledge and tools...
Wow, I can't say enough good things about this vid. One of your best yet! I'm glad that my advice to you earlier seems to have helped, and looking forward to more on this topic and series. Semper fortuna et pax
God i love this channel. No one will make suxh kind of rare cartheginian units.
I’d imagine the armour would’ve gone to the biggest Elephants, those would’ve been the ones that had the helmets, the lamellar, the gorget, the leg armour, the Gucci chains etc.
Haha armor designed for elephants was likely very hard to make & only master level smiths could forge such large pieces of custom armor.
I wonder if we will get episode on indian war elephants.
It is far more likely that the elephants used by Carthage and subsequently by the Romans were from a now extinct (sub)species of North African elephants (Loxodonta africana pharaoensis), in size closer to today's Forest elephants (L. Cyclotis), which is referenced for example by Polybius (Histories, 5.84) and Ptolemac sources ("Libyan elephants").
The sound effects are perfect.
When did Invicta's production manager rob a bank? This sounds incredible and a huge step up from when I unfortunately last watched your videos on the police of Rome.
This was a great video to watch. I love watching many of this channel's video.
Roman Senators: NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU CAN'T JUST BRING AN ARMY OVER THE ALPS!
Hannibal: Haha war elephant go HAROO
Imagine being a soldier at that time. You were probably recruited from some farm family. If you were well-travelled you may have journeyed as much as 100 miles from your home. You've seen nothing of the larger world.
You are deployed against a foe. It's a foggy morning. You hear the enemy forming up; but what's that weird trumpeting sound? Out of the fog marches this... THING. It's huge, towering over even the cavalry and chariots. Like a hill decided to get up and fight you. It barrels through your formation like you aren't even there. You see the biggest guy in your unit get flung like a doll. Horses scream with terror and bolt.
It's got to feel like you are fighting something supernatural.
The Carthaginians did _not_ use Forest Elephants, they used the now extinct North African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) also known as North African Forest Elephant, which you are conflating with the Forest Elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis). They are two different species, similar but distinct.
As a former Roman infantry grunt, I have to say I had nightmares of these olifants for years, until one battle. At the battle of Al Tunisia, an entire elephant brigade was destroyed by ATACMS. It was brutal.