As tragic as it is, it’s kind of funny imagining the absolute chaos and terror of the sack contrasted with a group of Venetians going through the city like “ah yes, those would like good in St. Marks. Excuse me pillaging raider, I must bring this fine art back home.”
Eastern romans: "Could you please try to not invade our territory...FOR FIVE MINUTES!?" Persians, ottomans, mongols, huns, barbarians, etc: "What an awesome capital you have, guys!" 😎
@ISLAMMEHMEDOV Well, if we look at the Byzantines just a few decades before the Ottoman’s established themselves, we would find that they weren’t in power at all. From 1204 to 1261 the old empire had been split into 3 successor states, Constantinople sacked and thrown into disrepair, and there was a massive territorial loss. Even 30 years after reunification, the wake of this event crippled the ERE. History isn’t about ‘winners’ and ‘losers’, because nothing stands eternal. No country, state, religion or person will exist forever. It’s about the mark you left behind on history. And the mark left by Rome was the largest across the entire Mediterranean hemisphere.
The "Khosrau's Better Antioch" thing was so funny to me that I immediately had to tab out of the video to check. It's 100% legit. After sacking Antioch, he named his new city "Weh Antioch Khosrau", which translates to "Better Than Antioch, Khosrau Built This". That dude's meme game was absolutely unparalleled.
There's anechdote that is likely apocrypha but still funny where Khosrau talks to a kidnapped citizen and asks him how he likes his new digs. The citizen says it's great except there was mulberry(?) tree that he really like in his yard in the old Antioch. The next morning a fully grown tree is in his yard
@@nicolasdiaz1542 It are stories like these that really don't matter whether they are fake or not, because they capture the spirit of the situation so well that there is no reason they could not be true at all. And yes, the story is hilarious. This is the reason why I sometimes lament that we don't really have true monarchies anymore. Who else but a king fully in control of his country could pull stunts like this?
@@the_tactician9858well, billionaires. It is somewhat of a let down that our unelected global superpowers don't have the flare for theatrics the older generations had. Say what you want about Bezos just buying your favorite IP that got cancelled and bankrolling the entire creative endeavor so the artists could finish their work as they wanted, but it doesn't have the exact Umph as building your own better version of one of the world's largest cities and then actually committing to the bit, or drinking pearls in the first case in history of improvised champagne, or solving decades old dispute and the world's most difficult puzzle by just slicing it in half.
@@francisdupont1656 If we want to be specific, West Rome also technically didn't fall. After Hun invasion in 4'th century, where Legions perform poorly against horse archers. Rome start increasingly relying on the Cataract cavalry. And because those were usually part of auxiliaries (tribes who fought on side of the Rome). Those "barbaric" commanders start play increasingly important role in Roman politics. When Vandals burn the Rome in 5'th century, they actually intervened against usurpers in name of the Emperor. After that West Roman Empire basically go through Balkanization. With Longobards sizing control over Apennine Peninsula. BUT! Most of regions of the Rome, despite tribal population did consider itself as Roman. Only few decades after formal fall of Carolingian's (Franks) attempt to unite empire. In 8'th century recapturing the Rome. In fact they did attempt to rejoin Byzantium as Cesar (elector). But Roman Augustus (actual Byzantine Emperor) refuse negotiations seeing them as barbarians (fact that religions drifted from each other play also the role). Shortly after that control over Rome is taken by woman, in rather shady way. What is exploited by Franks, who call Byzantine interregnum and as they as Romans control city of Rome, they declare themselves as proper Roman Empire. From that point both sides basically were ignoring each other, considering other side as illegitimate. In 9'th century Frank empire go through split ironically identical to late Rome. Separating on three countries. But shortly after that Fance and Germany, invade Italy and Germans take Emperor crown. Founding Holly Roman Empire. But due to elector method Germany is divided, until Prussia finally unite country in 19'th century. While Italy struggle with reconquest of peninsula and isn't strong to claim title. While France despite united nature doesn't have strong enough claim to do so. At least until Napoleon temporarily claim the title. And there was also Austria-Hungary. Though it is weird case. Anyway, after WW1 Emperor is overthrown and formally for now, there is no one there. Though ironically Europe finally reunited though different means. So we may call it as Roman Union? I'm joking. East was no better. Country was in constant decline, after failed attempt of recapturing Apennine Penisula. They are finally defeated by Turks. Who also declare themselves as Roman Empire. But are universally ignored and later drop the idea. And there is also a madman known as Ivan the Terrible. Who declare himself as Cezar (Tzar) of Third Rome and some vogue concept of All-Rus (Russia). Though despite it being completely illegitimate, Russia is later overtaken by actual Germans, related to Kaiser. So it sort of become true. But not really? Definitely not now. If anything Bulgarian Tzar did have most legitimate claim to Byzantium heritage. Because he actually was subject and elector of Rome. So they technically could elect themselves. Anyway. Bulgaria is now in EU, so it doesn't matter.
I want to thank Blue for introducing me to the glorious Byzantine Empire in the first videos several years ago. Since then it has become probably my favourite period/civilisation of history, and I was lucky enough to visit Istanbul earlier this year. Thank you so much for making me borderline obsessed with this niche but incredible part of history!
It's beautiful. I lived in Istanbul as an international student for a year and I miss it greatly. I'm from Canada, so there's a lot of space but not much visible history here. It was amazing for me to be in one of the defining cities of the world, surrounded by history spanning nearly 2500 years. I took every opportunity to explore the city and the rest of the Eastern Mediterranean and I wish I could go back. I have a lot of fond memories of taking rubbings of Varangian graffiti in the Hagia Sophia while playing with the cats, watching the dolphins under the bridge, sketching the Topkapi gardens, and meeting friends at the Chai shops.
"the Byzantines are really special to me, and I'll count myself satisfied if I was able to convey why." "… at no point in Byzantine history was it too late to care." Yeah, Blue. You conveyed why. The timeless beauty of that brought tears to this old man's eyes.
One truly remarkable thing about the ascension of Emperor Heraclius is that it actually ended with the successful usurper personally slaying the tyrant he deposed. After Heraclius took control of Constantinople, a captured Phocas was brought before Heraclius. The triumphant Heraclius allegedly asked the usurper of Maurice, “Is this how you have ruled, scum?” Phocas reportedly replied, “And will you rule better?” Heraclius, rather than simply saying, “Yes, I’ll do a much better job. Thanks for asking,” instead personally killed and even beheaded Phocas right on the spot. We usually only see such things in fiction (ahem, Star Wars or Mortal Kombat). More often than not, only in books, movies, and video games do we have the protagonist and antagonist meet in a scenario in which only one walks away still alive. We did not, after all, have FDR personally fight and kill Hitler. Even in cases where an opponent did not commit suicide a la Hitler, the historic villain may have been dealt with by agents of the victor. In 610 A.D., however, the people’s champion indeed did not delegate to subordinates, but instead confronted and killed his adversary in person in one of only a handful of such instances in all of human history.
We should not forget that Heraclius was a master propagandist - that account is almost certainly an exaggerated version of events to aggrandize and legitimate the new usurper's authority. Notably, the meticulous Paschal Chronicle has a slightly different version of events. Heraclius supervises from his ship and is not present in the city when Phokas is killed and his body burned. Heraclius actually burns a statue of Phokas the next day in the Hippodrome so he could participate in person
The battle (forgot it's name but it was after 1204) between Theodore Laskaris of the Nicean Empire and the Seljuk Turks was actually not Propaganda, and is ironically almost exactly like a price of fantasy in its outcome. With Laskaris on the verge of defeat but not before routing the Turks by killing the Seljuk Sultan in single combat.
OSP is terrible at history and basically repeating Heraclian propaganda. Phocas was not a great emperor but in all fairness he was given a horrible hand. When he overthrew Maurice he may not have intended to become emperor and he had neither the necessary knowledge nor the legitimacy, making ruling the empire extremely difficult. He was most likely portrayed as much more cruel and incompetent than he really was by later pro-Heraclian sources. When Phocas was killed by Heraclius in 610, the Byzantines were losing the war against the Persians but they were still fighting on the border in Mesopotamia. The supposed miraculous arrival of Heraclius caused a civil war at the time when the empire needed soldiers on the frontiers the most. Not only that, but it was under Heraclius that the Levant and Egypt were lost, not under Phocas like OSP shows on the map. We will never know what would have happened had Heraclius not rebelled, but he may have made the situation even worse.
@@Tansub96 If Phocas wasn’t cruel and incompetent, I strongly doubt Constantinople would have just completely rebelled the moment a navy showed up. When the Persians allied with the Avars(?) a few years later to put Constantinople under siege by both land and sea the city didn’t merely hold out but repulsed the double attack.
@@John_Weissthe people who say that council of Niceae were there to "fix" the Bible or hide some sort of secret or whatever don't understand how very important their task was to them. When a dude whose whole legacy is giving up of his own wealth to help others loses his cool over it, you know it was serious. They only canonized New Testament accounts that could be traced back to people who were actually alive with Jesus and written by them in their life time. even then, a lot of epistles were left out, OT books were left out because, while being mentioned by other parts of the Bible, they were incomplete or had obvious changes made to them. It was, for them, "If we do this wrong, we spend eternity in hell and condemn our followers to the same" So, Santa has to throw hands with a gnostic trying to co-opt the whole thing.
I’ve always found it interesting too how in the beginning Romans considered themselves Greek and in the end Greeks considered themselves Roman. Pretty wholesome.
Just gonna comment and rant a bit, no offense intended. Romans never considered themselves Greek in the beginning, only in a sort of competition with the Greeks, in military and culture. That's why they used syncretism to adapt Greek mythology and sometimes whole gods (like Apollo) into their (already established!) pantheon. Yes, the Aeneas mythos does relate Aeneas to the Trojan war, but on the Trojan side, not the Greek, and they got that via the Etruscans (probably) like a lot of other things like the alphabet as well. In the final version of the myth, in Vergil's Aeneid, the Trojans even originated in Latium (Italy), so that Aeneas is literally coming home. Just because the Romans had the habit of syncretizing their gods with others doesn't mean that they considered their gods the same as the Greek gods, or even themselves as Greek. Very very far from that. (But still, they always felt the need to prove that they were a cultural equal all the time; and rich people spoke Greek, studied Greek, and sent their youth to Greece, but only to see, study, adapt and then improve and make it Roman.) Sorry for the rant, as I said I'm not trying to offend. It's just that I'm literally studying Latin and archaeology and the Aeneid and early Roman history are, like, my whole personality at this point, I wanted to comment. :)
@@silverlilly3276 Romans was Italians lol say whatever you want all I can tell you is where is rome in Italy or Greece? Because it all started in Rome.
I love how your "resummarized" videos aren't just the original three videos clipped together into one track- they're nearly identical, but you've made corrections and changes. Like at 1:30, you corrected it from "the tried and true method of lions" to "the vivid but ultimately ahistorical method of lions". Small changes make a huge difference.
This makes me incredibly happy to see Blue touch up on the Byzantine history videos, they alone are the reason I got hyper fixated on Greek/Byzantine history.
Blue, I took a trip to Venice last Sept and because of your previous Byzantine Empire videos, decided to start the trip off with a detour to Ravenna. All of the Byzantine sites there were stunning, but the Basilica di San Vitale especially was one of the most breathtaking places I’ve ever set eyes on, to the point that (as much as it may kill you personally to hear this), when I finally entered the Basilica San Marco in Venice, my immediate thought upon seeing their mosaics was ‘Eh, it’s no Basilica di San Vitale.’ So thanks for helping me find what has legit become one of my favorite places in the entire world!
"Anna Komnenos is the first woman historian" I won't stand for this slander of Ban Zhao's name, she predated Anna by about 1000 years as being a woman historian. And she's just the one I know of, I'm sure there are more.
I gotta say, I absolutely adore the Re-Summarized concept. It's such a good idea. Blue has so many amazing videos from the early years. It feels like getting an unexpected remaster for my favourite old video game. But like... free lol
Got the chance to interact with blue at one point. One of the kindest, most genuine humans I’ve ever encountered. Was tblown away by the altruism, despite little to be gained. When y’all consume this content, you’re supporting a truly phenomenal human being.
Honestly, I prefered Justinian and Therodorea's eyes glowing in the original cut. but other wise its really helpful to have all your Byzantine History episodes in one thing! Keep up the work Blue!
Even if Alexander kinda laid the fundations, I'd love a video on graeco-buddhist culture. While we are talking Greek culture going places and mixing philosophies, I mean.
Finally a follow-up video on the best Roman Empire! I remember when part 1 of the original came out and waiting a year for part 3. So glad we got a whole RE-Summarized :)
You’re not the only one. I too feel the full Byzantine Power when I say Kataphraktos instead the English cataphract. Rewatching this while playing as the ruler of the Byzantines in crusader kings 2
*Kataphraktos, Dromons, Flamethrowers, Hikanatoi, the Varangian Guard... The absolute fortress that was Constantinople... Belisarius, Narses, John Kourkouas, Nikephoros Phokas, John Tzimiskes, Basil II, Alexios I, Roger de Flor... That's how you survive and prosper for a thousand years.*
An excellent upgrade and compendium of some of this channel's best videos! A small nitpick if I may: Emperor Constantine V did indeed campaign vigorously in the Balkans and secured much of it for the Romans, yes, but his main target were the Bulgars up north, not the Slavs in Greece. The basic reconquest of Greece first started taking shaped under Constantine's daughter-in-law Empress regent Eirene of Athens, whose generals secured the submission of the Slav tribes, then under her successor, Nikephoros I, who essentially colored Greece purple again like you showed for the year 800 (before having his skull become a drinking cup for the Bulgars).
I kind of zoned out while I was listening to this and doing dishes. When I came to and started listening to what Blue was saying I thought he was doing a satire of today's history. Time really is a wheel.
I feel so vindicated by this history. As a kid I loved Medieval total war, played a couple thousand hours at least over the years... And I always loved the Byzantine style, the flavor and units and such, just great vibes... I didn't suck, I was just being historically accurate.
I LOVED this video. I have been looking forward to it ever since you remastered your Rome ones. I am a little disappointed you did not take a moment to talk about Trebizond and the Principality of Theodoro, but I will survive.
"Because *at no point was it too late to care.* Because they believed there was something about their state, their peoples, their faith, their identity, that was worth dying for, and *living* for..." And *that* is how you endure. You refuse to despair, to get to the point of saying "oh so let it all burn down what's the use". Turns out Theodora *was* prophetic: though reduced to a doomed rump city-state for over a century, when it finally went down for good, everybody knew, said and remembered that it went down as The Empire.
As someone who took Honors World History recently I really enjoyed this video. We went over the Byzantine and yeah they really did scrap for survival and succeed for way longer than could be expected.
Great work! As a Greek sociologist and history teacher, I found the video to be quite accurate and insightful, especially given the constraints of its time limitation.
I am going to have a exam on this soon! Perfect timing thank you! It’s a art history class! It’s a early mediaeval art history class and at this point 4 weeks in we are focusing so much on Constantinople and Africa and I have just been loving it! I’ve never heard of so much of this history! This video will be the perfect study tool for me and I need to tell my professor of this!
Thank you for making such a respectful video. As a Greek with deep ties to the Empire, it means a lot to me. I just wish you talked a little about the final siege of Constantinople because it might be the most incredible battle of all time.
“For we are Hellenes by race and Romans by polity, which means that we are both the heirs of the Greek wisdom and the upholders of Roman law.” Georgios Gemistos Plethon, prominent Byzantine Greek Scholar (14th century).
Dear Blue, the Black Death was not the name of the bubonic plague. It was the name of the period between 1346 and 1353 when Y. pestis spread throughout Medieval Europe. The plague during the 500s was called the Plague of Justinian. Sincerely, a beloved fan. Love you guys!
I really love this video and how it emphasises the perseverence and stubborness of Greek and Roman spirit. And especially with that melancholic ending of the Empire finally having to end after centuries of fighting to keep its glory alive, I think it would be really cool to see another video tackling the topic of how that same spirit persevered even beyond the fall of the Empire into the Ottoman years and all the way through to the establishment of the modern Greek state. The fact that the Greeks/Christians were able to survive within the Ottoman Empire, preserve their culture, become influential within it and eventually re-emerge with their independent state yet again is both quite impressive and of the very same theme this video presented. There's already a video on the Ottoman Empire, but that video justifiably focuses on the Ottomans. It would be interesting to see one about the conquered people of the Empire. Discussing the multi-cultured nature of the Empire in general would also be pretty interesting.
Did you know the calling of The East Roman Empire the Byzantines was a slur that the Venicians started. Not surprising though, their way of thinking was bent and cultivated a mindset in the West that is without honor.
@@corneliusmaze-eye2459well maybe if the Byzantines hadn’t wrecked the Ostrogoth kingdom that kept Italy stable and unfragmented Venice wouldn’t have had any opportunity to rise and start the slur :^)
From what has been taught to me, Byzantium was the name of the Ancient Greek city whose foundations Constantinople (or Nova Roma) was built over. One could guess, then, that they initially used it to discredit the legitimacy of the new city under the name of the guy that moved the capital from their area; or, just as likely, they just continued to call it that for a few generations during a transitional period of waiting to see if it would fail & revert, until it was colloquially more accepted. The latter aligns more with the fact the name was used poetically, but the former is just as valid considering how we adjust to new concepts ideas even today.
This was an amazing and relatively quick overview that expanded on your earlier videos in a way I really appreciate. I'm sure the algorithm isn't going to be the biggest fan of these re-summarized videos, but I think they're great and hope you keep them coming on whatever topics you want to re-visit.
Let's freaking go ! The empire we took our 2 headed eagle from. From those wondering the 2 heads represent how the byzantine empire watched everything from the east to the west as one. Like an eagle , you can do your best to watch over everything but there is one place you can't look, your behind. Hence the 2nd head. One to look everything from the east and the other to look everything from west. Is literally a sign of the empire sovranity.
"May I never see the day when those who meet me do not call me Empress. If you wish to save yourself, my lord, there is no difficulty. We are rich; over there is the sea, and yonder are the ships. Yet reflect for a moment whether, when you have once escaped to a place of security, you would not gladly exchange such safety for deth. As for me, I agree with the adage, 'that Royal Purple is the noblest shroud.'" That sounds like a speech from a book, not something that actually came out of a real person's mouth.
ok, so it might've been less dramatic; maybe more like "look pal; if you wanna run for it fine, but I'm a queen now and no way in HELL am I giving it up." Frankly the quoted speech sounds better.
The fact that I've started multiple conversations with "the funny thing about the fall of the Roman Empire is that it didn't," and now Blue starts a video that way? Peak.
I would love to see a video about the identity of the Byzantines, to help people who deny any Hellenic identity of the empire and its people, and are calling it “Roman” and only Roman
While liking the fun sarcastic energy of the voiceover, I want to add that Michael Hudson is the best resource for understanding the very early Christian influences in the Byzantine Empire. The "disruptive influences" of early Christianity were about forgiving debts of the poor to the ultra rich. The original Lord's prayer was about forgiving their debts. Hmm, what a concept!
When I heard about the recent 'meme' of thinking about the Roman Empire, my first thought was; 'does the "Byzantium" count?' And the answer I quickly gave myself was 'YES!' Also, I like seeing you revisiting old topics to cover them better, deeper, or from different angle. So I hope you'll make a video about the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (delving deeper into the topic than in your video about Poland) or one just about the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, or both. 😁
Thank you so much for conveying all of that history in such an interesting way! I really enjoyed every second of your documentary and can say with full confidence that I have learnt much more than I had previously anywhere else.
The Great generals of the Roman Empire who fought bravely for another 1000 years. Constantine the Great, Flavius Belisarius, Maurice, Heraclius, LeoIII, John kourkouas, Nikephoras Phokas, John I Tzimiskes, Basil II and many more!
I've seen many textbooks and video essays about various snapshots of the Byzantine Empire, but this is my first time seeing their broad history in context. It's really beautiful
If I had a nickel for every time JoCat's "Smite!" soundbyte ended up in an OSP video, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.
Khosrau was the medieval equivalent of an internet troll. Surprised you never mentioned him fixing a chariot race in favor of the greens because Justinian and Theodora were fans of the blues (that's how they met, actually).
"How often do you think about the Roman Empire?"
Blue: "Yes."
Blue's every thought is accompanied by, "How does this relate to the Roman Empire?"
@@BradyPostmaand does it have a dome?
@@marsultor6131 - Blue things those thoughts from within his own brain dome! It's domes all the way down!
Shoot, made the same joke before scrolling through the comments
@@BradyPostma and at the end of the day the world is just two domes clapped together.
just want to say that your previous videos about the Byzantines helped me pass my exam about the Byzantine empire
Nice
Noice.
Blue must be so happy to hear this news 😊
Same
Brilliant!
As tragic as it is, it’s kind of funny imagining the absolute chaos and terror of the sack contrasted with a group of Venetians going through the city like “ah yes, those would like good in St. Marks. Excuse me pillaging raider, I must bring this fine art back home.”
It isnt “kind of funny”
Atrocious that you think it is.
@@ReplyToMeIfUrRetardedit was 100s of years ago calm down
@@ReplyToMeIfUrRetarded always good to see someone having a mental breakdown over something minor in the youtube comment section.
@@ReplyToMeIfUrRetardedyou're right.
It's freaking hilarious 😂
Imagine going shopping during a riot.
@@brianaschmidt910 Well,seems quite the deal coming from an American,you guys have experience to that and many,many more...
Eastern romans: "Could you please try to not invade our territory...FOR FIVE MINUTES!?"
Persians, ottomans, mongols, huns, barbarians, etc: "What an awesome capital you have, guys!" 😎
Crusaders: No, I don't think I will
@ISLAMMEHMEDOVcrusaders did it first though
Eastern Romans: "You want it so bad? Have a taste!" _Greek Fire_
Everything else, including the water: _screaming_
@ISLAMMEHMEDOV
I’m not sure the Byzantine Empire of 1453 was a difficult prospect to conquer.
@ISLAMMEHMEDOV
Well, if we look at the Byzantines just a few decades before the Ottoman’s established themselves, we would find that they weren’t in power at all. From 1204 to 1261 the old empire had been split into 3 successor states, Constantinople sacked and thrown into disrepair, and there was a massive territorial loss. Even 30 years after reunification, the wake of this event crippled the ERE.
History isn’t about ‘winners’ and ‘losers’, because nothing stands eternal. No country, state, religion or person will exist forever. It’s about the mark you left behind on history. And the mark left by Rome was the largest across the entire Mediterranean hemisphere.
I often don't think about how old some names are.
But hearing the phrase "Byzantine Emperor Maurice" completely knocked me for a loop...
Maurice, fetch me my city
Crazy old Maurice...
Tiffany dates back to the 11th century
Phocas is just the 7th-century version of Mort
MAURICE, I CANT MOVE IT MOVE IT ANYMORE
The "Khosrau's Better Antioch" thing was so funny to me that I immediately had to tab out of the video to check.
It's 100% legit.
After sacking Antioch, he named his new city "Weh Antioch Khosrau", which translates to "Better Than Antioch, Khosrau Built This".
That dude's meme game was absolutely unparalleled.
"The New and Better Antioch, Brought to You By Khosrau"
Great Sage Equal to Heaven vibes
There's anechdote that is likely apocrypha but still funny where Khosrau talks to a kidnapped citizen and asks him how he likes his new digs. The citizen says it's great except there was mulberry(?) tree that he really like in his yard in the old Antioch. The next morning a fully grown tree is in his yard
@@nicolasdiaz1542 It are stories like these that really don't matter whether they are fake or not, because they capture the spirit of the situation so well that there is no reason they could not be true at all.
And yes, the story is hilarious. This is the reason why I sometimes lament that we don't really have true monarchies anymore. Who else but a king fully in control of his country could pull stunts like this?
@@the_tactician9858well, billionaires.
It is somewhat of a let down that our unelected global superpowers don't have the flare for theatrics the older generations had.
Say what you want about Bezos just buying your favorite IP that got cancelled and bankrolling the entire creative endeavor so the artists could finish their work as they wanted, but it doesn't have the exact Umph as building your own better version of one of the world's largest cities and then actually committing to the bit, or drinking pearls in the first case in history of improvised champagne, or solving decades old dispute and the world's most difficult puzzle by just slicing it in half.
i absolutely love this thing where nearly every single person who learns about Theodora just goes
"wow. i like her. such a badass and capable queen."
Everyone except Procopius! MAN, did he hate her and Antonina!
Just don't bring up geese in front of her.
I, too, love totalitarian leaders who choose to massacre their subjects.
@@paulwagner688or what she had Justinian do to the people at the hippodrome
Katafractos = Hole Punchers.
What do they do?
_Punch Holes._
*Metal* \m/
Just as the Byzantines brought Rome back in a new form so too shall this video be enjoyed by us all.
Romans* ffs
They didn't bring back anything, the roman Empire just survived
@@francisdupont1656 No it didn't
@@francisdupont1656 If we want to be specific, West Rome also technically didn't fall. After Hun invasion in 4'th century, where Legions perform poorly against horse archers. Rome start increasingly relying on the Cataract cavalry. And because those were usually part of auxiliaries (tribes who fought on side of the Rome). Those "barbaric" commanders start play increasingly important role in Roman politics. When Vandals burn the Rome in 5'th century, they actually intervened against usurpers in name of the Emperor. After that West Roman Empire basically go through Balkanization. With Longobards sizing control over Apennine Peninsula.
BUT! Most of regions of the Rome, despite tribal population did consider itself as Roman. Only few decades after formal fall of Carolingian's (Franks) attempt to unite empire. In 8'th century recapturing the Rome. In fact they did attempt to rejoin Byzantium as Cesar (elector). But Roman Augustus (actual Byzantine Emperor) refuse negotiations seeing them as barbarians (fact that religions drifted from each other play also the role). Shortly after that control over Rome is taken by woman, in rather shady way. What is exploited by Franks, who call Byzantine interregnum and as they as Romans control city of Rome, they declare themselves as proper Roman Empire.
From that point both sides basically were ignoring each other, considering other side as illegitimate. In 9'th century Frank empire go through split ironically identical to late Rome. Separating on three countries. But shortly after that Fance and Germany, invade Italy and Germans take Emperor crown. Founding Holly Roman Empire. But due to elector method Germany is divided, until Prussia finally unite country in 19'th century. While Italy struggle with reconquest of peninsula and isn't strong to claim title. While France despite united nature doesn't have strong enough claim to do so. At least until Napoleon temporarily claim the title. And there was also Austria-Hungary. Though it is weird case.
Anyway, after WW1 Emperor is overthrown and formally for now, there is no one there. Though ironically Europe finally reunited though different means. So we may call it as Roman Union? I'm joking. East was no better. Country was in constant decline, after failed attempt of recapturing Apennine Penisula. They are finally defeated by Turks. Who also declare themselves as Roman Empire. But are universally ignored and later drop the idea. And there is also a madman known as Ivan the Terrible. Who declare himself as Cezar (Tzar) of Third Rome and some vogue concept of All-Rus (Russia). Though despite it being completely illegitimate, Russia is later overtaken by actual Germans, related to Kaiser. So it sort of become true. But not really? Definitely not now. If anything Bulgarian Tzar did have most legitimate claim to Byzantium heritage. Because he actually was subject and elector of Rome. So they technically could elect themselves. Anyway. Bulgaria is now in EU, so it doesn't matter.
@@pyropulseIXXI??? But it is the roman empire, just the eastern part of it.
I'd love to see you do a deep dive on Justinian and Theodora, it would be entertaining and interesting. Especially given the Secret History and geese.
Go watch his good couples of history Valentine’s Day special
Extra History has like, 10 videos on them and Bellisarius' campaigns.
Extra History has one. Maiorianus has an excellent channel on late Classical Roman History.
If one can trust Procopius, anyway.
Secret history and geese? Im hooked.
I want to thank Blue for introducing me to the glorious Byzantine Empire in the first videos several years ago. Since then it has become probably my favourite period/civilisation of history, and I was lucky enough to visit Istanbul earlier this year. Thank you so much for making me borderline obsessed with this niche but incredible part of history!
As a Greek Its sad to go To Constatinople it is our biggest faulire in the history of our people
@@christosferizis-synodinos8851 it's hard to explain to normal people why I hate Venice so much.
@@Jacob-df5hr Yep
Don't use the B word!
It's beautiful. I lived in Istanbul as an international student for a year and I miss it greatly. I'm from Canada, so there's a lot of space but not much visible history here. It was amazing for me to be in one of the defining cities of the world, surrounded by history spanning nearly 2500 years. I took every opportunity to explore the city and the rest of the Eastern Mediterranean and I wish I could go back. I have a lot of fond memories of taking rubbings of Varangian graffiti in the Hagia Sophia while playing with the cats, watching the dolphins under the bridge, sketching the Topkapi gardens, and meeting friends at the Chai shops.
When Blue started going through the military units, I was getting Age of Empires flashbacks from my childhood and I LOVE IT!
Byzantines are my favorite AoE2 civs
(If you haven't, you really should check out the AoE2 definitive edition. It's a great upgrade from the original)
@@DanielC01000100goths are so broken lol
Aoe will never die
"the Byzantines are really special to me, and I'll count myself satisfied if I was able to convey why."
"… at no point in Byzantine history was it too late to care."
Yeah, Blue. You conveyed why. The timeless beauty of that brought tears to this old man's eyes.
He is also of Greek heritage. He has family back in Greece
@@alin-mihai Yep. I wish I could make something this cool as a homage to my heritage!
Loving the extra Theodora content!
One truly remarkable thing about the ascension of Emperor Heraclius is that it actually ended with the successful usurper personally slaying the tyrant he deposed.
After Heraclius took control of Constantinople, a captured Phocas was brought before Heraclius. The triumphant Heraclius allegedly asked the usurper of Maurice, “Is this how you have ruled, scum?” Phocas reportedly replied, “And will you rule better?” Heraclius, rather than simply saying, “Yes, I’ll do a much better job. Thanks for asking,” instead personally killed and even beheaded Phocas right on the spot.
We usually only see such things in fiction (ahem, Star Wars or Mortal Kombat). More often than not, only in books, movies, and video games do we have the protagonist and antagonist meet in a scenario in which only one walks away still alive. We did not, after all, have FDR personally fight and kill Hitler. Even in cases where an opponent did not commit suicide a la Hitler, the historic villain may have been dealt with by agents of the victor. In 610 A.D., however, the people’s champion indeed did not delegate to subordinates, but instead confronted and killed his adversary in person in one of only a handful of such instances in all of human history.
We should not forget that Heraclius was a master propagandist - that account is almost certainly an exaggerated version of events to aggrandize and legitimate the new usurper's authority. Notably, the meticulous Paschal Chronicle has a slightly different version of events. Heraclius supervises from his ship and is not present in the city when Phokas is killed and his body burned. Heraclius actually burns a statue of Phokas the next day in the Hippodrome so he could participate in person
The chance of this episode being nothing but propaganda is 99%
The battle (forgot it's name but it was after 1204) between Theodore Laskaris of the Nicean Empire and the Seljuk Turks was actually not Propaganda, and is ironically almost exactly like a price of fantasy in its outcome. With Laskaris on the verge of defeat but not before routing the Turks by killing the Seljuk Sultan in single combat.
OSP is terrible at history and basically repeating Heraclian propaganda. Phocas was not a great emperor but in all fairness he was given a horrible hand. When he overthrew Maurice he may not have intended to become emperor and he had neither the necessary knowledge nor the legitimacy, making ruling the empire extremely difficult. He was most likely portrayed as much more cruel and incompetent than he really was by later pro-Heraclian sources. When Phocas was killed by Heraclius in 610, the Byzantines were losing the war against the Persians but they were still fighting on the border in Mesopotamia. The supposed miraculous arrival of Heraclius caused a civil war at the time when the empire needed soldiers on the frontiers the most. Not only that, but it was under Heraclius that the Levant and Egypt were lost, not under Phocas like OSP shows on the map. We will never know what would have happened had Heraclius not rebelled, but he may have made the situation even worse.
@@Tansub96
If Phocas wasn’t cruel and incompetent, I strongly doubt Constantinople would have just completely rebelled the moment a navy showed up. When the Persians allied with the Avars(?) a few years later to put Constantinople under siege by both land and sea the city didn’t merely hold out but repulsed the double attack.
Lets not forget that, at the council of Nicaea, Santa Claus (Saint Nickolas) punched out a heretic.
OMG! That's a great factoid to learn! As well as hysterical.
@@John_Weissthe people who say that council of Niceae were there to "fix" the Bible or hide some sort of secret or whatever don't understand how very important their task was to them. When a dude whose whole legacy is giving up of his own wealth to help others loses his cool over it, you know it was serious.
They only canonized New Testament accounts that could be traced back to people who were actually alive with Jesus and written by them in their life time. even then, a lot of epistles were left out, OT books were left out because, while being mentioned by other parts of the Bible, they were incomplete or had obvious changes made to them.
It was, for them, "If we do this wrong, we spend eternity in hell and condemn our followers to the same" So, Santa has to throw hands with a gnostic trying to co-opt the whole thing.
_He sees you when you're sleeping_
_He knows when you're awake_
_He knows if you've denied the divinity of Christ_
_So if your name is Arius, duck_
I find it very poetic that, at least from a mythological point of view, Rome sprouted from Greece and eventually returned to Greece.
I’ve always found it interesting too how in the beginning Romans considered themselves Greek and in the end Greeks considered themselves Roman. Pretty wholesome.
Just gonna comment and rant a bit, no offense intended.
Romans never considered themselves Greek in the beginning, only in a sort of competition with the Greeks, in military and culture. That's why they used syncretism to adapt Greek mythology and sometimes whole gods (like Apollo) into their (already established!) pantheon.
Yes, the Aeneas mythos does relate Aeneas to the Trojan war, but on the Trojan side, not the Greek, and they got that via the Etruscans (probably) like a lot of other things like the alphabet as well. In the final version of the myth, in Vergil's Aeneid, the Trojans even originated in Latium (Italy), so that Aeneas is literally coming home.
Just because the Romans had the habit of syncretizing their gods with others doesn't mean that they considered their gods the same as the Greek gods, or even themselves as Greek. Very very far from that.
(But still, they always felt the need to prove that they were a cultural equal all the time; and rich people spoke Greek, studied Greek, and sent their youth to Greece, but only to see, study, adapt and then improve and make it Roman.)
Sorry for the rant, as I said I'm not trying to offend. It's just that I'm literally studying Latin and archaeology and the Aeneid and early Roman history are, like, my whole personality at this point, I wanted to comment. :)
@@HerdingHilarity they never considered themselves greeks they fought the greeks in the beginning of rome
"In the end, the Romans were Greek. And the Greeks were not only Roman, they were the last romans"
@@silverlilly3276 Romans was Italians lol say whatever you want all I can tell you is where is rome in Italy or Greece? Because it all started in Rome.
I love how your "resummarized" videos aren't just the original three videos clipped together into one track- they're nearly identical, but you've made corrections and changes. Like at 1:30, you corrected it from "the tried and true method of lions" to "the vivid but ultimately ahistorical method of lions". Small changes make a huge difference.
Waaiiit...
Wintory *gave* you the *personnal* authorization to use *his* music?
This guy is the goodest noodle around in video game music industry.
All Hail Emperor Blue!
Blue for Roman Emperor
First policy is moving the capital to Venice
Bluesileus
@@theanimeunderworld8338
I'll get the scuba gear and floaties.
They're for the domes.
Y'all are gonna have to learn to swim or something.
@@GloGlo315You have won the Internet today
You mean vembis?
This makes me incredibly happy to see Blue touch up on the Byzantine history videos, they alone are the reason I got hyper fixated on Greek/Byzantine history.
"So how much time do you want to spend talking about Byzantium--"
*_"YES."_*
What makes you think we'll ever stop?
Blue, I took a trip to Venice last Sept and because of your previous Byzantine Empire videos, decided to start the trip off with a detour to Ravenna. All of the Byzantine sites there were stunning, but the Basilica di San Vitale especially was one of the most breathtaking places I’ve ever set eyes on, to the point that (as much as it may kill you personally to hear this), when I finally entered the Basilica San Marco in Venice, my immediate thought upon seeing their mosaics was ‘Eh, it’s no Basilica di San Vitale.’
So thanks for helping me find what has legit become one of my favorite places in the entire world!
"Anna Komnenos is the first woman historian"
I won't stand for this slander of Ban Zhao's name, she predated Anna by about 1000 years as being a woman historian. And she's just the one I know of, I'm sure there are more.
I will not research this as I don't believe in women, but I believe you, godspeed
Alas, eurocentric history strikes again...
china
@@tonic9914 It happens.
Marco Polo: "I travelled to China and back."
Ibn Battuta: "Amateur."
Hear hear! He should have said something more akin to "the first female European historian for whose works we have a verified date." Or something
The Byzantine Empire was the embodiment of "I didn't hear no bell"
Keeping Roman Ideals, shall we?
The utter delight in Blue's voice everytime he gets to show us a new dome always puts a smile on my face.
I gotta say, I absolutely adore the Re-Summarized concept. It's such a good idea. Blue has so many amazing videos from the early years. It feels like getting an unexpected remaster for my favourite old video game. But like... free lol
Got the chance to interact with blue at one point. One of the kindest, most genuine humans I’ve ever encountered. Was tblown away by the altruism, despite little to be gained. When y’all consume this content, you’re supporting a truly phenomenal human being.
I love the Byzantine Empire and I also love these RE-Summarized videos, so this is quite the win for me! Also that opening bit? *chef's kiss*
I fell asleep last night listening to this series, it's funny to see it pop up again the next day.
Khosrau Anushirivan is one of my favourite historical figures. His meme game was on point.
The fall of the roman empire brings a tear to my eye.
The fall of the Byzantine empire leaves me in a depression everytime I think of it.
im pretty sure theres some other wonderous GOLDEN DISASTER EMPIRE that can be even more devastating (fall wise)
I really love that this 're-summarized' video perfectly fits into the very current meme about how often men think about the Roman Empire 🤣🤣
Honestly, I prefered Justinian and Therodorea's eyes glowing in the original cut. but other wise its really helpful to have all your Byzantine History episodes in one thing! Keep up the work Blue!
Thank you for giving me this re-polished gem to watch during my self-care day, Blue!
Even if Alexander kinda laid the fundations, I'd love a video on graeco-buddhist culture. While we are talking Greek culture going places and mixing philosophies, I mean.
If blue didn't say "Let's not kid ourselves, these are still the Romans we're talking about" I would have died. Im glad that was kept
Theodora my beloved. Also the 'Bloodthirsty? Maybe. Tyrant? Kinda. But like...girl can get it.' KILLED me.
the number of maps in this video is truly astounding. rip blue's hand
"Hoplites & Horsemen" would be a good name for a tabletop game set in Ancient Greece.
Or a band c:
Finally a follow-up video on the best Roman Empire! I remember when part 1 of the original came out and waiting a year for part 3. So glad we got a whole RE-Summarized :)
I didn't know i needed Blue shouting "SLAYYYY 💅💅💅" in my life, but im glad i have it now
Khosrau vs Justinian is one of the best rivalries ever, very glad Mr. Immortal Soul got a well-deserved mention
You’re not the only one. I too feel the full Byzantine Power when I say Kataphraktos instead the English cataphract. Rewatching this while playing as the ruler of the Byzantines in crusader kings 2
KATAFRAKTOI ✊🏻
*Kataphraktos, Dromons, Flamethrowers, Hikanatoi, the Varangian Guard... The absolute fortress that was Constantinople... Belisarius, Narses, John Kourkouas, Nikephoros Phokas, John Tzimiskes, Basil II, Alexios I, Roger de Flor... That's how you survive and prosper for a thousand years.*
An excellent upgrade and compendium of some of this channel's best videos!
A small nitpick if I may: Emperor Constantine V did indeed campaign vigorously in the Balkans and secured much of it for the Romans, yes, but his main target were the Bulgars up north, not the Slavs in Greece. The basic reconquest of Greece first started taking shaped under Constantine's daughter-in-law Empress regent Eirene of Athens, whose generals secured the submission of the Slav tribes, then under her successor, Nikephoros I, who essentially colored Greece purple again like you showed for the year 800 (before having his skull become a drinking cup for the Bulgars).
This might date me, but the 12 Byzantine Rulers podcast got me into Roman history and into thinking critically about the history in general
I remember that podcast!
It's what caused me to stop saying, "Byzantine Empire", and start calling it the, "Eastern Roman Empire."
Well, blue's right. The cataphract really were awesome XD
I kind of zoned out while I was listening to this and doing dishes. When I came to and started listening to what Blue was saying I thought he was doing a satire of today's history. Time really is a wheel.
I feel so vindicated by this history. As a kid I loved Medieval total war, played a couple thousand hours at least over the years... And I always loved the Byzantine style, the flavor and units and such, just great vibes...
I didn't suck, I was just being historically accurate.
I LOVED this video. I have been looking forward to it ever since you remastered your Rome ones. I am a little disappointed you did not take a moment to talk about Trebizond and the Principality of Theodoro, but I will survive.
Storming naples via aqueduct is not a statement i think I ever expected to hear.
"Because *at no point was it too late to care.* Because they believed there was something about their state, their peoples, their faith, their identity, that was worth dying for, and *living* for..."
And *that* is how you endure. You refuse to despair, to get to the point of saying "oh so let it all burn down what's the use". Turns out Theodora *was* prophetic: though reduced to a doomed rump city-state for over a century, when it finally went down for good, everybody knew, said and remembered that it went down as The Empire.
…and even its conqueror went, "No, wait wait wait wait wait! I'm not an invader! I'm just the new Caesar!"
As someone who took Honors World History recently I really enjoyed this video. We went over the Byzantine and yeah they really did scrap for survival and succeed for way longer than could be expected.
Great work! As a Greek sociologist and history teacher, I found the video to be quite accurate and insightful, especially given the constraints of its time limitation.
Thank you for sharing your passion project with the world Blue.
0:04 turns out it might depends on your gender as a new study shows men think about SPQR pretty regularly.
I am going to have a exam on this soon! Perfect timing thank you! It’s a art history class! It’s a early mediaeval art history class and at this point 4 weeks in we are focusing so much on Constantinople and Africa and I have just been loving it! I’ve never heard of so much of this history! This video will be the perfect study tool for me and I need to tell my professor of this!
Thank you for making such a respectful video. As a Greek with deep ties to the Empire, it means a lot to me. I just wish you talked a little about the final siege of Constantinople because it might be the most incredible battle of all time.
You can see the work Blue puts into these, loved this 😊 thank you!
Oh my goodness a 43 minute re-Summarized. :o Christmas came early!
“For we are Hellenes by race and Romans by polity, which means that we are both the heirs of the Greek wisdom and the upholders of Roman law.”
Georgios Gemistos Plethon, prominent Byzantine Greek Scholar (14th century).
Dear Blue, the Black Death was not the name of the bubonic plague. It was the name of the period between 1346 and 1353 when Y. pestis spread throughout Medieval Europe. The plague during the 500s was called the Plague of Justinian.
Sincerely, a beloved fan. Love you guys!
11:00 Darn it spilled my drink lol, truly one of the best episodes yet!!
I really love this video and how it emphasises the perseverence and stubborness of Greek and Roman spirit. And especially with that melancholic ending of the Empire finally having to end after centuries of fighting to keep its glory alive, I think it would be really cool to see another video tackling the topic of how that same spirit persevered even beyond the fall of the Empire into the Ottoman years and all the way through to the establishment of the modern Greek state. The fact that the Greeks/Christians were able to survive within the Ottoman Empire, preserve their culture, become influential within it and eventually re-emerge with their independent state yet again is both quite impressive and of the very same theme this video presented.
There's already a video on the Ottoman Empire, but that video justifiably focuses on the Ottomans. It would be interesting to see one about the conquered people of the Empire. Discussing the multi-cultured nature of the Empire in general would also be pretty interesting.
Any chance you could remake your ottoman video next? I'd love a deeper and more nuanced on the cultural succession in the region.
As a Greek, I sincerely thank you and am honored by your appreciation and veneration of this glorious part of our history. Long live Ρωμανία!
Ah, the Byzantine Empire. Giving expression "Byzantine" its meaning, before it was even called that.
Did you know the calling of The East Roman Empire the Byzantines was a slur that the Venicians started. Not surprising though, their way of thinking was bent and cultivated a mindset in the West that is without honor.
@@corneliusmaze-eye2459well maybe if the Byzantines hadn’t wrecked the Ostrogoth kingdom that kept Italy stable and unfragmented Venice wouldn’t have had any opportunity to rise and start the slur :^)
From what has been taught to me, Byzantium was the name of the Ancient Greek city whose foundations Constantinople (or Nova Roma) was built over. One could guess, then, that they initially used it to discredit the legitimacy of the new city under the name of the guy that moved the capital from their area; or, just as likely, they just continued to call it that for a few generations during a transitional period of waiting to see if it would fail & revert, until it was colloquially more accepted. The latter aligns more with the fact the name was used poetically, but the former is just as valid considering how we adjust to new concepts ideas even today.
This was an amazing and relatively quick overview that expanded on your earlier videos in a way I really appreciate. I'm sure the algorithm isn't going to be the biggest fan of these re-summarized videos, but I think they're great and hope you keep them coming on whatever topics you want to re-visit.
Let's freaking go ! The empire we took our 2 headed eagle from. From those wondering the 2 heads represent how the byzantine empire watched everything from the east to the west as one. Like an eagle , you can do your best to watch over everything but there is one place you can't look, your behind. Hence the 2nd head. One to look everything from the east and the other to look everything from west. Is literally a sign of the empire sovranity.
Byzantines: "We don't hear no bell!"
Ottomans: "We know, that's why we brought cannons."
5:42 Theodora speaks like a woman who has clearly worked in retail/service. Girl's got a spine of *titanium*
Blue's side of the content is mainly just an attempt to constantly remake the same videos gushing about how great Rome is and I love it!
"May I never see the day when those who meet me do not call me Empress. If you wish to save yourself, my lord, there is no difficulty. We are rich; over there is the sea, and yonder are the ships. Yet reflect for a moment whether, when you have once escaped to a place of security, you would not gladly exchange such safety for deth. As for me, I agree with the adage, 'that Royal Purple is the noblest shroud.'"
That sounds like a speech from a book, not something that actually came out of a real person's mouth.
ok, so it might've been less dramatic; maybe more like "look pal; if you wanna run for it fine, but I'm a queen now and no way in HELL am I giving it up." Frankly the quoted speech sounds better.
For reasons, this video brings such bitter sweet feelings. Love your work OSP
Truly, this was beautiful and so hopeful.
The fact that I've started multiple conversations with "the funny thing about the fall of the Roman Empire is that it didn't," and now Blue starts a video that way? Peak.
I would love to see a video about the identity of the Byzantines, to help people who deny any Hellenic identity of the empire and its people, and are calling it “Roman” and only Roman
Absolute bamger of a work, thank you so much for bringing us this level of quality time after time!
While liking the fun sarcastic energy of the voiceover, I want to add that Michael Hudson is the best resource for understanding the very early Christian influences in the Byzantine Empire. The "disruptive influences" of early Christianity were about forgiving debts of the poor to the ultra rich. The original Lord's prayer was about forgiving their debts. Hmm, what a concept!
I HAVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE FOR DAYS THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR UPLOADING THIS!!!!!!!
When I heard about the recent 'meme' of thinking about the Roman Empire, my first thought was; 'does the "Byzantium" count?' And the answer I quickly gave myself was 'YES!'
Also, I like seeing you revisiting old topics to cover them better, deeper, or from different angle. So I hope you'll make a video about the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (delving deeper into the topic than in your video about Poland) or one just about the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, or both. 😁
Y'all make learning about history and writing interesting and fun. Thank you for the work you do!
THE DEMIGOD OF HISTORY RETURNS!!
Blue, Son of Clio!
i don’t think I’ve been this early to an OSP video before. Also with Blue covering my favorite empire in history. Amazing.
There was never a question if Blue is thinking about the Roman Empire at any given moment.
Thank you so much for conveying all of that history in such an interesting way! I really enjoyed every second of your documentary and can say with full confidence that I have learnt much more than I had previously anywhere else.
Does anyone know what is the name of the Byzantine chant that begins on 0:10 ???
My wife is from istanbul and i got to go there for the first time this summer. Getting to see where all this happened is so cool
I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Blue was the one who started the "guys are always thinking about the Roman Empire" meme
I love the way you and Red talk about your subjects. Enthusiasm
The Great generals of the Roman Empire who fought bravely for another 1000 years. Constantine the Great, Flavius Belisarius, Maurice, Heraclius, LeoIII, John kourkouas, Nikephoras Phokas, John I Tzimiskes, Basil II and many more!
I've seen many textbooks and video essays about various snapshots of the Byzantine Empire, but this is my first time seeing their broad history in context. It's really beautiful
If I had a nickel for every time JoCat's "Smite!" soundbyte ended up in an OSP video, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.
I'm really enjoying the tweaked script here - very well done!
Fantastic video! Well done, Blue! *sets off imaginary noiseless fireworks* This was so fun to watch. 😀🎆
I like these condensed videos, very nice to listen to while working.
Khosrau was the medieval equivalent of an internet troll. Surprised you never mentioned him fixing a chariot race in favor of the greens because Justinian and Theodora were fans of the blues (that's how they met, actually).
I’ve been on a Byzantine history trip over the last year. This video hit all the right notes.
19:28 - The more Greek he speaks, the more powerful he becomes, that's why he likes it.
I will happily watch any video in which Blue gets to talk about his love for domes.