History Summarized: Augustus' City of Marble
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- Опубліковано 29 вер 2022
- Imagine having an imperial capital and it's only made of bricks. How embarrassing.
SOURCES & Further Reading:
Books - "The Age of Augustus" by Werner Eck, "Augustus and the Creation of the Roman Empire" by Ronald Mellor, "Ara Pacis Augustae" by Mark Cartwright on World History Encyclopedia www.worldhistory.org/article/..., "Ara Pacis Augustae" by Dr. Jeffrey A. Becker on Smarthistory smarthistory.org/ara-pacis/.
Great Courses Lectures - "Piazza Farnese to the Ara Pacis" from "The Essential Guide to Italy" by Dr. Kenneth R. Bartlett, "Roman Art and Architecture" from "The Roman Empire: From Augustus to the Fall of Rome" by Gregory Aldrete.
University - I have a Bachelor's Degree in Classical Studies.
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"So it's rather important that historians and audiences alike be careful not to blindly glorify any civilization. We should celebrate the nice and criticize the yikes because neither exists in a vacuum." Wise words Blue!
Fully agree, as an anime fan you see a lot of weirdos glorifying ancient Japanese culture, Edo period and earlier usually, mostly based on what little they know of Ninja, Samurai and the "honor" code of society. Samurai were just swords for hire the pledged loyalty to a master, "honor" was following that masters orders which could include kidnapping a teenager and selling them to sex slavery to pay off the father's debt. Ronan are demonized but they were just swordsmen that didn't swear loyalty to a master. The telling that Samurai were the honorable good guys and Ronan were all terrible people is propaganda to absolve the rich that had Samurai and abused their power.
@@kaylawoodbury2308 Sounds similar to information I have herd about the realities of English knights over the romanticized tales of knights.
meh the wiser words is "Augustus was endlessly clever, he was also alieingweaselybastertandIfuckinghatehim"
@@Krahazik Yeah pretty much, a lot of the "good guys" in history were anything but. In my favorite line from The Count of Monte Cristo play "History is written by the winners of the fight".
Well said!
Calling Mussolini less subtle than Augustus is one of the most creative burns I’ve heard.
you mean "Wnssolᴉuᴉ"
@@sabotabby3372 Did you have a stroke?
I think both of them would have been offended by that phrase, and I love it
!u!lossnW
@@zetjet9901 Go away.
I wrote my thesis on Augustus's propaganda and Virgil's Aeneid (it was around the time I ran into you in London Blue!), I basically said that Augustus knew that Virgil was being a sneaky bastard in surreptitiously mocking him the whole time throughout the Aeneid, but didn't care because he wanted his age to be considered a Golden Age of Latin Literature, and he knew that in order to get a Golden Age of Latin Literature he had to let writers write what they wanted, free of artistic restriction. So basically he let these slight digs at him throughout Virgil's epic slide, as restricting Virgil's artistic ambitions wouldn't have resulted in Rome's National Epic that came about during the glory days of his reign.
Boy oh boy are you going to enjoy the next video 👀
Also, that's so cool! Clearly, working on your Virgil thesis manifested me into London from across the ocean. It makes so much sense now!
-B
I hadn't considered that before! But yeah, if you want a Grand National Epic by a poet who will make it stick...you gotta put up with a certain amount of that.
Also, wouldn't it be a sign of " Magnanimity" like modern politicos getting roasted at the reporter's dinner or the al smith dinner here in the USA?
*Cries in Ovid's exile*
@@OverlySarcasticProductions So you didn't run into him in London??
"Celebrate the nice, criticize the yikes" needs to be on a shirt. Along with "Augustus: Endlessly Clever, and also a lying weaselly rascal and I f***ing hate him"
Seriously I laughed so hard at that second part.
Yes!!! I’d buy that shirt!!!
The world needs that tshirt.
@@paul-gs4be It's a joke stop being so sensetive. Bloody snowflake
@randomguy9777 Well I mean the Roman Empire was obviously built on slavery and imperialism like... by definition. But that was just how things were back then. And the "Republic" wasn't really a democracy anyway, more of an oligarchy but he did kind of make himself dictator for life which obviously has very authoritarian vibes and stuff... plus I'm sure he had lots of people killed. He was still one of the best Emperors though and you know, different times and all that.
Men
Blue's love-hate relationship with Augustus is on full display this episode
It is truly ironic how Augustus's life became more miserable the more years he spent in power and the more powerful he became, as he began to suffer tragedies one after another: His nephew Marcellus and his grandsons Gaius and Lucius died young, his daughter Julia became a nymphomaniac and his other grandson Postumus a troublemaker whom he had to exile, was forced to make his obnoxious stepson Tiberius heir to the Empire, the Teutoborg disaster ruined his plan to conquer all Germany, etc. In fact, the 1976 series "I, Claudius" did a magnificent job depicting Augustus' fall from grace. In addition, the first episode of 1968 miniseries "The Caesars" opens by showing a depressed and tired of living Augustus who spends his last days of life begging outside the Imperial Temple to pass the time.
You forgot poor Drusus, his other stepson (the one he didn't despise) and his untimely death. He was actually Augustus' first choice as heir, in case Agrippa didn't outlive him. Some historians say that he was even supposed to be picked by Agrippa as sucessor, in detriment to his own children, who were, let's not forget, Augustus' grand-children.
There are hints that his wife Livia organised much of those tragedies, to put his (but not of Augustus) first son, Tiberius, on the throne.
Ironically, Tiberius was not even interested in becoming Emperor.
@@neutronalchemist3241 Yeah, Tiberius HATED being emperor to the point where he stayed at his private palace for most of his reign.
@@discountplaguedoctor88 Which then let Sejanus murder Tiberius son Drusus as well as Germanicus two older sons along with Agrippian the Elder. Leaving little Caligula, a sheltered child who was never considered to be heir the heir apparent.
I wrote my senior thesis on Caligula and honestly I just felt bad for the guy. As a lot of the things he did were not actually bad he just had zero support from the Roman elite as all of his families supporters were killed by Sejanus.
@@neutronalchemist3241 Forcing him and Julia to get married after Agrippa died didn't help matters too much either. Tiberius didn't give a single eff about her (possibly cared even less about her than about the throne) and basically never actually lived with her and in turn she then started sleeping around, probably tired of her father using her as goddamn currency for political alliances. So, while Livia might have been an evil, child murdering b**ch, Augustus wasn't great when it came to decisions regarding his family either. Probably the only good one he ever took was hiring a private tutor for Claudius, in order to foster his natural-born intelligence, that only he seemed to notice (the rest of them thought he was mentally defficient). This did make him, excluding Augustus himself, probably the best Emperor in the whole Julio-Claudian dinasty, although, that bar is pretty low and Claudius' reign had its problems too.
Blue: "Of all the things Augustus did, his most widely celebrated accomplishment was having found Rome as a city of bricks, and leaving it as a city of marble."
Me: And not to be outdone, Nero found Rome as a city of marble, and left it as a city of charcoal briquettes. 😀
He tried to make a city of gold but he ran out of money
It's been mentioned in other videos, but seems worth reiterating here- the costs of the glory of Augustan Rome weren't paid for only by the Romans even in their own era. The conquest of the Mediterranean was frequently bloody, and Julius Caesar's great conquests in Gaul can reasonably be considered a genocide.
I appreciate Blue pointing out the through line between Augustus and Il Duce. The connection that Mussolini claimed did exist- just in the brutality, rather than the glory or the advancement.
I'd love to see a blue video on the gaullic side of Ceaser's conquest of "Making my buddy pay my bail so I can flee the country and become a war criminal" The gails were [pretty cool and Julius like, wiped 2/3rds of them out. Not enough people know how wild it actually was. Probably cause agustus learned propaganda from the OG
I mean, the irony about people who glorify ancient emperors is that, if Mussolini had ever been successful, he really would have been a perfect mirror to Augustus.
A victorious dictator is a victorious dictator at any time in history. Most of that success is making the people believe the dictator is good for them specifically, which again, might even be true for select parts of society, while the rest is forced to support them. In ancient Rome it would have been enslaved conquered people, in 'Nova Roma' it would have been Italy's planned colonial empire.
@@tylermech66 ummmm not at all? If you think that you haven’t done too much investigation into Mussolini. In interviews done on him they note some remarkable qualities but that he fundamentally lacked depth and a lot of deeper insight. Juxtapose this with Augustus who did quite a lot to increase development and culture in Rome, there’s a bit of a valley between the two in terms of ability. You’d be better off comparing Mussolini specifically to Commodus. They shared many of the same traits such as public speaking and bravado.
For those of you interested in the construction of Rome, the Steven Saylor's historical novel "Roma," which takes place from the duel between Hercules and Cacus on the Aventine in the year 850 B.C. to the day Jesus was born, amazingly tells in detail how Rome was born as a simple trading center made up of wooden huts and ended up becoming a gigantic city made up of luxurious temples and marble buildings. In fact, each chapter of the novel includes a map that describes the composition of Rome during the specific period of time in which said chapter takes place. I absolutely recommend it!
Neat!
Any of his books are absolutely fantastic, I have a copy both audio and physical. Best investment hobby interest history wise
Oh cool he has evidence of "the day Jesus was born. " What day was that exactly?
@@bixmcgoo5355 The day is not mentioned and the birth is not shown, but it is strongly implied that Jesus is being born as the novel ends by the way one character states the possibility that "someone in some dark corner of the Empire who will become even greater than the gods could be being born right now."
@@OptimusMaximusNero ah so it isn't historical, it's religious propaganda. Got it.
Vending machines that gave out Holy Water had an ungodly ability to get constantly stuck in said vending machines until Augustus used his time controlling obelisk to free the aforementioned Holy Water in order to fill his arena for staging naval battles.
Fr
Imagine staging a naval battle in holy water.
Imagine the absolute cojones on this man that he managed to murder the Senate, turn himself into a demigod at 18, proclaim his rule as the foundation for time itself and crown it all with building a state funded public place of worship IN HIS OWN HONOR.
Like he may have been an absolute monster, but nobody can say Augustus wasn't also an absolute gigachad
When you're a strategic genius with a chronic illness that nearly kills you every couple years, who can't afford to give a !@#$, apparently!
Cajones means drawers. The word you're thinking of is cojones
@@AegixDrakan and then you got badass team with people like Agrippa and meceances(I can't spell it) how can you not win
@@danielroca9547 Thanks for pointing that out I didn't even see it. Autocorrect out here back it again
I think you’re also understating just how hated the senate had become. Largely they threw out any presentation of the plebs and even started to ignore tribunes, and ended of by murdering a populare icon (Julius). Optimates and the elite really did everything in their power to push for the fall of Rome even when it did end.
"We should celebrate the nice and criticize the yikes."
Dibs on using that as part of a history-themed mixtape.
"Rome wasn't built in a day, you know..."
Yes, it took generations of extremely vain and narcissistic emperors pouring their empire's entire coffers into one-upping each other via architecture and city planning...
I would agree but most Emperors after Augustus was too busy dealing with civil wars and/or invasions to do anything as impressive as Augustus or Ceaser did during their time in charge. In fact I think when it comes to the Empire Rome never had a better emperor than Augustus and few made attempts of any note equal to his feats.
@@bluewolf619125 A few like Vespasianus, Hadrian and Trajan have a shot at being the ones who are the closest in the construction department
The longer I watch these videos, the more I recognize the artwork Blue uses as stories that red covers. Like, 4:11 clearly shows that one time Venus and Mars (Or Ares and Aphrodite) got caught in a net and although it's depicted beautifully I find it hilarious now.
It's like poetry, it rhymes
Man, you did a bang up job showing how freakin' cool all of that art was, while never letting us forget that all of it was state propaganda to make Octavian/Augustus look powerful, and pave the way for his takeover.
1:53 Interestingly, the Pomerium was the main reason Romulus killed Remus. When they were building the city, Remus wanted to establish the Pomerium and the walls on the Aventine, as it was the safest of the seven hills, while Romulus wanted to establish it on the Palatine, the hill on which the twins grew up. Although Romulus won the right to establish the Pomerium on the Palatine after making a competition, Remus did not accept his defeat and accused his brother of cheating. This resulting fight ended with Remus' death. Just a few years after establishing the limits of Rome on the Palatine, King Romulus extended the Pomerium and the walls to the other hills, including the Aventine.
So in a sense, he KINDA respected his brother's choice post-mortem, but perhaps in a pitiful way.
@@victoralexandervinkenes9193 Romulus never got over his brother's death. In fact, he spent the last days of his life talking to the air as if Remus was still there.
🥫?
Not exactly, in the classic myth, as told by Tite-Live (which was ALSO a big propaganda piece for Augustus XD), the two brothers don't have a dispute for the place of the city, they have one for the name of the city. They did go one on the Palatine, one on the Aventine, but it's only to count the number of birds they'll see to determine which one will be the favourite, Remus is the first to see birds, but he count six vultures, Romulus sees them later, but he counts 12 vultures.
So they have a fight, because one have seen the omen first, but the other have a bigger omen. And even Tite-Live give two versions of this fight, either Remus is killed in the initial dispute, or he's killed later, because he crossed the pomaerium. And Romulus says at that time basically, I'll do the same for anyone crossing my walls. Hence, the sacred character of the Pomaerium.
@@krankarvolund7771 I perfectly knew about the vultures omen (it was the competition I talked about), but I didn't explain it because I did not find it necessary in order to give my point. Also, some versions I read say Romulus killed Remus while discussing where the pomerieum has to be placed
I took a Roman art course, and our consensus was that one part of the Ara Pacis most likely depicts Tellus (earth) because of the babies (fertility) and the plants and animals surrounding her (agriculture). Plus, she’s flanked by personifications of sky and water, so Tellus makes the most sense to complete that trio.
_"I've gotta embrace the marble. I've gotta sniff the marble. I've got a lick the marble. I've gotta wash the marble! I've gotta date the marble! I'VE GOTTA BE THE MARBLE!"_
*~ Augustus*
Man wasn't just arrogant enough to make himself King of Time. Even had the audacity to make himself an Avenger.
4:15 When I heard this I expected the logic to be Augustus shipping himself with Rome itself.
If Augustus could bang the goddess Roma you know he would
-B
@@OverlySarcasticProductions Augustus takes a look at the city of Rome, while Livia Drusilla looks offended
Ok, but can we be SURE the Ara Pacis isn't Time Lord Augustus' broken Tardis? Just saying.
He decided he liked the title “time king” instead
@@ecurewitz .... before changing his name to Rasilon? xD
Dio Cassio reports that, after being released from captivity, Caradoc went sightseeing in Rome (literally translated this was "visiting... ...to see for himself the greatness and splendour of the city"). Caradoc, ex-King of the Britons, commented:
"With possessions such as these around us here, why covet our little huts?"
"Bastard but clever" sums up Augustus perfectly.
Love when you talk about architecture
Me too 😊
Augustus Confirmed Antagonist for Time Heist 3 Revenge of the Time King!
This hits a little weird after the elections in Italy, so... Great job at appreciating the nice and pointing out the yikes, Blue!
Keep up the great work, take care and stay safe!
Also, on Augustus' birthday every year, the obelisc's shadow split the Ara Pacis in two perfect halves at a certain hour
Greatest thing I've learned this month:
Pre-Augustus Rome was kind of a dump lol
I can just imagine a pagan european family visiting the empire's seat on vacation and the father being all "This is the city that conquered the world? Seriously!?"
While Augustus was ultimately a ruthless dictator whose main restraint was an obsession with making everything he did seem legitimate, I do think that its fair to say that his existence and rule was an objective, unquestionable, and massive benefit to the Romans. Even if the republic continued in perpetuity instead of being ripped apart by civil war/invasions taking advantage of that civil war (which I would consider inevitable) the late Republic was a direct Oligarchy constantly fighting in civil wars because it was that rare combination of too broken to work and working too well to be fixed.
I'd say that an oppressive autocracy based on a ludicrous amount of propaganda is not quite as bad as an oppressive oligarchy based on wealthy individuals raising armies to invade foreign countries so they can get loyal veteran soldiers so they can come back and essentially hold their government hostage until they get whatever they want. Not excusing him on a moral level, but if you want to ask what Augustan Rome cost the Roman people... well, he cost several generations their chance at becoming dictator. He cost the corrupt oligarchy their chance at political relevance outside of his framework. Pretty much every morally questionable thing he was doing the upper class had been doing before and usually worse. Again, doesn't excuse him, but its not like he was overthrowing a democratically elected government; the senate was 95% a good old boys club that used massive wealth to literally bribe the public into using mob violence against their political opponents because they bought up virtually all the land and the only way the urban poor could reliably get work was to be a hired thug for the wealthy.
"Too broken to work and working too well to be fixed" sounds... terrifyingly familiar.
@@Rachel-fi4sc While I get what you're talking about, that's something that can only really be stated in retrospective. We can identify the intrinsic structural issues with the roman state that were functionally unfixable under the structure of the roman state only because we can look at it from over 2000 years later and view it in a larger context and we know the one of the greatest statesmen who ever lived, working as an absolute dictator, was mostly just able to do a patch job via introducing a parallel administrative structure to make the old one toothless. Even assuming excellent scholarship, it will probably be the 2300's at the earliest before such a judgement can be passed in regards to any particular modern government. And that's assuming that we get a clean break sometime soon, and considering what that would likely entail I think I speak for most when I say that's not a particularly desirable option.
@@KahavaveCAPIPI From an academic point, I agree with what you're saying. From a "looking out the window at the global dumpster fire outside" point, my cynicism says the quote's still pretty accurate.
I literally came from a holiday in rome today. One of the running jokes between the wife and me was "EVRYTHING is made of Marble!" :D
And it was an awesome video all in itself. thank you.
4:06 "Venus, who was a consort of Mars"
Blue, I think Hephaestus would like to have a talk with you
Keyword consort, not wife. Poor Hephaestus.
-B
@@OverlySarcasticProductions Agreed, poor Hephaestus
@@OverlySarcasticProductions Vulcan, not Hephaestus. Hephaestus is Greek, Vulcan is Roman
The more one learns about Octavian/Augustus, the more one sees that, behind all the bling and the centuries of good press... he really wasn't that different from modern dictators. The splendid monuments were one more way to add legitimacy to his rule and the rule of his successors. So in a way, Mussolini was following in his footsteps... but he was less clever, less lucky, had less able subordinates and thougher competition. Which did not prevent him from leaving a legacy, as the government the Italians elected just last week is headed by "ex" neo-fascists. Fun times.
You tell me...
What did you do with your life? Leave negative youtube comments? Pfffft. How many empires did you run? Who will talk about you 2000 years after your death? Noone. Nobody.
Highly disagree. The biography on Augustus by Adrain Goldsworthy does a generally better job at portraying the man. I hate the use of the word "propoganda" by osp as if it's the same kind used by modern dictators because it's not. It wasn't seen that way and it's only really seen that way today by certain people
@@jaycrownshaw3902 I dunno man. He did overthrow a (heavilly flawed, oligarchic and corrupt) representative republic, cause famines, break his word, purge his enemies and put his own people in power, and then, as the winner, seize almost absolute power, write history and commission statues and play that presented him as the pinnacle of Roman virtue. He spread "ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person", which is how Merriam-Webster drfines propaganda and is not necessarily "evil". I have no doubt the biography you mention is worth reading and presents a more complex and nuanced picture than what you could fit in a UA-cam video (including the ones Blue made), but I doubt it would fully absolve Octavian, no more than the videos of amateur UA-cam historians like Blue or Historia Civilis fully erase the good that he did by founding the Empire. They just remind us of the evil things that he did to get there.
@@jaycrownshaw3902 Of course it wasn't seen that way. The goal of propaganda is TO NOT BE SEEN as propaganda by those it is for.
Blows my mind that a teenager was able to emerge as Emperor and do so much for so long.
Feels like there's a lot more trope talk videos than history summarized last year or two, but it's still great to have Blue continuing to share history with us.
Augustus was one of history's most stylish villains. I can respect that at least.
We need Red and Blue to do an in-depth watch of I Claudius, an unforgettable show with a clean Shaven Brian Blessed and Patrick Stewart with hair
I'm not really sure how to say this. But I'm currently studying ancient and classical history at university, primarily due to this channel reigniting my love for history and mythology a number of years ago.
Thank you so much, I'm loving it here. I'm glad I found you two and that you had such an affect on me. I don't think I'd enjoy any other course as much as this. Thank you for helping me regain my love.
An OSP history video about Rome and a Historia Civils video in one day? Perhaps Jupiter's closeness was a good omen after all
Oh cool the romans are back
OH GOD THE ROMANS ARE BACK
Roman Blue is always fun to see
A sentence only ever uttered by historians far removed from the Romans, geographically, chronologically, or both.
Blue going on a Rome mood while my uni exams on Rome are nearing in per-fect timing
This hits different given what's happening in Italy rn.
(Raises hand) Uh...what IS happening in Italy now?
@@s.p.d.magentaranger1822 they just elected a fascist government. The party traces itself back to Mussolini's people, even.
"Tragically dome-less" I expected that from Blue, The Color of Sky, Lover of Domes
See that’s the difference for me. Augustus was endlessly clever, he was also a lying weasely rascal and *I* F**king love him! This is the guy I hold modern politicians to the standard of. If you’re going to be evil at least be efficient!
i for one prefer the inept evil rulers. just imagine how fucked up our world would be if those bastards were as competent as they claim.
While I fully agree with the final message I don’t really think you can blame Augustus for Mussolini
I love the video, Blue! So much valuable information and I appreciate you telling it to us with full knowledge and equal footing in tone, versus other channels which feel more like they talk down. I particularly loved your detailed rundown descriptions of some of the buildings he built, which painted some nice imagery to help me imagine what it really looked like, like the wooden bleachers at the Circus maximus and all those images of the Altar. One thing which I would like to mention is that at 10:08, there appears to be a typo, easily & therein understandably missed, of Julius Caesar's first name being spelled as "Juius", which kind of threw me off momentarily. Beyond that, a really great video, once again, from you and your team, and I very much look forward to more!
Ah, I was hoping this one would be about something First Nations. I know Truth and Reconciliation Day isn't an American holiday, but Sept 30 landing on a Blue day seemed serendipitous. Oh well
Love it when Blue talks architecture tho. It isn't one of my interests, but it seems so fascinating when you talk about it. And I love how you balanced out the "Ooo, shiny Roman architecture" with "and here's all the atrocities that the pretty architecture tries to justify"
How much do we actually KNOW about the First Nations of any land outside of the Mediterranean world and the Far East though? Too many cultures just didn't develop writing for one reason or another, thus all we have is guesswork
You ended the video on an important note that I appreciated. Thank you, Blue!
"Just the physical projects"? History Makers Virgil lets goooooo!
called it
I’m a first year law student in a cuontry whose legal system was very strongly influenced by Rome , and so we give a huge focus on studying roman law and judicial systems.
From this perspective, it’s worth noting Augustus made HUGE legal reforms that helped Rome’s laws and systems reach their peak in terms of elegance, complexity and developlemt.
All my teachers basicallu deify Augustus because of his immeasurable Impact in the development of law in the entire world! (This is because most of continental europe adopted and adapted roman law, so everything from france to germany to south america is basically a cheap copy of romans did waaaay earlier(super duper simplified, but thats the gist of like, four semesters of history of law)).
So it was awesome seing this figure that i’ve become so familiar with in University from this new, unknown to me, perspective of public works and propaganda (and as a bastard lol)
So thanks blue!
Awesome video as always :)
Thank you Blue for the interesting history!
god I love this channel.
Deep dives into games, history, literature, fiction, etc.
Spectacular video as always 👍👍👍
I ❤ history! Thanks OSP!
Man, this series is so my jam. You and Red are the best on youtube. Fight me.
Never in my live would i have guessed that i would leave an OSP video with the knowledge that Augustus and the butterfly effect caused ww2. What a way to start the day. Great video lmao
I have never seen a 11 min video flow like butter like this. Holy shit osp, this is a new high. Not my favorite vid of yours(reds chaos will always reign) but holy shit this gloss
This is amazingly timed, I have my ancient history final tomorrow and building programs are very important to the augustan age so this vid is amazing, tysm!!!
God damn it Blue, I needed this last semester! XD
Good Work once again!
An OST video about Augustus posted right after a historia civilis video? Today is looking pretty good so far.
Hey Blue, I imagine it's probably already on your list but I think it would be awesome to see you make a video on the Roman forum, all its important buildings and historical events, it's origins, climax, and then very sad decline into a cow field
A very timely video considering what treatens to transpire in Italy as we speak. Great work as always, Blue ^^
Augustus really fits the "magnificent bastard" trope. An evil conniving weasel, but he's so good at it you can't really hate him for it.
I can’t decide whether the obelisk was a bigger mathematical wonder or a screw you to the egyptians. I guess it’s the second based on how they would end up.
Augustus is peak "magnificent bastard" in literature.
Thank you for the video.
two of my favorite channels make uploads about octavian/augustus in one day… slay
Many good points Blue! Always gotta watch our historical biases. No civilization is all good, or all bad
Loved the call out to Heron of Alexandria.
Agrippa gets more impressive the more I learn about him.
It almost feels after his death, Hannibal was like "ok, fine, for my next playthrough, I'm spawning as a Roman" XD
There is no Augustus without Agrippa. He basically won every major battle for him and constructed the most important temples. He was offered countless triumphs but declined them all. Within a year of leaving Rome (for disputed reasons), Augustus asked him to come back, and trusted him with the entire army and put him in charge of the city when necessary, which, during that time, was basically unheard of. This man was GOAT material.
Amazing video!
It was the Renaissance popes who from the late fourteenth century onwards retransformed the city of Rome into the amazing artistic and architectural place it is today with the magnificent cathedrals and churches,the amazing renaissance and baroque art,the great statues like the "Pieta" of Michenangelo, the great semi circle of columns in front of St Peters designed by Bernini,the great fountains,th e obelisks,the gardens,the great palaces and villas especially the great Quirinale palace built by the popes and now the residence of the Italian president.These great works influenced the whole world through such great architects like Palladio spread the classical style to the world -to England and to the U.S.
The city of marble might be the most metal name for a real city I’ve ever heard
Second most.
After city of metal.
I remember doing a report during my undergrad that was basically an architect showing off the ara pacis to the emperor. Good times. This video is just giving me major flashbacks to my “age of Augustus” class
Very interesting!
Well, it may be propaganda, but creating lasting civil infrastructure that's actually of use to the populace is nothing to sneer at.
Almost all atrocities in Western history post-Rome can be traced back to people idealizing Rome and wanting to be the next one.
no views? wow, first.
A great look at some wonderful works of Rome, even without the domes.
In fairness to perspectives that maybe the figure doing a sacrifice was Aeneas, he is pointedly attributed the epithet "fide Aeneas" ("faithful Aeneas") in the Aeneidae.
"City of Marble" immediately reminded me of Aleppo, the city that was named twice after its abundant natural marble. First it's ancient name Ḥalab from the Aramaic word for "White" which is the origin of the English Aleppo and the Arabic حلب (Ḥalab), but also the Arabic nickname الشهباء (Al-Šahbā') "the white-black" named after the white-black colour of marble.
The second name is related to the Arabic word شهاب (šihāb) "shooting star" as shooting stars were named simply for being white streaks on a black background.
Probably shouldn't listen to this while at work, but I'm gonna listen to this at work.
Thanks for this.
Been to rome and that altar. A trip well worth it.
I love this so much, and it's just in time to help me brush up to teach this topic to my high school history students! One pedantic critique.
"So the already fiercely and propagandistic iconography of Augustan Rome was flipped on turbo and used by Italian and German Fascists as an excuse for, you know, atrocities." To be clear, Hitler and his Nazis did not take inspiration from Augustus or Rome at all. Mussolini and Hitler allied in 1938, but their premises and visions and inspirations and goals were different, and while connecting Augustus to Mussolini is sound, taking the next step to Hitler is a bigger jump. "We should celebrate the nice, and criticise the yikes, because neither exists in a vacuum." As a fellow history-buff, I wholeheartedly agree. So I think it's a shame why Mussolini is generally only remembered for his yikes. It's a bit of a pet peeve of mine because Mussolini and Italian Fascism was the subject of my university senior thesis last year.
Anyway, great work as always! Cheers, Blue!
never stop making videos. Kthx
This is they only time I’ve been awake to be here within an hour, and I know it’ll be good too. Good way to wake up
Please do more of modern classics summarized
Please please pretty please
Yay another roman history video 🙂
"Did you make Rome in your own image?"
"Yes."
"What did it cost?"
"Everything."
so Value judgments hmmm. I kid love your video's in grad school for museum studies now with a focus in historic curation.
It's like you and Historia Civilis collabbed to make videos on Rome on the same day lol.
Time King Augustus is something that needs to be eternally engrained into the cultural zeitgeist.
for a video that says alot about a miniscule topic that was a really good ending
Appreciate the nice while acknowledging the yikes is my entire philosophy regarding history and modern nation states
Honestly Blue, I don’t see why you don’t like him: he’s super sneaky, extremely manipulative, and a blatant self-promoter…just like Alcibiades lol
Its because he’s not as handsome as he, isn’t it?
Ps: wouldn’t blame Mussolini on him tho, just like I wouldn’t blame Arminius for the nazis. Connected, inspired, yes, but worlds apart in time imo. Though yeah pointing both sides is a must.
Anyhow love your work guys! Belated congrats on 2mil subs!
Hating on my boy Augustus, can't keep him down.
Cool!! New history video :)
Can you please do a video of the Roman Forum where it progressively gets filled in with more and more buildings
I really love the context you are attributing to all that architecture. I hope I will see Rome one day, when our own dictator dies in pain.
"But what did it cost the Romans?"
I don't know, what did it cost the Romans?
10:34 I'm fucking dead!!!🤣🤣🤣
I love it when Blue gets a little salty!