Units of History - The Speculatores: Spies of the Roman Army DOCUMENTARY
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- Опубліковано 2 жов 2024
- A history documentary on the Spies of the Roman Army!
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In this Units of History episode we take a look at the Speculatores, Spies of the Roman Army. We begin with a discussion of the early history of Rome and the misconception that these early armies of the Monarchy and Republic did not employ any form of covert operations or deception. This moralistic narrative often gets trotted out by ancient authors who want to elevate early Rome as some purer, more honorable society. However this strains credulity when you consider that Rome never would have survived let along risen to power without the use of intelligence operations. To prove this point we dive examples from their military history where commanders use spies, scouts, and all forms of tactics to gather information.
Yet while spycraft was not unknown to the Romans it seems that they lagged far behind the capabilities of their peers across the Mediterranean. This becomes readily apparent over the course of the Punic Wars when they routinely get handed bloody defeats for intelligence failures. The Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca in particular put on a clinic during the Second Punic war that taught Rome a lesson in humility. Soon however the Italian power would learn to adapt to the tactics of its enemy and even adopt them. Its from the end of the Punic Wars on that we finally see Rome's intelligence operations finally begin to mature.
The rest of the documentary episode covers the emergence of the Speculatores units and what their role was in the Roman army. For more context, check out our other video on the Procursatores and Explroatores who worked closely with them as the eyes and ears of the Roman legions.
What Units of History should we cover next?
Research: Chris Das Neves
Writing: Chris Das Neves
Narration: Guy Michaels
Artwork: Penta Limited
Bibliography and Suggested Reading:
Roman Warfare by Adrian Goldsworthy
Exploratio: Military & Political Intelligence in the Roman World from the Second Punic War to the Battle of Adrianople By N. J. E. Austin, N. B. Rankov
Spies and spying in Caesar’s “Bellum Gallicum” by Jane Crawford
The "Missing Dimension" of C. Julius Caesar by Amiram Ezov
The Scouts of the Late Roman Army and a Disputed Etymology by Philip Rance
#Rome
#Spies
#History
Check out our previous episode which covers the Exploratores: the Scouts of the Roman Army ua-cam.com/video/EQIT0vP5pBg/v-deo.html
What Units of History do you want to see covered next?
Please send me a link to your patreon. I looked for it and was not able to find it. I would like to pledge to your excellent services. Thank you.
Please make videos on Napoleon army units and the Egyptian empire army units.
When is What if Caesar Lived Part 3 coming out? #CAESARLIVES #ROMAINVICTA #SPQR #INVADEPARTHIA
It's always invaluable to have masses of spies in Total War games :D
@@lucisferre6361 Here you go, thanks for asking: www.patreon.com/InvictaHistory
My name is Bondus, Jamesus Bondus 😎
Jacomus Bondus, angens septimus.
Jamicus Bondicus
Nomen meus Cautio est, Iacomus Cautio.
@@666mrdoctor Or Catenus (chain), Your Variant is closer to binding something with a rope. And my first is something bound with ties. Anyway, good spy need more names and in Roman Empire they will be in Greek way more frequently than in Latin.
JameSUS??? 😳😳
The spy in the thumbnail looks like he has a particular set of skills.
I was just thinking that! 😃
I dont get it...
Ahhh!!! 🤣🤣🤣
I was about to write "why does the Roman spy looks like Liam Neeson?" then I saw your comment 🤣
BEAT ME TO IT LOL
So wait, you mean to tell me that there WASN'T an order of religious warrior-monk-spies called the Arcani who dual-wielded swords and assassinated half the enemy army on the battlefield?
Bastards
I think TW was inspired by Roman Britain (and Arminius' mask). Wikipedia: "The areani or arcani were a force of the Roman Empire, based in Roman Britain during the later part of the Roman occupation of the island. They had played some part in the campaign of Constans in Britain in 343; later they helped to instigate the Great Conspiracy in 367-368. Due to their participation in the Conspiracy, Count Theodosius disbanded them"
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Areani
@@LIONED I'm just joking, but that is genuinely interesting.
Warrior Monks were definitely a thing in Japan. They used to play a huge part in the wars for who would be the next Shogun. Aa they were the only warriors who weren't loyal to anyone but themselves and their faith. So they'd often play both sides.
That's what THEY want you to think. Wake up, sheep!! Open your eyes!! /jk
Yass. Slingshoters,light cavalry,sacred band,ancient police,scouts and now ancient spies and special op. This channel is a gem.
I'm waiting for the honeypot video LOL.
@@nunyabiznes33 Me too.
Slingshooters? I think you mean slingers?
@@orthodox_jesus Right. Thanks for correcting me.
@@ktheterkuceder6825 your welcome
You didn’t think we saw those Warhammer miniatures but we did!!!
Where?!
@@ThaRealElTigra in the shades of your culo
Traitor
@@ThaRealElTigra 0:45
By Sigmar you're right!
“All warfare is based on deception.”
Sun Tzu
Warfare is simply diplomacy by another means.
- Carl Von Clauswitz
“All warfare is based”
Sun Tzu
Sounds like my dogs breed lol
All warfare is based*
Sun Tzu just stole it from Call of Duty
This needs a series. A speculatore protagonist and important figures and in the series with whom he has interactions and takes part in.
Yes, just like Washington's Spies, but replace Washington with Octavian!!
@@thomashendriks6798 Or Aurelius. Or any emperor or senator who used them.
@@ktheterkuceder6825 Agreed
Look into “The emperors knife/axe/spear” book series if you like a read. The plot starting with a scout in Caledonia named Silus who eventually becomes an arcani who travels to other parts of the empire after events that lead up to it.
@@praetorianstride5948 And without even looking into it I say it needs a series adaptation.
Magnificent!
The secret of all victory lies in the organization of the non-obvious.~Marcus Aurelius
I don't know the secret to how to raise a son. -MARCVS AVRELIVS
The best Roman spy?
The emperor that infiltrated a camp as a cabbage seller.
Underrated
XD
Mea brassica! (or however "my cabbages" is in latin)
Who was that?
@@rafaelglopezroman1110 Emperor Galerius. Interesting note, the previous emperor, Diocletian, had grown cabbages after retiring from the throne.
I can stands no more! I am going to Patreon right now to pledge my support for Invicta. No mathematics have yet tabulated the total amount of blissful satisfaction I've gotten from this channel, for free.
I can't find your channel to pledge on patreon. Please advise. Thanks
@@lucisferre6361 I guess it's from www.patreon.com/InvictaHistory
Check Out Saving History On UA-cam You'll Love His Channel
I got it right, finally, much thanks to the supplier of the link . I undeniably, satisfyingly pledged $3 per new video. My name varies from my channel pseudonym but I require no recognition for my contribution to such an excellent knowledge source. I will only say "thank you very, very much".
Then out spake brave Horatius,
The captain of the Gate:
To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late
And how can man die better
than facing fearful odds
for the ashes of his fathers,
and the temples of his gods
On the notion of ciphers, one of the most basic substitution ciphers known today is distinctly called the 'Ceasar Cipher' and it is apparently named after Ceasar who used it with a key = 3, meaning he substituted every letter with its corresponding letter 3 shifts to the right in the alphabet, rounding back to 'a' if needed. For decrypting the shift is 3 shifts to the left instead. He can encrypt "CEASAR" -> "FHDVDU", and if we intercept the letter, not knowing the cipher or the key, we cannot know what was said. However, his friend Marcus Antonius can simply shift back every letter 3 positions back, substituting the letters of the cipher text and thus recovering: "CEASAR".
Neato.
@@scintillam_dei Qhdwr*.
@@Tsukiakarix Based and espionagepilled.
I don't get it?
@@vitolopoii7981 Say you want to write a message to a friend and you just write down what you want to say. Now, I am an adversary and I intercept this message and I see what you have said. You don't want that, especially if it is concerning battle tactics and war. You can encrypt your message, what that means is that your message, which is called the plaintext, becomes a ciphertext, something that is encrypted and unreadable to people without a key. In the example above the ciphertext was "FHDVDU" which is just nonsense but with a key you can decrypt it back to the plaintext which was "CEASAR"
Maybe, you want to text "AAA" to your friend, so you look into the alphabet and you see.
A B C D
0 1 2 3
With a key of 3, D is three steps away from A, so "AAA" becomes "DDD". That is "AAA" is your plaintext, now you encrypt and "DDD" becomes your ciphertext.
Now, your friend has the key which means he KNOWS you shifted 3 steps to the right, but I do not have your key. If I intercept your message I get "DDD" and I have no clue what that means. Your friend, on the other hand, can do the same procedure you did but backward and he simply goes 3 steps back for every D and obtains "AAA". This is a very simple cryptographic scheme called "The Ceasar Cipher".
Today it is not very secure simply because the "keyspace" is very small. We have 26 letters in the alphabet, so if I intercept your message I can simply try every key until I find your message (brute-forcing). As I said it is very important to keep information confidential because if we are at war and you send men to a location, and I intercept that message, your men will surely die.
So.. historically there has been this race of encrypting messages and decrypting them. If you have ever seen the movie 'Enigma' it is about solving such a problem, where the Germans had an advanced way of encrypting their messages. Today as well whenever you use a banking service or something encryption is being used to make your transactions safer and they are much more complex than the Ceasar cipher.
Love this. Your takes on history help me flesh out my stories for D&D.
I love it when DnD has historical inspiration and context beyond Medieval Europe!
Mythology is great for good quests and worldbuilding as well
@@corymoon2439 Already on top of it. 😉 I've based an entire one-shot around the Rainbow Serpent of Australia and a minor plot thread for a future campaign based on Chang'E and her husband. That one, I took a pair of elves and turned them to goblins, and they approach the party on the road to beg their aid journeying to retrieve an ingredient from a far mountain they were told is necessary for changing them back.
@@MagicalMedic I would love to also use minor Norse sagas for more mundane ideas. It's a solid idea but all of my players are pagans so the odds of one or more of them having read that saga are actually pretty high compared to the general population. But you can probably use it, that's a problem very specific for my campaign.
@@corymoon2439 I would take this as less of a problem that you can't use Norse-specific lore and more of an opportunity to explore non-Eurocentric stories. The UA-cam channel Overly Sarcastic Productions does bite-sized animated takes on mythology that reads like a catalog of inspiration. Pull a Momotaro and have the party find a baby nestled in the heart of a giant piece of fruit, or maybe a volcano goddess challenges the characters to a sled race down the face of a volcano, after which she causes an eruption if they don't let her win.
More of this please, I would be interested to know about the Greek and Persian spies used during the Peloponnesian war.
Seems like you forgot about sending them into Parthia for Caesar...
wulpurgis Hot dogs are a required ressource for civilizations of the past
@wulpurgis yes
When is What ifCaesar Lived Part 3 coming out? #CAESARLIVES #SPQR #ROMAINVICTA
@wulpurgis welcome amicus
wulpurgis Cold dogs and hotdogs
Livy: we definitely don’t use spies
Historians: *Lies!!!!!*
Every historically relevant general/commander: "We won because of being superior strategists and tacticians"
The truth: "We had spies, which gave us the information to make a decent strategy, and consider tactical options. Then we had a large dose of luck"
Such a normie predictable comment.
Not really sulla and Caesar are famous of admitting they are very lucky
Theres a historical fiction series called "The Agent of Rome" whose main character is a spy. Very well written and resesrched, and its an interesting series that takes place in the 3rd Century. The first book takes place during the Palmyrian conflict.
Thanks for the recommendation. Will check it out brother!
I am sooooo using this in my D&D game!
NERRRRRD
Likewise!
I love these videos. They are educational and fun at the same time. The graphic of the video is great!
not usually this early to the quality that comes out from this channel
Nothing like starting off the day with an Invicta video.
This was a very interesting subject I didn't know I wanted to know about
Thanks for another great video, Invictus! This channel is an absolute gem. If anyone out there is teaching ancient history, maybe point your students in this direction?
Thanks for doing a video on this. I've heard of the speculatores, but couldn't find much more information on them
Wow... This video explains something I've never understood before! I always wanted to know why Hannibal was so effective at reading his opponents and intelligence networks explains that perfectly! I'm not even sure I've ever heard about spies this far back in history....Amazing work!
Can you cover Napoleon’s Old Guard? That’d be pretty awesome to learn about their history and equipment!
Nicely informative video. Subjects like this are rarely spoken about.
I miss the other narrator's voice (is he Canadian?). He seems more like an academic to me...like an excited university professor. Just has more real excitement about the subject matter IMO
American
"You must be a spy."
"What makes you think of that?"
"You're dressed like a chameleon."
I just wanna say as a huge history fan i enjoy your videos quite alot especially the periods of rome and Alexander. Keep it up man !
Hhhhmmnmm how does one be able to pay for such a thing? How does on be able to make money and let alone stored away in a safe uard an account?
What you ordered a treasury baggage wagon, count the gold and send them off in small sacks of bags? And spect to magically gifted to those you are paying?
"Conspiracies in Rome." Ah yes. Everyone mocks conspiracies unless an establishment says they happen, in which case all it takes for a conspiracy to work is to be done by an establishment the plebes gullibly never question.
This is great stuff, you guys are quickly becoming one of my favorite youtube channels. Keep up the amazing and high-quality work!
Great vid.
Sertorius spent 2 years spying on the Cimbrians.
His work may have saved Rome every bit as much as the efforts of Marius
Sulla was involved in this intelligence-gathering OP as well.
Excellent stuff
My man Julius Caesar in Spartacu's final season is the best, and I guess the only, use of speculatores on TV.
That was an amazing video! Thank you very much for making it, it was by far one of my favourites so far ^^
I got the impression that Papus's Scouts were acting basically as what Romans would later call Procursatores in that they were horseback mounted scouts clad in full Roman combat gear (which at this time was whatever you got for yourself) rather than being spies. I think the difference between a spy and a scout is that you can tell what side a scout is on by what they're wearing. So I don't think this one quite counts as an example.
Would love other videos on pre-modern spies.
Any chance you'd cover about the Frumentarii?
We are actually working on that and the domestic spy operation used during the imperial era
Let me guess... New Vegas fan?
:)
@@InvictaHistory Awesome, could it be possible that Frumentarii of the Roman Imperial era survived up to the Middle Ages in Western Europe? Their network's vast and I don't think Barbarian kings post Western Empire's fall at that time would disregard their usefulness.
We Frumentarii are soldiers of a different stripe. Capable in battle, but skilled as infiltrators and agents as well.
I’m a simple man. I see a new Invicta video and I click on it instantly.
Love this video
Thank you very much
Invicta! Thank you so much for your dedicated work! I'm gonna be soon in your patreon. Please, could you consider in your next projects to put questions to test the comprehension and learning of every history lesson. It would help people who practice listening comprehension. Thanks in advance :D
Invicta, when is Caesar Part 3 coming out????
4:30: their account of this story doesn't include the legend, which goes that this spy thrust his right hand into a nearby brazier as he warned the Etruscan King. His expression as he burned his right hand off was enough to assure the king of the Roman resolve. This man went back home; and was actually given his name. "Scaevola" means " lefty" in Latin.
Thank you for making this 👍🏻
This was interesting, oddly both more specific and general than I expected. Lots of interesting details. I think the out of chronological order details leaves it a bit confusing though. Was most of speculatores done the same after the punic wars or did it continue to evolve over time.
You should do a vid on the Bronze Age collapse if you haven’t already, or maybe about the Celtic Tribes in Britain
Socii equites extraordinarii, rhodesian slingers, thracian warriors, citizen cavalry, rorarii, vigiles, Socii principes extraordinarii, campanian cavalry, auxiliary germanic legionaries, auxiliary cretan archers, Pedites extraordinarii,
Surely especially early on the units used and how often how well they were utilised totally depended on the temperament and values of the general in charge. How they saw spying, scouting. If they thought it was a useful thing to cultivatie and use in the wars or if they thought they were an unnecessary complication, a waste of manpower or even more stupid against the tradition of war and usless.
Need a spy vs spy (Rome vs Carthage) movie 🍿 the cia vs kgb theme is already over advertised by Hollywood
Hannibal used vast network of spies to understand how Rome cooperated with its subjects in Italy.. And Scipio himself trained his spies to understand the nature of Carthaginian senate
I would be very interested in whatever is known about Hanibal's intelligence operations. Anyone know where to find more on that?
When is What if Caesar Lived Part 3 coming out? #CAESARLIVES #SPQR #INVADEPARTHIA
Very interesting. However, spying is often confused with reconnaissance in this video.
To me, they are not the same.
Reconnaissance is a formal regular function of any army.
Spying is not a function of the army, but of the state or government.
Spy information may impact military decisions, but it is more likely to impact other strategic non-military considerations.
yup
Invicta when are you going to release What if Caesar Lived Part 3???????
Thanks for using AD instead of CE.
Congratulations on the videos from Italy a question arises no one has heard of the feared:
AGENT IN REBUS
By any chance, this is where the term "speculate" comes from?
Speculation (n.) late 14c., "intelligent contemplation, consideration; act of looking," from Old French speculacion "close observation, rapt attention," and directly from Late Latin speculationem (nominative speculatio) "contemplation, observation," noun of action from Latin speculatus, past participle of speculari "observe," from specere "to look at, view" (from PIE root *spek- "to observe").
Meaning "pursuit of the truth by means of thinking" is from mid-15c. Disparaging sense of "mere conjecture" is recorded from 1570s. Meaning "buying and selling in search of profit from rise and fall of market value" is recorded from 1774; short form spec is attested from 1794.
Salute to modern and historic spies.
Quintus Sertorius had a job like this one during the Cimbrian War, he would use these kinds of methods with great success against superior forces for a very long time before before his murder and the total collapse of his regime in Hispania.
Another unit to cover in the future perhaps are the Mamluks
Well overlooked outside of Japan. There is all sorts of stuff about the Shinobi no Mono who did a lot of the exact same things. Speculatores are Roman ninjas. Or more accurately ninjas are Japanese speculatores.
Love your work mate. I’d love to know what books you read for your research, or all the various topics. Would you be willing to post a list? Cheers.
Exactly what I’d like to know as well .
The guy in the thumbnail looks like Mitch trubisky
SPECULATORES....
the Ancient Roman version
of "James Bond" and British MI-6.
Yup. Yup.
Reminds me has someone any source where you could read about the spies of the mongol Army?
So Liam Neeson is a Roman spy?
Great video. Thank you. I've clicked thumbs up and subscribed
Speclatories were assigned to war as well as base set up and resources even common living. I met some that were World War Two with Italy they came here and studied the outlaw jossey wells and the jessy James gang for how to take over the USA they used the mountains to the sea trail. They are curious people like hobbits in a way. They are always what you are wanting you to say yes we are the same and or equal.
It's like you read my mind, I have been thinking about how Rome's spies worked but you answered the call :) keep up good work
Thanks for another great episode. There isn't a lot of stuff out there about Roman spies so this is a rare treat.
0:25 So Liam Neeson was a spy of the Roman Army all this time...
Roman 007 huh? Never thought of it really but ya I can see it now
We can only speculate what it was like to be a speculatore
Great! Last time I asked for Engineers! Can we have it? How they... Julius Cesar built so many forts in the middle of nothing? How did they build bridges? Because we talk so much about these things but there is no sense of time, manpower or planing. I would love to know how the roman military engineers could build the walls within walls that (outmaneuvered) defeated the Gauls. So much to look at... forest destroyed ... the roads... You know, my stepfather used to tell me stories before I went to sleep, I feel the same thing with some of your stories... that is amazing... last night I went to sleep with your Alexander playlist... but Units of The Past is becoming my favorite.
I wonder, if you know how "objective" Wikipedia could mangle facts and wishes of the article´s author, how could you believe in some third agency to extract the relevant facts and ideas from some book, especially in the era that doesn´t believe in hard objective facts but more in feelings and wishes?
Interesting note from the New Testament: in the original Greek of Mark 6:27, it was a “spekoulatora” that Herod sent to behead John the Baptist.
The whole point of the roman spie network being vastly unknown and disregarded by authors speaks if anything for their proficiency to me, just like I believe Assassins and Ninjas to be probably the worst spies and hitmen of history due to being the best known even amongst contemporary people outside their sphere of operations as e.g. the mongols not only knew of the Assassins but even could pinpoint their main base and thus besiege and dismantle it
Agent 00VII Rome has need of your skills once again.
(Also I know there wasn't a roman numeral for 0 I just used it for the joke.)
Speculatores! Mount up - Warrenus G
Your army of followers demand a video with Hannibals scout's ..
1:39 to skip ad
The thumbnail looks so much like my brother 😂
@Invicta will you be finishing What if Julius Caesar Was Not Assassinated?.
Man this channel has gone a long way since the reach and total war days
re - 2:40
That looks very much like a depiction of Horatius Cocles. I can't get enough of stories like his. They're so heroic and yet they don't rely on imbuing the hero with supernatural abilities.
edit - Including, of course, the amazing tale of (Gaius Mucius) Scaevola.
There is a difference between recon and intelligence service. Most of what you describe is just good recon units not espionage
It really urks me to hear Scipio pronounced "sippio" like he's a children's cup.
HELLO!!! I'm a subscriber ;)
is there any books on these guys because I would like to know more about them
Snitches were informers like an enemy who were willing backstabb their own
With each prospective hero shouting "MONEYYYY"
Am i the only one who sees a strong resemblance between the thumbnail and Liam Neeson?
Overlooked does not describe my knowledge of such spies. I did not know about them. So thanks for the informative show.
This is excellent! A rare topic indeed.
0:27 Wow, Liam Neeson's older than I thought.
I swear i thought this unit of spies and scouts where known as the Areanii, but hey you learn something new everyday!
I needed the info about Speculators yesterday, thank you!!
Except in my dictionary, a "Speculator" in Slovak language is a person who puts doubt and questions anything you ever say or do. In other words, a "Troll who never believes you no matter what" in internet language.
Odd definition.
Edit: Grammar fix and corrections.
Maybe you need a woodworker to build you some new shelves? I, uh, happen to know a very good one............