| Transcript |
| | · | How much did the average Roman know about Parthia? |
| 0:00 | · | welcome to this latest edition of the |
| 0:02 | · | total Stone q a I'm Garrett Ryan and I'm |
| 0:05 | · | here to answer your questions about the |
| 0:07 | · | ancient Greeks and Romans |
| 0:09 | · | if you have a question about Antiquity |
| 0:11 | · | that I don't answer here please ask it |
| 0:13 | · | in the comments and I add to my list |
| 0:16 | · | today we have a nice tidy list of four |
| 0:19 | · | questions the first of which submitted |
| 0:21 | · | by DOTA Swatch is |
| 0:23 | · | how much did the average Roman know |
| 0:25 | · | about Parthia |
| 0:27 | · | good question |
| 0:29 | · | the parthian Empire is the Great Eastern |
| 0:32 | · | adversary of the Romans for almost three |
| 0:34 | · | centuries that was replaced by the |
| 0:36 | · | sasanian a Persian Empire |
| 0:39 | · | it Incorporated what's now Iraq and Iran |
| 0:42 | · | parts of Afghanistan and a hefty chunk |
| 0:44 | · | of the Central Asian Republics |
| 0:46 | · | it was a formidable adversary as the |
| 0:50 | · | Romans discovered to their great cost at |
| 0:52 | · | Karai where crosses and much of his army |
| 0:55 | · | was uh well lost |
| 0:57 | · | there were many later Wars against the |
| 1:00 | · | parthians Marc Anthony's campaigns the |
| 1:03 | · | war of Nero and Armenia |
| 1:05 | · | trajan's great conquest of Mesopotamia |
| 1:07 | · | the war of Lucius Ferris and the 160s |
| 1:10 | · | A.D and septemia severus's March into |
| 1:13 | · | Northern Mesopotamia among others |
| 1:16 | · | in all of these campaigns many Romans |
| 1:18 | · | were involved and this is where most |
| 1:21 | · | first-hand knowledge apartheid would |
| 1:22 | · | have come if you were a soldier was |
| 1:24 | · | marched out into the desert on one of |
| 1:25 | · | these you would have seen at least a few |
| 1:26 | · | parthian cities |
| 1:28 | · | um and had at least a fleeting glimpse |
| 1:30 | · | of the parthians armies with their |
| 1:31 | · | Infamous parthian shots coming at you |
| 1:34 | · | over your uh to Studio |
| 1:37 | · | now besides Soldiers the Romans who have |
| 1:40 | · | known Parthia best would have been |
| 1:41 | · | Merchants there was extensive trade |
| 1:43 | · | between Wars over the Syrian Frontier |
| 1:46 | · | especially the Overland branch of the |
| 1:49 | · | silk route Silk Road came in through |
| 1:51 | · | Parthia and so those involved in that |
| 1:53 | · | for a lucrative trade would have known |
| 1:55 | · | bits of Parthia at least the frontier |
| 1:57 | · | cities |
| 1:58 | · | they're also of course were texts that |
| 2:00 | · | recorded parthian geography parthian |
| 2:04 | · | history we don't have too many of these |
| 2:06 | · | sadly but they existed for those who |
| 2:08 | · | were literate and had time on their |
| 2:09 | · | hands |
| 2:11 | · | for most Romans however who were not |
| 2:13 | · | marching into Parthia trading with |
| 2:15 | · | Parthia or reading about Parthia Parthia |
| 2:18 | · | was known primarily Through The |
| 2:19 | · | Monuments and commemorative coins of the |
| 2:22 | · | Emperors who won victories there |
| 2:25 | · | there were quite a few of these so in |
| 2:26 | · | the Forum in the in Rome for example |
| 2:29 | · | there is the septimius sephorus which |
| 2:32 | · | commemorates his victories in |
| 2:33 | · | Mesopotamia we still see if you look |
| 2:35 | · | closely they're rather worn beliefs now |
| 2:37 | · | troops marching through Mesopotamian |
| 2:40 | · | cities and triumphing as their want to |
| 2:42 | · | do in such monuments |
| 2:44 | · | there's also the Lost arch of Augustus |
| 2:46 | · | which commits that Emperor's recovery of |
| 2:48 | · | the standards lost at Karai by crosses |
| 2:53 | · | um in more General circulation so to |
| 2:55 | · | speak there are coins handled by |
| 2:57 | · | millions which commemorate the emperor's |
| 2:59 | · | victories of aparthea showing standards |
| 3:01 | · | recovered for example in the case of |
| 3:03 | · | Augustus or Victory monuments raised in |
| 3:06 | · | the wake of those victories |
| 3:08 | · | they're even our provincial monuments so |
| 3:10 | · | in Ephesus for example there is the |
| 3:12 | · | parthian altar which is raised in the |
| 3:14 | · | wake of which is various victories over |
| 3:16 | · | the parthians |
| 3:18 | · | so for most Romans in short parthias |
| 3:20 | · | known through propaganda raised by the |
| 3:23 | · | Emperors who had triumphed or claimed a |
| 3:26 | · | triumph over their Eastern foes |
| | · | What did the Romans know about the city of Babylon? |
| 3:31 | · | our second question submitted by Anthony |
| 3:33 | · | is closely tied to the first and it is |
| 3:37 | · | how much did the Romans know about the |
| 3:39 | · | city of Babylon |
| 3:41 | · | well less than you might think |
| 3:43 | · | so Babylon had been the great Metropolis |
| 3:46 | · | of the near East much celebrated by |
| 3:49 | · | Herodotus for example who enthused about |
| 3:52 | · | the city's vast walls those uh baked |
| 3:55 | · | brick behemoths that ring to the city |
| 3:57 | · | later sources talked a great deal about |
| 4:00 | · | the Hanging Gardens of Babylon which |
| 4:02 | · | were inscribed in the lists of the Seven |
| 4:04 | · | Wonders |
| 4:05 | · | but by the time of Augustus and even |
| 4:08 | · | well before Babylon had shrunked |
| 4:11 | · | insignificance it had been supplanted |
| 4:14 | · | these Lucid Kings these are the Kings |
| 4:17 | · | who replaced Alexander who found an |
| 4:19 | · | Empire it's initially quite vast |
| 4:21 | · | stretching from Syria off to Afghanistan |
| 4:24 | · | had centered their empire in Syria and |
| 4:27 | · | Mesopotamia in Mesopotamia they had |
| 4:29 | · | founded quite near Babylon the city of |
| 4:31 | · | salukia on the Tigris |
| 4:34 | · | is it taken a great deal of the |
| 4:36 | · | lifeblood away from Babylon had taken |
| 4:38 | · | its trade |
| 4:39 | · | later still the arsasid parthian Kings |
| 4:42 | · | had founded tisaphon near salukia and as |
| 4:45 | · | someone remained of the wind in |
| 4:47 | · | babylon's sales |
| 4:49 | · | so by the reign of Augustus there wasn't |
| 4:51 | · | much left of Babylon maybe a few temples |
| 4:54 | · | and not much else |
| 4:55 | · | everything those brick those great walls |
| 4:59 | · | the Hanging Gardens the multitudinous |
| 5:02 | · | houses |
| 5:03 | · | seem to have sunk back down into the |
| 5:04 | · | floodplain as mud brick does and uh not |
| 5:08 | · | much was left |
| 5:10 | · | the Romans knew where the city was or |
| 5:12 | · | had been Thanks to their geographers and |
| 5:15 | · | they marched over it a few times during |
| 5:17 | · | the campaigns against the parthians |
| 5:19 | · | during which Roman armies repeatedly |
| 5:21 | · | sacked and burned salukia and tisaphon |
| 5:24 | · | but Babylon itself was a ghost known if |
| 5:28 | · | at all through literature |
| | · | What were the most stable periods in Roman history? |
| 5:33 | · | our next question submitted by |
| 5:35 | · | Nathaniel's creative collections is |
| 5:39 | · | besides the age of the five good |
| 5:40 | · | Emperors what were the most stable |
| 5:42 | · | periods in Roman history |
| 5:46 | · | well stable depends of course on where |
| 5:49 | · | you are and on who you are |
| 5:51 | · | and who you are especially important |
| 5:54 | · | because if you're in Rome for example |
| 5:56 | · | even though you're usually exempt from |
| 5:58 | · | things like Barbarian raids that be |
| 6:00 | · | subject if you're a wealthy Senator to |
| 6:03 | · | the depredations and other unwanted |
| 6:05 | · | intentions of the emperor if he's |
| 6:07 | · | someone like a Nero or a Caligula and of |
| 6:10 | · | course people like that the ones who |
| 6:11 | · | write our histories and determine our |
| 6:12 | · | perspective on these periods so we have |
| 6:15 | · | to kind of work around their Outlook |
| 6:18 | · | but speaking more generally there are |
| 6:20 | · | certainly eras in which there's General |
| 6:22 | · | Tranquility across the Empire despite |
| 6:24 | · | the usual uh rating on the edges and you |
| 6:28 | · | know pestilence Within |
| 6:30 | · | so the Julio claudian period that is you |
| 6:33 | · | know the Emperors from Augustus to Nero |
| 6:35 | · | is pretty good despite you know the uh |
| 6:39 | · | unpleasantness of living in Rome under |
| 6:41 | · | the Reigns of someone like Caligula or |
| 6:43 | · | parts of Nero's reign |
| 6:46 | · | um in the provinces it's a time of |
| 6:47 | · | recovery from the wars of late Republic |
| 6:49 | · | a time of General prosperity of |
| 6:52 | · | population growth |
| 6:54 | · | um and apparently it's it's pretty good |
| 6:55 | · | for most people |
| 6:57 | · | uh you know after this we have the year |
| 6:59 | · | of the four Emperors which is good for |
| 7:01 | · | almost no one Beyond Vespasian then |
| 7:04 | · | again the flavian period is noises of |
| 7:06 | · | calm the spaces rain the reign of Titus |
| 7:08 | · | and domitian uh they're all pretty good |
| 7:11 | · | in Roman around Rome |
| 7:14 | · | um you know titus's Reign famously is |
| 7:15 | · | marked by disasters of Vesuvius there's |
| 7:18 | · | also a pestilence in Rome but it seems |
| 7:20 | · | like for most people and despite |
| 7:23 | · | emissions bad reputation among |
| 7:25 | · | historians it's not a bad word not a bad |
| 7:27 | · | time to be Roman again assuming you're |
| 7:30 | · | free and relatively wealthy |
| 7:33 | · | after this we have the year Reigns of |
| 7:35 | · | the five Emperors who are always treated |
| 7:36 | · | as the apogee rightly or wrongly got a |
| 7:39 | · | video on that check it out told in stone |
| 7:42 | · | um and then we have the chaos of Lake of |
| 7:46 | · | commerce's Reign the late reign of |
| 7:47 | · | counters especially and the year of the |
| 7:49 | · | five Emperors 193. uh that again is a |
| 7:53 | · | rough time to be in Rome especially for |
| 7:55 | · | trying to claim the throne um or a |
| 7:56 | · | soldier fighting for one of those |
| 7:58 | · | emperors |
| 7:59 | · | um but the severon period is actually |
| 8:01 | · | again pretty stable |
| 8:03 | · | would have been pretty wild to be in |
| 8:04 | · | Rome I think during the valley gapless |
| 8:07 | · | who is the the famous uh boy Emperor who |
| 8:10 | · | throws a orgyestic rights for the sun |
| 8:12 | · | god a lagabal in the capital again good |
| 8:15 | · | time for everybody unless you're a |
| 8:16 | · | senator |
| 8:17 | · | but um after the severance of course the |
| 8:20 | · | mid-third century that's when the props |
| 8:22 | · | are kicked away and the Empire descends |
| 8:24 | · | into the chaos of the military Anarchy |
| 8:27 | · | there are oasis of calm after the |
| 8:31 | · | mid-third century um the early |
| 8:33 | · | patriarchic period for example was |
| 8:35 | · | pretty good if you weren't a Christian |
| 8:38 | · | um after this parts of Constantine's |
| 8:41 | · | Reign uh the reign of his sons |
| 8:43 | · | contagious II of the reign of |
| 8:46 | · | valentinian uh even parts of the reign |
| 8:48 | · | of theaters just the first are pretty |
| 8:50 | · | stable throughout the Empire but they're |
| 8:52 | · | only islands of calm there are more and |
| 8:55 | · | more disruptions more Civil Wars more |
| 8:57 | · | invasions |
| 8:58 | · | and the fifth century is a real mess |
| 9:00 | · | really almost across the Empire except |
| 9:02 | · | for the east |
| 9:04 | · | um so again you know it depends on who |
| 9:06 | · | you are it depends on where you are and |
| 9:08 | · | it's all the pitfalls of living in a |
| 9:09 | · | pre-modern society where there's a short |
| 9:12 | · | life expectancy and diseases everywhere |
| 9:14 | · | but there are certainly long periods |
| 9:16 | · | outside the remains of the five Emperors |
| 9:17 | · | that are pretty stable in most Roman |
| 9:20 | · | Empire |
| | · | Did the Romans have ethnic stereotypes? |
| 9:24 | · | our final question also submitted by |
| 9:26 | · | Nathaniel's creative collections is |
| 9:30 | · | do the Romans have stereotypes about |
| 9:32 | · | people from different provinces or parts |
| 9:34 | · | of the empire |
| 9:36 | · | oh yeah |
| 9:37 | · | now as you'd expect people who lived in |
| 9:40 | · | the capital in the city of Rome tender |
| 9:42 | · | regard provincials as uh unsophisticated |
| 9:46 | · | Hicks of various descriptions |
| 9:48 | · | but there was more granular stereotyping |
| 9:52 | · | about those from different parts of the |
| 9:54 | · | empire |
| 9:55 | · | now those from the Barbarian fringes of |
| 9:59 | · | the north and west that's like Northern |
| 10:01 | · | Gaul Britain for example uh tended to be |
| 10:03 | · | regarded as barbarians themselves |
| 10:06 | · | essentially |
| 10:07 | · | um can tell us famously has this little |
| 10:10 | · | bit about people from Spain who rinse |
| 10:13 | · | their teeth with urine probably didn't |
| 10:15 | · | happen incidentally but again it's a fun |
| 10:18 | · | little scrollless bit to squirrel away |
| 10:20 | · | in an epigram |
| 10:22 | · | um we hear about people who are beer |
| 10:24 | · | drinkers they're from the north |
| 10:26 | · | um so the emperor Valens for example |
| 10:29 | · | um is stereotype as a Beer Drinker uh |
| 10:31 | · | pants wearers and people again from the |
| 10:33 | · | uncouth unsophisticated uncultivated |
| 10:35 | · | North |
| 10:37 | · | but the Romans really have it in |
| 10:38 | · | interestingly for easterners who are |
| 10:41 | · | seen in general as being sophisticated |
| 10:43 | · | and clever but lazy and somehow unmanly |
| 10:47 | · | the Greeks for example there are lots of |
| 10:50 | · | Greeks in Rome many of them working as |
| 10:52 | · | tutors for example or as merchants |
| 10:55 | · | they're almost regard them as being |
| 10:56 | · | tricky you know don't trust a Greek |
| 10:58 | · | bearing gifts and all that sort of thing |
| 11:01 | · | and I don't really trust them very often |
| 11:03 | · | there's a lot of anti-greek stereotyping |
| 11:07 | · | um it's it's on uh even though most |
| 11:09 | · | educated Romans know Greek they're |
| 11:11 | · | taught it from early age |
| 11:13 | · | um you only speak Greek in the Senate |
| 11:14 | · | it's not something it wouldn't be done |
| 11:16 | · | because it's uh again kind of a |
| 11:19 | · | not Roman |
| 11:21 | · | now there's even more stereotyping about |
| 11:24 | · | people from the Far Eastern provinces so |
| 11:27 | · | Syria for example |
| 11:29 | · | the ceterus juvenile has a rather |
| 11:31 | · | vicious satire about syrians he uh |
| 11:34 | · | laments how the orantas the river of |
| 11:37 | · | Antioch is gushing into the Tiber and |
| 11:40 | · | how syrians these effeminate dissolute |
| 11:42 | · | syrians are everywhere |
| 11:45 | · | and so again there's this idea that |
| 11:47 | · | these people are trying to incinate |
| 11:48 | · | themselves into Roman society and take |
| 11:50 | · | the good jobs and uh get money for |
| 11:53 | · | themselves where they they haven't |
| 11:54 | · | earned |
| 11:55 | · | uh Egyptians are also stereotyped as |
| 11:57 | · | being uh tricky uh they're they're |
| 12:00 | · | feverish According to some Urban |
| 12:02 | · | stereotypes |
| 12:03 | · | um an Egyptian is a natural Thief |
| 12:05 | · | there's also regarded by some Romans as |
| 12:08 | · | being almost morbidly religious juvenile |
| 12:12 | · | again who has to be counted on for some |
| 12:13 | · | good old-fashioned chauvinism |
| 12:15 | · | um has a really vicious satire about a |
| 12:18 | · | battle between two Egyptian Villages and |
| 12:21 | · | has some really nasty comments about uh |
| 12:23 | · | worship of animals and things like that |
| 12:26 | · | so the Romans despite not being racist |
| 12:29 | · | per se |
| 12:30 | · | um have all kinds of bad things to say |
| 12:32 | · | about people from different parts of |
| 12:33 | · | their own Empire |
| 12:35 | · | um and of course even less positive |
| 12:37 | · | about barbarians who will live beyond |
| 12:39 | · | the pale Beyond The Blessing as Roman |
| 12:40 | · | civilization |
| 12:43 | · | that wraps it up for this edition of |
| 12:47 | · | tolenstone q a if you have questions |
| 12:49 | · | about Antiquity feel free to drop them |
| 12:51 | · | into the comments in the meantime thanks |
| 12:53 | · | very much for watching |
