Aldrete says Hannibal Barca killed about 60,000 Romans in a single afternoon at the Battle of Cannae.
“in one afternoon, at the Battle of Cannae, Hannibal kills about 60,000 Romans.”
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Gregory Aldrete
1 episodes · 26 quoted claims
Aldrete says an officer of Pyrrhus of Epirus compared fighting the Romans to fighting a hydra, because Rome kept raising new armies from its allies after defeats.
“Fighting the Romans is like fighting a hydra, and a hydra is this mythological monster that when you cut off one head, two more grow in its place.”
Aldrete says Roman auxiliaries were recruited from newly conquered peoples and served alongside the legions for 25 years, after which they received Roman citizenship.
“auxiliaries tend to be newly conquered warlike people that The Romans enlist as auxiliaries to fight with them, and they serve side by side with the Roman legions for 25 years.”
Aldrete says the Roman legion's flexible subunits beat a Macedonian sarissa phalanx at the Battle of Cynoscephalae in 197 BC.
“the big sticking point comes at 197 BC, at the Battle of Cynoscephalae, when the Roman legion goes up against”
Aldrete says his team's tests found that a layer of linen armor about 1 centimeter thick protected about as well as 2 millimeters of bronze.
“a layer of of linen is about as good protection as 2 millimeters of bronze, which was the thickest comparable body armor of bronze at the time.”
Aldrete says his linothorax project found 65 accounts of the armor in ancient literature by 40 different authors.
“in the end, we found, um, 65 accounts of it in ancient literature by 40 different authors.”
Aldrete says Alexander the Great armed his phalanx with the sarissa, a spear about 15 feet long.
“Alexander the Great arms his armies with the sarissa, which is this 15 foot, almost a pike, this extra-long spear.”
Aldrete says Philip II reformed the Macedonian army, introduced the sarissa and created a mixed-troop army that Alexander the Great inherited.
“It's his father who reformed the Macedonian army, who came up with that system of equipping them with the sarissa, this extra long spear that made them really effective, created the mixed army.”
Aldrete says Emperor Justinian compiled Roman law into a code in the sixth century AD, forming the basis of many modern legal systems.
“the Roman Emperor Justinian, who is a, uh, emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire by this point, the Byzantine Empire, compiles all this together into something that today we just kinda loosely call Justinian's Code of”
Aldrete says that in the 2nd century AD the Roman Empire had about 50 million inhabitants, of whom perhaps 6 million were citizens.
“there were about 50,000, 000 human beings living within the boundaries of the Roman Empire. Maybe 6,000, 000 were actual citizens.”
Aldrete says Marcus Junius Brutus and 23 other senators stabbed Julius Caesar on the Ides of March in 44 BC.
“he and 23 other senators take daggers, stick them in Julius Caesar and kill him for acting like a king.”
Aldrete says Julius Caesar's will posthumously adopted his grand-nephew Octavian, who inherited a name and the loyalty of about 12 legions.
“Caesar posthumously, and this is a little weird, posthumously adopts Octavian as his son.”
Aldrete says Octavian defeated Mark Antony at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and became sole ruler, then settled the new system in 27 BC.
“so in 31 BC, um, Octavian defeats Antony at the Battle of Actium. So that's kind of the moment he becomes the sole ruler.”
Aldrete says Augustus wrote an autobiography called the Res Gestae, whose title translates roughly as 'stuff I did'.
“Augustus calls his the Res Gestae, which the best sort of literal translation is stuff I did.”
Aldrete says the Pope crowned Charlemagne on Christmas Day in the year 800 with the title Augustus, Emperor of the Romans.
“And the title that the Pope gives to Charlemagne is Charles that's Charlemagne Augustus, Emperor of the Romans.”
Aldrete says Rome had no permanent gladiatorial venue until about 80 AD, when the Flavian Amphitheater (the Colosseum) was built under Vespasian.
“it didn't have a permanent gladiatorial venue until relatively late, till about 80 AD, so during the reign of the Emperor, uh, Vespasian.”
Aldrete cites a scholarly study of about 100 known gladiator fights in which roughly 10 percent ended in a death.
“I think some scholar did a study of there's like 100 fights we know of, um, where we know some details, and I think 10% of those ended in the death of one of the people.”
Aldrete says the Pantheon's dome used thicker, denser concrete at the base and lighter material such as pumice near the top.
“the concrete at the bottom of the dome is both thicker and has a denser formulation, so it's heavier where it needs to bear the weight.”
Aldrete says that from 98 AD Rome chose emperors by adoption of the best qualified heir, giving about 80 years and five emperors known as the five good emperors.
“for the next 80 years, you have only 5 emperors, and they're often called the 5 good emperors.”
Aldrete says Diocletian issued a guaranteed solid gold coin called the solidus to stabilize the economy after the 3rd-century crisis.
“he issues a new solid gold coin that he guarantees is solid gold, and he calls it a solidus, a solid coin.”
Aldrete says Pliny, a provincial governor, wrote to Emperor Trajan around 100 AD asking how to treat Christians, showing he knew almost nothing about them.
“there's this very famous letter by a guy named Pliny, who was a Roman governor of a province in the East, and he has the habit of writing letters to the Roman emperor at the time, who was Trajan”
Aldrete says Constantine converted to Christianity and that under Theodosius about a century later it became the Roman Empire's official religion.
“the emperor converts to Christianity, and another 100 years later, under Theodosius, it becomes the official religion of the Roman Empire.”
Aldrete says the modern calendar of 365 days, 12 months and leap years comes from Julius Caesar, with a small later adjustment by Pope Gregory.
“We're using Julius Caesar's calendar. I mean, Pope Gregory did one tiny little twist, but Caesar's the one who basically came up with our current calendar of 365 days, 12 months, uh, leap years”
Aldrete says the Vandals conquered Spain and North Africa, regions that supplied food to Rome, after which Rome's population plummeted.
“The Vandals end up going to Spain, conquering Spain, and then crossing over into North Africa and kind of conquering North Africa as well.”
Aldrete recounts that the Pope met Attila the Hun at a river and Attila then turned back from Italy, though sources disagree whether saints or a bribe explained it.
“and the Pope goes and meets Attila, and they have lunch together at this river.”
Aldrete says the Roman historian Cassius Dio wrote that the empire descended from a kingdom of gold to one of rust and iron after Marcus Aurelius.
“our kingdom now descends from one of gold to one of rust and iron.”