A documentary on the letters from the Roman Front Lines. For 21 FREE meals with HelloFresh plus free shipping, use code INVICTA21 at https://bit.ly/3IQrwgq
We continue our Live History series which seeks to use reenactment to bring the past to life. This was made possible thanks to the awesome team at Imperium Romanum: https://www.youtube.com/c/ImperiumRomanumYT
Additional clips were purchased through Pond5 which features the reenactment groups “Nova Polaris” and “Veteres Milites Sibiu”
In this history documentary we explore the process by which Roman soldiers kept in touch with their families and friends. We begin by broadly discussing literacy rates and how one would go about writing a letter in the first place. This involves looking at things like papyrus scrolls, ink pens, and scribes.
We then turn our attention about the way in which these letters were sent across the Roman Empire. This took the form of both public and private couriers. The former consisted primarily of the Cursus Publicus which used a relay of riders to deliver messages across the Empire at incredibly fast speeds. The latter relied primarily on merchants who criss-crossed the Empire at their own pace.
And finally we look at the contents of these Roman letters. This is done by quoting select examples which have been recovered at sites such as Vindolanda in England and Oxyrhnychus in Egypt.
Check out more videos in our live history series:
“Gaming in the Roman Army” https://youtu.be/l8AFtcNH_-c
“How Did Roman Cataphracts Prepare for War?” https://youtu.be/Ip1H5std7Gs
“Roman Army Training” https://youtu.be/cIEbLk9km1M
“What was Watchtower Duty like on the Roman Frontier?” https://youtu.be/dLp62Tcc0Pk
“Journey beyond Rome’s Rhine Frontier?” https://youtu.be/PYvFjMcWv5w
Credits:
Research = Chris Das Neves
Script = Chris Das Neves
Narration = Guy Michaels
Reenactment = Imperium Romanum, Veteres Milites Sibiu
#history
#documentary
#military
source
Hope you all enjoy this look at the more human aspect of history. If you like this sort of content then I recommend you check out Imperium Romanum who has been our partner for this series. While they are on a brief hiatus at the moment I've been told they are working on several videos right now! https://www.youtube.com/@ImperiumRomanumYT
The letters are a reminder that we are all the same and have always been. Good job
Nothing trivial about requests for socks and underpants. If you are standing guard on Hadrian’s Wall at midnight in January, you’ll want a lot more than a tunic between the North Wind and your essentials.
Letters from the past were so down to earth. Yesteryear soldiers and modern soldiers likes, and such never go out of style. Worries, Family, New Socks (very important) to a foot soldier.
And not to carry on the meme, not a cell phone in sight. Imagine if the ancient world had better communications could that have changed history or the pace of their lives too as modern technology has done to us?.
I hope those people who provide the re-enactment footage aren't some European right wing nationalists.
Soldiers, especially Roman soldiers, being bored in downtime and longing for home? Somehow I think they also spent a lot of their boring "downtime" looking for prostitutes, and if they couldn't find prostitutes, they probably , you know. They probably just raped a bunch of people. Especially if the civilians weren't as friendly, or if they were perceived as less "civilized" by Roman standards.
"Hello mother. I am want to let you know that I arrived to Judea in good health. Last Friday we crucified a bunch of Jews. Please don't worry about me."
@3:19 nice to know they had mobile phones back then 🤣
Appolinarius letter to his mother Taesis suspiciously look like Greek to me…
I really feel for the last soldier. I know all too well what it means to be so far away from home, not knowing whether you'll see your family and friends again. Sometimes you were homesick almost to the point of tears. Not receiving any letters from the people you love really fucks your mind up as you are away. I hope whatever issue he or his family encountered during their correspondence got cleared up eventually. Their letters probably got lost along the way or were sent to the wrong place. Happened to me in bootcamp
👍
1st letter at 10 minutes
I remember one WWII veteran, when asked to describe his experience, told the interviewer “war is 99% boredom and 1% sheer unmitigated terror.”
Great video. I have book titled "Life and Letters on the Roman Frontier" by Alan K. Bowman that addresses this specific topic. It is based on the numerous letters found at Vindolanda.
This is wonderful
I feel sorry for the guy who was writing to all his family members and not getting any replies.
Maybe they were all dead. Or maybe they just didn’t like him very much. Perhaps, he was overbearing and needy.. who knows.
Also I liked that one captain’s(equivalent) letter ending with, “The men have no more beer. Please order more.” 😂😂
Dear Mum,
Please send food, they put that gross fish sauce in EVERYTHING 🤢
These letters proves we people don't change in who we are and what we care about no matter the time we're born in.
We have technology they could not have dreamt about, we know and do things they could never have concieved of, but in the end they were humans as we are.
They loved their families and friends, they had their hardships, they fought their battles and they faced their times, same as we are.
Maybe digital archeologists will look at what we comment here today and say the same about us.
"They were humans same as us, and though we travel to the stars as immortal digital beings, we are still the same at our core as they were"
Imagine having to wait up to 30 days for a beer run.
Imagine that in 2000 years, all that is left from your existence is an email to your boss, requesting him to send you and your bros some beer
Very cool bits of humanity on display here. It's amazing how current and familiar the letters sound.
If soldiers sent these letters why were they found next to their camps? Can someone please help me understand
Some of these letters are outright beautiful and somewhat poetic. Even the mundane ones touch me. Thank you for this upload.
Oh, and this guy here: 16:30 What an absolute neck beard, if one ever saw one. Outstanding!
I find these letters very emotionally intimate and touching. They express their love for family with conviction, yet I've never spoken that way with my own parents. Very intriguing.
Next time I text my mom I'm going to start with "Greetings!"
Salve Invicta. I could sit here for hours and just listen to these voices from the past. What treasures! ✒️📜🗣️
If I remember correctly one of the earliest surviving pieces of writing was a merchant suing someone for receiving substandard product and wanted to be reimbursed…We think we are so different from our ancestors but other than technology and overall collective knowledge we are the exact same thing physically, emotionally and mentally that sat around a campfire 30,000 years ago.
"Weather is here, wish you were beautiful."
considering that the typical term of service for Legionnaires was 20-25 years, and many of them would be posted away at frontiers where they'd never have a chance to visit home for R&R or leave, and that the frontier posts were also the most dangerous postings where all the action happened, you can imagine how heavily that weighed on the soldiers, and how something so small and simple and even stupid could lift a sullen spirit
imagine being posted on Hadrian's wall for the last 10 years of your life, the only comforts of modern life is the small nearby Britonic town half a day's walk away where some Roman merchants and craftsmen live, every few months there's a raid happening and you have to march north of the wall into the frontiers of Scotland to fend off the Picts, occasionally a few of your own get killed in battle… and you come back to the garrison to see a small letter from your younger sister teasing you in 2 lines, and a fresh blanket from your mom… you'd be a crying mess!
WRITE BACK TO POLION, FOR HERCULES!
Good video
This is great !!! I just found my favorite new channel.
Awesome 👍
Great video! Many thanks for this!
That last letter broke my heart. I will be thinking of him for years to come.
Based reenactors.
Do you think if they weren't home to receive their letter, they would get a red slip through the door?