Romans, Vikings, Peasants: Who Had The Worst Job In History? | Timeline

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I’ve watched them a thousand times but I always come back to these Tony Robinsons documentaries. His enthusiasm is just marvellous, he’s truly a national treasure.

Imagine telling a treadmill worker that people in the future would do it because they ate too much. He would think you'r mental . 😅

Tony is the history teacher we all wish we had in high school. We'd have paid better attention, and all gotten better grades.

Kudos to all the people keeping this history alive as well! They’re the real heroes of this documentary.

4:18 Q: How do you get the stuff out? A: You use a pick. Q: Pretty difficult to swing in here. A: It's a small pick Q: How do you use it? A: You just chip away. A nice and informative exchange!

Modern day: "Don't play with fire kids!" Dark Ages: "Tend the fire or we'll die kids!"

If you ever feel like complaining about something you're struggling with in life or having a bad day look at one of Tony's videos and praise yourself lucky you don't have to try to survive in those days.... As a history buff I just love Tony's videos and the enthusiasm with which he dives into it... How did we ever get to where we are, having put a man on the moon and flying around the world in metal tubes in less than a day... It took months for them to travel half the distance... We can't thank you enough Mr. Robinson for this look into history. I often wonder who were my ancestors in the Middle Ages and before that, all the way to the time of the Roman Empire and where they were living. Being from Belgium I wonder if they were part of the tribe of Ambiorix, the famous Gaul who fought Julius Caesar. I was very surprised to learn there was gold in the region there and that was what the Romans came to look for when they invaded England. How did they found out there was gold to find there? So much we still don't know...

The word ACRE was actually an old Norwegian word that came over with the vikings. We still call it ÅKER. Which is indeed the amount of land one person would be expected to plow a day.

"Who's that?" "Must be a king." "How do you know?" "He hasn't got s#!t all over him."

I keep imagining that guy in every era that says "Yeah it's not so bad!"

When he's complaining how much work there is to do and time it takes I can't help not to think all those times customers demand something to be in stock even if its are tailored by hand for you. I think back then people knew the value of things, now it's only about money.

Can't beat a good old Tony Robinson documentary, his historic enthusiasm is great!

I do love when those presenting history seem to be genuinely excited and passionate about history and teaching others said history. I love history.

Tony Robinson has been wonderful at bringing history to life either in this series or in Time Team. He successfully takes the role of the viewer and brings a sense of curiosity, amusement and disgust whilst maintaining the general quality of the stories told and without trivialising or without sensationalising.

4:45 That chipping with no eye protection really brought the safety manager out in me.

My Great-Granduncle was killed around the turn of the century when he was using an ox-drawn hand plow. It hit a large stone, and flipped, and he was struck on the head. Milnor, North Dakota.

"Why wouldn't they steal even a little silver?" Punishment is castration "That makes sense"

"It's getting mixed up with me scarf" -Tony as he pulls mud out of the ground with scarf around neck

"The horse collar, which came into general use in Europe during the 12th century, was one of the most important inventions of the Middle Ages."