The War That Ended the Ancient World

I will never get over the Roman capacity to have a civil war, get invaded, have their capital besieged by multiple enemy armies simultaneously, and still pull out a win. And even with the later losses to the Arab invasion, Constantinople would stand another 800 years. It boggles my mind.

The fact that school history classes go from the Roman Empire straight to the Middle Ages and skips over things like THIS is insane.

The final Sassanid-Roman War is one of the most incredible and understudied wars in history. What Heraclius achieved was truly miraculous.

Eastern romans: "Could you please try to not invade our territory...FOR FIVE MINUTES!?" Persians, ottomans, mongols, huns, barbarians, etc: "What an awesome capital you have, guys!" 😎

It’s crazy how Armenia and Armenians are still around. They’ve been through a lot , respect

Isn't it crazy how most people have NO IDEA about Rome's rivalry with Persia? If you asked, most people would say Rome's greatest rival was Carthage (who the Romans beat in only two wars) or the barbarian tribes of western and central Europe, or the Huns. But Persia remained an unconquerable rival RIGHT NEXT to Rome's eastern border. Two virtual equals with millennia of proud history, constantly exchanging blows and territory in the Levant and Fertile Crescent, but who could never fully beat one another. Finally, they fight a war so cataclysmic that it marks the end of a roughly 14000-year historical era, brings both proud empires to their knees, and paves the way for a new civilization to conquer them both as the dominant power of the age.

In a sea of awful pronunciations, direct copying from Wikipedia, and endless inaccuracies on the "history" side of YouTube, toldinstone is a beacon of good, accurate info. Thanks as always- you're the best!

I feel such melancholy and sympathy for Heraclius and the Empire every time I hear of his heroic deeds.

I love the historical context and the account of the Sassanid/Roman war of course, but I really appreciate the poetic firsthand account of this ancient cathedral still standing after all these centuries. The little sensory details about the wind and the grass and the hand made bricks really fires my imagination. Thanks Garrett!

Honestly, Heraclius is such an under studied figure in history. The war he devoted his life to fighting is simply legendary and almost defies belief in the impact it has on history.

I can't believe how well-written this is. Descriptive, relatable, and to-the-point. I love the use of the adjacent cathedral as a framing point for the story.

I like that you hardly exaggerate and any artistic license you take is simple, beautiful, and adds emotion without altering the history you’re teaching.

I love this video. The Mren Cathedral provided a perfect lens for the story. I experienced it as a human-scaled access point to the clash of empires, long decayed but with enough detail left that I could imagine being there when it was new and the events it commemorates were living memory. I hadn’t known anything about this key moment in history before. Now I know and I’m sure I will remember. Well done, and thank you.

The tragedy of Heraclius was, if his story ended with the victory over the Sassanids and he had died shortly after, he would have been known as one of the greatest Emperors in Roman history( he arguably still is one)…..he lived in an unfortunate time and lived too long

I've become very interested in ancient Rome over the last year thanks to people like Mike Duncan and Lars Brownworth, as well as other YT channels like Historia Civilis. It's always a pleasure to be able to immerse myself in this world. Fantastic video--please devote your energies to making more like this.

Love this unique form of historical analysis. Really helps you to understand the perspective of the people in the 6th century

The work you're doing is such important escapism from our own Roman collapse.

Great video on possibly one of the greatest sequence of events in Western history. Imagine if Maurice had not been killed by Phokas. The maintenance of antiquity's status quo in the Balkans and Mideast for how much longer? No Slavic Balkans, no Islamic Conquest.

This is a story few people, even those interested in ancient history, know. Thanks for telling it so clearly and emphasizing its importance..

It's amazing how much hostility you encounter from some people when you try to explain to them that Rome actually fell in 1453 and not 476AD. The 'Byzantines' knew they were Roman(and never called themselves Byzantines!), but we in the modern era sometimes seem to forget this, or worse, choose not to accept it. Maybe it's because they spoke Greek rather than Latin, or because they adopted the customs of the Greek part of their once vast empire, or perhaps because they were Christian. But the reality is that the Rome of Cicero, Caesar and Augustus survived for over two thousand years and fell only about fifty years before da Vinci painted his Mona Lisa and some thirty years before the Tudors ruled England! Thank's for this video on the 'end of antiquity'!