Comments by "" (@neutronalchemist3241) on "Roman Testudo - Formations, March Chants, Patrols And Castra" video.

  1. Ser Zippy Already at the time of the conquest of Britain, Normans were completely Frenchified. They spoke French (of the time), were vassals of the King of Franks (that was not a given, IE neighbour Brittany was still an indipendent duchy) had completely adopted the French feudal system and style of combat (Ironically, after two centuries of struggle, the Saxons had completely absorbed the Norse style of combat instead. For a modern witness would have been difficult to discern the two sides at the Battle of Stamford Bridge by their equipment, or style of combat).
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  2. Medieval cavalry had been beaten by a variety of infantry weapons. Standard spears at legnano, short club/spears at the Golden Spurs. The Almogavars routinely beaten the French cavalry, and their weapons were a pair of javelins, a short spear and a knife. The key was to have a more disciplined and/or trained and/or experienced infantry than the usual hastly assembled militia medieval knights were used to fight.
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  3. Legionaries wore the swords on their right (much easier to draw them when in packed formations). Some think Centurions were allowed to wear them on the left, but that's not certain.
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  4. Actually there are historical accounts of black legionaries.
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  5. IE Vita Septimii Severi, in the Historia Augusta, narrates the encounter of Emperor Septimius Severus with a black legionary in Britannia. Romans recruited heavily in N. Africa. Typical North Africans were not black, but, since there were movements of people back then too, a man of subsaharian descent ending in the legion was certainly unusual, but not unheard of.
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  6. Historically, there were. BBC's fault is to have depicted a very rare occurrence as typical, but one should not make the opposite mistake.
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  7. Have you ever heard of the ivory road? Caravans already crossed the desert for centuries before the Roman Empire existed. Ancient world was much less isolated than modern common people tend to think. That the black legionary was a Mauritanian is nothing more than your guessing. As said, Roman legions recruited heavily in N. Africa. A simply North African legionary would have not even been worth a mention.
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  8. It's pretty cleatr that North African were not black subsaharin, genius. Since the Roman legions recruited heavily in N. Africa, North African legionaries were common, and not worth of any note, genius. So, the report of the encounter of Emperor Septimius Severus with a black legionary in Britannia, was not with a North African, genius. Romans generally referred to sub-saharian people as "Aethiopes". Your last sentence does not make any sense, sorry. He could not have been enlisted because "his country" (what country? Lol!) would have been invaded? (by who?). Black people could very well be born into the Empire. A former slave could have not been enlisted, but the son of a former slave could.
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  9. Absurd for you maybe. There were tons of ways to obtain citizenship in Ancient Rome, and the country of origin seems to be much more important for you than it was for the Romans.. That's clutching at straws, sorry. Once one was in the legion, he went where the legion was needed.
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  10. Dude. There were tons of ways to obtain citizenship in Ancient Rome. IE St. Paul was a Roman Citizen, despite non having any connection with the city by ancestry. Dude, that's an impossibility only for you. YOU give importance to the country of origin. Romans didn't. The ancestors of someone that lived into the empire being from Nubia, China or Mars, was not important for them. In all evidence, it was not the only way. As already said, black people, could very well born into the Empire. Once a black man came, for whatever reason, to live into the Empire (because he did born there, or arrived there), he could become an auxiliar, or manage to acquire citizenship and become a legionary. And your source says: "Provinciales were those people who fell under Roman influence, or control". "People", not "nation". A black man that lived in Tunis or Alexandria was as "provinciales" as a white man living in there.
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  11. A Peregrinus was any person who was not a full Roman citizen. A provinciales was a peregrinus too. What you don't understand is that Romans had not the same notion of belonging by meant of blood that you have. A suebian, or an Indian for that matter, living in Gaul would have been a provinciales exactly like a Gaul.
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  12. 1) "lose" what if he was not yet a citizen? 2) You are mistaking ancient world for middle age. The mobility of ancient world was unparalleled until modern age. Many people traveled and relocated for the most diverse reasons. As already said, black people, could very well born into the Empire. Once a black man came, for whatever reason, to live into the Empire (because he did born there, or arrived there), he could become an auxiliar, or manage to acquire citizenship and become a legionary.
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  13. Probably the scuti weren't that uniform in the real legions either.
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