Historian Reviews the Best and Worst Depictions of the Roman Empire in Film and TV

flaming I mean bll flaming balls the B flaming Balls of Fury there been some time since I've watched this movie for good reason because I don't really enjoy it sadly the uh full and complete biography of The Life and Times and achievements of bigger stickers have not survived to us today it is just a shame that much of the rest of this film is utter garbage hello my name is Tristan Hughes I'm the host of the Ancients podcast and I do lots of ancient history stuff at history hit now the team have brought me in

here after the great success of the Gladiator deep dive and the Alexander Deep dive make sure you also go and check those out they brought me in to review a wide array of Roman movies and also I he a few TV series as well so I thought yeah why not no doubt there will be some clips that they've chosen that I will not enjoy but there'll be others that I really will so hey it's going to be fun it's going to be entertaining and let's get going [Applause] so we're on to TV and the series

I mean the the HBO series that G tter and class several uh love and ancient historians love it is brilliant it is a Timeless classic so well done and this is one of the first scenes so this is depicting Julius Caesar's conquest of ghoul I think it's about 52 BC that this battle scene is depicted first off armor brilliant chain mail armor no Lura segmentata in sight you know the armor you think sometimes of Roman legionaries from that gladiator and so on the banded iron armor that's introduced later not in the late Republican period in

the time of Julius Caesar so the whistle let's talk about the whistle because I think this is something that many of us always remember when we watch this part of HBO Rome season one right at the beginning episode one and it is suggesting the use of whistles to move soldiers from the front ranks to further back there's no evidence for the use of whistles by the Romans in battles like this however there is archaeological evidence for whistles at legionary fortresses there's an example of a whistle found at the Roman Fort of Regensburg and it's extraordinary

extraordinary little whistle uh Ben kanaine brilliant Dr Ben Kane he showed me a replica that he has um but he explained to me how you we don't know the function of it and it may well have been was it used in battle could have been but more likely for a doggy for a pet dog so there is no direct evidence for the use of whistles in battle but what I like about it here is that look there is still archaological evidence for whistles in a military context in Roman Forts and it's being used here and

what I think it is really demonstrating is the discipline of these Roman legionaries Caesar's legionaries who at this time have been fighting in France they've also gone to Britain a few of them as well you know they are in incredibly disciplined they've got so much battle experience and they are some of the greatest most battle hardened soldiers in the Roman Republic at this time and they are Central to the power of Julius Caesar legionary Titus pulo is a hero of the 13th Legion but look at him now Justice knows every man's number he has committed

a terrible sacrilege and he will pay for it with his life as will any man here who breaks the law public disciplinary actions was something that the Romans were keen on and King on to make sure that soldiers didn't do similar basically kind of install a bit of fear there this is an example of a whipping but there we know of several cases I think there's at least four cases of actions that if a Roman soldier was found guilty of would result in execution beheadings there could be crucifixions in cases horrific there's for instance the

story of if a soldier fell asleep whilst on guard during the night if they fell asleep and were caught and were found guilty of it they could be subject to a gruesome death called ferarum now this was when the soldiers tent companions so legionaries were divided into uh conium which was a kind of a dormatory of eight men and those people who you Shar your Dorry with they'd be like your closest your brothers in arms on campaigns and so on and these closest comrades they would have to step forward and you would be beaten to

death by them either with sticks or your bare or their bare hands or or something like that and it's pretty pretty brutal stuff so for a select number of crimes the punishment in the Roman army was death and public executions to ensure that other soldiers didn't do similar I mean what better way to stop them from doing that than saying your penalty would be an absolutely Gru loome and public death Brawlers and drunkers will be flogged thieves will be strangled deserters will be crucified is that it it was just beginning to enjoy myself before you

versing GK son of kelil Chieftain of the tribe of the AY um that was versing G the leader of the great GIC revolt against the Romans culminates in the great Siege of Alesia uh where Caesar wins one of his greatest victories I think you could say against ver gri and his host within a Le IIA and then a massive um kind of liberating force that sees Mark Anthony and the soldiers are able to fend off too and It ultimately results in vers and G's going to Caesar's Camp uh and surrendering according to one version the

version I think they followed here is of vers and Gat going to Caesar's Camp voluntarily and that is mentioned in a history called Cassis Dio who's writing a couple of centuries later but he mentions how it comes completely out the blue and everyone's quite shocked when they see vers and G is very tall in all of his armor see him walking through the camp and going to the feet of Caesar in the center of of the camp the pretorium the other account written by Caesar himself and Caesar was a master of PR so he also

had to take that with a pinch of salt um was that vers and gri was handed over to Julius Caesar by other leading GIC Nobles and this is the thing I don't think he said that like his his clothes were stripped off him but he certainly throws his arms down and his arm throws it off at Julius Caesar's feet he kneels and he doesn't say a word um that's what we get from the surviving sources this isn't also mentioned sour that he kisses the statue but it's obviously an act of humiliation um you kind of

kissing the eagle the standard of Rome showing Rome superiority Rome being the Victor that's not mentioned in the surviving sources but it's an interesting Edition and maybe it reflects the fact that I think according to One Source I think Cassis Dio that talks about how vers and gri and Caesar they had been on good terms in the past before he had revolted and perhaps vers and grick expecting some clemency or some mercy from Caesar which Caesar has no intention of offering [Music] and speaking of said Triumph here we go death of the king of the

GS and this is a few years later set the scene this is 46 BC now so between that scene of vers and grick surrendering and Caesar in gou has been about six or so years during which Julius Caesar has successfully fought and won that bean the majority of his Civil War beating pompy then victories in Egypt um against against the toes I think it's Tommy the 13th and and his faction and Areno I fourth then goes north defeats uh a powerful King in what is today turkey the pontic war fares and then he goes to

North Africa defeats likes of ko the younger and matelis at thus and UA so he's won all of these successes in the past few years against Romans but also Al against powerful local dynasts too each place that he's gone and finally in 46 BC he's back in Rome and he he has not had the time to have the great triumph which was kind of the mark of a great success of a military General where they would go through the city uh through a particular route end at the capitaline hill at the center of R to

celebrate them to celebrates their military victories and their successes for the Roman State and finally in 46 BC Julius Caesar he's he's won all of these victories all of these campaigns and he decides I'm not going to hold one Triumph I'm going to hold four I'm going to celebrate each of my different successes in different areas of the world and the first of them is his gag Triumph celebrating his conquest of ghoul and that is what is being depicted here so you have Roman soldiers in Rome this was the only time that Roman soldiers were

allowed to be in Rome before of course the establishment of the cast petorian the petorian guard in Rome um the AC normally Roman soldiers were not allowed in Rome itself the fear of course um tyrants and so on and so forth but an exception is always made for for Roman triumphs and they would parade through the streets ending ultimately at the capitaline [Applause] hill so Cesar's got the red paint paint on there being painted on his face I'm going to come back to that in a bit that is the young guas Octavius Octavian who will

become later the Emperor Augustus and we do know that juliia CES around this time does appoint the young Octavian who was about this time I think he's about 15 he's a teenager into the College of priests so an important role and Caesar certainly seems to have taken a liking to the young Octavian he will take him to Spain when he has to go and campaign in Spain after this and he will name him not only as his primary uh beneficiary in his will um the first person in his will but also he will adopt him

as his son [Applause] oh [Applause] the red face paint is mentioned once in Roman sources from what I can remember and it's apparently kind of associated with the Roman Chief God Jupiter uh who had a red-faced statue there is no mention of the red face being used in Caesar's GIC Triumph however you can understand why they did it because hey it's it's great Telly uh and it is associated with trium so maybe it was used know the the detail is just not [Applause] there odaka eses for 10 years I have supported Rome 10 years who

is that War have fought beside your legion the commander of the Gods so now here I am to claim my Jews and what are your Jews general onethird of all Italy you think I'm joking is this true ores did you make such a pack no how could I promise what isn't mine to give oneir of Italy that way the all so first off we we've got the last Legion now now this film is never really seen in the high echelons of ancient history films and with good reason uh it's there are a lot of problems

with this film and it's certainly not one of my favorites I think it's it's pretty dire but we'll try and find some not going to hate and hate and hate I want to find some good points with it it's a really interesting time in history the context it's the fall of the Western Roman Empire it's 476 ad this is real late Antiquity and odaka deposing the last Roman emperor in the west so supposedly there was actually another Emperor at that time but it is it's the fall of the Western Roman Empire and it is really

really interesting that there is a film dedicated to it it is just a shame that much of the rest of this film is utter garbage [Applause] Romanus Augustus wasn't really prepared to be Emperor his dad kind of took over as a chief commander and then installed his young son as Emperor like a year before he is then deposed this like 475 ad it all happens really really quickly and yeah is quite interesting he then gets the name augustulus added to his to his name originally his name is just just Romulus um and Augustus is added

when he becomes Emperor the other key thing to mention here we're seeing like this kind of celebrations of the new emperor people loving him and so on and so forth this wouldn't have happened in Rome this wasn't the capital of the Roman Empire anymore in the west it was Rena further north and we don't have any sources describing the ession the coronation of Romulus augustulus as the new EMP he was very young as shown here but it would have been almost certainly nothing like it is being shown at the moment and I mean the thing

I can never get around is just why they say that it's in Rome that this happens [Music] The Life of Brian Monty Python oh this is one of my I love the scene I think everyone loves the scene because of it's brilliant punches pilot uh fascinating figure historical figure as well mentioned in the bible but also historical sources um portrayed here with aisp and of course we will in time get to the story of bigger stickers uh set design is interesting now I think it's just what they could get their hands on on to really

show kind of Roman emphasize you know this is kind of a Roman HQ idea and of course this is set in about 3033 ad the time of Jesus of Nazareth and we must mention that Pontius Pilate is first and foremost remembered for being the governor of Judea at the time of Jesus of nazareth's death and Pontius Pilate oversees the trial of Jesus of Nazareth and there's the famous scene in some of the gospels where Pontius pilot he's almost kind of exonerated but from the Judgment by and it's really um the people and the priests the

Pharisees who are very much the ones pushing for Jesus of nazareth's execution by crucifixion and there's that of course the washing your hands and he kind of in one he washes his hands of the of the judgment and says you know it's not me who's done this it's not my problem kind of thing and that's hence why you get this idea of washing your hands of something what's a strike him Centurion very roughly oh uh throw him to the floor sir what throw him to the floor again sir oh yes throw him to the floor

please now Jewish rep scallion I'm not Jewish I'm a Roman a Roman no no Roman no your father was a woman who was he he was a centurion in the Jerusalem garrisons Jerusalem Garrison interesting because the center of control for the Romans in Judea at this time it wasn't in Jerusalem and I think many soldiers and people like Pontius Pilate they probably didn't like going to Jerusalem they had to sometimes in kind of keep the peace particularly with the great feasts that would have occurred um they probably review Jerusalem as a very Troublesome area of

Judea and actually their main Center of power was on the sea a place called caesaria maritima um built by Herod the Great very classical uh in in its Outlook but yes there would have been soldiers around the area of Jus I think it's a joke sir like uh s Sodus or biggest dick sir what's so funny about bigest dickas what it's a joke names her I have a very great friend in wor called Biggers dickas sadly the uh full and complete biography of The Life and Times and achievements of bigger stickers have not survive to

us today uh I wish they had but sadly that biography has long disappeared what exactly are the demands we're giving pilot two days to dismantle the entire apparatus of the Roman imperialist State and if he doesn't agree immediately we execute her cut a head off cut all our bits off send them back on the hour every hour show them where not to be trifled with and of course course we point out that they Bear full responsibility when we chop her up and that we shall not submit to Blackmail black they bled us white an iconic

scene of M Bon's Life of Brian uh it's being repeated again and again and again we love it we love it because it is just such great comedy and what they ever given us what have they ever given us the Aqueduct what the aqueduct oh yeah yeah they did give us that that's true yeah and there's sanitation oh yeah the sanitation R remember what the city used to be like yeah or I'll Grant you the acct of Sanitation are two things the rans ad done and the roads well yeah obviously the roads I mean the

roads go without saying don't they seers roads aqueducts those are things we always associate with the Romans and the Roman Empire and so on um all those things exist before the Romans but I think they become so attached to the Romans because they are so Central to Roman style settlements you know wherever you go you will see remnants of one of those key things um and also just the scale of them how impressive they are under the Romans just look at the road Network that survives and some of the most incredible ones and how far

they stretch first of all here if we talk about the historical context we'll go through them one by one because there some really interesting archaeology for Jerusalem at that time um there is an aqueduct in Jerusalem at the time time of the setting of The Life of Brian early 1st Century ad and some have argued that it was actually constructed by pontious Pilot so there you go there's a nice little tea in there so yes what have the Romans done for them well they have given them an aqueduct in Jerusalem at that time sanitation interesting

um we know there's s there were like sewer systems and stuff beneath Temple Mount I believe around the size of Temple Mount which I believed to been herodian in dates so dates before the times of pontious pilot so yes absolutely there the roads is a very interesting one as well uh if talk about Jerusalem because there is a particular street called the stepped Street and when archaeologists were Excavating that Roman Road they found coins dating to the time of pontious pilot when he was governor um which has suggested potentially can't be proven for sure that

maybe that was that fell out to the pocket of a worker or someone who was helping build this road when it was initially being constructed and that would suggest that it was under ponti's Pilot's rule as a govern ship that that Key Road in Jerusalem was constructed too so all these things you can actually point to particular historical examples of which I find really interesting but apart from the sanitation the aqueduct and the Roads Irrigation medicine education yeah you're all right fair enough and the wine yeah yeah that's something we'd really misr if the Romans

left public BS and it's safe to walk in the streets at night now reg yeah they certainly not to keep order let's face it the only on who could in a place like this all right but apart from the sanitation the medicine education wine public order irrigation rows a freshw system and public health what have the Romans ever done for us yeah that's the interesting part for me um I can talk less about the medicine and uh wine and so on and so forth but the brought piece at the end I find really interesting because

a few decades on from this you will actually have a great Revolt in Judea from the Romans the great Jewish revolt and you'll have a couple more as well in the decades following that and one of the reasons is the poor management of Judea by some of its earliest Governors including pontious pirot so actually the Romans early on um and look this may be a bit of over exaggeration but it does seem to suggest from the surviving historical accounts that people like pones pilot were actually quite cruel um they're very much trying to implement uh

Roman ways Roman Law and Order and so on and so forth uh quite harshly and this in turn caused a lot of resentment they bring peace for a bit but they also through the actions of their High leading officials in this area of the world they cause resentment to really grow and grow and grow and that will outbreak a couple of decades after multi Python's Life of Brian is set that will result in not the people's front of Judea I'm must admit a bit different but you will have a great Jewish Revolt as well so

the brought peace part that's that's more difficult because there are certainly Rebels there are certainly a lot of discontent towards the Romans and harsh actions of figures like ponch's pilot shut up [Music] never catch seen the general so beloved of his men well in training is our scholar at the feast he is our father in the ranks he is our brother and in battle he is the God we pray to save our souls where did you read that written on the [ __ ] I was wal probably wrote it himself he a ruthless Reckless bastard

aha oh great this is one of my favorite movies and yes yes there are problems with it there are problems with many of the but hey it's Hollywood they're meant these movies are meant to get people interested in you know this period they're meant to entertain and if you want to learn more about the real history you can go and learn more about it it's a great kind of stepping stone into learning more about it um but I love Centurion if the last Legion is about here in my estimations of in my reviews of ancient

history movies I this Centurion is about here because what I love about it and particular scenes of it is that it's a combination of some of my favorite tales and stories from the Roman Empire from Roman history here we have the scene the setting is supposed to be Scotland Northern Britain today whereabouts is unclear but this Legion the ninth Legion have marched north of Hadrian's Wall um and I think it's is to try and flex the military might of Rome in the north well what I love about this story is that it's a combination of

three of my favorite Tales from Roman history you can see elements of buddika in a small part probably not showing the scene but I'll talk about that you can see elements of the story and I quote the story of the ninth Legion that has become very popular today and it has elements of a disastrous battle um that occurred in the forest of Germania in 98 that I've done a lot of work around recently so let's talk through these three elements buddika first is the figure who leads them into this trap there this Warrior woman called

aain who has very kind of budik Vibes um who is a scout leading the Roman Force at this time but she betrays them now very buddika in her appearance that's really the extent of the buddika link the betraying them the local Scouts betraying them is very much linked to the bass of the churg forest where arminius a Germanic leader who the Romans believed was on their side lead them into a trap in the forest the Roman army is spread out for Miles along a narrow track they don't know the terrain and this is very much

emphasized in this portrayal here but instead of it being Germany this is Northern Britain and as you can see they know that something's up and you have the soldiers kind of lined up stretched out for Miles very vulnerable in terrain they don't know um and the third link obviously influence is of course the story of the ninth Legion going north and being destroyed in the north which is I probably think is unlikely flaming I mean b flaming balls the B flaming Balls of Fury that you see in games like Roman 2 Total War I've played

many a game where I've used these um there's no direct evidence for them being used I don't see why they wouldn't be used how they couldn't be used but it would need a lot of kind of clearing the forest to make sure that they roll down of course there is the potential of Friendly Fire obviously less so in these cases when you're rolling it down the hills but um but but like it's certainly possible that they could have done them you know kind of put all this hay and straw together covered with um oil or

tar or or something like that A flammable A flammable liquid and then set on the light and push them down the hill but there's no direct evidence for it and this is very much this is chbg Forest Vibes like the bar Arians coming out of the trees hit and run ambushes they shown quite a lot with brutish big brutish weapons they got throwing axes big kind of two-handed weapons swords interestingly quite a lack of Spears and Spears would still have been like ental weapon of the attackers um it is brutal it is absolutely brutal this

battle scene I must admit but I do like it because it gives cherberg Forest Vibes and I'm find that battle really really interesting [Applause] [Music] [Music] yes yes yes lots and lots of gruesome stuff there lots of stuff that you might well have to uh you might well have to cover because it is a very very gruesome bassle scene but I want to go back to the third influence that was talking about earlier the ninth Legion influence now the story of the ninth Legion is an interesting one um archeologically in Britain evidence for the ninth

Legion disappears in 108 ad I think the last archeological evidence for it is this it's a dedication and you can see it now replica of it in the Yorkshire Museum and it talks about the ninth being involved in the rebuilding of the legionary Fortress at York we then never hear of the ninth Legion again in Britain it's not building Hadrian W uh a few years later 1 22 ad the 120s ad which suggests that the nth region is no longer in Britain at that time now the popular story today thanks to Rosemary Su cliff and

the eagle of the ninth is that the ninth Legion headed north be before the building of Hadrian's Wall um and was destroyed in Northern Britain and then of course you get the story and get the eagle as well with Channing T Channing Tatum and and like going north to try and retrieve the legionary eagle however archeological evidence suggests that actually the ninth Legion was relocated uh to elsewhere in the Empire there's evidence of a attachment in nagan there's a beautiful tomb from Petra uh to a man called sexus fenus who was once a member of

the ninth Legion a leading officer and I think we've also got evidence from lisis in Algeria and also from military diplomas in Rome 2 which all suggests that the ninth Legion exists into the 2 century and was probably just relocated somewhere or disbanded or destroyed somewhere else we just do not know that but the likelihood that it was destroyed and Northern Britain as is also depicted in this movie um is is very very slight some still believe it I I don't uh quite frankly I think the archeological evidence is there to suggest that it was

relocated uh and I think that's becoming more the mainstream now as well however it's a popular story and it's envisaged in uh in this movie X think that God's some of us made it only you you're kidding not telling me the Tardis is gone okay where is it then you told me not to tell you don't get clever in Latin um excuse me excuse me there was a box big blue box big blue wooden box just over there where's it gone ah David Tenant Doctor Who a long time ago I remember watching this and I

was growing up that's interesting so oh I remember this one yes this is Pompei isn't it traveling back in time Katherine Tate great assistant to the doctor um but one part I want to highlight here is that look in the background you can see the remains of these kind of the Roman Tire work the Roman brick work and it is quite similar I mean fair play to the brick work you do see in Pompei there's a really interesting example right next to the heart of Pompei The Forum where you have part of the wall is

the older masonry from before A great earthquake in around 62 ad and then you see this building rebuilt with this new star with these kind of these tiles this brick work um on the left hand side and hopefully we're showing you uh footage of that here as I as I speak but you can also see in this set design for Pompei um that they they've kind of definitely tried to recreate it which I think is is a pretty cool little detail lack of graffiti but hey you know notable lack of fallaces I mean fallaces run

everywhere and I think for Doctor fair enough that he don't include erotic imagery on the walls you could get quite a few complaints for that um but we do know from the archaeology that you know they were used as kind of a good luck symbol to Ward away the evil eyeon spirits like that so many shopkeepers would have had um depictions of of fallaces on on the walls and so on as as good lucks in the world my love Lucius dextrus himself has come to the house this afternoon what with that and our evina about

to be ated well don't go on about it Dad if we' moved to Rome like I said she could have been a Vestal Virgin someone mentioned Vestal virgins talking about a one of the most important priesthoods in Rome uh Vestal virgins swore an oath of Chastity for 30 years uh they could then marry afterwards after that but their job was come to keep the the fire the halfth the sacred Heth of Vesta Burning uh in their temple in Rome to make sure that that fire never went out they had lots of privileges as well they

got a very front seat in places like the amphitheaters and so on and they got a lot of privileges I think they also got their all kind of their sports car equivalent through Rome uh too obviously not sports car but Chariot or beer or something like that um so they mentioned the Vestal virgins there qu don't be so rude you apologize to the household Gods get off apologize right now the gods are always watching position so I like this scene because it also shows one of the things with Roman Pompei before the eruption of Mount

Theus in 79 ad was that the people who lived in Pompei were used to earthquakes Tremors were nothing new to the people of Pompei and actually of course caused by Mount vus um but for many people in Pompei that was just part of their life and the benefits of living in Pompei which was this thriving poor town uh people from across the Mediterranean and Roman world would have come to Pompei so lots of different languages being spoken lots of trade very prosperous town in this beautiful area of Italy this Rich area of Italy of Campania

um lots of good wine um and grape Vines and stuff on the slips M vus um but earthquakes were a thing that happened you know once in a while in Pompei it was just part of the exist and I think it's really well shown here is that you know straight away they know the drill oh hang on it's an earthquake hang on I need to hold certain bits of furniture and and statues and so on there now you've made the heavens angry just say sorry I tell you kilus that boy will come to no good

sorry household Gods so where were you last night down the theropo in my bet cavorting with your trust and Christians and all sorts how's your head sunshine how's your head white dad interesting talking about kind of hanging out of the thermopolium uh last night um thermopolium is really interesting part of Pompei once again probably some footage of them right here thermop podiums were kind of seen as these fast food stores where and the Beautiful some beautifully preserved ones have survived which show kind of the options that you could get from this this takeaway place on

the corners of the streets there are number of thermopolium known and excavated from Pompei where you could get food you could eat out many um many houses in Pompei didn't have kitchens I mean a house like this a villa like this for a high ranking figure like kidus and his family yes they would have had servants I they would have had slaves uh and they would had cooks and so on and so forth but people who lived in in smaller houses in more squalid conditions probably didn't have a kitchen so they did eat out and

thermop podiums I think the idea of a a young uh high ranking Roman man even Lany teenager like this guy is supposed to be hanging out at the th Podium at night uh very very unlikely Al so because being out at night in Pompei you know in any Roman town was incredibly dangerous particularly if you're a high ranking figure um you could be robbed I mean pickpockets and robbers and I mean could be even worse than that uh there's no kind of police force or anything like that you want to smarten yourself up quintis before

Lucius dextrous gets here look at your sister she's giving us status oh yeah cuz it's all about evanina she has the gift be proud of your sister for once have you been consuming not this morning well come on sweetheart practice it's hot today the hyper coost is on full blast the mountain God must be happy the hyper coost is on full blast the mountain God must be happy um so I think what they're trying to portray here is that the hyper is uh which was Roman central heating underflo heating uh which the Romans did have

and you can find example of hyper stretching from Hadrian's Wall many places in Roman Britain all the way to Petra I went to Petra recently and then one really wealthy house uh you have the remains of a hyper coost in it dating to Roman times which is really cool hyper Co in the desert because the desert gets really really cold at night um this here the hyper is depicted and many Elite houses would have had hyper CS um is depicted as being kind of fed by the mountain of vvus itself more infamously hyper Co were

actually provide well supplied they were created and maintained by slaves you as a high ranking figure You' have enjoyed like the heating of of certain floors in certain areas bathouses and so on and so forth and underneath the the ground where the mosaics and stuff would have been there would been these kind of great stacks these peeli stacks and hot air would flow around them and kind of heat the floor beneath your feet but what would also be happening would be just to the side outside maybe in a small room you would have a slave

stoking away way at the fire ensuring that the fire didn't go out and that hot air kept going so more infamously then is shown here hypercor were actually powered by slaves breathe deeply remember what The Sisterhood said it hurts oh my love is it too hot sometimes in the smoke I see the most terrible things there you go that was good fun a good mixture of movies and TV series about the Roman Empire that the team has selected there so yeah kudos to you all thank you guys for that I think my last words would

be avoid the last Legion like the plague I mean I could do a deep dive on the last Legion if you like I wouldn't enjoy it I i' really suffer but you might like that because sometimes that's what people enjoy but I would definitely recommend you go and watch the HBO series Rome we saw parts of that right now and it's just brilliant it is engaging it is pretty accurate in it stuff and it doesn't have to be absolutely 100% but yes there was a great selection of movies and TV series varying from Monty Python

to Centurion to Doctor Who so I hope you enjoyed today's episode if you did make sure that you are subscribed to the history Hit YouTube channel and if You' like even more ancient history content well if you like a podcast or two on your ways to work if your cooking or something like that or you can listen to me chat to guests all day on the Ancients podcast for which we've already got 500 episodes recorded until next time