What if the Roman Empire Never Existed?

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  • čas přidán 25. 06. 2024
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    Its time to begin a multi-part series about the Roman Empire and if it never existed. So much would have changed. What we think of as Europe would have changed. So let's begin the scenario.
    Twitter: / althistoryhub
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Komentáře • 4,4K

  • @walterusalbus
    @walterusalbus Před 5 lety +4067

    That means there would be no little Caesars pizza

  • @EmperorTigerstar
    @EmperorTigerstar Před 5 lety +5458

    Rome = Less Evil Disney.
    I can get behind this.

    • @FriedrichBarb
      @FriedrichBarb Před 5 lety +63

      * *OY VEY* *

    • @sol2646
      @sol2646 Před 5 lety +5

      Can to

    • @donald12998
      @donald12998 Před 5 lety +81

      Slavery, genocide and mass mutilation is so much worse than what Rome did.

    • @Trekkie46
      @Trekkie46 Před 5 lety +40

      This joke, which probably isn't even a joke, made my day.

    • @digivagrant
      @digivagrant Před 5 lety +4

      Ayy lmao

  • @goj-bh1cm
    @goj-bh1cm Před 3 lety +603

    “Today when we think of Celts we think of Ireland, Scotland and Cornwall”
    Wales: *cries in dragon*

  • @zacharylinn9254
    @zacharylinn9254 Před 5 lety +3642

    How about an alternate history where not only did Australia loose the great emu war but the emus retaliated by Marching into the city of perth uprooting the government and start a facist rule over western Australia slowly expanding twords eastern Australia and south aisa hoping to someday rule all of earth and become the dominant species.

  • @flawlessbinary7449
    @flawlessbinary7449 Před 5 lety +3107

    *Rome:* Does not exist
    *Carthage:* Its Free Real Estate

  • @chefppy277
    @chefppy277 Před 5 lety +2040

    This is like a classic alternative history hub video.
    Edit: SENPAI NOTICED ME

    • @thomasturner6980
      @thomasturner6980 Před 5 lety +21

      Classique

    • @lukeskywalkerthe2nd773
      @lukeskywalkerthe2nd773 Před 5 lety +2

      Chef Proopy I agree!!! :)

    • @daedalus2726
      @daedalus2726 Před 5 lety +12

      Indeed, and one of the classic alternate history questions as a whole.

    • @tastyfresh4482
      @tastyfresh4482 Před 5 lety +3

      so, historically inaccurate and poorly made?

    • @VieraTail
      @VieraTail Před 5 lety +4

      As well as a return to a longer video format! I know it takes more work, but the depth and detail of it speaks for itself.

  • @DolphinRadio
    @DolphinRadio Před 5 lety +498

    I feel you may have underestimated Carthage. Please; let me explain;
    In archaeological excavations of old Carthage, it was determined that a major factor in The Punic ability to produce ships so quickly was the design of it's harbor. Modern thinkers believed that Carthage's harbor positioned ships in several stages of construction along what we today would call an assembly line. It has been theorized that a great deal of production in the cities of the Phoenicians was managed in similar processes, which would help explain their economic resurgence after the first Punic war when Rome's sanctions should have financially broken them (Iberian mines and all). Furthermore, it has been noted in Roman records that the Punic ships were easy to reverse engineer as they had been made by the use of interchangeable parts and labeled for assembly. These 2 factors: assembly lines and interchangeable parts (allowing for unskilled labor to be used en mass for production of goods) would not be seen again until almost 2,000 years later in the industrial revolution. Politically, expansion would probably be very subtle, but in your alternate history, you surmised that progress would be slow. It is my contention that if these factors necessary for mass production were introduced to the world 2,000 years before they were, progress might have actually been quite rapid, and with the diplomacy-first attitude of the Phoenician traders, the potential for cooperative technological innovation and industrial expansion coming earlier in history than the 19th century are actually much better.
    Thank you for your time.

    • @pablolongobardi7240
      @pablolongobardi7240 Před 2 lety +83

      That's a good point, specially since Carthage was the closest thing to a capitalist entity that existed at that time... it is rumored that greeks had steam engines, but were merely a curiosity to mystify people. The pieces are there, an accident away from meeting. Furthermore, I understand that romans were not particularly interested in intensifying productivity, simply because it was just easier to get more slaves. Carthaginians would have bought industrialization immediately, and make profits selling mass produced stuff to everyone.

    • @alexanderrahl7034
      @alexanderrahl7034 Před 2 lety +43

      It's important to keep in mind that this idea of "mass production" being evoked is merely a rhetorical device to help us get a familiar perspective of how they did things.
      What the carthaginians had was a very "proto" form of the idea being discussed.
      Remember, the Carthaginians were primarily traders, and colonizers (I hate the politically charged use of that term these days.) But they were not particularly warlike. Rome defeated them yes, and in this scenario Rome isn't around, but Carthage surviving doesn't mean some other empire couldn't do the same.
      I love Carthage to death, I fancy over it 6 ways to Sunday. I'm so biased to Carthage it's not even a contest lol.
      *but* if I'm going to be honest in my opinion here, I would be remiss to point out that all the mass production of ships in the world won't change anything if they don't have the sailors, marines and warriors to crew them and back up a navy that large. They had the largest navy at the time, and they still lost to Roman Ingenuity. If they doubled the size of their fleet, would they have had the warriors needed to man them? Given their societal focus, I'm guessing not. Then there is the method by which they fought, the Phalanx. Much of the world used the Phalanx at that time. Greeks, some Gauls, Carthaginians, even Rome and the Etruscans/Samnites. If anyone else ever devised a different form of fighting akin to the Manipular system and Triplex Aces, then Carthage would be in trouble again.
      I struggle to envision a world where they persist as long or even half as long as Rome did unfortunately. Their production ability revelation you've brought forth isn't something I knew before, but it also didn't save them from Roman conquest 😕

    • @caioaugustodelfinorezende8676
      @caioaugustodelfinorezende8676 Před 2 lety +4

      Nice

    • @jper4911
      @jper4911 Před 2 lety +10

      @@alexanderrahl7034 their army was also majorly composed of hired mercenaries so the loyalty of the ground troops would come into question as soon as the pay got delayed- it was a big problem for rome and they had professional armies who were more disciplined and loyal to the state initially. and i don;t believe carthage was as centrally organized being more concerned with setting up trading posts almost semi-autonomous as long as they paid their dues to carthage so i don;t think the unity and sense of nation would be as strong as rome's.
      as an interesting minor twist though. if there's no rome or first punic war then Archimedes wouldn't have died after syracuse fell so who knows what additional technological creations he could have come up with which could have improved the technological base of a still stable carthagian empire which could have further altered their chances of long term success. though the threat of attack from the southern tribes in africa would be similar to the gaulish threat to rome and limit any thoughts of further expansion south. just that they had the defense of the sahara instead of the alps but also more area to defend.
      i don;t think they would have had as large or long term effect as rome like you say either in effect on europe or overall staying power. i do think they would have been rivals to egypt in north africa for a long time until they lost their naval advantage to keep europe at bay. and egypt would block expansion to the east. but anything in europe would be swept away by the european tribes after a couple centuries at most around when they started butting heads with rome probably around gauis marius through caesar's time.
      they might have expanded along the west coast of africa though setting up trading posts along the way more than likely (being the only real direction a sea power could take under the circumstances) with a very remote possibility if so of accidently finding the americas like one of the other videos here mentioned happening (i think it was the "what if the muslims kept spain" one) though their vessels at the time probably weren't up to the task. probably needed a few hundred more years for any hope of that happening

    • @alexanderrahl7034
      @alexanderrahl7034 Před 2 lety +8

      @@jper4911 the further into the future you ever look for these "what if" scenarios, the more you need to anticipate.
      Carthage even surviving an extra 100 years comes with a ton of extra possibilities both good and bad.
      It's likely they would have expanded I to Iberia, since they already were at the time.
      And honestly, Egypt was a shell of its former self by then. Carthage may not conquer it, but they would likely eclipse it economically and culturally.
      Without Rome however, you need to consider Epirus and the Greek colonies of Italy and how they would have gone. The Etruscans and Senones as well. Carthage definitely wouldn't discover America, that's almost entirely certain. But they could very well contact and colonize along the west coast of Africa and Europe, and possibly even as far as India assuming their empire was stable and wealthy enough to support such long-term and expensive endeavors.
      Even if they did discover America, and that's a big big IF, nothing would have come of it. It may have been a footnote in history even. The journey would likely be a year long affair to get there and back, maybe more. And for what? A land with no immediate discernable resources that make the trip worth it, and a large population of hostile barbarians. "No Thanks, we have plenty of those here."
      A colony needs time and investment. Tons of resources and settlers, constant attention, and by the time it's self sufficient, if it's not bringing back something to make the trip worthwhile, it's abandoned as a failure. Which almost any ancient power surely would have done. The America's they would likely have found, just wouldn't have had anything they wanted, and plenty they didn't.

  • @Canada1994
    @Canada1994 Před 5 lety +224

    Also in the Fallout series in this timeline the New California Republic would fight a different ancient civilization's reincarnation in Fallout: New Vegas. I would think it would be ancient Egypt or Greece (Alexander)

  • @supa2959
    @supa2959 Před 5 lety +191

    Well, I know one thing and it is if Rome didn't exist we wouldn't have jokes about Caeser's death. And a world without Caeser jokes is more terrifying than getting stabbed in the back.

    • @bigdurk4115
      @bigdurk4115 Před 5 lety +3

      😂😂😂

    • @11Survivor
      @11Survivor Před 5 lety +6

      I see what you did there...

    • @cookieusa1
      @cookieusa1 Před 5 lety +2

      *DEATH TO THE LEIGON!*

    • @ComradeBobcat39
      @ComradeBobcat39 Před 5 lety +2

      "23 stab wounds!!" 😂

    • @olivercuenca4109
      @olivercuenca4109 Před 5 lety +1

      Le Spartan Alsacien / / The Alsatian Spartan
      He didn’t see what they did there though. They were behind him.

  • @AlternateHistoryHub
    @AlternateHistoryHub  Před 5 lety +215

    Time to get back to longer videos. Buckle up kiddos.

    • @bennet761
      @bennet761 Před 5 lety +2

      What if Osman never existed

    • @bennet761
      @bennet761 Před 5 lety +3

      What if alaska and north east asia was still connected

    • @bennet761
      @bennet761 Před 5 lety +3

      What if the USA colonized Canada

    • @subjectone9078
      @subjectone9078 Před 5 lety

      B U C K L E D

    • @Dr.-Dank
      @Dr.-Dank Před 5 lety

      Can you do a video on what if Teddy Roosevelt won the 1912 election? That would hella cool.

  • @subjectd6985
    @subjectd6985 Před 5 lety +368

    Bit of a nit pick, but Britain remained culturally Celtic, just Romanized. It was the later Anglo-Saxon invasion that pushed the Celts back to Scotland, Ireland and Cornwall. And Wales.

    • @subjectd6985
      @subjectd6985 Před 4 lety +44

      Correction; its more accurate to say that western and northern Britons were just less Romanized and later Anglocized than the rest of mainland Britain, rather then to say the celts were "pushed back". DNA studies in the UK have shown that people live surprisingly close to where their tribal ancestors would have.

    • @ethank.6602
      @ethank.6602 Před 4 lety +2

      @@subjectd6985 unless youre a colonial, lol.

    • @subjectd6985
      @subjectd6985 Před 4 lety +1

      @@ethank.6602 I'm sorry I don't follow?

    • @sanguinespirit2397
      @sanguinespirit2397 Před 4 lety +13

      @@subjectd6985 he means unless you were a literal Roman living in Britain

    • @hdtin167
      @hdtin167 Před 4 lety +11

      As always, Wales is a last addition.

  • @y33t23
    @y33t23 Před 4 lety +317

    If any city was completely annihilated, then it was Carthage for sure. Legends say that the Romans even plowed the earth after they completely removed the city to make sure not a single bit of it remained.

    • @michaelweston409
      @michaelweston409 Před 4 lety +5

      Atlantis entire structure beneath broke away as the enteral city plunged into the cold depths of the ocean. Never again was the city seen again.

    • @birdmn9930
      @birdmn9930 Před 4 lety +45

      @@michaelweston409 Atlantis is only ever mentioned by one ancient writer (Plato) as a fictional island. This comes from a time of early/non-existent written words that have been pieced together and possibly mistranslated. There are obvious underwater ruins, but at least they are still around.

    • @michaelweston409
      @michaelweston409 Před 4 lety

      Jesse McCree proves my point

    • @thekyleprojekt7996
      @thekyleprojekt7996 Před 4 lety +1

      To jump on this I learned in ancient history that they actually salted the cities they conquered to make sure nothing would grow and the land was useless. So they must've done something

    • @ravioli3807
      @ravioli3807 Před 3 lety +9

      @@michaelweston409 Except it never existed. So yeah, there is no trace of it, cause it never was.

  • @H3lios227
    @H3lios227 Před 5 lety +524

    I’m getting your book on Wednesday through amazon. I can’t wait to read it

  • @enethaeros
    @enethaeros Před 5 lety +959

    You forget that the presence of the Greeks in western Mediterranean was very strong . If someone would interact with Gaul it would be the Greeks . They controlled almost half of the southern coast of what is France today . Colonies like Massilia(Marseilles), Antipolis(Antibes), Mounichos(Monaco) and Nicaea(Nice) were all Greek . Also there were many trade outposts of the Greeks in the Iberian . Some of them were located in what is today Catalunya such as Emporeion(Empuries) and Hemeroskopeion.

    • @bigchesse1816
      @bigchesse1816 Před 5 lety +24

      Rome kicked the Greeks ass

    • @PatriotGabe
      @PatriotGabe Před 5 lety +137

      He also forgot Pyrrhus of Epirus and his adventures in Southern Italy. If there were no Romans in the way, his quest to remake Alexander's Empire in the West would've been far more successful. It surely would have been a Hellenic Europe, not a Carthaginian/Celtic one.

    • @mouath_14
      @mouath_14 Před 5 lety +82

      @@PatriotGabe I highly doubt that, Carthage is not an easy opponent, Rome couldn't defeat Carthage on its own and needed the Numidian tribes to coordinate an Attack on Western Tunisia whilst Hannibal was crossing the Alps north of Italy, if Rome never existed Carthage would've had the trust of the Numidian Berbers and their Military strength would've been quadrupled, eastern Med. would've remained mostly Greek but Carthage would've explored many other regions and maybe even discovered the Americas since they were excellent at exploring and trading.

    • @culturalmarxist2670
      @culturalmarxist2670 Před 5 lety +42

      @@mouath_14 I doubt Carthage would've bothered going north much beyond Iberia and Hannibal only went into Italy because of Rome, Carhage would've been a power in the Southwest Mediterranean and maybe even the Atlantic but the Northwest would've been contested with the Greeks

    • @TheAchilles26
      @TheAchilles26 Před 5 lety +44

      @@PatriotGabe And you're forgetting that Celts sacked the Oracle of Delphi itself, and that northern Europe has terrain basically custom designed to ruin phalanx warfare. A Celtic Europe would be fairly plausible in the absence of Rome, albeit the Greek CULTURAL influence could still lead to the rise of nation states (and this is without going into the significant amount of what we associate with medieval Europe that came from Germanic culture rather than Roman which would have still been present at the "medieval" point in this alternative timeline)

  • @ChillaxinChris
    @ChillaxinChris Před 5 lety +189

    I'm surprised nothing was said about roads. Not having Rome's roads sprawled across Europe would have massively mitigated immigration/emigration, land-based trade, and cultural mixing that resulted from having an easy travel network across much of the continent.

    • @Wolf-Rayet_Arthur
      @Wolf-Rayet_Arthur Před 4 lety +14

      the romans didn't invent roads... not even straight ones. What the romans did was enslave or displace enough people that today we appreciate it to be the cultural mixing that you speak of. Tribes of celts weren't particularly interested in migrating and emigrating, although evidence suggests that they were very closely linked from a cultural perspective - indeed much more so than this video seems to appreciate. Celtic europe seems, by archaeology, to have resembled the city-state model of greece much more than the romans cared to write about (they favoured the savage barbarian view of things). I mean, there is evidence that wool and pottery made on the british isles was findings its way down the silk road long before rome even started to wonder if britain was more than a myth.... you don't see that unless there are trading networks and roads, cultural mixing and all those good things going on

    • @User-jm7up
      @User-jm7up Před 4 lety +16

      @@Wolf-Rayet_Arthur he didn't say that romans invented roads

    • @Wolf-Rayet_Arthur
      @Wolf-Rayet_Arthur Před 4 lety +2

      @@User-jm7up he mentioned roads as being significantly attached to the Roman's. They weren't, and that was the point of my reply.

    • @pergys6991
      @pergys6991 Před 4 lety +3

      Shooting Fish Rome didn’t invent much but what they did was learn from their neighbours and spreading it to all of Europe

    • @Wolf-Rayet_Arthur
      @Wolf-Rayet_Arthur Před 4 lety +2

      @@pergys6991 yes there is a lot of truth in that comment, but I'm tempted to point out a reminder that it was likely not the case that they did this deliberately. I mean, at the very least they didnt leave Latium with the express intention to go and find the best stuff and learn from it they set out to conquer and everything else that happened was out of necessity and in most cases having to make the best of the cards that were dealt

  • @johnjones1124
    @johnjones1124 Před 4 lety +51

    WALES. YOU FORGOT WALES CONSISTENTLY!

    • @ryanxyz13
      @ryanxyz13 Před 4 lety

      Chill out you'd still get your free prescriptions

    • @alexiosi2646
      @alexiosi2646 Před 4 lety +1

      We're the Welsh actually 'Celts'? In fact no one called any of the Britons 'Celts', not the Greeks, not the Romans, not even the Britons themselves.

    • @Simonsvids
      @Simonsvids Před 4 lety +6

      @@alexiosi2646 I see you are aware of the most recent research. Was anybody actually Celtic? It could well be that being 'Celtic' was more a cultural thing than anything to do with genetics, as there is no evidence of an actual huge influx of people from the continent to the island of Britain before the Romans came. It seems the Welsh are actually descended from the first Mesolithic settlers to Britain after the end of the last ice age c 10,000 years ago. However, if it was just a cultural thing, then yes, the Ancient Britons were very definitely Celtic. The uploader on the other hand is way out of date with his thinking.

  • @juanmartin8776
    @juanmartin8776 Před 5 lety +101

    "They had a great way of copying others after they already conquered them... like Disney! But less evil."

    • @rickau
      @rickau Před 5 lety +8

      And more successfully

    • @VCYT
      @VCYT Před 5 lety

      Yeh - the Last Jedi was really great, weren't it.

  • @Zeytrixx
    @Zeytrixx Před 5 lety +291

    *Welcome back to life’s biggest questions*

  • @Vella_Attika
    @Vella_Attika Před rokem +7

    “It’s is not death a man is to fear but he should fear never existing at all”-Aurelian

  • @ereynolds72
    @ereynolds72 Před 5 lety +267

    Cultish we think Irish Scottish and Cornish.
    No mention of Wales? That’s an entire Celtic nation left out, one with the oldest Celtic language left alive today

    • @serenscorpio8946
      @serenscorpio8946 Před 4 lety +8

      Annoyed me too

    • @Valencetheshireman927
      @Valencetheshireman927 Před 4 lety +5

      🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇬🇧

    • @alexhughes8895
      @alexhughes8895 Před 4 lety +5

      Yep that actually hurt hearing us get left out!

    • @bulbaharris5057
      @bulbaharris5057 Před 4 lety +2

      So happy this has been raised!!!

    • @oliver7901
      @oliver7901 Před 4 lety +7

      Poor old Wales! He didn't list them, and even missed them off the map at 11:23! Oddly enough he was very good at including the Cornish and Bretons, who aren't even independent countries today!

  • @ilo2224
    @ilo2224 Před 5 lety +127

    Just like Babylon, crazy to think cities/civilisation can just be snuffed out and forgotten; I wonder how many ‘mythic’ things actually existed, or civilisations who have been completely forgotten.

    • @jinjunliu2401
      @jinjunliu2401 Před 5 lety +10

      probably hundred thousands

    • @kallmannkallmann
      @kallmannkallmann Před 5 lety +17

      It´s like the majority of Africas history is allmost totaly lost. But we know they had empires with great wealth we don´t know mutch else.

    • @JohnSmith-wx9wj
      @JohnSmith-wx9wj Před 5 lety +19

      @@kallmannkallmann , yeah, most of them never got the hang of writing, right? I wonder how they managed to build big empires, complex cities, and administrate all that without writing. Must have either had remarkable memory or some super efficient system.

    • @theconeezeanemperor1619
      @theconeezeanemperor1619 Před 5 lety +6

      Well, we do know of African empires, most of which where trade, or wealth based, like Carthage, I dare say there would be some, if not many, we do not currently know of simply due to it being lost to history, much like the likes of Troy, or Atlantis.

    • @JohnSmith-wx9wj
      @JohnSmith-wx9wj Před 5 lety +9

      @@theconeezeanemperor1619 A libertarian writer I read said that nations of peace and freedom were lost to history simply because they weren't conquering other nations and weren't driven to create permanent monuments dedicated to the state.

  • @sampatterson8986
    @sampatterson8986 Před 5 lety +1211

    You know what they say "When in Rome, play Coolmathgames"

  • @wingnut5485
    @wingnut5485 Před 3 lety +10

    I was playing Civ V, and I met Rome just after Cody started talking.

  • @fallenbutsaved
    @fallenbutsaved Před 4 lety +4

    Been watching your channel a few years now; so grateful that you put so much effort into these videos. You're able to bring a bystander into proper appreciation of events they never knew happened. Much appreciated, Tyler

  • @eyuin5716
    @eyuin5716 Před 5 lety +363

    What if the Emus joined the Axis powers?

    • @craftthemoon
      @craftthemoon Před 5 lety +5

      Man in the High Castle is non-fiction.

    • @thebrutusmars
      @thebrutusmars Před 5 lety +1

      Crikey!

    • @monroecorp9680
      @monroecorp9680 Před 5 lety +5

      @LagiNaLangAko23 we'd be safe in NZ. Emus can't cross the Tasman. HAH!
      Poor Aussies. You can envision the great Golden Emu statues, with Australians toiling the soil in chains, being barked at by commander Emus in SS uniforms..
      It's actually quite beautiful from where I'm sitting :DD

    • @gavinoaw
      @gavinoaw Před 5 lety +1

      @@CreeperManCreeps I need somebody to make a movie about this!!

    • @ottovrizo5693
      @ottovrizo5693 Před 5 lety +2

      @Pan Mesio
      salty aussie detected

  • @bennet761
    @bennet761 Před 5 lety +257

    What if alaska and north east asia was still connected

    • @subjectone9078
      @subjectone9078 Před 5 lety +28

      Thats actually a good question.

    • @bennet761
      @bennet761 Před 5 lety +4

      Please make a video

    • @jamesbaxter5147
      @jamesbaxter5147 Před 5 lety +22

      Would Asians besides the Native Siberians find their way to the Americas easier? Would they colonize or not? Would Russia colonize Alaska harder, leaving a more pronounced Russian remnant behind? Would they even sell the area in the first place? If they did sell it, would they sell more than they did, or less? Would there be a network of military bases and Nuclear Silos there for the Cold War? I don’t know, but I want a video.

    • @AlgernonCSwinburne
      @AlgernonCSwinburne Před 5 lety +18

      That video would be un-Bering-able.

    • @juanchoalbertonity4730
      @juanchoalbertonity4730 Před 5 lety

      *were

  • @zevaronxz7288
    @zevaronxz7288 Před 5 lety +65

    I have no idea how he mentions Cornwall but not wales

    • @agungpriambodo1674
      @agungpriambodo1674 Před 4 lety

      Why is it when there's no nation state, people like to say it's horrible
      It's not
      Money is an invention that says this guy is poor and this guy is Rich, even though many people in stateless territory use commodity money

    • @hopeforescape884
      @hopeforescape884 Před 3 lety

      why did the brits name it CORNwall to begin with, corn is from the new world, how did they know about it before columbus

    • @BigTiBu
      @BigTiBu Před 3 lety +1

      @@hopeforescape884 it's not named after Corn the crop my dude. Cornwall is basically the anglicised version "Kernow", which is the Cornish name.

    • @shzarmai
      @shzarmai Před 4 měsíci +1

      or Britanny

  • @thecelticcrone7927
    @thecelticcrone7927 Před 5 lety +54

    Just so you know....
    The Ancient Celts, were actually quite ‘civilized’ for their times. Although many of them were Nomadic Tribes, many other Tribes put down roots. Especially the Briton, Scot/Irish & Welsh. Their Religion,(The Druids were Teachers, Diplomats, Judges/Law Keepers and Spiritual Advisors & Priests/Priestesses) Artwork & Poetry were Amazing. They were a Progressive & Free Thinking People.
    Being ‘civilized’ isn’t just about living in Cities.
    (plus at the very least, the Celts, painted for War, with Woade...were quite a Fierce Sight..lol)

    • @skoomaaddict1010
      @skoomaaddict1010 Před 4 lety +10

      iirc Celts were hired as mercenaries by practically everyone, their art was actually desirable by people in the Mediterranean, the Greeks found them aesthetically pleasing ( as in they liked their hair and beards with the paler skin) and they kinda skipped the bronze age (or at least went through it faster). I read it in a book like 7 years ago so some of it will be fuzzy.

    • @incubuz8019
      @incubuz8019 Před 4 lety +12

      Yea the Celts were pretty civilized, his comparisons in the video don't make sense either, both north america and sub saharan africa had antiquity.

    • @lif3andthings763
      @lif3andthings763 Před 4 lety +1

      incubuz no they were not.

    • @SuperYoshikong
      @SuperYoshikong Před rokem +3

      @@lif3andthings763 Celts had metal work that impressed the romans, and they were organized enough to fight the roman army showing incredible intelligence. Same with "sub saharan" africa, the ethiopian empire was specifically avoided by Rome even though Persia was conquered

    • @nutyyyy
      @nutyyyy Před 8 měsíci +2

      It is worth noting that the Greeks and Romans had a very high opinion of the Druids - up until they became a problem for Roman occupation. But Caesar, Cicero and others spoke very highly of them as philosophers - comparing them to Pythagoras especially, due to allegedly similar ideas.
      There were also cultural similarities between Gallic and Italic peoples.

  • @sailingmaster
    @sailingmaster Před 5 lety +45

    I can't help but wonder at the idea of Carthage teaching the Celt tribes the value of writing. Dear god, the amount of folklore alone from the oral traditions would fill libraries. As someone of Irish descent, I have to say I wouldn't mind seeing that world. Wouldn't mind it at all.

    • @EndranExit
      @EndranExit Před 5 lety +1

      Druids praticed oral tradition to extremes so it could have some impact but not much.

    • @aronchai
      @aronchai Před 5 lety

      ​@@EndranExit If they were like the Persians they probably wouldn't have bothered to write down any of their oral literature and it would have remained frustratingly lost in the present.

    • @dharmdevil
      @dharmdevil Před 5 lety

      What's more interesting is how the world religions will turn out. It was the Romans who propagated Christianity as their political tool. WIthout romans, Europe might be full Islam or might have a whole new religion.

    • @zorgfleeter
      @zorgfleeter Před 5 lety +2

      @@dharmdevil i think without the romans, paganism would have stayed a prominent feature in europe, by that i mean all regional religions possibly even some hunnic religion because with rome gone i do not think the celts and germanics were strong/united enough to hold of the huns. with a strong greece and carthage and a strong egypt instead of a weakend roman empire wich was overstretched i do not believe islam would have even spread over north africa let alone into europe

    • @FuckGoogle2
      @FuckGoogle2 Před 5 lety

      So you could say they brought their downfall on themselves, they just wouldn't shut up.

  • @aduck5011
    @aduck5011 Před 5 lety +1167

    What if the Australians won the great emu war?
    🤔🤔

    • @welp2438
      @welp2438 Před 5 lety +15

      U mean didn't win

    • @RealHipHoManiac
      @RealHipHoManiac Před 5 lety +154

      The world would collapse in on itself and Amy Schumer would be funny.

    • @kyleperlman
      @kyleperlman Před 5 lety +97

      The Australians would have conquered the world during WWII, turning on the Allies and invading everyone with the most powerful military on the planet.

    • @doublxhelix5014
      @doublxhelix5014 Před 5 lety +32

      @@kyleperlman they would be the first nation to develop a nuclear arsenal and hang it over the world

    • @Goldbonds
      @Goldbonds Před 5 lety +23

      You're about to trigger a bunch of aussies, turn off notifications

  • @cedarpoplar7443
    @cedarpoplar7443 Před 4 lety +2

    It is mind boggling. One day seems like an eternity when there's trouble but then again, eternity flies by like an hour

  • @jacobkleinsasser5658
    @jacobkleinsasser5658 Před 4 lety +38

    If Rome Never existed then most likely Carthage would have became the main power of the region.

    • @hazelnotxyz
      @hazelnotxyz Před 4 lety +5

      Yeah that's literally what the video said

  • @nsa6154
    @nsa6154 Před 5 lety +112

    Sees title: Is that even possible?
    End of vid: *MULTIVERSE INTENSIFIES*

  • @matthewmspace
    @matthewmspace Před 5 lety +33

    Taking out Ancient Rome is basically nuking the entire timeline. Great video as always Cody! Hope your book release has been successful!

    • @NathUnknown
      @NathUnknown Před 5 lety +1

      but if it didn't exist then it would be the norm....

    • @DakotaGraftt
      @DakotaGraftt Před 5 lety +2

      Uh... Yeah, good observation...

  • @pierreb97
    @pierreb97 Před 4 lety +4

    Two things you might understate (a little/too much).
    1. Commercial exchange is a strong driving force for influence (technological and cultural).
    2. We know very, very (very, very... you get it) little about the Celts but I doubt they were that "barbaric" (proof in their excellent metalworking, their scary fortifications, and some hints that their women were highly respected and might even have been chieftain/in a position of power). I'm not sure innovations like aqueducts, theatre and so on would have been "resisted" for long even if "only" brought "peacefully" by Cartage.
    The tribes in what's now southern France, heavily influenced by Cartage traders, Greek cities (Massilia, Antipolis...) and maybe a bit by ze germans would possibly fight for local domination before the eventual (note that I say eventual, might take a century or two... or three) winner spread it out northward. Hell, when the time comes around for Vercingetorix and his shenanigans, he might even unite the Gauls and forge himself a Celtic empire. After all, tales of Alexander of Macedonia (and later of his generals) have spread and an ambitious man might want to imitate the legend.
    Anyways, it pretty much all stops with the Huns: either western Europe is fortified under a few carthageno-helleno-celtics kingdoms and they can more or less slow the steamroll to a stop or they can't and we would all be speaking a weird mix of Gaelic, Germanic, and mainly Hunnic as of today. Or not and ultimately, vikings do come and do unite everything with a relatively high chance of success.

  • @thehumanequivalentoftotali8545

    What if the Roman Empire was given electrical power, comparative to the 1960s?

    • @shriyanv4407
      @shriyanv4407 Před 3 lety +1

      Time to speedrun the Parthians

    • @nicholasios4566
      @nicholasios4566 Před 3 lety +3

      @@ChineduOpara the romans didn’t enslave just POC people, Italians, Greeks, Balkans, debtors, criminals, all got enslaved.

  • @h3lblad3
    @h3lblad3 Před 5 lety +106

    Something to keep in mind is that after Rome took Carthage out, they turned the province of Africa into their breadbasket. That whole area was clear-cut for massive farmland to feed Rome, making Africa the number one source of food in the Roman Empire, but also causing the Sahara Desert to double in size (or moreso) because of the incredible amounts of erosion caused now that there were no tree roots to hold the dirt in place.
    Rome's centralized measures meant massive growth of the city itself. Carthage's more decentralized nature would mean a smaller capital city and consequently less of a need to bring in large gobs of food to feed it. There's a good chance that the Sahara Desert would be much smaller today than it is in reality, especially if the Carthaginians began undertaking public works to build rivers and plant trees/orchards/etc. in an effort to make room for (and yes, feed) the expanding Carthaginian Empire's population. They would, after all, have a much greater incentive to take care of the place because they actually live there.

    • @CommanderM117
      @CommanderM117 Před 5 lety +6

      that and trade from the Celt they had a big trade network too that he forgot about the gladus sword was stolen from the Celts in Spain

    • @h3lblad3
      @h3lblad3 Před 2 lety +11

      @James Holborow, I do not mean Egypt. Egypt was its own province. Africa was Carthage/Tunisia and eastward to the border with Egypt. It wasn't always the name of the whole continent.

  • @StellarYankee
    @StellarYankee Před 5 lety +118

    So basically no Rome means roaming irish everywhere. Perfection

  • @Ny0s
    @Ny0s Před 4 lety +14

    I am fascinated by this concept. Does anyone have any reading suggestion about this topic? The people that were there before the romans, or even the very perspective of a Europe without Rome?

    • @lucaslima9792
      @lucaslima9792 Před 3 měsíci +1

      I don't know if you still remember that comment lmao, but I'm making a story where the world takes place exactly in a reality where the Roman Empire doesn't exist, not only that, but like the Indo-Europeans themselves. So it would be a before people who lived before the people before rome haha

  • @politicallycorrectredskin796

    Oh, and the Romans learned more about tactics from Hannibal than from anybody else. The Romans copied Carthaginian ships, but they also mimicked their armies. Both in composition and use.

    • @elitehumpty3603
      @elitehumpty3603 Před 2 lety +1

      That's why the Romans conquered lots of Europe! Because of their tactics, inventiveness, and cleverness

  • @lukeskywalkerthe2nd773
    @lukeskywalkerthe2nd773 Před 5 lety +166

    This is probably one of my most favorite What If scenarios ever! Truly, the world would never be the same as it is in our timeline if Rome never existed, and I am really eager to see what more would be changed! I can't wait to see the next video! :)

    • @Spongebrain97
      @Spongebrain97 Před 5 lety +7

      Yeah cuz everything we know about western civilization is completely altered. Just the thought of Christianity and the current romance languages being gone is crazy to think of

    • @grubbybum3614
      @grubbybum3614 Před 5 lety

      How did Tunisia come into this?? I'm confused about that

    • @Norwegian4life
      @Norwegian4life Před 5 lety +4

      @@grubbybum3614 Carthage was in modern day Tunisia

    • @rebonrjar
      @rebonrjar Před 5 lety

      we wouldn't be talking right now, if they didnt exist

  • @allovergamer3484
    @allovergamer3484 Před 5 lety +612

    I have a good question. What if WW1 stoped at the Christmas Truce? I'm gonna let everyone else go with this Idea.

    • @allovergamer3484
      @allovergamer3484 Před 5 lety +11

      COMMUNISM FOR EVERYONE!! No, but it was just an idea that I had. For the common man to bring up his moral sence, and bring the world to peace by disobeying the orders of his generals and officers.

    • @DonMadruga72
      @DonMadruga72 Před 5 lety +28

      Bullshit! We should have to take advantage of the goodness of the British and attack with full force!

    • @kianture1530
      @kianture1530 Před 5 lety +9

      It would happened anyways. The tension was so big to stop there. Even if there was a truce for 3 or 4 years that wouldn't last. It's like the WW2: It didn't started bc of Hitler. It started bc of the german hate to almost everyone.

    • @krisp1871
      @krisp1871 Před 5 lety +27

      Such absolute bullshit, Kianture. I bet you think Hitler started WW1 as well.
      Germany didn't even start the conflict. And WW2 was a reaction of the brutal treatment of the Allies against Germany.

    • @Richard_Nickerson
      @Richard_Nickerson Před 5 lety

      Wasn't your name changed to Morgoth?

  • @kingsansan4958
    @kingsansan4958 Před 5 lety +9

    What if alternate history hub never existed?
    Entire human history: *dies*

  • @martianassassin1035
    @martianassassin1035 Před 5 lety +1

    Finished your book today! I loved it. I thought it was interesting how you showed the change the Riech went through

  • @parkerzaglin8485
    @parkerzaglin8485 Před 5 lety +453

    Can you do what if the Ottoman empire didn't exist?

    • @bobesponja7791
      @bobesponja7791 Před 5 lety +174

      *armenia wants to know your location*

    • @LightForxes
      @LightForxes Před 5 lety +78

      Parker Zaglin Eastern Europe would be more prosperous like the West.

    • @smashing-3291
      @smashing-3291 Před 5 lety +32

      @@LightForxes Hahahahah lol, Eastern Europe isn't influenced by Turkish people for more than 100 years they're still poor and behind in technology compared to Turkey or any proper country, i guess Turkish people are better off without them.

    • @innosam123
      @innosam123 Před 5 lety +53

      Vinod Renz The Balkans were divided between the Byzantines, Serbia, and Bulgaria. If we assume Anatolia never unites, that gives breathing room for a European power (presumably either the Greeks or Serbians) to take control of the Balkans and Anatolia.
      If any of the Slavic powers becomes dominant and conquers Constantinople, you can bet that they’re going to pretend to be the next Roman Empire. Though, unlike the Turks claiming to be the successors of Rome, it might actually be taken seriously by Christians. Ie. Byzantium effectively wins and reforms its empire no matter who wins the power struggle one way or another.

    • @jeremyxiv4667
      @jeremyxiv4667 Před 4 lety +17

      *if you want to make the world a better place, take a look at the people trying to sack constantinople, and then make a change*

  • @neillefrancis8568
    @neillefrancis8568 Před 5 lety +105

    What if Cody’s descent into insanity never happened?

    • @naggu1243
      @naggu1243 Před 5 lety

      It’s insanity itself to try and predict that

    • @crocs4304
      @crocs4304 Před 5 lety

      I made the 100st like :D

  • @nikolascoffey6453
    @nikolascoffey6453 Před 4 lety +49

    we'd probably end up with a civilized celtic empire eventually

  • @HighlanderJosh
    @HighlanderJosh Před 5 lety

    You guys deserve so many more subs... I've always loved watching y'alls videos and this specific topic is a very good one to address. These much much older empires have for sure influenced how today's outcome has become and little to no-one has an idea on how that's possible. Learning history isn't just about events, dates, and etc. It's about the evolution of Humanity as a whole. We all are apart of the past and we would have been different if things did not go as history explains. This world is rich with history and learning, if you don't want to see this then you're half blind to reality tbh.

  • @ThatShyGuyMatt
    @ThatShyGuyMatt Před 5 lety +436

    What if AlternateHistoryHub didn't exist?

  • @isaacnorwood4463
    @isaacnorwood4463 Před 5 lety +480

    Damn, I love this channel. If I had a cabbage right now, I would give to this guy.

    • @sagat223
      @sagat223 Před 5 lety +40

      MY CABBAGES, DAMN YOU AVATAR!

    • @luigi2183
      @luigi2183 Před 5 lety +2

      WHAT ABOUT THE MIGHTY LETTUCE

    • @loganflasch8429
      @loganflasch8429 Před 5 lety

      HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

    • @rydemk4168
      @rydemk4168 Před 5 lety

      What if he is allergic to them?

    • @luigi2183
      @luigi2183 Před 5 lety +3

      You can't be allergic to superior species

  • @antoniomingrondinella5706

    This was by far one of your best videos, and I'm not even halfway throughout.

  • @jayrenwick9167
    @jayrenwick9167 Před 5 lety +29

    when you talked about the Celts, you forgot to mention wales!

    • @ObliviAce
      @ObliviAce Před 4 lety +2

      I think thats because everybody knows wales because of llanfairpwyllgwynheihw5ugeihgsjjvrfhjweghgogogoch

    • @theofficialkahuniyoutubeac2253
      @theofficialkahuniyoutubeac2253 Před 4 lety +1

      And Galicia and Brittany

    • @okay618
      @okay618 Před 4 lety

      I think he got that after the first 50 comments about it

  • @salilbhatnagar
    @salilbhatnagar Před 5 lety +32

    No Roman Empire would mean no 100 on that Roman Empire test I took in ancient history all those years ago.

  • @thomasturner6980
    @thomasturner6980 Před 5 lety +679

    What if Britain never existed?

    • @auwli
      @auwli Před 5 lety +118

      We will find out after the Brexit

    • @jorymundy5428
      @jorymundy5428 Před 5 lety +25

      Britannia rules the waves ???? :(

    • @hughesbenjamin3158
      @hughesbenjamin3158 Před 5 lety +74

      Then America wouldn't exsist, which would suck, because that's litterally the only reason Britain isn't a completely worthless
      (I'm not being serious, Britain has alot of good shit)

    • @NotHPotter
      @NotHPotter Před 5 lety +28

      You talking about the island, or England on the island?

    • @kalos8893
      @kalos8893 Před 5 lety +13

      Michael Wade I’m guessing she means the whole of the British Isles

  • @DMRoper1
    @DMRoper1 Před 5 lety

    Thanks, Cody. I enjoyed this. Looking forward to part 2.

  • @that1boy0official42
    @that1boy0official42 Před 5 lety +1

    Cody just so you know your videos are great and have kept me entertained so many times thank you for my new love of history

  • @trygveplaustrum4634
    @trygveplaustrum4634 Před 5 lety +194

    Very simple: Europe would look and act exactly like Indochina. Mountainous, divided, and, in the eyes of outsiders, barbaric.

    • @ricefarmer8553
      @ricefarmer8553 Před 5 lety +2

      @newstateofmind but that means who would go to americans

    • @jasonmartin4775
      @jasonmartin4775 Před 5 lety +14

      Unknown Human Unknown Human NO ONE AND IT WOULD BE GREAT.

    • @PeaceOfMind8190
      @PeaceOfMind8190 Před 5 lety +1

      They'll all get stomped by the Selucids eventually...

    • @podemosurss8316
      @podemosurss8316 Před 5 lety +2

      Ejem: Greeks, Phoenicians, Cartagineses, Iberians, Celts... They are all prior to the Romans, and they weren't exactly barbaric, though they mostly formed city-states.

    • @andreacurti5927
      @andreacurti5927 Před 5 lety

      *northern europe

  • @ekn_38
    @ekn_38 Před 5 lety +32

    One of the main reasons why the Romans clashed and hated the Gauls was due to the first sack of Rome and the battle of Allia by the Celtic King Brennus.

    • @dansea6686
      @dansea6686 Před 5 lety +4

      one of my favourite quotes from my school years is from a legend born in that struggle:
      Non auro sed ferro recuperanda est Patria.
      Marco Furio Camillo
      (not with gold, but with iron, will the fatherland be regained)

    • @seanseanston
      @seanseanston Před 5 lety

      Vae Victis!
      t. Kain

  • @GXbeta1393
    @GXbeta1393 Před 2 lety +6

    1:04 what soundtrack name is that?

    • @GXbeta1393
      @GXbeta1393 Před 2 lety +2

      I discovered what music is, the name is "salvation is coming"

  • @francesconesi7666
    @francesconesi7666 Před 5 lety +3

    Are you going to release part 2?
    I've been waiting for four weeks!

  • @user-kt8yp5ho2y
    @user-kt8yp5ho2y Před 5 lety +298

    What if Russian Empire won the Russo Japanese War please.

    • @HenkdeYouTubesteen
      @HenkdeYouTubesteen Před 5 lety +8

      Good one!

    • @1lobster
      @1lobster Před 5 lety +11

      What if fascism and communism never split, and there was a united socialist empire that stretched from spain to Vietnam.

    • @bremcurt9514
      @bremcurt9514 Před 5 lety +4

      No more weaboos

    • @rorygallagher9408
      @rorygallagher9408 Před 5 lety +25

      @@1lobster They were never together. In fact, the philosophies are pretty much opposites.

    • @twowatt
      @twowatt Před 5 lety +20

      #1 lobster lemme guess ya watch prager u?

  • @Sieger1
    @Sieger1 Před 5 lety +216

    btw, you should do a "What if Alternate History Hub never existed?" video.

    • @brc9739
      @brc9739 Před 5 lety +34

      Darkest timeline

    • @emperorbartu2414
      @emperorbartu2414 Před 5 lety +12

      Yeah video would be 0:00 minutes

    • @jorymundy5428
      @jorymundy5428 Před 5 lety +1

      But can you answer or ask the question if it doesnt exist?

    • @headheretic1580
      @headheretic1580 Před 5 lety +2

      technically that would be a paradoxical scenario but whatever

    • @nikoladedic6623
      @nikoladedic6623 Před 5 lety +3

      Maybe as the next April fool's episode.

  • @HighlanderJosh
    @HighlanderJosh Před 5 lety +3

    Who else watched this again after they uploaded part 2?? Boy am I excited to see part 2 now!! Cya!!

  • @mitimatagofie
    @mitimatagofie Před 4 lety

    Great video thanks for it

  • @hachioda8602
    @hachioda8602 Před 5 lety +37

    You forgot there would be no Legion in the Fallout series XD

    • @johnyossarian1135
      @johnyossarian1135 Před 5 lety +2

      No enclave either as the Nazis are partially Roman inspired and guess who the enclave are based on.

    • @giantred
      @giantred Před 5 lety

      *chuckles in NCR*

    • @giantred
      @giantred Před 5 lety

      @Shark Raven another thing to add to the "What have the Romans ever done for us?!" list lol

  • @blackparadoxx9656
    @blackparadoxx9656 Před 5 lety +35

    Do a "What if USA was isolationist and never got involved in both World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, Latin America, and the Middle East?".

    • @TEverettReynolds
      @TEverettReynolds Před 5 lety +4

      @JoJo is not an anime You do know that the Russians had a great interest in the Middle East too don't you... While I am not sticking up for the USA, only pointing out, that due to their oil reserves, somebody was going to control the Middle East, one way or another...

    • @TEverettReynolds
      @TEverettReynolds Před 5 lety +7

      This is too complicated. If the USA stayed out of WW1, Germany may have won, or at least not lost. This would have changed the entire dynamic which lead to WW2. Korea and Vietnam were about fighting off Communism, which was a product of WW1 and WW2.

    • @astauff1
      @astauff1 Před 5 lety +6

      Pan Mesio edgy

    • @imperatorcaesardivifiliusa2158
      @imperatorcaesardivifiliusa2158 Před 5 lety +4

      @@amogususus12 You say the world would be a better place, but no, no! You are terribly mistaken, this statement so erroneous that its mere utterance has slightly diminished the very soul of humanity. You say the world would be a better place, but where, I ask you, would we get our canned cheese?!

    • @pierreodendaal6519
      @pierreodendaal6519 Před 5 lety

      Like George Washington wanted.

  • @jetheron
    @jetheron Před 4 lety +18

    The way you portray ocean vs. land is confusing

  • @wateronfire1026
    @wateronfire1026 Před 3 lety +1

    Nice video man

  • @jamesgordley5000
    @jamesgordley5000 Před 5 lety +42

    The western coastal tribes of Europe were an epicenter of maritime trade, wealth, and culture in the Celtic world.
    If history had taken this alternate course, it's probable that of all the Celts, *these tribes* specifically would've been the most actively engaged in learning from their Carthaginian trading partners and would've led they way in adopting sophisticated civilization. Then eastern France and southern Britain could've come under the rule of a developing Celtic empire.

    • @nutyyyy
      @nutyyyy Před 8 měsíci +1

      And the Greeks. Remember that Rome smashed and took over the Hellenistic world. If not for Rome then the Hellenistic Kingdoms would likely have survived for much longer and Greek culture would have continued to be predominant.
      And as you mention the Celts may have taken the place of Germanic people's in our own timeline. Celtic invasions into Iberia, Italy, the Balkans, Greece and Anatolia took place historically. It's entirely possible that even great expansion would occur without Roman conquest. But the Germans would also have likely expanded into Celtic lands regardless.
      But certainly Britain would not have been conquered by Germanic peoples without Rome conquering it first.

  • @jacksonross5941
    @jacksonross5941 Před 5 lety +129

    What if France won the Napoleonic Wars

    • @11Survivor
      @11Survivor Před 5 lety +8

      We won the first Napoleonic war... Just not the second.

    • @neine999
      @neine999 Před 5 lety +4

      Nice one

    • @williamnorris6184
      @williamnorris6184 Před 5 lety +8

      Then I would be eating baguettes right now

    • @sol2646
      @sol2646 Před 5 lety +3

      J'aime du baguette

    • @kwayke9
      @kwayke9 Před 5 lety +2

      Baguette everywhere

  • @fighterofthenightman1057
    @fighterofthenightman1057 Před 4 lety +2

    Awesome video! I’d be interested in more analysis of the Germanic peoples in addition to the Celt focus.

  • @rng7197
    @rng7197 Před 5 lety

    Very well made and researched, thanks

    • @lilldavid6903
      @lilldavid6903 Před 5 lety

      Very well researched? He forgot about Pyrrhus, he forgot about the germanic invasion of gaul (the cimbri wars would've happened without rome), he even forgot about the very strong greek presence in southern gaul!

  • @crimson4069
    @crimson4069 Před 5 lety +27

    Back in my day the title used to be called "what if Rome never existed"

  • @williammcleod1496
    @williammcleod1496 Před 5 lety +206

    Dude, you know a lot about the Greeks and Romans, but almost nothing about the Gauls, and as they're an important part of this story, I thought I'd comment in detail.
    First off, it's not your fault you don't know about the Gauls, it's mostly the fault of our language barrier. The last 30 years has seen some significant archaeological finds in France and Germany, finds that put the lie to most Roman accounts of Gaul. The only place that's really breaking through right now is in pop history like Terry Jones Barbarians, or in more questionable works like Graham Robb's The Discovery of Middle Earth which does need to be taken with some salt.
    But it turns out, if you are a Roman writing about Gaul, the vast majority of what you're saying is either made up, based on misconception, or an outright lie. The Romans are simply not accurate historians as it relates to the Gauls. Because they didn't care about them or their culture or their history. The primary sources from the era simply cannot be trusted.
    The Native Americans comparison here is apt. American historians generally don't write about native Americans. History begins at Jamestown, and everything before then is just lost to the mists of time. Except it isn't, there is history there, and science as well (Nixtamalization as a quick example.)
    Due to trade with the Greeks and with Carthage, the Gauls were actually scientifically more advanced than the Romans in a number of areas. Just not warfare. We know this from recent archaeology.
    For example, you have the Coligny Calendar, which more than a lunisolar calendar was a primitive calculator, which was accurately helping them plan harvests while the Romans were celebrating the beginning of spring in the middle of August.
    Other archaeological finds like the Vix grave show just how fantastically wealthy the Gauls were. The person who owned that property may have been the most fantastically wealthy individual of her day. Yes her. The Lady of Vix was some sort of trading queen with tastes about as subtle as Donald Trump, if the Vix Krater, the largest known metal vessel from classical antiquity is any indication. It was made by craftsmen in Greece or Etruria. The reason that she didn't have local, arguably more advanced Gaulish metalsmiths make it (these are folks who wore clothing spun through with gold, as their smiths could manufacture gold thread) is, we assume, about having "fuck you" money. The point wasn't just to have the biggest, 1100 liter wine vessel for parties on the planet, the point was to flaunt the wealth it took to hire mercenaries to get it from Etruria or Greece through hostile territory overrun by raiding Gauls or Mediterranean pirates to southern France. The point seems to be a statement of "When I ship it, it will fucking get where its going even if we have to pave the trackways red with the blood of thieves." (Edit: this sentence was truncated for some reason. YT isn't really set up for long comments.)
    The reason it took so much longer for us to find these archaeological sites is because of the Gaulish tendency to prefer wood. So a lot of the archaeological finds have been massive wooden structures with intact basements and a layer of char on top.
    Because wood doesn't do so well when Romans show up to burn everything.
    Caesar's conquest of Gaul had more to do with the fact that the Gauls were fantastically wealthy traders themselves, and Rome was broke.
    And we know all this from archaeology done in the last three or so decades, most of it in French, so it hasn't really broken through into the Anglophone world. But we know now that almost all European roads attributed to the Romans simply paved over in stone, when they'd originally been wooden trackways. Identically constructed trackways have been found in both Ireland and Germany, in areas that were owned by the Celts, but not the Romans.
    We also know that most of these roads were mapped out according to Celtic theology, as described by Graham Robb in "The Discovery of Middle Earth."
    Which should make sense, because one of the main images from the roman era of the Celts involves chariots. Which are terrible vehicles to take on some kind of unimproved mud roadway, but would mean rapid military deployment with a road system.
    So the Gauls and non-Gaulish Celts already had a civilization. Just not one that was centralized like the Romans.
    "The Gauls in the south began adopting roman customs" you argue, producing and consuming wine. That's completely untrue. They began adopting Greek customs, due to the Greek settlement at Marseille well before the beginning of the timeline of this video, in 600BC. You had in what is now southwest France, Graecco-Gauls. They were the ones who brought the love of wine to the rest of Gaul. We know from arcehological digs across gaul that there were giant pots filled with Italian wine and olive oil. Turns out a goodly chunk of impoverished Rome's income at the time of the Republic was Gauls buying wine and olive oil in Bulk. Interestingly, Rome only really invaded Gaul after they started producing their own Wine.
    Finally, "The Germans were going to invade south no matter what, because of the huns."
    There's a good chance that the Celts would have welcomed them. We see from places where Gaulish and German cultures met a process of Gaulicization, similar to what happened to the Grecco-Gauls of southern France. The Gauls show up, are too strong to simply kill off without a big war, and they offer trade. Roads get built, everybody gets rich, and people start sharing culture and language.
    That's how the Celts spread so far and wide. Trade works better than swords.
    And to that end, they would have gotten along with the Carthaginians really, really well.
    "These lands might have remained primarily tribal, and rural" although even at this time they were neither. The Gauls built massive cities for the time called Oppidum. Their territory was no more tribal or rural than Roman territory.
    But here's the thing. You mentioned the long haired vs short haired Gauls?
    Vercingetorix, whose image appears in your video, was the child of Celtillus, a man who was executed by the Celtic confederation for attempting to unite it under a single ruler.
    That was one of the problems the Gauls had as a group. They refused to come together and become what we would think of as a single country. Carthage did, Rome did, but the Greeks, Etruscans, Celts, and Germans refused to, and killed their own leaders who would have been Celtic versions of Alexander or Julius Caesar.
    And THAT is the Roman contribution to western civilization. Or would have been Carthage's through trade, so Europe still had a back-up option. Small, localized, fragmented communities, often miniature ethno-statelets, cannot defend themselves from large, diverse states.
    The truth is that there was no such thing as "Gaul" until it was built into a province by the Romans. If their had been, that massive, wealthier nation would have put Rome back in its box. They didn't, because disunited, they couldn't.
    We talk about them as such today because we have a Romanized perspective, and see a coalition of disparate micronations as some kind of cohesive whole. They weren't.
    An accurate map of gaul would have looked like a map of the Holy Roman Empire.

    • @williammcleod1496
      @williammcleod1496 Před 5 lety +36

      Not really. They were highly civilized, but not centralized.

    • @DonMadruga72
      @DonMadruga72 Před 5 lety +31

      Mein Gött! What is it? a comment or an Encyclopedia?

    • @psykkomancz
      @psykkomancz Před 5 lety +41

      I really loved this comment. It is sad that someone who claim himself authority in alternate history has zero idea on how Gaullic civilisation really looked like. I cringed every time he reffered to them as backwards people. We should not forget that history is written by winners...

    • @Chaika1974
      @Chaika1974 Před 5 lety +10

      This was the best comment so far in the comment section. A shame it got so ignored. Good job exposing us about the Gauls though!

    • @seansmith5896
      @seansmith5896 Před 5 lety +5

      Ibn, you should check out the Amazon prime series Britannia. It is a fancified work of fiction akin to a Celtic game of Thrones, but it gives a fairly accurate depiction of the politics between Celtic groups and Rome. I don't think the second season is out yet, but I may be mistaken....
      Yeah, there was infighting. By appearances, one group of Celts was as likely to fight an enemy group of Celts they had a grudge against along side Rome, probably with a handful of Roman "promises" included, as they were to fight against Rome. The Story of Boudica is basically a rebellion by a queen of a willing vassal state (later on, in what would become England) who had Rome go back on their deals after her Husband, a Roman vassal king, died.
      That, perhaps, is the only issue I really take with the above comment.... while I've read reasonable speculation that more primitive Germanic groups were often assimilated during Celtic expansion - even suggesting the Gaels were such a group (or, to put it another way, expanding Celts assimilated the more primitive Germanics in the areas of Ireland and Scotland), though I think evidence refutes this - and that interaction between Germanics and Celts were not necessarily overtly hostile, with speculation that the Germanics even learned much from Celts (I've read even Iron metallurgy), the Celts often didn't get along with other groups of Celts... so..... their reactions may have varied.

  • @seanbaskett5506
    @seanbaskett5506 Před 2 lety

    I see you have 2.04 million subs. Nice work. This is a great channel, I dunno why I didn't find this earlier.

  • @fluxions3710
    @fluxions3710 Před 5 lety +15

    @AlternateHistoryHub What is the name of the painting at 1:20? I can't seem to find it.

  • @joebowden4065
    @joebowden4065 Před 5 lety +75

    ‘Ireland, Scotland and Cornwall’,
    Do Americans really think about Cornwall as Celtic before they think about Wales. Cornwall, whose language was so close to extinction, whose population is a sixth of Wales’, and has no autonomous government and has no special status as a nation.

    • @lukewoodsdelacy2777
      @lukewoodsdelacy2777 Před 5 lety +13

      Yeah but, pasties.

    • @hywelridley5886
      @hywelridley5886 Před 5 lety

      Literally thinking the same thing

    • @TorchedKiwi
      @TorchedKiwi Před 5 lety +4

      @@lukewoodsdelacy2777 Pasties were actually invented in South Wales, then because they're mining food they got very popular in Cornwall. We call them Ogies.

    • @Bus_Driver_Jay
      @Bus_Driver_Jay Před 5 lety +2

      Wales isn’t Celtic. It was Brittanic tribes that fled there, not celts. That’s why Welsh sounds so different to that of Scottish and Irish.

    • @TorchedKiwi
      @TorchedKiwi Před 5 lety +13

      @@Bus_Driver_Jay What are you on mate? Brythonic is just a different type of Celtic culture to Gaelic. Both are Celtic. Wales is arguably far more 'Celtic' than Scotland; it having formed from Germanic and Norse influence on top of the native culture.

  • @just-a-silly-goofy-guy
    @just-a-silly-goofy-guy Před 5 lety +144

    I think that we wouldn't have pizza, and that would be the biggest consequence

    • @tec-jones5445
      @tec-jones5445 Před 5 lety +16

      We already wouldn't have pizza without the Americas, as that's where tomato comes from. So without Rome with flatbread and toppings, there wouldn't even be a precursor to pizza. I find that much more terrifying.

    • @clash3279
      @clash3279 Před 5 lety

      Oh and icees

    • @skepticalbadger
      @skepticalbadger Před 5 lety +2

      @@tec-jones5445 Ever heard of white pizza? The bread is by far the most important part of pizza. Tomato is practically an afterthought.

    • @kallmannkallmann
      @kallmannkallmann Před 5 lety +1

      @Te C-Jones Tomato was used by the Aztecs...no need for Europe. But yea without italy there woud prob be a diffrent type of pizza. Pizza is a rly simple idea, have bread and put stuff on it.... Yes that alternative pizza woud be nowhere close to ours but that it woud never exist in that relatity is not 100%

    • @raninjaking5144
      @raninjaking5144 Před 5 lety

      I saw u on Tumblr awards.

  • @himerd320
    @himerd320 Před 2 lety +1

    Literally any topic: Althistoryhub: "We will talk about that later"

  • @sbaeneg4738
    @sbaeneg4738 Před 4 lety +6

    2:44 hey boio what about wales we are celts too!

  • @diafol666
    @diafol666 Před 5 lety +14

    One slight correction, Wales is a celtic nation within western Europe as well, in fact its the only one to have kept its native celtic language in any meaningful way.

  • @degenerate3288
    @degenerate3288 Před 5 lety +29

    FINALY a classic AHH vid
    such a long wait but a worthwhile wait since we got a book and a great rome video

    • @skydiesay6019
      @skydiesay6019 Před 5 lety

      Joseph Krakowski your profile picture is Ned kelly, you’re a man of culture I see

  • @merrylildeath3113
    @merrylildeath3113 Před 3 lety

    Nice detail on leaving out the basque

  • @EstbXCIII
    @EstbXCIII Před 8 měsíci

    I've just stumble into this channel. 3 years ago i was subscribed and a big fan of this channel. Well i eventually made a new account but completely forgotten about this channel so I'm happy af!😅

  • @markkoetsier6475
    @markkoetsier6475 Před 5 lety +55

    We wouldn't have had Asterix.
    That'd be sucky.

  • @lieutenantnomad9198
    @lieutenantnomad9198 Před 5 lety +69

    What if the Galactic Empire won the Battle of Endor?!

    • @ZeeshanKhan-rj1kl
      @ZeeshanKhan-rj1kl Před 5 lety +3

      Thats actually a good suggestion lol

    • @LV_427
      @LV_427 Před 5 lety +4

      Then we would have different sequel trilogy.

    • @rydemk4168
      @rydemk4168 Před 5 lety +2

      What if the rebels never existed

    • @redfallxenos4585
      @redfallxenos4585 Před 5 lety

      Well arguably the far better equipped, trained, and numberee Galactic Empire should have easily won the war but what do I know?

    • @fkjl4717
      @fkjl4717 Před 5 lety +1

      It would be an Anarchy, Cause of death of Emperor. Civil war continues.

  • @thomasmurphy2786
    @thomasmurphy2786 Před 5 lety

    this may be the best video you;ve ever made .. off to watch part two

  • @Cendoria
    @Cendoria Před 5 lety

    Looks like the animation is much higher quality now than last I watched this channel. I like to wait until there's enough new content to binge it.

  • @ilo2224
    @ilo2224 Před 5 lety +8

    *7:24** shots fired bois!*

  • @martianemperor5137
    @martianemperor5137 Před 5 lety +67

    Then ROME TOTAL WAR 2 WOULD NOT BE ON SPECIAL ON STEAM TOMMOROW

    • @kallmannkallmann
      @kallmannkallmann Před 5 lety

      Thats smth to thankful for tho? Rome TW 2 sucks

    • @Root174
      @Root174 Před 5 lety +2

      ​@@kallmannkallmann While not perfect, the game has apparently come a long way from its buggy launch. It's actually worth considering. The Imperator Augustus campaign is included and the game's political system was overhauled not too long ago. Of the expansions, Empire Divided and Rise of the Republic seem the most interesting to me.

    • @DakotaGraftt
      @DakotaGraftt Před 5 lety

      Is that the one where they added female generals? Or the first one?

  • @RandomVidsforthought
    @RandomVidsforthought Před 2 lety +3

    That person who said that ancient rome didn't exist brought me here

  • @intzbk1
    @intzbk1 Před 4 lety +13

    "Like Disney, but less evil" Sir, you made my day! :)

  • @bremcurt9514
    @bremcurt9514 Před 5 lety +3

    Love your longer videos, they really increase the quality

  • @thesheepofdeath1890
    @thesheepofdeath1890 Před 5 lety +101

    Hey, what if Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth didn't fall apart and kept Moscow for centuries, not few years instead?

    • @axelmaze9961
      @axelmaze9961 Před 5 lety +13

      Nobody expects the winged hussars

    • @derderderistderderistunico8219
      @derderderistderderistunico8219 Před 5 lety

      Impossible

    • @Jupiter__001_
      @Jupiter__001_ Před 5 lety +6

      Yeah, that one is basically a "How did this happen?" job. The whole thing was unstable due to the nature of its government, and the conflicting directions of its kings (who wanted to conquer the Baltic and other strategically useful regions) and the Szlachta (who wanted to control large swathes of Russia and the Ukraine, as there were large numbers of farming peasants to exploit there), combined with the Sejm's vetos, would always have doomed the country to either civil war or complete disintegration eventually.

    • @kianture1530
      @kianture1530 Před 5 lety +3

      Probably we will see an our timeline Russia but weaker and without the protecting cold. If they could survive to the XIX century, however, it would be interesting to see a country with more democracy than the others do in the Napoleonic Wars, as it could be an ally of Napoleon instead of the enemy that Russia, Austria and Germany was. Also, a lot more of cultures would be preserved, because the multiethnic state it was (like the Ottoman Empire, that now it's almost 20 countries with a lot of diffs between them). It would fall in the XIX century but instead of conquering more than the actual succesor countries would rise.

    • @SynValorum1
      @SynValorum1 Před 5 lety +1

      @@Jupiter__001_ I only ever knew "szlachta" as a word referring to this whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/Szlachta

  • @daronkaraki5231
    @daronkaraki5231 Před 5 lety

    Dear AH,
    This is one of my favorite channels on CZcams!
    I believe a video about the Kurds would interesting.
    Since this is a channel about alternative history it would be cool if you would make it.

  • @Steenern
    @Steenern Před 2 lety

    This channel makes timeless content

  • @Holsp
    @Holsp Před 5 lety +15

    I know about Etruscans thanks to thier ceramics

    • @thumper8684
      @thumper8684 Před 5 lety

      Their art is georgious. Anyone that reads this look it up!

    • @thumper8684
      @thumper8684 Před 5 lety

      wtfarthistory.com/post/21379170558/those-sexy-etruscans

    • @thumper8684
      @thumper8684 Před 5 lety

      l7.alamy.com/zooms/d78928e6eb5344088e120184b48c4956/etruscan-sarcophagus-with-two-figures-a9ppxm.jpg

  • @williamnorris6184
    @williamnorris6184 Před 5 lety +16

    11:25 why didn't highlight Wales 🤔 oh well!

  • @Acidica18
    @Acidica18 Před 5 lety +2

    I just got a notification that Alternate History Hub had produced another video (that notification wasn't there yesterday) but when I got here, there were no new videos? Why?

  • @FallenAngelZero00
    @FallenAngelZero00 Před 4 lety

    Ooh excellent hypothesis, riveting I did enjoy this.