What did Popular Music in Ancient Rome sound like?
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- čas přidán 16. 06. 2024
- A survey of the (almost) lost world of music and concerts in ancient Rome.
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I’d like to thank Russell Miller for the sound design of this video.
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:43 The cithara
2:12 The aulos / tibia
2:52 The hydraulis (water organ)
3:45 Music at sacrifices
4:12 Music at entertainments
4:54 Street musicians
5:25 Endel!
6:19 Famous musicians
7:26 Star pipe players
8:04 Citharodes
9:05 Pantomimes
10:20 A pantomime in action
11:10 Conclusion
Thanks for watching!
Artists being jackasses, crazy fangirls, and concerts causing riots?---some things never change
I've been watching videos about some historical aspects of Japan and that's when I realized the same.
An ancient Roman could watch The Pick Of Destiny and relate to 100% of it.
Just the names of the bands change ... the chariots are called the cars today ... the monkeys didn't change ... neither did Sam and the Sham and the Pharaohs ...
Did Roman parents also tell the kids to turn it down when they played their music?!?
And the bling he was sporting. With one ring he bought from his first big paycheck
Considering Roman conservatives complained of loud lyre-playing of long-hair youths and that Egyptian and eastern music corrupted the younger generations, their approach to music was very universal to modern people.
There is some truth to this line of thought though
@@anon2427 ??
@@anon2427 Nah, that's a you problem.
Squares gonna square...
What do they mean by “eastern music”? Greek or persian?
Longinus and The Lyres for one night only! Playing their #1 hits such as:
“An Amphora for 2”
“Crucify my love”
& “The Pompeii of the Night”
Tickets available at the Hippo Dome!
😂😂 Or “Brutus and the senators” singing “Stabbed in the heart, and you’re to blame! You give the republic a bad name”
What are those random arabic numbers doing in those titles? :)
@Frank Thinnes Former gladiator turned rock star “destiny’s bamino”: Survivor
@@Gentleman...Driver dunno. Probably picked it up from the desert tribes on the edge of Empire
Meh....their music fell off. I remember them before they sold out and went so pop and mainstream.
This channel makes me realize that some concepts have been around for longer than one would imagine
people don't think enough, and history doesn't teach enough, about how completely similar we currently are, compared to for example ancient romans or late medieval city folk. such city features have always been recognizable. with the same diversity of people, same professions and hopes and dreames. it's quite nice how such video's manage to reach more people. history is important
Everything's already been done is a great saying
I've been coming to this realization as well. It's wild just how much is still relevant the more you read about it.
@@realname4898 I personally like simply saying "humans be humans".
Might not please the English teachers out there, but it sums it up in 3 words that even a child can understand.
@@vman3695 I like how you can look back to classical Rome and see people bitching about how many people are learning to write and how this will affect their ability to remember things since they are now writing down so much, while at the same time marveling at the barbarians in Gaul for their lack of literacy and their ability to memorize a great deal. Or looking at people bitching about people making pamphlets during the time of the French Revolution because of all the BS and crap they are spreading with this newish form of distributing information and opinion.
edit: I describe this to people as the helix of time. I do not like the arrow metaphor. Describing it as a helix allows one to easily talk about how the same things get done in new ways by new people. Talking about time as a corkscrew shows just how often new people come back to the same things, while at the same time allowing time to flow ever on.
You should have covered those lads from Heliopolis, the Dung Beatles. Their hits "While my Lyre Gently Weeps", "Baby You Can Drive My Chariot", "Papyrus Writer", "We All Live in a Sunken Yellow Trireme", and "Nowhere Slave", will live for all time.
😂
Cool!!😄
Or those lads from Londinium, led by Mickellus Jaggus.
@@nigden1 The group "Lapis Rotulus?" Yes, they were awesome, too. "I Can't Get No Gravitus", "Mosaic it Black", and "Sympathy for Hades" were my favorites in Philosophy School Back in Athens.
@@davidfinch7407 ''Leaping Satyr Jackus Flasca'' was a particular favourite.
Literally just discovered this channel and have been binge-watching it . I find these rather obscure parts of history very intriguing.
When is the second part of your "what if Rome never fell video coming!
My thoughts exactly, all the history channels focuses on the grand campaigns, the great battles and such (i dont mind, i love that shit too). This stuff though, really tickles my inner historian.
Welcome
It’s mostly Rome and Ancient Greece and sometimes Sparta and other places
@@fairhair1539 you should buy his book. very interesting. i started reading today and will finished it tommorow. it has 289 pages and today i readed 210 pages. i like it. it is very good. garrett ryan took lots of effort and time in research
A few weeks ago - I work in Vienna's inner city - while on my way to the office I walked through Tuchlauben over the Graben into Kohlmarkt, the place where, about two millenia ago, the _porta decumana_ (southern gate) of the Roman castra _vindobona_ was located, and I thought, hm, around 2000 years ago, some Roman soldier stood there, and though, darn it!, my shift is about to start, and about 2000 years later, I go there, and think, darn it!, my shift is about to start, which made me wonder - what changed? And now I watch this video, in which you tell us, that rock stars where always rock stars, complete with attitude, fangirls, and everything else. Again: What changed? The technology. But the people are still the same, no matter the -decade- -century- millenium.
great story, but please never use commas ever again.
I don't think anything changes. I used to think "how could they believe x" but then you find not everyone did (e.g. religion, witches etc). My biggest education was living today. We live in a time where "non pc" peer reviewed scientific papers are hard to publish, and can be "temporarily unpublished". If you said most men are stronger than most woman this is hate speech in some places. So it's a lesson to me that any age can be kidnapped by hysteria. We should judge the past by the similarities, not the differences. I write this message in latin letters!
Whats changed lmfaro alot and def everytime i read your comment i remember easily why.
@@patrickpaganini do you live in the USA? I would call you completely crazy bananas if I wouldn't have suffer from something very alike in my academic career, but unfortunately I gotta tell you that is a problem with the USA, the "pc crowd" is just a small section of how papers are getting basically "delayed"(not to say censored) everytime some data disagrees with the New York Times/Washington Post out there. So much for the one's who call themselves the land of the free...
@@HugoMatheus It's a worry isn't it! I don't live in USA, but this is happening throughout the Western world. Makes you realise how tenuous free speech is when you see mainstream media and to a large extent scientific and university establishments being utterly uncritical of the fast changing orthodoxy.
The editing and overall presentation quality has really shot into the sky with this video, sir.
Words out of my mouth Ayvaz of Skan, that last description of a performance put me there .
Mkk
You’re very welcome
Yes true the music In Rome wouldn't have sounded like mtv, but the atmo of Rome in general was exactly like mtv. It was classically derived ancient music. But when time came to debase oneself worshipping Dionysus and Bacchus the hedonists, it's was like x-rated mtv.
Crazy how ancient Romans also loved Zelda ocarina of time. Amazing
hymn of time. Epic
Its where it started from the beginning and nintendo took the ancient songs and made it to the zelda games lol
Ocarina of timeless.
I was thinking the same
Haha...I hadn't clicked on it yet and that music automatically came into my head.
You wrote Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants?! I just read it like a month ago. It really covers aspects of the ancient world I never knew much about, but always wanted to. Fascinating read, and very useful for my current writing project.
I'm very glad you enjoyed my book!
I'm a musician and singer and I'm so glad I found this channel! I first heard about the music of the Greeks and Romans back in 1970 while in college. I had a music history professor that spent much time teaching us about this sort of music and its value today
I think you would love Peter Pringle's performances of ancient music and songs.
2:57 the Byzantines continued to use the water organ in church music and even donated them to various western European realms during the middle ages.
Yes!Probably the origin of the vast church organs we have in cathedrals .Orthodox however banned musical instruments in churches but the Catholic church was wise enough to allow them.Some people have connected the use of keyboard instruments in the west starting with organs,through to dulcimers,harpsichords and finally the pianoforte which was invented in 18th Century Italy to the eventual invention of first the typewriter and then the computer.If you think about it there is a definite link -pressing a key to get a particular outcome or sound effect.
@@kaloarepo288 "wise"
@@nullifye7816 Yes very wise as was the church's decision not to give in to iconoclasm in the Byzantine empire -otherwise you would not have had the wonderful explosion of art,architecture,painting and sculpture that we had in the west particularly with Gothic architecture and then in the Renaissance.People became aware of the importance of the visible and this led to the appreciation of Greek and Roman statues with even popes and cardinals collecting them and we had artists like Michelangelo and Donatello -the mindset of people changed towards humanism and a more rounded approach not narrow minded anti-art and iconoclasm that you have in some sects.All mankind has benefited.
The description and accompanying music at the end of the video was absolutely incredible. I love the ability to get ever so much closer to experiencing life throughout history and you did that extremely well so thank you and keep up the incredible work!
What is the name of the music at the end?
This is some seriously high quality content. Concise, educational, and entertaining.
7:54 those unforgettable JAZZ FLUTE performances by Gaius Ron Burgundius really rocked the Coliseum!
😂😂😁😁😀😃😅😅😆😆😉👍👍👍🍻🍻🎼🎶🎵📯 HaHaHa sweet!! Ancestor of modern Ron B.👍😁
Another superb post, Garrett. I felt for a moment sitting there in the audience, enjoying the soft lyre’s voice which I prefer amongst the other instruments. And then holding my breath at the pantomime’s first swirl. I didn’t want this clip to stop… I found all the images and music samples in this video quite exceptional. Such a delight!
It's sorely lacking any examples of ancient music, which do in fact exist.
Bar far your best video yet. Love the soundscapes, it adds measures to the immersion in your work. Keep it up!
Wonderful video and presentation. Can’t believe how you brought the sounds of the instruments into the video. I’ve always wondered about this topic !
You might also like some of Peter Pringle's performances of ancient music and songs.
After quite a few delays, Amazon UK finally found your book and it turned up yesterday. Looking forward to reading it!
Bought your book recently and thoroughly enjoyed it, I love that you post such informative videos about this topic for free too! Very classy man.
Your descriptions are wonderful. Thank you for taking us there.
This is why I love this channel. You get glimpses into everyday roman life you just don't find on other history channels
Another triumph! I always feel transported by your videos, thanks for being so great.
Thank you so much Toldinstone for inviting us to share in your most informative experience 🍀
Learning so much from you 🌷🌸🌻
Absolutely incredible channel. Having done classical studies, finding your work was a breath of fresh air on CZcams. I am definitely going to reach for your book. Thank you so much for all your dedication!
i enjoyed the book so far. just need about 80 pages to finish it. i rarely reade footnotes, but i strongly recommend. very interesting stuff. altough i allready knew some described stuff, i did not know lot and the stuff i knew, i dont mind refresh my knowledge and garrett ryan has a great reading style. so it is fun to read everything.
@@aka99 thank you so much for this comment, I really appreciated it! I will definitely get a hold of his book soon. Thank you again!
The questions on this channel are what I spent my childhood thinking about and I always thought they should make historical movies without soundtracks and just use scenes where they're supposed to be in some type of tavern to play music from the era
Your channel used to pop up on my home page all the time, just now tried it on accident. I have to say I am impressed, what an interesting topic. Good job on the quality!
I love the videos in this vein that you do, we spend so much time on the political and military figures of antiquity that it's always cool to learn more about people who were involved with other societal domains.
the sound effects are on point. love the higher production value. been subbed since 30k, keep it up(:
Awesome video! I love your usual commentary, but the music in this made it that much more immersive!
Damn, we must have missed some great shows.
One of the first sponsors I’m actually interested in checking out. Also, I’m a history student and the CZcams algorithm seemed to realize this and start recommending your channel. Super good stuff, keep it up
Wow this is brilliant. Comparing to your older video just as insightful, but exceedingly more well edited! Keep up the good work!
Wow, excellent work on the sound design here! I greatly enjoyed that. Thanks for the knowledge too!
thank you! I watch your videos for stress relief, and end up learning so much along the way. beautiful editing + images as well.
this is the kind of stuff we need to hear more about from history. Gives us a real glimpse of life back then.
Outstanding presentation and research! I think this is significantly better than what I got as an undergraduate as a music Major! And difficult information to find by sifting through old texts
It's so good to learn these things of ancient world in such a deep information
Most enjoyable video!! Educational and fun, a rare combo on CZcams.
Thanks for sharing this gem with us 👍
GOAT channel, just found it. This is beyond amazing and so well done. Thanks for sharing this with others dude.
Another great video. Although I have not had a chance to check out your book, I must compliment you on the cover design. It has a really great retro look. Having grown up in the 1970's with an archaeologist (Egyptologist) for an older brother I was always exposed to this type of literature. In fact I remember having classical Greek, Roman, and medieval themed coloring books as a child. Keep up the great work.
This is such an amazing video! The way information is presented is superb. Very pleased to watch your videos overall.
Always look forward to new posts! Thx Toldinstone !! 🤜🏻🤛🏼
This was truly enjoyable. I would watch a whole series on you just narrating various events of antiquity. From harvest to a gladiators day in the life of whomever.
i would watch too
This was such a good episode. I loved the ending where you describe pantomime on stage and add music slowly. That was fantastic. I wish it went on and we could hear the choir
Been reading your book and really enjoying it! Wanted to add, you clearly have the talent to be a novelist. Ever considered writing a historical fiction piece that takes place during this era? I'd buy it!
Thank you! I have thought about writing fiction, to be honest, but I've never been able to find the time. Someday, hopefully...
Or campaign speech?
Yes! I just got through the intro and I wanted to hear more!
@@toldinstone Would be fascinating to see a novel illuminate facets of Roman life that often get overlooked, much like how the Satyricon does
@@toldinstone what if historical fiction please :D
Watching a Toldinstone video is a great way to start the weekend :)
What a Gem of a Channel this is.... what a find,love it
This has quickly become my favorite channel.
Wow! I'm so happy to have found your channel, amazing work!!
Thanks for taking twelve minutes to let us know that we don't actually know what Roman music sounded like.
Loved this!! You should use musical accompaniment in more of your videos! (Even though the subject matter is quite interesting to me and I’d watch them either way simply from your knowledge of the subject) I feel like it helps it feel more like a video and less like a slideshow if you know what I mean. Great stuff as always!
The problem with using music in CZcams video is that whatever you use, unless you create it yourself and you have complete ownership of it, it's usually owned by someone else. If the music is owned by someone else, you cannot monetize the video.
@@backalleycqc4790 good point! If @toldinstone actually sees this I’d be happy to produce a few tracks for him. I’m not some expert musician but i do have some experience in scoring movies and would love to try my hand at some atmospheric background tracks of this style
@@johnnysmall
That's a really awesome offer!
Send him an email with some musical suggestions, he may even say yes! 👍🌞
Your initial point is well taken, slides with appropriate accompanying music is rather soothing and far more entertaining.
@@backalleycqc4790 There are plenty of royalty free tracks that he could use, and they are common throughout video creation on CZcams. Though I personally like the way he makes his videos currently, so I don’t think music is needed. Perhaps if it is very understated, it would compliment the video nicely.
@@RobinFleming_
Yes, it just depends on what kind of mood you're trying to create. And yes, I've used the tracks that even CZcams provides for free. Still, with this channel, it would be best if the music were period appropriate and that will require some effort 🌞👍
I just received your book through Amazon UK - it was delayed for about a month, but glad it arrived finally!
Me too - I hope you enjoy it!
I love your book and every one of your videos is a delight. Great work!
Really excellent video. A fantastic primer on the music of ancient Rome.
I love this video so much, it's things like this I've wondered about so much. As a musician I often think about what music sounded like in ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Canaan etc.
You should do a video on popular culture Roman or Greek theater and famous actors like in this one, it would be interesting what the equivalents of people like Marlon Brando or Audrey Hepburn.
There’s a video here on yt where a man sings the Epic of Gilgamesh in Sumerian while playing on Sumerian lute.
Fascinating, thank you! Of interest to me because as a professional fashion illustrator in NYC, painter and composer/pianist I had to study ancient musical instruments at the BMFA, Boston Museum of Fine Arts while doing a project to paint floral designs on a harpsichord being built. And while in Rome, we never learned about this, though we visited many of the famous ruins of ancient Rome. While studying to be a fashion illustrator, I had to study the history of costume and illustrate costumes/fashions from ancient Greece and Rome all the way up through the 20th century when I was in my late teens! History repeats in more ways than one if even in shades/echoes per historian Ken Burns!
Thank you for the beautiful work. I watched all your videos.
Superb subject matter and presented perfectly.
Thanks
that was fascinating, and something I had never really thought about.
The time stamps are amazing. Very well broken down.
At last! A fine video about ancient music. Wonderful! 👍👍👍
Toldinstone content is 🐐
Music is an incredible transporter of the mind. I wonder if these ancient sounding pieces of music are true to the time, or if they have been tuned by popular culture and clever musicians to _sound_ old. In either case, nothing can bring me closer to antiquity than the cithara.
If you listen to Peter Pringle's performance of the Lament for Enkidu in ancient Sumerian, on the recreation of the authentic instruments, you will find the piece still moving after all these millennia.
Another great video. Some of the best content I've come across on CZcams.
Loved this! Thank you. Very nicely done.
01:26 "A quick note on musical instruments" Well played
Side note: while musicians and actors were favored on the stage, in everyday life, they were socially castigated, often being seen as on pad or just above the freedman social class. The aforementioned is why the senate and other people of the equestrian and senatorial class looked as Nero with such horror when he took part in plays and games.
which is probably where they belong... (this coming from a family of such predisposition) though I'm being cheeky. really though, artists are crazies not role models, unless you're trying to go crazy
Another masterful video. Thanks for the time travel.
Enjoyed watching your video. It's off beat from the usual historical presentation of the Roman period. Thanks for sharing🌹🌹
That water organ is fascinating. I've never heard of it, until now.
I find it very sad that we'll never even know how one of these songs would have actually sounded.
That said, great video!
Much of it is known , one can go after pure an perfect instruments , or make the best music along the notes presented....it can be heard
Here’s a video on careful reconstruction and performance of ancient Greek music-using some of the same instrument types discussed in the Told in Stone video:
m.czcams.com/video/4hOK7bU0S1Y/video.html
@@greycastro1009 Sweet, thanks!
Wroooonnnnggggggg
Untrue. there are many examples of theoretically accurate recreations of ancient music on CZcams. it is a shame that toldinstone did not include examples in his video
i just realised, the romans fangirled over the musicians and lyricists as we do rock stars and boy bands, they fangirled over the gladiators as we do athletes. we are exactly the way we were 2000 years ago, i love that.
bravissimo!! an absolutely beautiful treat
thank you, I love your channel
oh fuck yeah a video about something I didn't know I was curious about until you made it way to do it again you fucken legend
As a musician by trade and a history enthusiast as a hobby, and I found this video incredibly interesting
You may also like Peter Pringle's performances of ancient music and songs.
Great work thanks for this!
CONGRATULATIONS 145k Subscribers📚and your Book!!
Great video.
Two questions: 1) Has there been any attempt to compose (from what we know) any orchestral pieces, and do you know of any CDs with them> 2) What did the musical notation look like? Did it resemble anything like a modern score?
Interesting video as always! One thing that Id like to see with these video is perhaps a list of sources as to how we know all this, and where we can read more details and stuff. I cant seem to find any sources on your website for your videos and books either, so if you could include these in the future that would be appreciated :)
Just watched a video of yours from 3 years ago that got me to sub. Watching this recent one right after, I can tell it wasn't wasted. Great video. I'm about to binge. Lol.
That was a really wonderful video. Thank you.
The aulos, played with a double reed, is considered an early oboe. As far as I know, however, there is no direct historical link, the oboe having as its earliest great-grandfather the shawms that crusaders brought back home from the middle east in the 11-13th century.
Been enjoying your channel (and your book). I was looking through my books on Rome and discovered that all my 'daily life in ancient Rome' books are all now 50 years old and I seriously need to get some updated stuff. Are you familiar with Ian Mortimer's 'A Time Traveller's Guide to...' series where he focuses on specific periods of English history (the renaissance, medieval, Elizabethan)? Is there a Roman equivalent? One that goes into detail on clothing, attitudes, food, environment, etc... of both the elite and commoners?
Thanks for the kind words! I read - and enjoyed - the "Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England." The Roman equivalent is probably Philip Matyzsak's "24 Hours in Ancient Rome." For my money, however, the best book on that topic is still J.V.P.D. Balsdon's "Life and Leisure in Ancient Rome."
Really enjoying your book!
You set the stage perfectly at the end.
Excellent video. Many thanks !
You omitted mentioning the Greek "krotales" = the ancestor to Spanish castanets. Used in religious/temple processions too. It is possible that the Romans stopped using the krotales, and used metallic cymbals as percussion, instead . I'm not an expert, so I'm not totally sure here. But definitely , the krotales were an important percussion instrument made of wood, in ancient Greece.
I’d like to see you cover the topic of Roman exploration and Roman knowledge of the world around them!
Or you can find a book on the subject and read it yourself.
Man can you imagine releasing these absolute bangers back in the day.
Thank you. This was really interesting to watch.
I love history, and often wonder what food actually tasted like in various eras, considering they did not used modern chemicals and processing, and butter was from a cow, not the store, etc. Music is another area that I wonder about. Very cool video.
Have you seen Tasting History on here?
Butter still comes from cows.
This channel is priceless!
Thanks very much for posting
Thank you for another fascinating video! 😺
What music did the Romans play during crucifixions? Anything by the ‘Nine Inch Nails’.
Along via Appia after the gladiator uprising was put down perhaps “highway to hell”?
always look on the bright side of life or of death
Judas Priest literally was Judas Iscariot the Priest!
It was about torture, so probably Katy Perry
Given that the first London bridge was built between the first invasion of Britain those of Julius Caesar and Augustus (that is from the Roman records). It was almost certainly built from wood so the old nursery rhyme 'London Bridge is Falling Down' might well be a Roman tune/song.
MORE MUSICAL HISTORY PLEASE THANK YOU!!!!
Easily your best yet! The prologue here was as good as any on your site!
Very evocative video, good job.
I love this channel. It looks at aspects of ancient life which fascinate me most. Like, yeah, sure, warfare and politics etc are cool, but daily life is where my interest lies.