- [Rob] Were warriors in the past just
a mindless horde of barbaric monsters?
- [Ben] Or were there great lessons
we could learn from them?
- [Rob] Are humans really more physically
and mentally capable now than we've ever been?
- [Ben] And was there a military that could outclass
the great 300 Spartans?
- [Rob] All this and more on today's episode of--
- The Edge of Wonder.
- Ancient humans were tougher than us,
smarter than us, and way more inspirational than we are.
They were better than us in almost every way.
- Not only did they outclass us,
but if by the end of this video,
you don't think this modern lot
produced over the last 150 years
that we call a human race isn't pathetic,
we're gonna stop making videos altogether!
- Right.
Over the past few weeks, we dug deep.
We tried our best to figure out
whether modern humans' current physical achievements,
endurance, and even smarts were as inspirational
as we all seem to think they are.
And the result was, well, rather abysmal.
- Ancient civilization produced humans
of greater grit and quality.
We're going to go into some history,
but we decided to conduct this research
based off of civilizations' ancient soldiers as examples,
and we'll do our best to show you how completely
and utterly in a different league they all really were.
- Not only are we gonna show you soldiers,
but we're gonna present a band of warriors
that could rival or surpass even the famed 300 Spartans.
- So, without further ado, here are five
ancient military forces that make us look like wussies.
- [Both] Spartans!
- Spartans!
Do you really know about the Spartans?
Spartans' tool wasn't really the spear of the phalanx,
it was just good, old-fashioned, hardcore endurance.
- While we tell you these stories,
we want you to imagine if you could
survive in this society without feeling lamentful
or complaining about wrongs done to you.
Spartans were professional endurers from birth.
- Spartan infants were often bathed in wine instead of water
to increase their toughness at an early age.
They were also frequently ignored when they were cried
and were commanded never to fear darkness or solitude.
Kids were encouraged to fight at a young age,
were often beaten for hours at a time to toughen them up,
and as they grew, they wore little,
were constantly left in a state of hunger,
and had to be able to survive in the wild with nothing
as early as the age of 12.
I mean, this is crazy.
This is like a PC nightmare, right?
- Yeah, seriously!
They believed that they were direct descendants
of the god Hercules.
They lived and breathed war, and retirement?
Retirement wasn't an option.
You were a lifelong soldier.
- Okay, so Thermopylae was a narrow pass
that the Persians had to enter to get into Greece.
People often cite this battle
as the greatest sacrificial battle of all time,
and rightly so.
- The Spartans' culture of die before surrender
and their unsurpassed ability to fight
in the phalanx position
while using military tactics caused the Persians,
one of the greatest sized armies of all time,
to writhe in agony.
- The Spartans even made the most famous warriors
of the Persian Empire, the famed Immortals,
look like a bunch of sissy fighters
who couldn't even tell up from down.
This drove the king of Persia, Xerxes, mad.
- The total number going up against our famed Spartans
were said to be, in modern days,
anywhere from about 120k to 300k.
But the Greek historians of old
said the forces present at Thermopylae
were anywhere from 800000 to about 2.6 million.
Whoa!
- When Leonidas realized his forces were betrayed
and the Persians gained entry
to outflank them from behind,
he sent away most of his soldiers
and remained with his famed 300.
- Greek biographer and essayist, Plutarch,
once observed that the only rest
that a Spartan got from training for war
was during the actual war.
- The Spartans exemplify endurance,
and while they were awesome, they're still
not at the top of our list.
That's right, we're just getting started.
Keep watching if you really wanna get your minds blown.
- All right, next on the list is
Alexander the Great's Macedonians.
About 100 years after the famed Spartans
died at Thermopylae, Alexander of Macedonia
was born to King Phillip II.
That's right, the Persians were still at it.
When he was about age 13, his father hired
famed philosopher Aristotle to educate him,
where he learned to love knowledge,
philosophy, music, culture, and of course, logic.
Wouldn't be a Greek without logic.
- When Alexander was just 20 years old,
he seized the throne following his father's death,
and in just 10 years was king
to one of the most notable
and short-lived empires of all time, the Greek Empire.
- So how did he do it with an army
that consistently contained only about 40000 men?
This dude was like the Elon Musk of war.
He did things unheard of at the time!
He used the most modern forms of warfare,
mixed with ancient techniques
perfected over the course of Greek and Spartan culture.
- He created brilliant strategies to defeat his opponents,
gave his army light armor, and they did indeed
move as quickly as Alexander would
to strike and win a battle.
Alexander was unparalleled at improvising
when things changed.
- When the Persian king Darius III
was defeated and retreating,
Alexander the Great's army ran between
36 to 52 miles a day for 11 days straight.
Yeah, and then they'd fight.
Any modern men up for this?
Think about running 45 miles a day
for 11 days straight and fighting the entire time.
- But this wasn't all.
Have you ever read any quotes from Alexander the Great?
Alexander would bow to the gods
of whatever region he entered.
He would take time to befriend those he conquered,
and never killed for no reason.
- Okay, so check out some of these quotes
by Alexander the Great.
"True love never has a happy ending,
"because there is no ending to true love."
- [Ben] "There is nothing impossible to him who will try."
- [Rob] "With the right attitude,
"self-imposed limitations vanish."
- "Remember, upon the conduct of each
"depends the fate of all."
On his deathbed, he requested three things.
Number one, to have his physicians carry his coffin.
Number two, to scatter the path of his grave
with gold won on his conquest.
And number three, to have his hands
outside the coffin as he was carried.
- When asked why, he said, "I would like the world
"to know of three lessons I have learned.
"I want my physicians to carry my coffin
"because people should realize that no doctor
"can ever cure anybody.
"They are powerless and cannot save a person
"from the clutches of death,
"so let not people take life for granted."
- The second wish of strewing gold, silver,
and other riches on the way to the graveyard
was to tell people that "Not even a fraction of gold
"will come with me.
"I spent all my life earning riches,
"but cannot take anything with me.
"Let people realize that this is
"a sheer waste of time to chase wealth.
- [Rob] "And about my third wish of having my hands
"dangling out of the coffin.
"I wish people to know that I came
"empty handed into this world,
"and empty handed I go out of this world."
- Yeah, it's a pretty important lesson
for all of us, really.
- Geez, I mean, I had no idea when I was
researching this that Alexander the Great
would get this deep.
So, a side note actually here,
some interesting things that we found
is that the Roman army would run an average of
18 miles a day in full battle gear,
like heavy battle gear.
- And the African Zulu warriors would run
a whopping 50 miles a day on campaign.
- And we complain about every day.
- After a marathon, everyone's all tired and stuff.
- Well, even after the end of a day at work, you know?
It's like, ugh, I worked so hard!
It's like, yeah, you're not running
50 miles a day for every day.
- Right, exactly.
Okay, okay, I'm gonna stop right here
and just remind you guys to hit like and subscribe
if you already haven't.
We could really use your support.
- Definitely.
- [Man] Welcome to the Edge of Wonder.
- So, without further ado, the Bei Wei army
of the Song Dynasty.
It's almost guaranteed you've never read
anything about this army unless you know Chinese.
And oh man, these might be
the greatest warriors of all time.
And you can't talk about these warriors
without talking about their general, Yue Fei.
- Yue Fei was a general during the Song Dynasty
of the years 1122 to 1142 AD.
He grew up poor.
I mean, this is kinda like the greatest
Rocky story of all time, really.
While young and poor, he was trained by
the highly respected village expert bowman
and kung fu master, named Zhou Tong.
So, Yue spent most of his life mastering
the 18 weapons of war.
Yue Fei was reportedly able to shoot
nine of 10 arrows through a bullseye
at 240 yards away.
- You know how far away that is?
That's ridiculous.
So then, after training all day,
he'd read bedtime stories to himself
like Sun Tzu's The Art of War,
which, by the way, if you wanna feel like
a simpleminded human, read that.
- To encourage him, his mother asked him
to take off his shirt.
She then tattooed four Chinese characters on his back,
which read, "Serve the country with the utmost loyalty."
Soon after this, Yue Fei promptly went off to battle,
putting himself on the front lines
with a group called the Jurchen
that would later betray the Song leaders.
- So, seeing the betrayal, Yue Fei sprung into battle,
taking back lands and giving people
in the capital city of Kaifeng
a chance to escape.
- His wrath against the Jurchen
for betraying his country
drove him to train even harder,
to take back his lands and make things right.
He trained with the Shaolin monks,
and reportedly created things like
eagle claw-style martial arts,
developed xingyi boxing further.
- He quickly rose through the ranks,
never losing once in the 126 battles he fought,
and when anyone would question
his loyalty to the country or the emperor,
he'd just rip his shirt off and show them his tattoo
that his mom put on his back.
His mom tattooed him.
I just can't get over that.
- Okay, so imagine a general like this
putting all his energy into instructing his army.
- And this was the Bei Wei Army.
No one, and I mean no one could take down these dudes.
Let us introduce you to the Battle of Zhuxian,
where Yue Fei would have his ultimate vengeance
on the Jurchen Army for his beloved country.
- Yue Fei and his troops made their way to Kaifeng
and defeated 6000 Jurchen troops there.
13 miles away from Kaifeng was Jurchen County,
where the Jurchen kept the main number of their troops.
- And this is where the Battle of Zhuxian began.
Yue Fei led, get this, 500 of his elite fighters
to engage in a battle with the Jurchen troop of 100000 men.
That's an army force 200 times bigger than his own!
- And these were not like a hack army by any means.
I mean, Yue Fei brought down his war hammer upon them,
carrying the momentum from never having lost a battle!
The Jurchen troops were shaken with fear.
Their once solid confidence and courage was crushed
by a wrathful team of Bei Wei warriors
that sliced through them like butter!
Ah, and like most awesome war stories,
they get ruined by betrayal and deceit.
China at that time had an advisor to the emperor
jealous of Yue Fei, who basically,
Grima Wormtongued the emperor, and eventually
had Yue Fei killed on ridiculous charges
that were just simply made up.
- It was literally like the first season of
Game of Thrones in real life, but way worse.
But one major thing is that Yue Fei
stayed loyal to his emperor,
even up to the final moment of death.
Kinda brings a tear to my eye, Ben.
- To end this epic tale, we've collected a few quotes
from our famed general we would like to share.
" Benevolence, wisdom, trustworthiness,
"bravery, strictness, these are indispensable."
- So, his troops had a quote from him
that they said while they were stationed in conquered lands,
and that was, "Never dismantle the houses,
"even if you freeze to death.
"Do not loot or pillage, even if you die of hunger."
- [Ben] "If you completely give
everything you have to serving,
"anything can be accomplished for your country."
- "If scholar officials are not after money,
"and military officials no longer fear death,
"the peace would not be far from sight."
- Wait, wait, wait, don't forget to hit like and subscribe.
We definitely could use your support.
- Please!
Hussars.
Ever heard of the Hussars?
We hadn't, but wait until you see these dudes.
- These guys were as tough as nails
and patriotic towards fighting for their country.
These guys viewed a mismatched fight
as an awesome challenge,
rather than a threat to their lives.
Not only were their accomplishments
on the battlefield itself notable,
but their attire was outrageous.
- These dudes would fly into battle on horses
wearing the heaviest armor they could find,
glimmering in the sun with these
insane wings on their back
that would give off a blood-curdling whistle
as they raced towards you in formation
with 19 foot lances.
- [Ben] Yeah, it literally looked like a guard of
angel warriors on Pegasus
descending from the heavens above!
You just have to respect these guys.
That's crazy!
- So, their greatest achievement
was the Battle of Vienna,
where they went up against a force of 200000 Ottomans
with only about 3000 Hussars
and literally wiped the floor with them.
Now, there were other military forces at play here
other than the Hussars, but it was really
these 3000 that did the work.
Their national pride and ability
to maintain their culture through thick and thin
and with great faith is something worth noting,
and we've decided to show that
through the fighting spirit of the Hussars.
- No discussion about warriors could be right
without mentioning the Mongols.
A lot of what we know leads us to believe
that they were just this ruthless and heartless army,
and in many cases they were,
but what we found out actually told us
a very different story.
- So, Mongols were trained to ride horses by age three.
Their horses could cover 600 miles in nine days.
They had five to six horses per soldier,
and would cycle the horses,
giving the others rest while one was working,
which is how they took the world over.
- They figured out that heating arrows to glowing red
and plunging them in salted water
created armor-piercing arrows.
Mongols also wore silk shirts,
so if they got shot with an arrow,
the silk wouldn't really tear,
easing the arrow's removal from the body.
- So, they would plan their battle strategies out
with such great detail that they'd note
everything about their enemies.
As an example, the Mongols invaded Russia during winter,
and well, they won where Napoleon and Hitler
both failed miserably.
To make a long story short, it wasn't long before
the Mongol Empire was the largest continuous empire
that the world has ever seen.
Genghis never considered himself
to be a ruthless barbarian, either.
He would always spare villages and cities
after giving them once chance to submit.
We had to include some quotes from Genghis Khan here,
because they seem to give a glimpse into that time period.
- [Ben] "An action committed in anger
"is an action doomed to failure."
- [Rob] "I hate luxury, I exercise moderation.
"It will be easy to forget your vision and purpose
"once you have fine clothes, fast horses,
"and beautiful women.
"In which case, you'll be no better than a slave,
"and you will surely lose everything."
- "I am the punishment of god.
"If you had not committed great sins,
"god would not have sent a punishment like me upon you."
That's just a crazy quote.
I don't know about that.
- He had everything to back it up.
- I guess so!
- Okay, so the conclusion here,
I mean, after doing all of this research,
Ben and I were both astounded
at how incredibly capable these warriors were.
- That's for sure.
- I mean, there were stories about these guys,
what they would endure.
I mean, you know, people often cite
that they weren't taller because,
you know, they weren't six feet or over six feet.
These guys were like 5'5", 5'6", right?
But it's because they started training
at such a young age, and they were tempering their bodies,
and their bodies would have hardened muscles
and all kinds of things that would allow them to do things
like run 50 miles a day straight.
- We didn't even, I mean, there was only five of them
that we talked about,
and we didn't even get into
some of the really crazy stuff,
because it's, like, we just didn't wanna go there.
- That was just, I mean, we literally touched, like,
a slim layer of the things that we found.
We could have another whole video on just
some of these other facts that we found
and how crazy humans can train their bodies to be.
- To change the subject real quick,
you guys are probably wondering about our t-shirts.
- Yeah, so we have a new Zazzle marketplace
where you guys can go and you can download, or, download.
(laughing)
- Could download.
- Don't download any t-shirts!
Buy them!
So anyway, go to zazzle.com/edgeofwonder,
and you'll go straight to our marketplace,
where you can buy one of these beautiful t-shirts that--
- That Rob designed.
- I designed these, guys!
I hope you like it.
We used some Back to the Future--
- Inspiration.
- Yeah, inspiration there to design a pretty cool shirt.
- Also, guys, don't forget to hit like and subscribe.
We definitely could still use your support.
- Until next time, we'll see you guys out--
- On the edge.
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