YMMV / Unbiased History

• Catharsis Factor:
  • Constantine annihilating the Praetorian Guard. After almost three centuries of them devolving into Chronic Backstabbing Disorder and killing several competent emperors it's satisfying to see him finally end it.
  • The execution of Phocas at the hands of Heraclius. After years of a tyrannical reign over the empire, Phocas is dismembered aboard a ship by the rightful emperor in revenge for every evil deed he did against the Roman people.
  Heraclius then chopped Phocas' cock and balls off for raping Photius' wife, his right arm for Comentiolus, his left arm for Constantina and her children, his right leg for Germanus, his left leg for Narses, and then his head for the rightful emperor Maurice and the Roman people.
  • The First Defenestration of Prague. After Jan Hus was burned at the stake by the corrupt Catholic Church and the Unholy German Confederate, the Hussites, a group of Christians sympathetic to Hus' teachings, rose up and rebelled against the king of Bohemia. Jan Želivský, leader of the Hussites, had the group storm the city hall and defeat the mayor's forces, culminating with the mayor and some of his men to be fatally defenestrated (Thrown out the window.).
• Crosses the Line Twice: Given that it's the perspective of a /his/torian, there are bound to be jokes that get seen that way. For starters, there are musical montages that correspond to the Third Punic War and the Reconquest of North Africa (both to the Can-Can), Julius Caesar's campaign in Gaul (to the 1812 Overture), Hadrian's brutal suppression of the Bar Kokhba Revolt (to the techno mix of Hava Nagila), Diocletian's persecution of Christians (to the Russian Dance from The Nutcracker Suite), Constantine's abolition of the Praetorian Guard (to an epic remix of Hallelujah), and Belisarius' conquest of Italy (to a remix of Ode to Joy). All of them aside from the Third Punic War and the Great Persecution have Roman soldiers and/or the ghosts of dead Emperors victoriously dabbing.
• Genius Bonus:
  • As to be expected from the series, much of the humor comes from getting things in history backwards, like the rape by the Sabine women (rather than rape of).
  • In "Imperial Wrath", Gothic cavalry at the Battle of Adrianople is revealed in a flash of lightning. This is probably a reference to how sources say it "descended like a thunderbolt".
  • In the Israel spin-off episode, there are weird drawings when he talks about "spiritual reconnection". Those drawings are actually ancient engravings found at an archaeological dig at Kuntillet Ajrud, Egypt. The drawing is actually the engraving found at the site depicting YHWH - making it perhaps the oldest depiction of the Biblical God.
• It's Popular, Now It Sucks!: Many on Dovah's home board of /his/ feel the series went downhill as it started getting popular by pandering to wider audiences and relying on old jokes. That being said, this is 4chan we're talking about; "It's Popular, Now It Sucks!" might as well be the site tagline.
• Moral Event Horizon: Above all else, the Praetorian Guard assassinating Aurelian after he saved the empire from its Darkest Hour up to that point is portrayed as the worst thing the organization has ever done.
• Misaimed Fandom: The series enjoyed brief popularity among antisemites and white nationalists, most notably for the Hadrian "IVDEA DELENDA EST" montage - despite the obviously parodic nature of the whole series. It's meant to depict an exaggerated version of the ancient Roman mindset (hence why Dovah flips from describing Christianity as a subversive force to spiritual truth within the span of one episode). Not only that, but the earlier episodes contain outright insults towards /pol/ and antisemites more generally, which makes it weird that it got popular on /pol/ for a while.
  • This would be capped off by him making an episode dedicated to Israel, portraying the Israelis as the only civilized culture in the entire Middle East.
• Nightmare Fuel: The Sassanids, being portrayed as demonic beings, have led to a rather brutal portrayal of Valerian's death in captivity. In here, he was flayed, in chains and suspended from one of the buildings.
• Tear Jerker: Despite being a tongue-in-cheek satirical documentary, the web series does have its moments of genuine melancholy.
  • The death of Aurelian is one of the signature moments as the emperor managed to restore the Roman Empire during the Third Century Crisis yet reigned for five years due to assassination by malicious Praetorian Guards.
  • The fate of Diocletian in Constantine's episode was shown to be tragic as he committed suicide after seeing the demise of the Tetrarchy and the capture of his wife and daughter. Considering the fact that all of them are close colleagues, especially Maximian's return from retirement to rule with Maximian.
  • Crispus' demise was portrayed as this as he was falsely accused of raping Fausta, who wanted to have her sons be the heirs instead of him, much to Constantine's sadness over having to execute his favorite son.
  • Stilicho's execution was portrayed as this as a half-Vandal half-Roman who defended the Empire for most of his life being labeled as enemy of the state by Honorius who was influenced by corrupt Olympius.
  • The End of Rome as a whole, for despite Aetius and Majorian's best and hardest efforts to reverse it's decline, they are forced to watch as the empire collapses among the endless barbarian invasions, the treachery and the petty squabbles of the senate, with them dying branded as enemies of Rome.
  • Theodora's death from cancer, which utterly broke Justinian.

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