Uploaded July 2019 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
This is an extract from Julius Caesar's 'Commentaries on the Gallic Wars', first published between 58 and 49 BC.
In 60 BC Rome was not yet an empire, but soon it would be. The momentous events of the next decades, many of which were put into motion by the famed politician Julius Caesar, were some of the most important and formative of the Western World. We tell this story directly from the words of Caesar himself. Starting with his masterpiece ‘Commentaries on the Gallic Wars’ - first published over two thousand years ago yet still widely read all over the world today.
How do we actually know about history? Voices of the Past is a channel dedicated to recreating the original accounts from the people who lived through events, or who lived far closer to them than we do today. We do this word for word, with an accompanying soundtrack of rousing music and images.
— Thanks for watching! Don’t forget to subscribe for new videos every single week! & Let us know in the comments what you’d like to see covered in the future.
— Don’t forget to subscribe to our other channel History Time, where we make full length historical documentaries:-
youtube.com/historytime.
—Join our community on social media:-
Twitter:-
twitter.com/HistoryTimeUK
Facebook:-
facebook.com/HistoryTimeOfficial
Instagram:-
instagram.com/historytime_ig
— Music courtesy of:-
- Epidemic Sound
— Voice actor & editor:-
David Kelly
Are you a budding artist, writer, illustrator, cartographer, or music producer? Send us an email! No matter how professional you are or even if you’re just starting out, we can always use new music and images in my videos. Get in touch! I’d love to hear from you.
We try to use copyright free images at all times. However if we have used any of your artwork or maps then please don't hesitate to contact me and we’ll be more than happy to give the appropriate credit.
This is an extract from Julius Caesar's 'Commentaries on the Gallic Wars', first published between 58 and 49 BC.
In 60 BC Rome was not yet an empire, but soon it would be. The momentous events of the next decades, many of which were put into motion by the famed politician Julius Caesar, were some of the most important and formative of the Western World. We tell this story directly from the words of Caesar himself. Starting with his masterpiece ‘Commentaries on the Gallic Wars’ - first published over two thousand years ago yet still widely read all over the world today.
How do we actually know about history? Voices of the Past is a channel dedicated to recreating the original accounts from the people who lived through events, or who lived far closer to them than we do today. We do this word for word, with an accompanying soundtrack of rousing music and images.
— Thanks for watching! Don’t forget to subscribe for new videos every single week! & Let us know in the comments what you’d like to see covered in the future.
— Don’t forget to subscribe to our other channel History Time, where we make full length historical documentaries:-
youtube.com/historytime.
—Join our community on social media:-
Twitter:-
twitter.com/HistoryTimeUK
Facebook:-
facebook.com/HistoryTimeOfficial
Instagram:-
instagram.com/historytime_ig
— Music courtesy of:-
- Epidemic Sound
— Voice actor & editor:-
David Kelly
Are you a budding artist, writer, illustrator, cartographer, or music producer? Send us an email! No matter how professional you are or even if you’re just starting out, we can always use new music and images in my videos. Get in touch! I’d love to hear from you.
We try to use copyright free images at all times. However if we have used any of your artwork or maps then please don't hesitate to contact me and we’ll be more than happy to give the appropriate credit.







![Earliest Foreign Account of China? // 9th cent. Accounts of China and India // Primary Source
This account gives us our first truly foreign perspective of life inside the Middle Kingdom - a place where the dead are fed until the living are bankrupt, and healthcare and education are subsidized by the state. Written in 851 and added to 50 years later by renowned Arab sailor Abu Zayd al-Sirafi.
Enormous thanks to translator Tim Mackintosh-Smith and the Library of Arabic Literature for the use of this translation. https://nyupress.org/9781479830596/accounts-of-china-and-india/
If this channel is something you like, if you think saving primary sources is important, head over to the patreon and join up!
patreon.com/voicesofthepast
— Don’t forget to subscribe to my brothers channel History Time, where he makes full length historical documentaries:-
https://www.youtube.com/historytime
— Music courtesy of:-
- Epidemic Sound
— Voice actor & editor:-
David Kelly
We try to use copyright free images at all times. However if we have used any of your artwork or maps then please dont hesitate to contact me and we’ll be more than happy to give the appropriate credit.
Thanks to:
SeasonsinthesunScott
Semans World Coins (CoinCoin.com)
Gary Todd
Zhang zhicheng [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]
Discott [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]
Dennis Jarvis Earliest Foreign Account of China? // 9th cent. Accounts of China and India // Primary Source](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jvZ_tWbEVWk/mqdefault.jpg)


