All language subtitles for Ancient.Impossible.S01E04.Warrior.Tech.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-playWEB_track4_[eng]

NARRATOR: How did
the Chinese build

a devastating automatic weapon
2,000 years before machine

guns.

Firepower matters.

NARRATOR: What are the secrets
behind the ancient world's

high tech body armor
made thousands of years

before bulletproof vests?

This was space age stuff.

This was how you
wanted to go to war.

NARRATOR: And why is this
simple invention the godfather

of the world's most
ruthless weapons?

Land mines.

Monuments more
colossal than our own.

Ancient superweapons
as mighty as today's.

Technology so precise,
it defies reinvention.

The ancient world
was not primitive.

Their marbles are so advanced,
we still use them now.

Travel to a world
closer than we imagine.

An ancient age where
nothing was impossible.

Over 2,000 years ago, the
Chinese created a weapon so

devastating, it turned
untrained troops

into ancient machine guns.

Is it possible that they
developed the first rapid fire

weapon in history?

To fully understand the
power of this ancient weapon,

you must start by examining
one of today's most devastating

firearms.

The AK-47.

Like its predecessor,
this gun is easy to use,

easy to produce, and can quickly
turn raw recruits into killing

machines.

Automatic weapons are crucial
to the success of any army

or navy because the more
rounds you can put down target

onto the battlefield in
a minimum amount of time,

the more effective you are.

NARRATOR: What was this
amazing superweapon?

There's a clue in
China at the greatest

archeological
discovery of our time.

The mausoleum of China's
first emperor, Qin Shi Huang.

The Terracotta
Army is a clay army

that was buried in the mausoleum
for the first Qin emperor

to guard him in the afterlife.

And it is astonishing.

Every face of every man in
that thousands of men army

is different, is individual.

And every man was
armed with state

of the art weapons of the day.

NARRATOR: But over
the centuries,

their weapons have rotted away.

Their hands are empty.

Could they once have held the
world's first repeating weapon?

And could this warrior tech
have created a killing zone

that seems impossible on
an ancient battlefield?

An essential element of all
land warfare is firepower.

Whether it's the big, long
range guns on today's tanks

or whether it's the
AK-47, firepower matters.

And 2,300 years ago in
China, it mattered there too.

And they invented this.

The Chinese repeating crossbow.

The Chu Ko Nu.

NARRATOR: The genius
of this amazing weapon

is its simplicity.

There are just four major parts.

Wooden stock, bamboo bow,
wooden magazine, and the lever.

This magazine holds
eight crossbow bolts

to complete such an
astonishing weapon.

As you push this
lever forward,

the string catches in a notch.

As you push the lever up, it
reveals this little pin here.

And that is the whole deal,
that little peg there.

You pull the lever back,
you're pulling the string back.

The magazine comes
down onto the stock.

It's that peg that pushes
the string out of the notch.

And the whole cycling
starts over again.

It's a constantly cycling,
repeating, wonderful, efficient

weapon.

NARRATOR: This revolution
made technology, not training,

the dominant force
on the battlefield.

Such an impossibly
sophisticated weapon

turned peasants into
soldiers almost overnight,

much like the AK-47 does now.

It gives the rate of
fire that a trained archer

you can put out, but
without all the hardship

of learning to do it.

NARRATOR: Archers were
professional soldiers who had

to be trained from childhood.

The best could shoot
about 10 arrows a minute.

But could raw troops
be as effective

as this on the battlefield?

Looking at a Chinese regiment
of 1,000 soldiers shooting

six bolts in a minute,
you got 6,000 arrows

flying towards the enemy.

NARRATOR: This incredible
weapon turned close formations

of elite enemy troops
into crossbow fire.

It's impossible to believe,
but the ancient Chinese

had a lever action firearm
that predates anything

in our modern world.

But there is a curious
connection between this weapon

and one of the most iconic
weapons of the American West.

A connection that could help
us understand how advanced

this ancient weapon truly was.

There's an obvious parallel
between the lever action

of the Chinese
repeating crossbow

and the lever action of the
Winchester 73 repeating rifle.

I wonder which
repeats more quickly.

NARRATOR: Is it possible to
compare these two weapons?

We are going to
try by pitting them

against each other in a
shoot-off, Texas style,

to find the top gun.

Kirsten Weiss is an
American national champion

and performance shooter.

I love the Winchester.

It's one of my favorite guns.

They're such fun, aren't they?

Yeah.

Isn't it the best?

That lever action.

You dare take on old technology?

With new?

Yes.

I dare.

Let's do it.

Let's do it.

NARRATOR: Can this weapon
from 2,300 years ago

really match the rate of
fire of a Winchester 73?

They've got five shots each.

Which will have the
quickest rate of fire?

OK.

So this is just on speed.

OK.

And I've got the older weapon,
so I get to give the countdown.

Three, two, one.

Done.

I don't believe it.

You've got to hand
it to the Chinese.

Absolutely.

Isn't that extraordinarily?

Fantastic.

NARRATOR: This game changing
ancient repeating crossbow

has matched one of the greatest
repeating rifles of all time.

An incredible feat.

They have got some big which
in its repeating function.

It's at least a match.

Yes.

I mean you would think such a
thing impossible, wouldn't you?

Yes.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mike.

Good job.

Good job.

NARRATOR: The Chinese
repeating crossbow

would have been
an awesome weapon

in the hands of
conscripted peasants

or tough professional soldiers.

But despite this firepower,
the Chinese troops

did have one serious limitation.

The heavy body armor worn by
the warriors of the Emperor Chen

would have affected their
mobility and stamina.

The Chinese warriors
would have struggled

in their heavy metal armor.

But would you believe
in ancient Greece,

they actually already had
lightweight armor that predates

Kevlar by over 2,000 years?

The Chinese developed a
devastating repeating weapon

that predated the machine
gun by over 2,000 years.

But while they
have the firepower,

they were hampered by
their heavy metal armor.

About the same time, a
revolution in body protection

was taking place half
a world away in Greece.

An armor so impossibly
light and strong,

you'd think it came from today.

To understand how effective
this ancient armor was,

we need to look at today's tech.

Modern day body armor didn't
come about until World War I,

but it was metal and heavy
in order to be bulletproof.

Then in the late 1960s,
Kevlar was invented.

NARRATOR: DuPont Kevlar is a
super tough synthetic material

layered to make
lightweight body armor.

It spreads and reduces the
force of an incoming projectile.

And the tough Kevlar fibers
are extremely hard to break.

This is a 20th century
technology, right?

Wrong.

This is linothorax
or Greek Kevlar.

This is Alexander the
Great's battle gear of choice

when he began his conquest
in the 4th century BC.

NARRATOR: Alexander the Great
lead Macedonian warriors

in their conquest of Greece,
the Persian Empire, Afghanistan,

and even reached
as far as India.

He was feared throughout
the ancient world

and believed to be invincible.

But he had a secret weapon.

We know from ancient sources
that he wore breastplate,

a folded linen.

12 layers all woven
together and then glued

to form this lightweight armor.

NARRATOR: Linen is a super
tough natural material.

It can be layered to make
lightweight body armor.

In many ways, it acts
just like DuPont Kevlar,

by spreading and reducing
the force of projectiles.

The Kevlar fibers of the
material are extremely strong.

But could this simple
cloth be constructed

to withstand extreme impact.

The evidence
for the linothorax

is principally artistic.

We see it regularly on
Greek vases and pottery.

And we get written
accounts explaining

that it was made of cloth.

However, the breakthrough
is with Alexander's father,

Phillip.

Phillip in his tomb has a thorax
in exactly the same style.

And from that, we
can work out the form

and extrapolate this
reconstruction based on all

the archeological sources.

NARRATOR: Reconstruction
expert Rory Brophy

is recreating this ultimate
body armor from modern linen.

I'm making linothorax armor.

It's a type of armor preferred
by the ancient Greeks.

It's made from linen and glue.

It was used by Alexander the
Great when he conquered most

of the known world.

A very simple material
to make in principle.

It's just layers of linen
with glue in between it,

pressed really,
really well together.

Linen is a remarkable material.

It's incredibly strong.

Probably the strongest
natural fiber you can get.

NARRATOR: It seems impossible
that fabric armor could protect

a soldier in battle.

Modern day DuPont Kevlar
will stop a bullet.

But will Rory's Greek Kevlar
withstand one of the deadliest

weapons of the ancient world?

Today, Hunter Ellis is
armed with a mighty long bow

to test this linen wonder armor.

This Willow leaf arrowhead will
be shot at 120 miles per hour,

about the same impact
Alexander's armies would have

faced.

It's make or break
time for Greek Kevlar.

Can an arrow really
be defeated by fabric?

Dead center gut shot.

But the big question is
right now, did it penetrate?

We could find out.

You can see it sticking out
of the armor right here.

But would it have mortally
wounded this warrior?

You know what?

It's only sticking out about
a half inch on the inside.

So this Greek Kevlar did
what it's supposed to do.

It absorbed the
impact of this arrow.

This warrior would have
lived to fight another day.

NARRATOR: This incredible
ancient body armor

could have made the difference
between living and dying

on the battlefield.

Alexander the Great
learned this firsthand

when the armor was put to the
test at the siege of Gaza.

In the heat of
battle at one point,

soaring out from the enemy
lines came a ballista bolt.

It hit his shield.

It went through the shield,
penetrated the shield,

and into his armor,
his linothorax.

Luckily, this armor
is so good, he managed

to take most of the
force from the bolt.

And it only lightly wounded him.

NARRATOR: The ancient armor
turned a killing wound

into a flesh wound.

For the ordinary foot soldier,
this was space age stuff.

This was how you
wanted to go to war.

They were wearing the
Kevlar of their period.

NARRATOR: Whether it is the
ancient or the modern world,

the military has always sought
to develop ways to protect

a soldier's entire
body from head to toe.

Just think of some of the
innovations we have today.

US special forces are developing
lightweight protective body

armor.

Full body armor for
their operators.

But did you know the Romans
had it nearly 2,000 years ago?

Today's armies don't realize
that many of the advances they

are working on were
actually first developed

in the ancient world.

An example is this demonstration
of a highly sophisticated

full body armor called
TALOS, now under development

for US forces.

The history books
lead us to believe

that the first true
armored warriors were

the medieval knights of Europe.

But new evidence shows
that in Europe, the Romans

were using fully armored
knights much earlier.

Hunter Ellis is getting
suited up, medieval style.

Right now, I'm dressed in a
15th century harness of arms.

When most people
picture full body armor,

they think of medieval knights.

But in fact, warriors had
this type of protection

about 1,000 years earlier.

NARRATOR: But proving
that Roman warriors

had full body armor will take
some serious detective work.

Often, Rome's greatest
military advances

were born out of their
military defeats.

In one terrible battle at
Carrhae in modern Turkey,

the Roman army was
changed forever.

In 53 BC, the Romans had a
classic infantry army going out

into the desert to
face the Parthians.

The Parthians, however,
were cavalry heavy.

And they had cataphracts.

NARRATOR: This was the
Parthians' secret weapon.

Their heavy cavalry, known
as cataphracts, were armored.

The Romans were
utterly mauled.

More than 20,000 dead.

The Romans would never want
to take defeat lightly.

They went away.

They learned their lessons.

When they came back, they
had their own cataphracts.

And this time, the
Romans were victorious.

NARRATOR: The Romans took this
technology to the next level,

creating the first
European knights.

But what did they look like?

There's graffiti drawn
by a bored Roman soldier

in a frontier post on the border
of what's now modern day Syria.

And this gives us an idea of
what these warriors might have

looked like.

NARRATOR: This ancient graffiti
could be an incredible eye

witness account.

Is this proof that the knights
of Rome really did exist?

Well, there are actual
accounts from the 4th century

from Roman soldiers who
served on the battlefield.

These aren't the
armchair generals.

And they talked about
warriors dressed head to toe

in full body armor,
glistening on the battlefield

like silver statues.

How would you like
to run into that?

NARRATOR: One ancient
historian has found

a clue in Oxford, England.

Dr. Adrian Goldsworthy is one
of the world's leading experts

on the Roman armed forces.

Hidden away in the dusty
archives of the Bodleian

Library, Adrian has unearthed
evidence that could rewrite how

we view the Roman army.

The book I put
in front of me here

is something quite remarkable.

It's a book written
in the 4th century AD.

So who've got a
picture of something

that you might not expect to see
as a soldier of the Roman army?

A man fully armored on
a fully armored horse.

NARRATOR: Incredibly,
horse armor

like this was found
in a destroyed Roman

fort in the 1930s.

Made of metal scales, it's
identical to the illustration

in the book.

And there's another clue
from an ancient text.

One of the things listed are
the titles of all the officers

in command of all the army
units of the Roman army.

Among these units,
there are quite a few

that are listed as cataphracts.

NARRATOR: And there's still more
evidence that the Romans were

using knights.

Because if we go
on and look here

at an illustration of the
fabricae, the workshops,

the factories that supplied
the equipment for the army

and look in detail,
we can actually

see depictions of
the heavy armor

that these sorts of
soldiers would wear.

You've got the main cuirass.

Heavy, strong
protective body armor.

NARRATOR: These lines
drawn on the illustration

give another clue.

The main body
armor is chainmail,

an armor made of iron rings.

Mail, which was the
mainstay of the Roman army

for centuries, came from
the Celts in the West.

But it produces an armor
which is effective, especially

in hand-to-hand combat
against swords and spears.

Here, if you look
at the illustrations,

you can actually see what
we've been talking about all

the time.

Because in this corner, you've
got extra defenses for the arms

and extra defenses
for the limbs.

They have plate defenses,
like this reconstruction

of first century Manica.

It's made with iron plates,
which are articulated together

to make it flexible.

NARRATOR: We have
found one last clue.

Now also, it gives us
the insignia on shields.

You can see these
brightly painted devices,

which would have identified
each unit in battle.

And it is more
than a coincidence

that none of the
units of cataphracts

are given a shield design in
this great catalog, the shields

of the Roman army.

NARRATOR: Like medieval
knights, this armor

was so impossibly powerful, the
soldiers didn't use shields.

It was a combination of all
these different styles of armor

for different purposes.

The scale, the mail,
the articulated plates,

that come together to produce
this ancient super troop.

NARRATOR: We can now reveal
the Roman cataphract,

the first European knight,
over 1,000 years earlier

than we ever imagined.

These guys, encased
in heavy armor

from head to foot for
themselves and their horses,

charging with lances, were
the ancient super weapon.

NARRATOR: The one
remaining mystery

is the warrior's helmet, which
protected the face and head.

But amazingly, a clue
for its appearance

could come from Rome's
deadliest enemies.

The Roman cataphracts would
soon face their greatest enemy.

Sword-wielding
warriors that seem

to come from the
Game of Thrones,

but they're as real as
I am and a hundred times

more terrifying.

We've rewritten history to
prove that the Romans had

fully armored knights
over 1,000 years

before the age of chivalry.

If it weren't for the evidence,
the existence of such troops

would seem impossible
to believe.

But one mystery remains.

Is it really possible that
the Romans had a helmet that

covered the full head and
face like a medieval knight?

The ancient writers tell
us that the head and face are

covered by a metal mask, and
that the wearer would look

like a glittering statue.

Now, these helmets obviously
existed, but none survive.

They cover the entire head,
similar to the late Roman

cavalry helmet.

NARRATOR: No helmet like
this has ever been found.

But there might be a lead
from Rome's deadliest enemies.

In the 4th century AD,
the wealthy Roman province

of Britain faced
a terrible threat.

Barbarian German
tribesman called Saxons.

Who lived for
fighting and plunder.

The Saxons were coming
from the sea and raid

a rich and fertile Britannia.

The coastline was so
inundated with Saxon raids,

they even named their force
and garrisons, the Saxon shore.

NARRATOR: The Romans
built 10 massive forts

to protect Brittania.

But how could they know where
the Saxons would strike next?

The Romans don't know where
they're going to strike.

So they need a flexible, mobile
reserve to deal with them.

And the best way to
do that is cavalry.

The Romans learnt from their
experiences in the Middle East

that the best form of cavalry
against bodies of infantry,

the Saxons were infantry, was
heavy armored, disciplined,

close formation, shock cavalry.

Their answer to Saxon
rights was the cataphract.

Imagine being a Saxon,
and sailing across the sea,

landing on the
beach, and then being

greeted by an armored cavalry
of cataphracts, and iron plate,

and chainmail.

Even for the mighty Saxons, this
would make them think twice.

NARRATOR: To level the playing
field, the Saxons imitated

the Roman armor,
including their helmet.

At Sutton Hoo in
Eastern England,

evidence has been found of what
a Roman cataphract helmet might

have looked like.

Under this mound, a
mighty warrior was buried.

In the richest Saxon
grave ever found,

King Raedwald was laid
to rest here with his war

gear and magnificent helmet.

This reconstruction shows
the sophistication of an era

some called the Dark Ages.

This is Britain's Tutankhamun.

So a find like Sutton
Hoo basically gives us

a window into a secret world.

This warrior king was buried
in his full battle gear.

He had a chainmail
shirt, he had a shield,

and he had an incredible
sword and helmet.

NARRATOR: Is the Sutton
Hoo helmet the missing link

that shows us what the
Roman cataphracts wore?

When you see all three
helmets together,

the similarities are incredible.

You can imagine how the Roman
cataphracts would have made

a lasting impression
on the raiding Saxons.

Here we have the
Sutton Hoo helmet.

Now no cataract
helmets exist, but this

is a Roman cavalry
ceremonial helmet

from about 500 years earlier.

Look at the similarities
in design and protection

of the face plates
and neck plates

in the back, which would
protect from the rear blow.

And then look at this full
frontal face coverage.

But what's unique about the son
who helmet is this ridge right

down the crest.

It's believed that the
Roman cataphract helmet had

the same feature.

NARRATOR: With a helmet that
matches ancient descriptions,

we've recreated a Roman
cataphract for the first time

ever.

Roman warrior tech created full
body armor over 1,000 years

before medieval knights.

But even the knights of Rome
could not prevent the empire's

decline and fall.

The Roman army was eventually
pulled out of Britain

to defend Rome.

Britannia was invaded and
settled by the Saxons.

The Saxons were also
accompanied by the Angles.

So we have a confederation
of German tribes.

From the Angles, so we get
the term, England, Angle Land.

And of course, we therefore
have Anglo-Saxons.

NARRATOR: But the
Saxons weren't done yet.

Over 2,000 years ago, the Roman
army used fully armored knights

on the battlefield.

Rome's enemies, the
Saxons, didn't just

copy Roman equipment.

They created their own
Ultimate Warrior superweapon

The Saxons were true warriors.

Most had small swords or seax,
much like this one right here.

It's basically a big knife.

But others had the
long seax like this.

This is the replica of
the Sutton Hoo sword.

This is what a
Ferrari or Lamborghini

would cost in the Saxon world.

This right here is the
ultimate status symbol.

Weapons are the mark of
an Anglo-Saxon warrior.

And his most important
weapon is the sword.

Swords were even consider
magical, like Excalibur

to King Arthur.

They were named names
like Widow's Wail.

The cry of a wife as
a husband is slain.

Legbiter, a sword that can
cut underneath the opponent's

shield and take out his ankle.

Or even Needle, to pierce
through to the heart.

NARRATOR: These
lethal swords were

made to impossibly
high specifications

worthy of 21st
century technology.

Under this mound, the greatest
Saxon sword in history

was discovered.

In the grave of King Raedwald
at Sutton Hoo in England.

The sword and treasure are
now held in the British Museum

in London.

The reconstruction next to
the remains of the original

shows the might and
power it once had.

Now, a sword like
this would generally

be buried with its owner.

But it's still incredibly rare
to find them in the ground.

And absolutely unique to have
an example as superb as this.

This is a sword where no
expense has been spared.

The handle is made of gold.

And on the pummel,
there's gold filigree,

and garnets have been inlaid.

So this is a symbol of
your power, of your status,

and it's no coincidence
that these have been used

because they were thought to
have almost magical powers

and to be able to ward off the
evil of lightning and thunder.

NARRATOR: But this sword
was not just for show.

Its construction reveals
impossibly sophisticated

techniques that made it
the ultimate war blade.

There's a story
behind these patterns.

They're not just for decoration.

The patterns show us the extent
of the highly sophisticated

technology that was used
to create this absolutely

incredible ancient weapon.

NARRATOR: The Saxon super sword
was the first effective use

of composite metal in the world.

But how did they do it?

This incredible technique
of pattern welding

is still used in
modern knife blades.

And by swordsmith Stuart
Makin to recreate the tip

of the Sutton Hoo sword.

So what I've got
here is a billet

of different types of steel.

The four darker layers of mild
steel, which is a soft metal.

The three other layers
are high carbon steel.

And what we're going to do
is use the fire to melt these

together and make one
piece, which combines

the hardness of the carbon steel
the softness of the mild steel.

NARRATOR: This incredible
ancient technology

mixes hard steel for cutting
with soft steel for strength.

A sword made only of
soft metal will bend.

A sword made solely of
hard metal will shatter.

This deadly weapon had
a supernatural strength

that made it supposedly
unbreakable in combat.

These are exquisite
works of art.

They're extraordinary
pieces of technology.

But also, this is
the weapon that

is going to save your life.

NARRATOR: The hard
and soft steel

are combined into billets.

The billets are
hammered into bars

to start creating the pattern.

By twisting those
metals together,

when we do the final stage,
you'll see that twist

in the surface of material.

NARRATOR: Once four
twisted billets are made,

they are then joined make
the body of the sword.

And I'm actually forging the
blade tip of the sword here.

NARRATOR: But that's not the
end to the impossibly high

sophistication of
this ultimate weapon.

I've got a couple of
pieces of high carbon steel.

Now on their own, they'll be
to brittle to make a sword.

However, we're going to weld
these either side of the core

to make the cutting edge.

So when the sword is
ground and polished,

it maintains its razor edge.

NARRATOR: All that
needs to be done now

is to use acid to reveal
the pattern that shows

the mix of soft
and hard steel that

gives the blade its impossible
strength and cutting power.

All of the processes
combined to produce

this entire beautiful, yet
functional stunning piece

of work is absolutely
phenomenal.

What's almost
impossible to imagine

is that smiths over
1,000 years ago

were able to produce an
object of such beauty

and with such
sophisticated technology.

We've seen highly
sophisticated ancient battle

equipment that's thousands
of years ahead of its time.

But it was one incredibly simple
invention by the ancient Greeks

and the Romans that
sets the stage for some

of the most terrifying
and ruthless weapons

of modern warfare.

Look at modern warfare, and
you see incredible parallels

with the ancient world.

It seems impossible, but one
tiny invention going back

over 3,000 years is
the godfather of some

of today's cruelest weapons.

We're in the moat
at Southsea castle.

Moats are familiar
to most people.

A trench or a ditch
around the castle or fort,

usually dry, sometimes
containing water.

It denies the
ground to the enemy.

That's harder in an
open battlefield.

You need a way to stop the enemy
coming forward against you.

And that's where these come in.

These are called caltrops.

NARRATOR: Named after the Latin
word, calcitrappa or foot trap,

caltrops are incredibly
simple and effective.

Tread on one of these,
and it's game over.

A caltrop.

It's a four-pronged barb design
that no matter how you throw

it, three prongs
are on the ground,

and one prong stick
straight up into the air.

This is an area denial weapon.

It's easy to make,
it's simple to deploy.

And it can be carried anywhere.

As the enemy comes
forward, strikes these,

starts to take casualties.

They stop.

NARRATOR: This
impossibly simple idea

is as effective as modern
area denial weapons.

But what seems even
more impossible

is that it revolutionize
defensive warfare.

These are easy to make.

To an ancient,
all he needs to do

is take two pieces of barstop.

Shape it.

Weld it together.

Bend it.

And it's also the
work of just moments.

A few minutes work to make one.

In many ways, these should
be seen as the ancestors

of modern area denial weapons.

Whether you're looking
at razor wire and barbed

wire or more modern weapons,
such as mines, cluster bombs,

and scatter bomblets.

But these, these
were 3,000 years ago.

Nasty little suckers.

NARRATOR: Over time, swords,
crossbows, and metal armor

have disappeared
from our arsenals.

But caltrops have
hardly changed.

Believe it or not, US
forces in Afghanistan

are still using versions
of the caltrop to this day.

NARRATOR: These
tiny wonder weapons

were the ultimate warrior tech.

With caltrops on hard
ground, ancient soldiers

could gain an edge
against any threat, even

the most intimidating
of all, the elephant.

Whether it's Hannibal and the
Carthaginians, the Persians,

or even the Indians, elephants
were a terror weapon.

They were a huge beasts
covered in armor that

can sweep through your lines.

Caltrops are the perfect answer.

Elephants are intelligent.

They're very thick skinned.

But underfoot, they're
very sensitive.

Now, imagine a bed of
these being thrown down

as a wave of attacking
elephants coming towards you.

Wounded elephants will flee
naturally the quickest route

possible.

Which is normally
directly behind them,

through the troops, which
causes utter carnage

amongst the ranks.

Elephants are definitely
a double-edged weapon.

NARRATOR: Cunning use of this
ingenious yet simple weapon

did more than just
stop the enemy.

But what most enemies do
is they try and circumvent

the obstacle.

That's why clever placement
means the enemy will be driven

to where you want them.

Driven into choke points
that you can then smash.

You can deliver your
heavy cavalry, your best,

elite troops, and eliminate
the enemy totally.

Simple little device,
but one that's

fundamental to an
entire tactical plan

on the battlefield.

This is all the hallmarks
of modern warfare,

but they were doing
this 3,000 years ago.

Yeah.

Cracky biscuit.

NARRATOR: Warriors
of the ancient world

had highly sophisticated
weapons thousands

of years ahead of their time.

From the first automatic
weapons to full body armor

and the first area
denial weapons.

Proving that the ancients were
able to achieve the impossible.

Creating warrior tech we
can still see and use today.