History of the Ancient World: A Global Perspective
Season 1
202048 episodes
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Episodes
- S1 E1 - Cities, Civilizations, and SourcesMay 31, 202033minLearn about the different kind of approach you will take in these explorations of the ancient world and hear a story that perfectly illustrates the risks inherent in letting one's own cultural biases and limited perspective overly influence the interpretation of archaeological discoveries.This video is currently unavailable
- S1 E2 - From Out of the Mesopotamian MudMay 31, 202034minThis civilization reveals a theme that will appear again and again. Grasp the critical role of geography and resources in shaping not only Mesopotamia's method of subsistence, but also its religion, structures, empire, and means of leaving its written record.This video is currently unavailable
- S1 E3 - Cultures of the Ancient Near EastMay 31, 202030minThe lack of geographical barriers made it difficult for even the most powerful cities to retain their power. See how a succession of empires rose and fell, leaving behind legacies ranging from the use of intimidation in warfare to seafaring, astrology, mathematics, and a systematic legal code.This video is currently unavailable
- S1 E4 - Ancient Egypt - The Gift of the NileMay 31, 202030minYour introduction to Egypt reveals a civilization irrevocably shaped by geography. You learn how the Nile's predictable annual flooding of its banks, though creating a fertile strip amounting to only 3% of Egypt, permitted civilization to thrive in what was otherwise an uninhabitable desert.This video is currently unavailable
- S1 E5 - Pharaohs, Tombs, and GodsMay 31, 202029minDiscover how Egyptian views of death and tombs changed with the kingdom's occupation by - and eventual expulsion of - the Hyksos, including an examination of how the stark differences between the Egyptian and Mesopotamian environments may have influenced their visions of the afterlife.This video is currently unavailable
- S1 E6 - The Lost Civilization of the Indus ValleyMay 31, 202031minYour exploration of a once-lost civilization introduces a key theme - the enormous problems faced by modern historians and archaeologists in interpreting an ancient civilization through physical evidence alone, with no written documents to bring that evidence to life.This video is currently unavailable
- S1 E7 - The Vedic Age of Ancient IndiaMay 31, 202031minIn an ironic reversal of the Indus legacy, the next great era of Indian history is known through an enormous bounty of texts, but relatively little archaeological or material evidence. Grasp what the thousands of verses we have tell us about Vedic culture and religion.This video is currently unavailable
- S1 E8 - Mystery Cultures of Early GreeceMay 31, 202030minTurn to the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations of the Mediterranean. Learn about the historical underpinnings of the Minotaur myth, Plato's account of what might have been the basis for the legend of Atlantis, and the rediscovery of writing as Greece emerged from its own Dark Ages.This video is currently unavailable
- S1 E9 - Homer and Indian PoetryMay 31, 202031minDiscover how a work or body of literature can become the core of an entire culture in this examination of the influence of Homer on the Greeks and of the centrality of the Vedas and Epics in the civilizations of ancient India.This video is currently unavailable
- S1 E10 - Athens and Experiments in DemocracyMay 31, 202032minGreece's most famous city-state is often praised for its creation of democracy. You examine the origins of that system and discover some surprising revelations, including the seminal role played by an instance of spurned affection and perhaps the earliest example of stuffing a ballot box.This video is currently unavailable
- S1 E11 - Hoplite Warfare and SpartaMay 31, 202032minExperience what it was like to be raised a Spartan man or woman, the changes in military tactics and equipment that made their armies so feared, and the tragic flaw that guaranteed that this Greek city-state's power, no matter how widespread or intimidating, could not endure.This video is currently unavailable
- S1 E12 - Civilization Dawns in China - Shang and ZhouMay 31, 202030minWitness the early development of a unique culture that viewed itself as constituting the entirety of the world and thus the site of all cultural advancement, with the latter self-image largely maintained even after China gained an awareness of the world beyond its borders.This video is currently unavailable
- S1 E13 - Confucius and the Greek PhilosophersMay 31, 202032minFrom 700 to 500 B.C., thinkers around the world began to turn to fundamental philosophical questions. Focus on those whose concerns addressed this world and its pragmatic issues through rational inquiry, including Confucius, the Legalists, and the Greek philosophers known as the Ionian Rationalists.This video is currently unavailable
- S1 E14 - Mystics, Buddhists, and ZoroastriansMay 31, 202033minYour attention shifts to those thinkers who looked beyond the physical world for answers to their questions about the fundamental issues of existence. Examine the impact of several key texts and belief systems, including the Upanishads, Jainism, Buddhism, Daoism, and Zoroastrianism.This video is currently unavailable
- S1 E15 - Persians and GreeksMay 31, 202030minDiscover the reasons the Greek city-states were able to emerge intact from their conflict with a vastly superior Persian Empire. Learn, too, how the defensive alignment put in place to protect those states - begun as an alliance of equals - instead became an Athenian empire.This video is currently unavailable
- S1 E16 - Greek Art and ArchitectureMay 31, 202030minPause in your study of historical events to appreciate two of classical Greece's most important contributions to art and architecture. Learn the distinguishing characteristics of Greek sculpture and the principles that gave such extraordinary beauty to Greece's temples.This video is currently unavailable
- S1 E17 - Greek Tragedy and the SophistsMay 31, 202031minContinue your examination of Greece's cultural heritage with this look at Greek theater - especially its greatest playwrights of tragedy, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides - and the second wave of philosophers known as the Sophists, led first by Socrates and then by his disciple Plato.This video is currently unavailable
- S1 E18 - The Peloponnesian War and the Trial of SocratesMay 31, 202030minLearn how the end of Greek unity brought down the astonishing political and cultural successes of the early 5th century, culminating in one of the most shameful episodes in Greek history: the trial and execution of one of its greatest thinkers, Socrates.This video is currently unavailable
- S1 E19 - Philip of Macedon - Architect of EmpireMay 31, 202029minBegin an exploration of what has come to be known the Great Man Theory of History - that a single person could indeed alter the course of history - by reviewing the careers of five rulers who might well provide the best arguments for the theory.This video is currently unavailable
- S1 E20 - Alexander the Great Goes EastMay 31, 202030minWith the successful invasion of the western Persian Empire, Philip's son successfully carried out his father's plan. Alexander the Great would then create his own path, and you follow him along the route of the greatest sustained conquest the world had yet seen.This video is currently unavailable
- S1 E21 - Unifiers of India - Chandragupta and AsokaMay 31, 202030minAlexander's death in 323 B.C caused his vast empire to fragment. You meet the father and son who created the largest Indian empire that would be seen until the establishment of the modern Indian nation in 1947.This video is currently unavailable
- S1 E22 - Shi Huangdi - First Emperor of ChinaMay 31, 202033minDiscover how the father of the Chinese nation combined ruthlessness and vision to unify his country, create the largest empire that part of the world had known, and execute a clear and coherent philosophy that would be China's political model for almost a millennium.This video is currently unavailable
- S1 E23 - Earliest Historians of Greece and ChinaMay 31, 202031minConsider what it must have been like to be among the very first historians, not only practicing your art, but having to define it and its standards, as well. See how fundamental questions about writing history were answered by Herodotus, Thucydides, and Sima Qian.This video is currently unavailable
- S1 E24 - The Hellenistic WorldMay 31, 202031minAlthough the three centuries following Alexander were years of warfare, absolutism, and political stalemate, the Hellenistic era did leave a legacy of cultural richness and originality. See how achievements in philosophy, science, and art belied the suffering and mass enslavement of this time.This video is currently unavailable
- S1 E25 - The Great Empire of the Han DynastyApril 28, 201230minMuch of the world in 200 B.C. was entering nearly 600 years of instability - but something different was happening in China and Rome. Focus on the first of these two powers, each of which would shape a stable empire for the next four centuries.This video is currently unavailable
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