Classics: Video & Audio

Thousands of years before Picasso or Gauguin put brush to canvas, artists all over the world were creating works of stunning opulence, realism, and drama--always with a clear purpose. Ancient art history expert Diana Krumholz McDonald whisks you around the globe in search of the greatest art ever created and to deliver insight into the fascinating cultures that produced them.

The true story of Rome told through six crucial moments that shaped the destiny of the Empire. The series begins in 146 BC with Rome's destruction of its ancient enemy Carthage; leading to the celebrated victory of Julius Caesar and the overthrow of the Republic; Emperor Nero's dramatric descent into madness; the Jewish revolt - the biggest rebellion in Imperial history; Constantine's delivery of Christianity to the Empire; and finally the downfall of Rome, told through the tale of Alaric the Goth.

Monty Python star Terry Jones presents this award-winning documentary series, featuring Ancient Inventions, The Surprising History of Sex & Love and The Hidden Histories of Egypt and Rome.

The work of archaeologists has commanded worldwide attention and captivated the human imagination since the earliest days of the exploration, with groundbreaking discoveries such as the treasures of ancient Egypt, the lost kingdoms of the Maya, and the fabled city of Troy. Archaeology brings us face-to-face with our distant ancestors, with treasures of the past, and with life as it was lived in long-ago civilizations.

Get an insider's look at some of history's most awe-inspiring structures in these 24 lectures presented by Professor of Classics Steven L. Tuck. As you make your way through storied sights like Persepolis, Hadrian's Villa, Weiyang Palace, and the Palace of Montezuma II, you'll explore the meaning of power and the ways it operated in societies across the globe.

Explore the Athenians' view of their great political experiment: democracy. In 24 history-rich episodes, Professor Robert Garland takes you into the world of leaders like Solon, Cleisthenes, and Pericles, as well as the judgments of contemporary historians such as Herodotus and Thucydides. The result is a fascinating story of what is arguably the boldest political initiative in history.

Augustine of Hippo (354-430) is one of the greatest theologians of the Christian Church. His works, including The City of God, On the Trinity, and Confessions, have had an inestimable impact on the Church and, by extension, on Western Civilization at large. Yet, where did such faith begin? After rejecting his mother's Christianity as simplistic and restraining, Augustine embarked on a path towards self-gratification, marked by the pursuit of money, political power, and sexual pleasure. Hosted by Augustine expert Mike Aquilina and shot on location in Rome and Milan, this documentary explores thlore the conversion story of one of the most significant figures in church history and learn about his struggle to find answers amid a sea of competing voices.

Explore Mesopotamia, a civilization that flourished for more than 3,000 years. Mesopotamians built the first complex urban societies; developed writing, literature, and law; and united vast regions through warfare and diplomacy. However, much still remains to be discovered about this fascinating region.

In this chapter-by-chapter guide, Professor Leo Damrosch of Harvard University helps you navigate the Decline and Fall's themes, structure, and lasting influence. Whether you've read the book before or never knew where to start, these 24 lectures are an authoritative study of a once-mighty empire - and the great book that became its classic eulogy and epitaph.

We live in a world of cities - for the first time ever, the majority of the population lives in an urban environment - and reflecting on ancient models of the "city" as a human phenomenon offers important lessons for our culture today. Cities of the Ancient World is your opportunity to survey the breadth of the ancient world through the context of its urban development.

Rome, in the year AD 80. The history of the construction of the arena and of Verus. A man captured as slave, becomes a gladiator and wins your freedom in the arena. We take a tour through the training and the life of a gladiator while we are following the Colosseum's construction until its inaugural games, when Verus wins your freedom. This production throws new light on the way gladiators really fought and trained, and reveals that many of them were the superstars of their age: even noblemen aspired to be gladiators. What caused the notorious arena to be built, and what made Roman society demand such extreme entertainment to be played out there?

Like the authors who serve as sources for this course--Livy, Polybius, Suetonius, Tacitus, and above all, Plutarch--Professor J. Rufus Fears believes that individuals, not organizations or social movements, are the primary forces that make history. In this companion course to Famous Greeks, Professor Fears retells the lives of the remarkable individuals--the statesmen, thinkers, warriors, and writers--who shaped the history of the Roman Empire and, by extension, our own history and culture.

Mythology has provided fascinating and thrilling stories that are central to our lives, even today. The deep-seated origins and wide-reaching lessons of ancient myths built the foundation for our modern-day legacies. Serving as entertainment, a means to bond, a way to pass along history, and as vessels for important lessons, morals, and rules, myths are prevalent in every civilization worldwide.

While most of us never stop to think about it, ancient civilizations are with us in almost everything we do. The ancient world has influenced our customs, religious beliefs, laws, governments, architecture, and art. Examine the ancient world's greatest civilizations and how they affect our world today.

A complete discussion of the Homeric legend as the first significant record of Greek mythology. The program emphasizes Homer's relevance to modern literature, psychology, scholarship and popular culture. It analyzes the characters in the Iliad and The Odyssey and summarizes their myths and legends.

I, Claudius is a 1976 BBC Television adaptation of Robert Graves's 1934 novel I, Claudius and its 1935 sequel Claudius the God. This mini-series follows the history of the Roman Empire, from approximately the death of Marcellus (24/23 B.C.) to Claudius' own death in 54 A.D. As Claudius narrates his life, we witness Augustus' attempts to find an heir, often foiled by his wife Livia who wants her son Tiberius to become emperor. We also see the conspiracy of Sejanus, the infamous reign of Caligula, and Claudius' own troubled period of rule.

Historian Michael Wood travels the globe seeking evidence of four of the world's most famous myths. He begins his quest in Jerusalem, travelling to Egypt and Africa as he hunts for evidence of the fabled Queen of Sheba. His search for the lost kingdom of Shangri-La takes him through India, Nepal and Tibet. He roams the Celtic world from Cornwall to Wales, Ireland and Scotland in search of the legendary King Arthur. And finally, he heads to Greece, Turkey and Georgia as he tracks the legend of Jason and the Golden Fleece.

In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great was a BBC documentary television series first shown during 1998. It was written and presented by British historian and broadcaster Michael Wood. Wood retraced the travels of Alexander the Great, from Vergina in Macedonia, where his father Philip II of Macedon died and Alexander was proclaimed king, through seventeen present-day countries to the borders of India and back to Mesopotamia, where he died. Part 1: Son of God; Part 2: Lord of Asia; Part 3: Across the Hindu Kush; Part 4: To the Ends of the Earth

Episode 1: The Hero's adventure - Tales of heroic adventures are an integral part of all world cultures. Campbell challenges everyone to see the presence of a heroic journey in his or her own life. Episode 2: The Message of the myth - Campbell compares the creation story in Genesis with creation stories from around theworld. Because the world changes, religion has to be transformed and new mythologies created, according to Campbell. People today are stuck with old metaphors and myths that don't fit their needs. Episode 3: The First storytellers - Campbell discusses the importance of accepting death as rebirth as in the myth of the buffalo and the story of Christ, the rite of passage in primitive societies, the role of mystical Shamans, and the decline of ritual in today's society.

Episode 4: Sacrifice and bliss - Campbell discusses the role of sacrifice in myth, which symbolize the need for rebirth. He also talks about the significance of sacrifice, in particular of a mother for her child and the sacrifice to the relationship in marriage. Campbell stresses as well the idea that people should "follow their bliss" in life. Episode 5: Love and the goddess - Campbell talks about romantic love, beginning with the 12th century troubadours, andaddresses questions about the image of woman, as goddess, virgin, Mother Earth. Episode 6: Masks of eternity - Calling the many images of God the masks of eternity, Campbell provides challenging insights into the concepts of God, religion and eternity, as revealed in Christian teachings and the beliefs of Buddhists, Navajo Indians, Schopenhauer, Jung and others.

Voyage back in time to the world of six ancient peoples whose contributions to art, culture, and literature had a great effect on civilization. These are the Minoans, the Mycenaeans, Ancient Arabia, the Phoenicians, and the inhabitants of Thera and Troy. Discover their legendary past from the Minotaur and the Labyrinth, to the Trojan War, and to the lost continent of Atlantis.

With her almond-shaped eyes and striking cheekbones, Queen Nefertiti is regarded as a symbol of female beauty. Her bust is one of the most iconic images in the world -- a crowd puller, attracting 500,000 visitors every year to the Altes Museum in Berlin. But have we all been misled? Swiss historian, Henri Stierlin, has spent the past 25 years researching Nefertiti. He believes that the famous bust, allegedly discovered by Ludwig Borchardt in 1912, is a fake. Stierlin claims that instead of being a 3,400 year old statue of an ancient Egyptian queen, the bust was commissioned by Borchardt himself and is modelled on his own wife. Is he right? How can we explain the remarkable condition of the bust, especially when compared with other objects from the same era?

This program provides an informative and memorable introduction, lavishly illustrated with photographs, reproductions and original art. The program introduces the "senior" gods and goddesses and then focuses on the "second generation" of Olympians: Athena, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Apollo, Ares, Hermes and Dionysus.

This visually beautiful program traces Greek civilization from early Minoan society and describes how Greek literature, art and philiosophy contributed to western civilization. Reviews Greek rivalry with Persia, the growth of democracy in Athens, Solon's laws, and the art and philosophy of Athen's Golden Age.

In 79 AD, one of the infamous natural disasters in human history occurred when Mount Vesuvius erupted. This eruption covered the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in ash and pumice, killing everyone trapped between the volcano and the sea. With speculative dramatisations of various inhabitants' final hours along with detailed documentation of the known facts.

Spartacus the gladiator who led a slave army to challenge the might of Rome was born in Thrace in the century before Christ. After being bought at an auction, he was taken to Capua, the centre for gladiatorial excellence but from there escaped with more than 70 gladiators to Mt. Vesuvius. Spartacus and his fellow escapees battled thousands of Roman soldiers sent to stop the outbreak. He formed an army of former slaves, who defeated 10,000 Romans at Mutina. Military historian Mark Corby joins academics to detail the battles that made Spartacus a legendary figure.

The Roman Republic was one of the most breathtaking civilizations in world history. This powerful civilization inspired America's founding fathers, gifted us a blueprint for amazing engineering innovations, left a vital trove of myths, and has inspired the human imagination for 2,000 years. The Rise of Rome offers you the chance to find out what made this state so powerful.

Trace the history of the Roman Empire from its foundation to its Golden Age in the 2nd century C.E. through ever-worsening crises and its ultimate disintegration. Taught by acclaimed Professor Gregory S. Aldrete, these 24 captivating episodes offer you the chance to experience the story of ancient Rome like never before, incorporating the latest historical research, perspectives, and insights.

Using CGI animation this documentary chronicles the history of the Roman Empire from the rise of Julius Caesar in 55 BC to its fall around 537 AD. Despite their personal short comings, many of the Roman Empires great engineering accomplishments were introduced during the reign of the Caesars. The tradition continued under Vespasian, builder of the Coliseum, Trajan, builder of the Forum, and Hadrian, builder and possibly the designer of the Pantheon. Finally, a decade later Caracalla built a bath complex/recreation center in an effort to secure his own reputation in history. Includes segments on Hadrian's Wall, Caesar's Bridge, the aqueducts, the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Baths of Caracalla, the remains of Emperor Nero's lavish Golden Palace, and the water channels underneath the Colosseum.

For over a thousand years, Rome was the center of the known world. One of the most glorious empires in history, she brought to her subjects a common language, shared culture, and-for some-wealth beyond imagination. But, nothing lasts forever. War, barbarian attacks, and moral decay eventually took their toll and the empire slowly began to crumble. This six-part series presents the complete history of Rome, from its primitive beginnings, to the height of its glory and its eventual decline, as well as its legacies today.

Explores every aspect of Sparta's culture, lifestyle, history and legacy. Author Steven Pressfield reflects on the significance of the Battle of Thermopylae, where a force led by 300 Spartan warriors stalled the advance of a hundred-thousand-plus strong Persian army for nearly a week. Scholars explore the factors that drove the Peloponnesian city-state to strive for martial excellence. Ancient accounts explain how Sparta's warriors were trained and detail their prowess in battle.

A 4-part TV documentary series first broadcast on BBC 2 in 2006. It was written and presented by Terry Jones, and it challenges the received Roman and Roman Catholic notion of the barbarian.

Using an easy to follow progressive timeline from early beginning to more modern day, students will follow the emerging development and ultimate sophistication of this most notable civilization. Broken down into sub-chapters of information, each program covers the most important topics and concepts associated with this unique culture and history as they passed through time.

This educational documentary offers a panoramic view of female leadership, creativity, wisdom, and courage around the world and over thousands of years. WOMEN'S POWER looks at female spheres of power in politics, economics, religion, medicine, arts, and letters, featuring a rich tapestry of women both famous and anonymous, ancient and modern. These are the bold and creative women you always knew existed, who were kept out of the history books and off the TV screens.

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