Catalog Search Results
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Description
An ancient Greek faced death head on. You would die in the home, surrounded by family, and afterward women would tend to your body and sing dirges in your honor. Your corpse would be tainted with miasma - pollution - and would be buried outside the city. Meanwhile, your spirit would be carried across the River Styx to Hades, where life among the shades of the dead awaited you.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Description
Turn to ancient Persia, a kingdom that came from the other side of history and rose to greatness. See how Cyrus the Great was a tolerant, pragmatic ruler, who allowed his subjects to maintain certain rights. Then see how Darius built roads, adopted a currency, and created an innovative system of communication and administration.
23) The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World: Episode 22,Living in Hellenistic Egypt
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Description
Revisit Egypt in the years after Alexander the Great, an era when Greek (Hellenistic) culture spread throughout the region. Tour the city of Alexandria, which was arguably the greatest city of the ancient world and which now lies mostly beneath the sea. Then explore the ethnic tensions between the Egyptians, Greeks, and Jews.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Description
See how the Romans extended citizenship, expanding the word "Roman" to encompass more than just a person from Rome itself. As Vergil's Aeneid shows, Romans considered it their civic duty to expand their territory for the public good; yet, despite this noble aspiration, they also had a penchant for violence and cruelty.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Description
Could Romans have achieved all they did without the labor of slaves? Imagine yourself as part of the largest slave force in human history, perhaps as an agricultural slave worked to death or as a semi-independent craftsman. Then explore manumission, the process by which domestic slaves were sometimes freed.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Description
Find out what daily life was like for a Roman soldier, from the training to engagement on the battlefield. You'll discover how the army was structured, what benefits you could expect, and what would happen if you were disobedient. Finally, you'll explore what you'd do when you were not fighting - likely constructing the Roman road system.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Description
As in ancient Greek society, a Roman woman lived on the other side of history under the domination of the paterfamilias - most likely her father or husband - yet examples of love letters and poems offer evidence that loving marriages did exist. This lecture explores wedding rituals, the complexity of Roman women's roles in society, and how opportunities for women differed based on class status.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Description
Put yourself into the world of Rome's plebian class. This lecture takes you to the leaky, rat-infested housing where the urban poor suffered from disease and malnutrition, and you'll experience the threat of fire that hung over Rome in the 1st century A.D. You'll also get a glimpse of what sustained the day-to-day life of the poor.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Description
Now check out the lives of the rich. You'll tour the grand house in the city and the countryside, learn about the customs of dress, food, and hygiene, and follow a rich Roman around for the day - complete with doting clients who make him seem important.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Description
Celebrity is not a modern phenomenon. Politicians, criminals, actors, and even ordinary citizens in ancient Rome strove for recognition. Here you'll chart the lives of some of Rome's celebrities, including gladiators, charioteers, and the emperor Nero. You'll also look at women who knew how to hog the limelight, including Cleopatra and Theodora.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Description
Experience the world of Roman crime and punishment, law and order. You'll witness crime ranging from midnight muggings to piracy to bandits in the countryside, and you'll discover the variety of punishments meted out in a society lacking prisons - from loss of civic rights and exile to impalement and crucifixion.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Description
The Romans balanced the sobriety of running an empire with a healthy need to relax. Delve into the spectator side of Roman society and learn about its public games - chariot races, theatrical performances, gladiatorial combats, and circuses. Experience the venues, the violence, and the excitement of relaxing Roman style.
33) The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World: Episode 32,Practicing Roman Religion
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Description
Cicero called the Romans the most religious of all mortals. See what religion meant in the Roman world, both inside the family, where the paterfamilias supervised various ceremonies, and in the state at large, whose emperor was considered divine. You'll also compare how the Roman view of the gods differed from the Greek perspective.
34) The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World: Episode 33,Being Jewish under Roman Rule
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Description
Discover the problem of being a monotheist in a polytheistic state - with the Romans requiring the Jews to acknowledge their gods and the divinity of their emperor. This conflict escalated in the 1st century, leading first, to acts of terrorism; then, to the outbreak of the Jewish revolt of A.D. 66; next, to the destruction of Jerusalem; and finally, to the diaspora.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Description
Among the competitors of Roman polytheism was a religion that preached love and salvation for the poor, the meek, and the downtrodden - bringing those on the other side of history to the fore. Chart the rise of Christianity over the first few centuries, and explore the daily lives of those who resolutely held their faith in the face of Roman persecution.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Description
Shift your attention to the world of the Celts, a mysterious European race that left few excavation sites - and none in Britain. This lecture takes you into the daily life of a Celtic village during the Iron Age, a world of tribes and chieftains, of war and bravery, and of the legendary Druids.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Description
Picture what it was like to be a British native under Roman rule. How did you make peace with being subjugated when Claudius subjugated you in A.D. 43? The Romans built cities and showed natives new, more efficient agricultural practices, and protected the island for 365 years. After all that, how would you have felt when they abandoned you?
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Description
Meet the people who filled the vacuum left by the Romans. The Anglo-Saxons, a warrior culture responsible for King Arthur and Beowulf, invaded Britain at the beginning of the so-called Dark Ages. In addition to meeting the wealthy thanes, struggling peasants, and unfortunate slaves, you'll examine the lives of monks and nuns.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Description
The Vikings have always been on the "other side" of history, their deeds recorded only by their victims. In this lecture, you'll get at the truth of this enigmatic culture. While a small number were the raiders we know from other accounts, the Vikings had a vibrant trading culture based on the sea.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Description
The last successful invasion of England was by the Normans, who won the well-known Battle of Hastings in 1066. Go inside that invasion and learn about Norman culture and its lasting influence on the British - especially the creation of a strong central government that has fortified the island to the present.
Didn't find it?
Can't find what you are looking for? Try our Materials Request Service. Submit Request