Catalog Search Results
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Description
Focus on Spain as the birthplace of powerful Roman emperors, including Trajan and Hadrian. Survey the imperial grandeur that still survives from their reigns, notably in the ruined city of Italica and the thriving urban centers of Cordoba and Seville. Trace the influences of the Islamic culture that ruled Spain for seven centuries after the Romans. Also, go olive oil tasting!
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Description
Explore the original Philadelphia, the ancient name for present-day Amman, Jordan, which came under Roman rule in the 1st century BC. Then, visit nearby Jerash, lauded as the "Pompeii of the East" for its remarkable state of preservation. Tour a Roman desert fort, a Crusader-era castle, and finish in the otherworldly landscape of Wadi Rum, the spectacular location for Dune and other movies.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Description
Begin the series on the outskirts of Rome, taking the Via Appia into the city. View the impressive tombs and aqueducts that line the road, testifying to the importance of the ancient capital. Within, visit major sites that include the extensive ruins of different forum spaces and temples. Also, explore subterranean Rome, and sample the market and café scene, as lively today as two millennia ago.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Description
Riding an Iberian horse, Darius opens his tour of Spain, one of Rome's richest provinces. Rome benefitted from the region's mineral and agricultural wealth. The grand Roman structures still standing include the massive arched bridge and theater complex at Mérida. Also, visit Roman monuments in Segovia, including its renowned aqueduct, and descend into an ancient gypsum mine.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Description
Visit the star of Rome's Middle Eastern domain, Petra in modern Jordan, known as the Rose City for its construction in rose-red local stone. Settled by Nabataean Bedouins, the city grew rich from the caravan trade, leading to the building of impressive temples, tombs, and other structures, many of which survive due to the arid climate and the abandonment of the site for many centuries.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Description
Rome once ruled North Africa, cementing its control over the entire Mediterranean basin. Investigate Morocco, where Roman influences mixed with the indigenous Berbers to produce a unique culture. Visit the ruins of Volubilis, an ancient international hub, called the most beautiful Roman city in North Africa. Also, tour the thriving old quarter of Marrakesh.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Description
Continue your exploration of the Roman Balkans, heading inland to modern Serbia, which was repeatedly threatened by hostile kingdoms in antiquity. The Danube River plays a prominent role here, as do a litany of Roman emperors and their public and private works in three ancient cities. As Darius shows throughout the series, ancient Rome lives on through its enduring monuments and culture.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Description
The Dalmatian Coast was strategically vital to Rome, which conquered it starting in the 2nd century BC. Investigate the Roman legacy, including ancient Salona and Ragusa. Near Salona is Diocletian's Palace, a sprawling fortress built by the Dalmatia-born Emperor Diocletian around 300 CE. Also, probe the historic maritime economy of the region, which still flourishes.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Description
Presented by archaeologist Darius Arya, this eight-episode series takes viewers throughout the ancient Roman Empire, exploring history's most multicultural political entity. Stops include Roman ruins in Spain, Morocco, Jordan, Croatia, Serbia, and Rome itself. Darius also samples the local cuisine and other attractions, making this series the ideal preparation for a truly grand tour.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2020.
Description
La Cuisiniere Canadienne, published in 1840, was the first Canadian cookbook. The authors created the recipes they imagined the early 17th-century Quebec settlers would have eaten (and once in writing, they became the tradition). Discover the extraordinary flavors of the tourtiere, a meat pie traditionally served on Christmas or New Year’s Day.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2020.
Description
Amelia Simmons, universally recognized as the first truly American cookbook author, wrote recipes for “all grades of life,” from elegant households to the most humble farmer, in the democratizing spirit of the early Republic. Explore her recipes to create a cornmeal-based johnnycake, a type of corned beef, and a predecessor to the pumpkin pie.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2020.
Description
Examine the Chinese Wei dynasty’s Qi Min Yao Shu, an encyclopedic manual containing “essential techniques to benefit the people,” and learn about Chinese agricultural practices going back to antiquity. Explore the fermentation practices of the time, using both bacteria and mold, and follow a scaled-down recipe to create an intensely flavored fermented black bean dish.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2020.
Description
Are the recipes in De re coquinaria (the oldest complete recipe book in the Western tradition) bizarre and disgusting, or do they reflect a time of elegance and luxury? Historians have expressed a gamut of opinions. As you explore its sala cattabia, minutal of apricots, and botellum, you might be surprised to find three delicious, and even somewhat familiar, dishes.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2020.
Description
Examine A Gift to Young Housewives by Elena Molokhovets, published during the Russian empire in the final decades before the revolution, featured the foods eaten by the Russian elite. Learn to make pirozhki iz vermisheli, Salad Olivier (known simply as Russian salad outside the country), and the delicious sweet Blinchiki for dessert.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2020.
Description
Explore the oldest-known cookbook in Medieval Europe, the 13th century’s Libellus de arte coquinaria. With its terse recipes of meat, fowl, fish, and sauces, it seemed to be written for a noble audience, not the common cook. Learn to make “hunter-style” fish pie with animal bones, as well as beer (much safer than drinking water at the time).
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2020.
Description
Explore the encyclopedic wonders of the Opera, a 1570 cookbook by Bartolomeo Scappi. Unusual for its time, Opera was a cookbook written specifically to teach cooking. With directions and recipes from the Late Renaissance style, and using lavish and contrasting flavors, you will create delicious meat rolls, salami, and an eggplant dish.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2020.
Description
Spain became a gastronomic model for much of Europe in the 17th century, with its culinary influence becoming widespread even after suffering military defeat. As you cook its olla podrida, discover the riot of flavors (lamb, beef, pig’s feet, chestnuts, turnips, and more) in this “rotten pot” that became popular throughout Europe.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2020.
Description
Explore the rich cuisine of 19th-century Brazil with its indigenous American, West African, and Portuguese influences. From the Cozinheiro Imperial, first published in 1838, learn to cook vatapa with mandioca flour, green beans and shrimp, and a delicious black bean stew using every part of the pig, including tail and ears.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2020.
Description
Explore the fascinating decades of exchange between Portugal and Japan in the 16th century, and discover which Portuguese foods are still part of Japanese cuisine today. Explore the process of creating fine dried fish flakes from skipjack tuna, and learn why the dried blocks of this fish are so prized that they’re often even given as wedding presents.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2020.
Description
Explore the earliest printed cookbook, composed in the early 15th century and printed around 1470 (making it one of the first generation of books in print on any subject). Learn to create its blancmanger, a combination of capon breast, white flour, rosewater, sugar, and almond milk that still exists in Turkish cuisine. And discover how to make pasta by feel and texture, no measurements allowed.
Didn't find it?
Can't find what you are looking for? Try our Materials Request Service. Submit Request