Look at ancient history from a fresh, innovative vantage point with the 48 lectures of History of the Ancient World: A Global Perspective. Historian and Professor Gregory S. Aldrete's course examines the ancient world's greatest civilizations from the Mediterranean, Asia, and the Americas-including those of Rome, Greece, China, Persia, India, and the Maya-not in isolation but in the full context of where they came from, the cultures that flourished around them at the same time, and the civilizations that were to come from them. This multidisciplinary journey covers not only the traditional domains of politics and war but also religion, philosophy, architecture, technology, and the visual arts.
History of the Ancient World: A Global Perspective
Look at world history through the lens of religion, philosophy, the visual arts, literature, and more-led by a brilliant lecturer/scholar.
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Prospero1962 from
This is what makes Great Courses great
What a wonderful series of lectures. The presenter is personable, interesting, and easy to follow. He even gets into things enough to wear period costumes in a couple episodes. This is a primer for ancient world history. There are more complete courses for many of the ones discussed. But it's interesting to see them put in context with each other. Where this series excels is the comparative episodes (Homer's poetry compared to Indian epic poetry, Greek and Chinese historians, Roman and Chinese geographical comparisons). They give a great context about how all these great civilizations did not play out in a vacuum. Heartily recommended, even at 48 episodes.
Date published: 2024-07-18
Rated 5 out of
5
by
P Donovan from
History of the Ancient World: A Global Perspective
Wonderful insight into various cultures of many centuries ago. Many times I would think to myself as I was watching the presentations: "Oh, that's where that term comes from" or "I was wondering how this or that place or culture became famous" etc. I also liked the fact that each lecture was only about 29 minutes so as not to get too bogged down in the minutia of the particular topic at hand. Requires a bit of a time investment (48 lectures) but it is definitely time well spent.
Date published: 2024-07-18
Rated 5 out of
5
by
StillALifelongLearner from
Great Teacher, Great Course
I wasn't sure if 48 lectures would hold my interest, but Prof. Aldrete was animated, engaged, and used a combination of historical facts and anecdotes to make this course relevant to anyone watching today (13 years after it was first released). I know some commenters have quibbled about some facts that he may have gotten wrong, but this is truly a broad sweep, and Aldrete always put things in context, which made this course far more exciting to watch. I couldn't wait to watch the next lesson, but I restricted myself to one a day so I could absorb everything I was learning. You won't be disappointed, and even if you took the dreaded History of Western Civilization courses in college, you will find this one more interesting that you could imagine. I'm going to seek out other courses taught by Prof. Aldrete, because I know I will learn (and retain!) new subject matter.
Date published: 2024-06-04
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Kim Hollenback from
Concise, well organized and enthusiastic!
I am loving this course in Global History. The lectures are super well organized and delivered with passion and perspective. Overall geography is emphasized and shown to be a determining factor to much of history. The dots get connected over and over again.
Date published: 2023-12-14
Rated 5 out of
5
by
richard1837 from
A Successful Ambitious Course!
This was my fourth or fifth course with Professor Aldrete, and once again, it was of top-notch quality.
This course marked Professor Aldrete's most extensive effort yet, spanning about a millennium and covering approximately five diverse cultures. It's impressive how he maintained engagement throughout, even though he delved deeper into some civilizations than others.
I found Professor Aldrete's comparison of the Roman Empire and the Chinese Han dynasty particularly enlightening. Despite their vast differences in time and place, the course highlighted similar challenges they faced and how their approaches continue to shape contemporary societies in their respective regions.
Date published: 2023-09-11
Rated 5 out of
5
by
vincek from
Dynamic and lively look at history
Over a period of many weeks, I looked forward to watching the lessons in this course each and every morning. Even if it consisted of 48 lectures, it seemed to have gone all too quickly. Professor Aldrete has a very dynamic story telling style which, to my surprise, was very effective at helping me remember all the details of his lectures. I really learned more than I would have. His incorporation of global perspective, as well as geographic factors gave context to why and how people made those decisions that so shaped history.
Date published: 2023-09-01
Rated 5 out of
5
by
KLuck from
Excellent overview of classical history
I have completed several courses given by Prof. Aldrete and thoroughly enjoyed all of them. I am studying history starting with the first civilizations slowly moving to modern times. The course was an excellent summary of the courses I have taken so far. It is not meant to be an in-depth study but rather acts as a refresher of the main points covered by some of the other courses offered by The Great Courses series of lectures. I also recommend Prof. Aldrete’s two courses on the Roman Empire.
Date published: 2023-08-15
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Emmett from
Excellent
The lecturer packaged his encyclopedic knowledge of the ancient world in a way that was informative and entertaining. I'd like for him to pick up where he left off and keep going.
Date published: 2023-04-29
Overview
About
Gregory S. Aldrete is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay. He earned his PhD in Ancient History from the University of Michigan. He has been honored with numerous awards for his research and teaching and has received five fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities. He is also a prolific scholar whose books include Gestures and Acclamations in Ancient Rome, Daily Life in the Roman City, and The Long Shadow of Antiquity: What Have the Greeks and Romans Done for Us?
Trailer
01: Cities, Civilizations, and Sources
Learn about the different kind of approach the course will take in its 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.
33 min
02: From Out of the Mesopotamian Mud
The course's first 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.
34 min
03: Cultures of the Ancient Near East
The 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.
30 min
04: Ancient Egypt—The Gift of the Nile
Your 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 three percent of Egypt, permitted civilization to thrive in what was otherwise an uninhabitable desert.
30 min
05: Pharaohs, Tombs, and Gods
Discover 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.
29 min
06: The Lost Civilization of the Indus Valley
Your exploration of a once-lost civilization introduces a key theme of the course-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.
31 min
07: The Vedic Age of Ancient India
In 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.
31 min
08: Mystery Cultures of Early Greece
Turn 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.
30 min
09: Homer and Indian Poetry
Discover 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.
31 min
10: Athens and Experiments in Democracy
Greece'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.
32 min
11: Hoplite Warfare and Sparta
Experience 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.
32 min
12: Civilization Dawns in China—Shang and Zhou
Witness 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....
30 min
13: Confucius and the Greek Philosophers
From 700 to 500 B.C., thinkers around the world began to turn to fundamental philosophical questions. This lecture focuses 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.
32 min
14: Mystics, Buddhists, and Zoroastrians
Your 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.
33 min
15: Persians and Greeks
Discover 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.
30 min
16: Greek Art and Architecture
Pause 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.
30 min
17: Greek Tragedy and the Sophists
Continue 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.
31 min
18: The Peloponnesian War and the Trial of Socrates
Learn 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.
30 min
19: Philip of Macedon-Architect of Empire
Begin a four-lecture 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.
29 min
20: Alexander the Great Goes East
With 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.
30 min
21: Unifiers of India—Chandragupta and Asoka
Alexander'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.
30 min
22: Shi Huangdi—First Emperor of China
Discover 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.
33 min
23: Earliest Historians of Greece and China
Consider 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.
31 min
24: The Hellenistic World
Although 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.
31 min
25: The Great Empire of the Han Dynasty
Much 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.
30 min
26: People of the Toga—Etruscans, Early Rome
In this first of five lectures tracing the rise of Roman civilization, you begin with Rome's geography, its traditional origin story, and the formative scars left by the experience of being ruled by a foreign power, and especially by a king holding supreme authority.
31 min
27: The Crucible-Punic Wars, Roman Imperialism
Learn how the series of conflicts with Rome's burgeoning Mediterranean rival-the city-state of Carthage, whose forces were led by the brilliant Hannibal-were both the closest Rome ever came to total defeat and the stepping-stone to its ultimate success.
32 min
28: The Death of the Roman Republic
The century between 133 and 31 B.C. was a period when long-simmering tensions and resentments finally reached their boiling point. Grasp how the consequences, including political assassinations of Julius Caesar and others, ultimately resulted in the dissolution of the Roman Republic.
31 min
29: Augustus-Creator of the Roman Empire
With Julius Caesar dead, who would seize power? Trace the struggle that involved the Brutus-led "liberators," who claimed a goal of restoring the republic; Caesar's lieutenant, Marc Antony; and a surprise third candidate-Caesar's 18-year-old nephew, Octavian, named his heir in Caesar's will.
31 min
30: Roman Emperors-Good, Bad, and Crazy
Follow the fortunes of the empire during the two centuries following Augustus and Tiberius, which included not only some of Rome's wisest and most conscientious emperors, like Trajan and Marcus Aurelius, but also some of its most notorious and deranged tyrants, like Caligula and Nero.
29 min
31: Han and Roman Empires Compared-Geography
The peak four centuries of Rome's power coincided almost exactly with one of China's most enduring dynasties. Begin a multilecture comparison of these empires on several fronts, including political organization, transportation, military philosophy, economic stability, cultural and social integration, ideology, lasting influence, and many others.
30 min
32: Han and Roman Empires Compared-Government
The comparison continues, focusing initially on the administrative structure that allowed these two vast empires to identify and train the members of their evolving bureaucracies, and then moving on to consider the role of the person at the top: the emperor himself.
30 min
33: Han and Roman Empires Compared-Problems
Consider the potential problems faced by the two empires-beginning with the emperor and examining the impact of imperial weakness, incompetence, or even insanity-before reflecting on the issues of assimilating the conquered and defending the empire against the encroachments of barbarians.
29 min
34: Early Americas-Resources and Olmecs
Shift your attention to North and South America. These were among the last regions humans would settle, and you follow their progress from nomadic hunter-gatherers to the civilizations that would be defined by geography and available resources, beginning with the Olmecs of what is now Mexico.
30 min
35: Pots and Pyramids-Moche and Teotihuacan
Turn your focus to Peru and Mexico and the many cultures that left behind stunning examples of their now-vanished civilizations, from impressive pyramids and tombs to startling examples of artistic pottery, especially those produced by the Moche.
33 min
36: Blood and Corn-Mayan Civilization
Delve into the achievements of the Maya, who were among the longest-lasting, most geographically extensive, and most culturally sophisticated of all Mesoamerican cultures. Grasp how we can know these things only because the Maya left behind what those other peoples did not: the records of a culture with a written language.
32 min
37: Hunter-Gatherers and Polynesians
Although civilization almost always tends to be an urban phenomenon, there are exceptions. Examine the origins of societies that evolved sophisticated cultures but did not build cities, including hunter-gatherers like the Fenni of Scandinavia, the Aborigines of Australia, and the seafaring peoples of Polynesia.
30 min
38: The Art and Architecture of Power
The structures unearthed by archaeologists are more than just evidence of the past or messages to the future; they were often meant as statements to their own time. Explore how ancient societies used art and architecture to promote their rule and illustrate their power.
29 min
39: Comparative Armies-Rome, China, Maya
Gain a sense of how the empires of the Mediterranean, Asia, and the Americas both defended themselves and brought their power to bear on others with this comparison of the structure, weapons, and tactics of the Roman, Chinese, and Mayan armies.
29 min
40: Later Roman Empire-Crisis and Christianity
Explore the century that followed Rome's Golden Age and the time of the "Five Good Emperors" as the empire suffered through political, military, and economic crises that brought it to the brink of collapse, staged a near-miraculous and unexpected recovery, and underwent an even-more surprising transformation to Christianity.
31 min
41: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire?
The questions of when Rome fell-and why-are arguably the most famous ongoing historical debates in the Western tradition. One German scholar has even posited 210 plausible answers to the "why." This lecture examines both the questions and the debates that swirl around them....
29 min
42: The Byzantine Empire and the Legacy of Rome
The eastern Roman-or Byzantine-Empire would outlast its counterpart in the West by a thousand years. Follow the fortunes of this flourishing hub, which included one of the most powerful women of antiquity and one of the ancient world's most globally influential legacies....
29 min
43: China from Chaos to Order under the Tang
Learn how the chaotic three-and-a-half centuries that followed the dissolution of the Han Empire spawned new philosophical and religious yearnings and paved the way for the founding of the next great dynasty.
28 min
44: The Golden Age of Tang Culture
Examine some of the most impressive aspects of the Tang dynasty. This highly urbanized culture is commonly regarded as one of the cultural pinnacles of Chinese civilization, producing sophisticated culture, advanced technological innovation, and a flourishing of the arts ranging from poetry to ceramics.
31 min
45: The Rise and Flourishing of Islam
Grasp how the tribes of the Arabian peninsula-within only 100 years of their conversion to Islam-were able to conquer half the Mediterranean world, shattering its unity, spinning its parts onto divergent paths, and establishing religious, linguistic, and cultural boundaries that persist to this day.
31 min
46: Holy Men and Women-Monasticism and Saints
Gain new insights into the key church fathers of Christianity's first centuries-whose actions, ideas, and writings irrevocably shaped the faith-as well as the influential religious movements that emerged at this time, including monasticism and the cult of sainthood.
28 min
47: Charlemagne—Father of Europe
Learn why the word "great," though applied to any number of famous and infamous rulers, may be fully justified in the case of Charlemagne, whose impact in the areas of war, politics, religion, and culture left an mark on Europe and the world that few have equaled.
28 min
48: Endings, Beginnings, What Does It All Mean?
A discussion of the early 20th-century historian Henri Pirenne puts Charlemagne in a new perspective and underlines why it is so important to understand each of the civilizations you have studied not as a separate entity, but in the context of all the others.
28 min
