Part 1 • 2013 • episode "S1E1" • Who Were the Greeks?

51:59

We count down from 49 to 34 events that include a Treaty in Versailles aimed at bringing peace to the world, the Watergate political scandal, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the assassination of John Lennon.

S1E5 • 101 Events that Made the 20th Century • 2018 • History

59:08

The Romans were brilliant engineers and soldiers, but what isn't as well known is that they also gave us wonderful artistic treasures. In this three-part series, Alastair Sooke argues that the old-fashioned view that the Romans didn't do art is nonsense. He traces how the Romans during the Republic went from being art thieves and copycats to pioneering a new artistic style - warts 'n' all realism. Roman portraits reveal what the great names from history, men like Julius Caesar and Cicero, actually looked like. Modern-day artists demonstrate the ingenious techniques used to create these true to life masterpieces in marble, bronze and paint. We can step back into the Roman world thanks to their invention of the documentary-style marble relief and to a volcano called Vesuvius. Sooke explores the remarkable artistic legacy of Pompeii before showing how Rome's first emperor, Augustus, used the power of art to help forge an empire.

S1E1 • Treasures of Ancient Rome • 2012 • History

52:07

Born in France, around the Commune de Paris, and in the wake of the French Revolution, anarchism rapidly disseminated its theories throughout the world. When the brand new International Workers' Association was created, anarchism even became predominant within the workers' movement. Yet early on, anarchism instilled fear in people, not only because all over the world it waged the war for an 8-hour working day, founded schools with no God and no master, and promoted free love, but also, and above all, because from time to time it was quick to use violence and to destroy authority in a highly concrete way. From Ravachol to Bonnot, from the assassination of Empress Sisi of Austria to the Battle of Stepney, from bombs to raids, anarchism has become the bete noire of heads of states and royalty who, in an attempt to protect themselves from it, created anti-terrorist laws that are still in force today.

S1E1 • No Gods, No Masters: A History of Anarchism • 2016 • History

46:02

When the lost tomb of King Tut is opened in 1922, it's not only the famous Curse that is unleashed. Fashion, movies and architecture all come under the pharaoh's spell as the world goes mad for Tut-mania.

S1E5 • History By The Numbers • 2021 • History

58:58

Michael Wood tells the tale of China's first great international age under the Tang Dynasty (618-907). He travels along the Silk Road to the bazaars of central Asia and into India on the track of the Chinese monk who brought Buddhism back to China.

S1E2 • The Story of China • 2016 • History

51:52

After Caesar, Antony and Octavian divided the empire for a time. But there could only be one successor to Caesar. Ten years later, the supreme strategist Octavian waged a critical naval battle, the Battle of Actium, against his former ally, Antony, who now had the backing of Cleopatra.

Part 2 • The Destiny of Rome: Series 1 • 2011 • History