Presents an examination of the lives, achievements, and influence of seminal figures in the history of ancient Greece.

There are many reasons to study ancient Rome. Rome's span was vast, its influence is indelible, and the story is riveting. This course examines how a small village of shepherds and farmers rose to tower over the civilized world, unified in politics and law, for almost 700 years. Rome changed hugely in many spheres over the course of its 1,500-year history, so the principal focus is on the years from 200 B.C.E. to 200 A.D., when Roman power was at...

Hollywood has gone to elaborate lengths to recreate the violence and mayhem of ancient warfare in movies, but what were ancient battles really like? What weapons, tactics, armor, training, and logistics were used? What were the crucial factors that could turn the tide of battle, giving one side victory and consigning the other to slaughter, capture, or, at best, escape to fight another day? These lectures examine some of the most notable battles...

Between the fall of the Roman Empire and the brief, brilliant cultural phenomenon we call the Renaissance lay the Middle Ages - fully 1,000 years of artistic, philosophical, political, and religious turmoil and treasures. This course offers an interdisciplinary look at medieval society and culture, with an emphasis on literature, the arts, and the tumultuous historical forces at work from A.D. 500 through A.D. 1500. Medieval Europe was the world of...

A 48-lecture course that reveals the stories of how human beings around the world transitioned from small farming communities to the impressive cultural and political systems that would forever alter the course of history. Taking a gripping archaeological and historical approach to these formative states and civilizations, archaeologist and Professor Scott MacEachern of Bowdoin College completes your understanding of the history of human civilization{u2014}by...