Catalog Search Results
Series
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Language
English
Description
Go beyond the abstract dates and figures, kings and queens, and battles and wars that make up so many historical accounts in The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World. In 48 richly detailed lectures, Professor Robert Garland of Colgate University covers the breadth and depth of human history from the perspective of the so-called ordinary people.
Series
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Language
English
Description
Growing up in ancient Greece, you'd face a myriad of challenges between birth and adulthood, beginning with whether your father decided to raise you or expose you to the elements shortly after birth. See what your childhood would have been like, from the games you'd play to the schools you'd attend.
Series
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Language
English
Description
What are the origins of slavery? Although ancient Greeks didn't invent the concept, they did leave records. You'll discover the range of work slaves did, from performing domestic duties to being worked to death in the mines. Then travel to Sparta, where helot slaves outnumbered free Spartans by as many as 7 to 1.
Series
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Language
English
Description
Go inside a phalanx battle and experience it as an average citizen-soldier or hoplite. Then turn to Sparta, a society that revolved around military life from childhood education to retirement at age 60. Finally, explore the rise of Greek mercenaries, whom some Greek writers feared were a threat to civilization.
Series
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Language
English
Description
This lecture takes you into the world of Athenian women, who were subjugated to males all their lives and who rarely left the home except for festivals and funerals. You'll also look at the hetaerae - or female companions - whose lives were relatively independent.
Series
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Language
English
Description
As a Greek citizen, your life would have been much more leisurely and relaxed on a day-to-day basis than ours is today. Put yourself in the sandals of an average citizen taking a morning stroll to the agora or enjoying a lively evening of discussion at a symposium. Then tour the clubs, witness the athletic events, and participate in the festivals that would have been part of your daily life.
Series
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Language
English
Description
Consider the lives of those truly on the other side of history - the refugees long ignored by historians. From the 8th to the 6th centuries B.C., a large percentage of Greeks were uprooted from their homelands. This lecture shows you the harrowing colonization process from the point of view of the refugees themselves.
Series
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Language
English
Description
Disability Studies is a relatively new form of scholarship, and the field shows that despite Greek sculptures depicting the idealized human form, real people in the ancient world were at great risk for serious injuries, disfigurement, and disease. Find out the ancients' perspective on disability, deformity, and illness and the often crude way these conditions were treated.
Series
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Language
English
Description
Take a look at what, in many ways, is one of the most bizarre religious systems in human history - a system with no rules, no holy book, and no orthodoxy. You'll meet some of the famous gods of Mount Olympus and the Underworld, with their jealousies and other human emotions, and you'll experience the festivals and observances that were part of Greek religion.
Series
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Language
English
Description
Despite their lower life expectancy and higher infant mortality, some Greeks managed to live to a ripe old age, especially the poets and philosophers, who lived a more sedentary life. Discover the secrets to their longevity, and how you would support yourself in an era without anything like today's retirement systems.
Series
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Language
English
Description
Explore the world of the Greek polis and of true democracies run by ordinary citizens - that is, free male citizens. Women were cut off from society and kept in the home, and slaves performed much of the labor. After seeing the broad strokes of this society, you'll go inside the mind of a juror casting his ballot at the trial of Socrates.
Series
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Language
English
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.
14) The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World: Episode 22,Living in Hellenistic Egypt
Series
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Language
English
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.
Series
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Language
English
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.
Series
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Language
English
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.
Series
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Language
English
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.
Series
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Language
English
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.
Series
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Language
English
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.
Series
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2012.
Language
English
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.
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