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Author
Series
Language
English
Description
Complete your knowledge of the ancient world with this comprehensive look at the dozen empires that flourished in the 2,000 years before the conquests of Alexander the Great. Over the course of 36 insightful lectures, you'll follow the Egyptians, the Mycenaean Greeks, the Persians, the Carthaginians, and others as they rise to glory, create administrative and military structures, clash with one another, and eventually collapse. Professor Dise immerses...
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 28
Language
English
Description
How did Persia's wars with Greece end? Discover the answer in this lecture, which explains how the Battle of Plataea forced the Persian Empire to go on the defensive, endure a series of defeats, and ultimately reach a cessation of hostilities in 449 B.C. with the Peace of Callias.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 10
Language
English
Description
Conclude your exploration of Hatti by studying its pinnacle of power from 1430 to 1200 B.C., the period known as the New Kingdom. In addition to investigating the key role played by the warrior-king Suppiluliumas, probe some possible reasons the empire suddenly collapsed, never to rise again.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 30
Language
English
Description
Learn how the rule of Darius I brought about the classical Persian system of imperial administration, with its system of satrapies (provinces) and royal treasuries. Also, travel along the Royal Road (the empire's central communications network) and explore the massive - but flawed - Persian army.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 17
Language
English
Description
See the story of Israel as the epic tale of a small kingdom's brief rise to greatness - one that would change the future of the entire world. Compare the biblical and archaeological evidence behind watershed moments in Israel's history, including the Exodus and the conquest of Canaan.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 9
Language
English
Description
The history of Hatti, according to Professor Dise, is a history of war. Here, examine how this great empire conducted battles against threats from all around. Explore the details of chariot battle, listen to the Great King ask the gods for success in battle, and learn how defeated enemies were treated.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 34
Language
English
Description
Perhaps the most epic conflict of the ancient world was the Punic Wars waged between Carthage and Rome. Discover how the first phase of conflict was born in Carthage's struggle for control of Sicily - first with the Greek city of Syracuse and then with the emerging Roman Republic.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 7
Language
English
Description
Hatti, the Hittite kingdom, was the first Near Eastern empire that expanded beyond the river valleys of the Nile and Mesopotamia. Explore the kingdom's origins in early 2nd millennium B.C. Anatolia and study the dynastic crises that threatened its stability.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 4
Language
English
Description
In the late 22nd century B.C., the imperial dynasty of Ur III briefly rose to power in Sumeria. Professor Dise takes you inside the dynasty's founding under Ur-Nammu, its tyrannical taxation and economic systems, its imperial government and administrative structure under King Shulgi, and its disintegration after barely a century.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 1
Language
English
Description
What makes a true "empire"? How do empires rise and flourish? How do they decline and fall? Discover pointed answers to these and other fundamental questions about the study of empires in this engaging course overview.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 19
Language
English
Description
Around 2000 B.C., Assyria was a backwater district ruled by its conquerors. So how did it evolve into one of antiquity's greatest empires - one that spanned more than 1,000 years and came into contact with other imperial powers in the ancient Near East? Discover the answer in this fascinating lecture.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 23
Language
English
Description
Meet the empire's three last rulers: Sennacherib, who stabilized and expanded the empire; Esarhaddon, who instigated the conquest of Egypt; and Ashurbanipal, who suppressed the Great Rebellion of Babylonian peoples. Then, investigate the internal and external causes of Assyria's fall and the rise of the Neo-Babylonian Empire.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 31
Language
English
Description
In just four years, the greatest empire the ancient world had ever seen fell - and all at the hands of Alexander the Great. How did this happen? Chart the collapse of the Persian Empire in this piercing examination of the Macedonian leader's military campaign to conquer the ancient world.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 24
Language
English
Description
After a lengthy period of subjugation under the Assyrians, in the late 7th and early 6th centuries Mesopotamia rose again in the form of the Chaldean, or Neo-Babylonian, Empire. Piece together the empire's story - as well as its vibrant cultural and economic life - using insightful archival and archaeological evidence.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 5
Language
English
Description
After Ur III, the subsequent power vacuum in Mesopotamia was filled by the famous king Hammurabi. See how he established the First Dynasty of Babylon and administered rule through a detailed code of law. Hammurabi was so entwined with the First Dynasty that, after his death, the empire swiftly collapsed.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 36
Language
English
Description
Conclude your journey through more than 2,000 years of history with a final look at the startling differences and similarities between these ancient empires. From Bronze Age Mesopotamia to Carthage, each of these realms is a chapter in the fascinating story of empire - a story that will continue as long as human ambition endures.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 16
Language
English
Description
Mycenaean Greece flourished between the late 15th and early 14th centuries B.C., but by around 1180 B.C., it collapsed, probably from the inside. How did this happen? Was it the civilization's heroic culture, or the Trojan War? Either way, the empire's collapse signaled the end of Bronze Age Greece.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 3
Language
English
Description
Chart the rise of the Akkadian Empire, established by Sargon and strengthened by his grandson, Naram-Sin. Learn how they forged the pattern that future Mesopotamian empires would follow - one based on the central authority of a king - and how their empire eventually collapsed under pressures both within and without.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 20
Language
English
Description
The Neo-Assyrian Empire, which emerged at the end of the 10th century B.C., was characterized by a more aggressive spirit than before, something you discover in a close analysis of its rulers, their frequent military campaigns, and the subsequent Great Rebellion that brought about nearly 80 years of chaos.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 15
Language
English
Description
Legend and modern archaeological fact agree that the most important kingdom in Bronze Age Greece was Mycenae, which rose to power around 1600 B.C. Here, learn how the excavation of two key sites revealed insights into Mycenaean dynasties; then, explore the culture's decentralized government and its warlike nature.
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