Odyssey - Ancient History Documentaries

The story of a city founded out of the desert by Alexander the Great in 331 BC to become the world's first global centre of culture, into which wealth and knowledge poured from across the world.

For 2,000 years almost all evidence of Cleopatra had disappeared - until now. Neil Oliver investigates the story of a ruthless queen who would kill her own siblings for power. Cleopatra - the most famous woman in history.

Hannibal Barca of Carthage. One of history's greatest military leaders, and the only man to truly threaten the Roman Empire when it was at the height of its power. Here, we examine the life of the man who would grow to become Rome's greatest enemy.

Confucius is one of history's most influential men - a sage, philosopher and teacher - who, with Socrates and Buddha, lived at an extraordinary time in the evolution of mankind's civilization. This stunning drama-documentary explores the life and times of Confucius and demystifies his ideas.

he mysterious island of Crete has always loomed large in imagination, as the home of the Minotaur -- that monstrous creature, half-man half-bull -- imprisoned in Daedalus' labyrinth. Before Crete collapsed in fire and violence, it gave birth to Europe's first civilisation nearly 5,000 years ago, and boasted an advanced, prosperous Mediterranean civilisation.

The Lost Legions Of Varus explores the flaws in Roman imperial policy, as well as the fralities of the human condition – factors both relevant in understanding the reasons behind the massacre in the Teutoberg forest.

In the first episode Prof. Joann Fletcher goes in search of the building blocks of Egyptian civilisation and what made Ancient Egypt the incredible civilisation that it was. She sees how people here changed, in just a few centuries, from primitive farmers to pyramid builders and finds the early evidence for Egypt's amazing gods and obsession with death and the afterlife.

Twenty five hundred years ago, the Persian King Cambyses led his army into the desert and disappeared forever. Despite efforts in the 1930s to discover what happened to him, no clues were found until 1996 when a geologist stumbled on evidence by accident. The Egyptian authorities have suppressed news of these findings until now....

Joann explores how the Pyramid Age ended in catastrophe. In one of Saqqara's last pyramid complexes, Joann uncovers evidence of famine as the young Egyptian state suffered a worsening climate and political upheaval.

Professor Mary Beard explores the life of Caligula. Many extraordinary stories surround the Roman emperor, but are they true? Was he really as evil and despotic as they say? Mary attempts to peel away some of the myths.

In the third episode Joann explores the magnificent Colossi of Memnon built under Egypt's greatest pharaoh, Amenhotep III. Joann explores the dizzying heights of Egypt's civilisation, and the lives of the workers and artisans caught up in Egypt's most ambitious building projects: the Valley of the Kings.

The Spartan Warrior society is one of the most heavily mythologized features of the ancient world -- but how much is fact and how much is fiction? Bettany Hughes intends to find out.

Joann discovers how Egypt's enemies exploited a country weakened by internal strife, ultimately leading to its destruction. Joann leaves Egypt and journeys south to Sudan where she finds the remarkable story of the forgotten Nubian Kings.

Athens, which had been allied with Sparta against Persia, begins to experience an expanded economy (and democracy under the leadership of Pericles). His construction of the long walls - fortifications which connect Athens to Piraeus - is considered to be a hostile act by an increasingly paranoid Sparta, and is the basis for future discord between the two states.

Documentary following the investigation that aims to reveal what life was like in the small Roman town of Herculaneum, moments before it was destroyed by a volcanic eruption.

The Spartans chronicles the rise and fall of one of the most extreme civilisations the world has ever witnessed. A civilization that was founded on discipline, sacrifice and frugality where the onus was on the collective and the goal was to create the perfect state, and the perfect warrior. Classical historian Bettany Hughes reveals the secrets and complexities of everyday Spartan life: homosexuality was compulsory, money was outlawed, equality was enforced, weak boys were put to death and women enjoyed a level of social and sexual freedom that was unheard of in the ancient world.

The ancient Egyptians were obsessed with divinity, death, the afterlife, and reincarnation. Host Christy Kenneally visits Saqqara, south of Cairo, where the Egyptians learned the technique of mummification and built the first pyramid as an early prototype for the grand monuments of the Giza pyramid complex.

Ancient Greece; home of democracy, philosophy and mythology. The Ancient Greeks worshipped the gods of Mount Olympus, which were ruled over by Zeus. However, what was the truth behind the myths?

In the heart of a metropolitan city of 15 million people, and among the construction of a new billion-dollar transportation network, an archaeological sensation has been discovered: the ancient harbor of Theodosious. Theodosious was the last ruler of a unified Roman Empire. The harbor has been buried and shrouded in mystery for over 800 years...until now.

The spectacular rise and fall of the Roman Empire fascinates us to this day. The Romans took their Gods from the Etruscans, on the ruins of whose civilization they built their own. Kenneally visits the Forum, the epicenter of Roman religion, and the Pantheon, sanctuary of the Roman gods.

Nero is remembered as a cautionary tale of power and excess. Thoughtless, cowardly and utterly disinterested in his people, Nero holds a space of contempt in the eyes of history. But is this view of him entirely fair?

The Maya believed that they had a debt to the gods that could only be paid with sacrifice.

Plastic surgery, and our foundational understanding of the human anatomy, very much began thousands of years ago in Ancient Greece -- where a scholar named Herophilus...

The Inca worshipped both a creator god and the sun, moon and stars. In this episode, host Christy Kenneally travels to the Peruvian Andes to explore the remnants of Inca civilisation - the city of Pisac, which, like all Inca cities, was designed in the shape of a sacred animal; Cajamarca, where the Inca leader Atahualpa was murdered by the Spaniards; and the sacred mountaintop city of Machu Picchu.

Just over 100 years ago, English archaeologist Arthur Evans went to the 'Minotaur's Island' to explore the roots of this myth and discovered instead a sophisticated Bronze Age civilisation that had been lost to history for thousands of years.

The Celts believed in benign spirits and demonic forces, but made no churches or temples: nature itself was their cathedral. Kenneally visits ancient Celtic settlements in Austria, Italy and Greece. He explores the settlement of Castell Henllys in Wales, where the religion of the druids was broken by Roman military might. And at Newgrange, Ferrycarraig and Dun Aengus in Ireland, he reveals how the Celts came to adopt the Gods of those who had preceded them.

Professor Mary Beard asks not what the Romans did for us, but what the Empire did for Rome? Mary rides the Via Appia, climbs up to the top seats of the Colosseum, takes a boat to Rome's port Ostia and takes us into the bowels of Monte Testaccio. She also meets some extraordinary Romans.

Awaking Arthur explores the possibility that it was ''from early man's primitive observations of the natural world that resurrecting Solar-heroes such as King Arthur gradually evolved.'' The documentary encompasses the significance of ancient rituals held amongst the great Standing Stones of the Megalithic Culture and continues on into Celtic legends and their early Christian adaptations.

Professor Mary Beard descends into the city streets to discover the dirt, crime, sex and slum conditions in the world's first high-rise city. This Rome is not the marble Rome we know, but a vast, messy metropolis with little urban planning, where most Romans lived in high-rise apartment blocks with little space, light, or even sanitation.

Twenty-five years ago, the ancient Mayans were thought to be a mysterious and peaceful people governed by astronomer-priests. But in 1965, Russian linguist Yuri Knorosov cracked the phonetic code of Mayan hieroglyphic writing in the confinements of his bustling Leningrad study. Today, researchers reveal stories of Mayan blood sacrifices as they uncover a world so foreign as to defy our understanding of it.

In this final episode, Mary Beard delves even deeper into ordinary Roman life by going behind the closed doors of their homes. She meets an extraordinary cast of characters - drunken housewives, teenage brides, bullied children and runaway slaves - and paints a more dynamic, lusty picture of Roman family life.

When Rome was still in its infancy, Carthage was the dominant power of the Mediterranean. As Rome grew, Carthage remained its only great rival. It was that rivalry that drove Rome to utterly destroy Carthage, and massacre its people.

Historian and archaeologist Dr Richard Miles explores why Rome's leaders were so intent on destroying the rival empire of Carthage. Miles visits key sites of the period to assess what made the exotic civilization such a threat, and reveals how the destruction of this largely forgotten culture has been called the Hiroshima of the classical world.

Was Cleopatra black? Was Socrates? Did Egyptian armies conquer ancient Greece, thus setting the cradle of Western civilization in motion? Is this wishful thinking on the part of historical revisionists...or is it a long-suppressed historical fact?

Sweeping aside nearly 2,000 years of doubt and mystery, on-going excavations in Germany's Teutoberg Forest have revealed the location of one of the bloodiest battles of antiquity. In 9 AD, an arrogant Roman general, Publius Varus, anticipated that he would easily suppress several rebellious Germanic tribes, after which he could leisurely march his troops to their winter campsite. Unfortunately for Varus and three of Rome's crack legions, he walked into an elaborate and well-organized ambush. Odyssey is your journey into the world of Ancient History; from the dawn of Mesopotamia to the fall of Rome. We'll be bringing you only the best documentaries that journey into the mysteries and ruins of worlds long lost.

Vespasian, one of the Roman Empire's finest emperors remains largely unknown, yet his reign in 1st century AD transitioned a weakening Empire into a period of stability and growth that was the legacy of the other great emperors Trajan, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius and Septimius Severus. Vespasian ultimately saved Rome from disaster and made possible the Golden Age of the 2nd century AD. Odyssey is your journey into the world of Ancient History; from the dawn of Mesopotamia to the fall of Rome. We'll be bringing you only the best documentaries that journey into the mysteries and ruins of worlds long lost.

It is liquid gold to many, the ancient Egyptians included. This fascinating documentary takes us on an archaeological dig as the Scottish and Newcastle Brewery try to discover the secrets of the original recipe in the land of the Pharaohs. Odyssey is your journey into the world of Ancient History; from the dawn of Mesopotamia to the fall of Rome. We'll be bringing you only the best documentaries that journey into the mysteries and ruins of worlds long lost.

Qin Shi Huangdi. He is the man who united, and indeed gave China its name. His legacy includes the Great Wall and his astonishing tomb, guarded by the famed Terracotta Army. This major drama-documentary offers unprecedented access to new excavations at the major sites, and through major dramatic reconstruction, reveals the personality and motivations of this remarkable but still unknown leader. Odyssey is your journey into the world of Ancient History; from the dawn of Mesopotamia to the fall of Rome. We'll be bringing you only the best documentaries that journey into the mysteries and ruins of worlds long lost.

Mary Beard is on a mission to uncover the real Caesar, and to challenge public perception. She seeks the answers to some big questions. How did he become a one-man ruler of Rome? How did he use spin and PR on his way to the top? Why was he killed? And she asks some equally intriguing little questions. How did he conceal his bald patch? Did he really die, as William Shakespeare put it, with the words Et tu, Brute on his lips? Above all, Mary explores his surprising legacy right up to the present day. Like it or not, Caesar is still present in our everyday lives, our language, and our politics. Many dictators since, not to mention some other less autocratic leaders, have learned the tricks of their trade from Julius Caesar. Odyssey is your journey into the world of Ancient History; from the dawn of Mesopotamia to the fall of Rome. We'll be bringing you only the best documentaries that journey into the mysteries and ruins of worlds long lost.

When an ancient body is found in a shallow grave at Stonehenge, archaeologist Mike Pitts investigates the cause of death. Odyssey is your journey into the world of Ancient History; from the dawn of Mesopotamia to the fall of Rome. We'll be bringing you only the best documentaries that journey into the mysteries and ruins of worlds long lost.

The destruction of Pompeii came at the hands of one of the most famous volcanic eruptions in history. We know how its victims died, but this film sets out to answer another question - how did they live? Gleaning evidence from an extraordinary find, Cambridge professor and Pompeii expert Mary Beard provides new insight into the lives of the people who lived in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius before its cataclysmic eruption. Odyssey is your journey into the world of Ancient History; from the dawn of Mesopotamia to the fall of Rome. We'll be bringing you only the best documentaries that journey into the mysteries and ruins of worlds long lost.

This documentary attempts to reconstruct the 24 August 79 AD eruption of Vesuvius hour by hour. By using the latest evidence from volcanology. This documentary attempts to reconstruct the 24 August 79 AD eruption of Vesuvius hour by hour.

The Phoenicians invented the alphabet and modern navigation and introduced wine to Europe. But after the sacking of Carthage by the Romans in 146BC and the destruction of their library, the world was left with little evidence of Phoenician culture. The Greeks and Romans described them as willing to prostitute their daughters to win favour with their Gods. Were they victims of a propaganda campaign?

Four French museums: the Louvre, the Musée du quai Branly, the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Muséum de Rouen are faced with pressing demands to return several works of art back to countries across the world; primarily Egypt, Mali and New Zealand.

Legend tells of a utopian kingdom hidden among the towering mountains of inner Asia. A paradise on Earth, yet a place apart. A place of spiritual contentment and eternal life. A place that’s become known to the West as Shangri-La. For century’s romantics, adventurers and the devout risked their lives searching for this heaven on Earth. Many perished in the quest. Those who returned told of a journey through hostile lands, of crossing treacherous mountain passes & desert gorges in their search for a valley where people live for hundreds of years. To this day its whereabouts remains a mystery...

For the better part of 400 years people have searched the deep canyons & towering ice peaks of these mist-covered cloud forests trying to locate the lost cities of the Inca. They were all after one thing; gold. Any gold would do but there was one thing desired above all others, the Great Golden Disc of the Sun. The most sacred of all Inca relics. The Inca Holy Grail. It is in search of this Holy Grail that David Adams goes on his journey to Puncuyoc, sacred Sister City of Machu Picchu; the city sought but never found by Hiram Bingham.

Sudan is one of the world’s last frontiers. Once though this vast desert land was the home of an advanced & mysterious civilisation. An ancient kingdom that was the glory of Africa. A kingdom that once ruled Egypt. A kingdom known as Kush. David Adams travels down the Nile from Lake Nasser to Khartoum in search of the mysterious kingdom of pyramid builders and sun worshippers on a journey into the land of the Black Pharaohs.

A pilgrimage to Jerusalem begins in Istanbul, where Reeve visits the Hagia Sophia and a traditional Turkish bath; the Holy Land and Bethlehem; the 6th-century monastery of Mar Saba; the ancient ritual of walking the Via Dolorosa.

The team travel to Alfoldean in Sussex to uncover a mansion, an official Roman coaching inn. Located on Stane Street - now the A29 - the mansio was at the heart of a much larger community. The team ambitiously set out to uncover the story of the whole settlement, and as trenches are opened over a 600-metre expanse of land, the archaeologists uncover structures and finds that suggest Alfoldean was once a thriving village.

The team have been invited to Applecross to excavate a broch, a monumental stone tower that was amongst one of the largest Iron Age structures in Britain.

When Howard Carter found the tomb of the boy king Tutankhamun in 1922, he also found the remains of two foetuses buried in the pharaoh's tomb.

The team descend on the village of Ffrith in North Wales to discover if it is built on the remains of a Roman mining town. The main street runs along the route of Offa's Dyke. The dig involves excavating two gardens and the playing field, but the team are frustrated in their attempts to find a Roman bath house. The team are joined by archaeologist Chris Martin and historian David Mason.

Three part ground-breaking series, scientific and forensic tests reveal the truth behind the great civilisation of Ancient Egypt.

The team travels to what could be a Neolithic settlement in the Sussex Downs. Initially discovered by John Pull in 1923, the site is littered with remains of 6000-year-old flint mines. But Pull claimed to have discovered a second site nearby, which has so far eluded other diggers. The team are joined by archaeologist Miles Russell, pottery expert Sue Hamilton and wood specialist Maisie Taylor. Neolithic lifestyle specialist Jacqui Wood makes some elderflower tea and threatens to make a new hat for Phil. Phil and Francis demonstrate the relative merits of mesolithic and neolithic axes.

Sex, death and the Lotus: What links a water lily, the afterlife and sex in Ancient Egypt? The team revisit the mystery of the Egyptian afterlife to find out.

When a colony of moles brings up pieces of mosaic floor in a Cotswold field, Tony Robinson and the team investigate whether the findings could be linked to a nearby Roman villa discovered almost 200 years ago. A local spring might give a clue to the true purpose of the building. The team are joined by local archaeologist Roger Box, and Roman specialists David Neal and Richard Reece.

The Roman empire was a time of power and brutality, fuelled by violent games and bloodbaths. However, it was also abundant in refinement and extreme sensuality. Food and cooking was a key indicator of success, with quality and abundance of dishes the primary measure. As the first and largest european civilisation, Rome was at the epicenter of culinary innovation, with an acute emphasis on vegetables, meat, and spices.

The Team descend on the bleak, beautiful landscape of Bodmin Moor to face one their biggest challenges yet. The dig aims to date a possible Bronze Age village of stone houses. But alongside the village is a vast and mysterious 500-metre-long stone structure. The team are joined by Peter Herring of Cornwall Heritage Trust and environmental archaeologist Ben Gearey.

Six hundred Roman coins, 40 broaches and a peculiar piece of metal lead Tony and the team to a Surrey field. Could the ancient metal be part of a Roman priests' sceptre, and if so, could there also be an unknown Roman Temple underfoot? `Time Team' has hunted Roman temples many times before and always failed to find them: could this be the dig that changes all that?

The team descends upon the sleepy Oxfordshire village of Islip, the birthplace of Edward the Confessor, for one of the most challenging and intriguing excavations of the series. They are joined by architectural historians Sam Newton and Jonathan Foyle. Helen and Sam visit Westminster Abbey to view original documents relating Edward to Islip.

The Island of Anglesey was once home to one of history's most mysterious groups: the Druids. The Romans accused them of magical rituals, human sacrifice and even cannibalism, and soon after the invasion, the full force of the Roman army descended on this small island. Their mission: to destroy this stronghold of the British resistance.

The team are in Somerset to investigate the remains of a small Roman villa, dating back to just after the time of the Roman invasion in 43 a.d. But previous excavations suggest it was occupied by local inhabitants rather than Roman invaders. Could it have been built on the site of an earlier, Iron Age settlement? The team are joined by Roman specialists John Creighton and Tom Moore, and Claire Ryley makes an authentic period garden. Members of the Stranglers put in a surprise appearance

Time Team come to Binchester with a particular interest in uncovering a vicus, a civilian settlement supporting the Roman fort of Vinovia. Though part of the plot is a restricted scheduled monument, the vicus should be large enough for some of it to lie outside the scheduled area. John's spectacular geophysics indicates not only a possible Roman temple or mausoleum, but also a second, earlier fort. Together with cremation burials, it all forces the team to rethink their priorities.

In 2005, a major storm eroded a dune next to the beach at Allasdale, Barra, exposing cists and human remains. The Team goes on a rescue-dig, before the site is lost to erosion forever. The team are joined by archaeologists Mike Parker Pearson and Keith Branigan, and animal bones specialist Jackie Mulville. Jackie McKinley investigates some well-preserved human remains, and potter Ursina Hack-Maclellan throws some pots using an experimental prehistoric style clamp-kiln.

A set of inscribed panels carved by the ancient Maya people of Central America inspired Dr Neil Brodie of Cambridge University, an expert on the looting of archaeological treasures, to mount an expedition to the jungles of Guatemala. Their mission - to find the lost city from which the stone panels came.

One summer during the 1980s, strange crop marks appeared in two fields on the north Cornish coast near Lellizzick. Locals have picked up a wealth of 1,500-year-old pottery and metalwork from as far away as North Africa and Turkey. Combined with some spectacular geophysics, it all suggested that this was once a busy international trading site.[4] In Mick's opinion copper and tin would have been exchanged for foreign luxury goods. But Time Team are having trouble dating the site. They are joined by Steve Hartgroves from Cornwall County Council, Finds specialist Carl Thorpe, and Byzantine expert Anthea Harris.