Empires - The Roman Empire in the First Century (2001)

A superb and all too brief look at the Roman Empire of the first century CE and how it was able to reach political stability

The Roman Empire was truly an amazing political, economic and social entity. A wide variety of cultures and tribes were conquered and absorbed into the Empire. From the dark skinned North Africans to the blonde and fair-skinned people of Northern Europe to the swarthy inhabitants of Judea, they all brought their cultural heritage, religious beliefs and history into the Empire. Slavery was a fundamental part of the functioning of the Roman Empire, as the majority of people were slaves of one form or another. However, as is pointed out on this video, the slavery was not based on skin color, but on your history and social condition. If you were part of the aristocracy and were loyal to the Empire, then skin color was irrelevant. No political entity then or since has been able to command such loyalty from so diverse a population.
As the Empire generally ceased to expand and began the process of consolidation, many problems appeared. In a relatively short time, the Empire had expanded from the leg and boot of Italy to encompass nearly all the Mediterranean coastline and most of Europe. This led to severe political and social problems that took decades to resolve. Once an Emperor ascended the throne, the twin problems of succession and how to remove a mad tyrant were the most serious issues. The Emperor's word was law, yet that word could be used to cause the deaths of political rivals. At the end, assassination was the only means where an insane Emperor could be removed from his position.
This video is a superb recapitulation of that most dynamic of times. The imagery and narration answer many of the questions as to how the Empire was able to weather the first storms of political instability. Inherent in that stability was the first rumblings of a major new religion created from the life of a humble Jewish martyr. If you are interested in the history of the Roman Empire in the first century of the Christian Era, then this is the natural and best place to begin.
December 30, 2007

The reign of the caesars

Augustus was the big man. He ruled with an iron fist. The majority of his successors were failures. There is a story in the second chapter that is very interesting. It is the story of Sejanus. He was a political gangster who wielded power during the reign of the emperor Tiberius. I love to hear the stories of political intrigues during ancient history. The first chapter is good, but too much about some poet. Who cares about ancient poetry, I want more blood and guts stories. Another great story is of a General named Germanicus. He was like JFK. This dvd is worth a watch for sure if you like roman history. May 29, 2007

Utterly Disappointing

While others have done a decent job in describing how terrible this documentary is and how much better PBS could have done producing it, what added to my surprise apart from the poor work of scholarship, were the comments made about Jesus. Karen King, a self proclaimed expert on the history of ancient Christianity narrated a couple of incidents and attributed them to the blessed life of Jesus. Later she goes on to say that those events rightly led to the crucifixion of Jesus by the Romans. I found that rather nonsensical.

Also, a great deal of time was spent narrating obscene verses from the collections of Ovid which I wonder why were found to be more relevant to the Roman Empire as compared to the political turmoil Rome was in or the military expeditions of her generals. Quite frankly, I had never imagined a PBS documentary would have disappointed me more. November 11, 2006

Sad about the "video" when "audio" being so great

i was REALLY looking forward to see this video.
i had downloaded somewhere,what i first believed to be an audiobook about The Roman Empire.Then to my exitement i found out that it was the audio track from this DVD.
I ordered it,and i was sadely dissapointed.
The video i imagined in my head,when listening to the audio track was FAR from reality.
The video part i made without drama,without action...without actors/acting in the true sense.Just more like "background" video.It truly did NOT add upp to the marvelous audio part.
Its not that i am saying "Do NOT buy this DVD" its more like saying dont look,just listen. Because the Audio track is perfect.From Sigourney Weaver's cool and sensitive telling,to the actors playing the part as the storry about the Roman Empire,unfolds.
So 2 Stars for the Video part. 5 Stars for the Audio
March 15, 2006

Do not buy this DVD from "marketplacesales-vmh "

This company will rip you off. I ordered this DVD and they never delivered it claiming they were waiting for it to arrive (like WTF!?).

Pass the word, put this company out of business! October 30, 2005

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