The Ancient World with Bettany Hughes - Season 1

Season 1

The Ancient World is a seven part documentary series presented by historian Bettany Hughes, it was originally aired by British TV station Channel 4 over the course of an 8 year period. Hughes, takes us on a wonderful journey through the ancient world and at each stop on this journey providing us with extensive insight into what it would have been like to be alive at this period in time and how these ancient worlds help shape the world we live in today.

Network

Episodes8

DatesOct 23, 2004 - Apr 21, 2010

Episodes

Season 1Episode 1102 min

The Minoans

Historian Bettany Hughes explores Crete, once home to the mighty Minoan civilisation whose sophisticated society changed the whole of Greece.

Oct 23, 2004

Season 1Episode 2102 min

When the Moors Ruled in Europe

Historian Bettany Hughes looks at the influence of the Moorish invasion of Spain in 711 AD, and the lasting cultural and scientific legacy they created.

Nov 5, 2005

Season 1Episode 349 min

Athens: The Truth about Democracy (Part 1)

This first episode charts the epic story of Athens' victory in one of the greatest sea battles of the ancient world, when the Athenian triremes defeat Xerxes' mighty Persian fleet at Salamis.

Jul 21, 2007

Season 1Episode 448 min

Athens: The Truth about Democracy (Part 2)

Bettany Hughes digs beneath the surface of Golden Age Athens to explore the bloody but exhilarating truth about the world's first democracy.

Jul 28, 2007

Season 1Episode 5103 min

Engineering Ancient Egypt

A special one-off documentary exploring how Egypt's two greatest pharaohs, Khufu and Ramesses II, built their way to immortality.

Dec 31, 2008

Season 1Episode 650 min

Alexandria: The Greatest City

Historian Bettany Hughes reveals the story of Alexander the Great's city, built in the North African desert and designed from the outset to be the world's first centre of culture.

Mar 24, 2010

Season 1Episode 7105 min

Helen of Troy

Bettany Hughes embarks on an epic journey across the Mediterranean to disentangle myth from reality and find out the truth about the most beautiful woman on earth.

Apr 14, 2010

Season 1Episode 8158 min

The Spartans

Bettany Hughes reveals the secrets and complexities of the Spartan martial way of life and its bloody rivalry with Athens.

Apr 21, 2010

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