Ancient Civilisations (6 Parts)

Synopsis

Series looking at how the ancient civilisations in China, India, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome and meso-America originated, what sustained them and why they fell.

Language

English

Country

United States

Medium

Video; Videocassette. VHS. col. 6 x 30 min.

Year of production

1998

Availability

Sale; 1999 sale: £29.50 (+VAT +p&p) each

Uses

Age 14 and up.

Subjects

Archaeology; History

Keywords

ancient civilisations; Aztecs; China; Egyptology; Greece - classical; India; Peru; Roman Empire

Sections

Title

Beginning is in the end, The

Synopsis

1: How civilisations began in China, India, Egypt, and Central America. Concentrates on Sumer, a region of Mesopotamia near the juncture of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Shows how the basic human needs for food, security, and creativity shaped the patt

Title

Balancing the budget

Synopsis

2: How the discovery of agriculture and the subsequent domestication of animals gradually led to economies based on trade, using Egypt as an example. Al;so studies the Minoans and Phoenicians, both great traders.

Title

Safekeeping

Synopsis

3: How the study of ancient systems of security reveals how these systems evolved into sophisticated governments and codes of law. Contrasts Athens and Sparta, and examines the Etruscans and republican Rome.

Title

On the town

Synopsis

4: Looks at the achievements of the peak periods of ancient civilisations in Greece, India, China and Central America. Shows how accomplishments in art, medicine, architecture, literature, and philosophy had a great impact on the shaping of the modern wor

Title

Legacies

Synopsis

5: How the past laid the groundwork for many developemts in the Western world today, with ancient Rome as an example. Second only to the Greeks, who left a wealth of innovations, ancient Romans invented little but excelled at borrowing ideas from Greece a

Title

End is the beginning, The

Synopsis

6: Looks at the decline and fall of civilisations, focusing on ancient societies in India, Greece, Egypt, Italy and Central America. Maintains that the main reason for collapse was the inabliity of societies to adapt to the political and environmental ch

Production Company

Name

United Learning

Notes

See: AGC United Learning

Distributor

Name

Viewtech Educational Media

Notes

NB. Viewtech ceased trading in 2014 and the company’s products are no longer in distribution