Andrew Marr’s History of the World

Episode
Episode 2 - Age of Empire
Broadcast Info
2012 (58 mins)
Description
Andrew Marr tells the story of the first empires which laid the foundations for the modern world. From the Assyrian’s brutal King Sennacherib to the vast empire of Alexander the Great, conquerors rampaged across the Middle East and vicious wars were fought all the way from China to the Mediterranean. Marr visits the Hebrew town of Lachish, where he uncovers an Assyrian siege ramp, demonstrating their brutality in war. The Phoenicians spread their sea-faring empire through their use of Phoenicians boats, allowing their Phoenician alphabet to spread as a result of trade. At the riverbed of the Pactolus, Marr reveals how the gold and silver made King Croesus one of the richest men in history, creating the first ever gold coins of reliable weight and purity. In the ruins of Sardis, the capital of Lydia in what is now Turkey, Marr tells the story of King Croesus’s encounter with the Persian King Cyrus the Great. However the Persians were then to later attack Greece, at the Battle of Marathon we see how military tactics can defend from the strongest of armies. With this we discover the beginnings of the Olympics and marathon, from the soldiers’ run back to Athens to defend their city. Marr visits Pella in Greece, the former palace of Alexander the Great, as well as Alexander’s teacher, Aristotle’s school at the Lyceum in Athens. From the Jews exiled in Babylon, emerged one of the most powerful ideas in world history: monotheism. Marr visits the Buddhan Mahabodhi Temple in Bodhgaya, India, dedicated to The Buddha who offered a new way of living with no place for violence. Marr reveals how The Buddha gained his enlightenment under a Bodhi tree. The Buddha opened the way for a new way of thinking. In Greek philosopher Socrates in Athens laid the foundations of western philosophy and in China, Confucius suggested a new way to rule as recorded in the analects. And in Greece democracy was born - the greatest political experiment of all. Marr visits the Ancient Agora and the Acropolis.
Genre
History; Philosophy and Ethics; Architecture; Science; Technology; Religion; Art and Design

How to cite this record

The Open University, "Andrew Marr’s History of the World". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ou/search/index.php/prog/83131 (Accessed 10 Jan 2025)