Watch Empires
- PBS
- 1 Season, 23 Episodes
- July 18, 2001
- Documentary & Biography
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/10 - Cast: Paul Cartledge, Victor Davis Hanson, Keith Hopwood, Liam Neeson
Watch Full Episodes of Empires
Empires Full Episode Guide
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The first segment tells the story of the troubled birth of the world's first democracy, ancient Athens, through the life of an Athenian nobleman, Cleisthenes. In the brutal world of the 5th century BC, the Athenians struggle against a series of tyrants and their greatest rival, Sparta, to create a new "society of equals." The program closes on the eve of the new society's first great test: invasion by the mighty empire of Persia.
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Peter & Paul and the Christian Revolution: Part 2
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Peter & Paul and the Christian Revolution: Part 1
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During the reign of Amenhotep III, Egypt was the center for culture and learning in the ancient world. Egypt had reached dizzying heights, but it stood on the brink of a devastating fall. Amenhotep III's son and successor, Amenophis IV, took the throne by storm, changed his name to Akhenaten and announced that the old gods of Egypt were dead. He moved his entire court and thousands of followers to the new capital city of Armana. By his side was Queen Nefertiti. Obsessed by his new religion, he lost sight of the empire. When Nefertiti died, his world fell apart. Akhenaten's successor, Tutankhamun, was only 10 years old when he took the throne. By the time he was 19, all traces of Akhenaten and Nefertiti had been erased. With his death came the end of the great dynasty of the empire builders.
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Egypt was occupied by foreigners except for a narrow strip of land around a town called Thebes. The capital and its royal family had fallen on hard times. But one local family was determined to revive it--the king of Thebes and his two young sons Ahmose and Kamose, who became freedom fighters, liberators of Egypt. Through enormous struggle, hardships and personal tragedy, the enemy Hykos was expelled, and Egypt was finally reunited. But their successor, Hatshepsut, put Egypt in jeopardy because she was a woman and declared herself pharaoh, breaking 2,000 years of tradition. She had stolen the throne from her stepson, Tuthmosis III. He would have to wait 20 years before he ruled Egypt. When he came to the throne, Tuthmosis was determined to remove the record of his stepmother from history. In a massive battle at Megiddo--the site of biblical Armageddon--he revealed himself as one of the greatest war generals. His crushing victories over Nubia guaranteed Egypt seemingly endless supplies of gold. Tuthmosis did what no other pharaoh had ever dreamed of: he built an empire.
