The Greeks:
Crucible of
Civilization
It was perhaps the most spectacular flourishing of imagination and achievement in recorded history
. In the Fourth and
Fifth Centuries BC, the
Greeks built an empire that stretched across the
Mediterranean from
Asia to
Spain. They laid the foundations of modern science, politics, warfare and philosophy, and produced some of the most breathtaking art and architecture the world has ever seen. This series, narrated by
Liam Neeson, recounts the rise, glory, demise and legacy of the empire that marked the dawn of
Western civilization. The story of this astonishing civilization is told through the lives of heroes of ancient
Greece. The latest advances in computer and television technology rebuild the
Acropolis, recreate the
Battle of Marathon and restore the grandeur of the
Academy, where
Socrates,
Plato and
Aristotle forged the foundation of
Western though. The series combines dramatic storytelling, stunning imagery, new research and distinguished scholarship to render classical Greece gloriously alive.
Empire of Mind
The final segment describes how
Athens, at the height of her glory, engaged in a suicidal conflict with her greatest rival,
Sparta. Through the eyes of Socrates, Athens' first philosopher, viewers see the tragic descent of
Athenian democracy into mob rule.The episode opens in 399
B.C., after the great philosopher Socrates has been sentenced to death and Athens lies in ruins after a war with Sparta. This episode goes back to 431 B.C., to an Athens at the height of its cultural, political, and economic power.
Having taken great leaps forward in every field of learning, and with a strong economy that dominates Mediterranean trade, Athens and its
150,
000 residents are the envy of their neighbors, in particular, bellicose Sparta.
Jealous of Athenian success, the Spartans yearn to spill Athenian blood and dominate the region. Of course,
Pericles knows what is coming, and he orders the citizens to abandon open areas and take refuge inside the walls of Athens. The mighty Athenian fleet will provide supplies for the citizens through the port of
Piraeus and a walled corridor between that city and Athens. Over time, the navy will prevail, as it had against the Persians, and win yet another victory. Much is at stake -- democracy, freedom, the whole Athenian way of life. As expected, the Spartans invade and burn the open areas around the city.
But it is the unexpected that deals the most devastating blow to Athens.
Incoming ships with supplies for the walled-in Greeks carry plague-bearing rats feeding on grain. The disease ravages the Athenians, inflicting agony on them and killing one out of every three.
The Spartans are of little concern; what matters is surviving until tomorrow. Pericles' esteem plummets even as he himself contracts the plague and eventually dies.
Finally in
404 B.C., Athens surrenders. The Athenians, shattered and stripped of their empire, take revenge on their most vocal critic and condemn Socrates to death before a people's court
The
History of Sparta describes the destiny of the ancient
Dorian Greek state known as Sparta from its beginning in the legendary period to its incorporation into the
Achaean League under the late
Roman Republic, as
Allied State, in 146 BC, a period of roughly
1000 years. Since the
Dorians were not the first to settle the valley of the
Eurotas River in the
Peloponnesus of Greece, the preceding
Mycenaean and
Stone Age periods are described as well. Sparta went on to become a district of modern Greece. Brief mention is made of events in the post-classical periods.
Dorian Sparta rose to dominance in the
6th century BC. At the time of the
Persian Wars, it was the recognized leader by assent of the
Greek city-states. It subsequently lost that assent through suspicion that the Athenians were plotting to break up the
Spartan state after an earthquake destroyed Sparta in 464 BC. When Sparta defeated Athens in the
Peloponnesian War, it secured an unrivaled hegemony over southern Greece.[1] Sparta's supremacy was broken following the
Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC.[1] It was never able to regain its military supremacy[2] and was finally absorbed by the Achaean League in the
2nd century BC.
From
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Sparta
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- published: 29 Apr 2015
- views: 1464