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The Great Courses
History of the Ancient World: A Global Perspective
Even though you might never stop to think about it, the ancient world and the civilizations it produced are with you in almost everything you do. The ancient world has influenced our customs and religious beliefs, our laws, and the form of our governments. It has taught us when and how we make war or pursue peace. It has shaped the buildings we live and work in and the art we hang on our walls. It has given us the calendar that organizes our year and has left its mark on the games we play.
Includes a PDF course guidebook that contains 362 pages.
Includes a PDF course guidebook that contains 362 pages.
24 pages, Audible Audio
First published January 1, 2011
45 people are currently reading
785 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
September 5, 2022
Learning about history can be a daunting task, especially the Ancient World. Where do you begin? This is one question I've asked myself and it took me a while to figure that out. I'm unsure how I stumbled upon this lecture series, but I gave the first lecture a shot and I was awed. I never learnt about the Ancient World, I was not provided with that type of education in school, for me it was mainly centred upon WW2. So, each lecture was just a wealth of new knowledge for me. The important thing I took away from this lecture series is how important the past is and why it's worth studying, but also how fun history can be. For a long time, I never cared too much about history, but after this lecture series, I want to delve deeper because it's interesting. This most likely isn't a series for people who are already well acquainted with the Ancient World, however, if you are the opposite, I would highly recommend it. The lecturer I found to be very engaging, it's not just describing battles but a lot of discussion of culture, morals, lifestyles and learning about key figures that shape our world. This is not a review, but my general thoughts on an excellent lecture series, that I had a lot of fun listening to. By the end of the lecture series will you be well acquainted with Ancient History? Most definitely not, however, this is a great stepping-stone to learn more about history in general, but you will still learn a good deal. Overall, I would recommend giving it a shot.
December 30, 2016
Before this course, I had no interest in history of any kind. I thought it was boring, useless and can't fathom why people even like history. After this course, I'm enthralled with learning more about history as it has wakened a dormant desire for knowledge within. That is how inspiring this course is. Endlessly fascinating, Aldrete has made history accessible, relevant and even humorous. Highly engaging and well organized, I cannot recommend this course enough to everyone.
May 26, 2021
This Great Course series synthesizes a swath of world history more intelligently than the other courses I’ve heard on this broad topic. The segments beyond traditional Western Civilization are not just for show they are integrated into the presentation as a whole.
The barbarians of the North as described by the Romans relied on red-meat, cheese, and beer for their survival thus were not as noble as the Romans or Greeks since according to the Civilized Roman, people must have olives, olive oil, wine and grapes and as the Lecturer mention for his home state of Wisconsin they can also be described as preferring red meat, cheese and beer just as the barbarians. When the conqueror conquers, they justify it because they are bringing the finer parts of civilization as they see it to those who they think are in desperate need for it.
There is an end point such that the Lecturer ultimately teleologically places his overriding narrative about the narrative of the history and it is why the Lecturer brings his story to an end at about 800 C.E., the Lecturer’s thrust is an acknowledgement to Pirenne’s seven words thesis: ‘Without Mohammad, Charlemagne would have been inconceivable’. We need order before we can have chaos, and we must have the chaos before we can have order. The Mediterranean hegemony needed to be broken before Europe could be important in its own right.
The contrast between Rome and China sometimes floored this listener, also the variability within each Civilizations is presented beautifully. The Pagan Romans looked outside of themselves and publicly for their meaning, the Christian Romans looked in themselves and privately. The Chinese Emperors were to be shielded from the populous since the Emperor’s power comes from the mystery and the Middle Kingdom itself, the Romans Emperors would hold gladiator games and made sure the populous saw them at the games and as the provider of the games because their power came from the people.
A very good lecture series which I would not hesitate to listen to again when the fancy strikes me.
The barbarians of the North as described by the Romans relied on red-meat, cheese, and beer for their survival thus were not as noble as the Romans or Greeks since according to the Civilized Roman, people must have olives, olive oil, wine and grapes and as the Lecturer mention for his home state of Wisconsin they can also be described as preferring red meat, cheese and beer just as the barbarians. When the conqueror conquers, they justify it because they are bringing the finer parts of civilization as they see it to those who they think are in desperate need for it.
There is an end point such that the Lecturer ultimately teleologically places his overriding narrative about the narrative of the history and it is why the Lecturer brings his story to an end at about 800 C.E., the Lecturer’s thrust is an acknowledgement to Pirenne’s seven words thesis: ‘Without Mohammad, Charlemagne would have been inconceivable’. We need order before we can have chaos, and we must have the chaos before we can have order. The Mediterranean hegemony needed to be broken before Europe could be important in its own right.
The contrast between Rome and China sometimes floored this listener, also the variability within each Civilizations is presented beautifully. The Pagan Romans looked outside of themselves and publicly for their meaning, the Christian Romans looked in themselves and privately. The Chinese Emperors were to be shielded from the populous since the Emperor’s power comes from the mystery and the Middle Kingdom itself, the Romans Emperors would hold gladiator games and made sure the populous saw them at the games and as the provider of the games because their power came from the people.
A very good lecture series which I would not hesitate to listen to again when the fancy strikes me.
September 21, 2023
I finished this series while having breakfast, and in the penultimate lecture I learned how one of the great luxuries afforded to Charlemagne was to hear histories read aloud during his meals, from tutors versed in stories from antiquity.
December 30, 2022
3.5 rounded up to 4.
Really engaging. Great narrator. Pulls you in.
But not a global perspective. 24 of the 48 lectures are on the Greeks and Romans. Although other major civilizations are covered, they receive far less attention. For instance, when setting up a series of comparisons between classical Rome and Han China, Prof. Aldrete spends 5 straight lectures on Roman history and just one on the Han. The entire history of Islamic civilization gets one lecture. The whole of the Americas get three lectures - the same as the life and legacy of Alexander the Great.
This weighting aside, each lecture is interesting and well delivered. Aldrete is an engaging speaker.
I enjoyed these lectures, and that's great. They are fun and informative, and I enjoyed my time and really nice for beginners like me, but just know, that this is not a global perspective.
Really engaging. Great narrator. Pulls you in.
But not a global perspective. 24 of the 48 lectures are on the Greeks and Romans. Although other major civilizations are covered, they receive far less attention. For instance, when setting up a series of comparisons between classical Rome and Han China, Prof. Aldrete spends 5 straight lectures on Roman history and just one on the Han. The entire history of Islamic civilization gets one lecture. The whole of the Americas get three lectures - the same as the life and legacy of Alexander the Great.
This weighting aside, each lecture is interesting and well delivered. Aldrete is an engaging speaker.
I enjoyed these lectures, and that's great. They are fun and informative, and I enjoyed my time and really nice for beginners like me, but just know, that this is not a global perspective.
August 26, 2018
This 24-hour lecture series is, thus far, the most impressive of the history lessons I have listened to in the Great Courses. Prof. Aldrete has done a superb job of taking a 4,000 year block of history on every inhabited continent to explore the history and in an entertaining way! I learned quite a bit from this.
November 13, 2023
ইতিহাসও যে অ্যাত্তো দারুণ করে পড়ানো যায় - এর আগে জানাই ছিল না। কোর্সটার প্রতিটা সেকেন্ডই এনজয় করেছি, তাই সময় ও সাধ হলে আরও একবার দেখতেও পারি।
থ্যাঙ্কস, প্রফেসর! ফর দিস ওয়ান্ডারফুল জার্নি!
'প্রাচীন বিশ্ব সভ্যতাগুলোর ইতিহাস' টপিক শুরু করার ক্ষেত্রে মূল ভিত্তি হিসেবে এই অনলাইন কোর্সটা বেস্ট। (তবে অবশ্যই এ বিষয়ে "এক্সপার্টদের" জন্য না)
[খারাপ দিক: "নট ট্রুলি গ্লোবাল"]
(Wondrium app ~ Online Course)
থ্যাঙ্কস, প্রফেসর! ফর দিস ওয়ান্ডারফুল জার্নি!
'প্রাচীন বিশ্ব সভ্যতাগুলোর ইতিহাস' টপিক শুরু করার ক্ষেত্রে মূল ভিত্তি হিসেবে এই অনলাইন কোর্সটা বেস্ট। (তবে অবশ্যই এ বিষয়ে "এক্সপার্টদের" জন্য না)
[খারাপ দিক: "নট ট্রুলি গ্লোবাল"]
(Wondrium app ~ Online Course)
November 19, 2017
A truly fantastic tour through the ancient world and one that doesn't focus exclusively or selectively on western civilization. The more one reads about history the more one realizes that there are many examples of someone saying that they're book focuses on "the history of the ancient world" and what they really mean is "ancient European history" or "history of the ancient Mediterranean civilizations." This book is not one of those. It covers the Mayan, Incan, Aztec, and Olmec civilizations in the Americas, as well as the Han dynasty, the rise of Islam, and other noteworthy ancient peoples as well as the Roman and Greek civilizations that people are probably going to be more familiar with.
Aldrete strikes the right tone throughout the book and manages to make it enjoyable and interesting while educational and that's something that not many people are able to do. I highly recommend this to fans of history. You won't be disappointed.
Aldrete strikes the right tone throughout the book and manages to make it enjoyable and interesting while educational and that's something that not many people are able to do. I highly recommend this to fans of history. You won't be disappointed.
March 14, 2019
48 exhaustive lectures covering ancient history from the earliest Iraqi civilizations to Charlemagne. Prof. Aldrete has done a marvelous job in presenting the complete picture of the ancient world! I think that he spent more percentage of lectures on Roman and Chinese history than I would have liked. But, to be fair, he did cover other civilizations to a considerable extent.
As an Indian, I feel he could have spent a few more lectures on post-Mauryan history of India. Prof. Aldrete rationalizes that omission by stating that India did not have comparable political or institutional unity in this period; and that it didn't have a significant impact on the rest of the world. I don't agree with his assessment but I understand the 21st century need to structure history courses from the tri-partite perspective involving the West, the Middle-East and China.
Listen to this course and you will know everything of substance that there is to know about the ancient world.
As an Indian, I feel he could have spent a few more lectures on post-Mauryan history of India. Prof. Aldrete rationalizes that omission by stating that India did not have comparable political or institutional unity in this period; and that it didn't have a significant impact on the rest of the world. I don't agree with his assessment but I understand the 21st century need to structure history courses from the tri-partite perspective involving the West, the Middle-East and China.
Listen to this course and you will know everything of substance that there is to know about the ancient world.
June 30, 2023
This lecture series is 48 lectures, so its pretty long. Dr. Aldrete speaks very well and he is an engaging lecturer. I have not listened to a whole lecture series by him before this one, but I had listened to a few lectures from his Decisive Battles From World History and thought I would enjoy this one. The trouble was that it was pretty wide but not very deep.
Professor Aldrete is able to come up with some interesting facts and comparisons throughout the series. It just wasn't specific enough for me. When studying cultures, I like to take deep dives and this was more just a cursory overview of many cultures. So, I guess I was sort of bored by it. Its fine for what it is, an overview of many ancient civilizations. But I wanted deeper lessons and that is not what this course is intended to do.
Professor Aldrete is able to come up with some interesting facts and comparisons throughout the series. It just wasn't specific enough for me. When studying cultures, I like to take deep dives and this was more just a cursory overview of many cultures. So, I guess I was sort of bored by it. Its fine for what it is, an overview of many ancient civilizations. But I wanted deeper lessons and that is not what this course is intended to do.
March 26, 2023
History of the Ancient World: A Global Perspective instructed by Professor Gregory S. Aldrete was, in my opinion, a very enlightening, although daunting, course which totaled 48 lectures. The overall scope of the course discusses the emergence and progression of the more prominent civilizations in the ancient world which includes the areas around Mesopotamia, India, China, Greece, the Mediterranean, and ancient North and South America (particularly Mexico and Peru). The course covers what historians know about civilization from its beginning in the land between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, where the Sumerians first appeared around 3100 B.C., and ends in Europe at the close of the reign of Charlemagne in 814 A.D. Consequently, this is a course that provides the potential student with a very general overview of world history for about 4,000 years. If a person wants to go into greater detail on any specific civilization, such as gaining an increased understanding of Egypt, Rome, or Greece other courses are available, but that is not the purpose for this course. Consequently, in this course, the student can see the overall growth of civilization as it began on a worldwide spectrum.
In my opinion, Professor Aldrete's course achieved its goal and scope. The professor does an excellent job comparing the different civilizations in their different phases as they independently progress (particularly with regard to the regions around the Mediterranean, India, and China) throughout the world. In doing that he broaches some fascinating observations regarding the emergence of different advancements, such as philosophy, religion, the arts, technology, architecture, and defense, to name a few, in the various regions that occurred separately but, surprisingly, achieved strikingly similar results. This type of occurrence happens more often than the typical observer realizes when only taking a course relating to one specific civilization.
In my opinion, Professor Aldrete's presentation skills are excellent. He is not only very knowledgeable about his subject, but he presents the information professionally and with enthusiasm. Consequently, any student that takes this course will keep an interest in the lectures simply due to the presentations themselves. In addition, the visual aides were excellent and assisted the viewer in understanding the geographical location of specific events, historical milestones, and world changing developments.
In addition, the guidebook for the course was very thorough, and, actually, I made it a practice of reading the material in the guidebook prior to listening to the lecture. It helped a great deal in gaining a better understanding and remembering the information in the lecture series. Additionally, the guidebook also includes two very helpful tools in the index section. One is a Timeline that highlights the pivotal events in ancient history, and another is a comparative timeline chart. Both were very helpful in understanding the chronology of events.
While a high school student, I unfortunately was not required to take an ancient civilization course. Consequently, I was unknowledgeable of many of the topics that Professor Aldrete discussed in the course, but he brought many of these ideas to light for me, and most importantly he made me want to learn more about the different civilizations that he discussed. He also helped me to understand the importance of history in becoming aware of how it continues to repeat itself, particularly as we observe current events. In my opinion, that is a sign of a successful and inspiring educator. I would love to take a course from him in person, and highly recommend this series, notwithstanding its length of 48 half hour lectures.
In my opinion, Professor Aldrete's course achieved its goal and scope. The professor does an excellent job comparing the different civilizations in their different phases as they independently progress (particularly with regard to the regions around the Mediterranean, India, and China) throughout the world. In doing that he broaches some fascinating observations regarding the emergence of different advancements, such as philosophy, religion, the arts, technology, architecture, and defense, to name a few, in the various regions that occurred separately but, surprisingly, achieved strikingly similar results. This type of occurrence happens more often than the typical observer realizes when only taking a course relating to one specific civilization.
In my opinion, Professor Aldrete's presentation skills are excellent. He is not only very knowledgeable about his subject, but he presents the information professionally and with enthusiasm. Consequently, any student that takes this course will keep an interest in the lectures simply due to the presentations themselves. In addition, the visual aides were excellent and assisted the viewer in understanding the geographical location of specific events, historical milestones, and world changing developments.
In addition, the guidebook for the course was very thorough, and, actually, I made it a practice of reading the material in the guidebook prior to listening to the lecture. It helped a great deal in gaining a better understanding and remembering the information in the lecture series. Additionally, the guidebook also includes two very helpful tools in the index section. One is a Timeline that highlights the pivotal events in ancient history, and another is a comparative timeline chart. Both were very helpful in understanding the chronology of events.
While a high school student, I unfortunately was not required to take an ancient civilization course. Consequently, I was unknowledgeable of many of the topics that Professor Aldrete discussed in the course, but he brought many of these ideas to light for me, and most importantly he made me want to learn more about the different civilizations that he discussed. He also helped me to understand the importance of history in becoming aware of how it continues to repeat itself, particularly as we observe current events. In my opinion, that is a sign of a successful and inspiring educator. I would love to take a course from him in person, and highly recommend this series, notwithstanding its length of 48 half hour lectures.
July 19, 2020
An excellent little history book. So much information and so well organised.
One of those books that gets you sharing facts with your other nerdy friends.
One of those books that gets you sharing facts with your other nerdy friends.
May 9, 2017
Honestly, I was somewhat skeptical about this lecture series. I anticipated a bunch of somewhat somewhat bloated lectures on the same old (really old) things. But Aldrete does a fantastic job of comparing and contrasting, of drawing parallels across civilizations. He actually has three lectures that compare and contrast the Han and Roman Empires. This approach was fascinating - instead of the more typical deep dive on just the Greeks or just the Persians.
This breadth combined with good depth in several regions were impressive. He even dresses up a few times in various clothing and even armor for the topic of the lecture to help the viewer and to break the monotony of more business clothing. The use of maps and many other images throughout the series were very helpful in keeping places straight.
I'm sure an audio version of this would be very good. But it really shines if you can watch the series.
Very highly recommended!
This breadth combined with good depth in several regions were impressive. He even dresses up a few times in various clothing and even armor for the topic of the lecture to help the viewer and to break the monotony of more business clothing. The use of maps and many other images throughout the series were very helpful in keeping places straight.
I'm sure an audio version of this would be very good. But it really shines if you can watch the series.
Very highly recommended!
August 14, 2018
This series of lectures was very interesting, especially the lectures that covered Ancient Greece and Rome. Overall I enjoyed listening to this, but I ran into the same issue that I have had with the other Great Courses; that is I prefer to listen to fiction and read nonfiction (sidenote: we should change the latter's name to 'faction'). I love going through and annotating/highlighting fact based literature, as I can easily go back and reference / generally remember the information better with that strategy. I got this version on Audible, which does not include the handy little outline books that one can go through whist listening.
Great Courses have tons of information, but I feel as though I forget most of it almost immediately. Also, the perfect setting for listening to these is in long car rides, and as I don't take these trips that often, it takes me months and months to get through the whole lectures. These would be perfect for people with a long commute.
Great Courses have tons of information, but I feel as though I forget most of it almost immediately. Also, the perfect setting for listening to these is in long car rides, and as I don't take these trips that often, it takes me months and months to get through the whole lectures. These would be perfect for people with a long commute.
March 10, 2021
I used to hate history in school, where teachers would force me to memorize all the dates, and names, and facts, without using the most powerful tool in their arsenal - an engaging storytelling.
This course is one of the few recent discoveries that rekindled my interest in history, especially in ancient history and middle ages. It includes a wonderful (albeit, brief) overview of ancient civilizations from around 3000 BC to early middle ages (around 700-800 AD). The lectures are filled with interesting facts and comparative analysis of different cultures across time and geography. I especially loved how professor Aldrete poses questions for you to think about (for example, on some aspects of cultural development, or patterns and analogies seen between completely different civilizations), without providing his own "chewed" answers. Really felt like I am at the good university history class.
This course is one of the few recent discoveries that rekindled my interest in history, especially in ancient history and middle ages. It includes a wonderful (albeit, brief) overview of ancient civilizations from around 3000 BC to early middle ages (around 700-800 AD). The lectures are filled with interesting facts and comparative analysis of different cultures across time and geography. I especially loved how professor Aldrete poses questions for you to think about (for example, on some aspects of cultural development, or patterns and analogies seen between completely different civilizations), without providing his own "chewed" answers. Really felt like I am at the good university history class.
November 22, 2019
Really excellent compare/contrast of early civilizations across the globe, not just the Eurocentric ones, but also Persia, MesoAmerica, Polynesia, and more. Dr. Aldrete tackles this huge topic through an interdisciplinary approach, discussing art, religion, philosophy, architecture, literature, etc. in addition to the usual political and military events that make up the bulk of most history courses. The lecturer is a little quirky sometimes, but always interesting.
November 7, 2022
A great intro to ancient history, covering many civilizations and empires across the globe.
November 10, 2024
Loved it. Realized I am very unfamiliar with non Western civilizations.
March 3, 2023
Fascinating course covering ancient civilizations from across the world - chockfull of information, engaging, and very well organized. This was all around excellent.
September 13, 2024
I thoroughly enjoyed this lecture series. The teacher was engaging, knowledgeable, and provided sufficient factual content for each section while also including other narratives that gave color to the lectures.
February 22, 2020
If Gregory Aldrete was my history professor, I would have gotten so much more from it. The lectures are logically split up and the information well organized. It jumps from place to place around the world, then compares and contrasts the specifics of different cultures and civilizations. It's full of interesting tidbits of knowledge I didn't know, and expands on many topics I already knew about. Even if you aren't interested in history, I think you will enjoy this course.
May 21, 2018
This was a great series and an incredible improvement from The Great Courses western civilization course,
Foundations of Western Civilization
I listened to. I wish more lectures by Dr. Aldrete were on topics I enjoyed, but I'm planning on listening to
History's Great Military Blunders and the Lessons they Teach
because he is an incredibly engaging lecturer and I suspect I will find the topic more interesting than I suppose. A more detailed review to come.
December 7, 2012
A very broad overview, but the parts that Aldrete focuses on are treated with enough detail that it doesn't seem shallow. He also makes an attempt to contrast and compare cultures at similar points in their development -- comparing the Roman empire with the Han -- which is a fascinating enterprise all on its own. His survey of the Americas stood out for me because I didn't know much at all about folks like the Moche and the Olmecs.
His lectures sound a bit as if he's reading them (I listened to this on CD) but his reading voice is pretty fluid so I got used to it after a while. I wouldn't shell out the cash for this 48-lecture series, but it's worth checking out from the library.
His lectures sound a bit as if he's reading them (I listened to this on CD) but his reading voice is pretty fluid so I got used to it after a while. I wouldn't shell out the cash for this 48-lecture series, but it's worth checking out from the library.
February 15, 2017
A Great Courses Series that's title misleads a bit, while it does give a somewhat "global" perspective it in truth focuses mainly on Greece/Rome and the Chinese dynasties of the Chin/Han an bits of the Tang. It has 4 lectures on New World societies and bits on the rest and completely short changes the Persian and Arab dynasties with barely a mention of the first and only a 2 lectures on the latter.
Where this lecture series shines however is when it compares the two contemporary great civilizations of Rome and the Han and for those lectures a lone this is worth getting.
Where this lecture series shines however is when it compares the two contemporary great civilizations of Rome and the Han and for those lectures a lone this is worth getting.
August 22, 2018
Good content, but false advertising. "A Global Perspective" is bullshit. For every 1 hour of content on Greece or Rome, there is 15 minutes dedicated to the rest of the world combined. This course should be titled "History of the Ancient Mediterranean and Comparison to Other Civilizations when it helps emphasize a point I'm making about the Mediterranean"
January 25, 2024
I have found that the quickest way to get my rock heart beating again, and indeed to make myself a little sentimental, is to read a summary of the rise and fall of human civilizations from the dawn of time to the 9th century CE. Who would have thought?
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Almost from the first page, I know I'm going to like this course. Aldrete does not begin by extolling the greatness of ancient civilizations, or how we will be able to decipher the exact date of human extinction if only we learn more about our ancient past - instead, he begins by cautioning us about common pitfalls in the study of ancient civilizations. There are three caveats that we should probably always bear in mind:
1. "Civilization" is an almost exclusively urban and elite phenomenon. In terms of the characteristics that we traditionally associate with civilizations: "... [Things such as] law codes, writing systems, technological innovations, art, and so forth all tended to develop in cities" (p. 3). Thus, when we examine the history of civilization, we are really studying urban history. And this would be a history denied to most of humanity at that time.
This is a regrettable reality, but one that we should probably remember. When we study ancient history, we like to imagine ourselves in the place of the great conqueror, or the king looking down on his subjects from his admittedly magnificent palace. But in truth we are probably that 80% who have only two purposes in the grand scheme of our lord - to build his palace, and then to bugger off to wherever we please, so long as we don't become yet another competitor for that one fleeting line of history for which he and his fellow kings are already too busy waging wars and slaughtering foes and family members alike.
2. Ancient history is generally unreliable. This part of history already only covers the lives of the toppest guns of their time, but we can't even trust the tiny crumbs that we do get. Royalty and aristocrats will always try to burnish their image in the "official" historical record - sometimes outright murdering court historians who refuse to comply - but even conscientious, truth-seeking historians may not have the means to record anything resembling accuracy. This is especially true when it comes to war. How do you "record" the figures and events when you are perhaps writing decades after the whole thing is over? How do you interview eyewitnesses from all sides when it can take months for you to travel from one small city to another? How do you even know who the eyewitnesses are? How do you ensure that accounts aren't tainted by our infamously unreliable memory, or just plain lying, without almost any scientific means to cross-check their words?
3. Yes, ancient history is often guesswork by long-dead historians - but it is also mostly guesswork by ourselves. And in terms of guesswork, we are no less biased than our ancestors writing from millennia ago. When we study ancient civilizations, especially "indigenous" civilizations that have not left many written records, it is easy to fall into the comfort of ethnocentrism and latch on to whatever conclusion "feels right" to us. A pillar with a stone face on top? Ah, surely a place of demonic worship. Well, maybe it is, maybe it isn't. More likely, we'll just never know. We can guess, but we should never assume.
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I just wrote a mini-essay for the first four pages of this course. In my defense, I don't have much to write about the "lectures" themselves. When I say "lectures," I really mean the 352 pages of notes that are supposed to supplement the course, but which I have used as a substitute. The decision is entirely based on my own circumstances - I have always been more of a reader than a listener - so this review should not be taken as anything remotely objective, comprehensive or, frankly, "fair," as I have likely omitted most of the real substance of the course.
So, speaking just from the notes:
I do find this course to have a heavier emphasis on the Greco-Roman civilization, and perhaps the Chinese civilization, more than the rest of the world. The Near East and India are only focused on at the beginning, but once Greece emerges they kind of cease to exist, not reappearing until almost 300 pages later when we're on the Arab conquests. Central and Southern Africa feature in exactly one section under the lecture on said Arab conquests. The Americas fare slightly better, but most of the focus is on the Mayans.
However, the imbalance feels less like good old Western-centrism than a case of "write what you know." Imagine a student writing an essay on a subject she's passionate about; upon finishing, she realizes that she's ten page over the word limit. What does she do? She spends two hours agonizing over which part to cut ("This part maybe? But it's an important introduction! This part then? But I like that part! Not this, not that ..."), then she gives up and hands in the paper, with three new pages added during her revision.
That's a long way of saying: the Greco-Roman civilization is more prominent only because Aldrete is a professor specializing in Greco-Roman history. As Aldrete's opening three caveats have hopefully demonstrated, he is a historian with at least some degree of thoughtfulness. At least to me, he is certainly enthusiastic about Greece and Rome, but it is not much more than he is about other cultures. The weighting of content might have been better, but in terms of approach, Aldrete nails it.
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Each ancient civilization is described with such awe, Aldrete's passion simply becomes infectious. Apart from his genuine respect for these cultures, his expertise in archaeology and military history also helps. There is no shortage of evidence and good stories, with the evidence part especially appreciated. Aldrete employs what I call the non-fiction version of "show, not tell": The author doesn't just throw out sweeping generalizations ("Ancient V is a civilization that is X, Y, and Z ..."); instead, he lets the material remains speak for themselves. With photos and descriptions, he shows you the archaeological remains of each culture's technology, innovations, and constructions, all of which are very, very impressive - and, in a strange way, quite humanizing.
They share just enough similarities to make one almost touched by the profoundness of our commonality, however much we would like to believe otherwise; they also have just enough singular splendor to make one proud of the miracle that is our differences, however much we would like to believe otherwise.
I'm in awe of every single culture that has appeared in this course. True, I wish it had gone deeper into other civilizations as well; true, at least according to some reviews of the course, there seem to be inaccuracies when it comes to the history of the other civilizations. But this course has also given me a rough but clean enough overview of the history of the ancient world, and has prompted me to add a pile of books on ancient civilizations from around the world to my shelf. For an introductory course, that is all I want and need.
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Despite my satisfaction with what I'd learned, I ended the course in a vaguely morose mood. Kings, philosophers, tyrants, priests... They built their magnificent legacies on the toil of the masses, but those legacies faded as quickly as the memories of all those faceless creatures of those masses, who once loved and then perished in their brief second of life on this earth.
The Chaldeans once built hanging gardens with glazed bricks of brilliant, vibrant colors; the New Kingdom of Egypt once filled grand tombs with more wealth than we can imagine; the Indus Valley civilization once lived in cities built with bricks of exactly the same ratio and weight; the Mesoamerican cultures once constructed a great city of such diverse origins that we still don't know who designed and lived in it; the Athenians once formed a government in which every citizen could serve in the main legislative body twice in his lifetime; and the Romans once, too, huddled together in a tiny city that persevered in the face of powerful and hostile enemies through sheer, dogged determination.
At the end of a review about ancient civilizations, each of which was glorious in its own way but most no longer extant, I find one line might be a fitting conclusion.
Tempus edax rerum.
Time, devourer of all things.
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Almost from the first page, I know I'm going to like this course. Aldrete does not begin by extolling the greatness of ancient civilizations, or how we will be able to decipher the exact date of human extinction if only we learn more about our ancient past - instead, he begins by cautioning us about common pitfalls in the study of ancient civilizations. There are three caveats that we should probably always bear in mind:
1. "Civilization" is an almost exclusively urban and elite phenomenon. In terms of the characteristics that we traditionally associate with civilizations: "... [Things such as] law codes, writing systems, technological innovations, art, and so forth all tended to develop in cities" (p. 3). Thus, when we examine the history of civilization, we are really studying urban history. And this would be a history denied to most of humanity at that time.
The typical ancient history course describes the atypical lives of a tiny minority, and we will do the same, but not before addressing, briefly, what life was like for the majority.
● Most people were born on small family farms.
● About one-quarter to one-third of babies died in their first year of life; diseases claimed many more children before puberty.
● Those who lived to adolescence had a good chance of surviving several decades of adult life, scratching out just enough food from the soil to avoid starvation. Most people died before the age of 50.
● Most people never traveled more than 20 miles from home and never saw a city. They never saw a king, took part in a battle, read a book, looked at a work of art, or heard a philosopher speak.
This basic description applies equally well to ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, or China. This sounds grim, but it was the nearly universal experience of at least 80 percent of all human beings before the Industrial Revolution. (p. 4)
This is a regrettable reality, but one that we should probably remember. When we study ancient history, we like to imagine ourselves in the place of the great conqueror, or the king looking down on his subjects from his admittedly magnificent palace. But in truth we are probably that 80% who have only two purposes in the grand scheme of our lord - to build his palace, and then to bugger off to wherever we please, so long as we don't become yet another competitor for that one fleeting line of history for which he and his fellow kings are already too busy waging wars and slaughtering foes and family members alike.
2. Ancient history is generally unreliable. This part of history already only covers the lives of the toppest guns of their time, but we can't even trust the tiny crumbs that we do get. Royalty and aristocrats will always try to burnish their image in the "official" historical record - sometimes outright murdering court historians who refuse to comply - but even conscientious, truth-seeking historians may not have the means to record anything resembling accuracy. This is especially true when it comes to war. How do you "record" the figures and events when you are perhaps writing decades after the whole thing is over? How do you interview eyewitnesses from all sides when it can take months for you to travel from one small city to another? How do you even know who the eyewitnesses are? How do you ensure that accounts aren't tainted by our infamously unreliable memory, or just plain lying, without almost any scientific means to cross-check their words?
3. Yes, ancient history is often guesswork by long-dead historians - but it is also mostly guesswork by ourselves. And in terms of guesswork, we are no less biased than our ancestors writing from millennia ago. When we study ancient civilizations, especially "indigenous" civilizations that have not left many written records, it is easy to fall into the comfort of ethnocentrism and latch on to whatever conclusion "feels right" to us. A pillar with a stone face on top? Ah, surely a place of demonic worship. Well, maybe it is, maybe it isn't. More likely, we'll just never know. We can guess, but we should never assume.
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I just wrote a mini-essay for the first four pages of this course. In my defense, I don't have much to write about the "lectures" themselves. When I say "lectures," I really mean the 352 pages of notes that are supposed to supplement the course, but which I have used as a substitute. The decision is entirely based on my own circumstances - I have always been more of a reader than a listener - so this review should not be taken as anything remotely objective, comprehensive or, frankly, "fair," as I have likely omitted most of the real substance of the course.
So, speaking just from the notes:
I do find this course to have a heavier emphasis on the Greco-Roman civilization, and perhaps the Chinese civilization, more than the rest of the world. The Near East and India are only focused on at the beginning, but once Greece emerges they kind of cease to exist, not reappearing until almost 300 pages later when we're on the Arab conquests. Central and Southern Africa feature in exactly one section under the lecture on said Arab conquests. The Americas fare slightly better, but most of the focus is on the Mayans.
However, the imbalance feels less like good old Western-centrism than a case of "write what you know." Imagine a student writing an essay on a subject she's passionate about; upon finishing, she realizes that she's ten page over the word limit. What does she do? She spends two hours agonizing over which part to cut ("This part maybe? But it's an important introduction! This part then? But I like that part! Not this, not that ..."), then she gives up and hands in the paper, with three new pages added during her revision.
That's a long way of saying: the Greco-Roman civilization is more prominent only because Aldrete is a professor specializing in Greco-Roman history. As Aldrete's opening three caveats have hopefully demonstrated, he is a historian with at least some degree of thoughtfulness. At least to me, he is certainly enthusiastic about Greece and Rome, but it is not much more than he is about other cultures. The weighting of content might have been better, but in terms of approach, Aldrete nails it.
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Each ancient civilization is described with such awe, Aldrete's passion simply becomes infectious. Apart from his genuine respect for these cultures, his expertise in archaeology and military history also helps. There is no shortage of evidence and good stories, with the evidence part especially appreciated. Aldrete employs what I call the non-fiction version of "show, not tell": The author doesn't just throw out sweeping generalizations ("Ancient V is a civilization that is X, Y, and Z ..."); instead, he lets the material remains speak for themselves. With photos and descriptions, he shows you the archaeological remains of each culture's technology, innovations, and constructions, all of which are very, very impressive - and, in a strange way, quite humanizing.
They share just enough similarities to make one almost touched by the profoundness of our commonality, however much we would like to believe otherwise; they also have just enough singular splendor to make one proud of the miracle that is our differences, however much we would like to believe otherwise.
I'm in awe of every single culture that has appeared in this course. True, I wish it had gone deeper into other civilizations as well; true, at least according to some reviews of the course, there seem to be inaccuracies when it comes to the history of the other civilizations. But this course has also given me a rough but clean enough overview of the history of the ancient world, and has prompted me to add a pile of books on ancient civilizations from around the world to my shelf. For an introductory course, that is all I want and need.
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Despite my satisfaction with what I'd learned, I ended the course in a vaguely morose mood. Kings, philosophers, tyrants, priests... They built their magnificent legacies on the toil of the masses, but those legacies faded as quickly as the memories of all those faceless creatures of those masses, who once loved and then perished in their brief second of life on this earth.
The Chaldeans once built hanging gardens with glazed bricks of brilliant, vibrant colors; the New Kingdom of Egypt once filled grand tombs with more wealth than we can imagine; the Indus Valley civilization once lived in cities built with bricks of exactly the same ratio and weight; the Mesoamerican cultures once constructed a great city of such diverse origins that we still don't know who designed and lived in it; the Athenians once formed a government in which every citizen could serve in the main legislative body twice in his lifetime; and the Romans once, too, huddled together in a tiny city that persevered in the face of powerful and hostile enemies through sheer, dogged determination.
At the end of a review about ancient civilizations, each of which was glorious in its own way but most no longer extant, I find one line might be a fitting conclusion.
Tempus edax rerum.
Time, devourer of all things.
January 15, 2021
A very broad but interesting course. I do agree with other reviewers that "A Global Perspective" is misleading. Sure, it does mention at least one civilization on every inhabited continent, but the focus by far is on the Mediterranean. China does pop up a few times, mostly in comparison to other civilizations, and there's a little more about the early civilizations of Central and South America than you might see in the typical euro-centric ancient history lecture, and India gets a lecture or two, but it's clear that this historian's interest lies in the Mediterranean.
The course is extremely broad (it covers a huge chunk of history, after all) and details are mostly reduced to anecdotes. If you're a major history buff, you might not learn too much. But if you're someone whose high school or college world history class has been forgotten and you need a refresher (or if you just snoozed through it, no judgement) then you might get quite a bit out of this course. If nothing else, it does serve as a pretty solid overview of the major civilizations of the ancient world with plenty of information to inspire your own deep dives.
You can get a good idea of the contents of this course by the names of the lectures.
Lecture 1 Cities, Civilizations, & Sources
Lecture 2 From Out of the Mesopotamian Mud
Lecture 3 Cultures of the Ancient Near East
Lecture 4 Ancient Egypt—The Gift of the Nile
Lecture 5 Pharaohs, Tools, & Gods
Lecture 6 The Lost Civilization of the Indus Valley
Lecture 7 The Vedic Age of Ancient India
Lecture 8 Mystery Cultures of Early Greece
Lecture 9 Homer & Indian Poetry
Lecture 10 Athens & Experiments in Democracy
Lecture 11 Hoplite Warfare & Sparta
Lecture 12 Civilization Dawns in China—Shang & Zhou
Lecture 13 Confucius & Greek Philosophers
Lecture 14 Mystics, Buddhists, & Zoroastrians
Lecture 15 Persians & Greeks
Lecture 16 Greek Art & Architecture
Lecture 17 Greek Tragedy & the Sophists
Lecture 18 The Peloponnesian War and the Trial of Socrates
Lecture 19 Philip of Macedon—Architect of Empire
Lecture 20 Alexander the Great Goes East
Lecture 21 Unifiers of India—Chandragupta & Asoka
Lecture 22 Shi Huangdi—First Emperor of China
Lecture 23 Earliest Historians of Greece & China
Lecture 24 The Hellenistic World
Lecture 25 The Great Empire of the Han Dynasty
Lecture 26 People of the Toga—Etruscans, Early Rome
Lecture 27 The Crucible—Punic Wars, Roman Imperialism
Lecture 28 Death of the Roman Republic
Lecture 29 Augustus—Creator of the Roman Empire
Lecture 30 Roman Emperors—Good, Bad, & Crazy
Lecture 31 Han & Roman Empires Compared—Geography
Lecture 32 Han & Roman Empires Compared—Government
Lecture 33 Han & Roman Empires Compared—Problems
Lecture 34 Early Americas—Resources & Olmecs
Lecture 35 Pots & Pyramids—Moche & Teotihuacan
Lecture 36 Blood & Corn—Mayan Civilization
Lecture 37 Hunter-Gatherers & Polynesians
Lecture 38 The Art & Architecture of Power
Lecture 39 Comparative Armies—Rome, China, Maya
Lecture 40 Later Roman Empire—Crisis & Christianity
Lecture 41 The Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire?
Lecture 42 The Byzantine Empire & the Legacy of Rome
Lecture 43 China from Chaos to Order under the Tang
Lecture 44 The Golden Age of the Tang Culture
Lecture 45 The Rise & Flourishing of Islam
Lecture 46 Holy Men & Women—Monasticism & Saints
Lecture 47 Charlemagne—Father of Europe
Lecture 48 Endings, Beginnings, What Does It All Mean?
The course is extremely broad (it covers a huge chunk of history, after all) and details are mostly reduced to anecdotes. If you're a major history buff, you might not learn too much. But if you're someone whose high school or college world history class has been forgotten and you need a refresher (or if you just snoozed through it, no judgement) then you might get quite a bit out of this course. If nothing else, it does serve as a pretty solid overview of the major civilizations of the ancient world with plenty of information to inspire your own deep dives.
You can get a good idea of the contents of this course by the names of the lectures.
Lecture 1 Cities, Civilizations, & Sources
Lecture 2 From Out of the Mesopotamian Mud
Lecture 3 Cultures of the Ancient Near East
Lecture 4 Ancient Egypt—The Gift of the Nile
Lecture 5 Pharaohs, Tools, & Gods
Lecture 6 The Lost Civilization of the Indus Valley
Lecture 7 The Vedic Age of Ancient India
Lecture 8 Mystery Cultures of Early Greece
Lecture 9 Homer & Indian Poetry
Lecture 10 Athens & Experiments in Democracy
Lecture 11 Hoplite Warfare & Sparta
Lecture 12 Civilization Dawns in China—Shang & Zhou
Lecture 13 Confucius & Greek Philosophers
Lecture 14 Mystics, Buddhists, & Zoroastrians
Lecture 15 Persians & Greeks
Lecture 16 Greek Art & Architecture
Lecture 17 Greek Tragedy & the Sophists
Lecture 18 The Peloponnesian War and the Trial of Socrates
Lecture 19 Philip of Macedon—Architect of Empire
Lecture 20 Alexander the Great Goes East
Lecture 21 Unifiers of India—Chandragupta & Asoka
Lecture 22 Shi Huangdi—First Emperor of China
Lecture 23 Earliest Historians of Greece & China
Lecture 24 The Hellenistic World
Lecture 25 The Great Empire of the Han Dynasty
Lecture 26 People of the Toga—Etruscans, Early Rome
Lecture 27 The Crucible—Punic Wars, Roman Imperialism
Lecture 28 Death of the Roman Republic
Lecture 29 Augustus—Creator of the Roman Empire
Lecture 30 Roman Emperors—Good, Bad, & Crazy
Lecture 31 Han & Roman Empires Compared—Geography
Lecture 32 Han & Roman Empires Compared—Government
Lecture 33 Han & Roman Empires Compared—Problems
Lecture 34 Early Americas—Resources & Olmecs
Lecture 35 Pots & Pyramids—Moche & Teotihuacan
Lecture 36 Blood & Corn—Mayan Civilization
Lecture 37 Hunter-Gatherers & Polynesians
Lecture 38 The Art & Architecture of Power
Lecture 39 Comparative Armies—Rome, China, Maya
Lecture 40 Later Roman Empire—Crisis & Christianity
Lecture 41 The Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire?
Lecture 42 The Byzantine Empire & the Legacy of Rome
Lecture 43 China from Chaos to Order under the Tang
Lecture 44 The Golden Age of the Tang Culture
Lecture 45 The Rise & Flourishing of Islam
Lecture 46 Holy Men & Women—Monasticism & Saints
Lecture 47 Charlemagne—Father of Europe
Lecture 48 Endings, Beginnings, What Does It All Mean?
July 19, 2020
Every time I read/listen to a general history I promise myself to never do it again. Because even the best works in this genre suck. But a lot of the times I'm in zombie mood, a state of the mind in which I'm unable to engage with anything rigorous, so I fall back to something light in order to not get bored. That's why I listened to stuff like this.
First of all the author holds absolute simplistic views of geographic determinism. Some of these are so absurd that I don't want to dwell on them. There were parts which I enjoyed a lot. Specifically lectures on India and China (I know next to absolute zero about these two civilizations). But when I got to the parts about Rome of which I know a bit, I started seeing simplifications, misrepresentations and factual errors. This made me think of the Gell-Mann amnesia effect. I'll let Michael Crichton explain what it is:
'Briefly stated, the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect is as follows. You open the newspaper to an article on some subject you know well. In Murray's case, physics. In mine, show business. You read the article and see the journalist has absolutely no understanding of either the facts or the issues. Often, the article is so wrong it actually presents the story backward—reversing cause and effect. I call these the "wet streets cause rain" stories. Paper's full of them.
In any case, you read with exasperation or amusement the multiple errors in a story, and then turn the page to national or international affairs, and read as if the rest of the newspaper was somehow more accurate about Palestine than the baloney you just read. You turn the page, and forget what you know.'
So if there were so much problems in lectures on Rome, the area in which the author actually specializes, how much nonsense there must be about other subjects. The weird thing is that the author has another course on the Roman Republic which is pretty decent. So I'm guessing all these problems are due to the scope of this course and the time limit for discussing any particular topic/event. There were factual errors that I'm sure the author knows about, but I'm guessing due to shortness of time he wrongly expressed himself. For example, when he says that 'Spartacus along with his 6000 slave rebels were crucified' or that 'Scipio defeated Hannibal's brother and delivered his head to Hannibal's camp'. Spartacus was defeated and 6000 slave rebels were crucified, but the sentence above literally is not true since they didn't crucify Spartacus. Scipio defeated Carthaginian armies (Hannibal's brother) in Spain, but the specific incident about Hasdrubal's head being delivered to Hannibal's camp is not associated with Scipio. It's what Claudius Nero and Marcus Livius Salinator did. And why waste time retelling stories from Suetonius when you're doing a comparative history?
If you don't know anything about history of the ancient world, I'd reluctantly recommend this as an intro. But the best way to learn about a subject is to read books with more focused subjects and strongly argued. This way you get a good grasp on very small subject/historical time and from there you can expand your knowledge.
First of all the author holds absolute simplistic views of geographic determinism. Some of these are so absurd that I don't want to dwell on them. There were parts which I enjoyed a lot. Specifically lectures on India and China (I know next to absolute zero about these two civilizations). But when I got to the parts about Rome of which I know a bit, I started seeing simplifications, misrepresentations and factual errors. This made me think of the Gell-Mann amnesia effect. I'll let Michael Crichton explain what it is:
'Briefly stated, the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect is as follows. You open the newspaper to an article on some subject you know well. In Murray's case, physics. In mine, show business. You read the article and see the journalist has absolutely no understanding of either the facts or the issues. Often, the article is so wrong it actually presents the story backward—reversing cause and effect. I call these the "wet streets cause rain" stories. Paper's full of them.
In any case, you read with exasperation or amusement the multiple errors in a story, and then turn the page to national or international affairs, and read as if the rest of the newspaper was somehow more accurate about Palestine than the baloney you just read. You turn the page, and forget what you know.'
So if there were so much problems in lectures on Rome, the area in which the author actually specializes, how much nonsense there must be about other subjects. The weird thing is that the author has another course on the Roman Republic which is pretty decent. So I'm guessing all these problems are due to the scope of this course and the time limit for discussing any particular topic/event. There were factual errors that I'm sure the author knows about, but I'm guessing due to shortness of time he wrongly expressed himself. For example, when he says that 'Spartacus along with his 6000 slave rebels were crucified' or that 'Scipio defeated Hannibal's brother and delivered his head to Hannibal's camp'. Spartacus was defeated and 6000 slave rebels were crucified, but the sentence above literally is not true since they didn't crucify Spartacus. Scipio defeated Carthaginian armies (Hannibal's brother) in Spain, but the specific incident about Hasdrubal's head being delivered to Hannibal's camp is not associated with Scipio. It's what Claudius Nero and Marcus Livius Salinator did. And why waste time retelling stories from Suetonius when you're doing a comparative history?
If you don't know anything about history of the ancient world, I'd reluctantly recommend this as an intro. But the best way to learn about a subject is to read books with more focused subjects and strongly argued. This way you get a good grasp on very small subject/historical time and from there you can expand your knowledge.
February 8, 2022
An impressively comprehensive coverage of the subject matter. Unlike certain other lectures (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...) I didn’t feel as though any parts of the world were unduly snubbed in favour of Greece/Rome/Europe. Granted, Greece and Rome were given plenty of attention, but no more than is fair considering their vast impact and the extensive written records we have from their people. The Chinese, Maya, and Persian empires are rightfully held up as equally monumental civilizations, and it was a cool sending-off point at the end to point out that despite possessing the longest-lasting direct legacy and arguably greatest backwards-looking appreciation, the Roman Empire was really the “dark horse” when lined up objectively with its three contemporary empires.
Two very small things rose up as problems: the use of “Mayan” to refer to the people and culture, rather than just the language (Mayan language; Maya people, architecture, religion, etc.), and the equation of Arab people with Bedouins, when the latter are a subset of the greater Arab peoples group. These are extremely small and semantic mistakes, but it is precisely because they are so simple that they raised red flags when I heard them. That being said, nothing beyond that was incorrect from what I knew prior to the lectures, so I have little reason to believe that there is widespread misinformation or falsities in the stories conveyed.
Two very small things rose up as problems: the use of “Mayan” to refer to the people and culture, rather than just the language (Mayan language; Maya people, architecture, religion, etc.), and the equation of Arab people with Bedouins, when the latter are a subset of the greater Arab peoples group. These are extremely small and semantic mistakes, but it is precisely because they are so simple that they raised red flags when I heard them. That being said, nothing beyond that was incorrect from what I knew prior to the lectures, so I have little reason to believe that there is widespread misinformation or falsities in the stories conveyed.
December 22, 2024
"History of the Ancient World: A Global Perspective" is a member of the Great Courses lecture series. "History of the Ancient world" is a series of 40+ lectures presented by famed archaeology and history professor Greg Aldrete, who also narrates the series. The lecture series covers world history from roughly 3500 BCE to 900 CE. This is a lot of history to cram into one series of lectures. Dr. Aldrete starts with the rise of Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilization and finishes with the establishment of Charlemagne's Frankish/Holy Roman Empire and the rise of Islam in Africa and the Near East. In the middle Aldrete covers the rise of Chinese civilization with particular attention paid to the Qin, Han, and Tang Dynasties and a cursory look Polynesian (think South Pacific) civilization. The real surprise of this series for me was Aldrete's treatment of Central American civilization, mainly all of the new information that is being presented about the Mayan Empire. Otherwise the series is top heavy on the Romans and Greeks, of which in the final lectures Aldrete acknowledges this. I would recommend it, however, if you are already familiar with Roman and Greek civilization I would just skip those lectures. The CDs are really well labelled so it's easy to pick and choose what to listen to.
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