Ancient Empires Before Alexander Parts 1, 2 and 3

by Robert L. Dise Jr.

About Your Professor Dr. Robert L. Dise Jr. is Associate Professor of History at the University of Northern Iowa, where he teaches highly popular courses on the history of the ancient Near East, Greece, Rome, and classical civilization. He earned his B.A. in History from the University of Virginia and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. Before joining the faculty at the University of Northern Iowa, Professor Dise taught at Clinch Valley College—now the University of Virginia's College at Wise.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Ancient History, Middle East, European History, Archaeology

Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Stuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prof Dise Likes Battles and Taxation Schemes More than "Soft" Cultural Details
This set of lectures is certainly of interest to those with a deep desire for the minute details on how a number of ancient Near East and Mediterranean ancient civilizations rose, flourished, and collapsed 3,000-4,000 years ago, all before Alexander the Great redefined the rules of military and diplomatic tactics, and the Romans perfected their system of central control and tributaries. There is a wealth of details on ancient Empires like Sargon the Great of the Akkadian Empire, the Third Dynasty of Ur in Sumerian, the Hitties of Anatolia, the mighty but brutal Assyrian Empire, the 18th Dynasty of Egypt, the Babylonian Empire, Persian Empire of Cyrus, Darium, and Xerxes, New-Babylonian Empire, and the brilliant general Hannibal of the Carthaginian Empire.

If you like a very precise, organized approach that revels in military tactics and taxation and govt structures etc, this will be perfect for you. If you wanted to know the softer cultural details of art, religion, languages, social structure, etc, then it's really not the right one.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable series that tied together many grand narratives of the rise and fall of various societies of the ancient near east. There were times-- especially in the first third of the series, when it was dealing with Mesopotamia and especially the Hittites-- where it was easy to get lost amidst all the names and dates. But I found that as the timeline progressed closer to Classical Antiquity, it was easier to keep track; though the history of Carthage has way too many Hamilcars and Hannibals before we get to the famous one. The lecturer was easy to follow and he sprinkled the lectures with little bits of dry wit and understated humor that I appreciated. There was also a useful amount of repetition built into the structure: the lectures describe one empire after another in rough chronological order of their flourishing, so often important events, especially battles, are described several times, but with slightly different emphases-- the first time it may have been a minor defeat for one empire, but it could have been an important first victory establishing the prominence of another empire.

I'm not sure the Greeks deserve as much attention as they get given how dubious or minor their "empires" were, but of course it would be hard to ignore them given the temporal and geographic focus of this series. And the lectures ended up providing a concise overview of the period from the original wars with Persia, through the Peloponnesian War, and beyond which had previously been rather hazy for me. I do wish there had been more focus on cultural and technological history throughout, to help ground all of these battles and major societal shifts, but overall an enjoyable and informative series.

[CJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will consider mine a life well-lived if I ever enjoy anything as much as Prof. Dise so clearly enjoys saying 'Suppiluliumas'

[Megan Cashen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting and present in a way that doesn’t feel overwhelming. Any time I get to read about Suppiluliumas is a treat.

[Void lon iXaarii · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately the author seems to be more on the side of "great generals and brave men win wars" kind of thinking, which I personally suspect is wrong, so he tends to talk much about the battles and the fighting and less than I would have liked about the things that made those civilizations grow, that allowed them to build and to maintain the armies. Still, he does give a lot of great information about a period in time that is rarely talked about, and if you're careful and attentive you can pick out some of those IMO most important details. Sometimes he even points out why certain peoples might have had an incentive to "let themselves be conquered", because the values and institutions of some civilizations were simply better for them. I learned a lot from this course, some fascinating facts and some about whole civilizations I didn't even know existed before.

[Damion Paul Hart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly complete overview touching all important to present day understanding of these empires. Great outlay survey with details minute enough to keep attention through entire book/lecture. Helps view the lands differently than a strictly "Greek" or "Western" view. Important information on less discussed Hittite and Mitanni Empires of Ancient Turkey/Syria, back to Akkad starting the Mesopotamian Empires. Sweeping personal biographies of Sargon, Alexander, and many more kings of the ancient days.

[John Martindale · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I counted how many times Dise said how so and so CRUSHED so and so, or how they were ANNIHILATED, it was always said was such emphasis. haha.
If you want to learn about the people of old who obliterated, massacred, expunged, slaughtered, wiped out and demolished others, only to later be completely quashed, wracked and erased themselves, this lecture series will be right up your ally.
There was actually plenty interesting and informative stuff throughout, it is just after 30 something lectures, it is hard to remember much other than how he said CRUSHED.

[Joshua Dew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lectures are a bit like dry recitals; oftentimes difficult to maintain interest. However, the wide scope of the lectures are their saving grace

[Brett Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

This lecture series is a delightful roam through the multitude of attempts humans made at ordering themselves after the agricultural revolution produced far too many of us. Civilizations struggle to hold themselves together as they hurl themselves apart. And boy, do they. As Professor Dise tells the story with his excellent radio-voice, it all depended on what guy was in charge, how long he lived, and what guys ran the show next door. Institutions beyond paying tribute, slavery, and genocide seem rare. Ordering all those many humans was left mostly to chance, just as Alexander Hamilton suggested. But moral governance can be seen as a glimmer commencing with the first extant law codes of Sumerian king Ur-Nammu, ca. 2100 B.C., three centuries after the non-surviving Code of Urukagina (referenced by others) in Urukagina’s combat with corruption, and three centuries before Hammurabi’s code, parts of which find their way into the Ten Commandments.

One thing, in particular, stood out for me from this 2009 series. In referencing the Greek’s impression of the “good old days” when “men were men” and the heroes of Homer did their part to Make Greece Great Again, Dise hits upon something eternal. “It was the values of these warrior heroes that destabilized civilization. Heroic cultural values are characterized by immature and insecure masculinity. A masculinity that must always be proven and re-proven. A masculinity that is [thin-skinned] to insult and criticism, that’s easily affected and only with difficulty soothed. A masculinity whose emotions are poorly controlled, prone to fits of rage, characterized by an inability to see beyond one’s ego. An obsession with personal honor that produces a hypersensitivity to insults and results in frequent outbursts of violence. In other words, these are not values of the hero, but the values of a bar-brawling red neck. They glorify violence, hunting, fighting, and warfare, and they’re contemptuous of the ways of peace. Diplomacy and negotiation are disdained as effeminate; raiding is preferred to trading. Heroic values make good epic poetry, but they make bad government. A society that does not evolve beyond heroic values is a society that is doomed because they are the values that produce instability rather than stability that a healthy society requires… However flattered the values of heroic culture may be to the heroes themselves, they’re values that shatter the security of the world around them. Values that point toward doom unless they’re replaced with something more adult.”

Given America’s current state of self-inflicted upheaval and decline with the label of “strong man” applied to weak men, this sounds like some kind of universal law.

[Flash Sheridan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good follow-on to Professor Harl’s “Origins of Great Ancient Civilizations,” and gives a good orientation to the first half of recorded history. I agree, however, with both Leonidas’ plea (on the publisher’s web site) for more details on culture (I would add language as well), and with Osage’s rebuttal, especially his example of the totalitarian socialism in Ur III. This was a timely reminder that man was not in fact born free, and that chains have been a part of human history from the beginning. For me the most striking insight was how highy-developed the great power system was. While Greece and Rome founded our civilization, they did so in competition with a civilization that was as old then as ours is now, which Americans would do well to remember when meddling in the Middle East.

My one mundane complaint (besides agreeing that Professor Dise once or twice needed a re-take) is that the essential maps, apparently shown in the video, are not available in the audio supplementary materials.

[Surya · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book material is great but the title is misleading. You would think that Ancient Empires before Alexander would include Empires from Around the World, not just the ones based in and around Europe.

For Example - Missing are the great empires of China, India and South America.

My only recommendation to the professor is, to change the title to say - Ancient Empires of Europe and the Levant or modify the material to add - China, India and the Americas (at least the Mayans count)

[Dennis Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ancient Empires before Alexander by Prof. Robert Dise was one of the earlier courses I picked up from the Teaching Company back in my undergrad days. I found it deeply enthralling, and the promise of the quality and scope of knowledge available to me from the Teaching Company led me to spend a bit too much money procuring more courses than I had any reasonable expectation of completing. Over the past week, I've revisited the course - this time through Audible. It remains a truly impressive survey of Middle Eastern History prior to Alexander and Rome. Dise's delivery sometimes comes across as a little dry at times, but it grew on me. The connections here and there that Dise establishes between the very empires he covered were often fascinating. One that I needed to reconfirm was the Philistines being of Greek origin and resettled Sea People. And, turns out, yeah - broadly true. There's a lot to like about the course, its content, and Dise's own conveyance of complicated and complex subject matter. Dise is also a staunch champion of those states he surveyed, expending effort on numerous occasions to defend these empires from stereotypes from Greece and Rome. If there is one criticism, it is that this is almost entirely about wars, kings, and the government and economy sustains them. I have a strong appreciation for those that cover them in detail, but I was surprised to see how little was granted to anything else. More recent scholarship has the opposite problem, but it nevertheless was a little jarring. Still, its pretty damn interesting.

Give it a go. Of all the history courses the Teaching Company offers, this is in the top 10.

[Natasa · Rating 3 out of 5]

My expectations going into this were that this would be mostly about cultures, languages, mythologies, great cities, government styles etc. But, while those things were present to some extent, this was predominantly about war, which was not what I really wanted to listen about. The author does tell us why we have so little cultural information for some of those civilizations.

The author was ok as a narrator, but somehow his voice made me lose attention relatively often, so I ended up rewinding regularly, which was mildly annoying. I am not sure why 😅

The most interesting fact that I learned was that there was a group of people who used lassoes exclusively in combat! 😮

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this 36-lecture video series by a professor of History! The speaker covers about 12 empires, starting with the Mesopotamian basin and ending up with Rome! Lots of detailed explanation, great detailed maps of wars and who-owns-the-property! The professor includes powerful speech plus humor! Highly recommended for all interested in ancient history, history, or the Mediterranean area!

[Katherine R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dry and probably better with visuals. I listened to the whole thing and often wished I was able to see images to give this delivery something more interesting to hold onto. As it is, I zoned out a bunch.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great info, enjoyed it! At 36 lectures in length, and most of the content unfamiliar to me, this was a lot to absorb in a short period of time. I'd have to listen through at least one more time in order to increase understanding.

[Chris Keck · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's the best lecture series I have been able to find on some of the most obscure early empires in Mesopotamia and the Near East pre 250 BCE

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finally finished! I may have zoned out a time or two...

[Scott Palmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sums it all up very nicely.

[Enrico · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good course that makes these Ancient Empires really interesting. Learned a lot about the lesser known Empires like Hatti, Ur III and Assyrian for example.

[Elissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good information, but military history isn't really my thing. But if it were, this would be a great read.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

disc

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but not my favorite Great Courses series. I found this one pretty hard to follow when listening, for a few reasons: many many unfamiliar names, constantly changing locations, and general jumping around within the lectures.

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book there's a few lectures in particular I got for research on Urartu and Sumeria but I thought the whole lecture series was very informative and entertaining and I enjoyed it a lot.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

2 stars. It may be me or the material rather than the professor, but I just found this one to be extremely dry. However, I don't think the professor belongs in top 2% in the country, or whatever The Teaching Company advertises. I think that one problem with this time period is that there is very little personal or biographical information about the various characters, which is what I personally like. It may also be the fact that the course is a survey of over 2,000 years of history, from Mesopotamia through the rise of Rome, which doesn't leave much but a listing of battles, succession crises, etc., with the occasional foray into governmental and military organization - not exactly scintillating material in the best of hands.
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3/31/21 - 3.5 stars. I liked this one much better the second time around, though I may go back again to some of the earlier lectures since I feel that I probably didn't get a lot. I didn't even remember that I had listened to it before, so maybe it was me last time.

[Xdw · Rating 2 out of 5]

definately worth listening, but sometimes Dise just sounds like he's reading to get to the end of the lecture.

[Alcibiades · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ver long but also very dry, some parts I could hardly remember already.

[Krista · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent lecture series about empires of the ancient Near East. Highly recommended.