With the skill of a born storyteller Professor John R. Hale mixes the exotic adventures, unexpected insights, and abiding mysteries of archaeology's fabled history with anecdotes of his own extensive field experience to create an extremely fast-paced narrative that unfolds like a series of detective stories.
Classical Archaeology of Ancient Greece and Rome
Marvel at the exotic adventures, unexpected insights, and abiding mysteries of archaeology’s fabled history in this fast-paced narrative that unfolds like a series of detective stories.
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Cousindrew from
Outstanding Professor and Course!
There's not much to add to the superlatives that Prof. Hale and this course have garnered since the course's publication in 2006. Prof. Hale brings a refreshingly optimistic, upbeat approach to this subject matter, and that unbridled enthusiasm, together with his scholarly expertise and practical experience as an archaeologist, makes this course a true delight. One of the best courses in the large stable of courses in the Great Courses' catalogue, and without doubt one of the Great Courses' most enjoyable professors. Highly recommended!
Date published: 2024-11-11
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Wagnerian from
Fantastic Archeological Survey of Ancient Life
The initial lectures concerning archaeological research methods provide great insight into exactly how an archaeologist works. The middle group of lectures covers the famous (Troy, Pompeii) 19th Century excavations as well as the lesser known (e.g., the search for amphorae on the Mediterranean seabed to establish ancient shipping lanes). It's the final grouping that held my interest the most in using archaeological methods to explain how the average classical Greek and Roman man and woman lived their daily lives, from providing themselves with bread and wine to attending public entertainments. Dr. Hale's delivery held my attention and arouses my curiosity to learn more about the everyday ancient person and get beyond the usual lives of Alexander and Caesar, for example. Altogether a truly great course!
Date published: 2024-06-27
Rated 5 out of
5
by
nostrdav from
The Best Professors
This is the second TGC course by John Hale that I have purchased and watched in entirety. Besides the course material being a lifelong favorite of mine and the fact that I so much enjoyed this professor with The Greek and Persian Wars, this was a no-brainer must-see! And the course did not disappoint. John Hale reminds me of the best, most influential professors I had while earning two college degrees. The infectious enthusiasm for his subject matter is so evident and inspiring. His would be the in-person class I would look forward to, arrive early for, and just soak up the presentation. The animations of the arms, hands, and expressions, which can be a distraction with some lecturers, is instead part of the enthralling imagination generated with John Hale. An audio version only would miss out on this essential part of the enthusiasm. Peace, Love, Archaeology!
Date published: 2023-12-30
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Janet 75 from
This was one of the best presented course I have bought . Dr John Hale has a style of teaching like a passionate story teller. His descriptions and pictures of ancient site brings the listeners there. Bing watched .. loved every moment.
Date published: 2022-09-29
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Keith Bamber from
New Interests.
This course was one of my earliest experiences of Great Courses. I am not a historian and have no experience of archeology. I bought the course because I had developed an interest in Latin and The Romans-and the syllabus mentioned some cities I had visited some time before on a holiday sailing down the coast of Turkey. I found the course intriguing and after one lecture I couldn’t wait to hear the next. The lecturer was excellent. He is thorough, clear and logical and gives glances of a great sense of humour. As soon as I was aware that he had also a course on Persian Wars I ordered it. I am only half way but have not been disappointed. It shows the same elements of scholarship, communication and humour as the first course. Learning really can be enjoyable.
Date published: 2022-01-14
Rated 5 out of
5
by
bob in sarasota from
super course
purchased this course several years ago - it is a must before visiting greece or rome - you'll get so much more out of your trip - there's beaucoup info in these lectures - you'll feel like you've already been there by the end of the course - the instructor is excellent - a master at his field with nice amiable delivery
Date published: 2021-12-07
Rated 5 out of
5
by
pipette from
Really excellent lectures.
I found this course very interesting. Professor Hale demonstrates a comprehensive knowledge of all aspects of his subject in an engaging and easy to follow way. I thoroughly enjoyed this whole course and learned a lot.
Date published: 2021-10-10
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Tigger2004 from
Says what it's about.
Bought this for myself after listening to the first 6 lectures. Had to have it to review and rereview. Thrilled beyond words for finally hearing about things that always peaked my curiosity without papers and exams looming over my head.
Date published: 2021-07-23
Overview
About
Dr. John R. Hale is the Director of Liberal Studies at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. He earned his B.A. at Yale University and his Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge in England. Professor Hale teaches introductory courses on archaeology, as well as more specialized courses on the Bronze Age, the ancient Greeks, the Roman world, Celtic cultures, the Vikings, and nautical and underwater archaeology. An accomplished instructor, Professor Hale is also an archaeologist with more than 30 years of fieldwork experience. He has excavated at a Romano-British town in Lincolnshire, England, and at the Roman Villa of Torre de Palma in Portugal. Among other places, he has carried out interdisciplinary studies of ancient oracle sites in Greece and Turkey, including the famous Delphic oracle, and participated in an undersea search in Greek waters for lost fleets from the time of the Persian Wars. Professor Hale has received many awards for distinguished teaching, including the Panhellenic Teacher of the Year Award and the Delphi Center Award. His writing has been published in the journals Antiquity, The Classical Bulletin, the Journal of Roman Archaeology, and Scientific American.
01: Archaeology’s Big Bang
In 1738, Roque Joaquin Alcubierre began the first systematic excavations of Herculaneum, a Roman city buried during the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in A.D. 79. This spectacular dig marked the beginning of archaeology as a scientific discipline.
33 min
02: “Ode on a Grecian Urn”
The excavations at Herculaneum and nearby Pompeii fueled an already enthusiastic cult for collecting Greek and Roman antiquities, and sparked new insights into ancient art and history by scholars such as Johann Joachim Winckelmann.
30 min
03: A Quest for the Trojan War
The superstar of archaeology in the 19th century was Heinrich Schliemann, who was inspired by the Homeric epics to search for Troy, Mycenae, and other fabled Bronze Age sites, making remarkable and controversial discoveries in the process.
31 min
04: How to Dig
Archaeology was a trial-by-error affair of largely haphazard digging until General Lane Fox (later Lord Pitt-Rivers) developed scientific methods of fieldwork, later improved by Mortimer Wheeler in his excavations of Roman sites in Britain.
31 min
05: First Find Your Site
This lecture looks at techniques for finding archaeological sites, including the use of technology that sees below the surface. One famous archaeologist achieved success by simply asking, "If I were a Bronze Age king, where would I put my palace?"
31 min
06: Taking the Search Underwater
The bottom of the Mediterranean Sea is a museum of ancient shipwrecks and artifacts. Jacques Cousteau, coinventor of SCUBA gear, helped pioneer underwater archaeology, followed by George Bass, who brought rigorous surface techniques to the sea floor.
30 min
07: Cracking the Codes
Epigraphy is the study of ancient inscriptions, which are often found in sites around the Mediterranean. This lecture covers the deciphering of Egyptian hieroglyphs on the Rosetta Stone, and the decoding of Linear B, a late Bronze Age script.
31 min
08: Techniques for Successful Dating
To establish accurate dates, archaeologists employ high-tech methods such as radiocarbon and thermoluminescence. The most useful and precise technique is the simplest, tree-ring dating, which can determine the exact year and also the climate associated.
31 min
09: Reconstructing Vanished Environments
Archaeologists turn to geologists, soil scientists, botanists, palynologists, and zoologists to answer a range of questions about the history and setting of an artifact or site. This expertise is also useful for identifying fakes and forgeries.
31 min
10: “Not Artifacts but People”
The study of human remains opens a window on life in the ancient world, concerning diet, disease, longevity, and other demographic data. This lecture looks at several case histories, including an athlete, a gladiator, and King Philip of Macedon.
33 min
11: Archaeology by Experiment
Experimental archaeology tests the technology of the ancient world by recreating it as accurately as possible, shedding light on such arts as shipbuilding, chariot racing, pottery making, and acoustical engineering in amphitheaters.
32 min
12: Return to Vesuvius
This lecture examines the digs at Pompeii and Herculaneum in light of the many innovations in archaeological technique over the last century, including the 1980 discovery of 300 bodies trapped at dockside during the eruption.
30 min
13: Gournia—Harriet Boyd and the Mother Goddess
Starting the section of the course focusing on specific sites, this lecture looks at the remarkable career of Harriet Boyd, discoverer of a Bronze Age Minoan town at Gournia, Crete, complete with a shrine to a snake goddess.
31 min
14: Thera—A Bronze Age Atlantis?
Popularly identified with Atlantis because of the richness of its vanished civilization, Akrotiri on the Greek island of Santorini was destroyed by earthquake and volcanic eruption, possibly as early as 1670 B.C.
31 min
15: Olympia—Games and Gods
Excavations at Olympia have recovered thousands of artifacts relating to the ancient Olympic games and the religious cults practiced at the site, including the workshop of Phidias, the sculptor of the temple's lost statue of Zeus, one of the Seven Wonders.
31 min
16: Athens’s Agora—Where Socrates Walked
The Agora was Athens's civic and commercial center. This lecture tours the American-led excavation of the Agora, ongoing since 1931, giving a glimpse of a typical day for an archaeologist - and for an Athenian in the Classical Age.
31 min
17: Delphi—Questioning the Oracle
The ancient legends of the oracle of Delphi have been confirmed by contributions from a number of modern scientific disciplines. Research by Dr. Hale and a colleague overthrew a century-long view that had rejected the role of intoxicating gases in the
30 min
18: Kyrenia—Lost Ship of the Hellenistic Age
Ancient writings give almost no details about Greek or Roman merchant ships and freighters, but a 4th-century B.C. wreck off Kyrenia, Cyprus, miraculously preserved 60 percent of the hull, allowing exact replicas to be built and tested.
30 min
19: Riace—Warriors from the Sea
Discovered by a diver in 1972, two ancient statues known as the Riace Bronzes are the site of the world's smallest archaeological dig: a microscopic study of their clay cores in an attempt to ascertain their date and place of manufacture.
31 min
20: Rome—Foundation Myths and Archaeology
How do the myths of Rome's founding match archaeological evidence? This lecture looks at such traditions as Rome's connection to Troy, its foundation date, its relation to neighboring towns, and the site of the hut of Romulus.
31 min
21: Caesarea Maritima—A Roman City in Judea
Caesarea Maritima on the coast of Israel was an important harbor and administrative center that tied King Herod of Judea to the Roman world. The now-submerged harbor works are an extraordinary example of Roman engineering.
30 min
22: Teutoburg—Battlefield Archaeology
In A.D. 9, German tribesmen ambushed and massacred three Roman legions in the Teutoburg Forest. The battle site was long lost until archeologists recently pinpointed the location and uncovered details that clarify German tactics.
31 min
23: Bath—Healing Waters at Aquae Sulis
The spa at Aquae Sulis in modern Bath, England, was a natural wonder of the Roman Empire. Excavations have uncovered a range of objects, including curse tablets and more than 10,000 coins, an early example of the custom of tossing coins in water.
31 min
24: Torre de Palma—A Farm in the Far West
In 1947, a chance discovery on a Portuguese farm initiated the excavation of an entire Roman country estate from the later empire, when wealthy Romans had abandoned the cities. Dr. Hale himself has participated in the dig since 1983.
31 min
25: Roots of Classical Culture
Where did Classical civilization originate, and what does it owe to the older civilizations of Egypt and the Near East? Archaeological evidence suggests there was no clear-cut time or place of birth, rather the culture developed slowly and unevenly over millennia.
31 min
26: The Texture of Everyday Life
Using the wealth of evidence from the excavations at Pompeii, this lecture explores aspects of everyday life in Classical antiquity, including childhood, games and pastimes, public latrines, reading, timekeeping, baths, and sex.
30 min
27: Their Daily Bread
Vast sectors of the ancient economy were devoted to securing grain imports for bread. Obsession with grain was the basis for the mystery cult of the goddess Demeter at Eleusis. Grit in bread provides a method for gauging the age of human remains through patters of teeth wear.
31 min
28: Voyaging on a Dark Sea of Wine
Wine was an essential element of Greco-Roman culture. Wrecks from all over the Mediterranean attest to the long-distance trade in wine, and the culture surrounding the grape penetrated into many aspects of daily life including religion.
30 min
29: Shows and Circuses—Rome’s “Virtual Reality”
To Romans the circus meant the racetrack, particularly the chariot races. Their love of spectacle also took in gladiatorial shows and combat with wild beasts at the Colosseum, where excavations reveal that the animals were in terrible health.
33 min
30: Engineering and Technology
The Greeks and especially the Romans are renowned for their waterworks. Less well-known technological feats include an early pipe organ and a rudimentary astronomical computer, discovered as a mass of gears aboard a shipwreck.
31 min
31: Slaves—A Silent Majority?
The ancient economy relied heavily on slavery. Archaeology reveals the nature of the institution, which differed in significant ways from American antebellum slavery. One difference: potentially everyone was a slave, if captured in war.
32 min
32: Women of Greece and Rome
Archaeology has made surprising findings about the roles of women in antiquity, including graves of probable female soldiers and gladiators. Julia Felix of Pompeii is one woman about whom archaeology tells a full and personal story.
31 min
33: Hadrian—Mark of the Individual
Emperor Hadrian is the most archaeologically visible of all Roman emperors. From designs on his coins to such gigantic projects as the Pantheon and Hadrian's Wall, he tried to remake the empire and set it on a new course.
33 min
34: Crucible of New Faiths
One of the striking features of the Classical world is the presence of temples in every city, with a limited range of deities presiding from one end of the Mediterranean to the other. Archaeologists find signs of alternative cults, of which Christianity was one.
30 min
35: The End of the World—A Coroner’s Report
Ancient writers do not seem aware of a "fall of the Roman Empire." Nonetheless the remains of villas such as Torre de Palma show a gradual cannibalizing of infrastructure to make do in what were clearly increasingly difficult times.
30 min
36: A Bridge across the Torrent
A Roman bridge in Spain bears the inscription: "This bridge will last forever." The secret of the Classical world was the desire of many of its leaders and creators to build for eternity. If nothing else, archaeology has brought to light more and more evidence of their enduring achievements.
33 min
