Showing results for "Great Cities" in Ancient

Cities of the Ancient World is your opportunity to survey the breadth of the ancient world through the context of its urban development. Taught by esteemed Professor Steven L. Tuck, of Miami University, these 24 eye-opening lectures not only provide an invaluable look at the design and architecture of ancient cities, they also offer a flesh-and-blood glimpse into the daily lives of ordinary people and the worlds they created.

In A.D. 64, on the night of July 19, a fire began beneath the stands of Rome’s great stadium, the Circus Maximus. The fire would spread over the coming days to engulf much of the city of Rome. From this calamity, one of the ancient world’s most devastating events, legends grew: that Nero had been responsible for the fire, and fiddled while Rome burned, and that Nero blamed the Christians of Rome, burning them alive in punishment, making them the first recorded martyrs to the Christian faith at Rome.

En el sur de Irak hay un silencio aplastante sobre las dunas. Durante casi 5.000 años, las arenas del desierto iraquí han mantenido los restos de la civilización conocida más antigua: los sumerios. Cuando los arqueólogos estadounidenses descubrieron una colección de tablas cuneiformes en Irak a finales del siglo XIX, se encontraron con un idioma y un pueblo que en aquel momento apenas eran conocidos por los estudiosos especializados en la antigua Mesopotamia.

Was there an empire older and more important than mighty Egypt? There were a few, but the Akkadian Empire, born out of the cradle of civilization, is thought to be the first. And it was a game-changer. Its creation inspired conquerors and other empire-builders throughout history and spawned two world powers. Its epics, legends, and beliefs influence religions and cultures even today—and make for some darn good listening.