Ancient Rome (Discovery Channel)
8 DVD Slimline Box Set

Disc 1. The Rise of the Roman Empire

1 x 52:00 min

Two thousand years ago, one civilisation held the entire Western world in its grasp. From Northern Europe to Africa, it imposed laws, ideas and a single language. Rome was the super power of the ancient world. During the rise of the Roman Empire, it was not always easy to separate virtue from vice, or hero from villain. Indeed, all too often, they were one and the same.

Disc 2. Legions of Conquest

1 x 52:00 min

They had begun as defenders of their city; they became the most successful warriors in history. They conquered city after city, nation after nation; Rome became the greatest empire the world had ever seen. In her brutal grasp, Rome held a huge expanse together for more than 1,000 years. "Legions of Conquest" is a saga of proud men and almost unending triumph. It's the story of the conquests of the Roman Empire.

Disc 3. Seduction of Power

1 x 52:00 min

Rome seemed to own the world. Her empire stretched from Scotland to the Sahara. Her army controlled three continents. Fifty million people lived under her laws. Rome's Empire was the greatest political prize the world had ever seen. "Seduction of Power" is the story of those who would do anything to win it.

Disc 4. Grasp of an Empire

1 x 52:00 min

Rome conquered with the brute force of her military machine, sweeping entire peoples into her empire. With the wars over, the treaties signed, the bodies buried, whether you were a Gaul or a Carthaginian, whether you were from the East or West, life as you had known it would never be the same again. At its height, the Roman Empire ruled 50 million people as a single civilisation.

Disc 5. Cult of Order

1 x 52:00 min

Romans thought they had united the world. But after centuries of conquest and glory, resentment festered within. Repression and chaos replaced tolerance and order and cults of dissent emerged that threatened to divide the empire forever. "Cult of Order" aims to track the corruption of the values that made Rome ‘great', as excellence gave way to excess.

Disc 6. The Fall of the Roman Empire

1 x 52:00 min

Rome's glory had shone for a thousand years. The Roman Empire had united all lands from Spain to Syria, created more prosperity, more stability and more peace than the Western world had ever seen....nothing lasts forever. In the 3rd Century AD, civil war engulfed the empire. Chaos and corruption undermined it from within. And from every direction, her enemies gathered for the kill.

Disc 7. Letters from the Roman Front

1 x 50:00 min

This is the amazing story of one of the most remarkable archaeological finds of the Roman Empire. While excavating the site of an Ancient Roman battleground a team of archaeologists astonishingly discover letters from the past. Preserved Roman letters that offer an incredible insight into the strongest empire the world had ever seen.

Disc 8. Hidden History of Rome

1 x 50:00 min

Rome was famed for the decadence of its ruling class, however, what about the ordinary citizens of these ancient cultures? How did they lead their day to day lives in an age when the average life expectancy was little more than forty? Did they believe in the pagan gods? What did they do for entertainment? Terry Jones brings the everyday details of the Romans to life in this entertaining, informative and often hilarious programme.