Empires - The Roman Empire in the First Century
List Price:
Our Price: $14.95
You Save: $5.04 (25%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Sigourney WeaverBrand: Paramount
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 219 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-04-05
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: PBS Paramount
DVD Reviews of Empires - The Roman Empire in the First Century
DVD Review: Sigourney Weaver is the wrong narrator for this film!
Summary: 3 Stars
This was a casting error. Sigourney Weaver is an excellent actress. However, she does not have the strong voice needed to carry the weight of this empire. Although Roman women had a great deal of behind-the-scenes power, it was the men who physically built, protected, and maintained its existence. Somehow this is lost in the feminine voice. Liam Neeson was a superb choice to narrate "The Greeks." What happened?DVD Review: A superb and all too brief look at the Roman Empire of the first century CE and how it was able to reach political stability
Summary: 5 Stars
The Roman Empire was truly an amazing political, economic and social entity. A wide variety of cultures and tribes were conquered and absorbed into the Empire. From the dark skinned North Africans to the blonde and fair-skinned people of Northern Europe to the swarthy inhabitants of Judea, they all brought their cultural heritage, religious beliefs and history into the Empire. Slavery was a fundamental part of the functioning of the Roman Empire, as the majority of people were slaves of one form or another. However, as is pointed out on this video, the slavery was not based on skin color, but on your history and social condition. If you were part of the aristocracy and were loyal to the Empire, then skin color was irrelevant. No political entity then or since has been able to command such loyalty from so diverse a population.
As the Empire generally ceased to expand and began the process of consolidation, many problems appeared. In a relatively short time, the Empire had expanded from the leg and boot of Italy to encompass nearly all the Mediterranean coastline and most of Europe. This led to severe political and social problems that took decades to resolve. Once an Emperor ascended the throne, the twin problems of succession and how to remove a mad tyrant were the most serious issues. The Emperor's word was law, yet that word could be used to cause the deaths of political rivals. At the end, assassination was the only means where an insane Emperor could be removed from his position.
This video is a superb recapitulation of that most dynamic of times. The imagery and narration answer many of the questions as to how the Empire was able to weather the first storms of political instability. Inherent in that stability was the first rumblings of a major new religion created from the life of a humble Jewish martyr. If you are interested in the history of the Roman Empire in the first century of the Christian Era, then this is the natural and best place to begin.
DVD Review: The reign of the caesars
Summary: 5 Stars
Augustus was the big man. He ruled with an iron fist. The majority of his successors were failures. There is a story in the second chapter that is very interesting. It is the story of Sejanus. He was a political gangster who wielded power during the reign of the emperor Tiberius. I love to hear the stories of political intrigues during ancient history. The first chapter is good, but too much about some poet. Who cares about ancient poetry, I want more blood and guts stories. Another great story is of a General named Germanicus. He was like JFK. This dvd is worth a watch for sure if you like roman history.DVD Review: Utterly Disappointing
Summary: 1 Stars
While others have done a decent job in describing how terrible this documentary is and how much better PBS could have done producing it, what added to my surprise apart from the poor work of scholarship, were the comments made about Jesus. Karen King, a self proclaimed expert on the history of ancient Christianity narrated a couple of incidents and attributed them to the blessed life of Jesus. Later she goes on to say that those events rightly led to the crucifixion of Jesus by the Romans. I found that rather nonsensical.
Also, a great deal of time was spent narrating obscene verses from the collections of Ovid which I wonder why were found to be more relevant to the Roman Empire as compared to the political turmoil Rome was in or the military expeditions of her generals. Quite frankly, I had never imagined a PBS documentary would have disappointed me more.
DVD Review: Sad about the "video" when "audio" being so great
Summary: 3 Stars
i was REALLY looking forward to see this video.
i had downloaded somewhere,what i first believed to be an audiobook about The Roman Empire.Then to my exitement i found out that it was the audio track from this DVD.
I ordered it,and i was sadely dissapointed.
The video i imagined in my head,when listening to the audio track was FAR from reality.
The video part i made without drama,without action...without actors/acting in the true sense.Just more like "background" video.It truly did NOT add upp to the marvelous audio part.
Its not that i am saying "Do NOT buy this DVD" its more like saying dont look,just listen. Because the Audio track is perfect.From Sigourney Weaver's cool and sensitive telling,to the actors playing the part as the storry about the Roman Empire,unfolds.
So 2 Stars for the Video part. 5 Stars for the Audio
Description of Empires - The Roman Empire in the First Century
Two thousand years ago, at the dawn of the first century, the ancient world was ruled by Rome. Through the experiences, memories and writings of the people who lived it, this series tells the story off that time -- the emperors and slaves, poets and plebians, who wrested order from choas, built the most cosmopolitian society the world had ever seen and shaped the Roman empire in the first century A.D.The compelling PBS Empires series explores the first hundred years of the Roman Empire in this fascinating documentary. The story begins with the ascent of Augustus, who almost single-handedly rescued Rome from the chaos of civil war and forged a collection of colonies into an empire. Augustus was a shrewd statesman, and his manipulation of the common people allowed him to begin a dynasty that would eventually endanger everything he had created. After the death of Augustus in A.D. 14 the Roman Empire continued to expand even as the imperial family fell into turmoil. Augustus's successor was Tiberius, who was then followed by the notorious Caligula, but it fell to Claudius, who came reluctantly to power after Caligula's murder, to further Augustus's imperial ambitions. Under Claudius Rome finally occupied the distant island of Britain, and letters from the period offer fascinating glimpses into everyday life at the edge of the world. Claudius was followed by Nero, who brought the empire to the point of collapse. His death, which ended the Augustan dynasty, was followed by years of infighting between rival factions. The final episode of this film shows how the empire survived political chaos and natural disasters like the destruction of Pompeii to end the first century in a position of strength.
The Roman Empire in the First Century is filled with information about everyday life in the Roman Empire, and interviews with historians are supported with eyewitness accounts by dozens of Romans, from the poet Ovid to unknown soldiers in the forests of Germania. This gives great depth to the story of imperial ambition, which forms the backbone of the documentary, to make this the most successful installment in the Empires series. --Simon Leake
General DVDs
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Bestsellers in General DVDs
Man on WireRelease date: 2008-12-09; DVD
Best price: $13.37
Price in other shops:
Blue Planet: Seas of Life (Special Edition)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2007-10-02; DVD
Best price: $17.59
Price in other shops:
Expelled: No Intelligence AllowedRelease date: 2008-10-21; DVD
Best price: $8.44
Price in other shops:
Planet Earth & The Blue Planet Seas of Life (Special Collector's Edition)Planet; Release date: 2007-10-02; DVD
Best price: $52.97
Price in other shops:
The Beales of Grey Gardens - Criterion CollectionImage Entertainment; Release date: 2006-12-05; DVD
Best price: $13.60
Price in other shops:
A Haunting in ConnecticutRelease date: 2008-09-30; DVD
Best price: $3.53
Price in other shops:
Grey Gardens - Criterion CollectionImage Entertainment; Release date: 2001-08-14; DVD
Best price: $25.20
Price in other shops:
ReligulousLions Gate; Release date: 2009-02-17; DVD
Best price: $10.20
Price in other shops:
The BBC Natural History Collection featuring Planet Earth (Planet Earth/ The Blue Planet: Seas of Life Special Edition/ Life of Mammals/ Life of Birds)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2008-04-01; DVD
Best price: $85.99
Price in other shops:
Planet Earth - The Complete BBC SeriesWarner Brothers; Release date: 2007-04-24; DVD
Best price: $19.49
Price in other shops:
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
The History Channel Presents The Crusades - Crescent & The CrossA&E; Release date: 2005-12-26; DVD
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops:
The Dark Ages (The History Channel )A&E; Release date: 2007-05-29; DVD
Best price: $10.22
Price in other shops:
The History Channel Presents Rome - Engineering an EmpireA&E; Release date: 2007-09-25; DVD
Best price: $1.99
Price in other shops:
Decisive Battles of the Ancient World (History Channel)A&E HOME VIDEO; Release date: 2006-11-28; DVD
Best price: $16.88
Price in other shops:
Empires - Islam: Empire of FaithParamount; Release date: 2005-03-08; DVD
Best price: $10.90
Price in other shops:
The True Story of Alexander the Great (History Channel)A&E; Release date: 2005-01-25; DVD
Best price: $8.91
Price in other shops:
Empires - The Medici: Godfathers of the RenaissanceParamount; Release date: 2005-04-05; DVD
Best price: $10.46
Price in other shops:
Empires - Egypt's Golden EmpireParamount; Release date: 2005-04-05; DVD
Best price: $9.94
Price in other shops:
Rome - Power & GloryRelease date: 2000-08-15; DVD
Best price: $9.22
Price in other shops:
Empires - The Greeks: Crucible of CivilizationParamount; Release date: 2005-04-05; DVD
Best price: $10.80
Price in other shops: