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Unpack the term "Crusade" and situate it in its cultural context. When Pope Urban said it was the Christians' duty to take up arms against the "infidels," ordinary people were swept up in the idea that they were fighting to save Christianity and their own souls against the advance of Islam.
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As a Greek citizen, your life would have been much more leisurely and relaxed on a day-to-day basis than ours is today. Put yourself in the sandals of an average citizen taking a morning stroll to the agora or enjoying a lively evening of discussion at a symposium. Then tour the clubs, witness the athletic events, and participate in the festivals that would have been part of your daily life.
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The last successful invasion of England was by the Normans, who won the well-known Battle of Hastings in 1066. Go inside that invasion and learn about Norman culture and its lasting influence on the British - especially the creation of a strong central government that has fortified the island to the present.
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Turn to ancient Persia, a kingdom that came from the other side of history and rose to greatness. See how Cyrus the Great was a tolerant, pragmatic ruler, who allowed his subjects to maintain certain rights. Then see how Darius built roads, adopted a currency, and created an innovative system of communication and administration.
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From the Magna Carta, which granted rights to ordinary citizens, to the rise of vernacular English, as evidenced by The Canterbury Tales, the Middle Ages marked a turning point for the "other side" of history. Find out what influenced life for ordinary people, from the control of the church to the horrors of the infamous Black Death.
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Were the Middle Ages really an era of knights in shining armor and damsels in distress? In this lecture you'll gain new insights into the realities of knighthood, from the rigorous training during childhood to the bloodthirstiness of battle. You'll also study the code of chivalry, where courtesy is the mark of a civilized man.
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An ancient Greek faced death head on. You would die in the home, surrounded by family, and afterward women would tend to your body and sing dirges in your honor. Your corpse would be tainted with miasma - pollution - and would be buried outside the city. Meanwhile, your spirit would be carried across the River Styx to Hades, where life among the shades of the dead awaited you.
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The Vikings have always been on the "other side" of history, their deeds recorded only by their victims. In this lecture, you'll get at the truth of this enigmatic culture. While a small number were the raiders we know from other accounts, the Vikings had a vibrant trading culture based on the sea.
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Despite their lower life expectancy and higher infant mortality, some Greeks managed to live to a ripe old age, especially the poets and philosophers, who lived a more sedentary life. Discover the secrets to their longevity, and how you would support yourself in an era without anything like today's retirement systems.
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Step into the world's earliest permanent settlement - the river banks in Mesopotamia. The development of agriculture was a revolution because it allowed humans to live permanently in one place, which led to the invention of writing, the creation of laws, an increase in trade, and technological innovations such as the wheel.
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Experience the world of Roman crime and punishment, law and order. You'll witness crime ranging from midnight muggings to piracy to bandits in the countryside, and you'll discover the variety of punishments meted out in a society lacking prisons - from loss of civic rights and exile to impalement and crucifixion.
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As an ancient Egyptian, you might have been a farmer, a herdsman, a craftsman, a hunter, or, most dangerously, a miner. Take a tour of people in the professions that would been available to you in the village of Deir el-Medina - from educated scribes to the craftsmen who built royal tombs.
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Go inside a phalanx battle and experience it as an average citizen-soldier or hoplite. Then turn to Sparta, a society that revolved around military life from childhood education to retirement at age 60. Finally, explore the rise of Greek mercenaries, whom some Greek writers feared were a threat to civilization.
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This lecture takes you into the world of Athenian women, who were subjugated to males all their lives and who rarely left the home except for festivals and funerals. You'll also look at the hetaerae - or female companions - whose lives were relatively independent.
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What does it mean to be human? Take a look at the lives of our ancestors, from ancient hominids to Homo erectus to the earliest humans. Picture yourself as a Neanderthal, whose life was dominated by the environment, and discover the significance of the human mind, language, and art in the Old Stone Age.
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The Romans balanced the sobriety of running an empire with a healthy need to relax. Delve into the spectator side of Roman society and learn about its public games - chariot races, theatrical performances, gladiatorial combats, and circuses. Experience the venues, the violence, and the excitement of relaxing Roman style.
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Look at ways in which the medieval church wielded enormous influence over the lives of ordinary people, and how it did everything in its power to maintain its influence. You'll witness life as a clergyman, go into the world of a monastery, and see what became of those the church deemed heretics.
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What are the origins of slavery? Although ancient Greeks didn't invent the concept, they did leave records. You'll discover the range of work slaves did, from performing domestic duties to being worked to death in the mines. Then travel to Sparta, where helot slaves outnumbered free Spartans by as many as 7 to 1.
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Picture what it was like to be a British native under Roman rule. How did you make peace with being subjugated when Claudius subjugated you in A.D. 43? The Romans built cities and showed natives new, more efficient agricultural practices, and protected the island for 365 years. After all that, how would you have felt when they abandoned you?
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Put yourself into the world of Rome's plebian class. This lecture takes you to the leaky, rat-infested housing where the urban poor suffered from disease and malnutrition, and you'll experience the threat of fire that hung over Rome in the 1st century A.D. You'll also get a glimpse of what sustained the day-to-day life of the poor.