The Greeks: crucible of civilization

Episode of Series “Empires”.
Narrated by Liam Neeson, these three episodes examine the rise and eventual collapse of the ancient Greek empire in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. In episode one, “The Revolution”, we look at the rise of classical Athens through the eyes of Cleisthenes, a nobleman who assisted in the development of democracy. Initially a small city-state, Athens was riddled by aristocratic antagonisms and fear of the warrior city-state of Sparta. By developing a political system of “equals” rather than an economy of tyranny, Cleisthenes and his fellow citizens developed the world’s first democracy. In episode two, “The Golden Age”, the rise of democratic Athens was threatened by the might of the Persian Empire. Under the generalship of Themistocles, the Athenian navy conquered the Persians and the resulting victory gave rise to a Greek empire that intellectually and economically dominated the Mediterranean world. Over this period, Greek culture developed the roots to modern philosophy, science, rationalism, art, drama and culture. Under the leadership of Pericles, the Parthenon was built and the city of Athens grew into the world’s most important state. In episode three, “Empire of the Mind”, the death of Pericles leads to civil violence and dissent and the fracturing of democracy into mob rule. Critics of the state, such as Socrates, are punished and executed but with the fall of Greece as a great military power there arises instead a cultural legacy of reason and philosophy which sees the Socratic method becoming the founding basis of Western civilisation.