As raiders and explorers, the Vikings played a decisive role in the formation of Latin Christendom, and particularly of western Europe.  Now, in a series of 36 vivid lectures by an honored teacher and classical scholar, you have the opportunity to un...

The Vikings

The word "barbarian" quickly conjures images of Attila the Hun and Genghis Khan. Yet few people realize these men belong to a succession of nomadic warriors who emerged from the Eurasian steppes to conquer civilizations. It's a part of ancient and me...

The Barbarian Empires of the Steppes

Alexander the Great - one of the most renowned figures in antiquity - has inspired everything from medieval romances to blockbuster movies, and military leaders from Julius Caesar to Napoleon to the U.S. general Norman Schwarzkopf. But who was this g...

Alexander the Great and the Macedonian Empire

By understanding the dramatic story of the Ottoman Empire - from its early years as a collection of raiders and conquerors to its undeniable power in the 15th and 16th centuries to its catastrophic collapse in the wreckage of the First World War - on...

The Ottoman Empire

Byzantium is too-often considered merely the "Eastern rump" of the old Roman Empire, a curious and even unsettling mix of the classical and medieval. Yet it was, according to Professor Harl, "without a doubt the greatest state in Christendom through ...

The World of Byzantium

The Peloponnesian War pitted Athens and its allies against a league of city-states headed by Sparta. The ancient Greek historian Thucydides captured this drama with matchless insight in his classic eyewitness account of what was arguably the greatest...

The Peloponnesian War

The history of the Romans as they advanced the frontiers of Classical civilization is often told as a story of warfare and conquest - the mighty legions encountering the "barbarians." But this only tells one side of the story.  Who were the Celts, Go...

Rome and the Barbarians

Explore the dramatic interaction between Judaism, Christianity, and paganism in Rome from the 1st to the 6th centuries. Why did pagan Rome clash with the early Christians? What was it like to be a Jew or a Christian under Roman law? And how did Chris...

The Fall of the Pagans and the Origins of Medieval Christianity

What were the forces that led to one of history's most protracted and legendary periods of conflict? How did they affect the three great civilizations that participated in them? And, ultimately, why did they end and what did they accomplish?  In thes...

The Era of the Crusades

Locales like Mesopotamia or the Indus Valley, peoples like the Hittites or Assyrians, or rulers like Sargon, Hammurabi, and Darius are part of a long-dead antiquity, so shrouded with dust that we might be tempted to skip over them entirely, preferrin...

Origins of Great Ancient Civilizations

Embark on an unforgettable trip into the historical glories of the past with these 24 lectures that immerse you in the history of an often overlooked region of the ancient world.   With Professor Harl as your guide, you'll plunge into the history of ...

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