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The Western Tradition
Overview
Covering the ancient world through the age of technology, this illustrated lecture by Eugen Weber presents a tapestry of political and social events woven with many strands — religion, industry, agriculture, demography, government, economics, and art. A visual feast of over 2,700 images from the Metropolitan Museum of Art portrays key events that shaped the development of Western thought, culture, and tradition.
Seasons
Season 1 (1989)
No overview available.
52 episodes
Episodes
Episode 1: The Dawn of History
1989-01-01The origins of the human race are traced from anthropoid ancestors to the agricultural revolution.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 2: The Ancient Egyptians
1989-01-01Egyptian irrigation created one of the first great civilizations.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 3: Mesopotamia
1989-01-01Settlements in the Fertile Crescent gave rise to the great river civilizations of the Middle East.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 4: From Bronze to Iron
1989-01-01Metals revolutionized tools, as well as societies, in the empires of Assyria, Persia, and Neo-Babylonia.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 5: The Rise of Greek Civilization
1989-01-01Democracy and philosophy arose from Greek cities at the edge of the civilized world.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 6: Greek Thought
1989-01-01Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle laid the foundation of Western intellectual thought.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 7: Alexander the Great
1989-01-01Alexander's conquests quadrupled the size of the world known to the Greeks.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 8: The Hellenistic Age
1989-01-01Hellenistic kingdoms extended Greek culture throughout the Mediterranean.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 9: The Rise of Rome
1989-01-01Through its army, Rome built an empire that shaped the West.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 10: The Roman Empire
1989-01-01Rome's civil engineering contributed as much to the empire as did its weapons.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 11: Early Christianity
1989-01-01Christianity spread despite contempt and persecution from Rome.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 12: The Rise of the Church
1989-01-01The old heresy became the Roman empire's official religion under the Emperor Constantine.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 13: The Decline of Rome
1989-01-01While enemies slashed at Rome's borders, civil war and economic collapse destroyed the empire from within.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 14: The Fall of Rome
1989-01-01Despite the success of emperors such as Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius, Rome fell victim to barbarian invasions.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 15: The Byzantine Empire
1989-01-01From Constantinople, the Byzantine Empire carried on the traditions of Greece and Rome.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 16: The Fall of Byzantium
1989-01-01Nearly a thousand years after Rome's fall, Constantinople was conquered by the forces of Islam.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 17: The Dark Ages
1989-01-01Barbarian kingdoms took possession of the fragments of the Roman Empire.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 18: The Age of Charlemagne
1989-01-01Charlemagne revived hopes for a new empire in Western Europe.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 19: The Middle Ages
1989-01-01Amid invasion and civil disorder, a military aristocracy dominated the kingdoms of Europe.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 20: The Feudal Order
1989-01-01Bishop, knight, and peasant exemplified some of the social divisions of the year 1000 A.D.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 21: Common Life in the Middle Ages
1989-01-01Famine, disease, and short life expectancies were the conditions that shaped medieval beliefs.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 22: Cities and Cathedrals of the Middle Ages
1989-01-01The great churches embodied the material and spiritual ambitions of the age.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 23: The Late Middle Ages
1989-01-01Two hundred years of war and plague debilitated Europe.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 24: The National Monarchies
1989-01-01A new urban middle class emerged, while dynastic marriages established centralized monarchies.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 25: Renaissance & the Age of Discovery
1989-01-01Renaissance humanists made man "the measure of all things." Europe was possessed by a new passion for knowledge.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 26: Renaissance & the New World
1989-01-01The discovery of America challenged Europe.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 27: The Reformation
1989-01-01Voiced by Martin Luther, Protestantism shattered the unity of the Catholic Church.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 28: The Rise of the Middle Class
1989-01-01As the cities grew, new middle-class mores had an impact on religious life.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 29: The Wars of Religion
1989-01-01For more than a century, the quarrels of Protestants and Catholics tore Europe apart.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 30: The Rise of the Trading Cities
1989-01-01Amid religious wars, a few cities learned that tolerance increased their prosperity.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 31: The Age of Absolutism
1989-01-01Exhausted by war and civil strife, many Europeans exchanged earlier liberties and anarchies for greater peace.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 32: Absolutism and the Social Contract
1989-01-01Arguments about the legitimate source of political power centered on divine right versus natural law.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 33: The Enlightened Despots
1989-01-01Monarchs considered reforms in order to create more efficient societies, but not at the expense of their own power.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 34: The Enlightenment
1989-01-01Intellectual theories about the nature of man and his potential came to the fore.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 35: The Enlightenment and Society
1989-01-01Scientists and social reformers battled for universal human rights during a peaceful and prosperous period.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 36: The Modern Philosophers
1989-01-01Freedom of thought and expression opened new vistas explored by French, English, and American thinkers.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 37: The American Revolution
1989-01-01The British colonists created a society that tested Enlightenment ideas and resisted restrictions imposed by England.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 38: The American Republic
1989-01-01A new republic, the compromise of radicals and conservatives, was founded on universal freedoms.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 39: The Death of the Old Regime
1989-01-01In France the old order collapsed under revolutionaries' attacks and the monarchy's own weakness.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 40: The French Revolution
1989-01-01Liberty, equality, and fraternity skidded into a reign of Terror.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 41: The Industrial Revolution
1989-01-01Technology and mass production reduced famine and ushered in higher standards of living.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 42: The Industrial World
1989-01-01A consumer revolution was fueled by coal, public transportation, and new city services.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 43: Revolution and Romantics
1989-01-01Leaders in the arts, literature, and political theory argued for social justice and national liberation.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 44: The Age of the Nation-States
1989-01-01The great powers cooperated to quell internal revolts, yet competed to acquire colonies.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 45: A New Public
1989-01-01Public education and mass communications created a new political life and leisure time.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 46: Fin de Siècle
1989-01-01Everyday life of the working class was transformed by leisure, prompting the birth of an elite avant-garde movement.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 47: The First World War and the Rise of Fascism
1989-01-01Old empires crumbled during World War I to be replaced by right-wing dictatorships in Italy, Spain, and Germany.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 48: The Second World War
1989-01-01World War II was a war of new tactics and strategies. Civilian populations became targets as the Nazi holocaust exterminated millions of people.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 49: The Cold War
1989-01-01The U.S. and Soviet Union dominated Europe and confronted each other in Korea.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 50: Europe and the Third World
1989-01-01Burdened with the legacy of colonial imperialism, the Third World rushed development to catch up with its Western counterparts.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 51: The Technological Revolution
1989-01-01Keeping up with the ever-increasing pace of change became the standard of the day.
Runtime: 30 minEpisode 52: Toward the Future
1989-01-01Modern medicine, atomic energy, computers, and new concepts of time, energy, and matter all have an important effect on life in the 20th century.
Runtime: 30 min