Product Description

For more than 1,000 years, the Byzantine Empire was the eye of the entire world – the origin of great literature, fine art and modern government. Heir to Greece and Rome, the Byzantine Empire was also the first Christian empire. Now, after a year of filming on three continents, TLC unlocks this ancient civilization, spanning 11 centuries and three continents. Pass through the gates of Constantinople, explore the magnificent mosque of Hagia Sophia and see the looted treasures of the empire now located in St. Marks, Venice.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20267 in DVD
• Brand: Koch International
• Released on: 2007-08-14
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DVD, Letterboxed, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 208 minutes

Customer Reviews

Shining Light in the Dark Ages
Byzantium, Volume 1, brings to life an empire that, while seemingly distant, is very closely linked to the evolution of Western Civilization. The first part of a two video set, containing two 50 minute segments first aired on The Learning Channel, Volume 1 traces the growth of the first Christian empire, one that lasted for over a thousand years. Volume 2 traces the maturity and decline of Byzantium through its conquest by the Ottoman Turks in 1453. John Romer, the author and on-screen guide for the series, breathes life into the city and the powerful ideas that made the Byzantium a thriving cultural and commercial center while western Europe was slogging through the Dark Ages and the Middle Ages. At its height, Byzantium housed the most precious Christian relics, including a piece of Christ's cross. Located on the border of Europe and Asia, it ruled an empire that extended across Asia Minor and the Balkans. Then, after the rise of Islam, the empire shrank until little was left outside the city walls. Byzantium turned to Europe for help in fighting the infidels, only to have its own city sacked by the Crusaders whose help it sought. Venice, its erstwhile trading partner, carried off many of its artistic masterpieces. The Hagia Sophia, originally built as a Christian church, became Istanbul's most famous mosque. And the scholars who had kept alive the study of Greek for more than a millennium fled to Europe where they helped lay the groundwork for the Renaissance. Byzantium, the video, takes us on a visually sumptuous journey to key locations throughout the empire, while putting a human face on the key actors in the history of this unique and vital empire. I never suspected I would find this story as compelling as it turned out to be.

One of the great video series
Many Americans know little of any history, even their own. And what little they know of world history is mostly caricature. This series of four videos goes a long way toward helping to explain one of the least known of world histories, that of Byzantium. John Romer does a super job of putting the long history of Byzantium into some kind of context for us. The concept that the Roman Empire did not "fall" but survived in the East until the 15th century may be astonishing to most of us, but so it was. Romer also deals fairly with the sack of Byzantium by the Crusaders in 1204 (as opposed to the vitriolic treatment given it by Terry Jones in another recent video series). Particularly wonderful is the second episode of the series which deals with the role of icons in Byzantine culture and with the brutal history of Byzantine iconoclasm. The art and architecture of Byzantium forms a large part of the series and with great justice, as a reflection of the society that produced it.

Excellent - plus, the host is enjoyable!
Many years ago, I rented this series on VHS tapes and enjoyed the presentation tremendously - was waiting for a DVD production and will likely purchase the set - I had absolutely no problem w/ the host of this series and found him quite enthusiastic! With today's modern computer graphics & recreations, the series might certainly be improved, but believe me that this presentation will give you a realistic feeling for the great empire of Byzantium (regardless of how petty one might be in its pronunciation!) - at least rent & then decide!