Ancient Greece 101: Greek History, Myth, and Civilization

Heralded as one the world's most compelling Church historians, Chris Bellitto transports you into the heart of a strange and wonderful world—the world of medieval Europe. Explore some of the most powerful theological ideas, economic tensions, and political struggles that shaped Western civilization. This series traces western European civilization—with detours to the East—from the transformation of the Roman Empire to a thousand-year medieval period that started slowly before 1000, flowered for 300 years, and then declined sharply with the Black Death and social revolts until Constantinople fell in 1453 and Columbus sailed in 1492. Explore Charlemagne's renaissance, agricultural and commercial revolutions, new types of religious life introduced by spiritual masters from Benedict to Francis, dynastic wars, and courtly literature. You will treasure this course as a timeless resource for understanding the people and events that have shaped faith, art, medicine, literature, and government. Encounter famous historical and literary figures such as Mohammed, Augustine, Richard the Lionhearted, and King Arthur, in their own historical context. You'll understand how the Middle Ages fit within the broader historical timeline of Europe and the rest of the world. This course promises to delight and amaze you.

No civilization is so intertwined with the history of Christianity, and the greater Western world, as Rome. Now, you are invited to explore ancient Rome's legacy with award-winning professor and prolific author Christopher M. Bellitto. In this fascinating audio course on the Roman monarchy, republic, and empire, you will explore the essentials of Roman civilization: the creation of a city at the center of world history, its political legacy, its architectural and cultural achievements, its treatment of women and slaves, and its tragic flaws. You will begin by placing ancient Rome in world history by looking at its origins and contexts in terms of geography and chronology. You will then explore the overlooked monarchy that ran for over two centuries until it was replaced by a republic that slowly took over the Mediterranean for 500 years. You will follow Rome as it defeated Carthage in three Punic Wars, facing challengers like Hannibal. As you travel from the Republic to the Empire to Rome's eventual ""fall,"" you will encounter such infamous figures as Julius Caesar, Octavian, Marc Antony, Cleopatra, Caligula, and Nero. You will see how paganism, Judaism, and Christianity interacted, often violently, and how Christianity transformed a stumbling empire. Finally, you will ask whether Rome truly fell at all.

A gripping and authoritative 24-lecture history course on the Vietnam War from the award-winning professor who cowrote "Argument without End" with Robert McNamara. Using newly available archival and source material from the United States and Vietnam, Vassar College professor Robert K. Brigham helps you grapple with the legacy of the Vietnam War today. Based on more than 100 trips to Vietnam and extensive interviews with key players from all sides, Prof. Brigham weaves vivid biographical sketches and rich anecdotes into recorded history. His masterful storytelling will help you look behind common assumptions about the conflict.  Not since the Civil War had the American national consciousness been as strained as it was by the conflict in Southeast Asia. Indeed, the controversies that the Vietnam War spurred on the home front are more familiar to many Americans than the policies and motives that guided the conflict. "Vietnam: The Definitive History of the War" fills that gap. The provocative questions Prof. Brigham raises will help you reexamine the war from today's vantage.  Throughout, Prof. Brigham sheds light on the United States and its place in the world today. Under his expert guidance, you will gain fresh understanding of this momentous chapter in American history.

Who was Alexander the Great? Was he a brilliant, ambitious conqueror or a self-obsessed leader who put his men in harm’s way? A divine figure or a god in his own mind? Join award-winning historian Christopher Bellitto to explore this famously complex figure.. Alexander the Great (ca. 356-323 BCE) was a Macedonian general who brought Greek civilization to the edge of modern-day India. After studying the Iliad, he believed himself to be Achilles reincarnated, imitating the hero of the epic poem in his own military campaigns. Even before he died barely into his thirties, the legends surrounding him were larger than life. In this compelling new audio course, you’ll explore the history and lore surrounding this real man and mythic figure, often by consulting the ancient sources themselves. With Prof. Bellitto, you’ll trace Alexander’s conquests from Macedonia to Asia, assessing his military prowess and leadership skills along the way. You’ll also explore questions about his alleged divinity, his ideas for mixing Greek culture with peoples he overwhelmed, and whether or not he planned to build an empire. Analyzing primary sources as well as context from contemporary historians, you’ll discover wildly different accounts of the same events in Alexander’s life.

12 brilliant lectures by celebrated Church historian and author Christopher Bellitto. Few events have affected the course of civilization as profoundly as the Crusades, a centuries-long period of violent conflict and competition between Islam and Christianity. The Crusades brought destruction and violence to the third monotheistic faith of Judaism as well. Resurfacing frequently in present-day political conversations about clashes between faiths and cultures, the troubling legacy of the Crusades is undeniable. Join award-winning professor Christopher Bellitto in an exploration of this period of conflict. As you examine the five major crusading movements from multiple perspectives, you'll gain a deeper knowledge of what the Holy Land means to Jews, Christians, and Muslims. You'll come to better understand the concepts of ""just war"" and ""jihad"" that dominated during the Middle Ages. Along the way you'll learn about crusade arts, letters and architecture; military orders like the Templars and Hospitallers; the notion of crusading in popular history throughout the centuries; and the state of Christian-Muslim relations today. Simply put, to understand the Crusades is to gain profound insight into the historical course of Civilization—Western and Eastern—and into the profound contradictions of religious war and human nature itself. You'll be in good hands with Prof. Bellitto, who is known for his ability to bring clarity to complex historical and religious events. Don't miss the opportunity to learn with him today.

The American Revolutionary War has inspired bestselling books, iconic paintings, and hit Broadway musicals. More than 250 years after the "shot heard around the world" was fired in Concord, we remain fascinated by the causes and legacy of the Revolution. In 18 dynamic audio lectures, West Point history professor Robert McDonald leads you past the politics and battle tactics to explore the underlying ideas that sparked the Revolution. The editor of "The American Revolution: Core Documents" and writer or editor of numerous books about the Founding Fathers, Prof. McDonald has an encyclopedic knowledge of the complex factors that made the Revolution much more than a war for independence. Under his guidance, you'll examine American history from the establishment of Britain's North American colonies through the ratification of the Constitution. Although you'll revisit famous events like the French and Indian War, the Boston Massacre, and the First Continental Congress, this course invites you to reconsider the wider context—political, religious, and economic—of the Revolution. Throughout the series, you'll entertain questions without easy answers. How can we be sure that it was the Revolutionary War and not something else—like the Enlightenment—that was driving change across the landscape? How did the new land of liberty approach the issues of slavery and women's equality? Join Prof. McDonald for a fresh and exciting take on the classic story at the heart of the United States of America.