Curse of the Ancients with Alice Roberts

Season 1

Did our ancestors believe they were cursed ? Professor Alice Roberts explores historic cataclysmic events such as wars and floods to dispel the myths.

Where to Watch Curse of the Ancients with Alice Roberts • Season 1

5 Episodes

Ancient Global Warming
E1
Ancient Global WarmingAlice Roberts charts the rise of civilisation from 6100 BC to the end of the Bronze Age. After a time of architecture, literature and art, most civilisations suddenly collapsed, plunging the world into darkness.
Rome’s Rise and Fall
E2
Rome’s Rise and FallProfessor Alice Roberts looks at the rise of one of history's greatest civilisations, the Roman Empire. She discovers its eventual downfall was the enemy within: the decadence and misrule of the emperors that were Rome's real curse.
The Darkest Age
E3
The Darkest AgeOnce known as the Dark Ages, this period saw kingdoms rise and fall, cities wiped out by invasion, and plague ravage Europe and the Middle East. Alice reveals how humankind continued to prosper even during the darkest of times.
God’s Holy Warriors
E4
God’s Holy WarriorsAfter the collapse of Rome, Saxons and Vikings swept across Europe, but then suddenly, they seemed to disappear. Professor Alice Roberts explains how archaeologists are unravelling this very mysterious period in history.
Medieval Mystery
E5
Medieval MysteryIn the final episode of Curse of the Ancients, Professor Alice Roberts looks at one of the most cursed periods in European history - the Middle Ages. Archaeologists reveal how wars, such as the Mongol invasion of Hungary, the Black Death that wiped out up to half of Europe’s population, and climate change causing cataclysmic floods – turned our ancestors’ world upside down. Death was a part of everyday life. With such calamities, Western society was on the verge of collapse. So how did it survive, and how did these catastrophes lay the foundation for the modern world?