The Western Tradition
This
absorbing survey of more than 2,000 years of Western civilization
will give students an educational foundation that will serve them
though college and beyond. In this encyclopedic series, illustrated
with over 2,700 images from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, historian
Eugene Weber guides your class through centuries of politics, literature,
economics, industry, agriculture, art philosophy, and the daily
lives of ordinary people. From ancient Egypt through the cold war,
The Western Tradition will give students a deep and abiding understanding
of Western history.
Episode Descriptions
PART
I
1 The Dawn of History — The origins of the human race
are traced from anthropoid ancestors to the agricultural revolution.
2 The Ancient Egyptians — Egyptian irrigation created
one of the first great civilizations.
3 Mesopotamia — Settlements in the Fertile Crescent
gave rise to the great river civilizations of the Middle East.
4 From Bronze to Iron — Metals revolutionized tools
and societies Assyria, Persia, and Neo-Babylonia.
5 The Rise of Greek Civilization — Democracy and philosophy
arose from Greek cities at the edge of the civilized world.
6 Greek Thought — Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle laid
the foundation of Western thought.
7 Alexander the Great — Alexander's conquests quadrupled
the size of the known Greek world.
8 The Hellenistic Age — Hellenistic kingdoms extended
Greek culture to the entire Mediterranean.
9 The Rise of Rome — Through its army, Rome built an
empire that shaped the West.
10 The Roman Empire — Rome's civil engineering contributed
as much to the empire as its weapons.
11 Early Christianity — Christianity spread despite
contempt and persecution from Rome.
12 The Rise of the Church — The old heresy became the
Roman Empire's official religion under the Emperor Constantine.
13 The Decline of Rome — While enemies slashed at Rome's
borders, civil war and economic collapse destroyed the empire from
within.
14 The Fall of Rome — Despite the success of emperors
such as Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius, Rome fell victim to barbarian
invasions.
15 The Byzantine Empire — From Constantinople, the Byzantine
Empire carried on the traditions of Greece and Rome.
16 The Fall of Byzantium — Nearly a thousand years after
Rome's fall, Constantinople was conquered by the forces of Islam.
17 The Dark Ages — Barbarian kingdoms took possession
of the fragments of the Roman Empire.
18 The Age of Charlemagne — Charlemagne revived hopes
for a new empire in Western Europe.
19 The Middle Ages — Amid invasion and civil disorder,
a military aristocracy dominated the kingdoms of Europe.
20 The Feudal Order — Bishop, knight, and peasant were
some of the social divisions in 1000 A. D.
21 Common Life in the Middle Ages — Famine, disease,
and short life spans shaped medieval beliefs.
22 Cities and Cathedrals of the Middle Ages — The great
churches embodied the material and spiritual ambitions of the age.
23 The Late Middle Ages — Two hundred years of war and
plague debilitated Europe.
24 The National Monarchies — A new urban middle class
emerged, while dynastic marriages established centralized monarchies.
25 The Renaissance and the Age of Discovery — Renaissance
humanists made man "the measure of all things." Europe
was possessed by a new passion for knowledge.
26 The Renaissance and the New World — The discovery
of America challenged Europe.
27 The Reformation — Protestantism through Martin Luther
shattered the unity of the Church.
28 The Rise of the Middle Class — New middle-class mores
had an impact on religious life.
29 The Wars of Religion — For a century plus, Protestants
and Catholics quarrels tore Europe apart.
30 The Rise of the Trading Cities — Amid religious wars,
a few cities learned that tolerance increased there prosperity.
31 The Age of Absolutism — Exhausted by war and civil
strife, many Europeans exchanged earlier liberties and anarchies
for greater peace.
32 Absolutism and the Social Contract — Arguments about
the legitimate source of political power centered on divine right
versus natural law.
33 The Enlightened Despots — Monarchs considered reforms
in order to create more efficient societies, but not at the expense
of their own power.
34 The Enlightenment — Intellectual theories of the
nature of man and his potential came to the fore.
35 The Enlightenment and Society — Scientists and social
reformers battled for universal human rights during a peaceful and
prosperous period.
36 The Modern Philosophers — Freedom of thought and
expression opened new vistas explored by French, English, and American
thinkers.
37 The American Revolution — The British colonists created
a society that tested Enlightenment ideas and resisted restrictions
imposed by England.
38 The American Republic — A new republic, the compromise
of radicals and conservatives, was founded on universal freedoms.
39 The Death of the Old Regime — In France the old order
collapsed under revolutionaries' attacks and the monarchy's own
weakness.
40 The French Revolution — Liberty, equality, and fraternity
skidded into a reign of Terror.
41 The Industrial Revolution — Technology and mass production
reduced famine and ushered in higher standards of living.
42 The Industrial World — A consumer revolution was
fueled by coal, public transportation and new city services.
43 Revolution and Romantics — Leaders in the arts, literature,
and political theory argued for social justice and national liberation.
44 The Age of the Nation-States — The great powers cooperated
to quell internal revolts, yet competed to acquire colonies.
45 A New Public — Education and mass communications
created a new political life and leisure time.
46 Fin de Siècle — Everyday life of the working
class was transformed by leisure, prompting the birth of an elite
avant-garde movement.
47 The First World War and the Rise of Fascism — Old
empires crumbled during World War I to be replaced by right-wing
dictatorships in Italy, Spain, and Germany.
48 The Second World War — World War II was a war of
new tactics and strategies. Civilian populations became targets
as the Nazi holocaust exterminated millions of people.
49 The Cold War — The U.S. and the USSR dominated Europe
and confronted each other in Korea.
50 Europe and the Third World — Burdened with the legacy
of colonial imperialism, the Third World rushed development to catch
up with its Western counterparts.
51 The Technological Revolution — Keeping up with increasing
change became the norm.
52 Toward the Future — Modern medicine, atomic energy,
computers, and new concepts of time, energy, and matter all have
an important effect on life in the 20th century.
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