Andrew Marr's History of the World: Age of Empire

Documentary series in which Andrew Marr tells the story of human civilisation, beginning with the first empires that laid the foundations for the modern world. From the Assyrians to Alexander the Great, conquerors rampaged across the Middle East and wars were fought from China to the Mediterranean. But this time of chaos and destruction also brought enormous progress and inspired human development. In the Middle East, the Phoenicians invented the alphabet, and one of the most powerful ideas in history emerged: the belief in just one God. In India, the Buddha offered a radical alternative to empire building - a way of living that had no place for violence or hierarchy and was open to everyone. Great thinkers from Socrates to Confucius proposed ideas about how to rule more wisely and live in a better society. And in Greece, democracy was born - the greatest political experiment of all. But within just a few years, its future would be under threat from invasion by an empire in the east.