Eight Days That Made Rome

I hope this series gets recognition for excellence that it deserves. This was a fascinating journey through time and history unlike any television experience that I can remember. I found myself eagerly awaiting the arrival of the dreaded Monday for the arrival of the next installment. The host was engaging I feel truly captured the essence of each tale. Also, the tales themselves were great, both riveting and interesting. I love how the actual locations and artifacts were incorporated into each episode to make immersion into to time and place complete. Bravo to Smithsonian channel and to all of those involved.

It is - occasionally - a decent enough series, but Miss Hughes' constant moralizing is extremely tiresome. She makes the mistake way too many contemporary historians and commentators are prone to: applying rather decadent and degenerate "modern" Western standards to other societies, cultures, and time periods. At one point she even goes so far to say: "I know that we shouldn't judge ancient societies from a 21st century point of view." Apparently, she has little sense of irony or her own bigotry. Also, way too much time is spent with rather silly reenactments instead of actual scientific analysis and archeological evidence.

A fairly superficial coverage of significant events in Roman history.. I don't think I learnt anything new at all, and I thought the dramatisations a bit simplistic, and quite unnecessary. I also though it a mistake to have the presenter dressed so as to emphasise her ample cleavage. Bring back Mary Beard - she makes the most mundane of Roman things interesting and exciting.

This woman describes Romans as misogynist, following the today's trend. This is false: Rome's women were, in a lot of cases, even more powerful than men.

The plot is clearly made just to catch the audience, sacrificing the truth.

Bettany Hughes is very engaging and she really nailed it unpacking the history of Rome and Roman society.