Democracy in the Ancient World

“Let's begin at the beginning. Humans first appeared on planet Earth some two to three million years ago.” Plodding from the evolution of homo sapiens (note: the most widely accepted view is that humans actually appeared some 200,000 years ago) to the slow building of human societies, Democracy in the Ancient World eventually arrives at the subject of ancient Greece—but only briefly, as it's too intent on moving on to the Roman republic and the subsequent rise and fall of the Roman Empire (not democratic, of course), the Mongolian Empire (ditto), and the non-democratic empires of Central America and Southeast Asia. After a discussion of the rise of Islam and the (non-democratic) Christian church of the Middle Ages, the program segues into a preview of the next title in the Democracy in World History series, Renaissance, Reformation, and the Enlightenment. Wait a second! What happened to democracy in the ancient world? The Rise of Human Society from the Beginnings To the Middle Ages would be a more apt title for this program that combines overlaid narration, still images of artworks and natural-history displays, and occasional live-action video. Unfortunately, many key terms are not defined, so students hearing that Rome “began as an aristocratic republic,” are unlikely to understand what that means unless they know the vocabulary. Bundled with a transcript, DVD extras include discussion questions and quizzes. Other titles in the series include: The Industrial Revolution, Capitalism and the United States of America; The Communist Challenge; The Fascist Challenge; and Democracy in the 21st Century. Not recommended. Aud: H. (R. Reagan)