History Documentary hosted by Simon Chilvers, published by SBS in 2014 - English narration
Greeks, Romans, Vikings: The Founders of Europe What were the Vikings really like? What did the Romans accomplish? And do the singular achievements of the ancient Greeks live on in our society today? This series questions the myths and unravels age-old clichés about these ancient cultures. It examines their strange and sometimes amusing idiosyncrasies, gives fresh insights into who they really were, and provides a novel take on their societies, peppered with surprising new revelations. Democracy, science, theatre, plumbing, modern roads, laws, the Olympics, conquering the seas, and the onset of globalization are all at the heart of modern society, but in fact were inherited from the ancient worlds of the Greeks, the Romans and the Vikings. This is a new look at the ancient civilizations that will change our perception of them.
The Vikings
A nation of seafarers and merchants, the Vikings revolutionized exploration and trading in the Middle Ages and discovered America 500 years before Columbus. This gripping film unveils their bad reputation as wild, murdering and pillaging Norsemen as misguided and reveals a strikingly tolerant people with an elaborate trading network that stretched right through Europe. For 900 years, their light, maneuverable sailing-ships could not be matched. As the best seafarers of their time, daring, tolerant explorers and expert merchants, they set new benchmarks and left their mark everywhere.