Original subtitles

Thousands of years ago, ancient powers ruled our world.

Egypt.

China.

India.

Greece.

And Rome.

Players in a high stakes game of strategy and luck.

Success will bring them wealth and immortality.

failure, oblivion, and death.

In their battle for survival, each civilization will face the same

How they respond will shape their destiny.

In this episode, more and order

in an unruly world our ancient powers must

lead their people create ways to govern and keep rebellion

at bay who will find the right way to rule

Our ancient powers have established their cultures, built monuments and

links, and fought battles to protect their homeland.

Now they confront their next challenge.

Egypt is peaceful, prosperous, and powerful.

Its three million people are happy and well -fed.

But the sudden death of its pharaoh, Thutmose II, plunges this ancient power

into crisis.

Because the heir to the throne is only a child.

Thutmose was the second son. He was about two or three years of age. And so,

although he was crowned king, he needed a regent.

Without a strong guiding hand, the boy king's rule is in danger.

Who can step in and take charge?

The only choice is Thutmose's wife and queen.

Hatshepsut was a woman of royal blood.

But in terms of kingship, a king was male. So Hatshepsut being female was a

little bit confusing.

She needs a way to secure her reign.

So Hatshepsut embarks on a radical transformation.

She showed herself as a man dressed in Pharaoh's paraphernalia. There's nothing

female about her.

So for all the Egyptians, the Pharaoh is as he should be.

It just happens to be she.

While these visual tricks work for some, others see her rule as dangerous and

unacceptable.

But Hatshepsut understands her people.

and knows that to succeed, she needs to make a permanent mark.

And she has a plan.

The ancient Egyptians were big on propaganda and imagery, and that's how

communicated what was going on. So Hatshepsut built throughout Egypt,

am king.

But building alone isn't the answer.

She also needs to have the gods on her side.

At Karnak Temple in Thebes, Hatshepsut erects a huge obelisk.

Carved from a single 30 -meter -high block of granite, it is dedicated to the

god Amun -Ra.

An obelisk is a symbol of the sun god. It's like a sunbeam.

And that's why the top, which is also a little pyramid, would have been covered

by electron.

And when the sun hit it, at certain times of day, the whole area would just

explode with light.

For the common Egyptians, it would look as if the gods were really present and

radiating their light out.

And by putting her obelisks here, it's establishing a close rapport and

relationship between Hatshepsut and the god Amun, which also is a way of giving

her more legitimacy.

Hatshepsut convinces her subjects of her power.

But there is another formidable group she must get on side.

The priests.

They gather taxes and receive lucrative offerings for the gods.

They are powerful and influential.

Strong enough to depose a pharaoh.

To buy their loyalty, Hatshepsut plans an enormous temple complex.

This huge temple takes 13 years to construct.

Built of dazzling limestone, it's a stunning architectural achievement and

propaganda on the grandest possible scale.

This is one of the most unusual of Egyptian funerary temples.

The mountain is embracing this monument.

approach was lined with sphinxes which all had her face.

On the facade, Hatshepsut depicts herself as Osiris, the male god of the

On the walls, she creates reliefs illustrating her royal exploits.

And inside, in a sacred space where only priests are allowed, Hatshepsut makes

an audacious claim.

Part of her divine origin myth.

Here you have the goddess Hathor, who is crowning Hatshepsut and sort of

presenting her to Amun as the rightful ruler.

Hathor is the goddess of love, beauty and fertility.

Here, she is represented as a cow.

And we have these... fabulous images of the goddess Hathor and Hatshepsut

suckling. And by taking in the milk, she herself is getting even more divine

because she's ingesting from the goddess.

Hatshepsut's remarkable power play pays off.

And she rules for over 15 years.

Hatshepsut's reign was a wonderful time for Egypt.

She was innovative.

She had good ideas with architecture, decoration, programs for establishing

the legitimacy of kingship and setting up the whole mechanism for large -scale

Egyptian propaganda for the new kingdom pharaohs.

Hatshepsut changes history.

By proving a pharaoh's gender doesn't always matter.

The people and priests can accept women who they believe are divine.

And this pharaoh secures a golden age for Egypt.

I have to say that she has always been one of my favorite pharaohs because when

you have a woman pharaoh and you yourself are a woman, it's quite a buzz.

In Egypt, the power of the gods legitimizes a pharaoh's claim to rule.

To the east, ancient India has many different belief systems.

But here too, religion is key to maintaining law and order.

Power in India is fragmented.

In the north, small kingdoms battle for control.

But soon, one wins out.

The Guptas.

The territory they conquer stretches from coast to coast, across the northern

half of the Indian subcontinent.

Two decades into their imperial rule, India's greatest king takes the throne.

Samudra Gupta.

Samudra Gupta was a man of many, many talents.

On the one hand, he was a great warrior.

We read about how his body was adorned with the scars he received in various

battles from axles and swords.

But he was also something of a creative thinker, a poet king who composed a lot

of poetry himself.

Samudra Gupta has millions under his command, but faces a challenge.

How can he keep control of his vast and diverse kingdom?

He turns to his religion, Hinduism, for answers.

The Vedas are the sacred foundation of Hinduism.

The oldest of these sacred texts, the Rig Veda, discusses rituals and

the praise of gods, the origin of the universe, and the nature of the divine.

But crucially for Emperor Sumudra Gupta, one of these hymns suggests how society

should be structured.

There's one controversial verse in the Rig Veda that talks about how from the

body of the cosmic creator, God himself, it was from the mouth that the Brahmin

emerged.

The Brahmins are the sacred theological priestly community.

It was from the arms of the Kshatriyas emerged.

The Kshatriyas were the fighters and the warrior class.

It was from the Thais that the mercantile class emerged.

And finally the Shudras from the feet.

And the Shudras are the service communities that serve everybody else,

and so on.

This was used as a justification to say that in the most sacred of the Hindu

scriptures, there is reference to stratification.

Samudra Gupta and the other Gupta kings take this idea and build on it.

dividing society into distinct classes or castes.

This system proves to be a powerful form of control.

The caste system in the early Gupta period wasn't necessarily set in stone.

was a lot more fluid.

There are strong indications that the Guptas might have been Brahmins

themselves. And if the kings themselves were Brahmins, of course you see

Brahmins receiving state power and thereby becoming stronger in Hindu

Samuja Gupta cements his power at the top of the caste system and transforms

Indian society.

You see that there's arts and culture thriving, the empire is stable, there's

economic activity.

In fact, to many Hindus, this was the golden age of Hindu civilization.

The Guptas use religion to organize and control their people.

In China, the ruler of a new dynasty faces a similar problem, but will

find a very different solution.

For over two centuries, different states compete for domination of China.

Eventually, there's a winner, the Qin.

But its new emperor, Qin Shi Huang, has a problem.

How can he unify over 30 million people from different cultures who have

different customs and beliefs?

He begins at ground level, creating 36 new administrative districts known as

commentaries, and building 7 ,000 kilometers of new roads to link

them.

Next, to make trade between regions easier and collect taxes, he

standardizes currency, units of length, and weights.

But he doesn't believe these unifying measures will be enough.

Something else is needed.

The text on these bamboo slips is Qin Shi Huang's solution to the problem.

Hundreds of rules and instructions. A legal code.

Detailing the do's and don'ts of his new empire.

This is the story of Shui Wu Li.

You mentioned that the ancient people had their own customs.

That is to say, in the past, the people had their own customs.

The goods were not convenient for the people and harmful to the people.

Some of them were inconvenient for the people and harmful to the country.

This new way of ruling is known as legalism.

Brutal and absolute.

Legalism is strict authoritarian rule.

It makes Qin Shi Huang

China's most powerful emperor.

His enormous tomb reveals the secrets of his rule.

Covering over 56 square kilometers, this burial ground is a mirror of his

empire in life.

He's buried with his fearsome army critical to enforcing his rule.

But he's also accompanied by some less familiar figures.

If you make a mistake when you write, you can use a sharp knife to scrape it

off. It's just like a piece of rubber.

Combining this with Taoyong, we can make a preliminary analysis to determine the

nature of this pit.

It should symbolize the Qin dynasty's Qin and Wei institutions.

These men are buried much closer to their emperor than his army.

These officials write the laws that maintain the emperor's eye and grip on

power.

So crucial to his rule that he keeps them close, even in death.

In China, Strict laws and regulations help unify this ancient power.

Far to the west, Rome also needs to exert authority on its ever expanding

territory.

Rome's population is now almost 60 million people.

But the empire is in turmoil.

Divided by bloody civil war as different factions attempt to seize control.

How can its new emperor, Vespasian, get the people back on side and restore law

and order to the empire?

His idea is a no -expense -spared gift to the people.

A mighty monument to house the greatest show on Earth.

This is the largest arena the world has ever seen.

A place where 50 ,000 people can witness spectacles of bloodlust.

They have poetry, they have democracy, they have art.

And then on the other hand, they appeal to the brutal side of man.

It's this marriage between beauty and violence.

The Romans love the games.

They're a celebration of macho athleticism.

And the gladiators...

are superstars.

They are the most sexually desired athletes of the Roman Empire.

They are muscly, oiled -up men that ladies love and men want to be.

Each gladiator plays a different role.

The secutor is a heavily armored warrior.

The mamillo, the enemy from Gaul.

And the Retiarius, a fisherman.

Each distinctive character fights with different armor and weaponry.

But they are all heroes that the crowds can share on.

The Retiarius has the Galera here.

Nice bit of armor on the shoulder, which protects the side of his face so he can

look over it.

He's got the trident, and he's got the net. But his body's exposed. His leg's

exposed. You think that's hardly fair, because look at this guy. This guy's got

the scooter.

He's also got a wonderful helmet.

You'd say, I definitely want to be with this guy. Well, don't let it appear to

fool you, because here's the problem. He can't breathe very well.

He is going to get tired way quicker.

And it's wonderful to see...

what the outcome is going to be, because you don't know.

But the games aren't simply gory entertainment.

They are powerful propaganda.

Reenactments of Rome's victories which celebrate its control over its dominion.

The visceral spectacle that draws the crowd.

The atmosphere would have been electric.

First of all, you've got the roar of the crowds chanting for their teams.

You've got the sounds from the beasts, so you can already hear them as you're

walking towards the Coliseum.

You go to any sports stadium, and when you're walking with the crowds, you feel

that enthusiasm, that passion, that excitement.

For many people, it would have been the highlight of their week to go and see a

gladiatorial contest.

These violent displays bring the Romans together.

A trick repeated all across their empire in more than 200 amphitheaters,

each built to impress, entertain, and assert the emperor's

power.

Ultimately, if you take it from the emperor's point of view, well, why is

emperor putting on these lavish games? It's simple.

He needs to distract you because there's famine coming through the city. There's

problems. It's fine. Watch the games.

Vespasian's distraction works.

For over 400 years, the gladiatorial games helped keep the peace.

All people need is food and distraction.

Bread and circuses. Pan and chichensum.

For the most part, the mob is happy, and that's what the emperor wants.

Your happiness, his popularity, his reign continues, and everyone's good.

And that's why the emperor does it.

In ancient Rome, entertainment maintains law and order across its empire.

Further to the south, a belief in their gods has kept Egypt safe for millennia.

Until now.

In the century after Hatshepsut's reign, Egypt has gone from strength to

strength.

The great builder pharaoh, Amenhotep III, is on the throne.

Like his predecessor, he uses architecture to celebrate his religion.

Amenhotep III loved statues.

The bigger, the better.

He made gorgeous images of himself.

He loved to show off himself and his power.

Key to Amenhotep's authority are Egypt's many gods.

The gods were the foundation of the entire economy and the political

of ancient Egypt.

Without the gods, there wouldn't be an Egyptian state.

Amenhotep, like all pharaohs, relies on religious belief to justify his rule and

maintain peace and stability in this life and the next.

When Amenhotep dies after 40 years on the throne, The priests transport his

to a huge underground tomb.

Here, his people believe the gods of the underworld are waiting.

I have Amenhotep III here, portrayed as a young man heading off on his journey

to the afterlife.

And the god Anubis, the god of embalming, is taking him by the hand.

and showing him the way to the other side.

Over here, there's another version of Amenhotep III with the goddess Hathor.

She's embracing him, holding the key of life.

And over there, I can see Amenhotep III receiving life from the god of the

underworld, Osiris.

All of these gods are helping Amenhotep III make his way into the afterlife.

But just as Amenhotep's body is entombed in his granite sarcophagus, his son and

heir, Akhenaten, plots a religious revolution.

To turn away from the gods would have been unfathomable to most ancient

Egyptians.

But not for Akhenaten.

He closes down the temples and cults of Egypt's multiple deities.

and replaces them with monotheism, the worship of just one god.

Akhenaten became fascinated by the sun disk, Aten.

This only one being that he thought was the source for all life, for everything,

and was the only god.

Akhenaten plans a huge new desert city to honor his god, known today

as Amarna.

It was challenging to build a new spot in the desert. He had to build

everything, his own palace, temples, tombs.

Built in great haste, all is not well for this new city's 30 ,000 inhabitants.

The rest of Egypt is enjoying a time of great bounty.

But here, food is scarce and disease rife.

Recent excavations show that people were suffering.

That there was malnutrition, there was illness.

But the biggest problem in Akhenaten's reign is that he ignored the rest of

Egypt. He let the rest of the country fall apart.

With the temples closed and gods banned, Egypt's economy suffers.

People thought that he was a bad king. They thought that he was insane, that he

ruined Egypt.

But before things completely fall apart,

Akhenaten mysteriously dies.

And with him, his new religion.

His son soon abandons Armana and reinstates the old gods.

Akhenaten is branded a heretic.

He failed to take into account how important the gods were to the Egyptian

people and to the Egyptian state.

Without the temples, this society crumbled.

As Akhenaten statues are smashed and his name is erased from history,

order is restored.

In Egypt, Religious revolution comes close to bringing down society.

In Greece, traditionally, power has rested with whoever seizes control.

But now, change is in the air.

Greece is a loose collection of individual city -states.

Athens is one of the most powerful.

It is populated by slaves, ordinary men and women, and wealthy hereditary

nobles.

And whichever noble manages to grab power rules the city.

They are known as tyrants. And the role is now shared by brothers

Hipparchus, Hippias.

Our historical sources make it very clear that Hippias is the one actually

ruling, whereas Hipparchus, the brother, is concerned primarily with enjoying a

good life.

Hippias seems to have ruled without many problems for a number of years.

But in 514 BCE, everything changes when a love rival murders

Hipparchus.

The assassination occurred at a famous Athenian shrine called the Laocorion,

which was the shrine of the daughters of the hero Laos. And we think that we've

discovered that shrine because we've discovered a number of inscriptions that

mention the hero Laos.

The impact of his brother's murder is devastating for both Hippias and the

Athenians.

After the assassination, his rule becomes more cruel.

He's paranoid.

He kills people in the city that he thinks were co -conspirators.

And exiles others.

Hippias' brutal rule, harsh taxes, exiles, and executions soon

lead to civil strife.

And eventually, he is deposed.

But the Athenians are reluctant to live under another brutal tyrant and begin to

ask, could there be another way?

The man with a plan is Cleisthenes.

He is a wealthy noble, but wants to overturn the idea of hereditary

and hand power to the people.

He proposes any Athenian can attend its governing body, the assembly.

We're at the Pnyx. We're above the Athenian Agora, and we're also in front

the Acropolis Hill.

This is the place where the citizen assembly, the Ecclesia, would have met.

There is a stand where the speaker could have addressed the crowd, that's called

the beamer, and then there's a large open space where the crowd can sit or

stand.

And we think that there was probably space here for about 6 ,000 people,

upwards of 10 ,000.

This is the centre of political life.

But this early form of democracy has its quirks.

Members are not elected, but randomly selected.

It means that you can't become a career politician, you can't try and corrupt

people towards making certain decisions. It means that the whole citizen body is

represented as fairly as possible.

But not everyone is eligible to take part in making decisions.

It's just the adult males who are over 18.

and are Athenians.

That means no women, no children, no slaves, and also no resident foreigners.

Despite only representing 10 % of the city's population, this version of

democracy works.

It brings political stability and allows culture and arts to thrive, making

Athens the dominant force in the growing Greek Empire.

It is an idea so successful that it spreads.

So this move from a system of tyranny to this direct democracy,

that's quite a radical political revolution.

It's something that will take hold throughout the Greek world later, but

is the place where this sort of idea begins.

Democracy transforms ancient Greece and ushers in a new age.

To the east, the ancient Chinese are also looking for a different way to

The Qin's severe laws and punishments have kept their people in check for

decades.

But they are beginning to tire of authoritarian rule.

So when a new dynasty and an ambitious teenage emperor, Wu, comes to power,

he seeks a new way to rule.

The system he discovers resonates in modern China to the present day.

Confucianism.

Orphaned in childhood, the young Confucius is self -taught.

He spends most of his career working for the government, where his radical ideas

make him political enemies.

Confucius advocates a kinder, more harmonious approach to life.

Confucius proposes that these acts don't just apply to personal relationships,

but also how the country is run.

But as civil war engulfs China, the people forget Confucius and his ideas.

Until three centuries later, Emperor Wu is introduced to them by one of his

advisors.

But more than this, Dong convinces the emperor that he should adopt

for his government.

and that only students of this philosophy can work in it.

Confucianism transforms Chinese society, and it helps Emperor Wu enjoy a

long and prosperous reign, and consolidates the Han Dynasty's grip on

. . . .

. . .

Every ancient power has found a way to control their people with their own

of authority.

In Egypt, the old gods helped the pharaohs reinforce their rule of law.

And beware those who challenge tradition.

China finds that whilst harsh rules can keep people in check,

It's a more caring philosophy that endures.

The ancient Indians impose a caste system to organize society.

While the Greeks, tired of tyranny, hand control over

to their citizens.

And in Rome, the masses are kept happy by bloody spectacles.

But soon, each will learn the harsh lesson that nothing lasts forever.

Our ancient powers are approaching the endgame.