All language subtitles for Ancient.Powers.S01E06.End.Game.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-FLUX_track4_[eng]

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 civilisation

will face the same challenges.

How they respond
will shape their destiny.

In this episode,
"The End Game,"

our ancient powers have endured
for centuries,

but destruction
is close at hand.

What will cause their downfall,

and who will create
a lasting legacy?

Over centuries,
our ancient powers

have forged
successful civilisations.

They'’ve built
iconic monuments, fought wars,

and devised new ways
to rule their people.

Now, they face
their final challenge.

And in the Mediterranean,
things are looking up.

The mighty empire of
Alexander the Great is poised

to take over the world.

At home, his city-states
are unified and at peace.

But Alexander is rampaging
across the Middle East,

conquering the territories
of his arch enemy,

the Persians.

He'’s even absorbed another
ancient power

into his massive empire.

Egypt in that time
was under Persian rule,

and they were not
very happy about it.

So they welcomed him

and also crowned Alexander
as King of Egypt.

Egypt is the jewel in the crown
of Alexander'’s new empire,

and to make sure everyone knows
who owns it,

he founds a new city
on its Mediterranean coast

and calls it Alexandria.

It'’s just one of almost 20
cities he names after himself,

stamping his ownership
across the ancient world.

Now he rules a territory

of over
5 million square kilometres

and is at the peak
of his powers.

But even this isn'’t enough.

Alexander wants the world.

And the next step in his plan
for global domination is India.

Alexander reached
the Himalayan borders

but his campaign
started from the Balkans

and reached the Indus River
in only 13 years.

And at this point his troops
felt tired

and wanted to go back
and stop this campaign.

So far, his army has done
everything he'’s asked,

but now, miles from home,
they threaten munity.

He makes his first
and only retreat.

Alexander has to go back
to Mesopotamia

to manage some issues
with his generals.

And he held a huge banquet
when a lot of wine was served.

What happens next will change
the course of history.

Maybe he got poisoned.

Or maybe he got malaria.

But he got very ill,
then died in three days.

Alexander the Great is
just 32 years old,

and the death
of this mighty warrior

causes his empire to fracture
and fall apart.

Greece, as an ancient power,
is finished.

Without a strong leader'’s
charisma,

Greece implodes,

and as this empire collapses,

the fallout threatens
an even older ancient power.

After Alexander'’s death,

his newly-conquered
Egyptian lands

are claimed by one of
his generals, Ptolemy Soter.

He becomes the first
in a new line of pharaohs,

who all take his name,
the Ptolemies.

But how can these Greeks
secure their rule in Egypt

and ensure the allegiance
of its people?

They embark on a massive
building campaign.

This place is very
important to the Ptolemies.

By commissioning temples here,
you can extend your authority

to the southernmost reaches
of your kingdom.

Philae was par excellence,
the temple of Isis.

It was her main cult centre,

the jewel of the Nile
as we Egyptians call it today.

1,000 kilometres
south of Alexandria,

this temple is a calculated
piece of propaganda.

By doing this you'’re living up
to the expectations

of what an ancient Egyptian
pharaoh was supposed to do.

With all the symbolism,
the hieroglyphs, the figures,

he was saying,
"I may be Greek in origin,

but I am pharaoh."

At first, the strategy works.

But the Ptolemies are greedy.

They paid little attention
to Egypt itself.

To them,
Egypt was to be exploited.

By displaying extravagance
and luxury,

you'’re showing
the rest of the world

how your kingdom is much better
than theirs.

Yours is the richest.

The Ptolemies live
extravagant lives,

all funded by
ever-increasing taxes,

paid by the Egyptian people,

who are not happy about it.

In 206 BCE,
it all comes to a head.

Up here, we have two decrees
from the reign of Ptolemy V.

It talks about massive revolt
across Egypt,

how for 20 years, people were
very tired of Ptolemaic rule.

We hear about farmers
completely leaving their tools

and leaving their land
and going off

just to run away from taxes.

The exploitation was
way too much, and ultimately,

a king who does not take care
of his people,

it'’s only a matter of time
until it goes into decline.

Things are no better for
the Ptolemies themselves,

who make a habit of incest.

This leads to bloody disputes
over succession.

The Ptolemaic family already
was sort of intermarrying,

but it gets more
and more complicated

with each passing generation,

such that you get
into terrible situations.

Perhaps the most horrible
example is Ptolemy VIII.

He marries his full sister,
and on their wedding day,

he actually has her son,

from Ptolemy VI,
killed in her arms.

That'’s how bad it gets.

The Ptolemies cling to power
for almost two more centuries.

But, weakened by infighting
and revolts,

they seek out allies across
the Mediterranean in Rome.

Here, they get mixed up
in bloody civil wars,

and in 30 BCE, the most famous
Ptolemy of all, Cleopatra,

finds herself
on the losing side.

Facing defeat,
she takes her own life.

Her death ends
a 3,000-year-old line

of pharaohs.

It is the end
for this ancient power.

As the sun sets on Egypt,

the reach of their aggressive
northern occupiers,

the Romans, is still growing.

Rome is a military superstate,
and more than 1,000 years

since its foundation,
it'’s at the peak of its powers.

Controlling and defending
its massive territory

demands a vast army,

but there aren'’t enough
homegrown recruits

to fill its ranks.

Rome'’s empire was
built on the back

of the soldiers,
and most of the time,

those soldiers were foreigners.

These were barbarians
that essentially

were mercenaries
hired by Rome

with the promise
of a better life.

If you think about what
the outskirts of the empire was,

the promise of being
a Roman citizen,

of having their own version
of Rome was very appealing.

Franks, Gauls, Goths, and Celts

are just some of the tribes
drafted into the imperial army.

You could be anything
but you were always,

at the heart of it,
Roman.

It'’s the glue that kept
the Roman empire together.

But this is a risky strategy
for the emperors

back in the capital.

What happens eventually is that
Rome is making its own enemies

because on one side,
you need these people

to help you protect the empire.

You need to hire
these mercenaries.

But on the other side,
you'’re training people

who might one day
turn against you.

In 260 CE,
Frankish and Germanic tribes

rebel and spread chaos.

A decade later, their vandals
tear through Roman territory,

threatening the capital.

Now, Rome needs
to protect itself.

Rome has not needed walls
for almost 700 years.

It'’s been safe.

Rome had been protected
by her legions,

no need for any kind
of fortifications.

Suddenly, they need walls,
and they start throwing them up,

and in five years, they build
a circuit of 19 kilometres.

In their desperate rush,
the Romans build these walls

with anything
that comes to hand.

You can see it here, a piece
of a decorative architrave

of some noble roman monument
that was ripped down

and built into the walls because
there was no time to waste.

Despite their haphazard
construction,

these walls are
a protective shield,

10 metres high
and four metres thick.

They stave off attacks
from rampaging barbarians.

But in 408, a once-loyal
Germanic tribe

arrive at the gates--

the Visigoths.

The city'’s walls now face
their ultimate test.

Visigoth can smell a weakness

and smell an opportunity,
and the wealth of Rome

is obviously one of
the most amazing draws.

If you can invade Rome
and sack Rome,

you'’ve done something
that no one else has done.

It'’s the greatest prize
in the ancient world.

For two years, the Visigoths
repeatedly lay siege

to the city.

For a while,
Rome could hold out.

But gradually, the pressure
grows on the inside.

There were famines,
there were plagues,

there were corpses lying
in the streets.

It was desperate times.

Finally, on the 24th of August,
410...

...the barbarians breach
the gates.

Fires rage,

and they loot the city
for three days.

Rome has fallen.

Until 410, Rome,
although embattled,

was still invincible,
was still intact.

The walls had protected
the city from all invaders.

And suddenly,
the myth of Rome is broken--

the inviolable city,
the heart of the empire

is taken by a foreign enemy,
a barbarian enemy.

Now, Rome'’s enemies know
it can be defeated.

It signals the end
of this ancient power.

Rome falls victim to
the rebellion

of foreign tribes.

To the east,
another ancient power faces

internal conflicts
that threaten to boil over.

The Han are a rich
and successful dynasty.

They rule
over 60 million people

and have conquered
a vast territory

stretching from
modern-day Korea in the east

to Uzbekistan
in the west.

But now, they face a problem
that'’s been festering

since the start of their reign.

Han emperors have always
had many wives,

whose families push
their own claims to power,

but there'’s also another player
in this game of thrones.

A large number of terracotta
figures are found here.

We have found over 10,000

of many different types.

At the time, they were
wearing clothes

holding tools and wearing
all kinds of head-dresses.

But after 2000 years
buried underground

the organic materials
have completely rotted away.

These terracotta figures
are all imperial servants.

There are male officials
and female attendants,

but also another
type of courtier.

There'’s the so called
'’third gender'’.

They don'’t have testicles
and their penis is smaller.

These are the eunuchs.

These eunuchs act as attendants
and confidants

for the imperial families,
and this gives them sway,

especially over
younger emperors.

In the Later Han, there were
twelve to thirteen emperors

about half of them
were in their teens or younger.

Because the emperor is young

and also lives mainly
in the court,

he mostly deals with the eunuchs

who look after his daily life.

They spend so much time
together, they become close.

As they grow up
with the emperor,

the eunuchs gain titles,
influence,

and start demanding power.

Towards the end of the Han,
the political conflicts

between the eunuchs
and the imperial in-laws

became increasingly fierce.

No one is in complete control.

Not only that, the royal
coffers are running empty,

so the government raises taxes.

Large numbers of people
in poverty

and peasants cannot afford
the tax

and start to lose their land.

And many became
economic refugees,

wandering across the country
begging for food.

In northern China,
starving peasants revolt.

With the imperial court
distracted by infighting,

the rebellion spreads and rages
on for the next two decades.

The weakened Han dynasty
fall from power.

After more than 400 years
of rule, it is over.

In China, the long-lived Han
are undone by court politics

and revolution.

To the south, in India,

no dynasty expects
to last long.

At the end
of the 4th century CE,

the great Samudragupta,

who led India into
a prosperous golden age,

dies.

He leaves a flourishing empire
that covers northern India,

but the Guptas know
from history

that keeping hold
of this territory

will be a challenge.

Empire in India was always
a slightly more complex affair.

You have almost a sort of
revolving door of emperors

coming and going,
coming and going,

leaving their traces,
leaving their monuments,

but nothing, ultimately,
was permanent.

Part of the problem
for the Guptas

is communication
with their diverse population

because their subjects speak
many different languages.

Even if you go to India now,

almost every state
has its own language.

Dialects vary sometimes
from village to village,

district to district.

Without easy communication,
it made empire

necessarily more challenging.

This diversity means the Guptas
are never

in complete control
of their territory.

There were vast areas

which were towards
the peripheries of the empire

where the emperor wasn'’t
necessarily in complete charge.

He depended on vassals,

he depended on
subordinate governors,

hereditary governors,
little kings to his great king,

and all of these people
negotiated power with him.

So the emperor, in some ways,
had to share power.

After the great
Samudragupta'’s death,

a series of weaker emperors

begin to lose their grip
on power.

Emperors in India always face
this problem--

that you always had the threat
of your subordinates

wanting to not just topple you,

but replace you as
a future imperial power,

which meant that
if one particular emperor

weren'’t up to the mark,

suddenly, the whole thing
would start unravelling

because others
would exploit it,

and the Guptas are
a prime example of this.

Slowly, the Gupta kingdom
starts to break apart.

Nomadic invaders from
the north take advantage

and rip into this
once-mighty empire.

The last great dynasty
of ancient India is over.

Whether through the death
of a great leader,

debauched rulers,
rebellious uprisings,

court politics,
or simply invasion,

our ancient powers
have all fallen.

But they'’re not forgotten

because they'’ve all left a mark
on our modern world.

After Rome was burnt and sacked
by invading barbarians,

it was left broken.

But this mighty ancient power
left physical reminders

of its glory days
right across its fallen empire.

The fact that Rome
is called the Eternal City

is so apt because ancient Rome,
over the centuries,

has remained embedded
in the fabric of modern Rome.

We'’re in front of
the best-preserved monument

of ancient Rome,

which was one of the glories
of the ancient city.

This ancient temple'’s roof
is over 43 metres wide

and remains the world'’s largest
unsupported concrete dome,

a brilliant testament
to Roman construction.

It is massively,
massively over-engineered.

There'’s a certain aiming
for posterity,

aiming for when
you are no more.

Another link to Rome'’s
past springs out

in one of its most
recognisable places.

Here we have
the Trevi Fountain--

Roman water
pouring through Roman pipes

along a Roman aqueduct

which was built 2,000 years ago
and still in operation.

Roman water
still pervades this city,

it still refreshes this city.

The Romans built this system
to last.

All across the capital
and throughout

this ancient empire,
Roman buildings still stand,

visible testimony
to the engineering prowess

and military might
of this ancient power.

After the death of Cleopatra,
the last of the pharaohs,

Egyptian culture
slowly began to fade,

even its writing.

The hieroglyphic
inscription reads,

"Before Mandulis,
the son of Horus,

by the hand of Nesmeterakhem,
son of Nesmeter,

the Second Priest of Isis,
for ever and ever".

What we'’re looking at here

wasn'’t done
by a professional sculptor.

This was carved
by inexpert hands.

It'’s almost as if he knew

that he was part
of this dying tradition,

and in fact, this is
the very last one known ever.

Carved in 394,
these hieroglyphs

were the last act
of an ancient power

that had endured
for almost 3,500 years.

In the centuries that followed,
tombs were plundered,

statues were smashed,

and cities were lost
to the sand,

and the meaning of hieroglyphs
slipped out of memory.

Once knowledge was lost of how
to read and write hieroglyphs,

it'’s almost as if
Egypt just goes dark.

People were left wondering what
these cryptic symbols meant.

The names of pharaohs and gods,

their stories and secrets,
were lost.

Ancient Egypt became
the stuff of myth and legend.

But in 1799,
a chance discovery

unlocked the glory
of Egypt'’s past.

The Rosetta Stone translates
a royal decree

into three different scripts.

Thanks to the trilingual
inscriptions

that you can see
on the Rosetta Stone,

we were able to decode
how hieroglyphs were to be read,

and thanks to that,
we can finally read

what the ancient Egyptians had
to say in their own words.

This civilisation'’s names,
stories, beliefs, and deeds

were all deciphered.

The ancient Egyptians
were brought back to life.

And today, tourists from
all over the world flock

to marvel at Egypt'’s wonders.

Greece'’s ancient past
is also clearly visible

in its modern landscape.

Its architectural styles
are a byword

for beauty
and sophistication,

adopted everywhere
from the Roman empire

to the New World.

But to the south of Athens,
beyond the silver mines

which were the foundation
of the city'’s wealth,

are the ruins of a structure

that was central
to Greek society--

a magnificent theatre, possibly
the first ever constructed,

one of many built
across their empire,

a place that directly
connects ancient Greece

to the modern world.

In my opinion,
the legacy of classical Greece

is of course art,
architecture, philosophy,

all this wealth of ideas,

but it'’s something
more than this.

These theatres were not just
home to plays and performances.

They were also central
to something

even more transformative--

politics.

These are not just stones
in the dust.

They are not just
relics of the past.

They are transferring an
essential message from the past,

that here we have art,
we have drama,

but also participation
of the citizens

deciding about their own fate.

But this was an area
where the citizens

would gather and decide
for themselves

to make democracy happen,
in these ruins.

It is the foundation
of our world today.

These public spaces were
the cornerstone

of the world'’s first known
democracy,

a form of government
that underpins

half of
the world'’s countries today.

It'’s a radical legacy
from this great ancient power.

Echoes of China'’s ancient past
are present in the everyday,

and there'’s one
cultural artefact

that stretches back 3,500 years

to one of their earliest
ancient dynasties.

The Shang dynasty was China'’s
first stable ancient power,

but its people lived in
the world

where the weather
and its impact on crops

was a matter of life or death.

So they tried to predict
the future.

For all the important issues

the Shang use divination
to find out

their ancestors'’ will.

When there'’s a drought,
what do you do without rain?

What do you do
if the crops don'’t grow?

To answer these questions,

the Shang used
an extraordinary technique.

Priests took turtle shells
and ox bones

and burnt holes in them.

This created cracks,

and the patterns made
were used to divine the future.

But they also carve
their questions

onto the bones and shells.

Today, these carved symbols
are called oracle bone script.

Although this oracle bone
is broken

we are lucky, there is beautiful
oracle bone script on it.

It says...

'’ji hai zhen qui he,
yu he shou he.'

It is closely related
to farming.

'’He'’ means millet.

'’yu-he'’ means by the side
of the river,

begging from the river God,

and here the river means
the Yellow River.

So this script is about
the Shang people

asking the river god
for good harvest.

These oracle bones may not
have foretold the future,

predicted poor harvests
or the coming rains,

but they have created
continuity.

There are many oracle
bone scripts discovered.

There are around
4600 characters.

Among the 4600 characters,
we'’ve recognised over
one third of them.

This ancient character
for crops

and the character for horse
are pictographs,

but over the centuries,
they slowly transformed.

They were adopted by
every successive dynasty

and developed
into modern Chinese.

Today, one in six people
across the globe

use this writing system,
making it one of the oldest

continuously-used forms
of writing in the world,

an everyday reminder
of China'’s ancient power.

The rich diversity
of the Indian subcontinent

stopped any one empire

from holding on
to power for too long,

but this also sowed the seed
for a lasting heritage.

Emperors and kings
would come and go,

but one thing that was always
present in most people'’s lives

was the legends and mythology
of our God.

Everything was woven in
with the religion

and it wasn'’t just
about the here and now.

This ancient Buddhist monument
attracts worshipers

from far and wide.

It'’s one of the largest
stupas in the world.

But it celebrates more
than just one religion.

There'’s a segment here where,
if you enter,

you will see Ganesh
carved into a niche,

and Ganesh'’s
considered a Hindu God.

What is he doing
on a Buddhist site?

The answer lies in the way
sites like this

were regarded by
successive generations.

Sacred spots retained
a certain value

across large swathes of time.

The Gods in them might rotate
and revolve,

and you could have Shiva,
Vishnu, even the Buddha.

In a later period some other God
might eclipse the original God,

but the sanctity of
the spot itself remained.

So I think if we were to look
for what remains

from that period,

we would more often than
not gravitate to sacred spots

because that'’s something
that'’s survived

all these shifting sands
across different centuries.

And this coexistence
of religions side by side

has left a lasting imprint.

Just looking around us,

there'’s people of so many
religious backgrounds,

so many ethnicities,
clearly of such diversity.

It holds meaning for many
people of many backgrounds

and many cultures,

and that'’s just the magic
of the place.

It belongs to everybody.

This monument is an heirloom
of the past,

an echo of ancient India
in its present.

That'’s just the way
the Indian subcontinent

has evolved over time,
and this is perhaps

the longest-standing tradition
of the Indian subcontinent--

pure diversity
and the very idea

that there are multiple paths
to the same destination.