03-22-2004, 12:51 AM
I had recorded three shows this week and finally got a chance to play them.<br>
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Firts Colosseum a Gladiator's Story. Told from the point of view of Varus, a gladiator who fought in Titus' inaugural games for the Flavian Ampitheater it tells tthe story of this man captured, made a slave, forced to quarry for stones for the Colusseum construction, then turned gladiator. it takes him through his training and eventual achievements as a fighter. Containing information on different gladiatory types as well as training my only heartburn with it was the black Praetorian uniforms/armor brought over from the movie Gladiator. Balanced with archeological evidence and accounts of contemporary historians it is one of the best Gladiator/Colusseum programs.<br>
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True Gladiator. The story of a provincial gladiator of the city of Ephesus, this is also a story of a real gladiator told from evidence gleaned from his tombstone and archeological evidence from the gladiator graveyard he was buried in. Also well done it adds to the information on gladiator training form the previous program.<br>
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Barbarians, Battle for Rome. This is the best documentary style program on barbarians I've seen. Far superior to the History Channel series that came out awhile ago. It starts out with the Cimbri & Teutons and follows through with the Varus disaster, the migrations of the Visigoths & Ostrogoths, the Huns, Vandals and Angles/Saxons. With good maps of the migrations it is also a marked improvement as far as the appearance of the Germanic warriors (particulalry given the horrible depictions of the History Channel series). It still has the usual improper depiction of Roman soldiers in segmented armor from the Marian era to the late empire but the Romans are an aside from the main story of the barbarians. Also containing archological/anthropology evidence the facial reconstructions are interesting for the ancient Germans and Huns as well as the bone analysis as scientists try to determine the average height compared to that of the Romans.<br>
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I highly recommend all three programs the Discovery Channel can be depended to show them again. enjoy. <p></p><i></i>
<br>
Firts Colosseum a Gladiator's Story. Told from the point of view of Varus, a gladiator who fought in Titus' inaugural games for the Flavian Ampitheater it tells tthe story of this man captured, made a slave, forced to quarry for stones for the Colusseum construction, then turned gladiator. it takes him through his training and eventual achievements as a fighter. Containing information on different gladiatory types as well as training my only heartburn with it was the black Praetorian uniforms/armor brought over from the movie Gladiator. Balanced with archeological evidence and accounts of contemporary historians it is one of the best Gladiator/Colusseum programs.<br>
<br>
True Gladiator. The story of a provincial gladiator of the city of Ephesus, this is also a story of a real gladiator told from evidence gleaned from his tombstone and archeological evidence from the gladiator graveyard he was buried in. Also well done it adds to the information on gladiator training form the previous program.<br>
<br>
Barbarians, Battle for Rome. This is the best documentary style program on barbarians I've seen. Far superior to the History Channel series that came out awhile ago. It starts out with the Cimbri & Teutons and follows through with the Varus disaster, the migrations of the Visigoths & Ostrogoths, the Huns, Vandals and Angles/Saxons. With good maps of the migrations it is also a marked improvement as far as the appearance of the Germanic warriors (particulalry given the horrible depictions of the History Channel series). It still has the usual improper depiction of Roman soldiers in segmented armor from the Marian era to the late empire but the Romans are an aside from the main story of the barbarians. Also containing archological/anthropology evidence the facial reconstructions are interesting for the ancient Germans and Huns as well as the bone analysis as scientists try to determine the average height compared to that of the Romans.<br>
<br>
I highly recommend all three programs the Discovery Channel can be depended to show them again. enjoy. <p></p><i></i>