Good morning!  Now I am going to finish up the series Living with the Nomads.  Kate Humble is heading to Mongolia in the Hughland Steppe to learn how Mongolian nomads are adapting to the 21st Century.  The run time for this episode is 51:12.  The link for this documentary is here.

Kate heads deep into the Gobi Desert, a place where it can be a challenge to scrape out a living.  The landscape reminded me of the Secrets of the Dead episode of the Amazon Warrior Women, and I half expected Jeannine Davis to make an appearance.  Mongolia’s nomads faced many challenges over the years.  In the 1920s Communists took charge and banned nomads and the herds were collectivized.  When democracy came to Mongolia, thirty percent of the population returned to a nomadic way of life.  However, with an economic boom, nomads are being tempted to settle down.  Kate meets the family she is staying with at their spring camp.  They are working on the wool harvest. 

Kate meets Odnor and Chimed.  Chimed is the head of the family and she shows Kate around their camp.  They have goats, horses, yaks and horses.  The goats make cashmere fur.  Animals are the key to success or failure.  They provided milk, meat, and wool.  Kate heads into the communal tent and takes tea with the family.  Chimed raised ten children in this tent.  Some of the children went on to University.  She grew up on the state farm and when Communism fell she and her husband returned to the nomadic life.  Odnor and Chimed talk about the family heirlooms that had passed through the generations.   Their conversation is interrupted by a goat trying to break into the tent.  At the end of the day, Kate reflects on her experience so far.

The next morning comes and Kate reflects on the quietness of the Gobi Desert.  She enjoyed meeting the family and you can tell she is excited about what the next day will bring.  The morning begins with the gathering of the animals.  Kate notices that they have a solar panel, and the family still has some modern conveniences.  The family also has a vehicle.  However, they still use horses to round up the animals.  Kate mounts up and rides to help gather the animal.  She also gets a lesson in the Mongolian language.  I could hear Jeannine Davis talk about the saddle in my head.

Odnor and Kate have a chat while watching the herds.  Odnor is working on a sewing project.  She talks about her family and that her son and daughter are away at school.  Under Communism, there was a strict education policy and Mongolians achieved one of the highest literacy rates in the world.  The priority of education still continues.  Education is seen as a help and Mongolians are free to choose their lifestyle.  Odnor is unsure of what her children will do but she hopes that they will choose to be nomads.

Chimed’s children have returned to the pasture to help with the animals.  Kate asks Chimed about how often she sees her family and it sounds like she sees her family once a year.  This section was very squeamish and not for someone with a nervous stomach.  After this family gathering, Kate travels down the mountain to meet Odnor’s sister in their winter camp.  They are heading to their spring camp.  Kate helps take down the camp.  A truck is loaded up with a tent and baby animals that cannot make the long walk.  Although the tent is moved by truck, the animals are driven down the valley by horse.  What else does Kate experience living among the nomadic Mongolians?  Tune into the rest of this episode to find out.

It was very cool to hear Kate speak a few words of Mongolian.  I felt like she really enjoyed herself in this particular episode.  It would have been good for this episode to be divided into chapters, because of a particular section that if you have a squeamish stomach you could have skipped.   This would be an interesting episode to show to an animal science classroom.  Overall, this is a series that would be good to show to both a geography class and an anthropology class.

Good morning, I am going to go ahead and finish off May with Kate Humble documentaries about her living among the nomads.  This time Kate Humble travels to Nepal to learn about the Raute people.  This is the first time that the Raute people are being filmed for television and are known as very secretive and very closed off to outsiders.  However, she receives a cold welcome until she proves helpful in moving the camp.  The run time for this episode is 51:32.  The link for this documentary is here.

Kate Humble makes her way to Nepal to learn about the Raute people.  The Raute people are under increasing pressure to settle and there are less than 100 Raute who are nomads.  Traditionally the Raute had lived remotely from people.  However, more and more have moved into the cities and settled down.  There is a small group that lives nomadically.

It has taken time and careful negotiations for Kate to get in touch with these last remaining nomads.  She and her guides make their way to the camp.  This particular group is a private person, so she is nervous about the reception she will get.  The Raute believed in no settlement, no education, and no agriculture.  How do they manage to hold on to these values as they have more and more contact with society?  Kate takes in the camp before her.  All she can do is proceed to the camp.

The reception is what I would describe as cold and curious.  You can see the people eyeing Kate up as she walks through the camp.  There is an uneasiness in the camp and they are being paid for their time.  She watches the men carve wood.  It is going to take time to earn the people’s trust.  However, the children are intrigued by this visitor.  Will Kate manage to win the trust of these people?  Kate is finding the situation tough and she reflects on the day she had so far.

Luckily for Kate, they are planning to move.  Kate has her opening and she helps with their move.  She helps take down tents and carry goods to their new encampment.  Eventually, she is given a pole and a goat.  Kate is finding the work challenging and tries to show no signs of weakness.  One of the most respected elders talks with her about the moves while they rest.  The Raute is slowly becoming impressed with her works.  The Raute used to hunt, however with more civilization coming in they are relying on trading.

After four hours of walking, they make their way to their new settlement place.  Eventually, Kate is asked to help gather wood.  The Raute settles on a farmer’s land, and the farmer does not mind.  However, there are farmers who mind.  The farmers complain that they are dirty and destroy the land.  Kate talks with a farmer’s wife and she worries about the damage to the crops and who will repay her for the damage.

Although Kate is having a tough time getting to know them, she does notice little things here and there.  It was just a reminder of how well Kate narrates her observations.  A new day rises over the Raute camp and they are now looking for wood to carve their handicrafts.  They carve wood to sell as the Raute has become dependent on cash.  Kate helps finish up the wooden bowls to take into a village two hours away.  Little by little, you start to feel that the Raute are starting to accept Kate’s presence.  I will admit that I was worried about Kate making it up the hill, but not her carrying that load.  What does Kate continue to learn about the Raute?  Does the Raute finally accept her?  To learn more about Kate’s time with the Raute continue to watch the documentary.

I really felt bad for Kate with this episode.  You could feel her disappointment and frustration through the screen.  It took some time before the Raute decided to let her in.  It was a process, but you could really see it happen because the women were teasing her.  I will continue to recommend showing this series to both a geography class and history class.

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening.  I hope this finds you well.  I enjoyed Kate Humble’s narration for the Spice Trail series I decided to look up to see if she did some additional series.  I found one called Living with Nomads.  This is a three-part series about Kate living among three different nomadic groups.  The run time for this episode is 51:03.

Kate Humble travels to three different nomadic groups in Mongolia, Siberia, and Nepal.  She explores a tribe of goat herders in Mongolia.  Then she travels to Siberia to learn about the reindeer herders in the Siberian tundra.  Then she travels to Nepal and learns about the Raute people, who are the last of the community of nomads.  These nomadic people are under increasing pressure from the modern world, so how do these people keep their traditional way of life?

In this episode, Kate travels to Siberia to live with the reindeer herders in Northern Russia.  She arrives at a vast ice plan and is greeted with bone-chilling temperatures.  This is the first time she is in the Arctic winter.  Hopefully, she will be able to manage the cold!

The nomads in this area are facing new challenges with climate change.  Kate travels to above the 66th Parrell.  As she travels, they run into mechanical problems along the way.  Will Kate’s driver be able to solve the problem?  Will Kate be able to make it to the herders?

Unfortunately, the repairs are not able to be completed, but Kate and her guides are in luck.  They spend the night in a trading post.  Kate is feeling discouraged about making it to the nomads.  The nomads she is learning about are the Nenets.  Many of these people have been forced to give up their way of life because of the deaths of the reindeer.  She meets with one of the Nenets and he talks about how he had to travel on foot to find a job.  Kate is very sympathetic to their plight.  In 2013 over 13,000 reindeer died and families were ruined. 

Eventually, Kate is able to make it to the Nenets.  Unfortunately, because of the delay, she was not able to meet the family she initially planned to meet.  Other arrangements have to be made.  Eventually, another family is selected and the arrangements with another family are made.  The women of the family are thrilled to share their way of life with Kate, however, the men are skeptical.  After watching Kate in the Spice Trail, she can handle anything!

Eventually, she makes it to the encampment and the first thing that is done is to round up the reindeer.  Once the sleds are set up, Kate and the herders go out to the reindeer.  Kate takes a ride on a reindeer-pulled sled.  The reindeer are taken out to a new pasture and it is a nearly four-kilometer ride.  Kate looks like she is enjoying the ride.  The Nenet men work with the reindeer.  It is their job to make sure that they are fed and protected from predators.  The reindeer start to feed on lichen in their new pasture.  Kate takes in the scene before and reflects on her experiences so far.

Kate and the family tuck in for the night.  They all bed together in the tent, the family on one side and the crew on the other.  Kate comments on how hospitable the family has been to her and the crew.  She is grateful for their warm welcome.  So what else does Kate learn about the Nenet people?  Will she survive the harsh environment of the tundra?  What about the railway that is near the camp?  Tune into the rest of the episode to find out more about the Nenet people!

This episode was divided into chapters which makes it easy for viewing and clipping out clips for lectures.  I hope this continues throughout the three episodes.  Kate really does continue to do a very good job narrating and exploring.  She takes in each experience very nicely and you can tell she cares about the subject at hand.  So far, I would show this series to a geography class rather than a history class because it is specific to a particular geographical region.  Also, I would recommend showing this to a college anthropology class.

Good morning and I hope this day finds you well.  Kate Humble continues her journey through the Spice Trail and in this episode, she is looking at the world’s most expensive spice: saffron before learning about vanilla. Kate first learns about saffron.  It was known as red gold.  Then she heads to Mexico to learn about Vanilla.  The run time for this episode is 57:52.

Kate’s journey begins in the Atlas Mountains of Morrocco.  She is in search of saffron.  Cleopatra bathed in it and Alexander the Great used it in his shampoo.  It was mentioned in the Bible.  It could cost up to 4,000 pounds per kilo.  She visits the saffron farming region in the Atlas Mountains.  She takes in a market.  In fact, there is no tourist in site at this market and she is enjoying the real deal of the market.  She has not seen any saffron being sold in the market.

Kate meets with a saffron merchant.  His family has sold saffron for generations.  She tries a saffron-flavored drink.  For thousands of years, saffron has been sold for thousands of years.  Kate is disappointed not to see saffron being sold in the market.  Eventually, the merchant takes her to a place where saffron is sold.  Saffron is hidden away and she learns that five grams of saffron goes for 250 euros.  I found it very interesting to discover that saffron was not openly sold in the market but kept hidden away.

After a trip to the market, Kate travels to a saffron farm with a local farmer and the saffron merchant and learns about the techniques that are used to farm saffron.  Kate is taken to an area that seems too barren to grow anything.  However, this is an area that grows the saffron flower.  It is a challenge but saffron does grow in this region and Kate is impressed with how the saffron grows.  The farmer sells a portion of his saffron right away however keeps some behind as a “savings account.”  She takes part in the saffron harvest.  The harvest takes part just after dawn before the flowers wilt.  The flowers are handpicked and then the saffron spice will be pulled out of the flowers.  She even picks the saffron spice out of the flowers.  I really appreciate her efforts in helping with the harvest and I liked her reflection that these were scenes that went through the generations.  She helps cook the meal and the ladies feel that she looks very unladylike so Kate is dressed in a traditional Berber costume.  I also enjoyed this section.

Kate continues her exploration of saffron in Spain.  The Berbers had conquered much of Spain and they would have brought their saffron with them.  She travels to La Mancha, which is the center of Spanish saffron production.  The climate here suited saffron well and La Mancha would become known as the saffron capital of the world.  She takes part in a saffron-smelling contest and the locals take this contest very seriously.  Kate seemed to take her participation in the contest with great humor.  She talks with a professor who studies saffron.  Since saffron is so expensive, there have been attempts to create fake saffron.  This section was rather interesting, who knew that saffron could be DNA tested to determine fake saffron? 

Eventually, Kate makes her way to Mexico and learns about vanilla.  Explorers from Spain would eventually introduce the world to vanilla.  What about the origins of vanilla?  How did vanilla become such a staple in the kitchen?  Tune into the rest of the episode to find out more about vanilla.

This one did not have its sections divided up into chapters, so the inconsistency with that is disappointing.  Absolute History should have divided each episode into chapters throughout the whole series.  Even without the chapters, I would still show this to a history and a food science class.  This one I would think about showing this to a science class because of the discussion on DNA testing saffron.  Kate is a delightful narrator and really throws herself into the subject.  Dare I say I wish for a Tony Robinson and Kate Humble joint-hosted documentary?  I dare it!

Good morning, let’s continue our culinary journey through the Spice Islands.  Today Kate is going to learn about the birthplaces of pepper and cinnamon.  I did a little bit more digging into this series and yes, I am doing this series out of order.  The run time for this episode is 57:43.

Kate goes to India to learn about pepper.  After learning about pepper, Kate goes to Sri Lanka to learn about cinnamon.  This area is known as the Spice Coast.  The story begins with pepper.  Pepper was known as black gold.  If you stole black pepper, it was the equivalent of robbing a bank.  Black pepper was that valuable in the 15th Century.  Black pepper was a symbol of wealth and pepper.  You can definitely see a theme with the Spice Trail.  Spices in general were a symbol of wealth and power.

Kate travels to one of India’s primer pepper growing areas.  The farm is on sacred land and there is a tribe who work harvesting pepper and have been cultivating it for centuries.  She talks with a chef who helps the tribe harvest and sell the pepper.  She makes a brave attempt to try to harvest pepper.  I really appreciate her enthusiasm in throwing herself into spice harvesting.  The chef talks about the differences between white and black pepper.

Back in the 15th Century, Europeans did not know how pepper was produced and Kate next learned how to produce pepper.  She tries to help prepare the pepper and notices the smell of pepper as she works.  Pepper had a mystique to it and its unknown origins gave way to legends.  Pepper was believed to have helped cure the Black Death.  One legend says that the pepper forests were guarded by snakes.  The legends served their purpose well and protected the source of pepper.  Kate learns about the current costs of pepper. 

The Arab spice traders kept their secret for as long as they could.  Then the Portuguese sent Vasco de Gama, and it was this explorer who made his way into the Indian Ocean.  He was the first European to find a sea route to India.  He would land in the birthplace of pepper.  Kate then learns the secret hand signals that were conducted in the spice trade.  She finds the hand signals a challenge to learn.  Hand signals were developed as a way to create a common language in order to trade.  Since spices were so valuable, the workers were forbidden from wearing pants with pockets and shirts with cuffs.  This was an interesting section.  She learns about the pepper shortage.  To learn more about the pepper shortage she heads on up to an area known as the Pepper Mountains.

Kate meets up with Victor Day, who runs a pepper plantation.  She discovers a lack of vines and berries on the pepper plantation.  The pepper vines are under attack from a fungus and this fungus has decimated the pepper crops.  She eventually talks with a set of twins who rescued their father’s pepper farm.  She has a meal with the twins and their family.  She comments on how the taste of the pepper tastes because it was grown at the doorstep of the farm.  In India pepper is also used in medicine.  What else does Kate learn about pepper?  How did the Portuguese become the first masters of the spice trade? 

What about cinnamon’s origins?  How did the Portuguese discover the source of cinnamon?  Who does Kate meet along the way learning about cinnamon?  How did cinnamon become an important spice?  Kate travels to Sri Lanka to find out more about cinnamon.  To learn more about cinnamon continue to watch the rest of the episode to find out.

This episode was divided into chapters to allow for easy break up for lectures and viewing in class.  I was very glad to see that.  I also continue to appreciate Kate’s narration and enthusiasm for the subject.  Who knew that pepper was such a valuable commodity?  When Kate got to the cinnamon section, I felt like I could smell cinnamon through the screen.  This continues to be a good series to learn more about the spice trade and good for a food science class.

Good morning, after the disappointment of that documentary on the Aztecs, I feel the need to make it up to you readers.  I am going to do a documentary about something we touched on in school but never really went in-depth on: The Spice Islands.  This looks to be a three-episode documentary series.  The first episode talks about cloves and nutmeg and has a runtime of 58:27.

Spices help transform meals and have revolutionized the way we eat.  Spices changed the course of human history.  Kate Humble travels the globe to learn how spices became a part of our kitchens.  She learns about pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, vanilla, and saffron.  She follows the first spice explorers.  She learns about where these spices came from, their impact on the people, and how spices shaped the modern world.

In this episode, Kate is in search of two spices that caused bloody wars: nutmeg and cloves.  She tours the Eastern Indonesian Islands, these islands would be better known in history as the Spice Islands.  Both nutmeg and cloves pushed the boundaries of exploration and redrew the world map.  A brutal war was fought over these spices.

In 16th Century Europe, if you had cloves and nutmeg you had status.  They helped combat the plague.  Unfortunately, getting these spices would be a challenge.  Kate begins her journey in Indonesia and sets sail for the fabled Spice Islands.  She travels the Banda Sea and goes to the Banda Sea.  The Dutch and the British were about to enter the Spice race.  Both had set up companies to help look for spice.  Each wanted to secure a monopoly on the spice trade.  They were willing to kill for it.  However, they had to gain the cooperation of the locals.  The locals knew this and would ask for large sums of money to act as guides for these explorers.  It was rather cool to see Kate take the wheel of the sailboat.

The Dutch would emerge victorious in finding the Banda Islands.  They were in search of the trees that would provide nutmeg.  A volcanic eruption as well as the locals greeted the Dutch arrival.  Kate recreates this moment.  Eventually, she is taken to a grove of nutmeg trees and examines the fruit.  She talks with a fifth-generation nutmeg farmer.  He farms over 200 trees.  She learns how this farmer picks the nutmeg.

Kate continues her journey and talks about how nutmeg requires specific conditions to grow.  The conditions on Banda are perfect for growing high-quality nutmeg.  She learns about what happens after the nutmeg is picked.  The women during nutmeg season separate all parts of the nutmeg as well as catch up on the local gossip.  Kate learns that there is a third layer in the nutmeg fruit, the piece she thought was nutmeg was just another shell.  This was a cute section of the documentary.

She then transitions into the history of the Dutch in Banda.  The Dutch East Indian Company, the VOC was the first company that had an empire.  However, they were cruel overseers of Bando.  Kate talks about a cruel Dutch governor who led a massacre of the island chiefs.  He planned on dominating the islands by extermination.  This story is still fresh in the minds of the people and Kate tours a cemetery where some of the chiefs are buried.  The Dutch were going to impose their rule on the Banda people.  So what else does Kate learn about nutmeg?  How did the British get involved in the Spice Trade?  What about the history of cloves?  Tune into the rest of the episode to find out more.

I did not know what to expect when I started this documentary and I am always very nervous about listening to another narrator.  I found Kate Humble to be a very good narrator and very interested in the information she was given.  In fact, I found her sympathetic when she heard the story of the massacred chiefs.  She also had a good sense of humor.  I was very impressed with the documentary because it was something that you never really learned of in school.  So far, I would recommend this for both a history class and a food science class.  It would also be good for research purposes.

Good morning, let us continue my foray into the ancient world and look at Tenochtitlan.  Here we go, this is a very old-school documentary like it was meant for a Spanish language class.  We will see how this documentary goes, hopefully, this documentary will go well.  The run time for this episode is 45:49.

Tenochtitlan was the capital of the Aztec Empire.  It would grow from humble roots in present-day Mexico.  They would eventually build great temples dedicated to their gods.  Tenochtitlan would grow into a grand city in the Ancient American world.  Unfortunately, the ancient city is lost beneath the streets of Mexico City.  However, what was the wider Aztec Empire like?  What were its secrets?  How did the Aztec Empire operate?

When the Aztecs went to establish their capital city, the gods said they had to look for an eagle perched on a cactus, which reminded me of a Wishbone episode talking about this particular legend.  The Aztecs built their capital on this site and it grew from these humble beginnings.  Before Tenochtitlan was established, there was another grand city: Teotihuacan.

Teotihuacan would dominate central Mexico, only forty-five kilometers away from the Aztec Capital.  It was one of the largest cities in the Ancient American World at 600 AD.  Teotihuacan’s ruins are impressive and cover over thirteen square kilometers.  At the center were palaces and pyramids.  A five-kilometer “street of the dead” leads to the city.  The historian who talked about Teotihuacan was very monotone but it could have been the quality of the recording for the documentary.  I wonder what an updated documentary on both Teotihuacan and Tenochtitlan would look like.

Teotihuacan ruins show the importance of religion to the people who lived in the city.  There were many paintings that were discovered on the site.  The sound quality in this section in which the historian talks about the paintings was slightly better, but I was not impressed with it.  I have a feeling this was meant for a Spanish class because the historian spoke Spanish and there was no translation, there was not even an option for translation with subtitles.  Which was a shame, because the historian seemed really proud of the work he had done on the site.

Teotihuacan was eventually overthrown.  However, the city was used because of its religious importance.  There was a very nicely done (for the time) recreation of the temple sites at Teotihuacan.  Even the last Emperor of the Aztecs would still make pilgrimages to Teotihuacan.  After the overthrow of the Teotihuacan, there were smaller tribes.  Eventually one of the tribes, the Aztecs would come to dominate the central Mexico plain.  Then the documentary talks about legends that grew up around the Aztec people.

One historian talks about the Aztecs and human sacrifice.  The friars documented Aztecs and human sacrifice and how it was the most important gift that the Aztecs could give to the gods.  It was thought that without the blood of humans, the sun would stop in the sky.  Honestly, it felt like the documentary spent a long time talking about human sacrifice and the Aztecs.  I really wish I could have an updated version of a documentary on the Aztecs.

Finally, Tenochtitlan is discussed.  The narrator talks about some of the discoveries that were made and the impact on interest in Aztecs.  Then there was a discussion on the great temple of the Aztecs and how thousands of human sacrifices were made at this temple.  I feel like this section was a little thin on the archeological discoveries.  To learn more about Tenochtitlan continue to follow along with this documentary.

Yeah, it is very old school because I typically pull my summary within the first few minutes of the documentary.  Unfortunately, the narrator really did not sum up what the documentary was about at the beginning.  The narration was nicely done.  I wish they would have actually put the names of the historians who spoke because announcing the names was not good enough for me.  I would rather show this to a Spanish class over a history class.  However, the information needs to be updated and refreshed so I would skip showing this documentary to any classroom anyway.

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening depending on when you read this blog.  Time has been flying by fast.  I will finish up Scorpus’ story.  The run time for this episode is 50:13 and it is the second episode of this documentary.

Coming from the countryside, Scorpus would have been astonished at what he would find.  There was nothing like Rome in Europe at that time.  It would have been noisy.  There would have been large buildings where people lived.  Scorpus would have encountered people who spoke different languages.  There would have been entertainment available as well.  However, it was a very grubby and messy city.  Even though it was a dirty city, he would have been stunned by the sight of the Circus Maximus.  The Circus Maximus was the place where the Charioteer could become a hero.  Chariot racing was a hit and it was one of Rome’s exports.  Traces of chariot racing can be found throughout the Roman World.

In Carthage, there is an excavation of a circus site.  It was the biggest circus outside of Rome.  Among the finds on the site are souvenirs and other rubbish that was left behind after the races.  One of those objects was a dice that could have been used between the races when there was a lull in the action.  There was also a figurine that could have been the charioteer.  People would have wanted memorabilia from their day at the races.  The chariot races brought a lot of money into Rome.  Near the Circus Maximus, there was a shopping area that would have been opened during the races.  One historian talks about the infrastructure that was organized around the races.

However, there was a dark side to these races.  At night the seedier portions would come out and fleece naïve tourists.  This would be one section to skip if you are showing this to a history classroom.

After this seedy section, the documentary transitions to a recreation of how the charioteers trained.  Agents would have sent the charioteers to train.  Each charioteer would have had to prove himself.  It was a highly competitive and physically demanding environment.  Emperor Domitian loved chariot racing and would check out the latest recruits.  The charioteers would have loved to have caught the emperor’s eye.  Scorpus caught the emperor’s eye.

In Ancient Rome there would have been four stables and each was represented with a different color: reds, greens, blues, and whites.  These stables controlled chariot racing and would put together the chariot races.  Each color had a patron god and stood for the four seasons.  The colors were worn by the charioteers and their fans.  In fact, the stables would eventually have a political factor in Roman society.  Then there is a discussion on the personnel that would have been involved in taking care of the stables.  There were veterinarians, stable hands, and stable managers.  The chariot races were big business in the Roman World.

The stables otherwise known as factions could charge whatever they wanted and one promoter did not like how much they were charging.  In fact, he was threatening to run dogs instead of horses.  The promoter went to the Emperor to get the money to put on the races.  The Emperor could not be seen to fail in getting these races done.  It was a blackmail scheme that worked according to the recreation. 

Scorpus would have ended up with the Greens.  They knew how to put together races and were a highly successful stable.  Mike Loades talks about the horses that were used in chariot races and how the horses were used.  I appreciate his enthusiasm for his subject.  He even jumps into a chariot to discover how the charioteers raced.  The Romans were passionate about their horses and knew the horses' names that the charioteers raced.  How does he fair in his first race?  So how does Scorpus’ career continue to skyrocket?  What about the races in the Circus Maximus?  Tune into the rest of the episode to find out more.

I was thrilled that Mike Loades was in the documentary, he does bring a lot of enthusiasm for the subject.  Over all this would still be a documentary I would consider showing to a history class because of the subject and that it is different from other Ancient Rome documentaries.

Woah, I cannot believe how fast the school year has gone by.  I am winding things down for the school year and then I will be switching to summer mode, blogging three days a week instead of five.  I try to keep things light and fun for the summer and will be exploring a Tony Robinson series Walking Through History Series at the start of June.  Today’s documentary will feature Scorpus, one of Rome’s successful charioteers, and this is not your typical documentary on Ancient Rome.  It is a two-part series called The Greatest Race.  The run time for this documentary is 50:01.

Young Scorpus was a former slave who would become one of the most famous characters in Ancient Roman History.   He practiced his craft in the Circus Maximus and it was a racing stadium that held more than 150,000 spectators.  Chariot racers were as popular as race car drivers.  They were an important part of society and everyone identified with them.  So who were the charioteers?  How did they gain such popularity in Rome?

Domitian is the current Roman Emperor and he was planning a renovation of Rome.  He is deeply disliked by the Roman Senate and the Elite.  The common people adored their emperor.  He hosts yearly spectacles at Rome and these games are to keep the masses entertained.  The greatest spectacles were the chariot races.  There were grand celebrations that led up to the races.  It was a day that fathers took their sons out to talk about how to become good charioteers.  Domitian wanted to be seen as popular and by giving them the entertainment they wanted he was able to do that.

The Circus Maximus, the race course was the biggest building that was built in Ancient Rome and it was where the chariots would race.  It was three times the size of the Olympic stadium in Berlin.  Romans loved their charioteers.  They would have packed the Circus Maximus and it would have been a noisy stadium.  The recreations done in this section were very well done.  It is now that we are introduced to Scorpus.  He was already a legend in his lifetime.

A piece of evidence is discovered in a museum and it gives a hint to the greatness of Scorpus.  The monument was small and dedicated to a local government worker.  His wife had Scorpus engraved on this tablet.  It was highly unusual for this government worker to have a celebrity engraved on their monuments.  One historian believes that Scorpus was carved on this monument as some sort of good luck charm for the afterlife.  The charioteers were huge superstars and the people adored them.  Scorpus was a slave, as high-born Romans could not become charioteers.  It would have been improper for a high-born Roman to participate in the races.  Slaves were in the lowest position in Roman Society.

An American archeologist examines a book about the background of the charioteers.  It hints that charioteers would have begun as young as thirteen years old.  Another description fighter in the book talks about how Scorpus was a championship charioteer.  As a slave he would have been working on a farm, however this farm also had a stable of horses.  Horses meant racing which meant charioteers and Scorpus would have encountered this at his placement.  So how would this slave rise up to Rome’s greatest charioteer?  Who would make him a charioteer?  What struggles would he have along the way?  Tune into the rest of this documentary to find out more!

First things first, I wish this documentary would have been divided into chapters in order to enable easy viewing and pulling clips for lectures.  It was nice to do a different documentary about the Roman Empire.  I never really watched a documentary on more common individuals of the Roman Empire, it mainly dealt with the emperors and the empire itself.  It was really neat to see how a Roman chariot was recreated as well.  On top of the chariot recreation, the people's recreations were very well done as well.  If you want something different to show to a class about Roman History, I would put this documentary on my list.  I would also recommend it for research purposes.

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening depending on when you are reading this and doing your planning for the school day.  Let’s do something different, the school year is winding down and I am sure all of you teachers are making preparations for the summer.  I’m going to do a documentary on pirates.  This documentary has a run time of 59:23 and is part of Britian’s Outlaws Series.  I may have to dig into the other two episodes of this series later.

Pirates were the most pursued.  They were hunted down on the high seas.  Pirates such as William Kidd, Blackbeard, and Calico Jack.  Their names would go beyond the seas.  The government came down hard on the pirates.  Historian Sam Wills explores the story of piracy and its impact on colonial expansion.  So who were the pirates?  What was their mission?  What were the laws governing pirates?

The story of piracy begins with Captain Kidd.  He never really thought he was going to be a pirate, and was a highly experienced sailor.  He sought to gain a fortune as a privateer.  Privateers were mercenaries who would rob ships that belonged to enemy nations.  Captain Kidd was granted a privateering commission by the King himself.  Privateers had to turn over a part of their plunder to the government.  However, Captain Kidd’s privateering career would begin badly.  As Kidd’s ship went by the Royal Yacht, he refused to give the royal salute.  A scuffle ensued and Captain Kidd’s best men were press-ganged into the Royal Navy.

With his skeleton crew, Kidd would make his way to Madagascar and would try to plunder the Indian Ocean trade routes.  However, he would lose more of his crew to cholera.  He could only recruit former pirates.  Kidd would travel to the Red Sea to try for plunder, this switch in location would announce to the world that he had turned to piracy.  However, he would eventually get caught and put on trial.  He was hanged.  He tried to avoid the noose by bribing the British Government with his treasure.  However, he still was hanged.  His legacy was that of the pirates’ treasure.

Privateers were eventually shut down because they were interfering with trade and damaging the British Empire.  Kidd’s exploits did help the fascination with pirates.  The people then wondered what happened with Henry Avery another famous pirate.  Rumors abounded about the infamous pirate.  He had seized big prizes and just vanished.  There were plays and songs written about him.  There were rumors that Avery wrote his own ballad.  Ballads were very dangerous, they appealed to the lower classes and could sew discontentment in the crowd.  Sam sings and plays guitar in this section and he does very well.

Sam then shows off a book that was published in this period.  It would have talked about the pirates of the golden age and their golden age.  It was called the General Histories of the Pirates.  The public loved this book and it tapped into the market for criminal biographies.  It was written by Captain Johnson and it was thought he was a retired sea captain.  However, it could have been a pseudonym for a real pirate.  Sam then transitions into Pirates Code, where if you watched the Pirates of the Caribbean Movies, you would know about how this code governed the pirates.  It went beyond governance and even put a price on how much a pirate would be paid if they lost certain limbs. 

So how do the islands of Nassau and the Bahamas fit into the picture of pirates?  Who else turned to piracy?  What about the pirate flags?  Tune into the rest of the episode to find out more.

As you know, I get really nervous when I try other historians, but I found myself enjoying Sam’s narration.  It was rather amusing to learn that if you lost an arm you got paid a hundred pieces of eight, while other limbs were less valued.  It was a good primer on pirates and piracy.  The information was well presented and the narration was well done.  I like that Sam would go to the places to learn more about pirates.  I would consider showing this to a history classroom and would use it for research purposes.