The review of a public school world history teacher
DWD | Indianapolis, IN | 01/21/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"While all of Dave Stotts' episodes may not be ideal for a public school classroom (too christianity-centric), they are all interesting, entertaining, educational and come with top-notch production quality. This is not a talking head video series!
Episode #3 of this disk (Phoenicians, Carthage, gladiators, etc.) does a great job of reviewing Roman history and covers how Christianity represented a break from Roman values in a professional (non-conversion-seeking) manner. Episode #3 will most likely wind up in the end of unit review of my rather lenghty Roman Empire chapter.
The other sections will be welcome at my home and my adult Bible study classes.
I give this series a solid "A""
Excellent!
M | CA | 08/18/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I saw this episode on TV and was wishing afterward that I had taped it! So I hit the web and found this disc to buy. Have since bought several episodes from other sites (sorry amazon). This one....The Arch of Titus has such an amazing history and weird to see how small it is and what a shame people mill about seemingly unaware, as I would if not for this disc! The destruction of Jerusalem just leaves one stunned that the Jewish people have survived at all, much less the city itself. Then there's the Circus Maximus and the Pantheon....no one will keep reading such a long review! Let's just say I HIGHLY recommend this disc AND the whole series.
You don't have to be religious but if you are, you'll love it more. Lots of archeological links to the Bible. You DO have to be into history or else you may be bored, though it's so interesting that it will probably spark a new interest. Not only is it a miracle Jews are still here, but Nero etc did his best to wipe out the Christians too. We also see some roots of anti-semitism. The only way the jews could have money while escaping was to swallow the coins. Hence the "jews are so greedy they eat money" hatred.
The host Dave Stotts has a good sense of humor and makes it all fun too. Light enough for kids too and a good way to teach respect for the worlds rich history and the suffering will put things in perspective for the whole family. You'll be damn glad you have the problems you do as opposed to being alive then."