Empire Builders

- Season 1

(2018)

Rising to prominence in North Africa along the fertile valley of the river Nile, ancient Egypt prospered and grew to become one of the world's earliest and greatest civilizations. We travel through time to appreciate 3000 years of ancient Egyptian history through the amazing stories of ten of its most famous and spectacular buildings. It's a journey of discovery that will take us to ancient Egypt's greatest pyramids and obelisks, and its most magnificent temples and tombs.

The Roman Empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, political and military force in the world of its time and became one of the largest empires in world history. At its height under Emperor Trajan, it covered 5 million square kilometers, holding sway over an estimated 70 million people, at that time 21% of the world's entire population, controlling large territorial holdings around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

In the seventh century, a great new religion was born and rose up in the deserts of what is now Saudi Arabia. Within 200 years, the religion had spread throughout the Middle East and North Africa, and then through the Moors into Southern Spain and Portugal. By the 13th century it had spread through the Ottomans into Eastern Europe, and by the 15th, through the Mughal's to India. We explore ten sites that made history as we chart the rise and fall of these great Muslim empires.

We explore the remarkable history of one of the world's greatest ancient civilizations, the Maya, travelling through the remote jungles of Central America to discover the extraordinary history of the grandest and most spectacular cities inhabited by the Maya.

Until the 15th century Spain had not made it's mark as an empire, instead being the object of conquest itself, first by the Romans and then by the Moslem Moors who both occupied much of the country for several hundred years. However, it was at this time that Spain's monarchy produced a series of remarkably ambitious and powerful leaders.

In the fifth century A.D. the Roman Empire, which had ruled across Europe for 600 years, was facing collapse. More than 100 years earlier in 332 its Emperor Constantine, who'd erected his victory arch in Rome, had moved the capital of the empire to a city in modern day Turkey which was named Constantinople.

We explore the historic legacy of three of Europe's greatest powers - the French, Russian and Habsburg Empires - whose royal palaces, cathedrals and other great buildings of the 16th to 18th centuries are some of the world's most remarkable and spectacular cultural monuments.

We explore the remarkable history of one of the world's most unique and diverse ancient cultures, Japan, travelling through time to explore the past 1500 years of Japan's history through 10 of its most famous and spectacular buildings.

The British empire was one of the largest in history. Stretching from South Asia to the Caribbean and across Australia and huge swathes of Africa, it held sway over trade and cultures. How did it achieve its level of greatness?

From the Declaration of Independence at Independence Hall, through to tech solutions of Silicon Valley, America has shaped the world we live in - all the while shaping its own identity through the iconic buildings and structures that chart the nation's history.

We explore the last hurrah of Europe's Imperial dynasties - in France, Russia, and the Austrian Habsburg empire - whose royal palaces, cathedrals and other great public buildings of the 18th and 19th centuries memorialise the dramatic final chapter of the rise and fall of Imperial Europe.