Fall of Civilizations

- Season 1

(2019)

Historian Paul M.M. Cooper examines the sudden arrival of advanced Roman civilization on the island of Great Britain in the first century BCE, how it endured for half a millennium against waves of barbarian invasions and its own inept rulers, and particularly what happened after its final dramatic collapse in the fifth century CE when Rome's mighty legions marched away, never to return.

Sometime around the year 1100 BC, a wave of destruction washed over the Eastern Mediterranean. It wiped whole civilizations off the map, and left only ash and ruin in its wake. This catastrophe, known as "The Late Bronze Age Collapse", has become one of the enduring puzzles of archaeology. Historian Paul M.M. Cooper explores how and why so many societies could collapse all at once, seemingly without warning, as well as examine the lessons it might teach us in our increasingly globalized and interconnected world.

In the tropical forests of Central America, vast stone pyramids built by the Mayan people slowly crumble beneath the trees. Series host Paul Cooper examines one of humanity's greatest romantic mysteries - the fall of the classic Maya civilization. He reviews how this great civilization grew up among environmental conditions that no other civilization has ever contended with, discusses the fatal flaws that lay beneath its surface, and relates what happened after its final, cataclysmic collapse.

One of the most unlikely tales of a society's fall is the incredible saga of the Vikings of Greenland. Series host Paul Cooper reveals how these European settlers built a society on the farthest edge of their world, and survived for centuries among some of the harshest conditions ever faced by man. He shows how this civilization was able to overcome the odds for so long, and examines the evidence about what happened to cause its final and mysterious collapse as revealed by Viking poetry, Inuit folktales and thousands upon thousands of walrus.

Deep in the Cambodian Jungle, a ruined city crumbles among the roots of banyan trees. Series host Paul Cooper looks at the Khmer Empire of medieval Cambodia, and their capital, the ancient mega-city of Angkor. He explores how this great civilization rose to a size and wealth virtually unprecedented in the world, how it overcame the challenges of its climate and landscape, and all the factors that led to its final, dramatic collapse.

Paul Cooper examines one of archaeology's most enduring puzzles: the mystery of Easter Island where, on one of the world's most isolated islands, hundreds of vast stone statues lie moldering in the grass. Cooper discusses how this unique community grew up in complete isolation, severed from the rest of the world by a vast expanse of ocean, explains of how it survived for so many centuries, and analyzes the evidence to reveal what brought this society, and its statues, crashing down.

Paul Cooper traces the rise of the Songhai Empire of western Africa, the reasons it flourished and, ultimately, the reasons for it's demise

Paul Cooper explores the rise and especially the fall of the ancient cities that once flourished between the Tigris and Euphrates Rives in ancient Mesopotamia .

Beneath the busy streets of Mexico City, a buried god lies waiting to be discovered - Paul Cooper looks back at the age of the Aztecs, examining how this society grew from nothing to create one of the world's largest cities in the middle of a lake. He reveals Aztec riddles, poetry and songs, the bloody ritual of the flower wars and tells the remarkable story of how this thriving empire collapsed all at once, in a matter of days.

Paul Cooper examines the remarkable story of the Han Dynasty, the first empire of ancient China. Using ancient Chinese poetry, songs and folk music, he traces the first empire's rise, its remarkable technological advances, and its early, tentative attempts to make contact with the empires of the west. Finally, he looks at all the reasons behind the first age of Imperial China's final, dramatic collapse which left a city in ruins, a dynasty in tatters and an empire in ashes.

Paul Cooper examines one of history's most incredible stories of survival - the thousand-year epic of the Byzantine Empire. He explains how this civilization suffered the loss of its Western half, and continued the unbroken legacy of Rome right through the Middle Ages. Cooper discusses how the ancient city formed a bridge between two continents, and two ages, and from the outskirts of modern Istanbul where a line of ancient walls lies crumbling into the earth, explains how the impregnable defenses of Constantinople were finally brought crashing to the ground. The ...

Paul Cooper examines one of history's most incredible stories of survival - the thousand-year epic of the Byzantine Empire. He explains how this civilization suffered the loss of its Western half, and continued the unbroken legacy of Rome right through the Middle Ages. Cooper discusses how the ancient city formed a bridge between two continents, and two ages, and from the outskirts of modern Istanbul where a line of ancient walls lies crumbling into the earth, explains how the impregnable defenses of Constantinople were finally brought crashing to the ground. The ...

High up on the craggy peaks of the Urubamba Canyon, the lost city of Machu Picchu lies wreathed in cloud. In this episode, host Paul Cooper explores the mountains of the Andes, and traces the story of the Inca Empire. Find out how these mountain people built the largest empire in the Western Hemipshere, one that stretched across South America, in one of the toughest terrains on earth. With Inca poetry, Quechuan hymns and authentic Andean instruments, discover the unique culture of the Inca and find out what happened to bring their society crashing down around them.

In the second part of his story tracing the rise and fall of the sprawling Inca empire which at its peak stretched across South America, Paul Cooper describes how the indigenous people and their way of life was destroyed by invading Spanish conquistadors.

Historian Paul Cooper traces the rise and fall of one of the most remarkable ancient civilizations: the society known today as the neo-Assyrian Empire. He describes how the Assyrians built their empire out of the ashes of the Bronze Age, and built an empire of iron that lasted for centuries, illustrating the extraordinary flourishing of art and technology that they fostered. Eventually, he shows what happened to cause their final, devastating collapse.

On the rocky banks of South India's Tungabhadra River, an enormous ruined city lies crumbling. \we look at the Vijayanagara Empire of Southern India, a civilization that has all but faded from memory in many parts of the world.

In the deserts of Jordan, a city lies hidden for centuries in a valley of rose-red stone.

In the lowlands of Burma lie the remains of thousands of crumbling temples.