Alastair Sooke takes an in-depth look at the art of the Roman Empire.

Alastair Sooke takes an in-depth look at the art of the Roman Empire.

Meet the Romans 　　Professor Mary Beard looks beyond the stories of emperors, armies, guts and gore to meet the everyday people at the heart of Ancient Rome's vast empire We still live in the shadow of ancient Rome - a city at the heart of a vast empire that stretched from Scotland to Afghanistan, dominating the West for over 700 years. Professor Mary Beard puts aside the stories of emperors and armies, guts and gore, to meet the real Romans living at the heart of it all.

《古罗马人》是BBC2的一个6 x 30的系列纪录片。Adam Hart-Davis 将和我们一同探讨古罗马人对于现在的生活的影响，从乳罩到桥，从排序法到餐桌上的刀叉，从混凝土结构到避孕套，古罗马人带给英国人的发明和创新改变了他们的建筑风格及生活的方式。在他们逗留的近400年间，他们建造了三十座城镇，留下了迷人的复杂的技术。 　　 　　Programme 1: 奢华的生活 　　Programme 2: 入侵 　　Programme 3: 城镇和乡村 　　Programme 4: 帝国之动脉 　　Programme 5: 帝国的优势 　　Programme 6: 那个时代的高峰

《古罗马人》是BBC2的一个6 x 30的系列纪录片。Adam Hart-Davis 将和我们一同探讨古罗马人对于现在的生活的影响，从乳罩到桥，从排序法到餐桌上的刀叉，从混凝土结构到避孕套，古罗马人带给英国人的发明和创新改变了他们的建筑风格及生活的方式。在他们逗留的近400年间，他们建造了三十座城镇，留下了迷人的复杂的技术。 　　 　　Programme 1: 奢华的生活 　　Programme 2: 入侵 　　Programme 3: 城镇和乡村 　　Programme 4: 帝国之动脉 　　Programme 5: 帝国的优势 　　Programme 6: 那个时代的高峰

Levon remembers his childhood in Turkey: love, political brutality. A bloody comedy. Also a modern crime story about Armenian terrorists and Turkish secret agents, about Kurds tragedy. 　　Askarian’s most recent project is another meditation on the artist in exile. Like the filmmaker Avetik and the real-life composer Komitas from his previous films, Levon - a writer of Armenian extraction now living in Rotterdam - is caught between memories of homeland and the realities of contemporary life. From his Dutch domicile, Levon reminisces about his brother-in-law (a hairdresser who robs dead Turks), a brilliant Kurdish musician, a red-bearded executioner, a seventeen-year-old girl with chestnut-colored skin, and a Turkish Apollo with eight wives who likes to bury himself in hot ash. His memory is also populated by beautiful thoroughbred horses, stray dogs, camel drivers, soldiers, and Turkish policemen. These poetic, almost surrealist scenes of magic love and political cruelty are contrasted with the reality of present day Rotterdam, presented in the guise of a modern crime story with Armenian terrorists and a Kurdish tragedy. 　　"Every year, we look at thousands of films and when one shines above the rest, as ON THE OLD ROMAN ROAD did, it is indeed a pleasure. Don Askarian, recently honored with a Harvard Film Archive retrospective, is considered the greatest living Armenian filmmaker. In Askarian's latest film, which he describes as “a bloody comedy”, a man in exile remembers a childhood of magic and mayhem, complete with grave robbers, brutal assassinations, horses, and men buried in hot ash. As striking a visual feast as one can find, this is an extravagant and crystalline treasure, a film whose rewards far outweigh its considerable demands."

Levon remembers his childhood in Turkey: love, political brutality. A bloody comedy. Also a modern crime story about Armenian terrorists and Turkish secret agents, about Kurds tragedy. 　　Askarian’s most recent project is another meditation on the artist in exile. Like the filmmaker Avetik and the real-life composer Komitas from his previous films, Levon - a writer of Armenian extraction now living in Rotterdam - is caught between memories of homeland and the realities of contemporary life. From his Dutch domicile, Levon reminisces about his brother-in-law (a hairdresser who robs dead Turks), a brilliant Kurdish musician, a red-bearded executioner, a seventeen-year-old girl with chestnut-colored skin, and a Turkish Apollo with eight wives who likes to bury himself in hot ash. His memory is also populated by beautiful thoroughbred horses, stray dogs, camel drivers, soldiers, and Turkish policemen. These poetic, almost surrealist scenes of magic love and political cruelty are contrasted with the reality of present day Rotterdam, presented in the guise of a modern crime story with Armenian terrorists and a Kurdish tragedy. 　　"Every year, we look at thousands of films and when one shines above the rest, as ON THE OLD ROMAN ROAD did, it is indeed a pleasure. Don Askarian, recently honored with a Harvard Film Archive retrospective, is considered the greatest living Armenian filmmaker. In Askarian's latest film, which he describes as “a bloody comedy”, a man in exile remembers a childhood of magic and mayhem, complete with grave robbers, brutal assassinations, horses, and men buried in hot ash. As striking a visual feast as one can find, this is an extravagant and crystalline treasure, a film whose rewards far outweigh its considerable demands."

Long before Columbus, the Maya established one of the most highly developed civilizations of their time in the jungles of Mexico and Central America. Yet this advanced society of priests, astronomers, artisans, and farmers suddenly and mysteriously collapsed more than a thousand years ago. 　　Accompany archaeologists to Copan, Dos Pilas, and other spectacular Classic Maya ruins as they unearth artifacts and huge temples of incredible beauty. Recently deciphered hieroglyphics and other new discoveries offer astounding clues to the lives of these ancient people. You'll hear the startling story of one kingdom's downfall and its final desperate hours of violent warfare. 　　Through spine-tingling recreations, witness ancient rituals reenacted on sites where they originally occurred. And meet the enduring Maya who still maintain many of their ancestor's traditions. 　　You'll hear the voices of a magnificent civilization as you uncover LOST KINGDOMS OF THE MAYA.

Long before Columbus, the Maya established one of the most highly developed civilizations of their time in the jungles of Mexico and Central America. Yet this advanced society of priests, astronomers, artisans, and farmers suddenly and mysteriously collapsed more than a thousand years ago. 　　Accompany archaeologists to Copan, Dos Pilas, and other spectacular Classic Maya ruins as they unearth artifacts and huge temples of incredible beauty. Recently deciphered hieroglyphics and other new discoveries offer astounding clues to the lives of these ancient people. You'll hear the startling story of one kingdom's downfall and its final desperate hours of violent warfare. 　　Through spine-tingling recreations, witness ancient rituals reenacted on sites where they originally occurred. And meet the enduring Maya who still maintain many of their ancestor's traditions. 　　You'll hear the voices of a magnificent civilization as you uncover LOST KINGDOMS OF THE MAYA.

第1集 - 印加帝國的木乃伊 　　南美洲安第斯山脈位於海拔二千四百米，散佈在一道陡峭山脊之上的，是有「天空之城」之稱的馬丘比丘。有人說她是眾多世界遺產中最美麗的。馬丘比丘是十五世紀時由印加帝國所興建。印加帝國後來被來尋金的西班牙人所滅。不過這個失落的文明還有引人入勝的另一面。 　　在一座印加神殿底下的一個洞穴內面，放置了多具印加祖先的木乃伊，這些木乃伊在印加帝國各地受到敬拜。西班牙人征服印加人之後，發現大量的木乃伊，感到非常震訝。文獻記載了西班牙殖民統治時期印加人的生活方式。畫家珀馬在他的紀事誌中描述印加文化對待木乃伊就好似對待活人一樣，充滿神秘色彩，我們可以通過這些文獻窺探這種木乃伊文化。點解敬拜木乃伊的神秘文明會在安第斯山區盛行？我們會嘗試去解開這個謎。 　　第2集 - 天空之城- 馬丘比丘 　　據說在秘魯的高山上，住著一個叫尤古古的神靈。一百年前，一位探險家彷彿在這個神靈的帶領下爬上一座山，找到一個傳聞中藏有黃金的城市。這座是五百年前曾經非常昌盛的印加文明遺跡，是一座建於懸崖之上的天空之城，名叫馬丘比丘。馬丘比丘坐落於海拔二千四百米的山頂之上，全長接近一公里。 　　印加文明非常獨特，她在高山地區發祥興盛，並且孕育出馬丘比丘，並在短短五十年間將八十個講不同語言的部族統一起。印加人怎樣統一被高山分隔的安第斯部族？怎樣在高山上建立起一個獨一無二的文明？今集將會帶大家深入探究印加之謎！ 　　第3集 - 叢林內的瑪雅文明 　　十七世紀末一位西班牙傳教士發現古代的瑪雅文明，瑪雅文明興盛了接近二千年，建立過大約七十個主要獨立的城邦。雖然他們有共同的語言和文字，但是從來未有統一過。 　　瑪雅的城邦是怎樣避免互相攻伐，導致滅亡，從而得以興盛了二千年？不少古代文明在這片平原靠近水源的地方興盛過，不過瑪雅誕生於一片密林之中，附近並沒有主要的河流。一個如此發達的文明怎可能發源自一個如此惡劣的環境？叢林內的遺跡留下了一些線索，讓我們可以解開這個謎！ 　　第4集 - 鳥瞰拉丁美洲三大文明遺跡 　　在南美洲安第斯山脈，有個曾經璀璨過的文明 - 印加帝國，而象徵印加帝國的神秘城市是有「天空之城」之稱的馬丘比丘。馬丘比丘被譽為眾多世界遺跡中最美麗的。印加帝國在高山上建立了遼闊的版圖，十五世紀由北至南跨越四千公里，她是怎樣建立一個舉世無雙的文明呢？ 　　離墨西哥城一千公里的茂密叢林中，一個文明在此興起，她是馬雅文明。 馬雅文明起源於二千五百年前，在叢林中興盛了二千年。馬雅人在叢林中興建天文觀象台，研究星宿，累積了大量知識。他們在如此惡劣環境中，是怎樣成功建立一個高度文明？ 　　而在墨西哥城內，有座在阿茲特克帝國時期興建的大神殿遺跡，阿茲特克人在這裡舉行活人祭祀儀式，而這種活人祭祀令阿茲特克帝國走向滅亡。阿茲特克人曾經有過一段怎樣的歷史？ 　　印加、馬雅及阿茲特克曾經是拉丁美洲興盛過的文明，最後一集將會帶大家鳥瞰印加、馬雅及阿茲特克這三大文明的遺跡，想像她們昔日的繁華。