OPENING - Feb 2 -Marilyn Outtrim

A couple of years ago I purchased two DVD lectures series from a company called "The Great Courses". These are the course guide books.  I think these DVD lectures are relevant to our book discussion on Karen Armstrong's book, "Field of Blood, The History of Violence."

The first lecture series is called "The Foundations of Western Civilization", by Professor Thomas Noble.

The second lecture series is entitled "The Other Side of History : Daily Life in the Ancient World", by Professor Robert Garland.

In the first lecture series Professor Noble focuses on the important events and people in ancient times up to the 14^th century.  He captured my attention by asking questions that made me think.  For example he asks "How did a small group of Christians turn into such a universal religion?"  Then he explains his reasoning, and point of view.  Professor Noble also makes statements that underlie one of his most important themes, which is Civilizations change over time.  For instance he insists the Roman Empire did not fall, decline or vanish.  Instead it transformed itself and left the following heirs, namely, Islam, the Byzantine Empire, and the many Barbarian kingdoms of the former Western Roman Empire.

Professor Noble's lectures are presented in chronological order so they are easy to follow.  Also he provides dates, and visuals, such as timelines, maps, and point form text that correspond with his discussions.  Finally he discussed the origins of many of our modern words from Latin and Greek.

In the second DVD lecture series Professor Garland discusses the lives of ordinary people in the same time period. For example he explains what it would have been like to be an Egyptian slave, Greek soldier, Roman woman, Viking Raider, or a Christian under Roman rule.  He uses clues from their writings, art, pottery, sculptures, mosaics, tapestries, tools, weapons and paintings.

Professor Garland uses his dry sense of English humor and invites us to imagine that we are one of these ordinary folk. For instance "Being a Crusader", is one of his lectures.  In this lecture Professor Garland asks us to pretend to be a crusader.  Later he asks, "Who funded the Crusades?"  He answers, You did of course, and the rich and the church also had to step up to the plate to coin a phrase.

Professor Garland also tells us that in the 3^rd Crusade King Henry II of England in 1189AD set up the first income tax in Europe.  So we can thank the crusading spirit for the origins of the American IRS.Thanks guys, he jokes.

If I could name an important theme in Professor Garland's lectures it would be, life was not easy for the majority of people in Ancient and Medieval times.

Both these lectures series have supported me in my understanding of Karen Armstrong's book Field of Blood.  Therefore I recommend them to you.

This is the website of the The Great Courses people http://www.thegreatcourses.com