NaN/100 votes#1 - The Dawn of History
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 1/1/1989
The origins of the human race are traced from anthropoid ancestors to the agricultural revolution.
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#2 - The Ancient Egyptians
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 1/1/1989
Egyptian irrigation created one of the first great civilizations.
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#3 - Mesopotamia
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 1/1/1989
Settlements in the Fertile Crescent gave rise to the great river civilizations of the Middle East.
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#4 - From Bronze to Iron
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 1/1/1989
Metals revolutionized tools, as well as societies, in the empires of Assyria, Persia, and Neo-Babylonia.
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#5 - The Rise of Greek Civilization
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 1/1/1989
Democracy and philosophy arose from Greek cities at the edge of the civilized world.
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#6 - Greek Thought
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 1/1/1989
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle laid the foundation of Western intellectual thought.
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#7 - Alexander the Great
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 1/1/1989
Alexander's conquests quadrupled the size of the world known to the Greeks.
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#8 - The Hellenistic Age
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 1/1/1989
Hellenistic kingdoms extended Greek culture throughout the Mediterranean.
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#9 - The Rise of Rome
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 1/1/1989
Through its army, Rome built an empire that shaped the West.
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#10 - The Roman Empire
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 1/1/1989
Rome's civil engineering contributed as much to the empire as did its weapons.
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#11 - Early Christianity
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 1/1/1989
Christianity spread despite contempt and persecution from Rome.
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#12 - The Rise of the Church
Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 1/1/1989
The old heresy became the Roman empire's official religion under the Emperor Constantine.
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#13 - The Decline of Rome
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 1/1/1989
While enemies slashed at Rome's borders, civil war and economic collapse destroyed the empire from within.
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#14 - The Fall of Rome
Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 1/1/1989
Despite the success of emperors such as Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius, Rome fell victim to barbarian invasions.
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#15 - The Byzantine Empire
Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 1/1/1989
From Constantinople, the Byzantine Empire carried on the traditions of Greece and Rome.
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#16 - The Fall of Byzantium
Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 1/1/1989
Nearly a thousand years after Rome's fall, Constantinople was conquered by the forces of Islam.
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#17 - The Dark Ages
Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 1/1/1989
Barbarian kingdoms took possession of the fragments of the Roman Empire.
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#18 - The Age of Charlemagne
Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 1/1/1989
Charlemagne revived hopes for a new empire in Western Europe.
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#19 - The Middle Ages
Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 1/1/1989
Amid invasion and civil disorder, a military aristocracy dominated the kingdoms of Europe.
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#20 - The Feudal Order
Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired 1/1/1989
Bishop, knight, and peasant exemplified some of the social divisions of the year 1000 A.D.
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#21 - Common Life in the Middle Ages
Season 1 Episode 21 - Aired 1/1/1989
Famine, disease, and short life expectancies were the conditions that shaped medieval beliefs.
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#22 - Cities and Cathedrals of the Middle Ages
Season 1 Episode 22 - Aired 1/1/1989
The great churches embodied the material and spiritual ambitions of the age.
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#23 - The Late Middle Ages
Season 1 Episode 23 - Aired 1/1/1989
Two hundred years of war and plague debilitated Europe.
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#24 - The National Monarchies
Season 1 Episode 24 - Aired 1/1/1989
A new urban middle class emerged, while dynastic marriages established centralized monarchies.
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#25 - Renaissance & the Age of Discovery
Season 1 Episode 25 - Aired 1/1/1989
Renaissance humanists made man "the measure of all things." Europe was possessed by a new passion for knowledge.
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The Best Episodes of The Western Tradition Season 1
Every episode of The Western Tradition Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of The Western Tradition Season 1!
Covering the ancient world through the age of technology, this illustrated lecture by Eugen Weber presents a tapestry of political and social events woven with...
Genre:Documentary
Network:PBS
Season 1 Ratings Summary
"The Dawn of History" is the best rated episode of "The Western Tradition" season 1. It scored N/A/10 based on 0 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 1/1/1989. This episode is rated NaN points higher than the second-best, "The Ancient Egyptians".