Empires

Just finished watching all of the episodes in the Rome series and I enjoyed the information presented in the documentary series. My knowledge of Roman history is not extensive but not wholly lacking, either. There were some interesting pieces of information that I picked out of the series and also, like the reviewer before me, some things that I feel were just not correct or presented all the way.To the previous reviewer: History is written by those who have something to gain from the story. Even if you just read straight from the Roman historical texts, you're getting one man's or one group's view of the facts. Much of what we get from the learned of the ancient world is probably hearsay, anyway, as classes were rarely in mixed company and they were made to make inferences about lower or higher classes.To others: This is a nice (and long) series about the Roman Empire that thoroughly covers the warts and tends to gloss over the shining lights of Rome. The stories of the bad emperors are much more interesting to hear about than the stories of the great ones -- although the series does go into some length about the importance of Caesar Augustus, one of Rome's great emperors.Much of the story is told through the lens of poets and historians of the day, so you're getting information from as close to the source as you can get. Also, there is a nice lineup of scholars from all parts of the globe and backgrounds.In the end, a series like this should be a part of your education concerning this period. Read, watch, and listen to as many things as you can get your hands, eyes, and ears on. You just can't take one source's word when it comes to history.