Rome’s daring conquest and occupation of the British Isles. Motivated by an emperor’s greed and political ambition, Rome added Britain to its empire in the first century CE, changing the land and its people forever. Join historian
Bettany Hughes (
When the Moors Ruled in Europe as she examines new research and the latest archaeological evidence to reveal the brutal realities of the Roman conquest. Meet scheming politicians, beleaguered generals, and fiery revolutionaries — including Queen Boudicca, the wronged woman who mobilized her people for a bloody and tragic revolt. Interviews with noted military experts and meticulous reenactments illuminate a little-known but pivotal period in British and Roman history.
Packed with drama and detail, this absorbing series reveals how a nation sprang from 400 years of subjugation. Oxford-educated author and historian Bettany Hughes has presented historical documentaries for the BBC, PBS, and the Discovery Channel. She serves on the Innovation Programs Committee of the U.K.’s National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts.
- Comes with a 12-page viewer’s guide with timeline, questions to consider, history of Rome’s failed British invasions, background on Roman and Celtic weaponry, biography of Roman historian Tacitus, and an essay on daily life in ancient Britain
- Extended interviews with historians and bonus footage (14 min.)
- Biographies of major figures in the Roman conquest of Britain
- SDH subtitles
One of the pet peeves with almost all films these day is the background music or noise drowning out the audio but this copy did not have that problem as some others experienced even though we did still run the subtitles.
This presentation was well done, standard Hughes work. However this documentary is very heavy on re-enactments far exceeding that in her other offerings likely because, as a few others have mentioned, there's really not a lot of stuff to show in the way of structures and major artifacts. And some of these re-enactments are shown more than once as if their reenactment budget was limited
(I don't think goober reviewers actualy understand reenacting... I wish we got paid). For those who are not big fans of reenactments, and I'm one, take note.
Virtually every historical point or aspect of this history is passed through rather quickly, never dwelling on much detail, due to trying to cover 400+ years in a comparatively short documentary tweet. But the producers and Hughes make the best use of their time, hit all the key highlights and move right along making good periodic use of commentary by guest historians and archeologists which really adds to the understanding of the topic. Hughes herself does her usual wonderful muted-dramatic voice inflections and visual tics to make points and emphasize key moments.
This documentary is divided into three episodes with multiple chapters within each. It's probable each episode could have been a separate documentary as in Invasion, Rule and Departure in the form of a series by offering more detail and showing more actual artifacts. One thing I did learn as a historian is how brutal the local Roman big cheeses were but I also felt less strongly than this program portrayed about exactly how dominating the Roman's actually were. I always felt the real extent of any Roman control in Britain usually didn't exceed much further than about 200 yards away from any Roman military fort or settlement, such was the difficulty they had trying to rule those rascal Celts for 400 years.