The Foundations of Western Civilization

Course Overview

Course No. 370

This digitally remastered classic course provides a grand tour of ancient Western civilization from 3000 B.C. to A.D. 1600, taught by an award-winning Notre Dame professor.

Spanning 48 lectures, you’ll explore:

• The birth of civilization in Mesopotamia and Egypt
• The rise and fall of Greece and Rome
• The medieval transformation of Europe
• The Renaissance and Reformation eras
• Key questions about what defines “Western” identity

Video Lectures

01: “Western,” “Civilization,” and “Foundations” (32 min)

Examine fundamental concepts of Western identity and historical significance.

02: History Begins at Sumer (30 min)

Discover why southern Iraq became a cradle of civilization alongside Egypt.

03: Egypt: The Gift of the Nile (31 min)

Explore how the Nile’s geography shaped Egypt’s unique cultural development.

04: The Hebrews: Small States and Big Ideas (31 min)

Analyze Israel’s religious contributions despite its small size.

05: A Succession of Empires (31 min)

Survey Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian dominance of the ancient Near East.

06: Wide-Ruling Agamemnon (30 min)

Connect Bronze Age archaeology to Homer’s epic poems.

07: Dark Age and Archaic Greece (31 min)

Investigate Greece’s mysterious “dark age” and subsequent revival.

08: The Greek Polis: Sparta (30 min)

Decode Sparta’s militaristic society and its lasting influence.

09: The Greek Polis: Athens (31 min)

Trace Athens’ path from crisis to democracy to empire.

10: Civic Culture: Architecture and Drama (31 min)

Appreciate Greek public buildings and theater as ideological expressions.

11: The Birth of History (31 min)

Understand how Herodotus and Thucydides invented historical writing.

12: From Greek Religion to Socratic Philosophy (31 min)

Follow the intellectual shift from myth to rational inquiry.

13: Plato and Aristotle (31 min)

Compare these philosophical giants’ enduring worldviews.

14: The Failure of the Polis and the Rise of Alexander (31 min)

Examine why city-states declined and Macedon rose.

15: The Hellenistic World (31 min)

Tour the cosmopolitan Greek-influenced world after Alexander.

16: The Rise of Rome (31 min)

Uncover Rome’s monarchic origins and republican foundations.

17: The Roman Republic: Government and Politics (30 min)

Analyze Rome’s complex constitutional system.

18: Roman Imperialism (30 min)

Chart Rome’s expansion from Italy to world empire.

19: The Culture of the Roman Republic (30 min)

Appreciate Roman literature’s Greek influences and native genius.

20: Rome: From Republic to Empire (30 min)

Witness the turbulent transition from Gracchi to Augustus.

21: The Pax Romana (31 min)

Assess whether Rome’s “golden age” was truly peaceful.

22: Rome’s Golden and Silver Ages (31 min)

Explore imperial culture from Virgil to Tacitus.

23: Jesus and the New Testament (31 min)

Consider Christianity’s unlikely origins in Roman Palestine.

24: The Emergence of a Christian Church (31 min)

Trace early Christian community development.

25: Late Antiquity: Crisis and Response (31 min)

Study Rome’s 3rd-century troubles and Diocletian’s reforms.

26: Barbarians and Emperors (31 min)

Re-examine myths about Rome’s “fall” to invaders.

27: The Emergence of the Catholic Church (32 min)

Follow Christianity’s organizational development post-Constantine.

28: Christian Culture in Late Antiquity (30 min)

Observe how Christianity transformed Roman daily life.

29: Muhammad and Islam (30 min)

Understand Islam’s connections to Western traditions.

30: The Birth of Byzantium (31 min)

Reconstruct Constantine’s vision for his “New Rome.”

31: Barbarian Kingdoms in the West (31 min)

Map Germanic, Celtic and Slavic successor states.

32: The World of Charlemagne (31 min)

Appreciate how one ruler briefly reunited Western Europe.

33: The Carolingian Renaissance (31 min)

Identify Charlemagne’s cultural achievements.

34: The Expansion of Europe (31 min)

Explain Europe’s remarkable post-1000 resurgence.

35: The Chivalrous Society (31 min)

Decode medieval social structures and their omissions.

36: Medieval Political Traditions, I (31 min)

Compare English and French governmental developments.

37: Medieval Political Traditions, II (31 min)

Broaden perspectives beyond Anglo-French centrality.

38: Scholastic Culture (31 min)

Meet brilliant thinkers like Aquinas who shaped universities.

39: Vernacular Culture (31 min)

Celebrate the flowering of literature in native tongues.

40: The Crisis of Renaissance Europe (31 min)

Set the stage for cultural rebirth amid turmoil.

41: The Renaissance Problem (31 min)

Untangle four key paradoxes of this “rebirth.”

42: Renaissance Portraits (31 min)

Engage with luminaries from Boccaccio to Michelangelo.

43: The Northern Renaissance (31 min)

Contrast humanist movements across the Alps.

44: The Protestant Reformation: Martin Luther (31 min)

Begin examining Christianity’s dramatic division.

45: The Protestant Reformation: John Calvin (31 min)

Complete the Reformation picture beyond Luther.

46: Catholic Reforms and “Confessionalization” (31 min)

Track the Counter-Reformation’s institutional responses.

47: Exploration and Empire (30 min)

Ponder Europe’s unlikely global expansion.

48: What Challenges Remain? (33 min)

Reflect on enduring Western patterns at modernity’s threshold.