Customer Reviews

Hail Caesar Boxed Set [VHS]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Each tape is an episode of A&E's "Biography" Series made in conjunction with the BBC. Julius, Augustus, Nero, Hadrian, Constantine and Justinian are profiled. An impressive list of scholars is combined with CGI and location shots to give a thorough description of their lives and times. That being said, I have some minor quibbles with the choice of Emperor-I suspect Hadrian was included to appeal to a British audience, Hadrian's Wall and all-Domitian or Diocletian could have been included in this group instead. Also, in the first episode one of the experts goes a little too far in disparaging the Roman world at this time ca 45BC. Yes, the Romans were ruthless in battle , yes they carted off the defeated into slavery, yes they suppressed revolts without mercy. No more or less than any other empire/kingdom in existence at that time. Also no mention was made that slaves did at least have the CHANCE to escape bondage and become freedmen. In fact, so many did over time that they became their own social class. This certainly does not excuse or condone a society structured around slave labor, but the entire story should be put forward, especially in a popular history such as this. Overall, this is an outstanding series, and as other reviewers have said needs to be in every enthusiast's and school library. Highly recommended.

Don't be misled by the review that Amazon.com insists on attaching to this video. This is NOT the low-budget cult film described in that review; this is a fascinating 6-tape documentary from the History Channel. The politics and personalities are so well described that it almost seems contemporary.

This is a very nice collection, for a historian, a history teacher or just if you like looking at statues, paintings, maps, palaces, and learning history in a wonderfully produced audio-visual format! This should be in every high school library!

This is an excellent set to add to your ancient history collection. It includes 6 videos, 50 minutes each in length, covering the personal lives and political careers of Julius Caesar, Augustus, Nero, Hadrian, Constantine, and Justinian. Fascinating stuff- filmed and formatted with great care. Would also like to see a second set devoted to, among others, the intriguing personalities of Caligula, Tiberius, and Trajan. In addition, those wanting a great companion book to complement this series should definitely consider "Chronicle of the Roman Emperors." This set and the book are highly recommended.

A great documentary series about the most famous of Rome's Emperors. A must for historians interested in the history Roman Empire. All the documentaries are thorough and will done. They are exceptional chronicles of the great Roman Emperors.

Simply the best history series I have ever seen. I thought I knew quite a lot about Roman history but I learnt so much more from these films. Cool!

Watched the videos on two separate occasions and enjoyed them. I learned an incredible amount from the start of Rome 700BC to the fall of Constatinople in 1453AD.

A nice set of tapes for anyone.

It is false that there are significant battle scenes, however, the footage shown does provide some key points of interest.

Enjoy !

This series was somewhat of a disappointment to me. I felt the first tape about Julius Caesar, the person of most interest to me, had an unfairly totally negative take on him. I can`t recall one positive thing this tape had to say about this man.
No mention is made of his great courage and willingness to be at the forefront of the many battles he actually fought in is made as opposed to being a behind the lines sort of General that most Generals throughout history choose or chose to be. He very often chose to be right in the forefront of the rankers in these very deadly contests.
Also, I feel it is a distortion of history, untrue, to portray him as the villain in the Social or civil war that came about with his crossing the Rubicon. He tried for 2 years to work it out with those in Rome so that he could simply return to Rome and not be arrested and in all likelyhood killed.
On the positive side of my review, I was pleased that Constantine was portrayed as the despicable person he in fact was. He did murder his own wife and son. He did betray and kill his brother in law, a co-Emperor of Rome in spite of his sister`s pleas for mercy for her husband, who, by all accounts he was a just and able leader. I appreciated this honest portrayal of Constantine who is so often portrayed as a Christian hero of some sort.
I also appreciated the informative tape about Hadrian and most of the other tapes in this series. ...Oscar