Customer Reviews

Terry Jones' Barbarians

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Koch Vision and BBC presents "TERRY JONES' BARBARIANS" (2007) (205 mins/Color) (Dolby Digital) ---Terry Jones' Barbarians is a 4-part TV documentary series first broadcast on BBC 2 in 2006 --- It was presented and written by ex-Python Terry Jones, challenging the received Roman and Roman Catholic notion of the barbarian --- It could be compared to his earlier series Terry Jones' Medieval Lives in that it questions aspects of history that everyone takes for granted --- So you think you know everything about the Romans? They gave us sophisticated road systems, chariots and the modern-day calendar --- And of course they had to contend with barbarian hordes who continually threatened the peace, safety and prosperity of their Empire. Didn't they?

Terence Graham Parry Jones (born 1 February 1942) is a Welsh comedian, screenwriter and actor, film director, children's author, popular historian, political commentator and TV documentary host --- He is best known as a member of the Monty Python comedy team --- As a member of the Monty Python troupe, Jones is remembered for his roles as middle-aged women and the bowler-hatted "man in the street" --- He typically wrote sketches in partnership with Palin.

EPISODES ARE AS FOLLOWS:
THE PRIMITIVE CELTS (First broadcast 26th May 2006)
1. Celtic Barbarians
2. Caesar's Gallic Wars

THE SAVAGE GOTHS (First broadcast 2nd June 2006)
1. Arminius
2. Dacian Wars
3. Alaric I's sack of Rome

THE BRAINY BARBARIANS (First broadcast 9th June 2006)
Jones argues that the ancient Greeks and Persians were in reality far from the Roman view of them as effeminate and addicted to luxury. The Greeks valued science and mathematics, while the Persians had initially allowed multiculturalism among the different ethnic groups of its empire (until years of war with Rome).
1. Antikythera Mechanism
2. Archimedes and Syracuse
3. Parthians
4. Sassanids

THE END OF THE WORLD (First broadcast 16th June 2006)
Around 400 AD, two Barbarian babies were born. One would grow up to become the most feared of all - Attila the Hun. The other, Geiseric, led the Vandals whom history has cast as destroyers. Jones finds out that Roman civilization wasn't destroyed by the invasion of these tribes, but by the loss of the North African tax base. He sees the common view of Rome and "Barbarians" as a result of the Roman Catholic Church popularizing the Roman version of the truth.
1. Sack of Rome (455)
(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Great job by Koch Vision --- looking forward to more high quality titles from the BBC Collection film market --- order your copy now from Amazon or Koch Vision where there are plenty of copies available on DVD, stay tuned once again for top notch releases --- where they are experts in releasing long forgotten films and treasures to the collector.

Total Time: 205 mins on DVD ~ Koch Vision KOCV-6469 ~ (1/08/2008)

Of course, a television program, which is what this was before it was made into a DVD, is never going to have the kind of detail and cogency of a book. The book which was made for the series (or is it the other way round?) contains a lot more information, and documentation of the propositions made by the author regarding the short-comings of Roman civilization. My review of the DVD is colored by the fact that I read the book before seeing the DVD, but this does not really invalidate my criticisms since reading the book has given me (at least I hope) a more complete picture of what Mr. Jones was trying to say in the video.

Much of what the author says regarding the European barbarians (Goths, Vandals, and Celts) is not new, and has been known for much of the last two centuries. The kind of pro-Roman chauvinism to which Mr. Jones is so opposed largely went out with Edward Gibbon in the 18th century. It may be that they were still teaching Gibbon when he was going to school. After all, he is kind of old. I remember when I was in college having a professor who actually believed that the Roman fleet used galley slaves, as was portrayed in Ben Hur. I tried to explain to him that even Mommsen, back in the 19th century, knew that was not the case, but he just accused me of being credulous. I digress.

Still, there is a lot of very interesting new archaeological information presented in the series, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it. I would recommend it to anyone interested in history of the period, with the caveat that Mr. Jones really has it in for the Romans, and he tends to stack the deck against them. I suspect he is descended from Boudicca, or at the very least was bullied by a classicist in school. The idea that the Roman contribution to western (and world) civilization is grossly overrated seems to be an obsession. In particular, I think the idea that the Romans (and that all Romans in all periods had the same attitudes) thought of the Greeks as barbarians is particularly extreme. The emperor Hadrian is a specific contrary example, and he is by no means alone. Furthermore, while some Romans doubtless thought of Parthians as at least depraved eastern foreigners, I doubt they were considered barbarians in the same sense as the Germanic tribes or even the Celts. The concept that a feudal political organization (Parthians/Persians) is somehow superior to a centralized state with a national bureaucracy (Rome) betrays Mr. Jones' medievalist roots.

To summarize: Buy it. Enjoy, but try to overlook some of the more strident anti-Roman diatribe.

Mr. Jones is to be congratuated for a fun, interesting & breezy history lesson about some of the myths about the Folks who finally knocked off the Roman Empire. Altogether its a good introduction about an interesting period of History.

Terry Jones brings his Python humor and his sincere interest in history to a lively showing of how much of what we learned about "barbarians" was just plain wrong. Using both contemporary accounts and new finds, we find out who the barbarous ones really were, and new light is shed on the Roman Empire itself. Great for all ages, and a thought provoking set of shows.

Terry Jones brings the humor of his works with Monty Python into the realm of historical documentary in "Barbarians". Jones debunks many inaccuracies regarding the Roman Empire and the treatment of civilizations that came into contact with Rome. A great source for High school or college level students, as well as the history enthusiast.

Terry Jones brings his classic wit and candor to this revisionist documentary. While keeping the tone light, this program evaluates the nature of several of the barbarian races of the ancient world, but examines them from a neutral viewpoint, rather than toeing the party line. Ultimately, it is shown that the so-called barbarians were often much more civilized than the Romans realized or, in fact, were themselves.

I love the way that Terry Jones treats history, often a complete odds with what I was taught in school so long ago ! It is sometimes hard to believe that most of the Monty Python team were highly educated, and not just crazy. These TJ DVDs sort of sit in the middle between crazy and totally serious ! So the Barbarians weren't so much barbaric after all, it's all a point of view !

This series completely changed my perspective of world history. Which I believe was the point of the series. Having an interest in history and having little formal education in it I found the information presented by Terry Jones makes more sense then what little history I was taught in school. It was also entertaining and defiantly not boring.

This was an excellent buy. Really worth it. It was more indepth than I had expected, which was a bonus. It turns the traditional historical view on its head, and gets the audience thinking, which is a must in my book!
Thoroughly recommend this DVD to anyone who likes learning about history without being force fed one-sided facts.Terry Jones' Barbarians

Don't do as the Romans do! Each of these documentaries begins with our host, Terry Jones, in Rome, parroting what he (and we) had learned in school - how the barbaric peoples of the ancient world completely sacked and destroyed the worlds most enlightened culture of the time - Rome. But wait...as Terry explains, there is much more to history than we have been taught. The documentaries - four separate hours - give us a different view of these *barbarians*, which include the Celts, Goths, Parthians, Huns, and Vandals. There are far too many interesting points to mention in this review, but I was particularly struck by the humanity of the Celts, who would stop the bloody gladiator games in any Roman city they overtook and allowed Celtic women to become warriors and leaders; as well as the Parthians of ancient Persia, who welcomed and celebrated diversity amongst the populace.

As with most of these types of historical documentaries, each is filmed on location, and includes plenty of interviews by experts (and some interesting demonstrations of inventions by Archimedes), as well as life action shots with actors dressed in period costume. Much of the segment of the Parthians was filmed in modern day Iran, which makes the segment all the more out of the ordinary. Terry Jones, of Monty Python fame, with his strong British accent and animated face, makes for a unique presenter, which adds interest to the subject matter.

These are excellent documentaries, giving us a fresh view of peoples long gone, and long misrepresented and misunderstood.