Rome and the Barbarians video course

[caesar novus]

Here, in this awkward topic fit, is praise of a high quality video course. It used to cost $hundreds https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/rome-and-the-barbarians but now can be found for little as used disks on ebay, or streamed for free from your library. My library streams a rotating selection of "Great Courses" from an app called Kanopy. It's best to access video rather than just audio due to good maps, etc. Anyway the professor is very knowledgeable and engaging even tho a bit stiff and a pirate accent (making everything sound like "rrrr"). I avoided it for a while due to not wanting to dwell on Rome's sad end. But it has a rich focus on Roman ways and comparisons with my barbaric ancestors.

[guy]

This is one of Professor Kenneth Harl’s marvelous courses at Wondrium (formally known as Great Courses).  He is a fantastic lecturer. He shares his vast knowledge in an entertaining way. 
I have seen almost all his courses. I recommend  highly all his courses, especially Rome and the Barbarians, The Fall of the Pagans and the Origins of Medieval Christianity, Barbarian Empires of the Steppes, among others.

Professor Harl is a great teacher (and a respected numismatist). I recommend watching any of his courses.

[caesar novus]

On 11/8/2021 at 12:47 AM, caesar novus said:

My library streams a rotating selection of "Great Courses" from an app called Kanopy

Kanopy really streams enormous Roman content; just try a search for "rom" there. Be prepared for it presenting lectures as singles, but if you choose it you get the whole series of a dozen or so lectures. Our library gives you a certain amount of free viewing per month (at home), but choosing a lecture eats a lot of your ration because it includes the whole series. No need for lectures, there are all kinds of documentaries and shows.

BTW the saying now is that behind every successful producer of a documentary is a rich spouse. Basically that documentaries are a dead moneypit genre except as vanity projects, so enjoy what was once possible.

I elsewhere lamented the lack of Roman stuff on popular free streaming Tubi. I got ParamountPlus free thru my cable affiliation, so can confirm lack of Roman stuff there. Just a side note that they carry the best sitcom of the last 10 years, 26 episodes of "Corporate", an absurdist nihilist tribute to "The Office" with the usual no laugh track:

 

And Youtube remains the giant for Roman content. There seems to be a focus on Roman "shorts" now which range from annoying AI creations to heartfelt mythbusting by Italians. P.S. One of the best mythbusting of US perceptions of Italy is from "How to Italy" channel from an Italian history professor: https://www.youtube.com/@HowtoItaly-2004/videos 

Edited June 26, 2025 by caesar novus

[caesar novus]

While grinding thru quality educational Roman videos on Kanopy, I've just got to make mention of their classic movie "Le Corniaud" (The Sucker). One of my lifetime favorite comedies; wiki sez "most popular film at the French box office in 1965." and "still one of the 25 most watched films in France" and "won the yearly award for the foreign film that best served the beauty of Italy".

 

Even the trailer hardly does it justice. A well meaning French tourist is tricked by mobsters into driving a Cadillac packed with contraband from Naples to Rome, car chase to Tivoli, spectacular shootout in those gardens at night, and so on thru France. Sometimes every 20 seconds has a surprising gag in the screwball tradition. Time travel to when Italy was less crowded and frenetic, and apparently had German lady hitch hikers.

Edited July 1, 2025 by caesar novus