Secrets from the Sky - Old Sarum episode 2: Bettany and Ben visit Old Sarum in Wiltshire to show evidence why the settlement was abandoned and the bitter battle between the Church and the military which lead to the creation of Salisbury. Britain is full of monuments and other buildings that have historical significance, some of which are explored in an unusual way on…
Secrets from the Sky - Tintagel Castle episode 1: Historian Bettany Hughes takes to the air to unravel the legend of King Arthur. Bettany and Ben visit Tintagel Castle in Cornwall to show evidence that the castle has its roots in the Dark Ages and was once part of a world trading network. Britain is full of monuments and other buildings that have historical…
Greek Island Odyssey with Bettany Hughes episode 6: Bettany travels through the Corinth Canal - a feat of engineering that required the removal of 12 million cubic metres of earth - before heading for her penultimate stop of Corfu, where Count Flamburiari reveals the island's close connections to Britain. From there, Bettany sails to Ithaca, Odysseus's home island, finally completing her 1,700-mile voyage across…
Greek Island Odyssey with Bettany Hughes episode 5: Bettany arrives in the Peloponnese, a peninsula regarded as home to some of ancient Greece's most legendary kings and vicious warriors. To understand the violent world in which the myths and legends are set, Bettany visits the bones of a 19-year-old-warrior who died more than 3,500 years ago. Healed sword marks and a large hole in…
Greek Island Odyssey with Bettany Hughes episode 4: Arriving in Crete just as a storm hits, the historian is lucky to reach `the big island" before the seas become impassable and the annual Christian Epiphany festivities are hampered. She travels to the ruins of the ancient city of Knossos, synonymous with English archaeologist Arthur Evans who unearthed much of its palace over 100 years…
Greek Island Odyssey with Bettany Hughes episode 3: In Santorini, she visits a Minoan city preserved in time by one of the most violent volcanic eruptions in history. Bettany's next port of call is Naxos, where in an abandoned marble quarry, she finds a genuinely monumental statue of the god that has lain there for thousands of years, before heading to a taverna to take part…
Greek Island Odyssey with Bettany Hughes episode 2: Bettany visits the sacred isle of Delos, where it has been forbidden for anyone to permanently reside since ancient times. Wandering the ruins, Bettany discovers a dark history to this incredible site as she explores how the Romans turned Delos into a marketplace for their slave trade. She then moves on to Ikaria, an island famous…
Greek Island Odyssey with Bettany Hughes episode 1: The historian and classicist explore Greece from the time of the Ancients up to the present day. She begins by exploring a graveyard of ancient shipwrecks in the waters of the Eastern Mediterranean, then enjoys the tradition of a warm welcome on the island of Chios. Next, Bettany heads to the island of Lesbos, visiting the…