Engineering an Empire is a television documentary miniseries that originally aired on the History Channel. The series explores the engineering and/or architectural feats that were characteristic of notable societies and cultures.
It is hosted by Peter Weller, who is most famous for playing the titular role in RoboCop (1987). When the series was made he had recently earned a master's degree in Roman and Renaissance art at Syracuse University. The show started as a documentary about the engineering feats of Ancient Rome and later evolved into a series. It originally ran for one full season of weekly episodes.
A video game, History: Egypt – Engineering an Empire, was released on March 25, 2010. This was the very first video game developed by Bloober Team, who would later become well known for their horror titles such as Observer (video game) starring Rutger Hauer as David Lazarski in one of his final voice acting roles.
Reception Engineering an Empire received critical acclaim. The premiere "Rome" won two Emmys after being nominated in four categories.Emmys.com - Rome: Engineering An Empire
Tracy Spurrier of the Archaeological Institute of America gave the episode "Egypt" a positive review and praised the show's live action and CGI reenactments of building the ancient monuments. However, she was disappointed about the absence of the Great Pyramids of Giza.
Episodes
Episode NumberEpisode NameCivilizationOriginal Air Date 1 Rome Ancient Rome September 13, 2005 2 Egypt Ancient Egypt October 9, 2006 3 Greece Ancient Greece October 16, 2006 4 Greece: Age of Alexander Macedon October 23, 2006 5 The Aztecs Aztec October 30, 2006 6 Carthage Ancient Carthage November 6, 2006 7 The Maya: Death Empire The Maya November 13, 2006 8 Russia Russian Empire November 20, 2006 9 Britain: Blood and Steel British Empire November 27, 2006 10 The Persians First Persian Empire December 4, 2006 11 China Imperial China December 11, 2006 12 Napoleon: Steel Monster First French Empire December 18, 2006 13 The Byzantines Byzantine Empire December 25, 2006 14 Da Vinci's World Italian Renaissance January 8, 2007
References
The History Channel - Episode Guide TV Guide - Episode Air Dates
External links
The History Channel- Engineering an Empire