History Documentaries

This was only my 2nd video on the channel, but it exploded online and reached almost a quarter million views in one month, demonstrating my ability to create content that is interesting and engaging. This video had a big role in establishing the style and esthetic of my channel, with short but rich documentaries that explain the interplay between the micro and macro, how the wider historical context shaped the specific place, and vice versa.

This documentary provides a broad look at the ancient Lycian civilization that existed in Turkey over 2000 years ago. It encompasses their origins, language, architecture, political history, and their relationship with neighbouring cultures, such as the Greeks, Persians, Romans, and their eventual Christianization. It was an ambitious project that tried to distill a history of an entire culture into a 20 minute video.

This is a 4-part series about Ephesus, an ancient site in Turkey. The entire series adds up to almost an hour worth of content, with each episode fitting into the larger series, but also acting as a stand alone video for those who haven’t seen the others.
This 1st episode explains the Greek origins of Ephesus, an important city in antiquity that was home to The Temple of Artemis, one of the 7 Wonders of The Ancient World.

This episode discusses Ephesus during Roman times. The video starts by giving a broad historical, geographical, and political context for what made Ephesus become such an important city in the Roman Empire, and then proceeds to give a tour of the site, looking at the main monuments and giving more detailed background about them. The intro starts with the same music, in order to continue the theme.

The 3rd part focuses on Ephesus during the Christian Era, from the 1st century to the 6th century. It discusses the Christian traditions, such as John the Apostle and Mary spending their last years in this city, as well as Saint Paul’s stay in the city, and his influence on the Christian community here. The documentary also looks at the monuments at Ephesus from the Christian Era.

The 4th and final episode in the series, it discuss the reasons for the decline and eventual death of the city. This was also the most successful episode in the series, nearing 50,000 views. The topics discussed here are quite fascinating, including the silting of its harbor over the centuries, and the slow dismantling of the city by the locals to repurpose its stones.