Season 1

Modern warships, cargo, and container ships are the cutting edge of maritime technology. But 2,500 years ago, no one dominated shipbuilding like the Greeks.

High-rise, high-density living isn't new. Romans were living in high-rise apartments 2,000 years ago. Travel to Rome and its ancient seaport of Ostia, where many of them still exist.

Discover how monumental masterpieces including the Great Pyramid, Library at Alexander, Temple of Karnak, Sphinx, and obelisks were built using only the most primitive tools and brute labor.

The Ancient Greeks were masters of weaponry. From the massive Ballista launcher, giant mirrors to produce fiery death rays, and even poisons and biological toxins, they originated ideas still used in modern warfare.

Travel to the heart of the Roman Empire to examine a remarkable civil engineering project that resulted in a 53-thousand-mile network of highways, which is little-changed today.

Michael takes us back to the "bread and circus" days of the ancient Roman Empire to find the origins of today's multi-million-dollar, multi-purpose stadiums.

Ancient Chinese civil wars spawned the revolutionary crossbow and stirrup. Later, perhaps the greatest Chinese triumphs were gunpowder and the cannon, used to arm the Great Wall. These influenced warfare for centuries to follow.

To help feed their population, Ancient China created the world's first canal systems, the plough and the winnowing machine for grain and rice. Today, China boasts the world's longest canal and the largest dam.

The Edwin Smith Papyrus in New York, gives amazing insights into the way the Ancient Egyptians pioneered medicine, and laid the foundations for modern treatment in diverse areas such as gynaecology and psychoanalysis.

Discover how the Ancient Maya built their sophisticated observatories, and how they were obsessed with the movements of the Sun, Moon and planets. See the fascinating Long Calendar which attempted to predict the end of the world.

Michael takes us to the Central American jungle to find out how 2000 years ago the ancient Maya mined and fashioned limestone from virgin territory to create their great city of Tikal, paving the way for modern building development.

How did China extract natural resources more than 2,000 years ago? Explore ancient drilling rigs and see how the modern-day science of geobotany was pioneered the Chinese.

Sails, rudders, kites and wings, were all invented by the Chinese. Michael travels to Hong Kong to sail a junk for himself, and investigates how these various innovations contributed to modes of transport taken for granted today.