DOCUMENTARIES

Ancient Warriors

The Assyrians, Celts, Normans, Romans, Macedonians, Egyptians, Spartans, Janissaries, Huns, Knights Templar, Vikings, Highlanders, Irish Warriors, Maurya Warriors of the Elephant, Aztecs, Samurai, Shaolin Monks, Hawaiians, Ninja, Sioux.

Discovery Channel
(2000)
210 minutes per volume
PG

By Richard Moore

This Ancient Warriors series from the Discovery Channel is an excellent look at the warrior groups and armies that shaped history.

Each half-hour episode looks at a major fighting people or force and charts the reasons for their rise to dominance and subsequent fall.

The warriors highlighted are: The Assyrians, Celts, Normans, Legions of Rome, Macedonians, Soldiers of the Pharaoh, Spartans, Janissaries, Huns, Knights Templar, Vikings, Highlanders, Irish Warriors, Maurya Warriors of the Elephant, Aztecs, Samurai, Shaolin Monks, Hawaiians, Ninja, Sioux.

There are 20 episodes and almost all include re-enactors hacking and slashing at each other with great abandon. Some are better than others but, overall, the series is first-rate.

The scripting is good, filled with interesting detail, and each programme follows one soldier and his life in the army. Not all of them end happily, it has to be said.

People who are interested in warfare throughout the ages - or the specific warrior groups themselves - will appreciate this series.

Volume I
The Assyrians, Celts, Normans, Legions of Rome, Macedonians, Soldiers of the Pharaoh, Spartans.

Volume II
Janissaries, Huns, Knights Templar, Vikings, Highlanders, Irish Warriors, Maurya Warriors of the Elephant.

Volume III
Aztecs, Samurai, Shaolin Monks, Hawaiians, Ninja, Sioux.