Top 10 Best Bettany Hughes Videos to Watch Free Online

Do you wish your job basically entailed wandering about in exotic locations around the Mediterranean looking all tanned? Yes: us too.

Be it the secrets of engineering in ancient Egypt, the origins of democracy in Athens, the mysteries of Minoan civilization on Crete or the true story of Helen of Troy in Turkey, historian, author and broadcaster Bettany Hughes has got it covered, in a decade of globe-trotting historical documentary filmmaking.

The Ancient World with Bettany Hughes – a career-spanning compendium series of Hughes’ docs – ran on More 4 and Channel 4 between March and May this year. More recently, she presented a brand new Timewatch special for the BBC, tracing the origins of the Atlantis myth – something we followed-up on at Heritage Key with all from articles about Minoan civilization and the discovery and renovation of the Palace of Knossos to blogs on wacko Atlantis theories and submerged cities around the world.

For both fans and the uninitiated, we’ve put together a top ten pointing you in the direction of where to find Bettany’s best bits on the web, for free. Enjoy!

1. The Spartans

Location: Sparta, Greece.

Synopsis: Perhaps her best-known work to date – by virtue of its influence on Zack Snyder’s movie 300 – this two-hours plus epic sees Hughes delve into the incredible history of the Greek city-state Sparta, which was the dominant military force in the region from 650 BC until around 371 BC, when it fell into spectacular decline. The story of the Spartans’ last stand at Thermopylae is legendary; less well-known is the extremity of Spartan life, in a city where – as Hughes explains – homosexuality was compulsory and weak boys were executed.

Highlight: 44.24-44.50 – Hughes describes the Spartans’ unconventional pre-battle ritual: “They stripped naked and exercised; they oiled their bodies and combed each others’ long hair.”

Watch here.

2. Athens: The Truth About Democracy

Location: Athens, Greece.

Synopsis: Another epic, this time in two-parts – well, you can hardly document the history of the planet’s foremost political system pithily, can you? Hughes gets to grips with the story of the world’s very first democracy – Athens. She finds the city, in its ‘Golden Age’ 2,500 years ago, to be a place of startling inequality, weird religion, political spin and sexual politics, where great thinkers could be executed for speaking their minds.

Highlight: (part 2) 44.00-44.22 – Hughes visits what may have been the place where Socrates spent his last hours, a small prison in the corner of the Agora of Athens.

Watch here and here.

3. Timewatch Atlantis: The Evidence

Location: Palace of Knossos, Crete, Greece.

Synopsis: Hughes’ latest investigation was for a BBC Timewatch special, on the subject of the lost city of Atlantis – a mythical place that she, like many other historians, considers to be based on the Minoan palace of Knossos and its destruction after the Thera eruption of circa 1650 BC. Sadly we can’t bring you the full programme as it’s not up online yet – just this taster clip posted by the Beeb, where Hughes looks at the role of women in ‘Atlantis’. Check out Sean’s glowing review of the full programme here.

Highlight: 1.06-1.19 – frescoes found at Knossos tell us that Minoan women were no pushovers: “These girls… they have respect, they have clout, and they clearly have standing in society.”

Watch here.

4. Muslim Heritage in Our Schools

Location: London, UK.

Synopsis: As part of the 1001 Inventions project, examining 1000 years of innovations in science and technology by Muslims, Hughes helped to produce a series of online short films. In this one, she looks at the Muslim role in the foundation of education as we know it today. Did you know that the world’s first university was founded in Morocco, by a woman, or that all from algebra to chemistry and certain types of medicine were pioneered by Muslims?

Highlight: 3.46-3.51 – “A commitment to rational thinking among Muslims,” explains Hughes, in a revelation that will come as news to BNP members, “was a real shot in the arm to the intellectual life of the west.”

Watch here.

5. Helen of Troy

Synopsis: Hughes is something of an authority on the “face that launched a thousand ships,” having penned an acclaimed book on the Greek princess titled Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore. In this documentary, she explores Helen’s status as history’s original sex-goddess, and examines depictions and representations of her throughout history – from ancient mythology to classical paintings and modern TV and movie productions.

Highlight: 0.42-0.52 – Hughes puts Helen’s tale in layman’s terms: “Boy meets girl. Girl meets boy. Boy and girl get into big trouble. Lots of boys fight over the girl. And the good guy wins out in the end… it’s the perfect male fantasy.”

Watch here.

6. When the Moors Ruled in Europe

Buy Related Books

The Hemlock Cup: Socrates, Athens and the Search for the Good Life by Bettany Hughes

Atlantis - The Evidence (with Bettany Hughes) by Bettany Hughes, Ailsa Orr

The Ancient World with Bettany Hughes by Bettany Hughes

Synopsis: The Moors are the forgotten men of European civilization – a tribe of Muslims from North Africa who invaded Spain in 711 AD and founded a radically advanced and refined society that rapidly advanced European culture, before they were all but wiped from the history books after Spain was re-Christianized in the 14th century. Hughes traces the story of a mysterious and misunderstood people that brought Europe everything from modern mathematics to erection cream.

Highlight: 51.18-52.28 – the “Western concept of romantic love”? Yeah, the Moors invented that too.

Watch here.

7. Muslim Heritage in Our Hospitals

Location: London, UK.

Synopsis: Another video in the 1001 Inventions series, this time looking at the contribution of Muslims to modern medicine. Hughes travels to a London hospital, to explain how everything from certain surgical tools and techniques to vaccinations were pioneered by Muslim scientists in the medieval period, then later picked up on and improved by the European surgeons to whom they’re credited by the history books.

Highlight: 4.05-4.17 – medieval Muslim medical experts were “doctors to the stars,” according to Hughes. “Even Richard the Lionheart was treated by the personal surgeon of Saladin.”

Watch here.

8. Time Team: Corridors of Power – Westminster Abbey

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Synopsis: A cameo from Hughes on long-running archaeology series Time Team, lending expert analysis as Tony Robinson and co. conduct a dig – against the clock, as ever – at London’s historic Westminster Abbey. They go in search of the lost medieval sacristy of Henry III, and come out with much, much more than they could have ever bargained for. Hughes will appear again on Time Team later this year, in an episode looking at a Napoleonic prisoner of war camp found in Britain.

Highlight: 6.08-6.14 – Hughes describes Henry III’s Edward the Confessor fetish. “Henry is mad about him. He dresses like Edward the Confessor, and he has pictures of him in his bed chamber. And he calls his son Edward.”

Watch here.

9. The Minoans

Location: Crete, Greece and Thebes, Egypt.

Synopsis: Hughes visits Crete – the so-called “Minotaur’s Island,” once home to the Bronze Age civilization of the Minoans – and investigates the many myths and mysteries surrounding a people who pre-date the ancient Greeks. She explains how new discoveries and research over the last century have led archaeologists to reinterpret our understanding of the Minoans, evidence of whom was first discovered by Arthur Evans in 1900.

Highlight: 2.56-3.11 – Hughes zooms down a sun-baked Crete road on a moped, as the camera pulls backwards and upwards to reveal the spectacular landscape of this historic island.

Watch here.

10. Muslim Heritage in Our Homes

Location: London, UK.

Synopsis: More Muslim heritage from Hughes and 1001 Inventions, this time in our homes. It’s getting a bit ridiculous now – glass crystal, perfume, coffee, clocks, patterned rugs, deodorant, tooth paste, the three course meal and “do, re, me, fa, sol, la, te.” Is there anything medieval Muslims didn’t flipping invent?

Highlight: 0.00-0.10 – we are in the presence of royalty: HM Princess Rania of Jordan introduces the video. “Our lives today bring us in contact with many different cultures, both east and west.”

Watch here.

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About The Author

Malcolm Jack (follow me: e-mail or )

Last three pieces by this author:

10 Reasons Why Socrates is Still Relevant Today | Top 10 Ancient Greek Philosophers | Interview: Bettany Hughes on The Hemlock Cup and Bringing Ancient History Into the 21st Century

Malcolm Jack is a freelance arts and entertainment journalist based in Glasgow, Scotland. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2004 with an MA Honours Degree in History.