What ultimate weapons of destruction have ancient civilisation managed to create more than 2,000 years ago? Might the energy of the sun have been used against invading ships? Could a cannon powered by steam have crushed an enemy fleet? And might the ancient world have built a warship so huge it could match modern aircraft carriers? Ancient Impossible s1e1: Ultimate Weapons, H2 2014
The ancient world was not primitive. Their marvels were so advanced we still use them. ibid.
‘Archimedes was a brilliant inventor and mathematician. ibid.
Archimedes had a fearsome reputation in the ancient world as a mastermind of warfare. ibid. Bethany Hughes
What could be Archimedes’ most sinister weapon – a death ray. ibid.
Could Archimedes’ cannon have had the power needed for such destruction simply using steam? ibid.
Egypt: This floating superweapon appears to have carried more people than a modern aircraft carrier. ibid.
How did the Romans manage to defy gravity and make millions of litres of water flow uphill over mountains? How did the Ancient Egyptians carve massive granite obelisks thousands of years before the Washington monument was built? And why would the Roman army build their own mountain? Ancient Impossible s1e2: Moving Mountains
2,000 years ago it was Mission Impossible for the mighty Roman Army. They had to conquer this impregnable mountain fortress, surrounded by sheer cliffs, standing hundreds of feet above the Judean desert. ibid.
The Romans completed the wall around Masada in just a few days. But what they didn’t realise was how well stocked the rebels were. ibid.
If the Romans couldn’t starve the rebels out, they would take Masada by force. ibid.
Siege ramps have been part of warfare for thousands of years. ibid.
How do you get a thousand-ton obelisk on to a barge? … [A. Make it an axle] ibid.
Roman engineers kept the water moving through hills and valleys maintaining a steady gradient of less than one per cent. An astounding feat. ibid.
How did the Chinese manage to build a devastating repeating weapon 2,000 years before machine guns? What secrets lie behind the ancient world’s high-tech body armour made thousands of years before bullet-proof vests? What simple invention was behind one of the world’s most ruthless weapons: land mines? Ancient Impossible s1e4: Warrior Tech
‘And they invented this – the Chinese repeating crossbow.’ ibid. comment
‘Ancient Greece had lightweight armour that predates Kevlar by over 2,000 years.’ ibid.
The Romans had fully armoured knights over 1,000 years before the age of chivalry. ibid.
Their answer to Saxon raids was the Cataphract. ibid.
The Saxon super-sword was the first perfected use of composite metal in the world. ibid.
The ancient world clearly had more than one great scientific thinker. These ancient geniuses came up with many amazing theories and inventions. Many believe their intellectual capacity may have matched that of great moden thinkers such as Albert Einstein. Colossal monuments, powerful ancient superweapons, and technology so precise it defies reinvention. Ancient Impossible s1e4: Ancient Einsteins
How did the Greeks create one of the deadliest warships of the ancient world? Might the first battleships have been built hundreds of years before the industrial age? And why did Rome’s more notorious emperor build his pleasure ships? Ancient Impossible s1e7: Greatest Ships
The ancient world created pleasure ships to amaze. But they also created floating superweapons in desperate ancient arms race … Steel amour was … commissioned by a Korean admiral. ibid.
The use of flame as a a weapon at sea goes back to the ancient Greeks. ibid.
The game-changing lightweight armour that helped Alexander the Great conquer Asia. ibid.