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When faced with impossible situations, the ancients didn't simply give up, they pursued the impossible. How did they get troops across a nearly 4,000 foot river? How do you get oil from the ground without the use of modern drilling techniques? And how did they build a water tank which contained 3 million cubic feet of water, enough to provide for an entire city? What ingenious techniques did Caesar use to assemble a bridge to cross the Rhine, in only 10 days? The ancients created incredible structures to overcome these obstacles, often taking on and beating nature, using engineering methods that seem more modern than you would imagine.

Ancient Impossible picks up where HISTORY's long running Ancient Discoveries left off. In this next generation of storytelling, Ancient Impossible reveals how many of today's technological achievements were actually developed centuries ago. Colossal monuments, impossible feats of engineering and technologies so precise they defy reinvention—the ancient world was far more advanced than we ever imagined. We'll travel through history to reveal a radically different picture of the past, with innovations so far ahead of their time, they're still in use today. New science uncovers a lost world more like our own than we ever suspected, and reveals how modern technology has its blueprint in the ancient world.

Primary Title
  • Ancient Impossible
Date Broadcast
  • Monday 20 April 2015
Start Time
  • 13 : 30
Finish Time
  • 14 : 30
Duration
  • 60:00
Series
  • 1
Episode
  • 10
Channel
  • History
Broadcaster
  • Sky Network Television
Programme Description
  • Ancient Impossible picks up where HISTORY's long running Ancient Discoveries left off. In this next generation of storytelling, Ancient Impossible reveals how many of today's technological achievements were actually developed centuries ago. Colossal monuments, impossible feats of engineering and technologies so precise they defy reinvention—the ancient world was far more advanced than we ever imagined. We'll travel through history to reveal a radically different picture of the past, with innovations so far ahead of their time, they're still in use today. New science uncovers a lost world more like our own than we ever suspected, and reveals how modern technology has its blueprint in the ancient world.
Episode Description
  • When faced with impossible situations, the ancients didn't simply give up, they pursued the impossible. How did they get troops across a nearly 4,000 foot river? How do you get oil from the ground without the use of modern drilling techniques? And how did they build a water tank which contained 3 million cubic feet of water, enough to provide for an entire city? What ingenious techniques did Caesar use to assemble a bridge to cross the Rhine, in only 10 days? The ancients created incredible structures to overcome these obstacles, often taking on and beating nature, using engineering methods that seem more modern than you would imagine.
Classification
  • PGR
Owning Collection
  • Chapman Archive
Broadcast Platform
  • Television
Languages
  • English
Captions
Live Broadcast
  • No
Rights Statement
  • Made for the University of Auckland's educational use as permitted by the Screenrights Licensing Agreement.
Subjects
  • Documentary television programs--United States
  • Civilization, Ancient
  • Science, Ancient
Genres
  • Documentary
  • Educational
  • History
Hosts
  • Steve Wolf (Host)
Contributors
  • Bill Graves (Narrator)
  • Stuart Clarke (Producer)
  • Wild Dream Films (Production Unit)
Subjects
  • Documentary television programs--United States
  • Civilization, Ancient
  • Science, Ancient