''Engineering an Empire'' is a

television documentary Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. * Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

that originally aired on the

History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...

. The series explores the

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

and/or architectural feats that were characteristic of notable societies and cultures. It is hosted by Peter Weller, who is most famous for playing the titular role in ''

RoboCop ''RoboCop'' is a 1987 American Science fiction film, science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner. The film stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen (actress), Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Dani ...

'' (1987). When the series was made he had recently earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in Roman and Renaissance art at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

. The show started as a documentary about the engineering feats of

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

and later evolved into a series. It originally ran for one full season of weekly episodes. A video game, ''History: Egypt – Engineering an Empire'', was released in 2010.

Reception

''Engineering an Empire'' received critical acclaim. The premiere "

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

" won two Emmys after being nominated in four categories.Emmys.com - Rome: Engineering An Empire
/ref> Tracy Spurrier of the

Archaeological Institute of America The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) is North America, North America's oldest learned society and largest organization devoted to the world of archaeology. AIA professionals have carried out archaeological fieldwork around the world and ...

gave the episode "Egypt" a positive review and praised the show's

live action Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games o ...

and CGI reenactments of building the ancient monuments. However, she was disappointed about the absence of the Great Pyramids of Giza.

Episodes

References

The History Channel - Episode GuideTV Guide - Episode Air Dates

External links

*
The History Channel- ''Engineering an Empire''
Documentary television series about technology History (American TV channel) original programming History of engineering Works about ancient Rome Works about ancient Egypt Works about ancient Greece Works about the Russian Empire Works about the British Empire Works about Napoleon Works about the Renaissance 2005 American television series debuts 2000s American documentary television series 2000s American television miniseries 2007 American television series endings {{US-documentary-tv-prog-stub