Engineering an Empire
Engineering an Empire is a television documentary miniseries that originally aired on the History Channel. The series explores the engineering 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. When the series was made he had recently earned a master's degree in Roman and Renaissance art at Syracuse University.
The show started as a documentary about the engineering feats of Ancient Rome 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 on March 25th, 2010. This was the very first video game developed by Bloober Team, who would later become well known for their horror titles such as Observer (video game) starring Rutger Hauer as David Lazarski in one of his final voice acting roles.
Reception
Engineering an Empire received critical acclaim. The premiere "Rome" won two Emmys after being nominated in four categories.Tracy Spurrier of the Archaeological Institute of America gave the episode "Egypt" a positive review and praised the show's live action and CGI reenactments of building the ancient monuments. However, she was disappointed about the absence of the Great Pyramids of Giza.
Episodes
| Episode Number | Episode Name | Civilization | Original Air Date |
| 1 | Rome | Ancient Rome | September 13, 2005 |
| 2 | Egypt | Ancient Egypt | October 9, 2006 |
| 3 | Greece | Ancient Greece | October 16, 2006 |
| 4 | Greece: Age of Alexander | Macedon | October 23, 2006 |
| 5 | The Aztecs | Aztec | October 30, 2006 |
| 6 | Carthage | Ancient Carthage | November 6, 2006 |
| 7 | The Maya: Death Empire | The Maya | November 13, 2006 |
| 8 | Russia | Russian Empire | November 20, 2006 |
| 9 | Britain: Blood and Steel | British Empire | November 27, 2006 |
| 10 | The Persians | First Persian Empire | December 4, 2006 |
| 11 | China | Imperial China | December 11, 2006 |
| 12 | Napoleon: Steel Monster | First French Empire | December 18, 2006 |
| 13 | The Byzantines | Byzantine Empire | December 25, 2006 |
| 14 | Da Vinci's World | Italian Renaissance | January 8, 2007 |