The ancient Spartans live on in the present day in our word "spartan," which aptly describes the disciplined, self-denying lifestyle of those people. The Spartans also live on in their influence on Western civilization: on its culture and politics, and even on the way that the civilization of the ancient Mediterranean grew and spread. Yet the Spartans are little-known compared to the other Greek cultures like that of Athens, or the later Romans. What do we know about them, other than their reputation as formidable warriors?

The three-part documentary The Spartans offers a compelling and complete answer to that question. Narrated by classical historian Bettany Hughes, The Spartans starts out by showing us how the city-state of Sparta was originally formed, after the legendary conflicts of the Trojan war. Hughes takes us through the changing nature of Sparta, as they grew more powerful, enslaved their neighbors, and decided to radically reshape their own culture: to create their vision of a utopia.

The world of the Spartans that this documentary opens up is a truly fascinating one. The three hour-long episodes are well structured, showing us what the daily lives of the Spartans were like – from the rigorous training of the boys, to the unprecedented social freedom of women – and building on that foundation to show how and why Sparta fell into conflict with the democratic city-state of Athens.

One thing that's interesting to note about The Spartans is that it proves that a great documentary doesn't need flashy computer-generated recreations, or fancy imagery, to be totally captivating. The documentary's visuals include shots of the modern-day landscape and people where Sparta and Athens once ruled, images of archaeological finds and ancient buildings, and a restrained use of historical recreations to give an idea of what the Spartan warriors and citizens would have looked like. The Spartans also makes excellent use of maps at key points in the documentary, showing useful visual information that immediately ties in with what the narrator is describing.

The Spartans is an extremely content-rich program, offering not just the basics about the ancient Spartans, but also going deeper and bringing up truly fascinating information about this slice of Classical history, and how it has influenced Western civilization. It's never dry or boring in the least: the story of the rise and fall of Sparta unfolds like an epic story, and viewers will be intrigued to find out "what happens next." The third part of the program does end on a rather abrupt note, but that's a minor quibble in an excellent program.

The DVD

Video

The Spartans is presented in a widescreen 1.85:1 aspect ratio, as it was originally filmed; it is anamorphically enhanced. The image quality comes in at a notch above average: colors and contrast look excellent, and the print is clean, but it looks heavily compressed and details in longer-distance shots look quite blurry. Overall, though, it offers a satisfactory viewing experience.

Audio

The Dolby 2.0 soundtrack does the job quite well. The narrator's voice is always clear and easy to understand, and the excellent background music is kept well balanced with the other aspects of the soundtrack.

Extras

There are no special features on this DVD.

Final thoughts

The Spartans is one of the best documentaries I've seen in a long while, and one that offers a great deal of repeat viewing value as well. The three-part, 180-minute program is intelligent, interesting, and content-rich; it's also visually appealing, with an anamorphic widescreen transfer. This DVD easily gets a "highly recommended."