BBC Guilty Pleasures 1of2 Luxury in Ancient Greece x264 AC3 HDTV

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0126vdc program info:

luxury isn't just a question of expensive and the beautiful objects for the rich and the powerful. it has
always been much more, and much more important, than that, especially in the ancient and medieval
worlds.

this first episode follows the debate about luxury which convulsed ancient greece from the beginning of
the classical era. in athens, it explores the role of luxury in the beginnings of democracy - how certain
kinds of luxury came to be forbidden, and others embraced. a simple luxury like meat could unite the
democracy, and yet a taste for fish could divide it. some luxuries were associated with effeminacy and
foreigners. others with the very idea of democracy. yet in sparta, there was a determined attempt to
deny luxury, and the guilty contradictions of this eventually brought what had been the most powerful
state in greece to its downfall. when sparta was replaced by the macedon of philip ii, father of
alexander the great, the absolute luxury of his court set new standards for luxury as political
propaganda. yet the guilty anxiety of ancient greece could not be suppressed and still affects our ideas
of luxury today.

john preston (telegraph.co.uk) reviews the first of a two-part documentary on the subject of luxuries.

bbc four's new guilty pleasures season began with a two-part programme on the subject of luxury.

guilty pleasures: luxury in ancient greece was predicated on the dodgy assumption that the rise and
fall of a society can be traced through its luxury goods. it was presented by a man called michael scott
(a young classicist) who strode about with a large scarf wrapped round his neck emitting a fierce,
smartypants gleam.

it was all a bit forced, a bit windy and never really sparked into life.

scott began by exploring the role of luxury in the beginnings of democracy - how certain kinds of
luxury came to be forbidden, and others embraced. he explained how luxury was not always something
exotic, but could be something as mundane as meat. a trip to a central athens meat market was used
as a backdrop to tell the tale of how a week-long festival culminated in a sacrifice of 100 cows at the
acropolis. meat was a rarity and cattle were very valuable. the meat was shared out between the
entire population of athens - a luxury that could be enjoyed by everyone, not just the privileged elite.

using this as a basis for how we understand luxury today he went on, and according to scott,

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