If you've ever listened to lectures from The Teaching Company, you know that instructors can be hit or miss. Their material may be good but their presentation is poor or vice versa. Rarely do the two meet except in this case. Prof. Garland looks at the micro and macro lens in examining the ordinary social climate of the ancient world. It is a fascinating and informative look to better examine our current social climate.
One such observation was when Garland talks about the large temples and public buildings of the Greeks and Romans noting that people took considerable pride in their buildings. Their first concern was that the building was grand and moved them beyond their own space. We see these ostentatious temples and buildings and immediately our awe moves to think what a waste as we criticize the hypocrisy of the system. They could have helped others or improved their own homes, which is another way of forcing our Western mindset upon them. We are so focused on condemning the system because it helps us not look at our own excessive individualistic hypocrisy. ( )