The joys of synergy between multiple courses

I am watching Harl’s Byzantium this week. I struggled with the audio version of Rome and the Barbarians, but now I am hitting my stride with the DVD version of Byzantium.  When it becomes available, I will get the video download of Rome and the Barbarians.

I always enjoy when one course overlaps, just a little, with another. This course seems to have the perfect amount of overlap. When Harl was talking about Constantine I could hear echo’s of Erhman’s Early Christian History, but from a very different perspective. When Byzantine “arts and letters” lead to a short discussion of architecture, I thought of my unopened 24 lecture Cathedral course. The Early Medieval course follows a similar timeline, but focusing on the west. Harl’s own Asia Minor course covers some of the same ground, albeit quicker, so that it can focus on geography over a longer period of time.

I went to an engineering school. History was always a favorite in high school, but I actually did not take a single history course in college. Not one. Nothing could be further from my work or my studies, but when it all starts to make sense, it is actually fun. All of these cross references have that effect for me. I even grabbed my intimidating 8 volume copy of Gibbon, sitting lonely since I got it from the Folio Society years ago. I didn't make much progress, but I didn't realize until today that it covers almost exactly the same years as the Harl course.

What next? I don’t think I can go wrong. The Crusades, or maybe Islam? Or I could take it in a completely different direction with Differential Equations, newly downloaded, awaiting me on my iPad.

Recommend Video for Harl's Courses

My first TTC course by Kenneth Harl was "Rome and the Barbarians". I would listen to it in the car during my occasional 5 hour drive to Washington, DC. When the CD finished two lectures, I remember letting it repeat because I couldn't focus and would lose the track of all of the Latin proper names. I could tell he was extremely knowledgeable, but I just didn't enjoy it as much as on Audio as other choices. Think Greenberg.

This past week I have been watching "Byzantium" on DVD. The material is similar, but it is all making more sense on video. In fact, where the two courses overlap the CDs make more sense. I will upgrade to Video Download when it becomes available on the older course.

Now the glowing reviews make more sense to me.