Ancient Inventions of War, Sex and City Life, with Terry Jones (1998)

Sex and Love - HQ (4/5)

No one invented sex or love, but they’ve always been one of the greatest spurs to human inventiveness. Making ourselves sexually attractive is not just a modern obsession. Our ancient ancestors were just as obsessed with inventing new ways of looking good and turning each other on as we are today. For example, Pharaoh’s slaves once went on strike because they ran out of makeup. And, fashionable Roman women used to smear themselves with gladiator sweat. And, when it comes to finding ways to improve our sex lives, our ancestors came up with a good many inventions modern Man has only just rediscovered. The female condom, the pregnancy tester, yes, and even the oral contraceptive. Believe it or not, they’re all ancient inventions.

This three-part series presents a fresh and highly original view of some of the ancient world's most remarkable inventions. Beginning with War and Conflict, Terry Jones takes us on an unconventional, myth-busting journey, discovering for example that the boomerang was once a weapon of war and that, surprisingly, cannons once had a lot in common with church bells! Continuing on this demystifying quest, Sex and Love sees Terry exploring the ancient use of make-up, along with the invention of the bikini right through to the introduction of the beauty parlour, all with active participation from Terry! In City Life we explore the origins of our now familiar environment, from the invention of concrete, to city grid plans and monumental high-rise buildings. It is soon made clear that the ancient world was every bit as inventive as our own.



Source: www.play.com