Original release 11 octobre 1995
Previous episode S1995E83 - Leif Ericson: Voyages Of A Viking
Number S1995E84
Episode runtime 45 minutes
Country United States
Original language English
Genres Documentary, History
External links TheTVDB page
IMDB page
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Last update 10 novembre 2026 - 00:15
on 11 databases

Marco Polo: Journey To The East

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Leading historians and historic re-enactments bring the fabled journeys of the world's most famous adventurer to life. His epic adventures in the Far East remain among the most celebrated journeys in human history. His writings gave Europeans their first authoritative look at life in that distant land.

Marco Polo will forever be remembered as one of the greatest explorers and adventurers in history. His 20-year sojourn took him to China, India, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. He served in the court of the Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan and for three years governed the city of Yangzhou.

BIOGRAPHY® retraces the path of this great adventurer in this riveting program. Extensive excerpts from The Travels of Marco Polo capture the magic and wonder of his journey, while historians reveal what is known of his private life. See how his famous trip was actually the second undertaken by his family, and discover how his capture by Genoan forces in 1298 led to the writing of his historic book. It's a thrilling account of one of the greatest adventures in human history, and a revealing portrait of the man who went where others dared not dream

BetaSeries' opinion

Secrets d'histoire Season 20 Finale: Stéphane Bern's Messalina Episode Ends a Season About Reputations on Trial

Twenty seasons in, "Secrets d'histoire" can still surprise its audience. The Season 20 finale aired on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, at 9:10 p.m. on France 3, and Stéphane Bern closed the season with one of the most notorious women of antiquity: Messalina, the third wife of Emperor Claudius. If you watched it, you already know it was more than a parade of Roman scandal. It was a careful re-examination of a woman whose name has been shorthand for depravity for almost two thousand years. If you haven't caught up yet, this debrief shows why the episode, and the whole season, deserves a place in your watchlist.

A finale that puts history's verdict on trial

The question at the centre of the finale was simple: does Messalina deserve the brutal nickname history gave her? Roman writers handed down a woman driven by insatiable desire and a hunger for power. Bern's team took that portrait apart piece by piece. They asked who wrote the story, why they wrote it, and what they gained from it. This is the series at its best. It doesn't simply retell a legend. It looks into how the legend was made. Messalina's world gave the episode plenty of drama: Caligula, Nero, Agrippina and the freedman Narcissus all appear, each with their own agenda in the deadly politics of the Julio-Claudian court. Without spoiling anything for latecomers, the finale's real emotional pull comes from the gap between the caricature and the young woman caught up in a machine much bigger than she was.

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