Someone recommended that I check out Ancient Black Ops, a single season series that consisted of eleven episodes. Each Ancient Black Ops episode focuses on one historically renown fighting group by examining the time period, the location, how the group got started and trained, the weapons, what combat was like at that time, notable historical events that the group played an essential role in and analysis of fighting techniques from their modern day equivalent.
Ancient Black Ops examines the assassins, the Spartans, the Sicarii (Jewish Zealots), the Harii or Germanic Ghost Warriors, the Viking Berserkers, the Varangian Guard, the Aztec Eagle Warriors, the Hawaiian Koa Warriors, ninja and the 47 Ronin, which was the reason that someone suggested the show to me. There are varying degrees of quality in the historical reenactments.
I treated Ancient Black Ops as background tv and enjoyed it. Ancient Black Ops reminded me of shows like Secrets of the Dead, but less academically rigorous and more interested in the sensational aspects. I’m sure that I learned a lot, but it did not take root probably because I used it more like a radio. Ancient Black Ops is not must see TV, but if you are interested in any of the topics, you may enjoy the series as an entertaining distraction.