and by the frontline journalism fund, with major support from jon and jo ann hagler. additional support from laura debonis and corey david sauer. (indistinct chatter) ♪ ♪ >> martin smith: in the first weeks after the fall of kabul, afghans were adjusting to a new peace. the war was ov. the city was relatively safe. but no one was quite sure what would happen next. (ambient city noise) the taliban had rolled into kabul on august 15, 2021. they quickly seized total control. (guns firing, people shouting) (crowd panicking) (car horns honking, people clamoring) >> a stunning turn of events in kabul started today with the news that the taliban fighters were surrounding the city. now they're inside the presidential palace. >> taliban sitting in the president's desk, some of them lounging elsewhere in the office. this has happened so fast. >> smith: immediately after they entered the city, scenes of a mass evacuation were beamed around the world. >> but america and other nato countries were certainly caught totally off guard and are now having to cope with this surge of peop

and by the frontline journalism fund, with major support from jon and jo ann hagler. additional support from laura debonis and corey david sauer. (children speaking pashto) ♪ >> (speaking pashto): >> martin smith: for 20 years after america toppled the taliban, girls in afghanistan were able to attend school. they could dream of careers as doctors and lawyers, seek office in government, become engineers or journalists. become leaders. for a while, the american project brought real progress. >> (reading aloud) >> (speaking pashto): >> smith: initially, after taking power, the taliban said they also supported girls' education. >> (speaking pashto): >> smith: but then, in short order, they banned girls from attending schoolbove the sixth grade. they said it was temporary. and in march 2022, as a new semester was about to begin, the taliban announced that schools were going to open. after waiting nearly seven months, teachers and students headed off to school on a wednesday morning. upon arrival, they learned that the taliban had reversed their decision. everyone was orde

and by the frontline journalism fund, with major support from jon and jo ann hagler.dditional support from laura debonis and corey david sauer. (radio running in background) (explosion roars) (people yelling) ♪ ♪ >> friday is the tenth anniversary of the u.s. invasion of afgnistan. some people wonder why the war is taking so long. (guns firing) >> we can tell you that 2010 was the deadliest year for u.s. troops yet. >> smith: ten years in, the u.s. was no closer to winning the war in afghanistan than when it had first arrived. (guns firing) over 2,700 coalition soldiers had been killed in action. close to half-a-trillion dollars had been spent and the taliban were still gaining ground. >> allahu akbar! >> smith: but president obama had a plan. >> our nations agreed on a framework that would allow us to responsibly wind down the war. >> smith: after trying a troop surge in 2009, obama now planned to draw down america's commitment and hand over all the fighting to the afghan military and police by 2014. >> ...where afghan forces will take the lead for combat operations

and by frontline journalism fund, with major support from jon and jo ann hagler.g for this program was provided by the arthur vining davis foundations. (singing) >> narrator: in the year 51 of the common era, by the shores of the aegean sea, a visitor arrived at the greek city of corinth. his name was paul of tarsus. >> let's imagineaul going up the main street of corin, throh the monumental roman archway, into the forum, the center of city life, the place where all the business and most of the political activities are done in the public life of this greco-roman city. here are the shops, here are the offices of the city magistrates, and we are standing literally in the shadow of the great temple of apollo. >> narrator: apollo, the sun god, watched over the fortunes of corinth. like zeus, hera, artemis, and athena, apollo was one of the olympian gods, that family of divinities who presided over the ancient and diverse pagan universe. >> paganism is our designation for what 90-something percent of the people in the mediterranean were doing. jews are a visible minori

and by the frontline journalism fund, with major support from jon and jo ann hagler.r this program was provided by the arthur vining davis foundations. (crowdhanting and cheering in background) >> narrator: in the roman coliseum, death became mass entertainment. amphitheaters demonstrated the power of the emperor. convicted criminals were sent here to be devoured by wild beasts. in time, those "criminals" would include christians. ever since the time of caesar augustus, all religions were tolerated by rome, provided that their worshippers performed their civic duty and sacrificed to the cult of the emperor. it was this that eventually brought christians into conflict with roman authority. but at the end of the first century, christianitwas still the religion of a few. the roman empire was overwhelmingly pagan, and it seemed impossible to imagine that the teachings of obscure ct could challenge its influence. >> religion in the ancient world is very much a part of public life. they had no idea of a separation of religion and state. >> paganism is the rich, native, reli

and by the frontline journalism fund, with major support from jon and jo ann hagler.itional funding for this program was provided by the arthur vining davis foundations. >> narrator: jewish resistance was not completely snuffed out after the sack of jerusalem. rebel fighters held out for four more years. the jewish historian josephus, who had taken part in the war, recounted the story: >> there was a fortress of very great strength not far from jerusalem, which had been built by our ancient kings. is called masada. >> the rock of masada, one of the most glorious places in all israel, became the major refuge point for some of the most extremist elements opposing rome. ardent supporters, fled right in the middle of the war to masada. >> (dramatized): here had been stored a mass of corn amply sufficient to last for years, an abundance of wine and oil. there was also found a mass of arms of every description hoarded up by the king and sufficient for 10,000 men. >> narrator: from the heights of masada, the defenders could see the roman army surrounding them. the outlines o

and by the frontline journalism fund, with major support from jon and jo ann hagler.itional funding for this program was provided by the arthur vining davis foundations. we know so little about him-- that he was born more than 2,000 years ago, and that he lived in palestine. we know he was baptized and became a preacher. and we know that he was publicly executed. >> (dramatized): what manner of man is this that even the winds and the seas obey him? >> narrator: with so little evidence to go by, archaeologists must sift the clues, and scholars decode the stories told by the first followers of jesus. >> the problem for any historian in trying to reconstruct the life of jesus is simply that we don't have sources that come from the actual time of jesus himself. >> the historian's task in understanding jesus and the jesus movement and ear christianity is a lot like the archaeologist's task in excavating a tell. you peel back layer after layer after layer of interpretation, and what you always find is a plurality of jesuses. >> history isn't made to record the deeds of a pe