Usually the History Channel talks down to viewers like they're five year old imbeciles who can't understand a timeline unless there's men in costumes, hacking and slashing their way through enemies.
It isn't hacking and slashing free, but this documentary of the history of Byzantium through its building projects is damn good for the History Channel and connected up a few timelines for me. I also recommend Professor Paul Freedman's Yale Lecture on the subject (posted below) and the excellent In Our Time episode on the topic.
