All language subtitles for Lost Treasures of Rome MEGA EPISODE Season 1 Full Episodes National Geographic [English] [DownloadYoutubeSubtitles.com]

MONIKA: Do you see this
relatively tiny opening?

It leads under the
women's bathing rooms.

MAURO: Okay,
come on Mario!

NARRATOR: Beneath Pompeii's
oldest bathhouse,

cavers are venturing
deep into a miraculously
preserved space

that remained hidden
for nearly 2,000 years.

MONIKA: I'm actually
not sure how long
they've stayed there.

We'll see how long
they've survived.

NARRATOR: They're searching
for clues to life and
death in the Roman Empire.

MARIO: Ha ha.

(music)

NARRATOR: Pompeii, an
ancient city 130 miles
south of Rome.

In AD 79, Mount Vesuvius,
just 6 miles away,

erupted explosively
smothering the entire area

beneath millions of tonnes
of volcanic ash and rock.

17 centuries later,
archaeologists rediscovered
a city frozen in time.

But, even after almost
300 years of excavation,

a third of Pompeii's
streets remain unearthed.

Today archaeologists
from across the world are
digging through the debris,

uncovering surprising new
evidence for what it was
like to live and die

at the height of
the Roman Empire.

MARIO: For an archaeologist,
to study in Pompeii
is a very special moment.

The possibility to
touch the real life
2,000 years ago.

NARRATOR: Much of what we
know of the Roman world
is through the lives

of those at the top:
emperors, senators
and generals

living in their vast
villas and palaces.

But the great majority of
those who lived in the Roman
world weren't rich at all.

What was Pompeii like lower
down the social order

for the middle classes or
enslaved people?

We're following a team of
archaeologists excavating
Pompeii in search

of the real stories of
these hidden lives.

NARRATOR: Buried up
to 20 feet beneath
volcanic debris,

archaeologists have
unearthed a bustling
metropolis,

homes for some 15,000
people, in a coastal hub
of trade and culture.

In the east, archaeologists
discover an arena for
gladiator fights.

And in the west, they
unearth two theatres.

They uncovered temples
dedicated to nine different
gods and emperors

and a forum, the heart
of business and
political affairs.

The excavation of perfectly
preserved Pompeii reveals
Roman life in the raw.

Today an international team
of archaeologists is digging
at one of the most complete

Roman bath houses in the
world, the Stabian baths.

MONIKA: Good morning!
Buongiorno.

(foreign dialogue)
Everything fine?

Yeah, yesterday...

NARRATOR: German
archaeologist,
Monika Trümper,

first came to Pompeii aged
15 on a family holiday.

It sparked the fascination
of a lifetime.

MONIKA: I always wanted
to excavate here.

This has been the
dream site to excavate.

I really like digging in the
Earth and cleaning things.

I do not like cleaning
things at home,

but I like cleaning things
on archaeological sites.

NARRATOR: Monika's team
is on a mission to
explore the hidden world

of the Roman bathhouse.
MONIKA: And as always,

we are running out of
time, there's still
so much to do.

NARRATOR: A visit to the
baths was part of the
Roman daily routine.

Bathers would first remove
their clothing, then smear
their skin with olive oil.

The bathing session
began with exercise, to
work up a healthy sweat.

Romans didn't use soap.
Instead, they scraped
off the oil,

sweat and dirt with
a tool called a strigil.

Then bathed in rooms at
different temperatures,
heated by a hypocaust,

a marvel of Roman
engineering.

Hot air from a furnace
circulated under the floor

between the walls to
heat rooms up to a 100
degrees Fahrenheit.

Pompeii's Stabian baths were
in use for around 200 years
before Vesuvius's eruption

froze them in the
state we see today.

The team is digging to solve
a mystery: how did a visit to
the baths change over time?

MONIKA: We've been
studying the Stabian bath
because we are interested

in the development of
bathing culture in Pompeii.

NARRATOR: Their quest
begins behind the scenes.

MONIKA: Visitor!
MARCO: Buongiorno.

MONIKA: Right now what
you see is a service room.

You see all kinds of
installations that
serve for the bath.

I'm standing on a channel.

You see another
channel behind me.

So these are all
installations belonging
somehow to particularly

the water management and
also the heating system.

It was a room that the
bathers were not supposed
to ever see or enter,

so it was only for the slaves.

NARRATOR: Monika and
joint excavation
leader Marco Giglio,

from the University of
Naples L'Orientale,

are digging into dirt
that predates the
eruption of AD 79.

MARCO: We hope to find
all sort of things.

Not only beautiful
objects, but something
useful for the chronology,

for dating this space.

NARRATOR: Dig member
Satoshi Higuchi spots a
glint of metal in the dirt.

MARCO: Wow! Wow, good.
Should be...

MONIKA: I can't
see it, what is it?

Ah yeah, I see it now.
Oh wow.

What do you think
it might be?

MONIKA: Hmm hmm. I guess,
yes because it's so thin.
-Yes.

The thin needle, something
you would stick into your
hair. Look at this.

There's more of it?

MARCO: Oh no, it's eh,
it's a fibula.

MONIKA: And this is
part of the fibula then.

So this is the lower
part of the fibula. Wow.

They used to fix
clothes. They used
this to fix cloth.

And actually, if I
remember correctly,

this is the first one
we find here at all in
the Stabian bath.

NARRATOR: The ornate
clothespin is a direct
connection to a Pompeiian

living 2,000 years ago.

SATOSHI: It's really
exciting and I'm really
happy to have found it,

and I hope I can find
more interesting things
to understand this bath.

MARCO: Very interesting
find. Very, very
interesting.

Now we will continue
to excavate this layer.

NARRATOR: All the evidence
the team has found suggests

this was not always
a service room,

but was once a
public walkway,
known as a porticus.

MONIKA: Our hypothesis is that
originally it was a porticus,
and not a service room,

and only later when you know
they, they improved or changed
the bath that would have

transformed it into
such a service room.

NARRATOR: When did the
layout of the baths
change and why?

To find out Monika will
need to explore deep
into an unseen world.

Just outside
Pompeii's city walls,

Spanish archaeologist
Llorenç Alapont

is leading another
pioneering excavation.

NARRATOR: It's estimated
2,000 Pompeiians
perished in the eruption.

Their tragic deaths have
made Pompeii world-famous.

But the frozen figures
reveal almost nothing of
these people's life stories.

For greater insight, today
Llorenç is excavating the
tombs of Pompeiians

who died before the
eruption.

His team has removed tons
of volcanic debris to reach
new and uncharted tombs.

NARRATOR: The size of each
freshly unearthed tomb gives a
first clue to the occupants.

NARRATOR: Inscriptions
can reveal further
fascinating information

about the lives of
the tomb occupants.

But Llorenç's ultimate
goal is to unearth what
lies inside the tombs.

NARRATOR: It's difficult
to discover forensic
detail of the Roman dead,

due to the standard
funeral rites of the time.

When a Roman citizen died,
relatives put a coin in
the deceased's mouth

to pay for safe passage
to the underworld.

By law they had to lay
the body to rest outside
the city limits.

Rich families hired musicians
and professional mourners to
lead the procession.

At the necropolis, they
burned the body on a pyre

and stored the ashes
and the coin in an urn,

to keep in the
family tomb.

Romans even cremated
their emperors.

But they burned Julius
Caesar's pyre in public
inside Rome's city limits.

The mourners' passions
ran so hot they almost
burnt down the forum.

Llorenç and his team are
hunting for cremation urns.

But finding human ashes
among tons of volcanic
ashes is no easy task.

They've just
unearthed this tomb,

right next to the main
gateway into Pompeii built
in an eye-catching spot.

NARRATOR: In the southern
region of the city

is a residential area
known today as Insula 17.

MARIO: Now guys, today we're
starting in the 2 areas

to continue the excavation
inside in the layers

that we find in
the last days.

Okay? Now we go.

NARRATOR: Archaeologist
Mario Grimaldi is part
of a team

from the University
of Bologna that is
investigating the lives

of middle-class people
at the height of the
Roman Empire.

The volcanic blanket over
Pompeii preserved its public
spaces, its cemeteries,

its baths and its
grand buildings.

But it also preserved
over a thousand
ordinary, private homes.

These rarely survive
elsewhere,

so Pompeii offers a
unique opportunity
for archaeologists.

MARIO: In Pompeii we
have the possibility to
understand the real life,

the people that were
living in these houses,
with the material,

the artifacts that these
people had in their hand
before the eruption.

It's important for us to
understand this society,

these people that
lived in this area,

like a middle-class
people in the society.

NARRATOR: Beneath the
street that runs
alongside the houses,

the team makes a discovery.

MARIO: We have a water pipe.

Now we're cleaning
this water pipe.

It's very interesting
for us.

The water pipe is a
connection from the
aqueduct to the water

for the fresh water.

NARRATOR: Roman plumbing
was the envy of the
ancient world.

Networks of underground lead
pipes channeled water from
aqueducts along city streets.

Most residents collected
their water from
roadside fountains.

But richer homeowners
could go one step further.

MARIO: If I want in
my private house
the fresh water,

I pay with my money the
connection to the aqueduct.

If we are lucky, it's
possible that we find
the stamp of the owner.

NARRATOR: But as the
team searches,
something extraordinary

begins to appear in the
same trench that could give

an even bigger insight into
these inhabitants' lives.

NARRATOR: In their quest
to investigate the occupant
of this large tomb,

Llorenç's team hits
the jackpot.

NARRATOR: The size and
location of Marcus Venerius
Secundio's tomb shows

that by his death he must
have been a prominent
figure in Pompeii.

But what Llorenç unearthed
beside the plaque was a
complete surprise.

The tomb was revealed to be
a walled family enclosure.

In one corner, Llorenç
found a small tombstone.

Beneath it, an urn
containing the cremated
ashes of a woman.

Then the team spotted
a sealed door, leading
to a burial chamber,

containing Marcus Venerius
Secundio's skeleton,

still sporting hair and
part of his left ear.

He was buried, not burnt.

An unparalleled opportunity
to discover more about an
individual life,

and death, in Pompeii.

NARRATOR: There are
even hints Marcus may have
been embalmed after death.

Scraps of textile found
among the remains may
be wrappings

to help preserve his body.

As soon as the remains were
photographed, the team rushed
them into cold storage.

NARRATOR: Wear on the teeth,
alongside other signs of
aging on the skeleton

suggest Marcus lived to
at least 60 years old.

Llorenç hopes further
analysis will reveal
more about his origins,

where he grew up and
perhaps how he died.

But starting from the plaque
on Marcus's tomb, Llorenç
wants to piece together

key parts of his
life story.

NARRATOR: The inscription and
the tomb location reveal that
by the time of his death,

Marcus was a prominent
citizen in Pompeii.

Next Llorenç wants to find
out how Marcus gained his
freedom and his wealth

and what his rise says
about life in the
Roman Empire.

At the Stabian baths, Monika
is following in the footsteps
of bathers 2,000 years ago.

MONIKA: This is the final
room of the women's suite.

It's the caldarium,
the hot room.

NARRATOR: And the baths
weren't just somewhere
for citizens to get clean.

MONIKA: We have ancient
literary sources that,

you know, complain
about the noises
coming from baths.

It's not like one of our,
you know, luxury spas where
you have quiet, you know,

music and so on.

They must have been really,
really, really noisy.

Really loud.

NARRATOR: Archaeological
evidence indicates that

the Stabian baths served
multiple purposes.

More than simply being a
place to get clean, they
were a vital social hub,

the main place where Romans
caught up with friends or
discussed casual business.

Monika wants to identify
the technology that was key
to this social function.

MONIKA: So this is
the immersion pool
for the women.

It was heated from below
by the floor heating.

It was heated from the
back and the sides by
the wall heating.

And then it has one
additional really
intriguing feature.

You really have to
kneel down in order
to appreciate this.

It's a half circular
container made out
of bronze,

and it's closed at the back
and open here in the front.

And so the water
constantly goes in there.

And this thing is
right above the hottest
part of the fireplace,

so right next to the
fire so to speak.

And so therefore, it always
heats the cooling water

and then the hot water
comes out again.

And so this helps
additionally to keep
the water warm.

NARRATOR: The hot
water container is
called a testudo.

It's named for its shape.

Testudo in Latin
means tortoise.

MONIKA: They are
unfortunately rarely
preserved because

the metal is very
precious and was usually
robbed out in antiquity

or any time later.

So this example here
is particularly intriguing

because it's
fully preserved.

It is so rare and
is so, so exciting.

NARRATOR: This is clever
Roman technology,

maintaining the bath water
at a constant pleasurable
temperature,

so up to half a
dozen women could
relax and socialize.

MONIKA: It's particularly
important to get as much
information

as possible of such a
well-preserved example
from all sides.

NARRATOR: Exploring the
testudo in detail may
also give insight

into how the baths served
as a highly sociable space.

But there is a problem.

MONIKA: I can't kind of
crawl inside from the pool,

because the opening is
very, very narrow and
the channel is narrow.

NARRATOR: To examine the
precious testudo properly,

Monika needs a
different approach.

NARRATOR: Just outside
Pompeii's city walls,

another team is
exploring underground.

Archaeologist Luana Toniolo
has helped excavate 20 feet
of volcanic rock and ash

to reach a small
room, part of a much
larger villa.

LUANA: This is our
really latest discovery.

As you can see, we are
still working a bit.

So for us, it's really
exciting and every day
there's something new.

Over there, you can see
the window from where
the volcanic ash entered

and covered the objects
in this room and actually
preserved it.

NARRATOR: Ever since
excavations began in Pompeii
nearly 300 years ago,

diggers have found
skeletons entombed
in the volcanic ash.

The flesh of the dead has
long since decomposed,

leaving only a
body-spaced shape
surrounding the bones.

By pouring plaster into the
cavity, the archaeologists
are able to recreate

the original body shape.
LUANA: We are still
using the same technique

of more than one
century ago because

it's really the
best technique.

NARRATOR: This team is
using plaster to capture
the original shape

of other organic objects.

They wait for the
plaster to set,

then very carefully scrape
away the surrounding ash.

LUANA: We don't know what
we are going to see when
we pour the plaster

in the holes and what
we found in this case
is the bed.

NARRATOR: Not just
one, but three beds,
complete with blankets,

and an array of
bedside furniture and
storage containers.

LUANA: We can see three
beds made of wood.

These beds are
really simple.

You can see that they
are made of vertical
pieces of wood.

NARRATOR: Three people
shared this small room.

The basic furniture, and
the single small window,

suggest that they
were among the
poorest of Pompeii.

LUANA: It was used as
a room where to sleep
and relax.

But at the same time it's a
storage room because there

you can see storage
containers that were
used in the Roman times

to trade food,
wine, olives.

The other very important
objects that we can find
in this room

is this particular object.

That is the part of the
chariot that was used

to link the chariot
to the horses.

NARRATOR: Incredibly
the plaster cast here
reveals a rope lashing.

NARRATOR: The evidence
has prompted Pompeii
archaeologists

to call this "the
room of the slaves".

It is the most complete
example of such a room
ever discovered

in the Roman Empire.
LUANA: This room is
very important for us,

for the archaeologists,
for historians because
we can see actually

how slaves and poor
people lived.

NARRATOR: There would
have been several hundred
rooms like this

in and around Pompeii.

It's exactly the sort
of place where Marcus
Venerius Secundio

may have started his life.

But as Marcus's life
shows, enslavement
wasn't necessarily

a life sentence in
the Roman Empire.

In Ancient Rome, enslaved
people were a commodity,

auctioned at a market.

Those that were
unskilled could be worth
the annual salaries

of two foot-soldiers.

Some had tags attached
to their necks, as proof of
ownership in case they fled.

Those that were educated
could be put to work as
accountants or secretaries.

They had higher status,
and so were paid for
their duties.

Enslaved people could
use their money to buy
their freedom,

acquiring Roman citizenship
in a formal ceremony.

As a symbol of their
liberty, they wore a
felt cap called a Pileus.

Marcus's tomb and
inscription reveals he
became a wealthy man.

Llorenç wants to know
how he bought his way
out of enslavement.

At the Stabian baths,
Monika is venturing deeper
into the incredible unseen

Roman world preserved
at Pompeii.

MONIKA: This is kind of
the heart of the bath.

This is the service section
and the heating system.

But what exactly this
heating system looked like,

we do not know and we
really want to explore.

It's quite narrow to get
into, it's quite dangerous.

NARRATOR: Monika works with
a team of speleologists,
specialist cavers,

to venture where she can't.

MONIKA: Buongiorno!
Mauro, Mario.

NARRATOR: Monika hopes the
cavers can find evidence

of how and when the
baths were modified.

MONIKA: We do not know
whether the whole heating
system was remodeled,

or belongs to an
older period.

So I'm really excited and
looking forward to pictures.

NARRATOR: Mauro traces the
route the scorching hot
air would have taken

into the heating system
2,000 years ago.

He's one of few to
venture into this
dangerous void

since Pompeii was buried
in volcanic rock.

MONIKA: I'm actually
not sure how long they
stay there.

We'll see how long
they survive.

NARRATOR: Llorenç's
investigation into the life
of Marcus Venerius Secundio

has brought him to the
western edge of Pompeii.

Marcus's tomb
inscription states he
worked as a custodian,

looking after the
temple of Venus.

NARRATOR: Romans worshipped
many gods and had many
temples in their honor

but Venus was the
chief deity and
protector of Pompeii.

Natural disasters have sadly
reduced Pompeii's largest
sacred site to rubble.

Llorenç hunts for any
remains of the temple's
inner sanctum

that would have contained
the statue of Venus.

NARRATOR: Only the stones
beneath the doorway remain,

but Llorenç suspects
Marcus would have guarded
this inner sanctum.

NARRATOR: Working in
Pompeii's most
hallowed temple

would allow Marcus
to mingle among
Pompeii's elite.

He was likely to have been
rewarded for his work

perhaps through tips
or donations.

NARRATOR: The wealth and
high status that Marcus
gained at the temple

may have allowed him
to buy his freedom.

Once he'd escaped
enslavement,

Marcus's life took on a
truly dramatic twist.

Pompeii's latest
discoveries are opening
up a new window

into everyday life in
the Roman Empire.

Pompeii is much more
than a city divided
into wealthy elites

and their downtrodden
servants.

This was a society
where you could rise
out of enslavement,

and citizens of all
classes relaxed in
communal baths.

At insula 17, Mario's team
has found a buried skull.

NARRATOR: What's intriguing
is the skull's location,

just beneath the street
level and close to an
underground water pipe.

MARIO: For us it's
very interesting this
find of this skull

because we are in
front of a real time

and a real life in
this area before
the eruption of 79.

NARRATOR: The team
is trying to find
other clues

that could shed light
on their discovery.

MARIO: Yeah, yeah. You
find also, other bones
around?

BEATRICE: Yeah. Here.
MARIO: Yeah. Okay.

NARRATOR: A tantalizing
possibility is, this is the
skull of an animal

killed as a sacrificial
offering to the Gods.

But Mario needs
more evidence.

The team hunts for tell-tale
ceramic cups that would once
contain other offerings.

ANDREA: There are
other parts of the
skeleton there.

MARIO: Yeah. But you
don't find the cups?

ANDREA: No, no ceramics.

MARIO: Now we
continue to clean.

We remove the skull, and
to understand if there are
other parts of the bones,

of the skull, of the animal.

NARRATOR: The team must
carefully extract all
the compacted soil

before they attempt
the delicate task of
removing the skull.

The cavers are crawling
ever deeper into the
under floor heating system.

MAURO: OK, come on Mario!

NARRATOR: They must
document every detail of
the subterranean world.

NARRATOR: No-one knows
what could lurk in
this space.

MARIO: Oh look, down there
there's a, there's a bat.

So the spaces over
there are lower?
MAURO: What?

MARIO: The spaces
over there are lower.

MAURO: Yeah, it's
around 15 centimeters.

NARRATOR: The invention
of the hypocaust system
revolutionized bath-houses,

allowing bathers to
linger longer in
pleasantly warm water

before stepping onto
a heated floor.

But comfort above ground
creates a highly hazardous,
cramped space below.

MONIKA: I hear some voices,
so they must be working.

But I can't see
them anymore.

NARRATOR: Under the women's
hot immersion pool,

the cavers find and
photograph one of the best
preserved testudos

in the Roman world. Built
to be both fire-resistant
and watertight,

the tank's sloping
underside had been
carefully engineered

so that the heat from the
furnace that was once nearby

created a circulating
supply of hot water.

Beneath the floor of the
women's caldarium the
cavers spot something else

that could help Monika's
investigation.

MARIO: Ha ha.

NARRATOR: At the insula
17 housing block,

the dig's chief
archaeologist,
Antonella Coralini,

is overseeing the
delicate retrieval
of the animal skull.

NARRATOR: If they
don't release all the
compacted soil around

the 2,000 year old skull,
it could shatter.

(foreign dialogue)

Oh, beautiful, he?

NARRATOR: It's a
fascinating find.

The skull of a bull.

MARIO: It's interesting
because it's very strange

that we find a
skull of a bull.

NARRATOR: A bull's skull
is a rare find in Pompeii.

In ancient Rome, bulls
were highly prized
and expensive animals.

MARIO: Generally, it was
leaved for the Gods, for
the ritual sacrifice.

NARRATOR: Romans believed
animal sacrifices

could offer insights into
the will of the Gods.

Bulls were among the
largest and most prestigious
animals killed in this way.

An animal that showed
no fear before its
death was a good omen.

A sign of approval
from the Gods.

The animal's internal
organs were inspected by
a priest called an augur.

If they looked
diseased or damaged,

the sacrifice had to
be repeated with a
new animal.

If the organs were healthy,
the Romans offered a
portion to the gods

by burning them
on the altar

and then feasted on the
rest of the animal.

The team carefully cleans
the skull, ready for future
expert investigation.

Marks left by axe or
hammer blows might
confirm Mario's suspicion

the bull was killed in
a sacrificial ritual.

MARIO: For us now it's
important to understand

why this bull was
leaved in this area in
front of this wall.

It's a possibility for
us that we have a ritual
time in this area

before the eruption of 79.

NARRATOR: The team suspects
that it's no coincidence
the skull was found here,

right alongside the
freshwater pipe.

Perhaps the bull was
sacrificed to commemorate
these homes

making their connection to
the public water supply.

NARRATOR: Llorenç's
investigation into the life
of Marcus Venerius Secundio

has brought him to one
of Pompeii's most
spectacular sights.

NARRATOR: The Odeon
was one of two
theatres in Pompeii.

(clapping sound)

NARRATOR: The inscription
discovered on Marcus's
tomb reveals that after

he gained his freedom
he became a priest

and paid for a four-day
festival of games,
plays and music.

NARRATOR: Marcus's festival
could also reveal why he
was buried and not burnt.

The inscription specifies
performances in both Roman
Latin, and also Greek.

This was a complete
surprise.

NARRATOR: Greek plays, and
the Greek-style burial
suggest either Marcus had

Greek ancestors, or he
was a great fan of
Greek culture.

The DNA analysis might
resolve the mystery.

Llorenç's discoveries allow
him to piece together the
rags to riches story

of the best-preserved body
ever found in Pompeii.

Marcus Venerius
Secundio was enslaved
by the city of Pompeii,

a subject of not one,
but of all the citizens.

They chose him to
guard a temple
dedicated to Venus,

the patron goddess
of Pompeii.

When Marcus was freed
from enslavement, he
joined the Augustales,

an elite order of
priests devoted to the
cult of the emperor.

Like his fellow priests, he
became a rich benefactor

and funded a festival of
plays, music and games.

His wealth and high
status afforded him
a monumental tomb,

among the most
prominent in Pompeii.

NARRATOR: Under the
Stabian baths, cavers
Mauro and Mario

discover a rare
stamped inscription.

MARIO: M, A. M, A.

I wonder if there's more?

NARRATOR: It's crucial to
take a clear photograph,

to get the best possible
evidence for Monika.

MONIKA: Are you done?
Oh perfect.

Can I see what you've
found? What is that?

MAURO: This is testudo.

(foreign dialogue)

MONIKA: Wow, perfect.

Wow, yeah, you can kind
of see. Incredible.

NARRATOR: The photos reveal
that, from the underside,

the bronze plates of
the immersion pool
hot water tank

are joined with two
neat rows of rivets.

The overlapping plates
look like an armored
animal shell.

Another compelling
reason why the Romans
used "testudo",

the Latin word for
tortoise, for the tank.

MAURO: Two rows, everywhere
the two sheets overlap.

MONIKA: I think this is one
of the best preserved ever

and you can also really
see it from below

and from above and fully
study how it worked.

And this makes it
really exciting.

NARRATOR: The discovery
of the stamp could help
solve the biggest mystery.

How did the layout of the
baths change over time?

MARIO: Right over here
is where we found the
stamp, so we have an "M".

MONIKA: M, R, O or Q,
maybe an R. An M again.

And this looks like a P.
And this could be an F.

NARRATOR: The stamp is
a mark that identifies
the tile-maker.

It's a totally
unexpected find.

MONIKA: Oh wow, perfect.

This is like the first
complete stamp I know
of in the Stabian bath.

And, wow, this is
really exciting.

NARRATOR: Matching the stamp
to others in Pompeii could
give an exact time period

for the floor's
installation.

MONIKA: Whether this stamp
is known in Pompeii,

because it's really,
really important.

It might potentially
give us a date for the
hypocaust system.

So this is really
exciting, if it's
really a late stamp

we would have a proof that
they had to remodel it.

NARRATOR: Further analysis
reveals the tile stamp is
one of several in Pompeii

that appear to date
to after AD 62.

In that year a major
earthquake rocked the city
and damaged many buildings.

The people of Pompeii
took the opportunity to
modernize the building,

fitting a brand-new
floor above an upgraded
heating system.

But the citizens had
only a few years to
enjoy their majestic

new bath house before
Vesuvius's cataclysmic
eruption in AD 79.

MONIKA: Everything we
excavate that we reveal,
I think,

adds to the picture of
history of Roman Pompeii
in a significant way.

So excavation really
has a purpose to help
us reconstruct history.

NARRATOR: Pompeii
is slowly giving up
its secrets,

revealing the everyday
lives of its people.

Bathers enjoying the public
baths; worshippers making
offerings to their gods;

and enslaved people
rising to great wealth.

As archaeologists
continue to excavate

this extraordinary
2,000-year-old city
frozen in time,

their discoveries will shed
fresh insights into life

and death at the height
of the Roman Empire.

DAVE: Okay, here we go.

Alright, start moving
the boat please, about
6 meters 020,

NARRATOR: Off the coast
of Sicily, maritime
archaeologists

have discovered a
mysterious artifact
on the sea floor.

DR. CAMPBELL: It's
incredibly exciting to
be able to see this

sitting here after more
than 2,000 years.

NARRATOR: It may
reveal clues about a
fierce naval battle

that completely changed
Ancient Rome's history.

DAVE: We have lift off.
DR. CAMPBELL: I'm hoping
it comes up in one piece.

(music)

NARRATOR: Rome,
the eternal city.

2,000 years ago it was
the greatest city of
the ancient world

in the heart of a mighty
empire that stretched

for almost three
million square miles.

Today teams of archaeologists
dig Rome and its empire,
searching for clues

to understand how this city
rose to dominate so much
of the ancient world.

DR. SCHEDING: For me as an
archaeologist this is a great
site because you can see

the growth and rise
of the Roman empire.

NARRATOR: How did
this one city conquer the
entire Italian peninsular,

the Mediterranean
world and beyond?

We follow excavators as
they investigate how
Rome and its people

drove an incredible
expansion from city
state to imperial power.

In search of answers,
Canadian archaeologist,
Eve MacDonald,

has come to the heart of
the ancient capital.

DR. MACDONALD: Here
it is, the Roman Forum, the
center of the city of Rome.

The very essence of
the city that became
a world empire.

NARRATOR: Eve has been
studying the Romans for
over 20 years.

DR. MACDONALD: I find
the Romans absolutely
fascinating.

If you don't understand the
Romans you really can't
understand so much of

Mediterranean history,
of world history.

NARRATOR: To see
evidence of Rome's early
ambitions of conquest,

she's heading to one of the
city's oldest structures built
in the fourth century BC.

DR. MACDONALD: Here we have
a massive defensive wall.

These stones that we
look at come from a site
outside of Rome itself,

they were quarried from
a city called Veii, which
isn't very far away.

It's only on a tributary
of the Tiber River but
it is a symbolic place

because it stands for one of
Rome's great early conquests.

NARRATOR: From its earliest
times, Rome had a thirst
for war and conquest

even before it was
a powerful city.

In the fourth century
BC, Rome was a
vulnerable city state.

It had a track for chariot
racing and mass entertainment,
the Circus Maximus,

temples for worshipping Gods
and for public meetings

and many houses made
of mud brick and wood.

It was spread across seven
hills an area of 610 acres

and was protected by a
huge wall, 32 feet tall,

built in response to
repeated attacks.

How did this city begin
the conquest that led to
its complete control

of the Mediterranean
world?

DR. MACDONALD: This
wall tells us about two
aspects of the Romans.

One is their aggressive
conquest of their neighbors

with their taking
of the city of Veii

and the other is their
incredible resilience
in the face of challenge.

It was a zero sum game,
conquer or be conquered.

NARRATOR: In Trapani,
Sicily, 260 miles
south of Rome.

DR. CAMPBELL: I think moving
further east to delineate the
battle site is a great plan.

NARRATOR: Maritime
archaeologist,
Peter Campbell,

and his colleagues from the
RPM Nautical Foundation

are setting sail on a
state of the art research
vessel, the Hercules.

They are looking for traces
of a brutal naval battle

fought in the third
century BC.

DR. CAMPBELL: The battle
of the Egadi Islands

is one of the most
important ancient naval
battles that took place.

This is a point where
history changed.

-(Radio dialogue)
-Copy that.

NARRATOR: Peter is a
specialist in ancient
marine warfare,

he hopes the mission
will provide clues

to how the Romans mastered the
seas to achieve one of their
most important conquests.

DR. CAMPBELL: The
significance of this battle
is that Rome took on

Carthage which was a
superpower at the time.

It's really exciting to be
part of this project for me

because there's very little
evidence for ancient
warships that has survived.

NARRATOR: Ancient
historical accounts reveal
the clash took place

off the western coast of
Sicily. To identify the full
extent of the battlefield,

the investigators
use the very latest
search technology,

including side scan sonars,
which map the seabed.

DR. CAMPBELL: The search
area is 5.5 times larger
than Manhattan

and we're sitting on a
research vessel 100 meters
above the sea floor;

so it's a bit like
searching for objects that
are less than a meter wide

from sitting on top of the
Empire State Building.

NARRATOR: Peter and
the team have identified
anomalies on the sea floor,

the challenge now is to
examine each of these targets
at a depth of 260 feet

and find out if they are
traces of the battle.

-(Radio dialogue)

The archaeologists head
to one of the most
promising sites.

CAPTAIN: Copy that.
Slowing down 2.7.

4.0 meters to go.

NARRATOR: The team launches
a cutting edge remote
operated vehicle or ROV.

DR. CAMPBELL: The ROV
serves as our eyes on
the sea floor.

NARRATOR: Technology like
this has revolutionized
maritime archaeology,

long lost treasures
are now within reach.

This underwater robot houses
a high res camera allowing
the archaeologists

to study their
targets close up.

With the ROV
successfully deployed,

Peter and the team can
now examine every inch
of the sea floor.

DR. CAMPBELL: If you spin
left we might have a little
flicker of something.

If we can try and see
if anything flashes.

-(Radio dialogue)

NARRATOR: The ROV moves
carefully from target
to target .

DR. CAMPBELL: We've got
something there about
eight meters away.

I think it's a rock,
what do you guys say?
DAVE: Rock.

DR. CAMPBELL: Alright,
let's keep moving.

If you come back up.

It's a bit like looking
for a needle in the
world's largest haystack.

So what we're trying to do
here is search this area

and hope that something
pops out of the abyss.

DAVE: Visual contact.

NARRATOR: Suddenly the
image on screen gets
everyone excited.

JIM: Stop, large
visual contact here.

DR. CAMPBELL: Jonny
can you get down?
JOHNNY: Looking down.

DAVE: There it is.

DR. CAMPBELL: That's
a beauty.
JIM: Bingo!

NARRATOR: In Terracina, 50
miles southeast of Rome,

a team of archaeologists
is digging at an
intriguing site

on top of a mountain.

DR. SCHEDING: This is
the central place
where all the people

from Terracina are
coming together to
worship their gods.

NARRATOR: Archaeologists,
Paul Scheding and
Francesca Diosono

are leading the excavation.
DR. SCHEDING: The thing

that I enjoy the most
being an archaeologist

is that you can touch
history, so you have real
objects you can touch.

DR. DIOSONO: We have so
much work to do now in
a wonderful landscape.

NARRATOR: Terracina is a
very ancient settlement,

dating from at least 600
BC and it was one of
Rome's neighbors.

Paul and Francesca hope it
can yield clues to the early
stages of Roman expansion

within the Italian
peninsula.

DR. SCHEDING: Hey guys,
how are you doing?

Something special?

ARCHAEOLOGIST: Yes,
we found an ingot.

DR. SCHEDING: A piece
of lead?
ARCHAEOLOGIST: Yes.

DR. DIOSONO: With
an inscription?

Oh it's very unusual to
find, it's very rare.
DR. SCHEDING: Yes.

NARRATOR: Inscriptions
are valuable clues.

The names and style of
lettering can reveal
their date.

DR. SCHEDING: This is
a V and the A, this
has to be maybe an M.

DR. DIOSONO: This
is also complete.

DR. SCHEDING: Yes and
it's definitely Roman.

So we have something in
hand that we can work on.

This is an exciting
day actually for us.

NARRATOR: The inscribed
ingot shows the presence
of the Romans on site

but not when they
arrived and took over.

To confirm the date,
the archaeologists need
much older evidence.

DR. DIOSONO: Hi
guys, how's it going?
ARCHAEOLOGIST: Fine.

NARRATOR: Francesca checks
in with her team in another
section of the site.

DR. DIOSONO: How
about the material?
What did you find?

ARCHAEOLOGIST: We found some
pottery, some black clay.

DR. DIOSONO: I think
it's a piece of pottery.

Yes, we have to keep it.

NARRATOR: Every tiny
shard of pottery they find
can provide vital clues.

To the expert eye, minute
differences in shape

and decoration can be
evidence of place and
time of production.

DR. DIOSONO: We found big
plates of Roman period, from
I think second century BC.

This is a big jar
for containing food.

This is pre-Roman pottery
but it's very, very small;

this is pre-Roman because
it's handmade pottery

so before Rome
arriving here.

NARRATOR: The pre-Roman
pottery is mostly found in
deeper archaeological layers

which points to a date
of Roman conquest.

DR. DIOSONO: Terracina's
Roman colony started here

at the end of the
fourth century BC.

NARRATOR: From its
earliest times, Rome
started clashing

with its neighbors and
was slowly expanding.

In the fourth century
BC it kept pushing
south to Terracina

and beyond to the
bay of Naples.

By the middle of the
third century BC,

Rome controlled most of
the Italian peninsula.

The excavation is
going well for Paul
and Francesca

but many mysteries
remain unsolved here.

DR. SCHEDING: The temples
and the architecture was
built in different steps,

so we want to get
also a clue how this
whole area developed

and to link all the
structures to the
rise of Rome.

NARRATOR: Off the
coast of Sicily.

DR. CAMPBELL: Look at that.

NARRATOR: Peter and the
team are trying to work out
what the sunken relic is.

DR. CAMPBELL: Oh it's
all twisted and covered
in fishing line.

Jonny can you get
round the back?
JOHNNY: Yep.

Yeah, I'll come up and start
moving around so you can try
and get a good overall view.

NARRATOR: The team hopes
this evidence can identify a
section of the battle site

where Rome fought
for mastery of the
Mediterranean.

DR. CAMPBELL: Look at that.

It's a ram. Wow!

It's a bit of a jungle but
underneath all of that

it looks like a really
impressive robust ram.

NARRATOR: This ram
was attached to the
front of a ship.

It was designed to strike
and sink enemy vessels.

DR. CAMPBELL: This is an
incredible discovery.

It extends the battlefield,
and it tells us that it
covered a huge territory,

much larger than
what we expected.

NARRATOR: Now the
archaeologists want
to lift up the ram

and examine it closely.

They want to find out if
it's Roman or Carthaginian.

Team members Jim and
Jonny are figuring out

how to do it without
damaging the fragile find.

JIM: We're going to have
to deal with that ship,

the line that's snarled
around it and get some
kind of rigging on it,

don't you think Johnny.
JOHNNY: Yeah.
JIM: To bring it up.

JOHNNY: I think we need
divers in the water to
try and release that.

NARRATOR: In Tunis, the
capital of Tunisia,
archaeologist,

Nejib Ben Lazreg is
investigating Rome's
great rival

in the Battle of
the Aegates, the
Carthaginians.

PROF LAZREG: I became
interested in archaeology
after reading

about a discovery
done in Egypt.

I knew that Tunisia is full
of ancient sites, wherever
you dig you find something.

NARRATOR: He heads to the
seafront of the modern city
looking for ancient remains.

PROF LAZREG: We are in
the middle of a military
harbor which was round.

In the very middle we
have an artificial island
because the harbors

were dug in the mainland,
they didn't have jetties.

NARRATOR: Carthage's
harbor was a masterpiece
of ancient engineering.

It could fit up
to 220 war ships.

PROF LAZREG: The foundation
of the power of Carthage

was due to the control
of the sea routes.

NARRATOR: In the third
century BC, Carthage
was a major power.

Their navy gave them
control of territories on
the Mediterranean coast.

They had fought the
Greeks for over 300 years
to conquer western Sicily.

In 264 BC, Carthage seized
the Port of Messana on the
east coast of the island,

only three miles from
Roman territories on
the Italian mainland.

Sensing danger, Rome sent
troops and ships to Sicily
triggering war with Carthage.

PROF LAZREG: Carthage in
the third century BC was
an important metropolis.

NARRATOR: The Carthaginians
were master seafarers,

their ships outnumbered
the Romans.

So when the two fleets
clashed off the
Aegates islands,

it was a crucial test of
Rome's maritime ambition.

NARRATOR: 500 miles
north of Rome in
Gunzenhausen, Germany,

classical historian,
Boris Dreyer

is leading a team of
experimental archaeologists.

Their innovative
project aims to
reveal the technology

the Romans used to
fight at sea.

They have rebuilt two
Roman boats based on
wrecks found in the Danube

and the Rhine and want
to test their speed and
efficiency on water.

PROF DREYER: The best
preserved wrecks can be
found here in Germany,

not in the Mediterranean.

They were fixed on the
bottom of the river so the
conditions were airtight

and the ship could
survive these 2000 years.

NARRATOR: The wrecks only
provide partial evidence.

Boris has had to make some
mathematical estimations
in important places.

PROF DREYER: This is
the ram of the boat.

We don't actually know
the length of the ram,

this length is just a guess
but we know that there must
have been a ram.

NARRATOR: This boat is
a quarter of the size
of the ones used

in the Battle of
the Aegates.

Its ram is made of wood
unlike the bigger boats

whose ram was
bronze or iron.

Boris thinks the ram
reduces the turbulence
alongside the hull

and keeps the boat
balanced as it cuts
through the waves.

PROF DREYER: This kind
of design makes the boat
more stable in water

because the boat
is very shallow.

NARRATOR: The next challenge
for Boris and the team is
making the boat waterproof.

He wants to try an ancient
method using hemp,

one of the earliest plants
to be spun into fibre in
the ancient world.

PROF DREYER: Hemp is
important to make the space
between the planks dense.

The planks are pressing to
each other so that no water
will come into the boat.

NARRATOR: When the wood is
wet it expands, compressing
the hemp between the planks

and sealing the hull but
problems soon emerge.

NARRATOR: Some of the hemp
has been pushed in too far

leaving gaps between
the planks.

NARRATOR: This can
jeopardize the
boat's seaworthiness

because the planks will
not be locked together.

Boris must make sure
all the gaps are filled
or his boat could sink.

In Terracina, Paul
heads to the center
of the modern town.

DR. SCHEDING: Here are some
inscriptions left here.

It's the letter I,
then V or U and S.

This is the inscription
of the man who financed
the Forum.

NARRATOR: The full
inscription reads
Aulus Aemilius,

he was a wealthy
Roman citizen.

DR. SCHEDING: This is the
ancient Forum and this is
the actual ancient floor.

NARRATOR: Wherever Romans
like Aulus Aemilius
went, they rebuilt Rome.

Their new subjects soon
enjoyed the benefits of
life under Roman rule.

Right next to Terracina's
Forum another ancient
structure helps reveal

how the Romans took
control of all Italy.

DR. SCHEDING: The most
important thing here
is the road over there,

you can see coming from
the north and going
through the south.

NARRATOR: This ancient road,
the Via Appia, connects
Terracina directly to Rome.

It's evidence of an
ingenious tactic of
Roman control.

In Rome, 50 miles
north of Terracina,

Eve examines traces of
the same road leading
out of the capital.

DR. MACDONALD: This is
this amazing example

of one of the many,
many, many thousands
of tombs of people

who wanted you to see as
you walked into the city

that they were
prominent Romans.

NARRATOR: These many tombs
of wealthy Romans reveal
the importance of this road.

It is the main entrance
into the ancient city.

Eve can date the road
through these monuments.

DR. MACDONALD: We often date
portraits from the Roman
period by the hairstyle.

The hairstyle of the woman
who's on the left is very
similar to the hairstyle

that we see on some of the
portraits of the first
Roman Empress Livia,

that's Augustus
Octavian's wife.

So the first century BC
would be a good date
for the family here.

NARRATOR: The dates of
these tombs reveal that
by the first century BC,

the Via Appia was already
established as one of the
most important highways

in the ancient world.

The Romans began building
it almost as soon as they
started expanding

in the fourth century BC.

The Via Appia led to
Terracina to the south,

extended south east
through Capua,

ending at Brundisium
in 264 BC.

Spanning over 360 miles, it
was the first super highway
the Romans ever built

and was a vital route
for marching armies
and military supplies.

This huge paved road,
averaging 20 feet in
width, allowed Rome

to concentrate its troops
rapidly and maintain control
of far flung territories.

It was crucial to Rome's
military domination of
the Italian peninsular.

DR. MACDONALD: Very early
on in Rome's history,

it has the ability
to create massive
infrastructure.

NARRATOR: In Terracina at
the dig site, Paul and
Francesca are hunting

for artifacts to
date the buildings
of the temple here

and find new clues
about Rome's expansion

but their project might
have to come to a halt.

DR. SCHEDING: There are
thunderstorms coming from
the north to Terracina.

This is quite a difficult
situation for us because we
are on top of the mountain,

so we are kind of exposed.

NARRATOR: Last year the
team sheltered in one
of the ancient temples

during a storm and it
was hit by lightning.

DR. SCHEDING: Excavating
in a thunderstorm is like

the most dangerous
thing that you can do.

NARRATOR: Everyone
hurries off the site.

(lightning sound)

In Gunzenhausen,
Germany, Boris and his
team are ready to put

their Roman replica
boat on water.

PROF DREYER: Hello.
How is it going?

Are we ready to take off?

(simultaneous dialogue)

Hopefully it will not sink.
NARRATOR: They want to test
its speed and efficiency

to find out if ship
building technology

and engineering are the
secret to Rome's expansion
into the Mediterranean.

First they need to tow
the 2.2 tonne vessel out
of the hanger.

BUILDER: You may go
ahead. You're ready.

NARRATOR: It has been
a year in the making.

So they take great care.

NARRATOR: Once out,
Boris reverses the boat
slowly into the water.

No one knows if the
ancient hemp waterproofing
technique will work.

There's a real
risk it will sink.

BUILDER: Yeah! Bravo!
(Applause).

NARRATOR: The boat
is finally afloat

but water starts
seeping in.

PROF DREYER: We just have to
look here. It's not sure.

Water is coming in but
it seems to be okay.

So it's the right
amount of water.

NARRATOR: The boat can
handle about three inches
of water inside the hull

but more could
become dangerous.

This allows the
planks to expand and
lock the hemp inside.

NARRATOR: The Roman
ship building design is
so far proving solid.

NARRATOR: Off the west
coast of Sicily,

the divers have cleaned
up the ram and wrapped
a strap around it.

Peter and the team
aboard the Hercules are
getting ready to lift it.

DAVE: Okay, we've got
the ram. Here we go.

Alright, start moving
the boat please, about
6 meters 020.

NARRATOR: The main challenge
is to attach the strap to
the ship's powerful crane

without damaging
the brittle ram.

DAVE: Back deck deploy
the crane.

(Copy that, radio
dialogue)

NARRATOR: First, the
ROV has to pick up the
heavy hook of the crane.

DR. CAMPBELL: Dave if you
could just keep an eye on
the tether on the top left.

DAVE: Right.
No, no, no left.

DR. CAMPBELL: We'll go
with the left, yeah, yeah.

Hey. Okay.

NARRATOR: Then it needs to
pass the tether of the strap
through the crane's hook.

DAVE: You have to spin
around and come in
that way.

Back up, back up, back
up. Let it clear.

NARRATOR: Each movement
of the ROV kicks up sand

reducing the water
visibility, so
progress is slow.

DAVE: You've got a
straight shot in.

Push right.

DR. CAMPBELL: Alright!

NARRATOR: Eventually,
the two are connected.

JIM: Does everybody
agree we're clear?

DAVE: We're clear.
JIM: Alright, let's lift.

NARRATOR: The ram has been
underwater for 2,300 years.

There's a huge risk
that lifting it will
tear it apart.

Everyone in the control
room holds their breath.

DR. CAMPBELL: I'm hoping
it comes up in one piece.

JIM: Yeah. Up three meters.

NARRATOR: In Gunzenhausen,
Germany, Boris has enlisted
the help of 18 students

and volunteers.

PROF DREYER: Loose
the ropes. Okay.

Ready at oars.

Put your oars in the
water and at the signal
go and go and go and go.

NARRATOR: They want
to find out how fast
a Roman ship is

and how easy it
is to maneuver.

It could reveal if
engineering gave Rome the
edge in naval warfare.

DR. CAMPBELL: It's the
wind. We are rowing
against the wind.

Very, very, very
difficult, rough.

Go!

NARRATOR: The strong
winds bring the boat
to a standstill.

KORAI: I can't feel
my hands actually but we
have to continue rowing.

PROF DREYER: Keep
to the rhythm.

NARRATOR: The Roman soldiers
who rowed into battle needed
their energy to fight.

Far from shore in the full
blast of the wind, Boris is
facing another challenge.

PROF DREYER: There's
no modern keel

and we only have the grip
with the rudders in the
back part of the ship.

NARRATOR: The ancient
keel of the boat is flat,

it only extends around
13 inches underwater.

PROF DREYER: The wind
is coming from the side
and the ship is drifting.

NARRATOR: In windy
conditions the flat
boat drifts dangerously.

Boris tries to direct
his team and stabilize
the course.

NARRATOR: In battle,
losing control of the
boat could be fatal.

NARRATOR: The Roman admirals
and mariners must have been
extremely well trained

to navigate large
ships at sea.

Back on course, the
boat quickly starts
gaining speed.

PROF DREYER: I think the
design is rather good.

It's a fast ship.

NARRATOR: The boat averages
four miles per hour

but it can reach up to
eight miles per hour
during a sprint.

At this speed, plunging
into another ship with
the ram attached

to the front would cause
catastrophic damage.

NARRATOR: After almost
two hours in the water,

Boris and his team
return to harbor.

LEO: Before starting I
thought it would be harder,

I guess the wind is
quite exhausting

but once we are at some
speed it's much easier

and I think we could
do it for some hours.

PROF DREYER: This boat is
very easy to maneuver

and one can understand
that Roman soldiers were
able to control the boat

to find the best position
according to the wind.

I think the result
is a success.

NARRATOR: With
a fleet of hundreds of
fast well built ships,

the highly skilled Roman
sailors had become a
formidable match

for their enemies,
the Carthaginians.

NARRATOR: Off the coast of
Sicily, the ram is finally
coming out of the sea.

JIM: We have lift off.

Strap to the ram.

DAVE: The ram is at 80.
Bring it to the surface.

NARRATOR: Everyone
has gathered on deck
for the big moment

including the Director of
underwater cultural
heritage, Valeria Li Vigni.

The heavy ram has made
it up in one piece.

JIM: Peter look, the
force of the damage here.

DR. CAMPBELL: Right.
LI VIGNI: Yes.

JIM: Produced a crack
all the way up here.

LI VIGNI: And also in the.
JIM: Yes, yes, yes.

DR. CAMPBELL: In
the keel, yeah.
LI VIGNI: Okay.

DR. CAMPBELL: Yeah,
damage on every face.

NARRATOR: It's made of cast
bronze but still bears
traces of the violent clash

that sank the ship it was
attached to during the
Battle of the Aegates.

The next challenge for Peter
and Valeria is to work out

if it's from a Roman or
Carthaginian ship.

DR. CAMPBELL: No inscription?

JIM: Carthaginian navy?
LI VIGNI: I think.

NARRATOR: The Romans
usually decorate and
inscribe their rams.

The lack of any
inscription suggests
this one is Carthaginian

and remarkably the size of
the ram itself hints at the
dimensions of the ship.

DR. CAMPBELL: On the
inside is the wood.

-These three
-Yeah.

Three different timbers yeah,
and this, this is a big keel.

JIM: We really need
to get some samples,
can we do that?

-Here you are.
-Great.

DR. CAMPBELL: I mean
its big timbers that
it's covering here,

I mean, this would have
been a big ship.

NARRATOR: The ship
size might have been a
significant drawback,

it made it harder
to maneuver;

this might even be the
reason, it was rammed
and sank.

DR. CAMPBELL: This ship
must have run into one
that was much better made

and uh, it must have just
crushed like a can when it
impacted the other vessel.

NARRATOR: For centuries
the Carthaginians ruled
the Mediterranean.

The rams on their ships
were lethal weapons.

In 241 BC at the Battle
of the Aegates,

they outnumbered the
Romans but were heavy
with supplies.

The Roman navy, now a
match for their enemies,

took down their masts and
rowed at speed into battle.

They outmaneuvered the
Carthaginians, ramming and
sinking 50 of their ships

and winning a
shock victory.

The unexpected naval victory
changed the balance of power
in the Mediterranean

and opened the door for
Rome's conquests overseas.

DR. CAMPBELL: This was an
amazing mission that is
rewriting what we know

about the Roman navy,
the Carthaginian navy and
ancient military history.

It really is giving insight
into what it was like to be

on board ships in
the ancient period.

NARRATOR: Next season,
Peter and the team
plan to return

and scour the seabed
for more artifacts to
get a fuller picture

of this defining
Roman victory.

In Tunis,

Nejib investigates how
the loss of this battle
affected Carthage.

He heads to a very
special site in the
south of the city.

PROF LAZREG: We find
several layers of burials.

The earliest layers
go back to 750 BC.

NARRATOR: The site is a
tophet, a sacred burial
place for children.

This special cemetery was
established at the same time
as the city of Carthage,

around the eighth
century BC.

Each of these stelae was
placed next to an urn

which held the cremated
remains of a child.

Nejib looks for
the last burials.

PROF LAZREG: They stopped
by the mid-second BC.

NARRATOR: Only 100
years after the Battle
of the Aegates,

the Carthaginians abandoned
their precious graveyard.

PROF LAZREG: The tophet
functioned with the city,

the people who lived
here and they buried
their babies here.

The use of such a cemetery
stopped with the destruction
of the city of Carthage.

NARRATOR: Nejib looks
for more clues of this
devastating event.

In a corner of the site he
finds an unexpected ancient
construction, a vault.

PROF LAZREG: It was not
built by the Carthaginians

because Carthaginians
never knew the use of the
vault or nor the arch,

so it could be only Roman.

The Romans built this
vault and surely many
other ones

on top of the remains
of Carthage.

NARRATOR: The Romans
built over this
precious burial site.

It's evidence the Battle
of the Aegates wasn't
the end of the rivalry.

A few decades after the
clash at sea, a Carthaginian
warrior rose up, Hannibal.

He crossed the Alps with
war elephants and wreaked
havoc in Italy for 15 years.

Then in 204 BC, Roman
general Scipio landed
his army in North Africa,

forcing Hannibal
to return home.

They fought an epic battle,

the fast Roman cavalry
massacred the Carthaginian
infantry.

Carthage signed a truce
that lasted just 50 years
until Rome invaded

and burned it to the ground
and later rebuilt it as
their own city in Africa.

In the second century BC,
Rome's expansion engulfed
the Carthaginian empire

and was pushing
even further.

NARRATOR: In Terracina,
the storm has passed.

Paul needs to assess its
damage on the dig site.

DR. SCHEDING: The
storm last night was
very terrible.

So, what are we doing?

DR. DIOSONO: Today
the soil is very wet.

I think it's a good idea
to make a little survey of
the area we don't excavate,

so we can find pottery.

NARRATOR: The team can
use the setback to
its advantage.

The dark waterlogged
soil means pale pottery
is much more visible.

DR. DIOSONO: We have
a lot of finds, more
finds than a normal day.

NARRATOR: The temple
that once stood here
is now in ruins,

its remains scattered
on the mountainside.

The archaeologists hope
these many pieces of pottery
can reveal when the Romans

built it and what
it looked like.

Francesca spots something
unexpected among the finds.

DR. DIOSONO: This is part
of the decoration of the
temple, it's a terracotta.

I think it's a flower
or something like this.

DR. SCHEDING: Yeah,
that's amazing.

Wow, yeah this is an
actual part of the, of
the architecture?

DR. DIOSONO: Yes, this
is the early decoration.

NARRATOR: The Romans
used terracotta to help
decorate their buildings.

The style of these pieces
can help pinpoint the date

of their earliest
temple on site.

DR. SCHEDING: This is a
Roman tile, you can see
by the form.

It was part of the roof.

This must have been part
of the second century BC,
more or less.

NARRATOR: From the second
century BC, the Romans built
magnificent temples here.

The largest was likely
dedicated to Venus,

their goddess of love,
fertility and victory.

They overlooked the
commercial harbor
of Terracina

and were a visual
representation of Rome's
power and riches.

DR. SCHEDING: Picture
yourself as an ancient
Roman standing

in the street of Terracina,
looking up the hill

and then the
monumentalization of these
temples like, growing,

growing and growing as
the empire was growing
at this very time.

NARRATOR: Paul thinks the
temple here is built on
even greater spoils of war.

He examines an
extraordinary
recent discovery.

A terracotta head.

DR. SCHEDING: What
we see here is the
most amazing piece

we found just a
couple of days ago.

NARRATOR: Paul compares
its features to an
established depiction

of a famous warrior.

DR. SCHEDING: The most
recognizable feature is

that he's turning his head
and you can see it here.

So it gives you an
expression that he is
in a dynamic position

and looking through
the landscape,

also of the armies
he's in control of.

We are quite sure that
it's Alexander the Great.

NARRATOR: Alexander the
Great built a huge empire
in the fourth century BC.

Paul thinks the
Romans wanted to
follow his example.

DR. SCHEDING: Alexander the
Great, he conquered the
East until modern India

and now the Romans are
starting to conquer this
territory which was already

conquered by
Alexander the Great.

So this is really a
symbol for the power
of Rome in the East.

NARRATOR: The Romans
conquered Alexander's
homeland, Greece,

in the middle of the second
century BC, just as they
conquered Carthage.

These incredible victories
established Rome as the
new military powerhouse

of the ancient
Mediterranean world.

DR. SCHEDING: You show the
man who conquered the world

and now the Romans have
conquered the world.

NARRATOR: In Rome,

Eve examines the ancient
buildings inside the Forum.

DR. MACDONALD: We see
the Colosseum in the
distance there,

built on the spoils
of conquest and war.

We see triumphal arches
to when Roman victorious
generals came back

through to the city,
cheering crowds
would greet them

and they would parade
the spoils of conquest
through the Forum.

NARRATOR: Rome's unexpected
victory in the Battle of the
Aegates was a springboard

for many more conquests,
monumentalized in this
famous capital city.

DR. MACDONALD: They were
the first to display their
enormous power of potential,

their military might,
in such grand terms.

They're there for us to
read and they're there for
us to try and understand.

NARRATOR: The team's
investigations have
led to new evidence

of how Rome first
expanded into its
immediate neighborhood.

It then built imposing
structures like temples

and roads to control its
growing territories and
showcase its power.

The Romans built a mighty
fleet that defeated a
formidable enemy,

the Carthaginian empire
and gave them control
of the Mediterranean.

Future excavations will
add precious information
to how one small city

gained so much power
that it dominated
the ancient world.

(speaking foreign language)

NARRATOR: In Italy, deep
in the countryside,

archaeologists have
made the discovery
of a lifetime.

A long lost, Roman
Amphitheater.

NARRATOR: Their excavation,
reveals an opening that was
buried deep in the ground,

for over 1,000 years.

NARRATOR: Now, the team
dares to enter the tunnel,

in a quest to uncover
its hidden secrets.

The Colosseum, in
the heart of Rome.

Today, this monumental
building is an enduring
symbol of the Roman Empire.

Famous for its spectacular
gladiator contests, of
brutality and death,

its scale, and ambition,
was legendary.

Now, an international
team of archaeologists
is investigating,

how this mega structure,
became so crucial, to
the Roman Empire.

VALERIE: It was initially,
a Roman amphitheater and it
becomes the symbol of Rome.

I have to ask the
question why.

NARRATOR: The weathered
facade of today shows
little trace of the marble

that originally adorned
this colossus.

Statues of gods, and
goddesses, once stood
in the arches.

This icon, completed in
80 AD, seated 50,000
spectators.

It was a gift, to
the people, from
Emperor Vespasian

and his son, Titus.

Romans gathered,
alongside the Emperor
in his Imperial box,

under a retractable awning,
to witness the greatest

and bloodiest entertainment
of ancient Rome, the
gladiator fights.

VALERIE: It was built to
impress and, it still does.

NARRATOR: British
archaeologist,
Valerie Higgins,

has made the city
of Rome her home,

and has a lifelong
passion, for its
ancient civilization.

She's exploring how
the Colosseum an arena
of entertainment,

became so central to
the very idea of Rome.

Valerie wants to
investigate, what went
on behind the scenes

of the amphitheater's
spectacular shows.

She heads down to the area
beneath the arena floor,

once a warren of dark
tunnels, to look for clues.

VALERIE: There were lots
of these holes, surrounded
by white stone,

all over the basement
of the Colosseum.

And they're quite
intriguing. They
must have a purpose,

and that purpose has to be,
something that's happening
up, on the arena floor.

NARRATOR: Valerie, hunts
for more evidence, in
the surviving structures.

VALERIE: They've
cut a groove here,

you can see that clearly
in the rock, so,

there is something
that is going up and
down at this point.

It looks like, there's
been some machinery here.

NARRATOR: Everywhere,
there are traces, of
the mechanisms

that powered the
dazzling shows up above.

VALERIE: These stones,
are at a strange angle.

The only reason I can
think of, why, they
would be there, is,

that this was a ramp,
into the arena.

It gives you, a sense,
of how the Romans created
magic, in the spectacle.

Because, up through
the ramp, could come,
animals or people,

appearing as if by
magic, in the arena.

NARRATOR: Expertly
designed pullies

and cages, delivered wild
animals into the arena,
to astonish the crowds.

The spectacle
began with a hunt.

Hundreds of wild
animals, from across
the Roman Empire,

were released and
slaughtered, by
trained hunters.

Next, were the
gruesome executions.

Many convicted criminals,
were mauled to death by
wild animals.

And then, the stage was
set for the grand finale,

gladiators, fighting
head to head.

The Romans, went to
extraordinary lengths,
to entertain,

the Colosseum's
vast crowds.

To explore why,
Valerie's going deeper,
behind the scenes.

At Volterra, in Tuscany,
130 miles north of Rome,

a team of archaeologists is
unearthing an extraordinary
discovery.

One that might help
solve the puzzle of why,

the Colosseum was so
central, to the
Roman Empire.

Elena Sorge, is
the team leader.

NARRATOR: For over a
millennium, no-one knew

what lay hidden here,
under the grass.

Until now.

Buried in the ground,
is a long lost,
look alike, Colosseum.

NARRATOR: Finding a totally
unknown, unexcavated
amphitheater here,

is one of the discoveries
of the century.

PAUL: Well let's go ahead
and kick this one off.
MARK: Alright.

NARRATOR: This ancient
virgin site, untouched
by previous excavations,

has attracted an
international team.

MARK: It's good to go.

NARRATOR: Shifting thousands
of tons of soil, they're
unearthing the old arena,

the audience seating,
and long lost, hidden
treasures.

Archaeologist, Valeria
D'Aquino, grew up in
the region,

and works alongside Elena.

NARRATOR: And, there's
a mystery.

The ancient people of this
region, weren't Roman,

they were rivals,
called Etruscans.

This was one of the
last areas, of the
Italian peninsula,

to fall under Roman rule.

Why, was a Roman
amphitheater, built
here at all?

The team knows, that
the best way to find
out why it was built,

is to find out
when it was built.

Any new discovery,
could add a crucial
piece, to the puzzle.

The team, has found a
vase, deep in the ground.

It has survived in one
piece, for at least
1,500 years.

NARRATOR: They call, Eva
Pianini, the lead restorer,
to examine the find.

NARRATOR: They are
looking for any clue
that might allow them

to precisely date
the pottery.

NARRATOR: Eva, sees
something, beneath the mud.

NARRATOR: Valeria, arrives,
to take a closer look.

Could it be a special stamp
that might help date it?

NARRATOR: The ancient
potter, has left
their mark.

EVA: (Laughs).

NARRATOR: No stamp, no date,
but still a human touch,
from across the centuries.

Eva, sends the vase, to
a lab, off site, for
further analysis.

The hunt for clues,
continues.

On another part of
the site, there's a
sudden commotion.

NARRATOR: The team, uncovers
an unexpected opening.

NARRATOR: Elena,
races, to the scene.

(speaking foreign language)

NARRATOR: Elena, is the
first, to enter this tunnel,
in over 1,000 years.

NARRATOR: At Richborough,
in southern England,

another buried Roman
amphitheater, is
being excavated.

Tony Wilmott, is the lead
archaeologist on the dig.

TONY: It's exciting to
excavate because, it's
the one building type,

that the Roman's
invented themselves,

without pinching it
from the Greeks.

NARRATOR: Tony, is the
first, to excavate the
amphitheater, in 150 years.

TONY: We're here to try and
understand the amphitheater,

try and understand
everything about it,

the date, the structure,
the way it's built.

NARRATOR: Most of the
huge, ancient structure,

remains hidden, under
this vast mound.

Over the years, debris and
earth, have collapsed into
the arena,

filling it nine feet deep.

After weeks of digging,
the team succeeds in
exposing the arena wall.

On examination, it's
clear, that it's made
from chalk block.

This is unlike other
Roman walls in the area,

which were made from
more durable stone.

Historian, Paul Pattison,
is responsible for
the work at Richborough.

He has come to examine
the arena wall.

PAUL: It's something of
a surprise, the materials
that they've used.

You can see it was very
clearly constructed of
chalk blocks,

quarried locally.

Materials that were easily
available, ready to hand,

rather than having to
go some great distance,

might indicate that
the construction is
quite early.

NARRATOR: It was here at
Richborough, that the Romans
invaded Britain, in 43 AD.

It now seems likely that
the amphitheater may have
been built, not long after.

It's a major discovery
for the dig.

But like the Romans before
them, the team must content
with the English weather.

It's raining hard.

If the soil's wet, the team
risks damaging fragments of
history underfoot.

There's no choice, but
to stop, and take cover.

TONY: The rain has now
seeped through and we're
flooded, basically,

in the deeper areas, down in
the arena, which means that
we have to bail it out.

We'll get there.

This is the romance of
archaeology in action.

NARRATOR: In Rome, Valerie
continues her investigation,

in a strange structure
discovered alongside
the Colosseum.

VALERIE: This is, I would
say, residential quarters
for the gladiators.

NARRATOR: There's
something here that
catches Valerie's eye.

The remains of a
semicircular wall.

VALERIE: It looks
like a curved arena,

which is the same shape as
the arena in the Colosseum.

NARRATOR: The shape, is
a clue to the function,
of this large space.

VALERIE: It's a
mini Colosseum.

This must've been where they
were training and preparing
for these very complex games.

What this arena
here shows us, is,

these were not just games
that were thrown together

where you get two guys
to come out and fight.

These were games that
took a lot of choreography
and a lot of preparation.

NARRATOR: Gladiator
fights, began in the
fourth century BC.

They were performed at
funerals, to honor
the dead.

In the first century BC,
Julius Caesar super-sized
the ritual,

with games of hundreds of
fighters and wild animals, to
commemorate his relatives.

The games later
developed into a state
funded industry,

with special schools to
train the gladiators,

and amphitheaters for
audiences in their
tens of thousands.

The Colosseum, the
biggest ever ancient
amphitheater,

was built by order of
Emperor Vespasian, in
the first century AD.

Why did he want this
colossus, and its games?

Valerie, continues
her search, into the
streets of Rome.

North of Rome,
in Volterra.

(speaking foreign language)

NARRATOR: Elena,
emerges from her first
exploration of the tunnel,

at the newly discovered
amphitheater.

NARRATOR: On another
part of the same site,

American architectural
technologists, Paul
Aubin and Mark Dietrick,

are capturing the ancient
structure with a state of
the art laser scanner.

PAUL: That was all
filled in.

MARK: It was all filled in.
PAUL: Up to that height.

NARRATOR: Their laser,
bounces off every inch of
this ancient structure,

to create a digital
map of the site.

This means the team
can study it, in
forensic detail.

MARK: You can't describe,
the feeling of being
really inside

of a monument that has
just been discovered

and is just literally
emerging out of the ground.

NARRATOR: The team, hopes
to find clues, to unlock
the mysteries of this site.

When, and why, it
was built.

PAUL: Perfect.

NARRATOR: Their scans,
help to recreate the
structure in its prime.

Volterra's ruins today,
form a section of an
oval shaped amphitheater.

Sandstone arches, once
supported the seating,

for 10,000 spectators,
around a central arena.

The team believes, that
the builders cut part
of the structure

into the bedrock of a hill,

and dug vaulted galleries
connecting the arena to
stairs, around the outside.

As the pieces of the puzzle
come together, a whole
amphitheater is emerging,

with each new discovery,
adding to the picture
of a mini Colosseum.

MARK: Finally get to
go into this tunnel.

PAUL: Yeah, really
anxious to see what it
looks like in there.

NARRATOR: Mark and Paul,
are keen to scan the tunnel,
first entered by Elena.

MARK: Alright, watch
your footing here.

NARRATOR: The entrance
is now cleared and ready
for their investigations.

PAUL: So this hasn't
seen the light of day
in a long time.

Look at that.
MARK: Wow.

NARRATOR: Their high tech,
high precision equipment,

measures up to two million
data points per second.

PAUL: I just can't believe
this. It's spectacular.

Wow.

Look how tight the joints
are in those arches.

MARK: That's, that's
incredible.

Definitely try and
get in there too.

What do you think Paul?

Maybe if we lower the scanner
all the way, we can still
get a nice shot in there.

Let's do it.

PAUL: Let's see what
the scanner saw. Oh. Wow.

MARK: Wow, there's
another arch over there.

PAUL: I didn't know that
other arch was back there.

MARK: I'm just wondering
how many other passages
must be back there.

PAUL: That is remarkable.

NARRATOR: The scans, reveal
a network of unknown,
hidden passageways,

that could help the team
decipher when, and why, this
amphitheater was built.

NARRATOR: In Rome, Valerie
is working with local pilot,

Marco Giordano, to
launch a drone,

mounted with a high
definition camera.

She hopes a fresh
perspective will help
her investigation.

She wants to identify
the site of the
Theatre of Pompey,

built 100 years before
the Colosseum.

VALERIE: I can see
the buildings today,

are following the same shape,
as the Theatre of Pompey.

NARRATOR: The theatre,
no longer exists,

but it was originally
built in the form of
a semi-circle.

Spotting the
tell-tale curve, in
the streets below,

Valerie sets out to
find the location.

VALERIE: Well I can see from
the shape of this building
that this must be,

on the seating of the
Theatre of Pompey.

You can see this from
the way that it's
curved and also,

from the way that
everything is
sloping backwards.

So, underneath our feet
here, there would've been
steps going up that

would have been the Roman
seating for the stage,

which was over on
this site.

NARRATOR: The ancient
theatre, was built by
the Roman politician

and general, Pompey,
in 55 BC.

It was the first permanent
theatre in Rome, built,
not in wood, but in stone.

A vehicle, for Pompey's
political ambition, he used
it, to win popular support.

VALERIE: The Theatre of
Pompey really demonstrates
to us, just how connected,

politics and
entertainment is.

It's not just about, going
to theatre performances,

this is about
political power.

NARRATOR: Valerie, thinks
the Colosseum, a theatre
for gladiatorial games,

was also built, to
win popular support.

VALERIE: This is a really
interesting super imposition
of the Theatre of Pompey,

on the modern
street plan of Rome.

If you put it close to,
a plan of the Colosseum,

these are quite
similar dimensions.

NARRATOR: The theatre
and amphitheater, are both
huge, but different, shapes.

One is a semi-circle, the
other, a near full circle.

VALERIE: The amphitheater,
is a little bit like two
theatres put together.

NARRATOR: Doubling the
size of their Colosseum,

suggests Emperors
Vespasian and Titus,

wanted a huge audience,
for their games.

Valerie's investigations,
are closing in, on the
true purpose,

of the giant amphitheater.

In Richborough, England,
now the rainstorm has
passed, Tony and Paul,

are checking progress at
the newly exposed wall.

PAUL: It's really,
really come up.

TONY: Oh it's really
come up, yeah.

Yeah, I mean it hasn't
been damaged by the
weather either, happily.

NARRATOR: They can make
out, traces, of ancient
paint, on plastered walls.

TONY: We've got blues
and, red and yellow.

The sort of curls of that
red over there, I mean,

I wouldn't be surprised
if that was just the last
vestiges of, of a figure.

PAUL: This is a
real surprise to me.

TONY: Oh yeah, yeah.
PAUL: You know.

But to find it
plastered and painted.

TONY: Yeah, if you'd asked
me whether it was likely,
you know, before we started,

I'd say, you know, never
in a million years.

NARRATOR: They believe,
they've uncovered a fresco,

where the paint has been
applied to wet plaster.

PAUL: Never in my
wildest dreams would I
have thought of that.

TONY: Nor me, nor me.

NARRATOR: An amphitheater
with a fresco like
this, is a rare find.

TONY: There's none
in Britain.

PAUL: No, there's
none in Britain.

A pattern decorative on
an arena wall, it is of
international importance.

NARRATOR: Walls, in
the Colosseum itself,
were painted too.

Brilliant reds,
blues and greens.

The painted arena wall,
reveals how much care
the Romans lavished,

on the Richborough
amphitheater.

It's new evidence of
how important this
amphitheater was,

to the Romans who built it.

But within hours, it
starts raining, again.

They must act fast to
protect the newly
exposed fresco.

TONY: Well once again, we've
had to cover the walls,
cover the chalk walls

and the wall painting
so we're under blue
tarps again.

NARRATOR: For the second
time, the weather,
forces the team,

to down tools.

NARRATOR: Valerie returns
to the Colosseum,

to continue her investigation
into why it became so
important, to Rome.

VALERIE: You're always
kind of following the
curve around.

NARRATOR: The amphitheater
was built, as an oval mega
structure,

measuring a third of a
mile, in circumference.

Spectators, could
enter, via 80 archways.

VALERIE: I can see numbers,
written in Roman numerals.

This one is XXXII,
32 and then, going
along, XXXIV, 34.

What this is
indicating, I think,

has to be the number
that was on the
ticket that you got,

in order to enter
the arena.

NARRATOR: As a
spectator, you'd be
just one of thousands.

Unlike the half circle of
the old Roman Theatre of
Pompey, this was a full,

wrap around arena.

Audience capacity more
than doubled, from
20,000 to 50,000.

VALERIE: Once inside, you
would be directed to your
section of seating but,

you didn't get to
choose what it was.

As you go further up to the
top of the amphitheater, it
gets steeper.

You go along dark
corridors and you come out,
into a section of seating,

which has been
assigned, to you.

NARRATOR: Seats, were
allocated according
to social status.

The place with the worst
view, was right at the top.

VALERIE: It may well have
been standing room only and,
people who stood there,

were the slaves
and the women.

NARRATOR: Those with
the greatest status, sat
closest to the Emperor,

in his Imperial box.

First, were the elite
senators, sitting in the
marble rows above them,

were a noble rank of
Roman knights, known
as the equites.

Above them, were groups of
soldiers, adolescent boys
with tutors and married men,

with other, ordinary
citizens of Rome.

In the highest levels,
were Rome's lower classes,

enslaved people and
poorer citizens,

along with women
and children.

VALERIE: When you went
to the games at the
amphitheater,

you really were, in a
very literal sense,
put in your place.

NARRATOR: The massive
wrap around theatre, had
another hidden function.

Engineering a 360 degree
space, put everyone in
full view of everyone else.

It's not just the
gladiators who
were put on show,

it was the audience, too.

VALERIE: It was a very
socially reinforcing act,
to go to the amphitheater

because, you really
understood your place
in society.

NARRATOR: It was a social
performance, one that
reinforced the hierarchy,

of Roman society.

The Colosseum wasn't
built simply to
entertain the people,

it was built, to keep
them under control.

In Volterra, Mark and
Paul, review their
laser scans in 3D.

PAUL: You can really start
to see, the overall shape.

MARK: I mean, look at
that, this was all just
a big grass field.

NARRATOR: The 3D imaging,
allows them to identify
the underlying engineering.

Not just the tunnels, but
the whole amphitheater.

MARK: We're really
getting a nice hint of
the elliptical shape now.

PAUL: Yeah, that's
really neat.

MARK: We've got it so
much more clearer now,

the geometry of this
amazing monument.

NARRATOR: The digital
data, reveals patterns, not
obvious, to the naked eye.

The hope, is that the hidden
geometry will hold the key
to understanding when,

and why, this
amphitheater was built.

But Mark and Paul's
investigations,
don't stop here.

PAUL: Oh this scan position
is absolutely perfect,

it's going to allow us
to the get the tops of
these walls over here.

NARRATOR: This, is
the ancient theatre,
at Volterra,

not far from the newly
discovered amphitheater.

It was built at the end
of the 1st Century BC.

The scans, of this building,
can be compared with the
scans of the amphitheater.

Analysis of the
theatre's seating, and
the amphitheater's arena,

suggests they may have been
built by the same architect,

for the Caecinas, a local
clan, not of Roman, but
Etruscan origin.

In the 1st Century
BC, with Volterra, under
Roman rule, Aulus Caecina,

wrote a tirade against
Caesar, and was banished.

But over the next 100 years,
Caecinas became renowned
senators in Rome.

In Volterra, Caecinas
displayed their grand
ambitions,

with lavish Roman
buildings, the theatre,

and now it seems, the
amphitheater too.

Finally, with the help
of the 3D scans,

the team is solving the
mystery of when and why,

this ancient
structure was built.

The evidence suggests
that it was constructed
around the same time,

and for the same reason, as
the theatre, as a testimony,

to Roman power, in the
reign of Emperor Augustus.

NARRATOR: The amphitheater,
was more than just
a spectacular building,

an arena for
gladiatorial games,

it was a symbol, of
Rome, and Romaness.

Not only in Italy, but in
places like Richborough,

on the outer reaches
of the Empire.

NARRATOR: In Richborough,
England, Tony and his team,
are investigating

why this amphitheater
was built, 800 miles,
from Rome.

Battling the weather,
the team is working
on the plastered

and painted arena wall,
when they begin to uncover

a puzzling structure
alongside it.

Once it's fully dug out,
Tony finds a clue, to
its function.

TONY: What we have, is
a slight stain here,

a nice straight line
against the mortar floor.

This is probably the
base of a timber frame
door, of this entrance.

NARRATOR: Evidence of
a door onto the arena,

leads Tony to an
exciting conclusion.

TONY: What this is,
is a carcer.

It's a place where animals
or people, waiting to go
into the arena,

would be incarcerated, where
we get that word from.

It's a chamber, off the
back of the arena wall.

This is really the waiting
room, for anything that's
going to die in the arena.

This would be a very,
very grim place.

This is where, you know,
the fear would click in,
before that door rose and,

you went to meet
whatever it was in front
of you in the arena.

NARRATOR: This significant
find, reveals how even many
hundreds of miles from Rome,

spectacle, is still key.

PAUL: We have got people
coming and going from the
rest of the Roman Empire,

and this is what
they might expect.

These are people who are
soldiers, they are traders,

they are imperial
officials and they would
want to have, you know,

those aspects of Roman
culture that they could get
anywhere else in the Empire.

NARRATOR: This amphitheater,
built soon after the
invasion of Britain

in 43 AD, is the
vanguard of Empire,

not just for the conquerors,
but for the vanquished too.

PAUL: It's about spreading
the idea, of the Roman way.

And the way they do that, is
that they try and convince
the conquered populations,

that this new way of life,
is a better way of life.

The amphitheater, and
the things that went on
in an amphitheater,

is one way of doing that.

We see this all over
the Roman Empire.

NARRATOR: 230 amphitheaters,
mini Colosseums,

have been discovered
across the Empire.

Built between the 1st
Century BC and the 4th
Century AD,

they stretch from
England, to Africa.

Some of them, still stand.

At Pompeii and Verrona,
in Italy,

at Arles, in France,

Italica, in Spain,

El Djem in Tunisia

and Pula, in Croatia.

Their forms of entertainment
were always the same,
a way for the Roman rulers,

to spread their Roman values.

Enemies of Rome, faced
public execution.

They were crucified,
burnt at the steak, or
mauled by wild animals.

Gladiators wore
armor, inspired by
ancient enemies,

and mythical Roman
characters.

They fought with different
weapons and armor,

to show off Roman values
of courage and valor.

Even facing certain death,
a gladiator would be
expected to die, bravely.

The amphitheater, Romanized
its conquered peoples.

But Rome, needed
Romanizing too.

And this would be the
task of the greatest
amphitheater of them all,

the Colosseum.

NARRATOR: All paths,
lead back to the
Colosseum, and Valerie,

is at the crux of
her investigation.

VALERIE: Rome was the
center of a huge empire.

And like all huge
empires, it has a lot of
migration to its center.

So, most of the people
who are sitting around
this arena,

probably originated
somewhere else.

But the one thing that
kind of made them Roman,

that actually created a
feeling of Romaness,

is, that they sat and
watched this spectacle.

NARRATOR: At the Colosseum,
the Emperor made sure he
personified Rome.

He had his grand entrance,
the Imperial Gate, and he
sat, in his Imperial Box,

for all to see.

VALERIE: This is the best
view in the arena, and it's
not only the best view,

it's the best
place to be viewed.

We should be in no doubt,
that, it was putting
on games like this,

that was really crucial to
the Emperor keeping power.

NARRATOR: The genius, of
Emperor Vespasian and his son,
builders of the Colosseum,

was to harness the
gladiatorial games, to
the power of the Emperor.

But it wouldn't,
last forever.

In Volterra,

as the team pieces together
the story of the once
buried amphitheater,

Valeria uncovers a
mysterious structure.

NARRATOR: This
clear line between the
original, and new stone,

shows the window
has been bricked up.

It points to a radical
shift in the
amphitheater's history.

NARRATOR: The beginning
of the 5th Century AD,

is around the time the
gladiator games were
banned,

throughout the
Roman Empire.

Was this blocked up window,
the beginning of the
end, for the amphitheater?

In 313 AD, Emperor
Constantine, outlawed the
persecution of Christians,

and his reforms began
to the change the games.

He banned crucifixion
for convicted criminals,

but allowed gladiator
fights to persist.

In 404 AD, a Christian
monk, tried to stop a
gladiatorial contest,

but was stoned to
death, by the crowd.

It's said that the sight
turned the heart, of the
Christian Emperor, Honorius,

who then banned the
games altogether.

In a new Christian era,
the Colosseum came to be
seen in a different light.

VALERIE: This inscription,
commemorates the
Christians, who were killed,

under the Roman Empire.

This became, a place
that symbolized all of the
Christian martyrs, who died.

It symbolizes the
inhumanity, of what was
happening, in the arena,

when people were
being executed in
this horrific way.

NARRATOR: The Roman
Empire, was the most
powerful on Earth.

And this amphitheater,
the magnificent Colosseum,
was its monument.

Archaeologists
are discovering,

that an amphitheater
symbolized Rome,
wherever it was built.

From the provinces, to the
outer corners of Empire,

their excavations are
revealing how amphitheaters
came to stand,

for the might of Rome,
for social order,

military valor
and imperial power.

Symbolism, so powerful,
that amphitheaters
represent the Roman Empire,

to this day.

(knocking sound)

NARRATOR: On the
outskirts of Rome

archaeologists are
breaking into a secret
underground chamber.

NARRATOR: It could reveal
clues to the disappearance
of an ancient palace.

NARRATOR: Emperor Nero's
legendary Golden House.

NARRATOR: Rome,
the eternal city.

Its monumental wonders
still stand proud after
two millennia of history.

And one of its most
fascinating ancient
structures lies buried here,

beneath the city.

The Domus Aurea, the Golden
House, a vast palace built
in the first century AD.

It was the most
extravagant construction
in the history of Rome.

Why was the Golden
House buried?

And what can its fate
reveal about its builder,

Rome's most notorious
emperor, Nero.

Today, teams of experts are
launching investigations
across Italy

that could offer new clues.

NARRATOR: Beneath the
Colle Oppio Park in
the center of Rome,

a team of conservation
specialists is fighting
to preserve

the surviving remains
of the Domus Aurea,

an underground maze
of painted rooms and
corridors.

Rome native Maria
Bartoli is the head
of conservation.

NARRATOR: The
surviving sections
of the Domus Aurea

are buried up to
13 feet deep.

Until excavation in
the 18th century,

almost all of the rooms
were back-filled with soil

and rubble too.

The Golden House is
in fragile condition.

NARRATOR: The earth above
weighs more than 700
pounds per square foot.

The 2000 year old
structure wasn't built
to bear this vast load,

so it's in danger
of collapsing.

NARRATOR: Water is
infiltrating from above,

and the once highly
decorated walls are
coated in dirt.

NARRATOR: The team must
carefully clear the wall.

NARRATOR: The work
is painstaking.

It takes hours to reveal
and preserve every inch
of the ancient decoration.

And with every passing day,
the risk of losing this
precious art grows greater.

NARRATOR: Large swathes
of the ancient walls have
already been eaten away

by harmful algae that
thrive in the humid
climate here.

Maria must clean all
of the walls to prevent
another biological attack.

In the vast underground
maze, she has a gargantuan
task ahead of her.

American
archaeologist Darius
Arya is investigating

why Nero's magnificent
palace ended up
rotting underground.

22 years ago, Darius
traded his home in
the United States

for Italy's capital to follow
his childhood fascination

with Roman history.

DR. ARYA: Nero is a very
interesting character.

I mean this person
looms in the history
books larger than life.

He was a showman.

He's still fascinating
and those anecdotes
that are applied to him,

whether or not they're
true, just adds those
layers of understanding

the nuanced
character of Nero.

NARRATOR: The fate of the
Domus Aurea may be connected
to Nero's own story.

Nero became Emperor at just
16 after his stepfather
Claudius died in 54 AD.

Some say Claudius
was poisoned by his
wife, Agrippina,

to make way for her son.

Ancient writers described
Nero as a cold-blooded ruler,

reporting he poisoned
his step-brother out
of jealousy,

and had his domineering
mother assassinated.

They claimed his taste for
violence was limitless.

Roaming the streets at
night in disguise, he would
stab victims at random

and throw them into
the sewers.

Darius wants to explore
how much of Nero's
reputation is true,

and if it is connected
to the fate of the
Domus Aurea.

A few feet into the
complex he spots a
first clue:

an un-excavated room.

DR. ARYA: This room is filled
with debris, it's filled with
fragments of brick,

pottery fragments of tuff.

This is all
building material.

I see some decoration,

little bits and pieces of
marble here and there,
and porphyry.

But this is an
intentional fill.

This is a massive project
to fill in this entire space
in a very orderly fashion.

NARRATOR: It is clear
evidence someone deliberately
buried the Domus Aurea.

DR. ARYA: Wow,
look at this.

NARRATOR: Strange shapes on
the floor in one of the rooms
could shed some more light.

DR. ARYA: You can see a
pattern in the cement

and literally it's showing
you where there were
panels of cut marble

that made a
decorative pattern.

They've been removed.

So all we have just
the imprint of what
they once were

and how beautifully this
floor would have been.

NARRATOR: Decorative marble
was an unmistakable mark of
luxury in the Roman world.

DR. ARYA: We can still
see that you have this
beautiful ceiling

with all kinds of decorative
features and shapes,

elements framing them
with the stucco work.

And there are traces of
gilding in the ceiling.

NARRATOR: Darius can
still make out remains
of unimaginable splendor.

It's clear that when Nero
built the Domus Aurea
he spared no expense.

Rooms were decorated with
brilliant marble walls

and frescoes to
impress his guests.

Ancient sources describe
Nero's hunger for opulence:

they say he owned a
golden fishing net;

a golden box in which
he kept deadly poisons.

Even his chamber pot
was made of gold.

He plundered the gold
for his palace from all the
corners of his vast empire.

DR. ARYA: It was a place for
entertainment and leisure
more than anything else.

This is not here the
residence of the emperor.

This is a place for
accommodating guests and
putting on a great show.

NARRATOR: The clues suggest
that Nero's taste for
luxury might be a factor

in the fate of his
Golden House.

In Tivoli, just outside
Rome, at the Villa Adriana.

NARRATOR: Archaeologists
Benedetta Adembri and
Marco Fabbri

are excavating the palace
of the Emperor Hadrian

who came just 49
years after Nero.

NARRATOR: Discoveries
here may help reveal

if Nero's Domus Aurea was
uniquely extravagant,

or if other Emperors
indulged in similar
extreme luxury.

Today the team is
investigating an
intriguing room

inside Hadrian's gymnasium.

NARRATOR: It was re-used
in later times, and
new floors were added.

Benedetta and Marco
have discovered a
void below them.

It's possible that a
forgotten part of the
original room

might be hidden beneath.

NARRATOR: But they can't just
break up the floor without
knowing what lies beneath.

It could cave in, risking
their safety, and damage
to ancient remains.

NARRATOR: The team lowers
a camera down into the
hole to inspect the void.

It reveals the walls
continue below the floor,

but almost the entire space
is filled with rubble.

NARRATOR: Now Marco
can break up the floor.

The challenge is to
remove the right tiles.

One mistake and the
floor could collapse
over the void.

NARRATOR: Now Marco can
see the walls below.

But it's hard to
make out any details.

NARRATOR: Marco decides to
venture into the cavity.

(foreign dialogue)

Even with 40 years
of experience,

this is one of most
challenging excavations
in his career.

NARRATOR: On the Palatine,
one of Rome's seven hills,

archaeologist Maria Teresa
D'Alessio is investigating
an intriguing site.

NARRATOR: A structure
contemporary to
Nero's Domus Aurea.

PROF. D'ALESSIO: We
are in front of the
Arch of Constantine

and the square of
the Colosseum.

It's one of the most
wonderful places in Rome
for an archaeologist,

but it's also a
little scary. A big
responsibility.

NARRATOR: The site is
less than 500 yards

from the buried remains
of Nero's Golden House.

Maria Teresa believes
they could be connected.

PROF. D'ALESSIO: Probably
they were in the project
of the structures related

to the Domus Aurea.

We know this from the
orientation of the structure,
from the building techniques.

NARRATOR: This structure
was originally just beyond

the boundary of Nero's
Golden House.

It shows just how vast
the whole palace was.

PROF. D'ALESSIO: The Domus
Aurea occupied a very big
part of the city.

NARRATOR: Ancient writers
describe 300 rooms, lavishly
decorated with gold,

gems and mother-of-pearl.

The palace grounds spread
between Rome's Oppian Hill

and Palatine Hill covering
an area more than 20 times
larger than the Colosseum.

In the middle Nero built a
private lake for boating.

Around the palace he grew
lavish gardens, vineyards,
and forests.

And at the entrance,
he placed a colossal

120 foot tall bronze
statue of himself.

The Domus Aurea was a
gigantic construction.

Maria Teresa's team is
on a mission to unearth
the structures here.

They could shed new
light on who destroyed
the Domus Aurea, and why.

PROF. D'ALESSIO: We
started from the high
part of the level

and we, nothing were
visible before we
worked here

and now we are going down
through times, through
the history.

It's like assembling
a puzzle.

NARRATOR: Maria
Teresa is checking
the team's progress

when one of her
excavators discovers
what could be a clue.

PROF. D'ALESSIO: Oh, wow.

NARRATOR: 110 miles
south, at Baiae.

NARRATOR: A team of
underwater archaeologists
is investigating

an extraordinary
Roman city.

Seismic activity in the
4th century AD plunged
Baiae into the sea.

300 years earlier, in
Nero's time, it was a
fashionable seaside resort,

famed for its thermal
springs and bath houses.

Vast villas and estates
filled the coastline,
only to slip into the sea.

DR. DAVIDDE: We have
around 177 hectares of
Roman rooms underwater.

NARRATOR: Barbara Davidde
spearheads the project to
map and restore

the sunken villas that
belonged to Nero,

his family, and Rome's
political elite.

Barbara and her dive team
head out on the boat,

to where the ruins of
an imperial property
are submerged.

DR. DAVIDDE: It's always
exciting to start an
activity underwater.

NARRATOR: Some 16 feet
below the surface, beautiful
statues come into view,

grouped around a long room.

DR. DAVIDDE: We can see
first the mother of Claudius,
of the Emperor Claudius,

as Venus and the statues
of probably one of the
daughter of Claudius,

or one of the daughter
of the imperial family.

NARRATOR: The statues depict
members of Nero's family:

the first imperial
dynasty to rule Rome.

They're evidence of
the presence of the
emperor here,

and show how important
Baiae was for his whole
ruling family.

Nero's ancestor
Julius Caesar was
murdered in 44 BC,

sparking a civil war that
ended the Republic,

and led to a long
line of emperors.

First was Caesar's great
nephew, Augustus, who ruled
for 40 peaceful years

and was declared a
god after he died.

Tiberius came next in 14 AD.

He conquered parts of
Germany, but was a reclusive
emperor back home.

His successor Caligula
was known for his cruelty.

He enjoyed watching
tortures during his feasts.

His uncle Claudius
followed in 41 AD.

He started the conquest
of Britain, and named
Nero as his successor.

The Julio-Claudian
family made Baiae
their seaside home

and built an opulent
villa at this spot.

NARRATOR: The Villa was
passed down through the
generations to Nero.

Ancient writers said
he hosted incredible
feasts here.

Barbara wants to
preserve the site,

and detail all the ruins
before the sea claims them.

DR. DAVIDDE: Underwater
is a harsh environment.

So archaeological
remains are at risk.

It's a big fight against
the marine organisms
and against the waves,

the change of the
sea level and so on.

NARRATOR: South west of
Nero's villa, the divers spot
something on the seafloor.

As they brush away the
silt, an incredible
mosaic emerges.

NARRATOR: In Tivoli,
just outside Rome.

NARRATOR: Marco descends
into the underground
chamber.

He hopes to find a lost
part of Hadrian's villa
below the new floor.

It could help reveal if
other emperors' palaces
were as luxurious

as Nero's Golden House.

NARRATOR: It looks like
an entire room that was
carelessly back-filled

when the new floor
was built.

Suddenly, mixed in with
the rubble, Marco spots
pieces of painted plaster.

NARRATOR: Back above
ground, Marco and his
colleague Benedetta

analyze the frescoes.

NARRATOR: The incredible
fresco fragments probably
date to Hadrian,

and the back-filled
room forms a long lost
part of his vast palace.

NARRATOR: Now Marco and
the team want to excavate
the entire space.

They will have to be
extremely careful.

The evidence so far
suggests that there will be
masses of ancient relics

mixed in with the rubble.

At the sunken city of Baiae,
in the bay of Naples,

Barbara's divers
investigate the mosaic they
found on the sea floor.

The strong current has
lifted many of its
delicate pieces.

The divers carefully
identify missing tesserae
among the sand.

Then they use special
underwater mortar to
reconstruct the 2000 year

old mosaic: a black and
white fish made from
pure marble pieces.

It was likely the floor of
a lavish villa belonging to
one of the political elite.

NARRATOR: On the boat,
Barbara analyses a
larger piece of marble

recovered from the
sea floor.

DR. DAVIDDE: We have marble
from Africa, from Asia, from
Greece, and also from Italy.

These structures
was decorated with
the luxury marble

coming from all
the Roman world.

NARRATOR: Discoveries like
these reveal the lavish
lifestyle of Baiae's rich.

In the 1st century
AD, this spa haven
was renowned

for overindulgence
and debauchery.

It was Rome's sin
city, and Nero's
favorite playground.

DR. DAVIDDE: He loved Baiae.

That's why when they
decided to build the
Domus Aurea in Rome

he had the inspiration of
the landscape of Baiae.

NARRATOR: When Nero built
his Golden House with a
massive artificial lake,

he brought Baiae and
its excesses to Rome
for all to witness.

Nero's notoriety and the
downfall of his Domus Aurea
may have begun at Baiae.

The underwater team
continues their
investigation east-wards.

Soon a massive structure
comes into view,

with columned walls
nearly 330 feet long
and 200 feet wide,

right next to
Nero's villa.

NARRATOR: In Tivoli, Marco
and his team painstakingly
remove the rubble

from the underground
room at Hadrian's villa.

He identifies a structure
emerging from the debris.

NARRATOR: As they remove the
rubble, the features of the
ancient room come into view.

NARRATOR: It's not long
until more fragments of the
precious frescoes emerge.

NARRATOR: Digging deeper
Marco uncovers more and
more fragments,

incredibly preserved.

NARRATOR: The team continues
to pull up precious
fragments from the room.

NARRATOR: Only a few
traces of wall paintings

have ever been recovered
from Hadrian's villa.

But here, sealed
under the floor,

they have remained hidden
from the elements and the
eyes of robbers,

giving Marco a
unique insight.

NARRATOR: The hidden
room shows Hadrian too

lived in an elaborately
decorated palace.

So the opulence of Nero's
Domus Aurea can't be the
only reason it was buried.

NARRATOR: Darius has
also come to Tivoli

and the Villa Adriana
to look for more clues.

There could be more
to be found.

Not from underground,
but from above.

He sends up a
high-definition drone

to see the size of
the Villa Adriana.

DR. ARYA: Really getting
a grand view of the
entire complex here.

This is just gorgeous!

There's a maritime theatre
over there, the so-called
Greek and Latin libraries.

The hospitalia all the way
over to basically the core
of the Imperial residence.

So there's just so much.

All just popping out
amidst, you know,
over 200 acres.

NARRATOR: Darius continues
his investigation on foot.

DR. ARYA: I'm underneath
now an entirely manmade
construction.

What we have here are
cells, one after the
other, always the same.

This was what we'd call
the slave corridor, the
slave rooms.

NARRATOR: Inside the
cells, Darius spots a
curious feature.

DR. ARYA: There are
brackets inserted on the
walls for a wooden floor,

so actually it was
subdivided into mini floors,
little mezzanine floors.

So we know they're
packing in as many
people as possible.

And in fact, it's known
as the Cento Camerelle,

the hundred rooms for
thousands of slaves that
must have worked here,

that lived here, that slept
here, making the villa work.

NARRATOR: With its over
200 acres and thousands
of enslaved people,

the Villa Adriana was as
lavishly decorated as
Nero's Domus Aurea,

and twice as big.

DR. ARYA: It is expansive
and it is massive,

bigger than most cities
in the Roman world,

but it's outside
the city of Rome.

And if we take a look
at the Domus Aurea,

you're taking this kind of
concept of Hadrian's Villa

but you're putting
it into the city.

NARRATOR: The location of
the Domus Aurea could
explain why it's now buried

with Nero's reputation
rotting with it.

Nero built his palace
in the center of Rome,

claiming a huge area
of prime real estate

and flaunting his
luxurious lifestyle for
every Roman to see.

DR. ARYA: This was
just something that had
never been seen before,

and it was really
something over the top.

NARRATOR: In central
Rome, near the edge of
the Domus Aurea,

Maria Teresa is examining
the strange find made by
one of her team.

PROF. D'ALESSIO: And this is
the left over material from
the production of something,

probably metal because
it's very heavy.

NARRATOR: The discovery
comes from a layer just
above Nero's building here,

dating to the time after the
destruction of the palace.

It is evidence of
a change in the way the
area was used after Nero.

In Nero's day the
Palatine was where the
rich and powerful lived.

PROF. D'ALESSIO: On the
top of the Palatine

there was the houses of
emperors because Romulus,

the founder, was the
first one who lived on
the top of the hill.

And that's why Augustus
and other emperors
wanted to live there.

NARRATOR: This area in the
vibrant heart of Rome was
in demand and changed use

repeatedly over
the centuries.

In the dig headquarters,
Maria Teresa studies
excavation records,

to explore how Nero
managed to build his 125
acre palace complex

on this coveted land.

She examines a curious
layer discovered below
his building.

PROF. D'ALESSIO: We
can see these beautiful
stairway, marble stairs,

with black traces on
the walls, and also
pottery with ashes.

NARRATOR: The traces of
black charring and ashes
point to one thing:

a ferocious fire.

In 64 AD, ten years
into Nero's reign,

a fire started near a
chariot racing arena,

and raged across the
city for six days.

Ancient writers claimed
emperor Nero callously
played his lyre

as he watched the
event unfold.

Cramped streets helped the
inferno spread, destroying
over half the city,

and clearing enough
space for Nero to
build his Domus Aurea.

Nero accused Christians
of starting the fire, and
gruesomely executed them,

allegedly burning some
as torches at his
garden parties.

PROF. D'ALESSIO: We know that
slope of the Palatine burned
with the other structures

within the fire of 64 and
then was the new construction
of the Domus Aurea.

NARRATOR: Some ancient
historians claimed
Nero had started

and spread the fire
deliberately.

Modern investigations
have since cast doubt
on his guilt.

Rome was a cramped
tinderbox ready to ignite
with any careless spark

from countless open fires.

Nero even opened public
buildings and his own
estates as shelters,

and housed those
made homeless.

But the rumors of his
involvement were fanned

by Nero's enemies in the
immediate aftermath,

incensed by excess
spending and taxation,

and now outraged by the
building of the Domus Aurea.

Nero and his palace
were now in peril.

NARRATOR: In the bay of
Naples, at the sunken
city of Baiae,

Barbara and her team
are continuing their
investigation

of the structure next
to Nero's palace.

It's a massive villa.

On board the dive boat,
she analyses an
inscribed lead pipe

previously recovered
from the complex.

DR. DAVIDDE: This object is
very important for us because
thanks to this object,

we can know the name
of the owners of this
very important villa.

NARRATOR: The inscription
on the pipe reads L Pisonis.

DR. DAVIDDE: The Pisoni
family was a very
important family

during the reign of Nero.

NARRATOR: Gaius
Calpurnius Piso was a
high-ranking senator,

one of Rome's richest
and most powerful men.

From his villa at
Baiae he watched Nero's
excesses for 11 years,

until the building of
the Domus Aurea on the
scorched ruins of Rome

drove him into action.

One year after the fire,
Piso organized a plot
to kill Nero at Baiae.

One of the conspirators
instructed a former
servant to sharpen a knife

for the assassination,

but the suspicious man
reported his former master
to Nero's secretary,

foiling the plot and
revealing the 41
conspirators.

A vengeful Nero ordered
Piso to commit suicide, a
noble death in Roman eyes.

The others were executed,
or forced into exile.

DR. DAVIDDE: Nero,
discovered them, kill them

and took all the properties
of the Pisoni family.

NARRATOR: Barbara's
investigation at
Baiae helps show

how Nero lost favor with
the political elite

who despised his
indulgent palace.

He escaped Piso's plot but
it marked the beginning of
the end for Nero,

his reputation, and his
extravagant Domus Aurea.

In central Rome, on
the Palatine Hill,

Maria Teresa has found more
clues that could shed light

on the ultimate fate of the
emperor's hated building.

PROF. D'ALESSIO: We are quite
sure that there is a basin

because we have
waterproof mortar

inside the basin and we have
lots of scrap materials like
metals and glasses.

So it's probably functioned
for the production
of these materials.

NARRATOR: Finding the
scrap metal and basin
suggests an industrial use

for the area, probably
a metal working shop.

It's a huge change for
a site once next to an
imperial palace.

In a different part of
the site, the team make
another discovery.

PROF. D'ALESSIO: We
have found these
incredible stairways

that was built later
during the imperial age.

We have different levels
inside the building,

the bottom level and
another floor upstairs.

And it connects the lower
part of this square

and this street with
the upper level of the
Palatine probably.

We are the first
archaeologists who
found these stairways.

So we are very
excited about this.

NARRATOR: Maria
Teresa recognizes this
type of construction.

PROF. D'ALESSIO:
Something similar was
excavated near here

in another part
of the Palatine.

And it was like a great
market built under Hadrian.

NARRATOR: A change in use of
this space, from an imperial
building to a public market

could be an important
clue to the demise of
the Domus Aurea.

PROF. D'ALESSIO: It is very
interesting that it could
be an old market because

Nero wants all this area
for himself, for his
private, own palace.

Later emperors destroyed
this project of Nero's

and they built other
structures here, probably
with a public function,

just to give the Roman
citizens what Nero took
for himself.

NARRATOR: Maria Teresa's work
helps prove the Domus Aurea
was deliberately buried

by later Emperors.

Her search for more
evidence continues.

Inside the underground
remains of the Domus Aurea.

Maria is checking on the
progress the conservation
team is making.

NARRATOR: After days
of painstaking work,

they have managed to
recover delicate paintings

of human figures
and ornate columns.

The team still has a lot
of work ahead of them.

In the humid microclimate
inside the Domus Aurea,

the fight against its
deterioration will continue.

But the team's efforts have
been successful so far,

bringing new sections
of Nero's buried palace

back into view for the
first time in 2000 years.

NARRATOR: Darius's
investigation into
Nero's notoriety

and the fate of the Domus
Aurea finally brings him

to Rome's most famous
landmark: the Colosseum.

He spots a clue abandoned,
in a corner of the
Colosseum square.

DR. ARYA: So over here
you have an inscription,
it's a modern inscription,

and it says that this outline
here is for the base

of where the colossal
Statue of Nero once stood.

NARRATOR: This colossal 125
feet tall statue originally
stood at the entrance

of the Domus Aurea, but was
moved to this new location
after Nero's death.

According to ancient
writers, by 68 AD,

Nero was so reviled
his Praetorian Guard
deserted him.

Fearing for his life,
he fled Rome with just
four attendants

to take refuge in
a suburban villa.

The senate declared Nero a
public enemy, and sentenced
him to be beaten to death.

When guards finally
came to arrest him,

Nero begged his private
secretary, Epaphroditus,

to help him commit suicide.

Nero was dead but his
Domus Aurea remained.

Darius finds more traces
of the old palace around
the Colosseum.

DR. ARYA: So we have
right here a bunch of
shaved down walls,

and we can tell this
is Neronian by the
building typology,

by the kind of bricks.

Here these truncated walls
were part of pavilion spaces

that then lined the lake
that was part of the
Domus Aurea complex.

NARRATOR: Shortly
after Nero's death the
new Emperor, Vespasian,

ordered the lake
to be drained.

He wanted to make way
for a new construction:

the Colosseum.

DR. ARYA: That's a bold
political statement.

It's a powerful
political message.

Placing that very public
amphitheater in a place that
had previously been occupied

by this exaggerated
residential complex of
Nero, the Domus Aurea.

NARRATOR: Vespasian and
successive Roman Emperors
were careful not to flaunt

their spectacular wealth.

Building by building
they buried Nero's
Golden House,

and gave central Rome
back to the Roman people.

The magnificent
palace was buried,

leaving its golden
rooms and precious
frescoes to rot,

alongside Nero's
reputation.

DR. ARYA: It's really hard
nowadays to rehabilitate
the character

and the reign of Nero.

He did obviously bear the
brunt of people's anger

and displeasure when
he created his massive
Domus Aurea.

He ends up dying alone.

Doesn't have much
of a great legacy.

NARRATOR: Though there
is some evidence Nero
was popular

with the common
people of Rome,

his reputation was forged
by historians writing

in the reign of his
immediate successors.

They may have tried
to curry their favor with
negative depictions of him.

DR. ARYA: I almost feel
sorry for Nero. Almost.

Ultimately, I think the
history books do judge
him fairly,

because his way of
running the government

and so forth weren't
really taking Rome in the
direction of stability

and continued success.

But we're still kind
of enamored with this
larger than life persona.

NARRATOR: This season,
our archaeologists have
unearthed new evidence

about Rome's most
notorious emperor,

and the fate of his
infamous palace.

Their combined downfall
was due to Nero's taste
for immeasurable luxury,

the sheer scale of
his golden palace,

and his land grab of
the smoldering ruins
of burned down Rome.

Their work will continue,
and their discoveries
will shed more light

on Rome's most
reviled emperor.

NARRATOR: In the shadow of
Hadrian's Wall in the north
of Britain archaeologists

are digging through
the ruined rubble of a
massive Roman mystery.

FRANK: This building,
was it built for
something special?

Totally unexpected.
Really excited.

NARRATOR: They're
uncovering buried
ancient treasures

that haven't seen
the light of day for
nearly 2,000 years.

FRANK: Is that an edge?

Because if it's not
wall, what is it?

This is just
bizarre, isn't it?

NARRATOR: Unlocking the
secrets of a forgotten
world on Rome's wildest

and most northern frontier.

MALE: Dog's came along and
placed its paw on there.

It's absolutely amazing.
That's phenomenal.

That's, that's just
a moment in time.

NARRATOR: Hadrian's Wall,
the biggest structure
the Romans ever built.

Constructed in 122 AD it
defined the most northern
edge of the greatest empire

the world had ever seen.

This was the final frontier
where Rome's Empire ended

and barbarian
territory began.

ROB: Hadrian's Wall
is fascinating.

When you look at a Roman
frontier it's not just about
big walls creating a border.

It's actually about a
dynamic culture,
dynamic landscape.

NARRATOR: Over a thousand
miles away in Rome,

spectacular monuments
are lasting testament
to the glory

of this ancient
civilization.

But now, teams of
archaeologists are
investigating the margins

of Rome's mighty empire to
unlock the secrets of their
most distant outposts.

ANDREW: The majority of
information is yet to come

and that's
extremely exciting.

NARRATOR: They're on a
mission to find out how
the Romans maintained

their far flung borders
and discovered what life
was like for those

at the very wildest
edges of the empire.

ANDREAS: Just by getting
their remains you really can
get in touch with the people

which were living
thousands of years ago.

It's like diving into
history and it's
really great.

NARRATOR: On a search for
answers, archaeologist
Andrew Birley has enlisted

an army of volunteers
to excavate a massive
frontier fort.

Known as Vindolanda
it lies just one mile
south of Hadrian's Wall.

ANDREW: Oh hang on a second.

PAUL: There we go.
ANDREW: Very crumbly.

What you've got there is
probably a little silver
denarius, a Roman coin.

That's going to be really
helpful to date the fill

that you're working
in right now.

NARRATOR: Andrew is
leading the excavation
and has lived and breathed

this incredible site
for his entire life.

ANDREW: I'm the third
generation of archaeologists

on this site and my
family's been involved

with Vindolanda, one way
or another, since 1929.

NARRATOR: Through nearly
100 years of digging
this fort,

Andrew and his ancestors
have made it their mission

to pick this site apart
stone by stone.

ANDREW: When you look
at stones like this
around about me,

they look like dusty
old Roman ruins.

But you've got to remember
they're populated and built
and inhabited by real people.

NARRATOR: Vindolanda Fort
is the perfect place

to unlock the secrets of
life in this wild frontier.

It was built by Roman
soldiers sent to
conquer this region

50 years before
Hadrian's Wall.

As the Romans drove
north across Britain
following their invasion,

they'd face battles
every step of the way.

In 60 AD a southern tribal
leader, Boudica, rebelled
against the Roman invasion.

She burnt down their
cities but finally the
Roman army prevailed.

Further north, another
fierce female leader,
Cartimandua,

also resisted but
eventually surrendered,

handing over rebels in
exchange for wealth
and protection.

But the tribes furthest
north would not yield
to the invaders.

They constantly raided
Roman camps and posed
a terrifying threat.

The Romans needed a
solution to the problem.

Vindolanda, a huge power
base was the Roman's attempt
to quell the barbarian north.

It was garrison for
over 300 years until the
end of the Roman Empire.

ANDREW: Vindolanda is an
incredible time capsule
preserved in this landscape.

It was the home of
thousands and
thousands of people.

An excavation like this can
give us a lot more detail

about how those people
lived their lives

and it's an opportunity
that we just can't miss.

N ARRATOR: Every stone they
lift may reveal another clue

to the story of those
people who lived on
this frontier.

Andrew and his team of
volunteers are now focused

on the southwest
corner of the site.

ANDREW: Right, let's
just lift that out

and see if there's anything
surviving in that mud.
It may or may not.

I think what you've got
there is the copper
alloy disease,

the bronze disease
and the artifact

has basically rotted
its way into the soil.

That's so frustrating.
So, you've got a tiny
little bit of a broach

and the rest of it's gone.
But it's a good start.

I'll go and get a
bag for that.

NARRATOR: Under Andrew's
watchful eye the volunteers

are beginning to
reveal floors and
walls across the site.

ANDREW: Can I just have
a little peek over here.

I don't know, that
just sort of.
FEMALE: Tinny.

ANDREW: Tinny sound,
yeah. I think you're
very close to it there.

That's really tight. That's
as good as a surface

you were working on
over there.

NARRATOR: The emerging
walls are evidence of
substantial buildings.

ANDREW: That's a beast
isn't it?

NARRATOR: More and more
walls begin to appear.

ANDREW: Because that wall
definitely goes underneath
where your hand shovel is.

And you've got no sign
of the wall where you're
kneeling have you? No.

Pop those out and see
if you've got an edge
of a corner.

NARRATOR: This looks
like a complete maze
of overlapping walls,

but to Andrew's expert
eye it reveals different
layers of occupation.

ANDREW: We're dealing with
hundreds of years of people
living on this site.

Building after building
popped on top of one
another.

New demolition,
new construction.

NARRATOR: The evidence of
Vindolanda suggests that
throughout their occupation

of this frontier, even
before Hadrian's Wall
was built,

the Roman's constantly
had to react and adapt
to new challenges.

The massive scale
of one building is
especially intriguing.

ANDREW: Where I'm
standing, I'm in quite
an exciting space.

I'm inside an Army Barrack
in one of the rooms and
all of this rubble

is the collapsed walls
fallen inside the rooms.

NARRATOR: The presence of
cavalry shows the strength

of the forces
stationed here.

The Roman army was
made up of legions
of foot soldiers.

But its cavalry
regiments were its most
powerful fighting force.

The most elite horsemen
were highly trained
soldiers called the alae.

Posted to Britain's
frontier, it's clear
that Rome had deployed

its toughest troops against
the northern tribes.

Some of the best riders
from across the whole
empire were selected

to join this elite unit.

With a daily range of up
to 50 miles, they could
offer rapid response

wherever and whenever a
threat arose in Rome's
wild frontiers.

Andrew's excavations at
Vindolanda reveal the true
level of military force

that the Roman's needed to
gain and then maintain its
most northern frontier.

ROB: Roman frontiers are
some of the most exciting
spaces in history.

It's a contact zone where
anything can happen.

NARRATOR: Originally
from New York State,

archaeologist Rob
Collins has made Rome's
northern frontier

his home and his passion
for the last 20 years.

Rob is now investigating the
terrain around Vindolanda
for more evidence

of how the Romans
protected themselves
at the edge of empire.

ROB: Looking at this
groove through the ground,
this is not natural.

This is man-made.
There's a real stark

V shape cut to it, and
it runs east and west.

NARRATOR: This ditch
stretches into the distance

and runs in exactly
the same direction
as Hadrian's Wall.

Its V shape suggests it's
military and there are other
signs it could be defensive.

ROB: This is incredible.

You can see these
lumps and bumps,

turfs of cut grass that
have been taken from the
surrounding landscape,

that have been stacked up
and actually build a nice
big mound behind that ditch.

NARRATOR: The mound
is evidence that this was
once a massive turf wall.

ROB: The fact that they
chose to build here in
turf might suggest

that there was a need for
speed for the Romans.

Everything they need to
build the turf wall is right
here in the local landscape.

NARRATOR: This was
a quick-fix solution to
create a border defense.

The mighty forces at
Vindolanda fort

were clearly not enough
to hold back the enemy.

ROB: This is a danger zone.

There is warfare,
there is raiding.

The Romans are in an
active landscape that
they are securing.

NARRATOR: This turf wall and
ditch were a crucial step

in the Romans' struggle
to gain this frontier.

It was the start of
the greatest construction
project in Roman history.

The Romans built Hadrian's
Wall after 40 years
of intense hostility.

It was 73 miles long, up
to 15 feet high and 10
feet thick.

It was heavily guarded
with small forts at
regular intervals

and watch towers in
between manned by
soldiers day and night.

Running parallel to the
wall along its north side,
they dug a defensive ditch.

And on the south side
strategically placed

garrisons held
hundreds of soldiers.

It's clear that this wild
territory was so dangerous
it could only be won

with a massive war and a
huge military presence.

It would take some 15,000
men six years to build.

Nearly 2,000 years later
its survival is testament

to the quality of
their workmanship.

Rob heads along the
wall scrutinizing every
inch of its surface.

ROB: This is a fairly
normal facing stone for
Hadrian's Wall.

But what the soldier that
carved the stone also did

was carve this
phallus in relief.

It's fascinating.

In the Roman period,
the phallus is a symbol

which is used for good
luck, for protection.

It's the sort of thing that
can ward off the evil eye.

And so, the inclusion of
a phallic symbol is a way

to activate that
sense of protection.

NARRATOR: It's a rare
glimpse into the
Roman mind set

and a very human
reminder of the fear
felt by the soldiers

as they built the wall
and tried to conquer
this wild frontier.

460 miles away in Kalkriese
in Germany on another of
Rome's remote frontiers.

NARRATOR: A team of
archaeologists is also
hunting for clues

to life on the front line.

The Romans marched
through this wilderness
intent on conquest.

Archaeologist Stefan
Burmeister is on a quest

to find out exactly
what happened.

STEFAN: We want to find
out what we actually
have on this site.

Could it have been
a Roman camp site?

And we hope to find
out this summer.

NARRATOR: This site
covers around 60 acres

and finding a camp is
like finding a needle
in a haystack.

MALE: Nothing (Laughs).

STEFAN: The problem of
identifying a Roman
campsite is

that it just is a very
short event in time.

Just installation for
one night perhaps.

It's not a very
strong installation.

Just very quickly built
and not really big,
firm walls.

And this is difficult
to detect after about
2,000 years.

NARRATOR: Centuries
of forest growth
makes uncovering

a lost marching camp
a huge challenge.

But scanning the ground,
it's clear that clues
are still buried

within the soil and the
team is determined to
uncover them.

NARRATOR: In the forests
of northern Germany.

ASTON: It's a metal object.

NARRATOR: The team
of archaeologists is
beginning to find

what they hope might be the
first tantalizing clues
of a lost Roman camp.

STEFAN: We have here this
brownish soil going down
here in this V shaped bottom

and fits very well
into the idea of a
Roman campsite.

NARRATOR: The V shaped
ditch is a fast and
effective defense.

Marking it out with
poles, Stefan and his
team have followed

the line of the ditch and it
seems to surround the area
where they are digging.

They believe it's strong
evidence of a marching camp.

In their on-site lab, they
analyze hundreds more
small metal fragments

discovered in the soil.

REBEKKA: There are a
lot of bronze fittings,

little attachments like
copper alloy buckles.

It's a little bit
like a big puzzle.

We have at least 300
fragments that we
need to put together.

NARRATOR: Conservator
Rebekka Kuiter
painstakingly cleans

every single
fragment by hand.

REBEKKA: I'm just
selectively under
the microscope

cleaning bit by bit.

That's quite time
consuming but it's
necessary to not damage

the objects any further.

NARRATOR: As Rebekka
removes 2,000 years
of dirt and corrosion,

the fragments begin to
reveal their secrets.

REBEKKA: We have a breast
plate here and it has
some small decorations

like a decorative washer,
which is worked into a
decorative shape.

This is the oldest plate
armor that is found in
such a complete fashion.

NARRATOR: The breast
plate is an incredibly
rare find.

Once Rebekka has cleaned
the armor up, it promises
an equally rare glimpse

into the life and death
of a soldier on Rome's
wild frontiers.

Just one mile south of
Hadrian's Wall, at
Vindolanda fort.

ANDREW: That's similar
if not the same.

Yeah, I think it's the
same vessel, I think
you're right.

Oh you've got a good
sort of mix of stuff
coming through.

NARRATOR: Andrew and
his team continue to
strip away the rubble,

searching for valuable clues
about the life of Romans who
established themselves

on Britain's wild frontier.

ANDREW: Can I just give
you that, there we go.
Good stuff.

FEMALE: How sweet.
ANDREW: It's a good start.

Right, we'll get that
logged in Amy. Thank
you very much.

NARRATOR: Marta
Alberti is second in
command of the dig.

MARTA: One of our volunteers
has just found this really
nice kitchen knife.

It's quite exciting. It's
in really lovely condition.

It's really nice to
go back in time

and think about everyday
life of these people

and how they sat down to have
their dinner or, you know,
lie down as Romans do.

NARRATOR: Soon another
surprising find reveals more
of every day Roman life

on this frontier.

MARTA: Gorgeous example.

This is a lovely
neck of a bottle.

You can see the
rim right there.

The body would have perhaps
been globular or kind of a
slight pear shape

and this could have been
used for either pouring

very fancy drinks or, more
likely, as a kind of
container of perfumes

and other beauty products.
Happy times.

NARRATOR: It's an
intriguing find.

Perfume was worn by men
and women, but probably
not by soldiers

while battling to
defend the border.

The team hunts for further
evidence that could reveal

why such a luxury item
was left here in the
frontline fort.

Back at the Kalkriese dig
site, the team is carefully

excavating a new find in
their Roman marching camp.

MARC: We found here
parts of an animal.

We can see these tooth and
they looked like horse.

Out of this context
and the rest of the
photographic profiles

I can say it's 90
percent Roman.

NARRATOR: This jaw bone is
evidence of an animal that
could have carried supplies,

or even a cavalry officer.

With a dead horse buried
here and Roman armor
lying not far away,

the story of this marching
camp is becoming increasingly
intriguing.

Stefan joins Rebekka in
the lab to analyze the
armor in more detail.

REBEKKA: And this
one is very bent.

STEFAN: Any idea why
it's so sharply bent?

REBEKKA: This one is
the one which is bent
like down.

STEFAN: So, it must have
been a blow or something
like that?

REBEKKA: Yeah.

NARRATOR: The wearer of
this armor had clearly
been in battle

and recent chemical analysis
reveals another more sinister
clue to his fate.

STEFAN: We had some
phosphate analysis and they
clearly give us the evidence

that there must have
been a body inside.

NARRATOR: The forest
soil is acidic.

So, over 2,000 years
the flesh and skeleton
rotted away

leaving only
chemical traces.

It's proof that the
soldier who wore this
armor died in it

and was still wearing
it when he was buried
in the ground.

The team believes there
is even more to this
macabre story.

REBEKKA: Right next to
the armor we also found
a pair of handcuffs,

the one that shackles
your hands and your neck.

And that's very interesting
that we find it in direct
neighborhood to the armor.

And we think that a
soldier might have
been shackled there.

STEFAN: This gives us the
impression that we have
here a shackled legionary

in his body armor and
displayed by the victors.

NARRATOR: The shocking
find suggests that a
Roman soldier

in full battle armor was
shackled, killed and left
to rot in the ground.

It's not the image of the
invincible Roman soldier
that we are used to.

But it does align with
ancient written accounts
of a catastrophic event

that happened here
2,000 years ago.

NARRATOR: In nine AD a
German chief and former
Roman soldier, Arminius,

rose up against
the Romans.

He spread a rumor
of a revolt in the
forested north

and tricked the Romans
into sending three
legions to suppress it.

Arminius knew the Roman
legions needed open
spaces to organize

into battle formation.

So, he lured them into the
Teutoburg forest where they
had to march single file.

Arminius' men attacked and
massacred 20,000 Romans.

One of the biggest
military disasters
in Roman history.

STEFAN: If the Romans
wouldn't have lost this
battle here in Kalkriese

we could suggest that
history would have taken a
completely different course.

NARRATOR: Success or
failure in Rome's
frontiers was clearly key

to the empire's fortunes.

STEFAN: The Romans
aimed to conquer
the whole world.

After the battle, in the end
they stopped their expansion
over the next generations.

NARRATOR: The Romans
were forced to retreat

and draw up their German
borders further south.

NARRATOR: In Mogglingen
in southern Germany,

a team of archaeologists
is investigating another
Roman frontier site,

over 200 miles south of
the catastrophic defeat
of Teutoburg,

this became the Romans
new Germanic frontier.

NARRATOR: The dig is led
by Andreas Schaflitzl.

ANDREAS: I'm most
interested in the way the
people are living here

far away from Rome.

The living, which is
not mentioned in the text
everybody learnt at school.

That's something which is
really, really interesting
to see and to get it.

Show me your rubbish and I
can tell you who you are.

NARRATOR: The team is
finding lots of Roman stone
work beneath the fields.

It looks like a mass
of buried rubble,

but for expert Andrea's
one section has the very
distinctive form

of a defensive ditch. Just
like the one in Kalkriese.

ANDREAS: We have
this typical V shape.

Let's look how deep it is.

So, we have 1 meter 40
and we are seeing erosion
takes around half a meter.

So, we think we will have
a ditch deep up to two
meters in Roman times.

That's pretty impressive.

A two meters ditch is for
fortification and defense.

So, it's very likely
that it would be in some
kind of military use.

NARRATOR: A 6 and a half
foot ditch could be evidence

of a previously
unknown Roman fort.

And a sign that the Romans
had to put up heavy defenses

in the years following
their catastrophic defeat.

Andreas heads into
the surrounding
forest to find out

how far the Roman frontier
defenses stretched.

ANDREAS: Here these are
stones between the roots.

Here is what we
are searching for.

These are the stones
are lying in one line.

It is the outside of the
wall which directs here

next to this tree and
comes under this pathway.

NARRATOR: To Andreas'
expert eye,

a leafy covered bank is
evidence of a buried
ruined structure.

ANDREAS: Here on the slope
we have overgrown section
of a very good preserved

remains of the wall.

If we count the slopes
here and the debris

and count them together
how high we would get,

it was a wall, it was
approximately three
meters high.

NARRATOR: To investigate
the true scale of the wall,

Andreas examines high
tech digital surveys
of the region.

ANDREAS: If you go
up in the air

and using the LIDAR
technique then you
can scan the terrain.

Removing all the trees
and then you will see

how this wall is straight
going through the forest.

NARRATOR: It's clear that
this once formed part of a
massive frontier defense,

just like Hadrian's
Wall in Britain.

Known as the Limes
Germanicus the Romans built
this massive border defense

in the century
fallowing their defeat

at the Teutoburg
Forest in nine AD.

It would eventually stretch
350 miles includes 60 forts
and over 900 watch towers.

The Limes Germanicus
suggests the beginnings
of a new imperial policy.

The Romans realized
that before they could
expand their empire,

they first needed to
consolidate and defend
their borders.

100 years later, Hadrian's
Wall became the ultimate
symbol of this strategy.

Andreas and his team
continue their dig to
hunt for evidence

of what life was like
after the Romans heavily
defended this border.

South of the Romans'
wall across Britain,
at Vindolanda Fort.

PAUL: I think I've
found a coin Marta.

NARRATOR: The finds
keep on coming.

MARTA: Oh there you go.
PAUL: Ah, you can actually
see the silver on it,

can't you?
MARTA: That's lovely.

He's got a beard.

Almost resembles Paul.
PAUL: (Laughs) Thank you.

MARTA: Turn around,
give me a profile.

PAUL: No, no, no,
it's the Roman nose.
MARTA: Perfect.

NARRATOR: The treasures
the team is unearthing

at Vindolanda are not
just military artifacts.

They suggest that
this fort has a more
complex story.

MARTA: We have the
largest collection
of leather objects

anywhere in the
Roman Empire.

And that equates to
7,000 leather artifacts,
of which 5,000 are shoes.

NARRATOR: Organic
material like clothing
normally decays

and is lost to the
archaeological record.

But these items are
incredibly well preserved.

MARTA: Things have been
buried so far down

and covered with so much
debris and so much clay

that oxygen from the outside
world does not penetrate
those deeper layers.

This means that objects
made of leather survive
really well.

NARRATOR: These objects
offer fascinating insights

into the lives of
the fort's inhabitants.

MARTA: This is a very
elaborate gentleman shoe

and it's got lovely cut
out leather uppers.

If we turn this shoe
around we can see a
pattern of hob nails.

Hob nails are very
useful in muddy places
like Vindolanda

because they allow
for a better grip.

NARRATOR: This is an
amazing glimpse of a
shoe actually worn

by one of Rome's
frontline soldiers.

But it's not the only
type of footwear here.

MARTA: So, if we look
at this shoe, it's
much smaller.

And we think it's
a lady's shoe.

If this is indeed
a lady's shoe,

then we've got
contemporary
occupation of the fort

by both soldiers and women.

NARRATOR: And the collection
reveals something even more
extraordinary.

MARTA: We've got
interesting evidence right
here of children's shoes.

Very, very nicely
decorated upper, some
nice lattice work.

The reason why shoes
are so exciting to me

is that they bring you
really close to the wearer.

You can imagine a child
running around in this rather
sophisticated footwear.

Or maybe it's raining and
you want to put on a more
closed boot like this one.

NARRATOR: Finds like these
help archaeologists piece
together what life was like

for those living at
the furthest reaches
of the Roman Empire.

When Roman soldiers arrived
here in about 85 AD,

they rapidly built a fort
of earth and grassed turf.

Along the top they added
a wooden parapet and
watch towers.

Under constant threat from
the locals they had to
strengthen its defenses,

finally opting for
a stone rampart.

This formed a defensive
wall completely
surrounding Vindolanda.

And the finds prove it wasn't
just a massive fighting force
stationed here.

The soldiers' families lived
here too, in a settlement
alongside the fort.

As Andrew and his team
dig deeper, they discover
more surprising evidence

about these communities.

ANDREW: This here is
a semicircular curve
coming through.

Probably for a wattle
and daub building.

NARRATOR: The curved
shape means that this is
no ordinary Roman house.

ANDREW: So, we've got local
architecture coming in here,
which is fantastic to see.

But what on earth is it
doing inside a Roman fort?

NARRATOR: In Mogglingen,
southern Germany, Andreas

and his team are uncovering
more evidence of the Romans

who lived by the
Limes Germanicus, the
massive border wall.

ANDREAS: You see here
mortar on the stones.

NARRATOR: As more of
the buried evidence
is unearthed,

Andreas discovers some
unusual stone work.

ANDREAS: Here we
have a structure.

You can see here some
stones which were
standing upside.

It could be a
foundation for a statue.

NARRATOR: Statue bases
like this are not usually
found in military forts.

So, Andreas now suspects
this is evidence of a very
different building here.

ANDREAS: With the other
evidences we have found now,

it could be part of a
sanctuary or of sacrifice
space taking place here.

NARRATOR: Sanctuaries were
built throughout the empire

for citizens to worship
emperors and gods.

Finds like this add to
our understanding of life
at the fringes of empire.

They show these weren't
just militarized zones.

Roman civilization and
culture also took root

behind the protection
of these border walls.

In Carlisle, on the western
wing of Hadrian's Wall.

FRANK: Is that an edge?
Because if it's not
wall, what is it?

This is just bizarre
isn't it?

NARRATOR: Archaeologist
Frank Giecco is leading an
excavation to discover

the extent of the
Roman presence here.

FRANK: Oh, it's an
incredible opportunity.

Carlisle has always had
a strategic location.

It controls the crossing
point between basically

present day England
and Scotland.

It's always been
a key place.

NARRATOR: Carlisle was once
the site of the biggest
fort on Hadrian's Wall.

But its Roman heritage is
almost completely buried
beneath the modern city.

FRANK: If we've seen two
percent I'd be amazed.

Probably we've still got,
you know, 98 percent of
Roman Carlisle to find.

So, plenty more secrets
I'm sure to be revealed
on this site.

NARRATOR: After
painstakingly removing
the top soil,

the team is rewarded with
some tantalizing glimpses
of life 2,000 years ago.

FRANK: That's got to
be a dog hasn't it?

That must be not
quite set

and a dog has come
along and placed
its paw on there.

It is absolutely amazing.

NARRATOR: These clay
tiles were made locally

and clearly left out in
the open air to dry.

FRANK: I've just
noticed this.

The prints of a deer
that walked on it
when it was laid out

to dry before it was fired.

So, that's a little moment
in time captured forever.

NARRATOR: As the team
excavates, it's finding
lots of these clay tiles.

Many are neatly stacked
in columns exactly as
the Romans left them.

Frank thinks it's a sure fire
indication of the structure
they've discovered.

FRANK: These clay pillars
would have supported the
under floor heating

for the bath house complex.

So, we've got fragments
of floor, the walls,
the ceiling,

this just massive
jumble of material.

But it's incredible
for us archaeologists

because it's just a
snapshot in time that
it's preserved there.

NARRATOR: Communal
bath houses were a
staple of Roman life.

Grand examples survive
in Rome and Pompeii.

Soldiers also enjoyed this
luxury in smaller versions
inside their forts.

But a bath house of this
scale in a garrison town

on Britain's frontier
is surprising.

FRANK: This building
is probably four times

the size of a standard
military bath house.

Was it built for
something special?

Totally unexpected.

Really excited.

NARRATOR: As the team digs,
a group of strangely shaped

objects are another
unexpected discovery.

KEVIN: These formed
a curved roof.

The way they worked is it
has a small nozzle and
that slots into there

and so you can adjust
the angle of your
curve on the roof.

So, these ceramic tubes are
thought to have come over

from North Africa in the
early third century.

And they were an African
method of making a
lightweight roof.

FRANK: Just an amazing
bit of the site isn't it?

NARRATOR: The more the team
digs, the more enticing
this bath house becomes.

It is far bigger
than expected in
military territory

and there are
African influences.

The team continues to hunt
for more clues to find out
what it can reveal

about Rome's wild frontier.

NARRATOR: At
Vindolanda, Andrew and
his team dig deeper

around the mysterious
round shaped buildings

that they've uncovered
in the Roman fort.

ANDREW: Okay. We've got a
black stain curving around

in the soil here
and it's circular,

so it's got to be
a roundhouse.

You can just about make
out the curve just beyond
it there of a stone wall

coming through and
that's the stone version
of the timber version

we're looking at here where
we've just got the stains.

NARRATOR: The two round
houses are not expected
in a Roman fort.

ANDREW: The Romans don't
built round houses.

The native Britains do,
but the Romans don't.

NARRATOR: As the team
continues to dig
across the site,

more evidence of these
mysterious round
houses emerges.

ANDREW: There's a curve
there, isn't there? Oooo.

It's possible we have
another circular hut
coming through.

NARRATOR: The site is
covered with a whole village
of British round houses.

They seem to be
contemporary with the fort.

Andrew and the team
dig inside them to find
out what's going on.

ANDREW: That is absolutely
gorgeous. Beautifully made.

NARRATOR: And finally
uncover a clue.

ANDREW: It just shows you
the sort of preservation
as part of the site.

Wow. What a lovely thing.

That's definitely Roman
rather than British.

It's a sort of a
traditional military
style quern stone.

A really nice one.

NARRATOR: Quern stones are
tools that the Romans used
to grind cereals into flour.

It's startling evidence that
Romans and conquered Britains
were living side by side.

In Carlisle, 25 miles west
along Hadrian's Wall,

archaeologists investigating
the massive lost bath house

analyze their finds
in the dig's lab.

REBEKKA: Yeah, I know
that's nice isn't it. It's
even got his head on.

This could be an antler.

It's like a little
pick and mix.

FRANK: That's
beautiful isn't it?

NARRATOR: They hope to find
clues to why such an enormous
bath house was built here.

They meticulously sieve and
scrutinize every bucket of
earth from the excavation

to make sure they don't
miss any tiny treasures.

REBEKKA: It looks like two,
yeah two halves of plenty.

FEMALE: Is it a
figure though?

REBEKKA: Yeah, it is a
figure. It's a person
with a hat on.

NARRATOR: Objects like
this small jewel probably

fell out of a ring or
broach while its owner
was bathing.

Its good evidence
that this was not a
military bath house

and its bathers were a
little more genteel.

Frank and the team think
that clues on the tiles

hold the key to why
such a grand bath house
was built here.

REBEKKA: So, we've got
these the stamp I M P.

So, we've got the I,
we've got the M and we've
got the P for imperator.

NARRATOR: In ancient Latin
imperator means Emperor.

These tiles have the
Emperor's personal stamp.

FRANK: Just the
word imperator.

It's not a legionary tile
or an auxiliary tile.

This is the imperial court
and that's, that's the thing

that makes this
building, you know,

other than the size and
where they've come from,
this little stamp here it's.

FEMALE: It's what
makes it so special.

REBEKKA: It makes
it special.

NARRATOR: The inscription
suggests this bath house

may have been an
imperial building,

built as a personal
gift to the city
from an emperor.

It's an incredibly
discovery and suggests
that the emperor himself

was taking a keen interest
in this frontier.

Frank believes further
clues reveal the identity
of this emperor.

FRANK: We've got the
inscription that's
likely to be his wife,

you know, Septimus
Julia Domna.

NARRATOR: Julia Domna
was the wife of the Roman
emperor Septimius Severus.

Suddenly, the presence
of a massive bath house

with African tiles is
beginning to make sense.

In the early third
century, African born
emperor Septimius Severus

came to Britain to rule the
Roman empire from York.

He strengthened Hadrian's
Wall and its forts and built
granaries to supply campaigns

even further to the north.

The garrisons alongside
the wall were transforming

from military bases to
communities and villages.

And so the emperor
constructed Carlisle's
spectacular bath house

as a bold statement that this
far flung frontier garrison

was now an established
fully Roman town.

FRANK: By the third century,
Carlisle isn't just a
frontier garrison town.

It's not the Wild West.

It was part of the
Roman Empire.

NARRATOR: On Hadrian's
Wall, Rob is heading to
one of the 80 small forts

which the Romans built
at regular intervals
along its length.

He's on the hunt to
understand more about
the relationship

between the Romans
and the locals.

Sitting directly on the
wall, these installations

would have provided one of
the first points of contact

between soldiers
and barbarians.

ROB: These are very
nicely prepared in
cut stone blocks.

You can see how they,
how they join together,

how they sit on top of
each other very neatly.

You can see that here
and, and also here on
the other side,

which has been laid
to create a gate.

NARRATOR: This gate was
clearly the main entrance
for the small platoon

of soldiers stationed here.

Venturing further
towards the far side
of the mile castle,

Rob spots something
intriguing.

ROB: Now, these blocks
are really interesting.

They're very large,
they're heavy blocks.

These blocks are
evidence of another gate.

NARRATOR: The position
of this second gate is
a surprise

because it forms a
break in the wall.

ROB: What this tells us is
not only that mile castles

could allow soldiers
in from the south,

but also there's a gate
which allowed access north
into barbarian lands.

If there are 80-mile
castles, if there are 80
gates through Hadrian's Wall

that can be found every
mile along its length,

that raises questions about
just how closed a barrier
the wall is intended to be.

NARRATOR: This evidence
suggests that the Romans
didn't close off the frontier

completely and Hadrian's
Wall wasn't an
impervious barrier.

With fortified breaks in the
wall, they could control

who was coming into
their territory and
also had easy access

points to expand their
frontiers further.

At the dig site in
Carlisle, Frank and the
team have expanded

their excavation
alongside the bath house

and are unearthing
a curious structure.

They've uncovered a
beautifully preserved
cobble surface

which they believe
is a Roman road.

FRANK: We're quite
excited about this
little stretch of road.

It's heading towards
Hadrian's Wall and
the mile castle.

NARRATOR: Soldiers stationed
in the mile castles would
have needed supplies

but this road side is
producing a surprising
wealth of finds.

FRANK: So, this is just
some of the stuff we've
found today from this area,

which is a really
nice little assembly.

So, we've got animal bone,
coarse pottery, fine pottery
that's been imported

from France, nails from the
timber buildings and bits of
amphora from southern Spain.

So, this has just given
us an idea of what was
going on in this area.

So, basically people are
preparing food, eating food.

So we've got cooking.

These are basically just
fast food restaurants.

NARRATOR: The
cosmopolitan finds reveal
that diners here

could enjoy all the trappings
of fine Roman living from
around the empire.

This is more like
a bustling high street
than a military highway.

And with gateways in the
mile castles, it's possible

that this road didn't
just head to the wall,
it went through it.

FRANK: This could have
been quite a busy road

with people coming north
and south beyond the wall.

Could they have been
coming here just to
have something to eat?

It would have been
probably the first place
south of Hadrian's Wall

where you could have
got a glass of wine.

NARRATOR: This latest
discovery shines new light
on life on both sides

of Hadrian's Wall.

It is startling
evidence that it
changed dramatically

in the 300 years that
the wall was in use.

These new investigations
are transforming

our understanding
of Hadrian's Wall

and life in Rome's
wildest frontiers.

These territories were
once so dangerous that
they not only required

a huge military presence
but monumental border
walls to control them.

In the shadow of these
mighty defenses, Rome began
to tame the wilderness.

Families grew up alongside
the soldiers garrisoned
in their forts,

their civilization began to
flourish with sumptuous
bath houses and sanctuaries

and people from both sides
of the wall may have enjoyed
the luxuries of Roman life.

ROB: It would be very
easy to dismiss frontiers
as the edge of empire,

not something that's
really important to an
emperor sitting in Rome.

But actually, it's
exactly the opposite.

Frontiers are about
securing the peace of
the Roman Empire.

Without the Roman
frontiers,

we would not have
the Roman Empire.

NARRATOR: In Herculaneum,
Italy, archaeologists
make a shocking discovery.

At the edge of the
ancient town, a skeleton
emerges from the dirt.

FRANCESCO: We will study
his DNA because we know that
his DNA tell us something.

NARRATOR: It's the first
new body discovered
here in over 25 years.

This skeleton could provide
tantalizing clues to this
town's final moments

and the apocalyptic event
that sealed its fate.

In 79 AD the Roman
world experienced

one of the greatest
catastrophes in
known history:

the eruption of
Mount Vesuvius.

It devastated the
surrounding towns
and villages,

burying them beneath layers
of volcanic pumice and ash.

Pompeii, on the
volcano's southern
slope, was destroyed

and is famous for its
crushed homes and
bodies frozen in time.

But nearby, on Vesuvius's
western slope, lies a
lesser-known town:

Herculaneum.

Buried four times deeper than
Pompeii, it has survived in
extraordinary condition.

Today, a team of
archaeologists, geologists

and forensic anthropologists
search for clues

to uncover what happened
to Herculaneum and its
thousands of residents.

To piece together the
final deadly 24 hours
of the eruption.

PROF. WALLACE-HADRILL:
There is something just so
special about this site;

it's a little jewel.

NARRATOR: Archaeologist,
Andrew Wallace-Hadrill,

first visited this ancient
town as a teenager.

He was so fascinated by
it that he has spent most
of his career working

to preserve the site
and its treasures.

PROF. WALLACE-HADRILL:
We've only excavated
something like a quarter

of the site of Herculaneum.

There is still
stuff to excavate.

NARRATOR: Archaeologists
have discovered some of the
best preserved buildings

in the Roman world here.

Andrew searches the site,
looking for evidence

of the ways in which
Herculaneum's fate
differed from Pompeii's.

PROF. WALLACE-HADRILL:
Isn't this place
absolutely stunning?

Up above us, you can see
that there's a second floor.

This is something you
get in Herculaneum.

Pompeii is kind of
decapitated by the eruption.

You've just got the
ground floor, and
now we can see, ah,

there's a whole life going
on up above us, rooms above
here and above there.

NARRATOR: Dozens of
houses in Herculaneum

have beautifully preserved
walls and upper floors.

And there's more.

PROF. WALLACE-HADRILL:
Over here, we've got
what has to be a bedroom.

You know it's a bedroom
because, for once,
you've got a bed in it.

In Pompeii, you don't find
beds; they disappeared,
they were made of wood.

In Herculaneum the
wood is preserved.

NARRATOR: Artifacts like
this are exceptionally rare,

making this town an
ancient treasure trove.

PROF. WALLACE-HADRILL:
Over here, we have this
glorious wooden screen,

which enabled you then
to close off this room.

Obviously, this is cased
in glass and metal,

but in there is the original
wood of the screen,
stunningly preserved.

NARRATOR: The wooden bed and
screen are blackened by the
eruptions but, remarkably,

they are still intact.

PROF. WALLACE-HADRILL:
They probably had wooden
screens in Pompeii too,

but pfft, gone.

Here were many wooden details
that get preserved; beams,
shutters, all sorts of stuff.

NARRATOR: At Pompeii, just
over 8 miles away the eruption
incinerated wooden objects.

This stark difference suggests
that the volcanic eruption

hit Herculaneum in a
very different way.

To uncover how these wooden
objects have survived,

the team needs to
continue their
investigation of the town

and find out what happened
on the day Vesuvius erupted.

14 miles west of
Herculaneum, across
the Bay of Naples,

Jasmine Elmer explores
the location of the former
Roman town of Misenum.

Jasmine wants to
investigate two ancient
letters written by someone

who claims to have witnessed
the volcanic eruption of 79
AD from here.

JASMINE: It's such an amazing
treat to have letters
like this that survived.

We have so few
eyewitness accounts
from the ancient world,

let alone of something
so catastrophic.

NARRATOR: These letters
are just two of hundreds
written by a Roman

known as Pliny the Younger.

JASMINE: In Pliny's letters,
we have an account of what
he calls a cladde,

a catastrophe, a
disaster, that happens

and seeing what he calls
an unusual cloud of size
and appearance.

NARRATOR: The letters
recount that 17-year-old
Pliny was in Misenum

with his mother and his
uncle, a Naval Commander,

also called Pliny, when
they noticed a dark
cloud to the east.

Pliny the Elder, a natural
philosopher at heart,

climbed to higher ground
to get a better view

of the peculiar phenomenon,
and saw the cloud was
arising from a mountain.

He ordered a light vessel
from his fleet to be readied

for him to sail across the
bay to take a closer look.

But, before he set sail,
Pliny the Elder received a
message from his friend,

Rectina, in distress near
Mount Vesuvius, pleading
for his help.

He turned his crossing
into a rescue mission.

Pliny the Younger's
letters, written in Latin,

were penned decades after
the catastrophic eruption.

leading experts to question
the accuracy of his account.

JASMINE: These letters
were written to the
Roman historian Tacitus,

about 25 years
after the event.

Now, some people might
say that makes them
slightly unreliable

and how accurate is
Pliny's memory of the
events that occurred?

NARRATOR: Jasmine wants
to investigate the
letters to explore

how reliable Pliny's
account of the eruption is.

If his story stands up
to modern scrutiny,

it could help explain
what happened to towns

like Herculaneum
during the eruption.

Jasmine plans to follow
in the footsteps of
Pliny the Elder,

to see if it would have
been possible to launch

a Naval rescue mission
from these waters.

JASMINE: Here in the Latin,
we see that Pliny the
Elder goes "in periculum"

into the danger zone.

Where others are
fleeing, he is going.

Now, is this true of what
happened, or is Pliny

the Younger trying to
embellish the bravery
of his uncle?

NARRATOR: Today, the
ruins of Herculaneum
lie just inland,

but due to land movement
and sea level changes
over two millennia,

in 79 AD Herculaneum
was right on the coast.

Several bodies have been
discovered along the
town's ancient beach.

At his lab at Chieti
University, Luigi Capasso
investigates the remains

of a skeleton previously
excavated here.

NARRATOR: For more than
two decades, Luigi has
been working alongside

archaeologists to study the
bones of people found here
in Herculaneum.

He wants to unravel the
stories of those who
died in the eruption.

Their remains could help
reveal what happened in
this town's final hours.

LUIGI: Okay, this is
the last, finished.

We have a near complete
skeleton of a man,
probably 40-45 age.

This skeleton show many
traces of trauma that
occurred before death.

For example, the left femur
shows a previous injury that
caused new bone formation.

We have the traces
on the face.

This trauma is due to a
violent impact with a
very hard object.

NARRATOR: This evidence
suggests the man lead a
violent life.

Further clues uncovered
alongside him shed more
light on his story.

When the skeleton was
excavated, archaeologists
discovered a bag containing

a blade characteristic
of an ancient Roman
woodworking tool.

By his side, the
remains of a sword
with an ivory handle.

He carried 14 coins of
silver and gold; a sign
he was a wealthy man.

Next to his body,
archaeologists discovered

the charred remains
of an upturned boat.

Who was this man and
what was he doing on the
ancient beach that day?

Examining the skeleton, an
intriguing piece of evidence
catches Luigi's eye.

LUIGI: So, can be
very interesting

to see the detail of this
part under the microscope.

This very strange
combination, a total
co-penetration

between the metal
to the bone.

NARRATOR: The microscope
analysis reveals a piece
of metal has fused

to the man's hip bone.

To try to understand how
this happened, Luigi
examines an image

of the objects found
alongside the skeleton.

LUIGI: These two swords was
found in connection with
the body and probably

one of the piece of metal
that is lost in this object,
fused with the bone.

NARRATOR: Luigi believes
the heat produced during

the volcanic eruption
fused part of the sword
to the man's hip.

This evidence offers Luigi a
clue to the man's identity.

LUIGI: The archaeological
evidence, such as the sword,

fit with the evidence
of previous injuries

so we can conclude that
this man was a soldier.

NARRATOR: The elaborate
design of the sword,
and an ornate belt,

suggest he wasn't
a regular soldier.

He was likely a
high-ranking
Praetorian Guard.

The Praetorian Guard was an
elite military unit that
protected the Emperor.

Only the bravest Roman
soldiers who had proved
their worth in battle,

were chosen to
join the unit.

They weren't just
skilled fighters.

The Praetorian Guard
included specialist
soldiers,

such as naval engineers,
known as the Faber Navalis.

They served for
shorter terms than
ordinary soldiers,

but were paid up to
three and a half times
their salaries.

There is no evidence of
a military base at
Herculaneum.

The closest was in
Misenum across the bay.

This elite naval
engineer may have been
part of a rescue mission.

He could be evidence to
support Pliny's account.

Analysis of the boat
discovered next to him
could yield more clues.

NARRATOR: East of
Herculaneum, Volcanologist
Giuseppe Mastrolorenzo

ascends the slope of
the infamous volcano,
Mount Vesuvius.

He's looking for evidence
that could help shed
light on the sequence

of volcanic events that
took place during the
79 AD eruption.

GIUSEPPE: Okay now, I
can see the hot spot.

NARRATOR: Mount Vesuvius
lies just five miles
from Herculaneum

and is still an
active volcano.

Normally, visitors to
this iconic spot can't go
further than the outer rim.

But Giuseppe has studied
Vesuvius for over 30 years

and has been granted
permission to descend
into the crater.

GIUSEPPE: This is a
monitoring station used
for monitoring the CO2

which is emitted
from the ground.

NARRATOR: Monitoring
stations are dotted
around the crater.

They detect any sign the
volcano is heating up.

GIUSEPPE: Beneath here,
there is a very wide
magma chamber,

and we must detect any
change which can be a
possible indicator.

NARRATOR: Giuseppe uses a
digital thermometer to check
today's surface temperature.

GIUSEPPE: Okay, it
is relatively low.

Well, the temperature
in this area is less
than 30 degrees Celsius,

which is normal in
this period.

There have been no change.

You are safe here, today.

NARRATOR: Safe to proceed
with his investigation
of the volcano,

Giuseppe continues
along the crater's edge.

GIUSEPPE: In 79 AD, this area
was completely different, so
there was not this crater,

which has been formed
in the last centuries.

But the eruption
started from some
place around here.

NARRATOR: During the
eruption, some 12 million
tons of volcanic ash

and rock was propelled into
the atmosphere every minute.

GIUSEPPE: During this
phase, the first eruptive
column was formed.

This column is an
increasing column of gas

and particles which can
reach the elevation of
about 35 km

three times the
maximum elevation
of an aircraft.

NARRATOR: This giant column
of ash aligns with Piny

the Younger's account of
seeing an unusual cloud
arising from the mountain.

On the ground,
Giuseppe spots a clue
to what happened next

at the nearby town of
Herculaneum and Pompeii.

GIUSEPPE: These rocks
are about the size of the
pumice that fell in Pompeii.

The particles were blown
by the wind to the east,
toward Pompeii,

and so a fallout of particles
occurred and lasted for
hours, for hours and hours.

NARRATOR: Expert
analysis of pumice

and ash deposits
has revealed a
north-westerly wind

blew the cloud of volcanic
debris away from Herculaneum
and over Pompeii.

The burning hot rocks
and thick ash rained
down on Pompeii,

causing roofs to collapse,
crushing and killing those
sheltering in their homes.

Herculaneum, located to
the west of the volcano,

and its population of
more than 4,000 people,

were initially spared
from this rocky fallout.

GIUSEPPE: The people
in Herculaneum observed
this giant column.

I think they were
terrified.

NARRATOR: The
north-westerly wind
saved Herculaneum

from the bombardment
that hit Pompeii,

allowing time for escape,
and for Pliny the Elder to
launch a rescue mission.

To uncover what happened
next to Herculaneum and
its remaining residents,

Giuseppe needs to investigate
the layers of volcanic debris
inside the town.

Off the coast of the
ancient town of Misenum,
Jasmine continues her hunt.

She is searching for
evidence to corroborate
Pliny the Younger's account

of his uncle's
rescue mission.

JASMINE: Pliny the Elder
orders some quadriremes,
some Romany military ships,

to cross the Bay of Naples
with him at the helm.

NARRATOR: Pliny the Elder's
fleet sets off from Misenum

and heads towards the
base of Vesuvius.

If Pliny had ships at
his disposal to launch
a rescue mission,

there must have been a
harbor somewhere nearby.

Jasmine searches the bay
for any evidence of one.

Rounding the coast, she
spots something intriguing.

JASMINE: You can just see
over there one pilae that
reaches out above the sea.

It's quite amazing
that we can see that.

Pilae have a few
functions: one is to mark
the edge of the harbor,

but also to provide
protection from the
waves coming in

from the Bay of Naples.

NARRATOR: The upper part of
this structure is modern,

but it sits on a
characteristically
Roman base.

Using satellite imagery,
remnants of other pilae are
visible beneath the surface.

They are unmistakable proof
of two Roman breakwaters
here marking the entrance

to a vast military port
that housed a unit of
Praetorian Guards.

JASMINE: You can see how
large it is, and it gives
us a great understanding

of how important this
harbor truly was.

It's all the more evidence
that Pliny had some 6,000
men at his disposal.

NARRATOR: The evidence of the
harbor suggests Pliny the
Younger's account of events

during the early stages
of the eruption is so
far accurate.

Pliny the Elder
could have launched his
rescue ships from here.

To continue to explore the
truth behind the letters,

Jasmine next intends to
retrace the fleet's
route across the bay,

towards Herculaneum.

JASMINE: You can imagine
the chaos that Pliny
the Elder was facing,

rushing around and
launching his rescue
mission to rescue

those people at the
foot of Mount Vesuvius.

NARRATOR: At Herculaneum,
Andrew wants to examine
the fragile remains

of the wooden boat discovered
next to the Praetorian Guard
on the ancient beach.

It could help determine if
he was one of Pliny's men.

PROF. WALLACE-HADRILL:
So here, we've got this
extraordinary thing.

At Herculaneum, wood survives,
wood is preserved, and that
meant that this is the only

example of a boat found in
Pompeii and Herculaneum.

NARRATOR: The high-tech
support cradle gives Andrew

the chance to study
the boat up close.

PROF. WALLACE-HADRILL: If you
look carefully, you see that
there is no room for a mast.

So that means it's
got to be rowed.

This is a big boat.

NARRATOR: Some think
this rowing boat is a
simple fishing vessel.

But it's big enough to
hold at least eight people

and Andrew believes
its size is a clue.

PROF. WALLACE-HADRILL: If
Admiral Pliny has said,

"Right, we're going to rescue
the people of Herculaneum,"

it makes sense to send
out a boat of this size.

So, I would like to
think that this is part
of the rescue mission.

NARRATOR: The discovery
of the Praetorian
Guard's skeleton,

next to the large boat, is
strong evidence that Pliny
did launch a rescue mission,

as his nephew later claimed.

This Praetorian made
it onto the beach, but
didn't make it out alive.

He died a horrific death, in
heat so powerful it melded
his sword to his bones.

To uncover exactly
what happened here,

the team must continue the
search for more evidence.

Pier Paolo Petrone has spent
most of his career studying

the bones found
at Herculaneum.

NARRATOR: He's keen to
uncover as much as he
can about the fate

of the people here.

NARRATOR: At the edge of the
archaeological site, on what
was once the town's beach,

engineers building a wall
make a shocking discovery.

Pier Paolo was immediately
called to the scene,

as they have just uncovered
a skeleton buried in layers
of volcanic debris,

close to where
the Praetorian
Guard was found.

NARRATOR: This is the first
new body found at Herculaneum
for more than two decades.

Pier Paolo uses a low-pressure
water jet to carefully wash
away surrounding debris

and expose the bones for
an initial examination.

The discovery is
so significant the
Park's director

oversees the excavation.

FRANCESCO: From the first
study, anthropological study,

we know that it was a
man aged between 40-45,

and we will study his DNA
because we know the DNA

from all these victims
tell us something.

NARRATOR: Pier Paolo's
team carefully removes
more debris

and uncovers wooden beams
lying across the body.

NARRATOR: The wooden
beams are evidence
that something sudden

and catastrophic
happened here, with a
force strong enough

to propel roofs across the
town, and onto the beach.

Analysis of the
beam's position on
top of the body

could reveal if these
were the cause of death.

NARRATOR: The team use a
hand-held 3D scanner

to digitally record
the position of the
skeleton in-situ,

before they remove the
remains for further study.

NARRATOR: This new
discovery could provide
more tantalizing clues

to Herculaneum's
final moments.

The victim's location on
the ancient beach adds

to the team's understanding
of what happened here.

And this man was not
alone on the shoreline.

Years earlier, when
archaeologists were
exploring buried stone

arches outside the
town, they discovered
over 300 skeletons.

In front of one arch,
they found a middle-aged
woman with her jewelry.

Precious rings still
hanging off her fingers.

Leaning against a
wall, a young woman.

Next to her, they
found tiny bones.

She was seven
months pregnant.

2,000 years ago, these
arches were entrance
to boathouses.

Analysis of how these victims
died could reveal what
happened in Herculaneum's

deadly final moments.

Fewer than 50 bodies
have been discovered
inside the town itself.

Most of the population
must have fled when
neighboring Pompeii

was being battered by
falling volcanic rocks.

NARRATOR: The size and
solidity of the boathouses
offers Pier Paolo a clue

to why these people
didn't flee.

NARRATOR: Earthquakes
often occur before
volcanic eruptions.

In 79 Ad, those who chose
not to flee the town likely

came to these sturdy
boathouses for shelter.

Not knowing they wouldn't
be safe this time.

Examining the positions of
the skeletons, Pier Paolo
notices something strange.

NARRATOR: People at
Herculaneum were not
found contorted

and twisted, like
those at Pompeii.

The evidence suggests
they suffered a very
different death.

Analyzing these skeletons
could uncover vital clues to
Herculaneum's final hours,

and how the aftermath of the
deadly eruption unfolded.

NARRATOR: On a boat
in the Bay of Naples,

Jasmine is tracing Pliny
the Elder's reported route

from the ancient harbor,
towards Vesuvius.

JASMINE: We're now going to
cross the Bay of Naples,

as Pliny the Elder did
with his fleet to rescue

those people at the
foot of Mount Vesuvius.

NARRATOR: According to
the ancient accounts,

the rescue ships headed
towards Herculaneum,

straight into the danger zone,
with Pliny the Elder aboard
observing the eruption.

But as they approached
the base of Vesuvius,

giant boulders propelled
out of the volcano
covered the shoreline,

blocking large
vessels from landing.

So, Pliny diverted his ships
further south to Stabiae,

where he was greeted
by a close friend,

Pomponianus, and planned his
return to the base of the
volcano the next morning.

Jasmine reaches the
modern shore of
Castellammare Di Stabia,

the location of
ancient Stabiae.

JASMINE: After an
unsuccessful attempt to
land at Herculaneum,

Pliny the Elder lands here at
Stabiae, where the conditions
are much more favorable.

He immediately consoles
his friend, Pomponianus,

who seems terrified by the
events that are happening.

However, at this time,
it's still possible that
those stranded around

the foothills of Vesuvius
had a chance of survival.

NARRATOR: Pliny's
account holds up so far.

So there was still hope
for those at Herculaneum.

Praetorian Guards on
smaller boats could get
through the volcanic debris

and make it ashore.

But with the volcanic
stones raining down,
the danger was growing.

In his lab in Naples,
Pier Paolo continues
his investigation

of how the people in
Herculaneum's boathouses
were killed.

NARRATOR: Examining the
shattered skull, he notices
some unusual markings.

NARRATOR: The clean fractures
and charred edges reveal this
skull wasn't broken

by an external force,
like falling rocks or
a collapsing roof.

The evidence leads
Pier Paolo to a much more
extraordinary conclusion.

NARRATOR: The cause of death
is swift and gruesome

and it's not the only
shocking evidence he finds.

Analysis of a jaw also
reveals a strange
discoloration on the bones.

NARRATOR: There's only one
thing that could cause
skulls to explode

and blood to vaporize.

NARRATOR: Temperatures of
nearly 500 degrees Celsius,
1,000 degrees Fahrenheit,

could finally explain
Herculaneum's
victims' poses

and the melded skeleton
of the Praetorian Guard.

NARRATOR: Pier Paolo's
investigation reveals that
the people in the boathouses,

and the soldier, weren't
crushed by falling objects,

then covered with ash
in which their bodies

slowly contorted after
death, like many at Pompeii.

Death here was swift,
caused by an extreme heat
that vaporized flesh

and boiled brains,
in an instant.

What caused the extreme
temperature that devastated
Herculaneum but not Pompeii?

Looking for an
answer, Pier Paolo examines
another shocking discovery.

NARRATOR: At Herculaneum,
Andrew is investigating an
incredibly preserved

structure in the
center of town.

PROF. WALLACE-HADRILL: This
is an amazing building.

NARRATOR: Archaeologists
made an incredible
discovery here.

PROF. WALLACE-HADRILL: So,
in here we've got a little
side room and, ah, ha, ha,

this was one of the big, big
surprises of this excavation
because, on the whole,

we don't find
skeletons here.

But here was one
astonishing skeleton.

NARRATOR: Very few
bodies have been
found in Herculaneum,

other than those
at the boathouse.

The man discovered here
had his flesh vaporized,
just like them.

Today, his remains are
preserved beneath plastic for
protection from the elements.

PROF. WALLACE-HADRILL: One
thing you can notice is that
this is a proper bed place.

You see, there's wood going
around all the sides, so
this is an official bedroom.

But why is he still here?

There's an enormous eruption
going on, why hasn't he fled
like everyone else?

NARRATOR: Andrew explores
the rest of the building,

clues to this man's
identify could explain
his gruesome death.

PROF. WALLACE-HADRILL:
It's always great when
you've got an inscription

it gives you a clue and
it starts with words,
sacred to Augustus.

And then, there's this
wonderful detail that, at
the opening of the building,

Canem Dedarum, they
gave a dinner and who
is the dinner for?

This is the crucial clue.

Decurionbus et
Augustabilibus, for the
Decurions and the Augustales.

So, these are the two
most important groups
of people in town,

and this must be the
College of the Augustales.

NARRATOR: The College of
the Augustales was a place
for a cult-like worship

of dead emperors, an
important practice in Roman
culture at this time.

This association could
explain the identity of the
victim discovered in the bed.

PROF. WALLACE-HADRILL:
Here, we've got this
major public building

and it's at the
heart of the town.

So, it matters looking
after the building
properly,

and that's why you've got a
guardian permanently there
with his own bed place.

NARRATOR: As a custodian, this
man may have been forbidden
from leaving the building

while on duty, even in
emergencies.

PROF. WALLACE-HADRILL:
So maybe they told him,
"You stay here.

Vesuvius may erupt,
you stay." Yes, boss.

NARRATOR: As archaeologists
worked to excavate the
custodian's remains,

they discovered strange
black fragments
surrounding his skull.

Pier Paolo was part
of the team.

Intrigued, he took them
back to his laboratory
to find out more.

NARRATOR: Pier Paolo needs a
special microscope to examine
the strange fragments.

NARRATOR: Using this high
powered stereo-microscope,

Pier Paolo can view the
surface of the fragments
in incredible detail.

NARRATOR: The biochemical
and microscopic analysis
reveals

this main's brain was
turned into glass.

It's evidence a strange
phenomenon hit the town.

NARRATOR: The custodian of
the College of the Augustales
was killed by extreme heat

which vaporized his flesh
and melted his brain.

Rapid cooling then turned
his molten brain to glass.

Analysis of the volcanic
debris at Herculaneum

could finally explain
what caused this extreme
and deadly heat.

Ten miles south of
Herculaneum, in
Castellammare Di Stabia,

Jasmine's continuing her
investigation of Pliny
the Younger's account.

According to his
letters, this coastline
is where Pliny the Elder

took shelter for the night.

JASMINE: It's during this
sleep that things really take
a turn for worse at Vesuvius.

Pliny tells us that
there is cinere, ashes.

Mixtis pumicabus, which
means mixed with pumice.

Vastisquer tremore, it means
very, very big tremors are
happening at this stage.

So now, we're entering
a violent stage of the
eruption.

NARRATOR: Fearing for
their lives, Pliny the
Elder, and his friends,

fled Stabiae with pillows
strapped to their heads,

to protect them from the
falling stones and cinders.

They headed down to the
shore to see if they
could escape by boat,

but found the sea too
violent to set sail.

According to Pliny the
Younger, his uncle,
out of options,

lay down on a sail and
suffocated to death from
toxic volcanic fumes.

JASMINE: The drama of the
letters here is really clear.

We simply are told
'corpus inventum,'

that his corpus was found
the next day on the beach.

NARRATOR: Modern science has
proven volcanoes release gases
such as Sulphur Dioxide

and Carbon Dioxide, which
can be harmful to humans.

Inhalation of these noxious
gases could have played

a role in Pliny the
Elder's death at Stabiae.

Jasmine's investigation
reveals that Pliny the
Younger's account of events,

following the eruption,
appear accurate.

JASMINE: As a piece of
literary evidence, these
letters are amazing.

His accounts are really
very accurate, if we connect
them to the archaeology.

But we also learn
about what happened

to these individuals in
intense and graphic detail.

NARRATOR: At Herculaneum,
Giuseppe heads to the
edge of the ancient site,

to a tunnel excavated in
the solidified volcanic
debris, known as tuff.

GIUSEPPE: So now we
are inside this tuff.

NARRATOR: He's hunting for
the conclusive evidence

of what deadly phenomenon
struck this town.

Locked within the tuff,
Giuseppe spots the clue
to what happened here.

GIUSEPPE: As you can
see here, we have a
wood carbonized wood,

and this indicates that
there was no air, no oxygen.

NARRATOR: The natural
phenomenon that
struck Herculaneum

consumed all the oxygen
in the air.

Without oxygen, wooden
objects couldn't burn.

Instead, they were
turned into carbon.

This explains the
remarkable preservation of
the wooden screen and bed.

Giuseppe heads outside to
continue his investigation.

GIUSEPPE: You can see
these tiles and bricks
transported,

engulfed, and moved as a
cloud,

NARRATOR: Giuseppe's
investigation shows that
the deadly phenomenon

that destroyed Herculaneum
was a giant cloud of
searing hot gas and ash

that came crashing down
the volcano's slopes.

It's known as a
pyroclastic surge.

Around noon, Mount Vesuvius
erupted, hurling ash, pumice,

and toxic gases more than 20
miles into the atmosphere.

The following day, the cloud
of gas and ash collapsed

and barreled down the
sides of the volcano.

The 1,000 degree Fahrenheit
wave hit Herculaneum
in less than five minutes,

and blasted the flesh
off people's bones.

Those left at the town
were killed in an instant.

After several waves of
pyroclastic surges,

Herculaneum was buried
under 82 ft. of debris.

PROF. WALLACE-HADRILL:
It's unbelievably gruesome
the moment of destruction.

But what is catastrophe for
them is wonderful for us

because it's that
destruction that preserves
for us very, very vivid traces

of what life was
like just then.

NARRATOR: Herculaneum's
final moments are
slowly being uncovered.

The evidence discovered by
archaeologists reveals that
hundreds of citizens fled

to the beach, where
brave soldiers attempted
a rescue mission.

Blood-stained bones and
fused metal weapons
reveal an intense heat

that killed these
unsuspecting victims.

And, miraculously,
preserved wooden objects
are proof of the rare

pyroclastic flow that
buried this town for
two millennia.

As experts continue
to investigate this
preserved ancient wonder,

their discoveries will
shed new light

onto one of history's
deadliest eruptions.

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