Original subtitles

IT REMAINS ONE OF THE GRISLIEST FINDS

IN ANCIENT ARCHAEOLOGY.

THE DECAPITATED SKELETONS OF OVER 80 BATTLE-SCARRED MEN.

AS SOON AS WE STARTED EXCAVATING,

WE KNEW THERE WAS SOMETHING ODD GOING ON.

OVER 60% OF INDIVIDUALS WERE DECAPITATED

WITH JUST A SINGLE BLOW.

THEIR DEATHS WERE GRUESOME,

BUT THEIR BURIALS DEFIED KNOWN CONVENTIONS.

THESE WERE VIOLENT MEN

WHO WERE REVERED,

SHACKLED IN LIFE,

BUT BURIED WITH TREASURE.

MUSCULAR SUPERMEN WHO WERE SAVAGELY WOUNDED.

THIS PERSON WAS SUBJECT TO A NUMBER OF ASSAULTS ON THEM.

SO WHO WERE THESE COMBAT-HARDENED MEN?

NOW, AFTER MORE THAN A DECADE OF INVESTIGATION,

A TEAM OF EXPERTS BELIEVE

THEY'VE FINALLY SOLVED THE MYSTERY.

THESE GUYS WERE LIKE LIVING LEGENDS.

THE RELICS OF THE PAST HOLD SECRETS...

WRITTEN IN GOLD, STONE, AND BLOOD.

WE CAN UNLOCK THEM.

THESE ARE THE SECRETS OF HISTORY'S GREATEST TREASURES.

THE HISTORIC CITY OF YORK...

IN NORTHERN ENGLAND.

DATING TO THE FIRST MILLENNIUM A.D.,

IT'S AN ARCHAEOLOGIST'S DREAM--

A SHOWCASE FOR 2,000 YEARS OF BRITISH HISTORY.

IN AUGUST 2004,

ARCHAEOLOGISTS ARE CALLED IN TO EXCAVATE A SUBURBAN PLOT

JUST A STONE'S THROW FROM THE HISTORIC CENTER.

BUT WHAT SHOULD BE A STANDARD EXCAVATION

TURNS INTO SOMETHING VERY DIFFERENT.

THERE'S A BONE HERE.

AND THE SKULL IS THERE. YOU SEE THE RING OF IT?

YEP. THERE, LIKE THAT.

RIGHT IN THE CORNER, THERE'S SOME BONE DOWN HERE AS WELL.

AS THE TEAM DIGS DEEPER,

MORE AND MORE COMPLETE SKELETONS ARE EXPOSED,

REVEALING A GRISLY BURIAL CHARACTERISTIC.

MANY OF THE BODIES HAVE BEEN DELIBERATELY DECAPITATED.

FOR CHIEF ARCHAEOLOGIST KURT HUNTER-MANN,

IT'S THE START OF A MAJOR MYSTERY.

Kurt Hunter-Mann: AS SOON AS WE STARTED EXCAVATING THE BURIALS,

WE KNEW THERE WAS SOMETHING ODD GOING ON

BECAUSE THERE WERE SO MANY THAT WERE DECAPITATED.

WITHIN DAYS OF STARTING THE EXCAVATIONS

ON YORK'S DRIFFIELD TERRACE,

THE BODY COUNT HAS REACHED DOUBLE FIGURES...

AND THE SKELETONS JUST KEEP COMING.

Hunter-Mann: BY THE END OF THE EXCAVATION,

WE'D EXCAVATED OVER 80 SKELETONS,

AND EASILY A QUARTER OF THOSE WERE DECAPITATED.

KURT HAS MADE A DISCOVERY

UNLIKE ANYTHING HE HAS EVER ENCOUNTERED

IN A CAREER SPANNING NEARLY 40 YEARS.

Hunter-Mann: I'D NEVER SEEN A DECAPITATED

ROMAN BURIAL BEFORE,

AND I'D NEVER SEEN SO MANY SKELETONS IN SUCH A SMALL AREA.

THE QUESTION IS,

WHO WERE THESE PEOPLE?

THE SITE ITSELF HOLDS THE FIRST CLUE

TO PIECING TOGETHER THEIR IDENTITY.

PREVIOUS EXCAVATIONS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

HAD REVEALED THIS WAS ONCE THE SITE OF A LARGE CEMETERY.

ARTIFACTS RECOVERED FROM THE GRAVES

CONFIRMED IT WAS THE BIGGEST OF SEVERAL IN YORK

AND DATED TO THE VERY FOUNDERS OF THE CITY--

ALMOST 2,000 YEARS EARLIER.

THE ROMANS.

Hunter-Mann: WE KNEW THAT THERE WERE ROMAN BURIALS

IN THE VICINITY,

SO WE HAD A GOOD IDEA

THAT WE WOULD BE FINDING PROBABLE ROMAN BURIALS THERE.

POTTERY DISCOVERED WITH THE BONES

CONFIRMS KURT'S SUSPICIONS.

THIS WAS, WITHOUT DOUBT, A ROMAN BURIAL SITE.

BUT THAT'S WHERE THE SIMILARITIES

TO OTHER ROMAN GRAVES ENDS.

Hunter-Mann: SOMETHING VERY, VERY STRANGE

IS GOING ON HERE.

MANY OF THE SKELETONS WERE NOT ONLY DECAPITATED,

BUT THEIR HEADS WERE CAREFULLY PLACED

BETWEEN THEIR CORPSE'S LEGS.

Hunter-Mann: IT'S A VERY STRANGE THING

FOR PEOPLE TO BE DECAPITATED IN THE FIRST PLACE,

BUT THEN FOR THESE ODD ARRANGEMENTS

OF THE HUMAN REMAINS,

IT'S DIFFICULT FOR US TO REALLY UNDERSTAND

WHAT THE ROMANS WERE THINKING AT THE TIME.

IT IS THE SHEER NUMBER

OF DECAPITATED BURIALS IN ONE CEMETERY

THAT PERPLEXES ARCHAEOLOGISTS.

THE BEHEADINGS COULD SUGGEST EXECUTED CRIMINALS,

EXCEPT, IN ROMAN TIMES,

CRIMINALS TENDED TO BE BURIED FACE DOWN,

WHICH WAS NOT THE CASE WITH THE YORK GRAVES.

SO WHAT POSSIBLE EXPLANATION COULD THERE BE

FOR THIS STRANGE BURIAL SITE?

THE FIRST STEP IN SOLVING THE MYSTERY

IS TO LOOK AT THE ROLE OF YORK

DURING THE ROMAN OCCUPATION OF BRITAIN.

IT TURNS OUT THAT THIS REMOTE OUTPOST,

ORIGINALLY CALLED EBORACUM,

WAS CHOSEN BY TWO DIFFERENT EMPERORS

TO BECOME THE MOST IMPORTANT PLACE IN THE EMPIRE.

Kevin Dicus: WHERE THE EMPEROR GOES,

SO TOO DOES THE EMPIRE ITSELF,

ALL OF THE ADMINISTRATION.

YORK ESSENTIALLY TWICE BECOMES THE CAPITAL,

THE CENTER OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

THE ROMAN CONQUEST OF BRITAIN BEGINS IN 43 A.D.

FOR THREE DECADES,

THE ROMAN ARMY FIGHTS TO TAKE CONTROL.

BUT RESISTANCE FROM THE BARBARIANS TO THE NORTH

IS STRONGER THAN ANTICIPATED.

ROME WAS VERY SURPRISED

ABOUT THE RESPONSE OF THE BARBARIANS

OF NORTHERN BRITAIN...

MORE USED USED TO GUERRILLA WARFARE--

COMING OUT OF THE FORESTS AND THE SWAMPS

AND DISAPPEARING BACK INTO IT.

HERE WAS THIS WELL-TRAINED, DISCIPLINED ARMY COMING IN

AND ESSENTIALLY AT TIMES GETTING SLAUGHTERED BY THESE BARBARIANS.

SINCE THE BURIALS DATE

TO THE SAME TIME AS THE ROMAN CONQUEST,

COULD THE HEADLESS SKELETONS BE EVIDENCE

OF THE ROMAN ARMY'S BLOODY BATTLES WITH THE BARBARIANS?

INITIAL EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THIS COULD BE THE CASE.

NEARLY ALL OF THE SKELETONS ARE MALE,

AND ALL ARE OF FIGHTING AGE.

Malin Holst: UNLIKE MOST CEMETERIES IN THE ROMAN PERIOD

WHERE THERE WERE SLIGHTLY MORE MALES THAN FEMALES,

AT DRIFFIELD TERRACE, THERE WERE ALMOST SOLELY MALE ADULTS.

THERE ARE NO MATURE ADULTS AND NOBODY OVER THE AGE OF 45,

AND THAT'S PRACTICALLY UNHEARD OF.

IT SUGGESTS THAT THESE WERE RELATIVELY

YOUNG, FIT INDIVIDUALS...

THAT HAD A SPECIAL ROLE IN LIFE.

THESE WERE EVIDENTLY FIT YOUNG MEN,

WHO DIED IN THE PRIME OF LIFE.

BUT IF THESE WERE SLAIN SOLDIERS,

THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN BURIED ON THE BATTLEFIELD--

NOWHERE NEAR A CITY'S LIMITS.

AND YET, JUST LIKE SLAIN SOLDIERS,

THE BODIES DISPLAY EVIDENCE OF EXTREMELY VIOLENT LIVES.

AS WELL AS DEATH BY DECAPITATION,

MANY OF THE SKELETONS SHOW SIGNS OF HEALED TRAUMA.

NOW AN INTRIGUING NEW THEORY IS EMERGING.

COULD THESE COMBAT-HARDENED, VICIOUSLY KILLED YOUNG MEN

BE THE MOST ICONIC OF ROMAN WARRIORS?

GLADIATORS.

THE GRIM DISCOVERY

OF A MASS GRAVE IN NORTHERN BRITAIN...

CONTAINING DOZENS OF YOUNG MALE SKELETONS...

PRESENTS ARCHAEOLOGIST KURT HUNTER-MANN AND HIS TEAM

WITH A UNIQUE MYSTERY.

THE REMAINS SUGGEST THE MEN WERE ALL OF FIGHTING AGE,

BUT THEY'RE NOT SOLDIERS.

MANY OF THEM ARE DECAPITATED,

THEIR SKULLS BURIED ALONGSIDE THEM.

THE ARCHAEOLOGISTS ARE NOW BEGINNING TO FORM

A NEW GROUND-BREAKING THEORY.

THIS COULD BE A CEMETERY OF BATTLE-HARDENED GLADIATORS.

IF THEY'RE CORRECT,

IT WILL REWRITE THE HISTORY OF THE ROMANS IN BRITAIN.

TO FIND A GLADIATOR CEMETERY IN ROME

WOULD BE SPECTACULAR.

BUT TO FIND ONE SO LARGE

AS THIS POTENTIAL GLADIATOR CEMETERY IN BRITAIN

WOULD BE TRULY REMARKABLE.

WITH THE BODIES EXHUMED FROM THEIR GRAVES,

THE TEAM BEGINS TO INVESTIGATE THE REMAINS

FOR EVIDENCE THAT MAY SUPPORT THAT THEORY.

THE SKELETONS REVEAL THAT THESE WERE, WITHOUT DOUBT,

MEN WHO EXPERIENCED HARD AND FEROCIOUS COMBAT.

THE INDIVIDUAL SUFFERED

QUITE A LOT OF TRAUMA DURING LIFE, UH,

IN THE FORM OF FRACTURES.

AND THERE'S A FRACTURE OF A RIB,

UM, WHICH ALSO SUGGESTS A TRAUMATIC INCIDENT.

THERE'S A BLADED INJURY

TO THE BACK OF THEIR RIGHT KNEE AS WELL,

AND THEN THERE ARE INFLAMMATORY LESIONS TO THE SHINS, UM,

THAT POSSIBLY COULD ALSO HAVE RESULTED FROM BLOWS.

THIS MAN IS JUST ONE OF MANY BURIED ON THE SITE

WHO SHOWS EVIDENCE OF SEVERE PHYSICAL TRAUMA.

MANY OF THE WOUNDS ON THE SKELETONS HAVE HEALED,

SUGGESTING THEY ENDURED VICIOUS COMBAT

OVER MONTHS OR EVEN YEARS.

BUT THERE WAS ONE INJURY

COMMON TO MANY OF THE YORK SKELETONS

THAT WOULD ALWAYS PROVE FATAL--

DECAPITATION.

OVER 60% OF INDIVIDUALS WERE DECAPITATED

WITH JUST A SINGLE BLOW.

THESE ARE THE VERTEBRAE OF THE NECK.

THIS ONE HERE IS THE VERTEBRA ON WHICH THE HEAD SITS,

AND THEN THE ONE BENEATH IS THE ONE, UM,

THROUGH WHICH OR ON WHICH THE HEAD TURNS SIDE TO SIDE.

AND YOU CAN SEE HERE THAT THIS PART OF THE VERTEBRA

HAS BEEN SLICED OFF COMPLETELY,

AND THERE'S A CUT THAT SEVERS THE WHOLE,

THIS WHOLE PART OF THE VERTEBRA.

THE CLEANLY SLICED BONES

PROVIDE EVIDENCE THAT THESE MEN WERE DECAPITATED

WITH HEAVY BLOWS FROM SHARP WEAPONS--

A SWORD OR AN AXE.

BUT CHILLINGLY, THE EVIDENCE SUGGESTS

SOME HAD TO ENDURE MULTIPLE BLOWS

BEFORE THEY WERE BEHEADED.

THIS PERSON, I THINK,

WAS SUBJECT TO A NUMBER OF ASSAULTS ON THEM,

SO IT WASN'T JUST ONE CLEAN CUT, HEAD OFF.

IT WAS A NUMBER OF ATTEMPTS.

MAYBE IT WAS BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME.

MAYBE IT WAS JUST REALLY MAKING SURE

THAT THIS PERSON WAS DECAPITATED.

THE BODIES TELL A STORY

OF YEARS OF VICIOUS FIGHTING

BEFORE A FINAL BRUTAL DEATH.

BUT THE SKELETONS ALSO REVEAL OTHER CLUES TO THE MEN

HUNTER-MANN AND HIS TEAM SUSPECT MAY BE GLADIATORS.

AND THIS TIME, IT'S NOT FROM THE BONES,

BUT THE TEETH.

DR. JANET MONTGOMERY IS A BIOARCHAEOLOGIST.

SHE SPECIALIZES IN THE ANALYSIS OF HUMAN REMAINS.

BY INVESTIGATING THESE 2,000-YEAR-OLD TEETH,

SHE CAN DETERMINE EXACTLY WHERE THESE MEN GREW UP.

THE KEY IS A TECHNOLOGY CALLED ISOTOPE ANALYSIS.

Janet Montgomery: ISOTOPE ANALYSIS

IS A WAY WE HAVE OF EXTRACTING INFORMATION

FROM ARCHAEOLOGICAL INDIVIDUALS

THAT'S BEEN LOCKED AWAY IN THEIR TEETH

FROM THE TIME THEY WERE ALIVE.

WE CAN LOOK AT THINGS LIKE WHAT THEY ATE.

WE CAN ALSO LOOK AT WHERE THEY MIGHT HAVE BEEN LIVING,

WHAT THEIR ENVIRONMENT WAS LIKE, WHAT THE CLIMATE WAS LIKE.

IT GIVES US INFORMATION THAT WE CAN USE TO ESTABLISH

WHETHER PEOPLE WERE OF LOCAL ORIGIN

OR HAD COME FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE.

THE ISOTOPE ANALYSIS OF THE TEETH ENAMEL REVEALS

THIS WAS AN INTERNATIONAL CEMETERY.

FEW OF THE MEN CAME FROM YORK,

WHERE THE SKELETONS WERE DISCOVERED.

MANY DIDN'T EVEN COME FROM BRITAIN.

PEOPLE COMING FROM VERY COLD PLACES,

FROM VERY WARM PLACES, WITH DIFFERENT DIETS,

EATING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT TYPES OF PLANTS

THAT WE JUST DON'T HAVE IN BRITAIN AT THE TIME.

SO RIGHT FROM THE START WE KNEW THAT WE HAD

EFFECTIVELY A MIGRANT POPULATION.

DR. MONTGOMERY'S ANALYSIS REVEALS

THESE MEN MAY HAVE DIED IN YORK,

BUT THEY CAME FROM ALL OVER THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

AND ONE MAN IN PARTICULAR

CAME FROM MUCH FURTHER AFIELD THAN ANYONE EXPECTED.

THE ISOTOPE DATA SUGGESTED HE'D COME FROM

SOMEWHERE MUCH MORE SOUTHERLY, WARMER, ARID REGION, PERHAPS,

AND OF COURSE THE GENETIC ANCESTRY

WAS NEAR EAST, MIDDLE EASTERN.

UNBELIEVABLY, THIS MAN WHO DIED IN YORK

WAS OVER 3,000 MILES FROM HOME.

THE EVIDENCE IS STACKING UP.

THE CEMETERY PROFILE REVEALS

A MIX OF FIT, COMBAT-EXPERIENCED MEN

FROM ACROSS THE EMPIRE.

FASCINATINGLY, IT'S A PROFILE THAT MATCHES THE BACKGROUND...

OF MANY GLADIATORS.

Darius Arya: WHO'S YOUR AVERAGE GLADIATOR?

THIS IS A PERSON WHO IS A CONVICTED CRIMINAL,

THIS IS A PERSON WHO'S BEEN BROUGHT OVER AFTER A WAR,

SO THEY'RE A CAPTURED ENEMY...

MEN THAT HAVE HAD MILITARY EXPERIENCE,

MEN THAT ARE IN GOOD SHAPE, THAT ARE HEALTHY,

AND THEN THEY WILL LEARN TO BECOME A PROPER GLADIATOR.

AND FOR HUNTER-MANN,

THERE IS ONE FINAL OVERWHELMING PIECE OF EVIDENCE.

THE BURIAL GROUND DISCOVERED BY HIS TEAM

MAY BE UNLIKE ANY OTHER ROMAN CEMETERY IN BRITAIN.

BUT IT IS ALMOST IDENTICAL TO ONE 2,000 MILES AWAY IN TURKEY.

THIS IS EPHESUS.

ONCE A REGIONAL CAPITAL OF ANCIENT ROME,

ITS CENTERPIECE WAS A THEATER

THAT COULD ACCOMMODATE 25,000 PEOPLE.

IN 1993, JUST YARDS FROM THE ARENA,

ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVERED A CEMETERY.

JUST LIKE YORK,

THE BODIES WERE OF VIOLENT MEN OF FIGHTING AGE,

AND THEY TOO HAD BEEN SAVAGELY EXECUTED.

BUT IN EPHESUS,

THERE IS NO DOUBT ABOUT WHO THESE MEN WERE.

ANCIENT TOMBSTONES REVEAL THAT THEY WERE GLADIATORS.

FOR KURT HUNTER-MANN,

THE SIMILARITY BETWEEN THE TWO CEMETERIES

IS TOO GREAT TO BE A COINCIDENCE.

Hunter-Mann: WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT

IS A POPULATION THAT COULD BE COMPARED WITH EPHESUS.

I FAVOR THE GLADIATORIAL EXPLANATION,

BECAUSE THAT FITS IN WITH THE POPULATION

AND THE LIFESTYLE THAT WE'RE DEALING WITH

AND WHERE THEY'RE BURIED.

THAT'S ALL INDICATING TO ME THAT WE'VE GOT SOMETHING

THAT WOULD REALLY ONLY APPLY TO A PARTICULAR GROUP OF PEOPLE

WHO FOUGHT IN THE ARENA.

WHAT'S GOING ON IN YORK OPENS UP THE POSSIBILITY

THAT WE HAVE ANOTHER SIMILAR SITUATION OF GLADIATORS.

I FIND THAT REALLY EXCITING.

THE REMARKABLE DISCOVERY

OF A POTENTIAL GLADIATOR CEMETERY IN YORK

NOW OFFERS THE ARCHAEOLOGISTS

A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY.

AN INSIGHT INTO THE DARKEST SIDE OF ROMAN CIVILIZATION,

THE GLADIATORIAL GAMES...

A BRUTAL SPORT

WHERE PEOPLE WERE KILLED FOR ENTERTAINMENT.

THE COLOSSEUM, ONCE THE CENTERPIECE OF ANCIENT ROME.

COMPLETED IN 80 A.D.,

IT WAS A 50,000-SEAT ARENA

TO SHOWCASE THE BLOODIEST SPORT IN HISTORY--

THE GLADIATORIAL GAMES.

THE GLADIATORS WERE EXTRAORDINARY HUMAN BEINGS.

GOING INTO AN ARENA, FACING DEATH...

PERFORMING FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC...

THESE GUYS WERE LIKE LIVING LEGENDS.

IT'S ESTIMATED

THAT OVER 700,000 GLADIATORS WERE KILLED

FIGHTING IN THE COLOSSEUM.

THERE'S NOTHING LIKE A GLADIATORIAL SPECTACLE

IN TODAY'S WORLD.

AT LEAST NOTHING THAT'S LEGAL,

BECAUSE YOU WERE GOING IN THERE AS A SPECTATOR

AND EXPECTING TO SEE BLOOD SPILLED,

SOMEBODY DISEMBOWELED,

SOMEBODY GETTING AN ARM CHOPPED OFF,

SOMEBODY'S HEAD SWIPED OFF.

I MEAN, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY SICK STUFF.

2,000 YEARS LATER,

ARCHAEOLOGISTS MAY HAVE JUST UNEARTHED

THE LARGEST GLADIATORIAL BURIAL SITE EVER FOUND.

AND IT'S NOT IN ROME,

BUT OVER A THOUSAND MILES AWAY

IN THE HISTORIC CITY OF YORK, IN NORTHERN ENGLAND.

THE BONES OF OVER 80 SKELETONS UNEARTHED IN A SUBURB

REVEAL THAT THESE WERE FIT MEN FROM ACROSS THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

THEY LED VIOLENT LIVES

AND WERE ULTIMATELY BEHEADED.

BUT IN DEATH, THEY WERE APPARENTLY REVERED.

ALL EVIDENCE THAT THEY, TOO,

COULD BE THE ULTIMATE ROMAN ATHLETES--

GLADIATORS.

THE MORE THAT WE EXAMINE THE EVIDENCE FROM YORK

AND HAVE SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS,

WE'RE GETTING MORE PIECES OF THE PUZZLE

AND SEEING THEIR BODY TYPES

AND THAT THERE'S KIND OF ATHLETIC BUILDS,

AND THE AGE AND SO FORTH,

I THINK IT BECOMES MORE COMPELLING.

TODAY, GLADIATORS MAY HAVE THE REPUTATION

AS BEING THE SUPERSTARS,

THE ELITE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

BUT FURTHER ANALYSIS

OF THE TEETH OF THE YORK SKELETONS REVEALS

ASTONISHING NEW INSIGHTS INTO THE HARSH LIVES THEY LIVED.

THERE'S A LOT OF TEETH THAT HAVE GOT ENAMEL DEFECTS,

BASICALLY HORIZONTAL LINES ACROSS THE TEETH,

AND YOU CAN SEE A GOOD EXAMPLE ON THIS CANINE TOOTH,

HORIZONTAL LINES INDICATING

THAT THIS PERSON WAS STRESSED WHEN THEY WERE GROWING UP,

WHEN THEIR TEETH WERE DEVELOPING.

NOT THE MOST IDEAL SITUATION FOR THAT PERSON

WHEN THEY WERE A CHILD.

THERE WAS SOMETHING GOING ON IN THEIR LIVES

THAT LED TO THOSE DEFECTS.

THESE LINES WERE FOUND ON THE TEETH OF MANY OF THE MEN.

IT'S A SIGN OF INFANT MALNOURISHMENT.

BUT WHILE THESE INDIVIDUALS MAY HAVE STARVED AS CHILDREN,

THEIR TEETH SHOW THAT AS ADULTS,

THEY LIVED ON HIGH-PROTEIN DIETS.

THEY WERE CONSUMING BOTH PLANTS AND MEAT,

AND THERE SEEMS TO BE A SMALL AMOUNT

OF POSSIBLE FISH CONSUMPTION AS WELL IN THE DIET.

THE CONSUMPTION OF MEAT AND FISH IN ROMAN YORK

SUGGESTS THAT AS ADULTS, THIS GROUP ATE UNUSUALLY WELL.

THEY'RE GIVEN FOOD,

THEY'RE, THEY'RE, THEY'RE NOURISHED,

THEY'RE BECOMING STRONG, HEALTHY.

WHAT CAUSED THAT CHANGE?

WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH THEIR LIVES?

THE EVIDENCE OF THE TEETH SUGGESTS

POOR MEN WERE SELECTED FROM ACROSS THE ROMAN EMPIRE

AND THEN BEEFED UP TO MAKE THEM LITERALLY FIGHTING FIT.

THESE WERE THE LOWEST OF THE LOW,

BUT SOMETHING WAS SEEN IN THEM,

AND THEY WERE PURCHASED BY A MANAGER, THE LANISTA,

WHO THEN TRAINED THEM

AND FED THEM AND HOUSED THEM,

HOPING TO RECOUP THEIR INVESTMENT.

IT'S AT GLADIATOR SCHOOL

THAT THESE MEN WERE FED A HIGH-PROTEIN ATHLETE'S DIET,

PURPOSEFULLY BULKING THEM UP FOR COMBAT

BEFORE TAKING CENTER STAGE IN THE ARENA.

THESE MEN WOULD HAVE HAD MASSIVE BODIES.

THEY WERE AMONG THE MOST MUSCULAR

AND THE MOST ATHLETIC.

THESE RIPPLING MUSCULAR BODIES

ABSOLUTELY STOOD OUT IN SOCIETY.

AND GRAVE GOODS FOUND AMONG THE BONES

REVEAL THE PRESTIGE

WITH WHICH SOME OF THESE ONCE IMPOVERISHED WARRIORS

WERE EVENTUALLY HELD.

Hunter-Mann: IT WAS QUITE COMMON IN THE ROMAN PERIOD

FOR OBJECTS TO BE PLACED IN THE GRAVE.

IT'S USUALLY THINGS

THAT WERE MEANT TO MAKE THAT PERSON AS HAPPY AS THEY COULD BE

IN THE AFTERLIFE.

AMONG THE SKELETONS,

THE ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVERED NUMEROUS DRINKING VESSELS

AND REMAINS OF SUBSTANTIAL FOOD OFFERINGS.

THE HIGH STATUS OF THE MEN WAS FURTHER STRENGTHENED

BY MANY SILVER COINS RECOVERED FROM THE GRAVES.

THE MONEY ALSO PROVIDES A CLUE

TO HOW LONG THIS PRACTICE WENT ON.

THE DEPICTION OF VARIOUS ROMAN EMPERORS ON THE COINS

REVEALS THE BURIALS SPANNED

THE WHOLE ROMAN OCCUPATION OF BRITAIN...

SUGGESTING GLADIATORS WERE A PART OF ROMAN LIFE IN YORK

FOR FOUR CENTURIES.

Hunter-Mann: WE HAVE SEVERAL COINS FROM THE CEMETERY

WHICH DATE FROM THE 1st CENTURY,

RIGHT AWAY THROUGH TO THE 4th CENTURY.

THIS ONE IS OF THE EMPEROR CONSTANTINE II,

AND IT DATES TO AROUND ABOUT THE 330s A.D.,

SO RIGHT AWAY THROUGH TO THE END OF THE ROMAN PERIOD.

BUT IT'S THE LOCATION OF THEIR BURIALS

THAT REALLY SHOWS HOW REVERED THESE MEN WERE.

WHERE A ROMAN WAS BURIED IN DEATH

REFLECTED THEIR STATUS IN LIFE--

A PRACTICE CARRIED OUT ACROSS THE ENTIRE EMPIRE.

AND THE ARCHAEOLOGISTS DIGGING THIS CEMETERY

QUICKLY ESTABLISHED

THAT THE GRAVES OF THESE YOUNG BATTLE-SCARRED MEN

OCCUPIED THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS PLOTS.

Hunter-Mann: THIS SITE

IS NEXT TO THE MAIN ROMAN ROAD INTO THE ROMAN TOWN

AND THE LEGIONARY FORTRESS,

AND IT WOULD HAVE BEEN REALLY IMPORTANT

FOR THE ROMANS TO BE BURIED NEAR THERE

SO THAT THEY'D BE REMEMBERED BY PASSERSBY.

SO THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT PLACE TO BE BURIED.

THE FACT THAT IT'S ALSO THE MOUNT,

AN AREA OF HIGH GROUND,

MEANS THAT IT'S EVEN MORE PROMINENT A POSITION,

SO THIS WOULD BE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PLACES

THAT YOU COULD BE BURIED IN THE ROMAN PERIOD.

THE EVIDENCE POINTS TO A GROUP OF SUPER-FIT YOUNG MEN

WHO WERE HONORED IN DEATH BY THEIR PEERS AND THE PUBLIC.

BUT THE BONES ALSO REVEAL THAT THESE ELITE SPORTSMEN

WERE TREATED IN LIFE

AS LITTLE MORE THAN SLAVES BY THE ROMANS,

SOMETIMES ENDURING HORRIFYING HANDICAPS

TO LIMIT THEIR CHANCES OF SURVIVAL IN THE ARENA.

IN ROMAN TIMES, GLADIATORS WERE BIG BUSINESS.

VAST SUMS OF MONEY COULD BE WON OR LOST

ON THE OUTCOME OF EVERY FIGHT.

THE SLAVE TRADE WAS EXPLOITED

TO RECRUIT NEW TALENT FROM AROUND THE EMPIRE,

AND NO EXPENSE WOULD BE SPARED

IN PREPARING THE CHOSEN MEN FOR THE ARENA,

AT GLADIATOR SCHOOL.

BUT THEY STILL WERE TREATED AS LITTLE MORE THAN SLAVES.

THE GLADIATORS TRAINING THERE

WERE, ON THE ONE HAND, TAKEN CARE OF.

THEY WERE FED, THEY WERE TRAINED,

THEY HAD DOCTORS.

ON THE OTHER HAND, THEY WERE PUT IN CELLS.

THEY HAD NO FREEDOM.

THEY WERE FORCED EVERY MINUTE OF THE DAY

TO CONFORM TO THIS SCHEDULE.

THESE TRAINING CAMPS

WERE NOT MUCH DIFFERENT THAN PERHAPS A PRISON.

Richard Jones: YOU HAD A STRANGE EXISTENCE.

ON THE ONE HAND, IT WAS FAVORED.

YOU HAD QUITE GOOD LIVING CONDITIONS

'CAUSE YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE STRONG AND FIT.

BUT YOU KNEW IT WASN'T A LONG-TERM EXERCISE.

ONE SKELETON CARRIES HARD EVIDENCE

THAT THESE MEN WEREN'T FREE TO CHOOSE THEIR OWN DESTINY.

THIS MAN WAS BURIED

IN WHAT ARCHAEOLOGISTS INITIALLY IDENTIFIED

AS SHACKLES.

Hunter-Mann: SO THESE WERE FOUND AROUND THE LEGS

OF ONE OF THE INDIVIDUALS AT DRIFFIELD TERRACE.

THEY'RE THE ONLY EXAMPLES THAT I'VE SEEN.

THESE ARE SO UNUSUAL

THAT THEY'RE PROBABLY THE KIND OF OBJECTS

THAT AN ARCHAEOLOGIST WILL ONLY SEE

ONE EXAMPLE IN THEIR LIFETIMES, IF THEY WERE LUCKY.

BUT THESE ARE NO ORDINARY SHACKLES.

THEY COULDN'T BE ATTACHED OR THEN REMOVED

LIKE MODERN HEAVY-DUTY CUFFS.

CLOSER X-RAY ANALYSIS REVEALS

THAT THESE WERE A LIFELONG, PERMANENT FIXTURE

FOR THIS GLADIATOR.

Hunter-Mann: WHAT WE'D BE LOOKING FOR

IF THEY WERE SHACKLES

WOULD BE AN ATTACHMENT THAT WOULD ALLOW A CHAIN

TO BE ATTACHED FROM ONE LEG RING TO THE OTHER,

AND THERE'S NO SIGN OF THAT.

DISTURBINGLY,

THESE WERE CUSTOM-MADE LEG WEIGHTS,

DESIGNED FOR ONE SINGLE PURPOSE--

TO MAKE THIS MAN'S LIFE AS TOUGH AS POSSIBLE.

THE X-RAY RESULTS CLEARLY SHOW

THAT EACH RING WAS FORMED FROM TWO SOLID PIECES OF IRON,

FORGED INTO SHAPE UNDER EXTREME HEAT,

AROUND THE ANKLE.

Hunter-Mann: TO ACTUALLY FORGE THESE RED-HOT

AROUND SOMEBODY'S LEGS...

JUST SEEMS TO BE BARBARIC.

CLOSER ANALYSIS OF THE BONES REVEALS

THE BRUTAL REALITY

OF BEING PERMANENTLY ATTACHED TO LEG-IRONS.

THIS MAN'S LOWER LEGS

HAVE EVIDENCE OF INFLAMMATION ON THEM

IN THE FORM OF NEW BONE FORMATION.

THERE'S BEEN SOME TRAUMA TO THIS AREA OF THE LOWER LEG,

REPEATED TRAUMA.

AND OF COURSE, YOU KNOW,

THAT INFLAMMATION CANNOT BE TREATED IN THAT TIME PERIOD,

SO THEY WOULD HAVE HAD TO ENDURE

THAT INFLAMMATION, THAT SWELLING,

THAT PAIN, REDNESS OF THE LEG,

UM, MAYBE UNTIL THEY DIED.

SO WHY WAS THIS MAN

SUBJECTED TO SUCH A HORRIFIC PUNISHMENT?

ANALYSIS REVEALS

HE WAS ONE OF THE LARGEST OF ALL THE SKELETONS,

AND EXPERTS NOW BELIEVE

THE HEAVY LEG-IRONS MAY HAVE BEEN MEANT

TO SLOW DOWN THIS GIANT FIGHTER--

PART OF THE SADISTIC ENTERTAINMENT

THAT THE BLOODTHIRSTY ROMAN CROWDS CRAVED.

IT'S NOT UNHEARD OF

TO HANDICAP GLADIATORS IN DIFFERENT WAYS,

INCLUDING LEG-IRONS,

SAY IF HE WAS TOO LARGE

AND THE FIGHT WAS NOT EVEN.

WELL, YOU EVEN IT OUT.

BUT IT ALSO ADDS TO THE PERSONA AND THE DRAMA OF THE GAMES.

THE LEG WEIGHTS ARE UNIQUE TO THIS MAN,

BUT MOST OF THE SKELETONS CARRY EVIDENCE OF HEALED WOUNDS.

IT INDICATES THAT THEY RECEIVED MEDICAL ATTENTION

TO KEEP THEM ALIVE.

SUCH TREATMENT WAS A LUXURY IN ROMAN BRITAIN,

BUT ESSENTIAL

FOR THE PRESERVATION OF PRIZED GLADIATORS.

GLADIATORS, FIGHTING TO THE DEATH,

TRAINING IN A VERY DANGEROUS FASHION...

THEY FREQUENTLY WERE BEING REPAIRED,

FIXED UP, STITCHED UP.

THESE BONES, AS SUCH,

ARE AN INDICATION THAT THESE MEN WERE GLADIATORS.

THIS MAN IS ONE OF MANY

WHO'D SUFFERED MAJOR TRAUMA.

THE INJURY WAS SO SEVERE, IT PENETRATED HIS SKULL,

YET INCREDIBLY, HE SURVIVED.

TO LEAD TO THAT INJURY,

YOU WOULD NEED QUITE A LOT OF FORCE

WITH WHATEVER IMPLEMENT YOU WERE USING.

HE COULD HAVE HAD

HEMORRHAGE HAPPENING INSIDE THE SKULL

AS A RESULT OF THIS INJURY,

BUT WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE EVIDENCE

OF THE BONE INSIDE THE SKULL,

IT'S PRETTY WELL ADVANCED IN HEALING,

WHICH SUGGESTS THAT THIS PERSON DID NOT DIE OF THIS INJURY,

BUT SURVIVED IT FOR A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF TIME.

THESE HEALED WOUNDS ARE CONSISTENT WITH A GLADIATOR

WHO HAD RECEIVED EXPERT MEDICAL ATTENTION.

BUT ONE MAN CARRIES INJURIES

THAT NO AMOUNT OF CARE COULD HEAL.

IT SUGGESTS HE'D ENCOUNTERED THE MOST TERRIFYING OPPONENT

ANY GLADIATOR COULD FACE--

A WILD BEAST.

THE HORRIFIC WOUNDS ON THE BONES OF 80 SKELETONS

BURIED IN THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS ROMAN CEMETERY IN YORK, ENGLAND,

SUGGESTS THAT THESE MEN WERE GLADIATORS...

THE SPORTING SUPERSTARS OF ROMAN BRITAIN,

SLAIN FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT

OF THE BLOODTHIRSTY CROWDS...

IN A VARIETY OF SAVAGE GAMES.

RECORDS REVEAL

THAT THERE WERE OVER 30 DIFFERENT TYPES OF GLADIATOR,

EACH WITH THEIR OWN SPECIFIC WEAPONS AND TACTICS.

GLADIATORS HAD DIFFERENT SPECIALISMS,

AND THEY HAD DIFFERENT WEAPONS TO GO WITH THAT

AND DIFFERENT FORMS OF PROTECTION.

SO THERE'S A RANGE OF POSSIBILITIES THAT'S THERE,

AND SOMETIMES YOU WOULD MATCH THE SAME SORT OF WEAPONS

AGAINST EACH OTHER;

SOMETIMES YOU'D MATCH DIFFERENT ONES AGAINST EACH OTHER.

BUT ONE SKELETON IN PARTICULAR

REVEALS HORRIFIC EVIDENCE

OF JUST HOW SADISTIC THE GAMES COULD BE.

THIS MAN WAS ONE OF THE SMALLEST OF THE GROUP.

AND ON CLOSER EXAMINATION,

HIS BONES REVEAL SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY.

A PUNCTURE MARK ON THE PELVIS SUGGESTS THIS MAN WAS ATTACKED,

NOT BY ANOTHER HUMAN,

BUT A BEAST.

THIS SKELETON'S REALLY UNUSUAL.

WHAT WE SEE IS CERTAINLY OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE

'CAUSE I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT BEFORE.

IF YOU LOOK AT THIS RIGHT SIDE OF THE PELVIS,

YOU CAN SEE QUITE OBVIOUSLY TWO LESIONS,

TWO HOLES AS IT WERE.

THEN IF WE LOOK ON THE OTHER SIDE,

THE LEFT SIDE,

WE CAN SEE ANOTHER DESTRUCTIVE LESION THERE.

WHAT ANIMALS ACTUALLY CAUSED THOSE BITE MARKS

I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA.

INCREDIBLY, THIS MAN SHOWS ALL THE SIGNS

OF THE MOST INHUMANE SAVAGERY OF THE GLADIATORIAL GAMES...

A BATTLE WHERE HUMANS FOUGHT FEROCIOUS WILD ANIMALS

TO THE DEATH.

FIGHTING A LION OR A TIGER--

OK, THIS IS EXTRAORDINARILY DANGEROUS,

AND MANY, MANY, MANY OF THEM WERE KILLED IN THESE BATTLES.

BUT IT WASN'T JUST BIG CATS

THAT WERE USED IN THIS SO-CALLED SPORT.

WILD DOGS, BULLS, AND EVEN BEARS

ARE RECORDED AS HAVING FOUGHT GLADIATORS.

TIM THOMPSON IS A PROFESSOR OF ANTHROPOLOGY.

HE'S HOPING TO WORK OUT

EXACTLY WHAT TYPE OF ANIMAL WAS RESPONSIBLE

FOR THE CATASTROPHIC ATTACK ON THIS BODY.

Tim Thompson: SO WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS AN ADULT SKELETON.

THE INJURIES THAT WE SEE FROM THE DRIFFIELD TERRACE INDIVIDUAL

FALL HERE ON THE PELVIS,

AND WE SEE IT ON BOTH THE LEFT

AND THE RIGHT-HAND SIDE OF THE PELVIS,

SPECIFICALLY HERE,

ALONG WHAT WE CALL THE ILIAC CREST,

AND SO WE SEE PUNCTURE WOUNDS HERE AND HERE,

AND WE SEE PUNCTURE WOUNDS HERE AND HERE.

WHAT WE ARE SURE OF

IS THAT THIS DAMAGE WAS CAUSED BY AN ANIMAL.

THIS IS A BITE MARK.

AND WE'RE SEEING MULTIPLE BITE MARKS ON THIS INDIVIDUAL.

PROFESSOR THOMPSON EMPLOYS

STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNOLOGY

TO DISCOVER WHAT ANIMAL ATTACKED THIS MAN.

USING A 3D SCANNER...

AND THE BROKEN FRAGMENTS OF PELVIC BONE,

HE REBUILDS THE PELVIS IN VIRTUAL REALITY.

SO, THE SCANNING ALLOWS US

TO INTERROGATE THE FRAGMENTED PELVIS.

IT ALLOWS US TO START RECONSTRUCTING THE BROKEN PIECES

IN VIRTUAL SPACE.

THEN ULTIMATELY IT ALLOWS US

TO START MATCHING UP THE WOUNDS THAT WE'RE SEEING ON THE PELVIS

WITH THE DENTITION FROM DIFFERENT SPECIES OF ANIMALS

IN A WAY THAT WE'RE NOT ABLE TO WITH THE PHYSICAL REMAINS.

WITH THE PUNCTURED PELVIS VIRTUALLY MODELED,

PROFESSOR THOMPSON CAN BEGIN TO HUNT DOWN THE BEAST

THAT ATTACKED THIS MAN.

WE KNOW IT'S NOT AN ANIMAL

THE SIZE OF A HOUSE CAT OR A SMALL DOG.

THIS IS AN ANIMAL WHICH IS SIGNIFICANTLY LARGER.

WE'RE THINKING OF THINGS AT THE SIZE OF A BIG CAT.

TO COMPARE THE TEETH MARKS ON THE PELVIS

TO THOSE OF A WILD CAT,

THE TEAM HAVE SCANNED THE SKULL OF AN ADULT MALE LION.

SO, HERE WE CAN SEE THE FRAGMENT OF THE PELVIS,

AND HERE ARE THE BITE MARKS AND THE GROOVES

FROM THE ANIMAL ATTACK, JUST THERE.

WHAT WE CAN DO NOW IS ADD IN THE SCAN FROM THE LION SKULL.

AND WE CAN SEE THE TEETH FROM THE BIG CAT

MATCH UP WITH THE MARKS THAT WE'RE SEEING IN THE PELVIS.

ATTACKED BY SUCH A BEAST,

IT WOULD SEEM THERE COULD BE ONLY ONE OUTCOME FOR THIS MAN,

AND FURTHER EXAMINATION OF THE BONES CONFIRMS

THE INJURIES DID NOT HEAL.

HE DID NOT SURVIVE THIS FEROCIOUS ENCOUNTER.

THESE BITE MARKS HAPPENED PERIMORTEM,

SO AROUND THE TIME OF DEATH,

AND THEY ARE CONSISTENT WITH A LARGE CARNIVORE.

THE EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THIS MAN WAS A BESTIARIUS,

A GLADIATOR CONDEMNED TO FIGHT NOT OTHER MEN,

BUT WILD ANIMALS.

BESTIARII WERE TRAINED GLADIATORS

SPECIFICALLY FOCUSED ON NOT OTHER GLADIATORS,

BUT ON WILD BEASTS, TO KILL THEM,

TO KILL THEM FOR SPORT, TO KILL THEM FOR ENTERTAINMENT.

AND IT WAS SOMETHING EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.

REALLY FEROCIOUS CREATURES.

WHAT CHANCE DO THESE MEN HAVE AGAINST THEM?

BUT IF ALL THESE SKELETONS WERE GLADIATORS,

WHY WERE THEY ULTIMATELY DECAPITATED?

KURT HUNTER-MANN BELIEVES THE BEHEADING

WAS THE FINAL ACT IN THE GLADIATORIAL DRAMA.

Hunter-Mann: WE'RE LOOKING AT PEOPLE

WHO WERE KILLED IN THE ARENA AS A DECAPITATION,

SO WE'RE PROBABLY LOOKING THERE

AT IT BEING PART OF THE COUP DE GRACE

THAT GLADIATORS APPARENTLY WERE GIVEN

AT THE END OF A FIGHT.

IF THEY'D LOST OR IF THEY WERE DYING,

THEY WOULD BE DECAPITATED.

IN THE ARENA,

A DEFEATED MAN'S FATE COULD BE DECIDED BY THE EMPEROR

OR THE CROWD.

IF THE EMPEROR WAS PRESENT,

HE WOULD BE THE PERSON DECIDING

ON WHETHER THE CONQUERED GLADIATOR

WOULD LIVE OR DIE.

AND THIS IS WHERE YOU GET THIS FAMOUS IDEA

THAT IF YOU WERE LUCKY, YOU GOT THE THUMBS UP,

AND IF YOU WEREN'T, YOU GOT THE THUMBS DOWN AND DIED.

BUT NOT ALL GLADIATORS WERE KILLED BY THEIR OPPONENTS.

FOR DEFEATED GLADIATORS CONDEMNED TO DEATH,

THEIR ULTIMATE FATE OFTEN FELL

TO THE MOST DISTURBING FIGURE IN THE ARENA--

THE EXECUTIONER.

SOMETIMES YOU ACTUALLY HAVE A FIGURE COMING OUT

THAT'S GOING TO LITERALLY GIVE YOU THE DEATH BLOW.

IT'S GOT TO HAVE DRAMA.

THIS GROUP OF MEN

PROVIDE TANTALIZING EVIDENCE OF YORK'S GLADIATORIAL PAST.

THEIR DNA

SUGGESTS THEY WERE HANDPICKED FROM ACROSS THE EMPIRE.

THEIR BONES INDICATE THEY WERE HIGHLY TRAINED,

AND THEIR INJURIES ARE CONSISTENT WITH PERFORMING

IN THE MOST SAVAGE GAMES EVER STAGED.

Hunter-Mann: BASED ON THE EVIDENCE

OF THE HUMAN REMAINS AND THE OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES--

THE WAY THEY WERE FOUND WITH THE INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE,

AND IN PARTICULAR WITH THE ANIMAL BITE MARK,

I BELIEVE THAT WE ARE DEALING

WITH A POPULATION OF GLADIATORS HERE,

WHO FOUGHT IN THE ARENA AND WERE BURIED AT THIS SPOT

BECAUSE IT WAS AN IMPORTANT PLACE TO BE BURIED.

AND IT DOES MAKE ROMAN YORK REMARKABLE IN THAT RESPECT.

GLADIATOR SPECTACLES TOOK PLACE FROM ROME OUTWARD,

FURTHEST REACHES OF THE EMPIRE,

AND HERE WE HAVE IN YORK COMPELLING EVIDENCE

THAT HERE, TOO, GLADIATORS ONCE FOUGHT.

IN DEATH, THESE MEN WERE TREATED AS HEROES.

BUT IN LIFE, EVERY DAY WAS A FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL.

THESE SKELETONS REVEAL

THE TRUE BRUTALITY OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

AND THE SAVAGED BONES

ARE PROOF OF THE DARK HEART OF ROMAN CIVILIZATION.