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This is the Appian Way,
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one of the roads that took
thousands of Romans
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00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:14,840
in and out of their capital city
every day.
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00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:19,840
Young and old, rich and poor,
clean and dirty.
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And it's where I want to start,
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00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:28,000
asking a question
that really interests me.
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Who were the ancient Romans?
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00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:37,720
Outside the city, it was lined with
thousands and thousands of tombs,
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so before you got into the city of
Rome, you'd already met the Romans.
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Dead ones, that is.
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And the lives of many of them
began or ended a long way from Rome.
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This is just a tiny
fragment of someone's tomb.
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Someone called Eschinus.
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00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:03,600
"Occisus est in Lusitania".
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He was murdered in Spain.
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00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:11,000
This lady's Usia Prima,
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00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:14,600
a priestess of
the Egyptian goddess Isis,
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00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:17,440
and there's her
little sacred rattle.
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She's almost looking at you.
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I feel like saying,
"Pleased to meet you, Prima."
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They come from every walk of life
and every part of the Empire,
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and a lot of them
had once been slaves.
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These aren't the kind of guys
we usually think of
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when we think of Romans.
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These Romans all lived
at the centre of a vast Empire
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that stretched from Spain to Syria,
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and which dominated the
Western world for over 700 years.
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Like it or not, ancient Rome
is still all around us,
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in our roads, laws and architecture.
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00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:08,520
We keep on recreating it
in film and fiction,
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and every year,
thousands of us trek here
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to see its monuments up close,
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00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:15,720
and to imagine
the emperors and the armies,
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00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:18,880
the gladiators,
and let's be honest, the gore.
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00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:20,720
But hidden all over the modern city,
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00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:23,320
in its walls, behind the facades,
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00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:25,320
even under its streets,
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00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:29,400
is something much harder to find
but just as captivating -
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00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:32,640
the forgotten voices
of the ordinary people.
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00:02:32,640 --> 00:02:34,920
They're still there,
if you know where to look.
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00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:40,160
Calidius Eroticus
means "Mr Hot Sex".
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This is a Roman menage a trois.
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This wasn't just a mugging.
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This was mass murder.
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00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:52,200
The Romans didn't just carve their
names and dates on their tombstones.
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Keen never to be forgotten,
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they left their thoughts,
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00:02:56,800 --> 00:03:01,360
their achievements, even entire life
stories chiselled into stone.
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00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:04,280
It's a unique record
of real Roman lives.
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00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:08,000
I've spent most of my life
with the ancient Romans,
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00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:12,800
and not just the big guys -
the emperors, the politicians,
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the generals, the posh ones.
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00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:18,760
The people I've most enjoyed getting
to know are the ordinary ones,
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who had their own part to play
in the story
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00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:23,640
of this extraordinary city.
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And what gets to me every time
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is that we can still have
a conversation with them -
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even 2,000 years later.
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00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:35,760
In this series, I'm going to get
their voices speaking again,
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00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:39,960
to piece together a very different
story of life in ancient Rome.
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I'll step behind the doors
of their homes to meet
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flesh and blood Roman families
whose lives and possessions
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00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:49,800
can reflect our own
in surprising ways.
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This is something a bit special.
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She's not just Barbie,
she's Empress Barbie.
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00:03:56,680 --> 00:03:59,800
I'll go down into the streets,
where the dirt, crime,
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00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:04,080
sex and humour in everyday
Roman life shows us
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00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:08,640
what it was like to live in
an ancient city of a million people.
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"Baths, wine and sex,"
he said, "ruin your body."
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True. But they're what makes life
really worth living.
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00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:24,440
But I'll start by telling
the real story of Imperial Rome,
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looking beyond
the violence and spectacle
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to find a global city which reached
for talent and treasure
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from the far ends of the earth -
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a place where everything and
everyone was from somewhere else.
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These are the Romans
I'm interested in.
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Welcome to my Rome.
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When you arrived in Rome at its
imperial height 2,000 years ago,
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you found yourself
in a new kind of city.
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Rome had once been
a small city-state,
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but in conquest after conquest,
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it became capital of a vast Empire,
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a place in which,
for the first time in history,
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a million people from three
continents managed to live together.
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One thing we know about Rome is
it wasn't just a city,
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it was an Empire,
87
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and for us,
that means marauding armies,
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00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:40,840
conquering generals
and bloodthirsty emperors.
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We tend not to think
about the ordinary people
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00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:47,880
who lived here
at the very heart of it all.
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For them, the Empire brought them
into contact with a whole world,
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00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:57,000
from Scotland to Afghanistan,
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00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:01,400
and it made this city
a more cosmopolitan place
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00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:03,920
than anywhere had ever
been before or would be again
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00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:06,640
for hundreds of years.
96
00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:10,480
And we're always asking,
"What did the Romans do for us?"
97
00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:12,560
I think we should be asking,
98
00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:15,880
"What did the Empire do
to the Romans?
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00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:18,880
"And who were those Romans, anyway?"
100
00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:23,040
Around the city, there's more
evidence than you'd think
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00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:25,520
for the impact
that Roman conquest had
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on the lives
of ordinary people here.
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All it requires is that we look
from a slightly different angle.
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One of the most famous
monuments in the forum
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celebrates the moment when
one conquering army came home.
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In 71 AD, the city got a day off
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for the triumphal return of the
emperor Vespasian and his son Titus,
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who had crushed
a rebellion in Judea.
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We've got here
the victorious general, Titus,
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driving through the streets of Rome
in his chariot
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00:07:06,840 --> 00:07:09,360
to celebrate his victory...
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00:07:11,080 --> 00:07:12,720
...and on the other side,
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00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:16,160
we've got the booty
that he's brought home with him.
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Titus had devastatingly conquered
the Jews,
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and here we can see the loot that
he has got from the Jewish temple.
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It's a grand display,
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but what I want to do is
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to try and undercut
the pomposity of it a bit,
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00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:35,600
and to ask
what was it like for the people,
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00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:38,920
the ordinary Romans
who showed up to watch this,
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00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:42,000
left their apartments
and came to see the spectacle?
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00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:47,840
A triumph like this would have been
the first sight the Roman people had
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of all the things the armies brought
back from their distant victories.
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The rich spoils, the maps
of the conquered territory,
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00:07:57,520 --> 00:08:00,480
the models of the fighting,
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00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:05,480
even the trees that they'd uprooted
and brought back to Rome.
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00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:08,160
How did people react?
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Some must have gasped, others
would have jeered the captives.
129
00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:15,400
Or maybe their minds
were on other things.
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00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:18,840
One Roman poet recommends
the triumphal procession
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as a place to pick up a girl.
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How would you do it?
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Well, he says, watch the stuff
go past, nudge up to her and say,
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00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:29,080
"Ooh. I think that's
the Euphrates there,
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00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:31,160
"and that's the Tigris over there."
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You don't have to know, he says,
you just have to sound confident.
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And then you'll make
your own conquest!
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It's a good joke.
139
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But it also hints at the way
Roman lives could be changed
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by the spoils coming back
from the Empire.
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This girl can't have been
the only person who found all this
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pretty strange, but also exciting.
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So what did the Roman armies
bring back from the Empire?
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The import that made
the biggest impact
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is one we don't think about
often enough - human beings.
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These are forgotten people,
but if we take the time to listen,
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we can still hear the voices
of some of the millions
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who followed the Roman armies
into the city
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for all sorts of different reasons.
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"This is for my brother,
Habibi Annu from Palmyra.
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"I'm Germanus,
Regulus' mule driver."
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00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:41,200
"This is for Diocles,
champion chariot racer from Spain."
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Here we've got a young slave girl,
age 17,
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Phryne, the slave of Tertulla.
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"Africana". She came from Africa.
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This one is put up by a soldier
for his wife Carnuntilla,
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born near Vienna
in ancient Pannonia.
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What's weird is that Carnuntilla
isn't really a real name.
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00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:08,600
It comes from the name of a town
in Pannonia, Carnuntum.
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It means, sort of,
"my babe from Carnuntum".
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So my guess is,
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he perhaps bought this girl
as a slave,
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he freed her, he brought her
back to Rome, he married her.
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00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:30,520
But sadly, his babe from Carnuntum
died when she was just 19.
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00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:35,720
Poignant stories like this
are everywhere in the city.
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They're reminders
of the different ways
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real lives could begin abroad
and end in Rome.
168
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But there's more to it than that.
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These people weren't just
brought in to serve the Romans.
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They were becoming Romans.
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One of the tombs on the Appian Way
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gives us the other side
of the story of the Arch of Titus.
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It's a tombstone of three guys,
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one called Baricha,
one called Zabda,
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and one called Achiba -
typical Jewish names.
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So the question is, what's the story
of Baricha, Zabda and Achiba?
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How did they get here?
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If they did start out life in Judea,
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how come they end up
as Roman citizens in Rome?
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It's more surprising than you think.
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To judge from the letters and
how they're written on this stone,
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this was carved in
the first century AD,
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and at that point,
we can put two and two together.
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I'm almost certain that these
three men
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must have been part of the Jewish
rebellion against the Romans
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in the late 60s AD.
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These men surely came into Rome
with Titus' army,
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as prisoners of war.
189
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It must have seemed like
the worst moment of their lives -
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jeered at, catcalls,
people throwing things at them.
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But perhaps worse was to come.
192
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They were auctioned off as slaves
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and bought by a man called
Lucius Valerius.
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00:12:18,560 --> 00:12:22,960
What their life in slavery was like,
we don't know, but he freed them,
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and they become new Roman citizens,
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00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:30,320
with his name, Lucius Valerius,
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00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:32,520
but their Jewish names
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00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:37,480
still asserting their Jewish
sense of identity.
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00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:40,360
This is one of the ways
that Roman conquest works.
200
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It does bring slaves,
but it also brings,
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eventually, new Roman citizens.
202
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It's a fairy-tale happy ending,
203
00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:55,760
and a classic Roman story.
204
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When guys like this were freed,
205
00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:01,920
they didn't just go back
to their old lives in Judea.
206
00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:04,960
They stayed in their new home,
and what's more,
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00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:09,200
they became Romans,
with all the rights and privileges
208
00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:13,120
which came with full
Roman citizenship.
209
00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:16,840
But what kept them in Rome?
How many of them were there?
210
00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:20,440
And where did
all these new Romans live?
211
00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:22,280
To try and make sense of it all,
212
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I went to meet a colleague
in Trastevere, which literally means
213
00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:29,560
"across the Tiber
from the ancient city centre".
214
00:13:29,560 --> 00:13:34,040
It's got a reputation as a bit of
an immigrant area in Rome even now.
215
00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:38,480
This area, Trastevere,
across the Tiber,
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00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:40,520
was the fringe
of the ancient city of Rome,
217
00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:43,240
and this is where we have
the biggest evidence
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00:13:43,240 --> 00:13:47,760
for immigrant communities -
Jews, the Syrians.
219
00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:50,640
I guess if you said
to an ancient Roman,
220
00:13:50,640 --> 00:13:53,680
"Where's the biggest immigrant area
of the ancient city of Rome?"
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They'd have said... Over the river.
Over. On the other side, yeah.
222
00:13:58,000 --> 00:13:59,680
Part of the answer to the question
223
00:13:59,680 --> 00:14:03,080
of why an area like this
could be so cosmopolitan
224
00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:08,520
lies in the story of slaves
like Baricha, Zabda and Achiba.
225
00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:11,040
Greeks thought Romans
were really weird
226
00:14:11,040 --> 00:14:13,240
for freeing as many slaves
as they did.
227
00:14:13,240 --> 00:14:14,640
And making them citizens? Yes.
228
00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:16,040
Although it's very brutal,
229
00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:19,240
being a slave can be a kind of stage
in a life, like an apprenticeship.
230
00:14:19,240 --> 00:14:22,280
You come in as a German, you get
a Roman name, you learn Latin,
231
00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:23,960
or you learn to manage in Latin,
232
00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:26,520
you learn some kind of job
that's useful to your master,
233
00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:28,640
your master sets you free,
and there you are -
234
00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:31,080
you're a Roman citizen
with a trade and a Roman name
235
00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:33,360
and a bunch of powerful people
you know.
236
00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:35,640
Yeah. This is your entry
into Roman society.
237
00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:42,680
Now, multiply that by hundreds
and thousands of slaves being freed,
238
00:14:42,680 --> 00:14:46,320
and you can see that the whole
ethnic nature
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00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:49,000
of the people who call themselves
Roman citizens
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00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:52,600
is really changing very quickly.
241
00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:54,520
Roman is a kind of vocation.
242
00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:57,120
It's a movement into which
other people are drawn.
243
00:14:57,120 --> 00:14:59,640
This was a completely new idea.
244
00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:02,960
And, in many ways,
the secret of the Empire's success.
245
00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:08,720
"Roman" was no longer a word which
described the city you came from,
246
00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:11,360
it was something you could become.
247
00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:14,680
Almost everyone in Rome
was descended from someone
248
00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:17,120
who arrived from outside.
249
00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:20,120
Not just ex-slaves.
250
00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:23,760
People coming in to work on
the docks. Builders. Prostitutes.
251
00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:25,560
Peasants, who'd come into Rome
252
00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:28,400
because they think they can eat
there cos they can't eat at home.
253
00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:33,440
So, this huge, chaotic mix of people
who arrive not knowing anybody.
254
00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:36,400
These were journeys
into the unknown,
255
00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:39,480
and into a place where there was
no guarantee you would survive.
256
00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:44,800
And, oddly, that was one reason
that Rome welcomed people in.
257
00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:47,520
Any city the size of Rome
has to have immigration
258
00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:49,680
because the number of people
who die in it
259
00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:51,840
greatly exceeds the number
who are born.
260
00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:54,480
Rome's a malarial city, in antiquity.
261
00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:58,520
So people come here
who don't have any immunity.
262
00:15:58,520 --> 00:16:00,800
They catch the disease.
They're dead within years.
263
00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:02,640
So, just to keep Rome the size it is,
264
00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:05,800
it needs to constantly top up
the population.
265
00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:08,880
Rome is swallowing people.
266
00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:12,120
It's a city which consumes people.
267
00:16:12,120 --> 00:16:13,800
It spews them out, dead.
268
00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:19,720
Perhaps we should stop thinking
of Romans as a nation,
269
00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:23,560
a master race
who conquered the world,
270
00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:26,080
and think instead
of a Babel of rootless people,
271
00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:28,720
piled up together,
a long way from home.
272
00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:32,040
And, no doubt,
hoping for a brighter future.
273
00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:37,040
Because, for foreigners,
Rome wasn't all doom and gloom.
274
00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:40,760
Sometimes, I guess,
people would have come to Rome
275
00:16:40,760 --> 00:16:44,480
just to seek their fortunes.
276
00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:47,760
This is an epitaph,
written in Greek,
277
00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:52,040
of a man who's said to have been
always laughing,
278
00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:55,040
always having a joke
and really good at music.
279
00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:58,320
He might have come
as part of a band, I guess.
280
00:16:59,960 --> 00:17:02,520
And, actually,
281
00:17:02,520 --> 00:17:05,840
the stone tells us that he came,
282
00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:09,560
"To the land of Italy, ex-Asiaes".
283
00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:12,000
"From Asia".
284
00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:14,160
That's modern Turkey.
285
00:17:14,160 --> 00:17:17,600
It says he died here
when he was young
286
00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:20,040
and it ends up saying,
287
00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:23,840
"toy noma Menopholos", in Greek.
288
00:17:23,840 --> 00:17:27,320
"Menopholos" is the name.
289
00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:31,480
Now,
Rome might have consumed people.
290
00:17:31,480 --> 00:17:33,760
It might have been
a dangerous place.
291
00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:37,200
It might have been disease-ridden
and dirty,
292
00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:40,720
but I guess,
to a man like Menopholos,
293
00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:44,480
the streets must have seemed paved
with gold.
294
00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:51,840
And not all immigrants in Rome
were at the bottom of the heap.
295
00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:54,960
The Senate and the Imperial Palace
296
00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:56,560
were full of people from outside,
297
00:17:56,560 --> 00:17:59,120
just like the streets
of Trastevere.
298
00:17:59,120 --> 00:18:04,680
Rome was international,
from the bottom to the very top.
299
00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:11,680
ACCORDION PLAYS
300
00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:19,800
Increasingly, this city belonged
to the likes of Menopholos.
301
00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:26,400
As new people arrived,
302
00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:29,560
Rome's population doubled,
then doubled again,
303
00:18:29,560 --> 00:18:31,120
till it reached over a million.
304
00:18:31,120 --> 00:18:34,520
There was nowhere in Europe bigger,
until Victorian London.
305
00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:40,160
We think of Rome as a very old city.
306
00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:44,120
But, 2,000 years ago,
307
00:18:44,120 --> 00:18:46,680
this place was brand new.
308
00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:51,680
It must have been full
of building sites,
309
00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:54,680
new high-rise,
of temporary accommodation.
310
00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:57,080
It must have felt a bit like Dubai.
311
00:18:57,080 --> 00:18:59,320
But there's a big question.
312
00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:04,760
If you've got a mass of
a million people, from everywhere,
313
00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:07,880
how do you keep them alive?
How do you feed them?
314
00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:11,920
How do you keep the vast Roman
multi-cultural show
315
00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:14,240
on the road?
316
00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:19,880
Feeding a million people was a
completely unprecedented challenge.
317
00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:24,720
Bang in the centre
of the modern city
318
00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:27,120
is a site which gives you an idea
319
00:19:27,120 --> 00:19:31,640
of the colossal scale
of consumption in Ancient Rome.
320
00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:37,400
Locals call it Monte Testaccio.
321
00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:40,680
That's "broken pot mountain".
322
00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:43,720
I think it's one of the most
extraordinary archaeological sites
323
00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:46,040
anywhere in the world.
324
00:19:46,040 --> 00:19:49,840
Phew! Made it.
325
00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:53,680
This is absolutely extraordinary.
326
00:19:55,920 --> 00:19:58,200
'Each of these fragments
327
00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:01,640
'was once part
of an Ancient Roman storage jar.'
328
00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:04,080
What is amazing about this,
329
00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:06,720
is that you really see here
330
00:20:06,720 --> 00:20:08,920
that it is a broken pot mountain.
331
00:20:08,920 --> 00:20:12,160
There's no earth
mixed in with the other stuff.
332
00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:17,320
So, you see how,
actually quite neatly,
333
00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:20,640
these shards of pottery
have been stacked.
334
00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:24,080
It's a mountain, not a heap.
335
00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:26,400
It's a real hill.
336
00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:29,400
But there's nothing natural
about it.
337
00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:31,680
This is a huge,
ancient rubbish dump,
338
00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:35,520
composed entirely
of discarded containers -
339
00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:40,000
amphorae - that held just one
of the products consumed by Rome.
340
00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:44,320
It was olive oil,
which seeped into the jars,
341
00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:47,600
and made them go really rancid,
342
00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:50,920
so they were the only containers
that couldn't be recycled.
343
00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:54,320
Poor old amphorae had taken off
to be pick-axed up
344
00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:56,520
and made into the mountain.
345
00:20:56,520 --> 00:20:59,400
And the olive oil
that was in them gets everywhere.
346
00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:02,000
It's the stuff of Roman life.
347
00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:04,560
You'd find it being used in cooking.
348
00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:07,320
It's what's going to help you
make perfume.
349
00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:09,760
It's what the guys in the baths
who are exercising,
350
00:21:09,760 --> 00:21:14,040
rubbing themselves, scraping
themselves down, would have used.
351
00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:17,200
And in the end, it's what the poor
little old lady in the garret,
352
00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:21,520
who has just got one pottery lamp...
353
00:21:21,520 --> 00:21:26,480
What came in this amphora would
have been her only source of light,
354
00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:28,000
at night.
355
00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:33,560
It's no exaggeration
to say that Rome ran on olive oil.
356
00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:37,280
This place gives archaeologists
a great opportunity
357
00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:40,120
to work out how it got here.
358
00:21:40,120 --> 00:21:43,720
It came in massive quantities.
359
00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:46,200
This must have been what,
originally...?
360
00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:47,760
Even larger.
361
00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:49,720
Even larger than that?
362
00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:52,840
These are 30 kilos
when they're empty. Empty, yes.
363
00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:55,880
My suitcase, when it's full,
364
00:21:55,880 --> 00:21:58,280
is this amphora when it's empty.
365
00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:00,840
'And what's amazing is
that you can often find out
366
00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:03,600
'exactly where the oil came from.'
367
00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:07,480
We know that it is "A-R-V-A".
368
00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:10,080
Arva is a town called this way
369
00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:13,240
in the shores of the Guadalquivir.
370
00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:15,920
So, that's linking
that precise chart
371
00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:18,840
to a site in southern Spain.
372
00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:21,600
So, Roman town, southern Spain.
373
00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:23,960
The guy who is making this amphora
374
00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:26,040
is stamping it with his town's name,
375
00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:28,920
saying, "This is a product of Arva"?
Yeah.
376
00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:32,240
According to these trademarks,
377
00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:35,680
almost all the oil in this mountain
was coming from Spain,
378
00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:37,880
and a bit from North Africa.
379
00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:40,400
Today, Italy is famous
for its olive oil,
380
00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:42,160
but in ancient times,
381
00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:45,800
they were importing most of it
from somewhere else.
382
00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:48,840
The fascinating thing
about this mountain
383
00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:54,040
is the way you can start to piece
together little life stories
384
00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:56,640
of these pots and their contents.
385
00:22:56,640 --> 00:23:00,320
It gets down to the coast in Spain,
386
00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:02,080
gets loaded onto boats.
387
00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:03,560
If it's lucky, it makes it,
388
00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:06,360
but there's lots of shipwrecks
in the ancient Mediterranean.
389
00:23:06,360 --> 00:23:09,040
It arrives at the coast.
It's humped off the boat.
390
00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:10,360
It's put into barges.
391
00:23:10,360 --> 00:23:13,560
It's brought up the Tiber
to the city of Rome itself.
392
00:23:13,560 --> 00:23:15,600
Humped off the boat again,
393
00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:17,920
put into warehouses,
394
00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:19,640
decanted into small containers.
395
00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:22,360
The amphorae end up here.
396
00:23:22,360 --> 00:23:24,320
It might not look it at first sight,
397
00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:27,160
but, in fact, it's one of the most
impressive monuments
398
00:23:27,160 --> 00:23:31,160
to the idea of Rome as
an imperialist, consumer city,
399
00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:35,000
bringing in the foodstuffs she needs
from all around the Mediterranean.
400
00:23:38,320 --> 00:23:40,040
It wasn't just olive oil.
401
00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:44,440
A short trip down the river Tiber
402
00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:46,760
is the seaport, Ostia.
403
00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:57,400
'Today, Ostia is one of Rome's
best-kept secrets.
404
00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:01,920
'And it helps us discover what
Rome was importing, from where.'
405
00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:09,320
'Martin Millett
has been excavating near here,
406
00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:12,640
'and together, we went to explore
an intriguing piazza
407
00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:17,240
'next to the theatre, which we call,
"The Square of the Corporation".'
408
00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:22,560
OK, Martin. This is where
I get to do the housework.
409
00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:25,000
Never live this down!
410
00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:26,880
'If you sweep away the pine needles,
411
00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:29,160
'there are mosaics all around here,
412
00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:33,480
'advertising companies
importing goods from abroad.'
413
00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:35,240
"Stuppatoresres".
414
00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:37,440
BOTH: Rope-makers!
415
00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:42,360
This is the organisation
of fur traders.
416
00:24:43,360 --> 00:24:46,800
The Naviculariorum Lignariorum,
417
00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:48,360
That's the wood-traders.
418
00:24:48,360 --> 00:24:50,280
So, what we've got so far is...
419
00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:52,120
Rope,
420
00:24:52,120 --> 00:24:53,520
pelts,
421
00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:54,880
and wood.
422
00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:57,600
'There are at least 50
of these mosaics.
423
00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:01,480
'Most of them give us a place
as well as a product.
424
00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:03,320
'They add up to one conclusion.
425
00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:07,760
'Rome was being supplied from all
corners of the Mediterranean.'
426
00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:11,440
Italy's not big enough
to support the city of Rome.
427
00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:15,920
It is a city that's drawing in
resources from everywhere.
428
00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:18,720
This was a new moment
in western history.
429
00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:22,120
Rome had become what we now call
"a consumer city",
430
00:25:22,120 --> 00:25:25,120
on a vast scale.
These aren't luxury products,
431
00:25:25,120 --> 00:25:27,080
they're basic commodities.
432
00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:29,080
Wood, leather, oil,
433
00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:33,040
wine and, most important by far,
grain.
434
00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:36,520
People talk about Rome
being a consumer city,
435
00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:38,680
with a population
of about a million.
436
00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:43,800
That implies 150,000 metric tonnes
of grain a year.
437
00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:45,880
I don't know how big
those ships are,
438
00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:47,880
but you need a lot of ships
like that
439
00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:51,160
to bring in 150,000 metric tonnes
of grain.
440
00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:53,440
'As the city grew,
441
00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:57,080
'farms in Sicily, Libya,
and then Egypt,
442
00:25:57,080 --> 00:26:01,840
'were given over to producing wheat
for the people of Rome.
443
00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:03,960
When the grain ships
arrived in Italy,
444
00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:06,560
the word would pass round Rome.
445
00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:07,960
The food had arrived.
446
00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:10,880
This was one thing the Empire
did for Rome.
447
00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:12,080
It kept them alive.
448
00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:17,720
But it did more than that.
449
00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:22,960
I want to think about life
in that consumer city.
450
00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:25,480
Who were the winners,
and who were the losers?
451
00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:29,560
One really interesting thing is
how they used this imported grain.
452
00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:34,840
That means thinking about bread.
Not just eating it, but making it.
453
00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:38,760
I'm very much
second-in-command here.
454
00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:40,080
THEY LAUGH
455
00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:48,040
OK, so, I'm now being trusted
with the action.
456
00:26:49,360 --> 00:26:54,680
200,000 Roman citizens,
living in the city of Rome,
457
00:26:54,680 --> 00:26:58,200
got, each month,
what was called a corn dole,
458
00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:00,680
a free ration of corn,
459
00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:05,120
that means about 35 to 40 kilos
of corn.
460
00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:12,160
Which was enough to make bread
for a month for about two people.
461
00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:17,040
'This was an extraordinary privilege
for citizens in Rome.
462
00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:21,480
'200,000 of them received
free rations from the state.
463
00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:23,920
'But how did it work?
464
00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:27,280
'Many of them lived in one-room
apartments with no kitchens.
465
00:27:27,280 --> 00:27:30,960
'So they relied on the baker
to turn their 40 kilos
466
00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:33,280
'into something they could eat.'
467
00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:34,400
Ha ha!
468
00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:35,680
Are you going to try it?
469
00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:37,640
Yeah. Proviamo.
470
00:27:40,640 --> 00:27:43,280
Good. Not bad for a first attempt.
471
00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:47,120
It's not bad.
472
00:27:47,120 --> 00:27:51,720
And also,
it's wonderful people's food,
473
00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:56,760
this is...
this is tearing and sharing bread.
474
00:27:56,760 --> 00:28:00,800
You don't even have to own a bread
knife to be able to tuck into this.
475
00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:02,400
Good.
476
00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:05,800
'For poor Romans, this was the
staple food that kept them alive.
477
00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:10,560
'But they didn't distribute it
in the way we would expect.'
478
00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:13,880
You've got to put out of your mind,
I think,
479
00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:16,360
this was some kind of
proto-welfare state.
480
00:28:16,360 --> 00:28:21,000
Sure, some of the poor
would have benefited from the grain,
481
00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:25,160
but charity wasn't what was
uppermost in the Emperor's mind
482
00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:29,360
when he put all that time and money
into distributing this grain.
483
00:28:29,360 --> 00:28:32,434
What he was concerned
about was the idea
484
00:28:32,459 --> 00:28:36,240
that a hungry populace was
a dissatisfied populace,
485
00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:40,560
and a dissatisfied populace
was a dangerous one.
486
00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:47,200
Also, the fact that distributions
didn't go to the poorest in Rome,
487
00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:50,800
they went only to Roman citizens
themselves -
488
00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:53,800
you had to be a citizen
in order to get this grain.
489
00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:59,520
And that made it a really important
perk of being a full Roman.
490
00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:04,200
In a way, what this tells us
is that being a full citizen of Rome
491
00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:08,440
was a privileged status
to which outsiders could aspire.
492
00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:11,680
And perks like the grain handout
help you understand why
493
00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:14,800
people wanted to be Roman.
494
00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:17,440
But it also shows us
that all these things, the Empire,
495
00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:21,280
the imports, new citizens,
were all part of the cycle.
496
00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:24,480
The bigger Rome got,
the more it consumed,
497
00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:26,880
the bigger the Empire had to be
to support it.
498
00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:33,280
So, how did Rome's massive
consumption change life in the city?
499
00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:38,120
Well, for one thing, this was one of
the best times in history to be a baker.
500
00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:44,280
And it's a baker who left one
of the strangest monuments in Rome.
501
00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:46,960
Now hidden beneath one
of the main city gates.
502
00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:52,160
It's the tomb monument of a man
called Marcus Vergilius Eurysaces.
503
00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:57,680
He is almost certainly an ex-slave,
504
00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:01,640
and he was a baker and a contractor.
505
00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:06,040
He must have made a whole pile
of money in that job,
506
00:30:06,040 --> 00:30:09,240
otherwise he wouldn't be able
to afford a tomb like this.
507
00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:18,920
What Eurysaces has done
is given himself a theme tomb.
508
00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:23,280
At the very top,
all around the monument,
509
00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:26,400
there were scenes
from the life of the bakery.
510
00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:31,560
It's the kneading, putting the bread
in the oven, weighing the stuff out.
511
00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:35,560
And even these rather strange
circles and columns underneath
512
00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:40,880
will be instantly recognisable
to a Roman as bakery equipment.
513
00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:44,280
The circles are almost certainly
the kneading machines,
514
00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:49,160
and the columns are the bins
in which the dough is kneaded.
515
00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:53,920
What this says in Latin is,
"This is the tomb of Eurysaces,
516
00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:58,440
"the baker and contractor,
'apparet'." It's obvious.
517
00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:03,840
Or what I think we'd say, "This is
the monument of the baker, get it?"
518
00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:06,680
And I really like the way that,
"get it",
519
00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:09,360
still speaks to us
2,000 years later.
520
00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:12,160
Have we got that
this is the tomb of the baker? Yeah.
521
00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:16,840
Eurysaces could joke because
things had gone pretty well for him.
522
00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:21,440
His name sounds Greek, so,
most likely he came from abroad,
523
00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:23,840
but he ended up as one of
a new class of people
524
00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:26,560
getting rich on the proceeds of
Empire.
525
00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:29,880
I've got a tremendous soft spot
for Eurysaces,
526
00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:33,200
but I doubt that all Romans
would have felt that way.
527
00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:37,320
My guess is that if some old money,
old-fashioned Roman
528
00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:43,200
walked past this tomb, he would've
thought it was all a bit tacky.
529
00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:46,960
A bit like I might feel if some
Premier league football player
530
00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:51,040
designed his own tomb in the shape
of a giant football boot.
531
00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:57,400
What Eurysaces' joke reminds us is
that the Empire had a direct effect
532
00:31:57,400 --> 00:32:00,280
on how people in Rome
made their living.
533
00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:05,200
It was becoming a city of urban
professionals.
534
00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:09,960
One of the reasons that ancient Rome
still seems quite familiar to us
535
00:32:09,960 --> 00:32:15,280
is that people could do a whole variety
of different jobs, just like us.
536
00:32:15,280 --> 00:32:18,320
But it's important not to forget
537
00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:21,600
that, obvious as that seems,
538
00:32:21,600 --> 00:32:23,631
it was actually one of the ways
539
00:32:23,656 --> 00:32:27,464
in which the city of Rome was
radically new and different.
540
00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:32,040
In the traditional, small,
ancient city,
541
00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:37,800
the idea was that the inhabitants
were, well, all-rounders,
542
00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:42,320
that the same men
fought the city's wars,
543
00:32:42,320 --> 00:32:46,200
ploughed the city's fields
and produced the city's food.
544
00:32:46,200 --> 00:32:50,880
But in Imperial Rome, because of
the huge size of the city,
545
00:32:50,880 --> 00:32:52,720
those duties were outsourced.
546
00:32:54,400 --> 00:32:57,280
The food now came from overseas.
547
00:32:57,280 --> 00:33:00,960
It wasn't made by local farmers.
548
00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:05,280
And the armed forces that were
stationed around the Roman Empire,
549
00:33:05,280 --> 00:33:08,360
they weren't just citizens
doing their military duty,
550
00:33:08,360 --> 00:33:10,920
they were making a career
out of the military.
551
00:33:10,920 --> 00:33:14,560
The Empire freed,
or you might say forced,
552
00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:18,600
Romans to make a living
by specialising.
553
00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:23,800
Whether that was being a pearl
trader, a warehouse manager,
554
00:33:23,800 --> 00:33:27,920
or even a hairstylist
to the rich and famous.
555
00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:31,760
What this did
was create a completely new way
556
00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:34,280
of differentiating between people.
557
00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:38,440
If you'd asked an Egyptian
or a Greek who they were,
558
00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:43,480
they'd have given their father's
name, or their home town.
559
00:33:43,480 --> 00:33:45,400
If you'd ask the average Roman,
560
00:33:45,400 --> 00:33:48,160
I bet he would have told you
what he did for a living.
561
00:33:48,160 --> 00:33:50,400
They do on their tombstones
at any rate.
562
00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:59,400
These guys are working
in the "piperataria".
563
00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:01,280
That's the pepper market.
564
00:34:04,120 --> 00:34:07,400
These are just warehouse men,
"horreoreorum".
565
00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:11,000
And here's a bloke,
he's a "sagarius" -
566
00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:13,080
a big overcoat maker.
567
00:34:13,080 --> 00:34:17,160
A "saga" is an ancient equivalent
of a duffle coat.
568
00:34:17,160 --> 00:34:19,640
An accounts manager?!
569
00:34:21,640 --> 00:34:26,080
She's great, she's a "piscatrix".
She's a female fishmonger.
570
00:34:27,640 --> 00:34:30,120
And he was a gold worker.
571
00:34:32,240 --> 00:34:37,320
And here is an urn, an ash urn,
572
00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:40,160
for a lady called Sellia Epyre
573
00:34:40,160 --> 00:34:45,080
and she was an "aurivestrix".
574
00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:49,400
She was a very, very, very
upmarket clothes maker.
575
00:34:49,400 --> 00:34:54,280
It's very striking how each one
of these people
576
00:34:54,280 --> 00:34:58,520
does tell you on their tombstone
what they did.
577
00:34:58,520 --> 00:35:01,800
Now, I think we have to relate that
578
00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:05,920
to the sheer size
and potential anonymity
579
00:35:05,920 --> 00:35:09,120
of a great, imperial metropolis.
580
00:35:09,120 --> 00:35:12,360
In a world without ID cards,
without passports,
581
00:35:12,360 --> 00:35:14,960
without birth certificates,
582
00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:18,400
how do you know what you are,
who you are?
583
00:35:19,720 --> 00:35:22,240
You know that because of your job.
584
00:35:22,240 --> 00:35:25,920
I am Sellia Epyre,
585
00:35:25,920 --> 00:35:28,920
a luxury clothes maker.
586
00:35:28,920 --> 00:35:34,480
How do you make your identity clear?
You say, "This is what I do."
587
00:35:35,760 --> 00:35:39,880
This is where Imperial Rome
gets really fascinating for me.
588
00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:43,240
This is not simply a story
of one city getting rich
589
00:35:43,240 --> 00:35:45,480
off the back of everywhere else.
590
00:35:46,760 --> 00:35:51,480
It's a story of a place where people
were trying a new way of living.
591
00:35:51,480 --> 00:35:53,440
They arrived from across the world,
592
00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:56,000
and became a small cog
in this big machine.
593
00:35:56,000 --> 00:35:58,640
You maybe didn't know
your neighbours,
594
00:35:58,640 --> 00:36:00,680
and they didn't know you.
595
00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:05,200
Everyone was looking for new ways
to make their mark and stand out.
596
00:36:05,200 --> 00:36:08,720
The Empire didn't only help people
to move up in the world,
597
00:36:08,720 --> 00:36:12,640
it helped those who did
to show that they had made it.
598
00:36:14,840 --> 00:36:19,240
It created new opportunities
for conspicuous consumption.
599
00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:29,400
The Empire gave most people
in western Europe
600
00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:33,240
their first experience of pepper,
lemons, and cherries.
601
00:36:33,240 --> 00:36:36,040
One po-faced Roman complained
602
00:36:36,040 --> 00:36:40,440
that cooking had gone
from a mere function to a high art.
603
00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:47,440
The Empire transformed
the sensory experience of the city.
604
00:36:47,440 --> 00:36:52,680
There were new smells, new tastes,
new colours.
605
00:36:54,480 --> 00:36:59,480
And nowhere is this clearer
than in the elaborate paintings
606
00:36:59,480 --> 00:37:02,240
many better-off Romans
put on their walls.
607
00:37:02,240 --> 00:37:06,400
In Pompeii is perhaps the most
famous Roman painting of all.
608
00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:09,960
Pretty strange scene,
phallus appearing,
609
00:37:09,960 --> 00:37:11,800
and some female suckling a goat.
610
00:37:11,800 --> 00:37:16,240
But it was probably the colours that
would have dazzled an ancient visitor,
611
00:37:16,240 --> 00:37:18,320
as much as the racy subject matter.
612
00:37:18,320 --> 00:37:20,503
Now, you mustn't make
the mistake of thinking
613
00:37:20,528 --> 00:37:22,640
that poor old Romans
lived in black-and-white
614
00:37:22,640 --> 00:37:25,920
until they started conquering
the Mediterranean.
615
00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:29,760
Of course, there were all kinds
of local minerals and plants
616
00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:31,840
that would give them pigments
for paint.
617
00:37:31,840 --> 00:37:33,200
But as time went on,
618
00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:37,840
they got more and more interested
in the special, bright colours
619
00:37:37,840 --> 00:37:40,760
that you could get
from their far-flung territories.
620
00:37:42,440 --> 00:37:47,200
Now, this here is one of the best
candidates there is
621
00:37:47,200 --> 00:37:51,720
for real red, Spanish vermillion.
622
00:37:51,720 --> 00:37:53,680
Lovely, lustrous red.
623
00:37:53,680 --> 00:37:57,240
I think we have to imagine
that if you came to dinner here
624
00:37:57,240 --> 00:38:00,400
and the generous host
started showing you round,
625
00:38:00,400 --> 00:38:02,200
he might have come and said,
626
00:38:02,200 --> 00:38:06,840
"Now this lady here is whipping this
one because etcetera, etcetera."
627
00:38:06,840 --> 00:38:12,160
But he might have said, "It's
a really lovely red, isn't it?
628
00:38:12,160 --> 00:38:17,000
"Actually, it's Spanish vermillion,
specially imported,
629
00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:22,000
"all the way from Spain.
I paid for it as an extra myself."
630
00:38:24,160 --> 00:38:28,080
We live in a world of cheap,
bright, synthetic colours.
631
00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:30,160
But the Romans didn't.
632
00:38:30,160 --> 00:38:33,800
In Rome, bright colours smacked of a kind
of luxury that only came from abroad.
633
00:38:33,800 --> 00:38:38,400
And the desire for them created
an even more niche range of jobs
634
00:38:38,400 --> 00:38:41,400
for ordinary Romans on the make.
635
00:38:41,400 --> 00:38:45,760
This is a guy who was really keen
on what he did.
636
00:38:45,760 --> 00:38:51,000
He put up this tombstone
when he was alive, "vivos fecit",
637
00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:53,240
for himself and for his family.
638
00:38:53,240 --> 00:38:57,560
He put on it symbols of
the tools of his trade.
639
00:38:57,560 --> 00:39:01,440
Now, he worked as a dyer,
in the dying industry.
640
00:39:01,440 --> 00:39:05,800
And you've got here little flasks
in which his dye went,
641
00:39:05,800 --> 00:39:10,000
scales in which he measured out
his ingredients,
642
00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:13,720
and the skeins of material
that he dyed.
643
00:39:15,440 --> 00:39:17,560
But he wasn't any old dyer.
644
00:39:17,560 --> 00:39:20,640
At the top, he tells us his name.
645
00:39:20,640 --> 00:39:23,040
Caius Pupius Amicus.
646
00:39:24,040 --> 00:39:27,800
Pupurarius - he was a dyer
of purple.
647
00:39:29,480 --> 00:39:32,400
In Rome, purple was special.
648
00:39:32,400 --> 00:39:35,000
It came from
the eastern Mediterranean
649
00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:38,480
and it was extracted from
tiny shellfish.
650
00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:41,600
It looked spectacular
and it didn't fade.
651
00:39:41,600 --> 00:39:44,560
It was not only expensive,
652
00:39:44,560 --> 00:39:46,320
it's use came to be
regulated by law.
653
00:39:47,600 --> 00:39:51,280
If you saw a man in the street
wearing a toga
654
00:39:51,280 --> 00:39:53,200
with a broad, purple stripe,
655
00:39:53,200 --> 00:39:56,840
you'd know that
he must be a senator,
656
00:39:56,840 --> 00:39:58,840
one of the political elite.
657
00:39:58,840 --> 00:40:02,040
The only person later on
in the Roman Empire
658
00:40:02,040 --> 00:40:05,680
who was allowed to wear clothes
completely of purple,
659
00:40:05,680 --> 00:40:09,160
was the Roman Emperor himself.
660
00:40:09,160 --> 00:40:11,760
It's kind of colour policing.
661
00:40:11,760 --> 00:40:14,520
It's a bit like as if
Queen Elizabeth II
662
00:40:14,520 --> 00:40:19,840
was the only person in the country
who was allowed to wear pink.
663
00:40:19,840 --> 00:40:26,280
But it tells you quite a lot
about Rome and the Roman Empire,
664
00:40:26,280 --> 00:40:31,120
that this one very visible marker
of political and social status
665
00:40:31,120 --> 00:40:35,320
should have been the product
of something that came from
666
00:40:35,320 --> 00:40:39,360
the far-eastern side
of the Mediterranean.
667
00:40:39,360 --> 00:40:47,000
No wonder Caius Pupius Amicus
was proud of being a pupurarius.
668
00:40:49,920 --> 00:40:53,600
The story of colour isn't just
a story of luxury,
669
00:40:53,600 --> 00:40:55,080
it's a story of identity.
670
00:40:55,080 --> 00:40:57,720
The power that
conspicuous consumption had
671
00:40:57,720 --> 00:41:01,680
to mark you out as someone special,
672
00:41:01,680 --> 00:41:04,320
whether you were supplying them
or consuming them.
673
00:41:05,760 --> 00:41:08,640
All these imports helped you
distinguish yourself.
674
00:41:08,640 --> 00:41:11,720
Like products and people,
675
00:41:11,720 --> 00:41:16,400
even new gods arrive from
far-flung parts of the empire.
676
00:41:16,400 --> 00:41:20,760
You could have your own style,
your own taste, your own beliefs.
677
00:41:22,800 --> 00:41:26,440
But let's not get too carried away
by all this exotic stuff
678
00:41:26,440 --> 00:41:28,440
that the empire offered up.
679
00:41:28,440 --> 00:41:31,720
What the foreign purple
on the senator's toga tells us
680
00:41:31,720 --> 00:41:35,480
is that you could be completely
foreign and absolutely Roman
681
00:41:35,480 --> 00:41:37,720
at the same time.
682
00:41:37,720 --> 00:41:41,280
The Romans had a way of
thinking about other cultures
683
00:41:41,280 --> 00:41:43,520
that is quite unlike our own.
684
00:41:44,960 --> 00:41:48,440
We mustn't make the mistake
of imagining
685
00:41:48,440 --> 00:41:55,920
that Rome is a sort of
touchy-feely cultural melting pot.
686
00:41:55,920 --> 00:41:58,440
Yes. If you wear the wrong clothes,
they make fun of you,
687
00:41:58,440 --> 00:42:00,520
if you speak strangely,
they make fun of you.
688
00:42:00,520 --> 00:42:03,560
They're big conformists.
There's too many Greeks here,
689
00:42:03,560 --> 00:42:06,000
the Jews don't eat food properly
on the Sabbath,
690
00:42:06,000 --> 00:42:07,520
all that sort of stuff.
691
00:42:07,520 --> 00:42:10,200
Why don't they eat pork? How silly!
692
00:42:10,200 --> 00:42:15,000
The poet Martial, who is going on
about the puella Romana
693
00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:19,160
who hasn't experienced
a mentula Romana.
694
00:42:19,160 --> 00:42:22,320
The Roman chick
who's never had a Roman dick.
695
00:42:22,320 --> 00:42:26,440
You know, it's crude stuff,
but nasty in its way.
696
00:42:26,440 --> 00:42:30,600
'The irony is, the man
who wrote this came from Spain.
697
00:42:30,600 --> 00:42:32,640
'They're not laughing
at other races,
698
00:42:32,640 --> 00:42:36,240
'they're laughing about people
who don't do things the Roman way.'
699
00:42:36,240 --> 00:42:39,760
Although people come to this city
from all over the world,
700
00:42:39,760 --> 00:42:43,080
you don't end up with
a Chinatown or a Little Italy
701
00:42:43,080 --> 00:42:46,640
in the way that we have in
the great metropolitan cities today.
702
00:42:46,640 --> 00:42:51,160
These people are ruling the world,
the senators govern Portugal,
703
00:42:51,160 --> 00:42:53,320
govern in Egypt,
they govern along the Danube,
704
00:42:53,320 --> 00:42:54,800
and they never come back and say,
705
00:42:54,800 --> 00:42:56,520
"I had this great meal
the other day."
706
00:42:56,520 --> 00:42:59,080
They'll talk about ingredients
from all over the world,
707
00:42:59,080 --> 00:43:02,680
but you do with it,
the actual cuisine, the cooking,
708
00:43:02,680 --> 00:43:05,080
it's got to end up
proper Roman cookery.
709
00:43:05,080 --> 00:43:08,520
They've got this city
that is unlike anything
710
00:43:08,520 --> 00:43:10,240
that has been created before.
711
00:43:10,240 --> 00:43:12,800
It has a much greater diversity
712
00:43:12,800 --> 00:43:16,000
of people, of customs, of languages,
713
00:43:16,000 --> 00:43:20,360
thousands of languages probably,
hundreds of languages at least,
714
00:43:20,360 --> 00:43:22,120
spoken in the city of Rome.
715
00:43:22,120 --> 00:43:25,560
But they only write in Greek
and Latin more or less all the time,
716
00:43:25,560 --> 00:43:26,720
a tiny bit of Hebrew.
717
00:43:26,720 --> 00:43:28,680
What we are seeing here
718
00:43:28,680 --> 00:43:32,720
is the most culturally,
719
00:43:32,720 --> 00:43:36,040
ethnically, religiously diverse city
720
00:43:36,040 --> 00:43:38,520
that there had ever been
in the world,
721
00:43:38,520 --> 00:43:41,680
but the way they are
doing multiculturalism
722
00:43:41,680 --> 00:43:45,520
is quite different from the way
we do multiculturalism.
723
00:43:45,520 --> 00:43:47,760
Yes. There is cultural diversity,
724
00:43:47,760 --> 00:43:49,120
but what there isn't
725
00:43:49,120 --> 00:43:50,560
is a diversity of cultures.
726
00:43:52,240 --> 00:43:55,000
There's an ironic logic here.
727
00:43:55,000 --> 00:43:57,760
Because Roman culture was in itself
such an amalgam,
728
00:43:57,760 --> 00:43:59,320
they simply saw no need
729
00:43:59,320 --> 00:44:02,640
for alternative cultures
to exist in parallel,
730
00:44:02,640 --> 00:44:05,640
still less to respect them.
731
00:44:05,640 --> 00:44:09,760
In Rome, diversity wasn't
about separateness.
732
00:44:09,760 --> 00:44:13,160
There wasn't a Chinatown
or even a Jewish quarter.
733
00:44:13,160 --> 00:44:16,720
In fact, your average Roman
would have been amazed
734
00:44:16,720 --> 00:44:22,080
at the way we try to respect
and preserve different cultures.
735
00:44:22,080 --> 00:44:25,080
Here, the people were
from everywhere,
736
00:44:25,080 --> 00:44:27,200
the food came from everywhere,
737
00:44:27,200 --> 00:44:29,400
the gods were from everywhere,
738
00:44:29,400 --> 00:44:31,600
but it all went into the blender
739
00:44:31,600 --> 00:44:34,320
and it came out Roman.
740
00:44:37,120 --> 00:44:40,040
The empire was doing
two things to Rome.
741
00:44:41,520 --> 00:44:45,080
They were parading all the exotic
and luxurious strangeness
742
00:44:45,080 --> 00:44:46,760
of the outside world.
743
00:44:46,760 --> 00:44:50,760
But at the same time,
the distinction between Romans
744
00:44:50,760 --> 00:44:52,560
and the subject peoples
745
00:44:52,560 --> 00:44:54,760
was dissolving all the time.
746
00:44:54,760 --> 00:44:59,200
Eventually, every free adult male
in the empire
747
00:44:59,200 --> 00:45:03,200
could call himself a Roman citizen.
748
00:45:03,200 --> 00:45:05,440
For me, there's one place
749
00:45:05,440 --> 00:45:10,240
which captures the contradictions
of Imperial Rome...
750
00:45:18,440 --> 00:45:23,400
There was a people's palace here -
it was the Colosseum.
751
00:45:23,400 --> 00:45:27,240
It was built and paid for
out of the spoils of the Jewish War
752
00:45:27,240 --> 00:45:29,680
as a gift to the Roman people.
753
00:45:31,560 --> 00:45:36,080
But one thing's for sure, some of
them had to climb a lot of stairs!
754
00:45:41,520 --> 00:45:44,920
I'm in the only part
of the Colosseum
755
00:45:44,920 --> 00:45:47,000
that I'd be allowed to go to.
756
00:45:48,600 --> 00:45:53,240
Women, slaves and other undesirables
in the Roman world
757
00:45:53,240 --> 00:45:55,920
had to be up on the gods.
758
00:46:01,760 --> 00:46:06,120
So what does it look like from
the undesirables' point of view?
759
00:46:06,120 --> 00:46:08,760
Let's not think for a moment
about the blood and guts -
760
00:46:08,760 --> 00:46:10,760
there was certainly plenty of that.
761
00:46:10,760 --> 00:46:13,560
Let's think of it
in terms of Empire.
762
00:46:13,560 --> 00:46:18,760
What you had on display
in front of you
763
00:46:18,760 --> 00:46:24,320
was all the biggest and best
the Empire could offer.
764
00:46:28,240 --> 00:46:31,040
People often compare this
to a football match,
765
00:46:31,040 --> 00:46:36,000
but if so, this is not just Premier
League, this is the World Cup.
766
00:46:36,000 --> 00:46:38,400
Fantastic combat,
767
00:46:38,400 --> 00:46:41,760
weird, exotic creatures,
768
00:46:41,760 --> 00:46:45,480
animals you could only
have dreamt of.
769
00:46:47,120 --> 00:46:49,360
When this place opened,
770
00:46:49,360 --> 00:46:54,360
they even had a rhinoceros
running wild down there.
771
00:46:56,360 --> 00:47:00,320
This is one place
we can see the Roman Empire
772
00:47:00,320 --> 00:47:04,280
from the ordinary person's-eye view.
773
00:47:04,280 --> 00:47:07,600
This guy is looking at the show
and then...
774
00:47:07,600 --> 00:47:09,920
During a pause,
or while he wasn't looking at it,
775
00:47:09,920 --> 00:47:15,520
he's scratching the scene
that he was seeing in the arena.
776
00:47:15,520 --> 00:47:16,800
And what have we got?
777
00:47:16,800 --> 00:47:20,560
We can see wild animals,
like a panther...
778
00:47:20,560 --> 00:47:22,680
There's two bears!
...and a couple of bears.
779
00:47:22,680 --> 00:47:24,400
Right. And Bestiarius.
780
00:47:24,400 --> 00:47:29,320
And Bestiarius.
Look at those muscles in his arm,
781
00:47:29,320 --> 00:47:30,800
biceps or whatever they are,
782
00:47:30,800 --> 00:47:33,040
a really muscly bloke.
783
00:47:33,040 --> 00:47:34,440
I think this is great,
784
00:47:34,440 --> 00:47:38,280
because it not only gives us
a spectator's viewpoint
785
00:47:38,280 --> 00:47:43,200
but it also captures that moment
of what it was like to be here.
786
00:47:43,200 --> 00:47:45,600
'This guy wasn't alone.
787
00:47:45,600 --> 00:47:49,480
'The Romans just couldn't get enough
of drawing the beasts
788
00:47:49,480 --> 00:47:51,560
'they ogled in the Colosseum.'
789
00:47:53,480 --> 00:47:55,960
'When you saw them
for the first time,
790
00:47:55,960 --> 00:47:59,680
'these exotic animals
must have been breathtaking.
791
00:47:59,680 --> 00:48:04,200
'The same goes for
the other stars of the show -
792
00:48:04,200 --> 00:48:07,000
'the human performers.'
793
00:48:07,000 --> 00:48:10,320
This is a fantastic treat for me
794
00:48:10,320 --> 00:48:13,560
because it's a real-live
gladiator's helmet -
795
00:48:13,560 --> 00:48:18,840
or a real-dead gladiators helmet -
from Pompeii.
796
00:48:18,840 --> 00:48:21,320
It's very weird and heavy.
797
00:48:21,320 --> 00:48:23,680
If you pick it up,
798
00:48:23,680 --> 00:48:26,640
it's got a great crest on it
799
00:48:26,640 --> 00:48:32,240
and a bust of Hercules
just facing out at you,
800
00:48:32,240 --> 00:48:34,480
just to scare the opponent.
801
00:48:34,480 --> 00:48:35,840
I can't quite put it on
802
00:48:35,840 --> 00:48:38,760
but I can get the feeling
of what it's like having it on.
803
00:48:38,760 --> 00:48:44,080
What it makes you see is
it's jolly heavy
804
00:48:44,080 --> 00:48:49,960
and you get a very,
very difficult view from inside
805
00:48:49,960 --> 00:48:54,600
because everything's kind of
shaded off
806
00:48:54,600 --> 00:48:57,720
both by the peak
and by the protective grill.
807
00:48:57,720 --> 00:49:01,120
I mean, I don't quite see
808
00:49:01,120 --> 00:49:04,360
how you would know where
the blasted enemy was, honestly.
809
00:49:04,360 --> 00:49:10,400
The other thing about it is it looks
to us fantastically weird
810
00:49:10,400 --> 00:49:12,840
and I think it would look like that
to the Romans too.
811
00:49:12,840 --> 00:49:14,880
The point about these gladiators
812
00:49:14,880 --> 00:49:18,400
is that they're not dressed
in standard Roman army issue.
813
00:49:18,400 --> 00:49:20,840
They're not the kind of
fighters you'd see
814
00:49:20,840 --> 00:49:22,960
if you went to fight the Barbarians.
815
00:49:22,960 --> 00:49:29,080
These are mad, weird,
exotic foreign costumes,
816
00:49:29,080 --> 00:49:32,840
meant to exude
the mysterious outside world
817
00:49:32,840 --> 00:49:35,560
and all the violence
that there might be in it.
818
00:49:35,560 --> 00:49:42,480
In a way I think, what we're seeing
here is sort of a fancy dress.
819
00:49:42,480 --> 00:49:45,160
I think what you'd get
the sense was...
820
00:49:45,160 --> 00:49:47,240
that people would come to see
the costume
821
00:49:47,240 --> 00:49:50,760
as much as they'd come
to see you.
822
00:49:50,760 --> 00:49:52,480
Margh!
823
00:49:54,240 --> 00:49:56,960
Where do I go now? Hard to see!
824
00:49:59,720 --> 00:50:03,120
So, when I think about
gladiatorial combat,
825
00:50:03,120 --> 00:50:06,640
I know that some of it was
to the death. People did get killed.
826
00:50:06,640 --> 00:50:11,120
But more, and more often,
827
00:50:11,120 --> 00:50:16,880
it was a show, it was a spectacle,
it was theatre.
828
00:50:16,880 --> 00:50:22,800
In my mind, it's kind of more like
the sort of charade of wrestling
829
00:50:22,800 --> 00:50:24,920
than the real-life combat
of boxing.
830
00:50:24,920 --> 00:50:29,800
And part of the reason for that
was simply economics.
831
00:50:29,800 --> 00:50:34,040
You've got hundreds of gladiators,
they're extremely expensive,
832
00:50:34,040 --> 00:50:36,960
you don't want them killed off
too often.
833
00:50:40,000 --> 00:50:43,920
Bit of a disparity of size here
but I'm afraid Thraex is out.
834
00:50:45,800 --> 00:50:47,560
Whoops!
835
00:50:47,560 --> 00:50:49,400
We have a victorious Murmillo.
836
00:50:52,240 --> 00:50:54,240
Congratulations!
837
00:50:54,240 --> 00:50:58,840
To the Romans, gladiators
represented a violent fantasy
838
00:50:58,840 --> 00:51:03,360
of the outside world
fighting in their midst.
839
00:51:03,360 --> 00:51:06,840
But there's a fascinating irony
840
00:51:06,840 --> 00:51:11,600
in the real origins of the men
behind the masks.
841
00:51:11,600 --> 00:51:14,920
I've got a wonderful drawing,
an old drawing here,
842
00:51:14,920 --> 00:51:18,440
the original stone
has long ago been lost,
843
00:51:18,440 --> 00:51:23,560
but it's a tombstone of a man
called Marcus Antonius Exochus,
844
00:51:23,560 --> 00:51:27,520
who tells us he came from
Alexandria
845
00:51:27,520 --> 00:51:34,000
to fight in some gladiatorial games
put on by the Emperor Trajan.
846
00:51:34,000 --> 00:51:37,320
And here's another text
of a tombstone,
847
00:51:37,320 --> 00:51:41,560
put up by a man called Phouskinos,
848
00:51:41,560 --> 00:51:46,400
who was a provocateur,
another sort of gladiator.
849
00:51:46,400 --> 00:51:52,560
His tombstone's in Greek and
he tells us that he was an Egyptian.
850
00:51:54,520 --> 00:51:57,520
These gladiators came from the same
wildly different backgrounds
851
00:51:57,520 --> 00:51:59,720
as everyone else in Rome.
852
00:51:59,720 --> 00:52:02,840
But their real stories were
much more mundane
853
00:52:02,840 --> 00:52:06,480
than the exotic roles they were
forced to play in the arena.
854
00:52:07,640 --> 00:52:11,960
It reveals the kind of smoke
and mirrors aspect of all this
855
00:52:11,960 --> 00:52:14,000
because underneath all that,
856
00:52:14,000 --> 00:52:16,320
some gladiators were pretty
domestic,
857
00:52:16,320 --> 00:52:18,840
or they certainly ended up so.
858
00:52:18,840 --> 00:52:22,440
They finished up,
perhaps long retired,
859
00:52:22,440 --> 00:52:25,040
longish life, wife and kids.
860
00:52:25,040 --> 00:52:29,760
One of the nicest ones is a man here
861
00:52:29,760 --> 00:52:33,360
who lived to the age of 45.
862
00:52:33,360 --> 00:52:36,440
He'd come from Tungria,
he was a Belgian.
863
00:52:36,440 --> 00:52:41,280
But the tombstone is put up to him
by his wife
864
00:52:41,280 --> 00:52:43,560
and little Justus, his son.
865
00:52:45,520 --> 00:52:50,560
Even Exochus , exotic as he looks,
866
00:52:50,560 --> 00:52:54,240
seems to have ended up life,
to judge from his name,
867
00:52:54,240 --> 00:52:56,640
as a Roman citizen.
868
00:52:56,640 --> 00:52:59,160
He presumably retired
869
00:52:59,160 --> 00:53:03,920
and lived out his life
somewhere in suburban Italy.
870
00:53:03,920 --> 00:53:09,280
A bit like Marcus Antonius Exochus
of Tunbridge Wells.
871
00:53:09,280 --> 00:53:13,520
An Egyptian playing the part
of a Thracian warrior,
872
00:53:13,520 --> 00:53:16,960
then settling down
as a Roman family man?
873
00:53:16,960 --> 00:53:20,840
To me, that's Imperial Rome
in a nutshell.
874
00:53:22,480 --> 00:53:25,800
The Colosseum dramatised
this frightening,
875
00:53:25,800 --> 00:53:29,760
thrilling idea of Rome
and the outside world.
876
00:53:29,760 --> 00:53:33,560
It's all violence,
confrontation and strangeness.
877
00:53:34,680 --> 00:53:40,200
The truth is that the real Empire
was not just fighting in the arena,
878
00:53:40,200 --> 00:53:42,240
it was sitting in the seats.
879
00:53:43,600 --> 00:53:47,280
There are places in the Colosseum
reserved for the Gaditani,
880
00:53:47,280 --> 00:53:49,360
the people of Cadiz in Spain,
881
00:53:49,360 --> 00:53:52,480
for an African senator
and a Gothic chieftain.
882
00:53:52,480 --> 00:53:58,000
In reality, the fearsome barbarians
had become Romans
883
00:53:58,000 --> 00:54:01,960
and were watching the action
like everyone else.
884
00:54:06,560 --> 00:54:10,200
So, what's the Colosseum doing then?
885
00:54:10,200 --> 00:54:12,960
At one level, it's showing
the people of the city
886
00:54:12,960 --> 00:54:15,680
what they get from Empire.
887
00:54:15,680 --> 00:54:19,760
But in a deeper sense,
it's showing them that they fit in.
888
00:54:21,040 --> 00:54:24,200
If the people who were killing
each other in the arena
889
00:54:24,200 --> 00:54:26,840
were stereotypical foreigners,
890
00:54:26,840 --> 00:54:31,880
then by implication, if you were
watching them, you were a Roman.
891
00:54:33,400 --> 00:54:38,960
It's trying to put everything
in an order that makes sense.
892
00:54:41,560 --> 00:54:43,920
The point about the Colosseum
893
00:54:43,920 --> 00:54:48,120
is that it was both a microcosm
of the city of Rome
894
00:54:48,120 --> 00:54:51,760
and a microcosm
of the Roman Empire
895
00:54:51,760 --> 00:54:56,120
and it helps to show how the
boundaries between what was Roman
896
00:54:56,120 --> 00:55:00,480
and what was foreign
increasingly broke down.
897
00:55:02,040 --> 00:55:04,880
In Rome,
for the first time in history,
898
00:55:04,880 --> 00:55:07,600
people from Asia, Africa and Europe
899
00:55:07,600 --> 00:55:11,320
could sit together
as citizens of the same state.
900
00:55:16,600 --> 00:55:20,160
Rome was the first global city
and it contained in it
901
00:55:20,160 --> 00:55:24,320
all the contradictions that global
cities have had ever since.
902
00:55:24,320 --> 00:55:28,040
It was diverse
but it wasn't tolerant.
903
00:55:28,040 --> 00:55:30,000
Foreign enemies were crucified,
904
00:55:30,000 --> 00:55:32,440
enslaved and forced
to fight in the arena
905
00:55:32,440 --> 00:55:35,600
but equally,
foreigners could rise to be emperor.
906
00:55:35,600 --> 00:55:39,480
Point is,
the distinction the Empire made
907
00:55:39,480 --> 00:55:41,920
was not between
Romans and foreigners
908
00:55:41,920 --> 00:55:46,120
but between those who resisted
and those who joined in.
909
00:55:46,120 --> 00:55:49,200
The key question in our story is
910
00:55:49,200 --> 00:55:53,640
what was it like to live
in the world's first city
911
00:55:53,640 --> 00:55:58,080
where almost everyone
came from somewhere else?
912
00:55:58,080 --> 00:56:00,280
There must have been
plenty of people
913
00:56:00,280 --> 00:56:03,520
who felt very far from home
and rootless.
914
00:56:03,520 --> 00:56:07,800
For some, there were profits
to be made and success to be had
915
00:56:07,800 --> 00:56:10,640
and an exciting,
even if bewildering,
916
00:56:10,640 --> 00:56:15,760
mixture of new ideas, different
cultures and different religions.
917
00:56:15,760 --> 00:56:20,960
Whatever you'd been back home, in
Rome, you could reinvent yourself.
918
00:56:20,960 --> 00:56:25,440
It's not hard to imagine
the fears and anxieties
919
00:56:25,440 --> 00:56:28,720
of those ordinary Romans,
wherever they were from.
920
00:56:28,720 --> 00:56:31,720
"How do I fit into all this?
921
00:56:31,720 --> 00:56:33,520
"Who knows who I am?
922
00:56:33,520 --> 00:56:37,000
"Who's going to remember me
when I'm dead?"
923
00:56:37,000 --> 00:56:39,520
Perhaps that's why
they were so keen
924
00:56:39,520 --> 00:56:42,800
to write their stories
onto their tombstones.
925
00:56:44,480 --> 00:56:49,040
They're deliberately speaking
to you and me.
926
00:56:51,120 --> 00:56:53,800
This guy's really having
a conversation.
927
00:56:55,080 --> 00:56:56,880
"Stranger," he says,
928
00:56:56,880 --> 00:56:59,880
"hospes", hang on a minute!
929
00:56:59,880 --> 00:57:02,640
"Resiste", stop here!
930
00:57:02,640 --> 00:57:05,200
"Take a look down to your left.
931
00:57:05,200 --> 00:57:08,720
"That's where my bones
are buried,"
932
00:57:08,720 --> 00:57:11,480
my ossa.
933
00:57:11,480 --> 00:57:17,360
"I was a good man,
I was a kind man," misericordis,
934
00:57:17,360 --> 00:57:23,600
"and I was a lover of the poor,"
amantis pauperis.
935
00:57:23,600 --> 00:57:26,800
"Please, traveller," please, viator,
936
00:57:26,800 --> 00:57:31,280
"I beg you,
don't mess with my tomb."
937
00:57:31,280 --> 00:57:37,040
And the name of the guy is
Gaius Attilius Euhodus,
938
00:57:37,040 --> 00:57:40,800
the ex-slave of a man
called Serranis.
939
00:57:40,800 --> 00:57:45,480
Euhodus sounds Greek to me
and he tells us what he did.
940
00:57:45,480 --> 00:57:49,400
He was a margaritarius,
he was a pearl seller.
941
00:57:49,400 --> 00:57:53,040
That's who's buried in this tomb.
942
00:57:53,040 --> 00:57:57,640
"Traveller", he says,
viator, "on your way now."
943
00:57:57,640 --> 00:58:01,200
"Goodbye," vale.
944
00:58:01,200 --> 00:58:03,640
Vale.
945
00:58:06,640 --> 00:58:09,000
Next time...
946
00:58:09,000 --> 00:58:11,160
I'll descend into the city streets
947
00:58:11,160 --> 00:58:16,240
to explore their high-rise
tenements, crime-ridden slums
948
00:58:16,240 --> 00:58:19,640
and life in the bars
and the bathhouses.
949
00:58:19,640 --> 00:58:22,560
And we'll find some
very distinctive Roman voices,
950
00:58:22,560 --> 00:58:27,160
born from the earthiness
of communal city life.
951
00:58:27,160 --> 00:58:31,080
This is how we have to imagine
the ancient city,
952
00:58:31,080 --> 00:58:34,440
everyone shitting together.
953
00:58:34,440 --> 00:58:40,840
Tunics up, togas up, trousers down,
chatting as they went.
79317
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