All language subtitles for Unearthed.2016.S09E10.Romes.Lost.Coliseums.1080p.DSCP.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-HiNGS_track3_[eng]

[narrator] Roman coliseums,
Home of the gladiator,

Theaters of spectacle
And death.

[valerie] There was no mercy
Shown to them at all.

They were not just executed,

They were executed
In the most horrible ways.

[narrator] Many roman cities
Are long gone,

But more than 200 of these
Megastructures survive

And can unlock
The secrets of the empire.

Can a coliseum
In distant north africa,

500 miles from rome,

Be the pinnacle
Of roman engineering?

It's absolutely enormous
And completely magnificent.

[narrator] In capua, italy,
Can a lost coliseum reveal

The secret roots
Of these brutal monuments?

And how do these
Magnificent amphitheaters

Help the romans control
Their sprawling empire?

[nejib]
For the roman authorities,

Gladiators would represent
What rome was doing

To keep the peace
In the empire.

[narrator] Now investigators
Examine

The remains
Of these stone titans

To uncover
Their engineering secrets,

And discover
What they can reveal

About life and death
In the roman world.

To solve these mysteries,

We digitally rebuild
These awe-inspiring monuments,

We unearth a labyrinth
Of blood-spattered tunnels

And come face to face
With ancient warriors

To reveal the origins
Of rome's lost coliseums.

The romans build
One of the greatest empires
In history.

Their legacy is evident
In the giant coliseums

That survive to this day.

These megastructures

Hold the secrets
Of their extraordinary rule.

They build
More than 230 of these icons

Across their entire
2 million square-mile empire,

From britain to africa.

They are constructed to host
Extraordinary spectacles.

At the center of a coliseum

Lies a huge open arena
Of sand and gravel.

Giant doorways

And walls covered in
Shining white marble

Enclose this giant oval space.

This is the domain
Of the gladiators,

Highly trained warriors

Pitted against each other
In brutal fights,

Sometimes to the death.

It's the most popular
Spectacle in ancient rome.

Millions of people
Flock to colossal stadiums
To see it.

Why does this obsession begin?

Valerie higgins
Hunts for clues

In capua, southern italy.

Here, a giant
Imperial coliseum

Stands in the center
Of this historic city.

This immense monument
Is over 550 feet long

And is one of the biggest
The romans ever construct.

This is the amphitheater
Of capua.

And this was built

In the first century
Of the common era,

And it was built at about
The same time

As the colosseum in rome.

[narrator]
Valerie believes that

Just a stone's throw
From this amphitheater

Are even more
Intriguing ruins.

She identifies a structure
Buried in the earth.

These longitudinal structures
Here are part of, uh,

An elliptical building
That was, uh, in this area,

And that was here

Before this big imperial
Amphitheater was built.

[narrator] The ruins
Reveal that

This is once a grand structure
Supported by barrel arches.

This 300-foot long oval
Is a second smaller coliseum.

The remains
Date to the second century bc,

Meaning this could be
The world's first ever
Roman coliseum.

[valerie] It was definitely
One of the earliest

And it might even be
The earliest.

[narrator] In roman times,

Capua has not one,
But two coliseums,

Only a few hundred yards
From each other.

The small one is built first,
And the giant one follows.

It shows how you get
This development of scale

Within a period of
A couple of hundred years.

[narrator] Why do the romans
Construct

This first coliseum?

Buried in the ground,

Valerie discovers
A surprising clue

That could hold the answer,

Intriguing traces
Of a third arena.

The presence of these remains

Just outside
The imperial amphitheater

Raises some interesting
Possibilities.

[narrator] Hidden beneath
The large coliseum's piazza,

This third arena is much
Smaller than its neighbors.

It's roughly
The size of five tennis courts

And houses
Fewer than 2,000 spectators.

It dates to the same period
As capua's first coliseum.

What can it reveal about
The origin of the stadium?

Archaeologists discover that

The dimensions are similar
To a structure
Discovered in rome,

Alongside
The famous colosseum.

Beneath the grand arena,

A tunnel leads
To the ludus magnus,

A gladiator training center
Built in 96 ad.

It's
A state-of-the-art facility

With training grounds,
A viewing arena

And living quarters
For the gladiators.

It's a well-oiled machine
That produces the fighters

For rome's most popular
Form of entertainment.

But ludus magnus
Is not the first of its kind.

Ancient records suggest capua
Has a gladiator school

Before rome does,

Though its location
Has never been confirmed.

Capua's gladiator school
Is even rumored

To be where famous
Gladiator slave spartacus

Trained and fought
Over 2,000 years ago.

Valerie believes it's possible
These ruins could be it.

Might they be the gladiatorial
Training school,

Which is something
That we would love to find

Because it is so famous.

[narrator] Finding the remains
Of a gladiator school

Next to the roman empire's
First ever coliseum

Would be significant.

It would be evidence that

The gladiator fights
Are as old

As the first coliseums

And even the reason
For building them.

But could the origin
Of gladiatorial combat

Be even older
Than the coliseums?

A clue may lie in tombs
60 miles from capua

That belonged
To a non-roman local tribe

Known as the lucanians.

These tombs are covered
In fresco paintings

That date back
To the fourth century bc,

More than 100 years

Before the romans build
The first coliseums.

Valerie analyzes
The paintings on the tombs

And notices a connection
To roman gladiator combat.

[valerie]
Here we have a depiction

Of two men fighting.

It's clearly been
Quite a bloody battle

Because both men
Have got terrible leg wounds,

And the man on the left
Has also got a chest wound.

[narrator] These paintings
Reveal that

Gladiator-style fights
Take place

Long before any coliseums
Are built.

So why does
This form of combat start?

[valerie] If we go on
To the next picture,

We can see that in fact,

This is part of
A whole funerary scene.

We have the two
Gladiatorial men fighting,

And then we have
Going off to the right,

The mourners who will be
The mourners of this family.

[narrator] The frescoes
Reveal that

Gladiatorial combat
Begins as a funerary rite

Of ancient tribes
Long before the romans.

In 264 bc,
The spectacle reaches rome

When two bereaved sons
Stage a combat

In honor of their late father.

Three pairs of gladiators
Fight simultaneously.

It's an armed combat

And the defeated
Meet a bloody end.

As the spectacle's
Popularity grows,

The romans build
Larger combat spaces,

First amphitheaters of wood

And then of stone and brick.

[valerie]
The romans didn't invent

The idea
Of gladiatorial games,

But they did industrialize it.

They made it
Into mass entertainment,

Which it had not been before.

[narrator] The romans engineer
Ever larger coliseums

To accommodate
The surge in popularity

Of the gladiatorial games.

Some are even big enough

To hold the population
Of an entire city.

Can a remarkably
Well-preserved

Coliseum in tunisia

Reveal how the romans build
Such large megastructures?

And why are they so useful
To those in power?

[narrator] Coliseums play host
To the roman empire's

Most bloodthirsty ex-sport,
Gladiatorial combat.

The romans industrialize
This spectacle

To entertain the masses

Inside colossal
Megastructures.

But how do
Roman engineers construct

These ambitious venues?

In el jem, tunisia,

Nejib ben lazreg
Hunts for clues.

This giant coliseum

Is one of the best preserved
In the world.

[nejib] The amphitheater
Of el jem

Didn't really suffer
From much damage

Compared to the one in rome,

Which was heavily restored.

[narrator] Today,
El jem is a small city,

But 2,000 years ago,
It has a different name...

Thysdrus,

And is part of
The roman province of africa.

Here, in 238 ad,

In the far reaches
Of the empire,

The romans build one of their
Biggest ever coliseums.

The unique el jem coliseum
Is the greatest amphitheater

And building
In all roman africa.

Sandstone walls
And towering pillars

Separate 64 arched entrances.

Three huge stacked oval tiers
Surround a central arena.

On each floor,
Vaulted arches and pillars

Accommodate
The flow of visitors.

This 100-foot high behemoth

Can hold
Over 35,000 spectators.

This is one of
The last coliseums

The romans build.

How do they achieve
This feat of construction?

Nejib investigates
The masonry.

It is a miracle
Of engineering.

It is entirely freestanding,

Built only using
Large sandstone blocks

Without any foundations.

All this weight
In such a large structure

Should make the exterior walls
Unstable.

[nejib]
One of the big problems
The architects faced

Was the risks of collapse.

Because when you have
30,000 spectators,

The vibrations
That could cause

Make the amphitheater
Collapse.

[narrator] On the coliseum's
Ground floor,

Nejib discovers an ingenious
Engineering technique

To prevent the monument
From toppling over.

Giant vaults and arches
Connect the inside arena

To the outside walls.

Each vault also connects
Side to side

With its neighbor
For extra added strength.

This is called cross vaulting,

And it pulls the structure
Tightly together.

Such structures helped
To support upper floors.

Without these,
The romans wouldn't be

Able to build coliseums.

[narrator] The development
Of vaults and arches

Allow the romans
To build monuments

On a scale never seen before.

[nejib]
The amphitheater
Here in el jem

Collects all the improvements
In construction techniques

Known in that time.

[narrator] These engineering
Advances make el jem coliseum

The pinnacle of
Roman architectural genius.

Why are the romans
So determined

To build
These impressive arenas?

Nejib believes
There's more to the story

Than just building big.

A clue lies
In the building materials

Used inside the arena.

Embedded in the walls,

He finds ancient blocks
Of luxurious marble.

This marble is not local.

It was imported
And they had to have the money
To pay for it.

[narrator] In ancient times,

Marble is one of the most
Expensive building materials
In the world.

It is used extensively
In the colosseum in rome, too.

In this iconic building,

The romans use marble
For the inner arena wall,

The seating and the columns
That crown the colonnade...

While on the building's
Exterior,

Statues of
Gold and bronze tower

In the perfect marble
Archways.

Despite being built 150 years
And almost 500 miles apart,

These two coliseums
Are strikingly similar.

The scale of these buildings

And the lavish splendor
Of the construction materials

Trumpet the glory of rome
Far and wide.

Nejib believes this reveals
Evidence for the uniformity

That the romans achieve
Across the empire.

It was a way to unite
The roman way of life

In all these provinces.

[narrator]
From mighty monuments
Like coliseums,

To engineering marvels
Like aqueducts,

Wherever the romans go,
They rebuild rome.

This was, of course,
To entertain the public,

To show the power of rome.

And all these monuments,
Wherever you go,

They are nearly the same.

[narrator] It's not just
The amphitheaters

That are built
To unify the empire,

It's also the entertainment
That they host.

Tony wilmott is an expert
In gladiatorial games.

He believes the fights
Across the empire

Show strict standardization,

Which makes them
So successful.

They are clearly
Extremely popular,

All over the roman empire.

You can see the popularity
Of the spectacle

Simply by the size
Of the amphitheaters,

The huge seating capacities
Of many of them.

[narrator] Tony works
With a pair of combat experts

To investigate
The common elements

Of all gladiator battles.

The team uses an image found
On a 2,000-year-old roman vase

To recreate the exact armor
And weaponry of the warriors.

[tony] The vase shows
A classic pairing
Of gladiators,

A secutor
Against a retiarius.

Secutor is a fairly heavily
Armed gladiator,

He carries a shield,
He carries a sword,

And he wears a very, very
Close-fitting helmet.

That is actually important

When he's facing a retiarius,

Who is very lightly clad.

He doesn't have a helmet,

He doesn't have
Much protection.

What he does have
Are his weapons,

Which are his trident,
And a net.

[narrator] The combat experts
Begin the spectacle.

Whenever roman citizens
Watch gladiators in action,

They will see
The same drama played out.

The characters' armor
And weapons are universal

Throughout the empire,

And their carefully
Designed vulnerabilities

Add to the thrill
Of the fight.

A secutor's metal helmet
Protects his head and neck,

But it also puts him
In grave danger.

The helmet is... Is...
Is very much
A two-edged weapon.

On the one hand,
It protects his head,

On the other hand,
It restricts his vision,

And also, it tires him out

Because it restricts
His breathing.

He will have to lift his head

In order to be
Able to breathe,

And that will
Expose his throat.

[narrator] Tony believes
That the built-in weaknesses

Of both characters
Is evidence that

The romans engineer
All their fights
To last longer.

It makes
For dramatic entertainment

Known and loved by all romans.

[tony]
It's a good, entertaining,
Fair fight.

The way in which
The equipment is designed

Is specifically
To create balance.

It will be appreciated
By the crowd.

[narrator] Different styles
Of fighters

Face each other
To spice up combat,

And there are even
Female gladiators.

When a fighter accepts defeat,

They raise their two fingers,

Asking the crowd
To decide their fate.

The crowd waves handkerchiefs

If they want a gladiator
To live.

But a jab to the neck
With their thumbs means death.

The final decision
Rests with the game's master

Or the emperor,

Who decides
The gladiator's fate.

These bloody battles draw
Huge crowds

Everywhere across the empire,

From britain to north africa.

The romans host the games
To draw the citizens together

And to remind them

They are all part of
One mighty empire.

Roman rulers know
Their importance.

The power of
An entertaining spectacle

Was clearly
Completely understood

By the higher echelons
Of the empire.

A lot of games were put on
By emperors to

Create popularity.

[narrator] Coliseums
And gladiators ensure

The diverse people
Of the roman empire

All share one unified culture.

How did the romans choose

Where to build
Their coliseums?

And how does
A small city in africa

Get the third
Biggest coliseum

In the roman world?

[narrator] The el jem coliseum
In tunisia, north africa,

An engineering masterpiece

Built on the pattern of
The magnificent colosseum
In rome.

Why do the romans
Choose to build it here?

Clues may lie in the remains
Of the lost city.

[nejib] El jem rests
On a roman city.

If you dig, automatically,
You will find roman layers.

[narrator] 1,800 years ago,

This massive coliseum

Sits at the heart
Of the ancient city
Of thysdrus.

At the beginning
Of the third century ad,

Thysdrus
Is a bustling metropolis,

Home to 30,000 people.

At the edge of the city lies
The spectacular coliseum.

Arched walkways
Run around each level

To rapidly funnel the crowds
In and out.

At the very top
Is the velarium,

A vast linen cover
To shield the audience

From sun and rain.

Thirty-five thousand people
Can fill this coliseum,

More than the entire
Population of the city.

Why do roman officials build
Such a large coliseum

For the people
Here in the middle of nowhere?

Nejib ben lazreg investigates.

He believes clues can be found
Less than a half-a-mile

From el jem coliseum.

These are the foundations

Of a series
Of ancient roman houses.

[nejib] The house now
Is 3,000 square meters,

So it's a real mansion

With beautiful floors
Of mosaics.

[narrator] In ancient rome,

Mosaic floors are a popular
Symbol of wealth and status.

Nejib believes the scale
Of the mosaic artwork

Sheds light
On the type of people

Living in ancient thysdrus.

[nejib] From the size of
These mansions,

We understand that these were
Really wealthy people.

They are, you know,
From the elite.

[narrator] Thysdrus,
Though only small,

Is one of the empire's
Richest cities.

Nejib believes the source
Of this immense wealth

Can reveal the motivation

For el jem's
Oversized coliseum.

Satellite maps of tunisia
Show that

Thysdrus is located
In the very middle

Of a network
Of ancient trade routes.

The name thysdrus
Is of berber origin

And means "Crossroad".

In the roman era,

It connects the country's
Fertile rural hinterland

With the trade-heavy harbors
On the east coast.

It is this position

As the roman empire's gateway
To africa

That makes thysdrus
Crucial for the roman rulers.

Thysdrus is a site on the edge
Of roman territory.

The roman's
Vast shipping network

Means people can arrive here

From all over the empire.

The fertile lands around
Thysdrus yield plentiful crops

That sustain
Its ever-growing population.

It's a booming, wealthy city
With bustling markets,

Where merchants from
All corners of the roman world

Come to sell their wares.

It's the perfect place
For the romans

To build a huge coliseum

And project their power.

The glory and power of rome
Is conveyed

To el jem's many visitors,

Who carry the message
To their own distant lands.

[nejib]
We may imagine that el jem,

Of course,
Was made of the natives,

But it was a melting pot of
Different types of visitors,

Whether they came from abroad
Or from the hinterland.

[narrator]
The massive coliseum
In thysdrus

Is a powerful propaganda tool.

It pushes rome's
Message of greatness

Across the vast plains
Of ancient north africa

To the corners of the empire
And beyond.

But is this message only used
To promote the glory of rome?

Or are coliseums
Part of a darker plan

To keep the people in check?

[narrator]
El jem, once thysdrus

In the roman province
Of north africa,

Home to the most impressive
Imperial coliseum

Outside of italy.

The roman emperors build

Hundreds of these
Megastructures

From the same blueprint,

To entertain the public

And promote the glory of rome.

But could the spectacles
The rulers host here

Have a hidden motive?

Beneath the huge amphitheater,

Archaeologists discover
A complex series of tunnels.

Four ramps from the piazza

Lead down to
A central underground passage

That stretches for 200 feet.

On either side of it
Are galleries of chambers,

Fitted with iron gates.

A tunnel wide enough
For chariots

Cuts across
The central passage.

On the floor
Lie mysterious stone blocks,

Directly above them,
An opening to the arena.

What is this hidden
Underground warren for?

Is it evidence of a sinister
Use for the coliseum?

Nejib investigates
From inside the arena.

[nejib]
This is an underground tunnel

Which was used
As a service hall.

Like in any, uh,
Modern building,

You have a service entrance
And an official entrance.

[narrator] What do the romans
Bring into the arena

From this service entrance

That requires such a large
Underground complex?

Nejib believes the huge height
Of the spectator gallery

May offer an insight.

[nejib] Surrounded by a wall
Called the podium wall,

She's more than
Three meters high.

[narrator]
This elevated position

Is required to protect
The spectators

From more than
Just battling gladiators.

We have this wall
To prevent beasts

To jump and reach
The spectators.

[narrator] Nejib thinks
The spectacle here

Involves wild animals, too.

Down in the tunnels,

He examines
The roman engineering

Used to bring the animals up
Onto the arena floor.

As you can see
Here in this room,

You have these slots

Which were used to insert
The wheels of the cage

And bring the animals in.

We have to imagine
This was a very sad space.

Animals roaring,
Plus 30,000 spectators

Screaming and yelling
And thumping their feet.

[narrator] The romans
Build platforms

Operated
With ropes and pulleys,

To lift animal cages
From the tunnels

To the arena.

They release the animals
From the cage

Into an enclosure

That opens
Onto the arena floor.

The gladiators fight all types
Of exotic animals,

Including leopards,
Lions, elephants,
And even crocodiles.

[nejib]
Animal shows were very popular
In africa, in el jem,

Much like in rome
And the rest
Of the roman empire.

[narrator] But nejib
Suspects that

Wild animals play
A darker role in these events.

He examines a set of
Wall-mounted mosaics

Recovered from the homes

Of the ancient citizens
Of thysdrus.

The mosaics show
Macabre scenes of animals

Violently attacking humans.

Combat-hardened gladiators
Have a fighting chance

Against vicious animals,

But clues in the depiction
Here reveal that

These people
Are not trained warriors.

They were not armored.

Some of them even died,
Sometimes exposed on a cross

And pushed towards the beasts,

Which means
These were prisoners.

[narrator] It is shocking
Evidence that

Executions are part of
The roman entertainment.

They serve up this brutal
Punishment as spectacle

For all to see.

[nejib] The romans
Had no jails.

They didn't spend
Their money on jails.

So either you pay a fine,
Or you're condemned to death.

Christians or slaves
Who killed their masters,

Hijackers were offered
To the beasts,

And they were not even
Given the chance

To defend themselves.

[narrator] The romans
Used coliseums

To warn the population
Against rebellion
And disobedience.

And to make sure that

Everyone witnesses
The gruesome spectacle,

All these events
Are free to attend.

Millions of roman citizens

Enjoy the thrill
Of these blood sports.

What can clues unearthed
In a coliseum in britain

Reveal about roman society?

Can they shed light
On the surprising realities

Of everyday life
In the roman world?

[narrator] Coliseums
Are iconic megastructures.

The games they host

Are a reminder
Of the power of rome.

What more can coliseums
Reveal about roman society?

An amphitheater unearthed
In chester in the uk

May hold clues.

Though this 8,000-person arena
Is far smaller

Than the giants of capua,
El jem and rome,

It hosts the same exciting
And bloody spectacles.

Tony wilmott examines
The ancient site

To understand more about

The coliseum's pivotal part
In roman life.

[tony] For the first time
In the roman empire,

We actually have
Archaeological evidence

For what was going on
During amphitheater events.

[narrator]
Scattered throughout
The ruins of the amphitheater,

Archaeologists recover objects

That date back
To the late first century ad.

Among them,
The bone-handle of a gladius,

A dagger wielded
By gladiators.

Nearby are high value coins,

Some minted
With the head of vespasian,

The roman emperor
Between 69 to 79 ad.

And beneath the seating

Are fragments
Of a polished red clay bowl

That show gladiators
Fighting to the death.

What do these
Scattered objects

Reveal about the lost world
Of the ancient romans?

[narrator] Today,
The artifacts are stored

At the grosvenor museum
In chester.

Curator liz montgomery
Analyzes the items

To look for clues
About how they are used.

[liz] This is a small bowl
That was found

At the amphitheater
In chester.

It shows two gladiators on,

So it's quite
An unusual decoration.

It's not particularly
Well-made,

And the top of the decoration
Has been smudged away

By the fingers of the potter

And the little characters
Themselves

Aren't very clear at all.

[narrator]
This poor workmanship
Suggests that

The bowl is likely made
By an apprentice potter

And is a cheap,
Mass-produced object.

[liz]
The spectators wouldn't have
Come from home

With their drinking vessels,

So they could have bought
This sort of cup

At the amphitheater

And then they could have been
Thrown away afterwards.

[narrator] This object
Is evidence

Of a flourishing trade
Going on at the coliseum.

Vendors sell drinks,
Souvenirs and memorabilia,

Like at any modern sports
Arena today.

Liz suspects
Some of the artifacts

Reveal even more intriguing
Similarities

With modern day sports fans.

She inspects the broken pieces
Of a large vessel.

They're made of ceramic,
They're heavy duty,

They're great big pieces,

And you can see
On many of them that

There are actual
Roman finger marks.

[narrator] She believes that

Rather than being
Parts of souvenirs,

These items have
A more practical use.

[liz] If you put them
All together,

They form portable ovens

And there were at least
Three found

At the chester
Amphitheater site.

[narrator]
What are the vendors
Cooking in these ovens?

She examined some unusual
Bone fragments for clues.

This little bone here
Is a chicken bone.

There were absolutely
Loads of these

Recovered
From the amphitheater.

And it suggests to us that

The people who were there,
The spectators,

Were purchasing roast chicken.

It's very much like us going
To a football match nowadays

And buying some fried chicken

And eating it
While we're enjoying the game.

[narrator]
Traders in the piazza
Outside the coliseum

Do a roaring trade,
Selling food, drink

And gladiator souvenirs
To the spectators.

The most avid fans
Even get small lead tablets

Inscribed with curses,

Hoping to help
Their favorite gladiator win.

The artifacts reveal that

The coliseum is an important
Commercial center.

The rulers encourage
This bustling trade.

But tony wilmott believes

The games have
A special meaning

For some roman citizens,

Especially if the coliseum

Is located
On the edge of the empire.

Less than a mile
From the chester amphitheater,

He examines
A section of the city wall.

[tony]
The wall behind me is...
Is medieval.

It's part of the medieval
Walls of chester.

It's an extension
Down to the river

Of the walls of the original
Roman fortress.

[narrator] Chester
Is a vital stronghold

As the invading romans
Push their conquest

Into northern britain.

Roman legions are sent here

To protect
This frontier settlement

From attack by local tribes.

Excavations in the 1930s
Reveal

A huge roman barracks

Built here to station
This formidable force.

The legionary fortress
Here at chester

Was built around the 1870s.

It's a huge fortress.

In fact,
It's one of the biggest
Legionary fortresses

In the roman empire.

It is built to house
A roman legion,

Basically 5,000 soldiers.

[narrator] The amphitheater
In chester

Is a legionary coliseum.

Unlike coliseums in capua,
El jem and rome,

It is built primarily
For soldiers, their families,

And the remote roman community
That lives here.

[tony] At chester,
For the legionaries,

The entertainment
Will be the same

As it is in any amphitheater,

That's what amphitheaters
Are for.

There will be
Gladiator fights,
Wild beasts hunts.

[narrator]
As well as providing
Spectacle,

The gladiators are delivering
A key message

To the roman soldiers

Who see them fight.

They are warriors in battle.

[tony] If the decision
Is death,

Then the gladiator
Has to face it

With courage, with dignity,

He's sworn to do that
At the end of his life.

He'll kneel, head upraised,

Looking the audience
In the face,

Take the blade,
Through the neck,

Down slantwise
Into the vital regions.

[narrator]
A good death redeems

The gladiators
From the dishonor of defeat.

It provides a noble example

To the watching
Roman soldiers.

[tony] The gladiators
Are slave.

They're the lowest of the low.

If a mere slave can show
Courage in facing his death,

Then, our audience,
The roman army

Must also show greater courage
Than a mere slave can.

[narrator] This is
A crucial lesson

To roman soldiers posted
In the remote

And dangerous corners
Of the empire.

From chester in britain,
To el jem in north africa,

The roman soldiers
In the audience

Must always remember

That they are expected to die
Courageously for the empire,

Just like the gladiators.

But what more
Can coliseums reveal about

Everyday roman life?

How do megastructures
Like el jem ensure that

Everyone across the empire
Knows their place?

[narrator] Coliseums are built
To entertain

And subdue the public

And remind soldiers from
Every corner of the empire

How to die with honor.

What else can
These megastructures reveal
About life

For the citizens
Of the roman empire?

In capua, southern italy,

Valerie higgins examines

The piazza
Of the giant coliseum
For clues.

In roman times, this is where
The crowds gather

Before the gladiatorial
Games begin.

She identifies
An intriguing feature

Built into the fabric
Of the monument.

[valerie]
Coming into the amphitheater,

What we see above the archway

Is the head of a roman god,

And each archway
Has a different one.

[narrator] Valerie believes
Each carved statuette

Has an important
Practical purpose.

[valerie] You would know
From what head there was,

Which arch to go through,

And this would direct you
To your seating.

You went into
A sector of the seating

Which was organized
According to social class.

[narrator] This strange
Signposting reveals

A deep roman obsession
With class and social status.

[valerie]
You could look around you
And you know exactly

Who is the same status as you,

Who is considered to be
A higher status than you,

Who is considered to be
A lower status than you.

It is an exercise
In knowing your place.

[narrator] In tunisia,
Nejib ben lazreg

Wants to understand

How the segregation
Of roman society

Plays out
Inside the el jem coliseum.

The shows were free
For the public,

But there was
A strict separation

Between the social classes.

[narrator]
He examines the arena's
Seating to look for clues

To where different parts
Of society sit.

We have to imagine
All around this wall

There was a big slope
Made of concrete

And this reached the very top.

The best vision you have is

When you are close
To the arena.

Okay?
It's much like in, uh...

The theater nowadays.

[narrator]
The first-floor level
Is called the podium.

Two thousand years ago,

This section is lined with
Slabs of luxurious marble.

Nejib believes
This is reserved

For the highest echelons
Of roman society.

The closest to the arena
Were the senators.

It's because it's them
Who sponsored the show.

[narrator] The higher up
You sit,

The lower your status,
With segregation

Based on class
And even gender.

Stone barriers
Called balustrades

Enforce a physical separation
Between each section

To ensure
No mixing takes place.

Nejib believes this
Class separation
In the coliseum

Holds up a mirror
To roman society as a whole.

[nejib] The rich people were
Five percent of the society.

The rest of the people were

Either middle class
Or even poor.

It's these rich people
Who decide what to do.

[narrator] El jem,
Like the many coliseums

Across the roman empire,

Entertains vast audiences

And reminds the people
Of their duty to rome

And their place
In the social order.

It is both an icon
Of roman civilization

And a powerful
Propaganda tool.

But mighty el jem
Also marks a turning point

In the history
Of the roman empire.

It is one of the last great
Coliseums the romans build

Before their decline and fall

Starting
In the fourth century ad.

Roman coliseums
Are incredible feats

Of ancient engineering.

They showcase
The empire's most popular

And deadly spectacle,
Gladiator fights.

As powerful
Propaganda machines,

They unify the far corners
Of the empire,

Repress rebellion

And remind soldiers
How to die with honor.

These lost coliseums reveal

The inner workings
Of roman society

And expose
The brutal tactics at play,

That make this one of the most
Formidable empires in history.