All language subtitles for Unearthed.2016.S10E01.1080p.WEB.h264-REALiTYTV_track2_[eng]

NARRATOR: Vesuvius.

The eruption of
this mighty volcano is one

of the most catastrophic
events in ancient history,

yet it perfectly preserves
Pompeii and Herculaneum.

THOMAS: The eruption gives us
a really rare

glimpse into what life
was like.

How did Romans live?

NARRATOR: Now, a team
of experts investigates

a mysterious third
Roman settlement,

discovered beneath
the ash that

explodes out of
Vesuvius -- Oplontis.

It is unique.

We don't have anything
this well preserved in

any site or any museum
in the world.

NARRATOR: This extraordinary
place reveals new evidence

about the wrath of
the mighty eruption.

It was a really instantaneous,
destructive force,

and that's what you see
reflected in that fresco.

NARRATOR: How the Romans
lived and died.

Oplontis is really answering
questions that we have had

for years.

NARRATOR: And offers
tantalizing clues that

lead to Rome's most
notorious emperors.

CLARKE: The owner of this villa
may have

been the famous wife of
the emperor Nero.

NARRATOR: With unique access
to this incredible site,

we will unearth
its vast villas,

we'll discover dozens of
ancient skeletons,

and decode their lives
to reveal

new information about
the catastrophic eruption

and the ancient civilization
it changed forever.

In 79 CE,

the Roman world is
rocked by

one of the worst natural
disasters in history.

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius
covers Pompeii in molten rock.

Ash envelopes and preserves
Pompeiians,

turning the site into a macabre
time capsule of the past.

Pompeii is the volcano's
most famous victim,

but it's not the only one.

Vesuvius also cast its lethal
shadow over nearby Herculaneum.

Today, archaeologists are
unearthing a third

victim -- Oplontis.

Hidden for nearly 2,000 years.

this incredible site is
now slowly

being freed from Vesuvius's
volcanic grip.

THOMAS: Oplontis is unique
because of what it preserves.

it preserves really
one of the largest

and most elaborate
Roman villas.

NARRATOR: In 1964,
archaeologists uncover

an ancient ruin here,

buried under 30 feet
of volcanic ash,

almost twice as deep
as Pompeii.

It is once a sprawling
Roman residence.

Bright, lavish frescoes adorn
many of its 99 rooms.

Exquisite courtyards
called peristyles

accompany its lush gardens

that have unbeaten views of
the Bay of Naples,

and on the east side,

an enormous 200-foot pool
extends out across the grounds.

What can this magnificent
villa reveal

about one of history's
deadliest eruptions?

THOMAS: It's a remarkable place,
and it's also

a place that not a lot of
people know about.

NARRATOR:
Two miles outside Pompeii,

the villas of Oplontis
cover more than four acres,

split into two main sites.

Michael Thomas has been
investigating here

for over 15 years.

THOMAS: When you look
at the site of Oplontis,

there's a lot of keys to
understanding the eruption

of Vesuvius,

the way it was damaged
and where the damage came from.

Vesuvius is never
too far away.

NARRATOR: Archaeologists have
been excavating this site

for decades,

yet a third of the area
is still

covered by the thousands of
tons of volcanic debris.

This wall is probably
close to 30,

33 feet of material
that covered the site.

NARRATOR: Michael examines
the ash and rock

that smothers Oplontis.

Here, we have a column that
was literally

snapped in half from
the eruption of Vesuvius.

NARRATOR: He believes
this pillar reveals

a clue about the power of
the blast.

The fallen section lies
pointing towards the volcano,

not away from it.

THOMAS: We really get a sense of
the power of the eruption,

sort of like a football player

sliding in and taking you out
from your feet.

You're gonna fall forward,
you're not gonna fall backwards,

and that's what's
happened here.

The force of Vesuvius hit,
snaps this forward,

and here we have that bit of
broken column still stuck in

the wall of
un-excavated material.

NARRATOR: This large pillar
isn't simply pushed over.

It's brutally mown down.

Whoever was still
at Oplontis had

no chance of outrunning
Vesuvius's wrath.

THOMAS:
There are different layers in

this wall of volcanic material.

NARRATOR: In between thick
layers of the crumbling ash

and pumice stone are thin
layers of dense rock.

The great mushroom cloud
collapses and creates

this hard, thin layer,

which is the remnants of
the pyroclastic flow.

NARRATOR: A pyroclastic flow
is a shockwave

of fast moving ash
and hot gases.

It is produced by the most
violent volcanic eruptions.

This process repeats
several times,

and it's present
in this wall of material.

We have a good idea of the
series events of the eruption.

Much of this comes from
the historian Pliny the Younger,

who watched it from the far
reaches of the Bay of Naples.

NARRATOR: Pliny writes
that in August of 79 CE,

he sees a frightening cloud
coming out of Vesuvius.

He vividly describes
the cloud as

it rises for miles
into the sky.

It becomes known
as a Plinian column.

As the column collapses,
millions of tons of ash

and hot gas hit the sides of
the volcano.

It spreads out in
a pyroclastic flow.

Traveling at
incredible speeds,

it engulfs
anything in its path.

Imagine, it doesn't fall over,
it just goes straight down,

hits the sides of Vesuvius,
and takes off.

Some people estimate it
as fast as 300 miles per hour.

Some people estimate it as much
as 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

NARRATOR: The avalanche of
toxic hot gases sweeps

across Oplontis
in a matter of minutes.

THOMAS: It would have been
very terrifying,

because you're talking about
intense heat.

It was not
a pleasant experience.

NARRATOR: Not one body has been
found at this villa,

but a neighboring villa at

Oplontis conceals
a different story.

Here, archaeologists unearth
an area of 60,000 square feet.

As they clear ash
from inside the rooms,

they make
a gruesome discovery.

Fifty-four skeletons --
men, women, and children,

huddled close together in
the corner of the room.

What can the evidence here
reveal about

the final moments of
these people's lives?

Pier Paolo Petrone has
dedicated his career

to investigating
the victims of Vesuvius.

PETRONE: The eruption
caused different effects at

different distances from
the volcano,

different ways of death,
principally due to

the amount of heat.

NARRATOR: Pier Paolo examines
skulls from nearby Herculaneum.

Herculaneum is hit
by the same

thermal shockwave
that rocks Oplontis.

The skulls show the effect of

the extreme heat of
a pyroclastic flow.

Here, we have very clear
evidence of

the effects of heat on
the skull of this individual.

You see this kind of
blackening outside and also

inside the skull, and this kind
of cracking of the bone,

which indicates that the brain
of these individual is going to

boil and then led
the skull to explode.

NARRATOR:
The bones snap as if they are

severed with a sharp blade.

NARRATOR: The evidence from
Herculaneum initially suggests

the people of Oplontis

will suffer a grisly
and painful death.

But Pier Paolo makes
a surprising discovery.

PETRONE: At the very beginning,
archaeologists

thought that people suffered
a prolonged agony.

But in this scan of
the victims from Oplontis,

we don't see any kind

of conscious reaction,
like self-protective stance.

The adult individuals are just
laying very relaxed.

So that means that people had
no time to react to the heat.

So the brain was switched
off instantly,

just in a blink of an eye.

NARRATOR: The 54 men, women,
and children at

Oplontis lose their lives to
the volcano,

but 2,000 years later we know
at least they felt no pain.

Why are they found huddled

close together
in this particular room?

And can jewels
discovered on their bodies

reveal more about
these unlucky victims?

NARRATOR:
Oplontis,

buried by
the devastating eruption

that also destroys
Pompeii in 79 CE.

Inside a room at the south
side of the estate,

archaeologists discover
54 people killed by the deadly

fury of Vesuvius.

The 20 people at the back of

the room have
no valuables with them.

They're possibly slaves
or workers,

but when archaeologists
examine the group at

the front,

they find many still grasping
precious jewelry.

One woman wears an elaborate
hairpin depicting a goddess.

Another carries delicate
pearl earrings,

and close to her body,

she cradles over 300 gold
and silver coins.

Could these riches help unlock

the mystery of
who these people are?

Some of these people have very
important, very rich objects

with them, and other people
had almost nothing with them.

NARRATOR: Investigators are
intrigued by one of the wealthy

victims discovered at
the front of the building.

PETRONE:
A very particular finding was

the one of
a young woman, probably

she was in her twenties --
she had a box with her just

full of golden objects,

coins, a snake, golden ring,

and also a pair
of pearl earrings.

NARRATOR: Pearls are
the ultimate symbol

of wealth in Roman times.

They are extremely rare and
more expensive than gold.

PETRONE:
So these are one of the most

expensive pieces found all
around Vesuvius with skeletons.

So this person
had to be very rich.

NARRATOR: Her identity
remains a mystery,

But the excavations reveal
one last dramatic clue

about her life.

Some very tiny bones were
found near her of a fetus,

so she was probably at
the moment of

the tragedy was just in
the latest stages of pregnancy.

NARRATOR: Rich and poor,
young and old,

all meet the same
terrible fate.

Jenny Muslin has been working
at Oplontis is for 10 years.

She's investigating why the 54
victims huddle in this room.

She believes the room's
location holds the key to

this mystery.

We're walking along the south
side rooms, which would have

been used for storing goods
as well as taking goods in.

NARRATOR: Archaeologists
excavating in front of

the store room
discover intriguing clues.

They analyze soil samples
and reveal

that when Vesuvius erupts,

this building directly
overlooks the sea.

MUSLIN: In antiquity, we would
have been on the sea coast.

This is actually a small cove,
and we found parts of a pier,

so that we know that ships
could have docked here

and loaded and unloaded
at their leisure.

NARRATOR: This discovery
might explain why so

many people die huddled in
this building.

On the day of the tragedy,
Vesuvius erupts violently.

It launches a huge cloud over

Oplontis, four miles
away on the coast.

Families quickly gather
their valuables,

taking coins and jewelry,
and seek refuge.

Over 50 people,
rich and poor,

pile into
a sheltered room together

and watch in fear as Vesuvius
spews out ash and pumice.

Then, suddenly,
the cloud collapses.

The pyroclastic wave of
volcanic debris hits

the victims and buries them
30 feet deep.

MUSLIN: These people, among whom
there were women, children,

and adult men,

we think they were probably
waiting for a ship

to come and save them.

NARRATOR: The people of Oplontis
look to the sea for rescue.

The reason why may lie a few
miles away.

Puteoli, the biggest port
in the entire Roman Empire,

is just 18 miles
across the Bay of Naples.

Misenum, the base of
Romans' military fleet, is

only three miles
further to the west,

but no rescue ever arrives.

MUSLIN: We found them all
huddled at the back of the room,

waiting for a ship that never,

ever came, and they died here
in the pyroclastic flow,

still waiting.

NARRATOR: These storerooms are
built right on the waterfront.

They have direct access
to two of

the busiest ports
of the Roman Empire,

with trade lanes connecting to
all the known world.

So is it possible
that this villa

is more than just
a luxurious seaside estate?

And how can a mysterious
discovery inside this villa

overturn what we thought we
knew about the ancient eruption?

NARRATOR: At Oplontis,
excavators uncover

two monumental
Roman buildings.

Evidence here is
transforming our understanding

of Roman life in the shadow
of Vesuvius

and is revolutionizing what we
know about the eruption itself.

When archaeologists unearth
the smaller villa at Oplontis,

on the ground floor, surrounding
the central courtyard,

they find a series of storage
rooms frozen in time.

On the southern side,
a room

filled with piles of
mysterious charred material,

and in a nearby space,

they discover hundreds of
upturned amphorae,

large ceramic containers used
to transport wine.

They're stacked from floor to
ceiling, ready for use.

What can these clues reveal
about the last days of Oplontis?

Archaeologist Jenny Muslin
takes a sample of

the strange,
burnt substance outside

to examine it more closely.

MUSLIN: These are carbonized
pomegranates that

were carbonized in
the eruption.

So you can see, they are very,
very well preserved.

You can make out the skin of

the pomegranate, right, as if
it was new but blackened.

NARRATOR: The pomegranates
are evidence that

the villa's owner runs
a lucrative export business,

but this is a truly

revolutionary discovery
for a different reason.

For centuries,
historians believe the eruption

of Vesuvius is in August of

79 CE, because of the date
reported in Pliny's

eyewitness account.

MUSLIN: Since pomegranates
are a fall fruit,

this could not have been
picked in August.

It's very clear that
this has to be in October.

NARRATOR: The eruption of
Vesuvius has been

closely investigated
ever since

the chance discovery of
Pompeii nearly 300 years ago.

Here at Oplontis,

it is still giving up
its secrets today.

Further evidence
reveals that the villa's

owner exports more
than just raw fruit.

This was a massive industrial
operation for bottling wine,

and this is wine in the amounts
that were gonna

go all over the Roman world.

NARRATOR: At the time,
the city of Rome

alone tops
one million people.

It's estimated the Roman
citizens drink more than

26 million gallons of wine
here every year.

While we have about 70 amphorae
still stacked here,

this is only a fraction of
a much, much larger operation,

where we had amphorae stretching
all the way back here,

all the way on this side,
all the way on the opposite side

of the colonnade --
there were 1,431 of these.

So this is a huge,
massive operation,

very successful business.

They were in full swing at
the time of the eruption.

NARRATOR: Most of the amphorae
have now been moved into

storage rooms, where they are
cataloged and further analyzed.

They reveal more clues to
the technology in use here.

MUSLIN: When we're first
analyzing an amphora,

we can also tell a lot from
evidence of what was inside,

organic material,
for example.

We can see inside
the neck of this amphora,

this dark brown residue that
is from the pine pitch that was

used to waterproof it.

NARRATOR: The discovery of
the pine pitch reveals

the Roman winemakers are
surprisingly sophisticated in

their packing,

but it also reveals that Roman
wine has a strange taste.

Pine resin gives a very strong
gasoline flavor to the wine,

and we don't think the Romans
cared that much about it,

although they seem to care
more about what it looked like.

So they did various things to
make wine look older than

it was,

like adding lentils to it to
turn white wine to a darker,

tawny yellow.

Uh, they would smoke wine,
again,

to have that aged feeling
to it.

Um, but in terms of taste, this
wouldn't have been very good.

NARRATOR: The fertile lands
around Vesuvius are perfect

for vineyards.

Locals pray to the wine God,
Bacchus, for good harvests.

Oplontis ships
more than 11,000 gallons

of wine across
the empire every year.

The Romans mix the wine
with water.

All members of society
enjoy this drink,

including children
in their early teens.

After use,
amphorae are recycled,

washed, and dried
and re-waterproofed

so they can be filled again.

MUSLIN: We have here
unparalleled evidence

for what workers were doing

to put wine into bottles
in preparation for shipping.

This is really answering
a lot of questions that

we have had for years
about how does wine travel?

How does that process happen?

And Oplontis is answering
those questions,

which is really exciting.

NARRATOR:
But in October of 79 CE,

just as workers here prepare
a new consignment of wine

for shipment,

Vesuvius strikes and abruptly
ends this booming business.

What happens at
the neighboring villa

in those terrible hours,

and can clues reveal
the identity

of the owners of
this luxurious residence?

NARRATOR: At Oplontis,
archaeologists are

unearthing a lavish
Roman mansion,

frozen in time by
the apocalyptic eruption of

Vesuvius in 79 CE.

No skeletons are
found inside this villa.

So investigators hunt for
other evidence that

can shed light
on the villa's owners.

The residence is fitted
with every comfort,

down to a beautifully
decorated private spa.

This is the private bath,
the hot room

of the villa's
bathing complex,

and it's a room that saw heat
and regular use,

because they were pumping
hot air from below

the floor and around up
through the walls.

NARRATOR: The owners of
this villa can afford

heated floors
to warm their steam room.

Most of the wall
is painted in

yellow ochre, except for
a strange red section.

But in the corners,
the paint fades to yellow.

Michael believes
this is not

an artistic choice
but the result of Vesuvius.

The heat essentially
changes the color.

It was originally a yellow
ochre, and then by heating it,

it turns into red ochre,

and that little piece of
painting really shows us

the damage inflicted by
the eruption of Vesuvius.

It was a really instantaneous,
destructive force,

and that's what you see
reflected in that fresco.

NARRATOR: Before Vesuvius turns
it into an inescapable inferno,

this is a luxurious sanctuary
of relaxation.

John Clarke has dedicated
nearly 20 years

to decoding the mysteries of
this villa.

He wants to know more about

the rich people who own
this palatial residence.

We've discovered 99 spaces,
including huge gardens,

this enormous swimming pool,
and the entire East Wing,

just for entertainment.

Here we have the most
beautiful room in this villa.

It is unique.

We don't have anything
this well preserved in

any site
or any museum in the world.

Here we have a whole room just
as it was in ancient times.

NARRATOR: Faux marble panels
and alabaster

columns are painted
on the walls.

These columns go around
the entire room to

give the illusion that
you're surrounded by luxury.

NARRATOR: The frescoes
transform the room to make

it look like
a sumptuous royal hall.

CLARKE:
But it's all a fantasy.

NARRATOR: Strict Roman law
forbids citizens from

building grand halls
in their private residences.

But here,
the villa's owners find

a loophole to satisfy
their ambition.

They want to show
that they belong

to the upper echelon
of society.

They paid artists to create
the most fantastic,

regal architecture as possible
without breaking the rules.

NARRATOR: The high level
of craftsmanship

and the monumental size of
the frescoes

are important clues
to the identity

of the people who live here.

The location alone is
testimony to

the exceptional
affluence of the owner.

CLARKE: Our investigations
have proven that this villa

was on a cliff, situated
45 feet above the sea itself

with its own private harbor.

NARRATOR: The owners of this
magnificent mansion likely live

most of their time in
the empire's capital.

THOMAS: These sort of expensive,
opulent villas dotted

the entire coastline
of the Bay of Naples,

and many of them are owned by
the senatorial elite of Rome.

These are summer houses.

You can only imagine,
just like we have

in the Hamptons,
for example,

where the rich and famous
come, and they all gather around

at each other's houses
for these big parties.

NARRATOR: Villas like this are
where Rome's rich escape

the noise and sweltering heat
of the crowded capital.

John looks for the name of
the aristocrats

who vacation here.

In a storage room,

a small stack of
plain amphorae

hides a possible clue
to their identity.

There it is.

That's the amphora, which has
this inscription on it.

It reads, "To Secundus,
the slave of Poppaea."

So many people for that reason
call this the Villa of Poppaea.

NARRATOR: This is not
an ordinary family name.

Poppaea may have been
the Poppaea who

was the famous wife of
the Emperor Nero.

NARRATOR: Nero is
the most notorious emperor

in Roman history.

He is infamous for a lifestyle
of debauchery and excess.

The Bay of Naples
is his favorite playground.

He frequently
comes to the nearby town

of Baia to enjoy its famous
hot springs,

and to Puteoli, where he
stages lavish boat parties.

Nero owns several
properties here,

including a spectacular villa
now underwater

due to sea level changes.

More clues found in the area
offer further evidence that

Nero's wife, Poppaea,

might own the larger
villa at Oplontis.

There was a whole clan
called Poppaea.

The clan is attested in
Pompeii, as well.

There's a magnificent house,

the best one in Pompeii, which
we know was owned by somebody

who had this clan name.

NARRATOR:
Poppaea's relatives

are a prominent family
in Pompeii.

Their names appear
in inscriptions

all across the town.

Nero and Poppaea die more than
10 years before the eruption.

By the time disaster strikes
in the fall of 79 CE,

the new owners of this villa
might have already returned to

Rome from their vacation.

But what happens
to their servants?

And what can this mansion
reveal about life in

servitude to the rich
and powerful in the Roman world?

Oplontis.

Hidden between Pompeii
and Herculaneum sits the Villa

of Poppaea, holiday home fit
for an emperor,

buried for 2,000 years in
the volcanic rock of Vesuvius.

Discoveries here shed light on
the darker side of Roman life,

slavery.

This villa gives us a clean
shot of life, not just of

the wealthy owners,

but also of the slaves
who were attending them.

NARRATOR: Long,
striped corridors lead to

the inner workings of the villa,

the slaves' domain.

At its center,

a peristyle featuring
a large water fountain.

On the upper floor, bedrooms
where the slaves sleep,

alongside simple latrines
and washrooms.

What can these living quarters
reveal about

the lives of slaves in
the Roman Empire?

Michael looks for traces
of the men and women

who work here
behind the scenes.

As he leaves the luxurious
entertainment rooms,

something catches his eye.

This painting gives us a clue
about what happens in

this room.

NARRATOR: These simple frescoes
stand in stark contrast to

the opulence of the rest of
the villa.

This is not a painting
that one would stop and admire

and look at the details of --
this is a huge corridor.

It's a place of movement,
and who's doing

the most movement in
a Roman house? Slaves.

This corridor would have been
a thoroughfare for slaves.

Throngs of slaves
run up and down these halls,

possibly attending to
the whims of Nero himself.

To find out more about them,

Michael follows the corridor
to a secluded courtyard.

THOMAS: This peristyle is
the hub of the slave activity

of this villa.

It's where the slaves slept,
it's where they worked,

it's where they washed --
these holes that

you see up above
the roof line here,

those are the windows for
the upstairs quarters.

NARRATOR:
This is the engine room that

keeps the Villa of Poppaea
running smoothly.

Hundreds labor here
in the shadows, perhaps

so that Nero's family can
enjoy their luxury vacation.

Slaves make up
one in 10 of the population

of the Roman Empire in
the First Century CE.

Even middle class
Romans buy slaves.

In Oplontis,

the men maintain the villa
and tend to the lush gardens,

vineyards, and orchards,

while the women cook
and serve expensive

wine to the guests at
elaborate banquets.

Those with specialized
skills become

tutors and accountants
to the elite.

Slaves are a vital part of
every elite Roman household.

Michael ventures upstairs
to their sleeping quarters.

So this is another clue
about the slaves here,

and what we have
is some graffiti.

This is their voice, and this
is how we see what they're

thinking and what's important
to them.

NARRATOR:
One graffito in particular

captures Michael's attention.

THOMAS:
There's a Greek graffito here,

which actually says,
"Remember Beryllos."

These words provide a window
into the slave's aspirations.

Most people believe it's
a reference to this famous

freedman who was

a tutor and an important
member of the court of

the Emperor Nero.

NARRATOR: The graffito
is more evidence that

this villa is connected
to Emperor Nero

and is a reminder that even

a slave can earn freedom
and greatness.

Maybe this is a message
for other slaves or maybe

it was just something
that made him feel good.

NARRATOR:
This message of hope survives,

frozen in time by the eruption.

THOMAS: It's a rare find to have
this kind of evidence of spaces

dedicated to slaves
and their activities

in the Pompeiian area,
really in the Roman Empire.

NARRATOR: But their death
remains a mystery.

The bodies of the people
who work here

have never been found.

Michael wants to know if they

could have escaped
the fury of Vesuvius.

In one corner of
the courtyard,

a mysterious ramp of stairs
appears to lead

straight down
into the ground.

A team that excavated
on the other side

of the villa found
the exit of this tunnel.

So we now know it provided
access from the slave peristyle

out to the cliff face
that led down to the sea.

This tunnel would have been
a way to bring supplies in,

so slaves could have
gone down

and met boats that had
supplies, like wine and food,

that were needed in the villa.

NARRATOR: The impressive tunnel
cuts half a mile through

the cliff and is the quickest
way to reach the sea.

As Vesuvius begins to erupt,

this might provide
a perfect escape route.

But as investigators
unearth more of the villa,

it becomes apparent that
something else,

as well as bodies,
is missing.

Where are all
the personal objects,

all the precious items
of the rich owners?

Are they rescued from
the villa before the eruption?

NARRATOR: Two thousand years
after Vesuvius's

catastrophic eruption,

archaeologists are unveiling
the secrets of Pompeii's

mysterious lost twin,
Oplontis.

They uncover an enormous
and luxurious villa that

might, at one point, belong to
Nero's wife, Poppaea.

But inside,
all the valuables are missing,

and some decorative elements
are found in strange places.

These columns came from
200 feet away in the villa

and they were the supports

for the porch
along the pool.

NARRATOR: They seem
carefully laid down.

They are not mown down by
the random fury of Vesuvius.

John wants to find out
why they are here.

An expert examination reveals

these are not regular columns.

CLARKE: They were made from
a very expensive material.

This particular marble is
quite rare.

It's only found on one
island, on

the island of Lesbos in
the Mediterranean beyond Greece.

NARRATOR: The cost of shipping
alone is equal to 10 years

of a regular
Roman soldier's salary.

And they're a single
column instead of in pieces,

which made them much
more precious.

NARRATOR: But on the day of
the eruption,

most of the columns from
the poolside terrace are

already gone.

CLARKE:
Why are only a handful left?

Because the intact ones
were sold off.

Only the broken ones
are here.

NARRATOR: John thinks that these
columns fall well before 79 CE,

and the intact columns
are not the only

expensive decor that is
removed and converted

into cash.

All of the precious materials
at the villa were removed.

They stripped marble
decoration from

the entire east wing
and sold it off.

NARRATOR: This evidence
suggests another crisis

occurs here
before the eruption.

Ivo Van der Graaff is part of

the team of archaeologists
working at Oplontis.

Our cameras have exclusive
access to follow him inside

the stock rooms of the ancient
wine bottling complex.

The space is now used to

store materials
recovered from the dig,

but at the back, it hides
an important piece of evidence.

This is really interesting.

This is a great,
big cistern

used to store water
for the complex.

NARRATOR: The massive tank is
100 feet long and 5 feet wide.

It's connected to the local
network of aqueducts

and is meant to supply fresh
water to the entire estate.

But at the time of
the eruption,

it is already
out of use for some time.

They decide to shut down
the cistern and fill it up with

rubble, and then they build
these great big walls for

the storage rooms
you see above us.

NARRATOR: Ivo believes that
the water network feeding

this cistern is disrupted,

rendering it dry and useless.

VAN DER GRAAFF: This tells us
that there was

a major earthquake
in the region,

and it affected
all the surrounding towns,

including Pompeii and
Herculaneum to a massive degree,

destroying the water supply
and destroying the aqueducts

that also supplied those towns,

including Oplontis itself,
as well.

NARRATOR: In 62 CE, 17 years
before the great eruption,

an earthquake shakes the hills
around Oplontis,

damaging its vital aqueducts.

In the aftermath,
residents of the larger villa

reinforce the pool

and push fragments of pottery
into the earth to prevent

the portico from collapsing.

The owners sell off
valuable materials,

decorative marble and wood,

a hint that the villa is
in decline.

Analysis of organic material
from the garden confirms that

it's inundated
not with lush plants,

but bindweed vines,
a clear sign of neglect,

but at the neighboring
bottling facility,

business must go on.

The clever entrepreneurs
repurpose and restore what is

damaged so that the facility
can continue to operate.

VAN DER GRAAFF: We actually
have evidence of repairs

and construction still happening
at the time of the eruption,

as a population was still
rebuilding after

the earthquake.

NARRATOR: Traces of
the rebuilding are still

visible in the courtyard.

VAN DER GRAAFF: Here,
we have a good example

of repairs that happened
after the earthquake.

You can see that this column
is different from that one.

This one is made out of
brick, because

it was repaired after
the earthquake of 62.

NARRATOR:
In the face of destruction

caused by the earthquake,

the people in the second villa
picked themselves up

and rebuild.

Just a few years later,
business is once

again flourishing.

They cannot imagine that
the worst is yet to come.

[explosion blasts]

The catastrophic eruption
of Vesuvius buries

Oplontis in
a thick layer of ash,

preserving for 2,000 years

one of the most exclusive
villas of ancient Rome.

The large villa reveals
new secrets about

the life of the empire's
wealthiest and their slaves,

and at the neighboring villa,

evidence of a new date
for the eruption

as 54 victims remind us of

the human cost of
this terrible tragedy.

[music playing]