All language subtitles for Ancient Top 10 Series 1 7of9 Greatest Ancient Metropolises 720p

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

narrator: This week,
on "Ancient Top 10"...

the city that worshipped death.

- The population would gather
in the thousands,

and they would watch
grisly ritual sacrifices.

narrator:
A capital that took on

the power of the Roman Empire.

- The ancient city of Carthage
was as big as Manhattan

and every bit as classy.

narrator: The eternal city
that spawned

the greatest
ancient civilization.

- Rome was truly one of
the greatest metropolises

of the ancient world.

narrator:
And a fortified metropolis

that withstood sieges
for a thousand years.

- Constantinople was really
the jewel of the East.

Everybody in that area
wanted it.

Everybody in that area
would do anything to get it.

narrator: The most amazing
cities in the ancient world...

where will they be ranked
on the only top ten list

thousands of years
in the making?

[dramatic percussive music]

♪ ♪

narrator:
Sprawling, powerful...

the beating heart of
civilizations.

But what makes a great city?

Innovation...

monumental buildings...

epic engineering.

The more successful a city
gets, the bigger it grows.

And some of the most
magnificent cities

were built in ancient times.

This week's
ancient top ten...

♪ ♪

The greatest ancient
metropolises...

ranked according
to their population size.

And straight in at number ten,

it's the ancient
Egyptian capital...

[epic music]

Thebes.

♪ ♪

- Nearly 3,500 years ago,

Thebes was the largest city
in the world.

Many of its awesome monuments
are still standing today,

and that's why it's gotta make
our top ten.

narrator: Ancient Egypt was one
the greatest civilizations

of the ancient world.

[dramatic musical flourish]

It was the land of
the Great Sphinx

and the mighty pyramids
of Giza.

♪ ♪

And its capital was Thebes--

which is now Luxor city.

♪ ♪

- Thebes is unquestionably

one of the great cities
of the ancient world.

It was massive,
and we're talking massive

from about 2000 BC onwards.

For hundreds
and hundreds of years,

this was the seat of power
in ancient Egypt.

♪ ♪

narrator: By 1500 BC,

it had a population of 75,000,

the biggest in the world
at the time.

Thebes was filled with
soaring monuments

dedicated to its rulers,
the pharaohs.

♪ ♪

Towering symbols of power,
wealth and glory,

they cover over
36 square miles.

The most impressive--

Karnak, an enormous
complex of temples

that is nearly a mile long.

- Karnak is the work of over
30 successive pharaohs

all trying to make their mark.

narrator: Inside
is the Hypostyle hall...

♪ ♪

A vast forest
of 134 towering columns...

♪ ♪

Some as tall as
a six-story building.

♪ ♪

It's considered
one of the greatest

architectural achievements
of all time.

♪ ♪

Karnak is connected
to the equally impressive

Luxor temple...

♪ ♪

By an avenue lined
with sphinx statues,

totaling 2 miles in length.

The pharaohs portrayed
themselves as gods

in images on walls
all across Thebes.

- You have the great kings,

the pharaohs building their
palaces, statues of themselves.

Amenhotep III for example,

he not only built
his great palace there,

but he built an artificial lake
that was 1.5 square miles.

♪ ♪

Ramesses II built a statue
of himself 62 feet high.

So the egos of the pharaohs
were embedded

in this great metropolis
of Thebes.

narrator: And not only in life,
this continued in death.

On the Western outskirts
of the ancient city

were a whole host of incredible
mortuary temples

like Medinet Habu...

[intense music]

And Deir el-Bahari,

built to honor dead rulers.

♪ ♪

But a few miles further
outside the city limits

was an even more
elaborate dedication

to the dead pharaohs--

a collection of 63
underground burial tombs

filled with riches

called
the Valley of the Kings.

[exciting music]

Past pharaohs had been buried
in grand pyramids,

but their tombs
had been plundered.

The Valley of the Kings
was designed

to keep the pharaohs'
belongings safe

so they could use them
in the afterlife.

♪ ♪

Sadly though, they, too,
fell victim to grave robbers,

and their riches were pillaged.

♪ ♪

- The Valley of the Kings
is full of empty tombs,

and we'll never know
what incredible treasure

they once held.

It's ironic that
the smallest tomb discovered

was full of gold,

and the name of that pharaoh,
now synonymous with treasure--

Tutankhamun.

♪ ♪

narrator: A vision of power
and prosperity,

just like the other legends
of this magnificent city.

[intense music]

After nearly
2,000 years of glory,

Thebes eventually
declined in power

as later pharaohs moved
the capital to different cities

and Egypt fell into
economic difficulties.

But its epic monuments live on
as a reminder of its greatness.

[exciting music]

Across the Atlantic
was another ancient city

founded on the legacy
of its dead.

But this was built not on
the tombs of its rulers

but from the bones
of its people.

At number nine...

[epic music]

It's the Aztec city
of Teotihuacan.

[intense percussive music]

- Teotihuacan was the biggest
city in the Americas,

of course until
New York arrived.

It had a population
of possibly 200,000 people.

narrator:
Located about 30 miles north

of present-day Mexico City,

it was believed to be
a sacred place by the Aztecs.

♪ ♪

The name they gave it,
Teotihuacan,

means
"birthplace of the Gods."

♪ ♪

The city
has a mysterious history,

as the culture
had no written language.

We don't know exactly
when it was founded,

and it may be that
it was already in ruins

by the time the Aztecs
arrived and populated it.

Teotihuacan is famed for having
pyramids that rival Egypt's.

♪ ♪

This is the magnificent
Pyramid of the Sun,

the third largest pyramid
in the world.

- The Pyramid of the Sun
at Teotihuacan

is absolutely massive.

It's 760 feet wide at its base,

which is the same width
as the Great Pyramid in Egypt.

♪ ♪

- Standing before this pyramid,
you're just amazed

that something so enormous

was built
nearly 2,000 years ago

and by a culture we still know
so little about!

narrator: But we do know

that the pyramids hide
a dark secret.

- During certain
calendrical rites,

the population would gather
in the thousands

and they would watch
grisly sacrificial rituals

of children.

And we find the evidence
bones of these children

at the foundations of the
temples and the pyramids.

narrator: And it wasn't
just children

who were sacrificed.

Excavations of the Pyramid
of the Moon,

the second largest temple
on the site,

have discovered the bodies
of adults too.

♪ ♪

Victims were often
from other tribes,

hunted like prey.

The chase ended
not in a kill...

[men grunting, yelling]

But a living offering of blood
to the gods.

The pyramids were where
the gods received it.

[yelling in native language]

It was priests who led
the gruesome ritual,

armed with a knife, its blade
made out of obsidian.

narrator: Obsidian
is a volcanic glass so sharp

it can produce a cutting edge

that is superior
to a steel scalpel,

and it is still used
by some surgeons today.

[crowd yelling]

While the sacrificial victim
was still alive,

the priest would plunge
the knife into his abdomen,

rip open a hole
the size of his hand,

reach in, and grab
the still-beating heart.

♪ ♪

He would then hold it up
to show it to the gods.

The offering of blood
and sacrificial rituals

were part of everyday life.

Death wasn't feared.
It was embraced.

♪ ♪

- At Teotihuacan,
you can see this fascinating

and everlasting relationship
with the dead,

with people burying
their ancestors' remains

in the foundations and the
doorways of their own homes.

♪ ♪

narrator: The city
was eventually burned,

possibly in an uprising
of the lower-class citizens.

[intense music]

The legend of this mighty
metropolis never dies...

built on Aztec religion,
ritual,

and most of all...blood.

[epic music]

And Teotihuacan
was not the only place

to get hearts racing.

Coming up,

a lush biblical city
that was scandalized by sin.

♪ ♪

And which metropolis
will be number one?

[intense percussive music]

♪ ♪

narrator: We're back
with the countdown

of the greatest
ancient metropolises,

ranked by the size
of their population.

At number eight,
we're off to a city

that grew to biblical
proportions...

[epic music]

Babylon.

♪ ♪

- Babylon was
the first great metropolis

of the ancient world,

and it reached its peak
nearly 4,000 years ago.

narrator: Babylon was located
in what is now Iraq.

Tactically placed between the
Euphrates and Tigris rivers,

it is credited with being

one of the birthplaces
of civilization.

♪ ♪

- Babylon. Just the name
suggests grandeur.

But in 2300 BC,

Babylon was just a small city
in the Akkadian Empire.

It was about 300 years
to 400 years later

that it became the seat of
the great Babylonian Empire.

[dramatic music]

narrator: Babylon was
written about in the Bible

and was the first city
in history

to exceed a population
of over 200,000 people.

It reached its great strength

under the so-called mad king
Nebuchadnezzar.

He rebuilt its temples
and the great royal palace

and carried out work
on its extraordinary city walls

which were an impressive
56 miles long.

- Most ancient cities
had walls,

but Babylon
was so rich and wealthy

it's believed its walls were
encrusted with precious stones.

Inside the city walls was
another famous structure,

the Ziggurat.

[intense music]

It's thought to be the Tower
of Babel from the Bible,

and it gave the Babylonians
a reputation of sin.

♪ ♪

It's claimed they angered God

by daring to build a tower
high enough to reach heaven.

Referring to
its impressive height,

the Bible describes it as
having "its top in the sky."

- The Tower of Babel
must have been amazing,

but there was something even
more jaw-dropping in the city--

the Hanging Gardens of Babylon,

one of the Seven Wonders
of the ancient world.

♪ ♪

- Imagine an artificial mountain
covered in huge trees,

shrubs, and vines,

kept lush, green, and fresh.

♪ ♪

narrator: A pioneering
irrigation system

transformed the garden's dry,
sandy soil.

It took water from a lake
at the bottom,

up 80 feet to the top.

♪ ♪

Historians think a pump
resembling the Archimedes Screw

may have been used to do this.

♪ ♪

- Babylon became
this huge artificial creation

in the great gardens
and the lush orchards,

and all of these things
were achieved

by immense
hydraulic engineering,

a feat unprecedented
in the ancient world.

narrator: After nearly
2,000 years of splendor,

the city was conquered by
the leader of the Macedonians,

Alexander the Great,
in 331 BC.

Over the next century,
the city was gradually emptied

and its former glory
was lost...

but it has never been
forgotten.

[dramatic musical flourish]

But greatness isn't always
built out of bricks.

Our next city gave the world
one of the greatest gifts ever.

At number seven...

[epic music]

It's Athens,

the birthplace of democracy.

- The population of Athens
was 250,000.

This was a city that had
a remarkable impact

on both the ancient
and the modern worlds.

narrator:
The Greek city of Athens

was a vibrant, cultured place.

♪ ♪

Great thinkers like Socrates,
Plato, and Aristotle

turned it into
a center of learning.

And it was here

that one of the most
influential ideas in history

was conceived--democracy.

- Democracy is one
of the greatest ideas

we have from ancient times.

It all started in Athens.

♪ ♪

narrator: Athens was ruled
exclusively by an aristocracy.

But after a period
of civil unrest,

a new system was formed.

Around the 5th century BC,

male citizens were given
the right to vote.

It was the beginnings
of a democratic society.

narrator: Under democratic
rule, the city flourished.

And the most famous
achievement--

Athens' iconic building...
the Parthenon.

[exciting music]

Standing on the Acropolis,

a rocky hill which looked out
over the city,

it was an architectural
work of art.

- The Parthenon in Athens

is the only temple ever built
entirely from marble.

30,000 tons of it,

and cut from a hillside
10 miles away.

Now, that's pretty amazing.

[uplifting music]

narrator: Built in just
eight or nine years,

it's 228 feet long...

♪ ♪

Made out of approximately
13,400 blocks.

♪ ♪

Just these columns
weigh up to 200 tons each.

♪ ♪

Carving the vertical grooves
down each of them

was likely to have cost as much
as the quarrying,

carrying, and assembly
of the marble combined.

narrator: The Parthenon
was breathtaking,

but it could afford to be

because it wasn't paid for
by the Athenians

but by protection money

demanded from
their allied city-states.

- The Parthenon cost 30 million
drachma to build.

It's hard to calculate
how much that is today,

but possibly about
$1.5 billion.

[dramatic musical sting]

narrator: A huge sum,

but the value of what it
represents is priceless.

It's seen as a symbol
of democracy,

Athens' great gift
to the world.

Just like Babylon, Athens was
conquered by the Macedonians.

However,
it continued to flourish

until the 2nd century BC

when it fell to
the expanding Roman Empire.

But the impact it had
on our world is huge.

[intense music]

Coming up...

the capital of an empire
so powerful

it almost sailed away with
control of the Mediterranean...

[crowd roars]
And...

an ancient stronghold city

that was nearly burned to
the ground by its own people.

[intense percussive music]

[intense music]

narrator: This is
"Ancient Top 10's" list

of the greatest cities
of the ancient world...

♪ ♪

Ranked according to the size
of their populations.

And with a massive
700,000 people,

we've reached number six...

[epic music]

It's Carthage.

♪ ♪

- The ancient city of Carthage
on the coast of North Africa

was as big as Manhattan
and every bit as classy.

And for that reason, it deserves
to be in our top ten.

narrator: Carthage,
in what is now Tunisia,

was founded
in the 9th century BC

by a mighty seafaring nation
called the Phoenicians.

- We think of the ancient
Mediterranean world

at this time and we think of
the Greeks and the Romans,

but there was
a third great power,

and this was
the empire of Carthage.

[waves rush, seagulls call]

narrator: The Phoenicians
were famous maritime traders

who grew Carthage
from a small port.

- 700,000 people lived there
at its height.

That's bigger than Detroit,
bigger than Boston,

bigger than Washington--
this is huge!

narrator:
In less than 100 years,

Carthage became the richest
city in the Mediterranean.

- The Carthaginians had
six-story apartment blocks

all over the city,

and water was pumped into
the kitchens and bathrooms.

[hammers clink]
[waves splash]

- The jewel in Carthage's crown
was its harbor.

It attracted trade
and intellectuals

from right across
the ancient world,

from beyond the Mediterranean.

It really was the place to be.

♪ ♪

narrator: The harbor was home

to the ancient world's
most formidable navy--

220 warships...

an intimidating presence
to the rival across the sea

who had eyes on Carthage--
Rome.

- Rome versus Carthage.

One civilization on the rise
to becoming great.

The other,
an established powerhouse

in the ancient world.

Bound to clash,
but neither giving up

until the other
has been reduced to ashes.

narrator:
It became an epic feud,

played out over three wars
known as the Punic Wars,

lasting more than 100 years.

The first was mainly about
control of Sicily,

and Carthage
suffered humiliating losses.

♪ ♪

The second Punic war
was dominated

by the legendary Carthaginian
general Hannibal.

♪ ♪

He ravaged Italy
with his army of war elephants

after leading a daring assault
through the Alps...

[elephants trumpeting]

And he took the Romans
to the brink of defeat

in the bloody Battle of Cannae.

[men shouting]

But the third war
was to be the end of Carthage.

The city came under siege
from the Romans

and fell in 146 BC when they
burnt it to the ground,

ending 700 years
of Carthaginian rule.

♪ ♪

However, they rebuilt it
as a Roman city

and took it to new heights.

It was under Roman rule that
it reached its peak population.

[exciting music]

Just as the Romans
transformed Carthage,

they took our next metropolis
from an ancient Greek colony

to the most powerful city
in Europe.

[intense music]

In at number five,

with a population size of
between 750,000

to a million people...

[epic music]

It's Constantinople.

♪ ♪

- Constantinople was called
the New Rome,

or the second Rome,
and for a thousand years

it was the biggest and most
exciting city on Earth.

♪ ♪

narrator:
It was founded in 324 AD

by Emperor Constantine
the Great and named after him.

♪ ♪

The Roman Empire
had grown so large

that its historic capital,
Rome,

was too far from its frontiers.

♪ ♪

So Constantine stripped it
of its powers

and established Constantinople

as the new capital
of the empire.

♪ ♪

- Constantinople, which today
we know as Istanbul

in modern-day Turkey, was really
the jewel of the East,

the gateway to the east

and the seat of power
for Eastern Christendom.

[intense music]

♪ ♪

narrator: Constantinople's
location on the Bosphorus,

a narrow stretch of water
dividing Europe and Asia,

made it a prominent
trading post

and strongpoint
between the East and West.

In the new capital,

the state-sponsored religion,
Christianity, flourished.

- Constantinople
was a Christian city,

so it banned gladiatorial games,

but it replaced these

with an absolute passion
for chariot racing.

[hard rock music]

narrator: The greatest racing
stadium in the world

was built here--
the hippodrome.

Tiered seating could fit
up to 100,000 spectators

watching eight chariots,
powered by four horses each,

competing for glory.

The teams wore different colors

and represented the political
parties within the state.

- There were these competing
factions in the city:

the reds, the blues,
the greens, and the whites,

and passions ran really high.

I mean, these were like
the kind of big football teams

of their day.

In fact, passions ran so high

that at one point
the competing teams

actually generated a riot
in the city,

the great Nica riot,

which nearly burnt
Constantinople to the ground.

narrator: The riots
claimed 30,000 lives

and destroyed half the city.

[dramatic musical flourish]

But its reconstruction gave us
some of its finest buildings,

including one of the greatest
cathedrals ever.

- The Hagia Sofia changed
the history of architecture--

the largest cathedral in the
world for over a thousand years.

[inspiring music]

♪ ♪

The Burj Khalifa, the tallest
building in the world,

took six years to build.

The Capitol in DC,

just the dome alone,
it took 11 years to build.

So it's even more impressive
when we look back

at the Hagia Sophia.

It took five years to build
the entire structure

with ancient technology.
Amazing.

narrator: Constantinople
didn't rely on God

to keep their city safe.

It had some of
the greatest defenses

in the ancient world...

♪ ♪

And it took something explosive
to eventually bring them down.

It's coming up...
on "Ancient Top 10."

[intense percussive music]

narrator: In this countdown

of the top ten greatest
ancient metropolises,

we've started at number ten

with the astonishing monuments
of Thebes in ancient Egypt.

At number nine was the city of
death, Teotihuacan...

and number eight was
the biblical city of Babylon.

Number seven saw us visit
the birthplace of democracy,

Athens...

while number six was the
maritime powerhouse Carthage.

But now we're at number five
and we're in Constantinople,

which ousted Rome as capital
of the Roman Empire

in the 4th century AD.

The city itself
was a prime target

for the Empire's many enemies.

- Everybody in that area
wanted it.

Everybody in that area
would do anything to get it.

narrator: Constantinople's
enemies knew

that the best way
to take the city

would be with siege warfare.

In order for the population
to survive sieges,

they needed a secure
source of water.

So they built cisterns,
or reservoirs,

to store a fresh supply
from springs outside the city.

One of the biggest
was the Basilica Cistern.

It was an immense chamber
of 336 marble columns,

covering more than
96,000 square feet...

sunk underground, right in
the heart of the metropolis.

It still exists today.

- The amazing thing about
Constantinople

is that this was a city
that was built to last.

It had a whole cistern of water
supplies underneath it.

It was a city that was planned,

and so it didn't just survive--
it thrived.

narrator: And the city's
exterior defenses

were the best around.

- The defense systems
of Constantinople

comprised of a double wall
up to 200 feet high

and 12 feet thick,

making it the strongest wall
in the ancient world.

[exciting music]

narrator: In front of this was
a moat stretching 60 feet wide.

♪ ♪

And more than 400 towers,
bastions, and gates

gave the wall extra strength.

♪ ♪

Constantinople survived
17 sieges over 1,000 years.

It was only the advent of
gunpowder siege cannons

that overwhelmed them.

Also used as a bombard,
it was used by the Turk army

when they invaded the city
in 1453.

It was more powerful than
anything seen before--

40,000 pounds of bronze,

needing 400 men and 60 oxen
to move it.

[exciting music]

The chamber would be packed
with gunpowder,

enough to fire a 30-inch,
1,500-pound stone ball

more than a mile.

This reconstruction
shows its devastating effect.

[exciting music]

♪ ♪

Constantinople's walls
didn't stand a chance...

[boom]

♪ ♪

And in 1458, the city fell.

The Turks re-named it
Istanbul...

♪ ♪

And it is still
a bustling metropolis,

adorned with reminders
of its ancient Roman past.

[percussive music]

A thousand miles
east of Constantinople,

the great Arab leader
al-Mansur

decided to build
a city of his own.

Rising out of the plains,
it grew into

most populous city
in the world.

At number four...

[epic music]

It's Baghdad.

- This was once
a glorious city,

center of a great civilization,

and a beacon of knowledge
and culture.

Baghdad, a thousand years ago,
was one of the biggest

and most magnificent
ancient metropolises.

narrator: Baghdad was founded
on the Tigris River,

in what is now Iraq,
in the 760s AD.

[exciting music]

It was a strategic location,

chosen by al-Mansur

for its importance
in global trading routes.

- Baghdad was
a purpose-built city,

and it went from being
quite a modest place

to, at its height, a city
where 900,000 people lived.

And that is quite
an extraordinary number

for the time.

narrator: It was nicknamed
the 'round city'

because they created it in
a unique, circular design.

And it was one of the greatest
construction projects

in the Islamic world.

Baghdad emerged
in a period known as

the Islamic Golden Age.

In the 8th to the 13th
centuries,

great cultural, economic, and
intellectual growth took place.

♪ ♪

Baghdad's House of Wisdom
led the way

in technological and scientific
development.

- Baghdad wanted to be

the globe's new
intellectual center.

The House of Wisdom was there,

where all the biggest and best
ideas from both east and west

were gathered in.

♪ ♪

And if you actually translated
a book there,

then you were given that book's
weight in gold as payment.

♪ ♪

narrator: The translated texts
preserved ancient knowledge

and passed it on
to the next generation.

This earned Baghdad
the reputation of being

the "center of the world"
for its academic studies.

♪ ♪

- In that part of the world
at that time,

all roads led to Baghdad,

a center of science, culture,
and technology.

narrator:
Sadly, ancient Baghdad

was destroyed by the Mongols
in 1258.

It was said that they threw
so many manuscripts

into the Tigris,
its waters ran black with ink.

Thousands of years' worth
of knowledge was lost.

We are left wondering what
the world could have been like

if the knowledge of Baghdad
hadn't been destroyed.

Coming up...

Asia's greatest metropolis,

home to the largest palace
ever built...

and the shining light of Egypt,

a city home to one of the Seven
Wonders of the ancient world.

[intense percussive music]

[exciting music]

narrator: This is
"Ancient Top 10's" countdown

of the greatest
ancient metropolises.

At number three is a city
that gave the world

something more precious
than gold.

[epic music]

It's the ancient
Chinese capital of Xi'an.

♪ ♪

- The Chinese city of Xi'an

is bigger than anything
on our list so far.

It had over a million
inhabitants--it was massive.

And for centuries
it was booming.

[percussive music]

- The site of Xi'an
in ancient China

was an unbelievably
important metropolis.

I mean, there were a million
inhabitants, 4,000 palaces.

One of the most extraordinary
places in the ancient world.

narrator:
Xi'an, in the center of China,

was the country's capital
for hundreds of years,

and its rulers demanded
to live in style.

One of the most magnificent
structures in the city

was the huge Weiyang Palace.

♪ ♪

- The scale of the buildings
was incredible.

The Weiyang Palace,
meaning "the endless palace,"

covered 2 square miles.

That's 11 times the size
of the Vatican,

making it the largest palace
ever built.

♪ ♪

- The palace had 40 halls,

the largest of which
was big enough

to fit the White House inside.

narrator: Sadly, the palace
was burnt to the ground,

and we are left wondering
as to its splendor.

Xi'an could fund the building
of colossal projects like this,

thanks to the world's
oldest trade route,

which connected
to this bustling capital.

- Xi'an was at the center
of the business

that made China
fabulously rich--

the silk trade.

And, boy, did it make them
a lot of money.

[crowd chatter]

narrator:
Xi'an was the starting point

of the Silk Road,

a famous network of trading
routes to eastern Europe.

Silk was exported all the way
to Rome, 5,000 miles away,

and considered
more precious than gold.

Xi'an boomed.

There was building
on an immense scale.

[dramatic music]

Sadly, most of Xi'an
has been lost to time

as it fell into decline
around 900 AD.

But its status as a metropolis
has lived on,

and today it is home
to 8 million people.

♪ ♪

Next on our list was
the ultimate Egyptian city,

a bustling center of knowledge

founded by the greatest general
of the ancient world.

At number two...

[epic music]

It's Alexandria.

- The great ancient city
of Alexandria.

This was one of the great
centers of learning

in the entire planet.

narrator: Lying on the coast of
the Mediterranean in Egypt,

Alexandria was founded

by the legendary Greek military
commander Alexander the Great

after he invaded Egypt
in 331 BC.

He wanted to spread Greek
culture throughout his empire,

and his new city was to be
at the very heart of it.

- Egypt was an ultimate prize
for Alexander the Great,

and when he managed
to take the region,

he put a jewel in that crown,

and that jewel was the city
of Alexandria.

[percussive music]

narrator: Alexander left Egypt

only a few months
after the city's formation

and never returned.

♪ ♪

But his city
continued to prosper.

♪ ♪

Designed in a grid system
just like modern-day Manhattan,

in just over a hundred years,

it became the largest city
in the world at the time.

It's been said that the city
became so grand

that 1/3 of it was covered

in extravagant monuments
and palaces.

- This was a place where
there was street lighting.

Some of the streets
were 30 meters wide,

and it was filled with some of
the greatest treasures

from the known world.

narrator: Alexandria attracted
the greatest scholars.

Greek expertise, influenced by
the ancient Egyptian heritage,

produced stunning results.

♪ ♪

Such as the mighty Pharos,

the lighthouse of Alexandria

and one of the original
Seven Wonders of the World.

At over 400 feet high,

the Pharos was one of the
tallest man-made structures

and was famous
around the world.

- So much so, the word pharos
in many languages

still means lighthouse.

♪ ♪

narrator: It's another example

of the engineering excellence
of the city.

[dramatic music]

- The most important thing
about this place

was that this was the center of
all the knowledge on earth.

Everything that was written down

was stored in the great
Library of Alexandria.

It was like a kind of living
internet of its day.

♪ ♪

narrator:
The Library at Alexandria

was the largest in the world.

Its purpose
was to collect and preserve

all the world's wisdom, and it
attracted the brightest minds--

Philo of Byzantium,
Ctesibius, Archimedes.

- In the great Library,
there were 550,000 volumes,

and if you read a new one
every day,

you would be sitting in that
library for over 1,500 years.

narrator: Scientists
studying at the Library

made discoveries the modern
world didn't catch up with

for over a thousand years.

- Mathematicians
in ancient Alexandria

were calculating
the circumference of the earth

in the 300-200 BC range.

This is unbelievable!

♪ ♪

narrator: Tragically,
many of the texts

were destroyed by fire.

It's thought that this may have
happened in 48 BC,

when the Romans
conquered the city.

So much ancient knowledge,
lost to history.

[epic music]

Alexandria's influence
over the ancient world

was surpassed
only by one other city.

Coming up
is "Ancient Top 10's"

greatest ancient metropolis.

It's our number one!

[intense percussive music]

♪ ♪

narrator: This is
"Ancient Top 10's" countdown

of the greatest metropolises
of the ancient world.

With iconic buildings,
innovation,

and mind-blowing technology,

many cities were centuries
ahead of their time.

At number ten was the
monumental city of Thebes

in ancient Egypt.

Number nine was the greatest of
the Americas--Teotihuacan.

At number eight was
the legendary city of Babylon.

At number seven,
history-making Athens.

Number six, that great
Mediterranean power, Carthage.

At number five,
the magnificent Constantinople.

Number four
was the historic Baghdad...

and number three, the capital
of ancient China, Xi'an.

Our number two was the great
center of learning, Alexandria.

But now it's time
for the greatest--

the number one
ancient metropolis,

the biggest city in the world
until modern times...

[epic music]

Rome.

- Rome was truly one of
the greatest metropolises

of the ancient world.

People from all over the empire
would flock to that city.

narrator:
Lying in central Italy

in the heart of
the Mediterranean

and Roman civilization...

at its peak,
Rome attracted a population

of somewhere between
1 and 1 1/2 million people.

- When you got your
Roman citizenship,

it didn't matter
what color your skin was

or what language you spoke.

You were considered Roman.

And so naturally lots of people
from different backgrounds

moved into Rome, making it
the most culturally diverse hub

we would probably see
up until modern times.

♪ ♪

narrator: The people
were seduced by its glamour

and cutting-edge engineering
and construction

that was way ahead of its time.

The population boomed.
[crowd cheering]

- Ancient Rome
had three times more people

per square mile
than modern-day New York.

And you thought New York city
was a busy place.

Try shopping on main street,
ancient Rome.

narrator: And shop they did.

This is Trajan's Market.

2,000 years ago
it had over 150 stores

under one roof
spread over six stories.

- Trajan's Market
is the first

multi-functioning
shopping mall.

You've got offices,
you've got shops.

You could pretty much
get anything

from all over the Empire.

Think of it like a Macy's with
an emporium rolled into one.

[intense music]

narrator: If a day out shopping
wasn't enough entertainment,

ancient Romans could also head

to the city's most
iconic building...

the Colosseum...

the largest amphitheater
ever built,

and a model for all modern-day
sports arenas.

Up to 80,000 people
flocked there

to watch brutal
gladiatorial games,

public executions,

and animal hunts.

- The Colosseum,
the Arena of Death.

A million animals slaughtered,

500,000 people murdered

in the name of entertainment!

[crowd cheering]

♪ ♪

narrator: As well as
entertaining the masses,

the city provided
for their basic needs.

With a population
as big as Rome's,

it was vital to have
a controlled water source.

Rome solved this problem by
using a series of aqueducts.

- 11 aqueducts totaling more
than 300 miles in length.

That's 183 Golden Gate Bridges.

[inspiring music]

- In total, over 300 million
gallons of water

flowed into Rome each day.

That's more per person
than modern day New York City.

narrator: Water was fundamental
to city life.

It supplied 144 public toilets,

1,300 fountains,
and 900 Roman baths.

[epic music]

narrator: The Roman Empire's
engineering genius

allowed Rome to grow
and prosper

more than any other city had.

♪ ♪

- How are humans so successful
on planet Earth?

The real reason is,
we can manipulate

everything around us
to our benefit.

The Romans did that with
incredible engineering

and because of it, they
literally conquered the world.

narrator:
This timeless metropolis

was the center of power in
the world for over 1,000 years.

The ancient Romans
named it the Eternal City

because they believed
it would go on forever.

[epic music]

The greatest
of all ancient cities--

its impact on history
can't be matched.

[triumphant music]

The cities of the ancient world

have left great tales
in history and archaeology

to amaze us.

And they left a legacy of
surviving architecture

to remind us that it's not just
our modern cities

than can truly be amazing.

They were the blueprints
for the thriving metropolises

of the world today,
full of incredible engineering

that has meant they have
never been forgotten.