All language subtitles for NOVA S52E05 Pompeiis Secret Underworld 1080p WEB h264-BAE_track3_[eng]

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Pompeii.

A city at the heart
of the Roman Empire.

Frozen in time by
a devastating volcanic eruption.

(eruption roars)

Painstakingly excavated,

we can now see the city
for what it was.

Filled with paved streets,

monumental buildings,
and luxurious villas.

This is the heart of an empire.

There is imperial wealth

coming from all directions
into Pompeii.

NARRATOR:
The ruins hint at a city
of sophistication and wealth.

But how complete
is this picture?

Today, archaeologists
uncover evidence

that reveals
a more complex story

behind this 2,000-year-old city.

These were people
often in chains.

They had no hope to survive.

NARRATOR:
A world of extremes,

where prosperity and poverty
exist side by side.

(crowd cheering)

Brutal murder
is paid entertainment.

And for those who fall out
of line, public execution.

DARIUS ARYA:
Everyone would have seen
those rotting corpses.

And it's a reminder
to everybody,

"This is what Rome can do."

NARRATOR:
Using the latest technology,

archaeologists unearth
ancient artifacts...

REBECCA BENEFIEL:
This main entrance
is heavily fortified.

There was extra layers
of security to make sure

that no one could get in.

(crowd yelling)

NARRATOR:
...exposing a world
where brutality,

crime, and class warfare

lay simmering
beneath a refined veneer...

...to uncover
the real story of life

in one of
the most opulent cities

in the ancient Roman Empire.

♪ ♪

"Pompeii's Secret Underworld."

Right now, on "NOVA."

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
In Southern Italy

lies one of the greatest
treasures of the Roman world.

130 miles south of Rome,

near the Bay of Naples,

is the ancient city of Pompeii.

Here, archaeologists
are carrying out

the largest excavation project

in over 50 years.

JEANNETTE PLUMMER SIRES:
There are so many areas
of Pompeii

that have
still been unexcavated.

It is a very exciting place

that continues
to answer questions

about life in the Roman world.

NARRATOR:
Although Pompeii has
undergone regular excavation

since its rediscovery
in the 16th century,

over a third of the buried city
remains hidden.

♪ ♪

SIRES:
New archaeological techniques
have a huge role to play

in what further stories
we can tell about Pompeii.

There are things
that we can investigate now

that would have been absolute
science fiction 30 years ago.

NARRATOR:
Now the latest science
is revealing new finds...

...illuminating discoveries
overlooked by history...

♪ ♪

...and rewriting
our understanding of the city,

taking us back in time
to the day

everything changed in Pompeii.

(wind blowing)

On an autumn day in the year 79,
a long-dormant volcano,

Mount Vesuvius,
violently explodes into life.

Discharging 1.5 million tons

of volcanic material into
the atmosphere every second,

the eruption is
one of the deadliest

human civilization
has ever seen.

SIRES:
About three meters of ash
covered the city.

It would have been
absolutely apocalyptic.

NARRATOR:
The catastrophic event
wreaks untold damage

and claims thousands of lives.

But the volcano
also does something else.

It effectively stops the clock.

Everything the ash buries
becomes frozen in time,

allowing archaeologists,
more than 1,000 years later,

to explore
a first-century Roman city.

SIRES:
The initial excavations

revealed that this was a highly
sophisticated Roman city.

It showed an elaborate
and affluent Roman society

that had been lost to time.

NARRATOR:
Beneath the ash
and volcanic debris,

archaeologists discovered
a dense, grid-like metropolis

over 160 acres in size

with an elaborate urban
infrastructure,

huge houses decorated
with beautiful frescos

and filled with
exquisite marble statues,

and architectural wonders--

from monumental buildings

to a huge central forum
for trade and social gatherings.

The ruins of Pompeii

suggest a highly cultured
and civilized society.

But is that the whole story?

The historian Tacitus
describes an event

that occurred
at the city's amphitheater.

SIRES:
Pompeii's amphitheater

is one of the oldest
stone-built amphitheaters

in the Roman world.

It had a 20,000-spectator
capacity.

(crowd cheering)

The amphitheater was not
just meant to hold spectacles

for the Pompeians,

but it also attracted spectators
from the neighboring towns.

NARRATOR:
But in the year 59,

the violence isn't limited
to the arena.

(people yelling)

Tacitus recounts how tensions

between Pompeians and a nearby
rival settlement called Nuceria

led to a brutal fight
that broke out in the stands.

(people yelling)

Roman historian Darius Arya
revisits the scene of the riot.

ARYA:
What happens is that taunts
lead to stone-throwing,

and ultimately people
start drawing the swords,

and they're fighting
in the stands,

and there's bloodshed--
there's slaughter.

(crowd shouting)

NARRATOR:
At the National Archaeological
Museum of Naples,

a 2,000-year-old fresco

provides a contemporary
account of the event...

...revealing that the clash
between the fans

escalated into a citywide riot.

(people yelling)

ARYA:
The relatives of the deceased
go to Rome itself

and beseech the emperor
to intervene.

He turns it over to the Senate.

And the consuls
then get involved and say,

"No more gladiatorial games

in this venue for ten years."

Could it mean
that this civil unrest

was not just a one-time event?

(people yelling)

Or was this just
the latest outbreak

in a city
where violence and unrest

were perpetually simmering?

(people talking in background)

Archaeologist Rebecca Benefiel

is studying some
of the ancient graffiti

near the commercial heart
of Pompeii.

♪ ♪

Over 2,000 years, the messages
have become too faint to read

with the naked eye.

And so you can see maybe
just little hints of red,

little traces of red paint
in there.

NARRATOR:
To bring the ancient messages
to life,

Rebecca takes a series
of photos

and uses software to enhance
the traces of paint.

When we have even infinitesimal
amounts

of pigment left,

it can enhance that

so that we can see
what was there.

So, here's an A, P, E, R,

I, I, T, "taberna."

♪ ♪

BENEFIEL:
And so it says
a bronze pot "pereit,"

has perished, has gone missing,

"de taberna," from this shop.

And it continues and says,

"65 sesterces will be given

as a reward."

NARRATOR:
The reward for the return of
the bronze vessel was enormous.

Historical records indicate
it was the equivalent

of nearly three weeks' wages
for an average Roman worker.

And then it also says,
"If you bring back the thief..."

The inscription
is a little messy,

but a few letters that suggest
that he'll be beaten.

NARRATOR:
In cities like Pompeii, there
was no official police force.

So the inscription reveals
how one resident, at least,

the pot owner, was prepared to
dish out punishment themselves.

♪ ♪

So how common was
this kind of lawlessness?

Are there other signs of crime

that might hint
at a more widespread problem?

One home in a middle-class
neighborhood shows just how far

Pompeii's residents went
to protect themselves.

BENEFIEL:
This main entrance
is heavily fortified.

There was extra layers
of security

to make sure
that no one could get in.

NARRATOR:
A plaster cast taken
from a cavity has revealed

a 2,000-year-old door with
a robust locking mechanism.

BENEFIEL:
So you can see
that we have double doors.

There would be
a lock across here.

But in this house,
they felt like they needed

to be extra secure,
and so they added

this additional beam across,
to hold it closed,

and then this huge stretch
of wood

that they jammed into place

to make sure there was no way
to open these doors.

(dog barking in distance)

NARRATOR:
Violent clashes, rough justice,

and a homeowner's defense
against robbery.

What was driving these tensions?

Answering that question
requires a better understanding

of what life was like for those
who lived and died here.

♪ ♪

A stone's throw from
Pompeii's main southern gate,

the Porta Stabia,

lies a tomb in one of the burial
sites of the city's elite.

MASSIMO OSANNA:
The tomb is special--
it's special

because there are a lot of
details

about history, economy,

and also the society of Pompeii.

NARRATOR:
Massimo Osanna is Italy's
director general of museums

and former director of the
Archaeological Park of Pompeii.

When his team first stumbled
across the tomb in 2017,

they immediately knew
it was something special.

OSANNA:
The marble is not local.

It's not the normal,
local stone of the other tombs.

So, the material says

that the owner was
a very, very rich person.

A V.I.P. of the antiquity.

NARRATOR:
But a key piece of information
is missing.

OSANNA:
The eruption destroy
all the upper part of the tombs,

and we lose,
with the upper part of tombs,

the name of the owner.

(birds chirping)

NARRATOR:
Massimo believes clues
to the owner's identity

can be found nearby.

♪ ♪

Just a few yards away lies
the family plot of the Allei.

OSANNA:
The Allei were a very
important family in Pompeii.

And in my opinion,

also this tomb belong
to one of these Allei.

♪ ♪

We can consider,
I think, only one person:

Nigidius Alleius Maius.

NARRATOR:
Nigidius Alleius Maius

was a highly influential
politician

and organizer of gladiatorial
spectacles in Pompeii.

praises the life of the deceased
and his achievements.

But the epitaph
also mentions something else:

an extraordinary
coming-of-age party,

when the tomb's occupant
entered adulthood.

(people laughing)

OSANNA:
"In epulum."

"Epulum" is a banquet--
this is normal.

Not so normal is the invited
to this epulum,

was all the people in Pompeii,
"populo pompeiano."

Of course, not everybody.

Just the adult male citizen
of Pompeii.

(crowd cheering)

NARRATOR:
If the inscription
is to be believed,

for entertainment,

416 gladiators battle it out
in the city's amphitheater.

And to ensure
his guests' comfort,

456 three-sided sofas,
called triclinia,

were arranged
for the grand banquet.

♪ ♪

OSANNA:
But here also specify how
many person in each triclinium:

"Ita ut in triclinis quinideni
homines discumberent."

In each triclinio,
there are 15 person.

NARRATOR:
Almost 7,000 people were invited
to the coming-of-age party,

an extravagant display
of wealth.

It's perhaps no surprise, then,

that the inscription
also reveals

this wealthy Pompeian

had connections
all the way to the top.

To the emperor himself.

So how close was
the relationship

between Pompeii and Rome?

In the sixth century BCE,

hundreds of years before
this coming-of-age party,

there was no Roman Empire.

What's now Italy was made up of
provincial cities, like Pompeii,

bound by alliances with Rome,

which was just
a small city-state

but a significant
regional power.

Through a combination
of military strength

and economic expansion,
over 400 years,

Rome's territory grew,

absorbing parts of Spain,

North Africa, Greece,
and modern-day Turkey.

♪ ♪

SIRES:
Rome was the undisputed ruler
of the Western Mediterranean.

This was a time of conflict.

They were constantly expanding.

(men shouting)

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
But by the beginning
of the first century BCE,

the relationship between Rome

and its provincial cities
had reached a breaking point.

MIKO FLOHR:
One problem that is facing Rome

is that they become incredibly
wealthy,

but that wealth is being divided

in ways which may not
have been entirely fair.

And that creates
a lot of tensions.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
In 90 BCE,

those tensions
reach a boiling point,

and war breaks out
across the Italian Peninsula

between Rome
and some of its allies.

(men shouting)

Over two years,
Rome crushes the revolt,

which has spread to Pompeii,

and the city is declared
a Roman colony.

♪ ♪

Now subdued,

Pompeii becomes a playground
for rich Romans,

attracted by
the cool Mediterranean climate

and stunning vistas.

That in turn supercharges
Pompeii's economy,

turning it into
a prosperous urban center.

FLOHR:
Rich Roman families
start building luxury villas.

That is where they spend
the money that they made

all over the empire.

So, for Pompeii, that means

that the city gets
completely transformed.

NARRATOR:
As Rome expands its dominion
over the Mediterranean basin,

merchandise from its conquests

filters in through
the Bay of Naples and Pompeii,

making traders here
very wealthy.

FLOHR:
This is the heart of an empire.

There is imperial wealth
coming from all directions.

And that is what explains
what you see in Pompeii.

NARRATOR:
But that wealth
is heavily reliant

on another common and brutal
feature of Roman society.

♪ ♪

In the early first century BCE,

the street now known
as Via dell'Abbondanza

was a hive of activity.

Running through the center
of the city,

it was one of
Pompeii's busiest roads,

lined with shops, bars,
and houses.

Here, archaeologists uncovered
the house of a rich baker.

Today, it's known as
the House of the Chaste Lovers,

thanks to a fresco showing
a couple stealing a gentle kiss.

GABRIEL ZUCHTRIEGEL:
If you're standing outside,
you just see the huge windows

and the great doors.

You can imagine the ancient
splendor of this house.

NARRATOR:
Director of the
Archaeological Park of Pompeii

Gabriel Zuchtriegel
explores the site.

Only if you go inside
and really go

to the rear of the house,

then you'll discover
the other side of Pompeii

and the hidden aspects
of the ancient society.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Here, in the commercial section
of the building,

is where bread was baked
using grain ground into flour

with four huge millstones.

Close by, archaeologists
discover a small stable

with the skeletons of five mules

used to keep flour production
running 24/7.

♪ ♪

But a mule wouldn't turn
a millstone on its own.

ZUCHTRIEGEL:
It would be moved

by one mule and one slave,

who had to control the animal
and push.

There were holes on the sides,

and you could insert
wooden bars.

And you have to imagine
the mule and the slave

going around the mill
all day long.

NARRATOR:
In places like this,
the hard labor was performed

by the enslaved.

Two mules can't pass by here

at the same time.

So, it's almost
like a clockwork,

where they had to organize
the movements

of several people and animals.

NARRATOR:
Conditions here
would have been brutal.

ZUCHTRIEGEL:
We have descriptions from
antiquity which are terrible.

These were people
often in chains.

(exhales heavily)

ZUCHTRIEGEL:
They rarely saw the daylight.

They rarely could breathe
fresh air.

These were amongst the heaviest

and most difficult conditions
for enslaved workers.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
But was this the experience
of all enslaved people?

A new find in the same building

hints at ancient Rome's complex
relationship with the enslaved.

Scratched on the walls
of a courtyard

is a stick figure scene

next to a charcoal outline
of a child's handprint.

ZUCHTRIEGEL:
So here we see the gladiators--

helmet, shield,
maybe a sword or a spear.

And here the, the two guys

with long spears
hunting animals.

We can imagine children
running around here,

and what we see is,

some of them must have been
in the amphitheater.

NARRATOR:
But behind the innocent picture
lies a darker truth.

ARYA:
The people that are fighting
in the arenas,

they are, by and large,
enslaved people.

(grunting)

ARYA:
They're at the bottom
of the social scale.

But at the same time,

these guys here in the arena,
they could be superstars.

They could become celebrities.

So, there's a lot
of complexities involved

in the idea of slavery
in the ancient world.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Pompeii's amphitheater was not
only a place of entertainment,

but a cornerstone
of the city's economy.

(crowd cheering,
fighters grunting)

ARYA:
Of course, you've got
the high and mighty officials

that are financing the games.

You got people that are here
selling their wares.

So, on every level of society,
people are going to benefit

from the games
in the amphitheater.

NARRATOR:
From manual labor

to gladiatorial combat,
over the years,

Pompeii's economy
increasingly relied

on the labor of enslaved people.

(people talking, goats bleating
in background)

FLOHR:
Many more people were held
as slaves in Pompeii

in the early first century BCE

than there had been
a century before.

And they were also
much more a central part

of the urban experience.

They made the urban experience.

So, in many parts
of the economy,

enslaved persons would be
present, if not dominant.

NARRATOR:
It's a sign of the inequality
across the city.

But what did that inequality
actually look like?

And can it be measured?

FLOHR:
In Pompeii, inequality
is not some abstract

documentary category,

but you can see it in
the urban landscape,

so you can see it
in the architecture.

And that was not only true
in antiquity,

but it also is true nowadays.

NARRATOR:
Historian Miko Flohr's
pioneering work

has illuminated how the level
of social inequality

in Pompeii can be deciphered

by examining the intricacies
of its houses.

FLOHR:
So, I use house size

and house complexity
as a starting point.

And in this graph,

I use yellow
to indicate the larger houses.

And the redder it gets,
the smaller the houses are.

So, if you look
at the entire city,

you see a lot of red houses
in some parts

and fewer red houses
in other parts.

NARRATOR:
By mapping the distribution of
house size, building materials,

and even what was found in them,
from large complexes

to simpler dwellings
across the city,

Flohr can see the spatial
segregation of social classes.

♪ ♪

FLOHR:
But what you see is something
that closely resembles zoning.

So, there's wealthy people
on the west side of the city,

and relatively poorer people

living in medium-sized houses
in the eastern half of the city.

NARRATOR:
Plotting the data on a graph

provides a different
perspective.

FLOHR:
What you then see

is a graph that starts
with a smaller house.

And then in the end,
there is a sharp peak.

And that sharp peak
that includes, say,

the top five percent
of households.

So, this is what we would
call the elite.

In terms of the number
of households,

that elite is fairly small.

NARRATOR:
Flohr's results indicate
a society

with enormous
economic inequality.

FLOHR:
There is an extremely
large divide

between the richest people
and the poorest people.

These larger houses,

they reflect the adaptation
of domestic architecture

to mass enslavement
as a phenomenon.

NARRATOR:
Flohr believes Pompeii reflects

the Roman Empire's expansion
and growth.

♪ ♪

FLOHR:
Pompeii is not
the average Roman city.

It is a very specific
Roman city,

which was massively transformed

by being at the heart
of the empire,

and therefore massively unequal,
much more unequal

than many other Roman cities
all over the empire.

NARRATOR:
During the first century BCE,

with Rome moving resources

from its conquered territories
to its center,

Pompeii saw
the ancient equivalent

of the Industrial Revolution.

FLOHR:
So, becoming wealthy
in Pompeii means

that a few people profit

and a large group of people,
actually, is worse off.

And I think that's really
important to keep in mind

when looking at Pompeii.

So, they were built
on the wealth of a few people

and on the poverty
of many people.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
The constant mass mobilization
of citizens

for Rome's wars
led to an increasing need

for enslaved persons

to keep basic economic functions
going at home.

(men shouting)

But warfare was also
the primary source

for this free workforce:
prisoners of war.

(men shouting)

This put Rome on a path

to becoming
what was by some measures

the world's largest
slave society in history.

♪ ♪

Experts estimate,
by the first century,

over 200,000 enslaved children
were born

in ancient Italy every year.

♪ ♪

FLOHR:
Some people have argued
that at least

40% to 50% of people in Pompeii

were held as slaves
or had been held as slaves

at some point in their lives.

Even for Roman standards, that
is an extremely large number.

NARRATOR:
Unsurprisingly,
not all enslaved people

accepted their lot
unquestioningly.

On the walls of an ordinary
Pompeian house,

buried beneath layers of paint,

are the faint traces
of an intriguing sketch

of two men fighting
on horseback.

We have this really
fantastically preserved fresco.

We can see
these two figures engaging.

The shields are lifted.

They're battling to the death.

And here's a name
that's preserved.

It's written "Spartaks."

So Spartaks: Spartacus.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
The events of Spartacus's life

come from the contemporary
writers

Plutarch and Appian.

The infamous rebel Spartacus
trained at a gladiator school

just 30 miles from Pompeii.

♪ ♪

In 73 BCE,

Spartacus escaped
with 70 other gladiators

and assembled
just outside Pompeii,

on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius.

♪ ♪

ARYA:
For Spartacus, it's a city

like Pompeii
that's going to represent

everything against what
they stood for.

Because what is the
Pompeian society all about?

Well, it works
because you have slaves.

It works because
you have entertainment.

And who are the gladiators
in the amphitheater of Pompeii?

Enslaved peoples
from all over the empire.

(men shouting)

NARRATOR:
Gradually, more and more
escaped slaves

joined Spartacus's ranks.

His rebellious army roamed
across the peninsula,

gathering
up to 100,000 followers

and raiding with impunity.

♪ ♪

(men shouting)

ARYA:
With Spartacus' success,

he's forming
truly a legitimate army.

And he has all the trappings

of a successful general,
and we know

that he even makes
some of the captured prisoners

fight as gladiators,
so the tables are truly turned.

NARRATOR:
Spartacus's revolt poses

a significant threat to Rome
until he is killed

in a violent battle
and 6,000 of his men captured.

♪ ♪

What follows is horrific
punishment for the survivors.

ARYA:
Now Rome makes a statement,
and it's brutal.

Lining the Via Appia,

portion of which I'm even
walking on today,

from Capua all the way to Rome,
they crucify 6,000 men.

And you can imagine,
every 100 feet,

there's going to be
a rotting corpse

from that grand revolt
once led by Spartacus.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
The Appian Way is ancient Rome's
vital lifeline,

stretching from Rome to Brindisi
in Southeast Italy.

It serves both as a military
and economic artery.

ARYA:
Everyone would have seen
those rotting corpses.

And it's a reminder
to everybody,

of every level of society,

"This is what Rome can do."

NARRATOR:
Rome relied on violence
to maintain civil order.

But what about
within the households

of wealthy enslavers?

In a villa not far beyond the
walls of ancient Pompeii,

in the ruins of Civita Giuliana,
lies a clue

to how the enslaved
were controlled.

ZUCHTRIEGEL:
This was a total surprise,
to find this huge villa here.

NARRATOR:
Here, archaeologists discover
a series

of opulent reception rooms,
with exquisite stone floors.

But it wasn't the opulence
of the villa

that caught their attention.

It was what lay beneath.

The quarters of the enslaved.

ZUCHTRIEGEL:
This is the largest room
we know so far

from the slaves' quarters,
and it's the stable.

And what we can see is

one of the famous Pompeian
plaster casts.

So the horse was dead
in the moment

of the arrival of the ash cloud

at the time, the eruption.

The body disintegrated

and left a void, a negative
in the soil

that became hard and solid.

NARRATOR:
To create the casts,

archaeologists pour plaster
into the voids.

ZUCHTRIEGEL:
So, what we see is actually
the original form of the animal

regained through the negative

that was preserved inside
the underground, in the soil.

NARRATOR:
In a corner of the villa,

Zuchtriegel's team uncovers
a series

of cramped living spaces
with telltale voids.

♪ ♪

After filling them with plaster,

they discover
several wooden beds.

The lack of decoration and
personal items provides clues

to the status of its occupants.

We have the unique opportunity
in Pompeii

to see what's almost like

a photograph
of an ancient slave room.

NARRATOR:
But there's a mystery:

there's no evidence
of chains or bars.

So what would stop the enslaved
from escaping?

ZUCHTRIEGEL:
Ancient slave owners
were always concerned

about slaves trying to escape.

Sometimes they would use chains

and maybe iron bars
before the windows.

We found examples of this
in Pompeii,

but it's not the case here.

So, there must have been

a different kind of control.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Gabriel believes clues
can be found in the furniture.

One of the beds is
more luxurious than the others.

It's bigger, more comfortable,
and the frame and headboard

were decorated
with intricate patterns,

suggesting status.

ZUCHTRIEGEL:
The people who lived here,

especially this person here,

had some kind of special role
inside the slave community.

And through promises

and little privileges,

the masters could rely
on these people

in controlling the others.

And so, we can see
how slave owners try to assure,

through the organization
of the slave community,

that there was no rebellion
and escape.

(man yelps)

NARRATOR:
Levels of status
within the enslaved community

may have helped enslavers
maintain their authority.

But might a recently discovered
tomb at a burial site

close to Pompeii's
main eastern gate

reveal yet another way
the social order was maintained?

Archaeologist Llorenç Alapont

leads the team
that made the discovery.

ALAPONT:
Our research is about
archaeology of death.

We study the rituals, we study
the architecture of these tombs,

and in particular in Pompeii,

we have all this information
intact.

They've remain intact
after 2,000 years.

NARRATOR:
An inscription at the entrance
of the tomb

not only provides a wealth
of intriguing details

about the life of the deceased,

but also his name:

Marcus Venerius Secundio.

ALAPONT:
So we know that he was
a public slave,

but he was a particular
public slave.

He was the guardian
of the Temple of Venus.

The Temple of Venus was the
most popular temple in Pompeii.

NARRATOR:
As an enslaved person
in public service,

Marcus Venerius, like many
others in Roman society,

was owned by the whole city,
rather than an individual.

The inscription on the tomb
reveals he was granted freedom

and became an Augustalis,
a high-status priest.

And it suggests
that Marcus Venerius

may have met the highest
authority in Rome at the time:

Emperor Nero.

ALAPONT:
The wife of Nero
was from Pompeii,

and we know that Nero
visit Pompeii, as well,

and when Nero visit
the Temple of Venus,

the guardian
was Marcus Venerius.

And for sure,
they meet each other.

NARRATOR:
But what was the background

of this former enslaved
individual who rose to power?

When the archaeologists opened
the tomb,

they made a startling discovery:

partially mummified remains.

ALAPONT:
We never expect
to find one embalm body.

So, of course, we were shocked.

He is the best-preserve
individual in Pompeii.

NARRATOR:
In ancient Roman
funerary customs,

cremation was the norm.

So, finding hair,
skin, and bones is unusual.

ALAPONT:
This is a key question,

why he decide to be buried
and not cremated

like the rest people in Pompeii
and in the Roman Empire?

NARRATOR:
To find answers,

the archaeologists collect the
remains and send a specimen

to a lab in Florence
for analysis.

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Here, the scientists hope
to extract DNA

from a premolar tooth
to learn more

about Marcus Venerius's
ancestral origins.

So, Llorenç, here is the genome
of Marcus Venerius Secundo.

And this is the first time
that we see this genome, okay?

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
The study reveals not only

Marcus Venerius's genetic
traits, but also his ethnicity.

His DNA is added to a data bank

and compared
to the genetic makeup

of other ancient populations.

CARAMELLI:
This is Southern European
population,

this is Mediterranean
population,

this is African,
North African population,

and this is
the Caucasian population.

So Marcus Venerius Secundo

fall in the Caucas
population.

NARRATOR:
The analysis places
Marcus Venerius's origins

in the Caucasus,

a region wedged between the
Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.

This was a place right on the
edge of the Roman Empire.

The results could explain
why he chose to be buried

and not cremated.

ALAPONT:
His tomb is completely different
than the other tombs in Pompeii.

So probably he bring his custom,

his culture, to Pompeii,
as well.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
While Marcus Venerius's story

is the exception,
rather than the rule,

it hints at the complexity
of Pompeian society.

BENEFIEL:
In Pompeii, we see a number
of examples

of freed people who were showing
off their wealth.

They're showing their status,

that they have achieved,
that they have really made it.

(birds chirping)

They have achieved
a level of status and of wealth

that was probably inspiring
to others,

and that changed the hopes and
possibilities for the enslaved.

NARRATOR:
The enslaved lived
in hope of freedom.

And this might have helped
the wealthy maintain control.

BENEFIEL:
If you're one
of the better-trained slaves,

you're gonna be given
additional tasks,

you'll be given
much greater independence.

They'll count on you.

And if you show yourself
as very capable,

you might have a chance
to buy your freedom.

NARRATOR:
By the time
of Marcus Venerius's death

in the second half
of the first century,

experts estimate about
19,000 people were set free

in ancient Italy every year.

How might this have impacted
Pompeian society?

Researchers can never know
for sure,

because just a few years later,
in the year 79,

Vesuvius strikes.

(eruption echoes)

ZUCHTRIEGEL:
We know it started around noon,

with a huge column

of volcanic material rising from
Mount Vesuvius,

NARRATOR:
The explosion is visible
over 100 miles away.

Roman writer Pliny the Younger

witnessed the event
from a nearby town

across the Bay of Naples.

Pliny says it's like
a pine tree.

And it started raining
little stones

of lava that came out
of the volcano.

♪ ♪

This continued until the morning
of the next day.

And eventually, you get
almost three meters of deposits

of these lapilli, small stones.

And you have to imagine
people panicking.

They didn't know
what had happened.

♪ ♪

SIRES:
The people of Pompeii
didn't know

that Mount Vesuvius was
anything other than a mountain.

They were used to tremors,

they were used to earthquakes,
but this notion

of fire raining down
from the skies

would have just been horrifying.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
But how did the rest of the day
unfold for the inhabitants?

ALAPONT:
Not everyone in Pompeii died
in the same way,

and not everyone in Pompeii died
at the same moment.

NARRATOR:
Archaeologist Llorenç Alapont
focuses on how those caught

frozen in time by the volcano
died.

Using an X-ray,

Llorenç and his team
examine the bones hidden

in Pompeii's plaster casts.

The scan of one individual
reveals striation on the knee,

indicating the person suffered
from osteoarthritis.

ALAPONT:
What we found is that people
who had difficulties

stay in their houses.

People who has disability

or family who has children.

So, we can see in Pompeii
many casts of children, as well.

NARRATOR:
The scans taken by Llorenç
and his team

reveal the facial expressions
of the victims

with incredible detail.

♪ ♪

It provides a clue as to how
this individual perished.

When I see this individual,

how they, we found them,

they remind me the victims

who die in the mountains,
like Everest.

When they die exhausted

because they couldn't breathe,

and they look exactly
the same.

It suggests that he died
exhausted by asphyxiation.

NARRATOR:
While many people died
in collapsed buildings

due to the deluge
of volcanic material

and violent earthquakes
that shook the city,

in later phases of the eruption,
others succumbed to asphyxiation

by the toxic gases
that engulfed Pompeii.

♪ ♪

This begins when the ash column
collapses under its own weight,

triggering a series
of pyroclastic flows.

This mixture of hot gases
and volcanic debris

runs down the slopes
of Vesuvius,

incinerating everything
in its path

and burying Pompeii.

(debris rumbling,
people yelling)

(people screaming)

The archaeological evidence
paints a tragic picture

of confusion, fear,
and desperation

as the people of Pompeii
tried to escape

the catastrophic eruption.

Since its rediscovery,

over 1,000 bodies
have been uncovered at Pompeii.

While it's believed
many victims remain buried,

this would be just a fraction of
Pompeii's estimated population.

Suggesting that a significant
number of people

escaped the initial fury
of the volcano.

♪ ♪

Today, the ruins of Pompeii
provide

a fascinating window
into a city of extremes,

where social inequality
and economic disparity

were woven into the fabric
of daily life.

FLOHR:
I think what you see in Pompeii

is that there's
a limited number of families

that become exceptionally rich.

So, the way in which you can see
social differences

and social inequality in Pompeii

offer a microcosm of social
inequality in the Roman Empire

in its extreme form.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
From the opulent villas
of the elite

to the brutal life
in the city's bakeries,

Pompeii's urban landscape

mirrored the stark divisions
in Roman society.

ZUCHTRIEGEL:
Pompeii shows us the underworld,
the other side

of the story, which is really

what's lacking in this
perspective of elite history,

but also for us
as archaeologists.

NARRATOR:
With every new building brought
into the light

after 2,000 years of darkness,

Pompeii is slowly giving up
its secrets

house by house,
street by street,

revealing a city
with a dark past,

struck down and frozen in time

in a shocking moment of terror.

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