All language subtitles for Holy.Marvels.with.Dennis.Quaid.S02E02.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH_track3_[eng]

[dramatic music]

- Tonight, the world's
most sacred strongholds.

From mighty fortresses...

- The Romans take down
every Jewish stronghold

in the region, but they
save Masada for last.

- So they take this
fortress, constructed

to keep invaders out, and
they turn it into a prison

to keep religious dissenters in.

- To an infamous tower.

- Those who do survive
the massacre are those

who made it safely
into the tower.

- And even a
supernatural barricade.

- In order for a person's
soul to reach the underworld,

they have to get help from
a God to cross this river.

- The remarkable
stories behind history's

most formidable "Holy Marvels."

[dramatic music]

One of the most infamous
figures in the Bible is a king

who's well known for
his building projects.

Of all his ambitious
strongholds,

there's one that
towers above the rest.

- Around 63 BC, the Roman
General Pompey the Great

conquers Judea on
behalf of Rome.

In Jerusalem, they install
a client king named Herod,

and he's the guy
they've handpicked

and who will carry out
their policies faithfully.

- Even though King Herod
is basically a puppet

of the Romans, he is no fool.

He knows that his Jewish
people have many enemies

that could strike at any time,

and so he decides to build
something like a safe house,

and it's called Masada.

Masada, which means strong
foundation in Hebrew,

is to be a fortress
and a royal retreat.

And construction on this
starts around the year 30 BC.

- Herod chooses
an 18 acre plateau

that's about 1,400 feet
above the Dead Sea.

This is a perfect location
as a secure refuge,

because it's almost
impossible to attack.

- The fortress is surrounded
by a casemate wall.

These things run
4,600 feet altogether.

They're 13 feet thick.

The space between the walls

could be used in
peacetime for storage.

However, in wartime, you
could fill in that space

with rubble, debris, rocks,

and dirt to make an even
stronger defensive wall.

- Masada has two
palaces, store rooms,

barracks, an armory, and
even a Roman style bathhouse.

The northern palace is an
impressive three tier structure

that can serve as
Herod's residence.

- To supply the
fortress with water,

Herod builds these massive
cisterns carved into the rock

that can hold nearly
200,000 gallons,

and they're fed by aqueducts

that capture rainwater from
the entire top of the plateau.

A single day's reign
could sustain life

for a thousand people over a
period of up to three years.

- Herod's survival strategy
is, do what favors you can

and when things go bad, escape.

And Masada was his safe
house that he could escape

to if everything
else turns south.

- [Dennis] Luckily, he never has
to use it, but seven decades

after Herod's death, it
comes in handy for a group

of Jewish rebels.

[swords clang]

- The First Jewish-Roman
War breaks out in AD 66.

This follows years
of rising tensions

between the Jewish population
and their Roman overlords,

until you have open conflict
and warfare between the two.

- [Dennis] As the war continues,

one group in particular
look for a more secure post.

They're called the Sicarii.

- The Sicarii are elite
Jewish assassins who are known

for taking out their enemies,
the Romans obviously,

but also Jewish collaborators
with the Romans.

- The Sicarii, they decide that
it's time to get out of town

and they move into
the abandoned Masada,

by late in the year of 67 AD.

They're sure that the
Romans are after them,

but that this is
the safest place

that they could possibly hide.

- [Dennis] It turns
out to be a smart move.

- By 70 AD, the Romans
lay siege to Jerusalem

and pretty much
totally destroy it.

The Romans take down every
Jewish stronghold in the region,

but they save Masada for last.

- Sometime between 72 and
73 AD, the Romans decide

it's time to attack the
Sicarii at Masada.

By this point, the Sicarii
have been here holding out

for about five years.

There are about 960 men,
women, and children,

and they're very well prepared

to defend themselves
under the command

of their leader, Ben Ya'ir.

- The Roman historian, Josephus,
documents in real time,

what happens at Masada.

- The Romans basically
isolate and cut off Masada.

They create an entire
camp down below.

They think by cutting
off supply lines,

they're gonna starve them out.

Little do they realize, up
there on Masada, there's plenty

of resources, they can
hold out for a long time.

- The Romans realize
they're gonna have

to storm the place eventually,

but the long, winding path
to the top would leave them

totally vulnerable to
attacks from above,

while they lug all their
gear up the mountain.

- They can't starve them out,

so they have to build
this ramp up to Masada,

which is a long way.

- It takes weeks,
probably even months

to complete this ramp and it's
really an engineering marvel.

It stretches nearly 375 feet
up the side of the mountain

giving the Romans
a straight shot

to the fortress walls,

and once they reach the top,
they erect a stone platform

where they mount
a battering ram.

- [Dennis] As the Romans
break through the wall,

[stone rumbling]

they hit a new obstacle.

- The battering ram burst

through the original
casemate walls

and the Romans likely
think they're about to win,

but the Sicarii have cleverly
created a second wall inside

of the first, built from
wooden beams, rocks, and dirt.

Ironically, it not only
withstands the battering ram,

but as the battering
ram hits the wall,

it actually compacts
the dirt with the blows,

which makes it even stronger.

- The Sicarii leader
Ben Ya'ir knows

that the Romans can
only be delayed.

They cannot be stopped.

According to Josephus,

Ben Ya'ir makes a bold
speech to his people.

It is still in our
power to die bravely

and in a state of freedom.

- [Dennis] Then, the
Sicarii choose to go out

in a blaze of glory.

- The Sicarii decide
to burn down Masada

and end each other's lives

rather than submit
to the Romans.

- Every family head executes
the members of his own family.

Then 10 individuals are
chosen from that group

to kill all the family heads.

And then lots are drawn
between the surviving 10 to see

who will kill the others
and then take his own life.

- [Dennis] When
the Romans finally

enter Masada ready for battle,

they're instead met
with an eerie silence.

- Josephus describes how when
the Romans entered Masada

and they found all the
Jewish inhabitants dead,

they also found that they
still had plenty of food there

so they didn't kill themselves
because they were starving.

They did it simply because
they wanted to be free.

- Amazingly, there are a
few survivors, two women

and five children who
had hidden themselves

in the water cisterns, lived
to tell the tale to Josephus.

- Once they defeat the Sicarii

they find they don't have
a lot of use for Masada,

so they abandon it.

In the Byzantine era,
there is evidence

of monks building a
monastery up on top,

but after that period,
it's left alone.

- [Dennis] The fortress
remains lost for over

a thousand years.

- It wasn't until 1828
that Masada is rediscovered

by American scholars, Edward
Robinson and Eli Smith.

And during the next 150 years,

archeologists eagerly climbed
the mountain to excavate

and to map out this
incredible site.

- The first major
excavation begins in 1963,

led by Yigael Yadin.

What they find is incredible.

Pieces of the Dead Sea Scrolls,

pottery and stone vessels,
bronze and gold coins,

weapons, remnants of
textiles and food,

all well preserved
in the dry climate.

- Within the archeological
record of Masada,

we have 250 individual
little pieces of pottery

that were discovered.

11 of them are
ascribed with names.

One of those is the
name Eleazar Ben Ya'ir

who gave the impassioned speech

just before people began
to take their lies.

- [Dennis] Excavations at
Masada continue to this day.

- Masada is now the second most
popular tourist destination

in Israel after Jerusalem,

and you can still walk up
that siege ramp yourself.

Nearly a million people
make this trek each year

to visit this ultimate symbol
of strength and resistance.

A place where a small group
of rebels managed to stand up

to the world's most
powerful army.

[dramatic music]

- Jerusalem is one of the
world's holiest cities,

filled with famous sites
like the Tomb of Jesus,

the Temple Mount, and
the Dome of the Rock.

So it's no surprise
that it's also one

of the most well guarded.

[dramatic music]

- When you approach the historic
heart of Jerusalem today,

you can't help but notice the
city's most iconic feature.

It's surrounded by
these huge, thick walls.

- That wall's
about 40 feet high,

about eight to 10 foot thick.

The city wall itself is
penetrated by eight gates,

seven of which are
open, one is sealed,

and those gates not
only welcome residents,

but millions of visitors
each year to the old city.

- [Dennis] The history
of the walls themselves

is just as fascinating
as what they protect.

- During the Bronze
Age, a group of people

called the Jebusites
establishes a civilization

here where Jerusalem
stands today.

It's built on an advantageous
location, on elevated terrain

in the Judean Hills where
enemies can be spotted

from far away,

and it's surrounded by the
Kidron Valley to the east

and the Hinnom Valley to
the west and the south,

which provides for natural
barriers for defense.

- Around 1800 BC, the
defenses are further built up

with the first set of walls

to be established
around Jerusalem.

This is before
the Jewish temple.

This is before Christianity,
this is before Islam.

The area surrounded by
these walls is fairly small,

about 12 to 15 acres.

So what was it that they
needed these walls to protect?

The most precious resource
they had is water.

- If you've been to Jerusalem,
if you've been to Israel,

you know that it's
a desert climate.

It's very arid.

So the Jebusites build the
walls around the Gihon Spring.

This spring is so important,

because it's the main
fresh water site,

so you have to protect your
most precious resource.

- [Dennis] Soon, a famous ruler
sets his sights on the city.

- The Jewish King David,
whom we know from the Bible,

wants a safe and permanent
home for his people.

He decides to try
and conquer Jerusalem

around 1000 BC.

The Jebusites are confident
in their city's defenses,

but David's troops cleverly
infiltrate the city

through an access shaft

of the Gihon Spring
and they take control.

- [Dennis] After
his cunning victory,

King David makes Jerusalem the
capital of his new kingdom.

When he dies, his son
Solomon takes over.

- Inside the walls,
Solomon builds

the first Jewish
temple in 957 BC.

According to
Judeo-Christian texts,

the Torah and the Old Testament,

this is where the Ark of
the Covenant is stored.

So now, the city has even
more precious buildings

and objects to safeguard.

So now King Solomon begins
to expand the fortifications

of Jerusalem, including adding
terraces along the walls.

- [Dennis] 250 years later,

these defenses are
put to the test.

- During the reign of
King Hezekiah in 701 BC,

the Assyrians invade Judea,

and they take
several major cities,

including Lachish and Azekah.

- In response to this
invasion by the Assyrians,

Hezekiah increases the
fortifications of the walls,

expands the walls,

including making the
broad wall 23 feet thick.

He also builds a
2,000 foot tunnel

that redirects the Gihon Spring.

- The Assyrian army surrounds
Jerusalem for a matter

of weeks, but it
never makes it inside.

- [Dennis] The walls
keep Jerusalem safe

for another hundred years.

- The Babylonian king,
Nebuchadnezzar II

gets the same idea
as the Assyrians,

and he tries to take Jerusalem.

He lays siege to
the city in 588 BC.

The fortifications hold
off the Babylonians

for nearly 18 months,

but Nebuchadnezzar's forces
ultimately make it through.

- They set fire to the city,
they destroy the temple,

they destroy the palace, they
take the Ark of the Covenant

or possibly destroy
it, we don't know.

It disappears from
the historical

record at this point.

In short, it's a
complete catastrophe

for the people of Jerusalem.

- So this marks the
end of the first set

of walls around Jerusalem.

The Judeans are eventually
allowed to return

and they slowly
start to rebuild.

[dramatic music]

- [Dennis] But they don't
stay in control for long.

After the Romans
conquer Judea in 63 BC,

and put King Herod in charge,

he starts rebuilding Jerusalem.

- He built a new
palace, a new fortress.

He greatly expands
the Temple Mount,

and of course for all this,

he needs to build
newer and better walls.

These walls of Herod
are spectacular.

They rise some 10 stories

and the foundations go
down as deep as 60 feet.

- Once Herod's expansions
are complete, they're thought

to include seven gates,
two in the south,

two in the northeast, one in
the north, one in the west,

and one in the east.

- [Dennis] According
to Christian tradition,

it's through the Eastern
gate known as the Golden Gate

that Jerusalem welcomes
its most famous guest.

- It's believed that when
Jesus triumphantly arrives

in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday,
sometime around 33 AD,

as described in the gospels,
this is the gate that he uses.

The Golden Gate is the only one

that leads directly into the
area of the Jewish temple.

- [Dennis] The gate is alleged
to have even more significance.

- Christians also believe that
when Jesus returns to Earth,

he will enter the
Golden Gate once again

to fulfill prophecy.

This means that this gate on
the eastern side of Jerusalem

may eventually become
the most important

sacred place on Earth.

- [Dennis] There's
just one problem.

The original Golden Gate was
destroyed when the Romans

demolished Jerusalem in 70 AD.

- The walls of
Jerusalem, the gates,

almost everything are
toppled to the ground.

Only a small portion of
the western wall known

as the Wailing Wall,
remain standing.

- [Dennis] The rest of the walls
and gates are rebuilt in 1537.

- When Suleiman the Magnificent
is in charge of Jerusalem,

the walls are in a state
of terrible disrepair.

No one has maintained these
walls since Roman times.

- Most of the work is done
between 1537 and 1541 AD.

He doesn't have to
rebuild everything.

The Roman-era Western
Wall is still there

from King Herod's time.

The Golden Gate that was
rebuilt in the seventh century

is still there, but a
large majority of the walls

and all of the remaining gates,

he has to pretty much
rebuild from scratch.

- Suleiman's version of
the walls are the ones

that we still see today
when we visit Jerusalem.

It is a testament to the
incredible engineering required

in order to preserve
this ancient fortress.

- Some fortifications
are built to protect,

others are
constructed to punish.

In 15th century Spain, one
notorious castle becomes a place

of torture and terror.

- In the Spanish
town of Cordoba,

there is the Alcázar de
los Reyes Cristianos.

It means the Castle of
the Christian monarchs.

- When you first
approach the castle,

you first notice it's
imposing walls made

of solid stone blocks.

Inside is a one acre complex.

You can climb the towers,
view ancient ruins,

see the live archeological digs.

It was all built in 1328
by Alfonso XI of Castile.

- [Dennis] In the late 1470s,

the castle gets
two new occupants,

Christian monarchs, King
Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.

- As Ferdinand and
Isabella's seat of power,

the castle sees some pretty
important moments in history.

For instance, this is where
the royal couple famously meets

Christopher Columbus about
financing his voyages

to the new world.

- [Dennis] But in
1499, the palace starts

to serve a much darker purpose.

- The king and queen
donate the castle

to the Catholic church,

and the reason they
need to do this is

because the church needs
a Cordoba headquarters

for the infamous
Spanish Inquisition.

- The Spanish Inquisition
is a 350 year period

of religious persecution
that started around 1478.

During which, Spain's monarchs
collude with the church

to unite the country
by making Catholicism

the nation's only religion,

by force.

- [Dennis] The
castle is renovated

to accomplish this mission.

- So they take this fortress,

constructed to
keep invaders out,

and they turn it into a prison

to keep religious dissenters in.

- They build a new tower

called the Tower
of the Inquisition,

and this is where the
main interrogation rooms

and prison cells are located.

The cells are positioned
around a central courtyard

of the western wing
of the building.

- The baths are turned
into torture cells,

into places of interrogation.

The balcony where you're
supposed to survey

who's coming at you,
is now meant to survey

who's trying to escape.

- [Dennis] Leading the charge
here is Head Inquisitor,

Diego Rodríguez de Lucero.

- According to the church,

Lucero's job is to
root out heretics

and as a result, he's given
free reign to apprehend,

to torture, or a kill anyone
who is not a Christian.

- He earns the
nickname "El Tenebrero,"

the bringer of darkness,

because of his sadism,
because of his terror tactics.

- One famous example of his
cruelty happens in 1504,

when a cleric is accused of
preaching doctrines of Judaism.

Lucero rounds up a
list of 107 people

who attended those services

and he burns them alive at
a single public burning.

- [Dennis] For others, death
doesn't come as quickly.

- Various torture methods
are used on prisoners

to elicit information or
confessions to heresy.

The inquisitors would
use water boarding,

as well as something
called garrucha,

where a prisoner's hands
are bound behind their back

and suspended from a pulley,

letting gravity painfully
dislocate their arms.

- Lucero also has this habit
of identifying young women

and compelling them
to do as he wishes

with the power of
the Inquisition.

- According to his historical
documents, in one case,

he kidnaps the wife
of a local Christian

named Julian Trigueros.

Trigueros seeks justice
from King Ferdinand

who agrees there
should be a trial,

but the trial is
overseen by Lucero.

Not surprisingly, it
ends with Trigueros

being burned alive
10 days later,

and his wife being
locked away in the castle

as Lucero's mistress.

- In one of the worst accounts
we have from the castle's

secret prison, an unnamed
female prisoner is raped,

resulting in the
birth of a child.

Eventually, the mother
is taken to be burned

with the child in her arms.

- Lucero is operating
this castle with impunity

and powers that be actually
do not have a problem with it

because those who
he kills or expels,

the state assumes their money,

assumes their estates,
assumes whatever they have.

- [Dennis] Eventually,
it's not the crown,

but the people who take
action against this tyrant.

- One of Lucero's greatest
supporters is Queen Isabella.

When she dies in 1504, the
Córdobans, who are outraged,

write to the Archbishop
of Seville in 1505,

asking him to put a stop to
what Lucero's been doing.

- The archbishop, of course,
does nothing about it,

and the guardrails are off.

Lucero ramps up
his murderous ways,

demolishing houses he
accuses of being synagogues

and burning evidence
of his crimes,

including some of
his torture devices.

- In November, 1506, a group
of nobles bands together

to storm the castle
for some justice.

They break into the fortress

and free the prisoners
from the dungeons.

In all the commotion, Lucero
manages to disguise himself,

escape through a hidden passage,

and ride away on a mule.

- [Dennis] He evades capture
for well over a year.

- It takes until 1508 to
finally arrest Lucero.

This is a huge deal,

because it's the first
time an inquisitor is ever

brought to public trial.

- Although Lucero
was found guilty,

the punishment barely
fits his crimes.

Lucero was jailed for a few
months and then he's set free.

He lives out the rest of his
days on an estate in Seville,

one that was seized
during the Inquisition.

Even with Lucero out of the way,

the brutality in
the secret prisons

of the castle continues
for centuries.

- [Dennis] Finally,
in the 1950s,

it's declared a
national monument.

- Today, the Tower of the
Inquisition still stands

as a warning about the
perils of absolute power

and religious persecution.

- Sacred fortifications
are often manmade,

but there's one
natural formation

that's had a powerful impact

on both legends
and actual events,

the Rock of Gibraltar.

- On the southern tip

of the Iberian Peninsula
is a narrow passage

that separates
the Atlantic Ocean

and the Mediterranean Sea,
a huge cliff-like mountain,

some 1,400 feet high,
that's also full of caves.

- It almost feels like
it's watching over

this strategic location,
kind of a gateway to Europe

and the Middle East.

- [Dennis] Although
Gibraltar is currently

a British territory, its story
goes back many centuries.

- The caves of Gibraltar
have been offering protection

to humans on and off for more
than a hundred thousand years.

Fossil records show that
some of the last Neanderthals

had kind of a final stand
here 28,000 years ago

as the European
climate got colder

and they eventually died out.

- Once the Neanderthals
go extinct,

Homo sapiens continue to
occupy the caves at Gibraltar,

and when the Bronze Age
hits around 2000 BC,

Gibraltar becomes a well
established stronghold

for trading and fishing.

- If you are a seafaring
culture that wants to expand

or import or export goods,
there's only one way

to exit the Mediterranean,

and that's the eight mile
wide Strait of Gibraltar.

And so right away,

people start giving this
place a sacred significance

because of how crucial it
is to their daily lives.

- Some of the earliest legends
that we have about Gibraltar

actually come from
the Phoenicians

about the ninth century BC.

- The strait is flanked
by the Rock of Gibraltar

to the north and the
Jebel Musa to the south

on the northern tip of Morocco.

And in Phoenician mythology,

these two mountains become
known as the Pillars of Melqart.

They mark the end
of the known world

where unimaginable sea monsters

and navigational
hazards lay ahead.

- A couple of centuries later,

the Greeks integrate Gibraltar
into their story of Heracles,

who the Romans call Hercules.

Both of these cultures,
Greek and Roman,

refer to Gibraltar as
the Pillars of Hercules.

- [Dennis] According to the
legend, Hercules travels west

to the edge of the
Mediterranean Sea

in search of an
infamous monster.

- Hercules is tasked with
bringing back the cattle

of a three-headed
monster named Geryon,

who lives beyond the pillars.

He succeeds, and in some
versions of the story,

Hercules then narrows the strait

to prevent sea monsters from
entering the Mediterranean.

- [Dennis] Gibraltar also
protects against human invaders.

- Given its tactical location,

you can spot enemies
from miles away

from the top of that mountain.

We know that the Romans,
the Vandals, the Visigoths,

the Muslims, and the
Christians all use it

as a strategic lookout.

- [Dennis] By 711 AD,

Muslim forces gain
control of the site.

- The first references
to manmade defenses here

begin in 1067 and by 1160,

when Abd al-Mu'min takes control

of The Rock, he orders
the establishment

of a fortified city known
as the City of Victory.

- [Dennis] The Muslims remain
unchallenged here until 1309

when a Spanish force
tries to conquer the fort.

- Despite multiple attacks
using two siege catapults,

the Spanish are unable
to breach the walls.

However, ultimately, the
Muslims surrender in exchange

for safe passage
back to North Africa.

- The Muslims and Christians
go through several periods

of back and forth,
but the fortifications

of Gibraltar never
actually break.

- [Dennis] After control
of Gibraltar changes hands

many times over
the next 400 years,

Britain wins the rock in 1713.

It gains the territory as
part of the Treaty of Utrecht,

an agreement which brings a
long dynastic war to an end.

- The Spanish, French,
Dutch, British,

and Portuguese are all
combatant powers during the war

of Spanish succession.

The outcome of the
conflict is that

the French take
control of Spain,

but the British
get the big prize

in the form of Gibraltar.

The British begin advancing
tunnels through The Rock

beginning in the
late 18th century.

There are now 35 miles
of tunnels in Gibraltar,

including the longest one of
them all, the Great North Road,

which is three and
a half miles long.

In addition to that, there
are training facilities

for the British military
inside The Rock as well.

- During World War
II, the British host

General Dwight D.
Eisenhower for 21 days

within The Rock of Gibraltar,

where he commands
Operation Torch,

which is a combined US
and British invasion,

where they drive the
Nazis out of North Africa.

- Today, Gibraltar remains
an active archeological site

with several
ongoing excavations,

but it's also still serving
as a place of protection,

albeit with a modern twist.

It currently houses one of
the most secure computer

data centers in the world.

It's quite an upgrade from
the days when Hercules used it

to battle sea monsters.

[dramatic music]

- The Rock of Gibraltar
has marked the passage

for sailors from the
Atlantic to the Mediterranean

for thousands of years.

But according to the Greek
mythology, there's one boundary

no human can cross.

The one separating the
living from the dead.

- In the epic Greek tales,
such as Homer's "Iliad,"

there's a natural barricade
called the River Styx.

It's a mythical body of water

that protects both our world

as well as the
underworld of Hades.

- The living aren't
meant to enter Hades

and the dead aren't meant
to come back from it.

So this river is
crucially important

to the sacred order of things.

- The River Styx is said
to be impossible to cross

by natural means,
because it flows

with a corrosive black
water that poisons

and dissolves everything that
comes in contact with it.

Now, this water can
cause paralysis.

It could even harm the gods.

In one story,

it causes the gods to lose
their ability to speak.

- In order for a person's soul

to reach the underworld,

they have to get help from
a God to cross this river.

If they tried to swim, even
their soul would disintegrate.

- Legends like these
cement the Styx

as perhaps the most
powerful sacred body

of water in Greek mythology.

- [Dennis] But is
it just a legend,

or could it be an actual place?

- Homer gives us one of the
earliest written accounts

of the River Styx,
and interestingly,

he doesn't just chalk it up
to being a mythical location.

He gives real world clues
as to where it might be.

According to something called
"The Catalogue of Ships,"

in Homer's "Iliad," he refers
to the Titaressus as a river

that quote, "Flows from
the waters of Styx."

- The Titaressus is actually
a 43 mile long tributary

that flows from the
slopes of Mount Olympus.

- There are many
rivers in this area,

some of which
originate underground,

but no ideal candidate for
the River Styx has been found.

- [Dennis] A recent
discovery could change that.

- Around 130 miles south

of Mount Olympus lies a
river called Mavroneri,

which literally
means "black water."

- It originates in the
high mountains of Achaea

where it's cold waters cascade

over this kind of limestone crag

to form the second highest
waterfall in Greece.

- They find that a toxin
called calicheamicin

flows through the Mavroneri.

It's a naturally
occurring soil bacteria

that was discovered in
the 1980s in deposits

of calcium carbonate

that form on the
limestone in the river.

Cytotoxins like calicheamicin
cause cell death,

which can induce fever, chills,

and severe muscular
and neurological pain.

- [Dennis] Scientists back
this up with even more proof.

- The report suggests that
the water from the Mavroneri

could have been used to
kill Alexander the Great.

- Alexander is out drinking

and he gets really sick
one night in 323 BC.

For two weeks, he can only
move his hands and his eyes

and he's completely
unable to speak

before falling into a coma

and dying just short
of his 33rd birthday.

- These symptoms are
remarkably similar

to those that are described

if you encountered
the River Styx.

- A geochemical analysis
of this river really needs

to be conducted to see
whether the concentration

of calicheamicin in the water
here could have been deadly,

but it's pretty incredible

that modern researchers
are still looking

into the legendary River Styx

after nearly 3,000
years of speculation.

[dramatic music]

- Betrayal,
imprisonment, execution.

The Tower of London
has seen it all.

It's dark cells have
held many prisoners,

some very well known, and
some might surprise you.

- Located on the northern
bank of the River Thames,

the Tower of London
is the well-known home

of the British Crown Jewels,

but one of the Tower's most
important roles in history

is fairly unknown outside
of academic circles.

It's a central location

in the story of England's
medieval Jewish community.

- Jews start
arriving after 1066,

when William the
Conqueror takes over

during the Norman Conquests.

- The Jewish immigrants come
mainly from Northern France

as well as from Spain,
Italy, and Russia,

and they settle in the
urban centers of England.

It's actually
William's government

that brings the Jews over,

and they do it for
financial reasons.

- Building and running
a kingdom is expensive,

so William needs
money, lots of it.

The taxes that he collects
aren't always enough,

meaning he has to
supplement his income

by borrowing large sums.

But the problem is,
in medieval England,

Christians consider lending
money with interest to be a sin.

- When the Jewish
immigrants come to England,

they take up those traditional
roles they'd served elsewhere

in Europe, that of money
lenders and and bankers.

They provide a very
important income

to William the Conqueror,

and they do very, very
well serving the king

and his greater ambitions.

- William the Conqueror
uses some of his wealth

to build the central building
in the Tower of London

around 1078.

It's called the White Tower

and it gives the entire
complex it's name.

This is the first stone
keep in the entire country.

- [Dennis] For more
than a century,

the Jewish population lives
peacefully in London, until 1189

when King Richard I
takes the throne.

- There are about
5,000 Jewish people

in England at this point,

many of whom want to attend
Richard's coronation.

But because part of the
ceremony is religious,

conducted by the
Archbishop of Canterbury,

they're barred from entry.

When a few Jewish leaders try
to show up anyway with gifts

for the king, it
does not go well.

- Guards actually intercept
these Jewish leaders

and they are
stripped and flogged.

Because of this, rumors
begin to spread immediately

that the new king
is very antisemitic

and even sanctions the
killing of all Jews.

- As the riots break
out across London,

Jews are being murdered
and their homes

and businesses are being burned.

Rumors of King Richard's
antisemitism are unfounded.

He actually opens the
gates of the Tower

to allow Jews to seek refuge.

Those who do survive
the massacre are those

who made it safely
into the Tower.

- [Dennis] The next
incident occurs in 1255.

- Nearly a hundred Jewish
residents of the nearby town

of Lincoln are
accused of crucifying

and killing a
nine-year-old child.

They are found guilty
after a man named Copin

has confessed under torture.

- 18 of these people
are hanged immediately

after protesting the
all Christian jury.

The remaining 74 are locked
in the Tower of London

until 1256.

- For centuries, the Tower
of London continues to serve

as a religious prison
for enemies of the crown.

- The religion of the people
in prison in the Tower really

depends on just who's in charge.

For instance, King Henry VIII
wants to divorce his wife,

but the Catholic Church
won't allow him to do it.

He gets excommunicated

and right away, he starts
his own Church of England

and puts the Tower to good use.

- Anyone who refuses
to accept the Church

of England is punished.

Catholic Bishops, priests, even
the Chancellor Thomas More,

they all get thrown into
prison at the Tower of London,

eventually getting executed.

- [Dennis] The Tower's
reputation as a prison

continues all the way
through World War II.

- The last prisoner
at the Tower of London

was none other than
Adolf Hitler's deputy,

Rudolf Hess, the man who had
authorized the expulsion

of Jews from
mainstream German life

with the implementation of
the Nuremberg Laws in 1935.

[dramatic music]

- Powerful strongholds
like the Tower of London

or the fortress at
Masada may protect us,

but they also serve
as a stern warning.

Cross these barriers,
only if you dare.

I'm Dennis Quaid, thanks
for watching "Holy Marvels."