All language subtitles for Secrets of the Lost Series 3 Part 1 Pompeii After Apocalypse 1080p

Narrator: Pompeii,
mid-October, 79 A.D.

Thousands of ordinary people

were going about
their everyday lives

unaware that time was running
out for their ancient city.

In just 25 hours,

the cataclysmic eruption
of mount Vesuvius

rained thousands of tons
of ash in the region,

destroying everything
in its path,

but there's still more
to the story.

They found these boathouses.

Every single one of them
was filled with bodies.

Narrator: Now a team
of experts is uncovering

amazing new discoveries...

A group of convicts
was sent down here

and told to tunnel
through this theatre

and effectively mine it
for treasure.

Narrator:
...Giving new insights...

Dave: Oh! I love it.

It's so beautiful,
like it was made yesterday.

...about the extent
of the devastation...

Man: This is an exploded skull.

They've literally
just boiled their brain.

Yes.

...and the events
that took place

across the entire region
after the eruption.

Snow: There's volcanic debris
under my knees and hands here.

It's pretty dangerous business
when you're mining illegally

through layers
of pyroclastic surge.

♪♪

Narrator: Pompeii,
October 24, 79 A.D.

Mount Vesuvius, a volcano

that laid dormant
for over 700 years, erupted.

In the hours
following the eruption,

ash and pumice continually rain
down on the ancient Roman city.

The catastrophic event
killed thousands of people.

A once-flourishing city
was now left abandoned.

The rediscovery of Pompeii
over 1,500 years later

turns what had been
an obscure provincial Roman town

into one of the most famous
places on earth.

Narrator:
Recent archaeological discovery

suggests that the rock and ash

that tragically killed thousands
of people actually preserve

the city streets and buildings
from the ravages of time.

The incredible
preservation of Pompeii

provides a glimpse
into everyday Roman life.

Ordinary homes,

shops,

bathhouses,

theatres.

The eruption even preserved
some of the townspeople

during their final moments
in the form of casts.

Historian Dan Snow and
archaeologist Raksha Dave

are in Pompeii to investigate
the preserved casts.

This is haunting.

It's so easy to get
enthusiastic, isn't it, Raksha?

About the mosaics
and the archaeology here.

But this is where the true

cost of what happened here
becomes very clear.

Absolutely,
and I think people forget

that these are real people.

Looking at the face here,
you get a snapshot of horror

and pain from almost
2,000 years ago.

♪♪

What was discovered in Pompeii
and the surrounding area

after the eruption
is absolutely astonishing.

In 1592,

Pompeii re-emerged when workers
unearthed parts of the city

as they laid underground pipes
near the foot of Vesuvius.

And this is the famous pipe here
encased in this stonework.

And as you can see, they dug

right down to the Roman
street level, straight through

Pompeii houses,
all sorts of public buildings.

And then check this out.
This is very cool.

You can see here
the level to which they dug.

This is original Roman,
and this line of tiles shows

where in the 16th century,
they excavated that trench.

So this is all reconstructed.

Narrator: An acclaimed
architect, Domenico Fontana,

was in charge of the
pipe-excavation project.

But the Duke
that employed Fontana

refused to allow
any further investigations

due to a lack of funding.

He ordered the trench
backfilled,

and once again,
Pompeii was forgotten.

The buried Roman ruins
were once again rediscovered

over a century later.

In 1709, workers digging a well
8 miles northwest of Pompeii

started to uncover slabs
of beautiful marble.

A French aristocrat,
Emmanuel d'Elbeuf,

was building a mansion nearby,

and he was in the market
for marble.

He decided to cut out the
middleman and bought the well

and its marble reserve
for himself.

Here is the well that d'Elbeuf
came down that day.

Wow!

Whoa, that's a long way.

That must have been
quite an adventure.

At the bottom,
he discovered this cavity,

and he started crawling around

and found broken bits of marble
and statues, and quite quickly,

he realized that this must be
a Roman theatre.

Narrator: To d'Elbeuf,
this was an opportunity

not only to mine materials

he needed for his nearby
construction project, but also,

to recover and claim
valuable Roman relics.

A group of convicts
was sent down here

and told to tunnel
through this theatre

and effectively mine it
for treasure.

And they've left us this Warren
of tunnels that they hacked out.

Look at this one.
Oh, yeah, through here.

And luckily, they didn't
take all the murals.

They left some of them here,

so you can still see
some beautiful Roman painting.

Look at that.

It's been underground ever since
that invasion in 79,

so the colors are still perfect,
bit of graffiti

from the 18th
and 19th centuries.

What a good arc there
on the arch. It's beautiful.

And they stripped
whatever they could find.

Well, slowly, these convicts
hollowed out

more and more of this structure

until it uncovered pretty
large parts of the theatre.

♪♪

Narrator: These steps lead
to the auditorium

that would have accommodated
up to 2,500 people.

♪♪

This is where the people
would have sat side-by-side

watching the action
on the stage below.

It's a Roman theatre

buried under 25 meters
of volcanic rock.

I don't think I've ever been
anywhere so remarkable.

♪♪

Narrator:
d'Elbeuf didn't have the money

to explore beyond the theatre,

but 25 years later,
in 1734, a new king

seized the throne
of southern Italy.

King Charles was part of the
bourbon dynasty who ruled Spain.

He wanted to bring glory
to his new kingdom

by unearthing its
ancient treasures.

An army of tunnelers
was sent underground,

usually convicts and soldiers,

to dig a Warren of tunnels,
try and mine anything of value.

They came in through doors.

They liked to work down walls
because they realized that lots

of the statues and sculptures
would be next to walls.

They were very valuable,
as were some of these frescoes.

They'd find a nice one,

and they'd chop it off
and haul it up to the surface.

Narrator: Anything of value was
taken to the magnificent palace

that Charles had built
for himself just next door.

Almost all the decorations
in this palace

were built with treasures
found in the ancient city.

The grand staircase and altar
were built using marble.

These statues were dug up
and proudly displayed.

And here is an original
Roman mosaic floor.

It was taken out in sections
and then relayed here.

Narrator: King Charles was so
possessive of his excavated

treasures that only a select
group was allowed to view them.

Unfortunately, many of the
frescoes that weren't claimed

and moved to Charles's palace
were defaced

to prevent others
from having them.

But perhaps
the greatest treasure found

in king Charles's tunnels
is this...

Clues that Pompeii was
not the only city

affected by the eruption.

A once-thriving coastal town
to the northwest of Pompeii

was met with
a very different fate.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: Pompeii is one of
the world's greatest

archaeological treasures.

The devastation of this
once-bustling Roman town

is one of the most dramatic
and tragic events in history.

[ Explosion ]

But what happened to the cities
surrounding Pompeii

after the eruption
is just as shocking.

Down there is Herculaneum,

at least the part of the Roman
town that's been excavated.

3/4 of it still lie
beneath our feet.

Narrator: Events here transpired

very differently
from those in Pompeii.

Snow: This giant cliff
is made from the debris

of that eruption
of mount Vesuvius.

What's interesting
about this cliff

is there's no pumice layer.

It's almost entirely composed
of very fine volcanic ash.

And over the years,
that's hardened into stone.

And what that suggests is that
in the first 12 hours

after the eruption, Herculaneum

was largely spared
bombardment by volcanic debris.

Narrator: In the 12 hours
following Vesuvius's eruption,

relentless torrents of
volcanic ash and pumice

blew south, battering Pompeii.

Some of the city's occupants
tried to flee,

but most didn't have a chance
to escape their homes.

Meanwhile, Herculaneum was
located west of Vesuvius

and only suffered from a
fraction of the early eruption

debris that befell Pompeii.

This gave the people
of Herculaneum 12 hours

to evacuate the city.

This street
would have been packed

with a terrified mass of people
all heading down here,

clutching their most
precious possessions,

heading for the harbor, which
lay at the bottom of this hill.

Now, we know that, really,

most people would have
made a run for it

because when archaeologists came
to excavate all these houses,

they found very few bodies of
people that had stayed behind.

Narrator: Research suggests
that many residents

tried to escape to the sea.

This was the beach,
and it was down here

that the people of Herculaneum
came once Vesuvius

started to erupt, and they'd
have used any boat they could

to try and get off the shore and
get out to sea and to safety.

Narrator: For 12 hours
after the eruption of Vesuvius,

Pompeii was inundated by
volcanic debris.

At the same time,

the nearby town of Herculaneum
escaped relatively unscathed.

But then, around midnight
that day, the full force

of the volcano
finally struck Herculaneum.

The vast column of debris
spewing from Vesuvius

collapsed, causing an avalanche
of superheated ash

called a pyroclastic surge
that cascaded down the volcano,

causing a wave of destruction
in all directions.

By the time the first
pyroclastic surge reached

Herculaneum, it had lost much
of its momentum.

It moved through
the abandoned town

without destroying
the buildings.

Then it came like
a mighty waterfall

over this cliff
down onto the beach,

but the heat was still intense.

And as it crashed onto the
beach, nothing could survive.

Narrator:
For centuries, historians

believed that everyone
in Herculaneum had escaped.

But in 1980, that theory
was disproven

when a group of archaeologists
made an astonishing discovery.

As they excavated the seafront,
they uncovered multiple

30-foot-long wooden boats
on shore

and the human remains of over
300 victims on the beach.

They found these boat houses,

and the full horror
of what happened here

became immediately apparent.

There were 12 of them in all.

And every single one of them
was filled with bodies.

Narrator: Archaeologist suggest
that more than 300 people

may have been seeking shelter
in these boat houses.

After the human remains
were discovered,

80 of the victims were removed
and stored for preservation.

Today, scientists are
analyzing the bones

in a lab above Herculaneum's
old ticket office.

Archaeologist Raksha Dave is
meeting with Pier Paolo Petrone,

who has been extracting samples
from the remains

to perform the project's
first-ever DNA analysis.

[ Drill whirring ]

What have you learned about
the people who died here

at Herculaneum?

These initial results
reveal for the first time

that women from the boat houses

were related to each other and
native to this area of Italy.

But results disclose a very
different story about the men.

So where do you think
that these men came from?

And the bones offer more
than DNA

and the beginnings
of an origin story.

They also shed light
on their owners' demise.

So, what about all of these,
all the bones on the table?

What are the effects that we
can see on these skeletons

of how they died?

How do you know that?

It's very dark,
actually, isn't it?

So the pyroclastic flow
was extremely hot,

and it literally
just boiled their brain.

Oh, it just snapped.

Gosh.

And what are they?

So this is
this poor person's blood

that we can see on the bones?

I mean, actually, it's
a really horrific way to die.

But the reality is that

they didn't really feel it
or they didn't really know it...

Yes, exactly.
...Because it was so quick.

Narrator: Their swift
but incredibly violent deaths

likely occurred during the
fourth pyroclastic surge

of Vesuvius.

While it spelled the end
for the citizens of Pompeii,

this particular wave of deadly
superheated volcanic matter

was only the
terrifying beginning

for other villages
in the region.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: The catastrophic
volcanic eruption

of mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D.

Devastated the
once-prosperous Roman cities

of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

The explosion killed
thousands of people

and buried both cities

under a thick layer
of volcanic material.

Research suggests
that as many as 16,000 people

lived in and around Pompeii.

Many died from the smoke

and toxic gases
that enveloped the city,

while others were obliterated
by the pyroclastic surge.

The pyroclastic surge
that struck Herculaneum

was only the first
of a devastating series

that swept down the volcano.

The first three superheated
avalanches of ash

didn't actually reach Pompeii,

but the fourth did, obliterating
all remaining life in the town.

Yet it wasn't just the cities
of Pompeii and Herculaneum

that were affected
by the eruption.

The countryside was enveloped
by farms and luxurious villas.

♪♪

19 hours after
the eruption began,

the sixth and final
surge struck.

The most potent wave
of all reached as far south

as the port of Stabia,

where luxury villas lined
a cliff above the town.

Stabia was located
almost 10 miles away

from mount Vesuvius.

Unfortunately,
even at this distance,

no one was safe.

Author Pliny the younger wrote
about the sequence of events

that unfolded at these villas
above Stabia.

To this day, this is the only

first-hand account of
the disaster to survive.

Pliny wrote that his uncle,
Pliny the elder,

sought safety here

after attempting to sail
a rescue fleet to Pompeii.

Pliny took refuge in the villa

of a friend called Pomponianus,

one of the grand villas
that lined the cliff top here,

possibly this one.

His nephew tells us

the ground was being shaken
by violent quakes

and so much pumice
was coming through the hole

in the atrium roof that
the doors were blocked up.

Narrator: Historian Dan snow
is meeting up with

Paolo Gardelli, who oversees
excavations at the villas,

to learn more about how
the eruption affected Stabia.

So, were these buildings
destroyed by just the fall

of volcanic debris or by
the surge that reached here?

By both.

We know that at the beginning
of the eruption,

the falling ashes and the
falling pumice cover

the villas of Stabia, under
6 meters of volcanic materials.

In the early morning of the
second day of the eruption,

so around 7:00,

we know that the sixth surge
destroyed Stabia.

And did many people die in that?

So, during the excavation,
we found a few bodies,

but we're sure that
many other people survived.

So they were able to escape?
Probably, yes.

Probably, yes.

But what about Pliny the elder?

Pliny, at the time,
was a quite old man,

so we can say that in Stabia,

probably, old people,
the very young people died,

but fit people,
probably, they survived.

It sounds to me
like Pliny and his team

were on the edge of the area
where you could survive.

If you were closer
than 10 miles...

Yeah, probably, they would die.
For sure, they would die.

So that's a huge area.
A huge area.

Quite huge area.

So when we're here in Stabia
looking out at Vesuvius,

almost everything between
us and mount Vesuvius

would have been a killing zone.

Exactly.

So as they [indistinct]
some years later,

it was a land of fire,
a land of ashes.

So we'll never know how many
people in Pompeii died

because even the people
that escaped the town

could have been killed out
on these roads, in these fields

as they were escaping.

Exactly that, because probably
there are thousand bodies

still underground, thousand
of people still there.

Narrator: Based on this
information, any inhabitant

left within 10 miles of Vesuvius
had no chance at survival.

But what was the fate of those

who did escape the wrath
of this colossal volcano?

For the first time, the events
that took place in Stabia

after the eruption
are being revealed.

Hey, Giovanni! [ Gasps ]

Benvenuta.

Archaeologist Raksha Dave is
joining Giovanni di Maio

to get a better look at an
excavation site.

Full of stuff, isn't it?

Giovanni and his team
have already dug

10 feet below ground,

but they're only just beginning
to unearth the ancient secrets

this site conceals.

We're not at the
foundations, then?

Hang on. So we're actually
at the top of the buildings?

This excavation reveals

that by the time it
reached Stabia,

the pyroclastic surge
didn't have enough

force to knock down
the upper stories,

and additional
discoveries proved

this building was in use
for many years afterwards.

Dave: Oh!

I love it. It's so
beautiful and perfect.

And I love this design.
It's like it was made yesterday.

So, Giovanni,
how old is this lamp?

That's unbelievable
because in my head,

I just think of
Herculaneum and Pompeii.

They got completely destroyed.
The people left.

But that's not
the case here, is it?

So, how quickly did they come
back then, after the eruption?

Narrator: While Pompeii's
and Herculaneum's destruction

was absolute, the people
of Stabia may have returned

to their homes
shortly after the eruption.

So what happened
to the other survivors

who managed to escape
the destruction of Vesuvius?

And where did they go?

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: The world's most
infamous volcanic eruption

occurred in Italy, 79 A.D.,

when mount Vesuvius
violently ejected gas, ash,

and pulverized pumice,

destroying several
ancient Roman cities.

Experts leading
the excavation of Stabia,

a coastal village almost
10 miles south of Vesuvius,

revealed that despite extensive
damage, some of the villages'

citizens returned to their homes
in the weeks after the eruption.

And possibly never needed
to leave at all.

But what happened to the people
who survived the eruption,

left with ruins
where their homes once stood?

For answers, historian Dan snow
is heading to a region

located on the western side
of Vesuvius,

which remained relatively
intact after the eruption.

The ancient city of Cuma,

located 10 miles west
of Roman Naples,

was 2 1/2 times bigger
than Pompeii.

This is the road that leads
from Pompeii in the south

through Cuma here
to Rome in the north.

It was along this road that
the survivors traipsed,

refugees beginning the process

of rebuilding
their shattered lives.

It was also along this road
that news of the disaster

spread from Pompeii to Rome
in less than a day,

thanks to the remarkable
Roman imperial postal service,

the cursus publicus.

Narrator: Riders who traveled
through Cuma en route to Rome

delivered news of the eruption
to emperor Titus.

Snow: He sent aid from
the imperial coffers

and two senators down
to oversee relief efforts.

He also visited the area
twice in the year that followed,

himself, probably staying
here in Cuma.

Narrator: In the years
following the eruption,

imperial money was used
to revitalize the cities

that had survived.

When Titus died just two years
after the eruption,

his successor, Domitian,
continued to send financial aid.

Here at Cuma, there's evidence

of their large-scale
building projects.

In the middle of Cuma is this
hill known as an acropolis.

The Romans would have had
beautiful temples on top of it.

It's an impressive feature,
but it's actually bit of a pain

because it blocked off
the harbor

and the sea on the far side
from the town over here.

So the Romans decide to build
a road, and in typical style,

they didn't build a road
around it,

but straight through it.

Narrator: Before the eruption,
there was a small tunnel

under the acropolis,

but in later years,
it was radically expanded

and eventually used
as a catacomb.

Corpses were laid to rest
in these niches.

Some have crosses
carved above them,

which all shows that,
unlike Pompeii,

where the clock stopped
in October 79 A.D.,

life here in Cuma
went on for centuries,

right up to the middle ages.

Narrator: New research
has revealed

that family names found
on tombs in Pompeii

appear here in Cuma for the
first time after the disaster.

After Vesuvius erupted,
Cuma saw a population boom.

To accommodate the influx
of people, large public baths

and new temples were built,

and the town's amphitheater
was enlarged.

So, it seems that this town
of Cuma played host

to a tight-knit community of
Pompeian refugee families.

This whole level
I'm sitting on now

was added, almost doubling
its capacity,

and it's thought this was
because of the huge numbers

of refugees
from Pompeii and Herculaneum,

who were coming here
to settle in Cuma.

Narrator: While many never
returned to Pompeii

after its destruction,

some did.

Evidence suggests
that they tunneled through

16 feet of debris
that covered the city.

They were possibly refugees

trying to salvage
their belongings.

But it's more likely
they were thieves

searching the ruins
for valuables.

This is the forum,
the town square of Pompeii.

I'm surrounded now by grand
public buildings and temples,

and these would have been
tall enough

so they wouldn't have been
entirely covered

by the volcanic debris.

That would have acted
as a giant signpost.

Salvagers would have known

this was the location
of this forum,

and there would have been
rich pickings

if they burrowed down here.

Narrator: Of course,
looting damage

wasn't limited to public spaces.

Archaeologists also discovered
evidence of looting

in private homes,

including
a complex tunnel system

and holes knocked through walls.

Thankfully,
as archaeologist Raksha Dave

is about to find out,

the latest excavations
in Pompeii reveal that thieves

weren't able to take
all of the city's treasures.

We're, like,
one of the first people

since 79 A.D. To walk
on this street, aren't we?

Man: Yes, you are right.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: In 79 A.D.,
mount Vesuvius erupted,

burying the Roman city
of Pompeii

under a thick layer
of volcanic ash,

killing thousands of people
and freezing the ruins in time.

In those hours
after the eruption,

this entire region
was devastated.

This wasn't just any old region.

This was one of the richest
and most densely populated

parts of the Roman empire.

Narrator: While Pompeii was
buried under ash

from the volcanic eruption,
port towns like Herculaneum

were affected by the volcanic
pyroclastic flows,

which, in this case, consisted
of ash, pumice, and lava.

For years,
the region was abandoned,

but it re-emerged
in the 18th century

when a group of workers
excavated the site.

Historian Dan snow is exploring
one of the underground tunnels

discovered during the dig.

I'm now inside this tunnel.

Can you imagine operating
down here in the 18th century?

It would have been cramped.
There were frequent collapses.

And noxious gases oozed out
from this volcanic debris.

But look at this.
This is why they were down here.

They were finding these marvels
beneath the soil.

Imagine the scale
of these tunnels,

the scale of what's left of
Herculaneum buried in this rock.

Narrator: And it's here that
researchers discovered something

that makes Herculaneum
an archaeological treasure.

Now, this section of tunnel
has got lots

and lots of carbonized wood.

Look, there it is, sticking out
the debris up there.

Narrator: In the 18th century,
carbonized wood

had no monetary value,
so it was largely ignored.

But for modern archaeologists,
this carbonized wood

is the most valuable thing
one can find in Herculaneum.

After more than 1 1/2 millennia
buried beneath the ash,

the cities destroyed by Vesuvius
gradually began to re-emerge.

Over the next 200 years,
great temples,

theatres, and villas
were rediscovered.

In the 19th century,
archaeologists finally replaced

the treasure hunters.

And in 1910,

they began to link all the
excavated areas across Pompeii.

An army of diggers
made their way

systematically from one end
to the other.

It was excavation
on almost industrial scale,

and it soon became clear that
this was a mighty thoroughfare

running from one side of Pompeii

straight through the middle
to the other.

Narrator: Under a protective
layer of ash,

the city of Pompeii
was preserved for centuries.

Today, 2/3 of it
has been unearthed.

Now it's an ongoing battle

to save what's already
been uncovered.

Walls are collapsing.

The frescoes are fading.

And new excavations
are uncommon,

especially on previously
untouched ground.

Today, an incredibly rare
excavation is underway,

uncovering a new area
of the city.

Archaeologist Raksha Dave

has been given exclusive
access to visit.

Hello professore.

Pompeii's director,
Massimo Osanna,

is showing Raksha inside one of
the houses located on a street

that has just been
cleared of volcanic debris.

I've got goose bumps on my arms

because we're, like,
one of the first people

since 79 A.D. To walk
on this street, aren't we?

Oh!

So they're just hiding in there?

So this was like
their safe room,

and they kind of
just barricaded the door

to stop everything else
from coming in.

Absolutely stunning.

I really love coming
into the houses of Pompeii

because everything
is so vivid and bright.

Lady of the house.

I love it because,
especially with that portrait,

it makes everything
really personal,

and it makes me sad to think

that she might be
one of the people

that were hiding in that room
and she died in there.

♪♪

Narrator:
Just outside of Pompeii,

discoveries are also being made.

About 1/2 a mile outside the
walls of ancient Pompeii,

police identified
a network of tunnels

in a previously unexcavated
ancient villa.

Thieves had been stealing
important Roman artifacts

through this underground system.

And historian Dan snow is
visiting the crime scene.

Inside this building,
there is a tunnel,

a clandestine tunnel that leads
down under the volcanic debris

and into the archaeology
here around Pompeii.

And the person
who lives in this house

is currently being prosecuted

for the crime
of stealing antiquities.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: Nearly 1/2 a mile
outside the walls

of ancient Pompeii, police have
learned that treasure hunters

have been digging
a network of tunnels

through a previously
unexcavated villa,

looting it for
ancient Roman artifacts.

The tunnels
extend almost 330 feet,

and the outhouse
containing the secret entrance

has been seized by the police.

[ Dog barks ]

Ciao. Buongiorno.

Ciao. Hi. I'm Dan.

Historian Dan snow has been
given permission

to go into the tunnels

by investigating officer
Salvatore Sorrentino.

[ Speaking Italian ]

Narrator: But going deep
underground is dangerous.

To ensure their safety,

the fire department's
cave and mountain rescue team,

the s.A.F.,
arrives to the scene.

[ Speaking Italian ]

A ladder and harness system

is set up to get Dan safely
into the tunnels.

Snow: There we go.

[ Grunting ]

Narrator: Just like the
explorers before them,

the 21st century thieves
got into the tunnels

by following the internal walls
of the buried villa.

Various other tunnels
off to right and left.

Narrator: Police believe
this tunnel system

was under construction
for more than 10 years.

Snow: There's volcanic debris
under my knees and hands,

but the walls
are covered in concrete.

They sprayed it to provide
some stability

because it's pretty dangerous
business when you're

mining illegally through layers
of pyroclastic surge.

Narrator: This tunnel system
was a massive undertaking,

so the thieves must have
discovered large quantities

of valuable treasures
to make it worthwhile.

Snow: It's all this area. Wow.

Oh, my goodness.

Look at this.

Narrator: The vaulted corridors
often found in Roman villas

are called cryptoporticus.

The one Dan is exploring

was possibly this villa's
service entrance.

Snow: This is huge. It stretches
for miles down there.

Heading down here along the top
of this arched corridor...

Where I can see the
Roman brickwork, Roman masonry.

It stretches miles
off down there.

The end of it's filled up
with volcanic debris,

but there's a side passage here.

Narrator:
At the bottom of this passage,

the police discovered a remnant
of the villa's stolen riches.

[ Grunts ]

A lot of volcanic debris
just collapsing in on me.

Oh! [ Grunts ]

Oh, look at this.

Look at this.

These are some Roman frescoes.

You can just make out
the red color there.

They've only been seen by
the robbers, a police officer,

and me in nearly 2,000 years.

Narrator: The thieves
appear to have removed

every fresco they found until
the government intervened.

♪♪

As the team heads out,

Dan makes another
unbelievable discovery.

Snow: I found something
here on the floor.

I'm no expert, but I think
this could be a human vertebra.

Check this out.

This could well be the vertebra
of somebody who was

sheltering here.

We know that in other villas
of this size,

people did seek shelter
in these long,

strongly-built corridors
like this one here,

but it wasn't enough
when that pyroclastic surge

came and submerged the people,

even hiding
in these strong spaces.

Great, there's light
at the end of the tunnel.

[ Grunts ]

Daylight, and this is it.

This is actually one of
the rooms of the villa

because following the discovery
of these criminal tunnels,

proper archaeologists took over

and carried out
proper excavations.

This is one of the rooms
they uncovered,

and they've made some
extraordinary discoveries.

Narrator: The excavation is
across the road from the house

containing the tunnel entrance.

And the archaeologists have just
unearthed the villa's stables

with horse remains still inside.

It's the only discovery
of its kind ever made.

Snow: Horses frozen just as
they were at the exact moment

they were hit
by that pyroclastic surge.

Just like with
the human remains,

they poured plaster
into the voids,

and these casts came out.

This one is almost perfect.

You can see it some places
through the plaster

where the bone has survived.

That one, the plaster cast
isn't as effective,

and you can see
much more bone there.

But look at this.

This is part of
the horse's skull,

and here, this is fascinating.
You can see the metal work here.

They'd been tacked up.
They were wearing their harness.

They were in their bridles,
and this, well,

it means, probably, that
the horses had been prepared

for someone to make
a rapid escape.

Narrator: These discoveries
are the very latest chapter

in the tragic story of
what happened here in Pompeii.

The destructive eruptions
of Vesuvius 2,000 years ago

left a unique
archaeological legacy.

But that legacy has been
tarnished over the years.

People have stolen and destroyed

far too much
of the history here.

And it continues today,

as these treacherous,
clandestine tunnels show.

But when that legacy is treated
with the respect

and the expertise
and the honor it deserves,

we can get an unprecedented view

of what life was like
in the Roman world

and how it ended for so many
in the great city of Pompeii.