Original subtitles

Narrator: ROME,

THE SUPERPOWER OF THE ANCIENT WORLD.

WHY DID THIS SPECTACULAR CIVILIZATION COLLAPSE?

♪♪

ANCIENT WRITERS CLAIM A FIERCE TRIBE CALLED THE HUNS

ATTACKED THE EMPIRE IN ITS DYING DAYS.

BUT WHAT PART DID THEY ACTUALLY PLAY IN BRINGING IT DOWN?

Hakenbeck: THE HUNS HAVE BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH HORRIBLE VIOLENCE.

THEY'VE BEEN MADE RESPONSIBLE

FOR THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

Narrator: NOW EXTRAORDINARY DISCOVERIES FROM ONE CITY

REVEAL THE DEVASTATING EVENTS

THAT RIPPED APART THE ROMAN WORLD

AND THE TRUE ROLE OF ITS GREATEST ENEMY,

ATTILA AND THE HUNS.

IN OUR HUNT FOR THE ROMANS' DARKEST SECRETS,

WE WILL BLOW APART THE REMAINS OF TRIER,

ONE OF THEIR GREATEST CITIES.

WE'LL DECONSTRUCT THEIR COLOSSAL RUINS,

UNCOVER MYSTERIOUS BURIALS,

AND PIECE TOGETHER HIDDEN TREASURE

TO REVEAL WHAT FINALLY TOPPLED THE MIGHTY ROMAN EMPIRE.

--Captions by VITAC-- www.vitac.com

CAPTIONS PAID FOR BY DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS

ANCIENT ROME,

THE FOUNDER OF A VAST EMPIRE

THAT STRETCHED FROM THE SHORES OF THE MIDDLE EAST

TO THE HILLS OF NORTHERN BRITAIN.

ONE OF ITS GREATEST CITIES WAS TRIER.

♪♪

THIS FRONTIER METROPOLIS IN WHAT IS NOW GERMANY

WAS ONCE AS POWERFUL AS ROME ITSELF.

♪♪

♪♪

BUT AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 5th CENTURY,

TRIER'S WORLD WAS FALLING APART.

VAST NUMBERS OF PEOPLE POURED ACROSS THE EMPIRE'S BORDERS,

INVADERS WHO ROME CALLED BARBARIANS.

ONE MAN'S NAME WAS FEARED ABOVE ALL OTHERS --

A WARRIOR CALLED ATTILA,

LEADER OF A FIERCE NOMADIC TRIBE CALLED THE HUNS.

THE HUNS HAVE BEEN DESCRIBED AS BARELY HUMAN,

AS MORE LIKE ANIMALS THAN PART OF CIVILIZED SOCIETY.

Narrator: ATTILA'S FEROCITY WAS LEGENDARY.

BUT HOW MUCH DAMAGE DID BARBARIANS LIKE HIM

REALLY DO TO THIS ANCIENT CIVILIZATION?

NOW INVESTIGATIONS FROM TRIER COULD SHED NEW LIGHT

ON THE BIGGEST MYSTERY OF ALL --

WHAT REALLY BROUGHT DOWN THE ROMAN GOLIATH?

♪♪

CITIES LIKE TRIER WERE THE EMPIRE'S FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE,

DESIGNED TO KEEP OUT BARBARIAN INVADERS.

AT ITS HEART LAY ONE OF FOUR MASSIVE GATEHOUSES,

MADE FROM GIANT STONE BLOCKS.

THIS CITADEL WAS FOUR STORIES HIGH.

♪♪

AT THE TOP,

DEFENSIVE TOWERS DOMINATED THE LANDSCAPE.

AND AT EITHER SIDE, A 20-FOOT-HIGH WALL

ENCIRCLED THE ENTIRE CITY.

CAN THE FATE OF THIS MIGHTY METROPOLIS

REVEAL WHY ROME'S WORLD CAME CRASHING DOWN

IN THE AGE OF ATTILA?

♪♪

ATTILA INVADED THE EMPIRE IN THE YEAR 451 A.D.

MANY EXPERTS ASSUME THAT HE ATTACKED THE CITY OF TRIER.

BUT TODAY, HISTORIANS KNOW VERY LITTLE ABOUT HIS CAMPAIGN

OR HIS PEOPLE.

Hakenbeck: THE HUNS REALLY ARE AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL MYSTERY.

THEY'RE ALMOST INVISIBLE.

Narrator: SO WHO WERE THE HUNS?

AND WHAT MADE THEM SO TERRIFYING?

♪♪

THE ANSWER COULD LIE 80 MILES FROM THE ROMAN RUINS OF TRIER,

IN THE ANCIENT FOREST NEAR THE TOWN OF RUELZHEIM.

HERE, AN ILLEGAL DIG UNCOVERED A MYSTERIOUS TREASURE TROVE.

ARCHAEOLOGIST DR. ULRICH HIMMELMANN THINKS

IT COULD PROVIDE A RARE GLIMPSE INTO ATTILA'S REIGN OF TERROR.

♪♪

OVER 100 INDIVIDUAL PIECES MAKE UP AN ASTONISHING HOARD.

THEY INCLUDE LEAF-SHAPED BROOCHES COVERED WITH GOLD...

♪♪

...AND BOWLS STUDDED WITH JEWELS.

♪♪

HIDING AMONG THE REMAINING OBJECTS

LIES A PRICELESS ARTIFACT --

SILVER-PLATED CHAINS AND CLASPS LINKED TOGETHER

TO FORM THE FRAMEWORK OF AN EXQUISITE FOLDING SILVER CHAIR.

♪♪

IT'S AN EXTRAORDINARY DISCOVERY.

SO WHO OWNED THIS INCREDIBLE TREASURE?

AND COULD IT REVEAL WHAT ATTILA AND THE HUNS WERE REALLY LIKE?

♪♪

ULRICH DECIPHERS THIS EXTRAORDINARY FIND

BACK AT HIS ARCHIVES.

ALL THESE OBJECTS DATE TO THE END OF THE 300s AND THE 400s.

THEIR BEAUTY IS BREATHTAKING.

BUT TO ULRICH, THE DISMANTLED SILVER CHAIR

STANDS OUT FROM THE REST.

♪♪

♪♪

THIS ROMAN CHAIR IS DAZZLING AND HIGHLY VALUABLE,

YET IT WAS FOUND IN PIECES.

THE ILLEGAL EXCAVATION SEEMS TO HAVE WRECKED

A LOT OF THE ARTIFACTS,

BUT ULRICH THINKS MOST OF THE DAMAGE

WAS ACTUALLY DONE IN ROMAN TIMES.

SOMEONE BRUTALLY SMASHED THESE OBJECTS APART

BEFORE BURYING THEM.

THAT MEANS THE LAST PERSON TO OWN THIS CHAIR

WAS ONLY INTERESTED IN THE VALUE OF ITS SILVER.

THESE CUT MARKS SUGGEST THAT THIS HOARD WAS TREATED AS LOOT.

BUT WHO BURIED IT?

A CLUE LIES WITH SOME OF THE OTHER ARTIFACTS.

♪♪

♪♪

IT BECOMES CLEAR THESE OTHER ITEMS

HAVE COME FROM LANDS FAR BEYOND ROMAN BORDERS.

♪♪

FINDING OBJECTS LIKE THESE INSIDE ROMAN TERRITORY

IS A COMPLETE SURPRISE.

WHO OWNED ALL THIS TREASURE?

HISTORICAL ACCOUNTS DESCRIBE LAVISH TABLEWARE LIKE THIS

AT THE COURT OF ATTILA HIMSELF.

THIS KEY ITEM SUGGESTS THAT THE ENTIRE HOARD

ONCE BELONGED TO THE HUNS.

♪♪

ROMAN WRITERS DESCRIBE THE HUNS AS NOMADS,

DRIVEN BY A LUST FOR GOLD AND LOOT.

THE WAY THIS STASH WAS BURIED

SUGGESTS THAT THE HUNS RACED THROUGH THIS AREA IN A HURRY.

♪♪

THE RUELZHEIM HOARD CONTAINS OVER 100 ITEMS.

EACH OF THEM CAN BE TIED TO LANDS THE HUNS INVADED.

THE HUNS WERE HORSEMEN

WHO PRIZED AGILITY AND SPEED.

THE MORE SUCCESS THEY HAD,

THE MORE SPOILS OF WAR THEY NEEDED TO CARRY.

NOMADIC IN NATURE, THE HUNS WERE USED TO LIFE ON THE ROAD,

CONSTANTLY SHIFTING TO FIND NEW LANDS

TO GRAZE THEIR HORSES AND CATTLE.

BUT THEIR WARRIORS RELIED ON MOVING FAST AND TRAVELING LIGHT.

IT'S POSSIBLE ATTILA AND HIS MEN QUICKLY HID LOOT IN RUELZHEIM

AS THEY SWEPT INTO THE HEART OF THE EMPIRE.

♪♪

THIS BURIED TREASURE COULD BE EVIDENCE

OF ATTILA'S MYSTERIOUS PEOPLE

AS THEY ATTACKED ROME'S BORDERS.

♪♪

IT REVEALS HOW, AT THAT TIME,

THE ROMAN WORLD WAS STARTING TO COLLAPSE.

[ INDISTINCT SHOUTING ]

GOLD-HUNGRY WARRIORS WERE PILLAGING TOWNS AND CITIES

UP AND DOWN THE ROMAN FRONTIER.

SO WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO THIS POWERFUL EMPIRE

THAT MEANT IT WAS LOSING CONTROL TO THE BARBARIANS?

COULD A SHOCKING DISCOVERY

IN THE HEART OF THE MODERN CITY OF TRIER

HOLD THE ANSWER?

Narrator: 1,500 YEARS AGO,

THE ROMAN EMPIRE WAS FALLING APART.

FIERCE TRIBES INVADED,

LED BY WARRIORS LIKE ATTILA THE HUN.

♪♪

WHY WAS ROME UNABLE TO STOP THEM?

WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO THIS SUPERPOWER OF THE ANCIENT WORLD?

THE GERMAN CITY OF TRIER

THAT WAS ONCE AN IMPORTANT ROMAN SETTLEMENT

COULD HOLD THE ANSWERS.

♪♪

DR. MARCUS REUTER IS HEAD OF TRIER'S TEAM

OF ARCHAEOLOGISTS, SCIENTISTS, AND HISTORIANS.

HE WANTS TO FIND OUT WHAT WAS MAKING ROMAN LIFE HERE CRUMBLE.

♪♪

♪♪

MARCUS' TEAM INVESTIGATES A 10,000-SQUARE-FOOT AREA

NORTH OF THE CITY, A ROMAN BURIAL GROUND.

COULD IT HOLD A CLUE TO THE FATE OF TRIER'S LAST ROMAN CITIZENS?

♪♪

HIDDEN BENEATH THE MODERN CITY,

THE DENSE CLAY SOIL IS PERFECT FOR PRESERVING BONES.

DIGGING DOWN MORE THAN 10 FEET BELOW THE SURFACE

REVEALS LAYER AFTER LAYER OF HUMAN REMAINS.

♪♪

EACH ROMAN HOUSEHOLD BURIED THEIR DEAD

IN A TIGHTLY ARRANGED PLOT,

OFTEN ALONGSIDE A SELECTION OF COINS, POTTERY, AND JEWELRY.

♪♪

THE DEAD ARE CRAMMED INTO A 3-D JIGSAW PUZZLE.

SO HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE LIVING IN TRIER

WHEN THE BARBARIANS ATTACKED?

AND WHEN DID THEY ALL DIE?

♪♪

♪♪

MARCUS JOINS THE TEAM ON THEIR 12th EXCAVATION

NORTH OF THE CITY WALL.

EACH DIG REVEALS HUNDREDS OF BODIES.

♪♪

♪♪

THE OVERALL SIZE OF THE CEMETERY IS STAGGERING.

MARCUS DISCOVERS THAT TRIER, IN ITS ROMAN HEYDAY,

WAS A CROWDED METROPOLIS.

BUT IN THE 500s, AFTER THE AGE OF ATTILA,

IT WAS A SHADOW OF ITS FORMER SELF.

♪♪

SO, WAS A SERIES OF BLOODY ATTACKS RESPONSIBLE

FOR THIS DRAMATIC DECLINE?

OR WAS SOMETHING ELSE BEHIND THE FALL IN THIS CITY'S FORTUNES?

♪♪

TRIER THRIVED FOR OVER 400 YEARS,

SITTING NEAR THE FRONTIER OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

IT BORDERED LANDS OCCUPIED BY FIERCE BARBARIAN TRIBES.

ANCIENT HISTORIANS SAY THAT ROMAN TRIER SUFFERED ASSAULTS

FROM THESE BARBARIANS, TIME AND TIME AGAIN.

♪♪

ONE OF THE MOST DEVASTATING ATTACKS IN THIS AREA

WAS IN 451 A.D.,

WHEN ATTILA'S HUNS RAMPAGED ACROSS EUROPE.

♪♪

BUT IS THE DECREASE IN POPULATION REALLY RELATED

TO REPEATED INVASIONS BY HOSTILE TRIBES?

♪♪

TO FIND OUT, MARCUS NEEDS TO WORK OUT

EXACTLY WHEN THE POPULATION FELL

AND IF IT CORRESPONDS WITH THE TIME OF THE INVASION.

THE BURIAL PLOTS ARE INCREDIBLY DENSE.

THIS MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO KNOW

WHICH BONES BELONG TO WHICH CENTURY.

THE KEY TO DATING THESE REMAINS IS NOT THE BODIES THEMSELVES

BUT ALL THE ITEMS BURIED WITH THEM.

THE TEAM USES THE GRAVE GOODS TO DATE EACH BURIAL.

THIS HELPS THEM BUILD UP AN IMAGE OF HOW MANY PEOPLE DIED

IN EACH CENTURY.

♪♪

♪♪

THE DIG TEAM SENDS ALL THEIR FINDS HERE --

TRIER'S CAVERNOUS STORAGE DEPOTS.

EVERY SINGLE ITEM, HUMAN REMAINS OR GRAVE GOODS,

IS CATEGORIZED AND BOXED UP,

READY FOR FURTHER ANALYSIS.

♪♪

♪♪

SIFTING THROUGH THE FINDS IS A MAMMOTH TASK.

BUT MARCUS MAKES AN INCREDIBLE DISCOVERY.

TRIER'S POPULATION SEEMED TO SIMPLY DISAPPEAR

ABOUT 100 YEARS BEFORE ATTILA WAS EVEN BORN.

♪♪

♪♪

SO, WHY DID THOUSANDS OF CITIZENS

APPARENTLY DESERT THIS GREAT CITY

AND OTHERS LIKE IT?

COULD THE ANSWER LIE WITH THE MAN

WHO ONCE RULED FROM THESE MAGNIFICENT BUILDINGS --

THE ROMAN EMPEROR HIMSELF?

Narrator: THE MIGHTY ROMAN EMPIRE,

THE SUPERPOWER OF THE ANCIENT WORLD.

TRIER, IN PRESENT-DAY GERMANY,

WAS ONE OF ITS GREATEST CITIES.

BUT WHY DID MANY OF ITS PEOPLE DISAPPEAR

BEFORE THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE?

AND WHAT CAN IT TELL US ABOUT ROME'S COLLAPSE?

ARCHAEOLOGIST GEORG BREITNER BELIEVES

A CLUE TO THE CITY'S SUDDEN DROP IN POPULATION

LIES WITH ITS GREATEST CITIZEN, THE EMPEROR.

♪♪

FOR DECADES, TRIER WAS HIS HOME,

AS POWERFUL AS ROME ITSELF.

♪♪

♪♪

GEORG EXPLORES THE CITY'S IMPERIAL BASILICA.

TODAY, IT'S USED AS A CHURCH,

BUT IT WAS BUILT AS AN AUDIENCE HALL FOR THE EMPEROR.

♪♪

♪♪

TRIER'S IMPERIAL RESIDENCE WAS HUGE AND IMPRESSIVE.

BUT BY THE AGE OF ATTILA, IN THE MID-400s,

THE EMPEROR HAD LEFT.

♪♪

THIS PALACE BASILICA DOMINATED THE CITY'S CENTER.

IT'S THE LARGEST SURVIVING ROMAN HALL IN THE WORLD.

IT HAS ENOUGH SPACE TO HOLD THE CITY'S GATEHOUSE TWICE OVER.

IN THE HEYDAY OF THIS IMPERIAL MEGA CITY,

TENS OF THOUSANDS OF TILES

MADE FROM ITALIAN MARBLE COVERED THE FLOOR

AND STRETCHED UP TO CLAD THE BARE BRICK WALLS.

DECORATIVE MOSAICS WERE INTRICATELY INLAID WITH GOLD.

WATCHING OVER IT ALL, THE EMPEROR'S THRONE.

WHY WAS IT LEFT ABANDONED?

AND COULD THE ANSWER EXPLAIN TRIER'S PLUMMETING POPULATION?

♪♪

TO FIND OUT, GEORG INVESTIGATES THE HUGE ROMAN BATHS

NEXT TO THE BASILICA.

HE THINKS CHANGES MADE TO THIS BUILDING

COULD REVEAL HOW THE WHOLE CITY, AND EVEN THE EMPIRE,

WERE TRANSFORMING IN THE FINAL YEARS OF ROMAN RULE.

♪♪

TRIER'S KAISERTHERMEN, THE IMPERIAL BATHS,

WERE AMONG THE LARGEST IN EUROPE.

♪♪

THIS HUGE COMPLEX COVERED

MORE THAN 1/4 MILLION SQUARE FEET.

♪♪

♪♪

THIS ENORMOUS LABYRINTH OF UNDERGROUND HEATING TUNNELS

WAS AT THE CUTTING EDGE OF ROMAN ENGINEERING.

♪♪

BUT THERE'S A MYSTERY.

THESE HEATING TUNNELS DON'T SEEM TO HAVE EVER BEEN USED.

♪♪

♪♪

THE ROMANS WERE FAMOUS FOR THEIR HUGE CIVIL-ENGINEERING PROJECTS.

♪♪

WHY WOULD THEY ABANDON THE CONSTRUCTION

OF ONE OF THE GREATEST PUBLIC BATH HOUSES

THE EMPIRE HAD EVER SEEN?

COULD THIS TELL GEORG WHY PEOPLE WERE LEAVING THIS ROMAN CAPITAL?

♪♪

GEORG NEEDS TO GET TO HIGHER GROUND

TO UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENED HERE.

WITH A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW,

HE CAN MAP OUT HOW THE ORIGINAL FLOOR PLAN

WAS CHOPPED UP AT A LATER DATE.

♪♪

♪♪

ROUGH BRICK PARTITIONS CUT THROUGH THE GRAND MASONRY

OF THE BATH CHAMBERS.

THE ALTERED FLOOR PLAN

LOOKS JUST LIKE THE STRUCTURES ELSEWHERE

THAT WERE BUILT FOR SOLDIERS.

GEORG THINKS HE'S WORKED OUT WHAT HAPPENED.

THE IMPERIAL BATHS ENDED UP BEING USED BY THE ARMY.

THIS CITY'S IMPERIAL BATHS WERE LAVISHLY DESIGNED

WITH LUXURY HOT POOLS AND STEAM ROOMS,

SERVED BY A COMPLEX NETWORK OF UNDERGROUND PASSAGES.

BUT SPACIOUS CHAMBERS DESIGNED FOR THE PUBLIC TO RELAX IN

WERE DIVIDED UP IN THE MID-300s

TO MAKE ROUGH ACCOMMODATION FOR SOLDIERS.

THE PROXIMITY OF THE BARRACKS TO THE BASILICA

MEANS THE SOLDIERS WERE PERFECTLY PLACED

TO PROTECT THE EMPEROR.

♪♪

THESE WERE HIS PERSONAL BODYGUARDS,

SWORN TO DEFEND THEIR LEADER AT ALL COSTS,

IN THE MOST TESTING OF TIMES.

♪♪

THIS IS EVIDENCE OF DRAMATIC CHANGE IN TRIER.

AS MORE ROMAN TROOPS MOVED IN

TO COMBAT THE THREAT OF BARBARIAN INVASION,

PEACE-TIME LUXURIES LIKE BATH HOUSES WERE SCRAPPED.

♪♪

LIFE IN TRIER WAS GETTING TOO HOT FOR THE EMPEROR TO HANDLE.

♪♪

♪♪

EVEN WITH A GARRISON OF SOLDIERS NEXT TO THE BASILICA,

TRIER WASN'T CONSIDERED A SAFE PLACE FOR EMPERORS IN THE 400s.

♪♪

UPHEAVAL ALL ALONG THE FRINGES OF THE EMPIRE FORCED THE EMPEROR

AND HIS HEIRS TO MOVE CLOSER TO THE MEDITERRANEAN.

THIS MIGHT EXPLAIN WHY SO MANY PEOPLE DRIFTED AWAY

FROM ROME'S CITIES.

BUT WITH NO ROMAN EMPEROR RESIDING IN TRIER,

WHO WAS LEFT IN CHARGE

WHEN ATTILA AND THE HUNS REALLY DID RIDE THROUGH THESE LANDS

50 YEARS LATER?

WERE THEY EVEN ROMAN?

A GRUESOME DISCOVERY IN THE HEART OF THE CITY

COULD HOLD THE ANSWER.

Narrator: AT THE START OF THE 5th CENTURY, ROME'S BORDERS LAY EXPOSED.

THE EMPEROR HAD LEFT AND SO HAD HIS BEST TROOPS.

KEY CITIES LIKE TRIER WERE FORCED TO FEND FOR THEMSELVES

IN THE AGE OF ATTILA.

SO WHO TOOK CHARGE OF THIS ONCE-IMPORTANT ROMAN METROPOLIS?

♪♪

A GRUESOME DISCOVERY RIGHT UNDER THE CITY STREETS

COULD REVEAL WHO WAS HERE WHEN ATTILA ATTACKED THE EMPIRE.

♪♪

IN THE GROUNDS OF TRIER'S HOSPITAL,

ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE UNEARTHED TWO MALE SKELETONS

LYING SIDE BY SIDE.

♪♪

AROUND THEM, LARGE NAILS ARRANGED IN A RECTANGLE,

THE REMNANTS OF AN OVERSIZED COFFIN.

CARBON DATING PLACES THE BONES

BETWEEN THE 4th AND 5th CENTURIES,

WHEN THE HUNS WERE STARTING TO SPREAD OUT FROM EASTERN EUROPE.

CLOSER INSPECTION REVEALS DAMAGE TO THE VERTEBRAE IN THEIR NECKS.

THESE SKELETONS ARE AMONG THE PRECIOUS FEW FOUND IN TRIER

FROM THIS TIME.

WERE THESE PEOPLE STILL ROMAN?

♪♪

WOLF-RUEDIGER TEEGAN IS ONE OF THE REGION'S

TOP SPECIALISTS IN ANCIENT BONES.

♪♪

HE TRIES TO BUILD UP A PICTURE

OF WHO WAS STILL LIVING IN CITIES LIKE TRIER

DURING THE EMPIRE'S DYING DAYS.

♪♪

WOLF EXAMINES THE MEN'S SKELETONS FOR CLUES.

THE FIRST QUESTION TO ANSWER IS HOW THEY DIED.

INTRIGUINGLY, BOTH HAVE THE SAME HORRIFIC INJURY.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

WHY DID THESE MEN DIE SUCH BRUTAL DEATHS?

WOLF PIECES TOGETHER THE REST OF THEIR SKELETONS

TO HUNT FOR CLUES.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT WAS RELATIVELY COMMON

IN ROMAN TIMES.

BUT FINDING THESE BODIES IN A COFFIN WAS HIGHLY UNUSUAL.

♪♪

♪♪

IN ROMAN CITIES,

CRIMINALS DIDN'T USUALLY GET THE LUXURY OF A FUNERAL.

BUT FOR WOLF, THE BIGGEST SURPRISE OF ALL

IS NOT HOW BUT WHERE THEY WERE BURIED.

♪♪

♪♪

THE SKELETONS WERE FOUND EAST OF THE MOSEL RIVER,

UNEARTHED DURING THE CONSTRUCTION

OF A NEW HOSPITAL BUILDING.

♪♪

THE GRAVE, WHEN PLOTTED ON AN ANCIENT MAP OF TRIER,

REVEALS THE DOUBLE COFFIN WAS BURIED IN THE HEART OF THE CITY.

♪♪

THE GRAVE SITE IS HIGHLY UNUSUAL,

BECAUSE BURIALS INSIDE THESE CITY WALLS

WERE STRICTLY PROHIBITED.

♪♪

THE SAME RULE APPLIED ACROSS THE ENTIRE ROMAN EMPIRE.

ALMOST THE ONLY EXCEPTION MADE WAS FOR EMPERORS THEMSELVES.

BY THE 400s, IT SEEMS MOST OF TRIER'S POPULATION HAD DESERTED.

IF THE PEOPLE LEFT BEHIND WERE IGNORING

THIS MOST ROMAN OF RULES,

IT MEANS THAT THE CITY WAS BEHAVING

LESS AND LESS LIKE PART OF THE EMPIRE.

TRIER WAS CRUMBLING LONG BEFORE ATTILA WAS ON THE SCENE.

BUT 400 YEARS OF ROMAN RULE HAD LEFT CITIES LIKE THIS

WITH MASSIVE FORTIFICATIONS.

THESE DEFENSES SHOULD HAVE BEEN MORE THAN A MATCH

FOR BARBARIAN TRIBES.

WHY WERE THESE WALLS NO LONGER ENOUGH

TO PROTECT THE CITIZENS OF THE EMPIRE?

♪♪

COULD THE ANSWER LIE HIDDEN

WITHIN THIS CITY'S MASSIVE GATEHOUSE?

Narrator: THE DEMISE OF THE MAJOR ROMAN CITY OF TRIER

IS STARTING TO SHED NEW LIGHT

ON THE COLLAPSE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

BY THE 5th CENTURY, THIS MIGHTY METROPOLIS IN GERMANY

WAS NO LONGER A BASE FOR EMPERORS.

MOST CITIZENS HAD LEFT,

YET ITS IMPRESSIVE DEFENSES REMAINED STANDING.

WHY WEREN'T THEY ENOUGH TO PROTECT

WHAT WAS ONCE A CAPITAL OF THE ROMAN WORLD?

♪♪

ULRIKE WULF-RHEIDT IS INVESTIGATING

THE CITY'S GIANT GATEHOUSE,

THE PORTA NIGRA.

♪♪

THIS MONUMENTAL GATEHOUSE DATES BACK TO 170 A.D.

IT WAS ALREADY 200 YEARS OLD BY THE TIME THE HUNS APPEARED.

WHY COULDN'T IT GUARANTEE THE SAFETY

OF TRIER'S NERVOUS CITIZENS?

♪♪

BUILT FROM OVER 7,000 GIANT STONE SLABS,

THE PORTA NIGRA IS A MASTERPIECE OF ROMAN DESIGN.

THESE HUGE STONES CAN WEIGH UP TO 6 TONS.

♪♪

THE BLOCKS ARE CONNECTED BY GIANT CAST-IRON STAPLES

AND SEALED WITH A PLUG OF MOLTEN LEAD.

♪♪

THESE MIGHTY STONE WALLS FORM A FORMIDABLE BARRIER.

RISING UP TO ALMOST 100 FEET,

THIS ENTIRE STRUCTURE WEIGHS IN AT OVER 10,000 TONS.

BUT DO THESE IMPRESSIVE DEFENSES HAVE A HIDDEN WEAKNESS?

♪♪

PORTA NIGRA MEANS "BLACK GATE."

IT GETS ITS NAME FROM THE DARK CRUST

THAT HAS BUILT UP ON THE SANDSTONE OVER THE CENTURIES.

♪♪

THE LUMPS AND BUMPS ON THE SURFACE OF THE GATEHOUSE

LOOK LIKE NATURAL WEATHERING TO THE UNTRAINED EYE.

BUT ULRIKE SPOTS STRANGE ANGLED MARKINGS.

♪♪

♪♪

THE PORTA NIGRA NEVER RECEIVED ITS FINISHING TOUCHES.

BUT WAS IT STRUCTURALLY COMPLETE AND READY FOR ACTION?

ULRIKE INVESTIGATES THE HUGE ARCHWAYS.

SHE MAKES A SHOCKING FIND.

♪♪

THE PORTA NIGRA'S GATES THAT SHOULD'VE PROTECTED THE CITY

WERE NEVER ACTUALLY FITTED.

♪♪

♪♪

THIS IS A TRULY REMARKABLE FINDING.

THE PORTA NIGRA WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A SYMBOL OF ROMAN STRENGTH,

SOLIDITY, AND DOMINANCE.

BUT IF ULRIKE IS CORRECT, IT COULD'VE BEEN ALMOST USELESS.

♪♪

SUDDENLY, THE KEY ELEMENT OF TRIER'S DEFENSES

APPEARS TO BE ITS WEAKEST LINK.

♪♪

IF THE GATEHOUSE NEEDED EXTRA SOLDIERS TO PROTECT IT,

THE REST OF THE CITY DEFENSES COULD'VE BEEN LEFT UNGUARDED.

♪♪

TRIER MIGHT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO REPEL SMALL HIT-AND-RUN RAIDS,

BUT AS THE ROMAN FRONTIER BROKE DOWN,

LARGER INVASIONS POSED A SERIOUS THREAT.

ATTILA HAD AN ESTIMATED 50,000 MEN ON HORSEBACK.

ROME'S GREATEST ENEMY WOULD'VE OVERWHELMED THIS CITY.

♪♪

ULRIKE BELIEVES DEFENSE WAS NOT THE MAIN PURPOSE

OF THIS MASSIVE GATEHOUSE.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

ORIGINALLY, TRIER'S BEST DEFENSE WASN'T A HIGH WALL

OR A MIGHTY GATEHOUSE.

IT WAS THE APPEARANCE OF POWER.

♪♪

CITIES LIKE THIS WERE DESIGNED

TO PROMOTE ROME'S SENSE OF GREATNESS.

BUT WITH LITTLE TO PROTECT THEM, PEOPLE STARTED TO LEAVE.

AND THOSE WHO REMAINED SEEMED TO ACT LESS ROMAN.

DID SOME PEOPLE EVEN WELCOME THE INVADERS

INSTEAD OF RESISTING THEM?

COULD THE ANSWER LIE WITH HUMAN REMAINS

FOUND OVER 500 MILES AWAY,

IN THE LAND OF ATTILA AND HIS HUNS?

Narrator: IN 451 A.D.,

ATTILA THE HUN LAUNCHED A MAJOR INVASION

OF THE ROMAN WORLD.

♪♪

BUT THIS EMPIRE WAS ALREADY COMING TO AN END.

♪♪

CITIES LIKE TRIER WERE IN HUGE DECLINE,

THEIR PEOPLE DISCONNECTED FROM A DISTANT EMPEROR.

BUT DID THE HUNS, WHO WERE ATTACKING THE EMPIRE,

ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO ITS FALL IN A VERY DIFFERENT WAY?

THE ANSWER COULD LIE HUNDREDS OF MILES TO THE EAST.

♪♪

HUNGARY, ATTILA'S BASE OF OPERATIONS IN EUROPE.

IN THE 400s, THIS WAS A WILD LAND,

BEYOND ROME'S BORDERS.

COULD IT REVEAL MORE OF ATTILA'S SECRETS?

THE HUNS ARE KIND OF AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL MYSTERY.

HISTORICALLY, WE KNOW THAT THEY HAD AN ENORMOUS IMPACT

ON THIS PART OF THE WORLD.

BUT ARCHAEOLOGICALLY, THEY'RE ALMOST INVISIBLE.

♪♪

Narrator: IN THE CAPITAL CITY, BUDAPEST,

ARCHAEOLOGIST SUSANNE HAKENBECK

SEARCHES FOR EVIDENCE THAT HUNS AND ROMANS

MIGHT HAVE COEXISTED PEACEFULLY IN MANY PLACES.

♪♪

SHE EXAMINES SOME VERY STRANGE HUMAN REMAINS.

ONE THING THAT IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE HUNS

IS SKULL MODIFICATION.

Narrator: A TRADITION THAT SET HUNS APART FROM ROMANS

WAS THEIR PRACTICE OF BINDING THE HEADS OF THEIR CHILDREN.

THIS CAUSED THEM TO GROW TO A POINT AT THE BACK.

WHEN YOU LOOK AT THIS SKULL, IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE

YOU OR MY SKULL NORMALLY LOOKS LIKE.

THEY USE QUITE TIGHT BANDAGES

TO BIND THE SHAPE OF THE SKULL OF BABIES

TO GIVE THEM THIS ELONGATED FOREHEAD

AND HIGH CROWN OF THE HEAD.

♪♪

Narrator: SUSANNE USES THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY

TO MEASURE THE CHEMICAL MAKEUP OF HUMAN BONE.

♪♪

SHE COMPARES SKELETONS FOUND BURIED IN HUN TERRITORY

WITH THOSE FOUND 100 MILES AWAY IN ROMAN LANDS.

SHE SUSPECTS THAT IN THE AGE OF ATTILA,

THE TWO GROUPS WERE ACTUALLY TURNING INTO ONE.

INCREDIBLY, SUSANNE IS ABLE TO TAKE A MINUTE AMOUNT OF BONE

AND TEETH FROM SOMEONE WHO DIED OVER 1,500 YEARS AGO

AND WORK OUT WHERE AND HOW THEY LIVED.

Hakenbeck: LET'S SAY, IF THIS PERSON MOVED AROUND

DURING THE TIME WHEN THEIR WISDOM TOOTH WAS FORMED,

THEY MIGHT END UP WITH DIFFERENT ISOTOPIC SIGNATURES

IN THIS TOOTH AND IN THIS TOOTH.

AND THEN, THIS WAY, WE CAN THEN TRACK WHETHER THEY MOVED

IN BETWEEN THE TIME WHEN ONE TOOTH WAS FORMED

AND ANOTHER TOOTH WAS FORMED.

Narrator: THE TRADITIONAL VIEW IS THAT CIVILIZED ROMANS

AND SAVAGE HUNS LIVED VERY DIFFERENT LIVES

AND ONLY CAME INTO CONTACT DURING CONFLICT.

BUT SUSANNE'S FINDINGS

HAVE COMPLETELY TURNED THAT VIEW AROUND.

Hakenbeck: WE EXPECTED A VERY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE

BETWEEN THE PEOPLE BURIED IN THE HUNGARIAN PLAIN

AND THE PEOPLE BURIED ON THE ROMAN SIDE.

BUT ACTUALLY, IT TURNED OUT THAT THEY WERE QUITE SIMILAR.

Narrator: SUSANNE'S WORK REVEALS THAT BY THE 5th CENTURY,

THE ROMANS WERE MOVING AROUND

JUST AS MUCH AS THE NOMADIC HUNS.

EVEN THEIR DIETS WERE SIMILAR.

Hakenbeck: THERE WERE PEOPLE ON EITHER SIDE OF THE FRONTIER

THAT WERE ENGAGED IN FARMING

BUT ALSO IN NOMADIC ANIMAL HERDING.

THAT WAS THE CASE IRRESPECTIVE OF WHETHER THESE PEOPLE

LIVED ON THE ROMAN SIDE

OR WERE FAR OUT IN THE HUNGARIAN PLAIN.

Narrator: THE RESULTS PROVE THAT IN THE 50 YEARS

BEFORE THE REIGN OF ATTILA,

THE BORDER WAS NOT ALWAYS A PLACE OF WAR.

♪♪

THE LIFESTYLES OF SOME ROMANS AND HUNS WERE MERGING.

THE ROMAN EMPIRE WAS LOSING ITS IDENTITY

AND ITS GRIP ON ITS PEOPLE.

Hakenbeck: THIS KIND OF MIXING OF LIFESTYLES

SHOWED US VERY CLEARLY THAT WE CAN'T SAY,

"HERE WERE THE HUNS, AND THEY WERE AWFUL AND VIOLENT."

INSTEAD, WE SEE THAT PEOPLE APPEAR

TO HAVE MIXED QUITE A LOT.

THEY APPEAR TO HAVE LEARNT FROM EACH OTHER.

THEY ADAPTED TO EACH OTHER'S LIFESTYLE.

♪♪

Narrator: IT APPEARS THE HUNS' GREATEST IMPACT ON ROME

WASN'T FROM THEIR MARAUDING RAIDS.

IT WAS FROM THE SOCIAL UPHEAVAL THEY CAUSED.

THIS NEW EVIDENCE SUGGESTS VERY STRONGLY

THAT THE HUNS HAD A HUGE IMPACT ON THE POPULATIONS

ALONG THE LATE ROMAN FRONTIERS.

Narrator: AS THE HUNS' TERRITORY GREW,

THEY ALSO DISPLACED OTHER BARBARIAN TRIBES,

FORCING THEM TO SPREAD INTO ROMAN LANDS.

ATTILA THE HUN WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST WARLORDS

OF THE ANCIENT WORLD,

BUT BY THE TIME HE AND HIS ARMIES CROSSED THE RHINE,

CITIES LIKE TRIER WERE ALREADY CHANGING.

♪♪

LATER HISTORIANS MOSTLY BLAMED ROME'S MISFORTUNES

ON VILLAINOUS FIGURES LIKE ATTILA'S HUNS.

THE HUNS, OVER THE COURSE OF HISTORY,

HAVE RECEIVED A REALLY BAD PRESS.

THEY'VE BEEN DESCRIBED AS BARELY HUMAN,

AS MORE LIKE ANIMALS THAN PART OF CIVILIZED SOCIETY.

NARRATOR: IN REALITY, IT WASN'T THE SWIFT AND SAVAGE ATTACKS OF WARRIORS

LIKE ATTILA THAT CAUSED ROME'S BORDERS TO CRUMBLE.

IT WAS THE BLURRING OF THE DISTINCTION

BETWEEN ROMAN AND BARBARIAN.

Hakenbeck: ALL ALONG THE LATE ROMAN FRONTIER,

THE CITIES LOST THEIR CONNECTIONS

TO THE MEDITERRANEAN CORE OF THE EMPIRE.

THEY HAD TO DEPEND UPON THEMSELVES

AND HAD TO BE MUCH MORE SELF-RELIANT.

SO WHEN WE THINK OF THE END OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE,

WE SHOULDN'T THINK OF IT AS A SUDDEN, SHUDDERING END,

BUT, RATHER, IT SEEMED THAT THERE WAS A KIND OF GRADUAL

WEARING DOWN OF THE FRONTIERS,

A GRADUAL CHANGE OF LIFESTYLE ALONG THE FRONTIERS.

Narrator: THE TRUE STORY OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE'S FINAL DAYS

IS BECOMING CLEAR.

♪♪

♪♪

THE FATE OF TRIER WAS A STORY REPEATED ALL ALONG THE FRONTIER.

♪♪

♪♪

TRIER HAD BEEN A WEALTHY METROPOLIS,

THE GREATEST ROMAN CITY NORTH OF THE ALPS.

BUT AS THE FRONTIER MOVED CLOSER,

THE LAVISH PALACE NO LONGER HAD AN EMPEROR,

AND ITS THRIVING POPULATION RAPIDLY DROPPED.

♪♪

TRIER WAS NEVER BUILT FOR WAR.

IT WAS ALWAYS A SYMBOL OF ROMAN POWER.

EVEN ITS MIGHTY ROMAN GATEHOUSE,

STILL STANDING AFTER 2,000 YEARS,

WAS LEFT OPEN FROM THE START.

WHEN THE GREAT ATTILA THE HUN SWEPT PAST TRIER,

THE CITY THAT WAS ONCE THE CENTER OF AN EMPIRE

HAD ALREADY SURRENDERED ITS POSITION AS ROME OF THE NORTH.

♪♪

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