All language subtitles for Ancient.Impossible.S01E01.Ultimate.Weapons.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-playWEB_track4_[eng]

NARRATOR: How did the ancients
create the ultimate weapons

of mass destruction more
than 2,000 years ago?

Could the energy of the sun be
used to torch invading ships?

Did a cannon powered by
steam crush an enemy fleet?

STEVE WOLF: Holy crap.

Look at that.

NARRATOR: And did the ancients
build a warship so mighty,

it could rival today's most
advanced aircraft carriers?

DEREK MULLER: The Forty
is a monstrous vessel,

but it's truly an impossible
feat of engineering.

NARRATOR: Monuments more
colossal than our own, ancient

super weapons as mighty as
today's, technology so precise,

it defies reinvention.

The ancient world
was not primitive.

Their marvels were so
advanced, we still use them.

Travel to a world closer than
we imagine, an ancient age

where nothing was impossible.

[theme music]

Weapons and warfare, the
backbone of world superpowers.

But when we think of
ancient civilizations,

we imagine simpler arsenals.

But is that really how it was?

Was it possible
that the ancients

could harness the
laws of science

to create the ultimate
super weapons?

Today when you think
of super weapons,

you think of modern militaries
armed with supersonic fighters

and nukes.

But did you know that the
ancients also had their very

own super, super weapons?

NARRATOR: A series
of brutal battles

reveals the remarkable
power of ancient technology.

More than 2,000 years
ago, the city-state

of Syracuse on the
island of Sicily

held all out against Rome.

Sicily is a great prize
for its natural resources,

for its grain.

NARRATOR: This doesn't
escape the attention of Rome

and its ever expanding empire.

General Marcellus is sent to
Syracuse with a mighty Roman

Navy.

His mission is to
capture the city.

DARIUS ARYA: Syracuse
has a big problem.

It's now being attacked
by a major super power.

And the Romans
arrive and lay siege

to this important kingdom.

It's going to defend itself.

It's going to use
tactics and engineering.

NARRATOR: The Syracuseans
had a secret weapon.

His name was Archimedes.

Archimedes was a brilliant
inventor and a mathematician.

He was born around 2,300 years
ago on the island of Sicily,

slap bang in the middle of three
continents of Europe, Asia,

and Africa.

NARRATOR: Archimedes was feared
throughout the ancient world

as a mastermind of warfare.

We know that the Romans
were petrified of Archimedes'

inventions.

We're told that the
general and his soldiers

fell to despair when they knew
that his inventions were going

to be employed.

And so we find that Archimedes
is actually inventing weapons

of mass destruction.

NARRATOR: The first lethal
invention in his arsenal

was known simply as
the Archimedes' claw.

BETTANY HUGHES:
Sicilians did not

have a huge amount of manpower.

So Archimedes had to
use his brainpower

to win out against the Romans.

NARRATOR: The Archimedes' claw
is a very simple but highly

advanced weapon for its day,
with fulcrums and pulleys

controlling large metal hooks.

A group of men could
grab and tip enemy ships,

making them capsize.

But that's not all.

BETTANY HUGHES: We're also told
that it could then physically

pull the ships out
of the water, which

must have been petrifying.

NARRATOR: But the claw
was just the first

of Archimedes' many game
changing ultimate weapons.

In Florence, Italy, on the
wall of the Uffizi Gallery,

is an intriguing painting.

This 14th century
depiction is a vital clue

to what could be Archimedes'
most sinister weapon,

a death ray.

The existence of this
webinar and its viability

have long been the
subject of debate

among scientists and historians.

Could Archimedes have
created a lethal weapon using

only the power of the sun?

BETTANY HUGHES: We do know
that Archimedes used reflective

technology.

And in Sicily, there were lots
of these highly polished bronze

or copper shields.

And Archimedes could possibly
have harnessed the power

of the sun, reflecting
those rays back out

onto wooden ships.

HUNTER ELLIS: The Archimedes'
death ray is essentially

the first directional weapon.

You can harness the power of the
sun, focus it into a tight beam

like a laser, creating
the death ray.

NARRATOR: If the death ray could
channel enough solar energy,

it would set the
enemy fleet on fire.

Ever since war at
sea began, fire

has been a devastating weapon.

It has destroyed even the
most advanced modern warships.

It's a fear that former Navy
pilot Hunter Ellis knows well.

HUNTER ELLIS: Fire is definitely
one of the worst things you can

have on board a ship.

And history has proven that.

Even on these modern day
aircraft carriers that

are made of steel
and titanium, I mean,

we've experienced
horrible fires in our past

with the forest on the ranger.

Fire at sea is
nothing in any captain

ever wants to deal with.

So imagine if Archimedes
was able to harness

the power of the sun and
turn it into a death ray.

NARRATOR: There
are other examples

of how the sun's rays were
utilized in the ancient world.

One of these was at the
harbor of Alexandria in Egypt

where a huge mirror in
the Pharos Lighthouse

guided ships into the harbor.

We know the ancients clearly
understood the potential

of reflective light.

But the question remains.

Could Archimedes harness
enough solar power

to pose a threat
to enemy warships?

Perhaps the answer lies hidden
in the New Mexico desert.

One scientist believes that the
Archimedes' death ray is not

the stuff of science fiction.

[ominous music]

CLIFF HO: We're here at the
national solar thermal test

facility at Sandia National
Laboratories in Albuquerque,

New Mexico.

I'm a mechanical engineer
here, and I do research

on concentrating solar power.

What you see here is
a field of heliostats.

Heliostats are mirrors that
track the sun to concentrate

and focus the sunlight
onto a receiver

to generate steam, which spins
a turbine to create electricity.

NARRATOR: If solar power
can generate electricity,

can also be used
as a lethal weapon?

Dr. Cliff Ho believes it is
the shape of the shields acting

as mirrors that holds the secret
to whether this super weapon

could have worked or not.

CLIFF HO: It may have been
that Archimedes employed

curved mirrors.

And not necessarily just
flat, but maybe a little bit

of a curve here to give
you a focusing effect.

Now even though these
mirrors look flat,

there is actually a
little bit of a curvature

to give you a focusing,
more concentrating effect.

And you can see on the back, the
way we do that on our mirrors

is we have a bolt here.

We can pull back on
the center plate.

And we have bolts on
each of the four corners

that's used to push in
slightly to give you

a little bit of a curvature.

So each of our mirrors on each
of the different heliostats

have a different focal length,
depending on how far they

are from the intended target.

So the ones that are
further away from the target

have less curvature.

The heliostats that are closer
in have more of a curvature.

NARRATOR: Dr. Ho
believes that the impact

of the curved shields is a
factor that has been previously

overlooked and would
have made the death

ray a reality and more lethal
than previously imagined.

CLIFF HO: So with
regards to Archimedes,

all the previous studies I've
seen have actually only looked

at flat mirrors.

And as you can see,
having focus mirrors

can really do wonders for
increasing the concentration

on the target.

Having that curvature
would have given Archimedes

a bit of an advantage in
terms of burning the ships.

Having a large number of
smaller mirrors can also do the

[suspenseful music]

I understand it could have
been polished bronze or copper

shields.

And by using the reverse
side of that shield,

having that concave
surface, would have given it

a focusing effect.

Archimedes could have
been using advanced optics

2,000 years ahead of
our current modern time.

NARRATOR: There is no doubt
that Archimedes was far ahead

of his time.

But could he really have
used 21st century technology

to beat the mighty Roman Navy?

[theme music]

In their effort to repel
the invading Roman Navy,

the ancient
city-state of Syracuse

was totally overmatched.

But they did have one
secret weapon, Archimedes,

one of the greatest human
minds that has ever lived.

His ingenious ultimate
weapons were thousands

of years ahead of their time.

The Archimedes' claw, an
ingeniously simple weapon,

had an enormous reach
that instilled fear

in Roman sailors.

But it was Archimedes' death ray
that had even greater potential

for reaping mass
destruction by concentrating

the deadly rays of the sun
to torch Roman warships.

Archimedes theory was if
you polished a surface finely,

like take one of your
soldiers' shields,

polish it finely and
then capture the rays

and focus it into a
tight beam like a laser,

creating the death ray.

NARRATOR: But the
lethality of the weapon

has remained unproven until now.

At the Sandia Laboratories
in Albuquerque,

Dr. Cliff Ho has a
one of a kind test

to see if Archimedes
could have achieved

this weapon of destruction.

CLIFF HO: So is it possible that
Archimedes could have actually

developed an ancient
solar death ray?

I've actually developed
some equations and models

to scientifically evaluate this.

What we're looking at here
shows the reflections off

of a single mirror
about the same size

and shape as a shield.

And from that, we can determine
how many mirrors are required

to achieve the required
heat flux to ignite wood.

NARRATOR: Dr. Ho has
calculated that it would take

200 to 300 shields working
together to set a wooden ship

ablaze.

CLIFF HO: If we simulate a
large array of these mirrors

and reflect the
sunlight onto a target,

it turns out that
the concentrated heat

flux on the target is
sufficient to ignite wood.

I think it's possible that
Archimedes could have developed

this ancient death ray
over 2,000 years ago.

With the right
number of mirrors,

the quality of mirrors, and some
steady hands, it's possible.

I think would have
been difficult to do,

but it's possible.

NARRATOR: But Dr.
Ho has the power

to take his tests
to the next level.

This secure facility houses one
of the most powerful solar rays

on Earth.

Known as the Solar Furnace,
this high tech array

uses exactly the same principle
of reflective solar energy

that Archimedes used more
than 2,000 years ago.

CLIFF HO: We're here
at the Solar Furnace

where we do high temperature
testing of various materials.

This large parabolic mirror
here is nearly 400 square feet

of reflective surface area.

When the sunlight is reflected
towards this parabolic mirror,

it then focuses that
light onto an area that's

only a few inches across.

So what we're going
to attempt to do

is to demonstrate the immense
power the concentration

of sunlight that can be
focused onto this brick.

This is a very high
temperature material

that melts at
about 1,500 degrees

C. I think this is a good
example of Archimedes' mirrors

in terms of using a
large array of mirrors

and focusing down that sunlight
into a much smaller area.

It's a very intense
highly concentrated beam

of sunlight, which can create
very, very high temperatures.

LAB PERSONNEL: We're going to be
bringing the furnace up to 100%

in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 1.

Going 100.

NARRATOR: Every time the
Solar Furnace is turned on,

extreme caution needs
to be applied because

of the awesome power
of the machine.

LAB PERSONNEL: Opening.

NARRATOR: The solar
blinds are slowly opened.

Within seconds,
the mass reflected

light from the mirrors
begins to melt the brick.

The effect is astounding as
the beam reaches the intensity

of the surface of the sun.

The Solar Furnace melts the fire
brick, an amazing demonstration

of the sun's deadly force.

[suspenseful music]

CLIFF HO: So you can see
with just that brief exposure

to that very highly
concentrated sunlight,

you can just feel the heat
radiating from the brick.

And it's created this molten
glass that's dripping down.

And that means we've exceeded
temperatures of over 2,700

degrees Fahrenheit.

So compared to burning
wood on a ship,

the ignition point
of wood is about 700,

800 degrees Fahrenheit.

So we're well over that auto
ignition temperature of wood.

NARRATOR: The test leaves
little doubt that Archimedes had

the knowledge and most
likely the ability

to create a solar death ray that
could have brought the Roman

Navy to a fiery end.

But he didn't stop there.

Up next, Archimedes
builds a powerful cannon

We think of super weapons
as modern inventions.

But in the ancient
city of Syracuse,

renowned inventor Archimedes
was building an arsenal

of ultimate weapons more
than 2,000 years ago.

We've seen how he harnessed the
sun into a lethal death ray.

But there is evidence that
he did much more than that.

It's believed that he invented
the first gun in history,

the steam cannon.

Archimedes is said to have fired
projectiles at deadly speeds,

thrashing enemy ships using
nothing but the power of water.

The mystery
surrounding this weapon

can finally be explained.

[cannon firing]

Only one ancient image of
Archimedes design survives.

BETTANY HUGHES: It's
actually Leonardo da Vinci

who credits Archimedes with the
invention of the steam cannon.

This would have been an
amazing bit of technology,

a huge copper tube
sealed at one end.

It was heated up.

Steam would then be
injected to the bottom.

And it would eject out these
projectiles around 2,600 feet.

NARRATOR: James Dean uses the
most advanced 21st century

technology to shed light on
this 2,000-year-old mystery.

This simple tube is the basis
of an impossibly sophisticated

ancient super weapon.

This is steam power 2,000
years before the Industrial

Revolution.

The heating chamber is cooked up
to over 212 degrees Fahrenheit

or 100 degrees Centigrade.

When a small amount of
water is introduced,

it rapidly turns to steam.

And the pressure from
these expanding gases

fires the ball now
at incredible speeds.

It's the same principle that
fires muskets and cannons, even

the AK47 or the M777 howitzer.

But would this design from
2,200 years ago have worked?

NARRATOR: To understand the
impact this weapon could have

had on the mighty Roman Navy,
we must look at the devastation

that cannonballs could inflict.

Experimental model
maker Richard Windley

knows exactly why the canon
produced such great fear.

RICHARD WINDLEY:
If they were fired

at ships with enough
energy, they would probably

pierce the holes.

They would probably
send splinters

flying in all directions.

We know, for example,
that in Nelson's time,

far more men were killed through
flying splinters than actually

being hit by the
cannonball themselves.

Imagine pieces of sharp
wood, maybe a foot long,

traveling at very,
very high velocities.

They just pierce a body
absolutely with no problem

whatsoever.

NARRATOR: But could
Archimedes cannon

pack the punch needed for
such destruction using

only the power of steam?

In Austin, Texas, we have
challenged Steve Wolf

to reconstruct this
ancient super weapon.

Steve will have to find
a way to compress steam

under enormous pressure,
a dangerous task.

In his workshop, he
uses available parts

to see if he can
recreate the impossible

and prove that Archimedes
was thousands of years ahead

of his time.

Once he has finished
the weapon, he

aims to test it with live fire.

STEVE WOLF: Well, the
fundamental design

that we used is
essentially the same as we

saw in the Archimedes'
drawings that da Vinci had.

What we have is a vessel
that's capable of holding

a lot of pressure.

And we add a little
bit of water to it.

And then we start a
fire underneath it.

And the fire heats the vessel.

And that causes water
molecules to leave the liquid

and populate the
rest of the tank.

And as the temperature
increases, the pressure in here

increases.

So we have pressure acting
against the entire inside

of the tank here.

NARRATOR: But could Archimedes
control the pressure

of the compressed steam
inside the cylinder

and fire a cannonball
at lethal velocity?

JAMES DEAN: Here's one
method that's been suggested.

This piece of wood
holds the ball in place.

While the pressure is
trying to push out,

the wood exerts a counter force.

But what holds the wood in?

More wood across here like
this holds the wood rod in.

And it's tethered like this.

So this mechanism pushes the
rod back down again the bolt

to allow sufficient
pressure to develop.

Once the pressure is
high enough, it snaps.

The rod comes out and
the bolt shoots away.

NARRATOR: Mounted atop
the city defenses,

the steam cannon would have
been a formidable weapon.

But we still have no proof
that it could have fired.

Steve Wolf is getting
close to a working model.

I've been working on the steam
cannon here, test the concept.

And the results
were really great.

Here we go in 3, 2, 1.

Wow.

NARRATOR: With the
preliminary testing complete,

Steve is ready to go live.

STEVE WOLF: Many people think
that building a cannon that

would fire off steam
power is impossible.

I'm pretty sure it works.

Today's the big day
when we to find out.

To put this cannon
through its test,

we've got a fire
projectile that's really

capable of causing damage.

And I've got a five-pound
magnesium ball here.

It's about the size
of a billiard ball.

Very heavy, very hard.

If this thing came at you,
you'd better be running.

And if you've got
a ship, I don't

think there's any ducking.

NARRATOR: Can Steve get enough
heat into his steam cannon

to get the required temperature?

STEVE WOLF: I've
got kindling here.

I've got logs.

I've got a little diesel on
there just for safe measure.

We're going to light this up.

If we get this metal over
212 degrees Fahrenheit or 100

degrees Celsius, then any
water that we put in here

is going to turn to steam,
which means that the heat coming

through here is going
to excite that water.

The molecules are going to move
around so fast that they fly

apart from each other,
ceasing to be a liquid

and becoming a gas.

So when we add heat to this
liquid in a sealed vessel,

we're creating a
ton of pressure.

And pressure is what it
takes to fire cannonballs.

We're going to see the
pressure on this gauge climb.

When we're ready to fire
this, we open this valve here

just by yanking that this way.

So we're going to create a
tremendous amount of force

going this way.

It's going to push against
the back of the cannonball.

We usually talk
in terms of speed.

But I prefer to think of it
in terms of effectiveness.

Are we firing that
ball fast enough

to go through the hull of
a ship that's attacking us?

And that's really what matters.

NARRATOR: Over 2,000 years
ago at the siege of Syracuse,

the mother of modern
guns was born.

But did it really work?

We've seen evidence of
the impressive arsenal

that Archimedes built at
the siege of Syracuse.

It's clear that he could have
harnessed the power of the sun

to create a lethal death ray.

But could his steam
cannon have enough impact

to obliterate a Roman warship?

We're about to find out.

Only one ancient image of
Archimedes' design survives.

BETTANY HUGHES: It is amazing
to think that Archimedes,

over 2,200 years ago, was
sitting in his home in Sicily

and dreaming up a super weapon.

NARRATOR: In
Austin, Texas, Steve

Wolf has been building a steam
cannon to see if the technology

could really have worked.

Its time to light this
homemade super weapon up.

This is the first time
he attempts to fire it.

STEVE WOLF: We're going to find
out today whether Archimedes

was right, whether the steam
cannon could have fired.

And I couldn't be more excited.

NARRATOR: Archimedes' design is
based on using water heated up

to extreme temperatures over
an open fire to create steam.

When the steam is released,
it propels a cannonball.

Working with steam under this
kind of pressure can be deadly.

STEVE WOLF: We're going to fire
a five-pound cannonball 150

feet using nothing but a
couple of ounces of water.

We open the valve, and
that's all it takes.

NARRATOR: Steve has
to heat the cylinder

enough so that the steam climbs
to a pressure of at least

150 PSI.

OK, pressure's climbing.

Here we go, baby.

We're going to test this thing.

Fire in the hole.

Fire in the hole.

[cannon firing]

Holy crap.

Look at that.

[laughing] Awesome,
check it out.

Proof positive.

They said it couldn't be done.

They said it was impossible.

Archimedes, you were right.

And 200 feet, beautiful.

That blows me away.

Archimedes had it all right.

And I think we just proved it.

NARRATOR: It's incredible to
think that Archimedes could

have achieved such a
low angle of trajectory.

And even more incredible is
that the same technology powers

the most formidable super
weapon today, the Nimitz class

aircraft carrier.

[thrilling music]

Hunter Ellis, an
ex-fighter pilot,

is on the USS Ronald
Reagan looking

for the legacy of Archimedes.

So Archimedes designed a
steam cannon 2,000 years ago.

But steam still plays
a very important role

in modern warfare.

This is the catapult
2 charging panel room.

This is what fires the
aircraft off the ships.

So basically, a steam catapult
is the modern day steam

cannon in a sense.

I have over 400 catapult shots.

And still no words
do it justice.

It is the most amazing
feeling in the world.

You're taking a 45,000
plus-pound aircraft.

You're launching it at 160 miles
per hour in under two seconds.

It is a modern day phenomenon.

[jet launching]

This right here is
essentially your projectile

of the modern day steam
cannon, the steam catapult.

As an aircraft comes up, it
attaches itself with a launch

bar into the front side
of the shuttle right here.

It will hook into the front.

And then when the
aircraft is ready to fly,

that steam will be
released, driving the piston

through the cylinder,
carrying the shuttle that's

attached to the launchpad, which
is attached to the aircraft.

And as it hits the end right
here, the aircraft is released.

And it goes flying.

This is the valve
room for catapult 1,

which is the bow cat in
a Nimitz class carrier.

Below us, all the high pressure
steam from the nuclear reactors

is boarded up into
this valve right there

where it's stored
at about 450 PSI.

You can hear the aircraft
above us throttling up.

He's now getting into
position on the catapult.

[aircraft launching]

And right there is the magic
that makes those airplanes go.

Archimedes beat us to
the punch by 2,000 years.

NARRATOR: It's clear that
modern weapons systems are

able to generate enormous
power through steam.

But could Archimedes have
created enough energy

to fire a cannonball
with lethal force?

Leonardo gave a maximum
range of 800 yards

for the steam cannon.

That really does
seem impossible.

But experiments at the
Massachusetts Institute

of Technology created a
pressure of 3,000 to 4,000 PSI,

giving a muzzle velocity of
around 800 feet per second.

This weapon would have been
devastating at closer ranges.

NARRATOR: Military
historian Mike Loades

has come to see if Steve
Wolf's steam cannon can shoot

a projectile with
enough velocity

to penetrate a boat's hull.

MIKE LOADES: So what
defines a super weapon is

it's a weapon that has
capabilities greater

than any other
weapons of its time.

And if this works,
it's certainly that.

It sounds like an
impossible idea.

But that's what marks out the
minds of men like Archimedes.

They make the
impossible possible.

NARRATOR: For the
first time ever,

Steve pushes the weapon
dangerously close to 175 PSI.

Will it work or will it explode?

STEVE WOLF: We're at 150, 175.

3, 2, 1.

[cannon firing]

[explosions]

NARRATOR: The cannonball
pierces the wooden hull

with no problem, proving that
the steam cannon was indeed

a super weapon well
ahead of its time.

Archimedes was
on to something.

Yeah, he was.

Yeah, m yeah.

That was wild.

MIKE LOADES: That was great fun.

But it was also a powerful
demonstration of what

a powerful thing this is.

It really is.

MIKE LOADES: And the
real power of this

is there is nothing more
powerful than an idea.

All of this progress
simply based on water

going from a liquid to a gas.

That idea.

Phenomenal.

NARRATOR: Steve Wolf
has done the impossible

and created a steam cannon based
on Archimedes' design, which

is both lethal and accurate.

But even with the intimidating
arsenal created by Archimedes,

Syracuse eventually fell
to the mighty Romans.

And Archimedes was slain.

But the influence of his designs
is still felt today thousands

of years later.

We now know that ancient
civilizations created

impossible super weapons
way ahead of their time.

But there is one
military supership,

built by an Egyptian
pharaoh 2,000 years ago,

that historians believe
could be the forerunner

of the modern aircraft carrier.

Could the ancients have built
this impossibly huge mega ship?

Sources reveal this
floating super weapon

of the ancient seas could carry
more than an aircraft carrier

today.

How similar is this
ancient Goliath of the sea

to its modern equivalent?

HUNTER ELLIS: I'm aboard
the USS Ronald Reagan.

It's one of the largest and
most powerful super weapons

of all time.

NARRATOR: The
Nimitz class nuclear

powered aircraft carrier, one of
the most advanced super weapons

ever to exist.

It is the top of the ladder of
any military weapons system.

HUNTER ELLIS: Honestly,
there's nothing

more intimidating than
an aircraft carrier.

It's a moving runway.

It's 4 and 1/2 acres that
you can take anywhere

in the world and deploy
thousands of warriors

in a moment's notice.

That's going to strike fear
at the heart of your enemy.

[jet zooming]

NARRATOR: As a fighter
pilot, Hunter Ellis

knows the capabilities of
the modern aircraft carrier.

And he can only
imagine the impact

a warship of this magnitude
would have had thousands

of years ago.

HUNTER ELLIS: Now just imagine
if you could take something

the size of an aircraft
carrier with the lethality

of an aircraft carrier and
apply that in ancient times,

the pure intimidation factor you
would have with that would be

phenomenal.

NARRATOR: It was called
the Forty probably

because of the number of
oarsmen at each rowing station.

This mega warship was built
for the Pharaoh Ptolemy IV

2,200 years ago.

HUNTER ELLIS: The Forty was
a massive ship for its day.

And the Forty was 420 feet long,
57 feet wide, 72 feet high.

And you think about
trying to build a ship out

of wood that size and that day,
it's a technological marvel.

It's unbelievable that
something like that existed.

NARRATOR: The Forty holds
a number of records.

No ship ever had a
greater troop capacity.

It is the largest
catamaran ever built.

And it is the largest human
powered vessel ever known.

Dr. Derek Muller is in
Egypt, the home of the Forty,

to discover how important ships
were in the ancient world.

DEREK MULLER: Wow.

Here at this temple
in Southern Egypt,

you can see here
there is a boat.

And this boat belonged
to Ramesses II.

So you can see that boats
were a very important part

of Egyptian culture.

Over the centuries, boats
just became more and more

important until
the Ptolemaic times

when they were building truly
ginormous ships the likes

of which we've never seen again.

The Forty would have been the
largest wooden boat in history.

Truly an impossible
feat of Engineering

and the greatest example of mega
building in the ancient world.

NARRATOR: The Forty was
built by pharaoh Ptolemy

IV over 2,000 years
ago in Alexandria,

while Egypt was
under Greek rule.

It was at the pinnacle
of an ancient arms race.

DAMIAN ROBINSON: The
Forty is all about power.

It's about demonstrating Ptolemy
IV's extreme wealth, the wealth

of Egypt, the threat of
its armies and its navy,

and also his military might.

NARRATOR: But how could
the Egyptians have power

to ships such as
the Forty, which

weighed nearly 4,000 tons?

HUNTER ELLIS: Today's Nimitz
class carriers have the benefit

of nuclear power.

We have two giant reactors
sitting below us here

that are able to move this
vessel that displaces 95,000

tons at speeds of over
30 miles per hour.

But think about the ingenuity it
took to create the rowing banks

for 4,000 rowers,
50 oars a side,

to be able to move that
giant 420-foot wooden ship

from your coast to
the enemy's coast.

NARRATOR: There is much
debate and historical records

about how the staggering
number of oarsman on the Forty

could possibly have
worked in sync.

JAMES DEAN: One theory is the
oars with different lengths

at different angles, allowing
rowing without tears.

If you ask me, the nightmare
is at the rowing end.

The longest 57-foot
oar would be angled

to avoid other oars like this.

But how can up to eight
men row at this angle?

With the rower nearest
the water sitting,

the end rower would be
standing with the oar

well above his head.

It would have been
impossible to reach it.

Perhaps the hull of the ship
bodes slightly like this.

This would mean the oars don't
need to be angled so steeply.

That would overcome this
seemingly impossible problem.

NARRATOR: If it was
possible for the Forty

to be fueled by such
tremendous manpower,

it would have been one of
the most intimidating weapons

of the ancient world.

But what was it like
on board for the men

to row such a huge vessel?

HUNTER ELLIS: Picture
thousands of years

ago this massive
warship, the Forty.

It's almost impossible to
imagine what would be going

through the mind of
one of those rowers

knowing that they were going
to have to row constantly

for 10 hours straight each
day for the next several days.

Squeezing 4,000 men into
those tight conditions,

even for a ship that large,
must have been unfathomable.

The physical labor and
just the mental exhaustion

that they would go through,
you have to picture

these rowers as being some of
the most battle-hardened people

imaginable.

NARRATOR: Historians
have generally

thought that the Forty
was simply a vehicle

for mass transport of troops.

But could new evidence prove
that the Forty was also

an overwhelming
offensive weapon?

In the ancient world,
dominance at sea

was the mark of a superpower.

The greatest
technology and design

went into warships, the
ultimate super weapon

of the ancient world.

But what was the strategy
behind these ancient superships?

New evidence indicates that
the greatest warship of all,

the Forty, might have had
even more weapons capabilities

than previously
thought possible.

[suspenseful music]

DEREK MULLER: The Forty
is a monstrous vessel,

a huge catamaran with two
hulls and a massive deck

across the top, 400 feet
long and about 100 feet wide.

It is a wooden ship the likes of
which we have never seen again.

NARRATOR: In ancient
times, control of the sea

was the hallmark of
any great superpower.

Captain Bolt, commander
of the USS Ronald Reagan,

knows the importance
of naval domination.

CHRISTOPHER BOLT: The importance
of a navy to any nation

is hard to measure.

The fact that 70% of the Earth
is covered by water, and then

in the modern world, 90%
of trade goes by water.

And I imagine the numbers were
very similar 2,000 years ago.

So you think about
controlling, we

call them sea lines
of communication.

Those are the trade routes.

The navies are what keep them
open for who you want to have

access, and closing those
lines of communication

with those you don't
want to have access.

So that's how important the
navy is to world history.

NARRATOR: The Forty was topped
with a vast deck, even bigger

than a football field.

It has always been thought
that the space was intended

for troop transport.

But it might have had a
more sinister function.

Could the Forty have
carried deadly catapults

in its arsenal?

DAMIAN ROBINSON: In
the Hellenistic period,

they invented torsion
artillery, which

was able to hurl stone
balls at great distance

at oncoming ships.

So consequently,
sea battles may well

have started with
an artillery barrage

before eventually, the
ships come together

and the marines take
over with the fighting.

NARRATOR: In addition
to artillery,

it is now believed that seven
massive beams at the bow

of the ship had the power
to act as a giant battering

ram with unprecedented force.

RICHARD WINDLEY: Many harbors
were protected by chains.

And if these rams were
set at various points,

this would be a very good way
of breaking through this harbor

protection system.

The force of a vessel of this
weight and this magnitude,

hitting the a chain with a
ram, it would just simply burst

straight through it.

And then the harbor
would be unprotected.

NARRATOR: This bronze beam,
known as the Athlit ram found

off the coast of
Israel, is an example

of the destructive power
of the giant rams mounted

on the bow of the Forty.

[jet zooming]

HUNTER ELLIS: The Forty had
seven different rams of varying

length and they were used
offensively against the enemy

in their ports.

So imagine harnessing
the power of 4,000 rowers

and using those
rams to drive right

into the heart of your enemy.

NARRATOR: A 4,000-ton ship armed
with bronze rams and powered

by 4,000 men could have reduced
enemy ships to splinters in no

time.

But could the seven
rams on the Forty

even wreak havoc on shore?

We know that rams were used
in siege warfare on land,

such as the Helepolis
in ancient Greece

or the huge siege
ram used at Masada.

If the Forty was used to take
down fortified harbors or city

walls, this is an impossible
piece of ancient siege warfare

never seen before.

HUNTER ELLIS: If you
could compare similarities

between Forty and
an aircraft carrier

they're both massive warships,
massive troop carriers

for their day, employing
thousands of warriors.

And also if you look at the
Forty with the seven rams,

you can think of an aircraft
carrier as having 60 plus rams.

The difference is these rams
can be launched, and reach out

and touch you.

NARRATOR: The Forty was
the ultimate super weapon

of the ancient world.

No other ship deployed
such massive manpower

or had such destructive
capabilities,

making it a legend of
impossible engineering.

The world would never
see a ship like the Forty

ever again, a true piece
of impossible engineering.

There was no shortage
of sophisticated weapons

in the ancient world.

Archimedes built a
deadly arsenal harnessing

the natural powers of
the sun and even water

to hold off the Roman Navy.

And the Egyptians built a
warship that even surpassed

some capabilities of the
modern aircraft carrier,

proving that even
for the ancients,

nothing was impossible.