52x05 - Pompeii's Secret Underworld

[bunniefuu]

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Pompeii.

A city at the heart
of the Roman Empire.

Frozen in time by
a devastating volcanic eruption.



Painstakingly excavated,

we can now see the city
for what it was.

Filled with paved streets,

monumental buildings,
and luxurious villas.

This is the heart of an empire.

There is imperial wealth

coming from all directions
into Pompeii.

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

But how complete
is this picture?

Today, archaeologists
uncover evidence

that reveals a
more complex story

behind this 2,000-year-old city.

These were people
often in chains.

They had no hope to survive.

NARRATOR: A world of extremes,

where prosperity and
poverty exist side by side.



Brutal m*rder is
paid entertainment.

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

DARIUS ARYA: Everyone would
have seen those rotting corpses.

And it's a reminder
to everybody,

"This is what Rome can do."

NARRATOR: Using
the latest technology,

archaeologists unearth
ancient artifacts...

REBECCA BENEFIEL: This
main entrance is heavily fortified.

There was extra layers
of security to make sure

that no one could get in.



NARRATOR: exposing
a world where brutality,

crime, and class warfare

lay simmering beneath
a refined veneer...

to uncover the
real story of life

in one of the
most opulent cities

in the ancient Roman Empire.

♪ ♪

"Pompeii's Secret Underworld."

Right now, on "NOVA."

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: In Southern Italy

lies one of the greatest
treasures of the Roman world.



near the Bay of Naples,

is the ancient city of Pompeii.

Here, archaeologists
are carrying out

the largest excavation project

in over 50 years.

JEANNETTE PLUMMER SIRES:
There are so many areas of Pompeii

that have still
been unexcavated.

It is a very exciting place

that continues to
answer questions

about life in the Roman world.

NARRATOR: Although Pompeii
has undergone regular excavation

since its rediscovery
in the 16th century,

over a third of the buried
city remains hidden.

♪ ♪

SIRES: New archaeological
techniques have a huge role to play

in what further stories
we can tell about Pompeii.

There are things that
we can investigate now

that would have been absolute
science fiction 30 years ago.

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

illuminating discoveries
overlooked by history...

♪ ♪

and rewriting our
understanding of the city,

taking us back
in time to the day

everything changed in Pompeii.



On an autumn day in the year


Mount Vesuvius,
violently explodes into life.

Discharging 1.5 million tons

of volcanic material into the
atmosphere every second,

the eruption is
one of the deadliest

human civilization
has ever seen.

SIRES: About three meters
of ash covered the city.

It would have been
absolutely apocalyptic.

NARRATOR: The catastrophic
event wreaks untold damage

and claims thousands of lives.

But the volcano also
does something else.

It effectively stops the clock.

Everything the ash buries
becomes frozen in time,

allowing archaeologists,
more than 1,000 years later,

to explore a
first-century Roman city.

SIRES: The initial excavations

revealed that this was a
highly sophisticated Roman city.

It showed an elaborate
and affluent Roman society

that had been lost to time.

NARRATOR: Beneath
the ash and volcanic debris,

archaeologists discovered
a dense, grid-like metropolis

over 160 acres in size

with an elaborate
urban infrastructure,

huge houses decorated
with beautiful frescos

and filled with
exquisite marble statues,

and architectural wonders...

from monumental buildings

to a huge central forum for
trade and social gatherings.

The ruins of Pompeii

suggest a highly cultured
and civilized society.

But is that the whole story?

The historian Tacitus
describes an event

that occurred at the
city's amphitheater.

SIRES: Pompeii's amphitheater

is one of the oldest
stone-built amphitheaters

in the Roman world.

It had a


Gladiatorial games were an
essential part of Roman life.



The amphitheater was not
just meant to hold spectacles

for the Pompeians,

but it also attracted spectators
from the neighboring towns.

NARRATOR: But in the year 59,

the violence isn't
limited to the arena.



Tacitus recounts how tensions

between Pompeians and a nearby
rival settlement called Nuceria

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



Roman historian Darius Arya
revisits the scene of the riot.

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

and ultimately people
start drawing the swords,

and they're fighting
in the stands,

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



NARRATOR: At the National
Archaeological Museum of Naples,

a 2,000-year-old fresco

provides a contemporary
account of the event...

revealing that the
clash between the fans

escalated into a citywide riot.



ARYA: The relatives of the
deceased go to Rome itself

and beseech the
emperor to intervene.

He turns it over to the Senate.

And the consuls then
get involved and say,

"No more gladiatorial games

in this venue for ten years."

NARRATOR: For Rome to intervene
suggests a serious disturbance.

Could it mean
that this civil unrest

was not just a one-time event?



Or was this just
the latest outbreak

in a city where
violence and unrest

were perpetually simmering?



Archaeologist Rebecca Benefiel

is studying some
of the ancient graffiti

near the commercial
heart of Pompeii.

♪ ♪

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

with the naked eye.

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

little traces of
red paint in there.

NARRATOR: To bring the
ancient messages to life,

Rebecca takes a series of photos

and uses software to
enhance the traces of paint.

When we have even
infinitesimal amounts

of pigment left,

it can enhance that

so that we can
see what was there.

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

I, I, T, "taberna."

♪ ♪

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

has perished, has gone missing,

"de taberna," from this shop.

And it continues and says,

"65 sesterces will be given

as a reward."

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

Historical records indicate
it was the equivalent

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

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

The inscription
is a little messy,

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

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

So the inscription reveals
how one resident, at least,

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

♪ ♪

So how common was
this kind of lawlessness?

Are there other signs of crime

that might hint at a more
widespread problem?

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

Pompeii's residents went
to protect themselves.

BENEFIEL: This main
entrance is heavily fortified.

There was extra
layers of security

to make sure that
no one could get in.

NARRATOR: A plaster cast
taken from a cavity has revealed

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

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

There would be a
lock across here.

But in this house, they
felt like they needed

to be extra secure,
and so they added

this additional beam
across, to hold it closed,

and then this huge
stretch of wood

that they jammed into place

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



NARRATOR: Violent
clashes, rough justice,

and a homeowner's
defense against robbery.

What was driving these tensions?

Answering that question
requires a better understanding

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

♪ ♪

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

the Porta Stabia,

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

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

because there
are a lot of details

about history, economy,

and also the society of Pompeii.

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

and former director of the
Archaeological Park of Pompeii.

When his team first stumbled
across the tomb in 2017,

they immediately knew
it was something special.

OSANNA: The marble is not local.

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

So, the material says

that the owner was a
very, very rich person.

A V.I.P. of the antiquity.

NARRATOR: But a key
piece of information is missing.

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

and we lose, with the
upper part of tombs,

the name of the owner.



NARRATOR: Massimo believes
clues to the owner's identity

can be found nearby.

♪ ♪

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

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

And in my opinion,

also this tomb belong
to one of these Allei.

♪ ♪

We can consider, I
think, only one person:

Nigidius Alleius Maius.

NARRATOR: Nigidius Alleius Maius

was a highly
influential politician

and organizer of gladiatorial
spectacles in Pompeii.

A 13-foot-long inscription
across seven lines

praises the life of the
deceased and his achievements.

But the epitaph also
mentions something else:

an extraordinary
coming-of-age party,

when the tomb's occupant
entered adulthood.



OSANNA: "In epulum."

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

Not so normal is the
invited to this epulum,

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

Of course, not everybody.

Just the adult male
citizen of Pompeii.



NARRATOR: If the
inscription is to be believed,

for entertainment,


in the city's amphitheater.

And to ensure his
guests' comfort,


sofas, called triclinia,

were arranged for
the grand banquet.

♪ ♪

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

"Ita ut in triclinis quinideni
homines discumberent."

In each triclinio,
there are 15 person.

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

an extravagant
display of wealth.

It's perhaps no surprise, then,

that the inscription
also reveals

this wealthy Pompeian

had connections
all the way to the top.

To the emperor himself.

So how close was
the relationship

between Pompeii and Rome?

In the sixth century BCE,

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

there was no Roman Empire.

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

bound by alliances with Rome,

which was just
a small city-state

but a significant
regional power.

Through a combination
of military strength

and economic
expansion, over 400 years,

Rome's territory grew,

absorbing parts of Spain,

North Africa, Greece,
and modern-day Turkey.

♪ ♪

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

This was a time of conflict.

They were constantly expanding.



♪ ♪

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

the relationship between Rome

and its provincial cities had
reached a breaking point.

MIKO FLOHR: One
problem that is facing Rome

is that they become
incredibly wealthy,

but that wealth is being divided

in ways which may not
have been entirely fair.

And that creates
a lot of tensions.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: In 90 BCE,

those tensions
reach a boiling point,

and w*r breaks out
across the Italian Peninsula

between Rome and
some of its allies.



Over two years, Rome
crushes the revolt,

which has spread to Pompeii,

and the city is declared
a Roman colony.

♪ ♪

Now subdued,

Pompeii becomes a
playground for rich Romans,

attracted by the cool
Mediterranean climate

and stunning vistas.

That in turn supercharges
Pompeii's economy,

turning it into a
prosperous urban center.

FLOHR: Rich Roman families
start building luxury villas.

That is where they spend
the money that they made

all over the empire.

So, for Pompeii, that means

that the city gets
completely transformed.

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

merchandise from its conquests

filters in through the Bay
of Naples and Pompeii,

making traders
here very wealthy.

FLOHR: This is the
heart of an empire.

There is imperial wealth
coming from all directions.

And that is what explains
what you see in Pompeii.

NARRATOR: But that
wealth is heavily reliant

on another common and
brutal feature of Roman society.

♪ ♪

In the early first century BCE,

the street now known
as Via dell'Abbondanza

was a hive of activity.

Running through
the center of the city,

it was one of
Pompeii's busiest roads,

lined with shops,
bars, and houses.

Here, archaeologists uncovered
the house of a rich baker.

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

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

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

and the great doors.

You can imagine the
ancient splendor of this house.

NARRATOR: Director of the
Archaeological Park of Pompeii

Gabriel Zuchtriegel
explores the site.

Only if you go
inside and really go

to the rear of the house,

then you'll discover
the other side of Pompeii

and the hidden aspects
of the ancient society.

♪ ♪

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

is where bread was baked
using grain ground into flour

with four huge millstones.

Close by, archaeologists
discover a small stable

with the skeletons of five mules

used to keep flour
production running 24/7.

♪ ♪

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

ZUCHTRIEGEL: It would be moved

by one mule and one sl*ve,

who had to control
the animal and push.

There were holes on the sides,

and you could
insert wooden bars.

And you have to imagine
the mule and the sl*ve

going around the
mill all day long.

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

by the enslaved.

Two mules can't pass by here

at the same time.

So, it's almost
like a clockwork,

where they had to
organize the movements

of several people and animals.

NARRATOR: Conditions
here would have been brutal.

ZUCHTRIEGEL: We have descriptions
from antiquity which are terrible.

These were people
often in chains.



ZUCHTRIEGEL: They
rarely saw the daylight.

They rarely could
breathe fresh air.

These were amongst the heaviest

and most difficult conditions
for enslaved workers.

♪ ♪

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

A new find in the same building

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

Scratched on the
walls of a courtyard

is a stick figure scene

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

ZUCHTRIEGEL: So here
we see the gladiators...

helmet, shield, maybe
a sword or a spear.

And here the, the two guys

with long spears
hunting animals.

We can imagine children
running around here,

and what we see is,

some of them must have
been in the amphitheater.

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

ARYA: The people that
are fighting in the arenas,

they are, by and
large, enslaved people.



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

But at the same time,

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

They could become celebrities.

So, there's a lot of
complexities involved

in the idea of sl*very
in the ancient world.

♪ ♪

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

but a cornerstone
of the city's economy.


fighters grunting)

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

that are financing the games.

You got people that are
here selling their wares.

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

from the games in
the amphitheater.

NARRATOR: From manual labor

to gladiatorial
combat, over the years,

Pompeii's economy
increasingly relied

on the labor of enslaved people.


bleating in background)

FLOHR: Many more people
were held as sl*ves in Pompeii

in the early first century BCE

than there had been
a century before.

And they were also
much more a central part

of the urban experience.

They made the urban experience.

So, in many parts
of the economy,

enslaved persons would
be present, if not dominant.

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

But what did that
inequality actually look like?

And can it be measured?

FLOHR: In Pompeii,
inequality is not some abstract

documentary category,

but you can see it in
the urban landscape,

so you can see it
in the architecture.

You can see it as you
walk through the city.

And that was not
only true in antiquity,

but it also is true nowadays.

NARRATOR: Historian
Miko Flohr's pioneering work

has illuminated how the
level of social inequality

in Pompeii can be deciphered

by examining the
intricacies of its houses.

FLOHR: So, I use house size

and house complexity
as a starting point.

And in this graph,

I use yellow to indicate
the larger houses.

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

So, if you look
at the entire city,

you see a lot of red
houses in some parts

and fewer red
houses in other parts.

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

and even what was found in
them, from large complexes

to simpler dwellings
across the city,

Flohr can see the spatial
segregation of social classes.

♪ ♪

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

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

and relatively poorer people

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

NARRATOR: Plotting
the data on a graph

provides a different
perspective.

FLOHR: What you then see

is a graph that starts
with a smaller house.

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

And that sharp peak
that includes, say,

the top five percent
of households.

So, this is what we
would call the elite.

In terms of the
number of households,

that elite is fairly small.

NARRATOR: Flohr's
results indicate a society

with enormous
economic inequality.

FLOHR: There is an
extremely large divide

between the richest people
and the poorest people.

These larger houses,

they reflect the adaptation
of domestic architecture

to mass enslavement
as a phenomenon.

NARRATOR: Flohr
believes Pompeii reflects

the Roman Empire's
expansion and growth.

♪ ♪

FLOHR: Pompeii is not
the average Roman city.

It is a very specific
Roman city,

which was massively transformed

by being at the
heart of the empire,

and therefore massively
unequal, much more unequal

than many other Roman
cities all over the empire.

NARRATOR: During
the first century BCE,

with Rome moving resources

from its conquered
territories to its center,

Pompeii saw the
ancient equivalent

of the Industrial Revolution.

FLOHR: So, becoming
wealthy in Pompeii means

that a few people profit

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

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

when looking at Pompeii.

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

and on the poverty
of many people.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: The constant
mass mobilization of citizens

for Rome's wars led
to an increasing need

for enslaved persons

to keep basic economic
functions going at home.



But warfare was also
the primary source

for this free workforce:
prisoners of w*r.



This put Rome on a path

to becoming what
was by some measures

the world's largest
sl*ve society in history.

♪ ♪

Experts estimate,
by the first century,

over 200,000 enslaved
children were born

in ancient Italy every year.

♪ ♪

FLOHR: Some people
have argued that at least



were held as sl*ves or
had been held as sl*ves

at some point in their lives.

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

NARRATOR: Unsurprisingly,
not all enslaved people

accepted their lot
unquestioningly.

On the walls of an
ordinary Pompeian house,

buried beneath layers of paint,

are the faint traces
of an intriguing sketch

of two men fighting
on horseback.

We have this really
fantastically preserved fresco.

We can see these
two figures engaging.

The shields are lifted.

They're battling to the death.

And here's a name
that's preserved.

It's written "Spartaks."

So Spartaks: Spartacus.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: The
events of Spartacus's life

come from the
contemporary writers

Plutarch and Appian.

The infamous rebel Spartacus
trained at a gladiator school

just 30 miles from Pompeii.

♪ ♪

In 73 BCE,

Spartacus escaped
with 70 other gladiators

and assembled
just outside Pompeii,

on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius.

♪ ♪

ARYA: For Spartacus, it's a city

like Pompeii that's
going to represent

everything against
what they stood for.

Because what is the
Pompeian society all about?

Well, it works because
you have sl*ves.

It works because you
have entertainment.

And who are the gladiators in
the amphitheater of Pompeii?

Enslaved peoples
from all over the empire.



NARRATOR: Gradually,
more and more escaped sl*ves

joined Spartacus's ranks.

His rebellious army
roamed across the peninsula,

gathering up to


and raiding with impunity.

♪ ♪



ARYA: With Spartacus' success,

he's forming truly
a legitimate army.

And he has all the trappings

of a successful
general, and we know

that he even makes some
of the captured prisoners

fight as gladiators, so
the tables are truly turned.

NARRATOR:
Spartacus's revolt poses

a significant threat to
Rome until he is k*lled

in a violent battle and


♪ ♪

What follows is horrific
punishment for the survivors.

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

Lining the Via Appia,

portion of which I'm
even walking on today,

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

And you can imagine,
every 100 feet,

there's going to
be a rotting corpse

from that grand revolt
once led by Spartacus.

♪ ♪

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

stretching from Rome to
Brindisi in Southeast Italy.

It serves both as a military
and economic artery.

ARYA: Everyone would have
seen those rotting corpses.

And it's a reminder
to everybody,

of every level of society,

"This is what Rome can do."

NARRATOR: Rome relied on
violence to maintain civil order.

But what about
within the households

of wealthy enslavers?

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

in the ruins of Civita
Giuliana, lies a clue

to how the enslaved
were controlled.

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

NARRATOR: Here,
archaeologists discover a series

of opulent reception rooms,
with exquisite stone floors.

But it wasn't the
opulence of the villa

that caught their attention.

It was what lay beneath.

The quarters of the enslaved.

ZUCHTRIEGEL: This is the
largest room we know so far

from the sl*ves' quarters,
and it's the stable.

And what we can see is

one of the famous
Pompeian plaster casts.

So the horse was
dead in the moment

of the arrival of the ash cloud

at the time, the eruption.

The body disintegrated

and left a void, a
negative in the soil

that became hard and solid.

NARRATOR: To create the casts,

archaeologists pour
plaster into the voids.

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

regained through the negative

that was preserved inside
the underground, in the soil.

NARRATOR: In a
corner of the villa,

Zuchtriegel's team
uncovers a series

of cramped living
spaces with telltale voids.

♪ ♪

After filling them with plaster,

they discover
several wooden beds.

The lack of decoration and
personal items provides clues

to the status of its occupants.

We have the unique
opportunity in Pompeii

to see what's almost like

a photograph of an
ancient sl*ve room.

NARRATOR: But there's a mystery:

there's no evidence
of chains or bars.

So what would stop the
enslaved from escaping?

ZUCHTRIEGEL: Ancient sl*ve
owners were always concerned

about sl*ves trying to escape.

Sometimes they would use chains

and maybe iron bars
before the windows.

We found examples
of this in Pompeii,

but it's not the case here.

So, there must have been

a different kind of control.

♪ ♪

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

One of the beds is more
luxurious than the others.

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

were decorated
with intricate patterns,

suggesting status.

ZUCHTRIEGEL: The
people who lived here,

especially this person here,

had some kind of special role
inside the sl*ve community.

And through promises

and little privileges,

the masters could
rely on these people

in controlling the others.

And so, we can see how
sl*ve owners try to assure,

through the organization
of the sl*ve community,

that there was no
rebellion and escape.



NARRATOR: Levels of status
within the enslaved community

may have helped enslavers
maintain their authority.

But might a recently
discovered tomb at a burial site

close to Pompeii's
main eastern gate

reveal yet another way the
social order was maintained?

Archaeologist Llorenç Alapont

leads the team that
made the discovery.

ALAPONT: Our research is
about archaeology of death.

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

and in particular in Pompeii,

we have all this
information intact.

They've remain intact
after 2,000 years.

NARRATOR: An inscription
at the entrance of the tomb

not only provides a
wealth of intriguing details

about the life of the deceased,

but also his name:

Marcus Venerius Secundio.

ALAPONT: So we know
that he was a public sl*ve,

but he was a
particular public sl*ve.

He was the guardian
of the Temple of Venus.

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

NARRATOR: As an enslaved
person in public service,

Marcus Venerius, like many
others in Roman society,

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

The inscription on the tomb
reveals he was granted freedom

and became an Augustalis,
a high-status priest.

And it suggests
that Marcus Venerius

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

Emperor Nero.

ALAPONT: The wife of
Nero was from Pompeii,

and we know that Nero
visit Pompeii, as well,

and when Nero visit
the Temple of Venus,

the guardian was
Marcus Venerius.

And for sure, they
meet each other.

NARRATOR: But what
was the background

of this former enslaved
individual who rose to power?

When the archaeologists
opened the tomb,

they made a startling discovery:

partially mummified remains.

ALAPONT: We never expect
to find one embalm body.

So, of course, we were shocked.

He is the best-preserve
individual in Pompeii.

NARRATOR: In ancient
Roman funerary customs,

cremation was the norm.

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

ALAPONT: This is a key question,

why he decide to be
buried and not cremated

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

NARRATOR: To find answers,

the archaeologists collect the
remains and send a specimen

to a lab in Florence
for analysis.

♪ ♪

Here, the scientists
hope to extract DNA

from a premolar
tooth to learn more

about Marcus Venerius's
ancestral origins.

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

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

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: The
study reveals not only

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

His DNA is added to a data bank

and compared to
the genetic makeup

of other ancient populations.

CARAMELLI: This is
Southern European population,

this is Mediterranean
population,

this is African, North
African population,

and this is the
Caucasian population.

So Marcus Venerius Secundo

fall in the Caucas population.

NARRATOR: The analysis
places Marcus Venerius's origins

in the Caucasus,

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

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

The results could explain
why he chose to be buried

and not cremated.

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

So probably he bring his custom,

his culture, to
Pompeii, as well.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: While
Marcus Venerius's story

is the exception,
rather than the rule,

it hints at the complexity
of Pompeian society.

BENEFIEL: In Pompeii, we
see a number of examples

of freed people who were
showing off their wealth.

They're showing their status,

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



They have achieved a
level of status and of wealth

that was probably
inspiring to others,

and that changed the hopes
and possibilities for the enslaved.

NARRATOR: The enslaved
lived in hope of freedom.

And this might have helped
the wealthy maintain control.

BENEFIEL: If you're one
of the better-trained sl*ves,

you're gonna be
given additional tasks,

you'll be given much
greater independence.

They'll count on you.

And if you show
yourself as very capable,

you might have a chance
to buy your freedom.

NARRATOR: By the time
of Marcus Venerius's death

in the second half
of the first century,

experts estimate about


in ancient Italy every year.

How might this have
impacted Pompeian society?

Researchers can
never know for sure,

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

Vesuvius strikes.



ZUCHTRIEGEL: We
know it started around noon,

with a huge column

of volcanic material rising
from Mount Vesuvius,

which was a total surprise
for the people living in Pompeii.

NARRATOR: The expl*si*n
is visible over 100 miles away.

Roman writer Pliny the Younger

witnessed the event
from a nearby town

across the Bay of Naples.

Pliny says it's
like a pine tree.

And it started
raining little stones

of lava that came
out of the volcano.

♪ ♪

This continued until the
morning of the next day.

And eventually, you get
almost three meters of deposits

of these lapilli, small stones.

And you have to
imagine people panicking.

They didn't know
what had happened.

♪ ♪

SIRES: The people
of Pompeii didn't know

that Mount Vesuvius was
anything other than a mountain.

They were used to tremors,

they were used to
earthquakes, but this notion

of fire raining
down from the skies

would have just been horrifying.

♪ ♪

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

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

and not everyone in Pompeii
died at the same moment.

NARRATOR: Archaeologist Llorenç
Alapont focuses on how those caught

frozen in time by
the volcano died.

Using an X-ray,

Llorenç and his team
examine the bones hidden

in Pompeii's plaster casts.

The scan of one individual
reveals striation on the knee,

indicating the person
suffered from osteoarthritis.

ALAPONT: What we found is
that people who had difficulties

stay in their houses.

People who has disability

or family who has children.

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

NARRATOR: The scans
taken by Llorenç and his team

reveal the facial
expressions of the victims

with incredible detail.

♪ ♪

It provides a clue as to
how this individual perished.

When I see this individual,

how they, we found them,

they remind me the victims

who die in the
mountains, like Everest.

When they die exhausted

because they couldn't breathe,

and they look exactly the same.

It suggests that he died
exhausted by asphyxiation.

NARRATOR: While many
people died in collapsed buildings

due to the deluge
of volcanic material

and violent earthquakes
that shook the city,

in later phases of the eruption,
others succumbed to asphyxiation

by the toxic gases
that engulfed Pompeii.

♪ ♪

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

triggering a series
of pyroclastic flows.

This mixture of hot
gases and volcanic debris

runs down the
slopes of Vesuvius,

incinerating
everything in its path

and burying Pompeii.


people yelling)



The archaeological
evidence paints a tragic picture

of confusion, fear,
and desperation

as the people of
Pompeii tried to escape

the catastrophic eruption.

Since its rediscovery,

over 1,000 bodies have
been uncovered at Pompeii.

While it's believed many
victims remain buried,

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

Suggesting that a
significant number of people

escaped the initial
fury of the volcano.

♪ ♪

Today, the ruins
of Pompeii provide

a fascinating window
into a city of extremes,

where social inequality
and economic disparity

were woven into
the fabric of daily life.

FLOHR: I think what
you see in Pompeii

is that there's a limited
number of families

that become exceptionally rich.

So, the way in which you
can see social differences

and social inequality in Pompeii

offer a microcosm of social
inequality in the Roman Empire

in its extreme form.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: From the
opulent villas of the elite

to the brutal life in
the city's bakeries,

Pompeii's urban landscape

mirrored the stark
divisions in Roman society.

ZUCHTRIEGEL: Pompeii shows
us the underworld, the other side

of the story, which is really

what's lacking in this
perspective of elite history,

but also for us
as archaeologists.

NARRATOR: With every new
building brought into the light

after 2,000 years of darkness,

Pompeii is slowly
giving up its secrets

house by house,
street by street,

revealing a city
with a dark past,

struck down and frozen in time

in a shocking moment of terror.

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