Excavating Pompeii

In 305 CE, a carefully staged transition took place: the emperors Diocletian and Maximian retired, handing power to a new generation of rulers. Exactly how it happened is still debated, but the act itself was unprecedented in the long history of the Roman Empire. Support Emperors ...  Show more

In the early fourth century the emperors of the Tetrarchy initiated what later Christians would call the “Great Persecution.” Under Diocletian and his colleagues, churches were demolished, sacred texts seized, and believers forced to choose between sacrificing to the Roman gods o ...  Show more

Warning: this episode contains explicit language and discussions of sex.Pompeii is a city frozen in time and shows us exactly how the Romans really lived. Buried by volcanic ash and debris from a catastrophic eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, visitors to the Roman town can still see ...  Show more

In 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius unleashed devastation on the Roman world, burying entire towns beneath volcanic ash. While Pompeii is world-famous, another extraordinary site met the same fate - Herculaneum.

In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by Profe ...

Buried in ash, frozen in time—Pompeii offers one of the most extraordinary windows into everyday life in ancient Rome.

In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr Gabriel Zuchtriegel, Director of Pompeii, to explore the latest discoveries ...

Under the orders of King Charles III - who wanted marble and classical art for his palace at Portici - Spanish military engineer Roque Joaquín de Alcubierre excavated some Campanian ruins on 1st April, 1748 - and discovered the long-lost city of Pompeii. Buried beneath volcanic a ...  Show more