Up to one million gladiators are thought to have died in arenas across the Roman Empire. Seventy-five were recently found in a single cemetery in York. Two thousand years ago, York was a Roman stronghold, a staging ground for the push against the Scots. Apart from ancient Italy, Roman Britain had the highest density of gladiatorial arenas in Europe. As part of a routine building inspection in the outskirts of York, archaeologists discover an ancient Roman burial site. It soon became apparent the find was anything but routine. Of total 80, 75 of the skeletons were men, a much higher majority than would be expected in a family grave site. The height, build and signs of musculature made the men much bigger than that of the average Roman man. A closer inspection of the bones also revealed a number of cut marks and fractures, evidence the men were no strangers to violence. Most disturbing of all most of the men had been brutally decapitated. Could the men be gladiators?
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The Romans were brilliant engineers and soldiers, but what isn't as well known is that they also gave us wonderful artistic treasures. In this three-part series, Alastair Sooke argues that the old-fashioned view that the Romans didn't do art is nonsense. He traces how the Romans during the Republic went from being art thieves and copycats to pioneering a new artistic style - warts 'n' all realism. Roman portraits reveal what the great names from history, men like Julius Caesar and Cicero, actually looked like. Modern-day artists demonstrate the ingenious techniques used to create these true to life masterpieces in marble, bronze and paint. We can step back into the Roman world thanks to their invention of the documentary-style marble relief and to a volcano called Vesuvius. Sooke explores the remarkable artistic legacy of Pompeii before showing how Rome's first emperor, Augustus, used the power of art to help forge an empire.
S1E1 • Treasures of Ancient Rome • 2012 • History
Dan Snow journeys through Egypt's Valley of the Kings, and uncovers the stories of European explorers going in search of treasures in this long-lost desert chasm. He discovers the work of maverick engineer Giovanni Belzoni, who levered out statues of pharaohs, the rivalries that erupted between teams of explorers across Europe in search of long-buried treasures, and tells the story of the most famous discovery in the valley - Howard Carter's unearthing of Tutankhamun's Tomb.
2022 • History
A fully dramatised reconstruction of the story of the first atomic bomb deployed in an act of war. Interviews with both the aircrew who dropped the bomb and the survivors, special visual effects and archive all bring to life the fateful mission of the Enola Gay and the devastating impact of the bomb on the people of Hiroshima.
2005 • History
Marking the anniversary of the first detonation of a nuclear weapon in wartime and the swift end it brought to World War II, this special features never-before-seen archival footage, long-suppressed colour film from the immediate aftermath of the bomb, and overlooked audio testimony from core protagonists and victims to provide a a unique and highly personal understanding of the most devastating experiment in human history. HIROSHIMA: 75 YEARS LATER aims to infuse humanity into one of the planet's darkest moments, allowing the figures who designed, built and detonated the bomb, as well as those who were caught in its wake, to narrate their own journeys through an astonishing story of scientific endeavor, unprecedented ambition and unyielding horror. Told entirely from the first-person perspective of leaders, physicists, soldiers and survivors, the documentary presents the moral, scientific and military conundrums of the atomic bomb as felt by those closest to it.
2020 • History
Actor Clive Standon travels across Europe with Viking experts to discover how the Vikings were able to invade England and France. In Rise of the Pagans,Vikings actors Clive Standen and Maude Hirst travel to Scandinavia to explore the pagan beliefs and warrior culture of the Vikings-and dispel myths about their violent society.
S1E1 • Real Vikings • 2016 • History