0:00:11 > 0:00:14I first came to Pompeii in 1973,
0:00:14 > 0:00:17and I've been here hundreds of times.
0:00:19 > 0:00:23I always find a new corner to explore and new surprises.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27I'm back amongst its ancient ruins because I have an unmissable
0:00:27 > 0:00:31chance to experience Pompeii as I've never done before.
0:00:31 > 0:00:35The very fabric of the town, its buildings and people, are undergoing
0:00:35 > 0:00:38a major new forensic study.
0:00:38 > 0:00:43At the centre are the famous casts - the human victims of the
0:00:43 > 0:00:47volcanic eruption of AD 79.
0:00:47 > 0:00:51These are such moving objects that it's always been impossible not to
0:00:51 > 0:00:54imagine their stories in your head.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58What must have been happening, what they must have been going through.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02Over the years, all kinds of stories have been invented about who
0:01:02 > 0:01:06these people were and what kind of life they might have led.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09But now, using a medical CT scanner,
0:01:09 > 0:01:12which can peer beneath the fragile plaster,
0:01:12 > 0:01:16an international team of experts are looking to uncover the truth.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21I am preparing myself for some surprises.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27People I've always thought were women turning out to be men.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31Children turning out not to be related to the people holding them.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38'And while I get to poke around behind the scenes in locked
0:01:38 > 0:01:40'storerooms and labs...'
0:01:40 > 0:01:44This is absolutely disgusting.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48'..a team of specialist architects, armed with the latest laser
0:01:48 > 0:01:53'mapping technology, will create stunning digital replicas of
0:01:53 > 0:01:54'some of the buildings.'
0:01:55 > 0:01:58These will help produce the most accurate and detailed 3-D
0:01:58 > 0:02:01map of Pompeii ever made.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05All together, this should give us an unrivalled image of what daily
0:02:05 > 0:02:07Roman life was like.
0:02:08 > 0:02:13It's just metres and metres of lead pipes.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19For me, these are some of the things that really close
0:02:19 > 0:02:23the gap between our world and the Roman world.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27Everyone knows how the people of Pompeii died...
0:02:28 > 0:02:31..but this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance
0:02:31 > 0:02:34to reveal their life before death.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56What I love about Pompeii is that it was such an ordinary little
0:02:56 > 0:03:00Roman town. Its only claim to fame was being destroyed
0:03:00 > 0:03:05and buried by the eruption of the volcano Vesuvius in 79 AD.
0:03:26 > 0:03:31It was then completely forgotten, until many centuries later it
0:03:31 > 0:03:34was accidently found and uncovered again.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42It now gives us
0:03:42 > 0:03:47an absolutely unique glimpse of how ordinary Romans lived their lives.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58What makes Pompeii unique is not only that we have its streets
0:03:58 > 0:04:00and houses,
0:04:00 > 0:04:05but we also have some of its people, in the form of the ghostly casts.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09Which were recovered by a surprisingly simple process
0:04:09 > 0:04:11that dates back to the 1860s,
0:04:11 > 0:04:16when the archaeologists digging in Pompeii discovered that
0:04:16 > 0:04:21around many of the skeletons of the victims was strange cavities.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23After pouring in liquid plaster,
0:04:23 > 0:04:27what emerged was an exact imprint of a human body.
0:04:30 > 0:04:35And because of their twisted poses and eerie grins,
0:04:35 > 0:04:41it's been all but impossible not to graft stories, even names,
0:04:41 > 0:04:42onto these victims.
0:04:42 > 0:04:47Like the couple in each other's arms, the old beggar and the
0:04:47 > 0:04:50family with this tiny toddler.
0:04:52 > 0:04:58These are people captured for ever at the exact moment of their death.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14These stories are certainly evocative,
0:05:14 > 0:05:16but they are at best guesswork.
0:05:16 > 0:05:21Now, for the first time, the casts are being brought together into
0:05:21 > 0:05:25Pompeii's amphitheatre for our forensic study,
0:05:25 > 0:05:30with a CT scanner capable of finding even the smallest trace of
0:05:30 > 0:05:31real evidence.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34For forensic archaeologist Estelle Lazer,
0:05:34 > 0:05:39this is a chance to cast new light on who the victims really
0:05:39 > 0:05:42were, as well as who they were not.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46It's an adventure. We have no idea
0:05:46 > 0:05:49what we are going to find and that's really exciting.
0:05:49 > 0:05:53Nobody has studied these before, they have had no scientific
0:05:53 > 0:05:58examination and yet so much has been written about them, and to
0:05:58 > 0:06:01give them back the lives they originally had
0:06:01 > 0:06:03- is a wonderful opportunity. - BEEPING
0:06:09 > 0:06:13But it's not just the casts that are under examination.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17Pompeii itself is in the grip of a once-in-a-generation
0:06:17 > 0:06:18restoration programme.
0:06:22 > 0:06:26The Great Pompeii Project is a 100-million-euro
0:06:26 > 0:06:31scheme which is fighting the ravages of time and weather to save the
0:06:31 > 0:06:37fabric of the town. I'm lucky enough to have been allowed behind
0:06:37 > 0:06:39the scenes, still off-limits to most visitors,
0:06:39 > 0:06:45to see life breathed back into some of the buildings and their frescoes.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51And to help us really understand how the town worked,
0:06:51 > 0:06:55we've commissioned a team of specialist architects to
0:06:55 > 0:07:00create a spectacularly detailed bird's-eye view.
0:07:00 > 0:07:05Using 3-D laser scanners, they're busy capturing precise digital
0:07:05 > 0:07:07replicas of the buildings,
0:07:07 > 0:07:12which will reveal Pompeii in a way that has never been seen before.
0:07:17 > 0:07:22As we fly down streets, over roofs and even through walls.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28Now for the first time, we will get to see, from previously
0:07:28 > 0:07:33impossible perspectives, where the average Pompeian ate, drank,
0:07:33 > 0:07:35bathed and even had it away.
0:07:37 > 0:07:41And as this was a Roman town, the most spectacular and exciting
0:07:41 > 0:07:43place was its amphitheatre...
0:07:46 > 0:07:51..where Pompeii's gladiators did battle in front of a 20,000-strong
0:07:51 > 0:07:56crowd, cheering, leering, very likely baying for blood.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01Gladiators were big entertainment here, like everywhere
0:08:01 > 0:08:06in the Roman world. There must have been troops of them
0:08:06 > 0:08:10under their own money-making impresarios, who travelled
0:08:10 > 0:08:14the region putting on fights in the local amphitheatres.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17They lived in military-style barracks
0:08:17 > 0:08:21and they were highly trained in swordplay, fighting tactics
0:08:21 > 0:08:23and in putting on a good show.
0:08:27 > 0:08:31Pompeii's amphitheatre is one of the best preserved in the whole
0:08:31 > 0:08:33Roman world.
0:08:33 > 0:08:38The noise and atmosphere would have been electric,
0:08:38 > 0:08:43as each pair of gladiators made their way into the arena.
0:08:49 > 0:08:53Don't think Hollywood here - we are in a little Roman town in
0:08:53 > 0:08:56the lower divisions of the league.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59And there wouldn't have been too much fighting to the death -
0:08:59 > 0:09:03gladiators were too expensive a commodity to lose.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07This was probably more like wrestling than boxing.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11All the same, it would have been an occasion to look forward to.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14You have to imagine the audience all on the edge of their seats,
0:09:14 > 0:09:16watching what was going on in the arena.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19There would be music, drums,
0:09:19 > 0:09:22gladiators out there in their shiny helmets, their polished weapons
0:09:22 > 0:09:26and the nets with which they trapped each other, and the crowd
0:09:26 > 0:09:30would have cheered when their favourite felled an opponent.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34Yeah, come on, Celadus, stick it up him!
0:09:43 > 0:09:45This wasn't just adult entertainment.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48Going to the games was also
0:09:48 > 0:09:52a family day out, and it makes you think a bit.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56Mum, Dad and a couple of kids, maybe?
0:09:57 > 0:10:02Well, one such family is now amongst Pompeii's most famous casts.
0:10:09 > 0:10:14Discovered in 1974, they were found cowering in a basement.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19They must have come here to hide, thinking it was the safest
0:10:19 > 0:10:20place in the house.
0:10:20 > 0:10:25Story is that we have a father, here...
0:10:26 > 0:10:31..a mother, here, still holding a young child.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35And there is also a toddler, usually assumed to be part of the group.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38But we don't actually know where he or she was found.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43At just a couple of feet tall,
0:10:43 > 0:10:46the toddler easily fits into the CT scanner.
0:10:46 > 0:10:53Its tiny frame, a poignant reminder of how indiscriminate disasters are.
0:10:53 > 0:10:58When you look straight at its face, you notice it's got chubby
0:10:58 > 0:11:00baby lips, it's looking right at you.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03You have to have a heart of stone,
0:11:03 > 0:11:09not to be really touched by this. One of the things I'm looking
0:11:09 > 0:11:15for here is to begin to think about families, childcare.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18It looks obvious to us that it's
0:11:18 > 0:11:21Mum, Dad and two children but is that the case?
0:11:21 > 0:11:24BEEPING
0:11:27 > 0:11:32The powerful machine can not only look through the plaster to
0:11:32 > 0:11:33find the skeleton,
0:11:33 > 0:11:37but also any objects trapped within.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40Is this the child's belt? Is that a clasp?
0:11:40 > 0:11:43If there is anything like metal in there, it will show.
0:11:43 > 0:11:47It's very evocative, we have got a very small child
0:11:47 > 0:11:50who died in this disaster well before its time.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01As our tiny cast slides into the scanner,
0:12:01 > 0:12:06I can't help imagining what life for a child might have been like
0:12:06 > 0:12:082,000 years ago.
0:12:09 > 0:12:13No formal school buildings have ever been uncovered in Pompeii
0:12:13 > 0:12:17and childhood here has always been a bit of a puzzle.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24This is Pompeii's public park,
0:12:24 > 0:12:29and bang in the middle, a great big swimming pool. I guess some days,
0:12:29 > 0:12:32it would have been heaving with people.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34It's right next door to the amphitheatre.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37This is where the refreshment sellers
0:12:37 > 0:12:40and the souvenir vendors would be, where people would camp
0:12:40 > 0:12:42out overnight if they had come from a long way away.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45And it's where people would have come to go to the lavatory -
0:12:45 > 0:12:49the facilities in the amphitheatre itself were basic.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54And in the colonnade, kids learning to read and write.
0:12:56 > 0:13:01Places like this were the perfect spot for private tutors to
0:13:01 > 0:13:05set up shop out of the sun, or sheltering from the rain.
0:13:06 > 0:13:11The curriculum was pretty narrow - reading, writing, arithmetic
0:13:11 > 0:13:16and grammar - and it could be pretty brutal, too.
0:13:16 > 0:13:21There is a painting that actually survives from Pompeii -
0:13:21 > 0:13:25a terrible tale - there are some very good boys on one side,
0:13:25 > 0:13:29doing their reading very dutifully under the supervision of a
0:13:29 > 0:13:35teacher, here. The other side, there is a naughty boy. He's been late,
0:13:35 > 0:13:40he's been cheeky, hasn't done his homework. And he is being beaten.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45Not just beaten, he seems to have been completely stripped,
0:13:45 > 0:13:49he's propped up on the back of a teacher, here,
0:13:49 > 0:13:51and his legs are pulled out behind him.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54And he's being absolutely thwacked.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59Some people might call it old-fashioned discipline.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02To me, it looks more like cruelty to children.
0:14:14 > 0:14:19Education was brutal, expensive and only for boys who could afford it.
0:14:23 > 0:14:29Girls were simply expected to stay at home, while the poor had to work.
0:14:29 > 0:14:34In fact, here in Pompeii, we have found rather few toys,
0:14:34 > 0:14:38no sign of specifically children's clothing,
0:14:38 > 0:14:42no sign of children's entertainment.
0:14:42 > 0:14:47It's almost as if, in our sense, childhood was absent here.
0:14:47 > 0:14:51But, of course, kids were still kids.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55All over Pompeii,
0:14:55 > 0:14:59we find graffiti that can only have been made by little ones.
0:15:01 > 0:15:05Images of animals and people that could have been scratched yesterday.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25Back in the investigation, not all of our victims will fit into our
0:15:25 > 0:15:30CT scanner so Estelle's team have decamped to where the casts
0:15:30 > 0:15:32are on display.
0:15:32 > 0:15:33Yeah, it's really good.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38And with a portable X-ray machine, they're examining specific
0:15:38 > 0:15:40parts of them.
0:15:40 > 0:15:42- What are we doing?- Pelvis.
0:15:42 > 0:15:46We are looking for the same kinds of features that we would look
0:15:46 > 0:15:48for if we were looking at a modern mass disaster
0:15:48 > 0:15:50so we want to identify individuals,
0:15:50 > 0:15:53we want to find out what sex they were,
0:15:53 > 0:15:55what age they were when they died.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57One, two, three...
0:15:57 > 0:15:59It's all within the frame,
0:15:59 > 0:16:02but the plaster is really thick.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06The biggest problem is that bone and plaster have the same density,
0:16:06 > 0:16:09so what you are trying to find is plaster in plaster.
0:16:09 > 0:16:14Yet the study is already providing its first surprise, as the team
0:16:14 > 0:16:20discover some of the casts have had their bones replaced by iron rods.
0:16:20 > 0:16:24What's been preserved is the form of the individual, you can see there.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26And when you
0:16:26 > 0:16:30look inside, there's iron bars that are used to hold the structure
0:16:30 > 0:16:34together when they made the cast. The limbs are fragile.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40There is nothing in there, just plaster.
0:16:40 > 0:16:45This means that, from now on, we will have to rethink how these
0:16:45 > 0:16:47casts were made.
0:16:47 > 0:16:51It also has somewhat limited the information Estelle can
0:16:51 > 0:16:54extract from the mother and father.
0:16:54 > 0:16:59Even so, her team have established they were probably both
0:16:59 > 0:17:01younger than originally thought.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05Perhaps just into their 20s. And the child standing on the
0:17:05 > 0:17:09mother's chest does contain a full set of teeth.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13Although, they're not where you might expect.
0:17:13 > 0:17:18This is the lower jaw of the child and it's somewhere around waist
0:17:18 > 0:17:22level. It's fallen, you assume by gravity, and gone into that void.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26They look a bit, erm...rickety, crooked.
0:17:26 > 0:17:28They are very crooked.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30So this kid had not gone to the orthodontist.
0:17:30 > 0:17:31Absolutely not.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36This is an exciting find
0:17:36 > 0:17:41because an almost complete set of lower teeth can help Estelle
0:17:41 > 0:17:44get closer to the child's age at death.
0:17:44 > 0:17:48It's been suggested that this child was five or six years of age.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51Because it has got some baby teeth and some adult teeth.
0:17:51 > 0:17:53And doesn't seem to have lost the baby teeth yet.
0:17:59 > 0:18:04And the CT scan results of the toddler have proved more
0:18:04 > 0:18:09revealing. With the plaster digitally peeled away,
0:18:09 > 0:18:16for the first time we can see inside this tiny evocative cast.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28You can see the leg bones, you can see the vertebrae,
0:18:28 > 0:18:30you can see the skull really well.
0:18:31 > 0:18:36By studying the development of leg and foot bones, Estelle can
0:18:36 > 0:18:39start to think about the age of this child.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43The tarsal bones start to ossify around three...
0:18:43 > 0:18:47Ah, so you really don't get your foot bones until you are about three
0:18:47 > 0:18:49- and this kid is on the way?- Yes.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54- And that's the crown. - That's the crown of what will be...
0:18:54 > 0:18:55A molar.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57But it has not yet come through?
0:18:57 > 0:19:01So those are the baby teeth and these are what's forming in the gum.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03- Mm-hmm.- So that's putting him around three?
0:19:03 > 0:19:05Around about three.
0:19:05 > 0:19:10Knowing the age seems a relatively simple thing, but put it this way,
0:19:10 > 0:19:14when you say, "This kid's just passed the terrible twos,"
0:19:14 > 0:19:20he instantly seems so much more human and we can now even see
0:19:20 > 0:19:23what that blob on the chest really is.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27It is a brooch? It is a pin, is it?
0:19:27 > 0:19:30It looks like a fastening of some sort.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32I'm really pleased with that, because from the outside it looked
0:19:32 > 0:19:37as if there was a clasp and that is exactly what it seems to be.
0:19:37 > 0:19:41Presumably it's a case of everything having got pushed up
0:19:41 > 0:19:46and what would have been around the kid's waist has ended up there.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48Exactly.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53The big question has always been, for me,
0:19:53 > 0:19:56whether he belonged to the so-called mother,
0:19:56 > 0:20:00so-called father and so-called child...but you rather hope
0:20:00 > 0:20:03he is with them because otherwise he is on his own.
0:20:03 > 0:20:05Of course you don't want to imagine this poor child was
0:20:05 > 0:20:06all by themselves.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09No, you do want him with his mum and dad, don't you?
0:20:20 > 0:20:23Casts can take us some of the way,
0:20:23 > 0:20:27but it's our laser scans of Pompeii's buildings that will
0:20:27 > 0:20:30give us real insight into daily life here.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36In the south-east corner, restoration is well underway
0:20:36 > 0:20:40on one of Pompeii's most intriguing houses.
0:20:40 > 0:20:42Covering two blocks,
0:20:42 > 0:20:46this spectacular urban villa has multiple
0:20:46 > 0:20:50two-storey buildings as well as a large private garden.
0:20:52 > 0:20:56This looks like a very grand private residence but it's not all it seems.
0:21:00 > 0:21:05We know that because there was a sign by the front door, advertising
0:21:05 > 0:21:10what was on offer - shops, flats, bar and restaurant.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13Even the baths were up for rent.
0:21:13 > 0:21:15They must have been pricey,
0:21:15 > 0:21:20cos they are described as "rather lovely, for classy people".
0:21:23 > 0:21:26This property has been shut to the public for years. What we can
0:21:26 > 0:21:30do is not only take you inside, but we can see what a visit here
0:21:30 > 0:21:342,000 years ago would have been like.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36At the rear was the private residence -
0:21:36 > 0:21:39probably reserved just for the owner.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43While at the other end was a large private bath complex.
0:21:43 > 0:21:48Which unlike Pompeii's public baths, wasn't for just anyone.
0:21:48 > 0:21:53This was an exclusive and presumably expensive members-only type
0:21:53 > 0:21:54of place.
0:21:54 > 0:21:59No riffraff laughing at your willy here, amongst all the naked bathers.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03If you wanted to take a bath, this is where you would come in.
0:22:03 > 0:22:08Walked in off the street, into this quite elegant hallway.
0:22:11 > 0:22:15My guess is that, there or here,
0:22:15 > 0:22:19is where you would have come in, handed over your kit
0:22:19 > 0:22:23and said, "Ooh, two fluffy white towels, please," and off you went.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29These baths followed the same principle as all others in
0:22:29 > 0:22:30the Roman world,
0:22:30 > 0:22:34where you start cold and get hotter and hotter with each room
0:22:34 > 0:22:36ramping up the temperature.
0:22:36 > 0:22:41We can even see where all this heat came from, as behind the wall
0:22:41 > 0:22:46is the wood-burning furnace that the slaves would have kept fed.
0:22:46 > 0:22:51But I don't think you came here just to get clean.
0:22:51 > 0:22:55My guess that there might have been other services available, you know,
0:22:55 > 0:22:57massage parlour?
0:22:58 > 0:23:00You know the kind of thing.
0:23:00 > 0:23:06But these decidedly upmarket baths were just one part of this
0:23:06 > 0:23:08flourishing business empire.
0:23:10 > 0:23:12There were rents rolling in,
0:23:12 > 0:23:15from the bar and restaurant, the baths and the flats
0:23:15 > 0:23:19and apartments, so who was taking the profit?
0:23:20 > 0:23:24I think we'd imagine it was some canny Roman businessman.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27In fact, it was a canny Roman businesswoman -
0:23:27 > 0:23:31and from the rental notice, we even know her name.
0:23:31 > 0:23:36She was called Julia Felix, and that means "Lucky Julia".
0:23:37 > 0:23:41As a woman, she couldn't vote, she wasn't allowed to enjoy
0:23:41 > 0:23:44the men's section of the local baths,
0:23:44 > 0:23:47but she could become a successful entrepreneur - lucky Julia!
0:23:57 > 0:24:02But this establishment wasn't just for an exclusive clientele.
0:24:05 > 0:24:09Anyone walking past could have popped into the street-front pub,
0:24:09 > 0:24:11which offered food to take away.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15You come in here, from the street,
0:24:15 > 0:24:19and if you wanted to be quick, you would choose
0:24:19 > 0:24:22something to eat on the go as you went.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26Other people, though, would have wanted to sit down, perhaps
0:24:26 > 0:24:31make an evening of it, and they would have come through here.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36We've got a choice - I guess if
0:24:36 > 0:24:40you really want to make a very long session of it,
0:24:40 > 0:24:44you've already booked the couches in advance - the triclinium -
0:24:44 > 0:24:45but most people,
0:24:45 > 0:24:50a bit more of a hurry, they would have come and sat here, bolt upright
0:24:50 > 0:24:54with a table in front of them. It's a great reminder that not all
0:24:54 > 0:24:59Romans, all the time, ate lying down saying, "Pass the grapes, darling."
0:24:59 > 0:25:01But what were they eating?
0:25:01 > 0:25:06Well, actually, we know a good deal of the answer to that because
0:25:06 > 0:25:10it's been preserved almost as well as the place itself.
0:25:16 > 0:25:21And all that foodstuff is carefully kept under wraps, in here.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25- Luigi, ciao, buona sera. - Ciao, Mary.
0:25:27 > 0:25:32This really is behind the scenes at Pompeii, it's what most of us
0:25:32 > 0:25:33never get to see.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37This is quite amazing for me,
0:25:37 > 0:25:40as few people ever get to root around in here.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42Oh, wow.
0:25:42 > 0:25:46It's stuffed with some of Pompeii's most precious and delicate finds.
0:25:46 > 0:25:52These are pomegranates and almonds. This is olives, and these are very
0:25:52 > 0:25:58splendid nuts. What sort of nuts are they? Walnuts. Walnuts, I think.
0:25:58 > 0:26:03And it can all helps us reconstruct how the ordinary people were
0:26:03 > 0:26:06living just at that moment before the eruption.
0:26:06 > 0:26:11Figs - this isn't posh food. Everybody's eating these.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14It's a turtle shell.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18You have to imagine somebody had a great feast out of this.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21Luigi, what else have we got? Let's see something else
0:26:21 > 0:26:24because this is an Aladdin's cave, really. Bring something...
0:26:26 > 0:26:28This is the bits of fish
0:26:28 > 0:26:32that went into what was almost the greatest Roman
0:26:32 > 0:26:34ketchup of all - a thing called garum,
0:26:34 > 0:26:40which was a sauce made out of simply rotted fish.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43Oh, no. Indeed we have some.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46Still made near here.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50I can smell it from here. This is...
0:26:51 > 0:26:53..absolutely disgusting.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56I'm going to do it again, to show how very brave I am.
0:26:56 > 0:27:02But...eugh! Eugh! When you think about Roman diet, you've
0:27:02 > 0:27:06really got to think, everything smothered with that stuff!
0:27:06 > 0:27:10This is a loaf of Pompeian Roman bread.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15Is this a thumbprint?
0:27:15 > 0:27:18HE SPEAKS ITALIAN
0:27:18 > 0:27:21The baker has kind of put his thumbprint,
0:27:21 > 0:27:24his maker's mark on the bread.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28This kind of stuff, for me, is some of the most moving bits of what you
0:27:28 > 0:27:33find at Pompeii because it... You kind of know that someone had made
0:27:33 > 0:27:38that just before the eruption happened. It got
0:27:38 > 0:27:41cooked in the oven but no-one got to eat it.
0:27:41 > 0:27:46It's one of those things that shows you that kind of disruption in
0:27:46 > 0:27:51life, time, tragedy and disaster because it was an ordinary loaf
0:27:51 > 0:27:54and nobody ever got to eat it.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57It is actually fantastically exciting to get this
0:27:57 > 0:28:03close to this stuff because you really don't find this kind
0:28:03 > 0:28:09of survival from anywhere else in the Roman world, apart from Pompeii.
0:28:14 > 0:28:16Before the eruption,
0:28:16 > 0:28:21Pompeii was home to not much more than 12,000 people.
0:28:21 > 0:28:26And our study of the casts may go some way into giving us a clue
0:28:26 > 0:28:29as to who some of these people were.
0:28:29 > 0:28:33One of the most puzzling has been called The Beggar,
0:28:33 > 0:28:37because this misshapen hand was thought to be a bag that he
0:28:37 > 0:28:39used to beg for hand-outs.
0:28:40 > 0:28:44While on his right foot, he has the imprint of a sandal -
0:28:44 > 0:28:48easy to imagine it was the present from a generous benefactor.
0:28:51 > 0:28:52But if he was a beggar,
0:28:52 > 0:28:56what would life in Pompeii have been like for him?
0:28:56 > 0:28:59We might just get a hint from a unique picture
0:28:59 > 0:29:00originally found in the town.
0:29:02 > 0:29:05This is a scene that we instantly recognise.
0:29:05 > 0:29:11He's got shaggy hair, rags, a stick. He's holding out his hand
0:29:11 > 0:29:16to this rather posh lady, here, who is giving him a bit of loose change.
0:29:16 > 0:29:18And she has her little slave with her.
0:29:20 > 0:29:23Actually, that's a rather rare scene in the Roman world.
0:29:23 > 0:29:27The Romans weren't big on charity and if you were
0:29:27 > 0:29:33destitute in Pompeii, with no state benefits, no hostels, honestly you
0:29:33 > 0:29:37would be a problem that would pretty soon solve itself because you'd die.
0:29:38 > 0:29:44So which would seem better - being free but penniless,
0:29:44 > 0:29:47homeless and literally starving to death?
0:29:48 > 0:29:51Or being a slave with all the discrimination
0:29:51 > 0:29:53and lack of freedom that that implies,
0:29:53 > 0:29:57but at least with a roof over your head and supper on the table?
0:29:58 > 0:30:00Which would you choose?
0:30:01 > 0:30:06This cast has always been imagined as a frail old man, pleading
0:30:06 > 0:30:08for hand-outs.
0:30:08 > 0:30:12With this blob being his begging bag.
0:30:12 > 0:30:14Certainly has no coins in it.
0:30:14 > 0:30:15No.
0:30:15 > 0:30:19So a bit of miscasting actually launches this whole
0:30:19 > 0:30:21myth that this is a beggar.
0:30:21 > 0:30:26So there is no begging bag, but what about that sandal?
0:30:26 > 0:30:30The X-rays have now shown it up in much greater detail.
0:30:30 > 0:30:34What's amazing here is that you really do see how smart
0:30:34 > 0:30:37- they are, don't you? - Yep, and that's the strap.
0:30:37 > 0:30:38That's the strap.
0:30:38 > 0:30:42And according to the reports, it had a sensible grip.
0:30:42 > 0:30:45That sandal looks to me, you know, pretty posh.
0:30:45 > 0:30:48Never mind the philanthropist, much more likely that this is
0:30:48 > 0:30:51someone who is really quite rich - rich enough to have nice footwear.
0:30:51 > 0:30:53One, two, three...
0:30:53 > 0:30:57But it's the bones in the left foot that can tell us most.
0:30:57 > 0:31:02You can just see the growth plate on the heel bone.
0:31:02 > 0:31:03What's a growth plate?
0:31:03 > 0:31:07That's the part where the two bits of bone are separated
0:31:07 > 0:31:10and the growth plate is made up of cartilaginous bone.
0:31:10 > 0:31:12Which is gradually fusing it together.
0:31:12 > 0:31:16It's growing and eventually when growth stops, it will close up
0:31:16 > 0:31:17and fuse.
0:31:17 > 0:31:21So one of the key indicators then of how old somebody is
0:31:21 > 0:31:22is in the joints?
0:31:22 > 0:31:23Exactly.
0:31:23 > 0:31:26So my picture of this is starting to...
0:31:26 > 0:31:31It's really overturning, you know, the standard beggar idea.
0:31:31 > 0:31:34It's not an old beggar with a bent back,
0:31:34 > 0:31:36it's definitely a younger individual,
0:31:36 > 0:31:38possibly with their own sandals.
0:31:46 > 0:31:51As the image of our frail old beggar fades away, we start to
0:31:51 > 0:31:55wonder if, in fact, he might have been a wealthy young man.
0:31:55 > 0:32:01And we see a clearer picture of the real Pompeii emerging.
0:32:09 > 0:32:13This wasn't a sleepy backwater, but a thriving little town with
0:32:13 > 0:32:17its fair share of young and reasonably well off.
0:32:17 > 0:32:21And although the sea is more than 2km away today,
0:32:21 > 0:32:24these are mooring rings and they tell us
0:32:24 > 0:32:26that at the time of the eruption,
0:32:26 > 0:32:29boats came right up into town,
0:32:29 > 0:32:33making this area to the south-west some sort of marina.
0:32:33 > 0:32:39And the way that Pompeii relied on the sea is clear all over the place.
0:32:42 > 0:32:48This is part of a very delicate fishing net of some ancient
0:32:48 > 0:32:53Pompeian fisherman, and you can see just how beautifully woven it is.
0:32:53 > 0:32:56And the Pompeian diet didn't stop at fish.
0:32:56 > 0:32:59These sea urchins were a favourite delicacy.
0:32:59 > 0:33:02When we get the rare opportunity to investigate
0:33:02 > 0:33:06the contents of a lavatory from round here, one of the things
0:33:06 > 0:33:10you almost always find is sea-urchin spikes which I think have
0:33:10 > 0:33:13come through the digestive tracts of the locals.
0:33:13 > 0:33:18These conch shells even had a life after they had made
0:33:18 > 0:33:19someone a good meal.
0:33:19 > 0:33:23These were actually ancient trumpets, used in the theatre
0:33:23 > 0:33:26to kind of make a noise, to shut people up and things.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29What you're supposed to do is blow down it.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32I'm not going to be able to manage this but I'll have a go.
0:33:32 > 0:33:33SHE BLOWS
0:33:33 > 0:33:35SHE MAKES FAKE TRUMPET SOUND
0:33:35 > 0:33:39That was cheating there, I'm afraid. Well, I can't get...
0:33:41 > 0:33:43..a blind bit of noise
0:33:43 > 0:33:47out of this thing. Opinions differ about whether it's a
0:33:47 > 0:33:51nice pleasant relaxing noise or whether it's a horrible screech -
0:33:51 > 0:33:53if you can get any noise out of it at all -
0:33:53 > 0:33:58but it's a nice example of the sea producing all kinds of things
0:33:58 > 0:34:01that Pompeians are recycling.
0:34:05 > 0:34:09Just above the marina, we find some the houses of
0:34:09 > 0:34:12the richest and most powerful Pompeians.
0:34:12 > 0:34:14This is one of the most impressive.
0:34:14 > 0:34:19It has 60 rooms, covering almost 3,000 square metres.
0:34:19 > 0:34:23But what's fascinating here is, while the upper floors are under
0:34:23 > 0:34:28massive restoration, our scans can help us reveal...
0:34:28 > 0:34:30a secret hidden world.
0:34:30 > 0:34:34Like many of the buildings in Pompeii, it was multi-levelled.
0:34:34 > 0:34:39And at the very lowest level are the remains of one of the most
0:34:39 > 0:34:43elusive and least understood bits of the Roman world.
0:34:48 > 0:34:51This was once one of the grandest
0:34:51 > 0:34:55and biggest mansions in the town. It doesn't look all that
0:34:55 > 0:34:59wonderful now but you can still see one of the things that made
0:34:59 > 0:35:04it special - location. We are just a stone's throw from the city
0:35:04 > 0:35:09centre but, here, there was a view to die for, right over the sea.
0:35:11 > 0:35:16But I am interested in something rather different - downstairs.
0:35:28 > 0:35:33Sinking through the ground, a hidden Pompeii is now revealed.
0:35:34 > 0:35:38Down here is where the slaves, so vital for keeping the
0:35:38 > 0:35:41house running, lived their life of servitude.
0:35:43 > 0:35:46Some rather steep stairs.
0:35:48 > 0:35:53And what I have got into is really the service areas of the house.
0:36:01 > 0:36:03And there are pokey little rooms.
0:36:03 > 0:36:06You don't often get to be able to explore
0:36:06 > 0:36:09where the slaves lived and worked
0:36:09 > 0:36:12and that's why this one is so important.
0:36:12 > 0:36:17With all these tunnels and anonymous rooms, it's quite difficult to
0:36:17 > 0:36:20figure out just what went on here.
0:36:22 > 0:36:26Slavery, in a sense, is defined for me
0:36:26 > 0:36:29by the fact that you don't know exactly where
0:36:29 > 0:36:32they slept, you don't know how many hours they worked.
0:36:32 > 0:36:37They're the kind of silent part of the Roman world. In a sense,
0:36:37 > 0:36:41they are defined by us sort of not being able to see them.
0:36:46 > 0:36:50A house this size might have had something like 50 slaves,
0:36:50 > 0:36:54doing everything from cooking and cleaning, to the gardening
0:36:54 > 0:36:55and DIY.
0:36:55 > 0:37:00All treated pretty much as we would treat machines today,
0:37:00 > 0:37:02they were all but invisible.
0:37:04 > 0:37:09You couldn't want a clearer proof of the invisibility of slaves
0:37:09 > 0:37:11than this...
0:37:11 > 0:37:15You've got a couple in bed, making love, behind them
0:37:15 > 0:37:21is a little slave at hand. They aren't even noticing her,
0:37:21 > 0:37:23she might just as well be part of the furniture.
0:37:23 > 0:37:29But slaves didn't only watch. We tend to think of slavery
0:37:29 > 0:37:35as domestic service but service really did mean "service" - slaves,
0:37:35 > 0:37:40both male and female, were there for the pleasure of their owners.
0:37:42 > 0:37:47Slavery was an integral part of the fabric of Roman society.
0:37:47 > 0:37:51Because we never hear from the slaves themselves, only from
0:37:51 > 0:37:55their masters, often complaining about them, it's always been a
0:37:55 > 0:38:02one-sided story, and that's why this network of underground spaces
0:38:02 > 0:38:05is so important. It's a unique window
0:38:05 > 0:38:08into this poorly understood part of Pompeian life.
0:38:23 > 0:38:25Rich or poor in Pompeii,
0:38:25 > 0:38:28there is one place that almost everyone would have visited
0:38:28 > 0:38:30on a regular basis.
0:38:32 > 0:38:37Dotted around the town are a number of public baths.
0:38:37 > 0:38:40One of the most lavish and well preserved,
0:38:40 > 0:38:41just off the main square.
0:38:47 > 0:38:53The Romans absolutely loved public bathing. Here, they could
0:38:53 > 0:38:57relax and just let it all hang out.
0:39:07 > 0:39:11This is where everyone came to get naked.
0:39:13 > 0:39:15You would sit down here,
0:39:15 > 0:39:19shoes off, clothes off
0:39:19 > 0:39:24and then you'd shove it all in lockers up here.
0:39:24 > 0:39:27I wouldn't leave your valuables, though,
0:39:27 > 0:39:30this was a thieves' paradise.
0:39:33 > 0:39:36The public baths were great levellers,
0:39:36 > 0:39:38it was here that the young
0:39:38 > 0:39:40barrow boy with the hunky body could
0:39:40 > 0:39:45look down at the waddling fat cat with an overhanging belly.
0:39:45 > 0:39:51Romans laughed at the odd willies they observed in the baths and joked
0:39:51 > 0:39:57about the old guys with hernias. Body image, it's not a new problem.
0:40:01 > 0:40:05I wouldn't have been very welcome here 2,000 years ago
0:40:05 > 0:40:09because these baths were men-only.
0:40:09 > 0:40:13But as our scans reveal, the distinctive cylindrical
0:40:13 > 0:40:17vaults are repeated right next door.
0:40:17 > 0:40:23And that's one of Pompeii's hidden secrets - the women's bathing suite.
0:40:23 > 0:40:26Which is now a locked storeroom.
0:40:27 > 0:40:31I have never actually been in the women's baths before
0:40:31 > 0:40:35but one thing is for absolutely sure, that this was
0:40:35 > 0:40:39nowhere near as grand as the men's quarters.
0:40:41 > 0:40:46The modest size and decoration of these baths has a lot to say about
0:40:46 > 0:40:50the position of most women in Pompeian society
0:40:50 > 0:40:52but today, the stuff
0:40:52 > 0:40:56piled up in here speaks of everyday Pompeian life.
0:40:56 > 0:40:57That's another big one.
0:40:57 > 0:41:00Closed to everyone except a few archaeologists,
0:41:00 > 0:41:03I've been encouraged to have a dig around!
0:41:05 > 0:41:07This is the kind of stuff you just find
0:41:07 > 0:41:12everywhere in houses in Pompeii - in the kitchens,
0:41:12 > 0:41:16in the servants' quarters, in the bottom of cupboards.
0:41:16 > 0:41:21The top of a big jar that would've once held wine or olive oil.
0:41:21 > 0:41:23I think this is cheers to you.
0:41:23 > 0:41:26This must have been for weighing things. This is
0:41:26 > 0:41:28the kind of thing you need on a market stall
0:41:28 > 0:41:31when you're selling your produce, you know, "How much do you want?"
0:41:35 > 0:41:41And this is where you come face-to-face with the human tragedy.
0:41:41 > 0:41:45There must be 100 skulls here, looking at us.
0:41:45 > 0:41:50And not just skulls, this wall of bones
0:41:50 > 0:41:53reminds us just how many people perished in the disaster.
0:41:56 > 0:42:00This is a very odd pile. What it is, loads
0:42:00 > 0:42:05and loads of the little pieces of stone that once made up mosaic
0:42:05 > 0:42:10floors. It's the remnants of floors that have been destroyed but the
0:42:10 > 0:42:14funny thing is, this presumably is how your mosaic floor was delivered
0:42:14 > 0:42:17in the first place - the builders brought round a whole pile of
0:42:17 > 0:42:21this and then the layers came and made it into a beautiful pattern.
0:42:23 > 0:42:26And here is just metres
0:42:26 > 0:42:33and metres of lead pipes. It took water everywhere
0:42:33 > 0:42:37but the truth is, rich Pompeians were more concerned to have water
0:42:37 > 0:42:41delivered to their fountains than to their lavatories.
0:42:41 > 0:42:46And...you can't have pipes without taps.
0:42:46 > 0:42:53Which is what these are. You can't help thinking that it would be
0:42:53 > 0:42:56a really good town to be a plumber in.
0:42:58 > 0:43:00THUNDER CRACKS
0:43:00 > 0:43:04And I think I could do with a plumber right now.
0:43:04 > 0:43:09As the sudden cloudburst reveals one of Pompeii's urban problems
0:43:09 > 0:43:10and solutions.
0:43:12 > 0:43:17People often ask, why on earth were Pompeian pavements so high?
0:43:17 > 0:43:21What on earth were those stepping stones across the street for?
0:43:22 > 0:43:27Well, one answer is that as soon as it starts to rain like this,
0:43:27 > 0:43:29the streets become a river. The only way you can
0:43:29 > 0:43:31get across is by the stones.
0:43:33 > 0:43:36There's no underground drains here,
0:43:36 > 0:43:40and what takes the water away is the roadway.
0:43:44 > 0:43:47So much for Roman brilliance at drainage!
0:43:50 > 0:43:53It's clear that living in Pompeii before the eruption would
0:43:53 > 0:43:55have had its challenges.
0:43:55 > 0:44:00We can see some of the ways its people try to cope, but who
0:44:00 > 0:44:01were these people?
0:44:01 > 0:44:03Where did they come from?
0:44:06 > 0:44:08- What are we doing? - Lateral on the skull.
0:44:08 > 0:44:12There's one cast that might give us a clue.
0:44:12 > 0:44:15Found more than 100 years ago,
0:44:15 > 0:44:17it was supposed to be of a man
0:44:17 > 0:44:21coming from North Africa. It was then known as The Moor.
0:44:23 > 0:44:26The idea was it was a river port,
0:44:26 > 0:44:30that there might have been Africans or African slaves and that
0:44:30 > 0:44:34this might have been the remains of a slave.
0:44:37 > 0:44:41Is there anything in this skull which suggests ethnicity at all?
0:44:41 > 0:44:44No, sadly most of it's disappeared.
0:44:44 > 0:44:47So this area's gone, this area's gone.
0:44:47 > 0:44:49We've got a bit of the bone around the eye socket,
0:44:49 > 0:44:54and the features there are more consistent with male than female.
0:44:54 > 0:44:56What sticks out for me
0:44:56 > 0:44:59here is his teeth. Can you decode the teeth a bit?
0:44:59 > 0:45:02Yeah, the teeth are actually quite good. The wisdom teeth haven't
0:45:02 > 0:45:05erupted yet. There's no tooth decay and there is not much wear
0:45:05 > 0:45:08on the teeth so that all suggests
0:45:08 > 0:45:10a younger rather than an older individual.
0:45:10 > 0:45:13So he's a young man,
0:45:13 > 0:45:16but no suggestion that he's from North Africa
0:45:16 > 0:45:18like it's usually claimed.
0:45:20 > 0:45:23So another layer of myth is peeled away
0:45:23 > 0:45:26and what's emerging is significant.
0:45:26 > 0:45:30There certainly seem to be, in the cases that we are looking at,
0:45:30 > 0:45:33fairly young individuals so far.
0:45:33 > 0:45:37One of the things that has often been said is that the young
0:45:37 > 0:45:40and healthy were those who actually managed to cut
0:45:40 > 0:45:44and run and get away and the people that were left were the pregnant
0:45:44 > 0:45:46ladies and granny and the toddlers.
0:45:46 > 0:45:48That's definitely not true.
0:45:48 > 0:45:51The fact that many of these victims were young and fit
0:45:51 > 0:45:54can't help but change the way I look at them.
0:45:57 > 0:45:59As night falls,
0:45:59 > 0:46:03you get a real sense of how Pompeii's character changes, too.
0:46:05 > 0:46:11My guess is that respectable people didn't venture out much after dark
0:46:11 > 0:46:13and certainly not elderly ladies.
0:46:14 > 0:46:18For a start, the streets were so uneven you could easily break
0:46:18 > 0:46:22your ankle in broad daylight. Night-time, they were a death trap.
0:46:23 > 0:46:26I very much doubt that the whole place was crime-free,
0:46:26 > 0:46:30I am thinking about muggers lurking and pickpockets
0:46:30 > 0:46:35and general ne'er-do-wells and there is no police force.
0:46:35 > 0:46:39Either to keep the streets safe or to report a crime to
0:46:39 > 0:46:41after the event.
0:46:41 > 0:46:45And anyway, Roman law was really only interested in the problems
0:46:45 > 0:46:46of the rich.
0:46:46 > 0:46:49If you were an ordinary crime victim
0:46:49 > 0:46:52and you thought you knew who the culprit was,
0:46:52 > 0:46:54your best bet would've been to get your mates together
0:46:54 > 0:46:56and just go and sort him out.
0:46:58 > 0:47:03And this was a particularly seedy part of town.
0:47:14 > 0:47:16This is the town brothel.
0:47:16 > 0:47:20There's five small cubicles. We are now missing the soft
0:47:20 > 0:47:23furnishings, there must have been cushions on the bed
0:47:23 > 0:47:26and, I guess, a curtain here for a bit of privacy.
0:47:28 > 0:47:30Who used this place?
0:47:30 > 0:47:33We can't really be sure, but certainly not
0:47:33 > 0:47:35the Pompeian rich, who would
0:47:35 > 0:47:38have had slaves at home for that kind of thing.
0:47:38 > 0:47:42We must be dealing with the poorer sort of locals, who didn't
0:47:42 > 0:47:44have that kind of facility.
0:47:44 > 0:47:48And people passing through, people from the port,
0:47:48 > 0:47:49travellers of any sort.
0:47:51 > 0:47:54One satisfied customer has written here, "futui",
0:47:54 > 0:47:57and there's no prizes for guessing what that means.
0:48:02 > 0:48:05The girls who worked here must all have been
0:48:05 > 0:48:11slaves, and my heart goes out to them. No woman with any
0:48:11 > 0:48:15options in life could possibly have wanted to work in this place.
0:48:34 > 0:48:39For most people, daily life in Pompeii must in truth have been
0:48:39 > 0:48:41fairly unpleasant.
0:48:41 > 0:48:45A hot climate, limited drainage and the streets
0:48:45 > 0:48:50filled with animal waste, probably added up to quite a stench.
0:48:50 > 0:48:54And there was one group of workers who were considered
0:48:54 > 0:48:55to have it worse than most.
0:49:01 > 0:49:06Yet strangely, they worked in this elegant residence
0:49:06 > 0:49:10which, for years, has been closed for restoration.
0:49:11 > 0:49:16I've come to see how this once private house was
0:49:16 > 0:49:20converted into the local laundry.
0:49:20 > 0:49:24By laundry, I don't mean this is where you brought your tunics
0:49:24 > 0:49:26and your smalls.
0:49:26 > 0:49:30There was some cleaning of old cloth here but it was mainly
0:49:30 > 0:49:35about the large-scale processing of new, raw coarse cloth.
0:49:37 > 0:49:41And that meant washing and rinsing, battering and softening,
0:49:41 > 0:49:44bleaching and degreasing.
0:49:44 > 0:49:48And it involved an odd mixture of substances.
0:49:48 > 0:49:52Clay, soda, sulphur and human urine,
0:49:52 > 0:49:58and the story was that the canny launderers collected that by leaving
0:49:58 > 0:50:02pots outside their front door for the convenience of the passers-by.
0:50:12 > 0:50:17This noxious concoction was all mixed together in here.
0:50:17 > 0:50:20Here's the main series of rinsing tanks
0:50:20 > 0:50:26and these are the treading stalls, where the launderers spent all
0:50:26 > 0:50:31day treading the cloth with their bare feet.
0:50:31 > 0:50:35I guess about ten people would have worked here - slaves
0:50:35 > 0:50:41and free side by side, and it was pretty nasty work. But you
0:50:41 > 0:50:45do get a sense of friendship and camaraderie about the place.
0:50:47 > 0:50:51And when other people went past laundries, they said they not
0:50:51 > 0:50:54only smelled them but they heard them,
0:50:54 > 0:50:56because the launderers were busy
0:50:56 > 0:51:00shouting and singing at their work...
0:51:00 > 0:51:03# Dee-dee-diddy-dee-dee-dee
0:51:03 > 0:51:04# Dee-dee-diddy-dee-dee-dee
0:51:04 > 0:51:08# Dee-dee-diddy-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee Di-dee-di-dee... #
0:51:18 > 0:51:22As life is breathed back into the buildings of Pompeii,
0:51:22 > 0:51:25we are reminded that this is the best glimpse of the everyday
0:51:25 > 0:51:29world of the Romans that we can ever get.
0:51:30 > 0:51:36Oh, my goodness me. There's blue, there's orange...
0:51:36 > 0:51:40'Some little pots of pigment were found in painters' workshops,
0:51:40 > 0:51:46'others abandoned by a half-finished fresco. It's an exquisite example of
0:51:46 > 0:51:51'how everyday life was suddenly and violently disrupted by the volcano.'
0:51:52 > 0:51:54This is clearly not for painting
0:51:54 > 0:51:59the whole of the side of a wall, this isn't the kind of big interior
0:51:59 > 0:52:01decoration. This is the detailed stuff.
0:52:01 > 0:52:04When you put the lovely little patterns down the side,
0:52:04 > 0:52:07put your finger in it... (Orange).
0:52:08 > 0:52:10It's quite exciting.
0:52:12 > 0:52:14When you look at all the paint there is in Pompeii,
0:52:14 > 0:52:17on walls, richly and lavishly painted,
0:52:17 > 0:52:21it's easy to forget that they were made by painters
0:52:21 > 0:52:25and those painters were sourcing and mixing
0:52:25 > 0:52:29and transporting their paint pots everywhere.
0:52:29 > 0:52:31That blue one is really good.
0:52:36 > 0:52:40With our map complete, we are now getting a much clearer picture
0:52:40 > 0:52:43of what Pompeii was really like.
0:52:43 > 0:52:46It was an ordinary town with a busy little port.
0:52:46 > 0:52:50There were painters and plumbers, teachers and launderers,
0:52:50 > 0:52:53all going about their daily lives.
0:52:53 > 0:52:58But we've also found industrious entrepreneurs who'd built up
0:52:58 > 0:53:02flourishing businesses serving Pompeii's rich.
0:53:02 > 0:53:07And we've even managed to catch sight of Pompeii's invisible
0:53:07 > 0:53:09population - its slaves.
0:53:18 > 0:53:22Yet many of these lives were abruptly cut short when,
0:53:22 > 0:53:25in AD 79, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius
0:53:25 > 0:53:28destroyed and buried Pompeii.
0:53:37 > 0:53:40The reason we know so much about the eruption is
0:53:40 > 0:53:43that we actually have an eye-witness account of it.
0:53:43 > 0:53:47A young man called Pliny was staying about 30km away,
0:53:47 > 0:53:51across the Bay of Naples, and he watched what was going on
0:53:51 > 0:53:53and later wrote it all down.
0:53:53 > 0:53:57He describes the earth tremors in the days leading up to the
0:53:57 > 0:54:00eruption, the column of smoke that poured out of the volcano,
0:54:00 > 0:54:04people putting cushions on their heads to protect
0:54:04 > 0:54:06themselves from falling debris.
0:54:10 > 0:54:14We know that over 1,600 people perished in Pompeii.
0:54:14 > 0:54:19Although it's only been possible to make casts of just over 100 of them.
0:54:21 > 0:54:25Two of the most moving are known as The Embracing Couple.
0:54:28 > 0:54:34They were found in 1914, desperately clinging together, or so it seems.
0:54:36 > 0:54:40Often thought to be two women, perhaps a mother with her daughter,
0:54:40 > 0:54:42or two sisters.
0:54:42 > 0:54:48Or maybe just strangers, offering comfort in their last moments.
0:54:54 > 0:54:56They are found together.
0:54:56 > 0:54:59Is there any clue about which is the older and which is the younger?
0:54:59 > 0:55:02Well, this one was presumed to be the younger one just
0:55:02 > 0:55:04because the development of the bones.
0:55:05 > 0:55:08And the teeth are not of a very old
0:55:08 > 0:55:12person so their wisdom teeth aren't erupted.
0:55:12 > 0:55:13Male or female?
0:55:13 > 0:55:16Erm, more female than male.
0:55:16 > 0:55:21But what Estelle's most interested in are these features on the skull.
0:55:21 > 0:55:26Can you see the sutures? They're the areas along here where the
0:55:26 > 0:55:28bone grows.
0:55:28 > 0:55:33And about 20% of Pompeians appear with an extra bone here
0:55:33 > 0:55:37and about 35% on this side and 39% on that side,
0:55:37 > 0:55:39so they are population markers.
0:55:39 > 0:55:43And what it tells us is that this person was sharing the same
0:55:43 > 0:55:45environment when growing up.
0:55:45 > 0:55:50What it is suggesting, then, is that we have got at least a good
0:55:50 > 0:55:55nucleus of people here who are Pompeians born and bred.
0:55:55 > 0:56:00We are seeing that as a feature that is quite distinctive to this area?
0:56:00 > 0:56:03There certainly seems to be a level of homogeneity that is
0:56:03 > 0:56:05unexpected for a river port.
0:56:05 > 0:56:09I think your homogeneity is my Pompeian born and bred, Estelle!
0:56:09 > 0:56:10OK, fine.
0:56:11 > 0:56:15We can't say who this couple really were, but we do know they
0:56:15 > 0:56:18died together and they were probably native to Pompeii.
0:56:20 > 0:56:24Even in that port town, there were plenty who were born there
0:56:24 > 0:56:26and never left.
0:56:26 > 0:56:29And as many of the casualties have turned out to be young and
0:56:29 > 0:56:33fit, it makes you wonder who escaped, who didn't and why?
0:56:35 > 0:56:39I suspect that many of the victims were people
0:56:39 > 0:56:43with something to lose, reluctant to leave their homes or
0:56:43 > 0:56:46the businesses they'd built up, and with nowhere else to go.
0:56:54 > 0:56:57And that's just one of the ways in which we've been brought
0:56:57 > 0:57:01a little bit closer to the people of Pompeii.
0:57:02 > 0:57:05We may have intruded on their peace a bit
0:57:05 > 0:57:10but I think that we owe it to them to help them tell their true
0:57:10 > 0:57:14story, not just to be victims of our fantasies.
0:57:16 > 0:57:21In a garden at the very southern edge of town, we find one such
0:57:21 > 0:57:25group who perhaps left it too late.
0:57:25 > 0:57:30Known simply as The Fugitives, we know very little about their story.
0:57:30 > 0:57:34But for me, looking at these men, women and children,
0:57:34 > 0:57:38I forget about the science, archaeology and history.
0:57:38 > 0:57:42All I see is just that, lives interrupted.
0:57:47 > 0:57:52This group of people have been left exactly where they died.
0:57:52 > 0:57:57Men, women and little children found at the edge of town,
0:57:57 > 0:58:00desperately hoping to get to safety.
0:58:00 > 0:58:02They didn't make it.
0:58:02 > 0:58:07But what is clear is that, amidst the dreadful darkness,
0:58:07 > 0:58:14the panic and the terrible noise of falling debris and human screams,
0:58:14 > 0:58:17these people chose to stick together.
0:58:17 > 0:58:21I hope that is what we would do, too.