0:00:20 > 0:00:23Why did Romans live in cities?
0:00:23 > 0:00:25Didn't they settle in the country?
0:00:25 > 0:00:27Why were the roads so straight?
0:00:27 > 0:00:29How did the Romans build them?
0:00:31 > 0:00:35Master Romulus, can I...ask where we're going?
0:00:35 > 0:00:39- To the 21st century, Sloggio.- Oh! - And you can cut the Master today.
0:00:39 > 0:00:45People in the modern world don't have slaves. You can call me Rom.
0:00:45 > 0:00:50Although I am a master trader and genuinely good bloke, and...
0:00:50 > 0:00:54I have an idea that is a masterstroke!
0:00:54 > 0:00:59Wait a minute. If there aren't any slaves in the 21st century,
0:00:59 > 0:01:04then I won't need to carry this sack for you, Master. I mean, Rom!
0:01:05 > 0:01:10Yes, you will! I paid your master to borrow you for the day.
0:01:10 > 0:01:12We have important work to do.
0:01:12 > 0:01:18Getting rid of some dodgy gear?! We could've done that in Roman times.
0:01:18 > 0:01:22Yes, which is why YOU are a slave and I'M a businessman.
0:01:22 > 0:01:28People in the 21st century love all that dodgy...QUALITY merchandise.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32Yes, archaeologists have been digging it up for years.
0:01:32 > 0:01:37Oh, yes, we are taking this to Chester!
0:01:37 > 0:01:41- Where?- Chester! The Roman city of Deva.
0:01:41 > 0:01:46One of their museums'll love my bag of goods. All in perfect condition!
0:01:46 > 0:01:49Perfect condition?!
0:01:49 > 0:01:51Well...almost.
0:01:51 > 0:01:56From where I'm sitting, this sack is full of old rubbish!
0:01:56 > 0:01:59And...it's VERY...heavy.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03Sloggio, will you stop moaning and start moving?!
0:02:03 > 0:02:09- I've got a bad back!- What did you say?- I wouldn't mind going back.
0:02:09 > 0:02:13- Well, you can't.- Why not? - Because we've arrived.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17Next stop, 21st century. Mind the time gap.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22- Is this Chester, then?- Yes!
0:02:23 > 0:02:25No!
0:02:25 > 0:02:27Not sure.
0:02:30 > 0:02:34Watch the merchandise. I don't want any breakages!
0:02:34 > 0:02:38Do you know, I think this is Watling Street.
0:02:38 > 0:02:43- It don't look much like a street to me!- I'm trying to concentrate.
0:02:43 > 0:02:47- We need a landmark to help us locate where we are.- What,
0:02:47 > 0:02:51- like that building up on the hill? - Sloggio, ssh!
0:02:51 > 0:02:55- What building? What hill? - That one(!)
0:02:55 > 0:02:58Aha! Now that is St Albans Abbey,
0:02:58 > 0:03:04which means we're in St Albans, the Roman city of Verulamium.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08Watling Street runs right through it! I knew where we were all along.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11This way.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16Why were roads important in Roman times?
0:03:16 > 0:03:18Where was Watling Street?
0:03:18 > 0:03:23- Where are we now? Is this Chester?- No.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27That is part of the city wall that used to surround Roman Verulamium.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30We'll be in Chester in no time.
0:03:30 > 0:03:35- Roman roads take the quickest route. - How far is it?- 180 modern miles.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38180 miles?! You...!
0:03:38 > 0:03:43But modern miles are MUCH shorter than Roman miles, ain't they?
0:03:43 > 0:03:48No, Sloggio, it's the other way round. Modern miles are much longer.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51No time for resting. This way!
0:03:53 > 0:03:56No, THIS way!
0:03:56 > 0:04:00You're not a master of directions, are you(?)
0:04:00 > 0:04:06Maybe your gadget could help us. I'm not walking around in circles!
0:04:06 > 0:04:10You won't be walking round in circles.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13Roman roads are always very straight.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17If we set off in a straight line, we'll be in Chester eventually.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19If we use your gadget,
0:04:19 > 0:04:24- we might find Watling Street before night.- Very well, Sloggio.
0:04:24 > 0:04:29Watling Street was the first major Roman road to be built in Britain.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33It went from Richborough in the south to Chester in the north,
0:04:33 > 0:04:37passing through London, St Albans and Wroxeter.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40The other major Roman roads were
0:04:40 > 0:04:42Ermine Street, which ran from London to York,
0:04:43 > 0:04:48and Foss Way, which ran from Ilchester to Lincoln.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50By the end of the first century,
0:04:50 > 0:04:54the Romans had created 8,000 miles of roads across Britain.
0:04:54 > 0:04:59Roman soldiers dug ditches and filled them with layers of stones.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02The top layers, called cambers,
0:05:02 > 0:05:07were curved to allow water to run off into ditches on either side.
0:05:07 > 0:05:12This stopped puddles forming and made the surface last longer.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19Innit noisy here? Much busier than it was for us Romans!
0:05:19 > 0:05:22Yes, but we're on Watling Street now!
0:05:22 > 0:05:27- Can't we go to Chester in one of those?- We're going the Roman way.
0:05:27 > 0:05:32I want to see what signs there are of us along Watling Street.
0:05:32 > 0:05:37We'll see lots of Roman things that are 2,000 years old!
0:05:37 > 0:05:41Which is how old I'll feel by the time we get there!
0:05:41 > 0:05:44A 2,000-year-old cart horse!
0:05:45 > 0:05:48Clip-clop, clip blooming clop!
0:05:50 > 0:05:53This is St Albans amphitheatre.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57It's where we Romans used to perform plays and poetry.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01Well, it was very popular in Roman Verulamium.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04Still looks Roman, doesn't it?
0:06:04 > 0:06:09- Yeah.- Yeah, well, granted, it's not perfect, but...
0:06:09 > 0:06:14well, you can still see the stage, and where the audience used to sit.
0:06:14 > 0:06:16Ah, yes.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21How did you do that?
0:06:21 > 0:06:26Eh? Oh, it's all do-it-yourself in the 21st century, Sloggio.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29No, they don't need slaves any more.
0:06:29 > 0:06:34All the gadgets and contraptions they've got, you'd be out of a job.
0:06:38 > 0:06:43Rom...why haven't you got a slave of your own?
0:06:43 > 0:06:47Don't you need one, help with your business?
0:06:47 > 0:06:49Probably do, Sloggio, but...
0:06:49 > 0:06:55Well, I mean, I've bought plenty of slaves in my time, oh, yes.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58Slaves from all over the Roman Empire.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01You can pick up bargains in the forum
0:07:01 > 0:07:06but you get them home and they are not what they're cracked up to be.
0:07:06 > 0:07:11It's not as if I don't know how to look after a slave. I'm very fair.
0:07:11 > 0:07:16- Huh!- No, you...you don't realise how much they cost to keep.
0:07:16 > 0:07:21SLOGGIO SLURPS You need to feed them, for a start.
0:07:22 > 0:07:27Oh, please! I think I shall be calling you Slobbio from now on!
0:07:29 > 0:07:34- Which part of the Roman Empire are you from?- I'm from Britain!
0:07:34 > 0:07:38We were here long before you Romans arrived.
0:07:38 > 0:07:43I was captured and sold to a Roman senator. But my master IS fair.
0:07:43 > 0:07:47- And there are worse jobs than being a slave.- Yeah.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49Are there?
0:07:49 > 0:07:54- Like what?- Like having to carry heavy sacks all the way to Chester!
0:07:54 > 0:07:57Oh, please!
0:08:01 > 0:08:03Why have we stopped?
0:08:03 > 0:08:09- To see some more of Roman St Albans. - It don't look very Roman here!
0:08:09 > 0:08:15It looks modern on the outside, but inside it's full of Roman treasures.
0:08:15 > 0:08:20If we dug deep, there'd be lots more evidence of Roman buildings here.
0:08:20 > 0:08:25- I don't have to dig now, do I?!- No! That's what archaeologists do.
0:08:25 > 0:08:30And, because Roman cities were always designed in a similar way,
0:08:30 > 0:08:34there's bound to be more here than we can see.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37Could be right beneath our feet.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40Why are Roman towns alike?
0:08:40 > 0:08:42What buildings did they have?
0:08:42 > 0:08:44Were Roman cities all the same size?
0:08:44 > 0:08:49Roman towns were different sizes, but followed a similar pattern.
0:08:49 > 0:08:53They had a grid system of roads and alleyways.
0:08:53 > 0:08:58There was a forum, a marketplace, a basilica - for the town council -
0:08:58 > 0:09:03a religious building for praying to gods and goddesses.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06They also had houses, shops and workshops.
0:09:06 > 0:09:10Some even had an amphitheatre for entertainment,
0:09:10 > 0:09:15an aqueduct to supply water, and a public bath house.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19We know a lot about Roman cities because of Pompeii in Italy.
0:09:19 > 0:09:24It's one of the most complete Roman towns we can still see.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27For centuries, Pompeii was buried,
0:09:27 > 0:09:32because a nearby volcano, called Vesuvius, erupted in 79 AD.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36It left a cloud of black ash all over the landscape.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39But, when the town was finally uncovered,
0:09:39 > 0:09:44parts of the original buildings from Roman times were still there.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46Where are we now?
0:09:46 > 0:09:49- Are we nearly at Chester?- No!
0:09:49 > 0:09:51But we are still on Watling Street!
0:09:51 > 0:09:56- It's a lot quieter here than it was in St Albans.- Yes.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59It didn't used to be, though! Look!
0:09:59 > 0:10:04We're walking alongside the forum of the Roman city of Wroxeter.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07It looks like stones in the grass.
0:10:07 > 0:10:12Yeah, it does now, but they were once huge Roman columns.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15Over there, that was the bath house.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17Where? I can only see ruins!
0:10:17 > 0:10:21But imagine what it was like in our time.
0:10:23 > 0:10:25Why did the Romans build Wroxeter?
0:10:25 > 0:10:29Why isn't Wroxeter a city in the 21st century?
0:10:29 > 0:10:33This arch formed part of the gateway to the bath house.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37Wroxeter! It was a marvellous city.
0:10:37 > 0:10:42I don't know why you built it. There's not much life around here.
0:10:42 > 0:10:47But there was in Roman times, Sloggio! It was great!
0:10:47 > 0:10:52It was on Watling Street, it was next to the River Severn
0:10:52 > 0:10:54and over there was Wales.
0:10:54 > 0:10:58We Romans had to protect this part of Britain from the Welsh invaders.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02- But why isn't it important today? - When we left, nobody else moved in.
0:11:02 > 0:11:07The Anglo-Saxons who followed us built their own city six miles away.
0:11:07 > 0:11:12- It's called Shrewsbury.- Does that still exist today?- Oh, yeah.
0:11:12 > 0:11:17- I was thinking, we could get rid of this stuff there!- Ah!
0:11:17 > 0:11:20Well, think again!
0:11:23 > 0:11:28- Come on, Sloggio, time to go.- But, but...I've got more questions...
0:11:28 > 0:11:30about...Wroxeter.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32Like what?
0:11:32 > 0:11:37Like...what happened to the rest of the city?
0:11:37 > 0:11:41Why can modern people only see part of it?
0:11:41 > 0:11:46Yeah, well, I mean...there are lots more ruins in the field over there.
0:11:46 > 0:11:48Well, why don't people dig them up?
0:11:48 > 0:11:53Because archaeologists can't just go digging anywhere, can they?
0:11:53 > 0:11:58There might be other historic buildings on top of the Roman ones.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02Like at Canterbury, the Roman city of Durovernum.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06What happened there? Maybe your gadget could tell us!
0:12:06 > 0:12:11Sloggio, are you really interested in Canterbury?
0:12:11 > 0:12:15- Or are you just looking for a longer rest?- Rom!
0:12:15 > 0:12:19I am REALLY interested! Huh!
0:12:20 > 0:12:24Underneath here is the Roman town of Durovernum,
0:12:24 > 0:12:27now known as Canterbury.
0:12:27 > 0:12:33Archaeologists have been collecting clues about the city's past.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37Just two metres below this ground is an entire Roman town.
0:12:37 > 0:12:42Archaeologists know because they have found fragments of buildings
0:12:42 > 0:12:46that compare with fragments from Roman towns elsewhere in Britain.
0:12:46 > 0:12:52We found the major buildings we'd expect to find in a Roman town.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54We found evidence for the theatre,
0:12:54 > 0:12:59which now is situated underneath a restaurant.
0:13:01 > 0:13:05We found evidence for the Roman public baths.
0:13:05 > 0:13:10These baths were situated underneath a modern bookshop.
0:13:11 > 0:13:15We have found evidence for a Roman marketplace,
0:13:15 > 0:13:19now called the Marlowe Shopping Arcade.
0:13:19 > 0:13:24We'd really like to find more evidence for the temple.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28We've only found a tiny bit of the temple.
0:13:28 > 0:13:32We found some of the marble that made it up,
0:13:32 > 0:13:36but we don't know exactly where the temple was situated.
0:13:36 > 0:13:40Archaeologists can't just go and dig wherever they like.
0:13:40 > 0:13:46A lot of the buildings around Canterbury are very important and very old and very beautiful.
0:13:46 > 0:13:52We wait for an existing building to be knocked down, we do our work, then the new building goes up.
0:13:52 > 0:13:57Sometimes, we find remains that are too big to take out of the ground.
0:13:57 > 0:14:02For example, in the High Street are three very big Roman mosaics,
0:14:02 > 0:14:04which are still beneath the ground.
0:14:04 > 0:14:08They have been incorporated into a museum.
0:14:08 > 0:14:13Canterbury isn't as well known as some of the other big Roman towns,
0:14:13 > 0:14:20but we are, as archaeologists, doing what we can to bring attention to the Roman remains.
0:14:21 > 0:14:26- Rom! Where are we now? - Still on Watling Street.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30I don't suppose we're near Chester yet, are we?
0:14:30 > 0:14:35- In fact, we're in Chester - the Roman city of Deva.- We are?
0:14:35 > 0:14:38- Oh, yes.- Oh, thank goodness.
0:14:38 > 0:14:42Don't look much like it did in our day, does it?
0:14:42 > 0:14:46It's changed over the years, but let's find the bits that haven't.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49There's the River Dee, for example.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52Or the Roman walls around the city.
0:14:52 > 0:14:59Oi! You're not going to make me walk the walls, are you? This sack is driving me...up the wall!
0:14:59 > 0:15:02Can't I just dump it, now we're here?
0:15:02 > 0:15:05Sloggio, this is the 21st century.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09They have rules about that sort of thing.
0:15:09 > 0:15:14- You can't just go dumping your old rubbish anywhere.- Ha! So!
0:15:14 > 0:15:18- What?- You admit it's a sack of old rubbish, then? Eh?
0:15:18 > 0:15:22- No, it's...- Ha! Yeah!- Come on!
0:15:22 > 0:15:25Why have Roman objects lasted so long?
0:15:25 > 0:15:27Why did Roman cities have walls?
0:15:27 > 0:15:30I knew you'd make me walk the wall!
0:15:30 > 0:15:34Yeah, well, you've got to when you're in Chester! And it is Roman.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37Is it all Roman?
0:15:37 > 0:15:39It follows the same route as ours,
0:15:39 > 0:15:43and you can still see some of the Roman stonework,
0:15:43 > 0:15:48but bits have been added and rebuilt since we were here 2,000 years ago.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52- I don't know why you built it to start with.- I do. Keep out slaves.
0:15:52 > 0:15:54Only joking, Sloggio!
0:15:54 > 0:16:00No - city walls, they were there to protect us from our enemies.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03And they were built to last.
0:16:06 > 0:16:11Oh, that's better! I haven't had a sit-down for hours!
0:16:11 > 0:16:13Ssh!
0:16:13 > 0:16:17HE COUGHS Ugh!
0:16:17 > 0:16:19Where are we now?
0:16:19 > 0:16:24- At Chester Amphitheatre.- I don't think much of the entertainment.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27Nor do I.
0:16:27 > 0:16:29It's like watching traffic.
0:16:29 > 0:16:34But imagine what it was like in Roman times!
0:16:38 > 0:16:41Sloggio! Come over here!
0:16:43 > 0:16:45Look at all these Roman objects!
0:16:45 > 0:16:50These have all been found in Chester.
0:16:50 > 0:16:55You see, because we Romans made things so well and used hard objects
0:16:55 > 0:16:58like stone and clay, well,
0:16:58 > 0:17:02there are lots of genuine articles still to be found all over Britain!
0:17:02 > 0:17:06If they've already got Roman articles, why do they need more?!
0:17:06 > 0:17:09Because they can't get enough of us Romans!
0:17:09 > 0:17:14Which is why they're going to love the stuff in that sack...!
0:17:15 > 0:17:18Sloggio, where IS the sack?
0:17:18 > 0:17:21- Over there!- Where?- Th...
0:17:23 > 0:17:26Oh, dear!
0:17:26 > 0:17:29Sloggio...what have you done?
0:17:29 > 0:17:32Now it really IS rubbish, eh?
0:17:38 > 0:17:41- Where are we now, Rom? - Back on Watling Street.- Oh, good!
0:17:41 > 0:17:48- It's a much easier walk without that junk to carry!- For the last time, Sloggio, that was NOT junk!
0:17:48 > 0:17:52I cannot believe you lost that quality Roman merchandise!
0:17:52 > 0:17:55I mean, who knows where it is now?
0:17:55 > 0:17:58- We've had a totally wasted journey! - No, we haven't!- Oh, yes.
0:17:58 > 0:18:04We've seen signs of the Romans in Chester, and Wroxeter, and St Albans, and along Watling Street!
0:18:04 > 0:18:08And now we're going to see them all again on the way back!
0:18:08 > 0:18:12- No, we're not!- Why not?- Cos we're going back to Roman times.
0:18:12 > 0:18:18- You're going back to your master. I have no use for a second-hand slave!- Oi! I am not second-hand!
0:18:18 > 0:18:22I'll have you know I'M quality merchandise...in perfect condition.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25Perfect condition?!
0:18:25 > 0:18:27Well...almost.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29Oh!
0:18:31 > 0:18:37Subtitles by Audrey Flynn BBC Broadcast 2003
0:18:37 > 0:18:40E-mail us at subtitling@bbc.co.uk