Secrets of the Dead (2000–…): Season 10, Episode 3 - Lost Ships of Rome - full transcript

Coming up
On "Secrets of the Dead,"

A mysterious Roman island.

It's like Alcatraz,

bleak, desolate, lonely.

A banished princess.

denied all luxuries,
no male visitors.

An island so rugged

few ships survived
the voyage there.

It's not every day
that 5 well-preserved shipwrecks

are discovered
within one contained area.

the last time someone touched it
approximately 2,100 years ago.



"The Lost Ships of Rome"

On "Secrets of the Dead."

This is Ventotene,

an Italian island
with a mysterious past.

Just off its shore lies
a watery graveyard filled

with the remains
of ancient Roman ships.

Now a team of deep sea explorers
is setting out to uncover

the mystery of these wrecks
and why they were lost.

It's not every day that
5 well-preserved shipwrecks

are discovered
within one contained area.

Recovering some
of the ancient cargo

could reveal new secrets
about the Roman Empire
and this enigmatic island.

Wait, wait, wait.

It's a big one.



The dive site is more
than 300 feet underwater,

extreme conditions which
will test the crew's courage
and equipment to their limits.

I just heard
this big bang!

Jesus.

This expedition
is a combination

of extreme diving
and archaeology.

[foghorn blows]

Ventotene is a tiny
Italian holiday island

just 43 miles off the coast
of Naples.

It is also the site of one
of the most remarkable
archaeological finds

in recent history.

This is
the recovery rope.

In 2009, archaeologist Timmy Gambin

and his crew scanned the seabed
surrounding the island

with sonar equipment
and discovered

5 ancient Roman shipwrecks,

and now they've returned
to retrieve the ancient cargo,

untouched for more
than two millennia.

Ok. Let's go.

See the bow section.

The first dive
is to the wreck

of a Roman merchant ship,

filmed using a remote camera
called a ROV.

Yes, yes, yes.

The ship's wooden hull
has long since rotted away,

but its cargo of amphorae
is incredibly well-preserved.

The team wants to bring one
of these jars to the surface

as they can provide
precious clues

on how the ancient Romans lived,

but this treasure
is under 360 feet of water,

nearly 3 times deeper
than a recreational
scuba diver can go.

[Beeping]

So far, the crew has only
been able to get

their robotic camera down
to film the wreck.

Sending humans down
proves more difficult.

Italian cameraman
Roberto Rinaldi
is a deep sea diver

Who's worked with legendary
explorer Jacques Cousteau.

Together with his partner Marco,
nicknamed Numero Uno,

he'll descend to the
to bottom of the ocean
where the wrecks lie.

Divers must use
special equipment
when going so deep.

The compressed air
normally used for scuba diving

can have dangerous side effects.

You can feel a bit dizzy,
you can feel sleepy.

You can feel euphoric,
but basically your brain
is not working in normal ways,

not working as it should work,
and obviously this is something

you don't want to experience
when you are diving,

especially when
you're diving deep.

Instead of air,
the divers breathe

a finely tuned mix
of oxygen, nitrogen, and helium,

and for backup,
they've recruited a team

of military divers from a special
branch of the Carabinieri,

a part of the Italian army.

The archaeologists only
have this highly skilled
team for 5 days,

so the clock is ticking.

Ok. Now push, push.

Out on the ocean,
archaeologist Timmy Gambin

begins the first phase
of the mission,

locating and marking
the shipwreck.

Gambin: our starting point
is a GPS waypoint.

Once we're on that point,
we put down a shot line,

which is basically a rope
which will lead the divers

from the surface
to the wreck site.

The crew tries to manoeuvre the boat
precisely over the wreck

and then drops a lead weight.

The weight must land as close
as possible to the wreck

without smashing
the precious cargo.

Ok. Clamp weight.

[Whistles]

Now all eyes
are on skipper Aaron Podesta.

Gambin: Aaron?s nickname
from the Italian part
of the team is Sniper,

Cecchino because
of his accuracy.

Ok. It's on the bottom?
It's on the bottom.

The sniper is
confident he's hit the mark,

but the crew must confirm
his accuracy.

They mobilize
their diving robot, the ROV.

Its video camera will show
the ROV pilot

where the shot line has landed.

If the marker is too far away
from the wreck,

the divers may struggle
to reach the site.

Right there,
right there.

That's what we're?
we found it.

Just found it.

Just on.
Right on?

Gambin: we're extremely happy.

Aaron was able to get
the shot line down

within two meters
of the site,

which when you consider
the 110-meter depth

that exists between us
and the site is?

I think it's a good shot.

Roberto and Marco
start the dive.

There is no direct line
of communication

between the divers
and the boat,

so from now on,
they're on their own.

As the divers descend
through the water,

the pressure on their bodies
reaches over 150 pounds
per square inch,

5 times that of a car tire.

And there it is,
the wreck they've been
so eager to find.

This is the first time
in more than 2,000 years

that a human being has been
anywhere near these amphorae.

The wreck is so well-preserved,
some amphorae are still stacked

in their original positions.

None of the containers have
intact stoppers,

so there's little hope
of finding any of their
ancient contents inside.

At such extreme depths,
the divers can only spend
a few minutes at the wreck,

so they must quickly
decide which amphora
to bring to the surface.

It must be clear
of the other amphorae

so they can lift it out
without breaking it.

[muffled]

Numero Uno spots
the perfect target.

He clips the recovery line
around the amphora,

and starts his ascent.

Diving in such deep water
also makes resurfacing
more complicated.

If the divers came straight up
to the surface,

lethal gas bubbles would form
in their bloodstream.

Instead, they must come up
very slowly to clear

the high-pressure gases
from their bodies.

It takes more than 3 hours.

Now it's time
for the surface crew

to retrieve the ROV.

Can we recover?

Let's start picking up.

You guys, can I just get a minute
to sort things out?

Because I don't know
where the rest of this cable went.

Roberto and Marco
have a shot line down
for the decompression.

We've got the original
shot line down with
an amphora attached,

and we've got over
120 meters of ROV cable down.

We just want to make sure
that all these 3 cables
are free from one another.

[motor whirring]

Well done.
Good recovery.

Hook it into to that channel.

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

The crew can start
pulling up their treasure.

It's a delicate operation.

They don't know how fragile
the ancient pottery is.

If the boat bounces
in the waves and jerks
the line even slightly,

it could easily break
the amphora's neck.

OK. Careful. She's there.

While they are excited
to catch their first glimpse,

they must be extra cautious.

Bring the top, the top.

Once out of the water,
the amphora's full weight hangs

by a single thread.

But it survives
without a scratch.

It is in excellent condition,

given that it spent
thousands of years underwater.

Gambin: my first reaction is
a fantastic, fantastic feeling.

The last time someone touched it,

approximately 2,100 years ago,

it was the stevedore
who was putting it carefully
into the hold of the ship,

thinking that it was gonna safely make it
to its destination.

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.

This simple piece of pottery holds

important clues
about the shipwrecks,

and in the hands
of an expert like Timmy,

it will open up a window
into ancient Roman life.

On board the expedition ship,
the crew has a closer look
at their find.

The amphora's contents
have long since vanished,

so Timmy can't tell immediately
what it carried,

but he can build
on the detective work

of other archaeologists.

He compares this vessel
to a database of known
amphorae types

and finds a match.

This amphora dates
from the first century B.C.,

originates from Italy,

and was made to carry wine.

What is considered
treasure today

was actually a very common
object in ancient Rome.

These containers
have been referred to

as the jerry cans of antiquity,

but rather than fuel,

they were used to carry foodstuffs.

With their pointed ends,

amphorae can't stand
on their own,

but in fact,
their unique shape made them

perfect shipping containers.

Stacked inside a ship,
the tip of teach amphora

fits precisely into the neck
of the one below

to form interlocking layers.

The layers make the most
of the available space

and keep the cargo stable.

The humble amphora was a corner
stone of the Roman empire.

In fact, it was just as mighty as the sword.

Without the vital goods
it carried,

Rome could not have sustained
its 500-year reign.

The Carabinieri take the amphora
to the local museum

for cleaning and display,

but the question remains where was
this boatload full of wine going?

Was it destined for Ventotene?

When the ship sank
in the first century B.C.,

Ventotene had one
very important resident,

Augustus,
the first emperor of Rome.

Classicist Annelise Freisenbruch
has come to the island

to look for traces
of the great ruler.

Freisenbruch: you can see why
this was a good place

for him to have a holiday home here

because it gives you
peace and quiet.

It's the one thing you're
certain of getting here.

Augustus chose
the island as the site

for a luxurious imperial villa,
set in spectacular surroundings.

It was built as a seaside retreat,

where Augustus could relax
and recover

from the business
of running an empire.

Freisenbruch: these steps here
are the remains of what

would have been a large
communal bathing room

for Augustus and his friends to enjoy.

So over here, you've got
a sauna where you could come

and sit and sweat before going
into one of the other baths,

for example the frigidarium.

So it's sort of like a great
kind of health spa, this place.

This villa was clearly a place fit
for an emperor.

Was the wine
from the shipwreck destined

for the imperial cellars
or perhaps to fuel a Roman orgy?

The answer lies with the woman
who lived in this palace,

princess Julia,
the emperor's daughter.

Annelise has studied
Julia?s tragic story.

Freisenbruch: Julia is
Augustus? only daughter,

and he has everything set up
for her to be the golden girl
of his regime.

She is a pawn on a chessboard,

she is a piece to be moved around

to suit Augustus? political ends.

When Augustus comes to power,

Rome is a decadent
and morally corrupt metropolis.

Eager to reform
his imperial capital,

the emperor vows to lead
by example.

He made a virtue out
of the fact that he was

restoring a kind of golden age of Rome,

a morally pure period
in comparison

with the political
and moral corruption

that was seen
to characterize the republic.

So just as he himself
made a virtue out of claiming

to dress frugally, to live simply,

he insisted that his wife,
his daughter Julia,

and his female relatives
should follow

a similarly unimpeachable
pattern of living.

But Julia rebels against her father's
strict moral code

and seems to seek out scandal.

The worst thing she was
said to have done

was to have had sex
on the rostrum,

the speaker's platform
in the forum,

from where of course her father
had probably issued

his moral legislation of 18 B.C.

in which he had made
adultery a criminal offense

for the first time.

One of Julia?s
alleged lovers is executed

while she is banished
to the villa on Ventotene,

a seemingly mild sentence,

but the emperor makes sure
his adulterous daughter
can feel his wrath.

Freisenbruch: she was to be
denied all luxuries.

No male visitors
were allowed to visit her.

She was to be prevented
from drinking wine

and essentially made
to live the life

that her father couldn't
impose on her

while she was living in Rome.

Julia?s villa is the only place of note
on the island,

so the wine on the wrecked ship
must have been headed elsewhere,

to the new provinces of Rome.

the local tribes in France and Spain
have a huge appetite for wine,

but Rome has forbidden them
from making their own.

Wine merchants
from mainland Italy

capitalize
on the local prohibition

and sell their wine
for huge profits.

They can afford to risk losing
a whole ship and its cargo,

which wasn't a rare occurrence.

The sunken ship carrying wine
from the bay of Naples

probably ran into trouble
only a day into its voyage
and sank near Ventotene.

[water bubbling]

For princess Julia, Ventotene
was her own personal Alcatraz,

but for Roman sailors,
it was an oasis,

where they could find
shelter, food, and water,

and all this thanks
to emperor Augustus,

who transformed Ventotene
from barren rock

to blossoming island.

before Roman times, there was
no fresh water on the island.

It has no natural springs.

Today nearly every drop
of water on the island

is shipped from mainland Italy
in this tanker.

So how did Augustus supply
his villa with water?

Ciao, Salvatore.

Ciao, Tim.

With the help of local historian
Salvatore Schiano,

Timmy Gambin sets out
to learn where Augustus
got his water from.

the Romans harvested
the water from the sky

by paving over part
of the island.

This pavement, what
was it made of?

Cocciopesto,
hydraulic mortar

mixed with pottery shards
and volcanic sand.

The large paved areas
collected rainwater

and tunneled it into a series
of collection chambers.

First the water flowed
through decantation pools

to filter out the dirt and debris.

Then it went underground
to a huge cistern

carved from the rock.

Gambin: first thing that
strikes you is how cool

the temperature is inside.

So it must have kept the water
from turning stagnant.

So the Romans put a lot of thought
into keeping the water fresh.

To keep the water from escaping,
the Romans used one

of their many
amazing inventions,

which was this concrete
that set underwater.

We usually come across this
in harbour structures

such as quays and wharfs,

but in this case,
the engineers have used it

in this underground cistern.

Augustus built two of these big
water collection systems,

which could gather more than
250,000 gallons of water a year.

His engineers connected
the two cisterns

and carved a network of tunnels

deep into the rock
of the island

to transport the water
where it was needed.

This tunnel, which carried water
to Julia?s villa,

is a masterpiece
of precision engineering.

Gambin: this tunnel is over
one kilometre long

and takes the water
from the main cistern

and feeds it to the lower part
of the island.

Cut it too steep,
and the water will just run off.

Too flat, and the water
would stagnate.

So the Roman engineers had to get
the levels absolutely spot-on.

It?s incredible how they
managed to achieve this,

even though they did not have
the modern technologies

available to engineers today.

The next wreck the crew discovers
is highly unusual.

When experts first see
the sonar image,

it looks less like
an ancient ship

and more like a pile of car tires.

Gambin: if you swim
the periphery...

But when Timmy gets
his remote camera on site,

he knows he's made
a stunning discovery,

a shipment of Roman kitchenware
called mortaria.

It's only the second time a whole
boatload of mortaria has ever been found.

[speaking Italian]

The wreck sank even deeper
than the first one,

nearly 380 feet
below the surface.

The ship's cargo lies
in two separate piles,

which suggest the ship
sank violently.

Close inspection reveals
that the piles are made up

of hundreds of these clay bowls.

All of them are
absolutely identical,

a clear indication that they
were mass-produced

and shipped in bulk.

These simple objects
reveal how Roman technology

conquered the world.

Aha!

The pottery is so robust,
Numero Uno has no problem

bringing it to the surface.

It's heavy.

There it is. There it is.

Yeah. OK. Bravi, bravi.

piano, piano, piano.

Ohh!

Bravi. grazie.

Into the box.

Put it...

OK. Do you have the net?

Yeah, I got the net.

Jeez. It's beautiful.

The object is
incredibly well-preserved.

Let's turn it over so we can see it.

Even tiny details
of the potter's work

are still visible after 2,000 years.

You can actually see the work
at the rim.

This ancient piece of clay

is a perfect example of how Roman
ideas spread through the empire.

This cargo is representative
of the Romanization

that's going on in the first
century B.C.,

where the Romans
are exporting know-how

like cuisine, the making
of olive oil,

the making of wine
to the new provinces.

Gejtu the ship's cook
demonstrates how the tool

was actually used
by an ancient chef.

Cooks today will recognize
it as a mortar and pestle.

It's the ancient Roman version
of a food processor,

and every kitchen in the empire
would have had one.

One of the interesting
features about the mortaria

is this coarseness
on the inside.

The potter would have
included this grit,

which consists of small stones

and rough pieces of ceramic,

and it just simply makes
the items easier to grind within it.

Hmm?

Gejtu whips up a recipe from
the oldest known cookbook

by the ancient
Roman writer Apicius.

It's a sauce made from eggs,
leeks, and herbs,

the kind of food a common Roman
would have eaten.

The sauce has started
to take shape,

and it's not looking very different
to what a modern dish

would look like today.

[speaking Italian]

Gejtu serves up
his Roman surprise at dinner.

How will the ancient recipe
go down?

[indistinct chatter]

This simple meal gives
the crew a taste

of princess Julia?s
frugal life in Ventotene.

Served as a canap?
at a dinner party,

it is pleasant enough,

but it's a far cry from the rich food

she would have enjoyed
before her exile,

a fitting punishment for the girl
who dared to defy the emperor.

Freisenbruch: well, this looks
like a lovely, simple

Mediterranean summer lunch.

you know, to us it actually
looks very tasty,

nice sort of thing to have
on a hot day,

but to Julia, this would
represent denial for her,

someone who'd been used
to the social scene of Rome,

to going to lavish
dinner parties and so on.

When she came to Ventotene,
we're told that Augustus

imposed a very frugal,
monastic regime on her.

I?m sure Augustus felt
a certain amount

of vindictive satisfaction
in knowing that probably

for the first time in her life
his rebellious daughter

actually had to do exactly
what he wanted her to do.

We're trying to head
for this shipwreck,

which is in this area here.

The third wreck promises
to be especially interesting.

This is a beautiful wreck
to go visit,

particularly with all
of the amphorae spread out.

A massive pile went down
completely intact.

You can see
from these photographs,

you've got the classic stacking...

Timmy has analysed
the ROV footage

and identified the type
of amphora found.

What we're looking
at is probably

a variation of this type.

It dates from approximately

the fourth century A.D.,

Comes from north Africa

or modern-day Tunisia,

and was in all
probability carrying

this very important
condiment called garum.

The garum the amphorae carried

was a highly prized commodity,

a pungent fish sauce that was
essential to Roman cooking.

Two pints of the best garum
could fetch the Roman equivalent

of $1,000, so this ship
would have been worth more
than $60 million today.

The wreck is incredibly
well-preserved,

and the crew hopes to recover
an amphora that still has

traces of ancient garum inside.

[beep]

[engine starts]

It's all hands on deck
for dive number 3,

but as they head out to sea,

black clouds appear
on the horizon.

In the harbour you
get a false sense of security.

You think that it may have
calmed down.

Coming out, what's
happening now, it's increasing.

You can feel it increasing.

It's not a dying wind.

It's a wind that's picking up.

Today, the Mediterranean reveals

its ugly side.

Stand by.

[indistinct chatter on radio]

We're just about
to turn around.

The crew heads
back to base empty-handed.

In port, they meet up
with diver Roberto Rinaldi,

who never even left the shore.

No. We went out further
than the lee of the island,

and it's a wind that's
not settling down.

It's a wind that's
getting much stronger, so...

it's better we stop.

You'd be OK at 100 meters.

Ahh.

Ha ha ha!

No. It's not OK because
if anything happened,

I mean, 4-hour decompression,

you don't get rid of it, huh?

No. That's right.
Too dangerous.

This is June in the Mediterranean.

We're meant to be dealing
with heat waves

and not with constant strong
north-westerly and persistent rain.

It's a discouraging
setback for the team,

but they have a backup plan.

Put a layer of...

Timmy teams up with Gejtu
to mix together

a batch of garum.

OK. Sea salt.

And...

another layer of fish.

This valuable substance is made

from nothing more
than salt and fermenting fish.

OK. A bit more salt.

OK. The last layer now.

The actual
preparation of garum

is relatively unknown.

There are various
theories as to its consistency,

as to its preparation,

but this is our experiment,

and hopefully in a few days' time,

we're gonna see
what the taste,

what garum was actually like.

Now you need to get
a wooden spoon, OK?

One of the crucial
elements of this preparation

are the entrails of the fish.

It's the digestive fluids that help

in the fermentation process.

Of course all this would have
been done in a big vat.

The garum factories were huge
complexes by the seaside,

and this preparation would have
been done in a stone vat,

and once mixed, the vat
would have been covered
for a few days.

OK.

Um, which way sees the sun most?

I think we can leave it...

Leave it here. Yes.

As the fish bake in the sun,

their digestive juices
leak out of the guts

and start to
break down the flesh.

Soon the fish begin to ooze
an oily slush.

This is the garum...

and it contains a powerful
taste enhancer.

Today we call it
monosodium glutamate or MSG.

Glutamate triggers
chemical receptors on the tongue

that can make the brain
crave it like a drug...

which explains the passion
for garum in Julia?s time.

Freisenbruch: it was used
quite ubiquitously
across the whole empire,

and certainly according
to the cookbook we have

from the ancient world
"Apicius,"

he has garum featured
in almost every recipe in there,

even in the sweet things, which
seems completely bizarre to us

when you've actually
smelled the stuff.

You sort of thing, you know,
"god, what a disgusting prospect
of having this in custard."

Julia would have
consumed garum nearly every day,

but it's unlikely that
the massive shipment from Africa

was destined for her villa.

so what was this ship doing
at Ventotene?

[thunder]

A new day dawns, but the wind
and rain have not ceased.

The weather is now
threatening the success

of the entire mission.

The crew has just one day left
on the island.

But Timmy Gambin uses
the time to explore

the engineering masterpiece

in the emperor's transformation
of Ventotene, the port.

This island had
small, sandy beaches,

so anybody wishing to land
would have had to anchor

in the middle of the bay
and take a small boat to land.

The Romans, wishing to build
something more permanent here,

had to solve that problem,
and to solve that problem,

they decided to build
a formal port,

and here we are standing
on the outer seawall

of this fantastic piece
of Roman engineering.

Rather than the traditional way
of building large seawalls out,

extending out into the sea,

they decided to excavate
a basin into solid rock.

Augustus? engineers
picked the only spot

on the island where the land
meets the sea in a gentle slope.

Here they started digging
into the volcanic rock

and carved out a deep basin
10 feet below the sea level.

The workers excavated more than
120,000 tons of rock by hand,

an incredible effort.

But then came
the most difficult task,

removing the last of the rock
so ships could enter the harbour.

The sea level has risen by nearly
3 feet since Roman times,

so much of the port's structure
now lies hidden underwater,

but the team has been given
special permission to explore

what's left of Augustus? work.

6 feet down, they spot
the original warf

where the ancient ships
would have docked.

They find huge boulders,
which might have been used
to tie up the ships.

And as they near the tip
of the ancient pier,

they spot strange striations
in the rock.

They could be the tool marks
of ancient Roman divers,

who dug out
the entrance underwater.

They had to hold their breath,
dive down, and hack away

at the rock
with hammers and chisels

until they'd carved an opening
wide and deep enough

for ships to pass.

Gambin:
absolutely fascinating.

One of the most amazing things
is the entrance.

It's cut extremely deep
into the rock.

I don't know.
I cannot imagine

how they could dig this
in the water.

OK. This is soft rock,
but it's a rock,

so it must not be easy,
huh, at all.

Those were heavy when we tried
to pick up some.

And absolutely
incredible engineering

to get divers down 2,000 years ago
to cut that channel.

Those were the real divers.

Yeah. That's right.
Not us.

Ha ha ha!

Augustus? port made
Ventotene an important hub

in the Roman trading empire,

and it's still
in perfect working order

after 2,000 years.

The port is the reason
the now sunken ships were here.

The question is why did
they perish so close

to the safety of the harbour?

In the afternoon,
the weather suddenly clears,

so Timmy and skipper Aaron
go out to explore

what may have sunk the ships.

At least 4 of the 5 shipwrecks
that we've discovered

went down whole,
so we're looking

at a scenario whereby these
vessels were actually swamped,

filled with water,
and then went down

to the seabed as a whole.

It may be that Ventotene itself

is to blame
for this strange occurrence.

Podesta: the problem is when
you come too close to an island,

apart from the big waves
coming along with the wind,

you also get a backwash
as a rebound from the rocks,

which can stir up
a pretty confused sea.

So at one stage,
you'd be rolling one way,

and if the timing is correct,

you'll get a wave
coming the other way,

which will keep on
rolling you over.

In high seas,
the Roman ship's precious cargo

becomes a liability.

There's a limit to
how much pressure

the stacked amphorae
can take.

[creaking]

Eventually, some of them break,
upsetting the system

of interlocking layers
and shifting the cargo.

The ship becomes heavier
on one side

and lists out of balance.

Now vulnerable to the waves,
the ship is easily submerged

and sinks to the seafloor
completely intact.

The fate of the shipwrecked
Roman sailors

has been lost in time,

but the story of princess Julia

continues to
fascinate historians.

They have recently taken
another look at her life

and found that maybe
she wasn't a harlot after all

but something far
more dangerous.

Freisenbruch, voice-over:
the charge of adultery was

often in Roman society an excuse
to get opponents out of the way.

Many scholars actually now
believe that Julia?s crime

may not, in fact, have been
adultery at all.

There is a theory that perhaps
Julia?s real crime

was involvement
in a political conspiracy

of sorts against her father.

Augustus crushed
many plots to stay in power,

and he isn't going to make
an exception for his daughter.

So he banishes Julia
to keep her away from Rome

and his political power games.

Freisenbruch, voice-over:
when Julia came here,

she would have had no idea
how long she was destined

to remain here.

This must have seemed like
a living death.

Julia was said to have been
very popular back in Rome

with the general public,

and they were said to have
protested against her exile,

and although initially Augustus
refused to listen to them,

after 5 years it seems
he did relent.

After 5 years, Augustus allows Julia
to leave Ventotene,

but he won't let her
return to Rome.

Julia spends the rest of her life

far from the power centre
of ancient Rome

in what is today
Reggio di Calabria.

She dies at age 53 just a few
months after her father,

apparently starved to death
by the new emperor Tiberius,

who was also her husband.

On the final day of the expedition,

the crew tackles
the deepest wreck of all.

It's nearly 500 feet deep
and holds one last secret,

a cargo of mysterious cylinders.

Objects like these have
never been seen before,

and Timmy is keen to find out
what they are.

So far, the crew has only
seen murky ROV footage.

Now they want to bring up
one of the cylinders.

OK. You're up.

And as luck would have it,

the weather forecast
is promising.

It's the only day
we're gonna have a shot at this,

and we've been preparing meticulously
yesterday and this morning,

and we're gonna give it
our best shot.

Spirits are high, but as the team
approaches the dive site,

the waves pick up again.

Wait.

Oh. It's a big one.

Despite the heavy seas,

the crew prepares for the dive.

On 3. 1, 2, 3.

There you go.

All right, baby. Swim.

I?m really getting
jerked around.

What's the depth?

109, and I see
the shot line.

The conditions quickly
go from bad to worse,

and as the wreck appears on the ROV
camera, there's more bad news.

The shot line has landed close
to the ship but not close enough.

There it is.

[speaking Italian]

Roberto, the shot line is 10 meters
away from the site.

We can't bring it up
and move it.

Timmy consults the divers.

The ROV? the ROV is on the site.

If you can do it...

Gambin: they're not gonna
be able to do the recovery

because?
"a": because of the weather

and, "b": also the distance,

and the weather doesn't allow us
to pick this up and redeploy.

You see, imagine now? imagine
something weighing 200 kilos

or 150 kilos
and something like that.

One of us will end up
getting injured.

They can't bring up
a cylinder today,

but all is not lost.

Nothing beats the human eye,

so the divers are gonna get
a good visual inspection

done of these objects,

and hopefully Roberto's footage
of the site

will help us better understand

the makeup of this
mysterious cargo.

This is the toughest
of all the dives.

Roberto and Marco only
have a slim window

of 10 minutes at 480 feet.

Every extra minute they spend
at the wreck means

an extra hour of decompression.

When they reach the bottom,
they discover they face

yet another challenge.

The water of the target is
as black as night,

clouded by sediment.

The divers venture
into the darkness alone

because in these conditions
it's too dangerous

to have the ROV follow them.

From the surface,
the crew can only watch

the divers' lights in the distance.

After Roberto finishes
his survey of the wreck,

the crew must wait
until his decompression is done

before they can watch
his footage.

What they don't know
is that something has gone
wrong with the dive.

After a 5-hour wait, they get
a call from the dive base.

Exploded, huh?

As you can see,
something very thick.

Try to break. Try to break.

Part of Roberto?s
camera was crushed

by the extreme
water pressure.

This was perfectly
round before.

Now it's completely
squeezed, huh? Ha ha ha!

All bent. Completely.

You're a lucky guy.

Always.
Always.

You're born lucky.

You don't become lucky.

But for Timmy,
this is no laughing matter.

He spent 12 1/2 minutes
down there.

12 1/2?
12 1/2.

You see? I?m good,
Huh? Ha ha!

You were meant
to spend 10, you naughty man.

Yeah, but a camera
on the right thing.

Only a few minutes
into the dive,

Roberto got into trouble.

Very black, completely black.

[bang]

I just heard
this big bang like this,

and it was very strong
in my hands

and in my stomach,

and it was not long to realize

that something imploded.

Mullen: this one here?

[bang]

Toom. This is the second one.

The second one went?

Jesus.

The shrapnel
from the implosion could have

shredded Roberto?s equipment
or even injured him,

and at this depth, a fast rescue
would have been impossible.

A lesser diver would have
aborted the mission,

but Roberto put his camera down
to get his hands on one
of the mysterious objects.

And I tried to pull it up.

It was stuck on the bottom.

No way to move,
not even to move a little bit.

There is a hole here,
and I tried to put the finger inside

and tried to move
and see that?

I mean, it's completely stuck.

You think that
almost definitely

there is some form of metal.

I would say yeah.

And this bluish belongs
to the material.

This I can tell for sure.

Mullen: could have been lead.

Lead is a blue grey.

The cylinders keep
the crew guessing,

but they've gathered other clues
about the wreck.

These amphorae prove that the ship
sank around 2,000 years ago.

Timmy thinks it may have been
heading for the city of Rome

with a hold full of grain.

This would have rotted away
over the millennia

and left only the pottery
and the mysterious metal cylinders.

Whether they were some form
of raw materials being transported,

we still don't know, but we're
a step closer to solving that mystery.

It's been 5 days since the team
started the expedition,

and their time in Ventotene
is coming to an end,

but they're about to face
the biggest challenge of all.

After days of stewing
in the sun,

the garum is ready to be served.

[speaking Italian]

So shall we taste this garum?

Have a smell.

We've taken
the ancient recipe.

[speaks Italian]

At first, the crew is suspicious,

but finally, the garum
works its ancient magic.

[indistinct chatter]

[laughter]

Mullen: that's not bad.

come on, come on, come on.

With a little companion wine.

[singing in Italian]

The treasure the crew has found

off the coast of Ventotene
has given them an appetite
for more adventure.

They may just
come back next year

to add more pieces
to the great jigsaw puzzle

that is the history
of the Roman empire.

[singing in Italian]

Bravo!

Bravo!

[whistling]

"Four, three, two, one."

Vehicle is now
going supersonic

when you want to go above.

It was something new.

Or reach beyond.

Oh my gosh!

When you want to peer inside.

It would seem
almost impossible

or push the limit.

These divers are
like astronauts

when you want to
find new frontiers.

I was truly astonished

NOVA.

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The iconic moments
that have shaped our world...

man: it stretches
human history way back.

The fine line
between fiction and fact...

woman: that legend just doesn't
stand up against reality.

Discoveries that bring the dead
back to life,

forensics that create
clarity from chaos.

The past gets rewritten when
science and history collide...

"Secrets of the Dead."

"Secrets of the Dead" was made
possible by contributions

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from viewers like you.

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Captioning made possible by
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