Pompeii’s Final Hours: New Evidence
A new documentary investigates life in Pompeii before Mount Vesuvius erupted…
NEW FACTUAL Pompeii’s Final Hours:
New Evidence Wednesday-Friday, 9pm Channel 5
As the inhabitants of the Roman city of Pompeii went about their everyday lives in October 79AD, Mount Vesuvius erupted, burying alive 3,000 people under molten ash and lava.
A new Channel 5 series, shown over three nights this week, counts down to the cataclysmic eruption and reveals fresh discoveries about the people who lived and died in Pompeii.
‘Close on 2,000 years later we’re learning more and more about what life was like here before that eruption of Vesuvius,’ says historian Bettany Hughes, who presents the documentary alongside John Sergeant and archaeologist Raksha Dave. ‘We know that before the disaster tremors were shaking the town, people didn’t appreciate the danger.’
Human tragedy
John discovers the food the inhabitants would have eaten on the eve of the disaster, and cameras follow the forensic scanning of some of the victims. One reveals that a body which experts had believed was an African gladiator is in fact a 15-year-old Roman boy.
‘Discoveries like this remind us of the human tragedy,’ says Bettany. ‘And of how much more there is to find out.’