Season 1

Archaeologists embark on new digs in Pompeii, to unravel the stories of the people that lived and died here. They race against the clock to unearth a sacrificial skull, uncover clues from the tomb and mummified body of a curiously wealthy freed slave, and venture into stiflingly narrow tunnels beneath the central bathhouse.

How did Rome rise to dominate so much of the ancient world? Off the coast of Sicily, investigators discover traces of a crucial naval battle. Using divers, an underwater robot and a crane, they haul a long lost battleship relic to the surface. In Terracina, south of Rome, a team of archaeologists dig inside an ancient mountaintop temple, and in Carthage, Tunisia, clues reveal how one deadly rivalry tilted the scales of power in favour of Rome.

How did the Colosseum - an arena for bloody gladiatorial battles - become the greatest symbol of the Roman Empire? Archaeologists venture into the Colosseum’s ruins, and launch digs across the Empire, to hunt for clues. As teams descend into hidden tunnels and unearth long-lost amphitheaters in Tuscany and Britain, they piece together the surprising truth about Rome’s iconic Colosseum.

Buried beneath Rome lies a forgotten treasure: the Golden House - a vast palace built in the first century AD. It was the most extravagant construction in the history of Rome. Why was it buried? And what can its fate reveal about its builder – Rome’s most notorious emperor – Nero? As experts race to save the remains of the Golden House, archaeologists uncover new clues to its fate and its connection to Nero’s reputation.

Hadrian’s Wall is the biggest structure the Romans ever built. Stretching 73 miles across Britain, it once defined the northern edge of the greatest empire the world had seen. Now experts investigate the Wall, its forts, gatehouses and garrison towns, to reveal how civilisation and culture grew on Rome’s wild frontier. Their surprising discoveries show what life – and death - were like on the dynamic and ever-changing edge of empire.

The deadly volcanic eruption that buried Pompeii in AD79 also claimed another victim: Herculaneum. Positioned closer to the Vesuvius crater, this seaside town was covered in ash five times as thick as Pompeii, yet miraculously is even better preserved. Now, the discovery of an intact skeleton here, the first excavated in 25 years, helps investigators piece together the final hours of Herculaneum and unravel why Vesuvius stuck so violently here.