Um documentário que nos leva numa viagem por todo o antigo Império Romano, explorando a entidade política mais multicultural da história.
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00:00O Roman Empire é um dos mais famosos e influenciais em todo o mundo histórico,
00:07e sua espetacular rise e desastros fall continua a ativar nos após mais de 2,000 anos.
00:16Rome's contribuições para art, arquitetura, law, linguagem, religião e cultura ainda nos acompanhá-nos.
00:23At its height, the Roman Empire covered 2.3 million square miles over three continents,
00:34stretching north to Britannia and south deep into Egypt.
00:39It's hard to imagine that it all started with a single city.
00:45I'm archaeologist Darius Arian, and in this series, we'll discover the contributions of Rome,
00:51its incredible monuments, beautiful landscapes, strategic organization,
00:57and its provinces and their resources.
01:01We'll explore the founding of the city and its evolution from one capital to many
01:06to truly appreciate Rome's impact on the rest of the empire.
01:12Our journey begins on the banks of the Tiber River.
01:16Let's travel the Roman Empire.
01:21A Syrian architect, a Greek sculptor, a North African mosaicist, a Spanish general,
01:49um jornalista, um general espanyol,
01:52cidadãos, foranhas, ex-slaves,
01:55todos deixaram um legado de conhecimento, art,
01:59arquitetura, beliefs, e tradições,
02:02exerter uma influência em Roma
02:04que é perceptível até hoje.
02:19Eles caminam para Roma
02:21através de uma rede de rôde,
02:23de cerca de 50,000 milhas,
02:25em torno de três continentes do Empire.
02:31Mas como impressionante as a rede de rôde
02:33da Roma,
02:35era a conexão com o Mediterrâneo
02:38que ensuou-lhe um empire,
02:40e a umbilical corda para o Mediterrâneo,
02:42o Tiber River.
02:49Tiber River
02:52Even living in Rome,
02:55sometimes you forget the Tiber River is here.
02:57And that's because you have the construction
02:59of massive flood walls
03:01at the end of the 19th century,
03:03forever changing our perception
03:05of the connection between ancient Rome
03:08and its lifeline to the Mediterranean,
03:10the Tiber River.
03:12That's also in this area,
03:14so the story goes,
03:15that Romulus and Remus,
03:17as babies washed ashore,
03:19were suckled by a she-wolf,
03:21and raised by local shepherds.
03:23And eventually Romulus founded Rome
03:26on the nearby Palatine Hill,
03:28which becomes the residence
03:29of the Senators of the Republic,
03:31and finally the definitive residence
03:33of the Emperor of the Roman Empire.
03:36But what's critical in all of this story
03:38is the presence in the Tiber River
03:40of the Tiber Island.
03:47Alongside the myths of Rome's ancient past,
04:00we also have the archaeological record
04:02that shows us that the early Romans
04:05were focused on controlling the crossing
04:07of the Tiber River.
04:08And the easiest place of crossing to control
04:10was where there was a sandbar
04:12that eventually became the Tiber Island,
04:15right here.
04:16And the Tiber Island also created a safe beachhead
04:19and allowed the formation of Rome's first river port.
04:23And it was guarded by the god of the port,
04:25Portunus.
04:26His temple still stands today.
04:28And nearby, in another sanctuary,
04:31you have the archaeological record showing us,
04:33alongside archaic temples,
04:35there are plenty of artifacts from the exchange
04:39between the Romans and the Etruscans,
04:42the Latins, and the Sabines.
04:44It was a place of early cultural exchange.
04:51The Tiber River was the essential conduit
04:54that connected Rome and all of its development
04:57to the rest of the Mediterranean.
04:59This is the lifeline to the Mediterranean.
05:02And you have on this side over here, Trastevere,
05:05the other side of the Tiber.
05:07But the real development took place over here,
05:09Centro Stortico today.
05:11And, of course, we have the Campus Martius area
05:14that frequently was flooded by the Tiber River
05:18that washed over.
05:19So you have this essential connection to the Mediterranean,
05:22but you're living with the realities of the dangers
05:25of the flooding.
05:26Now, initially, you're drawing water from the Tiber River
05:29and from the natural springs in Rome.
05:31But finally, you're getting aqueducts,
05:35bringing in copious amounts of water into the city,
05:38into the baths, into people's homes and public fountains,
05:41draining into the Tiber River.
05:43The same thing goes for the sewer line,
05:45like the Huaca Maxima.
05:46Everything's dumping into the Tiber River,
05:49even the discarded bodies of executed criminals.
05:52It wasn't a place where you wanted to swim.
05:59From the north, goods would arrive from various tributaries
06:03feeding into the Tiber along its 252-mile course,
06:07in particular, lumber and travertine stone.
06:10But from the south, an endless supply of small 70-ton capacity boats
06:16towed by oxen or slaves along tow roads
06:19on the riverbanks against the current,
06:21brought imported goods from all over the empire
06:24and beyond the empire, a sort of superhighway,
06:27luxury items like silk from China,
06:30incense from Arabia, and pepper from India,
06:33massive amounts of marble and granite,
06:36as well as key foodstuffs,
06:38grain from North Africa,
06:40olive oil from Spain and North Africa,
06:42and wine.
06:47But how can we get a sense of this vast marketplace of Rome?
06:50Let's go shopping.
06:58What's so special about this is you're setting up each banco,
07:02each cart in the morning before the crack of dawn,
07:05and then you break it down by lunchtime.
07:08And it's just a great rhythm and tradition
07:12that's been going on for really centuries.
07:15And there's nothing like Campo di Fiore in Rome.
07:17It's nice coming into Campo di Fiore.
07:20You can get the fresh produce what's in season.
07:22And right now what's in season, artichokes and puntarelle,
07:26which is a nice crunchy chicory.
07:31It's really one of my favorite things.
07:33Now I'm going to eat at the top of the world.
07:35It's nice coming in to Campo di Fiore.
07:36It's nice coming into Campo di Fiore.
07:37You can get the fresh produce what's in season.
07:39And right now what's in season, artichokes and puntarelle,
07:43which is a nice crunchy chicory.
07:45It's really one of my favorite things.
07:47É realmente uma das minhas favoritas.
08:07Trouxe conquistar e assimilation,
08:09Enslaved and freed, plus foreigners attracted to the rich capital, a lot of cultures, beliefs, foods, and traditions arrived into Rome, creating complex relationships and melding of ideas.
08:21The Roman Forum was the initial marketplace of ancient Rome. It developed between the Palatine Hill and the Capitoline Hill, and this marshy land had to first be drained out.
08:44It developed into the religious, political, and economic center of ancient Rome.
08:51It had key structures, used by Romans.
09:03The basilicas, the courthouses.
09:09The curia, the Senate House.
09:14Places for assembly and vote.
09:16And also so many temples.
09:23But eventually, it became too crowded.
09:33Julius Caesar, successful and wealthy from his conquest of Gaul, began to expand the Forum with his own adjacent space, which he called the Forum of Caesar.
09:44But it was Augustus and his end to a century of civil wars with his imposed Pax Romana that sealed the fate of the Republic.
09:55He, too, built a Forum, the Forum of Augustus, in part to create a showcase center for Rome, and in part to displace functions previously located on the Capitoline Hill and in the Forum, now directed on himself.
10:10The central feature of the Forum of the Forum of Augustus is the Temple of Mars Ultor, that is Mars that avenges the death of Julius Caesar, the adoptive father of Augustus.
10:22Of course, there's more to this Forum.
10:24Of course, there's more to this Forum.
10:25It was lined with porticos.
10:26It's protected, still today, by an impressive fire wall.
10:29And, of course, all the walls were lined with colored marble, imported from all over the Empire, the provinces conquered by Rome, and niches were filled with statuary, the who's who of Roman history.
10:41Augustus didn't stop with this Forum, he completes many projects started by Julius Caesar, and then he adds many other ones with his associates, especially Agrippa.
10:52In the Southern Campus marshes, there was the Baths of Agrippa, the first Pantheon, and a new aqueduct.
10:59Further north, there was the Ara Pacis, the Altar of Augustan Peace, celebrating the Pax Romana.
11:06And still further north, there was the Mausoleum of Augustus, the great tomb of the Emperor and his descendants.
11:17Rome was absolutely booming in the middle of the second century BC, giving way to a hundred years of internal strife and civil war fought by its greatest generals, Marius, Sulla, Pompey.
11:29And despite all that fighting, they had great provincial acquisitions in Europe, Asia, and North Africa.
11:39Even more successful politically, Caesar, adding Gaul, and Augustus, adding Illyricum, and Egypt, ended the last rounds of civic strife.
11:48Augustus was the city-wide innovator, dividing the city for the first time into 14 regions.
12:04Later, Nero had his own chance to rebuild after the devastating fire of 64.
12:09Other emperors, like Vespasian and Trajan, with major conquests, followed their lead.
12:17As calamities still continued, floods, earthquakes, and fires, emperors responded by creating new bold buildings and spaces.
12:26But it was Augustus' initial reorganization of the city, then of the provinces, new forms of taxation, and reorganization of the army.
12:37As well as his own role of emperor that set up successive dynasties to rule the provinces from a truly worthy capital.
12:45So much of ancient Rome lies hidden, buried beneath subsequent layers in the city.
12:55And so much of that ancient life was intimate, private, and mysterious.
13:00Wow! Now this is an incredible discovery made in the 1930s.
13:17What an impressive excavation.
13:19You can see all of these piers of concrete that are elevated above this archeological site.
13:26Let's explore this Mithraeum.
13:30I'm walking here through a structure that was constructed in the 2nd century AD.
13:43A big public monument, we don't know exactly the nature of it, but on one side there's a huge public staircase,
13:50and it's right next to the Circus Maximus.
13:52Now in the 3rd century, this space underneath here was connected one to another
13:58to make a single hall for the worship of the Persian god Mithras.
14:03Now this was a place that was for private worship.
14:07It's rather discreet, it's not hidden, but it's something that's still away from the public eye.
14:13And in fact, when we think about the Mithraeum temples throughout the Roman world,
14:18they're always in spaces like this, reused spaces.
14:22Public halls, bath complexes, even private homes.
14:26You could worship any god in Rome.
14:37And the gods came from all over the empire, so international.
14:41Now just across the way on the Palatine Hill, in the Pedagogium,
14:45there were graffiti found depicting the worship of the Christian god.
14:52This one graffiti shows that Christianity, as it became public,
14:56was subject to derision and eventual persecution.
14:59Here, Christ is depicted with an ass's head.
15:02So as you're moving from the private communities, the early worshippers of Christ,
15:08into a public discourse, they were inherent risks.
15:12Now where did these Christians come from?
15:14They came from the Jewish community that was long before established.
15:18But if you didn't work well with the authorities, or went against their wishes, you were punished.
15:23So there are many examples of groups being expelled.
15:26Astrologers, philosophers, worshippers of the Egyptian gods, and Jews.
15:31So here you have this danger that's in the face of it,
15:36when you're dealing with the city of Rome, when you're dealing with the emperor,
15:39and of course it doesn't always go your way.
15:42When we look at the history of the worshippers of Mithras,
15:44they threaded that needle, they stayed discreet, and they were not persecuted.
15:49We can't say the same thing about the early Christians of Rome.
15:52Today, the cars race around this valley.
16:09But in antiquity, it was the Circus Maximus, the greatest entertainment venue in the Roman world,
16:15holding 200,000 to 250,000 spectators that would witness chariot racing,
16:21that would witness hunts when that's Yones.
16:24And on some occasions, the triumphal parade celebrating a grand victory of the Roman people.
16:30The relationship of Rome as capital of empire and the masses living in the city center,
16:49we're talking about a million people crammed into 3,000 acres,
16:54was exemplified by the bread and circuses policy.
16:58And that is, you had a series of entertainments numbering up to 135 days of games and festivals.
17:06You also had monthly distribution of grain to all the citizens of Rome,
17:12and eventually even wine and pork.
17:16This is a big part of that relationship between the emperor, who's on the Palatine Hill,
17:22and down here in the greatest, largest venue of ancient Rome, the Circus Maximus.
17:27And this kind of relationship and discourse between these two grand monuments
17:32is later to be perpetuated in other capitals of the Roman Empire.
17:46Rome, despite its success, in a certain sense, is going to matter less and less.
18:14And that's because, in part, the emperor will be less and less present in the city of Rome.
18:20He's going to be leaving the city, fighting new hostilities, new emergencies.
18:25And that's despite the fact that Rome is always becoming more monumental and more grand.
18:29But the emperor has to be out there in the fringes of the empire
18:33to meet those new emergencies and new enemies of state.
18:37And that means you're going to have new Romes that are created from Trier to Sirmium,
18:43from Milan to Nicomedia, and finally even Constantinople.
18:48You're also going to have, at many times, multiple emperors.
18:51You're going to have them working together.
18:53You're going to have them sometimes fighting against each other.
18:56And that citizenry is going to expand as well.
19:00First, the citizens of Rome only live in Rome.
19:03Then it spreads to Italy and then all the provinces by 212 AD.
19:08And that means the perception of the city of Rome itself, capital city, is going to change.
19:13Over time, the idea of Rome is grander than even the capital city itself.
19:30From Rome, we travel to explore Rome's golden province, Spain.
19:38The Spanish Peninsula is beautiful, rugged, and expansive.
19:43Its various indigenous peoples, such as the Iberians, Celts, and Lusitani, among others,
19:48and their traditions developed in diverse regions.
19:51Along the Mediterranean and the Atlantic coasts, the northern Ibra Valley, Andalusia,
19:57and the massive central plateau, called the Meseta, which became rich in wheat and livestock.
20:03And finally, the northwest, Galicia and Asturias, hardest to tame.
20:08Several fertile river valleys, running from mountain ranges to the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts,
20:14provide ample opportunity for agricultural and urban development.
20:19Spain always was an important crossroad, from North Africa, with particular attachment to neighboring Morocco,
20:26as well as a gateway to mainland Europe, and subject to frequent invasion.
20:30Celts first settled the land, followed by Greek and Phoenician colonists, founding cities and harbors,
20:37and they began to mine metals, displacing the indigenous Siberians.
20:42Carthage accelerated those efforts during the Punic Wars, and finally Rome arrived on the scene,
20:48and its seven centuries of continual control and direction left an indelible mark,
20:54followed by Goths, Arabs and Franks, so many layers of history.
21:03For their efforts in Spain, Rome created two provinces, Hispania quiterior and ulterior,
21:10Spain nearer to, and Spain farther from Rome.
21:16Throughout the Republic, fighting continued unabated, and some of Rome's greatest generals were involved, including Julius Caesar.
21:25It was under Augustus, and committed campaigns that he finally ended all the fighting, and Spain was truly conquered.
21:33Between the period of 27 and 13 BCE, he was frequently in Spain,
21:39not just overseeing, but planning and organizing the provinces into a stable, prosperous zone.
21:44He reorganized Hispania quiterior into Hispania terraconensis,
21:49and he divided further Spain into Lusitania, roughly modern-day Portugal,
21:54and the fertile zone of today's Andalusia, into Hispania baietica,
21:59creating several new colonies, many Romes, of Roman citizens, mainly soldiers.
22:04Augustus ushered in a new wave of prosperity that would enhance Spain's standing in the Empire,
22:10with a massive output of resources, important cities whose citizens would exert a tremendous impact on Rome itself.
22:27Originating from the surrounding Sierra Moreno Mountains, the Rio Tinto, the Colored River.
22:32I mean, take a look at it, and it's absolutely stunning.
22:36Now, its color is due to the geology of the area, but it's also due to 5,000 years of continual mining,
22:43for copper, silver, and gold.
22:47So, the Romans were working here 2,000 years ago, adding to that overall experience that deposited into the river as well.
22:56Heavy metals and sulfides, and it gives you an otherworldly effect.
23:05Spanish silver allowed the Romans to finance their armies, countless wars and monuments.
23:11It was the silver, particularly around the area of Rio Tinto, that allowed the Romans to create the ultimate coin, the silver denarius,
23:19originally weighing 4 grams and worth 10 asses, the standard bronze coin.
23:26It became, in antiquity, the dollar of the ancient world.
23:29The extraction of silver was time-consuming and difficult.
23:34Clinton the Elder, who wrote about the eruption of Vesuvius, was here as procurator in Hispania in 73, 74.
23:41And he remarks that the silver mines around Rio Tinto were the greatest of the empire.
23:46And he also remarks about one particular mine opened by Hannibal.
23:51It was called Bybelo, and it was still being mined by the Romans, yielding 300 pounds of silver a day.
23:59You can get a sense of what mining was like in the Roman era at the Rio Tinto Foundation's Mining Museum.
24:06Being inside this reconstruction here, you get a sense of just how tight the spaces were for mining in the ancient world.
24:14And in this case here, the shaft would go up to a mile into the mountain and as deep as 450 feet.
24:21So they're going below the water table.
24:23So Clinton the Elder, who was here witnessing it, told us they employed water wheels,
24:28some which were found in excavations as far deep as eight levels.
24:33And each water wheel wasn't small.
24:35They were 15 feet height a piece.
24:38So you have the use of water wheels and Archimedes screws to pull out 24-7 water that would allow then the miners to go beneath the water table to continue to follow the precious veins of silver.
24:52It really was an amazingly difficult process, but it's all in the service of the state.
24:59The people doing that hard labor are slaves.
25:02The people who are doing that work are children as well.
25:05So it really was an awful experience thinking that you're underground, mining with your picks, by lamplight, all in the service of the Roman state.
25:35The Roman city of Merida became capital of the province of Espana Lusitania, a variable miniature Rome in all of its components.
25:54Colonia Augusta Emerita was named after its founder and reflected the emeritus status of its first citizens, retired soldiers,
26:02namely from the 5th Eludi and the 10th Gemini legions.
26:06It was founded in 25 BCE after Augustus' successful Cantabrian wars in Spain at an important logistical juncture of newly constructed road systems underlined by its massive bridge over the Guadiana River.
26:20This was a huge statement.
26:23Extending 60 arches over half a mile in the middle centered on a small island in the river, this is the longest preserved bridge in the ancient Roman Empire.
26:33It was and still is a testament to Roman engineering prowess.
26:38And when was it constructed?
26:40Some scholars point to the 2nd century CE, but it makes more sense it was made in the time of Augustus when the city was first founded.
26:46It's had a storied life.
26:48It was heavily damaged in the 5th century and again after flood damage in 1603.
26:54Still, it remains as an important gateway and entry into this amazing Augustan city.
27:03Every city that Rome built was laid out like a mini-Rome with an orthogonal street plan focused on a central piazza or forum space.
27:13Although so much of the forum is today hidden away beneath streets and modern buildings, there are still portions that are tantalizing and give us a sense of just how magnificent it was.
27:23Like this space right here, this is the forum Aiectum, the adjacent forum, and it really emulates contemporary buildings in Augustan Rome.
27:31It's truly a celebration of Rome and in particular Augustus.
27:36Here we can see architectural and sculptural features that are directly related to the building program in Rome and in particular the forum of Augustus.
27:45So the portico here actually has shields, representing also Jupiter on them, alternating with caryatid figures.
27:53Those two features are found exactly in the forum of Augustus.
27:58The forum of Augustus also had a hall of fame and the who's who of Roman history.
28:02And this space also has statues in niches, each one within a logium.
28:09So a marble plaque detailing who they were and how they contributed to Roman history.
28:14Again, imitated directly from the forum of Augustus.
28:21Just down the street is the so-called Temple of Diana.
28:24But in reality, this structure in the forum was probably a temple dedicated to the worship of the emperors,
28:30starting with Augustus, while he was still alive.
28:33Worshiping Augustus as a god in Rome was forbidden.
28:36But in the provinces, that was another matter.
28:39And it is so wonderfully preserved.
28:44Made of local granite, it stood undisturbed until it was incorporated into a 16th century noble house.
28:50Now liberated, it is one of the best preserved temples in Roman Spain.
28:55This is such a sprawling city.
29:09And in this portion on the east, you have this magnificent theater.
29:13It's considered to be the best preserved theater in Western Europe.
29:17And look at this impressive Scanae France.
29:20You've never seen anything like it.
29:22All of this marble, the statuary, the marble veneer.
29:26Now that's very rare.
29:27Usually after the Romans, after antiquity, that's the kind of material that gets recycled.
29:32It gets burned down for lime.
29:34But in this case here, we have a faithful restoration up to two stories of the stage set, the Scanae France,
29:42due to the miracle of this amount of material preserved.
29:46Now the theater was made by Agrippa dating to 16 BCE.
29:51The Scanae France, we attribute to the second century CE.
29:54And we even have restorations as late as the time of the Constantine.
29:58So this theater enjoyed a long life, many centuries of use.
30:03And even today, it's a place that can be used by spectators to enjoy that history.
30:10Another stunning characteristic of Merida is the exceptional quality of the preservation of its water and wastewater systems.
30:20Three aqueducts, with two dams, still intact.
30:24In the city itself, well-preserved underground sewer lines underline the care and construction involved.
30:30In Merida, financed and guided by Augustus and Agrippa, who are contemporarily upgrading Rome,
30:36including the sewer lines like the Coaca Maxima, meant that the city was a showcase center,
30:41effectively standing in for the grandeur of Rome.
30:48Such masterful urbanization ensured that these new cities did indeed flourish,
30:53as new centers of trade, commerce, and socialization.
30:57In Spain, and perhaps the entire Roman Empire, no single aqueduct line stands out quite like the Segovia Aqueduct,
31:10known for its beauty and grace, and longevity of use.
31:14The source of the aqueduct is 10 miles away, the Rio Frio.
31:24And the channel is right here, coming into the city.
31:28The water comes into this section here, this big empty space,
31:33and it's an opportunity, Vitruvius tells us, to decant the impurities that are in the water.
31:39And you have this option here, then of blocking that main channel.
31:42You have the chance then to move the water with the impurities out in the secondary channel,
31:47not going into the city.
31:49A really simple but ingenious construction that makes the aqueducts really something special.
31:54And everyone's here for this spectacle of history.
32:03The bridge is half a mile long.
32:05It's got a full height of 93 feet.
32:07It's composed of 20,000 tons of granite held together without concrete.
32:13But more than the size and the expanse,
32:15it's the elegance and the perfection of the arcades of two tiers
32:19that still captures our imagination today.
32:22We can ask who ordered it.
32:32Now, the scholarship tends to focus on Augustus,
32:35but a new recent interpretation has suggested that it's actually Trajan.
32:39We can look halfway up the aqueduct bridge.
32:42There's a rectangular area filled with holes
32:44that would have once held clamps for bronze lettering.
32:47So although we don't know who actually dedicated it,
32:50we do have two niches, one on either side, that held protective deities.
32:54And one is documented as being Hercules, the patron god of the city.
32:58Today, in the Christian era, they've been replaced by St. Sebastian and the Virgin Mary.
33:03Thirty-five of the arches were destroyed by the Moors in 1071, then rebuilt after the city was recaptured,
33:13back into action in 1483.
33:16It continued to flow until modern pipes were installed in 1929.
33:21But think of the history, used by Romans, Visigoths, Arabs, Castilians.
33:26Frontinus, who wrote the definitive book of the Aqueducts of Rome,
33:36stated that the aqueducts were a solemn testimony of the Roman Empire.
33:40Nowhere was this clearer than at the Aqueduct of Segovia.
33:45Just come down this ancient ventilation shaft, 60 feet cut right through the rock,
34:11into this particular Lapis Speculares mine.
34:15This was rediscovered in the 1950s.
34:18Today it's known as More Encantada,
34:20and allows us the opportunity to explore the process of mining Lapis Speculares.
34:34The miners were looking for this.
34:36This incredible material, the Lapis Speculares, which is gypsum, or selenite.
34:43And the thing is, Pliny the Elder tells us, it exists throughout the Empire.
34:48It's mined from Cappadocia in Turkey, to Cyprus, even Sicily.
34:53But the quality in Spain, Pliny the Elder tells us, the quality near Segobriga was exceptional.
35:01Because the size of the material that could be extracted was so large.
35:06And the quality, the translucence of this material was phenomenal.
35:11Large, massive crystals.
35:14And you could extract it, and literally saw it into panels.
35:20So it was a stand-in for windowpane glass.
35:24And there's some incredible examples of its use.
35:27We find this in Pompeii.
35:29We find it in people's houses of the wealthy, and the bath complexes.
35:34The emperor Tiberius used it to create a greenhouse for having certain vegetables all year long on the island of Capri.
35:43We're even told, its shavings were used and dispersed on the track of the Circus Maximus to make it shine and glimmer.
35:52So it was really famous, and famously extracted around here, for three centuries, from Augustus into the second and even third centuries CE.
36:02From Rome, the empire expanded around the Mediterranean as far west as Morocco, whose Roman remains are visible still today.
36:16The land of Morocco is a land of stark contrasts, with varied topography and climate over 275,000 square miles.
36:25It's one of the only three countries that faces both the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean, with a massive mountain range.
36:33The Atlas Mountains, with its highest peak over 13,000 feet above sea level, run through the country, from the southwest to the northeast, trapping moisture to create regions of rich agricultural lands.
36:48It's also a land of harsh terrain, with beautiful, vast deserts, connected to sub-Saharan lands via important historic trade routes.
36:58Moroccans call Morocco Maghreb el-Akasa, Kingdom of the West, which was born from ancient Mauritania, the kingdom of the indigenous people, the Maori,
37:10whose various tribes began to unite after the creation of Punic outposts, such as Tingas and Lixas, on the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts.
37:19Where the Phoenicians originally settled is where the main population still resides, and from the interaction through trade in dominant Punic city Carthage,
37:27the indigenous Berber tribes organized their own kingdom, the sprawling Mauritania, extending to Algeria, which eventually fell under the power of Rome by 146 BC.
37:38First as a client kingdom, then as a Roman province.
37:45After the passing of Roman influence and the flourishing of Christian communities, the Arab conquest in the 7th century further transformed the land of the Berbers.
37:54Though throughout its history, Morocco has remained tethered both to Europe, in particular neighboring Spain, as well as sub-Saharan culture, to be European, Berber, Arab.
38:06It's always been multicultural in its DNA, constituting a crossroad of European, North African and Sub-Saharan cultures from antiquity until today.
38:21There's Volubilis, on a ridge between two wadis, Fertassa and Cumane, overlooking a fertile plain that yielded olive groves and other agriculture.
38:33Volubilis, the name was probably derived from the Berber term, Oalili, Oleander.
38:42Here, the terrain looks much like it did 2,000 years ago, rich with olive trees and grain, and in ancient Roman times, was a territory that also supplied wild animals for the games in Rome, here on the edge of empire.
38:56The Maori, or the Moors, of the Mauritania Kingdom, first fought in the service of Carthage.
39:08They created their own urban centers, like Volubilis, as early as the 3rd century BCE.
39:14Then, with the rise of Rome and its conquest of Carthage by 146 BCE, Mauritania overcame social and political unrest, eventually forming a long-term alliance with Rome.
39:27In 25 BCE, Mauritania becomes a client kingdom of Rome, and the king is Juba II.
39:39And he's really interesting, because he was already sent to Rome as a hostage, and he grew up with Augustus.
39:46And when he's sent back to Mauritania, his wife is none other than Cleopatra Selina II, the daughter of Mark Antony and Cleopatra.
39:57Yes, that Cleopatra.
39:59And together, they revolutionized the kingdom.
40:03Juba is a real renaissance man, and you have flourishing cultural developments.
40:09And Volubilis, a city of 30 acres, is growing, and it becomes an important administrative center of the Kingdom of Mauritania.
40:27But things were destined to change.
40:29The Emperor Caligula called the King Ptolemy to Rome and had him killed, making Mauritania now a new province of Rome.
40:38But afterwards, there's a revolt, and a certain Eidomon leads that revolt, and it lasts for a number of years.
40:46But at the conclusion, the Emperor Claudius determines that he wants to divide Mauritania into two distinct provinces.
40:53Mauritania Tinkitana, named after the major city, and Mauritania Caesariensis.
40:59Now, under the Romans, Volubilis flourished. It expanded. And they're going to build up the city on a new orientation, on a new grid, different from the original city.
41:13So, so much of the original city is going to disappear underneath new public spaces.
41:18But the sanctuary of Baal lives on. We have here the Capitolium Sanctuary, which you'll find in any Roman city.
41:26But let's keep in mind that the local population, the core, it's always the locals here of the Maghreb.
41:33But under the Romans, Volubilis becomes really international.
41:37And we have inscriptions that detail the presence of Spaniards, Gauls, Germans, Britons.
41:46We've got Syrians, Arabs, and Jews. So here Volubilis is becoming an international hub, a great city representative of the Roman Empire.
41:57But by 285, it was all over.
42:13Volubilis was definitively abandoned by the Romans. And that was not just this city, but a huge portion of Mauritania.
42:22Local tribes threatened, organized, and ultimately took these lands.
42:27And the Romans never tried to get that land back this far south, preferring to remain along the Mediterranean.
42:34Now, Diocletian tries to reorganize the province, but he doesn't go down south to reconquer.
42:40He just stays along the Mediterranean. It doesn't mean, though, that Volubilis was abandoned because the Berbers, the local population, was always here.
42:48And Volubilis continued to thrive for centuries.
42:53And then you're going to have a Byzantine church presence of Christians.
42:58You're going to have, then, the Arabs sweep through in the 7th century, throughout the Maghreb, including here.
43:04And finally, Idris I. He's going to found his dynasty, the Idris dynasty.
43:10And he is the founder of the modern Moroccan state.
43:13So, so much is happening here in Volubilis after the Romans.
43:18And the prominent remains of that dynasty are visible outside the city walls.
43:25Idris' city fell, but his kingdom still thrives in modern Morocco.
43:29Today, if we want to capture the vibrant culture, craftsmanship, creativity, and resilience of Volubilis,
43:36we can search out what the traditions of artisans and creators are still a part of Moroccan life.
43:43Let's explore Morocco's modern urban landscape.
43:48Emir Abu Bakr in Umar, the Berber ruler whose empire ultimately stretched down the Sahara, over to Algeria, and into Spain,
43:57founded Marrakesh in 1062 as the capital of the Amoravid kingdom.
44:10The word Marrakesh is derived from the Berber, meaning land of God or children of Kush.
44:15And the term Marrakesh is actually applied to the entire country of Morocco into the 20th century.
44:21Now, the city layout and the wall circuit, it's all happening in the beginning of the 12th century.
44:28And underneath is a whole underground water system of Canats, which they call here locally, Catara.
44:36And we take a look at this wall circuit here.
44:38It was 11 miles long.
44:41That's getting close to the length of the Aurelianic wall circuit in ancient Rome.
44:45And they use the local red sandstone that then is applied as a nickname to the city of Marrakesh.
44:52The Red City, the Ochre City, with heavy Andalusian architectural influences.
44:58And with the Atlas Mountains in the backdrop and the Tensift River passing nearby,
45:04Marrakesh developed into a hub, a center religiously, culturally, and economically for the Maghreb and Sub-Saharan Africa.
45:15When Marrakesh finally fell to the Alawites in 1668, and still the ruling dynasty of Morocco,
45:22they introduced a series of tombs, seven tombs of saints of Sufism located throughout the city.
45:29And this is one of them.
45:30And they, at the same time, moved the capital of Morocco from Marrakesh to Fez, Meknes, and finally Rabat.
45:38But the city's charms, colors, and creative energies have continued to endear it to visitors worldwide
45:46in search of ancient experiences that are still contemporary.
45:50And we can take those experiences and apply them to the cities that we travel throughout the Roman Empire.
45:56The markets of modern Marrakesh are as vibrant as the ancient markets in the Roman Empire.
46:06The sights, sounds, and smells of the souks in the Medina fill your senses.
46:11In the souk adedin, you'll find metalworking.
46:14In the souk kamikin, stringed instruments.
46:17In the souk kuwari, basketry and woodturning.
46:21Souk smarin, clothing.
46:24Souk smata, slippers and belts.
46:27Souk sinagin, jewelry.
46:29Souk sarbia, carpets.
46:31There's even an area remembered as the former slave market.
46:42Although so much of Morocco's Roman past has disappeared, it's through cities like Marrakesh,
46:47with its rich artistic history and extensive trade,
46:50that we are able to reclaim a sense of that once vibrant Roman culture.
46:55We're so lucky today that we still have impressive villages preserved,
47:00like the well-fortified Ben Aithadu,
47:02due to the constant conservation and restoration work necessary to preserve its fragile earthen architecture.
47:09The success of the Roman Empire always boils down to local negotiations and local relationships.
47:16And we've seen in Morocco the ancient Mauritania and local Berber tribes
47:21carved out their own space within the ancient Roman framework.
47:25But ultimately, the Roman cities disappeared.
47:29And they were paved over, rebuilt and stripped away.
47:33And new dynasties, Islamic dynasties, forge new paths, new futures, new cities.
47:39And they have a rich cultural heritage and religious legacy.
47:44Centers like Marrakesh preserve ancient traditions
47:48and connect us to the multicultural legacy of ancient Rome here at the Edge of Empire.