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7.Wonders.of.the.Ancient.World.S01E02

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00:00i've spent years investigating the seven wonders of the ancient world this just has to be one of
00:10the best views in the world the unique list of monumental masterpieces first written down
00:17two thousand three hundred years ago unbelievable oh my gosh now i'm heading on a thrilling journey
00:24to explore them all hello following the trail of ancient travelers i love cleopatra and adventurers
00:31across three continents deciphering the mysteries of who built them and look what's the lesson to
00:39artemisia how this was the space this was his workshop exactly and why this statue was all
00:46about the seething power of potential with exclusive access to brand new discoveries
00:53it's not just any city gate it's the one that leads to one of the wonders of the world
00:57absolutely to bring the wonders back to life exactly where they once stood
01:03i've uncovered two extraordinary wonders in egypt the great pyramid of giza there's 2.3 million
01:15limestone blocks and the ingenious lighthouse of alexandria oh yeah i'm getting it look recreating
01:22the lighthouse of alexandria now i'm on the trail of two of the greatest masterpieces ever created
01:29bringing greek gods to earth the people of rhodes turned the siege engines of their enemies
01:36into something spectacular the legendary colossus of rhodes we're in a very plausible location
01:45and the awe-inspiring statue of zeus at the birthplace of the olympic games
01:50it's really exciting isn't it so we're actually where we're standing here is where it would be made
01:56i've left the wonders of egypt behind and i'm heading for one of the most captivating of the greek islands
02:14roads roads in ancient times a strategic pivot point between east and west a naval powerhouse
02:24and for just 50 years home to an awe-inspiring wonder the colossus of roads a mammoth statue of helios
02:36the god of the sun
02:38these two pillars here on either side of the entrance are where the feet of the colossus
02:47were said to have been planted so he'd have straddled the harbour right here
02:54towering over boats like this as they came in
02:57just look at this 450 year old drawing you can see how this iconic power pose captured the imagination
03:06for centuries but the truth is there is a big question mark over where the colossus actually stood
03:16the statue built in the third century bce was felled by an earthquake just decades after it was built
03:30but wrecked on the ground visitors still flocked to it one ancient author wrote even in ruins it excites
03:40our wonder and admiration
03:42the colossus remains the talk of the town so i'm asking around to decide where to start my investigation
03:52where do you reckon that the colossus of roads was the colossus was up to the hill above the town
03:59aha i'm looking for the colossus mom no colossus no it was years ago the history they say that it was
04:10a colossus in the high place and the higher place in town is where the palace of the grandmaster is
04:16i'm looking for the colossus of roads
04:22i'll keep looking i'll keep looking thank you
04:29up that way this is colossus
04:33bravo a colossus bridge magnet perfect
04:38oh it's the colossus in your restaurant oh there he is
04:43sadly not the real thing that's genius
04:50everybody in roads has got an opinion on where the colossus stood i've got a really strong hunch of
04:55where it is so i'm just going to test the evidence
04:58i'm heading to the archaeological museum of roads with one vital question
05:10why have this wild idea to build a massive bronze statue
05:16the island is packed with intriguing evidence much of it pointing to one key factor
05:26war just look at these so the huge stones in this courtyard are basically ancient cannonballs
05:36that were launched at the city of roads in an attack just before the colossus was built
05:47so our wonder emerged from a time of turmoil
05:52in 332 bce roads became part of alexander the great's empire after his death rivals fought for this coveted prize
06:04leading to a brutal invasion by a force 40 000 strong
06:12it was a desperate siege death disease and destruction were rife
06:17eventually everyone decided enough was enough
06:28roads signed a peace treaty with its attackers
06:32who left behind an enormous nine-story war machine
06:37a towering metal skeleton armed with battering rams
06:40the people of rhodes turned the siege engines of their enemies into something spectacular in some
06:50versions of the story they melted down the metal from the conflict to turn weapons of war into a massive
06:58symbol of hope
07:11i'm traveling between the seven wonders of the ancient world
07:15and i'm here in rhodes to uncover the truth of the colossus
07:20a towering celebration of the sun god helios
07:23helios was the patron deity of the island which makes sense because roads averages 300 days of sun a year
07:35in the archaeological museum there's a head of the god carved just a century after the colossus was
07:42created a key clue to what our wonder looked like so pleased to be able to show you this because
07:50it's just beautiful isn't it and also fascinating so if you look around the back here you can see
07:57he's got these holes in the back of his head where a solar crown would be put and i tell you if you agree
08:05but i mean look at his face he's just gorgeous
08:11whoever made this smaller helios must surely have seen our awesome colossus
08:18so may well have been inspired by it it's all making me think about the human artist behind our
08:25super-sized god
08:33it's pretty incredible because we actually know the name of the man who created the colossus of roads
08:42um he was a sculptor called caros and he came from this gorgeous little town in rhodes called lindos
08:50when carys was a child a huge building project was underway at this stunning temple complex
08:58you can just imagine this place bustling with sculptors and craftsmen working on the artworks here
09:03it must have left a mark on young caros who went on to be trained by one of the most renowned
09:11sculptors in all the ancient world lysippus now lysippus's great claim to fame was the fact that he was
09:21personal artist to alexander the great no less he was behind brand alexander creating that trademark
09:30beardless tousled head look copied across the greek and roman world and it's really interesting if you
09:37compare that with the image of the sun god helios that we were looking at before there are these
09:43definite similarities so you've got this kind of quiff of hair and these huge eyes and lovely full lips
09:51and i don't think that that's a coincidence could it be that the colossus celebrated not only the
10:00patron god of the island helios but its one-time ruler alexander the great an exciting lead to rebuild
10:09our giant with the same tilt of the chin tumbling locks and iconic crown as god of the sun we also think
10:19he held a burning torch all made of bronze the ancient author philo said making the colossus
10:28used so much bronze it pretty much exhausted the earth's minds that might be an exaggeration
10:36but there is hidden evidence of just how the wonder creators utilized this precious resource
10:42so i think i've got a bit of special access coming up but this is my rendezvous this is stavros
10:52hey hi i'm betony welcome thank you you come inside is it okay good love to you fantastic exciting to be in here
11:04it's currently closed to the public and under lock and key
11:07a few years ago builders working on this apartment block stumbled across something incredible
11:22a mysterious pit identified as an ancient foundry used to cast molten bronze
11:30so amazing to get down here so um so far eight of these foundries have been discovered here and
11:42these ones date from exactly the same time that the colossus was being made and we know they'd have been
11:49used for super heat because look you can see these um scorch marks
11:53and how it works is that this bit here was where the cast was made and then where you've got these holes is
12:02where all the molten material would go and these date from exactly the same time that the colossus was being built
12:13so sections of the mighty colossus could well have been forged in this metalworking district
12:30to supersize our wonder caros and his team would have needed tons of bronze and a huge amount of skill
12:38so how did they engineer it all to help answer that question i'm heading across the island to meet artist
12:47costas neophytu he's dedicated his life to sculpting in bronze you work in the same method
12:57the sculptor of the colossus of roads yes yes the same method exactly the same method that is from six
13:04century bc how could it physically have stood if it's made of bronze because bronze is so heavy uh i think
13:11they they had uh special methods for this put inside of this sculpture of the bronze special um iron
13:23supports yes just a skeleton just for for for good standing yes many of these they put a piece of
13:32piece so it wasn't like cast in as one single yes a single piece but almost like jigsaw puzzles
13:39together from the bottom up also for this yeah it's a big piece and then smaller piece so the colossus
13:46of roads was made with a like a thin skin of bronze so this is like your your bronze sculpture seven a
13:54millimeter less than a centimeter yes it was thick yes like like that yeah yeah yes so it's like a hollow
14:02case almost yes costas can give us an insight to how the statue was built
14:09and he has a strong opinion on whether it could actually have straddled the harbor
14:15the truth is that the colossus was not with open
14:21neck but like that yes it's fantastic you're revealing the secrets of the seven wonders yes
14:29i've always thought that iconic power pose across the water was fanciful and there's even more
14:38definitive proof if we look back to the written sources ancient traveler strabo judged the statue to be
14:4570 cubits that's 33 meters high so there's no chance his legs were long enough to straddle 118 meters across
14:54this harbor if it wasn't here where was it this is going to be a real detective hunt
15:02so far we've got a good idea of what his face may have looked like framed by that solar crown
15:14and we think his mighty bronze legs instead of straddling the harbor would have been planted in a more
15:24classical pose
15:25now i've unearthed a new lead taking me higher in the town and closer to the sun to meet rhodes historian
15:39spiros seropoulos this is a pretty nice place to isn't it impressive isn't it impressive just look around us you see
15:47the past being present definitely part of it we walk in it you can sense the uh footsteps of antiquity
15:56yes taking us all the way to evidence
16:00the immense palace the immense palace of the grand master was originally built as a fortress 700 years
16:07ago by a group of crusading knights the knight's hospitaller but spiros knows the history here goes
16:15far deeper this base here on which the statue stands is much more important than a statue itself
16:23because it does come from the time of the colossus and we can see here the name of priest his name is
16:31nikon we can see it here so he's nick the priest nick nick the priest was there yeah and he was a priest
16:39of alioi of helios so somewhere around here was a temple of helios of the sun so this is a good place
16:48to start so just so i'm putting the bits of the jigsaw puzzle together correctly so this is an
16:53ancient pediment cut from the classical period from from the time exactly exactly exactly a different
16:59statue on top and the fact that it says helios there so we know it this is from a sanctuary of helios
17:05from the sanctuary of helios which was somewhere around here
17:10the rhodians cult of helios was the biggest in all of ancient greece we're going to go through this gate
17:17khali merah and merah well done ah thanks to my spiros is taking me behind the scenes to explain one
17:25interesting theory the gate in time let's go through time let's go it's exciting
17:36so where are we now we're in a very plausible and very possible location of the of the statue
17:47because it overviews the harbor the real colossus site also needed to allow for a complex construction
17:57process as described by the ancient writer philo they built the first part and then they buried it
18:04in there and then they continue with the second part and then they covered it again with dirt and they
18:10continue working from uh bottom to the top so you need a huge area for that we needed a construction
18:17site and philo was very clear that the diameter of this cone should be something like 102 meters as big
18:26as trafalgar square so it must have been really amazing to sail yeah from egypt and just suddenly
18:34see something that you definitely associate with roads yeah a miracle yeah a miracle and and also
18:41something you'd talk about you know you'd share the news as you went on your boats back out around the
18:46world so what do you think then you think most likely here i i i tend to think that it was here
18:54after all what is helios he's the light he's the truth can we look directly at him no but from the
19:00shadows from everything that is left around us we can follow this trace and maybe we can come as close
19:07to the truth as possible yeah well said well said we should always be searching for the truth
19:14the palace is a good contender as the site of a sanctuary to helios it would make sense
19:22but i have a problem with this theory the space just doesn't seem big enough
19:30i've always thought it would be on higher ground as close as possible to the sun
19:35spiro says there's one more place in roads to explore
19:50i've been piecing together evidence for the location and look of the colossus of roads a giant
19:57statue of the sun god helios and one of the seven wonders of the ancient world
20:03i've ruled out the age-old myth of the statue standing legs spread across the harbor
20:09i'm hoping my next stop might be where our giant wonder actually stood the acropolis of roads
20:17up here there was a massive stadium where games were held to honor helios so it's almost certain there'd
20:27been a temple to have been a temple to him here too
20:40some worshippers came up here to pay their respects to helios and at a great festival
20:47they would sacrifice a four horse chariot to the god
20:54everything's falling into place this is a premier location for helios's cult
21:01it's the highest point in the city and from up here you can see both the rising and setting sun
21:10so it's the perfect spot for a sun god to climb into the sky this feels right crucially he's not just
21:21a stride one harbor but a beacon visible across the whole island and surrounding seas the ultimate
21:30testament to rhodes naval power and victory at last witnessing the colossus in all his glittering glory
21:39it's no surprise he inspired so much the coliseum in rome which took its name from a copycat statue next to the monument
21:52new york's statue of liberty he lives on in films tv shows and video games
22:00and we remember him every time we say the word colossal
22:09as the sun sets over roads it's time to continue my journey of investigation
22:23setting sail on the high seas i'm getting closer to how those ancient wonder tourists must have felt
22:30over two thousand years ago
22:39i really love being on the sea at the sun of night because this is how the ancients would often have
22:46traveled so they could navigate by the stars and just imagine being here thousands of years ago and being one of
22:54those tourists who were visiting all the fascinating sites around the mediterranean
23:01this was a time full of remarkable monuments sculptures and statues and artworks but there were only
23:08seven that made the list so the fact that you've got this far in your boats across these dangerous seas
23:15but it meant um you know it was a really thrilling journey but a really thrilling destination
23:24the voyage west of rhodes close on 800 kilometers was a perilous one for ancient tourists
23:32heading for the peloponnese peninsula but so worth it to arrive at ancient olympia
23:44the birthplace of the olympic games in around 776 bce
23:52the games here weren't just about competition they were also staged as an elaborate tribute
23:59to the king of the gods the mighty zeus an artistic masterpiece in his honor at the beating heart
24:08of this site is our next wonder
24:14so this is all that's left of a once massive temple to zeus and i am incredibly lucky to get up here
24:24because you can't usually walk on these stones in its heyday you have to imagine it this was enormous
24:31and ambitious and elaborate but what was created within cost more to make than this whole temple itself
24:41it was a magnificent towering statue of the king of the gods himself and it was the biggest indoor
24:52sculpture that's ever been made this god of gods loomed 13 meters tall the height of a three-story house
25:06resplendent on a golden throne zeus held a scepter in one hand a statue of nike goddess of victory in the
25:14other a pool of olive oil at his feet doubled his divine image all to celebrate the ancient greek
25:23ideals of physical power and contest a constant reminder to the 50 000 or so who flocked to the games
25:32of exactly who was in charge
25:40i just love coming here because i always think in ancient times you'd have been able to cut
25:45the atmosphere with a knife because here there were thousands of spectators all crammed in to watch foot
25:52racing that began on this starting line here an ancient pentathlon and everything was about being
25:58the best of the best in honor of the most powerful of all of the gods zeus
26:08the olympic games were year zero for greece the start of all dates marked by a truce of peace across
26:15the greek world and in 472 bce the creation of the mighty temple as a home on earth for zeus olympios
26:23began adorned with splendid sculptures depicting mythical battles and divine chariot races the olympic
26:33authorities commissioned the wonder statue from one of the greatest sculptors in ancient history
26:40phidias famous for his work on the parthenon in athens phidias was given the five-year-long
26:47mission to brings use to life
26:56phidias was the superstar artist of his day and and he was in his 50s when he was working here so
27:04what he produced was really the pinnacle of his career and not only that but the building over here
27:11has been identified as the very workshop where he produced the statue of zeus and i've got a mate
27:19um he's working on restoring it now angeles expert archaeologist angeles got seen us knows all its
27:29secrets you'd like to come inside yes what's your step huh he wants to show me the evidence that proves
27:36its original purpose a bustling workshop where phidias himself realized his vision of zeus
27:47imagine a big crew a big team okay under the orders of phidias working every single day trying to make
27:54this amazing statue and we know that because of what archaeologists discovered exactly exactly okay so
28:00can you see this well well yeah but not so close this is a black painted pot yeah and the amazing
28:09thing about this pot is this inscription in the bottom of the bot and it's written in greek video in
28:17me yes which means property of phidias it's so incredible this because it's like um kind of in
28:25offices today it's really annoying if somebody steals your coffee cup so you might put your name
28:30on it and he's doing exactly the same it's the only thing yeah that connected directly with phidias
28:35yeah it's his personal pot let's just have a moment this is one of the creators the one of the seven
28:40wonders of the world and he's left us this clue it's actually really touching because that's his
28:45handwriting of course like his signature in a way it's the only is the only finding we have and connect
28:51directly with phidias yeah right amazing so that was found around here the workshop is directly west
28:59of the temple of zeus so this is the original entrance exactly the workshop it's down at the far end
29:09where the wonder was lovingly created this is like is that right yes this is exactly where the statue
29:17was made was made here exactly here i mean it's really exciting isn't it so we're actually where
29:23we're standing here is where it would have been made isn't it yes exactly and this room has the same
29:29dimensions with the inner room of the temple of zeus okay so it's completely mirroring it so that they
29:35can work out yes you know how it feels what the proportions look like so phidias is like working
29:40inside the table look from above compare the workshop with the temple space it matches perfectly
29:50meaning phidias could test proportions and the play of light on his masterpiece before moving it to the
29:58temple and brilliantly it's littered with clues to the actual creation of the wonder she was using this
30:09kind of mold to make the gold details in the dress of the statue so this is some like fold of the
30:17cloth exactly exactly exactly yes all these details yeah there were many many small pieces going all
30:23around the dress yes and well to decorate so like he would have looked like he was dressed like shimmering
30:30exactly exactly what else have you got what else you got here oh glass he used glass to make all these
30:36small details in decoration like flowers and all these kind of things yes yeah and here you can see
30:42it more clear see terracotta mold with a glass on it here there are remains from ivory plates yes so this
30:53is fragments that left over from this procedure so he had like a an ivory skin exactly and people talked
31:02about it's the shimmering and it looking like it's like like a beautiful human skin exactly translucent
31:08but even more beautiful because it belonged to a god and this ivory is it elephant or hippopotamus ivory
31:13elephant ivory yeah yes so you've got raw materials coming from all these different continents to
31:20to create this artwork exactly i love it i love it here these clever techniques and the ivory and gold plates
31:28could be painstakingly assembled with this evidence now we can recreate this remarkable statue in all its glory
31:40with a shimmering ivory skin glass decorations and a ton of glittering gold phidias's wonder was the
31:48ultimate jewel in olympia's crown it can't just have felt like an ordinary workshop no not at all not
32:00at all yeah yes and that's why this space is very important it was a really sacred place i hadn't really
32:07properly thought about that so because they're creating a gods here that's a sacred act and so this
32:13would have felt like a like a sacred space exactly not every day that you get to feel and see the
32:21evidence of the inner workings of one of the wonders of the world under the glowing light of a translucent
32:29marble roof phidias crafted the ultimate vision of a god on earth at dawn the rising sun would have
32:39arrowed through the doorway and illuminated zeus in a kind of golden spotlight i mean it just must have
32:47been awesome just imagines uses powerful presence here inspiring the athletes to test their strength
33:03in this the original olympic stadium competitors and spectators gathered every four years just as
33:11they do today from across continents not only to visit the games but also to pay their respects to
33:18olympia's wonder of the world and they transformed the sanctuary into their own olympic village what you're
33:28looking at here is basically a five-star hotel for the greats and the good who'd come to visit olympia
33:35so you could book this whole travel package that included visits to the baths and special guides
33:40and and there's a brilliant uh record of somebody saying please save me from the guides of olympia
33:46because i'm sure there were loads of people who were pretending to know about this place
33:49and selling their services very expensively tonight i'm lucky enough to be staying just a discus throw
34:03from this historic site at the international olympic academy its purpose to inspire today's athletes with
34:12those original olympic ideals born right here it's a great place to reflect on the widespread enduring
34:20appeal of olympia's statue of zeus zeus ends up on coins so this was a coin this is a replica obviously
34:29that was minted by the roman emperor hadrian coins give us helpful images of phidias's masterpiece
34:37and so did and this is something i'll just carry around with me also a replica obviously um a coin
34:44that was minted by this man by alexander the great and look there's the statue of zeus on the back
34:53and it just tells us that this is a wonder that really became legendary
34:59i think particularly for these kind of great men of history they wanted to be associated with zeus's
35:05power so um so i'm going to sleep with both of these uses as my lucky charm tonight and see what
35:13adventures you springs for tomorrow
35:19i'm in greece on a journey to uncover one of the ancient world's greatest wonders the statue of zeus
35:39at olympia zeus's worship was a driving force behind the ancient olympics
35:45an event that united the greek world in the spirit of athletic excellence
35:55in front of his statue victors became heroes crowned in the presence of zeus with olive branch wreaths
36:08ancient authors used to imagine what would happen if zeus stood up and the fact that he would smash
36:13through the roof of the temple in a way that was what was special about him um this statue was all
36:20about the seething power of potential of metal and might and wanting to win this was a god who didn't
36:30have any time for losers just like our modern olympics the games were a massive draw thousands of spectators
36:42from europe asia and africa converging at the ancient port of feia from here many joined an opening
36:51ceremony procession as the athletes made their way to olympia you like it i like it archaeologist costas
36:59antonopoulos has tracked this ancient route with fascinating discoveries you need to imagine that every
37:06four years this port was filled with boats and ships of every kind they'd have been thick with anticipation
37:16and excitement they've nearly got to olympia when they arrive at this port they will be at the sanctuary
37:21should we cheat and get in our car but don't say it to anyone no i won't tell it our secret
37:26thanks to ancient sources and costas's research we can retrace the steps of the pilgrims who came to see
37:35this wonder after training in nearby elis athletes and these spectators converged on a 30 kilometer
37:45sacred procession a procession was the culmination of the trip that they were doing for
37:52maybe weeks or even months yes from sicily or from northern africa so this was exactly the last
38:03i'm going left is that no oh okay right it's my fault no i got distracted by that sign for honey
38:09lovely this is the purpose of the science to attract you you can imagine the procession starting as a
38:21small stream of people yeah but later on becoming slowly a river how big was the procession maybe tens
38:31of thousands maybe tens of thousands wow and how long would it have taken them the whole route it would
38:39take them two days
38:45oh hang on a second just a little uproading opportunity
38:49bringing sacrifices from hundreds of live animals to bronze treasures
39:09river so beautiful at the river alpheus pilgrims paused to wash and purify their offerings for zeus
39:19he is the father of all gods and of all humans yes and he needs to uh to be honored uh in the best
39:29possible way yeah and what a better idea to bring gifts yeah everybody likes gifts everybody loves
39:37a person imagine carrying all these gifts you know their minds was to make the god happy yeah everything
39:44was happening with that concept in their minds yeah yeah yeah it was a living god
39:51we are getting closer and closer olympia yeah yeah look at that
40:00eventually this mass of people reached zeus's sanctuary ready for the festivities to begin
40:07and for the final leg i'm on foot arriving just as they would have done
40:17back to the heart of zeus's remarkable home on earth here in olympia
40:26tracing the importance of zeus here has changed my whole understanding of the games
40:31they weren't just incredible human feats but acts of devotion and worship with our wonder the statue
40:38of zeus at their heart the games themselves ended in 393 ce banned as a pagan festival by a newly christian
40:49roman empire and worse was to come the sanctuary was brought low by devastating earthquakes
41:01the statue itself was ripped from the temple and put on a boat and shipped out to the new capital of the roman
41:15empire constantinople it stood on display in a palace for a few decades and then as a result of a massive
41:24city fire it was burnt to the city fire it was burnt to the ground so even the king of the gods
41:31isn't a match for the power of mother nature
41:43before i say goodbye i'm meeting my fellow wonder hunters for a drink in honor of zeus that's the thing
41:50is that the olympics it's not just about sport it's about belief and experience and feasting you
41:59know it's it's like a whole pack it's kind of a massive festival isn't it people from all over
42:04greece were coming here having their tents and waiting waiting for this big event yes and at the
42:10same time have a chance to visit the the temple to see the statue to see what he has made yeah yeah it
42:17must be one of the reasons that we're still talking about phidias and the statue and that
42:22wonder today because it must have been totally awesome thank you yes lovely to be here drinking wine
42:34from olympia cheers guys oh cheers next time i head to turkey to explore three epic wonders on the last
42:43leg of this unforgettable journey discovering the grand and gaudy mausoleum of halicarnassus these
42:51very steps and this ramp would have been running with blood indulging in a feast for the senses from
42:59the hanging gardens of babylon do you feel like you're eating the gardens i do it's what they would
43:04have eaten and rebuilding one of the biggest sanctuaries in the ancient world the breathtaking temple of
43:10artemis the whole thing was twice the size of the famous parthenon temple in athens
43:40so
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