Rome Unwrapped
aka: When Rome Ruled / Rome Revealed
8 x One-Hour Series for National Geographic Channel, Channel 5, La7 and FremantleMedia Enterprises
Rome’s history is being rewritten. New excavations are giving us groundbreaking insights into the events that defined the Empire and the personal stories of its people – not just emperors and the elite, but the working classes, engineers and common soldiers. Through their experiences, we are gaining a radically different perspective on Rome’s history – leading experts to challenge the traditional view of the Empire. Now they can tell Rome’s previously untold story, based on more, and broader, sources than ever before. The names and places are familiar – Caesar, Caligula, the Colosseum – but the interpretation is very different.
This major new series takes in the most iconic names and places of Roman history but shows how we are now seeing them in a different way. We join the experts uncovering the lives of the working class during Pompeii’s last twenty-four hours in a newly excavated area of the city; discover the secrets of Rome’s engineers through new finds made during the construction of a new metro tunnel under Rome; see the real face of Caesar with a bust recently found under the River Tiber; and reveal the secret of Rome’s military success through lost weapons and letters written on waxed tablets on the frontline of the Empire. And we uncover fresh takes on key events such as the invasion of Britain, the destruction of Pompeii and the opening of the Colosseum.
As we travel across the Empire’s vast landmass, we meet the new generation of experts on the forefront of this archaeological revolution. With the help of 21st century technology, they are uncovering new data and reinterpreting ancient sources. From the makers of the high-rating series ‘Egypt Unwrapped’, this series uncovers a fresh, darker Rome that is disarmingly modern. Through unique access to new excavations integrated with innovative use of CGI and stylish dramatisation, this is ‘Rome Unwrapped’.
