0:00:17.852,0:00:21.094 It's March the 17th in A.D. 73. 0:00:21.118,0:00:24.288 We're visiting ancient Rome[br]to watch the Liberalia, 0:00:24.312,0:00:28.956 an annual festival that celebrates[br]the liberty of Rome's citizens. 0:00:30.418,0:00:36.251 We're looking in at a 17-year-old[br]named Lucius Popidius Secundus. 0:00:36.275,0:00:41.111 He's not from a poor family, but he lives[br]in the region known as the Subura, 0:00:41.135,0:00:45.550 a poorer neighborhood in Rome,[br]yet close to the center of the city. 0:00:45.574,0:00:46.574 (Gong) 0:00:48.084,0:00:50.525 The tenants of these[br]apartments are crammed in, 0:00:50.549,0:00:51.550 (Grunting) 0:00:51.574,0:00:53.629 which poses considerable risk. 0:00:54.851,0:01:00.225 Fires are frequent and the smell of ash[br]and smoke in the morning is not uncommon. 0:01:01.635,0:01:06.274 Lucius, who awoke at dawn,[br]has family duties to perform today. 0:01:07.772,0:01:08.785 (Cheering) 0:01:08.809,0:01:11.367 His 15-year-old brother is coming of age. 0:01:12.302,0:01:16.812 Half the children in ancient Rome[br]die before they reach adulthood, 0:01:16.836,0:01:20.106 so this is a particularly[br]important milestone. 0:01:20.702,0:01:23.970 Lucius watches his brother[br]stand in his new toga 0:01:23.994,0:01:27.459 before the household shrine[br]with its protective deities, 0:01:27.483,0:01:31.440 as he places his bulla,[br]a protective amulet, 0:01:31.464,0:01:33.790 in the shrine with a prayer of thanks. 0:01:35.737,0:01:38.237 The bulla had worked.[br]It had protected him. 0:01:39.118,0:01:43.256 Unlike many others,[br]he had survived to become an adult. 0:01:44.440,0:01:49.778 At 17, Lucius has almost[br]completed his education. 0:01:49.802,0:01:53.035 He has learned to speak well,[br]make public speeches, 0:01:53.059,0:01:56.159 and how to read and write[br]both Latin and Greek. 0:01:57.088,0:01:59.873 His father has taught him[br]the types of things 0:01:59.897,0:02:02.389 you can't learn in the classroom: 0:02:02.413,0:02:04.142 how to run, 0:02:04.166,0:02:06.832 how to swim, 0:02:06.856,0:02:08.270 and how to fight. 0:02:08.294,0:02:13.394 Lucius could choose, at 17,[br]to become a military tribune 0:02:13.418,0:02:15.772 and command soldiers[br]on the edge of the Empire. 0:02:18.068,0:02:22.008 But in other ways,[br]Lucius is still a child. 0:02:22.032,0:02:24.871 He's not trusted[br]to arrange business deals. 0:02:24.895,0:02:28.386 His father will take care[br]of that until he is 25. 0:02:30.335,0:02:35.430 And Dad will arrange Lucius' marriage[br]to a girl 10 years younger. 0:02:36.436,0:02:41.026 His dad has his eye on a family[br]with a 7-year-old daughter. 0:02:41.685,0:02:43.229 Back to the Liberalia. 0:02:43.253,0:02:45.409 As Lucius leaves with his family, 0:02:45.433,0:02:49.058 the shops are open as the population[br]goes about its business. 0:02:50.588,0:02:54.511 The streets are full[br]of itinerant traders selling trinkets 0:02:54.535,0:02:56.902 and people bustling from place to place. 0:02:57.801,0:03:02.254 Large wagons are not allowed[br]in the city until after the ninth hour 0:03:02.278,0:03:04.235 but the streets are still crowded. 0:03:06.183,0:03:10.328 Fathers and uncles[br]take the kids to the Forum Augustus 0:03:10.352,0:03:13.157 to see statues of Rome's famous warriors 0:03:14.140,0:03:18.243 like Aeneas, who led Rome's ancestors,[br]the Trojans, to Italy. 0:03:19.069,0:03:20.932 And Romulus, Rome's founder. 0:03:21.948,0:03:25.677 And all the great generals of the Republic[br]from more than 100 years earlier. 0:03:27.569,0:03:30.861 Lovingly, we can imagine[br]fathers and guardians 0:03:30.885,0:03:33.444 with their now adult children 0:03:33.468,0:03:36.664 remembering stories of Rome's glory 0:03:36.688,0:03:40.578 and re-telling the good deeds and sayings[br]of the great men of the past: 0:03:41.356,0:03:43.688 lessons on how to live well, 0:03:43.712,0:03:46.560 and to overcome the follies of youth. 0:03:47.674,0:03:51.835 There is a sense of history in this place,[br]relevant to their present. 0:03:53.354,0:03:57.806 Romans made an empire[br]without end in time and space. 0:03:57.830,0:03:58.831 (Thump) 0:03:58.855,0:04:01.518 Rome was destined to be[br]eternal through warfare. 0:04:02.769,0:04:06.879 Wars were a fact of life, even in A.D. 73. 0:04:06.903,0:04:10.994 There are campaigns in the north[br]of England and into Scotland, 0:04:11.018,0:04:13.678 to the north of the River[br]Danube into Romania, 0:04:13.702,0:04:18.583 and on the frontier[br]between Syria and Iraq to the east. 0:04:18.607,0:04:22.249 It's now the eighth hour --[br]time to head for the baths. 0:04:22.273,0:04:26.461 Lucius and his family head up[br]the Via Lata, the wide street, 0:04:26.485,0:04:30.396 to the Campus Martius,[br]and the enormous Baths of Agrippa. 0:04:31.684,0:04:35.403 The family members leave[br]the clients and freedmen outside, 0:04:35.427,0:04:37.761 and enter the baths with their peer group. 0:04:38.981,0:04:43.109 Baths would change from dark,[br]steamy rooms to light ones. 0:04:44.149,0:04:46.212 The Romans had perfected window glass. 0:04:47.768,0:04:51.311 Everyone moves from the cold room 0:04:51.335,0:04:52.548 to the tepid room 0:04:53.959,0:04:55.942 and to the very hot room. 0:04:55.966,0:04:57.149 (Man) Oops! 0:04:57.173,0:05:00.577 More than an hour later, the bathers leave 0:05:00.601,0:05:02.807 massaged, oiled, 0:05:02.831,0:05:03.973 (Whistling) 0:05:03.997,0:05:06.731 and have been scraped down with a strigil 0:05:06.755,0:05:08.321 to remove the remaining dirt. 0:05:10.066,0:05:14.126 At the ninth hour, seven hours[br]after they left home, 0:05:14.150,0:05:16.648 the men return for a celebratory dinner. 0:05:17.829,0:05:20.278 Dinner is an intimate affair, 0:05:20.302,0:05:24.072 with nine people[br]reclining around the low table. 0:05:25.085,0:05:27.428 Slaves attend to their every need 0:05:27.452,0:05:32.075 if the diners, through gestures,[br]demand more food and wine. 0:05:33.675,0:05:38.223 As the day closes, we can hear[br]the rumble of wagons outside. 0:05:38.247,0:05:39.646 The clients and freedmen, 0:05:39.670,0:05:43.796 with a meal of robust[br]-- if inferior -- food inside them, 0:05:43.820,0:05:46.028 shuffle off to the now tepid baths 0:05:46.052,0:05:48.240 before returning[br]to their apartment blocks. 0:05:49.453,0:05:54.345 Back at Lucius' house,[br]the drinking continues into the night. 0:05:54.369,0:05:57.346 Lucius and his stepbrother[br]don't look too well. 0:05:57.370,0:06:01.866 A slave stands by in case[br]either of them needs to vomit. 0:06:05.051,0:06:07.910 With hindsight, we know Lucius' future. 0:06:07.934,0:06:13.345 In 20 years' time, the Emperor Vespasian's[br]youngest son, Domitian, as emperor, 0:06:13.369,0:06:14.997 will enact a reign of terror. 0:06:15.021,0:06:17.237 Will Lucius survive? 0:06:17.261,0:06:19.150 (Drums)