In the heart of the French region of Burgundy, deep in a forest, lies a hidden city that had been dormant for 2,000 years. It’s called Bibracte, the most important oppidum in all of Gaul. That is where the Aedui, a Gallic tribe allied to the Romans, once built a fortified city on top of a mountain.
What did this 10,000-inhabitant ancient city look like? How did the builders manage to erect indestructible fortifications at a time when no other Gallic city featured such protection? How did archeologists decipher old pieces of wood despite the wear and tear of Father Time? And why did the Aedui suddenly abandon their capital?
Thanks to topographic maps using LIDAR technology as well as spectacular computer-generated imagery, you’re about to discover the evidence of galloping Romanization, notably through a sophisticated hydraulic system, a forum, and a basilica.
To this day, Bibracte remains a colossal excavation site, the remains of which continue to reveal long-lost secrets. As true investigators, archeologists unveil the craftiness and the genius of this ancient tribe at a turning point in the Roman Gallic era.
Up Next in Ancient Rome
-
Enemies of Rome: In Search of the Picts
For centuries they were depicted as enemies and barbarians, only portrayed through the eyes of the Roman Empire. Now, through new archaeological discoveries and research, the story of the Picts is being rewritten.
Join Tristan Hughes as he travels across Scotland, meeting experts in stone-carvin...
-
Gladiators: History's Greatest Fighters
Gladiators, from Spartacus to Ridley Scott’s Maximus Decimus Meridius, we’ve been fascinated by them for hundreds of years. Dan Snow is on the hunt to find out why we’re still so obsessed with the men who controlled the Roman arena from the ground up!
Dan joins experts in Italy and England to in...
-
Vindolanda Unearthed
Situated roughly one mile south of Hadrian’s Wall is one of the great jewels of Roman and early medieval archaeology: Vindolanda. Over the past 50 years, annual excavations at this site have revealed incredible amounts of new information. Information that has not only shone more light on the site...
4 Comments