| Narration: This extraordinary sanitation system was built right back in the sixth century BC. And its tunnels stretch for miles and miles. For two and a half thousand years, right up until the 19th century, this was the only sewer system serving the whole of Rome. And the ancient Romans believed it purified the city, both practically and symbolically. Simon: So, Mark, why are these sewers sacred? Mark: Well, these sewers are sacred, in part, because they flush waste out of the city, they cleanse the city, they make the city pure . And there are shrines marking particular points and junctions in the sewer. There's a very long-standing tradition in the history of Rome where unwanted elements of society - so criminals, deposed tyrants, even Christian martyrs - would be cast down here, symbolically, to be flushed out of the city. Simon: Which emperors were actually tossed down here? Mark: The one emperor who is very famous for this is the Emperor Elegabalus in the early third century AD, who was a depraved young emperor who made a complete mess of Rome . He was eventually assassinated, his body was dragged, really foully, through the sewers and evacuated outside the city. Simon: That's all that's left of one of the last people to be here. |
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