1 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:07,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,360 --> 00:00:11,920 Speaker 1: Christian Sager here. Archaeologists recently discovered more than fifty acres 3 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:15,760 Speaker 1: or twenty hectares of Roman ruins off the coast of 4 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:19,880 Speaker 1: northeastern Tunisia. That's a small country on the northern tip 5 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:24,440 Speaker 1: of Africa and situated on the Mediterranean Sea. The discovery 6 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:28,320 Speaker 1: has researchers believing they may have finally found some convincing 7 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:32,199 Speaker 1: evidence that the city of Neopolis, not to be confused 8 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:35,800 Speaker 1: with the Italian city of the same name, that Neopolis 9 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:39,800 Speaker 1: was wiped out by a natural disaster about a thousand, 10 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:43,159 Speaker 1: six hundred and fifty years ago. In addition to streets 11 00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:47,800 Speaker 1: and monuments, researchers found about one hundred tanks that would 12 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:51,200 Speaker 1: have been used to produce a garam that's a fish 13 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:57,440 Speaker 1: based fermented condiment commonly consumed in ancient Rome. In an email, 14 00:00:57,520 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works spoke to Carlos nor Ania, Associate professor 15 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:06,720 Speaker 1: of history at the University of California, Berkeley. He says 16 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:09,959 Speaker 1: that the discovery is important because it lends support to 17 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:14,800 Speaker 1: the theory that Tunisia Neopolis was submerged by a tsunami 18 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:18,680 Speaker 1: in the fourth century A d that's a useful reminder 19 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:22,840 Speaker 1: that environmental catastrophe is not only a phenomenon of the 20 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:27,200 Speaker 1: modern world. Scientists wrote in a study in the journal 21 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:31,080 Speaker 1: Nature that a tsunami was caused by an earthquake that 22 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:35,480 Speaker 1: occurred in three sixty five c e in Crete. There's 23 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:38,160 Speaker 1: no surefire way to know the extent of the quake, 24 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:42,760 Speaker 1: since measuring tools didn't exist at the time, but scientists 25 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:47,080 Speaker 1: believe two separate tremors happened in succession, and the larger 26 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:49,840 Speaker 1: one had a magnitude of eight point o on the 27 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:54,560 Speaker 1: Richter scale. The resulting tsunami destroyed about fifty thousand homes 28 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 1: and killed approximately five thousand people in the city of Alexandria, Egypt. 29 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:02,880 Speaker 1: And because the geological fault at the center of the 30 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 1: earthquake was located off the coast of Crete, that Greek 31 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:10,480 Speaker 1: island was actually lifted up in certain areas by as 32 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:16,680 Speaker 1: much as thirty three feet or ten meters. Historian Omnianus 33 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:21,040 Speaker 1: Marcellinus recorded the event, and the newly found ruins reveal 34 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:24,360 Speaker 1: that there's much more to the story. Norina says the 35 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:28,680 Speaker 1: discovery also illuminates the economy of Roman North Africa and 36 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:32,400 Speaker 1: provides further evidence for the popularity of garum in the 37 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:36,560 Speaker 1: Roman diet. The detail is significant. Garam was a big 38 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:40,800 Speaker 1: deal throughout the Roman Empire, and as Italian archaeologist Claudio 39 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:45,200 Speaker 1: Giardino has told NPR, it played a major role in 40 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:49,239 Speaker 1: the society's economy. He says that according to the Roman writers, 41 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:53,160 Speaker 1: a good bottle of gerum could cost something like five 42 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:56,800 Speaker 1: hundred dollars today, but that they also had garam for 43 00:02:56,960 --> 00:03:00,600 Speaker 1: slaves that was extremely cheap, so it is operable to 44 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:05,280 Speaker 1: a modern amenity like wine, for instance. The underwater findings 45 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:09,680 Speaker 1: of Neopolis and its abundant manufacturing materials indicate that the 46 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:14,400 Speaker 1: city was a major historical hub. Neopolis, which means new 47 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:18,480 Speaker 1: city in Greek, was originally founded in the fifth century 48 00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:22,920 Speaker 1: b c e. And various warring territories claimed ownership of 49 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:27,000 Speaker 1: it throughout its history. Experts believe that because the city 50 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:30,120 Speaker 1: failed to pledge allegiance to the Romans, there are very 51 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 1: few written records documenting the details of life there. That 52 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:38,160 Speaker 1: means the new discovery is that much more important to 53 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:48,120 Speaker 1: understanding the full history of the era. Today's episode was 54 00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:52,840 Speaker 1: written by Michelle Konstantinovski and produced by Tristan McNeil. For 55 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:55,840 Speaker 1: more on this and other topics, please visit us at 56 00:03:55,840 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com.