WEBVTT - Ruined City Under Tunisia's Waters

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Christian Sager here. Archaeologists recently discovered more than fifty acres

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<v Speaker 1>or twenty hectares of Roman ruins off the coast of

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<v Speaker 1>northeastern Tunisia. That's a small country on the northern tip

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<v Speaker 1>of Africa and situated on the Mediterranean Sea. The discovery

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<v Speaker 1>has researchers believing they may have finally found some convincing

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<v Speaker 1>evidence that the city of Neopolis, not to be confused

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<v Speaker 1>with the Italian city of the same name, that Neopolis

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<v Speaker 1>was wiped out by a natural disaster about a thousand,

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<v Speaker 1>six hundred and fifty years ago. In addition to streets

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<v Speaker 1>and monuments, researchers found about one hundred tanks that would

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<v Speaker 1>have been used to produce a garam that's a fish

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<v Speaker 1>based fermented condiment commonly consumed in ancient Rome. In an email,

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<v Speaker 1>How Stuff Works spoke to Carlos nor Ania, Associate professor

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<v Speaker 1>of history at the University of California, Berkeley. He says

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<v Speaker 1>that the discovery is important because it lends support to

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<v Speaker 1>the theory that Tunisia Neopolis was submerged by a tsunami

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<v Speaker 1>in the fourth century A d that's a useful reminder

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<v Speaker 1>that environmental catastrophe is not only a phenomenon of the

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<v Speaker 1>modern world. Scientists wrote in a study in the journal

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<v Speaker 1>Nature that a tsunami was caused by an earthquake that

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<v Speaker 1>occurred in three sixty five c e in Crete. There's

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<v Speaker 1>no surefire way to know the extent of the quake,

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<v Speaker 1>since measuring tools didn't exist at the time, but scientists

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<v Speaker 1>believe two separate tremors happened in succession, and the larger

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<v Speaker 1>one had a magnitude of eight point o on the

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<v Speaker 1>Richter scale. The resulting tsunami destroyed about fifty thousand homes

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<v Speaker 1>and killed approximately five thousand people in the city of Alexandria, Egypt.

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<v Speaker 1>And because the geological fault at the center of the

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<v Speaker 1>earthquake was located off the coast of Crete, that Greek

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<v Speaker 1>island was actually lifted up in certain areas by as

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<v Speaker 1>much as thirty three feet or ten meters. Historian Omnianus

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<v Speaker 1>Marcellinus recorded the event, and the newly found ruins reveal

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<v Speaker 1>that there's much more to the story. Norina says the

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<v Speaker 1>discovery also illuminates the economy of Roman North Africa and

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<v Speaker 1>provides further evidence for the popularity of garum in the

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<v Speaker 1>Roman diet. The detail is significant. Garam was a big

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<v Speaker 1>deal throughout the Roman Empire, and as Italian archaeologist Claudio

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<v Speaker 1>Giardino has told NPR, it played a major role in

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<v Speaker 1>the society's economy. He says that according to the Roman writers,

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<v Speaker 1>a good bottle of gerum could cost something like five

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<v Speaker 1>hundred dollars today, but that they also had garam for

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<v Speaker 1>slaves that was extremely cheap, so it is operable to

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<v Speaker 1>a modern amenity like wine, for instance. The underwater findings

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<v Speaker 1>of Neopolis and its abundant manufacturing materials indicate that the

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<v Speaker 1>city was a major historical hub. Neopolis, which means new

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<v Speaker 1>city in Greek, was originally founded in the fifth century

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<v Speaker 1>b c e. And various warring territories claimed ownership of

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<v Speaker 1>it throughout its history. Experts believe that because the city

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<v Speaker 1>failed to pledge allegiance to the Romans, there are very

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<v Speaker 1>few written records documenting the details of life there. That

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<v Speaker 1>means the new discovery is that much more important to

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<v Speaker 1>understanding the full history of the era. Today's episode was

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<v Speaker 1>written by Michelle Konstantinovski and produced by Tristan McNeil. For

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<v Speaker 1>more on this and other topics, please visit us at

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<v Speaker 1>how stuff works dot com.