1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,920 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hi brain Stuff. 2 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:09,399 Speaker 1: Lauren vog Obam here with a classic episode from our 3 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:12,639 Speaker 1: former host, Christian Sagar. So this one is about the 4 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:15,240 Speaker 1: ruins of a lost Roman city off the coast of 5 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:19,079 Speaker 1: northern Africa and evidence about what led to its loss. 6 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:25,079 Speaker 1: A plus a more fishy finding. Hey, brain Stuff Christian 7 00:00:25,079 --> 00:00:29,480 Speaker 1: Sagar here. Archaeologists recently discovered more than fifty acres or 8 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:34,880 Speaker 1: twenty hectares of Roman ruins off the coast of northeastern Tunisia. 9 00:00:35,159 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 1: That's a small country on the northern tip of Africa 10 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:42,720 Speaker 1: and situated on the Mediterranean Sea. The discovery has researchers 11 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:46,400 Speaker 1: believing they may have finally found some convincing evidence that 12 00:00:46,479 --> 00:00:49,760 Speaker 1: the city of Neopolis, not to be confused with the 13 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:54,160 Speaker 1: Italian city of the same name, that Neopolis was wiped 14 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 1: out by a natural disaster about a thousand, six hundred 15 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:01,320 Speaker 1: and fifty years ago. In addition to streets and monuments, 16 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:05,400 Speaker 1: researchers found about one hundred tanks that would have been 17 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:09,679 Speaker 1: used to produce a garam that's a fish based fermented 18 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:14,360 Speaker 1: condiment commonly consumed in ancient Rome. In an email, how 19 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:19,280 Speaker 1: Stuff Works, spoke to Carlos F. Nor Aenia, Associate Professor 20 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:23,399 Speaker 1: of History at the University of California, Berkeley. He says 21 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:26,640 Speaker 1: that the discovery is important because it lends support to 22 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:31,440 Speaker 1: the theory that Tunisia Neopolis was submerged by a tsunami 23 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:35,360 Speaker 1: in the fourth century. A d that's a useful reminder 24 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:39,520 Speaker 1: that environmental catastrophe is not only a phenomenon of the 25 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:43,880 Speaker 1: modern world. Scientists wrote in a study in the journal 26 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:47,760 Speaker 1: Nature that a tsunami was caused by an earthquake that 27 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:53,120 Speaker 1: occurred in three sixty CE in Crete. There's no surefire 28 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:55,880 Speaker 1: way to know the extent of the quake, since measuring 29 00:01:56,000 --> 00:02:00,240 Speaker 1: tools didn't exist at the time, but scientists believe two 30 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:04,200 Speaker 1: separate tremors happened in succession, and the larger one had 31 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:07,360 Speaker 1: a magnitude of eight point o on the Richter scale. 32 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:11,960 Speaker 1: The resulting tsunami destroyed about fifty thousand homes and killed 33 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:16,600 Speaker 1: approximately five thousand people in the city of Alexandria, Egypt, 34 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:19,519 Speaker 1: and because the geological fault at the center of the 35 00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:23,160 Speaker 1: earthquake was located off the coast of Crete, that Greek 36 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:27,120 Speaker 1: island was actually lifted up in certain areas by as 37 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:33,240 Speaker 1: much as thirty three feet or ten meters. Historian Omnianus 38 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:37,639 Speaker 1: Marcellinius recorded the event, and the newly found ruins reveal 39 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:41,000 Speaker 1: that there's much more to the story. Nurena says. The 40 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:45,320 Speaker 1: discovery also illuminates the economy of Roman North Africa and 41 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:49,000 Speaker 1: provides further evidence for the popularity of garum in the 42 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:53,160 Speaker 1: Roman diet. The detail is significant. Garam was a big 43 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:57,440 Speaker 1: deal throughout the Roman Empire, and as Italian archaeologist Claudio 44 00:02:57,639 --> 00:03:01,840 Speaker 1: Giardino has told NPR, it played a major role in 45 00:03:01,919 --> 00:03:05,840 Speaker 1: the society's economy. He says that according to the Roman writers, 46 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:09,800 Speaker 1: a good bottle of geram could cost something like five 47 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 1: hundred dollars today, but that they also had garam for 48 00:03:13,639 --> 00:03:17,239 Speaker 1: slaves that was extremely cheap, so it is comparable to 49 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:21,880 Speaker 1: a modern amenity like wine, for instance. The underwater findings 50 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:26,320 Speaker 1: of Neopolis and its abundant manufacturing materials indicate that the 51 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:31,000 Speaker 1: city was a major historical hub. Neopolis, which means new 52 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:35,120 Speaker 1: city in Greek, was originally founded in the fifth century 53 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:39,560 Speaker 1: b c e. And various warring territories claimed ownership of 54 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:43,640 Speaker 1: it throughout its history. Experts believe that because the city 55 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:46,760 Speaker 1: failed to pledge allegiance to the Romans. There are very 56 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:51,240 Speaker 1: few written records documenting the details of life there. That 57 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:54,800 Speaker 1: means the new discovery is that much more important to 58 00:03:55,040 --> 00:04:04,840 Speaker 1: understanding the full history of the era y. Today's episode 59 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: was written by Michelle Knstantinovski and produced by Tristan McNeil 60 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:10,440 Speaker 1: and Tyler Klang. For more on this and lots of 61 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:13,520 Speaker 1: other curious topics, visit how stuff works dot com. Brain 62 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:16,320 Speaker 1: Stuff is production of iHeart Radio or more podcasts. My 63 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:19,360 Speaker 1: heart Radio visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or 64 00:04:19,400 --> 00:04:21,120 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.