WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: What Ruined City Lies Under Tunisia's Waters?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hi brain Stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren vog Obam here with a classic episode from our

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<v Speaker 1>former host, Christian Sagar. So this one is about the

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<v Speaker 1>ruins of a lost Roman city off the coast of

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<v Speaker 1>northern Africa and evidence about what led to its loss.

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<v Speaker 1>A plus a more fishy finding. Hey, brain Stuff Christian

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<v Speaker 1>Sagar here. Archaeologists recently discovered more than fifty acres or

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<v Speaker 1>twenty hectares of Roman ruins off the coast of northeastern Tunisia.

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<v Speaker 1>That's a small country on the northern tip of Africa

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<v Speaker 1>and situated on the Mediterranean Sea. The discovery has researchers

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<v Speaker 1>believing they may have finally found some convincing evidence that

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

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

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<v Speaker 1>out by a natural disaster about a thousand, six hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and fifty years ago. In addition to streets and monuments,

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<v Speaker 1>researchers found about one hundred tanks that would have been

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<v Speaker 1>used to produce a garam that's a fish based fermented

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

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff Works, spoke to Carlos F. Nor Aenia, 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 CE in Crete. There's no surefire

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<v Speaker 1>way to know the extent of the quake, since measuring

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

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<v Speaker 1>separate tremors happened in succession, and the larger one had

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<v Speaker 1>a magnitude of eight point o on the Richter scale.

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<v Speaker 1>The resulting tsunami destroyed about fifty thousand homes and killed

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

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<v Speaker 1>that there's much more to the story. Nurena 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 geram 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 comparable 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 y. Today's episode

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<v Speaker 1>was written by Michelle Knstantinovski and produced by Tristan McNeil

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<v Speaker 1>and Tyler Klang. For more on this and lots of

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<v Speaker 1>other curious topics, visit how stuff works dot com. Brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff is production of iHeart Radio or more podcasts. My

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<v Speaker 1>heart Radio visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or

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