NOVA — S42E14 — Colosseum: Roman Death Trap
2015 · 55 MIN · IMDB 7.6
Overview
One of the ancient world's most iconic buildings, the Colosseum is a monument to Roman imperial power and cruelty. Its graceful lines and harmonious proportions concealed a highly efficient design and advanced construction methods that made hundreds of arches out of 100,000 tons of stone. In its elliptical arena, tens of thousands of gladiators, slaves, prisoners, and wild animals met their deaths. Ancient texts report lions and elephants emerging from beneath the floor, as if by magic, to ravage gladiators and people condemned to death. Then, just as quickly, the Colosseum could be flooded with so much water that ships could engage in sea battles to the delight of the crowd. Now, archaeologists and engineers are teaming up to recreate a 25-foot lifting machine and trap door system capable of releasing a wolf into the Colosseum's arena for the first time in 1,500 years. Do they have what it takes to replicate the innovation and ingenuity of the Romans?
Dialogue Timeline — 756 lines
A SAMPLE ACROSS THE RUNTIME — EVERY LINE IS SEARCHABLE
00:00:01 NARRATOR: The Colosseum... the Roman Empire summed up in stone
00:02:03 such bloody spectacles?
00:04:49 in creating and maintaining the empire
00:07:08 is where the Romans engineered their murderous magic
00:09:19 A channel where a cage could fit
00:11:32 By studying their layout,
00:13:30 is nothing like the emperor before him, the infamous Nero
00:15:34 director of health and safety for the Colosseum
00:17:57 BARUFFALDI : The model is essential to experimental work of any kind,
00:19:50 So the action can move around
00:22:25 for building the lift
00:24:24 and pressed into the service of the conquering Roman state
00:26:35 NARRATOR: The Romans would reenact well-known Greek myths,
00:28:57 of the water out of the monument
00:30:49 The storm dumps 800,000 gallons of water into the Colosseum,
00:33:05 CIRILLO : The only issue today is the wind
00:35:41 To make it even more challenging,
00:38:28 And 66 have been young males, aged between 20 and 30
00:40:28 The color of the flame changes,
00:42:18 And perhaps to compensate the audience for a reduction
00:44:41 : The ramp is very heavy
00:46:46 of the cage and trap door
00:49:56 Heinz, Umberto and their team have not only re-created
00:52:08 it is a lasting reminder of the gore and the glory of Rome
Cast & Characters
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Factoids
NOVA, season 42, episode 14: Colosseum: Roman Death Trap.
https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/3562/season/42/episode/14IMDb rating preserved from the supplied subtitle archive; it may differ from the current IMDb rating.
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