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EPISODE · PRIME VIDEO
Season 42 · Episode 14
Landed Wed, 11 Feb 2015 · 21:00 your time · 1 episode · 1h 0m
Season 42, Episode 14 of NOVA aired Wednesday, 11 February 2015 at 9pm ET on PBS.
- S42E14Colosseum: Roman Death TrapOne 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?
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Episode 15
Wed 18 Feb · 21:00
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