About this programme

Cambridge professor and Pompeii expert Mary Beard uses forensic science to examine the lives of the Roman town's residents, providing a snapshot of their culture just before Mt Vesuvius's deadly eruption. Operating from the nearby settlement of Oplontis, she submits remains from the devastated settlement to a series of comprehensive tests that aim to reveal what those who died in the disaster ate, where they came from, what diseases they suffered and details of their sexual activity.