The lake Nemi ships, large Roman vessels that were salvaged from the lake in the 1930s and burned in 1944, are discussed, including technological discoveries from the ships.

Ships

Sean Barrett

Machines II

Warfare

Warfare technology is examined, including the Helepolis, a square fortified tower on wheels; and "Greek Fire," an incendiary liquid that stuck to people and objects and couldn't be extinguished with water.

Ancient mechanical devices are examined: A jar that appears to be an electric battery, a flour mill in France that is run by waterwheels, and Archimedes use of solar power to defeat the Romans.

Ancient Discoveries was a television series that premiered on December 21, 2003, on The History Channel. The program focused on ancient technologies. The show's theme was that many inventions which are thought to be modern have ancient roots or in some cases may have been lost and then reinvented. The program was a follow-up to a special originally broadcast in 2005 which focused on technologies from the Ancient Roman era such as the Antikythera mechanism and inventors such as Heron of Alexandria. Episodes of the regular series expanded to cover other areas such as Egypt, China and East Asia, and the Islamic world.

Ancient Discoveries was made for The History Channel by Wild Dream Films based in Cardiff in the UK. Much of the filming was done on location across the world. The series used contributions from archaeologists and other experts, footage of historical sites and artifacts, computer generated reconstructions and dramatized reconstructions along with experiments and tests on reconstructed artifacts.

Ships

Seasons6

Season 2 Episodes3

Cast1

Discussion

Episode Summary