Skip to main content
Back to Show
NOVA

This Pompeii Priest Had an Unexpected Rise to Power

In a recently discovered tomb in Pompeii, archeologists made a startling discovery: partially mummified remains. The custom in the Roman Empire was for the dead to be cremated, not buried. The unusual choice reveals a surprising history and one man’s unexpected rise to power. Discover who this mysterious person was, and why did he decided to forgo tradition when he died.

Sign up now for inspiring and thought-provoking media delivered straight to your inbox.
Support Provided By
Season
Nazca Desert Mystery
Unlock with PBS Passport
53:31
Who created the Nazca lines and why? New clues to one of the greatest ancient enigmas.
Ocean Invaders
Unlock with PBS Passport
53:32
Meet one of the ocean’s most beautiful and destructive species: Lionfish.
Can Psychedelics Cure?
53:47
Psychedelics are unlocking new ways to treat conditions like addiction and depression.
Computers v. Crime
53:30
Is artificial intelligence making policing and courts fairer, or is it increasing bias?
Rebuilding Notre Dame
Unlock with PBS Passport
53:43
A team tackles the restoration of iconic Notre Dame Cathedral.
Saving Venice
Unlock with PBS Passport
53:31
Can innovative engineering projects save Venice?
Ending HIV in America
53:33
Can innovative drugs and therapies finally end HIV?
Ultimate Space Telescope
53:33
Discover how NASA engineers built and launched the most ambitious telescope of all time.
Ice Age Footprints
53:43
Ancient footprints provide new evidence of humans and extinct giant beasts of the Ice Age.
Why Ships Crash
Unlock with PBS Passport
53:20
How could a single ship cause a major supply chain crisis around the globe?
Great Mammoth Mystery
53:16
Sir David Attenborough explores a site with traces of ancient mammoths and Neanderthals.
Arctic Sinkholes
53:30
In the Arctic, enormous releases of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, threaten the climate
Active loading indicator