NOVA

- [Narrator] The ruins of Pompeii suggest a highly cultured and civilized society.

But is that the whole story?

(suspenseful music) The historian Tacitus describes an event that occurred at the city's amphitheater.

- Pompeii's Amphitheater is one of the oldest stone built amphitheaters in the Roman world.

It had a 20,000 spectator capacity.

Gladiatorial games were an essential part of Roman life.

- The people that are fighting in the arenas, they are, by and large, enslaved people.

(weapons clashing) They're at the bottom of the social scale.

But at the same time, these guys here in the arena, they could be superstars, they could become celebrities.

So there's a lot of complexities involved in the idea of slavery in the ancient world.

- The amphitheater was not just meant to hold spectacles for the Pompeians, but it also attracted spectators from the neighboring towns.

(rousing music) - [Narrator] But in the year 59, the violence isn't limited to the arena.

(spectators cheering) Tacitus recounts how tensions between Pompeians and a nearby rival settlement called Nuceria led to a brutal fight that broke out in the stands.

(suspenseful music) - What happens is, the taunts lead to stone throwing, and ultimately, people start drawing the swords, and they're fighting in the stands, and there's bloodshed, there's slaughter.

(crowds cheering) - [Narrator] At the National Archeological Museum of Naples, a 2000-year-old fresco provides a contemporary account of the event, revealing that the clash between the fans escalated into a citywide riot.

(suspenseful music) - The relatives of the deceased go to Rome itself and beseech the emperor to intervene.

He turns it over to the Senate, and the consuls then get involved and say, "No more gladiatorial games in this venue for 10 years."