
Presenter

In the beginning was sex. To the ancient cultures, sexuality, love and sex were inextricably connected with the creation of the earth, the heavens and the underworld. To the citizens of the ancient civilizations that gave birth to ours, sensuality and sexuality were an integral part of society. This series exploration of Egyptian and Roman sexual practice allows viewers the opportunity to see how attitudes and beliefs about sexuality functioned in the early civilizations, and how those attitudes reveal the unspoken rules that defined public and private behavior. Episodes cover human sex and sexuality from a historical perspective, and examines in detail different texts and images which provide us with evidence about sexual practices, beliefs and ideologies in the ancient world – from erotica on pots to legal texts, phallic votive objects, fertility ceremonies, prostitution, female and hermaphroditic creator deities, from religious rituals to sex manuals.

On the 24th August 79 AD, the eruption of Vesuvius eradicated the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. This extraordinary film uses visual effects and archaeological findings to chronicle the last 24 hours of Pompeii. Remains of 300 citizens trapped in beach-side crypts allow scientists to reconstruct local life in the First Century after Christ. Computer graphics recreate the scale of the eruption.

Pompeii, 79 A.D., the night before the eruption. The journey of “Tonight in Pompeii” with Alberto Angela begins here, in the hours leading up to the catastrophe. Minute by minute, we’ll follow the tragedy that forever marked ancient history, recounting the reactions, the emotions, and the flight. And what happened afterward. We’ll see many places frozen in time, just like Pompeii: Herculaneum, with its marvelous, still-intact thermal baths and the fabulous jewels found on the skeletons of those who fled; Stabiae and Oplonti, with their lavish villas featuring swimming pools and views of the Gulf of Naples.