In 2026, a brand-new scientific campaign begins to unlock the secrets of an entire library of scrolls discovered buried in the Roman city of Herculaneum by the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in 79CE. With exclusive documentary access, we will be there as a multinational, multi-disciplinary team of experts extract the lost secrets of these ancient works of story, poetry, philosophy and possibly even science.
More than 90% of ancient literature has not survived to modern times. Much of what we do have is incomplete or fragmentary – every precious work recovered advances our knowledge of the ancient world. But they also give us a unique insight into the people who collected these works together and why.
What can the lost library of Herculaneum tell us about one of the most important families in Rome at a crucial turning point in history?
