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Secrets of Pompeii's Dead (Full Episode) | Drain the Oceans | National Geographic
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- Published on Apr 18, 2026
- New discoveries at Pompeii and Herculaneum reveal the identities and final moments of those trapped during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, one of the deadliest volcano eruptions of all time, 2000 years ago.
Drain the Oceans | S5, E1
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Secrets of Pompeii's Dead (Full Episode) | Drain the Oceans | National Geographic
• Secrets of Pompeii's D...
National Geographic
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nope - i rather spend my money on beer
"Secrets". I didn't see any... GROW UP !
Not interested in any Disney, ever again. They cowed to the felon in the Whitehouse, that's unforgettable, unforgivable! the felon in the Whitehouse is trying to destroy our great nation and disney was fine with this. Off with the heads of the ones that were involved. Despicable! They should be fired and shamed for the rest of their lives.
@johnoryjr4269 Pathetic. Accept the Blowout and Clean Sweep. Haha ! Gotcha ! Enjoy !
Français
The fact that we can still see their final moments frozen in time is both haunting and incredible. Nature’s power is unreal
God power is supreme
It always makes me sad but I know that makes me human.
Say god
God created nature
In my religion there are some stories about a nation like this , they were into inc**t , pedoph**lism , unnatural relationships , zoophi*ia , etc , and my religion tells that god sent a prophet to em telling em to stop what they are doing but they challenge god so he made em an Aya (by telling em that god will send em to death in the way they were corrupting the healthy and natural well created phase god made em , and the scary part that my religion said : " god vanished em by sending rains of fire , more scary my people was trying to find out about those people untill they have been discovered
THIS is the kind of history I love learning about. I'm too broke to travel, but this is just AMAIZING!
Well imagine seeing you on vacation! Here we are. Enjoy the tour and we'll meet for cocktails later. 😆 🤣 I'm too broke to travel big either.
Same here, ole Dave! Maybe someday we'll all meet in Pompeii for beers and fajitas! Italian fajitas, of course!
@NoNeckNickBThat would be PHENOMENAL bro!👍🏻
I just was there.. Its quite impresive
Same to me! Maybe oneday I spend enough money and grow up can travel to anywhere I want to go
Stories like this remind us that people from the past were… people, just like we are.
They hugged each other, finding comfort in agonising final moments. Mothers comforted their babies, and strangers comforted other strangers, all united before the face of immediate, gruesome, inescapable death.
In boat docks at Herculaneum a toddler skeleton was found, hugging the skeleton of the dog. That poor baby and poor pup…
That is heartbreaking. 😢
I remember hearing about the child and his dog on a different channel. I don't know why, but hearing that broke my heart. Even my husband was touched by that one.
My father visited Pompeii in the late 50s, and it made an indelible impression on him. We were 35 miles away from Mt St Helens when it erupted in 1980. He was too terrified to even speak at the time, picturing those haunting plaster casts that he had seen. Although our small mountain town received 18 inches of ash, we did not have to deal with a pyroclastic flow.
It is ironic that the volcanic ash that smothered and buried the residents of Pompeii and Herculaneum is also the reason for the fertile land that enabled the two cities to flourish in the first place.
Not only that be volcanic ash was also used in the Roman's mixture of hydraulic/waterproof cement
Yea gods a funny guy
@Brittany-fe3zhTrue=GOD laughs when we say I own this that & the people around me.
Secular power has its subconscious pitfalls.
Real power only comes when 1 is linked into the SOURCE IN SAHAJA SAMADHI.
See Ramana Maharshi Be as You Are Chapter 12 Experience and Samadhi.
I was in Pompeii once. It was breathtaking, imagining the city being alive, how was it to live there.
It was degenerate to live there. Basically, p*rn city. Everyone there was committing adultery.
People of lut, as mentioned in the quran. How they were punished on earth for what they were doing. And how it will be a sign for the people who will come after them, so they may remember what happens to the likes of them.
The first time I went there many years ago there weren't many tourists. I could still feel the energy of those people.
" they didnt feel anything" possibly. But they definitely heard it coming. It must have been terrifying.
Indeed.
To me it makes sense that the people closer to the volcano felt more the eruption, got scared and flew. And the people further away miscalculated and died in place.
That's smart
No it now has been said almost everyone got out -- these folks have a history of volcanoes. In other words, it’s not their first rodeo come on these people know about volcanoes for many many years. There’s nothing new. Most of the people got out.
The reason for the small number of bodies at Herculaneum seems obvious to me. Did you find any boats there in the boathouses? Clearly, everyone rushed down to the boathouse to escape, and as many as could piled into the boats and fled, either escaping or dying at sea. The few bodies you found were those who either got there too late or couldn't get a place in a boat.
Um. Yes, we watched the doc, too. lol
That hadn’t occurred to me. Thank you for pointing that out. I just thought those boat ‘caves’, so to speak, seemed like a pretty safe place to take shelter. I’m sure they were hoping so. Most people did leave Pompeii, but some decided to stay behind thinking they could just ‘ride the storm out’. (some survivors returned to Pompeii and then perished).There were slaves there, too who didn’t have a choice to get out of town early. I’m sure that some citizens didn’t have a choice, either. Too poor. And not enough boats. Poor Pliny the Elder tried to rescue more people with his big ship but things got too rough. I think he succumbed to the gases. Other shipmates survived but they just couldn’t get close enough to the docks to pick up the people and had to go back across the bay to safety.
@daveoelke857 Yes, I heard about that with Pliny the Elder, always admired him for trying to help. And I'm sure you're right about people trying to shelter in the boathouses; they probably faced away from the volcano, so that must have been comforting. Also, some may have thought they could escape the lava flow if it came by running into the water.
They tell you right in the documentary that most of the people had left the city and gone down to the beach.
“Why was there so few bodies in Herculaneum compared to Pompeii” ? Ummm, probably because it’s a third the size of Pompeii and 3/4 of the city is still buried under ash. There could be hundreds more for all we know.
The reason there were such few bodies found was because a majority (300) were found in the boat sheds waiting for rescue. This was pretty close to the mountain that they most likely cooked alive. One of the bodies they've uncovered is a lady wearing very fancy jewerly, nicknamed 'ring girl' (i think) and another was a rescue officer trying to help out. There's also been new evidence discovered recently that the august date is wrong, based on fruits that were in season and couldn't have been in august along with the warm clothing they'd been wearing it's being pointed to and guessed as October!
Crazy this was only 2000 years ago, wait that’s actually a long time but in the long scheme it’s nothing compared to the millions of years…holy sh.
2000 years we know. Millions of years is a fantastical guess out of thin air.
1946
@kciwner Not at all.
@kciwner😂
God tells us the earth is NOT millions of years old. He gives us PROOF by the lineage starting from Adam.
You CANNOT argue with God. Just saying...
Background music is too loud and very distracting.
History is one of the most interesting, fascinating and rich subjects. There’s ALWAYS something to learn and there’s so much depth in understanding how those people lived, died and what’s left after. Truly incredible.
When was in school, I absolutely detested history--so dry and boring. Now I'm riveted by it. RUclips really makes a difference.
I'm oddly comforted to know that they didn't suffocate, but that their heads exploded instead
Saying "they didn't feel anything" is a bit contradictory to the agony seen in several of the beach victims posturings.
pyroclastic flow contorts your body after death. they likely didn’t feel much except the heat prior to dying
I agree with your assessment but in terms of time it would've been relatively a quick death because temperatures that high would've sent their bodies into shock which would include unconsciousness. The pain they experienced would've been only timed in seconds although ill admit even a few seconds may seem like a lifetime.
How ona one take known them hmmm?🤔🤔🤔
@MichaelWalls-dp2yv sorry, I didn't understand.. ?
The brain exploded; that can't feel good. No one knows what they felt.
blowing everyones speakers , one ad at a time..
I visited Herculaneum many years ago, and I met this lady. She was so happy to inform and help, very kind.and friendly. I'm American with Italian heritage on both sides so being there was very special.
I live near Yellowstone Park. I was asked what would I do if it blew. I'd getting a lawn chair. Sit down and watch it come. Wouldn't be squat I could do about it. May as well enjoy what I could of it.
I love watching this channel drain the ocean is so informational
Thanks for tuning in! What did you find most surprising in this episode?
@NatGeowhat everybody was doing during the eruption and the way their bodies were pretty much cemented and how different it was in Herculaneum
So Pliny describes the waning sun as being like an eclipse. I'm guessing they knew what an eclipse was, but I wonder if anyone has ever worked where he might have seen one.
Considering how rare they are and the level of communication back then, unless Micynium had one, where would he have seen one?
Most of the residents had left, a few stayed and died
I was there just a few days ago and it's insane how huge it is and that there are still so many things to see. Very impressive city and so sad what happened
Those few women who were locals but the men were slaves, would be tragic to think that those women stayed back to look after the slaves who were chained, while the rest of the household fled.
What a huge treasure from a huge tragedy.
Always learning something new until falling asleep.
The chariot is one of the coolest discoveries in Pompeii.
8:51 ... R.I.P babies ... ❤️🐎🐎🐎❤️
Thank you. This was a really interesting document. I had no idea there were other places in the vicinity of Mount Vesuvius. Pompeii is all anyone ever talks about.
Yes, there are many!
The horse room would be a stable hand.
My daughter learned about this in 1st grade
Absolutely amazing. I have been looking forward to this for a long time and it did not disappoint. Thank you!
I love history and archaeology,I hope to become an archaeologist one day🙂❤️
goodluck❤
I visited Pompeii a couple of years ago and it was an unbelievable and unimaginable experience
This was really cool to learn about! And really fun. I never was a fan of history, etc. But this was just amazing and mind blowing. History might be my next thing to learn!
An interesting video, well worth a watch
Incredible episode. 😊
Amazing documentary. Splendidly told
Can you imagine that movement, if you there that time what happens to you... it's terrible😢😢
Good and informative.
Fascinating
I can feel the vitims' hopeless method when they have no idea to face the disaster...
awesome video
Very interesting
Amazing!!! Thank you!
Austin TX USA
Watching from Brazil 🇧🇷
Do you have Internet in Brazil?
Fun fact, My wife is from Brazil
Congratulations ❤
I just loved the program...👌🏻❤
Stable boys room?
Thank you for sharing Very interesting... My thai friends and I visited POMPEII första tme during 10 June. So fascinated place to look around. Lots of tourists that days. Thinking a lot of victims when I saw them.
Best Wishes from STOCKHOLM - SWEDEN
Watching from Türkiye
Türkiye a beautiful country overflowing with history and early civilization. I was lucky to see Göbekli Tepe in 2024. I hope I will live long enough to see more amazing civilizations uncovered in Türkiye. Türkiye should be on every traveler's list!
7:05 6 or 7 months
wow this was good
The special effects were really cool
Watching from Mars
😂😂😂
@jessiemichelle5642 i am a little different from those who watch from their country😅
It would be appropriate to make subtitles for Asia and Europe because netgeo all over the world loves useful knowledge. Please make subtitles for Asia and Europe. 🎉
The small room with the beds … just next to the stables…. Did the consider the stable workers
That was my first thought.🤔
@CaliCarolynMine too. It was obvious it was a servant/slave room. And it made sense for the room to be there, either for them to tend to the horses or to benefit from the body heat of the animals in order to remain warm.
Love it ❤
I've been to both! Would love to go back now that I know even more about them!
" they didnt feel anything" I imagine there may have been some fear. RIP fellow humans.
wrong feelings here. stf
Fear, yes. But from what I've read and listened to in podcasts with volcanologists - the gasses and ash from the volcano likely suffocated them very quickly. A small mercy.
What about the POOR ANIMALS😭💔
@gittejensen1229 I understand that in Pompeii they suffered for 5 or 6 hours.
@foreverdead1248 Not to mention we're talking about temperatures of at *least* 500 degrees in Herculaneum. In truth, they likely had at least a minute of unspeakable agony as their flesh burned off and their brains boiled.
I would say this small room would have housed the family of the stable manger, or what ever they called the person in charge of the horses.
Slaves
3 million people live in the Bay of Naples, Imagine the death toll when it happens again
I heard that those who were standing outdoors in Herculaneum died instantly whereas those indoors (like in the boathouses) died slowly.
From other Docs I’ve seen I think those who managed to hide away and survive the eruptions aftermath…died slowly from the toxic atmosphere and gases released that there was eventually no escape from.
I wounder if its possible to get DNA from theses Bodies, so we can see if they have an relatives still in Napoli or any please else.
Did the archaeologists scour the sea bed? A lot people escaping on boats must have gone down there.
Almost looks like a silent kill...
1:55 boi how do you think 💀
ポンペイの映像有り難う御座います
こういう番組大好きです
ดีๆดีมาก😊😊😊😊😊
At about 27:32, that pigeon was chilling like nothing volcano has destroyed anything, and that it is perched on a normal line 😅😂.
Other thing: Probably everyone in Herc tried to sail away, but most couldn’t 😢😮
I’ve been hear and it is definitely an eerie feeling walking around this ruins next to the volcano that destroyed it
very exceptional ,informative ,technical approach is superlative ,and the forencis science is way better than history channel bravo...
Dr. Zuchtriegel sounds like Sebastian Vettel and i cant unhear it anymore.
Very informative for me, cleared up several issues. Tremendously enjoyed watching. Thank you for putting the knowledge together in this fantastic documentary. ❤
13:49 I guess horses dont count?
They aren't frozen. They become stone.
Very small documentary on the very important site of the history.
Dust to dust , ashes to ashes , Thats where that saying can be applied ! RR ⚓.😢
luv it
Love your channel!!
Thanks for tuning in!
i think the Pompeii is a history of lahar victim 😅
Those in HERC. WERE TURN TO ASH .WITH FEW EXCEPTIONS.
was there last month for only a couple of hours... i barely got to scratch the surface ugh
Often wondered what happens to the spirits of people who die collectively. Especially in disasters such as this. Do they share the afterlife together?
How many miles away did survivors have to get to, to survive ?
its not about miles...its about getting out of the way of the path of the pyroclastic flow. if you can go horizontal to the flow coming at you, thats ur best bet to escape it...not running away from it. there is no set miles...theyre all different. youre not gonna out run it, you gotta just be outta the way and l;ike i said, best be is to go sideways and not run away from it.
❤
❤❤❤❤❤
May all those ill-fated souls rest in peace :(
They ceased to exist in the blink of an eye and that's that. That will happen to all of us. There will be nothing to feel.
@PatMcL-j6o Tell that to Pam Reynolds.
Very interesting documentary! I wish there will be possibility to reduce the volume of the "action movie" music or to fully turn it off on youtube 🙏🏽
Honestly, watching this heartbreaking documentary, is affected any viewers, literally I'm crying thinking how much they've been trying to escape, to hide and what was in their mind on these moments, I have goosebumps just trying to imagine myself their disperation and their ends... RIP... 😢
I cannot imagine the terror they must have felt, or the false hope thinking it might be over, just for the consecutive waves to keep coming. Horrible
Hello from Toledo, Ohio!!!
Hello new world!
Mamma Mia!
I can’t be the only one that might suggest the brains boiled and exploded after they had already passed away from not being able to breathe. I mean it’s possible they did suffer.
It’s 9hrs ago
Watching from Dubai
Same
🙌
A flash of heat so intense it boils your brain until it explodes out the back of your skull. Woooo! Horrible way to go. 😢
タイタニックとこのポンペイってなんともいえない栄光と無情さを感じる。
ポンペイとヘルクラネウムの人々はどうやっても助からなかったってことだよね。
悲しい。
What makes me so sad is my nephew is 15, unlike my generation, he & his friends have no curiosity about ancient history, do they even teach it in schools anymore? Perhaps it has to do with many kids no longer reading? I read the Encyclopedia, books my gran and mother had, watched documentaries on Pompeii, obviously still do. I wonder if people made TikTok videos about these cities would it pique their interest? Or, as I fear, have these youngsters lost the curiosity wiring in their brains and replaced it with just a need for instant gratification via AI? It's hearbreaking really. ✌️
A guide in Pompeii give me a couple of hands full of this small almost perfect light weigh rounds balls of pomes. These are the most interesting object I possess.
As the piny is witness
all of this