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[Narrator] For thousands of 
years, the Adriatic Sea has 
guided ships into the safe 
harbors of

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Croatia's Dalmatian coast. Among 
these ancient ports stands 
Zadar, one of the

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country’s oldest continually 
inhabited cities. Colonized by 
the Romans in the 1st century 
BC,

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remnants of the Empire's 
occupation endure to this day.

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[Mladen] The Romans and Greeks 
before them the people who built 
foundations, let's say,

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of our society when you see what 
they used, what they did, it's 
not changed eventually too

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much today. The main square 
stands in the same position 
where the Roman main square

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was. The main raster of the 
streets in Zadar is following 
the streets that we had in Roman 
times.

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So we are living in the same 
place where Romans lived in 
these first centuries 2,000 
years ago.

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[Narrator] The 1st and 2nd 
centuries marked the golden age 
of the Roman Empire. Every 
artifact

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uncovered by archaeologists and 
preserved by conservators tells 
a story. A glass jar bears

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the stamp of its creator. A 
ceramic amphora reveals its city 
of origin through shape

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and design. And ancient coins, 
marked with the heads of 
emperors, disclose their age. As 
they

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colonized existing settlements 
like Zadar, the Romans also 
constructed elaborate country 
farms,

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or villas, whose valuable 
products like olives and wine 
helped sustain and grow the 
Empire.

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[Luka] All these products needed 
to be transferred either to 
Italy or other provinces,

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so the transport was, in fact, 
the ships which were carrying 
all

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this stuff. It was much cheaper 
than transferring along the 
inland roads.

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[Narrator] As these Roman ships 
sailed from colonies along 
Croatia's Adriatic

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coast to ports across the 
Mediterranean and beyond,

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they left their archaeological 
footprint across the sea floor.

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For over a decade, underwater 
archaeologists and conservators 
at the International Centre

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for Underwater Archaeology in 
Zadar, or ICUA, have perfected

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their expertise in uncovering 
and meticulously documenting the 
traces of this rich history.

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[Luka] We have a lot of abundant 
cultural heritage underwater in 
Croatia.

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And the main reason for our 
center is in fact the protection 
of it.

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[Narrator] During recent 
excavations of an ancient Roman 
harbor near Zadar, the team at 
ICUA made a

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remarkable discovery: the wooden 
remains of a Roman ship dating 
to the 1st century, AD.

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[Roko] You know that feeling 
when you find something that is 
really valuable to you. And then

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that feeling overwhelms you. So 
that's basically the feeling 
that we get while excavating,

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and then when you find 
something, for example, you 
know, "Oh my god, this is 2,000 
years old,

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so I'm the first one, the first 
person who gets a chance to view 
this object after 2,000 years,

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so the last one who viewed it   
it was a Roman citizen.  So 
that's beautiful.

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[Maja] When you are the first 
one to see the ship remains, 
after 2,000 years,

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that's a very special and 
personal, emotional moment, so 
things like this always surprise 
you.

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[Narrator] This find marks the 
beginning of a comprehensive 
archaeological process that will

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span years, if not decades. How 
do archaeologists and 
conservators document and 
preserve this sunken

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history? And what hidden stories 
still lie submerged, waiting to 
be discovered?