but first, it's the city of sremska mitrovica on the river's northern bank.ke any other in serbia, but what's intriguing and surprising is that beneath my feet, beneath these streets are the ruins of a former capital of the roman empire. it was called sirmium then. the romans chose this spot because of its location on the sava. the word ‘sirmium' means flowing water. most of the roman city, including a hippodrome, still lies beneath a modern metropolis, but some remains, like this huge imperial palace complex, have been excavated. it was 1957 when the workers starting to make an apartment building and then these walls appeared. some historians think as many as 18 roman emperors were born in the territory of modern—day serbia, and that five of those were born here in sirmium itself. it's a heritage this archaeologist thinks is little known outside of the balkans, largely due to the period in the late ‘90s when serbia was seen by some as a political pariah because of the conflict in kosovo. do you think people are surprised that serbia had such a roman history?