In the past, we have looked at several aspects of Ancient Greece that still puzzle historians, scholars and scientists. We don’t have to go far, as today we will go back to the time of the Romans and look at some of the mysterious goods they had to offer.
10. Sarcophagus “Burrito”
The first entry on our list shows us that there are still many mysteries of the ancient world to be uncovered. Back in 2010, archaeologists excavating the site of the Roman city of Gabii found a very unusual sarcophagus. It was about 1,700 years old, weighed about 1,000 pounds, and was made of lead.
This in itself was odd enough – we only know of a couple of hundred Roman lead coffins, but this one was unique. Instead of being rectangular with a lid on top, the sides were folded over each other, making the sarcophagus look like a giant lead coffin. burrito.
The question arises – who is buried in it? Lead was a valuable commodity even in Roman times; not everyone could afford a thousand pounds to make a coffin. Perhaps he was a priest, a dignitary or a famous person gladiator Unfortunately, each side is an inch thick and has proven resistant to traditional non-invasive analysis methods such as X-rays and CT scans. But using force to open it would likely damage the remains, so for now the sarcophagus remains closed and we are left to wonder.
9. Roman dodecahedron
Back in 1739, people made a curious discovery in the English countryside of Hertfordshire. It was a metal dodecahedron, a three-dimensional geometric shape with 12 faces. The strange object also had tiny protrusions on each outer edge and round holes of varying sizes in the middle of each face. It was clearly a carefully crafted object, made even more intriguing by the fact that it turned out to be Roman. Since then, more than a hundred others have been found roman dodecahedrons have been found all over Europe, but mostly in the Rhine basin, in what was then Gaul. There's just one problem: we have no idea what they were used for.
Unusually for the Romans, they were silent about the purpose of these small metal objects. Scholars have been unable to find any written references to dodecahedrons in the vast historical records, whether Roman, Greek or otherwise. Of course, this has given way to dozens of ideas about their possible use , ranging from harmless ornaments or toys to useful measuring instruments or astronomical devices, mystical objects with ceremonial significance, and even weapons such as a mace head or some kind of projectile. But until we find some ancient text that can help us figure it out, it is likely that the Roman dodecahedrons will remain a mystery.
8. The Lost Legion
As we've said, the Romans were pretty good when it came to keeping written history, so whenever we come across something that just disappears from the historical record, scholars tend to raise their eyebrows. Case in point: Legio IX Hispana , a legion of the Imperial Roman army that disappeared from written records sometime in the 2nd century AD, leaving historians to wonder about its ultimate fate.
Although its origins are unclear, the legion dates back to the Roman Republic and saw action in Caesar's Gallic Wars. From then on, we have a fairly good idea of its activities, with its last documented assignment being in 109 AD, when it was sent to Britain's northern border to guard it from Scottish tribes.
During the reign of Marcus Aurelius more than half a century later, the inscription with all the Roman legions did not mention Legio IX Hispana, so it is safe to assume that something happened to it during this period. It was long assumed that the legion was destroyed during the fight against the Picts in Scotland around 117 CE, but later research has found traces of it in Germania Inferior after 121 CE. A new idea suggests that the legion may have met its end in Judea during the Bar Kokhba revolt of 132 CE, but without hard evidence this remains only a hypothesis.
7. Mithraic Mysteries
In ancient times, there were some practices that were kept secret even from their own populations, so there is virtually no chance of us ever fully understanding them. The mystery cults were especially popular in the Greco-Roman world, and the true extent of their rituals and habits were revealed only to their own initiates. Nothing was ever written down, so they took their secrets to the grave long ago.
The most popular example is the Eleusinian Mysteries held in ancient Greece in honor of Demeter. Rome, however, had its own mystery religion centered around the god Mithras, who appears to have been inspired by the much older Zoroastrian god Mithra, although the extent of the connection beyond the obvious similarity of name is itself a matter of debate.
Mithraism, seems to have originated in Rome in the first century AD and quickly spread throughout the empire. The cult's followers gathered in underground temples called mithraea. The ruins are more 400 such structures can still be found, showing us how widespread this pagan religion had become in the Roman Empire. However, without surviving texts about the rituals and traditions of the cult, the Mithraic Mysteries are destined to remain just that - a mystery.
6. The Lost History of Livy
There is probably no ancient culture that we know better about than Rome, and this is largely due to a civilization that had a tradition of extensive record keeping, as well as some of the most diligent historians of ancient history who recorded what happened for future generations.
Take Titus Livius, better known simply as Livy. He is the author of perhaps the most ambitious work on Roman history, Ab Urbe Condita , or From the Foundation of the City, is a mammoth 142-volume chronicle written over the course of nearly four decades. As its title suggests, Livy's work covered the history of Rome from its founding to its time as a kingdom, and then about 500 years as a republic, all the way to its becoming an empire, which occurred during Livy's lifetime.
It is important to note that Livy wrote about a period of time that is not as well known as the imperial era, especially the Roman kingdom, but unfortunately much of his knowledge has been lost. Of the 142 volumes, only 35 have been restored in their complete form. It seems that Livy was a victim of his own zeal. His work was so extensive that others made abridged copies of his books. The most famous of these is called "Periochia » , and it eventually became more popular than Livy's original work because it was more accessible.
5. Siege of Dura-Europos
As early as 256 BC, the Romans fought the Sassanids at the siege of Dura-Europos, a border town between their two empires located in what is now Syria. At the time, the settlement was in Roman hands, who garrisoned it during the siege. The Sassanids decided to bypass the outer wall by tunneling underneath it, prompting the Romans to work on their own countermines to intercept them.
When the two sides inevitably met, the Sassanids had a nasty surprise for their enemies. They prepared braziers of resin and sulfur and lit them as the Romans approached. This created a toxic cloud of sulfur dioxide, which in a confined space caused coughing, burning, shortness of breath, pulmonary edema and, ultimately, death.
Panic, darkness and claustrophobia prevented an orderly retreat, and 20 soldiers died in the attack, which may represent the first known use of chemical weapons . There are earlier written references to poisoned arrows or toxic smoke, but this may be the earliest case where there is compelling archaeological evidence that this happened.
4. Baja Tunnels
In ancient times, the resort town of Baiae was popular place of rest wealthy Roman elite who came here to enjoy the soothing thermal baths provided by the hot springs located beneath the settlement. The resort experienced a gradual decline, literally, as it began to slowly sink into the sea due to underground volcanic activity. Today, Baia lies in ruins, half above ground and half underwater, and although much of it has been thoroughly explored and explained by archaeologists, the ancient city still contains one feature that puzzles scholars: the Baian Tunnels.
The tunnels were certainly not eye-catching. The entrance itself was very hard to spot, just a small dark strip cut into the hillside. If you looked inside, there was nothing to indicate that this was a place worth exploring. It was just a smelly, hot, narrow passage, bathed in total darkness.
In the 1960s, two amateur archaeologists named Robert Paget and Keith Jones became the first to explore these dark depths, hoping that they would discover a “cave sibyls ", a mysterious and mystical place where an oracle delivered his divine prophecies. The duo discovered a network of tunnels that Paget called Great Antrum , which included several flooded passages, as well as completely buried dead ends.
Paget concluded that the Baiae tunnels were built to symbolize a descent into the underworld, similar to that described by the poet Virgil in the Aeneid. » . In fact, Paget believed that Virgil was an initiate of this secret cult and had traveled through the tunnels for himself. Most scholars disagree with this idea. While it is likely that some ceremonial or religious machinations took place in these tunnels, the true extent of them eludes us.
3. Mysterious grass
What would you do if you lived in ancient Rome and suffered from indigestion, fever, sore throat, or a host of other ailments? That's easy. You'd use a miracle herb known as silphium . If you could afford it, of course. Silphium was so popular among the Romans that it was once worth its weight in gold. It was used to treat many ailments, as an aphrodisiac and contraceptive, and in cooking and perfumery. Even sheep fed with silphium were said to have the most tender and delicious meat. Each part of the plant was useful in its own way, from the roots to the stem, leaves and even the juice. Yes, silphium can do everything, but the question arises - what is silphium?
Unfortunately, we cannot answer this question with any degree of certainty for the simple reason that it no longer exists. It is generally believed that the Romans collected silphium before it disappeared, and we only know of its many miraculous properties from their writings. In fact, even Pliny wrote that during his lifetime he heard of only one silphium stem being found, which was collected and sent to the Emperor Nero as a gift.
That was in the 1st century AD, so silphium died out nearly 2,000 years ago. Or maybe not. Some believe silphium may still be around, hiding in plain sight under a different name. Others believe the mysterious herb may be a hybrid, and both groups still hold out hope that silphium may make a comeback.
2. Villa of Secrets
Outside the walls of Pompeii, on a hill that once overlooked the city, lie the ruins of several villas, including one that is still in pretty good condition considering it’s over 2,000 years old, not to mention the eruption that destroyed the entire city. Not only is the structure still mostly standing, but the real surprise is inside, where many of the walls are still decorated with intricate and stunning frescoes.
The central feature of the ancient house is one particular room, about 15 feet by 15 feet, which was probably used as a dining room. Its three walls are divided by one giant continuous fresco with dozens of figures engaged in various activities against a bright red background. This room gave the building its name - Villa of Mysteries .
Why is it called that? Well, because we're not quite sure what they're supposed to represent. It's generally thought that the frescoes may have depicted a rare initiation into another of the Roman mystery cults we know so little about... perhaps the cult of Dionysus However, some scholars believe that the scenes could have depicted a bride on her wedding day, or even just scenes from a play.
1. Walbrook Skulls
Back in 2013, British workers digging a tunnel on Liverpool Street for London's Crossrail project, found more than they bargained for when they discovered 20 human skulls. Although the discovery was gruesome, it wasn't entirely unexpected. The engineers knew they were digging up an old burial ground from the 17th century, but were then surprised when they discovered the skulls were much older, dating back to the Roman period.
But even with this new discovery, the find was not entirely unique - back in the 1980s, archaeologists found more 39 Roman Skulls in the same area of London known as the Walbrook Valley. It is believed that all the remains were buried in the sediment of the River Walbrook, a tributary of the Thames, but this does not really explain where all these skulls came from or why exactly they were all separated from the rest of the body.
It's a question archaeologists have been asking for decades, and there's still no definitive answer. One popular theory is that they were all victims of Boudicca, queen of the Iceni, who sacked Londinium back in 60 AD. Another, much more trivial, suggestion is that, as of the 17th century, the site had also served as a cemetery in ancient times, which slowly deteriorated and caused the remains to be washed downstream. Or perhaps it was a sign that Roman Londoners were continuing to " cult of the head » Iron Age and used decapitated heads for rituals and sacrifices. These are all plausible ideas that remain unproven.
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