2024.7 National Geographic History - Jul:Aug 2024

1920s Style for a 1920s Price
I t was a warm summer afternoon and my wife and I

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FROM THE EDITOR
Ever since Shakespeare wrote Richard III in the

1590s, the last Plantagenet king has been widely accepted as one of theater’s
and history’s greatest villains. Perhaps Richard’s most heinous deed is the
murder of his young nephews, better known as the Princes in the Tower.
To create the play, Shakespeare drew on the works of historians writing in the
late 15th and early 16th centuries. Given this robust bibliography, Richard III
appears to have a strong basis in fact; however, a closer look reveals that these
sources were not neutral. They took a side, and it wasn’t Richard’s. Along
comes Shakespeare’s play, and Richard’s reputation as a murderer of princes
is sealed—based on lots of assumptions and no solid evidence.
Historians must constantly interrogate the stories from the past, like Philippa
Langley did for our cover story on the Princes in the Tower. During my time
at History magazine, we’ve explored popular truths and little-known facts
to find the moments when our collective wisdom holds true or when new
discoveries reveal a different story. This is my last issue, after more than
eight years at the helm, but History magazine will continue to explore the
past and all that is in it.
Amy Briggs, Editor in Chief
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 1

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VOL. 10 NO. 3
FALLEN GLORY
Colossal heads fallen from their
bodies lie near the monument
built at Mount Nemrut, Turkey, by
Antiochus I of Commagene in the
first century b.c.
Features Departments
24 The Mysteries of Mount Nemrut 6 NEWS

In the first century b.c., King Antiochus built a vast monument on Turkey’s A skull found in a Danish bog belonged
Mount Nemrut, rich with astronomical symbols. Dubbed the eighth wonder to a man who lived between two worlds.
of the world, the site is believed to hold a royal burial chamber at its heart. New analysis shows he was an immigrant
old-style hunter-gatherer who came to live
among farmers 5,000 years ago.
36 Sunken Cities 8 PROFILES
Swimming through the streets of Phanagoria, Canopus, and other ancient Shipwrecked off Texas in 1528,
cities consigned to the waves by quakes or floods, archaeologists can glimpse Spanish conquistador Cabeza de Vaca
at what life was like in these vibrant metropolises before disaster struck. set off on an eight-year trek to Mexico City.
On the way, he documented the customs of
the Indigenous peoples of the Southwest.
52 Avenging Germanicus
14 DAILY LIFE
Loved by the masses, the brilliant general Germanicus was a shoo-in to
succeed his uncle, Emperor Tiberius. His mysterious death in a.d. 19 A new, glittering spectacle known as
opera gripped Venice in the 1640s.
stunned Rome, prompting a campaign to bring his killer to justice. It launched the careers of composers,
singers, and designers, whose wondrous
66 The Mongol Conquest scenery drew fascinated tourists to the city.
In 1236 the great khan Ögödei invaded west from the steppes, crushing 20 MILESTONES
Kyivan Rus, Poland, and Hungary. Europe trembled as the hordes moved The 1314 Nesle Tower sex scandal led
on to Vienna—only to suddenly retreat. to the downfall of France’s ruling
Capetian dynasty, paving the way for
a devastating war with England.
80 Rescuing the Princes
Prince Edward and his brother, Richard, vanished from the Tower 92 DISCOVERIES
of London in 1483. Although Shakespeare and many historians Found in 1893, letters kept
pin Richard III as their murderer, stunning new evidence by Abinnaeus, a garrison
commander, shed vivid light
suggests another fate for the Princes in the Tower. on life in fourth-century
a.d. Roman Egypt.
The great khan Ögödei in a 14th-century painting on silk
National Palace Museum, Taipei
EDITOR IN CHIEF AMY E. BRIGGS
Deputy Editor JULIUS PURCELL

Editor TIARA BEATTY
Editorial Consultants JOSEP MARIA CASALS (Managing Editor, Historia)
IÑAKI DE LA FUENTE (Art Director, Historia)
VICTOR LLORET BLACKBURN (Editorial Consultant and Contributor)
Design Editor VERÓNICA MARCARIAN
Photography Editor MERITXELL CASANOVAS
Cartography Editors KATIE ARMSTRONG, CHRISTINE FELLENZ
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NEWS
THOUSANDS OF WELL-PRESERVED human bodies have

been found in northern Europe’s peat bogs, such as this Skull
one at Store Hjøllund in central Denmark. Cool tem- Evidence of a
peratures, plants like sphagnum moss, and the waters’ shattering blow was
apparent on Vittrup
oxygen-poor environment create ideal conditions to Man’s cranium.
preserve human tissue for millennia. LARS S. MADSEN/ALAMY
NORWAY
MESOLITHIC-NEOLITHIC ADAPTATION
Vittrup
Stone Age Bog Body

SWEDEN
Man site
ula
a
No r t h Se
Lived Between Two Worlds

J u t l a n d Pe n i ns
Copenhagen
DENMARK
Ba lt i c
Se a New details about Vittrup Man, whose battered body was found in a bog,
suggest he was an old-style hunter-gatherer who became a farmer.
N
GERMANY
NGM MAPS
ew insights about wooden club (believed to have Anders Fischer, a research-
DENMARK’S Jutland the life of a middle- killed him), cow bones, and a er at Sealand Archaeology, led
peninsula was age man who lived ceramic vessel were found in the study. “We now have an
cultivated by farmers some 5,000 years the bog along with him. Nick- individual behind the skel-
some 6,000 years ago have given a vivid snap- named “Vittrup Man,” he was eton,” he told History. “One
ago. The farmers shot of northern Europe at included in a 2014 study of whose story tells of contact
maintained close ties
with hunter-gatherers the dawn of agriculture. Denmark’s genetic prehis- between two radically differ-
in present-day Sweden In 1915 skeletal human re- tory. Analysis showed that ent worlds.”
and Norway, where mains, including a fragment- Vittrup Man’s DNA differed
Vittrup Man had likely ed skull, were discovered by from that of the local Danish Farmers and Hunters
migrated from. peat diggers in the northern population, indicating that he During the Neolithic period
Denmark village of Vittrup. A grew up somewhere else. when Vittrup Man was alive,
6 JULY/AUGUST 2024
SEAFARING
IN THE STONE AGE
ONE THEORY about Vittrup Man’s origins is that he
was brought as a slave from northern Scandinavia
to Denmark, where craftsmen produced high-
Teeth quality flint axes and daggers for trade. To make
Vittrup Man’s dentition the roughly 800-mile journey, it is most likely that
provided crucial he traveled by boat. Exactly when prehistoric Scan-
evidence about his diet
and geographic origins. dinavian seafaring began is unknown, but scholars
ARNOLD MIKKELSEN agree that both cultures living in Denmark and the
northern regions were capable of building seaworthy
vessels and piloting them through the open sea and
the area’s frigid coastal waters.
Many of the petroglyphs at Tanum, Sweden, depict
ancient boats and their crews. Circa 1700-500 B.C.
JOHANNES HANSEN/ALAMY/ACI
Leg Bones
Vittrup Man’s left tibia and a
right ankle bone were discolored
from centuries spent in the bog.
MARIE LOUISE JØRKOV
Vase
Other items were found in
the bog alongside Vittrup Man,
including cow bones and
a decorated ceramic vessel.
JOHN LEE, DANISH NATIONAL MUSEUM
Denmark was occupied by was closely related to those the rest of his life. His diet a trader, or was he enslaved?
farmers known as the Neo- northern hunter-gatherers. changed radically, going from Professor Kristian Kristian-
lithic Funnel Beaker culture. Historians have assem- mostly marine fish or mam- sen from the University of
Farther north, in present- bled evidence of exchanges mals to cereals, milk, goats, Gothenburg inclines to the
day Norway and Sweden, of goods and people between and sheep. latter theory: “Perhaps we
communities of Mesolith- both regions, and now Vittrup Vittrup Man is now the should understand him as a
ic hunter-gatherers lived. Man offers an intriguing indi- earliest immigrant in Dan- slave who was sacrificed to
Using a combination of tra- vidual perspective to this pro- ish history and embodies the the gods when he was no lon-
ditional archaeology and cess. Dietary analysis showed change between the two pre- ger fit for hard physical labor.”
advanced biotechnology, he left his hunter-gatherer historic periods and cultures. Whatever his status, anal-
Fischer’s research culture in the north as a “His transition was not on- ysis shows that sometime
team discovered teenager and lived among ly geographical but also be- between 3100 and 3300 b.c.
that Vittrup Man the farmers in Denmark for tween two distinct ways of Vittrup Man died violently.
life,” Fischer said. He was struck eight times in
the head with a wooden club.
The club found next to Sacrificed? The multiple blows “may be
Vittrup Man delivered the Tantalizing questions remain because a few people were
unanswered about Vittrup involved, each taking their
eight fatal blows to his skull. Man. Was his move from the turn,’’ Fischer said.
world of hunters to the world
Maple club found with Vittrup Man of farmers made willingly, as — Anna Thorpe
JOHN LEE, DANISH NATIONAL MUSEUM

PROFILES
Cabeza de Vaca: Explorer,

Survivor, Historian
Shipwrecked in Texas in 1528, Spanish conquistador Cabeza de Vaca undertook a grueling trek
westward, later writing a detailed account of the Indigenous communities he lived among.
hen a group of Eu- what Europeans would call America.

Journeys ropean colonists
encountered 13 In-
The son of a minor noble family, Cabe-
za de Vaca grew up in Jerez de la Fron-
to the Ends of digenous people in tera, in southern Spain. Spain’s recent
the Earth northern Mexico
in 1536, they expected them to flee.
colonial expansion in the Americas
filled the nearby port of Cádiz with re-
circa 1488 Instead, the people walked toward turning sailors with extraordinary tales
them. Among the Indigenous group of this strange new continent to the
Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de
Vaca is born in Jerez de were people who looked European, west. Later, in his travelogue, La Rel-
la Frontera, Spain, near one of them speaking perfect Spanish. ación (The Account), Cabeza de Vaca
the busy Atlantic port of This man—Álvar Núñez Cabeza de would recount his epic journey.
Cádiz. Vaca—and three others accompanying In his youth, Cabeza de Vaca fought
him had spent nearly a decade living as a soldier in the wars in Italy and
1527-1528 among Indigenous peoples in the Spain. In his 30s, he turned away from
Accompanying an southwestern part of North America. military life and looked for an oppor-
expedition to colonize They were survivors of a 600-strong tunity in the ongoing colonization of
Florida, Cabeza de colonial fleet. During their eight-year the Americas. In 1526 news circulated
Vaca is marooned on
Galveston Island, Texas. odyssey, Cabeza de Vaca turned the that a new expedition was being cap-
traditional conquest of the Americas tained by Pánfilo de Narváez—rival of
1534-1536 upside down, from one of domination Hernán Cortés, who defeated the Az-
to one of cooperation and exchange. tecs in the conquest of Mexico.
After six years on the island,
Cabeza de Vaca starts a De Narváez had obtained a grant to
two-year trek, trading with Colonial Expeditions conquer territory north of the Gulf of
Indigenous communities. Cabeza de Vaca (“cow’s head” in Eng- Mexico between modern-day Texas
He arrives in Mexico City. lish) is a startling and unusual surname and Florida. He formed a fleet of five
in Spanish, yet it is entirely fitting for ships with 600 men total, appointing
1540-1545 the life and travels of Spaniard Álvar Cabeza de Vaca as the expedition’s
Appointed governor of Río Núñez Cabeza de Vaca. He was treasurer, a senior position. The fleet,
de la Plata, Cabeza de born around 1488, a few which also carried enslaved Africans,
Vaca leads expeditions in
years before Christopher left Sanlúcar de Barrameda, on Spain’s
Paraguay. He is arrested by
rivals and returns to Spain. Columbus first set eyes on southern coast, on July 17, 1527.
circa 1564
Cabeza de Vaca dies.
In his 30s, Cabeza de Vaca
His old age had been wanted a stake in the unfolding
spent in obscurity,
expanding his colonization of America.
memoirs.
Cabeza de Vaca statue in Houston, Texas
ZOONAR GMBH/ALAMY/ACI
8 JULY/AUGUST 2024
STORY
BEHIND A
SURNAME
ACCORDING TO LEGEND, Cabe-
za de Vaca (cow’s head) owed
his unusual surname to a 13th-
century ancestor, a shepherd
named Martín Alhaja. When
Spanish Christians fought Mus-
lim forces to reclaim southern
Spain, Alhaja was credited with
helping the Christian side win
the 1212 Battle of Las Navas de
Tolosa, in Andalusia. He marked
a secret, unguarded pass in the
mountains with a cow’s head,
enabling King Sancho of Navarre
to launch his surprise attack on
Muslim forces. To thank him, the
king granted the name Cabeza
de Vaca upon his descendants.
Cabeza de Vaca stands in the boat in which
he sailed along the coast of the Gulf of
Mexico in this 19th-century engraving.
HERITAGE/AURIMAGES
The expedition was racked with dif- 300—would venture into Florida’s in- men to return to the coast, but they
ficulties from the outset. Many sailors terior in search of the promised riches. could not locate their ships. Instead,
deserted, and a storm sank two ships De Narváez and Cabeza de Vaca took the party made five flimsy barges. “Of
off the southern coast of Cuba. The ex- the expedition inland into Florida, with the tails of the horses we made ropes
pedition continued its voyage to Flor- 40 men on horseback and the rest on and tackles, and of our shirts, sails,”
ida, and in the spring of 1528, it finally foot. Along the way Cabeza de Vaca Cabeza de Vaca wrote. With nearly 50
reached Tampa Bay. said they saw “very large mountains men on each craft, the barges sat low
In September de Narváez made a and the trees wonderfully tall,” but in the water and were “so crowded, we
fateful decision to split the expedition when they reached the supposedly rich were almost unable to stir.”
in two, encouraged by the promise of Apalachee region, they discovered not They skirted the coast to the west
food and gold farther north in the riches but only clusters of huts. until they reached the mouth of the
Apalachee region. While the remaining Dwindling food stores, attacks by Mississippi. Strong currents dragged
ships would continue to search for a the Apalachee people, and decreasing the vessels out to sea. De Narváez’s
safe port, the rest of the men—about numbers caused de Narváez and his barge was swept away, while the one

U N I T E D S T A T E S
ande
Gr T E X A S
o
os
Rí
September 1534
h
nc
Cabeza de Vaca and Galveston Bay
Co
B
1536 three companions escape Isle of Misfortune
Summer 1535
o
aj
Cabeza de Vaca captivity and head west. (Galveston Island)
f
They arrive at the
a
encounters Europeans
confluence of the November 1528
C
for the first time in years.
C
Rio Grande and The expedition lands
a
al
the Conchos River. at the Isle of Misfortune.
li
Si
Si
if
The 15 who survive
er
f
er
or
hunger and disease
ra
ra
r
are taken captive.
ni
M
M
a
i a
ad
ad
Culiacán
re
re
M E X I C O
Or
May 1536
G u l f o f
O
cc
The group
ie
arrives in
id
nt
Culiacán. n
e
ta
al
P A C I F I C l
Compostela
O C E A N
Mexico City Veracruz

Sie
rra
Ma
dre
del
Sur
July 1536
Travels of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca Cabeza de Vaca, his three
in North America, 1527–1536 companions, and a group
of Indigenous people
Expedition route arrive in Mexico City.
100 mi
100 km
NGM MAPS
Present-day boundaries and land cover shown
that Cabeza de Vaca and some 80 com-today’s Galveston Island in Texas). compassion, “and for more than half an
panions huddled on finally washed upThere, the Europeans experienced hour they wept so loudly and so sin-
on an island, where they disembarked.
complex interactions with Indigenous cerely that it could be heard far away.”
“And as it was then in November and people. In his Relación, Cabeza de Vaca Later, however, he wrote of cruelty en-
very cold, we were, in appearance, the
described great acts of compassion dured from other Indigenous islanders
very image of death,” he recounted. from the inhabitants: They were and how he and his companions were
brought food, despite great scarcity. forced into slavery.
Slavery to Fame Hunger and disease swept through, Six years later, in 1534, Cabeza de
Cabeza de Vaca named the island the leaving just 15 Spaniards alive. On see- Vaca and three others managed to es-
Isle of Misfortune (thought to be ing their plight, the islanders expressed cape, including an enslaved African
named Esteban de Dorantes. They be-
came itinerant traders, swapping items
such as snail shells for hides and flints.
OBSERVATIONS “This trade suited me well, for I was at
liberty to go where I pleased,” Cabeza
de Vaca wrote. “They treated me well,
“FROM THE PLACE where we landed to this village
and gave me things to eat ... and sought
and land of Apalachee, the country is mostly flat,
me out for my fame.”
the soil sandy and firm. Throughout it there are
many large trees and ... many large and small Part of this fame rested on his repu-
lakes, some of them very difficult to cross.” tation as a healer among the Indigenous
—La Relación y Comentarios by Cabeza de Vaca peoples. In his account, he was uncer-
tain as to whether he genuinely be-
La Relación y Comentarios, 1555 edition, Harvard University
US 2415.3, HOUGHTON LIBRARY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY
lieved he had such power, describing
his cures as “reckless and daring.”
10 JULY/AUGUST 2024
Overland
Mis route
sis Spring 1528 April 1528
sip
Fl
pi The expedition Apalachee A party of 300 splits off in
Bay
or
proceeds westward. search of food and gold
in the Apalachee region,
ida
but they are unsuccessful.
October 1528 Tampa A T L A N T I C
Currents at the mouth of the Bay
Mississippi scatter the barges,
and de Narváez is swept away.
O C E A N
B
a
h
a
m
a
I s
M e x i c o l a
Havana n d
s
Turks and
Caicos Islands
Trinidad
Cienfuegos
Bay September 1527
October 1527
Cuba Led by Pánfilo
The fleet loses two ships de Narváez, the
because of a storm off expedition reaches
the port of Trinidad. Hispaniola.
Yu c a t a n Santiago
Pe n i n s u l a Cayman Is. de Cuba H i sp a ni ola San Juan
Santo
Jamaica Domingo Puerto Rico
BELIZE
From Spain
GUAT.
C a r i b b e a n S e a
HONDURAS
For the following two years the quar- received great pain because of the very recorded in great detail their clothes,
tet, led by Cabeza de Vaca, took a route heavy loads that we carried.” rituals, homes, customs, and cuisines.
that headed west across the Sierra In 1536 the travel-hardened group Few other contemporary accounts
Madre, and then down the Pacific coast finally made contact with Europeans of the Americas in this period ex-
of modern-day Mexico, in search of the in northern Mexico. They were the pressed such sympathy and deep
viceroyalty of New Spain. In his Rel- first of many fascinated audiences knowledge of Indigenous peoples.
ación, Cabeza de Vaca names over 20 Cabeza de Vaca and his companions Cabeza de Vaca sometimes mocked
different Indigenous peoples that he would encounter. Later that summer certain practices as superstitious, but
encountered, including “the Avavares, they arrived in Mexico City and were the details of his overall documentation
with whom we stayed with for eight hailed as celebrities. The following were respectful. He praised the tech-
months.” The Avavares have since year, Cabeza de Vaca returned to Spain nical abilities he saw, writing, “All the
been identified as part of the hunt- and wrote La Relación, chronicling his Indians from Florida we encountered
er-gatherer Coahuiltecan culture that encounters during his near decade in were great archers ... They shot their
once inhabited southern Texas. North America. The book was pub- arrows with such force and precision.”
Having survived on a diet of roots, lished in 1542 to enormous acclaim. He later documented the unique
wild herbs, and fruits, the group had all mourning process for children: “Of all
radically changed in appearance since Documented Travels the people in the world, they most love
setting out from Spain. Their hair and Not only is La Relación an exciting their children and treat them best.” Be-
beards were long; their near-naked chronicle of Cabeza de Vaca’s survival reaved parents, he wrote, cried “thrice
bodies were covered in meager cloths in the American wilderness, it’s also a a day, before dawn, at noon and at dusk,
and skins. “Like snakes we shed our valuable record of the peoples living followed by the whole tribe, day after
hides twice a year,” Cabeza de Vaca lat- across the American south at that time. day and for an entire year.”
er wrote, “and the sun and the air made Cabeza de Vaca documented more than The book reveals that Cabeza de Va-
us look as if we were naked ... We 20 different Indigenous cultures and ca’s first encounter with the Spaniards

PROFILES
Big Bend National

Park, in Texas, is where
Cabeza de Vaca and
his three companions
crossed in 1535.
SUSANNE KREMER/FOTOTECA 9X12
near Culiacán, in modern Mexico’s After we dispatched the In- with Indians ... So we went on
northwest, was not quite a joyous re- dians in peace, and with with the idea of insuring the
union. The Spaniards were engaged in thanks for what they had Liberty of the Indians, and
capturing and enslaving Indigenous gone through with and for us, when we believed it to be as-
people. Angered at their actions, Cabe- the Christians sent us to a sured, the opposite took
za de Vaca secured promises from his certain Alcalde Cerebros. place: the Spaniards had
compatriots that the Indigenous people He took us through unin- planned to fall upon the In-
accompanying him would not be mis- habited country to prevent dians … and that plan they
treated or enslaved. our communicating carried out.
Back to the Americas

After some time back in
Spain, Cabeza de Vaca felt the
GOOD TREATMENT pull of the Americas and
longed to return. Despite the
“THE SPANIARDS arrived at a mighty river called Igatu … on success of La Relación, he
its shore is a village of Guarani, who plant their corn and failed to be appointed
cacabi ... And they came out to welcome the Spaniards governor of Florida. The
and told them of the good treatment they were given.” Spanish king and Holy Roman
—From the writings of Cabeza de Vaca emperor, Charles V, gave the
Guarani from Paraguay in an illustration from the 18th-century job to conquistador Hernando de
Zwettler Codex, by the Jesuit Florian Baucke
ALBUM/PHOTO12/ARCHIVES SNARK
Soto instead.
Cabeza de Vaca languished for
12 JULY/AUGUST 2024
A SPECIAL
DISCOVERY
IN 1540 CABEZA DE VACA was ap-
pointed governor of the Río de
la Plata, the area lying between
modern-day Uruguay and Ar-
gentina. It took him two years to
reach his headquarters at Asun-
ción (today in Paraguay) from
Spain. On the way, stumbling
across the magnificent Igua-
zú Falls, his amazement was
such that he exclaimed, “Santa
Maria!” The river was given that
name for a while by European
surveyors, but today it is known
by its Indigenous name, Iguazú,
stemming from the Guarani
words y, meaning “water,” and
ûasú, meaning “big.” Cabeza de
Vaca was the first European to
have seen the falls.
Iguazú Falls, located on the border
of Argentina and Brazil, is the largest
waterfall system in the world.
IVOTHEEDITORS/GETTY IMAGES
three years until he was finally offered He entered into a hostile relation- arrogance and incompetence, and later
a post: the governorship of Río de la ship with his predecessor, Domingo sentenced to exile in North Africa. The
Plata, a South American province com- Martínez de Irala. Popular among his harsh sentence was quashed on orders
prised of parts of modern-day Argen- fellow colonialists, de Irala stirred up of the king, who granted clemency to
tina, Uruguay, and Paraguay. resentment among elites against Cabe- the now elderly explorer.
After an arduous journey, Cabeza de za de Vaca, who was charged with pro- Cabeza de Vaca spent the last years
Vaca’s expedition arrived at Asunción fessional incompetence. It had been of his life in his native Jerez de la Fron-
(today’s capital of Paraguay) in 1542. noted that Cabeza de Vaca’s attitude tera, dying sometime between 1558 and
King Charles’s policy was to expand to Indigenous peoples on his expedi- 1564. In his later years he revised and
Spanish conquests deeper into South tions was conciliatory and diplomatic, expanded his Relación into a much
America. Although Cabeza de Vaca had methods at odds with more militant more extensive account (La Relación y
some success in expeditions to the supremacists in the local military and Comentarios), which included a de-
west of the Paraguay River, he was civil administration. scription of his time in Paraguay.
more inclined to govern people than to In 1545 Cabeza de Vaca returned to Cabeza de Vaca’s accounts are still
conquer them. Spain for trial. He was found guilty of startling for the richness of his obser-
vations. As he wrote to Charles V, “I
wished to present not merely a report
Cabeza de Vaca later revised his of positions and distances, flora and
memoir to describe his turbulent fauna, but of the customs of the nu-
merous native people I talked with and
governorship in Paraguay. dwelt among, as well as any other mat-
ters I could hear of, or observe.”
Cabeza de Vaca on a Spanish postage stamp —José Garrido Palacios
GRANGER/ACI

DA I LY L I F E
Opera in Venice:
A Spectacle
for the People
Once exclusively created for royalty, opera burst into public
theaters in the mid-1600s, captivating the masses.
T
he widespread modern stereo- who came to be known as the Camerata.
type of the opera as elitist and They believed they were inventing an
stodgy stands in stark contrast art form that would fuse music and po-
to what audiences thought of etry into a language all its own. Halfway
it in mid-17th-century Venice. Back between singing and speaking, it was
then, it was popular and breathtakingly intended to re-create the grandeur of
new. “Taken together, it is one of the ancient Greek drama.
most magnificent diversions the wit Sponsored by princes and local no-
of man can invent,” wrote the English bles, these early productions were per-
diarist John Evelyn after seeing his first formed in banquet halls and ballrooms
opera in Venice in 1645. with admission by invitation only.
Opera was born in Venice, and Eve- There was little distinction between
lyn’s description was written just as the stage and the audience, and the lat-
the art form was gaining more popu- ter would wear masks and join in. The
lar appeal. Its roots, however, lay not spectacle was often exaggerated to im-
in the great public theaters but in the press visiting dignitaries.
court. An abbreviation of the Italian
expression opera in musica—work in Artistic Revolution
music—opera was conceived around In the early 1600s, Europe was going
1600 by a group of Florentine intellec- through a “fundamental historical cri-
tuals, musicians, poets, and humanists sis,” as the 20th-century Italian polit-
ical theorist Antonio Gramsci put it,
which encompassed a major transfor- the Teatro San Cassiano from the aris-
mation in all institutions. New, popular tocratic Tron family. There they pre-
money-making ventures were emerg- miered the opera Andromeda, the first
ing, which were displacing old, feudal public opera open to anyone who could
forms of economic organization. afford a ticket. Prices were low enough
This dynamic atmosphere impact- that all but the most disadvantaged of
ed opera amid the Venetian carnival in Venice’s citizens might attend.
1637. A whirlwind of theatrical activity, Despite the initial stir caused by this
the city was a tourist hot spot and home new experiment, “opera was, in fact, a
to traveling theater companies. Com- slow-burn rise to success, rather than
posers Benedetto Ferrari and Francesco an instant hit,” Tim Carter, distin-
Manelli arrived in the city and rented guished emeritus professor of music
at the University of North Carolina, told
History. In its previous iteration, courtly
Anna Renzi was a singer, actress, and
Italian opera star in 17th-century Venice. opera had simply been about trying to
ALAMY/ACI tell a story with musical speech. The
SPLENDOR OF THE SET
This painting is a depiction of
Giacomo Torelli’s magnificent
stage design, complete with
machinery, for the 1643
production of La Venere
Gelosa (Jealous Venus).
Civic Museum, Fano
SCALA, FLORENCE
Dancing Down Into

content didn’t matter much to those
the Underworld
audiences at that time, as they were in LA VENERE GELOSA, an opera with a libretto by Niccolò Enea Bartolini
attendance to be seen, rather than to and music by Francesco Sacrati, was performed to great acclaim at the
see the performance. Teatro Novissimo in Venice in 1643. The image above is from the second
When composers started writing act of the play. Venus (at left) and her friend Clio (at right) have de-
for the public stage, however, they had scended into hell to ask Proserpina, of the god Bacchus (Dionysus).
to learn how to cater to the masses by the goddess of the underworld (at The Greeks incorporated dance
grabbing attention and drawing the center) to kill a hated rival. The op- and music on stage, and Venetian
public into the story once the music era’s score was lost, but the libretto composers and producers drew
took over in a “game of push and pull survived. Ballet was an important on that tradition in their works.
between the stage and the audience,” part of this opera, harkening back Reconstructing the actual danc-
according to Carter. to its classical origins. The opera es has been difficult for scholars,
During the 20 years following the itself comes from Bacchanalia, as many of the original materials
Andromeda production, composers and ancient ceremonies in which par- detailing the choreography have
producers figured out how to consol- ticipants would dance in honor been lost to time.
idate opera’s appeal to the masses in

DA I LY L I F E
DRAMATIC SPECTACLE
The 18th-century artist
Giuseppe De Albertis
depicted this dramatic scene
from an Italian opera. Scala
Theater Museum, Milan
SCALA, FLORENCE
Venice. By the end of the 17th century, Torelli, who specialized in innovative contemporary accounts of the techni-
there would be nine opera houses in stage machinery. A naval engineer who cal novelties of the operas of his day,
the city. came to Venice in 1639, Torelli was pas- described Il Bellerofonte, which pre-
sionate about the theater. His well- miered at the Novissimo in 1642. “Out
Lavish Productions known “glories,” were platforms that of the clouds appeared Pallas Athena
Opera’s storylines weren’t the only allowed singers to appear suspended and Diana on a sophisticated machine;
things transformed to captivate audi- in midair. Using a wheel-driven winch the spectators, unable to see how it was
ences. Opera made itself more alluring and counterweight system, Torelli was operated ... were astonished,” he wrote.
through its staging, which included able to change sets quickly between There were several other key ele-
bold costumes, enchanting scenery, acts. To match his grand visions, a larger ments to opera’s resounding success
and inventive special effects. Among “canvas” would be necessary. In 1641 he in Venice. One of them was the sheer
the greatest built the Teatro Novissimo, the world’s talent of composers who wrote for the
pioneers of first purpose-built opera house. new genre, namely Claudio Monteverdi
set design Torelli’s stage designs caused a great and his pupil Francesco Cavalli. Both
was Giacomo sensation. Giulio del Colle, who wrote were gifted in eliciting emotions from
the audience through music. Cavalli
became one of the city’s most prolific
Comic scenes in opera provided composers, putting on more than 20
light relief and increased its wider operas between 1639 and 1669.
appeal among audiences. Performers were also crucial in the
rise of opera’s popularity. Both male
Libretto of Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea, 1642 and female singers were beloved—
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, MUSIC DIVISION from the castrati (male singers who
16 JULY/AUGUST 2024
FROM THE ASHES
Venice’s La Fenice Theater
opened in 1792 and is one
of opera’s great temples.
Struck by fire several
times in its lifetime, it was
most recently rebuilt and
restored in 2004.
AKG/ALBUM
underwent castration to preserve their The cheapest ticket price was the of Poppea), in which the main charac-
high-pitched tones), such as Giuseppe equivalent of a worker’s daily wage. The ter, Damigella, shares a comic love duet
Maria Donati, to renowned sopranos, best seats in the house, the central box- with her page, Valletto.
like Anna Renzi. es, were usually rented out to wealthy Thanks to these and many other in-
One of the singers who appeared in families or ambassadors. The auditori- novations, Venice kept its title as the
La Finta Pazza (The Feigned Madwoman) um was lit by candles, and refreshments major center for opera until the mid-
by Francesco Sacrati in 1641 was said were served during the performance. 18th century. Alongside Naples, Venice
to sing “so delicately that the souls of Shouting, cheering, and booing were was home to the main musical training
the listeners, as if drawn through the all part of the experience. centers and main singers in Europe. Al-
portals of the ears, raised themselves Audience members sometimes though opera became a global musical
to heaven.” struggled to follow the plot or identify art form, Venice has remained a hub for
with the characters, which led to the in- opera performances. A faithful histor-
Creative Risks troduction of comic scenes. These orig- ical reconstruction of Venice’s Teatro
Venice’s embrace of opera enabled it to inated in the Italian semi-improvised San Cassiano, where the pioneering,
flourish for centuries in the city’s halls form of the commedia dell’arte (comedy 1637 production of Andromeda took
and concert venues. The sights and of professional artists) and provided place, is under way. The project will
sounds of Venice, such as its carnival, some light relief. Comic characters who install baroque-era stage machinery to
stimulated creativity. Nevertheless, op- usually held a low social position were a achieve the same kind of moving sets
era was risky. It required major upfront means to appeal to a wider public who and special effects the theater’s first
investment. Ticket sales rarely covered could better identify with them. Comic audiences saw, celebrating what is now
production costs in its early years. arias or duets appeared, an early exam- a global art form in the city of its birth.
But by the 1660s, the economics of ple being Monteverdi’s 1642 opera, L’in-
opera consumption were established. coronazione di Poppea (The Coronation —Veronica Maynés

COMPLEX
SETTINGS he San Salvatore Theater, now the
Goldoni Theater, was inaugurated in
1622 in Venice. Thirty years after its
debut, the owners converted it into an opera Title page and opening of the libretto of Germanico sul Reno
house. One of the most spectacular produc- (Germanicus on the Rhine), written by Giulio Cesare Corradi
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, MUSIC DIVISION
tions staged there was the opera Germanico
sul Reno (Germanicus on the Rhine). Opening in them extras who appeared to be floating above
1676, it featured music by Giovanni Legrenzi. the stage. Complex infrastructure was built to
Sketches for the opera’s opening scene (op- support them, and special machinery (below)
posite) reveal the planned spectacle. If the en- moved all the pieces into the proper places.
graving is true to life, there would have been For the horses drawing the chariot, a special
almost a hundred people involved, many of entrance had to be built.
BRIDGEMAN / ACI
1 This machine
was suspended
from the roof
supports. In the
opera Germanicus
1
on the Rhine, it
bore symbols
representing
hours, days,
months, and
years. It was
rotated by means
of a winch.
1 2 Platforms were
suspended from
the roof. They
provided space for
dozens of extras.
3 A rolling machine
in the shape of a
2 globe represented
time in the opera.
4 Another
rolling machine
represented military
6
glory in the opera.
5
3
5 A carriage that
4 moved forward
from the back of
the stage bore the
triumphal chariot
that was drawn by
four unicorns.
Germanicus on the
Rhine tells the story
of the adopted
son of Roman
emperor Tiberius,
Germanicus (p. 52),
who fought against
the Germanic
peoples from a.d. 14
to 16.
As the opera opens,

1 time is shown
continuously
turning the symbols
of hours, days,
2 months, and years
on a 2 wheel.
The figure of
3 military glory
appears. Desiring
to stop the passing
of time to celebrate
Germanicus’s victory
on the Rhine, she
shoots an arrow at
time, 4 who falls
to his death.
3
The engraving also
depicts the next
scene of the opera:
the entrance of
Germanicus in
4 5 a triumphal
chariot drawn
by four unicorns,
accompanied by
6 knights and
soldiers with
banners.
Designs
5 (opposite and
above) from the
opera Germanico
sul Reno, 1676.
Opera Library &
Museum, Palais
Garnier, Paris
OPPOSITE: BRIDGEMAN/ACI
ABOVE: AKG/ALBUM
LIAISONS DANGEREUSES
This 1850 lithograph imagines Margaret of
Burgundy (at right) enjoying her escapades in the
Nesle Tower. The scene is influenced by an 1832
play by Alexandre Dumas that fabricated and
sensationalized details of the Nesle affair.
AKG/ALBUM
The Sex Scandal Behind

the Hundred Years’ War
Succession squabbles and accusations of infidelity rocked the House of Capet in what came to
be known as the Nesle Tower affair, which put France on the path to a devastating conflict.
“H
eavy is the head that wears strategic marriages for his children to Illicit Affairs
the crown,” wrote William secure alliances and heirs. The wives of all three of King Philip’s
Shakespeare. For three young His three sons married French no- adult sons hailed from the neighboring
women in the early 1300s, be- blewomen, and his daughter, Isabella, region of Burgundy. Louis (the future
ing the daughters-in-law of a king could wed King Edward II of England. But all Louis X) married Margaret, daughter of
be just as burdensome, especially when his plans would come undone in 1314, the Duke of Burgundy. Philip (the fu-
the sovereign was the ruthless Philip IV when his children and their spouses ture Philip V) married Joan, daughter of
of France. were engulfed by the Nesle Tower affair. the Count of Burgundy. Finally, Charles,
Like many kings before him, Phil- The scandal not only led to torture, im- (the future Charles IV) married Joan’s
ip IV was focused on the question of prisonment, and the possible murder sister, Blanche of Burgundy.
his succession. His dynasty, the Ca- of one of the princesses; it also led to a Only one of these marriages is re-
pets, had ruled France since the 900s, succession crisis in France that sparked corded as being happy. Even by the
and to ensure its survival, Philip made the ruinous Hundred Years’ War. standards of dynastic marriage,
20 JULY/AUGUST 2024
MILESTONES
THE HEAVIEST PENALTIES

IN ORDERING the living bodies of the adulterous knights to be skinned,
Philip IV concluded a reign marked by cruelty. He would have seen such
brutality as justifiable. Under feudal law, adultery committed with the lord’s
wife could be interpreted as high treason, punishable by death. Since the
women involved belonged to the royal family, the d’Aunay brothers were
also guilty of lèse-majesté (an offense against the dignity of a monarch).
Torture of the d’Aunay brothers; miniature from the 14th-century Chronicle of Bernard Gui
BRIDGEMAN/ACI
Margaret’s union with Louis was cold. three sisters-in-law, Margaret, Blanche, often seen as a display of affection. But
Charles was overbearing with Blanche. and Joan. the king would need stronger evidence
Only Joan appeared to have been happi- On a later visit home, Isabella no- than that.
ly married to Philip, a bond that would ticed that two knights accompanying Philip IV ordered men to spy on his
later spare her from the miserable fates her sisters-in-law—brothers Philippe daughters-in-law and the two knights.
of her sisters-in-law. and Gautier d’Aunay—were wearing Soon enough, he had reports that the
The scandal began in 1313 when Is- those gifted purses on their belts. It is three women were meeting with the
abella, King Philip’s daughter, visited said Isabella saw these purses as a sign two men at the Tour de Nesle, a guard
Paris with her infant son, of an illicit liaison between the knights tower on the Seine River in central Par-
the future Edward III of and her sisters-in-law, and she alerted is. All three princesses were seen com-
England. Several chron- her father in 1314. ing and going at the tower, but only two
icles describe a puppet On their own, the purses were un- of them—Margaret and Blanche—were
show at which Isa- likely to have been enough proof of having affairs with the knights.
bella gave em- adultery. Although during the Middle The two d’Aunay brothers were ar-
broidered silk Ages, when women gave such presents rested and imprisoned. Under torture,
purses to her to knights as favors, it was a practice they confessed to the affair on April 19,
1314. Margaret and Blanche were im-
prisoned in the Château Gaillard for-
Anxious to secure the Capetian tress in Normandy. Although Joan was
dynasty, Philip IV married his not involved sexually with the knights,
she was accused of being an accomplice
sons to Burgundian noblewomen. and incarcerated at Dourdan, near Paris.
Nevertheless, she retained the support
Philip IV. Detail from 14th-century miniature, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, France of her husband, who never disowned her.
ORONOZ/ALBUM

MILESTONES
CHÂTEAU GAILLARD in
Normandy, France, is the
fortress in which Margaret
and Blanche of Burgundy
were incarcerated, and
where Margaret died in 1315,
perhaps as a result of murder.
BRUNO MORANDI/GTRES
Weighing the Facts the Scalacronica, written by an English the d’Aunays’ resistance to torture last-
Most historians believe that the affairs knight. These contradict each other in ed for days, leading some to think they
did happen, yet there is disagreement terms of chronology, so it is difficult to were falsely accused and were trying to
among scholars. Numerous primary be sure of what events happened when. maintain their innocence. The Chroni-
sources documented the Nesle Tower Cross-referencing these chronicles cles of the Count of Flanders put forward
affair. Among them are the Chronicles with royal household accounts, how- an interesting conspiracy theory: The
of the Count of Flanders; the Chron- ever, presents a rough time line. princesses and the knights were inno-
icle of the Kings of France by Guillau- One sticking point for nu- cent and framed by Philip IV’s principal
me de Nangis, a monk near Paris; and merous historians is that minister, Enguerrand de Marigny. He
was later accused of sorcery to harm
the king and hung. Most historians,
however, accept that Margaret and
Blanche had committed adultery.
TAKING LIBERTIES
Princesses and Queens
FROM THE 1400S, fictional versions of the Nesle After being condemned by the king in a
scandal recast Margaret of Burgundy as a femme secret trial, the knights were executed.
fatale who delights in debauchery and murders her Accounts vary on the exact details of
lovers. Alexandre Dumas developed this storyline their deaths, but all are very gruesome.
in his 1832 play, The Tower of Nesle. A 1955 film, Some say they were skinned alive and
Tower of Lust, brought the story to the big screen. that their “manly parts” were cut off.
Margaret was portrayed by Gilda Darthy in a 1903 production. They were decapitated and their re-
ALBUM
mains were publicly displayed.
22 JULY/AUGUST 2024
HEAD SHAVING, depicted here
among monks, was a common
punishment for adultery like
the Nesle affair. 13th-century
miniature, Customs of Toulouse,
Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris
BRIDGEMAN/ACI
The women’s fates were not as vi- nunnery in the Abbey of Maubuisson, meant that Philip V’s daughters had to
olent as the knights’. Margaret and where she died around 1326. be passed over for his younger brother,
Blanche were tried and found guilty of Only Joan escaped long-term punish- Charles, who took the throne in 1322.
adultery. Their heads were shaved and ment. Philip stood by her and secured After Charles annulled his marriage
both were sentenced to life in under- her release. When he began his reign as to Blanche, he did remarry but failed to
ground cells at Château Gaillard. Be- Philip V in 1317, Joan became queen. Her produce a son. When Charles IV died in
cause Joan knew about the affairs, she husband died in 1322, and she outlived 1328, the direct male line of the Capetian
was punished with house arrest at the him by eight years, dying in 1330. But dynasty was extinguished with him.
Château de Dourdan. the shadow of the Nesle Tower affair Charles IV’s cousin acceded to the
Margaret remained in prison, even fell over Philip V too, and the Capet line French throne, but this claim was con-
when she became the queen of France. edged closer to extinction. tested by none other than Charles’s
Philip IV died in November 1314, and All of Philip IV’s machinations to se- English nephew and son of his sister,
Margaret’s husband succeeded him as cure his dynasty lay in tatters. When Isabella, the principal informant of the
Louis X. But by April 1315, she was dead, Louis X died in 1316, his infant succes- affair. The competing claims of her son
and Louis remarried just days later, cre- sor, John, lived only five days. Edward III of England and her cousin
ating suspicion that Margaret had been Philip, Joan’s husband, was eventu- Philip of Valois led to the Hundred
murdered—possibly strangled. ally crowned as Philip V, but only after Years’ War, whose destruction was
After eight years at Château Gaillard, usurping his niece. In order to justify compounded by the Black Death in the
Blanche was released. Her marriage to seizing the throne from her, Philip in- 1340s. Historian Barbara Tuchman fa-
Charles remained intact until May 1322, voked the ancient Frankish Salic Law mously called the era “the calamitous
when the pope granted an annulment. that barred a woman from the throne. 14th century,” due in no small part to
Her ultimate fate is unknown. Many In an ironic twist, Joan and Philip V only the events of the Nesle Tower affair.
believe she spent her final years at a had daughters, so adherence to Salic Law —Oscar Herradón

King Antiochus I of Commagene’s imposing tomb
perches on a steep mountaintop in Turkey, guarded
by extraordinary statues of Greco-Roman and
Persian divinities.
ÁNGEL CARLOS PÉREZ AGUAYO
ETERNAL GODS
OF NEMRUT DAĞ
Several colossal heads that
once stood in the mausoleum of
Antiochus I of Commagene now
lie in front of their bodies on the
east terrace of the monument, on
Mount Nemrut in Turkey.
YASIN AKGUL/GETTY IMAGES
ANATOLIA AND
THE LEVANT
This map (left)
of the eastern
Mediterranean
during the Roman
Empire shows
the location of
Nemrut Dağ.
GIGANTIC
TUMULUS
Behind terraces
and statues lies
a large mound
(right), over 160
feet high, that
likely contains a
royal tomb.
ANADOLU AGENCY/GETTY IMAGES
CITY OF top Mount Nemrut lies what some control of the region. About 160 years later, a
SCORPIONS call the eighth wonder of the satrap (governor) called Ptolemaeus proclaimed
The reverse of
world: a religious sanctuary of 10 himself king of Commagene, and the province
a coin (below)
of Antiochus IV colossal statues surrounding a broke away from the then crumbling Seleucid
of Commagene, mound believed to hold the tomb Empire. A new dynasty of Hellenistic sover-
from the first of an ancient king. These spectacular stone eigns was born.
century a.d., bears
a scorpion, the structures represent some of the most sig- In the first century b.c., Commagene formed
symbol of the city. nificant depictions of the religious and funer- a buffer zone between the Roman Republic
Private collection ary practices of an ancient society that drew and the Parthian Empire as they fought for
ALBUM
on both its Greek and Persian heritage. control of Anatolia. During this time, Com-
Located in a mountainous region of south- magene enjoyed a golden era. The society was
eastern Turkey, Commagene was a province of a blend of Greek and Persian culture; culture
the Hellenistic kingdom of Syria. When Al- merging was common for the Hellenistic pe-
exander the Great died in 323 b.c., the Mace- riod. Between approximately 70 and 36 b.c.,
donian army general Seleucus I Nicator took Commagene’s most famous king, Antiochus I,
BETWEEN 323 b.c.

After the death of Alexander
163 b.c.
Samos, governor of the
TWO the Great, Seleucus takes
over Commagene as a
province of Commagene,
proclaims himself king under
EMPIRES region of the Hellenistic
kingdom of Syria.
the name Ptolemaeus and
founds a new dynasty.
26 JULY/AUGUST 2024
circa 70 b.c. 62 b.c. circa 36 b.c. a.d. 17
Antiochus I ascends to the Work begins on Mithridates II, son of Commagene becomes
throne of Commagene with Antiochus I’s Antiochus, becomes the a province of the Roman
the approval of the Roman monumental tomb new king of Commagene Empire. It will regain its
general Pompey after complex on the top of after the death of his independence before finally
conquering Asia Minor. Nemrut Dağ. father. being reabsorbed in a.d. 72.

Visitors to
the Tomb
ALTHOUGH LOCALS always knew of the
existence of the Nemrut ruins, it wasn’t
until 1881 that they became known to the
wider world. The first European to visit the
site was German engineer Karl Sester. The
next year Turkish art historian, painter, and
statesman Osman Hamdi Bey and Turkish
sculptor Osgan Efendi explored the site
together, followed by German archaeolo-
gists Otto Puchstein and Carl Humann,
the excavator of the Pergamon Altar.
IN 1953 a systematic excavation of the site
was made by American archaeologist The-
resa Goell and German epigrapher Fried-
rich Karl Dörner. They tried without suc-
Theresa Goell stands in front cess to locate the hidden funerary chamber
of one of the ritual inscriptions
engraved in Greek on the back of of Antiochus I.
the statues’ thrones.
THERESA GOELL ARCHIVES, HARVARD MUSEUM
OF THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST
ruled. He tried to stay neutral in the conflict First Antiochus had the summit of the
INSCRIBED between the Romans and the Parthians. Unfor- mountain terraced so that an artificial mound,
Part of the longest tunately, Antiochus I’s successors would not which presumably protects his tomb, could
Greek inscription in
Turkey (below) was
fare well, and a few decades later the Roman be built. Today this mound stands 164 feet
found at Arsameia, Empire annexed the province. high and almost 500 feet in diameter. When
the summer capital Today Commagene is remembered for the it was first built it would have been as high as
of Commagene, extraordinary monument that Antiochus I built 230 feet. Three processional routes coming
near Mount
on the peak of Mount Nemrut (Nemrut Dağ in from different directions provided access to
Nemrut. It details
the good deeds of Turkish). Nemrut was another name for the the mound. Three large terraces were built (to
Mithridates I’s son, biblical king Nimrod, described in the Book of the north, east, and west), and this is where
Antiochus I. Genesis as a “mighty hunter.” According to local the statues were also placed.
MARTIN SIEPMANN/ACI
tradition, Nimrod once hunted Only the statues on the east and west terraces
on the slopes of Mount Nemrut. remain, forming two nearly identical groups
whose features are well preserved. The east ter-
Monument to the King race is dominated by five seated statues. A long
At the top of the mountain, at a inscription engraved on the back of the colossi
height of more than 7,000 feet, reveals the identity of each god. The statue on
Antiochus built a large artificial the left represents Antiochus I. Next to him sits
mound. At the foot of the mound the personification of the land of Commagene
he erected enormous stone stat- as a nurturing goddess, while the other three
ues, standing between 10 and 30 represent various fusions of Greco-Roman and
feet high. The construction of Persian deities. One statue is a combination of
Nemrut Dağ would have been a Zeus and Oromasdes (Ahura Mazda), supreme
huge challenge both artistically gods of Greek and Persian mythology, respec-
and logistically. tively. The next statue combines attributes of
28 JULY/AUGUST 2024
PROTECTED HEADS
In 2002 Turkish and Dutch
archaeologists placed the
heads of the colossi on stone
plinths to protect them from
humidity and frequent frosts
in winter.
STÉPHANE LEMAIRE/GTRES
This hypothetical
reconstruction of the
burial mound on Mount
Nemrut shows where The sculptural groups form a border on three
the tomb of Antiochus I sides of the mound. It’s believed the king was
is believed to be.
ANADOLU AGENCY/GETTY IMAGES buried inside it with his grave goods. The funer-
ary chamber was then covered with thousands
of stones to form an artificial peak, which has
prevented archaeologists from penetrating the
mound and reaching the funerary chamber. The
body of Antiochus I is likely in the same place as
when he was buried more than 2,000 years ago.
Mausoleum and Sanctuary

The monument to Antiochus I is unparalleled in
the history of Commagene. Antiochus’s father,
Mithridates I, was buried in Arsameia, a city
at the foot of Mount Nemrut, in a network of
tunnels carved into the rock rather than under
a mound. There are other royal tumuli in Com-
magene—in Karakuč, Üçgöz (formerly Sofraz),
and Sesönk—though they have much smaller
dimensions.
Externally, construction of Antiochus’s
monument bears more similarities to the
great tombs built by other Anatolian mon-
archs, such as those that tradition attributes
to the Phrygian king Midas, in Gordium, and
LADY AND Apollo, Mithras, Helios, and Hermes. And the the Lydian king Alyattes, in Sardis. Dating be-
PROTECTOR
last brings together the figures of the Greek tween the eighth and sixth centuries b.c., both
A colossal head
of the goddess hero Heracles, the Persian god and protector of mausoleums consist of an immense earthen
Commagene was kings Artagnes, and the Greek god of war Ares. mound covering a funerary chamber accessed
found at Nemrut These five main statues are flanked by through a long corridor.
Dağ (below). two pairs of guardian statues, an eagle and a For his own tomb, Antiochus I used a model
She was the
kingdom’s patron lion, which symbolize celestial and earthly with clear Anatolian roots. But he surpassed
deity, bringing power, the realms over which gods and hu- his predecessors in the lavish sculptural deco-
good fortune and mans exercise their dominion. In front of ration of his tomb, the unbeatable scenery of
prosperity.
ALAMY/ACI
the figures stands a large altar. On the west its mountaintop location, and its visibility.
terrace the same figures appear, although There’s no doubt that Nemrut Dağ was built
they are not as well preserved as those on for the greater glory of the king of Commagene.
the east terrace. Stelae show Antiochus In the long inscription of more than 200 lines
I shaking hands (an act called dexiosis) engraved on the back of the colossal statues,
with various Greco-Persian deities Antiochus I proclaimed:
including Zeus-Oromasdes and Apollo-
Mithras-Helios-Hermes. Each object’s I have set up these divine images of Zeus-
design and attributes illustrate the merg- Oromasdes and of Apollo-Mithras-Helios-
ing of cultures, as well as religious and Hermes and of Artagnes-Herakles-Ares,
political traditions. and also of my all-nourishing homeland
If the body of Antiochus I is still inside the

mound, it is likely untouched, since he was buried
there more than 2,000 years ago.
THE CELESTIAL LION
O
ne of the best preserved reliefs at
Nemrut Dağ is a male lion, whose
OF NEMRUT DAĞ
adornments may contain a hidden
message. Nineteen celestial bodies
arranged around it match those of the Leo con-
stellation. The lion’s breastplate may represent
the crescent moon. Immediately above it is the
star Regulus, associated with kingship. The bright,
16-point “stars” above the lion’s back are the plan-
ets Mars, Mercury, and Jupiter. These configura-
tions suggest commemoration of a specific event.
Some scholars believe it’s a planetary conjunction
that took place on July 14, 109 b.c., when Mith-
ridates I was crowned. Others suggest different
dates, such as the crowning of Mithridates’s son,
Antiochus I, or marking a point in construction
of the site.
Left: The original relief of the lion that stood on the west terrace
at Nemrut Dağ bears no traces of ancient paint. Above: A modern
interpretation of the lion shows him with vibrant polychrome
decoration. Allard Pierson Museum of Antiquities, Amsterdam
LEFT: BRIDGEMAN/ACI ABOVE: ALAMY/ACI
Greco-Persian
Inﬂuences
AT THE COMMAGENE COURT, Persians and
Greeks lived side by side. The Persians
traced their lineages back to the Achaeme-
nid conquerors in the sixth century b.c. The
Greeks descended from the community
around Alexander the Great and his heirs,
the Seleucid kings. Nemrut Dağ’s sculptur-
al design reflects the influence of both cul-
tural heritages. Although most of the gods
represented are Greek, they are dressed in
Persian style. The inscriptions are written
in Greek, but the rites they describe are
closely related to Persian religious tradi-
tion. For example, one says that the soul
of the deceased will be presented before
the throne of Zeus-Oromasdes (Ahura
Mazda), a Persian concept that appears
in the Avesta, the sacred writing of Zoro-
astrianism (the religion of Ahura Mazda).
ACHAEMENID Commagene; and from one and the same and incense on the altars. Finally, he performed
KING
quarry, throned likewise among the deities animal sacrifices, and meat was then laid out
This relief from
the west terrace
who hear our prayers, I have consecrated the for a communal banquet. Wine was served,
of Nemrut Dağ features of my own form. and musicians provided the entertainment.
depicts Xerxes I
dressed in a He even called himself Theos Dikaios Epi- Tests of Time
Persian gown and
wearing a Phrygian phanes, meaning “just god made manifest.” Nemrut Dağ stands at a crossroads where Persia
cap. The latter All of this is characteristic of the theocratic met Greece in the ancient world. Its remote loca-
was an attribute monarchies that developed in the East in the tion meant that it was not scrutinized by Greek
that Greek artists Hellenistic era. Nemrut Dağ was more like a and Latin authors.
tended to add
when depicting sacred shrine than simply a mausoleum. In But the site’s glory was rediscovered by the
East Asian figures. another part of the inscription quoted above, wider world in 1881, when German engineer
SUZUKI KAKU/ALAMY/ACI
the monument is called a hierothesion, a word Karl Sester climbed Mount Nemrut and was
that in ancient Greek designates both funerary fascinated by the beauty of the sculptures he
and cultic functions. The configuration of the found there. In the millennia following An-
site indicates that religious ceremonies took tiochus I’s reign, the site has been damaged
place there. by earthquakes and some vandalism, but the
The three paths leading to the base of the statues and the altars remain awe-inspiring.
mound would have been the processional Since the 19th century, Nemrut Dağ has be-
routes during the ceremonies, which are also come known as one of the most famous sites
detailed in the inscription. A priest, dressed of the ancient Near East, being recognized as a
according to Persian custom, officiated at these UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987.
rites. First, he touched the statues with a gold-
en crown and then, having received tribute ARCHAEOLOGIST AND WRITER ÁNGEL CARLOS PÉREZ AGUAYO IS A SPECIALIST
from the people, made offerings of perfume IN GREEK HISTORY AND MYTHOLOGY.
32 JULY/AUGUST 2024
ANTIOCHUS AND
COMMAGENE
A view of the west terrace at
Mount Nemrut has the remains
of the colossal statues in the
background. Three heads
originally from the statues
appear in the foreground: that
of an eagle, King Antiochus I,
and the goddess of
Commagene.
GETTY IMAGES
MONUMENTAL
SPLENDOR
THIS ILLUSTRATION shows what the east ter- was a terrace surrounded by reliefs repre-
race of Antiochus I’s sanctuary at Nemrut senting the king’s ancestors. In the center of
Dağ first looked like. Colossal statues stood the terrace stood a large fire altar, probably
in a row on a platform at the foot of the ar- related to the worship of Zoroastrian deity
tificial mound. Inside the mound there was Oromasdes (Ahura Mazda). Some parts of A paired lion and
likely a funerary chamber for the body of the sanctuary were never finished. eagle, placed at both
the Commagene king. In front of the statues ILLUSTRATIONS: © 2023 LEARNING SITES, INC. sides, protect the
two ends of the
podium bearing the
five seated deities.
Reconstruction of
the west terrace of the
sanctuary at Nemrut Dağ .
Reliefs show the Macedonian ancestors of

Antiochus. In front are small, block-shaped altars.
A fire altar intended for

ritual sacrifices.
Zeus-Oromasdes Heracles-Artagnes-Ares
Apollo-Mithras-Helios-Hermes
Antiochus I
Goddess of Commagene
The four stelae on this This relief of the

platform have reliefs of lion horoscope is
Antiochus shaking hands identical to the one
(dexiosis) with various gods. on the west terrace.
BENEATH
THE WAVES
SUNKEN CITIES
OF THE
ANCIENT WORLD
In recent decades, new technologies have
revolutionized underwater archaeology and
surfaced the remains of submerged coastal
cities from the ancient world.
CARLES AGUILAR
DROWNED GOD
Resting on the seafloor,
this colossal statue once
welcomed visitors to
the temple of Amun-
Gereb, erected in the fifth
century b.c. at the Nile
port of Thonis-Heracleion.
Archaeologists believe the
city was destroyed in the
second century b.c., when
the land beneath it liquefied.
CHRISTOPH GERIGK. © FRANCK GODDIO/HILTI FOUNDATION
AS
L
ATLANTIC E IA
EU ROP
ost cities sunken beneath the waves OCEAN
are not just myths. Many coastal com-

munities were swallowed up by the sea
in the ancient world—their streets, MAP AREA
homes, and temples all submerged A F R I C A
under relentless tides. Corsica
For millennia legends swirled about these
places, but their submarine statues made them
impossible to explore in the field. Starting in
the 20th century, breakthroughs in oceanog-
Sardinia
raphy and marine science opened the door to
1 Generated by an
underwater archaeology, allowing scholars to enormous earthquake, a
map sites, collect artifacts, and resurface the tsunami swept through
and destroyed this Greek
stories of these drowned cites. city-state in 373 B.C.
Some of humanity’s earliest coastal set-
tlements met their fate because of climate
change. Using geomorphological, sedimen-
tological, and paleontological data from the
seabed, scientists have established that be- 2 The sunken ruins of a
tween 30,000 and 20,000 years ago, during second-century A.D.
the last glacial maximum, sea level was some villa sit off the coast of
Epidaurus, famous for its
425 feet lower than it is today. ancient theater. TUNISIA
At the end of this period, the sea level rose
abruptly as polar ice caps melted. Many pre-
historic settlements built along the coastlines A L G E R I A
flooded and were abandoned. The Submerged
Prehistoric Archaeology and Landscapes of 3 A series of violent
earthquakes around
the Continental Shelf project has recently 1000 B.C. submerged this
counted 2,600 such submerged sites in 19 ancient Greek settlement,
the oldest sunken city in
countries—including the Cosquer cave in the Mediterranean to date.
Marseille, France, famous for its paint- 100 mi
100 km
ings. The entrance to the cave lies about
NGM MAPS Present-day boundaries and coastlines shown
100 feet deep.
On Shaky Ground so-called solid ground to shake, crumble, liq-

People may call Earth terra firma, but uefy, or even fall into the sea.
nothing could be further from the truth. Throughout history, this geological shape-
In reality, the planet is undergoing a shifting has taken whole coastal cities with
continuous process of geological shift- it, leaving their human-built infrastructure
ing, a constant transformation brought submerged. In the past, people looked for re-
about by natural destruction ligious explanations, usually as some sort of
and regeneration. As divine punishment. From the Epic of Gilgamesh
the tectonic plates to Noah’s ark, stories from many civilizations
move, earthquakes, feature a great flood set loose by a powerful
volcanoes, tsunamis, deity. Today, people look to science for expla-
and other seismic phe- nations behind these natural events that left
nomena can cause the whole cities underwater.
Seismic activity has repeatedly led to the dis-
appearance of coastal areas and entire cities.
Neilos, god of the Nile. This bust
dates from 200 to 100 B.C. and was Violent earthquakes or resulting tsunamis can
recovered from Canopus, Egypt. wipe an entire city off the face of the Earth, as
CHRISTOPH GERIGK © FRANCK GODDIO/HILTI FOUNDATION
happened to the Greek city of Helike in 373 b.c. Throughout history, these natural processes LOST CITIES
More than seven centuries later, an earthquake have affected many coastal populations, caus- The map above
with its epicenter in Crete—believed to be the ing them to disappear either completely or in shows the key
underwater sites
largest earthquake ever recorded in the Medi- part. Because their ruins are underwater, ar-
from antiquity that
terranean—had an enormous impact on coastal chaeologists had not been able to study them archaeologists have
populations in a.d. 365. The quake’s magnitude in depth until the last century. The Mediter- been able to locate
is estimated to have been 8.3, and it generated ranean Basin, including the Black Sea, con- and investigate in
numerous tsunamis across the Mediterranean, tains numerous sites beneath its waves. These the Mediterranean
and Black Seas.
devastating port cities like Alexandria (in Egypt) sunken sites are now the “hunting grounds”
and Apollonia (in modern Libya). for today’s underwater archaeologists using
More common than these dramatic earth- the latest technologies—SONAR, robotics,
shaking episodes is subsidence, the progressive 3D scanning, and underwater cameras. This
sinking of the Earth’s crust as a result of con- article presents five submerged cities from the
tinuous seismic or volcanic activity over time. ancient world that are being brought to light.
Subsidence allows the sea to advance inland
until it eventually swallows up any buildings or CARLES AGUILAR IS AN UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGIST
settlements in its way. BASED IN BARCELONA, SPAIN.

UNDERWATER STREET MAP
This digitally enhanced image shows the outline of
buildings and streets in the Mycenaean city of Pavlopetri.
The lines of two parallel main streets and a shorter,
perpendicular one are visible.
BBC BROADCAST ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES
Pavlopetri
The Oldest Sunken City
LOCATED IN THE SOUTHERN Peloponnesian with a few students to examine the location
peninsula, Pavlopetri (the modern name of the and map the site. The team identified some 15
site) emerged as a Neolithic settlement around buildings, courtyards, a network of streets, and
3500 b.c. and became an important trading two chamber tombs. Despite the exciting initial
center for Mycenaean Greece (1650-1180 b.c.). finds, the site would lie undisturbed for decades
This area of the Aegean Sea is prone to before archaeologists would return.
earthquakes and tsunamis, which caused the
city to gradually sink. The buildings closest to the IN 2009 archaeologists Chrysanthi Gallou and Jon STRONG
coast were battered by sea storms and tsunamis, Henderson resumed the excavation of Pavlopetri FOUNDATIONS
and the slow sea level rise in the Mediterranean in cooperation with the Greek Ministry of Culture. Discovered in
1967 by British
submerged the city more than 3,000 years ago. Since the 1960s, underwater archaeology
oceanographer
techniques and tools had made huge advances. Nicholas Flemming,
FOR MILLENNIA, THE CITY’S REMAINS lay unseen The team employed robotics, sonar mapping, Pavlopetri’s ruins
below some 13 feet of water. They were covered and state-of-the-art graphics to survey the site. (right) lie off the
by a thick layer of sand off the island of Laconia. From 2009 to 2013 they were able to bring the coast of Laconia in
In recent decades, shifting currents and climate underwater town to light. Covering about two southern Greece.
Its submerged
change have eroded a natural barrier that and a half acres, Pavlopetri’s three main roads
structures featured
protected Pavlopetri. In 1967 a scientific survey connected some 50 rectangular buildings, all of stone foundations
of the Peloponnesian coast was gathering data which had open courtyards. Excavations revealed that have lasted for
to analyze changes in sea levels when British a large number of Minoan-style loom weights, thousands of years
oceanographer Nicholas Flemming first spotted suggesting Pavlopetri was a thriving trade center under the sea.
BOTH IMAGES: NIKOS PAVLAKIS/
the submerged structures. A year later, he returned with a robust textile industry. ALAMY/ACI
40 JULY/AUGUST 2024
Imagining
Ancient Pavlopetri
This re-creation of Pavlopetri in the Bronze Age is based on archaeological remains.
PAVLOPETRI LIES UNDER SOME 13 feet of water,

complicating excavations. Limited visibility and
variable conditions caused archaeologists to
turn to technology in 2009, when they returned
1 Remaining ruins
Today all that
remains of Pavlope-
to the site. A prototype autonomous robot tri’s buildings are the
equipped with GPS and two separate cameras stone foundations.
was used to observe the ruins. Structures could
be photographed from two different angles.
Taking three snapshots per second, it generated
thousands of high-resolution stereoscopic pho-
tographs. When they were digitally assembled,
an accurate picture of the whole location was
revealed. With guidance from the archaeolo-
gists, visual effects technicians used the images
to re-create what Pavlopetri may have looked
like during its heyday as a trading hub in the
Mediterranean.
ALL PHOTOS BBC BROADCAST ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES
2 Support system
Archaeologists
used clues gathered
from the site to piece
together what it might
have looked like thou-
sands of years ago.
Broken fragments of
pottery indicated that
this multi-chambered
building was used to
store commodities.
3 Walls
The building’s stone
walls were supported
by a wooden framework
and then covered with
plaster or clay. This
building technique gave
the home the flexibility
it needed to endure
earthquakes and seismic
disturbances to which
the area is prone.
4 Multiple stories
Based on depic-
tions of other contem-
porary buildings in a
fresco at the Minoan
city of Akrotíri, archaeol-
ogists believe that many
buildings at Pavlopetri
could have stood two or
three stories high and
featured multiple rooms
with different uses.
Phanagoria
Beneath the
Black Sea
AROUND 540 b.c. Ionian Greeks fleeing from the
Persian Empire founded a city on the shores of the
Black Sea, on the Taman Peninsula near the modern
Russian city of Krasnodar. It was called Phanagoria,
after one of the settlers, and the city grew wealthy
and prosperous from the maritime trade that
flowed through it. In the fourth century b.c.
it became part of the Bosporan Kingdom, a
Greco-Scythian state that ruled much of the
surrounding territory. Phanagoria gained prestige
and eventually became the kingdom’s eastern
capital. The area came under Roman control, but
Phanagoria continued to prosper.
DURING THE FIRST millennium a.d. Phanagoria’s

fortunes began to shift. Significant seismic activity
in the area and volcanic eruptions of mud caused
the seabed and the land under the city itself to
weaken and sink. Part of the city was flooded
as waters from the Black Sea swept in. What
remained of the city was battered by invasions,
and its importance in the region began to fade.
PHANAGORIA’S RUINS were identified in the 1800s,

A submerged building provided
but only areas on dry land could be explored. a wealth of data that enabled
Then, in the 1950s, breakthroughs in archaeologists to make a time line
underwater technology helped confirm of its use and various repairs made
that roughly 60 unexplored acres of to it. Materials recycled from public
the ancient city were underwater. buildings, such as this marble head,
As technology has improved, so were used in its construction.
have the findings at Phanagoria.
In 2004 the remains of a large
coastal structure, perhaps a
lighthouse or watchtower, were
found and dated to the third and
fourth centuries a.d. In 2012
archaeologists were able to
identify part of the city’s port.
They also discovered a small
first-century b.c. warship,
still in an excellent state of
THREE PHOTOS: SERGEY OLKHOVSKIY
preservation.
A bronze statuette found in Phanagoria

depicts a deity identified as a
combination of Zeus and Asclepius.
Second century A.D., Volnoe Delo
Foundation, Russia
OLEG DERIPASKA VOLNOE DELO FOUNDATION
GETTING WET
The excavations at Phanagoria, direct-
ed by Vladimir Kuznetsov at the Institute
of Archaeology of the Russian Academy
of Sciences, gained momentum in 2004
thanks to the patronage of the Volnoe Delo
Foundation. The discovery of the base of a
statue of Sauromates II, king of Bosporus,
prompted the initial excavation area to be
expanded and resulted in an increased focus
on the submerged parts of the city. A team
of underwater archaeologists, led by Sergey
V. Olkhovskiy of the Center for Underwater
Archaeological Heritage at the Institute of
Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sci-
ences, was brought in to guide the way.
SPUTNIK IMAGES
Among the rubble, archaeologists found The archaeological survey

elaborate tombstones such as the one of Phanagoria consisted
below. They found another one belonging of mapping the structures,
to a princess named Hypsicrates (also clearing away sediment,
spelled Hypsicratea), who died during the and thoroughly recording
Phanagorians’ revolt against her husband, the site using advanced 3D
Mithridates VI Eupator, in 63 b.c. photography.
Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus
Egypt’s Lost Seaports
TWO OF ANCIENT EGYPT’S most important ports than two decades of archaeological research there
were drowned by the waters of Aboukir Bay some have revealed many of the city’s secrets. Navigable
1,200 years ago. Scholars believe that both Thonis- canals, minor temples, the remains of numerous
Heracleion and Canopus, located in the Nile Delta, vessels, and hundreds of stone anchors confirm
fell victim to a combination of rising sea levels and that this port was once a busy trading center for
chronic seismic activity that led to the liquefaction Greek merchants.
of the ground beneath them.
CANOPUS was an important spiritual center in Ptole-
THONIS-HERACLEION was one of Egypt’s most im- maic Egypt and home to a monumental temple for
portant port cities. It was a trading hub and a Serapis, a syncretic deity who blended traits from
gateway for goods from all over the Mediterra- Greek and Egyptian gods. The city attracted pil-
nean. Documented since the eighth century b.c., grims from all over the ancient world who came to
Thonis-Heracleion went into decline as Alexandria Canopus to worship at the temple. In 1933 Egyptian
rose to importance in 331 b.c. In 2000 underwater scholar Prince Omar Toussoun conducted the first
archaeologist Franck Goddio and the European archaeological study of the site thanks to indica-
Institute for Underwater Archaeology located tions from fishermen and an English aviator. In 1999
its ruins, including the famous temple of Amun- Goddio’s team, who had been surveying the waters
Gereb, with its outer walls and three colossal stat- of Aboukir Bay, located the site and were able to
ues standing over 16 feet high at its entrance. More confirm its identity as the lost city of Canopus.
This Doric column belonged to a circular Greek temple, or tholos,

erected in the fourth century B.C. at Thonis-Heracleion, an ancient
port at the mouth of the Nile. CHRISTOPH GERIGK © FRANCK GODDIO/HILTI FOUNDATION
RISING TO THE CHALLENGE
After collecting and analyzing the known his-
tory of Thonis-Heracleion through ancient
texts and numerous surveys, underwater ar-
chaeologist Franck Goddio took up the chal-
lenge of trying to locate the city’s submerged
ruins. To pinpoint the site, he and his team
used cutting-edge underwater geophysical
prospecting equipment to scout an area of
almost 60 square miles with very poor visi-
bility. The project was carried out by a multi-
disciplinary team from the European Institute
for Underwater Archaeology, in collaboration
with the Supreme Council of Antiquities in
Egypt and the University of Oxford, and was
sponsored by the Hilti Foundation.
GOLDEN SUNKEN TREASURE is typically found in fiction,
but gold was found in abundance at both Thonis-
TREASURES Heracleion and Canopus. Its presence points to the

religious significance of the cities. Gold was often
OF THE DELTA employed as votive offerings to the gods. In Thonis-

Heracleion, many of these were found near the
Amun-Gereb temple, where every year the god
Archaeologists were surprised by the large Osiris was brought to his sanctuary in Canopus.
amounts of gold found at Thonis-Heracleion This annual rite spiritually linked the two cities.
and Canopus. The abundance of coins, jewelry, THESE GOLDEN ARTIFACTS also provide valuable
and gifts to the gods revealed how wealthy information to help archaeologists date sites. A
these cities were before they sank. golden plaque from Thonis-Heracleion was found
Ptolemy III
Was Here
Discovered in 2003,
this gold plaque from
Thonis-Heracleion
was once buried
under a gymnasium
built in the third
century b.c. It bears
the name of Ptolemy
III, the pharaoh
who oversaw
the building’s
construction.
Graeco-Roman
Museum, Alexandria
with an ancient Greek inscription that says: “King across a period of 1,200 years—from the time of
Ptolemy, [son] of Ptolemy and Arsinoe, the sibling Alexander the Great through the Roman era and
gods, gives this gymnasterium to Heracles.” This into the Byzantine period. Examining distribution
plaque commemorated a gymnasium dedicated to patterns over time has revealed insights into when
the god Heracles that was built during the reign of the city began to decline. Lower concentrations of
Ptolemy III (r. 246-222 b.c.). The gym is long gone, coins often indicate decreased economic activity,
but the golden message remains as a valuable ar- and the data from Thonis-Heracleion reveals such
chaeological clue. an event happened around the 160s b.c.; the city
never fully recovered.
FOLLOWING THE MONEY is vital when studying sites
like Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus, as gold and Dating to the Byzantine and Islamic periods, golden coins shine on
silver coins give insight into trade and occupation the seabed at the Canopus site.
patterns. Coinage found at Thonis-Heracleion dates ALL IMAGES ON THIS PAGE: CHRISTOPH GERIGK. © FRANCK GODDIO/HILTI FOUNDATION
Old Flame
A ring from Canopus features a
miniature oil lamp. Sixth to
eighth centuries a.d., Bibliotheca
Alexandrina, Alexandria
God’s Eye
A gold amulet from Thonis-Heracleion depicts the
wedjat, the eye of falcon god Horus, son of Osiris.
332–30 b.c., National Museum, Alexandria
HANDLE WITH CARE
An Italian team led by underwater archae-
ologist Barbara Davidde carried out three
mapping and 3D photogrammetry cam-
paigns between 2017 and 2019 at the villa.
A full archaeological excavation has yet to
be carried out at the site, leaving many ques-
tions unanswered. Visitors can freely access
the site and swim among the ruins. Scholars
fear that visitors’ curiosity could damage the
site and jeopardize the integrity of this sub-
merged historical treasure.
Epidaurus
A Home by the Sea
KNOWN WORLDWIDE for its magnificent theater, in the area and a general rise in sea level. In 1967
the Greek city of Epidaurus was one of the most oceanographer Nicholas Flemming documented
important trading ports on the Argolid peninsula. several submerged structures in the bay of Agios
In Roman times, various maritime villas were built Vlasios. In 1971 the archaeologist Charalambos B.
along the coast here, taking advantage of the fertile Kritzas identified what was known to the locals as
land and easy access to the sea. Located outside the submerged city, which has turned out to be the
the cities, these estates were dedicated to agri- remnants of a coastal Roman villa.
culture and the production of wine, oil, and garum,
the fish sauce so highly prized by the Romans. The SITTING JUST 150 FEET from the coast and at only 6.5
residents were hardworking, but their estates had feet deep, the villa’s ruins consist of three spaces.
a comfortable, even luxurious, domestic area that One of them was a large storeroom and contains
included baths and places for entertaining and pieces of some 20 dolia—huge clay containers that
recreation. In the fifth century a.d., a little more were used to store and sometimes ferment large
than a century after its construction, one of these quantities of wine. Another space seems to have
villas was flooded by waters from the bay of Agios housed a winepress, and a third space may have
Vlasios after greater than normal seismic activity been the baths.
Ruins of a Roman villa lie beneath the waters near Epidaurus.
SHUTTERSTOCK
GERMANICUS
DEATH OF ROME’S GOLDEN BOY
Young, talented, and beloved, Germanicus was

poised to be the next emperor of Rome. When he
died unexpectedly, the empire mourned—and
whispers of murder soon followed.
JUAN MANUEL CORTÉS COPETE
OVERSHADOWED
An aureus coin from Lyon, France, depicts
Germanicus’s adoptive father, Emperor Tiberius
(reigned a.d. 14 to 37). Some historians suspect
Tiberius had a hand in Germanicus’s sudden death.
PENTA SPRINGS LIMITED/ALAMY/ACI
HEIR APPARENT
Germanicus excelled in his military
campaigns, and the people of Rome
considered him a hero. This bust
represents the young Germanicus.
Louvre Museum, Paris
HERVÉ LEWANDOWSKI/RMN-GRAND PALAIS
After Germanicus’s success in Germania, Tiberius granted his adopted
son a triumph in Rome. This first-century A.D. silver scyphus (left)
shows Tiberius in a chariot during his own triumph, with an ivory
scepter and laurel branch. Boscoreale treasure, Louvre Museum, Paris
HERVÉ LEWANDOWSKI/RMN-GRAND PALAIS
In a.d. 14 Augustus died, and Tiberius be-

came Rome’s next emperor. Some believed,
perhaps in bad faith, that Germanicus’s tal-
ents were overshadowing Tiberius, a diligent
man who lacked his adopted son’s charisma.
With rumors of Tiberius’s envy and a plethora
of political enemies around him, Germanicus
had a number of potential rivals who might
have wished him dead. When he died at age
34, many believed that the cause was murder.
War Hero
It was assumed that Germanicus would one day
rule the empire and should be trained for the
role. When Tiberius became emperor, he com-
missioned Germanicus to reestablish Roman
influence east of the Rhine River after the Ger-
manic tribes defeated the Roman legions in the
Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in a.d. 9.
The young Germanicus, who was at this
ermanicus was not supposed to time consul in Gaul, crossed the Rhine and in-
die young. The great-nephew of vaded Germania with the support of eight loyal
Emperor Augustus was sup- legions. He finally achieved victory at the Bat-
posed to become the next ruler tle of Idistaviso, near the Weser River, in a.d.
of Rome. But at the peak of his 16. Tiberius granted Germanicus a triumph
political career, Rome’s golden boy suddenly and asked him to return to Rome. First- and
and mysteriously died. second-century a.d. historian Tacitus de-
Germanicus was handsome, gifted with so- scribed how Tiberius praised his adopted son:
cial graces, and a charismatic leader on the
battlefield. Emperor Augustus arranged for his The commotion in the East could only be
heir, Tiberius, to formally adopt Germanicus settled by the wisdom of Germanicus: for his
at age 19, giving a tacit indi- own years were trending to their autumn, and
cation that Germanicus, those of Drusus were as yet scarcely mature.
not Tiberius’s son
Drusus, should be Despite malicious rumors about the emper-
the next emperor. or’s envy of Germanicus’s military successes,
LIVING 15 b.c.
Nero Claudius Drusus,
a.d. 4
Germanicus is adopted
TO SERVE later known as
Germanicus, is born to
by his uncle Tiberius and
becomes part of the gens
ROME Drusus the Elder and
Antonia the Younger.
Julia clan, a powerful
patrician family.
Antonia the Younger, mother of Germanicus, in a first-century A.D. bust

Louvre Museum, Paris
RMN-GRAN PALAIS
TEUTOBURG ROUT
Germanicus orders the
recovery of the remains
of Roman soldiers and
the banners of legions
destroyed by Arminius and
his men in the Teutoburg
Forest, to give them a
dignified burial. Lionel
Royer, 19th century, Musée
de Tesse, Le Mans, France
BRIDGEMAN/ACI
a.d. 7-11 a.d. 14 a.d. 17 a.d. 19

Germanicus serves Augustus dies and Germanicus is granted Germanicus dies at
as commander under is succeeded by his imperium maius Antioch. Piso, governor
Tiberius in Pannonia, a stepson Tiberius. (supreme power) over of Syria, is accused
Roman province along Germanicus stops a the provinces of the east, of poisoning him and
the Danube. rebellion on the Rhine. where he is based. commits suicide.

HOUSE OF ATIA GAIUS OCTAVIUS
CAESAR MARK
ANTONY
OCTAVIA AUGUSTUS (OCTAVIAN)
(R: 27 B . C .- A . D . 14)
LIVIA
DRUSILLA
TIBERIUS
CLAUDIUS
NERO
THE ASSASSINATION of Julius Caesar in

MARCUS
44 b.c. was an attempt to save the repub- VISPANIUS JULIA TIBERIUS VIPSANIA
THE ELDER (R: A.D. 14-37) AGRIPPINA
lic, but it had unintended consequences AGRIPPA
DRUSUS
when Octavian rose to become the THE YOUNGER
king-like figure the assassins had feared.
Ruling as Augustus, he began the Julio-
ANTONIA ANTONIA DRUSUS
Claudian line of rulers. Augustus’s only THE ELDER THE YOUNGER THE ELDER
biological child, Julia the Elder, continued
the Julian line, while Augustus’s wife, GAIUS JULIA LUCIUS AGRIPPA
THE YOUNGER POSTUMUS
Livia (whose first husband was Tiberius
Claudius Nero), spawned the Claudian
AGRIPPINA GERMANICUS LIVILLA
line. At various stages, both lines inter- THE ELDER (15 B . C . - A . D . 19)
married and produced a succession of
emperors. Germanicus was born to An-
tonia the Younger, of the Julian line, and NERO DRUSUS JULIA JULIA
Drusus the Elder, of the Claudian line. CAESAR CAESAR CALIGULA DRUSILA LIVILLA
He was also great-nephew of Emperor ( R : A.D. 3 7 - 4 1 )
Augustus; nephew of Emperor Tiberius; GNAEUS AGRIPPINA CLAUDIUS

DOMITIUS THE YOUNGER (R : A . D . 41-54)
father of Emperor Caligula; brother of AHENOBARBUS
Emperor Claudius; and grandfather of
NERO
Emperor Nero. ( R : A.D. 5 4 - 6 8 )
ILLUSTRIOUS Tiberius gave him special mandate to sort out Agrippina. In the Annals, Tacitus writes, “The
BLOODLINES affairs in the Greek east in a.d. 17. Knowing and belief has been held that he did in fact receive
Agrippina the governing these provinces was an indispensable private instructions from Tiberius; and Plan-
Elder (below) was
step in the training of future emperors. cina, beyond question, had advice from the ex-
Germanicus’s wife
and Augustus’s But Tiberius made a decision not understood empress, bent with feminine jealousy upon
granddaughter. by some. In addition to granting Germanicus persecuting Agrippina.”
First-century a.d. supreme command of the east, Tiberius ap-
bust, National
Archaeological pointed statesman Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso as Foreboding Future
Museum, Naples governor of Syria. The province of Syria was Germanicus’s journey to the east was, in many
ALBUM influential because the legions protecting the ways, a consolidation of power. First he arrived
dangerous frontier facing the Parthian Empire, at Nicopolis, the city built by Augustus near Ac-
Rome’s main enemy at the time, were stationed tium. Germanicus traveled to Athens from Ac-
in the Syrian capital of Antioch. tium. This was a happy and festive visit, where
Piso, a Roman senator of ancient lineage, had his whole family was received with great hon-
a reputation for being severe, and it seems that ors. But the road to the east had its tribulations,
Germanicus was opposed to his appoint- too. When Germanicus arrived in the province
ment. Rumors abounded; critics said that of Asia, he visited the famous oracle at Claros
Emperor Tiberius had appointed Piso at near Colophon, where the priests transmitted
the instigation of his own mother, Empress the will of Apollo through verse. To everyone’s
Livia, with the intention of secretly control- surprise, the oracle did not have a favorable mes-
ling Germanicus. Piso was accompanied in sage for Germanicus. In fact, the priest foretold
Syria by his wife, Plancina, a close friend of his premature death.
Livia, and charged, according to ancient histo- Germanicus carried out his duties in the
rians, with waging a campaign of hostility and east effectively. He saw the new king of Arme-
intimidation against Germanicus and his wife, nia crowned and built diplomatic relations with
PARTHIAN SPLENDOR
Built in the third century a.d.,
the arch known in Arabic as
the Taq Kasra dominated the
Sassanian capital of Ctesiphon
(near Baghdad, Iraq). Before
the Sassanians, Ctesiphon had
been the Parthian capital. Part of
Germanicus’s brief in being sent
east was to assess the Parthian
danger on Rome’s eastern border.
SCALA, FLORENCE
Agrippina and her children
surround Germanicus on his relationship between Tiberius and Germanicus
deathbed in Gérard de Lairesse’s worsened, and the two grew estranged. When
17th-century painting. Hessian
State Museum, Kassel, Germany Germanicus returned from Egypt to Antioch in
BPK/SCALA, FLORENCE
Syria, his enmity with Piso was already com-
mon knowledge.
Then Germanicus suddenly fell ill. In antiq-
uity, identifying the cause of any illness was
tricky. It wasn’t easy to accept that a 34-year-
old man destined for the highest responsibili-
ties could fall seriously ill with no warning or
clear cause. Looking for other reasons, friends
and relatives believed Piso, Germanicus’s great
enemy, had led a conspiracy against him. Ger-
manicus himself agreed.
Soon those close to Germanicus claimed to
have found evidence in the palace that the gen-
eral was being subjected to malicious magical
practices. They claimed to have found charred
remains of human bodies, accompanied by in-
cantations and curses. Curse tablets were thin
sheets of lead inscribed with magic spells.
Found among the curse tablets was one bear-
ing the name “Germanicus,” surrounded by
magical invocations to the gods of the under-
world. Germanicus’s supporters set out to find
the culprit. It was assumed Piso had commis-
sioned them. Piso’s wife, Plancina, employed
WARDING Parthia and its satellite kingdoms. In Piso’s eyes, a woman who was said to be notorious for her
OFF EVIL Germanicus’s friendly diplomacy was weaken- poisons and evil arts, which only added to their
This Roman ing Rome’s position. Piso began a smear cam- suspicions. Circumstantial evidence against
apotropaic hand
with a sacred paign against Germanicus, while corrupting the Piso was stacking up.
symbol was one legions by buying their support to turn them Aware of Germanicus’s accusations, Piso de-
type of amulet that against Germanicus. The relationship between cided to leave Syria for Rome. While en route,
Romans used to
protect themselves
the two men worsened when the latter decided news reached him that Germanicus was mak-
from curses and to visit Egypt. ing a recovery. When the same news reached
spells. San Martino Rome, it was received with widespread joy. A
Museum, Naples Lauded in Egypt crowd armed with torches rushed to the streets
ORONOZ/ALBUM
According to a papyrus found in Oxyrhynchus, in the middle of the night, carrying animals for
Egypt, when Germanicus arrived in Alexandria, sacrifice and shouting: “Salva Roma, salva pa-
the locals welcomed him with an outpouring of tria, salvus est Germanicus—Rome is safe, the
enthusiasm. They would shout out their sup- fatherland is safe, Germanicus is safe.” Their
port during his public appearances. Perhaps mood was short-lived.
encouraged by this reception, Germanicus tried Soon after, Germanicus died in Antioch. Be-
to alleviate a grain shortage in the province by fore he passed, Germanicus openly accused both
opening the imperial granaries, the main Piso and Plancina of his murder. Tacitus’s Annals
source of wheat for the city of Rome. describes Germanicus on his deathbed saying,
Wheat supplies to the empire’s capital “Now in fact I am separated from you by the
were impacted, generating a fear of food wickedness of Piso and Plancina, his wife, and I
shortages. leave my prayers in your hearts.”
Germanicus’s oversight was making Ti- Doctors carefully inspected his body for evi-
berius uneasy. And the feeling was com- dence of poison but found none. In Antioch, his
pounded by Piso’s negative reports. The funeral was a simple affair, but Tacitus relays
GREAT CITY OF ANTIOCH
This drawing is a re-
creation of Antioch
(today’s Antakya, Turkey).
It shows what the capital
of the Roman province of
Syria must have looked like
when Germanicus traveled
there with his entire family.
JEAN-CLAUDE GOLVIN. MUSÉE DÉPARTEMENTAL ARLES
ANTIQUE. © ÉDITIONS ERRANCE
THE SENATE OF ROME VS.
A bronze tablet records the Roman Senate’s condemnation of Piso.
THE SENTENCE
THE C ON D EM NATI ON O F PIS O The title of the bronze reads: “Decree
of the Senate Concerning the Elder Cn.
In the 1980s and 1990s, several bronze inscriptions related to the
Piso, put up for view when N. Vibius
death of Germanicus were discovered in the province of Seville,
Serenus was proconsul.” Vibius Serenus
in southern Spain, including those documenting the posthumous
was governor of Baetica (a Roman
punishments meted out to Piso. Above is a bronze tablet that records province in Hispania) and published the
the sentence handed down by the Senate. Senate’s ruling in Córdoba. The bronze
MANUEL CAMACHO MORENO. © JUNTA DE ANDALUCÍA. CONSEJERÍA DE CULTURA Y PATRIMONIO HISTÓRICO is one of the many copies of Piso’s
condemnation distributed in Rome.
60 JULY/AUGUST 2024
GOVERNOR PISO
SAVING THE STATE BETRAYAL UNREST

“The Roman Senate and people gave “The singular moderation and tolerance Piso “tried to provoke a civil war”
thanks, above all, to the immortal of Germanicus Caesar had been and he was seen to possess a unique
gods, because they did not allow the defeated by the brutal behavior of cruelty, which led to many people’s
tranquility of the current state of the [Gnaeus Piso] and that, therefore, summary executions without a sentence
Republic to be disturbed by the criminal Germanicus Caesar, already dying, from the Senate. He executed “not
designs of [Gnaeus Piso], when it whose death he himself testified that the only foreigners, but he even crucified
could not be better desired and whose cause was [Gnaeus Piso], not without a centurion, a Roman citizen; [he]
enjoyment it happens for the benefit of reason had he renounced his friendship corrupted military discipline,” excused
our prince.” with him.” disobedient soldiers, and misused funds.

POSTHUMOUS
Plorem ipsum
itect and
brother of
HONORS
Khufu. Bust
found in his AFTER GERMANICUS’S DEATH, the Senate
tomb. Museum approved a decree by which extraor-
of Fine Arts,
Boston. dinary honors were bestowed on the
LOREM IPSUM E deceased general. The decree was pub-
lished in the cities of Italy and in all the
Roman colonies of the provinces. Ger-
manicus’s name was included in the
hymn of the Salii (priests of the patrician
class who processed through Rome twice
a year). The curule seat that he had occu-
pied as a high dignitary of the state would
remain empty, and an effigy of Germani-
cus would preside over the games in the
circus. Triumphal arches were erected
in Germania and Syria, and a ceno-
taph built in Antioch—places where
Germanicus had carried out political
and military missions. A bronze fragment
known as Tabula Siarensis, found in Utrera,
Seville, in 1984, is a copy of the decree
that awarded him posthumous honors.
FAMILY PLOT that mourners offered “recollections of his vir- but he committed suicide before the punish-
Germanicus’s tues. There were those who … compared his de- ment could be carried out. After Piso’s death,
ashes were cease with that of Alexander the Great.” the Senate imposed six posthumous penal-
deposited in
Augustus’s vast, ties against him, including forbidding public
circular family Piso on Trial mourning, removal of portraits and statues, and
mausoleum Germanicus’s body was cremated, and the ashes confiscation of his property.
in Rome.
First-century
were given to his widow to be returned to Rome. Despite Piso’s conviction, debate over Ger-
geographer Accompanied by her children, the grieving manicus’s death persists today. Scholars do be-
Strabo described Agrippina used this journey to both honor her lieve he may have died of natural causes, but
it as “a great late husband and to call out those she believed no definitive proof exists. If Germanicus was
mound on a lofty
foundation of were responsible for his death. When she arrived murdered, Piso remains the lead suspect, but
white marble.” on Italy’s southern coast at Brindisi, Agrippina Tiberius has also come under suspicion. Late
ADAM EASTLAND/ALAMY/ACI was welcomed with great outpourings of public in the emperor’s reign, he began to target his
grief. Tiberius, however, was markedly absent political opponents—including Agrippina and
and had only allowed modest ceremonies for two of Germanicus’s sons. But to complicate
Germanicus to be held in Rome. matters for future historians, Tiberius adopt-
Unsettled by the populace’s mourning, Ti- ed Germanicus’s surviving son, Gaius Julius
berius turned attention to Piso, who had re- Caesar Germanicus, who would become the
turned to Syria after Germanicus’s death. Piso next emperor. History knows him better
would be put on trial before the Senate. The as Caligula.
Senate’s verdict was conclusive: Piso, governor
JUAN MANUEL CORTÉS COPETE IS PROFESSOR OF ROMAN HISTORY
of Syria, was convicted of killing Germanicus, AT THE PABLO DE OLAVIDE UNIVERSITY, SEVILLE, SPAIN.
insubordination, and having provoked the civil Learn more

war in Syria that broke out after Germanicus
In the Name of Rome: The Men Who Won the Roman Empire
died. The governor was condemned to death, Adrian Goldsworthy, Yale University Press, 2016
62 JULY/AUGUST 2024
ARCH OF GERMANICUS
A wealthy citizen from the Gallo-
Roman town Mediolanum Santonum
(present-day Saintes, in western
France) had this arch erected in
honor of Germanicus shortly before
Germanicus’s death.
BERTRAND RIEGER/GTRES
Agrippina disembarks at Brindisi with
her children, carrying the urn containing
the ashes of her husband, Germanicus,
in this 18th-century painting by Gavin
Hamilton. Tate Britain, London
TATE BRITAIN, LONDON/SCALA, FLORENCE
THE ASHES OF
GERMANICUS
ROMAN HISTORIAN TACITUS described the scene when
Agrippina, “wild with grief,” arrived at the port of Brindisi
with the ashes of her husband and accompanied by her
six children—Nero, Drusus, Gaius (the future emperor
Caligula), Agrippina the Younger, Julia Drusilla, and the
little Julia Livilla. “Not only the harbour and the adjacent
shores, but the city walls too and the roofs and every
place which commanded the most distant prospect
were filled with crowds of mourners, who incessantly
asked one another, whether, when she landed, they
were to receive her in silence or with some utterance of
emotion ... When Agrippina descended from the vessel
with her two children, clasping the funeral urn, with
eyes riveted to the earth, there was one universal groan.
You could not distinguish kinsfolk from strangers, or the
laments of men from those of women” (Annals, Book III, I).
SIGNS OF VICTORY
After defeating a European
coalition at the Battle of Liegnitz
(in modern Poland) in 1241, the
Mongol armies paraded around
the city with the severed head
of the defeated Henry II of
Silesia. Freytag’s Hedwig Codex,
manuscript 1451, Wrocław
University Library
WHA/ALBUM
MONGOLS
CONQUEST OF THE WEST
In 1236 the great khan Ögödei launched a

major offensive against Europe—crushing
Kyivan Rus, Poland, and Hungary with
his fearsome horsemen and their brilliant
military strategies.
ANTONIO GARCÍA ESPADA
STEPPE LIFE istory remembers Genghis Khan in Genghis Khan’s empire continued to spread
Several yurts, two distinct ways: a ruthless con- across Asia, sweeping away preexisting states.
traditional tents queror and founder of the largest In the east, the Mongols destroyed the king-
used by Mongol
nomads, dot contiguous empire to ever exist. In doms of the Jurchen and the Tangut in modern-
a Mongolian 1206 Genghis Khan achieved what day China, while to the west they crushed the
landscape. many other conquerors could not by bringing Khitan and the Khora-sa-nians of Transoxa-
TUUL & BRUNO MORANDI/FOTOTECA 9X12
all the Turco-Altaic peoples of the Mongolian nia in Central Asia. The latter had defied the
Plateau under his authority. Subduing these Mongols by providing refuge for traitors and
people, known as “those who live in felt tents,” nomads fleeing their forces.
was only the beginning. The first great khan In 1223 the Mongols planned to conquer
of the Mongol Empire was a military genius the Turkic herdsmen of the far western plains
who drove his armies to expand territory, adapt north of the Caspian Sea and the Black
rapidly, and fight with endurance. Sea. Genghis Khan relocated two of
1236 1240
MONGOLS
The great khan The Mongols, led by Batu
Ögödei musters an Khan and Subutai, take
ATTACK
army of 100,000 men Kyivan Rus. The Cuman
to subdue the Cuman leader escapes and
people and their enlists the help
allies in Kyivan of Béla IV of
Rus. Hungary.
Ögödei, Genghis Khan’s son
and successor (National Palace
68 JULY/AUGUST 2024 Museum, Taipei, Taiwan)
ALBUM
his best generals, Jebe and Subutai, from Persia, to meet the Slav-Cumanian army with 2,000 A BRIDGE
which he was in the final stages of conquering, poorly equipped horsemen under orders to feign TOO FAR
to the Eurasian steppe. There Jebe and Subutai panic and flee. The ruse fooled the defending Hungarian cavalry
(below) vainly
led 20,000 soldiers against the last remaining forces, who rode for nine days in close pursuit attempt to repel a
nomadic herders, the Cuman-Kipchak. of the “panicked” Mongols. When they reached Mongol attack on a
As soon as he heard of the imminent Mongol the Kalka River, near present-day Mariupol in bridge over the Sajó
attack, Köten, the leader of the Cumans, asked Ukraine, Jebe and the rest of the Mongol army River at the Battle of
Mohi on April 11,
for help from Kyivan Rus, a vast East Slavic state were waiting for the Slav-Cumanian army and 1241. Miniature
formed at the end of the 10th century around its crushed them. This was the first Mongol victory from a 13th-century
capital, Kyiv. The Slavs and Cumans assembled on European soil. French manuscript.
ALBUM
a combined army of 80,000 men.
The Mongols, seeing they were outnum- Postponed Plans
bered, gambled on deception. Subutai marched The incursion into Europe was, however, an
1241 1242
Mongol troops win two After leading their forces
decisive victories in to Vienna, the Mongol
two days at Liegnitz, generals suddenly halt
in modern-day Poland, and retreat, bringing
and Mohi, Hungary, the Mongol conquest
annihilating the of Europe to an
Hungarian coalition. abrupt end.
Expansion of the Mongol Empire
The Mongols’ battle tactics and successful
military strategy enabled the continuous
growth of the empire. Eventual disputes over
succession caused the empire to split into
khanates ruled by the sons and grandsons of
Genghis Khan.
Mongol Empire, 1294

Vassal state
Khanate boundary
Campaign under Genghis Khan,
1209–1227
Mongol campaign,
1228–1260
Battle
City sacked by Mongols
300 mi
300 km
NGM Maps
APOCALYPTIC isolated one. The Mongol generals were or-
VISIONS dered to redeploy and join Genghis Khan in his

conquest of northern China some 3,700 miles
away. The mission would drag on for several
THE LIGHTNING-SPEED EXPANSION of the Mongol Empire
shocked Europeans, prompting both bewilderment and horror. years. It wasn’t until 1235 that Ögödei, Genghis
Lurid rumors proliferated about them: The Mongols were Khan’s son and successor, ordered a new of-
barbarians; they shunned religion; they ate the flesh of hu- fensive westward. Ögödei wanted to subdue the
man beings. In actuality, the Mongols were not cannibals Cuman people and their allies once and for all.
and were tolerant of their captives’ religions. While cruel in Ögödei had taken over as great khan upon
conquest, the Mongols were skilled warriors in battle, using Genghis Khan’s death in 1227. He assembled
their equestrian and archery skills to great advantage. But in an army of 100,000 horsemen, a much bigger
13th-century Europe, the popular imagination began to link force than his father had mustered 12 years prior.
the Mongols as a force of evil described in the Bible: Gog and Although this army was led by chiefs from the
Magog, who battle at the end of days. This apocalyptic lens four branches of the imperial family, military
explains why the term Tatars (or Tartars), previously used
leadership formally fell to Subutai, who by then
for nomadic peoples of west-central Russia, was extended
was an old man.
to include the Mongols; in antiquity, hell was also known as
Tartarus. In 1241 Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II wrote Ögödei employed Batu Khan, one of Genghis
he hoped the Mongols would be “driven down to their Khan’s grandsons, to lead the push westward
Tartarus—ad sua Tartara Tartari detrudentur.” across Europe in 1235. The Mongols entered
through the upper Volga region and defeated
A Mongol army, featuring a horseman with a bow, rushes to conquer a Slavic city. the forces of the Cuman, the Alan, and the Bul-
GETTY IMAGES
gar peoples. Then they attacked Kyivan Rus
again. At the end of 1237, the first great Russian
70 JULY/AUGUST 2024
fortress, Ryazan, fell after a six-day siege. FIGURE off each of the dead enemy soldiers and count-
Batu Khan and his forces swept through the OF DREAD ing them up. As had happened almost two dec-
cities of Kyivan Rus. They fell one after anoth- Subutai, below ades earlier, Köten, the Cuman leader, eluded
in a 16th-century
er, including Kyiv, which was conquered at the Chinese drawing, Subutai’s sword and escaped. This time, Köten
end of 1240 after a nine-day siege. Known for led the campaign and some 40,000 survivors found refuge at the
incorporating the military knowledge of their that destroyed the court of Hungary’s king, Béla IV, who held power
captives, the Mongols employed Chinese siege armies of Europe. from 1235 to 1270.
AKG/ALBUM
engines as well as flammable liquids and gun- From his base in southern Ukraine, Batu Khan
powder—the first time such techniques had sent a letter to Béla warning him of what would
been used in Europe. be in store if he didn’t hand over the Cuman
fugitives: “For it is easier for them to escape
Conquests and Slaughter than for you, since they are without house and
European sources recorded that the Mon- move about in their tents, and so may perhaps
gols massacred the inhabitants of each be able to escape. But as for you, who dwell in
city they conquered, only leaving alive houses and have fortresses and cities—how
those they could use as forced labor. will you evade my grasp?”
Thirteenth-century historian and eye- However, King Béla didn’t bow to Batu
witness Thomas of Spalato (Split, Croatia) Khan’s threat. Giving protection to the Cumans
wrote in Historia Salonitana that in one town allowed him to present himself as an exemplary
they left “nobody to piss against a wall.” The king. Sheltering the Cumans went hand in hand
Cumans suffered devastating losses—more with assimilating them into Hungarian culture
than 100,000 people. The Mongols alleg- and converting them to Catholicism. Béla then
edly calculated the figure by slicing an ear requested military aid from other princes with

MONGOLS AT THE GATES
The Mongols besieged the city of
Vladimir during their invasion of
Kyivan Rus in 1238. Russian artist
Vassily Maximov created this
somber depiction of the event in
1910. Collection of State History
Museum, Moscow
GETTY IMAGES
SLAVERY
IN EUROPE
ONE OF THE effects of the Mongol con-
quests was an increase in the Eurasian
slave trade. When cities were defeated,
the Mongols either massacred the in-
habitants or sold them into slavery.
Like livestock or foodstuffs, people
were seen as a valuable commodity in
the Golden Horde, the Mongol state
created by Batu Khan that became
a major provider of enslaved labor.
People enslaved by the Mongols were
sold in major slave markets that sup-
plied Mediterranean ports with people
destined for domestic service, sex
work, or military service. Some were
valued as elite for their jobs, military
knowledge, or status prior to captivity.
The Mongols take captives from Galicia and Volhynia
in an engraving from a 1488 Hungarian chronicle.
BRIDGEMAN/GTRES
a view of creating a capable army. This was at- HERO OF THE qualities of the Mongols, who in his eyes were
tractive to Béla because it would be independent RESISTANCE “tough, broad, sinewy, strong, bold, fearless, in-
of the Hungarian feudal lords, with whom he King Béla IV, leader comparable archers, and ready to defy any dan-
of the Mongol
was at odds. resistance, in a 21st- ger at a signal from their commander.”
The Hungarian people, on the other hand, century statue by Béla turned to the church, also imploring Pope
feared the ire that the Mongols threatened and Peter Gáspár in Gregory IX to help and warning that if Hungary
were much less favorable to the Cumans. Even- Banská Bystrica, fell, nothing would stop the Mongol advance on
Slovakia.
tually, a mob whipped up by members of the AZOOR PHOTO/ALAMY/ACI
Europe. The pope did proclaim a small Crusade
Hungarian aristocracy managed to lynch Köten. against the Mongols, but no substantial forces
After the assassination, Köten’s warriors fled were ever dispatched. The only firm commit-
south and west, destroying numerous Hungar- ment Béla obtained came from his cousin Henry
ian villages as they went. II the Pious, the Duke of Silesia and High Duke
If Béla expected solidarity from the other of Poland, who was one of the most powerful
states, he was soon disappointed. The king lords in the region.
tried to persuade Holy Roman Emperor Fred-
erick II to send troops, even offering to become Unstoppable Advance
a vassal state. The Holy Roman Empire was a Batu Khan and Subutai then organized
large confederation of states and one of the most effective and brilliant
smaller political entities, which offensives in military history. Mon-
made its leader Europe’s most golian forces were divided in three
powerful sovereign. Frederick II units, each one advancing from
denied Béla’s request for Ukraine at the same time but
help and praised the warlike taking separate routes toward
74 JULY/AUGUST 2024
their targets. They would break into European when he heard about the disastrous defeat at the MOHI
territory almost simultaneously at two points Battle of Liegnitz. To his surprise, the Mongols MEMORIAL
Designed by
around 450 miles apart. didn’t continue their advance westward. After
Hungarian
The first column of 20,000 Mongols ad- wiping out the Hungarians’ Polish allies, the architect György
vanced through southern Poland. On April 9, Mongols turned south to rejoin the main body Vadász and
1241, they clashed with the coalition of Poles, of the army, which had by then advanced into the sculptor Sándor
Kiss, a memorial
Moravians, and Knights Templars assembled by heart of Béla IV’s Hungarian kingdom. was built in honor
Henry II. The battle took place outside the city Two days after victory at Liegnitz, Batu Khan of the Battle of
of Liegnitz (today’s Legnica, in southern Poland). crushed the Hungarians at the Battle of Mohi Mohi’s 750th
Organized in raiding parties who commu- (near modern Muhi), decimating European forc- anniversary.
GEZA KURKA/ALAMY/CORDON PRESS
nicated with each other by flags and whistling es. The win, scored on April 11, 1241, used a bru-
arrows, the Mongols made several feint attacks tal maneuver called the nerge, a hunting tactic
and false retreats that disoriented Henry’s forc- consisting of encircling a large area on horseback
es. The attackers also used dense black smoke to and corralling prey into an ever shrinking circle.
confuse the heavy cavalry and leave the infantry Once the Hungarian army was contained, Batu
undefended. The Mongols scored a key victory Khan’s forces could easily dispatch them.
at the Battle of Liegnitz. Henry II was killed, and
the Mongols hoisted his severed head around on
a spear for weeks. Two days after victory at Liegnitz,
It looked like the next target would be the
kingdom of Bohemia. Its king, Wenceslas I, of-
Batu Khan crushed the Hungarians
fered last-minute support to his brother-in-law at the Battle of Mohi, decimating
Henry II but had to return to protect Bohemia European forces.
REBOUND It’s estimated the Hungarians lost more than
AND RECOVERY 10,000 men (the Mongols allegedly filled nine

sacks with severed ears) at Mohi. The Mongols’
superior battle skills at war enabled them to
THE MONGOL INVASION was particularly devastating for the
Hungarians, who, after losing the harvests in 1241 and 1242, keep annihilating their enemies. Béla managed
suffered famines that wiped out 20 to 50 percent of their to escape and, together with his Cuman guard,
population. Despite these hardships, Béla IV set about re- traveled first to Austria and then south through
versing the damage. He promoted the repopulation of his Croatia, Serbia, and Albania. A Mongol detach-
battered kingdom and built more than a hundred castles and ment launched after him, but Béla evaded them
stone fortresses to protect against subsequent Mongol raids, by hiding on a small island off the Adriatic coast.
including the most deadly of all, led by prince and military After Mohi, the Mongols sacked the Hungar-
leader Nogai Khan in 1285. Prior to his death in 1270, the ian capital, Strigonium (today called Esztergom).
experience helped Béla further increase his identification Hungarian resistance held out for nine months
with the Cumans. He even proclaimed himself king of the west of the Danube, but the cold winter caused
Cumans, in open provocation to the Mongols, who con-
the river to freeze, allowing the bulk of the Mon-
sidered the Cumans to be their subjects. Hungary’s rapid
gol army to cross and ultimately reach Vienna.
recovery, shaking off of the Mongols, and emergence as a
regional power in the second half of the 13th century testify Then, just when they seemed to have the total
to a capacity for resilience and strength. conquest within their grasp, the advance halted
and the Mongols retreated.
Flight of King Béla IV after the Hungarian defeat at Mohi. Oil on canvas by the What caused their sudden retreat in spring
Hungarian painter Mór Than. 1882. Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest. 1242 has been a matter of debate. Some sourc-
ALBUM
es attributed it to the death of the great khan
Ögödei in December 1241. Both Batu Khan and
76 JULY/AUGUST 2024
Subutai would have been required to return Sarai along the lower Volga, although scholars PROTECTIVE
to Karakorum, Mongolia, to participate in the still debate the city’s exact location. FORTRESS
” Castle,
Hollóko
election of a new leader. Some historians are The Golden Horde reached its peak in the
some 40 miles
skeptical that they could have learned of their early 14th century, when Islam became its of- from Budapest,
leader’s death so quickly and point to other ficial religion. The state collected tribute from was built at the
reasons, such as the weather. A drastic drop peoples across eastern Europe, Asia, and the end of the 13th
century to protect
in temperatures and the scarcity of pasture for Middle East and grew wealthy through trade in
against future
Mongolian horses could have caused tactical the Mediterranean. Everything seemed poised Mongol attacks.
issues for their armies. for continuous growth until the Black Death GEZA KURKA/ALAMY/ACI
Recent archaeological research has revealed struck in 1347.

that the Mongol army suffered larger numbers The plague greatly weakened the Golden
of casualties during the Hungarian offensive Horde’s hold over its dominions. In 1359 civil
than previously reported. These heavy losses war erupted and lasted for decades. Eventually,
may have convinced the Mongol generals to widespread unrest, division of rule, and bor-
retreat to conserve their numbers. der disputes undermined Mongol control. The
Golden Horde went into decline and local pow-
The Golden Horde ers slowly regained control, as the last vestiges
Batu Khan did not abandon his conquests in of the Mongol invasion slowly faded.
Europe. In southern Russia he established a MEDIEVALIST ANTONIO GARCÍA ESPADA TEACHES IN THE
Mongol state, known as the Golden Horde, on HISTORY FACULTY OF THE UNED UNIVERSITY, SPAIN.
the Cuman steppe. It would expand to rule lands Learn more

from the Carpathian Mountains in eastern Eu-
The Horde: How the Mongols Changed the World
rope to Siberia. Batu established his capital at Marie Favereau, Belknap Press, 2021

NO HELP
FOR
HUNGARY
fter the debacle of the In the letter, after Béla recalled how to the aid of the Christian population
Battle of Mohi on April 11, faithful the Hungarians had been to and provide us with counsel and sup-
1241, Hungarian king Béla the church, he explained to the pontiff: port. You will deign with your diligence
IV fled from the Mongols to seek ref- to prevent the destruction of the world.
uge in Zagreb, a city in modern-day The sad events that the kingdom of Hun-
Croatia. There he sent a bish- gary has suffered from the army of the The pope responded by urging Ger-
op to Rome with a letter ad- Tartars and their bestial cruelty. Not long man and Austrian prelates to promote
dressed to Pope Gregory IX. ago, on the feast of the Resurrection, a Crusade against the Mongol invad-
they entered Hungary with a great mul- ers. But after the deaths of Gregory IX
The Mongols titude and, taking no account of age or in August 1241 and his successor that
stormed the
Russian city of sex, they put to the sword all those they November, the Holy See remained va-
Vladimir in 1238, found, desecrated the churches and holy cant for almost two years. The Hungar-
three weeks
after conquering places with fire, slaughtering, and other ians’ plight was forgotten despite the
Moscow. atrocities, and were proud to subjugate best efforts of the Hungarian king and
SCALA, FIRENZE
the Christians. We ask that you come bishops to keep up the pressure. They
addressed three more requests to the
Holy See, complaining about the lack
of assistance.
For their part, the German princes
called for a Crusade as soon as they
learned of the Mongol assault on Hun- While these common enemies wage
gary. Their forces were due to assemble war in neighboring kingdoms, take
in Nuremberg on July 1, 1241, but they measures to resist them with speedy
never saw action. This paralysis may aid; for they have prepared in their
have been because the Mongols gave own countries, with total disregard
up their offensive toward the west, but for their own lives, to subjugate the
it was undoubtedly influenced by the whole Christian West, God forbid, and
civil war that broke out among the Ger- extirpate the Christian faith and the
man princes. name of Christ.
Mongol helmet
As for Frederick II, ruler of the Holy made of iron
Roman Empire, in July 1241 he wrote a Despite urging others to help, Frederick strips, 15th-
16th century,
letter to the king of England, Henry III, himself gave no help to the Hungarian Metropolitan
urging him to take part in the war king, even when the latter offered to Museum of Art,
become his vassal. New York
against the Mongols: MMA/RMN-GRAND PALAIS
MYSTERY SOLVED?
PRINCES IN
THE TOWER PHILIPPA LANGLEY
In the summer of 1483, Prince Edward and his

younger brother Richard entered the Tower of
London and were never seen again. For centuries
their uncle, Richard III, was accused of murdering
them, without any evidence. Author and history
detective Philippa Langley, discoverer of Richard III’s
burial site, took on the case to find out what
happened to the princes and how to examine a
centuries-old murder. In this book excerpt, Langley
brings readers through her investigation and turns
up a new solution to an old mystery.
Richard, Duke of York, the younger Prince in the

Tower, used this royal signet (above).
SAXONY STATE ARCHIVES, DRESDEN
AWAITING THEIR FATE
John Everett Millais’s
1878 painting is the most
famous depiction of Prince
Edward, age 12, and his
nine-year-old brother,
Richard (left), in the Tower
of London in 1483. Picture
Gallery, Royal Holloway,
University of London
IAN DAGNALL COMPUTING/ALAMY/ACI
WITHIN THESE WALLS
Built by William the Conqueror in 1066,
the White Tower rises over the Tower of
London complex, where Princes Edward
and Richard were last seen alive in 1483.
The Great Chronicle of London noted that
after June 16 they were “shooting [arrows]
and playing in the garden of the Tower.”
ELOI OMELLA/GETTY IMAGES
ROYAL FATHER he Looking For Richard Project was evidence, the story had been repeated as truth
One of the Royal a research initiative that ques- and fact by leading historians.
Collection’s oldest tioned received wisdom and dog- The Looking For Richard Project heralded a
paintings, Edward
IV’s portrait ma. It proved the “bones in the new era of evidence-based Richard III research
(below) was river” story to be false. For centu- and analysis. It was a major opportunity for the
created in the mid- ries, it had been believed that at the time of academic community and leading historians
1500s. Society
the dissolution of the monasteries (in the late to employ this new knowledge as the basis for
of Antiquaries of
London 1530s), Richard III’s remains were exhumed further discoveries.
BRIDGEMAN/ACI from their resting place, carried through the On March 23, 2015, during reburial week,
streets of Leicester by a jeering mob, and re- a headline in the Daily Mail proclaimed, “It’s
buried near the River Soar. Later, it was claimed mad to make this child killer a national hero:
they were exhumed again and thrown into Richard III was one of the most evil, detestable
the river. Without any supporting tyrants ever to walk this earth.” The writer,
VANISHING November 1470

Edward, son of King
April 1483
Edward IV dies unexpectedly,
ACTS Edward IV, is born during
England’s Wars of the
and his brother, Richard of
Gloucester, becomes lord
Roses. His brother Richard protector of the realm for the
is born three years later. 12-year-old Prince Edward.
FROM PALACE TO PRISON
THE TOWER
OF LONDON
D
ominated by the 11th-century White
Tower, the Tower of London was
originally a Norman fortress built to
defend London. It was later expanded
into a palace by Henry III and his son Edward I.
Before his planned coronation, Prince Edward
traveled to the Tower palace in May 1483.
New monarchs would reside there until the
ceremony. His younger brother joined him in
mid-June, but after the princes were declared
illegitimate, their uncle became king and they
remained in the Tower. According to the con-
temporary Great Chronicle of London, both boys
stayed “within the king’s lodging” to the south
of the complex and were seen playing together
in the grounds before they vanished. The Tower
gained its reputation as a prison during the Tu-
dor dynasty, founded by Richard III’s deposer,
Henry VII. Three Tudor queens—Anne Boleyn,
Catherine Howard, and Lady Jane Grey—were
imprisoned and executed there. Many other
unfortunates, including Thomas More, Walter
Raleigh, and Guy Fawkes, spent their last days
inside its walls prior to their executions.
Michael Thornton, presented no verification to do it.” A few days later on March 26, the UNCOMMON
or proof. His piece drew online comments evening of King Richard’s reburial, in another MOTHER
from around the world, best summed up by of Snow’s television interviews I was asked, Elizabeth Woodville
was a commoner
Catherine from Chicago: “This article shows “What next?” before she wed
a complete disregard for what counts as his- “There’s a big question to answer now,” Edward IV. The pair
torical evidence.” I replied. “What happened to the sons of had 10 children
On March 22, 2015, as Richard’s coffin was Edward IV?” together. Oil on
panel, late 16th
received by Leicester Cathedral in preparation century, Queens’
for his reburial, Channel 4 TV presenter Jon The Right Questions College Cambridge
Snow asked a Tudor historian for the evi- I had seen how asking questions changes what ALAMY/ACI
dence of Richard’s murder of the Princes in we know and is a key to greater understanding
the Tower. “The evidence,” the historian re- and important new discoveries. This was how
plied, “is that he would have been a fool not the king had been found.
May 1483 June 1483 Summer 1483

Prince Edward travels Prince Richard joins his The two princes
to the Tower of London, brother at the Tower. continue to live at the
where England’s kings The boys are declared Tower, but sightings of
traditionally stayed before illegitimate. Their uncle is them grow rarer until
their coronations. petitioned to become king. they disappear.
SUCCESSION STRUGGLE
ILLEGITIMATE
CLAIMS
A
fter Edward IV’s death, his 12-year-
old son, Edward, was expected to be
the next king, but power struggles
upended those plans. In his will, Ed-
ward IV named his brother Richard, Duke of
Gloucester, as protector of the realm until the
young prince came of age. But queen consort
Elizabeth Woodville and her family wanted to
quickly crown young Edward, negating Rich-
ard’s protectorate and securing their access
to the new king. Richard quickly neutralized
the Woodville threat by arresting the queen’s
brother Anthony (who was escorting Prince
Edward to London) and securing a new date HAPPY FAMILY?
for the coronation when it was postponed. A 1477 miniature shows
A crushing blow was delivered on June 22, Edward IV, his wife Elizabeth
1483, when the two princes were declared Woodville, and seven-year-
illegitimate on the basis that their father had old Prince Edward receiving a
book from the queen’s brother
been previously married before his union with Anthony, who would later
their mother. As the next legitimate heir to the be executed on the orders of
throne, Richard was crowned Richard III on Richard, Duke of Gloucester
July 6 while his nephews remained in the Tower. and future king of England.
© LAMBETH PALACE LIBRARY/BRIDGEMAN IMAGES
Historical inquiry is littered with the un- SPITTING IMAGE? surrounding the Princes in the Tower?
picking of received wisdom. Antonia Fraser Confirmed portraits While I considered my next steps, I watched
helped to debunk the myth that Marie An- of Richard III, like with interest The Imitation Game (2014), star-
the 16th-century
toinette said, “Let them eat cake.” Virginia one below, were ring Benedict Cumberbatch, the actor who
Rounding refuted the claim that Catherine painted after he had read the evocative poem “Richard” at the
the Great had been killed by having sexual re- died, making it reburial in 2015. Loosely based on Andrew
lations with a horse. William Driver Howarth difficult to know Hodges’s biography of Alan Turing, this highly
what he looked
disproved that droit du seigneur (prima noc- like in life. National acclaimed, award-winning feature film retells
ta) existed in medieval Scotland (as depicted Portrait Gallery, the breaking of the Enigma code during the
in the film Braveheart). And Guilhem Pépin London Second World War.
BRIDGEMAN
established that the killing by the Black Prince When you ask the right questions, the
of some male inhabitants and men-at-arms at smallest detail can form the key to a major dis-
the city of Limoges in 1370, believed for cen- covery. Could a small and perhaps seemingly
turies to have amounted to the massacre of insignificant discovery be the key to solving
3,000 men, women, and children, concerned this most enduring of mysteries?
in reality just 300 individuals. All had asked
searching questions, thrown out old mythol- Richard and the Princes
ogy, and started with a clean sheet. I have studied the life and times of Richard III
It was exactly as my Looking For for nearly 30 years. It is a fascinating
Richard Project had proceed- period of history, inspiring George R.R.
ed, irrevocably changing what Martin’s Game of Thrones fantasy se-
we know. Could this ap- ries, and, of course, William Shake-
proach apply to the mystery speare’s famous play. And therein,
84 JULY/AUGUST 2024
it seems, lies the dichotomy of the two repre- disappearance and each would have to be an- RICHARD III’S
sentations of Richard III: the loyal lord of the alyzed and investigated. The project could LAST STAND
north (one interpretation) and the murdering not afford to miss anything, no matter how A stone on Bosworth
Field (above),
psychopath. Two extremes certainly, but as seemingly insignificant. Everything was on near Leicester,
we may all attest, life is many shades of gray. the radar. England, marks
I was clear from the outset that I had to be where Richard III
fell, having fought
prepared for whatever might be uncovered. The Missing Princes Project “manfully in the
The Looking For Richard Project had sought to So, how could a cold case investigation help thickest press of his
lay the king to rest. It was now time to investi- move our knowledge forward? Hadn’t the enemies,” according
gate the final question surrounding Richard III events that led to the disappearance taken to 16th-century
historian Polydore
—in the hope of making peace with the past, place too long ago for any meaningful mod- Vergil.
on both sides of the debate. ern analysis? AA WORLD TRAVEL LIBRARY/ALAMY
In the summer of 1483, two children dis- I discovered that successful cold case in-
appeared: Edward V (age 12) and his brother quiries are based on what I termed the HRH
Richard, Duke of York (age nine). The inquiry system of investigative analysis. That is, the
into their disappearance would, therefore, fall removal of Hindsight; Re-creating the past as
into the category of a cold case missing persons accurately and realistically as possible by drill-
investigation, employing the same principles ing down into that moment; and the introduc-
and practices as a modern police inquiry. In- tion of the Human element in order to more
telligence gathering would be key. properly understand the intelligence gathered.
It was not, by any stretch of the imagi- In short, this is the analysis of who was doing
nation, an easy task. Apparent red herrings what, where, when, why, with whom, and with
seemed to litter the stories surrounding the what consequences.

THE LAST PLANTAGENET
FUNERAL FOR
A LOST KING
R
ichard III was buried in Leicester’s
Greyfriars Priory in 1485, but his tomb’s
location was later lost. Spearheaded
by Philippa Langley, the Looking For
Richard Project zeroed in on the northern end
of a Leicester parking lot, where his body was
found in 2012. To confirm its identity, historian
John Ashdown-Hill established matrilineal de-
scendants of one of Richard III’s sisters. Their
DNA matched those of the bones. Richard III
was again laid to rest after a funeral at Leicester
Cathedral in March 2015.
The coffin of Richard III

at Leicester Cathedral
is draped in a pall at his
memorial in March 2015. It is
embroidered with intricate
figures connected to the
king and Leicester search.
MAX MUMBY/INDIGO/GETTY
LAST JOURNEY The advice of police investigators suggest- secured its first eight members. In the weeks
Richard III’s ed the use of well-regarded methods such as and months that followed over 300 volunteers
funeral procession TIE and ABC. TIE is the police acronym for from around the world would join.
(above) moved
through the streets Trace, Investigate, Eliminate. As witnesses to Ordinary people were prepared to investi-
of Leicester, the disappearance are clearly unavailable for gate archives, many with specialist knowledge
England, in March interview, timelines and an extensive database of paleography (ancient writing) and Latin,
2015 prior to would reference and cross-check movements others with European language skills. Mem-
his interment
at Leicester and begin to trace and eliminate individuals bers of police forces and Ministry of Defence
Cathedral. from the investigation. The second police ac- specialists also joined, as did medieval histo-
CHRISTOPHER FURLONG/GETTY
ronym, ABC (Accept nothing, Believe nobody, rians and specialists across a number of fields,
Challenge everything), would ensure that evi- including input from some of the world’s lead-
dence was properly corroborated. The project ing forensic anthropologists. It was exciting
would also employ Occam’s razor: a problem- and daunting in equal measure. The search for
solving device in which the simplest explana- the truth had begun.
tion is generally correct.
With these parameters in mind, the Missing The Lost Boys
Princes Project set out in the summer of 2015 The investigation began by examining the time
with three lines of investigation. This quickly of the disappearance, analyzing it moment by
developed into 111 lines of inquiry. moment, and using all available contemporary
In July 2016, at the Middleham Festival, the material to place this period under the spot-
Missing Princes Project was formally launched. light. By employing forensic techniques, we
Previously, on December 15, 2015, the website went back to the princes’ last known location
went live. Within a few short hours the project to re-create the past and build an extensive
86 JULY/AUGUST 2024
RESTING IN PEACE?
BONES BENEATH
THE STAIRS
W
hen two small skeletons were
found in the Tower of London in
1674, Charles II declared them to
be the lost princes. The find was
said to align with a 16th-century account that
the dead boys’ bodies had been hidden under
a Tower staircase. In 1678 they were entombed
in Westminster Abbey in an urn bearing the
princes’ names (right). In 1933 a
Cambridge University anthro-
pologist examined the re-
mains and concluded they
were two males around
ages 10 and 12. The mys-
tery seemed solved until
2012, when the discovery
of Richard III’s body aroused
interest in testing the skele-
tons’ DNA. So far the crown
has not granted permission
to exhume them.
© DEAN AND CHAPTER OF WESTMINSTER, LONDON
person of interest file of those around them and PLAYING WITH was strikingly pretty and considered to be in
connected to them. We also analyzed exactly PROPAGANDA general good health. He had an aptitude for
what was known about the two missing indi- This first quarto music, dancing, singing, and, it seems, sport,
edition of
viduals at the center of our endeavors to fur- Shakespeare’s possibly including archery and later tennis.
ther inform lines of investigation and inquiry. Richard III was Unlike his elder brother, Richard lived in the
Profiling revealed that both children (male) had printed in 1597 and capital. Immediately prior to his disappear-
large households and were well known. sealed Richard’s ance, he was seen by Londoners traveling by
place in popular
The elder, Edward (age 12), was a preteen who history as a villain. barge from Westminster to join his brother at
may not have been as physically robust as his ALAMY/ACI the Tower Palace. The flotilla consisted of at
younger sibling. He had an aptitude for poetry least eight barges and included leading mem-
and literature and, facially, resembled his father. bers of church and state.
He seemed to have been prone to melancholia, Both boys may be described as celeb-
which may have related to the onset of puberty rities. They were last seen playing in the
and, very likely, the distressing change in his gardens of the busy Tower Palace on sever-
circumstances. Prior to disappearance, he had al occasions. They were blond and seem to
been seen by Londoners ceremonially entering have displayed a noticeable degree of charm.
the city as the new king and later as he traveled
to the Royal Apartments at the Tower Palace. Timing and Evidence
On both occasions he would have been ac- Investigation of the timeline for the dis-
companied by leading members of church, appearance revealed a potential window
state, and commons. of two months (July 18 to September 20),
Richard, the younger boy (age nine), pre- which could be extended to three months
sented as a happy and energetic child who (October 28). Intelligence gathering revealed

A proof of life document suggests one of the Princes in the Tower, 17-year-old Edward V, was still alive in December 1487. In the form of a receipt, it references Edward’s aunt, Margaret
of Burgundy, and records the payment of weapons acquired “to serve her nephew, son of King Edward, … [who was] expelled from his dominion.” ARCHIVES DÉPARTMENTALES DU NORD, LILLE, FRANCE
a disparity between local accounts at the time PROTECTRESS of the princes, which did not involve or require
of the disappearance and those from abroad. The Princes’ harm. As evidence for their survival mounted,
Wider analysis revealed that a pretender aunt, Margaret the investigation was widened to consider two
of Burgundy, may
from France (Henry Tudor) introduced the have helped them claimants to the throne. Both claimants were
charge of murder against Richard III into Eng- survive after the of the right age and description for the miss-
land immediately prior to the Battle of Bos- Tower. 15th century, ing individuals. The project then uncovered
worth. The accusation of murder then took anonymous artist documented proof of life for both missing in-
The Louvre, Paris
hold until the demise of the Tudor dynasty, MUSÉE DU LOUVRE dividuals: the elder in 1487; his younger sib-
when contemporary documents were investi- ling in 1493.
gated and the descendants of several families When I first launched the Missing Princes
interviewed. These challenged the Tudor story Project, I was asked what I would like to find.
of murder and presented instead the possibil- I replied that I would like to find a witness
ity of the boys’ survival. statement, written by one of the boys and de-
Further forensic analysis of the immediate tailing exactly what had happened to them
post-Bosworth period revealed no evidence with names and places and verifiable facts.
of murder or witnesses. A rapid search in the I smiled, and the audience burst into ap-
north by Henry Tudor failed to locate the preciative laughter, clearly hoping for the
missing individuals, as did his later investi- same seemingly impossible discovery.
gations at the Tower. Four years later, that would turn out
to be exactly what was uncovered by
Murder Victims … or Survivors? Nathalie Nijman-Bliekendaal in the
Further investigation uncovered a con- Gelderland Archive in the Netherlands.
temporary blueprint for physical removal I will never forget sitting at my desk on
88 JULY/AUGUST 2024
a bright November afternoon in 2020 reading It has been an exciting Phase One of our in-
her email. And yes, I had goose bumps. vestigation. Phase Two promises to be equally
A timeline for the younger missing person, exciting. Phase Two of the Missing Princes
Richard, Duke of York, is now in place. We can Project aims to attempt to answer these ques-
track his removal from the Tower of London tions and, if possible, locate the final resting
on or by August 11, 1483, his travels to the places of both princes.
island of Texel in 1495, subsequent invasions
of England, and his eight-year campaign for PHILIPPA LANGLEY, MBE, IS A HISTORIAN AND AWARD-WINNING PRODUCER
the throne. BEST KNOWN FOR HER DISCOVERY OF RICHARD III IN 2012. SHE IS CO-AUTHOR
OF THE BEST-SELLING THE LOST KING AND FINDING RICHARD III, THE OFFICIAL
A timeline for our elder missing person, Ed- ACCOUNT OF HER LOOKING FOR RICHARD PROJECT.
ward V, is a significant focus. Current evidence

suggests Edward was placed in the Channel
Islands on or before late 1485, traveled to Vis-
count Francis Lovell in Yorkshire by April 1486,
and was established in Ireland by August of
that year. He then seems to have crossed to
Burgundy, returning to Ireland with his Eng-
lish and continental forces in May 1487 for
coronation, an invasion of England, and sub- From The Princes in the
sequent battle at Stoke Field. As the boys were Tower: Solving History’s
Greatest Cold Case by
separated at the Tower on or by mid-late July Philippa Langley.
Published by Pegasus
1483, Edward’s steps from this point to early Books. Copyright © 2023
Philippa Langley.
1486 are currently unknown. Reprinted with agreement.

PRINCE OR PRETENDER
MYSTERY
MONARCH
W
hile Henry Tudor’s 1485 defeat
of the Yorkist Richard III won
the throne for the Lancastri-
ans, Henry’s reign was not se-
cure. The House of York still enjoyed support
across Britain—especially in Ireland, where in
May 1487, English and Irish nobles mounted a
threat against the sitting king. In Dublin, they
crowned a young man King Edward of England.
A month later, this “King Edward” championed
a failed uprising against Henry VII at the Battle
of Stoke. The identity of this King Edward con-
tinues to arouse debate. Was he the young boy
Edward, Earl of Warwick, a cousin to the Princes
who was, apparently, in the Tower of London ?
Or was he an imposter named Lambert Simnel,
a 10-year-old common boy from Oxford used
by the Yorkist nobles as a figurehead? Or could
he be a lost prince? Historians Matthew Lewis
and Philippa Langley believe that this figure
was actually the real Prince Edward, who had
escaped from the Tower and made his way to
Ireland and Yorkist supporters—including John
de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln (Richard III’s nephew),
and Richard’s friend and former chamberlain
Lord Francis Lovell—who supported his claim
to the throne.
Coronation of the boy king in Dublin, 1487. Mural by James
Ward, 1919. Dublin City Hall, Republic of Ireland.
COURTESY OF DUBLIN CITY LIBRARY & ARCHIVE
The Great
Seal of
Edward V
bears the
royal arms of
leopards and
lilies.
NATIONAL LIBRARY
OF IRELAND, DUBLIN
DISCOVERIES
The Abinnaeus
Papers: Life of a
Roman Soldier
In 1893 a cache of personal papers found in Egypt revealed the
everyday life of a fourth-century Roman officer.
T
his little-known stop thieves shearing
treasure was found Me d i t e r r a n e a n S e a her sheep, they open a
discarded in ancient remarkable peephole into
trash dumps and Cairo everyday life in fourth-
sat among the obscurities of Al Fayyum century Roman Egypt.
E G Y P T
Re
an antiquities market. Over-

d
looked by many but essential L IB YA Passion for Papyri

S
ile
ea
to understanding daily life in In the final decades of the

N
ancient Egypt, the Abinnae- S U D A N 19th century, papyri cach-

us papers, as they came to be es proved to be a rich source of Arresting news. Abinnaeus’s letter to
known, are a valuable first-
NGM MAPS
information for Egyptologists. an official informs him of the arrest of
the person in charge of collecting grain
hand look at the fascinating when Constantius II succeed- Austrian papyrologists ac- quotas. British Library, London
details of the past. ed his father, Constantine the quired bundles of papyri from BRITISH LIBRARY/ALBUM
The elements of ordinary Great. Constantius’s reign was Al Fayyum, southwest of Cai-
lives that form the back- troubled by political intrigue ro, in the early 1880s. At the
drop to huge events are usu- and constant bloody strug- turn of the century, Oxford at some undisclosed location,
ally lost to history, but the gles with rivals. In the east, the classicists Bernard Grenfell and the first the wider world
life of Flavius Abinnaeus empire was threatened by the and Arthur Hunt found a vast knew of it was in 1893, when
is one notable exception. He mighty forces of the Sassanian cache of papyrus fragments at some 80 of the Abinnaeus pa-
was an obscure commander of Persians. ancient trash dumps at Oxy- pyri suddenly started to ap-
a Roman garrison in Egypt and Abinnaeus’s effects con- rhynchus. pear for sale on the Egyptian
kept a cache of correspondence tained not only troop lists and In contrast to these famous antiquities market. Almost
from his long career. Thanks to taxes but also a remarkable finds, the discovery site of the all of them were purchased by
the conditions the documents collection of letters. Rang- Abinnaeus archive has never representatives of the Brit-
were buried in, they were pre- ing from a priest’s request to been identified with any pre- ish Museum and the Library
served for centuries. pardon a Christian soldier to cision. Local people had evi- of the University of Geneva,
Abinnaeus served in a.d. 337, a local woman’s petition to dently stumbled on the cache where they are still held today.
a.d. 351 1893 1898 1962

ON THE The last known papyrus
of the Abinnaeus cache
The Abinnaeus papyri
go on sale. The cache
No papyri are found at
the Dionysias fortress
The first full scholarly
edition of the
PAPYRUS is written. Of the cache, had been found by site despite belief it Abinnaeus papers
TRAIL two are in Latin and the
rest are in Greek.
local people in an
unknown location.
could be the cache’s
original location.
is published by Sir
Harold Idris Bell.
92 JULY/AUGUST 2024
THE PAPYRUS JACKPOT
THE BIGGEST papyrus find of the early 20th cen-
tury was made by Bernard Grenfell and Arthur
Hunt at Oxyrhynchus, 100 miles southwest of
Cairo. Mounds of ancient trash held papyri dat-
ing from the second century b.c. to the seventh
century a.d. The finds include works by Sappho
and Menander, and some of the earliest known
fragments of the New Testament.
Portraits of Bernard Grenfell (left) and Arthur Hunt BRIDGEMAN/ACI
The first complete scholarly contains some copies of let-

edition of the Abinnaeus pa- ters Abinnaeus sent, but the
pyri was published in 1962 by majority are ones he received.
British papyrologist Sir Harold Correspondents include
Idris Bell, unlocking a wealth members of the army, rela-
of evidence about life in late tives, and a domestic slave
Roman Egypt. called Palas. In one letter, Pa-
las asks Abinnaeus to provide
Deserters and Drunkards sheep for his wife. In exchange
From his papers, scholars have Palas promises, enigmatically,
gleaned that Abinnaeus was not to “secede from you, as at
posted late in his career as the first.”
commander of the Dionysias Many letters deal with army-
fortress in the region of Al related issues and include
Fayyum. His correspondence practical requests. For example,
Among lists itemizing food and

troops, the cache also contains a
remarkable collection of letters.
Taking inventory. Nineteen names are followed by quantities of top-quality olive oil.
BRITISH LIBRARY/ALBUM

DISCOVERIES
ROMAN SOLDIERS stand in front of an Egyptian temple,

one of many scenes in the “Nile Mosaic,” a first-
century b.c. work depicting the Nile landscape. Made
by Alexandrian craftsmen in the city of Praeneste near
Rome, it reflected the Roman fascination with Egypt.
National Archaeological Museum of Palestrina
DEA/ALBUM
in one letter, an army officer headquarters to catch the ga- behavior of the soldier Athe- mentioned. In one letter, a
requests an armed escort. In zelles that have been ravaging nodorus, who has been vio- woman reports that she had
another letter, a Christian crops. The priest mentions lent and “makes the village his been beaten almost to death
priest asks Abinnaeus to lend that a gift, a hyena skin, has prey” when drunk, a state that while trying to collect a debt
him nets from the regimental already been dispatched to he is in “continually.” In anoth- that was owed to her. Among
Abinnaeus as a thank-you. er papyrus, a mother begs for those she accused of assault-
Several letters are related to her son Heron to be granted a ing her was the son of the local
Abinnaeus’s soldiers and dis- five-day leave. irenarch (justice of the peace).
ciplinary matters. A different Another set of letters report
Christian priest asks Abin- crimes, most of them thefts. Life of a Military Man
naeus to pardon a deserter. A Four thefts of sheep, one of Abinnaeus’s meticulous ar-
private complains about the pigs, and one of clothing are chiving allowed historians to
piece together the life of the
kind of person typically for-
Most of the letters received by gotten by history. He was like-
Abinnaeus are from relatives, ly a Christian, born in Syria.
Abinnaeus developed mili-
soldiers, or slaves. tary links with Egypt early in
his career and seems to have
Letter from one Thareotes recommending his nephew for service in served in a unit of mount-
Abinnaeus’s garrison. Circa a.d. 342-351. British Library
BRITISH LIBRARY/ALBUM ed archers stationed in the
DISCOVERIES
ABINNAEUS
IN COMMAND
THE FORTRESS that Abinnaeus
commanded lay just outside
the town of Dionysias, near the
modern village of Qasr Qarun in
the Al Fayyum region of Egypt.
The Roman military presence
guaranteed the smooth func-
tioning of public order, tax col-
lection, and trade. Built at the
beginning of the third century,
the fortress was strategically
designed to face the desert trade
routes. Square towers stood at
each corner, and a curved apse
at the rear housed the regi-
ment’s standards. At its peak,
the fortress may have housed
as many as 300 soldiers. His-
torians believe the fortress was
operational for about 200 years
and abandoned around 400 a.d.
The Roman fortress of Ain Umm
Labakha, on Egypt’s border with Libya, is
similar to that of Dionysias, commanded
by Abinnaeus in the fourth century A.D.
C. SAPPA/DEA/GETTY IMAGES
Egyptian province of Thebaid, service Abinnaeus made to the his command. It is not clear The most plausible hy-
where he attained the position wider war effort. Before com- whether the emperor, Con- pothesis is that locals found
of ducenarius, a high-ranking manding the Dionysias garri- stantius II, interceded on his the papyri at the Philadelphia
military commander. son, he also delivered Egyptian behalf. site, a Hellenist city in the
In 336, during the reign of recruits from the Thebaid area northeastern corner of the Al
Constantine the Great, Abin- to fight in the east. A Roman Retirement Fayyum region. Details from
naeus began to rise through tradition held that Egyptian Although the site where the the papyri show that Abinnae-
the ranks. He was chosen to recruits were needed in any Abinnaeus archive was found us’s wife had several proper-
escort an embassy of Blem- offensive against Persia. remains a mystery, his biog- ties there, so it is plausible that
myes (nomads from southern Abinnaeus started serving raphy furnishes clues as to Abinnaeus took all his corre-
Egypt) to the imperial court as commander of the fortress where the cache could have spondence with him.
of Constantinople. This act of at Dionysias in 342. During been located. No papyri dating later than
diplomacy would have been a his tenure, he began to face The obvious place to 351, when Abinnaeus would
small, but not inconsequen- some competition. Around store the papers would have have been in his 60s, have
tial, contribution to keeping 345, a general named Valacius been the Dionysias fortress. been found. Discharged from
the Blemmyes peaceable and dismissed him from the post. However, an excavation for the army, he seems likely to
cooperative, thus enabling the Some historians theorize more papyri carried out at have then settled in Philadel-
empire to concentrate undis- that Valacius wanted to re- the site in 1898 uncovered phia with his precious collec-
tracted on the threat from the place Abinnaeus with one of nothing there. A Franco- tion of papyri, which would
Sassanian Persians. his protégés. However, a year Swiss excavation in 1950 had come to light centuries later.
That was not the only direct later, Abinnaeus recovered similar results. —Borja Pelegero
96 JULY/AUGUST 2024
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1920s Style for a 1920s Price

I t was a warm summer afternoon and my wife and I

Ever since Shakespeare wrote Richard III in the

Amy Briggs, Editor in Chief

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 1

of the Liberty Coin Act into law on July 9, 1985,

GovMint • 1300 Corporate Center Curve, Dept. YSL196-01, Eagan, MN 55121

24 The Mysteries of Mount Nemrut 6 NEWS

Deputy Editor JULIUS PURCELL

IAN DAGNALL COMPUTING/ALAMY/ACI Contributors

PUBLISHER JOHN MACKETHAN

Advertising ROB BYRNES

for subscription questions, visit www.nghservice.com or call 1-800-647-5463.

PRESIDENT, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CONTENT COURTENEY MONROE

EVP & GENERAL MANAGER DAVID E. MILLER

PRESIDENT RICARDO RODRIGO

Printed on 100% PEFC-Certified Paper-PEFC/29-31-58

Ex per ience Canada & Ne w England

THOUSANDS OF WELL-PRESERVED human bodies have

Stone Age Bog Body

Lived Between Two Worlds

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 7

Cabeza de Vaca: Explorer,

hen a group of Eu- what Europeans would call America.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 9

Mexico City Veracruz

Present-day boundaries and land cover shown

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Big Bend National

Back to the Americas

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 13

Dancing Down Into

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 15

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 17

As the opera opens,

The Sex Scandal Behind

THE HEAVIEST PENALTIES

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 21

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 23

BETWEEN 323 b.c.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 27

Mausoleum and Sanctuary

If the body of Antiochus I is still inside the

Reliefs show the Macedonian ancestors of

A fire altar intended for

The four stelae on this This relief of the

are not just myths. Many coastal com-

On Shaky Ground so-called solid ground to shake, crumble, liq-

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 39

PAVLOPETRI LIES UNDER SOME 13 feet of water,

DURING THE FIRST millennium a.d. Phanagoria’s

PHANAGORIA’S RUINS were identified in the 1800s,

A bronze statuette found in Phanagoria

Among the rubble, archaeologists found The archaeological survey

This Doric column belonged to a circular Greek temple, or tholos,

TREASURES Heracleion and Canopus. Its presence points to the

OF THE DELTA employed as votive offerings to the gods. In Thonis-

Young, talented, and beloved, Germanicus was

JUAN MANUEL CORTÉS COPETE

In a.d. 14 Augustus died, and Tiberius be-