The Roman Emperor buried under St Peter's Basilica
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.ค. 2024
- The richest Roman burial ever discovered came to light in 1544, when workmen opened a granite sarcophagus under the floor of St. Peter’s Basilica. The sarcophagus contained the bones of Maria, wife of the Emperor Honorius, along with hundreds of precious items. The treasures of Maria’s tomb were quickly melted down or stolen. But the tomb of Honorius himself, the last undiscovered burial of a Roman emperor, may still be intact…
For much more on the hunt for the tombs of the Roman emperors, check out my book “Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants: Frequently Asked Questions about the Ancient Greeks and Romans.”
www.amazon.com/Naked-Statues-...
If you're interested in a guided tour of St. Peter's Basilica, I recommend booking with Through Eternity Tours, a Rome-based company that specializes in custom, in-depth experiences. Save 5% on any private or group tour with the discount code TOLDINSTONE.
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Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:03 The inglorious reign of Honorius
1:36 The Mausoleum of Honorius
2:13 Discovery of Galla Placidia's tomb
3:02 More tombs come to light
3:28 The fabulous Tomb of Maria
4:46 The fate of Honorius' tomb
5:48 Read all about it in my book!
Thanks for watching!
everytime I hear about ancient artifacts being discovered by people before the 20th century: sadness, anger and dissapointment.
Wait till you hear what your great great great great grandchildren say about us
@@methylmike Exactly. Prior to our great great grandfather we had these big forests all over the planet. But they cut them down to graze cows for their bbq. History won’t look kindly on this either.
*cries in burning of library of Alexandria*
@@rickb3078 trees only grew cuz humans were put on ice (ice age)
why you gotta be negative about it? thank our ancestors for staying alive, for here you are.
@@davidljubicic6885 socrates woulda laughed
I’m quite surprised that the tombs weren’t looted in the decades after the Fall of Rome
@Ivan Until the Gothic War.
@Ivan I was going to leave an edit trying to explain that it wasn’t an immediate end with looting en masse taking place. I thought he said in the video all of the tombs discovered which contained treasures were sent to be destroyed by request of the papacy in order for the precious metals melted down for their own use which I suppose is essentially looting. Yeah I would agree with the latter part of what you are saying with the exception of larger settlements most notably Rome seeing as the population decline would have been at a great enough rate for it to have some effect on the lives of its citizens.
@Ivan Thanks for the informative reply and you too :)
I guess nobody found them until they were found and robbed.
It was a protected site, being under St. PETER'S BASILICA.
Only, construction of newer/current basilica allowed the digging.
Sounds like the papal mint made out very well. That was really hard to listen to because of the disregard for the burials .
The Papacy has no respect for Humanity past or present.
@@Blaze-yy2eu absolutely correct...
Different times, different attitudes. Same thing happened all over the world in every age, the Egyptian Kings tombs, etc, etc...
@@Blaze-yy2eu The whole preserving every artifact even if you could make money attitude is fairly recent. Pagan, muslim, christian, atheist regimes would not hesitate to cash ancient artifacts in if they needed to. Its not just the papacy. Even the builders of the pagan temples specifically built in features into their sacred relics to make them easier to disassemble and melt in times of need.
The disregard for preserving the artifacts is what saddened me.
Red granite is so beautiful. Great vid, as always. Can't wait for the book!
The sarcophagus shown at the end of the video is red porphyry, not granite.
@@oltedders I understand that, I'm talking about red granite used in general. I figured i would get this response for being so general. Thank you though for the clarification.
@@chronic2001n
There's plenty of red granite in Egypt. Very beautiful and, of course, huge monolithic examples are found hundreds of miles away from the quarry site.
@@oltedders it's amazing how far and wide Egyptian red granite has traveled. Glorious history.
@@oltedders There are stunning examples in Istanbul(formerly Constantinople) of the Christian Roman emperors -Constantine etc.
Love the accurate pronunciations of names. Great piece. Had the chance to enjoy a tour under the "newer" Basilica years back. So was interesting to see this.
I recently came across this channel while researching information for a project im working on and I must say I'm pleasantly suprised to see a channel that actually talks about interesting topics regarding Ancient Roman history and archeology. Thank you
Well, was Honorius buried with his dang rooster?! I gotta know Doc😂
I can only assume that ol' Roma got a nice monumental tomb (shaped, perhaps, like a marble chicken coop) in Ravenna...
Emperor, Roma has fallen!
Honorius: My poor rooster! 😢
(Supposedly a true story! His pet roosters name was Roma, I think he was in Ravenna at the time Rome the city fell)
@@BVargas78 It is one of those stories that seems untrue but captures the moment very well.
@@daviddantonio5702 Probably, while Honorius doesn't seem to have been a 'bad' in the sense of 'evil' emperor, he seems to have been rather lacking in intellect and situational awareness. But i don't think he was that stupid! I think that the story must have begun as a bit of a joke by his contemporaries!
@@BVargas78 It's rumored Roma was cut down in a gladiatorial cockfight, decapitated by a plucky little bird named Stilicho. His last words: "Irony of ironies, all is irony!"
If any of the rest of the 100s of treasure-pieces were like that striking pendant, we've lost a lot. In any event, I am glad that this Imperial couple managed to bury themselves like pharaohs while the Empire was collapsing around them.
We gotta find his stuff so we can melt it all down too.
@Eric
Wrong. The Papal States are only operated by the Pontificate, which was taken over by the Christian Church.
@Eric
Actually it's the opposite. Catholics are the ONLY Christians.
@Eric
Wrong. Pontiff is just one of many words for Priest.
@Eric
There is no Church other than the Catholic Church.
I was always a bit surprised that there are sites like Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa, and even Pompeii and Herculaneum, that are still mostly buried and aren't actively excavated even though it is known that there are many precious and astonishing discoveries to be made there. Now this, with the possible tomb of a Roman emperor.
Also - loved the video, as always.
Because they reveal a past that doesn't go along with the world narrative we have created
@@pinkyfinger9851 some of these lie in literal warzones or get destroyed on purpose...just sayin...
Or because of some dumb conflict with zoning laws. Not everything is a Dan Brown novel.
All 4 of those sites have been extensively excavated. Are you calling for some kind of industrial archeology?
@@histguy101 They are mostly buried. Those sites being mostly buried means that there more things to discover there - because they are now covered, which is the same as buried.
Preordered the book and it will arrive September 1st. Can’t wait to have a read, after several years of great content on this channel I am sure it is going to be brilliant.
Well how is it?
Your book is pretty great, read it during breaks at work and it’s helped me get through some rough days. Thank you so much.
I'm very glad to hear that, Haven. Thanks for letting me know.
Because ur channel is so good ( and I’m a Roman history freak) I’m gonna go out and buy that book you ur touting.
Me too. On my Christmas list :)
That porphyry sarcophagus is something else!
Just pre-ordered your book as well. Doc you have some of my most favorite content on TH-cam
Every time I see the cover of your book, it reminds me of the cover from "Plato and a platypus walk into a bar"
I love how you made this video
Maria's pendant has the family's names arrayed in a Labarum/Chi Rho shape (a symbol derived from the Greek letters for the first two characters of the word "Christos").
Her name ‘Maria’ is seen on the semicircular part of the rho.
Also the layout of the mausoleum I am guessing - undoubtedly that hypothesis has been investigated. It would be interesting to see what that research turned up in a follow-up video.
Wow this video is awesome! Please keep making these! Your speaking voice is perfectly paced.
Always an interesting angle you approach from, giving this history more depth, more width... you find the colours and make them more vibrant. Thank you.
I love all of your videos and narration. Preordered your book. Thank you for your hard work and great content!
Absolutely love this Chanel 👏
Fantastic, as usual. Thank you.
Thanks for an interesting video. I had a tour to St Peter's tomb under the Basilica's altar some years ago- a fascinating experience- and it is wonderful to know there is so much probably waiting to be uncovered under the new church built in the Renaissance!
Brilliant as always
I think one of the big issues with gold and copper items that are found in various sites is there is no way of knowing just how old most of them are because over the years they get repeatedly melted and re-used over and over again and this isn't just moderns doing it or medieval peoples doing it.
Rather, even the ancients melted and re-used them.
You can date gold but only to its last melting.
Another short and punchy video, thank you very much :)
can you just do a series on imperial hijink? like those two senators who had a bidding war over who would get to be emperor and then the winner was just killed by a returning General anyway
Power had shifted to Constantinople by Honorius time. Some historians have noted the eastern emperors passive attitude at the west no longer having an emperor as less competition. Fascinating video! Well done!
This is God tier content right here.
Fantastic, as always
It always fascinates me that due to the most trivial circumstances, history is lost.
Love your video's man!
I was a nice surprise, as i hav seen this pendant in person..how nice to be reminded..
Amazingly modern in design.
Thank you once again for your wonderful video !! Kewl info !!
More please ☺️☺️☺️
Very good, Thank you.
Love your channel! More, please!
Galla Placidia what a life she lived..she was the toughest in the Theodosian family!
Great content. Love it.
This is the first TH-cam channel I hit the bell on.
Prof. Ryan, how is it possible that no one from the all many post antique studies department in Italian, European, UK and US universities aren’t madly, desperately working to get permission to locate the sarcophagus of Honorius?
some have probally tried but if u remember how long it took for the vatican to greenlit the excavation of saint peters barial chambers then you can imagine why it didnt happen yet.
There is a legend that the porphyry basin used as St. Peters baptismal font is actually the lid to Emperor Hadrian's sarcophagus.
The tomb of Saint Peter has always intrigued me...
Peter die before rome says he was the first pope, he was
NEVER pope because roma kill him. Amazing lies of the roman catholic religion
@@BeatrizMartinez-dy3oy A pope simply means a successor of St Peter and the term pope is a title. So this title is used for any bishop that occupies the chair of St Peter. So I don't understand how this can be a lie since you already accept that St Peter did exist.
@@davies93313 Peter eas never pope .
@@davies93313 here study Romans and know.
th-cam.com/video/6vugJtDHeho/w-d-xo.html
@@BeatrizMartinez-dy3oy did you even read what he said? 💀💀💀 Yes he may not be technically a pope but the title was passed on in the name of his existence
Amazing channel! I love when you cover the transition to christian rome.
Very cool! Gratias tibi!
Great Channel. Do you have a brother living in North Carolina? You look and sound so much like our kids' Tai Kwon Do teacher; it's freaking us out.
Thank you for talking about real history. I am a history buff. Archaeologists tend to glorify history. They tend to sterilize it. Thank you thank you
Well I did it. I just pre-ordered the book from Amazon. I can't wait!!
Great story!
Sounds like Jimmie Hoffa supposedly buried beneath Giant's Stadium here in NJ.
Probably not. The Mob owns garbage dumps & meat packing plants. He could have possibly been served in hot dogs, at that same stadium. Good way of permanently disposing of evidence.
@@michaelmoorrees3585 most likely, such a high profile person would never been found, he had many enemies but also a lot of friends, so better to clean it, no body no crime.
He was buried in a concrete filled drum and thrown in the water
@@mattberg6816 more like put in a grinder and then fed to pigs, cleaning from every part of the dna and the teeth put in a sulfuric acid, and the place delict burned to the ground after a bleach and acid treatment. Everyone that contacted him before his faith getting the same treatment.
Did they find him when they tore the old stadium down? :)
Damnnnn that’s so depressing how much history was melted down into coins 🥴
Everything about Honorious terrible reign and legacy are terrific irony given his name
Pope finds priceless artefact . “ yeah melt it down “ Because they they were barely getting by financially.. 😂
killer channel brah
Based Roman history channel
Facts
Who is this Brah person whom I see mentioned so frequently?
@@AndrewBlucher He is the third brother of the also infamous Breh and Bruh.
Well, I'm shocked, but glad to hear that he might still be there.
Would you be interested in doing some tier list videos? I think that could draw a lot of attraction to the channel :)
If you want to feel like you are having a stoke, turn on the captioning
My copy of your book arrived! I’ve been picking it up and reading it whenever I get the opportunity. And the chapters make it great for a quick, enlightening five or 10 minutes whenever I have a moment.
I also have read bits of it with my kids at the breakfast table, and it’s sparked discussions about topics that resonate with people of any age, like ancient Romans and their pets.
It’s a great read, full of fascinating details I’ve never heard, despite a lifelong interest in Greek and Roman history. Fantastic job!
I'm delighted to hear that, Grayson!
I wish Constantine's St Peter's was just restored and not demolished and replaced. Imagine how much archaeology we would have today.
Some of the comments here show complete disregard for different historical context. Don't force modern sensibilities on a 600 year old culture. Gold and silver has been melted down since humans started using it, most trinkets have been lost to the fire. Yes, Pius II melted down a silver casket 600 years ago, but y'all know that would never happen today.
even in the middle ages that stuff was over 1000 years old tho... i see why people are mad
These people in the comments are odd to say the least. Amazing video
Rest in peace
Where will I find your book that is not Amazon? What book website would you like to give a little business to?
You can order "Naked Statues" through your favorite local bookseller at bookstore.org
Legends say there was a crystal skull buried with the treasure!
Depressing to think of all that has been lost through the actions of former/contemporary greedy/uncaring generations. What knowledge we could have gained now lost for ever
Good old church doing what they do best finder's keeper's quickly melt it down more dosh for the boy's.
Do you think you can do a video of how Rome got it's materials to build great temples? It would be amazing to know more about quarry's that made Rome.
At least in those times inept emperors were eliminated.Today inept polititians stay for ever and are not even accountable.
the problem was good emperors and generals were also eliminated :(
You can remove them by power of vote .
That's why democracy exist.
@@pretzels713 Aurelian was a classic example of this.....he would of outshone Trajan if he had lived to a normal age i'm sure.
Emperor Julian also.
Honorius was the worst Roman emperor ever and he ruled for 30 years
@@Blaze-yy2eu Are u talking about Julian the apostate dude he is anti Christian.
Nice one! I’m wondering what the rent is for the house next door, and if some of El Chapos tunnel diggers are yet to find new employment now that their boss is AWOL.
Just so there is no misunderstanding: I’m asking for a friend.
I thought infamous Honorius was buried in the swamps of Ravenna, which he never apparently left in his pitiful life as puppet.
Thank you so much for uploading the video, but the setting of caption language Vietnamese is not right. could you rectify it? Many thanks
Here before this video goes viral.
This was a well-presented, informative and interesting video!
Just one thing though: The word “niche” is pronounced “neesh” - not “nitch”. 0:30
So, if you wish your bones to lie undisturbed don't get buried with gold, silver and jewels.
unless you get one of those granite sarcophagus , your bones will simple be disturbed by nature
Church never found a relic they couldn't resist melting down.
Absolutely. Stolen, desecrated, the destruction of the ancient roman world by the Christians was huge. A LOT larger than we have been taught.
Does anyone know the meaning behind the 8 sided star shape foundation? Besides the obvious structural function.
look it up
@@zerotwoisreal the meanings are all over the place. i meant in context of an imperial burial.
Someone should use some georadar to see if there is something below the floor.
WOW! TRIGGERWARNING! HE DID WHAT!?
Rome ❤
I have to wonder how any roman sarcophagi were left unplundered.
They weren’t found.
I always found that bas relief of Honorius odd looking. That tiara/diadem he's wearing looks more Asiatic than Roman, as well as those enormous earrings. The huge staring eyes seem 'borrowed' from that vast head of Constantine. It surprises me that an emperor would have accepted such a cartoonish representation of himself.
I thought first it was Hanuman, Hindu god.
In art, the eyes of the Christian-era emperors were always depicted as very large, very wide open. Christians, then, believed that the eyes were a window into one's soul. The tiara, crowns and diadems were very much more Asiatic than European. The seat of the Empire had, for the most part, moved east to Constantinople, eventually becoming Byzantium after Rome fell in the late 5th century.
Hardly cartoonish compared to later depictions of human beings and animals. After Paganism was outlawed in the Christian empire, the emphasis of the spiritual over the real world became more pronounced in art, humanity needed only be represented as a concept and not a realistic depiction. And YES, eastern influence was prominent as the Western empire fell and the Eastern empire flourished.
@@rightlyso8507 Honorius did not rule from Byzantium. He divided the empire but remained in Italy, albeit in Ravenna. I just found it odd that the emperor who banned the wearing of 'barbarian' trousers would then depict himsel like a Persian satrap from the neck up.
Kinda looks like a hermaphrodite.
Even if there are no caskets maybe there are preserved Roman frescoes in the walls of crypts.
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They should've gone the extra steps and dig deeper. But what's unthinkable at the time of the burials (because their civilization seemed perennial) becomes possible when all what is left are derided ruins and ignored or misunderstood history.
Hmmm, wonder if there is anywhere to rent in the neighbourhood? Hear there might be some "guys" with experience in digging tunnels in the Pompeii area. Wonder if they'd like a "quiet" vacation in Rome. Any takers?
Poor Empress Maria.
There's also an altar to Mithros in the basement
Sad to hear the destruction of so much history with the funeral treasures.
So by a “crypt” you mean not so much a tomb or catacombs like space underground, but more like some kind of indoor graveyard like space where people are buried in the ground under the floor? Or do you mean the crypt was composed of separate tombs that are all closed off from each other? I’m trying to understand why it needs to be “excavated”.
The crypt under the Mausoleum of Honorius was a subterranean chamber that contained the sarcophagi of the imperial family. The chamber was filled with earth and debris during the Middle Ages, burying the tombs.
Very cool
Why is Stilicho's name on Maria's pendant? Inquiring minds want to know :-)
Because Maria is Stilicho's daughter
@@riograndedosulball248 I did not know that, thanks!
The sheer ignorance in this comment section is breathtaking. The recycling of newly discovered gold and the other valuable metal items was a near universal across civillisations until relatively recently, and plenty of the Roman Emperors were great practitioners. You Caesar fanboys wagging the finger at medieval figures need to read up on the plunder of Gaul.
It's a shame that such history has been plundered and lost to time.
Anyone ever told you that you sound sorta like “Data” from Star Trek?
Been there twice
do one on roman math.....how did they calculate cosine if they only used roman numerals.....had to be another form, maybe a military secret
Quick question, I'm not Catholic, but would excavation of that area even be possible on a religious category? Do you think? Are there any talks whatsoever of the church ever excavating such an important historical possibility? Or again would it even be possible given this is the foundations, and it's also at church? Again speaking of turn as a Protestant, it seems like it could be a win-win for the church, PR and monetary both.
To the best of my knowledge, there are no plans to extend the excavations under St. Peter's. I agree that it would be a PR coup, but I doubt it will ever happen - not so much for religious reasons as from the sheer practical difficulties of digging beneath the foundations of a very busy (and potentially fragile) church.
There are emerging archeological technologies like Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) which might be used to ascertain if something resembling a tomb is still buried. That might encourage future exploration if there was a high probability there was something worthwhile to excavate for.
Via connections with in the Family to Priests, serving with in the Vatican; ONLY a Pope could issue such an undertaking. And that with the aire of 'a very strong Urban Myth' , yes, officials with in Rome are aware of this Tomb being there....and keep a very watchful eye on advances in Archeological techniques. If, and when via ground penetrating radar or an off-shot of such a technique arises...one Strongly feels the Church would allow 'research' and IF the Slot Machine bells and whistles go off; they Would allow a search---the PR Bonanza Bonus would be a Coup of the Century. LoL..
as romans plundered far and wide to preserve pax romana for millenia,so they got plundered when dead
grab some shovel boys, we're going digging!
Moral of the story is that it's a better idea to spend all your money on a huge mausoleum rather than fill your coffin with gold. Gold will always be looted, no matter what but a mountain of stone will remain, perhaps forever.
Hearing about artifacts being destroyed makes me mad; people are stupid for doing this and I wish I could go back in time and stop it from happening.