Posted on 10/23/2005 4:30:34 PM PDT by blam
Cremona digs confirm Tacitus story
New evidence comes to light of ancient city's destruction
(ANSA) - Milan, October 19 - Excavations in Cremona have confirmed a legendary description of the city's destruction in December 69 AD by the Latin historian Tacitus .
Archaeologists working in the area of Piazza Marconi believe they have found evidence of the northern Italian city's brutal pillage following a clash between the forces of Emperor Aulus Vitellius and his challenger, Vespasian .
Tacitus's graphic description of the rampage by Vespasian's troops is famous among scholars but there was no way to prove it actually happened .
But preliminary work on an underground car park allowed for more extensive excavations than ever before .
"The layer of ash left by fires and the butchered remains from the Roman age uncovered in various spots of the digs have confirmed both the city's destruction and its famed wealth," said the excavation's director Lynn Passi Pitcher .
"It has also given us a vital point of reference for dating other finds." As well as numerous everyday objects, archaeologists have unearthed frescos, mosaics and fragments of glass, all indicating a luxurious standard of living .
Piazza Marconi is not in the heart of Cremona but lies within the boundaries of the ancient city walls .
The latest digs covered an area of around 2,000 square meters, down to a depth of 7.3 meters .
Tacitus's description appears in his Histories of the Roman Empire, which were written some 35 years after the sack of Cremona .
"Forty thousand armed men burst into Cremona, and with them a body of sutlers and camp-followers, yet more numerous and yet more abandoned to lust and cruelty," he wrote. "Neither age nor rank were any protection from indiscriminate slaughter and violation .
"Aged men and women past their prime, worthless as booty, were dragged about in wanton insult. Did a grown-up maiden or youth of marked beauty fall in their way, they were torn in pieces by the violent hands of ravishers; and in the end the destroyers themselves were provoked into mutual slaughter." He went on to describe the four-day rampage, discussing how the pillagers set fire to houses and temples after looting them .
"When all things else, sacred and profane, were settling down into the flames, the temple of Mephitis outside the walls alone remained standing, saved by its situation or by divine interposition .
"Such was the end of Cremona, 286 years after its foundation," he concluded .
The sack of Cremona occurred in the "Year of the Four Emperors", the period of civil war that followed Nero's forced suicide in 68 AD .
Aulus Vitellius, who succeeded Galba and Otha, was governor of Lower Germany when he was proclaimed emperor by his troops .
His rule lasted from April until December 69 AD, and although never acknowledged as emperor by the entire Roman world, he was accepted by the Senate .
However, Vitellius's fate was the same as Otha's, when the Danubian legions declared their support for Vespasian. Vitellius' own troops started deserting him and the clash in Cremona marked the end of his reign .
GGG Ping.
I wasn't aware Tacitus destroyed the city! (At least, that's how the grammar of this ridiculous lead sentence has it.)
War is hell.
the temple of Mephitis outside the walls alone remained standing, saved by its situation or by divine interposition .
Has this been found ?
Can't trust those historians!
Excavations in Cremona have confirmed a legendary description of the city's destruction in December 69 AD by the Latin historian Tacitus.
My thought too.
Laughus outus Loudus
Ancient Rome ping
Maybe the author missed English class on the day they discussed clumsy subordinate clauses. Or maybe he was daydreaming and thought they were talking about Santa Clause.
:-).
I guess not. All I could find were different versions of this story.
Apparently there was/is a Temple To Mephitis at Pompeii.
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I don't blame those troops for deserting Vitellius. Vespasian was one of the best Roman generals, and possibly the best of his time. Ruthlessness is just a small part of his effectiveness.
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