The Worst Earthquakes in Ancient History | 9:50
toldinstone | 336K subscribers | 16,861 views | March 3, 2023
Posted on 03/04/2023 9:40:47 AM PST by SunkenCiv
The Worst Earthquakes in Ancient History | 9:50
toldinstone | 336K subscribers | 16,861 views | March 3, 2023
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
Transcript 0:09 · On February 6, two powerful earthquakes struck south-central Turkey and northern Syria. 0:16 · The damage was especially catastrophic in the Turkish city of Antakya, where thousands 0:21 · of lives were lost and more than three-quarters of all buildings were damaged beyond repair. 0:28 · Fifteen centuries ago, Antakya was Antioch, one of the most important cities in the Roman 0:33 · world. 0:34 · It was here that the emperors staged their campaigns against the Persians, here that 0:39 · the followers of Jesus were first called Christians, and here – again and again – that earthquakes 0:45 · caused devastation reminiscent of last month’s disaster. 0:51 · In 115 AD, while the emperor Trajan was visiting the city, Antioch was levelled by an earthquake 0:57 · with an estimated magnitude of 7.5. 1:01 · The devastation seems to have been almost total: archaeologists found the disaster marked 1:07 · by a thick layer of rubble, upon which new streets were constructed. 1:11 · Although a Roman consul traveling with Trajan was killed, the emperor himself escaped by 1:16 · crawling out a window. 1:18 · For several days, as aftershocks rattled the city, the imperial retinue was forced to camp 1:23 · in the open racetrack of the Hippodrome. 1:27 · Four centuries later, in 526, an even more devastating earthquake tore Antioch apart, 1:33 · reportedly killing 250,000 people. 1:36 · Fires raged over the rubble, destroying almost everything spared by the tremors. 1:40 · The city’s vast octagonal cathedral, begun by Constantine himself, was one of the last 1:46 · buildings to burn. 1:48 · Many pages of classical history were torn by earthquakes. 1:53 · In 464 BC, a severe earthquake struck Sparta, killing so many citizens that the helots – Sparta’s 2:00 · repressed serf class – seized the opportunity to rise in rebellion. 2:05 · It took the Spartans years to put down the uprising, and the political fallout contributed 2:10 · to the tension between Athens and Sparta that culminated, a generation later, in the Peloponnesian 2:15 · War. 2:18 · In 373 BC, a tsunami and earthquake destroyed the Greek city of Helike, leaving many buildings 2:24 · underwater. 2:25 · The submerged ruins became a tourist attraction, and may have inspired Plato’s telling of 2:30 · the story of Atlantis, inundated by a terrible disaster. 2:35 · A century and a half later, an earthquake snapped the Colossus of Rhodes – the gargantuan 2:39 · bronze statue famous as a wonder of the world – at the knees, leaving a pile of shattered 2:44 · limbs that would dominate the city’s harbor for eight centuries. 2:49 · The most destructive of all classical earthquakes took place in 365 AD. 2:57 · Centered near Crete – where parts of the coast were uplifted by 30 feet – this tremor 3:01 · sent tsunamis roaring across the Mediterranean. 3:04 · The whole harbor district of Alexandria was destroyed, along with – according to some 3:09 · scholars – the famous library and the tomb of Alexander the Great. 3:14 · Years later, ships could still be found miles inland, where the tsunami had swept them. 3:21 · Some of the most iconic classical sites were shaped by earthquakes. 3:25 · In the Roman Forum, the ancient frescoes of Santa Maria Antiqua were preserved by landslides 3:30 · triggered by a ninth-century earthquake. 3:33 · At Scythopolis – Beit She'an in modern Israel – visitors can still see the broken columns 3:39 · of the arcades along the Roman city’s main street, lying where an earthquake felled them. 3:44 · Visitors to the ancient Greek city of Selinus – modern Selinunte, in western Sicily – can 3:51 · clamber over the shattered columns of a colossal temple, reduced to ruins by a medieval earthquake. 3:57 · At Pompeii, finally, traces of the earthquake that rattled the city seventeen years before 4:03 · the eruption of Vesuvius are visible everywhere. 4:06 · The Temple of Jupiter overlooking the city’s forum, for example, was still under restoration 4:13 · at the time of the eruption. 4:14 · The Temple of Isis, likewise, had just been reconstructed when it was buried by volcanic 4:21 · debris. 4:22 · Two reliefs discovered in the atrium of the house of Lucius Caecilius Iucundus show the 4:27 · Forum of Pompeii mid-quake, the buildings leaning and collapsing. 4:32 · The Mediterranean owes its seismic volatility to the vagaries of plate tectonics. 4:40 · For millions of years, the African and Eurasian plates have been colliding along and beneath 4:45 · the Mediterranean Sea, pushing up mountain chains, sparking volcanoes, and generating 4:50 · earthquakes at their points of contact. 4:54 · Several minor plates – the Aegean, Anatolian, and Arabian – complicate and multiply the 4:59 · fault lines. 5:02 · Lacking anything like a theory of plate tectonics, the Greeks and Romans attributed seismic activity 5:08 · to Poseidon, god of the sea, who was known as the “earth-shaker” from the time of 5:12 · the Homeric epics onward. 5:15 · To stay the god’s wrath, sacrifices were made and hymns raised to Poseidon as “restrainer 5:21 · of the earth” and “the stabilizer.” 5:23 · During the early fourth century BC, an earthquake struck the day after a Spartan army marched 5:29 · into the territory of a neighboring city. 5:32 · To appease Poseidon, the officers and men sang a hymn for the god. 5:37 · Some of the soldiers, regarding the quake as a sign of divine disapproval, wanted to 5:42 · retreat. 5:43 · But the Spartan king, reasoning that an earthquake was at least as likely to be a sign of approbation, 5:49 · simply sacrificed to Poseidon and continued forward. 5:53 · After the classical world became Christian, earthquakes continued to be interpreted as 5:58 · signs of divine wrath. 6:00 · Jesus himself, after all, had said that earthquakes would presage the end of days. 6:05 · The liturgy of the Greek Orthodox church still marks the anniversaries of seven ancient earthquakes. 6:14 · Over the centuries, ancient scholars produced a wide range of proto-scientific theories 6:19 · about the causes of earthquakes. 6:21 · Thales, the first Greek philosopher, believed that the earth floated in a universal sea, 6:26 · whose motions were felt as tremors. 6:29 · Anaximenes, another early philosopher, proposed that variations in the wetness of the soil 6:35 · produced subterranean cracks, contractions, and convulsions. 6:39 · Anaxagoras thought that earthquakes were caused by ether effervescing upward; Democritus, 6:47 · by rainwater percolating downward. 6:50 · Aristotle declared that earthquakes could only be generated by winds entering the earth. 6:58 · Centuries later, the Roman philosopher Seneca – inspired by the recent tremor at Pompeii 7:02 · – wrote an entire book on the subject of earthquakes. 7:06 · After dismissing the idea that the gods were responsible and reviewing various hypotheses, 7:12 · he endorsed a Stoic variant of Aristotle’s explanation: currents of air flowed through 7:17 · cavities in the earth, producing earthquakes wherever they were obstructed. 7:23 · Whatever their opinions on the causes of earthquakes, the Greeks and Romans knew from experience 7:28 · how devastating their effects could be. 7:30 · Although cities stricken by earthquakes could expect nothing in the way of immediate medical 7:35 · assistance, they could and did appeal for help in rebuilding. 7:38 · In the wake of an earthquake that rattled the province of Asia, for example, Tiberius 7:45 · sent relief funds to the hardest-hit places and excused other afflicted cities from direct 7:50 · taxation. 7:51 · During the second century, likewise, when the city of Smyrna was damaged by an earthquake, 7:57 · Aelius Aristides – a famous orator – immediately sent an appeal to Marcus Aurelius for financial 8:03 · assistance. 8:05 · Despite his many other obligations, including the ruinously expensive wars with the Quadi 8:11 · and Marcomanni, Marcus obliged. 8:15 · Perhaps the most impressive example of ancient disaster relief followed the terrible earthquake 8:20 · of 526, which – along with a subsequent sack by the Persians – completely destroyed 8:26 · Antioch. 8:28 · With a vast infusion of imperial funds, Justinian reconstructed the entire city – walls, houses, 8:34 · streets, and churches – making special provision for the health and security of the residents. 8:40 · Now, fifteen hundred years later, Antioch – Antakya – needs to be rebuilt again, 8:47 · along with many other cities and towns in the Turkey and Syria. 8:50 · I hope that you’ll consider using the link onscreen to donate to Direct Relief, a charity 8:56 · currently providing emergency medical assistance to victims of the recent earthquake, and dedicated 9:02 · more generally to alleviating the effects of disasters and poverty worldwide. 9:06 · If you’re interested in more toldinstone content (including my podcast), check out 9:13 · my channel Toldinstone Footnotes. 9:15 · I also have a channel called Scenic Routes to the Past, which is dedicated to historically-themed 9:20 · travel. 9:21 · You'll find both channels linked in the description. 9:25 · Please consider joining other viewers in supporting toldinstone on Patreon. 9:29 · You might also enjoy my book, Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants. 9:36 · Thanks for watching.
Could be a nice twofer...
The only time I will feel safer in the air than on the ground is during an earthquake.
and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great...and the cities of the nations fell...And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.Rev. 16:18-20.
Whoa! Speechless. This is a time when men will want to die they are so scared. There's five earthquakes prophesied in Revelation during the 7-year period of Daniel's 70th Week AKA the tribulation.
All are severe, but this last one is the pièce de résistance, the magnum opus, the "mother" of all earthquakes. Coming soon.
However, those who have Jesus will be saved from this horrific nightmare and will be watching the proceedings from the heavenly mezzanine.
bttt
The Wrath of God may be upon us; Famine is next.
In 373 BC, a tsunami and earthquake destroyed the Greek city of Helike, leaving many buildings underwater. The submerged ruins became a tourist attraction, and may have inspired Plato’s telling of the story of Atlantis, inundated by a terrible disaster.The only thing that has more origin myths than global warming is the inspiration for Plato's Atlantis.
Amen and thank God!
Thanks for the fascinating walk through earthquake history.
Will Antioch rise from the ashes once again?
Not certain, the neighboring city Uncleioch never recovered.
Poor Uncle!
The quake caused an avalanche, and Uncleioch was buried in gneiss, as the disappointed residences shouted, “schist!”
I overwrote the 2-26 file but with two Archaeologica news pages, so I've sorted them (the sort is based on the source URL, rather than title or subject) and didn't edit out the repeats. I didn't get around to using 'em during the week anyway.
Thank God for Salvation through Jesus Christ.
Amen. We in Christ have nothing to fear.
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