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--> YouTube-Generated Transcript <--
· Introduction
0:10 · Over the millennium and a half that separate the rise of Augustus from the fall of Constantinople,
0:16 · there were about 150 Roman emperors. They reigned, on average, 11 years,
0:22 · living to a median age of 51. Not quite half met unnatural ends.
0:29 · Some emperors never received a formal burial. Vitellius,
0:34 · Elagabalus, and Petronius were flung into the Tiber. Constantine II was dumped into
0:41 · the River Alsa. Justinian II and Alexius II were cast into the sea. So was Constantine V,
0:49 · after being posthumously declared a heretic. All that was mortal of Andronicus II was left to rot
0:56 · in a vault of the Hippodrome at Constantinople. The ashes of Phocas were scattered to the winds.
1:04 · The bodies of several emperors, likewise, were never recovered. Decius was lost in the mud of
1:11 · a Balkan swamp. Valens was incinerated in a farmhouse outside Adrianople. The
1:17 · skull of Nicephorus I became a favorite drinking cup of the Bulgar Khan Krum.
· Imperial funerals
1:24 · Most emperors, however, were buried with great ceremony. By the third century,
1:29 · an elaborate ritual had evolved. A wax effigy of the emperor was placed on an ivory couch.
1:36 · It was attended for seven days by the Senate, dressed in mourning black. Then the effigy was
1:41 · brought into the Forum, where choruses sang the emperor's praises. In the Campus Martius,
1:47 · finally, the effigy was placed on a gargantuan pyre, decorated with
1:52 · statues and paintings and packed with incense. Troops of horsemen paraded around the pyre,
1:58 · as did chariots carrying likenesses of famous Romans. When the pyre was lit,
2:03 · an eagle was released from the top to symbolize the flight of the emperor's soul to heaven.
2:09 · Although Septimius Severus and most of his predecessors were cremated,
2:13 · inhumation was standard from the third century onward. The body of Justinian
2:18 · was so well embalmed that the crusaders, pillaging the emperor's sarcophagus more
2:24 · than six centuries after his death, found it almost perfectly preserved.
2:29 · The rest of this video will consider where the Roman emperors were buried,
2:33 · from Augustus in 14 AD to Constantine XI in 1453.
2:39 · I haven't been able to track down every emperor, but I've come close. Buckle up.
· Augustus to Nerva
2:46 · Augustus, the first emperor, designed his own mausoleum. It stood on the
2:51 · northern edge of Rome's Campus Martius, between the Tiber and the Via Flaminia.
2:56 · A vast circular structure with walls of travertine-faced concrete, it was crowned
3:01 · by a terraced roof planted with trees. A long passageway led to the burial chamber,
3:08 · where rows of niches held the cinerary urns of Augustus and his family. One marble urn,
3:13 · belonging to Agrippina the Elder, survived the Middle Ages as a grain measure.
3:13 · Tiberius was buried in the Mausoleum of Augustus. So,
3:18 · presumably, was Claudius. A generation later, the ashes of Nerva were placed there.
3:24 · The less reputable Julio-Claudians were denied admission. Caligula was cremated and buried in
3:31 · the Lamian Gardens on the outskirts of Rome. Although his sisters later exhumed the remains,
3:37 · his ghost reportedly lingered there. Nero's ashes were placed in the tomb of Domitii,
3:43 · his father's family, on the Pincian Hill.
3:46 · Galba was assassinated in the Forum, and his head was paraded around the city on a spear.
3:52 · After various adventures, head and body were reunited and buried in the former emperor's
3:58 · gardens near the Via Aurelia. Otho took his own life outside Brixellum, modern Bresica,
4:05 · and was buried there. Vitellius, struck down near the forum, was hauled to the Tiber with
4:11 · a meat hook. His wife, however, managed to fish the body from the river and bury it near Rome.
4:18 · The Flavian emperors – Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian – all ended up in the Temple of the
4:24 · Gens Flavia, which stood on the Quirinal Hill. Domitian himself was initially buried
4:29 · elsewhere. His faithful nurse, however, smuggled his ashes into the family temple.
· Trajan to Caracalla
4:36 · Trajan's ashes were interred at the base of his namesake column – a signal honor, since the column
4:41 · stood inside the pomerium, the ritual boundary within which burials were normally forbidden.
4:48 · Hadrian built a grandiose mausoleum modeled on that of Augustus, but considerably
4:53 · more elaborate. Every part was sheathed in gleaming marble; colossal statues stood guard
4:59 · on the roof. (Centuries later, during Justinian's reconquest of Italy,
5:04 · they would be hurled down to break the siege ladders of the Goths.) Inside the mausoleum,
5:10 · a circular ramp corkscrewed up to the chamber in which the emperors lay. All this was despoiled
5:16 · long ago, but visitors can still see the papal apartment built over the tomb chamber during
5:21 · the Renaissance, which features a bathroom with frescoes of questionable propriety.
5:28 · Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, Commodus, and Septimius Severus were buried in the
5:34 · Mausoleum of Hadrian. So, eventually, was Caracalla.
· Third Century
5:39 · Severus Alexander was buried just outside Rome in the mausoleum now known as the
5:44 · Monte del Grano. The famous Portland Vase in the British Museum may have contained
5:49 · his ashes. Gallienus was laid to rest in a mausoleum along the Via Appia. Aurelian
5:56 · was probably also buried at Rome, but the location of his tomb is unknown.
6:02 · A series of third-century emperors were buried far from Rome. Gordian III was
6:08 · buried at Zaitha in Mesopotamia; Hostilian, at Viminacium on the
6:13 · Danube frontier. Valerian was probably buried at Gundeshapur in modern Iran,
6:20 · where he had been taken as a captive of the Persian emperor. It would later be rumored
6:25 · that the Persians had Valerian's corpse flayed, stuffed, and displayed in a temple.
6:31 · Claudius Gothicus was felled by a plague at Sirmium,
6:34 · and likely buried there. A fever claimed Tacitus at Tyana; as far as we know,
6:41 · there he remained. Carus was reportedly incinerated by a lightning bolt near the
6:46 · Persian capital at Ctesiphon. If so, he would have been buried on the spot.
· Tetrarchs and Constantine
6:53 · Moving on to the Tetrarchy, Diocletian was buried in his retirement villa, so massive that its walls
6:58 · still contain the entire old town of Split, Croatia. In one of those ironies of history,
7:05 · the arch-persecutor's mausoleum became a Christian cathedral. Diocletian's co-emperor Maximian seems
7:12 · to have been buried in Marseille; a medieval legend claimed that his body was later discovered,
7:18 · perfectly preserved, floating in a pool of perfumed oil. Galerius was buried just
7:24 · outside the massive fortified palace he had built for himself at Felix Romuliana,
7:29 · now in eastern Serbia. Constantius Chlorus died at York, but was probably buried at Trier.
7:37 · Constantine established the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople, where he and many
7:42 · other emperors would eventually be entombed. Before discussing that remarkable complex,
7:48 · however, let's focus on the final rulers of the Western Roman Empire,
7:51 · who were left out of Constantine's mausoleum.
7:55 · During the fifth century, four emperors were buried in Rome.
· Last emperors of the west
8:00 · Honorius was buried in a mausoleum beside old St. Peter's Basilica. Valentinian III
8:05 · and (probably) Severus and Olybrius were laid in the same structure. When the mausoleum was
8:12 · demolished in the 16th century, the sarcophagus of Honorius' wife, was discovered. Honorius himself
8:18 · and the emperors buried with him, however, still lie undisturbed beneath the church.
8:24 · Gratian and Valentinian II were buried by St. Ambrose in Milan. Avitus was buried at Brioude,
8:32 · now in central France. Majorian was probably buried at Tortona in northern Italy. After a
8:40 · brief stint as emperor, Glycerius was deposed and made bishop of Salona, now in Croatia, where he
8:46 · was eventually buried. Before his demise, however, he seems to have orchestrated the assassination of
8:53 · his successor Julius Nepos, who had also been exiled to the vicinity. Romulus Augustulus,
9:00 · the final western Roman emperor, lived out his days near Naples, and was buried there.
· Early and Middle Byzantine emperors
9:06 · Returning to the Eastern Roman Empire – Constantine was buried
9:09 · in a circular mausoleum beside the Church of the Holy Apostles
9:13 · at Constantinople. Over the following seven centuries, that mausoleum and
9:18 · another constructed by Justinian would accumulate dozens of imperial sarcophagi.
9:24 · For reasons ranging from personal devotion to deposition,
9:28 · some emperors were buried elsewhere in and around Constantinople. After 1028,
9:34 · when the mausoleums of the Holy Apostles were completely full, the practice became universal.
9:40 · A few emperors were buried outside Constantinople. Constans II was buried in Syracuse. Leontius,
9:48 · Tiberius III, Leo V, and Romanus IV were all buried on Prote, one of the
9:54 · Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara. Another of the Princes' Islands, Prinkipo,
9:59 · was briefly the resting place of Empress Irene. The tomb of Michael V was on Chios. Michael I
10:07 · was buried at Satyros in Bithynia. Theodosius III, who became bishop of Ephesus after being deposed,
10:14 · was buried in that city; his tomb became famous as a place of miraculous cures.
· Comneni and Palaiologoi
10:21 · The Comnenian Dynasty established a family mausoleum at the Pantokrator Monastery in
10:26 · Constantinople, now Zeyrek Mosque. John II and Manuel I were buried here. Alexius I,
10:35 · the dynasty's founder, was buried at Pammakaristos Monastery, now Fethiye Mosque.
10:43 · After the crusaders took Constantinople in 1204, several Byzantine successor states
10:48 · rose in the provinces. The most significant of these, the Empire of Nicaea, was founded
10:54 · by Theodore Laskaris, who was buried in the city he had chosen as his capital.
11:00 · His successors John III and Theodore II were buried in Magnesia ad Sipylum,
11:06 · and John IV – the last of the line – was buried on the Asian coast of the Sea of Marmara.
11:13 · Michael VIII, who retook Constantinople and founded the Palaiologan Dynasty,
11:18 · was denied burial in the imperial city due to a religious controversy;
11:23 · his remains were interred at a monastery in Selymbria, Thrace. John VI,
11:29 · a later member of the dynasty, was buried at Mystra, near ancient Sparta.
11:35 · The rest of the Palaiologans were buried in Constantinople. Andronicus II, buried
11:40 · at the Monastery of Constantine Lips, is the only Roman emperor whose remains have been discovered
11:45 · by archaeologists. Andronicus III and John V ended up at the Monastery of Panagia Hodegetria,
11:54 · now on the grounds of Topkapı Palace. Andronicus IV, Manuel II, and John
12:01 · VIII were all interred near their Comnenian predecessors at the Pantokrator Monastery.
12:07 · Constantine XI, the last of the Roman emperors,
12:10 · died fighting beneath the walls of Constantinople. His body was never found.
· Final thoughts
12:17 · Looking at the map of all the burials discussed in this video, some clear patterns emerge.
12:23 · Unsurprisingly, most emperors were buried in Rome or Constantinople. Emperors were buried elsewhere
12:29 · either because they fell in battle, because they were exiled, or because they had established a
12:34 · capital in the provinces. To be buried in a place, after all, is to claim it.
12:42 · If you'd like to claim your place on my upcoming trips to Rome and Eastern Turkey,
12:48 · follow the link in the description. The Turkey trip includes an excursion in Istanbul,
12:53 · where we'll see the remains of several imperial tombs. You'll find the latest
12:58 · episode in my "Rome in Review" series, which investigates the 1963 film Cleopatra,
13:04 · on Patreon, also linked below. Finally, for more historical content, check out my other channels,
13:12 · Toldinstone Footnotes and Scenic Routes to the Past. Thanks for watching.

--> YouTube-Generated Transcript <--
	·	Introduction
0:10	·	Over the millennium and a half that separate the rise of Augustus from the fall of Constantinople,
0:16	·	there were about 150 Roman emperors. They reigned, on average, 11 years,
0:22	·	living to a median age of 51. Not quite half met unnatural ends.
0:29	·	Some emperors never received a formal burial. Vitellius,
0:34	·	Elagabalus, and Petronius were flung into the Tiber. Constantine II was dumped into
0:41	·	the River Alsa. Justinian II and Alexius II were cast into the sea. So was Constantine V,
0:49	·	after being posthumously declared a heretic. All that was mortal of Andronicus II was left to rot
0:56	·	in a vault of the Hippodrome at Constantinople. The ashes of Phocas were scattered to the winds.
1:04	·	The bodies of several emperors, likewise, were never recovered. Decius was lost in the mud of
1:11	·	a Balkan swamp. Valens was incinerated in a farmhouse outside Adrianople. The
1:17	·	skull of Nicephorus I became a favorite drinking cup of the Bulgar Khan Krum.
	·	Imperial funerals
1:24	·	Most emperors, however, were buried with great ceremony. By the third century,
1:29	·	an elaborate ritual had evolved. A wax effigy of the emperor was placed on an ivory couch.
1:36	·	It was attended for seven days by the Senate, dressed in mourning black. Then the effigy was
1:41	·	brought into the Forum, where choruses sang the emperor's praises. In the Campus Martius,
1:47	·	finally, the effigy was placed on a gargantuan pyre, decorated with
1:52	·	statues and paintings and packed with incense. Troops of horsemen paraded around the pyre,
1:58	·	as did chariots carrying likenesses of famous Romans. When the pyre was lit,
2:03	·	an eagle was released from the top to symbolize the flight of the emperor's soul to heaven.
2:09	·	Although Septimius Severus and most of his predecessors were cremated,
2:13	·	inhumation was standard from the third century onward. The body of Justinian
2:18	·	was so well embalmed that the crusaders, pillaging the emperor's sarcophagus more
2:24	·	than six centuries after his death, found it almost perfectly preserved.
2:29	·	The rest of this video will consider where the Roman emperors were buried,
2:33	·	from Augustus in 14 AD to Constantine XI in 1453.
2:39	·	I haven't been able to track down every emperor, but I've come close. Buckle up.
	·	Augustus to Nerva
2:46	·	Augustus, the first emperor, designed his own mausoleum. It stood on the
2:51	·	northern edge of Rome's Campus Martius, between the Tiber and the Via Flaminia.
2:56	·	A vast circular structure with walls of travertine-faced concrete, it was crowned
3:01	·	by a terraced roof planted with trees. A long passageway led to the burial chamber,
3:08	·	where rows of niches held the cinerary urns of Augustus and his family. One marble urn,
3:13	·	belonging to Agrippina the Elder, survived the Middle Ages as a grain measure.
3:13	·	Tiberius was buried in the Mausoleum of Augustus. So,
3:18	·	presumably, was Claudius. A generation later, the ashes of Nerva were placed there.
3:24	·	The less reputable Julio-Claudians were denied admission. Caligula was cremated and buried in
3:31	·	the Lamian Gardens on the outskirts of Rome. Although his sisters later exhumed the remains,
3:37	·	his ghost reportedly lingered there. Nero's ashes were placed in the tomb of Domitii,
3:43	·	his father's family, on the Pincian Hill.
3:46	·	Galba was assassinated in the Forum, and his head was paraded around the city on a spear.
3:52	·	After various adventures, head and body were reunited and buried in the former emperor's
3:58	·	gardens near the Via Aurelia. Otho took his own life outside Brixellum, modern Bresica,
4:05	·	and was buried there. Vitellius, struck down near the forum, was hauled to the Tiber with
4:11	·	a meat hook. His wife, however, managed to fish the body from the river and bury it near Rome.
4:18	·	The Flavian emperors – Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian – all ended up in the Temple of the
4:24	·	Gens Flavia, which stood on the Quirinal Hill. Domitian himself was initially buried
4:29	·	elsewhere. His faithful nurse, however, smuggled his ashes into the family temple.
	·	Trajan to Caracalla
4:36	·	Trajan's ashes were interred at the base of his namesake column – a signal honor, since the column
4:41	·	stood inside the pomerium, the ritual boundary within which burials were normally forbidden.
4:48	·	Hadrian built a grandiose mausoleum modeled on that of Augustus, but considerably
4:53	·	more elaborate. Every part was sheathed in gleaming marble; colossal statues stood guard
4:59	·	on the roof. (Centuries later, during Justinian's reconquest of Italy,
5:04	·	they would be hurled down to break the siege ladders of the Goths.) Inside the mausoleum,
5:10	·	a circular ramp corkscrewed up to the chamber in which the emperors lay. All this was despoiled
5:16	·	long ago, but visitors can still see the papal apartment built over the tomb chamber during
5:21	·	the Renaissance, which features a bathroom with frescoes of questionable propriety.
5:28	·	Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, Commodus, and Septimius Severus were buried in the
5:34	·	Mausoleum of Hadrian. So, eventually, was Caracalla.
	·	Third Century
5:39	·	Severus Alexander was buried just outside Rome in the mausoleum now known as the
5:44	·	Monte del Grano. The famous Portland Vase in the British Museum may have contained
5:49	·	his ashes. Gallienus was laid to rest in a mausoleum along the Via Appia. Aurelian
5:56	·	was probably also buried at Rome, but the location of his tomb is unknown.
6:02	·	A series of third-century emperors were buried far from Rome. Gordian III was
6:08	·	buried at Zaitha in Mesopotamia; Hostilian, at Viminacium on the
6:13	·	Danube frontier. Valerian was probably buried at Gundeshapur in modern Iran,
6:20	·	where he had been taken as a captive of the Persian emperor. It would later be rumored
6:25	·	that the Persians had Valerian's corpse flayed, stuffed, and displayed in a temple.
6:31	·	Claudius Gothicus was felled by a plague at Sirmium,
6:34	·	and likely buried there. A fever claimed Tacitus at Tyana; as far as we know,
6:41	·	there he remained. Carus was reportedly incinerated by a lightning bolt near the
6:46	·	Persian capital at Ctesiphon. If so, he would have been buried on the spot.
	·	Tetrarchs and Constantine
6:53	·	Moving on to the Tetrarchy, Diocletian was buried in his retirement villa, so massive that its walls
6:58	·	still contain the entire old town of Split, Croatia. In one of those ironies of history,
7:05	·	the arch-persecutor's mausoleum became a Christian cathedral. Diocletian's co-emperor Maximian seems
7:12	·	to have been buried in Marseille; a medieval legend claimed that his body was later discovered,
7:18	·	perfectly preserved, floating in a pool of perfumed oil. Galerius was buried just
7:24	·	outside the massive fortified palace he had built for himself at Felix Romuliana,
7:29	·	now in eastern Serbia. Constantius Chlorus died at York, but was probably buried at Trier.
7:37	·	Constantine established the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople, where he and many
7:42	·	other emperors would eventually be entombed. Before discussing that remarkable complex,
7:48	·	however, let's focus on the final rulers of the Western Roman Empire,
7:51	·	who were left out of Constantine's mausoleum.
7:55	·	During the fifth century, four emperors were buried in Rome.
	·	Last emperors of the west
8:00	·	Honorius was buried in a mausoleum beside old St. Peter's Basilica. Valentinian III
8:05	·	and (probably) Severus and Olybrius were laid in the same structure. When the mausoleum was
8:12	·	demolished in the 16th century, the sarcophagus of Honorius' wife, was discovered. Honorius himself
8:18	·	and the emperors buried with him, however, still lie undisturbed beneath the church.
8:24	·	Gratian and Valentinian II were buried by St. Ambrose in Milan. Avitus was buried at Brioude,
8:32	·	now in central France. Majorian was probably buried at Tortona in northern Italy. After a
8:40	·	brief stint as emperor, Glycerius was deposed and made bishop of Salona, now in Croatia, where he
8:46	·	was eventually buried. Before his demise, however, he seems to have orchestrated the assassination of
8:53	·	his successor Julius Nepos, who had also been exiled to the vicinity. Romulus Augustulus,
9:00	·	the final western Roman emperor, lived out his days near Naples, and was buried there.
	·	Early and Middle Byzantine emperors
9:06	·	Returning to the Eastern Roman Empire – Constantine was buried
9:09	·	in a circular mausoleum beside the Church of the Holy Apostles
9:13	·	at Constantinople. Over the following seven centuries, that mausoleum and
9:18	·	another constructed by Justinian would accumulate dozens of imperial sarcophagi.
9:24	·	For reasons ranging from personal devotion to deposition,
9:28	·	some emperors were buried elsewhere in and around Constantinople. After 1028,
9:34	·	when the mausoleums of the Holy Apostles were completely full, the practice became universal.
9:40	·	A few emperors were buried outside Constantinople. Constans II was buried in Syracuse. Leontius,
9:48	·	Tiberius III, Leo V, and Romanus IV were all buried on Prote, one of the
9:54	·	Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara. Another of the Princes' Islands, Prinkipo,
9:59	·	was briefly the resting place of Empress Irene. The tomb of Michael V was on Chios. Michael I
10:07	·	was buried at Satyros in Bithynia. Theodosius III, who became bishop of Ephesus after being deposed,
10:14	·	was buried in that city; his tomb became famous as a place of miraculous cures.
	·	Comneni and Palaiologoi
10:21	·	The Comnenian Dynasty established a family mausoleum at the Pantokrator Monastery in
10:26	·	Constantinople, now Zeyrek Mosque. John II and Manuel I were buried here. Alexius I,
10:35	·	the dynasty's founder, was buried at Pammakaristos Monastery, now Fethiye Mosque.
10:43	·	After the crusaders took Constantinople in 1204, several Byzantine successor states
10:48	·	rose in the provinces. The most significant of these, the Empire of Nicaea, was founded
10:54	·	by Theodore Laskaris, who was buried in the city he had chosen as his capital.
11:00	·	His successors John III and Theodore II were buried in Magnesia ad Sipylum,
11:06	·	and John IV – the last of the line – was buried on the Asian coast of the Sea of Marmara.
11:13	·	Michael VIII, who retook Constantinople and founded the Palaiologan Dynasty,
11:18	·	was denied burial in the imperial city due to a religious controversy;
11:23	·	his remains were interred at a monastery in Selymbria, Thrace. John VI,
11:29	·	a later member of the dynasty, was buried at Mystra, near ancient Sparta.
11:35	·	The rest of the Palaiologans were buried in Constantinople. Andronicus II, buried
11:40	·	at the Monastery of Constantine Lips, is the only Roman emperor whose remains have been discovered
11:45	·	by archaeologists. Andronicus III and John V ended up at the Monastery of Panagia Hodegetria,
11:54	·	now on the grounds of Topkapı Palace. Andronicus IV, Manuel II, and John
12:01	·	VIII were all interred near their Comnenian predecessors at the Pantokrator Monastery.
12:07	·	Constantine XI, the last of the Roman emperors,
12:10	·	died fighting beneath the walls of Constantinople. His body was never found.
	·	Final thoughts
12:17	·	Looking at the map of all the burials discussed in this video, some clear patterns emerge.
12:23	·	Unsurprisingly, most emperors were buried in Rome or Constantinople. Emperors were buried elsewhere
12:29	·	either because they fell in battle, because they were exiled, or because they had established a
12:34	·	capital in the provinces. To be buried in a place, after all, is to claim it.
12:42	·	If you'd like to claim your place on my upcoming trips to Rome and Eastern Turkey,
12:48	·	follow the link in the description. The Turkey trip includes an excursion in Istanbul,
12:53	·	where we'll see the remains of several imperial tombs. You'll find the latest
12:58	·	episode in my "Rome in Review" series, which investigates the 1963 film Cleopatra,
13:04	·	on Patreon, also linked below. Finally, for more historical content, check out my other channels,
13:12	·	Toldinstone Footnotes and Scenic Routes to the Past. Thanks for watching.