The Forgotten Tomb of a Roman Emperor [4:01]

Message from Jim Robinson:

Dear FRiends,

We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.

If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:

Click here: to donate by Credit Card

Or here: to donate by PayPal

Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794

Thank you very much and God bless you,

Jim

Transcript

In northeastern Spain, just outside the city of Tarragona, ancient Torocco is the Roman complex of Sensei. There was a villa on this site in the early imperial era. Sometime in the 4th century, however, that villa was replaced by a mysterious monumental complex focused on a huge domed structure. Visitors first encounter the remains of the villa’s private bath. There are actually two baths here, one older than the other. Both preserve traces of the hypocaust system that heated them.

The baths stood at the western end of the late antique complex whose principal rooms extended along a landscaped courtyard. At the center, looming over everything else, was the huge domed room. The massively thick walls and rotunda built of lime-mortared brick are still entirely preserved. They sheltered a church for much of the Middle Ages. During the 19th century, a three-story farmhouse was built inside. Only then was it discovered that the rotunda was still decorated with elaborate late Roman mosaics.

Originally, the dome mosaics included about a million tesserae. Although many of these have fallen away, the basic iconographic scheme can still be glimpsed. The mosaics were organized into three concentric registers. The lowest of these, which is also the best preserved, showed scenes of hunting. The hunters ride out from the villa, capture deer in nets, and return triumphantly.

The central figure in the hunting party was likely the owner of the property. In the middle register are scenes from the Bible. Both the Old and New Testaments are represented. We can still identify Jonah and the whale, Noah’s ark, Daniel in the lion’s den, and Jesus as the good shepherd. These tell us that the owner of the complex was a Christian. Although the upper register is badly damaged, it appears to have shown four enthroned figures separated by personifications of the seasons. The central round in the highest part of the dome has almost completely disappeared.

Ever since they were discovered, the mosaics of Sensei have prompted vigorous debate about the purpose of the structure they decorated. There’s a crypt long empty beneath the dome room which suggests that it served as a mausoleum. Fragments of a pfery sarcophagus reportedly taken from the structure during the Middle Ages can be found in a nearby monastery.

Since only emperors were buried in Pfery, this has led some scholars to suggest that Constans, the youngest son of Constantine, was buried here. Constans was assassinated while hunting in the Pyrenees in the year 350. The usurper who replaced him, Magnentius, may have installed his predecessor’s body in an unfinished imperial villa in an attempt to win over Constantius II, the brother of Constans.

Alternatively, the domed room may have served as the mausoleum of a local aristocratic family, a church, or the center of a military complex. Unless additional evidence comes to light, Sensei will remain one of the great mysteries of Roman Spain.

Check my website linked below for the latest historical tours. Thanks for watching.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.