Secrets of the Dead (2000–…): Season 6, Episode 4 - Headless Romans - full transcript
What happened to the 30 Romans whose decapitated bodies were found buried in York, the town from which in the 3rd century A.D. the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus and his sons Caracalla and Geta led a brutal campaign against the Scots.
Announcer: COMING UP ON
"SECRETS OF THE DEAD"...
AT AN ANCIENT ROMAN GRAVEYARD,
ARCHAEOLOGISTS MAKE
A SHOCKING DISCOVERY.
Woman: THE FINDING OF
THESE DECAPITATED BODIES IS
VERY SIGNIFICANT INDEED.
NOTHING LIKE THIS HAS
EVER BEEN FOUND IN BRITAIN.
Announcer: THE CONDITION
OF THE SKELETON SUGGESTS
A VIOLENT DEATH.
THIS ONE HAS GOT ONE VERY,
VERY SHARP, CLEAN CUT
THROUGH THE THIRD
CERVICAL VERTEBRAE.
WHO WERE THESE POOR SOULS
AND WHY WERE THEY
SO HORRIBLY ABUSED?
"HEADLESS ROMANS"
ON "SECRETS OF THE DEAD."
CAPTIONING MADE POSSIBLE BY
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
"SECRETS OF THE DEAD"
WAS MADE POSSIBLE
BY CONTRIBUTIONS
TO YOUR PBS STATION
FROM VIEWERS LIKE YOU.
Narrator:
IN 2005, ARCHAEOLOGISTS
MADE A STARTLING DISCOVERY
BENEATH THE CITY OF YORK,
ENGLAND.
WHILE EXCAVATING
A SMALL PLOT OF LAND,
THEY STUMBLED UPON
MORE THAN 30 SKELETONS IN
AN ANCIENT ROMAN CEMETERY.
THE NUMBER OF BODIES WAS NOT
SURPRISING FOR A GRAVEYARD
BUT THEIR CONDITION WAS.
MOST HAD BEEN DECAPITATED.
THE HEADS HAD BEEN POSITIONED
AT VARIOUS ODD PLACES
AROUND THE BODIES...
SOME BETWEEN THE KNEES,
SOME IN THE MIDSECTION,
OTHERS AT THE FEET.
ONE CORPSE WAS FOUND
WITH HEAVY IRON RINGS
STILL ATTACHED TO ITS ANKLES.
NOTHING LIKE IT
FROM THE ROMAN WORLD
HAD EVER BEEN SEEN.
THE FIND SENT SHOCKWAVES THROUGH
THE ARCHEOLOGICAL WORLD.
FROM DAY ONE WHEN THE FIRST
DECAPITATED BURIAL APPEARED,
I THINK... I PERSONALLY FELT,
YOU KNOW, WE'D HIT
THE JACKPOT, REALLY.
THIS WAS SOMETHING
NOT ONLY IMPORTANT
IN A YORK CONTEXT,
BUT SOMETHING WHICH WAS GOING
TO BE IMPORTANT NATIONALLY,
EVEN INTERNATIONALLY.
THE FINDING OF THESE
30 DECAPITATED BODIES IS
VERY, VERY SIGNIFICANT INDEED.
IT'S UNIQUE.
AS FAR AS I'M AWARE, NOTHING
LIKE THIS HAS EVER BEEN FOUND
IN BRITAIN.
IT REPRESENTS A VERY, VERY
SYMBOLIC MASSACRE IN SOME WAY
AND WAS SOMETHING
WHICH PERHAPS
HAD NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE
IN THE HISTORY OF ROMAN BRITAIN,
AND PERHAPS NEVER
HAPPENED AGAIN.
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN
SOMETHING THAT PEOPLE
WOULD HAVE REMEMBERED
FOR A LONG, LONG TIME
AFTER IT HAPPENED.
Narrator: BUT AFTER
THOUSANDS OF YEARS,
FINDING OUT WHO THESE BODIES
HAD BELONGED TO
AND WHY THEY HAD BEEN BURIED
SO CALLOUSLY
WOULD BE NO EASY FEAT.
IT WOULD TAKE A DEDICATED
TEAM OF EXPERTS
AND A CAREFUL COMBINATION
OF HISTORICAL SLEUTHING
AND FORENSIC INVESTIGATION.
I THINK I CAN GIVE YOU
A GOOD SUGGESTION
AS TO WHEN THIS HAPPENED,
WHY IT HAPPENED,
AND EVEN GIVE YOU THE NAMES OF
TWO OR THREE OF THE VICTIMS.
Narrator: THE REVELATION
WOULD SHED NEW LIGHT
ON A KEY TURNING POINT
IN ANCIENT ROMAN HISTORY.
THE DESECRATED
BODIES WOULD PROVIDE
PHYSICAL CORROBORATION
OF AN ASSASSINATION
ATTEMPT ON AN EMPEROR,
A POWER STRUGGLE BETWEEN
TWO ROYAL BROTHERS...
AND THE HIGH PRICE OF LOYALTY
WITHIN THE GREATEST EMPIRE OF
THE ANCIENT WORLD.
IN 43 A.D.,
THE IRON AGE TRIBAL PEOPLE
OF BRITAIN WERE
ABOUT TO EXPERIENCE THE MIGHT
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
THEY HAD BEEN IN CONTACT
AND TRADING
WITH THE EUROPEAN MAINLAND
FOR CENTURIES.
BUT NOW, THE ROMANS HAD DECIDED
IT WAS TIME TO CONQUER.
THE ANCIENT BRITONS
STOOD LITTLE CHANCE
AGAINST THE HIGHLY-SKILLED
ROMAN ARMY.
THEY WERE QUICKLY OVERCOME,
AND AS THE ROMANS TOOK CONTROL,
THEY BROUGHT WITH THEM
AN ENTIRELY NEW WAY OF LIFE.
THE ROMAN INVADERS
QUICKLY ESTABLISHED
NEW TOWNS AND CITIES,
WITH AN ARCHITECTURAL
STYLE AND SCALE NEVER BEFORE
SEEN ON BRITISH SOIL.
THEY INTRODUCED NEW ART
AND EXOTIC NEW GODS
FROM THE CLASSICAL WORLD.
THEY ENCOURAGED THE BUILDING
OF TEMPLES AND BATHHOUSES...
BEAUTIFUL PLACES OF
VENERATION AND RELAXATION.
TRADE FLOURISHED
UNDER ROMAN RULE.
GOODS AND FOODS
FROM EVERY CORNER OF
THE EMPIRE BEGAN FLOWING
INTO THE LAND
THEY HAD RENAMED BRITANNIA.
THE CHANGES TRANSFORMED
EVERY ASPECT OF LIFE
AND CREATED
MAJOR URBAN CENTERS
CONNECTED BY A VAST NETWORK
OF NEWLY-CONSTRUCTED ROADS.
THE DEVELOPMENT EXPANDED
THE BOUNDARIES OF THE EMPIRE,
PUSHING NORTH ALL THE WAY
TO WHAT IS TODAY THE BORDER
OF ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.
HERE, THE ROMANS BUILT A MASSIVE
WALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY...
80 MILES LONG
FROM COAST TO COAST.
DEDICATED
TO THE EMPEROR HADRIAN,
IT SIGNIFIED THE NORTHERN
FRONTIER OF THE EMPIRE.
BUT ITS REAL PURPOSE WAS TO KEEP
OUT THE FIERCE CALEDONIANS...
A PEOPLE THE ROMANS
CALLED BARBARIANS...
A PEOPLE THEY
WERE NEVER ABLE TO CONQUER.
TO HELP COORDINATE THE DEFENSE
OF BRITANNIA,
THE ROMANS ALSO BUILT
A STRONG FORTRESS TOWN
AT A PLACE CALLED EBORACUM.
TODAY, THE CITY OF YORK STANDS
ON THE SITE OF
THAT MAJOR ROMAN STRONGHOLD.
ITS LONG HISTORY HAS
MADE IT AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL
TREASURE TROVE.
AND ONLY A STONE'S THROW FROM
THE CITY CENTER IS
WHERE THE ROMAN GRAVEYARD
CONTAINING THE DECAPITATED
BODIES WAS FOUND IN 2005.
AS IS COMMON IN SUCH
A HISTORICALLY LUSH CITY,
THE EXCAVATION WAS COMMISSIONED
PRIOR TO A NEW DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT.
BUT ALTHOUGH THE YORK
ARCHEOLOGICAL TRUST HAD AN IDEA
THEY WERE DIGGING IN A CEMETERY,
THEY WERE NOT
PREPARED FOR THE STATE
OF THE BODIES WITHIN IT.
Man: IT WAS AN AMAZING MOMENT.
I REMEMBER STANDING
WITH OUR SITE MANAGER,
AND WE LOOKED AT THE FIRST
DECAPITATED BURIAL.
AND HE SAID TO ME, "YOU
KNOW, THERE IS SOMETHING
STRANGE ABOUT THIS ONE."
AND SURE ENOUGH, THERE WAS.
THE SKULL HAD BEEN TAKEN OFF
AND PUT DOWN BY THE FEET,
AS I RECALL.
THEN WE STARTED
FINDING OTHER THINGS
WHICH WERE RATHER UNUSUAL,
LIKE A SKELETON
WITH THESE GREAT,
THICK IRON RINGS...
SHACKLES, IF YOU WILL...
AROUND ITS ANKLES.
Narrator: IN ONE GRAVE,
TWO SKELETONS HAD BEEN
BURIED TOGETHER.
AND FORENSIC TESTS
REVEALED THAT BIZARRELY,
THEIR HEADS HAD BEEN SWAPPED.
ANOTHER SKELETON HAD BEEN BURIED
FACE-DOWN.
ROMANS NORMALLY
CREMATED THEIR DEAD
OR PLACED THEM FACE-UP,
LIKE WE DO TODAY.
SO THE TEAM IMMEDIATELY
KNEW SOMETHING WAS AMISS.
THERE ARE ALL SORTS OF UNUSUAL
THINGS ABOUT THIS CEMETERY
WHICH HAVE COME TO LIGHT,
NOT ONLY DURING THE EXCAVATION,
BUT ALSO IN THE RESEARCH
THAT HAS TAKEN PLACE
AFTERWARDS.
30 OUT OF
56 SKELETONS...
Narrator: IN YORK'S
MEDIEVAL GUILDHALL,
THE 30 DECAPITATED
SKELETONS HAVE BEEN
LAID OUT FOR EXAMINATION.
HUMAN BONE SPECIALISTS
KATIE TUCKER
AND CHARLOTTE ROBERTS
ARE ANALYZING THE REMAINS.
THEIR FIRST DISCOVERY IS
THAT ALL
THE SKELETONS WERE MALE,
AND ALL HAD BEEN BETWEEN
20 AND 40 WHEN THEY DIED.
SO WHAT HAVE YOU FOUND
ON THIS ONE?
WELL, THIS ONE HAS
GOT ONE VERY, VERY
SHARP, CLEAN CUT
THROUGH THE THIRD
CERVICAL VERTEBRAE.
IT'S AN ABSOLUTELY
WONDERFUL CUT,
ISN'T IT?
IT IS. IT'S VERY
NICE, YEAH.
THE CUT MARK
RIGHT ACROSS
THE VERTEBRAE THERE
AND ACROSS HERE.
AND THEY FIT LIKE
A JIGSAW PUZZLE
TOGETHER.
Narrator: TUCKER
AND ROBERTS ARE USING
THE LATEST
MICROSCOPE TECHNOLOGY
TO ANALYZE THE BONES.
THEY ARE HOPING
THE THREE-DIMENSIONAL
IMAGES WILL REVEAL
EXACTLY HOW THIS MAN
WAS DECAPITATED.
SO WE'RE LOOKING AT, HERE,
AT ONE OF
THE NECK VERTEBRAE
WHICH HAS
BEEN CUT THROUGH
FROM THE BACK.
SO YOU GOT THE CUT MARK
GOING ALL THE WAY DOWN HERE.
IT'S VERY STRAIGHT.
IT'S GOT SMOOTH EDGES,
POLISHED.
IN FACT, THE EDGES
OF THE CUT MARK ARE
THE SAME COLOR
AS THE REST OF THE BONE.
AND YOU CAN SEE, EVEN HERE,
THE DETAIL OF THE WEAPON
THAT CAUSED THE INJURY.
YEAH.
THE SCRATCH MARKS
FROM THE WEAPON,
CLEARLY VISUALIZED
ON THE IMAGE THERE.
Narrator: THE SMOOTH EDGES
OF THE WOUND REVEAL
THAT THE HEAD
HAD BEEN SEVERED
WITH ONE DECISIVE BLOW
TO THE NECK.
IT WAS A CLEAN CUT MADE
WITH A SHARP SWORD OR AX
THAT SLICED RIGHT THROUGH
THE FOURTH VERTEBRAE.
BUT IT'S UNCLEAR WHETHER
THE BLOW WAS DELIVERED
WHILE THE VICTIM
WAS STILL ALIVE
OR AFTER HE
WAS ALREADY DEAD.
IF IT WAS POST-MORTEM,
IT MIGHT INDICATE
SOME KIND OF MACABRE
ROMAN BURIAL RITE,
PERHAPS MEANT TO PROTECT
THE LIVING
FROM SOMEONE SO FEARSOME, HE
COULD HURT THEM EVEN IN DEATH.
Man: THE ROMANS WERE VERY
SUPERSTITIOUS AND WERE
VERY FEARFUL OF THE DEAD.
THE DEAD WERE FEARED BECAUSE
THEY BOTH POLLUTED
AND ALSO THERE WAS A FEAR
THAT THEY MAY COME
AND HAUNT AS WELL.
SO THE ROMANS' VIEW
OF THE DEAD WAS
SOMETHING TO KEEP AT ARM'S
LENGTH AS FAR AS POSSIBLE.
ONE OF THE WAYS I THINK
THEY MAY HAVE DONE THAT IS
THROUGH THIS RITE
OF DECAPITATION.
Narrator: OR A BEHEADING RITUAL
COULD HAVE BEEN MEANT
NOT TO PROTECT THE LIVING,
BUT TO PUNISH THE DEAD.
ONE OF THE IDEAS WE HAVE TO
THINK ABOUT WITH THESE BODIES
IS THAT THEY WERE TREATED
IN THIS WAY
AS AN ACT OF HUMILIATION,
OF DEGRADATION, OF SHAMING.
THE IDEA OF DECAPITATION...
TAKING THE HEAD OFF...
THAT TAKES AWAY YOUR IDENTITY.
AND THAT'S SOMETHING
WHICH COULD HAVE BEEN
A VERY POWERFUL MESSAGE.
AND IT PERHAPS ALSO STOPS YOU
BECAUSE IT ENACTS VIOLENCE
ON THE BODY.
IT FRAGMENTS THE BODY.
IT MEANS THAT
IN THE OTHER WORLD,
YOU CAN'T GET TOGETHER AGAIN
AS A HUMAN BEING.
AND SO IT'S A HUGELY
DISGRACING THING.
IT TAKES AWAY YOUR PERSONALITY.
IT TAKES AWAY WHO YOU ARE,
AND YOU JUST BECOME A BODY.
AND YOUR HEAD, YOUR PERSONALITY,
YOUR IDENTITY IS ALL GONE.
YEAH... POTENTIALLY, THIS
ONE'S PROBABLY GOT ONES
THAT HAVE COME IN
FROM THE FRONT AS WELL,
BUT MOST OF THEM SEEM
TO BE FROM BEHIND.
Narrator: BOTH
POST-MORTEM THEORIES
SEEM PLAUSIBLE,
UNTIL FURTHER ANALYSIS
OF ONE SKELETON
POINTS TO BEHEADING
AT THE TIME OF DEATH,
NOT AFTERWARDS.
THIS MAN
HAS 11 DIFFERENT INJURIES
ON HIS VERTEBRAE AND JAW.
THE WOUNDS WOULD SEEM
TO INDICATE A STRUGGLE.
SEE? THIS CUT'S
COME IN HERE.
IT'S GONE INTO
THE BODY, BUT NOT GONE
ALL THE WAY THROUGH.
AND THEN IT'S KIND OF
FRACTURED OFF THE BONE HERE.
THERE'S ANOTHER CUT
AT THE BOTTOM AS WELL.
AGAIN, IT'S COMING
FROM THE FRONT.
IT'S CUT INTO THE BODY
AND HAS STOPPED.
SO YOU'VE GOT
A MIXTURE OF CUTS
FROM THE FRONT,
BACK, AND SIDE
ON THIS PERSON.
YEAH. HE HAS GOT
A LITTLE SLICE TAKEN OUT
THE FRONT OF HIS MANDIBLE.
OH, YEAH. SHALL I
HAVE A LOOK AT THAT?
SEE THERE?
OH, YEAH.
IT'S JUST KIND OF CAUGHT
THE FRONT OF THE MANDIBLE.
IT SEEMS TO HAVE COME
IN FROM THIS SIDE.
YES.
INTERESTINGLY
AS WELL, HE SEEMS TO
HAVE CRANIAL TRAUMA.
THE MAN HAD RECEIVED
A POWERFUL BLOW TO
THE FRONT OF HIS HEAD,
CAUSING A FRACTURE
THAT RADIATED OUT FROM
THE POINT OF IMPACT.
WHAT ORDER DO
YOU THINK THESE THINGS
WERE HAPPENING IN?
WELL, OBVIOUSLY
A VERY, VERY
HORRENDOUS DEATH.
I WONDER WHETHER
THE HEAD INJURY WAS
THE FIRST THING
TO HAPPEN,
AND MAYBE THAT
MADE HIM END UP
ON THE GROUND.
AND THEN THEY
TRIED TO HACK
HIS HEAD OFF.
TRY IT FROM THE FRONT,
MAYBE ROLLED HIM OVER
AND DID IT FROM
THE BACK AS WELL,
AND FROM THE SIDE,
AND EVENTUALLY
HIS HEAD CAME OFF.
BUT IT WOULD HAVE
TAKEN QUITE SOME
TIME TO DO THAT,
ON THE BASIS OF
THE NUMBER OF CUT MARKS.
Narrator: THE EXTREME VIOLENCE
INFLICTED ON THIS MAN
SEEMS TO ILLUSTRATE
THERE WAS
MORE TO HIS CONDITION
THAN A RITUAL BEHEADING.
AND THE SHEER NUMBER OF
MUTILATED BODIES MAKES IT CLEAR
THAT WHATEVER HAD LED
TO THE BRUTALITY WAS
NO SMALL INFRACTION.
BUT WHAT TRANSGRESSIONS
COULD HAVE WARRANTED
SUCH A VICIOUS RESPONSE?
TO FIND AN ANSWER,
THE TEAM MUST FIRST
DETERMINE EXACTLY WHEN
THE KILLINGS TOOK PLACE.
FOR THAT,
THEY TURN NOT TO THE BODIES,
BUT TO POTTERY FOUND
IN THE GRAVES.
THE ARTIFACTS CAN BE DATED
TO THE EARLY THIRD CENTURY...
TO THE TIME OF ROMAN EMPEROR
SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS.
SEVERUS BROUGHT A HUGE ARMY
TO BRITAIN,
AND THE INFLUX OF SO MANY
SOLDIERS PUT UNIQUE DEMANDS
ON TOWNS LIKE EBORACUM.
Woman: YOU CAN BE SO PRECISE
BECAUSE OF SEVERUS'
VISIT TO BRITAIN,
BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT IN 208,
WHEN SEVERUS ARRIVES
IN BRITAIN,
THEY STARTED MAKING POTTERY FOR
THE LEGION OUTSIDE THE FORTRESS.
Narrator: THE PIECES CRAFTED
IN THIS AREA HAD
A DISTINCTIVE STYLE THAT
WAS EASY TO RECOGNIZE.
AND SINCE THEY WERE ONLY MADE
AND USED FOR A SHORT PERIOD,
THEY PROVIDED ACCURATE
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
FOR THE GRAVES.
Vivien Swan:
THESE THREE VESSELS WERE
ALL LITTLE DRINKING BEAKERS.
WE CAN TELL THEIR DATE BECAUSE
OF THE GENERAL PROPORTIONS.
WE'VE GOT THIS LITTLE
SORT OF CARINATION
THAT'S BEGINNING TO BE SHARP
INSTEAD OF ROUNDED.
SO THIS GIVES US A DATING,
AND SO IT
FITS IN CHRONOLOGICALLY
WITH THE OTHER MATERIAL.
NONE OF THE BURIALS
HAVE ANYTHING THAT
YOU WOULDN'T ASSIGN
TO ABOUT THE SECOND
AND THIRD DECADES
OF THE THIRD CENTURY.
Narrator: THAT PERIOD
WAS A CRITICAL TIME
FOR THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS, CLOSE
TO THE END OF HIS REIGN,
HAD COME TO BRITAIN TO LEAD
A CAMPAIGN AGAINST
THE CALEDONIAN TRIBES
OF THE NORTH.
SEVERUS WAS A FIERCE EMPEROR,
WHO RULED AT THE EDGE
OF A SWORD.
HE WAS BORN HERE,
IN THE CITY OF LEPTIS MAGNA,
IN WHAT IS TODAY MODERN LIBYA.
AT AGE 26, WITH THE HELP
OF FAMILY CONNECTIONS,
HE BECAME A SENATOR.
IN THE YEARS THAT FOLLOWED,
HE ROSE THROUGH THE RANKS,
HOLDING NUMEROUS GOVERNORSHIPS
BEFORE BEING GIVEN COMMAND OF
THE ROMAN LEGIONS
ALONG THE RHINE
AND DANUBE RIVERS.
Man: I THINK I SEE HIM
AS A VERY AMBITIOUS,
VERY DETERMINED,
TOUGH, CALM,
ABLE TO TURN HIS HAND
TO WAR, TO LAW, TO BUILDING,
TO PEACEMAKING.
FLEXIBLE, TOUGH.
KILLED LOTS OF PEOPLE.
Narrator: WHEN SEVERUS CAME
TO POWER IN 193 A.D.,
THE EMPIRE WAS FRAGMENTED
AND WEAKENED BY CIVIL WAR.
SUPPORTED BY A POWERFUL ARMY,
HE DEFEATED ALL HIS RIVALS
AND SOON FOUND HIMSELF
AT THE GATES OF ROME.
Andrew Wallace-Hadrill:
ONE OBVIOUS REASON WHY HE WON
WAS HE MOVED LIKE THE WIND.
THE MOMENT HE KNEW THAT ROME
WAS UP FOR GRABS,
HE MARCHED ON ROME.
HIS RIVALS HUNG BACK.
ROME IS THE FANTASTIC CITY.
IF YOU'VE GOT ROME, THEN YOU CAN
MOVE OUTWARDS FROM IT.
AND I THINK ONCE
HE'S MARCHED ON ROME,
ESTABLISHED POWER THERE,
HE'S GOT THE RIGHT PIECES
IN PLACE.
Narrator: A SOLDIER AT HEART,
SEVERUS BROUGHT
STABILITY AND CONFIDENCE
BACK TO THE EMPIRE.
HE ALSO WAGED
A BRIEF BUT SUCCESSFUL WAR
AGAINST THE PARTHIAN EMPIRE
OF THE MIDDLE EAST,
THEN MEMORIALIZED HIS VICTORY
FOR ALL TO SEE.
Wallace-Hadrill:
THIS ARCH IS ABOUT SEPTIMIUS
ESTABLISHING HIMSELF
IN A GREAT SERIES OF EMPERORS.
HE'S BEEN IN POWER
FOR A DECADE NOW,
AND HE'S ACHIEVED THE DREAM
OF EVERY ROMAN EMPEROR...
OR AT LEAST, THIS IS
HOW HE PROJECTS IT...
CONQUERING PARTHIA.
AFTER PARTHIA, THE ONLY
ONE LEFT IS BRITAIN.
Narrator: SEVERUS MADE HIS MOVE
INTO BRITAIN IN 208 A.D.
WITH HIS TROOPS IN TOW,
HE SET OUT FOR HADRIAN'S WALL,
AIMING TO DESTROY
THE CALEDONIAN WARRIORS
WHO HAD BEEN CROSSING
THE BORDER FROM THE NORTH
TO RAID ROMAN SETTLEMENTS.
SUCH "BARBARIAN" RAIDS WERE
INTOLERABLE TO SEVERUS,
AND HAD TO BE STOPPED.
HIS HEADQUARTERS
FOR THE CAMPAIGN WERE
AT THE EBORACUM FORTRESS,
TODAY'S CITY OF YORK.
ALONG WITH HIS SOLDIERS,
SEVERUS TRANSPLANTED
ALL HIS KEY OFFICIALS,
EFFECTIVELY TRANSFERRING
POWER FROM ROME
SO HE COULD RULE FROM AFAR.
HE WAS NO LONGER
IN THE BEST OF HEALTH,
SO HE KEPT HIS MOST TRUSTED
CONFIDANTS CLOSE.
THEY WERE A DIVERSE GROUP FROM
THE FAR CORNERS OF THE EMPIRE.
SEVERUS WAS FROM NORTH AFRICA,
THE SON OF A BERBER FATHER
AND A MOTHER OF ROMAN DESCENT.
HIS WIFE JULIA DOMNA WAS
FROM THE MIDDLE EAST,
THE DAUGHTER OF A WEALTHY
SYRIAN PRIEST.
THE FAMILY TUTOR, EUHODUS,
WAS ALSO FROM NORTH AFRICA
AND PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE
WITHIN THE FAMILY.
AND THEN THERE WAS THE TRUSTED
CHAMBERLAIN, CASTOR,
WHO CONTROLLED ACCESS
TO THE EMPEROR'S
PRIVATE APARTMENTS.
ALSO IN YORK WITH SEVERUS WERE
HIS TWO SONS,
CARACALLA AND GETA.
CARACALLA WAS LIKE HIS FATHER:
STRONG, RUTHLESS,
AND IMPATIENT FOR POWER.
BEFORE HE WAS 20,
AND WITH THE HELP OF EUHODUS,
HE MURDERED HIS FATHER-IN-LAW.
NOW, HE HAD HIS SIGHTS SET
ON HIS BROTHER GETA...
HIS RIVAL
FOR THE IMPERIAL THRONE.
BY THE TIME SEVERUS AND HIS MEN
ARRIVED IN YORK,
THE ROMANS HAD TURNED THE TOWN
INTO A POWERFUL STRONGHOLD.
THE LEGIONARY FORTRESS COVERED
AN AREA OF 50 ACRES.
IT HOUSED A GARRISON OF
5,000 MEN,
AND THE OLD WOODEN
FORTIFICATIONS
WERE BEING REPLACED
BY STURDIER STONE.
MANY OF THESE ROMAN FOUNDATIONS
STILL STAND PROUD
BENEATH MORE RECENT RUINS.
AS YORK GREW,
SO DID ITS POPULATION.
MERCHANTS AND SELLERS FLOODED IN
FROM EVERY CORNER OF THE EMPIRE.
CLUES TO THEIR DIVERSITY
CAN BE FOUND
IN THE GODS THEY LEFT BEHIND.
THE RELICS FORM A MENAGERIE OF
ASSORTED RELIGIONS,
SECTS, AND BELIEFS.
Man: YOU HAVE A REAL ASSORTMENT
OF FIGURINES
AND EVIDENCE OF THE DIFFERENT
RELIGIONS AND CULTS
THAT WERE PRACTICED
AND WORSHIPPED BY THE PEOPLE
WHO LIVED IN ROMAN YORK.
AND THEY VARY ENORMOUSLY
FROM QUITE OFFICIAL RELIGIONS.
FOR INSTANCE, WE HAVE MERCURY
OVER HERE
AND THE COCKERELS
ASSOCIATED WITH MERCURY,
AN OFFICIAL GOD... ONE OF THE MOST
WIDELY VENERATED GODS
THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
IF YOU GO FROM MERCURY
AND HIS LITTLE COCKERELS
TO PERHAPS THE MOST EXOTIC
WE HAVE IN YORK,
WHICH IS THE APIS BULL.
SO WE HAVE OFFICIAL LATIN GODS,
ALL THE WAY THROUGH
TO GRECO-EGYPTIAN GODS
THAT SEVERUS WOULD HAVE BEEN
QUITE FAMILIAR WITH,
BEING GROWING UP
IN NORTH AFRICA.
THIS TELLS US THAT THE PEOPLE
WHO LIVED IN ROMAN YORK
WEREN'T REALLY WHAT YOU PERHAPS
THINK OF AS A ROMAN.
THERE'S VERY FEW WHO
EVER CAME FROM ROME.
THEY CAME FROM
ALL OVER THE EMPIRE.
Narrator: THIS KNOWLEDGE BY
ITSELF DOES LITTLE
FOR THE TEAM INVESTIGATING
THE BEHEADED BODIES,
BUT IT DOES GIVE THEM
SOMETHING TO LOOK FOR.
IF THEY CAN PINPOINT WHERE
THE MEN CAME FROM,
THEY MIGHT BE ABLE TO
FIGURE OUT WHO THEY WERE.
IF THEY WERE FOREIGNERS,
THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN
ROMAN CITIZENS,
POLITICIANS, OR SOLDIERS.
BUT IF THEY WERE LOCAL,
IT'S MORE LIKELY
THEY WERE CAPTURED
CALEDONIAN WARRIORS.
HE'S ACTUALLY GOT
RATHER GOOD TEETH.
A VERY PRONOUNCED
CHIN AS WELL...
OH, YES...
THE INTACT TEETH
WILL COME IN HANDY.
EXTREME...
IT IS, YEAH...
BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGIST
JANET MONTGOMERY
WILL ANALYZE TEETH FROM
SIX OF THE SKULLS.
SHE HOPES THE TEETH
WILL TELL HER WHERE
EACH PERSON GREW UP.
IT WOULD BE
THE SECOND MOLAR...
IN THE LAB, THE TEETH GET
PREPARED FOR ANALYSIS.
THE GOAL IS TO GET
CLEAN PIECES OF ENAMEL,
WHICH WILL THEN BE
ANALYZED FOR LEVELS OF
LEAD, STRONTIUM, AND OXYGEN.
Woman: THEY ALL GO IN THERE
WHEN THE ENAMEL IS FORMING,
WHICH IS DURING CHILDHOOD,
AND THEN THEY STAY THERE.
THE ENAMEL DOESN'T CHANGE.
IT'S VERY ROBUST TISSUE.
IT DOESN'T TURN OVER.
IT DOESN'T CHANGE,
SO ONCE IT'S THERE,
IT'S THERE FOR LIFE.
SO IT'S LIKE A LITTLE ARCHIVE,
A LITTLE SNAPSHOT OF CHILDHOOD,
THAT PEOPLE CARRY AROUND
WITH THEM WHEREVER THEY GO.
Narrator: THE FIRST STEP IS
TO DISSOLVE THE ENAMEL.
THEN SMALL SAMPLES
ARE EVAPORATED,
LEAVING A RESIDUE
THAT CAN BE SCANNED
IN AN ELECTRON SPECTRUM MACHINE.
THE WHOLE PROCESS
TAKES SEVERAL WEEKS,
BUT THE RESULTS PROVIDE
INFORMATION
ABOUT THE CLIMATE,
THE ALTITUDE,
AND EVEN HOW FAR
FROM THE EQUATOR
EACH PERSON WAS LIVING.
THE OUTCOME IS EVEN
MORE REVEALING THAN
MONTGOMERY HAD EXPECTED.
Janet Montgomery:
THE DATA SUGGESTS
WE HAVE A VERY
COSMOPOLITAN MIX OF PEOPLE.
WE HAVE PEOPLE THAT COULD HAVE
COME FROM NORTHERN EUROPE,
NORTHWEST EUROPE.
WE HAVE PEOPLE FROM
THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION,
AND IT'S QUITE POSSIBLE
THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE THERE
FROM AFRICA AS WELL.
Narrator:
WITH THIS INFORMATION IN HAND,
THE TEAM CAN NOW BE SURE
THE BODIES WERE NOT THOSE
OF CALEDONIAN WARRIORS.
THE GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY,
COMBINED WITH THE VIOLENT
NATURE OF THE WOUNDS,
SEEMS TO POINT TOWARDS
ROMAN SOLDIERS,
WHO HAD BEEN PULLED INTO BRITAIN
FROM THROUGHOUT THE EMPIRE.
THE SOLDIERS WERE THERE
FOR BATTLE,
AND THERE WAS AMPLE
OPPORTUNITY FOR THEM
TO BE INJURED OR KILLED.
SEVERUS' CAMPAIGN WAS A HUGE
LOGISTICAL OPERATION INVOLVING
MARCHING FORTS AND SUPPLY BASES
TO FEED THOUSANDS OF TROOPS.
THE AGING EMPEROR HIMSELF WAS
SUFFERING FROM GOUT
AND NO LONGER WELL-SUITED
FOR THE HARDSHIPS OF BATTLE,
BUT HE HAD ALWAYS
RULED WITH FORCE
AND KNEW NO OTHER WAY
TO PRESERVE HIS POWER.
THERE'S NO POINT
AT WHICH YOU CAN GET OFF
THE BUS CALLED VICTORY,
BECAUSE ON THAT RELIES
YOUR CREDIBILITY.
BY DEFEATING SOME SCOTS,
YOU SHOW THAT YOU CAN STILL
DEFEAT ANY OF YOUR RIVALS
OR ANY OF THE OTHER THREATS
TO THE EMPIRE.
Narrator: SEVERUS BELIEVED
A VICTORY IN BRITAIN
WOULD ENSURE THAT
HIS SONS COULD FOLLOW HIM
TO THE IMPERIAL THRONE.
TO THAT END, HE DECLARED
THAT UPON HIS DEATH,
THEY WOULD BECOME
JOINT EMPERORS.
GETA BUSIED HIMSELF WITH
THE GOVERNING OF BRITAIN,
GAINING EXPERIENCE FOR
HIS ROLE AS EMPEROR.
BUT CARACALLA
HAD NO INTENTION
OF SHARING THE IMPERIAL THRONE
WITH HIS BROTHER.
HE PLANNED TO SUCCEED HIS AILING
FATHER AS THE SOLE EMPEROR
AT ANY COST.
CARACALLA MODELED HIMSELF
AFTER ALEXANDER THE GREAT,
HOPING TO FOLLOW
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF
THE FABLED WARRIOR KING.
BOTH FATHER AND SON HAD
HIGH HOPES FOR THE CAMPAIGN,
BUT VICTORY AGAINST
THE CALEDONIANS WAS
FAR FROM ASSURED.
SEVERUS WAS SO UNWELL HE HAD
TO BE CARRIED INTO THE FIELD,
AND HIS TROOPS FOUND THE TERRAIN
HARSH AND UNFORGIVING.
THE ROMANS WERE STRANGERS
IN A MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS
OF LOCHS AND BOGS...
A LAND OF IMPENETRABLE FORESTS
AND DANGEROUS
FAST-FLOWING RIVERS.
ACCORDING TO ROMAN HISTORIANS,
THE CALEDONIANS WERE ALMOST
IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND:
"THE NATIVES INHABITED
DESERTED MARSHY PLAINS.
"THEY HAVE NO WALLS, NO CITIES,
AND NO AGRICULTURE,
BUT LIVE OFF THEIR FLOCKS
AND FROM HUNTING."
AS THE ROMANS PUSHED
INTO THE HIGHLANDS,
THE ENEMY SEEMED
TO MELT AWAY.
BUT ON THE FEW OCCASIONS
WHEN THE SOLDIERS
DID FIND A SETTLEMENT,
NOBODY WAS SPARED.
SEVERUS ORDERED HIS MEN
TO SHOW NO MERCY.
"LET NO ONE ESCAPE
UTTER DESTRUCTION;
"LET NO ONE
ESCAPE OUR HANDS,
NOT EVEN THE BABE
IN ITS MOTHER'S WOMB."
THE ROMANS EMPLOYED
A SCORCHED-EARTH POLICY,
DRIVING PEOPLE FROM THEIR HOMES,
STEALING THEIR BELONGINGS,
AND LAYING WASTE TO THEIR LANDS.
THE STRATEGY WAS TO TERRORIZE
THE CALEDONIANS
UNTIL THEY BEGGED FOR MERCY.
THE TACTICS WERE BRUTAL
BUT INEFFECTIVE.
SEVERUS PURSUED THE TRIBES
OF SCOTLAND FOR THREE YEARS
WITHOUT A DECISIVE VICTORY.
THE CALEDONIANS
WERE TOO SMART TO ENGAGE
THE ROMANS IN A PITCHED BATTLE.
INSTEAD, THEY USED STEALTH...
AND THE LEGIONARIES FOUND
THEMSELVES EMBROILED
IN A BLEAK AND SILENT
GUERRILLA WAR.
THE SKIRMISHES WERE SO VIOLENT
THAT WHEN A ROMAN SOLDIER
WAS INJURED,
HE WOULD BE FINISHED OFF
BY HIS OWN MEN TO SAVE HIM
FROM THE HORRORS OF BEING
CAPTURED BY THE ENEMY.
THE CALEDONIAN HIGHLANDERS,
FAMILIAR WITH THE TERRAIN,
AMBUSHED AND HARASSED
THE LEGIONS WITH
FEW REPERCUSSIONS.
THEY PICKED OFF SOLDIERS
AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY.
ROMAN LOSSES WERE HIGH.
THE HISTORIAN CASSIUS DIO WROTE
THAT SEVERUS LOST A STAGGERING
50,000 MEN
IN HIS THREE YEARS
OF BATTLE WITH THE CALEDONIANS.
COULD SOME OF THESE LOSSES
BE CONNECTED
TO THE DECAPITATED BODIES
IN YORK?
IF THESE WERE SOLDIERS
WHO DIED IN COMBAT,
THEIR BODIES SHOULD EXHIBIT
RECOGNIZABLE BATTLE SCARS.
THIS MAN SUFFERED
A DEEP BLADE CUT
TO HIS RIGHT KNEE.
THE BLOW
WOULD HAVE DROPPED HIM,
MAKING DECAPITATION EASIER.
SO WE CAN SEE THE CUT MARK
ON THIS FEMUR,
THE THIGH BONE,
AROUND THE KNEE JOINT,
EXTENDING UP HERE.
MAYBE YOU'RE SEEING SOME
FLATTENING ON HERE.
AND IT'S MUCH EASIER
TO SEE THOSE DETAILS
IN THIS IMAGE
RATHER THAN
JUST LOOKING AT
THE BONE ITSELF.
Narrator: A PATTERN SEEMS
TO BE DEVELOPING.
THE SCARS ON THE BONES
REVEAL
THAT MANY OF THE MEN
HAD BEEN STRUCK DOWN
BEFORE BEING DECAPITATED.
KATIE THINKS THIS MAN WAS
STABBED IN THE GROIN.
NICE CLEAN CUT
STRAIGHT
ACROSS THERE.
THIS MAN WAS STRUCK BY
A SAVAGE BLOW TO THE JAW.
VERY, VERY STRAIGHT
CUT. SHARP EDGE.
IT'S BECOMING CLEAR
THAT THE DECAPITATIONS
WERE ONLY THE CLIMAX
OF THE BRUTALITY.
THE VIOLENCE STARTED
BEFORE THE BEHEADINGS.
Katie Tucker: I THINK THAT
THE INJURIES THAT I'VE SEEN
ON THE NECK VERTEBRAE
AND ELSEWHERE ON THE BODY
SUGGEST THAT THEY
ARE PERIMORTEM INJURIES...
AROUND THE TIME OF DEATH.
Narrator: IF THESE INJURIES
ARE PERIMORTEM,
MEANING THEY OCCURRED
AT THE TIME THE MEN WERE KILLED,
THEY RULE OUT THE POSSIBILITY
OF A POSTMORTEM BURIAL RITE.
THIS SUPPORTS THE THEORY
THAT THE VICTIMS
WERE SOLDIERS KILLED
AND DECAPITATED IN BATTLE.
BUT ONE MISSING PIECE OF
EVIDENCE CONCERNS KATIE TUCKER.
Tucker: THERE ARE NO,
FOR EXAMPLE, DEFENSE INJURIES
ON THE HANDS OR THE FOREARMS.
THERE ARE NO PERIMORTEM INJURIES
TO THE RIB CAGE.
THERE ARE NO PERIMORTEM
INJURIES TO THE FACIAL
AREA OF THE SKULLS.
SO REALLY WHAT WE ARE SEEING
ARE PERIMORTEM INJURIES
JUST TO THE AREAS OF
THE BODY THAT ARE RELEVANT
FOR DECAPITATION.
Narrator: THE MAJORITY
OF THE INJURIES WERE
TO THE VICTIMS' LEGS
AND SKULLS.
I SUSPECT ON THE BASIS OF A FEW
INDIVIDUALS THAT THEY WERE...
SOMEBODY TRIED TO INJURE THEM
FIRST TO TRY AND GET...
MAYBE GET THEM ON THE GROUND
SO THEY COULD BE DECAPITATED.
SO THEY MAY HAVE BEEN
TRYING TO RUN AWAY
BECAUSE THEY KNEW
WHAT WAS COMING.
BUT THEN THEY WERE INJURED,
AND THEY FELL TO THE GROUND.
AND THEN THAT GAVE THE PERSON
WHO WAS DECAPITATING THEM
THE CHANCE TO DO THE DEED.
SOME OF THE INDIVIDUALS HAVE
GOT MULTIPLE CUT MARKS
ON THE NECK VERTEBRAE
AND ELSEWHERE
AROUND THE SKULL AREA,
SUGGESTING THESE PEOPLE
WERE RATHER HACKED AROUND
TO GET THE HEAD OFF.
YEAH, IN
MY PROFESSIONAL OPINION,
THESE PEOPLE WERE EXECUTED
BY DECAPITATION.
Narrator: EXECUTION
BY DECAPITATION SEEMS
TO INDICATE PRISONERS,
BUT THE TEETH
HAVE ALREADY PROVEN
THESE MEN WERE NOT
CAPTURED CALEDONIANS.
COULD THE VICTIMS HAVE BEEN
ROMAN SOLDIERS
WHO HAD COMMITTED
SOME HEINOUS CRIME?
THE PAINFUL SHACKLES
ON THE LEGS OF ONE VICTIM
CERTAINLY SIGNIFY
A PRISONER OF SOME KIND.
AND THE SHACKLES
ARE ONLY THE BEGINNING.
INTERESTINGLY,
THE BACK OF
tHIS SKULL
WAS ACTUALLY MISSING
WHEN EXCAVATED.
I'M QUITE CONVINCED
THAT THIS IS
A CUT HERE ALONG
THE SUTURE LINE.
BUT YOU THINK
ORIGINALLY THAT THERE
MAY HAVE BEEN...
Narrator:
THE BLOW TO THE MAN'S
HEAD WAS SO POWERFUL,
IT ACTUALLY DISLODGED
A LARGE PIECE OF HIS SKULL.
THE MOST INTERESTING
THING GOING ON IS
ACTUALLY TO HIS LOWER LEGS,
ESPECIALLY TO THIS SIDE.
THERE'S THIS VERY
LOCALIZED AREA OF EXPANSION
OF THE SHAFT HERE,
WHICH IS PROBABLY
A LEG ULCER OR SOMETHING.
YEAH, I MEAN,
IT'S VERY
LOCALIZED, ISN'T IT?
YEAH.
AND I NOTICED THERE'S
A FRACTURE HERE.
YEAH, THERE IS. YEAH.
IN THE FIBULA.
THE FIBULA.
WHICH SEEMS
TO BE QUITE
LONG-STANDING.
IT'S BEEN THERE
FOR QUITE SOME TIME.
AND I SUPPOSE A LOT
OF PEOPLE WOULD ASK
THE QUESTION,
WELL, IS THAT
FRACTURE ASSOCIATED
WITH HAVING
THE SHACKLE MAYBE
APPLIED TO THE LEG?
RIGHT. YEAH.
WHEN THIS PERSON
WAS LIVING,
I THINK THAT THE LEG
WOULD HAVE BEEN
REALLY SWOLLEN,
REALLY RED AND HOT
AND PAINFUL.
YEAH...
Narrator:
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE,
THE DAMAGE
DONE BY THE SHACKLE
IS CLEARLY VISIBLE.
YOU CAN SEE THAT
LOTS OF HOLES...
THE LEG BONE HAS BEEN LEFT
DEEPLY PITTED AND SCARRED.
Tucker: I THINK
THIS PERSON WOULD HAVE HAD
A LOT OF PAIN IN THIS LEG,
PARTICULARLY AS A RESULT
OF HAVING THE SHACKLES ON,
AND WOULD HAVE HAD
DIFFICULTY MOVING AROUND.
Man: WHAT WE HAVE HERE
ARE TWO IRON RINGS
WHICH WERE FOUND AROUND
THE ANKLES OF THE SKELETON.
AND I HAVEN'T EVER COME ACROSS
ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE.
SO I THINK WHAT WE'VE
GOT HERE IS AN EXAMPLE
OF SOME VERY UNUSUAL
AND... ONE MIGHT SAY... VERY
CRUEL PUNISHMENT
TO THIS INDIVIDUAL...
TO HAVE HAD THIS DONE TO HIM
WHILE STILL ALIVE.
AND WE'VE JUST HAD THESE THINGS
X-RAYED TO GIVE US
A BIT MORE DETAIL ABOUT
WHAT THEY LOOKED LIKE.
AND WE CAN SEE HERE THIS IS
THE LARGER ONE HERE,
AND WE CAN SEE
THE WELD POINT THERE
WHERE, AS IT WERE,
THE TWO HALVES HAVE
BEEN WELDED TOGETHER.
AND YOU CAN SEE IT ON THE OTHER
ONE THERE, ALSO VERY CLEAR.
THERE ARE SLAVE SHACKLES KNOWN
FROM THE ROMAN WORLD,
WHICH HAVE A CHAIN
BETWEEN THEM,
THE IDEA BEING TO STOP A MAN
RUNNING AWAY BASICALLY.
AND I EXPECTED TO FIND
A CHAIN WHICH WOULD GO
BETWEEN THESE TWO.
NOW, WHEN WE LOOK ON THE X-RAY,
THERE IS ABSOLUTELY
NO TRACE OF THAT.
SO IT LOOKS AS THOUGH THEY ARE
SOMETHING RATHER DIFFERENT HERE.
THAT THE MAIN PURPOSE OF THEM
IS ACTUALLY TO WEIGH HIM DOWN,
IF YOU LIKE.
IT CONJURES UP
AN AWFUL PICTURE, ACTUALLY,
OF THE MEN THAT WERE BEING HELD
DOWN WHILE THE SMITH COMES IN.
YOU WOULD HAVE AN OPEN WOUND
AS A RESULT OF
PUTTING THE THINGS ON
IN THE FIRST PLACE,
AND THEN THE THINGS CHAFE
AND CAUSE FURTHER INFLAMMATION.
SO BY THE TIME
THE POOR FELLOW, YOU KNOW,
FINALLY PASSED ON,
HE WOULD HAVE BEEN
IN CONSIDERABLE PAIN,
I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT. YEAH.
Narrator: WHAT COULD
THIS MAN HAVE DONE TO DESERVE
SUCH TREATMENT?
WAS HE A SOLDIER WHO HAD BROKEN
SOME CENTRAL MILITARY CODE
OR COMMITTED SOME HORRIBLE
CRIME AGAINST ROME?
IF SO, WHAT DEED COULD HAVE BEEN
SO TERRIBLE TO DESERVE
THE SHACKLES,
THE BLOW TO HIS HEAD,
AND THE DECAPITATION?
AT THE DIG SITE,
ADDITIONAL HUMAN REMAINS
ARE BEING UNEARTHED.
EACH NEW BODY REVEALS MORE
EVIDENCE OF SUFFERING IN LIFE
AND HUMILIATION IN DEATH.
WELL, I'M
LOOKING HERE
AT WHAT SEEMS
TO BE A VERY
UNUSUAL BURIAL,
WITH THE SKULL
SITTING ON
ITS OWN THERE.
AND THEN IN
THIS AREA,
WE'VE HAD
THE CREMATED
REMAINS OF THE REST
OF THE BODY.
IN THIS GRAVE,
WE'VE GOT
A DECAPITATED
SKELETON.
IT LOOKS AS THOUGH
THE SKULL'S BEEN
PUT DOWN THERE
BETWEEN
THE RIGHT ARM
AND THE LEFT LEG.
IT'S A VERY CURIOUS
BODY POSITION.
SO WE'VE GOT
A BURIAL HERE
WHICH HAS BEEN
REALLY BADLY
TREATED.
THE BODY TREATED
WITH VERY LITTLE
OF THE SORT OF
CONVENTIONAL RESPECT
THAT ONE EXPECTS.
IT REALLY IS QUITE
EXTRAORDINARY.
Narrator: SO MANY BODIES
THAT HAVE BEEN
SO SIMILARLY MISTREATED
LEND CREDENCE TO THE THEORY
THAT THEY WERE A GROUP OF
DISGRACED SOLDIERS.
COULD THEY ALL HAVE
BEEN FROM THE SAME UNIT...
DISCIPLINED
FOR COWARDICE OR PUNISHED
FOR SOME GROSS MISCONDUCT?
Miranda Aldhouse Green:
THERE IS A TRADITION
IN THE ROMAN ARMY
THAT IF YOU'RE A COWARD
OR PERHAPS A WHOLE UNIT
SHOWS COWARDICE,
THEN EVERY TENTH MAN
IS KILLED
IN FRONT OF THEIR FELLOWS
AS A KIND OF DETERRENT,
A HUGE PUNISHMENT.
AND THEY MAY WELL
HAVE BEEN THEN...
THEIR BODIES MAY HAVE BEEN
TREATED IN A HUMILIATING WAY,
SO THAT THEY WOULDN'T
ACTUALLY ENTER THE SPIRIT WORLD.
THE IDEA THAT THE BODY
IS FRAGMENTED,
THE HEAD IS TAKEN OFF...
WHICH PERHAPS PREVENTS
KIND OF REINCORPORATION
OF THE BODY IN THE NEXT WORLD.
WE HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT
CERTAINLY FOR IRON AGE
CELTIC PEOPLES,
AND ALSO FOR
THE ROMANS THEMSELVES,
THERE WAS A BELIEF
IN ANOTHER WORLD.
AND HOW YOU LIVED
IN THAT OTHER WORLD DEPENDED
ON HOW YOU BEHAVED IN LIFE.
AND THERE MAY BE SOME KIND OF
THOUGHT PROCESS GOING ON
WHEREBY THESE PEOPLE COULD NOT
ENTER INTO THAT SPIRIT WORLD
BECAUSE THEIR BODIES
HAD BEEN VIOLATED.
THEY'D BEEN DECAPITATED,
AND IT WAS AN ACT
OF ULTIMATE DISGRACE
AND ULTIMATE HUMILIATION.
Narrator: THE DESCRIPTION
OF THE PUNISHMENT
FOR COWARDLY SOLDIERS
CERTAINLY FITS
THE CONDITION OF THE BODIES.
BUT ALTHOUGH THE EVIDENCE
OF THAT SCENARIO SEEMS
TO BE MOUNTING,
THERE IS AGAIN ONE ASPECT
OF THE INVESTIGATION
THAT THROWS THE WHOLE THEORY
INTO QUESTION.
AS THE DIG PROGRESSES,
THE ARCHAEOLOGISTS REALIZE
THAT THE BODIES ARE BURIED
WITHIN A PROMINENT AREA
OF THE CEMETERY
CALLED THE MOUNT.
Patrick Ottaway:
THE INTERESTING THING
ABOUT THE MOUNT AREA IS
THAT THERE ARE A LOT
OF HIGH-STATUS BURIALS
THERE AS WELL.
IT'S UP ON A HIGH POINT.
IT'S HIGH GROUND OVERLOOKING
THE MAIN ROMAN ROAD
FROM THE SOUTHWEST
AS IT APPROACHES YORK
AND THEN AS IT CONTINUES
DOWN INTO THE TOWN ITSELF.
SO THIS, WE THINK, IS
A PRIVILEGED PLACE OF BURIAL.
AND THAT'S WHAT MAKES
THESE DECAPITATED BURIALS
RATHER DIFFICULT
TO UNDERSTAND IN A SENSE,
BECAUSE OUR
FIRST THOUGHTS WERE
THAT THESE MEN
HAD BEEN DECAPITATED
BECAUSE THEY HAD BEEN
IN SOME WAY
CRIMINALS OR PEOPLE
WHO HAD OFFENDED
AGAINST THE MORAL CODE
OF THE TIME.
DEVIANTS, IF YOU LIKE.
BUT I THINK THE STORY IS
PERHAPS A LITTLE BIT MORE
COMPLICATED THAN THAT.
Narrator: THE ESTEEMED
LOCATION OF THE SITE
CONTRADICTS THE DISGRACED NATURE
OF THE BURIALS WITHIN IT.
THE NEW INFORMATION CONFIRMS
THAT THE VICTIMS WEREN'T
CAPTURED CALEDONIANS
BECAUSE THEY WOULD
NEVER HAVE BEEN BURIED
IN SUCH PRIME REAL ESTATE.
BUT FOR THE SAME REASON,
IT ALSO ESTABLISHES
THAT THEY WEREN'T COMMON ROMAN
SOLDIERS EITHER.
SO IF THESE MEN WEREN'T
CALEDONIANS AND THEY WEREN'T
CONDEMNED ROMAN SOLDIERS,
WHO WHERE THEY?
AND WHAT HAD THEY
DONE TO DESERVE NOT
ONLY VIOLENT DEATH,
BUT HUMILIATION
IN THE AFTERLIFE?
THIS TIME, THE CLUES COME
NOT FROM
THE FORENSIC INVESTIGATION,
BUT FROM THE HISTORY BOOKS.
ANTHONY BIRLEY IS A LEADING
EXPERT ON ROMAN HISTORY.
HE HAS SPENT LONG HOURS
RESEARCHING THE LIFE OF SEVERUS
AND HIS WAR
WITH THE CALEDONIANS.
AS THE NEWS ABOUT
THE DECAPITATED BODIES
IN YORK SURFACED,
HE FOLLOWED
WITH GROWING EXCITEMENT.
HE BELIEVES HE MIGHT
BE ABLE TO REVEAL
NOT ONLY WHO THE VICTIMS WERE,
BUT WHY THEY HAD BEEN
SO BADLY MISTREATED.
HIS THEORY GOES TO THE VERY
HEART OF IMPERIAL POLITICS.
IF PATRICK OTTAWAY
AND HIS TEAM TELL US
THAT THESE SKELETONS BELONG
TO THE EARLY THIRD CENTURY
AND THAT MORE THAN TWO DOZEN OF
THEM WERE EXECUTED, DECAPITATED,
I THINK I CAN GIVE YOU
A GOOD SUGGESTION
AS TO WHEN THIS HAPPENED,
WHY IT HAPPENED
AND EVEN GIVE YOU THE NAMES OF
TWO OR THREE OF THE VICTIMS.
Narrator:
BIRLEY'S THEORY HINGES
ON THE WRITINGS OF
THE ROMAN HISTORIAN
CASSIUS DIO,
WHO KNEW THE EMPEROR SEVERUS
PERSONALLY.
DIO DOCUMENTED THE BITTER
TENSION BETWEEN CARACALLA
AND HIS BROTHER GETA,
BOTH OF WHOM DESPERATELY
WANTED TO SUCCEED
THEIR FATHER AS EMPEROR.
CARACALLA WAS SO IMPATIENT
FOR THE THRONE,
HE EVEN TRIED TO KILL SEVERUS
DURING THEIR LAST CAMPAIGN
AGAINST THE CALEDONIANS.
CARACALLA SHOULD HAVE BEEN
EXECUTED FOR SUCH TREACHERY,
BUT SEVERUS COULD NOT
BRING HIMSELF
TO ORDER THE EXECUTION
OF HIS OWN SON.
IT WAS A COSTLY DECISION
AND, ULTIMATELY,
A FATAL ONE FOR HIS
YOUNGER SON, GETA.
FOR ALTHOUGH SEVERUS SURVIVED
THE MURDER ATTEMPT,
HIS DAYS AS EMPEROR AND FAMILY
PEACEKEEPER WERE NUMBERED.
BY THE TIME OF
THE ATTACK,
SEVERUS' GOUT
WAS GETTING WORSE,
AND HE COULD HARDLY WALK
UNATTENDED.
HE REQUIRED CONSTANT CARE
AND TREATMENT FROM HIS DOCTORS.
LIKE MOST ROMANS, SEVERUS
WAS EXTREMELY SUPERSTITIOUS.
HE HAD LEARNED FROM
THE STARS THAT HE WOULD
NOT SEE ROME AGAIN,
AND WAS PREPARING FOR HIS DEATH.
BUT FOR CARACALLA, THAT DAY
COULD NOT COME SOON ENOUGH.
ON ONE OCCASION, HE
TRIED TO ENTER THE SICK
EMPEROR'S BEDCHAMBER,
BUT WAS RESTRAINED BY SEVERUS'
LOYAL CHAMBERLAIN, CASTOR.
CARACALLA EVEN ASKED THE DOCTORS
TO HASTEN HIS FATHER'S END,
BUT THEY REFUSED.
CASSIUS DIO RECORDED THE DETAILS
OF SEVERUS' FINAL DAYS.
IN 211 A.D.,
THE EMPEROR SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS
DIED IN YORK.
AS HE HAD DECREED, HIS TWO SONS
CARACALLA AND GETA
BECAME JOINT RULERS
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
SEVERUS' BODY WAS BURNED
ON A HUGE PYRE,
THE LIKES OF WHICH HAD NEVER
BEEN SEEN IN BRITAIN.
BUT BEFORE THE EMBERS
HAD EVEN COOLED,
CARACALLA BEGAN HIS BLOODY BID
FOR SOLITARY CONTROL
OF THE THRONE.
HIS COLD AMBITION PUT HIM
ON A COLLISION COURSE
WITH HIS YOUNGER BROTHER GETA,
WHO HAD RETURNED TO ROME
WITH HIS MOTHER TO RALLY
HIS OWN SUPPORTERS.
IN YORK, CARACALLA
BEGAN CONSOLIDATING
HIS POWER BY FORCE.
Green: WELL, I THINK YOU DO
GET RUTHLESS EMPERORS
WHO ARE TRYING TO MAKE
THEIR MARK BY STAMPING
OUT ALL OPPOSITION.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS
IN THE ROMAN IMPERIAL ACCESSION
IS SOMETHING CALLED DAMNATIO,
WHICH IS A WAY OF PUBLICLY
AND RITUALLY AND CEREMONIALLY
GETTING RID
OF THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU,
SO THAT YOU ARE IN OVERALL
POWER AND OVERALL CHARGE.
NOW, IT MAY BE YOUR FAMILY,
IT MAY BE THE PEOPLE
WHO PERHAPS OPPOSED YOU
AND CHALLENGED YOUR AUTHORITY,
BUT IT'S SOMETHING
WHICH MEANS THAT YOU START
WITH A CLEAN SLATE.
YOU HAVE YOUR OWN SUPPORTERS,
WHOM YOU CHOOSE,
AND YOU GET RID OF
ALL THE OPPOSITION
SO THAT THERE CAN'T BE
ANY INSURGENCY OR ANY OPPOSITION
AFTER YOU'VE ACCEDED
TO THE THRONE.
WELL, THE FIRST THING HE DOES IS
KILL OFF THE PEOPLE
WHO HAD OPPOSED HIM
WHILE HIS FATHER
WAS STILL ALIVE.
THE CHAMBERLAIN AND SECRETARY
OF IMPERIAL MEMORY, CASTOR,
WHO HAD OBVIOUSLY
OBSTRUCTED HIM GAINING
ACCESS TO SEVERUS BEFORE;
THE OLD TUTOR EUHODUS,
WHO IS PROBABLY MURDERED
BECAUSE HE WANTED CARACALLA
AND GETA TO BE FRIENDS
AS THEY HAD BEEN WHEN THEY WERE
VERY LITTLE BOYS
WHEN HE WAS FIRST
IN CHARGE OF THEM;
AND THE DOCTORS WHO HAD REFUSED
CARACALLA'S REQUEST... OR ORDER...
TO HASTEN HIS FATHER'S DEATH.
AS SOON AS HIS FATHER
FINALLY DOES DIE,
THAT'S IT FOR THE DOCTORS.
Narrator: THE CHAMBERLAIN,
THE TUTOR, AND SEVERUS'
DOCTORS, ALL PUT TO DEATH
BY A VENGEFUL
AND POWER-HUNGRY CARACALLA.
AND THEY WERE
ONLY THE BEGINNING.
CARACALLA ORDERED
AN ALL-OUT PURGE OF EVERYONE
WHOSE LOYALTY HE QUESTIONED.
IN THE SPRING OF 211 A.D.,
THE ORDERS WERE CARRIED OUT.
THE KEY MEMBERS OF
SEVERUS' STAFF WERE BROUGHT
BEFORE THE EXECUTIONER.
IT WOULD BE A PUBLIC SPECTACLE
TO WARN OTHER PEOPLE IN
THE IMPERIAL ENTOURAGE,
"THIS IS WHAT YOU'LL GET
IF YOU DON'T DO AS I SAY."
Narrator: CASTOR THE CHAMBERLAIN
PAID THE ULTIMATE PRICE
FOR IMPEDING CARACALLA'S
ATTEMPTS TO KILL HIS FATHER.
EUHODUS, WHO HAD KNOWN CARACALLA
SINCE CHILDHOOD
AND EVEN HELPED HIM
KILL HIS FATHER-IN-LAW,
MET THE SAME FATE.
SEVERUS' DOCTORS PERISHED, TOO.
Green: THE SITUATION WOULD
HAVE BEEN EXTREMELY THEATRICAL.
THE IDEA WOULD HAVE BEEN
A KIND OF PERFORMANCE,
WHERE MAYBE THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY
WAS THERE TO SEE THIS HAPPEN.
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN VERY BLOODY.
SOUND AND SMELL WOULD HAVE BEEN
VERY IMPORTANT AS WELL.
SO THE WHOLE THING IS
A PIECE OF THEATER,
MAYBE DESIGNED AS A MASSIVE
DETERRENT TO OTHER PEOPLE
AND SOMETHING THAT WOULD
HAVE LEFT A DEEP IMPRESSION
ON PEOPLE FOR YEARS,
PERHAPS DECADES AFTERWARDS.
IT IS A BLOODTHIRSTY PLACE.
IT IS A SOCIETY WHERE HUMAN LIFE
IS REALLY RATED NOT VERY HIGHLY,
PROBABLY RATED RATHER
LESS HIGHLY THAN
YOUR FAVORITE HORSE
OR YOUR FAVORITE SWORD
OR SOMETHING LIKE THIS.
AND SO THE ACTUAL... THE MASS
KILLING OF PEOPLE IS
SOMETHING WHICH
WOULD NOT HAVE ANYTHING
LIKE THE SAME HORROR AS IT WOULD
BE IN THE MODERN WESTERN WORLD.
THE ROMAN WORLD IS
A DIFFERENT PLACE.
IT'S NOT SOMETHING WHERE
HUMAN LIFE IS NECESSARILY
AT THE APEX OF WORTH.
Narrator: IN THE CEMETERY,
THE ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE FOUND
ANOTHER
14 DECAPITATED SKELETONS.
TO DATE, THIS MAKES A TOTAL
OF 44 EXECUTIONS,
ALL PERSONALLY SUPERVISED
BY CARACALLA
IN HIS DAMNATION OF SEVERUS'
AND GETA'S SUPPORTERS.
BUT THE HUMILIATION
AND PUNISHMENT CONTINUED
EVEN AFTER DEATH.
BY BURYING THEM FACE-DOWN,
OR WITH THEIR HEADS
AT THEIR KNEES OR FEET,
CARACALLA MADE THEM PRISONERS
IN THEIR OWN TORTURED BODIES.
HE GAVE THEM
NO CHANCE FOR REDEMPTION.
THEIR BONES ARE TESTAMENT
TO HIS BLOODLUST,
BUT HE WASTED LITTLE TIME
BASKING IN HIS REVENGE.
HIS NEXT VICTIM WAS IN ROME,
SO ROME WAS WHERE HE WENT.
HE WAS ON A MISSION TO KILL HIS
BROTHER GETA,
THE ONLY PERSON WHO STOOD
BETWEEN HIMSELF AND THE THRONE.
Wallace-Hadrill:
HOW CAN TWO BROTHERS
INHERIT IMPERIAL POWER?
ONLY WHEN A ROYAL SYSTEM
HAS NO POWER
CAN BROTHERS SURVIVE
ALONGSIDE EACH OTHER.
BUT IN SERIOUS EMPIRES,
YOU HAVE TO KILL YOUR RIVALS.
Narrator:
CARACALLA WAS OBSESSED
WITH THE CONSOLIDATION
OF POWER.
HE FINALLY CONFRONTED GETA
IN THE IMPERIAL PALACE.
Wallace-Hadrill:
CARACALLA DIDN'T WANT
TO LIVE WITH GETA.
HE'D HAVE HAD TO JUGGLE JUST TOO
MUCH, MAKE TOO MANY COMPROMISES.
HE WANTED UNIFIED POWER
IN ONE PERSON.
I THINK HE WAS ALMOST
BOUND TO KILL HIM.
Narrator: GETA DIED IN
HIS MOTHER'S ARMS.
HAD SHE EXPRESSED
ANY ANGER AT ALL,
CARACALLA WOULD NOT HAVE
HESITATED TO KILL HER, TOO.
WITH HIS BROTHER OUT OF THE WAY,
CARACALLA CONTINUED HIS PURGE,
ORDERING AN ESTIMATED
20,000 MURDERS.
IN AN ATTEMPT TO ERASE
ALL EVIDENCE OF HIS
BROTHER'S EXISTENCE,
HE ALSO HAD GETA'S NAME
REMOVED FROM EVERY
MONUMENT IN THE EMPIRE.
THE GREAT ARCH OF SEVERUS
IN THE FORUM WAS CHANGED,
AS WAS THIS ONE ON
A SMALL ROMAN BACKSTREET.
CARACALLA WAS PERFORMING
DAMNATIO MEMORIAE...
"DAMNATION OF MEMORY."
THIS CHARMING LITTLE ARCH
IS A SORT OF MINI-VERSION
OF THE BIG ONE IN THE FORUM.
AND INSIDE, THESE ABSOLUTELY
LOVELY PORTRAITS OF THE FAMILY.
THERE'S SEPTIMIUS HIMSELF,
STANDING WITH HIS BEARD
BY AN ALTAR SACRIFICING.
BESIDE HIM,
HIS WIFE JULIA DOMNA.
AND THEN ON THE OTHER
SIDE, ANOTHER FIGURE,
YOUNG AND HANDSOME,
SACRIFICING AT AN ALTAR,
AND BESIDE HIM, BLANK.
NO PRIZES FOR GUESSING
WHO IS MISSING.
YOU READ THE INSCRIPTION,
AND YOU FIND THAT
THE NAME OF CARACALLA
HAS GOT EVEN LONGER
THAN IT SHOULD BE.
AND THERE'S A LOT OF STUFF ABOUT
"FORTISSIMUS FELICISSIMUSQUE."
HE'S THE "BRAVEST
AND LUCKIEST OF PRINCES,"
AND IT'S WRITTEN OVER THE NAME
OF HIS LITTLE BROTHER GETA.
THAT DELETION, PLUS THE DELETION
OF THE IMAGE, IS
THE PERFECT EXAMPLE OF WHAT
"DAMNATIO MEMORIAE" MEANS.
THE MEMORY IS WIPED.
Narrator: CARACALLA'S
POWER AS EMPEROR DEPENDED
ON THE LOYALTY OF THE LEGIONS,
SO HIS NEXT MOVE WAS TO WIN OVER
GETA'S FORMER TROOPS.
AGAIN HE MOVED RUTHLESSLY.
Birley: HE RUSHES
OFF TO THE CAMP OF
THE PRAETORIAN GUARD,
AND THAT GOES ALL RIGHT.
AND THEN HE GOES TO THE CAMP OF
THE LEGION STATIONS,
BY SEVERUS, SOUTH OF ROME.
AND THEY WON'T LET HIM IN.
THEY'RE SUPPORTERS OF GETA,
AND HE HAS GREAT TROUBLE
WITH THEM.
AND HE ALSO HAS GREAT TROUBLE
WITH HIGH-RANKING PERSONS
WHO DISAPPROVED OF WHAT HE DOES.
SO HE HAS THEM EXECUTED.
Narrator: CARACALLA'S
REIGN AS EMPEROR LASTED
ONLY FIVE YEARS.
EVENTUALLY, THE VIOLENCE
CAUGHT UP WITH HIM.
WHILE STOPPING TO RELIEVE
HIMSELF AT THE SIDE OF THE ROAD,
HE WAS ASSASSINATED
BY AN OFFICER OF
THE IMPERIAL BODYGUARD.
IN YORK, THE LAST
OF THE DECAPITATED BODIES
ARE BEING EXHUMED...
SILENT WITNESSES
TO THE BRUTALITY
OF A VAINGLORIOUS EMPEROR.
CARACALLA LIVED AND DIED
BY THE SWORD,
BUT UNLIKE THE BEAUTIFUL
AND MAJESTIC MONUMENTS
THAT GLORIFIED HIS REIGN,
HIS VICTIMS ARE A LASTING
REMINDER OF THE TURMOIL
HE CREATED
AND THE BLOOD HE SPILLED.
REOPEN INVESTIGATIONS OF
THE PAST AT PBS ONLINE.
HISTORY IS REVEALING ITS
FORGOTTEN SECRETS AT...
CAPTIONING MADE POSSIBLE BY
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
"SECRETS OF THE DEAD"
WAS MADE POSSIBLE
BY CONTRIBUTIONS
TO YOUR PBS STATION
FROM VIEWERS LIKE YOU.
"SECRETS OF THE DEAD"...
AT AN ANCIENT ROMAN GRAVEYARD,
ARCHAEOLOGISTS MAKE
A SHOCKING DISCOVERY.
Woman: THE FINDING OF
THESE DECAPITATED BODIES IS
VERY SIGNIFICANT INDEED.
NOTHING LIKE THIS HAS
EVER BEEN FOUND IN BRITAIN.
Announcer: THE CONDITION
OF THE SKELETON SUGGESTS
A VIOLENT DEATH.
THIS ONE HAS GOT ONE VERY,
VERY SHARP, CLEAN CUT
THROUGH THE THIRD
CERVICAL VERTEBRAE.
WHO WERE THESE POOR SOULS
AND WHY WERE THEY
SO HORRIBLY ABUSED?
"HEADLESS ROMANS"
ON "SECRETS OF THE DEAD."
CAPTIONING MADE POSSIBLE BY
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
"SECRETS OF THE DEAD"
WAS MADE POSSIBLE
BY CONTRIBUTIONS
TO YOUR PBS STATION
FROM VIEWERS LIKE YOU.
Narrator:
IN 2005, ARCHAEOLOGISTS
MADE A STARTLING DISCOVERY
BENEATH THE CITY OF YORK,
ENGLAND.
WHILE EXCAVATING
A SMALL PLOT OF LAND,
THEY STUMBLED UPON
MORE THAN 30 SKELETONS IN
AN ANCIENT ROMAN CEMETERY.
THE NUMBER OF BODIES WAS NOT
SURPRISING FOR A GRAVEYARD
BUT THEIR CONDITION WAS.
MOST HAD BEEN DECAPITATED.
THE HEADS HAD BEEN POSITIONED
AT VARIOUS ODD PLACES
AROUND THE BODIES...
SOME BETWEEN THE KNEES,
SOME IN THE MIDSECTION,
OTHERS AT THE FEET.
ONE CORPSE WAS FOUND
WITH HEAVY IRON RINGS
STILL ATTACHED TO ITS ANKLES.
NOTHING LIKE IT
FROM THE ROMAN WORLD
HAD EVER BEEN SEEN.
THE FIND SENT SHOCKWAVES THROUGH
THE ARCHEOLOGICAL WORLD.
FROM DAY ONE WHEN THE FIRST
DECAPITATED BURIAL APPEARED,
I THINK... I PERSONALLY FELT,
YOU KNOW, WE'D HIT
THE JACKPOT, REALLY.
THIS WAS SOMETHING
NOT ONLY IMPORTANT
IN A YORK CONTEXT,
BUT SOMETHING WHICH WAS GOING
TO BE IMPORTANT NATIONALLY,
EVEN INTERNATIONALLY.
THE FINDING OF THESE
30 DECAPITATED BODIES IS
VERY, VERY SIGNIFICANT INDEED.
IT'S UNIQUE.
AS FAR AS I'M AWARE, NOTHING
LIKE THIS HAS EVER BEEN FOUND
IN BRITAIN.
IT REPRESENTS A VERY, VERY
SYMBOLIC MASSACRE IN SOME WAY
AND WAS SOMETHING
WHICH PERHAPS
HAD NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE
IN THE HISTORY OF ROMAN BRITAIN,
AND PERHAPS NEVER
HAPPENED AGAIN.
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN
SOMETHING THAT PEOPLE
WOULD HAVE REMEMBERED
FOR A LONG, LONG TIME
AFTER IT HAPPENED.
Narrator: BUT AFTER
THOUSANDS OF YEARS,
FINDING OUT WHO THESE BODIES
HAD BELONGED TO
AND WHY THEY HAD BEEN BURIED
SO CALLOUSLY
WOULD BE NO EASY FEAT.
IT WOULD TAKE A DEDICATED
TEAM OF EXPERTS
AND A CAREFUL COMBINATION
OF HISTORICAL SLEUTHING
AND FORENSIC INVESTIGATION.
I THINK I CAN GIVE YOU
A GOOD SUGGESTION
AS TO WHEN THIS HAPPENED,
WHY IT HAPPENED,
AND EVEN GIVE YOU THE NAMES OF
TWO OR THREE OF THE VICTIMS.
Narrator: THE REVELATION
WOULD SHED NEW LIGHT
ON A KEY TURNING POINT
IN ANCIENT ROMAN HISTORY.
THE DESECRATED
BODIES WOULD PROVIDE
PHYSICAL CORROBORATION
OF AN ASSASSINATION
ATTEMPT ON AN EMPEROR,
A POWER STRUGGLE BETWEEN
TWO ROYAL BROTHERS...
AND THE HIGH PRICE OF LOYALTY
WITHIN THE GREATEST EMPIRE OF
THE ANCIENT WORLD.
IN 43 A.D.,
THE IRON AGE TRIBAL PEOPLE
OF BRITAIN WERE
ABOUT TO EXPERIENCE THE MIGHT
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
THEY HAD BEEN IN CONTACT
AND TRADING
WITH THE EUROPEAN MAINLAND
FOR CENTURIES.
BUT NOW, THE ROMANS HAD DECIDED
IT WAS TIME TO CONQUER.
THE ANCIENT BRITONS
STOOD LITTLE CHANCE
AGAINST THE HIGHLY-SKILLED
ROMAN ARMY.
THEY WERE QUICKLY OVERCOME,
AND AS THE ROMANS TOOK CONTROL,
THEY BROUGHT WITH THEM
AN ENTIRELY NEW WAY OF LIFE.
THE ROMAN INVADERS
QUICKLY ESTABLISHED
NEW TOWNS AND CITIES,
WITH AN ARCHITECTURAL
STYLE AND SCALE NEVER BEFORE
SEEN ON BRITISH SOIL.
THEY INTRODUCED NEW ART
AND EXOTIC NEW GODS
FROM THE CLASSICAL WORLD.
THEY ENCOURAGED THE BUILDING
OF TEMPLES AND BATHHOUSES...
BEAUTIFUL PLACES OF
VENERATION AND RELAXATION.
TRADE FLOURISHED
UNDER ROMAN RULE.
GOODS AND FOODS
FROM EVERY CORNER OF
THE EMPIRE BEGAN FLOWING
INTO THE LAND
THEY HAD RENAMED BRITANNIA.
THE CHANGES TRANSFORMED
EVERY ASPECT OF LIFE
AND CREATED
MAJOR URBAN CENTERS
CONNECTED BY A VAST NETWORK
OF NEWLY-CONSTRUCTED ROADS.
THE DEVELOPMENT EXPANDED
THE BOUNDARIES OF THE EMPIRE,
PUSHING NORTH ALL THE WAY
TO WHAT IS TODAY THE BORDER
OF ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.
HERE, THE ROMANS BUILT A MASSIVE
WALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY...
80 MILES LONG
FROM COAST TO COAST.
DEDICATED
TO THE EMPEROR HADRIAN,
IT SIGNIFIED THE NORTHERN
FRONTIER OF THE EMPIRE.
BUT ITS REAL PURPOSE WAS TO KEEP
OUT THE FIERCE CALEDONIANS...
A PEOPLE THE ROMANS
CALLED BARBARIANS...
A PEOPLE THEY
WERE NEVER ABLE TO CONQUER.
TO HELP COORDINATE THE DEFENSE
OF BRITANNIA,
THE ROMANS ALSO BUILT
A STRONG FORTRESS TOWN
AT A PLACE CALLED EBORACUM.
TODAY, THE CITY OF YORK STANDS
ON THE SITE OF
THAT MAJOR ROMAN STRONGHOLD.
ITS LONG HISTORY HAS
MADE IT AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL
TREASURE TROVE.
AND ONLY A STONE'S THROW FROM
THE CITY CENTER IS
WHERE THE ROMAN GRAVEYARD
CONTAINING THE DECAPITATED
BODIES WAS FOUND IN 2005.
AS IS COMMON IN SUCH
A HISTORICALLY LUSH CITY,
THE EXCAVATION WAS COMMISSIONED
PRIOR TO A NEW DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT.
BUT ALTHOUGH THE YORK
ARCHEOLOGICAL TRUST HAD AN IDEA
THEY WERE DIGGING IN A CEMETERY,
THEY WERE NOT
PREPARED FOR THE STATE
OF THE BODIES WITHIN IT.
Man: IT WAS AN AMAZING MOMENT.
I REMEMBER STANDING
WITH OUR SITE MANAGER,
AND WE LOOKED AT THE FIRST
DECAPITATED BURIAL.
AND HE SAID TO ME, "YOU
KNOW, THERE IS SOMETHING
STRANGE ABOUT THIS ONE."
AND SURE ENOUGH, THERE WAS.
THE SKULL HAD BEEN TAKEN OFF
AND PUT DOWN BY THE FEET,
AS I RECALL.
THEN WE STARTED
FINDING OTHER THINGS
WHICH WERE RATHER UNUSUAL,
LIKE A SKELETON
WITH THESE GREAT,
THICK IRON RINGS...
SHACKLES, IF YOU WILL...
AROUND ITS ANKLES.
Narrator: IN ONE GRAVE,
TWO SKELETONS HAD BEEN
BURIED TOGETHER.
AND FORENSIC TESTS
REVEALED THAT BIZARRELY,
THEIR HEADS HAD BEEN SWAPPED.
ANOTHER SKELETON HAD BEEN BURIED
FACE-DOWN.
ROMANS NORMALLY
CREMATED THEIR DEAD
OR PLACED THEM FACE-UP,
LIKE WE DO TODAY.
SO THE TEAM IMMEDIATELY
KNEW SOMETHING WAS AMISS.
THERE ARE ALL SORTS OF UNUSUAL
THINGS ABOUT THIS CEMETERY
WHICH HAVE COME TO LIGHT,
NOT ONLY DURING THE EXCAVATION,
BUT ALSO IN THE RESEARCH
THAT HAS TAKEN PLACE
AFTERWARDS.
30 OUT OF
56 SKELETONS...
Narrator: IN YORK'S
MEDIEVAL GUILDHALL,
THE 30 DECAPITATED
SKELETONS HAVE BEEN
LAID OUT FOR EXAMINATION.
HUMAN BONE SPECIALISTS
KATIE TUCKER
AND CHARLOTTE ROBERTS
ARE ANALYZING THE REMAINS.
THEIR FIRST DISCOVERY IS
THAT ALL
THE SKELETONS WERE MALE,
AND ALL HAD BEEN BETWEEN
20 AND 40 WHEN THEY DIED.
SO WHAT HAVE YOU FOUND
ON THIS ONE?
WELL, THIS ONE HAS
GOT ONE VERY, VERY
SHARP, CLEAN CUT
THROUGH THE THIRD
CERVICAL VERTEBRAE.
IT'S AN ABSOLUTELY
WONDERFUL CUT,
ISN'T IT?
IT IS. IT'S VERY
NICE, YEAH.
THE CUT MARK
RIGHT ACROSS
THE VERTEBRAE THERE
AND ACROSS HERE.
AND THEY FIT LIKE
A JIGSAW PUZZLE
TOGETHER.
Narrator: TUCKER
AND ROBERTS ARE USING
THE LATEST
MICROSCOPE TECHNOLOGY
TO ANALYZE THE BONES.
THEY ARE HOPING
THE THREE-DIMENSIONAL
IMAGES WILL REVEAL
EXACTLY HOW THIS MAN
WAS DECAPITATED.
SO WE'RE LOOKING AT, HERE,
AT ONE OF
THE NECK VERTEBRAE
WHICH HAS
BEEN CUT THROUGH
FROM THE BACK.
SO YOU GOT THE CUT MARK
GOING ALL THE WAY DOWN HERE.
IT'S VERY STRAIGHT.
IT'S GOT SMOOTH EDGES,
POLISHED.
IN FACT, THE EDGES
OF THE CUT MARK ARE
THE SAME COLOR
AS THE REST OF THE BONE.
AND YOU CAN SEE, EVEN HERE,
THE DETAIL OF THE WEAPON
THAT CAUSED THE INJURY.
YEAH.
THE SCRATCH MARKS
FROM THE WEAPON,
CLEARLY VISUALIZED
ON THE IMAGE THERE.
Narrator: THE SMOOTH EDGES
OF THE WOUND REVEAL
THAT THE HEAD
HAD BEEN SEVERED
WITH ONE DECISIVE BLOW
TO THE NECK.
IT WAS A CLEAN CUT MADE
WITH A SHARP SWORD OR AX
THAT SLICED RIGHT THROUGH
THE FOURTH VERTEBRAE.
BUT IT'S UNCLEAR WHETHER
THE BLOW WAS DELIVERED
WHILE THE VICTIM
WAS STILL ALIVE
OR AFTER HE
WAS ALREADY DEAD.
IF IT WAS POST-MORTEM,
IT MIGHT INDICATE
SOME KIND OF MACABRE
ROMAN BURIAL RITE,
PERHAPS MEANT TO PROTECT
THE LIVING
FROM SOMEONE SO FEARSOME, HE
COULD HURT THEM EVEN IN DEATH.
Man: THE ROMANS WERE VERY
SUPERSTITIOUS AND WERE
VERY FEARFUL OF THE DEAD.
THE DEAD WERE FEARED BECAUSE
THEY BOTH POLLUTED
AND ALSO THERE WAS A FEAR
THAT THEY MAY COME
AND HAUNT AS WELL.
SO THE ROMANS' VIEW
OF THE DEAD WAS
SOMETHING TO KEEP AT ARM'S
LENGTH AS FAR AS POSSIBLE.
ONE OF THE WAYS I THINK
THEY MAY HAVE DONE THAT IS
THROUGH THIS RITE
OF DECAPITATION.
Narrator: OR A BEHEADING RITUAL
COULD HAVE BEEN MEANT
NOT TO PROTECT THE LIVING,
BUT TO PUNISH THE DEAD.
ONE OF THE IDEAS WE HAVE TO
THINK ABOUT WITH THESE BODIES
IS THAT THEY WERE TREATED
IN THIS WAY
AS AN ACT OF HUMILIATION,
OF DEGRADATION, OF SHAMING.
THE IDEA OF DECAPITATION...
TAKING THE HEAD OFF...
THAT TAKES AWAY YOUR IDENTITY.
AND THAT'S SOMETHING
WHICH COULD HAVE BEEN
A VERY POWERFUL MESSAGE.
AND IT PERHAPS ALSO STOPS YOU
BECAUSE IT ENACTS VIOLENCE
ON THE BODY.
IT FRAGMENTS THE BODY.
IT MEANS THAT
IN THE OTHER WORLD,
YOU CAN'T GET TOGETHER AGAIN
AS A HUMAN BEING.
AND SO IT'S A HUGELY
DISGRACING THING.
IT TAKES AWAY YOUR PERSONALITY.
IT TAKES AWAY WHO YOU ARE,
AND YOU JUST BECOME A BODY.
AND YOUR HEAD, YOUR PERSONALITY,
YOUR IDENTITY IS ALL GONE.
YEAH... POTENTIALLY, THIS
ONE'S PROBABLY GOT ONES
THAT HAVE COME IN
FROM THE FRONT AS WELL,
BUT MOST OF THEM SEEM
TO BE FROM BEHIND.
Narrator: BOTH
POST-MORTEM THEORIES
SEEM PLAUSIBLE,
UNTIL FURTHER ANALYSIS
OF ONE SKELETON
POINTS TO BEHEADING
AT THE TIME OF DEATH,
NOT AFTERWARDS.
THIS MAN
HAS 11 DIFFERENT INJURIES
ON HIS VERTEBRAE AND JAW.
THE WOUNDS WOULD SEEM
TO INDICATE A STRUGGLE.
SEE? THIS CUT'S
COME IN HERE.
IT'S GONE INTO
THE BODY, BUT NOT GONE
ALL THE WAY THROUGH.
AND THEN IT'S KIND OF
FRACTURED OFF THE BONE HERE.
THERE'S ANOTHER CUT
AT THE BOTTOM AS WELL.
AGAIN, IT'S COMING
FROM THE FRONT.
IT'S CUT INTO THE BODY
AND HAS STOPPED.
SO YOU'VE GOT
A MIXTURE OF CUTS
FROM THE FRONT,
BACK, AND SIDE
ON THIS PERSON.
YEAH. HE HAS GOT
A LITTLE SLICE TAKEN OUT
THE FRONT OF HIS MANDIBLE.
OH, YEAH. SHALL I
HAVE A LOOK AT THAT?
SEE THERE?
OH, YEAH.
IT'S JUST KIND OF CAUGHT
THE FRONT OF THE MANDIBLE.
IT SEEMS TO HAVE COME
IN FROM THIS SIDE.
YES.
INTERESTINGLY
AS WELL, HE SEEMS TO
HAVE CRANIAL TRAUMA.
THE MAN HAD RECEIVED
A POWERFUL BLOW TO
THE FRONT OF HIS HEAD,
CAUSING A FRACTURE
THAT RADIATED OUT FROM
THE POINT OF IMPACT.
WHAT ORDER DO
YOU THINK THESE THINGS
WERE HAPPENING IN?
WELL, OBVIOUSLY
A VERY, VERY
HORRENDOUS DEATH.
I WONDER WHETHER
THE HEAD INJURY WAS
THE FIRST THING
TO HAPPEN,
AND MAYBE THAT
MADE HIM END UP
ON THE GROUND.
AND THEN THEY
TRIED TO HACK
HIS HEAD OFF.
TRY IT FROM THE FRONT,
MAYBE ROLLED HIM OVER
AND DID IT FROM
THE BACK AS WELL,
AND FROM THE SIDE,
AND EVENTUALLY
HIS HEAD CAME OFF.
BUT IT WOULD HAVE
TAKEN QUITE SOME
TIME TO DO THAT,
ON THE BASIS OF
THE NUMBER OF CUT MARKS.
Narrator: THE EXTREME VIOLENCE
INFLICTED ON THIS MAN
SEEMS TO ILLUSTRATE
THERE WAS
MORE TO HIS CONDITION
THAN A RITUAL BEHEADING.
AND THE SHEER NUMBER OF
MUTILATED BODIES MAKES IT CLEAR
THAT WHATEVER HAD LED
TO THE BRUTALITY WAS
NO SMALL INFRACTION.
BUT WHAT TRANSGRESSIONS
COULD HAVE WARRANTED
SUCH A VICIOUS RESPONSE?
TO FIND AN ANSWER,
THE TEAM MUST FIRST
DETERMINE EXACTLY WHEN
THE KILLINGS TOOK PLACE.
FOR THAT,
THEY TURN NOT TO THE BODIES,
BUT TO POTTERY FOUND
IN THE GRAVES.
THE ARTIFACTS CAN BE DATED
TO THE EARLY THIRD CENTURY...
TO THE TIME OF ROMAN EMPEROR
SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS.
SEVERUS BROUGHT A HUGE ARMY
TO BRITAIN,
AND THE INFLUX OF SO MANY
SOLDIERS PUT UNIQUE DEMANDS
ON TOWNS LIKE EBORACUM.
Woman: YOU CAN BE SO PRECISE
BECAUSE OF SEVERUS'
VISIT TO BRITAIN,
BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT IN 208,
WHEN SEVERUS ARRIVES
IN BRITAIN,
THEY STARTED MAKING POTTERY FOR
THE LEGION OUTSIDE THE FORTRESS.
Narrator: THE PIECES CRAFTED
IN THIS AREA HAD
A DISTINCTIVE STYLE THAT
WAS EASY TO RECOGNIZE.
AND SINCE THEY WERE ONLY MADE
AND USED FOR A SHORT PERIOD,
THEY PROVIDED ACCURATE
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
FOR THE GRAVES.
Vivien Swan:
THESE THREE VESSELS WERE
ALL LITTLE DRINKING BEAKERS.
WE CAN TELL THEIR DATE BECAUSE
OF THE GENERAL PROPORTIONS.
WE'VE GOT THIS LITTLE
SORT OF CARINATION
THAT'S BEGINNING TO BE SHARP
INSTEAD OF ROUNDED.
SO THIS GIVES US A DATING,
AND SO IT
FITS IN CHRONOLOGICALLY
WITH THE OTHER MATERIAL.
NONE OF THE BURIALS
HAVE ANYTHING THAT
YOU WOULDN'T ASSIGN
TO ABOUT THE SECOND
AND THIRD DECADES
OF THE THIRD CENTURY.
Narrator: THAT PERIOD
WAS A CRITICAL TIME
FOR THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS, CLOSE
TO THE END OF HIS REIGN,
HAD COME TO BRITAIN TO LEAD
A CAMPAIGN AGAINST
THE CALEDONIAN TRIBES
OF THE NORTH.
SEVERUS WAS A FIERCE EMPEROR,
WHO RULED AT THE EDGE
OF A SWORD.
HE WAS BORN HERE,
IN THE CITY OF LEPTIS MAGNA,
IN WHAT IS TODAY MODERN LIBYA.
AT AGE 26, WITH THE HELP
OF FAMILY CONNECTIONS,
HE BECAME A SENATOR.
IN THE YEARS THAT FOLLOWED,
HE ROSE THROUGH THE RANKS,
HOLDING NUMEROUS GOVERNORSHIPS
BEFORE BEING GIVEN COMMAND OF
THE ROMAN LEGIONS
ALONG THE RHINE
AND DANUBE RIVERS.
Man: I THINK I SEE HIM
AS A VERY AMBITIOUS,
VERY DETERMINED,
TOUGH, CALM,
ABLE TO TURN HIS HAND
TO WAR, TO LAW, TO BUILDING,
TO PEACEMAKING.
FLEXIBLE, TOUGH.
KILLED LOTS OF PEOPLE.
Narrator: WHEN SEVERUS CAME
TO POWER IN 193 A.D.,
THE EMPIRE WAS FRAGMENTED
AND WEAKENED BY CIVIL WAR.
SUPPORTED BY A POWERFUL ARMY,
HE DEFEATED ALL HIS RIVALS
AND SOON FOUND HIMSELF
AT THE GATES OF ROME.
Andrew Wallace-Hadrill:
ONE OBVIOUS REASON WHY HE WON
WAS HE MOVED LIKE THE WIND.
THE MOMENT HE KNEW THAT ROME
WAS UP FOR GRABS,
HE MARCHED ON ROME.
HIS RIVALS HUNG BACK.
ROME IS THE FANTASTIC CITY.
IF YOU'VE GOT ROME, THEN YOU CAN
MOVE OUTWARDS FROM IT.
AND I THINK ONCE
HE'S MARCHED ON ROME,
ESTABLISHED POWER THERE,
HE'S GOT THE RIGHT PIECES
IN PLACE.
Narrator: A SOLDIER AT HEART,
SEVERUS BROUGHT
STABILITY AND CONFIDENCE
BACK TO THE EMPIRE.
HE ALSO WAGED
A BRIEF BUT SUCCESSFUL WAR
AGAINST THE PARTHIAN EMPIRE
OF THE MIDDLE EAST,
THEN MEMORIALIZED HIS VICTORY
FOR ALL TO SEE.
Wallace-Hadrill:
THIS ARCH IS ABOUT SEPTIMIUS
ESTABLISHING HIMSELF
IN A GREAT SERIES OF EMPERORS.
HE'S BEEN IN POWER
FOR A DECADE NOW,
AND HE'S ACHIEVED THE DREAM
OF EVERY ROMAN EMPEROR...
OR AT LEAST, THIS IS
HOW HE PROJECTS IT...
CONQUERING PARTHIA.
AFTER PARTHIA, THE ONLY
ONE LEFT IS BRITAIN.
Narrator: SEVERUS MADE HIS MOVE
INTO BRITAIN IN 208 A.D.
WITH HIS TROOPS IN TOW,
HE SET OUT FOR HADRIAN'S WALL,
AIMING TO DESTROY
THE CALEDONIAN WARRIORS
WHO HAD BEEN CROSSING
THE BORDER FROM THE NORTH
TO RAID ROMAN SETTLEMENTS.
SUCH "BARBARIAN" RAIDS WERE
INTOLERABLE TO SEVERUS,
AND HAD TO BE STOPPED.
HIS HEADQUARTERS
FOR THE CAMPAIGN WERE
AT THE EBORACUM FORTRESS,
TODAY'S CITY OF YORK.
ALONG WITH HIS SOLDIERS,
SEVERUS TRANSPLANTED
ALL HIS KEY OFFICIALS,
EFFECTIVELY TRANSFERRING
POWER FROM ROME
SO HE COULD RULE FROM AFAR.
HE WAS NO LONGER
IN THE BEST OF HEALTH,
SO HE KEPT HIS MOST TRUSTED
CONFIDANTS CLOSE.
THEY WERE A DIVERSE GROUP FROM
THE FAR CORNERS OF THE EMPIRE.
SEVERUS WAS FROM NORTH AFRICA,
THE SON OF A BERBER FATHER
AND A MOTHER OF ROMAN DESCENT.
HIS WIFE JULIA DOMNA WAS
FROM THE MIDDLE EAST,
THE DAUGHTER OF A WEALTHY
SYRIAN PRIEST.
THE FAMILY TUTOR, EUHODUS,
WAS ALSO FROM NORTH AFRICA
AND PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE
WITHIN THE FAMILY.
AND THEN THERE WAS THE TRUSTED
CHAMBERLAIN, CASTOR,
WHO CONTROLLED ACCESS
TO THE EMPEROR'S
PRIVATE APARTMENTS.
ALSO IN YORK WITH SEVERUS WERE
HIS TWO SONS,
CARACALLA AND GETA.
CARACALLA WAS LIKE HIS FATHER:
STRONG, RUTHLESS,
AND IMPATIENT FOR POWER.
BEFORE HE WAS 20,
AND WITH THE HELP OF EUHODUS,
HE MURDERED HIS FATHER-IN-LAW.
NOW, HE HAD HIS SIGHTS SET
ON HIS BROTHER GETA...
HIS RIVAL
FOR THE IMPERIAL THRONE.
BY THE TIME SEVERUS AND HIS MEN
ARRIVED IN YORK,
THE ROMANS HAD TURNED THE TOWN
INTO A POWERFUL STRONGHOLD.
THE LEGIONARY FORTRESS COVERED
AN AREA OF 50 ACRES.
IT HOUSED A GARRISON OF
5,000 MEN,
AND THE OLD WOODEN
FORTIFICATIONS
WERE BEING REPLACED
BY STURDIER STONE.
MANY OF THESE ROMAN FOUNDATIONS
STILL STAND PROUD
BENEATH MORE RECENT RUINS.
AS YORK GREW,
SO DID ITS POPULATION.
MERCHANTS AND SELLERS FLOODED IN
FROM EVERY CORNER OF THE EMPIRE.
CLUES TO THEIR DIVERSITY
CAN BE FOUND
IN THE GODS THEY LEFT BEHIND.
THE RELICS FORM A MENAGERIE OF
ASSORTED RELIGIONS,
SECTS, AND BELIEFS.
Man: YOU HAVE A REAL ASSORTMENT
OF FIGURINES
AND EVIDENCE OF THE DIFFERENT
RELIGIONS AND CULTS
THAT WERE PRACTICED
AND WORSHIPPED BY THE PEOPLE
WHO LIVED IN ROMAN YORK.
AND THEY VARY ENORMOUSLY
FROM QUITE OFFICIAL RELIGIONS.
FOR INSTANCE, WE HAVE MERCURY
OVER HERE
AND THE COCKERELS
ASSOCIATED WITH MERCURY,
AN OFFICIAL GOD... ONE OF THE MOST
WIDELY VENERATED GODS
THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
IF YOU GO FROM MERCURY
AND HIS LITTLE COCKERELS
TO PERHAPS THE MOST EXOTIC
WE HAVE IN YORK,
WHICH IS THE APIS BULL.
SO WE HAVE OFFICIAL LATIN GODS,
ALL THE WAY THROUGH
TO GRECO-EGYPTIAN GODS
THAT SEVERUS WOULD HAVE BEEN
QUITE FAMILIAR WITH,
BEING GROWING UP
IN NORTH AFRICA.
THIS TELLS US THAT THE PEOPLE
WHO LIVED IN ROMAN YORK
WEREN'T REALLY WHAT YOU PERHAPS
THINK OF AS A ROMAN.
THERE'S VERY FEW WHO
EVER CAME FROM ROME.
THEY CAME FROM
ALL OVER THE EMPIRE.
Narrator: THIS KNOWLEDGE BY
ITSELF DOES LITTLE
FOR THE TEAM INVESTIGATING
THE BEHEADED BODIES,
BUT IT DOES GIVE THEM
SOMETHING TO LOOK FOR.
IF THEY CAN PINPOINT WHERE
THE MEN CAME FROM,
THEY MIGHT BE ABLE TO
FIGURE OUT WHO THEY WERE.
IF THEY WERE FOREIGNERS,
THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN
ROMAN CITIZENS,
POLITICIANS, OR SOLDIERS.
BUT IF THEY WERE LOCAL,
IT'S MORE LIKELY
THEY WERE CAPTURED
CALEDONIAN WARRIORS.
HE'S ACTUALLY GOT
RATHER GOOD TEETH.
A VERY PRONOUNCED
CHIN AS WELL...
OH, YES...
THE INTACT TEETH
WILL COME IN HANDY.
EXTREME...
IT IS, YEAH...
BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGIST
JANET MONTGOMERY
WILL ANALYZE TEETH FROM
SIX OF THE SKULLS.
SHE HOPES THE TEETH
WILL TELL HER WHERE
EACH PERSON GREW UP.
IT WOULD BE
THE SECOND MOLAR...
IN THE LAB, THE TEETH GET
PREPARED FOR ANALYSIS.
THE GOAL IS TO GET
CLEAN PIECES OF ENAMEL,
WHICH WILL THEN BE
ANALYZED FOR LEVELS OF
LEAD, STRONTIUM, AND OXYGEN.
Woman: THEY ALL GO IN THERE
WHEN THE ENAMEL IS FORMING,
WHICH IS DURING CHILDHOOD,
AND THEN THEY STAY THERE.
THE ENAMEL DOESN'T CHANGE.
IT'S VERY ROBUST TISSUE.
IT DOESN'T TURN OVER.
IT DOESN'T CHANGE,
SO ONCE IT'S THERE,
IT'S THERE FOR LIFE.
SO IT'S LIKE A LITTLE ARCHIVE,
A LITTLE SNAPSHOT OF CHILDHOOD,
THAT PEOPLE CARRY AROUND
WITH THEM WHEREVER THEY GO.
Narrator: THE FIRST STEP IS
TO DISSOLVE THE ENAMEL.
THEN SMALL SAMPLES
ARE EVAPORATED,
LEAVING A RESIDUE
THAT CAN BE SCANNED
IN AN ELECTRON SPECTRUM MACHINE.
THE WHOLE PROCESS
TAKES SEVERAL WEEKS,
BUT THE RESULTS PROVIDE
INFORMATION
ABOUT THE CLIMATE,
THE ALTITUDE,
AND EVEN HOW FAR
FROM THE EQUATOR
EACH PERSON WAS LIVING.
THE OUTCOME IS EVEN
MORE REVEALING THAN
MONTGOMERY HAD EXPECTED.
Janet Montgomery:
THE DATA SUGGESTS
WE HAVE A VERY
COSMOPOLITAN MIX OF PEOPLE.
WE HAVE PEOPLE THAT COULD HAVE
COME FROM NORTHERN EUROPE,
NORTHWEST EUROPE.
WE HAVE PEOPLE FROM
THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION,
AND IT'S QUITE POSSIBLE
THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE THERE
FROM AFRICA AS WELL.
Narrator:
WITH THIS INFORMATION IN HAND,
THE TEAM CAN NOW BE SURE
THE BODIES WERE NOT THOSE
OF CALEDONIAN WARRIORS.
THE GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY,
COMBINED WITH THE VIOLENT
NATURE OF THE WOUNDS,
SEEMS TO POINT TOWARDS
ROMAN SOLDIERS,
WHO HAD BEEN PULLED INTO BRITAIN
FROM THROUGHOUT THE EMPIRE.
THE SOLDIERS WERE THERE
FOR BATTLE,
AND THERE WAS AMPLE
OPPORTUNITY FOR THEM
TO BE INJURED OR KILLED.
SEVERUS' CAMPAIGN WAS A HUGE
LOGISTICAL OPERATION INVOLVING
MARCHING FORTS AND SUPPLY BASES
TO FEED THOUSANDS OF TROOPS.
THE AGING EMPEROR HIMSELF WAS
SUFFERING FROM GOUT
AND NO LONGER WELL-SUITED
FOR THE HARDSHIPS OF BATTLE,
BUT HE HAD ALWAYS
RULED WITH FORCE
AND KNEW NO OTHER WAY
TO PRESERVE HIS POWER.
THERE'S NO POINT
AT WHICH YOU CAN GET OFF
THE BUS CALLED VICTORY,
BECAUSE ON THAT RELIES
YOUR CREDIBILITY.
BY DEFEATING SOME SCOTS,
YOU SHOW THAT YOU CAN STILL
DEFEAT ANY OF YOUR RIVALS
OR ANY OF THE OTHER THREATS
TO THE EMPIRE.
Narrator: SEVERUS BELIEVED
A VICTORY IN BRITAIN
WOULD ENSURE THAT
HIS SONS COULD FOLLOW HIM
TO THE IMPERIAL THRONE.
TO THAT END, HE DECLARED
THAT UPON HIS DEATH,
THEY WOULD BECOME
JOINT EMPERORS.
GETA BUSIED HIMSELF WITH
THE GOVERNING OF BRITAIN,
GAINING EXPERIENCE FOR
HIS ROLE AS EMPEROR.
BUT CARACALLA
HAD NO INTENTION
OF SHARING THE IMPERIAL THRONE
WITH HIS BROTHER.
HE PLANNED TO SUCCEED HIS AILING
FATHER AS THE SOLE EMPEROR
AT ANY COST.
CARACALLA MODELED HIMSELF
AFTER ALEXANDER THE GREAT,
HOPING TO FOLLOW
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF
THE FABLED WARRIOR KING.
BOTH FATHER AND SON HAD
HIGH HOPES FOR THE CAMPAIGN,
BUT VICTORY AGAINST
THE CALEDONIANS WAS
FAR FROM ASSURED.
SEVERUS WAS SO UNWELL HE HAD
TO BE CARRIED INTO THE FIELD,
AND HIS TROOPS FOUND THE TERRAIN
HARSH AND UNFORGIVING.
THE ROMANS WERE STRANGERS
IN A MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS
OF LOCHS AND BOGS...
A LAND OF IMPENETRABLE FORESTS
AND DANGEROUS
FAST-FLOWING RIVERS.
ACCORDING TO ROMAN HISTORIANS,
THE CALEDONIANS WERE ALMOST
IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND:
"THE NATIVES INHABITED
DESERTED MARSHY PLAINS.
"THEY HAVE NO WALLS, NO CITIES,
AND NO AGRICULTURE,
BUT LIVE OFF THEIR FLOCKS
AND FROM HUNTING."
AS THE ROMANS PUSHED
INTO THE HIGHLANDS,
THE ENEMY SEEMED
TO MELT AWAY.
BUT ON THE FEW OCCASIONS
WHEN THE SOLDIERS
DID FIND A SETTLEMENT,
NOBODY WAS SPARED.
SEVERUS ORDERED HIS MEN
TO SHOW NO MERCY.
"LET NO ONE ESCAPE
UTTER DESTRUCTION;
"LET NO ONE
ESCAPE OUR HANDS,
NOT EVEN THE BABE
IN ITS MOTHER'S WOMB."
THE ROMANS EMPLOYED
A SCORCHED-EARTH POLICY,
DRIVING PEOPLE FROM THEIR HOMES,
STEALING THEIR BELONGINGS,
AND LAYING WASTE TO THEIR LANDS.
THE STRATEGY WAS TO TERRORIZE
THE CALEDONIANS
UNTIL THEY BEGGED FOR MERCY.
THE TACTICS WERE BRUTAL
BUT INEFFECTIVE.
SEVERUS PURSUED THE TRIBES
OF SCOTLAND FOR THREE YEARS
WITHOUT A DECISIVE VICTORY.
THE CALEDONIANS
WERE TOO SMART TO ENGAGE
THE ROMANS IN A PITCHED BATTLE.
INSTEAD, THEY USED STEALTH...
AND THE LEGIONARIES FOUND
THEMSELVES EMBROILED
IN A BLEAK AND SILENT
GUERRILLA WAR.
THE SKIRMISHES WERE SO VIOLENT
THAT WHEN A ROMAN SOLDIER
WAS INJURED,
HE WOULD BE FINISHED OFF
BY HIS OWN MEN TO SAVE HIM
FROM THE HORRORS OF BEING
CAPTURED BY THE ENEMY.
THE CALEDONIAN HIGHLANDERS,
FAMILIAR WITH THE TERRAIN,
AMBUSHED AND HARASSED
THE LEGIONS WITH
FEW REPERCUSSIONS.
THEY PICKED OFF SOLDIERS
AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY.
ROMAN LOSSES WERE HIGH.
THE HISTORIAN CASSIUS DIO WROTE
THAT SEVERUS LOST A STAGGERING
50,000 MEN
IN HIS THREE YEARS
OF BATTLE WITH THE CALEDONIANS.
COULD SOME OF THESE LOSSES
BE CONNECTED
TO THE DECAPITATED BODIES
IN YORK?
IF THESE WERE SOLDIERS
WHO DIED IN COMBAT,
THEIR BODIES SHOULD EXHIBIT
RECOGNIZABLE BATTLE SCARS.
THIS MAN SUFFERED
A DEEP BLADE CUT
TO HIS RIGHT KNEE.
THE BLOW
WOULD HAVE DROPPED HIM,
MAKING DECAPITATION EASIER.
SO WE CAN SEE THE CUT MARK
ON THIS FEMUR,
THE THIGH BONE,
AROUND THE KNEE JOINT,
EXTENDING UP HERE.
MAYBE YOU'RE SEEING SOME
FLATTENING ON HERE.
AND IT'S MUCH EASIER
TO SEE THOSE DETAILS
IN THIS IMAGE
RATHER THAN
JUST LOOKING AT
THE BONE ITSELF.
Narrator: A PATTERN SEEMS
TO BE DEVELOPING.
THE SCARS ON THE BONES
REVEAL
THAT MANY OF THE MEN
HAD BEEN STRUCK DOWN
BEFORE BEING DECAPITATED.
KATIE THINKS THIS MAN WAS
STABBED IN THE GROIN.
NICE CLEAN CUT
STRAIGHT
ACROSS THERE.
THIS MAN WAS STRUCK BY
A SAVAGE BLOW TO THE JAW.
VERY, VERY STRAIGHT
CUT. SHARP EDGE.
IT'S BECOMING CLEAR
THAT THE DECAPITATIONS
WERE ONLY THE CLIMAX
OF THE BRUTALITY.
THE VIOLENCE STARTED
BEFORE THE BEHEADINGS.
Katie Tucker: I THINK THAT
THE INJURIES THAT I'VE SEEN
ON THE NECK VERTEBRAE
AND ELSEWHERE ON THE BODY
SUGGEST THAT THEY
ARE PERIMORTEM INJURIES...
AROUND THE TIME OF DEATH.
Narrator: IF THESE INJURIES
ARE PERIMORTEM,
MEANING THEY OCCURRED
AT THE TIME THE MEN WERE KILLED,
THEY RULE OUT THE POSSIBILITY
OF A POSTMORTEM BURIAL RITE.
THIS SUPPORTS THE THEORY
THAT THE VICTIMS
WERE SOLDIERS KILLED
AND DECAPITATED IN BATTLE.
BUT ONE MISSING PIECE OF
EVIDENCE CONCERNS KATIE TUCKER.
Tucker: THERE ARE NO,
FOR EXAMPLE, DEFENSE INJURIES
ON THE HANDS OR THE FOREARMS.
THERE ARE NO PERIMORTEM INJURIES
TO THE RIB CAGE.
THERE ARE NO PERIMORTEM
INJURIES TO THE FACIAL
AREA OF THE SKULLS.
SO REALLY WHAT WE ARE SEEING
ARE PERIMORTEM INJURIES
JUST TO THE AREAS OF
THE BODY THAT ARE RELEVANT
FOR DECAPITATION.
Narrator: THE MAJORITY
OF THE INJURIES WERE
TO THE VICTIMS' LEGS
AND SKULLS.
I SUSPECT ON THE BASIS OF A FEW
INDIVIDUALS THAT THEY WERE...
SOMEBODY TRIED TO INJURE THEM
FIRST TO TRY AND GET...
MAYBE GET THEM ON THE GROUND
SO THEY COULD BE DECAPITATED.
SO THEY MAY HAVE BEEN
TRYING TO RUN AWAY
BECAUSE THEY KNEW
WHAT WAS COMING.
BUT THEN THEY WERE INJURED,
AND THEY FELL TO THE GROUND.
AND THEN THAT GAVE THE PERSON
WHO WAS DECAPITATING THEM
THE CHANCE TO DO THE DEED.
SOME OF THE INDIVIDUALS HAVE
GOT MULTIPLE CUT MARKS
ON THE NECK VERTEBRAE
AND ELSEWHERE
AROUND THE SKULL AREA,
SUGGESTING THESE PEOPLE
WERE RATHER HACKED AROUND
TO GET THE HEAD OFF.
YEAH, IN
MY PROFESSIONAL OPINION,
THESE PEOPLE WERE EXECUTED
BY DECAPITATION.
Narrator: EXECUTION
BY DECAPITATION SEEMS
TO INDICATE PRISONERS,
BUT THE TEETH
HAVE ALREADY PROVEN
THESE MEN WERE NOT
CAPTURED CALEDONIANS.
COULD THE VICTIMS HAVE BEEN
ROMAN SOLDIERS
WHO HAD COMMITTED
SOME HEINOUS CRIME?
THE PAINFUL SHACKLES
ON THE LEGS OF ONE VICTIM
CERTAINLY SIGNIFY
A PRISONER OF SOME KIND.
AND THE SHACKLES
ARE ONLY THE BEGINNING.
INTERESTINGLY,
THE BACK OF
tHIS SKULL
WAS ACTUALLY MISSING
WHEN EXCAVATED.
I'M QUITE CONVINCED
THAT THIS IS
A CUT HERE ALONG
THE SUTURE LINE.
BUT YOU THINK
ORIGINALLY THAT THERE
MAY HAVE BEEN...
Narrator:
THE BLOW TO THE MAN'S
HEAD WAS SO POWERFUL,
IT ACTUALLY DISLODGED
A LARGE PIECE OF HIS SKULL.
THE MOST INTERESTING
THING GOING ON IS
ACTUALLY TO HIS LOWER LEGS,
ESPECIALLY TO THIS SIDE.
THERE'S THIS VERY
LOCALIZED AREA OF EXPANSION
OF THE SHAFT HERE,
WHICH IS PROBABLY
A LEG ULCER OR SOMETHING.
YEAH, I MEAN,
IT'S VERY
LOCALIZED, ISN'T IT?
YEAH.
AND I NOTICED THERE'S
A FRACTURE HERE.
YEAH, THERE IS. YEAH.
IN THE FIBULA.
THE FIBULA.
WHICH SEEMS
TO BE QUITE
LONG-STANDING.
IT'S BEEN THERE
FOR QUITE SOME TIME.
AND I SUPPOSE A LOT
OF PEOPLE WOULD ASK
THE QUESTION,
WELL, IS THAT
FRACTURE ASSOCIATED
WITH HAVING
THE SHACKLE MAYBE
APPLIED TO THE LEG?
RIGHT. YEAH.
WHEN THIS PERSON
WAS LIVING,
I THINK THAT THE LEG
WOULD HAVE BEEN
REALLY SWOLLEN,
REALLY RED AND HOT
AND PAINFUL.
YEAH...
Narrator:
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE,
THE DAMAGE
DONE BY THE SHACKLE
IS CLEARLY VISIBLE.
YOU CAN SEE THAT
LOTS OF HOLES...
THE LEG BONE HAS BEEN LEFT
DEEPLY PITTED AND SCARRED.
Tucker: I THINK
THIS PERSON WOULD HAVE HAD
A LOT OF PAIN IN THIS LEG,
PARTICULARLY AS A RESULT
OF HAVING THE SHACKLES ON,
AND WOULD HAVE HAD
DIFFICULTY MOVING AROUND.
Man: WHAT WE HAVE HERE
ARE TWO IRON RINGS
WHICH WERE FOUND AROUND
THE ANKLES OF THE SKELETON.
AND I HAVEN'T EVER COME ACROSS
ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE.
SO I THINK WHAT WE'VE
GOT HERE IS AN EXAMPLE
OF SOME VERY UNUSUAL
AND... ONE MIGHT SAY... VERY
CRUEL PUNISHMENT
TO THIS INDIVIDUAL...
TO HAVE HAD THIS DONE TO HIM
WHILE STILL ALIVE.
AND WE'VE JUST HAD THESE THINGS
X-RAYED TO GIVE US
A BIT MORE DETAIL ABOUT
WHAT THEY LOOKED LIKE.
AND WE CAN SEE HERE THIS IS
THE LARGER ONE HERE,
AND WE CAN SEE
THE WELD POINT THERE
WHERE, AS IT WERE,
THE TWO HALVES HAVE
BEEN WELDED TOGETHER.
AND YOU CAN SEE IT ON THE OTHER
ONE THERE, ALSO VERY CLEAR.
THERE ARE SLAVE SHACKLES KNOWN
FROM THE ROMAN WORLD,
WHICH HAVE A CHAIN
BETWEEN THEM,
THE IDEA BEING TO STOP A MAN
RUNNING AWAY BASICALLY.
AND I EXPECTED TO FIND
A CHAIN WHICH WOULD GO
BETWEEN THESE TWO.
NOW, WHEN WE LOOK ON THE X-RAY,
THERE IS ABSOLUTELY
NO TRACE OF THAT.
SO IT LOOKS AS THOUGH THEY ARE
SOMETHING RATHER DIFFERENT HERE.
THAT THE MAIN PURPOSE OF THEM
IS ACTUALLY TO WEIGH HIM DOWN,
IF YOU LIKE.
IT CONJURES UP
AN AWFUL PICTURE, ACTUALLY,
OF THE MEN THAT WERE BEING HELD
DOWN WHILE THE SMITH COMES IN.
YOU WOULD HAVE AN OPEN WOUND
AS A RESULT OF
PUTTING THE THINGS ON
IN THE FIRST PLACE,
AND THEN THE THINGS CHAFE
AND CAUSE FURTHER INFLAMMATION.
SO BY THE TIME
THE POOR FELLOW, YOU KNOW,
FINALLY PASSED ON,
HE WOULD HAVE BEEN
IN CONSIDERABLE PAIN,
I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT. YEAH.
Narrator: WHAT COULD
THIS MAN HAVE DONE TO DESERVE
SUCH TREATMENT?
WAS HE A SOLDIER WHO HAD BROKEN
SOME CENTRAL MILITARY CODE
OR COMMITTED SOME HORRIBLE
CRIME AGAINST ROME?
IF SO, WHAT DEED COULD HAVE BEEN
SO TERRIBLE TO DESERVE
THE SHACKLES,
THE BLOW TO HIS HEAD,
AND THE DECAPITATION?
AT THE DIG SITE,
ADDITIONAL HUMAN REMAINS
ARE BEING UNEARTHED.
EACH NEW BODY REVEALS MORE
EVIDENCE OF SUFFERING IN LIFE
AND HUMILIATION IN DEATH.
WELL, I'M
LOOKING HERE
AT WHAT SEEMS
TO BE A VERY
UNUSUAL BURIAL,
WITH THE SKULL
SITTING ON
ITS OWN THERE.
AND THEN IN
THIS AREA,
WE'VE HAD
THE CREMATED
REMAINS OF THE REST
OF THE BODY.
IN THIS GRAVE,
WE'VE GOT
A DECAPITATED
SKELETON.
IT LOOKS AS THOUGH
THE SKULL'S BEEN
PUT DOWN THERE
BETWEEN
THE RIGHT ARM
AND THE LEFT LEG.
IT'S A VERY CURIOUS
BODY POSITION.
SO WE'VE GOT
A BURIAL HERE
WHICH HAS BEEN
REALLY BADLY
TREATED.
THE BODY TREATED
WITH VERY LITTLE
OF THE SORT OF
CONVENTIONAL RESPECT
THAT ONE EXPECTS.
IT REALLY IS QUITE
EXTRAORDINARY.
Narrator: SO MANY BODIES
THAT HAVE BEEN
SO SIMILARLY MISTREATED
LEND CREDENCE TO THE THEORY
THAT THEY WERE A GROUP OF
DISGRACED SOLDIERS.
COULD THEY ALL HAVE
BEEN FROM THE SAME UNIT...
DISCIPLINED
FOR COWARDICE OR PUNISHED
FOR SOME GROSS MISCONDUCT?
Miranda Aldhouse Green:
THERE IS A TRADITION
IN THE ROMAN ARMY
THAT IF YOU'RE A COWARD
OR PERHAPS A WHOLE UNIT
SHOWS COWARDICE,
THEN EVERY TENTH MAN
IS KILLED
IN FRONT OF THEIR FELLOWS
AS A KIND OF DETERRENT,
A HUGE PUNISHMENT.
AND THEY MAY WELL
HAVE BEEN THEN...
THEIR BODIES MAY HAVE BEEN
TREATED IN A HUMILIATING WAY,
SO THAT THEY WOULDN'T
ACTUALLY ENTER THE SPIRIT WORLD.
THE IDEA THAT THE BODY
IS FRAGMENTED,
THE HEAD IS TAKEN OFF...
WHICH PERHAPS PREVENTS
KIND OF REINCORPORATION
OF THE BODY IN THE NEXT WORLD.
WE HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT
CERTAINLY FOR IRON AGE
CELTIC PEOPLES,
AND ALSO FOR
THE ROMANS THEMSELVES,
THERE WAS A BELIEF
IN ANOTHER WORLD.
AND HOW YOU LIVED
IN THAT OTHER WORLD DEPENDED
ON HOW YOU BEHAVED IN LIFE.
AND THERE MAY BE SOME KIND OF
THOUGHT PROCESS GOING ON
WHEREBY THESE PEOPLE COULD NOT
ENTER INTO THAT SPIRIT WORLD
BECAUSE THEIR BODIES
HAD BEEN VIOLATED.
THEY'D BEEN DECAPITATED,
AND IT WAS AN ACT
OF ULTIMATE DISGRACE
AND ULTIMATE HUMILIATION.
Narrator: THE DESCRIPTION
OF THE PUNISHMENT
FOR COWARDLY SOLDIERS
CERTAINLY FITS
THE CONDITION OF THE BODIES.
BUT ALTHOUGH THE EVIDENCE
OF THAT SCENARIO SEEMS
TO BE MOUNTING,
THERE IS AGAIN ONE ASPECT
OF THE INVESTIGATION
THAT THROWS THE WHOLE THEORY
INTO QUESTION.
AS THE DIG PROGRESSES,
THE ARCHAEOLOGISTS REALIZE
THAT THE BODIES ARE BURIED
WITHIN A PROMINENT AREA
OF THE CEMETERY
CALLED THE MOUNT.
Patrick Ottaway:
THE INTERESTING THING
ABOUT THE MOUNT AREA IS
THAT THERE ARE A LOT
OF HIGH-STATUS BURIALS
THERE AS WELL.
IT'S UP ON A HIGH POINT.
IT'S HIGH GROUND OVERLOOKING
THE MAIN ROMAN ROAD
FROM THE SOUTHWEST
AS IT APPROACHES YORK
AND THEN AS IT CONTINUES
DOWN INTO THE TOWN ITSELF.
SO THIS, WE THINK, IS
A PRIVILEGED PLACE OF BURIAL.
AND THAT'S WHAT MAKES
THESE DECAPITATED BURIALS
RATHER DIFFICULT
TO UNDERSTAND IN A SENSE,
BECAUSE OUR
FIRST THOUGHTS WERE
THAT THESE MEN
HAD BEEN DECAPITATED
BECAUSE THEY HAD BEEN
IN SOME WAY
CRIMINALS OR PEOPLE
WHO HAD OFFENDED
AGAINST THE MORAL CODE
OF THE TIME.
DEVIANTS, IF YOU LIKE.
BUT I THINK THE STORY IS
PERHAPS A LITTLE BIT MORE
COMPLICATED THAN THAT.
Narrator: THE ESTEEMED
LOCATION OF THE SITE
CONTRADICTS THE DISGRACED NATURE
OF THE BURIALS WITHIN IT.
THE NEW INFORMATION CONFIRMS
THAT THE VICTIMS WEREN'T
CAPTURED CALEDONIANS
BECAUSE THEY WOULD
NEVER HAVE BEEN BURIED
IN SUCH PRIME REAL ESTATE.
BUT FOR THE SAME REASON,
IT ALSO ESTABLISHES
THAT THEY WEREN'T COMMON ROMAN
SOLDIERS EITHER.
SO IF THESE MEN WEREN'T
CALEDONIANS AND THEY WEREN'T
CONDEMNED ROMAN SOLDIERS,
WHO WHERE THEY?
AND WHAT HAD THEY
DONE TO DESERVE NOT
ONLY VIOLENT DEATH,
BUT HUMILIATION
IN THE AFTERLIFE?
THIS TIME, THE CLUES COME
NOT FROM
THE FORENSIC INVESTIGATION,
BUT FROM THE HISTORY BOOKS.
ANTHONY BIRLEY IS A LEADING
EXPERT ON ROMAN HISTORY.
HE HAS SPENT LONG HOURS
RESEARCHING THE LIFE OF SEVERUS
AND HIS WAR
WITH THE CALEDONIANS.
AS THE NEWS ABOUT
THE DECAPITATED BODIES
IN YORK SURFACED,
HE FOLLOWED
WITH GROWING EXCITEMENT.
HE BELIEVES HE MIGHT
BE ABLE TO REVEAL
NOT ONLY WHO THE VICTIMS WERE,
BUT WHY THEY HAD BEEN
SO BADLY MISTREATED.
HIS THEORY GOES TO THE VERY
HEART OF IMPERIAL POLITICS.
IF PATRICK OTTAWAY
AND HIS TEAM TELL US
THAT THESE SKELETONS BELONG
TO THE EARLY THIRD CENTURY
AND THAT MORE THAN TWO DOZEN OF
THEM WERE EXECUTED, DECAPITATED,
I THINK I CAN GIVE YOU
A GOOD SUGGESTION
AS TO WHEN THIS HAPPENED,
WHY IT HAPPENED
AND EVEN GIVE YOU THE NAMES OF
TWO OR THREE OF THE VICTIMS.
Narrator:
BIRLEY'S THEORY HINGES
ON THE WRITINGS OF
THE ROMAN HISTORIAN
CASSIUS DIO,
WHO KNEW THE EMPEROR SEVERUS
PERSONALLY.
DIO DOCUMENTED THE BITTER
TENSION BETWEEN CARACALLA
AND HIS BROTHER GETA,
BOTH OF WHOM DESPERATELY
WANTED TO SUCCEED
THEIR FATHER AS EMPEROR.
CARACALLA WAS SO IMPATIENT
FOR THE THRONE,
HE EVEN TRIED TO KILL SEVERUS
DURING THEIR LAST CAMPAIGN
AGAINST THE CALEDONIANS.
CARACALLA SHOULD HAVE BEEN
EXECUTED FOR SUCH TREACHERY,
BUT SEVERUS COULD NOT
BRING HIMSELF
TO ORDER THE EXECUTION
OF HIS OWN SON.
IT WAS A COSTLY DECISION
AND, ULTIMATELY,
A FATAL ONE FOR HIS
YOUNGER SON, GETA.
FOR ALTHOUGH SEVERUS SURVIVED
THE MURDER ATTEMPT,
HIS DAYS AS EMPEROR AND FAMILY
PEACEKEEPER WERE NUMBERED.
BY THE TIME OF
THE ATTACK,
SEVERUS' GOUT
WAS GETTING WORSE,
AND HE COULD HARDLY WALK
UNATTENDED.
HE REQUIRED CONSTANT CARE
AND TREATMENT FROM HIS DOCTORS.
LIKE MOST ROMANS, SEVERUS
WAS EXTREMELY SUPERSTITIOUS.
HE HAD LEARNED FROM
THE STARS THAT HE WOULD
NOT SEE ROME AGAIN,
AND WAS PREPARING FOR HIS DEATH.
BUT FOR CARACALLA, THAT DAY
COULD NOT COME SOON ENOUGH.
ON ONE OCCASION, HE
TRIED TO ENTER THE SICK
EMPEROR'S BEDCHAMBER,
BUT WAS RESTRAINED BY SEVERUS'
LOYAL CHAMBERLAIN, CASTOR.
CARACALLA EVEN ASKED THE DOCTORS
TO HASTEN HIS FATHER'S END,
BUT THEY REFUSED.
CASSIUS DIO RECORDED THE DETAILS
OF SEVERUS' FINAL DAYS.
IN 211 A.D.,
THE EMPEROR SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS
DIED IN YORK.
AS HE HAD DECREED, HIS TWO SONS
CARACALLA AND GETA
BECAME JOINT RULERS
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
SEVERUS' BODY WAS BURNED
ON A HUGE PYRE,
THE LIKES OF WHICH HAD NEVER
BEEN SEEN IN BRITAIN.
BUT BEFORE THE EMBERS
HAD EVEN COOLED,
CARACALLA BEGAN HIS BLOODY BID
FOR SOLITARY CONTROL
OF THE THRONE.
HIS COLD AMBITION PUT HIM
ON A COLLISION COURSE
WITH HIS YOUNGER BROTHER GETA,
WHO HAD RETURNED TO ROME
WITH HIS MOTHER TO RALLY
HIS OWN SUPPORTERS.
IN YORK, CARACALLA
BEGAN CONSOLIDATING
HIS POWER BY FORCE.
Green: WELL, I THINK YOU DO
GET RUTHLESS EMPERORS
WHO ARE TRYING TO MAKE
THEIR MARK BY STAMPING
OUT ALL OPPOSITION.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS
IN THE ROMAN IMPERIAL ACCESSION
IS SOMETHING CALLED DAMNATIO,
WHICH IS A WAY OF PUBLICLY
AND RITUALLY AND CEREMONIALLY
GETTING RID
OF THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU,
SO THAT YOU ARE IN OVERALL
POWER AND OVERALL CHARGE.
NOW, IT MAY BE YOUR FAMILY,
IT MAY BE THE PEOPLE
WHO PERHAPS OPPOSED YOU
AND CHALLENGED YOUR AUTHORITY,
BUT IT'S SOMETHING
WHICH MEANS THAT YOU START
WITH A CLEAN SLATE.
YOU HAVE YOUR OWN SUPPORTERS,
WHOM YOU CHOOSE,
AND YOU GET RID OF
ALL THE OPPOSITION
SO THAT THERE CAN'T BE
ANY INSURGENCY OR ANY OPPOSITION
AFTER YOU'VE ACCEDED
TO THE THRONE.
WELL, THE FIRST THING HE DOES IS
KILL OFF THE PEOPLE
WHO HAD OPPOSED HIM
WHILE HIS FATHER
WAS STILL ALIVE.
THE CHAMBERLAIN AND SECRETARY
OF IMPERIAL MEMORY, CASTOR,
WHO HAD OBVIOUSLY
OBSTRUCTED HIM GAINING
ACCESS TO SEVERUS BEFORE;
THE OLD TUTOR EUHODUS,
WHO IS PROBABLY MURDERED
BECAUSE HE WANTED CARACALLA
AND GETA TO BE FRIENDS
AS THEY HAD BEEN WHEN THEY WERE
VERY LITTLE BOYS
WHEN HE WAS FIRST
IN CHARGE OF THEM;
AND THE DOCTORS WHO HAD REFUSED
CARACALLA'S REQUEST... OR ORDER...
TO HASTEN HIS FATHER'S DEATH.
AS SOON AS HIS FATHER
FINALLY DOES DIE,
THAT'S IT FOR THE DOCTORS.
Narrator: THE CHAMBERLAIN,
THE TUTOR, AND SEVERUS'
DOCTORS, ALL PUT TO DEATH
BY A VENGEFUL
AND POWER-HUNGRY CARACALLA.
AND THEY WERE
ONLY THE BEGINNING.
CARACALLA ORDERED
AN ALL-OUT PURGE OF EVERYONE
WHOSE LOYALTY HE QUESTIONED.
IN THE SPRING OF 211 A.D.,
THE ORDERS WERE CARRIED OUT.
THE KEY MEMBERS OF
SEVERUS' STAFF WERE BROUGHT
BEFORE THE EXECUTIONER.
IT WOULD BE A PUBLIC SPECTACLE
TO WARN OTHER PEOPLE IN
THE IMPERIAL ENTOURAGE,
"THIS IS WHAT YOU'LL GET
IF YOU DON'T DO AS I SAY."
Narrator: CASTOR THE CHAMBERLAIN
PAID THE ULTIMATE PRICE
FOR IMPEDING CARACALLA'S
ATTEMPTS TO KILL HIS FATHER.
EUHODUS, WHO HAD KNOWN CARACALLA
SINCE CHILDHOOD
AND EVEN HELPED HIM
KILL HIS FATHER-IN-LAW,
MET THE SAME FATE.
SEVERUS' DOCTORS PERISHED, TOO.
Green: THE SITUATION WOULD
HAVE BEEN EXTREMELY THEATRICAL.
THE IDEA WOULD HAVE BEEN
A KIND OF PERFORMANCE,
WHERE MAYBE THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY
WAS THERE TO SEE THIS HAPPEN.
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN VERY BLOODY.
SOUND AND SMELL WOULD HAVE BEEN
VERY IMPORTANT AS WELL.
SO THE WHOLE THING IS
A PIECE OF THEATER,
MAYBE DESIGNED AS A MASSIVE
DETERRENT TO OTHER PEOPLE
AND SOMETHING THAT WOULD
HAVE LEFT A DEEP IMPRESSION
ON PEOPLE FOR YEARS,
PERHAPS DECADES AFTERWARDS.
IT IS A BLOODTHIRSTY PLACE.
IT IS A SOCIETY WHERE HUMAN LIFE
IS REALLY RATED NOT VERY HIGHLY,
PROBABLY RATED RATHER
LESS HIGHLY THAN
YOUR FAVORITE HORSE
OR YOUR FAVORITE SWORD
OR SOMETHING LIKE THIS.
AND SO THE ACTUAL... THE MASS
KILLING OF PEOPLE IS
SOMETHING WHICH
WOULD NOT HAVE ANYTHING
LIKE THE SAME HORROR AS IT WOULD
BE IN THE MODERN WESTERN WORLD.
THE ROMAN WORLD IS
A DIFFERENT PLACE.
IT'S NOT SOMETHING WHERE
HUMAN LIFE IS NECESSARILY
AT THE APEX OF WORTH.
Narrator: IN THE CEMETERY,
THE ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE FOUND
ANOTHER
14 DECAPITATED SKELETONS.
TO DATE, THIS MAKES A TOTAL
OF 44 EXECUTIONS,
ALL PERSONALLY SUPERVISED
BY CARACALLA
IN HIS DAMNATION OF SEVERUS'
AND GETA'S SUPPORTERS.
BUT THE HUMILIATION
AND PUNISHMENT CONTINUED
EVEN AFTER DEATH.
BY BURYING THEM FACE-DOWN,
OR WITH THEIR HEADS
AT THEIR KNEES OR FEET,
CARACALLA MADE THEM PRISONERS
IN THEIR OWN TORTURED BODIES.
HE GAVE THEM
NO CHANCE FOR REDEMPTION.
THEIR BONES ARE TESTAMENT
TO HIS BLOODLUST,
BUT HE WASTED LITTLE TIME
BASKING IN HIS REVENGE.
HIS NEXT VICTIM WAS IN ROME,
SO ROME WAS WHERE HE WENT.
HE WAS ON A MISSION TO KILL HIS
BROTHER GETA,
THE ONLY PERSON WHO STOOD
BETWEEN HIMSELF AND THE THRONE.
Wallace-Hadrill:
HOW CAN TWO BROTHERS
INHERIT IMPERIAL POWER?
ONLY WHEN A ROYAL SYSTEM
HAS NO POWER
CAN BROTHERS SURVIVE
ALONGSIDE EACH OTHER.
BUT IN SERIOUS EMPIRES,
YOU HAVE TO KILL YOUR RIVALS.
Narrator:
CARACALLA WAS OBSESSED
WITH THE CONSOLIDATION
OF POWER.
HE FINALLY CONFRONTED GETA
IN THE IMPERIAL PALACE.
Wallace-Hadrill:
CARACALLA DIDN'T WANT
TO LIVE WITH GETA.
HE'D HAVE HAD TO JUGGLE JUST TOO
MUCH, MAKE TOO MANY COMPROMISES.
HE WANTED UNIFIED POWER
IN ONE PERSON.
I THINK HE WAS ALMOST
BOUND TO KILL HIM.
Narrator: GETA DIED IN
HIS MOTHER'S ARMS.
HAD SHE EXPRESSED
ANY ANGER AT ALL,
CARACALLA WOULD NOT HAVE
HESITATED TO KILL HER, TOO.
WITH HIS BROTHER OUT OF THE WAY,
CARACALLA CONTINUED HIS PURGE,
ORDERING AN ESTIMATED
20,000 MURDERS.
IN AN ATTEMPT TO ERASE
ALL EVIDENCE OF HIS
BROTHER'S EXISTENCE,
HE ALSO HAD GETA'S NAME
REMOVED FROM EVERY
MONUMENT IN THE EMPIRE.
THE GREAT ARCH OF SEVERUS
IN THE FORUM WAS CHANGED,
AS WAS THIS ONE ON
A SMALL ROMAN BACKSTREET.
CARACALLA WAS PERFORMING
DAMNATIO MEMORIAE...
"DAMNATION OF MEMORY."
THIS CHARMING LITTLE ARCH
IS A SORT OF MINI-VERSION
OF THE BIG ONE IN THE FORUM.
AND INSIDE, THESE ABSOLUTELY
LOVELY PORTRAITS OF THE FAMILY.
THERE'S SEPTIMIUS HIMSELF,
STANDING WITH HIS BEARD
BY AN ALTAR SACRIFICING.
BESIDE HIM,
HIS WIFE JULIA DOMNA.
AND THEN ON THE OTHER
SIDE, ANOTHER FIGURE,
YOUNG AND HANDSOME,
SACRIFICING AT AN ALTAR,
AND BESIDE HIM, BLANK.
NO PRIZES FOR GUESSING
WHO IS MISSING.
YOU READ THE INSCRIPTION,
AND YOU FIND THAT
THE NAME OF CARACALLA
HAS GOT EVEN LONGER
THAN IT SHOULD BE.
AND THERE'S A LOT OF STUFF ABOUT
"FORTISSIMUS FELICISSIMUSQUE."
HE'S THE "BRAVEST
AND LUCKIEST OF PRINCES,"
AND IT'S WRITTEN OVER THE NAME
OF HIS LITTLE BROTHER GETA.
THAT DELETION, PLUS THE DELETION
OF THE IMAGE, IS
THE PERFECT EXAMPLE OF WHAT
"DAMNATIO MEMORIAE" MEANS.
THE MEMORY IS WIPED.
Narrator: CARACALLA'S
POWER AS EMPEROR DEPENDED
ON THE LOYALTY OF THE LEGIONS,
SO HIS NEXT MOVE WAS TO WIN OVER
GETA'S FORMER TROOPS.
AGAIN HE MOVED RUTHLESSLY.
Birley: HE RUSHES
OFF TO THE CAMP OF
THE PRAETORIAN GUARD,
AND THAT GOES ALL RIGHT.
AND THEN HE GOES TO THE CAMP OF
THE LEGION STATIONS,
BY SEVERUS, SOUTH OF ROME.
AND THEY WON'T LET HIM IN.
THEY'RE SUPPORTERS OF GETA,
AND HE HAS GREAT TROUBLE
WITH THEM.
AND HE ALSO HAS GREAT TROUBLE
WITH HIGH-RANKING PERSONS
WHO DISAPPROVED OF WHAT HE DOES.
SO HE HAS THEM EXECUTED.
Narrator: CARACALLA'S
REIGN AS EMPEROR LASTED
ONLY FIVE YEARS.
EVENTUALLY, THE VIOLENCE
CAUGHT UP WITH HIM.
WHILE STOPPING TO RELIEVE
HIMSELF AT THE SIDE OF THE ROAD,
HE WAS ASSASSINATED
BY AN OFFICER OF
THE IMPERIAL BODYGUARD.
IN YORK, THE LAST
OF THE DECAPITATED BODIES
ARE BEING EXHUMED...
SILENT WITNESSES
TO THE BRUTALITY
OF A VAINGLORIOUS EMPEROR.
CARACALLA LIVED AND DIED
BY THE SWORD,
BUT UNLIKE THE BEAUTIFUL
AND MAJESTIC MONUMENTS
THAT GLORIFIED HIS REIGN,
HIS VICTIMS ARE A LASTING
REMINDER OF THE TURMOIL
HE CREATED
AND THE BLOOD HE SPILLED.
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