L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2019 www.italoamericano.org 16 L'Italo-Americano HERITAGE HISTORY IDENTITY TRADITIONS W e all know when and how the American continent was discovered — let us not delve into the unnerving diatribe about "discovering" vs "conquering" here: there'll be a lot of that around Columbus Day, in October. It was the Fall of 1492 when good, old Christopher Columbus sailed into the New World, thinking to have reached the Indies: it was the start of a new era in the history of Humanity. Plenty of other ex- peditions followed, all well docu- mented. However, historians have been playing for quite a while with the idea that those late Renaissance trips to the Americas were not the first. Recent research, in fact, seems to have proved with a relative de- gree of certainty that the Vikings had made it to the American conti- nent as early as the 10th century. While their colonization of Green- land, which is well documented his- torically, lasted well into the 14th century, their settlements in North America were never stable and little proof of Viking life on that side of the Atlantic remains. Still, we know they did reach the eastern coast of modern Canada and the US, the first known non-natives to roam these beautiful lands. The presence of the Vikings in America is no big secret, though. There is no mystery. But what if I were to tell you the Romans — yes, those Romans — may have been as far as the coasts of Texas? The ship that started the mys- tery The theory isn't as far fetched as it may seem and it has been around for more than a century. Ar- chaeological reports dating from 1886 speak of the discovery of a shipwreck whose structural and technical characteristics didn't match neither those of colonial times, nor those of pre-Colombian civilizations, and that modern spe- cialists associated with Roman ves- sels. About a century later, at the be- ginning of the 1990s, a number of original Roman coins bearing the effigy of emperor Trajan were dis- covered on US soil, surrounded by artifacts of Roman origin. The Romans in Texas? Some historians believe the wreck discovered in 1886 could be that of a late imperial merchant ship sunk near the Gulf of Mexico. The winds, their theory continues, would have brought the survivors to the coasts of Texas, where the final discovery was made. While the shipwreck of 1886 is certainly the largest of all Roman findings on American soil, it's far from being the only one. Indeed, in the past 200 years a number of coins dating from the 1st to the 4th century AD have been discovered in Kentucky (38), Tennessee (2), Massachusetts (about 10), as well as in other locations like North Car- olina, Oklahoma and Georgia. It really seems the Romans made it all the way to the New World a good 600 years before the Vikings and a whole millennium before Columbus. More proof from South America More discovers made in Mexico and Brazil support the theory. An anthropomorphic statuette dating from the 2nd century AD with typ- ically Roman features was discov- ered in an Aztec pyramid in Toluca, some 40 miles from Mexico City. And then, a whole Roman ship- wreck was found in the waters off Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: thanks to its content, archaeologists were not only able to date the wreck to the mid-3rd century AD, but also to tell us with relative ease the ship came from ancient Zilis, on the At- lantic coast of modern day Mo- rocco. Back North, more proof of Roman presence A very recent discovery seems to reiterate the early presence of the Romans on the American con- tinent further. While recording a documentary for the History Chan- nel on Oak Island, south of Nova Scotia, archaeologists found an- other Roman shipwreck, along with a ceremonial sword, both dating from the 1st century AD. X ray analysis of the sword confirmed the materials used are compatible with those employed in Rome in that time period. Further confirmation of the find- ing's authenticity came when sim- ilar swords were unearthed also in Europe: they all belonged to the period of Emperor Commodus and were given as a gift to particularly deserving gladiators and warriors. The importance of a... pineap- ple Why should this juicy tropical fruit bring more evidence in sup- port of our story? Well, because one is represented in a decorative 1st century AD mosaic kept in the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme mu- seum, in Rome. The piece depicts a fruit basket with figs, crabapples, black grapes, pomegranates and a pineapple. Problem is pineapples officially made it to the Old Conti- nent only after the discovery of America in 1492. There is more: some frescoes in Pompeii also show peculiar fruits, very similar to our pineapples, and there is even a small statuette of a child holding one in his hand. So... did the Romans knew — and liked — tropical pineapples al- ready? The mystery continues... While historians still refrain from openly and officially stating the Romans did make it to the Americas, the archaeological and artistic discoveries made on both sides of the Atlantic seem to strongly point to it. Did they settle there? Did they entertain commer- cial relationships with local people? How far did they push themselves when exploring the New World? Elio Cadelo, a journalist and re- searcher for Radio Rai, offers some last insights: "we could say the American continent was known to many. The Polynesians traveled there often and left genetic traces which are still visible today. The Chinese and the Indians reached it from the East and, without a doubt, the Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians and the Romans did the same from the West. Even the Etruscans may have been there." In the end, how could Emperor Julian have said "the Atlantic Ocean is larger than the Mediterranean, but just like it, it's been explored and it belongs to the Romans" un- less they did, indeed, traveled all the way to America? "The Senate and the people of Rome:" this is what SPQR stands for FRANCESCA BEZZONE Guess who's coming for dinner: did the Romans really make it to America?

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