Conspiracies: The Facts * the Theories * the Evidence (8 page)

the claimed conspiracies of today. As popular culture is fond of

likening our times to the fall of the Roman Empire, with its ‘bread and circuses’ policies, distractive military campaigns in foreign lands and society falling into debauchery and drunkenness, it

seems apt to use the Romans as the prime exhibit of conspiracies

in antiquity.

Dangerous Times in Rome

Although Roman history was more often than not recorded by

talented propagandists, keen to elevate or denigrate the objects

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of their bias, one thing is clear from the ancient texts: holding a powerful position was a dangerous game. From the start, Roman

history was marred with the violent dispatch of its co-founder,

Romulus, in 717 bce by a conspiracy of senators, his sudden

absence covered up with a conveniently spun legend of an

overnight ascension to heaven, with the great leader apparently

taken up in a whirlwind. From thereon it seemed that, for al

its claims of civilized democracy (of a kind), first the Republic and eventual y the Empire of Rome fell prey to an almost endless

succession of plots, coups, family wrangles, machinations,

poisonings and assassinations. Details of the conspiracies would

often not be revealed until the deeds were done (or, if they

were, it was vengeful slaves or badly treated lovers who blew

the whistle), but everyone suspected the likely origins of certain events.

When Julius Caesar was stabbed to death in public by, almost

ludicrously, a gang of around 60 plotters in 44 bce, even the cover stories of divine intervention had been abandoned. The prevalence of background unrest (given that Caesar himself had unseated

his predecessor, Pompey, by rebellion) must have become so

ingrained in those times that conspiracy was not merely theory,

but an integral, if unfortunate, component of Roman politics.

Food and wine tasters and personal bodyguards were a must for

anyone in a position of influence.

By the time the Roman Empire had run its course, around 35

of its emperors had been assassinated or murdered by internal

cabals or rebellious factions. Despite this, the appeal of becoming emperor never seemed to fade, but the perils of the job were

high. However, although such conspiracies were rife and widely

recognized, these were largely assaults against society’s
leaders
by other would-be tyrants. Given that much of modern conspiracy

theory is centred around the concept of the state assaulting or

deceiving the people themselves, what precedents for this can be

found from Roman times?

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In 64 ce, a notable portion of Rome was destroyed in the

‘Great Fire’. Although modern scholars tend to absolve him, at

the time it was widely believed that the incumbent emperor,

Nero, had himself given the order to torch the area in question,

hence the many, probably apocryphal, legends of his calmly

playing a lyre (not a fiddle) while his own city burned. Some

recorded that he sent out men feigning drunkenness to start the

fire, while others claimed that soldiers or hired thugs openly

went on the attack. The central allegation ran that Nero wanted

to reclaim land near the Palatine Hill so that he could create his Domus Aurea palace, which was subsequently built there, and

needed to rid himself of the aristocratic villas in the way, along with their obstructive occupants. Nero, in turn, blamed the early Christian community for the atrocity and, in a classic example

of scapegoating, had confessions tortured out of its followers

before ordering a spate of horrific executions. (Today, the plight of potentially innocent Muslim ‘suspects’ held captive for years

without evidence in the wake of 9/11 seems not so very different

to this situation.)

This was not the only fire to trouble Roman times. Later, in

303 ce, part of Emperor Diocletian’s Imperial Palace was razed

to the ground, generating yet another round of persecutions

against the now burgeoning Christian population, which was

inevitably held to be responsible. Once again, even at the time

many saw Diocletian as being more likely to have ordered the fire, in his quest to find grounds on which to wipe out this alarmingly persistent band of religious fanatics. (Almost unimaginably,

within their own lifetimes, the Christian survivors of these

persecutions would see their beliefs embraced as the new official religion of Rome under Emperor Constantine, who decided to

stop resisting the tide and instead use it to his own advantage.) The readiness of Roman citizens to believe so widely that

their own emperors might be capable of such acts against

them suggests that lack of faith in our leaders was not so very

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different back then. Given the many other outrages, political

murders and massacres (sometimes involving thousands of

deaths) that usually followed each change of emperor, as alleged

‘sympathizers’ towards the previous regime were systematically

eliminated, it is unsurprising that trust in authority was shaky.

What
has
changed since then, modern conspiracy theorists would contend, is that such actions against the population are

still carried out, but by more subtle means. ‘False-flag’ terror

attacks (so named after the historical tactic of ships attacking

their own fleets under the colours of the enemy to incite further hatred), social conditioning, sidelining of ‘fringe’ opinions and chemical suppression take the place of overt physical assaults

on the population for the most part, while it is claimed that

assassination continues to be used as a tool in specific cases,

albeit covertly. ‘Accidental’ deaths such as Diana’s, or numerous less well-known examples among people with potentially

embarrassing details to reveal about prominent politicians,

continue to raise enormous suspicions, and mysterious ‘suicides’

are rife among whistleblowers or witnesses (
see
p. 167). Dr David Kelly’s contentious demise is perhaps the most famous

recent example of the latter, as explored in chapter 5.

So the ancient world provides a clear picture that conspiracies,

while less shamelessly explicit today, are nothing new, nor are

the many theories surrounding them. But, lest the impression be

given that a leap of 2,000 years or so might be allowed to mitigate the notion that such behaviour is still alive and (un)well in our society today, there are plenty of other historical precedents from more recent centuries. There are many that could be chosen,

from numerous eras, but one period in particular provides a rich

seam of il ustration, albeit one that still involves Rome.

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ii) religious-poliTiCal

ConspiraCies of The

16Th anD 17Th CenTuries

Religious Unrest in Tudor Times

When dissatisfaction with his wife Catherine of Aragon’s failure to produce a male heir coincided with his lust for the much younger

Anne Boleyn in 1525, Henry VIII’s attempts to be free from both

the domestic and political restrictions of the Roman Catholic

Church set in motion a chain of events that ensured a steady

flow of wars, intrigues and conspiracies, some real, some merely

alleged, that would last for centuries. Henry’s jostling against

papal authority over later controversial relationships, intensified by a desire for greater political influence, led to a wider struggle in which he effectively set himself up as God’s new envoy on earth through the development of what would become the Church

of England, with himself at its head. Catholic monasteries were

‘dissolved’, often destroyed, their occupants scattered or executed and subsequent popes were for generations characterized as

tyrannical oppressors, scheming to destroy English sovereignty

(as indeed soon enough they were, enlisting the likes of staunchly Catholic Spain to mount a number of famously failed invasions

and attempted subterfuges).

The fuller story behind this crucial moment in history, which

saw one of the most influential countries break with a force that had effectively governed the Western world for nearly a millen-nium, can be easily explored elsewhere. What is of concern here

is the resulting chessboard, set for all manner of conspiratorial tangles that would follow.

Those who fiercely held Rome to be the unquestioned seat of

God’s power were aghast at Henry’s challenge but, at the same

time, by the early 16th century there was a growing discomfort

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at the political sway held over the country by a distant pontiff.

This allowed resistance to the Church of England to fall away just enough for it quickly to become the official religion of the nation, while around the same time a general Protestant movement,

begun by Martin Luther in Germany, was beginning to take hold

in a number of European countries.

Given the strong conviction that had been forged in many

hearts towards the new faith, coupled with an effective outlawing of the open practice of Catholicism, it was perhaps particularly

unfortunate that Henry’s eldest daughter Mary I decided that

the nation should revert to Roman rule after she acceded to the

throne in 1553. This might have been avoided had Henry’s firmly

Protestant son Edward VI not died aged only 15 (having been

crowned at just 9). But, after a disastrously failed attempt to put Edward’s favoured cousin Lady Jane Grey on the throne, resulting

in her teenage execution, aggrieved Catholic influences returned

with a vengeance to support Mary, and it was decreed that any

heretics refusing to recant their Protestantism would be dealt with by public burning.

This unexpected reversal created a deep dilemma for those

who genuinely felt that divine forces had spoken through Henry’s

actions. Rather than face potential damnation, between 1555 and

1557 a recorded 284 men and women went to the flame, while

many others were tortured or died in prison. The deep resentment

felt across the nation towards ‘Bloody Mary’ in turn resulted in

a centuries-long persecution against Catholics when Mary died

suddenly in 1558 and the country was converted back to the

English Church by her half-sister Elizabeth I. In truth, Elizabeth probably had more Catholics executed during her reign than

Mary did Protestants, but – fairly or unfairly – it is the ‘Marian persecutions’ that carved the most heartfelt memories of religious strife into the English collective memory, igniting a string of

underhand conflicts that would ensure conspiracy theories became

an indelible part of English life over the next two centuries.

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Elizabethan Scheming

With much of Europe standing against Elizabeth’s England, which

was now firmly set on Protestantism, several covert schemes

were mounted to undermine it. Many of these centred around

attempts to place Elizabeth’s Catholic cousin, Mary Stuart (‘Queen of Scots’), on the throne instead. Consequently, numerous

conspiratorial plots and counter-plots erupted around Mary, both

with and without her knowledge, although she herself spent much

of her life under English house arrest or imprisonment.

In 1570, Roberto di Ridolfi, an international banker (of the kind widely held to be behind much of the alleged global conspiracy

today) who had already been involved in the ‘Northern Rebellion’

– an earlier failed attempt to foment a Catholic uprising amongst earls in the north of England – mounted an assassination/invasion plot against Elizabeth. Despite strong Dutch and Spanish backing, loyalists made party to the conspiracy managed to expose it before it could come to full fruition. In 1584, a similar attempted coup by Sir Francis Throckmorton, this time with French support, was

also foiled.

Things came to a major head with the ‘Babington Plot’ of

1586. Double agents had already managed to set up an ongoing

entrapment scheme with the confined Mary Stuart, by which

incitements to Catholic insurrection were directly encouraged.

Coded messages from Mary were ‘smuggled’ out to her supporters

– neither party realizing that every supposedly secret commu-

nication was in fact being read by Elizabeth’s secretary of state, Sir Francis Walsingham, who bided his time, waiting for enough

undeniable evidence to implicate the plotters and ensure a full

justification for the execution of this dangerous would-be queen

of England. The ploy of setting up one’s enemies, pushing them to enact the very things feared of them by active stimulation, with a view to then exposing the plots for political gain or to encourage hatred against them, is a recurring feature in the conspiracy world.

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Theorists believe this technique is still used today, particularly concerning activities supposedly planned by the likes of al-Qaeda, but which, on closer inspection, reveal suspicious links to Western intelligences.