The Testimonium (27 page)
Apriceno stood, her speech as quick and blunt as her personality. “I was brought onto the scene the next morning. It was obvious to me that this chamber was very, very ancient. The coating of dust was anywhere from two to four centimeters in depth on top of every object. The items on the table had been revealed for inspection, but the bottommost layer of dust was still clinging in places, and as Dr. Rossini had said, there was one completely undisturbed section left on top of the table. I collected this sample, and once the table and curule chair had been removed, I spent most of the dig in the chamber, collecting samples of the stone dust from every single surface, and then clearing the remainder of the dust so that the exploration of the chamber proper could begin. I also put several of the smaller objects found in the chamber under the microscope to see if any pollen was still clinging to them. Here you see a signet ring bearing the name and seal of the Emperor Tiberius. There is still a good deal of wax adhering to the ring, and I found two spores of pollen clinging to it which are consistent with flora from the first century AD. I also found similar spores clinging to this inkwell, which was used at the writing table we found, and a bonanza of pollen samples adhering to this ancient wax candle, which provided the wax for sealing the documents that were found. While pollen analysis is not as sexy or intriguing as many other fields of archeology, one thing that it can establish is the rough date at which the chamber was sealed, as well as whether or not the chamber was breached at any point between now and then. Thus far, every bit of evidence the microscope has revealed to me has confirmed that the chamber was, in fact, sealed up two thousand years ago, and has remained largely undisturbed ever since.” Attention was wandering a bit, which frustrated her because these dolts could not understand just how critical her discipline was to confirming the site’s authenticity. Still, it was time to pass the torch. “To discuss the more interesting artifacts that we uncovered in the chamber, I refer you to my colleague, the Reverend Doctor Duncan MacDonald.”
MacDonald stood and smiled. “No doubt, ladies and gentlemen, you are wondering when we are going to get around to the remarkable finds you were promised. Well, that lot has fallen, in part, to me. I was called into the site because of my expertise in handling ancient papyrus and parchment documents. What Doctors Rossini and Sforza found on Capri was actually a private writing chamber used by the Emperor Tiberius Caesar. We know this because of the name and inscription on the signet ring that Dr. Apriceno just showed you—but we also know because of what else was found on top of the writing table.” With a flourish, he pulled a white cloth off of the small table, which was lying on its side. “This is the writing bench which you saw in the video. As you can see, as they uncovered the dust on top of the table, my colleagues realized that there was a papyrus sheet lying flat on it. The weight of the stone dust on top of it had, over the centuries, pressed the document down onto the tabletop, where the papyrus bonded to the lacquer that had been used to wax the table while it was still in use. The result was that the letter was perfectly preserved, but bonded irremovably to the tabletop. The letter is written in the highly polished Latin vernacular that was common to the Roman upper classes during the First Century AD. And it is signed by the Roman Emperor Tiberius Caesar himself!”
With that, he rotated the table so that the top surface, with the letter still adhering to it, was facing the crowd of journalists. An excited buzz swept the room, and flashbulbs exploded in a mini-lightning storm. The priest waited patiently for the buzz to die down, and then continued. “While my Latin is quite proficient—that used to be a requirement in my line of work, you know”—a few chuckles from the Catholics in the crowd ensued—“in translating something as important as this, I felt it necessary to have some assistance. My young American colleague, Josh Parker, helped me translate the scroll. If I may give you a short history lesson, Tiberius was the second Emperor of Rome and the heir of Augustus Caesar. He despised the crowds and noise of Rome and retired to the island of Capri around 22 AD. He remained there, governing from afar, until he left the island to return to Rome in 37 AD—a journey he never completed, as he died en route to the capital. But this letter was written before he departed, and it reads as follows—”
He then proceeded to read the Tiberius letter in a straightforward voice, dropping his accent to a minimum. When he was done, he could see that the attention of the journalists was still with him, but he also sensed bewilderment. “Understand that to an archeologist, this find alone would be of incredible importance. But the chamber still had other secrets to reveal to us, which my companion, Dr. Parker, will now discuss.”
Josh stood. “Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. One item in the chamber that we have not yet shown you is the large cabinet that was buried in the dust at the back wall. As we cleaned and translated the document, Dr. Apriceno was busy removing centuries of stone dust from the back of the chamber. As she cleaned, she realized that there was something besides an ancient reliquary back in the corner. What was leaning against the cabinet will no doubt go down as one of the most precious artifacts ever recovered by any archeologist, at any time or place. As you can see from the video above, there was a Roman shortsword, called a
gladius
, leaning against the cabinet. I can tell you that it is the most perfectly preserved Roman sword ever found. But that is not the only thing that makes it remarkable. On the pommel of the sword, in Latin characters, is inscribed the legend: ‘The Blade and Honor of the Julii.’ The Julii were an ancient family of Roman patricians, whose members included the first five Emperors of Rome. We knew the moment we uncovered it that this was the sword of a Caesar. The question was which one?”
Josh slipped on his gloves and lifted the
gladius
, now sheathed in its scabbard once more. “Fortunately the scabbard was also inscribed.” He pointed to the small silver disk that was woven into the leather. “The Latin inscription reads, ‘To Rome’s Finest Son, Wield It with Honor—Aurelia Cotta.’ Aurelia was a very famous Roman matron from the first century BC, once renowned as the most beautiful woman in Rome. But today she is better remembered as the mother of a famous son—in fact, she was the mother of the most famous Roman of them all. You see, this is the sword of Julius Caesar himself. It was carried in some of history’s most famous battles, by a man that many historians, myself included, believe to be the greatest general of all time.” With a flourish he drew the blade from its sheath, and the photographers had a field day. It took five minutes for the excited buzz to die down, and then he spoke again. “This artifact ranks right up there with the burial mask of Tutankhamen as one of the most remarkable finds of all time,” he said. “But we had not yet opened the reliquary! Dr. Sforza, would you care to finish our presentation?”
Isabella flashed him a quick smile and stood once more. “Even as Doctors Parker and MacDonald were translating the Tiberius letter, I had noticed that there was a small, hidden drawer beneath the writing table. Once we figured out how to open it, we found some blank papyrus sheets and a small leather drawstring bag inside it. The bag contained several coins, an ancient arrowhead which we believe was a battle souvenir of the Emperor’s family, and a beautiful, ornate key with a horse head effigy made of ivory.” She held up the tiny key for all to see, and then lowered her hand so that the zoom lenses could focus in on it. “We figured that this key would open the reliquary at the end of the room. But when it came time to open the reliquary, we found that it was actually unlocked. Sadly, it was here that we encountered our first true disappointment of the dig. At some point since Tiberius had the chamber walled up, rats had tunneled into the back of the cabinet and destroyed nearly everything inside. By sifting through the debris of their nests, we have uncovered the fragmentary remains of one beautifully inscribed parchment scroll, and at least five different papyrus documents. Piecing together and translating these pieces will be the work of many months, but from the bits and pieces we have read so far, what we have found appear to be some special documents that the Emperor Tiberius saved and kept for himself. We also found pieces of several garments, and this beautiful cameo portrait of the Emperor’s first wife.” She held up the obsidian jewelry, and several reporters snapped pictures of it.
“But our luck had not run out completely. There was one compartment inside the cabinet that was locked up tight. That is where our mystery key came into play. It opened the locked compartment, and inside we found two scrolls, both perfectly preserved and still sealed with the Emperor Tiberius’ signet ring. The scrolls are very dried out and fragile, and are currently undergoing rehydration, so that they can be unrolled without crumbling. However, Tiberius took the time to label each of the scrolls by writing along the outside of them after they were sealed. The first scroll, visible on the monitor above, reads ‘The Last Will and Testament of Caesar Augustus.’ The second scroll I think you will find to be of particular interest, and is the primary reason for this press conference today. It reads, ‘The Testimony of Pontius Pilate, Governor of Judea.’”
The room exploded with an excited buzz, which only continued and got louder as she sat down. Journalists were excitedly jabbering at one another, and it took Dr. Castolfo several efforts before they quieted down enough for him to be heard. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he finally said. “This concludes our formal presentation. The two scrolls will be read and translated as soon as it is possible to unroll them. At this time, our archeologists will be glad to answer a few questions.”
An American on the front row leaped to his feet. Josh recognized him immediately as Eli Arnold, a talking head from one of America’s most liberal news networks. Isabella nodded to him. “So you are telling us that this letter is from THE Pontius Pilate? The legendary Roman governor who supposedly ordered the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth?”
Isabella nodded at Josh, and he answered for the group—they had agreed that he would field the questions from the American media. “First of all, sir, there is nothing legendary about Pontius Pilate. He is recorded as Governor of Judea in many ancient sources, Christian, Jewish, and Roman alike. And yes, he would have been the governor of Judea throughout the last half of Tiberius’ reign, when Jesus was crucified.”
“So do you think this scroll may have something to do with the Crucifixion of Jesus?” Arnold asked.
“I think there is a very good chance that it does,” replied Josh. “First of all, there is an ancient reference to a report by Pilate on that event, and secondly, another source mentions that Tiberius may have taken an interest in the stories of Jesus. It is not a far stretch to infer that he heard about them through the report Pilate filed to Rome. However, we do not yet know for certain what is in the scroll—only that Tiberius himself ascribed it to Pilate.”
An Italian journalist, Antonio Ginovese, raised his hand next. “How long until the scrolls will be read and translated?”
Isabella answered: “We don’t really know. Ancient papyrus is tricky stuff, and no two scrolls are alike. I can tell you that the scrolls are responding nicely to the rehydration treatment, and are beginning to expand and uncurl a bit. I am hopeful that in a couple of weeks or less, we will know exactly what they say. And that information will be released to the public as soon as possible thereafter.”
Trevor Sharif rose next. He was a sharply dressed English journalist of Arabic descent. “What impact do you think that this find might have on Christianity worldwide?”
Father MacDonald fielded that question. “It has long been the position of the Church that faith has nothing to fear from history. The Christians of the world, both Catholic and Protestant, have a great interest in what the scroll contains, but our beliefs are rooted in eternal principles that will not change because of one archeological discovery.”
“And if this scroll reveals the Biblical story of the Resurrection to be nothing but a clever hoax?” Sharif continued.
“If the Resurrection were a hoax, I imagine the truth of it would have come out long before now,” MacDonald calmly stated.
Tyler Patterson rose next. He was the youngest, freshest face in American network news, an attempt by one of the cable networks to draw in young viewers. “So is Tiberius Caesar the Emperor who was portrayed in the HBO series
Rome
?” he asked.
Josh did his best not to do a face palm on international television. “No,” he said. “The events portrayed in the TV series ran from about 50 BC to 37 BC—almost a century before Tiberius sealed these documents in his writing nook.” At least, Josh thought, he had not asked about the movie
Gladiator
.
The military correspondent from FOX news stood next. “Dr. Parker,” he said. “How sure are you that the sword in the sheath really belonged to Julius Caesar?”
“Well, with both the pommel of the sword and the scabbard engraved, I would say that we have established that beyond all doubt,” he answered.
A French correspondent from the back of the room rose. “How positive are you that the chamber has never been disturbed?” he asked.
Dr. Apriceno responded; “My findings are still preliminary at the moment, but I see no evidence whatsoever that the chamber has ever been opened, or its contents tampered with. At this point I would be very surprised to discover otherwise.”
An Italian newspaper reporter spoke next. “How is it that this chamber remained secret for so long?” she asked. “Hasn’t the Villa Jovis been extensively excavated through the centuries?”
Rossini addressed that one. “It is indeed remarkable,” he said. “But several factors worked together to keep the chamber secret. First of all, the ancient Roman steward Mencius Marcellus deserves a great deal of credit. When he carried out the orders from Tiberius to wall up the chamber, he did an excellent job of concealing its existence. Instead of just covering up the ancient door, he actually had the masons lay a completely new layer of stone from one end of the stair wall to another, so that there was no indication that a doorway had ever existed. Secondly, while the marble flagstones and decorations of the Villa Jovis were plundered repeatedly through the centuries for building materials, the staircase and concealing wall were of plain limestone, not considered very desirable. And the fact that such large staircases usually rest on a solid pile of stone and concrete meant that no one suspected there ever had been a chamber there. So circumstances conspired to preserve these remarkable artifacts through the centuries.”