The Romans were not good sailors. They did not stray far from the coast because, apparently, they were intimidated by the open sea.Their vessels were also inefficient for navigating long routes. quinquerremefor example, employed around 300 crew members to move 150 tons while a caravel, such as Columbus’ Santa Maria, had a crew of less than thirty sailors and displaced 250 tons. There are also no records that lead us to believe that the Romans undertook the search for new lands. However, there have been Disturbing findings suggest that the Romans did not only reach Americabut they also came back to explain it. Otherwise, What is a pineapple doing in a Roman mosaic on the Via Casilina?
This fruit (scientifically known as Ananas comosus) is originally from Brazil, although there are now plantations in Asia and Africa, and the mosaic from the Grotte Celoni area dates back to the end of the 1st century or the beginning of the 2nd century AD. If America was not “officially” discovered until 1492, how could it have been represented in a Domus of the Roman Empire?
Floor mosaic of Grotte Celloni, in RomeThe reason
In fact, many fruits and vegetables arrived in Europe only after Christopher Columbus’ expedition to America in 1492, which is why The pineapple of Grotte Celoni is an enigma. And it is not the only one. In the House of the Ephebe, in the famous Roman city of Pompeiidevastated by the volcano Vesuvius in 79 BC There is also a fresco showing a pineapple on an altar flanked by two snakes. I don’t know if its owner, Publius Cornelius Tegeste, ever tasted this tropical fruit, but it is a mystery why this merchant depicted it on one of his walls. One might ask: what about the other side? Is there evidence of Roman presence in America?
The answer is a resounding yes.
In 2016 they were found in the Canadian coasts a Roman sword, a legionary whistle, a Roman shield and coins from Ancient Carthage, as well as burial mounds and inscriptions typical of the ancient Levant.
Pulitzer in front of the Roman sword found on Oak IslandThe reason
Even more striking, if possible, is the discovery of a Mysterious terracotta artifact known as the “Tecaxic-Calixtlahuaca Head” which has a construction that is extraordinarily similar to many Roman busts… but how did this bust arrive at the Valley of Toluca, 65 km northwest of Mexico City?
The figure was found in 1933 by archaeologist José García Payón in a Aztec-Matlatzinca burial site dating from between 1476 and 1510Among several pre-Hispanic objects made of baked clay, bone, rock crystal, turquoise, copper and gold that were part of the funerary trousseau, this bust with clearly European features was found.
Shocked, García Payón remained silent for nearly 30 years, fearing that he would be accused of fraud since the age of the piece (2000 years according to studies) does not correlate with that of the burial, which is only 500 years old.
The curious Tecaxic Calixtlahuaca HeadThe reason
He decided to shed light on the findings after the Austrian ethnologist Robert von Heine Geldern will highlight the importance of the discovery And a year later, Ernst Boehringer, a prestigious classical archaeologist who was then president of the German Institute of Archaeology, suggested that the head was of Roman origin and limited its manufacture to between the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD.
His suspicions would be confirmed much later when, in 1995, the Heidelberg Archaeometry Laboratory (Germany) carried out an analysis using thermoluminescence and established the chronological limits of his Creation between the 2nd century BC and the 6th century AD.
More recently, Romeo Hristov of the University of New Mexico and Santiago Genovés of the National Autonomous University of Mexico concluded that it was a Roman figurine from the 2nd or 3rd century AD.
Pompeii fresco showing a pineappleThe reason
The director emeritus of the German Institute of Archaeology in Rome, Professor Bernard Andreae, also reached the same conclusion, who stated that It was a Roman head with a hairstyle and beard typical of the period of the Severian Emperors. (193-235 AD). “Laboratory analysis has confirmed its antiquity. Stylistic examination shows more precisely that it is a Roman work from around the 2nd century AD,” he added.
It may therefore be that the ideas of ancient Roman scholars, such as Pliny the Elder, who in his time was already certain that the Atlantic Ocean was larger than the Mediterranean and that it was possible to reach India by sailing west, could have fuelled the dreams of some contemporary of his time who – by chance or knowledge – had the possibility of reaching America.
