The Delmas Manuscript
and the Tomb of an important Roman?
PART ONE
There are several Roman remains found at Rennes-les-Bains, properly catalogued and now kept in the small local municipal museum. Already in 1709 the Rev. Delmas had provided a brief reconstruction of life in the village during the Roman period in a private manuscript he wrote, which ends with a long list of characters portrayed on ancient coins found in the area. The priest attempts to provide some historical explanation for the presence of these medals - describing them as belonging to particular Roman legions:
"The tenth Roman colony was called Colonia Decimenorum and was augmented on the orders of Julius Caesar, who called it Colonia Sulla Patena, as evidenced by numerous inscriptions found in Narbonne. The colony which settled in Beziers was drawn from the Seventh Legion and was called Colonia Septimanorum. One was established at Nimes, which was drawn from the legion which went to Egypt to conquer Mark Antony, and because of that, the town of Nimes has a crocodile for its arms. Those who lived at Bains were also drawn from this legion1 and it is for this reason that there is a great number of medals of this legion [at Rennes-les-Bains] as well as other medallions from Montpellier".
This assertion by Delmas, that the inhabitants of the Roman village of Rennes-les-Bains were from the Seventh Legion is intriguing but is there any truth to such an assertion?
The Seventh Legion was founded by Pompey in Spain in 65BC. It was, at the time, one of the oldest units in the imperial Roman Army. At www.livius.org it is reported that;
"During the civil war against Caesar's fellow-triumvir and Pompey, the seventh legion fought
in Hispania in the battle of Ilerda (summer 49). In the spring of 48, it served at Dyrrhachium. The Seventh was also present in the battle of Pharsalus (9 August 48). After this battle, the soldiers were sent back to Italy to be pensioned off, but in 46, they participated in Caesar's African campaign and fought at Thapsacus.
Next year, the veterans received land near Capua and Luca, but in 44, when the dictator had been killed, many of them joined Octavian, who reconstituted this legion in the autumn (together with the eighth legion) and used it to obtain a position of influence in the winter. Perhaps this explains the old surname of the legion, Paterna, which can be translated as "the old one". It fought at Modena in 43, and at Philippi in 42, after which it returned to Italy
with Octavian, who used this unit during the siege of Perugia in 41.
In 36, veterans were settled in southern Gaul. The legion was probably active during Octavian's wars against Sextus Pompeius, who had occupied Sicily, and may have been present when Octavian clashed with Marc Antony at Actium (31). Later, veterans were settled in Mauretania as well". (http://www.livius.org/le-lh/legio/vii_claudia_pia_fidelis.html).
As we can see this Legion was closely involved with Caesar and his battles with the Pompeius family. Perhaps Delmas had connected the Pompieus stone found at Rennes-les-Bains with the legion involved in these struggles, a legion which had later been settled in Southern Gaul, in particular Beziers. However, the coins Delmas listed, those that he said were found by the local residents of Rennes-les-Bains in his own time, do not automatically make you think they are the coins of the Seventh Legion! He even lists a gold coin found which depicted Godfrey de Bouillon, 'King of Jerusalem, with a St Jean and with a large fleur-de-lis on the reverse side'. What has this to do with the Seventh Legion?
Among the most important finds that Delmas is at pains to discuss is a small stone that contains an inscription which has been variously interpreted through the years. This stone is the focus of Plantard and de Cherisey in quite bizarre ways [see Part Two].
The 'stone' seems to have been first mentioned in the seventeenth century by Guillaume Catel (1560-1626). Catel says the stone was at Rennes-les-Bains, in the village church but does not say how long the 'stone' had been there or how it came to be in the church at Rennes-les-Bains. He wrote;
'And seen in the church of the place mentioned, les Bains de Rennes, an ancient Roman inscription, recovered from ancient foundations near the source, C. POMPEIVS QVARTVS PAM SVO.'
This archaeological stone was also reported by Julien Sacaze, in his Les inscriptions antiques des Pyrénées, (Toulouse) which was privately published in 1892. Sacaze reproduces a diagram of the Pompieus stone.
We know also that the work of Sacaze was richly looted in the drafting of the apocryphal text attributed to Eugène Stublein as the Gravées Pierre du Languedoc. This so called Priory of Sion publication was once on show at the museum in Rennes-le-Chateau. It is interesting to compare the changes that the Plantard and Cherisey team made to the work of Sacaze. This is illustrated below:
The Priory copyist appears to be trying to add the letter D - after the second line name of this Roman. Observers have seen this letter as a J, a P and one or two other speculations. Catel writes that it is a P but provides no illustration. By the time Sacaze views it, he also draws it and then adds his interpretation where, for him, the letter is thought to be an L (for Lucio).
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Sacaze here refers to Alet. He also refers to some antique chariot wheels found near Alet in the town of Fa2
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The Priory copyist is saying here that the name on this Matri-Deum stone is the same Pompeius named on the Pompeius stone illustrated by Catel & Sacaze. Catel and Sacaze are linking Rennes-les-Bains with the Cathedral at Alet. That is, Pompeius is linked to a Temple of Isis at Alet and the Pompeius 'stone' of Rennes-les-Bains!
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What is interesting is that Plantard and Cherisey may have taken a cue from Louis Fédié. In 'LE COMTE DE RAZES et le DIOCESE D'ALET - Notices historiques' - Fédié wrote;
"On the other hand, no monument, no civil or religious edifice of Roman origin has been found at Alet, which is likely to have been an ancient oppidum which was transformed into a simple town. It was believed that one could find at Alet the remains of an ancient temple of Diana on the site occupied by the ruins of the old cathedral of Sainte-Marie, but there is no evidence that this assertion can be based on. We wanted to relate the existence of this pagan temple from the discovery of a pillar or votive altar found at Alet, and that bears the following inscription;
MATRI DEUM
CN POMP. PROBUS
CURATOR TEM
PLI. VSLM
We would note that there is a great similarity between this inscription and the one that appears on a sandstone plaque which was discovered at Bains de Rennes, more than a century ago, in a piece of old wall surrounding the source of the Reine.
C.POMPEIUS
QUARTUS.
P. AMSVO.
The near identical aspects of these two inscriptions leads us to believe that they are the work of the same character, Gnaeus Pompeius, and that he was simultaneously a farmer(?) at the baths of Rennes and spas of Alet. On the other hand, we know that the Romans used to create, close to all the resorts, a small temple, often even a simple sacellum, dedicated to the goddess Hygeia or Thermona nymph who presided over the mineral waters".
At least one researcher thought that this Pompeius character was the Great Pompey. He said:
"This character could also be the "Great" Pompey. In the year 71 BC, on his return to Spain, where he defeated Sertorius, he erected on the border between Gaul and Iberia two trophies, and which featured the ... cities that had submitted between the Alps and Spain. One of these trophey's was at Clausuræ - the actual Col du Perthus. Fédié thought the second was at the Col de Saint-Louis, but his argument is far from convincing".
(http://www.renneslechateau.com/rhedae/sipra/alet.htm).
It is highly unlikely that it is the great Roman General being referred to here, no less because Fédié himself does not make this suggestion. In fact, strictly speaking, if we used the words of Fédié who said the name of the person in these artefacts is Gnaeus Pompeius, then there is in fact a historical character of this name.
"Gnaeus Pompeius (ca. 75 BC – April 12, 45 BC), also known as Pompey the Younger (sometimes spelled Cneius, Gneius), was a Roman politician and general from the late Republic (1st century BC).
Gnaeus Pompeius was the elder son of Pompey the Great (Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus) by his
third wife, Mucia Tertia. Both he and his younger brother Sextus Pompey grew up in the shadow of their father, one of Rome's best generals and not originally a conservative politician who drifted to the more traditional faction when Julius Caesar became a threat. When Caesar crossed the Rubicon in 49 BC, thus starting a civil war, Gnaeus followed his father in their escape to the East, as did most of the conservative senators. Pompey's army lost the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC, and Pompey himself had to run for his life, only to be murdered in Egypt on September 29 of the same year.
After the murder, Gnaeus and his brother Sextus joined the resistance against Caesar in the Africa Province. Together with Metellus Scipio, Cato the Younger and other senators, they
prepared to oppose Caesar and his army to the end. Caesar defeated Metellus Scipio and Cato, who subsequently committed suicide, at the Battle of Thapsus in 46 BC. Gnaeus escaped once
again, this time to the Balearic Islands, where he joined Sextus. Together with Titus Labienus, former general in Caesar's army, the Pompey brothers crossed over to Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula, comprising modern Spain and Portugal), where they raised yet another army.
Caesar soon followed and, on March 17, 45 BC, the armies met in the Battle of Munda. Both armies were large and led by able generals. The battle was closely fought, but eventually a cavalry charge by Caesar turned events to his side. In the battle and the panicked escape that
followed, Titus Labienus and an estimated 30,000 men of the Pompeian side died. Gnaeus and Sextus managed to escape once again. However, this time, supporters were difficult to find because it was by now clear Caesar had won the civil war. Within a few weeks, Gnaeus Pompeius was caught and executed by Lucius Caesennius Lento for treason. Sextus Pompeius was able to keep one step ahead of his enemies, and survived his brother for yet another decade.
Gnaeus Pompeius married Claudia Pulchra, who survived him; they had no children". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnaeus_Pompeius).
Again there is no evidence for this being the correct Pompeius.
In Part Two we will see who actually is being identified in respect of this Pompeius by the Priory team. Most notably this comes from Cherisey's novel Circuit and other probable 'Priory' publications. But, as the author of Circuit warns us - there are intentional errors that appear all along the entire story...
The words and information on the Matri Deum stone are translated as meaning something like: "To the mother of the gods. Cneus Pompeius Probus, curator of the Temple, fulfilling his vow eagerly & with gratitude".
This Cneus Pompeius Probus could even be another character. Pompeius Probus (floruit 307-314) "was a politician of the Roman Empire during the Tetrarchy, active at the Eastern court under Emperors Galerius and Licinius. Around 307 Probus was sent by Galerius as an envoy to Maxentius, together with Licinius. Between 310 and 314 he was appointed Praetorian prefect of the East. Since he was a man of the Eastern court, his appointment to the consulship, in 310, was not recognised either by Maxentius, who controlled Rome, or by Constantine I, who ruled over Gaul, and was thus effective only in the East". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeius_Probus).
We might ask ourselves why we are assuming that this Pompeius figure is someone famous and important? It could just as well be a run of the mill member of the public and nothing to do with high society in Roman life. Why did the team of Plantard and Cherisey 'use' these Pompeius stones in their propaganda about Rennes-le-Chateau and Rennes-les-Bains?
The first line of the above Matri Deum stone is engraved on the top of the monument and on the last letter of the fourth line, the letter M is overspilled outside the parametres of the monument the engraver had set himself. You may remember Andrews and Schellenberger, in their book 'Tomb of God' - said that this Matri Deum stone was very important in their theses. When the authors originally saw this diagram in a 'Priory' source, they speculated that the M on the fourth line, which had been identifed by other historians regarding the way it crossed its moulded border, could have been equivalent to the Dalle du Coume Sourde geometry - that is, it was an M indicating a Meridian and that this further suggested that there was 'geometry' in the Matri Deum stone as drawn by Sacaze. Some other researchers have commented that this sloppily copied 'M' is just evidence of the engraver not being able to engrave properly (however, i find this somewhat teneous as an argument. If one looks here one can see where the Matri Deum stone is not only originally recorded, but also, in comparison to the other examples of engravings, one surely would expect to see another sloppy error from engravers, but alas, it is this Matri Deum stone alone that has such an 'error').
Andrew & Schellenberger also went to view the actual artifact of this Matri Deum stone and then compared it to the sketch supplied by Sacaze. For them, Sacaze had manipulated his diagram to reflect the important geometry which matched the 'Sauniere' Parchment geometry.
This Cneus Pompeius Probus could even be another character. Pompeius Probus (floruit 307-314) "was a politician of the Roman Empire during the Tetrarchy, active at the Eastern court under Emperors Galerius and Licinius. Around 307 Probus was sent by Galerius as an envoy to Maxentius, together with Licinius. Between 310 and 314 he was appointed Praetorian prefect of the East. Since he was a man of the Eastern court, his appointment to the consulship, in 310, was not recognised either by Maxentius, who controlled Rome, or by Constantine I, who ruled over Gaul, and was thus effective only in the East". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeius_Probus).
We might ask ourselves why we are assuming that this Pompeius figure is someone famous and important? It could just as well be a run of the mill member of the public and nothing to do with high society in Roman life. Why did the team of Plantard and Cherisey 'use' these Pompeius stones in their propaganda about Rennes-le-Chateau and Rennes-les-Bains?
The first line of the above Matri Deum stone is engraved on the top of the monument and on the last letter of the fourth line, the letter M is overspilled outside the parametres of the monument the engraver had set himself. You may remember Andrews and Schellenberger, in their book 'Tomb of God' - said that this Matri Deum stone was very important in their theses. When the authors originally saw this diagram in a 'Priory' source, they speculated that the M on the fourth line, which had been identifed by other historians regarding the way it crossed its moulded border, could have been equivalent to the Dalle du Coume Sourde geometry - that is, it was an M indicating a Meridian and that this further suggested that there was 'geometry' in the Matri Deum stone as drawn by Sacaze. Some other researchers have commented that this sloppily copied 'M' is just evidence of the engraver not being able to engrave properly (however, i find this somewhat teneous as an argument. If one looks here one can see where the Matri Deum stone is not only originally recorded, but also, in comparison to the other examples of engravings, one surely would expect to see another sloppy error from engravers, but alas, it is this Matri Deum stone alone that has such an 'error').
Andrew & Schellenberger also went to view the actual artifact of this Matri Deum stone and then compared it to the sketch supplied by Sacaze. For them, Sacaze had manipulated his diagram to reflect the important geometry which matched the 'Sauniere' Parchment geometry.
The Matri Deum stone. Left - the Sacaze diagram. Right - the actual stone of the Matri Deum archaeological artefact. Are there manipulated difference's, for example,in the 4th line (the M extends to the second outer moulding border in the actual stone, whereas the line drawing extends it only to the first border)? The word POMP on the second line is also not accuratly represented. Is any of this significant? Or is this simply a demonstration of the Priory Team (Plantard and Cherisey) manipulating another existing stone for some obscure reason?
Andrews and Schellenberger report, on page 315 of their book:
'Can it be that Sacaze has indicated a correction to the basic Parchment geometry? The small discrepancy between the centre of the square and the pinnacle of the rock has already been noted, so one may check this on the full size map'.
Rather bizarrely the point's identified by Andrews and Schellenberger do have a link to the grave of a Great Roman. One Priory document (called the Gold of Rennes, for a Napoleon), written by Philippe de Cherisey, carries a diagram not unlike the Dalle de Coume Sourde stone. This places the tomb of the Grand Roman at the foot of Pech Cardou and also utilises the Pompeius stone, which is indicating a further second tomb within the vicinity of the tomb of the Grand Roman at the very same foot of Cardou! (See Part Two).
An historian, when discussing this Matri Deum stone said:
'The temple of Alet was a special sanctuary and we have seen that happen before with places such as Moux3 placed under the direction of master (magistri) of the pagus (i.e. the local country). Cicero tells us that Curators filled the job of curating in the Temple of Earth 'aedes Telluris is curationis meae'. A religion native to Phrygia, tauro-bolic4 worship of Cybele, and the Magna Mater Deum 'was introduced, in very great honor to the Lyonnaise, and the Narbonaise and Aquitaine itself. After a fierce struggle, which lasted over a hundred years, this Magna Mater religion finally 'succumbed - under the Christian assualt & the Temples of the Mother of the Gods were ruined. Thereafter there arose often, as in the vicus Alet, shrines dedicated to Notre Dame. It is also to be noted - this same struggle applies at least to a whole chain of places along the Pyrenees - Our Lady and St. Pierre have generally taken the place of local deities of foreign import'.
Although this historian tells us that the Temple of Alet was dedicated to Cybele5, the Priory information says that this altar is for a Temple in Alet dedicated to the Egyptian Goddess, Isis6.
There is also an earlier manuscript which has depictions of the Matri Deum stone - which you can see here: http://www.rhedesium.com/inscriptions-et-bas-reliefs-qui-sont-agrave-narbonne-xviiiegrave-siegravecle.html. Does this mean that originally this stone was at Narbonne?
'Can it be that Sacaze has indicated a correction to the basic Parchment geometry? The small discrepancy between the centre of the square and the pinnacle of the rock has already been noted, so one may check this on the full size map'.
Rather bizarrely the point's identified by Andrews and Schellenberger do have a link to the grave of a Great Roman. One Priory document (called the Gold of Rennes, for a Napoleon), written by Philippe de Cherisey, carries a diagram not unlike the Dalle de Coume Sourde stone. This places the tomb of the Grand Roman at the foot of Pech Cardou and also utilises the Pompeius stone, which is indicating a further second tomb within the vicinity of the tomb of the Grand Roman at the very same foot of Cardou! (See Part Two).
An historian, when discussing this Matri Deum stone said:
'The temple of Alet was a special sanctuary and we have seen that happen before with places such as Moux3 placed under the direction of master (magistri) of the pagus (i.e. the local country). Cicero tells us that Curators filled the job of curating in the Temple of Earth 'aedes Telluris is curationis meae'. A religion native to Phrygia, tauro-bolic4 worship of Cybele, and the Magna Mater Deum 'was introduced, in very great honor to the Lyonnaise, and the Narbonaise and Aquitaine itself. After a fierce struggle, which lasted over a hundred years, this Magna Mater religion finally 'succumbed - under the Christian assualt & the Temples of the Mother of the Gods were ruined. Thereafter there arose often, as in the vicus Alet, shrines dedicated to Notre Dame. It is also to be noted - this same struggle applies at least to a whole chain of places along the Pyrenees - Our Lady and St. Pierre have generally taken the place of local deities of foreign import'.
Although this historian tells us that the Temple of Alet was dedicated to Cybele5, the Priory information says that this altar is for a Temple in Alet dedicated to the Egyptian Goddess, Isis6.
There is also an earlier manuscript which has depictions of the Matri Deum stone - which you can see here: http://www.rhedesium.com/inscriptions-et-bas-reliefs-qui-sont-agrave-narbonne-xviiiegrave-siegravecle.html. Does this mean that originally this stone was at Narbonne?
In this stone the Priory copyist is suggesting that it was discovered at the Croix of the Cer[cle] at Rennes-les-Bains by none other than a Monsieur CAILHOL of Alet! The site of this Croix de Cer[cle] is also important in the diagram designed by Philippe de Cherisey and referred to above (see Part Two). No doubt the 'added' DIS MANIBUS is to alert us to the Nostradamus connection and the Grand Roman!
We know that M. Cailhol was a contemporary of Henri Boudet with an interest in archaeology. This would appear to be the same CAILHOL who took posession of the 'Head of the Saviour' referred to by Boudet in his La Vrai Langue Celtique' - "[towards] the spa and the parish church, are the curve made by the foundation rocks carrying the name "Cap de l'homme’ .... A menhir was kept [preserved] at this place and it was on its top, that a carved relief of a magnificent head of the Lord Jesus the Saviour of mankind is found. This statue which saw nearly 18 centuries has given to this part of the plateau the name ‘Cap de l’homme’ (head man: man par excellence, filius hominis). It is deplorable that we have been obliged, in the month of December 1884 to remove the beautiful sculpture of the place - it was to save it from the ravages produced by the pick-axe of an unfortunate young man, who was far from suspecting its meaning and value. (To note: "This carved head of Christ is in the hands of Mr. CAILHOL Alet). |
Indeed this 'Head of the Saviour' is later mixed by the Priory hoaxers with the 'Head of Dagobert' - also illustrated in the unobtainable Eugène Stublein Gravées Pierre du Languedoc.
There of course must be a valid reason for why the Plantard and Cherisey team manipulated all this information - we will see how in Part Two.
There of course must be a valid reason for why the Plantard and Cherisey team manipulated all this information - we will see how in Part Two.
Notes
1. It seems that the Abbe Delmas confused the histories of the Tenth and Seventh legion, primarily because their histories were so inter-twined. The Tenth legion veterans received land around Narbo Martius. According to Velleius Paterculus (Roman History, 1.15.5), Narbo Martius was founded in 118 BCE as a Roman colonia in land of the Volcae Arecomisci, who lived there on a hill fort that is now named Montlaurès but used to be called Naro (Avienus, 587). The new city was part of the general project to develop this area: the Via Domitia which connected Italy and Hispania. Narbo used to command a crossing in the Arax (Aude), which emptied itself in a lagoon that was connected to the Mediterranean Sea.
The Roman town soon became the capital of a new province.
Narbo is spoken of as the; "naval-station of the Arecomisci alone, though it would be fairer to add "and of the rest of Celtica" - so greatly has it surpassed the others in the number of people who use it as a trade center. [...] They are no longer barbarians, but are, for the most part, transformed to the type of the Romans, both in their speech and in their modes of living, and some of them in their civic life as well". [Strabo, Geography, 4.1.12; tr. H.L. Jones]
When Strabo wrote these words, Julius Caesar had already refounded the city. The reason for this was that the most powerful city in southern France, Massilia, had resisted Caesar during the civil wars; the dictator now wanted to break its power and therefore resettled Narbo with veterans of the Tenth legion. The full name of the city was now Colonia Julia Paterna Decumanorum, "the ancestral Julian colony of the soldiers of the Tenth". However this legion does not have any direct links with Nimes.
It is the Seventh legion that has a more direct link to Nimes as Delmas talked of above. Why? Because veteran legionary's of the Seventh are believed to have settled in Septimania. The name "Septimania" may derive from part of the Roman name of the city of Béziers, Colonia Julia Septimanorum Beaterrae, which in turn alludes to the settlement of veterans of the Roman VII Legion in the city (http://www.rhedesium.com/the-birth-of-septimania.html). Another possible derivation of the name is in reference to the seven cities (civitates) of the same territory: Béziers, Elne, Agde, Narbonne, Lodève, Maguelonne and Nîmes.
Both the Tenth and the Seventh legion are associated with Julius Caesar and a later battle to conquer Marc Anthony. When Caesar became governor of Gallia Cisalpina and Gallia Narbonensis, he took charge of four already existing legions (numbered VII, VIII, IX and X), but during the campaigns in Gaul and in the Civil war against Pompey, the army grew. When Caesar was murdered, there were many more legions, which were taken over by Caesar's successors.
In August 48 BCE, Julius Caesar defeated his rival Pompey and the last defenders of the Roman republic in the battle of Pharsalus in Greece. Many died, but Pompey managed to leave the battlefield and tried to obtain asylum in Egypt. However, the Egyptian authorities decided that it was better not to help Pompey, because they suspected that Caesar would declare war upon them. Therefore, Pompey was executed when he tried to come ashore. Not much later, Caesar arrived.
The country was divided by civil war: king Ptolemy XII Auletes had left two children who had equal rights to the throne, his son Ptolemy XIII and an elder daughter Cleopatra VII. When Caesar arrived, the boy was in command of the situation. This Cleopatra was later married to Julius Caesar, as her first husband (13 July 100 - 15 March 44 BCE). As we know he was the famous Roman statesman, general and author, famous for the conquest of Gaul (modern France and Belgium) and his subsequent coup d'état. He changed the Roman republic into a monarchy and developed a truly Mediterranean empire. Her second husband was Mark Antony (April 20, 83 BC – August 1, 30 BC), the Roman politician and general. As a military commander and administrator, he was an important supporter and loyal friend of his mother's cousin Julius Caesar. After Caesar's assassination, Antony formed an official political alliance with Octavian (the future Augustus) and Lepidus, known to historians today as the Second Triumvirate.
It is the Pompeius family (fem. Pompeia), sometimes anglicized as Pompey with the nomen of the gens Pompeia, who were an important family of ancient Rome from the Italian region of Picenum, which lies between the Apennines and the Adriatic, which are central to the lives of Caesar, Marc Anthony and Octavian in the above machinations. It is also this family which Delmas suggests is related to the Roman tombstone remains of C. POMPEIVS QVARTVS PAM SVO - a tomb fragment which he said was found at Rennes-les-Bains.
The battle in the Nile campaigns may relate to the famous Naval Battle of Actium (31 BCE): the decive battle in the last of the civil wars of the Roman Republic. Octavian defeated Marc Antony and founded the monarchy.
"After the violent death of Julius Caesar in 44 BCE, civil war broke out between on the one hand the assassins, republicans like Brutus and Cassius, and on the other hand the Caesarians, led by Marc Antony and Octavian. Marc Antony, one of the best generals of his age and beloved like a god by his men, overcame the last republicans in 42 at Philippi, and started to reorganize the eastern half of the Roman empire. Meanwhile, Octavian accepted the west.
The relations between the two men had never been friendly, but they tried to make the best of it; Octavian married his sister Octavia Minor to Marc Antony, who for a while lived without his oriental mistress Cleopatra VII Philopator, the queen of Ptolemaic Egypt. However, he returned to her and it was even discovered (in a probably forged document) that Antony had committed treason: he wanted to give her Roman land.
This was the excuse Octavian needed to declare war. He had probably prepared it for some time: in the preceding years, he had annexed Dalmatia, which would offer him a land road from Italy and Gaul to the Balkans, and was almost certainly a preliminary to a war against Antony. The decisive battle was fought on 2 September 31". (http://www.livius.org/aa-ac/actium/actium.html).
And what is the point of all this thinks Abbe Delmas? It is to say "Those who lived at Bains were also drawn from this legion." That is, the residents living at Rennes-les-Bains were originally veteran legionary's of the Seventh Legion and that this is why there are so many coins and medallions found at Rennes -les-Bains with these historical characters depicted on them!
2. These wheels have been discovered in the mid-eighteenth century to the Fa in the Aude. It can be dated to the end of the Late Bronze Age (1350-800 BCE). On a small diameter (53 cm), the wheels consist of a hollow rim (outward), from which five hollow spokes cast on clay core, which connect to the cylindrical hub. Thereof beyond either side of the axis of the wheel. Several threaded rings adorn each side of the hub while a triple net marks the birth of the rays. The wheel was increased by a wooden strip, inserted into the metal rim and maintained long by rivets in place. The overhang of wood is unknown, it is difficult to think that he could greatly expand the diameter. This feature tends to prove that the wheels were too small for a tank or transport of war belonging to a cult or chariot procession, two, three or four wheels is more likely. These tanks were used in the worship of the sun and used, it seems to support, in processions, a solar symbol. The miniature votive chariot Trundholm (Denmark), the fourteenth century BC, is a remarkable evocation. Transport of a ritual situla containing water or pot, revealing cults still difficult to define, is not ruled out. The chariot of La Côte-Saint-André (Isère), discovered in a situla and a pond reflects the practice in force in the sixth century BCE.
If i understand correctly why would the Vatican Museum want these wheels?
1. It seems that the Abbe Delmas confused the histories of the Tenth and Seventh legion, primarily because their histories were so inter-twined. The Tenth legion veterans received land around Narbo Martius. According to Velleius Paterculus (Roman History, 1.15.5), Narbo Martius was founded in 118 BCE as a Roman colonia in land of the Volcae Arecomisci, who lived there on a hill fort that is now named Montlaurès but used to be called Naro (Avienus, 587). The new city was part of the general project to develop this area: the Via Domitia which connected Italy and Hispania. Narbo used to command a crossing in the Arax (Aude), which emptied itself in a lagoon that was connected to the Mediterranean Sea.
The Roman town soon became the capital of a new province.
Narbo is spoken of as the; "naval-station of the Arecomisci alone, though it would be fairer to add "and of the rest of Celtica" - so greatly has it surpassed the others in the number of people who use it as a trade center. [...] They are no longer barbarians, but are, for the most part, transformed to the type of the Romans, both in their speech and in their modes of living, and some of them in their civic life as well". [Strabo, Geography, 4.1.12; tr. H.L. Jones]
When Strabo wrote these words, Julius Caesar had already refounded the city. The reason for this was that the most powerful city in southern France, Massilia, had resisted Caesar during the civil wars; the dictator now wanted to break its power and therefore resettled Narbo with veterans of the Tenth legion. The full name of the city was now Colonia Julia Paterna Decumanorum, "the ancestral Julian colony of the soldiers of the Tenth". However this legion does not have any direct links with Nimes.
It is the Seventh legion that has a more direct link to Nimes as Delmas talked of above. Why? Because veteran legionary's of the Seventh are believed to have settled in Septimania. The name "Septimania" may derive from part of the Roman name of the city of Béziers, Colonia Julia Septimanorum Beaterrae, which in turn alludes to the settlement of veterans of the Roman VII Legion in the city (http://www.rhedesium.com/the-birth-of-septimania.html). Another possible derivation of the name is in reference to the seven cities (civitates) of the same territory: Béziers, Elne, Agde, Narbonne, Lodève, Maguelonne and Nîmes.
Both the Tenth and the Seventh legion are associated with Julius Caesar and a later battle to conquer Marc Anthony. When Caesar became governor of Gallia Cisalpina and Gallia Narbonensis, he took charge of four already existing legions (numbered VII, VIII, IX and X), but during the campaigns in Gaul and in the Civil war against Pompey, the army grew. When Caesar was murdered, there were many more legions, which were taken over by Caesar's successors.
In August 48 BCE, Julius Caesar defeated his rival Pompey and the last defenders of the Roman republic in the battle of Pharsalus in Greece. Many died, but Pompey managed to leave the battlefield and tried to obtain asylum in Egypt. However, the Egyptian authorities decided that it was better not to help Pompey, because they suspected that Caesar would declare war upon them. Therefore, Pompey was executed when he tried to come ashore. Not much later, Caesar arrived.
The country was divided by civil war: king Ptolemy XII Auletes had left two children who had equal rights to the throne, his son Ptolemy XIII and an elder daughter Cleopatra VII. When Caesar arrived, the boy was in command of the situation. This Cleopatra was later married to Julius Caesar, as her first husband (13 July 100 - 15 March 44 BCE). As we know he was the famous Roman statesman, general and author, famous for the conquest of Gaul (modern France and Belgium) and his subsequent coup d'état. He changed the Roman republic into a monarchy and developed a truly Mediterranean empire. Her second husband was Mark Antony (April 20, 83 BC – August 1, 30 BC), the Roman politician and general. As a military commander and administrator, he was an important supporter and loyal friend of his mother's cousin Julius Caesar. After Caesar's assassination, Antony formed an official political alliance with Octavian (the future Augustus) and Lepidus, known to historians today as the Second Triumvirate.
It is the Pompeius family (fem. Pompeia), sometimes anglicized as Pompey with the nomen of the gens Pompeia, who were an important family of ancient Rome from the Italian region of Picenum, which lies between the Apennines and the Adriatic, which are central to the lives of Caesar, Marc Anthony and Octavian in the above machinations. It is also this family which Delmas suggests is related to the Roman tombstone remains of C. POMPEIVS QVARTVS PAM SVO - a tomb fragment which he said was found at Rennes-les-Bains.
The battle in the Nile campaigns may relate to the famous Naval Battle of Actium (31 BCE): the decive battle in the last of the civil wars of the Roman Republic. Octavian defeated Marc Antony and founded the monarchy.
"After the violent death of Julius Caesar in 44 BCE, civil war broke out between on the one hand the assassins, republicans like Brutus and Cassius, and on the other hand the Caesarians, led by Marc Antony and Octavian. Marc Antony, one of the best generals of his age and beloved like a god by his men, overcame the last republicans in 42 at Philippi, and started to reorganize the eastern half of the Roman empire. Meanwhile, Octavian accepted the west.
The relations between the two men had never been friendly, but they tried to make the best of it; Octavian married his sister Octavia Minor to Marc Antony, who for a while lived without his oriental mistress Cleopatra VII Philopator, the queen of Ptolemaic Egypt. However, he returned to her and it was even discovered (in a probably forged document) that Antony had committed treason: he wanted to give her Roman land.
This was the excuse Octavian needed to declare war. He had probably prepared it for some time: in the preceding years, he had annexed Dalmatia, which would offer him a land road from Italy and Gaul to the Balkans, and was almost certainly a preliminary to a war against Antony. The decisive battle was fought on 2 September 31". (http://www.livius.org/aa-ac/actium/actium.html).
And what is the point of all this thinks Abbe Delmas? It is to say "Those who lived at Bains were also drawn from this legion." That is, the residents living at Rennes-les-Bains were originally veteran legionary's of the Seventh Legion and that this is why there are so many coins and medallions found at Rennes -les-Bains with these historical characters depicted on them!
2. These wheels have been discovered in the mid-eighteenth century to the Fa in the Aude. It can be dated to the end of the Late Bronze Age (1350-800 BCE). On a small diameter (53 cm), the wheels consist of a hollow rim (outward), from which five hollow spokes cast on clay core, which connect to the cylindrical hub. Thereof beyond either side of the axis of the wheel. Several threaded rings adorn each side of the hub while a triple net marks the birth of the rays. The wheel was increased by a wooden strip, inserted into the metal rim and maintained long by rivets in place. The overhang of wood is unknown, it is difficult to think that he could greatly expand the diameter. This feature tends to prove that the wheels were too small for a tank or transport of war belonging to a cult or chariot procession, two, three or four wheels is more likely. These tanks were used in the worship of the sun and used, it seems to support, in processions, a solar symbol. The miniature votive chariot Trundholm (Denmark), the fourteenth century BC, is a remarkable evocation. Transport of a ritual situla containing water or pot, revealing cults still difficult to define, is not ruled out. The chariot of La Côte-Saint-André (Isère), discovered in a situla and a pond reflects the practice in force in the sixth century BCE.
If i understand correctly why would the Vatican Museum want these wheels?
2. Moux is a French commune located in the department of Aude and the region Languedoc-Roussillon. The town is situated on the vineyards of the Montagne d'Alaric, which is on the northern side of Mount Alaric. The mountains are named after the installation of the Visigoths in southern France in 412 . Their king, Athaulf , brother and successor of King Alaric I built a powerful and strong kingdom here. Legend has it that the tomb of King Alaric can be found in a cave in these mountains. Alaric had died in 410 in southern Italy, although it is possible that the king buried here is rather Alaric II, who reigned from 484 to 507. For more on Moux and the history of the Visigothic treasure (which is linked to Rennes-le-Chateau) see here: http://www.rhedesium.com/the-legend-of-the-treasure-of-alaric.html
3. Taurobolium - In the Roman empire of the 2nd to 4th centuries, taurobolium referred to practices involving the sacrifice of a bull, which after mid-2nd century became connected with the worship of the Great Mother of the Gods; though not previously limited to her cultus, after 159 CE all private taurobolia inscriptions mention Magna Mater. Originating in Asia Minor, its earliest attested performance in Italy occurred in 134 CE, at Puteoli, in honor of Venus Caelestis, documented by an inscription. The earliest inscriptions, of the 2nd century in Asia Minor, point to a bull chase in which the animal was overcome, linked with a panegyris in honour of a deity or deities, but not an essentially religious ceremony, though a bull was sacrificed and its flesh distributed. The addition of the taurobolium and the institution of an archigallus were innovations in the cult of Magna Mater made by Antoninus Pius on the occasion of his vicennalia, or twentieth year of reign, in 158-59. The first dated reference to Magna Mater in a taurobolium inscription dates from 160. The vires, or testicles of the bull, were removed from Rome and dedicated at a taurobolium altar at Lugdunum, 27 November 160. Jeremy Rutter makes the suggestion that the bull's testicles substituted for the self-castration of devotees of Cybele, abhorrent to the Roman ethos. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taurobolium).
4. Cybele - was an originally Anatolian mother goddess. Little is known of her oldest Anatolian cults, other than her association with mountains, hawks and lions. She may have been Phrygia's State deity; her Phrygian cult was adopted and adapted by Greek colonists of Asia Minor, and spread from there to mainland Greece and its more distant western colonies from around the 6th century BCE. In Greece, Cybele met with a mixed reception. She was partially assimilated to aspects of the Earth-goddess Gaia, her Minoan equivalent Rhea, and the Corn-Mother goddess Demeter. Some city-states, notably Athens, evoked her as a protector but her most celebrated Greek rites and processions show her as an essentially foreign, exotic mystery-goddess, who arrives in a lion-drawn chariot to the accompaniment of wild music, wine, and a disorderly, ecstatic following. Uniquely in Greek religion, she had a transgender or eunuch mendicant priesthood. Many of her Greek cults included rites to a divine Phrygian castrate shepherd-consort Attis, who was probably a Greek invention. In Greece, Cybele is associated with mountains, town and city walls, fertile nature, and wild animals, especially lions.
In Rome, Cybele was known as Magna Mater ("Great Mother"). The Roman State adopted and developed a particular form of her cult, and claimed her conscription as a key religious component in their success against Carthage during the Punic Wars. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magna_Mater).
5. Isis - is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshipped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the patroness of nature and magic. She was the friend of slaves, sinners, artisans, and the downtrodden, and she listened to the prayers of the wealthy, maidens, aristocrats, and rulers. Isis is often depicted as the mother of Horus, the hawk-headed god of war and protection (although in some traditions Horus's mother was Hathor). Isis is also known as protector of the dead and goddess of children.
Why did the Priory team of Plantard and Cherisey use a meaning on an archaeological remain (the Matri Deum stone) to draw attention to some kind of Temple of Isis at Alet? Why mix the goddess Cybele with Isis? Perhaps because of the antiquity of Isis? She was the first all encompassing Goddess? The cult of Isis became very prominent in late antiquity, when it began to absorb the cults of many other goddesses with strong cult centers. Like other Egyptian deities, the cult of Isis spread outside Egypt, and became the focus of a centralized cult in the Hellenistic period. This is when the cult of Osiris became widespread as well. Temples to Isis began to be built outside of Egypt. In many locations, devotees of Isis considered the local goddess to be Isis, but under a different name. Thus other Mediterranean goddesses, such as Demeter, Astarte, and Aphrodite, were identified with her. Throughout the Greco-Roman world, the cult of Isis became one of the most significant of the mystery religions.
3. Taurobolium - In the Roman empire of the 2nd to 4th centuries, taurobolium referred to practices involving the sacrifice of a bull, which after mid-2nd century became connected with the worship of the Great Mother of the Gods; though not previously limited to her cultus, after 159 CE all private taurobolia inscriptions mention Magna Mater. Originating in Asia Minor, its earliest attested performance in Italy occurred in 134 CE, at Puteoli, in honor of Venus Caelestis, documented by an inscription. The earliest inscriptions, of the 2nd century in Asia Minor, point to a bull chase in which the animal was overcome, linked with a panegyris in honour of a deity or deities, but not an essentially religious ceremony, though a bull was sacrificed and its flesh distributed. The addition of the taurobolium and the institution of an archigallus were innovations in the cult of Magna Mater made by Antoninus Pius on the occasion of his vicennalia, or twentieth year of reign, in 158-59. The first dated reference to Magna Mater in a taurobolium inscription dates from 160. The vires, or testicles of the bull, were removed from Rome and dedicated at a taurobolium altar at Lugdunum, 27 November 160. Jeremy Rutter makes the suggestion that the bull's testicles substituted for the self-castration of devotees of Cybele, abhorrent to the Roman ethos. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taurobolium).
4. Cybele - was an originally Anatolian mother goddess. Little is known of her oldest Anatolian cults, other than her association with mountains, hawks and lions. She may have been Phrygia's State deity; her Phrygian cult was adopted and adapted by Greek colonists of Asia Minor, and spread from there to mainland Greece and its more distant western colonies from around the 6th century BCE. In Greece, Cybele met with a mixed reception. She was partially assimilated to aspects of the Earth-goddess Gaia, her Minoan equivalent Rhea, and the Corn-Mother goddess Demeter. Some city-states, notably Athens, evoked her as a protector but her most celebrated Greek rites and processions show her as an essentially foreign, exotic mystery-goddess, who arrives in a lion-drawn chariot to the accompaniment of wild music, wine, and a disorderly, ecstatic following. Uniquely in Greek religion, she had a transgender or eunuch mendicant priesthood. Many of her Greek cults included rites to a divine Phrygian castrate shepherd-consort Attis, who was probably a Greek invention. In Greece, Cybele is associated with mountains, town and city walls, fertile nature, and wild animals, especially lions.
In Rome, Cybele was known as Magna Mater ("Great Mother"). The Roman State adopted and developed a particular form of her cult, and claimed her conscription as a key religious component in their success against Carthage during the Punic Wars. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magna_Mater).
5. Isis - is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshipped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the patroness of nature and magic. She was the friend of slaves, sinners, artisans, and the downtrodden, and she listened to the prayers of the wealthy, maidens, aristocrats, and rulers. Isis is often depicted as the mother of Horus, the hawk-headed god of war and protection (although in some traditions Horus's mother was Hathor). Isis is also known as protector of the dead and goddess of children.
Why did the Priory team of Plantard and Cherisey use a meaning on an archaeological remain (the Matri Deum stone) to draw attention to some kind of Temple of Isis at Alet? Why mix the goddess Cybele with Isis? Perhaps because of the antiquity of Isis? She was the first all encompassing Goddess? The cult of Isis became very prominent in late antiquity, when it began to absorb the cults of many other goddesses with strong cult centers. Like other Egyptian deities, the cult of Isis spread outside Egypt, and became the focus of a centralized cult in the Hellenistic period. This is when the cult of Osiris became widespread as well. Temples to Isis began to be built outside of Egypt. In many locations, devotees of Isis considered the local goddess to be Isis, but under a different name. Thus other Mediterranean goddesses, such as Demeter, Astarte, and Aphrodite, were identified with her. Throughout the Greco-Roman world, the cult of Isis became one of the most significant of the mystery religions.
SAH, posted 20/11/12