Caiete 1957-1972 - Cioran

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BUILDING A
BRONZE GOD
THE COLOSSUS
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ROME’S
VESTAL VIRGINS
KEEPING THE HOME
FIRES BURNING
ACES WILD
TOP GUNS OF
WORLD WAR I
PLUS: NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 201
King Nebuchadrezzar
Builder of Babylon, Sacker of Cities
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FROM THE EDITOR
The Sistine
S p ceiling
Chapel g can feel
overwhelming. Myriad figures and colors compete for your attention,
pulling your eye from one dramatic moment to the next. God creates the
sun and the planets; the first man receives the spark of life; Adam and
Eve are cast out of Eden; and terrified people flee the Flood. It’s dizzying
to try to take in all the action.
Calmer moments are found in the 12 portraits surrounding these iconic

scenes. Seven of them are biblical prophets, and the rest are sibyls, five
women from the classical world who could see the future. The beautiful
Delphic Sibyl graces our cover, and the elegant Libyan Sibyl perches above.
Their presence on the Sistine ceiling not only provides moments

of respite, it also reveals the respect that Michelangelo and his
contemporaries felt for the past. Surrounded by Christian art, the sibyls
are a quiet nod to Renaissance humanism, the deep reverence for the
scholarship, art, and values of ancient Greece and Rome. To drive the arts
and sciences forward in their own time, Renaissance scholars cast their
gazes back and drew upon the greatness that came before them.
Amy Briggs, Executive Editor
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 1

SISTINE EXECUTIVE EDITOR AMY E. BRIGGS

SPLENDOR
MICHELANGELO’S
MASTERPIECES Deputy Editor VICTOR LLORET BLACKBURN
Editorial Coordinator and Text Editor JULIUS PURCELL
BUILDING A
BRONZE GOD Editorial Consultants JOSEP MARIA CASALS (Managing Editor, Historia magazine),
THE COLOSSUS
OF RHODES IÑAKI DE LA FUENTE (Art Director, Historia magazine)
ROME’S
VESTAL VIRGINS Design Editor FRANCISCO ORDUÑA
KEEPING THE HOME
FIRES BURNING
Photography Editor MERITXELL CASANOVAS
ACES WILD
TOP GUNS OF
WORLD WAR I
Contributors
PLUS:
King Nebuchadrezzar LUCAS AZNAR MILES, JOHN BARRASS, IRENE BERMAN-VAPORIS, SUSAN BROWNBRIDGE, MARC BRIAN
Builder of Babylon, Sacker of Cities DUCKETT, SARAH PRESANT-COLLINS, NICHOLAS SHRADY, THEODORE A. SICKLEY, JANE SUNDERLAND
VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER JOHN MACKETHAN

ARCHIVIO FOTOGRAFICO MUSEI VATICANI
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LION KING
Produced during the reign of King
Nebuchadrezzar II, a roaring lion once
adorned Babylon’s Processional Way in
the sixth century b.c.
Features Departments
14 Babylon’s Builder King 4 NEWS
King of Babylonia, Nebuchadrezzar II restored Babylon to its former glory by Finding a surgeon’s pit at a
subduing foreign lands and building timeless monuments in his city. Civil War battlefield shed
new light on the sufferings of the
24 Mystery of the Colossus wounded and the medical skill of the
The Colossus of Rhodes, one of the ancient world’s Seven Wonders, stood doctors who treated them.
for less than a century, leaving behind scores of unanswered questions.
6 PROFILES
Explorer Vitus Bering sailed

34 Privileges of the Priestesses the perilous waters between
Pledged to the goddess of the hearth, Vestal Virgins devoted their chastity to
Asia and North America. His audacious
Rome’s sacred flame but enjoyed powers unavailable to other women.
voyage opened up the Arctic but cost the
Danish seaman his life.
48 Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel
At the time, Michelangelo was an unconventional choice to paint the Sistine 10 MILESTONES
Chapel, but his frescoes went on to become Renaissance

issance icons.
icons In Prague 400 years ago,
Prrotestants threw three
62 The Real “Assassins” Catholics out a tower window, an act
Fantastic accounts from their enemies birthed th he legend of “defenestration” that would trigger
of the Assassins, a small Islamic sect based in Perrsia whose Europe’s devastating Thirty Years’ War.
use of espionage earned them a fearsome reputattion.
90 DISCOVERIES
It ttook decades for Viktor
72 The World’s First Flying Aces
Saarianidi to uncover Gonur Tepe,
Throughout World War I, Germany and the Alliees
aBBronze Age city in Turkmenistan that
pushed combat flight forward at a breakneck pacee as
revvealed the existence of a sophisticated
each side vied for supremacy in the skies.
culture on a par with ancient Egypt.
STATUE OF A VESTALIS MAXIMA,

CHIEF OF THE VESTAL VIRGINS. SECOND CENTURY B.C.
NEWS
KATE D. SHERWOOD/SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
NPS/NATHAN KING
TOP LEFT: Archaeologists carefully excavate the surgeon’s pit at

Manassas National Battlefield Park. ABOVE: Kari Bruwelheide
of the Smithsonian Institution examines remains found at
the site. BOTTOM LEFT: An illustration of the Battle of Second
MPI/GETTY IMAGES
Manassas (also known as the Second Battle of Bull Run)

depicts the violent confrontation fought in August 1862.
BATTLEFIELD ARCHAEOLOGY
CivilWarSurgeon’sPit
RevealsSoldiers’Fates
d
A pioneering study of human bones found at Manassas National Battlefield
Park exposes the life-or-death choices of Civil War combat surgeons.
T
he discovery of a sur- They sent the remains to the Owsley, Ph.D., and Kari Bru--
geon’s pit at a Civil Smithsonian Institution’s welheide.Their teams uncov--
War battlefield has National Museum of Natural ered two complete skeletonss
shed new light on the History.Analysis of the bones and 11 amputated limbs, tell--
wounded and the doctors who confirmed that they were hu- tale signs of a surgeon’s buriall
tried to save them. mananddatedtotheCivilWar pit. The first of its kind everr
In 2014 the National Park (1861-65). studied at a Civil War bat--
Service found bone fragments Excavations were led by tlefield, the site is revealingg
ARCHAEOLOGISTS
while working on a utility the battlefield park’s super- valuable details about thee FOUND AN ENFIELD
project at Manassas Nation- intendent, Brandon Bies, and men who fought and the field d BULLET EMBEDDED
IN A FEMUR FROM
al Battlefield Park in Virginia. the Smithsonian’s Douglas surgeons who healed them. THE PIT.
4 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018
THE KINDEST CUT

IN THE 1860s a stom-
ach wound could be
a death sentence.
Most injuries, how-
ever, affected soldiers’
limbs, which surgeons
almost always opted to
amputate—a process
often undergone without
THE COUNTRY DOCTOR MUSE

anesthesia. Given the trauma
of such a procedure, speed was
crucial. The severed limbs found SURGEON’S TOOLS
in the Manassas pit reveal signs of from the 1860s,
considerable skill and accuracy in used during the
the marks left behind by the surgi- U.S. Civil War
cal saw. It is believed that the field
surgeon would first use a scalpel to cut the tendons and
flesh around the circumference of the limb until reaching
the bone. Peeling back the tissue, he then cut through
the bone. The whole process perhaps took less than 10
minutes—a short time from a surgical perspective, but
an interminable ordeal for the patient.
AGONIZING PROCEDURE
A surgeon performs an
amputation in a rare image taken
SPL/AGE FOTOSTOCK
in a field hospital in Fort Monroe,

Virginia, during the Civil War.

Z. FRANK/ALAMY/ACI
SAW MARKS REVEAL THE FATE OF

MANASSAS NATIONAL AN AMPUTATED LEG BONE FOUND AT
BATTLEFIELD PARK THE MANASSAS SITE.
Artifacts of Battle an Enfield rifle bullet lodged The bones granted insight In June 2018 the National
Fought 25 miles southwest of in a femur, dated the pit to the into 19th-century combat Park Service transferred the
Washington, D.C., the Battle second battle. Confederate hospitals. If a man was too remains to the U.S. Army for
of First Manassas (also known forces used Enfield rifles only badly injured, as the two skel- a September interment in Ar-
as the First Battle of Bull Run, at the second battle, a clue that etons appeared to be, doctors lington National Cemetery. The
named for a nearby creek) was suggests that the deceased might decide to let him die. If two fallen soldiers were buried
fought in July 1861. In August men were most likely Union they decided to amputate, an in coffins using 19th-century
1862 a second, larger battle soldiers. Isotope analysis con- agonizing and traumatic pro- designs and fashioned from a
occurred in the same location. firmed the two skeletons were cedure, evidence on the bones 90-year-old tree that fell on
Artifacts, including but- young white men both from suggests it was performed the Manassas battlefield in a
tons from a Union jacket and the Northeast. with great precision. 2018 windstorm.

PROFILES
Vitus Bering:
Explorer of Dire Straits
Charged by Peter the Great to explore the territory between Asia and North America, this
Danish-born sailor braved brutal conditions just to reach eastern Siberia. From here, he dis-
covered the strait that bears his name at the cost of colossal hardship and, ultimately, tragedy.
A
lthough Siberia feels far part of his plan to modernize his vast but
Connecting away to many Americans,
it actually sits only about
socially and technologically backward
country. Esteemed for their seamanship,
Two 55 miles from Alaska, Denmark’s sailors were well respected,
Continents which is separated from
Asia by the glacial waters of the Bering
which explains Bering’s quick ascent
through the ranks and his close working
1681 Strait. The man for whom that narrow relationships with the tsar’s most
passage was named played a vital role in respected admirals.
Vitus Bering is born in Russia’s early 18th-century attempts to After declaring himself emperor in
Denmark. In 1704 he will
expand into North America. Among the 1721, Peter mulled several grand imperial
join Tsar Peter I’s new
Russian Navy. very first Europeans to lay eyes on the projects, many of which were never
coast of Alaska, Vitus Jonassen Bering is realized before his death in 1725. But one
1725 credited as commanding the first crew to question obsessed him to the very end of
Bering sets out for Siberia. cross from Asia to northwestern Amer- his life: Were Asia and North America
His mission, given him by ica in modern history, in circumstances linked by land, or divided by sea?
Peter the Great, is to of extraordinary hardship and heroism. Just before his death in February 1725
establish if Asia and North (January in the old, Julian calendar, which
America are connected. The Call of the Ocean Russia still used), Peter issued instruc-
1728 Despite serving several tsars and tsarinas, tions to Bering: He must venture to the
Bering was not a Russian, but a Dane. He farthest reaches of Siberia and sail up the
Bering sails through the was born in 1681 in the Danish port of coast until he reached North America.
strait between the two
Horsens. Rather than head off to univer- “Then go to some European colony; and
continents, but the North
American coast is hidden sity when he was a teenager, he instead when European ships are seen, you are to
from sight by fog. signed up to go to sea. Young Vitus sailed ask what the coast is called . . . then, after
on several Dutch and Danish voyages be- charting the coast, return to Russia.”
1730s fore signing up for the Russian Navy
Planning begins for in 1704. The First Voyage
Russia’s Great Northern The timing was perfect for a young Since the time of the European Voyages
Expedition to map Siberia seaman with talent and ambi- of Discovery, the existence of a north-
and the North American tion. In the 1690s Peter the west passage had been the subject of
coast, in which Bering will
play a key role. Great had started building much speculation and the lure for many
up the Russian Navy as fruitless expeditions before Bering.
1741
Bering sets foot in
North America, Talented sailors like Bering were
but the Danish
commander dies
welcomed into Peter the Great’s newly
before he can created Russian Navy.
return to Russia.
PETER THE GREAT IN AN 18TH-CENTURY PORTRAIT. CHÂTEAU DE VERSAILLES, FRANCE
AKG/ALBUM
THE LOOK OF
A HERO
VITUS BERING HAS achievedtherare
distinction of being a hero of both
his native Denmark and adopted
Russia, but there is little consensus
as to what he looked like in life. One
portrait of him showed him with a
round, chubby face and long hair,
but experts now widely believe
the painting is of his uncle, not him.
This 1989 illustration shows Alek-
sey Chirikov (co-commander of
his 1741 expedition) with the Dane
(left), who has indistinct features. In
1991 Bering’s body was exhumed by
a joint Danish-Russian expedition,
allowing experts to study his skull.
Based on this analysis, it is now
believed his face would have been
BERING (LEFT) AND CHIRIKOV IN 1741. long and thin, and his body athletic.
PAINTING BY IGOR PSHENICHNY, 1989.
CENTRAL NAVAL MUSEUM, ST. PETERSBURG
FINE ART/ALBUM
Ironically Bering was not the first Euro- straps. Only in 1728, having overcome expedition, Bering was given little time
pean to pass through the strait. In 1648 a colossal difficulties of supply and con- for respite before being asked to go back.
Russian, Semyon Dezhnyov, sailed struction, did Bering and his crew embark When Russia’s empress Anna (Peter’s
through the passage. His report of his on a ship called the St. Gabriel. They niece) ordered that he undertake a second
journey was lost in a government archive reached the island of St. Lawrence and trip across Siberia, the Dane accepted.
in Yakutsk. It did not resurface until 1736, found no land bridge linking Asia and
several years after Bering had been cred- North America. Instead, they sailed Back Into the Fray
ited with the discovery. through a strait separating the two con- The Great Northern Expedition (1733-
Bering’s expedition took the long, tinents. Thick fog prevented the explor- 1742), as it would later be called, was an
overland journey to Russia’s Pacific coast. ers from glimpsing land on the North exploratory project on a vast scale. With
The trek was torturous: Many members American side. nearly 1,000 total participants, seven
of his expedition almost died from famine Returning to St. Petersburg after this separate expeditions launched under dif-
but survived by chewing on leather important but inconclusive first ferent leaders. The overall aim was to

PROFILES
LOST AT SEA
A colored woodcut of a 19th-century
illustration depicts the partial wrecking
of Bering’s ship in 1741. In reality, there
would only have been one ship, as
Bering’s St. Peter had, by then, lost
contact with the other ship in the
expedition, the St. Paul.
AKG//ALB
ALBUM
M
map the eastern limits of Siberia and the scientist Georg Wilhelm Steller, who Aleksey Chirikov commanded the
North American coastline as well as doc- made numerous botanical and zoological St. Paul. There was considerable confu-
ument the regions’ botany, ethnography, discoveries on the journey. sion and disagreement about the course
and astronomy. After many initial setbacks, the con- they should take.
After yet another arduous overland struction of two ships set to sail east was Later in June, a dense fog and violent
journey, Bering arrived for the second completed. In early June 1741 (according storm separated the two ships.
time in his life at the Kamchatka Penin- to the western, Gregorian calendar), Ber- Chirikov’s St. Paul waited for a few days
sula in eastern Siberia. This time, he had ing embarked from Kamchatka, com- and searched in vain for Bering’s ship
a larger crew, including the German manding the St. Peter while Lieutenant before continuing without it. In July,
Chirikov sighted the North American
coastline. He sent some of his men
ashore in small boats, but they failed to
BERING’S BURIAL return. Believing it too dangerous to go
ashore and running low on resources,
VITUS BERING DIED and was buried on Bering Island Chirikov decided to return to Siberia and
(right). In 1991, when his body was exhumed, left Bering’s ship to its fate. The St. Paul
experts found that scurvy did not kill Bering as finally made it back in October with
previously thought. The findings do not pinpoint only half of its original crew intact.
an exact cause of death, but they do confirm the Meanwhile, Bering’s vessel, the St. Pe-
accounts of crew member Georg Steller, who ter,had taken a northeasterly route in the
noted that Bering suffered from hunger, fatigue,
hope of finding land. On July 16, the crew
and cold.
SPUTNIK/ALBUM
spotted a great, snowy mountain range
rising majestically above a wooded coast-
IN HONOR OF BERING
On this 1867 U.S. coastal survey the
oceanic features named for Bering are
clearly labeled. Spelled with an “h,”
the “Behring Sea,” “Behring Strait,” and
“Behring Island” all bear the name of the
explorer who died after being shipwrecked
in 1741. The island where Bering perished
is close to the Kamchatka Peninsula
(Kamtschatka on this map), where he
began his final journey.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, GEOGRAPHY AND MAP DIVISION

line: the St. Elias Mountains that stand the crew already laid low they struggled Bering’s expedition paved the way for
on what is now the border between Can- to make way in the heavy seas. Russian colonies in North America. By
ada and the United States. Following the In November 1741 they anchored at 1784 Russia had established a fur-trading
coast, they landed on an island (now what is now Bering Island, a small deso- colony near present-day Kodiak. The ex-
named Kayak Island) to obtain provisions late island about 100 miles from the ploitation of resources triggered frequent
and, in so doing, became the first Euro- Kamchatka Peninsula. Another storm resistance from the indigenous peoples.
peans to set foot in Alaska. The company damaged the St. Peter, leaving the men In the 19th century Russia lost interest
did not linger on the island; the naturalist with no choice but to overwinter in in the colony. In 1867 it sold the territory
Steller allegedly sniped that 10 years of makeshift shelters. Bering perished on to the United States for $7.2 million.
preparation yield only 10 hours’ worth of December 19 and was buried by his men. Even if Bering’s name was not imme-
findings. Nonetheless, the naturalist In spring 1742 Chirikov embarked on a diately well known after his death, it lives
devoted many hours to surveying and rescue mission to find Bering’s crew. on in the various places that bear his
documenting life on the island. They sailed close to Bering Island, but did name now: an island, a glacier, a strait,
not stop there. Foul weather forced their even a sea. His name has also been given
Shipwrecked and Stranded return, and the St. Peter’s crew to one of humanity’s most important
The explorers continued their journey, remained stranded. geological features: the former land
but soon scurvy began to take its toll. In More men perished amid the hostile bridge between Asia and North America
September, seeing that winter was draw- conditions on the island, but the survi- that existed during the last ice age, and
ing in, Bering, who had fallen ill, decided vors were able to build a boat. In Septem- which had once allowed humans to cross,
to return to Kamchatka. At the end of ber 1742 they finally made it back to the on foot, back and forth from continent to
September a storm surprised the St. Peter Kamchatka Peninsula and brought back continent.
and almost wrecked it. They managed to information on the indigenous peoples
keep the vessel afloat, but with most of and the rich supply of otter and fur seals. —Francesc Bailón

Out the Window: The

Defenestration of Prague
Four hundred years ago, a group of Bohemian nobles flung three men out a window,
an act that triggered the Thirty Years’ War, one of the worst conflicts in European history.
O
n a chilly Prague morning One of Bohemia’s Protestant no- foresee it, the Defenestration of Prague,
in May 1618, a group of blemen, Count Matthias Thurn led as it came to be known, became a trigger
angry men hurried up the the group. He rallied local Protestants for the Thirty Years’War, one of the most
steep path to Hradcany by claiming that the imperial Catholic destructive conflicts in history. The war
Castle. They stormed the regents were plotting to revoke religious would ensnare the powers of Europe and
staircase to the council chamber where and political freedoms enshrined in the drastically redraw the map by the time it
representatives of the Catholic Holy Letter of Majesty, issued in 1609 by the was all over in 1648.
Roman Empire were meeting. By the Holy Roman emperor Rudolf II.
end of this confrontation, three men The events that followed had fateful An Empire Divided
would be defenestrated—thrown out the consequences not only for the king- Founded in 800 by the Frankish king
window—and Europe would be on the dom of Bohemia but for much of Europe. Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Empire
path to a lengthy and devastating conflict. Although none of those present could was a confederation of kingdoms in
MILESTONES
TALES OF
TOWERS
THE TOWER (right) from where
the Habsburg regents were
thrown in 1618 is part of the
Old Royal Palace at Prague’s
Hradcany Castle. The com-
plex of buildings began as
wooden structures on the
Hradcany Hill above Prague
in the ninth century, at around
the time the Bohemia region
became Christianized. Re-
built and extended over the
centuries, its many architec-
tural styles are spread over
more than a hundred acres.
Another notorious tower of
the castle complex is the 15th-
century New White Tower.
“THE DEFENESTRATION, In 1620, early in the Thirty
1618,“ 19th-century Years’ War, Habsburg pris-
oil painting by Vaclav oners taken at the Battle of
Brozik. National Gallery White Mountain were held
of Victoria, Melbourne,
Australia there prior to execution.
BRIDGEMAN/ACI ALEXANDER PÖSCHEL/AGE FOTOSTOCK
central Europe stretching from northern No

Matthias, who came to power in 1612,
Italy up to the Baltic Sea. Bohemia was tried to negotiate with Protestants, but
one of these kingdoms, and the city of other Habsburg figures were less con-
Prague was its capital. Holy Roman ciliatory, especially Archduke Ferdi-
emperors were typically chosen by seven nand, who would succeed Matthias as
prince-electors. Dynasties, like the Aus- emperor in 1619. Catholicism became
trian Habsburgs, often came into power a test for political loyalty, and Catholics
and were able to hold onto it. were given the lion’s share of court and
Following the Protestant Reformation 0 100 mi
military appointments.
of the 1500s, the empire began to split 0 100 km Arguing that Thurn and his associates
NG MAPS
between the Protestant north and the ed.

Sea had forced the Letter of Majesty upon
Catholic south. By 1618 Bohemia was an unwilling Rudolf II, the Habsburg
sitting squarely on this religious fault authorities applied a strict interpreta-
line, which caused great tension for its within the Holy Roman Empire, Calvin- tion of its provisions and pulled back on
political and religious leaders. ists did enjoy the same legal protections religious freedoms. Sensing that he was
Among Bohemia’s nobles and general generally afforded to the Lutherans. Oth- losing ground, Thurn and his Protestant
population, Catholics were the minority. er Protestants adhered to Utraquism, associates tried to rally support in March
While Protestants constituted a majority, a faith that emerged in the early 15th 1618 but failed to persuade the moderate
they themselves were divided into fac- century from pre-Lutheran challenges majority to do anything more than send
tions. Lutheranism predominated among to the Catholic Church. a complaint to Vienna.
German speakers, especially immigrants This complex situation created The Habsburgs received the petition
in areas near the Saxon frontier. Some no- opportunities for the Catholic Habsburgs and responded by ordering the Bohemi-
bles had embraced Calvinism. Although to attempt to recover what was sacrificed an Protestants not to assemble. Thurn
this denomination was technically illegal in the 1609 Letter of Majesty. Emperor organized a meeting anyway, on May 21,

MILESTONES
HRADCANY CASTLE, the historical seat of the

kings of Bohemia in Prague, is crowned by
St. Vitus Cathedral. In the foreground, the 14th-
century Charles Bridge spans the Vltava River.
DAVID NOTON PHOTOGRAPHY/ALAMY/ACI
where he accused the Catholic regents gents had prevented the city council from men then grabbed Castellan Adam von
Jaroslav Martinic and William Slava- meeting, which triggered Thurn and his Sternberg and Grand Prior Diepold von
ta of interfering with the right of free men to storm up the hill to the castle. Lobkowitz and pinned them against the
assembly claimed under the Letter of Four regents were in the tower, and the wall until they denied writing the order.
Majesty. The meeting was poorly at- Protestants presented them with a list They were roughly taken from the room
tended, prompting Thurn to convene of offenses and demanded to know who as the angry crowd turned on the two
a third session in a private house on had forbidden the assembly. The four remaining regents, Slavata and Martinic.
May 23. During the speeches, a citizen said they were not authorized to say who
burst into the room crying that the re- had given the orders. Several of Thurn’s Descent into War
Several of Thurn’s party seized Marti-
nic and threw him out the window “in
the old Bohemian manner”(in refer-
FERVENT FERDINAND ence to a previous defenestration in
Prague that had taken place early
WHEN WAR BROKE OUT after the defenestration, Em- in the 15th century). Martinic, it is
peror Matthias’s staunchly Catholic successor, reported,“ceaselessly called out
Ferdinand II, showed his steel. Having routed the the names Jesus, Mary as he fell.”
rebels near Prague in 1620, Ferdinand persecut- One of his assailants mocked,
ed Protestants, forcibly imposing Catholicism on him, saying“We shall see wheth-
Bohemia and parts of Austria. er his Mary will help him,”but on
FERDINAND II, IN A 1624 PAINTING. PALAZZO PITTI, FLORENCE
going to the window to look, saw
AKG/ALBUM that Martinic had“survived his fall
despite his corpulent body. ”
The Fall
Guys
ACCOUNTS of the events in Prague
spread rapidly across Europe, of-
ten spiced with exaggerations
tailored to specific audiences.
Protestant readers of this contem-
porary Dutch engraving (right)
would have been reminded of
their own revolt against Catho-
lic Spain. Hurled from the castle
window, the Catholic victims land
comically on 1 a pile of manure, 2
a detail fabricated to humiliate 3
the men and rob their survival
of any miraculous qualities. 2 A
crowd of observers is also fanciful,
1
perhaps there to emphasize the
INTERFOTO/AGE FOTOSTOCK
sense of spectacle. 3 The central
figure on the right is one of the vic-
tims, making his escape.
Thurn then pointed to Slavata:“Wor- The men’s escape offered an oppor- to be a tragic miscalculation, and a long,
thy lords, there is the other one.”Slavata tunity for both sides to step back from bloody struggle ensued.
was pushed head first through the same the brink—albeit briefly. In their offi- TheThirtyYears’Warpulledinpowers
window. In desperation, he grabbed at cial justification published on May 25, from all over Europe—Spain,the papacy,
the sill, but “someone hit his fingers the defenestrators claimed they were the Dutch Republic, Denmark, Sweden,
with the hilt of a dagger so that he was merely defending Bohemia’s tradition- and France. Mercenary armies ravaged
sent hurtling downwards.” The regents’ al rights, and that they were still loyal much of Germany,a region in which war,
secretary, Philip Fabricius, was last to be Habsburg subjects. famine, and epidemics inflicted a loss
tossed out the window. The Habsburgs continued to offer of around 20 percent of its population.
It was a long way down from the tower negotiations. Even so, the defenestration When the war ended in 1648, Europe
window, some 70 feet. The men’s survival achieved Thurn’s objective of forcing hadbeentransformed.Spain’spowerhad
has been credited to the grassy glacis at Bohemia’s elite to choose between taking declined, France was in the ascendant,
the foot of the tower. All three men also a stand or seeing their rights continue to and the Holy Roman Empire, while still
wore thick woolen clothing that would erode. Sensing Habsburg weakness, they officially existing, was weakened. The
have cushioned their landings. began arming and appealing for foreign connections linking the patchwork of
The three men eventually escaped aid. The Habsburg authorities insisted small sovereign states began to fray, and
from Prague to inform the Habsburg that there could be no talks until the the empire would cease to be in 1806.
authorities of their ordeal. Catholics Protestants backed down.
across Europe celebrated their survival as The tragedy triggered by the defenes- —Peter H. Wilson
a miracle, and would mark the site with tration had already been set in motion.
Learn more
a tall column. Fabricius, the secretary, was While all wanted to avoid war, all felt that
later ennobled as von Hohenfall—“of firm military action would force their BOOK
The Thirty Years War: Europe’s Tragedy
the high fall.” opponents to negotiate. This turned out Peter H. Wilson, Belknap Press, 2011.

N EB UCH A DREZ Z A R II OF BA BYLON
THE BUILDER
The Bible depicts Nebuchadrezzar II and his city as doomed, but to his own people,
MIGHT AND MANE

A snarling lion from the sixth century b.c. once
lined Babylon’s broad Processional Way that led
from the Ishtar Gate, built by Nebuchadrezzar II.
Louvre Museum, Paris. Below: A stela from the sixth
century b.c. depicts Nebuchadrezzar II, along with
details of the monuments he restored and built.
LION: FRANCK RAUX/RMN-GRAND PALAIS
STELA: THE SCHØYEN COLLECTION, OSLO AND LONDON
BARBARA BÖCK
KING
he restored Babylon to glory.
PAST PASSION
HE CHALDEANS were fascinated by their place in
T history. Nebuchadrezzar II’s urban renewal proj-

ects were inspired by Babylon’s past glory, and
he made sure he left a record for future kings—
such as the cylinder inscription (right), detailing three
palaces he built. Nabonidus, last of the Chaldean kings
before Babylon fell to Cyrus the Great in 539 b.c., was
a weak leader but a talented archaeologist. It is said he
unearthed inscriptions from the great Hammurabi, who
had ruled Babylon some 1,200 years previously.
N
PALATIAL ebuchadrezzar: A name rich with Judah and exile of Jerusalem’s Hebrews would
Photographed in the color, strength, and prestige belongs have a profound impact on Judaism’s sacred
1920s, the ruins in to one of the few Babylonian kings texts, many of which were composed in Baby-
Babylon of a palace known by name today. Conqueror lon. Nebuchadrezzar’s empire would not long
of Nebuchadrezzar
(above) were found of kingdoms and restorer of Baby- survive him. A short 22 years after his death,
during the first major lon, he left behind a legacy likenooth- Babylonia fell to Cyrus the Great, king of Persia.
digs at the site in the er. Born in the seventh century B.C.,
1880s and ’90s. he came to power as Babylonia was Babylon Rising
AKG/ALBUM
regaining its power in the region. He Nebuchadrezzar’s feats were built on those of
built on this momentum and took his father, Nabopolassar, founder of the Chal-
Babylonia to new heights, leav- dean empire.Governor of the
ing behind Babylon’s beautiful region of Chaldea, Nabopo-
Ishtar Gate and the grand Pro- lassar seized the throne of
cessional Way.His capture of Babylonia around 625 B.C.,
605 b.c. 587 b.c.
After defeating Egypt and Following a series of revolts

Assyria at Carchemish, against Babylonian rule by Judah,
THE GREAT Nebuchadrezzar learns his Nebuchadrezzar II completely
KING OF father, Nabopolassar, founder destroys Jerusalem’s Temple. Its
of the Chaldean Empire, has nobles are sent into exile to Babylon,
BABYLON died. Returning to Babylon, he where the king is carrying out an
is proclaimed its new ruler. extensive rebuilding program.
LOOK OF A VILLAIN NEBUCHADREZZAR COSTUME DESIGN FOR
16 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018 VERDI’S OPERA NABUCCO, 1842. MUSEO TEATRALE, MILAN
DEA/ALBUM
TIME CAPSULE
A CYLINDRICAL STELA COVERED WITH
CLOSE-WRITTEN AKKADIAN INSCRIPTIONS,
DETAILS THE THREE NEW PALACES BUILT BY
NEBUCHADREZZAR II. IT WAS BURIED IN THE
HOPES THAT FUTURE KINGS WOULD DISCOVER IT.
ERICH LESSING/ALBUM
which until then had been controlled by the control of Judah, a small kingdom that would LANDS OF THE
waning Assyrian Empire. later play a large part in Nebuchadrezzar’s story. CHALDEANS
Nabopolassar forged a coalition with the For the first years of Nabopolassar’s reign, A map of
Medes to the east and fought against the Assyr- Egypt and Assyria continued to harass the new Nebuchadrezzar II’s
ians for the next decade. In 612 B.C. they sacked empire. His eldest son and crown prince Nebu- empire (below) shows
its extension from
Assyria’s then capital Nineveh and toppled their chadrezzar became involved in the military as the Mediterranean,
rule. Babylonia had long been in the shadow of a young man. Sources say he began his career through the valleys
the Assyrians, and now it was time for their in his late teens or early twenties and became a between the Tigris and
civilization to rise. military administrator around 610 B.C. Euphrates, and down to
the Persian Gulf.
Dubbed the Neo-Babylonian or Chaldean In several years,Nebuchadrezzar rose to com- MERCHE HERNÁNDEZ
Empire by historians, Nabopolassar’s new king- mander.Atfirstheledarmieswithhisf t t
dom faced strong threats, especially from Egypt, took on sole com-
allies of the fading Assyrians. After the Battle mand when Nabo-
of Megiddo in 609 B.C., Pharaoh Necho II took polassar returned
Carchemish ASSYRIA
Nineveh
Eu
575 b.c. 561 b.c. DIA

ph
anea
SYRIA
editerr
The Ishtar Gate is built, the After a 44-year reign,

principal of Babylon’s eight great Nebuchadrezzar II dies in BA ELAM
entrances. Nebuchadrezzar also Babylon. Only 22 years after
completes restoration of the his death, following a period
Etemenanki ziggurat, damaged of decadence, Babylon falls in alem
during an Assyrian invasion a 539 b.c. to the Persian king, JUDAH CHALDE
Empire of Nebuchadrezzar II
century before. Cyrus the Great. EGYPT (605–561 B.C.)
DEPORTATION to Babylon. In 605 B.C. the crown prince sound-

ly defeated Egypt and the remnants of the As-
AND DESTRUCTION syrians at Carchemish in Syria. Returning to
Babylon with Syria secured for the empire, Neb-
uchadrezzar learned that his father had died.
P
SALM 137 IN THE BIBLE curses Babylon and the Edomites,
allies of Nebuchadrezzar II, and exhorts the Jews: Within three weeks, Nebuchadrezzar was pro-
“Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of claimed king of Babylonia.
Jerusalem’s fall, how they said, ‘Tear it down! Tear it down!
Down to its foundations!’” Razing a city following its conquest was Building Up Babylon
standard practice in ancient Mesopotamia. Exactly the same fate In Akkadian, the new sovereign’s name, Nabu-
had befallen Babylon when the Assyrians took it a century before kudurri-usur, means“Nabu [the Mesopotamian
the siege of Jerusalem. When the Chaldeans revolted, the Assyrian god of wisdom and writing], watch over my heir.”
king Sennacherib laid siege to Babylon in 690 b.c. and defeated HewasnamedafterNebuchadrezzarI,Babylon’s
the rebels. “The corpses of men with no one to bury them filled the warriorkingofthe12thcentury B.C.,and pursued
squares of Babylon,” an inscription relates. Sennacherib exacted a path of expansionism. By the end of Nebu-
a more terrible punishment on the survivors: Babylon’s temples chadrezzar II’s 44-year reign, the empire had
were destroyed, their ruins flooded, and even the city’s topsoil was grown immensely. It stretched from Palestine
hauled away. Like the Jews of Jerusalem, the Chaldean nobility of and Syria, occupied the fertile valleys of the
Babylon were also taken from the city into exile. Euphrates and Tigris, and swept down to the
Persian Gulf. Cities were sacked, nobles were
CHALDEAN PRISONERS ARE CAPTURED BY ASSYRIANS ON A SEVENTH-CENTURY B.C. STONE imprisoned, and peoples were exiled to Babylon.
RELIEF (ABOVE) FROM THE PALACE OF SENNACHERIB, NINEVEH. As the following inscription, now in the British
UIG/ALBUM
Museum, may suggest, keeping the“peace”was
a considerable burden on Nebuchadrezzar:
RESTORATION
A VIEW OF THE RESTORED RUINS OF BABYLON,
NEAR MODERN-DAY BAGHDAD. CARRIED
OUT BY THE IRAQI REGIME OF SADDAM
HUSSEIN IN THE LATE 20TH CENTURY, THE
RECONSTRUCTION IS CONTROVERSIAL TO
MANY ARCHAEOLOGISTS.
FOTOSEARCH/AGE FOTOSTOCK
Far-off lands, distant mountains, from the Up- GLORY TO footsteps of his namesake, the first Nebu-
per Sea to the Lower Sea, steep trails, unopened MARDUK chadrezzar, who, centuries before, had exalted
AND NABU
paths, where motion was impeded, where there Babylon over other cities, such as Nippur.
A sixth-century b.c.
was no foothold, difficult roads, journeys without seal (below) shows a
Continuing the work begun by Nabopolassar,
water, I traversed, and the unruly I overthrew; I priest praying before the king built a great moat, defensive walls, and
bound as captives my enemies; the land I set in symbols of Marduk, canals. He refurbished temples and sanctuaries,
order and the people I made to prosper. patron of Babylon, paved the Processional Way, and embellished
and Nabu, god of his own legendary palace. Toward the end of his
writing and learning.
learning
Vassal states would pay heavy annuaal tribute to Nebuchadrezzar’s reign, around 575 B.C., he built what is probably
Babylonia and feed its growing treasu uries with: name invokes the Babylon n’s iconic ancient landmark: the Ishtar
“silver, gold, costly precious stonees, bronze, latter. Gate, decorated with cobalt glazed brick reliefs.
palm-wood, cedar-wood, all kinds of o precious ERICH LESSING/ALBUM
Insod doing, both Nebuchadrezzars exalted the
things, to my city Babylon I brought..” god Marrduk, Babylon’s patron deity, over other
Nebuchadrezzar II was by necessity a war- gods in the
t Mesopotamian pantheon. Inscrip-
rior, but by disposition he was a buildeer.The tions exalt
e Nebuchadrezzar II as the “favorite
funds collected from his states helped fi- of the god Marduk,”the king of the universe,
nance his civic improvements. Neb bu- who has“no enemy from the horizon to the
chadrezzar focused much of his build d- sky,”creating a bond of greatness linking,
ing energies on restoring Babylon to t od, king, and the city of Babylon.
go
its former glory. Years of war with the If the favor of the god was regarded
Assyrians the century before hadledtto ass crucial to the city, a more mundane
the destruction of Babylon in 689 B.C. resource—water—was also central to
By restoring Babylon to glory, Neb- Bab bylon’s preeminence. The biblical Psalm
uchadrezzar II was following in the 137, in
i which the Hebrew captives sit and

COMING UPON
N E B UC H A DR EZ Z A R ’ S BA BY LO N
In Nebuchadrezzar’s time, a traveler approaching
Babylon would first spy the mighty Etemenanki (“house
of the foundation of heaven on earth”). Topped by
the sanctuary of Marduk, Babylon’s patron god, the
six-story pyramid is believed to have inspired the
biblical Tower of Babel. A very ancient structure, it was
damaged in 689 b.c. by Sennacherib’s sack of the city.
Restoration was completed by Nebuchadrezzar II, who
boasted: “I made it the wonder of the people of the
world. I raised its top to the heaven.” Moving closer, the
traveler would see the strong, defensive walls, befitting
what had become, in a short time, the most important
city in the ancient world. After crossing the canals, the
Ishtar Gate would come into view. Built over an existing
structure by Nebuchadrezzar II in around 575 b.c., the
38-foot-high double gate led to the stately Processional Temple of Nabu-sha-hare,
god of wisdom
Way, a walkway that linked the palace and the temple
districts. A statue of Marduk was paraded along this
boulevard during the Babylonian New Year.
“I pulled down the gates [and]

had them remade of bricks Processional Way
with blue stone on which
wonderful bulls and dragons
were depicted . . . so that
Mankind might gaze on them
in wonder.”
—Nebuchadrezzar II,
Inscription on the Ishtar Gate
ISHTAR GATE
(RECONSTRUCTION)
SOL 90/ALBUM
BABYLON FROM ABOVE

THE MONUMENTS BUILT BY
NEBUCHADREZZAR II LIE
THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
BYZANTIUM 1200 PROJECT
Etemenanki, topped with a

tem
Western
W
bastion
b
Ishtar Gate S
Southern
TThe city’s principal p
palace
eentrance
N
Northern
p
palace
NEBUCHADREZZAR II IN THE BIBLE
DREAM
INTERPRETATION
T
he Book of Daniel recounts Nebuchadrezzar’s
treatment of the Jewish captives in Babylon,
and how their worship of Jehovah was tested.
The relief to the left depicts the story in the
third chapter of Daniel, in which Nebuchadrezzar sets
up a statue and orders the people to worship it. They
refuse, and the king orders Nebuchadrezzar’s pres-
them thrown into a fiery ence (right), he reveals
furnace. They emerge un- to the king that his dream
scathed. Astonished, the was about a statue made
king decrees toleration of of different materials, an al-
their faith. A similar tale legory for the empires that
occurs earlier in the Book will rise after his: “No wise
of Daniel, when the king is man . . . can show to the
plagued by troublesome king the mystery that the
dreams. He threatens to king is asking, but there is a
execute anyone who can- God in heaven who reveals
notguess the content of the mysteries,” Daniel says.
A RELIEF FROM A FOURTH-CENTURY A.D. dream and explain it to him. “He has disclosed to King
SARCOPHAGUS LID, DEPICTING A JEWISH EXILE IN
BABYLON REFUSING TO WORSHIP THE GODS OF Daniel prays to God, who Nebuchadrezzar what will
NEBUCHADREZZAR II (SEATED) guides him. Brought into happen at the end of days.”
RMN-GRAND PALAIS
weep“by the waters of Babylon,”may be a refer- PEOPLE OF Life in Exile

ence to Babylon’s irrigation canals,the lifeblood THE BOOK Nebuchadrezzar’s name echoes down through
of its economy and strength. Inscriptions pre- Jewish communities time not only due to his restoration of Babylon
sent Nebuchadrezzar’s canal system as a labor in Babylonia and but also for his place in Judeo-Christian
Palestine each
of Herculean proportions:“Alongside Babylon, created their own Scripture. He plays a major role in several
great banks of earth I heaped up. Great floods of Talmud, a book of important episodes in the Old Testament,
destroying water like the great waves of the sea Jewish law, history, including the sacking of Jerusalem and the
I made flow around it.” and scholarship. In 70-year exile of the Jewish people to the city
its pages, shown
This irrigation system may have fed one of in a 17th-century
of Babylon.
Nebuchadrezzar’s most famous and most mys- edition below, After the defeat of the Egyptians and Assyr-
terious accomplishments: the Hanging Gardens Jews would find an ians at Carchemish in 605, the kingdom of Ju-
of Babylon, a wonder of the ancient world. De- indispensable guide dah and the city of Jerusalem fell under Baby-
scriptions of this palatial complex say it had five to their heritage no lonian control. Like other vassal states, Judah
matter where
courtyards,residences for the king and his con- they lived.
lived had to pay tribute to Babylonia. Unhappy with
sorts, and an ornate throne roo om. The gardens NATHAN BENN/GETTY IMAGES thisarrangem ment, Judean kings rebelled
allegedly held species of every y tree and several tim
mes, but Nebuchadrezzar’s
plant from the empire. Ancien nt Greek retributio on was swift and brutal.
historian Herodotus described it as the His forces invaded; in 587 B.C.,
“most magnificent buildingeverrerect- Nebucchadrezzar razed Jeru-
ed on earth.” Ancient sources dod not salemm and destroyed the Tem-
provide an exact location for thee gar- ple. Powerful Judeans were
dens, nor have archaeologists found alsoo captured and forcibly
remains, leading some to wond der depported to Babylon three
if they ever existed at all. tim
mes: 597, 587,and 582 B.C.
In the Bible,theProphet Jeremiah warns these HebrewculturetookrootandfloweredinBab- THE KING’S

Judean kings that God is unhappy because they ylon as the exiles built a community centered DREAMS
have permitted the return of pagan worship. on religious life. Despite later being allowed to The captive
They must return to the ways of God, or risk return to rebuild Jerusalem, many Jews stayed Daniel interprets
his vengeance: God will use“Nebuchadrezzar of in Babylon. For centuries, the Babylonian com- Nebuchadrezzar II’s
dream (above) in
Babylon,[God’s] servant,”to“bring [the Babylo- munity was a strong center of the Jewish faith. a 17th-century oil
nians] against this land and its inhabitants, and The Babylonian Talmud,one of the central texts painting by Mattia
. . . will utterly destroy them” (Jeremiah 25:9). of Jewish religious law and theology, was pro- Preti (Il Cavaliere
The Judeans, however, fail to heed Jeremiah’s duced there. Calabrese). Private
collection
warnings, and the Babylonians descend. Nebuchadrezzar died in 561 B.C. He was suc- BRIDGEMAN/ACI
Jeremiah was spared,but most of Judah’s sur- ceeded by three, short-lived and weak rulers,
vivors went into exile in Babylonia. The pain of the last of which, a child king, was murdered
separation from home runs through the books by Nabonidus. Despite this violent power grab,
of the Bible devoted to this time, resulting in Nabonidus was a scholarly man uninterested in
some of its most beautiful passages. In his al- politics,andprovedtobethelastoftheChaldean
legory of the Exile, Ezekiel casts Nebuchadrez- rulers. In 539 B.C. Cyrus the Great of Persia used
zar as a “great eagle, with great wings and long Babylon’s canals to breach the city and seize it.
pinions, rich in plumage of many colors.” The The long reign of the Persians began, the Jew-
eagle-kingispresentedasaninstrumentofGod, ish exile was ended, and Babylon began a new
who carries away the Jews and plants them as a chapter under new rulers, still regarded as the
seedling in“fertile soil; a plant by abundant wa- greatest city in the ancient world.
ters, he set it like a willow twig”(Ezekiel 17:3-5).
The experience profoundly shaped Jewish reli-
BABYLON SPECIALIST BARBARA BÖCK IS A RESEARCHER AT THE INSTITUTE OF
gious and national identity. MEDITERRANEAN AND MIDEASTERN LANGUAGES AND CULTURES IN MADRID, SPAIN.

FABLED FIGURE
Louis de Caullery’s 17th-century
painting depicts the Colossus astride
the port of Rhodes, a stance that has
since been debunked by historians.
Louvre Museum, Paris
CHRISTOPHEL FINE ART/GETTY IMAGES
WONDER OF THE WORLD
THE COLOSSUS
OF RHODES
Standing for a little more than 50 years in the third century b.c., Rhodes’s titanic statue
of Helios made a colossal impact on Western art, history, and imagination.
ROSA MARÍA MARIÑO SÁNCHEZ-ELVIRA
The
Bronze
Giant
408 B.C.
Having united to create a
commercial union, the Rhodian
states of Lindos, Kameiros,
and Ialysos found the port of
Rhodes as their capital city.
306 B.C.
Antigonus I, king of Macedonia,
fails to persuade the Rhodians
to ally with him against
Ptolemy I of Egypt and sends
his son Demetrius to besiege
the city.
305 B.C.
Failing to achieve his objective,
Demetrius negotiates an
agreement with the Rhodians,
and abandons his gigantic
siege tower on the island.
294-282 B.C.
Chares of Lindos builds the
Colossus, a huge statue of
Helios, patron god of Rhodes, in
T
HARBOR OF heGreekpoetAntipaterofSidon,writ-
thanks for protection during the RHODES ing in the second century B.C., is often
Macedon siege.
The Fort of St. attributed with compiling the Seven
Nicholas sits near Wonders of the Ancient World. These
Circa 225 B.C. the Mandraki outstanding monuments and feats of
An earthquake destroys the (above), one of
Colossus. Despite an offer Rhodes’s three engineering were referred to in Greek as themata,
from Ptolemy III to rebuild, the harbors. It is easy to or things to be seen, similar to today’s must-see
Rhodians decide to leave it envision the great lists in travel guides.
lying in pieces on the ground. Colossus standing Earthquakes, fire, war, theft, and the relentless
astride the harbor
ruin of time, have left the world with just one
A.D. 77
entrance with one
foot on each side. of Antipater’s recommendations, the Pyramids
Pliny completes his Natural at Giza. Although the Pharos of Alexandria, the
History, one of the world’s first LUCA DA ROS/FOTOTECA 9X12
scientific encyclopedias. A key Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Arte-

source of information on the mis at Ephesus, and the Mausoleum at Halicar-
Colossus, it does not comment nassus have fallen into ruin, archaeology and
on its appearance or location. historical accounts provide some idea of their
appearance. Not so with the Colossus.
A.D. 654 Like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (which
Umayyad Muslim forces raid some say never existed), the exact appearance
Rhodes and plunder the fallen
pieces of the Colossus. The of the Colossus that towered over the port of
bronze is sent to Syria and sold Rhodes is a mystery. Toppled by an earthquake
for scrap. around 225 B.C., the massive statue stood for a
little more than 50 years. Historians have very
little information as to what the structure looked
MERCHE HERNÁNDEZ
Sp
r
C etee ea r
ean
mediterra
Alexan
anndria
GOODS AND GODS

RHODES lies along the southeastern rim of the Aegean Islands. Its
port, also named Rhodes, is located on the northern tip. At the time
the Colossus was built, the port was an important stop on the trade
routes linking Greek cities in Asia Minor—such as Miletus—with
the wealth of Egypt, ruled by the Greek Ptolemies. In the third cen-
tury b.c. Rhodes had close links with Alexandria, founded a century
before by Alexander the Great. Associated with the Egyptian god
Ra, Helios was also an important deity there.
like, where it stood, and how it was built. This skilled diplomats, the Rhodians would not re- THE TAKER
vacuum has filled with much speculation and nounce their ties with the Egyptians. Antigonus OF CITIES
artistic license, but certain clues have helped re- did his utmost to persuade them to take his side, Demetrius’ mobile
searchers piece together credible theories about and when they refused, he decided to use force. siege tower
(below) is said to
this marvelous structure. Antigonus sent his son Demetrius to sub- have stood nine
due Rhodes in 305 B.C. After several stories tall and was
Colossal Siege failed attempts to capture the city, designed to hurl
Luckily for historians, why the Colossus was Demetrius ordered the con- projectiles into a
besieged city.
built is easily found in the historical record. struction of a Helepolis (“taker
AKG/ALBUM
First-century B.C. historian Diodorus Siculus of cities”), a wheeled siege tower
recorded the fourth-century B.C. conflict known that may have stood more than
as the siege of Rhodes. 100 feet tall. Protected by met-
In 408 B.C. three city-states on the Mediter- al plates and armed with cata-
ranean island of Rhodes (Lindos, Kameiros, and pults, this fearsome weapon
Ialysos) banded together to build a new federal failed to bring victory to De-
capital and port. The city, also called Rhodes, metrius. Rhodes stood strong,
grew prosperous through trade and built up and Demetrius withdrew after
strong commercial and diplomatic relationships an unsuccessful, yearlong siege.
with other Mediterranean powers. Rhodes and Macedonia agreed
At the end of the fourth century B.C. war broke that the Rhodians would back
out between two of Alexander the Great’s suc- Antigonus against his enemies
cessors: Ptolemy I, king of Egypt, and Macedo- except Ptolemy. In exchange,
nia’s king Antigonus I (called Antigonus Cyclops they would remain politically and
for only having one eye). Formidable sailors and economically autonomous.
SIZE
MATTERS
chares of lindos was the sculptor tasked with
creating the Colossus, but all that survives of
his work is his name. After the disappearance of
the remains of the Colossus in the seventh cen-
tury a.d., all trace of his work was lost. He was a
pupil of Lysippus, one of the most famous artists
in the Greek world, who created busts of Alexan-
der the Great (right). Although Lysippus’ original
works have also all been lost, later replicas and
works made by his disciples shed light on the
type of education that his pupil might
have received. Lysippus’ bronze pieces
are notable for their slenderness. By
elongating the body, and slightly re-
ducing the size of the head, the art-
ist created a sensation of height,
a trait seen in the replica of his
“Praying Boy” (left).
despite the lack of information
on the appearance of Chares’s
Colossus, his rendering of the
god Helios may well have adopted
Lysippus’ methods to produce a
tall, slender structure rather than
a hulking, muscular figure. Chares
was used to working on a large
scale: Pliny the Elder notes he made a
very large head that could be seen on the Capi-
toline Hill in Rome. A later story, however, told by “ALEXANDER THE GREAT,”
the second- or third-century philosopher Sextus ROMAN COPY OF A FOURTH-
CENTURY B.C. BUST
Empiricus, claims Chares made a grave error in BY LYSIPPUS
calculating the price of the material required GRANGER/ALBUM
to build the Colossus, a mistake that prompted “PRAYING BOY,” SCHOOL OF

LYSIPPUS, FOURTH CENTURY B.C.,
him to take his own life. The tale, like so many BERLIN STATE MUSEUMS
surrounding the giant statue, is probably a myth: AKG/ALBUM
And when [Chares] had named a sum,

they asked again how much it would be if
they wished to construct it twice that size.
And when he asked double the sum, they
gave it to him; but he, when he had spent
the sum given on the first stages of the
work and the preliminary expenses, slew
himself. And when he was dead the crafts-
men became aware that he ought to have
asked not double but eight times the sum.
GUARDING THE HARBOR

After visiting the island of Rhodes,
artist Antonio Muñoz Degrain
imagined the Colossus in this oil
painting from 1914. San Fernando
Royal Academy of Fine Art, Madrid
ORONOZ/ALBUM
Colossal Rise Alexander the Great.As an offering to Rhodes’s PAPER OF

In gratitude for withstanding the siege, the in- most important divinity, the new statue had to RECORD
habitants of Rhodes decided to build an extraor- measure up to what it represented—the Rho- Written more than
dinary statue in honor of Helios. In Greek my- dians’ victory and the god who made it possi- two centuries after the
Colossus fell, Pliny the
thology, Helios was one of the Titans, the gods ble.Chares may have conceived his commission
Elder’s Natural History
who ruled over Greece before the Olympians. with a great statue of Zeus in mind: Sculpted by is a significant source of
Lord of the sun, Helios drove his chariot across Phidias for the temple of Zeus at Olympia, this information on the giant
the sky each day. The island of Rhodes was sa- statue was massive, described as being seven statue. A 16th-century
cred to him, and he its patron deity. times larger than life. edition (below) bears
lavish illustrations.
To build the massive statue, Rhodes need- Working from 294 to 282 B.C., Chares took SCIENCE SOURCE/ALBUM
ed bronze, and a lot of it. A treatise entitled On 12 years to erect the Colossus. Many questions
the Seven Wonders of the World, attributed to remain as to what exact methods he employed
second-century B.C. engineer Philo of Byzan- to build it. Philo’s treatise proposes that it was
tium, explains that the statue required 12 to 13 cast in a customized way, different from most
tons of bronze, “an operation that involved the statues: It was built in situ, piece by piece. Work
bronze industry of the entire world.”Sources say began at the bottom, and the feet were put in
that some bronze was scavenged from the aban- place first. Philo wrote: “The artist heaped up
doned Helepolis, and the rest was purchased a huge mound of earth round each section as
with money raised by selling the weapons and soon as it was completed, thus burying the fin-
armor left behind by Demetrius. ished work under the accumulated earth, and
Chares of Lindos, a Rhodian sculptor, was carrying out the casting of the next part on the
commissioned to construct the monument. Re- level.”Then the statue rose like a building as each
spected across the Greek world, he was a pupil of new section was attached to the one beneath it.
the famous sculptor Lysippus, a favorite artist of However, Philo was writing more than 100 years

MODEL after the Colossus had been built. Modern art the statue at“70 cubits”—around 108 to 110 feet
FIGURE historians do not know what sources he relied (the exact dimensions of Greek cubits varied
A detail from a on to gather his information, and many dispute somewhat from place to place).
fifth-century b.c. the methodology described in his text. The statue was so big that in Pliny’s words,
vase shows
craftsmen making a The principal ancient source for the Colossus’ “Few men can clasp the thumb in their arms, and
model for a statue. dimensions is Pliny the Elder’s first-century A.D. its fingers are larger than most statues.”Strabo, a
Models were often work, Natural History. Writing near contemporary of Pliny’s, also wrote of the
constructed as part some 200 years after the Co- structure in his Geography. Despite marveling at
of creating a large
bronze sculpture.
lossus was built, Pliny stokes its size, however, neither source describes what
the sense of wonder that had it looked like and where exactly it stood in the
PETER CONNOLLY/AKG/ALBUM
caused the Colossus to be port city, omissions that have frustrated histo-
included in the list of rians ever since.
themata: “That [large What is indisputable is that the Colossus
statue] which is by was magnificent. An excerpt from a poem of
far the most wor- the time testifies, “To you, o Sun, the people
thy of our ad- of Dorian Rhodes set up this bronze statue
miration, is reaching to Olympus, when they had pacified
the colossal the waves of war and crowned their city with
statue of the the spoils taken from the enemy.”
Sun, which stood
formerly at Rhodes, Colossal Fall
and was the work of The Colossus, Chares’s audacious“second sun,”
Chares the Lindian.” was not destined to last for centuries: An earth-
Pliny’s account puts quake destroyed it and parts of the city of Rhodes
CASTING
DOUBT
D
uring the third millennium b.c.,
the advantages of using bronze
in sculpture became evident and
gave rise to a long tradition of
Greek bronze sculpture. An alloy made
of 90 percent copper and 10 percent tin,
bronze was easier to cast and stronger
than pure copper. Early Greek bronze stat-
ues were simple designs made by sepa-
rately hammering sheets of the metal into
shape and riveting them to one another.
By the fifth century b.c. lost wax casting
had become
be the favored method. Bronze-
smith hs, like those depicted on this fifth-
centu ury b.c. vase (left), often employed
diffeering techniques depending on the
tyype of sculpture. Judging from the
six casting pits that have been found
n Rhodes, the island was an impor-
in
taant center for bronze working in the
ancient world. Even so, art historians still
do not have a conclusive answer as to how
themassiveColossuswascastorassembled.
PETER CONNOLLY/AKG/ALBUM
in 226 or 225 B.C., little more than half a century Time eventually ran out for travelers wish- PHARAOH OF
later. Most sources agree that when the statue ing to admire what remained of the great figure THE SUN
fractured, it broke at the knees. of Helios, even in its fallen state. By the middle A gold coin (below)
Although Ptolemy III Euergetes of Egypt of- of the seventh century, the Umayyad Muslims depicts the third-
fered funds and labor to rebuild it, Strabo tells us captured much of the eastern Mediterranean. century b.c. king of
Egypt Ptolemy III
the Rhodians did not dare to do so as an oracle When their general and future caliph, Muawi- Euergetes, with a
advised them against it, so the pieces were left yah, conquered Rhodes in A.D. 654, hecompleted crown, in honor of
where they fell. Ptolemy’s interest in the Colos- the demolition of the structure. His forces col- Helios. Bibliothèque
sus reveals the close links between Rhodes and lected the bronze and sent it to Syria, where it National, Paris
DEA/ALBUM
Egypt, and the awe with which the figure of He- was purchased by a scrap merchant. According
lios was regarded in the region. Ptolemy III even to Byzantine sources, more than 900 camels
represented himself as Helios on a coin, wearing were needed to carry it all away.
a crown denoting rays of the sun.
Lying on the ground, the vast remains of this Colossal Legacy
giant were admired for centuries. Even as the The Colossus was gone, but its
Colossus lay shattered, Pliny the Elder noted fame lived on in memory. Where
that it was still a “marvel.” Its dismantled state history lacked details, imagina-
allowed spectators to peer inside, where “are to tion filled them in. By the Re-
be seen large masses of rock, by the weight of naissance, a new belief arose
which the artist steadied it while erecting it.” that the Colossus had straddled
In the second century A.D. Lucian of Samosa- the port of Rhodes, as a gateway
ta joked that the Colossus of Rhodes, just like for ships, with each of its massive
the Pharos of Alexandria, could be seen from legs planted on the quays at the
the moon. harbor entrance.

The image was turned into a lit- the other on the end of the other wharf, where the
erary metaphor in William Shake- windmills are.”
speare’s Julius Caesar, written in Historians now regard the idea that the Colos-
1599. The conspirator Cassius uses sus stood with its legs apart as highly unlikely.
the Colossus to express his feelings It would have been physically impossible for a
against Caesar: statue standing at least 100 feet high to be sup-
ported by legs 650 feet apart. The sculpture itself
Why, man, he doth bestride would have been too heavy for the legs to support.
the narrow world Scholars also point out that a wide-legged Colos-
Like a Colossus, and we petty men sus could not have withstood the strong winds
Walk under his huge legs . . . of the region. The fact that many sources attest
that when the earthquake struck, the Colossus
One source of this enduring idea may be from broke at the knees leads art historians to believe
the account of an Italian pilgrim, Nicolas de that its legs must have been together.
Martoni, who visited Rhodes between 1394 and The name Colossus provides a clue as well.
1395. He recorded what local people were saying Originally the word did not refer to height or
about the Colossus:“In ancient times, there was size—the meaning of a large statue, or the ad-
a great wonder, a great idol, so admirably formed jective colossal, are derived from the Colossus
that it is said that it had one foot on the wharf, of Rhodes itself. The word was appropriated by
where the Church of Saint Nicholas stands,and the Greeks from the indigenous peoples of Asia
Minor and referred to a special type of sculpture,
THIS ROMAN BRONZE FIGURE FROM THE SECOND OR THIRD CENTURY A.D. none of which stood with their legs apart.
PORTRAYS HELIOS WITH ARM RAISED, SPORTING A CAPE AND HIS CROWN So what might the Colossus have looked like?
DEPICTING THE AUREOLE OF THE SUN. LOUVRE MUSEUM, PARIS
LEWANDOWSKI/RMN-GRAND PALAIS No coins were minted with a complete rendering
A 1638 DUTCH
ENGRAVING OF THE
COLOSSUS BY JOANNES
GALLAEUS
BRIDGEMAN/ACI
WONDER ON THE HORIZON

Approaching Rhodes, the A LEGEND WITH LEGS
Colossus—here depicted
with legs parted—would BY THE LATE 1500S spectacular but entirely erroneous ideas about
have been visible from afar, a the Colossus were incorporated into artistic depictions. The image
scene imagined by Gualtiero of a torch-bearing figure with its legs apart was popularized further
Padovano in this 16th-century by Dutch engravings, such as the one above, that show a ship in full
fresco. Villa Godi Malinverni, sail passing beneath. These engravings reached a wide audience
Lugo di Vicenza
MARCO COVI/ELECTA/ALBUM
to become part of the iconography of this wonder of the ancient
world, until it was debunked by historians in the 19th century.
of it, despite the Colossus being a symbol of Some archaeologists suggest that a sanctuary
Rhodes’s pride in maintaining its independence. of unknown identity built near the stadium in
Using known depictions of Helios as a starting the Acropolis at Rhodes was, in fact, dedicated
point, art historians believe the Colossus was to Helios. This explanation seems logical: The
probably a figure of a nude male with rays of light stadium was where athletes from all of Greece
emanating from his head, a frequent attribute competedduringtheHalieia,thefestivalinhon-
of the sun god. or of the sun god. In this case, the statue could
Some depictions show the Colossus holding a have been cast in a nearby pit, and then raised
torch, but historians believe it probably did not near the spot.
carry one. It has been impossible to establish The Colossus did not remain standing for
what position the arms were in, whether they long, but its legacy—even if based on misin-
pointed straight downward or whether the right formation—hasendured,andleftadeepimprint
arm was raised as the sun god is represented in on the modern period.Its association with free-
Roman statues in subsequent periods. dom, a torch, and a crown with solar rays, were
Most artistic representations of the statue important factors in the design of the Statue of
place it at the mouth of the port, as a landmark Liberty. Its most recent contribution to visual
for shipping. It is now considered unlikely to culture is as inspiration for the giant bronze
have been sited beside the sea or in the port Titan statue that stands guard in the port of
area, however, partly due to the lack of a site big Braavos in George R. R. Martin’s best-selling
enough to accommodate it.While it is plausible A Song of Ice and Fire novels,the basis for the hit
that the Colossus would have been built beside television series Game of Thrones.
a temple dedicated to Helios, no remains of a
temple or an open-air sanctuary to the god have
CLASSICIST ROSA MARÍA MARIÑO SÁNCHEZ-ELVIRA HAS WRITTEN EXTENSIVELY
been found on the island. ON GREEK HISTORY. HER TRANSLATIONS INCLUDE THE REPUBLIC OF PLATO.

Rome’s Vestal Virgins
KEEPERS
OF THE
FLAME
Chosen as young girls, the priestesses
of Vesta, goddess of the hearth, swore a
30-year vow of chastity and in turn were
granted rights, privileges, and power
unavailable to other women in Rome.
ELDA BIGGI
HIGHEST PRIESTESS
A second-century b.c.
statue shows the distinctive
dress of a Vestalis Maxima,
chief of the Vestal Virgins.
Below left: A silver
denarius, also from the
second century b.c., bears
a representation of the
circular Temple of Vesta.
BUST: DEA/ALBUM
COIN: DEA/SCALA, FLORENCE
KEEP THE FIRE

The Vestal Virgins tend the sacred fire
of Vesta, on whose protection Rome
M
FIRE arcus Licinius Crassus was one
GODDESS of the richest and most power- depends. 17th-century oil painting by
Ciro Ferri, Galleria Spada, Rome
The remains of the ful Roman citizens in the first
SCAL LORENCE
Temple of Vesta century B.C. Yet he nearly lost
(above) stand in the it all, his life included, when he
Roman Forum. Unlike
most temples, it did was accused of being too intimate with Licinia,
not contain a central a Vestal Virgin. He was brought to trial, where
image of the goddess. his true motives emerged. As the first-century story of her trial also reveals how that privilege
It was the site of historian Plutarch recounts, Licinia was the came with a price: A Vestal Virgin had to abstain
the holy fire and a
owner of“a pleasant villa in the suburbs which from sex, a sacred obligation to one of Rome’s
repository of various
sacred artifacts. Crassus wished to get at a low price, and it was mostancientcustoms that would continue until
PETER UNGER/GETTY IMAGES for this reason that he was forever hovering Christianity ended the cult in A.D. 394.
about the woman and paying his court to her.”
When it became clear that Crassus’wooing was Vestal Veneration
motivated by avarice rather than lust, he was According to Roman authors, the cult was
acquitted, saving both his and Licinia’s lives. founded by Numa Pompilius, a semi-mythical
One of the most remark kable elements of this Roman king who ruled aroun nd 715 to 673 B.C.
story is the fact that Licin nia owned a villa UnlikemostRomanreligious cults, wor-
in the first place. Unlike other women, ship of Vesta was ru
un by women. The
Licinia could own properrty precisely hearth was sacred d to this goddess,
because she was a Vestal Virgin. The one of Rome’s th hree major virgin
8th century b
b.c. 5 b.c.
65
Classical sources attribute the The selectioon process allows
TENDING creation of the Vestal ccult to the Pontifexx Maximus
ROME’S the ancient Roman kin ng Numa
Pompilius. Young girls chosen
to choose a pool of 20
candidates, from which
ETERNAL as future priestesses hhad to public lots would
w be drawn to
FLAME leave their families to live in the
temple of Vesta.
determine the six girls who
will join the temple.
NEOCLASSICAL BUST OF A VESTALL VIRGIN, 18TH CENTURY.
36 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018 STOURHEAD HOUSE, WILTSHIRE, ENGLAND NTPL/SCALA, FLORENCE
goddesses (the other two being Minerva and the goddess’s sacred fire. Once a year, in March, FAITH AND
Diana). The rites surrounding the Vestals re- they relit the fire and then ensured it remained TAXES
mained relatively fixed from the time of the Ro- burning for the next year. Their task was seri- A bronze plaque
man Republic through the fourth century A.D. ous as the fire was tied to the fortunes of their from circa a.d. 247
Six virgin priestesses were dedicated to Vesta city, and neglect would bring disaster to Rome. (below) registers the
tax privileges enjoyed
as full-time officiates who lived in their own To become a Vestal was the luck of the draw. by Flavia Publicia,
residence, the Atrium Vestae in the Roman Fo- Captio, the process whereby the girls were se- a Vestalis Maxima.
rum. The Vestals’ long tradition gave Romans a lected to leave their families and become priest- Metropolitan
reassuring thread of continuity and may explain esses, is also the Latin word for “capture”—a Museum, New York
QUINTLOX/ALBUM
the Temple of Vesta’s traditional circular form, telling turn of phrase that evokes the kidnapping
a style associated with rustic huts in the city’s of women for brides that took place in archaic
deep past. Rome. Records from 65 B.C. show that a list of
This place of worship, which lay alongside potential Vestals was drawn up
the Atrium, was where the priestesses tended by the Pontifex Maximu us,
a.d. 193-211 a.d. 394

A fire damages the compound in Emperor Theodosius I bans all
which the Vestals live and worship, pagan rituals and cults. The
leading the wife of Emperor Temple of Vesta is closed, the
Septimius Severus, Julia Domna, to sacred fire extinguished—perhaps
oversee a restoration of the Temple by the emperor himself—and the
of Vesta, which will retain its iconic last Vestals are released from
circular structure. their service.
THE VESTALS
the vesttal virgins lived in the Atrium Vestae in the

n Forum. The illustration shows the Atrium as it
l following restoration under Emperor Septimius
ev s in the early third century. Despite its gran-
r, it was known for being dark and damp. In the
nter, 1 a large patio was decorated with the
sstatues of those who had held the honor of being
Vestalis Maxima, the chief priestess of the cult.
2 The aedicula was a small shrine supported
by Ionic columns. Built under Hadrian in the
early second century, it may have contained a
statue of the goddess Vesta. 3 The Temple of
sta was a circular structure (a tholos) of Corin-
ian columns, restored by the wife of Septimius
everus. Here, the priestesses tended the fire
ose smoke rose from a central chimney. Its
esence in the Forum was a reminder of the
priestesses’ vigil; the smoke it sent into the air
s a reassurance that all was well with Rome.
T: A REPRESENTATION OF A VESTAL VIRGIN
OW: A RE-CREATION OF THE TEMPLE OF VESTA
AADJOINED
D OINE
DJO ED TTHE
NED HE ATRIUM
A R UM VESTAE
M VE
ESTA
STAEE
PETE
ET CO
CON
NN
NNOL
NO LY/AL
Y/ALBUM
LBBUM
UM
3
THE VESTAL TUCCIA, FALSELY ACCUSED OF BREAKING

HER CHASTITY VOW, IS SAVED BY THE INTERVENTION OF
VESTA, WHO ENABLES HER TO CARRY WATER IN A SIEVE
FROM THE TIBER BACK TO THE TEMPLE. 17TH-CENTURY
PAINTING BY GIOVANNI BATTISTA BEINASCHI
AKG/ALBUM
OFFERINGS TO Rome’s supreme religious authority. Candidates

THE GODDESS had to be girls between the ages of six and 10,
A relief from the born to patrician parents, and free from men-
time of Augustus tal and physical defects. Final candidates were
(below) found in the then publicly selected by lot. Once initiated, they
Villa Albani in Rome
shows Vesta, seated, were sworn to Vesta’s service for 30 years.
with four priestesses, On being selected, their life was spent at the
offering a sacrifice at Atrium Vestae in a surrogate family, presided potestas, patriarchal power. They could make
the altar. Museum of over by older Vestals. In addition to room and their own wills and give evidence in a court of
Roman Civilization,
board, they were entitled to their own bodyguard law without being obliged to swear an oath.
Rome
WHITE IMAGES/SCALA, FLORENCE
of lictors. For the first 10 years they were initi-
ates, taught by the older priestesses. Then they Thirty Years of Chastity
became priestesses for a decade before taking These rights came at a high price: 30 years of
on th
the mentoring
m duties of the initiates for the enforced chastity. Many historians believe that
last 10 years
y of their service. the health of the state was tied to the virtue of
Publlic monies and donations to the order its women; because the Vestals’purity was both
fundeed the cult and the priestesses. In Rome highly visible and holy, penalties for a Vestal
religgion and government were tightly inter- breaking her vow of chastity were draconian. As
twiined. The organization of the state closely it was forbidden to shed a Vestal Virgin’s blood,
mirrored that of the basic Roman institu- the method of execution was immuration: be-
tiion: the family. The center of life of the ing bricked up in a chamber and left to starve to
R
Roman home, or domus, was the hearth, death. Punishment for her sexual partner was
tended
t by the matriarch for the good of just as brutal: death by whipping. Throughout
her
h family and husband. In the same way, Roman history, instances are cited of these grim
t Vestals tended Vesta’s flame for the
the sentences being passed.
g
good of the state. Jealousy or malice made the women vulner-
Unlike other Roman women, Vestals able to false accusations. One story, celebrated
ennjoyed certain privileges: In addition by several Roman writers, concerns the mira-
too being able to own property and enjoy- cle of the Vestal Virgin Tuccia, who was falsely
ing certain tax exemptions, Vestals were accused of being unchaste. According to tra-
emmancipated from their family’s patria dition, Tuccia beseeched Vesta for help and
RITES OF PASSAGE
TRAINING THE
NOVICES
A
fter lots were drawn from the list of
young girls who could serve Ves-
ta, initiates were brought to the
Atrium Vestae, where their train-
ing would begin. The training was overseen
by the chief priestess, the Vestalis Maxima,
who came under the authority of the Pontifex
Maximus. The first 10 years were spent train-
ing for their duties. They would spend the sec-
ond decade actively administering rites, and
the final 10 were spent training novices. The
chastity of the priestesses was a reflection
of the health of Rome itself. Although spilling
a virgin’s blood to kill her was a sin, this did
not preclude the infliction of harsh corporal
punishment. First-century historian Plutarch
writes: “If these Vestals commit any minor
fault, they are punishable by the high-priest
only, who scourges the offender.”
“THE SCHOOL OF THE VESTAL VIRGINS”

19TH-CENTURY COLORIZED ENGRAVING BY L. HECTOR LEROUX
RENFIELDS GARDEN/GETTY IMAGES
COLOR: SANTI PÉREZ
THE ROOTS OF THE VESTALS
A ROMAN
TRADITION?
R
omans believed the cult of the Ves-
tal Virgins was instituted under
the eighth-century b.c. king Numa
Pompilius (right), the successor of
Rome’s founder, Romulus. First-century a.d.
historian Plutarch wrote that Numa may
have “considered the nature of fire to be pure
and uncorrupted and so entrusted it to un-
contaminated and undefiled bodies.“ Numa
is credited by Livy, in his History of Rome, with
formalizing other key Roman cults, including
those of Jupiter and Mars. Many historians
believe Numa was legendary, and that the
worship of Vesta and other cults developed A BUST OF NUMA POMPILIUS
slowly out of pre-Roman customs, perhaps FROM THE VILLA ALBANI
MUSEUM IN ROME, BELIEVED
dating back to the older Etruscan culture that TO HAVE BEEN SCULPTED IN
dominated Italy before the rise of Rome. THE ROMAN IMPERIAL PERIOD
ALINARI/GETTY IMAGES

VIEW OF VESTA
The ruins of the Atrium Vestae stand
in the Roman Forum. The rectangular
pools formed a part of the complex’s
long, central patio. To the right of the
Atrium are the remains of the Temple of
Vesta, and behind the wall are the three
remaining columns of the Temple of
Castor and Pollux.
MASSIMO RIPANI/FOTOTECA 9X12
THE GODDESS VESTA ATTENDED BY FOUR

VEILED VESTAL VIRGINS IN A RELIEF FROM
THE FIRST CENTURY A.D.
SCALA, FLORENCE
TROJAN CLAIM miraculously proved her innocence by carrying symbolic function. The Vestal hairstyle is de-
A second-century a sieve full of water from the Tiber. scribed in Roman sources using an ancient Lat-
coin (below) depicts Allegations of crimes against the Vestals’ in phrase, the seni crines. Historians cautiously
Vesta enthroned, chastity sometimes went to the top of the so- agree it means“six braids,”and is mentioned as
bearing the Vestals’
sacred palladium—a cial order. The flamboyantly eccentric, third- the coiffure of both Vestal Virgins and brides.
statue of Pallas century emperor Elagabalus actually married a A Vestal wore the suffibulum, a short, white
Athena supposedly serving Vestal Virgin.It is a sign of the enduring cloth similar to a bride’s veil, kept in place with
brought to Rome symbolic importance of the cult that this her- a brooch, the fibula. Around their heads they
from Troy by the
esy was one major factor that led to his deposal wore a headband, the infula, which was associ-
hero Aeneas.
AKG/ALBUM and murder. ated with Roman matrons.
Daily rites for Vestals were often centered
Vestal Vestments around the temple. Most important was main-
Thecerem
monial dress of Vestals highlights their taining the holy fire. If the fire went out, the at-
dual,annd somewhat contradictory, embodi- tending Vestals would be suspected not only of
ment of both the maternal and the chaste. neglect but also of licentiousness, since it was
Phy ysical appearance was an integral part believed impurity in a Vestal’s relations would
of their role, making them stand out cause a fire to go out. Other typical duties in-
ass different from other women, but cluded the purification of the temple with water,
allso echoing physical traits of con- which had to be drawn from a running stream.
veentional women. In readiness for the numerous festivals that re-
Dressed in white, the color of pu- quired their attendance, the priestesses were
ritty,the Vestal Virgins wore stola, long required to bake salsa mola, a cake of meal and
gowwns worn by Roman matrons. Hair salt that was sprinkled on the horns of sacrificed
and headdresses played an important animals. Important religious festivals included
PLIGHT OF OLDER VESTALS
LIFE BEGINS AT 40?
N
ow in her 40s, a newly released he courted a still serving Vestal Virgin. But
Vestal could owe her survival, there are other examples of men pursuing
in part, to not having to undergo retired priestesses—which was perfectly
the dangerous experience of legal—in order to make away with their
childbirth, and could look forward to a new wealth and savings. The legal status of Ves-
life. After 30 years of service to the god- tal Virgins placed them in a strange position
dess, Vestal Virgins could, in theory, be free in Roman society. Release from patriarchal
to leave the order, do as they wished, and control could leave women defenseless
even marry. In practice, it seems, exercising and without family in what was still a pa-
their newly found freedom was challenging. triarchal society. The Roman orator Cicero
Material need was not a concern: a Vestal cited the case of an official charged with
nearing the end of her service would have corruption. His sister, a Vestal Virgin, called
led the life of an aristocratic woman at the for her position to be taken into account,
expense of the state and would enjoy a and for the court to show mercy to him:
good pension. The problem seemed to be
in adapting to life outside the temple. So What other security, what solace, is left
many years spent in the confines of a regu- to this poor woman if he is lost? Whereas
lated, all-female environment would make other women can bear children as their se-
the outside world feel, at best, strange, and, curity and have an ally and partner in their
at worst, hostile. Rich and unattached, own household, what does this virgin have,
Vestal Virgins could be targeted by mer- however, besides her brother that could be
cenary men. The actions of Marcus Licin- either pleasant or dear to her?
ius Crassus were controversial because
the Vestalia, dedicated to their goddess, Vesta, proven the meeting was not by design.Vestals,it BRIDES AND
and the Lupercalia,which highlights the contra- wassaid,couldstoparunawayslaveinhistracks. MATRONS
dictoryroleoftheVestalVirgins,asitwasclosely The privileged position of the Vestal Virgins Each sculpted head
associated with fertility. inRomansocietysurvivedformorethanathou- of two Vestal Virgins
(above), of unknown
In the innermost part of their temple, the sand years, passing through Rome’s changing
date, wears the
priestesses looked after their secret talismans. systems of monarchy,republic,and empire.The distinctive suffibulum
Among these objects was the sacred phallus, cult would not, however, survive Christianity. headdress, similar to
the fascinus, the representation of a minor god In A.D. 394 Theodosius closed the House of the a bridal veil. Around
of the same name. The fascinus (the root of the Vestals forever, freeing the virgins from their their foreheads, each
wears the infula.
word “fascinate”) is closely bound with magic obligations, but also removing their privileges. Antiquarium of the
and fertility.It was also in this part of the temple Even as their flame was extinguished,aspects Palatine, Rome
that they probably kept the palladium,the statue of the cult may have passed into the new faith SCALA, FLORENCE
of Pallas Athena that the legendary founder of as it swept through the Mediterranean. Just as
Rome,Aeneas,broughttoItalyafterthedestruc- the position of the Pontifex Maximus lived on
tion of Troy, his home city—another aspect of in the papal title“pontiff,”young women in the
the Vestal cult that tied Rome’s origins into an early years of Roman Christianity embraced vir-
ennobling and ancient tradition. ginity and celibacy in their desire to be“eunuchs
Romans regarded these priestesses with a for the love of heaven.”Scholars believe the role
sense of awe.Plutarch points out“they were also of the Christian nun was inspired, in part, by
keepers of other divine secrets, concealed from the chaste figures who dutifully tended the holy
all but themselves.” It was believed they pos- flame of Vesta.
sessed magical powers: If anybody condemned
to death saw a Vestal on his way to being ex- ITALIAN AUTHOR AND HISTORIAN ELDA BIGGI IS A SPECIALIST
ecuted, he was to be freed, so long as it could be ON THE CONDITION OF WOMEN IN THE ROMAN WORLD.

THE HIGH PRICE OF BREAKING

A Vestal Virgin found guilty of incestum, being impure, was immured, walled
OPPIA, A VESTAL VIRGIN IMMURED AND LEFT TO

STARVE. 19TH-CENTURY COLORIZED ENGRAVING
MARY EVANS/SCALA,
EVANS/SCALA FLORENCE
FLORENCE. COLOR
COLOR: SANTI PÉREZ
O P P I A (4 8 3 B.C .)
ionysius of Halicarnassus, in his Roman Antiqui- everyone, and at last information was given to the pontiffs
ties, narrates the punishment wrought upon the that one of the virgins who guarded the sacred fire, Oppia
Vestal Oppia for having offended the gods: “The by name, has lost her virginity and was polluting the holy
augurs and interpreters of religious matters declared, af- rites. The pontiffs, having by tortures and other proofs
ter pooling their experiences, that some of the gods were found that the information was true . . . solemnly con-
angered because they were not receiving their customary ducted her through the Forum, and buried her alive inside
honors, as their rites were not being performed in a pure the city walls . . . Thereupon the sacrifices and auguries
and holy manner. Thereupon strict inquiry was made by became favorable, as if the gods had given up their anger.”
472 b.c. 271 b.c. 216 b.c.

According to first-century b.c. Caparronia is found guilty First-century historian Livy wrote
historian Dionysius of of incestum, but she hangs that Opimia and Floronia are the
Halicarnassus, Urbinia is accused herself before the dreaded cause of Rome’s military defeat
of incestum with two lovers. She is immurement can be carried by Hannibal. They are found
flogged and buried alive. One of out. According to fifth- guilty of immorality, but Floronia
her lovers commits suicide while century historian Orosius, kills herself before she can
the other is scourged to death. her lover is executed. be immured.
SACRED VOWS
up alive in an underground chamber and left to die alone in the dark.
MINUCIA, BROUGHT TO THE CHAMBER WHERE SHE WILL

BE ENTOMBED. COLORIZED ENGRAVING
MARY EVANS/SCALA, FLORENCE. COLOR: SANTI PÉREZ
M INUCI A (3 3 7 B.C .)
itus Livy, in his History of Rome, documents before the pontiffffss n the testimo off a
the case of another Vestal Virgin who was slave, and having beeen n byy heeirr de
dec ee com--
punished by being walled up alive. She was manded to keep a of o froo sac ed r es
called Minucia and was accused of dressing immod- and to retain her sll ves in h r o p we
estly and leading an extravagant lifestyle. Livy writes: was convicted a d bu uri
ried
ed
d aliv neear ar th ol
“In that year the Vestal Minucia, suspected in the first line Gate, to the r t o the h pavv oaad i he
oad he
instance because of her dress, which was more ornate Polluted Field—so lllle , I b l ,
than became her station, was subsequently accused her unchastity.”
70s b.c. a.d. 83 a.d. 220

Marcus Licinius Crassus is According to Suetonius, Aquilia Severa i ala l g dlyy
acquitted of incestum with following a period marked by raped by Empe o
Licinia when it is shown tolerance of Vestal laxity, the Elagabalus, who maa i
that he, who is known for emperor Domitian orders the her in order to si e
his greed, only wanted her execution of three Vestals, but children “fit for god d
property—which, Plutarch he lets two choose the manner He is murdered
writes, he then acquired. of their own death. years later.
BUST OF MARCUS L
LOUVR
BRIDGEMAN/ACI
THE HAND OF GOD

With an outstretched finger, God bestows
the gift of life to Adam in Michelangelo’s
“Creation“ fresco from the Sistine Chapel
ceiling. Below right, Michelangelo is depicted
as an old man on a medal created by Leone
Leoni. British Museum,, London
FRESCO: ARCHIVIO FOTOGRAFICO MUSEI
M VATICANI
MEDAL: CORBIS/GETTY IMAGES
MICHELANGELO’S MASTERPIECE
THE SISTINE CHAPEL

A FED
M
ichelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni was
better known as a sculptor when Pope Julius II
tapped him to illuminate the Sistine Chapel.
Known to the world as Michelangelo, the Floren-
tine was just 24 when he sculpted his renowned
“Pietà,”a tender depiction of the Virgin Mary cradling the life-
less body of her son. His towering “David” revealed his mas-
tery of sculpting the human form. For all the skill and beauty
of his work with a chisel, it is perhaps his work with a brush
for which he is remembered most of all. The bold colors and
striking composition of his frescoes in the Sistine Chapel still
awe viewers with their power and emotion. The Sistine ceiling
and the“Last Judgment”stand as a testament to Michelangelo’s
genius as a painter and evolution as an artist.
INSIDE LOOK
The cupola of St.
Peter’s Basilica
(left), designed
by Michelangelo,
was uncompleted
at his death. Next
to it, the Sistine
Chapel seems
unremarkable—at
least from the
outside. Opposite,
the impressive
Sistine interior,
looking toward the
“Last Judgment.”
EXTERIOR: GIOVANNI SIMEONE/
FOTOTECA 9X12
INTERIOR: ARCHIVIO FOTOGRAFICO
MUSEI VATICANI
The Sistine ceiling was completed in 1512, to resemble a magnificent salon with a host of
a little before the Protestant Reformation. On artists and architects at work on different proj-
the west wall, the “Last Judgment” fresco was ects. The precocity of the young Michelangelo—
unveiled nearly three decades later, as the ef- who, at Julius’s accession was sculpting the as-
fects of Martin Luther’s revolution spread across tonishing 17-foot-high “David” in Florence—
Europe. Both works reflect the spirit and themes reached the ears of the pontiff. In 1505 Julius
of the times: the Renaissance love of the human summoned him to Rome to work on his future
body; the tension between wealth and faith; and, tomb, a commission that soon extended into a
above all, an explosively vibrant rendering of the remodeling of St. Peter’s Basilica itself.
great stories of the Bible. The papal tomb, which Michelangelo biogra-
pher Andrew Graham-Dixon has called“a mega-
Summons by the Pope lomaniac fantasy, an obscene monument to ego,
In 1503 a new pope was appointed: the very pride, and power,”was nonetheless a plum com-
worldly Pope Julius II, a self-declared lover of mission. After a run-in with the pope over non-
power, war, and art. Under his rule, Rome came payment for materials, however, Michelangelo
1475 1499 1508

LIFE MICHELANGELO is born in Ca- MICHELANGELO’S “Pietà” is DESPITE his inexperience as a
OF AN prese, the Republic of Florence, to unveiled in St. Peter’s Basilica. One painter, Michelangelo is commis-
a family of minor nobility. He will of the most moving and accom- sioned to paint frescoes on the
ARTIST be apprenticed at age 13 to the plished works of the Renaissance, ceiling of the Vatican’s Sistine
studio of Domenico Ghirlandajo, the sculpture raises Michelange- Chapel, a monumental task he
Florence’s most eminent painter. lo’s profile. He is just 24. will complete in 1512.
XXXXXXXXXXX
1536 1564
MICHELANGELO is commanded MICHELANGELO dies in Rome
to paint a fresco of the Last Judg- after a life devoted to sculpture,
ment in the Sistine Chapel. He will painting, and architecture. In the
complete it in 1541, but his use years following his death, his crit-
of nudity will offend increasingly ics will move to have some of the
orthodox elements in the Church. nude Sistine figures censored.
A RIVAL’S PLAN
MICHELANGELO WROTE: “All the discords that arose between Pope
Julius and me were owing to the envy of Bramante [Pope Julius’s chief
architect] and of [the painter] Raphael.” Did these rival artists suggest
to the pope that Michelangelo was not up to the job? Ascanio Condivi,
Michelangelo’s first biographer, had a different theory: It was Bramante
St. Peter’s Basilica
himself who put forward Michelangelo’s
name. He did so, however, out of spite,
calculating that when his younger rival
began to paint the ceiling, his lack of ex- THE VATICAN
pertise would become clear and his ca-
reer in Rome would be finished. Giorgio
St. Peter’s Square
Vasari, in his Lives of the Most Excellent
Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, also fol-
lows this argument. Michelangelo himself
was dubious of his abilities as a painter, so
the theory may not be far-fetched. Histo- B
ry has shown, however, that Bramante’s
tactic spectacularly backfired.
SCALA, FLORENCE
DETAIL FROM AN OIL PAINTING BY RAPHAEL SHOWING
THE DISPUTE BETWEEN BRAMANTE AND POPE JULIUS II.
THE RAPHAEL ROOMS, VATICAN, ROME
left Rome in disgust. Julius, realizing his mistake, Sixtus IV (for whom it is named) it was the place 1
insisted that the artist continue working for him of worship for the Papal Chapel, the part of the
and ordered him back to work on an enticing Vatican dedicated to assisting the pontiff in his
SCALA, FLORENCE
new project: the frescoes on the ceiling of the spiritual functions. Today it is the setting of the
Sistine Chapel. conclave, where the cardinals choose a new pope.
When Michelangelo returned to Rome in Pope Julius was adamant that he wanted only one
Journey of Moses to Egypt
1508, Donato Bramante, the pope’s chief archi- artist to complete its decoration, and despite by Pietro Perugino
tect, and a sworn enemy of Michelangelo, was their previous altercation, he gave Michelangelo
busy working on the new Basilica of St. Peter. the job.
In 1546, when he was an old man, Michelan- 2
gelo would be appointed chief architect of the A Moment of Doubt
RODRIGO SILVA/EL PAÍS
new St. Peter’s—which was finally completed Bramante was quick to complain how lacking in
in 1615—but this lay far in the future. Raphael, experience Michelangelo was for such an ex-
another rival, was starting work on frescoes in traordinarily challenging project. He had a point:
the pope’s private chambers, and next to such Michelangelo had learned the craft of mural Trompe l’oeil curtains
grand projects, the Sistine Chapel, with its plain painting in the studio of Domenico Ghirlanda-
exterior, might have seemed a lesser project. jo in Florence, where he was an apprentice at age
Its outer appearance was deceptive, for it was 13. But he had never really worked as a painter,
a special
specia building inside: Restored having moved instead into sculpting for the
a feew decades before by Pope Medici family at age 15. He was commissioned
Bramante, chief architect of St. Peter’s, complained

that Michelangelo lacked painting experience.
BRIDGEMAN/ACI
OBVERSE OF A MEDAL COMMEMORATING THE CONSTRUCTION OF ST. PETER’S BASILICA. BRITISH MUSEUM, LONDON
SCALA, FLORENCE
Altar wall
ART IN
C
A Ceiling
B
A
THE CHAPEL
South
wall D North wall
E Entrance wall
Following the reconstruction of the papal
SISTINE CHAPEL
chapel by Sixtus IV between 1477 and 1480, SCENES ON
THE CEILING
various artists were commissioned to paint
its walls. Michelangelo’s work, on the ceiling
and altar wall, is the most acclaimed.
A CEILING
Michelangelo’s ceiling (1508-1512) includes nine
panels (all stories from Genesis) surrounded by 12
Obelisk figures of prophets, sibyls, and ancestors of Jesus. Salvation of Israel
In the four pendentives appear episodes from the Sibyls and Prophets
Ancestors of Christ
salvation by God of ancient Israel. Genesis sequence
C D

B SOUTH WALL D NORTH WALL 4
The south and north walls The images in the central
were painted in the 1480s by section correspond to
Perugino, Botticelli, Rosselli, episodes from the life of
SCALA, FLORENCE
and Ghirlandajo. The south Christ. The upper frieze
wall depicts episodes from continues the portraits of
the life of Moses. Above popes, while the trompe
them are portraits of popes, l’oeil curtains continue The Last Supper
and trompe l’oeil curtains along the lower portion. by Cosimo Rosselli
run below.
5

SOUTHERN WALL NORTHERN WALL
Lunettes Story of Christ Azor and Sadoch, by Michelangelo, in a

Lunettes Story of Moses
Pope portaits False curtain lunette. The lunettes mark the lower part
False curtain
Pope portaits of Michelangelo’s great ceiling above.
C A
ALTAR WALL E ENTRANCE WALL
The whole wall behind Here, the series of popes and biblical figures is
the altar is filled with the completed with mid-16th-century works.
“Last Judgment,” a fresco 6 7 ENTRY WALL
painted by Michelangelo
between 1536 and 1541.
SCALA, FLORENCE
SCALA, FLORENCE
E Curtain
Pope portraits
Lunettes
Christ is the central figure in the 16th-century
paintings of
“Last Judgment.” Seated at his Moses and Christ
side, the Virgin gently turns her Dispute over the body of Moses Resurrection of Christ by
head in a gesture of resignation. by Matteo da Lecce Hendrik van den Broeck
MALE MODELS,
FEMALE FORMS
KNOWN FOR HIS INTENSE PIETY, Michelangelo was also well known for
his attraction to men. As the American art critic James Saslow puts it:
“Michelangelo had two passions: one was men, and the other was God.”
One notable aspect of Michelangelo’s art is how his figures representing
women often have male physiology. The
great Florentine artist was known to use
male models in his preliminary sketches for
female figures, as the sketch to the right—
a study for the Libyan Sibyl on the Sistine
ceiling—so clearly shows. The rendering
would then be softened and feminized to
produce the finished result (below). Many
artists of the era used male models in this
way, regardless of their sexual orientation.
One theory is that there were simply more
men than women in an artist’s studio, mak-
ing their use as models more convenient.
BRIDGEMAN/ACI
CHARCOAL DRAWING OF THE LIBYAN SIBYL BY MICHELANGELO.
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK
to paint a battle fresco for Florence’s Palazzo The scope was breathtaking: The vault itself is
Vecchio, and although some of his cartoons for dedicated to episodes from the Old Testament,
this work have survived, the frescoes themselves divided into three sections: the Creation, the
were never painted. On various occasions, Garden of Eden, and the Flood. The space left
Michelangelo spoke of his own shortcomings, over was also filled with painting. In the semi-
warning that his real talent was not for painting circular lunettes above the windows, and in the
at all but for sculpture. roughly triangular spandrels, were placed biblical
figures who preceded Christ. Panels above them
A Torturous Task were reserved for prophets who had, according
Frescoes by other artists had already been paint- to Christian scripture, foretold Christ. Faithful
ed on the walls. Michelangelo was to paint the to the Renaissance classical spirit, Michelan-
whole ceiling, a structure roughly 132 feet long gelo included sibyls in this prophetic tradition,
and 44 wide. Filling an expanse of nearly 6,000 including the Libyan Sibyl. The pendentives at
square feet with frescoes would have daunted the four corners of the ceiling recount episodes
even the most experienced of painters. Even so, in the salvation of Israel.
the Florentine held his nerve,and pushed for the Vast technical problems beset the artist at
best possible deal. In May 1508 a proposed plan the outset. In his book Lives of the Most Excellent
was dismisseed by the artist, Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, Giorgio Vasari,
who though ht it “a poor the 16th-century architect, artist, and writer, re-
thing.”In the next iteration he cords some of Michelangelo’s trials. The fresco
was given cartte blanche. technique Michelangelo used, which requires
ul to the High Renaissance classical spirit,

langelo depicted sibyls as prophetic figures.
THE LIBYAN SIBYL, SISTINE CHAPEL CEILING (1508-1512)
ARCHIVIO FOTOGRRAFICO MUSEI VATICANI
IN THE
BEGINNING
The nine panels of the Sistine Chapel ceiling
depict iconic scenes from the Old Testament,
but perhaps Michelangelo’s most famous
imagery can be found in the first six panels,
which show the creation of the heavens, the
earth, and humanity according to the first
three chapters of Genesis.
1 Light and Darkness

According to the Book of Genesis, God first
creates light and then separates it from
darkness. Michelangelo represents God giving
form to the light with one hand while pushing
away darkness with the other.
2 The Earth, the Sun, and the Moon

In this panel, Michelangelo depicts God
twice: On the left, God covers the earth with
vegetation. On the right, God creates the sun
and moon to be “lights in the dome of the sky
to give light upon the earth” (Genesis 1:15).
3 The Waters and the Heavens

In this small, central panel, Michelangelo
shows God as he separates the waters from
the firmament of heaven. In the upper part of
the frame, the vibrant, cerulean blue of the sky
appears over the deep, dark blue of the ocean.
4 The First Man

Accompanied by angels, God stretches
his hand toward Adam, the first man.
Michelangelo captures the moment when
God passes the breath of life to Adam, whose
physical form reflects that of the divine.
5 The First Woman

Genesis tells how God places Adam in the
Garden of Eden and has him fall into a deep
sleep. As Adam slumbers, God removes one
of his ribs to form Eve, the first woman, whom
Michelangelo shows already fully formed and
prostrating herself before God.
6 Paradise Lost
Michelangelo depicts the fall of man in two
scenes on one panel. On the left, the serpent
presents Eve the forbidden fruit, while Adam
seeks it out in the tree of knowledge. On the
right, the couple is banished from Eden.
CONTORTIONS
AND CREATION
A LETTER WRITTEN by Michelangelo to his friend
Giovanni da Pistoia provides a fascinating insight
into the excruciating day-to-day discomfort he
had to endure while painting the Sistine ceiling.
Explaining his plight in a sonnet, he included a self-
mocking sketch (right) in the margin. An extract
of the sonnet follows:
My belly is pushed by force underneath my chin.

My beard toward Heaven, I feel the back of my skull
Upon my neck, I’m getting a harpy’s breast;
My brush, always dripping down above my face,
Makes it a splendid floor.
.........................
Before me, my hide is stretching
And to fold itself behind, ties itself in a knot,
And I bend like a Syrian bow.
SCALA, FLORENCE
SELF-PORTRAIT OF MICHELANGELO PAINTING THE CEILING
OF THE SISTINE CHAPEL. CASA BUONARROTI, FLORENCE
applying washes of paint to wet plaster, left no Meanwhile, Julius became so impatient for
room for error or revisions. Time was of the es- Michelangelo to complete the project that, ac-
sence. Once sketches were prepared, they had cording to Ascanio Condivi, the artist’s biogra-
to be divided up into sections that could be fin- pher, the pope threatened to throw the painter
ished in one day. If he attempted to do too much off the scaffolding and on one occasion actually
at once, the plaster would dry out and would not hit him “with a stick.” Finally, in 1512, after four THE FLOOD, SISTINE
CHAPEL CEILING,
absorb the colors. Once a section of wall had years of physical and creative dedication, Mi- 1508-1512
ARCHIVIO FOTOGRAFICO MUSEI
been chosen, it was prepared first with white- chelangelo finished his monumental work. VATICANI
wash and then with plaster made from a mixture
of pozzolanic ash, lime, and water. The drawing Souls in the Balance
was transferred to the plaster, and then the col- Michelangelo’s contribution to the Sistine
ors were added immediately. Chapel, however, was not complete. More than
Michelangelo brought a few trusted artists 20 years later, in 1536, Pope Paul III commanded
from his native Florence to work w with him. But that he paint a fresco of the Last Judgment on
the Florentine plaster recipe they the wall behind the altar. Michelangelo, then
preferred did not wo ork with the over 60, reluctantly accepted. When the work
Roman materials and a climate. was finished in 1541, Paul III is said to have fall-
Patches of mildew sp prouted, and en to his knees in prayer.
the paint had to be rremoved and In the decades since the completion of the
reapplied, which slowwed progress. ceiling in 1512, Paul III’s predecessors, Leo X,
Paul III commanded Michelangelo, then

61, to paint the “Last Judgment.”
POPPE PAUL III, PORTRAIT BY TITIAN, KUNSTHISTORISCHES MUSEUM, VIENNA
SCALA, FLORENCE
NOAH’S
1 The Ark 2 The Lost
The ark floats atop the flood, A small, unsteady boat is
safe and secure, almost like tossed by the tempest, and
FLOOD
a fortress. Desperate people its passengers are in a panic:
try to get inside; one of The crew fight, and two
them tries to raise a ladder, cling to its sides. The Book
while another takes an ax to of Genesis says that water
THE EIGHTH PANEL of the Genesis sequence the boat. The only signs of covered the earth for 150
depicts the Flood sent by God to punish habitation from the ark are days, and “everything on
humanity for its wickedness—except Noah leaning out a window dry land in whose nostrils
and a white dove in the was the breath of life died”
for Noah and his family, whom God had up r i (Ge i 7
instructed to build an ark that would save
them and the animals. God makes it rain
for 40 days and 40 nights, unleashing a
deluge that will cover the earth with water. 3 The Island 4 The Mountain
Here, Michelangelo shows people’s vain People of different ages are Michelangelo depicts a
taking refuge on a small group of desperate people
attempts to escape the rising floodwaters. rocky island. Their anguish climbing up a mountain
He contrasts their fear and panic with the is palpable. An elderly man carrying their belongings.
ark, which sits serenely in the background, a carries a limp body, perhaps Despite moving to higher
place of quiet salvation. When the flood has his son. As the waters continue ground, they are doomed by
to rise, a makeshift shelter is the rising waters, for God will
ended, every living thing on the earth will be about to be blown away— cover the mountains with
wiped out—except for Noah, his family, and along with the last remaining water “fifteen cubits deep”
the animals that sailed with them on the ark. leaves on a stunted tree. (Genesis 7: 20).
THE ARTIST
AS AN OLD MAN
PLACED OPPOSITE the youthful figure of the Libyan Sibyl on the Sistine
ceiling, Michelangelo’s portrait of the Prophet Jeremiah is a power-
ful study of melancholy. Flanked by mourning women, the prophet
seems to be brooding on the fate of Jerusalem in the Lamentations
of Jeremiah: “How like a widow she has become, she that was great
among the nations!“ The figure is
often interpreted as a kind of future
self-portrait, as if the artist is imag-
ining himself as an old man. In the
1490s Michelangelo had witnessed
the brief reign in his native Florence of
Savonarola, the firebrand monk who
frequently cited Jeremiah as he ranted

against corruption and sin. More than
two decades after painting the ceil-
ing, Savonarola’s gloomy vision of
man would permeate Michelangelo’s
fresco of the Last Judgment.
JEREMIAH (DETAIL), SISTINE CHAPEL CEILING, 1508-1512
Adrian VI, and Clement VII, had been engulfed the river Acheron where the fiendish figure of
by the Reformation. Ironically, Luther’s revolu- Minos waits on the other side.
tion had begun in 1517 as a protest against the By the middle of the 16th century the ortho-
selling of indulgences to pay for the huge costs of doxy of the Counter-Reformation was strength-
Rome’s art spree. Since then, swaths of northern ening. When Pius IV became pope in 1559, the
Europe had become Protestant. years of hedonistic, art-loving popes were long
The tortured religious circumstances of Eu- past. The nudity in the“Last Judgment”was now
rope at the time inevitably color Michelange- seen as indecent. In 1562 the Council of Trent
lo’s last contribution to the chapel. Filling the approved a decree regulating the use of images in
whole of the wall, the fresco is dominated by churches, and Pius agreed that the nudity must
Christ who dispenses judgment. The naked fig- be covered. Soon after Michelangelo died at age
ures that swarm against the lapis lazuli sky sur- 88 in 1564, artist Daniele da Volterra was the
round Christ; they are a combination of saints first to censor the“Last Judgment,”and over the
and martyrs. Michelangelo painted these fleshy, centuries, nearly 40 more coverings were added.
muscular bodies with a heft and weight not pres- In the 1980s and 1990s a major restoration
ent in the figures on the ceiling. of the Sistine Chapel frescoes revealed the vi-
Unlike traditional hierarchical depictions of brant colors that had been obscured over time.
the Last Judgment, Michelangelo has chosen a Michelangelo’s mastery of the human form was
more dynamic treatment of the subject where also revealed by removing many of the drapes
everything flows around the central figure of added by censors. When seen today, the Sistine
Christ. Angels lift souls from their graves on the frescoes never fail to astonish with their beauty
VATICAN RESTORER
left, judgment is rendered in the center, and the and complexity. They reveal two distinct phases GIANLUIGI COLALUCCI
damned are dragged to hell on the right. Michel- of Renaissance art as well as two phases of Mi- WORKS ON THE
FIGURE OF
angelo’s depiction of hell was deeply influenced chelangelo’s artistic evolution. ST. BARTHOLOMEW
by Dante’s Inferno, and several figures from the DURING THE 1990S
RESTORATION OF THE
work appear here. Beneath Christ, the ferry- RENAISSANCE SCHOLAR LAURA FEDI IS A RESEARCHER
“LAST JUDGMENT.”
man Charon guides his boat of sinners across AT THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF RENAISSANCE STUDIES, FLORENCE, ITALY. VITTORIANO RASTELLI/CORBIS/GETTY IMAGES
COVER UP
THE “LAST JUDGMENT “ unleashed a bitter battle
between its defenders and detractors. In 1545 Pietro
Aretino, a writer and satirist, wrote: “Michelangelo
stupendous in his fame . . . has chosen to display to
the whole world an impiety of irreligion only equaled
by the perfection of his painting.” Vittoria Colonna,
on the other hand, a deeply pious noblewoman, poet,
and friend of the artist, defended Michelangelo’s
great work, believing that its morals were as sound as
its artistry. Still, the unmitigated nudity in the scene
shocked many. The Theatines, a clerical movement
cofounded by Gian Pietro Carafa, warned that “nudes
do not belong in such a place.” Carafa, who had
reorganized the Roman Inquisition in line with the
new hard-line spirit, became Pope Paul IV in 1555,
and launched a reign of terror against unorthodoxy.
His successor, Pius IV, took an austere view of art,
and ordered the covering up of the groin area of some
of the fresco figures. In the 1990s Vatican restorers
successfully used a technique to restore luster to
the glorious colors of the fresco. In the course of that
restoration, the decision was taken to remove some of
the coverings that had been “draped.”
THE “LAST JUDGMENT OF HEAVEN

Beardless and almost nude,
Michelangelo’s Christ
JUDGMENT” dominates the center of the

fresco as the Supreme Judge.
His body, like the others in
this fresco, is very muscular
and corporeal. His right
Painted between 1536 and 1541, the fresco hand is cast up in a gesture
that tumbles down the altar wall of the of damnation toward the
sinners, while his left gently
Sistine Chapel is a swirl of movement. In summons the blessed.
his 60s, Michelangelo began working on
it nearly three decades after finishing the
Sistine ceiling. Medieval depictions of the
BRIDGEMAN/ACI
Last Judgment tend to be very structured
and hierarchical, but Michelangelo’s looser
arrangement flows in a circular motion,
as the dead rise from their graves, wait
for judgment, and then descend to the
torments of hell. The largest figure is Christ,
who stands at the center of the painting.
Michelangelo’s use of nudity, controversial
for the time, to depict the angels and
heavenly figures, reflects his passionate,
lifelong belief that the perfection of the
human figure is a reflection of the divine.
AGE FOTOSTOCK
RISING FIGURE
Area enlarged
Clothed in flesh painted
in the extremely carnal
and sculptural style of
this late work, a soul
ascends to heaven.
MOUTH OF HELL
Two monstrous
demons lie in wait
at the entrance to
hell. This section of

the fresco appears
directly over the altar,
INTERIOR
NTTERIOR
OR
R OFF THE
TH
H SISTINE
S STI
SIS NE EL LLOOKING
N CHAPEL,
CHA
CHA
APE
PEL OO
OOKIN
KING
G TTO
TOWARD
OWAR
WAARD
a reminder that no
MICHELANGELO’S “LAST JUDGMENT” one is immune from
the perils of sin.
ST. PETER
Peter holds forth two keys
to the kingdom of heaven.
The leader of the apostles,
m
the first bishop from whom
all popes claim succession,,
FALZONE/AGE FOTOSTOCK
stands before Christ
among saints and martyrs.
AGE FOTOSTOCK
ST. BARTHOLOMEW
The apostle, who according
to tradition was martyred
by being flayed alive, holds
his own skin, whose face is
believed to be a self-portrait
of Michelangelo.
THE HORROR
Two demons drag a
damned soul into hell.
Resigned to his fate,
his face is frozen in fear
BRIDGEMAN/ACI
as he looks upon the

impending torment that
awaits.
ROUSING THE DEAD

In the central area
underneath the figure
of Christ, the angels of
the apocalypse awaken
the dead with their
trumpets.
MINOS
Michelangelo drew on
Dante’s Inferno to feature
the judge of the underworld:
Minos, who appears here
with donkey’s ears. It is
believed he is a portrait of a
papal official who criticized
Michelangelo’s work.
BRIDGEMAN/ACI
BRIDGEMAN/ACI BRIDGEMAN/ACI
The Muslim Warriors of Alamut
THE ASSASSINS
High in the mountains inside a secret fortress, the Nizari Ismaili,
a small Muslim sect, struck terror into the massive powers
fighting for control of the Holy Land in the Middle Ages. Dubbed
the Assassins by their enemies, the Nizari held power for just
three centuries, but their impact would last for centuries.
VICENTE MILLÁN TORRES

WHERE EAGLES DARE TO FLY

Alamut, the Assassins’ fortress, now in modern-day
Iran, was a place that induced terror in the hearts of
Sunni Muslim rulers. Related to eagles, the name Alamut
conveys its majestic height and impregnability.
MATJAZ KRIVIC/GETTY IMAGES
Assassination
Origination
Circa 1045
Hasan-e Sabbah is born in
Rayy, south of modern Tehran,
Iran. As a young man, he
will convert to and study the
Ismaili branch of Shiism.
1070-1080
Bright and ambitious, Hasan
proves himself a superior
scholar. He is sent to Cairo for
advanced study and returns
to Persia as a missionary.
Circa 1090
Hasan founds a sect known
as the Nizari Ismaili. They
capture the mountain fortress
Alamut Castle in Persia and
make it their stronghold.
1092
The Nizari Ismaili murder
Vizier Nizam al-Mulk, a
powerful Seljuk official.
The disguised Nizari agent
C
publicly stabs the vizier in KILLING A onrad of Montferrat, an Italian
plain view of his guards. CRUSADER crusader, was preparing for his
The city of Tyre coronation as king of Jerusalem,
(whose Roman-era
11th-13th centuries ruins are shown
in Tyre, in April 1192. Making his
Through espionage, and way down a narrow street of the
above) was where
targeted killings of powerful city, he was set on by two men dressed as monks,
opponents, the Nizari build Nizari assassins
killed Italian crusader who stabbed him to death.
their might and establish a
power base in Syria. European Conrad of Montferrat Although historians still speculate who or-
crusaders spread tales of the in 1192. Despite this dered the attack, there is little doubt as to the
deadly assassins. strike on a Christian,
identity of the killers. They were not monks,
the principal targets
of the Nizari but members of a secretive Muslim sect with
1256 were Muslim. strongholds seated high in the mountains of Per-
The Nizari Ismaili stronghold GAVIN HELLIER/GETTY IMAGES sia and Syria. Headquartered in an impenetrable
of Alamut is destroyed by Persian castle, Alamut, these agents specialized
Mongol invasions, bringing in targeted killings and espionage. Infiltrating
their heyday to an end.
the ranks of their enemies, they would strike at
their targets, often stabbing them and willing to
Circa 1300 die for the mission. Syrian enemies called them
The Travels of Marco Polo is the Hashishim, but they are better known today
published, popularizing both
the term “assassin” and the by the European crusaders’ term: Assassins.
sensationalized exploits of the Perhaps the first European account of the As-
once powerful Nizari Ismaili. sassins comes from a Spanish rabbi, Benjamin
of Tudela, who traveled through Syria in 1167.
He told of a mysterious leader, the Old Man of
AKG/ALBUM
BELLICOSE BEVERAGES?
THE TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO devotes several chapters to the “Assas-
sins” and their rituals. An illustration from the 1472 edition (above)
depicts a beverage being served to Nizari warriors. According to
the text, the drink contained drugs to induce hostility and aggres-
sion. This falsehood enhanced the Nizari’s fearsome reputation
among Europeans, even though the Travels was published well
after the Mongols defeated the Nizari in 1256.
the Mountain, who led a sect of warriors who any one of them would not undertake to perform ASSASSINS’
dwelled in hidden mountain fortresses. it with the greatest zeal. GOLD
The dreaded Assassins were at the peak of The Nizari became
their power in the 12th century. Much of what Some European reports suggested they even ate wealthy and
powerful enough
is believed about them comes from accounts pork and married their sisters. Colorful notions to mint their own
of fascinated European crusaders and from about the assassins as reckless libertines were currency, such as
the pens of their sworn enemies, Syrian Sunni reinforced by the publication of The Travels of the 12th-century
chroniclers. Their very biased accounts must be Marco Polo. The medieval best seller mentions gold coin below.
Numismatic
taken with a degree of skepticism, for they were the Syrian Old Man of the Mountain adminis- Society, New York
intended at times to entertain or defame. They tering a drugged potion to his fanatical follow- WERNER FORMAN/GTRES
extolled their strength and zeal while making ers to facilitate their deadly missions. Since the
wild exaggerated claims about their lifestyles. sect’s nickname, the Hashishim, was derived
One was penned by a 12th-century Archbish- from the Arabic for “hashish,” Marco Polo’s ac-
op of Tyre, William II, a crusader. He estimated count helped cement their reputation ass drug-
their numbers to be around 60,000 and wrote fueled thugs. Modern historians, howeev-
about their extreme devotion to their leaders: er, regard Marco Polo’s description ass
something of an invention itself.
It is their custom to instal their master and Although the sect did pass through
choose their chief, not by hereditary right, but a brief phase of extreme libertinism
solely by virtue of merit. Disdaining any other in the 1160s, at most other times in
title of dignity, they called him the Elder. The its history the sect was very strict
bond of submission and obedience that binds and austere. The use of hashish is not
this people to their Chief is so strong, that there found in any credible Muslim source,
is no task so arduous, difficult or dangerous that even among the Assassins’ enemies.
LOUIS IX, KING OF FRANCE,

RECEIVES MESSENGERS
FROM THE OLD MAN OF THE
MOUNTAIN IN 1251. OIL PAINTING
BY GEORGES ROUGET
TOP FOTO/CORDON PRESS
FACE-TO-FACE WITH THE ASSASSINS

n the 1240s Louis IX of France remaining Christian-held cities in Syria. statues, a gold ring, and a shirt belonging
launched the Seventh Crusade This task, he found, was better done to their leader, “the part of dress nearest
against the Muslims who ruled through diplomacy, directly dealing with to his body.”
the Holy Land. After arriving in Egypt, Muslim warlords, including the Nizari.
however, Louis and other nobles were In return, Louis sent his own delegation
taken prisoner by Muslim forces. After French chronicler Jean de Joinville re- to visit the Old Man of the Mountain.
securing his release through a hefty corded the meetings between the king An Arabic-speaking friar accompanied
ransom, Louis took refuge in the cru- of France and the sect. After some ini- them and discussed theology with the
saderstrongholdofAcre(inmodern-day tial overtures in 1251, Nizari emissaries Muslim leader. The sect, the friar re-
Israel). He attempted to strengthen the brought Louis a glass elephant, amber ported, “did not believe in Mahomet,
but followed the religion of Aly.” The
friar asserted that Ali was the uncle of
Muhammad (he was, in fact, his cousin
and son-in -law), that the two men had
quarreled, and that Ali “perceiving the
pride of Mahomet” had essentially cre-
ated a breakaway religion. This was, of
course, a misinterpretation of Shiism,
whose adherents do revere Muhammad.
It reflects other Christian chronicles at
the time that seized on signs of internal
stress within Islam to suggest that the
religion was weaker than it really was.
DEA/ALBUM
IVORY PLAQUE THAT ADORNED A CASKET FROM THE FATIMID ERA.
10TH TO 12TH CENTURIES. BARGELLO MUSEUM, FLORENCE.
BLaCK SEa
Ca
Constantinople
SP
Ia
N
SE
a
Sicily
O
Crete Masyaf Castle
O Alamut Castle
Cyprus
SYRIA
MEDITERRaNEaN Damascus
Tyre BAGHDAD
SEa Acre
PERSIA
JERUSALEM Karbala
L I B YA Alexandria
CAIRO
PE
RS
EGYPT ARABIAN
Ia
PENINSULA
N
N
i le
GU
LF
RE
D
edina
The Middle East
SE
around 1100
CARTOGRAPHY: EOSGIS.COM
Seljuk Empire
Fatimid Caliphate
ecca
Middle Eastern historian and expert on the As- struggle for leadership arose, and his followers IN MEMORY
sassins,BernardLewisbelievesthatHashishiwas divided into factions: the Sunnis and the Shiites, OF ALI
a popular Syrian term of abuse used by the sects’ the two main branches of Islam.Today there are An Arabic
enemies to discredit them. roughly 1.8 billion Muslims in the world, of inscription reads
Another medieval European misunderstand- which an estimated 10 to 13 percent are Shiites. “Oh! Everlasting”
on a 17th-century
ing was that the sect was specifically targeting Most Shiites today live in Iran, Pakistan, India, finial (below) from a
Christians. In reality, there was considerable and Iraq. standard carried to
amicable contact between the crusaders and After the Prophet’s death in the seventh commemorate the
the sect. In around 1251 France’s Louis IX sent century, Shiites supported Ali ibn Abi Talib, Battle of Karbala,
te
envoys to meet them.This may have suited their Muhammad’s cousin and son- -law, as hei owers of Ali were
diplomatic needs at the time, but the sect was while the Sunnis advocated fo Abu Bakr, M - rtyred i .
largely uninterested in the Christians, and pri- hammad’s friend and father-i w. T ni QUINTLOX/ALB
marilyfocusedonthetumultuouschangesinthe majority won, and Abu Bakr became

b the first
Muslim world, events that had shaped them, and Muslim caliph. Ali became the urth cal h in
which they were also shaping in turn. Their story 656, but was murdered in 661. s son and fo -
forms part of a great struggle between empires lowers were later slaughteredat arbalain680
and local Muslim communities, between Arabs by Sunni rivals. It was an important eve
and non-Arabs, city and castle, and the Islamic that galvanized the Shiite causee.
world’s enduring dividing line—the bitter ri- The Shiite branch grew p ular wit
valry between Sunnis and Shiites. non-Arabs in newly conquere ands,
pecially in Persia. The recent c nverts, whi
The Great Divide enthusiastically embracing Is am, distrust
In A.D. 632 the Prophet Muhammad died sud- the caliphate based in far away mascus. Over
denly before he had named an heir. A fierce time, the Shiites in Persia beg n to devel
DREAMING TOWERS
Built by the Fatimids in 972, the
magnificent Al Azhar University in
Cairo reflected the Ismaili emphasis
on scholarship. Today it is still one of
the Islamic world’s most prestigious
centers of learning.
JULIAN LOVE/GETTY IMAGES
their own traditions, customs, and interpreta- JEWEL OF Conquering Tunis with the help of Berber tribes,
tions. Shiites favored a symbolic and cryptic THE AGE they established the Fatimid Caliphate, named
A gold-plated 11th-
reading of the Quran, taught through a strict century Fatimid for Fatima, daughter of the Prophet.
hierarchy. While a mainstream reading of the pendant inlaid with In 969 the Fatimids conquered Egypt, and
Quran and adherence to Islamic law was consid- enamel (below) shows founded a city near the Nile. Its name summed
ered sufficient for the masses, according to this a sparrow with a up their triumphant spirit: Al Qahirah,“the Vic-
new thinking,only an initiated elite could know flower in its mouth. torious,”known in the West as Cairo. From here,
Museum of Islamic
the ultimate truth hidden in the sacred book. Art, Cairo the Fatimids expanded into Palestine and Syria,
In the eighth and ninth centuries a new Shi- E. LESSING/ALBUM forming a western Shiite bulwark against the
ite faction organized around this esoteric in- Sunnis in Baghdad.
terpretation of the Quran. Called the Ismaili, For a while, the Fatimid star shone brightly,
they broke from Shiism in the early 700s, after but by the mid-11th century a change was once
a succession dispute in which their choice— again sweeping through the Islamic world. Far to
Ismail—lost. Organized in secret, they creat- the east, a Turkic tribe from Central Asia started
ed an extensive web of learned missionaries. to conquer swaths of the Islamic world. Moving
A strong social dimension informed Ismaili west through Persia, these recent Sunni con-
theology, the belief that a mahdi, or divinely verts, called the Seljuks, moved westward.
guided one, would introduce a longed-for In 1055 they took Baghdad, where they
era of equity and light. proved themselves determined defend-
ers of their faith.
Flame of the Fatimids Amid the tumult, Ismaili missionaries
The new sect, however, was not all about continued their work of finding and educat-
prayer and ideas. In 909 Ismaili revolution- ing new students. In the second half of the
aries seized power in North Africa. 11th century, a 17-year-old Persian named
ASSASSINATION OF NIZAM AL-MULK

IN A PERSIAN MINIATURE FROM THE
TOPKAPI PALACE, ISTANBUL
BRIDGEMAN/ACI
DEATH TO THE VIZIER

VIZIER ABU ALI HASAN IBN ALI, better known by his title, Nizam
al-Mulk, acted as the eyes and ears of the sultan. He spearheaded
a Sunni revival across the vast Seljuk Empire. His treatise on gov-
ernment inveighed against the Nizari in particular, for which he
paid a heavy price. Assassinated on the orders of Hasan-e Sabbah
in 1092, his death played a role in the weakening of Seljuk power.
Hasan-e Sabbah began training in the Persian infiltration, bribery, and violence, Hasan occu-
city of Rayy to become an Ismaili missionary. pied other fortresses in mountainous regions of
When he completed his education, Hasan was PersiaandestablishedaNizaristatewithimpos-
sent to Cairo. ing defenses.
The golden century of Fatimid rule had long Hasan knew that battle was out of the ques-
ended, and rifts were growing within Ismailism. tion,so he turned to other tactics: guerrilla war-
As the Seljuk grip tightened, the fortunes of fare, spying, espionage, and targeted killings.
Sunni Islam were rising. After three years, Hasan His special corps, the fedayeen, proved highly
left Cairo and went to work as a missionary in effective against carefully selected targets. The
Persia. His work there extended throughout the fedayeen (“those who sacrifice themselves”)
land: He gathered Ismaili converts and began to were drilled to murder their victim, await dis-
organize them against the hated Seljuks. Hasan’s covery,and then submit to torture or execution.
new faction, the Nizari Ismaili, would give rise In 1092 the assassins made a notable killing,
to the infamous Assassins of legend. the vizier Nizam al-Mulk, a powerful member
of the Seljuk Sultanate.Records say that a Nizari
Prime Targets disguised himself as a Sufi mystic and stabbed
Hasan’s followers were committed, devout, him. Soon after, the Seljuk sultan, Malik Shah,
outgunned, and outnumbered. To fight against was also killed. Historians believe this sultan’s
the powerful Seljuks, Hasan had to outsmart murder could have been committed by anoth-
them. In 1090 he captured Alamut Castle from er sect; he had many enemies closer to home
the Sunni Seljuks. Located in the rugged Elburz than the Nizari. Nonetheless, the murders had
Mountains northwest of modern Tehran, the a domino effect, and the Seljuks were thrown
castle became his stronghold and served as the into turmoil. A series of Nizari attacks followed
Nizari’s aerie for nearly two centuries. Using on rulers, generals, governors, and clerics. The

Nizari seemed to be everywhere and nowhere. A RECLUSE The Old Man of the Mountain
Their adversaries began to take extra measures Hasan-e Sabbah Hasan-e Sabbah died in 1124, and the sect con-
to protect themselves: hiring bodyguards and (below) was tinued without him. In 1138 his successor,
wearing chain mail under their clothing. believed to have Buzurg-Ummid, died, “crushed under the heel
stayed within
In the last years of meaningful Fatimid rule, Alamut Castle for of perdition, so Hell [was] heated with the fuel
Hasan-e Sabbah broke ties with the Ismaili the last decades of his carcass,” as a Sunni chronicler colorfully
in Cairo. In the early 1100s he decided to ex- of his life. He died described his demise. But Nizari fortunes
pand the reach of his sect, sending missionar- there in 1124. remained buoyant, and the murders of high-
ULLSTEIN/PHOTOAISA
ies to Syria and Palestine. The Nizari believed ranking Sunni figures continued.
that they alone possessed the truth, and that In the 1160s leadership fell to Hasan II, who
an imam—a true descendant of Ali—would took the branch in a different theological direc-
one day reveal himself. To their Sunni enemies tion. Hasan proclaimed he had received instruc-
whose disdainful chroniclers recorded their tions from a hidden imam. True believers, he
deeds, they were delinquents; to the Nizari said, were now relieved from moral customs,
themselves, they were holy warriors. such as praying in the direction of Mecca, and
The Nizari expansion coincided with the could even do things regarded as sinful. This
arrival of European crusaders in Syria, who period probably influenced the lurid tales that
settled there after conquering Jerusalem in were later collected by Marco Polo and other
1099. Sometimes the Nizari killed Christians, Europeans, even though the sect later reverted
as was the case with Conrad of Montferrat in to a more austere interpretation of Islam.
Jerusalem, but at other times, they were open to Hasan II’s protégé was Rashid ad-Din as-
forming alliances with them. To the Nizari, the Sinan, leader of the Syrian Nizari and based at
Christian presence was a minor irritant in their the stronghold of Masyaf. It was Sinan who was
declared goal to await the revelation of the imam. known as the Old Man of the Mountain. His
MASYAF CASTLE
Perched on a rock near Hama, Masyaf
Castle was the central stronghold of
the Syrian sect of the Nizari. Resisting
even Saladin’s attack, it finally fell to the
Mongols in 1260.
FRÉDÉRIC SOREAU/GETTY IMAGES
THE SIEGE OF ALAMUT

BY THE MONGOLS. 15TH-CENTURY
ILLUSTRATION. BIBLIOTHÈQUE
NATIONALE, PARIS
PHOTOAISA
THE FALL OF ALAMUT

IN 1255 HÜLEGÜ, brother of the Great Khan of the Mongols,
launched an offensive against the Nizari to neutralize attacks
by the order against the new strongmen of the region. The Niz-
ari leader, Rukn al-Din Khurshah, attempted to negotiate, but
Hülegü had the fortress of Alamut destroyed in 1256, diminish-
ing the strength of the Nizari as a military force.
struggle brought him into conflict with another for political ends. The romantic idea of the As-
central figure in the Crusades, the sultan Saladin, sassins still lingers in popular culture, like the
who set out to expel the Christian foe, and unite series of Assassin’s Creed action-adventure
Islam—a goal the Nizari did not share. video games.
Fedayeen were twice sent to kill him, but Sal- Although the military might of the Nizari
adin escaped. In response, he besieged Masyaf faded over time, their faith has survived and is
Castle but then unexpectedly withdrew. stillpracticedaroundtheworldtodaywithIsma-
Ismaili sources claimed the Nizari had infil- ili living in 25 countries, mainly in Central and
trated Saladin’s most trusted guards, and that South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. While
he was forced to strike a deal or die. The Nizari the reputation of the Assassins was largely built
survived that attack, but their undoing would on exaggerations by their enemies, the impact
not come at Muslim hands. Mongol invaders in of this small sect and its effective tactics struck
the 13th century destroyed Alamut in 1256 and fear into mighty powers and has inspired imita-
took down the Nizari. tors ever since.
Europeans continued to circulate legends of
LINGUIST AND ARABIST VICENTE MILLÁN TORRES HAS WRITTEN EXTENSIVELY
the deadly Assassins even after the Mongols ON THE HISTORY OF THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA.
took over the Nizari strongholds. The word“as-
sassin” passed into common parlance during
Learn more
the 13th and 14th centuries. Dante uses it in
BOOKS
his 14th-century epic poem, The Divine Com- The Assassins: A Radical Sect in Islam
edy. In Spanish, “assassin” became the root of Bernard Lewis, Basic Books, 2003.
The Heirs of Muhammad: Islam’s First Century and the Origins
the common word for “murder”: asesinato. In of the Sunni-Shia Split
Barnaby Rogerson, Little, Brown Book Group, 2006.
modern English, an assassination has retained
The Travels of Marco Polo
its specific sense of killing a powerful person Marco Polo, Ronald Latham, Penguin Classics Edition, 1958.

JUAN V ÍÍA
UP, UP, AND AWAY

A British bombing squadron at Saint-Omer,
France, readies for takeoff in 1918. Opposite:
William “Billy” Mitchell, the first American
airman to fly over enemy lines, is shown in
the cockpit of his plane.
LEFT: BRIDGEMAN/ACI
RIGHT: CULTURE CLUB/GETTY IMAGES
THE FIRST AIR-TO-AIR KILL, OVER REIMS, ON OCTOBER 5, 1914, DEPICTED

IN A HEAVILY ROMANTICIZED ILLUSTRATION BY ACHILLE BELTRAME
DAGLI ORTI/AURIMAGES
O
ctober 5, 1914, seemed like
an ordinary day for pilot Sgt.
Joseph Frantz and observer
Cpl. Louis Quénault. The two
Frenchmen were flying near
Reims, northern France, on board a Voisin 3
biplane. The very fact that they were airborne
at all was a miracle, since little more than a
decade had passed since the Wright brothers
made their first manned flight near Kitty Hawk,
North Carolina.
In the first months of World War I airplanes
had a narrow role in the military. Small and
nimble, they were beginning to take over re-
connaissance from the slow, unwieldy balloons
that were still used as“eyes in the sky”to record
enemy movements. Although the early aviators
took rifles aloft and occasionally fired at enemy
planes, few envisioned them taking on a true
combat role at this stage in the war.
But change was in the air. Frantz’s French
plane was one of the first to have a Hotchkiss
machine gun mounted to a tripod on the cock-
pit. After detecting a German Aviatik flying
close by, they approached the enemy plane and
fired their machine gun. The recoil had an un-
settling effect on the Voisin, but the French
kept shooting. The Germans returned fire
before their pilot was wounded. The German
plane crashed to the ground—the first recorded
air-to-air kill in history. The dogfight was born.
FULL OF HOT AIR

German troops carry an observation balloon in this undated image
from early World War I. These cumbersome remnants of the 19th
century would rapidly be surpassed by newer, nimbler airplanes
whose design, speed, and maneuverability improved in leaps and
bounds during four intense years of war.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS/CORBIS/GETTY IMAGES
THE WRIGHT BROTHERS DEMONSTRATING THE WRIGHT FLYER.

EARLY 1900S. LIBRARY OF THE DECORATIVE ARTS, PARIS
BRIDGEMAN/ACI
A Brand-New Front
At the beginning of the war in July 1914, there
was no consensus among the belligerent pow-
ers as to how airplanes could be put to the best
use. Some Western countries had fledgling air
forces thanks to the efforts and the enthusi-
asm of early adopters. In France aviation had
gained particularly widespread popularity in a
very short time: Wilbur Wright’s 1908 flight
demonstrations were highly popular there, and
French national pride was boosted by Louis
Blériot’s pioneering flight across the English
Channel in 1909.
When the war began, the sky wasn’t seen as
a possible front, much less one that could be
as important as land and sea. In the military,
air travel, often by balloon, was used for re-
connaissance missions, so airplanes were first
slotted into that role.The engines of these early
planes were not very strong, and could typically
only support the weight of two men: a pilot and
an observer.
Navigation was also very basic, and getting
lost was a real risk. Pilots would often—while
in flight—have to page through maps or at-
lases to find their way. There are accounts of
some pilots even resorting to swooping toward
railroad stations to read the platform signs to
orient themselves. These flights were also in
danger from below.An initial lack of standard-
ized identification led to some planes being
fired upon by their own sides on the ground.
DIRECT HIT
French biplanes send a German aircraft
plummeting to the ground in this 1915 image.
Matching the courage of the pilots, onboard
photographers handled bulky equipment to bring
back thrilling shots from midair skirmishes.
UNIVERSAL HISTORY/GETTY IMAGES
EYES IN Often the observer was initially a cavalry Military strategists began to see how valu-
THE SKY
officer who was experienced in traditional re- able the airplane’s ability to expose an enemy’s
A copilot shoots
the terrain using connaissance but who was unschooled in in- movements could be. They quickly learned
a Graflex camera terpreting from an aerial perspective. At first, that the ability to limit an enemy’s use of the
(above). This observations were recorded by hand in draw- sky could yield advantages for forces on the
image was taken ings. In time, advantages of aerial photography ground. The battle for supremacy on the ground
in 1917 or 1918, by became clear, despite photographers having to would lead to battles for supremacy in the skies.
which time aerial
photography—and juggle heavy box cameras in those rudimentary Fighter planes emerged to meet this need, and
aviation—had planes. Like aviation itself, this new technology airplanes would be involved in combat as well
made huge took some time in getting recognized. as intelligence.
advances. Early in the war, at the First Battle of the In early 1915, British military planners es-
CORBIS/GETTY IMAGES
Marne on September 6-12, 1914, aviation timated they would need at least 50 squad-
demonstrated how useful it could be to armies rons—700 aircraft in total—to challenge
on the ground. French and British pilots spotted Germany in the air. At the time, the Royal Fly-
vulnerabilities in the advancing German army. ing Corps had only six squadrons in France. The
This intelligence helped their ground forces halt situation was becoming increasingly worrisome
the Germans as they marched toward Paris. to the Allies, and few in the top brass then were
in doubt of the significance of aviation in the The first flying kits seemed better suited for FRAIL FLYER
unfolding conflict. mountaineering than flying. The initial leather The Voisin 3
(above) is the
caps were eventually replaced by rigid helmets
first type of plane
Flying and Fighting that would offer more protection. They were credited with
Some 50 different aircraft designs were pro- usually accompanied by goggles to protect the shooting down an
duced during World War I, each model trying to eyes from the wind, even if this meant a consid- enemy plane while
improve on the last. Generally they were made erable reduction in the pilot’s range of vision, and in midair. Its rear-
propelled “pusher”
of wood, reinforced with wire, and covered with it wasn’t until the last stage of the war that they design allowed
a varnished fabric. The pilot’s seat was often were equipped with shatterproof glasses. The the mounting of a
placed above the fuel tanks. The landing gear body suit, leather helmets, and bomber jackets machine gun in
was fixed, without shock absorbers, and not re- were completed with a thick fur coat. the cockpit.
HULTON ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES
motely aerodynamic. At the outbreak of hostil-
ities, most planes reached maximum speeds of
about 70 miles an hour, and only later in the war SOME 50 DIFFERENT AIRCRAFT
were they able to exceed 100 miles an hour. DESIGNS WERE PRODUCED DURING
While in the air, pilots protected themselves WORLD WAR I, EACH MODEL
against the elements with a variety of accessories. TRYING TO IMPROVE ON THE LAST.

Planes with a propeller mounted behind the

cockpit, like the French Voisin 3, were known
as“pushers.”They gave the crew an unimpeded
view from which to fire a stream of bullets but
were not highly rated for maneuverability. Planes
with a front-mounted propeller, known as“trac-
tors,”allowed for much better flight conditions
than pushers but greatly diminished line-of-
sight fire.
Weapons systems were nonexistent when the
war began. The earliest fighter pilots shot at each
other with pistols, rifles, and even shotguns be-
fore machine guns became the standard weapon.
The French Voisin 3 had a forward-mounted
machine gun, and the British-made Vickers
F.B.5 Gunbus, which entered action in 1915,
featured one as well. Bolting a machine gun to
the plane not only added a more reliable weapon,
it also added complexity to combat. The trac-
tor configuration had better aerial performance
than the pushers, but the forward location of the
propeller increased the likelihood of accidentally
shooting it.
This changed in 1915, when a major techni-
cal breakthrough reconciled machine guns and
ANTHONY FOKKER, THE
DUTCH AVIATOR AND propellers. French engineer Raymond Saulnier
AIRPLANE DESIGNER, IN A developed interrupter gear that regulated the
1916 PHOTOGRAPH
PA IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES
machine-gun fire to allow the bullets to pass be-
tween the propeller’s blades without destroying
them. The propellers were further protected by
fitting metal deflector plates to them. In April
1915 French forces took down three German
planes with this new technology.
THE DUTCH GENIUS
OF COMBAT AVIATION The Fokker Scourge
Later that month, German forces captured a
THE INVENTOR who built Germany’s Eindecker I, the scourge
of the Allies, was not German at all, but Dutch, and his French plane outfitted with the interrupter gear
genius went beyond aircraft design. In 1915 Anthony Fokker and used it to develop their own synchroniza-
examined a captured French plane equipped with deflectors tion technology. Dutch engineer Anthony Fok-
that allowed gunners to fire through the propeller without ker improved on the French design, and soon
destroying it. Inspired, he improved upon the design and the Germans had an advantage over the Allies
created synchronization gear that allowed bullets to pass in the race to control the skies.
cleanly between the blades without damaging them. It is said The Germans gained the upper hand with the
that during a test flight he refused to fire the new weapon, as introduction of the Fokker Eindecker I, meaning
he preferred the Germans to do their own killing.
PARABELLUM MG14 MACHINE GUN,
SYNCHRONIZED TO A GERMAN FIGHTER
PLANE. ARMY MUSEUM,
PARIS
MUSÉE DE L’ARMÉE/RMN-GRAND PALAIS
“monoplane.”The Eindecker’s designer was the however, German engineers strove to outclass FOKKER
FACTORY
same man who invented the German “inter- their enemies with more stable and aerodynam-
In this undated
rupter” gear. German pilots, including Oswald ic flying machines. photograph
Boelcke and Max Immelmann, were among the (above), workers
most skilled in the war. A Fokker and its pilot Death From Above at the Fokker
unleashed an unnerving combination of speed, By 1916 technological innovation was still mov- plant near Berlin
firepower, and piloting skills that ushered in ing at an astonishingly fast pace. The belliger- assemble the
Eindecker III, a
a period of German superiority known as the ents harnessed it to challenge the enemy in the successor model
Fokker Scourge. Some sources say that Fokker’s skies to control intelligence. They also realized of the airplane that
sleek killing machine may have brought down the possibilities of dropping bombs on enemy helped tipped the
as many as 1,000 Allied planes. airfields, positions, and cities from above, often early part of the air
war in favor
The Fokker would maintain its technical su- simply by leaning over the cockpit and letting
of Germany.
periority until the British Airco DH.2 and new them fall. In a terrifying prefiguring of the ae- ALAMY/ACI
versions of the French Nieuport fighter hit the rial bombardment that would shape the 20th
skies, which slowly built up an effective resis- century, Germany intensified civilian raids over
tance against the feared Fokkers. Even with ad- England in 1916, at first using Zeppelin airships
vances in British and French interrupter gear, and, the next year, Gotha fighter planes.

BOMBS AWAY! A BRITISH CREWMAN DROPS BOMBS FROM THE COCKPIT

ON ENEMY POSITIONS IN THIS 1916 PHOTOGRAPH.
PVDE/BRIDGEMAN/ACI
The year 1916 saw important advances in

tactical organization. In January the first real
combat formations started to be displayed
over France. The French themselves adopted
a “V” formation for their bombing missions,
with the fighters escorting the bombers from
a more elevated position. The British used a
similar formation, while the Germans start-
ed to use groups of several planes, known as
the kette.
Rules of Engagement
As with technology and training, Germany led
the field in tactics, honing them to deadly ef-
fectiveness during the long Battle of Verdun,
which dragged on from February to December CLOSING RANKS loss of planes and pilots was far lower than
1916. German ace Oswald Boelcke wrote a Horace Davis’s that of the Allies, and the German air force
list of basic rules known as the Boelcke doc- 1919 painting was formidably united and disciplined.
(above) shows
trine—precepts that were, in turn, adopted Boelcke, by then, was commanding one of the
German fighters
by Germany’s foes, and which are still stud- pursuing British Jadgstaffel or specific fighter units (known
ied by modern fighter pilots. The doctrine DH.9A biplanes by their abbreviation, Jasta), whose sin-
centers on avoiding attack until an advanta- flying in a gle-minded goal was to destroy large numbers
geous position is secured. Pilots must work tight defensive of enemy craft and tighten Germany’s grip on
formation
as a team, take cool decisions as to whether developed earlier aerial supremacy. Boelcke embarked on inten-
engagement is worthwhile, and not engage in in the war. Imperial sive pilot training to keep his squadron, Jasta
foolish acts of bravery. A pilot must wait un- War Museum, 2, manned with the best aviators, creating a
til his enemy is vulnerable, and then relent- London unified and aggressive team.
IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM/AURIMAGES
lessly pursue that advantage. An attack from In October 1916 Boelcke was killed. The
the rear, Boelcke taught, must be met full on. squadron, plunged into grief over the loss
By summer 1916 the British had swelled of the 25-year-old ace, was renamed Jasta
their personnel to some 42,000, including Boelcke in his honor. In January 1917 Man-
crews and ground staff. Even so, the German fred von Richthofen, one of his star students,
took command of Jasta 11. The squadron was aviators regarded this commonsense for-
now flying Albatros fighters, which had re- mula with disdain, as cowardly rather than
placed the Eindeckers. Faster than the Allied smart. After being taken prisoner in late
planes, these newer models could even carry 1916, a German aviator, with leisure to
two machine guns. Richthofen painted his observe the fights in the sky, wrote: “You
entire plane bright red, which earned him [British] pilots . . . never weigh the situation. I
his more famous moniker: the Red Baron. He saw one of your machines take on one Fokker,
would become famous for his tactical mind two Fokkers, then three Fokkers, before
and his lethal accuracy. Following Boelcke’s being shot down at Lille. We do not
precepts, he would fly higher than the rest of look for fights unless it’s our duty.”
the formations and lure the enemy into his The prudent, calculated tac-
stunning attacks. tics of the Germans meant
Part of the Boelcke doctrine—integral to
German training, and which the British only OSWALD BOELCKE IN A 1916 PHOTO,
gradually adopted—was the principal of pru- SHORTLY BEFORE HIS DEATH, AGE 25. THE
GERMAN ACE FORMALIZED AERIAL COMBAT
dence: Do not get involved in a fight for the sake TACTICS AS THE “BOELCKE DOCTRINE.”
of playing the hero. As late as 1916, some British ULLSTEIN BILD/GETTY IMAGES

men who not only flew dangerous machines on

the cutting edge of technology but also followed
a code that harked back to an earlier age of chiv-
alry and honor.
The Ace Race

To challenge the German Jastas, Allied
squadrons also developed their own legend-
ary teams. The Sopwith Triplane, a fast but
flawed model, became famous under the pi-
loting of the Black Flight, a Royal Naval Air
Service unit manned by five Canadian pilots.
The team was named for the decision of its
leader, Raymond Collishaw to paint the tri-
planes midnight black. Each plane had a dif-
ferent name: Black Maria, Black Rodger, Black
Death, Black Sheep, and Black Prince.
In desperate need of heroes to distract the
reader from the blood and carnage of the bat-
tlefield, the press was only too happy to re-
count the exploits of these new knights of the
skies, hailing men like Britain’s Albert Ball,
Canada’s Billy Bishop, France’s René Fonck,
and—later—the American Edward Ricken-
backer. It is said that when French aviator Ro-
land Garros (for whom the grand-slam tennis
tournament is named) shot down his third
plane, the press hailed him as un as, an ace. The
term became common currency among the
Allied powers for those pilots who obtained
five victories (Garros, in fact, only scored four
in the end), and the ace bar was later raised to
THE CRUELEST that when their attack came, it would be dev- 10 confirmed victories.
MONTH astating. In spring 1917 the Red Baron’s Al- Of course, only a few World War I pilots
In “Bloody April” 1917 batros fighters aggressively attacked British were feted in such a way—regular corps fliers,
British forces lost
air cover during the Battle of Arras, inflicting who risked their lives on a daily basis, passed
hundreds of pilots.
Graham Turner’s huge casualties during what became known anonymously into history, many paying the ul-
painting (above) as Bloody April. timate price. Most aviators, however, enjoyed
shows British Although German pilots chose their battles comforts above the rest of the armed forces.
preparations for an carefully, they were as much a part of the devel- Clean accommodations, soft beds, and plen-
April 14 mission, a
day when six planes oping cult of the dashing aviator as their French ty of good quality food and alcohol were the
were shot down. and British counterparts.Glamour,swagger, and norm. But this lifestyle came with a high price.
GRAHAM TURNER/WWW.STUDIO88.CO.UK heroism became associated with these daring Orders to fly could come at any time. Once
airborne, the risk of death for a pilot was sig-
nificantly higher than that for soldiers fighting
ORDERS TO FLY COULD COME AT ANY TIME.
in the trenches. By 1917 British squadrons were
ONCE AIRBORNE, THE RISK OF DEATH FOR A losing around 200 pilots a month. It is said that
PILOT WAS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THAN THAT a pilot arriving in France after his basic training
FOR SOLDIERS FIGHTING IN THE TRENCHES. had a life expectancy of around 11 days.
Ailerons in the top

The wings were made nearly wings improved
entirely out of wood, with the plane’s
Machine guns. Two maneuverability.
steel joints and struts.
8.92 mm synchronized
Spandau LMG 08/15
Tail, made with

innovative metal
reinforcements
and stabilizers
The cockpit was placed

aft to counterbalance the
weight of the motor. This
afforded the pilot poor
vision when taking off,
but visibility was excellent
during the flight.
Fuselage. A structure FOKKER DR.1

formed by empty metal Most famous pilot: Manfred von
tubes made the plane Richthofen, aka the Red Baron
more solid than the other Built by: Fokker, 1917
planes of the time.
Max wingspan: 23 ft. 7 in.
Height: 9 ft. 8 in.
Maximum speed: 115 mph
Number produced: 320
PLANE
SOPWITH TRIP
Most famous pilot:
p Raymond Collishaw
Built by: Sopwith Aviation Co., 1916
Max wingspan n: 26 ft. 6 in.
Height: 10 ft. 6 in.
Maximum speed: 117 mph
Number produ uced: 147
RED ERSUS BLACK: THE TRIPLANES

In 1916 British aaircraft designer Thomas Raymond Collishaw and his Royal Naval Air perhaps the mosst iconic aircraft of World
Sopwith created an aviation innovation: Service squad enjoyed victories with their War I, especially after the Red Baron paint-
the triplane. By triple-stacking and nar- triplanes, which were all painted a distinc- ed his his signature scarlet. Despite initial
rowing the wings, Sopwith increased a pi- tive black. Seeing the success of this British success, inherent engineering flaws in the
lot’s field of vision and created a craft that model against their own Albatros fighters, three-wing system were discovered, and the
excelled on rapid ascents. Canadian pilot the Germans produced the Fokker DR.1, triplane would soon disappear from the skies.
TRIPLANE ILLUSTRATIONS: SOL 90/ALBUM. PHOTOS, LEFT TO RIGHT: MUSEUM OF FLIGHT/CORBIS/GETTY IMAGES; GRANGER/ALBUM
A U.S. POSTER FROM 1917 BY PAUL VERREES ENCOURAGES ENLISTMENT

IN THE FLEDGLING AMERICAN AIR SERVICE.
PHOTO 12/GETTY IMAGES
Finishing the Job

The war was growing desperate for Britain and
France in 1917. In spring the Russian govern-
ment fell into chaos as the hardships of war
drove the Russian people to revolt, and Tsar
Nicholas II abdicated. In the United States,
whose people had been reluctant to get involved
in a European conflict, public opinion was start-
ing to turn against Germany. German subma-
rines had begun sinking American merchant
vessels at sea, causing an outcry among the
American people. In April 1917 President
Woodrow Wilson was finally able to bring the
United States into the fray and pledged“to make
the world safe for democracy.”
American aviators had already gained battle EUGENE BULLARD aircraft—when they entered the war in 1917. A
(BELOW), WHO FLEW
experience in the war, fighting as volunteers MISSIONS OVER FRANCE recruitment drive followed, new aircraft were
for the French. In April 1916 France had a unit 1917-18, WAS THE WORLD’S ordered, and by May 1918, the U.S. Army Air
FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN
composed entirely of American fliers. Later COMBAT PILOT. Service was created. American flying legends
COLUMBUS LEDGER/GETTY IMAGES
that year, many American pilots formed the rapidly emerged, including the superstar Amer-
unofficial “Lafayette Squadron,” nicknamed ican pilot, Capt. Edward Rickenbacker, and the
for the French marquis who had fought on the daring commander Brig. Gen. William “Billy”
side of the patriots in the American Revolu- Mitchell, father of the United States Air Force.
tion. The first African-American pilot, Eugene In the months leading up to the end of the
Bullard, fought in France and is said to have war, Allied superiority in the air had already
had a motto painted onto his plane: “All Blood been established. The Allies were outproduc-
Runs Red.” Bullard was later refused entry to ing the Germans in aircraft by approximately
the newly created U.S. Air Service because of five to one. By the last year of the war French
racial segregation. Spad XIII biplanes were being mass-produced
Faced with a similar situation to that of and proving highly effective against the
the European powers in 1914, the United enemy. The British unveiled their own
States had little airpower—only six distinctive aircraft: the Sopwith Camel
biplane. Entering the skies in the summer of in the Allies’ favor, and the war would fi- VICTORY LINEUP
1917, the Camel was notoriously hard to han- nally come to an end in November 1918. American pilots
dle, but when manned by experienced pilots, A conflict whose opening months saw the prepare their
Sopwith Camel
it became the scourge of German aviators. Not birth of aerial combat, ended with aircraft biplanes in a
even the formidable German Fokker D.VII could capable of speeds and maneuverability that photograph taken
turn the tide. would have stunned prewar aviation am- in 1918 (above).
CHARLES PHELPS/GETTY IMAGES
A key event came in September 1918 when ateurs. The 19th-century world order had
the Allied forces faced off against Germany in been torn to shreds. Europe and the world was
the Battle of Saint-Mihiel. In a highly coor- transformed; old empires—Russian, Austro-
dinated attack between ground and air forces, Hungarian, and Ottoman—lay in tatters.
Billy Mitchell commanded the aerial assault The dawning American century was al-
for the Allies, who flew nearly 1,500 planes so to be the century of the airplane, en-
into battle. Mitchell’s strategy—to send re- dowed with ever greater speeds and
lentless wave after wave of planes—devastat- terrifying firepower.
ed German ground forces. The new burst of
energy provided by the United States in the MILITARY HISTORIAN JUAN VÁZQUEZ GARCÍA IS A SPECIALIST ON
air and on the ground had helped tip the scales THE EVOLUTION OF AERIAL COMBAT DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR.

WORLD WAR I BILLY BISHOP

IN THE COCKPIT
OF HIS PLANE,
CIRCA 1918
FLYING ACES KEYSTONE/GETTY IMAGES
In 1918, when the United States entered the air

war, the number of “kills”—victories that result in
the downing of an aircraft—required to become
an ace was reduced from 10 to five, as it was
considered unlikely American pilots would have
time to make 10 kills before Germany’s defeat.
Some, in fact, scored far higher than 10, such as
Edward Rickenbacker, who chalked up 26.
B I L LY B I S H O P
(1 8 9 4 -1 9 5 6)
TOP PILOTS OF WORLD WAR I SOURCE: AIR ACES, C. SHORES (1983)
Obsessed with flight from
1 Manfred von Richthofen (Germany) 80 boyhood, Canadian Bishop
2 René Fonck (France) 75 entered the Royal Flying
3 Billy Bishop (Canada) 72 Corps as an observer in
1915, later training as a pilot.
4 Edward Mannock (Greeat Britain) 68
Soon after seeing active
5 Ernst Udet (Germany) 62 service in March 1917,
6 Raymond Collishaw (C Canada) 62 he started to chalk up a
7 James McCudden (Great Britain) 57 remarkable number of kills,
8 Donald MacLaren (Canada) 54 on one occasion shooting
down three German planes
9 Andrew Beauchamp-P Proctor (S. Africa) 54
in one sortie. He received
10 Georges Guynemer (F France) 54 the Victoria Cross in 1917,
and survived the war.
THE RED BARON

(1892-19 18 ,
VA U X - S U R - S O M M E )
Manfred von Richthofen
became a legend in
Germany. In September MAX IMMELMANN
LED THE FOKKER
1916 he entered combat as SCOURGE AGAINST
a fighter pilot, and despite THE ALLIES.
BRIDGEMAN/ACI
a poor start, his “hunting”
skills soon led him to obtain
the highest German military
honor, the Pour le Mérite,
in January 1917. After 80
victories, he was shot down
MANFRED VON RICHTHOFEN,
BETTER KNOWN AS THE RED on April 21, 1918, possibly by
BARON, HAD THE MOST antiaircraft fire.
CONFIRMED KILLS OF ANY
PILOT IN WORLD WAR I.
AKG/ALBUM
EDWARD RICKENBACKER IN
AN UNDATED PHOTOGRAPH
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS/GETTY IMAGES
ALBERT BALL POSES WITH THE

TROPHIES OF VICTORY NUMBER
43, TAKEN TWO DAYS BEFORE
HIS PLANE WAS SHOT DOWN.
BRIDGEMAN/ACI
ALBERT BALL E DWA R D V E R N O N

( 1 8 9 6 - 1 9 1 7, A N N O E U L L I N ) RICKEN BACKER
A skillful marksman who (1 8 9 0 -1 9 7 3 )
displayed outstanding A leading race car driver when

courage, British ace Albert the United States entered the
Ball first learned to fly in war, Ohio-born Rickenbacker
1915. During the war, he almost didn’t take flight. At
was known to have taken age 27, he was considered too
on six enemy pilots at a old to fly combat missions,
time. Achieving celebrity but his commanding officer
status early in the war, spotted his potential. Over a
Ball notched 44 victories six-month span, Rickenbacker
before he was shot down brought down 26 enemy
and killed, possibly by planes, making him an “ace of
Lothar von Richthofen, the aces” for the United States.
Red Baron’s brother.
MAX IMMELMANN RENÉ FONCK

(189 0 -19 16 , (1 8 9 4 -1 9 5 3)
A N N AY- S O U S - L E N S ) This French pilot, who survived
Friend and rival of Oswald the war, was the greatest Allied
Boelcke, and instigator ace, with 75 victories (although
of the Fokker Scourge, he claimed the real figure
German ace Immelmann was over 100). Famous for
invented a maneuver by his nerves of steel in combat,
which pilots could make he had such a good aim that
a double dive against an he would frequently end his
enemy plane, known as missions with ammunition to
the Immelmann turn. RENÉ FONCK POSES IN 1918, THE spare. Considered a braggart
LAST YEAR OF THE WAR, WITH THE
His short, brilliant career INSIGNIA OF A GERMAN PLANE HE by some, Fonck was proud of
ended over Lens in June SHOT DOWN. his abilities: “I put my bullets
1916, when he was killed by LEEMAGE/PRISMA ARCHIVO
into the target as if I placed
a British gunner. them there by hand.”
DISCOVERIES
Gonur Tepe:
Lost City of the
Bronze Age
Four thousand years ago, the Oxus Civilization arose in Central
Asia. Linking Mesopotamia to the Indus Valley, Gonur Tepe was
capital of this vibrant culture, rediscovered in the 20th century.
T
he Oxus civiliz desert. He wouldn’t return
tion thrived f to the site until the early
only a short ti 1970s, but when he did, he
roughly 210 located the mounds again
1800 B.C. Locat and began excavating them.
in the ancient region kno At first Sarianidi sus-
as Margiana in Central Asia, IR A N
pected the site contained
the culture took root in a medieval-era ruins, but he
harsh landscape of steppe, soon found that the site
marsh, and desert that was much older. His work
sprawls over eastern parts revealed that Gonur Tepe
of modern Turkmenistan Behind the ron ur a n first rose to prominence GONUR TEPE thrived in
and northern Afghanistan. Soviet archaeologist Vik- between the late third mil- the second millennium b.c.
For much of the 20th cen- tor Ivanovich Sarianidi had lennium and the early sec- The site, located in
tury, these lands lay under made it his life’s work to ond millennium B . C . Its Turkmenistan, consists
of a central citadel
control of the Soviet Union, study the people and cul- fortunes depended heav- surrounded by an outer
which kept much of the ture that flourished in this ily on the Murgap River, wall containing water
world from exploring the region, known in scholar- which rises in Afghanistan cisterns, essential for the
area’s deep history. After ly circles as the Bactrian- and dries to a trickle in the survival of this oasis city.
the Soviet Union fell in the Margiana Archaeological sands of the Garagum. The ALL PHOTOS: KENNETH GARRETT
1990s, the region opened up Complex. Sarianidi first no- region was wetter then, and
to Western scholars. They ticed the site in the 1950s Gonur enjoyed the fertile
found a vibrant Bronze Age when traveling in Turk- environment of a delta re-
urban network that linked menistan, then a part of gion, conditions that en- Sarianidi’s pioneering
east and west long before the Soviet Union. He ob- abled it to create a magnifi- work unearthed a series of
the Silk Road. The key to served a series of mounds cent, if short-lived, culture nested fortifications on the
its secrets? A remote site in in the bleak, wind-sculpted present throughout the principal, northern mound
Turkmenistan: Gonur Tepe. terrain of the Garagum Margiana region. of the site. At the center,
1972 1990s 2002 2013

Soviet archaeologist Extensive excavations A study is published Viktor Sarianidi dies
Viktor Sarianidi are undertaken in on Gonur’s extensive after decades of
begins digging at the Gonur Tepe, revealing necropolis, bringing work at Gonur that
site of Gonur Tepe, a great fortified palace to light beautifully has attracted global
Turkmenistan. at its center. crafted artifacts. scholarly interest.
SEAL BEARING AN ELEPHANT FROM THE INDUS VALLEY, FOUND AT GONUR TEPE AND PROOF OF THE CITY’S EXTENSIVE TRADING LINKS
HIS LIFE’S WORK

VIKTOR SARIANIDI, born in 1929 in Uzbekistan,
then a Soviet republic, forged an archaeological
career deeply shaped by the Cold War. On the eve
of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1978, Sari-
anidi unearthed a treasure hoard of some 22,000
lay a huge citadel that ap- carved miniatures, includ- items in a 2,000-year-old tomb at the Afghan site
peared to have housed the ing detailed renderings of Tillya Tepe. His life’s
city’s elite. The outer ring of of local wildlife. Sarianidi quest, however, was to
fortifications contained cis- knew he had found some- raise the profile of the
terns, evidence of engineer- thing significant, a thriving earlier Oxus culture
ing advances, as well as an culture on par with other from Margiana, to the
awareness of their reliance great Bronze Age civiliza- north. When the Cold
on the Murgap for water. tions, like Mesopotamia and War ended, he intro-
Among the 3,000 or so Egypt. duced Western scholars
tombs of the Gonur ne- to his work at Gonur Te-
cropolis, Sarianidi’s team Global Interest pe, where he continued
found quantities of grave In the 1990s, Sarianidi’s working almost until his
goods: gold, silver, gems, work became available death at age 84 in 2013.
terra-cotta figures, and (continued on page 94)

DISCOVERIES
Tiny Treasures of a
Colossal Culture
THOUSANDS of the tombs at Gonur Tepe have
yielded expertly crafted funerary artifacts. Dating
from the late third millennium to the middle of the
second millennium b.c., they display distinctive
characteristics of Oxus culture. Today, many are
on display at the Ashgabat National Museum of
History, Turkmenistan.
2 3
4 5
1. Silver pins found in 2. This gold necklace 3. Female terra-cotta 4. This female figure 5. Behind these
Margiana often depict set with semiprecious figures are often has a body carved from miniatures, a “giant”
animals—here, a camel— stones was found believed to represent soapstone and a head human fingertip grants
and human figures. The around the neck of a fertility goddesses. and arms made of white a sense of scale. This
female is dressed in woman. The delicate Similar figurines have limestone. Similar seated minuscule golden ram
the kaunakes, a woolen golden snake heads been found at Gonur figures with large bodies and a carved stone lion
garment in the form of are a good example of Tepe in domestic and smaller heads and reflect not only the local
overlapping petals, of the skill and realism of settings as well as limbs have been found wildlife but also the great
Mesopotamian origin. Oxus metalworking. in tombs. across Oxus culture sites. skill of resident artisans.
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DISCOVERIES
VIKTOR SARIANIDI (center) dedicated

nearly four decades of his long career to
Gonur Tepe. This photograph was taken
in May 2005, when he was 75.
to Western researchers, which would have strained

items discovered at sites on Gonur and its region may
like Fredrik Hiebert, now the city’s water supply.
the Indus River in Pakistan also provide insights in-
a National Geographic ex- and the Indus-produced to early religious develop-
plorer. Hiebert was one goods unearthed at Gonur
Legacy of the Oxus ments. When excavating
of several scholars who Long after Gonur had the ancient city, Sarianidi
suggest that such objects
worked at Gonur with Sa- waned, another city rose to came across vessels with
were spread between cit-
rianidi in the 1990s to un- prominence: Merv. Locat- traces of poppy, cannabis,
ies along extensive trading
cover more about the Oxus routes. ed 45 miles to the south, it and ephedra, the ingredients
civilization. grew in a part of the delta used for making the soma
Unlike ancient Egypt,
These later findings, cou- that remained fertile. The drinks that form a central
Gonur flourished then fad-
pled with Sarianidi’s earlier oldest of the oasis cities on ritual of Zoroastrianism, a
ed over the course of a few
work, create a fu picture the Silk Road between China faith that would influence
centuries. Some evidence
of a Bronze e cu re and and the West, Merv flour- Judaism, Christianity, and
suggests the city may have
its dis ive style. milar ished in part due to the trad- Islam. Scholars are still di-
been sacked, or perhaps
ing roots laid down by the vided as to the significance
succumbed when the Mur-
earlier Oxus culture.
gap River changed course, of this find, but it is an in-
triguing theory that this
Gonur’s culture, with its colossal place may hold the key to an
enduring mystery: the an-
fortifications and miniaturist objects, cient origins of the world’s
med a distinctive “Oxus style.” oldest monotheistic faith.
AMULET, PERHAPS DEPICTING A MESOPOTAMIAN DEITY, FOUND AT GONUR TEPE —Alejandro Gallego
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approximate size
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Next Issue
JESSE JAMES:
BIRTH OF AN OUTLAW
THE SON OF A PREACHER, Jesse James
became one of the United States’ most
notorious criminals, known for a spree of
robbery and murder that terrorized the
West. Born in 1847, Jesse grew up on a
farm in Clay County, Missouri. Like the
rest of the nation, the Civil War swept up
his family; its brutality hardened young
Jesse, who at age 16 followed his older
brother Frank into the Confederate Army
where the two witnessed and committed
extreme acts of violence. Driven by
greed and a desire for revenge against
the Union, Jesse, his brother Frank, and
other fellow former Confederates turned
to a life of crime after the war, a decision
that birthed a legend that grew bigger,
badder, and bolder with time.
YOUNG JESSE JAMES, AGE 17, PHOTOGRAPHED

DURING THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR
ALAMY/AGE FOTOSTOCK
TRUE STORIES OF In Search of the Indo-Europeans

THE SPANISH INQUISITION Many modern languages trace their origins back to the Indo-
Europeans, an ancient people whom scholars are studying
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH’S persecution of heresy
through a mix of archaeology, linguistics, and science.
was feared all over Europe—and
E in few places
more than Spain. Beginning in 1478 and
finally ending in 1834 4, the Spanish Inquisition Egyptian Law and Order
resulted in thhe arrest, torture, The complex details of ancient Egypt’s justice system can be
execution, aand subjugation of Spain’s found in its legal papyri, from the punishment of criminals to
citizens inn the pursuit of hegemony. divine statues believed to solve mysteries.
Nearlyy 400 years of accounts
reveaal the effect on Spain’s
people: the horrific fates of the The Murder of Cicero
acccused; the kinds of people His sparkling oratory once thrilled the Roman Republic, but
targeted and their alleged his feud with Mark Antony turned Cicero into an enemy of
crimes; and the paranoia the state and eventually led to his brutal death.
gripping an entire society
ass the Inquisition’s spy
neetwork turned neighbors,
The Roots of Robin Hood
friends, and families against The noble outlaw who stole from the rich and gave to the poor
each other. bears little resemblance to the original Robin Hood in medieval
poems and tales of violence, misrule, and upheaval in England.
PRISONERS OF THE INQUISITION (DETAIL).
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