Las Ruinas Enterradas De Pompeya Y Un Antiguo Ejemplar Enigmático De Epigrafía Fortuita Romana

DOCUMENTA & INSTRUMENTA, 2 (2004), PP. 173-192 LAS RUINAS ENTERRADAS DE POMPEYA Y UN ANTIGUO EJEMPLAR ENIGMÁTICO DE EPIGRAFÍA FORTUITA ROMANA THE SUNKEN RUINS OF POMPEII AND AN AGE-OLD ENIGMATIC SPECIMEN OF ROMAN INCIDENTAL EPIGRAPHY CARLOS PÉREZ-RUBÍN Resumen: Artículo en el cual se ofrece una visión general de las tempranas excavaciones arqueológicas españolas en el Golfo de Nápoles y en otros lugares (siglo XVIII) así como un análisis a fondo y un intento, debidamente documentado, por elucidar definitivamente el famoso cuadrado enigmático ROTAS-SATOR hallado dos veces en Pompeya (siglo XX) y en otras ruinas a lo largo del Imperio Romano. Palabras clave: Alcubierre, Arqueología, Círculo (Cuadratura del), Cruz (Griega), Cuadrado Mágico, Encrucijada, Excavaciones, Gnosticismo (Cristiano), Herculano, Laberinto, Mandala, Metafísica, Mismidad, Nápoles (Reino de), Palenque, Pompeya, Psicología (Profunda), Rotas- Sator y Rueda Solar. Abstract: An article giving a brief overview of early (18th century) Spanish archaeological excavations on the Gulf of Naples and elsewhere, as well as an in-depth analysis of, “and a properly documented attempt at”, finally elucidating the famous enigmatic ROTAS-SATOR square found twice at Pompeii (20th century) and at other ruins over the length of the Roman Empire. Keywords: Alcubierre, Archaeology, Circle (Squaring the), Cross (Greek), Crossroads, Excavations, Gnosticism (Christian), Herculaneum, Labyrinth, Magic Square, Mandala, Metaphysics, Naples (Kingdom of), Palenque, Pompeii, Psychology (Depth), Rotas-Sator, Selfhood and Sunwheel. EARLY EXCAVATIONS IN POMPEII As American writer Ignatius Donnelly (†1901) commented in 1882, [...] “for a thousand years it was believed that the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii were CARLOS PÉREZ-RUBÍN myths”. That, incidentally, was just the case also with Troy which was discovered by Schliemann, the German archaeologist at that time (late 19th century), and with Ur, which was discovered by Sir C.L. Woolley, his English colleague, succeedingly (20th century). Actually, the ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii were identified and thoroughly excavated much earlier, in the late 18th century, by a Spanish amateur archaeologist1 who ought to be given full international recognition for his accomplishments, thus expanding that duet of pioneering archaeologists to a trio. For the most part, this man has hardly been identified abroad in the relevant literature and, when rarely identified, he has either been merely mentioned by his real surname or described as a ‘Neapolitan gentleman’ by the name of Rocco Gioiachino. Truth to say, his real and full name was Roque Joaquín de Alcubierre (†1780) who, at the outset, was a Major in the Neapolitan Royal Engineer Corps. It is believed that he was transferred from Spain as a member of the Spanish military expedition that recovered the Kingdom of Naples from Austria in 1734. I therefore take this opportunity of vindicating the Spanish glory and the memory of this noted compatriot to whom full credit is due for having (i) encouraged and persuaded the then ruling King Charles VII (1735-59) of Naples, a member of the Spanish Branch of the House of Bourbon, who later became Charles III2 of Spain, to sponsor regular archaeological excavations on the Gulf of Naples and (ii) been, for most of the last forty-two years of his life and as the king’s loyal and trusted Aide, directly or indirectly concerned with the overall project of excavating a grand total of no less than nine sites in the area, namely Herculaneum, Pompeii, Stabiae, Polion, Sorrento, Capri, Pozzuoli, Cumas and Fusano. He had a succession of assistants and cooperators, among whom his comrade-at-arms the Neapolitan-born Spanish colleague engineer Francisco de la Vega is noteworthy because, according to Salvatore Nappo, the Italian authority on Pompeii, he [...] “was undoubtedly the best and most farsighted of the 18th century excavators” in Pompeii. 1 Other early Spanish archaeologists were Ocampo and Morales (16th century), Caro (17th century) and Flórez and Ceán (18th century). 2 This king (†1788), a truly enlightened monarch, also promoted and sponsored from 1734, the first archaeological excavations in Spanish America, which included discovery of the ruins of Palenque (Mexico)[Alcina]. He played a prominent role—-together with the French king—-in supporting the American Revolutionary War in different ways, to the inclusion of such major accomplishment as that of successfully selling the ‘armed neutrality’ policy to Catherine the Great, the Russian empress, an invaluable action which served to prevent Russia and her allies from intervening in the conflict on England’s side, this being another fact for which Spain has apparently not received any credit in the USA, except perhaps at the academic level. 174 THE SUNKEN RUINS OF POMPEII... _______________________________________________________________________________ Eventually, those accomplishments materially enabled Italy to boast of having the world’s richest archaeological collection in the Museo Aqueologico Nationale in Naples. As to Spanish sovereignty over Naples, Bellechasse, the Swiss historian, in writing about Pompeii and Herculaneum, comments that Naples, up to 1713 (Treaty of Utrecht), had been [...] “a kingdom which Spanish Viceroys had brilliantly ruled for over two centuries”. The sunken ruins of specifically Pompeii are remarkable not only because they constitute the unique survival of an old and almost intact Roman city, but because they preserved a baffling, epigraphic and quasi-palindromic square (Fig. 1) which, since its discovery there twice in the 20th century, has succeedingly rekindled considerable interest among scholars, notably classicists. Pliny the Elder was, apparently, the first Roman scholar to mention it. (Ref.: Naturae historiarum libri, completed in 77 AD). [Britannica]. This square has to date been defying a proper and convincing solution, as can be determined from the relatively large bibliography available thereon and the absence of a consensus of opinion on its possible meaning. IDENTIFICATION AND DISCOVERY OF THE SQUARE The square is conceived in the form of a 5-X-5 matrix, at times loosely described as a magic square, wherein numerals are replaced by letters representing Latin and would-be Latin words. Also, contrary to a true magic square, all the symbols (characters in this case) are repeated--except the central N, a fact which is highly significant because both its key position and its special symbolism, as will be remarked upon later. From the illustration below (Fig.1) it will be readily obvious that the lettering can, in principle, be read either horizontally or vertically and either from the top or backwards from the bottom. However, it was intended to be read in the Oriental boustrophedon manner3, i.e., the way in which the oldest Greek inscriptions were written [Gelb]. The square, in this original Oriental form, has been found also on an ostracon (ancient Greek potsherd) on exhibit in the Cairo Archaeological Museum 3 A phrase read alternately from right to left and from left to right. This usage has been affirmed by Diehl (1925), Gelb and Wagner (1950s), Fuchs (1960s), Hoffman (1970s) and Hommel (1990s). This sort of spiral evolution, which is inspired on “the way an ox turns in ploughing”, is the way in which the Jewish Bible in Hebrew characters is written. Moreover, “The Romans usually considered the left auspicious, hence the ploughman turned up the clods of earth to the left and drove his plough to the right”. [Burriss]. 175 CARLOS PÉREZ-RUBÍN [Bouisson] and in Arabian or Ethiopian talismans. Fig. 1 The lettering, as shown above within a cippus (a type of ancient Roman gravestone) by way of a posthumous tribute to the anonymous clever Roman originator of the puzzle, is hence to be read as SATOR-OPERA-TENET-AREPO- ROTAS, this version being the Westernised direct form of the square that has prevailed from the 6th century AD. [Becker]. As such, it has been found in inscriptions on several media ranging, roughly, from an early 9th century Latin Bible4 to certain 14th century Austrian coins [Ripley and Vignati/Peralta], to the inclusion of numerous buildings erected by the Knight Templars5. [Vignati/Peralta]. Additionally, as illustrated by Becker and Wirth, it appeared on a 16th century talisman--known as Postel’s pentacle6--in which the square is, basically, graven within a circle and lying over two interlaced rectangular triangles. As such, the square drew the attention of Father Athanasius Kircher (†1680), the famous German Jesuit priest, linguist and scholar, but was negatively commented upon by him. (See the Conclusion section, below). It was used in even more recent times for, as stated in the Britannica: “As late as the 19th century it was graven on amulets and charms and laid upon pregnant women to ensure safe delivery”. 4 Held at the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, France. 5 This fact is a real breakthrough because it is generally held among scholars interested in esotericism that the Knight Templars, through their connections with Semitic and Graeco- Byzantine mystics in the Middle East, believed in the alchemical-gnostic doctrine of dualism and the union of opposites by way of awakening, developing and venerating the female principle, supposedly in the form of ‘images of black Virgins’ representing Mother Earth, hence the colour black. Gordon, for one, says: “Certainly Eastern dualism entered Templar philosophy early on [...]. Learned in Islamic doctrine, number

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