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FROM THE EDITOR The death of a 96-year-old person should not feel shocking. Nine decades on this planet is a long life indeed, but when that person has been on the British throne for 70 years, it can feel unsettling. Perhaps it was not so much the passing of Elizabeth II itself, but more her absence that created such an unfamiliar feeling. She was a stable presence through the 20th and 21st centuries as rapid changes washed over the world. The ways in which people consume media, travel, and communicate with each other now bear little resemblance to when she took the throne in 1952. Through it all, there she was, keeping calm and carrying on. I wonder if there was a similar feeling when 67-year-old Catherine the Great died in 1796. She had ruled Russia for more than three decades, but rather than a steadying influence, she was a disrupter. After seizing the throne for herself, she spent her reign constantly pushing Russia to grow bigger, to govern better, to think more rationally while embracing the arts and sciences. Rather than the calm in the storm, Catherine II was the storm, an agent of change that pushed Russia into a different era. After her death, Russia and much of the world must have seemed a quieter place. Amy Briggs, Executive Editor NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 1

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VOL. 9 NO. 1 SIREN SONG Odysseus is bound to his ship’s mast as a measure against temptation by the sirens. The episode from Homer’s Odyssey was painted in 1891 by J.W. Waterhouse. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Features Departments 20 The Lost Canal of Xerxes 6 NEWS Historians doubted the claim that King Xerxes of Persia hacked a canal 2,600-year-old reliefs from the through a Greek peninsula, but new evidence suggests it was indeed time of King Sennacherib have built, as part of the Persian invasion of Greece in 480 b.c. come to light in Nineveh, Iraq’s first major 34 Wanderings of Odysseus archaeological discovery since the 1800s. The ancient king Odysseus may have existed in myth only, but his ten- 10 PROFILES year journey in Homer’s epic The Odyssey offers a window into the very real world of Mycenaean Greece in the Bronze Age. Pauline Bonaparte lived for parties and pleasure. But when 48 Celebrations of Passover her brother Napoleon’s fortunes turned, she Handed down from generation to generation, the sacred rituals stayed loyal to him until his death in exile. commemorating the Israelites’ escape from Egypt have evolved for millennia along with the upheavals and events of Jewish history. 14 DAILY LIFE 60 The Real Messalina When tango was born in Buenos Aires’s slums, it was scorned as Roman writers portrayed the wife of Emperor Claudius as a sex-addicted villain, obscuring the shrewdness of a vulgar. Today its European-African flavors woman who needed to be ruthless to survive. are revered as Argentina’s national dance. 74 Catherine’s Great Visions 18 WORK OF ART Even as she expanded the Russian Empire, Catherine The marble sarcophagus of the Great pressed on at home, with sweeping Hercules depicts the hero’s labors. reforms in women’s education and mass vaccination programs among the highlights of her 34-year reign. Carved around a.d.150, it’s a masterpiece of Roman funerary art. MESSALINA AND CLAUDIUS SOW ABUNDANCE ACROSS THE ROMAN EMPIRE FROM A CHARIOT. CAMEO, CIRCA A.D. 45, NATIONAL LIBRARY, PARIS 92 DISCOVERIES Roman-era shipwrecks found near a Pisa railroad in 1998 posed a riddle: How did so many boats, over the course of seven centuries, come to be wrecked at this one spot?

JOSSE/LEEMAGE/GETTY EXECUTIVE EDITOR AMY E. BRIGGS Deputy Editor JULIUS PURCELL Editorial Consultants JOSEP MARIA CASALS (Managing Editor, Historia magazine) IÑAKI DE LA FUENTE (Art Director, Historia magazine) VICTOR LLORET BLACKBURN (Editorial consultant and contributor) Design Editor VERÓNICA MARCARIAN BALDERIAN Photography Editor MERITXELL CASANOVAS Contributors CAROLINE BRAUN, MARC BRIAN DUCKETT, EMILY FLORY, AMY KOLCZAK, CINDY LEITNER, BRADEN PHILLIPS, SEAN PHILPOTTS, SARAH PRESANT-COLLINS, JENNIFER VILAGA, ROSEMARY WARDLEY PUBLISHER  JOHN MACKETHAN Advertising ROB BYRNES Consumer Marketing and Planning LAUREN BOYER, ANDREW DIAMOND, SUZANNE MACKAY, KATHERINE M. MILLER, ZOLA POLYNICE, ROCCO RUGGIERI, JOHN SCHIAVONE, SUSAN SHAW, MARK VIOLA, JANET ZAVREL Production Services JAMES ANDERSON, JENN HOFF, KRISTIN SEMENIUK Customer Service SCOTT ARONSON, JORDAN HELLMUTH, TRACY PELT for subscription questions, visit www.nghservice.com or call 1-800-647-5463. to subscribe online, visit www.nationalgeographic.com/history/history-magazine. for corrections and clarifications, visit natgeo.com/corrections. while we do not accept unsolicited materials, we welcome comments and suggestions at [email protected]. EVP & GENERAL MANAGER, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MEDIA DAVID E. MILLER SENIOR MANAGEMENT VICE PRESIDENT INTERNATIONAL MEDIA YULIA BOYLE VICE PRESIDENT DIGITAL EXPERIENCES MARCELO GALDIERI VICE PRESIDENT MARKETING JULIANNE GALVIN SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR NATHAN LUMP DIRECTOR/PRINT OPERATIONS JOHN MACKETHAN COPYRIGHT © 2023 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PARTNERS, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC AND YELLOW BORDER DESIGN ARE TRADEMARKS OF THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY, USED UNDER LICENSE. PRINTED IN U.S.A. PRESIDENT RICARDO RODRIGO EDITOR ANA RODRIGO CORPORATE MANAGING DIRECTOR JOAN BORRELL MANAGING DIRECTOR ÁUREA DÍAZ EDITORIAL DIRECTOR SUSANA GÓMEZ MARCULETA EDITORIAL COORDINATOR MÒNICA ARTIGAS MARKETING DIRECTOR BERTA CASTELLET CREATIVE DIRECTOR JORDINA SALVANY National Geographic History (ISSN 2380-3878) is published bimonthly in January/February, March/April, May/June, July/August, September/October, and November/December by National Geographic Partners, LLC, 1145 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Volume 9, Number 1. $34 per year for U.S. delivery. Periodicals postage paid at Washington, DC, and additional mailing offices. SUBSCRIBER: If the Postal Service alerts us that your magazine is undeliverable, we have no further obligation unless we receive a corrected address within two years. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to National Geographic History, P.O. Box 37545, Boone, IA, 50037. In Canada, agreement number 1000010298, return undeliverable Canadian addresses to National Geographic History, P.O Box 819 STN Main, Markham, ON L3P 9Z9.

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TÜRKIYE ASSYRIAN ARTWORKS (TURKEY) Ancient Reliefs Found at SYRIA Nineveh Site ISIS Tried to Destroy IRAQ IRAN Baghdad SAUDI The relics, which likely depict an Assyrian king’s military campaigns, ARABIA are the first major discovery of their kind in Iraq since the 1800s. NINEVEH was one of A team of Iraqi originated in the Southwest a member of the excavation Mesopotamia’s oldest and American Palace at Nineveh, near mod- team. cities. It was estab- archaeologists, ern Mosul in northern Iraq, lished on the east bank digging in the ru- and date to the time of the Similar reliefs, unearthed of the Tigris River in ins of an ancient palatial gate Assyrian king Sennacherib, from Sennacherib’s palace what is now Mosul, razed by ISIS (Islamic State), who reigned between 705 in the mid-19th century and Iraq’s second largest has discovered stunning art- and 681 b.c. “It’s something now on display at the British city. Nineveh was the works last seen some 2,600 none of us expected,” says Museum in London, depict the capital of the neo- years ago. Ali al Jabouri, a former dean ruler’s campaign against King Assyrian empire before of the University of Mosul’s Hezekiah in 701 b.c. While it was sacked in 612 b.c. The seven carved gypsum College of Archaeology and those relics are untouch- panels are believed to have able, Al Jabouri says that the NG MAPS 6 MARCH/APRIL 2023

NEWS CAREFUL EXCAVATION REVEALS SEVENTH-CENTURY B.C ASSYRIAN RELIEFS. THIS PANEL HAD BEEN REPURPOSED FOR NEW CONSTRUCTION IN NINEVEH, AND ANY VISIBLE DECORATION WAS ERASED. ZAID AL-OBEIDI/AFP/GETTY moment he first laid a hand on the newly discovered reliefs was profound. “When you discover such things and you’re able to touch them with your hand, this is something very, very excit- ing,” he told National Geo- graphic on a call from Mosul. Revolutionary Art ERASURE (ABOVE LEFT): When slabs were repurposed for construction, visible portions of Sennacherib is among the the reliefs, like this military encampment, were chiseled away while the rest remained intact. most famous leaders of the OUTSIDERS (TOP RIGHT): This figure’s short hair (typical of ancient Iranian depictions) neo-Assyrian empire, which identify him as a foreigner. Assyrians usually sported curly shoulder-length hair. spanned what is now mod- HOT SHOTS (BOTTOM RIGHT): A battle scene depicts uniformed Assyrian archers. The ern Iraq, the Caucasus, and conical pattern in the background indicates they are in a hilly or mountainous region. Egypt. His military campaign of 701 b.c., recorded in the IMAGES: MICHAEL DANTI panels at the British Muse- um and elsewhere, appear in “They’re better than the 2014 and 2017, ISIS targeted grandson Ashurbanipal, was biblical accounts. ones in the British Muse- Nineveh. At its height, surrounded by a wall more um,” says Michael Danti, a around 700 b.c., the capital than seven miles long and Theking’sreignis also con- professor of archaeology at of the neo-Assyrian empire punctuated by 18 gates. sidered a pivotal moment in the University of Pennsyl- was the largest city in the art history, when Sennach- vania and the director of the world. Its citadel, which con- The Mashki Gate, known erib’s artists threw away joint Iraqi-American proj- tained palaces built by both as the Gate of the Watering traditional restrictions and ect. “They r­ eally show the Sennacherib and his Places and situated next to embraced a sweeping new high-relief carving, the de- the Tigris River, was restored approach. The Assyrian rul- tail of Sennacherib’s FINE DETAIL. A SMALL in the 1970s as a monument er commissioned large-scale sculptures, which BOVINE FIGURE APPEARS IN to the ancient heritage of artworks depicting his mili- were revolutionary at A DEPICTION OF A MILITARY Mosul’s residents. It was de- tary campaigns in continuous the time.” ENCAMPMENT (ABOVE LEFT). stroyed by ISIS in April 2016. narratives that filled every bit of space and paid careful, de- Surprising Find MICHAEL DANTI Part of a joint project be- tailed attention to landscapes The unlikely discovery tween the University of and people across his empire took place at a site of recent and beyond. destruction. During a cam- Pennsylvania’s Iraq Her- paign of terror across north- itage Stabilization The newly discovered ern Iraq and Syria between Program and the panels, one of which bears an Nineveh Inspec- inscription by Sennacherib, torate of Iraq’s feature Assyrian soldiers State Board of and military camps, as well as deportees and prisoners of war. For ancient artworks that survived both the sack of Nineveh by Babylonians and Medes, in 612 b.c., and destruction wrought by the 21st-century ISIS, the pre- served reliefs appear as if they had been just carved. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 7

AN IRAQI-U.S. TEAM WORKS AT THE MASHKI GATE SITE IN NINEVEH ON THE SURPRISING FIND. BELOW FLOOR LEVEL, THE SEEMINGLY BLANK STONE PANELS REVEALED LUSHLY DETAILED SCENES. GETTY IMAGES THE MASHKI GATE, whose Persian name translates to Gate of the Watering Places, may Antiquities and Heritage, have been used to lead livestock to the nearby Tigris River, which lies a mile to the west. and funded in part by the Al- The photograph above shows the gate following its reconstruction in 1977, before its de- iph Foundation, the team of struction by ISIS bulldozers in 2016. Neither ISIS nor the sackers of Nineveh in 612 b.c. was archaeologists began exca- aware of the Sennacherib-era reliefs buried below the ground. GETTY IMAGES vating the ruins of the Mash- ki Gate ahead of a planned re- 8 MARCH/APRIL 2023 construction in April of last year. They soon encountered a sealed doorway, apparent- ly untouched during the ’70s restoration. Beyond the door was a hallway that no one had entered for 2,634 years— when the Mashki Gate and the entire palace compound were destroyed during the sack of Nineveh. As the archaeologists dug into the destruction layer, they found the skeletal hu- man remains of victims. They explored deeper along a wall fashioned from chiseled stone panels, and something more

NEWS A WOULD-BE CONQUERER’S FATE THE ASSYRIAN KING Sennacherib moved his capital to Nineveh, which he expanded and beautified. Despite Assyria’s formida- ble military power, revolts arose in various parts of the empire, including Judah, which was ruled by King Hezekiah. The conflict with Sennacherib is chronicled in several books of the Old Testament. In 701 b.c., in response to a revolt in Judah, Sennacherib besieged Jerusalem, only sparing the city after Hezekiah paid a large ransom. The Bible recounts how God then sent an angel to strike down the Assyrians in their camp, causing Sennacherib to abandon the siege. The Book of Kings recounts the monarch’s unhappy end, foretold by the Prophet Isaiah: “Now it came to pass, as he was worship- ing in the temple of Nisroch … that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword … Then Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.” (2 Kings 19:37) ROYAL DEATH. SENNACHERIB MEETS HIS VIOLENT END. CASSELL’S FAMILY BIBLE (1870) BRIDGEMAN intriguing emerged. Beneath the mud-brick walls of the Researchers have yet to represent a later campaign of the floor level, seven seem- gate, with any visible deco- confirm the specific events Sennacherib’s in the Zagros ingly blank panels revealed ration above the floor level and military campaigns that Mountains. riotous scenes of carved deco- chiseled off. are depicted in these panels ration: powerful Assyrian sol- and are continuing to dig in “I found [the discovery] diers and archers and moun- Staying in Iraq the area. Fragments of chis- really very heartening be- tainous landscapes lush with This is the first significant eled decoration found in the cause we had lost so much detailed vegetation. discovery of known Sen- hall will provide archaeolo- during the ISIS attack,” says nacherib-era reliefs since the gists with important infor- Bahrani, who points to oth- The researchers suspect British Assyriologist Austen mation to reconstruct the er discoveries made beneath that the panels were repur- Henry Layard excavated the scenes; the panels them- Nabi Yunus, Mosul’s ancient posed from Sennacherib’s pal- Southwest Palace in the mid- selves also detail how Assyr- shrine that had been de- ace as construction material, 19th century. The majority of ians recycled and repurposed stroyed by the militant group possibly during a renovation his finds were sent to Euro- building materials across in 2014. “It did provide some of Mashki Gate by Sinsharish- pean museums. These pan- their sprawling empire. comfort that these things can kun, the great-grandson of the els, however, will be the first never be destroyed, because king. The 5-by-6.5-foot pan- to remain in Iraq. Zainab Bahrani, a profes- they’ll always reemerge in els were set sideways against sor of ancient Near East- some sense.” ern art and archaeology at Beyond the door was a hallway that Columbia University, not- “The land is just full of an- no one had entered for 2,634 years— ed that a figure in one pan- tiquities,” she adds. “It’s full until the Mashki Gate was destroyed. el has a distinctive, non- of ancient sites. And there is Assyrian hairstyle and beard no way that you can erase all worn by inhabitants of Iran at that history.” the time, suggesting it may —­ Kristin Romey NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 9

PROFILES Pauline, the Bonaparte Who Conquered Hearts Pauline, Napoleon’s beautiful younger sister, was belittled as a party girl who lived for fashion and romance. But she proved to be bold, courageous, and loyal. Life of P auline Bonaparte, younger help him financially) when he was ex- Adventure sister to Napoleon, was her iled to the island of Elba in 1814 after brother’s favorite of their sev- his failed military campaign in Rus- 1797 en siblings. She was the only sia. During his second banishment, to one who took no part in his St. Helena, after his defeat at Waterloo, At age 17, Pauline political power plays. While her siblings Pauline even requested to spend time Bonaparte marries General were placed on thrones all over Europe, with him on the remote island in the Charles Leclerc. A year Pauline was quoted as saying: “I do not southern Atlantic. later, Pauline’s only child care for crowns. If I had wished for one, will be born. I should have had it; but I left that taste Family Fortunes to my relations.” Despite the death of her father when she 1802 Born in Ajaccio, Corsica, on Octo- was five, Pauline grew up in the bosom ber 20, 1780, she was the sixth of the of a comfortable family until her early Pauline joins her husband eight children of lawyer Charles-Marie teens. Then, in 1793, times got harder: in the Caribbean. Leclerc Bonaparte and Maria Letizia Ramoli- Her brother Lucien became embroiled will die of yellow fever, no. Pauline opted for a life of amorous in a political controversy, forcing the and Pauline will return to adventure rather than reshaping the family to flee Corsica for the French Europe with her son. political map of Europe. She used her mainland. Once in Marseille, they lived beauty and boldness to conquer a long in straitened circumstances. That same 1803 train of lovers and, despite scandals, year, Napoleon first made his name mil- won the admiration­of the European itarily, starting an ascent that would Pauline marries Camillo beau monde as an icon of style. vastly improve his family’s fortunes. Borghese and moves to “Few women have savored more the Rome. After the death of pleasure of being beautiful,”the French Pauline never had the formal educa- her son, she abandons general Louis Stanislas de Girardin tion that women of high social stand- Borghese and married life. wrote of her. For Napoleon himself, ing were expected to have to secure a she was“the best living creature” wealthy husband. At age 15, her beau- 1808 and“the only one who never asks ty was enough to catch the eye of her for anything.”Though often friv- brother’s military comrades. After a Sculptor Antonio olous and feckless, Pauline had dalliance or two, she fell for the veteran Canova’s statue of a a loyal and courageous side too. French revolutionary Stanislas Fréron. partially nude Pauline She was the only one of his sib- Entangled with another mistress (and as the goddess Venus is lings to visit Napoleon (and to 26 years Pauline’s senior), he was re- complete. jected by her mother. No end of suitors 1821 “Pauline … was then in the full brilliance of her beauty … Few women have savored After Napoleon’s more the pleasure of being beautiful.” banishment to St. Helena, —Louis Stanislas de Girardin Pauline tries to visit him, but he dies before she can gain permission. SHINING HILT. CAMILLO BORGHESE’S SWORD ORONOZ/ALBUM 10 MARCH/APRIL 2023

BONAPARTE BEAUTY SECRETS PAULINE BONAPARTE was famous for her looks and spent much time and effort trying to pre- serve and enhance them. She was a fashion trendsetter who loved gems, favoring jeweled headdresses and ornamenta- tion on her gowns. She was also notorious for wearing sheer dresses that left nothing to the imagination. A famous part of her daily beauty regimen was bathing in milk to soften and whiten her skin. One anecdote has her visiting a home without a shower. Unabashed, Pauline asked for a hole to be cut in the ceiling above and requested a servant pour the milk down on her in the bath. PAULINE BONAPARTE POSES NEXT TO A BUST OF HER BROTHER, NAPOLEON. PORTRAIT BY ROBERT LEFÈVRE, PALACE OF VERSAILLES. CHRISTOPHE FOUIN/RMN-GRAND PALAIS appeared. Napoleon told one aspirant, to lead 23,000 French soldiers. Pauline to Napoleon that she chose to follow “You have nothing. She has nothing. and her son followed in 1802. Leclerc her husband’s fortunes for“good or ill.” What does that total? Nothing.” In the achieved initial victories against the In November 1802, Leclerc died from end, her brother persuaded her to con- rebels, led by Toussaint L’ouverture. yellow fever, and Pauline and her son sider Charles Leclerc. They married in returned to France. 1797, and a year later the couple’s only Leclerc’s successes were short-lived. son, Dermide, was born. Renewed fighting coincided with an While genuinely grieving her hus- outbreak of yellow fever that began to band’s death, Pauline soon took up Wife, Widow, Princess decimate the French troops. Amid de- romantic liaisons. Her love life would In 1801,to quell an ongoing revolution in clining morale, Pauline provided social always generate gossip, but it was fre- Saint-Domingue (in what is Haiti today) diversion, with herself at the center, by quently seized on and exaggerated by and protect France’s sugar income from hosting balls and fetes. She also turned Napoleon’s royalist enemies.“Pauline its colony, Napoleon (now first consul) the family’s mansion into a field hospi- was often singled out by Bourbon sym- sent Pauline’s husband to the Caribbean tal. Leclerc urged his wife to return to pathizers as a nymphomaniac who cared France, but she refused. Leclerc wrote not whether her partner or partners NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 11

PROFILES VILLA PAOLINA Pauline Bonaparte’s residence in Rome became home to the Embassy of France to the Holy See. RAFFAELLO BENCINI/ALINARI/AGE FOTOSTOCK were men or women, or, when in Haiti must be beyond reproach. His sister’s Initially, Pauline approved of the with Leclerc, whether they were his image was bound closely to his, and 28-year-old prince’s Mediterranean officers or Haitians who opposed the so, once again, he sought out a new good looks, not to mention the title of French Army,”says Flora Fraser, author husband for Pauline: The very rich, princess, a generous annuity, property, of Pauline Bonaparte: Venus of Empire. well-connected Prince Camillo Bor- and the use of the celebrated Borghese “The object was always to damage, by ghese, whose presence in the family jewels. But Pauline soon grew disillu- extension, her brother’s reputation.” would help Napoleon reinforce ties with sioned, and the marriage deteriorated. French-occupied Italy. They married Among other gibes, she took to calling Napoleon had his sights set on impe- in June 1803. him“His Serene Idiot.” rial power and knew that his reputation Pauline’s health had begun to trou- KING OF THE TIARA ble her. In 1804, Prince Borghese took Pauline to the baths of Pisa to recover, FOUNDER of the French jewelry house Chaumet in 1780, but he didn’t allow her to bring along Marie-Étienne Nitot was Napoleon’s official jeweler. her son. While she was away, the six- This 1811 épis de blés, or ears of wheat, tiara be­ year-old contracted a fever and died. longed to Pauline. Made of gold and silver and set with diamonds, it sold at auction in 2021 Pauline blamed the prince. Their for over $850,000. ill-suited match now ruptured, she persuaded Napoleon to FIT FOR A PRINCESS. TIARA BELONGING TO PAULINE BONAPARTE allow her to return to Paris, rather than to Rome with REPRODUCED BY KIND PERMISSION OF CHRISTIE’S Prince Borghese. Despising her husband, she once again took refuge in love affairs. 12 MARCH/APRIL 2023

VICTORIOUS VENUS Pauline Bonaparte posed for sculptor Antonio Canova, who portrayed her as the Roman goddess. Galleria Borghese, Rome.  SCALA, FLORENCE Immortal Beauty when it was completed in 1808. Seen at a litter to avoid walking. Her demands Shortly after their marriage, Borghese night by torchlight, as Canova recom- became increasingly capricious. She had commissioned Antonio Canova, mended, the figure’s smoothly polished bid her attendants to act as footstools the greatest neoclassical sculptor of the marble seemed like real flesh. Today or to lay down their cloaks on the time, to portray his new wife. The art- Pauline’s form continues to amaze vis- ground so she could rest. ist wanted a mythological theme, sug- itors to the Galleria Borghese in Rome. gesting Diana, the Roman virgin god- When Napoleon was forced into dess of hunting. Napoleon seemed to ignore most exile on St. Helena in 1815, Pauline re- of Pauline’s unconventional behavior. turned to Rome, where she lobbied the Pauline laughed at such an incongru- This choice contrasts with the man British authorities to set her brother ous idea, opting for Venus, the Roman who, when named emperor of France free. Five years later, as reports came goddess of love. Titled“Venus Victrix” in 1804, emphasized“good morals”and of Napoleon’s decline, she repeatedly (“Venus Victorious”), the resulting restricted the rights women had gained asked for permission to join him and masterpiece has endured as Pauline’s during the French Revolution. For Na- “be there when he breathes his last.” He greatest claim to fame. By having her- poleon,empire was one thing and family died in 1821 while she was still awaiting self depicted as Venus, Pauline’s innate another—and no one exemplified that a response. vanity could not be more evident. But, contrast more than his sister. as Fraser notes, it also showed her “dis- Her own health was gradually bro- regard for convention, and even an en- Loyal to the Last ken by what is believed to be stomach joyment in breaking with convention.” Pauline’s health problems worsened cancer. In 1825, 20 years after separating over the years. She experienced chron- from her husband, Pauline returned to Pauline’s decision to pose nude was ic abdominal pain and traveled from live with him in Palazzo Borghese. It was notorious at the time for a woman of spa to spa in search of relief or a cure. there that she died three months later. her station,but the sculpture’s technical She often insisted on being carried in virtuosity won widespread admiration ­ —María Pilar Queralt del Hierro NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 13

Before the Ballrooms, Tango Ruled the Streets In the slums of Buenos Aires, African and European traditions blended into a sensual new dance. Once notorious and shocking, the tango is now an Argentine national treasure. A ttheturnofthe20thcentu- a sudden suggestive pause,which set up writer Leopoldo Lugones described the ry, the well-heeled porteños another similar series of steps. dance as a“reptile from the brothel.” of Buenos Aires, out for an evening in the seedy port News spread about the dance, which First Tango in Paris neighborhoods along the Río de la Pla- people were calling the tango. Accom- ta, started noticing a dance they had panied by the melancholy sound of the What the Argentine bourgeoisie dis- never seen before. accordion-like bandoneón, it expressed dained, however, was being enthusias- sadness, passion, and, most shockingly tically embraced by fashionable society A couple—with their bodies pressed to some, sensuality. To high-society on the other side of the world in Paris. up closely against one another from Argentines, accustomed to the polite The smoldering, sensual dance ap- cheek to rib cage, and the leader’s arm formality of the waltz, this departure peared in the cabarets of Montmartre, around their partner’s waist—would from propriety was made all the more and from 1911 to 1914, the French capi- launch into intricate steps, sinuous yet offensive by its low-class origins. The tal was gripped by tango mania. Paris sharp, with dramatic turns followed by prominent Argentine intellectual and was the first capital of the tango, its 14 MARCH/APRIL 2023

DAILY LIFE DANCING COUPLES perform the tango on picture postcards from 1910. BOTH PHOTOS: AKG / ALBUM springboard to international popular- COLOR AND VERVE ity. The first tango records were made there,and the first schools were opened. TANGO emerged in various ports along the shores of the Río de la Plata, including the capital of Uruguay, Montevideo. In Buenos In his book The Memory of the Mod- Aires, one of the districts most closely associated with the dance ern, historian Matt K. Matsuda de- is the traditionally poor barrio of La Boca. There, the famously scribes its appeal as “a grasping for vibrant street, Caminito (above), was immortalized in the 1926 energies of revival in a degenerating song of the same name by tango composer Juan de Dios Filiberto, old world.” There was also the at- and sung by Carlos Gardel. traction of otherness and the exotic. A French regulation required foreign BERNARDO GALMARINI / ALAMY tango musicians to perform in national costumes, which in the case of Argen- tina were gaucho outfits that thrilled the audiences. At first, surveying the French fascination with what was be- ing called“their”dance, the Argentine elite dug in their heels. “To accept it [the tango] as ours, because it was so labeled in Paris, would be to fall into the most despicable servility,” the news- paper La Nación declared in 1913. But four years later, in the dance academies and bordellos of Buenos Aires, young upper-class men were learning the tan- go as the dance began to spread to the whole country. It Takes Many to Tango Europe, such as the polka and the hipsters of Buenos Aires, visited African- mazurka. These rhythms and sounds Argentine dance venues, brought the The origins of tango date back to the end blended with the milonga, an Afro­- dance back to their ramshackle barrios, of the 19th century, when Argentina’s Argentine form of popular dance relat- and incorporated it into the milonga. It booming agriculture-led economy be- ed to candombe, a local fusion of various was in these settings that the first steps came a magnet to some seven million African traditions. of a dance for intertwined couples began immigrants between 1870 and 1930. to develop. It combined the cuts and Many of these immigrants came from Historian Simon Collier, in his book breaks of African dances, particularly Spain and Italy,but also from central and Tango, refers to the first eyewitness de- candombe, with dances imported from eastern Europe. scription of the dance in 1877, when the Europe. African Argentines were seen doing an On the banks of the Río de la Plata, improvisation of the candombe they The compadritos, comprising immi- not only in Buenos Aires but also in called the tango, in which couples grants and unemployed native-born Montevideo, Uruguay, the Cuban- danced apart. As Collier tells it, groups gauchos, or ranch workers, struggled to influenced habanera dances of Spain of poor compadritos, the street-tough find work amid social dislocation. The met with the Viennese waltz,the Anda- majority of immigrants were men, lusian tango (an early tango-flamenco which meant competition for female mix), and folk dances from central companionship was fierce. The tango was born amid that confusion and hard- The German-made ship and expressed a frustrated search bandoneón gives the for love, a longing for the past, and the tango its iconic sound. loss of pride and honor. Poet Enrique Santos Discépolo defined tango as a“sad BANDONEÓN FROM BERLIN, MADE IN 1914 thought that is danced.” AKG/ALBUM NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 15

DAILY LIFE “EL TANGO,” an early 20th-century illustration by Georges Barbier, depicts the dance when tango mania conquered Paris. BRIDGEMAN/ACI Musicians initially played a tango As tango began to take root more 1917 “Mi Noche Triste,” the first re- on a guitar, violin, and flute, along with broadly in Argentina, lyrics became a corded vocal tango. Gardel may have a piano, when available. At the begin- fundamental part of the songs. The been French or Uruguayan (his origins ning of the 20th century, the flute was themes of these early works ranged are much debated). Wherever his replaced by the bandoneón, which from light and humorous to dark and birthplace, he moved to Buenos Aires German immigrants had brought to violent. Other subjects included the as a child and grew up in a tenement Argentina around 1835. This instru- city of Buenos Aires and tango itself. with his poor, single mother. He began ment would give the dance its signa- by performing the Creole repertoire, ture sound. Historians often attribute the start that of the native-born descendants of the tango song to Carlos Gardel’s of Spanish colonizers, be- CUTTING AND BREAKING fore turning to tango. With his trademark emo- THE TYPICAL MOVEMENTS seen in dancing the tango are tional intensity, he popu- cuts (cortes) and breaks (quebradas). They are perform­ed larized and internation- by breaking the couple’s axis, as the dancer being led alized the genre. bends over the body of the leader in a sudden turn. The moves grew out of endless improvisation in the run- By the 1920s, the tango down river port districts of Buenos Aires. could be heard on the ra- dio, on record albums, TWO MEN REHEARSE A TANGO IN A PHOTO FROM THE EARLY 1900S. and in films. Along with Gardel, most of the pop- BIBLIOTECA NACIONAL DE ESPAÑA ular singers were men, such as Agustín Magaldi and Ignacio Corsini. Women singers became 16 MARCH/APRIL 2023

THE KING OF TANGO NICKNAMED “the Wizard,” “the Creole Thrush,” or simply “the King of Tango,” Carlos Gardel is a true Argentine musical icon. He did much to transform the tango into a form of popular song and became a symbol of tango itself. With his concerts, tours, and Spanish-language films, he was a hero to those who shared his humble origins and saw his success as a vali- dation of their culture. In 1935, at the height of his career and on the verge of Hollywood star- dom, he was killed in a plane crash in Colombia at the age of 45, devastating millions of fans. Even now, fresh flowers appear on his tomb every day. CARLOS GARDEL PLAYS THE GUITAR DRESSED IN TRADITIONAL GAUCHO GARB. AKG/ALBUM quite famous too. Vocalists such as Castle introduced the dance to New After the golden age, tango music Azucena Maizani and Libertad La- York audiences in the 1913 Broadway continued to evolve into a form known marque went on to become movie musical The Sunshine Girl. It didn’t as tango nuevo, a fusion of traditional stars in the 1930s and 1940s with the take long to catch on: “All New York tango with Western art, music, and advent of talkies. Now Madly Whirling in the Tango,” jazz, led most famously by bandoneón read the New York Times headline on player Astor Piazzolla. From 1925 onward, the orchestras January 1, 1914. Other pivotal figures of Julio de Caro, Roberto Firpo, and in the American tango story are Hol- Since the turn of the 21st century, Osvaldo Fresedo filled ballrooms in lywood heartthrob Rudolph Valentino, tango music has been thriving in Ar- Buenos Aires and other cities in Ar- ballroom dancing teacher and entre- gentina, and some artists describe the gentina, as well as Montevideo, her- preneur Arthur Murray,and bandleader present moment as a new golden age, alding the golden age of the tango in Xavier Cugat. Luker says. “The dance especially is the region, which continued until the very vibrant today,” he adds, not only mid-1950s. As a dance, the tango of Although tango’s popularity declined in Argentina, but also in North Amer- the ballrooms reflected its Parisian in the U.S. with the arrival of rock-and- ica, Europe, and Asia.“There are at least influence. Shaped by European high roll in the 1950s, in Argentina it took a weekly if not nightly tango dances in society, the dance mellowed as it was further blow in 1955 with the military many … cities in the United States to- more widely accepted, like the waltz or overthrow of President Juan Perón. The day.” In 2009, in recognition of the polka, losing its edge of compadrito new regime banned large public gather- dance as an art form from the Río de la aggressiveness. ings, which included dances. It was“the Plata region of Argentina and Uruguay beginning of the end of tango’s golden that is fundamental to its identity, Coming to America age,”according to Morgan Luker, music UNESCO declared the tango an Intan- professor at Reed College and author of gible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It was this Europeanized version of The Tango Machine: Musical Culture in the tango that arrived in the United the Age of Expediency. —Braden Phillips States. Performers Vernon and Irene NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 17

WORK OF ART M ANY CU LTU RES, M ANY IN FLU ENCES The Sarcophagus of Hercules Decorated with mythological reliefs, the Velletri Sarcophagus is a masterpiece of Roman funerary art. Fusing Asian and Greek styles, it reflects a shift in Roman attitudes about the afterlife while still honoring classical legends. T he magnificent sarcophagus Victory of Samothrace” from the sec- C of Hercules, on display at the ond century b.c. D Oreste Nardini Civic Archae- ological Museum in Velletri, The sarcophagus’s gabled top is rem- E near Rome, was discovered near the iniscent of temple design. The scenes town in 1955. Standing more than five are organized by architectural elements, feet tall and measuring over eight feet a technique used by artists from Asia long, the monumental work is made all Minor. Its sides tell two distinct sto- the more imposing by the quality and ries and feature 184 figures illustrating detail of its decoration. Remarkably mythological episodes. At the base, preserved, it stands out as a unique Atlas-like figures hold the weight of the masterpiece of Roman funerary art. tiers and separate the different scenes, while female caryatids support the level The sarcophagus was carved around above. The 12 Labors of Hercules are the a.d. 150 from a block of marble quarried predominant theme of the sarcophagus. on the Greek island of Paros. For cen- Three of the four sides show the feats, turies, Parian stone was highly prized including Hercules’ descent into and by classical sculptors and used in other return from the underworld. masterpieces, including the “Winged The occupant of the sarcophagus is ab depicted on one gable end (left), about to enter the underworld. The sarcoph- agus was made during the time when Romans were transitioning from cre- mation to burial as their preferred fu- nereal practice. The work expresses the deceased’s hope that his life, like Her- cules’, will continue beyond the grave. ­—­Lucía Avial-Chicharro LABORS OF HERCULES An image of the deceased appears in the central panel on one end of the Velletri sarcophagus, surrounded by Hercules vignettes: The demigod wrestles with A the Nemean lion and fights B the many-headed hydra. On the other end (at right) Hercules’ final three labors are shown: C killing the giant Geryon; D capturing Cerberus; and E stealing the golden apples of Hesperides. MAIN SARCOPHAGUS: LEONARDO DE CESARIS/MUSEI CIVICI VELLETRI GABLE END: ALBUM

JOURNEYS TO THE UNDERWORLD In the central band, 1 Protesilaus and Alcestis return from the dead to be reunited with their respective beloveds, 2 Laodamia and Admetus. 3 Jupiter and 4 Neptune flank the rulers of the underworld: 5 Pluto and Proserpine. 1 3 5 42 89 67 ABDUCTION OF PROSERPINE The tomb’s lower band shows Pluto stealing Proserpine from 6 her mother, the goddess Ceres. 7 A scene of maidens picking flowers appears before 8 Proserpine is forced into Pluto’s chariot. At the gate of the underworld waits 9 a female figure to welcome the pair. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 19

TRIUMPH OF ENGINEERING CANAL OF XERXES An ancient account of Persian King Xerxes carving a canal through a Greek peninsula was thought to be a tall tale, but new studies suggest the engineering marvel did exist. ANTONIO PENADÉS

PERSIAN WONDERS A drainage channel encircles the Gate of All Nations, built in the mid-fifth century b.c. by King Xerxes in Persepolis, the ceremonial capital of the Persian Empire. The site is near the modern city of Shiraz in southern Iran. KONRAD ZELAZOWSKI/ALAMY/ACI

LAND AND SEA H istorians had long believed the Athens and other city-states faced when this XerxesCanal was a myth, but they mighty foe invaded their lands.The engineering This view from Mount never stopped searching for it. For prowess that built the grand city of Persepolis Athos overlooks the millennia the only evidence of this could also be utilized in the fight for control of site of what was once engineering feat was found primar- the Mediterranean. the Xerxes Canal. ily in one written source, leading many schol- It was constructed ars to scoff at the existence of a canal built so Peril at Sea across the narrowest that the mighty navy of Persia could pass through part of the Mount it in 480 b.c. The story of the canal takes place during the Athos Peninsula, Recent archaeological finds on the Mount Greco-Persian wars of the fifth century b.c. connected to the Athos Peninsula in modern-day Greece sug- Many battles, such as those at Marathon and mainland some 28 gest the engineering marvel did indeed exist. Salamis,have become famous underdog tales in miles north. Its creation is a vivid reminder of ancient Per- which the Greeks challenge a much more pow- sia’s wealth, strength, and inventiveness, which erful Persian foe—and win.The Canal of Xerx­ es NATALINO RUSSO/FOTOTECA 9X12 reveals the power of their adversaries. PERSIA 492 b.c. 490 b.c. VERSUS ATHENS Hundreds of Persian ships are The Persians are defeated by the wrecked and 20,000 men killed Athenians and their Plataean 22 MARCH/APRIL 2023 in a storm off the Mount Athos allies at Marathon. Distracted Peninsula. The fleet is part of by problems elsewhere in his Darius I’s mission to punish sprawling empire, Darius I Athenians for supporting an suspends his campaign against Ionian rebellion. Greece. He dies in 486 b.c.

The origins of the wars can be found at the dawn light and fast Persian warships were vulnerable FATHER AND SON of the fifth century b.c., when the Ionian in adverse conditions. Sitting high in the water, Greeks, who lived along the western coast of they quickly became unstable in strong winds. A silver siglos modern-day Turkey,revolted against their Per- The tempest dashed some 300 Persian ships coin from the late sian overlords. In 494 b.c., Persian ruler Dari- against the cliffs of the peninsula and killed as sixth century b.c. us the Great crushed the Ionian-Greek rebels many as 20,000 sailors. (opposite) depicts at the Battle of Lade and then destroyed the an armed Darius the Ionian city of Miletus. Having brought the Io- Two years later, in 490 b.c., Darius was hu- Great. Darius was nians to heel, Darius sought revenge against miliated by Athens on the shore at Marathon and succeeded in 486 b.c their allies—the Athenians. retreated with his forces back to Asia.Distracted by his son Xerxes, by a revolt in Egypt during his last years, Darius represented (below) From this point on, Darius’fortunes changed died without fulfilling his dream of ruling the on a Daric coin from abruptly: In 492 b.c.,as a large part of the Persian Greek world. His son and successor, Xerxes, be- the fifth century b.c. fleet rounded the peninsula of Mount Athos, gan meticulous preparations to subdue Greece a fierce storm blasted in from the north. The once and for all. DARIUS: ALAMY XERXES: ACI 483 b.c. 480 b.c. Xerxes, Darius’s successor, King Xerxes invades Greece. prepares for a new campaign His foot soldiers and cavalry against the Athenians. Work cross into Europe via two begins on cutting a canal great pontoons spanning the through the Mount Athos Hellespont (Dardanelles Strait), Peninsula, where his father’s while his navy uses the newly fleet wrecked in 492. constructed canal. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 23

IMPERIAL MOTIVATIONS A MAN, A PLAN, A CANAL feat of engineering would surely have sent a powerful message to T he storm off Mount Athos the Greeks: the Persian invasion Peninsula that devastat- was unstoppable and surrender ed the fleet of Xerxes’ fa- was the only option. Herodotus ther, Darius I, in 492 b.c., offers his own plausible theories appeared to influence Xerxes’ as to the king’s motivations: “As decision to create a canal. Never- far as I can judge by conjecture, theless, the colossal financial and Xerxes gave the command for this logistical burden of excavating a digging out of pride, wishing to canal might not have been justified display his power and leave a me- simply to avoid passing around the morial; with no trouble they could same cape. The peninsula could be have drawn their ships across the rounded by sea in only a few days. peninsula, yet he ordered them to With the benefit of the experience dig a canal from sea to sea.” The and cooperation of locals who canal therefore carried an element knew how to read the weather, it of grandstanding. Xerxes, like oth- would have been possible to avoid er Persian sovereigns, bore the title meeting another major storm. So “King of Kings.” Like many who had why did Xerxes opt to build the come before him, he seems to have canal? A superstitious fear of the shared the compulsion to leave his sea may have played a part. Then, mark on the world. of course, there was the element of propaganda. Such an audacious FATHER OF HISTORY In spring 480 b.c., Xerxes launched a massive As in the time of Darius and Xerxes, the seas amphibious attack on Greece, a campaign that around the mountainous headland of the pen- Herodotus (below in opened with spectacular displays of military insula can often be hazardous. Motivated by the a third-century a.d. engineering. Xerxes’first major logistical task catastrophic storm that devastated his father’s Roman marble bust, a in the new invasion was to ferry his vast army navy more than a decade before, Xerxes planned copy of an earlier Greek across the Dardanelles Strait (also known as the a way to avoid the treacherous waters.On arrival, work) kept the memory Hellespont) that separates Asia from Europe. the Persian navy found an even greater engi- of Xerxes Canal A pontoon bridge, constructed of boats tied neering project than the pontoon bridge that alive in his Histories. together, was strung out across the turbulent had enabled them to cross the Dardanelles: As Naples National stretch of water, nearly a mile wide. part of his long preparations for the renewed Archaeological invasion of Greece, gangs of laborers had hacked Museum Having reached the European side, Xerxes’ out a canal, over one mile long, from one side of armies marched overland along the northern the peninsula to the other. Through this chan- AKG/ALBUM Aegean coast,through the region known histor- nel, Persia’s navy would eventually pass in its ically as Thrace. The Persian navy, meanwhile, relentless advance westward. followed the coast until meeting the barrier of the Mount Athos Peninsula, just south of the Under the Lash modern-day Greek city of Thessaloniki. Virtually all the documentary evidence for the The Mount Athos Peninsula is the eastern- canal of Xerxes is found in book seven of Herod­ most of three fingerlike promontories that otus’ Histories. Writing approximately 50 stretch out from the Chalkidiki Peninsula in years after the canal was built, the Greek his- what is now mainland Greece. At its tip rises torian records that“all sorts of men in the army the 6,670-foot Mount Athos, regarded as a holy were compelled by whippings to dig a canal”in mountain in Orthodox Christianity and today operations that lasted three years. The canal home to a monastic community.

was sited at“Athos, a great and famous moun- Roda) and“much ground grain frequently came ACROSS THE WATER tain, running out into the sea and inhabited by to them from Asia.”When Xerxes’army arrived, men. At the mountain’s landward end, it is in the regular contingents set up camps, while Persia’s King Xerxes the form of a peninsula, and there is an isthmus the monarch and his escort, including his elite (seated, above) stares about twelve stadia wide; here is a place of level corps, known as the Ten Thousand Immortals, over the Dardanelles ground or little hills, from the sea by Acanthus stayed in more comfortable accommodations. Strait (then known as to the sea opposite Torone.” Hellespont) prior to After Xerxes arrived in Acanthus, the Persian launching his invasion. The length of a stadium by Herodotus’ cal- nobleman Artachaies, who had codirected the 19th-century painting, culations has long been debated, but many canal excavation, died. Artachaies was related to Jean-Adrien Guignet. historians concur that 12 stadia is consistent the king and belonged to the Achaemenid clan. Musée Rolin, Autun, with the 1.25 miles that make up the width of Clearly an imposing figure, he was described by France the peninsula at the site where the canal was Herodotus as “the tallest man in Persia … and believed to have been dug. his voice was the loudest on earth.” BRIDGEMAN/ACI Such a project required massive labor, and Xerxes ordered a magnificent funeral in his Persia had access to it. According to Herodo- honor, and the army erected his burial mound tus, it wasn’t just their own men, “compelled right next to the canal he had built. Herodotus by whipping,”who took part in the excavation described how the army poured out libations but people across the locality. As this part of for Artachaies while the Acanthians“sacrifice Thrace was under Persian control, every man of to him, calling upon his name.” If this burial military age was obliged to join the expedition mound exists, it has not yet been discovered, against Greece, and some were pressed into but its presence would be key evidence in con- digging the canal. Herodotus noted that in order firming the canal’s site. to provide food for the workers, a market was set up nearby (close to the modern town of Néa The canal’s southern end is thought to have opened onto a small pebble beach overlooking NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 25

AEGEAN SEA STORMY WEATHER In Book Six of his Histories, Herodotus recalls how Persian king Mount Athos Darius I’s fleet was wrecked in 492 b.c., when it tried to round the 6,670 ft Mount Athos Peninsula. A storm destroyed hundreds of ships and more than 20,000 men were killed. “Since the coasts of Athos abound in wild beasts, some men were carried off by beasts and so perished; others were dashed against the rocks; those who could not swim perished because of that, and still others by the cold.” Cape Kastanias Mount Athos Cape Chalkias Vatopedíou Bay Pen i n s u l a Cape Áyioi Theódhoroi THE PERSIAN Cape Arápis SHORTCUT faint traces of the xerxes canal are still discernible today in the farmland on the narrowest part of the Mount Athos Peninsula. The canal once ran between the modern-day towns of Néa Roda and Trypiti. Research carried out between 1991 and 2001 revealed that at its widest point, at the surface, the canal spanned almost one hundred feet, tapering to about 50 feet at its base. The canal bed would have been around 10 feet below sea level, deep enough for the triremes but not for heavy cargo ships. The Xerxes Canal is remarkable but not unique in the ancient world. Darius I, Xerxes’ father, had re- excavated an ancient pharaonic canal in Egypt that linked the Red Sea with the Nile Delta. That canal had a maximum width of almost 150 feet at the surface and was over 16 feet deep.  MAP: NG MAPS ILUSTRATION: SANTI PÉREZ Scale varies in this perspective. Sailing distance around the Athos Peninsula from Néa Róda to Trypiti is 75 miles. Xerxes Canal was 1.25 miles long.

Sithonías Peninsula Kassándra Peninsula Vourvourou Kassándras Gulf Níkiti Ágios Nikólaos Agiou Orous Gulf Ammoulianí I. XERXES CANAL Trypiti Néa Róda Ierissós Ierissoú Gulf DIRECTION OF VIEW GREECE Aegean Sea Athens PELOPONNESUS Isthmus of Corinth Ionian Sea Mediterranean Sea Cape Elefthera

CONSTRUCTION TACTICS PHOENICIAN had to dig the channel much wider than necessary at the top, “and so FLAIR showed the same skill in this as in all else they do; taking in hand the H erodotus recorded in portion that fell to them, they dug his Histories the Persian by making the topmost span of the methods for assigning canal as wide again as the canal work when building the was to be, and narrowed it as they canal between 483 and 480 b.c. worked lower, until at the bottom Groups of people drew lots for their work was of the same span as excavating sections; often these that of the others.” The investiga- teams were comprised of peoples tion carried out by archaeologists who had been subsumed into the between 1991 and 2001 confirmed Persian Empire. Laborers from that some sections indeed had been Phoenicia, the skilled maritime dug on the slant while others were culture from what is now Lebanon, vertical in nature. Structural differ- stood out for their engineering ences across sections of the chan- prowess. Workers in other groups nel corroborate Herodotus’ descrip- attempted to dig straight down, tion of various groups apparently causing, as Herodotus wrote, “the following their own techniques, steep sides of the canal to cave in, offering insights into the multicultural doubling their labor; since they aspects of the construction work. made the span the same breadth at its mouth and at the bottom, this was bound to happen.” The Phoenicians, however, knew they FRENCH the inner bay, near a village called Trypiti. Here others as they received it, until they came to INVESTIGATION the terrain is uneven, which would have com- those that were highest; these carried it out and plicated the excavation work.While the workers threw it away.”Some of the excavated rock was In 1809, the French dug through layers of relatively soft sediment in used to build breakwaters at either end of the diplomat and traveler other sections of the canal, at this southern end channel, to prevent waves from eroding it and Count Choiseul- the ground is harder to penetrate.It is difficult to to stop the channel from silting up. Gouffier explored imagine how the workers managed to dig down the northern Aegean as much as 80 feet to reach sea level at this point Some time later, Xerxes departed and led his and argued for the of the channel where it lies between two hills. ground troops west toward the city of Terme existence of the When Demetrius of Scepsis, a Greek scholar (present-day Thessaloniki). He ordered his Xerxes Canal. writing in the second century b.c.,examined this admirals to advance Persia’s ships through the section, he judged it impossible for the Persians canal and then direct them to Terme, to re- ALAMY/ACI to channel through the rocky terrain. join Xerxes and the ground forces there, which means it is unlikely Xerxes witnessed the fleet Herodotus recounts how the digging work sailing through the engineering marvel that was assigned to different working groups who bears his name. worked solidly for three years. As the Persians were able to count on almost unlimited labor Legend or Landmark from across the region and beyond, the project could go ahead with only rudimentary tech- Since few detailed descriptions of Xerxes niques. Herodotus wrote:“When the channel Canal (except those from Herodotus) have had been dug to some depth, some men stood survived to the modern age, the idea prevailed at the bottom of it and dug, others took the dirt that his claim was an exaggeration or an out- as it was dug out and delivered it to yet others right invention. The mystery of the canal’s that stood higher on stages, and they again to existence lingered for millennia. In the 19th century, interest blossomed in ascertaining

whether traces of Xerxes’canal could be found. actual proof of the canal would begin to come ON THE Marie-Gabriel-Florent-Auguste de Choiseul- to light. OTHER SIDE Gouffier (1752-1817) was a French count who served as ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. From 1991 to 2001, a multidisciplinary team In 480 b.c., Persian Passionate about ancient Greek history, he of British and Greek geophysicists, topogra- sailors exiting the traveled the Aegean Sea aboard a frigate and phers, and archaeologists worked extensively canal on the peninsula in 1809 published the second volume of his on the site. It was a major collaboration involv- would have gazed chronicle Picturesque Journey through Greece, ing the National Observatory of Athens, the upon Mount Athos in which he argues that a canal had once exist- British School of Athens, and universities in (above) from this ed, cutting straight through the Mount Athos Leeds and Glasgow in the U.K. and Patras and perspective, before Peninsula. He even drew up a plan showing the Thessaloniki in Greece. Benedikt Isserlin, from their boats resumed measurements and sections in accordance with the University of Leeds, and later Richard Jones, the westward journey. Herodotus’account. The romantic tone of his from the University of Glasgow, directed the travelogue, however, and the absence of any decade-long project. JAN WLODARCZYK/FOTOTECA 9X12 rigorous scientific method led to his claims being dismissed. On the Isthmus of Corinth, the spit of land that links the Peloponnese Peninsula to the In 1847, the Royal Geographical Society of mainland, researchers have uncovered evi- London published topographical studies carried dence of boats supported on wooden cylin- out by the sailor and geologist Thomas Spratt. ders or wheeled platforms, which would have These scientific findings did seem to corrobo- been dragged by slaves or animals along a stone rate the existence of the canal as described by causeway from one coast to the other. Isserlin Herodotus. What had seemed a typically tall wanted to first check whether such a causeway tale was now gaining plausibility, but it would existed on the Mount Athos Peninsula and con- not be until the end of the 20th century that sider whether it could explain how Xerxes’fleet had made the crossing. When no evidence of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 29

BRIDGING THE GAP CROSSING THE HELLESPONT their decks, lined with a thick layer of packed earth to prevent slippage. P ersian engineering prow­ Finally, palisades were erected ess is evident in the forti­ along the sides of each pontoon fications at Babylon and to prevent the horses from being Ecbatana as well as in the frightened by the sight of the sea. bridges across major rivers. The The bridge was as much a state­ pontoon bridges crossed by Xer­ ment of Persian power as any piece xes’ army over the Dardanelles of military infrastructure. The strait Strait in 480 b.c. were the fruit of represented a profound regional the empire’s long experience in in­ symbol to the Greeks. According to frastructure projects. Herodotus Greek mythology, it is here that the recounts how almost 700 ships twin siblings, Phrixus and Helle, are were lined up in parallel rows to saved from their murderous step­ span the strait, which is slightly mother by a magical golden ram more than one mile across. The that ferries them across the strait boats—triremes from the Persian (in some versions of the tale, the fleet and civilian craft from nearby ram swims while in others it flies). towns—were tied to each other Helle, however, falls off the ram’s with ropes made of flax, papyrus, back and drowns, which is why the and Phoenician linen, pulled taut by strait in antiquity was known as the windlasses positioned on the shore. Hellespont—Sea of Helle. After the boats spanned the strait, wooden walkways were laid across FATAL CROSSING such a causeway came to light, the team went and mining prospecting, including seismic ahead with geophysical tests to see if they could tests and refraction and reflection techniques. Phrixus tries to save locate a canal. With heavy hammers they struck metal pieces his twin sister, Helle embedded in the ground. They then used geo- (below), from drowning Exciting initial results showed there had in- phones to record the strength and direction in the Dardanelles deed been some kind of ancient excavation in of the impulses generated. They calculated Strait, also known as the middle of the peninsula, about 50 feet above the depth of subsoil layers by measuring the the Hellespont in her sea level and some 65 feet deep. Taking into time for the volumetric waves to pass through honor. These waters account that the sea level of the Mediterranean them. They then linked  subterranean points were bridged by has risen more than three feet in the last 2,500 that showed similar acoustic transmission. Persian pontoons in years, the team calculated that the depth of the They also performed electrical discharge and 480 b.c. Painting, first seawater in the channel would then have been georadar (GPR) tests to get a clearer picture of century a.d., Pompeii. how the canal was structured. about 10 feet. They drilled nine BRIDGEMAN boreholes, which allowed them Radiocabon dating of the organic elements to analyze the layers of the sub- and high-resolution satellite images were de- soil. In the upper section (about finitive. Using their findings, the researchers 30 feet down), they found several created a three-dimensional digital representa- ancient layers of silt. Then came a tion of the canal.The Greek-British joint project vital clue below that: a dense bed proved not only that some kind of channel had of reddish solidified sand extend- existed there but also settled the contentious ing for just over a mile. Here were issue of whether it could have run all the way the canal’s foundations—a wide, from one coast to the other. solid base. At first, the team had shared the doubts of For a decade, researchers on the generations of skeptics who believed a channel site used methods typical of oil

could not have been cut across the rocky south- The size of the canal was not amendable HISTORY LOGGED ern part of the peninsula. But the discovery to larger trading vessels, so it appears it was of the channel bed, the measurements made used only for smaller military ships. There Phoenician sailors through seismic waves, and the stratigraphic is, however, a plausible theory as to why this create the walkway analysis of the subsoil told a different story. infrastructure disappeared relatively quickly: for the Persian The team also confirmed the channel had been In 479 b.c., the Persian forces were defeated at pontoon across the constructed with sloping sides and measure- the Battle of Plataea, and the inhabitants of the Hellespont (above) ments aligned with those of Herodotus’s de- Mount Athos Peninsula were freed from the in a 1915 illustration scription:“from sea to sea, wide enough to float Persian yoke. It follows that they might allow an from the popular book two triremes rowed abreast.”Since the bottom enemy-built canal to silt up naturally, or even Hutchinson’s History of the channel turned out to be as wide as 50 fill it in themselves, thereby obliterating the of the Nations. feet, with the outward sloping walls the nav- landmark that symbolized their oppression. igable space at the surface indeed would have KEN WELSH/BRIDGEMAN/ACI reached the width necessary for two triremes CLASSICAL HISTORIAN ANTONIO PENADÉS HAS WRITTEN WIDELY ON to row abreast. CLASSICAL AND ANCIENT GREECE, INCLUDING BOOKS ON SPARTA AND MOUNT ATHOS. Having proved the canal’s existence, re- Learn more searchers still ponder the question of why the Xerxes Canal disappeared, both in its Persians: The Age of Great Kings physical from and—apart from Herodotus’s Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones. Basic Books, 2022. account—from Greek memory. No marine The Histories remains, such as shells, have shown up in the Herodotus Editor, John M. Marincola. Penguin Classics, 2003. sediments on the canal bed, suggesting that the channel was filled with seawater for only a short period of time. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 31



SOLDIERS AND BEASTS The Apadana (Audience Hall) at Persepolis was begun in the sixth century b.c. by Darius the Great and later completed by his son, Xerxes. Reliefs on the frieze covering the eastern stairs depict eight soldiers flanked by figures of a bull being mauled by a lion. PRISMA BY DUKAS PRESSEAGENTUR GMBH/ALAMY

ODYSSEUS RETURN OF THE KING

POWER OF WORDS With their irresistible song, the sirens tempt Odysseus. Oil painting, 1891, J.W. Waterhouse, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Below: A circa 1300 b.c. tablet inscribed in Linear B script was found at the Mycenaean Palace in Pylos. Archaeological Museum, Chora, Greece PAINTING: BRIDGEMAN/ACI TABLET: SCALA, FLORENCE Odysseus, the wandering hero of Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, was a mythological character, but the real Bronze Age kingdom where he longs to return can be glimpsed amid the fantasy and myth. JUAN PIQUERO

for the Greeks. The Odyssey recounts his return home to his kingdom, wife Penelope, and son Telemachus. The voyage should have taken days, but instead it stretches across a decade because Odysseus has drawn the ire of Po- seidon, god of the sea. Time after time, the enraged god thwarts Odysseus’ progress, yet the wily Odysseus manages to survive to try again to reach home. Although it was written down centuries later, The Odyssey is set in Mycenaean Greece during the middle of the Bronze Age,between 1600 and 1200 b.c. Historians believe that The Odyssey incorporates earlier oral traditions from that period while reflecting the cultural norms of Homer’s era. There are still some insights to be gleaned about life during the Mycenaean period or just after through Odysseus’ travels, making it not only a thrilling trickster tale but also an important historical snapshot. TROJAN HORSE F romAnansi,thespiderofWestAfrican Wandering and Waiting folklore, to Loki, the shape-shifter of Odysseus devised the Norse mythology, tricksters are some The OdysseybeginsyearsafterthefallofTroy.On clever way to sneak of the most entertaining characters the island of Ithaca, Penelope and Telemachus the Greek army inside in stories all over the world. Neither hope for Odysseus’ return. The patient Penelope the walls of Troy: the strongest, the fleetest, nor the best look- is besieged by suitors,who presume Odysseus is by hiding it inside a ing,the tricksters triumph through their brains, deadandarehopingtomarry herandruleIthaca. giant wooden horse, not their brawn. One of the world’s oldest and Penelope has promised that she will choose a an episode depicted best known is Odysseus, whose quick thinking new husband when she has finished weaving (above) on a vase gets him out of one predicament after another a funeral shroud for Odysseus’father, Laertes. from Mykonos. 7th in The Odyssey, a circa eighth-century b.c. epic To buy time, at night she has been secretly century b.c. attributed to the Greek poet Homer. unraveling the work she had done that day, Odysseus first appears in another work at- all the while holding out hope for Odysseus’ WHITE IMAGES/SCALA, FLORENCE tributed to Homer, The Iliad, which tells the return.Telemachus,encouraged by the god- story of a feud between Achilles and Agamem- dess Athena,has begun searching for his fa- non during the 10-year war between the Greeks ther,much to the displeasure of the suitors. and Trojans.The king of Ithaca,Odysseus fights Meanwhile, Odysseus has spent seven years waylaid on a nymph’s island. The im- mortal Calypso is in love with him and will not let him go, but Odysseus continues to long for home. The gods intercede and com- mand her to release him. He sets out on a raft and reaches the island of the Phaeacians, to whom he LIFE IN THE 1550-1500 b.c. 1450 b.c. BRONZE AGE Mycenaean artists create the The Mycenaeans invade gold Mask of Agamemnon, the island of Crete and which will be discovered adopt writing and artistic by archaeologist Heinrich techniques from the Schliemann in a.d. 1876. Minoan civilization there.

RAGE OF THE GODS With characteristic cunning, Odysseus intoxicates and blinds the Cyclops Polyphemus, son of the sea god Poseidon. Fresco by Pellegrino Tibaldi, 1550-1551, Palazzo Poggi Museum, Bologna GHIGO ROLI/ALBUM 1200-1190 b.c. ca 1100 b.c. ca Eighth century b.c. Sixth century b.c. The Hittites and The late Bronze Age Homer’s epic poems, The The Odyssey has become Mycenaeans clash, and collapse brings Mycenaean Iliad and The Odyssey, are one of ancient Greece’s their battles are believed dominance to an end and written down, most likely canonical texts, regularly to inspire tales of the disrupts many cultures based on older tales passed performed at festivals and Trojan War. around the Mediterranean. on through oral tradition. studied in schools.

Paliki Peninsula MAP HOMEWARD AREA BOUND IONIAN SEA ODYSSEUS was the king of Ithaca, but scholars have been arguing KEFALONIA for centuries about where his king- dom really was. Trying to pin down Ithaca Strait the geographic locations mentioned in the Homeric epics became popular in the early ITHACA 20th century, after archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann uncovered the remains of Troy in N what is now Turkey. Researchers then began the tricky task of trying to trace Odysseus’ 10-year voyage. There is a modern Greek island called Ithaca, but the place referred to by Homer is thought by some research- ers to correspond to the Paliki Peninsula on Kefalonia. Finds that date to the Mycenaean era suggest that a kingdom did once exist there. At that time, the peninsula would have been a small island separated from the rest of Kefalonia by a strait that was later filled by several earthquakes, a fact that first- century b.c. geographer Strabo reported. SPACEPHOTOS/AGE FOTOSTOCK COMMANDER’S FACE reveals his true identity and tells the story of his The goddess Athena disguises Odysseus as 10-year voyage since the end of the Trojan War. an old beggar so he can enter the palace unde- Heinrich Schliemann tected. The ruse fools almost everyone, except excavated Mycenae in The audience is enthralled by Odysseus, whose for Odysseus’ loyal dog, Argos, who has been the 19th century and troubles begin when his men are trapped by the waiting for his master’s return: found a gold funerary Cyclops Polyphemus. Odysseus craftily gets the mask (below), now monster drunk and blinds him when he passes Twenty years associated with out. Odysseus taunts the enraged Polyphemus had passed since Argos saw Odysseus, Agamemnon. Circa and tells him his name. The Cyclops then prays and now he saw him for the final time— 1500 b.c., National to his father, the god Poseidon, to curse the king then suddenly, black death took hold of him. Archaeological and force him to wander for 10 years. Museum, Athens The king reveals himself to his son, and the Odysseus escapes numerous perils, like the two hatch a plan for revenge.Odysseus will em- FINE ART/SCALA, FLORENCE cannibalistic Laestrygonians and the sorceress ploy another trick and ask Penelope to offer her hand in marriage to the man who can string Circe,who turns his men into swine.He takes Odysseus’ bow and shoot an arrow through 12 a trip to the underworld, withstands ax heads. After winning the contest, Odysseus the deadly sirens’song, and navigates throws off his disguise and rains arrows on the the treacherous waters between the suitors until he has killed them all. Penelope monsters Scylla and Charybdis. reunites with her husband,and peace is restored Along the way, his fleet wrecks, and to Ithaca. his men are lost. Moved by his story, the Phaeacians deliver Odysseus to Ithaca, where he: after so long a wait and so much pain, Myth and History was filled with happiness at last. In joy he kissed the fertile earth of his own country, Historians have found no hard evidence of an then lifted high his arms and prayed… ancient Greek king named Odysseus. While the man may not have existed, scholars believe 38 MARCH/APRIL 2023

HOME SWEET HOME The Greek island of Kefalonia and its Paliki Peninsula are believed by some experts to be the likely site of The Odyssey’s kingdom of Ithaca. ALAMY/CORDON PRESS



ENCHANTED ISLE Inspired by the story of Circe’s enchantments of Odysseus’ men, Edward Burne-Jones’s 19th-century work depicts the sorceress, accompanied by fierce panthers, preparing a potion as Odysseus and his crew arrive on her shores. Private collection ALBUM/BRIDGEMAN

THESE SHAFT GRAVES (KNOWN AS CIRCLE A) AT MYCENAE IN THE PELOPONNESE, GREECE, WERE CONSTRUCTED IN THE 16TH CENTURY B.C. THE ELITE WERE BURIED IN THIS TYPE OF TOMB IN THE EARLY MYCENAEAN PERIOD. REINHARD SCHMID/FOTOTECA 9X12 THE KING’S MAN the Mycenaean kingdom of Ithaca certainly did. king) similar to the one mentioned in connec­ Its precise location is unknown,but many think tion with the king in texts from Pylos. Odysseus relies on Odysseus’ Ithaca was located on the Ionian is­ the faithful swineherd land of Kefalonia on Paliki Peninsula,which was AnotherfeatureofTheOdysseythatechoesthe Eumaeus (below) to a small island in the Bronze Age. historical Mycenaean sources is the presence of defeat the villainous servants,many of whom are enslaved.The nurse suitors. Drawing The Homeric writer’s choice of words of­ Eurycleia, who cared for Odysseus when he was a by John Flaxman, fers glimpses into Mycenaean civilization and child, plays a key role. When the disguised Odys­ featured in Stories its influence on later culture. For example, two seus arrives at the palace, she bathes him in ac­ From Homer by Rev. different words for king are used: Odysseus is cordance with the rules of Greek hospitality.She Alfred J. Church, 1878. described variously as the anax and the basile- notices a distinctive scar that reveals Odysseus’ us of Ithaca. The word “anax” is typical of the true identity but keeps the king’s secret. Oth­ BRIDGEMAN/ACI Mycenaean period, while “basileus” dates to a er domestic slaves are mentioned, such as the later period. women whom Telemachus punishes by death for having had sexual relations with the suitors. The wealth of the Mycenaean kings was pri­ marily based on the large-scale farming of pigs, There are major differences between the goats, sheep, and cows. Both the Mycenaean king’s oikos, or residence, as described in The texts and The Odyssey speak of the king owning Odyssey and what is known about the how Myce­ large numbers of livestock. The central role of naean palaces were run. For example, Mycenaean animal husbandry is highlighted through three palaces seem to have functioned as production characters in The Odyssey: Eumaeus (a swine­ hubs with artisans and slaves creating pottery, herd), Melanthius (a goatherd), and Philoetius glassware, and metalwork from raw materials brought to the palace. For their work, they were (a cowherd).When Odysseus is reunited with paid in land and food rations. These kinds of his father, Laertes, at the end of his journey, workers are missing from the The Odyssey. the old man is tending his vines, perhaps suggesting that he has a temenos As described by Homer,the Mycenaean peo­ (terrain set aside for a deity or ple were organized into kingdoms. Odysseus was 42 MARCH/APRIL 2023

SIGNS AND SCARS Eurycleia, Odysseus’ old nurse, sees through his disguise and recognizes a childhood scar as she washes his feet. Oil painting, Gustave Boulanger, 19th century, National School of Fine Arts, Paris BEAUX-ARTS DE PARIS/RMN-GRAND PALAIS

HOMER A MARBLE LIKENESS SEARCHING OF THE POET WAS CARVED FOR HOMER IN ROME IN THE SECOND CENTURY A.D. AFTER A HOMER’S EPICS have been intriguing GREEK ORIGINAL FROM THE and entertaining audiences all over SECOND CENTURY B.C. LOUVRE the world for centuries. From film MUSEUM, PARIS to television, from page to stage, The Iliad and The Odyssey are well known WHITE IMAGES/SCALA FLORENCE for their riveting drama, fascinating char- acters, and timeless subjects and themes. These familiar stories have been studied and taught for centuries, but little is known about their author, the poet Homer. His birth date ranges between the 12th and eighth centuries b.c. Scholars are not sure exactly where he was born; leading candidate loca- tions include the coast of Anatolia (what is now Turkey), Ionia, Thrace, and the island of Chios. Both The Iliad and The Odyssey are attributed to him, but he did not originate these stories. Many scholars believe that Homer may have been the first to write them down, an action which granted him fame that has endured for millennia. SLINGS the son of Laertes and inherited the kingdom suitors pledge an oath to come to Helen and her AND ARROWS when he reached maturity. The description of husband’s aid if she were ever abducted.They all the palace complex in Ithaca is corroborated agree,and in doing so,form the alliance that will Odysseus, king of by other Mycenaean texts. Kings did rule from fight against Troy when Paris,one of its princes, Ithaca (below), draws their palaces. These impressive complexes steals Helen from her husband,Menelaus.Oth- his bow against the serve not only as a residence for the royal fam- er contemporary historical sources point to the suitors who have ily, guests, and servants, but also as an admin- existence of a Mycenaean confederation,which occupied his palace. istrative center where income from the king’s is referred to collectively as the kingdom of Ah- Drawing by André lands and herds is traded or paid. hiyawa in circa 1400-1220 b.c. Hittite texts and Bonamy, 1914. Tanaja in 15th-century b.c. Egyptian sources. How Mycenaean kingdoms were governed WHITE IMAGES/SCALA, FLORENCE and how they related to each other is not clear The Odyssey has endured for centuries be- from history.Besides Homeric epics,other tales cause it is a rollicking tale full of common hu- man experiences, like the longing for home of the Trojan War describe a confederation and family, coupled with fantastic monsters of kingdoms that banded together against a and villains. Its longevity has helped preserve common enemy. The origin of this alliance it, not only as a good yarn, but also as a win- dow into Mycenaean Greece and its kings of is traced back to Odysseus and the many long ago. suitors for the most beautiful women in the world. Powerful Mycenaean kings pre­ HISTORIAN JUAN PIQUERO IS ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF CLASSICS sent themselves as suitors for Helen,and her AT UNED UNIVERSITY, MADRID, SPAIN. father, King Tyndareus, fears that they will turn against Sparta if he does not choose them. Learn more Clever Odysseus, after turning his attentions to Helen’s cousin Penelope, offers Tyndareus a The Odyssey solution if he promises Penelope to him (which By Homer. Translated by Emily Wilson. he does). Odysseus tells the Spartan king that W. W. Norton & Company, 2018. before betrothing Helen he must make all the

PENELOPE’S PLAN Penelope, Odysseus’ wife, delays the suitors’ attentions by pretending to weave a shroud, visible on a loom, for her father-in-law. Oil painting, 1900, Victor John Robertson PETER NAHUM AT THE LEICESTER GALLERIES, LONDON/BRIDGEMAN/ACI

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