Rome -- More Images -- Episode 07: Thrown into the Tiber

Описание: Dead emperors, dead popes, dead criminals, statues, garbage, sewage, …so much has been thrown into the Tiber River over the years – yes, including human remains!

Hello everyone. This is Fr. John Wykes, OMV, with more images of Rome. Today we explore the bizarre and creepy history of Rome’s main river. We talk about stuff that has been Thrown into the Tiber.

After the founding of Rome, the Tiber then became a very important way to transport goods. Grain, wood, and food were all shipped on these waters.

It wasn’t long before the bodies of executed criminals were thrown into the Tiber. No joke. Criminals were executed on an ancient stairway on the Capitoline Hill and their bodies cast into the river. Sewage began to be dumped into the Tiber as well. As difficult as it might be to imagine, many Romans had to rely on this polluted river for drinking water, though most got the water from a complex system of aqueducts.

Emperor of Rome for only 8 months, Aulus Vitellius was killed by supporters of his successor, Vespasian, in 69 AD. Dragged out of hiding, Vitellius was killed on a famous stairway on the Capitoline Hill. His last words were, “Yet, I was once your emperor!” After Vitellius was assassinated, his body was thrown into the Tiber.

The famous Battle of the Milvian Bridge occurred on October 28, 312 AD. The evening before, Constantine had a vision in which he was promised victory if he fought under the sign of the Chi-Ro. The next day, Constantine’s forces broke through the forces of Maxentius (a rival to Constantine’s power). Many of Maxentius’ fighters fell into the Tiber and drowned. Maxentius himself ended up in the Tiber – either by falling off his horse or otherwise trying to swim away. Either way, he, too, drowned in these waters. Later his body was taken out of the river and decapitated.

In the 5th Century, the Visigoths raided Hadrian’s Mausoleum (today we know it as the Castel Sant’Angelo). Inside were the ashes of Hadrian and his wife, along with the ashes of other Emperors. The Visigoths looted the Mausoleum and, you guessed it, threw the ashes of the Emperors into the Tiber River.

Perhaps the most bizarre incident involving the Tiber was the Cadaver Synod of 897. Pope Formosus had been dead for seven months, but that didn’t stop his ambitious and corrupt successor, Pope Steven VI, from putting him on trial. Much to the dismay of many clergy Pope Steven had the dead body of Pope Formosus exhumed. The corpse was dressed in pontifical vestments and seated upright in a chair. The accused cadaver then stood trial for perjury and for violating canon law. Found guilty, the lifeless body of Pope Formosus was disrobed, his fingers of blessing amputated, and the corpse then thrown into the Tiber, but it washed up on the river banks later on. Pope Steven’s successor nullified the Cadaver Synod and had the body of Pope Formosus given a proper papal burial at St. Peter’s Basilica.

Over the years, improvements have been made to clean up the Tiber. Still, even in our own 21st Century, there is a fascination with throwing things into these famous waters.

In 2015, the James Bond film Spectre did some location shooting for an exciting car chase along the River. As part of the action, the famed Aston Martin was plunged into the Tiber.

In 2019, an Austrian man was offended by a display at a Roman church – a display intended to celebrate Amazonian life in conjunction with the Amazon Synod that was taking place at that time. The man took two carved images, depicting pregnant women, and, you guessed it, threw them into the Tiber. The statues were recovered and Pope Francis asked for forgiveness from those who were offended, insisting that the statues had been displayed “without idolatrous intentions.”

Every year, New Year’s Day is when brave swimmers voluntarily dive off the Cavour Bridge and into the cold waters of the Tiber. Men have been jumping into the river on New Year’s Day since the 1940s.

These waters have witnessed some amazing events over the last 3,000 years. It is clear that the history of the Tiber River is far from over.