EPISODE · May 13, 2026 · 54 MIN
Part 2: Meroe - The Head of Caesar
from Vanished Worlds · host Vanished Worlds
In 25 BC, a Kushite queen led thirty thousand soldiers north and took three Roman cities. She brought the head of Augustus Caesar back to the desert and ordered it buried face-up beneath a temple threshold, so that everyone who climbed those steps would walk unknowingly over the emperor's face. She then won the peace negotiation. The Kushite account of this war — carved in forty-five rows of a script that has been phonetically readable since 1909 — sits in the British Museum. We cannot understand a single sentence of it. Part 2 of 2.
What this episode covers
In 25 BC, a Kushite queen led thirty thousand soldiers north and took three Roman cities. She brought the head of Augustus Caesar back to the desert and ordered it buried face-up beneath a temple threshold, so that everyone who climbed those steps would walk unknowingly over the emperor's face. She then won the peace negotiation. The Kushite account of this war — carved in forty-five rows of a script that has been phonetically readable since 1909 — sits in the British Museum. We cannot understand a single sentence of it. Part 2 of 2.
NOW PLAYING
Part 2: Meroe - The Head of Caesar
No transcript for this episode yet
Similar Episodes
Apr 12, 2026 ·137m
Mar 5, 2026 ·175m
Feb 17, 2026 ·56m
Feb 10, 2026 ·50m