Roman Statues Found in Blue Grotto Cave

Discovery.com ^ | 9/28/09 | Rossella Lorenzi

[NormsRevenge]

Sept. 28, 2009 -- A number of ancient Roman statues might lie beneath the turquoise waters of the Blue Grotto on the island of Capri in southern Italy, according to an underwater survey of the sea cave.

Dating to the 1st century A.D., the cave was used as a swimming pool by the Emperor Tiberius (42 B.C. - 37 A.D.), and the statues are probably depictions of sea gods.

"A preliminary underwater investigation has revealed several statue bases which might possibly hint to sculptures lying nearby," Rosalba Giugni, president of the environmentalist association, Marevivo, told Discovery News.

Carried out in collaboration with the archaeological superintendency of Pompeii, the Marevivo project aims at returning the Blue Grotto to its ancient glory by placing identical copies of Tiberius' statues where they originally stood.

Celebrated for the almost phosphorescent blue tones of the water and the mysterious silvery light flowing through fissures in the rocks, the Grotta Azzurra, as the cave is called in Italian, is one of the top attractions in Capri.

The island was the capital of the Roman empire between 27 and 37 A. D., when Tiberius made a permanent home there to take advantage of the mild climate and its seclusion.

[NormsRevenge]

Vasco Fronzoni

Dating to the 1st century A.D., Italy's Blue Grotto cave was used as a swimming pool by
the Emperor Tiberius (42 B.C. - 37 A.D.), and newly found statues there are depictions
of sea gods. This statue is the Greek god Triton, who was the son of Poseidon (Neptune,
for the Romans), god of the sea.

[yarddog]

I would be surprised if there were not all kinds of relics on that island. I mean it was the prime vacation spot for the Roman elite.

[fwdude]

So THAT’S where I left them...

[maine-iac7]

[ccmay]

I was there this summer on a day trip, but missed out on the Blue Grotto due to high seas. Oh well, a good excuse to go back to Capri and stay a few days.

[Cacique]

btt

[MrDem]

Ok Bible Wonks! If the date was 42 B.C. - 37 A.D., shouldn’t this guy have been the Cesar during Christ time? But I thought that was Augustus Caesar.

[Bernard Marx]

I had to do a reality check on this one. The statue pictured was discovered in 1964 — 45 years ago. The story’s headline is wildly inaccurate: no new statues have been found since then, just bases that “might possibly hint” at the presence of additional statues nearby. More journalistic and tourist-promotion “license.”

[icwhatudo]

Nice to see more and more that the CE and BCE crap is being dropped.

[SkyPilot]

Nice to see more and more that the CE and BCE crap is being dropped.

Amen!

[yarddog]

I am pretty sure Tiberius was the emperor when Christ was crucified. I can’t recall off hand who was when he was born.

Maybe Augustus?

[penguino]

Thanks for the cool photos!

[FourPeas]

Yep, Augustus when Jesus was born.

[wxgesr]

I find it hard to believe this story’s headlines. I have been there many times and I would think that the bottom of this grotto had been searched a lot. Even new coins, tourists love to throw coins in water for some reason.

[count-your-change]

I think you have it right per Luke.

[ancientart]

Ok Bible Wonks! If the date was 42 B.C. - 37 A.D., shouldn’t this guy have been the Cesar during Christ time? But I thought that was Augustus Caesar.

Augustus took sole control of Rome after the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium (31 BC). There followed a few years of uncertainty as to what constitutional road Rome would follow, but historians generally use 27 BC-AD 14 as the dates of his rule as emperor. This includes the year Christ was born. Tiberius took over at Augustus death in AD 14, and continued to rule until his own death in AD 37. Tiberius was emperor at the time Jesus was crucified.

[MrDem]

Great answer. So “acientart”, do you have any under $100 roman antiquities for sale? :)

[conservativegramma]

Ok Bible Wonks! If the date was 42 B.C. - 37 A.D., shouldn’t this guy have been the Cesar during Christ time? But I thought that was Augustus Caesar.

Ok I'll bite.

#1 - Tiberius was BORN in 42 B.C. His reign was 14-37 A.D. http://www.roman-emperors.org/tiberius.htm

#2 - Augustus was Caesar at the birth of Christ - Luke 2:1-5 - "Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. 4Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, 5in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child."

Augustus was actually born with the name Octavius and was a nephew of Julius Caesar. He reigned as Augustus from 34 B.C. to 14 A.D. but he had a role much earlier on during the period of the 2nd Triumverate as early as 43 B.C. But it wasn't until he had defeated Marc Antony & Cleopatra that he was declared Caesar and changed his name to Augustus in 34 B.C. He died in 14 A.D. and Tiberius became Caesar.

#3 - Tiberius Caesar was on the throne during the period of the crucifixion of Christ. Luke 3:1 - "Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene,"

Any more questions???

[what's up]

Tiberius didn't become Caesar until 14 AD.

Augustus was the Caesar during Christ's birth.

Tiberius was the Caesar during Christ's ministry.