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00:00Four submarines mysteriously vanish without a trace.
00:05Four submarines, each from a different nation, vanish, killing a combined 318 sailors.
00:13The location of the tomb of one of history's most feared rulers remains a mystery.
00:20His burial was designed to be an act of erasure,
00:23ensuring that no one, not even his closest followers, could reveal the location of his final resting place.
00:32So where is it?
00:34The treasure of one of the world's most infamous pirates is lost to time.
00:39Blackbeard's fearsome image included his infamous Jolly Roger flag,
00:44a chilling symbol threatening inevitable death.
00:47With this heavily armed ship, he unleashed terror on the high seas,
00:51amassing a fortune that, legend has it, remains hidden to this day.
00:56But if that's true, where did he hide the treasure?
00:59The chain of history has many missing links.
01:04Prominent people, priceless treasures, extraordinary artifacts,
01:09their locations still unknown, lost to the fog of time.
01:14What happens when stories of the past become vanished history?
01:21The great Genghis Khan, who ruled over millions and reshaped the course of history,
01:41left behind one of the world's greatest mysteries, the location of his tomb.
01:45Genghis Khan wasn't just a conqueror, he was a force of nature.
01:53Born as Temujin around 1162, he unified the Mongol tribes and carved out an empire
01:58that spanned around 12 million square miles at its peak from the Pacific Ocean to Eastern Europe.
02:08Surprisingly, there are actually still debates about the exact cause of Khan's death.
02:13Some say he died from injuries after falling from his horse,
02:17or from the plague, or from an infection after being shot with an arrow.
02:21Some have even claimed a Tenguk princess from northwestern China,
02:25stabbed, or even castrated him.
02:29Legend has it that his soldiers buried him and killed anyone in their path.
02:34Then they rode a thousand horses over the ground to erase any sign of his grave,
02:38and the 2,000 slaves who took part in the burial were executed to keep the tomb's location a secret forever.
02:45His burial was designed to be an act of erasure,
02:49ensuring that no one, not even his closest followers,
02:53could reveal the location of his final resting place.
02:57So where is it?
02:58The search for the tomb of Genghis Khan has become as vast as the empire he once commanded,
03:05fueling speculation that his final resting place lies deep within the lands he once ruled.
03:12There are countless stories about Genghis Khan's death,
03:15but most agree that he died in August 1227,
03:18in modern-day Yinchuan,
03:20which is in northern China's Ningxiawei Autonomous Region.
03:23During his conquests in northwestern China,
03:29Khan spent considerable time on the Ordos Plateau,
03:32a huge windswept stretch of desert bordered by the Yellow River
03:37and the southern edge of the Great Wall.
03:41The theory that the Ordos Plateau was Genghis Khan's resting place
03:45gained currency in the early 20th century,
03:49when European explorers publicized photographs of an ancient mausoleum
03:5320 miles east of Yinchuan.
03:57The western Xia mausoleums cover almost 20 square miles,
04:02with nine beehive-shaped imperial mausoleums,
04:06more than 250 other tombs for tangled royals and officials.
04:11So it's an obvious place to wonder about
04:14whether Genghis Khan could be buried somewhere in the vast complex,
04:18especially given the connection between the Mongols and western Xia.
04:22But no one seems to have found any evidence to support it.
04:26While the Ordos theory is intriguing,
04:29it's unlikely Mongolia's greatest leader would be buried in China.
04:34It's more likely that Genghis Khan's grave is closer to home,
04:38hidden in plain sight,
04:40concealed by the land,
04:42just as he intended.
04:43Mongolia is a land of vast, untamed wilderness,
04:49spanning over 600,000 square miles
04:52of mostly uncharted, undeveloped terrain,
04:55with few roads and a sparse population.
04:58In 1990, a Japanese-Mongolian project called the Three Rivers Expedition
05:04focused on Genghis Khan's birthplace in the Hentii province,
05:08where the Onan, Ghalin, and Toul rivers flow.
05:11Using ultrasound technology,
05:131,380 ancient graves were discovered,
05:17spread across the landscape.
05:18Most historians believe that Genghis Khan
05:22was born and raised on the Onan River,
05:24so it makes sense that he might have chosen this area
05:27as his final resting place.
05:29The graves they discovered there
05:31likely belonged to Mongol nobles.
05:34The expedition was also very controversial.
05:37There were public protests by people
05:39who believed Khan's wishes should be respected,
05:42that people shouldn't go looking for his tomb.
05:44And in the end, they put a stop to it.
05:48While excavations were prohibited in the Hentii province,
05:52further west, the same researchers studied
05:54a 2,000-year-old cemetery of Xiongnu kings
05:58in the Arkhangai province of Mongolia.
06:02Historians believe the Xiongnu were the ancestors of the Mongols.
06:07If that's true, they might have had similar burial practices,
06:11and unearthing their graves would give us a better picture
06:15of what we're searching for.
06:18Those excavations tell us that at least some Xiongnu kings
06:21were buried more than 65 feet underground
06:25in log chambers often marked by only a small square of stones.
06:30So if Khan was buried like that,
06:33the main chamber would be hidden deep underground
06:36and incredibly hard to find
06:38in all of the sprawling Mongolian wilderness.
06:44In 2001, an amateur archaeologist
06:47who spent 40 years searching for Khan's tomb
06:50discovered a walled burial site in Baksharit,
06:53a town nestled in northern Kanti province,
06:56about 200 miles northeast of Ulanbaatar.
06:59Perhaps his biggest breakthrough came at Chinggis' castle
07:06or Red Rock, where he uncovered
07:09at least 20 unopened rectangular tombs atop a hill,
07:13each marked by standing stones.
07:16At the base of the hill, they found an additional 40 graves.
07:21The upper area was enclosed by an imposing stone wall
07:24standing 9 to 12 feet tall
07:27and stretching for two miles around.
07:30The sheer scale of the burial grounds
07:33and a roadway connecting the two
07:35suggests a site of tremendous importance.
07:38And it's only a few miles from Genghis Khan's probable birthplace,
07:41where he was also declared emperor of the Mongols in 1206.
07:46But there's no concrete proof that Khan might be buried there.
07:51In 2004, a Japanese Mongolian team
07:55uncovered Genghis Khan's palace,
07:58reigniting the search for his final resting place.
08:02The palace, a square tent-like structure
08:05supported by wooden columns,
08:07was uncovered alongside porcelain fragments
08:09dated to Khan's era.
08:11The most exciting part, though,
08:12is that ancient Chinese texts
08:14describe court officials making daily journeys
08:17from this palace to a nearby mausoleum,
08:20possibly where Khan was buried.
08:21But it seems unlikely that he would have chosen
08:25somewhere as obvious as his palace
08:28for his final resting place,
08:30especially if he was determined
08:32to keep the location a secret.
08:35Maybe the better place to look for Khan's tomb
08:38is where his epic journey first began.
08:43Birkenhalden,
08:45nestled in the rugged peaks of Kanti province,
08:47was revered as Mongolia's most sacred mountain
08:50and deeply intertwined with the legacy of Genghis Khan.
08:55Birkenhalden isn't just a mountain.
08:58It's the spiritual core of Genghis Khan's story
09:01and a turning point in his journey to power
09:04and a place he went for refuge.
09:06According to legend,
09:07the mountain saved his life
09:09as he escaped from the Merkid tribe.
09:11And in gratitude,
09:13he declared it the most sacred mountain in Mongolia
09:16and promised to offer daily prayers and sacrifices.
09:21Birkenhalden became a symbol
09:23of Genghis Khan's survival and strength,
09:27and he had a deep spiritual bond with it.
09:30So lots of people think he might have chosen it
09:32for his final resting place.
09:35It became one of the most popular theories.
09:37High-status figures like Khan
09:40were buried in elevated places,
09:42far from the reach of ordinary people.
09:45In the 1200s,
09:46the first Mongol rulers of Persia
09:48were laid to rest on mountain peaks
09:51in off-limit areas.
09:53Khan likely received the same honor.
09:57After Genghis Khan's death,
09:59a great taboo known as Ihori in Mongolian
10:03was pronounced over a 92-square-mile area
10:06around Birkenhalden,
10:08sealing the region in secrecy.
10:13For centuries,
10:14the Ihori was off-limits to outsiders,
10:17a sacred place.
10:19Only the Khan's family were allowed to enter.
10:22It was guarded by the Darhad,
10:24a group of elite warriors and their descendants
10:26who protected its secrecy
10:28for more than 700 years.
10:31So it's no surprise
10:32that many people think Genghis Khan's tomb
10:34is probably hidden there.
10:37According to legend,
10:39around 500 Darhad families
10:41were chosen to safeguard
10:42the secret location of Khan's tomb.
10:44To this day,
10:45they are considered the custodians
10:47not only of Birkenhalden,
10:49but of Khan's eternal legacy.
10:51The mystery deepens at the summit
10:54where Tangerine Ovu,
10:56or Heavenly Hill,
10:58stands.
10:59While it may look like a simple pile of stones,
11:03some think this unassuming sight
11:05could hide Khan's tomb.
11:07But any attempt to explore or search the area
11:11is virtually impossible.
11:13Some historians believe the focus
11:17on Birkenhalden
11:18might have been a masterful diversion,
11:21a way to lead us away
11:22from his true burial site.
11:25Perhaps this was his final act of control,
11:28disappearing from history
11:29just as he had commanded
11:31during his life.
11:32In the end,
11:35all signs point to the fact
11:36that Khan didn't want
11:38his final resting place to be known.
11:40So maybe we should respect his wishes
11:42and stop looking for it.
11:44But of course,
11:45it's not surprising that people do,
11:48since it's human nature
11:49to be curious
11:49and try to solve mysteries,
11:51especially when it comes
11:53to a larger-than-life historical figure
11:55like Genghis Khan.
11:57Khan's tomb remains
11:59one of history's greatest enigmas,
12:02hidden by time, tradition,
12:04and the vast expanse of Mongolia.
12:07Whether it's ever uncovered,
12:08his legacy lives on,
12:10etched into the land
12:11he once conquered.
12:23He was a terror on the seas,
12:25a name spoken in fear
12:27across the Atlantic.
12:29Edward Teach,
12:30better known as Blackbeard,
12:31was one of the most notorious pirates
12:34of his time.
12:35With a ship armed to the teeth
12:37and a crew as ruthless as the captain,
12:40Blackbeard carved a path of destruction
12:42from the Caribbean
12:43to the American coastline.
12:47Blackbeard was the most infamous pirate
12:49in the golden age of piracy.
12:51But his reputation
12:52wasn't built on violence alone.
12:54Intimidation was his greatest weapon.
12:55He rarely killed unless absolutely necessary,
12:58instead relying on his fearsome appearance
13:00to break his enemy's will.
13:03He wore black ribbons in his beard,
13:06carried six pistols,
13:08and lit fuses beneath his hat
13:10before battle,
13:11dangling some of them
13:12down the sides of his face
13:13to surround it
13:14with a halo of smoke
13:16and fire.
13:17He created a terrifying spectacle
13:19that often caused his opponents
13:21to surrender without a fight.
13:26Blackbeard's fearsome image
13:28included his infamous Jolly Roger flag,
13:31a skeleton holding an hourglass
13:33and a spear aimed at a bleeding heart,
13:37a chilling symbol
13:38threatening inevitable death.
13:40In 1717,
13:42Blackbeard captured
13:43the French slave ship
13:44La Concorde
13:45off Martinique
13:46and quickly transformed the vessel,
13:48adding 26 guns
13:49to its existing 14
13:51and renaming it
13:52Queen Anne's Revenge.
13:54With this heavily armed ship,
13:55he unleashed terror
13:56on the high seas,
13:58amassing a fortune that,
13:59legend has it,
14:00remains hidden to this day.
14:02But if that's true,
14:03where did he hide the treasure?
14:05Blackbeard's journey to piracy
14:08began as a privateer
14:09during Queen Anne's War
14:11when Britain
14:12and other imperial powers
14:13fought for control
14:15of North America.
14:17Privateers like Blackbeard
14:19were authorized
14:19to plunder enemy ships
14:21and seize valuable cargo
14:23under what were called
14:24Letters of Marquis
14:25from the Crown.
14:27During that time,
14:28he honed skills
14:29that would later propel him
14:30to infamy
14:31as the scourge
14:32of the Atlantic Ocean.
14:35Queen Anne's War
14:36gave Blackbeard
14:37his first taste of raiding.
14:39But when the war ended,
14:40so did the opportunities
14:41for legal privateering.
14:43Like many former privateers,
14:44Blackbeard turned to piracy.
14:47As Blackbeard's legend grew,
14:49so did the legend
14:50surrounding his hidden fortune.
14:52One of the most enduring stories
14:54centers on the place
14:55where his reign of terror
14:56came to an abrupt halt.
15:00In May 1718,
15:02Blackbeard launched
15:03one of his boldest moves,
15:04blockading the port
15:05of Charleston, South Carolina.
15:07Over the course of a week,
15:08he captured at least eight ships,
15:10took hostages,
15:11and struck fear
15:12in the heart of the colony.
15:14But as he later sailed
15:15towards North Carolina,
15:16disaster struck.
15:19Queen Anne's revenge
15:20ran aground
15:21on a sandbank
15:22near Beaufort, England.
15:24And while Blackbeard escaped,
15:26his ship was lost.
15:28Interestingly,
15:29some have suggested
15:30the wreck was no accident.
15:32Blackbeard wasn't just a pirate.
15:33He was a strategist.
15:35Evidence suggests
15:36that the grounding
15:37of the Queen Anne's revenge
15:38was a non-violent wreck event,
15:41meaning it may have been
15:41a deliberate,
15:42calculated move
15:43to offload his treasure
15:44before abandoning the ship.
15:45years of exploration
15:51have revealed
15:51fascinating artifacts
15:53from Blackbeard's pirate life,
15:55including many of the ship's
15:5640 cannons.
15:58But there has been no sign
15:59of the vast wealth
16:00the legend suggests.
16:05Extensive excavations
16:06at the site
16:07of Queen Anne's revenge
16:08have uncovered
16:09thousands of artifacts,
16:10but only a sprinkling
16:11of gold dust.
16:12Nothing close
16:13to the immense treasure
16:14Blackbeard is said
16:15to have buried.
16:17It's possible
16:18that the real treasure
16:19may have been hidden
16:20long before the shipwreck,
16:22or he never stored valuables
16:24aboard the Queen Anne's revenge
16:25at all.
16:27While Beaufort Inlet
16:29may have marked
16:29the end of Blackbeard's flagship,
16:32some believe
16:32the notorious pirate's treasure
16:34lies much closer to home.
16:37After the Queen Anne's revenge
16:38ran aground,
16:39Blackbeard took command
16:40of a smaller vessel,
16:41allowing him
16:42to continue his piracy
16:43with a more agile crew.
16:45He soon sailed
16:45to North Carolina
16:46where he promised
16:47to give up piracy
16:48in exchange for a pardon
16:49from Governor Charles Eden.
16:51He even attempted
16:52a respectable life there
16:53in the town of Bath,
16:55marrying a local woman,
16:57said by some
16:57to be his 14th life.
17:00Some people like to say
17:01that during
17:01that brief moment of peace,
17:04Blackbeard could have hidden
17:05his greatest treasure
17:06along the eastern shores
17:08of Bath Creek
17:09at Plum Point.
17:10Bath wasn't just a quiet
17:12colonial town for Blackbeard.
17:14It was his chance
17:15to reinvent himself.
17:17Under the protection
17:17of the governor,
17:18he saw an opportunity
17:19to go straight
17:20and distance himself
17:22from his life of crime.
17:22The royal pardon issued
17:25under King George I
17:26was designed to grant
17:28amnesty to pirates
17:29willing to give up
17:30their lawless ways.
17:31For Blackbeard,
17:32this was a chance
17:33to settle down
17:34and enjoy the wealth
17:35he had amassed
17:36over the years.
17:37But rumors persisted
17:39that his pirating days
17:40were far from over.
17:41One particular site
17:46of interest
17:46was a field
17:47where Blackbeard
17:48reportedly set up
17:49a tar pit or kettle
17:50which was used
17:51to make wood tar
17:52in the early 18th century
17:54to seal the hulls
17:55of ships.
17:58According to residents
17:59and researchers,
18:01the field once held
18:02a brick structure
18:02believed to have been
18:03used by Blackbeard
18:04to render wood tar
18:05for his ships.
18:06It's possible
18:07that while building it,
18:08he also dug
18:09a perfect hiding spot
18:10for his treasure.
18:11A frustrated farmer
18:13who owned the land
18:14eventually demolished
18:16the kettle
18:16to keep the treasure
18:17hunters away.
18:19The site has still
18:20continued to attract them.
18:22One of them claimed
18:22to have unearthed
18:23a brick vault
18:24buried eight feet
18:26beneath the sand
18:27containing a chest
18:28of Spanish gold.
18:31But with no authentication
18:32and the chest
18:33never found again,
18:35the mystery of Blackbeard's
18:36fortune remains
18:37as elusive as ever.
18:39The question is,
18:40if it's not in Varth,
18:41could it be hidden
18:42somewhere far more remote
18:44in a place
18:45only Blackbeard knew?
18:48It wasn't long
18:49before Blackbeard
18:50returned to the seas.
18:51His quest for power
18:52ultimately brought him
18:54to a new refuge,
18:55a remote island
18:56where he would make
18:57his last stand.
18:59By the end of August 1718,
19:02Blackbeard had resumed piracy
19:03and after stealing
19:04several French ships,
19:05the governor of the
19:06province of Pennsylvania
19:07issued a warrant
19:07for his arrest.
19:08He eventually made his way
19:09to Ocracoke Island,
19:11a remote windswept stretch
19:12of land off the coast
19:13of North Carolina.
19:15For Blackbeard
19:16and his men,
19:17Ocracoke was the ideal hideout.
19:20It was isolated,
19:21surrounded by treacherous waters,
19:23and far from prying eyes.
19:26Blackbeard regrouped there,
19:27knowing the British Royal Navy
19:29was closing in.
19:30So, if you believe in the treasure,
19:33you might think he used this time
19:34to stash it somewhere on the island
19:37before his final battle.
19:41Ocracoke was a famous pirate haven,
19:43offering easy access
19:44to British shipping lanes
19:46coming to the New World,
19:47but remote enough
19:48that authorities did not have control
19:50over it during colonial times.
19:53Ocracoke wasn't just a random hideout.
19:57Blackbeard knew these waters well.
19:59The shallow inlets
20:00made it impossible
20:01for larger ships to follow,
20:03giving him a strategic advantage.
20:06Its isolation allowed him
20:07to evade the growing threat
20:09of the Royal Navy
20:10while secretly continuing
20:12his operations.
20:14During this period of calm,
20:15it's likely he secured
20:17whatever treasure he had
20:18before the final confrontation.
20:22Blackbeard's prior
20:23unchecked presence in Bath
20:24had infuriated Virginia's
20:26Governor Alexander Spotswood,
20:27especially after the siege
20:29on Charleston.
20:31Spotswood suspected collusion
20:32between Blackbeard
20:33and North Carolina's
20:35Governor Eaton,
20:35whose pardon of the pirate
20:37only fueled the tension.
20:39Governor Spotswood would not
20:41stand for piracy in his waters.
20:43He summoned captains
20:44of the British Royal Navy
20:45to discuss a strategy
20:46for bringing Blackbeard
20:47to justice.
20:48And as an additional incentive,
20:49Spotswood offered a bounty
20:50for the pirate's capture,
20:52100 pounds,
20:53dead or alive.
20:54Ocracoke Island
20:57became the stage
20:58for one of the most
20:59legendary confrontations
21:00in pirate history.
21:02In November 1718,
21:04British forces,
21:06led by Lieutenant Robert Maynard,
21:08ambushed Blackbeard
21:08in the treacherous waters
21:10off the coast.
21:11It was a fierce, bloody battle.
21:15Blackbeard was shot and slashed
21:16multiple times
21:17before he finally fell.
21:19In a brutal display,
21:20his head was severed
21:21and mounted on the bowsprit
21:23of Maynard's ship,
21:24a grim warning to anyone
21:26who dared follow
21:27in Blackbeard's notorious footsteps.
21:28After Blackbeard's death,
21:32Maynard's men scoured the island,
21:35searching through the difficult terrain
21:37and hidden coves
21:38for any trace of the pirate fortune.
21:42But they found nothing
21:43of any unusually great value,
21:45just sugar, coca, indigo, and cotton.
21:49There's an enduring legend
21:51that when Blackbeard's crew
21:52was questioned after his death,
21:54they famously said,
21:55only he and the devil
21:58know where the treasure is.
21:59This cryptic remark
22:00has driven treasure hunters
22:02for centuries.
22:03The island's history
22:04and Blackbeard's reputation
22:06make it one of the most
22:07intriguing possible locations.
22:10But so far,
22:11nothing has been found.
22:13Another theory,
22:15one that's most likely
22:16closest to the truth,
22:17maintains that the idea
22:18of Blackbeard's hidden treasure
22:20is nothing more than legend.
22:23The myth of buried pirate treasure
22:25often overshadows the reality.
22:27In truth,
22:28pirates like Blackbeard
22:29likely spent their wealth
22:30quickly after plundering it.
22:32Another issue is that
22:33even a small sea chest
22:35filled with gold
22:35would weigh nearly 5,000 pounds.
22:38That's a lot of weight
22:39for pirates to lug around
22:41a sandy beach.
22:42At the time of Blackbeard's death,
22:44his possessions were valued
22:45at only 2,500 pounds sterling.
22:48It's hardly the grand fortune
22:49we associate with legendary pirates
22:51like Captain Kidd
22:52or Henry Every
22:53whose plunder reached
22:54tens of thousands of pounds.
22:56This raises an intriguing question.
22:59Did Blackbeard use the myth
23:01of untold riches
23:02to fuel his power and influence?
23:05Perhaps there was never
23:06a vast treasure at all,
23:08just a clever illusion
23:09that kept his crew loyal
23:10and his enemies at bay.
23:13The legend of Blackbeard's
23:15hidden riches
23:15has captivated treasure hunters
23:17for centuries.
23:19Even without hard evidence,
23:21the search continues,
23:22fueled by the possibility
23:24that somewhere out there,
23:26the rumored fortune
23:27of the world's most feared pirate
23:29awaits discovery.
23:30In the mid-1st century BCE,
23:44the 9th Legion,
23:45more than 5,000
23:46of Rome's fiercest fighters,
23:48stormed into Britain,
23:50establishing the region
23:51as its base for generations.
23:53They quashed rebellions
23:55and left their indelible mark
23:56everywhere they went.
23:58The 9th was one of Rome's
24:00oldest and most respected
24:02elite legions.
24:03Disciplined, loyal, experienced,
24:06they fought in just about
24:06every major Roman conflict.
24:08And it's all traceable.
24:12Evidence of the 9th Legion
24:13and its exploits
24:15are all over the historical
24:17and archaeological records,
24:19until suddenly,
24:21it's just not.
24:22The entire legion
24:23seems to disappear from history.
24:26More than 5,000
24:28living, breathing men,
24:31their weapons,
24:32their armor,
24:33gone.
24:35The 9th's fate
24:37has been a point
24:38of intensive investigation
24:40and fierce debate
24:42among historians
24:43for centuries.
24:44But the one thing
24:46everyone agrees on
24:47is that something
24:48is not right.
24:50So what happened
24:51to Rome's legendary
24:539th Legion?
24:54The legion began
24:56its storied career
24:57close to home,
24:58establishing itself
24:59as a force
25:00for putting down
25:01insurrections.
25:03The first historical mention
25:05of the 9th Legion
25:06is regarding their participation
25:08in what's known
25:09as the Social War,
25:10a rebellion
25:11in the south of Italy
25:12that they crushed
25:13in 90 BCE.
25:15Within a couple of generations,
25:17the 9th Legion fought
25:18in the Gallic Wars
25:19under Julius Caesar
25:20and were so trusted
25:21by him
25:22that they became known
25:23as Caesar's Legion.
25:25A few years later,
25:26in 55 BCE,
25:27Caesar used them
25:28for Rome's first invasion
25:29of Britain.
25:30But then,
25:32something odd
25:33happened
25:33in 45 BCE.
25:36After they were sent
25:37to fight
25:37in a civil war
25:38back home
25:39and then put down
25:39a rebellion
25:40in Africa,
25:41Caesar retired
25:43the Legion.
25:44He disbanded it
25:45and pensioned off
25:46all its veterans.
25:47The very next year,
25:50Caesar was assassinated
25:52and his heir,
25:53Octavian,
25:54reformed
25:55the 9th Legion.
25:57They proved themselves
25:58to be so effective
25:59in the conquest
26:00of part of Spain
26:02that from that point forward,
26:04Hispana was added
26:05to their name,
26:06becoming Legio 9 Hispana.
26:09Ultimately,
26:10they returned to Britain,
26:11one of four Roman legions
26:13needed to quell
26:14a resistance
26:15by Celtic tribes.
26:17By 71 CE,
26:19the 9th Legion
26:20was stationed
26:21in Eberrachum
26:22and it was their responsibility
26:24to oversee
26:25and secure
26:26Britain's northern territories,
26:28including Caledonia,
26:30ancient Scotland.
26:32Caledonia was considered
26:34dangerous,
26:35volatile
26:35and unpredictable.
26:37Most of Rome's legions
26:38were based
26:39in the southern part
26:40of Britain
26:40and made forays
26:41into Caledonia
26:42only when necessary.
26:45The 9th was the go-to legion
26:47for that hazardous work
26:48for at least
26:49the next two generations.
26:52We know that the 9th
26:53was still present
26:54in northern Britain
26:55in 108 CE
26:56because in the mid-19th century,
26:58workers digging a drain
26:59near what's now York
27:00in northern England
27:00found a square stone slab
27:02over three feet across
27:04with an inscription.
27:05It reads,
27:06the 9th Hispana legion
27:07rebuilt the fort
27:08for the emperor.
27:09It's dated to 108 CE,
27:11so we know the 9th legion
27:12was there at that time.
27:15By 122 CE,
27:17things were going poorly enough
27:18for the Romans
27:19in Caledonia
27:20that reigning emperor Hadrian
27:23travelled to Britain
27:24in person,
27:26taking another legion,
27:27the 6th Vitrix,
27:29with him.
27:29He was building a wall
27:31and not just any wall.
27:34Hadrian's wall
27:35was going to divide
27:36the island of Britain
27:37in two,
27:38separating the Romans
27:40and the so-called
27:41barbarians to the north.
27:44All military units
27:46were needed
27:46to build the wall,
27:48thousands of soldiers
27:49working for at least
27:51six years.
27:53Each legion
27:53signed the wall
27:54with engraved plaques
27:56and stamped bricks.
27:58The 2nd legion,
28:00the 6th Victrix,
28:01and the 20th.
28:03Yet no part of the wall
28:04bears the mark
28:06of the 9th legion.
28:08So we know the 9th
28:09was there in 108 CE,
28:11but by 122 CE,
28:13they were gone.
28:15What happened to them?
28:18Marcus Cornelius Franto,
28:20the historian of the day,
28:22wrote that during
28:22Emperor Hadrian's reign,
28:24the Britons could not
28:25be kept under Roman control
28:27and that large numbers
28:28of Roman soldiers
28:29have been killed by them.
28:32Given that Hadrian
28:33and the 6th legion
28:35took up residence
28:36at Ibarakim
28:37as soon as they arrived
28:38in 122 CE,
28:40when Franto wrote
28:41about large numbers
28:42of casualties,
28:43could he have been
28:44talking about
28:44the 9th legion?
28:46Had the 9th legion
28:47been wiped out
28:48before Hadrian
28:49and the 6th got there?
28:51If the 9th legion
28:52had been attacked
28:52and decimated,
28:53it would have been
28:54a pretty compelling reason
28:55for Hadrian
28:56to want to build a wall
28:56to prevent a devastating attack
28:58from happening again.
29:00The 9th had a reputation
29:01for being unbeatable.
29:03However,
29:03there is evidence
29:04that they weren't
29:05entirely invincible.
29:07In 61 CE,
29:09there was a revolt
29:10in the Esseni tribe
29:11in eastern Britain
29:12and a large number
29:14of Roman soldiers
29:15died in the bloody conflict.
29:17Roughly half
29:18the 9th legion
29:19was wiped out,
29:20which earned the battle
29:21of the name
29:22of the massacre
29:23of the knife.
29:26They could also
29:26have been sent
29:27somewhere else
29:28and been wiped out there.
29:30In the Roman-Parthian war
29:32near Armenia,
29:33fought a bit later,
29:34between 161
29:35and 165 CE,
29:37there were records
29:38of a Roman legion
29:39being annihilated.
29:41Their commander
29:41even chose
29:42to die by suicide,
29:44which they sometimes did
29:45after a humiliating defeat.
29:48And while the event
29:49was documented,
29:50the legion itself
29:51wasn't named.
29:53At that time,
29:54there was a seldom-used
29:55sanction called
29:56demnatio memoriae,
29:58where anyone perceived
30:00to be a traitor
30:01to Rome
30:02or an enemy of the state
30:04might have their memory
30:05officially condemned.
30:08Their name would be erased
30:09from public record,
30:11so an event they took part in,
30:12such as a battle,
30:14would still be recorded,
30:15of course,
30:16but they would be unnamed
30:18in that record.
30:20So could the 9th
30:21have done something
30:22worthy of demnatio memoriae?
30:26There is one little-known chapter
30:28in the 9th legion's
30:29otherwise spotless history
30:30as loyal soldiers
30:32of the empire
30:33that could have resulted
30:34in demnatio memoriae.
30:38Back when Julius Caesar
30:39was leading them
30:40in northern Italy,
30:41the 9th threatened mutiny
30:43over not getting enough pay
30:45or a cut
30:46of the spoils of war.
30:48Caesar could have decimated
30:49the knight for that,
30:50meaning that he executed
30:52every 10th soldier
30:53as a lesson to all.
30:55But he ended up
30:55allowing a plea deal
30:56where the 9th abandoned
30:57its mutiny
30:57and just an even dozen
30:59of the ringleaders
30:59were executed.
31:01Amazingly,
31:01the 9th went back
31:02to being one of Caesar's
31:03favorite legions after that.
31:05But the incident proved
31:06they were willing
31:06to defy orders,
31:07or worse.
31:08One possible hole
31:11in the demnatio memoriae theory
31:13is that many
31:14of the records back then
31:15were literally
31:16chiseled in stone.
31:19And while there's evidence
31:19of senators
31:20and even disgraced emperors
31:22having their names
31:23chiseled away
31:24and erased,
31:26there doesn't seem
31:26to be any sign
31:27of that happening
31:28to the 9th legion's name.
31:30So it's an interesting theory,
31:32but with no hard evidence
31:33to back it up.
31:33After centuries
31:36of searching
31:36all over Britain
31:37for any trace
31:38of Rome's 9th legion,
31:40a surprise discovery
31:41led some researchers
31:43to believe
31:44that they would
31:44never be found there.
31:47An archaeological dig
31:49hundreds of miles away
31:50across the sea
31:52in what is now
31:53the Netherlands
31:54turned up
31:55three building tiles
31:57stamped with
31:59the 9th unit number.
32:01And more than that,
32:02a bronze pendant
32:04from a harness
32:05that would have been worn
32:06by one of the 9th's
32:08warhorses
32:09was also found.
32:10So how could these
32:11have ended up here?
32:14In 132 CE,
32:17the Bar Kokhba revolt
32:18broke out in Judea,
32:20part of modern Israel
32:21and the West Bank.
32:22The Romans put the rebellion
32:23down ruthlessly,
32:25but it took about
32:26three years to do it.
32:27Some believe
32:28that the artifacts
32:29discovered in the Netherlands
32:30are proof
32:31that Rome's 9th legion
32:33was sent to fight
32:34in Judea
32:35and stopped
32:36in the Netherlands
32:37en route.
32:39This would prove
32:40that the 9th legion
32:40was still in existence
32:41in 132 CE,
32:43much later than
32:44what previous evidence
32:45had suggested.
32:46And it also opens up
32:47a possibility.
32:49Is that when and where
32:50the 9th finally met its end
32:51during the bloody
32:52three-year battle
32:53in Judea?
32:54But if the entire
32:569th legion
32:57was wiped out
32:58in Judea,
32:59you might expect
32:59to find physical
33:00evidence of it.
33:01Maybe there's
33:02skeletal remains,
33:03damaged armor,
33:05shields,
33:05helmets,
33:06none of which
33:07seems to have been
33:08found so far.
33:10We do know
33:11that lots of
33:12Roman soldiers
33:12died putting down
33:14the revolt,
33:15but we don't have
33:15any concrete evidence
33:16to convince historians
33:17that any of them
33:19belonged to the
33:199th legion.
33:20Rome's 9th legion
33:22had a long history
33:23and a mysterious end,
33:25but left
33:26a lasting legacy.
33:28Hadrian's wall
33:29stood for over
33:30300 years,
33:32and during that time,
33:33the cultures
33:34of the people
33:35to the north
33:36and south of it
33:37had time to develop
33:38quite differently
33:39into England
33:41and Scotland.
33:43Some say
33:44the wall
33:44never would have
33:45been built
33:46if the 9th legion
33:47hadn't allowed itself
33:49to be beaten
33:49by the Caledonian
33:50tribes
33:51and that it is
33:53responsible
33:53for Britain
33:54being divided.
33:56As it stands,
33:58the last irrefutable,
33:59concrete evidence
34:00we have
34:01that the 9th legion
34:02was still in existence
34:03is the fort building
34:05inscription from
34:06108 CE
34:07in what was then
34:08Ibarakim.
34:09There are so many
34:11theories as to
34:11what became of them
34:12after that,
34:13but what every one
34:14of them lacks
34:15is evidence
34:16to back it up.
34:17It's still very possible
34:19that one day soon
34:21Rome's lost 9th legion
34:22will march back
34:23into the history books
34:25and the mystery
34:26of their disappearance
34:27can finally
34:28be put to rest.
34:391968,
34:40a year when the world
34:41teetered between peace
34:43and nuclear catastrophe.
34:45As tensions rose on land,
34:48something darker
34:49unfolded beneath
34:50the ocean's surface.
34:54In January of 1968,
34:56the INS Dakar,
34:57a newly acquired
34:58Israeli submarine,
35:00disappeared without
35:00a distress signal.
35:02Only two days prior,
35:03the French Minerv
35:04vanished during
35:04a routine patrol.
35:05In March,
35:09the Soviet K-129,
35:11a nuclear-armed sub,
35:12sunk in the Pacific,
35:14and in May,
35:14the USS Scorpion
35:15went missing.
35:19Four submarines,
35:20each from a different
35:21nation,
35:22vanished without a trace,
35:24killing a combined
35:25318 sailors.
35:29The odds of four subs
35:31going missing
35:32within less than
35:33six months
35:34of each other
35:35must be astronomical.
35:37In that geopolitical climate,
35:39any explanation
35:40seemed possible.
35:42Covert attacks,
35:43technical sabotage,
35:45Cold War cover-ups.
35:46So what happened
35:48to these subs?
35:49And why were authorities
35:50so desperate
35:52to keep it under wraps?
35:55In early 1968,
35:57the Soviet K-129
35:59left the naval base
36:01at Petropavlovsk, Russia
36:02for a routine patrol
36:04in the Pacific Ocean,
36:06northeast of Hawaii.
36:07For weeks,
36:08it traveled in silent mode,
36:10running on battery power
36:11to avoid detection.
36:15The K-129
36:16wasn't the most modern sub,
36:18a fairly old model,
36:20but it was 330 feet long
36:23and thought to have been
36:23armed with three
36:25one-megaton nuclear missiles,
36:27each with more than 65 times
36:30the explosive power
36:31of the bomb
36:32that leveled Nagasaki.
36:37On March 8th, 1968,
36:40the K-129
36:40failed to transmit
36:41a scheduled radio signal.
36:43The sub and its crew
36:44of 98 men
36:45had suddenly vanished.
36:47The Soviet Admiralty
36:48quickly launched
36:48a massive search,
36:50covering over 800,000
36:51square miles.
36:52But after two months
36:53of unsuccessful efforts,
36:54they ultimately had
36:55to abandon the operation.
36:58In the 1960s,
37:00Israel agreed
37:01to buy three World War II
37:02era T-class submarines
37:04from Great Britain,
37:05including the Dakar,
37:07which would be refurbished
37:08and modernized
37:09before joining their fleet.
37:11Throughout 1967,
37:13the Dakar underwent
37:14extensive sea trials,
37:16and the sub set out
37:17for its maiden voyage
37:18from the UK,
37:19bound for Haifa, Israel,
37:21with a crew of 69
37:22on January 9th, 1968.
37:26The last time anyone
37:28heard from the Dakar
37:29was just after midnight
37:31on January 25th, 1968,
37:35as it traveled through the waters
37:36of the eastern Mediterranean,
37:38between Crete and Cyprus.
37:41Some people immediately
37:42suspected it had been attacked.
37:45The Six-Day War
37:46had ended just months earlier,
37:48and relations between Israel
37:49and Egypt were still
37:51on a knife's edge.
37:54Search efforts
37:55by sea and air
37:56began immediately
37:57after Dakar's transmissions
37:59went silent,
38:00but nothing was found.
38:04On January 27th, 1968,
38:08just days after the disappearance
38:09of the INS Dakar,
38:11Francis Minerv
38:13suffered the same fate.
38:14The Daphne-class
38:16diesel-electric-powered submarine
38:18and its 52 crew members
38:20disappeared
38:20during a routine
38:22training mission
38:22near the port of Toulon
38:24on the south coast
38:25of France.
38:27Once the alarm
38:28was raised,
38:29the French admiralty
38:31threw everything
38:32into the search,
38:33around 20 boats,
38:35helicopters,
38:36aircraft,
38:36and even a diving vessel
38:38from Jacques Cousteau's team.
38:40But despite all that,
38:42they found nothing.
38:44There was speculation
38:46over what caused
38:48the disaster.
38:49They ranged from
38:50a problem
38:51with the sub's rudder,
38:52a collision
38:53with another boat,
38:54the explosion
38:55of a missile
38:56or torpedo,
38:57or a fault
38:58with its oxygen
38:59supply systems.
39:00We know it went down
39:01in less than four minutes,
39:03but there's just no evidence
39:04to explain exactly why.
39:09Spring 1968,
39:11the USS Scorpion,
39:12a nuclear-powered
39:13attack submarine,
39:14slipped quietly
39:15into the Mediterranean
39:16on a classified mission.
39:18On May 21st,
39:20during the return voyage
39:21to Norfolk, Virginia,
39:23the Scorpion's radio man
39:24reported that she was
39:25250 miles southwest
39:27of the Azores Islands
39:28and would arrive
39:30at her home port
39:30on May 27th,
39:32as scheduled.
39:37Six days later,
39:39families gathered
39:40at Pier 22 in Norfolk,
39:42waiting for the return
39:44of the sub
39:45and the 99 men aboard.
39:48They never arrived.
39:49The Navy had secretly
39:51been searching
39:51for the USS Scorpion
39:53since May 24th
39:54after calls to the sub
39:56went unanswered.
39:58There was a Soviet flotilla
39:59in the area
39:59near the Canary Islands
40:01at that time,
40:02and the Scorpion
40:03had been rerouted
40:03from her original mission
40:05to keep an eye on them.
40:06Some people think
40:07the Soviets discovered
40:08the Scorpion
40:09and sank it
40:09in retaliation for spying,
40:11which is a tantalizing theory,
40:13but the Soviets
40:14didn't have the capability
40:15to hunt down the Scorpion.
40:16At that time,
40:18the Soviets
40:19were still relying
40:20on their slow,
40:21outdated,
40:22diesel-powered submarines,
40:24the Whiskey Class.
40:26The Scorpion,
40:27with its advanced technology,
40:29would have easily
40:30outpaced them.
40:32Plus, no Soviet
40:33or Warsaw Pact vessels
40:35were known to be
40:36even within 1,000 miles
40:38of the Scorpion's
40:39last known location.
40:41There doesn't seem
40:41to be any direct evidence
40:42of a Soviet ambush,
40:44and if the Soviets
40:45had sunk the Scorpion,
40:46it could have escalated
40:47into something
40:48neither side wanted,
40:50nuclear war.
40:53In October 1968,
40:55a U.S. Navy research ship
40:57made a shocking discovery.
40:59400 miles off the Azores,
41:01nearly 11,000 feet down,
41:04the shattered hull
41:05of the USS Scorpion
41:06lay twisted
41:07on the ocean floor,
41:09almost torn in half.
41:12One of the earliest
41:13possibilities explored
41:15by the U.S. Navy
41:16was the idea
41:17that a hot-run torpedo
41:18had destroyed the Scorpion.
41:21A hot-run is when
41:22a torpedo's engine
41:24activates while it's
41:25still inside the submarine.
41:27And six months earlier,
41:29the Scorpion had
41:29a near disaster
41:30with a Mark 37 torpedo
41:32that accidentally
41:34armed itself.
41:35In its eight years of service,
41:37the Scorpion had been plagued
41:39by so many technical issues
41:40that it had earned
41:42the nickname
41:43the Scrap Iron.
41:44There were a staggering
41:45109 unfulfilled
41:48work orders
41:49on the sub
41:49during its last deployment,
41:51and crew members reported
41:52that the sub
41:53was already showing
41:54significant signs
41:56of wear and tear.
41:57It's not a stretch
41:59to think that this
42:00could have created
42:00huge problems
42:02like a hot rod.
42:05But when investigators
42:06examined the photos
42:07of the wreckage,
42:08they couldn't find
42:09any torpedo damage
42:10to the hull,
42:11no sign of a kind
42:12of cataclysmic explosion
42:14it would have sparked,
42:15and no fragments
42:16of the torpedo room
42:17in the debris field.
42:21When the Scorpion
42:22disappeared,
42:23it produced acoustic signals
42:25detected by underwater sensors
42:27on both sides
42:28of the Atlantic.
42:29A reanalysis of this data
42:31in recent years,
42:32combined with the conclusions
42:33drawn in a 1970
42:35government inquiry,
42:36points to an onboard catastrophe.
42:41It's possible
42:42the Scorpion experienced
42:44a hydrogen explosion
42:45while charging
42:46its lead-acid batteries,
42:48which were prone to leaks.
42:50At the time
42:50the sub went down,
42:51it was at periscope depth
42:53with watertight hatches closed.
42:55This could have trapped
42:57explosive hydrogen
42:58in the battery area.
43:00A spark could have ignited
43:02the gas,
43:02causing an explosion
43:03that led to a second
43:04battery explosion.
43:06This matches two small blasts
43:07that were detected
43:08by hydrophones
43:09half a second apart.
43:10And really,
43:11this is the only concrete evidence
43:12that we have
43:13that might explain
43:14how the Scorpion was lost.
43:15But we may never know
43:16what happened to her.
43:18In 2012,
43:20the U.S. submarine
43:20veterans organization
43:22requested a new investigation
43:24into the Scorpion sinking,
43:25but it was denied.
43:27The wreckages
43:28of the other three submarines
43:29were ultimately located
43:31after varying lengths of time.
43:33Francis Minerva
43:34lay undiscovered
43:35on the ocean floor
43:36for a full 51 years.
43:39No connection
43:39has been made
43:40between the disasters,
43:42and authorities
43:43have offered
43:43no official explanation
43:45as to what caused
43:46the destruction
43:47of any of the four subs
43:48in 1968.
43:50in 1968.
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