Did the ancient Romans ever visit America?
Did ancient Romans sail to America? Regularly — of course not. But some relatively recent archaeological findings might testify to solitary and most likely accidental visits by Roman seafarers to the American coast.
In 1982, a Brazilian diver found two Roman amphorae on the sea bed near Rio de Janeiro. This mystery was soon solved when it turned out that an Italian ship had sunk off the coast of Brazil in the 19th century. These amphorae had been sent as a gift to Emperor Pedro I of Brazil. But there have been other findings that are not so easily explained. In 1933, archaeologists in the Mexican site of Calixtlahuaca discovered a terracotta head made in a style quite unlike that of local artisans. It has distinctly European facial features, and the style is very similar to that of ancient Roman sculptures.
Near the Canadian province of Nova Scotia is Oak Island, where several artifacts that could well belong to ancient Romans have been found. For example, there was a well-preserved bronze sword with a decorative hilt known as a gladius. Such swords were not used in battle; they were ceremonial weapons typical of ancient Rome. The sword was discovered at the beginning of the…
