Meta Description: Join Dr. David Noe and Dr. Jeff Winkle in the Vomitorium as they descend into the Vatican Necropolis. From Nero’s circus to a Texas oilman’s bankroll, we explore the forensic thriller behind the discovery of St. Peter’s bones.
Introduction: A True Crime Story in the Crypt
Welcome back to the “Vomitorium,” listeners! In Episode 10 of the Ad Navseam Podcast, hosts Dr. Jeff Winkle and Dr. David Noe trade their togas for headlamps and hardhats. We are leaving the sunny, open-air forum to descend deep underground into the damp, mysterious world of the Vatican Necropolis.
This episode is not just a theology lesson; it is, as Dr. Winkle enthusiastically notes, a “true crime story”. It has all the elements of a Dan Brown novel, but unlike fiction, this actually happened. It involves a mad emperor, a secret wartime excavation, a Texas billionaire, a bitter feud between rival archaeologists, a mouse that ruined a papal theory, and a box of bones that sat forgotten on a shelf for a decade.
As the hosts discuss, this is one of those rare moments where “faith and historical fact intersect,” creating a narrative so compelling it raises the hair on the back of your neck.
The Prequel: Quo Vadis and the Circus of Nero
To understand the archaeology, we must first understand the geography and the legend. According to ancient tradition, the Apostle Peter traveled to Rome to lead the early church. While the New Testament is quiet on his specific arrival, the early church code-named Rome as “Babylon”—the center of carnal power and corruption.
The Legend of the Appian Way: Before we get to the bones, Dr. Winkle recounts the famous legend of “Quo Vadis.” during the persecution of Nero, Peter was reportedly fleeing Rome to save his own life. As he walked down the Via Appia, he saw a vision of the risen Christ walking into the city. Peter asked, “Quo vadis, Domine?” (“Where are you going, Lord?”) Christ replied, “I am going to Rome to be crucified again.” Shamed by this, Peter turned around, walked back into the city, and accepted his martyrdom. To this day, there is a small church on the Appian Way marking the spot, complete with footprints in the marble.
The Fire and the Madman: In 64 AD, Rome burned. While Emperor Nero probably didn’t fiddle while it burned (he was likely out of town), he certainly capitalized on the disaster. He cleared the rubble to build his massive Domus Aurea (Golden House)—a structure so large it connected the Palatine Hill to the Esquiline, stretching for over a mile. To deflect rumors that he started the fire to clear real estate, Nero scapegoated the Christians.
The Execution: According to the historian Tacitus, Christians were rounded up and executed in the Circus of Nero, located on the Mons Vaticanus (Vatican Hill) across the Tiber River. Tradition holds that Peter was crucified here, requesting to be inverted (upside down) because he felt unworthy to die in the same manner as his Lord.
The Layer Cake of History
After his death, Peter was buried in a pauper’s grave in a nearby cemetery, or Necropolis (City of the Dead). Over the next few centuries, this site became a layer cake of history.
- The Trophy (Tropea): Around 160 AD, a priest named Gaius wrote that if you go to the Vatican, you will find the tropea (monument/trophy) of the apostle.
- Constantine’s Engineering Miracle: In 337 AD, Emperor Constantine did the unthinkable. He took a sloping hill covered in pagan mausolea and buried the entire necropolis under millions of tons of earth. He did this solely to create a flat platform for the first St. Peter’s Basilica, centering the high altar directly over what he believed was Peter’s grave.
- The Renaissance Overhaul: In the 1500s, Julius II tore down the rotting wooden basilica to build the massive stone St. Peter’s we see today.
For centuries, the pagan tombs and Peter’s grave lay forgotten beneath the floor, encased in darkness and dirt. Until 1939.
The Discovery: The 1939 Accident
In 1939, workmen digging a grave for Pope Pius XI in the grottoes accidentally broke through the floor. When they peered into the darkness, they saw the tops of Roman mausolea. They had rediscovered the lost Necropolis.
Pope Pius XII was intrigued. He ordered a secret excavation (Scavi). But digging under the heaviest church in the world during World War II is expensive. Who paid for it?
The Texas Connection: Enter George Strake, a Texas “wildcatter” and oil tycoon who discovered the massive Conroe oil field (producing 750 million barrels of oil). A devout Catholic with Hollywood connections, Strake was approached by a private emissary of the Pope. He secretly financed the entire excavation. Without Texas oil money, the fisherman’s bones would likely still be lost.
The Archaeologists’ Feud: The Bull vs. The Sneak
The excavation was plagued by a bitter rivalry between two men:
- Ludwig Haas (mistakenly called Lucas in the early transcript, but corrected by the hosts): A Vatican administrator, not a trained field archaeologist.
- Antonio Ferrua: A Jesuit archaeologist described as a “bull in a china shop.”
The Mouse in the Box: Ferrua tore through the site, often disregarding historical artifacts that weren’t related to Peter. He found a set of bones under the main altar and declared them to be Peter. He was triumphant. However, forensic analysis years later revealed a disaster. The bones belonged to three different people… and a mouse. Yes, a mouse had crawled into the grave, died, and its bones were mixed in with the “holy relics.” It was an embarrassing blow to Ferrua’s theory.
The Secret Removal: Meanwhile, Ludwig Haas, frustrated by Ferrua’s recklessness, had been conducting his own secret operations. When they discovered a hollow niche in the “Graffiti Wall” (a wall covered in Christian prayers), Haas found a different set of bones wrapped in expensive purple cloth woven with gold. Not trusting Ferrua, Haas secretly removed these bones, put them in a plain wooden box, placed them on a shelf in a Vatican storeroom, and then—in a twist fit for a movie—died without telling anyone.
The Solution: Enter Margherita Guarducci
For a decade, the search was considered a failure. The “mouse bones” were obviously not Peter.
Enter Margherita Guarducci, a brilliant Italian epigraphist (specialist in inscriptions) who had cut her teeth excavating in Crete. She was brought in to make sense of the scratches on the “Graffiti Wall” that Ferrua had dismissed as gibberish.
Decoding the Wall: Guarducci realized these scratches were actually a dense web of prayers. She deciphered symbols like the Chi-Rho and prayers saying “Peter, pray for us.” Finally, she found the “smoking gun”: a fragment of plaster with the Greek inscription Petros Eni—“Peter is within”.
The Missing Box:
Guarducci realized that if the inscription said “Peter is within” the wall, the bones should be there. But the niche was empty. She launched an investigation and tracked down the missing box that Haas had hidden years earlier. Inside were the bones wrapped in the purple and gold cloth—signifying someone of immense importance, buried with imperial honors.
The Forensic Evidence:
- The bones belonged to a single male, aged 60–70.
- They were of a robust build (consistent with a manual laborer or fisherman).
- The Missing Feet: Crucially, the feet were missing. The leg bones ended at the ankles, and the breaks were consistent with being severed from a crucified body. As Dr. Noe points out, the easiest way for a Roman soldier to remove a corpse from a cross is to simply chop the feet off.
The Scavi Tour: A “NASA” Experience
Dr. Winkle, a self-described “fixture” at the Vatican who has done the Scavi tour five times, shares his personal experience of the site.
You have to book months in advance. You are led by a priest or a scholar through pressurized glass doors that seal off the humidity. You walk past pagan Roman tombs with frescoes still intact, winding your way beneath the massive foundations of the Renaissance church.
At the end of the tour, you can see the Graffiti Wall through a crack. And, perhaps most amusingly, the bones of St. Peter are now stored in clear Lucite boxes. According to the tour guides, these high-tech containers were “designed by NASA” to preserve the relics for the ages.
Conclusion: Faith and Fact
In 1968, Pope Paul VI announced that the bones of Peter had been identified in a way “convincing to us.” While absolute scientific proof is impossible 2,000 years later, the convergence of the graffiti (Petros Eni), the location (directly under the altar), and the forensic condition of the bones make a compelling case.
Whether you are a believer or a skeptic, the story of the excavations is a testament to the endurance of memory. The obelisk that stands in St. Peter’s Square today is the same silent witness that stood in Nero’s circus when Peter was executed.
Latin and Greek Language Spotlight
For the students of the classics and archaeology, here are the key terms from this episode to furnish your mental treasury:
- Necropolis: Literally “City of the Dead.” A large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments.
- Mons Vaticanus: The Vatican Hill, located across the Tiber from the main city of Rome.
- Tropea: (Greek/Latin) A trophy or victory monument. The priest Gaius used this word to describe the shrines of Peter and Paul.
- Petros Eni: (Greek) “Peter is within.” The key inscription found on the Graffiti Wall.
- Scavi: (Italian) Excavations. The common name for the archaeological tour beneath St. Peter’s.
- Quo Vadis, Domine?: “Where are you going, Lord?” The famous question Peter asked the vision of Christ on the Appian Way.
Sponsors
This deep dive into the crypt was brought to you by:
- Hackett Publishing: For excellent translations use code AN2020 for 20% off and free shipping at hackettpublishing.com.
The Gustatory Parting Shot
We leave you with a quote from David Auerbach, reminding us of the hierarchy of liquids—a sentiment that applies whether you are excavating a damp crypt or celebrating a discovery:
“In wine, there is wisdom. In beer, there is strength. In water, there is bacteria.”
Until next time, Valete!
