Episode #154- What Became of the Benin Bronzes? (Part I)

Our Fake History

PodcastOne

History, Education, Society & Culture

4.7 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 3 May 2022

⏱️ 71 minutes

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Summary

Looting has been a part of warfare since the earliest times. Despite the fact that looting was common for much of history, it was always recognized as an especially harmful and humiliating by-product of armed conflict. By the late 19th century, the looting of sacred objects and culturally significant works of art was widely considered a war crime and was forbidden by a number of international treaties. But despite these high minded treaties, the treasures of Indigenous people, Africans, and South Asian people were still considered "fair game" by European colonialists. In 1897 the British returned from the West African Kingdom of Benin with a remarkable haul of looted art of religious objects. Many of these objects, known collectively as the Benin Bronzes, are still in Britain today as part of the collection held by the British Museum. What do these works of art mean to the people of Benin? How did they fall into the hands of the British? Why are they still considered some of the most controversial museum objects in the world? Tune-in and find out how tamed lice, a leopard sacrifice, and wall five times longer than the Great Wall of China, all play a role in the story. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

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0:00.0	In 53 BC, somewhere deep in the deserts of Mesopotamia, the richest man in Rome was about
0:15.6	to lose his life.
0:18.4	Marcus Licinius Crassus had been one of the most powerful men in the Republic for a
0:24.3	generation.
0:25.6	His secret partnership with Julius Caesar and Neus Pompey would later be dubbed the
0:30.7	first triumvirate by historians.
0:34.1	This group of power brokers used their alliance to cleverly circumvent any checks or balances
0:40.6	the Roman Senate may have placed on their personal plans and ambitions.
0:46.0	This group of three men so completely dominated the politics of the Republic that some historians
0:52.1	are comfortable dating the end of the Roman Republic to the inception of this secret alliance.
0:59.2	When the triumvirate was first formed, Crassus was in many ways the senior member.
1:05.5	He was the oldest of the three and he was the richest.
1:10.0	However, the profile of the other two members Caesar and Pompey seemed only to grow while
1:17.1	Crassus' slowly diminished.
1:21.2	Caesar had for many years been the more celebrated general, with a military record that could
1:25.8	scarcely be equaled by any living Roman.
1:30.1	But perhaps even more concerning was the rising star of Julius Caesar.
1:35.8	Caesar's conquests in Gaul were quickly becoming the stuff of legend back in the capital.
1:42.0	Crassus, for all his wealth and power, was now feeling eclipsed by his ambitious younger
1:47.8	colleagues.
1:50.1	So at the ripe age of 62, Crassus made one final attempt to win some military glory.
1:59.4	One of Rome's greatest rivals at the time was the Parthian Empire.
	...

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