IT has been a year like no other and it seems 2020, with all of its up and downs, has offered time to reflect and probe our consciences, seeing some guilt-ridden thieves returning stolen artefacts and issuing apologies. 

 

Sorry seems to be the hardest word?

It has taken some time for the thieves in mind, but the National Roman Museum in Rome has revealed it received a package - postmarked Atlanta, Georgia - containing a chunk of ancient marble that the sender said they had stolen. Written on the side are the words “To: Sam” and a heart with the name “Jess,” along with “Rome, 2017”.

 

There was also a handwritten apology?

The note said: "Please forgive me for being such an American ***hole and taking something that was not mine to take. I feel terribly for not only taking this item from its rightful place, but placing writing on it as well. That was extremely wrong of me and I now realise in my later adult life how inconsiderate and disrespectful that was. I have attempted many hours of scrubbing and cleaning to remove, but to no success. Please forgive me!”

 

Where was the marble from?

The museum believe it could be from the site of the Roman Forum.

 

The apology has been accepted?

Stéphane Verger, the director of the National Roman Museum, told Italy’s Il Messaggero newspaper: “From its tone we imagine it was a young woman…It made an impact on me precisely because she is young – she understood that she had made a mistake.”

 

She may have been inspired by a similar incident in October?

Last month, a Canadian woman returned five artefacts she confessed to stealing from Pompeii in 2005. The woman - identified only as ‘Nicole’ - sent two white mosaic tiles, a piece of ceramic wall and two pieces of amphora vase back to the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, along with a letter saying: “I wanted to have a piece of history that couldn't be bought”.

 

Bad luck?

Nicole said that since returning to Canada, she has had nothing but bad luck, enduring two bouts of breast cancer, and financial difficulties. She said: “I took a piece of history captured in a time with so much negative energy attached to it. People died in such a horrible way and I took tiles related to that kind of destruction. We are good people and I don't want to pass this curse on to my family, my children or myself anymore. Please forgive my careless act that I did years ago.”

 

It’s not the first time?

The Pompeii Park then revealed that around 100 people have returned pieces they also stole from the ruins, with many saying they too had encountered bad luck. Some of the letters are on display at the site, along with the artefacts.

 

 

It’s all very 2020?

Verger told Il Messaggero. “The year 2020, decimated by the Covid pandemic, has made people reflect, as well as moved the conscience.”