MIAMI BEACH, Fla. - CuisineWire -- After doing years of research on Roman votive artifacts found in North America (most notably a group found in Florida right after Hurricane Irma in 2017), independent researcher of art and history and owner of Roman Officer, Inc. David Xavier Kenney is convinced he has solved the mystery of the Celtic god Esus.

Kenney has had evidence for years that the Romans conducted several secret expeditions to North America.  It appears that the Roman fourth expedition to North America under Commodus in the late 2nd C. AD was the largest, and it would eventually result in the demise of Commodus as well as consolidate the Catholic Church in order to ensure the rise of Christianity in the next century.

According to Kenney's research, many of the Florida artifacts were made for, or by, Roman Hibernian (Irish) auxiliaries as votives to the Celtic god Esus, who has been shown to be associated with river currents (particularly those that flow into oceans and seas) as well as ocean or sea currents (ocean rivers), driftwood, and blood sacrifices (flowing blood, i.e., current). Among other things, Kenney feels Commodus embraced Esus in order to gain an advantage with transatlantic navigation.

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The Pillar of the Boatmen Roman column (now in the Musée de Cluny in Paris) shows Esus cutting (with an axe) and gathering branches from what Kenney believes to be a Southern Magnolia tree from North America. Kenney's research has led him to conclude that the Celtic tribes of West Central and North West  Europe associated this particular tree with the souls of the otherworld. Kenney has certain driftwood artifacts with art and inscriptions of Esus that suggest they were used by the Romans to identify currents, but most importantly the Gulf Stream (which passes closest to the North American Atlantic shoreline near Jupiter Inlet, FL) as it would significantly increase the speed of travel across the Atlantic for ships sailing from North America to Europe.  Kenney also has evidence that the Spanish were well aware the Romans had visited Florida and knew of the Gulf Stream, but by adding their own inscriptions (that included Christian themes, as well as names of certain explorers) on Roman votives, they covered up such knowledge.

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The panel of Esus on the Pillar of the Boatmen column also shows the image of a harp on Esus's robe. In Kenney's opinion, the ancient Hibernians (who as expert sailors had been to North America before the Romans) also associated the Southern Magnolia with the harp; its branches and tips of leaf stems sometimes form the shape of the instrument.  The ancient musical part of this story may be as inspiring to American music as Elvis was in the mid-20th century.