Archaeologists discover home of the man who founded the Roman empire

Anyone familiar with archaeology knows about Mount Vesuvius' catastrophic eruption in A.D. 79, which obliterated Pompeii. But it also left behind many things that have allowed archaeologists to continue exploring and know more about the city. Recently, University of Tokyo archaeologists uncovered parts of a Roman villa built before the mid-first century, reports Phys.org. The structure was found in the Campania region, which is located in Southwestern Italy. It was located beneath another ancient building that was built relatively recently. The team's findings at the villa carry significant implications for both archaeology and history.

The team ended up making many observations at the site that all pinpointed to it potentially having been the home of the famed founding emperor of the Roman empire, Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus. This hypothesis stems from the timeline aligning with accounts from Roman historians like Tacitus, Suetonius, and Dio Cassius. Interestingly, in 1929, a farmer accidentally stumbled upon a part of an abandoned building that seemed to be underground in a field. Not long after, excavation at the site started, and there were many things that pointed towards the site being Caesar's residence. Unfortunately, financial constraints prevented the team from making further observations within the site. 

All of that changed in 2002 when the University of Tokyo started an interdisciplinary project and worked with local archaeologists to completely explore the villa and find out more about its past. After that, numerous Roman artifacts were uncovered at the site, such as exquisite marble statues, paintings, and mosaics. Kohei Sugiyama, an archaeologist from the Institute for Advanced Global Studies at the University of Tokyo, said, "Excavations around Mount Vesuvius have been ongoing since the 18th century. It was known that beneath the ash and debris from the biggest eruption in A.D. 79, various Roman artifacts lay buried." 

Sugiyama explained that the focus of excavation was south of the volcano, where damage was most extensive. The project, which has been going on for 20 years, has allowed the team to unearth many more sections of the mysterious villa that gave them many useful insights. The archaeological team found that most of the damage came from lava flows and pyroclastic surges from the volcanic eruption. Despite all of the damage, the team noted how there seemed to be a lot of effort to rebuild after the disaster because of all of the structures that came after. 

These findings are very important to build a database about the Roman emperor because they connected him to tangible physical evidence. So far, most of the information that we know about him comes from writings that have been found. Sugiyama also spoke about how the site could provide insights into how ancient people managed after natural disasters. This, in turn, could be beneficial for supplementing our knowledge of how to deal with natural disasters in the modern world. Although the findings of the study are exciting, the team continues to face difficulties in the excavation process and in getting funding. 

This article originally appeared on 4.30.24.