Italian and Japanese archaeologists have found what could be the last villa of Rome's first emperor, Augustus (63 BC-14 AD).
The ruins of the splendid abode lie at Starza della Regina,
near the Naples hinterland town of Somma Vesuviana, on the
slopes of Mt Vesuvius.
A dig on the large villa has been going on for 14 years.
On Wednesday the site was visited by Professor Satoshi
Matsuyama of Tokyo's Imperial University, which has been funding
the work since 2002, by archaeologist Antonio De Simone from
Naples' Suor Orsola Benincasa University, and by archeaological
superintendency official Mario Cesarano.
"So far 2,500 square metres has been excavated," De Simone
told ANSA, "and we expect to dig out as much again, at least".
The latest discovery was a huge water tank, measuring 30
metres by 10.
Archaeologists say the villa dates to the first decades of
the second century AD, but the dig has unveiled statues that
date back to before the eruption of Vesuvius that destroyed
Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79 AD.
Even if it not the villa where Augustus died in 14 AD, they
say, it is certainly a magnificent patrician villa from the
early imperial era.
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