Discoveries and news in Rome

Archaeologists in Pompeii discovered a private, richly decorated bathhouse from 2,000 years ago, considered to be one of the largest found so far. The bathhouse could accommodate about 30 people and consisted of several rooms: hot, warm, cool, and a changing room equipped with benches.

In March 2024, archaeologists from the Red River Archeology Group discovered a Roman villa while working on the Brookside Meadows estate in Grove, near Wantage in Oxfordshire, central England. The area has been inhabited since the Bronze Age and is rich in artifacts.

Rowan Brannan, 12, from Bognor Regis, West Sussex, England, discovered a Roman gold military bracelet from the 1st century CE in April 2024 while walking his dog on the beach in Pagham. The bracelet, known as an armilla, was a decoration awarded to soldiers for bravery.

Archaeologists have discovered in Heerlen (southern Netherlands) a 2,000-year-old tomb of a Roman soldier named Flaccus, which provides the earliest evidence of Roman settlement in the region. The discovery was made in November 2024.

During the reconstruction of Piazza Pia in Rome, related to preparations for the Vatican’s Jubilee Year in 2025, Italian archaeologists found the remains of a portico and a garden belonging to Emperor Caligula (reigned 37-41 CE), known for his despotic rule.

A richly decorated small house without an atrium was discovered in Pompeii. The object was discovered on Via dell’Abbondanza, in the central part of the city. Excavation works are still ongoing.

The latest DNA research in Pompeii, published in Current Biology, challenges previous interpretations about people who died as a result of the eruption of Vesuvius. DNA analysis revealed that many traditional assumptions about gender and family relationships were wrong.

Roman villa Mutteron dei Frati, hidden in the Valgrande forest in Bibione (northeast Italy), provides valuable data on this complex complex, which had at least two residences. In March 2024, archaeologists discovered three new mosaics, including one large one made of black and white tiles (tesserae).

According to Pruszczańskie Stowarzyszenie Historyczno-Poszukiwawcze Faktoria, a Polish treasure hunter managed to find a treasure in a field in the Pomeranian Voivodeship in northern Poland a gold ring which, as it turned out, comes from ancient Rome. Red jasper shows a deer and the tree of life; dating back to the 1st-2nd centuries CE.

A fascinating discovery was made in Pompeii – frescoes depicting characters from Greek mythology have been preserved among the ruins of the ancient city. These unique paintings have survived for almost two thousand years, despite the eruption of Vesuvius that destroyed the city in 79 CE.