Discoveries and news in Rome

Pompeii archaeologist Massimo Osanna announced in 2015 that a team of archaeologists, computer engineers, radiologists and orthodontists would use computed tomography to examine the remains of 86 victims who died in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE in Pompeii.

The ambitious plan to rebuild the more than two-thousand-year-old monument at the Roman Forum has been the subject of heated debate among experts.

Archaeologists in England, in 2015, made a unique discovery. The skeleton of a 27-year-old woman was found in Cirencester, with her own tombstone with inscriptions next to her body. The inscriptions suggest that her name was Bodica and she had Celtic roots: “To the spirit of Bodici, wife, 27 years of age”. Three children were buried with her, presumably her own.

In 2020, a Roman mosaic was discovered in Weyregg am Attersee (approximately 60 km east of Salzburg, Austria). The artifact adorned a luxurious Roman villa from the 2nd-3rd century CE. According to experts, it is the largest Roman mosaic discovered in Upper Austria.

Using laser scanners placed on the plane, scientists in 2015 discovered ancient fortifications in Italy. As it turned out, it is the oldest Roman military fort used by legionaries to defend themselves against pirates over 2,000 years ago.

In 2015, curators from Pompeii received “hundreds of packages” with notes of apologies from tourists who return stolen artifacts.

In 2015, Italian police intercepted more than 2,000 ancient artefacts during an operation in southern Italy against the mafia, stealing and trading antiquities. During the action, a villa was discovered, which was transformed into a private museum, with a number of about 550 monuments. On the occasion, three people were arrested.

In 2015, archaeologists on the Tuscan island of Elba identified the remains of a villa that allegedly belonged to the prototype of one of the main characters of the novel “Ben-Hur”. The property, known as Villa Le Grotte (“Caves”), which dates back to the 1st century BCE, was to belong to Marcus Valerius Messall’i Corvinus, Ben-Hur’s eponymous friend from his youth, who competed with him in the famous chariot race. When Ben-Hur was the brainchild of the author of Le Wallace’s 1880 book, Messalla was based on a true historical figure.

At the archaeological site of Los Torrejones in Murcia, Spain, a very well-preserved marble bust of Emperor Hadrian was discovered. The discovery was made in October-December 2014.

Heavy downpours that appear in Pompeii threaten the destruction of part of the ancient city. For example, violent storms in 2015 caused a landslide that partially damaged the wall of Severus’ Gardens in the south of Pompeii.