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An archeological site to build a playground near Naples , Italy , has revealed an ancient seafront villa thought to be where the papistical philosopher Pliny the Elder witness the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79 .
Theeruption destruct Pompeiiand devastated other Town in the region , possiblykilling up to 16,000 people , including Pliny .
The remains of the luxurious villa were found at Punta Sarparella in the town of Bacoli, which in the first century was the port city of Misenum where Pliny the Elder commanded a Roman naval fleet.
Pliny , whose real name was Gaius Plinius Secundus , had splendidly sweep from his menage toward the eruption in an attempt to deliver some of the people afflicted by it . His nephew and take son , Pliny the Younger ( Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus ) wrote in a letter that he witness the older Pliny ’s demise a few hours later , when he was overcome by toxic throttle from the vent .
The freshly turn up Pancho Villa is at Punta Sarparella , northwest of Naples in the township of Bacoli , which in the first century was the larboard metropolis of Misenum where Pliny the elderberry bush commanded a Roman naval fleet .
Related:2 concealed male skeletons discovered under pile of debris in Pompeii ’s ' House of the Chaste Lovers '
Archaeologists think the villa belonged to the Roman writer and military commander Pliny the Elder, who was killed while trying to rescue friends from the A.D. 79 eruption of the volcano Vesuvius, about 20 miles away.
While archaeologist suggest the villa also also might have belong to another wealthy Roman , it matches Pliny ’s descriptions and has a large view of Mount Vesuvius , which is about 20 miles ( 30 kilometers ) away , across the bay .
The newfound Pancho Villa give " maximum visibleness of the full port basin and a wide view of the entire Gulf , " representatives from Italy ’s Ministry of Culture enounce in astatement . " This would have been , perhaps , the promontory [ a high gunpoint of land above the sea ] from which Pliny the Elder , who hold back the billet ofPraefectus classis Misenensis[the commandant of the Misenum fleet ] would have seen the eruption of Vesuvius . "
Playground find
The cadaver of the villa were found after three years of body of work to remove a swim pool from the site and make a resort area , according to the statement .
Italian Ministry of Culture archaeologistSimona Formolasaid some of the villa ’s remain wall were construct from diamond - work blocks of voiced limestone ring tuff , decoratively arranged like a net , that prolong onto the beach and into the water .
It ’s thought Pliny entertained many of the papist elite at banquet in the Doroteo Arango ’s garden courtyard . If the Doroteo Arango was have by Pliny , it was one of several he maintained in picturesque location around Italy .
The archaeological excavations will keep for several calendar month ; the researchers desire to find out more about the Pancho Villa itself as well as about Misenum , which was an important Romanic naval base of operations .
Formolatold CNNthat the excavation of deeper stratum could disclose more rooms of the villa and mayhap even fresco .
Historical volcano
Pliny was born into a wealthyRomanfamily and rose through the Roman Army . In his fifty he was appointed commander of the Misenum fleet , which protected the coast from pirate . He was also a prolific writer ; many of his books have now been lost , but he is well known for " rude History , " in which he tried to register everything known about the world .
" Naturalis Historiaremains a classic today , with some arguing it is the first encyclopedia ever written,“Sue Alcock , an archeologist at the University of Oklahoma , told Live Science in an email .
" The 37 - book employment presented contemporary knowledge ofzoology , vegetation , geology , mineralogy , astronomy , and engineering , as well as a near singular discussion of the artistic creation and artists of his sidereal day , " tell Alcock , who was n’t regard in the villa ’s discovery .
— Ancient Romans sacrificed birds to the goddess Isis , burnt os in Pompeii reveal
— Mount Vesuvius did n’t pour down everyone in Pompeii . Where did the survivors go ?
— Newfound corpses at Pompeii were a master and servant who died together
After Pliny witnessed the outbreak , probablyin October of A.D. 79 , and made haste to write his friends , he was warned about the danger . But he quoted the Romance proverb " Fortune prefer the sheer " ( Audentes Fortuna Iuvat ) and set out anyway , only to bekilled a few hours lateron the shoring at Stabiae , after navigate right across the Gulf of Naples .
Alcock said Pliny ’s words were not original , but they have hold out on as one of the idiom ’s most famed utterances .
