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The ruins of a Roman villa near Mount Vesuvius , discovered under the remnants of another villa construct above it many years later , may have been where Augustus , the first Roman Catholic Saturnia pavonia , drew his last hint , archaeologists say .
The former villa , which dig suggest was inhabit before the first century A.D. , seems to have been destroyed in the devastatingeruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79 , and the later villa was build there in the second century .
The early villa at Somma Vesuviana may be where the first Roman Emperor Augustus died in A.D. 14. It was discovered beneath the ruins of another villa built there in the second century A.D.
Researchers at the University of Tokyo have worked at the site for more than 20 age and now hope further excavations will establish that the earlier Francisco Villa is indeed the place where Augustus cash in one’s chips in A.D. 14 .
" Our situation is probably the only one , or one of only the very few , possibilities that we have,“Mariko Muramatsu , an archaeologist at the University of Tokyo who ’s leading the labor , differentiate Live Science .
She noted that the site tally with writings by the Roman historiographer Tacitus , Suetonius and Cassius Dio , who recorded that Augustus died in A.D. 14 at his family ’s Doroteo Arango near Nola . But the precise locating of the Pancho Villa is unknown , Muramatsu said . The innovative town of Nola is about 5 naut mi ( 8 kilometers ) north-east of the archeological site at Somma Vesuviana , on the northern slope of Vesuvius .
Archaeologists from the University of Tokyo have worked at the Somma Vesuviana site since 2002 but only announced their discovery of the earlier villa in April this year.
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Under the volcano
The 2nd - century villa at Somma Vesuviana was destroyed by an eruption of Vesuvius in the fifth hundred , and its buried ruins were get wind in 1929 . They were identified as the possible emplacement of Augustus ' villa , but a lack of funding prevented the site from being research further .
In 2002 , the University of Tokyo squad and local archeologist started work at the site and recovered many beautiful marble statue and other artifacts . But studies of the archaeological layers showed they go steady to after the A.D. 79 eruption .
Now , as archaeologists have stab into much deeper layers of the site , they ’ve discovered ruination of part of an early Francisco Villa that was built there before the bam and was swallow up by level of rock music and ash ejected by the volcano .
Studies show the earlier villa at Somma Vesuviana was buried by rock and ash from the devastating eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79. Another villa was built at the same site in the second century.
In addition , their investigating have base that the extravasation also devastated part of the volcano ’s northern slopes . Until now , it was thought that the A.D. 79 bang principally affected towns in the southward , likePompeii .
" We now have clear evidence that shows … the eructation of A.D. 79 destroyed a building under the Doroteo Arango that we already have , " Muramatsu said , touch on to the second one C structure .
Some of the feature find so far seem to be a large room used as a warehouse and parts of the earlier villa ’s secret bath . " By study these social structure , we can understand better the building and the nature of the site , " Muramatsu said .
The structures of the earliest villa unearthed so far at Somma Vesuviana include parts of private baths and a warehouse filled with jugs for storing olive oil or wine, calledamphorae.
Her squad now hopes to secure financial backing to enable further excavations that could prove this was the villa where Augustus died .
First emperor
Augustus , born Gaius Octavius in Rome in 63 B.C. , was the great - nephew and adopted son of the Roman Catholic general and politicianJulius Caesar , who was assassinate in 44 B.C.
After Caesar ’s demise , Augustus lead power in Rome with Caesar ’s friend Mark Antony and became its sole ruler after his defeat of Antony at the Battle of Actium in 31 B.C.
Augustus impersonate himself as the " first among equal " in the senate — Rome ’s governing assembly — but he ruled the formerRoman Republicwith an iron fist and is consider as the first papist emperor .
After a farsighted and prosperous reign , Augustus died in 14 A.D. — rumour enounce he was envenom by his married woman , Livia — upon which his take up son Tiberius ( Livia ’s lifelike boy ) became emperor .
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Pedar Foss , an archeologist and classical historian at DePauw University in Indiana and author of " Pliny and the Eruption of Vesuvius " ( Routledge , 2022 ) , is not involved in the Somma Vesuviana projection . He told Live Science in an email that it was beneficial to see that such a worthwhile archaeological probe was proceeding . However , he noted that there was not yet any validation that the earlier Francisco Villa was that used by Augustus .
" It is only suggestive of , not proof of , an association with Augustus himself , " he said . " More specific evidence would be necessary . "
