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Lost Villa of First Roman Emperor Found Near Vesuvius
Researchers from the University of Tokyo have unearthed a building dating back 2,000 years. The team from Japan claims it likely belonged to Emperor Augustus.
4 min readApr 21, 2024
Since 2002, a team of scientists from Tokyo has been conducting excavations in the town of Somma Vesuviana. This town is located in the Campania region, north of Mount Vesuvius. Ancient records suggest that this is where the first Roman emperor, Augustus, spent his last moments. Chroniclers wrote that he died in his estate, but its location remained a mystery.
Lost Villa of Augustus
Mariko Muramatsu and other researchers from the University of Tokyo discovered the ruins of a 2,000-year-old building at this site after more than 20 years of work. The researchers emphasized in a statement that their work was very challenging due to the region being partially covered with volcanic ash from the eruption in 79 AD.
