Discovered where the first Roman Emperor was born

Archaeologists found at Palatine Hill in Rome the rest of a large house that they believed might be the first Roman emperor - Augustus was born.

>>>Video: Excavation where the first Roman emperor was born

This is the result of a 10-year excavation. A part of this corridor and many other fragments of this "very ancient noble house" was found in 2006, when a research team of Professor Clementina Panella at the La Sapienza University of Rome excavated it near the gate. Titus (Roman famous works built in the 1st century in Rome) in the northeast of Palatine.

The panorama of the old house was excavated

The excavation chaired by Sapienza University and the Italian National Bank of Information - Banca Nazionale delle Comunicazioni has been expanded for the past five years and has found evidence for the theory that the house belongs to Gaius Octavius, the father of Augustus .

"We have excavated more than 10 rooms with beautifully paved floors and bright walls," Panella said.

According to archaeologists, the two-story house looks like it is "climbing" up Palatine, the most aristocratic hill in all the Roman hills. Built in a large open space, the house has a view of the Roman center and the Esquiline hill (the largest of the seven hills of Rome).

Outside a stone wall, archaeologists also found the remains of another monument - Curiae Veteres.

"This is an important finding. We identified the area as Curiae Veteres, Rome's first temple," Panella said.

Curiae Veteres operated for about 11 centuries, from the 7th century BC to the 4th century AD.

Part of the floor

The Roman historian and biographer Suetonius (lived around 69 or 75 to 130 AD) wrote in documents that Augustus was born on September 23, 63 BC, "in one Palatine's area is called Ad Capita Bubula ".

However, there are still doubts about the authenticity of this information."It is impossible to exclude the possibility that Augustus intentionally created information about his birth date and place of birth. Because, born in Veteres Curiae will have a special symbolic meaning - Romulus founded and Augustus re-established. "I think it is Rome," said Professor Panella.

Born in 63 BC, the son of Gaius Octavius ​​was adopted by his great uncle Julius Caesar and heir at 18 years old.

After the civil war that took place after the assassination of Caesar, he was crowned emperor in 29 BC, named Augustus. After his death in 14 AD, he was deified and named for one month in the year - Augustus (August), which was called Sextilis.

Augustus lived only in the house near Curiae Veteres for 3 years. Later, his family moved to Carinae, a place on the Esquiline hill. At the age of 18, Augustus bought a house near the Roman center and, at the age of 36, he moved to Palatine, where he bought the house of the orator Hortensius.

Augustus lived in this very beautiful house until he crowned the first emperor of Rome. The house was opened to visitors in 2008, after being restored at a cost of 2 million euros.