What began as a routine engineering project on Rome’s Caelian Hill has turned into one of the city’s most significant recent archaeological discoveries.
Architects reinforcing an ancient Roman wall at Villa Celimontana unexpectedly uncovered the remains of a large Roman-era building decorated with elaborate mosaics, frescoes and painted ceilings. Archaeologists have so far identified eight rooms, five of which have been fully excavated, while several more extend beyond the current excavation area.
Chief archaeologist Simona Moretta said the team expected ancient remains given the site’s location close to the Roman Forum, but not on such a scale.
“Being in the heart of ancient Rome, a stone’s throw from the Roman Forum, that there could be something ancient, we had certainly taken that possibility into account, but certainly not with this importance. We have found a building with five full rooms, but another eight rooms whose walls enter into the area of excavation section but that we could not excavate. So it is a rather large building, especially with valuable surface decorations, because we have, in particular, in the room ‘V’, we have superimposed two mosaics – one from the third century (AD) and the lower one instead is from the second (century AD).”
Excavation teams are now cleaning and cataloguing hundreds of artefacts, including marble fragments, ceramics, mosaics and painted plaster. Restorers are also reconstructing a richly decorated ceiling recovered in large sections.
Moretta said the preservation of the ceiling exceeded expectations.
“We also have some pieces of frescoes and, especially on the most recent mosaic we have found in this room, we have found the painted ceiling of the room in large parts that we have been able to sort through with the very good restorers.”
She added: “We have now put it in storage and then it will be reconstructed, I think we will have more than 50% of the entire room. A beautiful ceiling painted in red and blue circles with white stucco frames with denticles.”
The discovery forced engineers to expand what had originally been planned as a straightforward stabilisation project. Architect Alessandra Centroni, director of works, said the excavation quickly became far more extensive than anticipated.
“Clearly, this being an exceptional discovery, we deepened the excavation that was not planned for this, of this entity, but we gradually went deeper, precisely to try to understand what we had in front of us, in short, what were we discovering.”
According to Daniela Porro, Special Superintendent of Rome for Archaeology, the complex dates to the second century AD and was later modified during the third century.
“There are eight rooms, of which five are completely excavated, three partially excavated, which, however, have given us back a decoration of great value with floor mosaics. One of these rooms has a beautiful, geometric mosaic, within the centre there is an emblem depicting a dolphin and fish around a crater.”
Researchers have not yet determined the building’s original purpose. Its refined decoration suggests it may have belonged to an influential Roman family, although another possibility is that it served as barracks connected to the city’s ancient fire brigade.
Porro said further research will be needed before any firm conclusions can be drawn.
“It could probably have been a domus belonging to an important family, that would have such an elegant decoration, or it could also be barracks linked to the fire brigade of ancient Rome. And on this point, the studies are still going on and certainly they will eventually tell us something more.”
The excavation forms part of restoration work funded through Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), supported by the European Union. Archaeologists expect ongoing excavation and conservation work to provide new insights into the history of ancient Rome.