Details of the find

The ruins of a Roman villa near Vesuvius were found years later beneath the ruins of another villa built on top of it. Excavations have shown that an earlier building, built before our era, was destroyed during the devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, and a later building was built in the second century.

Researchers from the University of Tokyo have been working at the site for more than 20 years and now hope that further excavations will reveal that the ancient villa is indeed where Augustus died in 14 AD. The site is one of the few candidates for this high status, says Mariko Muramatsu, an archaeologist at the University of Tokyo who led the project.

He stated that the location of the find corresponds to the works of Roman historians Tacitus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio. Augustus died in AD 14 at his family’s villa near Nola.. However, its exact location is not disclosed anywhere.

The second-century villa was also destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in the fifth century, and its buried remains were discovered in 1929. These were identified as the possible location of Villa Augusta, but lack of funding prevented further exploration of the site. In 2002, a team from the University of Tokyo and local archaeologists began excavating the site and found many beautiful marble statues and other artifacts. However, examination of the archaeological layers showed that they dated to a period much later than the time of Augustus or the eruption of AD 79.

Warehouse full of amphorae for storing olive oil or wine / Photographic Institute for Advanced Global Studies/University of Tokyo

Now that archaeologists have excavated much deeper layers, they have discovered the remains of an ancient villa built before the eruption and buried beneath layers of rock and ash thrown up by the volcano. Additionally, studies have shown that The eruption also devastated at least part of the volcano’s northern slopes. So far, the 79 eruptions were thought to have mainly affected southern cities such as Pompeii.

Among the artifacts found today are a large room used as a warehouse and some parts of the private baths of the previous villa.

About the excavations of the villa where the Roman emperor Augustus may have died / Photograph Institute for Advanced Global Studies/University of Tokyo

The team now hopes to find funding to carry out further excavations to prove that Augustus died in this villa.

Rome’s first emperor

Born Gaius Octavius ​​in Rome in 63 BC, Augustus was the great-nephew and adopted son of Julius Caesar, the Roman general and politician who was assassinated in 44 BC.

After Caesar’s death, Augustus, along with Caesar’s friend Mark Antony, seized power in Rome and became sole ruler after Antony’s defeat at the Battle of Actia in 31 BC.

Augustus introduced himself as “first among equals” in the senate, Rome’s governing body, but he ruled the ancient Roman Republic with an iron fist and was considered the first Roman emperor.

After a long and successful reign, Augustus died in AD 14. According to unconfirmed reports, his wife Livia poisoned him. After this, his adopted son Tiberius (Livia’s natural son) became emperor.