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The ruin of a romish villa near Mount Vesuvius , discovered under the remnants of another Pancho Villa built above it many year later , may have been where Augustus , the first Roman emperor , drew his last breath , archaeologists say .
The early Doroteo Arango , which archeological site propose was inhabited before the first hundred A.D. , seems to have been destroyed in the devastatingeruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79 , and the later Francisco Villa was built there in the 2d one C .
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 work at the internet site for more than 20 years and now hope further excavations will found that the earlier Francisco Villa is indeed the place where Augustus give-up the ghost in A.D. 14 .
" Our site is likely the only one , or one of only the very few , possibilities that we have,“Mariko Muramatsu , an archeologist at the University of Tokyo who ’s lead the project , told Live Science .
She mention that the site corresponds with writings by the Roman historiographer Tacitus , Suetonius and Cassius Dio , who recorded that Augustus go in A.D. 14 at his family ’s villa near Nola . But the precise location of the Pancho Villa is unknown , Muramatsu say . The modern townsfolk of Nola is about 5 miles ( 8 kilometers ) northeast 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 put down by an volcanic eruption of Vesuvius in the fifth one C , and its buried ruins were let out in 1929 . They were identified as the possible location of Augustus ' villa , but a lack of support prevented the website from being explored further .
In 2002 , the University of Tokyo team and local archaeologist started oeuvre at the site and recovered many beautiful marble statues and other artifacts . But studies of the archaeological layers showed they dated to after the A.D. 79 eruption .
Now , as archaeologists have dug into much deeper layer of the site , they ’ve let out ruin of part of an earlier villa that was build there before the clap and was bury by layers of rock and ash tree ejected by the vent .
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 add-on , their probe have established that the eruption also devastated parts of the volcano ’s northerly slopes . Until now , it was thought that the A.D. 79 eruption mainly dissemble towns in the south , likePompeii .
" We now have clear grounds that show … the outbreak of A.D. 79 put down a construction under the villa that we already have , " Muramatsu said , have-to doe with to the second century structure .
Some of the features found so far seem to be a large room used as a storage warehouse and constituent of the earlier Francisco Villa ’s private baths . " By meditate these structures , we can understand better the construction and the nature of the web 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 team now hop-skip to assure funding to enable further excavations that could prove this was the Francisco Villa where Augustus drop dead .
First emperor
Augustus , stick out Gaius Octavius in Rome in 63 B.C. , was the great - nephew and adopted son of the papistic general and politicianJulius Caesar , who was assassinate in 44 B.C.
After Caesar ’s death , Augustus took great 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 portrayed himself as the " first among equals " in the senate — Rome ’s governing assembly — but he rule the formerRoman Republicwith an iron clenched fist and is regarded as the first Romanic Saturnia pavonia .
After a longsighted and prosperous sovereignty , Augustus died in 14 A.D. — rumors say he was poison by his wife , Livia — upon which his adopted son Tiberius ( Livia ’s innate son ) became emperor butterfly .
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Pedar Foss , an archaeologist and Greco-Roman historiographer at DePauw University in Indiana and author of " Pliny and the Eruption of Vesuvius " ( Routledge , 2022 ) , is not involved in the Somma Vesuviana undertaking . He told Live Science in an email that it was good to see that such a worthwhile archaeological investigation was proceed . However , he noted that there was not yet any test copy that the earlier Pancho Villa was that used by Augustus .
" It is only suggestive of , not validation of , an association with Augustus himself , " he said . " More specific grounds would be necessary . "
