Excavations of Rome, Italy

On our visit to Rome we saw many areas, albeit many fenced off, of open excavations. It was exciting to see these remnants of an ancient civilization making one aware of how old the city of Rome is. But what we saw was a small fraction of the excavations that have been done.

There are many well-known ancient structures such as the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and the Pantheon but some of the recent excavations are:

- One of the particularly interesting excavations is the Tomb of Saint Peter and the Necropolis under the Vatican Basilica. Special permission is required to visit it. Only 120 visitors per day are allowed in groups of about twelve people. This is done in order to preserve the historical archaeological site and for this reason also, no one under fifteen years of age is allowed. Each group has a guide as further protection of the site.

- A quite new site that archaeologists have completed excavating is Hadrian's Hall and Roman art centre discovered under one of Rome's busiest roundabouts near a baroque church and the Vittoriano. It is believed to have been built in AD 123 with seating for nine hundred people. It is the biggest find since the Forum was discovered in the 1920's.

- Escavations have been ongoing for decades in the Roman Forum and on Palatine Hill. Halls and imperial residences with frescoes and stucco reliefs have been found. Palatine Hill is in one of the most ancient areas of the city. Excavations show that people lived there as long ago as 1,000 BC. Many buildings have been excavated on the Hill, each with their own history. Entrance to it is not far from the Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine. The Palatine House is believed to be the birthplace of Rome's first emperor, Augustus.

- Some of the other excavations are: the House of Livia; the House of Gryphons, a residence of Republic Rome; the Temple of Romulus in the Roman Forum and, the Loggia Mattei, dating from the Renaissance. Excavations are continuing also in Piazza Santa Maria to reveal more of the Roman and medieval structures.

- Excavations are also taking place at the site of Prato Felici of a Roman Republic cistern structure.

- In 2009, a mini-colosseum was discovered beneath Rome's Fuimicino Airport. With the help of a ground penetrating radar, they uncovered luxuriously decorated rooms, a carved marble head believed to be that of Ulysses, a garden and a toilet.

Unfortunately, most of these excavations are not open to the public on a regular basis because of a shortage of guards. This is a result of significant cut-backs because of the financial difficulties much of Europe is having at this time. Those that are open do so only on certain days and with restricted hours.

It is a shame that these findings are not open to the public as some excavations are known only in academic circles. The importance of archaeological finds is the discovery of pre-modern day cultures, civilizations, ancient topography and how our world has changed over the centuries. And even more than from a purely historical reason, excavations emphasize the fact that we are not a new civilization - we go back thousands of years. Would we have known that were it not for archaeological excavations?