Hidden passageway once used by Roman emperors opens to public for first time

A vast underground passageway that allowed Rome’s emperors to pass unseen from their hilltop palaces to the Forum is to be opened to the public for the first time on Wednesday.

The 2,000-year-old “imperial ramp” descended from the top of the Palatine Hill, where successive emperors built lavish palaces, down to the temples, market places and courts of the Forum in the valley below, from where the Roman Empire was governed.

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Ancient Roman Mosaic Found in Tuscany

Italian archaeologists digging in a small Tuscan village have unearthed part of what they believe is a large and impressive ancient Roman mosaic.

Laying in a private property next to a local road in the village Capraia e Limite, the mosaic features two different designs. One, dating to the second half of the 4th century AD, features geometric patterns framed by floral motifs, the other, dating to the 5th century AD, boasts octagons decorated with animals, flowers and a human bust.

The large mosaic graced the floor of a luxurious Roman villa that stood in the Tuscan countryside for four centuries, from the 1st to the beginning of the 6th century AD.

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Quand Poitiers s'appelait Limonum

L’archéologie urbaine étudie l’histoire des villes. Fouilles après fouilles, elle accumule les informations qui permettent de comprendre comment ces villes sont nées, comment elles ont évolué. Ce dossier vous invite à découvrir ce que l’on sait de Limonum pendant l’Antiquité, de la fin de l’époque gauloise à l’arrivée des Francs.

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