Ancient Roman house found in Arezzo

An important archeological find of ancient Roman ruins has been made at the Medici Fortress of Arezzo in central Italy. During work for the reorganization of the historic building, evidence of an ancient Roman structure dating from the early decades of the first century AD were brought to light - probably a residence, or domus.

The 'domus romana' in Arezzo [Credit: ANSA]

The new findings were presented by the regional superintendent of archaeological heritage, Andrea Pessina, who announced the continuation of work thanks to an immediate loan of 10,000 euros to identify more precisely what is there, as the structure could turn out to be an ancient public building of a much larger dimension. The Roman find is of enormous value for understanding the history of the city, Pessina said, and complements other discoveries such as the Church of San Donato in Cremona, dating back to the year 1000, found a few metres from the Roman structure, now being restored with financing in part from Prada proprietor Patrizio Bertelli.

The ancient ruins are believed to be a residential building from the Roman period in which three rooms so far have been identified. Remains of painted wall and floors have been found in two partially investigate rooms. The building, located in the northeastern plateau of the San Donato hill, was perched above the hillside's the steep slopes overlooking the valley below.

The floors found are attributable to the Augustan-Julio Claudian era (from late BC to the first decades AD), and show striking similarities to mosaics of the Villa dell'Ossaia in Cortona.

During the excavations, the burial remains of a warrior came to light - perhaps a medieval knight. The burial - still only partially seen by the experts conducting the excavations - is of a man with a long iron sword. According to preliminary investigations, the burial dates from around the year 1000.

Above a layer of collapsed floors of the Roman 'domus' there are signs of reuse later abandoned, including of course, the burial of the ''knight''.

Source: ANSAmed [February 27, 2014]