"Little Rome"
Posted on Wednesday 12 November 2003 to Story So Far
After 10 years of digging, "Little Rome," as the great Roman orator
Cicero called it, is coming to light near Naples, in what could be the
most important discovery of an ancient Roman town since the excavation
of lava-entombed Pompeii and Herculaneum in the 18th century. The
ancient town of Puteoli, once one of the major trading ports of the
Mediterranean, has been found under Rione Terra, a stout promontory in
Pozzuoli, just 8 miles west of Naples.
Known to Italians as the birthplace of movie star Sophia Loren,
Pozzuoli is a pleasant seaside resort surrounded by volcanic hills. But
under palaces and hotels lies an ancient city with streets, temples and
exceptionally preserved buildings ? in no way inferior to those of
Pompeii and Herculaneum, buried by the catastrophic eruption of Mount
Vesuvius in A.D. 79. [link]
