Archaeologists might have discovered death site of Roman Empire's founder

Archaeologists from the University of Tokyo might have finally discovered the death site of the Roman Empire's founder Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius).

The possible traces of the Villa of Augustus were found during excavations at Somma Vesuviana - a place where Augustus was said to have died in the year 14 AD.

Villa of Augustus is the first-century grand estate that was built near Somma Vesuviana, which is a town and commune in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Italy.

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History books have mentioned that during the Roman period, the region area was a resort for the elite of Rome who constructed large villa complexes.

The villa was built on the northern side of Mount Vesuvius and was buried under tonnes of volcanic ash and molten lava after the catastrophic eruption of this volcano in 79 AD, which also destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum.

The 1930 excavations in the Nola area uncovered a large Roman villa which was interpreted as the Villa of Augustus. Since 2002, it has been subjected to archaeological probes.

According to a press statement by the University of Tokyo: "This suggests that even the northern foothills of Mount Vesuvius, where the effects of the AD 79 eruption were said to have been less severe than the southeastern region of the mountain, were also affected by the eruption with destructive power."

The remains of a Roman-era estate, unearthed during the 1930s, were believed to be the long-buried villa, however, probes later revealed that the ruins dated to the second century AD, which means it had been built after Mount Vesuvius had already erupted.

The Japanese researchers conducted excavations in 2023 and uncovered evidence of a building from an earlier period, which was just below the second-century structure.

The researchers believed that the older building was the site where Augustus died.