Ancient Romans were a lot like us in many ways, and one of those similarities shows up in their class structure.
There were a lot of have-nots, a few have-somes, and then the ruling “elite” class kept most of the empire’s spoils for themselves.
Life on the upper crust was thought to be pretty decadent and even debaucherous, and these sunken ruins could give us a first-hand glimpse into what that might have looked like.
The ruins are believed to be a pavilion that was once attached to an impressive villa overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.
They are now submerged off the coast of Campo di Mare in Cerveteri, which is just a short journey from Rome.
Divers and drones have recently explored the circular structure firsthand. It consists of 50 meters of two chunky walls and a really neat “opus spicatum” floor that’s remarkably well-preserved.
This herringbone masonry pattern was popular during the height of Rome’s prosperity.
The Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the province of Viterbo and Southern Etruria worked with CSR Cultural Property Restoration to put together a model of what it would have looked like intact.
They believe the home would have belonged to a wealthy member of the aristocracy, as the pavilion was “extremely elegant” and attached to a grand villa by the sea.
Researchers hope they will one day find the ruins of the villa itself buried along the coastline.
The house would have been located along Via Aurelia, one of the main highways that led to Rome.
Cerveteri flourished during the later days of the Etruscan civilization, which was subsumed into Roman culture around the 3rd century BCE. The town is home to the largest ancient necropolis in the Mediterranean, as people were buried there from the 9th to the 1st century BCE.
An UNESCO heritage site, it is home to “thousands of tombs organized in a city-like plan, with streets, small squares, and neighborhoods.”
Personally, I think it would be really cool to see the whole thing.
I can just imagine a bunch of rich folks with their good wine, sitting outside enjoying the Mediterranean breeze.
Sounds like the life if you ask me.
If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about the mysterious “pyramids” discovered in Antarctica. What are they?