Roman Emperor's Death Site May Have Finally Been Discovered

Archaeologists say they may have discovered the death site of the Roman Empire's founder in southern Italy.

Excavations carried out by researchers from the University of Tokyo at the northern foot of Mount Vesuvius have uncovered part of a building that they believe was used by Augustus, Rome's first emperor, who ruled from 27 B.C. until his death A.D. 14 at the age of 75.

Historical sources indicate that Augustus died in a villa on the north side of Vesuvius—and that this building subsequently served as a memorial site in his honor. But the location of the villa has yet to be conclusively identified.

In the 1930s, researchers uncovered the remains of a Roman villa that was initially hypothesized to be that of Augustus in Somma Vesuviana, a town at the northern foot of Vesuvius—the volcano that infamously erupted in A.D. 79, destroying the Roman cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and several other settlements.

But a University of Tokyo excavation project that began at the site in 2002 subsequently determined that this building dated no further than the second century A.D.—or in other words, after the infamous eruption.

That is until recent excavations, conducted in 2023 by the Japanese researchers, uncovered evidence of a building from an earlier period below the second century structure. It is this earlier building that the Tokyo researchers believe was the site where Augustus died.

Radiocarbon dating work and analysis of the volcanic pumice covering the earlier building demonstrated that it was still functional in the first half of the first century A.D.—and that it was buried by volcanic material from the eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79.

This is the first time that evidence of a building aligning chronologically with the villa of Augustus has been found on the north side of Vesuvius.

The archaeologists identified a kiln-like structure—likely associated with some kind of bathhouse—in the ruins of the building. The dating of charcoal from the structure showed that the villa was occupied during the first half of the first century—but also that the kiln ceased to be used at some point after the death of Augustus. This is consistent with descriptions in the historical literature detailing how his villa fell into disuse after the death.

While the latest results provide tantalizing clues, more research will be required before the location of the emperor's villa can be definitively determined.

Nevertheless, the recent findings challenge the conventional wisdom that the northern foothills of Vesuvius only suffered minor damage from the A.D. 79 eruption and were affected less severely than the settlements on the southeastern side, such as Pompeii.

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