News from the ancient world
New archaeological discoveries in Italy, newest first: 8 stories.
Greece & Rome · 2nd century BC · Herculaneum, Campania, Italy
Nearly 1.5 metres of text from PHerc. 1667, a Greek philosophical work of around the 2nd century BC that may be Stoic, were recovered with X-ray scans and AI.
Greece & Rome · 1st century BC · Baiae (Bacoli), Campania, Italy
The terraced villa at Baiae, partly swallowed by the sea, may have belonged to Publius Cornelius Dolabella, Cicero's son-in-law, though the attribution is still unconfirmed.
Greece & Rome · Imperial period to late antiquity · San Paolo Fuori le Mura, Rome, Lazio, Italy
Excavations ahead of a student residence found five vaulted tombs, probably columbaria, and a plainer late antique cemetery in a previously unknown sector of the Ostiense Necropolis.
Stone Age · c. 5635–5230 BC · La Marmotta, Anguillara Sabazia, Lazio, Italy
Wood analysis of 19 bows from La Marmotta, near Rome, shows its early farmers used six local tree species, most often hornbeam, in an area where yew did not grow.
Greece & Rome · c. AD 330 · Ostia Antica, Lazio, Italy
Excavators found a marble-clad reception hall at least eight metres high beside a church built around AD 330, probably the seat of Ostia's bishops.
Greece & Rome · Roman imperial period · Gallipoli, Puglia, Italy
Italy's financial police spotted the merchant ship on a routine patrol in June 2025, and the find was kept secret for months to protect it from looters.
Greece & Rome · 1st century AD, before AD 79 · Pompeii, Campania, Italy
Photographic imaging revealed 79 unknown inscriptions on plaster exposed since 1794, bringing the corridor's graffiti to nearly 300, including a gladiator duel and a love note.
Greece & Rome · 1st century BC · Fano, Marche, Italy
Column bases found under Piazza Andrea Costa match Vitruvius' own description in De Architectura, making this the only surviving building firmly attributed to him.