L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 2017 www.italoamericano.org L'Italo-Americano 26 A rchaeologist Clementina Panella is a time traveler. O v e r t h e l a s t t h r e e decades, her team has probed ever deeper beneath the heart of ancient Rome to unearth almost three thousand years of civiliza- tion. Now she is poised to fill in the last pages in what she calls "this great book of human histo- ry." The excavations have cen- t e r e d o n t h e s l o p e o f t h e Palatine, the oldest of Rome's s e v e n h i l l s , b e t w e e n t h e C o l o s s e u m a n d t h e A r c h o f Constantine. "This extremely important zone had never been explored before," says Panella, a professor at the University of Roma La Sapienza. "We uncov- ered one surprising discovery after another." The oldest were simple huts dating back ten to fourteen cen- turies before Christ, indicating that humans were living on the hill long before Rome's official birth in 753 B.C. Other findings offer tangible testimony to the legend of Romulus as founder of the eternal city. They include the Curiae Veteres, a religious site where Romulus gathered representatives from Rome's districts (curiae) to worship and s h a r e m e a l s t o g e t h e r . A s mounds of animal bones testify, m e a t w a s d e f i n i t e l y o n t h e menu. " F o r 1 2 0 0 y e a r s t h i s remained a place of human use and habitation—one of the old- est on earth," says Panella, who notes that Romulus's original city was conceived as a temple, enclosing ground so sacred that no war or battle could violate it. "This was an abstract boundary rather than a physical one, but e v e r y o n e r e c o g n i z e d a n d respected it." For Panella, the most excit- ing discovery was the Meda Sudans, a monumental fountain f r o m t h e t i m e o f A u g u s t u s , Rome's first emperor. Nearby the archaeologists found a luxu- riously decorated domus or resi- dence believed to be the place where Augustus was born in 63 B.C. His wife Livia converted it to a temple after his death in 14 A.D. A m o n g t h e m o s t c u r i o u s findings, tucked inside a col- l a p s e d w o o d e n b o x , w e r e "insignia"— scepters not unlike those of a Harry Potter wizard, t o p p e d b y g l e a m i n g g l a s s globes, as well as parade spears and lances for bearing flags -- from the 4th century A.D. They probably belonged to Emperor Maxentius, who was killed by Constantine in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 A.D. Most touching—and unex- pected—was an urn from the fifth century B.C., buried in shallow ground under a protec- tive overhang. Inside, wrapped in a covering of sorts, were the remains of a baby who died at or s h o r t l y a f t e r b i r t h . P a n e l l a d e s c r i b e s t h e r e v e l a t i o n a s "molto impressionante" (very striking), a poignant reminder of the timeless sorrow of a child's loss. The city's version of urban recycling often complicated the excavations. "Roma si mangia," Panella explains. Rome eats itself. Its builders took stones, metals, glass and decorations from existing structures to con- struct new ones, stacking layer DIANNE HALES The endless secrets of the Palatine Hill upon layer in a kind of archaeo- logical lasagna. As Panella's team discovered, some used stat- uary, such as a marble bust of the Emperor Septimius Severus, who died in 211, as "filler" for the foundations of new edifices. Working among the glories o f a n c i e n t R o m e h a s b e e n a "great privilege," says Panella. "I lift my head, and I see the C o l o s s e u m , t h e A r c h o f C o n s t a n t i n e , t h e t e m p l e o f Venus." Most rewarding has been the thrill of discovery, "of finding something that has never been seen before, trying to inter- p r e t i t i n l i g h t o f w h a t w e already know, and adding anoth- er element to an extraordinary story." As the excavation reaches a "geologic zone" about sixteen feet beneath sea level of yellow prehistoric mud that predates any human presence, Panella's t e a m p r e p a r e s t o w r i t e t h e story's final chapter. However, an enormous challenge remains: analyzing hundreds of bins of artifacts, stored in the basement of the archaeology lab at La S a p i e n z a . E a c h m a y f i l l i n another piece of the mosaic of Rome's past. "This is an opportunity to reconstruct 3,000 years of histo- ry and to give a voice to ancient objects and the people who used them," says Tracy Roberts, vice- president of LoveItaly.org, a nonprofit association that has launched a crowdfunding cam- p a i g n t o e n a b l e P r o f e s s o r P a n e l l a t o c o m p l e t e h e r research. "By contributing, you get a chance to become part of the history--not just of Rome and of Italy, but of all humani- ty." For more information on the Palatine excavation, check out LoveItaly's website at www. loveitaly.org. For Panella, the most exciting discovery was the Meda Sudans, a monumental fountain from the time of Augustus, Rome's first emperor Among the most curious findings, tucked inside a collapsed wooden box, were "insignia"— scepters, as well as parade spears and lances for bearing flags from the 4th century A.D. LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE

• Cover