Augusts villa found near Vesuvius

[guy]

We have written an earlier post about a possible villa of Augustus found during excavations at the foot of Mount Vesuvius (see post below). The discovery of furnaces (pictured above) helps support the finding:

🏛️ Discovery of Imperial Furnaces May Link Villa to Emperor Augustus

Archaeologists from the University of Tokyo have uncovered five large furnaces at a Roman villa buried by Mount Vesuvius in Somma Vesuviana, Italy. The size and complexity of the bath complex suggest it may have belonged to Emperor Augustus, Rome’s first emperor.

The furnaces were used to heat water for an elaborate imperial-style bathhouse, a luxury usually reserved for the elite.

The villa’s location and architectural features match historical accounts of Augustus’ family estate, raising the possibility that this was the site of his death.

Excavations at Somma Vesuviana have been ongoing for over 20 years, but this recent discovery is considered one of the most convincing pieces of evidence linking the site to Augustus.

 

Tokyo Univ. team may have unearthed 1st Roman emperor's bathhouse - The Mainichi

 

 

 

 

Edited July 13, 2025 by guy

[caesar novus]

5 hours ago, guy said:

uncovered five large furnaces at a Roman villa buried by Mount Vesuvius in Somma Vesuviana, Italy. The size and complexity of the bath complex suggest it may have belonged to Emperor Augustus,

The British School in Rome youtube channel has long lecture videos that calculate challenging logistics of feeding these fires in Ostia and I guess Rome/Pompeii. In order to heat such volume of water it takes an exact huge amount of firewood carted in every night (deliveries forbidden by day). Only a few wider roads can support cart traffic and turn around requirements, and they therefore thunder by something like every 3 minutes IIRC. By dawn farmers come in and collect animal and human night soil which was highly prized and not flushed away. For Ostia they only included local deliveries, not the massive transhipments to Rome, so maybe even the above villa created such nocturnal traffic jams.

Also they calculate the exact required human porters to support wine and olive oil consumption which I think also had to move at night. The wine amphorae were the perfect weight for humans of that era to carry without undue strain door to door, and such human dexterity simplified loading/unloading issues over pack animals or carts. Olive oil came in huge containers which were too big for single humans or pack animals; once you counterbalanced on both sides you can't get thru narrow streets. I think the oil (used around baths for scraper cleaning?) must have been suspended by a pole between 2 porters.

The scholars calculate how many porters and animals pass thru each street per hour, and debate things like do cart ruts imply one way traffic patterns (probably not). While listening, youtube recommended a video advertising a British school in Rome for sale, so I won't look up exact legacy channel name. It now might be found under something like "Chairman Mao Memorial School in Rome" or "Comrade Trotsky Memorial School in Rome"?

Edited July 13, 2025 by caesar novus