Archeologists unearth ‘lost’ mini Roman Coliseum
By Paula Newton
CNN
FUMICINO, Italy (CNN) — Under a canopy of elegant Italian pines, the foundations of a mini Roman Coliseum are at once unmistakable and exhilarating.
The structure at “Portus,” the Romans’ ancient Mediterranean port, has remained undiscovered for eighteen centuries until now.
University of Southhampton archaeologists have just this summer uncovered the remains of an amphitheater, a Roman warehouse and the ruins of an Imperial palace even though archaeologists have been digging at this site since the 19th Century.
“It’s true I think also to say that we have kind of rediscovered it because the great Italian archaeologist Rodolfo Lanciani reported the discovery of a theater in the 1860s but nobody could actually find it,” says Professor Simon Keay, a leading expert on Roman Archaeology at the University of Southhampton.
