Emperor's Decline And Fall (Constantine)

A SEWER might be no place for an emperor, but that is where archaeologists have discovered a marble statue of the head of Constantine, one of Rome’s greatest leaders. Eugenio La Rocca, the superintendent for Rome’s monuments, said that archaeologists found the 61cm (2ft) head while clearing an ancient drainage system in the Roman Forum, the centre of public life in the ancient city.

Signor La Rocca said yesterday that officials were unsure why the statue was in the sewer. One possibility is that the statue of the man who reunited the Roman Empire in the early 4th century and ended years of persecution against Christians was unceremoniously used to clear a blocked sewer.

He said that the statue depicts Constantine at the height of his power, after his defeat of Maxentius in 312 AD and his conversion to Christianity. The head bears a striking resemblance to the gigantic marble head of Constantine that once formed part of a 14m-high seated statue of the emperor in the new basilica in the Forum. The head, with a hand and foot from the statue, is preserved at the Capitoline Museums.

Walter Veltroni, the Mayor of Rome, said that it was a “small miracle” that the statue had survived 2,000 years that saw the fall of Rome in the 5th century. “It is a sign of hope in these troubled times, a reminder of the great Roman civilisation of which we are all the heirs,” he said.

Gianni Borgna, the head of culture for Rome city council, said that a number of jewels had come to light since excavations resumed in the Forum just over a decade ago. They included a Roman prison, mosaics from a Roman baths and the headless statue of a Dacian prisoner from the time of Trajan.

Andrea Carandini, Professor of Archaeology at Rome University, said that it was often wrongly assumed that the Forum had been thoroughly excavated. This year he said that he had found traces of a royal palace in the Forum dating to the founding of Rome in the 8th century BC.

His team unearthed a vast palace, which had a central courtyard, a monumental entrance, elaborate furnishings and ceramics, and walls of wood and clay.

Roman lead industry found in bog

Excavation team member Hannah Clancy uncovering the furnace

Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a Roman lead smelting site in a peat bog in Ceredigion. Dating back about 2,000 years, Cambria Archaeology said mines in the Borth area could have supplied the heavy, bluish-grey metal for production.

It added that blocks of Welsh lead may have even been transported to other parts of the Roman Empire.

Last year, archaeologists hinted they had found a Roman "industrial estate", but until now had little evidence.

In June last year, Cambria Archaeology, from Llandeilo, unearthed a medieval track on the edge of Cors Fochno (Borth Bog) in Llancynfelyn, near Borth.

It described it as the best preserved example of its type in Wales.

Carbon dating carried out on fragments of wood from the site dated back to 900 or 1020AD.

But further probing by archaeologists uncovered evidence of lead smelting underneath the track.

They returned to the site at the end of May with students from the University of Birmingham, who helped last year, and specialists from Lampeter University.

Now, after analysing data, archaeologists are confident they have stumbled across something significant.

"In Wales, this is of national significance. To find two key sites on top of each other is rare", said project leader Nigel Page.

The remains of the Roman lead furnace date back about 2,000 years

"We've found a furnace and lead smelting base and although we have to do further scientific dating, we think it probably dates back about 2,000 years.

"As it is today, lead was an important commodity in Roman times and it's possible blocks or ingots were stamped with the legion identification and sent to other parts of the empire".

Mr Page said lead mines dotted throughout the area could hold further evidence of a Roman lead industry.

"There a number of lead mines in the area and it's possible these date back to Roman times and supplied lead for production," Mr Page added.

The smelting site has now been backfilled, although photographs have been taken of the find.

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