Palace of Tarquinius Superbus unearthed in Gabii

When I heard that Italian archaeologists think they have unearthed the palace of the notorious son of the last king of Rome, I felt a rush of excitement.  The Tarquin dynasty holds such a colorful place in early Roman history, especially considering all the lore surrounding the fateful rape of Lucretia, that the discovery of the actual palace that may have been near the site of the notorious desecration  is like the Roman equivalent of Schliemann's discovery of Troy.

[Image - Tarquinius and Lucretia by Titian, 1571.  Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons]

Archaeologists say the richly decorated monumental roof was dismantled and they hope to reconstruct it later this spring. Archaeologist Marco Fabbri of Rome's Tor Vergata University, directed the excavation.

"Fabbri and colleagues from Rome's Archaeological Superintendency believe that the residence was furiously demolished, probably during the Roman revolt in 510 B.C. that ultimately led to the foundation of the Roman Republic.  The ongoing excavation has so far unearthed three, disconnected rooms which most likely opened onto a porticoed area.  Under the building's exceptionally well-preserved floor slabs, eight round cells contained the remains of five stillborn babies.

'We hope to unearth the rest of the residence this spring. In particular, we are looking to piece together the richly decorated roof,' Fabbri said.

A terracotta fragment of the roof has already been found. It features the image of the Minotaur, an emblem of the Tarquins.

'It's a strong piece of evidence to support the hypothesis that the edifice was built for the Tarquin family,' Fabbri said." - Discovery News