This discovery in the heart of Rome surprised even local researchers, who are accustomed to frequent finds. Archaeologists had long believed this legendary object was hopelessly lost. Now, they have unearthed a brick and travertine marble wall near the Vatican, which once formed a terrace overlooking the Tiber River, the foundation of a portico with a colonnade, and a large open area that likely once housed the garden of Agrippina (Agrippina the Elder was the mother of Caligula).
Inscribed on the portico’s pipe was the name: “Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus.” This is the true name of the exalted emperor who ruled from 37 to 41 AD. Caligula is a nickname given to him in childhood when he accompanied his father, the emperor Germanicus, on military campaigns, wearing a legionnaire’s outfit with open-toed sandals—caligae. Interestingly, when Caligula became emperor, he continued to wear caligae, but now he adorned them with precious stones.
The History Behind the Archaeological Discovery
Although Caligula ruled Ancient Rome for only a few years, he is remembered as an extremely cruel, mad, depraved, extravagant, and bloody emperor. This is how he was portrayed by playwright Albert Camus in his play “Caligula” and by director Tinto Brass in the cult film of the same name.
His reign was also marked by tense relations with the Jewish population of the empire. It was during his rule that the first recorded anti-Semitic pogrom occurred in Alexandria, Egypt.
The garden that has now been uncovered was the very place where a delegation of Alexandrian Jews once pleaded with Caligula for help. Daniela Porro, the special superintendent of Rome overseeing the excavations, has no doubt that this was the site of that fateful and ultimately futile meeting.
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“We were fortunate to find a lead pipe in one of the walls with Caligula’s name inscribed on it, which means that he built the portico,” Ms. Porro explained. According to her, “there were magnificent imperial gardens here with pavilions, porticos, and buildings for leisure,” as reported by the Daily Mail.
After Caligula’s death, the garden was inherited by his nephew Nero—the last representative of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. He decided to build his own theater near Caligula’s portico, the ruins of which have been discovered, Ms. Porro noted. According to her, during the Flavian dynasty, the portico and other structures in the area were either destroyed or repurposed.
Ms. Porro promised that the archaeological remains—Caligula’s legacy—would be documented, restored, and possibly displayed outdoors.