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Rome - 8th century B.C. Legend has it that Romulus and Remus, facing death by the hands of the king for being born to a priestess, are put in a basket which floats down the Tiber River and comes to rest on the embankment of the Palatine Hill (photo 1). Here, they are saved by the she-wolf who suckles them in a cave. This cave, one of the most revered spots in ancient Rome, was called the Lupercale, and according to ancient texts was located on the north-west end (photo 2) of the Palatine hill, hill upon which Romulus once grown founded Rome.
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Fast forward 800 years . . . this is now the fancy neighborhood in Rome, and so Augustus, as befits Rome's first Emperor, builds himself a cozy new 200,000 square foot Palatine home. (Any doubt as to the origin of the word Palatio in Latin, palazzo in Italian, or "palace" and "palatial" in English?) He sees himself as a modern day Romulus, founding Rome anew, and so choses the north end of the hill so he can incorporate the Lupercal into his palace and physically represent this connection.
Fast forward another 2000 years . . . a group of engineers and archaeologists are coring the hilltop ground under the ruins of Augustus's palace for the purpose of reinforcing the deteriorating remains. The drill bit is at about 45 feet and punches through into a void. Fiber-optic lights and a digital video camera are lowered down the hole . . and what appears is an astounding 25' ft. diameter x 25' foot high cavity, partly natural but partly enlarged by human hand. It is richly decorated with polychrome mosaics and embedded white sea shells, and has an white eagle center top . . . Augustus' personal symbol.
The Lupercal? . . . time will tell.
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--contributed by GB, Editor, Publisher, Italian Notebook
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