Archaeologists Unearth What May Be Oldest Roman Temple
Archaeologists excavating a site in central Rome say they've uncovered what may be oldest known temple from Roman antiquity.
Along the way, they've also discovered how much the early Romans intervened to shape their urban environment.
And the dig has been particularly challenging because the temple lies below the water table.
At the foot Capitoline Hill in the center of Rome, stands the Medieval Sant'Omobono church.
Today, the Tiber River is about a hundred yards away. But when the city was being created, around the 7th century B.C., it flowed close to where the church now stands, where a bend in the river provided a natural harbor for merchant ships.
"And here they decide to create a temple," says Nic Terrenato, who teaches classical archaeology at the University of Michigan and is co-director of the Sant'Omobono excavation project.
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http://www.npr.org/2014/01/29/267819402/archaeologists-unearth-what-may-be-oldest-roman-temple
