Excavations at Commodus' Villa Reveal New Building Techniques
Archaeologists working at a villa once confiscated and renovated
by the brutal emperor Commodus have made a remarkable discovery
regarding ancient Roman building techniques. The crew discovered
a large deposit of slake lime, an expensive and rare building
material, once occupied an entire room at the Villa dei Quintili
in Rome and was preserved for more than 20 centuries by the
collapse of a floor. Until now, slake lime has been known to
have been used from small quantities found at Pompeii and
Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli. Click for more information and
pictures from the Discovery Channel. Copyright 2004, Fragments
of Time, Inc.