Homes of ‘working-class Romans' discovered during Rome metro dig

The Guardian

05-08-2025

The remains of homes believed to have been lived in by working-class people around the time of the early Roman empire have been found by workers building an underground station in the city's historic centre.
The relics are the first to emerge from beneath the bustling Piazza Venezia since work began in 2023 on the station that will form part of the Italian capital's Metro C underground line.
The ambitious project at Piazza Venezia, which will also feature an 85-metre deep underground museum stuffed with archaeological objects found during construction, is forecast to be completed in nine years.
Archaeological experts said the structure appeared to resemble a multistorey complex that would have contained shops and homes lived in by imperial Rome's working class, between the late Roman republic and early empire – a period spanning the second and first centuries BC.
'Once again, the construction of a metro station makes us rediscover our city's past,' said Daniela Porro, Rome's special superintendent.
The archaeologist Marta Baumgartner said the discovery 'represents an extraordinary opportunity to learn about the historical topography of central Rome'.
A station at Piazza Venezia was first envisaged 25 years ago as part of the extension of Metro C, a line which currently connects Rome's suburbs with San Giovanni in the centre.
But progress was stalled by corruption inquiries and a lack of funding but also the huge number of relics, including the remains of Emperor Hadrian's auditorium, which emerged during initial preparation works.
New funding revived the project, with Metro C's extension – a joint construction between Webuild and Vianini Lavori – including stops at the Roman Forum-Colosseum before arriving at Piazza Venezia and heading towards the area of the Vatican.
The line's extension is intended to help relieve central Rome's traffic-clogged streets, with the museum at Piazza Venezia showcasing its rich archaeological past.
The sprawling station will include 27 escalators, six elevators and corridors connecting the above-ground Palazzo Venezia, from where the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini made some of his most famous speeches, the Vittoriano and the ruins of the Roman Forum.