They were doing some work on a subway station and found a glass with the goddess Roma from 1600 years ago

A golden glass with the image of the goddess who gives its name to the Italian capital is what the operators working on line C of the Rome metro found during the excavation of an archaeological jewel with the personification of Rome which dates back to the fourth century according to the first analyses.

“The millenary history of our city never ceases to amaze and enchant the world”, celebrated its mayor on social media after the discovery of the image, which will be shown to the public in a museum located at Porta Metronia station.

The glass, which according to the researchers matches at the bottom of a glass or a cup of timepresents the typical iconography of the personification of the Eternal City: a warrior woman with a classic profile, with helmet and spear.

“The golden glass is a truly exceptional find, but this one is unparalleled,” Rome city hall archaeologist Simona Morretta said in statements to the media.

“Never before has a golden vase with the personification of the city been found. found in Rome”. It is, continues Morretta, a discovery of “extraordinary executive delicacy”.

It was originally the bottom of a cup, “a peculiar object often used as a gift”. In practice, as happens today with some particular glasses or jugs, the drinker, while consuming the contents of the glass, could look at the transparent image placed on the bottom: “We don’t know – underlines Morretta – if it actually contained something or as a decoration, but certainly putting an image in the background reflects that idea.”

The artifact lived several ‘lives’ before reaching us: “It was a precious object – he explains again – and when it broke or chipped they didn’t want to throw it away. But since a crystal glass cannot be repaired, the bottom has been ‘cut out’, and may have been displayed on a piece of furniture or hung on a wall”.

The find does not belong to the barracks found in the excavations. The military structure was abandoned in the middle of the 3rd century, and subsequently ‘shaved’, the walls cut, the rubble thrown inside and everything covered with earth. The gilded glass emerged precisely from these layers of earth, and came later: “From this first study – adds the archaeologist – it seems to us to be an artifact from the beginning of the 4th century”.

“It was a precious object and was not thrown away if it was broken or damaged. But since a crystal glass couldn’t be repaired, the bottom was ‘cut out’ to, perhaps, display it on a piece of furniture or hang it on a wall,” she explained.

The object has appeared under several layers of soil and could belong to the beginning of the fourth centuryalthough further analysis will be needed to determine its exact origin.

“Never before has a golden vase with the personification of the city of Rome been found,” Morretta insisted.

Sources: EFE and RAI