Irene Iacopi is an Italian archaeologist. In 2007 she announced she had found what was probably the legendary cave of

Lupercal The Lupercal (from Latin ''wikt:lupa, lupa'' "female wolf") was a cave at the southwest foot of the Palatine Hill in Rome, located somewhere between the temple of Temple of Cybele (Palatine), Magna Mater and the Sant'Anastasia al Palatino. In t ...

beneath the remains of the House of Augustus, the ''Domus

Livia Livia Drusilla (30 January 59 BC AD 29) was List of Roman and Byzantine empresses, Roman empress from 27 BC to AD 14 as the wife of Augustus, the first Roman emperor. She was known as Julia Augusta after her formal Adoption ...

'', on the

Palatine Hill The Palatine Hill (; Classical Latin: ''Palatium''; Neo-Latin: ''Collis/Mons Palatinus''; ), which relative to the seven hills of Rome is the centremost, is one of the most ancient parts of the city; it has been called "the first nucleus of the ...

, believed by ancient Romans to be the cave where the twin boys

Romulus and Remus In Roman mythology, Romulus and (, ) are twins in mythology, twin brothers whose story tells of the events that led to the Founding of Rome, founding of the History of Rome, city of Rome and the Roman Kingdom by Romulus, following his frat ...

were suckled by a she-wolf. Iacopi has published several books, most recently on the

Domus Aurea The Domus Aurea (Latin, "Golden House") was a vast landscaped complex built by the Roman Empire, Emperor Nero largely on the Oppian Hill in the heart of ancient Rome after the Great Fire of Rome, great fire in 64 AD had destroyed a large part ...

and on wall paintings in the House of Augustus.

Domus Livia discovery

In January 2007, Iacopi announced that she had probably found the legendary cave of

beneath the remains of the House of Augustus, the ''Domus

'', on the

, believed by ancient Romans to be the cave where the twin boys

were suckled by a she-wolf. Andrea Carandini, a professor of

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

specialising in

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

, described it as "one of the most important discoveries of all time". These assertions have proved controversial. Adriano La Regina (formerly Rome's archaeological superintendent 1976–2004, professor of

Etruscology Etruscology is the study of the ancient civilization of the Etruscans in Italy (Etruria), which was incorporated into an expanding Roman Empire during the period of Rome's Middle Republic. Since the Etruscans were politically and culturally influ ...

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome (), formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", abbreviated simply as Sapienza ('Wisdom'), is a Public university, public research university located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1303 and is ...

), Professor Fausto Zevi (professor of Roman Archaeology at Rome's La Sapienza University) and Professor Henner von Hesberg (head of the German Archaeological Institute, Rome) denied the identification of the grotto with Lupercal on topographic and stylistic grounds. They concluded that the grotto is actually a

nymphaeum A ''nymphaeum'' (Latin : ''nymphaea'') or ''nymphaion'' (), in ancient Greece and Rome, was a monument consecrated to the nymphs, especially those of springs. These monuments were originally natural grottoes, which tradition assigned as habit ...

or underground

triclinium A ''triclinium'' (: ''triclinia'') is a formal dining room in a Ancient Rome, Roman building. The word is adopted from the Greek language, Greek ()—from (), "three", and (), a sort of couch, or rather chaise longue. Each couch was sized to ...

from

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...

nian times. The current scholarly consensus is that the grotto is not the Lupercal and that the cave was located lower southwest, closer to piazza

Sant'Anastasia al Palatino Sant'Anastasia is a minor basilica and titular church for cardinal-priests in Rome, Italy owned by the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. Basilica Sant'Anastasia was built in the late 3rd century - early 4th century, possibly by a Roman woman nam ...

Selected publications

* ''L'Antiquarium forense (Itinerari dei musei, gallerie e monumenti d'Italia)'' Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato (1974) * ''Gli scavi sul colle Palatino: Testimonianze e documenti'' Electa (1997) * ''La decorazione pittorica dell'aula isiaca'' Electa (1997) * ''Domus Aurea'' Electa (1999) * ''The House of Augustus: Wall Paintings'' Electa (2008)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iacopi, Irene Living people 21st-century Italian archaeologists Italian women archaeologists 20th-century Italian archaeologists 20th-century Italian women writers Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Italian non-fiction writers 21st-century Italian women writers 21st-century Italian non-fiction writers Italian women non-fiction writers