These Italian Teenagers Stayed Overnight at Their School. They Found Ancient Roman Ruins Hidden in the Basement

Meilan Solly | Senior Associate Digital Editor, History

Add as preferred source Graffiti spanning more than a century is scrawled on the walls of the Roman villa. Cantieri Narranti In January 2021, students at a high school across the street from the Colosseum came up with a bold plan. Angered by plans to extend remote learning to prevent the spread of Covid-19, the teenagers occupied their school, spending several nights camped out in the building in protest.

When the demonstration ended, participants told Claudia Marino, a history and Latin teacher at the school, that they’d stumbled upon something significant. Marino and her colleagues investigated the tip, following the students’ directions to a locked door in the basement.