Archaeologists digging in Rome's Palatine Hill have found the remains of a large house that they believe might be the birthplace of Rome's first emperor, Augustus.

Announced at the end of a 10-year excavation, the finding was partly uncovered in 2006, when a team led by Clementina Panella, a professor at the University of Rome La Sapienza, unearthed part of a corridor and other fragments of "a very ancient aristocratic house" near the Arch of Titus on the northeastern side of the Palatine.

Extensive excavation in the past five years (founded by the Sapienza University and the Banca Nazionale delle Comunicazioni) and historical cross-checks have provided further weight to support the hypothesis that the house belonged to Gaius Octavius, Augustus' father.

"We have unearthed more than 10 rooms, beautiful mosaic floors and frescoed walls," Panella told Discovery News....