A large fresco painting almost 2,000 years old has come to light during excavations near the Coliseum in Rome. The BBC's Rome correspondent, David Willey, reports:

Never before has a contemporary bird's-eye view of what archaeologists believe could be ancient Rome been uncovered here.

This surprising discovery was made by an Italian archaeologist, Elisabeta Carnabuci, who has been working for 15 years in the dank tunnels that honeycomb one of the hills of ancient Rome near the Coliseum.

It was here that the Emperor Nero built his so-called Golden House, one of the most splendid palaces of ancient Rome, some of whose decorations have gradually come to light during the past 400 years.

Ancient Roman wall paintings influenced many famous Renaissance and Baroque painters, who copied some of the motifs, which became known to art historians as the Pompeian style.

The newly uncovered fresco measures about two metres by three and it shows an imagined aerial view of an ancient fortified city with an island on a river running through it -- just like Rome.

There are statues overlooking a public square and a theatre which looks similar to the Theatre of Marcellus, parts of which have survived in the modern city.

Art experts are unsure if this unusual city scene represents an actual view of Rome or is an imaginary city, but either way it's one of the most remarkable archaeological finds to be made in the centre of Rome since the private study of the Emperor Augustus was discovered on the Palatine Hill 20 years ago.
 

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