Ancient Rome: Marble statue of Roman emperor discovered in Italian sewer

Construction workers in Italy's capital Rome had quite a surprise recently whilst carrying out sewage repair works in the city.

They stumbled across a marble statue of an ancient Roman Emperor!

Not only that, the life-size sculpture was found to be posing as the classical hero Hercules.

Experts think the statue is that of Emperor Decius, who ruled Rome in the third century, and plan to put the statue on public display once it has been restored.

The statue was discovered underground by accident during sewer repair works near Rome's Appia Antica, which is believed to be ancient Rome's first highway and was one of the earliest and most important roads during the Roman Empire.

The statue emerged, face first, as a bulldozer was tearing through old pipelines that needed replacing!

Archaeologist Francesca Romana Paolillo explained: "This face appeared, and it was then immediately identified as a character dressed as Hercules."

The marble sculpture shows a Hercules-like figure with the hero's trademark lion skin and club.

The statue also has frown lines on its forehead that experts say are typically found on statues of emperors from the 3rd century, as the Roman Empire was going through a difficult period during that time.

Ms Paolillo added that the sculpture bears a "fair resemblance" to Emperor Decius, who ruled Rome from 249 to 251 AD.

Decius was the first Roman emperor to be killed in battle, whilst fighting in modern day Bulgaria.

The statue suffered some accidental damage during its chance discovery and is currently being cleaned and restored by experts.

Once repaired, the statue is expected to be placed on public display.