From the excavations of the underground the tables of ancient Rome. The wood of the oak tree 2000 years ago

The trees were cut down in the 40 after Christ in a region between the Jura mountains and the upper Rhine valley, in the northeast of France, 1700 kilometres from the capital of the empire, where it then raged Caligula. The logs were cut a short distance from the forest, then began their long journey to Rome. "An organization incredible for the time, that only the Romans could prepare," says Mauro Bernabei , a researcher of Cnr at the Institute of bioeconomy. "It is likely that the plates were transferred to the south taking advantage of the current of the Saône river, then the Rhone to its mouth, a hundred kilometres to the west of Marseille. From there by sea through the Mediterranean to the Tiber, and then in the heart of Rome". For the accuracy: via Sannio, a few hundred meters from the basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano. Because it is here that, nearly 2000 years after their long journey, were found the 24 plates of oak.