A marble inscription found in its original position at Hadrian’s Villa refers to a lightning strike attributed to Summanus—and the Roman ritual of making the place sacred.
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A marble slab that has remained in place for almost two millennia has revealed an unusual ritual from Ancient Rome. Archaeologists discovered it in the villa of Emperor Hadrian in Tivoli, near Rome, and on it is an inscription dedicated to Sumano - the deity to whom the Romans attributed night lightning. The discovery is particularly valuable because the slab has not been moved over the centuries and shows exactly how a place struck by lightning…