Missing Roman Mosaic From Caligula's Reign Turns Up as Coffee Table in New York Apartment

In the 1960s, a woman named Helen Fioratti bought a table from an Italian noble family. The table was then shipped to America and then to Fioratti's apartment. There, she and her husband would used it as a coffee table. Unknown to Fioratti, the table was more than a coffee table.

Fast forward to 2013. Dario Del Bufalo, an Italian marble expert and author, was signing books in New York when he overheard a couple (Fioratti and a “young guy with a strange hat") discussing how the mosaic featured in his book looked the same as the one they owned. It was then revealed that the coffee table that the couple used for over 45 years was a 2,000-year-old artifact. It was a part of the mosaic flooring from one of Caligula's ceremonial ships.

So what happened to the "table" after the shocking revelation?

Learn more about this marble-lous story over at KATU.

(Image Credit: 60 Minutes via Twitter)

#Caligula #Artifact #History #Mosaic #coffeetable

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