[MSN] Italian police uncover looted antiquities. Police said Friday that the marble head of Lucius Verus was the most spectacular find among more than a dozen looted ancient artifacts hidden in a boat garage near Rome.

[MSN]

Italian police uncover looted antiquities
The Associated Press

Italian police have recovered a rare statue of a Roman emperor who had ruled
alongside Marcus Aurelius and was known for his reluctance to sit for
portraits.

Police said Friday that the marble head of Lucius Verus was the most
spectacular find among more than a dozen looted ancient artifacts hidden in
a boat garage near Rome.

The bearded visage of Lucius Verus is believed to have been secretly
unearthed at a site in the Naples area in southern Italy and was probably
destined for the international market, said Capt. Massimo Rossi of a special
police unit that hunts down archeological thieves.

Experts consider Lucius Verus's head a find of great scholarly value.
Because of his desire to stay out of the limelight, there are only four
other known portraits of him, Rossi said.

Lucius Verus co-ruled Rome from 161 until his death in 169 alongside the
more powerful Marcus Aurelius, his adoptive brother.

Ceramic vases stolen from an Etruscan tomb in central Italy were also among
the stash recovered last month in the port town of Fiumicino, near Rome's
Leonardo da Vinci airport. Police said they were traced to an antiquities
dealer in the Italian capital.

No arrests have been made, but 13 people were being investigated for
antiquities trafficking, Rossi said.

More artifacts found elsewhere

In a separate operation, Italy recovered a marble head depicting Faustina,
the wife of the Emperor Antoninus Pius, the predecessor and adoptive father
of Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius.

Faustina's portrait had been stolen in 1961 from an ancient theatre in
Minturno, south of Rome, and made its way to an American collector.

The statue was returned by the collector through U.S. authorities after he
realized it had been looted, Rossi said.

The two statues will be among items displayed April 24 to June 19 in the
Castel Sant-Angelo, Rome's ancient papal fortress.

Italian authorities have stepped up their efforts in recent years to recover
and prevent the trafficking of the country's ancient treasures.

Several museums in the U.S. have recently returned looted items to Italy or
hammered out a deal in which antiquities are loaned out or traded.  

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