Archaeologists always fight the idea that they are mere treasure hunters. Archaeology, they want to believe, is a science. Yet you know more about the elite of any country's past than you do about the working class; you know more about the grand temples and wide streets than you do of the houses and kitchens of the people.

So it wasn't suprising that 500 wooden cases (some marked as cases of matches) came to light from excavations in Rome that took place in 1939. Much of the haul was of "instrumentum domesticum", or objects from the domestic life of Romans, things they used daily. You can see what I'm talking about in a picture gallery from la Repubblica.

I always recommend folks go to Ostia Antica. Unlike Pompeii or Herculaneum, Ostia was a port city and the excavations reveal apartments, a fire station, and other architecture of folks that toiled for a living. Ostia is also more lightly touristed, You can get there by taking the Metro at Piramide. Look for Roma-Lido. Get out at the Ostia Antica stop.