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Thanks smokingfrog.

Buildings got quarried for stone, leaving only the really large stuff that was difficult to haul away, or foundations, pedastals for the columns, etc. Even during imperial times the emperors had to keep making proclamations against that practice. Statuary was hauled off during the Middle Ages and Renaissance to be rendered into lime for mortar, a staggering loss of information there.

The city was burned by invaders during the 5th century. There was plenty of brick, concrete, and marble used in construction (which is one reason some very grand bulldiings have survived to this day), but an awful lot was not. Between ash-piles and using an abandoned structure as a dump site, the city of the seven hills wound up with hundreds or maybe thousands of mounds.

One of the artists of the Renaissance (can’t recall the name, the book is buried around here) ran into what seemed like a stone floor while digging a basement for his home. He dug out to the edge of the stone in order to pull it up, and in the process discovered it was the *top* of a column from some great ancient building, and that there were more.

Trash Talk [ Monte Testaccio, imperial Roman landfill ]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2880425/posts

Roman rubbish dump reveals secrets of ancient trading networks
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3297812/posts