RALEIGH, N.C. — A North Carolina woman who returned a chunk of ancient Rome to Italian authorities 25 years after her husband pocketed it said Thursday that she never felt comfortable keeping the terra cotta fragment. Her eldest son’s death prompted her to set things right.
“Whenever I looked at it, I’d feel bad about it,” said Janice Johnsen, 52, of Greensboro.
Johnsen didn’t tell her husband, Mike, about her decision until after she had returned the artifact. She mailed it anonymously but put her return address on the package.
The couple was visiting Italy about 25 years ago when Mike picked up the fragment near the Colosseum.
The return came to light Thursday, when Rome’s archaeological office said it had received the package. The office said the piece probably came from the Forum or the ancient Palatine Hill.
