美国斯坦福大学Jonathan K. Pritchard、奥地利维也纳大学Ron Pinhasi以及意大利罗马大学Alfredo Coppa等研究人员，对古罗马人口遗骸进行了基因组测序，并发现古罗马是欧洲和地中海基因的交汇点。该研究成果2019年11月8日发表在《科学》上。
研究人员报道了罗马及其周围29个考古遗址的127个基因组，涵盖了过去12000年。研究人员观察到史前两个主要的祖先过渡：一个是农业的引入，另一个是铁器时代之前的过渡。到罗马成立时，该地区的遗传组成已接近现代地中海种群的遗传组成。在帝国时期，罗马的人口从近东获得净移民，随后欧洲的遗传贡献增加。这些血统的变化反映了罗马的地缘政治背景，并伴随着明显的个体间多样性，反映了来自地中海、欧洲和北非的基因流动。
据了解，古罗马是拥有约7000万居民的帝国的首都，但目前对古罗马人的遗传学知之甚少。
附：英文原文
Title: Ancient Rome: A genetic crossroads of Europe and the Mediterranean
Author: Margaret L. Antonio, Ziyue Gao, Hannah M. Moots, Michaela Lucci, Francesca Candilio, Susanna Sawyer, Victoria Oberreiter, Diego Calderon, Katharina Devitofranceschi, Rachael C. Aikens, Serena Aneli, Fulvio Bartoli, Alessandro Bedini, Olivia Cheronet, Daniel J. Cotter, Daniel M. Fernandes, Gabriella Gasperetti, Renata Grifoni, Alessandro Guidi, Francesco La Pastina, Ersilia Loreti, Daniele Manacorda, Giuseppe Matullo, Simona Morretta, Alessia Nava, Vincenzo Fiocchi Nicolai, Federico Nomi, Carlo Pavolini, Massimo Pentiricci, Philippe Pergola, Marina Piranomonte, Ryan Schmidt, Giandomenico Spinola, Alessandra Sperduti, Mauro Rubini, Luca Bondioli, Alfredo Coppa, Ron Pinhasi, Jonathan K. Pritchard
Issue&Volume:Volume 366 Issue 6466
Abstract: Ancient Rome was the capital of an empire of ~70 million inhabitants, but little is known about the genetics of ancient Romans. Here we present 127 genomes from 29 archaeological sites in and around Rome, spanning the past 12,000 years. We observe two major prehistoric ancestry transitions: one with the introduction of farming and another prior to the Iron Age. By the founding of Rome, the genetic composition of the region approximated that of modern Mediterranean populations. During the Imperial period, Rome’s population received net immigration from the Near East, followed by an increase in genetic contributions from Europe. These ancestry shifts mirrored the geopolitical affiliations of Rome and were accompanied by marked interindividual diversity, reflecting gene flow from across the Mediterranean, Europe, and North Africa.
DOI: 10.1126/science.aay6826
Source:https://science.sciencemag.org/content/366/6466/708