A marble sculpture of Rome’s first emperor Augustus has been returned to the Italian capital some 40 years after it was stolen and smuggled out of the country.

The marble head is one of the earliest known portraits of a man born more than 2000 years ago. The artifact was the latest piece to be repatriated to Italy’s ancient sites after being illegally trafficked abroad.

The artwork was welcomed back to its origins with a ceremony.

"Today we don't just have the retrieval," Deputy Foreign Minister Mario Giro said at the ceremony.

"We are celebrating the importance the memories of these artifacts have for the future of humanity."

The marble head, visibly damaged by the passage of time, is believed to be a part of a statue wearing a toga. Indentifying the piece was possible because of its likeness to another head in Nepi, where history experts established it had been stolen from in the 1970s.

"After more than 40 years of exile in Europe, he's finally home. Welcome back Augustus," Nepi mayor Pietro Soldatelli said.

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