The zone of the Cemetery with the surrounding monuments: Porta San Paolo (Porta Ostiense), the Pyramid of Caius Cestius and a stretch of the Aurelian Walls.

Pyramid of Caius Cestius

The Pyramid stands near the Porta San Paolo. It is a spectacular burial tomb of 29.50m on each side and 36.40m. high, entirely faced with slabs of marble. Its particular form is an expression of the “Egyptian style” which spread to Rome following its conquest of Egypt in 30 BC.

The name of Caius Cestius is recorded in the inscription placed on the east side of the monument: “Caius Cestius, son of Lucius, of the Poblilia tribe, praetor, tribune of the people, septemvir of the epuloni”. An inscription on the opposite side reveals that, in accordance with the bequest in his will, fewer than 300 days were devoted to its construction. But it was not possible to fulfil another request of the deceased: a law against luxury in burial monuments, approved in 18 BC, prevented the deposition in the tomb of the Pergamene tapestries that belonged to the deceased. With the profits from their sale there were then made two bronze statues of the dead man. Of the statues there survive (in the Capitoline Museums) only the inscribed bases on which are mentioned some of the legatees. Among these are eminent people in public life such as Marcus Agrippa, son-in-law of the Emperor Augustus, whom we know to have died in 12 BC.

The construction of the Pyramid can therefore be dated between 18 and 12 BC. The Caius Cestius buried there is perhaps the praetor with the same name to whom is probably owed the construction of the Ponte Cestio, between the Tiber Island and Trastevere. He also may be the person of the same name active between 62 and 51 BC in Asia Minor; possession of the precious tapestries might in fact point in this direction.

Access to the burial chamber was from the west side of the Pyramid. Vivid witness accounts of its rich pictorial decoration are found in descriptions made at the time of its re-discovery during the restoration sponsored in 1656 by Pope Alexander VII. A high wainscot and delicate candelabra framed monochrome panels in which there were female figures either standing or seated; in the angles of the ceiling, winged Victories with crowns perhaps alluded to the apotheosis of Caius Cestius. This is one of the first examples in Rome of the third style of painting.

In the third century AD the burial tomb was incorporated in the Aurelian Walls and became, like the neighbouring Porta Ostiense, an integral part of the defensive system of the city.

Septemvir of the epuloni: priest of the college responsible for organizing banquets for the gods

Tribune of the people: magistrate who oversaw the interests of the Roman people

Praetor: originally, a chief of the army, then from the 4^th century BC a civil magistrate with responsibility for the administration of justice.

Porta San Paolo

The ancient Porta Ostienesis is one of the best-conserved gates in the circuit of the Aurelian Walls.

Provided with a double-arched entrance flanked by towers of semicircular plan, it was reinforced in the time of the Emperor Maxentius (306-312) with two converging walls and a counter-gate of two arches. Under Honorius, between 401 and 402, the two principal entrance passages were reduced to one and the towers heightened.

From here the Via Ostiense led directly to the harbour of Rome. An older stretch of the road, still visible in the vicinity of the Pyramid of Cestius, emerged from a small gate (posterula) in the Aurelian Walls; it was closed perhaps at the time of the changes made by Maxentius.

Pyramid of Caius Cestius (during restoration in 2000) and the Porta San Paolo seen from the Cemetery.

The Aurelian Walls

Constructed by the Emperor Aurelian to defend Rome from the incursions of the barbarians, the Aurelian Walls extended for approximately 19 kms, encompassing the previous fortified town-wall, the so-called Servian Wall, of the IVth C BC.

The Wall, built in brick, is provided with square-plan towers every 100 feet (29.60m) and with numerous entrance gates, often double-arched, flanked by semicircular towers; minor gates (posterulae) gave access in the stretches between towers.

The town walls underwent various restorations and renovations: in the time of the Emperor Maxentius (306-312), when work that was never completed was also started on a ditch; then under Honorius and Arcadius between 401 and 402 to confront the attacks of the Goths; and finally during the VIth century the work of Belisarius (505-565). Thus reinforced and restored the walls have resisted until 1870, as a bulwark for a last time in the conflict between the Pontifical troops and the Italian army.

Monte Testaccio

Between the Aurelian Walls and the Tiber, in the south of the city, there is Testaccio, Mons Testaceus (hill of potsherds), an artificial mound c. 30m high with a circumference of c. 1km. This was formed from the disposal of amphoras from the nearby port of Rome.

The greater part of the amphoras, which contained products imported from the various regions of the Empire, are dated between 140 and the mid-IIIrd century AD.