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Sepulcra

Collecting all the individual sepulcrum entries on pp476‑487 of

Samuel Ball Platner (as completed and revised by Thomas Ashby):
A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome,
London: Oxford University Press, 1929.


 p476  Sepulcrum Accae Larentiae: the tomb of Acca Larentia in the Velabrum at the beginning of the Nova via, near the porta Romanula (Varro, LL VI.24; Cic. Ep. ad Brut. I.15; Macrob. I.10.15: celeberrimo loco; Plut. Rom. 5), beside which was an altar where sacrifices were offered by the pontifices on 23rd December (HJ 45; RE I.132; Gilb. I.56‑58; cf. Mommsen, Röm. Forsch. II.3‑5; Rosch. I.5).

Sepulcrum P. Aelii Guttae Calpurniani: the tomb of a celebrated charioteer of this name of the time of Hadrian or the Antonines, on the via Flaminia just outside the porta Flaminia. The inscription was seen and copied by the compiler of the Einsiedeln Itinerary (CIL VI.10047). When the square towers (BC 1877, 186) on the outside of the Porta Flaminia were destroyed in 1876‑1877, several large marble fragments of bas-relief with scenes from chariot races were found, which probably belonged to this tomb (BC 1877, 200‑201; 1881, 176‑179; 1911, 187‑192; Friedländer, Sittengeschichte II8.505‑525; Bocconi, Mus. Cap. 301).

Sepulcrum Agrippae: the tomb which Agrippa built for himself in the campus Martius​1 (Cass. Dio LIV.28; Suet. Aug. 97 probably). This is perhaps indicated by the remaining letters on fragments 72, 103 of the Marble Plan, and if so, the monument stood between the villa Publica and the thermae Agrippae, in the modern Via del Gesù (HJ 572; Mitt. 1903, 48‑53).

 p477  Sepulcrum Antinoi: see Obeliscus Antinoi.

Sepulcrum Antoninorum: see Mausoleum Hadriani.

Sepulcrum Arruntiorum: the tomb of the family, freedmen and slaves, of L. Arruntius, consul in 6 A.D., consisting of three columbaria which were found in the eighteenth century on the south side of the present Viale della Principessa Margherita,​8a a little more than 100 metres from the Porta Maggiore (CIL VI.5931‑5960; for a description of the monument,​2 see Ghezzi, cod. Ottob. 3108 ff., 185‑198; BC 1882, 209; HJ 362).

Sepulcrum Bibuli: see separate page.

Sepulcrum Caesaris: see Tumulus Iuliae.

Sepulcrum C. et L. Caesaris: a μνημεῖον or tomb of Gaius and Lucius Caesar, in which the body of Julia Domna was placed in 217 A.D. before being deposited in the mausoleum of Hadrian (Cass. Dio LXXVIII.24). This passage seems to prove that these two Caesars had a separate tomb and that their ashes were not placed in the mausoleum of Augustus.​3 On the other hand, it is generally believed that a fragmentary inscription (CIL VI.895 = 31195) containing a dedication to Lucius Caesar, although found in the wall of a private house near the Piazza Capranica, belonged to a statue of Lucius in the mausoleum of Augustus. Whatever be the explanation of the statue, it seems unreasonable to doubt the statement of Dio (HJ 572; Mitt. 1903, 53; Gilb. III.306).

Sepulcrum Calpurniorum: the tomb of the Calpurnii Pisones of the early empire, discovered in 1885 in the Villa Bonaparte on the east side of the  p478  Via Salaria, about 100 metres south of the Porta Salaria (BC 1885, 101; Bull. d. Inst. 1885, 9‑13, 22‑30; CIL VI.31721‑31727).

Sepulcrum C. Cestii: see separate page.

Sepulcrum Cinciorum: according to Varro (in Fest. 262) the tomb of the familia Cincia at the porta Romana infimo clivo Victoriae (cf. Sepulcrum Accae Larentiae). Because of this tomb the locality was called statua Cincia, which indicates that the monument was ornamented with the statue of some one of the family (Jord. I.1.176, 178, 190).

Sepulcrum Claudiorum (so called): a tomb at the base of the Capitoline hill on the west side of the via Flaminia, a little north of the tomb of Bibulus. There is no real reason for identifying it with the sepultura gentis Claudiae sub Capitolio (Suet. Tib. 1). See LF 22; HJ 471; NS 1889, 225; 1909, 8‑10, 429; BC 1889, 437; 1909, 116; Capitolium, II.271‑273.

Sepulcrum C. Considii Galli: the tomb of C. Considius Gallus, praetor peregrinus some time in the early empire (CIL VI.31705; RE IV.913), found in 1883 just north of the line of the via Tiburtina vetus, and close to the intersection of the modern Via Mamiani and Via Principe Amedeo (NS 1883, 420; BC 1883, 223). It was rectangular, 5.30 metres by 4.10, with a façade of marble and side wall of travertine. The inscription was on the frieze.

Sepulcrum Corneliae: the tomb of a certain Cornelia, daughter of one L. Scipio and wife of one Matienus, known only from an inscription found in 1871  p479 under the north tower of the porta Salaria (CIL VI.1296; Bull. d. Inst. 1871, 115)

Sepulcrum Domitiorum or monumentum Domitiorum (Suet. Nero 50): the tomb of the family of the Domitii on the Pincian, where the ashes of Nero were placed, in a sarcophagus of porphyry with an altar of Luna marble standing above it, all enclosed by a balustrade of Thasian marble (loc. cit.). This tomb stood on the north-west slope of the hill, probably in horti belonging to the Domitii, but in the Middle Ages it was thought to be at the foot of the hill. To exorcise the evil spirit of Nero, Paschal II (1099) built here a small chapel which became in the thirteenth century the church of S. Maria del Popolo (HJ 446; Arm. 319; BC 1877, 194; 1914, 376‑377).4

Sepulcrum Eurysacis: see separate page.

Sepulcrum Faustuli: see Sepulcrum Romuli.

 p480  Sepulcrum Galbae: the tomb of Ser. Sulpicius Galba, consul in 144 or, more probably, 108 B.C., in the district belonging to the family between the south-west side of the Aventine and the Tiber, where the Horrea Galbae (q.v.) were afterwards built. The tomb, a simple rectangular structure of tufa with a cornice of peperino, was found in 1885 in the Via Giovanni Branca, just north of the later buildings of the horrea and perhaps enclosed within them, on the south side of an ancient road (BC 1885, 165‑166; NS 1885, 527; Mitt. 1886, 62, 71 HJ 175). It is now in the Museo Municipale (Antiquario) on the Caelian; see CIL I2. 695 = VI.31617.

Sepulcrum Gaii et Lucii: see Sepulcrum C. et L. Caesaris.

Sepulcrum Galloniorum: a tomb on the via Flaminia, of which a fragmentary inscription was found when the bastions outside the porta Flaminia were destroyed in 1876‑1877. This inscription appears to contain the names of two Gallonii — C. Gallonius Q. Marcius Turbo and C. Gallonius Turbo — which indicates a relation­ship with Q. Marcius Turbo, who was praefectus praetorio under Hadrian (Pros. II.108, No. 30; NS 1878, 35; BC 1877, 251; 1881, 175, pls. XII, XIII; CIL VI.31714). It is possible that the core of a large circular tomb about 100 metres north of the porta Flaminia, which had been marked on Bufalini's plan, belonged to this tomb (BC 1911, 187‑192).

Sepulcrum Getae: see Sepulcrum Severi.

Sepulcrum Q. Haterii: the tomb of a Q. Haterius, perhaps the orator who died in 26 A.D. (Pros. II.126.17), on the via Nomentana. It was covered by one of the towers which Honorius built outside the porta Nomentana, and the excavations of 1827 brought to light fragments that showed it to have been a rectangular monument, surmounted with a sort of altar with volutes (CIL VI.1426, and description cited from Memorie Romane III.456; HJ 383; Jord. I.1.344; PBS III.38; Homo, Aurélien 243‑244; cf. Haterius Latronianus, domus.

Sepulcrum Hirtii: the tomb of A. Hirtius, consul in 43 B.C. in the campus Martius (Liv. Epit. 119; Vell. II.62). Its exact location is unknown (cf. Sepulcrum Pansae).

Sepulcrum Horatiae: the tomb of Horatia, whom her brother Horatius slew just outside the porta Capena, known only from Livy's statement (I.26: Horatiae sepulcrum, quo loco corruerat icta, constructum est saxo quadrato).

Sepulcrum Horatii: the tomb of the poet Horace, which, with that of Maecenas, is known only from the statement of Suetonius (vit. Hor. 20: humatus et conditus est extremis Esquiliis iuxta Maecenatis tumulum).

Sepulcrum Iuliorum: see Tumulus Iuliae.

Sepulcrum Lucilii Paeti: the tomb of a certain Lucilius Paetus, tribunus militum under Augustus (CIL VI.32932), found in 1885 about 300 metres beyond the Porta Salaria. It was a round mausoleum, 34 metres in  p481 diameter, on which stood, probably, a conical mound of earth about 17 metres high (NS 1885, 190; HJ 437‑438).5

Sepulcrum Mariae: the tomb of Maria, daughter of Stilicho and wife of Honorius, and probably also of Honorius himself (Paul. Diac. hist. Langob. 13.7: iuxta S. Petri apostoli atrium in mausoleo sepultus est), of Theodosius II and Valentinian III, built on the east end of the spina of the Circus Gai et Neronis (q.v.), together with another circular mausoleum​6 of similar size. This was later known as S. Maria della Febbre, and was only demolished by Pius VI (DuP 38). The tomb of Maria contained eight niches on the inside, one of which served as an entrance. In the eighth century the body of S. Petronilla was transferred hither, and the tomb became known as the chapel of the Frankish kings. It was destroyed about 1520 during the building of the present church of S. Peter's, but the sarcophagus containing the remains of Maria with much treasure in gold and silver was found in 1544 (ILS 800; for the history of this mausoleum and of the discoveries made in it, see Cancellieri, de Secretariis basilicae Vaticanae 995‑1002, 1032‑1039; De Rossi, BCr 1863, 53 sq.; 1878, 140 sq.; Lanciani, Pagan and Christian Rome 201‑205; LS III.240; Arm. 754‑758; Mél. 1902, 388‑394; BC 1914, 395; HCh 422‑423; Tiberii Alpharani de basilicae Vaticanae structura, published by M. Cerrati, Studi e Testi, fasc. 26 (1914) 132‑145; LPD I.192, for large plan of S. Peter's and these mausolea; cf. also Rivoira, Lombardic Architecture, I.82‑84; Rohault de Fleury, BCr 1895, 41 sqq.

Sepulcrum L. Nonii Asprenatis: the tomb of L. Nonius Asprenas, either the consul of 6 A.D., or, more probably, his son who was consul in 29 A.D. (Pros. II.409‑411). A few fragments probably of the marble frieze, with an inscription, were found when the east bastion on the outer side of the Porta Flaminia (q.v.) was demolished in 1876‑1877 (NS 1877, 270; BC 1877, 247, pls. XX, XXXI; 1881, 176; 1911, 190; CIL VI.31689; HJ 463; Town Planning Review XI. (1924), 78).

Sepulcrum Numae: the tomb of Numa, placed by tradition on the right bank of the Tiber (Fest. 173; Dionys. II.76.6), sub Ianiculo (Solin. I.21), in agro L. Petilii (Liv. XL.29), haud procul a Fontis ara (Cic. de leg. II.56). The body of Numa was said to have been buried in one stone sarcophagus and his sacred books in another (Plut. Numa 22). The alleged discovery of the latter in 181 B.C. (Liv. loc. cit.; Val. Max. I.1.12) gave rise to great scandal. There is no indication of the exact location of the tomb or of the ager Petilii or of the ara Fontis.

Sepulcrum Octaviae: the tomb of a certain Octavia, daughter of M. Appius, discovered in 1616 at the corner of the Via Sistina and the Via di Porta Pinciana, on the line of the ancient street that issued from the Porta  p482 Quirinalis and ran northward. The tomb was of marble, with the inscription on the frieze (CIL VI.23330; HJ 444; Richter 351).

Sepulcrum Orestis: the tomb of Orestes, who, according to the Roman form of the tradition,​a was said to have died in Aricia and to have been buried in front of the temple of Saturn in Rome (Serv. Aen. II.116; Hyg. Fab. 261; Myth. Vat. II.202; Rosch. III.1014).

Sepulcrum Pallantis: the tomb of Pallas, the celebrated freedman of Claudius, erected by the senate on the via Tiburtina intra primum lapidem (Plin. Ep. VII.29; VIII.6.1; cf. inscription on the tomb of M. Antonius Asclepiades Pallantis libertus, found at the porta Tiburtina (CIL VI.11965)).

Sepulcrum Pansae: the tomb of C. Pansa, consul in 43 B.C., in the campus Martius (Liv. Epit. 119; Vell. II.62). In 1899 a travertine block with a dedicatory inscription to Pansa was found at the corner of the Corso Vittorio Emanuele and the Vicolo Savelli (NS 1899, 435; BC 1899, 280‑285),​7 and another sepulchral inscription of a Pansa, probably the grandson of the consul of 43, is reported to have been found about 400 metres from this point (CIL VI.3542). The tomb, therefore, was probably somewhere north of the theatre of Pompeius (Mitt. 1903, 52; HJ 496).

Sepulcrum Passienorum: the tomb of the Passieni (Pros. III.14‑15), found in 1705 in the Vigna Moroni, on the west side of the via Appia, not far north of the porta Appia. It contained many fragmentary inscriptions from the first two centuries (CIL VI.7257‑7280, 33248, 33249). For the description and reproduction of this tomb, see BC 1895, 164, 170, 184‑188, and MSS. sources there cited; HJ 209; CIL VI p3430; PBS VII.7 sqq., Nos. 1‑21.

Sepulcrum Pomponii Hylae: a columbarium on the via Latina, just outside the porta Latina. In it is a panel in coloured mosaic, with the sepulchral inscription of Pomponius Hylas and his wife (CIL VI.5552), but it is by no means certain that they owned or built the columbarium, which contains the ashes of persons entirely unconnected with Hylas or each other (CIL VI.5539‑5557). The tomb was built in the time of Tiberius, and the latest inscription (5554) belongs to a freedman of Antoninus Pius. The columbarium is of brick-faced concrete and in a good state of preservation (PBS V.463‑471, pls. XXXVII‑XLVI; ZA 299‑305; Architettura ed Arti Decorative I. (1921‑2), 220 ff.).

p483
p484
Sepulcrum Romuli: see separate page.

Sepulcrum Rusticeliorum: the tomb of the Rusticelii, a monument of tufa and peperino, 30 feet square, dating from the end of the republic. It was completely covered by the Testaceus (q.v.) Mons, but was found in 1687 during some excavations in the side of the hill (CIL VI.11534‑11535; Ann. d. Inst. 1878, 177‑180).

Sepulcrum Scipionis: the name sometimes applied at the beginning of the Renaissance (cf. Bufalini's plan; DAP 2.VIII.386) to the pyramidal monument between the mausoleum of Hadrian and the Vatican, which was more frequently called Meta Romuli (q.v.). The ascription to Scipio was due to a scholion (Acron. in Hor. Epod. 9.25): cum adversus Romanos denuo rebellarent consulto oraculo responsum est: ut sepulcrum Scipioni fieret quod Carthaginem respiceret. tunc levati cineres eius sunt de pyramide in Vaticano constituta et humati in portu Carthaginem respiciente. There is, of course, no ground for this identification.

p485
p486
Sepulcrum Scipionum: see separate page.

Sepulcrum Semproniorum: the tomb of the Sempronii, of the end of the republic, situated just outside the porta Sanqualis, at the upper end of the present Via Dataria. It was excavated in 1863 (Bull. d. Inst. 1864, 6), but the inscription had been known in the seventeenth century (CIL VI.26152). The travertine façade on the clivus leading up to the gate had a plain arched entrance into the sepulchral chamber, which was cut in the tufa rock. The threshold was 2 metres above the pavement of the road, and over the doorway was a decorated frieze and cornice (BC 1876, 126‑127, pl. XII; HJ 403).

Sepulcrum Severi: an alleged tomb of Septimius Severus, known to us only from one passage (Hist. Aug. Get. 7: inlatusque est maiorum sepulcro, hoc est Severi, quod est in via Appia euntibus ad portam dextra, specie Septizonii extructum; HJ 218). Severus, Caracalla and Geta were, however, all buried in the Mausoleum of Hadrian (q.v.), and the passage is interpolated (cf. Septizonium).

Sepulcrum Statii Caecilii: the tomb of the poet Statius Caecilius, near the Janiculum (Suet. reliq. ed. Reiffers. 26: iuxta Ianiculum sepultus), of which nothing further is known.

Sepulcrum Statiliorum: the columbarium of the slaves and freedmen of the Statilii, and in particular of M. Statilius Taurus, consul in 44 A.D. and owner of the Horti Tauriani (q.v.). It was on the north side of the via Praenestina, about 100 metres inside the porta Praenestina (Maggiore), on the south-west side of the modern Viale Principessa Margherita.​8b Three chambers of this tomb were excavated in 1875‑1877, and many inscriptions discovered which dated from Augustus to Claudius (CIL VI.6213‑6640 and p982; Brizio, Pitture e sepolcri scoperte sull' Esquilino, Roma 1876; NS 1877, 314‑323; HJ 363; for other inscriptions found in adjacent sepulchral chambers, see BC 1880, 51‑75; CIL VI.33083‑33190).

Sepulcrum Sullae: the tomb of the dictator L. Cornelius Sulla, erected in the campus Martius, by order of the senate (Liv. Epit. 90; Plut. Sulla 38; App. B. C. I.106; Lucan II.222, medio campo), and restored by Caracalla (Cass. Dio LXXVII.13). Its site is unknown (HJ 492).


[image ALT: A stone monument about 1 meter high, depicting a young boy in a toga. It is a modern copy of the tomb of Quintus Sulpicius Maximus, an ancient Roman 11‑year‑old child prodigy; it is in Rome.]

The original is in the Capitoline Museums: this modern copy has been placed in situ (for a photo showing more of its present urban setting, see my diary.)

Sepulcrum Q. Sulpicii Maximi: the tomb of Q. Sulpicius Maximus, who died at the age of eleven years, after having won the first prize in extemporaneous verse at the third celebration of the ludi Capitolini in 95 A.D. (CIL VI.33976). It was found in 1871 in the interior of the east tower of the Porta Salaria, which had been built over it (Bull. d. Inst. 1871, 98‑113;  p487 Visconti, Il sepolcro del fanciullo Q. Sulpicius Maximus, Rome 1871; Lanciani, Pagan and Christian Rome 280‑282; Cons. 149).

[image ALT: A Greek inscription carved in stone. It is part of a modern copy of the tomb of Quintus Sulpicius Maximus, an ancient Roman 11‑year‑old child prodigy; it is in Rome.]

A sample of the boy's Greek poetry. [Readable in the full-size photo.]


Sepulcrum C. Sulpici Platorini: the family tomb of C. Sulpicius Platorinus, triumvir monetalis in 18 B.C., on the right bank of the Tiber, close to the end of the pons Agrippae and just inside the later Aurelian wall, excavated in 1880 (NS 1880, 129‑138; 1883, 372; 1896, 467‑469; BC 1880, 136‑138; Mitt. 1889, 286; HJ 650). It was a rectangular structure, 7.44 metres long and 7.12 wide, with the entrance on the west; the stylobate and front part of the walls were of travertine, the inner walls of brick-faced concrete, and the pavement of white mosaic. In the niches were cinerary urns with inscriptions, and on the pavement were found two statues of heroic size and a bust. The inscriptions found in the tomb date from the time of Augustus to that of the Flavians (CIL VI.31761‑31768a). It has been reconstructed in the Museo Nazionale Romano (BA 1911, 365; PT 68, 71, 242).

Sepulcrum Titi Tatii: the tomb of Titus Tatius in the Lauretum (q.v.),º on the Aventine (Varro, LL V.152; Fest. 360), near the Armilustrium (Plut. Rom. 23). It was the seat of a cult (Dionys. III.43;​b HJ 162).

Sepulcrum Valeriorum: see Domus Valeriorum.


The Authors' Notes:

1 Some think it was called monumentum Gai et Luci at a later period (Gardthausen, Augustus, II.3.737).

2 Cf. also Piranesi, Antichità di Roma, II.7‑15; Mem. Am. Acad. IV.36, 37.

3 See p333, and p476, n. i.

4 See also Town Planning Review, XI (1924), 79, 80. The history of the foundation of S. Maria del Popolo is quite uncertain (HCh 358).

5 Lanciani (Pagan and Christian Rome, 284) has conjectured that the layer of earth under which it and other tombs in the neighbourhood had been buried in ancient times came from the excavation of the Forum of Trajan.

6 Dedicated by Pope Symmachus to S. Andrew (HCh 190).

7CIL VI.34048.

8a 8b The name has recently been changed to Viale Principe di Piemonte.


Thayer's Notes:

a The Roman tradition is very different from what Herodotus says and other authors after him, including Pliny, who, Roman though he was, put Orestes' grave in Tegea. I am indebted to James Eason of the Sir Thomas Browne site for the details; see Browne's Miscellany Tract "Of the Answers of the Oracle of Apollo at Delphos to Croesus King of Lydia" and the notes there.

b nothing in that passage of Dionysius (q.v.) to that effect. The Greek historian does not mention the tomb at all, merely stating that there was a temple of Diana in the Lauretum.


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Page updated: 7 Aug 21