Discover Pyramid of Cestius

After the conquest of Egypt in 31 BC by Octavian Augustus, following the death of Cleopatra, Roman funerary building began to take its inspiration from Egyptian models — giving rise, Turismo Roma records, to a real fashion.

One of the men who chose a pyramid for his tomb was Caius Cestius, praetor, tribune of the plebs and member of the College of the Septemviri Epulones, the magistrates whose task was to organise the sacred banquets in honour of the most important divinities — as one of the inscriptions on the facade makes clear.

Another inscription records a deadline. It states that the construction work had to last at most 330 days, on pain of the family losing the inheritance. The tomb was built along the via Ostiense between 18 and 12 BC.

Four centuries later a wall was built through it. On the initiative of the emperor Aurelian, the pyramid was incorporated into the new circuit of walls — the reason it survives when Rome's other pyramids do not.

Its measurements are exact. The structure is 36.40 metres high with a square base of about 30 metres a side, and the external facing consists of slabs of Luna marble. The burial chamber, with a barrel vault, is painted white according to a panel scheme and decorated with refined frescoes with figures of nymphs and winged Victories holding a crown and a ribbon. The tomb was surrounded by an enclosure of tufa blocks and by four columns at the four corners.

It was robbed in the Middle Ages. The first violation probably dates from then, through a tunnel dug on the northern side, which caused the loss of the cinerary urn and of notable portions of the decoration.

The shape is Egyptian, the construction is Roman. Turismo Roma records that after 31 BC Roman funerary building began to take inspiration from Egyptian models, giving rise to a real fashion, and that Caius Cestius was one of the figures who chose a pyramid as his tomb.

The dimensions are precise. The structure is 36.40 metres high with a square base of about 30 metres a side — proportions far steeper than the Egyptian originals.

The skin is imported marble. The external facing consists of slabs of Luna marble, the stone of Carrara.

The chamber inside is a painted room, not a shaft. The burial chamber has a barrel vault, is painted white according to a panel scheme, and is decorated with refined frescoes with figures of nymphs and winged Victories holding a crown and a ribbon.

It once had a setting that no longer exists. The tomb was surrounded by an enclosure built of tufa blocks and by four columns at the four corners of the pyramid.

And its most conspicuous architectural feature is somebody else's. The Aurelian Walls, which incorporated it four centuries after it was built, now form two of its sides.

It was built against the clock, and the clock is written on the wall. One of the inscriptions on the facade states that the construction work had to last at most 330 days, on pain of the family losing the inheritance — the deadline imposed by the will on the heirs who were paying.

It went up on a road, between 18 and 12 BC. Roman law kept tombs outside the city, so Cestius built along the via Ostiense, where everyone leaving Rome for the port would pass it.

The core was faced, not solid marble. The external facing consists of slabs of Luna marble over the mass, to a height of 36.40 metres on a base of about 30 metres a side.

The chamber was finished as a painted room. Barrel-vaulted, painted white in a panel scheme, with nymphs and winged Victories holding a crown and a ribbon.

Its second construction was defensive and not its own. Four centuries later Aurelian incorporated it into the new circuit of walls — the single decision that preserved it.

Its third was a break-in. A tunnel dug on the northern side, probably in the Middle Ages, removed the cinerary urn and notable portions of the decoration.

Can I go inside? Not ordinarily. Turismo Roma states that the site is visitable only with extraordinary openings and on the occasion of events.

What are the opening hours? None are published, because there is no ordinary opening.

How much does it cost? No price is published. Seeing the pyramid from outside is free.

When was it built? Between 18 and 12 BC, along the via Ostiense.

Whose tomb is it? That of Caius Cestius, praetor, tribune of the plebs and member of the College of the Septemviri Epulones — the magistrates who organised the sacred banquets in honour of the most important divinities.

What is the 330-day story? An inscription on the facade states that the construction work had to last at most 330 days, on pain of the family losing the inheritance.

How big is it? 36.40 metres high, on a square base of about 30 metres a side, faced in slabs of Luna marble.

Why is it in the city walls? Because four centuries after it was built, on the initiative of the emperor Aurelian, it was incorporated into the new circuit of walls.

What is inside? A barrel-vaulted burial chamber painted white in a panel scheme, decorated with refined frescoes of nymphs and winged Victories holding a crown and a ribbon.

What happened to the ashes? The cinerary urn was lost, along with notable portions of the decoration, through a tunnel dug on the northern side, probably in the Middle Ages.

Were there other pyramids in Rome? Yes. In the 1st century BC two stood where the twin churches of piazza del Popolo now are, and one along via della Conciliazione, the Meta Romuli, demolished in 1499 by Pope Alexander VI Borgia for the coming Jubilee.

Was it ever thought to be something else? Yes — in that same period it was wrongly identified as the Meta Remi, the tomb of Remus, until the inscription naming Gaius Cestius Epulo settled the matter.

Where is it? Via Raffaele Persichetti, beside Porta San Paolo.