3-071-741 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Pyramid of Gaius (Caius) Cestius from the southeast, Rome, between 1870-1880. In the foreground a lawn with stelae, tombs and plinths, today the Via Ostiense runs through this place, and nearby (out of frame) is the Gate of St. Paul., Rome. A priest responsible for, among other things, the cult of Jupiter, who died in 12 BC, built at that time in 330 days, as stated in the inscription. The form refers to the Egyptian pyramids of the Meroitic type (from Meroë), steeper. In the Eternal City it is the only ancient sepulchral structure preserved in this shape (another, the so-called Meta Romuli, was demolished in the 16th century). This one, in this view, was partially covered by earth and rubble for centuries and mistakenly considered to be the tomb of Remus. Pope Alexander VII ordered its renovation carried out in 1663, when a burial chamber with a faded Pompeian painting was discovered. view from the southeast, in the foreground a lawn with stelae, tombs and plinths, today the Via Ostiense runs through this place, and nearby (out of frame) is the Gate of St. Paul.