“Sepulcra Salaria”

Expansive Republican and early-Imperial necropolis on the *Collis Hortulorum N of the *Horti Sallustiani and clustered around the *“Via Sepulcra Salaria” (Messineo; Lissi Caronna 73), the cemetery extended as far N as the *Sepulcrum: M. Lucilius Paetus, which was easily the largest and most luxurious tomb in the area. Many columbaria (freestanding or underground chambers with niches for funerary urns) in opus reticulatum are known to have stood in the area (von Hesberg 72, 187; Lissi Caronna). Buried in these modest tombs were soldiers, merchants, freedmen, and the like (attested by ample epigraphic evidence, see CAR II, C for references). While most of the remains can be dated by their building material to the late-Republican or early-Imperial periods, sporadic depositions continued through the 4th c. A.D. (e.g., a Christian catacomb, CAR II, C no. 126). Despite excavations in the 1960s (Lissi Caronna), evidence for the cemetery is scant, since the ancient remains were largely destroyed by late 19th-c. development (Messineo 257); as a consequence, most of the tombs can only be represented by index numbers on our map. To avoid a fractured discussion of the necropolis, while still retaining the distinctions between burials that the limited evidence permits, all of the material remains (represented on our map by letters a-gg) have been grouped in this single, monolithic entry. Index numbers are referenced throughout the following discussion to pinpoint the locations of each sepulchre or group of tombs.Dense funerary architecture is attested in the area of the Church of S. Teresa (Messineo; CAR II, C nos. 90, 94, 96, 97, 103, 104, 105, 119, 120; index no. 63 e, our representation adapted from CAR II, fig. 1); while the majority of the columbaria and tombs represented here are in opus reticulatum and of Republican or Augustan date, a few post-Augustan additions to the necropolis in opus latericium are known (CAR II, p. 56). Two tombs near S. Teresa are worthy of special notice: one is an opus quadratum tomb (c. 6 x 5.5 m) belonging to two freedmen of Pompey the Great (CAR II, C no. 104.I.a; index no. 63 f). The second is a 3rd-c. B.C. tomb located a few meters NE of the church’s apse (c. 8 x 8 m: Lissi Caronna 77-102; von Hesberg 122; index no. 63 k). Additional late-Republican/early-Imperial columbaria and tombs in opus reticulatum are attested S of the church, in Corso d’Italia (CAR II, C nos. 106-10.a, g); also found in this area were funerary inscriptions of the freedmen of Sallust, Octavia and Antonia minor, as well as a marble slab inscribed with the name of a funerary college in A.D. 9 (CAR II, C nos. 106-110.k, m, s). To the E of this necropolis stood a rectangular Republican sepulchre in opus quadratum of peperino (CAR II, C no.108; index no. 63 j).Also well preserved is a group of columbaria in opus reticulatum excavated near no. 25 Via Pinciana in 1918-20 (Messineo 259-60, figs. 1d, 3; CAR II, C no. 38; index no. 63 u); while only five tombs are rendered on our map, fragmentary remains attest to additional burials in this area.Two reticulate columbaria along with funerary inscriptions of Augustan date were found just NW of the tumulus of M. Lucilius Paetus (CAR II, C no. 3; index no. 63 gg). A group of tombs and columbaria was unearthed along Via Allegri; several were in opus reticulatum (CAR II, C nos. 5, 6, 12; index no. 63 x). In Via Po at least five additional opus reticulatum columbaria were recovered, along with a tomb, or perhaps an ustrinum, in opus quadratum along with cippi attesting to the burial of freedmen of a Caecilia Metella (Messineo 257, figs. 1A, 2; CAR II, C nos. 8, 17; index no. 63 ee; perhaps RE Metellus 25, the mother of the Lucullus whose horti graced the Collis Hortulorum?). Between Via Po and M. Lucilius Paetus’ tomb were a columbarium in opus quadratum (CAR II, C no. 18; index no. 63 ff) and at least two columbaria in opus reticulatum (CAR II, C nos. 23, 24; index no. 63 dd).A group of columbaria, some in opus reticulatum and some of later date in opus latericium, were recovered SW of the intersection of Via Po and Via Allegri (CAR II, C no. 22; index no. 63 y). Also recovered here was an opus reticulatum building with travertine paving and, perhaps, a porticoed façade; the editors of CAR suggest this structure may have been the seat of a funerary college (CAR II, p. 29). Further W stood a Republican tomb in opus quadratum which faced onto the “Via Sepulcra Salaria” (Messineo 257-59, who notes that a portion of this street is incorrectly rendered on CAR II, C no. 20; index no. 63 w); it was discovered in 1913 near the intersection of Via Allegri and Via Pinciana but has since been destroyed (Messineo 259). Further S along the same ancient street was a late-Republican/early-Imperial travertine tomb belonging to a P. Aquillius Zopyrus, whose name is preserved on three cippi demarcating the tomb area (CAR II, C no. 29.II.a; index no. 63 v); also nearby was a tomb in opus reticulatum (CAR II, C no. 29.I). On the same street, located below Via Po, was a group of three tombs, one in opus quadratum (CAR II, C no. 43; index no. 63 z).Foundations of an opus quadratum tomb in tufa were found SE of the intersection of Via Po and Via Allegri (CAR II, C no. 32; index no. 63 cc). South of this sepulchre was a group of tombs including a columbarium in opus reticulatum decorated with colored plaster (c. 5 x 4.3 m) and a smaller tomb (c. 4.7 x 3.3 m) of which tufa foundations survive (CAR II, C no. 41; index no. 63 bb). Further S, just N of Via Livenza, was a group of opus reticulatum tombs which included a reticulate columbarium that had modifications in opus latericium, as well as a late-Republican tomb with ashlar tufa masonry (CAR II, C nos. 47, 52; index no. 63 aa).Between Via Pinciana and Via Po, and S of the “Via Sepulcra Salaria”, a tomb chamber (c. 7 x 3 m) in opus reticulatum, featuring an interior aedicula with two columns, was recovered (CAR II, C no. 42; index no. 63 t). To the E of this tomb were several opus reticulatum columbaria (CAR II, C no. 44; index no. 63 r). Still further E, at the fork in the “Via Sepulcra Salaria”, stood a group of tombs in opus reticulatum alongside several post-Augustan monuments in opus latericium (CAR II, C no. 50; index no. 63 p). On the other side of this ancient street stood additional opus reticulatum tombs, as well as a peperino sepulchre with a reticulate perimeter wall (CAR II, C nos. 51, 59; index no. 63 o). South of these were a tufa tomb in opus quadratum, a reticulate columbarium, and a reticulate tomb monument with a travertine aedicula (CAR II, C nos. 66, 67; index no. 63 n).In Via Po, N of its intersection with Via Isonzo, remains of reticulate and brick columbaria were recovered (CAR II, C no. 58; index no. 63 q). To the SW of this intersection were ruins of a columbarium in opus reticulatum (CAR II, C no. 61; index no. 63 s). South of Via Isonzo, and W of the “Via Sepulcra Salaria”, stood two columbaria in opus reticulatum as well as several reticulate tombs (CAR II, C nos. 71, 74; index no. 63 m). Further S was a barrel-vaulted room with opus reticulatum walls; the editors of CAR do not speculate as to the room’s function (CAR II, C no. 81; index no. 63 l).A few tombs ranged along the N border of the Horti Sallustiani, which is approximated by Corso d’Italia. Furthest W, between Via Pinciana and Corso d’Italia, stood a large group of late-Republican/early-Imperial tombs (CAR II, C no. 131; index no. 63 a). To the NE, near Via G. Puccini, was a second group of tombs, these primarily in opus reticulatum, though a few (probably post-Augustan) are in brick (CAR II, C no. 92; index no. 63 b). At the intersection of Corso d’Italia and Via G. Puccini fragmentary tombs in opus reticulatum were found below ruins of brick sepulchres (CAR II, C no. 116; index no. 63 c). Further E, at the NW corner of the intersection of Via Po and Corso d’Italia, remains of tombs, mostly in opus reticulatum, were unearthed (CAR II, C no. 126; index no.63 d).Just SE of the dense cemetery near S. Teresa stood a columbarium and several other tombs in opus reticulatum (CAR II, C no. 123; index no. 63 g). South of these monuments, in Corso d’Italia, stood a reticulate columbarium with corners reinforced in brick (CAR II, C no. 145; index no. 63 h). To the E, still within Corso d’Italia but now E of the “Via Sepulcra Salaria”, was the Republican *Sepulcrum: Q. Terentilius Rufus. Additional reticulate and brick tombs were located further E, near the intersection of Via Tevere and Corso d’Italia (CAR II, C no.148; index no. 63 i).The tombs which ranged along the W side of Via Salaria could be considered part of the “Sepulcra Salaria”; from S to N, these include: Sepulcrum: Cornelia L. Scipionis f., *Sepulcrum: Via Salaria, *Sepulcrum: M. Aemilius Dulio, and the monumental Sepulcrum: M. Lucilius Paetus.