Sepulcrum: Statilii

The agglomeration of columbarium-tombs of the Statilii Tauri, their freedmen and slaves, formed the core of a large necropolis N of the *”Via Labicana-Praenestina”, close to *Spes Vetus. Excavations from 1875 to 1877 have resulted in an extensive collection of funerary inscriptions and an overall ground-plan, published in CIL VI, p. 982, and reproduced for ease of reference as fig. 15. Some parts of the necropolis may be dated with certainty to the Augustan period or earlier. A small columbarium in opus reticulatum may be dated, on the basis of wall frescoes with scenes from the Aeneas legend, to the 1st c. B.C. (Sanzi di Mino); it is labeled L on fig. 15. The tomb of Q. Pompeius Sosus, whose name appears on the epitaph (CIL VI 33087), dates to around 50 B.C. (Grimal); its peperino blocks were reused as foundations for later columbaria (Mancioli 1983, 159); it is labeled BB on fig. 15. The funerary inscription (CIL VI 6687) of two slaves of Autronius Paetus was found in the area labeled X on fig. 15; their master was either the consul of 66 B.C. or his son, the consul of 33 B.C., hence we can be sure that this area was in use during the Augustan period (Grimal; Mancioli 1983, 159). Close by stood the main columbarium of the Statilii Tauri, in use from the time of Augustus to Claudius (Mancioli 1983, 161-62 n.15); it is labeled N on fig. 15. Slaves and freedmen of the Statilii are attested nearby in O and P on fig. 15 (Mancioli 1983, 159-60); it is likely that these columbaria were built at the same time as N, since the lower parts of O were built in opus reticulatum, as were Y and Z on fig. 15 (Mancioli, LTUR 498, fig. 151). As for the rest of the necropolis, the evidence is less clear. Some columbaria remained in use until the time of Nero (e.g., FF on fig. 15), yet this does not rule out an earlier construction date. As a general rule, those areas discovered at a depth of c. 9 m are considered Augustan or earlier, while those at c. 6 m are early Imperial (Mancioli). Information of this sort is not available for specific parts of the necropolis, but the overall ground-plan (fig. 15) does separate ‘higher’ from ‘lower’ remains (sepulcrorum ordines superiores and sepulcrorum ordines inferiores). Rather than just show small areas which were certainly Augustan, the present map aims at a more comprehensive, if less purist, overview of the entire necropolis and thus shows all elements marked on fig. 15 as sepulcrorum ordines inferiores. Richardson does not exaggerate when he says that the entire area is in need of further research. Given the nature of the present project, we can only reflect the rather unsatisfactory state of knowledge as it stands.