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The Pyramid of Cestius (in Italian, Piramide di Caio Cestio or Piramide Cestia) is an ancient pyramid in Rome, Italy, near the Porta San Paolo and the Protestant Cemetery. It stands at a fork between two ancient roads, the Via Ostiensis and another road that ran west to the Tiber along the approximate line of the modern Via della Marmorata. Due to its incorporation into the city's fortifications, it is today one of the best-preserved ancient buildings in Rome. The pyramid was built about 18 BC–12 BC as a tomb for Gaius Cestius, a magistrate and member of one of the four great religious corporations in Rome, the Septemviri Epulonum. It is of brick-faced concrete covered with slabs of white marble standing on a travertine foundation, measuring 100 Roman feet (29.6 m) square at the base and standing 125 Roman feet (37 m) high. In the interior is the burial chamber, a simple barrel-vaulted rectangular cavity measuring 5.95 metres long, 4.10 m wide and 4.80 m high. When it was (re)discovered in 1660, the chamber was found to be decorated with frescoes, which were recorded by Pietro Santi Bartoli, but only the scantest traces of these now remain. There was no trace left of any other contents in the tomb, which had been plundered in antiquity. The tomb had been sealed when it was built, with no exterior entrance; it is not possible for visitors to access the interior, except by special permission typically only granted to scholars. A dedicatory inscription is carved into the east and west flanks of the pyramid, so as to be visible from both sides. It reads: C · CESTIVS · L · F · POB · EPULO · PR · TR · PL VII · VIR · EPOLONVM Gaius Cestius, son of Lucius, of the gens Pobilia, member of the College of Epulones, praetor, tribune of the plebs, septemvir of the Epulones. Below the inscription on the east-facing side is a second inscription recording the circumstances of the tomb's construction. This reads: OPVS · APSOLVTVM · EX · TESTAMENTO · DIEBVS · CCCXXX ARBITRATV PONTI · P · F · CLA · MELAE · HEREDIS · ET · POTHI · L The work was completed, in accordance with the will, in 330 days, by the decision of the heir [Lucius] Pontus Mela, son of Publius of the Claudia, and Pothus, freedman. Another inscription on the east face is of modern origins, having been carved on the orders of Pope Alexander VII in 1663. Reading INSTAVRATVM · AN · DOMINI · MDCLXIII, it commemorates excavation and restoration work carried out in and around the tomb between 1660–62. At the time of its construction, the Pyramid of Cestius would have stood in open countryside (tombs being forbidden within the city walls). Rome grew enormously during the imperial period, and, by the third century AD, the pyramid would have been surrounded by buildings. It originally stood in a low-walled enclosure, flanked by statues, columns and other tombs. Two marble bases were found next to the pyramid during excavations in the 1660s, complete with fragments of the bronze statues that originally had stood on their tops. The bases carried an inscription recorded by Bartoli in an engraving of 1697: M · VALERIVS · MESSALLA · CORVINVS · P · RVTILIVS · LVPVS · L · IVNIVS · SILANVS · L · PONTIVS · MELA · D · MARIVS · NIGER · HEREDES · C · CESTI · ET · L · CESTIVS · QVAE · EX · PARTE · AD · EVM · FRATRIS · HEREDITAS · M · AGRIPPAE · MVNERE · PER · VENIT · EX · EA · PECVNIA · QVAM · PRO · SVIS · PARTIEVS · RECEPER · EX · VENDITIONE · ATTALICOR · QVAE · EIS · PER · EDICTVM · AEDILIS · IN · SEPVLCRVM · C · CESTI · EX · TESTAMENTO · EIVS · INFERRE · NON · LICVIT · This identifies Cestius' heirs as Marcus Valerius Messala Corvinus, a famous general; Publius Rutilius Lupus, an orator whose father of the same name had been consul in 90 BC; and Lucius Junius Silanus, a member of the distinguished gens Junia. The heirs had set up the statues and bases using money raised from the sale of valuable cloths (attalici). Cestius had stated in his will that the cloths were to be deposited in the tomb, but this practice had been forbidden by a recent edict passed by the aediles. Pyrami

The Pyramid of Cestius (in Italian, Piramide di Caio Cestio or Piramide Cestia) is an ancient pyramid in Rome, Italy, near the Porta San Paolo and the Protestant Cemetery. It stands at a fork between two ancient roads, the Via Ostiensis and another road that ran west to the Tiber along the approximate line of the modern Via della Marmorata. Due to its incorporation into the city's fortifications, it is today one of the best-preserved ancient buildings in Rome. The pyramid was built about 18 BC–12 BC as a tomb for Gaius Cestius, a magistrate and member of one of the four great religious corporations in Rome, the Septemviri Epulonum. It is of brick-faced concrete covered with slabs of white marble standing on a travertine foundation, measuring 100 Roman feet (29.6 m) square at the base and standing 125 Roman feet (37 m) high. In the interior is the burial chamber, a simple barrel-vaulted rectangular cavity measuring 5.95 metres long, 4.10 m wide and 4.80 m high. When it was (re)discovered in 1660, the chamber was found to be decorated with frescoes, which were recorded by Pietro Santi Bartoli, but only the scantest traces of these now remain. There was no trace left of any other contents in the tomb, which had been plundered in antiquity. The tomb had been sealed when it was built, with no exterior entrance; it is not possible for visitors to access the interior, except by special permission typically only granted to scholars. A dedicatory inscription is carved into the east and west flanks of the pyramid, so as to be visible from both sides. It reads: C · CESTIVS · L · F · POB · EPULO · PR · TR · PL VII · VIR · EPOLONVM Gaius Cestius, son of Lucius, of the gens Pobilia, member of the College of Epulones, praetor, tribune of the plebs, septemvir of the Epulones. Below the inscription on the east-facing side is a second inscription recording the circumstances of the tomb's construction. This reads: OPVS · APSOLVTVM · EX · TESTAMENTO · DIEBVS · CCCXXX ARBITRATV PONTI · P · F · CLA · MELAE · HEREDIS · ET · POTHI · L The work was completed, in accordance with the will, in 330 days, by the decision of the heir [Lucius] Pontus Mela, son of Publius of the Claudia, and Pothus, freedman. Another inscription on the east face is of modern origins, having been carved on the orders of Pope Alexander VII in 1663. Reading INSTAVRATVM · AN · DOMINI · MDCLXIII, it commemorates excavation and restoration work carried out in and around the tomb between 1660–62. At the time of its construction, the Pyramid of Cestius would have stood in open countryside (tombs being forbidden within the city walls). Rome grew enormously during the imperial period, and, by the third century AD, the pyramid would have been surrounded by buildings. It originally stood in a low-walled enclosure, flanked by statues, columns and other tombs. Two marble bases were found next to the pyramid during excavations in the 1660s, complete with fragments of the bronze statues that originally had stood on their tops. The bases carried an inscription recorded by Bartoli in an engraving of 1697: M · VALERIVS · MESSALLA · CORVINVS · P · RVTILIVS · LVPVS · L · IVNIVS · SILANVS · L · PONTIVS · MELA · D · MARIVS · NIGER · HEREDES · C · CESTI · ET · L · CESTIVS · QVAE · EX · PARTE · AD · EVM · FRATRIS · HEREDITAS · M · AGRIPPAE · MVNERE · PER · VENIT · EX · EA · PECVNIA · QVAM · PRO · SVIS · PARTIEVS · RECEPER · EX · VENDITIONE · ATTALICOR · QVAE · EIS · PER · EDICTVM · AEDILIS · IN · SEPVLCRVM · C · CESTI · EX · TESTAMENTO · EIVS · INFERRE · NON · LICVIT · This identifies Cestius' heirs as Marcus Valerius Messala Corvinus, a famous general; Publius Rutilius Lupus, an orator whose father of the same name had been consul in 90 BC; and Lucius Junius Silanus, a member of the distinguished gens Junia. The heirs had set up the statues and bases using money raised from the sale of valuable cloths (attalici). Cestius had stated in his will that the cloths were to be deposited in the tomb, but this practice had been forbidden by a recent edict passed by the aediles. Pyrami

The Pyramid of Cestius (in Italian, Piramide di Caio Cestio or Piramide Cestia) is an ancient pyramid in Rome, Italy, near the Porta San Paolo and the Protestant Cemetery. It stands at a fork between two ancient roads, the Via Ostiensis and another road that ran west to the Tiber along the approximate line of the modern Via della Marmorata. Due to its incorporation into the city's fortifications, it is today one of the best-preserved ancient buildings in Rome. The pyramid was built about 18 BC–12 BC as a tomb for Gaius Cestius, a magistrate and member of one of the four great religious corporations in Rome, the Septemviri Epulonum. It is of brick-faced concrete covered with slabs of white marble standing on a travertine foundation, measuring 100 Roman feet (29.6 m) square at the base and standing 125 Roman feet (37 m) high. In the interior is the burial chamber, a simple barrel-vaulted rectangular cavity measuring 5.95 metres long, 4.10 m wide and 4.80 m high. When it was (re)discovered in 1660, the chamber was found to be decorated with frescoes, which were recorded by Pietro Santi Bartoli, but only the scantest traces of these now remain. There was no trace left of any other contents in the tomb, which had been plundered in antiquity. The tomb had been sealed when it was built, with no exterior entrance; it is not possible for visitors to access the interior, except by special permission typically only granted to scholars. A dedicatory inscription is carved into the east and west flanks of the pyramid, so as to be visible from both sides. It reads: C · CESTIVS · L · F · POB · EPULO · PR · TR · PL VII · VIR · EPOLONVM Gaius Cestius, son of Lucius, of the gens Pobilia, member of the College of Epulones, praetor, tribune of the plebs, septemvir of the Epulones. Below the inscription on the east-facing side is a second inscription recording the circumstances of the tomb's construction. This reads: OPVS · APSOLVTVM · EX · TESTAMENTO · DIEBVS · CCCXXX ARBITRATV PONTI · P · F · CLA · MELAE · HEREDIS · ET · POTHI · L The work was completed, in accordance with the will, in 330 days, by the decision of the heir [Lucius] Pontus Mela, son of Publius of the Claudia, and Pothus, freedman. Another inscription on the east face is of modern origins, having been carved on the orders of Pope Alexander VII in 1663. Reading INSTAVRATVM · AN · DOMINI · MDCLXIII, it commemorates excavation and restoration work carried out in and around the tomb between 1660–62. At the time of its construction, the Pyramid of Cestius would have stood in open countryside (tombs being forbidden within the city walls). Rome grew enormously during the imperial period, and, by the third century AD, the pyramid would have been surrounded by buildings. It originally stood in a low-walled enclosure, flanked by statues, columns and other tombs. Two marble bases were found next to the pyramid during excavations in the 1660s, complete with fragments of the bronze statues that originally had stood on their tops. The bases carried an inscription recorded by Bartoli in an engraving of 1697: M · VALERIVS · MESSALLA · CORVINVS · P · RVTILIVS · LVPVS · L · IVNIVS · SILANVS · L · PONTIVS · MELA · D · MARIVS · NIGER · HEREDES · C · CESTI · ET · L · CESTIVS · QVAE · EX · PARTE · AD · EVM · FRATRIS · HEREDITAS · M · AGRIPPAE · MVNERE · PER · VENIT · EX · EA · PECVNIA · QVAM · PRO · SVIS · PARTIEVS · RECEPER · EX · VENDITIONE · ATTALICOR · QVAE · EIS · PER · EDICTVM · AEDILIS · IN · SEPVLCRVM · C · CESTI · EX · TESTAMENTO · EIVS · INFERRE · NON · LICVIT · This identifies Cestius' heirs as Marcus Valerius Messala Corvinus, a famous general; Publius Rutilius Lupus, an orator whose father of the same name had been consul in 90 BC; and Lucius Junius Silanus, a member of the distinguished gens Junia. The heirs had set up the statues and bases using money raised from the sale of valuable cloths (attalici). Cestius had stated in his will that the cloths were to be deposited in the tomb, but this practice had been forbidden by a recent edict passed by the aediles. Pyrami

The Pyramid of Cestius (in Italian, Piramide di Caio Cestio or Piramide Cestia) is an ancient pyramid in Rome, Italy, near the Porta San Paolo and the Protestant Cemetery. It stands at a fork between two ancient roads, the Via Ostiensis and another road that ran west to the Tiber along the approximate line of the modern Via della Marmorata. Due to its incorporation into the city's fortifications, it is today one of the best-preserved ancient buildings in Rome. The pyramid was built about 18 BC–12 BC as a tomb for Gaius Cestius, a magistrate and member of one of the four great religious corporations in Rome, the Septemviri Epulonum. It is of brick-faced concrete covered with slabs of white marble standing on a travertine foundation, measuring 100 Roman feet (29.6 m) square at the base and standing 125 Roman feet (37 m) high. In the interior is the burial chamber, a simple barrel-vaulted rectangular cavity measuring 5.95 metres long, 4.10 m wide and 4.80 m high. When it was (re)discovered in 1660, the chamber was found to be decorated with frescoes, which were recorded by Pietro Santi Bartoli, but only the scantest traces of these now remain. There was no trace left of any other contents in the tomb, which had been plundered in antiquity. The tomb had been sealed when it was built, with no exterior entrance; it is not possible for visitors to access the interior, except by special permission typically only granted to scholars. A dedicatory inscription is carved into the east and west flanks of the pyramid, so as to be visible from both sides. It reads: C · CESTIVS · L · F · POB · EPULO · PR · TR · PL VII · VIR · EPOLONVM Gaius Cestius, son of Lucius, of the gens Pobilia, member of the College of Epulones, praetor, tribune of the plebs, septemvir of the Epulones. Below the inscription on the east-facing side is a second inscription recording the circumstances of the tomb's construction. This reads: OPVS · APSOLVTVM · EX · TESTAMENTO · DIEBVS · CCCXXX ARBITRATV PONTI · P · F · CLA · MELAE · HEREDIS · ET · POTHI · L The work was completed, in accordance with the will, in 330 days, by the decision of the heir [Lucius] Pontus Mela, son of Publius of the Claudia, and Pothus, freedman. Another inscription on the east face is of modern origins, having been carved on the orders of Pope Alexander VII in 1663. Reading INSTAVRATVM · AN · DOMINI · MDCLXIII, it commemorates excavation and restoration work carried out in and around the tomb between 1660–62. At the time of its construction, the Pyramid of Cestius would have stood in open countryside (tombs being forbidden within the city walls). Rome grew enormously during the imperial period, and, by the third century AD, the pyramid would have been surrounded by buildings. It originally stood in a low-walled enclosure, flanked by statues, columns and other tombs. Two marble bases were found next to the pyramid during excavations in the 1660s, complete with fragments of the bronze statues that originally had stood on their tops. The bases carried an inscription recorded by Bartoli in an engraving of 1697: M · VALERIVS · MESSALLA · CORVINVS · P · RVTILIVS · LVPVS · L · IVNIVS · SILANVS · L · PONTIVS · MELA · D · MARIVS · NIGER · HEREDES · C · CESTI · ET · L · CESTIVS · QVAE · EX · PARTE · AD · EVM · FRATRIS · HEREDITAS · M · AGRIPPAE · MVNERE · PER · VENIT · EX · EA · PECVNIA · QVAM · PRO · SVIS · PARTIEVS · RECEPER · EX · VENDITIONE · ATTALICOR · QVAE · EIS · PER · EDICTVM · AEDILIS · IN · SEPVLCRVM · C · CESTI · EX · TESTAMENTO · EIVS · INFERRE · NON · LICVIT · This identifies Cestius' heirs as Marcus Valerius Messala Corvinus, a famous general; Publius Rutilius Lupus, an orator whose father of the same name had been consul in 90 BC; and Lucius Junius Silanus, a member of the distinguished gens Junia. The heirs had set up the statues and bases using money raised from the sale of valuable cloths (attalici). Cestius had stated in his will that the cloths were to be deposited in the tomb, but this practice had been forbidden by a recent edict passed by the aediles. Pyrami

The Pyramid of Cestius (in Italian, Piramide di Caio Cestio or Piramide Cestia) is an ancient pyramid in Rome, Italy, near the Porta San Paolo and the Protestant Cemetery. It stands at a fork between two ancient roads, the Via Ostiensis and another road that ran west to the Tiber along the approximate line of the modern Via della Marmorata. Due to its incorporation into the city's fortifications, it is today one of the best-preserved ancient buildings in Rome. The pyramid was built about 18 BC–12 BC as a tomb for Gaius Cestius, a magistrate and member of one of the four great religious corporations in Rome, the Septemviri Epulonum. It is of brick-faced concrete covered with slabs of white marble standing on a travertine foundation, measuring 100 Roman feet (29.6 m) square at the base and standing 125 Roman feet (37 m) high. In the interior is the burial chamber, a simple barrel-vaulted rectangular cavity measuring 5.95 metres long, 4.10 m wide and 4.80 m high. When it was (re)discovered in 1660, the chamber was found to be decorated with frescoes, which were recorded by Pietro Santi Bartoli, but only the scantest traces of these now remain. There was no trace left of any other contents in the tomb, which had been plundered in antiquity. The tomb had been sealed when it was built, with no exterior entrance; it is not possible for visitors to access the interior, except by special permission typically only granted to scholars. A dedicatory inscription is carved into the east and west flanks of the pyramid, so as to be visible from both sides. It reads: C · CESTIVS · L · F · POB · EPULO · PR · TR · PL VII · VIR · EPOLONVM Gaius Cestius, son of Lucius, of the gens Pobilia, member of the College of Epulones, praetor, tribune of the plebs, septemvir of the Epulones. Below the inscription on the east-facing side is a second inscription recording the circumstances of the tomb's construction. This reads: OPVS · APSOLVTVM · EX · TESTAMENTO · DIEBVS · CCCXXX ARBITRATV PONTI · P · F · CLA · MELAE · HEREDIS · ET · POTHI · L The work was completed, in accordance with the will, in 330 days, by the decision of the heir [Lucius] Pontus Mela, son of Publius of the Claudia, and Pothus, freedman. Another inscription on the east face is of modern origins, having been carved on the orders of Pope Alexander VII in 1663. Reading INSTAVRATVM · AN · DOMINI · MDCLXIII, it commemorates excavation and restoration work carried out in and around the tomb between 1660–62. At the time of its construction, the Pyramid of Cestius would have stood in open countryside (tombs being forbidden within the city walls). Rome grew enormously during the imperial period, and, by the third century AD, the pyramid would have been surrounded by buildings. It originally stood in a low-walled enclosure, flanked by statues, columns and other tombs. Two marble bases were found next to the pyramid during excavations in the 1660s, complete with fragments of the bronze statues that originally had stood on their tops. The bases carried an inscription recorded by Bartoli in an engraving of 1697: M · VALERIVS · MESSALLA · CORVINVS · P · RVTILIVS · LVPVS · L · IVNIVS · SILANVS · L · PONTIVS · MELA · D · MARIVS · NIGER · HEREDES · C · CESTI · ET · L · CESTIVS · QVAE · EX · PARTE · AD · EVM · FRATRIS · HEREDITAS · M · AGRIPPAE · MVNERE · PER · VENIT · EX · EA · PECVNIA · QVAM · PRO · SVIS · PARTIEVS · RECEPER · EX · VENDITIONE · ATTALICOR · QVAE · EIS · PER · EDICTVM · AEDILIS · IN · SEPVLCRVM · C · CESTI · EX · TESTAMENTO · EIVS · INFERRE · NON · LICVIT · This identifies Cestius' heirs as Marcus Valerius Messala Corvinus, a famous general; Publius Rutilius Lupus, an orator whose father of the same name had been consul in 90 BC; and Lucius Junius Silanus, a member of the distinguished gens Junia. The heirs had set up the statues and bases using money raised from the sale of valuable cloths (attalici). Cestius had stated in his will that the cloths were to be deposited in the tomb, but this practice had been forbidden by a recent edict passed by the aediles. Pyrami

The Pyramid of Cestius (in Italian, Piramide di Caio Cestio or Piramide Cestia) is an ancient pyramid in Rome, Italy, near the Porta San Paolo and the Protestant Cemetery. It stands at a fork between two ancient roads, the Via Ostiensis and another road that ran west to the Tiber along the approximate line of the modern Via della Marmorata. Due to its incorporation into the city's fortifications, it is today one of the best-preserved ancient buildings in Rome. The pyramid was built about 18 BC–12 BC as a tomb for Gaius Cestius, a magistrate and member of one of the four great religious corporations in Rome, the Septemviri Epulonum. It is of brick-faced concrete covered with slabs of white marble standing on a travertine foundation, measuring 100 Roman feet (29.6 m) square at the base and standing 125 Roman feet (37 m) high. In the interior is the burial chamber, a simple barrel-vaulted rectangular cavity measuring 5.95 metres long, 4.10 m wide and 4.80 m high. When it was (re)discovered in 1660, the chamber was found to be decorated with frescoes, which were recorded by Pietro Santi Bartoli, but only the scantest traces of these now remain. There was no trace left of any other contents in the tomb, which had been plundered in antiquity. The tomb had been sealed when it was built, with no exterior entrance; it is not possible for visitors to access the interior, except by special permission typically only granted to scholars. A dedicatory inscription is carved into the east and west flanks of the pyramid, so as to be visible from both sides. It reads: C · CESTIVS · L · F · POB · EPULO · PR · TR · PL VII · VIR · EPOLONVM Gaius Cestius, son of Lucius, of the gens Pobilia, member of the College of Epulones, praetor, tribune of the plebs, septemvir of the Epulones. Below the inscription on the east-facing side is a second inscription recording the circumstances of the tomb's construction. This reads: OPVS · APSOLVTVM · EX · TESTAMENTO · DIEBVS · CCCXXX ARBITRATV PONTI · P · F · CLA · MELAE · HEREDIS · ET · POTHI · L The work was completed, in accordance with the will, in 330 days, by the decision of the heir [Lucius] Pontus Mela, son of Publius of the Claudia, and Pothus, freedman. Another inscription on the east face is of modern origins, having been carved on the orders of Pope Alexander VII in 1663. Reading INSTAVRATVM · AN · DOMINI · MDCLXIII, it commemorates excavation and restoration work carried out in and around the tomb between 1660–62. At the time of its construction, the Pyramid of Cestius would have stood in open countryside (tombs being forbidden within the city walls). Rome grew enormously during the imperial period, and, by the third century AD, the pyramid would have been surrounded by buildings. It originally stood in a low-walled enclosure, flanked by statues, columns and other tombs. Two marble bases were found next to the pyramid during excavations in the 1660s, complete with fragments of the bronze statues that originally had stood on their tops. The bases carried an inscription recorded by Bartoli in an engraving of 1697: M · VALERIVS · MESSALLA · CORVINVS · P · RVTILIVS · LVPVS · L · IVNIVS · SILANVS · L · PONTIVS · MELA · D · MARIVS · NIGER · HEREDES · C · CESTI · ET · L · CESTIVS · QVAE · EX · PARTE · AD · EVM · FRATRIS · HEREDITAS · M · AGRIPPAE · MVNERE · PER · VENIT · EX · EA · PECVNIA · QVAM · PRO · SVIS · PARTIEVS · RECEPER · EX · VENDITIONE · ATTALICOR · QVAE · EIS · PER · EDICTVM · AEDILIS · IN · SEPVLCRVM · C · CESTI · EX · TESTAMENTO · EIVS · INFERRE · NON · LICVIT · This identifies Cestius' heirs as Marcus Valerius Messala Corvinus, a famous general; Publius Rutilius Lupus, an orator whose father of the same name had been consul in 90 BC; and Lucius Junius Silanus, a member of the distinguished gens Junia. The heirs had set up the statues and bases using money raised from the sale of valuable cloths (attalici). Cestius had stated in his will that the cloths were to be deposited in the tomb, but this practice had been forbidden by a recent edict passed by the aediles. Pyrami

The Pyramid of Cestius (in Italian, Piramide di Caio Cestio or Piramide Cestia) is an ancient pyramid in Rome, Italy, near the Porta San Paolo and the Protestant Cemetery. It stands at a fork between two ancient roads, the Via Ostiensis and another road that ran west to the Tiber along the approximate line of the modern Via della Marmorata. Due to its incorporation into the city's fortifications, it is today one of the best-preserved ancient buildings in Rome. The pyramid was built about 18 BC–12 BC as a tomb for Gaius Cestius, a magistrate and member of one of the four great religious corporations in Rome, the Septemviri Epulonum. It is of brick-faced concrete covered with slabs of white marble standing on a travertine foundation, measuring 100 Roman feet (29.6 m) square at the base and standing 125 Roman feet (37 m) high. In the interior is the burial chamber, a simple barrel-vaulted rectangular cavity measuring 5.95 metres long, 4.10 m wide and 4.80 m high. When it was (re)discovered in 1660, the chamber was found to be decorated with frescoes, which were recorded by Pietro Santi Bartoli, but only the scantest traces of these now remain. There was no trace left of any other contents in the tomb, which had been plundered in antiquity. The tomb had been sealed when it was built, with no exterior entrance; it is not possible for visitors to access the interior, except by special permission typically only granted to scholars. A dedicatory inscription is carved into the east and west flanks of the pyramid, so as to be visible from both sides. It reads: C · CESTIVS · L · F · POB · EPULO · PR · TR · PL VII · VIR · EPOLONVM Gaius Cestius, son of Lucius, of the gens Pobilia, member of the College of Epulones, praetor, tribune of the plebs, septemvir of the Epulones. Below the inscription on the east-facing side is a second inscription recording the circumstances of the tomb's construction. This reads: OPVS · APSOLVTVM · EX · TESTAMENTO · DIEBVS · CCCXXX ARBITRATV PONTI · P · F · CLA · MELAE · HEREDIS · ET · POTHI · L The work was completed, in accordance with the will, in 330 days, by the decision of the heir [Lucius] Pontus Mela, son of Publius of the Claudia, and Pothus, freedman. Another inscription on the east face is of modern origins, having been carved on the orders of Pope Alexander VII in 1663. Reading INSTAVRATVM · AN · DOMINI · MDCLXIII, it commemorates excavation and restoration work carried out in and around the tomb between 1660–62. At the time of its construction, the Pyramid of Cestius would have stood in open countryside (tombs being forbidden within the city walls). Rome grew enormously during the imperial period, and, by the third century AD, the pyramid would have been surrounded by buildings. It originally stood in a low-walled enclosure, flanked by statues, columns and other tombs. Two marble bases were found next to the pyramid during excavations in the 1660s, complete with fragments of the bronze statues that originally had stood on their tops. The bases carried an inscription recorded by Bartoli in an engraving of 1697: M · VALERIVS · MESSALLA · CORVINVS · P · RVTILIVS · LVPVS · L · IVNIVS · SILANVS · L · PONTIVS · MELA · D · MARIVS · NIGER · HEREDES · C · CESTI · ET · L · CESTIVS · QVAE · EX · PARTE · AD · EVM · FRATRIS · HEREDITAS · M · AGRIPPAE · MVNERE · PER · VENIT · EX · EA · PECVNIA · QVAM · PRO · SVIS · PARTIEVS · RECEPER · EX · VENDITIONE · ATTALICOR · QVAE · EIS · PER · EDICTVM · AEDILIS · IN · SEPVLCRVM · C · CESTI · EX · TESTAMENTO · EIVS · INFERRE · NON · LICVIT · This identifies Cestius' heirs as Marcus Valerius Messala Corvinus, a famous general; Publius Rutilius Lupus, an orator whose father of the same name had been consul in 90 BC; and Lucius Junius Silanus, a member of the distinguished gens Junia. The heirs had set up the statues and bases using money raised from the sale of valuable cloths (attalici). Cestius had stated in his will that the cloths were to be deposited in the tomb, but this practice had been forbidden by a recent edict passed by the aediles. Pyrami

The Pyramid of Cestius (in Italian, Piramide di Caio Cestio or Piramide Cestia) is an ancient pyramid in Rome, Italy, near the Porta San Paolo and the Protestant Cemetery. It stands at a fork between two ancient roads, the Via Ostiensis and another road that ran west to the Tiber along the approximate line of the modern Via della Marmorata. Due to its incorporation into the city's fortifications, it is today one of the best-preserved ancient buildings in Rome. The pyramid was built about 18 BC–12 BC as a tomb for Gaius Cestius, a magistrate and member of one of the four great religious corporations in Rome, the Septemviri Epulonum. It is of brick-faced concrete covered with slabs of white marble standing on a travertine foundation, measuring 100 Roman feet (29.6 m) square at the base and standing 125 Roman feet (37 m) high. In the interior is the burial chamber, a simple barrel-vaulted rectangular cavity measuring 5.95 metres long, 4.10 m wide and 4.80 m high. When it was (re)discovered in 1660, the chamber was found to be decorated with frescoes, which were recorded by Pietro Santi Bartoli, but only the scantest traces of these now remain. There was no trace left of any other contents in the tomb, which had been plundered in antiquity. The tomb had been sealed when it was built, with no exterior entrance; it is not possible for visitors to access the interior, except by special permission typically only granted to scholars. A dedicatory inscription is carved into the east and west flanks of the pyramid, so as to be visible from both sides. It reads: C · CESTIVS · L · F · POB · EPULO · PR · TR · PL VII · VIR · EPOLONVM Gaius Cestius, son of Lucius, of the gens Pobilia, member of the College of Epulones, praetor, tribune of the plebs, septemvir of the Epulones. Below the inscription on the east-facing side is a second inscription recording the circumstances of the tomb's construction. This reads: OPVS · APSOLVTVM · EX · TESTAMENTO · DIEBVS · CCCXXX ARBITRATV PONTI · P · F · CLA · MELAE · HEREDIS · ET · POTHI · L The work was completed, in accordance with the will, in 330 days, by the decision of the heir [Lucius] Pontus Mela, son of Publius of the Claudia, and Pothus, freedman. Another inscription on the east face is of modern origins, having been carved on the orders of Pope Alexander VII in 1663. Reading INSTAVRATVM · AN · DOMINI · MDCLXIII, it commemorates excavation and restoration work carried out in and around the tomb between 1660–62. At the time of its construction, the Pyramid of Cestius would have stood in open countryside (tombs being forbidden within the city walls). Rome grew enormously during the imperial period, and, by the third century AD, the pyramid would have been surrounded by buildings. It originally stood in a low-walled enclosure, flanked by statues, columns and other tombs. Two marble bases were found next to the pyramid during excavations in the 1660s, complete with fragments of the bronze statues that originally had stood on their tops. The bases carried an inscription recorded by Bartoli in an engraving of 1697: M · VALERIVS · MESSALLA · CORVINVS · P · RVTILIVS · LVPVS · L · IVNIVS · SILANVS · L · PONTIVS · MELA · D · MARIVS · NIGER · HEREDES · C · CESTI · ET · L · CESTIVS · QVAE · EX · PARTE · AD · EVM · FRATRIS · HEREDITAS · M · AGRIPPAE · MVNERE · PER · VENIT · EX · EA · PECVNIA · QVAM · PRO · SVIS · PARTIEVS · RECEPER · EX · VENDITIONE · ATTALICOR · QVAE · EIS · PER · EDICTVM · AEDILIS · IN · SEPVLCRVM · C · CESTI · EX · TESTAMENTO · EIVS · INFERRE · NON · LICVIT · This identifies Cestius' heirs as Marcus Valerius Messala Corvinus, a famous general; Publius Rutilius Lupus, an orator whose father of the same name had been consul in 90 BC; and Lucius Junius Silanus, a member of the distinguished gens Junia. The heirs had set up the statues and bases using money raised from the sale of valuable cloths (attalici). Cestius had stated in his will that the cloths were to be deposited in the tomb, but this practice had been forbidden by a recent edict passed by the aediles. Pyrami

The Pyramid of Cestius (in Italian, Piramide di Caio Cestio or Piramide Cestia) is an ancient pyramid in Rome, Italy, near the Porta San Paolo and the Protestant Cemetery. It stands at a fork between two ancient roads, the Via Ostiensis and another road that ran west to the Tiber along the approximate line of the modern Via della Marmorata. Due to its incorporation into the city's fortifications, it is today one of the best-preserved ancient buildings in Rome. The pyramid was built about 18 BC–12 BC as a tomb for Gaius Cestius, a magistrate and member of one of the four great religious corporations in Rome, the Septemviri Epulonum. It is of brick-faced concrete covered with slabs of white marble standing on a travertine foundation, measuring 100 Roman feet (29.6 m) square at the base and standing 125 Roman feet (37 m) high. In the interior is the burial chamber, a simple barrel-vaulted rectangular cavity measuring 5.95 metres long, 4.10 m wide and 4.80 m high. When it was (re)discovered in 1660, the chamber was found to be decorated with frescoes, which were recorded by Pietro Santi Bartoli, but only the scantest traces of these now remain. There was no trace left of any other contents in the tomb, which had been plundered in antiquity. The tomb had been sealed when it was built, with no exterior entrance; it is not possible for visitors to access the interior, except by special permission typically only granted to scholars. A dedicatory inscription is carved into the east and west flanks of the pyramid, so as to be visible from both sides. It reads: C · CESTIVS · L · F · POB · EPULO · PR · TR · PL VII · VIR · EPOLONVM Gaius Cestius, son of Lucius, of the gens Pobilia, member of the College of Epulones, praetor, tribune of the plebs, septemvir of the Epulones. Below the inscription on the east-facing side is a second inscription recording the circumstances of the tomb's construction. This reads: OPVS · APSOLVTVM · EX · TESTAMENTO · DIEBVS · CCCXXX ARBITRATV PONTI · P · F · CLA · MELAE · HEREDIS · ET · POTHI · L The work was completed, in accordance with the will, in 330 days, by the decision of the heir [Lucius] Pontus Mela, son of Publius of the Claudia, and Pothus, freedman. Another inscription on the east face is of modern origins, having been carved on the orders of Pope Alexander VII in 1663. Reading INSTAVRATVM · AN · DOMINI · MDCLXIII, it commemorates excavation and restoration work carried out in and around the tomb between 1660–62. At the time of its construction, the Pyramid of Cestius would have stood in open countryside (tombs being forbidden within the city walls). Rome grew enormously during the imperial period, and, by the third century AD, the pyramid would have been surrounded by buildings. It originally stood in a low-walled enclosure, flanked by statues, columns and other tombs. Two marble bases were found next to the pyramid during excavations in the 1660s, complete with fragments of the bronze statues that originally had stood on their tops. The bases carried an inscription recorded by Bartoli in an engraving of 1697: M · VALERIVS · MESSALLA · CORVINVS · P · RVTILIVS · LVPVS · L · IVNIVS · SILANVS · L · PONTIVS · MELA · D · MARIVS · NIGER · HEREDES · C · CESTI · ET · L · CESTIVS · QVAE · EX · PARTE · AD · EVM · FRATRIS · HEREDITAS · M · AGRIPPAE · MVNERE · PER · VENIT · EX · EA · PECVNIA · QVAM · PRO · SVIS · PARTIEVS · RECEPER · EX · VENDITIONE · ATTALICOR · QVAE · EIS · PER · EDICTVM · AEDILIS · IN · SEPVLCRVM · C · CESTI · EX · TESTAMENTO · EIVS · INFERRE · NON · LICVIT · This identifies Cestius' heirs as Marcus Valerius Messala Corvinus, a famous general; Publius Rutilius Lupus, an orator whose father of the same name had been consul in 90 BC; and Lucius Junius Silanus, a member of the distinguished gens Junia. The heirs had set up the statues and bases using money raised from the sale of valuable cloths (attalici). Cestius had stated in his will that the cloths were to be deposited in the tomb, but this practice had been forbidden by a recent edict passed by the aediles. Pyrami

The Pyramid of Cestius (in Italian, Piramide di Caio Cestio or Piramide Cestia) is an Egyptian-style pyramid in Rome, Italy near the Porta San Paolo and the Protestant Cemetery. The pyramid is a funerary monument built about 12 BC as a tomb for Caius Cestius, a member of one of the four great religious corporations at Rome, the Septemviri epulonum. It is of brick-faced concrete covered with slabs of white marble, 27 meters high and about 22 meters square, standing on a travertine foundation. In the interior is the burial chamber, 5.95 metres long, 4.10 wide and 4.80 high. On the east and west sides, about halfway up, is the inscription recording the names and titles of Cestius, and below, on the east side only, another which relates the circumstances of the erection of the monument (CIL vi.1374). The peculiar conceit of a pyramid in Rome must be laid to the fact that Rome had conquered Egypt a few years before, in 30 BC, and the ancient culture of the new province became fashionable for a while; at any rate the tomb is unique among ancient Roman monuments, and not until modern funerary architecture did Rome see another pyramid within its walls. A comparison of their shape reveals that the structural strength of concrete made it possible to build the Roman pyramid at a much sharper angle than those of Egypt. In the 3rd century the pyramid was included inside the Aurelian Walls, and the Middle Ages, including the author Petrarch, seems to have thought of it, erroneously, as the tomb of either Romulus or Remus, in spite of the inscription. At that time, it was considered one of the most important monuments of antiquity. It had been conserved 'nearly intact', but was nevertheless overgrown with plants. The inscription 'Caius Cestius' was barely visible. Pier Paolo Vergerio mentioned around 1400 that it was difficult to read because of the vegetation. In 1660, excavations were undertaken: two statue bases were found outside it dedicated to Cestius, and an opening was dug into the pyramid itself, when it was discovered that the burial chamber was once decorated with frescoes, only the scantest traces of which now remain. The Falicon pyramid near Nice in France is suspected by some to have been constructed by Roman legionaries from an Egyptian cult. Text from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_of_Cestius

Sol LeWitt (sculptor) American, 1928 - 2007 Four-Sided Pyramid, first installation 1997, fabricated 1999 concrete blocks and mortar overall: 458.2 x 1012.2 x 970.9 cm (180 3/8 x 398 1/2 x 382 1/4 in.) Gift of the Donald Fisher Family 1998.149.1 Text from: www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/tinfo_f?object=107763

Sol LeWitt (sculptor) American, 1928 - 2007 Four-Sided Pyramid, first installation 1997, fabricated 1999 concrete blocks and mortar overall: 458.2 x 1012.2 x 970.9 cm (180 3/8 x 398 1/2 x 382 1/4 in.) Gift of the Donald Fisher Family 1998.149.1 Text from: www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/tinfo_f?object=107763