In the heart of Rome, just two kilometers south of its forums, are the remains of one of the most paradigmatic constructions of the city: a pyramid of Egyptian influence that allows us to venture into a history of travel and conquests, artistic fashions. and fascination with the exotic.
Known as the Cestian pyramid, it owes its name to Gaius Cestius, who ordered it to be erected as a resting place after his death, between the years 18 and 12 BC. C., in a strategic area on the outskirts of the city. The growth of the capital of the Empire gave it another life as part of the defensive system built by Emperor Aurelian between 271 and 275 AD. C. Since then, its presence in one of the busiest spots in Rome has attracted tourists, scholars and artists alike over the centuries.
The place chosen by Gaius Cestius was not at all coincidental. Originally, the tomb flanked the Ostiense road, the main artery that, since the 3rd century BC. C., connected Rome with Ostia Antica and the port area that opened to the Mediterranean. The road, which started from the area of the Boarian forum, left the city through the Trigemina gate, in the Servian walls – the oldest –, then skirted the Aventine hill and headed towards Ostia.
At the end of the 1st century BC. C., when the pyramid was built, the surroundings consisted of a necropolis that, parallel to the road, served as a showcase for the tombs of the elite. In the case of the tomb of Gaius Cestius, a second route, leading towards the Circus Maximus, allowed the monument to be seen from another end.
In ancient Rome, the space that housed the deceased had two aspects. On the one hand, the monumentum, or mausoleum, was the physical embodiment of death; It was, therefore, an element with a clear social impact. On the other hand, the sepulcrum was the part intended for burial itself, either of the body or of the ashes, in case of cremation. This area was sacred and protected by religious law.
The truth is that death in Rome became, in many cases, a social act. Cicero stated that “the life of the dead is deposited in the memory of the living.” Hence, members of the elite invested in luxurious designs for their monuments, which, together with the epitaphs that adorned them, honored the family lineage in the best possible way.
We know little about the deceased, beyond what the inscriptions on the pyramid reveal to us. On its northwest and southeast faces, a large epitaph indicated: “Caius Cestius, son of Lucius, of the Pobilia tribe, member of the College of the Epulones, praetor, tribune of the plebs, septemvir of the Epulones.” The College of the Epulones was one of the four great religious corporations of priests in Rome. From the middle of the 1st century BC. C. was made up of seven priests, who were in charge of public banquets in honor of Jupiter and other religious festivities, in addition to the celebration of certain games.
On the southeast façade, the one flanked by the Ostiense road, a second inscription added the following: “The work was completed, according to the will, in 330 days, by decision of his heir Lucius Pontus Mela, son of Publius, of the Claudian tribe. , and Poto, freedman.”
None of the inscriptions mention the date of Gaius Cestius' death, but we know that it occurred between the years 18 and 12 BC. C., thanks to two epigraphs that were found in the funerary area in the mid-17th century. Both, identical, indicated that his heirs, among whom was the consul Marcus Agrippa, financed the placement of the bronze statues using the money they obtained from the sale of gold-embroidered fabrics (attalica).
According to Cestius' will, these textiles should have been deposited inside the tomb, but they had to serve another purpose due to the strict sumptuary laws of those years. Of the bronze statues, only some fragments were found along with the inscriptions.
After the completion of the project, the pyramid was inserted into a funerary enclosure, adorned with columns in its corners and two honorary sculptures that honored the memory of the deceased. The unusual design of the building impacted those who saw it because of its ability to transport the viewer to Nubia and ancient Egypt.
With the conquest of Egypt in 30 BC. C. by Octavian, Rome not only secured territorial control of one of the most prosperous civilizations in the known world, but also trade routes and access to other empires to the desert and across its seas.
After obtaining the precious jewel of the Nile, Octavian assured his supremacy in Rome, recognized by the Senate in 27 BC. C. with the new honorary title of Augustus. However, the first years of rule were turbulent, and required the presence of a prefect and military to control Upper Egypt and the southern border.
Choosing a pyramid as an architectural design sent a very clear message to the passer-by. As a member of the elite, Gaius Cestius was aware of what was happening in Rome. In 23 a. C., the Meroites had several confrontations with the Romans on the southern border of Egypt. The similarity of the design of the Cestian pyramid with those of the Meroe necropolis has led to suggestions that Gaius Cestius himself may have participated in military expeditions in Nubia.
Although perhaps this aesthetic had already begun to permeate the Romans, since the 1st century BC. C., through Hellenism, a crossing of models and ideas took place between the different cultures of the Mediterranean. At that time, cities like Pompeii already had their sanctuaries to the goddess Isis, as well as mansions decorated with Egyptian themes.
However, although Egyptian in appearance, the pyramid was built “Roman style.” The core of the building, made of brick and concrete, was covered with blocks of Luni marble, and its interior boasted the Roman style of the time. A vaulted tomb chamber contained a fresco decoration following the third Pompeian style: on a white background divided into panels through subtle elements, such as columns or candelabra, different objects and female figures appeared suspended, floating. In turn, the vault contained four winged victories in the corners of what, in principle, could have been the portrait of the deceased.
This area and others in the tomb were destroyed in modern times by those who believed that the pyramid hid a treasure.
In 270-275, after several barbarian raids that threatened the security of Rome, Emperor Aurelian decided to build a new wall to protect the city. Its layout led to reconfiguring the suburbs of a city that, for centuries, had grown beyond its primitive walls. Strategically, he incorporated the pyramid as a defensive bastion, in order to save time and resources on his ambitious project. Roman legislation protected the space where there was a burial, and, in this case, it was left intact.
Thanks to this, the pyramid was safeguarded and fixed in the collective imagination as the tomb of Remus (this attribution was due to the existence, very close to the current St. Peter's Square, of another pyramid, popularly known as Meta Romuli).
Thus, in the following centuries, travelers, scholars and antiquarians admired the monument and immortalized it in their designs. One of the most distinguished, Giovanni Battista Piranesi, visited it up to four times between 1745 and 1760. The interest aroused among the population led Pope Alexander VII to finance explorations in the building and for it to be partially restored (in this sense, it was added an inscription that said: “Restored in the year of our Lord 1663”).
In recent centuries, the attraction it generated favored the creation in its surroundings of what is known as the English Cemetery, where, since the beginning of the 18th century, there are documented burials of non-Catholic people, artists, writers and travelers of other confessions who perished. during your visit or stay in Rome.
Impassive, the Cestia pyramid defied time for more than two millennia. In 2012, the Japanese magnate Yuzo Yagi donated 2.7 million dollars to restore and consolidate the monument, an increasingly common practice in Rome, since, not in vain, the city allows the opening and maintenance of buildings through the private capital destined for culture.
