Pyramid of Cestius

The pyramid of Cestius is an ancient Roman pyramid in Rome, Italy, near the Porta San Paolo and the Protestant Cemetery. It was built in the style of the Nubian pyramids as a tomb for Gaius Cestius, a member of the Epulones religious corporation. It stands at a fork between two ancient roads, the Via Ostiensis and another road that ran west to the Tiber. Because it was incorporated into the city's fortifications, it is today one of the best-preserved ancient buildings in Rome.

The pyramid was built about 18–12 BC. It is of brick-faced concrete covered with slabs of white marble standing on a travertine foundation, and it measures 100 Roman feet (29.6 m) square at the base and stands 125 Roman feet (37 m) high. Inside is a simple barrel-vaulted rectangular burial chamber, 5.95 metres long, 4.10 m wide and 4.80 m high. When opened in 1660 it was found to be decorated with frescoes, recorded by Pietro Santo Bartoli; only scant traces survive, and no trace of any other contents. The tomb was sealed with no exterior entrance but was plundered, probably in antiquity.

Cestius was a praetor, a tribune of the plebs, and a septemvir of the Epulones. The tomb was completed in 330 days and was one of two pyramid-shaped tombs in the city; its construction was regulated by sumptuary laws, which limit extreme displays of wealth. Its sharply pointed shape recalls the pyramids of Nubia, in particular of the kingdom of Meroë, which Rome attacked in 23 BC, so Cestius possibly served in that campaign. The exterior is distinctly egyptianizing, while the interior has classic Roman fresco paintings and a barrel-vaulted ceiling.

A dedicatory inscription is carved on both the northwestern and southeastern faces, with a second inscription below it on the southeastern face recording the circumstances of construction. A modern inscription on the east face was carved on the orders of Pope Alexander VII in 1663 to commemorate excavation and restoration work carried out between 1660–62. Two marble bases found beside the pyramid, now in the Capitoline Museums, name Cestius' heirs: Marcus Valerius Messala Corvinus, Publius Rutilius Lupus and Lucius Junius Silanus. They paid for bronze statues with money raised from selling valuable cloths that Cestius's will had said to deposit in the tomb, a practice recently forbidden by edict.

During the construction of the Aurelian Walls between 271 and 275, the pyramid was incorporated into the walls to form a triangular bastion. In the Middle Ages its origins were forgotten and Romans believed it to be the tomb of Remus, a belief recorded by Petrarch; the excavations of the 1660s clarified its true provenance. It became an essential sight on the Grand Tour and inspired Shelley and Thomas Hardy. Restoration work started in March 2013, and since the beginning of May 2015 the pyramid has been open to the public every second and fourth Saturday each month, by advance arrangement.

The pyramid was built about 18–12 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. The pyramid measures 100 Roman feet (29.6 m) square at the base and stands 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 opened in 1660, the chamber was found to be decorated with frescoes, which were recorded by Pietro Santo Bartoli. Only scant traces of these frescoes survive, and no trace of any other contents. The tomb had been sealed when it was built, with no exterior entrance, but had been plundered at some time thereafter, probably during antiquity. Until the end of restoration works in 2015, it was not possible for visitors to access the interior, except by special permission typically only granted to scholars. Since the beginning of May 2015, the pyramid is open to the public every second and fourth Saturday each month. Visitors must arrange their visit in advance.