Editing Pyramid of Cestius (section)

==Inscriptions==
A dedicatory inscription is carved on both northwestern and southeastern faces,<ref name="Inscriptions">{{cite web |title=Inscriptions & Sumptuary Laws |url=http://omeka.wellesley.edu/piranesi-rome/exhibits/show/pyramidgc/inscriptions |website=omeka.wellesley.edu}}</ref> so as to be visible from both sides. It reads:

{{poemquote|
<small>G · CESTIVS · L · F · POB · EPVLO · PR · TR · PL<ref name="Inscriptions" />
VII · VIR · EPVLONVM</small>

Gaius Cestius, son of Lucius, of the Pobilia [voting tribe], member of the College of [[Epulones]], [[praetor]], [[Tribune#Tribune of the Plebs|tribune of the plebs]], [[septemvir]] of the Epulones<ref name="claridge" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Di Meo |first=Chiara |date=2008 |title=La piramide di Caio Cestio e il cimitero acattolico del Testaccio: trasformazione di un'immagine tra vedutismo e genius loci |language=it |location=Roma |publisher=Fratelli Palombi |isbn=978-8-86060-136-0}}</ref>
|source=}}

[[File:Piramide Cestia (Roma) veduta notturna dalla torre di Porta San Paolo.jpg|thumb|upright|Night view from [[Porta San Paolo]] (2011)]]
Below the inscription only on the southeastern face<ref name="Inscriptions" /> is a second inscription recording the circumstances of the tomb's construction. This reads:

{{poemquote|
<small>OPVS · APSOLVTVM · EX · TESTAMENTO · DIEBVS · CCCXXX
ARBITRATV
PONTI · P · F · CLA · MELAE · HEREDIS · ET · POTHI · L</small>

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 [[Roman tribe#Later tribes|Claudia]], and Pothus, [[freedman]]<ref name="claridge" />
}}

Another inscription on the east face is of modern origins, having been carved on the orders of [[Pope Alexander VII]] in 1663. Reading "<small>INSTAVRATVM · AN · DOMINI · MDCLXIII</small>", it commemorates excavation and restoration work carried out in and around the tomb between 1660&ndash;62.<ref name="claridge" />

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 3rd 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.<ref>{{cite book |last=Keppie |first=Lawrence J. F |date=1991 |title=Understanding Roman Inscriptions |location=London, UK |publisher=Routledge |pages=104&ndash;105 |isbn=0-415-15143-0}}</ref> 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:

{{poemquote|
<small>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 · PARTIBVS · RECEPER ·
EX · VENDITIONE · ATTALICOR ·
QVAE · EIS · PER · EDICTVM ·
AEDILIS · IN · SEPVLCRVM ·
C · CESTI · EX · TESTAMENTO ·
EIVS · INFERRE · NON · LICVIT ·</small>
}}

This identifies Cestius' heirs as [[Marcus Valerius Messala Corvinus]], a famous general; Publius Rutilius Lupus, an orator whose [[Publius Rutilius Lupus (consul 90 BCE)|father of the same name]] had been [[consul]] in 90 BC; and Lucius Junius Silanus, a member of the distinguished ''gens'' [[Junius (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 [[aedile]]s.<ref name="claridge" />