Editing Pyramid of Cestius

{{Short description|Ancient Roman pyramid, a landmark of Rome, Italy}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{infobox ancient site
|name=Pyramid of Cestius
|image=Pyramide 564.jpg 
|caption=The Pyramid of Cestius
|location=''[[Regio XIII Aventinus]]''
|built={{circa}} 12 BC
|builder=Gaius Cestius
|type=[[Pyramid]]
|coordinates={{WikidataCoord|display=it}}
|map dot label=Pyramid of Cestius
|map_label_position=top
|map_type=Italy Rome Antiquity
|map_overlay=Roma PlanFXD.jpg
|map_size=270
|image_size=270
|mapframe-frame-width=270
|mapframe=yes
|mapframe-caption=Click on the map for a fullscreen view
|mapframe-zoom=12
|mapframe-marker=monument
|mapframe-wikidata=yes
}}

The '''pyramid of Cestius''' (in [[Italian language|Italian]], ''Piramide di Caio Cestio'' or ''Piramide Cestia'') is an [[ancient Roman]] [[pyramid]] in [[Rome]], [[Italy]], near the [[Porta San Paolo]] and the [[Protestant Cemetery, Rome|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.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Pyramid of Cestius and Porta San Paolo|url=https://izi.travel/it/4499-the-pyramid-of-cestius-and-porta-san-paolo/en|website=izi.travel}}</ref> 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 Marmorata. Due to its incorporation into the city's fortifications, it is today one of the best-preserved ancient buildings in Rome.

==Physical attributes==

[[File:Piramide di Caio Cestio 06.jpg|thumb|Detail of the pyramid]]
The pyramid was built about 18–12 BC as a [[tomb]] for Gaius Cestius, a magistrate and member of one of the four great [[Collegium (ancient Rome)|religious corporations]] in Rome, the ''[[Epulones|Septemviri Epulonum]]''. It is of brick-faced concrete covered with slabs of white marble standing on a [[travertine]] foundation. The pyramid measures 100 [[Pes (unit)|Roman feet]] (29.6&nbsp;m) square at the base and stands 125 Roman feet (37&nbsp;m) high.<ref name="claridge">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xtoVDAAAQBAJ&q=%22Pyramid+of+Cestius%22 |last=Amanda |first=Claridge |date=1998 |title=Rome: An Oxford Archaeological Guide |edition=1st |location=Oxford, UK |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=59, 364&ndash;366 |isbn=0-19-288003-9}}</ref>

[[File:Pyramid Caius Cestius room inside.jpg|thumb|upright|Pyramid Caius Cestius room inside]]
In the interior is the burial chamber, a simple [[barrel-vault]]ed rectangular cavity measuring 5.95&nbsp;metres long, 4.10&nbsp;m wide and 4.80&nbsp;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,<ref name="claridge" /> 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.

==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" />

==History==
[[Image:PiranesiPyramid.jpg|thumb|Pyramid of Cestius by [[Giovanni Battista Piranesi]] (18th century)]]
The pyramid was built for Gaius Cestius Epulo, the son of Lucius, of the tribe of Pobilia. The inscription on it mentions  that  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 of Rome.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lacovara |first1=Peter |title=Pyramids and Obelisks Beyond Egypt |journal=Aegyptiaca |date=2018 |issue=2 |page=127 |url=https://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/aegyp/article/view/48018/41478 |access-date=17 June 2019}}</ref> Its construction was regulated by sumptuary laws, which limit extreme displays of wealth such as in feasts, clothing, funerals, and tombs. While these laws can be traced back to the mid-5th century BC, they were much more strictly passed and enforced around the time of Cestius’ death.<ref name="Inscriptions" />

The sharply pointed shape of the pyramid is strongly reminiscent of the [[Nubian pyramids|pyramids of Nubia]], in particular of the kingdom of [[Meroë]], which had been attacked by Rome in 23 BC. The similarity suggests that Cestius had possibly served in that campaign and perhaps intended the pyramid to serve as a commemoration. His pyramid was not the only one in Rome; a larger one—the "[[meta Romuli|pyramid of Romulus]]" — of similar form but unknown origins stood between the [[Vatican Hill|Vatican]] and the [[Mausoleum of Hadrian]] but was dismantled in the 16th century by Pope Alexander VI and the marble was used for the steps of St. Peter's Basilica.<ref name="claridge" /><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://roma.andreapollett.com/S6/roma2-05e.htm|title=There Once Was In Rome... - the Meta Romuli |website=roma.andreapollett.com}}</ref>

[[Image:Porta S. Paolo - Plate 011 - Giuseppe Vasi.jpg|thumb|right|Pyramid of Cestius and environs by [[Giuseppe Vasi]] (18th century)]]
Some writers have questioned whether the Roman pyramids were modelled on the much less steeply pointed [[Egyptian pyramids]] exemplified by the famous pyramids of [[Giza]]. However, the relatively shallow Giza-type pyramids were not exclusively used by the Egyptians; steeper pyramids of the Nubian type were favored by the [[Ptolemaic dynasty]] of Egypt that had been brought to an end in the Roman conquest of 30 BC. The pyramid was, in any case, built during a period when Rome was going through a fad for all things Egyptian. The fusion of Roman and Egyptian styles is further highlighted by the fact that the exterior is distinctly "egyptianizing", while the interior displays classic Roman fresco paintings and a barrel vaulted ceiling.<ref name="Exterior">{{cite web |title="Egyptian" Exterior & "Roman" Interior |url=http://omeka.wellesley.edu/piranesi-rome/exhibits/show/pyramidgc/ext-int |website=omeka.wellesley.edu}}</ref> The [[Circus Maximus]] was adorned by [[Augustus]] with an Egyptian [[obelisk]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Curl |first=James Stevens |author-link=James Stevens Curl |date=2005 |title=The Egyptian Revival: Ancient Egypt as the Inspiration for Design Motifs in the West |location=London, UK |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-415-36118-4}} p. 23.</ref> and pyramids were built elsewhere in the Roman Empire around this time.<ref>{{harvnb|Curl|2005|p=40}}.</ref>

[[Image:Piazzale Ostiense Piramide porta san Paolo.jpg|thumb|right|The pyramid was incorporated into the Aurelian Walls and is close to Porta San Paolo (on the right).]]
During the construction of the [[Aurelian Walls]] between 271 and 275, the pyramid was incorporated into the walls to form a triangular [[bastion]]. It was one of many structures in the city to be reused to form part of the new walls, probably to reduce the cost and enable the structure to be built more quickly. It still forms part of a well-preserved stretch of the walls, a short distance from the Porta San Paolo.<ref name="aldrete">{{cite book |last=Aldrete |first=Gregory S. |date=2004 |title=Daily Life In The Roman City: Rome, Pompeii, and Ostia |location=Westport, CT |publisher=Greenwood Press |pages=41&ndash;42 |isbn=0-313-33174-X}}</ref>

The origins of the pyramid were forgotten during the [[Middle Ages]]. The inhabitants of Rome came to believe that it was the tomb of [[Remus]] (''Meta Remi'') and that its counterpart near the Vatican was the tomb of [[Romulus]], a belief recorded by [[Petrarch]].<ref>{{cite book |first1=Eileen |last1=Gardiner |first2=Francis Morgan |last2=Nichols |title=The Marvels of Rome |page=86 |publisher=Italica Press, Incorporated |date=1986 |isbn=0-934977-02-X}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Augustus J.C. |last=Hare |title=Walks in Rome |page=268 |publisher=Adamant Media Corporation |date=2001 |isbn=1-4021-7139-0}}</ref> Its true provenance was clarified by Pope Alexander VII's excavations in the 1660s, which cleared the vegetation that had overgrown the pyramid, uncovered the inscriptions on its faces, tunnelled into the tomb's burial chamber and found the bases of two bronze statues that had stood alongside the pyramid.<ref name="claridge" />

{{Comparison_of pyramids.svg|ce|}}
The pyramid was an essential sight for many who undertook the [[Grand Tour]] in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was much admired by architects, becoming the primary model for pyramids built in the West during this period.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-first=Jean-Marcel |editor1-last=Humbert |editor2-first=Clifford A. |editor2-last=Price |date=2003 |title=Imhotep Today: Egyptianizing Architecture |publisher=Routledge/Cavendish |page=27 |isbn=1-84472-006-3}}</ref> [[Percy Bysshe Shelley]] described it as "one keen pyramid with wedge sublime" in ''[[Adonaïs]]'', his 1821 [[elegy]] for [[John Keats]]. In turn the English novelist and poet [[Thomas Hardy]] saw the pyramid during a visit to the nearby [[Protestant Cemetery, Rome|Protestant Cemetery]] in 1887 and was inspired to write a poem, ''Rome: At the Pyramid of Cestius near the Graves of Shelley and Keats'', in which he wondered: "Who, then was Cestius, / and what is he to me?"<ref>{{cite book|last=Radford|first=Andrew|chapter='Fallen Angels': Hardy's Shelleyan Critique in the Final Wessex Novels |title=Romantic echoes in the Victorian era |editor1-first=Andrew |editor1-last=Radford |editor2-first=Mark |editor2-last=Sandy |page=107|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|year=2008|isbn=978-0-7546-5788-0}}</ref>

In 2001, the pyramid's entrance and interior underwent restoration.  In 2011, further work was announced to clean and restore the pyramid's badly damaged marble cladding, through which water seepage has endangered the frescoes within.  The restoration is sponsored by Japanese businessman Yuzo Yagi, whose €1-million donation resulted in a call for tenders to carry out the work issued by the ''Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Roma''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://archeoroma.beniculturali.it/en/events/current-events/restoration-pyramid-caius-cestius |title=The Restoration of the Pyramid of Caius Cestius |date=20 December 2012 |website=Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Roma |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706093304/http://archeoroma.beniculturali.it/en/events/current-events/restoration-pyramid-caius-cestius |archive-date=2017-07-06}}</ref> whose officials drew up the project and are supervising such an intervention along with [[Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities (Italy)|Italy's Ministry of Cultural Heritage]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Restoration of Rome's Pyramid|url=http://www.wantedinrome.com/news/news.php?id_n=7819|magazine=Wanted in Rome|date=26 January 2011|access-date=28 May 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728145930/http://www.wantedinrome.com/news/news.php?id_n=7819|archive-date=28 July 2011}}</ref> Restoration work started in March 2013.<ref>{{cite news |last=Larcan |first=Laura |title=Al via il restauro della Piramide Cestia, viaggio all'interno del monumento |url=http://www.ilmessaggero.it/roma/cultura/restauro_piramide_cestia/notizie/258089.shtml |newspaper=[[Il Messaggero]] |date=13 March 2013 |language=it |access-date=30 March 2013 |archive-date=7 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107093100/https://www.ilmessaggero.it/roma/cultura/restauro_piramide_cestia/notizie/258089.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The pyramid is the namesake of the [[Piramide (Rome Metro)|Piramide]] station of the [[Rome Metro]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.history.com/news/2000-year-old-roman-pyramid-gets-a-makeover |title=2,000-Year-Old Roman Pyramid Gets a Makeover |last=Pruitt |first=Sarah |date=4 February 2016 |access-date=6 August 2018 |work=[[History.com]] |publisher=[[A&E Television Networks, LLC.]]}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of ancient monuments in Rome]]
{{-}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* Kramer, Norbert (2000). "Augustus, Cestius und die Pyramide", in: Dreher, Martin (ed.), ''Bürgersinn und staatliche Macht in Antike und Gegenwart.'' Konstanz: Universitätsverlag Konstanz, pp. 181–190.
* Krause, Clemens (1999). "Sepulcrum: C. Cestius", in: Steinby, Eva Margareta (ed.), ''Lexicon Topographicum Urbis Romae'' 4, Rome: Quasar, pp. 278–279.
* Neudecker, Richard (2005). "Die Pyramide des Cestius", in: Giuliani, Luca (ed.), ''Meisterwerke der antiken Kunst.'' München: C. H. Beck, pp. 94–113.
* Ridley, R. T. (1992). "The Praetor and the Pyramid – The Tomb of Gaius Cestius in History, Archaeology and Literature", in: ''Bollettino di Archeologia'', vol. 13–15, pp. 1–29.

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/Sepulcrum_C.Cestii.html Sepulchrum Caii Cestii] in Platner's ''Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome''
*''[https://web.archive.org/web/20160517011847/http://archeoroma.beniculturali.it/en/archaeological-site/pyramid-caius-cestius Description in the site of the "Soprintendenza Speciale per il Colosseo, il MNR e l'Area archeologica di Roma"]''
* {{cite book |first=M. |last=Lucentini |title=The Rome Guide: Step by Step through History's Greatest City|date=31 December 2012 |publisher=Interlink |isbn=9781623710088 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=laMDAQAAQBAJ}}
* Piramide Cestia https://www.turismoroma.it/it/luoghi/piramide-cestia

{{Sequence
| prev = [[Mausoleum of Maxentius]]
| list = Landmarks of Rome
| curr = Pyramid of Cestius
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[[Category:12 BC establishments]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in the 1st century BC]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman tombs and cemeteries in Rome]]
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