The tomb of a distinguished person linked to Augustus and Spain has been found in Pompeii during moisture remediation work in the underground rooms of the library of San Paolino.
The work had been necessary to protect the site’s library holdings from water infiltration. And it was during the excavation for the construction of a ventilation shaft that the exceptional discovery was made.
A very important discovery that led the superintendence to expand the excavation and “musealize” the funerary monument.
It is a tomb in the shape of a semicircle, referable to a typology well known in Pompeii, that of the so-called “schola” tombs. With a tufa seat in the center ending in elegant lion’s paws, bearing on the back in very regular clear letters and with red remnants inside the cavities, the name Numerius Agrestinus Equitius Pulcher .
The find occurred between Stabia Gate and the building of St. Paulinus (currently used as the site’s library).
A key discovery in reconstructing relations with Augustus
This is an important discovery that sheds light on the power network of Rome under the empire of Augustus. In fact, it is clear from the inscriptions found in the tomb that this is a prominent figure associated with the emperor’s reign. A prefect of military genius, who, together with Augustus, made a splendid career in the Roman army during the Spanish campaign.
At the end of it he decided to return to Pompeii, where the city council honored him with a burial on public ground, dedicating the very large tomb to him.
The discovery is exceptional not only for recomposing the ties of relationship with the emperor Augustus but also for reconstructing the road layout of Pompeii. In fact, the orientation of the tomb, given by the backrest on which the inscription is inscribed, is a significant element that can help define the course of the road axes probably present and not yet identified in Pompeii.
Ancient burial monuments have their main facade facing the street that runs parallel to it. In fact, the other nineteenth-century tombs identified in the investigated area face and run along the Stabian Way.
This could signify the presence of an additional, as yet unidentified and excavated roadway that lies beneath the building of St. Paulinus.
The characteristics of the tomb found in Pompeii
The semicircular tomb so-called “a schola” named after Numerius Agrestinus dates to the early imperial age and a typical tomb in the Vesuvian city.
Tombs a schola are monuments intended for distinguished people belonging to the city elite (magistrates, priests, priestesses, etc.), built at public expense by decurion decree.
The tomb characterized by the presence of a Nocera tufa seat, with a curved back and lion’s paw terminations, bears on the back in large letters the engraving of the name of the deceased.
But the inscription continues in smaller letters placed below, in the center of the backrest, which reads “SEPULTURAE DATUS D(ecreto) D(ecurionum)”
“To Numerius Agrestinus, son of Numerius, Equitius Pulcher, military tribune, prefect of the Autrygonians, prefect of military genius, Duumvir for jurisdiction (i.e., holder of the highest magistracy in the city of Pompeii).
But this is not the only example of schola tombs found during archaeological excavations in Pompeii. Tombs of this type had already previously been unearthed in the same area.
It represents, in fact, the eighth monument so far excavated in Pompeii’s necropolis. Notably, this is the third schola discovered in the Porta Stabia necropolis, where 19th-century excavations had already revealed those of M. Tullius and M. Alleius Minius. A fourth tomb of the same type had been identified during work directed by Antony Soglianus but could not be brought to light.
