Tomb of the Scipios

The Tomb of the Scipios was an ancient Roman funerary monument in Rome, along the via Appia a short distance from Porta San Sebastiano.

History

The tomb was definitely founded at the start of the 3rd century BC by Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus, consul in 298 BC. His sarcophagus occupied the place of honour and was the only one to survive intact - it is now on show at the Vatican Museums, re-united with its original inscription. Thanks to numerous ancient sources, above all the testimony of Cicero, we know that the tomb was in use until the beginning of the 2nd century BC and the main body of the complex was practically "complete" within the first half of the 2nd century BC. It is also known that it held the remains of one person outside the Scipio family: the poet Ennius, of whom there was a marble statue in the tomb according to Cicero. None of the more familiar Scipios (Africanus, Asiaticus and Hispanicus) were buried here, but according to Livy and Seneca were buried in their villa at Liternum.

The inscriptions on the sarcophaguses (only seven examples) allow us to date the use of the hypogeum until about 150 BC, when the structure was complete, and came to be supported by another quadrangular room, with no passage to the hypogeum - in this were buried a few others of the family, up to the 2nd century BC. The creation of a solemn "rupestre" facade also dates to that period. The decoration is attributed to the initiative of Scipio Aemilianus, and is a fundamental example of Hellenization of Roman culture in the course of 2nd century BC. At that period the tomb became a kind of family museum, that perpetuated and publicised the deeds of its occupants.

The last well-known use of the tomb itself was in the Claudio-Neronian period, when the daughter and the grandchild of Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus were buried here, due to his attempts to cash in on his descent from the Scipios for ideological reasons. In the 3rd century AD the tomb was blocked and hidden by other buildings.

The tomb's approximate location remained known from the written sources even before it was first excavated, in 1616. The site's owners re-excavated it in May 1780, during building works for a new cellar. These excavations were carried out in the destructive way common at that time, seeking only treasure and ruining the site. Thus the tomb needed a complete restoration in 1926 by the X Ripartizione of the Comune di Roma. At that time, masonry put in in 1616 and 1780 to support collapsing roofs was removed and the inscriptions on the tombs were properly studied and copied.

Architecture

elevationThe monument is divided into two distinct parts: the main complex, dug into a tufa bank on a large square plan, and a brick-built arcade from the later period, with a separate entrance. The regularity of the plan suggests that the complex was newly-cut for the tombs - it does not seem plausible that an ancient tufa quarry was re-used.

The central room is divided by four large pilasters, repaired in the course of excavations to ensure the hypogeum did not collapse, with 4 long arcades along the sides and two central galleries that cross each other at right angles, giving the appearance of a grid plan.

The facade faced north-east, but only a small part of its right hand end survives, with few remains of wall paintings. It was made up of a high podium bordered by severe cornices, in which were three ashlar arches made of Aniene tufa : one led to the entrance of the hypogeum (central), one to the new room (right hand), while the third (left hand) led nowhere was purely ornamental in function (unless it was planned to dig a further room on this side). This base was entirely covered in frescoes, of which only small pieces remain, showing three layers: the two oldest (from about the middle of the 2nd century BC) show historical scenes (some soldier figures can be recognised), whilst the last, the most recent, has a red simple decoration with stylized waves (1st century AD).

More spectacular was the upper part of the facade, with a tripartite view, semicolumns and 3 niches into which (according to Livy [Livy, XXXVIII, 56] ) were placed the statues of Africanus, Asiaticus and the poet Ennius.

On the left a large circular cavity has destroyed a corner of the tomb, probably by the construction and use of a lime kiln in the medieval period.

The so-called "Head of Ennius"

Two heads made of Aniene tufa from the tomb are now in the Vatican Museums. Discovered in 1934, they were immediately stolen. The first head (24 cm high) has come to be called Ennius, who had a whole statue on the hypogeum facade according to Livy, but this attribution is incorrect, since the sources state Ennius's statue was in marble not tufa. It is unclear where in the tomb the heads were found, as they are probably portraits of another occupant of the tomb. The slightly inclined position of the neck has caused some to believe the first head is part of a larger statue, perhaps a reclining feasting figure from a sarcophagus lid, a type common in southern Etruria from the start of the 3rd century BC.

The head's modelling is in essence but effective, with a roundish face, swollen lips, wide nose and the large eyelids. The hair is indicated very vaguely and the head bears a laurel wreath with small leaves and foliage. Scholars propose dating it to the end of the 2nd century BC, when the Etruscan style of Latium underwent its first Greek influences.

arcophagi and inscriptions

There are around 30 sarcophagi from the tomb, placed along the walls. This number approximately corresponds to the number of Scipiones who lived between the beginning of the 2rd and the middle of 2nd century BC.

There are two types - "monolithic" (ie carved from a single block of tufa) and "constructed" (made of joined-up slabs). That of Barbatus is at the end of the central corridor, in line with the main entrance. The other sarcophagi were added later, sometimes laid on the ground, sometimes in niches carved in the walls. In the second room the tombs are larger .

The most important sarcophagi are those of Scipio Barbatus, now at the Vatican Museums, and that considered to belong to Ennius, both of vast dimensions. They do not entirely correspond with Etruscan sculpture, but show the elements of originality in Latin and particularly Roman culture, and are comparable with other Roman tombs (such as the Esquiline Necropolis) in other cities such as Tusculum

arcophagus of Scipio Barbatus (A)

Main|Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus

Bibliography

* Rodolfo Lanciani, "Rovine e scavi di Roma antica" ed.Quasar, Rome 1985
* Filippo Coarelli, "Guida archeologica di Roma", Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Verona 1984.
* Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli and Mario Torelli, "L'arte dell'antichità classica, Etruria-Roma", Utet, Turin 1976.
* [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=sNCHdO0k34UC&pg=PA223&lpg=PA223&dq=%22Scipio+Hispanicus%22&source=web&ots=uE5G9Mlz5U&sig=CNo_2ARYs9fiBNJDm8ib_xPhbc0&hl=en Georg Misch, "A History of Autobiography in Antiquity"] , 1998, p223
* [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Mu86ZWFl9GYC&pg=PA395&lpg=PA395&dq=%22Scipio+Hispanicus%22&source=web&ots=nkQKObEID9&sig=FHH-TQiOwRcZjTqDVzg_AIUL58I&hl=en Corrado Ricci, Vatican: Its History Its Treasures] , 2003, p395

References