Roman sailor’s grave marker found in New Orleans yard –

A 2nd-century grave marker for a Roman sailor has been discovered in the backyard of Tulane University anthropologists in New Orleans. Anthropologist Daniella Santoro and her husband Aaron Lorenz discovered the stone slab with a Latin inscription while clearing some brush at their historic shotgun house in New Orleans’ Carrollton neighborhood.

Worried that they might have stumbled upon a grave in an ancient architectural cemetery (known to several people in the city and undoubtedly still unknown), they reached out to Dr. D. Ryan Gray, an archaeologist at the University of New Orleans who has diligently mapped these lost cemeteries. He was able to rule out the possibility that it was a historical burial. Ryan and Santoro shared photos with Latin experts who read and translated the inscriptions.

The inscription reads:

“500(is)m(anibus)/s()congo)()nation()or())ASC(50))ASC(RUNT)ASC(RUNT)competition/vetlius/vetlius/covere/covere/covere/covere/longe/longe/longe/longe/long/long/nus/heirs/b(ene ee)

(“From the souls of the dead of the Praetorian Fleet Misenensis soldier Sextus Congenius Verus of the tribe of Bessi (Natio), (who) was in the Trireme asclepius.

Since Sextus Congenius Verus was not buried in New Orleans, this confirms that this is an artifact from the ancient tomb where it was marked. In fact, a stone matching that description is listed in the National Archaeological Museum of Civitavecchia, an ancient port on the Tyrrhenian Sea 35 miles northwest of Rome.

Trajan’s favorite architect, Apollodorus of Damascus, built the rectangular port in 106-08 AD as a safe and convenient supply depot for ships of the imperial fleet. Known as Centumcellae, it was an important strategic base for the Roman navy in the second and third centuries, and many sailors are buried there in a cemetery near the port.

Many burial inscriptions were discovered during the construction of the prison in 1864, most of which belonged to Classiari fleet. These inscriptions give us not only the names of the sailors, but also of the ships, the type of name and whether they were part of Ravenna’s or Misenum’s fleet. Centumcellae funerary inscription records four innings Fortuna and backThree consecutive heads Dana,,,, Neres and augustaLiebner diana Ravenna Fleet and Quadrireme Daciathree consecutive heads castor,,,, Aesculapio,,,, indefinitely and particles and brothers Wide and large Separation of the Misenum fleet.

Sailors were usually drawn from the lowest social classes. During the Imperial era, they were recruited from urbanized and Romanized areas of the Empire, including the Musia inferiors between the Danube and the Black Sea. Bessie is believed to have come from the lands south of the Danube River. It was an important presence on the funeral epitaphs of sailors in the Roman Imperial Navy, with at least 50 records.

The ancient port was enlarged by the popes but was still in active commercial and military use during the first half of the 20th century. Unfortunately, this made it the target of Allied bombing in 1943 and 1944, and the port was completely destroyed. The museum containing the funerary inscriptions was also destroyed and much of its content was lost. Inventories compiled after the war used older inventories rather than starting from scratch, so the artifacts on the list have not actually been seen since before the war’s destruction.

The Sextus Congenius Verus could have been taken by an Allied soldier during the war, or sold after the war, when there was no effective oversight of the antiquities trade, ending up in New Orleans. Attempts to trace the background of the stone have so far been unsuccessful.

Restoring the stone to its rightful owner is a priority, but international antiquities repatriation is a complex process. Thankfully, the research and scholarship was indeed a collaborative effort, and soon Santoro assembled what she eventually called “Team Tombstone,” with Lusnia leading the charge to connect Civitavecchia’s museum with this unlikely story.

After consulting with Tess Davis, executive director of the Antiquities Alliance, which specializes in stolen and looted cultural heritage items, we concluded that the case needed to be pursued through the FBI’s Art Crimes Team. They agreed to pick up the stone and detain it at the beginning of the deportation process. […]

The staff at Civitavecchia are excited to welcome it back and they hope to have a celebration when it happens.