English
A Quick History of the Pyramid of Caius Cestius in Rome
Address:
The Pyramid of Caius Cestius as seen from the Porta San Paolo light train terminal, image by Ethan Doyle White sourced from Wikimedia Commons
Out of all the ancient remains in Rome, none is more bizarre than the Pyramid of Caius Cestius, which separates the Ostiense and Testaccio districts.
Many unaware tourists may think it’s a contemporary monument of some kind, maybe thrown off by its whiteness, while others are genuinely puzzled that there is a… Pyramid in the Eternal City.
Just some visitors that come to Rome, in fact, know the history of this impressive landmark, and for all of those who don’t, what follows is a quick rundown on just how the pyramid came to be. And who was Caius Cestius anyway?
When pyramids were… trending
As you all know from your history books, when Cleopatra died in 30 BCE, Rome’s army eventually conquered Egypt, turning into a Roman province.
Annexing the territory wasn’t just important for political reasons: Romans started importing the wheat from Northern Africa, as well as papyrus. On the other hand, back in Italy citizens went crazy about Egypt and embraced everything that originated from there: the architecture, the decor, the fashion, the religion.
In the span of just a few years, temples started being built that were consecrated to Egyptian deities such as Isis, Bastet or Anubis – traces of which can be seen in what is now the city center of Rome and particularly in the area around the Pantheon and the Campo Marzio district.
New followers of the Egyptian religion, and particularly those who were rich enough to be able to afford the expenses, naturally began to build pyramids for themselves.
Pyramids, that’s right, because there were dozens of them scattered throughout Rome. The most famous ones were in what is now Piazzadel Popolo, built exactly where the twin churches in the square are.
Other pyramids were in the Vatican area, and what is now known as the Prati district: you can even see them in this detail from Vision of the Cross, a fresco in the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City:
A detail from the “Vision of the Cross” fresco – where the closest pyramid is now stands the Church of Santa Maria in Traspontina. Image in the public domain
Why were the pyramids torn down?
Either because they were the symbol of a pagan cult in a city that had become the symbol of Christianity or because preserving the past of Rome wasn’t considered a priority until recently… or both.
Be as it may, as luck (and history) would have it, just the one “Roman pyramid” remained, and that’s exactly the Pyramid of Caius Cestius.
Who was Caius Cestius?
A detail of the epitaph attributing the pyramid to Caius Cestius, photo by Giovanni Dall’Orto sourced from Wikimedia Commons
The front of the pyramid in Ostiense tells us that it belonged to a Caius Cestius, a magistrate and one of the Septemviri Epulonum, one of the religious corporations in Rome, and one that was specifically in charge for arranging religious banquets and games.
Epulones were the names of the seven members of the corporation, and to this day “epulone” in Italian is used to indicate someone who loves to eat and feast!
Very little is known about Caius Cestius, specifically, except that he had the means to build himself such a tomb and that he had a connection to Pons Cestius, the Cestius’ Bridge that goes from Tiber Island to Trastevere: it was built by his brother Lucius.
One of the legends about him is that he actually was never buried in the pyramid, because he himself or his heirs failed to pay the contractors who had worked on it.
What do we know about the pyramid of Caius Cestius?
All legends aside, what we do know about the history of this particular pyramid is that it was built in between 18 BCE and 12 BCE – and it was only possible to narrow down the building phase to these two dates because in 18 BCE laws were passed that prohibited excesses in consumption (I’m going to tell you why this is important in a little bit!) while in 12 BCE Marcus Agrippa (he of Pantheon fame) died: he was one of the executors of Caius Cestius’ will.
In spite of the uncertainty about when the pyramid of Caius Cestius was built (or when he died exactly, for that matter!), one of the most surprising facts about the landmark is that it was built in no time – under just 330 days.
You can read it yourself on the side of the pyramid facing the subway station at “Piramide”, where a smaller inscription says “OPVS 路 APSOLVTVM 路 EX 路 TESTAMENTO 路 DIEBVS 路 CCC鈥XX“, meaning “The work was completed, in accordance with the will, in 330 days”. “In accordance with the will” means that Caius Cestius had stipulated that his personal pyramid was to be built in less than one year, otherwise his descendants would have lost all their inheritance.
While the outer walls of the pyramid are made of marble transported by sea from Carrara, the rest of the structure is all concrete (also a reason behind the excellent state of conservation of the pyramid of Caius Cestius!).
What’s inside the Roman pyramid?
A detail of the chamber inside the pyramid of Cestius: you can see clearly where grave robbers tried to find “hidden treasures”! Photo by Alessio Damato, sourced from Wikimedia Commons
When I mentioned the sumptuary laws of 18 BCE, these are important because Caius Cestius loved luxury items, and in particular a specific type of tapestries called Attalica, which were woven with gold threads. He had some made specifically for his tomb, but these laws against the extravagant displays of wealth prevented him from doing so.
For this reason the chamber in the pyramid was decorated very modestly, so when grave robbers came smashing through the walls of the monument (the traces of their passage are still clearly visible inside the actual tomb) looking for hidden treasures, they most likely were disappointed.
Much more lucky were those who stole two metal, possibly bronze, statues depicting Caius Cestius, which were originally placed at both sides of the entrance door to the pyramid. This, coupled with the fact that grave robbers had broken the wall were the portrait of the deceased was painted, means that no trace of the looks of Caius Cestius has survived. Only the base of said statues (you can see them at the Capitoline Museums), along with his empty tomb.
Why has the pyramid of Caius Cestius survived?
Detail of the pyramid in the 18th century, as seen by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, image in the public domain
As I mentioned earlier, all other pyramids in Rome have been torn down, with the exception of Caius Cestius’.
Because of its unique position, by the Via Ostiensis – today’s Via Ostiense, running to the port at Ostia, when emperor Aurelian decided to build a new system of walls around the city to defend Rome against the barbarians, the pyramid was incorporated into their path. Tearing the pyramid down would have made the city vulnerable, so there it stayed.
One other major reason why the pyramid survived is that it was mistakenly believed for many centuries to be the tomb of Remus, none other than the brother of the founder of Rome itself, Romulus. According to popular belief, Romulus had its own pyramid/tomb way over by Castel Sant’Angelo: it’s the same one depicted in the Vision of the Cross fresco above.
For a while, the Pyramid of Caius Cestius was about to be transformed into a church. Pope Alexander VII started toying with the idea around 1660, when the otherwise sealed chamber of the monument was opened under the pontiff’s orders to see what was inside: that’s when the first visitors discovered the passage of grave diggers there. Francesco Borromini was involved in the project, which never really took shape because Alexander VII died in 1667.
The pyramid in 1880: as you can see the huge square around it is a modern concept! Image in the public domain
The pyramid has also witnessed the citizens’ uprising against the Nazis on September 10, 1943.
The first shots against the German soldiers were fired right from the Roman walls on one side of the pyramid, marking the beginning of the Italian resistance movement by the partisans: to this day, you can see plaques remembering the events in the immediate area.
How can you visit the pyramid?
The grave of John Keats can be visited together with the pyramid, image by Howardhudson sourced from Wikimedia Commons
, the company that famously runs the ticket office at the Colosseum, is also in charge of the visits to the pyramid, which are only available on select weekends each month. It is highly recommended to book them ahead of time.
Tickets are 5,50 Euros per person, with visitors under 12 going free of charge.
The price of a ticket allows you to have a guided tour of the pyramid, which is an even better bargain than it seems if you think that up to 2015 it wasn’t even possible to visit the monument at all unless you were an archaeology scholar!
Note if you’re part of a group, the booking is mandatory and the maximum amount of visitors allowed is 20 people.
If you’d like, you can also make the most of different private tour guides offering the visit to the landmark, in which case you’ll have to pay for their services on top of the actual ticket.
The site is open on the third and fourth Saturdays and Sundays of each month, except for the month of August – when it’s closed altogether.
And if you don’t care to go in (after all, it’s only one room…), you can still see the pyramid from afar by visiting the Protestant Cemetery in Rome, accessing it from Via Caio Cestio!
Planning a trip to 麻豆APP ? Get ready !
These are聽础尘补锄辞苍’蝉听产别蝉迟-蝉别濒濒颈苍驳聽travel products that you may need for coming to 麻豆APP.
Bookstore
- The best travel book : Rick Steves – 麻豆APP 2023 –听
- Fodor’s 麻豆APP 2024 –听
Travel Gear
- Venture Pal Lightweight Backpack –听
- Samsonite Winfield 2 28″ Luggage –听
- Swig Savvy’s Stainless Steel Insulated Water Bottle聽–听
We sometimes read this list just to find out what new travel products people are buying.
