Passage 1 - The Pyramid of Cestius

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A 2,000-year-old pyramid in the city of Rome has been restored by archaeologists.

Though Rome draws tourists from around the world to its many impressive sites, one

notable monument there has never attracted nearly as much interest: the Pyramid of

Cestius. But why would there be a pyramid in Italy? After the Roman conquest of Egypt in

30 B.C., Egyptian architectural style became the fashion in Rome.

Though obelisks and other monuments inspired by Egypt's great pyramids sprang up

around the city, only two actual pyramids are known to have been built. The only one left

standing, the Pyramid of Cestius, was designed as the burial pyramid for a Roman politician

named Caius Cestius, who ordered that the building work be completed within a period of

330 days. Construction took place at some point between 18 B.C. and 12 B.C. Cestius'

pyramid had a layer of white Carrara marble on the outside, and was constructed from brick

held together by a basic kind of cement on the inside. One of the things that strikes you

when you look at the pyramid is how steep it is, so that the shape of Cestius' pyramid is

quite unlike that of typical Egyptian ones. This is a difference that could have been the

result of inaccurate information sent back to Rome by soldiers who saw the pyramids in

person in Egypt. Alternatively, Roman builders could have drawn inspiration from the

pyramids in Nubia, a region located in what is today northern Sudan and southern Egypt.

At the time of its construction, since there was a strict Roman law prohibiting the placement

of tombs within the city itself, the Pyramid of Cestius would have stood in the countryside.

Rome grew enormously during the next two centuries, and, by the 3rd century A.D., the

pyramid would have been surrounded by buildings. We also know that in the 3rd century

A.D., the Pyramid of Cestius was hidden behind a high wall on the orders of Emperor

Aurelian; this probably helped it survive throughout the centuries to come, even as other

ancient monuments disappeared. By the Middle Ages, the pyramid was covered in

vegetation and thick dirt, and popular myth had developed that it might be a tomb for one of

the twin brothers Romulus and Remus, who were regarded as the men who had

established the city of Rome. Cestius' actual tomb within the pyramid and the inscription

identifying the pyramid as his weren't rediscovered until the 1660s, when the pyramid

underwent restoration. During excavations, when trees and plants were cleared away, two

marble bases were found in front of the pyramid, as well as fragments of bronze statues

that had once stood on them, on either side of the pyramid. The people employed to

excavate the pyramid did not find the urn that would have contained Cestius' remains, but

they did come across a tunnel. It was quite possible, therefore, that robbers had at some

earlier time removed the contents of the tomb. But while some of the features of Cestius'

tomb no longer exist, at least the pyramid itself has survived.

Today, the foundations of Cestius' pyramid rest below street level near an intersection with

heavy traffic, so that passing tourists and residents could easily fail to notice its full height of

119 feet. Across the intersection is the Piramide station, located on Line B of the Rome

Metro. In 2011, the Japanese clothing-company entrepreneur Yuzo Yagi, president of Yagi

Tsusho Ltd, announced his intention to help the Italian government pay for an ambitious

renovation of the Pyramid of Cestius. 'It's an act of gratitude,' he later told journalists. 'Our

company has grown thanks to Italy.' Work began at the site shortly after Yagi signed an

official agreement with the Special Superintendency for the Archaeological Heritage of

Rome, and was completed ahead of schedule thanks to his 2-million-euro contribution.

As archaeologist Leonardo Guarnieri explained to journalists, officials are now conducting

tours of the newly renovated pyramid twice a month by reservation. Visitors who take

advantage of the tour can make their way through a narrow corridor in order to enter the

burial chamber itself. It is within these walls that they can admire the frescoes: watercolour

paintings typical of the time. In the chamber, it is possible to make out four frescoes of the

winged Roman goddess of war, Victoria, a figure from Roman legend, as well as a series of

vases, the type that would have been used for special rituals and purification purposes. We

know from the writings of earlier visitors that there used to be more here, but the majority

have disappeared over time. Only one problem remains now that the restoration is

complete. The white exterior of the Pyramid of Cestius will have to be cleaned every few

months to remove the layer of urban pollution. A team of free-climbers will be employed to

do the job, in order to avoid placing builders' scaffolding around the newly welcoming

monument.