The Tomb of the Scipios, also called the hypogaeum Scipionum, was the common tomb of the patrician Scipio family during the Roman Republic for interments between the early 3rd century BC and the early 1st century AD. Then it was abandoned and within a few hundred years its location was lost.
Entrance to the tomb. The wall lining the Via di Porta San Sebastiano lies directly behind the cameraman, who is standing within or on the inside of the gate at Number 6. Beyond the wall at the top right of the hill is the park road. The tomb fronted and opened in that direction and towered over the via Appia, now several meters higher than it was then. The hill continues down to the left, where more of the ruin is to be found.
Drawing based on Piranesi's plan view, criticised by Lanciani as being too idealized.
The so-called "Head of Ennius"
Floor plan of the tomb, based on a plan by Filippo Coarelli. 1 is the old entrance fronting on the park road, 2 is a "calcinara", an intrusive mediaeval lime kiln, 3 is the arched entrance seen in the photographs (street number 6), anciently overlooking the Via Appia, 4 is the entrance to the new room (street number 12). Letters from A to I were the sarcophagi or loculi with inscriptions. The tomb is now empty except for facsimiles; the remains were discarded or reinterred, while the sarcophagi fragments ultimately went to the Vatican.
The gens Cornelia was one of the greatest patrician houses at ancient Rome. For more than seven hundred years, from the early decades of the Republic to the third century AD, the Cornelii produced more eminent statesmen and generals than any other gens. At least seventy-five consuls under the Republic were members of this family, beginning with Servius Cornelius Maluginensis in 485 BC. Together with the Aemilii, Claudii, Fabii, Manlii, and Valerii, the Cornelii were almost certainly numbered among the gentes maiores, the most important and powerful families of Rome, who for centuries dominated the Republican magistracies. All of the major branches of the Cornelian gens were patrician, but there were also plebeian Cornelii, at least some of whom were descended from freedmen.
Entrance to the Tomb of the Scipios at Rome.
Monument of Gaius Cornelius Calvus, and his brother, Lucius.
As of Lucius Cornelius Cinna (here spelt Cina), minted between 169 and 158 BC. The obverse depicts the head of Janus, while the reverse shows a prow.
House of Cornelius Rufus, Pompeii
