SEP. EURYSACIS
the tomb of M. Vergilius Eurysaces, a baker, built
apparently about the end of the republic, in the angle formed by the
bifurcation of the via Praenestina and the via Labicana, just outside the
arches of the aqua Claudia, which afterwards became the porta Praenestina of the Aurelian wall. It is trapezoidal, measuring 8.75, 6.85,
5.80 and 4.05 metres on its sides, of concrete with travertine facing.
This facing takes the form of horizontal and vertical cylinders in rows,
which possibly are designed to represent measures for grain or vessels
for mixing dough (
Mitt. 1886, 47). Above these cylinders is a cornice,
and a frieze covered with reliefs representing the various operations of
breadmaking. At the corners are pilasters, and the inscription is repeated
on all sides of the monument (CIL i². 1203-1205=vi. 1958:
est hoc
monimentum Marcei Vergilei Eurysacis pistoris redemptoris: apparet 1).
The meaning of the last word is uncertain; it is certainly a verb, probably
in the sense apparet magistratibus (CIL i². cit.). The inscription of
Atistia, no doubt his wife, was also found
(CIL i². 1206=vi. 1958).
2 When
Honorius restored the wall of Aurelian he erected two towers outside
the
PORTA PRAENESTINA (q.v.), one of which stood over this tomb,
and concealed it from view. It must, however, have been partially
accessible from the interior, for the inscriptions were partly read in the
sixteenth century (CIL cit.;
LS iii. 158;
PBS i. 150). The towers were
removed in 1838 and the tomb exposed to view, but the east side is
almost wholly demolished (Jord. i. I. 358; Grifi, Brevi cenni di un
monumento scoperto a Porta Maggiore, 1838; Ann. d.
Inst. 1838, 202-248;
1841, 123; Bull. d.
Inst. 1838, 165-169; Reber 532-533; Caetani-
Lovatelli, NA, I July 1908, I-II=Passeggiate nella Roma antica 151-
176; Homo, Aurelien 248-249; Rostowzew, Social and Economic
History, 32).
