A brilliant military career, then a pleasant retirement in Pompeii, in the Campanian city famous for the beauty of the landscape and the views of the Gulf of Naples, which also attracted figures like Cicero and Agrippa.
This is what emerges from the inscription on a tomb found during the work to create a functional air chamber to drain moisture from the underground areas of the San Paolino building, the new headquarters of the Pompeii Archaeological Park library.
The discovery was announced in the E-Journal of Pompeii Excavations, the online magazine that reports “in real-time” on new discoveries and ongoing research at the archaeological site. Maria Chiara Scappaticcio, Full Professor of Latin Language and Literature at the University of Naples Federico II, and Alberto Dalla Rosa, Full Professor of Roman History at Université Bordeaux Montaigne, contributed to the reading and interpretation of the inscription.
The excavation to create the air chamber had barely touched the two ends of the tomb, semicircular in shape and attributable to a well-known typology in Pompeii: the so-called a schola tombs, consisting of a hemicycle bench, in tuff, decorated at the ends with lion paws.
Hence the decision of the Park officials to expand the excavation and musealize, near the new library, a peculiar funerary monument that can be dated to the reign of Emperor Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD). The inscription on the back of the bench revealed who the deceased was, reserving more than one surprise for those in charge of the work:
N(umerius) AGRESTINUS N(umerius) F(ilius) EQUITUS PULCHER TRIB(unus) MIL(itum) PRAEF(ectus) AUTRYGON(um) PRAEF(ectus) FABR(um) II D(uum)V(irus) I(ure) D(icundo) ITER(um) LOCUS SEPULTURAE DATUS D(ecreto) D(ecurionum)
To Numerius Agrestinus, son of Numerius, Just Knight, military tribune, prefect of the Autrygoni, prefect of engineers, twice Duumvir by the jurisdiction (i.e., holder of the highest magistracy in the city of Pompeii), the burial place was given by decree of the city council.
A first surprising fact is that the same individual is known from another funerary inscription in the necropolis of Porta Nocera, where his wife, Veia Barchilla, had erected a cylindrical monument for herself and her husband. Only later did the council of decurions decree to honor Numerius Agrestinus with a monument on public land.
A second new element is the title of “praefectus Autrygonum”. The Autrigones were a people from the northern regions of the Iberian Peninsula, where Augustus was engaged in the “Cantabrian wars” between 29 and 19 BC, aiming to complete the occupation of Hispania. This is a previously unattested position that helps, on a historical level, to better understand the organization of Roman power in a transitional phase toward the imperial model.
The discovery of the tomb of Numerius Agrestinus represents a new and important result of a project related to the restructuring of State buildings in the San Paolino area, which already in 2017, as part of the Great Pompeii Project, brought to light extraordinary findings – observes the Director General of Museums, Massimo Osanna – This discovery, as well as that of a few years ago in the same area, of the monumental tomb of Nigidius Alleius Maius, with a funerary inscription stretching for 4 meters, the longest ever discovered in the city, contributes to shedding new light on the history and society of ancient Pompeii. These discoveries represent opportunities for knowledge but also for the enhancement of an extraordinary archaeological heritage, fundamental for preserving the memory of the past and transmitting it to future generations.
Here we see the network of power that connected the empire’s elites, whose members were called upon to engage in conflict areas, with the promise of economic rewards but above all social prestige in their community of residence – explains the Director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, Gabriel Zuchtriegel – Having held the highest magistracy in Pompeii, the duumvirate, twice and being honored with a funerary monument on public land are expressions of recognition and loyalty to someone who had literally fought on the front lines for the empire’s cause. The unexpected discovery of this monument is yet another example of how in Pompeii, protection, research, and enhancement are closely intertwined.
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