{"id":55,"date":"2025-04-17T17:43:18","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T17:43:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=55"},"modified":"2025-04-30T16:38:13","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T16:38:13","slug":"columbaria-at-vigna-codini","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/chapter\/columbaria-at-vigna-codini\/","title":{"rendered":"Columbaria at Vigna Codini"},"content":{"raw":"<strong>Site Features<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThe Columbarium at Vigna Codini serves as an Early Roman repository for cremated human remains, much akin to a mausoleum cemetery structure. Columbaria refers to subterranean large burial structures for non-elite Roman mass burial via cremation, originating in the Late Augustan age (early Imperial Rome), used until second century CE. Columbarium comes from the Latin \u201cpigeon-house\u201d, or \u201cdovecoat\u201d, due to resemblance of the arched niches to the nesting niches for domestic pigeons.[footnote]Borbonus 2014[\/footnote] Located under the Via Appia in Rome, Lazio, West and North Sides. These large structures consisted of a barrel-vaulted chamber of brick and masonry tombs with walls lined with niches to hold cremation urns.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_558\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"454\"]<img src=\"http:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/YR0626678_Two-views-of-the-columbarium-of-the-Vigna-Codini-300x213.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"454\" height=\"322\" class=\"wp-image-558 \" \/> Figure 1: Two views of the columbarium of the Vigna Codini. Origin: Rome. Date: c 1867 \u2013 in or before 1877. Object ID: RP-F-2001-7-164-15. Rijksmuseum. Public Domain Dedication (CC0 1.0)[\/caption]\r\n\r\nLike other pre-imperial burial chambers, the purpose of the Columbarium was a publicly accessible burial monument much like the modern cemetery - state sanctioned and region specific, where individuals or their descendants may purchase a \u201cplot\u201d, or a niche among the ollae (shelves) to safely house their remains and be recognized as a deceased citizen of the state.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_551\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"192\"]<img src=\"http:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/3150-192x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"192\" height=\"300\" class=\"wp-image-551 size-medium\" \/> Figure 2: Columbaria 3 at Vigna Codi view of double staircase, Creative Commons license[\/caption]\r\n\r\nThe Vigna Codini monument served to house cinerary remains and dedicated artifacts within each \u201ccell\u201d of the structure. The building of the Columbarium at Vigna Codini pre-dates early Christian burial practices of inhumation, which displayed itself in an early imperial shift in the 1st century CE. While the practice of inhumation in general did exist in Roman and pre-Roman practice, this model of the housing of human remains disappeared in large from ~200 BCE and re-emerged in Rome c. 1st century CE. Archaeological evidence notes that while inhumation via sarcophagi existed at the time as crematory burials, but were not as prominent in Roman culture before the imperial period. Cells were built to be uniform, with little space for modification and ornamentation.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_550\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"365\"]<img src=\"http:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/3146-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"365\" height=\"243\" class=\" wp-image-550\" \/> Figure 3: View from Staircase of Central Pillar and Loculi, Columbarium 1, Vigna Codini - Francesca Santoro L'hoir (CC BY-NC-SA) Creative Commons License[\/caption]\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nWhile some niches allowed space for an inscribed tablet or a small bust for the wealthier individuals, most niches only housed space to be personalized with brief inscriptions or solely just the name of the housed individual. The Augustan era and the first iteration of the Columbaria featured almost entirely identical niches, emphasizing the importance of equality of status in burial practice.[footnote]Felle 2022[\/footnote] Each niche was modelled after the other and the appearance of the structure was largely uniform. Moving into the period of the late first century C.E., however, saw a transformation in funerary structure and culture as monuments began to include space for urns, as well as more personalized details such as altars, busts, and inscriptions.[footnote]Borbonus 2014[\/footnote] The most significant modifications to niches are seen in Columbaria 3, as seen in Figure 4\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_554\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"280\"]<img src=\"http:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/figure4-230x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"280\" height=\"365\" class=\" wp-image-554\" \/> Figure 4: Niche of Iulius Chrysantus in Columbarium 3 in the Vigna Codini. Alinari\/Art Resource, NY. (Cambridge, Borbonus 2014)[\/caption]\r\n\r\n<strong>Archaeological Reports and Remnants<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThree separate Columbaria chambers along the Via Appia have been found \u2014 the first of which is said to have belonged to freedmen and servants of brother of Tiberius, who lived from 38 BCE-9 CE. This columbarium contained the most vast number of inscriptions, numbering upwards of 86.[footnote]Lanciani 1967[\/footnote]\r\n\r\nThe first known excavation of the others occurred under Pius IV, reigning from 1559-66 CE, also devoted to countless freedmen of gens Pompeia, a high ranking familial class dating back to the early second century BCE.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_556\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"391\"]<img src=\"http:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/Screenshot-2025-04-29-at-10.58.55\u202fPM-300x267.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"391\" height=\"348\" class=\" wp-image-556\" \/> Figure 5[\/caption]\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_557\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"407\"]<img src=\"http:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/urn_cambridge.org_id_binary-alt_20180929084057-84573-mediumThumb-03140fig36-300x244.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"407\" height=\"331\" class=\" wp-image-557\" \/> Figure 6: Cambridge 36. Columbarium \u201cof Pomponius Hylas\u201d: northwest wall. Ashby Reference Ashby1910: pl. 41., followed by 26. Columbarium 1 in the Vigna Codini: location of inscriptions. CIL 6: p. 927.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nThe first recorded excavation of 1726-33 under Francesco Bevilacqua describe the discovery of numerous hundreds of incinerate urns and detailed inscriptions still withholding color from their lettering and frescos. Many have maintained well preserved, but color images of these findings are not available under copyright as public resources (see Bridgeman Images). Other descriptions of excavations by scholars of the late 1890s depict the discovery of supulchral rooms and cinerariums, but records of these excavations are currently not available to the public.\r\n\r\nThree properly and well documented excavations of the columbaria occurred in 1840, 1847, and 1852, respectively in regards to the 3 chambers excavated, by Pierre Campana and Gio Battista Guidi, though many scholars believe the third is perhaps is attributed to an archaeologist of the name Codini (the namesake of the monument).\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/Screenshot-2025-04-29-at-10.57.56\u202fPM-223x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"336\" class=\" wp-image-555 alignleft\" \/>\r\n\r\nThe largest of the three contains 450 \u201cdovecotes\u201d and just below 300 inscriptions, many of which have been removed and dispersed to museums across the Mediterranean. Inscriptions and funerary tablet fragments from this site describe individuals belonging to numerous Imperial families under the reigns of both Tiberius and Claudius (early 1st century CE).\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_553\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"297\"]<img src=\"http:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/3153-297x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"297\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-553\" \/> Figure 8: Columbarium Being Stripped Bare by 18th-Century Treasure Hunters - Francesca Santoro L'hoir (CC BY-NC-SA)[\/caption]\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nThe second, discovered by Campana less than a decade later, is significantly smaller, with 295 ollae and containing over 400 funerary tablets retaining inscriptions with descriptions of the location and its inhabitants. The majority of the individuals housed in the second columbarium are attributed to the slaves and freedmen of the family of Marcella the Elder and the Younger, relatives through marriage of consul Marcus Agrippa (1st c. BCE)\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nThe third columbarium, excavated by Guidi in the early 1850s, differs greatly in architecture as it exhibits high arched ceilings, larger and more scattered ollae of different sizes, as well as numerous artifacts, busts, and dumped human bones not bothered to be incinerated or housed in niches of their own, likely belonging to slaves of the lowest class and not attributed by any known inscriptions. Many of these artifacts which once were housed in funerary niches, however, have been lost to looting over the ages. Surviving artifacts remain in situ and managed by the Roman state or have been distributed to numerous museums across Italy over the last 200+ years.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong>Status in Public Burial<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThe institution of Columbaria as a public burial structure emerged in Imperial Rome around the same time (coincidentally?), as the social institution known as the collegium, or the dividing of social classes and associations as legal entities\/defined groups. Classicist John Bodel argues that, \u201ccatacombs were not invented and designed to accommodate the particular ideological beliefs and religious behavior of early Christians\u201d but rather to accommodate burial to the community outside of what is referred to as the \u201cnuclear family\u201d and provide a space for the non-elite classes of Rome as per the collegia.[footnote]Bodel 2008[\/footnote]\r\n\r\nFigure 9, below, depicts a fresco on the first landing of the Columbarium, which has since crumbled and reveals the brickwork and marble behind it. This image displays the disparity of inscriptions, as only a small percentage of ollae included inscriptions at all. However, while labeless, many niches were colorfully decorated while not personalized to the individuals represented.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_552\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"367\"]<img src=\"http:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/3151-300x192.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"367\" height=\"235\" class=\" wp-image-552\" \/> Figure 9: Fresco of Duck and Tripod, Columbarium 3, Vigna Codini - Francesca Santoro L'hoir (CC BY-NC-SA)[\/caption]\r\n\r\nIn regards to social status, the institution of the Columbaria allowed for a large public domain in which the lower classes of Rome could house their dead. Some scholars suggest the functionalist approach as reasoning for the use of columbaria, as a response to both rising land prices coupled with high death rates coming with the need to dispose of vast numbers of bodies in Rome as well as and the desire to record individual identity. Morris argues that this is a likely interpretation, while insisting on the symbolic aspect of the collective columbaria as a type of social structure which unifies members of the Roman statehood regardless of social class or citizenship status.[footnote]Morris 1992[\/footnote]\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong>Sources:<\/strong>\r\n\r\nBodel, John. \u201cFrom Columbaria to Catacombs: Communities of the Dead in Pagan and Christian Rome - 2008,\u201d n.d.\r\n\r\nBorbonus, D. (Dorian). Columbarium Tombs and Collective Identity in Augustan Rome. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014.\r\n\r\nFelle, Antonio E. \u201cThe 'Written Death' in Late Roman Collective Funerary Settlements. Some Case Studies from Rome (3rd-4th Cent. CE).\u201d N. Zimmermann and Th. Fr\u00f6hlich (Eds), The Economy of Death. New Research on Collective Burial Spaces in Rome from the Late Republic to the Late Roman Time, Heidelberg 38, no. 7.2 (2022): 89\u2013101.\r\n\r\nJordan, D. R. \u201cThe Inscribed Gold Tablet from the Vigna Codini.\u201d American Journal of Archaeology 89, no. 1 (1985): 162\u201367. <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.2307\/504779\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.2307\/504779<\/a>.\r\n\r\nLanciani, Rodolfo Amedeo, 1847-1929. Ruins and Excavations of Ancient Rome [New York]: Blom, 1967.\r\n\r\nL'hoir, Francesca Santoro. \"Columbarium 3 at Vigna Codini: View of Double Staircase.\" World History Encyclopedia. Last modified October 19, 2014. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldhistory.org\/image\/3150\/columbarium-3-at-vigna-codini-view-of-double-stair\/\">https:\/\/www.worldhistory.org\/image\/3150\/columbarium-3-at-vigna-codini-view-of-double-stair\/<\/a>.\r\n\r\nL'hoir, Francesca Santoro. \"Fresco of Duck and Tripod, Columbarium 3, Vigna Codini.\" World History Encyclopedia. Last modified October 19, 2014. https:\/\/www.worldhistory.org\/image\/3151\/fresco-of-duck-and-tripod-columbarium-3-vigna-codi\/.\r\n\r\nMorris, Ian. Death-Ritual and Social Structure in Classical Antiquity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.turismoroma.it\/en\/places\/colombariums-vigna-codini#:~:text=On%20the%20vault%20there%20are,was%20also%20used%20for%20burials\">https:\/\/www.turismoroma.it\/en\/places\/colombariums-vigna-codini#:~:text=On%20the%20vault%20there%20are,was%20also%20used%20for%20burials.<\/a>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bridgemanimages.com\/en-US\/explore\/location\/Columbarium%20of%20Vigna%20Codini,%20Rome,%20Italy\/gallery?offline=1\">https:\/\/www.bridgemanimages.com\/en-US\/explore\/location\/Columbarium%20of%20Vigna%20Codini,%20Rome,%20Italy\/gallery?offline=1<\/a>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldhistory.org\/article\/764\/deaths-mansions-the-columbaria-of-imperial-rome\/\">https:\/\/www.worldhistory.org\/article\/764\/deaths-mansions-the-columbaria-of-imperial-rome\/<\/a>","rendered":"<p><strong>Site Features<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Columbarium at Vigna Codini serves as an Early Roman repository for cremated human remains, much akin to a mausoleum cemetery structure. Columbaria refers to subterranean large burial structures for non-elite Roman mass burial via cremation, originating in the Late Augustan age (early Imperial Rome), used until second century CE. Columbarium comes from the Latin \u201cpigeon-house\u201d, or \u201cdovecoat\u201d, due to resemblance of the arched niches to the nesting niches for domestic pigeons.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Borbonus 2014\" id=\"return-footnote-55-1\" href=\"#footnote-55-1\" aria-label=\"Footnote 1\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[1]<\/sup><\/a> Located under the Via Appia in Rome, Lazio, West and North Sides. These large structures consisted of a barrel-vaulted chamber of brick and masonry tombs with walls lined with niches to hold cremation urns.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_558\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-558\" style=\"width: 454px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/YR0626678_Two-views-of-the-columbarium-of-the-Vigna-Codini-300x213.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"454\" height=\"322\" class=\"wp-image-558\" srcset=\"https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/YR0626678_Two-views-of-the-columbarium-of-the-Vigna-Codini-300x213.jpg 300w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/YR0626678_Two-views-of-the-columbarium-of-the-Vigna-Codini-65x46.jpg 65w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/YR0626678_Two-views-of-the-columbarium-of-the-Vigna-Codini-225x160.jpg 225w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/YR0626678_Two-views-of-the-columbarium-of-the-Vigna-Codini-350x249.jpg 350w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/YR0626678_Two-views-of-the-columbarium-of-the-Vigna-Codini.jpg 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 454px) 100vw, 454px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-558\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Figure 1: Two views of the columbarium of the Vigna Codini. Origin: Rome. Date: c 1867 \u2013 in or before 1877. Object ID: RP-F-2001-7-164-15. Rijksmuseum. Public Domain Dedication (CC0 1.0)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Like other pre-imperial burial chambers, the purpose of the Columbarium was a publicly accessible burial monument much like the modern cemetery &#8211; state sanctioned and region specific, where individuals or their descendants may purchase a \u201cplot\u201d, or a niche among the ollae (shelves) to safely house their remains and be recognized as a deceased citizen of the state.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_551\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-551\" style=\"width: 192px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/3150-192x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"192\" height=\"300\" class=\"wp-image-551 size-medium\" srcset=\"https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/3150-192x300.jpg 192w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/3150-65x101.jpg 65w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/3150-225x351.jpg 225w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/3150-350x546.jpg 350w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/3150.jpg 382w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 192px) 100vw, 192px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-551\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Figure 2: Columbaria 3 at Vigna Codi view of double staircase, Creative Commons license<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Vigna Codini monument served to house cinerary remains and dedicated artifacts within each \u201ccell\u201d of the structure. The building of the Columbarium at Vigna Codini pre-dates early Christian burial practices of inhumation, which displayed itself in an early imperial shift in the 1st century CE. While the practice of inhumation in general did exist in Roman and pre-Roman practice, this model of the housing of human remains disappeared in large from ~200 BCE and re-emerged in Rome c. 1st century CE. Archaeological evidence notes that while inhumation via sarcophagi existed at the time as crematory burials, but were not as prominent in Roman culture before the imperial period. Cells were built to be uniform, with little space for modification and ornamentation.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_550\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-550\" style=\"width: 365px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/3146-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"365\" height=\"243\" class=\"wp-image-550\" srcset=\"https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/3146-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/3146-65x43.jpg 65w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/3146-225x150.jpg 225w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/3146-350x233.jpg 350w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/3146.jpg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 365px) 100vw, 365px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-550\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Figure 3: View from Staircase of Central Pillar and Loculi, Columbarium 1, Vigna Codini &#8211; Francesca Santoro L&#8217;hoir (CC BY-NC-SA) Creative Commons License<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>While some niches allowed space for an inscribed tablet or a small bust for the wealthier individuals, most niches only housed space to be personalized with brief inscriptions or solely just the name of the housed individual. The Augustan era and the first iteration of the Columbaria featured almost entirely identical niches, emphasizing the importance of equality of status in burial practice.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Felle 2022\" id=\"return-footnote-55-2\" href=\"#footnote-55-2\" aria-label=\"Footnote 2\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[2]<\/sup><\/a> Each niche was modelled after the other and the appearance of the structure was largely uniform. Moving into the period of the late first century C.E., however, saw a transformation in funerary structure and culture as monuments began to include space for urns, as well as more personalized details such as altars, busts, and inscriptions.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Borbonus 2014\" id=\"return-footnote-55-3\" href=\"#footnote-55-3\" aria-label=\"Footnote 3\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[3]<\/sup><\/a> The most significant modifications to niches are seen in Columbaria 3, as seen in Figure 4<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_554\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-554\" style=\"width: 280px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/figure4-230x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"280\" height=\"365\" class=\"wp-image-554\" srcset=\"https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/figure4-230x300.jpg 230w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/figure4-65x85.jpg 65w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/figure4-225x293.jpg 225w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/figure4.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 280px) 100vw, 280px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-554\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Figure 4: Niche of Iulius Chrysantus in Columbarium 3 in the Vigna Codini. Alinari\/Art Resource, NY. (Cambridge, Borbonus 2014)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Archaeological Reports and Remnants<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Three separate Columbaria chambers along the Via Appia have been found \u2014 the first of which is said to have belonged to freedmen and servants of brother of Tiberius, who lived from 38 BCE-9 CE. This columbarium contained the most vast number of inscriptions, numbering upwards of 86.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Lanciani 1967\" id=\"return-footnote-55-4\" href=\"#footnote-55-4\" aria-label=\"Footnote 4\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[4]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The first known excavation of the others occurred under Pius IV, reigning from 1559-66 CE, also devoted to countless freedmen of gens Pompeia, a high ranking familial class dating back to the early second century BCE.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_556\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-556\" style=\"width: 391px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/Screenshot-2025-04-29-at-10.58.55\u202fPM-300x267.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"391\" height=\"348\" class=\"wp-image-556\" srcset=\"https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/Screenshot-2025-04-29-at-10.58.55\u202fPM-300x267.png 300w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/Screenshot-2025-04-29-at-10.58.55\u202fPM-1024x911.png 1024w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/Screenshot-2025-04-29-at-10.58.55\u202fPM-768x683.png 768w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/Screenshot-2025-04-29-at-10.58.55\u202fPM-65x58.png 65w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/Screenshot-2025-04-29-at-10.58.55\u202fPM-225x200.png 225w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/Screenshot-2025-04-29-at-10.58.55\u202fPM-350x311.png 350w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/Screenshot-2025-04-29-at-10.58.55\u202fPM.png 1396w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 391px) 100vw, 391px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-556\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Figure 5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_557\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-557\" style=\"width: 407px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/urn_cambridge.org_id_binary-alt_20180929084057-84573-mediumThumb-03140fig36-300x244.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"407\" height=\"331\" class=\"wp-image-557\" srcset=\"https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/urn_cambridge.org_id_binary-alt_20180929084057-84573-mediumThumb-03140fig36-300x244.jpg 300w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/urn_cambridge.org_id_binary-alt_20180929084057-84573-mediumThumb-03140fig36-65x53.jpg 65w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/urn_cambridge.org_id_binary-alt_20180929084057-84573-mediumThumb-03140fig36-225x183.jpg 225w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/urn_cambridge.org_id_binary-alt_20180929084057-84573-mediumThumb-03140fig36.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 407px) 100vw, 407px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-557\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Figure 6: Cambridge 36. Columbarium \u201cof Pomponius Hylas\u201d: northwest wall. Ashby Reference Ashby1910: pl. 41., followed by 26. Columbarium 1 in the Vigna Codini: location of inscriptions. CIL 6: p. 927.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The first recorded excavation of 1726-33 under Francesco Bevilacqua describe the discovery of numerous hundreds of incinerate urns and detailed inscriptions still withholding color from their lettering and frescos. Many have maintained well preserved, but color images of these findings are not available under copyright as public resources (see Bridgeman Images). Other descriptions of excavations by scholars of the late 1890s depict the discovery of supulchral rooms and cinerariums, but records of these excavations are currently not available to the public.<\/p>\n<p>Three properly and well documented excavations of the columbaria occurred in 1840, 1847, and 1852, respectively in regards to the 3 chambers excavated, by Pierre Campana and Gio Battista Guidi, though many scholars believe the third is perhaps is attributed to an archaeologist of the name Codini (the namesake of the monument).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/Screenshot-2025-04-29-at-10.57.56\u202fPM-223x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"336\" class=\"wp-image-555 alignleft\" srcset=\"https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/Screenshot-2025-04-29-at-10.57.56\u202fPM-223x300.png 223w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/Screenshot-2025-04-29-at-10.57.56\u202fPM-65x87.png 65w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/Screenshot-2025-04-29-at-10.57.56\u202fPM-225x303.png 225w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/Screenshot-2025-04-29-at-10.57.56\u202fPM-350x471.png 350w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/Screenshot-2025-04-29-at-10.57.56\u202fPM.png 684w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The largest of the three contains 450 \u201cdovecotes\u201d and just below 300 inscriptions, many of which have been removed and dispersed to museums across the Mediterranean. Inscriptions and funerary tablet fragments from this site describe individuals belonging to numerous Imperial families under the reigns of both Tiberius and Claudius (early 1st century CE).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_553\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-553\" style=\"width: 297px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/3153-297x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"297\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-553\" srcset=\"https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/3153-297x300.jpg 297w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/3153-65x66.jpg 65w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/3153-225x227.jpg 225w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/3153-350x354.jpg 350w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/3153.jpg 475w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 297px) 100vw, 297px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-553\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Figure 8: Columbarium Being Stripped Bare by 18th-Century Treasure Hunters &#8211; Francesca Santoro L&#8217;hoir (CC BY-NC-SA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The second, discovered by Campana less than a decade later, is significantly smaller, with 295 ollae and containing over 400 funerary tablets retaining inscriptions with descriptions of the location and its inhabitants. The majority of the individuals housed in the second columbarium are attributed to the slaves and freedmen of the family of Marcella the Elder and the Younger, relatives through marriage of consul Marcus Agrippa (1st c. BCE)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The third columbarium, excavated by Guidi in the early 1850s, differs greatly in architecture as it exhibits high arched ceilings, larger and more scattered ollae of different sizes, as well as numerous artifacts, busts, and dumped human bones not bothered to be incinerated or housed in niches of their own, likely belonging to slaves of the lowest class and not attributed by any known inscriptions. Many of these artifacts which once were housed in funerary niches, however, have been lost to looting over the ages. Surviving artifacts remain in situ and managed by the Roman state or have been distributed to numerous museums across Italy over the last 200+ years.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Status in Public Burial<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The institution of Columbaria as a public burial structure emerged in Imperial Rome around the same time (coincidentally?), as the social institution known as the collegium, or the dividing of social classes and associations as legal entities\/defined groups. Classicist John Bodel argues that, \u201ccatacombs were not invented and designed to accommodate the particular ideological beliefs and religious behavior of early Christians\u201d but rather to accommodate burial to the community outside of what is referred to as the \u201cnuclear family\u201d and provide a space for the non-elite classes of Rome as per the collegia.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Bodel 2008\" id=\"return-footnote-55-5\" href=\"#footnote-55-5\" aria-label=\"Footnote 5\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[5]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Figure 9, below, depicts a fresco on the first landing of the Columbarium, which has since crumbled and reveals the brickwork and marble behind it. This image displays the disparity of inscriptions, as only a small percentage of ollae included inscriptions at all. However, while labeless, many niches were colorfully decorated while not personalized to the individuals represented.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_552\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-552\" style=\"width: 367px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/3151-300x192.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"367\" height=\"235\" class=\"wp-image-552\" srcset=\"https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/3151-300x192.jpg 300w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/3151-65x42.jpg 65w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/3151-225x144.jpg 225w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/3151-350x224.jpg 350w, https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/files\/2025\/04\/3151.jpg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 367px) 100vw, 367px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-552\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Figure 9: Fresco of Duck and Tripod, Columbarium 3, Vigna Codini &#8211; Francesca Santoro L&#8217;hoir (CC BY-NC-SA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In regards to social status, the institution of the Columbaria allowed for a large public domain in which the lower classes of Rome could house their dead. Some scholars suggest the functionalist approach as reasoning for the use of columbaria, as a response to both rising land prices coupled with high death rates coming with the need to dispose of vast numbers of bodies in Rome as well as and the desire to record individual identity. Morris argues that this is a likely interpretation, while insisting on the symbolic aspect of the collective columbaria as a type of social structure which unifies members of the Roman statehood regardless of social class or citizenship status.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Morris 1992\" id=\"return-footnote-55-6\" href=\"#footnote-55-6\" aria-label=\"Footnote 6\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[6]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Bodel, John. \u201cFrom Columbaria to Catacombs: Communities of the Dead in Pagan and Christian Rome &#8211; 2008,\u201d n.d.<\/p>\n<p>Borbonus, D. (Dorian). Columbarium Tombs and Collective Identity in Augustan Rome. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014.<\/p>\n<p>Felle, Antonio E. \u201cThe &#8216;Written Death&#8217; in Late Roman Collective Funerary Settlements. Some Case Studies from Rome (3rd-4th Cent. CE).\u201d N. Zimmermann and Th. Fr\u00f6hlich (Eds), The Economy of Death. New Research on Collective Burial Spaces in Rome from the Late Republic to the Late Roman Time, Heidelberg 38, no. 7.2 (2022): 89\u2013101.<\/p>\n<p>Jordan, D. R. \u201cThe Inscribed Gold Tablet from the Vigna Codini.\u201d American Journal of Archaeology 89, no. 1 (1985): 162\u201367. <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.2307\/504779\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.2307\/504779<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Lanciani, Rodolfo Amedeo, 1847-1929. Ruins and Excavations of Ancient Rome [New York]: Blom, 1967.<\/p>\n<p>L&#8217;hoir, Francesca Santoro. &#8220;Columbarium 3 at Vigna Codini: View of Double Staircase.&#8221; World History Encyclopedia. Last modified October 19, 2014. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldhistory.org\/image\/3150\/columbarium-3-at-vigna-codini-view-of-double-stair\/\">https:\/\/www.worldhistory.org\/image\/3150\/columbarium-3-at-vigna-codini-view-of-double-stair\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>L&#8217;hoir, Francesca Santoro. &#8220;Fresco of Duck and Tripod, Columbarium 3, Vigna Codini.&#8221; World History Encyclopedia. Last modified October 19, 2014. https:\/\/www.worldhistory.org\/image\/3151\/fresco-of-duck-and-tripod-columbarium-3-vigna-codi\/.<\/p>\n<p>Morris, Ian. Death-Ritual and Social Structure in Classical Antiquity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.turismoroma.it\/en\/places\/colombariums-vigna-codini#:~:text=On%20the%20vault%20there%20are,was%20also%20used%20for%20burials\">https:\/\/www.turismoroma.it\/en\/places\/colombariums-vigna-codini#:~:text=On%20the%20vault%20there%20are,was%20also%20used%20for%20burials.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bridgemanimages.com\/en-US\/explore\/location\/Columbarium%20of%20Vigna%20Codini,%20Rome,%20Italy\/gallery?offline=1\">https:\/\/www.bridgemanimages.com\/en-US\/explore\/location\/Columbarium%20of%20Vigna%20Codini,%20Rome,%20Italy\/gallery?offline=1<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldhistory.org\/article\/764\/deaths-mansions-the-columbaria-of-imperial-rome\/\">https:\/\/www.worldhistory.org\/article\/764\/deaths-mansions-the-columbaria-of-imperial-rome\/<\/a><\/p>\n<hr class=\"before-footnotes clear\" \/><div class=\"footnotes\"><ol><li id=\"footnote-55-1\">Borbonus 2014 <a href=\"#return-footnote-55-1\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 1\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-55-2\">Felle 2022 <a href=\"#return-footnote-55-2\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 2\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-55-3\">Borbonus 2014 <a href=\"#return-footnote-55-3\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 3\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-55-4\">Lanciani 1967 <a href=\"#return-footnote-55-4\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 4\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-55-5\">Bodel 2008 <a href=\"#return-footnote-55-5\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 5\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-55-6\">Morris 1992 <a href=\"#return-footnote-55-6\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 6\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":224,"menu_order":16,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":["sthomsen1"],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[77],"license":[],"class_list":["post-55","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","contributor-sthomsen1"],"part":77,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/55","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/224"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/55\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":590,"href":"https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/55\/revisions\/590"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/77"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/55\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=55"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=55"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openpress.digital.conncoll.edu\/religionsofgreeceandromesitereports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=55"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}