NG3 Pompeii. Porta Nola Tombs. Tomb of Lucius Manilius Saturninus, son of Quartus.

Bibliography

De Caro, 1979, Cronache Pompeiana V, pp. 179-187.

Dobbins, J. J. and Foss, P. W., 2008. The World of Pompeii. Oxford: Routledge.

Cooley, A. and M.G.L., 2014. Pompeii and Herculaneum: A Sourcebook. London: Routledge, H92, p.273.

Cooley, A. and M.G.L., 2004. Pompeii: A Sourcebook. London: Routledge. G66-9, p.156.

Pompei Oltre la Vita: Nuove testimonianze dalle necropoli. Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei, 1998, pp. 39-42.

Pompeii Porta Nola Necropolis Project in Papers of the British School at Rome: Vol. LXXXVI, 2018, pp. 313-6.

Burials of Praetorians.

The praetorian guard was the emperor’s personal bodyguard.

The names of various praetorians from different cohorts appear in graffiti at Pompeii, which suggests that praetorians were present in the town on a number of different occasions.

In addition, one of the wax tablets of Caecilius Iucundus documents a transaction with a member of the guard stationed at Nuceria.

Four (probably) of the guard were buried together in a line just outside the Nolan Gate, possibly on public land.

This may have been an honour reserved for those who died in public service.

Their monuments are stone markers with rounded tops, a type of funerary monument similar to ones found elsewhere in Italy, but they are the only ones of their type so far discovered at Pompeii.

Perhaps the physical form of their monuments was intended to distinguish these burials at a glance as being those of outsiders.

By contrast, the burial of a praetorian from Pompeii is marked by a herm, the funerary monument typical of the region.

It is also located away from the other praetorians, outside the Stabian Gate.

See Cooley, A. and M.G.L., 2004. Pompeii: A Sourcebook. London: Routledge. G66–68, G69, H59, H79, p. 156.

Tomb NG3 Pompeii. Tomb of Lucius Manilius Saturninus, son of Quartus.

L(ucius) MANILIVS

QVARTI F(ilius) ROM(ilia)

SATVRNINVS

DOMO A(teste)

SPEC(ulator) MIL(itavit) ANN(is) V

VIX(it) ANN(is) XXIV

FRATER POSVIT

Lucius Manilius Saturninus, son of Quartus, of the Romilian tribe, Ateste his hometown, bodyguard, performed military service for 5 years, lived for 24 years.

His brother set this up.

Tomb NG3 Pompeii. August 2017. In 2017 progressing westward the excavation identified two tombs where only the funerary stele had previously been recovered.

The excavation discovered both the cremation urns which had been placed behind the stele, the second of which, 0.40m behind the burial marker, belonging to L. Manilius Saturninus, was accompanied by a small jug and animal bones.

The fill around the cremation urn was composed mostly of ash, although large pieces of wood and numerous nails were also recovered, presumably part of a grave goods assemblage.

See Pompeii Porta Nola Necropolis Project in Papers of the British School at Rome: Vol. LXXXVI, 2018, pp. 314-5.

Photo courtesy Stephen Kay, British School at Rome.