Epilogue

In 1810–1812 during the Napoleonic occupation of Rome French archaeologists freed the entire structure from rubble and houses, and in 1834 Luigi Canina correctly identified it as of Saturn. The great two-tiered cylindrical mausoleum of Augustus between the Via Lata and the Tiber in the Campus has undergone even more vicissitudes. In AD 37 Caligula brought the ashes of his mother Agrippina to Rome and placed them in it. Her gravestone survives, so in this sense she has triumphed over her hated rival Plancina who has no known tomb. Hirtius received a public funeral and modest tomb in the Campus Martius. Gaetans used Plancus&s; mausoleum as a watchtower against all seafaring invaders, whatever their religion and political affiliation. Like all the coastal cities, Gaeta swung back and forth in its relations with the Muslims. The mausoleum suffered some damage but it was subsequently repaired and the Medieval accretions removed; it is closer to its original form than in many centuries.

Archaeological Research and Protection · European Political History Analysis · Historical and Religious Studies of Rome · Philosophy