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Tomb
of Aebutius (Tomb N)
From:
'Guide to the Vatican Necropolis' by Michele Basso,
Fabbrica di S. Pietro
The
tomb of Aebutius also bears the name of "Clodius
Romanus", who died at the age of twenty-one;
his mother, Volusia Megiste, eulogizes him as her
"most gentle son" on the epitaph of the
cinerarium. This container offers some particulars
of special significance, the Cup of sacrifice, the
lighted lamp in the shape of a swan, and two vitals
for perfume.
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In
the same cinerarium, found among the human remains was a
silver coin from the beginning of the second century A.D.,
probably from the time between Emperors Trajan and Hadrian.
The presence of such a coin among the remains in an obviously
re-used tomb bears witness to the existence of tombs in
the Vatican already before the time of Emperor Trajan (98-117
A.D.), and also confirms that the Vatican Hill was a site
used for burials.
Sources
Michele
Basso. Guide to the Vatican Necropolis, Fabbrica
di S. Pietro in Vaticano, 1986
Margherita Guarducci,
The Tomb of St Peter, Hawthorn Books, 1960
John Evangelist Walsh,
The Bones of St Peter, New York, 1982
Toynbee and Perkins. The Shrine of St Peter and the Vatican
Excavations, London 1956
P. Zander. The Vatican Necropolis, in "Roma
Sacra", 25, Roma 2003
