The Pyramid of Cestius is a Roman pyramid-shaped tomb built in Rome as the burial monument of Gaius Cestius, a magistrate and a member of a priestly college. A fashion for Egyptian things followed Rome's conquest of Egypt, and the tomb was built in imitation of Nubian pyramids. An inscription records that it was completed in 330 days, according to Cestius's will. It stands about thirty-six metres high and is faced with white marble, and it was incorporated into the Aurelian Wall in the third century, which helped preserve it. It stands next to the Porta San Paolo and the Protestant Cemetery, where poets such as Keats and Shelley are buried.
Before and after
- 19 BCEConstruction of Western Wall
- 21 September 19 BCEDeath of Virgil
- from 18 BCE to 660 CEThree Kingdoms of Korea
- from 18 BCE to 660 CEBaekje
- 12 BCEOrigins of Pyramid of Cestius
- 1 August 10 BCEBirth of Claudius
- 9 BCEOrigins of Ara Pacis
- 27 November 8 BCEDeath of Horace
- c. 4 BCENativity of Jesus
More in Civilizations & archaeology
- from 31st century BCE to 14th century BCEConstruction of Stonehenge
- 13th century BCEAncient Celts
- from c. 753 BCE to 476 CEAncient Rome
- 7th century BCEConstruction of Hanging Gardens of Babylon
- 80 CEThe Colosseum is inaugurated
- from 285 CE to 1453Byzantine Empire
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires. You can also browse everything in the 1st century BCE.