Caligula's Tomb Found? Discovery of Looted Statue Leads to Speculation
By GAIL S. MYHRE
January 19, 2011
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| Roman, Julio-Claudian Period (37-41 A.D.). Portrait Bust of the Emperor Gaius, Known as Caligula. H. 50.8 cm (20 in.); L. 18 cm (7.1 in.). The Metropolitan Museum of Art. |
Italian police believe they have found the tomb of the Roman emperor Gaius (r. 37-41 A.D.), also known as Caligula, following the arrest of a man attempting to loot a statue from the Lake Nemi area where the ruler had a villa, the United Kingdom newspaper The Guardian reported on January 17, 2011.
Police apprehended a man loading part of a 2.5-meter statue into the back of a truck. The sculpture, made from rare Greek marble, reportedly includes a throne and a god's robes; the figure wears a pair of caligae, the boots used by Roman soldiers. This last detail led Italian authorities to suspect that the work had come from Caligula's tomb.
Of all the Augustan emperors, Caligula's reign is least well documented. After a rule marked by excesses and abuses, including an attempt to make his horse a consul, Caligula was assassinated in 41 A.D. at the age of 28 by his Praetorian Guard. According to the author Suetonius, his body was cremated near the place of his murder and his remains were buried under turf. His sisters returned later to fully and appropriately incinerate and inter what was left.
At least one Roman historian, Mary Beard, professor of classics at Cambridge University, has gone on record as saying she considers the find unlikely to be Caligula's tomb. Quoted by the Web site pasthorizons.com, Dr. Beard stated: "There is no suggestion whatsoever, as far as I know, that this burial was at Nemi, or that it was a grand tomb (the Latin just says "buried", sepultum). True, Caligula had a big villa there, but it is almost inconceivable that this assassinated symbol of imperial monstrosity would have been given a grand monument, plus a big statue there."
Prior archaeological finds in the Lake Nemi region include the floating temple and palace of Caligula, recovered in 1927 under the guidance of Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini (1883-1945). These were later destroyed by fire during World War II in 1944.
Estimates of the statue's worth range from 800,000 to 1 million euros. Upon interrogation, the looter led the police to the site where it was found. Excavations will begin there immediately.
Source
Picón, Carlos A., et al. Art of the Classical World in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2007, 358, 486.
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