The Tomb of the Baker

Visit the Porta Maggiore, a busy road intersection and tram terminus, and you'll see the tomb of the baker Eurysaces. The tomb lies on the side facing away from the city centre, as it was tradition that people couldn't be buried within the city itself. The gate is really an overground conduit for a pair of aqueducts, named as it sits on a road that leads to S. Maria Maggiore. Take a close look at the image below and you'll see the channels that the water ran through.

These were the aqua Claudia and Anio Novus. Both were begun by Caligula, and completed under Claudius. Originally an aqueduct intersection, this only became a real gate when it became incorporated into the Aurelian Walls, sections of which can be seen on either side.

The tomb was already in existence when the gate was built. It dates to between 30 - 20 BC. The tomb survived for centuries as it was incorporated into a tower that was built onto the gate by the Emperor Honorius. It was only exposed during excavations in the 19th Century. The odd circular motifs are actually dough bins - in recognition of Eurysaces' trade. These are real bins, as there is the rusted evidence of the kneading mechanism inside each one. The columns are also created by real bread bins, standing one on top of the other three high.
An inscription reads: EST HOC MONIMENTUM MERCEI VERGILEI EURYSACIS PISTORIS, REDEMPTORIS, APPARET - This is the tomb of Marcus Vergilius Eurysaces, baker, contractor, it's obvious! Eurysaces was an ex-slave who helped provide the bread dole for the Roman people - as in bread and circuses.

The tomb is fenced off and sits on a patch of scrubby grass, so you can't get too close to it. If you could, you would see the remains of a frieze around the entablature of scenes of life in a bakery. Plaster copies can be seen in the Museum of Roman Life at the EUR district. The remains of Eurysaces' wife, Atistia, were also deposited here. She was described as an "excellent woman", and her remains could be found in this panarium (bread bin). It is believed that Eurysaces' bakery was close by where his tomb now stands.