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Pyramid of Cestius
Unless otherwise indicated, pictures on this page © Marco Prins and Jona Lendering. Photos can be downloaded and used for non-commercial purposes, but you have to acknowledge Livius.
The pyramid of Cestius seen from the Protestant cemetery. Photo Marco Prins. The pyramid of Cestius was built during the reign of the emperor Augustus, probably between 18 and 12 BCE. It is a remarkable monument, made of white Carrara marble and exactly 100 Roman feet (30 meters) high. Here, the pyramid can be seen from the Protestant cemetery, west of the tomb. In the background is the Porta Ostiensis.
The Pyramid of Cestius seen from the east. Photo Jona Lendering. The Pyramid of Cestius seen from the east. There is an inscription, CIL VI.1374, on this side (repeated in the west):
C. Cestius L.F. Pob. Epulo pr. tr.pl.
VII vir epulonum
Opus apsolutum ex testamento diebus CCCXXX arbitratu
L. Ponti P.F. Cla. Melae heredis et Pothi L.
Which means:
The inscription at the Pyramid of Cestius. Photo Bill Thayer.
Gaius Cestius Epulo, son of Lucius, of the Poblilian district, praetor, tribune of the people, official of the public banquets. According to his will, this work was completed in 330 days, and executed by his heirs L. Pontus Mela, son of Publius, of the Claudian district, and his freedman Pothus.

The Pyramid of Cestius seen from the south. Photo Jona Lendering. The Pyramid of Cestius and the Porta Ostiensis seen from the south. You can see that the monument was converted into a bulwark in the Wall of Aurelian, which was built after 270. In the seventeenth century, a tunnel was added and the funerary chamber was discovered. It contained wall paintings in the Third Pompeian style. Pope Alexander VII ordered restorations, which are also commemorated in an inscription.
Joseph in Egypt. Mosaic in San Marco's basilica in Venice. Compared to the real, Egyptian pyramids, the Pyramid of Cestius is too pointed. This explains why in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, pictures of ancient Egypt also contained too pointed monuments: the only place where European artists could see a pyramid, was at Rome. This picture shows a mosaic from the San Marco in Venice with a scene from the Biblical story of Joseph in Egypt. The artist has tried to make it look really Egyptian, but his pyramids are clearly based on the Pyramid of Cestius.
Cornelis de Bruijn's drawing of the pyramids and sphinx of Gizeh. From Reizen van Cornelis de Bruyn door de vermaardste Deelen van Klein Asia (1698). This is another example, which shows the influence of the error. These pyramids and sphinx were drawn by Cornelis de Bruijn, who had actually visited Egypt; on his return to Holland (after a visit to Venice) in 1698, he must have started to doubt about his drawings, because when he published his book, he made the pyramids pointed again.

A satellite photo can be found here.
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