NG1 Pompeii. Porta Nola Tombs. Tomb of Lucius Betutius Niger, son of Quintus.
Bibliography
De Caro, 1979, Cronache Pompeiana V, pp. 86-93, pp. 179-187.
Dobbins, J. J. and Foss, P. W., 2008. The World of Pompeii. Oxford: Routledge.
Cooley, A. and M.G.L., 2014. Pompeii and Herculaneum: A Sourcebook. London: Routledge, H91, p.272.
Cooley, A. and M.G.L., 2004. Pompeii: A Sourcebook. London: Routledge. G66-9, p.156.
Pompei Oltre la Vita: Nuove testimonianze
dalle necropoli. Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei,
1998, pp. 39-42.
Pompeii Porta Nola Necropolis Project in Papers of the British School at Rome: Vol. LXXXVI, 2018, pp. 313-6.
Burials of Praetorians.
The
praetorian guard was the emperor’s personal bodyguard.
The names
of various praetorians from different cohorts appear in graffiti at Pompeii,
which suggests that praetorians were present in the town on a number of
different occasions.
In
addition, one of the wax tablets of Caecilius Iucundus documents a transaction
with a member of the guard stationed at Nuceria.
Four
(probably) of the guard were buried together in a line just outside the Nolan
Gate, possibly on public land.
This may
have been an honour reserved for those who died in public service.
Their
monuments are stone markers with rounded tops, a type of funerary monument
similar to ones found elsewhere in Italy, but they are the only ones of their
type so far discovered at Pompeii.
Perhaps
the physical form of their monuments was intended to distinguish these burials
at a glance as being those of outsiders.
By
contrast, the burial of a praetorian from Pompeii is marked by a herm, the
funerary monument typical of the region.
It is
also located away from the other praetorians, outside the Stabian Gate.
See Cooley, A. and M.G.L., 2004. Pompeii: A Sourcebook. London: Routledge. G66–68, G69, H59, H79, p.
156.
Tomb NG1
Pompeii. Tomb of praetorian Lucius Betutius Niger,
son of Quintus.
The inscription was on a marble slab with a rounded top, fixed in the ground, where
a terracotta lidded jar containing the remains of the cremation was buried.
Next to
this were the remains of the funeral pyre, including fragments of decorative
bone, perhaps from a funerary couch.
L(ucius) BETVTIVS
Q(uinti) F(ilius)
O(u)FEN(tina)
NIGER
MIL(es)
C(o)HO(rtis) II PR(aetoriae)
VIX(it) ANN(is)
XX
MIL(itavit)
ANN(is) II
Cooley
translates this as
Lucius Betutius Niger, son of Quintus, of the Oufentinan
tribe, soldier in the 2nd praetorian cohort.
Lived for
20 years, performed military service for 2 years.
In 2016 the analysis of the cremations
within the necropolis of Porta Nola focused upon the burials of two Praetorian
guards which had been discovered by the excavations in the 1970s
but which were not subject to osteological analysis. The first of these was the
burial of Lucius Betutius, as revealed by the
funerary stela, which recorded his rank as a praetorian soldier of the II
cohort for which he served for two years, corresponding to an age of 22. The
anthropological analysis of the cremated bones confirmed that he was a robust
man, aged about 20 years. The morphology of the pubic symphysis and the femoral
head verified the data provided by the inscription.
See Pompeii Porta Nola Necropolis Project in
Papers of the British School at Rome: Vol. LXXXVI, 2018, p. 314.
The tomb
had previously been excavated and two cremation urns had been recorded.
In 2017,
exploring the area immediately behind the tomb, a further cremation urn was
discovered together with a number of funerary items including a lamp depicting
a satyr.
See Pompeii Porta Nola Necropolis Project in Papers of the British School at Rome: Vol. LXXXVI, 2018, p. 314 and fig.1(a).
Tomb NG1
Pompeii. August 2017. Immediately
behind the tomb, a further cremation urn was discovered.
See Pompeii Porta Nola Necropolis Project in Papers of the British School at Rome: Vol. LXXXVI, 2018, p. 314 and fig.1(a).
Photo courtesy Stephen Kay, British School at Rome.
Tomb NG1
Pompeii. July 2017. Excavation area. Photo courtesy Stephen Kay, British
School at Rome.
Tomb NG1
Pompeii. August 2017. Immediately
behind the tomb, a further cremation urn was discovered together with a number
of funerary items including a lamp depicting a satyr.
See Pompeii Porta Nola Necropolis Project in Papers of the British School at Rome: Vol. LXXXVI, 2018, p. 314 and fig.1(a).
Photo courtesy Stephen Kay, British School at Rome.