Scipio Tombs reopen in Rome

PUNIC WATCH:

Long-Awaited Scipio Tombs Reopen in Rome

By AMANDA RUGGERI (In Transit blog, NYT)

The founder of one of ancient Rome’s most illustrious clans, consul Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbato, began building monumental tombs for his relatives in the third century B.C., and the family continued to use the site as a place of rest until the first century A.D. The site was forgotten, then made into a public park in 1929 and shuttered for restorations in 1992. This week, for the first time in two decades, the tomb of the Scipios has been reopened to the public (Via di Porta Sebastiano 9, www.060608.it).

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The actual sarcophagi have been moved to the Vatican, but there are replicas at the site, and the site itself sounds worth visiting.