Roman Soldier’s Gravestone Returns to Italy

Archaeologists in New Orleans, Louisiana, solved the mystery of an ancient Roman gravestone’s presence in a backyard. A couple discovered the marble slab while gardening in 2023, noticing a Latin inscription.

Daniella Santoro, an anthropologist at Tulane University, and D. Ryan Gray, an archaeologist at the University of New Orleans, identified the stone as belonging to Sextus Congenius Verus, a sailor who died around 190 C.E.

The gravestone had been missing from the National Archaeological Museum in Civitavecchia, Italy, for decades. The FBI’s Art Crime Team facilitated its repatriation alongside over 300 other artifacts in a ceremony on April 29. The stone’s journey to the United States remains partially unclear, though Erin Scott O’Brien later recognized it as belonging to her grandparents, who acquired it in Italy during World War II.

Researchers are still unsure exactly how the gravestone left Italy. The artifact will be displayed at the museum in Civitavecchia, and Gray plans to visit with students this summer. The work to recover and return stolen cultural heritage continues.