Necropolis Portae Nucerinae
About
A 250-meter stretch of road outside Pompeii's Nocera Gate held hundreds of tombs belonging to freedmen, local elites, and at least one military veteran. The priestess Eumachia received an exedra-shaped monument here, and nearby stood the high-podium tomb of magistrate Publius Vesonius Phileros. Founded when Pompeii became a Roman colony in 80 BCE, the cemetery was still filling with new burials the day Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE. Volcanic ash sealed it in that instant.
What happened here
The dead are outside the walls because the law requires it, so the approach to every town is lined with them. Tombs face the road in rows, grand ones in front and simpler markers behind, all of them addressed to the passer-by. Burial clubs let ordinary people and slaves pay a monthly subscription for a place in a communal vault and a decent funeral; the alternative is a pit. Families come out on anniversaries and at the February festival, eat at the graveside, and pour wine into a pipe set into the ground. Undertakers, stonecutters and letter-cutters work nearby and compete on price. Ground is bought by the foot, and the frontage on the road costs the most.
Sources
Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →