Columbarium of Pomponius Hylas

The Columbarium of Pomponius Hylas is a well preserved 1st century Roman columbarium, situated near the Porta Latina on the Via Appia. It was discovered and excavated in 1831 by Pietro Campana.

Though its name derives from Pomponius Hylas, who lived in the Flavian period (69-96 AD), the building itself has been dated to between 14 and 54 AD due to inscriptions on two of its niches (one dedicated to a freedman of Tiberius and the other to a freedman of Claudia Octavia, daughter of Claudius and Messalina). It was later bought by Pomponius Hylas for himself and his wife, and he added the mosaic panel over the entrance steps, which is decorated with griffins and reads:

CN(aei) POMPONI HYLAE E(t) POMPONIAE CN(aei) L(ibertae) VITALINIS

(Of Cnaeus Pomponius Hylas and Pomponia Vitalinis the freedwoman of Cnaeus)

The inscription also has a V (meaning vivit) over Pomponia's name, showing she was alive when the panel was added.

Further reading

• Nash, Ernest. Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient Rome. London: A. Zwemmer, 1962.

Sources

• http://www.nerone.cc/nerone/archivio/arch80.htm
• Eugene Strong, Apotheosis and After Life: Three Lectures on Certain Phases of Art, 1969
• JSTOR: Proposta per una Classificazione del Terzo Stile Pompeiano