NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO recently reported that the Vatican has opened a public exhibition called “Life and Death in the Rome of the Caesars” that features a Vatican Necropolis, a Roman burial ground located a few feet beneath St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The necropolis heretofore was opened only to academics and other specialists. It contains marble sarcophagi, tombs dating back to the first century, Roman frescoes and beautiful mosaics.
Enslaved people, artisans and middle-class Roman citizens—many who were employed by the infamous emporer Nero—are buried there, according to epigraphs at the site. Nero became Caesar at the age of 16 in 54 CE and reigned until 68 CE, when he committed suicide. (The Senate had turned against him.) Remembered as a cruel and eccentric tyrant, Nero was nonetheless reported to
