erected by his heir, Pontius Mela, and his freedman Pothus. This
imposing structure was faced with smoothly hewn slabs of marble, and
stands on a basement of travertine measuring 95 feet in diameter. It
is 115 feet high.
This monument, erected some twenty or thirty years before the
Christian era, was indebted for its preservation to the circumstance
of its having been incorporated by Aurelian with the line of his
fortifications. The confined burial chamber (the paintings on the roof
and walls of which are now almost obliterated) is reached through the
doorway, introduced at some height on the north side. As is usually
the case with tombs, in order to prevent spoliation, there were no
steps leading up to the door. The west entrance is of more modern
origin, dating from the time of Alexander VII., who caused it to be
broken through the wall, although the ancient original doorway already
afforded the means of ingress. The lower portion of the monument was
cleared from the rubbish, which had accumulated to the height of
twenty feet, at the same time; and the two fluted columns, resting
upon travertine bases, were also dug up. Still more remarkable is the
discovery of the remains of the colossal statue of C. Cestius,
consisting of the foot and arm, now in the Hall of Bronzes in the
Capitol Museum.
_Keeping the straight road, we come, on the left, to_