Head of Ennius: Where Is the Missing Head of Roman General Scipio Africanus?

By Dig Labs Contributors

Source: Dig Labs Project

The Tomb of the Scipios (sepulcrum Scipionum), the familial mausoleum of the Cornelii Scipiones along the Via Appia in Rome, is among the most historically significant Republican-era funerary monuments to survive. The tomb's sculptural program — documented by ancient literary sources as including portrait statues of Scipio Africanus, Scipio Asiaticus, and the poet Ennius — has been the subject of sustained scholarly debate since the tomb's rediscovery in 1780 and its systematic excavation in the 1920s–1930s.

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SOURCE

Dig Labs Project

Introduction

The Tomb of the Scipios (sepulcrum Scipionum), the familial mausoleum of the Cornelii Scipiones along the Via Appia in Rome, is among the most historically significant Republican-era funerary monuments to survive. The tomb's sculptural program — documented by ancient literary sources as including portrait statues of Scipio Africanus, Scipio Asiaticus, and the poet Ennius — has been the subject of sustained scholarly debate since the tomb's rediscovery in 1780 and its systematic excavation in the 1920s–1930s.