Nice to meet you Marcus Venerius Secundio

Another incredible discovery in Pompeii: a skeleton, which still has hair and a partially visible ear. He shows signs of partial mummification, suggesting the man may have been embalmed before his burial ! He lived just decades before Pompeii was destroyed. Adults were normally cremated in Pompeii at the time, so the burial of Marcus Venerius is seen as highly unusual.








Inscriptions on his tomb indicate that he led ludi, or theater performances, in both Latin and Greek, offering researchers confirmation that the languages were used alongside each other in Pompeii. His name appears in another city archive, which identified him as a public slave and a custodian of the Temple of Venus.
According to the inscription, after being freed, he joined the college of priests dedicated to the Imperial Cult — a group that saw members of the Roman emperor and his family as gods. His imposing tomb suggests he had reached a certain social and economic status before he died.



I only have one coin that looks like a skeleton; he scared me a bit when I look at it in the night. Please show me yours !

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Cool story. Assuming he was already dead he made it though the firestorm and ash pretty well preserved.

 

One could make a good case that he died at a good time. Being there on 'the day' was not an easy exit. Assuming many Romans were cremated, there must have ben a few that died a day or two before the eruption and were stashed away in a tomb temporarily. I was not aware any were found.