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ancient rome new orleans tombstone 1234755754

A 2nd-century Roman gravestone inscribed for a sailor named Sextus Congenius Verus was discovered in March 2025 by Daniella Santoro and Aaron Lorenz while doing yard work at their New Orleans home. University of New Orleans archaeologist D. Ryan Gray, working with colleagues at the University of Innsbruck and Tulane University, traced the stone to a missing object from a museum in Civitavecchia, Italy. Researchers believe it was brought to the U.S. as a souvenir by a member of the 34th division of the Fifth Army after the liberation of Rome in 1944. The FBI’s Art Crime Team is now involved in repatriating the headstone to Italy.

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ancient rome new orleans tombstone 1234755754

In March 2025, a New Orleans couple, Daniella Santoro and Aaron Lorenz, discovered a 2nd-century Roman marble headstone with a Latin inscription in their backyard during yard work. They contacted archaeologist D. Ryan Gray of the University of New Orleans, who, with colleagues including Tulane classics professor Susann Lusnia, traced the inscription to a missing object once held by a museum in Civitavecchia, Italy. The stone commemorates a Roman sailor named Sextus Congenius Verus. Researchers believe it was brought to New Orleans as a souvenir after World War II, likely by a member of the 34th division of the Fifth Army, which was stationed near Civitavecchia after liberating Rome in 1944.

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