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.
The discovery matters because it highlights the complex, often hidden pathways of looted antiquities and the challenges of repatriation. The case involves an interdisciplinary team of scholars, museum professionals, and the FBI’s Art Crime Team, underscoring the legal and ethical dimensions of returning cultural property. It also illustrates how routine archaeological inquiries can become international in scope, connecting local history in New Orleans to ancient Roman heritage and postwar military movements.