The subject matter of this article is study of the funerary context that emerged from the discovery of more than four hundred inscriptions, dating also to the Christian period, made at vigna Aquari between 1839 and 1896. It was a very extensive estate, situated between the 1st and the 2nd mile of the Via Latina, with entrance about 600 metres beyond the gate of the same name. Most of the above-mentioned monuments were very poorly maintained and in many cases they had almost completely lost their upper structures. Nevertheless, on the scant evidence of the excavation, the archives, and the inscriptions found there, it has been possible to establish a certain continuity in the use of the area from the 1st century B.C., thanks also to the remains of many different kinds of buildings, columbaria being predominant. Concentrating on the columbaria, research has led to identification of at least three, enhancing our knowledge of a particular type of funerary monument in use in Rome during the Julio-Claudian age.
