A Roman Tribute: The Cave of the Vipera

A Roman Tribute: The Cave of the Vipera

Enter the hidden world of the Vipera's Tomb, a Roman tribute to a wife's vow in the necropolis of Tuvixeddu, Cagliari, Italy.

The Cave of the Vipera, situated in the necropolis of Tuvixeddu on Viale Sant'Avendrace, Cagliari, Italy, was a tribute built by Lucius Cassius Philippus in the 2nd century. It memorialized his wife, Atilia Pomptilla, who had vowed her life to the gods for her husband. Known as the Cave of the Vipera due to its two serpent decorations, the inscriptions in both Latin and Greek on its walls narrate the tale of the two spouses. General and scholar Alberto Della Marmora rescued the cave in 1822, during the construction of the royal road between Cagliari and Porto Torres. Today, the tomb can be observed from the external courtyard.

Sources: Wikipedia, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons

Written by Sardinian

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