Hypogeum of Trebius Justus
ancient tomb on the Via Latina in Rome, Italy
The Hypogeum of Trebius Justus is a catacomb on the ancient via Latina, now at the junction of via Latina and via Mantellini in the modern Appio-Latino quarter. It is named after a young man buried in its main chamber.
It was accidentally rediscovered in March 1911 when the owner of a small villa decided to carry out works to check the state of his property. This unearthed the entrance to an underground cubiculum which led to a completely frescoed main burial chamber. He informed the Pontificia commissione di archeologia sacra and at the end of March the same year its secretary Rudolf Kanzler inspected the complex - he did not find any traces of Christianity but produced an accurate photographic record of it. Once the works ended the cemetery was closed up, with the present quarter built over it with new palazzi and streets.
It was reopened in 1976, this time through a ground floor trapdoor in the small villa - the Sovrintendenza alle Antichità di Roma produced another photographic survey, but then closed up the complex again. A third inspection was carried out in 1996 to begin restoration work. An expropriation case is underway and in the meantime it is privately run with the small villa on top of it rented by the Sovrintendenza Archeologica del Lazio.
References
Bibliography
Maria Andaloro (2006).
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