The tomb was built during the reign of Augustus, in the years between 30 and 10 B.C., for the noblewoman Caecilia Metella, as indicated in the large funerary inscription walled on the top of the mausoleum. Daughter of the Roman consul Quintus Caecilius Metellus, Caecilia was probably also the daughter-in-law of the famous Licinius Crassus, a leading figure in Roman political life and a member of the first triumvirate along with Caesar and Pompey. The wealth and prestige of the family to which she belonged explain the mausoleum’s dominant position and its monumentality.

The imposing residential villa located between the third and fourth mile of the Via Appia Antica which has been attributed to Emperor Maxsentius (306/312 AD) adversary of Constantine the Great in the battle of Ponte Milvio on October 28th, 312, is one of the most exquisite and impressive archaeological complexes of the Roman countryside. Composed of three separate buildings, the family mausoleum, the circus, and the remains of the Imperial palace, closed from the outside but connected to each other through internal pathways. The best-known monument in the complex is the circus, the only Roman circus well-conserved in all its architectural components that still preserves its central median strip or spina. Following an important restoration project completed by the city’s Sovrintendenza, it is now possible to visit the mausoleum of the dynasty of Emperor Maxentius known as the “Tomb of Romulus” after the emperor’s young son who is presumably buried there.

It is one of the most fascinating parks in Rome and is enclosed between Via Appia and Via Tuscolana. It extends for about 240 hectares, within the landscape attractions of the Roman countryside up to the Castelli. The atmosphere of this park seems suspended in time and is especially enjoyable in the pink light of the sunset when the imposing arches of the Claudio and Felix aqueduct stand out against the sun in all their evocative beauty, framed by pine trees. Rich in history, the Park of the Aqueducts is one of the green lungs of the city and is part of the Parco Regionale Suburbano dell'Appia Antica. It was the fundamental point of connection of the water network of ancient Rome, where the aqueducts that supplied the large patrician villas, the spas, and fountains of Rome, intersected, joined, and overlapped.

Today it is an oasis amidst sprawling high-rise buildings comprising a fascinating mix of archaeological and ecological wonders set in a picturesque rural landscape.