Ancient Roman Empire Grave Marker Discovered in NOLA Yard Deposited by US Soldier's Granddaughter

The historic Roman tombstone newly found in a lawn in New Orleans was evidently passed down and placed there by the heir of a US soldier who fought in Italy in the second world war.

Through comments that nearly unraveled an global archaeological puzzle, the granddaughter shared with area journalists that her grandpa, Charles Paddock Jr, displayed the ancient relic in a cabinet at his residence in New Orleans’ Gentilly neighborhood until he died in 1986.

She explained she was not sure the way Paddock ended up with something listed as lost from an Italian museum near Rome that lost the majority of its artifacts during World War II attacks. But her grandfather was stationed in Italy with the armed forces in that period, married his wife Adele there, and went back to New Orleans to pursue a career as a singing instructor, she recalled.

It happened regularly for soldiers who fought in Europe during the second world war to come home with keepsakes.

“I assumed it was simply a decorative piece,” she stated. “I didn’t realize it was an ancient … artifact.”

In any event, what O’Brien initially thought was a nondescript marble piece was eventually passed down to her after Paddock’s death, and she put it as a yard ornament in the back yard of a home she purchased in the city’s Carrollton district in 2003. The heir overlooked to remove the artifact with her when she sold the property in 2018 to a husband and wife who discovered the relic in March while clearing away brush.

The couple – scholar Daniella Santoro of the academic institution and her husband, Aaron Lorenz – realized the artifact had an engraving in Latin. They sought advice from academics who established the artifact was a tombstone dedicated to a circa ancient Roman sailor and military member named the Roman individual.

Furthermore, the team discovered, the grave marker fit the account of one reported missing from the municipal museum of Civitavecchia, Italy, near where it had originally been found, as a participating scholar – University of New Orleans specialist Dr. Gray – stated in a article shared online Monday.

The homeowners have since turned the headstone over to the FBI’s art crime team, and efforts to repatriate the item to the institution are in progress so that institution can properly display it.

O’Brien, who resides in the New Orleans community of Metairie, said she remembered her ancestor’s curious relic again after Gray’s column had gained attention from the global press. She said she got in touch with local media after a conversation from her ex-husband, who told her that he had come across a report about the item that her grandpa had once owned – and that it in fact proved to be a item from one of the history’s renowned empires.

“It left us completely stunned,” the granddaughter expressed. “The way this unfolded is simply incredible.”

Gray, meanwhile, said it was a relief to learn how Congenius Verus’s tombstone traveled in the yard of a house more than thousands of miles away from its original location.

“I assumed we would identify several possible carriers of the artifact,” Gray said. “I never imagined we would locate the precise individual – thus, it’s thrilling to learn the full story.”