:--

The excavations were undertaken by the monks of Santa Maria Nuova
(now S. Francesca Romana), five miles from the gate. The tomb stood on
the left or east side of the road, high above the ground. The
sarcophagus was imbedded in the walls of the foundation, and its cover
was sealed with molten lead. As soon as the lid was removed, a strong
odor of turpentine and myrrh was remarked by those present. The body
is described as well arranged in the coffin, with arms and legs still
flexible. The hair was blonde, and bound by a fillet (_infula_) woven
of gold. The color of the flesh was absolutely lifelike. The eyes and
mouth were partly open, and if one drew the tongue out slightly it
would go back to its place of itself. During the first days of the
exhibition on the Capitol this wonderful relic showed no signs of
decay; but after a time the action of the air began to tell upon it,
and the face and hands turned black. The coffin seems to have been
placed near the cistern of the Conservatori palace, so as to allow the
crowd of visitors to move around and behold the wonder with more ease.
Celio Rodigino says that the first symptoms of putrefaction were
noticed on the third day; and he attributes the decay more to the
removal of the coating of ointments than to the action of the air.
Alexander ab Alexandro describes the ointment which filled the bottom
of the coffin as having the appearance and scent of a fresh perfume.

These various accounts are no doubt written under the excitement of
the moment, and by men naturally inclined to exaggeration; still, they
all agree in the main details of the discovery,--in the date, the
place of discovery, and the description of the corpse. Who was, then,
the girl for the preservation of whose remains so much care had been
taken?

Pomponio Leto, the leading archaeologist of the age, expressed the
opinion that she might have been either Tulliola, daughter of Cicero,
or Priscilla, wife of Abascantus, whose tomb on the Appian Way is
described by Statius (Sylv. V. i. 22). Either supposition is wrong.
The first is invalidated by the fact that the body was of a young and
tender girl, while Tulliola is known to have died in childbirth at the
age of thirty-two. Moreover, there is no document to prove that Cicero
had a family vault at the sixth milestone of the Appian Way. The tomb
of Priscilla, wife of Abascantus, a favorite freedman of Domitian, is
placed by Statius near the bridge of the Almo