qui in arena populo spectante pugnavit

Morgonen började bra, man vaknade och var inte bakfull (jodå, en sådan helg, tack till först ladies of the academia och för lördagen alla underbara sherlockianer i DMC!) och sedan rapporterades det på radion att, som de uttryckte det, graven tillhörande Russell Crowes karaktär i 'Gladiator', att hans grav hittats. Spännande! Times online rapporterar:

"Daniela Rossi, a Rome archaeologist, said that the discovery of the marble tomb of Marcus Nonius Macrinus, which has an inscription bearing his name, was “the most important Ancient Roman monument to come to light for 20 or 30 years”.
The tomb was found when archaeologists were asked to investigate ruins uncovered during building work on the banks of the Tiber at Saxa Rubra, on the Via Flaminia, north of Rome.
[...]

Marcus Nonius Macrinus, born in Brescia, northern Italy, was a general and consul who led military campaigns for Marcus Aurelius, the Roman emperor in 161-180AD. He became part of the emperor’s inner circle and one of his favourites, serving as proconsul in Asia. His patrician villa at Toscolano Maderno on Lake Garda has been identified and partially excavated.
[...]

The archaeological find was presented yesterday at the Culture Ministry by Professor Bottini with new excavations on the Palatine Hill and the discovery of an imperial villa on the Via Aurelia and a necropolis adjoining the Stadio Flaminio rugby ground. There are thought to be plans to reconstruct the tomb as the centrepiece of a “Via Flaminia Archaeological Park”, which would also include the House of Empress Livia, the wife of Emperor Augustus, near by at Prima Porta. "