Ancient Roman Gravestone Found in New Orleans Returns to Italy

When Tulane University anthropologist Danielle Santoro and her husband Aaron Lorenz cleared undergrowth in their New Orleans yard last year, they uncovered something extraordinary: a smooth marble slab carved with Latin inscriptions nearly 2,000 years old.

The couple worried their historic home might sit atop an unmarked burial site. But the truth turned out to be far more fascinating.

Experts identified the stone as a grave marker honoring Sextus Congenius Verus, a Roman sailor and military figure from the second century. Even more remarkably, it matched records of an artifact missing from a museum in Civitavecchia, near Rome, for decades.

The mystery unraveled when researchers traced the stone's journey. Erin Scott O'Brien revealed her grandfather, Charles Paddock Jr., had kept the marker in a display case at his home until his death in 1986.

Paddock served with the US Army in Italy during World War II, married an Italian woman, and later returned to New Orleans to work as a voice teacher. Exactly how he obtained the stone remains unclear.

Tulane classical studies professor Susann Lusnia traveled to Italy to investigate. She discovered the Civitavecchia museum had been largely destroyed during the war and lost most of its collection before reopening in 1970.

On Wednesday, the FBI officially returned the marble epitaph to Italian officials during a ceremony in Rome. The event marked one of many items repatriated under the US-Italy Cultural Property Agreement, the nation's oldest bilateral cultural property agreement with a European country.

Why This Inspires

This story represents more than just returning an old stone. It shows how ordinary people discovering something unusual chose to do the right thing rather than keep a valuable antiquity.

Lusnia, who lived through Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, connected deeply with the museum's loss. "I think those of us in New Orleans who experienced Hurricane Katrina understand the joy that accompanies the return of things that we thought were lost forever," she said.

The professor emphasized a larger truth: "Cultural heritage is worth protecting. Every object returned builds trust and international cooperation, which I think is especially important now."

From a backyard discovery to an international homecoming, this ancient sailor's memorial finally rests where it belongs.