{"id":2497813,"date":"2025-10-11T09:40:01","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T13:40:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/long-lost-ancient-roman-artifact-appears-in-new-orleans-backyard\/"},"modified":"2025-10-11T09:42:44","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T13:42:44","slug":"long-lost-ancient-roman-artifact-appears-in-new-orleans-backyard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/long-lost-ancient-roman-artifact-appears-in-new-orleans-backyard\/","title":{"rendered":"Long-Lost Ancient Roman Artifact Appears in New Orleans Backyard"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Flong-lost-ancient-roman-artifact-appears-in-new-orleans-backyard%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2497813&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A family in New Orleans discovered an ancient marble tablet with Latin inscriptions, including the phrase &#8220;spirits of the dead,&#8221; while clearing their overgrown backyard. Anthropologist Daniella Santoro and classical archaeologist Susann Lusnia identified the tablet as a 1,900-year-old Roman grave marker for Sextus Congenius Verus, a sailor who served over two decades in the Roman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/december-7-1941-attack-on-pearl-harbor\/\" title=\"December 7, 1941: Attack on Pearl Harbor\">imperial navy<\/a>. the gravestone had been part of an ancient military cemetery near Rome and was recorded in early 20th-century catalogs but went missing from an Italian museum after World war II bombings. The FBI is now working with Italian authorities to repatriate the artifact. The tablet had unexpectedly ended up in New Orleans,used unknowingly as a garden decoration by previous homeowners who were descendants of an Italian woman and a U.S. serviceman. The rediscovery brings attention to Sextus&#8217;s legacy,significant in Roman culture for preserving memory beyond death.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>A New Orleans family cleaning up their overgrown backyard made an extremely unusual find: Under the weeds was a mysterious marble tablet with Latin characters that included the phrase &ldquo;spirits of the dead.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The fact that it was in Latin that really just gave us pause, right?&rdquo; said Daniella Santoro, a Tulane University anthropologist. &ldquo;I mean, you see something like that and you say, &lsquo;Okay, this is not an ordinary thing.&rsquo;&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Intrigued and slightly alarmed, Santoro reached out to her classical archaeologist colleague Susann Lusnia, who quickly realized that the slab was the 1,900-year-old grave marker of a Roman sailor named Sextus Congenius Verus.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;When I first saw the image that Daniella sent me, it really did send a shiver up my spine because I was just floored,&rdquo; Lusnia said.<\/p>\n<p>Further sleuthing by Lusnia revealed the tablet had been missing from an Italian museum for decades.<\/p>\n<p>  <script> console.log(\"A\/B Test Video Player\"); \/\/ Helper function to set a cookie function setVideoCookie(name, value, days) {     var expires=\"\";     if (days) {         var date=new Date();         date.setTime(date.getTime() + (days*24*60*60*1000));         expires=\"; expires=\" + date.toUTCString();     }     document.cookie=name + \"=\" + (value || \"\")  + expires + \"; 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            script.src=src;             script.async=true;             document.body.appendChild(script);         }         function findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) {             const targetElement=document.querySelector(selector);             if (!targetElement) {                 console.warn(\"Target element not found.\");                 return null;             }              \/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document             let paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));              \/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element             let targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);              if (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) {                 console.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\");                 return null;             }              return paragraphs[targetIndex - x];         }          \/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver         function observeElement(element) {             if (!element) return;              const observer=new IntersectionObserver(                 (entries)=> {                     entries.forEach(entry=> {                         if (entry.isIntersecting) {                             console.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim());                             loadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\");                             observer.disconnect();                         }                     });                 },                 { threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed             );              observer.observe(element);         }          \/\/ Add custom styles for STN player         const style=document.createElement('style');         style.textContent=`         #videoPlayer {             min-height: 460px;             margin-bottom: 10px;         }         @media only screen and (max-width: 780px) {             #videoPlayer {                 min-height: 200px;             }         }         `;         document.head.appendChild(style);          \/\/ Add needed div for STN player         const stnDiv=document.createElement(\"div\");         \/\/ add data-stn-player attribute         stnDiv.setAttribute(\"data-stn-player\", \"s28Az7AY\");         document.getElementById(\"videoPlayer\").appendChild(stnDiv);           \/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #videoPlayer and observe it         let paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#videoPlayer\", 2);         observeElement(paragraphToObserve);     }); }  \/\/ Assign user to a group window.adUserGroup=assignSplitTestGroup();  \/\/ Example usage if (window.adUserGroup==='A') {     console.log('Running Aditude player for group A');     aditudePlayer(); } else if (window.adUserGroup==='B') {     console.log('Running Anyclip player for group B');     anyclipPlayer(); } else {     console.log('Running STN player for group C');     stnPlayer(); } <\/script> <\/p>\n<p>Sextus Congenius Verus had died at age 42, of unknown causes, after serving for more than two decades in the imperial navy on a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/u-s-navy-assisting-israeli-oil-tanker-attacked-off-coast-of-oman\/\" title=\"U.S. Navy assisting Israeli oil tanker attacked off coast of Oman\">ship named<\/a> for the Roman god of medicine, Asclepius. The gravestone calls the sailor &ldquo;well deserving&rdquo; and was commissioned by two people described as his &ldquo;heirs,&rdquo; who were likely shipmates since Roman military could not be married at the time, Lusnia said.<\/p>\n<p>The tablet had been in an ancient cemetery of around 20 graves of military personnel, found in the 1860s in Civitavecchia, a seaside in northwest Italy about 30 miles (48 kilometers) from Rome. Its text had been recorded in 1910 and included in a catalog of Latin inscriptions, which noted the tablet&rsquo;s whereabouts were unknown.<\/p>\n<p>The tablet was later documented at the National Archeological Museum in Civitavecchia prior to World War II. But the museum had been &ldquo;pretty much destroyed&rdquo; during Allied bombing and took several decades to rebuild, Lusnia said. Museum staff confirmed to Lusnia the tablet had been missing for decades. Its recorded measurements &mdash; 1 square foot (0.09 square meters) and 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) thick &mdash; matched the size of the tablet found in Santoro&rsquo;s backyard.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t have better DNA than that,&rdquo; Lusnia said.<\/p>\n<p>She said the FBI is in talks with Italian authorities to repatriate the tablet. An FBI spokesperson said the agency could not respond to requests for comment during the government shutdown.<\/p>\n<p>A final twist to the story suggests how the tablet made its way to New Orleans.<\/p>\n<p>As media reports of the find began circulating this week, Erin Scott O&rsquo;Brien says her ex-husband called her and told her to watch the news. She immediately recognized the hunk of marble, which she had always seen as a &ldquo;cool-ass piece of art.&rdquo; They had used as a garden decoration and then forgot about it before selling the home to Santoro in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;None of us knew what it was,&rdquo; O&rsquo;Brien said. &ldquo;We were watching the video, just like in shock.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>O&rsquo;Brien said she received the tablet from her grandparents &mdash; an Italian woman and a New Orleans native who was stationed in the country during World War II.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps no one would be more thrilled by the tablet&rsquo;s rediscovery than Sextus himself. Grave markers were important in Roman culture to uphold legacies, even of everyday citizens, Lusnia said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Now Sextus Congenius Verus is being talked about so much,&rdquo; Lusnia said. &ldquo;If there&rsquo;s an afterlife and he&rsquo;s in it and he knows, he&rsquo;s very happy because this is what a Roman wants &mdash; to be remembered forever.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>___<\/p>\n<p>Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press\/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reportforamerica.org\/\">Report for America<\/a> is a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >nonprofit national service program<\/a> that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-style: italic;\">The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! 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When you see something like that, you realize it&#8217;s not ordinary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2497814,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/9af11786175647cb998ad0b0bfca214e-scaled.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[65018,53433,12525,47705],"class_list":["post-2497813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-ancient-roman","tag-archaeology-2","tag-artifact","tag-new-orleans"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/9af11786175647cb998ad0b0bfca214e-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2497813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2497813"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2497813\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2497817,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2497813\/revisions\/2497817"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2497814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2497813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2497813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2497813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}