Roman Epigraph Repatriated to Italy After 80 Years, to Be Displayed at Civitavecchia Museum

A marble funerary epigraph dating to the 2nd century AD, bearing the name of Sextus Congenius Verus, a sailor of the Praetorian fleet of Miseno, has been returned to Italy after being missing since World War II. The stone was first discovered in 1866 during construction of the Civitavecchia prison, entered the municipal museum collection, and disappeared when the museum was destroyed by bombings in 1943. In March 2025 the epigraph resurfaced unexpectedly in New Orleans, where Professor Susan S. Lusnia of Tulane University identified it. Private owners who possessed the artifact agreed to return it, prompting a joint operation involving the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, the FBI Art Crimes Unit, the Italian Consulate in New York, and the prosecutor’s office in Civitavecchia. The repatriation was completed on 10 April 2026. The inscription will debut publicly on 18 September 2026 as part of the permanent exhibition at the newly renovated National Archaeological Museum of Civitavecchia.