Cicero's tomb

The large mausoleum, located at km 139.460 of the Appian Way, is traditionally known as the "Tomb of Cicero, " the famous orator born in 106 BC to a wealthy family from Arpinum. However, there is no archaeological evidence to confirm this attribution. In his letters, Cicero often mentions, among the villas he owned, the Formianum, "pleasant for its summer warmth as it is exposed to the very pleasant Etesian winds." According to sources, he was killed near this residence, between the town center of Formiae and the port of Caieta, on the night of December 7, 43 BC, at the hands of Mark Antony's assassins.
However, it seems certain that Cicero also owned a tomb in Formia, on his land, as indicated by a passage by Martial referring to Silius Italicus, who later became the owner.
Due to its height and location, near the coast and along the Appian Way, the mausoleum was first reused during the Middle Ages as a watchtower, then abandoned and probably partially stripped of its facing blocks.
However, the mausoleum was truly "rediscovered" thanks to the studies of Francesco Maria Pratilli and Erasmo Gesualdo on the Appian Way (mid-18th century), who linked the remains of the monument to the Formianum rather than to Cicero's burial site, which was identified in the ruins still existing about 100 m higher up the slope of Mount Acervara, better known as the "Tomb of Tulliola" (a smaller mausoleum attributed by another tradition to Cicero's daughter).
In the first half of the 19th century, the mausoleum was definitively identified as the "Tomb of Cicero" and depicted in various engravings and views, including those by Pasquale Matthej.
During the siege of Gaeta, the tomb was also occupied by the Savoy and used as a field hospital.
In 1956, the monument underwent extensive restoration work, aimed primarily at restoring the integrity of the upper part, which was cleared of additions made in the Middle Ages and largely rebuilt.