Second-Century Sarcophagus Discovered in Rome

ROME—A late-second-century Roman sarcophagus has been found by the Italian national Revenue Guard Corps on the outskirts of Rome, the New York Times reports. The corps's Archaeological Heritage Safeguard Unit found the sarcophagus while protecting the Isola Sacra Necropolis, a large Roman Imperial-era pagan cemetery in the town of Fiumicino. The artifact, which depicts the sun god Apollo escorting the nine Muses in the presence of Athena, is believed to have been the property of an aristocratic family. The remains inside are being analyzed by the Luigi Pigorini National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnology in Rome.