Tomb of Caecilia Metella: Overall view, showing fortifications

Caecilia Metella , or Caecilia Metella Cretica (fl. 69 BC) was daughter of the consul Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus, who was consul 69 BC, and a daughter-in-law of Crassus. The tomb is of the type having a cylindrical body set on a square base. This cylinder, faced with travertine marble and crowned with a marble frieze in relief with festoons between bucranes, is 11 metres high and 29.5 metres in diameter. In 1302 the Caetani family incorporated the tomb in their castle (Castrum Caetani) which they equipped with battlements. The fortifications, stretching along both sides of the Via Appia, defended the strategic approach to the city.