Imagine what life must have been like in Ancient Rome. The hustle and bustle of the metropolis of the city-state that ruled the known world must have been awe-inspiring to anyone, particularly a recently freed slave.

There is a huge monument by the Porta Maggiore on the southern boundary of Ancient Rome that is testament to how people – particularly freed slaves – were treated in those days.

You’ll pass Via Rasella on your way here from the centre.

A Greek slave by the name of Eurysaces became a freed man in Rome and was allowed to live there and carry out a profession.

He chose to be a baker.

He tried to get Roman citizenship but this was denied to him until he first baked 100 bushels of grain a day, single-handedly. He also had to work for the state and sell his bread at a low price for a minimum period of 3 years.

Quite a high price for citizenship, but Eurysaces was determined and did all of this. By 30BC, he had become Roman, and was rich enough to buy himself a plot of land just outside the city gates by Porta Maggiore.

For posterity, he decided to build a huge tomb here. It is still visible today and the inscription on it reads “This is the monument of the baker Marcus Vergilius Eurysaces – entrepreneur and a lower civil servant”.

The three rows of cylindrical openings represent the kneading troughs for his loaves.

Everyone thought that this was meant to be an expression of pride – that he wanted people to see that he had made something for himself. Perhaps he wanted to inspire others to take themselves out of slavery too.

In 1838, the outer shell of this monument was dismantled. Hidden inside the monument, excavators discovered a marble sculpture of a couple dressed in Roman toga besides a plaque reading: “Atistia was my wife. She was a wonderful woman, whose mortal remains are in the bread basket.”

His wife’s remains were found in an urn nearby.

What was thought to be a monument to his craft and hard work, conceals something that was dearer to him than his own life’s work – Atistia, his wife.

The monument is still there and clearly visible for anyone who walks down to Porta Maggiore. It is a 20-min walk from the city centre and easily accessible by tram