The 19th-century craze for everything Egyptian was not new in history. Ancient Egyptian monuments also inspired the ancient Romans. The Emperor Augustus commemorated his defeat of Cleopatra and Mark Anthony and the addition of Egypt to the Empire by moving an Egyptian obelisk to the Circus Maximus in the city of Rome. It had been commissioned by Ramses II over one thousand years before Augustus and was one of seven Egyptian obelisks relocated to Rome.
This modern photograph depicts the pyramid of Roman Senator Gaius Cestius, built around 18-12 BC during the reign of the emperor Augustus. It is located near the Porta Ostiensis and Aurelian Walls in Rome. In 1738, the Cimitero Acattolico or Protestant Cemetery was opened adjacent to this ancient monument.
The Latin inscription on the pyramid translated:
Gaius Cestius Epulo, son of Lucius, of the Poblilian district, praetor, tribune of the people, official of the public banquets. According to his will, this work was completed in three hundred and thirty days; it was executed by his heirs L. Pontus Mela, son of Publius, of the Claudian district, and his freedman Pothus.
For more about cemeteries see Discovering Quacks, Utopias, and Cemeteries: Modern Lessons from Historical Themes