Pius Sixth: he is the “pius” from the clue. It’s not Pius XI, as I thought, but one of his predecessors with the same name. Probably when they took the roman sarcophagus from Saint Constanza they reused a marble pedestal that already was in the Vaticans, gifted right by Pius VI.
These letters, unlike many of the roman inscriptions, aren’t carved but in relief: it’s bronze nailed to the marble. I immediately push the ones seen on Costantius Chlorus’ bust: the first I in munificentia, the P in Pii and the final M.
For a moment nothing seems to happen, then suddenly a noise that seems like gears slowly moving, then another dull and sudden of a stone gliding on another. If not the first, they must have heard this one: I can’t see any happy endings here!
I look around: all quiet, it seems. A
