Archaeologists found the inscription in 2017 but have only now been able to read it fully and understand it. Officials say that it is the longest funerary epigraph ever found.

Among the topics discussed:

• A wealthy young man threw himself a coming-of-age party that lasted several days and featured food and drink for nearly 7,000 people and more than 400 gladiators fighting against one another and against large beasts as part of the entertainment. Among the other details about the party were a mention of 456 three-sided couches, each of which accommodated 15 people reclining (as was the custom in those days).
• Another, unrelated gladiator spectacle ended in a public riot, which was so bad that it came to the attention of the emperor, Nero, who ordered large-scale deportation of the belligerents, including some city officials. (The Roman historian Tacitus also made mention of this riot.)
• A famine dragged on for four years, during which this same wealthy young man sold wheat at cut rates and helped distribute bread, sometimes for free. An already discovered and well-known mosaic found elsewhere in the Pompeii ruins depicts such an event.

Archaeological Park of Pompeii Director General Massimo Osanna reported the findings in the Journal of Roman Archaeology. Information like the number of couches used at the wealthy young man's party could help determine the population of the city, Osanna said, because the young man likely would have invited only a select number of the population. As well, the sheer number of gladiators involved in the fighting would have necessitated a sustained celebration, meaning that the man who threw the party would have had access to great wealth.

What officials don't know for sure is who is buried in the tomb because they have not yet found his name and it does not appear in the epigraph.

Nearby Mount Vesuvius erupted in A.D. 79, burying the town of Pompeii, along with neighboring Herculaneum, under loads of lava and ash. The devastation also created a moment-in-time by preserving the two towns, leading to many discoveries by archaeologists through the years.