The tombs were discovered in 1857–58 by Lorenzo Fortunati, a teacher who dabbled in archaeology and made money by selling some of the items he found.

[1] A series of excavations supported by Pope Pius IX subsequently uncovered various tombs along a short stretch of the road about 6 km southeast of the center of Rome.

The Tomb of the Valerii (Italian: Sepolcro dei Valeri), which dates from the second half of the 2nd century AD, is a notable two-story brick structure.

Beyond the entrance there is an area open to the sky from where two symmetrical staircases lead to the two underground burial chambers, which were originally richly decorated with slabs of marble.

The name comes from an inscription referring to the funerary collegium of the Pancratii, inscribed on a large marble sarcophagus that remains in situ; seven other sarcophagi found here are now in the Vatican Museum.