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The original settlement of the necropolis dates back to 50 B.C.; at first the tombs were arranged along both sides of the via Laurentina, and along a side street that connected Ostia to the Pianabella area.  Later the tombs also occupied the sides of an inner street and a square, east of the Laurentina. The superimposition of newer tombs on top of the older ones, which lasted until the 3rd century AD, caused the level of the roads to rise. The necropolis was mainly used by freedmen (ex-slaves) of some famous families (the Manilii, the Iulii, the Nonii, the Volusii), as can be deduced from the inscriptions present. The high economic level attained by many freedmen in the commercial sphere during the empire is well attested here by the richness of some of the tombs. These are of the simple enclosure or enclosure type with a funerary monument on the front. In the later tombs, two areas can be distinguished, divided by a wall: one for burning corpses, the other for burial. At the beginning of the first century A.D., chamber tombs with niches for cinerary urns appeared, followed by columbaria.