Roman funerals and burial
Encyclopedia
Ancient Roman
funerary
practices were part of the mos maiorum
, "tradition," that is, "the way of the ancestors," and drew on the beliefs embodied in Roman public and domestic religion
.
Socially, funerals were a central and highly visible means of preserving the heritage of a family and gens
. The achievements of ancestors were celebrated alongside those of the deceased. The funeral procession was public and elaborate, led by professional mourner
s, including actors who wore the portrait masks (imagines) of the dead person's notable ancestors. The corpse was carried behind the mourners. A eulogy
(laudatio funebris), instrumental music, and songs of mourning (neniae) were also part of the ceremonies. After the funeral, the body was traditionally cremated
, though in some periods inhumation was practiced, and the ashes were placed in a container and entombed.
Roman cemeteries were located outside the pomerium
, the sacred boundary of the city. They were visited regularly with offerings of food and wine, and special observances during religious festivals
in honor of the dead. Funeral monuments appear throughout the Roman Empire
, and their inscriptions are an important source of information for individuals otherwise unknown and for Roman history. A Roman sarcophagus
could be an elaborately crafted art work, decorated with relief
sculpture
depicting a scene that was allegorical
, mythological
, or historical, or a scene from everyday life.
Although funerals were primarily a concern of the family, which was of paramount importance in Roman society, those who lacked the support of an extended family usually belonged to guilds or collegia
which provided funeral services for members.
, the bodies of the dead were regarded as polluting. At the same time, pietas or loving duty toward the ancestors was a fundamental part of ancient Roman culture
. The care of the dead negotiated these two emotionally opposed attitudes.
ations, calling on the deceased by name. The body was then placed on the ground, washed, and anointed
. Male citizens
were dressed in a toga
, and others in attire appropriate to their station in life. Men who had earned a wreath wore one in death, and wreaths also are found in burials of initiates into mystery religions. After the body was prepared, it lay in state in the atrium of the family home (domus
), with the feet pointed toward the door. Other circumstances pertained to those who lived, as most Romans did, in apartment buildings (insulae
), but elite practices are better documented.
Although embalming
was unusual and regarded as mainly an Egyptian practice, it is mentioned in Latin literature
, with a few instances documented by archaeology in Rome and throughout the Empire where no Egyptian influence can be assumed.
" was a coin placed in or on the mouth of the deceased. The custom is recorded in literary sources and attested by archaeology, and sometimes occurs in contexts that suggest it may have been imported to Rome as were the mystery religions that promised initiates salvation or special passage in the afterlife. The custom was explained by the myth of Charon
, the ferryman who conveyed the souls of the newly dead across the water — a lake, river, or swamp — that separated the world of the living from the underworld
. The coin was rationalized as his payment; the satirist Lucian
remarks that in order to avoid death, one should simply not pay the fee. In Apuleius
's tale of "Cupid and Psyche
" in his Metamorphoses
, framed by Lucius's quest for salvation ending with initiation into the mysteries of Isis
, Psyche ("Soul") carries two coins in her journey to the underworld
, the second to enable her return or symbolic rebirth. Evidence of "Charon's obol" appears throughout the Western Roman Empire well into the Christian era, but at no time and place was it practiced consistently and by all.
into the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. Crematory images appear in Latin poetry on the theme of the dead and mourning. In one of the best-known classical Latin poems of mourning, Catullus
writes of his long journey to attend to the funeral rites of his brother, who died abroad, and expresses his grief at addressing only silent ash. When Propertius describes his dead lover Cynthia visiting him in a dream, the revenant's dress is scorched down the side and the fire of the pyre has corroded the familiar ring she wears.
Ultimately, inhumation would replace cremation; a variety of factors, including the rise of Christianity
among Romans and changes in attitudes to the afterlife
, would contribute to this marked shift in popular burial practices.
The care and cultivation of the dead did not end with the funeral and formal period of mourning, but was a perpetual obligation. Libation
s were brought to the grave, and some tombs were even equipped with "feeding tubes" to facilitate delivery. See Commemorations below.
A professional guild (collegium
) of musicians specialized in funeral music. Horace
mentions the tuba
and the cornu
, two bronze trumpet-like instruments, at funerals.
was a formal oration or panegyric
in praise of the dead. It was one of two forms of discourse
at a Roman funeral, the other being the chant (nenia). The practice is associated with noble families
, and the kinds of words spoken at an ordinary person's funeral go unrecorded. While oratory was practiced in Rome only by men, an elite woman might also be honored with a laudatio.
For socially prominent individuals, the funeral procession stopped at the forum
for the public delivery of the laudatio from the Rostra
. Thus a well-delivered funeral oration could be a way for a young politician to publicize himself. The speech made by the young Julius Caesar
in honor of his aunt Julia
, the widow of Gaius Marius
, helped launch his career as a popularist
(see Laudatio Iuliae amitae
).
The epitaph of the deceased in effect was a digest of the laudatio made visible and permanent. In commemorating past deeds, the laudatio funebris is a precursor to Roman historiography
.
, it was customary to offer a sow to Ceres
, a sow also being a characteristic offering to chthonic
deities. The victim was then allotted for consumption among the participants. The portion for the deceased was put on a spit and cremated with the body. Ceres' portion was burned on an altar. The family ate the portion that was due the living. A family of lesser means offered a libation
of wine, incense, produce or grain; the allocation of these offerings is not recorded. After this apportioning, the deceased had transitioned and could no longer share in the meals of the living and the domestic gods; he now partook of what was appropriate for the spirits of the dead, the Manes
.
In February, the last month of the original Roman calendar
when March 1 was New Year's Day, the dead were honored at a nine-day festival called the Parentalia
, followed by the Feralia
on February 21, when the potentially malign spirits of the dead were propitiated. During the Parentalia, families gathered at cemeteries to offer meals to the ancestors, and then shared wine and cakes among themselves (compare veneration of the dead
in other cultures). Tombs for wealthy, prominent families were constructed as "houses", with a decorated room these banqueting festivities.
s are one of the major classes of inscriptions. An epitaph usually noted the person's day of birth and lifespan. Information varies, and collectively they offer information on family relationships, political offices, and Roman values, in choosing what aspects of the deceased's life to praise. Philosophical beliefs may also be in evidence: the epitaphs of Epicureans
often expressed some form of the sentiment non fui, fui, non sum, non desidero, "I was not, I have been, I am not, I feel no desire," or non fui, non sum, non curo, "I was not, I am not, I have no concern."
A noble family
was entitled to display images of ancestors (imagines, singular imago) in the atrium
of the family home (domus
). The images were arranged in a stemma
, with a label (titulus
) summarizing the individual's offices held (honores
) and accomplishments (res gestae). Although these were probably portrait busts
, there is some uncertainty about the relation of these imagines and funeral masks; some scholars hold that the masks were on display also, and not just brought out for funerals.
Funeral masks were most likely made of wax, and possibly molded as death mask
s directly from the deceased. They were worn in the funeral procession by actors who were professional mourners.
, particularly in the 2nd–4th centuries AD, was often decorated with relief
that merits attention as a work of art. The scenes depicted were drawn from mythology
, religious beliefs pertaining to the mysteries, allegories
, history, or everyday activities such as sports and games. Many sarcophagi depict Nereids
, fantastical sea creatures, and other marine imagery that may allude to the location of the Isles of the Blessed across the sea, with a portrait of the deceased on a seashell. The sarcophagus of a child may show tender representations of family life, Cupid
s, or children playing.
Some sarcophagi may have been ordered during the person's life and custom-made to express their beliefs or aesthetics. Most were mass produced, with the face of the figure meant to represent the deceased left unfinished until purchase.
under the command of Varus
suffered their disastrous defeat at the Battle of Teutoburg Forest
in 9 AD, they remained uncommemorated until Germanicus
and his troops located the battlefield a few years later and made a funeral mound for their remains.
In the permanent garrisons of the Empire, a portion of each soldier's pay was set aside and pooled for funeral expenses, including the ritual meal, the burial, and commemoration. Soldiers who died of illness or an accident during the normal routines of life would have been given the same rites as in civilian life. The first burial clubs for soldiers were formed under Augustus
; burial societies
had existed for civilians long before. Veterans might pay into a fund upon leaving the service, insuring a decent burial by membership in an association for that purpose.
Tombstones and monuments throughout the Empire document military personnel and units stationed at particular camps (castra
). If the body could not be recovered, the death could be commemorated with a cenotaph
. The epitaph usually gives the soldier's name, his birthplace, rank and unit, age and years of service, and sometimes other information such as the names of his heirs. Some more elaborate monuments depict the deceased, either in his parade regalia or in civilian dress to emphasize his citizenship. Cavalrymen
are often shown riding over the body of a downtrodden foe, an image interpreted as a symbolic victory over death. Military funeral monuments from Roman Africa take progressively more substantial forms: stele
s in the 1st century, altars in the 2nd, and cupulas (mounds) in the 3rd. Tombs were often grouped in military cemeteries along the roads that led out of the camp. A centurion
might be well-off enough to have a mausoleum
built.
If a commander was killed in action, the men rode or marched around his pyre, or in some circumstances a cenotaph.
, nor Charon the ferryman, nor Aeacus
holding the keys, nor the dog Cerberus
."
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
funerary
Funeral
A funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor...
practices were part of the mos maiorum
Mos maiorum
The mos maiorum is the unwritten code from which the ancient Romans derived their social norms. It is the core concept of Roman traditionalism, distinguished from but in dynamic complement to written law. The mos maiorum The mos maiorum ("ancestral custom") is the unwritten code from which the...
, "tradition," that is, "the way of the ancestors," and drew on the beliefs embodied in Roman public and domestic religion
Religion in ancient Rome
Religion in ancient Rome encompassed the religious beliefs and cult practices regarded by the Romans as indigenous and central to their identity as a people, as well as the various and many cults imported from other peoples brought under Roman rule. Romans thus offered cult to innumerable deities...
.
Socially, funerals were a central and highly visible means of preserving the heritage of a family and gens
Gens
In ancient Rome, a gens , plural gentes, referred to a family, consisting of all those individuals who shared the same nomen and claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a stirps . The gens was an important social structure at Rome and throughout Italy during the...
. The achievements of ancestors were celebrated alongside those of the deceased. The funeral procession was public and elaborate, led by professional mourner
Mourner
A mourner is someone who is attending a funeral or who is otherwise recognized as in a period of grief and mourning prescribed either by religious law or by popular custom...
s, including actors who wore the portrait masks (imagines) of the dead person's notable ancestors. The corpse was carried behind the mourners. A eulogy
Eulogy
A eulogy is a speech or writing in praise of a person or thing, especially one recently deceased or retired. Eulogies may be given as part of funeral services. However, some denominations either discourage or do not permit eulogies at services to maintain respect for traditions...
(laudatio funebris), instrumental music, and songs of mourning (neniae) were also part of the ceremonies. After the funeral, the body was traditionally cremated
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....
, though in some periods inhumation was practiced, and the ashes were placed in a container and entombed.
Roman cemeteries were located outside the pomerium
Pomerium
The pomerium or pomoerium , was the sacred boundary of the city of Rome. In legal terms, Rome existed only within the pomerium; everything beyond it was simply territory belonging to Rome.-Location and extensions:Tradition maintained that it was the original line ploughed by Romulus around the...
, the sacred boundary of the city. They were visited regularly with offerings of food and wine, and special observances during religious festivals
Roman festivals
In ancient Roman religion, holidays were celebrated to worship and celebrate a certain god or divine event, and consisted of religious observances and festival traditions, usually with a large feast, and often featuring games . The most important festivals were the Saturnalia, the Consualia, the...
in honor of the dead. Funeral monuments appear throughout the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, and their inscriptions are an important source of information for individuals otherwise unknown and for Roman history. A Roman sarcophagus
Sarcophagus
A sarcophagus is a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone. The word "sarcophagus" comes from the Greek σαρξ sarx meaning "flesh", and φαγειν phagein meaning "to eat", hence sarkophagus means "flesh-eating"; from the phrase lithos sarkophagos...
could be an elaborately crafted art work, decorated with relief
Relief
Relief is a sculptural technique. The term relief is from the Latin verb levo, to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is thus to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane...
sculpture
Roman sculpture
The study of ancient Roman sculpture is complicated by its relation to Greek sculpture. Many examples of even the most famous Greek sculptures, such as the Apollo Belvedere and Barberini Faun, are known only from Roman Imperial or Hellenistic "copies." At one time, this imitation was taken by art...
depicting a scene that was allegorical
Allegory
Allegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
, mythological
Classical mythology
Classical mythology or Greco-Roman mythology is the cultural reception of myths from the ancient Greeks and Romans. Along with philosophy and political thought, mythology represents one of the major survivals of classical antiquity throughout later Western culture.Classical mythology has provided...
, or historical, or a scene from everyday life.
Although funerals were primarily a concern of the family, which was of paramount importance in Roman society, those who lacked the support of an extended family usually belonged to guilds or collegia
Collegium (ancient Rome)
In Ancient Rome, a collegium was any association with a legal personality. Such associations had various functions.-Functioning:...
which provided funeral services for members.
Care of the dead
In Greco-Roman antiquityClassical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
, the bodies of the dead were regarded as polluting. At the same time, pietas or loving duty toward the ancestors was a fundamental part of ancient Roman culture
Culture of ancient Rome
Ancient Roman culture existed throughout the almost 1200-year history of the civilization of Ancient Rome. The term refers to the culture of the Roman Republic, later the Roman Empire, which, at its peak, covered an area from Lowland Scotland and Morocco to the Euphrates.Life in ancient Rome...
. The care of the dead negotiated these two emotionally opposed attitudes.
Preparation of the body
When a person died at home, family members and intimate friends gathered around the death bed for emotional support. In accordance with a belief that equated the soul with the breath, the closest relative sealed the passing of spirit from the body with a last kiss, and closed the eyes. The relatives began lamentLament
A lament or lamentation is a song, poem, or piece of music expressing grief, regret, or mourning.-History:Many of the oldest and most lasting poems in human history have been laments. Laments are present in both the Iliad and the Odyssey, and laments continued to be sung in elegiacs accompanied by...
ations, calling on the deceased by name. The body was then placed on the ground, washed, and anointed
Anointing
To anoint is to pour or smear with perfumed oil, milk, water, melted butter or other substances, a process employed ritually by many religions. People and things are anointed to symbolize the introduction of a sacramental or divine influence, a holy emanation, spirit, power or God...
. Male citizens
Roman citizenship
Citizenship in ancient Rome was a privileged political and legal status afforded to certain free-born individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance....
were dressed in a toga
Toga
The toga, a distinctive garment of Ancient Rome, was a cloth of perhaps 20 ft in length which was wrapped around the body and was generally worn over a tunic. The toga was made of wool, and the tunic under it often was made of linen. After the 2nd century BC, the toga was a garment worn...
, and others in attire appropriate to their station in life. Men who had earned a wreath wore one in death, and wreaths also are found in burials of initiates into mystery religions. After the body was prepared, it lay in state in the atrium of the family home (domus
Domus
In ancient Rome, the domus was the type of house occupied by the upper classes and some wealthy freedmen during the Republican and Imperial eras. They could be found in almost all the major cities throughout the Roman territories...
), with the feet pointed toward the door. Other circumstances pertained to those who lived, as most Romans did, in apartment buildings (insulae
Insulae
In Roman architecture, an insula was a kind of apartment building that housed most of the urban citizen population of ancient Rome, including ordinary people of lower- or middle-class status and all but the wealthiest from the upper-middle class...
), but elite practices are better documented.
Although embalming
Embalming
Embalming, in most modern cultures, is the art and science of temporarily preserving human remains to forestall decomposition and to make them suitable for public display at a funeral. The three goals of embalming are thus sanitization, presentation and preservation of a corpse to achieve this...
was unusual and regarded as mainly an Egyptian practice, it is mentioned in Latin literature
Latin literature
Latin literature includes the essays, histories, poems, plays, and other writings of the ancient Romans. In many ways, it seems to be a continuation of Greek literature, using many of the same forms...
, with a few instances documented by archaeology in Rome and throughout the Empire where no Egyptian influence can be assumed.
Other customs
"Charon's obolCharon's obol
Charon's obol is an allusive term for the coin placed in or on the mouth of a dead person before burial. According to Greek and Latin literary sources, the coin was a payment or bribe for the ferryman who conveyed souls across the river that divided the world of the living from the world of the dead...
" was a coin placed in or on the mouth of the deceased. The custom is recorded in literary sources and attested by archaeology, and sometimes occurs in contexts that suggest it may have been imported to Rome as were the mystery religions that promised initiates salvation or special passage in the afterlife. The custom was explained by the myth of Charon
Charon (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Charon or Kharon is the ferryman of Hades who carries souls of the newly deceased across the rivers Styx and Acheron that divided the world of the living from the world of the dead. A coin to pay Charon for passage, usually an obolus or danake, was sometimes placed in or on...
, the ferryman who conveyed the souls of the newly dead across the water — a lake, river, or swamp — that separated the world of the living from the underworld
Greek underworld
The Greek underworld was made up of various realms believed to lie beneath the earth or at its farthest reaches.This includes:* The great pit of Tartarus, originally the exclusive prison of the old Titan gods, it later came to be the dungeon home of damned souls.* The land of the dead ruled by the...
. The coin was rationalized as his payment; the satirist Lucian
Lucian
Lucian of Samosata was a rhetorician and satirist who wrote in the Greek language. He is noted for his witty and scoffing nature.His ethnicity is disputed and is attributed as Assyrian according to Frye and Parpola, and Syrian according to Joseph....
remarks that in order to avoid death, one should simply not pay the fee. In Apuleius
Apuleius
Apuleius was a Latin prose writer. He was a Berber, from Madaurus . He studied Platonist philosophy in Athens; travelled to Italy, Asia Minor and Egypt; and was an initiate in several cults or mysteries. The most famous incident in his life was when he was accused of using magic to gain the...
's tale of "Cupid and Psyche
Cupid and Psyche
Cupid and Psyche , is a legend that first appeared as a digressionary story told by an old woman in Lucius Apuleius' novel, The Golden Ass, written in the 2nd century CE. Apuleius likely used an earlier tale as the basis for his story, modifying it to suit the thematic needs of his novel.It has...
" in his Metamorphoses
The Golden Ass
The Metamorphoses of Apuleius, which St. Augustine referred to as The Golden Ass , is the only Latin novel to survive in its entirety....
, framed by Lucius's quest for salvation ending with initiation into the mysteries of Isis
Isis
Isis or in original more likely Aset is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshipped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the matron of nature and magic...
, Psyche ("Soul") carries two coins in her journey to the underworld
Descent to the underworld
The descent to the underworld is a mytheme of comparative mythology found in a diverse number of religions from around the world, including Christianity. The hero or upper-world deity journeys to the underworld or to the land of the dead and returns, often with a quest-object or a loved one, or...
, the second to enable her return or symbolic rebirth. Evidence of "Charon's obol" appears throughout the Western Roman Empire well into the Christian era, but at no time and place was it practiced consistently and by all.
Disposal of the body
Although inhumation was practiced regularly in archaic Rome, cremation was the most common burial practice in the Mid- to Late Republic and the EmpireRoman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
into the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. Crematory images appear in Latin poetry on the theme of the dead and mourning. In one of the best-known classical Latin poems of mourning, Catullus
Catullus
Gaius Valerius Catullus was a Latin poet of the Republican period. His surviving works are still read widely, and continue to influence poetry and other forms of art.-Biography:...
writes of his long journey to attend to the funeral rites of his brother, who died abroad, and expresses his grief at addressing only silent ash. When Propertius describes his dead lover Cynthia visiting him in a dream, the revenant's dress is scorched down the side and the fire of the pyre has corroded the familiar ring she wears.
Ultimately, inhumation would replace cremation; a variety of factors, including the rise of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
among Romans and changes in attitudes to the afterlife
Afterlife
The afterlife is the belief that a part of, or essence of, or soul of an individual, which carries with it and confers personal identity, survives the death of the body of this world and this lifetime, by natural or supernatural means, in contrast to the belief in eternal...
, would contribute to this marked shift in popular burial practices.
The care and cultivation of the dead did not end with the funeral and formal period of mourning, but was a perpetual obligation. Libation
Libation
A libation is a ritual pouring of a liquid as an offering to a god or spirit or in memory of those who have died. It was common in many religions of antiquity and continues to be offered in various cultures today....
s were brought to the grave, and some tombs were even equipped with "feeding tubes" to facilitate delivery. See Commemorations below.
The procession
Funeral rites took place at home and at the place of burial, which was located outside the city to avoid the pollution of the living. The funeral procession (pompa funebris) transited the distance between the two.A professional guild (collegium
Collegium (ancient Rome)
In Ancient Rome, a collegium was any association with a legal personality. Such associations had various functions.-Functioning:...
) of musicians specialized in funeral music. Horace
Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus , known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.-Life:...
mentions the tuba
Roman tuba
The tuba of ancient Rome is a military signal trumpet, quite different from the modern tuba. The tuba was produced around 500 BC. Its shape was straight, in contrast to the military buccina or cornu, which was more like the modern tuba in curving around the body. Its origin is thought to be...
and the cornu
Cornu (horn)
A cornu or cornum was a type of brass instrument similar to the buccina used by the Roman army of antiquity mainly for communicating orders to troops in battle. It is a Latin word literally meaning horn. The instrument was about long and took the form of a letter 'G'...
, two bronze trumpet-like instruments, at funerals.
Laudatio funebris
The laudatio funebris or eulogyEulogy
A eulogy is a speech or writing in praise of a person or thing, especially one recently deceased or retired. Eulogies may be given as part of funeral services. However, some denominations either discourage or do not permit eulogies at services to maintain respect for traditions...
was a formal oration or panegyric
Panegyric
A panegyric is a formal public speech, or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing, a generally highly studied and discriminating eulogy, not expected to be critical. It is derived from the Greek πανηγυρικός meaning "a speech fit for a general assembly"...
in praise of the dead. It was one of two forms of discourse
Discourse
Discourse generally refers to "written or spoken communication". The following are three more specific definitions:...
at a Roman funeral, the other being the chant (nenia). The practice is associated with noble families
Nobiles
During the Roman Republic, nobilis was a descriptive term of social rank, usually indicating that a member of the family had achieved the consulship. Those who belonged to the hereditary patrician families were noble, but plebeians whose ancestors were consuls were also considered nobiles...
, and the kinds of words spoken at an ordinary person's funeral go unrecorded. While oratory was practiced in Rome only by men, an elite woman might also be honored with a laudatio.
For socially prominent individuals, the funeral procession stopped at the forum
Roman Forum
The Roman Forum is a rectangular forum surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum...
for the public delivery of the laudatio from the Rostra
Rostra
The Rōstra was a large platform built in the city of Rome that stood during the republican and imperial periods. Speakers would stand on the rostra and face the north side of the comitium towards the senate house and deliver orations to those assembled in between...
. Thus a well-delivered funeral oration could be a way for a young politician to publicize himself. The speech made by the young Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
in honor of his aunt Julia
Julia Caesaris (wife of Marius)
Julia Caesaris was a daughter of Gaius Julius Caesar II and Marcia . She was a sister of Gaius Julius Caesar III and Sextus Julius Caesar III....
, the widow of Gaius Marius
Gaius Marius
Gaius Marius was a Roman general and statesman. He was elected consul an unprecedented seven times during his career. He was also noted for his dramatic reforms of Roman armies, authorizing recruitment of landless citizens, eliminating the manipular military formations, and reorganizing the...
, helped launch his career as a popularist
Populares
Populares were aristocratic leaders in the late Roman Republic who relied on the people's assemblies and tribunate to acquire political power. They are regarded in modern scholarship as in opposition to the optimates, who are identified with the conservative interests of a senatorial elite...
(see Laudatio Iuliae amitae
Laudatio Iuliae amitae
The laudatio Iuliae amitae is a well-known funeral oration that Julius Caesar delivered in 68 BC to honor his deceased aunt Julia, the widow of Marius...
).
The epitaph of the deceased in effect was a digest of the laudatio made visible and permanent. In commemorating past deeds, the laudatio funebris is a precursor to Roman historiography
Roman historiography
Roman Historiography is indebted to the Greeks, who invented the form. The Romans had great models to base their works upon, such as Herodotus and Thucydides. Roman historiographical forms are different from the Greek ones however, and voice very Roman concerns. Unlike the Greeks, Roman...
.
Sacrifices
After the body was carried to the cemetery, a sacrifice was performed in the presence of the corpse. Until the time of CiceroCicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
, it was customary to offer a sow to Ceres
Ceres (mythology)
In ancient Roman religion, Ceres was a goddess of agriculture, grain crops, fertility and motherly relationships. She was originally the central deity in Rome's so-called plebeian or Aventine Triad, then was paired with her daughter Proserpina in what Romans described as "the Greek rites of Ceres"...
, a sow also being a characteristic offering to chthonic
Chthonic
Chthonic designates, or pertains to, deities or spirits of the underworld, especially in relation to Greek religion. The Greek word khthon is one of several for "earth"; it typically refers to the interior of the soil, rather than the living surface of the land or the land as territory...
deities. The victim was then allotted for consumption among the participants. The portion for the deceased was put on a spit and cremated with the body. Ceres' portion was burned on an altar. The family ate the portion that was due the living. A family of lesser means offered a libation
Libation
A libation is a ritual pouring of a liquid as an offering to a god or spirit or in memory of those who have died. It was common in many religions of antiquity and continues to be offered in various cultures today....
of wine, incense, produce or grain; the allocation of these offerings is not recorded. After this apportioning, the deceased had transitioned and could no longer share in the meals of the living and the domestic gods; he now partook of what was appropriate for the spirits of the dead, the Manes
Manes
In ancient Roman religion, the Manes or Di Manes are chthonic deities sometimes thought to represent the souls of deceased loved ones. They were associated with the Lares, Genii, and Di Penates as deities that pertained to domestic, local, and personal cult...
.
Novendialis
On the ninth day after the person died, the funeral feast and rites called the novendialis or novemdialis were held.Festivals of the dead
Roman calendar
The Roman calendar changed its form several times in the time between the founding of Rome and the fall of the Roman Empire. This article generally discusses the early Roman or pre-Julian calendars...
when March 1 was New Year's Day, the dead were honored at a nine-day festival called the Parentalia
Parentalia
In ancient Rome, the Parentalia or dies parentales was a nine-day festival held in honor of family ancestors, beginning February 13....
, followed by the Feralia
Feralia
Feralia was an ancient Roman public festival celebrating the Manes which fell on the 21st of February as recorded by Ovid in Book II of his Fasti. This day marked the end of Parentalia, a nine day festival honoring the dead ancestors...
on February 21, when the potentially malign spirits of the dead were propitiated. During the Parentalia, families gathered at cemeteries to offer meals to the ancestors, and then shared wine and cakes among themselves (compare veneration of the dead
Veneration of the dead
Veneration of the dead is based on the belief that the deceased, often family members, have a continued existence and/or possess the ability to influence the fortune of the living...
in other cultures). Tombs for wealthy, prominent families were constructed as "houses", with a decorated room these banqueting festivities.
Epitaphs
EpitaphEpitaph
An epitaph is a short text honoring a deceased person, strictly speaking that is inscribed on their tombstone or plaque, but also used figuratively. Some are specified by the dead person beforehand, others chosen by those responsible for the burial...
s are one of the major classes of inscriptions. An epitaph usually noted the person's day of birth and lifespan. Information varies, and collectively they offer information on family relationships, political offices, and Roman values, in choosing what aspects of the deceased's life to praise. Philosophical beliefs may also be in evidence: the epitaphs of Epicureans
Epicureanism
Epicureanism is a system of philosophy based upon the teachings of Epicurus, founded around 307 BC. Epicurus was an atomic materialist, following in the steps of Democritus. His materialism led him to a general attack on superstition and divine intervention. Following Aristippus—about whom...
often expressed some form of the sentiment non fui, fui, non sum, non desidero, "I was not, I have been, I am not, I feel no desire," or non fui, non sum, non curo, "I was not, I am not, I have no concern."
Imagines
- For the biological term, see ImagoImagoIn biology, the imago is the last stage of development of an insect, after the last ecdysis of an incomplete metamorphosis, or after emergence from the pupa where the metamorphosis is complete...
.
A noble family
Nobiles
During the Roman Republic, nobilis was a descriptive term of social rank, usually indicating that a member of the family had achieved the consulship. Those who belonged to the hereditary patrician families were noble, but plebeians whose ancestors were consuls were also considered nobiles...
was entitled to display images of ancestors (imagines, singular imago) in the atrium
Atrium
Atrium may refer to:*Atrium , a large open space within a building usually with a glass roof*Atrium , microscopic air sacs in lungs*Atrium , an anatomical structure of the heart* Atrium of the ventricular system of the brain...
of the family home (domus
Domus
In ancient Rome, the domus was the type of house occupied by the upper classes and some wealthy freedmen during the Republican and Imperial eras. They could be found in almost all the major cities throughout the Roman territories...
). The images were arranged in a stemma
Family tree
A family tree, or pedigree chart, is a chart representing family relationships in a conventional tree structure. The more detailed family trees used in medicine, genealogy, and social work are known as genograms.-Family tree representations:...
, with a label (titulus
Titulus (inscription)
Titulus is a term used for the labels or captions naming figures or subjects in art, which were commonly added in classical and medieval art, and remain conventional in Eastern Orthodox icons...
) summarizing the individual's offices held (honores
Cursus honorum
The cursus honorum was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in both the Roman Republic and the early Empire. It was designed for men of senatorial rank. The cursus honorum comprised a mixture of military and political administration posts. Each office had a minimum...
) and accomplishments (res gestae). Although these were probably portrait busts
Roman sculpture
The study of ancient Roman sculpture is complicated by its relation to Greek sculpture. Many examples of even the most famous Greek sculptures, such as the Apollo Belvedere and Barberini Faun, are known only from Roman Imperial or Hellenistic "copies." At one time, this imitation was taken by art...
, there is some uncertainty about the relation of these imagines and funeral masks; some scholars hold that the masks were on display also, and not just brought out for funerals.
Funeral masks were most likely made of wax, and possibly molded as death mask
Death mask
In Western cultures a death mask is a wax or plaster cast made of a person’s face following death. Death masks may be mementos of the dead, or be used for creation of portraits...
s directly from the deceased. They were worn in the funeral procession by actors who were professional mourners.
Sarcophagi
A Roman sarcophagusSarcophagus
A sarcophagus is a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone. The word "sarcophagus" comes from the Greek σαρξ sarx meaning "flesh", and φαγειν phagein meaning "to eat", hence sarkophagus means "flesh-eating"; from the phrase lithos sarkophagos...
, particularly in the 2nd–4th centuries AD, was often decorated with relief
Relief
Relief is a sculptural technique. The term relief is from the Latin verb levo, to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is thus to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane...
that merits attention as a work of art. The scenes depicted were drawn from mythology
Classical mythology
Classical mythology or Greco-Roman mythology is the cultural reception of myths from the ancient Greeks and Romans. Along with philosophy and political thought, mythology represents one of the major survivals of classical antiquity throughout later Western culture.Classical mythology has provided...
, religious beliefs pertaining to the mysteries, allegories
Allegory
Allegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
, history, or everyday activities such as sports and games. Many sarcophagi depict Nereids
Nereids
In Greek mythology, the Nereids are sea nymphs, the fifty daughters of Nereus and Doris, sisters to Nerites. They often accompany Poseidon and can be friendly and helpful to sailors fighting perilous storms. They are particularly associated with the Aegean Sea, where they dwelt with their father...
, fantastical sea creatures, and other marine imagery that may allude to the location of the Isles of the Blessed across the sea, with a portrait of the deceased on a seashell. The sarcophagus of a child may show tender representations of family life, Cupid
Cupid
In Roman mythology, Cupid is the god of desire, affection and erotic love. He is the son of the goddess Venus and the god Mars. His Greek counterpart is Eros...
s, or children playing.
Some sarcophagi may have been ordered during the person's life and custom-made to express their beliefs or aesthetics. Most were mass produced, with the face of the figure meant to represent the deceased left unfinished until purchase.
Military funerals and burial
"The cult of the dead," it has been noted, "was particularly important to men whose profession exposed them to a premature demise." The Roman value of pietas encompassed the desire of soldiers to honor their fallen comrades, though the conditions of war might interfere with the timely performance of traditional rites. Soldiers killed in battle on foreign soil with ongoing hostilities were probably given a mass cremation or burial. Under less urgent circumstances, they might be cremated individually, and their ashes placed in a vessel for transport to a permanent burial site. When the Roman armyRoman army
The Roman army is the generic term for the terrestrial armed forces deployed by the kingdom of Rome , the Roman Republic , the Roman Empire and its successor, the Byzantine empire...
under the command of Varus
Varus
-People:*Publius Attius Varus , Roman governor of Africa.*Publius Quinctilius Varus , politician of the Roman Empire.*Quinctilius Varus -People:*Publius Attius Varus (died 17 March 45 BCE), Roman governor of Africa.*Publius Quinctilius Varus (46 BCE - 9 CE), politician of the Roman...
suffered their disastrous defeat at the Battle of Teutoburg Forest
Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest took place in 9 CE, when an alliance of Germanic tribes led by Arminius of the Cherusci ambushed and decisively destroyed three Roman legions, along with their auxiliaries, led by Publius Quinctilius Varus.Despite numerous successful campaigns and raids by the...
in 9 AD, they remained uncommemorated until Germanicus
Germanicus
Germanicus Julius Caesar , commonly known as Germanicus, was a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and a prominent general of the early Roman Empire. He was born in Rome, Italia, and was named either Nero Claudius Drusus after his father or Tiberius Claudius Nero after his uncle...
and his troops located the battlefield a few years later and made a funeral mound for their remains.
In the permanent garrisons of the Empire, a portion of each soldier's pay was set aside and pooled for funeral expenses, including the ritual meal, the burial, and commemoration. Soldiers who died of illness or an accident during the normal routines of life would have been given the same rites as in civilian life. The first burial clubs for soldiers were formed under Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
; burial societies
Burial society
A burial society is a form of friendly society. These groups historically existed in England, and constituted for the purpose of providing by voluntary subscriptions, for insuring money to be paid on the death of a member, or for the funeral expenses of the husband, wife or child of a member, or of...
had existed for civilians long before. Veterans might pay into a fund upon leaving the service, insuring a decent burial by membership in an association for that purpose.
Tombstones and monuments throughout the Empire document military personnel and units stationed at particular camps (castra
Castra
The Latin word castra, with its singular castrum, was used by the ancient Romans to mean buildings or plots of land reserved to or constructed for use as a military defensive position. The word appears in both Oscan and Umbrian as well as in Latin. It may have descended from Indo-European to Italic...
). If the body could not be recovered, the death could be commemorated with a cenotaph
Cenotaph
A cenotaph is an "empty tomb" or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been interred elsewhere. The word derives from the Greek κενοτάφιον = kenotaphion...
. The epitaph usually gives the soldier's name, his birthplace, rank and unit, age and years of service, and sometimes other information such as the names of his heirs. Some more elaborate monuments depict the deceased, either in his parade regalia or in civilian dress to emphasize his citizenship. Cavalrymen
Roman cavalry
Roman cavalry refers to the horse mounted forces of the Roman army through the many centuries of its existence.- Early cavalry Roman cavalry (Latin: equites Romani) refers to the horse mounted forces of the Roman army through the many centuries of its existence.- Early cavalry Roman cavalry...
are often shown riding over the body of a downtrodden foe, an image interpreted as a symbolic victory over death. Military funeral monuments from Roman Africa take progressively more substantial forms: stele
Stele
A stele , also stela , is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab...
s in the 1st century, altars in the 2nd, and cupulas (mounds) in the 3rd. Tombs were often grouped in military cemeteries along the roads that led out of the camp. A centurion
Centurion
A centurion was a professional officer of the Roman army .Centurion may also refer to:-Military:* Centurion tank, British battle tank* HMS Centurion, name of several ships and a shore base of the British Royal Navy...
might be well-off enough to have a mausoleum
Mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...
built.
If a commander was killed in action, the men rode or marched around his pyre, or in some circumstances a cenotaph.
Philosophical views
Most explanations of the afterlife that survive are the product of an educated elite, whose views were often shaped by philosophy. In the 1st century BC, Epicureanism had become popular, though often deprecated at Rome, as many of its tenets conflicted with the mos maiorum. The Epicureans believed that the soul was a thin tissue of atoms that dissipated into the cosmos upon death, and that conventional mythological views of the afterlife and its geography and inhabitants were inane fictions — a view encapsulated by a funeral inscription at Rome that reads "Do not go forth nor pass along without reading me; but stop, listen to me and do not leave before you have been instructed: there is no crossing ferry to HadesHades
Hades , Hadēs, originally , Haidēs or , Aidēs , meaning "the unseen") was the ancient Greek god of the underworld. The genitive , Haidou, was an elision to denote locality: "[the house/dominion] of Hades". Eventually, the nominative came to designate the abode of the dead.In Greek mythology, Hades...
, nor Charon the ferryman, nor Aeacus
Aeacus
Aeacus was a mythological king of the island of Aegina in the Saronic Gulf.He was son of Zeus and Aegina, a daughter of the river-god Asopus. He was born on the island of Oenone or Oenopia, to which Aegina had been carried by Zeus to secure her from the anger of her parents, and whence this...
holding the keys, nor the dog Cerberus
Cerberus
Cerberus , or Kerberos, in Greek and Roman mythology, is a multi-headed hound which guards the gates of the Underworld, to prevent those who have crossed the river Styx from ever escaping...
."