Roman and thier dead

Soul only find rest when buried => if not, unhappy => haunted home, unhappiness to others. Justa facere – do the right things => funeral rites. Considered dues of dead. If body lost at sea / missing => burial still performed. Cenotaphium – an empty tomb – sometimes erected in honour. If Roman found unburied citizen, bound to perform rites (all part of family of commonwealth) If not possible, scatter 3 handfuls of dust => ceremonial burial, spirit happy. Burial used during ancient times => even after cremation used, bury small part of remains, such as bone of a finger. Cremation => mentioned in 12 Tables (451 BC) => hygiene = adoption of cremation Time of Augustus => cremation practiced throughout but burial still continued. Cremation too costly, others held to tradition. Cornelii always buried dead until Lucius Cornelius Sulla ordered his body to be burned, lest it be dug up and dishonoured as he did to Marius. Children less than 40 days always buried. Usually slaves also, expenses paid by master. After Christianity intro¡¯d, burial became custom. Hadrian¡¯s Mausoleum – Most imposing Roman tombs. Hadrian built it and the bridge to it. Many uses throughout centuries => fortress, castle, home of popes. Twelve Tables forbid burying/burning bodies in city walls. Poor buried in potter¡¯s fields outside.

Wealthy built tombs on highways => impressive burial places. Roads near Rome lined w/ tombs. Hope that inscriptions keep alive names/virtues of dead, allow dead take part in busy life Oldest Aristocratic families had tombs on Appian Way – most ancient highway. Some still remain. - ¡°Street of Tombs¡± outside Pompeii is example. Other places of burial: less conspicuous/costly => near cities, on farms, country estates. Public Memorials – only 1 person buried. Family tombs – large, many generations, retainers, freedmen, hospites (died away from home) were buried there.

Not wealthy enough people bought space for urns in tombs built by speculators. Cooperative burial societies – poor people belonged, build tombs as well. Sometimes built by philanthropists, generous men who built for public good. Faithful freedmen – buried by patrons. Very poor citizens – clansmen, patrons, good people

Eastern Part, Esquiline Hill – Holes in ground 12 feet square, bodies of poor, garbage, animals, dumped in. Foreign ¡°riff raff¡±, abandoned slaves, victims in arena, criminals, unidentified dead. When plague, known citizens put in. Pits kept open. Horrible was the stench / disease => uninhabitable hill. So dangerous was this => under Augustus, new dumps provided at a distance. Horti Maecenatis – Esquiline Hill turned into park by Maecenas. Covered with soil to 25 feet. Executed criminals not buried => left at place of execution near Esquiline Gate.

A tomb was designed so it was a home for the dead – not cut off from the living. Sepulcrum – a room enclosed in the tomb structure. Most important part. Burial urns shaped like early 1 room houses. Floor of Sepulcrum below level of ground, reached by steps. Around base of walls platform raised for coffins, urns either on platform or in niches in wall. A altar/shrine => offerings made to Manes – spirits of the dead Lamps, furniture found. Walls, floors, ceilings – decorated like houses. Things the living liked, such as tools of occupation, in tomb or burned @ pyre w/ them Not all tombs had sepulcrum, sometimes buried in earth under monument. Lead tube or pipe ran from surface to underground receptacle – offer wine/milk. The tomb built on as large a plot of ground as possible – several acres in some. Provision made for comfort of family if visit – seat/bench, shelter, arbor, summerhouse Dining rooms – celebrate anniversary feasts Ustrinae – places for burning bodies – sometimes private ones at tomb grounds. Grounds laid out as gardens/parks, w/ trees, flowers, fountains. Wells/cisterns House to accommodate slaves/freedmen in charge. Many types of tombs – shaped like altars/temples common, memorial arches/niches. Semicircular benches used for conversation out side.

Mausoleum of Augustus – Northern part of Campus Martius. Built by Augustus in 28 BC Circular structure of concrete w/ marble or stucco facing – mound of earth with trees and floors, on summit statue of emperor. Res Gestae – on each side => records of his achievements. In 28 BC, ashes of Marcellus buried here first, in 98 AD Emperor Nerva was last. Became fortress, hanging garden, bull ring, circus, concert hall => now excavated.

Columbaria – dovecotes, structures w/ niches to hold urns – look like pigeon house. Appeared in time of Augustus, high price of land. Underground and rectangular, many niches in rows horiz/vertical. Might hold thousands of urns. Along walls was podium for Sarcophagi – containers for bodies. Sometimes chambers excavated under floor for them. If building high enough, wooden galleries ran around walls. Under stairway, more niches. Light from small windows near ceiling, floors/walls decorated nicely. Outside of door, inscription w/ names of owners, date of erection, etc. Some niches rectangular, others half round. Low Niches | High Niches – Rect | Arched. Niches contain 2 urns, placed side by side. Sometimes deep for 2 sets of them. The ones behind raised slightly above those in front. Titulus – piece of marble show name of owner of niche. Above or below niche. If wanted 4 or 6 niches, mark them off from others by decor, they make a unit. Pillars sometimes put at sides, look like temple. Higher rows less expensive than near floor, under stairway least desirable. Urns usually cemented to bottom of niches. Sealed, but small openings – give milk/wine On urn or its cover, painted name of person, day/month of death, rarely the year

Early in Empire, associations form meet funeral expenses of members or build columbaria. @ 1st, organized amongst members of same guild/persons of same trade. Pay weekly into common fund – arrange for necessary funeral expenses When died, sum withdrawn from treasury, committee see rites performed properly At proper seasons made corporate offerings to dead. If only build columbarium, cost determined, total sum div¡¯d into shares, take as many as could afford, pay into treasury. Patronus – person who contribute generously to burial society, an honorary member Curatores – trustees – Oversaw building of structure, chosen by ballot, from largest shareholders/most influential people. Let contracts, oversaw construction, keep account. Honourable office, names appeared in inscription outside building. Show appreciation by paying for int. decoration, furnish all/part of labels/urns, build places of shelter/dining rooms on the grounds. When building finished, trustees assigned niches (numbered) to members. Trustees div¡¯d them as fairly as possible, then assign them by lot to shareholders. If person held several shares, received corresponding # of sections, perhaps in diff. parts. Members exchange, sell, give away holdings, larger holders made profits this way. Owners had names cut on labels and put up columns/set up busts to mark sections Other than name of owner, some tituli had #/position of his loci – sections. Eg. L. Abucius Hermes in hoc ordine ad imo ad summum columbaria IX ollae XVIII sibi posterisque suis. ¡°Lucius Abucius Hermes has acquired in this running from lowest tier to highest, 9 niches, with 18 urns for the ashes of himself and his posterity.¡± Sometimes titles record purchase of ollae (urns) w/ number bought, previous owner Name on olla not name over niche => owner sold part of holding or not replace title. Maintenance expense paid by weekly dues of members.

Funeral ceremonies – most info is re: persons of high position No ceremonies for slave. Low class citizens laid to rest w/o any formality. Burials @ night except last century of Republic and 1st two centuries of Empire.

Rites in Home – When Roman died at home, duty of oldest son to call him by name Conclamatio, son announced by ¡°conclamatum est¡± – call by name, recall back to life. Then eyes of dead closed, body washed w/ warm water & anointed, limbs straightened. If held a curule office, wax impression of face taken to be kept in cabinet w/ others. Dress in toga w/ his insignia of rank, placed on funeral couch in atrium w/ feet to door. Couch surround by flowers, incense burned. Before door of house set of pine/cypress branches => warning - house polluted by death. Slaves/relatives performed this for normal people. Rich => Designator – professional undertaker, made preparations for ceremonies. Embalm body, look over rest of ceremony @ house & on way to grave Unusual => nearest of kin kiss dying person => catch his final breath In early & much later times => coin placed between teeth => pay Charon @ Styx

Funeral Procession => ordinary citizen => simple. Notice to friends/neighbours. Body carried on shoulders of sons/near relatives, maybe band in lead => tomb. For great man => occurred ASAP post mortem, notice given like this: Ollus Quiris leto datus. Exsequias, quibus est commodum, ire jam tempus est. Ollus ex aedibus effertur. This citizen has been surrendered to death. For those who find it convenient, it is now time to attend the funeral. He is being brought from his house. @head of procession, band of musicians => persons singing dirges in praise of the dead => buffoons & jesters (might have imitated dead man) => actors wearing wax masts of ancestors – dressed like the people they represent. Guide deceased to his place w/ them. Servius (Latin grammarian) says 600 masks shown @ funeral of Marcellus. If deceased was general, memorials of deeds came after actors like triumphal procession. Body of dead then came – on a couch with uncovered face. Family followed. Procession include his freedmen, slaves, then friends => all dressed in mourning garb. Torchbearers attend funeral train, even by day => remind of custom of burial @ night.

Funeral Oration If deceased important => go to forum => funeral oration. Funeral couch placed before rostra, masked actors in curule chairs around. Crowd in semicircle behind. Son/near relative gave eulogy Recite deeds/virtues of dead, history of his family. Exaggerated. Honour granted freely in later times, esp. to imperial family, women. Under Republic not so common, highly prize => Caesar¡¯s aunt had an oration. If eulogy @ forum not authorized, sometimes given privately at house/grave. When reached tomb, 3 rites necessary. Consecration of resting place, cast earth on remains, purification of all polluted by death. In ancient times, body lowered into grave on couch or in coffin of burnt clay/stone. If body to be burned – couch + body placed in shallow grave filled w/ dry wood. Pile lighted, when all consumed, earth heaped over ashes to form mound. Consecrated as a regular sepulchrum. In later times, for burial, body placed into sarcophagus already in grave. If cremation, taken to ustrina => placed on pile of wood. Spice/perfumes thrown on body, w/ gifts/tokens from those present. Then pyre lighted, w/ torch by relative, who averted face. After fire gone, embers extinguished w/ water, those present called farewell to dead. Water of purification sprinkled 3 times over those present. All left except family. Ashes collected in cloth to be dried, ceremonial bone buried. Pig sacrificed – to make grounds of burial sacred. After mourners ate together, return home, purify by offering to the lares. Rites over.

At day of burial/cremation, Nine Days of Sorrow began. When ashes dried, family went to ustrina, placed them in jar of earthenware, glass, alabaster or bronze. They carried ashes to sepulcrum, w/ bare feet & loosened girdles. Sacrificium novendiale – 9th day sacrifice offered to dead – at the end of 9 days. Cena novendialis – 9th day dinner – took place at house. On this day, heirs formally entered inheritance, funeral games given. For husband, wife, parents ,grandparents, grown descendants, mourning 10 last months – ancient year. For other adult relatives, 8 months. Children between 3 and 10, as many months as years old. Parentalia, dies parentales – days of obligation, 13th to 21st Feb. Feralia – final day of above, festival of the dead Annual celebration of birthday or burial day of deceased also observed. Violaria, Rosaria – festivals of violets, roses, end of March; end of May. Relatives laid violets or roses on graves or heaped them over urns. Offerings made to the gods in temples and to manes @ the tomb. Lamps lighted in tombs, relatives dine together and gave food to dead. Decoration of graves on Easter/Memorial day correspond nearly to above.