Roman Burials

• In 450 BCE a Law was passed during the Roman Republic that all Burials and Cremations were forbidden within the City Walls of Rome.
• Consequently in Rome, the Via Appia is lined with the Tombs of the Roman Upper classes.

Burials and Cremations

• Burial or Inhumation was common under the Roman Republic, but Cremation existed a well.
• After the Dictator Sulla (138-78 BCE) insisted on being Cremated himself, Cremation became more common.
• The Law was rescinded by Constantine I when he accepted Christianity as a legal Religion in 312 CE.

Roman Cemeteries

• Roman Cemeteries
  • Roman Law prohibited the burial of the dead inside the Pomerium (boundary) of a Roman City or Town.
  • Roman Cemeteries were therefore always placed beside a Road just outside of the City.
• Cemeteries of Ancient Rome
  • The oldest Cemeteries of Ancient Rome were located on the Via Appia (312 CE) as this was the first road to be constructed. As other roads were paved, they also had cemeteries located beside them.
• Via Appia
  • Outside the old city limits of Rome, the Via Appia is lined with Columbaria, the Tombs of the Roman Aristocracy.
• Arles
  • Arles Roman cemetery is known as the Alyscamps.

The Roman Funeral

• The Rites at the Home of the Deceased:
• The Body was prepared by being washed, laid out on a funeral couch, fet facing the door and dressed in a Roman Toga. The couch would be surrounded by flowers and burning incense.
• A coin was placed in the mouth or on the eyes to pay Charon, the Roman Ferryman of the Dead, to row the deceased across the River Acheron to the Underworld called Hades.
• The Wealthy Romans were laid out for 8 days.

The Burial Procession

• The Procession took place at night, consisting of family, friends and neighbours.
• It was led by the ‘Dominus Funeri’ who cried out the details of the Funeral, with Lictors, Women in mourning and musicians following behind. Then followed the Roman Slaves who had been recently freed.
• In front of the Corpse were actors representing the Ancestors, wearing wax masks which were made to resemble the Ancestors.

The Funeral Oration or ‘Laudatio’

• When the procession reached the Forum Romanum an Oration would be made in front of the Rostra, by a senior Public Official.
• For a person of lesser status the Funeral Oration would usually be given by the son, either in the home of the deceased or at the Burial site.

The Funeral Pyre

• The Corpse was placed on the Funeral Pyre, which was then lit.
• Whilst the Pyre was burning, gifts of items that would be useful in the afterlife were thrown in, along with perfume.
• Finally, the ashes were collected and placed into an Urn.

The Burial

• Three Rites had to be observed at a Burial.
  1. Consecration of the Burial ground.
  2. The casting of earth over the remains.
  3. The purification of the attendees by sprinkling water over them three times.
• Tomb Burial:
  • The Body was lowered into the Grave in a stone or clay coffin.
• Columbaria Burial:
  • Cremations would take place either in a shallow grave or in a sarcophagus, from which the ashes would then be removed and placed in an urn.
  • A Columbarium was a large Tomb full of niches designed to hold hundreds, sometimes thousands of Urns. This was to reduce the cost of the Burial. Light came in through tiny upper windows.
  • A family would have a niche capable of holding 4 Urns.
  • Each Urn would be sealed and cemented into the niche. The Urn carried the Name, the day and month the Deceased died, but not the year.
  • The higher niches were more expensive, the lower niches the least expensive.

Period of Mourning

• One year:
  • for a widow or daughter who had lost a Parent.
• ‘Nine Days of Sorrow’:
  • on the ninth day there was a Sacrifice, the Sacrificium Novediale’ and the Heirs then came into their Inheritance.

The Burial Area in Law

• The Burial Area was considered Sacred.
• Roman Law punished any desecration of Tombs by Death or Deportation.

The Burials of Roman Emperors

• Temple of Julius Caesar
  • Julius Caesar was cremated in the Forum Romanum, and the Temple of Julius Caesar was built by Augustus over the site of his Cremation.
• Mausoleum of Augustus
  • This held the ashes of Augustus and the ashes of the early Roman Emperors.
• Trajan's Column
  • Trajan’s ashes are buried under the plinth of the column.
• Mausoleum of Hadrian
  • This held the ashes of Hadrian and the later Roman Emperors.
• Christianity
  • During the rise of Christianity Burial again became more common, until it became the custom after Constantine I made Christianity into the State Religion.
• Church of the Holy Apostles
  • Starting with Constantine I, the Eastern Roman Emperors were buried in the Mausoleum of the Church of the Holy Apostles, Constantinople, Istanbul, between 337 to 1056 CE.

Catacombs, Via Appia, Rome