CLC Stage 7 Culture

Where were ancient Roman tombs located?

Sides of roads outside of town - to be seen and admired

Ancient Roman tomb design

Some were grand and impressive, others plain and simple. Usually had niches to store cremations/urns

Those who didn't have money were buried more simply

Roman belief about life after death: treatment

Romans believed that unless given proper treatment (burial, offerings, admiration) ghosts would haunt the living and possibly do them harm

Roman belief about life after death: umbrae

Needed things from life - jewelry, tools, toys

Thought to be hungry and thirsty - needed wine and food

Believed that ghosts led an unhappy existence and needed attention to forget their unhappiness: banquets, flower decorations in tombs, festivals

Roman belief about life after death: Ceremonies

parentalia: families remembered parents and relations who had passed

lemuria: rites to exorcize ghosts in the house who might be angry/lonely/hungry and potentially dangerous

Roman belief about life after death: the Underworld

the good: Elysian fields

the wicked: punished in Tartarus

neither good or bad: fields of Asphodel

Epicurianism (Epicurus)

A philosophy that people should avoid both joy and pain by accepting the world as it was, ignoring politics, and living simply and quietly with a few close friends.

Did not believe in an afterlife after death