Roman Death and Burial

WEALTH AND STATUS

Rich people were buried in grand tombs with great decorations and located near busy roads so they were seen, but not everyone could afford to be buried like that. Incase a Roman was too poor/didn’t have anyone to pay for their funeral, they could join a funeral club where members would pay monthly and socialise. In this way poorer people could make connections and have someone pay for their funeral. When someone would die, the group account would be used to pay for the funeral.

PREPARATION OF THE BODY

Greeks and Romans had some similar ways of preparing the dead:

SIMILARITIES	DIFFERENCES/ROMAN ONLY
Body is washed and perfumed	Just as someone dies a relative will kiss them as they take their last breath, or call out their name after they die
Coin in mouth for the ferrymen	Instead of being dressed in a white shroud, they would be in their finest clothes
Women would lament	Atrium (mourning room) is 8 days long (ew stinky corpse), the Greeks is only 3

FUNERAL PROCESSION

At the funeral there would be musicians (flute + horn players), family members (wearing funeral masks of family ancestors), slaves/freedman and actors (who would dress up as the dead person??)

BURIAL OF THE BODY

Wealthy Romans would show off their status in their funeral through their tomb size (family or individual) and were along roads. To commemorate the dead a marble bust was made for their house. The Romans believed that they turned into Manes (spirits from the underworld)

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