I created this blog as part of an assignment for my Perspectives in Death and Dying class at Southeast Missouri State University. My goal was to research the funeral and burial practices of Ancient Rome. When I started this blog I thought this assignment would be easy and something fun and interesting. It did turn out to be fun and interesting but it was definitely not easy.
What I did not take into consideration when I started this project was how large the Ancient Roman Empire actually was. It covered lots of different countries with different traditions and religions that had various effects on the funeral and burial practices. In reality it would take a lot more than a semester to properly examine the various traditions under the empire.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed reading on my topic and found that the first book I read "Spectacles of Death in Ancient Rome" by Donald G. Kyle to be the most informative and a lot of the articles I read after that became somewhat repetitive. To find new information I probably would have needed to refine my search to look at different areas conquered by the Romans and look at their funeral and burial traditions.
The most important aspects that I want to revisit and cover in my power point are how they disposed on the arena victims, the funeral procession with the masks, burial practices outside the city walls/burial sacrifice, and other smaller traditions that may not have been widely practiced but were still interesting.
I hope you all have enjoyed reading this blog and I might continue my investigations and updates just for my own personal entertainment.
Sunday, December 15, 2013
One More Thing...
There was one other article that I read concerning burials during the transition of Rome from a republic to an empire. The work was entitled "Seasons of Death" by Brent Shaw and concerned the burials and epitaphs of Christians.
"The Christian deceased were buried in the so-called catacombs-a disparate network of well over sixty different burial grounds constituted by underground tunnels and chambers radiating outwards from the periphery of the city. It has been estimated that these subterranean corridors extend for a combined length of about a thousand kilometers beneath the surface of the suburban regions of Rome." (101)
(That is around 621 miles)(It should also be noted that they did not bury within the city walls at this time either)
The epitaphs included a date of birth which was actually the death date or date of rebirth. This was the most important piece of information to be included on the Christian epitaphs unlike the Ancient Roman tradition of including their accomplishments etc.
The reason that I wanted to bring up this article is because I personally wonder what happened to the catacombs during the Ancient Roman times. During my reading I have often come across their harsh treatment of Christians and how Christian burials were not accepted as real graveyards-so I wonder that the catacombs were never touched during the Ancient Roman Empire.
"The Christian deceased were buried in the so-called catacombs-a disparate network of well over sixty different burial grounds constituted by underground tunnels and chambers radiating outwards from the periphery of the city. It has been estimated that these subterranean corridors extend for a combined length of about a thousand kilometers beneath the surface of the suburban regions of Rome." (101)
(That is around 621 miles)(It should also be noted that they did not bury within the city walls at this time either)
The epitaphs included a date of birth which was actually the death date or date of rebirth. This was the most important piece of information to be included on the Christian epitaphs unlike the Ancient Roman tradition of including their accomplishments etc.
The reason that I wanted to bring up this article is because I personally wonder what happened to the catacombs during the Ancient Roman times. During my reading I have often come across their harsh treatment of Christians and how Christian burials were not accepted as real graveyards-so I wonder that the catacombs were never touched during the Ancient Roman Empire.
Death in Ancient Rome
Over the past couple days I have done a lot of reading on Ancient Rome for historiography, most of which ended up being irrelevant to this blog unfortunately. One book that I read though entitled "Death in Ancient Rome" by Catherine Edwards had a few (very few) parts that could be considered of interest.
One of which is a description of a dinner party held by a member of the elite:
"Towards the close of the dinner, Trimalchio reads his will out to those who are to inherit from him. Then, after the arrival of Habinnas, who is by trade a monumental mason, Trimalchio orders in great detail an extremely elaborate funeral monument. Having described the funeral monument, Trimalchio starts to weep....The dinner party's culmination is a fully -fledged rehearsal of Trimalchio's funeral." (168)
I had hoped that a book dealing with death would have more information dealing with funerals and burials woven in but Edwards sticks to her theme and does not ever really stray into what happens after death. However, the reading was still interesting and can be used to help understand why funerals and burials were so elaborate in many cases.
Death was an obsession for many Romans, as demonstrated by the funeral dinner party, and to die bravely was highly important. Historians of the time often wrote about the proper ways to die and instructed people on how to prepare for death and why it should not be feared. The arena also served to teach people how to die bravely in the form of the gladiators whom many admired. In fact, and I think I may have mentioned this before, the funeral practice of sacrificing a poor slave is though to be the origins of the Roman Arena.
One of which is a description of a dinner party held by a member of the elite:
"Towards the close of the dinner, Trimalchio reads his will out to those who are to inherit from him. Then, after the arrival of Habinnas, who is by trade a monumental mason, Trimalchio orders in great detail an extremely elaborate funeral monument. Having described the funeral monument, Trimalchio starts to weep....The dinner party's culmination is a fully -fledged rehearsal of Trimalchio's funeral." (168)
I had hoped that a book dealing with death would have more information dealing with funerals and burials woven in but Edwards sticks to her theme and does not ever really stray into what happens after death. However, the reading was still interesting and can be used to help understand why funerals and burials were so elaborate in many cases.
Death was an obsession for many Romans, as demonstrated by the funeral dinner party, and to die bravely was highly important. Historians of the time often wrote about the proper ways to die and instructed people on how to prepare for death and why it should not be feared. The arena also served to teach people how to die bravely in the form of the gladiators whom many admired. In fact, and I think I may have mentioned this before, the funeral practice of sacrificing a poor slave is though to be the origins of the Roman Arena.
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Hello Readers!
So, I don't have any actual new information for you right now but there should be a great deal of last minute information coming soon! I am currently working on my historiographical essay that is dealing with the Roman Arena and a lot of the reading also includes some information relevant to this blog! So while I am doing that paper I will also be making side notes of information to post here.
I have also found an entire article of relevant information thanks to Mrs. Hosselkus' recommendations so I will hopefully be reading that around... Thursday of this week!
Hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving (those who celebrate Thanksgiving) and have a great week!
Also, I may post my historiographical essay since it has some relevance to this blog-we'll see!
I have also found an entire article of relevant information thanks to Mrs. Hosselkus' recommendations so I will hopefully be reading that around... Thursday of this week!
Hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving (those who celebrate Thanksgiving) and have a great week!
Also, I may post my historiographical essay since it has some relevance to this blog-we'll see!
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Children's Burials Continued
Norman, Naomi J. "Death And Burial Of Roman Children: The Case Of The Yasmina Cemetery At Carthage—Part I, Setting The Stage." Mortality 7.3 (2002): 302-323. Academic Search Complete. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
Norman, Naomi J. "Death And Burial Of Roman Children: The Case Of The Yasmina Cemetery At Carthage--Part II, The Archaeological Evidence." Mortality 8.1 (2003): 36-47. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.
Q&A,
Q:
"I also found the fact about graves lined with white plaster interesting! I wonder what their reasons were (besides social status) for doing that?"
A:
According to the reading, there are two theories on the use of white plaster for burials: One is that it identified Christian graves because they expressed concern for maintaining the integrity of the body after death. Two is that it was used only on bodies too old for burial in amphoras (large storage vessels).
Part I:
Continuing with the article from my previous post Norman makes an excellent point to keep in mind, the geographical expanse of the empire causes tremendous variation in the funeral and burial practices of children. (this also causes a variation in the funeral and burial practices of the adults as many cultures intertwined previous traditions with the Roman traditions)
Funeral processions for children were held at night "away from the public gaze" and were seen as private family events versus the extravagant social events that were reserved for adults. The funeral procession was lit by torches which is thought to either diminish the child's terror or to dispel pollution brought on by a child's death. The article also states that it was "necessary to sacrifice a pig in order to mark the grave legally as a grave" which I don't think I have read before but some of the graves did include pig bones. (I have read of other sorts of sacrifices at the Roman grave sites but not a pig specifically)
Another practice that I don't remember reading on was at the time of death the family would call out the name of the deceased to ascertain that death had occurred.
Part II:
The second article examines various archeological evidence from different areas of the empire to determine the different practices.
The use of amphoras in burials was typically used to distinguish children from adults.
A cemetery in Thysdrus was reserved specifically for children and was arranged by age.
Many of the cemeteries showed the transition from original practice to Roman practices. The original graves were more basic and would often be lacking markers while the Roman graves would be more elaborate masonry tombs that markers and epitaphs with the child's age.
Norman, Naomi J. "Death And Burial Of Roman Children: The Case Of The Yasmina Cemetery At Carthage--Part II, The Archaeological Evidence." Mortality 8.1 (2003): 36-47. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.
Q&A,
Q:
"I also found the fact about graves lined with white plaster interesting! I wonder what their reasons were (besides social status) for doing that?"
A:
According to the reading, there are two theories on the use of white plaster for burials: One is that it identified Christian graves because they expressed concern for maintaining the integrity of the body after death. Two is that it was used only on bodies too old for burial in amphoras (large storage vessels).
Part I:
Continuing with the article from my previous post Norman makes an excellent point to keep in mind, the geographical expanse of the empire causes tremendous variation in the funeral and burial practices of children. (this also causes a variation in the funeral and burial practices of the adults as many cultures intertwined previous traditions with the Roman traditions)
Funeral processions for children were held at night "away from the public gaze" and were seen as private family events versus the extravagant social events that were reserved for adults. The funeral procession was lit by torches which is thought to either diminish the child's terror or to dispel pollution brought on by a child's death. The article also states that it was "necessary to sacrifice a pig in order to mark the grave legally as a grave" which I don't think I have read before but some of the graves did include pig bones. (I have read of other sorts of sacrifices at the Roman grave sites but not a pig specifically)
Another practice that I don't remember reading on was at the time of death the family would call out the name of the deceased to ascertain that death had occurred.
Part II:
The second article examines various archeological evidence from different areas of the empire to determine the different practices.
The use of amphoras in burials was typically used to distinguish children from adults.
A cemetery in Thysdrus was reserved specifically for children and was arranged by age.
Many of the cemeteries showed the transition from original practice to Roman practices. The original graves were more basic and would often be lacking markers while the Roman graves would be more elaborate masonry tombs that markers and epitaphs with the child's age.
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Children's Burials
This week I have been looking over an article focusing on the burial of children based mostly off archeological evidence.
Norman, Naomi J. "Death And Burial Of Roman Children: The Case Of The Yasmina Cemetery At Carthage—Part I, Setting The Stage." Mortality 7.3 (2002): 302-323. Academic Search Complete. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
Archeological studies done by the University of George at a cemetery in Carthage reveals interesting evidence that has similarities and differences among other Roman grave sites.
They examined over 60 burials at this specific site, of which a large portion were ages 1-7. From the graves themselves it was determined that the cemetery held persons of all social statuses. Some of the graves were lined with rubble while others were of white plaster.
What they discovered that was different from traditional Roman Customs was that only the children between ages 1-7 had grave gifts which was common for all burials of the time. Also the children's graves were clustered around the middle of the cemetery when usually they would be intermingled with the adult graves.
Children's epitaphs, unlike adults, would emphasize their age because they had little other accomplishments to commemorate.
On grieving for children:
"A law of Numa, quotes by Plutarch, for example, apportions the length of mourning for a child in relation to the child's age at death: children below the age of one year received no mourning, those between the ages of one and three years received half morning, those between three and 10 years old received on month of mourning for every year of life and those older than 10 received full mourning. When consoling his wife over the death of their two year old daughter, Plutarch remarks that the child's obsequies should be simple and carried out quickly. He remind her that, in accordance with ancestral custom, one should not offer libations nor linger at the funeral of a young child. Nor should one grieve too much. He explains that children receive a minimal amount of ritual because they are not yet fully integrated into the social fabric of the community."
.....To be continued.
Norman, Naomi J. "Death And Burial Of Roman Children: The Case Of The Yasmina Cemetery At Carthage—Part I, Setting The Stage." Mortality 7.3 (2002): 302-323. Academic Search Complete. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
Archeological studies done by the University of George at a cemetery in Carthage reveals interesting evidence that has similarities and differences among other Roman grave sites.
They examined over 60 burials at this specific site, of which a large portion were ages 1-7. From the graves themselves it was determined that the cemetery held persons of all social statuses. Some of the graves were lined with rubble while others were of white plaster.
What they discovered that was different from traditional Roman Customs was that only the children between ages 1-7 had grave gifts which was common for all burials of the time. Also the children's graves were clustered around the middle of the cemetery when usually they would be intermingled with the adult graves.
Children's epitaphs, unlike adults, would emphasize their age because they had little other accomplishments to commemorate.
On grieving for children:
"A law of Numa, quotes by Plutarch, for example, apportions the length of mourning for a child in relation to the child's age at death: children below the age of one year received no mourning, those between the ages of one and three years received half morning, those between three and 10 years old received on month of mourning for every year of life and those older than 10 received full mourning. When consoling his wife over the death of their two year old daughter, Plutarch remarks that the child's obsequies should be simple and carried out quickly. He remind her that, in accordance with ancestral custom, one should not offer libations nor linger at the funeral of a young child. Nor should one grieve too much. He explains that children receive a minimal amount of ritual because they are not yet fully integrated into the social fabric of the community."
.....To be continued.
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