Funeral Customs of the Ancient Romans

1
Funeral Customs of the Ancient Romans
2
Roman Influence

• -The Romans borrowed and adapted much of their
  culture from the Greeks.
• -Many details of Roman funeral and undertaking
  operations foreshadowed our work today.
• -We will now start to see the emerging role of
  the modern day Undertaker.
• -The Romans made great strides in defining the
  character, status and occupational of the modern
  Funeral Director.

3
Roman view of death

• Animistic view-
• the doctrine that believes that the soul is
  vital and the soul of a man although separated
  at death from the body it will hover around the
  place of burial for continued peace and
  happiness and requires food and drink
  constantly from the survivors.

• Therefore, the dead were offered basic food
  necessities.

4
Roman View of Death Continued

• Influence of Mystery Cults-
• People had the hope of joining a cult god in a
  wonderful place-
• or the horror of a world of torment,
  gloom, and continued unhappiness.
• Epicurean influence- believed that there was no
  
• after-life, the body simply disintegrated
  back to atoms.
• eat and drink for tomorrow we die

5
Roman View of Death Continued

• Influence of Christianity-Dominate Religion by
  300 A.D.
• We now start to see a theological orientation to
  death-
• Organization of beliefs about man and his
  Maker.
• Customs were patterned for the most part by the
  Christian mode of sepulture of Christ
• Some form of afterlife was envisioned by the
  Romans at all times.

6
Roman Burial Customs

• Cremation-
• -Common until the first century after Christ.
• -Was later discouraged by the Mystery Cults of
  the Orient and the rise of Christianity.
• Burial-
• -Because of sanitation it was not permitted
  within the walls of Rome.
• -Cremation was replaced by burial with the
  Christian Influence.

7
Roman Burial Customs

• Excavation-
• -Burial was extramural (outside the city
  walls).
• Class Distinctions-
• -The rich had tombs.
• -The poor had a common pit
• commune sepulcurum.
• Tombs or Columbaria-
• -Held the cremated dead.

8
Roman Burial Customs

• Burial Societies-
• -Assured burial of the poorer classes of
  people.
• Death was a part of life-
• -There was no hurriedly putting the dead out
  of sight.
• Do you feel that we put death out of sight
  today?

9
Roman Burial Customs

• Preparation of the dead-
• -The person died in the presence of his
  family.
• -The body was washed , anointed and laid out
  with a toga, and decorated with the insignia of
  rank the dead had achieved.
• -Placed on a funeral couch with the feet
  towards the door to then lie in state for a
  length of time flowers and incense were
  present.
• Where do we see this today?

10
Roman Burial Customs

• Preparation of the dead-
• -The well to do people were taken care of by
  professional undertakers who took care of the
  arrangements for the funeral procession and
  burial also.
• -The body was not embalmed to last like the
  Egyptians but rather just to make it through
  lying in state without putrefaction.
• -Most embalming was done superficially. Cavity
  embalming was only done for the rich.

11
Funeral Functionaries

• Libitina-
• goddess of corpses and funerals.
• Libitinarius-
• Head Undertaker-took care of most of the
  arrangements.
• Pollinctores-
• The Embalmers-were slaves or employees of the
  Libitinarius.

12
Funeral Functionaries

• Designators-Directed the funeral
• Procession and was the master of ceremonies.
• Praeco-Crier, let everyone know
• about the funeral by crying in the streets.
• These officials were debarred from participation
  in Political life, but if they ever quit they
  could be elected to the highest magistracies.

13
Early Funeral Directing

• Funeral Procession/Services-
• -Usually held at night, the high status
  funerals were during the day.
• -The body was moved outside the city where
  cremation or burial took place.
• -Consecration of the burial site took place
  and guests threw dirt on the coffin.
• -Mourning period was observed.

14
Early Funeral Directing

• Professional Mourners-
• -Romans used professional mourners.did not
  want to offend the dead.
• -Women were hired to shriek and beat their
  breasts with abandon.
• -The ceremony ended with the conclamatio
  mortis(calling out of the dead), as they tore
  their hair out and tore their clothes and
  scratched their faces until they drew blood,
  while circling the coffin.

15
Early Funeral Directing

• Influence of Constantine and Christianity on
  funeral behavior-
• -Everyone received a burial even if they could
  not afford it, the State would pay.
• -They were Given a coffin, a religious
  procession, the grave was dug and the body was
  buried.
• Do you think the Roman State should pay for the
  funeral of the poor?
• Why?

16
Early Funeral Directing

• Funerary Customs-
• Funeral behavior was slowly becoming a
  function of the church.

17
The Roman Influence

• The Roman Undertaker-
• As an arranger, manager and director of funeral
  affairs, as well as a supplier of mortuary goods,
  sets a pattern of occupational behavior
  meaningful to the funeral director of the
  mid-twentieth century.
• -The Romans were the first to create mortuary
  law. These laws have been an enduring pattern for
  public protection in the matter of the disposal
  of our dead.