Roman funerary practices include the Ancient Romans' religious rituals concerning funerals, cremations, and burials. They were part of time-hallowed tradition (Latin: mos maiorum), the unwritten code from which Romans derived their social norms. Elite funeral rites, especially processions and public eulogies, gave the family opportunity to publicly celebrate the life and deeds of the deceased, their ancestors, and the family's standing in the community. Sometimes the political elite gave costly public feasts, games and popular entertainments after family funerals, to honour the departed and to maintain a high public profile and reputation for generosity. The Roman gladiator games began as funeral gifts for the deceased in high status families.

Articles with short description

Short description is different from Wikidata

Short description matches Wikidata

Roman funerary practices
Roman funerary practices include the Ancient Romans' religious rituals concerning funerals, cremations, and burials. They were part of time-hallowed tradition (Latin: mos maiorum), the unwritten code from which Romans derived their social norms. Elite funeral rites, especially processions and public eulogies, gave the family opportunity to publicly celebrate the life and deeds of the deceased, their ancestors, and the family's standing in the community. Sometimes the political elite gave costly public feasts, games and popular entertainments after family funerals, to honour the departed and to maintain a high public profile and reputation for generosity. The Roman gladiator games began as funeral gifts for the deceased in high status families. Among the elite, funeral displays and expenses were supposedly constrained by sumptuary laws, designed to reduce class envy and consequent social conflict. The less well-off, and those who lacked the support of an extended family could subscribe to guilds or collegia which provided funeral services for members. Until their funeral and disposal, the dead presented a risk of ritual pollution. This was managed through funerary rituals which separated them from the world of the living, and consigned their spirit to the underworld. Professional undertakers were available to organise the funeral, manage the rites and dispose of the body. Even the simplest funerals of Rome's citizen and free majority could be very costly, relative to income. The poorest, and certain categories of criminal, could be dumped in pits or rivers, or left to rot in the open air. During plagues and pandemics, the system might be completely overwhelmed. Without benefit of funeral rites, the vagrant spirits of the dead would haunt the living. In Rome's earliest history, both inhumation and cremation were in common use among all classes. Around the mid-Republic inhumation was almost exclusively replaced by cremation, with some notable exceptions, and remained the most common funerary practice until the middle of the Empire, when it was almost entirely replaced by inhumation. Possible reasons for these widespread changes are the subject of scholarly speculation. During the early Imperial era, the funeral needs of the poor were at least partly met by the provision of ash-tombs with multiple niches, known as columbaria ("dovecote" tombs). During the later empire, and particularly in the early Christian era, Rome's catacombs performed a similar function as repositories for inhumation burials. By ancient tradition, cemeteries were located outside the ritual boundaries (pomerium) of towns and cities. Grand monuments and humble tombs alike lined the roadsides, sometimes clustered together like "cities of the dead". Tombs were visited regularly by living relatives with offerings of food and wine, and special observances during particular Roman festivals and anniversaries; correct funerary observances and continuity of care from one generation to the next ensured that the shades of the departed were well disposed towards their living descendants. Those who could afford it spent lavishly on tombs and memorials. A Roman sarcophagus could be an elaborately crafted art work, decorated with relief sculpture depicting a scene that was allegorical, mythological, or historical, or a scene from everyday life. Some tombs are very well preserved, and their imagery and inscriptions are an important source of information for individuals, families and significant events.