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SEPULCRUM

SEPULCRUM


1. Greek.

Sepulchral chambers cut in the rock are found at all periods and in all parts of the Greek world. The so-called “prison of Socrates” at Athens is a well-known example of this kind of grave (Curtius, Atlas von Athen, 7.4). The form and arrangement of these rock-cut tombs are very various. They consist sometimes of a single chamber, sometimes of an assemblage of chambers forming a small catacomb. Generally one or more shelves are cut in the rock, at the side of each chamber, for the reception of the bodies, and for the vases and other objects which are placed beside them. (For accounts of rock-cut graves in Cyprus, at and near Paphos, J. H. S. [Journal of Hellenic Studies,] 1888, p. 264 ff.; at Rhodes, Ross, Arch. Ztg. 1850, p. 209; at Selinus in Sicily, Cavallari, Bullet. Sicil. 5.1872, p. 10 ff.; in Karpathos, Bent, J. H. S. 6.236.)

In the greater part of the Hellenic world rock-tombs are rather the exception than the rule, and were probably a luxury of the rich; but in Asia Minor, and especially in Phrygia and Lycia, they are found in enormous numbers, and often of elaborate and ornate kinds.

(1) The commonest type of ornate rock-tomb in Lycia is a very close imitation of a wooden structure, in which a framework of beams, the intervening spaces being filled with wooden panels, supports a flat roof with projecting eaves. The minutest details of wood-construction are reproduced in stone. Sometimes the façade only of such a house is cut in a wall of rock; sometimes it stands cornerwise, with two sides free; sometimes it is attached to the rock at the back only; and sometimes it stands entirely free (Benndorf and Niemann, Reisen in Lykien und Karien, p. 95 ff.). The interior consists of a small low chamber, generally furnished with three stone couches upon which to place the bodies. In some cases a pointed arch is found above the flat roof, similar to that which forms the top of the sarcophagus tombs (see below). In the later examples the whole façade is gradually assimilated to the typical façade of orthodox Greek architecture, with columns and architrave. The pointed arch then becomes converted into a pediment.

(2)The sarcophagus tombs are very numerous. Benndorf estimates that there are some two thousand of them in Lycia. The following woodcut of a tomb at Antiphellus, taken from Fellows' Excursion in Asia Minor, p. 219, gives a typical example; and two specimens may be seen in the British Museum.

In the earlier examples the peculiarities of wood--construction are very closely followed. The arched covering seems to represent a tentlike erection upon the flat roof of the house. As in the case of the rock-tombs already mentioned, there is some assimilation to ordinary Greek architecture in the later examples. This

Tomb in Lycia.

assimilation has been carried some way in the tomb represented in the woodcut.

(3)Tombs in the shape of a high square column or pedestal, with a projecting cornice at the top, are found at Xanthos and elsewhere. Benndorf (op. cit. p. 108) enumerates eleven of them. The best known example is the “Harpy Tomb” --the sculptures from which are now in the British Museum (Excursion in Asia Minor, pp. 126, 231 ff.; Discoveries in Lycia, p. 168 ff.).

In Phrygia many rock-tombs are found. In some cases the façade is architectural in character, and ornamented with geometrical patterns (as the “Midas” tomb; Ramsay, J. H. S. 9.380; Perrot and Chipiez, Histoire de l'Art dans l'Antiquité, v. p. 82, pl. 48); in other cases the ornament is sculptural, as at the “Lion Tomb” and the “Broken Lion Tomb” (J. H. S. 9.361, 363, 368, &c. For Phrygian tombs, see Ramsay, J. H. S. 3.1, 256, 5.241, 9.350, 10.147; and Perrot and Chipiez, op. cit. pp. 81-147).

Large temple-tombs or heroa are found in various parts of Asia Minor. A central chamber stands upon a high basis or podium, and is surrounded by a colonnade. The “Nereid Monument” at Xanthus was of this type, and was probably sepulchral. A somewhat similar tomb at Mylasa in Caria is represented by Fellows (Discoveries in Lycia, p. 76). This type found its highest development in the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus in Caria [MAUSOLEUM], which was so widely celebrated in the ancient world that the word Mausoleum was used by the Romans in the meaning of a splendid tomb. Large stone or marble structures of this type are seldom found in Greece proper; perhaps to some extent on account of the sumptuary laws, which restrained expenditure upon monuments. Thus, at Athens, it was provided by one of Solon's laws that no one should erect a monument which could not be completed by ten men in the course of three days; and Demetrius [p. 2.644]Phalereus forbade the erection of any funeral monument more than three cubits in height (Cic. de Legg. 2.2. 6, 66).

An early and very remarkable form of tomb is that known as the bee-hive, or domed tomb. The best known example of this type is the socalled “Treasury of Atreus” at Mycenae, which is shown in section and plan below. A large circular chamber is built of courses of stones, which gradually overlap until they meet at the apex, so as to form a dome-shaped building, but not a true dome. The space for this chamber is excavated in the side of a hill, so that the whole projects very little above the natural level of the ground. It is approached by a stone-lined passage or δρόμος cut into the slope of the hill. The lintel of the door to which the δρόμος leads is formed of a single enormous block of stone. A door at one side of the domed chamber leads into the small sepulchral

SECTION.

A, entrance; B, principal chamber; C, small side chamber.

chamber cut in the rock. (Athen. Mittheil. iv. pp. 177-182; Helbig, Das homerische Epos, p. 53.)

Other graves of a similar type have been found at Mycenae, and at many other places on the eastern shores of Greece; for example, at Menidhi (Acharnae) (Köhler, Lolling, and others, Das Kuppelgrab bei Menidi), Spata in Attica, Orchomenos, Nauplia, near the Heraeon in the neighbourhood of Argos, and at Volo in Thessaly. It seems probable that these tombs represent a later stage of the same civilisation which produced the graves excavated by Dr. Schliemann upon the Acropolis at Mycenae; but it is impossible here to discuss the questions which arise in connexion with them. (For references to literature upon the subject, see Helbig, l.c.

The normal form of Greek grave may be considered sidered to be a hole or trench in the ground, whether dug in earth or cut in rock. These are generally found in groups; forming, in fact, cemeteries. They are often marked with a monument; and they contain many objects besides the body. We have therefore to consider (1) the position in which graves were placed; (2) the form of the grave; (3) the monument placed above the grave; (4) the contents of the grave.


1. Place of Burial.

In the earliest times it was the custom, in Attica at any rate, for the dead to be buried in their own houses (Plat. Minos, 315 D); and traces of graves inside houses have been found at Athens (Curtius, Atlas von Athen, p. 19). At Mycenae the very early graves excavated by Dr. Schliemann are within the circuit of the citadel walls; and at certain places the burial of the dead within the city was not forbidden in historical times; as at Sparta (Plut. Lyc. 27: [Lycurgus] ἐν τῇ πόλει θάπτειν τοὺς νεκροὺς καὶ πληοίον ἔχειν τὰ μνήματα τῶν ἱερῶν οὐκ ἐκώλυσε), Megara (Paus. 1.43.3), and Tarentum (Plb. 8.30). As a general rule, however, the places of burial were outside the city walls, and frequently by the side of roads and near the gates of the city. Thus at Athens the place of burial for those who had fallen in war was the outer Kerameikos, outside the Dipylon gate, on the road leading to the Academia (Thuc. 2.34; Aristoph. Birds 395; Paus. 1.29, 4); and the common place of burial was outside the Itonian Gate, near the road leading to the Piraeus (Ἠρίαι πύλαι, Etym. Mag. and Harpocr. s.v. Theophr. Char. 14); while burial within the walls was strictly forbidden (Cic. Fam. 4.1. 2, 3). At Tanagra the tombs are outside the ancient town; the three chief cemeteries being on the E., N., and S. (Haussoullier, Quomodo sepulcra Tanagraei decoraverint, p. 3), and the groups of tombs chiefly cluster round the roads (ib. p. 69).


2. The Forms of Graves.

At the Necropolis. of Myrina, far the commonest form of grave was an oblong trench cut in the tufa, corresponding in size with the body to be buried. This sometimes had a covering of stone plaques, but often was merely filled in with earth (Reinach and Pottier, La Nécropole de Myrina, p. 59). This form of grave was also common at Tanagra; but when it was covered, tiles were used instead of stone plaques, and the trenches are for the most part dug in the earth, not cut in rock (Haussoullier, op. cit. p. 60). At Tanagra round pits, 1 ft. 6 in. to 5 ft. in diameter, are also found. At both places the graves are sometimes lined with stone slabs. In Cyprus, in the neighbourhood of Paphos, the tombs consist almost entirely of vaulted chambers, cut in the rock or earth, sometimes with niches radiating from a central chamber. The cut below shows one of the more. elaborate rock-tombs (J. H. S. ix. p. 264 if., for a description of the different varieties).

There are various statements in ancient authors as to the orientation of tombs (Plut. Sol. 100.10; Aelian, V. Hist. 5.14; D. L. 1.2, 48); but in cases in which careful observations have been made, no uniformity of direction has been found. (Myrina, La Nécropole [p. 2.645]de M., p. 57; Tanagra, Haussoullier, op. cit. p. 69; Leontari Vouni, in Cyprus, J. H. S. ix. p. 156.)


3. Outer Adornment or Monument.

The earliest kind of mark placed over a grave was probably the simple tumulus. In later times

Tombs at Paphos. (Cesnola.)

a grave-stone of some kind was generally set up. The shapes of these grave-stones are extremely various. They are divided by Koumanoudes (Ἀττλκγ̂ς ἐπιγραφαὶ ἐπιτύμβιοι, p. 18 if.; cf. Von Sybel, Die Sculpturen von Athen, i. p. ix. ff.) into the following classes:--(1) κιονίσκο. Small round columns, often with a simple moulding near the top, below which is the inscription. This is the commonest shape. (2) πλάκες, rectangular slabs, lying upon the ground. (3) στῆλαι. [See STELA.] (4) Aediculae or shrine-shaped stones. The top is generally of pedimental form, supported by pilasters or free columns. The space thus enclosed is filled by a sculptured representation, in very high relief in the later examples. (5) Mensae (a term used by Cicero, apparently for monuments of this class). Large rectangular blocks of stone, with architectural ornament at the base and on the cornice. (6) Hydriae. Large marble vases, in the shape of a lekythus, or of a tall amphora, of the kind used for funeral purposes [FUNUS], were sometimes set up as funeral monuments. Eustathius (ad Il. 23.141) says that τοῖς πρὸ γάμου τελευτῶσιν λουτροφόρος, φασίν, ἐπετίθετο κάλπις, εἰς ἔνδειξιν τοῦ ὅτι ἄλουτος τὰ νυμφικὰ καὶ ἄγονος ἄπεισι. Koumanoudes argues from this passage that these marble vases were λουτροφόροι, and marked the graves of unmarried persons, and confirms his view by the fact that out of 171 cases in which the tombstone is a vase or bears a representation of one, all but five are certainly to be referred to unmarried persons. Other passages, however (Demosth. adv. Leoc. p. 1086.18; Pollux, 8.66; Harpocr. s. v.), seem to show that the λουτροφόρος was a figure bearing a vase: as, indeed, the formation of the word would indicate. (7)θῆκαι, stone receptacles, for the ashes after cremation; round or square, with a lid. (8)Sarcophagi. The word στήλη is also used in a more general sense to include most kinds of funeral monuments; and a fuller discussion of the artistic ornament of funeral monuments will be found in the articles STELA and SARCOPHAGUS

This classification of Attic monuments will apply with little modification to other parts of Greece. Thus at Tanagra we find classes (1), (3), (4), and in addition tombstones in the shape of altars (Haussoullier, op. cit. p. 15 ff., pll. ii.-v.). Altar-tombs are also common in Delos.


4. The Contents of the Grave.

It was the universal custom, at all periods and in all parts of the Greek would to bury objects, of a great. variety of kinds and often in great numbers, with the corpse. Our knowledge of the minor Greek arts--pottery, vase-painting, jewellery, terra-cotta work, gem-engraving, &c.--is almost entirely due to this custom. The scores of thousands of vases and terra-cottas contained in the Museums of Europe were, with few exceptions, discovered in tombs.

That the custom goes back to very early times is shown by the rich contents of the Mycenaean graves, now in the Polytechnic Museum at Athens. These include gold and silver cups and ornaments; bronze caldrons and other vessels; bronze sword-blades and other weapons, sometimes decorated with inlaid work of gold or other metals; and other objects, too numerous to mention here.

The objects usually placed in tombs may be thus classified (La Nécropole de Myrina, p. 105):--(a) The vase which contained the ashes, if the body had been burnt. This was most often of pottery, but sometimes of gold, silver, or other precious material. If the body had not been burnt, a coffin was often used. This was either of wood (as in some Greek graves in the Crimea, Stephani, Compte Rendu, 1865, pl. 6.4, 5, p. 9; 1866, pll. i. and ii. p. 6 ff.; 1869, p. 177 ff.; 1875, pl. i. p. 5 ff.), or of earthenware, or of stone. Some forms of earthenware coffins are shown in the accompanying woodcut, taken from

Earthenware coffins. (Stackelberg.)

Stackelberg, Die Gräber Hellenen, pl. 7. (b) Objects which apparently belonged to the dead, and were used by him when alive: such as strigils, mirrors, perfume bottles, needles, &c.; rings, brooches, and other personal ornaments, including wreaths and diadems, which were often made of flimsy material for funeral purposes. (c) Vessels intended to hold meat and drink for the dead. Sometimes remains of food are found in these vessels. The number of them is sometimes very large; in some tombs at Myrina as many as sixty or seventy earthenware [p. 2.646]bottles and vases were found. (d) Small terracotta figures. The reason for placing these in the tomb has been much discussed. (For reff. to literature upon the subject, see La Nécrople de Myrina, p. 107, note.) They are specially frequent in Boeotia, and are usually named after Tanagra, the place where they were first found in large numbers. They were sometimes intentionally broken before being placed in the tomb (Haussoullier, op. cit. p. 79). Some connexion may be traced between the subject represented and the owner of the grave. Statuettes of women and of female divinities are more common in the graves of women; male divinities, as Dionysus, Heracles, Atys, in those of men; and toys in those of children (La Nécropole de Myrina, p. 107; TERRA-COTTA). (e) Charon's coin [see FUNUS]. To these must be added a variety of miscellaneous objects, such as engraved gems, earthenware lamps, small objects of bronze, glass bottles and cups, so far as they are not included under the first category.

[The more important books have been frequently referred to in the course of the article. For Greek graves in S. Russia, Compte Rendu, 1865, pp. 9 ff.; 1859, pll. v. and vi. For an account of the graves at Poli tes Chrysochou in Cyprus, see Journal of Hellenic Studies, vol. 11.1. For a general account of the subject, Stackelberg, Die Gräber der Hellenen;; Becker, Charikles, 4th English edit., pp. 383-402= Becker-Göll, 3.114-167; Hermann-Blümner, Privatalt. pp. 373-387, where will be found references to the literature of the subject, which is large and scattered.]


II. ITALIAN.

Among the nations of Italy the Etruscans are remarkable for the care which they gave to their graves. These graves are almost always subterranean. The more sumptuous tombs consist of chambers hewn in the rock; either beneath the surface of the ground, or penetrating horizontally into a cliff. A large number of such tombs are described and represented in Dennis's Etruria, and the accompanying woodcut of the Tomb of the Tarquins at Cervetri is taken from that work (1.242).

Tomb of the Tarquins.

It will be observed that this tomb is hewn in imitation of wood-construction; and in fact the sepulchral chambers generally imitate the abodes of the living. For example, a tomb at Corneto (Micali, Antichi Monumenti per servire alla Storia, &100.64.3; Baumeister, Denkm. pl. 11.663) has its roof cut in the form of a cavaedium displuviatum. In these tombs the bodies were generally placed upon stone couches, accompanied by numerous vases and other objects (see below). The walls also are frequently adorned with paintings, representing scenes of the cult of the dead, and of daily life, and, in some of the late examples, scenes from Greek mythology. (Baumeister, Denkm. p. 512, and figs. 554, 555; Micali, op. cit. pll. lxv.-lxx.)

But, as in Greece, so in Italy, rock-tombs are not the most common form. Extensive and careful excavations in the neighbourhood of Bologna, at Falerii, and in other places, have given us full knowledge of several Italian cemeteries. The objects found in graves at Bologna are admirably arranged in the Museo Civico at that place. The results obtained from comparison of them are, shortly, as follows (E. Brizio, Guida del Museo Civico di Bologna). The graves may be divided into three classes. (1) Umbrian. The graves are oblong, polygonal, or square holes lined with stone. In each tomb is a large earthenware vase, containing the ashes of the burnt body. In a few of the later tombs unburnt skeletons are found, but these are very rare. Arms, knives, and ornaments are found in great numbers; in the earlier tombs of bronze only, in the later of iron also. Vases, spindles. and whorls of pottery also occur in great numbers. In the later tombs a great advance is shown in the skill with which the potter varies the forms and adornment of the vases. (2) Etruscan. The earliest Etruscan tombs appear to be of about the same date as the latest Umbrian: possibly of the 6th century B.C. They are distinguished from the Umbrian tombs partly by the method of burial,--two-thirds [p. 2.647]of the bodies are buried without burning, and one-third only are burnt,--partly by the tombstones, often bearing representations of Etruscan religious scenes, which are placed above the graves, and partly by the contents. The shapes of the bronze objects found are characteristic and varied; and the pottery is almost all of Greek workmanship, or imitated from Greek models. The Greek vases are for the most part red-figured; but vessels of the “Corinthian” style, and an amphora partly black-figured and partly red-figured, have been found in the earlier tombs. (3) Gallic. A certain number of graves, of a rather late period, appear to be Gallic in character.

The collection of objects found at Falerii is now displayed in the new museum at the Villa Giulia, outside the Porta del Popolo at Rome. An account of it, by E. Brizio, is published in the Nuova Antologia (Dec. 1889, p. 419 if.). The graves at Falerii consist for the most part of chambers furnished with a number of niches, and so capable of receiving the remains of a number of persons. This peculiarity makes the investigation of the chronological sequence of the graves difficult; for the interments in each chamber extend over a considerable period. It is impossible here to discuss in detail the questions involved. It must suffice to mention one remarkable method of burial. In several cases coffins have been found made of the trunk of a tree, cut in half and hollowed. A similar coffin has been found near Gabii; and at Rome, beneath the agger of Servius, a terra-cotta sarcophagus has been discovered, resembling in form the trunk of a tree. This form of treecoffin appears frequently in Northern Europe, especially in Westphalia.

At Rome it has been shown by recent excavations that a large cemetery lay on the east side of the city, outside the Porta Viminalis, and that it was still in use in the latest times of the Republic. This was the place of burial for slaves and poor people (Hor. Sat. 1.8, 8). The graves are of various kinds; among others puticuli or well-graves; that is to say, pits which served as a common grave for the bodies of those who could not afford the expense of separate burial. (Varro, L. L. 5, 25: “a puteis puticuli, quod ibi in puteis obruebantur homines, nisi potius, ut Aelius scribit, puticulae, quod putescebant ibi cadavera projecta. Qui locus publicus ultra Exquilias.” Festus, Ep. p. 216; Com. Cruq. ad Hor. Sat. 1.8, 10, &c.) Here, too, the bodies of executed criminals were thrown unburied (Hor. Sat. 1.8, 17; Epod. 5, 99; Dionys. A. R. 20.16). This cemetery was disused from the time of Augustus onwards, and was turned into gardens, to the great improvement of the sanitary condition of the district (Hor. Sat. 1.8, 14; Porphyrio and Com. Cruq. in loc.).

Burial within the city was forbidden, from the time of the Twelve Tables; but exceptions might be made in the case of specially distinguished persons--as, for example, in the case of C. Fabricius (Cic. de Legg. 2.2. 3, 58) and Valerius (Plut. Q. R. 79), and generally in the case of those who had celebrated a triumph (Plut. ib.). The Vestal Virgins and the emperors were buried in the city, according to Servius (Serv. ad Aen. 11.205), because they were not bound by the laws, but Eutropius (8, 5) tells us that Trajan was the only emperor for whom the privilege was used. By a rescript of Hadrian, those who buried a person in the city were liable to a penalty of 40 aurei (Dig. 47, 12, 3.5). The practice was also forbidden by Antoninus Pius (Capitol. Anton. Pius, 12) and Theodosius II. (Cod. Theod. 9, 17, 6). A similar prohibition was in force elsewhere (Lex Coloniae Genetivae, lxxiii.; Ephem. Ep. iii. p. 94).

The customary place for the tombs cf wellto-do families was by the side of the roads leading out of the city. Many such tombs are still preserved by the side of the roads leading out of Rome, especially the Appian Way, and many more have been destroyed in comparatively recent times. A row of them also stands outside the Herculanean gate at Pompeii. Part of this Pompeian street of tombs is represented in the accompanying woodcut, taken from Mazois,

The Street of Tombs at Pompeii.

Pompeiana, part i. pl. 18. These private tombs vary very widely in arrangement and architecture. In some cases we have underground chambers, similar to those found in Etruria; as, for instance, the tomb of the Scipios on the Via Appia. But generally the tomb consists of a building enclosing a chamber; and in this chamber are placed the urns containing the ashes of the dead. Some not uncommon forms are shown in the above representation of tombs at Pompeii. Other forms are the pyramid, as in the case of the tomb of C. Cestius, near the Porta Ostiensis; the round tower, as in the well-known tomb of Caecilia Metella; and the conical turret, as in the so-called tomb of Virgil near Naples, and the so-called tomb of Aruns or of the Horatii and Curiatii near Albano. This last shape seems to follow an Etruscan model, for conical turrets are the chief feature of the tomb of Porsenna, as described by Pliny (Plin. Nat. 36. § § 91-93; Fergusson, J. H. S. 6.207-232). One of the most splendid sepulchral edifices was the Mausoleum of Hadrian (see pp. 149 ff.). (For an enumeration of tombs outside Rome and for references to literature concerning them, see Marquardt, Privatleben, pp. 361, 362.)

Another form of grave is the columbarium. This is found not unfrequently at Rome, but is hardly known elsewhere; probably because land; [p. 2.648]at Rome was much more valuable than at any other place. It consists of a building provided on the inside with a large number of niches, flat at the bottom, arched at the top. Each

Columbarium at Rome.

niche, as a rule, is intended to hold two urns [OLLAE], in which the ashes were placed. The name columbarium was given to such graves because of the resemblance which these niches bear to the holes of a pigeon-house. The general arrangement of a columbarium is shown in the above woodcut, which represents one found in the year 1822 at the Villa Rufini, about two miles beyond the Porta Pia. Columbaria were sometimes provided by great families as a burying-place for their slaves, freedmen, and dependents: e. g. by the Statilii Tauri (Bull. della Commissione arch. municip. 1875, p. 151 ff.; C. I. L. vi. p. 994 ff.), by the Volussi (C. I. L. vi. p. 1043), and by Livia (Gori, Columbarium Liviae Augustae, 1727; Ghizzi, Camere sepolcrali de'liberti e liberte di Livia Augusta e de' altri Cesari, 173; C. I. L. vi. p. 877). But most frequently they were erected by burial societies, formed by persons who were too poor to purchase a place of burial for themselves. Considerable light has been thrown upon the constitution and arrangement of these societies by inscriptions, and especially by those found in the year 1852 in a columbarium upon the Via Appia, not far from the tomb of the Scipios (C. I. L. vi. p. 939 ff. The inscriptions are given in full, with comments and a description of the columbarium, by Wilmanns, pp. 125-146; Marquardt, Privatleben, p. 372). The inscriptions from columbaria are collected in C. I. L. vi. p. 875 ff. (cf. Wilmanns, p. 117 ff.); and further references to literature upon the subject are given by Marquardt, op. cit. pp. 135, 371, 372.

An account of Roman tombs would not be complete without some mention of the Catacombs; but as they were almost exclusively used by the Christians, it must suffice here to refer to the Dictionary of Christian Antiquities and the authorities there cited.


Contents of Tombs.

If the body was not burnt, it was placed in the tomb either enclosed in a coffin or sarcophagus [SARCOPHAGUS], or unenclosed. In the latter case in Etruscan tombs it is generally placed upon a couch of stone, as is shown in the accompanying representation of a tomb at Veil (from Birch, Anc. Pottery, p. 149). If the body was burnt, the ashes were placed in an urn or pot (urna, olla).

Tomb at Veii. (Birch.)

The urn takes many forms. The hut-urns found at Albanos [see cut under TUGURIUM] are made of earthenware, and represent a primitive hut, with a peaked straw roof, similar apparently to the contemporary dwellings of the living (Ghirardini, Notizie degli Scavi, 1881, p. 354 ff., pl. v.; Marquardt, Privatleben, p. 216; Dennis, Etruria, i. lxix.). The urns also in the Bolognese cemeteries and in the columbaria are generally of earthenware. In Etruria a favourite form is a miniature sarcophagus of earthenware or stone, with a recumbent figure upon the lid. Marble, stone, and alabaster are commonly used; and the next woodcut represents a sepulchral urn of marble in the British Museum. The inscription shows that it contained the ashes of Cossutia Prima. It is of an upright rectangular form, richly ornamented with foliage and supported at the side. by pilasters. Its height is 21 inches, and its [p. 2.649]width about 15. Other materials used are glass, and various metals,--lead, bronze, silver, and even gold.

Roman Sepulchral Urn. (Brit. Mus.)

A large number of other objects (of which some mention has been made above) were generally placed in the tomb, apparently with the intention of supplying the dead with the customary apparatus of life. Thus in the early tombs weapons and armour frequently occur. Later, agricultural implements and tools are often found; and in the case of women, articles of the toilet, scent-bottles, ornaments, and so forth. Clothes, money, food and drink, and vessels for containing them, were often added. The last purpose may explain to some extent the large number of vases which are often found in tombs. Several are to be seen in the picture of a tomb at Veii given above. In Etruria Greek vases and native imitations of Greek vases were used in very large numbers for this purpose; and it is from Etruscan tombs that the majority of extant Greek vases comes. With the exception of those which were found at Pompeii, nearly all the objects of daily use in our Museums have been taken from graves. We must add lastly altars, lamps and candelabra, intended for ritual purposes. (For references on this subject, see Marquardt, Privatleben, p. 365 ff.)

(Marquardt, Privatleben, pp. 340-385; Becker, Gallus, 4th English edit., pp. 505-523 = Becker-Göll, 3.481-547; Raoul-Rochette, Troisième Mémoire sur les Antiquités chrétiennes des Catacombes, in Mèm. de l'Acad. des Inscriptions, vol. 13.1838, pp. 529-788; Guhl and Koner, Life of the Greeks and Romans, pp. 375-387; Baumeister, Denkmäler, art. Gräber. For Etruscan tombs, Dennis, Etruria. For Pompeian tombs, Overbeck and Mau, Pompeji, 4th edit., pp. 396-422. The more important sepulchral inscriptions are conveniently collected by Wilmanns, Exempla Inscriptionum Latinarum, cap. ii. vol. i. pp. 49-173.) [FUNUS]

[H.B.S]

hide References (12 total)
  • Cross-references from this page (12):
    • Cicero, Letters to his Friends, 4.1.2
    • Aristophanes, Birds, 395
    • Pausanias, Description of Greece, 1.29
    • Pausanias, Description of Greece, 1.4
    • Pausanias, Description of Greece, 1.43.3
    • Thucydides, Histories, 2.34
    • Homer, Iliad, 23.141
    • Polybius, Histories, 8.30
    • Diogenes Laertius, Vitae philosophorum, 1.2
    • Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, 36
    • Cicero, De Legibus, 2.2
    • Plutarch, Lycurgus, 27
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