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
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Tomb in Lycia.
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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
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SECTION.
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A, entrance; B, principal chamber; C, small side
chamber.
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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
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Tombs at Paphos. (Cesnola.)
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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 ἡ 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
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Earthenware coffins. (Stackelberg.)
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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).
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Tomb of the Tarquins.
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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,
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The Street of Tombs at Pompeii.
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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
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Columbarium at Rome.
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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]