Funus
A funeral, so termed because, in ancient times, the Romans were buried by torch light,
twisted ropes (
funalia) smeared with pitch being carried by the mourners
for the purpose (Isidor.
Orig. xi. 2, 34;
Donat. ad Terent.
Andr. i. 1, 81). Under this title, it is here intended to give an
account of the burial rites of the Greeks and Romans. The tombs will be explained in the
article
Sepulcrum.
1. Greek
The Greeks attached great importance to the burial of the dead. They believed that souls
could not enter the Elysian Fields till their bodies had been buried; and accordingly we find
the shade of Elpenor in the
Odyssey (xi. 66, etc.) earnestly imploring
Odysseus to bury his body. So strong was this feeling among the Greeks that it was considered
a religious duty to throw earth upon a dead body which a person might happen to find unburied
(
Hor. Carm. i. 28, 36); and among the
Athenians, those children who were released from all other obligations to unworthy parents
were nevertheless bound to bury them (
c. Timarch. 14). The neglect of burying
one's relatives is frequently mentioned by the orators as a grave charge against the moral
character of a man, since the burial of the body by the relations of the dead was considered
a religious duty by the universal law of the Greeks. The common expressions for the funeral
rites,
τὰ δίκαια, νόμιμα or
νομιζόμενα, προσήκοντα, show that the dead had, as it were, a legal and moral
claim to burial.
At the moment of death the eyes and mouth were closed by one of those present (
Phaed. 118). According to Lucian, the obolus to serve as Charon 's
fare was at once placed in the mouth of the corpse. This coin was also called
δανάκη (Hesych. s. v.). The custom is first mentioned by
Aristophanes (
Frogs, 139), and does not appear to have been in use at a very early
date. Confirmation of the practice is given by actual discoveries, for coins are frequently
found in Greek tombs, and in some between the teeth of the skeleton. The body was then washed
(
Eurip.
Phoen. 1319,
1667), anointed
with perfumes, and clothed in rich garments, generally white in colour. These were buried or
burned with the body, but the number of them was limited by a law of Solon (
Plut. Sol. 21). A wreath of flowers was placed upon
the head (Eurip.
Phoen. 1632). Golden wreaths, in imitation of laurel or other foliage,
were sometimes used, and have been found in graves.
The corpse, thus prepared, was laid out (
πρόθεσις,
προτίθεσθαι) on a bed (
κλίνη), which appears to
have been of the ordinary kind, with a pillow (
προσκεφάλαιον) for supporting the head and back (
c.
Eratosth. 18). By a law of Solon it was ordered that the
πρόθεσις should take place inside the house (Lex
ap.
Demosth.
c. Macart. p. 1071.62). As among the Romans, the feet were turned
towards the door (
Hom. Il. xix. 212). Vases
of a special kind (
λήκυθοι), probably containing perfumes,
were placed beside the body (
Ar. Eccl.
1032;
Ar. Eccl., 538). These vases were also
buried with the coffin, and a large number of them have been found in graves in Attica. A few
of them are in the ordinary black and red figured styles, but the greater number are of a
special ware of great beauty, manufactured for funeral purposes. In this ware the ground is
white, and scenes are painted upon it in bright colours, in a freer and less rigid style than
in the vases with red or black figures. See E. Pottier,
Étude sur les
Lécythes Blancs Attiques, à Représentations
Funéraires (Paris, 1883); Benndorf,
Griechische und
sicilische Vasenbilder (Berlin, 1869); and the article
Vas. A honey-cake (
μελιτοῦττα),
intended as a sop for Cerberus, was also placed by the side of the corpse (
Aristoph. Lys. 601). Before the door, a vessel
of water was placed (
ἀρδάνιον), in order that persons who
had been in the house might purify themselves from the pollution of death by sprinkling water
on their persons (Eurip.
Alc. 98).
The near relatives of the deceased assembled round the bed on which he was laid, and
uttered loud lamentations. Although more violent signs of grief were forbidden by Solon
(
Plut. Sol. 21), we find that Lucian
(
De Luctu, 12) mentions as accompaniments of the
πρόθεσις, not only groaning and wailing, but also beating of breasts, tearing of
hair, laceration of cheeks, rending of garments, and sprinkling of ashes upon the head. It
was perhaps with the object of limiting the time for these excesses of grief that Solon
ordained that the burial should take place on the day after the
πρόθεσις, before sunrise, and that Plato (
Leges, xii. 959 A)
declared that the
πρόθεσις should not last longer than was
necessary to show that death had really taken place. It appears that singers were hired to
lead the mourning chant at the
πρόθεσις (Lucian,
De
Luctu, 20).
The accompanying illustration, representing the
πρόθεσις,
is taken from Pottier. The corpse lies
upon a couch, and is covered with a rich garment. The head alone is unveiled, and
is surrounded with a fillet (
ταινία). Two female figures
stand beside the couch, with gestures of grief. One of them carries a tray or basket, across
which two fillets are laid. Other fillets are placed across the couch. In the background is a
mirror, or fan, perhaps intended for the keeping away of flies (cf. Dio Cass. lxxiv. 4, 2).
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The ἐκφορά. (From a stamped terra-cotta plaque found
at the Piraeus.)
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The funeral (
ἐκφορά, ἐκφέρειν) took place legally, as
has been already remarked, on the day following the
πρόθεσις. It might, however, be put off several days to allow of the arrival of
distant friends (
Timol. 39). The early morning was the usual time
(
Leges, xii. 960 A). The bier was borne either by hired bearers (
νεκροφόροι,
Poll.vii. 195), or, in
cases where it was decided to honour the dead, by specially selected citizens (
Timol. 39). The men walked before the corpse and the women behind, and
it appears that musicians were hired to play mournful tunes on the flute and sing dirges
(
θρῆνοι) at the
ἐκφορά as
well as at the
πρόθεσις. Those who accompanied the funeral
wore mourning garments of a black or dark colour (Eurip.
Alc. 427). The head was also shaved or the hair cut as a sign of grief
(
Homer Od. iv. 197;
Il. xxiii. 46 Il., 135 Il., 141 Il., 146; Bion.
Idyll. i. 81).
Representations of the
ἐκφορά are rare. The foregoing
illustration represents a stamped terracotta plaque found at the Piraeus (in the collection
of M. Rayet,
Convoi Funèbre, No. 75). The corpse lies upon a couch.
The head is bare; the rest of the body covered. The couch is placed upon a car drawn by two
horses, though mules were oftener used. Mourners accompany it with gestures of grief. A
female attendant carries upon her head a vessel, probably to serve for libations. Another
attendant plays upon the double flute.
It was the custom, at Athens at any rate, to hold public funerals for those who had fallen
in war. Thucydides (ii. 34) describes with some minuteness the proceedings usual on such
occasions. The
πρόθεσις of the bones took place on a
platform (or perhaps in a booth or tent) erected for the purpose in some public place. On the
day of the funerals, coffins of cypress wood, one for each tribe, were carried upon wagons.
Each coffin contained the bones of the members of the tribe to which it was assigned. An
empty couch, adorned as for a funeral, was borne in the procession to represent those whose
bodies had not been found. The procession was accompanied by any citizens and aliens who
wished to attend, and by women who were related to those who had fallen. In Greece, funeral
orations were pronounced only at public funerals of the kind described, not, as at Rome, over
individuals, even though they were specially distinguished (Dion. Hal. v. 17). This
custom seems to have arisen about the time of the Persian Wars. In other respects the
procedure at a public funeral does not seem to have differed from that in use at private
burials.
In spite of the statement of Lucian (
De Luctu, 21) that the Greeks burned
their dead and the Persians buried them, it is certain, both from literary evidence and also
from the excavation of tombs, that burning and burying were both practised by the Greeks. The
word
θάπτειν is used of the burial of the ashes after
cremation, but
κατορύττειν refers only to the burial of an
unburned body. We hear of burial also among the Spartans (
Plut.
Lyc. 27;
Thuc.i. 134). In Homer there is
no mention of any burial without burning; but in graves at Mycenae, skeletons have been found
which showed no traces of fire. Evidence both of burning and burying has been found in graves
of a
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Funeral Pyre.
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later date in many parts of the Greek world. See Hermann-Blümner,
Privatalterth. p. 375.
The pile of wood (
πυρά) upon which the body was burned was
sometimes erected over the grave in which the ashes were to be buried. There is a full
description of cremation in the Homeric period in
Iliad (xxiii. 161 foll.),
where Achilles celebrates the funeral of Patroclus. The pyre was made a hundred feet in
length and breadth, and the bodies of sheep, oxen, horses, dogs, and twelve Trojan captives
were placed upon it. Honey and perfumes were also poured upon it before it was lighted. When
the pyre had burned down, the remains of the fire were quenched with wine, and the relatives
and friends collected the bones or ashes (
Il. xxiv. 791). The remains thus collected were placed in a receptacle
sometimes of gold, but generally of a less precious material, and buried. A description of
these receptacles, of the other articles placed in the tomb, and of the tomb itself will be
found in the article
Sepulcrum.
When bodies were buried without previous cremation, they were generally placed in coffins,
which were called by various names, as
σοροί, πύελο<*>,
ληνοί, λάρνακες, δροῖται, though some of these names were also applied to the
urns in which the bones were collected. For further information upon this point, see the
article
Sepulcrum.
Immediately after the funeral was over, the relatives partook of a feast which was called
περίδειπνον or
νεκρόδειπνον (Lucian,
De Luctu, 24). It was the custom that this
feast should be given at the house of the nearest relative (Demosth.
De Cor.
p. 321.355).
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Funeral Banquet. (From a bas-relief; Marmora Oxon. ）
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Other ceremonies were performed on the third, the ninth, and the thirtieth days after the
funeral, and were called respectively
τρίτα, ἔνατα, and
τριακάς or
τριακάδες
(
Poll.viii. 146). The rites on the thirtieth day (
Poll.i. 66;
Poll. iii. 102) included a
repetition of the funeral feast.
It was also the custom to bring offerings to the tomb on certain days in each year (Plato,
De Leg. iv. 717 E). Herodotus mentions that these annual sacrifices to the
dead were called
γενέσια (iv. 26), from which it is inferred
that they were offered on the birthday of the deceased (cf.
Diog. Laert.
x. 18). The name
νεκύσια was also used in the same
sense. The ceremonies which were performed at these stated intervals might be used at any
other time, if for some reason it was necessary to appease the departed spirit. The word
ἐναγίζειν was used for the act of offering,
ἐναγίσματα for the things offered on these occasions. These
consisted of libations (
χοαί) of wine, oil, milk, honey
mixed with water or milk (
Aesch. Pers. 609
foll.), which were poured upon the ground (
γάποτοι,
Aesch. Pers. 621). Elaborate banquets were
sometimes prepared, burned in honour of the dead, and buried in a trench (Lucian,
Char. 22). Wreaths
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The Conclamatio , or lamentation for the dead. (From a Roman
relief.)
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were also placed upon the grave-stones, and they were anointed with perfumes.
The period of mourning varied in length at different places. At Athens the
τριακάς seems to have ended it on the thirtieth day after the
funeral (Lysias,
De Caede Erat. 14). At Sparta it lasted only eleven days
(
Plut. Lyc. 27).
Certain special rites were used in particular cases. A spear was carried in front of the
body of any person who had died a violent death, as a symbol of the revenge which was to
follow the murderer (Eurip.
Troad. 1148). In the case of those
who had committed suicide, the hand which had done the deed was cut off and buried separately
(
in Ctes. 244). Certain criminals, who were put to death by the State, were
also deprived of burial, which was considered to be an additional punishment (
Plut. Them. 22;
Thuc.i.
134). The bodies of those persons who had been struck by lightning were regarded as
sacred (
ἱεροὶ νεκροί); they were not buried with others
(Eurip.
Suppl. 935), but usually on the spot where they had been struck
(
Oneirocr. ii. 9, p. 146).
It has been already mentioned that in the public funerals of those killed in war, an empty
couch was carried in the procession to represent those whose bodies had not been found. In
other cases, where a person was supposed to be dead, though his body was not found, funeral
rites were performed for him (Eurip.
Hel. 1241 foll.). If such a person was afterwards found to be alive,
he was considered impure, and was not allowed to enter temples till certain rites had been
performed. These rites consisted in a symbolism of birth and the ceremonies connected with
it. The
δευτερόποτμος or
ὑστερόποτμος was washed, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and fed with milk.
Having been thus born again into life, he was freed from his impurity (
Q. R.
5).
2. Roman
Among the Romans also the burial of the dead was a most solemn duty. It was incumbent upon
any one who found an unburied body at least to cast earth upon it three times (
Homer Od. i. 28). If no funeral rites had been
performed, the soul of the dead man could not be received among the shades, but wandered
homeless upon the earth (Tertull.
De Anim. 56).
A near relative of the dying person caught the last breath in his mouth (
Verg. Aen. iv. 684). As soon as he was dead his
eyes were closed by one of those present (Lucan.
Phars. iii. 740). Then
followed the
conclamatio, variously explained as
- 1. a cry in articulo mortis, which seems probable from Propertius
(v. 7, 23; cf. Ovid, Trist. iii. 3, 43)
- 2. the recall of the dead by uttering his or her name three times, in order to
ascertain the fact of death if there was no answer—a custom still in use at the
death-bed of a Pope;
- 3. as commonly understood, the lamentation for the dead when there was no longer any
possibility of doubt. The mourners called repeatedly the name of the deceased, with loud
cries, and exclamations such as vale (Lucan, Phars. ii.
22; Catullus, ci.; Ovid,
Met. x. 62, Fasti, iv, 852).
The body was then washed with warm water and anointed with perfumes and spices (
Pers. iii. 103). That this took place after the
conclamatio is learned from Ammianus Marcellinus (xxx. 10). The corpse was then
clothed either in the toga (
Juv.iii. 173 with Mayor's note), or
in the state robes of any office which had been held by the deceased (
Livy, xxxiv. 7; Polyb. vi. 53). The garments in which the corpse was clothed were
sometimes splendid and costly (
vestes purpureae,
Verg. Aen. vi. 221;
pretiosae,
Val. Max. v. 5, 4). Precious ornaments were often added. Rings, for example, are often found
in graves, and we learn from Propertius (iv. 7, 9) that they were sometimes burned with the
body. Flowers were also used for the adornment of the couch on which the corpse was laid; and
a censer (
acerra) was placed beside it (
Epit. p. 18). The
following illustration from a Roman relief in the Lateran Museum (Baumeister, p. 239)
represents the
lectus funebris, on which the corpse of a woman lies
dressed. Two women mourners (
praeficae) stand behind, and by their side
a man in the act of putting a garland on the head of the corpse. On each side of the
lectus funebris is a torch. On the left side is a woman blowing the flute,
and above another with folded hands; on the right side sit three women, wearing the
pilleus (probably manumitted slaves); below is the family of the deceased.
Among the Romans, as among the Greeks, it was customary to place a small coin in the mouth of
the deceased, for the purpose of paying Charon 's passage-money.
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The Lectus Funebris. (Lateran Museum, Rome.)
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This is alluded to by Juvenal (iii. 267) and Propertius (iv. 11, 7), but not by
earlier writers. Coins, however, have been found in graves of an earlier date than the Second
Punic War (
C. I. L. i. p. 27); and in graves at Praenesté, dating
from the third century B.C., coins were actually found in the mouths of the skeletons
(
C. I. L. i. 28). In imperial times the practice was common.
The preparations necessary for the due laying out of the body were performed by the
pollinctores (Plaut.
Asin. v. 2, 60), who probably
took the cast of the dead man's face, from which the wax
imago was made,
to be kept in the
atrium of the house by his descendants, and used in
funeral processions in a way shortly to be described. The
pollinctor was
furnished by the
libitinarius or undertaker, who entered into a contract
for conducting the whole funeral. The latter got his name from the fact that he exercised his
business at the temple or grove of Libitina, the goddess of corpses and funerals (
Plut. Num. 12.1;
Quaest. Rom. 23).
Deaths were also registered at this temple (
Suet. Ner.
39), and the offering called
lucar Libitinae was made. See
Lucar.
When the body had been thus prepared and adorned, it was laid upon a couch of state,
generally in the
atrium of the house, with the feet towards the door
(
Pers. iii. 105). Outside the door of the house were placed
branches of cypress or pine (
ad Aen. iii. 64), for the purpose of warning
those who might be polluted by entering a house in which was a corpse. The cypress was
apparently only used by those of good position. We are told by Servius (
ad
Aen. v. 64) that the corpse lay in state for seven days before burial. This can only
have been the case in exceptional circumstances, when some form of embalming was used.
Funerals were conducted by the family of the deceased (
funus
privatum), except in cases where a public funeral (
funus publicum）
was voted, either by the Senate (
Cic. Phil. ix.
7) or in provincial towns by the
decuriones, as a mark of honour
or respect to the deceased. This honour was paid in the case of foreign kings who died in
Italy (Val. Max. v. 1, 1); and men who had fallen in the service of their country (Val. Max.
v. 2, 10).
A public invitation was given to all important funerals by a herald (
praeco). Hence the phrases
funus indicere, funus indictivum
(
Iul. 84;
De Leg. ii. 24, 61). The formula of invitation has
been preserved: “Ollus Quiris Leto Datus. Exsequias, Quibus
est commodum, ire iam tempus est. Ollus ex aedibus effertur.” (
Fest. p. 254 d,
Fest. 34.）
Translaticium funus is used for an unceremonious burial (
Suet. Ner. 33).
In ancient times all funerals took place by night (
ad Aen. xi. 143); in
later times only those of children ( Serv. l. c.), and poor people whose means did not admit
of sufficient display for the day-time (
Mart.viii. 75). The
torches with which funerals were always accompanied were probably a relic of burial by night,
though no doubt they also served for lighting the pyre.
An opportunity for the display of splendour was given by the funeral procession, and was so
largely used by families of wealth and position that sumptuary laws to regulate such expenses
are found among the Tables of the Decemviri (
De Leg. ii. 23, 59) and the
enactments of Sulla (
Plut. Sull. 35). The
order of the funeral procession was regulated by the
designator or
dissignator, whose attendants were dressed in black. The order in which the
various parts of the procession came is uncertain, but it is generally supposed that at the
head of it were the musicians (
siticines), who made
use of
tubae, tibiae, and
cornua. The number of
tibicines was by the Twelve Tables limited to ten (
De
Leg. ii. 23, 59). Then followed (at any rate in earlier times) the mourning women,
called
praeficae, who sang the
nenia or
lessus, a mournful song in praise of the dead man (
De Leg.
ii. 24, 62). Then followed in some cases dancers and
mimi
(
Iul. 84), who were allowed, as at a triumph, free license of jesting. We
learn from Suetonius (
Vesp. 19) that it was the custom for the
archimimus to wear a mask in the likeness of the deceased, to imitate his speech and
manners, and even to make jests at his expense.
The most striking part of the procession was probably formed by the
imagines. It is said by Polybius (vi. 53) that the
imagines, or
wax masks representing distinguished ancestors of the deceased, were brought out from their
resting-place in the
atrium, and each was worn by a man chosen to
resemble as nearly as possible the person whom he was supposed to represent and clothed in
the dress of the office which the prototype of the mask had held. Each rode upon a chariot,
and was accompanied with due pomp of lictors and other insignia of his office. Thus all the
distinguished ancestors of the dead man were present in effigy at his funeral. If he was of
good birth, many families to which he was related were represented by their
imagines (
Tac. Ann. iii. 76), and the
actual number was sometimes very great. At the funeral of Marcellus there are said to have
been 600 (
ad Aen. vi. 802). Sometimes, as a special honour, spoils, crowns,
and other records of victories and triumphs were carried before the bier. The procession was
also swelled by the slaves who were liberated by the will of the deceased, all with shorn
heads, wearing the
pilleus (
Livy xxxviii.
55). The bier itself was sometimes carried by these liberated slaves (
Pers. iii. 106); or in the case of emperors, by magistrates and
senators (
Suet. Aug. 100). The body was placed
uncovered on a bier or couch (
feretrum, torus), which in great funerals
was elaborately decorated (
Iul. 84). In some cases, probably when decay had
begun to disfigure the features, the body was placed in a coffin (
capulus), and a waxen representation (
effigics) was exposed to
view instead (
Tac. Ann. iii. 5).
In the burial of the poor and of slaves of course this pomp was absent. Hired bearers (
vespillones), six (
Mart. vi. 77, 10) or four
(
id. viii. 75, 9) in number, carried the body in a simple wooden
coffin or bier, which was not buried with the body (
sandapila,
Mart.ii. 81).
The relatives of the deceased followed behind the bier, dressed in mourning. The sons of
the deceased had their heads veiled, while the daughters went uncovered and with dishevelled
hair (
Quaest. Rom. 11). Mourning was shown by very much the same signs as in
modern times— viz., by the absence of adornment and the wearing of black garments
(
Juv.x. 245;
Prop.v. 7, 28;
Tac. Ann. iii. 2;
pullus,
Juv. iii. 213). Under the emperors white seems to have been
substituted for black as the mourning colour for women (
Quaest. Rom. 26;
Stat. Silv. iii. 3, 3). The women were also in the
habit of crying aloud, tearing their hair and lacerating their cheeks in the funeral
procession itself (
Prop. iii. 13, 27).
In this order the funeral train proceeded to the Forum. There it halted before the Rostra,
the wearers of the
imagines took their seats upon curule chairs,
and the
laudatio funebris was pronounced, generally by a near relative
of the deceased (Polyb. vi. 53), though in the case of a
funus publicum
this function might be assigned by a
senatusconsultum to one of the
magistrates (
Instit. iii. 7, 2).
From the Forum the procession moved on to the place of burning or burial, which, according
to a law of the Twelve Tables, was obliged to be outside the city, though special exceptions
were sometimes made (
De Leg. ii. 23, 58). Both burning and burial were in use
among the Romans. Cicero (
De Leg. ii. 22, 56) and Pliny (
Pliny H. N. vii. 187) both hold the view that
burial was the more ancient custom. Pliny further says that burning was introduced because it
was found that the bodies of those killed in distant countries and buried there were dug up
and scattered by the enemy. It is conjectured, however, that the change was partly brought
about by motives of health and convenience. In certain families the practice of burial was
kept up, after burning had become general. Sulla was the first of the Cornelii to be burned.
The reason, according to Cicero and Pliny , of the departure from the custom of his family
was, that he feared lest his own bones should receive the same treatment as he had given to
those of Marius. In later times burning became far more common than burial, though the latter
was always used in the case of children who died before they had cut their teeth (
Plin. H. N. vii. 72;
Juv.xv.
140), and in the case of those who had been struck by lightning. It seems also that
persons of the poorest classes were always buried. After the introduction of Christianity
burial again came into use instead of burning. The view that burial was older than cremation
is confirmed by some Roman customs. According to pontifical law, the essential part of the
funeral ceremony was the casting of earth upon the face of the corpse (
De Leg.
ii. 22, 57). Again, when a body was to be burned, it was the custom to cut off some portion
of it, called
os resectum, which was subsequently buried
(
Epit. p. 148). By this means the newer and more convenient method was
adopted, while the ancient regulation which prescribed burial was still carried out.
The remaining rites varied, according as the body was to be buried or burned. In the case
of burial the body was placed in the grave either on the bier on which it had been carried,
or in a sarcophagus. Numerous objects were also placed in the grave. (See
Sepulcrum.) The ceremonies which followed had the
double object of making the grave a
locus religiosus, and of purifying
the family and house which had been defiled by the presence of a corpse. Earth was thrown
upon the face of the dead (
De Leg. ii. 22, 57), a pig was sacrificed, and an
offering was made to the Lares. The day on which these sacrifices took place was called
feriae denicales (
Epit. p. 70). A funeral feast called
silicernium was also held, apparently on the day of the funeral, and by the
grave (Varr.
ap. Non. p. 48, 8). The
period of mourning lasted nine days (
novendiale), though it is uncertain
whether this period was reckoned from the day of death or the day of burial (
ad
Aen. v. 64). At the end of this period a
sacrificium novendiale
was offered to the dead, and a
cena novendialis was held (
Tac. Ann. vi. 5).
The burning of a body sometimes took place at the spot where the ashes were to be interred.
In this case the funeral pile (
rogus, pyra) was erected over the trench
which was subsequently to be the grave (
bustum). The body, however, was
often burned at a place near the monument, specially destined for this purpose,
ustrinum, ustrina (
Epit. p. 32). The pyre was built of wood,
in the form of an altar (
Verg. Aen. vi. 177).
A law of the Twelve Tables ordered that it should not be smoothed with an axe (
De
Leg. ii. 23, 59). Pyres were sometimes painted (
Plin.
H. N. xxxv. 49), and cypress-trees were placed in front (Ovid,
Trist. iii. 13, 21). On the top of the pile the corpse was placed, with the
couch on which it had been carried. Many things were placed on the pyre by the relations and
mourners, such as clothes, arms, ornaments, hunting nets and apparatus, horses, dogs, birds
(
Epist. iv. 2). It was also sprinkled with perfumes, gums, and spices.
The pyre was lighted by one of the relatives, with face turned away (
Verg. Aen. vi. 224). When it was burned down, the
glowing ashes were extinguished with water or wine (
Verg.
Aen. vi. 226). Those who had taken part in the funeral uttered a last
farewell (
Verg. Aen. ii. 644) and departed,
while the nearest relatives remained to collect the bones and ashes when they were dry. This
was probably done as a rule on the day of the funeral. The bones were sprinkled with wine
(though it is not certain that this sprinkling is to be separated from that mentioned above),
dried with a linen cloth, and placed in an urn or box with perfumes and spices. The urn was
then placed in the sepulchre.
It has already been mentioned that if the body was burned, the
os
resectum was buried separately. The ceremonies of the
feriae
denicales were used, as in the case of the burial, including the throwing of earth upon
the remains of the dead (
De Leg. ii. 22, 57). It does not appear at what
moment this was done; but the object of it was to consecrate the place of burial, to make it
a
locus religiosus. After the bones and ashes of the deceased had been
placed in the urn, the persons present were thrice sprinkled by a priest with pure water from
a branch of olive or laurel, for the purpose of purification (
Verg.
Aen. vi. 229); after which they were dismissed by the
praefica or some other person, by the solemn word
Ilicet, that is,
ire licet. In the case of burning, the practices connected with the
silicernium and the
novendiale seem to have been
the same as in the case of burial (see above). When those who had accompanied the funeral
returned home, they underwent a purification called
suffitio, which
consisted in being sprinkled with water and stepping over a fire ( Fest. p. 3). It was then
also, perhaps, that the house was swept with a special kind of broom ( Fest. p. 58, s. v.
Everriator).
In the case of important funerals, scenic or gladiatorial exhibitions were often given.
(See
Gladiatores.) Scenic exhibitions were less
common; but the Didascalia to the
Adelphoe of Terence states that that play
was performed at the
ludi funebres of Aemilius Paullus (B.C. 160), and
we are informed by Livy that
ludi scenici as well as gladiatorial
combats were exhibited at the death of T. Flamininus (B.C. 174). There were also
distributions of food (
viscerationes) and public banquets
(
Iul. 26).
It remains to give some account of the annual rites performed at the tombs in honour of the
Manes. Certain days in February (13th-21st) were set apart as
dies
parentales, or
parentalia. The last of these days was specially
known as
feralia (Ovid,
Fasti, ii. 569). The ceremonies
performed at this time are described by Ovid (
Fasti, ii. 533 foll.). Offerings
to the Manes (
inferiae) were brought to the tomb. These consisted of
wine and milk, honey and oil, the blood of victims, especially of black sheep, pigs, and
cattle (Arnob. vii. 20), various fruits, bread, salt, and eggs (
Juv.v.
84). The tomb was adorned with wreaths and flowers, especially roses and violets
(Ovid, l. c.). A meal was also eaten at the grave. A
triclinium funebre,
intended apparently for this purpose, was found at Pompeii and is represented in the
accompanying illustration. During the
dies parentales temples were
 |
|
Funereal Triclinium. (Pompeii.)
|
shut and marriages forbidden (Ovid,
Fasti, ii. 557 foll.), and the
magistrates laid aside the insignia of their office (Lydus,
De Mens. iv. 24).
The terms
parentare, parentatio, were also applied to similar rites
performed on other days of the year, such as the day of birth, death, or burial of the person
to be honoured. Special days were also appropriated to roses and violets (
rosatio, rosaria, rosalia, violatio;
Plin. H. N. xxi. 11).
Bibliography. — References may be made to Feydeau,
Histoire des Usages Funèbres, etc.
(Paris, 1856). For
the Greek usages, see Becker-Göll,
Charikles, iii. 114-167;
Hermann-Blümner,
Privatalterth. pp. 361 foll.; and Graves,
Burial Customs of the Ancient Greeks (Brooklyn, 1891). For the
Roman usages, see Becker-Göll,
Gallus, iii. 481- 547; and Marquardt,
Privatleben, pp. 340-385.
