MR7

• Classics at Priory School
• MR7: What did the Greeks and Romans believe about death, burial, and remembrance?
• RECALL: Complete the summaries for each area of Death and Burial for Greece and Rome.
• Greek preparation


  • The preparation of the body (including prothesis)
  • Funerary procession (including ekphora)
  • Burial of the body (including use of stelai)
  • Festivals for the dead and the ancestors (including Genesia)

  
• Roman preparation


  • The preparation of the body (including funeral clubs)
  • Funerary procession
  • Burial of the body
  • Festivals for the dead and the ancestors (including Parentalia and Lemuria)

  
• There are no prescribed sources for this topic
• Draw on any other appropriate sources and evidence you have studied in the extended-response exam questions.
• Greek funerary stele focusing on what we can learn about the deceased from its content
• In this topic you will learn about Greek and Roman practices and beliefs surrounding death and burial, including the preparation, funeral procession and burial of the body. Remembrance of the dead was also an important part of family life and you will study some of the festivals of remembrance that the Greeks and Romans held.
• Prothesis


  During the preparation of the body in the Greek world, the deceased would be laid out for two days to receive mourners
• Ekphora


  The funeral procession in ancient Greece
• Kerameikos


  An area of Athens that included the main burial ground outside the city
• Stele (pl. stelai)


  Stone slabs often with patterns or images carved on them, most commonly used as tombstones
• Anthesteria


  A Greek festival to Dionysus and the dead held over three days in late January or early February
• Genesia


  A Greek festival to the dead ancestors celebrated in late September
• It was incredibly important that the dead were treated with respect and that everyone, no matter their social status or wealth, receive a proper burial.
• Pliny: 'As Pliny said in Pliny, Letters, 7: The next day he went to the magistrates, and advised them to order that spot to be dug up. There they found bones commingled and intertwined with chains; for the body had rotted away due to lying so long in the ground, leaving them bare, and corroded by the fetters. The bones were collected, and buried at the public expense; and after the ghost was thus duly laid the house was haunted no more.'
• Like the Greeks, it was important to the Romans that the final resting place of the deceased was outside the city to remove religious pollution and reduce the risk of disease.
• In Roman towns, the wealthy were buried in tombs along roads that led into the city or town, which allowed passers-by to pay their respects.
• Wealth and status in Rome


  As in many aspects of Roman life, wealth and status were important. The same is true in death. Wealthy families would invest heavily in the funerals of their dead. However, the majority of the Roman population were working-class citizens, freedmen and slaves. These people did not always have the spare cash or social connections to spend on a funeral and so they sought other ways of ensuring that they were provided for in death.
• Funeral clubs


  Those who could afford it would pay a monthly fee to join the club. The club met for meals and gatherings, giving members an opportunity to make social connections. Frequently, workers of the same trade would set up their own clubs, such as the baker's guilt or blacksmith's guild. Upon the death of one of its members, the club would pay for a funeral and provide mourners to ensure the deceased was not forgotten.
• Preparation of the body


  If possible, just before the moment of death a relative would capture the last breath of the person with a kiss. If at home those present would then call out the deceased's name. If the person died unaccompanied, this would be done ceremonially afterwards. The body was washed and perfumed then dressed in the deceased's finest clothes. A coin was then placed on the mouth of the deceased to pay the ferryman Charon.
• If the family was wealthy, the body would then be placed in the atrium for eight days. This would give friends and relatives a chance to pay their respects. During this tie the women of the house would lament the deceased while beating their chests.
• Burial of the body


  Once outside the city the body would be either buried or cremated. The Romans followed the same custom as the Greeks with their cremation and burials. Again, the family's wealth determined the size of the tomb. A wealth person could expect to be buried in the family tomb or an individual monument. The Romans built their tombs along the roads that ran into a town; this ensured the deceased would be remembered.
• Tombs in Pompeii


  • The image below shows one of the main streets that led into Pompeii. The street is lined with tombs that resemble the homes and temples. The super-rich would also place their dead in elaborately caved sarcophagi. These would contain reliefs of mythological battles and heroes.

  
• Preparation of the body


  1. Body prepared

  2. Women had a role

  3. Funeral clubs important for certain Romans
• Funerary procession


  1. Body prepared for procession

  2. Different groups/people represented

  3. Deceased accompanied

  4. Women had a role
• Burial of the body

  1. Women had a role

  2. What happened at the burial ground

  3. Wealthy Romans could show off status
• Festivals for the dead and ancestors


  Women important to festivals
• Wealth and status were important factors in Roman death and burial
• Stelai and tombs were important to the Greek burial process

  
• Hector, the Trojan prince, received a typical royal burial
• The funerary stele of Hegeso provides information about the deceased
• Pliny the Younger was an eyewitness to the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79
• Antony: 'Thou alone hast come forth unvanquished from all the battles thou hast fought. Thou alone hast avenged thy country of the outrage put upon it 300 years ago, bringing to their knees those savage tribes, the only ones that ever broke into and burned the city of Rome.'
• Antony recited Caesar's wars, battles, victories, and the nations he had brought under his country's sway, extolling each exploit as miraculous
• Antony uncovered the body of Caesar, lifted his robe on the point of a spear and shook it aloft, pierced with dagger-thrusts and red with the dictator's blood
• The people mourned with Antony in the most sorrowful manner, and from sorrow became filled again with anger
• The people were so mad with rage and grief that meeting the tribune Cinna, on account of his similarity of name to the praetor Cinna who had made a speech against Caesar, they tore him to pieces like wild beasts
• The people threatened to come back with arms on the following day to attack the houses of the other murderers