Archaeology; Civilization, Ancient; Despotism; Greece -- History -- To 146 B.C.; Wealth
Servius declares that the people of Rome and other cities originally
buried all their dead within the city and actually within the
house[1647]. The latter statement appears to be an inference from the
worship of the lares, “people used all to be buried in their own houses,
whence has arisen the practice of worshipping the lares within the
house,” but may be none the less true for that reason[1648]. Intramural
burials are prohibited in the Twelve Tables, “hominem mortuum in urbe ne
sepelito neve urito[1649],” a prohibition which implies a practice still
to some extent prevalent at the time[1650]. In the consulship of Duilius
the prohibition was re-enacted[1651], showing that even then the
practice was not altogether obsolete. Quite a number of exceptions were
allowed by law. Vestal virgins (both good and bad) and imperatores were
as such exempted[1652]. To come to concrete instances, the grandfather
of King Tullus Hostilius is said to have been buried “at the best spot
in the Forum[1653].” Tullus is a dubious figure in Roman history, and
still more so is his grandfather. There is some uncertainty too about
the case of the novem combusti, contemporaries of Spurius Cassius in the
early years of the republic[1654]. They may have been not cremated but
burnt alive[1655]. But there are plenty of later instances. Cicero
implies that the exceptions were well known when after quoting the
prohibition in his _de Legibus_ he makes another character in it at once
exclaim: “But what of the famous men who have been buried in the city
since?,” and immediately proceeds to quote the families of Valerius
Publicola and Postumius Tubertus, and the individual case of C.
Fabricius, buried in the Forum itself in 275 B.C. The exceptions in
favour of the Valerii and the Postumii apparently go back to the
beginning of the republic, when the consuls P. Valerius Publicola and P.
Postumius Q. f. Tubertus were buried within the walls[1656]. To the same
period went back the concession to the Claudii of a burial-place under
the Capitol[1657]. The intramural (?) tomb of the Cincii, and that of
“quidam Argiuorum illustres uiri” said to have been buried within the
city, rest on more doubtful evidence[1658]. That of the seven military
tribunes buried near the Circus in 267 B.C. may have been still without
the city.
The archaeological evidence for intramural burials at Rome has been
discussed by Graffunder. At least two cases are well attested for the
early republican period[1659].
INDEX
_A.J.A._ see _American Journal of Archaeology_
Aahmes, see Amasis, Pharaoh of Egypt
Abdul Hamid, 270
Abel (E.), _Scholia Vetera in Pindari Nemea et Isthmia_, cited 258 n. 2
Abertawe (Swansea), 106 n. 3
_Abhandlungen d. bayerisch. Akademie d. Wissenschaften zu Muenchen_,
cited 199 n. 11, 200 n. 1
_Abhandlungen d. hist. phil. Gesellschaft Breslau_, see Haase
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account