Fig. 263.—Roman Funeral Urn (No. 682). Ht. 1 ft. 5½ in.
With rare exceptions (conspicuously in the case of members of the noble families of the Cornelian house and all infants) the Romans, during the period of the Republic, burned their dead. This system continued under the early Empire, but gradually gave way to burial under the influence of Christianity. Several examples of Roman cinerary urns and sepulchral relief are here shown. These urns are of various shapes, but the altar-form (No. 682; fig. 263) was specially favoured. The inscription gives the names of L. Dexius Clymenus and C. Sergius Alcimus. The latter, a child of three and a quarter, is stated to have received his portion of corn on the tenth day at the office of distribution numbered XXXIX, a curious side-light on the practice of free distribution of corn under the Roman Empire, already noticed above (p. [11]). Other Roman funeral urns which may be mentioned are the vase (No. 683) with the remains of L. Laelius Victor, a soldier of the fourteenth city cohort, and the alabaster caskets numbered 684 and 685. These urns of the wealthier classes were generally deposited in a vault underneath a monument placed at the side of one of the great roads leading from the city gates. Those, however, who could not afford such expensive monuments subscribed for a joint tomb (columbarium), a large chamber containing in its walls numerous niches for the urns. An interesting tablet (No. 686) in Case 62 throws light on the arrangements adopted in the case of these joint tombs. It is inscribed with the name of P. Sontius Philostorgus and marked the niche in which the urn containing his ashes was placed. The inscription reads: "Lot I in block III." From other inscriptions of the same character it appears that the niches were arranged in five horizontal rows of thirty-six, and that each of the members of the burial club was allotted one place in each of the five rows.
Fig. 264.—Tombstone of Aurelius Hermia and His Wife (No. 687). Width 3 ft. 5 in.
Another noteworthy monument is (No. 687) an inscribed relief of the first century B.C., belonging to Aurelius Hermia, a butcher from the Viminal hill, and his wife Aurelia Philematio(n), who are seen clasping hands (fig. 264). The husband praises the virtues of his wife, and the wife those of her husband, her fellow-freedman, who had been more than a father to her. Other interesting inscriptions from tombstones are No. 688, on a hunting dog named Margarita, a great favourite with her master and mistress, who died in giving birth to puppies, and No. 689, which sheds light on the memorial ceremonies after burial. A testator here leaves seven twenty-fourths of the rent accruing from a block of flats to his freedmen and freedwomen, on condition that they celebrate his memory four times in a year—on his birthday, the Day of Roses, the Day of Violets, and the feast of the Parentalia, the last the Roman All Souls' Day, held publicly in February, but privately on the anniversary of the day of death. A lighted lamp, with incense, was to be placed on the tomb on the Kalends, Nones, and Ides, the three dividing days of each month.
The funeral wreaths from Hawara (Cases 57, 58; No. 666, see p. 219) are an instance of offerings at tombs belonging to the Roman period. They have been so thoroughly preserved in the dry climate of Egypt that the different varieties of flowers can still be distinguished.
(668) Cf. Murray and Smith, White Athenian Vases in the B.M.; (669) B.M. Inscr. 971; (670) ibid., 102; (671) Cat. of Terracottas, C 12 and 13; (672) Cat. of Sculpt., II., 1277; (674) ibid., III., 2400; (675) Cf. Walters, Hist. of Anc. Pottery, II., p 288; (678) ibid. II., p. 304 ff; (679) Benndorf, Ant. Gesichtshelme, p. 42, pl. xi; (681) Cat. of Terracottas, B 629; (682) Cat. of Sculpt., III., 2359; (683) ibid., 2402; (684) and (685) ibid., 2420 and 2425; (686) Dessau, Inscr. Lat. Selectae, 7892 a; (687) Cat. of Sculpt., III., 2274; (688) C.I.L. VI., 29,896; (689) C.I.L. VI., 10,248.
On Greek tombstones, see Conze, Attische Grabreliefs; P. Gardner, Sculptured tombs of Hellas. On Roman monuments, Altmann, Röm. Grabaltäre.
[105:] Aristoph., Ekkl. 996:
ὃς τοῖς νεκροῖσι ζωγραφεῖ τὰς ληκύθους.