There is one thing in these pagan votive altars that may be a shame and reproach to a great many who call themselves Christians; and that is, the willingness and cheerfulness with which they paid, or pretended to pay, the vows they had made. Such as have any acquaintance with those things, know how commonly these letters V. S. L. M. or V. S. L. L. M., are added at the end of inscriptions that are on such altars, whereby they signified how willingly and cheerfully, as well as deservedly, they performed the vows they had made, viz., votum solvit libens merito, or votum solvit libens, lubens (or lætus) merito. Much more deservedly, and therefore more willingly and cheerfully, should the vows made to the Most High, to the true and living God, be paid or performed to him, and particularly the vows made in trouble.[[144]]
SEPULCHRAL INSCRIPTIONS.
MONUMENTAL SLABS.
Extreme importance was attached by both Greeks and Romans to the due discharge of the rites of sepulture. Until earth had been three times sprinkled over the body of the departed, his spirit was conceived to be denied admission into the Elysian fields. The practice of burning the dead became common at Rome about the latter period of the republic. The inconvenience and expense of the process would necessarily restrict it to persons of some wealth. After the pile was consumed, the ashes of the deceased were gathered up by the nearest relative, and deposited in an urn. There are numerous instances in Britain of the Romans having buried their dead entire. Skeletons have been found in London, which Mr. Charles Roach Smith considers must have been deposited in the higher empire. As Christianity gained ground, the custom of burning the dead fell into disuse; the early Christians were unwilling to do needless violence to the dust of a fellow disciple, and resolved to discontinue the superstitious ceremonies which usually attended cremation.
Whether the body was previously reduced to ashes, or deposited in the ground unburnt, it was usual to raise a mound over the spot.
Ergo instauramus Polydoro funus: et ingens
Aggeritur tumulo tellus.
Æn. III. 62.
FUNERAL URN.
Sometimes, instead of a mound of earth, a monument of stone covered the place where the sepulchral urn was deposited. This was the case at Bremenium, as already described (p. 326). With the ashes or body of the deceased, it was usual to deposit a small brass coin to answer the demands of Charon. 'This custom of burying valuables and coins with the dead is by no means extinct; the humbler Irish will pawn their clothes to provide fresh pieces of money to throw into the coffins of their departed friends.'[[145]] The Romans, as formerly observed, did not usually deposit either the unburnt bodies of the dead, or their ashes, within the walls of towns or stations. A curious exception to this practice has lately been noticed. In the month of October last (1850), a funereal urn was discovered within the station of Borcovicus, near the north-west corner. It was sunk in the earth, and was covered by an oblong flat stone, without inscription. The vase, which was of earthen-ware, and altogether devoid of ornament, was globular in its form, and of large dimensions. It measured two feet in diameter, and two feet in height. It contained ashes, amongst which was found a solitary silver coin of Hadrian. This urn is preserved at Chesters. On the slab covering the remains of the deceased person, the name and age were not unfrequently inscribed. The carving, which sometimes includes an effigy of the individual, is often very rude; the back of the stone is, for the most part, undressed. The inscriptions on these ‘frail memorials’ which in the mural region have come down to our times, and ‘implore the passing tribute of a sigh,’ almost uniformly commence |DII MANES.| with the letters D. M.—diis manibus. The shades or departed spirits are, probably, themselves intended in this address, though much confusion exists upon the subject in the works of the ancient writers. In the following lines, Ovid represents the manes as being objects of worship:—