A Smaller Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities

by William Smith

Tomb in Lycia.

FŪNUS, a funeral.—(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 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; and among the Athenians, those children who were released from all other obligations to unworthy parents, were nevertheless bound to bury them by one of Solon’s laws. The neglect of burying one’s relatives is frequently mentioned by the orators as a grave charge against the moral character of a man; in fact, the burial of the body by the relations of the dead was considered one of the most sacred duties by the universal law of the Greeks. Sophocles represents Antigone as disregarding all consequences in order to bury the dead body of her brother Polyneices, which Creon, the king of Thebes, had commanded to be left unburied. 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. After a person was dead, it was the custom first to place in his mouth an obolus, called danace (δανάκη), with which he might pay the ferryman in Hades. The body was then washed and anointed with perfumed oil, the head was crowned with the flowers which happened to be in season, and the body dressed in as handsome a robe as the family could afford. These duties were not performed by hired persons, like the pollinctores among the Romans, but by the women of the family, upon whom the care of the corpse always devolved. The corpse was then laid out (πρόθεσις, προτίθεσθαι) on a bed, which appears to have been of the ordinary kind, with a pillow for supporting the head and back. By the side of the bed there were placed painted earthen vessels, called λήκυθοι, which were also buried with the corpse. Great numbers of these painted vases have been found in modern times; and they have been of great use in explaining many matters connected with antiquity. A honey-cake, called μελιττοῦτα, which appears to have been intended for Cerberus, was also placed by the side of the corpse. Before the door a vessel of water was placed, called ὄστρακον, ἀρδάλιον or ἀρδάνιον, in order that persons who had been in the house might purify themselves by sprinkling water on their persons. The relatives stood around the bed, the women uttering great lamentations, rending their garments, and tearing their hair. On the day after the πρόθεσις, or the third day after death, the corpse was carried out (ἐκφορά, ἐκκομιδή) for burial, early in the morning and before sunrise. A burial soon after death was supposed to be pleasing to the dead. In some places it appears to have been usual to bury the dead on the day following death. The men walked before the corpse, and the women behind. The funeral procession was preceded or followed by hired mourners (θρηνῳδοί), who appear to have been usually Carian women, playing mournful tunes on the flute. The body was either buried or burnt. The word θάπτειν is used in connection with either mode; it is applied to the collection of the ashes after burning, and accordingly we find the words καίειν and θάπτειν used together. The proper expression for interment in the earth is κατορύττειν. In Homer the bodies of the dead are burnt; but interment was also used in very ancient times. Cicero says that the dead were buried at Athens in the time of Cecrops; and we also read of the bones of Orestes being found in a coffin at Tegea. The dead were commonly buried among the Spartans and the Sicyonians, and the prevalence of this practice is proved by the great number of skeletons found in coffins in modern times, which have evidently not been exposed to the action of fire. Both burning and burying appear to have been always used to a greater or less extent at different periods; till the spread of Christianity at length put an end to the former practice. The dead bodies were usually burnt on piles of wood, called pyres (πυραί). The body was placed on the top; and in the heroic times it was customary to burn with the corpse animals and even captives or slaves. Oils and perfumes were also thrown into the flames. When the pyre was burnt down, the remains of the fire were quenched with wine, and the relatives and friends collected the bones. The bones were then washed with wine and oil, and placed in urns, which were sometimes made of gold. The corpses which were not burnt were buried in coffins, which were called by various names, as σοροί, πύελοι, ληνοί, λάρνακες, δροῖται, though some of these names are also applied to the urns in which the bones were collected. They were made of various materials, but were usually of baked clay or earthenware. The following woodcut contains two of the most ancient kind; the figure in the middle is the section of one. The dead were usually buried outside the town, as it was thought that their presence in the city brought pollution to the living. At Athens none were allowed to be buried within the city; but Lycurgus, in order to remove all superstition respecting the presence of the dead, allowed of burial in Sparta. Persons who possessed lands in Attica were frequently buried in them, and we therefore read of tombs in the fields. Tombs, however, were most frequently built by the side of roads, and near the gates of the city. At Athens, the most common place of burial was outside of the Itonian gate, near the road leading to the Peiraeeus, which gate was for that reason called the burial gate. Those who had fallen in battle were buried at the public expense in the outer Cerameicus, on the road leading to the Academia. Tombs were called θῆκαι, τάφοι, μνήματα, μνημεῖα, σήματα. Many of these were only mounds of earth or stones (χώματα, κολῶναι τύμβοι). Others were built of stone, and frequently ornamented with great taste. Some Greek tombs were built under ground, and called hypogea (ὑπόγαια or ὑπόγεια). They correspond to the Roman conditoria. The monuments erected over the graves of persons were usually of four kinds: 1. στῆλαι, pillars or upright stone tablets; 2. κίονες, columns; 3. ναΐδια or ἡρῷα, small buildings in the form of temples; and 4. τράπεζαι, flat square stones, called by Cicero mensae. The term στῆλαι is sometimes applied to all kinds of funeral monuments, but properly designates upright stone tablets, which were usually terminated with an oval heading, called ἐπίθημα. The epithema was frequently ornamented with a kind of arabesque work, as in the preceding specimen. The κίονες, or columns, were of various forms, as is shown by the two specimens in the annexed cut.

Epithema or Heading of Tombstone. (Stackelberg, pl. 3.)

Sepulchral Columns. (Paintings on Vases.)

The inscriptions upon these funeral monuments usually contain the name of the deceased person, and that of the demus to which he belonged, as well as frequently some account of his life. The following example of an ἡρῷον will give a general idea of monuments of this kind.—Orations in praise of the dead were sometimes pronounced; but Solon ordained that such orations should be confined to persons who were honoured with a public funeral. In the heroic ages games were celebrated at the funeral of a great man, as in the case of Patroclus; but this practice does not seem to have been usual in the historical times.—All persons who had been engaged in funerals were considered polluted, and could not enter the temples of the gods till they had been purified. After the funeral was over, the relatives partook of a feast, which was called περίδειπνον or νεκρόδειπνον. This feast was always given at the house of the nearest relative of the deceased.

Sepulchral Heroon. (Painting on Vase.)

Thus the relatives of those who had fallen at the battle of Chaeroneia partook of the περίδειπνον at the house of Demosthenes, as if he were the nearest relative to them all. On the second day after the funeral a sacrifice to the dead was offered, called τρίτα; but the principal sacrifice to the dead was on the ninth day, called ἔννατα or ἔνατα. The mourning for the dead appears to have lasted till the thirtieth day after the funeral, on which day sacrifices were again offered. At Sparta the time of mourning was limited to eleven days. During the time of mourning it was considered indecorous for the relatives of the deceased to appear in public; they were accustomed to wear a black dress, and in ancient times they cut off their hair as a sign of grief.—The tombs were preserved by the family to which they belonged with the greatest care, and were regarded as among the strongest ties which attached a man to his native land. In the Docimasia of the Athenian archons it was always a subject of inquiry whether they had kept in proper repair the tombs of their ancestors. On certain days the tombs were crowned with flowers, and offerings were made to the dead, consisting of garlands of flowers and various other things. The act of offering these presents was called ἐναγίζειν, and the offerings themselves ἐναγίσματα, or more commonly χοαί. The γενέσια mentioned by Herodotus appear to have consisted in offerings of the same kind, which were presented on the anniversary of the birth-day of the deceased. The νεκύσια were probably offerings on the anniversary of the day of the death; though, according to some writers, the νεκύσια were the same as the γενέσια. Certain criminals, who were put to death by the state, were also deprived of the rights of burial, which was considered as an additional punishment. There were certain places, both at Athens and Sparta, where the dead bodies of such criminals were cast. A person who had committed suicide was not deprived of burial, but the hand with which he had killed himself was cut off and buried by itself.—(2) Roman. When a Roman was at the point of death, his nearest relation present endeavoured to catch the last breath with his mouth. The ring was taken off the finger of the dying person; and as soon as he was dead his eyes and mouth were closed by the nearest relation, who called upon the deceased by name, exclaiming have or vale. The corpse was then washed, and anointed with oil and perfumes, by slaves, called pollinctores, who belonged to the libitinarii, or undertakers. The libitinarii appear to have been so called because they dwelt near the temple of Venus Libitina, where all things requisite for funerals were sold. Hence we find the expressions vitare Libitinam and evadere Libitinam used in the sense of escaping death. At this temple an account (ratio, ephemeris) was kept of those who died, and a small sum was paid for the registration of their names. A small coin was then placed in the mouth of the corpse, in order to pay the ferryman in Hades, and the body was laid out on a couch in the vestibule of the house, with its feet towards the door, and dressed in the best robe which the deceased had worn when alive. Ordinary citizens were dressed in a white toga, and magistrates in their official robes. If the deceased had received a crown while alive as a reward for his bravery, it was now placed on his head; and the couch on which he was laid was sometimes covered with leaves and flowers. A branch of cypress was also usually placed at the door of the house, if he was a person of consequence. Funerals were usually called funera justa or exsequiae; the latter term was generally applied to the funeral procession (pompa funebris). There were two kinds of funerals, public and private; of which the former was called funus publicum or indictivum, because the people were invited to it by a herald; the latter funus tacitum, translatitium, or plebeium. A person appears to have usually left a certain sum of money in his will to pay the expenses of his funeral; but if he did not do so, nor appoint any one to bury him, this duty devolved upon the persons to whom the property was left, and if he died without a will, upon his relations, according to their order of succession to the property. The expenses of the funeral were in such cases decided by an arbiter, according to the property and rank of the deceased, whence arbitria is used to signify the funeral expenses.—The following description of the mode in which a funeral was conducted only applies strictly to the funerals of the great; the same pomp and ceremony could not of course be observed in the case of persons in ordinary circumstances. All funerals in ancient times were performed at night, but afterwards the poor only were buried at night, because they could not afford to have any funeral procession. The corpse was usually carried out of the house (efferebatur) on the eighth day after the death. The order of the funeral procession was regulated by a person called designator or dominus funeris, who was attended by lictors dressed in black. It was headed by musicians of various kinds (cornicines, siticines), who played mournful strains, and next came mourning women, called praeficae, who were hired to lament and sing the funeral song (naenia or lessus) in praise of the deceased. These were sometimes followed by players and buffoons (scurrae, histriones), of whom one, called archimimus, represented the character of the deceased, and imitated his words and actions. Then came the slaves whom the deceased had liberated, wearing the cap of liberty (pileati); the number of whom was occasionally very great, since a master sometimes liberated all his slaves, in his will, in order to add to the pomp of his funeral. Before the corpse the images of the deceased and of his ancestors were carried, and also the crowns or military rewards which he had gained. The corpse was carried on a couch (lectica), to which the name of feretrum or capulum was usually given; but the bodies of poor citizens and of slaves were carried on a common kind of bier or coffin, called sandapila. The sandapila was carried by bearers, called vespae or vespillones, because they carried out the corpses in the evening (vespertino tempore). The couches on which the corpses of the rich were carried were sometimes made of ivory, and covered with gold and purple. They were often carried on the shoulders of the nearest relations of the deceased, and sometimes on those of his freedmen. Julius Caesar was carried by the magistrates, and Augustus by the senators. The relations of the deceased walked behind the corpse in mourning; his sons with their heads veiled, and his daughters with their heads bare and their hair dishevelled, contrary to the ordinary practice of both. They often uttered loud lamentations, and the women beat their breasts and tore their cheeks, though this was forbidden by the Twelve Tables. If the deceased was of illustrious rank, the funeral procession went through the forum, and stopped before the rostra, where a funeral oration (laudatio) in praise of the deceased was delivered. This practice was of great antiquity among the Romans, and is said by some writers to have been first introduced by Publicola, who pronounced a funeral oration in honour of his colleague Brutus. Women also were honoured by funeral orations. From the Forum the corpse was carried to the place of burning or burial, which, according to a law of the Twelve Tables, was obliged to be outside the city. The Romans in the most ancient times buried their dead, though they also early adopted, to some extent, the custom of burning, which is mentioned in the Twelve Tables. Burning, however, does not appear to have become general till the later times of the republic. Marius was buried, and Sulla was the first of the Cornelian gens whose body was burned. Under the empire burning was almost universally practised, but was gradually discontinued as Christianity spread, so that it had fallen into disuse in the fourth century. Persons struck by lightning were not burnt, but buried on the spot, which was called Bidental, and was considered sacred. [[Bidental].] Children also, who had not cut their teeth, were not burnt, but buried in a place called Suggrundarium. Those who were buried were placed in a coffin (arca or loculus), which was frequently made of stone, and sometimes of the Assian stone, which came from Assos in Troas, and which consumed all the body, with the exception of the teeth, in 40 days, whence it was called sarcophagus. This name was in course of time applied to any kind of coffin or tomb. The corpse was burnt on a pile of wood (pyra or rogus). This pile was built in the form of an altar, with four equal sides, whence we find it called ara sepulcri and funeris ara. The sides of the pile were, according to the Twelve Tables, to be left rough and unpolished, but were frequently covered with dark leaves. Cypress trees were sometimes placed before the pile. On the top of the pile the corpse was placed, with the couch on which it had been carried, and the nearest relation then set fire to the pile with his face turned away. When the flames began to rise, various perfumes were thrown into the fire, though this practice was forbidden by the Twelve Tables; cups of oil, ornaments, clothes, dishes of food, and other things, which were supposed to be agreeable to the deceased, were also thrown upon the flames. The place where a person was burnt was called bustum, if he was afterwards buried on the same spot, and ustrina or ustrinum if he was buried at a different place. Sometimes animals were slaughtered at the pile, and in ancient times captives and slaves, since the manes were supposed to be fond of blood; but afterwards gladiators, called bustuarii, were hired to fight round the burning pile. When the pile was burnt down, the embers were soaked with wine, and the bones and ashes of the deceased were gathered by the nearest relatives, who sprinkled them with perfumes, and placed them in a vessel called urna, which was made of various materials, according to the circumstances of individuals.