The Roman Way of Death

The Roman Way of Death. . No matter whether they were interred or cremated, in the Roman world the socially mobile wanted to display their wealth and status in the elaboration and siting of their tombs., From the rest is the laws of Rome forbade within the formal boundaries of the city - probably both for sanitary and religious reasons - and this rule is sometimes repeated in the bylaws of other cities of the Empire. Following aristocratic Greek practice, tombs came to line the main approach roads to cities and occasionally riverbanks, where they could not be missed by passers-by., Memorials could be like modern headstones, altars, or even miniature houses or temples, sometimes surrounded by gardens. The monumental tombs of the wealthy might accommodate the bodies of the whole household, including slaves., After the funeral the dead continued to be remembered at ceremonial meals eaten at the tomb and at festivals such as the Parentalia (Feast of the Ancestors) and the Rosalia (Feast of Roses), when roses were scattered on graves., The coping stones in front of you may have capped an enclosure wall around a grave plot. Two of the stones were found near Eaton Road in Handbridge with the cremated remains of a young adult nearby. In Roman times this was Wading Street, the main approach road to Chester from the south and numerous burials have been found alongside it., Tombs have also been found along the banks of the River Dee. This siting may have been symbolic as well as being a matter of social display. The need to cross a river to reach the underworld had been embedded in European consciousness since the Stone Age Roman mythology it is expressed in the idea of the River Styx with the souls of the dead being carried by the ferryman Charon., "Are you building my tomb the way I told you? ... See that it's a hundred feet facing the road and two hundred back into the field. I want all the various sorts of fruit around my ashes and lots of vines. I'd like you to put some ships these too... and me sitting on a high platform in my robes of office, wearing five gold rings and pouring out a bagful of money for the people." - Petronius, Dinner with Trimalchio (1st century AD), XV, 71