The Roman beliefs and practices regarding death and dying were quite complex and always changing

October 25, 1999 – Melissa Kitko

The Roman beliefs and practices regarding death and dying were quite complex and always changing. The belief of the soul was varied since there were two philosophies. The idea of the soul’s dispersion into a collective was one while the other main idea was that a soul kept its individuality after death. This difference in beliefs, as shown in literary works of the time, is such a large topic that this paper will cover only the beliefs concerning the afterlife and the practices regarding the care of the dead.

There were two popular belief systems regarding the dead. Some Romans believed that the soul dispersed at death into a collective life force of the universe.[1] However, as found in passages in Cicero, the line was blurred a little. Although the dead were regarded as a mass group, they were capable of individually aiding their descendants or being injurious to their enemies.[2] Cicero’s Somnium Scipionis clearly shows this idea. Scipio is taken to heaven, as the translator puts it, and, looking down at earth and the other celestial bodies, meets his dead father. His father tells him that he cannot stay in heaven, saying,

“They [humans] have been given souls made out of the undying fire which

make up stars and constellations, consisting of spherical bodies animated

by the divine... It is destined that you and other righteous men suffer your

souls to be imprisoned with your bodies; you may not abandon life except

when commanded by the Supreme God who bestowed it on you.”[3]

This clearly shows two important ideas. First, the idea that a soul has a recognizable shape in that Scipio recognizes his father, as well as the idea that the soul is a part of a collective energy or life force.[4] Second, there is the idea that taking one's life is unacceptable and will displease God, as the translator puts it. On a side note, it is the author’s opinion that perhaps, in translation, Christian influences were added, hence the term God and heaven instead of gods and Elysian Fields.

Other Romans agreed with the idea of the Greek underworld, Hades, consisting of different sections for different kinds of people. Criminals would be in an area of torture while good people and heroes would be in the Elysian Fields. Along with this idea was the notion that one’s actions affected his or her position in the underworld; whether it be a hellish location or heavenly.[5] The individual deceased, not a part of a collective, remembers his or her family with fondness and would come back to help them if so needed, provided that the grave site was taken care of and given offerings.[6] Virgil, in the Aeneid, portrays this idea plainly, in a section of book six where Aeneas has gone to Hades to find his father. His former lover, Dido, having killed herself over Aeneas’ leaving her to fulfill his duty as the founder of Italy, resides in the Mournful Fields, a place for lamenting lovers whose love was unrequited.[7] Aeneas finds Dido here, “...Phoenician Dido stood/Fresh from her wound, her bosom bath'd in blood,” looking exactly as she did when she killed herself.[8] Aeneas calls out to her and tells her why he had to leave and that he is sorry. Dido, “Disdainfully she look'd... /And what he says and swears, regards no more/Than the deaf rocks, when the loud billows roar; But whirl'd away, to shun his hateful sight...Then sought Sichaeus thro' the shady grove/Who answer'd all her cares, and equal'd all her love.”[9] In this section, Dido turns away from Aeneas and all of his empty lies and promises and sought out her dead husband, Sichaeus, who returned her love unlike Aeneas. Although this all takes place in the underworld, it displays that the dead, in this case Dido, can haunt and pester their past relations, acquaintances, friends, and others.[10]

Important to families was the care of the dead. The surviving members of the deceased had an important duty to fulfill. The dead individual had to be buried correctly and the grave site had to be taken care of after burial. A corpse had to be brought back to the surviving relatives, and special care was taken so that the body was not mutilated. In the case that a body could not be brought back to relatives or the relatives were unknown, those who found the body had an obligation to provide a minimal burial of covering the body with at least 3 handfuls of dirt.[11]

If a body was not properly buried or not buried at all, the popular belief was that the soul could not pass over into the underworld and would be doomed to wander the shore of the river Styx.[12] Virgil again demonstrates this idea. Palinurus, the steersman for Aeneas’ ship, fell overboard, saving the ship from disaster. He washed up on the shores of Lucania and was left unburied. Aeneas finds him before crossing the river Styx and is informed by the Sibyl that Charon, the ferryman, rejects the souls of the unburied.[13] Other souls that were restless, including those of people who were murdered or who met an untimely death as in the case of children.[14] These souls roamed around, harassing their murderers or urging their relatives to exact revenge. Although such souls could not feel physical pain, mental torments were likely, often in the form of shame of a dishonorable death or over the yearning for revenge.[15]

In some cases, bodies would go unburied for political reasons. For example, traitors were so hated that they were crucified and left out in the open for animals to devour. Even mourning a traitor was considered a crime. Along with treason, attempted suicide for a dishonorable reason was taken care of in the same fashion as well as denial of burial.[16] It is said, “Emperors always knew how to honor or insult the dead.”[17] Measures would be taken to honor those that a crime was committed against. In the case of denial of burial, honor the deceased by insulting the criminal, execution and then denying burial.

When a body was returned to a family, they had the responsibility to carry out the preparation of the body, the funeral procession, and the final burial of the body or ashes. Earlier in Rome, before 150 AD, cremation was used more often, while inhumation took over after 220 AD.[18] The family would prepare the body with oils and spices and create death masks to show grief. The funeral procession would go through the city to the site of the burial or the funeral pyre since no burials or funeral pyres could be inside the city walls. The family would hold up the deceased on a pallet with other members of the family trailing behind, wailing and crying. When the family reached the site of the pyre or the tomb, a funeral oration would be given to link the dead to the living and show how the family will continue.[19] The pyre would then be lit or the body interred. The ashes from the pyre had to be interred in the same fashion as the body would be, or else the soul of the deceased would not be able to rest. In the case of emperors who were inhumed, a funeral pyre would be constructed a week subsequent to the burial with a wax figure of the emperor burnt up with the pyre. This is symbolic of the emperor’s legitimacy, not a statement concerning the use of cremation being superior to inhumation.[20]

After a body was laid to rest, libations and offerings were brought to the grave site on a regular basis to honor the memory. Three festivals were held to honor different sets of ghosts; the Parentalia festival for the family to give offerings to the dead at their tombs, the Lemuria was for the appeasement of the restless spirits, and the Compitalia for the ghosts of the crossroads who could be good or dangerous.[21] Family altars for deceased ancestors, found in the home, were daily honored with fresh fruit, garlands, torches, and branches for the dead.[22]

The Romans had many practices and beliefs about the dead. The varying views of the soul affected how the body was taken care of in terms of cremation or inhumation. A high regard for the deceased produced many ceremonies and even festivals that were carried out to honor and protect the memory of the dead. Although some circumstances forced souls to be restless, whether it be intentional or unintentional, even these souls had their own festival. Death and dying were a very important part of Roman society, and it changed and developed along with the society.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hooker, Richard. “Cicero, The Dream of Scipio.”

Http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/ROME/SCIPIO.HTM. June 6, 1999.

Kyle, Donald G. Spectacles of Death in Ancient Rome. New York: Routledge, 1998.

Morris, Ian. Death-Ritual and Social Structure in Classical Antiquity. New York:

Cambridge University Press, 1992.

Toynbee, J. M. C. Death and Burial in the Roman World. New York: Cornell

University Press, 1971.

Virgil. The Aeneid. Trans. John Dryden. Http://classics.mit.edu/Virgil/aeneid.6.vi.html.

1994.

[1]Toynbee, J. M. C. Death and Burial in the Roman World. New York: Cornell University Press, 1971, p. 35.

[3] Hooker, Richard, “Cicero, The Dream of Scipio.” http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/ROME/SCIPIO.HTM. June 6, 1999.

[7] Virgil. The Aeneid. Trans. John Dryden. http://classics.mit.edu/Virgil/aeneid.6.vi.html, 1994.

[10] Kyle, Donald G. Spectacles of Death in Ancient Rome. New York: Routledge, 1998, p. 129.

[18] Morris, Ian. Death-Ritual and Social Structure in Classical Antiquity. New York: University of Cambridge Press, 1992, pp. 56-57.