In
the case of a great man this feast was a public banquet, and
gladiatorial shows and games were added in some instances, and they
were also repeated on anniversaries of the funeral.
[Illustration: A COLUMBARIUM.]
The public buried the illustrious citizens of the nation, and those
whose estates were too poor to pay such expenses; the former being for
a long time laid away in the Campus Martius, until the site became
unhealthy, when it was given to M?cenas, who built a costly house on
it. The rich often erected expensive vaults and tombs during their own
lives, and some of the streets for a long distance from the city gate
were bordered with ornamental but funereal structures, which must have
made the traveller feel that he was passing through unending burial-
places. If a tomb was fitted up to contain many funeral ash-urns, it
was known as a columbarium, or dove-cote (_columba_, a dove), the
ashes of the freedmen and even slaves being placed in niches covered by
lids and bearing inscriptions. The Romans ornamented their tombs in a
variety of ways, but did not care to represent death in a direct
manner. The place of burial of a person, even a slave, was sacred, and
one who desecrated it was liable to grave punishment--even to death,--
if the bodies or bones were removed.
Pages:
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365