And the fire continues in the dead until the remains become embers, then they are extinguished with wine and collected in pottery vessels.
At other times, they bury them by preparing the dead body by washing it, then putting it on the best and most luxurious clothes of the dead person.
Then a crown is placed on the head, and a coin under the tongue or above the eye, and that coin must belong to the deceased before his death
because they believe that this currency will pay for the transfer of the deceased to the land of the shrine or the other world,
Then they follow the funeral of the dead outside the city and the burial is done in the cemetery designated for him.
In any case, there were basic ceremonies for Roman funerals in the early centuries, which we will discuss in today's article.
Roman funeral procession:
The Romanian funeral procession was characterized by a significant movement to follow the funeral from family, relatives, friends, and acquaintances with a great noise
It takes place behind every funeral procession, and according to the social status of the deceased, the form and strength of the procession will be
The rich had an integrated musical funeral, mime, and a large movement of funeral attendees, among whom were paid, women.
They take their reward from the family of the deceased after performing their role in the procession by wailing in a very loud and successive manner
With their hair removed and uncovered, it may reach to scratch their bodies, and each according to what was agreed upon as a reward for them after the procession is completed.
And the burial ceremony was completed. As for the invited representatives of the funeral procession, they were designing masks to wear from the faces of the ancestors of the dead.
And they wear grandparents' clothes to restore their personality as if the grandparents returned to bid farewell to their son and receive him in the other world according to their beliefs.
As for the poor, those who follow the procession are fewer in number, and music is limited to the flute instrument only and one or two actors at the most.
In general, the rituals of their funeral procession were similar to a wedding, and they believed that without these rituals, the deceased's soul would not cross to the Stikis River to enjoy eternal rest and the beginning of life in the next world.
Cremation and burial at the Romans:
Here the body is transferred to the cemetery dedicated to the deceased, specifically in the city of the dead, and placed in a funeral pyre
Then they are set on fire, then perfumes, and some clothes that may benefit the dead later in the afterlife are thrown.
According to their belief - and the fire continues in the dead until the remains become embers, then it is extinguished with wine
He collected it in a funeral urn with the remaining teeth and bones of the deceased along with the ashes to begin burial and the soul of the dead would cross to the Stykes River.
To enjoy eternal rest and the beginning of life in the next world.
In the Roman world, cremation was the most common and widespread, especially in Rome, from the first centuries of them
Until the middle of the second century and the trend after that to direct burial without burning.
As for the rest of the Roman era in the first centuries, especially the Romans of the Mediterranean, the body of the dead was placed
In a huge coffin decorated with the best of the deceased's capabilities and social status, and without the most important possessions of the deceased's wealth.
As another example, in Roman Egypt, a plaque was placed on the front of the sarcophagus of the dead as a living image of the dead person
And the face of the deceased is drawn, but very clearly to the point that you feel that it is actually the live face of the deceased person.
Roman eulogies of the dead:
Here if the deceased was from the wealthy class or was influential or was an influential person and left a great impression on his family, family, or city
So there will be with the dead in the coffin or burial a memorial service from a complete written love from them
Much of that has already been found with the discovery of Roman tombs.
Roman Feast of the Dead:
At any Roman funeral, there will be a feast according to the rituals of the people of the dead at the end of the funeral and after the deceased is wrapped, and it is, according to their belief, a feast
To tell the dead that he can continue to the next world as they eat the feast his family, friends, and followers of the procession
As a sign from them to him that their lives continue and his life, like theirs, continues in the other world or the underworld.
Roman dead memorial:
Roman burial method
After the deceased is buried, there are two dates to commemorate his death and to meet at his grave again.
The first memory is special, and it is on the day of the death of the deceased every year.
The second anniversary is general, as the Roman state allocated a week in one month of each year
To honor and commemorate the dead of all Roman families.
Where they believed that commemorating the dead and being around the grave of the deceased
To remember the soul of the deceased family, relatives, and acquaintances and restore the details of his life before the other world.
Death of the Roman Emperor:
Roman burial method
The death of the emperor has a special case when burial, where he is not transferred to the city of the dead but is buried within the city itself
And this is a great honor for the death of any emperor because all the Roman dead are transported to the city of the dead and buried there
Therefore, this is a great honor in their era that cannot be attained by a brilliant and exceptional person like an emperor
For their belief that the emperor is not like the dead and they believe that the emperor’s soul will be transformed into a god
Through a Roman process known, according to their beliefs, as the deification of the emperor
Even commemorating his memory is different, powerful, and very huge, as if it were a new funeral procession for the day the emperor died.
The burial of treasures by the Romans:
The Roman civilization was one of the civilizations whose effects appear to be influenced by various other civilizations.
The civilization of the Tuscans and Greeks, which preceded the Roman civilization, believed in the existence of reckoning after death.
They believed that the good among them would go to the top to make the gods happy with them and accompany them in feasts.
As for the wicked, their souls will go down to Hell to live there.
The Romans' view of death did not differ from their predecessors the Greeks and Tuscans, but they were distinguished by their love and concern for the elderly.
Likewise, every emperor took care of them even after their death. If they died, they buried them and held burial ceremonies for them to the fullest.
The most important way to bury treasures for some Romans, but not all of them, was to bury treasures with the dead
This is to stay with him forever in his next life and not for the purpose of storage.
There are also other treasures, which are the treasures that were buried during the wars of the fighters, and here their burial is very fast,
In homes or any place close to the place of residence of the combatant soldiers, these treasures are not accompanied by any sign
For those who carried out this burial, and sometimes these treasures are military treasures, which are treasures that are buried during the return
of wars, and belong to the state that the armies seized as spoils of war,
It is buried in cemeteries close to the colonies or forts of the army, to facilitate the return to it afterward.
Most of the time, a treasure map was drawn up and sent to the emperor.
Roman burial method
The forms of burials varied in the Roman era, including ordinary graves, dug on the grounds,
Or collective burials that are dug in the ground or built with stones underground in the form of integrated rooms,
Or different corridors with graves dug in their walls.
Sometimes the tombs can be built above the ground in the form of circular or square towers or pyramid shapes.
or temples.
Among the most important of these forms of Roman burials:
- - That there be a grave on the ground, and over or near the grave some memorials are built to indicate it.
- - That the grave is placed on a circular platform, and the monument can be placed next to it or above it.
- - That the grave is dug in the ground and rooms with elegant and aesthetic facades built high.
- - There are some tombs in classical forms, such as stoning burials, tumulus, dolmen,
- They are tombs built in different ways above the ground and buried in a pile of circular stones
- In most of the graves and most of them.
- - Some diadem tombs spread in the Byzantine era in the form of long underground vaults,
So that excavation is carried out in its walls so that the corpses are placed in it after being placed in a coffin made of wood or stones
Or pottery, marble, or lead, according to the social status of the deceased.
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