Bridget Cocheo
Due: 10/08
ROMAN FUNERAL
ANCIENT GRECO-ROMAN RELGIOUS PRACTICES AND MYTH
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Take Away Questions
1. What religion were the Ancient Roman death patterns based
off of?
2. In 300 B.C what did the Epicureans philosophize?
3. What did the Roman world Funeral mean?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/
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Belief in the afterlife among Romans varied in the course of changing times.
Around 300 B.C. the Epicureans philosophized that the body and soul,
composed of atoms, simply disintegrated at death. Thus, afterlife was no
different than the before life. The emergence of Christianity as the dominant
religion of the Roman Culture (300 A.D.) made for the first time a
theological orientation to death. Death customs for the most part were
patterned by the Christians after the mode of sepulture of Christ. Both
cremation and Earth burial were practiced by the Romans. The body was
laid in state and anointed much the same as the Greeks, but when this
"embalming" was done, it was supervised by the Libitinarius, the Roman
equivalent of today's funeral director and our direct ancestor. This was the
first time a secular functionary was involved with the dead. The Roman
word funeral meant in essence parade, and depending on the importance of
the individual, some were very ornate — even with professional mourners.
Sources
1. "Marshall Cavendish." Marshall Cavendish. N.p., n.d. Web. 29
Sept. 2014.
2. Higgans, Joseph M. "Netplaces." Netplaces. N.p., 2014. Web.
07 Oct. 2014.
3. Seller, William F. "Welcome to William F. Sellers Funeral
Home Inc. Chambersburg, PA." Welcome to William F.
Sellers Funeral Home Inc. Chambersburg, PA. William F
Sellers Funeral Home, 2012. Web. 07 Oct. 2014.