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Roman Beliefs about Life and Death

Roman Beliefs about Life and Death. The Romans usually placed the tombs of the dead by the side of the road just outside towns. Some of the inscriptions on Roman tombs show how the Romans believed the dead wanted to be close to the life of the living:

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Roman Beliefs about Life and Death

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  1. Roman Beliefs about Life and Death

  2. The Romans usually placed the tombs of the dead by the side of the road just outside towns

  3. Some of the inscriptions on Roman tombs show how the Romans believed the dead wanted to be close to the life of the living: ‘I see and gaze upon all who come to and from the city’ ‘Lollius has been placed by the side of the road in order that everyone who passes may say: “Hello, Lollius”’

  4. Inside a tomb there was a chest or a vase containing the ashes of the dead person. Sometimes there were recesses in the walls of a tomb to hold the remains of several members of a family.

  5. Ashes were buried in containers of many materials, including stone, metal and glass. One wealthy Pompeian had his ashes buried in this fabulously expensive, hand-carved blue and white glass vase which was found in one of the tombs outside the Herculaneum gate

  6. The poor might put the ashes of the dead in second hand storage jars which were then buried in the earth.

  7. It was believed that the dead in some way continued the activities of life, and therefore had to be supplied with the things they would need. A craftsman would want his tools, a woman, her jewellery, children their toys.

  8. The ghosts of the dead were also thought to be hungry and thirsty, and, therefore had to be given food and drink. Offerings of lentils, eggs, beans flour and wine were regularly left by tombs. Sometimes holes were made in the tomb so that food and wine could be poured inside.

  9. It was thought that despite all these attempts to look after the dead, they were not very happy. Tombs were therefore decorated with flowers and surrounded by gardens. The family of the dead person would hold a banquet on the anniversary of their death. This was sometimes in a dining room especially built attached to the tomb itself.

  10. Some Romans believed the Greek myths about the underworld where the the wicked were punished for their crimes and where the good lived happily ever after.

  11. There were a few people who did not believe in any form of life after death. These were the followers of a Greek philosopher called Epicurus, who taught that when a man died the breath that gave him life dissolved in the air and was lost forever. Epicurus

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