Roman Funeral Beliefs

In Ancient Rome, death was rarely a sad event. This was because even though the person was no longer with their family, the funeral celebrated their time on earth and their transfer to the afterlife. Although Romans appear to have been uninterested in the fate of a person after death, their funeral practices and ceremonies showed a great deal of thought about the afterlife, particularly in the areas of the the depth and time put into the funerals and their beliefs of how exactly to transfer into the afterlife.
The Romans funeral ceremonies had many different parts to them. The ceremonies in the home were very important because they needed to be done immediately and precisely. As soon as the person dies, the oldest family member has to try to
After the procession, the body was taken to the burial place or the Forum. The son or other close relative would say the eulogy, which usually stated the virtues and achievements of the dead. In later times, the honor of saying the eulogy went to the Imperial family. More ceremonies would occur at the tomb like, the consecration of the resting place, the casting of earth on the remains, and the purification of all polluted by the death. Elaborate tombs would usually look like mini houses and would be filled with one or sometimes more occupants. For special circumstances burials could occur differently. Such as if a body was lost at sea, the ceremonies were still performed to an empty tomb. Or if the body was found somewhere by a stranger, whoever found it would have to perform the ceremony. If the body for some reason could not be placed in a tomb, three handfuls of dust thrown onto the corpse would do. Burials were undoubtedly the most important process and most emotional. This was because this process symbolized the body being put away forever and transitioning to the afterlife. Even though the burial was the most important, it was still not the last of the