Why Is Sarcophagi Important

This sarcophagus from the time of Ancient Rome was the final resting place for an officer of the Roman Army, but it is anything but modest. It is covered in stories and symbols displaying the power of this dedicated soldier and his beloved Roman Empire. Romans who could afford such magnanimous sarcophagi took the opportunity to get one for them to be buried in order to stand out from the crowd and display their wealth and fame. In Ancient Rome, war heroes and generals commissioned striking sarcophagi to be entombed in so they would always be remembered as great and admirable warriors who fought bravely in their time.
The most common form of burial for the Romans was always cremation. They would burn bodies on a pile of wood known as a pyre
The Metropolitan Roman sarcophagi were created in Rome and their most common shape was a flat lid on a rectangular box. Sometimes they also had a lid with portraits of the deceased inside the sarcophagus reclining, just as the Etruscans did, and tended to be decorated with stories from Greek mythology and a pattern of fruits and vegetation. In Asia Minor the sculptors were busy creating Asiatic style sarcophagi which were large and decorated to have the appearance of a home. These were meant to function as a house for the deceased’s spirit to reside in or as a temple to honor them with. Neither of these styles, however, match entirely with the sarcophagus in question, which is shaped like the Parthenon and covered with Roman and Amazon warriors. This sarcophagus was made under the Attic style, which can be distinguished by the steep gabled roof-like lids placed on top of a rectangular body for the deceased to be laid in. Those who commissioned the sculptors were fond of tales from Greece’s history so the main subjects in the decoration were from Greek mythology such as Achilles, the Odyssey and, most notably, battles with Amazons. The odd shapes and patterns lining the base and top of the body were oriental designs commonly used to outline sarcophagi made under this discipline. The Attic style originated in Athens, and was used for sarcophagi made in Greece and other Eastern European areas of the vast Roman Empire. The officer in our sarcophagus had originated in this region, he was possibly a descendant of the Greeks and let their tales of Amazons remind us of that to this