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Roman funerary practices include the Ancient Romans' religious rituals concerning funerals, cremations, and burials. They were part of the Tradition ((ラテン語:mos majorum)). Roman cemeteries were located outside the sacred boundary of its cities (''ラテン語:pomerium''). They were visited regularly with offerings of food and wine, and special observances during Roman festivals in honor of the dead. Funeral monuments appear throughout the Roman Empire, and their inscriptions are an important source of information for otherwise unknown individuals and history. A Roman sarcophagus could be an elaborately crafted art work, decorated with relief sculpture depicting a scene that was allegorical, mythological, or historical, or a scene from everyday life. Although funerals were primarily a concern of the family, which was of paramount importance in Roman society, those who lacked the support of an extended family usually belonged to guilds or ''collegia'' which provided funeral services for members. ==Care of the dead== In Greco-Roman antiquity, the bodies of the dead were regarded as polluting.〔Michele Renee Salzman, "Religious ''koine'' and Religious Dissent," in ''A Companion to Roman Religion'' (Blackwell, 2007), p. 116.〕 At the same time, loving duty toward one's ancestors (''ラテン語:pietas'') was a fundamental part of ancient Roman culture.〔Stefan Heid, "The Romanness of Roman Christianity," in ''A Companion to Roman Religion'', p. 408.〕 The care of the dead negotiated these two emotionally opposed attitudes. ===Preparation of the body=== When a person died at home, family members and intimate friends gathered around the death bed. In accordance with a belief that equated the soul with the breath, the closest relative sealed the passing of spirit from the body with a last kiss, and closed the eyes. The relatives began lamentations, calling on the deceased by name. The body was then placed on the ground, washed, and anointed. The placing of the body on the ground is a doublet of birth ritual, when the infant was placed on the bare earth.〔Anthony Corbeill, ''Nature Embodied: Gesture in Ancient Rome'' (Princeton University Press, 2004), p. 90, with a table of other parallels between birth and death rituals on p. 91.〕 Male citizens were then dressed in a toga, and others in attire appropriate to their station in life. Men who had earned a wreath wore one in death,〔J.M.C. Toynbee, ''Death and Burial in the Roman World'' (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1971, 1996), pp. 43–44.〕 and wreaths also are found in burials of initiates into mystery religions.〔Minucius Felix, ''Octavius'' 28.3–4; Mark J. Johnson, “Pagan-Christian Burial Practices of the Fourth Century: Shared Tombs?” ''Journal of Early Christian Studies'' 5 (1997), p. 45.〕 After the body was prepared, it lay in state in the atrium of the family home (''ラテン語:domus''), with the feet pointed toward the door.〔Toynbee, ''Death and Burial'', p. 44.〕 Other circumstances pertained to those who lived, as most Romans did, in apartment buildings (''ラテン語:insulae''), but elite practices are better documented. Although embalming was unusual and regarded as mainly an Egyptian practice, it is mentioned in Latin literature, with a few instances documented by archaeology in Rome and throughout the Empire where no Egyptian influence can be assumed.〔Toynbee, ''Death and Burial'', pp. 39, 41–42.〕 Since elite funerals required complex arrangements, the body had to be preserved in the mean time.〔Heller, L. John, Burial Customs of the Romans, (Washington: Classical Association of the Atlantic States, 1932), 194.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Roman funerary practices」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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