ABSTRACT
The aim of this chapter is to examine some of the complex factors shaping Roman funerary practices. Aspects of Roman customs show fear or at least avoidance of close contact with death. From the time of the Twelve Tables, and perhaps earlier, the place of burial had been regulated, distancing the living and the dead. Moreover, while intimate family had an inevitable involvement in the death of a relative, for outsiders death involved some ambiguity, especially in their dealings with the bereaved family. A distance, both spatial and temporal, could be observed between the corpse and the family on the one hand and the outside world on the other. Why was this the case? Reasons for shunning family members may often be complex; these could include feelings of respect for the deceased, or sensitivity to the family’s need for space to cope with the death. Other reasons may have been motivated by fear or insecurities; to see the dead and the bereaved was to be reminded of one’s own mortality. In addition the corpse, and those in close proximity to it, may have been viewed as in some way polluted or contaminated by death. It is this concept of death-pollution, and how it was manifested in the Roman context, which lies at the heart of this chapter.
