ABSTRACT
Disposal of the dead was a relatively simple matter in early Republican Rome. In the fifth and first half of the fourth centuries Before the Common Era (BCE), stone- or tile-lined pits carved out of the living tufo sufficed to contain the deceased. No grand memorials marked burial spots, perhaps because sumptuary laws imposed limits on funerary display. The mid-fourth and third centuries saw the individualisation of elite tombs as display practices changed, and by the end of the second century, tombs could be substantial monuments in the urban landscape. It is possible that the general monumentalisation and the unusual design features of both the tombs are manifestations of increased reverence for the dead and growing attention to funerary rituals. From the start, the Tomb of the Scipios presents evidence for a fledgling interest in providing for a visitor. The Tombs of the Scipios and Caecilia Metella differ vastly in form.
