ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the following aspects: the topographic setting, the nature and frequency of the visits, the rituals that took place during the visits, and the implications and significance of the movements and rituals involved. It focuses on republican and early imperial Rome and the archaeological data, epigraphic evidence and Ovid's Fasti provide the main primary source material. The Romans visited deceased relatives not only to celebrate their memory, but also to propitiate them. Treating the dead with respect was important and negligence could have grave consequences. Even though the geographic location and the nature of the events taking place in the borderland seem to place them outside of society, there was also a close connection. Regular and planned movement from the city to the borderland, and back, particularly visualised some of these connections. A few times a year the people of Rome would visit their ancestors outside the city.
