Romano-British Period--General characteristics--Modes of
Burial--Customs attendant on Burial--Interments by cremation
and by inhumation--Barrows--Tombs of Stone--Lead Coffins--Clay
and Tile Coffins--Sepulchral Inscriptions, etc.
The grave-mounds and burial-places of the Romano-British period
are, naturally, in many districts, far more abundant than those of
the preceding period, while, in others again, as in Derbyshire and
Cornwall, and some other counties, they are far less common than the
Celtic ones. In these counties the Roman was, it would seem, more of
a “bird of passage” (as well as, to some extent, a “bird of prey”)
than a settler, and the consequence is, that no remains--or next to
no remains--of villas or of settlements are found, and that where
burial has taken place it has not unusually been in the same mound with
those of an earlier period. The Ancient Briton raised the mounds over
the remains of his own people; and his Roman subjugator, as occasion
required, took possession of them, and therein laid his own dead. Thus
the same barrow is sometimes found to contain, besides its primary
Celtic interment, and others belonging to the same race, later deposits
(nearer to the surface or to the side) of the Romano-British or of the
Anglo-Saxon periods.
In other counties, where the Roman population made permanent
settlements and built their towns and villas, regular cemeteries
were formed for the burial of their dead, and to these mainly are
we indebted for a knowledge of their customs and of their arts. The
burials were, as in the previous period, both by inhumation and by
cremation. The first appears to have been the most ancient practice of
the Roman people, and it was not, as is stated, until the time of the
dictator Sylla that burning of the dead was practised. From his time
downward both of these usages were in vogue, according as the friends
of the deceased preferred. So indiscriminately were these usages
adopted in England that both are found in the same burial-places, and
indeed (as in those of the Celtic period) in close proximity to each
other.
The cemeteries attached to Roman towns were outside the walls,
and usually by the road leading to the chief town--Londinium. In
the country the owner of a villa had his burial-place in his own
precincts.[33] Almost always, except when the interment was made in an
earlier barrow, the dead were laid near to the living. In fact, the
Roman seems, even when dead, to have still courted the proximity of the
living, for he always by preference sought to establish his last home
as near as possible to the most frequented road; and the inscriptions
on his roadside tomb often contained appeals to the passers-by--in
terms such as SISTE VIATOR (_stay, traveller_), or, TV QVISQVIS ES
QVI TRANSIS (_thou, whoever thou art, who passest_)--to think on the
departed. The epitaph on a Roman named Lollius, published by Grüter,
concludes with the following words, intimating that he was placed by
the roadside in order that the passer-by might say, “Farewell, Lollius!”
HIC . PROPTER . VIAM . POSITVS
UT . DICANT . PRAETEREVNTES
LOLLI . VALE.
These examples will explain the position of the cemeteries of Uriconium
and other Roman towns in Britain.
Mr. Wright, than whom no one is more able to speak authoritatively
on the matter, thus speaks of the burial customs and observances of
the Romans in Britain; and as it is necessary, before speaking of the
objects found with the sepulchral remains of the people, to give a
sketch of the formalities attending their death and burial, his account
will add considerable interest to their consideration.
“The last duty to the dying man was to close his eyes, which was
usually performed by his children, or by his nearest relatives, who,
after he had breathed his last, caused his body first to be washed
with warm water, and afterwards to be anointed. Those who performed
this last-mentioned office were called _pollinctores_. The corpse was
afterwards dressed, and placed on a litter in the hall, with its feet
to the entrance door, where it was to remain seven days. This ceremony
was termed _collocatio_, and the object of it is said to have been to
show that the deceased had died a natural death, and that he had not
been murdered. In accordance with the popular superstition, a small
piece of money was placed in the mouth, which it was supposed would
be required to pay the boatman Charon for the passage over the river
Styx. In the case of persons of substance, incense was burnt in the
hall, which was often decked with branches of cypress, and a keeper was
appointed, who did not quit the body until the funeral was completed.
The public having been invited by proclamation to attend the funeral,
the body was carried out on the seventh day, and borne in procession,
attended by the relatives, friends, and whoever chose to attend,
accompanied by musicians, and sometimes with dancers, mountebanks, and
performers of various descriptions. With rich people, the images of
their ancestors were carried in the procession, which always passed
through the Forum on its way to the place of burial, and sometimes
a friend mounted the rostrum, and pronounced a funeral oration. In
earlier times the burial always took place by night, and was attended
with persons carrying lamps or torches, but this practice seems to
have been afterwards neglected; yet the lamps still continued to be
carried in the procession. Women, who were called _præficæ_, were
employed not only to howl their lamentations over the deceased, and
chant his praises, like the Irish keeners, but to cry also; and their
tears, it appears, were collected into small vessels of glass; and
this circumstance is termed, in some of the inscriptions found on the
Continent, being ‘buried with tears’--_sepultus cum lacrymis_; and the
tomb is spoken of as being ‘full of tears’--TVMVL . LACRIM . PLEN.
“The next ceremony was that of burning the body. In the earlier ages of
their history the Romans are said to have buried the bodies of their
dead entire, without burning; and there seems to be no doubt that, at
all events, the two practices, burning the body and cremation, existed
at the same time; but the latter appears to have become gradually more
fashionable, until few but paupers were buried otherwise. In the age
of the Antonines the practice of cremation was finally abolished in
Italy; but the imperial ordinances appear to have had but little effect
in the distant provinces, where the two manners of burial continued
to exist simultaneously. Both are accordingly found in the Roman
cemeteries in Britain, in interments which were undoubtedly not those
of Christians. Perhaps the practices varied in different parts of the
island, according to the usages of the country from which the colonists
derived their origin. It is a circumstance worthy of remark that, as
far as discoveries yet go, no trace has been met with of burials in the
Roman cemeteries of Uriconium, otherwise than by burning the dead.
“The funeral pile, _pyra_, was built of the most inflammable woods,
to which pitch was added, and other things, which often rendered this
part of the ceremony very expensive. An inscription, preserved by
Grüter, speaks of some persons whose property was only sufficient to
pay for the funeral pile and the pitch to burn their bodies--_nec ex
eorum bonis plus inventum est quam quod sufficeret ad emendam pyram et
picem quibus corpora cremarentur_. It had been ordered by a law of the
Twelve Tables, that the funeral pile must be formed of timber which
was rough and untouched by the axe, but this rule was perhaps not very
closely adhered to in later times. When the body was laid on the pile,
the latter was sprinkled with wine and other liquors, and incense and
various unguents and odoriferous spices were thrown upon it. It was
now, according to some accounts, that the _naulum_, or the coin for the
payment of the passage over the Styx, was placed in the mouth of the
corpse, and at the same time the eyes were opened. Fire was applied
to the pile by the nearest relatives of the deceased, who, in doing
this, turned their faces from it while it was burning; the relatives
and friends often threw into the fire various objects, such as personal
ornaments, and even favourite animals and birds. When the whole was
reduced to ashes, these were sprinkled with wine (and sometimes with
milk), accompanied with an invitation to the _manes_, or spirit of the
deceased. The reader will call to mind the lines of Virgil (Æn. vi.
226):--
‘Postquam collapsi cineres, et flamma quievit,
Relliquias vino et bibulam lavere favillam,
Ossaque lecta cado texit Corynæus aëno.’
“The next proceeding, indeed, was to collect what remained of the bones
from the ashes, which was the duty of the mother of the deceased, or,
if the parents were not living, of the children, and was followed by a
new offering of tears. Some of the old writers speak of the difficulty
of separating the remains of the burnt bones from the wood ashes, and
we accordingly find them usually mixed together. When collected, the
bones were deposited in an urn, which was made of various materials.
The urn in Virgil was made of brass, or perhaps bronze. Instances are
mentioned of silver, and even gold, being used for this purpose, as
well as of marble; and those found in Britain are often of glass, but
the more common material was earthenware. One of the performers in
the ceremony, whose duty this was, then purified the attendants by
sprinkling them thrice with water, with an olive branch (if that could
be obtained), and the _præficæ_ pronounced the word _Ilicet_ (said to
be a contraction of _Ire licet_, ‘you may go’). Those who had attended
the funeral, thrice addressed the word _Vale_ (farewell) to the manes
of the dead, and departed. A sumptuous supper was usually given after
the funeral to the relatives and friends.
“In the case of people of better rank, the body was burnt on the ground
which had been purchased for the sepulchre, but for the poorer people
there was a public burning-place, which was called the _ustrina_, where
the process was probably much less expensive, and whence the urn, with
the remains (_relliquiæ_) of the deceased, was carried to be interred.
The tombs of rich families were often large and even splendid edifices,
with rooms inside, in the walls of which were small recesses, where the
urns were placed. None of the buildings remain in any Roman cemetery
in our island, but we can hardly doubt that such tombs did exist in
the cemetery of Uriconium, and that they were scattered along the side
of the Watling Street. At one place at Uriconium the foundations of
a small building were met with, which appeared to have consisted of
an oblong square, with a rectangular recess behind, but the western
portion of it has been destroyed by the process of draining. When
opened, ashes and fragments of an urn were found in the enclosed space,
so that it is not improbable that this may have been a tomb with a
room. An inscribed stone, which was found not far from this spot,
bears evidence, in the appearance of its reverse side and in its form,
of having been fixed against a wall, probably over a door.” The urn was
perhaps here interred beneath the floor of the room. In many cases the
dead body was certainly burnt on the spot where it was to be buried.
A square pit had been dug, on the floor of which the funeral pile had
been laid. The fire had then been lit in the pit or grave, and the body
consumed in its own grave. Remains of the timber of the funeral pile
still remained in a pit of this kind at Uriconium, as it had sunk on
the floor, the ends of which were unconsumed, and the earth underneath
quite red from burning.
In most of the other interments in the cemetery of Uriconium, a small
hole or pit appears to have been sunk in the ground, and the urn,
which had no doubt been brought from the _ustrina_, was placed in it
and covered up. These interments were not far distant from each other,
and appear to have been placed in rows, nearly parallel to the road.
Perhaps the ground may have been bought for this purpose in common, by
associations of the townsmen, such as trade corporations, or it may
have been set aside for burial purposes by the municipal authorities,
and sold in small portions to individuals, as the practice now exists
in modern cemeteries. The average depth at which the urns have been
found is somewhat less than four feet, so that, allowing two feet for
the accumulation of soil, the Romans seem to have dug pits about two
feet deep for their reception.
Coins were, as has just been stated, buried with the dead, in
conformity with a superstitious belief that they would expedite the
passage of the soul across the lake in Hades. The magic power of money
in all connections with human life originated this custom. In all
worldly matters money then was, as it unfortunately now still is, the
main, if not the only, sure passport to place and honour; and thus
it was believed that the soul of the man who had not received the
usual rites of burial, and in whose mouth no fee for the ferryman of
the Stygian lake had been placed,[34] would wander hopelessly on its
banks, while decent interment and a small brass coin would obviate any
disagreeable inquiries that Charon might else be inclined to make as
to the merits or claims of the applicant. Thus in the cinerary urns of
the period of which I am speaking coins are very commonly found, and
also in interments by inhumation a small coin has, in more than one
instance in Derbyshire, been found with the skull, in such a manner
as to leave no doubt of its having been placed in the mouth of the
deceased. In some instances a considerable number of coins have been
found deposited together, or scattered about, in a barrow, along with
human remains. In Haddon Field a large number of coins, principally
consisting of third brass of Constantine, Constans, Constantius II.,
Valentinian, Valens, and Gratian, were found, along with bones and
fragments of pottery, traces of decayed wood, and a portion of a glass
vessel. At Minning-Low, the fine chambered tumulus described on p. 54,
_ante_, where several interments of the Romano-British period have
undoubtedly been made in the earlier Celtic mound, many Roman coins,
along with portions of sepulchral urns, etc., have from time to time
been found. These are principally of Claudius Gothicus, Constantine the
Great, Constantine Junior, Valentinian, and Constantius. In a barrow
near Parwich, upwards of eighty coins of the later emperors were found.
At most places, in fact, where Roman interments have taken place, coins
have been found, and these range from an early to a late period in
Roman history.
When interment was by inhumation, in many instances the body was simply
laid in the earth without any further covering than the usual dress. In
other instances there are abundant appearances of the body having been
enclosed in a wooden coffin or chest. In others, again, the body had
been enclosed in a stone sarcophagus or chest, which was occasionally
elaborately carved. Sometimes, again, coffins of lead were used. Mounds
or barrows over sepulchral chambers and other modes of interment were
frequently raised, to which I shall have to draw further attention.
Examples of the first and most simple of these modes of burial have
been discovered in different parts of the country, those at Bartlow
Hills and at Little Chester being, perhaps, among the most notable.
At the latter place a skeleton of a man found some years ago lay full
length on its back, the arms straight down by the sides. Iron rivets,
which were found much corroded, lay near various parts of the body, and
a thin stratum of ferruginous matter encased the skeleton at a little
distance from the body and limbs. From these circumstances it is to be
inferred that the deceased was interred in his armour. Other interments
by inhumation have been recently discovered in the same neighbourhood,
but without, in some instances, the ferruginous appearances. The
remains of horses were found along with them. Interments by inhumation
have also been found at Brough and at other stations in the same
county, and, as later deposits, in Celtic barrows. Those where the
bones have been found _in situ_ appear, like the one I have spoken of
at Little Chester, at Bartlow, and at other places, to have been laid
at full length on the back, the arms straight down by the sides. They
appear in most instances to have been simply laid in a very shallow
grave, but little below the surface of the already formed mound, and to
have been then covered to no great thickness with earth. Those found at
Bartlow lay parallel to, but a short distance apart from, each other,
their heads to the west and feet to the east. They were laid flat on
their backs, their limbs straight out, their arms by their sides, and
hands on the thighs. Some coins of Constantine and Tetricus, and other
little matters, were found with them.[35] Traces of wooden chests or
coffins were discernible around these skeletons, and this feature is
not uncommon in burials of this description.
When the body was placed in a stone chest or sarcophagus, it was in
full dress, on its back, on the bottom of the chest, and any relics
which were intended to be buried with it were laid about. The chest,
as is evident from the examples found at York, was then partly filled
with liquid lime, the face alone not being covered with the corroding
liquid. When now found, a perfect impression of the figure is preserved
in the bed of lime in which it was encased, and in some instances even
the colour and texture of the dress is plainly distinguishable.[36]
Frequently the stone chest contained a leaden coffin, in which the body
was placed. A remarkably fine sculptured chest found in London,[37]
and others found at York,[38] will be sufficient references to these
interesting sarcophagi, which are occasionally inscribed.
A tomb of a different description, which will be seen to partake
largely of the construction of the stone cist of the earlier period, is
here engraved (fig. 206). It is formed of ten rough slabs of gritstone,
two on each side, one at each end, and four others laid as covering
on the top. On removing the covering stones, a regularly shaped mass
of lime presented itself, which had derived its form from a wooden
coffin that had so nearly perished as to leave only small fragments
behind. The wood was evidently cedar. On turning over this mass of lime
an impression of the body of a man, which had been enveloped in, or
covered with, a coarse linen cloth, fragments of which still remained,
was distinctly seen. In another instance the impression of the body of
a woman who had been clothed in rich purple, with a small child laid
upon her lap, was distinctly visible in the lime.
[Illustration: Fig. 206.]
[Illustration: Fig. 207.]
Coffins of lead are of not unfrequent occurrence in the cemeteries
of London, Colchester, York, Kingsholme, Southfleet, Ozengal, and
elsewhere. They are, as will be seen by the example from Colchester
(fig. 207),[39] usually ornamented with raised escallop shells,
beaded mouldings, annulets, etc, in a variety of ways. The next
engraving (fig. 208) exhibits a leaden coffin discovered in 1864 at
Bishopstoke,[40] in Hampshire. The lead which formed the coffin was
about a quarter of an inch in thickness. The coffin, which was five
feet six inches in length, and sixteen and a half inches in breadth,
inside measure, had not been cast in a mould, but the lead cut so as
to form the sides. The lid appeared to be formed of one sheet, and
had been bent or lapped over the lower part of the coffin. The lead
was much corroded, and lime had evidently been placed in the coffin.
There was none of the ornamentation on the outside, so common on leaden
cists. Nearly the whole of the skeleton remained, but the skull was
broken. The teeth were perfect and good. The skeleton was that of
a female. Inside the cist were the remains of small glass bottles,
probably lachrymatories. The glass was thin, and of a very pale green
colour. There was no appearance of handles to the glass vessels, nor
were there any marks of ornamentation on them, except a faint line or
ring marked upon one of the three necks found. Around the coffin were
the remains of the wooden chest in which it had been placed.
[Illustration: Fig. 208.]
[Illustration: Fig. 209.]
Coffins of baked clay, and cists formed of tiles, were also used. Of
these, many examples have been found at York and at Aldborough. One of
peculiar form, from the latter place, is here given (fig. 209).
Sepulchral chambers, sometimes of considerable size, were occasionally
built above ground, and these were sometimes, like the immense
chambered burial-places of earlier times, covered with a gigantic mound
or barrow. A remarkable example of this is Eastlow Hill, in Suffolk,
where the tomb appeared like a miniature house, of strong masonry, with
the roof tiled and peaked. It was built upon a mass of concrete, the
size of the tomb being twelve, by six and a half, feet. The walls were
two feet thick, and the extreme height of the tomb, or house, was five
feet. The interior was a cylindrical vault, and in the middle stood the
leaden coffin containing the skeleton. The wooden chest in which it had
been encased had decayed away, but some fragments and a number of nails
remained. Over this remarkable tomb the mound called Eastlow Hill had
been raised.
When the burial was by incremation, the ashes were carefully placed
in the cinerary urn, and interred either by themselves, or with more
or less ostentatious surroundings. In many instances a hole was dug
in the earth, or in a Celtic barrow, and the urn, on being placed in
it, simply covered with a flat stone. At other times it was placed in
a sarcophagus, or chest, and surrounded with vessels of various kinds
and with other relics. At others, again, it was enclosed in a leaden,
or stone, or other vessel, before being consigned to the earth. In
many cases barrows were raised over these remains. There was a general
belief in the minds of the Roman people that articles of various kinds
buried or burnt with their dead, would add to the comfort and happiness
of the spirit in another world. Thus jewels, personal ornaments, food,
wine, articles for the toilet, culinary vessels, pottery, and glass of
various kinds, and numberless other articles were buried or burned with
the bodies. Branches of trees and garlands were also burned or buried
with the dead.
Some remarkable examples of tombs and graves containing burials by
cremation have been discovered at the Bartlow Hills, at Colchester, at
Uriconium, at Rochester, at York, at Chester, and in other places. The
grave, or chest, was formed of wood, or tiles, or of stone. In this
the urn containing the ashes of the dead was placed, and around it
were put smaller vessels which probably contained ointments, balsams,
and other offerings; a lamp; and other articles. One example, formed
by tiles, contained when discovered a few years ago, besides fragments
of the cinerary urn, four earthenware bottles, six pateræ, three small
urn-shaped vessels, a terra-cotta lamp, and a lachrymatory. A chest of
stone (fig. 210) found at Avisford, Sussex, contained a large square
vase of fine green glass, filled with burnt bones, and around it were
placed three elegant vases with handles, several pateræ, a pair of
sandals elegantly and fancifully studded with brass nails, an oval dish
with handle containing a fine agate, a double-handled glass bottle, and
three lamps placed on projections in the angles of the chest.
[Illustration: Fig. 210.]
An example of a tomb formed of tiles is shown on the next engraving
(fig. 211). It was found at York, and is composed of ten roof tiles,
with a row of ridge tiles at the top. Within this the interment
had taken place. The tiles were inscribed with the impress of the
Sixth Legion-- LEG VI VI (_Legio Sexta Victrix_--“the Sixth Legion
victorious.”)
[Illustration: Fig. 211.]
Sepulchral inscriptions to the memory of the deceased are not uncommon,
and one or two examples of their style of wording will be sufficient.
One, at York, reads thus:--
D . M . SIMPLICIAE . FLORENTINE
ANIME . INNOCENTISSIME
QVE . VIXIT . MENSES . DECEM
FELICIVS . SIMPLEX . PATER . FECIT
LEG . VI . V.
“To the gods of the shades. To Simplicia Florentina, a most innocent
thing, who lived ten months. Her father of the Sixth Legion, the
victorious, made this.” Another, from Carvoran in Northumberland, is
thus affectionately worded:--
D . M
AVRE . FAIAE
D . SALONAS
AVR . MARCVS
C . OBESEQ . CON
IVG . SANCTIS
SIMAE . QVAE . VI
XIT ANNIS XXXIII
SINE VLLA MACVLA
“To the gods of the shades. To Aurelia Faia, a native of Salona,
Aurelius Marcus, a centurion, out of affection for his most holy
wife, who lived thirty-three years without any stain.” Another, from
Caerleon, is thus:--
D . M . IVL . IVLIANVS
MIL . LEG . II . AVG . STIP
XVIII . ANNOR . XL
HIC . SITVS . EST
CVRA . AGENTE
AMANDA
CONIVGE
“To the gods of the shades. Julius Julianus, a soldier of the Second
Legion, the Augustan, served eighteen years, aged forty, is laid
here by the care of Amanda his wife.” Another, from Chesters, in
Northumberland, is as follows:--
D . M . S
FABIE HONOR
ATE . FABIVS . HON
ORATIVS . TRIBVN
COH . I . VANGION
ET . AVRELIA . EGLIC
IANE . FECER
VNT . FILIE . D
VLCISSIMME
“Sacred to the gods of the shades. To Fabia Honorata, Fabius
Honoratius, Tribune, of the First Cohort of Vangiones, and Aurelia
Egleciane, made this to their daughter most sweet.” And one at Bath is
thus:--
D . M.
AEL . MERCV
RIALI . CORNICVL
VACIA . SOROR
FECIT
“To the gods of the shades. To Ælius Mercurialis, a trumpeter, his
sister Vacia made this.”
The articles which the grave-mounds and cemeteries of the
Romano-British period most frequently produce are pottery of various
kinds; glass vessels; coins; arms, both of bronze and of iron; fibulæ,
armillæ, and other personal ornaments; knives, scissors, etc.; and a
large variety of other things. To a brief notice of these contents of
the graves I shall next, in this division of my work, confine myself.