Social Class In Ancient Rome

which reflected their social class and therefore power and how much control they had in the ancient Roman society. Then if the dead person had any military rewards or crowns then they would get carried out to show their achievements that they had made during their lifetime. Eventually the corpse was then carried out on the couch; the body was usually carried out on the eighth day after death.
If the body was cremated then the ashes would be placed into an urn (a small clay jar) and the urn would be placed into the tomb, located outside the city walls. The size of the tomb reflected what social class their family was in and the ancient Romans believed that the tombs were homes for the dead. There were a variety of tombs that were all different …show more content…
The Mausoleum was one of Augustus’ first buildings that he built after he won the battle of Actium in 31BC. The mausoleum was very grand it stood around 40 metres high and its diameter was nearly 90 metres. At the entrance to the Mausoleum there were pillars with the Rae Gestae (his autobiography) engraved on it. The front door to the Mausoleum was made of bronze and two Egyptian obelisks were made of granite and were placed on either side of the arched doorway. The entire monument was made of concrete and limestone which were very expensive materials to use back in the ancient Roman times. There were cypress plants on top of the building The mausoleum had a circular floor plan and the interior concrete walls were three concentric rings which all circled around the central pier. The centre of Augustus’ mausoleum was where the burial chamber was and the ashes of Augustus and his family members were placed in golden urns that were in the niches inside the burial chamber. The interior walls of the burial chamber had three rectangular spaces in them this was specifically made for the funerary urns to be placed in. There was a central column within the burial chamber and also had a rectangular space in it this was probably made for Augustus’ ashes. The centre of the monument also contained a bronze statue of Augustus. Burial grounds for …show more content…
A Eulogy is a formal speech in praise of the dead. In ancient Rome the Eulogy at the funeral was practised only by men, but an elite woman was occasionally allowed to deliver a Eulogy at a funeral. This reflected how society was back in ancient Rome, the ancient Roman society was very male dominating and women didn’t have equality and as much freedom as what the men did. Because funerals for the elite were public, the funeral eulogies were usually delivered at the forum or if it wasn’t down at the forum it was done privately at the family home or the place of burial. The forum was a big rectangular area that was surrounded by the government buildings. A well delivered funeral eulogy by a young politician or a male Roman citizen who is interested in politics would be an opportunity to publicize themselves which could help with their political career. An example of a Eulogy delivered in ancient Rome was when Julius Ceasar was young and he delivered a Eulogy for his Aunt Julia around 68BC. This Eulogy was known as the ‘Laudatio luilae amitae’. Julius Caesar had delivered a long memorable eulogy for his aunt and he spoke of her mother and fathers ancestry. “My Aunt Julia derived her decent by the mother from a race of kings and by her father from the immortal Gods. For the Marcii Reges her mother’s family deduce their pedigree from Ancus Marcius and the Julii, her father’s from venus; of whch stock we are a