Conclusion

In the Roman world various devices were employed to perpetuate the memory of the dead. The eulogy recited in the presence of mourners at the funeral served as one of the mnemonic aids used to recall actions and achievements of individuals and families, and memory was stimulated visually by the fashioning of portraits and statues of the deceased in various materials. Public philanthropy and munficence towards various communities, in addition, could ensure the remembrance and posthumous prestige of the dead in that the names of such benefactors were eternalized in inscriptions on buildings and honorific statues. But the vast number of sepulchral monuments bearing inscriptions relating to the life and death of individuals testifies best to the importance Romans throughout the empire attached to being remembered and revered. Choosing a prominent position and a public space for a funerary monument was an effective way of ensuring visibility and continued attention after death. Those with foresight, and with the financial means at their disposal, selected a monument and an epitaph before they died, or left testamentary specifications for their commemoration. For those of humble means, and perhaps no close family to bury them, burial clubs were established as benevolent societies from the legacies of wealthy patrons or from the contributions of the members of such societies.

Art · Eulogy · Literature · Prestige · Classical Antiquity Studies · Historical and Religious Studies of Rome · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History