AnCiEnT RoMe 1. The underworld


Romans believed that when they died their souls went to the underworld which was ruled by Pluto. When a person died, their body was laid out and a coin was placed either in their mouths or on their eyes. This allowed the soul to pay the ferryman (Charon) to bring them over the mythical river Styx and into the underworld. It was also believed that the underworld was guarded by a ferocious three-headed dog called Cerberus. In Pluto’s kingdom, people who were good went to Elysium (heaven) and those who were bad went to Tartarus (hell). In Tartarus people were punished for crimes they had committed during their lives on earth.


Name Tantalus Tityus Sisyphus


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Fig 2.28 Cerberus, the ferocious guard dog of the Underworld


Mythological figures and the punishments they suffered for their crimes. Punishment


Condemned to be thirsty and hungry for ever, yet he had water and grapes always just out of reach. This is where we get the word ‘tantalising’.


He was tied to the ground. An eagle ate his liver and insides every day and they grew back every night.


He had to push a rock to the very top of a hill, but it always rolled down again just before it reached the top.


The Danaids Forty-nine sisters who were forced to carry water from a well using a sieve for all eternity. 2. Roman funerals


Romans believed in an afterlife, so most Romans were buried. After they had coins placed on their eyes they were wrapped in a toga and laid out on a bed. Some patricians were cremated (burnt) and their ashes were placed in pottery jars called urns. Funerals of patricians were large to show how important the person was. A procession of relatives and friends and sometimes professional mourners followed the body as it was brought to its grave. For health reasons everyone had to be buried outside the walls of the city. Many rich people had huge family tombs called columbaria along the main road into Rome, the Via Appia. The family mourned for nine days. The plebeians had smaller funerals and were buried in far simpler plots of land, also outside the city.


Fig 2.29 An example of a Roman funeral procession.


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