Dynamics in the History of Religions between Asia and Europe
Lecture
Ashes level Everything? Individuality and Identity in the Heterogeneous Tombs of the City of Rome in the 1st and 2nd Century AD
CERES Palais, room "Ruhrpott" (4.13)
Guest lecture by Clarissa Blume-Jung (Bochum)
Ashes level everything. We are born unequal, we die equal.“ This is a dictum by Seneca, written in the 1st century AD. Dealing, however, with archaeological remains of Roman cemeteries of exactly that time, we have to realise that the tombs of that time do not reflect the idea of equality in death at all. Instead, their locations, measures, types, decoration and overall effect are extremely heterogeneous. It is the aim of the paper to give an insight into the great variety of the tombs of the city of Rome in the 1st and 2nd century AD and to discuss this heterogeneous appearance with regard to what it says about how the society of that time dealt with death