Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/459

 BURIAL 453 latter days of the republic and under the ear- lier emperors, the remains of the rich were washed, anointed with oil, and perfumed by the slaves of the undertakers, who, from re- siding near the temple of Venus Libitina, where funereal articles were sold, were called Libi- tinarii. A coin was placed in the mouth of the corpse to pay its ferriage into Hades, and the body, dressed as well as possible, was placed with its feet toward the door in the vestibule of the house. If the deceased had received an honorary crown, it was placed upon the head, the couch was often adorned with flow- ers, and a branch of cypress placed before the door. The funeral took place at night. The procession, headed by musicians, was at- tended by hired mourners, who sang the fu- neral song ; next came the freedmen of the de- ceased, wearing the cap of liberty. Immediate- ly preceding the corpse persons with waxen masks represented the ancestry of the deceas- Columbam in the Apptan Way. ed ; the corpse itself, placed upon the couch, was generally borne by the freedmen or by the nearest of kin ; the family followed after, the men with their heads covered, the women un- covered and with dishevelled hair, beatins their breasts and uttering piercing cries. If warranted by the rank of the deceased, the procession passed through the forum, and an oration was there pronounced. Finally, the corpse, with the couch upon which it was borne, was placed upon the funeral pyre, built commonly in the form of an altar, with four equal sides. The nearest relative, with avert- ed face, kindled the pyre, and perfumes, oils, articles of food, ornaments, and clothing were frequently thrown on while it was being con- sumed. The embers were extinguished with wine, and the bones and ashes carefully col- lected by the nearest of kin, sprinkled with perfumes, and placed in an urn. These urns (olles) were of various forms and materials, and when sealed they were deposited in pairs in niches made in the perpendicular walls of chambers or enclosed places constructed for the purpose, or sometimes by the roadside, and called columbaria, from the resemblance of their arrangement to a dovecote. The ashes of the lower classes and of dependants were de- posited with less care in sepulchral chambers, each of which was also called a columbarium, the plural being invariably used in speaking of the niches. The mourning and sacrifices were continued for nine days, and by the wo- men mourning was sometimes worn for a year on the death of a husband or father. The ear- ly Christian martyrs were buried in churches, and afterward distinguished persons shared this privilege, which eventually was extended indiscriminately, either within or near churches, and to such aft extent as to produce delete- rious effects. This practice was abolished in France early in 1777, and has been generally discontinued elsewhere, jn London, in some of the poorer districts, the soil of the church- yards was raised two, three, or even four feet in a few years, and not only was the atmos- phere of the neighborhood rendered most un- healthy, but accidents occurred from the car- bonic acid gas given off during decomposition breaking into cellars near the cemeteries. The suttee or voluntary immolation of a wid- ow, by burning or burying alive in connec- tion with the body of her husband, formerly prevalent in India, is now of rare occurrence. Many savage tribes in various parts of the world suspend their dead from trees, or place them upon elevated platforms. The latter cus- Burial. torn was practised by many of the North Amer- ican Indians. Among the Turks and other eastern nations, the dead are treated with reverence, and buried in cemeteries which are carefully kept. Among the modern Greeks the faces of the dead are usually uncovered while