Fig. 1
Columbarium in Ostia (courtesy of Maureen Carroll).
Fig. 2
Sarcophagus in lava stone (courtyard).
Fig. 3
Detail of sarcophagus in lava stone (courtyard).
Funerary inscriptions make up about 70% of all Greek and Roman epigraphy. Many are little more than the name of the deceased (see inscription 3). In the Roman period it was common to add other details, such as age at death, biographical information, words of mourning or praise, and information on who set up the tombstone. The texts are very formulaic and repetitive, but the specific choice of elements can still reveal the personal grief (e.g. the detailed age of Tyche in inscription 20).
Inscriptions marked the place of burial. In the early empire cremation was common, but inhumation was normal from the third century AD. Inscribed plaques were fixed to the walls of tombs. Larger tombs, called columbaria, were built for households and burial clubs (collegia), with multiple niches for burials (fig. no.1). The ashes were placed in the niches with inscriptions below, as in the reconstruction; inscribed chests were also used (inscriptions 4 and 17). For inhumation larger niches, tombs cut into the ground, or stone sarcophagi were used (examples in the courtyard, figs. nos. 2 and 3).
