How did Ancient Romans hold a funeral? What were their burial rites?
Depends on how rich/liked you were. For instance, the emperor augustus had his own mausoleum and crematorium built. Rome was in mourning for ages on his death, and they made him a god. But for the most part, what would happen is the family would systematically close the dead person’s eyes while calling out their name. Then they placed a coin in their mouth to pay the ferryman to take them across the river styx to the underworld. Then they were put on display, that’s where wealth came in. The more important and liked you were the longer your body was on display. Nobility were sometimes out for a week, commoners for a day. Then there was a procession, with a band behind the casket, followed by mourners and family members carrying wax effigies of the dead person. Once they got outside of town, a cremation pyre was built (Romans ALWAYS cremated their dead). Julius Caesar’s was right in the middle of the Roman forum built by an angry mob. A eulogy was given while it burned. After the pyre g
