Roman History

Death

In Rome when you died it was very important that you

were buried properly and the correct procedure was

followed. If something didn't go right the funeral would

start again. The Romans believed in life after death, and

the souls of the dead could help the living or make life

hard for them. To insure that the souls of the dead rested

in peace a gold coin would be placed under the tongue,

this was to pay the ferryman Charon to cross the river

Styx. If you didn't have a coin or you drowned you had

to wait for 100 years. Once across the river your soul

would be judged. If you had a good life you would be

sent to Elysia or the Elysian Fields. If you didn't you

would be sent to Tartaurs where you would be tortured

for all eternity. The bodies of the dead were cremated.

The cremations were held outside the city. The body

would then be placed into the ground. The rich were put

into sarcophagi. Some people would have an epitaph on

there tomb. This was a brief description of the person

how they lived and died. On the birthdays of the dead the

family would have a meal in there honor. Most

tombstones had a chute where food could be dropped

into, this was thought to nourish the soul. Some

Mausoleums had kitchen facilities and eating areas for

these occasions. Most Romans belonged to a funeral

club. These were clubs that a Roman would join and pay

into over there life to pay for there funeral. The only

class that had trouble paying into it were the unskilled

plebs, they were usually thrown into a pit just outside the

city walls.

Work

Most Romans worked. Most of the rich had slaves to do

all the work. They thought that work was below them.

The rich would be educated and go into the military as a

tribune. When they came out of the military they went

into politics. They were put into a arranged Marriage

planned by the head of the family. The middle class were

educated to a lesser level and went into the military.

They then went into the family business. The marriage

was arranger by the head of the family. The skilled plebs

were educated to a lesser level still. They then went into

an apprenticeship in a trade or a shop. The unskilled

plebs had no education. They Built up a pool of

temporary work like laboring or hiring them self out to

people without slaves. The unskilled plebs could collect

2 forms of dole. The first was the grain dole where each

man was given an amount of grain to last