View Page: Freedmen Tombs of Pompeii

	Freedmen Tombs of Pompeii
	written by julia625 / 10.12.2005

Section Six

6 of 9

Example of Tomb Styles

Describe

Elsner, Jas. Art and Text in Roman Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1996.

Funerary Relief of Two Greek Libertini

Which common characteristics of reliefs of freedmen can you see in this picture?

Photo by Joe Plumb

Tomb of C. Munatius Faustus

This tomb, found on the street of tombs in Pompeii, is an example of a very common tomb style in Pompeii; the house shaped tomb with a funeary relief on the front. What features can you distinguish from this photograph? What impression do you, as the viewer, get of the deceased?

The two attached photos of tombs are examples of typical tomb styles. The first is the relief on the front of a tomb of two Greek libertini. By looking at the facial features of the portraits, it is obvious that one of the depicted is old and one is young. The elder has no hair, deep furrows along his mouth and nose and slightly sunken cheeks, while the younger had much more youth like features. The inscriptions below list the names of the two men and by the same family name it can be determined that these two are father and son. There are also a variety of carvings along the outside of the portraits. To the right there is a hunting knife and fishing pole, presumably favorite pastimes of the men. To the left is an imitation of the wand used in the process of manumission, or freeing of a slave by the master. This implies that one, or both, of those portrayed were at one point slaves and joined the class of libertini. Above the portraits are depictions of tools used by a blacksmith indicating that the men were most likely blacksmith during their lives. The various tools along the edges of the portraits, along with the stern features of the men, makes the two men appear very dignified and hardworking, no doubt the intention of the tomb.

The second tomb seen is one on the Street of Tombs in Pompeii, the tomb of C. Munatius Faustus. This tomb was created for Munatius by his wife, Naevoleia. His wife is portrayed in the representation of a woman looking out through a window at the top of the relief. Her half bust showing just her face and slightly shoulders indicates that she was alive when this tomb was commissioned. The inscription indicates that Munatius held the title of Augustalis and was a very wealthy and respected Roman citizen. Just in case the viewer could not read, the inscription represents a scene of Munatius selflessly distributing grain to the eager people. This would leave no doubt in the viewers mind that Munatius was noble, wealthy, and loved by the people.

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