This article analyses the practice of concealing corpses from view by means of veils, which is attested only three times in the sources available to us: In BC 12 on the occasion of the funeral rites of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa; the following year, for the funeral of Octavia, and nally in 23 AD, for the funeral of Drusus Minor cel- ebrated by Tiberius. This practice will disappear quickly so much so that our sources show some perplexities about its origin and its meaning. An analysis of the sources shows that Cassius Dio is apparently better informed than Seneca about this spe- ci c rite, which prevents us from hypotesising that this practice survived long after the period for which is attested (23 AD). My conclusion is that this kind of funeral rite was an innovation by Augustus, motivated by his personal feeling about death.
Gnoli, T. (2015). La morte e il velo nella pratica religiosa augustea. RIVISTA STORICA DELL'ANTICHITA', 45, 45-53.
La morte e il velo nella pratica religiosa augustea
GNOLI, TOMMASO
2015
Abstract
This article analyses the practice of concealing corpses from view by means of veils, which is attested only three times in the sources available to us: In BC 12 on the occasion of the funeral rites of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa; the following year, for the funeral of Octavia, and nally in 23 AD, for the funeral of Drusus Minor cel- ebrated by Tiberius. This practice will disappear quickly so much so that our sources show some perplexities about its origin and its meaning. An analysis of the sources shows that Cassius Dio is apparently better informed than Seneca about this spe- ci c rite, which prevents us from hypotesising that this practice survived long after the period for which is attested (23 AD). My conclusion is that this kind of funeral rite was an innovation by Augustus, motivated by his personal feeling about death.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
