Tombs of Amiternum and Haterii (Non-Royal)

Question 1

Evidence that the tomb was constructed to document the matriarch’s death

Tomb of the Haterii

Answer 1

• Matriarch lying on a funerary bed in the atrium of the house
• Surrounded by a flute player at her feet, children beating chests in mourning
• Three newly liberated slaves, shown by their wearing of the pileus cap of freedom, are positioned below the bed → reference to matriarch’s liberality

Question 2

Context of Tomb

Tomb of the Haterii

Answer 2

Tomb built around 100 CE.

Constructed by a family of builders, documenting the death of their matriarch and celebrating wealth.

Question 3

Matriarch was a freedwoman

Tomb of the Haterii

Answer 3

• She is placed on a funerary bed (symbolising wealth) and there are three slaves wearing the pileus (cap of freedom) below the bed
• A treadwheel crane in front of the tomb references the family’s construction business. The Haterii helped build the Flavian Amphitheater and the Arch of Titus
• Space was collapsed e.g. woman sitting on a couch positioned above the heads of her children (Freedmen style)

Question 4

Idea of the Living Dead

Answer 4

• The dead were portrayed as if they were alive, showing that they were still remembered by their family and friends
• Amiternum: the deceased was depicted propped up on a funerary couch
• Haterii: the woman is showing sitting on a couch while her children play below her

Question 5

Context of Tomb

The Amiternum Tomb

Answer 5

Late first century BCE funerary relief.

Only existing scene in Roman art of the elaborate pompa (funerary procession) held.

Question 6

Evidence that the tomb was constructed to document the patriarch’s death

The Amiternum Tomb

Answer 6

• Male figure rests on a funerary couch, transported by pallbearers.
• Floating to the right: Instrument players (pipe, horn, trumpet)
• To the immediate left: Chief mourners are shown to be a widowed woman and children.

Question 7

Evidence of Funerary Practices

The Amiternum Tomb

Answer 7

To the immediate right: Two women, perhaps hired mourners, mourn as one dramatically grabs at her hair and the other raises her arms.

Question 8

Patriarch was a Freedman

The Amiternum Tomb

Answer 8

Art indicates servile origins as it rejects the classicising trappings of Roman art, with disproportion, hierarchies of scale, ambiguous spatial relationships and gestural use of line.

Question 9

Depiction of Gladitorial Combat

The Amiternum Tomb

Answer 9

References the public munificence of the deceased.