For Memoria Aeterna: Approaches to Immortality in Memory in Ancient Roman Funerary Monuments

When facing death, Ancient Romans attempted to achieve immortality through eternal memory. While the elites sought great achievements as invisible monuments, the non-elite Roman population depended on their tombs to preserve their identity and memory. By analyzing funerary monuments of the non-elite from the Late Republic to the first two centuries of the Roman Empire, this essay explores how their textual and visual components construct images that define and idealize the memory of individuals. The essay also investigates how these elements interact with the living to preserve and strengthen the memories of the dead: by connecting with family and friends from the private sphere in their regular visits as well as luring and informing strangers passing by from the public world. Finally, the essay sheds light on how the most important Roman festival for the dead, Parentalia, provided opportunities to appeal to both types of audiences in the preservation of memory.