what was done after the death of julius ceaser. was he cremated or engraved.?

Question

I would like to know if julius ceaser's body after death burned then why he was not engraved and what was the reason behind this.

Answer 1

G'day Ranjeet,

Thank you for your question.

The Romans had a strict regime of dealing with funerals. First, his eyes were closed while his relatives called his name. The body was washed and a coin inserted in his mouth for Charon the ferryman.

The body was put on display. As Julius Caesar was a prominent man, his body was put on display for about a week. Antony did not give the speech Shakespeare penned for him ("Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears...") but he did give a dramatic eulogy which appealed to the common people, a perfect example of what public thinking was following Caesar's murder. Antony, who had been as of late drifting from Caesar, capitalized on the grief of the Roman mob and threatened to unleash them on the Optimates, perhaps with the intent of taking control of Rome himself. But Caesar named his grand nephew Gaius Octavian sole heir of his vast fortune, giving Octavius both the immensely powerful Caesar name and control of one of the largest amounts of money in the Republic. In addition, Gaius Octavius was also, for all intents and purposes, the son of the great Caesar, and consequently the loyalty of the Roman populace shifted from dead Caesar to living Octavius.

After the display, a funerary procession followed. Roman funerals were typically held at night to prevent large public gatherings and discourage crowds and excessive mourning which, in the case of major political figures, could lead to serious unrest. Hired musicians led the parade, followed by mourners and relatives who often carried portrait sculptures or wax masks of other deceased family members. The procession would end outside of town (it was forbidden to bury anyone within the city limits) and a pyre, or cremation fire, was built. As the fire burned, a eulogy was given in honor of the deceased. After the pyre was extinguished, a family member (usually the deceased's mother or wife) would gather the ashes and place them in an urn.

The Romans prohibited burning or burying in the city, both from a sacred and civil consideration, so that the priests might not be contaminated by touching a dead body, and so that houses would not be endangered by funeral fires.

Answer 2

engraved? You mean buried? Engraved means etching a permanent mark into something either for security or decorative purposes.
In all likelihood Ceasar was cremated by means of a funeral Pyre as was the popular way to dispose of the body during the Roman Empire.

Answer 3

I thought he was cremated on a pyre-but I could be wrong....this was a typical funeral for those days.

Answer 4

They engraved him with a knife and then they cremated him.

Answer 5

He was cremated and his ashes are in Rome, on Palatino hill - that's what I know.