Was cremation a common practice among Romans? Did recent HBO movie Rome not show Caeser being cremated.?

Question

If Romans did not bury their dead but cremated or burned them, where did they adopt the practice, because Greeks before them and Jews who were their contemporaries built elaborate essuaries for bones.

Curious that Hindus also cremate their dead. Is this a pagan ritual?

Someone knowledgeable with history please answer.

Answer 1

Yes the Romans did, so did the Norse, ( I think ) and yes it's a pagan ritual. Ironic. Shape of things to come! ( The word at the end is
' ossuaries '. There's one near Verdun for practical, if obvious purposes. )

Answer 2

Cremation was quite common among the Romans, so much so in fact that the government had to issue a decree against cremating bodies within the city. As for the Greeks, they also favored cremation, contrary to your assertion.

Of course once the Roman Empire, including Greece, became Christianized, the practice of cremation fell out of favor. In this sense it could be seen as a "pagan" ritual, but not because there was necessarily anything wrong with it. The reasons Christians favor burial over cremation are several, with the most important being their belief in the physical resurrection of the body. There are, however, conditions under which cremation for a Christian are considered acceptable (see link below).