The living had to the power to keep the memory of the dead alive, so tombs were designed for their visits too.

The living and the dead

How and what can we learn from fragments? Thousands of fragmented inscriptions survive from the ancient city of Rome, the majority of which are funerary inscriptions or epitaphs from tombs. This album looks at the impact of funerary monuments. From the Mausoleum of Emperor Augustus, to the more humble tombs of freed slaves, these monuments reveal a great deal about the people and families commemorated. Examining the type, scale, location, decoration, and epitaph of each tomb allows us to build up a detailed picture of a life lived thousands of years ago. This material forms part of The Open University course A219 Exploring the classical world.