The monumental tombs of Pompeii : organisation, space and society

The purpose of this work is to create a comprehensive, complete overview of the monumental tombs in the immediate environs of Pompeii, studying in detail the funerary culture of a particular population, including area-specific variation and change, whilst also assessing the importance of social class for the tendency to invest in self-representation, developing a clearer understanding of aspects of Pompeii's funerary epigraphy, and insight into the municipal organisation of the funerary business. The entire corpus of evidence has, heretofore, been studied in a piecemeal fashion, and is not conducive to accurately assessing overall trends and practices. A holistic approach to the funerary monuments creates the ability to integrate a range of data from five different necropoleis, allowing for analysis of both greater accuracy and scope. This collective approach to the monumental tombs has revealed new information pertaining to a number of aspects of commemoration. These include: the development of individual profiles for each necropolis; the importance of the extra-mural environment; legal regulation of public land and burial by the ordo as represented by the inclusion of 'ex decreta decurionum' in an epitaph; local trends in funerary epigraphy; and a lack of discernible class or social status identifiers in determining tomb type or location.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo