Necropolis of Massalia
About
Stone-lined graves and funerary enclosures uncovered during 20th-century excavations trace Massalia's burial grounds back to the earliest Greek settlers, with burial use continuing straight through the Roman centuries. At least half a dozen sarcophagi containing urns and ashes turned up in the old port district alone. By 117 CE this ground had already received the dead of the city for over seven hundred years, Greek and Roman alike buried close to the same harbor their trade had built.
What happened here
The dead are outside the walls because the law requires it, so the approach to every town is lined with them. Tombs face the road in rows, grand ones in front and simpler markers behind, all of them addressed to the passer-by. Burial clubs let ordinary people and slaves pay a monthly subscription for a place in a communal vault and a decent funeral; the alternative is a pit. Families come out on anniversaries and at the February festival, eat at the graveside, and pour wine into a pipe set into the ground. Undertakers, stonecutters and letter-cutters work nearby and compete on price. Ground is bought by the foot, and the frontage on the road costs the most.
Sources
Nearby
Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →