CMNH 4309
Roman (Imperial)
This small jar is likely a funerary offering from imperial Rome. While this jug would have been impractical for typical storage or serving, it resembles vessels placed in imperial-era tombs as funerary offerings. Flagons, such as this, would have contained offerings of wine or oil. Regular, ritualized offerings contributed to the Roman understanding of the afterlife. Festivals, such as the annual parentalia, recognized that the spirit lived beyond death in the underworld, where they could be appeased with mortal gifts. The importance and details of these offerings are described by Ovid in Book 2 of the Fasti:
“Honour is paid, also, to the grave. Appease the souls of your fathers and bring small gifts to the tombs erected to them. Ghosts ask but little: they value piety more than a costly gift: no greedy gods are they who in the world below do haunt the banks of Styx.”
Image by Jacob Kordeleski, CMNH Dept of Archaeology // Hawken School
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