试论古代罗马帝国的葬式及其变化

罗马人最初流行的土葬,与古人入土为安的观念有关；随后由于战争的影响,火葬在罗马人当中盛行起来.公元1世纪后期达于鼎盛的火葬,既是罗马奴隶制繁荣的产物,也是希腊灵肉二元论思想影响的结果.从3世纪开始,土葬又重新成为罗马帝国中主要流行的葬式,这是由当时社会历史条件的变更所造成的.在当时,土葬是一种比火葬要便宜得多的葬式,3世纪的社会经济危机既造成了较高的死亡率,又导致了生活的普遍贫困化,因此,大部分人选择用土葬方式埋葬自己的亲人.异教民众当中土葬方式的推行,与基督徒的土葬传统不谋而合,这对于基督教在帝国内的传播是一个有利的契机.基督教的土葬在外表形式上继承自犹太教,但其思想内容却渊源于肉体复活论.这种理论既造就了一种中庸和自然主义的死亡观,也促成了一种简朴和实用的葬俗.

A Trial Talk about the Burial Means and Its Change in the Ancient Rome Empire

The original inhumation of Romans has something to do with the ancient idea that the’life was made of earth and returns to the earth’.Later,as war became a frequent occurrence,cremation began to prevail in Roman communities.During the late first century,Rome witnessed great prosperity of cremation,which was caused for both flourishing slave-owned system of Rome and soul-body dualistic idea from Greeks.From the third century on,in the virtue of radical change of social circumstances,inhumation became vogue again as a dominant burial model.At that time,the expenses paid on inhumation was much lower than that on cremation.Social economic crisis led many people into impoverishment,and the result was that the poor had no choice but to adopt cheaper inhumation.Rise of inhumation in Roman pagans coincided with the inhumation customs of early Christians,and this trend gave impetus to dissemination of Christianity within the empire.A flesh-resurrection idea both created a naturalistic view of death and brought about a simple and frugal burial customs.