What more could we add to the conversation about Augustan Rome, funerary monuments and collective identity? B.'s timely monograph on columbaria holds the key. He provides a comprehensive, timely and erudite discussion of the burial spaces of Augustan non-elites in the city of Rome. The crux of the monograph unfolds in five chapters. It also includes an introduction, conclusion, three appendices (archaeological catalogue, summary of epigraphic data and glossary), notes, bibliography, as well as an index. His methodological framework convincingly weaves together the disparate methodological threads found in ‘archaeological reports, unpublished monument studies, and causal historical interpretations’ (p. 17) and advocates that the study of columbaria should be treated as a historical phenomenon.
In the first chapter, ‘Studying Columbaria as a Historical Phenomenon’, B. meticulously parses the existing scholarship and establishes that columbaria should not be considered in monolithic terms, but rather as distinctive entities. B. sifts through well-known interpretations offered by Hopkins, Purcell, Bodel and Galvao-Sobrinho, and concludes that ‘none of their theories fully recognizes the historical causes and implications of the phenomenon of organized collective burial in columbaria’ (p. 34). Furthermore, he proposes that these studies have failed to contextualise derogatory prejudices against non-elites in the ancient literary sources, nuances in architectural design, as well as anachronistic treatments of the archaeological record. In this chapter, we come away with two main points that apply to definition and chronology. First, B., following the ancient meaning of the term, defines columbaria as ‘closed collective funerary monuments that deposit cremation ashes in urns and niches on their interior walls’ (p. 20). Second, the construction of columbaria (approximately 35 in number), either partially or completely underground, began late in Augustus' reign and ended in the mid-first century c.e. Monuments appearing after this date are constructed above ground and subsequently must be treated as separate entities.
The second chapter, ‘Tradition and Innovation in the Architectural Design’, establishes architectural precedents for the columbaria. B. is quick to assert that rock-cut Etruscan examples are not antecedents and opts instead for Hellenistic examples such as those found in Alexandrian loculi tombs. Although columbaria may hearken back to traditional modes of burial found in Rome and employ formulaic inscriptions to name the deceased and his/her social standing, they are, nevertheless, innovative in that they are spatially conceived as subterranean, interior spaces. B. articulately argues that columbaria deviate from their Republican predecessors. To substantiate this claim, B. asks us to travel back in time and take the stance of Varro's praeteriens (Ling. 6.49), or the viewer who would have come across funerary monuments lining the roadways leading into the city (p. 40). The viewer would have focused upon exterior elements such architectural features, inscriptions and, where present, iconography. In contrast, columbaria focused on subterranean, interior space. B. maintains that it is difficult to ascertain how columbaria would have been viewed at ground level simply because no evidence is left in situ.
The third chapter, ‘Making and Breaking the Rules: the Use and Evolution of Columbaria’, provides a new and nuanced view of how commemorators made use of burial spaces over time. An appreciation both of descriptive detail and limitations of analysis is extremely welcome, especially as traditional treatments of columbaria have been generic at best. B. maintains that when columbaria first appeared in the Augustan period, niches were designed on the basis of a ‘uniformity principle’ (p. 68). This essentially ensured a form of visual equality amongst the deceased. Intriguing are B.'s ideas about breaking normative patterns of commemoration, which would gradually lead to an evolution in architectural design. Take, for instance, the one rare example of a portrait relief altar found in the architecturally uniform space of the Vigna Codini columbarium (p. 80). More commonly, such portrait reliefs are a feature of select funerary monuments (tombs or funerary altars), lining the streets in the late Republican and early imperial periods. From a chronological development, changes in the Augustan period, albeit small, mitigate a form of competition for commemorators to provide a more individualised visual presence. Then, around the time of Tiberius (B. stresses that this evolution is not linear), above ground columbaria begin to appear and, alongside this, an increase in the use of cinerary urns and funerary altars. Gradually, by the mid-first century with the introduction of inhumation, the ‘latest modifications of funerary architecture reflect yet another use of the tomb that had not been anticipated in its original design’ (p. 105).
In Chapter 4, ‘Reading Between the Lines: the Vocabulary of Columbarium Epitaphs’, B. spells out how the inscriptions align with the overall epigraphic habit of contemporary monuments. In general, the examples conform to standard practice by including ‘names, epithets, professions, and titles' (p. 106). There are, however, factors that distinguish them from the general corpus. To demonstrate this, B. employs raw percentage statistical and cluster analyses to establish that the inscriptions are ‘non-competitive’, in that they are typically brief and serve to ‘connect and embed individuals into a community of peers’ (p. 133).
The final chapter, ‘Finding Niches in Society: the Occupants’, wraps up the discussion to create a narrative of the lives of the occupants. In Rome, the short-lived construction of the subterranean columbaria reflected a fundamental change in how freed slaves and their descendants wove themselves into the social fabric of ancient Rome. As B. poignantly states, ‘On the margins of Roman society, the existence of a nonelite population that had “made it” aligned newcomers more closely with the conventional Roman idealization of individual achievement’ (p. 144). B. also directs readers to the phenomenon of columbaria in other parts of the Empire. He establishes that select Mediterranean port cities opted for the establishment of columbaria and that Rome was the strategic catalyst behind this form of burial.
Scattered throughout this review are many positive qualifiers that laud the overall accomplishments of this monograph. The presentation is clear and accessible. Illustrations of archival evidence and site plans abound; the bibliography is complete. This monograph will certainly spark further conversations on Roman burials for students and specialists alike.
