Death and commemoration in Roman Iberia : a contextual study of the barrel-shaped and semi-cylindrical tomb monuments
Death and commemoration in Roman Iberia : a contextual study of the barrel-shaped and semi-cylindrical tomb monuments
Semi-cylindrical and barrel-shaped tombstones known as cupae were set up at a number of sites within the Iberian Peninsula throughout the first three centuries AD. With the exception of one group in western Lusitania, they appear to have commemorated people at the lower end of the social scale in provincial Roman society: slaves and freedmen. Connections between legal status and commemoration with cupae have been noted by previous scholars, but there has been no comprehensive study of these monuments and many are still unpublished.
This thesis considers that the practice of commemoration with stone monuments is best understood within the context of the local monumental traditions of the sites concerned, and rejects the assumption that monuments which are visually very similar can be treated as though they were a coherent group, particularly when distributed across a large area. It analyses both the epigraphic and the stylistic evidence of the funerary monuments of the sites at which cupae were set up, in order to ascertain how different identities were constructed and communicated to their audience. This takes the form of an investigation into how individuals of differing legal status and social identity were represented in death: the epigraphic evidence is integrated with a study of the style and decoration of the monuments to provide a comprehensive picture of the commemorative environment within which the cupae were set up.
The aims of the thesis are threefold: to record as thoroughly as possible all semi-cylindrical and barrel-shaped tombstones at the four main sites at which they have been found within the Iberian Peninsula; to provide answers to questions of the relationship between social, legal and cultural identities and commemoration with cupae; and to contribute to our understanding of provincial Roman society.
University of Southampton
Tupman, Charlotte Mary Lyon
1cc60b5a-1ab9-4575-9a95-ae43b3556064
2006
Tupman, Charlotte Mary Lyon
1cc60b5a-1ab9-4575-9a95-ae43b3556064
Tupman, Charlotte Mary Lyon
(2006)
Death and commemoration in Roman Iberia : a contextual study of the barrel-shaped and semi-cylindrical tomb monuments.
University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
Semi-cylindrical and barrel-shaped tombstones known as cupae were set up at a number of sites within the Iberian Peninsula throughout the first three centuries AD. With the exception of one group in western Lusitania, they appear to have commemorated people at the lower end of the social scale in provincial Roman society: slaves and freedmen. Connections between legal status and commemoration with cupae have been noted by previous scholars, but there has been no comprehensive study of these monuments and many are still unpublished.
This thesis considers that the practice of commemoration with stone monuments is best understood within the context of the local monumental traditions of the sites concerned, and rejects the assumption that monuments which are visually very similar can be treated as though they were a coherent group, particularly when distributed across a large area. It analyses both the epigraphic and the stylistic evidence of the funerary monuments of the sites at which cupae were set up, in order to ascertain how different identities were constructed and communicated to their audience. This takes the form of an investigation into how individuals of differing legal status and social identity were represented in death: the epigraphic evidence is integrated with a study of the style and decoration of the monuments to provide a comprehensive picture of the commemorative environment within which the cupae were set up.
The aims of the thesis are threefold: to record as thoroughly as possible all semi-cylindrical and barrel-shaped tombstones at the four main sites at which they have been found within the Iberian Peninsula; to provide answers to questions of the relationship between social, legal and cultural identities and commemoration with cupae; and to contribute to our understanding of provincial Roman society.
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Published date: 2006
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Local EPrints ID: 466096
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/466096
PURE UUID: cc6a68d8-b1e5-4d88-bf82-64e5d747605e
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Date deposited: 05 Jul 2022 04:19
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 20:30
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Author:
Charlotte Mary Lyon Tupman
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