DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.785#0085
introduction.] TOMBS RIFLED IN ANCIENT TIMES.
lxxxv
explored by the Romans in the time of Julius Caesar, for the
sake of these painted vases, which were called necro-Corinthian,
and were then highly prized and of immense value; the art of
making them having been lost;B but how it came to pass that
the Romans never worked the vast mines of the same treasures in
Etruria, some almost within sight of the Seven-hilled City, it is
difficult to comprehend. They could hardly have been ignorant
of the custom of the Etruscans to bury these vases in their
sepulchres, and religious scruples could not have deterred them
from spoliation in Etruria more than in Greece or the south of
Italy. Such, however, is the fact, and the abundance of these
vases in Etruscan tombs forbids us to believe that the extensive
system of rifling, to which they have evidently been subjected,
was by Roman hands. It was more probably carried forward at
the close of the Empire, or by the barbarian hordes who overran
Italy in the early part of our era." Plunder was obviously the
sole object, for the tombs of the poor, though opened, are left
untouched; while those of the rich have been despoiled of the
3 Strabo (VIII. p. 381) says the
Romans did not leave a tomb untouched
at Corinth in their search for the vases
and bronzes. Sueton., J. Caes. LXXXI.
Robbers of tombs were not uncommon
in ancient times, in Egypt and Greece
as well as in Italy, and were execrated,
as resurrectionists are at the present
day.
Pliny states that in his time fictile
vases, by which he probably means
those that were painted, fetched more
money than the celebrated Murrhine
vases, the cost of which he records
(XXXV. 46 ; XXXVII. 7) ; and
which are supposed to have been of
porcelain. That these painted vases
were very rare in his day is confirmed
by the fact that not one has been dis-
covered among the ruins of Pompeii or
Herculaneum.
9 It is known that Theodoric, the
Goth, sanctioned the spoliation of an-
cient sepulchres, yet restricted it to the
precious metals, commanding the ashes
to be left—" quia nolumus lucra quceri,
quae per funesta scelera possunt repe-
riri;" and he justified his decree on
the ground that that was not stolen
which had no owner, and that that
ought not to be left with the dead,
which would serve to keep the living—
"aurum enim sepulcris juste detrahi-
tur, ubi dominus non habetur: immo
culpse genus est inutiliter abditis relin-
quere mortuorum, unde se vita potest
sustentare viventium. Non est enim
cupiditas eripere quse nullus se dominus
ingemiscat amisisse." Cassiodor. Var.
IV. 34. The same feeling was shown
in the laws of the Twelve Tables, which
forbade the burial of gold in sepulchres,—
"Neve aurum addito,"—unless the teeth
of the corpse happened to be fastened
with it. " Quoi auro dentes vineti escunt,
ast im cum illo sepelire urereve, se
fraude esto." Cicero, de Leg. II. 24.
lxxxv
explored by the Romans in the time of Julius Caesar, for the
sake of these painted vases, which were called necro-Corinthian,
and were then highly prized and of immense value; the art of
making them having been lost;B but how it came to pass that
the Romans never worked the vast mines of the same treasures in
Etruria, some almost within sight of the Seven-hilled City, it is
difficult to comprehend. They could hardly have been ignorant
of the custom of the Etruscans to bury these vases in their
sepulchres, and religious scruples could not have deterred them
from spoliation in Etruria more than in Greece or the south of
Italy. Such, however, is the fact, and the abundance of these
vases in Etruscan tombs forbids us to believe that the extensive
system of rifling, to which they have evidently been subjected,
was by Roman hands. It was more probably carried forward at
the close of the Empire, or by the barbarian hordes who overran
Italy in the early part of our era." Plunder was obviously the
sole object, for the tombs of the poor, though opened, are left
untouched; while those of the rich have been despoiled of the
3 Strabo (VIII. p. 381) says the
Romans did not leave a tomb untouched
at Corinth in their search for the vases
and bronzes. Sueton., J. Caes. LXXXI.
Robbers of tombs were not uncommon
in ancient times, in Egypt and Greece
as well as in Italy, and were execrated,
as resurrectionists are at the present
day.
Pliny states that in his time fictile
vases, by which he probably means
those that were painted, fetched more
money than the celebrated Murrhine
vases, the cost of which he records
(XXXV. 46 ; XXXVII. 7) ; and
which are supposed to have been of
porcelain. That these painted vases
were very rare in his day is confirmed
by the fact that not one has been dis-
covered among the ruins of Pompeii or
Herculaneum.
9 It is known that Theodoric, the
Goth, sanctioned the spoliation of an-
cient sepulchres, yet restricted it to the
precious metals, commanding the ashes
to be left—" quia nolumus lucra quceri,
quae per funesta scelera possunt repe-
riri;" and he justified his decree on
the ground that that was not stolen
which had no owner, and that that
ought not to be left with the dead,
which would serve to keep the living—
"aurum enim sepulcris juste detrahi-
tur, ubi dominus non habetur: immo
culpse genus est inutiliter abditis relin-
quere mortuorum, unde se vita potest
sustentare viventium. Non est enim
cupiditas eripere quse nullus se dominus
ingemiscat amisisse." Cassiodor. Var.
IV. 34. The same feeling was shown
in the laws of the Twelve Tables, which
forbade the burial of gold in sepulchres,—
"Neve aurum addito,"—unless the teeth
of the corpse happened to be fastened
with it. " Quoi auro dentes vineti escunt,
ast im cum illo sepelire urereve, se
fraude esto." Cicero, de Leg. II. 24.