DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1082#0123
POMPEIAN.A. 87
lar observance and ceremony is enjoined,
with a sacrifice to Pluto, Proserpine, and
the infernal gods; the remains to be eaten
by the company. The disappointed heir
was apt to neglect this ceremony \
To the custom of honouring excellence
even after life, the historian Polybius re-
fers, in a great measure, the cause of the
higher qualities and superiority of the Ro-
mans over their enemies; for, says he,
" this public institution excites the emula-
tion of the rising as well as existing ge-
neration. When a man whose life has been
worthy of imitation departs this world, his
remains are still respected; and, amongst
the honours rendered, his corpse borne to
the forum is there placed at the rostrum,
so that it may be conspicuous, when the
surrounding multitude are addressed by
his son or nearest relative, who, ascending
the rostrum, panegyrizes his good qualities,
and enumerates the various exploits he
1 Catullus.
lar observance and ceremony is enjoined,
with a sacrifice to Pluto, Proserpine, and
the infernal gods; the remains to be eaten
by the company. The disappointed heir
was apt to neglect this ceremony \
To the custom of honouring excellence
even after life, the historian Polybius re-
fers, in a great measure, the cause of the
higher qualities and superiority of the Ro-
mans over their enemies; for, says he,
" this public institution excites the emula-
tion of the rising as well as existing ge-
neration. When a man whose life has been
worthy of imitation departs this world, his
remains are still respected; and, amongst
the honours rendered, his corpse borne to
the forum is there placed at the rostrum,
so that it may be conspicuous, when the
surrounding multitude are addressed by
his son or nearest relative, who, ascending
the rostrum, panegyrizes his good qualities,
and enumerates the various exploits he
1 Catullus.