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Burial fashion of Rome

This is the description of a burial fashion of Rome according to a finding in an archeological excavation in Derby, we can see that Romans believe human soul goes to the next world after death, and they burried the dead with lamps, bowls and offterings to guide and sustain the soul on its journey to that world.

And we can also see that they has two different kinds of  burial fashion according to the social status of the dead, the high status and norman people.

"During an archeological excavation in 1978 in Little Chester, Derby, a burial site was found. The bases of five early second century mausolea, or tombs, were first unearthed. These had stood in a line by the side of the road, after the manner of high status burials at Pompeii and Rome. two of the mausolea had solid stone foundations and may have been memorials but in the other three there were pits containing human cremations and pig bones. these were perhaps soldier graves, buried after the fashion of Rome, with lamps, bowls and offerings to guide and sustain the soul on its journey to the next world. If they were civilian burials, then Derventio must have had a highly Romanised society. although mausolea have been found elsewhere, this is the only site in Britain where so regular a line of high status burials is known to have stood by the roadside."

In Pagan burials, the body was orientated north-south direction, while in Christian burials, the head lies to the West his feet are turned to the East.
(A city within a city, little Chester, Derby, AD80 - AD 2000, by Joan D'arcy)
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