History Memes

Explanation: "the historian Herodian described the funeral in Rome of Septimius Severus as an example of the standard pattern for such ceremonies. Not much had changed. Herodian refers to people wearing masks representing Roman generals and emperors of the past (though he describes them now as travelling in chariots, not walking on foot), to choirs singing dirges, and to the procession from the Forum to the place of cremation. But in this account the wax image played an even more prominent role. Septimius Severus had died in York, in northern England, and had been cremated there, before his ashes were brought back to Rome. There was no body whatsoever at this funeral, not even a decomposing one. The waxwork was all there was. According to Herodian, this was displayed for a week on a couch at the entrance to the palace, ‘looking like a sick man’, with the whole senate in attendance. Every day, doctors would come and pretend to examine the model emperor and agree his condition was deteriorating, until they eventually pronounced him dead and the waxwork was taken down to the Forum." - Mary Beard "Emperor of Rome"