Riflessioni sugli spazi sepolcrali ipogei in età imperiale romana: prassi giuridico-normativa e realtà

Summary of the legal norms that defined burials and funerals in the early and late Roman Empire (ius/iura sepulcrorum = res religiosae). In law, the underground portion of the tomb does not count, and all burials are private property. Cities always facilitated the burial of bodies strictly outside the town. Christianity changed the relationship between the dead and space: it overcame the rigid separation between res sacrae and res religiosae, entrusting the bishop with control of cemeteries and funerals.