| This thesis examines the relationship between the political, social, and ideological identity of funerary monuments and their patrons in late republican and early imperial Rome. It introduces the complex political climate of the Augustan age, an era in which socio-political identity shifted among both aristocracy and lower classes alike. This investigation first surveys the archaeological record of earlier Etruscan and Hellenistic funerary monuments, drawing conclusions about their relationships to later Roman developments, and secondly analyzes Augustan-era tombs as examples of a wide range of artistic styles, architectural motifs, and social considerations of the owner. Concluding statements discuss the importance of ritual commemorative culture in Rome and their interplay with the visual record, highlighting specific instances where domestic and funerary ritual convene in an effort to interpret more synthetically the original social context of these permanent structures. |
