Laudation funebris

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Laudatory speech Turiae

In Roman antiquity, the laudation funebris was a funeral speech for a noble Roman, which was usually given at the forum ( pro rostris ), less often at the stake or grave ( ad sepulchrum ) of a son or a qualified relative or at the state funeral of a public figure was held. The speeches were usually recorded in writing and kept in the family archives. They were not only for the merits and virtues of the deceased, but also to increase the fame of his ancestors and the family ( gens ), which is why they were also disseminated to the public.

Formally, the laudatio funebris remained until the middle of the 2nd century BC. Largely unaffected by rhetorical stylistic devices and rhetorical theory, in classical times rhetorical devices were increasingly adopted and the structure adapted to rhetorical conventions. Finally, in Christian late antiquity, consolation and mediation of assurance of salvation ( consolatio ) became an essential element, for example with Ambrose of Milan .

The best-known example of a traditional laudatio funebris is probably the Laudatio Turiae (“Praise of Turia”), a Roman inscription from the Augustan era.

In contexts in which one sees oneself in the Roman-Latin tradition, for example at the death of humanists or classical philologists , the necrology is sometimes referred to as laudatio funebris .

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