Landeshauptstadt Mainz Direkt zum Inhalt
Landeshauptstadt Mainz Direkt zum Inhalt
Whoever wishes to know how people lived in antiquity, really only need look at ancient gravesites. For instance, simply by investigating the finds from Mainz’s 1st Century graveyards in the Weisenau section of town allows one to draw many conclusions. The presence of olive and date pits reveals the presence of traders from southeastern Europe who supplied Moguntiacum’s multinational legionnaires. The military camp was not isolated from the rest of the population: a civilian housing area was located along side of the encampment.
Another good example is the gravestone of the ship-owner Blussus. His one-and-a-half meter high stone monument portrays the magnate and his wife, as well as his son Primus, or possibly , his house-slave, Satto. This stretch of graveyards runs along a thoroughfare which connected two military camps – one on the Kaestrich and the other in Weisenau. Burying the dead along heavily traveled streets is one device the Romans used in order to be remembered by posterity. The best burial sites were located directly at the side of the road. Passersby were thus encouraged to view the gravesite and remember the deceased. The length of the Grave Street measured 2.5-kms, about 1.5-miles.
Location
The Gravesites lie on the Goettelmannstraße in Mainz-Weisenau