Association Debates in the Roman Empire: Collegia Funeraticia

Abstract

This study, which centers on the connection between associations and funerary practices during the Roman Imperial Period, revisits the long-standing debate over the existence of associations said to have been primarily established to provide funeral services for their members. The thesis of collegia funeraticia (funeral associations), proposed by Theodor Mommsen in his work De collegiis et sodaliciis Romanorum, was widely accepted in academic literature until the early twentieth century. However, modern researchers have criticized Mommsen's thesis on funeral associations, reinterpreting the association inscriptions considered in this field. The debates have centered around inscriptions belonging to associations often associated with the tenuiores (low-income groups), whose members were thought to be unable to afford funeral expenses. These sources include the Lanuvium inscription, dating to the 2nd century AD, which contains the rules of an association founded in Rome for the cult of Diana and Antinous; an inscription from a religious association dedicated to the cult of Aesculapius and Hygia in the city of Rome; and a text found at Alburnus Maior recording the dissolution of the Iovis Cerneni association.The study aims, on the basis of association inscriptions, to establish the position of funerary practices within the wider scope of these organizations’ activities. Furthermore, views on the category of association assumed to be exclusive to the poor and providing burial services are examined in light of academic debates ranging from early research to the present day.

Keywords

• Collegia funeraticia
• Tenuiores
• Roman Empire
• Associations

Roma İmparatorluğu’nda Dernek Tartışmaları: Collegia Funeraticia

Öz

Roma İmparatorluk Dönemi’nde dernekler ile cenaze uygulamaları arasındaki ilişkiye odaklanan bu çalışma, temel amacının üyelerine cenaze hizmeti sunmak olduğu ileri sürülen derneklerin varlığına ilişkin uzun süredir devam eden tartışmayı yeniden ele almaktadır. Theodor Mommsen tarafından “De collegiis et sodaliciis Romanorum” adlı eserinde ortaya atılan collegia funeraticia (cenaze dernekleri) tezi, 20.yüzyılın başlarına kadar akademik literatürde geniş ölçüde kabul görmüştür. Ancak modern araştırmacılar, Mommsen’in tezini eleştirerek bu alanda değerlendirilen dernek yazıtlarını yeniden yorumlamışlardır. Bu konudaki tartışmalar, üyelerinin cenaze masraflarını karşılayamayacakları düşünülen ve çoğunlukla tenuiores (düşük gelirli gruplar) ile ilişkilendirilen derneklere ait yazıtlar etrafında şekillenmiştir. Bu kaynaklar arasında Roma’da Diana ve Antinous kültü için kurulan bir derneğin kurallarını içeren MS 2.yüzyıla tarihlenen Lanuvium yazıtı, Roma kentinde Aesculapius ve Hygia kültü için adanan dini bir dernek yazıtı ile Iovis Cerneni derneğinin feshedilmesini kaydeden Alburnus Maior’da bulunan bir metin yer almaktadır. Çalışma, dernek yazıtlarını temel alarak cenaze uygulamalarının bu organizasyonların geniş faaliyet alanı içindeki yerini belirlemeyi hedeflemektedir. Ayrıca, sadece yoksul kesime özgü olduğu ve defin amaçlı hizmet verdiği varsayılan dernek kategorisine ilişkin görüşler, erken dönem araştırmalarından günümüze kadar uzanan akademik tartışmalar ışığında incelenmektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Collegia funeraticia
• Tenuiores
• Roma İmparatorluğu
• Dernekler

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