A hundred imagines of curule ancestors is a very respectable, but not an extraordinary showing. One can almost feel there is no misfortune in dying. Behind the procession of death masks, come slaves bearing large crudely sketched pictures upon boards showing incidents in the life of the deceased. If the deceased dabbled in literature, copies of that would also be tied on tall rods and carried along by the marchers. Next comes the corpse itself, exposed to view, upon a couch which is carried aloft upon the shoulders of eight picked bearers.
Men are usually robed in black while the mourning colors for women is white.
Women would tear at their hair and dig their nails into the cheeks and utter piercing cries of grief. This clamor would be added to by a group of slave women led by two or three professional female wailers who, at intervals will set up a shrill chant of lamentation for the dead. Next follows the friends of the deceased all walking with down-cast looks and clad in black or sad colored togas. The procession heads toward the Forum. The honor of a public funeral oration is granted to practically every distinguished citizen, including noblewomen.