12-07-2008, 06:05 PM
Salvete omnes
During the archaeological excavations that went on at the Baltic Exchange in the city of London (the site where the 'Gherkin' now is) a skeleton of a young roman period teenage girl was found - in a ditch away from the Roman cemetery area. The developers wanted to re-bury the skeleton on the site. This is not something you are allowed to do these days - skeletons have to be buried in licensed burial grounds (and the nearest to the city of London is currently out in Ilford, in the county of Essex well to the east of London.). The developers persisted for quite some years until the Corporation of London agreed that she could be buried in a metal box under the pavement in Bury Street with a suitable inscription.
On April 17th 2007, the body was laid to rest with a humanist service at St Botolph's Aldgate followed by a musical procession attended by the Lord Mayor of London and other dignitaries with a wine and rose petal libation. The respect afforded to this young roman girl, and the sensitivity of the service, are to be commended.
The Order of Service was:
The reburial of a young Roman Londoner
Order of service 17th April 2007
St Botolph’s Church, Aldgate, London EC3
Arrival
'Fleeting Life' – three movements for flute
composed for the occasion by Kyriakos Zavoleas
Rebecca Leek (soloist)
Jenny Bond, Kyriakos Zavoleas
Fleeting life: Mov.1 - Ceremony
The Service
Address by the Reverend Brian Lee
Reading: Rest by Christina Rossetti
O Earth, lie heavily on her eyes;
Seal her sweet eyes weary of watching, Earth;
Lie close around her; leave no room for mirth
With its harsh laughter, nor for sounds of sighs.
She hath no questions, she hath no replies,
Hush’d in and curtain’d with a blessed dearth
Of all that irk’d her from her hour of birth;
With stillness that is almost Paradise.
Darkness more clear than noonday holdeth her,
Silence more musical than any song;
Even her very heart has ceased to stir:
Until the morning of Eternity
Her rest shall not begin nor end, but be;
And when she wakes she will not think it long.
Reading: Sulpicia - elegy X by Tibullus
Phoebus Apollo, come, drive away the gentle girl’s illness,
come, proud, with your unshorn curls.
Trust me, and hurry: Phoebus, you won’t regret
having laid healing hands on her beauty.
See that no wasting disease grips her pale body,
no unpleasant marks stain her weak limbs,
and whatever ills exist, whatever sadness we fear,
let the swift river-waters carry them to the sea.
Come, sacred one, bring delicacies with you,
and whatever songs ease the weary body:
No need to weep: tears will be more fitting,
Phoebus, be gracious.
Soon you’ll be honoured, delighted, when the debt
is repaid at your sacred altar.
Then the holy company of gods will call her happy,
each competing for her beauty and skills for themselves.
Procession from St Botolph’s Church to Bury Street
Verger
Reverend Lee
Civic Party
Guests
Fleeting life: Mov.2 – Procession music
Reburial
Congregate at Bury Street
Welcome (Taryn Nixon)
Short recitation (Reverend Lee) with libations and musical accompaniment
Dismissal
Fleeting life: Mov.3 – Last Words
If you are in London you can visit the site, and you will see the following marble inscription:
DIS MANIBVS
PVELLA INCOGNITA
LONDINIENSIS
HIC SEPVLTA EST
To the spirits of the dead
the unknown young
Roman Londoner
lies buried here
Information kindly supplied by the Museum of London.
The picture shows the Consul of Nova Roma and me (on the right) visiting the scene.
[url:6xt63kxl]http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=aV2xuWfr[/url]
Valete optime
Gaius Marcius Crispus
During the archaeological excavations that went on at the Baltic Exchange in the city of London (the site where the 'Gherkin' now is) a skeleton of a young roman period teenage girl was found - in a ditch away from the Roman cemetery area. The developers wanted to re-bury the skeleton on the site. This is not something you are allowed to do these days - skeletons have to be buried in licensed burial grounds (and the nearest to the city of London is currently out in Ilford, in the county of Essex well to the east of London.). The developers persisted for quite some years until the Corporation of London agreed that she could be buried in a metal box under the pavement in Bury Street with a suitable inscription.
On April 17th 2007, the body was laid to rest with a humanist service at St Botolph's Aldgate followed by a musical procession attended by the Lord Mayor of London and other dignitaries with a wine and rose petal libation. The respect afforded to this young roman girl, and the sensitivity of the service, are to be commended.
The Order of Service was:
The reburial of a young Roman Londoner
Order of service 17th April 2007
St Botolph’s Church, Aldgate, London EC3
Arrival
'Fleeting Life' – three movements for flute
composed for the occasion by Kyriakos Zavoleas
Rebecca Leek (soloist)
Jenny Bond, Kyriakos Zavoleas
Fleeting life: Mov.1 - Ceremony
The Service
Address by the Reverend Brian Lee
Reading: Rest by Christina Rossetti
O Earth, lie heavily on her eyes;
Seal her sweet eyes weary of watching, Earth;
Lie close around her; leave no room for mirth
With its harsh laughter, nor for sounds of sighs.
She hath no questions, she hath no replies,
Hush’d in and curtain’d with a blessed dearth
Of all that irk’d her from her hour of birth;
With stillness that is almost Paradise.
Darkness more clear than noonday holdeth her,
Silence more musical than any song;
Even her very heart has ceased to stir:
Until the morning of Eternity
Her rest shall not begin nor end, but be;
And when she wakes she will not think it long.
Reading: Sulpicia - elegy X by Tibullus
Phoebus Apollo, come, drive away the gentle girl’s illness,
come, proud, with your unshorn curls.
Trust me, and hurry: Phoebus, you won’t regret
having laid healing hands on her beauty.
See that no wasting disease grips her pale body,
no unpleasant marks stain her weak limbs,
and whatever ills exist, whatever sadness we fear,
let the swift river-waters carry them to the sea.
Come, sacred one, bring delicacies with you,
and whatever songs ease the weary body:
No need to weep: tears will be more fitting,
Phoebus, be gracious.
Soon you’ll be honoured, delighted, when the debt
is repaid at your sacred altar.
Then the holy company of gods will call her happy,
each competing for her beauty and skills for themselves.
Procession from St Botolph’s Church to Bury Street
Verger
Reverend Lee
Civic Party
Guests
Fleeting life: Mov.2 – Procession music
Reburial
Congregate at Bury Street
Welcome (Taryn Nixon)
Short recitation (Reverend Lee) with libations and musical accompaniment
Dismissal
Fleeting life: Mov.3 – Last Words
If you are in London you can visit the site, and you will see the following marble inscription:
DIS MANIBVS
PVELLA INCOGNITA
LONDINIENSIS
HIC SEPVLTA EST
To the spirits of the dead
the unknown young
Roman Londoner
lies buried here
Information kindly supplied by the Museum of London.
The picture shows the Consul of Nova Roma and me (on the right) visiting the scene.
[url:6xt63kxl]http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=aV2xuWfr[/url]
Valete optime
Gaius Marcius Crispus
GAIUS MARCIUS CRISPUS AKA Bob
