Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks

Private Life 181
The Kerameikos, Athens’ chief burial ground.
Courtesy akg-images, London.
time of demographic growth, given the fact that Athens was surrounded
by a wall. Roadside burial also provided the family of
the deceased with an opportunity to advertise their wealth and
prestige in a permanent manner, since the tombs so located would
have attracted considerable attention. For this reason, gravestones
invariably face the passerby, their sculptured adornments often
looking down from an imposing height several meters above the
ground.