The region of the Apennine Peninsula gives us insight into one of Europe's oldest civilizations, with it's rich history and culture. The Etruscans were one of the people who greatly influenced the ancient Romans, including their funeral rituals and customs. The very founding of the city of Rome, which can be attribute to the first Roman king Romulus, who was later accompanied by six other kings; with the last king Tarquinius Superbus, Rome ceased to be a Kingdom and became a Republic in 509 BC. A very turbulent period lead the Republic to its downfall and gave rise to the Empire in 27 BC. with the first Roman emperor Augustus. The reign of the last Roman emperor Romulus Augustulus ended with the germanic Odoacer overthrewing him, and the Western Roman Empire officially fell in 476 AD. As for the main talking points of this work, the funeral rituals and customs in the Roman Empire, we have to examine several different functions that were performed at the time of the death of the deceased. It all begins with funeral preparation, a ritual that was of particular importance to the inhabitants of the Roman Empire. The importance of funerals in all cultures comes from the human need to be able to say goodbye to their loved ones. After the body of the deceased was prepared, that is, washed in warm water, anointed with oils and decorated with flowers, it would be exposed in the atrium of the house. Afterwards, a pomp or funeral procession starts, accompanied by musicians, mourners and actors, which leads the deceased to his eternal resting place where the rite of cremation or inhumation will take place. At that time, there were two methods of burial that were practiced. The first rite is burning on a pyre or so-called cremation. Cremation was practiced as early as the 8th - 7th century BC and prevailed during the Republic. However, sometime around the first and second centurie of the new era, the rite of inhumation became established in Rome and throughout Italy, which largely replaced the previous process of cremation of the dead. After the funeral, it was obligatory to perform a purification ritual because it was believed that the dead were polluted. As for deaths of the children, it was such a common occurrence at the time that it made no sense for many to mourn the death of every newborn. And for the soldiers, who were precisely because of their occupation exposed to premature death, and those who would lose their lives in a battle, would be buried together. 35 With the advent of Christianity, there was a slow change in tomb architecture, and early communities of Christians and Jews began to be buried in underground catacombs. According to the Code of Twelve Plates, burial within the city is prohibited and the cemetery is located outside the city walls. To the Romans, tombs were an eternal home in which they lived after death. The most common tombs of the Roman world were shapeless holes in which either vessels with ashes and burnt bones or a skeleton were placed. It all depended on the material possibilities and tradition of the family, the appearance of graves and grave sites could vary and some patrician families could even have private graves. The constructions of the mausoleums was also established, but it was more often built by the ruling families; with the best example of this being the mausoleum of Augustus. All this information related to the burials of the ancient Romans can be read from two valuable sepulchral reliefs: the relief of the tomb of the Haterii family and the relief of the tomb from Amiternum on which we have depictions of funeral preparations and processions.