Roman tombs were always located outside the city, often along the main traffic routes. The probably most massive tomb monuments are found in Rome itself. One of the most spectacular tomb monuments is the Cesitus Pyramid in Rome [Wikipedia click here]. An interesting study about Roman mourners can be found here: [click here].
In the game, you will also have to build graves as a governor. They will not have a significant part in the game, but they’re only meant to strengthen the religion. Because the tombs have always been built outside the city walls (but this is difficult to implement in the game) the tombs will have a positive influence on the religion, but they will have a strong negative influence on the surrounding houses.
Research
Gravestones are probably the most numerous legacies of the Romans. In almost every Roman museum you will find (partly) extremely many gravestones to admire. The Roman-Germanic Museum in Cologne, which I visited in 2019, almost kills the visitors with a gigantic number of such gravestones [click here]. The probably most impressive tomb monument I was ever allowed to see myself is also in this museum. It is the tomb of Poblicius [Wikipedia click here]. This monument impressed me so much that I really want it in the game. How the tomb of Poblicius was found is very similar to a crime thriller. The whole story can be read here [click here] – absolutely worth reading!
What the grave looked like is still not quite clear nowadays. For example, it is discussed whether the statues were covered with a grid or not. But since the statue is standing at a height of about 7 meters, such a grid would have had no purpose. Therefore the grave would probably not have been so high. In order to not commit copyright violations, the columns in the game are different from the original. Furthermore, all statues and the textures differ slightly from their originals. However, it is very worthwhile to visit the original monument in Cologne!
Another tomb monument can be found in Augusta Raurica (Switzerland).
It is a rotunda, which is already implemented in the game (as of August 2020).
A very nice reconstruction of a smaller “monument” can be found in the archeological park Xanten behind the north gate. You have to see this small monument because it was lovingly reconstructed with colors. You can not only see a grey stone with some inscriptions but also get a very good feeling of how such cemeteries could have looked like. Absolutely recommendable. Unfortunately, I am not allowed to show you any photos here for copyright reasons.
Information about the tomb monuments I collected mainly from the Roman-Germanic Central Museum [click here].
