by this offering could be exorcised from the domus by the family's loud clashing of bronze pots. In the city of Rome, on 24 August, 5 October and 8 November, a hemispherical pit or vault, known as the mundus cerialis (literally "the world" of Ceres or Caereris mundus) was opened with the official announcement "mundus patet" ("the mundus is open"). Offerings were made there to underworld deities, and to Ceres as guardian goddess of the fruitful earth and its underworld portals. Its opening offered the spirits of the dead temporary leave from the underworld, to roam lawfully among the living, in what Warde Fowler describes as ‘holidays, so to speak, for the ghosts’. The significance of this ritual remains uncertain; tradition dated it to the foundation of Rome by Romulus, who established a state grain-store as a common resource, on the Etruscan model. The shape of the mundus was described as a reflection or inversion of the dome of the upper heavens. The opening of the mundus was among the very few occasions that Romans made official contact with their collective di Manes - the others being Parentalia and Lemuralia. Other events such as the Rosalia (festival of Roses), the Violaria (a festival of Attis) but especially the dies natalis (birthday) and death-day of the deceased were observed by the pious, with an abundance of flowers, sacrifice and family feasts. Epitaphs Epitaphs are one of the major classes of inscriptions. Additional information varies, but collectively, Roman epitaphs offer information on family relationships, political offices, and Roman values, in choosing what aspects of the deceased's life to praise. In a funeral culture that sought to perpetuate remembrance of the dead beyond the power of individual memory, epitaphs and markers counted for a lot. The inscription sit tibi terra levis (commonly abbreviated as S·T·T·L) is a commonplace marking on funerary items, approximately translating as "May the earth rest lightly on you". A standard Roman funerary dedication is Dis Manibus ("to the Manes-gods"). Regional variations include its Greek equivalent, theoîs katachthoníois and Lugdunum's locally commonplace but mysterious "dedicated under the trowel" (sub ascia dedicare). There is a profound shift in content during the rise in dominance of Christianity. While traditional epitaphs usually note the person's day of birth, earthly achievements and lifespan, Christian inscriptions tend to emphasise the day of death, a transition to a hoped-for heavenly "new life". Philosophical beliefs may also