In Petronius's Satyrica, Trimalchio describes to his dinner guests the tomb he has ordered in his will. His is a particularly ostentatious example and something few Romans would have equaled:

"Tell me my dearest friend," he said, "will you order my tomb according to my instructions? My earnest request is that you set my little dog below my statue, and put in garlands, perfumes, and all the contests of Petraites, so that through your kindness my life can continue after death. Build it a hundred feet wide at the front, and two hundred feet from front to rear. l'd like fruit trees of all kinds surrounding my ashes, and lots of vines; it's quite wrong for a man to have an elegant house in life, and not to give thought to our longer place of residence. So before all else I...