7 7 | Torches Above Bier at a Roman Funeral The custom of igniting funeral lights on the tomb or during the funeral had become so deeply rooted that their use was constantly being prohibited by the Church Fathers . Eventually it was emphatically condemned at the 4 th century Elvira Council, with the statement : “cereos per diem placuit in coemetrio non incendi, inquietandi enim sanctorum spiritus non sunt,” ( Canon 34, cf . C . J . Hefele, Histoire des conciles, Paris 907, / , pp . 2 2 - 264, and especially p . 239 ) . It seems nonetheless that they were finally adopted or even converted by Christianity, for, as mentioned by Eusebius when he describes Constantine the Great’s bier, it was surrounded by candles burning in candlesticks of gold ( De Vita Constantini Caesariensis , ed . H . Berthold, Berlin 97 , 975 LXVI ) . Artificial means of light are frequently depicted on funerary Christian monuments, like the candelabrum in the Brescia casket, 3 and on tomb mosaics from North Africa ....
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