In amphitheatres the gate at which the bodies of slain gladiators were carried out was called Porta Libitinensis, the Gate of Libitina (Historia Augusta, Commodus 16,7).

Artist's impression of the Porta Libitinensis. Source unknown.

This takes us to a very rich source of information about the undertakers of Puteoli: an inscription with a copy of a law that is usually referred to as lex libitinaria. The inscription was found in 1956, at a site where the forum may have been (EDR075111). It has holes used for attaching it to a wall. Below is my translation of part of the text.

	[De publi?]co Libitin[ae]	[The public service of?] the Libitina
Col. I, 32	[Si quis cadaver proieceri]t, tum is mancipi	[If someone has thrown out a corpse], then to the contractor
Col II, 1	sociove eius, quotienscumq(ue) proiecer(it) in sing(ula) cadavera HS LX n(ummum) d(amnas) e(sto) d(are), deq(ue) ea re magistrat(us) recipe	or his associate a fine must be paid of 60 sesterces for each abandoned corpse, per corpse, and about this incident the magistrate
2	ratorium iudicium e lege colon(iae) cogito.	will start a judicial procedure with the board of the recoverers, according to the Law of the Colony.
3	Oper(ae), quae ad eam r(em) praeparat(ae) er(unt), ne intra turrem ubi hodie lucus est Libit(inae) habitent laventurve ab h(ora) I	The workers who will have been trained for this work are not allowed to reside or wash themselves in the tower where today the grove of Libitina is situated, from the first hour
4	noctis, neve veniant in oppid(um) nisi mortui tollend(i) conlocand(i)ve aut supplic(ii) sumend(i) c(ausa), dum ita	of the night, and they are not allowed to enter the city, except for carrying away or laying out in state a deceased person, and for inflicting punishment, provided that
5	quis eor(um) veniat quotiens oppid(um) intrab(it) in oppid(o)ve erit ut pilleum color(ium) in capit(e) habeat, et	each of them, whenever he enters the city or is inside the city, does not go there without the multi-coloured cap on his head, and
6	dum ne quis eor(um) maior ann(orum) L minorve ann(orum) XX sit neve u[at]i(us) neve luscus neve manc(us) neve clodus	provided that not one of them is older than 50 or younger than 20 years, and provided that not one of them is bowlegged, one-eyed, maimed, limping,
7	neve caec[us] neve stigmat(ibus) inscript(us) sit, et dum ne pauciores manceps oper(as) habeat quam XXXII	blind, carrying tattoos, and provided that the contractor does not have fewer than 32 workmen.
8	Qui supplic(ium) de ser(vo) servave privatim sumer(e) volet, uti is sumi volet ita supplic(ium) sumet, si in cruc(em)	If someone, privately, wants to inflict punishment on a male or female slave, then the punishment must be inflicted in the way that has been asked for, so that if he has asked for the yoke and the cross,
9	patibul(atum) agere volet, redempt(or) asser(es) vincul(a) restes verberatorib(us) et verberator(es) praeber(e) d(ebeto), et	the contractor must provide the beams, the fetters, the whips for the floggers, and the floggers, and
10	quisq(uis) supplic(ium) sumet pro oper(is) sing(ulis) quae patibul(um) ferunt verberatorib(us)q(ue) item carnif(ici) HS IIII d(are) d(ebeto)	each person asking for inflicting punishment must pay 4 sesterces for each worker carrying the yoke, and for each flogger, and likewise for the executioner.
11	Quot(iens) supplic(ium) magistrat(us) public(e) sumet, ita imperat(o); quotienscumq(ue) imperat(um) er(it), praestu esse su-	For each public punishment the magistrate must give the appropriate orders. Each time the orders have been given the contractor must guarantee
12	p(p)licium sumer(e) cruces statuere clavos pecem ceram candel(as) quaeq(ue) ad eas res opus erunt red(emptor)	that the punishment will be inflicted, that the crosses will be erected, that there will be nails, pitch, wax, candles, and everything that is needed,
13	gratis praest(are) d(ebeto); item si u[n]co extrahere iussus erit, oper(is) russat(is) id cadaver ubi plura	free of charge. Furthermore, if the order has been given to drag the body away with a hook, the contractor must guarantee that the corpse will be dragged
14	cadavera erunt cum tintinnabulo extrahere debebit.	to the place where many corpses will be by workers clothed in red, using a signal-bell.
15	Quot quisq(uis) ex is rebus, quas h(ac) l(ege) utiq(ue) praeber(e) o(portebit), praeberi volet, denuntiat(o) denuntiat(um)ve cura-	Each time that someone wishes the services to be delivered, which the contractor is obliged to deliver in any case according to this law, he must declare or ensure that is declared,
16	to manc(ipi) eius public(i) sociove eius eive ad q(uem) e(a) r(es) q(ua) d(e) a(gitur) p(ertinet), aut s(i) is praesens non erit, ad eum loc(um)	to the contractor of this public service or to his associate or to the person who is responsible for this, or, in case that he will not be present, at the place
17	quem libitinae exsercend(ae) gratia conduct(um) constitut(um)ve habeb(it), quo die, quoq(ue) loc(o) quam	that the contractor has hired or established to exercise the libitina, the day, the place and the services
18	que r(em) ei praeberi volet, et si ita denuntiat(um) erit, tum is manc(eps) sociusve eius isve ad q(uem) e(a) r(es) q(ua) d(e) [a(gitur)]	that he wishes to be arranged. And when it will have been declared in this way, then the contractor or his associate or the person who is responsible for this,
19	p(ertinet), ei qui primum denuntaver(it) et deinceps reliquis, ut quisq(ue) denuntiaver(it), nisi si funus	to the person who was the first to declare and then to the others, in the order of the declarations, unless the funeral
20	decurion(is) funusve acervom denuntiat(um) erit, cui prima curand(a) erint, reliquor(um) autem fu-	of a member of the city council or the funeral of someone who died prematurely has been declared, which must be given priority, keeping
21	nerum ordo servand(us), omnes res quae ex h(ac) l(ege) praestand(ae) erunt mitter(e) praeber(e)que quae praeb(enda erunt debeto).	the order of the other funerals, must send everything that he is responsible for according to this law and provide what must be provided.
22	Suspendiosum cum denuntiat(um) erit ead(em) hora is solvend(um) tollend(um) curato, item servom	When one that has hanged himself is declared, he must ensure that the body is cut loose and carried off in the same hour. Also when the death of a male or
23	servamve si ante h(oram) X diei denuntiat(um) erit ead die tollend(um) curato, si post X poster(a) d(ie) a(nte) h(oram) II.	female slave is declared before the 10th hour, he must ensure that the body is carried off on the same day, if it is declared after the 10th hour on the next day, before the 2nd hour.
Col. III, 21	Man[ceps han]c legem propositam habeto eo loco quem eius r[ei exsercend(ae)]	The contractor must put this law on display in the place that he has hired or established to exercise the service,
22	gr[atia cond]uct(um) constitutum habebit u(nde) d(e) p(lano) r(ecte) l(egi) p(ossit).	where it can be read easily and correctly.

The inscription mentions the Lucus Libitinae or Grove of Libitina as a place of activity of the undertakers in Puteoli. It must have been a copy of the Lucus Libitinae in Rome. Libitina was the goddess of funerals. In Rome she had a grove, the Lucus Libitinae, but as far as we know she had no temple, no cult, no worshippers. The grove was probably located outside the Esquiline gate. The inscription from Puteoli and a similar one from Cumae show that the Lucus Libitinae was introduced in other cities in Italy. It must have been situated outside the city, because the ordinary workers who used it were not allowed to enter the city, except for funerals. It had been installed in what is called a tower (turris); in the Italian cities the Lucus was not necessarily a true grove anymore, with trees.

The lucus in Puteoli must have been used for various technical services, because the ordinary workers were present there. As to the administrative services, in Rome the undertakers kept a death-register, witness for example these words of Suetonius: "a plague which in a single autumn entered thirty thousand deaths in the accounts of Libitina" (pestilentia unius autumni, quo triginta funerum milia in rationem Libitinae venerunt; Suetonius, Nero 39,1, translation J.C. Rolfe). The leges libitinariae provide much other information. The libitina was a monopoly, under the responsibility of a contractor who could be called libitinarius (we encountered him in the Cena Trimalchionis by Petronius). The undertakers had a revenue and made profit. Fixed prices had to be paid to the contractor for the various services. People wanting to arrange a burial had to request the desired services in a formal way from the contractor in the Lucus, or - if the contractor was not there - "at the place that the contractor has hired or established to exercise the libitina". The contractor had to post the text of the law at that place. The place of discovery of the Puteolan law suggests that it was on the Forum.

Every citizen was obliged to use the services of the undertakers, including the decurions (the city councillors). The residents of Puteoli were forbidden to leave a corpse unburied. The bodies of slaves and of people who had committed suicide had to be removed quickly by the undertakers. They also had to carry out punishments, providing both equipment and personnel (floggers, executioners). The corpses could then be dragged with a hook to the place "where many corpses will be", mass gravepits called puticuli.