E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Pall-bearers.
The custom of appointing men of mark for pall-bearers, has come to us from the Romans. Julius Cæsar had magistrates for his pall-bearers; Augustus Cæsar had senators; Germanicus had tribunes and centurions; Æmil’is L. Paulus had the chief men of Macedonia who happened to be at Rome at the time; but the poor were carried on a plain bier on men’s shoulders. \??\
