in Antiquity, denotes a pyramid or pile of wood, whereon were anciently placed the bodies of the deceased, in order to be burnt.

The Romans borrowed the custom of burning their dead from the Greeks. The deceased, crowned with flowers, and dressed in his richest habits, was laid on the bustum. Some authors say it was only called bustum after the burn- Bustum, quasi bene ustum vel combustum: before the burning it was more properly called pyra, during it regus, and afterwards bustum. When the body was only burnt there, and buried elsewhere, the place was not properly called bustum, but ustrinum, or ustrinum.

the Campus Martius, was a structure whereon the Emperor Augustus first, and after him the bodies of his successors, were burnt. It was built of white stone, surrounded with an iron pallisade, and planted within with alder trees.

Bustum was also figuratively applied to denote any tomb; whence the phrases facere bustum, violare bustum, and the like.

Bustum of an Altar, was the hearth or place where the fire was kindled.