Cremation is one of the oldest funeral rites in the human story, because the first evidence of this goes back to the neolithic era.
Subsequently cremation was used by the Mediterranean civilization like Greeks and Etruscan, as well as Romans. Going back to the second half of 800, this practice was strongly introduced in Europe because of the illuministic and anticlerical movements. These movements supported and contenanced this funeral rite in France.
In 1888 in Italy, the "Crispi law" appeared which sanctioned the full legitimacy of cremation.
Today cremation as a free and a rational choice, is valid for social purposes. Cremation respects the dignity of the deceased avoiding the decomposition of the body which changes the environmental balance (pollution of the ground, water and air).
But cremation as a "social choice", offers many logistic benefits, limiting the difficult search for cemetery areas used for the common burial practices (burial in locul or inhumation in the ground).

Opera Romana for Cremation