A Cultural History of Death in Antiquity

Mario Erasmo

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2026
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781350654617
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Ancient History
• Index: History

Ancient Greek and Roman burial, mourning, and commemoration practices may seem irrelevant in the digital age of instant and virtual communications and entertainment. The lives and deaths of ancient peoples comprising Greek and Roman cultures, however, not only inform modern funerary practices through the reception of Classical antiquity, but they provide a contrast to communicating grief and sympathy; political power, and identity, personal and collective, through gesture; performance; literature; art and architecture.

The chapters in this volume focus on a wealth of evidence from all corners of the Roman empire and recent scholarship to examine: how beliefs in the afterlife, rituals of disposal, commemoration, and on-going social relationships with the dead permeated ancient Greek and Roman culture. Chapters also explore how burial practices contributed to changes in urbanization from the 5th century CE, when extramural burials, formerly in roadside tombs and catacombs, moved inside city walls into the decaying monuments of Imperial Rome and close to places of Christian worship. Examinations of the archaeological, artistic, and literary evidence from Homer to the rise of medieval Europe, reveal vibrant, at times elusive, and allusive practices to contemporary rituals.

A Cultural History of Death is part of The Cultural Histories Series. Titles are available as hardcover sets for libraries needing just one subject or preferring a tangible reference for their shelves or as part of a fully-searchable digital library. The digital product is available to institutions by annual subscription or on perpetual access via www.bloomsburyculturalhistory.com. Individual volumes for academics and researchers interested in specific historical periods are also available in print or digitally via www.bloomsburycollections.com.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• General Editor’s Preface Douglas J. Davies
• Introduction Mario Erasmo
• 1 Dead and Dying Bodies Valerie M. Hope
• 2 The Sensory Aesthetics of Death Robert Garland
• 3 Emotions, Mortality, and Vitality Evy Johanne Håland
• 4 Death’s Ritual-Symbolic Performance Emma-Jayne Graham
• 5 Sites, Power, and Politics of Death Penelope J.E. Davies
• 6 Gender, Age, and Identity: Roman Funerary Commemoration Maureen Carroll
• 7 Explaining Death: Belief, Law, and Ethics Anton J.L. van Hooff
• 8 The Undead and Eternal Debbie Felton
• Notes
• Bibliography
• List of Contributors
• Index