“A Time to Die: Preliminary Notes on Seasonal Mortality in Late Antique Rome,” in eds. C. Laes, K. Mustakallio, V. Vuolanto, Children and Family in Late Antiquity. Life, Death and Interaction (Leuven, 2015) 15-34. (original) (raw)

DEATH AND THE SOCIETIES OF LATE ANTIQUITY New methods, new questions ? International Conference

Call for paper - Death in Late Antiquity - International conference 2021

The aim of this meeting is to cross old and new questions and methodologies on Late Antiquity funerary practices, by questioning the plurality of situations that mark out the territories of the Roman Empire and its margins. This colloquium, which is intended to be highly interdisciplinary and on a large geographical and thematic scale, aims to bring together the approaches of different disciplinary backgrounds (biological anthropology, archaeothanatology, history, archaeology, environmental sciences, molecular biology). Our wish is to initiate a multidisciplinary reflection that will allow us to take complementary views on funerary practices.

Death and the city: ancient Rome and beyond

Epigraphic records from antiquity light on the seasonal distribution of mortality in the city of Rome, allowing us to draw inferences about the local disease environment. Endemic malaria appears to have made an important contribution to the mortality regime. Literary sources and osteological evidence likewise support the impression that the metropolitan disease environment was exceptionally severe. Investment in infrastructure and welfare provisions was unable to change this.

Too Young to Die: Grief and Mourning in Ancient Rome

Thersites 9 (2019): Ancient Greek and Roman Multi-Sensory Spectacles of Grief / Anastasia Bakogianni (ed.), pp. 71– 88, 2019

Expressions of grief and mourning are characteristic of Roman funerary inscriptions. Roman epitaphs express sorrow for the deceased and reveal familiar emotional responses to memories of the dead person. In our ancient sources, death is usually depicted as something unknowable. Like in contemporary societies, only philosophy and faith seem to offer any measure of relief when faced with the horrors of death, particularly in the case of deceased youth (mors im-matura), unfortunately a very common occurrence in classical antiquity. Ancient texts and inscriptions provide us with a wealth of expressions of grief and bereavement for children and young people who died prematurely. Common people lamented the inexorability of fate by immortalizing their loved ones in epitaphs carved in durable stone. Latin texts supplement our understanding of Roman attitudes towards death in various ways, going beyond contemporary religious beliefs, ritual practices and traditional values. Nevertheless, the ultimate goal was to preserve the memory of the dead person, often by recalling specific traits of their nature. Lastly, the pain caused by the death of one's own children led to loneliness and a sense of abandonment, as shown in the epitaphs chosen by those who lived on.