Ghosts In Ancient Rome

There are many rituals, traditions, and attitudes towards death, ghosts and the afterlife of the Ancient Roman Empire. Death, afterlife, and ghosts played an immense role in Roman society because Romans profoundly respected and revered the dead spirits of society. The Roman people believed knowledge and benevolent forces in life were outcomes of the deceased. The Roman Religion influenced much of today’s contemporary beliefs and religious ideals as well as shaping external religions that went beyond the Empire. Due to the Roman Empire’s religious authority over European religion, their values and traditions are preserved in the forms of stories to honor the afterlife and communicate heroic deeds. It is astonishing that an Empire’s values …show more content…
Folklorists derive from multiple cities in the Roman Empire. In different cities and regions of the Roman Empire, there are different stories and depictions of ghosts. As well as ghostly depictions, there is ghostlore: stories of the dead. Similar to contemporary ghost stories, ghosts in Ancient Rome were linked to a place. When disaster occurs that causes many people to die, there would unsurprisingly be a high amount of paranormal presence in the specific area. Ghosts in Ancient Rome can be comparable to what are commonly thought of as ghosts today. Ancient Roman ghosts are usually are present at night, however can be seen with small amounts of light (i.e candles). They are also the product of some form of calamity in which the spirit hasn’t fully rested yet. Ghosts in Ancient Rome characterized ghosts into two categories, such as we do in contemporary society. In contemporary society, we often categorize evil sprits and ghosts separately. Evil spirits are the souls that wish to do harm to people, while ghosts are those who do not necessarily want to do harm, but roam the place where they had died. Ancient Romans also categorized spirits into two categories, “Ghosts who appeared in dreams were considered a completely different kind of spirit than a ‘restless’ ghost who had suffered an untimely or unjust death and had not been buried with the proper rites”. Ghosts who appear in dreams of family …show more content…
The Bible bases much of its foundation from Roman Religion, specifically in regards to death in the Books of John, Matthew, and Colossians. One can distinguish this by using evidence of three places spirits go once dead. The first of which can closely be compared to heaven is the Elysian Fields. The Elysian fields is a place of paradise in the Roman Religion. Most often, Roman warriors who died valiantly in battle found themselves in the Elysian fields. Second, if you were a warm-hearted person and a law-abiding citizen, you found yourself at the Plain of Asphodel. The “second tier” is what distinguishes Christianity and the Roman Religion. In Purgatory (Christianity), the soul waits to be cleansed of sin. In the Plain of Asphodel (Roman Religion), there is bliss. Ironically, however, there are more similarities between Purgatory and the Darkness of Tarturus. If you had made poor life decisions and were a mean-spirited person, you ended up in the Darkness of Tartarus. The Darkness of Tartarus can be closely compared to Hell, however it is much more forgiving. The monumental difference between the Roman Empire and Christianity pertains to the aspect of allocation of the evil souls. Somebody who is sentenced to the Darkness of Tartarus can always make amends for his mistakes and be moved to the Plain of Asphodel. “No soul was ‘condemned to eternal damnation’”. However, as stated in the Bible, “Everyone