Roman Death offers a comprehensive and original study of the role and rituals of death in Roman civilization. In a society where high mortality forced people to confront the brevity of life, the Romans developed rich cultural responses to dying and dead that included attitudes toward suicide, funeral feasts, necromancy, beliefs in Hades, mourning practices, epitaphs and posthumous damnation. The book includes: - Facing Mortality: how Romans confronted death philosophically and socially. - Death Scenes: causes of death, experiences at the deathbed, suicide and ?good? versus ?bad? deaths. - Funerals and Feasts: customs around funerals, preparation of bodies, processions and post?funeral feasts. - Heaven and Hell: Roman beliefs about the afterlife, underworld traditions and ghosts. - Mourning the Dead: social rules, ideals, consolation and grief literature in Roman culture. - Commemorating and Remembering the Dead: cemeteries, epitaphs, monuments and memory preservation.