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The first example is a late first century B.C.E. funerary relief from Amiternum (above), located in what is now the Abruzzo region of Italy. One relief depicts a person of some consequence and shows the only existing scene in Roman art of the pompa or funerary procession that was famously described by the historian Polybius ( History 6.53-4). Roman funerals were often elaborate affairs that began in the house and culminated tombside. Upon death, dramatic displays of mourning were performed by household members of the deceased's family. Such mourning rituals included wailing, chest-beating, and sometimes self-mutilation -pulling of the hair and laceration of the cheeks. The deceased's corpse was then washed, anointed, and displayed on a funeral bed in the house before ultimately being transported to the tomb or site of cremation on an elaborate bier in a procession known as the pompa.

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Roman funeral rituals and social status: the Amiternum tomb and the tomb of the Haterii (article) | Khan Academy

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NOTES: Dates of accession of material added since July 1998- be seen in the The

Internet Ancient History Sourcebook:

Rome

See Main Page for a guide to all contents of all sections.
Back to Index Rome: Major Historians: Complete Texts

Polybius (c.200-after 118 BCE)

Julius Caesar (100-44 BCE):

Livy (59 BCE-17 CE): History of Rome
Complete surving text online in English translation [At Virginia]

Augustus (63 BCE-14 CE)

Josephus (37- after 93 CE)

Plutarch (c.46-c.120 CE)

Tacitus: (b.56/57-after 117 CE)

Suetonius (c.69-after 122 CE)

Back to Index Etruscans Back to Index Roman Foundations Back to Index The Growth of Republican Institutions

The Twelve Tables 451/450 BCE selections, [At CSUN] and inLatin [At Bibliotheca Augustana]

The Twelve Tables 451/450 BCE selections, [At this Site]

Livy (59 BCE-17 CE): Selections from Books 6 and 7 [At Internet Archive, from Princeton]
Book 6: 11, 14-20, 27, 31-32, 34-36, 39; Book 7: 19, 21-22, 27, 29, 38, 42.

Polybius (c.200-after 185 BCE): Rome at the End of the Punic Wars [History, Book 6] [At this Site] (Public Domain unlike next selection, which is a more recent version.)
Includes an extended comparison of Rome and Carthage.

Polybius (c.200-after 185 BCE) Book 6.11-18: The Constitution of the Roman Republic [At Saskatchewan]

Chart: Roman Government: Checks and Balances [From Polybius, Histories, 6]

Polybius (c.200-after 185 BCE): Extensive Selections, [At Internet Archive, from Princeton]
Book I, sections 1-6 , 14 , 17 , 59 , 63-64; Book VI. 1-42, 53-58; Book X. 2-3; Book XXXI. 22-30

2ND The Concepts of Fides and Virtus [At CSUN]

2ND The Republican Constitution [Modern Account][At Internet Archive, from Reed]

Back to Index The War with Carthage

Herodotus (c.490-c.425 BCE): The Carthaginian Attack on Sicily, 480 BCE [At this Site]

Cornelius Nepos (c.99-c.24 BCE): Hannibal, from De Viribus Illustris, trans. J. Thomas, 1995. [At Iowa State]
The writer of the first surviving biography in Latin.

Polybius (c.200-after 118 BCE): The Battle of Cannae, 216 BCE, History, Book III.107 [At this Site]

Polybius (c.200-after 118 BCE): The Character of Hannibal, The Histories, Book IX, Chapters 22-26 [At this Site]

Polybius (c.200-after 118 BCE): The Third Punic War, 149-146 BCE, The Histories, Book XXXVI-XXXIX [At this Site]

2ND The Punic Wars [Modern account][At Internet Archive, from Reed College]

Back to Index Imperial Expansion under the Republic

Chinese Accounts of Rome, Byzantium and the Middle East, c. 91 B.C.E. - 1643 C.E.

Time Line for Foreign Policy to 272 BCE [At Internet Archive, from Reed]

Polybius (c.200-after 118 BCE): The Roman Maniple vs. The Macedonian Phalanx, The Histories, Book XVIII, Chapters 28-32 [At this Site]

Plutarch (c.46-c.120 CE): Life of Pyrrhus [At MIT]

Polybius (c.200-after 118 BCE): The Destruction of Corinth, 146 BCE The Histories, Book XXXVIII, Chapters 3-11; Book XXXIX, Chapters 7-17 [At this Site]

Plutarch (c.46-c.120 CE): Life of Cato the Elder (234-149 BCE)[At MIT]

Mithridates & The Roman Conquests in the East, 90-61 BCE, excerpts from Appian, Mithridatic Wars, 114-119, and Plutarch, Life of Lucullus. [At this Site]:

Julius Caesar (100-44 BCE): T-allic Wars [At MIT]

Julius Caesar (100-44 BCE): Caesar and Vercingetorix, 52 BCE [At Internet Archive, from Hillsdale]

Tacitus: (b.56/57-after 117 CE): Boudicca (Annals 14: 29-37) [Athenapu-li>

2ND The Landings of Caesar in Britain, 55 and 54 BCE [At Athenapub]

2ND Rome, Greece and the East to 168 BCE [Modern Account][At Internet Archive, from Reed]

Back to Index Civil Wars and Revolution

Appian {1st Cent CE): The Civil Wars (On the Gracchi) [This Site]

Plutarch (c.46-c.120 CE): Life of Tiberius Gracchus (c.164-133 BCE) [At MIT]

Plutarch (c.46-c.120 CE): Tiberius Gracchus (c.164-133 BCE) translated by John Dryden, excerpts. [At this Site]
See 2NDSources on Tiberius Gracchus [At Internet Archive, from Reed]

Plutarch (c.46-c.120 CE) Life of Caius Gracchus (c.121 BCE)[At MIT]

The Gracchi [Modern Account][At Internet Archive, from Reed]

Plutarch (c.46-c.120 CE): Life of Sulla (c.138-78BCE)[At MIT]

Plutarch (c.46-c.120 CE): Life of Marius (157-86 BCE)[At MIT]

Sallust (prob.86-35 BCE): Life in Rome in the Late Republic, . 63 BCE, excerpts from the Catiline Conspiracy [At this Site]

Sallust (prob.86-35 BCE): The Cati- Conspiracy, 63 BCE [At Forum Romanorum]

Cicero (105-43 BCE): First Oration Against Catiline<-63 BCE [At Bartleby]

Lucan (Marcus Annaeus Lucanus) (39-65 CE): Pharsalia (aka "The Civil War") [At OMACL]

Plutarch (c.46-c.120 CE): Life of Pompey (100-48 BCE)[At MIT]

Plutarch (c.46-c.120 CE): Life of Crassus (115-53 BCE)[At MIT]

Cicero (105-43 BCE)

Cicero (105-43 BCE): Selected Letters. 36 selected letters. [At this Site]

Cicero (105-43 BCE): On Friendship, or Laelius, full text, trans by Evelyn S. Shuckburgh [At this Site]

Cicero (105-43 BCE): On Friendship, or Laelius, full text, trans by W. Melmoth [At this Site]

Cicero (105-43 BCE): Old Age, c. 65 BCE (Harvard Classics series)[At this Site]

Cicero (105-43 BCE): On the Laws, excerpts from Books II and III, [At this Site]

Cicero (105-43 BCE): On the Republic, excerpts from Book I, [At this Site]

Cicero (105-43 BCE): On the Republic: Scipio's Dream, excerpts from Book VI, [At this Site]

Cicero (105-43 BCE): The Second Philippic [At this Site]

Cicero (105-43 BCE): On the Genres of Rhetoric. excerpts from various texts, [At Towson]

Plutarch (c.46-c.120 CE): Life of Cicero (98-c.55 BCE)[At MIT]

Asconius (9 BCE-76 CE): On Cicero's Pro Milone [At CSUN]

WEB Cicero Homepage [At Utexas] for texts in Latin

The Roman Candidate, 64, 54 BCE
Quintus Cicero, Letter to His Brother Marcus Cicero, on the problems of running for office.

Plutarch (c.46-c.120 CE): Life of Caesar (100-44 BCE)[At MIT]

Suetonius (c.69-after 122 CE): De Vita Caesarum, Divus Iulius (The Lives of the Caesars, The Deified Julius), written c. 110 CE, Rolfe translation. [At this Site]

Plutarch (c.46-c.120 CE): The Assassination of Julius Caesar, from Marcus Brutus, excerpts, translated by John Dryden. [At this Site]

Plutarch (c.46-c.120 CE): Life of Anthony (82-30 BCE) [At MIT]

Back to Index The Principate to 192 CE

Augustus

Cicero (105-43 BCE): Selections from- Letters on the Rise of Augustus [At Saskatchewan]

Tacitus (b.56/57-after 117 CE): The End of the Republic [This Site]

Augustus (63 BCE-14 CE): Acts of the Divine Augustus (Res Gestae Divi Augusti) [At MIT]

Augustus (63 BCE-14 CE): Res Gestae [In Latin][At CSUN]

Augustus (63 BCE-14 CE): Selections from th-ts of the Divine Augustus (Res Gestae Divi Augusti) [At Saskatchewan]

Augustus (63 BCE-14 CE): Res Gestae Divi Augusti, c. 14 CE, long excerpts, in English. [At this Site]

Augustus (63 BCE-14 CE): Select Testimonia- [At Saskatchewan]

Augustan Encomiums, c. 31 BCE - 14 CE [At this Site]
Horace (65-8 BCE): Secular hymn, and Vergil (70-19 BCE): Aeneid, VI.ii.789-800, 847-853.

Suetonius (c.69-after 122 CE): Life of Augustus (outline)(63 BCE-14 CE) [At CSUN]

Suetonius (c.69-after 122 CE): De Vita Caesarum-Augustus, written c. 110 CE, Rolfe translation, [At this Site]

Suetonius (c.69-after 122 CE): Life of Augustus, complete, Worthington translation, [At this Site]

Nicolaus of Damascus (1st Cent CE): Life of Augustus (63 BCE-14 CE)[At CSUN]

Claudius Claudian: Panegyricus de Sexto Consulatu Honorii Augusti. In Latin [At Upenn]

Augustus' Legislation [At CSUN]

Velleius Paterculus (c.19 BCE-after 30 CE: The Battle of Teutoburg Forest, 9 CE [At Hillsdale]

Chart: Roman Government Under Augustus [GIF File][At this Site]

WEB Mausoleum of Augustus Texts [At CSUN]

The Julio-Claudian Dynasty 14-68 CE

Suetonius: De Vita Caesarum: Tiberius, written c. 110 CE, Rolfe translation, [At this Site]

Suetonius (c.69-after 122 CE): De Vita Caesarum: Caius Caligula (The Lives of the Caesars: Caius Caligula), written c. 110 CE, Rolfe translation [At this Site]

Suetonius (c.69-after 122 CE): Life of Claudius, complete, Worthington translation, [At this Site]

Suetonius (c.69-after 122 CE): De Vita Caesarum: Claudius (The Lives of the Caesars: Claudius), written c. 110 CE, Rolfe translation [At this Site]

Proclamation of Nero's Succession Nov 17, 54 CE [in Greek and Engli-At Hanson's website]

Suetonius (c.69-after 122 CE): De Vita Caesarum: Nero, written c. 110 CE, Rolfe translation [At this Site]

Suetonius (c.69-after 122 CE): Life of Nero, complete. in Latin [At - Freenfo]

Tacitus (b.56/57-after 117 CE): Murder of Agrippina (Book XIV, 1-16) [At Heliogabby)

Tacitus (b.56/57-after 117 CE): The Fire of Rome 64 CE [At Eyewi-s to History]

Dio Cassius (c.155-235 CE): Nero and the Great Fire of Rome, 64 CE, from Roman History, 62.16-18 [At this Site]

Tacitus (b.56/57-after 117 CE): Annals: Book I 64 CE [At Calgary]

Tacitus (b.56/57-after 117 CE): Annals and Histories, Full texts&nbs-At M Univ]

69 CE: Year of Three Emperors

Suetonius (c.69-after 122 CE): De Vita Caesarum: Galba, written c. 110 CE, Rolfe translation [At this Site]

Suetonius (c.69-after 122 CE): De Vita Caesarum: Otho, written c. 110 CE, Rolfe translation [At this Site]

Suetonius (c.69-after 122 CE): De Vita Caesarum: Vitellius, written c. 110 CE, Rolfe translation [At this Site]

Suetonius (c.69-after 122 CE): Life of Vitellius (b. 15 - r. 69 -d.69 CE)
Chap. 13: The Gormandizing of the Emperor Vitellius.[At this Site]

The Flavian Emperors 69-96 CE

Tacitus (b.56/57-after 117 CE): The Legions Proclaim Vespasian Emperor, 69 CE [This Site]

Lex De Imperio Vespasiani "The Law-cerning the power of Vespasian" [document designation: ILS 244] 69/70 CE [At Internet Archive, from Iowa State]

Suetonius (c.69-after 122 CE): De Vita Caesarum: Vespasian, written c. 110 CE, Rolfe translation [At this Site]

Suetonius (c.69-after 122 CE): De Vita Caesarum: Titus, written c. 110 CE, Rolfe translation [At this Site]

Suetonius (c.69-after 122 CE): De Vita Caesarum: Domitian, written c. 110 CE, Rolfe translation [At this Site]

Suetonius (c.69-after 122 CE): Life of Domitian (b. 51 - r. 81 - d. 96 CE) Chap. IV: How Domitian Attempted to Amuse the Roman Populace. [At this Site]

Tacitus (b.56/57-after 117 CE): Life of Cnaeus Julius Agricola (40-93 CE), c.98 CE, trans. J. Church and W. J. Brodribb. [At this Site]

The Adoptive Emperors 96-192 CE

Tacitus (b.56/57-after 117 CE): The Principle of Adoption [At this Site]

Aurelius Victor, Liber de Caesaribus 13: Trajan [In Latin][At CSUN]

Pliny the Younger (61/62-113 CE): Selected Letters, c 100 CE (Harvard Classics series)[At this Site]
Selected letters: General (110 letters), and Correspondence with the Emperor Trajan (122 letters).

Pliny the Younger (61/62-113 CE) and Trajan (r.98-117 CE): Letters, Book X. 25ff : The Correspondence of a Provincial Governor and the Emperor Trajan, c. 112 CE [At this Site]

Pliny the Younger (61/62-113 CE): The Letters of Pliny the Consul. With Occasional Remarks., Vol.2, (Tenth Edition), William Melmoth, London (1805) [lightly emended] Book 10 [At Princeton]

Aelius Spartianus: Life of Hadrian, (r. 117-138 CE.), excerpts. [At this Site]

Aelius Spartianus: Life of Hadrian, (r. 117-138 CE.), complete. [At this Site]

Marcus Aurelius (b.121- r.161-d.180): The Character of Antoninus Pius (b.86-r.138-d.161 CE), from Meditations I.16: [At this Site]

Julius Capitolinus: The Life of Antoninus Pius [At this Site]

Eutropius (4th Cent CE): The Reign of Marcus Aurelius, 161-180 CE, from Compendium of Roman History, 8:.12-14 [At this Site]

Back to Index Roman Law Back to Index The Army
2ND
Livy (59 BCE-17 CE): The Roman Way of Declaring War, c. 650 BCE, from History of Rome I.34 [At this Site]

Valerius Maximus and Livy on Roman Soldiers [At CSUN]

Josephus (37- after 93 CE): The Roman Army in the First Century CE, from The Jewish War, [This Site]

Josephus (37- after 93 CE): An Imperial Triumph, 71 CE, from The Jewish War, [This Site]

Letters Written by Roman Soldiers, 2 CE [At CSUN[

Roman Soldier's Enlistment, Egypt, 51 CE [At CSUN]

Vegetius (4th Cent CE): Epitoma Rei Militari, Book I:11-20-sp; c. 371-392 CE, [At Armentarium]
The only Roman military tract to survive, and the most influential military text in the western world until the 19th century. Probably addressed to Theodosius the Great. See also this usefulbibliography [At ibiblio]
Army Bibliography [At CSUN]
WEB Armentarium: Roman Arms and Armour [-ite]

Back to Index The Empire and Provinces

Claudius Ptolemy (C.127-148 CE) : The Geography [A-cus Curtius/Chicago]
The entire text, with maps, is being put up on the web.

Rome: As Imperial Capital

The Empire as a Unity

Africa

Accounts of Meröe, Kush, and Axum, c. 430 BCE - 550 CE [At this Site]
From Herodotus, Strabo, Dio Cassius, the King of Axum, and and Procopius of Caesarea.

Herodotus (c.490-c.425 BCE): On Libya, from The Histories, c. 430 BCE [At this Site]

Accounts of Ancient Mauretania, c. 430 BCE- 550 CE [At this Site]
From Herodotus, Strabo, and Procopius of Caesarea

Egypt

Syria/Judea

Asia Minor

Pliny the Younger (61/62-113 CE) and Trajan (r.98-117 CE): Letters, Book X. 25ff : The Correspondence of a Provincial Governor and the Emperor Trajan, c. 112 CE [At this Site]

Europe

Julius Caesar (100-44 BCE): The Germans, c. 51 BCE [At this Site]

Julius Caesar (100-44 BCE): On the Germans, 53 BCE [At Intern-rchive, from Princeton]

Tacitus (b.56/57-after 117 CE): Germania. trans. J. Church and W. J. Brodribb.[At Medieval Sourcebook]

Tacitus (b.56/57-after 117 CE): Germania, trans. Thomas Gordon, full text, Also available inLatin. [At Medieval Sourcebook]

Tacitus (b.56/57-after 117 CE): Germania, shorter excerpts. [At Medieval Sourcebook]

Salvian (c.400- after 470 CE]: The Burden of Taxation, [c.440 CE] [At Medieval Scourcebook]

Sidonius Apollinaris [c.431-c.489 CE]: "Country House Life in Gaul" and "A Visigothic King", [At Medieval Sourcebook]

-

Britain

Back to Index
Later Empire (after 192 CE)Back to Index
Literature

WEB Tools of the Trade for the Study of Roman Literature, by Lowell Edmunds and Shirley Werner [At Rutgers]

Plautus (d.184 BCE): The Brothers Menaechmus [At Internet Archive, from Rho-

Plautus (d.184 BCE): Aulularia [At Forum Romanorum] or inLatin [At the Latin Library]

Roman Poetry Selections (Catullus [c.84-c.54 BCE], Horace [65-8 BCE], Martial [40-103/4 CE]) [At Then Again].

Lucretius (9-55 BCE): The Nature of Things [At this Site, formerly ERIS][Full Text][Ascii Text in one file]

Catullus (c.84-c.54 BCE): Poems [At Saskatchewan]

Virgil (70-19 BCE)

Virgil (70-19 BCE): The Aeneid, Dryden translation, [At MIT][Full Text][Chapter files]
See <-ng>2NDStudy Guide [At Internet Archive, from Brooklyn College]

Aelius Donatus (fl. 350 CE):-href="http://www.virgil.org/vitae/a-donatus.htm">Life of Virgil, tr. David Wilson-Okamura [At Virgil.org]

WEB Virgil Home Page [Website]
With links to all texts in both Latin and English.

Augustan Encomiums, c. 31 BCE - 14 CE [At this Site]
Horace (65-8 BCE): Secular hymn, and Vergil (70-19 BCE): Aeneid, VI.ii.789-800, 847-853.

Horace (65-8 BCE): We All Must Die [At WSU]

Sulpicia (Late 1st Cent. CE): Poems [At Diotima] or inLatin [At Latin Library]
Th-ly surviving Roman female poet.

Petronius Arbiter (c.27-66 CE): Satyricon c.61 CE

Juvenal and Persius: Satires: Introduction [At this Site]

Persius (34-63 CE): Satires
the complete Latin/English text is in preparation for this site.

Juvenal (c. 55/60-127 CE): Satires

Avianus (fl. c. 400 CE): Fabulae in Latin [At UPenn]

Priapea (collected 5th Cent CE) in Latin [At IPA]
Said by the Oxford Classical Dictionary2 to be "uniformly obscene".

Rutilius Numantius: On His Return, I.xi.47, The Greatness of Rome in the Days of Ruin, 413CE [At this Site]

Pliny the Younger (61/62-113 CE): Letters, II.14: The Decline of Oratory [At this Site]

Jay Treat: Latin and Greek Literary Activity [At UPenn][Chart]
Rates levels of literary activity from 100 BCE to 1400CE.

WEB Latin Library
Has many of the texts here available in original Latin.

Back to Index Art and Architecture Back to Index Education

Pl-the Elder (23/4-79 CE): Natural History in Latin [At Lacus Curtius][Full Text]

Letter Home of a Roman "University-t; Student, 44 BCE [At this Site]
By Cicero's son.

Roman Educational Practices, [At this Site]
Texts from Horace: Satires, I.6.xi.70-90; Pliny the Younger: Letters, IV.13; and Martial:Epigrams, X.62

Seneca (b.4 BC/1 CE-d. 65 CE): On Tranquillity of Mind 9.4ff and in Latin [At UPenn]
On the problem of having too many books.

Julius Victor (4th Cent CE): On Letter Writing, in Latin [At UPenn]

Quintilian (b.30/35-c.100 CE): The Ideal Education, The Institutes, Book 1: 1-26, c. 90 CE [At this Site]

Quintilian (b.30/35-c.100 CE): Institutes of Oratory, c.96 CE. [At Iowa State]

WEB The Quintilian Page [At MSU]

Plutarch (c.46-c.120 CE): The Training of Children, c. 1-E [At this Site]

Donatus: De barbarismo, with trans. by Jim Marchand [At U Penn]

WEB Images of Orality and Literacy in Greek Iconography of the Fifth, Fourth and Third Centuries BCE, ed. Andrew Weisner [At U Penn]

WEB Levels of Greek and Latin Literary Activity [At U Penn]

WEB Manuscript Images: Technology of the Word in the Middle Ages, ed. James O'Donnel [At U Penn]

Back to Index Economic Life

Life of the Upper Classes

Trade

Counting

Back to Index Slavery

Slavery in the Roman Republic, excerpts from Plautus, Pseudolus, Act. I, Sc. 2; Cato the Elder, Agriculture, chs. 56-59; Plautus, Menaechmi, Act V, Sc. 4.; and Plutarch, Life of Crassus, viii-xi (on the Spartacus revolt). [At this Site]

Texts on Three Slave Revolts
A. Sicily 136-132 BCE - Diodorus Siculus (wrote 60-30 BCE), Bibliotheke Books 34/35. 2. 1-48; Strabo (64/3 BC- c.21 CE), Geography Book 6. 2. 6-7; Florus, Epitome of Roman History 2. 7. 1-8; Orosius, Histories Book 5. 6
B. Sicily 104-100 BCE - Diodorus Siculus (wrote 60-30 BCE), Bibliotheke Book 36. 1-11; Florus, Epitome 2. 7. 9-12; Dio Cassius (c.155-235 CE), Roman History Book 27 fragment 101;
C. The War with Spartacus 73-71 CE - Plutarch, Crassus 8-11; Florus, Epitome 2. 8. 20; Appian, The Civil Wars 1. 111-121; Orosius, Histories 5. 24. 1-8

Tacitus (b.56/57-after 117 CE): The Murder of Pedanius Secundus (Annals 14) [At Michigan]
On the murder of a slave-owner by his slave, possibly because of e-c jealously. The senate addresses whether all the slaves in the house should be killed.

2ND John Madden, Slavery in the Roman Empire Numbers and Origins [At Internet Archive, from Classics Ireland][Modern Account]

- Back to Index
Everyday Life Religion
See information on the Olympian Religion under Greek Religion on Greece. For the Roman Mystery Religions, see underLate Antiquity.

Numa (c.715-673 BCE): The Institutions of Roman Religion, 7th Cent. BCE, from Plutarch, Life of Numa, [At this Site]

Accounts of Roman State Religion, c. 200 BCE- 250CE [At this Site]
Collected accounts from Cato, Cicero, Livy and Plutarch.

Roman Religious Toleration: The Senatus Consultum de Bacchanalibus, 186 BCE, from Livy, History of Rome, Book XXXIX [At this Site]

Roman Religiones Licitae and Illicitae, c. 204 BCE - 112 CE [At this Site]
Different reactions to different foreign religions - the cults of Magna Mater, Dionysius, and Christianity.

Expiation of an Umbrian Town: Archaic Roman Sacrifice [At enteract.com]

An Offering for Jupiter before the Sowing Cato, On Agriculture 132, 160 BCE [At enteract.com]

A Roman Harvest Sacrifice, from Cato, On Agriculture 134, 160 BCE [At enteract.com]

The Flamen Dialis and his Wife [At enteract.com]

Devotio: The Sacrificial Death of Decius, Livy, History of Rome VIII, 9, 1-11; 10, 3) [At enteract.com]

The Prayer of Scipio Africanus Livy, History of Rome XXIX, 27, 1-4, 204 BCE [At enteract.com]

Cicero (105-43 BCE): A Roman View of the Afterlife: The Dream of Scipio, On the Republic VI, 14-26) [At enteract.com]

Cicero (105-43 BCE): On the Republic: Scipio's Dream, excerpts from Book VI, [At this Site]

Halicarnassus Inscription (after 2 BCE) Augustus: Father of His Own Fatherland [At enteract.com]

Lucius Apuleius (c.123-c.170 CE): Personal Piety in Rome: Second Century CE Apologia 55-6 [At enteract.com]

Persius Flaccus (34-63 CE): Satire II, c. 60 CE [This Site]

Tacitus (b.56/57-after 117 CE): Rebuilding the Temple of Jupiter, 70 CE [This Site]

Accounts of Personal Religion, c. 430 BCE - 300 CE [At this Site]
Festivals, temples, expectations.

WEB List of all the Roman Gods [Website]

Back to Index

Women

Juvenal (c.55-c.130 CE): Satire 6, long excerpts, [At this -e]
More misogyny.

Juvenal (c.55-c.130 CE): Satire 6 [On Women], complete, [At this Site]

<-updated-3/2007 -->WEB Women in Antiquity [At Cornell]

Homosexuality

Back to Index Modern Perspectives on Ancient Rome Back to Index New Additions page. The date of inception was 4/8/1998. Links to files at other site are indicated by [At some indication of the site name or location]. Locally available texts are marked by [At this Site]. WEB indicates a link to one of small number of high quality web sites which provide either more texts or an especially valuable overview. Internet Ancient History Sourcebook is part of the
Internet History Sourcebooks Project

The Site Concept and Design: created 26 Jan 1996: latest revision 21 January 2020 [ Internet History Sourcebooks Project is located at the History Department of Fordham University, New York. The Internet Medieval Sourcebook, and other medieval components of the project, are located at the Fordham University Center for Medieval Studies.The IHSP recognizes the contribution of Fordham University, the Fordham University History Department, and the Fordham Center for Medieval Studies in providing web space and server support for the project. The IHSP is a project independent of Fordham University. Although the IHSP seeks to follow all applicable copyright law, Fordham University is not the institutional owner, and is not liable as the result of any legal action. Paul Halsall Curriculum vitae]

©

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NOTES: Dates of accession of material added since July 1998- be seen in the The Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Rome See Main Page for a guide to all contents of all sections.

# data[].attributes.headline
Introduction to Roman society (753-133 BCE) 

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Introduction to Roman society (753-133 BCE) 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
Simon Hornblower Professor of Classics and Ancient History, University of Oxford.

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Ancient Rome | History, Government, Religion, Maps, & Facts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Ancient Rome, the state centered on the city of Rome from 753 BC through its final eclipse in the 5th century AD. In the course of centuries Rome grew from a small town on the Tiber River in central Italy into a vast empire that ultimately embraced England, most of continental Europe, and parts of Asia and Africa.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Chapter 6: The Roman World from 753 BCE to 500 CE | World History to 1700

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Attitudes towards death in ancient Rome were complex and not confined to one particular viewpoint. This vast topic covers everything from beliefs about life after death to funerary practices and commemoration of the deceased. In examining this subject, we must also consider external influences, such as that of ancient Greek culture, and how beliefs and trends changed and developed over time. Death in ancient Rome is, therefore, a diverse and fascinating topic and one which can provide some important insights into Roman civilization.

Death And Society In Ancient Rome

An exploration of the relationship between Romans and death can tell us as much about the living as about the dead. Death and the funerary process which surrounded it was often an opportunity for a display of social status, not just for the deceased but also for their family. Funerals served as poignant reminders of past ancestors and also of the descendants to come. Monuments to death, such as tombs and epitaphs, were important permanent memorials for both the dead and the living within every section of Roman society.

From the artifacts left to us today, we can get an idea of the role death played in daily life in ancient Rome. Some Romans were highly superstitious and went to great lengths to avoid any association with death. Others appear to have surrounded themselves with representations of death, such as skeleton figurines and skull mosaics. These representations have been interpreted as reminders of the transience of life and the importance of living life well.

Death was, of course, a subject that appeared regularly in Roman philosophy and poetry. The poet was an enthusiastic advocate of using death to make the most of life. He left us with many sayings that are still well known today such as ' ' (seize the day).

Beliefs About Life After Death In Ancient Rome

There were no fixed or enforced beliefs about life after death in ancient Rome. The general consensus was that the deceased lived on in the Underworld. Influences and adaptations from Greek culture can be found throughout Roman poetry, such as . In this epic poem, the hero Aeneas ventures into an Underworld that reflects the Greek equivalent, . Here Aeneas encounters the dream-like Fields of Elysium, where the souls of the blessed reside, and gloomy Tartarus, the home of the damned. The unburied wait restlessly on the shores of the River Styx. It was believed that their souls haunted the living.

Gods associated with the Underworld , such as Pluto, Persephone, and Mercury, were worshiped widely, particularly in times of personal crisis. The were believed to be the spirits or minor deities of the Underworld and the dead were thought to join their ranks in the afterlife.

There were even dedicated festivals at which the souls of the departed were celebrated. The Di Manes were worshiped at the Parentalia, held from the 13 th to 21 st February each year, as well as on the days of birth and death of the deceased. Even the unburied had a festival, every May their souls were appeased during the Lemuria.

The dead also lived on, in the domestic and public sphere, through imagery. In Roman households, particularly aristocratic ones, there was a practice of creating molded masks from the faces of family members. Some masks were even made after someone had died. The masks were then kept in the family throughout the generations and often displayed in the main hall of the house. At family funeral processions the masks of ancestors were worn by current family members as a way of preserving their memory.

Life after death in ancient Rome was quite different for emperors. After his assassination in 44 BC, Julius Caesar became the first Roman mortal to be deified after death. In a process known as apotheosis , many emperors who followed were also elevated to the status of a god after death. There were some, such as Emperor Caligula and Emperor Commodus , who even insisted on being deified while they were still alive. But most emperors, including Emperor Augustus , actively rejected deification during their lifetimes.

Funerary Practices In Ancient Rome

Death in ancient Rome was thought to be something that could infect or be harmful to the living. Therefore there was a strict physical separation between the living and the dead. A boundary existed around inhabited areas, known as the pomerium , and it was only outside this boundary that the dead could be buried. Beyond the , it would have been common for travelers to have seen tombs lining the main roads into and out of cities and towns.

This sense of separation also extended to family members of the deceased during the funeral period, which lasted for eight days. During this time the family would isolate themselves from the community and only re-entered society after the funeral was complete. Cypress branches were often hung outside the houses of those affected.

There are similarities between funeral services in ancient Rome and services in some cultures today. A eulogy would often be read by a family member at the graveside, for example. Close relatives had specific duties such as physically closing the eyes and mouth of the deceased. For cremations, it was the role of a family member to light the pyre and collect and clean the bones afterward.

Customs concerning death in ancient Rome varied over time and this was particularly true of burial practices. The earliest Roman graves to have been discovered date from the 10 th century BC and they include both urn cremations and burials. Neither cremations nor burials appear to be restricted to any particular time period or social group.

In the Late Republican era, the 2 nd and 1 st centuries BC, cremation appears to have been the most common practice. Urns were filled with the ashes of the deceased and then placed inside elaborate family tombs. The less wealthy used a which was a brick structure with numerous niches for the funerary urns.

By the 2 nd and 3 rd centuries, AD burial had become popular again, coinciding with the rise of early Christianity which favored burial. As in many cultures, wealthy citizens were buried with grave goods such as fine ceramics and precious jewelry.

Tombs And Epitaph Inscriptions

The commemoration of a person's life and death in ancient Rome was often made through tombs and epitaph inscriptions. These memorials were employed by all members of Roman society from slaves to emperors.

Many Romans believed that immortality came from a person's presence living on in the hearts and minds of those they left behind. The permanence of stone tombs and inscribed epitaphs reinforced this idea of prolonging the memory of life after death.

Maintenance of tombs was a very important duty for family members and freedmen and freedwomen of the deceased. On days of birth and death, the family would celebrate funerary rites at the location of the tomb. Libations were poured into the ground and food was left as an acknowledgment that the dead lived on in another realm.

The origin of the inscribed Roman epitaph dates back to the earliest , or grave markers, of the 7 th century BC. Greek and Roman epitaphs normally used very formulaic language but they were also full of personal information, albeit in an abbreviated form. The inscription would commonly consist of the following: an invocation of the Di Manes; the name of the dedicator, the name of dedicatee and relationship between the two; job and career highlights; age at the time of death and sometimes the descendants' responsibilities with regard to the tomb.

Some of the most interesting epitaphs increased their impact by speaking out to onlookers and encouraging them to read their inscriptions. Forms of address such as (traveler) or (guest) were common ways of engaging their audience. These speaking tombs attempted to prolong the memory of the dead by establishing a connection with the living.

Epitaphs and monuments to death in ancient Rome took many different forms and styles. The style of epitaph is normally a good indicator of a person's social status. The above dedication is to Marcus Ulpius Urbanus, a freedman of the imperial household who became an assistant goldsmith. The lettering used is neat, uniform and well-spaced indicating that this inscription would have been expensive to produce. The inscription tells us that the tomb on which it was found was commissioned by Urbanus himself and his wife. The choice of an elegant and formal inscription is therefore a reflection of how Urbanus and his family wished to be seen by society.

The above epitaph inscription is to Gnome, who was a slave-girl and hairdresser to a woman called Pieris. Both Gnome and Pieris have names of Greek origin. Many slaves in ancient Rome came from Greece, it is likely therefore that Gnome's mistress, Pieris, was an ex-slave. The lettering of this inscription is far more rudimentary and informal than that of Urbanus. This epitaph would have been quite cheap to produce and is reflective of Gnome's slave status.

Fascinating Monuments To Death In Ancient Rome

Some monuments to death in ancient Rome displayed wealth and social status on a very grand scale. One exceptional example of this is the tomb of Eurysaces in Rome, much of which is still standing today. The inscriptions tell us that Eurysaces was a baker and a bread contractor. The enormous tomb stands 33 feet high and is decorated with an elaborate frieze that depicts the various stages of bread making. Large circular niches fill one entire side of the tomb and some scholars have suggested that these resemble bread ovens.

The size and decoration of the tomb indicate that life after death was important to Eurysaces. He clearly wanted the world to continue to remember his name long after he himself had gone. Many scholars assume that Eurysaces was a very wealthy freedman due to his ostentatious style.

However, vast tombs were not just the preserve of the Roman nouveaux riches. The Appian Way is one of the main arteries of Rome. Many tombs and mausolea line the route and can still be visited today. One of the most fascinating examples is the Republican mausoleum of Caecilia Metella. This huge structure commemorates the life and death of the wife of Marcus Licinius Crassus, the son of the infamous triumvir Marcus Crassus . The mausoleum is better described as a small castle due to its tower and battlements. It was even used as a fortress in medieval times.

Unlike Eurysaces' tomb, it is difficult to say how much of this tomb reflects who Caecilia Metella really was. The war-like structure does not appear to be synonymous with an elite Roman lady. It is far more likely that this was meant as a display of family nobility and superiority.

The vast subject of death in ancient Rome can, therefore, tell us as much about the living as it can about the dead. Beliefs about life after death as well as the commemoration of the dead were perhaps most important for those left behind. These beliefs and practices were an opportunity for comfort in grief as well as for a display of social status.

Ancient tombs and epitaphs have also successfully allowed the memory of the departed to live on to this day. It is because of these permanent memorials that we are still aware of Eurysaces the baker, Gnome the hairdresser, and many thousands more.

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Death In Ancient Rome: The Fascinating Relationship Between Life and Death

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Attitudes towards death in ancient Rome were complex and not confined to one particular viewpoint. This vast topic covers everything from beliefs about life after death to funerary practices and commemoration of the deceased. In examining this subject, we must also consider external influences, such as that of ancient Greek culture, and how beliefs and trends changed and developed over time.

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Metropolitan Museum of Art| Ptolemaic Egypt  

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Metropolitan Museum of Art| Ptolemaic Egypt  

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The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

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The Arc of Egyptian and Greek Interaction in the First Millennium
Preludes to Greek presence in Egypt are seen in the land reclamation and settlement of the western Delta beginning in the Third Intermediate Period and the new prominence of that area with the capital of Dynasty 26 at Sais. From the seventh century B.C., Egyptian rulers encouraged a flourishing Mediterranean trade involving Greeks from many islands and city-states: the coastal cities Canopus and Thonis/Herakleion, with large immigrant populations, served as gateways for trade down the westernmost Canopic Nile branch to the Egyptian/Greek trade city Naukratis near Sais and onward to the great city of Memphis. Conflict with imperial powers Assyria and Persia in the Near East dominated the same centuries, and the Egyptians relied on Greek alliances and troops to help fight their expansion. After more than a century of conquest and rule by the Achaemenid Persians, Egypt shook off these overlords, and independent Egyptian Dynasties 28-30 ruled for sixty years, before being reconquered by the Persians in 343 B.C.

Then, when Alexander the Great of Macedon set out to dismantle the Persian empire, he took Egypt in 332 B.C., initiating the Macedonian dynasty of the Ptolemaic Period. On the death of Alexander's last heirs, his conquests were divided among his generals: the Ptolemaic dynasty begins in 305 B.C., when one of Alexander's generals, Ptolemy, became Ptolemy I of Egypt. Thereafter, kingship was handed down through Ptolemy's descendants until 30 B.C., when Roman takeover followed swiftly on the defeat of Cleopatra VII ( 89.2.660).

Examining Egyptian art during these 300 years reveals strong continuities in its traditions but also interactions with Greek art, whose forms and styles swept the world with Alexander's armies. The encounter of the two cultures had many aspects and phases, and is easiest to comprehend by looking first at the new ruling class, its involvements and concerns, and then at religion and the arts in the greater land of Egypt.

Alexandria, Hellenistic Monarchy, and External Relations
Alexander established the new city of Alexandria on the northwestern Delta coast. The Ptolemies were very much Hellenistic rulers, with the country as their military prize. The magnificent city had splendid palaces, temples, and libraries oriented on a Hellenistic street grid; cemeteries stretched to the east and west. Temples included those for the royal cult and for the chief god Serapis, a deity combining aspects of Osiris, Apis, and Ptah, but in a Hellenistic guise and whose consort was Isis. There were also, however, temples to Egyptian gods and traditional pharaonic monuments relocated from other sites, although the extent of the latter practice in the Ptolemaic Period is very difficult to ascertain because it continued through Roman times. Ptolemaic queens ( 2002.66; 26.7.1016) received special attention as guarantors of the inheritance of divine rulership. The Pharos lighthouse, at the entry to the great harbor, announced the shining city to those arriving, but the Ptolemies also embraced the resonant imagery of Egypt, setting up colossal statues of themselves as Egyptian pharaohs to welcome the ships that entered the harbor. With an international population, Egyptian resources, and Egyptian and Greek artistry, the city was reputed for its beauty and for the fine arts produced there.

As Hellenistic kings, the Ptolemies were involved with the other Hellenistic kingdoms in diplomatic marriages and in significant military disputes over inheritance and territories. Much of the third century B.C. was occupied by the so-called Syrian wars, in which the Ptolemies and the Hellenistic Seleucid kings centered in the area of ancient Mesopotamia battled over territories. A massive battle at Raphia in Gaza in 217 B.C. gave Egypt control over territories in the Levant, but twenty years later, the territories were lost to Antiochus III of Seleucia. And not long after Raphia, a serious and long-lasting rebellion took place in Upper Egypt, while the growing power of Rome as a force in the eastern Mediterranean became increasingly problematic. Ptolemaic concerns thereafter turned largely inward, to the land of Egypt itself, or westward to Rome on the Mediterranean.

To the south of Egypt, the Kushites had expanded into Lower Nubia between the first and second cataracts during the period of Persian rule. In 275-274 B.C., Ptolemy II drove back the Kushites and annexed the area, which was then developed as a sort of trade corridor between Egypt and the lands ruled by the Kushites, who had recentered at Meroë.

The Land of Egypt with Its (Greek) Pharaohs
Outside Alexandria, excavations in the Delta have attested flourishing communities integrating Greek and other trade or immigrant groups at certain sites-Canopus, Herakleion/Thonis, and Naukratis, of course, but also, Athribis, Memphis, and throughout newly developed agricultural lands in areas near the coast or in the Fayum. An already established and significant Greek population experienced a new influx, particularly in the northern areas of the country. And social hierarchies were certainly affected by the existence of Greek rulers and members of the ruling elite. Greek became a major language alongside Egyptian, which was now written in the Demotic script except on monuments.

Still, the country's traditional practices and forms remained strong. The Ptolemaic rulers supported Egyptian cults and priesthoods. During the first three reigns of the Ptolemaic dynasty, temple building projects of Dynasty 30 were continued by the new kings and official classes, closely following Egyptian styles ( 12.182.4a). As time progressed, the Ptolemies aggrandized or embellished age-old temples, especially in Upper Egypt; consequently, most of the temples still standing today are actually Ptolemaic constructions. The kings also installed celebrations of their own ruler cults in the Egyptian temples.

The temples themselves flourished as centers of learning and coalescence of Egyptian beliefs and literature. Religious activity followed tendencies that had dominated the first millennium: for example, the growth of the cult of Osiris ( 10.175.133); the increasing popularity of Isis and Horus or other child gods ( 55.121.5); the donation of small divine statuary to temples; the flourishing practice of offering animal mummies ( 56.16.1); the creation of relief plaques and busts that seem to fetishize the elements of Egyptian representational/belief systems (temple architectural elements, royal busts, hieroglyphs) ( 07.228.11); and broad public celebration of certain festivals. Individuals who were able to set up statues of themselves did so in a temple rather than a tomb.

And the temples continued in their role as focal points of towns and urban entities, the temple's gateways and the god's processional routes constituting the structural axes of the city. The towns themselves and the temple precincts were crowded by the multistory buildings that had been the common form of workshops and houses for centuries. And among their varied production, workshops produced the fine bichrome faience vessels and vivid opaque glass and mosaic glass inlays that were Egyptian specialties. Other economic wealth derived from linen, agricultural production, and Egypt's role as a trade corridor between the Mediterranean, the rest of Africa, and the Indian Ocean.

Delta sites have been stressed so far, but Memphis remained prominent, as did numerous Middle and Upper Egyptian towns. Memphis was the second city after Alexandria; its High Priests of Ptah had great influence with the Ptolemaic kings and among the country's priesthoods. Its necropolis, Saqqara, was a center of worship of the Apis bull, integrated in the national/political mythology, and many other sacred animals ( 1971.51). Hermopolis, cult center of Thoth, had been favored by Dynasty 30 pharaohs, who built an innovative monumental temple pronaos. The Ptolemies continued this attention, building a Greek-style temple in honor of the royal cult. The Hermopolite necropolis at Tuna el-Gebel had temples and great underground galleries for mummified ibises and baboons and their shrines, and also featured elaborate tomb chapels for the priests of Thoth ( 48.149.5). Thebes continued to be a venerable religious center with extensive priesthoods. Attention to areas of the Karnak complex devoted to the Osirian cult and to Khonsu the Child ( 1980.422) followed the trends of religious developments over the course of the first millennium. Temples and communities on the Theban west bank also flourished, along with Ptolemaic cemeteries of a distinctive type overlying the site of the Hatshepsut Valley Temple.

Mixtures of the Two Cultural Styles
Within these parameters, the relationship of the artistic styles of the two cultures varies by region, purpose, and individual circumstance. Notably, the Ptolemies themselves employed different sculptural styles for political reasons-in the earliest years, they adopted the pharaonic style of Dynasty 30 to such an extent that it is often difficult to distinguish pieces from the two periods ( 38.10; 12.182.4a), while at the same time depicting themselves as Greek dynasts in Alexandria and for the Mediterranean world. In the second century B.C., the kings introduced images combining Greek hair and features with Egyptian attributes and overall pose ( 2008.454), and queens' statuary followed a similar course ( 89.2.660). Among the elite classes outside Alexandria, a marked change in costume and hairstyle appears to take place only from about 125 B.C., but then statues set up at temples might adopt curly Greek hair and a garment that, while still Egyptian, appears to be current rather than following age-old models ( 65.119). At yet another level, small arts, domestic items, and terracottas associated with domestic and festival religion might exhibit more influence from Hellenistic styles ( 26.7.1403; 26.7.1411), while in death the ancient prescriptions and forms remained prevalent.

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Egypt in the Ptolemaic Period | Essay | The Metropolitan Museum of Art | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

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The Arc of Egyptian and Greek Interaction in the First Millennium Preludes to Greek presence in Egypt are seen in the land reclamation and settlement of the western Delta beginning in the Third Intermediate Period and the new prominence of that area with the capital of Dynasty 26 at Sais.

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Cultural Adaptations in Traditional Beliefs 

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Cultural Adaptations in Traditional Beliefs 

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Grand Afterlife and Kinship to the Gods 

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Grand Afterlife and Kinship to the Gods 

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On View

A funerary stela of Pakhaas. Credit... Brooklyn Museum

For the three centuries from Alexander the Great to Cleopatra, Greeks ruled Egypt not so much as foreign conquerors but as the next dynasty in the long line of pharaohs. It was not out of character for Alexander himself to assume the power and status of a pharaoh, not to mention the promised fringe benefit of a grand afterlife and kinship to the Egyptian gods.

Though these classical Greeks knew a thing or two about grandeur, they were bedazzled by the pyramids at Giza, temples up the Nile, and varied cultures speaking different languages and living side by side. Instead of imposing Greek culture, the new rulers oversaw an early and generally successful experiment in multiculturalism. Their new city Alexandria grew to be the cosmopolitan center of a hybrid culture.

The Greek strategy may have been common for ancient empires, scholars say, but not so in the age of nation-states, and especially not in today's Middle East.

The Greek royal family in Egypt, the Ptolemies, embraced many local customs, among them marriages of brother and sister to keep political power in the family. In their reinterpretation of Egyptian divinities, they emphasized their link to the Egyptian triad of the gods Osiris, Isis and Horus. Osiris and Isis were brother and sister, and Horus their offspring. To Greeks, who frowned on incestuous unions, the Ptolemaic message was when in Egypt, do as the Egyptians do.

Their overriding policy was not to demand assimilation but to accept many ways of life. No official language was imposed for all purposes. Government affairs were often conducted in Greek, but also in Demotic, the local everyday language derived from the more formal hieroglyphs. Jewish and other immigrants often spoke and wrote Aramaic.

In clever manipulations of their images, the Ptolemaic kings were depicted in sculpture and on coins in the costume of pharaohs to promote themselves as direct descendants. Other images, in Hellenistic style and probably for Greeks there and abroad, represented the king as a successor to Alexander.

The diversity of cultures in Ptolemaic Egypt is the subject of an exhibition opening Wednesday at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, affiliated with New York University. Curators said the exhibition, "When the Greeks Ruled Egypt: From Alexander the Great to Cleopatra," from 323 B. C. to the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 B.C., "shines a light on the fluidity of the very idea of specific cultural identity."

Time ran out on Ptolemaic rule when the rising Roman empire invaded. With no more lovers to ride to her rescue, no Julius Caesar or Mark Antony, Cleopatra committed suicide.

The show includes some 150 portraits, religious and funerary objects, coins, writings on papyrus and other materials on loan from several major collections. Its original version was organized by the Art Institute of Chicago; the New York show, curated by Roberta Casagrande-Kim, a postdoctoral associate at the N.Y.U. institute, also has artifacts from the Brooklyn Museum and Columbia University.

In the exhibition catalog, Jennifer Y. Chi, the institute's chief curator, wrote that the artifacts on display reflected "the complexity and sophistication of Ptolemaic Egypt, an era in Egyptian history where innovations brought about by Hellenized rulers were effectively fused with age-old Pharaonic traditions."

On view in the main gallery is an impressive collection of idealized stone images of Greeks in the mold of an Apollo. These were probably no more realistic than other images of Ptolemies in pharaoh dress. Who said political spin doctors were a modern contrivance?

A group of coins showing Ptolemaic kings and queens includes a splendid gold piece. On one side is a double portrait of Ptolemy I and his wife, Berenice I; on the other is the double portrait of their successors, their son Ptolemy II and his wife and sister, Arsinoe II.

Roger S. Bagnall, a historian and a papyrologist who is director of the N.Y.U. institute, felt right at home in the second gallery, with its displays of papyrus writing in Greek, Demotic and Aramaic scripts. Bending over a glass case, he exclaimed, "Look at that 2,500-year-old ink, fresh as if it was applied today." The ink, applied by tiny brushes and in some cases a stylus, was made from water and lampblack, he added, "but we don't really know what 'lampblack' means in this case."

Writing on papyrus was common throughout the Mediterranean region. But it is identified mainly with Egypt, whose dry climate preserved many caches for archaeologists to collect.

One papyrus document, dark with age, was a marriage contract from the archive of Ananiah and his wife, Tamel. Others included property deeds and letters that illuminated the social and cultural dynamics of the Jewish garrison at fortifications on Elephantine Island on the upper Nile, where Aramaic was spoken. Another set of documents and letters were written in Greek by an Egyptian named Zenon, a manager of a prosperous estate who seemingly never threw away a piece of papyrus. "Zenon was a born archivist," Dr. Bagnall said, admiringly.

Afterward, he reflected on imperial behavior then and now, a certain wistfulness in his voice. "Up until the 19th century, imperial states were more likely to tolerate diversity among conquered populations," he said. Of course, he acknowledged that the Persians, Greeks, Romans, English, Spanish and Ottoman empires were out for themselves, and could be harsh.

"But I very much feel that the cosmopolitan Hellenistic culture was comfortable with diversity in its surroundings," he said with a sigh. "That's a world we've lost."

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Multiculturalism: Nothing New (Published 2014)

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On View For the three centuries from Alexander the Great to Cleopatra, Greeks ruled Egypt not so much as foreign conquerors but as the next dynasty in the long line of pharaohs. It was not out of character for Alexander himself to assume the power and status of a pharaoh, not to mention the promised fringe benefit of a grand afterlife and kinship to the Egyptian gods.

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Metropolitan Museum of Art| Death, Burial, and the Afterlife Ancient Greece  

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Metropolitan Museum of Art| Death, Burial, and the Afterlife Ancient Greece  

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The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

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The ancient Greek conception of the afterlife and the ceremonies associated with burial were already well established by the sixth century B.C. In the Odyssey, Homer describes the Underworld, deep beneath the earth, where Hades, the brother of Zeus and Poseidon, and his wife, Persephone, reigned over countless drifting crowds of shadowy figures-the "shades" of all those who had died. It was not a happy place. Indeed, the ghost of the great hero Achilles told Odysseus that he would rather be a poor serf on earth than lord of all the dead in the Underworld ( Odyssey 11: 489-91).

The Greeks believed that at the moment of death, the psyche, or spirit of the dead, left the body as a little breath or puff of wind. The deceased was then prepared for burial according to the time-honored rituals. Ancient literary sources emphasize the necessity of a proper burial and refer to the omission of burial rites as an insult to human dignity ( Iliad 23: 71). Relatives of the deceased, primarily women, conducted the elaborate burial rituals that were customarily of three parts: the prothesis (laying out of the body ( 54.11.5), the ekphora (funeral procession), and the interment of the body or cremated remains of the deceased. After being washed and anointed with oil, the body was dressed ( 75.2.11) and placed on a high bed within the house. During the prothesis, relatives and friends came to mourn and pay their respects. Lamentation of the dead is featured in Greek art at least as early as the Geometric period, when vases were decorated with scenes portraying the deceased surrounded by mourners. Following the prothesis, the deceased was brought to the cemetery in a procession, the ekphora, which usually took place just before dawn. Very few objects were actually placed in the grave, but monumental earth mounds, rectangular built tombs, and elaborate marble stelai and statues were often erected to mark the grave and to ensure that the deceased would not be forgotten. Immortality lay in the continued remembrance of the dead by the living. From depictions on white-ground lekythoi, we know that the women of Classical Athens made regular visits to the grave with offerings that included small cakes and libations.

The most lavish funerary monuments were erected in the sixth century B.C. by aristocratic families of Attica in private burial grounds along the roadside on the family estate or near Athens. Relief sculpture, statues ( 32.11.1), tall stelai crowned by capitals ( 11.185a-c,f,g), and finials marked many of these graves. Each funerary monument had an inscribed base with an epitaph, often in verse that memorialized the dead. A relief depicting a generalized image of the deceased sometimes evoked aspects of the person's life, with the addition of a servant, possessions, dog, etc. On early reliefs, it is easy to identify the dead person; however, during the fourth century B.C., more and more family members were added to the scenes, and often many names were inscribed ( 11.100.2), making it difficult to distinguish the deceased from the mourners. Like all ancient marble sculpture, funerary statues and grave stelai were brightly painted, and extensive remains of red, black, blue, and green pigment can still be seen ( 04.17.1).

Many of the finest Attic grave monuments stood in a cemetery located in the outer Kerameikos, an area on the northwest edge of Athens just outside the gates of the ancient city wall. The cemetery was in use for centuries-monumental Geometric kraters marked grave mounds of the eighth century B.C. ( 14.130.14), and excavations have uncovered a clear layout of tombs from the Classical period, as well. At the end of the fifth century B.C., Athenian families began to bury their dead in simple stone sarcophagi placed in the ground within grave precincts arranged in man-made terraces buttressed by a high retaining wall that faced the cemetery road. Marble monuments belonging to various members of a family were placed along the edge of the terrace rather than over the graves themselves.

Department of Greek and Roman Art. "Death, Burial, and the Afterlife in Ancient Greece." In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000-. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dbag/hd_dbag.htm (October 2003)

Garland, Robert. The Greek Way of Death. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1985.

Grant, Michael, and John Hazel. Who's Who in Classical Mythology. London: Dent, 1993.

Hornblower, Simon, and Antony Spawforth, eds. The Oxford Classical Dictionary. 3d ed., rev. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

Howatson, M. C., ed. The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature. 2d ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.

Pedley, John Griffiths. Greek Art and Archaeology. 2d ed. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1998.

Pomeroy, Sarah B., et al. Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Robertson, Martin. A History of Greek Art. 2 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1975.

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Authors: Department of Greek and Roman Art

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Death, Burial, and the Afterlife in Ancient Greece | Essay | The Metropolitan Museum of Art | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

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The Greeks believed that at the moment of death the psyche, or spirit of the dead, left the body as a little breath or puff of wind. The deceased was then prepared for burial according to time-honored rituals.

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Attitudes toward Death in Archaic Greece on JSTOR

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Ian Morris, Attitudes toward Death in Archaic Greece, Classical Antiquity, Vol. 8, No. 2 (Oct., 1989), pp. 296-320

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A shared language, religion, and culture

Ancient Greece can feel strangely familiar. From the exploits of

and

, to the treatises of

, from the exacting measurements of the Parthenon (above) to the rhythmic chaos of the Laocoön (below), ancient Greek culture has shaped our world. Thanks largely to notable archaeological sites, well-known literary sources, and the impact of Hollywood ( Clash of the Titans, for example), this civilization is embedded in our collective consciousness-prompting visions of epic battles, erudite philosophers, gleaming white temples, and limbless nudes (we now know the sculptures-even the ones that decorated temples like the Parthenon-were brightly painted, and, of course, the fact that the figures are often missing limbs is the result of the ravages of time).

Dispersed around the Mediterranean and divided into self-governing units called poleis or

, the ancient Greeks were united by a shared language, religion, and culture. Strengthening these bonds further were the so-called "Panhellenic" sanctuaries and festivals that embraced "all Greeks" and encouraged interaction, competition, and exchange (for example the Olympics, which were held at the Panhellenic sanctuary at Olympia). Although popular modern understanding of the ancient Greek world is based on the classical art of fifth century B.C.E. Athens, it is important to recognize that Greek civilization was vast and did not develop overnight.

The Dark Ages (c. 1100-c. 800 B.C.E.) to the Orientalizing Period (c. 700-600 B.C.E.)

Following the collapse of the Mycenaean citadels of the late Bronze Age, the Greek mainland was traditionally thought to enter a "Dark Age" that lasted from c. 1100 until c. 800 B.C.E. Not only did the complex socio-cultural system of the Mycenaeans disappear, but also its numerous achievements (i.e., metalworking, large-scale construction, writing). The discovery and continuous excavation of a site known as Lefkandi, however, drastically alters this impression. Located just north of Athens, Lefkandi has yielded an immense

structure (almost fifty meters long), a massive network of graves, and two heroic burials replete with gold objects and valuable horse sacrifices. One of the most interesting artifacts, ritually buried in two separate graves, is a centaur figurine (see photos below). At fourteen inches high, the terracotta creature is composed of a equine (horse) torso made on a potter's wheel and hand-formed human limbs and features. Alluding to mythology and perhaps a particular story, this centaur embodies the cultural richness of this period.

Similar in its adoption of narrative elements is a vase-painting likely from Thebes dating to c. 730 B.C.E. (see image below). Fully ensconced in the Geometric Period (c. 800-700 B.C.E.), the imagery on the vase reflects other eighth-century artifacts, such as the Dipylon Amphora, with its geometric patterning and silhouetted human forms. Though simplistic, the overall scene on this vase seems to record a story. A man and woman stand beside a ship outfitted with tiers of rowers. Grasping at the stern and lifting one leg into the hull, the man turns back towards the female and takes her by the wrist. Is the couple

? Is this an abduction? Perhaps

? Or, is the man bidding farewell to the woman and embarking on a journey as had

? The answer is unattainable.

In the Orientalizing Period (700-600 B.C.E.), alongside Near Eastern motifs and animal processions, craftsmen produced more nuanced figural forms and intelligible illustrations. For example, terracotta painted plaques from the Temple of Apollo at Thermon (c. 625 B.C.E.) are some of the earliest evidence for architectural decoration in Iron Age Greece. Once ornamenting the surface of this Doric temple (most likely as metopes), the extant panels have preserved various imagery (watch this video to learn about the Doric order). On one plaque (see image below), a male youth strides towards the right and carries a significant attribute under his right arm-the severed head of the

Medusa (her face is visible between the right hand and right hip of the striding figure, in Greek mythology a Gorgon is a monstrous feminine creature whose appearance would turn anyone who laid eyes upon it to stone).. Not only is the painter successful here in relaying a particular story, but also the figure of Perseus shows great advancement from the previous century. The limbs are fleshy, the facial features are recognizable, and the hat and winged boots appropriately equip the hero for fast travel.

The Archaic Period (c. 600-480/479 B.C.E.)

While Greek artisans continued to develop their individual crafts, storytelling ability, and more realistic portrayals of human figures throughout the Archaic Period, the city of Athens witnessed the rise and fall of tyrants and the introduction of democracy by the statesman Kleisthenes in the years 508 and 507 B.C.E.

Visually, the period is known for large-scale marble kouros (male youth) and kore (female youth) sculptures (see below). Showing the influence of ancient Egyptian sculpture (like this example of the Pharaoh Menkaure and his wife in the MFA, Boston), the kouros stands rigidly with both arms extended at the side and one leg advanced. Frequently employed as grave markers, these sculptural types displayed unabashed nudity, highlighting their complicated hairstyles and abstracted musculature (below left). The kore, on the other hand, was never nude. Not only was her form draped in layers of fabric, but she was also ornamented with jewelry and adorned with a crown. Though some have been discovered in funerary contexts, like Phrasiklea (below right), a vast majority were found on the Acropolis in Athens ( more on the Acropolis korai). Ritualistically buried following desecration of this sanctuary by the Persians in 480 and 479 B.C.E., dozens of korai were unearthed alongside other dedicatory artifacts. While the identities of these figures have been hotly debated in recent times, most agree that they were originally intended as votive offerings to the goddess Athena.

The Classical Period (480/479-323 B.C.E.)

Though experimentation in realistic movement began before the end of the Archaic Period, it was not until the Classical Period that two- and three-dimensional forms achieved proportions and postures that were naturalistic. The "Early Classical Period" (480/479-450 B.C.E.) was a period of transition when some sculptural work displayed archaizing holdovers alongside the so-called "Severe Style." As can be seen in the Kritios Boy, c. 480 B.C.E., the "Severe Style" features realistic anatomy, serious expressions, pouty lips, and thick eyelids. For painters, the development of perspective and multiple ground lines enriched compositions, as can be seen on the Niobid Painter's vase in the Louvre (image below).

During the "High Classical Period" (450-400 B.C.E.), there was great artistic success: from the innovative structures on the Acropolis to Polykleitos' visual and cerebral manifestation of idealization in his sculpture of a young man holding a spear, the Doryphoros or "Canon" (image below). Concurrently, however, Athens, Sparta, and their mutual allies were embroiled in the Peloponnesian War, a bitter conflict that lasted for several decades and ended in 404 B.C.E. Despite continued military activity throughout the "Late Classical Period" (400-323 B.C.E.), artistic production and development continued apace. In addition to a new figural aesthetic in the fourth century known for its longer torsos and limbs, and smaller heads (for example, the Apoxyomenos), the first female nude was produced. Known as the Aphrodite of Knidos, c. 350 B.C.E., the sculpture pivots at the shoulders and hips into an S-Curve and stands with her right hand over her genitals in a pudica (or modest Venus) pose (see a Roman copy in the Capitoline Museum in Rome here). Exhibited in a circular temple and visible from all sides, the Aphrodite of Knidos became one of the most celebrated sculptures in all of antiquity.

The Hellenistic Period and Beyond (323 B.C.E.-31 B.C.E.)

Following the death of

in 323 B.C.E., the Greeks and their influence stretched as far east as modern India. While some pieces intentionally mimicked the Classical style of the previous period such as Eutychides' Tyche of Antioche (Louvre), other artists were more interested in capturing motion and emotion. For example, on the Great Altar of Zeus from Pergamon (below) expressions of agony and a confused mass of limbs convey a newfound interest in drama.

Architecturally, the scale of structures vastly increased, as can be seen with the Temple of Apollo at Didyma, and some complexes even terraced their surrounding landscape in order to create spectacular vistas as can be seem at the Sanctuary of Asklepios on Kos. Upon the defeat of Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 B.C.E., the Ptolemaic dynasty that ruled Egypt and, simultaneously, the Hellenistic Period came to a close. With the Roman admiration of and predilection for Greek art and culture, however, Classical aesthetics and teachings continued to endure from antiquity to the modern era.

Richard T. Neer, Greek Art and Archaeology: A New History, c. 2500-c. 150 B.C.E. (Thames and Hudson, 2011)

Robin Osborne, Archaic and Classical Greek Art (Oxford University Press, 1988)

John G. Pedley, Greek Art and Archaeology (Pearson, 2011)

J.J. Pollitt, Art and Experience in Classical Greece (Cambridge University Press, 1972)

Nigel Jonathan Spivey, Greek Art (Phaeton Press, 1997)

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Introduction to ancient Greek art (article) | Khan Academy

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Learn for free about math, art, computer programming, economics, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, finance, history, and more. Khan Academy is a nonprofit with the mission of providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.

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Chapter One: The Change in Burial Practices Between the Archaic and Classical Periods 

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Chapter One: The Change in Burial Practices Between the Archaic and Classical Periods 

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Evidence of very early settlement on the Greek Islands comes from the Franchthi cave, overlooking the Argolid Sea in the Peloponnese.

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The Ancient Greeks were far more demonstrative in their expressions of grief. As a Greek, one would have been appalled with the stiff upper lip British posture. One would have thought it was disrespectful to the dead to show no signs of emotion.

The Ceramicus was the most prestigious burial ground in Athens. (Image: Aerial-motion/Shutterstock)

The Ancient Greeks treated death as a rite of passage to help people negotiate their passage from one state of being to another, in this case from being moribund to being integrated into Hades, the world of the dead. Between these two states of being is a liminal place or condition when someone is neither one thing nor another. The word 'liminal' derives from the Latin word limen, meaning 'a threshold'. As long as one remains on the threshold, one remains in great danger.

To help the dead across the threshold, society constructs rites of passage, which enable the dead to pass from one status to another, 'from here to there' as the Greeks put it. These rites facilitate someone's passage from this world into the next. They're absolutely critical because if one's relatives didn't perform them on one's behalf, one wouldn't be able to enter the underworld that the Greeks called Hades.

Learn more about being Minoan and Mycenaean.

Death in Ancient Greek Society

"Bury me as quickly as possible," says Patroclus to this friend Achilles in The Iliad so that he can pass through the gates of Hades. Otherwise, he'll be left to wander endlessly up and down the banks of the underworld river known as the Styx.

Before continuing with the rites of passage, it is important to consider some of the general observations about death in Greek society. "In the midst of life we are in death," says the Book of Common Prayer used by the Episcopal Church. Although people know that fact intellectually, they can be forgiven for ignoring it most of the time.

Learn more about being Greek.

Comparison Between the Modern and the Greek Way of Death

Jessica Mitford in The American Way of Death (1963), an exposé of the abuses perpetrated by the undertaking industry, said that the Americans sublimate death, whereas the British ignore death. The Americans create the fiction that their dead are in a 'home' when the truth is that they're being handled by professionals, whereas the British generally shun all contact with the body except at the funeral. That hits the nail in the coffin squarely on the head.

Both societies fail to confront the existential phenomenon of death head-on. In both societies death generally takes place in a hospital. The very opposite was the case in ancient Greece. As a Greek, one would have faced death head-on, and it deserves great admiration.

The dying-other than those who met their end away from home, including those who met their death on the battlefield-almost invariably had their family members around them. And it was their family, not professional undertakers, who took care of them once they were dead. In fact, the Greek word for a funeral is kêdeia, which literally means 'caring for'. The word is still used today by the Greek Orthodox Church.

This is a transcript from the video series The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World. Watch it now, Wondrium.

Taking Care of the Dead Body

As a Greek, one would care for the dead bodies of everyone in their family, especially if one were a woman. Given the lower life expectancy in antiquity, if one survived to adult years, it's almost certainly the case that one would already have experienced the deaths of several family members and also some friends. And since the corpse was prepared for burial in the home, one would have lived, quite literally, cheek by jowl with death.

There were many other ways in which death made itself visible to people in the Greek world. First, since Greek communities were far more closely knit than the modern ones, one would have been much more aware of the death of a neighbor, or an acquaintance, or a distant relative than in modern societies.

Expressing Grief

The Ancient Greeks were far more demonstrative in their expressions of grief, so one would have heard them grieving for hours on end. The Greeks didn't go in for the famous British stiff upper lip. They believed in letting their hair down, in more ways than one. As a Greek, one would have been appalled with the stiff upper lip British posture. One would have thought it was disrespectful to the dead to show no signs of emotion.

When Achilles in The Iliad learns of the death of his dear friend Patroclus, he completely falls apart-at least by modern standards of subdued grieving. He tears his clothes, beats his breast, rolls about in the dust, and goes without food or drink for several days. He's a complete basket case. True, he holds himself largely responsible for his friend's death, but the point is that no Greek would have thought his behavior unmanly. On the contrary, they would have regarded it as entirely appropriate.

Manifestations of grief were regarded as a mark of honor to the dead-they were a way of saying to the dead person that life without them now has no meaning. The dead, one believed, actually took pleasure in witnessing one's display of grief, irrespective of whether it was completely sincere.

The Monuments of Death: Tombs and the Ceramicus

Another way in which death would make itself felt was by the monuments arranged on either side of all the roads that led out of the city. The most prestigious burial ground in Athens, known as the Ceramicus, which means the Potters' Quarter, is on the west side of the city just outside a major gate in the surrounding wall. It lies along a public thoroughfare and it probably stretched for several hundred yards.

Roads leading out of Athens' 140-odd demes or townships were also lined with tombs. The funerary monuments that adorned the tombs were the nearest ancient Greek equivalent to the advertising billboards or hoardings that grace major highways today. They sought to arrest the attention of passersby and to impress upon them the prestige and importance of the families that could afford to erect such monuments.

Epigrams Commemorating the Dead

Many of the monuments, in fact, had epigrams commemorating the dead that address the traveler. One of the most famous of these epigrams-by the poet Simonides-marked the communal grave of the 300 Spartans who died fighting the Persians at Thermopylae in 480 B.C.

It reads, "Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here obedient to their law we lie." Looking death straight in the eye. So there's a kind of paradox at work here-unrestrained wailing on the one hand and dignified calm on the other. Both figures invariably exhibit the dignified calm. That's what Greek tragedy is all about-looking death squarely in the eye.

Common Questions About Death in Ancient Greece

Q: What is the Ceramicus?

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The Ancient Greeks treated death as a rite of passage to help people negotiate their passage from one state of being to another, in this case from being moribund to being integrated into Hades, the world of the dead. Between these two states of being is a liminal place or condition when someone is neither one thing nor another.

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Funerary Beliefs, Attitudes, and Burial Objects 

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Funerary Beliefs, Attitudes, and Burial Objects 

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Social Structure, Religion, and Cultural Life 

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Social Structure, Religion, and Cultural Life 

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HSC Ancient History Part 2: Ancient Societies - Greece - Spartan society to the Battle of Leuctra 371 BC - Dux College

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1. The geographical settingContents1 1. The geographical setting1.1 The geographical setting, natural features and resources of ancient Sparta1.2 Significant sites: …

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Ancient Sparta is one of the most well-known cities in Classical Greece. Known for its highly-skilled warriors, elitist society, and its reverence for stoicism, people today still look to the Spartans as model citizens in an idealist ancient society.

Yet, as is often the case, many of the perceptions we have of Ancient Sparta are based on over-glorified and exaggerated stories. But it was still an important part of the ancient world that is worth studying and understanding.

However, while Sparta was a significant player both in Greece and the rest of the ancient world starting in c. 750 BCE, Ancient Sparta's story ends abruptly. Stress on the population resulting from strict citizenship requirements and an over-dependence on slave labor combined with pressure from other powers in the Greek world proved to be too much for the Spartans.

And while the city never fell to a foreign invader, it was a shell of its former self by the time the Romans entered the scene in the 2nd century BCE. It is still inhabited today, but the city has never regained its ancient glory.

Fortunately for us, the Greeks began using a common language sometime in the 8th century BCE, and this has provided us with a number of primary sources which we can use to uncover the history of Ancient Sparta.

To help you understand more about the history of Sparta, we have used some of these primary sources, along with a collection of important secondary sources, to reconstruct the story of Ancient Sparta from its founding until its fall.

Ancient Sparta was located in the region of Laconia, referred to in ancient times as Lacedaemon, which makes up most of the southwestern Peloponnese, the largest and southernmost peninsula of the Greek mainland.

It is bordered by the Taygetos Mountains to the west and the Parnon Mountains the east, and while Sparta was not a coastal city, but it was just 40 km (25 miles) north of the Mediterranean Sea. This location made Sparta into a defensive stronghold.

The difficult terrain surrounding it would have made it difficult if not impossible for invaders, and because Sparta was located in a valley, intruders would have been spotted quickly.

Sparti today, classical Sparta, Peloponnese, situated in fertile valley of River Evrotas, flanked by Taygetos-Mountains (background) and Parnon-Mountains.

ulrichstill [CC BY-SA 2.0 de (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/de/deed.en)]

However, perhaps more importantly, Sparta was built on the banks of the Eurotas River, which runs down from the highlands of the Peloponnese and empties into the Mediterranean.

The ancient city was built alongside the eastern banks of the river, helping to provide an additional line of defense, but the modern-day city of Sparta is found to the west of the river.

In addition to serving as a natural boundary, the river also made the region surrounding Sparta one of the most fertile and agriculturally productive. This helped Sparta prosper into one of the most successful city-states of the ancient Greek world.

Here is a map of Sparta as it relates to the relevant geographical points in the region:

Before delving into the history of Ancient Sparta, here is a snapshot of the important events in Spartan history:

950-900 BCE - The four original villages, Limnai, Kynosoura, Meso, and Pitana, come together to form the polis of Sparta

743-725 BCE - The First Messenian War gives Sparta control over large portions of the Peloponnese

670 BCE - The Spartans are victorious in the second Messenian War, giving them control over the entire region of Messenia and giving them hegemony over the Peloponnese

600 BCE - the Spartans lend support to Corinth, forming an alliance with their powerful neighbor that would eventually morph into the Peloponnesian League, a major source of power for Ancient Sparta.

499 BCE - The Ionian Greeks revolt against Persian rule, starting the Greco-Persian War

480 BCE - the Spartans lead the Greek force at the Battle of Thermopylae, which leads to the death of Leonidas I but helps Sparta earn the reputation of having the strongest military in ancient Greece.

479 BCE- the Spartans lead the Greek force at the Battle of Plataea and win a decisive victory over the Persians, ending the Second Persian Invasion of Greece.

471-446 BCE - Athens and Sparta fight several battles and skirmishes alongside their allies in a conflict that is now known as the First Peloponnesian War. It ended with the signing of the "Thirty Years' Peace," but tensions remained.

431-404 BCE - Sparta faces up against Athens in The Peloponnesian War and emerges victorious, bringing an end to the Athenian Empire and giving birth to the Spartan Empire and Spartan hegemony.

395-387 BCE - The Corinthian War threatened Spartan hegemony, but peace terms brokered by the Persians left Sparta as the leader of the Greek World

379 BCE - War breaks out between Sparta and Thebes, known as the Theban or Boeotian War

371 BCE - Sparta loses the Battle of Leuctra to Thebes, which ends the Spartan empire and marks the beginning of the end of Ancient Sparta

260 BCE - Sparta helps Rome in The Punic Wars, helping it maintain relevant despite a shift in power away from Greece and toward Rome

.215 BCE - Lycurgus from the Eurypontid line of kings overthrows his Agiad counterpart, Agesipolis III, bringing an end to the dual-king system that had existed without interruption since the founding of Sparta.

192 BCE - The Romans overthrow the Spartan monarch, ending Spartan political autonomy and relegating ancient Sparta to the annals of history.

The story of Ancient Sparta typically begins in the 8th or 9th century BCE with the founding of Sparta and the emergence of a unified Greek language. However, people had been living in the area where Sparta would be founded starting in the Neolithic Era, which dates back some 6,000 years.

It is believed civilization came to the Peloponnese with the Mycenaean, a Greek culture that rose to dominance alongside the Egyptians and the Hittites during the 2nd millennium BCE.

Based on the extravagant buildings and palaces they built, the Mycenaeans are believed to have been a very prosperous culture, and they laid the foundation for a common Greek identity which would serve as a basis for the history of Greece.

For example, the Odyssey and the Iliad, which were written in the 8th century BCE, were based on wars and conflicts fought during Mycenaean times, specifically the Trojan War, and they played an important role in creating a common culture amongst the divided Greeks, even though their historical accuracy has been called into question and they have been deemed pieces of literature, not historical accounts.

However, by c. 1200 BCE, civilization across all of Europe and Asia was descending into collapse. A combination of climatic factors, political turmoil, and foreign invaders from tribes referred to as Sea People, brought life to a halt for some 300 years.

There are few historical records from this time, and archaeological evidence also indicates a significant slowdown, leading this period to be referred to as the Late Bronze Age Collapse.

However, shortly after the beginning of the final millennium BCE, civilization once again began to flourish, and Ancient Sparta was to play a pivotal role in the history of the region and the world.

In ancient times, the Greeks were divided into four subgroups: Dorian, Ionian, Achaean, and Aeolian. All spoke Greek, but each had its own dialect, which was the primary means of distinguishing each one.

They shared many cultural and linguistic norms, but tensions between the groups were typically high, and alliances were often formed on the basis of ethnicity.

During Mycenaean times, the Achaeans were the most likely the dominant group. Whether or not they existed alongside other ethnic groups, or if these other groups remained outside Mycenaean influence, is unclear, but we do know that after the fall of the Mycenaeans and the Late Bronze Age Collapse, the Dorians, became the most dominant ethnicity on the Peloponnese. Sparta was founded by Dorians, and they worked to construct a myth that credited this demographic change with an orchestrated invasion of the Peloponnese by Dorians from the north of Greece, the region where it is believed the Doric dialect first developed.

However, most historians doubt whether this is the case. Some theories suggest the Dorians were nomadic pastoralists who gradually made their way south as the land changed and resource needs shifted, whereas others believe the Dorians had always existed in the Peloponnese but were oppressed by the ruling Achaeans. In this theory, the Dorians rose to prominence taking advantage of turmoil amongst the Achaean-led Mycenaeans. But again, there is not enough evidence to fully prove or disprove this theory, yet no one can deny that Dorian influence in the region greatly intensified during the early centuries of the last millennium BCE, and these Dorian roots would help set the stage for the founding of Ancient Sparta and the development of a highly-militaristic culture that would eventually become a major player in the ancient world.

We do not have an exact date for the founding of Sparta, but most historians place it sometime around 950-900 BCE. It was founded by the Dorian tribes living in the region, but interestingly, Sparta came into existence not as a new city but rather as an agreement between four villages in the Eurotas Valley, Limnai, Kynosoura, Meso, and Pitana, to merge into one entity and combine forces. Later on, the village of Amyclae, which was located a bit further away, became part of Sparta.

This decision gave birth to the city of Sparta, and it laid the foundation for one of the world's greatest civilizations. It also is one of the main reasons why Sparta was forever governed by two kings, something that made it rather unique at the time.

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Whether or not the Dorians who later founded Sparta truly came from northern Greece as part of an invasion or if they simply migrated for survival reasons, Dorian pastoralist culture is ingrained into the early moments of Spartan history. For example, the Dorians are believed to have had a strong military tradition, and this is often attributed to their need to secure land and resources needed to keep animals, something that would have required constant war with nearby cultures. To give you an idea of how important this was to early-Dorian culture, consider that the names of the first few recorded Spartan kings translate from Greek into: "Strong Everywhere, "(Eurysthenes), "Leader" (Agis), and "Heard Afar" (Eurypon). These names suggest that military strength and success was an important part of becoming a Spartan leader, a tradition that would continue on throughout Spartan history.

This also meant that the Dorians who eventually became Spartans would have seen securing their new homeland, specifically Laconia, the region surrounding Sparta, from foreign invaders as a top priority, a need that would have been further intensified by the stunning fertility of the Eurotas River valley. As a result, Spartan leads began sending people out to the east of Sparta to settle the land in between it and Argos, another large, powerful city-state on the Peloponnese. Those who were sent to populate this territory, known as "neighbors" were offered large tracts of land and protection in exchange for their loyalty to Sparta and their willingness to fight should an invader threaten Sparta.

Elsewhere in Laconia, Sparta demanded subjugation from the people living there. Those who resisted were dealt with by force, and most of the people who were not killed were made into slaves, known as helots in ancient Sparta. These individuals were bonded laborers who eventually made up the bulk of Sparta's workforce and military, but, as one would expect in a situation of slavery, they were denied many basic rights. This strategy of converting the people in Laconia into either "neighbors" or helots allowed Sparta to become the hegemon in Laconia by the middle of the 8th century BCE (c. 750 BCE).

However, despite securing Laconia, the Spartans were not done establishing their influence in the Peloponnese, and their next target was the Messenians, a culture that lived on the southwestern Peloponnese in the region of Messenia. Generally speaking, there are two reasons why the Spartans chose to conquer Messenia. First, population growth resulting from the fertile land of the Eurotas Valley meant that Sparta was growing too big and needed to expand, and second, Messenia was perhaps the only region in Greece with land that was more fertile and productive than that in Laconia. Controlling it would have given Sparta a tremendous base of resources to use to not only grow itself but to also exert influence over the rest of the Greek world.

Furthermore, archaeological evidence suggests the Messenians at the time were far less advanced than Sparta, making them an easy target for Sparta, which at the time was one of the most developed cities in the ancient Greek world. Some records indicate Spartan leaders pointed to a long-standing rivalry between the two cultures, which may have existed considered the Spartans were Dorian and the Messenians were Aeolians. However, this was probably not as important of a reason as the others mentioned, and it's likely this distinction was made so as to help Spartan leaders gain popular support for a war with the people of Messenia.

Unfortunately, there is little reliable historical evidence to document the events of The First Messenian War, but it is believed to have taken place between c. 743-725 BCE. During this conflict, Sparta was unable to completely conquer all of Messenia, but significant portions of Messenian territory did come under Spartan control, and the Messenians who did not die in the war were turned into helots in service of Sparta. However, this decision to enslave the population meant that Spartan control in the region was loose at best. Revolts broke out frequently, and this is what eventually led to the next round of conflict between Sparta and Messenia.

In c. 670 BCE, Sparta, perhaps as part of an attempt to expand its control in the Peloponnese, invaded territory controlled by Argos, a city-state in northeastern Greece that had grown to be one of Sparta's biggest rivals in the region. This resulted in the First Battle of Hysiae, which started a conflict between Argos and Sparta that would result in Sparta finally bringing all of Messenia under its control.

This happened because the Argives, in an attempt to undermine Spartan power, campaigned throughout Messenia to encourage a rebellion against Spartan rule. They did this by partnering with a man named Aristomenes, a former Messenian king who still had power and influence in the region. He was meant to attack the city of Deres with the support of the Argives, but he did so before his allies had the chance to arrive, which caused the battle to end without a conclusive result. However, thinking their fearless leader had won, the Messenian helots launched a full-scale revolt, and Aristomenes managed to lead a short campaign into Laconia. However, Sparta bribed Argive leaders to abandon their support, which all but eliminated the Messenian chances of success. Pushed out of Laconia, Aristomenes eventually retreated to Mt. Eira, where he remained for eleven years despite Sparta's near-constant siege.

Sparta took control over the rest of Messenia following the defeat of Aristomenes at Mt. Eira. Those Messenians who had not been executed as a result of their insurrection were once again forced to become helots, ending the Second Messenian War and giving Sparta near total control over the southern half of the Peloponnese. But the instability brought on by their dependence on helots, as well as the realization that their neighbors would invade whenever they had the chance, helped show to the Spartans how important it would be for them to have a premier fighting force if they wished to remain free and independent in an increasingly competitive ancient world. From this point on, military tradition becomes front and center in Ancient Sparta, as will the concept of isolationism, which will help to write the next few hundred years of Spartan history.

WIth Messenia now fully under its control and an army that was quickly becoming the envy of the ancient world, Ancient Sparta, by the middle of the 7th century, had become one of the most important population centers in Greece and southern Europe. However, to the east of Greece, in modern-day Iran, a new world power was flexing its muscles. The Persians, who replaced the Assyrians as the Mesopotamian hegemon in the 7th century BCE, spent most of the 6th century campaigning throughout western Asia and northern Africa and had built an empire that was at the time one of the largest in the entire world, and their presence would change the course of Spartan history forever.

During this time of Persian expansion, Greece had also risen in power, but in a different way. Instead of unifying into one large empire under the rule of a common monarch, independent Greek city-states flourished throughout the Greek mainland, the Aegean Sea, Macedon, Thrace, and Ionia, a region on the southern coast of modern-day Turkey. Trade amongst the various city-states helped ensure mutual prosperity, and alliances helped to establish a balance of power that kept the Greeks from fighting too much amongst themselves, although there were conflicts.

In the period between the Second Messenian War and the Greco-Persian War, Sparta was able to consolidate its power in Laconia and Messenia, as well as on the Peloponnese. It offered support to Corinth and Elis by helping remove a tyrant from the Corinthian throne, and this formed the basis of an alliance that would eventually be known as The Peloponnesian League, a loose, Spartan-led alliance between the various city-states on the Peloponnese that was intended to provide for mutual defense.

Another important thing to consider about Ancient Sparta at this time is its growing rivalry with Athens. Although it's true that Sparta helped Athens remove a tyrant and restore democracy, the two city-states were rapidly becoming the most powerful in the Greek world, and the outbreak of war with the Persians would further highlight their differences and eventually drive them to war, a series of events that defines Spartan and Greek history.

The fall of Lydia (the kingdom that controlled much of modern-day Turkey up until the Persians invaded) in c. 650 BCE, meant the Greeks living in Ionia were now under Persian rule. Eager to exert their power in the region, the Persians moved quickly to abolish the political and cultural autonomy the Lydian kings had afforded the Ionian Greeks, creating animosity and making the Ionian Greeks difficult to rule.

This became obvious in the first decade of the 5th century BCE, a period known as the Ionian Revolt, which was put into motion by a man named Aristagoras. The leader of the city of Miletus, Aristagoras was originally a supporter of the Persians, and he tried to invade Naxos on their behalf. However, he failed, and knowing he would face punishment from the Persians, he called on his fellow Greeks to revolt against the Persians, which they did, and which the Athenians and the Eritreans, and to a lesser extent the Spartans, supported.

The region plummeted into turmoil, and Darius I had to campaign for nearly ten years to quell the insurrection. Yet when he did, he set out to punish the Greek city-states who had helped the rebels. So, in 490 BCE, he invaded Greece. But after descending all the way to Attica, burning Eritrea on his way, he was defeated by the Athenian-led fleet at the Battle of Marathon, ending the First Persian Invasion of Greece. However, the Greco-Persian Wars were just getting started, and soon Ancient Sparta would be thrown into the mix.

Despite beating back the Persians more or less on their own at the Battle of Marathon, the Athenians knew that the war with Persia was not over and also that they would need help from the rest of the Greek world if they were to protect the Persians from succeeding in their attempt to conquer Greece. This led to the first pan-Hellenic alliance in Greek history, but tensions within that alliance helped contribute to the growing conflict between Athens and Sparta, which ended in the Peloponnesian War, the largest civil war in Greek history.

Before the Persian King Darius I could launch a second invasion of Greece, he died, and his son, Xerxes, took over as the Persian sovereign in c. 486 BCE. Over the next six years, he consolidated his power and then set about preparing to finish what his father had started: the conquest of Greece.

The preparations Xerxes undertook have gone down as the thing of legends. He amassed an army of nearly 180,000 men, a massive force for the time, and gather ships from all over the empire, mainly Egypt and Phoenicia, to build an equally impressive fleet. Furthermore, he built a pontoon bridge over the Hellespont, and he installed trading posts throughout Northern Greece that would make it considerably easier to supply and feed his army as it made the long march to the Greek mainland. Hearing of this massive force, many Greek cities responded to Xerxes' tribute demands, meaning that much of Greece in 480 BCE was controlled by the Persians. However, the larger, more powerful cities, such as Athens, Sparta, Thebes, Corinth, Argos, etc., refused, choosing instead to try to fight the Persians despite their massive numerical disadvantage.

The Persian ceremony of ceremony of Presenting Earth and Water
The phrase earth and water is used to represent the demand of the Persians from the cities or people who surrendered to them.

Athens called all the remaining free Greeks together to devise a defense strategy, and they decided to fight the Persians at Thermopylae and Artemisium. These two locations were chosen because they provided the best topological conditions for neutralizing the superior Persian numbers. The narrow Pass of Thermopylae is guarded by the sea to one side and tall mountains to another, leaving a space of just 15m (~50ft) of passable territory. Here, only a small number of Persian soldiers could advance at one time, which leveled the playing field and increased the Greeks' chances of success. Artemisium was chosen because its narrow straits gave the Greeks a similar advantage, and also because stopping the Persians at Artemisium would prevent them from advancing too far south towards Athens.

The Battle of Thermopylae took place in early August of 480 BCE, but because the city of Sparta was celebrating the Carneia, a religious festival held to celebrate Apollo Carneus, the chief deity of the Spartans, their oracles forbid them from going to war. However, responding to pleas from Athens and the rest of Greece, and also recognizing the consequences of inaction, the Spartan king at the time, Leonidas, amassed an "expeditionary force" of 300 Spartans. To join this force, you had to have a son of your own, for death was a near certainty. This decision angered the oracle, and many legends, specifically that around Leonidas' death, has come from this part of the story.

These 300 Spartans were joined by a force of another 3,000 soldiers from around the Peloponnese, as around 1,000 from Thespiae and Phocis each, as well as another 1,000 from Thebes. This brought the total Greek force at Thermopylae to around 7,000, as compared to the Persians, who had around 180,000 men in their army. It's true that Spartan soldiers were some of the best fighters in the ancient world, but the sheer size of the Persian army meant that likely wouldn't matter.

The fighting took place over the course of three days. In the two days leading up to the outbreak of fighting, Xerxes waited, assuming the Greeks would disperse at the sight of his massive army. However, they did not, and Xerxes had no choice but to advance. On the first day of fighting, the Greeks, led by Leonidas and his 300, beat back wave after wave of Persian soldiers, including several attempts by Xerxes' elite fighting force, the Immortals. On the second day, it was more of the same, giving hope to the idea that the Greeks might actually win. However, they were betrayed by a man from the nearby city Trachis who was looking to win favor with the Persians. He informed Xerxes of a backdoor route through the mountains that would allow his army to outflank the Greek force defending the pass.

Haring that Xerxes had learned of the alternate route around the pass, Leonidas sent most of the force under his command away, but he, along with his force of 300, as well as around 700 Thebans, chose to stay and serve as rearguard for the retreating force. They were eventually slaughtered, and Xerxes and his armies advanced. But the Greeks had managed to inflict heavy losses on the Persian army, (estimates indicate Persian casualties numbered around 50,000), but more importantly, they had learned their superior armor and weapons, combined with a geographical advantage, gave them a chance against the massive Persian army.

Despite the intrigue surrounding the Battle of Thermopylae, it was still a defeat for the Greeks, and as Xerxes marched south, he burned the cities that had defied him, including Athens. Realizing that their chances for survival were now slim if they continued to fight on their own, Athens pleaded with Sparta to take a more central role in the defense of Greece. Athenian leaders were furious at how few Spartan soldiers had been given to the cause, and at how willing Sparta seemed to be to let the other cities of Greece burn. Athens even went so far as to tell Sparta it would accept Xerxes' peace terms and become a part of the Persian empire if they did not help, a move which caught the attention of Spartan leadership and moved them to assemble one of the largest armies in Spartan history.

In total, the Greek city-states amassed an army of about 30,000 hoplites, 10,000 of whom were Spartans. (the term used for the heavily armored Greek infantry), Sparta also brought some 35,000 helots to support the hoplites and also serve as light infantry. Estimates for the total number of troops the Greeks brought to the Battle of Plataea come in around 80,000, as compared to the 110,000.

After several days of skirmishing and attempting to cut the other off, the Battle of Platea began, and once again the Greeks stood strong, but this time they were able to drive back the Persians, routing them in the process. At the same time, possibly even on the same day, the Greeks sailed after the Persian fleet stationed on the island of Samos and engaged them at Mycale. Led by Spartan king Leochtydes, the Greeks achieved another decisive victory and crushed the Persian fleet. This meant that the Persians were on the run, and the second Persian invasion of Greece was over.

After the Greek alliance had managed to beat back the advancing Persians, a debate ensued amongst the leaders of the various Greek city-states. Leading one faction was Athens, and they wanted to continue to pursue the Persians in Asia so as to punish them for their aggression and also to expand their power. Some Greek city-states agreed to this, and this new alliance became known as the Delian League, named for the island of Delos, where the alliance stored its money.

Sparta, on the other hand, felt the purpose of the alliance was to defend Greece from the Persians, and since they had been driven from Greece, the alliance no longer served a purpose and could, therefore, be disbanded. During the final stages of the Second Persian Invasion of Greece, Sparta had served as the Alliance's de facto leader, largely because of its military superiority, but this decision to abandon the Alliance left Athens in charge, and they seized this opportunity to assume the position as the Greek hegemon, much to the dismay of Sparta.

Athens continued to wage war against the Persians until c. 450 BCE, and during these 30 years, it also considerably expanded its own sphere of influence, leading many scholars to use the term Athenian Empire instead of Delian League. In Sparta, which had always been proud of its own autonomy and isolationism, this growth in Athenian influence represented a threat, and their actions to fight against Athenian imperialism helped escalate tensions between the two sides and bring about the Peloponnesian War.

In the period following Sparta's exit from the pan-Hellenic alliance until the outbreak of war with Athens, several major events took place:

1. Tegea, an important city on the Peloponnese, revolted in c. 471 BCE, and Sparta was forced to fight a series of battles to quell this rebellion and restore Tegean loyalty.

2. A massive earthquake struck the city in c. 464 BCE, devastating the population

3. Significant parts of the helot population revolted after the earthquake, which consumed the attention of the Spartans. They received help from the Athenians in this affair, but the Athenians were sent home, a move that caused tensions between the two sides to rise, and leading eventually to war.

The Athenians did not like the way they had been treated by the Spartans after offering their support in the helot rebellion. They began to form alliances with other cities in Greece in preparation for what they feared was an imminent attack by the Spartans. However, in doing this, they escalated tensions even further.

In c. 460 BCE, Sparta sent troops to Doris, a city in northern Greece, to help them in a war against Phocis, a city allied at the time with Athens. In the end, the Spartan-backed Dorians were successful, but they were blocked by Athenian ships as they attempted to leave, forcing them to march overland. The two sides collided once again in Boeotia, the region to the north of Attica where Thebes is located. Here, Sparta lost the Battle of Tangara, which meant Athens was able to take control over much of Boeotia. The Spartans were defeated once again at Oeneophyta, which placed nearly all of Boeotia under Athenian control. Then, Athens to Chalcis, which gave them prime access to the Peloponnese.

Fearing the Athenians would advance on their territory, the Spartans sailed back to Boeotia and encouraged the people to revolt, which they did. Then, Sparta made a public declaration of the independence of Delphi, which was a direct rebuke to the Athenian hegemony that had been developing since the beginning of the Greco-Persian Wars. However, seeing the fighting was likely going nowhere, both sides agreed to a peace treaty, known as The Thirty Years' Peace, in c. 446 BCE. It established a mechanism for maintaining peace. Specifically, the treaty stated that if there was a conflict between the two, either one had the right to demand it be settled over arbitration, and if this happened, the other would have to agree too. This stipulation effectively made Athens and Sparta equals, a move that would have angered both, particularly the Athenians, and it was a major reason why this peace treaty lasted far less than the 30 years for which it is named.

The First Peloponnesian War was more of a series of skirmishes and battles than an outright war. However, in 431 BCE, full-scale fighting would resume between Sparta and Athens, and it would last for nearly 30 years. This war, often referred to as simply The Peloponnesian War, played an important role in Spartan history as it led to the fall of Athens and the rise of the Spartan Empire, the last great age of Ancient Sparta.

The Peloponnesian War broke out when a Theban envoy in the city of Plataea to kill the Plataean leaders and install a new government was attacked by those loyal to the current ruling class. This unleashed chaos in Plataea, and both Athens and Sparta got involved. Sparta sent troops to support the overthrow of the government since they were allies with the Thebans. However, neither side was able to gain an advantage, and the Spartans left a force to lay siege to the city. Four years later, in 427 BCE, they finally broke through, but the war had changed considerably by then.

Plague had broken out in Athens due in part to the Athenian decision to abandon the land in Attica and open the city's doors to any and all citizens loyal to Athens, causing overpopulation and propagating disease. This means that Sparta was free to ransack Attica, but their largely- helot armies never made it to the city of Athens since they were required to periodically return home to tend to their crops. Spartan citizens, who were consequently also the best soldiers due to the Spartan training program, were forbidden from doing manual labor, which meant the size of the Spartan army campaigning in Attica dependent on the time of year.

A Brief Period of Peace

Athens won a few surprising victories over the much more powerful Spartan army, the most significant of which was the Battle of Pylos in 425 BCE. This allowed Athens to establish a base and house the helots it had been encouraging to rebel, a move that was intended to weaken the Spartan's ability to supply itself.

In the years after the Battle of Pylos, it looked like Sparta may have fallen, but two things changed. First, the Spartans began offering helots more freedoms, a move that prevented them from rebelling and joining the ranks of the Athenians. But meanwhile, the Spartan general Brasidas began campaigning throughout the Aegean, distracting the Athenians and weakening their presence in the Peloponnese. While riding through the Northern Aegean, Brasidas managed to convince the Greek cities previously loyal to Athens to defect to the Spartans by speaking of the corrupt imperial ambitions of the Athenian-led Delian League. Fearing it would lose its stronghold in the Aegean, the Athenians sent their fleet to try and retake some of the cities that had spurned Athenian leadership. The two sides met in Amphipolis in 421 BCE, and the Spartans achieved a resounding victory, killing the Athenian general and political leader Cleon in the process.

This battle proved to both sides that the war was going nowhere, and so Sparta and Athens met to negotiate peace. The treaty was meant to last 50 years, and it made Sparta and Athens responsible for controlling their allies and preventing them from going to war and initiating conflict. This condition once again shows how Athens and Sparta were trying to find a way for both to coexist despite the massive power of each. But both Athens and Sparta were also required to give up the territories they had conquered in the early parts of the war. However, some of the cities that had pledged to Brasidas were able to achieve more autonomy than they had before, a concession for the Spartans. But despite these terms, Athens would continue to aggravate Sparta with its imperial ambitions, and Sparta's allies, unhappy with the terms of peace, caused trouble that led to resumed fighting between the two sides.

Fighting Resumes

Fighting didn't restart until c. 415 BCE. However, leading up to this year, a few important things happened. First, Corinth, one of Sparta's closest allies, but a city that frequently felt disrespected by having to adhere to terms imposed by Sparta, formed an alliance with Argos, one of Sparta's biggest rivals next to Athens. Athens also lent support to Argos, but then the Corinthians withdrew. Fighting took place between Argos and Sparta, and the Athenians were involved. This was not their war, but it showed that Athens was still interested in picking a fight with Sparta.

Another important event, or series of events, that took place in the years leading up to the final stage of the war was Athens attempts to expand. Athenian leadership had been following a policy for many years that it was better to be the ruler than the ruled, which provided justification for sustained imperial expansion. They invaded the island of Melos, and then they sent a massive expedition to Sicily in an attempt to subjugate the city of Syracuse. They failed, and thanks to the support of the Spartans and the Corinthians, Syracuse remained independent. But this meant Athens and Sparta were once again at war with one another.

Lysander Marches to Spartan Victory

Spartan leadership made changes to the policy that helots had to return to harvest each year, and they also established a base at Decelea, in Attica. This means that the Spartans now the men and the means to launch a full-scale attack on the territory surrounding Athens. Meanwhile, the Spartan fleet sailed around the Aegean to liberate cities from Athenian control, but they were beaten by the Athenians at the Battle of Cynossema in 411 BCE. The Athenians, led by Alcibiades, followed this victory up with another impressive defeat of the Spartan fleet at Cyzicus in 410 BCE. However, political turmoil in Athens halted their advance and left the door wide open for a Spartan victory.

One of the Spartan kings, Lysander, saw this opportunity and decided to exploit it. The raids into Attica had rendered the territory surrounding Athens almost entirely unproductive, and this meant they were entirely dependent on their trade network in the Aegean to get them the basic supplies for life. Lysander choice to attack this weakness by sailing straight for the Hellespont, the strait separating Europe from Asia near to the site of modern-day Istanbul. He knew most of the Athenian grain passed through this stretch of water, and that taking it would devastate Athens. In the end, he was right, and Athens knew it. They sent a fleet to confront him, but Lysander was able to lure them into a bad position and destroy them. This took place in 405 BCE, and in 404 BCE Athens agreed to surrender.

After the War

With Athens surrendering, Sparta was free to do as it wished with the city. Many within the Spartan leadership, including Lysander, argued for burning it to the ground to ensure there would be no more war. But in the end, they chose to leave it so as to recognize its significance to the development of Greek culture. However, Lysander managed to take control of the Athenian government n exchange for not getting his way. He worked to get 30 aristocrats with Spartan ties elected in Athens, and then he oversaw a harsh rule meant to punish the Athenians.

This group, known as the Thirty Tyrants, made changes to the judicial system so as to undermine democracy, and they began placing limits on individual freedoms. According to Aristotle, they killed some 5 percent of the city's population, dramatically changing the course of history and earning Sparta the reputation of being undemocratic.

This treatment of the Athenians is evidence of a change of perspective in Sparta. Long proponents of isolationism, the Spartans now saw themselves alone atop the Greek world. In the coming years, just as their rivals the Athenians did, the Spartans would seek to expand their influence and maintain an empire. But it would not last long, and in the grand scheme of things, Ancient Sparta was about to enter a final period that can be defined as decline.

The Peloponnesian War officially came to an end in 404 BCE, and this marked the beginning of a period of Greek history defined by Spartan hegemony. By defeating Athens, Sparta took control of many of the territories previously controlled by Athenians, giving birth to the first ever Spartan empire. However, over the course of the fourth century BCE, Spartan attempts to extend their empire, plus conflicts within the Greek world, undermined Spartan authority and eventually led to the end of Ancient Sparta as a major player in Greek politics.

Shortly after the end of the Peloponnesian War, Sparta sought to expand its territory by conquering the city of Elis, which is located on the Peloponnese near Mt. Olympus. They appealed to Corinth and Thebes for support but did not receive it. However, they invaded anyway and took the city with ease, increasing the Spartan appetite for empire even more.

In 398 BCE, a new Spartan king, Agesilaus II, assumed power next to Lysander (there were always two in Ancient Sparta), and he set his sights on exacting revenge over the Persians for their refusal to let the Ionian Greeks live freely. So, he gathered an army of around 8,000 men and marched the opposite route that Xerxes and Darius had taken nearly a century before, through Thrace and Macedon, across the Hellespont, and into Asia Minor, and was met with little resistance. Fearing they could not stop the Spartans, the Persian governor in the region, Tissaphernes, first tried, and failed, to bribe Agesilaus II and then proceeded to broker a deal that forced Agesilaus II to stop his advance in exchange for the freedom of some Ionian Greeks. Agesilaus II took his troops into Phrygia and began planning for an attack.

However, Agesilaus II would never be able to complete his planned attack in Asia because the Persians, eager to distract the Spartans, began assisting many of Sparta's enemies in Greece, which meant the Spartan king would need to return to Greece to keep Sparta's hold on power.

With the rest of the Greek world keenly aware that the Spartans had imperial ambitions, there was an increased desire to antagonize Sparta, and in 395 BCE, Thebes, which had been growing more powerful, decided to support the city of Locris in its desire to collect taxes from nearby Phocis, which was an ally of Sparta. The Spartans sent an army to support Phocis, but the Thebans also sent a force to fight alongside Locris, and war was once again upon the Greek world.

Shortly after this happened, Corinth announced it would stand against Sparta, a surprising move given the two cities longstanding relationship in the Peloponnesian League. Athens and Argos also decided to join the fight, pitting Sparta up against almost the entire Greek world. Fighting took place at both land and sea throughout 394 BCE, but in 393 BCE, political stability in Corinth divided the city. Sparta came to the aid of the oligarchic factions seeking to maintain power and the Argives supported the democrats. The fight lasted three years and ended with an Argive/Athenian victory at the Battle of Lechaeum in 391 BCE.

At this point, Sparta tried to end the fighting by asking the Persians to broker peace. Their terms were to restore the independence and autonomy of all Greek city-states, but this was rejected by Thebes, mainly because it had been building up a base of power on its own through the Boeotian League. So, fighting resumed, and Sparta was forced to take to the sea to defend the Peloponnesian coast from Athenian ships. However, by 387 BCE, it was clear that no side would be able to gain an advantage, so the Persians were once again called in to help negotiate peace. The terms they offered were the same - all Greek city-states would remain free and independent - but they also suggested that refusing these terms would bring out the wrath of the Persian empire. Some factions tried to muster up support for an invasion of Persia in response to these demands, but there was little appetite for war at the time, so all parties agreed to peace. However, Sparta was delegated the responsibility of making sure the terms of the peace treaty were honored, and they used this power to immediately break up the Boeotian League. This greatly angered the Thebans, something that would come to haunt the Spartans later on.

The Spartans were left with considerable power after the Corinthian War, and by 385 BCE, just two years after peace had been brokered, they were once again working to expand their influence. Still led by Agesilaus II, the Spartans marched north into Thrace and Macedon, laying siege to and eventually conquering Olynthus. Thebes had been forced to allow Sparta to pass through its territory as they marched north towards Macedon, a sign of Thebes subjugation to Sparta. However, by 379 BCE, Spartan aggression was too much, and the Theban citizens launched a revolt against Sparta.

Around the same time, another Spartan commander, Sphodrias, decided to launch an attack on the Athenian port, Piraeus, but he retreated before reaching it and burned the land as he returned towards the Peloponnese. This act was condemned by Spartan leadership, but it made little difference to the Athenians, who were now motivated to resume fighting with Sparta more than ever before. They gathered their fleet and Sparta lost several naval battles near the Peloponnesian coast. However, neither Athens nor Thebes really wanted to engage Sparta in a land battle, for their armies were still superior. Furthermore, Athens was now faced with the possibility of being caught in between Sparta and the now-powerful Thebes, so, in 371 BCE, Athens asked for peace.

At the peace conference, however., Sparta refused to sign the treaty if Thebes insisted on signing it Boeotia. This is because doing so would have accepted the legitimacy of the Boeotian League, something the Spartans did not want to do. This outraged Thebes and the Theban envoy left the conference, leaving all parties unsure if the war was still on. But the Spartans clarified the situation by gathering their army and matching into Boeotia.

In 371 BCE, the Spartan army marched into Boeotia and was met by the Theban army in the small town of Leuctra. However, for the first time in nearly a century, the Spartans were soundly beaten. This proved that the Theban-led Boeotian League had finally surpassed Spartan power and was ready to assume its position as the hegemon of ancient Greece. This loss marked the end of the Spartan empire, and it also marked the true beginning of the end for Sparta.

Part of the reason why this was such a significant defeat was that the Spartan army was essentially depleted. To fight as a Spartiate - a highly-trained Spartan soldier - one had to have Spartan blood. This made it difficult to replace fallen Spartan soldiers, and by the Battle of Leuctra, the Spartan force was smaller than it had ever been. Furthermore, this meant that the Spartans were dramatically outnumbered by helots, who used this to revolt more frequently and upend Spartan society. As a result, ancient Sparta was in turmoil, and the defeat at the Battle of Leuctra all but relegated Sparta to the annals of history.

While the Battle of Leuctra marks the end of Ancient Sparta, the city remained significant for several more centuries. However, the Spartans refused to join the Macedons, led first by Philip II and later by his son, Alexander the Great, in an alliance against the Persians, which led to the eventual fall of the Persian empire.

When Rome entered the scene, Sparta assisted it in the Punic Wars against Carthage, but Rome later teamed up with Sparta's enemies in Greece during the Laconian War, which took place in 195 BCE, and defeated the Spartans. After this conflict, the Romans overthrew the Spartan monarch, ending Sparta's political autonomy. Sparta continued to be an important trading center throughout medieval times, and it is now a district in the modern-day nation of Greece. However, after the Battle of Leuctra, it was a shell of its formerly all-powerful self. The era of Ancient Sparta had ended.

While the city was founded in the 8th or 9th century BCE, the golden age of ancient Sparta lasted roughly from the end of the 5th century - the first Persian invasion of Greece - until the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BCE. During this time, Spartan culture flourished. However, unlike their neighbors to the north, Athens, Sparta was hardly a cultural epicenter. Some artisanry did exist, but we see nothing in terms of philosophic or scientific advancements like those that came out of Athens in the final century BCE. Instead, Spartan life was based around the military. Power was held onto by an oligarchic faction, and individual freedoms for non-Spartans were severely restricted, although women in Ancient Sparta may have had much better conditions than women living in other parts of the ancient Greek world. Here's a snapshot of some of the key features of life and culture in Ancient Sparta.

One of the key features of the social structure in ancient Sparta were the helots. The term has two origins. First, it directly translates to "captive,' and second, it's believed to be closely linked to the city of Helos, the citizens of which were made into the first helots in Ancient Spartan society.

For all intents and purposes, the helots were slaves. They were needed because Spartan citizens, also known as Spartiates, were forbidden from doing manual labor, meaning they needed forced labor to work the land and produce food. In exchange, the helots were allowed to keep 50 percent of what they produced, were allowed to marry, practice their own religion, and, in some cases, own property. Yet they were still treated quite poorly by the Spartans. Each year, the Spartans would declare "war" on the helots, giving Spartan citizens the right to kill helots as they saw fit. Furthermore, helots were expected to go off to war when commanded to do so by Spartan leadership, the punishment for resisting being death.

Funerary stele from Attica showing a young Ethiopian groom slave trying to calm a horse down c.4th -1st Century BC. Slavery was rampant in Greek society and some like the the Spartan helots often revolted against their masters.

National Archaeological Museum [CC BY-SA 3.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)]

Typically, helots were Messenians, those who had occupied the region of Messenia before the Spartans conquered during the First and Second Messenian Wars fought in the 7th century BCE. This history, plus the poor treatment the Spartans gave to the helots, made them a frequent problem in Spartan society. Revolt was always right around the corner, and by the 4th century BCE, helots outnumbered Spartans, a fact they used to their advantage to win more freedoms and destabilize Sparta until it could no longer support itself as the Greek hegemon.

The armies of Ancient Sparta have gone down as some of the most impressive of all time. They achieved this status during the Battle of Thermopylae when a small force of Greeks led by 300 Spartan soldiers managed to fend off Xerxes and his massive armies, which included the then-superior Persian Immortals, for three days, inflicting heavy casualties. The Spartan soldier, also known as a hoplite, looked the same as any other Greek soldier. He carried a large bronze shield, wore bronze armor, and carried a long, bronze-tipped spear. Furthermore, he fought in a phalanx, which is an array of soldiers designed to create a strong line of defense by having each soldier protect not only himself but the soldier sitting next to him using a shield. Nearly all Greek armies fought using this formation, but the Spartans were the best, mainly because of the training a Spartan soldier had to go through before joining the military.

To become a Spartan soldier, a Spartan boy had to undergo training at the agoge, a specialized military school designed to train the Spartan army. Training in this school was grueling and intense. Boys were often sent out into the wild on their own to survive, and they were taught how to fight. However, what set the Spartan soldier apart was his loyalty to his fellow soldier. In the agoge, the boys were taught to depend on one another for the common defense, and they learned how to move in formation so as to attack without breaking ranks. This training provided to be effective on the battlefield as the Spartans were virtually unbeatable. Their only major defeat, the Battle of Thermopylae, occurred not because they were an inferior fighting force but rather because they were hopelessly outnumbered and betrayed by a fellow Greek who told Xerxes of the way around the pass.

However, the overall effectiveness of this force was limited due to the requirement that one be a Spartan citizen to participate in the agoge. Citizenship in Ancient Sparta was taught to acquire, as one had to prove their blood relation to an original Spartan, and this made it difficult to replace soldiers on a one to one basis. Over time, particularly after the Peloponnesian War during the period of the Spartan Empire, these put considerable strain on the Spartan army. They were forced to rely more and more on helots and other hoplites, who not as well-trained and therefore beatable. This finally became apparent during the Battle of Leuctra, which we now see as the beginning of the end of Ancient Sparta.

While Sparta was technically a monarchy governed by two kings, one each from the Agiad and Eurypontid families, these kings were relegated over time to positions that most closely resembled generals. This is because the city was really governed by the ephors and gerousia. The gerousia was a council of 28 men over the age of 60. Once elected, they held their post for life. Typically, members of the gerousia were related to one of the two royal familes, which helped to keep power consolidated in the hands of the few.

The gerousia was responsible for electing the ephors, which is the name given to a group of five officials who were responsible for carrying out the orders of the gerousia. They would impose taxes, deal with subordinate helot populations, and accompany kings on military campaigns to ensure the wishes of the gerousia were met. To be a member of these already exclusive leading parties, one had to be a Spartan citizen, and only Spartan citizens could vote for the gerousia. Because of this, there is no doubt that Ancient Sparta operated under an oligarchy, a government ruled by the few. Many believe this arrangement was made because of the nature of the founding of Sparta; the combining of four, and then five, towns meant that leaders of each needed to be accommodated, and this form of government made this possible.

Next to the ephors, the gerousia, and kings, were the clergy. Spartan citizens were also considered to be at the top of the Spartan social order, and below them were helots and other non-citizens. Because of this, Ancient Sparta would have been a highly unequal society where wealth and power were accumulated into the hands of the few and those without citizen status were denied basic rights.

One unique thing about Ancient Sparta was that it had always had two kings ruling simultaneously. The leading theory about why this was the case deals with the founding of Ancient Sparta. It is thought that the original villages made this arrangement to ensure that each powerful family got a say but also so that neither village could gain too much of an advantage over the other. Plus, the gerousia was established to further weaken the power of the Spartan kings and limit their ability to rule autonomously. In fact, by the time of the Peloponnesian War, the Spartan kings had little or no say over the affairs of the Spartan polis. Instead, by this point, there were relegated to nothing more than generals, but they were even limited in how they could act in this capacity, meaning most of the power in Ancient Sparta was in the hands of the gerousia.

Spartan kings ruled by divine right. Both royal families, the Agiads and the Eurypontids, claimed ancestry with the gods. Specifically, they traced their ancestry to Eurysthenes and Procles, the twin children a Heracles, one of the sons of Zeus.

Because of their history and significance to society, Spartan kings still played an important role in helping Ancient Sparta rise to power and become the significant city-state it was, despite their role being limited by the formation of the gerousia. Some of these kings include, from the Agiad dynasty:

Agis I (c. 930 BCE-900 BCE) - known for leading the Spartans in subjugating the territories of Laconia. His line, the Agiads, is named after him.

Alcamenes (c. 758-741 BCE) - Spartan king during the First Messenian War

Cleomenes I (c. 520-490 BCE) - Spartan king who oversaw the beginning of the Greco-Persian Wars

Leonidas I (c. 490-480 BCE) - Spartan king who led Sparta, and died fighting, during the Battle of Thermopylae

Agesipolis I (395-380 BCE) - Agiad king during the Corinthian War

Agesipolis III (c. 219-215 BCE) - the last Spartan king from the Agiad dynasty

From the Eurypontid dynasty, the most important kings were:

Leotychidas II (c. 491 -469 BCE) - helped lead Sparta during the Greco-Persian War, taking over for Leonidas I when he died at the Battle of Thermopylae.

Archidamus II (c. 469-427 BCE) - led the Spartans during much of the first part of the Peloponnesian War, which is often called the Archidamian War

Agis II (c. 427-401 BCE) - oversaw the Spartan victory over Athens in the Peloponnesian War and ruled over the early years of Spartan hegemony.

Agesilaus II (c. 401-360 BCE) - COmmanded the Spartan army during the period of the Spartan empire. Ran campaigns in Asia to free the Ionian Greeks, and stopped his invasion of Persia only because of the turmoil occurring in Greece at the time.

Lycurgus (c. 219-210 BCE) - deposed the Agiad king Agesipolis III and became the first Spartan king to rule alone

Laconicus (c. 192 BCE) - the last known king of Ancient Sparta

While many parts of Spartan society were considerably unequal, and freedoms were limited for all but the most elite, women were granted a much more significant role in Spartan life than they were in other Greek cultures at the time. Of course, they were far from equals, but they were afforded freedoms unheard of in the ancient world. For example, as compared to Athens where women were restricted from going outside, had to live in their father's house, and were required to wear dark, concealing clothing, women in Sparta were not only allowed but encouraged to go outside, exercise, and wear clothing that allowed them more freedom.

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They were also fed the same foods as men, something that did not happen in many parts of Greece at the time, and they were restricted from bearing children until they were in their late teens or twenties. This policy was meant to improve the chances of women having healthy children while also preventing women from experiencing the complications that come from early pregnancies. They were also allowed to sleep with other men besides their husbands, something that was completely unheard of in the ancient world. Furthermore, women in Sparta were not allowed to participate in politics, but they did have the right to own property. This likely came from the fact that Spartan women, often left alone by their husbands during times of war, became the administrators of men's property, and if their husband's died, that property often became theirs.

Of course, as compared to the world we live in today, these freedoms hardly seem significant. But considering the context, one in which women were typically seen as second-class citizens, this relatively equal treatment of women in Sparta set this city apart from the rest of the Greek world.

The story of Ancient Sparta is certainly an exciting one. A city that virtually didn't exist until the end of the first millennium BCE, it rose to be one of if not the most powerful cities in Greece as well as the entire Greek world. Over the years, Spartan culture has become quite famous, with many pointing to the austere mannerisms of its kings along with its commitment to loyalty and discipline, as evidenced by its soldiers. And while these may be exaggerations of what life was really like in Ancient Sparta, it's difficult to overstate Spartan significance in ancient history as well as the development of world culture.

Bradford, Alfred S. Leonidas and the Kings of Sparta: Mightiest Warriors, Fairest Kingdom. ABC-CLIO, 2011.

Cartledge, Paul. Hellenistic and Roman Sparta. Routledge, 2004.

Cartledge, Paul. Sparta and Lakonia: a regional history 1300-362 BC. Routledge, 2013.

Feetham, Richard, ed. Thucydides' Peloponnesian War. Vol. 1. Dent, 1903.

Kagan, Donald, and Bill Wallace. The Peloponnesian War. New York: Viking, 2003.

Powell, Anton. Athens and Sparta: Constructing Greek political and social history from 478 BC. Routledge, 2002.

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Ancient Sparta: History of the Spartans Warriors and Women

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Ancient Sparta is one of the most well-known cities in Classical Greece. Known for its highly-skilled warriors, elitist society, and its reverence for stoicism, people today still look to the Spartans as model citizens in an idealist ancient society. Yet, as is often the case, many of the perceptions we have of Ancient Sparta are based on over-glorified and exaggerated stories.

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Sparta was one of the most important city-states in ancient Greece and was famous for its military prowess. The professional and well-trained Spartan hoplites with their distinctive red cloaks and long…

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The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

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Art and Craft in Archaic Sparta | Essay | The Metropolitan Museum of Art | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

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In the seventh and sixth centuries B.C., and especially in the first half of the sixth century B.C., Sparta and its region, Laconia, had its own workshops in several genres of artistic craft, such as vase painting, metalwork, ivory and bone carving, and even stone sculpture.

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Viking burial customs did not alter much during the VikingsAge until Christianity took over as the main religion. Burial customs did have subtle differences from region to region. The Vikings worshiped pagan gods and buried their dead in accordance with these pagan rituals. The dead were buried with a variety objects and we can only assume that this was done for religious reasons. The objects which have been found in Viking graves are now an invaluable source of information about the daily life of the Vikings.

Two different types of burials were used; cremationand inhumation. The dead were burnt or buried in their daily clothes, and are usually buried along with his or her personal belongings. Sometimes the dead were buried lying in a boat or a wagon. Archaeologists assume that this means that a form of transportation was deemed necessary for the dead to travel to the next world. Some Viking graves contain horses; this could also be a method of fulfilling the transportation needs of the dead. The burial of horses appeared to be most common in Denmark and the Birka region in Sweden.

However, it does seem that the funeral boat or wagon in some regions of the Viking World was a practice which was reserved for the wealthy. This could be a way to express the status and importance of the dead.

Cremation was the more common of the two burial practices in the early Viking Age. The vast majority of the major burial finds throughout the Viking world are cremations. Inhumation was practiced in some regions throughout the entire Viking Age, particularly in Southern Jutland. During the late Viking Age, around the year 1000, Christianity began to take over as the main religion of the Vikings. This religious change seems to have affected Viking burial practices. Inhumation began to replace cremation as the method of delivering the dead to the afterlife.

Different regions had different customs. For example: Lindholm Høje in Denmark is one of the most impressive Viking burial sites open to visitors, and many of the graves are marked with stones in the shape of a ship. While the Vikings from central Sweden generally laid the stones out in circular or triangular patterns.

Viking graves have shown us that human sacrifice was not unknown during the Viking Age.

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Viking burial customs did not alter much during the VikingsAge until Christianity took over as the main religion. Burial customs did have subtle differences from region to region. The Vikings worshiped pagan gods and buried their dead in accordance with these pagan rituals.

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The Vikings and their funeral and burial rituals were wholly affected by their pagan religion and beliefs. For a Viking their death would lead them into an afterlife and into one of the Vikings nine realms. It was this belief that led the Viking to take so much time on their funerals and burials trying their hardest to send their friends, family or fallen comrades to a successful afterlife.

The two realms in Norse mythology that were commonly associated with the religious practises of funerals and burials were Valhalla and Helheim. Valhalla was a place for fallen warriors and in opposite contrast, Helheim was for Viking people who had died from what was considered a dishonourable death. To die in bed of sloth, or to die of old age was not considered brave in old Norse times.

In Viking times if you died, they would typically send you on your way in one of two ways, cremation or inhumation.

Cremation and inhumation

There are typically two common ways to bury the dead, and the Vikings did practise both at some point. The first method, cremation is to burn the body at temperatures so hot that flesh and bone would turn to ash, the ash could then be scattered, buried or sailed out to sea. The second, inhumation was to bury the body in its current state under the ground, and then either place earth, dirt or stones on top of the body.

The Vikings in the early years were almost entirely pagan in their beliefs and they would typically cremate their dead. Later as Christianity become more common it is believed the use of inhumation was more widely adopted.

For the purpose of this article however we will focus primarily on the typical Viking practise, pre Christianity of cremating their dead.

Cremation

It was normal in Norse times to cremate the deceased body before a land or sea burial, a practise that had significant reach to their afterlife. By cremating their dead the Vikings believed the smoke would carry them to their rightful destination in the afterlife.

Successful cremation in Viking times required a very hot fire, hot enough to burn flesh and bone to ash, and to achieve this a pyre was required.

Funeral pyre

The Vikings created and used pyres to cremate their dead. Without the intense heat caused by a pyre, a normal fire would likely not burn the body completely. This could leave parts of the body remaining and is of course not desirable. Therefore the Viking uses pyre to ensure their dead were successfully cremated.

A pyre is easily described as a large volume of wood, or a construction of wood that the body is laid upon. The construction of such pyres could take hours to build, necessary to ensure the heat was located in such a way that the body would burn effectively.

Burial

When it comes to the burial, the Vikings would bury the ashes of their dead in graves or even under piles of rocks. Goods and belongings would be buried with the deceased, suitable to match their life.

Viking graveyards were even common, with certain settlements and groups keeping all their dead in one location. There are even large stone ships structures in Scandinavia to allow the dead to sail even without a sea burial.

Ship burial

Another kind of burial was for the Vikings to sail their dead out to sea. The lore of this practise often involves the burning of the ship before the dead are cast out. However in practise its believed that this was not always the case, with many believing the body to be cremated before the ship was sailed. Either way it was common for the dead's goods to travel with them out into the water.

This type of burial was not common however, and was likely reserved for sea captains, noble Vikings and the very wealthy. In old Norse times boats would have taken months to construct and would not have been wasted without valid cause or a suitable amount of status.

Burial goods

It was common for the Vikings to bury their dead with some of their goods or belongings. This was considered necessary for them to use in the afterlife, I mean what warrior would want to be without his trusty weapons, even if he were not to need them in the next life.

A warrior could be buried with his shield or sword, and a craftsman might be buried with his tools. A Viking woman might find her cloth making equipment or cooking tools would follow her in the afterlife.

Reaching the afterlife

In Norse mythology it is believed and alluded too in many texts that the afterlife you reached would depend on how you lived your life. The Vikings believed that the brave warriors who fell in battle would reap the most reward in the afterlife. This belief in many ways freed the Vikings to walk into battle with no fear and this would be the goal for many Viking in death. If you weren't a warrior then of course you still had an opportunity for an afterlife as well.

Valhalla

Valhalla was the hall situated in Asgard the realm of the gods, and Odin's home. It's often reported that Valhalla was a place for only warriors to go to, if you fell in battle as a brave warrior then entry to Valhalla would be granted to you.

Folkvangr

Folkvangr was another place brave warriors could live in the afterlife. Folkvangr was a field ruled over by the Goddess Freya, and was an alternative location for warriors. Freya would be able to choose half of the dead warriors from battle to come and live in the afterlife in Folkvangr.

Helgafjell

Helgafjell was known as the 'holy mountain', and was widely thought of as a rather nice place to live out the afterlife. Helgafjell was somewhere you could go if you did not die in battle, but you would have had to have lived what is considered a good life.

Helheim

Helheim was possibly the worst outcome for a Norse person in the afterlife. Helheim was cold and dark, ruled by the Goddess Hel, it was reserved for those Norse folk who died in a dishonourable way. This could be from laziness, old age, for example to die in your bed. In Viking times, dying in a brave way was definitely the most honourable.

Celebrations

Funeral celebrations occurred in old Norse society, but the Vikings would wait for seven days before celebration. This day would be marked with the drinking of ale, which signified the passing of any property from the deceased. After this celebration the heir would truly claim their inheritance.

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Viking Funerals | Viking Burials | The Norse Afterlife

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The Vikings and their funeral and burial rituals were wholly affected by their pagan religion and beliefs. For a Viking their death would lead them into an afterlife and into one of the Vikings nine realms. It was this belief that led the Viking to take so much time on their funerals and burials trying their hardest to send their friends, family or fallen comrades to a successful afterlife.

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art| The Vikings  

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art| The Vikings  

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The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

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The Vikings (780–1100) | Essay | The Metropolitan Museum of Art | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

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Although Christian annalists normally portray the Vikings as uncivilized and unprincipled men, the evidence of their achievements proves their sophistication.

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In Norse belief, the soul of the deceased might wind up in any one of a number of afterlife realms. There was Valhalla, the realm of Odin where the dead warriors drank, fought, and told stories, Folkvangr...

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Burial Practices

A cemetery of small ship settings at Lindholm Høje in Denmark. Image sourced from Wikimedia Commons.

Burial Mounds

Ships

Perhaps the most evocative (certainly the most frequently quoted) literary description of a flaming boat burial comes from the tenth-century Arabic writer ibn Fadlan . Ibn Fadlan described the funeral of a chieftain of the Volga Vikings which he observed first-hand. The body of the chieftain was placed in a boat that had been drawn up on land. He was surrounded with goods and a human sacrifice was carried out. Then the entire boat was burned. In Norse Mythology , the funeral of the god Balder also involved placing the deceased in a burning boat. However, there is no other evidence for this practice (unsurprisingly, as the evidence would have been burned), thus making it hard to verify whether this was a genuine Norse practice.

The imagery of a burning boat was adopted in the late-nineteenth century for annual Up Helly Aa celebrations in the Shetland islands, inspired by the islands' Norse heritage. Image sourced from Wikimedia Commons.

Two vast ship settings at Anundshög in Sweden, totalling 100m in length. Image sourced from Wikimedia Commons.

Burial Goods

What do burial practices tell us?

Burial practices also inform us about religion. Christian burials are much smaller and simpler, rarely containing burial goods or being covered by monuments, although some may have been associated with rune stones . But this raises a problem. Does the religious affiliation indicated by a burial reflect the religion of the person who was buried, or the person who buried them? It is possible that someone could convert to Christianity, but their offspring remained pagan and thus buried them in a pagan fashion. Alternatively, Christian offspring could bury their pagan parents in a Christian fashion. This occurred with Harald Bluetooth , who disinterred his father King Gorm from his burial mound at Jelling and reburied him in a Christian church.

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Burial Practices A cemetery of small ship settings at Lindholm Høje in Denmark. Image sourced from Wikimedia Commons. Burial Mounds Ships Perhaps the most evocative (certainly the most frequently quoted) literary description of a flaming boat burial comes from the tenth-century Arabic writer ibn Fadlan .

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The Vikings of the Scandinavian north worshipped the many gods and goddesses of Norse mythology. Thanks to surviving ancient texts, sagas and archaeological discoveries we know a great deal about these deities and how they were viewed by the Vikings.

Here are seven of the most important in Norse mythology.

The Norse gods were separated into two main groups, the Æsir and the Vanir, who at one point in their histories engaged in a fierce and bitter war. Odin was the King of the Æsir clan and known as 'the father of all gods'. He was often depicted as a one-eyed, bearded old man wearing a hat and a cloak, who rode a flying eight-legged horse called Sleipnir.

Odin was said to have slain the first being known as Ymir, before carving up his dead body to help create the Earth.

Odin was one of the most powerful and revered of all the Norse gods and subsequently associated with several themes including wisdom, knowledge, healing, death and war. He also ruled over the 'hall of the slain' known as Valhalla.

We owe a number of the days of the week to the Vikings, with Odin directly to thank for 'Wednesday' as the word comes from 'Woden' a variation of Odin's name.

As the wife of Odin, Frigg was regarded as the Queen of the Æsir gods and therefore possibly the most important of all the Norse goddesses. She was the only one allowed to sit next to her husband and although he conducted many extra-marital affairs, she always stuck by her partner.

Worshipped as the goddess of the sky, Frigg was associated with wisdom, marriage, family and fertility. She was also blessed with the power of divination, although she never revealed her visions to anyone. Her fiercely protective motherly instincts would play a pivotal role in the tragic death of her son Balder.

The name of our final working day of the week 'Friday' stems from her name.

Thanks to the Marvel Universe, Thor is one of the most famous and recognisable Norse gods in today's world. He was the god of thunder and lightning who wielded the Mjölnir, a devastatingly powerful hammer that could slay giants and smash mountains. He rode a chariot drawn by two massive goats called Tanngniost and Tanngrisnir.

Although he was the son of Odin, he was often regarded as the strongest of all the Norse deities since he was tasked with safeguarding Asgard, the stronghold of the Æsir. He was perhaps the most popular of all the gods and was worshipped by most Vikings.

We also have Thor to thank for 'Thursday', as the word stems from Old Norse meaning 'Thor's Day'.

Another god made famous in modern times thanks to his inclusion in the Marvel movies, although in Norse mythology he wasn't the son of Odin and brother of Thor as the films have made out. Instead, he was considered a 'blood brother' of Odin who lived amongst the Æsir.

Loki was known as the trickster god, equipped with the ability to shapeshift into a multitude of different forms. His relationship with the other gods was complex; on some occasions he helped them, on others he hindered them.

Whilst he was depicted as more mischievous than pure evil, he was still capable of causing great harm. He was the chief engineer behind the death of the god Balder, carving an arrow out of his only weakness, mistletoe.

Freya was the goddess of fate, love, beauty, gold, war and fertility. She was a member of the Vanir and ruled over the heavenly meadow of Fólkvangr, where half of all those who died in combat would go, whilst the other half were guided by the Valkyries to Valhalla which was ruled over by Odin.

She owned a torc or necklace known as the Brísingamen, as well as a cloak made of falcon feathers. She rode a chariot drawn by two cats and was often accompanied by a boar called Hildisvíni.

She practised Seidr, a form of magic that gifted her with the ability to control and manipulate the desires and prosperity of others. Her association with fate and destiny made her one of the most powerful Norse goddesses.

Another son of Odin and half-brother to Thor, Balder was the god of light and purity. He was described as a fair, kind and handsome god, whose beauty was unparalleled. Often praised by others for his mercifulness, Balder was the epitome of all things wise and good.

However, he is most famous for his demise. Although it was believed he was immortal, he had been prophesied to die. To prevent this from happening his mother Frigg visited every entity in the cosmos to secure an oath from them that they wouldn't harm her son. She neglected to consult the mistletoe believing it too small and harmless to threaten the life of her son.

The mischievous god Loki got wind of this oversight and carved an arrow out of the mistletoe, which would eventually be thrown at Balder by his blind half-brother Höðr out of jest. The arrow pierced Balder's heart and the 'best of the gods' fell dead.

The daughter of Loki, Hel presided over the Norse underworld, a place where all those Vikings who didn't die in battle went.

Half of her body was flesh and blood, the other half was just bones. Her decaying features befitted a goddess who ruled over the land of the dead, judging and deciding the fate of the souls who entered her realm. It was said that within the underworld she was more powerful than Odin himself, a belief that was reinforced when she held the final say on what happened to Balder's soul after he was slain.

For more articles about the history and culture of the Vikings, check out our Viking history hub.

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Seven of the most important gods and goddesses in Norse mythology

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The Vikings of the Scandinavian north worshipped the many gods and goddesses of Norse mythology. Thanks to surviving ancient texts, sagas and archaeological discoveries we know a great deal about these deities and how they were viewed by the Vikings. Here are seven of the most important in Norse mythology.

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Description

Limestone canopic jar of Djedbastiufankh: with the head of Duamutef. The jar has an unusually long and detailed inscription incised in columns on the body, concerned not so much to protect the body part inside, but to assure the deceased that he will have food and drink in the afterlife.

Curator's comments

Part of a set with: 1889,07013.4. Part of a set with: 1889,07013.5. Part of a set with: 1889,07013.6. Djedbastiufankh held many sacerdotal offices including that of the priest of the goddess Neith. Bibliography: B. Porter & R. Moss, 'Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs and Paintings' V (Oxford: Clarendon Press), p. 102; W. M. F. Petrie, 'Hawara, Biahmu and Arsinoe' (London, 1889), pp. 8-9, 23, pl. IV; The British Museum, 'A Guide to the First and Second Egyptian Rooms' 2nd ed. (London, 1904), pp. 125-126; E. A. Wallis Budge, 'The Mummy: a Handbook of Egyptian Funerary Archaeology' 2nd ed. (Cambridge 1925), pp. 244-245; J.H. Taylor and N.C. Strudwick, Mummies: Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt. Treasures from The British Museum, Santa Ana and London 2005, pp. 80-1, pl. on p. 80. D. Antoine and M. Vandenbeusch, Egyptian mummies. Exploring ancient lives, Sydney 2016, p. 44.

Exhibition history

2005-2008, California, The Bowers Museum, Death and Afterlife in Ancient Egypt 2016-2017 10 Oct-30 Apr, Sydney, Powerhouse Museum, Ancient Lives 2017 16 Jun-18 Oct, Hong Kong Science Museum, Ancient Lives 2017-2018 14 Nov-20 Feb, Taiwan, National Palace Museum, Ancient Lives 2018 16 Mar-22 Jul, Brisbane, Queensland Museum of Art, Ancient Lives 2019-2020 14 Sept- 28 Jun, Montreal, Museum of Fine Arts, Ancient Lives EXTENDED DUE TO COVID19 2020-2021, 19 Sept - 21 Mar, Toronto, Royal Ontario Museum, Ancient Lives 2021-2022 9 Oct - 10 Jan, Tokyo, Museum of Science and Nature, Mummies of Ancient Egypt: rediscovering six lives (Egyptian Mummies 2) 2022 5 Feb- 8 May, Kobe City Museum, Mummies of Ancient Egypt: rediscovering six lives (Egyptian Mummies 2)

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Limestone canopic jar of Djedbastiufankh: with the head of Duamutef. The jar has an unusually long and detailed inscription incised in columns on the body, concerned not so much to protect the body part inside, but to assure the deceased that he will have food and drink in the afterlife.

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Ancient Sparta- Religion, Death, and burials 

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Ancient Sparta- Religion, Death, and burials 

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Aspects of Roman life which influence funerary practices 

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Aspects of Roman life which influence funerary practices 

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Into the 1st century, cremation was the norm and burial and embalming were referred to as a foreign custom. This changed by the 4th century.

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Death was an integral part of life for the Romans. They had enormous reverence for their ancestors, and it was the focal point of many family rituals. Death and burial were subjects of great concern to the Romans. What happened to the dead, and how did Romans perpetuate the memories after their demise? When Romans died, why was the fate of their bodies dependent on their economic status?

Puticuli: Burial Pits for Poor Romans

Burials were expensive in ancient Rome. Sometimes, the poor in Rome could not receive any burial. They were then tossed into open pits called puticuli, meaning 'to rot or decompose'. Those pits held a mixture of human and animal corpses, garbage, and excrement. Some of them were large, containing 24,000 corpses each. The Roman authorities were concerned to having those pits so close to the city premises as it did not reflect well on the city. Therefore, they passed a legislation forcing people to dump their corpses further away from the city, but it did not do much good.

Learn more about the meaning and impact of Edward Gibbon's masterpiece.

Burial Clubs in Ancient Rome

Therefore, anyone who could afford to, joined a burial club with entry fee of 100 sesterces, and new members sometimes also had to provide a jar of wine. In addition, they had to pay reasonable monthly dues. Some of those clubs had a mixture of slaves and free people. If a member of the club died, the others would pay for the funeral expenses. If someone committed suicide, however, he was considered to have forfeited his right to a funeral. Burial clubs had elaborate rules, governing what the members had to do for each other. For example, there were different requirements if someone died within the city, outside the city limits but within 20 miles of them, or at a distance of more than 20 miles from the city.

Burial Club Activities

In addition to burying any dead members, the other main activity of the club was to hold a series of feasts, every other month. Some of the dues were used to fund those feasts, and at each one, several members were responsible for providing a certain minimum amount of food. Sometimes, a burial club would pool its money to buy a mausoleum where urns containing the ashes of cremated members were kept. Those were excavated like caves or an aboveground structure, called a columbaria. Another way for the club to earn money was to rent out some of the extra space to non-members. Dining facilities were attached to the columbaria, to hold the feasts. The purpose of those meals was a way to honor the dead and an excuse to have a good party.

Learn more about the glory of ancient Rome.

Elaborative Individual Tombs

Only wealthy people could afford to have individual tombs built for themselves which were constructed along the roads leading into Rome. Tombs took many forms and were frequently very elaborate and most common type resembled miniature marble houses. Others were shaped like columns, towers, or cones. One of the most famous, was the tomb of Gaius Cestius. He had his tomb erected in the form of a marble pyramid 60 feet high. Another man who had taken pride in his profession of bread baker, had his tomb built to resemble a gigantic marble bread oven, into which his family's bodies were inserted like loaves of bread. Tombs often had pipes protruding out at the top. The idea was that the family would have a picnic on the tomb and share the feast with the deceased by dropping food and pouring wine down the tube.

This is a transcript from the video series The Roman Empire: From Augustus to the Fall of Rome. Watch it now, on Wondrium.

Tomb Building Tradition

It was tradition that, rather than building the tomb, their heir constructed them. To ensure that heirs built an impressive structure, many wills contained detailed directions for the type of tomb the person wanted. It was stipulated that the heir would not receive his inheritance until he had buried the deceased in the specified manner. Many heirs resented such effort and money spent on those monuments, and as a small consolation, included their own names on the monuments. In most of the monuments excavated, the name of the commemorator who built it was given more prominence than the name of the deceased.

Standard Roman religious beliefs did not include a well-developed notion of an afterlife. Romans were anxious to leave some enduring memory of themselves behind. Elaborate tombs were one way to do that and demands placed on their descendants that they celebrated a feast on their tomb. Some men made sure they would be remembered by setting up funds of money, the interest from which was employed for certain activities like providing an annual feast for the people of their hometown.

Learn more about five hundred years of the Roman Empire.

Tombs With Little Reverence

Despite all the efforts to leave an enduring legacy, many of those attempts were in vain. Tombs were often sold and their valuable marble reused. Poor people and the homeless broke into mausoleums, threw out the corpses, and used them as dwellings.

Many Christian churches plundered Roman cemeteries for building materials. The Romans sometimes showed little reverence for their own tombs. The public toilets in the town of Ostia were constructed out of old tombstones.

A Ceremony to Place Remains into a Tomb

Among wealthy Romans, the installation of a deceased man or woman's remains into a tomb was accompanied by a ceremony. The deceased was dressed in fine clothing and a wreath placed on the head. A solemn parade processed from his or her house to the Forum with family, friends, and clients marching in that. The wax death masks of illustrious ancestors were placed on current family members, dressed up in clothing, indicating the highest rank that an individual had attained. At the Forum, those impersonating the ancestors sat on a row of ivory chairs placed on the rostra, the Speaker's platform with the corpse placed on the rostra, propped upright.

Common Questions about Burial in Ancient Rome

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Burials were expensive in ancient Rome. Sometimes, the poor in Rome could not receive any burial. They were then tossed into open pits called puticuli, meaning 'to rot or decompose'. Those pits held a mixture of human and animal corpses, garbage, and excrement. Some of them were large, containing 24,000 corpses each.

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Ptolemaic Egypt- timeline and preparation for death 

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Ptolemaic Egypt- timeline and preparation for death 

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Why prepare for death?

The ancient Egyptians believed that when they died their spiritual body would continue to exist in an afterlife very similar to their living world. However, entry into this afterlife was not guaranteed. The dead had to negotiate a dangerous underworld journey and face the final judgment before they were granted access. If successful, they were required to provide eternal sustenance for their spirit. These things could be achieved if proper preparations were made during a person's lifetime.

Preparations

A variety of different preparations were required. These included:

1. Purchase of small funerary items

Funerary items for placement in the tomb were purchased from specialist shops or temples though wealthier people would commission items such as furniture, expensive coffins and jewellery.
Items could be divided into two classes:

those for protection and guidance on the underworld journey and in the afterlife, such as amulets, stelae and the Book of the Dead (or other funerary texts);

those for the provision of essential nourishment, leisure and comfort for their eternal spirit, such as food, clothing and shabtis (small funerary statuettes).

Shabtis: workers for the afterlife

The dead were granted a plot of land in the afterlife and were expected to maintain it, either by performing the labour themselves or getting their shabtis to work for them. Shabtis were small funerary statuettes inscribed with a spell that miraculously brought them to life, enabling the dead person to relax while the shabtis performed their physical duties.

Shabtis have a long history as funerary items for tombs. They first appear in the Middle Kingdom about 2100 BCE, replacing the servant statuettes that were common in tombs of the Old Kingdom. Individually sculpted, they were designed to represent the owner and only one or two were placed in a tomb. By about 1000 BCE shabtis became simplified in form, with the wealthy now having one for every day of the year and overseer shabtis to manage them. This was due mostly to an ideological shift - they now represented servants rather than the dead person. The last shabtis were used in the late Ptolemaic Period, as attitudes to death and the afterlife had changed.

Amulets: the magic of charms

Many cultures and individuals, including some today, have placed great faith in symbolic jewellery like amulets or charms. However, ancient Egyptians elevated the influence of jewellery to a greater level. They believed that amulets endowed the wearer with magical powers of protection and healing and also brought good fortune. From an early age, they would wear a variety of these charms around the neck, wrists, fingers and ankles. Most were symbols related to a god or goddess so placed the wearer under their specific protection.

Protection and healing, especially in the context of resurrection, were especially important in the afterlife so amulets were placed on various parts of the body during the wrapping process. Although there were hundreds of amulets that were available for use, the final selection would depend on the person's wealth and individual choice. Many amulets were required to be placed in set positions on the mummy, usually relating to a certain part of the body or a position inside or outside the wrappings. Others had more flexibility in their placement. Priests performed rites and said prayers as these amulets were placed.
Heartscarabs
The heartscarab was the most widely used amulet. It was placed over the dead person's heart to protect it from being separated from the body in the underworld. The heart, which contained a record of all the person's actions in life, was essential for the 'Weighing of the Heart Ceremony' as it was weighed against the feather of the goddess Ma'at. If the scales were balanced, the person passed and entered the afterlife. For those who were concerned about this test, they could recite the spell inscribed on their heartscarab to prevent their heart from 'betraying' them.

2. Commissioning or buying a coffin

Coffins were probably the single most important piece of funerary equipment. To ancient Egyptians they were 'chests of life' with every aspect designed to protect the physical body in this world and also the spiritual body in the afterlife. To achieve this, almost every surface was covered with prayers and spells from funerary texts, important religious symbols, and scenes of various gods and goddesses associated with death, protection and the underworld. Although texts and imagery, and even shape (early coffins were rectangular in shape, the mummy-shaped coffins appeared in the Middle Kingdom, about 1900 BCE), changed over time as religious beliefs evolved, the general purpose remained the same.

Coffin-making was an important and often expensive industry. Craftsmen would construct coffins of wood, or stone for royals, and then scribes and painters decorated them. The religious nature of the images and texts meant that these artists were usually associated with temple library workshops. In earlier periods, only the very wealthy could afford to commission a coffin from a workshop. However, in later periods they were more affordable as 'mass production' became common. Cheaper coffins could be bought from the marketplace and were designed with spaces for personal touches such as a name or title.

3. Building the tombs

Many years could be spent on building and preparing tombs, which were known to the ancient Egyptians as 'houses of eternity'. They were usually built on the western bank of the Nile, in the land of the dead, and made from non-perishable material such as stone. This is in contrast to the mudbrick and straw houses that they occupied during their lifetime. However, they weren't just houses for the spirit and body. The tomb itself, if built and designed properly, had the power of restoring life and giving immortality to the dead owner.

Preparing tombs correctly was a common theme in Egyptian texts. Master builders and supervisors were instructed to perform rituals during construction and guidelines were provided on where to build, how to design, and also what materials to use.

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Ancient Egyptians spent a considerable amount of time and money preparing for their death.

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The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

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Silver was used to fashion beads as early as the Predynastic Period (ca. 4400-3100 B.C.) and remained important for personal ornaments and cult objects in Egypt through Roman times. Temple inscriptions suggest that for much of Egypt's history, silver was valued more highly than gold. However, unlike gold, which is known to have been brought from the Eastern Desert and Nubia, the sources of silver are obscure, and in view of the relative scarcity of local geological resources, assuredly much was imported from neighboring lands. For this reason, and because silver, especially hammered sheet, is highly susceptible to the corrosive salts found in most Egyptian burial environments, it generally appears less frequently in the Egyptian archaeological record than gold or cupreous metals.

There are few documented finds of silver predating the early Middle Kingdom (ca. 2030-1650 B.C.). From the tomb of Hetepheres I, mother of the Dynasty 4 king Khufu (r. ca. 2551-2528 B.C.), come notable exceptions: a group of bangles inlaid with semi-precious stones and furniture fittings, now divided between the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

The earliest Egyptian silver in the Metropolitan Museum's collection comes from burials of women associated with the temple of the Dynasty 11 king Mentuhotep II (r. ca. 2051-2000 B.C.) at Thebes excavated by Herbert Winlock in 1922-23. Nearly all is in the form of small beads, but an interesting sa-amulet of alternating electrum and silver wires secured with electrum bands was also found ( 25.3.253). As defined by the Roman author, naturalist, philosopher, and historian Pliny the Elder (A.D. 23-79) in his Naturalis historia¸ electrum is a natural alloy of gold and silver containing more than 20 percent of the latter. Dependent on composition, its color can range from pale gold to yellowish white, and in the past, when based on visual inspection, much whiter electrums were frequently mistaken for silver. For example, a Middle Kingdom "silver" amulet from Abydos representing Anubis recumbent on a shrine ( 04.18.9), which was recently analyzed using X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, is actually electrum containing approximately 40 percent gold.

A wealth of silver was found on the body of Wah, a minor official buried in Thebes around the beginning of Dynasty 12 (ca. 1981-1802 B.C.). In death, as probably in life, Wah wore two ball bead necklaces, a typical form of jewelry in the Middle Kingdom. The larger is silver ( 40.3.19), the smaller gold, and the beads from each were made in a similar way from hemispheres of hammered sheet that were joined using an early, experimental form of soldering. The round beads were separated by cylinder beads rolled from small rectangles of hammered sheet. In this case, not only the silver survived 4,000 years of burial, but also the linen cords. Wah's extraordinary scarabs were made of silver as well. The larger is the earliest example of metal-into-metal inlay-in this instance, electrum hieroglyphs hammered into cast silver-known from Egypt ( 40.3.12). How a private individual at this time, even one as well connected as Wah, had access to so much of this rare metal remains a puzzle. The inscription indicates he received the scarab from his powerful superior, Meketre, although the phrasing is generally reserved for a royal donation. As Royal Treasurer under Mentuhotep IV (r. ca. 1988-1981 B.C.) and Royal Chief Steward under Amenemhat I (r. ca. 1981-1952 B.C.), Meketre would have had access to precious materials. As for the raw material, lead isotope analysis indicates that the metal likely came from Lavrion (Greece), an important source of silver during classical times.

In many ways, silver was used similarly to gold. A recent Museum acquisition, sumptuous silver jewelry from Haraga, a provincial site near the mouth of the Fayum Oasis, reflects the refinement of gold cloisonné inlay jewelry worn by elite women during the Middle Kingdom ( 2014.619.7). Unlike most silver antiquities in the Museum, these have never been cleaned-a fate suffered by many in the past-and they retain a thick crust of archaeological silver chloride corrosion. On a fragmentary pectoral, flanking the central bovine emblem, are two bees. A single bee is repeated in a unique three-dimensional representation, possibly from a diadem ( 2014.619.6). Perhaps only two other Middle Kingdom pectorals not associated with royalty are known, but another Haraga fragment points to royal patronage: a gilded silver cartouche with the prenomen of Senwosret II (r. ca. 1887-1878 B.C) ( 2014.619.8). Gilded silver was quite rare in Egypt at this time.

Like gold, silver was hammered to produce leaf that was used to adorn various materials, but very little has survived. A polychrome wood figure of Lady Dedetamun-a poignant representation dating to Dynasty 13 (ca. 1802-1650 B.C.)-has her eyes indicated in silver leaf (with painted-on black pupils), as well as her finger- and toenails. She wears silver ribbons in her wig and has a generous suite of silver-leaf and painted jewelry ( 19.3.1).

Most mirrors in Egypt and elsewhere around the ancient world were cast from copper or bronze, the latter sometimes containing large amounts of tin to render them silvery, such as a New Kingdom example in the Museum's collection ( 1972.118.30). The mirrors were generally highly polished to increase reflectivity. Egyptian mirrors are round or slightly flattened ovals and have a tang that was inserted into a metal, wood, or occasionally ivory handle and secured with a rivet. But silver, because of its pale color and soft luster, was the ideal material for this purpose, and for the elite who had access to precious metals, it was preferred. One of the two silver mirrors with gilded wooden handles-the wood is a modern restoration-associated with the so-called foreign wives of Thutmose III (r. ca. 1479-1425 B.C.) is inscribed with his name ( 26.8.97). Like these two, most Egyptian mirrors with known findspots have been found in burials of women and include images of, or relating to, women: in this case, there is a cow's face on the handle that is an emblem of Hathor, one of Egypt's goddesses most closely associated with women and femininity.

More silver was available in Egypt during the New Kingdom (ca. 1550-1070 B.C.) than earlier, but still only five additional silver objects are among the numerous gold vessels, jewels, and sumptuous items associated with burials of Thutmose's foreign wives. These include three lidded libation vessels, each inscribed with the name of a different lady ( 18.8.21a, b). It is likely that each vessel was made in two pieces from hammered sheet, for example with a separately made bottom added to an open "shell," like similarly shaped hammered vessels of copper and bronze ( 98.4.66), but their state of preservation makes this difficult to confirm. Each stopper was made from three pieces of sheet.

Although most silver in ancient Egypt-like these libation vessels-was used in the form of hammered sheet, there are a number of surviving solid-cast silver statuettes ( 30.8.93). On the Museum's monochromatic figure of an unclothed woman, the fluid contours and smooth surface of her lissome body contrast with the textures of her separately made broad collar, wristlets, anklets, and earrings, and her tightly curled wig. Although long recognized as Saite in date (664-525 B.C.), it was only when the figure was radiographed and cleaned of massive archaeological corrosion in the late 1980s that raised hieroglyphs on her shoulders naming King Necho II (r. 610-595 B.C.) and other surface details were revealed, including delicate punch marks indicating her pubic hair. Also exposed by removal of the corrosion are a scattering of patches required to repair casting flaws and a series of abrasions on the inside of the right arm, barely visible without magnification, that are rare evidence of a step in the finishing process that is usually obliterated in subsequent polishing and burnishing.

Because of its pale color, the Egyptians associated silver with the moon (as opposed to the golden sun), ritual purity, and the bones of the gods (coupled with their golden flesh). Although Thoth was the major lunar deity, silver was not particularly favored for his images. On the other hand, more silver statuettes representing Nefertem than any other deity are known, as well as numerous amulets, although the correlation between the deity and the metal finds no parallel in textual sources ( 26.7.853).

A fluted bowl of the fourth century B.C. decorated in an "international" style is one of several silver vessels that had their weight written in Demotic script in traditional Egyptian measures ( 18.2.14). Under the Ptolemies (305-30 B.C.), silver became far more common in Egypt than during preceding millennia, and its value in relation to gold kept more with standards in neighboring lands.

Egypt joined the international economy of the Hellenistic world in another way. Coinage was invented in western Anatolia in the seventh century B.C. and from there spread westward to the Greek coastal cities and the Greek mainland. Foreign currency apparently circulated in Egypt in the second half of first millennium B.C., introduced by Greek traders and Persian invaders, but there were few locally minted coins of native or foreign rulers prior to Ptolemaic reign. A silver tetradrachm of King Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II, who participated in tumultuous family struggles over rule of Egypt from 170 to 116 B.C. ( 05.44.88 4), may have been minted in the ancient Greek province of Cyrenaica (modern Libya), where he was sole ruler from 164 to 145 B.C. In Western cultures (as opposed to East Asia, where metal currency generally was cast), coins were produced by striking, which entails hammering cast blanks of known weight and purity into intaglio dies.

Schorsch, Deborah. "Silver in Ancient Egypt." In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000-. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/silv/hd_silv.htm (September 2018)

Becker, Lawrence, Lisa Pilosi, and Deborah Schorsch. "An Egyptian Silver Statuette of the Saite Period―A Technical Study." Metropolitan Museum Journal 29 (1994), pp. 37-56. See on MetPublications

Bianchi, Robert S. "Coin of One of the Last Native Pharaohs." In Cleopatra's Egypt: Age of the Ptolemies, p. 158. Exhib. cat. New York: Brooklyn Museum, 1988.

Gale, Noel H., and Zofia A. Stos-Gale. "Ancient Egyptian Silver." Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 67 (1981), pp. 103-15.

Hill, Marsha. "A Gilded-Silver Pendant of Nephthys naming Merekkhonsu." Revue d'Egyptologie 66 (2015), pp. 33-49.

Schorsch, Deborah. "The Gold and Silver Necklaces of Wah: A Technical Study of an Unusual Metallurgical Joining Method." In Conservation in Ancient Egyptian Collections: Papers Given at the Conference Organised by the United Kingdom Institute for Conservation, Archaeology Section, and International Academic Projects, Held at London, 20-21 July 1995, edited by Carol E. Brown, Fiona Macalister, and Margot M. Wright, pp. 127-35. London: Archetype, 1995.

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Silver in Ancient Egypt | Essay | The Metropolitan Museum of Art | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

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Silver was used to fashion beads as early as the Predynastic Period (ca. 4400-3100 B.C.) and remained important for personal ornaments and cult objects in Egypt through Roman times. Temple inscriptions suggest that for much of Egypt's history, silver was valued more highly than gold.

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Evolution of Jewellery in Ancient Egypt  

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Evolution of Jewellery in Ancient Egypt  

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Ancient Egyptian Jewelry was used to display rank, proclaim wealth, and designate social status. Jewelry was worn by men and women of all social classes.

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To the ancient Egyptians, death was not the end of life but only the beginning of the next phase in an individual’s eternal journey. There was no word in ancient Egyptian which corresponds to the concept...

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When writing became widespread, laws were recorded to ensure that justice and punishment were no longer arbitrary. Laws weren't scribbled onto papyrus rolls and hidden; instead, they were engraved into wood or stone and put up for public display. As Douglas MacDowell, one of the foremost authorities on ancient Greek law, put it: "A Classical Greek could think of a law as a physical object." Show The Law in Classical Athens (1978), p. 42.

The earliest known Athenian lawgiver was Dracon, who wrote down a set of laws in 621/620 BC. The punishment for breaking almost any law was supposedly death (according to Plutarch), and it's perhaps no surprise that we derive our word "draconian" from this man. It's difficult to gauge whether or not Plutarch's summary is accurate; in fact, considering how untrustworthy Plutarch is at the best of times, we should probably reject whatever he has to say on this topic. After all, the idea of the Athenians accepting laws that would sentence people to death for relatively minor offences like stealing apples or being convicted of "idleness" seems odd to say the least.

Since we're relatively well informed about the laws of Classical Athens, there are a few books available for those who want to learn more. Aside from the book by MacDowell cited earlier, you can also check out his Athenian Homicide Law in the Age of Orators (1963), A.R.W. Harrison's two-volume study The Law of Athens (1968 & 1971), and S.C. Todd's more modern The Shape of Athenian Law (1993). MacDowell also wrote a very handy little book called Spartan Law (1986) that deals with the legal customs of the Spartans and that offers a nice contrast with the material on Classical Athens.

Homicide cases

The death penalty was the most severe form of punishment in Athens and usually reserved only for the most severe offenders of the law. The death sentence was generally reserved for those who had been found guilty of intentional homicide or who had commited another grave sin. Show Sometimes, this included blasphemy. Socrates' accusation of corrupting the youth was exceptional. By contrast, the punishment for unintentional homicide was generally exile, and the person found guilty of that was allowed to retain his property.

In an Athenian homicide case, each side was allowed to make two speeches, with the prosecutor and the defendant speaking in turn. At the end of his first speech, the defendant was allowed to go into exile, which was a convenient way for someone who feared conviction of saving his own life. Once the speeches were over, the jury did not leave to deliberate, but immediately cast their votes. The presiding magistrate (called a basileus, "king") pronounced verdict based on the vote. Someone found guilty of intentional homicide would be sentenced to death and his property would be confiscated.

Of course, these rules applied to Athenian citizens who had been found guilty of murdering a fellow Athenian citizen. We're not as well informed about murder cases involving the slaying of a foreigner, a resident alien, or a slave, but the general assumption is that punishments were less severe, ranging from possible exile to almost certainly the payment of a fine. In the case of a slave, the fine would have had to be paid to the slave's owner; in the case of a foreigner, to that person's relatives.

The death penalty in Classical Athens

Punishment was usually meted out immediately after the trial. We know of three different forms of execution. The first involved throwing the sentenced person down a deep chasm or pit ( barathron or, in the fourth century BC, orygma). Later, it seems that people were first killed and their remains tossed into the pit. MacDowell suggests that throwing living people down a chasm for them to die - on impact or later - was no longer practised in the fourth century BC.

The second method was through the use of a tympanon. This has been the source of some confusion. A late lexicographer, as explained by MacDowell in his Athenian Homicide Law, explained that the tympanon was shaped like a club, and that it was later replaced by a sword, suggesting that criminals were beaten to death. MacDowell and other writers, including Todd, suggest that it was a board stuck into the ground to which the victim was fastened and left to die of exposure and thirst, in a manner roughly similar to crucifixion.

The third method was death by drinking hemlock. This was how the philosopher Socrates ultimately met his end. Supposedly, the Thirty Tyrants in 404/403 BC had sentenced a few other men to drink hemlock. But these instances are rare, and limited to the years around 400 BC. Death by hemlock appears not to have been used before 404/403 or after 399 BC, except in the case of suicides. As such, it seems unlikely that it was ever very common.

Closing remarks

MacDowell writes that it "is remarkable that neither hanging nor decapitation seems to have been used." I'm not sure that this is so remarkable. Outright murdering a person caused religious pollution ( miasma), from which a person had to be ritually cleansed.

Fear of religious pollution is the reason why, in so many stories of Greek mythology, unwanted infants are left to die from exposure rather than simply killed - the act of killing a person would have had serious consequences on the executioner and whoever aided him (possibly including the jury and the presiding magistrates). Even the Spartans didn't cast malformed or otherwise imperfect children from a rock (as some would have us believe), but merely left them out to die of exposure.

The ancient Greeks generally preferred to sentence people to die in indirect ways: by throwing them into a precipice, tying them still alive to a board to die of exposure, or indeed by having the convicted criminal drink a cup of hemlock. In this way, the people involved in carrying out the sentence did not run the risk of being regarded as murderers themselves.

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When writing became widespread, laws were recorded to ensure that justice and punishment were no longer arbitrary. Laws weren't scribbled onto papyrus rolls and hidden; instead, they were engraved into wood or stone and put up for public display.

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The ancient Greeks believed that existence does not end with death; there is no death, only a transition from one state of being to another; every human died only to live again on another level of existence.

This concept is more or less the foundation of the Eleusinian Mysteries.

To prepare themselves for life after death, most Greeks of that time, would have at least once in their lives, made the pilgrimage, along the Sacred Way to Eleusis, about 18 kilometres northwest of Athens, to attend the annual Eleusinian festivals.

Here, they gained a higher understanding of life, death, resurrection and reincarnation.

The main goal was sanctification of the soul, a physical, emotional and spiritual cleansing; for some, a preparatory measure before setting out, after death, on their journey to the Underword, were entry was permitted only after completing the ancient Greek burial rituals; three rites of passage.

Burial Rituals in Ancient Greece:

The three rites of passage

After 1100 BC, Greeks buried their dead in individual graves rather than group tombs, simple boxes were used for burying the dead, Athens, however, was the exception; the Athenians usually cremated their dead and placed their ashes in an urn.

The first rite of passage:

Prothesis (the laying out of the body)

When someone died in Ancient Greece, their bodies were washed and anointed and a coin, known as Charon's obol, was placed in the mouth, with which to pay Charon; the ferryman who rowed the dead across one of the six rivers leading to the Underworld.

The body was then laid on a couch, with the head resting on a pillow and the feet pointing towards the door, this is called the prothesis ; the laying out of the body, a scene frequently painted on early Greek vases or urns on a white background called a funery lekythos, which were used to mark graves.

This was the first stage in the ancient Greek burial process.

The Second Rite of Passage:

Ekphora (transporting the body)

The second stage of the burial procedure in ancient Greece was the ekphora, meaning the carrying of the deceased from home to the place of burial.

According to Athenian law, the ekphora had to take place within three days of the death and before sunrise so as not to a cause a public inconvenience.

If the family had the means, the body would be transported by horse and cart, followed by the mourners; men first, with the body, followed by the women.

Professional undertakers, called klimakophoroi; ladder men (owing to the fact they laid the body on ladders which they carried horizontally), may also have been employed to transfer the body and dig the grave.

The Third Rite of Passage:

Burial

Little to nothing is known about the ancient Greek burial service, or even if there was a service as we know it today.

No priests would have been present, only relatives and since the corpse was regarded as a breeding ground for miasma (the Greek word for contamination) it must, by law, be buried outside the city walls so as not to contaminate the inhabitants.

In ancient Greece burial within a settlement was extremely rare after the 8th century B.C.

Anyone who had been in contact with the corpse must not have any interaction with anyone outside the home until it had undergone purification, this applied especially to priests who had been in the presence of a corpse, to avoid them infecting the gods.

At the burial site the body, or the cremated ashes, stored in an urn, would be placed in the grave along with gifts such as pottery, the commonest gift (which is why so many Greek vases have survived intact), jewellery and coins, which were believed to have been of use to the deceased in the Underworld.

Stele (plural- stelai): Tomb stones

The ancient Greeks marked graves with stele (plural: stelai), slim stone slabs similar to modern day tombstones, usually carved with an image; these are the oldest example of funerary art in ancient Greece; the earliest stelai , excavated at Mycenae, date back to the 16th century BC.

As time passed, the stelai became larger, some being as tall as two metres and much more elaborate, so much so that in around 490 BC, a law was passed in Athens, banning extravagant stelai.

Kouros : Commemorative statues

Commemorative statues, with details of the deceased engraved on the base, called kouros, meaning young man, became popular in ancient Greece in the Archaic Period (c. 700-480 BC).

The female equivalent; kourai, dressed in flowing robes, as nude women were not considered appropriate during the Archaic Period, appeared later.

After all three funeral rites were completed, the mourners returned home, where the women would prepare a funeral feast.

On the third, ninth and 30th days after the funeral, family members visited the grave to leave flowers or cakes; this specific tradition is still followed today by the Greek Orthodox Church.

Lamellae: Passports to Paradise

If you thought passports were a thing of the modern world, think again, the ancient Greeks were way ahead; they actually used passports, made of gold, to ensure entry into paradise, Elysium as it was called back then.

These "passports to the afterlife", small sheets of thin gold, called lamellae in Latin, dating back to the fourth and third centuries BC, inscribed with the holder's identity and good qualities, along with instructions of how to conduct yourself once you had gained entry, were buried along with the deceased.

Around thirty to forty of these lamellae have been discovered at gravesites from the island of Crete, to the mainland region of Thessaly in northern Greece and Magna Graecia; a region of coastal Southern Italy colonized by the Ancient Greeks.

Once the three-stage ritual burial was completed and you had your passport, you were ready to travel!

Journey to the Underworld

The Ancient Greeks believed that when your time on Earth, which had been alloted to you by the goddesses of fate; the moirai, came to an end,Thanatos, the personification of death, reached down, seconds before you died and with his sword, lopped off a lock of your hair as an offering for Hades, king of the Underworld.

Then he took your soul.

Could the ancient Greek angel of death be what we now call Old Father Time or the Grim Reaper?

After a visit from Thanatos, you were now ready to embark upon your journey to the afterlife and the Underworld was your destination.

Invisible to the living, the Underworld was named after the god of Hades, who ruled over his kingdom, along with his wife, Persephone, Queen of the dead.

Hermes Psychopompos: Herdsman of souls.

After death, Hermes, messenger of the gods, accompanied you to the first stop on your journey; the riverbank, where a boat was awaiting to carry you to the Underworld.

Hermes is not generally connected with the Underworld in Greek mythology, he did not live there he only led the souls of the dead to their destination, in this sense, he was known as Hermes Psychopompos; Herdsman of souls.

Crossing the River:

Who Pays the Ferryman?

Upon reaching the river bank, Charon, the ferryman, after being paid in advance, then took over from Hermes and rowed you across the river.

Upon reaching the other side you were faced with Cerberus (Kerberos); the three-headed Hound of Hades, who guarded the Underworld, whose job it was to prevent people from leaving and returning to the world of the living.

There were six main rivers in the Underworld, each with a name resonating with the various emotions which surround death.

The Six Rivers of the Underworld

The Styx: the river of hatred, the most well-known of the six rivers

The Acheron: the river of pain

The Lethe: the river of forgetfulness, named after Lethe; goddess of forgetfulness and oblivion

The Phlegethon, the river of fire, leading to the depths of Tartarus

The Cocytus: the river of wailing, which flows into the Acheron

Oceanus: the river that encircles the world

The Asphodel Fields

Once safely over the river you would walk across the Asphodel Fields, an endless stretch of fields covered with grey and ghostly asphodel flowers, where all memories of your former life were deleted, before coming to a fork in the road, where the three judges of the dead awaited you:

The judges were; Rhadamanthus; Lord of Elysium and judge of the men of Asia, Aeacus; guardian of the Keys of the underworld and judge of the men of Europe and Minos; the judge who had the final vote.

These three judges would then decide your fate; good people carried on towards Elysium, the land of milk and honey, however, if you had been bad boy (or girl) and upset the gods, you were sent to Tartarus, a terrible place, deep in the bowls of the Earth, where you would receive appropriate punishment.

If you were a borderline case and the judges couldn't make up their minds, there was the possibility of being sent back to the Asphodel Fields.

Life in the Underworld

You entered the Greek Underworld exactly as you had left the world above, therefore, warriors who experienced gruesome deaths in battle, remained eternally blood-spattered and those who had died a peaceful death, remained at peace: as above, so below!

You didn't age, in fact your looks, your height and your weight were exactly as they were in life.

Afterlife in the Underworld was actually rather mundane, all social statuses and political positions were removed and no one was able to use their previous lives to their advantage.

Maybe the most well-known inhabitant of the Underworld was the mythical Sisyphus, the greedy and conniving king and founder of Ephyra (now known as Corinth in the Peloponnese), who ruled with an iron-fist.

The deceitful ways of Sisyphus greatly angered Zeus, king of all Greek gods, who banished him to Tartarus, the place in the Underword where all bad people end up; once there, Hades forced him to roll a huge boulder up a hill only for it to roll down every time it neared the top, condemning Sisyphus to a life of eternal useless efforts and frustration.

Don't leave home without your passport

Next time you leave home, don't forget to take your golden passport with you, you never know, accidents can happen in the blink of an eye; be prepared, you don't want to end up in godforsaken Tartarus!

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Death and Afterlife in Ancient Greece - Greeker than the Greeks

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The ancient Greeks believed that existence does not end with death; there is no death, only a transition from one state of being to another; every human died only to live again on another level of existence. This concept is more or less the foundation of the Eleusinian Mysteries.

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A shared language, religion, and culture

Ancient Greece can feel strangely familiar. From the exploits of Achilles and Odysseus , to the treatises of Aristotle, from the exacting measurements of the Parthenon (image above) to the rhythmic chaos of the (image below), ancient Greek culture has shaped our world. Thanks largely to notable archaeological sites, well-known literary sources, and the impact of Hollywood ( Clash of the Titans, for example), this civilization is embedded in our collective consciousness-prompting visions of epic battles, erudite philosophers, gleaming white temples, and limbless nudes (we now know the sculptures-even the ones that decorated temples like the Parthenon-were brightly painted, and, of course, the fact that the figures are often missing limbs is the result of the ravages of time).

Dispersed around the Mediterranean and divided into self-governing units called poleis or city-states, the ancient Greeks were united by a shared language, religion, and culture. Strengthening these bonds further were the so-called "Panhellenic" sanctuaries and festivals that embraced "all Greeks" and encouraged interaction, competition, and exchange (for example the Olympics, which were held at the Panhellenic sanctuary at Olympia). Although popular modern understanding of the ancient Greek world is based on the classical art of fifth century B.C.E. Athens, it is important to recognize that Greek civilization was vast and did not develop overnight.

The Dark Ages (c. 1100 - c. 800 B.C.E.) to the Orientalizing Period (c. 700 - 600 B.C.E.)

Following the collapse of the Mycenaean citadels of the late Bronze Age, the Greek mainland was traditionally thought to enter a "Dark Age" that lasted from c. 1100 until c. 800 B.C.E. Not only did the complex socio-cultural system of the Mycenaeans disappear, but also its numerous achievements (i.e., metalworking, large-scale construction, writing). The discovery and continuous excavation of a site known as Lefkandi, however, drastically alters this impression. Located just north of Athens, Lefkandi has yielded an immense apsidal structure (almost fifty meters long), a massive network of graves, and two heroic burials replete with gold objects and valuable horse sacrifices. One of the most interesting artifacts, ritually buried in two separate graves, is a centaur figurine (see photos below). At fourteen inches high, the terracotta creature is composed of a equine (horse) torso made on a potter's wheel and hand-formed human limbs and features. Alluding to mythology and perhaps a particular story, this centaur embodies the cultural richness of this period.

Similar in its adoption of narrative elements is a vase-painting likely from Thebes dating to c. 730 B.C.E. (see image below). Fully ensconced in the Geometric Period (c. 800-700 B.C.E.), the imagery on the vase reflects other eighth-century artifacts, such as the Dipylon Amphora, with its geometric patterning and silhouetted human forms. Though simplistic, the overall scene on this vase seems to record a story. A man and woman stand beside a ship outfitted with tiers of rowers. Grasping at the stern and lifting one leg into the hull, the man turns back towards the female and takes her by the wrist. Is the couple Theseus and Ariadne? Is this an abduction? Perhaps Paris and Helen? Or, is the man bidding farewell to the woman and embarking on a journey as had Odysseus and Penelope? The answer is unattainable.

In the Orientalizing Period (700-600 B.C.E.), alongside Near Eastern motifs and animal processions, craftsmen produced more nuanced figural forms and intelligible illustrations. For example, terracotta painted plaques from the Temple of Apollo at Thermon (c. 625 B.C.E.) are some of the earliest evidence for architectural decoration in Iron Age Greece. Once ornamenting the surface of this Doric temple (most likely as metopes), the extant panels have preserved various imagery (watch this video to learn about the Doric order). On one plaque (see image below), a male youth strides towards the right and carries a significant attribute under his right arm-the severed head of the Gorgon Medusa (her face is visible between the right hand and right hip of the striding figure). Not only is the painter successful here in relaying a particular story, but also the figure of Perseus shows great advancement from the previous century. The limbs are fleshy, the facial features are recognizable, and the hat and winged boots appropriately equip the hero for fast travel.

The Archaic Period (c. 600-480/479 B.C.E.)

While Greek artisans continued to develop their individual crafts, storytelling ability, and more realistic portrayals of human figures throughout the Archaic Period, the city of Athens witnessed the rise and fall of tyrants and the introduction of democracy by the statesman Kleisthenes in the years 508 and 507 B.C.E.

Visually, the period is known for large-scale marble kouros (male youth) and kore (female youth) sculptures (see below). Showing the influence of ancient Egyptian sculpture (like this example of the Pharaoh Menkaure and his wife in the MFA, Boston), the kouros stands rigidly with both arms extended at the side and one leg advanced. Frequently employed as grave markers, these sculptural types displayed unabashed nudity, highlighting their complicated hairstyles and abstracted musculature (below left). The kore, on the other hand, was never nude. Not only was her form draped in layers of fabric, but she was also ornamented with jewelry and adorned with a crown. Though some have been discovered in funerary contexts, like Phrasiklea (below right), a vast majority were found on the Acropolis in Athens (for the Acropolis korai, click here). Ritualistically buried following desecration of this sanctuary by the Persians in 480 and 479 B.C.E., dozens of korai were unearthed alongside other dedicatory artifacts. While the identities of these figures have been hotly debated in recent times, most agree that they were originally intended as votive offerings to the goddess Athena.

The Classical Period (480/479-323 B.C.E.)

Though experimentation in realistic movement began before the end of the Archaic Period, it was not until the Classical Period that two- and three-dimensional forms achieved proportions and postures that were naturalistic. The "Early Classical Period" (480/479 - 450 B.C.E., also known as the "Severe Style") was a period of transition when some sculptural work displayed archaizing holdovers. As can be seen in the For painters, the development of perspective and multiple ground lines enriched compositions, as can be seen on the Kritios Boy, c. 480 B.C.E., the "Severe Style" features realistic anatomy, serious expressions, pouty lips, and thick eyelids. Niobid Painter's vase in the Louvre (image below).

During the "High Classical Period" (450-400 B.C.E.), there was great artistic success: from the innovative structures on the Acropolis to Polykleitos' visual and cerebral manifestation of idealization in his sculpture of a young man holding a spear, the Doryphoros or "Canon" (image below). Concurrently, however, Athens, Sparta, and their mutual allies were embroiled in the Peloponnesian War, a bitter conflict that lasted for several decades and ended in 404 B.C.E. Despite continued military activity throughout the "Late Classical Period" (400-323 B.C.E.), artistic production and development continued apace. In addition to a new figural aesthetic in the fourth century known for its longer torsos and limbs, and smaller heads (for example, the Apoxyomenos), the first female nude was produced. Known as the Aphrodite of Knidos, c. 350 B.C.E., the sculpture pivots at the shoulders and hips into an S-Curve and stands with her right hand over her genitals in a pudica (or modest Venus) pose (see a Roman copy in the Capitoline Museum in Rome here). Exhibited in a circular temple and visible from all sides, the Aphrodite of Knidos became one of the most celebrated sculptures in all of antiquity.

The Hellenistic Period and Beyond (323 B.C.E. - 31 B.C.E.)

Following the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C.E., the Greeks and their influence stretched as far east as modern India. While some pieces intentionally mimicked the Classical style of the previous period such as Eutychides' Tyche of Antioche (Louvre), other artists were more interested in capturing motion and emotion. For example, on the Great Altar of Zeus from Pergamon (below) expressions of agony and a confused mass of limbs convey a newfound interest in drama.

Architecturally, the scale of structures vastly increased, as can be seen with the Temple of Apollo at Didyma, and some complexes even terraced their surrounding landscape in order to create spectacular vistas as can be seem at the Sanctuary of Asklepios on Kos. Upon the defeat of Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 B.C.E., the Ptolemaic dynasty that ruled Egypt and, simultaneously, the Hellenistic Period came to a close. With the Roman admiration of and predilection for Greek art and culture, however, Classical aesthetics and teachings continued to endure from antiquity to the modern era.
Additional resources: The Art of classical Greece from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History Greek Art in the Archaic Period on the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History Art of the Hellenistic Age and the Hellenistic Tradition on the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Richard T. Neer, Greek Art and Archaeology: A New History, c. 2500-c. 150 B.C.E. (Thames and Hudson, 2011)

Robin Osborne, Archaic and Classical Greek Art (Oxford University Press, 1988)

John G. Pedley, Greek Art and Archaeology (Pearson, 2011)

J.J. Pollitt, Art and Experience in Classical Greece (Cambridge University Press, 1972)

Nigel Jonathan Spivey, Greek Art (Phaeton Press, 1997)

Smarthistory images for teaching and learning:

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Ancient Greece can feel strangely familiar. From the exploits of Achilles and Odysseus , to the treatises of Aristotle, from the exacting measurements of the Parthenon (image above) to the rhythmic chaos of the (image below), ancient Greek culture has shaped our world.

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For the last few years, I have been a regular member of the panel of experts on AskHistorians, one of the largest public history platforms on the Internet. People ask questions about my area of expertise, and I answer them.

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The story of the long conflict between Sparta and Athens in the fourth century BCE is considered one of the foundational narratives of European civilisation - but it also contains multiple problems.

Prime among these, a new study argues, is the combustibility of dead soldiers.

The main source of information on the conflict is the History of the Peloponnesian War written by the Athenian historian and general Thucydides (460-400 BCE).

The book is held to be one of the fundamental texts in the development of the discipline of history - a key exercise in objective reporting, a description of cause-and-effect without resorting supernatural explanations.

As early as 1929, historian Charles Norris Cochrane called the writer the father of "scientific history".

It's a wonderful soubriquet, except, says ancient historian Owen Rees from the UK's Manchester Metropolitan University, it isn't true - at least when it comes to Thucydides' detailed, and famous, description of how the Athenians dealt with their war dead.

In a painstaking recreation of the physics and fuel loads of ancient pyres, Rees concludes that the historian's portrayal of the valiant war dead - their bodies retrieved, sorted according to membership of 10 tribes, left in state for three days, and then burned before being placed in massive communal tribal coffins and carried back to the city to be displayed before a ceremonial burial - is significantly flawed, and may indeed be dead wrong.

"Numerous questions have arisen that not only challenge our own assumptions, but also the distinct narrative given to us by Thucydides," he writes in a paper published in the Journal of Ancient History.

At issue, essentially, are the nuts and bolts of cremating large numbers of dead people - possibly stripped of clothing, unidentifiable, and rotting - in a pre-industrial war zone. According to Rees, the historian's descriptions simply don't hold water. Or, more pertinently, ash.

"If the remains of the dead were buried by tribe, does this mean that they were cremated by tribe?" he asks.

"If the remains were sent to Athens directly after battle, where were they kept in the interim period before the winter funeral? What state were the remains in, and how would this affect their semi-public display?"

Collecting the fallen after a battle cannot have been a pleasant task, but it was an important one. The Athenians held it to be a matter of honour that the dead were returned to their families.

This is demonstrated by Thucydides in his description of the battle of Solygeia in 425 BCE, when the Athenians lost fewer than 50 soldiers and were greatly perturbed because they had to leave two corpses on the battlefield.

And that, Rees points out, was a victory. What of other battles, ones that they lost, with nominated death tolls of 400, 600, or 1000?

"To exacerbate the issue further, battles with a higher loss of men commonly followed a defeat," he writes, "after which the Athenians would have had their dead returned to them naked, and possibly in a decaying state, depending on the time delay between battle and their collection."

Nevertheless, wrote Thucydides, the deceased were identified, laid in tents and honoured for two days, carefully packaged up according to affiliation, and then carried to their fiery end.

"On the day of the funeral procession coffins of cypress wood are carried out on wagons, one coffin for each tribe, with each man's bones in his own tribe's coffin," he wrote, adding later that the Athenians "took up their own dead and placed them on a pyre, then spent the night where they were".

Rees is quick to point out the obvious. If there were 10 tribes, why is there a reference to only one pyre? Were the tribes combined again in the fire? In which case, how on earth were the remains sorted again into their divisions once the flames died down? Or were the groups burned sequentially, one after the other?

Both possibilities seem absurd. In the first instance, burnt bodies are indistinguishable.

And as for burning sequentially, Rees opted for some real-world morbid research to test the proposition.

An ancient, open-air pyre, he discovered, was actually capable of reaching the 800-degree-Celsius minimum operating temperature of a modern cremator, but maintaining it for any length of time would have been impossible.

"The central area will be immensely hotter than the peripheries, while the wind and rain will affect the temperature and its distribution," he writes.

The body, or bodies, would thus burn unevenly, a situation exacerbated by dripping fat. Quite possibly, too, the weight of the corpses on top of the burning wood could, after a time, cause the pyre itself to collapse, smothering the flames and halting the process.

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Using modern estimates, Rees suggests that burning a single body would require between 500 and 600 kilograms of wood.

There are no firm models for burning multiple corpses. However, an American report from 1836, after the battle of the Alamo, details the cremation of 200 dead Mexicans. The pyre stood around three metres high and had to be doused in grease to provide an accelerant.

Constantly refuelled with new wood and fresh grease, the flames of the Alamo burned for two days and two nights. Sourcing the wood alone took a platoon of soldiers a full seven hours.

As an alternative, and equally partial, model, Rees also turns to Australian government advice for incinerating cattle following an outbreak of foot and mouth disease.

"One Australian report suggests that 1.5 tonnes of dry wood is required to burn a cow," he reports, adding that the figure assumed a healthy dose of diesel had been added to help matters along.

The Australian figures, however, at least provide some sense of scale. When multiple cow corpses are burned simultaneously, the amount of wood required per animal drops to around 400 kilograms.

Armed with these numbers, Rees returns to a Thucydides example in which the Athenians used a single pyre to cremate 50 fallen soldiers.

"The 50 bodies would have required [about] 20 tonnes of wood to cremate them effectively," he writes.

"Considering that this only accounts for a single pyre, and the disposal of only 50 men," he continues, "this is a remarkable amount of a finite resource and raises an unanswerable question: where did they get all of that expendable wood from?"

It's a good question, but also one, he notes, that rests on a false assumption: that the pyres worked with modern-day efficiency and reduced the bodies to manageable and sterile piles of ash.

The Athenians should have been so lucky.

While some other sources use a Greek word meaning "ash" to describe the remains of the soldiers transported back to Athens, Thucydides chose a different term, one better translates as "bones".

Eyewitnesses to the mass burning at the Alamo reported that even after 48 hours of cremation, charred body parts were still identifiable. It is reasonable to assume, thus, that what the living soldiers carried back to their home city was not ash, but more a sort of post mortem organic muesli.

Rees estimates that on a basic body count contained in Thucydides for the whole of the war, the total remnants carried back for honour and temporary above-ground storage amounted to 19,500 litres of gunk - he prefers the neologism "cremains" - weighing around four tonnes.

Storing such large amounts of bodily ruins until interment could be arranged, Rees points out, was certainly not impossible, "but a matter of sensibilities".

"The prolonged storage of ... unburied cremains is hard to reconcile with the elaborate honours that the war dead were to be given later in the year," he notes.

And on the matter of those honours, a ceremony known as the patrios nomos, he remarks that "if these were cremains, that is partially burned remains of flesh and bone, it becomes inconceivable that the Athenians laid them out for the families to see".

All up, notes Rees, the testimony of the father of scientific history is suspect. The logistics of death, cremation and repatriation challenge the validity of Thucydides' reporting.

Of course, this comes as no surprise to classicists, who have long acknowledged that the great Greek author often presented his findings in the form of a confusing word salad.

The well-known British classical scholar Mary Beard, in one of the pieces included in her collection Confronting the Classics, makes the point that Thucydides wrote in "almost impossibly difficult Greek".

His work, she continues, "is sometimes made almost incomprehensible by neologisms, awkward abstractions, and linguistic idiosyncrasies of all kinds".

Rees agrees, although he notes that the passages describing the treatment of war dead are among the least contentious in the History of the Peloponnesian War.

"Is Thucydides creating a false image of the event?" he says to Cosmos.

"Are we just misunderstanding what he is describing? Our former models of this process are predominantly based on logical suppositions, yet some parts of it do not come from the original words of Thucydides, but from our own projections of Athenian democratic values; ancient Greek rituals for their dead; the way modern commentators want to talk about the dead; and a tendency to avoid discussing the macabre elements of this process."

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The story of the long conflict between Sparta and Athens in the fourth century BCE is considered one of the foundational narratives of European civilisation - but it also contains multiple problems. Prime among these, a new study argues, is the combustibility of dead soldiers.

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First Viking boat burial found on UK mainland reveals mystery occupant was a high-status warrior

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The burial found in Western Scotland is one of the few ever discovered and documented outside Scandinavia.

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Laws of the Kings, 753 - 510 B.C.

Forward
The history of early Rome and its seven kings is largely legendary, but the Romans of classical times had certain customs and institutions inherited from their remote past. To provide a sanction for these, they ascribed them to their traditional kings ...Romulus and his six successors. It was believed that a certain Sextus (or Publius) Papirius, a contemporary of Tarquin the Proud, the last king, had committed these laws to writing. Papirius is entitled to the same uncertain standing in scientific history as the traditional seven kings; but there is no question that oral tradition preserved many rules and customs, which antiquarians and historians have recorded for posterity. Bruns, Girard, and Riccobono have made collections of these laws, of which Girard's Textes is the smallest. Riccobono's text, as found in FIRA, has been taken for this translation, which reproduces its marks of omission.
LAWS OF THE KINGS, 753 - 510 B.C.

I. Romulus (753 - 716 B.C.)

1. After Romulus had distinguished the persons of higher rank from those of inferior condition, then he passed laws and apportioned the duties for each to do: the patricians to be priests and magistrates and judges; the plebeians to be farmers, cattle breeders, and artisans of gainful trades. ... He entrusted and gave the plebeians to the patricians by permitting each plebeian ... to choose for his patron the patrician whom he wished ... and by calling this protection patronage.

2. The following regulations in regard to patronage were determined then by him: the patricians were required to interpret the law for their own clients; ... to bring suit on behalf of clients when wronged; ... and to support them in the action; ... the clients were required to contribute to the dowry of their patrons... daughters, when they were given in marriage and their parents were impoverished; ... to pay ransom to the enemy, if their patrons or their children became prisoners of war; to discharge the obligation from their own resources, if their patron was condemned in a private suit or incurred a monetary penalty in a public suit.... In common to both it was neither holy nor lawful to bring suit, to testify, or to cast a vote the one against the other. ... He who was convicted of doing any of these things was held by the law of treason, which Romulus enacted, so that it was lawful for anyone to slay the person convicted of this crime, as a sacrifice to the god of the underworld.

3. After Romulus had regulated these matters, he immediately resolved to appoint senators, with whom he would administer public affairs, and he chose 100 men from the patricians. ... When he had determined these regulations, he distinguished the ... powers which he wished each class to have. For the king he chose the following prerogatives: first, to have the chief authority in rites and sacrifices, ... then, to maintain the guardianship of the laws and the national customs, ... to judge in person the greatest crimes, but to leave the lesser crimes to the senators, ... to summon the Senate and to convoke the Assembly, to have absolute command in war. To the council of the Senate ... he assigned the following authority: to decide and to vote on whatever matter the king introduced. ... To the common people he granted these three things: to elect the magistrates and to ratify the laws and to decide on war whenever the king permitted ... The people did not vote all together, but they were convoked by curias.

4. Romulus compelled the citizens ... to rear every male child and the first-born of the females, and be forbade them to put to death any child under three years of are, unless it was a cripple or a monster from birth. He did not prevent the parents from exposing such children, provided that they had displayed them first to their five nearest neighbors and had secured their approval. For those who disobeyed the law he prescribed the confiscation of half of their property as well as other penalties.

5. To many persons he assigned administration of divine worship; ... he ordained by law that from each curia two men over fifty years old should be appointed; ... and he ordered that these men should have these honors no for any determined period, but for all their life, freed from military service because of their age and from municipal duties because of the law. ... He ordained by law that all priests. ... should be appointed by the curias and that they should be confirmed by the persons who interpret divine matters by divination.

6. By the enactment of a single ... law ... Romulus brought the women to great prudence and orderly conduct ... The law was as follows: A woman united with her husband by a sacred marriage shall share in all his possessions and in his sacred rites.

7. The cognates sitting in judgment with the husband ... were given power to pass sentence in cases of adultery and ... if any wife was found drinking wine Romulus allowed the death penalty for both crimes.

8. The lawgiver of the Romans gave the father absolute power over his son throughout his whole lifetime, whether for imprisonment, for flogging, for keeping in bonds for labor in the fields, or for putting to death ... He also allowed the father to sell his son ... and he permitted the father to make profit from his son until the third sale. ... After the third sale the son was released from the father's power.

9. He also made certain laws, one of which is severe, namely, that which does not permit a wife to divorce her husband, but gives him power to divorce her for the used drugs or magic on account of children or for counterfeiting the keys or for adultery. The law ordered that if he should divorce her for any other cause part of his estate should go to the wife and that part should be dedicated to Ceres. Anyone who sold his wife was sacrificed to the gods of the underworld.

10. It is strange, ... when he established no penalty against patricides, that he called all homicide patricide.

11. If a daughter-in-law strikes her father-in-law she shall be dedicated as a sacrifice to his ancestral deities.

12. This extent of the year was ordained by Romulus, who . . . determined that the year must be of ten months, but of 304 days, and so arranged the months that, of these, four should have thirty-one days, but six should have thirty days.

13. It is reported variously when ... was the first intercalation. Licinius Macer, indeed, assigns to Romulus the origin of this practice.

II. Numa Pompilius (716 - 673 B.C.)

1. Numa ordered that fish which have no scales, except the scar, should not be offered to the gods.

2. When spoils of the first class are captured by a general with a citizen army under his auspices, he shall sacrifice an ox to Jupiter Feretrius. To the captor 300 pounds of bronze shall properly be given. In spoils of the second dais the captor shall sacrifice a boar, a ram, and an ox. full grown or sucklings, as he chooses, on the Altar of Mars in the Campus Martius. The captor shall receive 200 pounds of bronze. For spoils of the third class he shall sacrifice a ram to Janus Quirinus. The captor shall receive 100 pounds of bronze. The commanding general shall make propitiatory sacrifice to the gods.

3. From Numa's ... laws, in which this also has been written: if a father allows his son to marry a wife who legally will have a share in his religious rites and his prophet the father no longer shall have the right to sell his son.

4. Having embraced . . . all his legislation about religious matters in writing, he divided it into eight parts, as many as were the classes of priests.

5. Legislation about the boundaries of landed property: Having ordered each one to draw a line around his own landed property and to set stones on the boundaries, he consecrated the stones to Jupiter Terminus. . . . But he ordained by law that if anyone destroyed or displaced the boundaries the person who had done this should be dedicated as a sacrifice to the god.

6. He made holidays and business days, because at some time or other it would be profitable that nothing should be discussed in the popular Assembly.

7. One shall not sprinkle the funeral pyre with wine.

8. He ordained it an act of impiety to make libations to the gods with wine from unpruned vines.

9.On the vestal virgins he conferred high honors, among which was the right of making a will while their fathers lived and of doing all other juristic acts without a guardian.

10. He determined that the time allotted for mourning should be according to certain ages and times. For example, mourning for a child under three years of age was forbidden; for an older child a month of morning was allowed for every year of his age until ten years, but no longer, for ten months was the limit of the period of longest mourning for anyone. And for this period the widows of the deceased remain unmarried. If a widow had remarried earlier, she sacrificed a cow in calf according to his law.

11. Of his other political institutions, the distribution of the populace according to crafts is particularly admired ... This was the distribution according to crafts: flutists, goldsmiths, carpenters, dyers, cobblers, leatherworkers, coppersmiths, potters. The remaining crafts he combined in one and from all these he produced one composite group, assigning associations and assemblies and religious worships appropriate to each class, etc.

12. A royal law forbids the burial of a pregnant woman before the child is extracted from the womb. Whoever violates this law is deemed to have destroyed the child...s expectancy of life along with the mother.

13. A concubine shall not touch the Altar of Juno. If she touches it she shall sacrifice, with her hair unbound, a ewe lamb to Juno.

14. If a thunderbolt kills a man one shall not lift the body above the knees. If a man is killed by a thunderbolt the proper burial ritual shall not be performed.

15. If anyone acts contrary to this law he shall be dedicated as a sacrifice to Jupiter.

16. If anyone with malice aforethought slays a free man he shall be guilty of parricide.

17. In Numa...s laws it is provided that if anyone kills another accidentally he shall offer a ram for the life of the slain man to his agnates in the presence of the assembled people.

18. Numa added fifty days, ... so that the year was extended to 354 days, within which he believed that the moon's twelve courses were completed. And to these fifty added by him he annexed six others, drawn from those six months that had thirty days, ... and the fifty-six days thus created he divided in an equal way into two new months: and .. . the former he named January and willed it to be the first of the year, ... the latter he dedicated to the god Februus. ... A little later Numa added a day, which he gave to January ... in honor of an unequal number. Therefore, January, April, June, Sextilis, September, November, December were reckoned with twenty-nine days; ... but March, May, Quintilis, and October had thirty days each, but February retained twenty-eight days.

19. This also was established by Numa: that priests should have their hair cut with bronze, but not with iron, shears.

20. Numa Pompilius ordained that if anyone plowed up a boundary stone both he and his oxen should be dedicated as a sacrifice to the gods.

III. Tullus Hostilius (673 - 640 B.C.)

1. He established the law by which wars should be declared. And this law ... he consecrated by fetial religious rite, so that every war which had not been announced and dedared should be adjudged unjust and impious.

2.There is a law, ... which is still in effect, enacted because of that event, ... ordering that if triplets are born they shall be maintained at public expense until puberty.

3.For his comrades and the accomplices of his treachery the king established courts and executed those of them convicted according to the law concerning deserters and traitors.

4.The king ... said: ...According to the law I create duumvirs to judge treason in the case of Horatius. ... The law was in a dreadful formula: ...The duumvirs shall judge treason. If the accused appeals from the duumvirs he shall prosecute his case by appeal; if they win, the lictor shall veil the head of the accused, shall hang him by a rope on a barren tree, shall scourge him either within the pomerium or outside the pomerium.

5.Claudius added that the rites and the expiations in accordance with the laws of King Tullus ... should be administered by the pontiffs.

IV. Ancus Marcius (640 - 616 B.C.)

1.Since Numa had instituted religious rites in peace, that religious ceremonies relating to war might be established by him and that wars not only should be waged, but also should be declared by some ritual, he copied from the ancient tribe of the Aequiculi the law, which now the fetials have, by which satisfaction is sought.

V.Lucius Tarquinius Priscus (616 - 578 B.C.)

1.Tarquin, ... when he enacted a law about his own power, first doubled. . the original number of senators, and called the old senators ... of the greater families, ... and these he asked their opinion first, and called those added by him ... of the lesser families....

2.The envoys ... were present ... bringing ... the symbols of sovereignty, with which they used to decorate their own kings, carrying a gold crown and an ivory throne and a scepter having an eagle on the tip and a purple tunic rnarked with gold and an embroidered purple robe. These honors Tarquin did not use immediately on receiving them, as most of the Roman writers relate, but, after allowing to the Senate and to the people the decision whether these things should be accepted, he then adopted them when all had so wished.

VI. Servius Tullius (578 - 5 34 B.C.)

1.He sanctioned laws by the curias on contracts and on delicts these laws were about fifty in number.

2.For a person who had not registered himself he set the penalty that he should be deprived of his property and, after having been scourged, should be sold into slavery.

3.Tullius permitted. . . freed slaves to share equality of civil rights. For, having ordered them along with all other freemen to register their properties, he distributed them among the four tribes in the city. ... And he allowed them to share all the privileges common to the other plebeians.

4.He separated public from private lawsuits and himself ma the examinations of the crimes relating to the public, but appointed private persons to be judges of private lawsuits and for them ordained norms and rules, which he himself had written as laws.

5.He instituted ... the census ... and distinguished classes and centuries ... and rank in accordance with the census.

6.If a son beats his father but the latter cries aloud the son shall be dedicated as a sacrifice to his ancestral deities.

VII. Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (534 - 510 B.C.)

1.He abolished all ... the laws written by Tullius, according to which ... the people were not injured, as previously, by the patricians in their contracts. He did not leave even the tablets on which these laws had been written, but he also ordered them to be removed from the Forum and he destroyed them

.

VIII. The Black Stone 48

This very ancient inscription found in the Roman Forum near the reputed grave of Romulus is in a poor state of preservation. Written in archaic letters and still unintelligible, it may be a boundary stone marking the limits of some sacred precinct or it may contain some laws of a very early period.

Source:
Ancient Roman statutes : translation, with introduction, commentary, glossary, and index
by Allan Chester Johnson, Paul Robinson Coleman-Norton, Frank Card Bourne ; general editor, Clyde Pharr
Austin : University of Texas Press, 1961

Used with the Permission of the University of Texas Press.

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The Avalon Project : Laws of the Kings, 753 - 510 B.C.

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Laws of the Kings, 753 - 510 B.C. The history of early Rome and its seven kings is largely legendary, but the Romans of classical times had certain customs and institutions inherited from their remote past. To provide a sanction for these, they ascribed them to their traditional kings ...Romulus and his six successors.

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Precedence among Roman priests belonged to the rex sacrorum ("king of the sacred rites"), who, after the expulsion of the kings, took over the residue of their religious powers and duties that had not been assumed by the Republican officers of state. Nevertheless, the hold exercised by the rex sacrorum and his colleagues was weakened by the Law of the Twelve Tables ( c. 451-450 bc), which displayed the secular arm exercising some control over sacral law. As late as c. 275 bc the religious calendar was still dated by the rex sacrorum but by this time he was already fading into the background.

Very early origins can also be attributed to some of the the priests of certain specific cults, and particularly to the three major flamines of Jupiter, Mars, and Quirinus. Jupiter's priest, the flamen dialis, was encompassed by an extraordinary series of taboos, some dating to the Bronze Age, which made it difficult to fill the office in historic times.

Except for the rex sacrorum and flamen dialis, whose duties were unusually professional and technical, almost all Roman priesthoods were held by men prominent in public life. The social distinction and political prestige carried by these part-time posts caused them to be keenly fought for.

There were four chief colleges, or boards, of priests: the pontifices, augures, quindecimviri sacris faciundis, and epulones. Originally three, and finally 16 in number, the pontifices (whose name may recall antique tasks and magic rites in connection with bridges) had assumed control of the religious system by the 3rd century bc. The chief priest, the pontifex maximus (the head of the state clergy), was an elected official and not chosen from the existing pontifices. The whose name may have been derived from the practice of magic in fertility rites and perhaps meant "increasers," had the task of discovering whether or not the gods approved of an action. This they performed mainly by interpreting divine signs in the movements of birds ( auspicia). Such divination was elevated, perhaps under Etruscan influence, into an indispensable preliminary to state acts, though the responsibility for the decision rested not with the priests but with the presiding state officials, who were said to "possess the auspices." In private life too, even as late as Cicero and Horace in the 1st century bc, important courses of action were often preceded by consultation of the heavens. The Etruscan method of divining from the liver and entrails of animals (haruspicina) became popular in the Second Punic War, though its practitioners (who numbered 60 under the empire) never attained an official priesthood.

Of the other two major colleges, the quindecimviri ("Board of Fifteen," who earlier had been 10 in number) sacris faciundis looked after foreign rites, and the members of the other body, the epulones, supervised religious feasts. There were also priestly officials who were concerned with various aspects of international relationships, such as treaties and declarations of war. Also six Vestal Virgins, chosen as young girls from the old patrician families, tended the shrine and fire of Vesta and lived in the House of Vestals nearby, amid a formidable array of prehistoric taboos.

Shrines and temples

The Roman calendar, as introduced or modified in the period of the Etruscan kings, contained 58 regular festivals. These included 45 Feriae Publicae, celebrated on the same fixed day every year, as well as the Ides of each month, which were sacred to Jupiter, and the Kalends of March, which belonged to Mars. Famous examples of Feriae Publicae were the Lupercalia (February 15) and Saturnalia (December 17, later extended). There were also the Feriae Conceptivae, the dates of which were fixed each year by the proper authority, and which included the Feriae Latinae ("Latin Festival") celebrated in the Alban Hills, usually at the end of April.

Templum is a term derived from Etruscan divination. First of all, it meant an area of the sky defined by the priest for his collection and interpretation of the omens. Later, by a projection of this area onto the earth, it came to signify a piece of ground set aside and consecrated to the gods. At first such areas did not contain sacred buildings, but there often were altars on such sites, and later shrines. In Rome, temples have been identified from c. 575 bc onward, including not only the round shrine of Vesta but also a group in a sacred area (S. Omobono), close to the river Tiber beside the cattle market (Forum Boarium). The great Etruscan temples, made of wood with terra-cotta ornaments, were constructed later and culminated in the temple of the Capitoline Triad. Subsequently, more solid materials, such as tuff (tufa), travertine, marble, cement, and brick, gradually came into use. Temple archives, now vanished, play a large part in the historical tradition, and the anniversaries of the vows to build the temples and their dedication were scrupulously remembered and celebrated on numerous coins.

The characteristic offering of the Romans was a sacrifice accompanied by a prayer or vow. (The Triumph, associated with Jupiter, was regarded as a thanksgiving in discharge of a vow.) Animal sacrifices were regarded as more effective than anything else, the pig being the commonest victim, with sheep and ox added on important occasions. Considered best of all were the basic elements of life: heart, liver, and kidneys. Human sacrifice, on the whole, was extraneous to Roman custom, though its practice among the Etruscans may have contributed to the institution of gladiatorial funeral games in both Etruria and Rome, and it was resorted to in major crises, notably during the Second Punic War (216 bc). Earlier in the century, and perhaps once before, a member of the family of the Decii had given up his life by self-sacrifice ( devotio) in a critical battle.

Although ancestors were meticulously revered, there was nothing resembling the comprehensive Etruscan attention to the dead. In spite of elaborate philosophizing by Cicero and Virgil about the possibility of some sort of survival of the soul (especially for the deserving), most Romans' ideas of the afterlife, unless they believed in the promises of the mystery religions, were vague. Such ideas often amounted to a cautious hope or fear that the spirit in some sense lived on, and this was sometimes combined with an anxiety that the ghosts of the dead, especially the young dead who bore the living a grudge, might return and cause harm. Graves and tombs were inviolable, protected by supernatural powers and by taboos. In the earliest days of Rome both cremation and inhumation were practiced simultaneously, but by the 2nd century bc the former had prevailed. Some 300 years later, however, there was a massive reversion to inhumation, probably because of an inarticulate revival of the feeling that the future welfare of the soul depended on comfortable repose of the body-a feeling that, as sarcophagi show, was fully shared by the adherents of the mystery cults, though, on the rational level, it contradicted their assurance of an afterlife in some spiritual sphere. The designs on these tombs reflect the soul's survival as a personal entity that has won its right to paradise.

A vast gallery of architecture, sculpture, numismatics, painting, and mosaics illustrates Roman religion and helps to fill the gaps left by the fragmentary, though extensive, literary and epigraphic record. Starting with primitive statuettes and terra-cotta temple decorations, this array eventually included masterpieces such as the Apollo of Veii. Other works of art, more than 400 years later, include paintings illustrating Dionysiac mysteries at Boscoreale near Pompeii, and the reliefs of Augustus' Ara Pacis at Rome; and with the Christian emblems of Constantinian sarcophagi and coinage a thousand years of ancient Roman religious art comes to an end.

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Precedence among Roman priests belonged to the rex sacrorum ("king of the sacred rites"), who, after the expulsion of the kings, took over the residue of their religious powers and duties that had not been assumed by the Republican officers of state.

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The Adaption of Greek Gods in Egyptian Afterlife 

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The Adaption of Greek Gods in Egyptian Afterlife 

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The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

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Authors: Seán Hemingway, Colette Hemingway

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Greek Gods and Religious Practices | Essay | The Metropolitan Museum of Art | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

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Ancient Greek religious practice, essentially conservative in nature, was based on time-honored observances, many rooted in the Bronze Age (3000–1050 B.C.), or even earlier.

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Gareth Williams explains how the Vikings were quick to adopt Christianity.

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It's Vikings Week on HistoryExtra!

Check back for new highlights each day from 15-19 November, as we explore why the seafaring warriors erupted from what is now modern Scandinavia, and the legacy they left behind. Check out today's highlights

Beliefs and rituals were vital to the Vikings and infused into everyday life, but very little evidence survives to suggest how this would have looked other than what can be gleaned from burials and carved figures. The sagas and narratives that provide the bulk of our understanding (about Odin, Thor, Valhalla, Ragnarok etc) come from centuries later, and were written by Christians no less.

The Vikings had no religious texts - as everything spread through oral tradition - and few temple-like buildings. Instead, natural features such as groves and rivers were deemed sacred and used for rituals.

Chieftains and rulers mostly took charge of religious rituals and ceremonies, but evidence suggests that völur or seeresses also existed (women with magical and prophetic power), as well as Godar (heathen priests who functioned as cult leaders).

It would have been priests who most likely carried out the major Viking ritual: sacrifice. Although, anyone could offer objects or sacrifice animals to the gods, and it seemed the Vikings were not opposed to human sacrifices, too, at certain ceremonies, such as funerals.

Why were Vikings buried inside ships?

As the sea played a huge role in the lives of the Vikings, so it did in death as well. Due to their beliefs in the afterlife, Vikings were buried with all that they might need for their journey into the underworld. Craftsmen might be buried with their tools and warriors their weapons.

We have little written evidence for their burial rituals, but Arab writer Ahmad Ibn Fadlan is one of the few people to have witnessed a 10th-century Viking burial. His account stated that the ritual included human sacrifice and torture.

For kings and the nobility, a ship burial was the most common form and evidence of these have been found across Scandinavia, Britain and Russia. The dead were laid out in a ship with their possessions, and either sent out to sea and set alight or buried under a mound. Burial mounds also served a dual purpose as markers of dynastic territories.

The best-preserved ship burial to date was found in Norway and is known as the Oseberg ship. The find uncovered a complete longship, the remains of two women as well as horses, clothing, a cart and chests of goods.

The Oseberg ship, dated to around AD 800 and discovered in the early 20th century, is one of the best-preserved Viking ships ever found. It is now on display at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, Norway (Photo by Noe Falk Nielsen/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The Vikings had a whole pantheon of gods and goddesses who affected every part of their lives, and each requiring their own sacrifices. Women looked to Freya, for instance, for help with pregnancy or childbirth, while Thor, the hammer-wielding god of thunder, received sacrifices for good weather. Again, the importance of an individual god varied depended on where they were being worshipped.

And it was not only gods the Vikings believed in, but also Frost and Fire Giants and a menagerie of monsters and beasts, including the wolf Fenrir and Jörmungandr, a serpent so large that it encircled the realm of humans. That realm was called Midgard. The gods resided in Asgard, the giants in Jotunheim, while Niflheim was the cold, dark and misty world of the dead. There were nine realms in total, connected by the branches and roots of Yggdrasill, a sacred ash tree at the centre of the cosmos.

Vikings believed in Frost and Fire Giants and a menagerie of monsters and beasts, including the wolf Fenrir and Jörmungandr, a serpent so large that it encircled the realm of humans

The place all good Viking warriors wanted to go, though, was Valhalla, a magnificent hall in Asgard for those who died in battle. There, it was believed, they would spend their days honing their combat skills and, wounds magically healed, their nights drinking the finest mead and feasting on the meat of an eternal boar.

The god Odin welcomed these warriors, as they would fight for him at Ragnarok - the pre-ordained end of the worlds, when the Sun will darken, the stars vanish, the Earth sink into the sea, and a great battle will take place between the gods, giants and beasts.

Thor, standing in the boat of Hymir, battles the serpent Jörmungandr in this 18th-century painting by Johann Heinrich Füssli (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

So, with so little evidence, how do we know about this Viking mythology? On top of a number of sagas, the chief text to provide a systematic explanation was Prose Edda by Icelander Snorri Sturluson. It comprehensively covered the mythology from before creation to Ragnarok. Written in the 13th century, long after the Vikings were at their height - and so after Scandinavia converted to Christianity, indeed Snorri himself was a Christian - it offers fascinating insights, but should not be taken as gospel.

"We can't be absolutely sure it hasn't been overlain with judicious reinvention or influenced by Christian theology to some extent," says historian Philip Parker.

The clash of their pagan beliefs with Christianity would forever change the concept of religion for the Vikings. While seen as heathen and barbaric by the Christians, the Vikings' decisions to target places like churches and monasteries were not motivated by religion, but by knowing where the undefended treasures were being kept.

In fact, before the gradual move towards conversion, they quickly came to see the benefits of Christianity, according to Parker: "Sometimes they had a kind of token conversion, called primsigning or 'first signing', where they had the sign of the cross made on them. It made them acceptable to engage in trading."

When did the Vikings become Christian?

With the Vikings raiding and exploring other lands, they came ever more into contact with Christianity. At first, they showed a willingness to take on the trappings of this religion to help with their trading - what's one more god to their pantheon anyway? - but as assimilation increased and generations passed, many Vikings converted.

Often, pagan beliefs could be incorporated, so that Ragnarok and Judgement Day merged. Coins found in York, for example show the name of St Peter alongside Thor's hammer.

As for Scandinavia itself, politics helped Christianity take hold. "There were missionaries early in the ninth century, but they don't make much headway at all," says Philip Parker. Instead, rulers started converting - such as Harald Bluetooth of Denmark in around AD 960 - for political expediency or to foster good relations with Christian nations.

By the mid-11th century, Christianity had been established in Denmark and most of Norway, thanks to King Olaf Tryggvason.

Viking gods - 5 deities you need to know about

Odin

The All-Father and ruler of Asgard, Odin was linked with war, wisdom, magic and poetry, among other things. Such was his desire for knowledge that he sacrificed one of his eyes for perception of the world and cosmos, and let himself be hanged on the world tree, Yggdrasil, for nine days and nights to gain understanding of the runes.

The one-eyed Odin (or Woden, which is where 'Wednesday' comes from) was often depicted in a broad-brimmed hat or cloak so he would not be recognised as he walked the human realm.

He rode an eight-legged horse named Sleipnir and owned two ravens that spied for him. Odin would meet his end fighting the monstrous wolf Fenrir at Ragnarok.

Thor

God of thunder, lightning and storms, Thor was perhaps the most popular of the pantheon as he protected humankind and Asgard.

The red-bearded son of Odin boasted such strength that he could fight giants - armed with his iron gloves, enchanted belt and, most famously, his great hammer, Mjollnir, which could level mountains. His hammer became a ubiquitous symbol in Viking art and culture.

It was from his name that we get 'Thursday' ('Thor's Day').

Freyja

Goddess associated with love, sex, beauty, gold and magic, Freyja - the sister of Freyr - was pleasure-seeking and materialistic. She owned the beautiful necklace Brísingamen and a cloak of falcon feathers that let her fly.

One of the few female deities in the Viking pantheon, her name means 'Lady'. While half of the warriors slain in battle were selected by the Valkyries to join Odin in Valhalla, the other half went to the field presided over by Freyja, named Fólkvangr.

Freyr

God of fertility, but also associated with sunshine, prosperity and peace, Freyr, as son of the sea god Njörd, belonged to the Vanir - one of the two warring races of gods, the other being the Æsir.

One of the most venerated of the gods, especially in Sweden, he would receive offerings for a good harvest or virility. According to the mythology, Freyr owned a ship he could fold into his pocket and a sword that battled on its own, and he rode a golden boar made by the dwarves.

Loki

The trickster, a god associated with mischief (and also fire), Loki was a shapeshifter, able to take on the forms of animals and people. But Loki could also be cruel with his pranks - leading to the death of a beloved god.

Loki tricked Freya, mother to Balder, into revealing her son's only weakness, mistletoe, and then had the blind god Höd throw a sharpened branch of mistletoe at him. At Ragnarok, Loki sides with the giants, but is slain in the battle.

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Gods, myths and rituals: what we know about Viking religious beliefs

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Little is known about the beliefs and rituals of the Vikings, with most information coming from the clues at burials sites or the sagas written from the time after the conversion to Christianity. As Jonny Wilkes explores for BBC History Revealed, they were pagan, polytheistic and had a plethora of ways to worship, as far as can be told...

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Did you know that even death in Norse mythology was quite interesting? Dying is not the end, according to Vikings' beliefs. They believed that after they die, the afterlife begins. Like a lot of people in many other cultures thought, dying is not the end of the path, but the beginning of a new one.

Afterlife in Norse mythology is a fascinating topic that extends above and beyond explaining various beliefs, customs, and traditional ways of honoring the dead. Every part of Norse mythology is thoroughly explained, and the afterlife segment may be the most interesting one of them all since that's when humans will finally meet with the Gods.

We'll explain the afterlife and Vikings death in Norse paganism into details. As strange as it may sound, the beginning of this journey starts with death. What comes after death is what Vikings were eager to achieve - meeting the Gods, and enjoying the never-ending celebration in Valhalla. However, it's a long journey, and not every Viking will enter the halls of Valhalla.

Let's start with the end of life.

The Viking Funeral

Death in Norse mythology and Viking funerals were specific events that included a lot of customs. Since Vikings believed that every one of them will leap into the afterlife, there were plenty of traditions that they used to adhere to the funeral.

When a person dies, they were showered with their personal belongings, but not with random items. People were buried with the things that represent who they were and what their profession was during the time they were among the living.

For example, if a Viking that died was a ship-builder, he was buried with the tools of his craft. If a noblewoman dies, she was buried with jewels and gold, while warriors were buried with their weapons. The items placed next to the person that died were memorabilia items representing their lives on this plain. They believed that the person who died will need these things in the afterlife.

What differentiates Viking funerals from other civilizations is the way of how they were burying their dead. The bodies were usually cremated, but here's one detail that depicts the significant burial tradition differences. Incredibly wealthy Vikings were buried in ships.
The Viking Funeral
According to various beliefs the Vikings had, sailing the dead away on a burning ship will provide the dead with a safe passage to the afterlife. Additionally, if the deceased were to be buried underground, another tradition they had was to build mounds of stone that resemble the ship by placing them in such a manner that creates the ship's outline.

However, there were some mandatory burying rituals regardless of the type of burial. The custom was to put the body in new clothes that were specially made for the funeral. That way, the deceased will enter the afterlife with beautiful new clothing. Additionally, the burial ceremony included lots of food and alcohol, along with chanting and singing.

The "grave goods" were gifts for paying the last tribute and respect to a dead person. The value of these gifts was equal to the social status of the deceased. All of the gifts, along with the body, were either burned or buried.

The death in Norse mythology was perceived as a significant journey for the person that died. Therefore, some other cases show that very wealthy individuals were even buried with slaves, so they would have servants when they enter the plain of the dead.

The Beliefs About the Afterlife in Norse Mythology

Death in Norse mythology means that when Vikings die, they go straight to Valhalla, right? Not quite.

There are many levels of the afterlife. Valhalla is reserved for the warriors slain on the battlefield, and not for everybody. Where do all the other Norsemen and Norsewomen go after they die? First of all, let's explain their beliefs from the beginning, and then we'll go further into explaining the afterlife in Norse mythology.

Norse mythology teaches us that people were composed of four different parts. The first part is the physical appearance known as Hamr. The second one is Flygja, which is depicted as a totem of a known spirit. The third part is the person's character or personality, which is known as the Hugr, while the fourth part, Hamingja, is presented as the quality of the person's life.

It is believed that people who were evil or greedy during their lifetime may not pass on from this world but remain here trapped in a body of Draugr (the undead warrior creature). It was also believed that a person's Hugr moves to another plane of existence. Meanwhile, their Hamingja remains here and is shared with the rest of the family throughout the years to come.

Reincarnation is another belief surrounding the afterlife in Norse mythology. When people die, they could reincarnate into the family line so it would strengthen their family's tree. Pagan reincarnation shouldn't be mistaken for Christian reincarnation beliefs, and here is why.

Considering that the Heathens thought of family as something all-powerful, it makes a lot of sense. Being reborn back into the family line to make it more durable and much more stable was a firm belief. Thus, reincarnation after death in Norse mythology shows us once again that Vikings believed that death is not the end.

The Afterlife Lands in Norse Universe

When it comes to the most famous lands of the afterlife in Norse mythology, Valhalla is the one that people talk about the most. What is Valhalla? Valhalla is known as the halls in Asgard for warriors that fell in the battle. They are invited to dine and drink with Allfather Odin and all the other Gods and other fallen Vikings.

Fallen Vikings on the Way to Valhalla
However, not everyone could enter Valhalla. It is believed that Odin, with help from Valkyries, chose which ones of the fallen Vikings will join him in the halls of Valhalla. The reason for this is because everyone who dines and drinks with the Gods is a good enough warrior to stand by their side when the Ragnarök comes.

The death in Norse mythology is described as the new journey. People had one journey while they were alive, but when they die, another adventure begins. There are several other afterlife lands in the Norse mythology, and we'll go through them all.

Another one is Helheim, which resembles a Hell in Christianity, but it's not the same. Helheim is not a place for evil and wicked people. It is said that when Vikings that weren't slain during the battle die, they'll go to Helheim, and that was their punishment for surviving the battle.

Helheim realm is located beneath Midgard in the Norse Cosmos, and the ruler of this afterlife land is goddess Hel. Midgard and Hel realms are divided by the uncrossable river along with massive gates. When a soul passes to the Helheim realm, it cannot go back.

Not even the Gods, including Allfather Odin, had the power over death. When a death occurs, it's final, and they were powerless. A trickster God Loki tricked the indestructible God Baldr, the son of Odin, into a game that was fatal for Baldr. When Baldr died, no one could reverse it from happening, except for the ruler of Helheim.

It's also believed that Viking warriors that didn't die on the battlefield were trying to trick Goddess Hel by cutting themselves with blades in their death bed. By doing so, they created wounds that resemble the ones obtained in the field of battle.

Death in Norse mythology is perceived in many ways since there are places that Viking warriors were eager to go to like to Valhalla. Still, Helheim, as an alternative, was also an acceptable option.

However, there is a place within Helheim that is reserved for the wicked and evil people called Nastrond. Nastrond is a place that everyone was afraid of, but there were always some evil-doers who eventually ended up there.

Considering that Vikings were famous for sailing to the far reaches of Midgard to raid the known and the unknown territories of the realm, it's no wonder that the afterlife in Norse mythology had a unique land for sailors as well. Ran is a land where sailor Vikings would go after their death.

Ran was a giantess that dwelled on the ocean's floor. The ocean floor was the shiniest land of all afterlife lands because of the vast amounts of treasure that sunk along with numerous boats. It is also believed that Ran used to catch sailors with nets and then drown them so they would remain at her side in the underwater afterlife.

Another great land in the afterlife is known as Helgafjell. According to other sources, Helgafjell is another place where the dead could end up in. It is a holy mountain for which is believed to be an exceptional place.

Additionally, it is said that the dead can have very ordinary lives there like they were still among the living. The deceased would be reunited with their loved ones like their families and friends. Some people could see this mountain afterlife, and they described it as a place of happiness, home, and peace.

Viking Beliefs and Customs

The Vikings believed that several things will help them achieve greatness in the afterlife. One of the beliefs was to respect the Gods by offering them various sacrifices. Another fundamental idea was to always be fearsome in battle. So, even in the case of Vikings death, they would prove themselves both to the Valkyries and to Odin, and that way, they believed they had more significant chances of being chosen to enter the halls of Valhalla.

When it comes to burying their dead, Vikings had various customs they used to practice during the burial ceremony. Since they were a Pagan society, depending on the social status of the deceased, they used to pray to Odin and other Gods. In case a great warrior has passed, they believed that by praying and chanting, they'll help their fallen friend to quickly find his path to Valhalla.

Additionally, depending on their social status, the dead could get a farewell speech that can last for hours or, in rare cases, just a few simple farewell words. During these speeches, it was customary to drink a special ritualistic ale that was saved for funerals.

Regardless of the way the body is buried, what remains the same is the ritualistic funeral music. Death in Norse mythology means that some rituals are mandatory. Funeral songs and music were an essential element of these rituals. The only thing known about the Norse funeral music today is that it was the worshipful music of their Gods.

Another belief in the Norse culture was that the smoke helps carry the dead into the afterlife. The Viking funeral pyre can get so hot that it would turn the entire body along with the bones to ashes. When the cremation ritual was done, the ashes would then be placed in a carved wooden box or an urn for the final burial of the remains.

All these customs were applied to great Viking warriors, and even if they were buried underground, the customs would be used all the same. On the other hand, the slaves were exempt from these traditions and customs.

In case the slaves weren't buried with their masters, and they died either from being killed during an external raid or by natural causes, they were buried in shallow graves without any honors or rituals.

Let's Close This Story Right Here

Vikings death was an important event for them back in the Viking era. It wasn't just a simple moment of losing a family member or a friend, but it was so much more. When someone dies, a whole new experience is ahead of them, and the people they've left behind were the ones preparing the dead for the journey into the afterlife.

How much did you know about the burial customs and the afterlife in Norse mythology? Is there anything else you would like to add that we have missed mentioning? Share your knowledge with the community in the comment box below.

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The Death and The Afterlife in Norse Mythology

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Did you know that even death in Norse mythology was quite interesting? Dying is not the end, according to Vikings' beliefs. They believed that after they die, the afterlife begins. Like a lot of people in many other cultures thought, dying is not the end of the path, but the beginning of a new one.

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