Ambitiosa Mors: Suicide and the Self in Roman Thought and Literature (Studies in Classics) [Hardcover]

T. D. Hill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 11, 2004 | ISBN-10: 0415970970 | ISBN-13: 978-0415970976

Although the distinctive - and sometimes bizarre - means by which Roman aristocrats often chose to end their lives has attracted some scholarly attention in the past, most writers on the subject have been content to view this a s an irrational and inexplicable aspect of Roman culture. In this book, T.D. Hill traces the cultural logic which animated these suicides, describing the meaning and significance of such deaths in their original cultural context. Covering the writing of most major Latin authors between Lucretius and Lucan, this book argues that the significance of the 'noble death' in Roman culture cannot be understood if the phenomenon is viewed in the context of modern ideas of the nature of the self.

Editorial Reviews

Review

it fully realizes its claim to deepen our understanding of ancient suicide by making self-killing practices of the Roman elite of the Early Principate part of the ancient category of good dying, euthanatein in the classical sense.
–Anton J.L. van Hooff, Nijmegen University, Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 09/2005

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Routledge (August 11, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415970970
• ISBN-13: 978-0415970976
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,849,641 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Suicide a fad among the elite?, March 4, 2009

By 

Jeri Nevermind "loves to read" (Idaho) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Ambitiosa Mors: Suicide and the Self in Roman Thought and Literature (Studies in Classics) (Hardcover)

Between Augustus and Nero there was a sudden spike in suicides among the Roman aristocracy. "Romana mors is only very rarely associated with anything even broadly recognizable as 'depression'" (p 2). Nor did the suicide occur in private. Clearly, this was suicide very unlike those that tend to occur today.

In his writings, Seneca "seems to view a lingering death from disease as somehow equivalent to suicide" (p 7) a perspective he shared with the Younger Pliny. When Tacitus wrote about what we would think of as a political suicide, he refers to it as an ostentatious death.

Self-killing was perceived as a way to hold on to honor even after public humiliation, and as such, it was viewed favorably.

Cicero mentions suicide as a philosophical ideal, of a "perfected awareness of one's own nature and an absence of irrational impulses and aspirations" (p 87). This would be the opposite of suicide committed because of frustrated love. Anything that was overwrought was regarded as anti-Roman and anti-philosophical.

Seneca, who long seemed to be half in love with death, performed his suicide as pure theater. Above all, he was calm, thus proving his moral witness to others.

Every moment of such a suicide was recorded for the edification of others. The suicide "is rendered even more curious by the final unusual characteristic of Roman suicide during this period...that it was usually carried out under coercion" (p 188).

4.0 out of 5 stars Mirabile auditu, September 25, 2004

By 

Mr. R. Vadgama (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ambitiosa Mors: Suicide and the Self in Roman Thought and Literature (Studies in Classics) (Hardcover)

An interesting and exhaustive look into this often misunderstood subject. Enjoyable if a little academic. Good insight for classic students, and a beach-read.