The Roman Mourner

Funeral Rites, Gender and the Body

Dr Valerie M. Hope (Open University, UK)

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Hardback

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English

Bloomsbury Academic
10 July 2025

Ancient history: to c 500 CE; Ancient religions & mythologies; Sociology: death & dying

To date, mourning has not featured prominently in studies of ancient Roman society, and this book redresses this by presenting a comprehensive analysis of who mourners were and what mourners did, as well as investigating the social, cultural and ritual significance of mourning. It brings together varied evidence, ranging from literature and art to epigraphy, which helps to illustrate the rituals of mourning. Valerie M. Hope addresses fundamental questions about how mourning was expressed, displayed, performed and experienced via the body, and in turn what mourning can reveal about Roman society.

In previous literature on the topic, roles played by mourners in funeral rituals and commemorative acts may be acknowledged, but there has been little engagement with the varied emotional and physical behaviours of mourners. When mourning has been considered, the emphasis has predominantly fallen on gender and specific literary genres. There have hitherto been few attempts to unite the diverse evidence for Roman mourning to consider different literary genres simultaneously or to evaluate how mourning was presented through material culture. The evaluation of social expectations, legal regulations and idealised roles, across a diverse evidence base and time frame, make this volume the first full and systematic study of mourning in the Roman world.

By: Dr Valerie M. Hope (Open University UK)
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781350320796
ISBN 10: 135032079X
Pages: 304
Publication Date: 10 July 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , College/higher education , Undergraduate , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Valerie M. Hope is Senior Lecturer in Classical Studies at the Open University, UK. She is co-editor of War as Spectacle: Ancient and Modern Perspectives on the Display of Armed Conflict (Bloomsbury, 2015) and Roman Death: The Dying and the Dead in Ancient Rome (Bloomsbury, 2009).